What does it sound like?:

Here we have yet another comprehensive boxset, this time of ‘The MCA and Decca Years 73-84’ in Camel’s back catalogue. For the vast majority of those with an interest, this will safely encompass the period when the band caught their attention. That certainly includes me. I can’t comment on the ‘lavish illustrated book with essays and a poster’, let alone the 5 BluRay CDs that weren’t available to review, but that still leaves a whopping 27 discs in which to wallow.

This is made up of 10 discs of the original studio albums, from their eponymous debut through to Stationary Traveller. Straight away, I am wondering who this is for. Anyone with the inclination to shell out £177 for a boxset, is going to be in deep with the band, and is likely to have several of these albums already, so offering the dedicated fan to own duplicate copies without a hint (yet) of a remaster seems odd.

There’s a few demos, single versions and bonus tracks, each tacked onto the contemporary studio albums, which makes sense, as there’s precious few of them, so those extras would barely have made up a CD of their » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Peter Gabriel is an intelligent man who retains his curiosity about the world and how we all fit in it together. He remains passionate about nature and climate change, global inequalities, mortality, personal relationships and the redemption to be found in love. He enjoys cutting-edge technology, takes as much care of the visuals as the sound, is drawn to the tones and rhythms of non-Western music and is fascinated by psychotherapy and the possibility of a profound, emotional performance resulting in a kind of catharsis.

He began recording I/O more than twenty years ago, with the intention of following 2002’s Up by 2004. At one point, he had 150 songs on the go. He got waylaid by Womad projects, films, a covers album, string versions of old songs, soundtracks, tours and family illness. As he points out in one of the songs, time slipped in the mirror. To be fair, he only properly settled in a studio with a band in Autumn 2021 to work on 23 songs, then whittled down to twelve. You will have heard them all already. Each track has been released digitally on a full moon, and an alternative » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

One of the great things about music is when you unexpectedly discover an album that completely takes you by surprise. 1988 is one of this records. It bushwhacked me. While I expected to like it, what I have found is that it goes well beyond liking. It has overwhelmed me and I love it madly.

It’s clearly an album that has passed most music magazines by, because it’s not in their top albums of the year, though I think it should be.

McKenna’s name is probably unknown to many readers here. I was aware of her for years because she is an artist who regularly popped up on Bob Harris’s radio programmes. She had never made too much of an impression on me. Back in 2016 she released an album titled The Bird And The Rifle. My wife was taken by something from it that Bob played and she bought the CD. Since then she’s got Lori’s albums as they have been released.

I then realised that maybe Bob had a point and she was worth listening to. I liked TBATR a lot as well as her last two albums; The Tree which came » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Leaving the attention-grabbing headline behind – this is of course not about the record industry’s latest installment of the annual Xmas favourite, the »orchestral« hits album. They used to wait with such endeavours until the artist’s corpse was buried, but times are hard, obviously.

So: those crazy people at Bear Family have dedicated the latest volume in their »The Brits Are Rocking« series to Sir Cliff Richard, ignoring the image most people seem to have of him being a target of mockery and sniggering, especially among the elderly »rockers« in their extra-large black T-shirts. »Dynamite – The Brits Are Rocking Vol. 10« is a compilation of 34 uptempo tracks from 1959 to December 1961 – and it’s exciting, illuminating and a pure pleasure to listen to.

There’s the myth of the »grey area«, the time when Elvis was in the Army and apparently nothing much was going on in the music world until the sudden arrival of the Beatles. Well, here we have a guitar band with a focused singer, a brillant guitar player and an endlessly inventive rhythm section, who play snappy, energetic pop songs, mostly written by band members and associates. The » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

This cd plus bluray set presents the original AHM album on the cd, but it’s the bluray disc that is the most interesting and is the focal point of this release. A lower grade copy of this film of the band performing the AHM suite at a Japanese festival in August of 1971, their first ever show in the country, was featured on the Early Years box set a few years ago. This footage has now been upgraded to give far better clarity thanks to a new copy of the film being found, although sadly there’s still no footage available of the remainder of the set, those five songs seeming to be lost for good. It’s a good solid performance of the piece, more notable for being of historical interest for hardcore fans than for offering anything radically new or unexpected. The package also includes a short behind the scenes documentary, an informative sixty page booklet and replicas of the original poster and ticket, along with various other bits of reproduced memorabilia. If you don’t have the film then this is the chance to get hold of it without forking out for the full » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

1974’s Warchild was never in my top five Tull albums, although it does certainly have some good songs – I felt it was rather an inconsistent set overall though, one that didn’t fully realise its potential or live up to expectations. Ian Anderson has decided to create an alternative version of the record, or perhaps it’s a sequel, appearing on vinyl only. This uses the associated recordings from the sessions that didn’t make the final cut, which have been newly sequenced by the man himself. Some of these dribbled out in subsequent years on various compilations, and the whole lot appeared on the fortieth anniversary box set reissue in 2014, remixed by the venerable Steven Wilson of course. So to be clear there’s nothing previously unreleased here, and this release seems to be a way of making these songs available on vinyl for the first time for the completists who collect such things. The songs themselves, which fans will already be familiar with, are fine overall, and in fact some of them would have been better suited to the original album that those finally selected for inclusion. Much delayed – it was originally slated » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

It was the first time

March 20 1978 was the first time I saw Bob Dylan. I had just turned 21. As you can imagine the anticipation was palpable. He played 3 nights at Melbourne’s mainly outdoor venue the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. I saw the first night which rained heavily and the second night. I am in a chat group of Dylan fanatics and none of us recall being aware of the format these shows would take and the dramatic reworkings of songs. Dylan had played 16 shows before us including Auckland, Brisbane and Adelaide but, at most, the awareness was of a much bigger band.

To stand there listening to him play one of his lyrically most potent songs Hard rain as an instrumental, in a white jump suit, was extremely disorienting. The last thing I had heard or seen was the punky bandanas and face paint of the 76 Rolling Thunder tour. I tried to like it, I wanted to like it but really, I was underwhelmed. And in early 78, jump suits and flutes were a hard sell.

Budokan, the original album was intended for the Japan market only » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Music Hall developed from the streets and pubs of London in the mid-19th Century. By the start of the 20th Century, Music Hall had taken up residence in a number of venues across the capital. Attracting large audiences seeking a night out and entertainment, music hall delivered a mix of popular songs, comedy, speciality acts, and variety entertainment. The songs, depicting everyday life in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, were often humorous or satirical, though some were sentimental or patriotic, and others dealt with darker themes such as jealousy and murder. Many were also blatantly sexual, though always expressed in clever euphemisms and double entendres. Max Champion was one such performer treading the boards in the late 19th Century. Little is known about him, except that he was born in 1882 in London’s East End, and is thought to have been related to the great Victorian entertainer Harry Champion. As an up-and-coming performer he shared the stage with big stars such as Gus Ellen and Vesta Tilley, but his career (much like the Music Hall era itself) was cut short by the First World War, and his songs faded into obscurity. That is, until » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Mamouna is the apotheosis of solo Ferry. Its sound is almost obscenely opulent, the grooves are graceful, and the voice is yearning. If you are not paying attention, the music is so sleek it can slip by unnoticed. Both Nile Rogers and Brian Eno, never shy of a spotlight, are remarkably restrained with their contributions. There are no real choruses. Desdemona and Toil and Trouble are mentioned in the lyrics but the words are the opposite of Shakespeare, being sparse and opaque. They seem to function as abstract sounds for Ferry to sing. In 1994, Mamouna struggled to gain traction just as Britpop and the edgy dance music of the likes of Underworld captured the mood in the UK. Youthful energy was valued much more than mature sophistication.

However, it is an album that seeps into your consciousness subliminally. Subtle details reveal themselves over time. The tunes are stronger than they first seem and countermelodies creep up unexpectedly. The rhythms are deceptively complex, the ten songs effectively making a single suite, set in a rich soundscape, ebbing and flowing beautifully on a bed of immaculate musicianship. Ferry’s vocal performance across the whole set » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Ok so confirmed Dylan addict Junior Wells sits down to listen to confirmed Dylan addict Cat Power (Chan Marshall) recreating one of the Holy Grails in the Dylan catalogue Live 66 Royal Albert Hall, which we all know was the Manchester Free Trade Hall show. This will be interesting.

I have stated previously that my problem with so many covers of Dylan songs is they overdo the melody – Make You Feel My Love being a great example. His songs always have strong melodies and I find his voice, the harp they provide some sour to the sweet. Will she sugar it up? Will it be a carbon copy prompting the question, why bother?

I have only seen Cat once, supporting Nick Cave in Sydney. I think it was the same tour where she stopped off and recorded Moon Pix in Melbourne with the Dirty Three. At the show I saw she kept her head down, deliberately shielded her face by her hair and almost ran off stage at the end of her set. Clearly in a bad place ,her presence was the complete opposite of the defiant self-belief of Dylan at this » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

“Overnite Sensation” is one of my favourite Frank Zappa albums. Not too many snorks, turn-on-a-dime playing, a pile of knob jokes, and it’s kind of funky. (In fact, very funky; “I’m the Slime”, “Dirty Love”, “Zomby Woof”, “Dinah-Moe Humm” and “Montana” had Tina Turner and the Ikettes on backing vocals. “What is this shit?” Ike is alleged to have asked, as he insisted Zappa pay the singers, including Tina Turner, no more than $25 per song.) This album got me through many a 1970s “Good Friday”, providing a little victory to the stultifying miserabilist piety of my childhood home.

The 50th anniversary release – gosh, is it really that long? – has been made even more pristine, though was always a very well-produced album. Remixes have instruments leap out, but to me they always did. The earlier and alternative takes reiterate niallb’s observation re “The Yes Album”, that to a working musician, the album version of a song is often just one of a series of variants which passed a variety of decisions to become, to the listener with the album alone, the “definitive” version. There is lots to enjoy in these alternatives; » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back is the best Rap ever made. More than that, it is one of the greatest albums of any kind. Released in 1988, during Rap’s first golden age, it is stunning both sonically and in the challenge it laid down to its listeners. Driven by rage but sustained by belief, Chuck D’s booming raps are punctuated by Flavor Fav’s waspish buzzing, together painting a picture of life in America for black youth that is still as dispiriting and as vivid today. The imagery is military and incendiary, extending to the stage uniforms and their cross-hair logo, but there isn’t any of the uzi fetishism or misogyny of their debut. This is serious business, tackling real-life issues such as crack addiction, conscientious objection, a loaded justice system, black self sufficiency and junk TV. However, the real revolution is in the sonic assault. Hank and Keith Shocklee, Chuck D and Eric Sadler, otherwise known as The Bomb Squad, create a dense thicket of sound full of barbs, interweaving multiple samples from a breathtaking array of sources, from political speeches, forgotten James Brown’s rhythms to a Slayer thrash » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

It came into our house like every album in 1970 and early ‘71 did; in a Harlequin Records bag, (or Derek’s Records, Wax, or Bonaparte Records,) carried by my brother, two years my senior; Kev. He was an avid record-buyer, even at sixteen. He had started with the British Blues bands, led by Fleetwood Mac and his hero, Peter Green, and backed up by Ten Years After and Eric Clapton. Free were a constant, as was Rory Gallagher, before Led Zeppelin joined the party, cheered on by Deep Purple and Mountain. Yet, on a day in April 1971, inside that Harlequin Records bag, The Yes Album came into my life.

I may only have been fourteen but, through Kev, I had spent two years being exposed to all of this wonderful music. We shared a bedroom and his huge poster of Peter Green, all long, curly hair and thick beard, and THAT Les Paul, was the first thing I saw every morning. I had been indoctrinated into the most magical, exciting world at an early age and was like a sponge, soaking up every drop of whatever delicious musical beverage he brought into the » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Six years in the making, this album celebrates Pete Brown’s involvement with Cream, offering up 15 acoustic interpretations of Cream songs with a fairly stellar cast of contributors, including Joe Bonamassa, Deborah Bonham, Maggie Bell, Clem Clempson, Neil Murray, Paul Rodgers and Bobby Rush. Sadly, in the time it’s taken to get from recording to release, it’s also seen the passing of Pete Brown himself earlier this year, as well as Bernie Marsden, Mo Foster and Ginger Baker. Malcolm Bruce is the only person to perform on all tracks, either on bass or piano, plus a vocal on “We’re Going Wrong” that has more than a hint of his father.

Brown’s songs provide the backbone of the album but there are omissions such as “SWLABR” as well as songs he had no hand in such as “We’re Going Wrong” and “Born Under A Bad Sign”. Whilst acoustic albums allow / necessitate a degree of reinterpretation, the songs are presented fairly faithfully. The switch to acoustic has minimal impact to the bass and drums, so it’s the vocals and the way in which Clapton’s guitar has been replaced that gives the songs a new » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

One of the great things about the early 70s was that acts who normally lurked in the “underground” racks of your local record emporium would have the odd (as in occasional) hit. Once in a while, you’d even get to see a real outlier like King Crimson on TOTP, whose appearance for Cat Food was odd in the other widely accepted sense of the word as well.

Having joined Crimso and the Stones at Hyde Park in July 69 and subsequently scored two sizeable top 30 hits (Weaver’s Answer and In My Own Time), Family were amongst the more promising and popular of those bands. They’d even achieved a fair degree of notoriety when immortalized as Relation, the band whose Bacchanalian shenanigans were central to the plot of Jenny Fabian and Johnny (Tutti Frutti) Byrne’s Groupie.

Widely regarded as first among equals from their run of seven consistently moreish albums, Bandstand came, like its predecessors, Anyway and Fearless, in a stunning cover. In this case an almost 1:1 scale die-cut recreation of a 1950s Bush TV set. Even in an era where elaborate album sleeves were a familiar sight, the original Bandstand » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Subtitled The Very Best of Richard Hawley, this retrospective two cd set takes a long lingering look back at Hawley’s career, spread over thirty two tracks. It’s not in chronological order, which is a little frustrating, as personally I like to hear how an artist has developed and progressed over the years, but that’s by the by really. Hawley is known for his affection for his home town, his rich vocals eulogising and romanticising the people and places of his native city of Sheffield in his songs and also in his album titles – Lowedges. Hollow Meadows, Cole’s Corner, Lady’s Bridge and Truelove’s Gutter to name but a few, and one of the very earliest songs here is the single Naked in Pittsmoor. I do prefer the ballads, sometimes brooding, sometimes uplifting, to the more uptempo rockabilly style songs, but each to their own of course. The selection covers the full span of his twenty year plus solo career, although there’s only one previously unreleased song, and it throws in a few B sides, such as the beautiful instrumental Kelham Island, alongside the cherry picked album tracks. There’s also his super cover of Dylan’s » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

This two cd plus two bluray set comprises, to give it its full title, ‘The Complete Recording Sessions – 2023 mixes – Dolby Atmos’. Of the copious amount of content included, only two selections have been previously released – the David Singleton audio documentary ‘Keep That One, Nick’ and the thirtieth anniversary hi-res stereo mix of the original album master, both of which first appeared on the 2012 box set. Everything else here is newly released. So what do we have exactly? Well, I won’t go through this track by track as the hardcore fans this release is surely aimed at will obviously know them off by heart already. Certainly though it’s true to say that Steven Wilson’s newly created Atmos mix, and the updated 5.1 and stereo mixes created as part of the same process, add a welcome new dimension to the familiar music – the complex interwoven sounds have really benefited from the technological advances that have allowed a greater clarity and separation of the myriad individual components. The first cd has the new 2023 stereo mix along with three instrumental versions, while the second has four new ‘elemental mixes’, which put » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Kirsty MacColl is a darling of The Afterword but not particularly well known in the real world. Her biggest hit was guesting on The Pogues’ Fairytale Of New York but how many listeners to that song can name the woman who plays the role of curmudgeonly wife? There may well be more U2 fans aware that she sequenced The Joshua Tree than have actually listened to her songs. French And Saunders obsessives probably wouldn’t recognise her despite her frequent appearances in the video skits. Her career is littered with mishaps and near misses. Her first single, They Don’t Know, attracted a good deal of airplay but sales were thwarted by a distributors strike and it failed to chart. She suffered crippling stage fright and went through a long period of writer’s block. She released five studio albums in her lifetime for four different record companies. When Stiff Records went bust, no-one picked up her contract from the receiver and she had to make a living providing backing vocals for others. It helped that her husband was producer Steve Lillywhite. Her last album, Tropical Brainstorm, was certified Gold in the UK but, nevertheless, her label » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

The Prince Estate in their wisdom have decided this 1991 effort, the follow up to the patchy Graffiti Bridge and the first album recorded with The New Power Generation, is next in line for the box set treatment, this one weighing in at a hefty 7cds plus a bluray. Personally it’s not one of my go to Prince albums – I’d far rather have had Parade or Around The World in a Day – take out the title track, Cream, Gett Off and Money Don’t Matter 2nite and there’s not a lot left other than some fairly generic pop funk stuff that Prince could write in his sleep – not terrible by any means, just not that great, the sound of an artist following current trends rather than setting them, and imitating rather than innovating. The first cd is of course a remaster of the original set, while the second concentrates on 12-inch mixes and the like, which really don’t float my boat. The real gold is to be found on the next three cds, which contain 33 previously unheard tracks from the vault. Many of these are a vast improvement on the songs » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Tony Visconti has reached the point in life, at nearly eighty, when he is taking stock, looking back on his career and weighing up how big a difference he has made in the frivolous world of Pop. Naturally, being American, he is not shy in coming forward. With the help of Edsel, he has put together two luxurious box sets, one for 77 tracks on 4 CDs and the other with 73 on 6 LPs. Licensing issues mean that the four Bowie tracks on CD are dropped for the vinyl. There is also the option of a 30 track double LP. The book in the boxes includes an essay by Mark Paytress and detailed notes of Visconti’s thoughts on each song, plus lots of period photographs. He curates the whole thing and personally oversees the remastering by Phil Kinrade. Produced By Tony Visconti is the best representation of his life’s work, according to the man himself. It is a blatant vanity project. He even provides the sales pitch: Tony says, “This boxset covers five and a half decades of my efforts in the art of making iconic recordings. Some of it is familiar and » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is the opposite side of the same synthesised coin as The Human League’s Dare, the grubby tails to the polished heads. Released a month apart in late 1981, they have much in common but tell very different stories of the industrial North. Both bands came into being because of a drop in the price of electronic parts, making early Korg synthesisers affordable. Dave Ball and Marc Almond met at Leeds Polytechnic, The Human League hail from Sheffield. Both love Tamla Motown, Soft Cell the frantic Northern Soul end of the catalogue, the Human League the romantic soulful end. They share a sense of melody, a wicked sense of humour and a desire to fill dancefloors. Both created club hit B sides, Memorabilia and Hard Times, and both followed up the parent album with one of remixes, Non Stop Ecstatic Dancing and Love And Dancing. However, whereas Phil Oakey sang with insouciant cool, Almond was sweaty, breathless, constantly gyrating. Oakey’s baritone was sleek and stylish, Almond’s voice wild and expressive. Jo Callis and Ian Burden’s synthesisers sound smooth and silky, Ball’s battered and second-hand. Dare aspired to glamour, dreaming of a better » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

“Piano-driven folk pop from Cambridgeshire” say the tagline, and it is hard to disagree.

I’ve followed the musical career of Ellie Walker for nearly 20 years, from painfully shy undergraduate hiding behind a fringe and a keyboard, her half-whispered vocals a nightmare for live sound engineers; through the rotating cast of indie-pop scenesters Model Village; to multi-instrumentalist and occasional singer with Cambridgeshire’s answer to Lambchop, now approaching their third decade, superb sprawling ensemble The Pony Collaboration.

As Ellie approaches early middle-age, with a family of her own, she has blossomed, the creative spark rekindled and she’s co-opted a couple of moonlighting Ponies to be her backing band. She’s married to one of them, so I’m sure that helped pull some strings.

As it says on the tin, the album is chock full of piano-driven folk-pop nuggets. Ellie’s vocals have a clear, high-register and her words come tumbling out, often over jittery rhythms – perhaps, after years in the creative furrows, she has a lot she wants to say.

Lyrically there are references to self-belief, the sanctity of home, the benefits of the great outdoors, and the quiet ones – for whom it will » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

The Stones are back! Hackney Diamonds struts like a Stone, riffs like a Stone and rocks like a Stone. It actually follows the blueprint of their imperial phase. There is the ancient Blues cover (Rolling Stone Blues), the one with the stretched-out musical interlude (Sweet Sounds Of Heaven), the country song (Dreamy Skies), the social verité (Whole Wide World), the Keef lead vocal (Tell Me Straight) and the real jaw-dropper (Depending On You). Only the smutty rocker is missing, unless you accept the swearing in Bite My Head Off, but there are plenty of riffs to compensate. There has been no musical progression since the mid seventies but who wants groundbreaking experimentation from The Rolling Stones?

Most of it was recorded straight after the 60th anniversary tour and the band are a well-oiled machine. It’s the same band that recorded The Bigger Bang in 2005, apart from Steve Jordan. Rolling Stones guitars have a tendency to being sloppy but, here, they are sharp and focussed. Keef has adapted his playing to his state of arthritis and has come up with a raft of fiery riffs. The Keef/Ronnie interweave and solos are lean and purposeful. » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Avid consumers of Mojo magazine’s ‘Buried Treasure’ feature, that tags an appreciation of a little-known album onto the re-issues section it calls the ‘Archive’ each month, may well have burnt their fingers a few times over the years. I certainly have, and my shelves are leavened with several such releases, played a few times, mulled over, and returned to the shelf ever since. What you might be wondering is if this is another one of those. Happily, the answer is that it isn’t. It certainly has a few moments when it teeters close to the naughty shelf, but, and this is the key thing, it also has moments of truly marvellous brilliance.

Let’s start at the beginning, in case you haven’t read the Mojo piece. And if you are unable to cast your mind back to the late sixties and how the music scene was at the time, I’ll do my best to try to set that scene for you as well. It’s 1968. We’ve had a lot of change across the musical spectrum in the last few years; Beatles, Stones, Motown, and so on. Soul and R&B (as it was then) have grown » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Fans will be aware that the audio elements of the 50th anniversary box set from earlier in the year are now being made available individually and at a far more reasonable price. The bluray was the obvious pick of the bunch, including as it does the Dolby Atmos mix, a 5.1 surround mix and a remastered stereo mix, all wrapped up in a very nice new look sleeve. I won’t go through the songs, as we all know them off by heart by now, but suffice to say the sound lived up 100% to my already sky high expectations. The clarity and detail are absolutely stunning, and I write that as someone who‘s heard this record literally thousands of times over the past five decades. If you have the sound system that can handle these formats, then even if you don’t really need yet another copy of the album this is still an indispensable purchase, and at the price it’s an absolute steal.

What does it all *mean*?

I recall when the album was originally released in 1973 it used to be the go to record for hifi dealers to demonstrate the prowess of » Continue Reading.