"Cold fact" revisited

I'm so glad that Cold fact has been re-released. I truly envy those people who are about to hear this album for the first time. My personal experience with discovering this album (through my brother Danny) was one of enlightenment. Where had this album been all my life? How come this guy wasn't as big as the Beatles?

I just hope that the engineers who worked on the remastering have some respect for this music, and don't butcher the remastering job. I love my original CD; the pops and crackles that make it sound like it was burnt straight from vinyl only add to its considerable charms.

My original CD also ends with Like Janis instead of Jane S. Piddy; there is a lot of confusion about these two tracks, and which is meant to be last. On the 2008 re-issue, Jane S. Piddy is now last; I guess this admits that there was a mistake in the original track order. I won't be reprogramming the order on my iPod - it just wouldn't feel right continuing after Like Janis for me. It just works so perfectly as a closing track. Anyway, here is more detail about this track order confusion.

Anyway, I don't need to review this album again. I have mentioned it countless times on this blog, so you can read my previous posts for yourself:

2004: A year in music - when I first discovered it
Cold fact - my original review
Musical memories and discoveries - a Rodriguez-esque stream-of-consciousness
Top 10 albums that have "the vibe" - guess which album makes the cut?
Rodriguez gig review - even includes a photo of me with the man himself

But, seriously.
Get this album.
You will not regret it*.
Lost classic.
Hidden gem.
Yadda yadda yadda.
You get the drift.

MP3: Rodriguez - Rich folks hoax [Link removed]

*If you don't believe me, here are some other reviews from more reputable publications:

Playlouder
The Observer
PopMatters
Pitchfork Media
Amazon
Tiny Mix Tapes
The Age (article)

Update: Song links removed.

Hidden gems #1: Songs in the attic

This is the first (and keeping in mind my recent prolificacy, probably last) blog post in a new series which aims to raise awareness of hidden musical gems from musical history. This series will cover albums that most have probably never heard, but should.

I can understand how those who only know Billy Joel from his over-played radio hits probably regard him as a schmaltzy MOR singer-songwriter, an artifact from the 70s best left there. I agree that some of his songs have been played beyond death; I don't think I will ever feel the need to hear Just the way you are or Uptown girl again (unless it's Homer Simpson singing the latter).

The Billy Joel of the 70s was a different beast entirely. Not to say that he squandered his talent quite like Rod Stewart did (who too had a very promising career in the 70s before he lost all respect), but the early Billy Joel had something that the more popular Billy Joel never quite matched.

The live album Songs in the attic was released in 1981. Billy became a lot more popular after his breakthrough 1977 album The stranger, and this live album was intended as a vehicle to raise awareness of his earlier songs. To this end, it achieves its goal flawlessly. I'm normally not a fan of live albums, and with only a few exceptions, I have almost always regretted purchasing them. Mainly because they don't improve on the studio versions, and also because they tend to consist mainly of the overplayed hits.

But this live album is an exception in many respects. Firstly, it only includes obscure (to radio listeners anyway) songs from his first four albums. It doesn't even include his signature song Piano man, the title track from his second album! Secondly, all of the live versions on this album rock a lot harder than any of the original studio versions. It's not uncommon for production values and songwriting quality be at odds with each other, and Billy Joel's early albums are a great example of this. But the versions on Songs in the attic sound awesome - even on my original, non-mastered CD pressing.

If you've only heard Billy Joel's radio hits, I highly recommend getting this album. It's one of the first albums that truly blew me away. It's simply fantastic music, and the fact that it is live doesn't even matter when you are listening to it. The bits on opening track Miami 2017 where the NY audience cheer when the Yankees, Brooklyn, The Bronx and other NY icons are mentioned still gives me goosebumps to this day.

You can pick this album up dirt-cheap thesedays - I have seen it for $5.00 on many occasions.

Buy it, turn it up, and rock on.

MP3: Billy Joel - Miami 2017 [Link removed]

Update: Song links removed.

A few quick reviews

Sorry about the lack of posts, but between being flat out at work and flat out at home organising my wedding (I'm getting married in November), I simply haven't had any time. I will try to find time to post something now and then to show that I'm still alive.

This is just a quick post to let you know about a couple of albums that I have been listening to quite a bit lately. In both cases I enjoyed them when I first purchased them, but on the last few listens they suddenly "hit" me. That's a great feeling :)

Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand

I talked about this band and album in one of my best of 2004 posts, as GBV were one of my great discoveries of the year. Like the Replacements, their albums are predominantly patchy affairs. But unlike the Replacements, they released a definitive statement, a masterpiece where all cylinders were firing and they didn't put a step wrong. And this is that album.

It takes an open mind to warm to this album. First thing you need to forget about is the natural human response to be put off by a poor quality recording. You need to learn to appreciate a song on its own merits and not by how it's been recorded. Think you can do that? Then you are ready for this album.

You've probably heard the term lo-fi bandied around the indie press, but this album truly defined the lo-fi "genre" (if you can call it that). While some bands add fuzz to their music in an attempt to give them some rough and unpolished credibility, these guys literally recorded this album on 4-track tape in their basement. And just like Rockette Morton of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band was "fuelled by beans" on their freak-out album Trout Mask Replica, Bob Pollard and the boys were fuelled on beer during the making of Bee Thousand. And lots of it. There's a reason why many of their fans affectionately called them Guided By Beer.

This album consists of 20 tracks, and beneath all the fuzz and tape hiss lies a charming set of melodies and fantastic songwriting that gets under your skin (in the best way possible). Some of the songs only last for a minute, but they cram more hooks and melodies into that minute than most bands can muster in an album. 16 of the 20 tracks are sung by frontman Bob Pollard, but guitarist Tobin Sprout contributes vocals to 4 of the tracks and they are some of the best tracks on the album (Awful bliss being my personal favourite).

This album was released in 1994, but its melodic spirit lives in 1968. If you were always a believer that the White Album was the best Beatles album, this is the unheard 3rd disc. Yes, the tracks on this album are that good. When this album hits you, you won't know how you lived without these songs in your life.

The Wedding Present - Seamonsters

I have to thank album reviewer Adrian Denning, whose excellent review convinced me to buy this album. If you are a Smiths fan, but always wished that they were a bit louder, then this is the album for you.

Frontman David Gedge's vocals, like those of Morrissey, are definitely an aquired taste. But I've always preferred vocals that are a bit "different", and Gedge's vocals add a real emotional and unique element to these songs. Credit must also be given to producer Steve Albini (who has worked with Nirvana, PJ Harvey and countless others) for his amazing production, which adds an eerie and understated quality to these songs, raising the vibe ante to the max. Just check out opening cut Dalliance, when it suddenly goes from a medium paced rock song to a distorted freakout. Amazing stuff.

You need patience with this album. It didn't hit me as being brilliant until I'd given it close to 10 listens. Some songs are more immediate on the first listen, while others creep up on you. But they will grow on you, so please give it a chance. A highly underrated gem of an album.

Downloads

Guided By Voices - Awful bliss [Link Removed]
Guided By Voices - Echos myron [Link Removed]
Guided By Voices - Queen of cans and jars [Link Removed]

The Wedding Present - Dalliance [Link Removed]
The Wedding Present - Dare [Link Removed]
The Wedding Present - Heather [Link Removed]

UPDATE: Song links removed.

Cold Fact

It is quite unfortunate, but music doesn't have the same effect on me as it used to. Even though great albums come and go, they never seem to stir the same emotions as they did in the past, like when I heard The Smiths for the first time. Or when I took a risk with The Stone Roses and was absolutely blown away. Or the feeling of hearing opening track The everlasting from This is my truth tell me yours for the first time (when I borrowed it off Pete). Music was really exciting back in those days; I didn't have anywhere near as many CDs as I have now, and it felt like there was so much to discover. The possibilities were endless.

Every now and then an album comes along which takes me back to those days where music truly felt exciting. Cold Fact is one such album. When listening to this album for the first time, it felt like I had discovered the holy grail. It's a real paradox of an album. It feels simultaneously of its time and timeless. It feels like the album you have known your whole life, yet at the same time you know you have never heard.

Sixto Rodriguez (who generally performed by his surname only) has created a vibe on this album that is hard to describe but easy to love. His vocals are haunting, his lyrics are surreal, his music is so early 70's but it has aged so well. He sounds like Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen's more accessible cousin.

But even those descriptions can't do this album justice, it truly is something you need to hear for yourself. Like so many great albums, it's the intangible quality to this music that makes it so good. There's the reverb-soaked fadeout at the end of Sugar man. The way that he can make songs like Crucify your mind and Inner city blues sound so bloody cool despite the fact that the music can almost be considered cheesy. The urge you get to press play again after the final bars of Like Janis fade out. The little cracks and pops from the vinyl to CD transfer which just add to the charm of this magnificent work.

I can't throw enough superlatives at this album. It's an album which needs to be experienced, cherished and loved. It deserves the coveted title of lost classic. In a perfect world, this album would have been as big as any of the Beatles' albums. It would be in more homes than Dark side of the moon. But in a way, being so unknown makes it even more exciting.

If this review has in any way made you curious to hear this undiscovered gem, head down to your local JB Hi Fi (if you are located in Australia) and pick this album up. You can get it for $12.99, and I have even seen it for as low as $9.99. I'll even give you the Jiggy Money Back Guarantee (TM)*.

And if you love this album, please reply to this post and comment on it. Nothing would make me feel better than knowing that I have added this album to your CD collection.

* Album must be purchased prior to 18th October 2005 for this to be honoured

I am a bird now

I have not been inspired to write a review for an album in a long time. Most of the reviews I have posted on this blog are re-runs of reviews I have written previously, and I'm just importing them into the blog so they will be archived for the ages. The album I am a bird now from Antony & The Johnsons has changed that.

I don't remember being so emotionally affected by an album in a long time. Antony is an androgynous singer/songwriter who has an utterly distinct vibrato voice. If there's anyone I could compare him to (and believe me - it's difficult) it would be Nina Simone.

Lyrically, this is an incredibly sad album. Take the opening line:

Hope there's someone
Who'll take care of me
When I die, when I go

The album seems to be a rites-of-passage for Antony. It starts out with him hoping that someone is going to look after him when he dies. A few songs later, he is singing about wanting to grow up to be a woman, but "for today [he] is a boy". He gets some comfort from Boy George*, who he duets with in the stunning album highlight You are my sister. And in the end, he gets his wings ("I'm a bird girl, and the bird girls can fly").

Words cannot do this album justice, you really need to hear it for yourself. If you (like me) are sick to death of soundalike bands releasing derivative crap, and want to hear something original, leave your prejudices at the door and buy this album.

And a few final points in case I haven't convinced you yet:

• This album won the coveted Mercury Prize this year, and it was a controversial win. I'm not going to go into details here, but you gotta love a bit of controversy!
• Music has very rarely given me a physical reaction, but this album has given me goose bumps on several occasions.

* Boy George sounds nothing like you would expect him to sound like on this album. Far removed from his Culture Club days, I didn't know it was him until I read it in the liner notes. He has a stunning voice that complement's Anthony's perfectly.

The Beatles

I have always considered Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to be the most overrated of all Beatles albums. I guess I can't appreciate what kind of impact these albums had, because they were released in 1966 and 1967, and I was born in 1979. Revolver is constantly topping polls as being not only the greatest Beatles album of all time, but the greatest album of all time. And Sgt. Pepper's is always just falling behind.

I have always considered this double album, released in 1968, to be the Beatles' masterpiece. There's a certain degree of irony here, because The Beatles were hardly a collaborative unit by this stage. John was getting confused because he was growing hair in all sorts of unusual places. Paul was jealous that his facial hair never quite looked as good as John's. George was taking this whole Indian thing way too far. And Ringo, well you can't blame the guy for just being himself.

Yes somehow, with all the fighting and copious amounts of drug taking, these four lads from Liverpool released this work of utter genius. The plain white cover does no justice for the beauty that lies within this 90 minutes of music. Many bands find it hard to sustain perfection over an entire album. The Beatles managed to sustain it over a double album of 30 songs.

I could do a track-by-track review of these 30 songs, but not even that would give this album justice. Buy it, listen to it, and be blown away. This is complete aural brilliance.

(What's The Story) Morning Glory?

Disclaimer: This is a review I wrote a while ago, and I'm just importing it into this blog to keep the action going (read: I'm lazy). I'll try to find time to write some new posts.

Yes, I know the Gallagher's are arrogant bastards. I even saw them in concert and discovered that they have the combined personality of a dead goldfish. But with music like this, who cares?

It's pretty popular in this day and age to dislike Oasis. Robbie Williams has turned it into an art form. But there's no denying that Noel Gallagher can write a tune like no other. And Liam turns his big brother's songs into instant classics. Bonehead, Guigsy and Whitey add their own touches, but when it comes down to it, Oasis is a family business.

This album runs like a greatest hits album. Every song is an instant classic. First there's the hits (count them, all six of them). Wonderwall, Don't look back in anger, Morning glory, Champagne supernova, Roll with it, Some might say. All classic singalongs - all pub jukebox staples. This leaves only six tracks. There's two unnamed instrumentals, just so we don't overdose on the brilliant vocals. The remaining songs Hello, Hey now!, Cast no shadow and She's electric could very easily be hits, if Oasis chose to release them.

It's only been downhill for Oasis since this album. Their arrogance reached an all-time high after this album (and its singles) became chart successes. Noel wished AIDS upon Damon Albarn from Blur. Critics ripped through their followup overlong (and underrated) album Be here now. They released their worst album Standing on the shoulder of giants. Heathen chemistry was a return to form only relative to the 2 albums before it, but it was still in a different ballpark to their first 2 albums.

This album remains a testimony to the great band that Oasis were, and may never be again.

London Calling

I have always gone against the popular critical outlook when it comes to double albums by big bands. Many fans and critics, for instance, argued that The White Album would have been better if it were released as a single album. "Sacrilegious!" I say. I can't think of many examples where I prefer a single album by a band who has released a double album. The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, The Clash. Best albums? The White Album, Blonde On Blonde, Exile On Main St., London Calling (respectively). All killer no filler? Well, no. All of these albums have filler, albeit surprisingly little in most cases. Mostly, however, the filler simply adds to the charm of these brilliant albums. Double albums gave artists the much needed breathing space that they didn't have with LPs, allowing them to experiment a little and dip their toes into musical waters they wouldn't normally swim in within the confines of a single LP. Even if a song doesn't work on a double album, the listener can relax, knowing that there's "plenty more when that came from".

London Calling is a very unique double album as it has surprisingly little filler. The Clash took a big risk with this album, releasing a 19-track 65-minute album that went completely against the punk roots of their previous two albums. This album encompasses a sprawling array of musical genres - there's jazz (Jimmy jazz), rockabilly (Brand new cadillac), ska (Hateful, Rudie can't fail, Wrong 'em boyo), reggae (The guns of Brixton), pop (Train in vain, Spanish bombs, Lost in the supermarket), punk (London calling, Clampdown, Death or glory, Koka kola) and even an epic tale of deceit (The card cheat). Yes, this album has it ALL. And unlike their extremely patchy follow up Sandinista, it ALL works.

The 8-song run from Jimmy Jazz to The guns of Brixton is one of the greatest sequences of music ever released. Classics, the lot of them. The tunes! The lyrics! The energy! The passion! On most of the songs on this album, it sounds like these guys are simply having a hell of a lot of fun trying out new stuff. It's like they had all this creative energy bottled up and they exploded this energy on to four sides of vinyl.

All killer no filler? Sure is. And 65 minutes of it to boot!

Blonde On Blonde

At the moment I've got reviews scattered around various places on the web (my old homepage, on Amazon, etc.) I think it's time to start aggregating all this stuff in the one place.

So we'll kickoff with a review (which I wrote a while ago) for one of my favourite albums - Blonde on blonde by Bob Dylan (from 1966).


Robert Allen Zimmerman is a living legend, and this double album release in 1966 is not only his greatest album, but one of the greatest albums released by any artist in the history of music. He has released many brilliant albums in 5 decade career, but in my opinion none has topped this album of lyrical and musical prowess.

It's hard to describe exactly what I love about this album. It's the vibe, man. Dylan called it the thin, wild mercury sound. I just call it a vibe. Take the opening verse of One of us must know. "I didn't mean to treat you soooo baaaaad...You shouldn't take it so perrrrrsonal...I didn't mean to make you soooo saaaad....You just happened to be there, that's all". In the wrong hands, this would come across as sentimental drivel (to quote a Radiohead song). But when Bobby sings it, you believe every word! The longing in his voice...the passion.

This album is full of moments like that. The barroom vibe of the piano at the start of Temporary like achilles. The beautiful intro to 4th time around with the finger-picked chords and harmonica finally giving way to Bobby's longing vocals. The perfectly constructed ditty I want you - just try not tapping your knee this one, just try - I DARE you! Then there are the songs which showed Bobby's warped sense of humour - opener Rainy day women nos 12 & 35 (everybody must get stoned!), Leopard-skin pill-box hat - what IS he singing about? Do we really care when the music rocks this much?

What about epics? Yep, we have them as well. Visions of Johanna, Stuck inside of mobile with the Memphis blues again (and what kind of song title is that anyway?), and the closer Sad eyed lady of the lowlands, which took up an ENTIRE side of the original vinyl. None of these songs, even the 11 minute closer, outstay their welcome.

I could go on this way about every song on this album, but I won't. Let me just say that every song on this album leaves me wanting...no, it leaves me CRAVING more. Craving - that's not a word you see very often in album reviews, is it? But Blonde on blonde is one of the few albums that I CRAVE. Granted, I sometimes have to be in the right mood to listen to it, but when I'm in the zone, nothing quite hits the spot like this one.

And honestly, has anyone ever looked cooler than Bobby does on the cover?

Trout Mask Replica

Out of all the 650+ CDs that I own...this 1969 album by Captain Beefheart is definitely the weirdest one I own.

Just check out the cover:



This is an avant-garde album which supposedly takes many listens to start appreciating. The first listen will undoubtedly astound you, with guitars, drums and bass playing independantly of each other, with no respect to time signatures or even playing in the correct key.

Apparently (and this is where it gets weird) this is all an illusion. Like one of those magic eye pictures where the picture "pops" out at you after staring at it for long enough, the brilliance of this album is supposed to "appear" after giving it enough listens. Ahhh well...those magic eye picture never worked for me, so I'm not sure this will...but I'll keep on giving it a go :-)

After starting to appreciate jazz a bit more, this album doesn't sound as weird as on my first listen, but I still haven't gotten to the stage where I say I love (or even like) this album.

There is no doubting that this is a unique album in the history of rock, so it at least deserves credit for that. And there are some great songs on it: "Moonlight on Vermont" is a brilliant blues song and probably one of the most "normal" tracks on the album (and that's saying a lot). "China pig" is a great slice of raw delta blues. "The blimp (mousetrapreplica)" is hilarious.

I could continue but I won't. Give this a listen. Maybe it'll blow you away. I hope it does the same for me one day.