Music: Misc – Page 3

28 July 202218 December 2022

MUSiC: Rainbow Goblins, Masayoshi Takanaka, 1981

A beautiful cover that really does convey the magic within.

I’ve always loved discovering new music. New to me, that is. I don’t care how old it is. And often I find I like older stuff better than contemporary stuff anyway.

Well, today is a blessed day, that way, as I’ve just stumbled upon the amazing 1981 album Rainbow Goblins, by Japanese guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka.

I only found out about it today. And after listening to a few tracks on YouTube, I decided I had to buy the CD. I’ve ordered a copy via Amazon, and it was a bit pricey for a skint skinflint like me, (Jap import, over £20!). But it’s totally stolen my heart.

The vid’ that took me over the Rainbow.

Indeed, from the little else of Takanaka’s stuff I’ve heard since discovering this, I think I’ll be buying more of his music. But I’ll get to that later. For now I just want to testify to how much I dig this incredible album.

Apparently the album is a concept double album – very prog! – based upon a Children’s’s story, about seven ‘rainbow goblins’. The story, by an Italian (poss a Count!?), Ul de Rico, is where the cover art comes from. I’ve ordered a copy of that as well!

I have to give an honourable mention to arranger Katsu Hoshi, for the strings, and – presumably? – the incredible orchestral Prologue, which sets up this dreamy album perfectly. Is the album credit, in the name ‘Katz’ Hoshi, a sly reference to Steely Dan’s Gary Katz, perhaps?

There’s even an English language spoken narration, by a chap called Roy Garner. For a Brit it’s particularly nice to hear an English narration from beyond these shores that isn’t an American or transatlantic accent. I feel right at home in rainbow goblin land!

The music has a childish and delightfully goofy innocence at times. But as it’s all played by top notch sessionistas and jazz fusion musos, it also has a beautiful late 1970s – think Creed Taylor’s CTI, but filtered through a Japanese Teletubbies filter! – sophistication.

Man, I totally dig it! The music itself runs an appropriately broad and colourful gamut, from the orchestral opening, to the twinkling ambience of Rising Arch, or the hard jazz funk of Seven Goblins or Plumed Bird to the rockier edge of Thunderstorm, or the totally out there fusion of tracks like Rainbow Paradise, which morphs through several genres, and yet defies any single categorisation, this album is quite a trip!

Regarding the last category – ‘all over the map’ – after the nutty ‘goberins, goberins, goberins, goberins…’ vocal intro of Seven Goblins, The Sunset Valley is almost like the kind of music and melodies you might imagine hearing piped into a Japanese shopping mall in the ‘80s! Elsewhere there’s a bit of reggae (Just Chuckle), some Latin vibes… and the whole lot is sprinkled with disco fairy dust, from occasional grooves to the vocoder’d vocals.

As I’ve remarked already… simply astonishing!

Some of Takanaka’s ‘70s recordings feature US players, like Abe Laboriel, Harvey Mason and even the Tower of Power horns. But this amazing album is, I believe, an entirely Japanese affair. And these Kitty cats sure can play!

What a truly sublime and astonishing recording. I’ve definitely found a new love. Oh, and the album artwork is perfect! And how cute is that Kitty record label logo!? I can see that I need to dive deep down the J-Jazz-Fusion wormhole!

FURTHER EXPLORATIONS!?

Takanaka produced a ‘prequel’ White Goblin album, many years later. Might that be any good? I have no idea! But having listened to some stuff from his earlier albums, I’m pretty sure that I’ll really dig them, so his Seychelles, Brazilian Skies, and the sublimely titled An Insatiable High all beckon, as does his 1979 compilation album All Of Me.

25 July 20228 February 2024

MUSiC/ART: Don Van Vliet, ‘67, by Guy Webster

This photo was just shared on Facebook. I love it. Don wasn’t always that photogenic, in my opinion. Interesting to look at, perhaps. But often in a slightly fucked way.

This 1967 portrait by Guy Webster captures the Cap’n looking ice cool, in a be-suited yet beatnik vein. It’s a look that’s aged a lot better than has the acid-casualty freak apparel of the musically terrific Trout/Decals era.

24 July 202218 December 2022

MUSiC: Prince, ‘77… instrumental jazz funk!

I’ve been teaching a few pupils parts of the superb song Tamborine, from Prince’s Around The World In A Day. It’s a great track, full stop. But from a drummer’s perspective? I think it’s sublime.

It’s funny that sometimes it takes someone who’s not primarily a drummer to come up with the greatest drum parts. Think of Jaco on Teen Town, or Prince here. These guys lay down killer grooves, and then pepper them with some of the spiciest fills I’ve ever had the pleasure to chew on.

I think the fact that I had to dial up Tamborine on YouTube numerous times whilst teaching it has the algorithmic predicto-bots deciding I’m looking for more early Prince. And so it was that I came across the music linked to above.

Apparently it was a trio of Prince, with bassists Cymone, and drummer Bobby Z. And Prince was just 19, at this point! It’s a fascinating and enjoyable listen.

7 July 202224 June 2024

MUSiC: Dan-tastic!? Two Bits of Intriguing Steely News…

Released over 50 years later than planned!

Two bits of intriguing Steely Dan/Donald Fagen related news: 1) I Mean To Shine, by Linda Hoover, has been released, after over 50 years in the vaults, and 2) Peter Jones’ Nightfly, a biography of Donald Fagen, is due out in September.

I’ll be reading this when it ‘drops’, as the kids these days say!

Will either be any good? I don’t know. But I’m willing to give both a try, and to find out. Will Amazon offer free Vine copies to everyone but me, as they do with my other main interests (from Napoleon and Hitler to Tintin and Haddock!)? Who knows!

Hoover’s album, recorded in 1970, and featuring Becker, Fagen, ‘Skunk’ Baxter, and five numbers written by the ‘indomitable duo’, pre-Dan, was masterminded by Dan man, Gary Katz.

Tragically for Hoover, Roulette Records label owner ‘Mo’ Levy – not known for treating his acts right – angrily pulled the plug on the whole thing when he discovered publishing rights for almost all of the tunes resided elsewhere. And, ironically, whatever nascent flames I Mean To Shine might’ve promised Hoover, were snuffed out.

Obviously Don, Walt, Skunk, Katz and co. were more persistent and, ultimately, successful, as we all know. Hoover, now 71, has had a long wait for another chance to reach folk with her music and, perhaps, shine.

The only time I’ve encountered genuine 24 carat Steely Dan gold in an unexpected place is when I learned that ‘Canadian Star’ – a beautiful instrumental track by Dr Strut on their self-titled 1979 album (on Motown, no less!) – was in fact a Becker/Fagen composition.

Once you know Canadian Star is The Dan, it’s sooo obvious. The lush chords, the serpentine melodies, the fantastic arrangement. It’s a tribute to the artistry of Dr Strut that they had both the chops and the soul to lay down such a great rendition.

I have this on vinyl. Can’t recall when I last actually listened to it!

Other forays into the ‘early’ musical adventures of the cats who would become The Dan have been less rewarding. For example, an album called The Roots of Steely Dan, and another, You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It, are both distinctively underwhelming.

I haven’t heard I Mean To Shine yet… not sure whether to buy the CD (£14), the MP3 album (£8), or just stream online? Hmmm…

1 July 202218 December 2022

MUSiC: Anderson Paak – House of Vans, 27/6/‘22

Aaaaarrrgh!!! How, or why, do I nearly always miss this stuff!?

I’ve only recently discovered Paak, and have really been digging some of his music. And his drumming, and whole effervescent vibe, are just so joyful and enjoyable.

Dig the wig! (Photo: mikepalmer.photo, used with permission)

And seeing him in a big curly haired wig, wearing flares? And that huge toothy grin!? There’s a really joyful reverberation of the whole late ‘60s early ‘70s hippy vibe coming through. Which I love.

As annoyed as I am that I missed this gig, at least it’s up on YouTube:

26 June 202218 December 2022

FAMiLY: Helen & Mike’s Wedding

The happy couple, and family, in a truly magnificent setting.

Saturday, June 25th, saw the much-postponed wedding of my cousin Helen Charlston, to Michael Craddock, finally taking place. In the truly sublime setting of Trinity College Cambridge, no less!

Getting into Cambridge and parking, etc, can be quite tricky these days. I’d assumed we’d park in the Park St car park, near The Round Church. But that’s been shut! Due to be demolished and re-developed, apparently.

In the end things went smoothly enough. We allowed plenty of time, and were very lucky to arrive and find someone leaving the otherwise totally full Shire Hall car park. We could’ve walked from there. But Teresa, in new heels, was adamant that we take a taxi.

Sat outside Fitzbillie’s, feeling a little overdressed in the hot weather!

This we duly did. And we were dropped off just outside a new(-ish?) branch of Fitzbillie’s, where we had a latte and a bacon sandwich. Mmm… scrummy! We really ought to have had at least one of their legendary Chelsea buns. But with a big wedding meal in wait, we thought it best not to.

None of my photos (all taken on my old iPhone) of the chapel – the ‘pano’ pic I took is so glitchy I’m not sharing it – do the setting justice. Which is a pity. What a glorious venue for a wedding! And apparently Trinity very rarely grant anyone the privileged permission to use their facilities for weddings. So, quite how Mike and Helen wangled it, despite being College alumni, I don’t know.

The ceremony and readings were a perfect fit for the venue. And made the occasion feel very special. Hannah King’s Maya Angelou reading struck a different note to the other more trad’ Christian ones. Was that down to Angelou’s words, or King’s own allure/charisma?

My biggest regret of the day is opting not to record the 40-part performance of Thomas Tallis’ Spem In Alium. It’s a piece of music I adore. And not what one expects to hear at a wedding! And it was a terrific performance. Owain Park really milked the final chords, almost like a ‘big rock ending’. Powerful stuff!

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that Helen and Michael are both pro’ singers, the music during the ceremony was tremendous. From the organ parts, kind of what you do expect at a wedding, to the baroque ensemble with recorders and viol de gamba, and the anticipated Gesualdo presence, right up to the massive and less obvious Tallis ‘number’, the musical aspect made a special day even more magical.

On this day, the Gesualdo Six were, for obvious reasons, The Gesualdo Five!

It was also interesting, for me, as a former Christian, to experience (again) the intensity of High Anglican Christianity, in its rich and powerful religious form. I was never in this sort of church, growing up (Baptist and Evangelical, etc). It’s weird, when one is amongst a flock who know their hymns!

Some aspects of the religious side of this day – and for some it’s doubtless just rites and tradition, for others, perhaps, a staunchly held belief? – were really lovely, beautiful even. But whenever confronted with the conformity of faith part of me rebels and is deeply troubled. But I set that part aside for Mike and Helen’s (and everyone else’s) sake.

After the wedding ceremony, which was really lovely. There was a brief hiatus, before drinks and canapés in the normally off-limits Fellows’ Garden. How often I would look into this space from the bridge over the Cam nearby, and wish I might be amongst the elect. And on this day, we were!

I made a conscious effort to chat with folk I didn’t know. I started with some of the singers and musicians, feeling that perhaps we might have some common ground. Not just in knowing Mike, Helen, Terry, etc, but even as musicians!

Later on, at the fabulous dinner, in the very opulent dining hall, this theme of chatting with strangers continued. And it was actually one of the really nice things about the day as a whole.

And by some providential accident, Teresa and I were at the ‘top table’ end of one of the three massive rows of tables. With a terrific view of everything. And, ‘by ‘eck!’ the chow was top-notch. As was the wine. The whole meal passed in a long rapturous reverie of chat and delicious grub!

We were still ‘in hall’ and ‘at table’ when the time we’d expected to leave came and went (my mum and Hannah and co did leave at this point). But we were enjoying proceedings, and opted to tag along to The Cambridge Union, for more drinks, dancing, and whatever.

At this point, I did begin to flag. I managed a beer, and a little bit of dancing, before more or less flaking out! Some food arrived. Which was great, and very nearly put the pep back in my step. Teresa wanted to stay longer. She was evidently less washed out than I felt! But in the end, probably around 10pm, we bad the happy couple and the few family and friends we knew good night.

By the time we got home we’d been out over 12 hours. That’s not something, in the social way of things, either of us are used to any more!

Anyway, to finish… if you have a beverage to hand, raise it, and toast the happy couple, Helen and Mike!

18 April 20228 February 2024

BOOK REViEW: Cowboy Song, Graeme Thomson

I’ve loved Thin Lizzy, and consequently Phil Lynott, ever since I was first introduced to them, somewhere between the ages of 10-12 years old, by a girl I briefly dated. Thanks, Heidi!

A cassette of a greatest hits compilation – The Adventures of Thin Lizzy – was the way I was introduced to this group. Wild One and Whiskey In The Jar were the first to really take root. Within a year or two I was collecting their albums. And now, almost 40 years later, I still love Lizzy and Lynott.

This was my intro’ to all things Lizzy/Lynott.

My sister got me this book for my 50th (thanks, Hannah!), and I’ve just finished reading it. I’m glad Graeme Thomson and I share a view of Lynott that appreciates his broader sweep. The ’rise and dear demise’ of Lynott’s own ‘funky nomadic tribe’ – that’ll be Lizzy – is shockingly brief, and distressingly riddled with patchy fortunes.

Like many biogs on artists in many varied fields, the most enchanting and exciting stuff is kind of front-loaded: childhood, and the ‘getting into it’ being periods full of promise. Thomson covers all this very well.

I don’t agree with all his judgements on Lizzy’s recordings – we’re probably roughly agreed on the naive and varied charms of the first three albums – but I clearly like and rate Nightlife and Fighting rather more highly than Thomson.

I adore this record. One of my early
acquisitions

I’m perhaps a little more aligned with his views on the decline of the group, but not entirely. Bad Reputation is terrific. For me, and despite Gary Moore (and ‘Sarah’), Black Rose is the start of the decline. Chinatown’s not the best. But it’s not so bad.

Given that I’m a bit of a Lizzy nut, I confess I hardly know Renegade; the fact I’ve had it for decades and almost never listen to it says something!

Even though it arrived when things were already going badly, I actually quite like Thunder And Lightning. Although I have to agree with Thomson, and admit that with Sykes on boards it did all get a bit too ‘eavy metal’. But with Cold Sweat and The Sun Goes Down, it ain’t all bad!

Lynott died the day before I turned 14. I’d really only just discovered him and Thin Lizzy! I was only very dimly aware of it at the time. I was sad, I do remember that much, but I had very little knowledge of his truly grim and tragic decline. And for me he was very much alive, via the music.

Reading about this latter part of Lynott’s life is not much fun. It’s such a cliché! So sad to see a man of so much talent and such polyglot tendencies gradually reducing themselves to an unpleasant caricature.

And one always feels a mix of why didn’t folk help more? Along with a realisation that those bent on self destruction might very well be beyond help. So sad!

But, despite the inevitability of the way the story ends, I’d still thoroughly recommend this book, esp’ for the first two-thirds to three-quarters, which are a rollicking good read, documenting an exciting man and the great music he and his chums made.

Of course I’d also recommend either acquainting yourself with Lynott and Lizzy, if they’re new to you. Or, if you already dig ‘em, revisiting the terrific musical legacy they left us all.

As a footnote, another area where I think I may well differ from Thomson is regarding Lynott’s two solo records. The first, Solo in Soho hasn’t aged particularly well, to my ears. But The Philip Lynott Album? It’s a stone cold underground classic!

A recurrent theme (or sub-text, perhaps?) throughout this book takes note of how Lynott was never really the one-dimensional hard man rocker that a part of his own personal mythology might have folk believe.

Early Thin Lizzy, from their eponymous debut right up to Jailbreak, and perhaps even more so The Philip Lynott Album, show the musical magpie or chameleon that gradually faded away from the Lizzy side of the equation.

Lynott with Frank Murray, who’s quoted frequently in the book.*

Apparently there are about 500 unreleased Thin Lizzy tracks, or demos. I’m not sure if this figure includes the many Lynott side projects and/or misc collab’s? For example at one point it’s noted that he had a bit of a private funk period. I’d love to hear that stuff!

Anyway, in conclusion, an excellent biography of an interesting man, talented artist, and, for better or worse, ‘rock legend’!

* These pics are not in Thomson’s book.

28 January 202222 January 2023

MEDiA: Waterwalker, 1984

Wow! I do love YouTube, for giving us all the chance to stumble across gems such as this. Thanks also to the NFB, or National Film Board of Canada.

Bill Mason, who made this film, and ‘stars’ in it, is Canadian. I have Canadian family and ancestry, on my dad’s side. So these facts set up something of a sympathetic resonance for me.

Then there’s Bill Mason himself, the man: he is, or rather was, an outdoorsman and artist, who made, I’ve subsequently discovered, numerous utterly gorgeous and fascinating films, of which this is one of the best.

The chief charms of this are simple yet kaleidoscopically rich, like the environment in which the film is set, on and around Lake Superior.

One of the things Bill addresses, a vexed issue for me, is spirituality. This was the only note struck in this otherwise perfect reverie of sound and vision, nature and culture, that – if not necessarily jarring – gave me pause for some (Indian!?) reservations.

But I’d like to take this post as an opportunity to consider a few things, and there are many, that this film either touches upon directly, or stirred in me by association.

First there are the ‘renaissance man’ and self-reliance aspects. Bill, who formerly worked as a ‘commercial artist’, was a conservationist, famed canoeist, artist, writer, family man, and all sorts. I love all of that! I have my own aspirations to living a multi-faceted life. Richer, one hopes -not fiscally perhaps, but in other better more important ways – than the monomaniac furrows our society drills us into pursuing.

So, there are many things Bill’s example encourages: to spend more time in, and pay more attention to, nature, and indeed all our environments. Art, get up, and out, and make some. Buy or build a canoe; get out and start messing about in the water!

It was also interesting to learn that Bill’s health wasn’t terrific. A sickly child, he has severe asthma all his life. And yet he didn’t allow this to stop him from adventuring. Maybe his derring-do contributed to his early demise? But then again, maybe not? And at least he lived a rich and inspiring life while he lived.

Some might laugh reading this next bit. And it may indeed sound facile. But I truly couldn’t care less! And that’s the fact that I like his style. And I’ve gone as far as to add elements of it – some were already there, others just a little tweak in already beloved themes – to my own sartorial repertoire.

I already had the neckerchiefs (though mine are too small!), and brown leather walking boots, and many a checked shirt. But the red outdoorsman socks are new! And so too is the very particular red and black check ‘lumberjack’ shirt!

Bill’s particular style of art – he favours palette knives over brushes, and cites J. M. W. Turner as his chief inspiration and influence – is terrific, albeit not entirely to my normal tastes. But that he does it all, is inspiration. It was interesting to see that he, like myself and several artists I’ve known personally, is highly self-critical bout his work, and often destroys what others. Might regard as decent work, because he’s unhappy with it.

Then there’s music. In other Mason films he strums guitar or plays harmonica. It amazingly, one might add. And his family aren’t exactly fulsome in their appreciation (does this remind any of us of our own domestic musical life? Or is it just me!?). But for Waterwalker, the music is supplied by (?) and (?). (?) is a star in his own right. And the music totally suits the subject!

Some of it, such as the actual ‘theme tune’, might induce cringing amongst some listeners. I’d understand why. It has a ‘new agey’ earnestness. But I love it.

Another facet of the whole thing that some might find they react to differently than I do, is the whole tenor of it all. It’s definitely dreamy, romantic, and perhaps even somewhat solipsistic? And it’s no surprise such movies helped created a cult of Bill Mason. But as a ‘fellow traveller’, and sympathetic romantic introvert soul-mate, I love it all. As did critics, numerous of his films, inc’ this one, winning a variety of awards and accolades.

Also interesting to me, is how stuff like this leaches into other areas. For example, I noticed, whilst watching a recent Jack Stratton ‘Holy Trinity’ episode, on YouTube, that he had created a logo and a whole invented Vulf Films thing suspiciously akin to the Canadian NFB (National Film Board) doodad.

Just as Bill Mason’s film is simultaneously about following one’s own individual and sometimes lonely paths, it’s also about connections. Be they to nature, or each other, immediate or indirect. Love it!

21 January 202218 December 2022

MUSiC: Moonshake, CAN

On the four track Future Days, embedded amongst three giant sprawling liquid psychedelic sound sculptures, is this little gem, CAN’s only real ‘hit single’.

As usual, Jaki Leibezeit grooves like a mother. How any drummer can make such a simple part so difficult to emulate is astonishing. It’s all in the feel. Truly awesome.

CAN’s fourth album, a complete *meisterwerk*!

Holger Czukay shows that less really CAN be more, and Michael Karoli supplies one of his best rhythm guitar parts; melodic, funky, and fairly unique in the CAN canon. Irvin Schmidt’s keys pepper the piece with perfect piquancy, and there’s a solo – a music concrete solo, no less – that is an absolute masterpiece.

And this track got them on ze German hit parade! Crazy times, eh!? Can you imagine this charting anywhere in the world now? Only in the private top-tens of the cognoscenti!

21 January 202218 December 2022

MUSiC: Lucky, Lewis Taylor (Acoustic)

The recent news from Lewis Taylor Central, via FaceBook and YouTube and his own (rather minimal) website, of a new album due out in 2022, has got me revisiting LT’s reasonably extensive back catalogue.

And in amongst that very varied body of work, this stands out, for numerous reasons. Firstly it’s a track from his self-titled debut album (released in ‘96!). But here it’s a much more stripped down take (which, going by the accompanying artwork, came out as part of the 2004 Limited Edition release).

I don’t know that I might not prefer this version? The album recording is brilliant. But somehow this more minimal version reveals quite starkly how strong a song it is. It also sounds more vulnerable, less cocky and swaggering, than the fuller rendition (these latter effects were also amplified by the videos made for the song at the time).

Okay, the artwork thumbnail for this (and some other LT recordings) is pretty dreadful, not at all suggestive of the musical brilliance it represents. Is or was LT doing all his own art works and videos as well? Or was or is someone helping out? Some of the recent videos are superb. A great example being his reworking of the Bee Gees Night Fever.

Anyway, I’m super excited at the prospect of a whole album’s worth of new Lewis Taylor to feast upon. I think I’ll do a separate post on that, and the teaser video he’s put up that contains various snippets of some of the new material.

My only slight reservation – not with this version of Lucky, as the following doesn’t apply – is one I’ve had with his music all along, and in particular his ‘one man band’ stuff – massively impressive as it is – and that is (perhaps unsurprisingly, me being a drummer) the programmed beats.

Didn’t he have Gavin Harrison, Frank Tontoh and Ash Soan, amongst others, contribute rhythms at various times? Do the fans need to run a Patreon campaign to fundraise the budget for real drums and percussion on future recordings? … Just a thought!

But for now, re this post, and this version of Lucky, just sit back, put some headphones on, and luxuriate in the rich sonic repast LT serves up. Stunning!