IN DREAMS by ROY ORBISON (1963, Monument Records)

IN DREAMS is Roy's the fourth full album, his second on Monument following his departure from the legendary Sun Records. It contains arguably his best song, the title track.

'In Dreams' is an operatic ballad of lost love with a unique structure that builds through seven verses, no choruses and ends on a heroic crescendo. Orbison's powerful voice rises through two octaves to end as a vulnerable falsetto. It's an incredible song and performance which is given even greater weight by the tragedies that beset Orbison only a few years later. 

His Wife Claudette was killed in 1966 in a road accident and only two years later his two oldest sons were killed in a house fire in the family home at Henderson, Texas. The remains of the house were actually bought by Orbison's friend and Sun Records label mate Johnny Cash bought who planted a memorial fruit orchard on it. 

Knowing these tragedies it gives Roy's words added poignancy:

"But just before the dawn

I awake and find you gone

I can't help it...I can't help it

If I cry

I remember

That you said goodbye

To end all these things

And I'll be happy in my dreams

Only in dreams

In beautiful dreams"

'In Dreams' was a big hit back in 1963 while Orbison toured the UK with The Beatles. It was supposed to be an Orbison headline tour but given that Beatlemania was sweeping the nation it was the mop tops frequently headlined, Orbison graciously agreeing to support. But according to Beatles biographer Philip Norman  "As Orbison performed, chinless and tragic, The Beatles stood in the wings, wondering how they would dare to follow him". The audience demanded Orbison play for double the time he was scheduled for. After many encores Lennon and McCartney refused to allow by Roy back on stage, physically holding him back.

25 years later while his career was in the doldrums the song got a new lease of life. In the David Lynch movie Blue Velvet, Dennis Hopper's murderous psychopath Frank Booth is obsessed with the song. We also see Dean Stockwell's character lip-syncing along. Orbison initially refused the songs usage but Lynch ignored him and used it anyway. 

IN DREAMS is worth having for this track alone but there are plenty more classic Orbison cuts on here. In fact if its 'classic' 60s Orbison your after, get this rather than one of the numerous Greatest Hits packages.

It also features the excellent 'Shahdaroba' which appeared in a recent episode of Mad Men, the country-tinged boogie 'Sunset', his cover of the Everly Brothers hit 'All I Have To Do Is Dream' and the southern lament 'Blue Bayou'. IN DREAMS ends as it began with another operatic crescendo, 'My Prayer'. (the iTunes albums also contains sone classic bonus tracks like 'Falling' but we'll skirt over these modern bolt-ons as they weren't part of the original vinyl LP)

Between 1960 and 1964 Orbison racked up 22 top 40 singles on the US Billboard charts and as IN DREAMS comes smack in the middle of this period, it is quite simply, vintage Orbison.

IN DREAMS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbxsmcT7GOk

SHADAROBA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXe3gnBsg0o

SUNSET

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKL9nateWjc

ONE DAY I'M GOING TO SOAR by DEXYS (2012, Mercury)

And so after a 27 year break, two lacklustre solo albums, financial and mental meltdowns Kevin Rowland finally returns with the band that made his name and they've made a great record that stands up against the previous three. 

Returning with three previous Dexy's members "Big" Jim Paterson, Pete Williams, Mick Talbot and a gaggle of new recruits they have fashioned a album of raw and unrefined soul delivered in Rowland's unique way. Sure he's not a great singer in a conventional fashion, but that was never the point with Dexy's. It's soul delivered with the punk DIY attitude. Passion and commitment over ability.

Much of the album seems to deal with Rowland's paranoia and erratic behavioural tendencies, most obviously in tracks like 'Me', 'Lost' and 'I'm Always Going to Love You'.

'She's Got A Wiggle', despite having a throwaway title, is the kind of dark and sultry soul track Al Green would have recorded back in his heyday, as is 'Thinking of 'You' which has a gorgeous sax solo at then end. Stunning. 

The one criticism I have of the record is Rowland's dieting partner, singer Madeleine Hyland. She has a strong voice but being from an musical theatre background some of her performances a bit, well, acted. On the relationship breakdown of 'I'm Always Going To Love You' the performance just isn't convincing. Never for a moment do you believe that she and Kevin are a warring couple. But despite this minor gripe though its still one of the best tracks on the album, and infuriatingly catchy. 

Apparently there's an episode of The Simpsons where Homer prophesies that "you haven't heard the last of Dexy's Midnight Runners". Gladly he was right. A great return.

SHE'S GOT A WIGGLE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzs3anrUOyA

FREE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_XUWQym-wg

I'M ALWAYS GOING TO LOVE YOU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9ehNquC4y4

PLUMB by FIELD MUSIC (2012, Memphis Industries)

There are some records that no matter how hard you try, you just can't get. 

Mercury nominated this year (though unlikely to beat Alt-J) PLUMB is Field Music's fourth album.

Less an album of songs, more a record of abstract sketches and musical doodles many barely lasting more than a minute or two. It's a bit like listening to The Beatles White Album but with all the good stuff removed and being left with only the bits when the Fab Four were fucking around.

How would you describe their sound? It's a mixture of Beatles or ELO pop with a touch of Devo angular avant-garde and a heavy dose of Beta Band experimentation. Musically Field Music are very inventive. They pack more ideas into two minutes than most bands would cram into an entire album. Every track is brimming over with something new and complex. Whilst you can be full of admiration for what they've create you can also be very irritated. 

The funny thing is for a band that are clearly trying so hard to create new sounds and explore new ideas Field Music sounds very, very retro.

If be lying if I said there weren't some enjoyable moments such as 'Sorry Again, Mate', 'Start The Day Right' and 'Guillotine' but generally speaking, this is the most annoying album I've heard in ages. 

SORRY AGAIN, MATE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEVCnxgkX1k

GUILLOTINE 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2fbqpB5yc4

START THE DAY RIGHT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6SdE4dDhkw

JARVIS by JARVIS COCKER (2006, Rough Trade)

As solo debuts go it's an absolute belter. Reinvigorated by freedom from the constrains of leading Pulp JARVIS is the sound of Cocker having the time of his life. The final two Pulp albums contained some great moments ('A Little Soul' a personal favourite) but they weren't much fun. Here Cocker let's go like he's not since Different Class.

Barbed and bitchy lyrics as you'd expect from Sheffield's greatest living poet, delivered with relish and all set to some brilliant catchy melodies and pure pop arrangements.

There are some standout Cocker witticisms. 'Don't Let Him Waste Your Time' is a warning call to all the ladies out there being strung along by  dastardly men: "because the years go by in an instant / and you wonder what he's waiting for/ and then some skinny bitch walks by in some hot pants / and he's a-running out the door"

But the most deliciously nasty tidbits are tucked away on the best track on album, incredibly it's hidden twenty minutes after the end of the final official song. On 'C*nts Are Still Running The World' Jarvis  sings "Well did you hear there's a natural order / those most deserved will always end up with the most / That the cream cannot help but always rise up to the top / well I say, shit floats..." and he has much more to say than that. It's an "anthropologically unjust" anthem for our our age and enough to justify Cocker appear on Question Time every week. Forever. Shame the naughty language will mean more people won't hear it really.

Elsewhere there are big stonking indie-rock choruses like the meaty 'Black Magic' and 'Fat Children' or 'Heavy Weather', a singalong number that could have been the catchy theme tune to an '80s starring Dennis Waterman sitcom. And I mean that in a good way.

JARVIS is the sound of Britain's most articulate pop star in his fittest, funniest and filthiest form of his career. Fab.

BLACK MAGIC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmuGTcegJak

HEAVY WEATHER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQsK91vV_io

C*NTS ARE STILL RUNNING THE WORLD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRGGbyZzuTg

A LOVE SUPREME by JOHN COLTRANE (1965, Impulse!)

Just how cool does Coltrane look on the cover? Man he's intense. But then so would you be if you were having a conversation with God through your saxophone!

The influence of the album is huge not only among Jazz fanatics but religious ones too. After Coltrane's death, congregants at the Yardbird Temple, in San Francisco, began worshipping Coltrane as God incarnate. Incidentally the Temple was named for Charlie 'Bird' Parker, whom they equated to John the Baptist. The "Coltrane church", incorporates Coltrane's music and his lyrics as prayers in its liturgy. Although sadly they've had to reduce Coltrane from God to a saint to get recognition by the African Orthodox Church which governs it. I'm not sure if I were a God that I'd be happy about being demoted by a committee. I mean who in Zeus' name do this humans think they are?

A LOVE SUPREME is a deeply spiritual album. It's a suite of four parts: 'Acknowledgement', 'Resolution', 'Pursuance', and 'Psalm.' For Coltrane the album represents a personal struggle for purity physically and in his art. Pushing his creativity to its limits and his desire to stay clean from his heroin addiction. He's also said to be expressing gratitude for his God given talents. 

It melds the hard bop style with the free jazz approach he adopted on his later recordings, but even for a Trane novice like me it's an easy album become addicted to. It's hypnotic.

Early in 'Acknowledgement' once the opening gong has quietened Coltrane's early soft solo has quietened we're introduced to the 4 note motif that over the course of the next thirty minutes will repeat, evolve and expand. We first hear it from Jimmy Garrison's double bass, but it's there throughout played by all three other musicians, Coltrane on Sax, McCoy Tyler on piano and broadly speaking by Elvin Jones on drums. The four notes a the rhythm equating the syllables of "a love supreme", and by the end of the first part the music has evolved into the four actual words - we hear Coltrane's deep voice intoning them over and over like a religious mantra. Deep, warm, calm but authoritative it's the voice of God we all imagine.

From here on in proceedings loosen up and we're treated to some extraordinary solos, in particular those by Jones and Tyler at the beginning of 'Pursuance'. Whilst it's Coltrane's name on the cover and undoubtedly the piece is his composition, all four musicians get plenty of room to showcase their extraordinary talents.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qagOblqhBhk

RESOLUTION 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6pSffe4k60

PURSUANCE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRm6xG0agtE

PSALM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1xe7FDsQWY

HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR by HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR (2008, DFA)

Hercules & Love Affair is the musical project of New York based DJ Andy Butler. Intended as group that would use a rotating mixture of musicians and singers it's most notable inclusion is the highly distinctive vocalist Antony Hegarty from Antony & The Johnsons.

Its a re-imagining of decadent days of disco. Its musically rich and lush, heavily layered effects and instruments at times to the extent that it sounds like one of Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra albums -especially the ebullient Hercules Theme. The record it mixes house, disco, electro, 70s funk and Chicago house often with Latin rhythms. It's a very New York sounding record. 

But like Hot Chip an LCD Sound System Hercules mixes upbeat electronic music with melancholic lyrics and vocals which is where the inclusion of Hegarty comes into his own. Without a doubt the tracks that  feature his lyrics and tremulous vocals are the most distinctive and memorable; the betrayal song 'Free Will' and the euphoric club-classic 'Blind'. 

The first half is upbeat and fun but as you move into the second half of the album things do get a little darker and introspective. As if echoing the rise and fall of the NY disco scene the party euphoria turning into dance-floor psychosis. 

BLIND

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zW9R9sj894

YOU BELONG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4x9XrMRjgQ&feature=relmfu

HERCULES' THEME

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Lnt0DN2fBQ

THE COST by THE FRAMES (2006, ANTI-)

Musician, actor, songwriter, busker, Oscar-Winner. Glen Hansard has managed all of these things yet remains largely unknown outside his native Ireland. His band, The Frames, have been staples of the Irish rock scene since they formed in 1990. The band get their name from Hansard's other obsession which was fixing bike frames. His garden was apparently a graveyard for bikes and his neighbours used to refer to their home as "the house with the frames". Much to his mum's chagrin. 

Outside Ireland Hansard is perhaps best known for his role in low-budget but brilliant indie movie 'Once'. It's a naturalistic 'musical' based around a Brief Encounter between a Dublin street musician cum 'Hoover-fixer' (Hansard) and a Czech flower seller (Markéta Irglová). Sounds awful doesn't it? Yet it's sweetly romantic, witty and hugely affecting with great soundtrack written by Hansard and Irglová. Some of those songs are fleshed out here by the full band.

The Frames make frequent use of slow builds into big anthemic choruses, the trick used ad nauseum by Coldplay and Snow Patrol. Somehow it feels less crassly commercial and obvious here. Perhaps it's because Hansard is a superior wordsmith to either Chris Martin or Gary Lightbody whose lyrics frequently read like GCSE poetry. Perhaps it's because the record isn't overly produced and smothered with Brian Eno's effects, you can hear every instrument cleanly. Every high-hat, every chiming guitar note.  It's also because Hansard's voice has a natural, human quality. It's powerful when it needs to be as on the roaring chorus to 'When Your Mind's Made Up' but also fragile and delicate elsewhere.

The Oscar winning 'Falling Slowly' and 'When Your Mind's Made Up' are the songs re-worked from the Once soundtrack. Though they lose none of their emotional quality with a full band. Hansard gives a committed delivery of his confessional lyrics.

The album sags a little in the middle with the dreary title song 'The Cost'. It's also fair to say that 'True' is a little too close to Radiohead's 'Climbing The Walls' for comfort, although it's still a captivating song and performance. 

Hansard sings on the country-tinged 'Sad Songs' that "too many sad words make for sad, sad songs". He's right. But they also make for a bittersweet and enjoyable forty minutes.

SAD SONGS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=840_v_nS2ec

FALLING SLOWLY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPXkSQIba1Y&feature=relmfu

TRUE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWZjz9PJxiI&feature=relmfu

COOL STRUTTIN' by SONNY CLARK (1957, Blue Note)

Jazz pianist Sonny Clark never made it past his 31st birthday but this record  has gone on to be revered as one of the definitive, if not the definitive, Hard bop records.

Sonny died in 1963 of a heart attack but many think it was actually a drug overdose that killed him. Sonny was a heroine addict. As a musician he'd played with many of the best accompanying singers such as Dinah Washington and Billie Holliday, as a sidesman for the likes of Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane. He also recorded with Charles Mingus and Sonny Rollins.

COOL STRUTTIN was released within a year of Kind of Blue, the biggest selling Jazz record of all time. But while Kind of Blue focuses on modal forms, COOL STRUTTIN focuses squarely on the blues. At the time it see to have largely been forgotten and it wasn't till much later that it gained an appreciation amongst a new generation of fans. In the 1970s there was a thriving jazz scene in Japan where the patrons of jazz cafes (jazz kissa) would hunt out rare Hard Bop records. COOL STRUTTIN took on second life, prompting Blue Note Japan to re-release it and it's reputation and that of Clark, have only grown since.

The recoding also features Trumpet Player Art Farmer and Jackie McLeanon Alto Sax. Both had played together on other blues bands for many years and the chemistry between them is tangible, especially on their interplay during 'Sippin' at Bells'. It also includes two members of the Miles Davis quintet drummer Philly Joe Jones and bassist Paul Chambers who do a great job laying down a steady beat for the soloists, whilst also getting their own moments in the spotlight.

Not only is this record cool, but its also fresh and innocently exuberant. It's a clean jazz record, perfectly crisp and box fresh  smart. But it's swinging too, and zips along with buzz and a bounce.

BLUE MINOR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIiPyhQNSyg&feature=relmfu

COOL STRUTTIN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkEqSgKzFZE

SIPPIN' AT BELLES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ydyapZ_-jA&feature=related

I WANT TO SEE THE BRIGHT LIGHTS TONIGHT by RICHARD & LINDA THOMPSON (1974, Island)

The second solo album by former Fairport Convention singer was largely ignored upon its release but has gone on to be revered as a cult classic even turning up in the hallowed pages of Rolling Stone among their greatest albums of all time lists - in like a rocket at No. 479!

Though it was recorded in a matter of days it sat on a shelf waiting to be released for nearly eight-months while the record company decided what to do with it. Rumour has it this was partly to do with the early '70s oil shortages which put a premium on the cost of producing vinyl.

While Thompson's first album was a purely solo affair, this was the first to feature his then new wife, formerly Linda Peters, herself already well known on the UK folk scene. I WANT TO SEE THE BRIGHT LIGHTS TONIGHT runs the full gamut from rock through to twee English folk but is mostly dark and brooding in tone. The tracks are a mixture of duets, and solo pieces with either Thompson taking the vocals. 

Linda's sad vocals are mesmerising on the mellow 'Down Where the Drunkards Roll' and the 'Has He Got A Friend For Me', and especially haunting on acrobatically themed 'The Great Valerio' when set to Richard's sparse acoustic guitar picking. It makes a dramatic and stunning climax to the album. 

Other highlights are the singalong chorus of opening track 'When I Get To The Border' and the track 'I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight' where a brass section compliment Linda's vocals.

Sure, there are some tracks that haven't aged terribly well. 'We Sing Hallelujah' has a "hey nonny nonny" barn dance vibe to it. Reminds me of my compulsory country dancing lessons at my West Country primary school. Very 'ye olde English'.

Generally though it's an impressive album and among the very best of British folk rock.

WHEN I GET TO THE BORDER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEk-wjil1rA

THE GREAT VALERIO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXYi_jHYZZo

I WANT TO SEE THE BRIGHT LIGHTS TONIGHT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57PENuNVapc

AMERICAN SLANG by THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM (2010, SideOneDummy Records)

Business as usual for The Gaslight Anthem. Springsteen-anthems with a punkier edge. The first album of theirs I heard was The '59 Sound which I loved. It starts brilliantly with a triple whammy of great tunes and the does pretty well to sustain the blue-collar euphoric rock the Springsteen is known for.

Two more albums along and I'm afraid it's all begging to wear a bit thin. The problem is there's a lack of new ideas. The music is good but there's zero progression from one album to the next. They all sound exactly like the last. I'm not expecting Bowie-like complete reinvention on ever album but they need to move things on a bit to avoid becoming stale. The problem is they are so in the thrawl of their inspiration and New Jersey favourite son that they're never going to brave enough to try something new and exciting. They're sounding increasingly old hat. 

I also saw The Gaslight Anthem at Brixton Academy last night and I was massively dissapointed. Very little stage presence and the songs really blurred from one into the next. The band looked for all their worth like a bar room band that had got lucky. Perhaps that's exactly what they are. To be fair the sound quality wasn't great especially on Brian Fallon's vocals which were quite distorted at times. The space between songs was filled with the noise of a talking audience so I can only assume I wasn't the only one bored. That said my company for the evening was excellent!

Fallon has a great voice that manages to sound both fragile and rough. He looks the part too, but he until he delivers a collection of more memorable songs I think The Gaslight Anthems will never be more than mediocre Springsteen copyists. 

As for this particular record I thought I'd give in another go in the cold light of day. I'm struggling to choose tracks of it.'American Slang' is good but after that it all begins to sound very derivative. If your interested give it a listen, but failing that go back and check out previous album THE '59 SOUND, especially the title track and 'Great Expectations'. If I'd done the same this morning I might be writing a more favourable blog.

AMERICAN SLANG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAqbnTKQBIY

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Leo9HSaGQ

THE '59 SOUND

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1lq40tR72Q

RED BOX SECRETS by PALE MAN MADE (2012, Odd Box Records)

It's been a good year for guitar jangle. We've had Allo Darling, Evans the Death and now another little identikit indie-schmindie band bursting with pop sensibilities. 

Newcastle's PALE MAN MADE are another C86 inspired band that make use of cheerily chiming guitars, the occasional bit o' fuzz and sweet vocals. They're a mixture of Pastels, Teenage Fanclub with a little Dinosaur Jr. tossed in too. Its proper indie like they use to make back in the good ol' days when guitar bands were true underachievers and hopeful that they might scrape the Top 40 ("And a new entry, in a No. 27...")

This all sounds rather disparaging, it's not meant to. But to suggest there's anything new or original about Pale Man Made would be a fib. They reference all those 80s and early 90s bands so accurately you'll think you were listening to an album that's over 20 years old. 

IN YOUR BED

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze_rEgdUeJA

B-LINE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdndA9VYG3Q

THE IMPOSSIBLE SONG & OTHER SONGS by RODDY WOMBLE (2011, EMI)

Bored of the new Mumford album already? Give this a go. The former Idlewild singer's second solo album is a lovely little folk treasure. Like Frank Turner, Woomble turned his back on hard rockin for life of soft strums. He put down the electric guitar an picked up a banjo. Hurrah for that.

Womble's plaintive bit sincere semi spoken vocals remain but while for me he always sounded a little contrived against Idlewild's alt rock, their perfectly suited against these gentle folk melodies. 

He's backed to good effect by the gorgeous vocals of Jill O'Sullivan on particularly good effect on the Singalong 'Work Like You Can' and the beautiful 'Tangled Wires'. She makes a smooth foil for Womble. 

Standouts for me are 'Roll Along' that with the addition of a rolling brass section has more than a hint of Dexy's about it, 'Leaving Without Gold' which is the closest sounding to an Idlewild tracks and the sweetly gentle 'Make Something out of What its Worth'

THE IMPOSSIBLE SONG & OTHER SONGS warm and sincere, it's Celtic folk with plenty of dreamy soul. Twelve well crafted songs and delivered in unfussy fashion. 

LEAVING WITHOUT GOLD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3g4D43_yR0

ROLL ALONG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xQDjbugL3U&feature=plcp

WORK LIKE YOU CAN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2gsqFierf8

IMAGINE by JOHN LENNON (1971, EMI)

Well we can skip the first song straight away. As lovely as it to listen to John imagining no possessions when he's sat at a white grand piano in his sprawling Surrey mansion with a Rolls out the front, I think I've got to the point that if I ever hear it again I may vom. Lennon's mate Elton put it better well: "Imagine six apartments. It isn't hard to do. One is full of fur coats. The other's full of shoes". This idealistic hymn to world peace has been ruined by ubiquity and some cringeworthy cover versions. Plus the rest of this album has some much more interesting tracks on it. 

'Crippled Inside' is Lennon's pop at country rock, 'It's So Hard' is blues rock n roll and 'Oh My Love' is a pretty melancholy ballad. There's also 'Jealous Guy' and the ranting 'Gimme Some Truth'.

The most interesting lyrically and historically (if you're a Beatles but anyway) is 'How Do You Sleep?', Lennon's scathing attack on fellow Beatle Paul. The song is solely credited to Lennon but it was allegedly co written with Yoko and manager Alan Klein. It followed what Lennon perceived as attacks in McCartney's Ram album, in particular the song 'Too Many People' which was aimed at the Lennons preaching. John replied in much more direct fashion: "So Sgt Pepper took you by surprise...Those freaks were right when they said you were dead...The only thing you've done is Yesterday...oh how do you sleep at night?" During the footage later released as part of the Imagine documentary you see a clearly upset Lennon singing "How do you sleep you cunt?" before asking the engineer to stop.

IMAGINE ends with 'Oh Yoko!' a perfectly pretty pop record that EMI wanted released as a single but Lennon felt was too commercial. It's my favourite song in the album. It's the way he sings the song title, the long vowels, it's just lovely.

OH YOKO!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxk0vsONJO0

CRIPPLED INSIDE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIqaIfaJ3-E

OH MY LOVE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5Kh-IMKDqM

ONE FOR ALL TIME by 65 DAYS OF STATIC (2005, Monotreme)

Second album from Sheffield based Post-Rock band 65 Days of Static.

As with the other 65dos albums ONE FOR ALL TIME is entirely instrumental. They fuse guitar led progressive guitar rock with drum and bass, breakbeats and often full orchestration to create a sound that is a full-on assault to the senses as well as being truly epic in scale.

During the history of the band they've created many soundtracks which makes perfect sense, their sound being richly layered and perfect for widescreen cinema.

They formed to create their own soundtrack to an unreleased John Carpenter movie, Stealth Bomber. Since then they crowd-sourced funds to create their own recording if the Silent Running soundtrack and also supplied the accompaniment to the radio adaptation of the Kurt Vonnegut novel Slaughterhouse Five.

ONE FOR ALL TIME is an tense and tumultuous listen. The closest analogy would be Mogwai or Godspeed! remixed by the Aphex Twin. It's not just heavy in the bombast but it's dark and oppressive in tone too. This could have been the soundtrack to 28 Days Later or The Road. It's bleak. But there are seams of pretty melody underneath all the fuzz, white noise and broken beats, particularly on the 'Radio Protector' which ends the album in on an upbeat and euphoric note.

RADIO PROTECTOR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jxvy7W9bqo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I DROVE THROUGH GHOSTS TO GET HERE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAZEcg8NLtM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

MECHANICAL ANIMALS by MARILYN MANSON (1998, INTERSCOPE)

MECHANICAL ANIMALS is proof that everyone has at least one good record in them.

It is a depraved glam rock concept album in which Marilyn takes on dual character roles. The first is Omega the andogynous alien on the cover who's fallen to earth and made the lead singer of a fictional band, The Mechanical Animals. Manufactured and turned into musical product he survives in a numb state of semi-comatose, living up in the high Hollywood hills loaded on narcotics. The other character is Alpha, a version of Manson who's recounting experiences inspired by those Manson experienced during the previous years of touring. The fourteen tracks are split equally between both roles though to be honest I'd never have known that unless I'd just ripped all that guff off Wiki. All of them sound like Mazza Manson to me.

On the basis of the cover Manson clearly aspires to be a 21st century glam Bowie (circa Aladdin Sane or Diamond Dogs) but this is musically closer to Slade with a massive dollop of Nine Inch Nails tossed in. Huge glam rock chunky power chords an impressive industrial nastiness. It's definintely Manson's most accessible and 'pop' record and compared to the other records the self-styled 'AntiChrist Superstar' has released they are quite, well, lightweight.

There's the sleazy stomp of 'The Dope Shop', the thunderous charge of 'Rock Is Dead' and the metallic funk of the decadent 'I Don't Like The Drugs (But The Drugs Like Me)' which is vaguely reminiscent of Bowie's 'Fame'. There's some great slower numbers too like 'The Speed of Pain'.

Perhaps still one I the best things about the album though is the brilliant cover artwork which is because it is so convincing as a real photograph still manages simultaneously unnerving and compelling. The image is of Manson's Omega alter-ego. An androgynous  alien with breasts, six fingers in each hand and airbrushed genitals. He looks like a naked Barbie gone very, very wrong. Contrary to the rumours about Manson at the time it was not achieved by plastic surgery (can you imagine!?!) but by prosthetics courtesy of George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic effects house. Apparently Manson's chum Johnny Depp now owns the boobs.

I'm not sure Manson has much value or relevance these days. I think he's ruined his mystique and cheapened his worth as an artist with bad cover versions for the soundtracks to equally lousy films ('Tainted Love' and 'Personal Jesus') but MECHANICAL ANIMALS is without a doubt worth going back to check out.

ROCK IS DEAD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llv6Wpm99uo

SPEED OF PAIN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxI5Vt_KKTI

I DON'T LIKE THE DRUGS (BUT THE DRUGS LIKE ME)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EefPcht54c

HEATHCLIFFIAN SURLY by MARMADUKE DANDO (2012, Outsider Records)

A small album that slipped by unnoticed on its release but is really worth seeking out. It's quiet masterpiece of a gothic theatre that will appeal to fans of Divine Comedy's naughtily raised eyebrow, Nick Cave's sleazy debauchery and the Tindersticks miserablism. 

All the ten songs on HEATHCLIFFIAN SURLY are sung from the perspective of a wretched old letch, Marmaduke Dando. And when I say old I mean very old. As in nineteenth century. 

Marmaduke is apparently borne of genuine pirate ancestry and hails from the southern ports of the Black Sea to which he sings a nostalgic paean on the swooning 'Odessa!'. But now the old rogue has relocated to modern day London which he views with sneering disdain; "The snivelling remains of humanity, scooped up off the floor and served back to itself... If this is civilisation I want no part of it". 

Marmaduke croons his misery like a cross between Noel Coward and a camp old Transylvanian Count, recounting past misdemeanours and present miseries with gentlemanly relish. But time has finally caught up with the rotten philander, his modern day predicament bringing the realisation of his past bad behaviour and the squalid depths to which he has now sunk. On the excellent 'All of Me' he laments "You once handed me your heart, I crushed it with a laugh / Treat me not as a gentleman but as the savage that I am". 

Elsewhere he sings of his current afflictions; alcoholism "A swig in the morning to combat the yawning... There's more value in decadence than love, wealth or glory" ('The Last Drink') and his need for relief from a constant state of sexual arousal ('Give Me Detumescence').

Mostly though these are the laments of a deluded old crone with grandiose sense of self-worth bemoaning his lack of a place in the modern world. To Marmaduke's eyes he is a pearl cast before swine; "Oh insolent eyes it's no surprise brilliance is not rewarded but buried alive... I'm dead to the world and the world is dead to me".

HEATHCLIFFIAN SURLY is a magnificently melodramatic record and with it's Dickensian wit it's a real maudlin treasure.

ODESSA!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1zMaMgB3A8

THE LAST DRINK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78-Ybvcdq9k

GIVE ME DETUMESENCE 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8rPqSlEPlQ

WOMEN & WORK by LUCERO (2012, Ato Records)

One of the hardest working bands in the US right now, this is their eighth record but their first to be released in the UK. Lucero have toured relentlessly since they formed in 1998 and routinely clock up between 150-200 gigs a year.

LUCERO hail from Memphis, Tennessee the home of Sun Records, Stax, Jerry lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and of course Elvis. This musical heritage runs through Lucero's veins. They're southern country punks who play rock n roll with a Stax-like brass section backing them all the way. 

WOMEN & WORK is a true southern record. Blue-collar barroom blues, country and rock. If Springsteen had been from the South rather than New Jersey this is the kind of record he'd have made. Incidentally singer and frontman Ben Nicholls sound almost identical to Brian Fallon from Gaslight Anthem themselves heavily Springsteen indebted.

WOMEN & WORK is a warm, full sounding album clearly made by a band who after fourteen years together know their musical beans and each other. On this record the core band is bolstered by horns, lap pedal steel guitar and Hammond organ all of which adds richness and depth. 

Standout tracks are 'On My Way Downtown', the brooding gospel groove of 'I Can't Stand To Leave' and the bittersweet 'When I Was Young' which reminds me a lot of Springsteen's nostalgic 'My Hometown'. Links below. They're also touring the UK next month so if you can get tickets give them a go...

ON MY WAY DOWNTOWN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NktKuTCt48

WHEN I WAS YOUNG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAj03ohAVqY

I CAN'T STAND TO LEAVE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUlIPMIdrC4

RUMOURS by FLEETWOOD MAC (1977, Warners)

40 million album sales doesn't necessarily make the album a great one, though it should make it 'likeable'. RUMOURS is exactly that. Likeable and easy. Good songs, well produced. You'd never tell from the music the tensions within the band. 

Keyboardist-vocalist Christine McVie and bassist John McVie were divorcing, guitarist-singer Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks were on-off and drummer Mick Fleetwood discovered his wife was having an affair with his best mate. It all made for some pretty good MOR rock though.

Unfortunately so many of these tubes have been covered, used and ripped off over the years that it's tough to listen to them without bringing to mind other associations. 'Go Your Own Way', Vauxhall cars. 'The Chain', Formula One and Radcliffe & Maconie on 6 Music. 'Dreams', The Corrs. 'Songbird', Eva Cassidy and on and on.

It detracts from what a great collection of songs are featured on RUMOURS. In addition to those mentioned you've also go 'Don't Stop', 'You Make Loving Fun', 'Second Hand News', Gold Dust Woman'... For any other band this could be a greatest hits. 

SECOND HAND NEWS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOBa_ZMaIk0

YOU MAKE LOVING FUN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFZMgf6M5KM

DREAMS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrZRURcb1cM

BIG RED LETTER DAY by BUFFALO TOM (1993, Beggars Banquet)

One from the archives. I've not listened to BIG RED LETER DAY in probably fifteen years.

Buffalo Tom formed in 1986 and are singer-guitarist Bill Janowitz, bassist Chris Colbourn and drummer Tom Maginnis. They took their name from Buffalo Springfield and the first name of their drummer.

Hailing from Boston, Mass. They came out of the same east coast music scene as The Lemonheads and Dinosaur Jr. and musically sit as somewhere between the two of them, rockier than Evan Dando's gang but less grunge than J. Mascis' outfit.

Like Dando and Mascis, Bill Janowitz is another of those great nineties alt rock songwriters that seem to be mostly forgotten about these days although the band have only released two albums in the last fourteen years so I guess it's down to them.

BIG RED LETTER DAY is probably their best known album and opens with three great singles the anthemic euphoria of 'Sodajerk' and 'Tree House' and the and the slow-build ballad 'I'm Allowed'. 'Would Not Be Denied' is another great slow burner.

Listening to this again for the first time in so long I'm struck by what a shame it is that they're not more prolific. Janowitz has a a fantastic voice. He sings with a sandpaper rough, gravelly voice an alt rock Joe Cocker. The only really duff track on the record is 'My Responsibility' which misses his gruff delivery.


SODAJERK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkUqiQpnD0U&feature=youtube_gdata_player

TREE HOUSE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHXrFnZxCFw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

GIVE UP AMERICA by HOWLER (2012, Rough Trade)

They're not original but boy are they good.

Howler are dirty concoction of Phil Spector girl group pop, The Ventures surf guitar and scuzzy garage rock. It's been done a million times before. The Ramones, Jesus & Mary Chain, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The Horrors. Glasvegas. I'm not promising that Howler are particularly innovative but they've got great style and a debut album loaded with tunes.

GIVE UP AMERICA is a warped version of classic america from the re-imagined Lucky Strike logo on the cover to 60s surf guitar pop hooks which get blasted out underneath a wall of grinding garage fuzz and distortion.

From Minneapolis, Minnesota the story goes that their first EP was unbeknownst to to band sent to Rough Trade records in London whose A&R man promptly got straight on a plane at signed them at their very next gig. They've since been hotly tipped by the NME and BBC and toured extensively with The Vaccines. The brilliant 'Back of Your Neck' seems to be getting a lot of plays on 6 Music now too. It sounds like The Shadows on speed, but instead of Cliff Richard fronting the band, it's Iggy.

Front man Jordon Gatesmith promised their debut would be a "dirty rock n roll record" and that's exactly what you have here, musically and lyrically. 'Wailing (Making Out)' tells you everything you need to know about where the band are coming from: "I want a girl and a new car / I want a drink and a guitar / I want to die young as a star / is that so much, is that so far..."

There's plenty Stooges-like garage rock. Beach Sluts begins slowly with twanged guitars and hand claps like an early Beach Boys tunes. It quickly turns into a snarling rocker. 'Pythagorean Fearem' is supercharged and has a sinister gothic edge. 'Black Lagoon' has a great shout-along chorus "B-L-A-C-K-L-A-G-Oooooo-Uh-Ooooooo-N".

GIVE UP AMERICA is a fun, frenetic, fuzzy thirty minutes.

BEACH SLUTS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhRB8gfN3HM 

BACK OF YOUR NECK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swg9X1LcXm8

PYTHAGOREAN FEAREM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1-wBWcldO8

GRAND PRIX by TEENAGE FANCLUB (1995, Creation)

The Fannies have been treading the same melodic furrow for ages two and a half decades now. Their warm 'n' fuzzy West Coast rock sound, inspired by the likes of The Byrds, Neil Young and Big Star made them popular amongst their peers on both sides of the Atlantic with the likes of Kurt Cobain calling them "the best band in the world" and later Oasis' Liam Gallagher with his usual modest way "the second greatest band in Britain". They've never really hit big though. Couple of Top 10 albums aside they've seemingly just pottered along regardless.

GRAND PRIX is their fifth album released after the brilliant Bandwagonesque that topped many critics end of year lists in 1991, and the less well received Thirteen. 

With thirteen songs coming in at breezy 41 minutes it's a brisk album full of tightly constructed songs, neat melodies, expertly built guitar led power pop. Its rocks at times, but not too hard. There's a touch of Dinosaur Jr. in there, most obviously on the throwaway opening 'About You', 'Neil Jung' and 'Hardcore/Ballad' (the brief hardcore bit obviously) but it's mostly chunky melodic guitar pop music with 'nice' vocal harmonies.

The three principal songwriters, Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley and Gerard Love all take turns on lead vocals, singing the songs they've written. Given that every track is the traditional guitar/bass/drums and is so rooted in 1960s guitar pop, this democratic approach breaths life into an album that could have been quite a 'samey'.

Standouts are the 'Sparky's Dream' which has a gorgeously harmonious chorus, the dreamy 'Verisimilitude' and the acoustic wonder that is  'Mellow Doubt' a song that's as close to perfection as you can get. 'Mellow Doubt' contains some of the best whistling and handclaps you'll ever hear committed to vinyl. Seriously why is there not more whistling and handclaps on records these days? What record isn't be improved by a handclap and a pursed lip. Oh well.

If you're a bit of a traditional fuddy-duddy alt rock sort, then GRAND PRIX should be your old slippers and dressing gown. It's comfy. 

MELLOW DOUBT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83llkKQRnlM

SPARKY'S DREAM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9buNckusos0

NEIL JUNG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tZ_eIrCegA