Red Hot + Blue

 

One of the most obscure compilations of recent decades appeared in 1990. There have always been albums on which musicians have been honoured. This album, however, is something special. It was released by the Red Hot Organisation, a charity to support HIV/AIDS relief worldwide after a spike in deaths among artists and intellectuals in NYC. I can't say why Cole Porter's music was used as the main theme, but the fact that so many artists from so many different musical genres recorded their versions is remarkable. Every song could have been written by David Byrne, Iggy Pop, Jungle Brothers, The Pogues or Sinnéad O'Connor. And that is probably the greatest praise for Cole Porter's songs, which have lost none of their fascination even after more than 30 years.

Spring Calling

 

It is spring and it seems a lot of bands are going to release new stuff. So did Jezebell/Jesse Fahnestock who released Jezebellearic Beats Vol. 1 a 20 track compilation and as the title suggest there are variations of Balearic music. The ones I heard were all great in their way worth to give them a listen.

Interplay

 

Yesterday Ride released their seventh album after a longer break. I tried not to set my expectations too high for this record, as Andy Bell's last releases were more than above average. And with this basic attitude, I was not disappointed. Certainly not a milestone in the history of music, but an album that will certainly appear in many annual best lists for this year. In their new songs, Ride move away more and more from the classic sea of guitars and reverberating sound of their earlier albums and seem to have discovered Tears For Fears and Talk Talk for themselves without losing their roots. In the case of Ride, it means that a band has brought together all their influences and experiences and packed them into varied, dense songs, so that "Interplay" adds playful aspects to the hypnotic melodies and guitars and synth elements, psychedelic folk, mystical games and electronic beats run through the songs. An album in which escapism, longing and melancholy flow just as much as perseverance, cohesion and energy swirl.

Live Music On German TV - Once Again

 

During the last days I listened often to MC5, probably the most influential heavy band from Detroit. Their rough and earthy sound is still far above everything I listened to in my very younger days and influenced a lot of bands decades later. I can remember when I first saw this in 1972 on a Saturday afternoon and my parents couldn't understand why I loved this kind of music. It was probably one of their last live appearances before the band broke but shows exactly what they are famous for.

Ghost Ranch

 

Sometimes it is unbelievable that there is band 20 years on duty and releasing records after records and I didn't got any notice from them. This thoughts went through my head when I got the new of the latest record by Son Of The Velvet Rat, a band formed by Georg Altziebler and his wife Heike Binder from Graz, Austria. Their sound has nothing in common with music I was used to from my neighbors. It is reasonable because they left their homeland and moved years ago to Joshua Tree, close to the Mojave desert, Southern California. Their sound could be described as a very Townes Van Zandt magnificent version of Americana or desert rock. Altziebler's rough voice sounds perfect to songs with great (county-)guitars. And a song like Rosary where Marc Ribot adds a guitar performance can't be bad. A record I will sure listen more than once this years.

Mondays Long Song On Tuesday

 

Just in time for last weekend, I caught a cold that left me doing nothing but lying in bed sweating. That's why I didn't find the time or the muse to write anything for my blog. Since today I'm feeling better again but not well enough to go to work and catch up on what I had planned. Rich Lane is a British DJ and producer releasing since almost 10 years mixes for his Cotton Bud label. Most of them are high quality and featured at this place several times during the last years. His latest release as Chug Norris is another example for combining chuggy rhythms with smooth vocals and electronic piano fragments.

Take Me Out

Last week I once again visited the website of the Austrian radio station FM4 to read a review of a mini-series about Franz Kafka, the 100th anniversary of whose death is being celebrated these days. In addition to this article, the new single by a Viennese band that I hadn't heard of before was also presented. Baits are a band in classic rock guise with bass, drums and two guitars and play a melodic version of grunge-pop. Their songs are usually under three minutes long but always performed with incredible power. A band to remember and worth following their further development. 

I'm In The Mood

I have to admit that I am not very firm with blues and most of the nowadays artists are boring me. But the old black artists that made the blueprint of rhythm 'n' blues in the 60's are a place I come back from time to time. Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker are the names I play at my place sometimes when I am in the mood for it. John Lee Hooker released in 1989 an album filled with his kind of blues collaborated with artists like Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt and Gerorge Thorogood that stamped the sound of a short summer. With these musicians, he has created a small masterpiece that is undoubtedly timeless, integrating different styles into his very own sound. A special look back at an extraordinary album that has lost hardly any of its fascination. 

John Lee Hooker - I'm In The Mood

John Lee Hooker - Sally Mae

John Lee Hooker - The Healer

Ibiza Macht Frei

 

Rheinzand, a musical project from Ghent, Belgium, released four years ago a wonderful self titled album. It was played at my place very often and I like their relaxed Balearic moods. Now they returned with a re-work of their latest album Atlantis, Atlantis by Pete Blaker from the Netherlands, a producer who tried to give these songs a new outfit. Moving away from their dance-floor moods he created with new instrumental layers and dubs a new flavor with their songs. Most of the songs can take you to another dimension if you are ready for a Balearic trip.

Monday's Long Song

 

I can't believe that I didn't featured Johnny Marr at this little place of the internet. Of course I named him several times especially when The Smiths were around. A few days ago I came back to his live album Adrenalin Baby from his tour in 2014/15 recorded at various venues in Manchester, Glasgow and Bristol. It is one of those live albums I always wished I could have been part of the crowd. 17 songs full of energy and enthusiasm and great versions of songs we all know by The Smiths. And it also shows Johnny's abilities of playing guitar. 

Johnny Marr - Playland

And as a bonus a live version of a song from a short lived project. In 1989 Marr and Bernard Sumner of New Order formed Electric an alternative dance band. The original was a song with a fantastic bass line and the voice of Neil Tennent made this an outstanding record of this time. That this song also works with a more guitar based sound is one of the highlights of this album.

Johnny Marr - Getting Away With It

Two For His Heels

The older I get, the more I appreciate the qualities of singers and songwriters. One of them is Sheffield's Richard Hawley, who announced a new album last week. The Wiener Standard labelled his music "somewhere between Roy Orbison bombast, soft rockabilly rumble and songs from the Lee Hazlewood and Johnny Cash school". Two For His Heels exactly a song in this label, a sparse, atmospheric and cinematic song about a deal that goes wrong, its low blues rumble reminiscent of Link Wray and Duane Eddy. Nothing less the song of the week for me.

Love Mhisachine

A few days ago I found an album in my collection that I forgot that I owned. Supermax is Austrian musician and producer Kurt Hauenstein and he released his second album World Of Today back in 1977. It was the time when disco music with a massive funk influence was on it's peak. When me and a couple of friends were DJ-ing in the early 80's Love Machine was the song we played to fill the dancefloor. This song went to high position in various charts and is still a highlight of this genre from these days. Listening to this record after almost 50 years it sounds fresh, not overproduced and far ahead of time. Some R 'n' B artists would die for this bassline today.

Supermax - Love Machine 

Corrupt Data

Last week Pye Corner Audio, a British music project by Martin Jenkins released since a decade steady new musical experiences in electronic music. Most of them and their remixes are far over the average of many other releases. The last one is another cosmic experience on a house based floor with great beats and a rhythm you could get lost by. Another piece of electronic music that could last the test of time.

Icicle Works

Almost 40 years ago Liverpool's The Icicle Works released their self titled album a classic record of the post-punk era. At this time Ian McNabb had a flair for excellent melodies which he underpinned with his unmistakable guitar sound. Their debut album entered the top 20 with several hit singles like Birds Fly, Love Is A Wonderful Colour and years later Understanding Jane were highlights of new-wave pop and still songs I always like to listen today. Timeless music that has inspired many bands to come. 

 

Monday's Long Song

 

Another eclectic song for this series I found in a deep corner of my hard drive. 40 years ago German industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten released their third album Halber Mensch. With their noise music, the Neubauten hit the nerve of the times and became Germany's most important representatives of music that knew no commercial boundaries in the 1980s. While their first two albums were characterised by improvised noises that were artfully put together, their third album offers a shift towards more rhythmic music. With Yü Gung they move towards the dancefloor with a strong rhythm and, as always, Blixa Bargeld's cryptic lyrics, which are difficult for me to understand. No wonder Adrian Sherwood has given this song a remix that is rather untypical for him.

Einstürzende Neubauten - Yü Gung (Adrian Sherwood Remix)

Wild God

 

Last week Nick Cave released the title track of his upcoming album. I am a huge fan of him and I wasn't sure what to expect because he has continued to evolve his sound throughout his 40+ year career. And I was pleasantly surprised that after his melancholy, loss-driven albums he was able to find positive attitudes in his songs again. Wild God starts accented calm and builds over the course of over five minutes to an enthusiastic and celebratory, anthemic furor. He still uses cryptic lyrics but as far I understand he sings/talk about searching. A very good song shorten the time to his new album. 

Eternity

 

These days I was introduced to Georgia Ochoa aka Seagoth, a 19 years old British producer and singer/songwriter by a link from my inbox. Not knowing what expected me I switched to their bandacmp site and found a remix by GLOK/Andy Bell. Further investigations named their sound bedroom-pop and I couldn't find a song that I can assign to this genre. This remix is a wistful affair, long-drawn sounds are picked up by a soft drum machine and Ochoa's warm voice gliding over them. And Andy Bell fulfilled this song with a superb remix. Of course not the next big thing but a song that will be played at my place more than once in the next days.

Pacific Ocean Blue

 

I have to admit that I have been a fan of the Beach Boys and I like many of their 60's pop songs with their great harmonies but I don't own more than a best-of compilation. But I love Dennis Wilson's first and only solo album Pacific Ocean Blue. Dennis was the only one in the band that could be called as a real surfer and therefore it is consequent that he died by diving in the harbor in California. He was the drummer when the Beach Boys played live and his life was anything but straightforward. Haunted by demons he joined Manson's family and his life was full of drug abuses. In 1977 he released his album where he played most of the instruments. I think it was his only and last chance to get back into 'normal' life. And he made a masterpiece. Filled with great songs about love, loss and sometimes the chance of a brighter future it seems like a sentimental one. And yes, it is sentimental and has a somber tone but it is true and an album I return constantly.

Dennis Wilson - Dreamer

Dennis Wilson - River Song

Dennis Wilson - Farewell My Friend

Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blues

Atomic Dog

 

In December 1996, some friends and I ventured into a musical genre that we only knew to a limited extent. We only really knew funk and soul from James Brown and were excited to see what the godfather of funk had to offer. All we knew was that George Clinton was going to take us on a journey into the depths of funk. Out of nothing but funk, he creates a party for himself and his audience, two and a half hours long, not a second of it boring, an eternal return of the same and yet endlessly entertaining. Bootsy Collins, without the master of the powerfully strummed electric bass guitar, sets the mood for the long evening. After what felt like an eternity, the master took to the stage. Golden suit, huge golden top hat, psychedelic glasses on his nose, the coolest grin in the universe just below and the journey began. Many songs, often stretched to the limit, but always with a rhythm that never let go.  I've been to many concerts, but a concert where funk dominated and inspired in such a way was unique. It is time to remember this music. Great stuff.

George Clinton - Atomic Dog

Monday's Long Song

 

One of the reason why punk could start in the late 70's was that most of the music was boring, often heard and nothing new was released. But it is also often overlooked that there were actually bands that had their own fascinating sound. Bill Nelson's Be-Bop Deluxe were one of these bands. While they were initially categorized as just another epigones of glam rock, they had so much more to offer. Incorporating progressive rock, folk and massive guitars, they were light years away from the mainstream. Towards the end of their existence, they even tried to integrate elements of new wave into their sound. I recently listened to their live album Live! In The Air Age and was thrilled. They still sound fresh and fascinating. In this context, I remember how many words of praise Tom Verlaine has rightly received and how few Be-Bop Deluxe have, even though their sound is so similar.

Be-Bop Deluxe - Shine

What Now

 

About 10 years ago Alabama Shakes were exuberantly celebrated with their mixture of blues and southern rock. And rightly so, because with Brittany Howard they had a singer whose voice stood out from the crowd with its volume. Now Howard is back with her second album What Now. She left the paths of blues behind and moved into more complexity. She surprises with deep grooves, sensual funk and also tries to combine her roots with ambient. All in all a complex album worth to be listened.