Monday's Long Song

 

From time to time I feel like I need to listen to something by Ed Kuepper again. Kuepper is a German-born Australian guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Some of you will know him as a co-founder of The Saints. Less well known is the music of the successor band, The Laughing Clowns. With her, he explored the tension between proto-punk, jazz, and soul. It was a big risk, as a completely different style of music was dominating the global scene when their debut album was released. So it's no surprise that their record received little attention. 

Consequently, he began releasing solo albums in the mid-1980s, with his debut Electrical Storm being the best, combining the power of punk with great guitar sound. Blind Girl Stripper was released in 1992 on his sixth album Black Ticket Day and it is a tour de force of classic guitar based rock with strings. One of the latest masterpieces of Australian's finest guitar players.

Ed Kuepper - Blind Girl Stripper

Monday's Long Song

 

When I was rummaging through my record collection to find another long song, I came across an old record by Louis Tillet. Tillet was an Australian musician, singer/songwriter, pianist and saxophone player who came to my attention in the early eighties when he was part of Ed Kuepper's Laughing Clowns.

At that time, a wave of Australian bands came to Europe, some of which were great or just very good. The Go-Betweens, Birthday Party and the Triffids are just a few to mention here. While many of these bands wrote catchy or brute songs, Louis Tillet turned to the darker side of music. Many of his songs are rooted in the blues and are performed with piano, saxophone and a sparse guitar and dominated by his voice, which sounds like an aged Nick Cave. This song is from his 2001 live album Live @ the Basement and is typical of his sound.

Louis Tillet - Window Pane

Car Headlights

Ed Kuepper, former member of The Saints and leader of the following band Laughing Clowns, released his first record under his own name in 1985 called Electrical Storm. This record wasn't high recommended - maybe hat's why because too high expectations from his time by The Saints were asked. For me it's a typical record from the Australian guitarist who played all of the string instruments with a little help from the also underrated pianist Louis Tillet.

Enjoy and have a good week

Ed Kuepper - Car Headlight