As announced last week, a small series of songs with Red, Hot or Blue in their titles starts today. As always, the selection is eclectic and, apart from the color, has no further context.
Let's start with Nick Cave and a song from Peaky Blinders a British drama series set in Birmingham around 100 years ago. The song fits perfectly with the gloomy mood that this series exudes.
After Bayern Munich lost yesterday, we finish second in the Bundesliga table. Unbelievable when you consider that Stuttgart have been relegated several times in recent years and the fans have only been presented with poor home cooking. Only against this background does this slogan make sense - after all this shit, we're going on a journey.
Last Friday Barry Adamson released Cut To Black his new album. When the storm of punk swept through the UK in the mid-70s, Adamson learnt bass to join Manchester new wave band Magazine. He also helped out briefly with the Buzzcocks and briefly with The Birthday Party in the 80s. When band leader Nick Cave founded The Bad Seeds after they broke up, Adamson stayed on board for three years. No longer just a bass player, he not only played various instruments but also contributed as a songwriter. In recent years, his records have been more orientated towards the film music of the 60s and less towards concise songs. With this record, he has left this path and created a small masterpiece. A mixture of gospel, soul, blues and rock and roll. Since Dexy's Midnight Runners debut I never heard a better homage to soul music.
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.
Last night I watched the Champions League final between Manchester City and Internationale Milan. To my delight, although I am not a City supporter, the Italian team lost, because it would annoy me if a style of play that is only out to destroy were victorious. During the game I had to think several times of one of the best players in the Premier League from the past 30 years. Eric Cantona played for Manchester United in the early 90s and it was always great to see him play. After his professional career ended, he turned to acting and made his mark in several French films. Now he's back with a debut single that was released last week. A self-penned ballad with guitar, piano and strings. A tribute to people important to him who are no longer with us. I didn't expect Cantona to follow in the footsteps of Nick Cave. Chapeau.
In addition to Echorich's yesterdays post about an album I really love I think it is necessary to post another song that I am firm with. Stagger Lee is one of those songs that made me looking to another side of life tht I am not close to. Nick told us a story of an outlaw gambling with his life and living on the edge. And I saw a lot of people coming close to Stagger Lee but not doing the things he did. But always looking from a different side of life to me. An incomprehensibility for me but this might be another fact of life. Anyway a fantastic song from the dark side of human beings.
A new post-punk band from Leeds came to my ears this week with their first single. Yard Act are one of those rare bands building their sound on harsh guitars, a drum machine and an accented bass (borrowed by Stevie Wonder's Superstition). It is the sound Arctic Monkeys tried to make in their early days, citing Hacienda-inspired tunes and vocals like something between Nick Cave and John Cooper Clarke. A rough diamond in these days.
Marianne Faithful is back with a new album Negative Capability. It is a sign of the now 71 year old chanteuse while her body is wrecked with a debilitating arthritis. Bad Seed Warren Ellis produced an album with songs that fit close to her cracking voice. The songs are dominated by a piano and mostly played in a slow tempo. On The Gypsy Faerie Queen Nick Cave appears on backing vocals what makes this song more than average. I didn't hear much more than just two songs but I think it is a peak of her career.
A few days ago a new album was announced called Skeletal Blues by LOCKS, a band a never heard before. My first thought lead me to Nick Cave and his beautiful dark murder ballads. And I wasn't far away of it. LOCKS are a London based trio playing a superb dark folk. I couldn't imagine that the sound played with a double bass, fiddle and guitars will work - but it does. It is a bit like Nick Cave and Tom Waits deciding to follow the folk road. Music to walk over the graveyard at midnight.
Another new artist to me was Alex Cameron when a friend recommended this latest video to me. Cameron is a Sydney based musician and his music can is based on classic rock, the epic Bruce Springsteen and Nick Cave's haunting melodies. Together with Angel Olsen he made a remarkable song and one of the finest videos this year.
Warhaus is the new solo project of Belgian musician Maarten Devoldere. He released his first record called We Fucked A Flame Into Being (a rather strange name for the first record but someone that you will remember) a few days ago. It is somewhere between Nick Cave and a fiery Leonard Cohen he preaches decadence and coolness in a sonorous dark voice. With it's groovy bassline and the duett with Silvie Kreusch it is some kind music noir - played in the later hours of the day.
Mick Harvey is well known by his long time collaboration with Nick Cave, PJ Harvey and The Birthday Party. Years ago he installed a project translating the songs of Serge Gainbourg into English. His latest record Delirium Tremens (what a name for a record) was released a few weeks ago and I only found less songs from it in the www. I really like his interpretations of Serge's songs. Almost slow ones with a whispered voice and his genius guitar in the back. Another soundtrack for the time round midnight.
Another hard work in the office is over. Since Monday I couldn't get out after 10 hours working and I am almost at the limit of my power. So I am glad to came home yesterday to relax on my sofa watching season two of Peaky Blinders, a series that impressed me much since I started to watch. Watching a small gang from Birmingham to go the big business. If you got into the story it does not let you go any more. For me the perfect program on TV to relax after a few hard days on the job. What makes this series great is the soundtrack. A few songs by PJ Harvey that fits to the story and the time, even the story is settled in the days after WWI.
All things come to an end and so is this little series. It made a lot of fun to me crawling back into the days British independent music made it marks in history. Following the chronology of this kind of music development shows that I still stuck deep into this music.
Thinking about new Austrian music I chimed in electronic music. Most of it very good and was featured during the last months. But is there a scene of classic rock music coined with guitar, bass and drums? If I listen to Hackmonocut I have to say yes! He is an Austrian artist located in Linz, started his career in 2012 and he describe his music as Alternative Rock-Noir songs; full of irony and social criticism.
And indeed, it's something you should watch out for. Superb post-punk with the inspiration of The Doors, The Velvet Underground and Nick Cave. Dead Born Sister is starting as a ballad that could be in the repertoire of the last named. At the end the guitars take over control to the great finish. Their sound is mostly dark and grundgy but they create a great atmosphere of intention.
All in all Hackmonocut is a band I would follow their upcoming outputs.
Looking back this year seems like new music established in the place where I lived. Not that there was too many folks that agreed to this kind of music but there was still a scene. New local bands (that sadly never released any track) appeared for a few years and vanished again. A few weeks ago one of these bands made a reunion gig 25 years after they split. F.A.T. Insects played in a great venue - an old cinema. I went there expecting nothing than let my memories cruising around this time. And I got a great concert. It was not only nostalgia listening to them - I was astonished how good they were. Even better than decades ago. And it wasn't only me having fun at this concert. A lot of people appeared that I knew from these times and haven't seen them for long time. All in all one of these evenings that will be unforgotten.
Way back in the times where all the new music and sounds came out an fossil of rock history produced a record that was far away of mainstream. Achim Reichel was lead guitarist of the 60s beat band The Rattles which had a veritable hit single with The Witch. And in 1976 he surprised us with a record of shanties played in rock-style. I know well that I was fascinated of this kind of music but it wasn't opportune to agree with it to many other folks because it was for them old style northern German folk music. Anyway, this record made fun to me and I still listen to it from time to time. Also just in fact that these songs are part of our marine tradition.
He presented with Dat Shanty Albm for the first time an album with sailor's songs. Not only the style changed away from experimental admissions to popular sounds was amazing, but also the fact that Achim Reichel sang in future predominantly German. In 1976 he lined up with the demand: „Folk music must live, and this is able to do them only if one lifts them in the sound picture of the time.“ In his songs the navigation remained from then on a frequent subject. Also classical German and above all North German lyric was set to music by him.
For me this was songs I used to know since my youngest days and sometimes I fall in love again to this traditional ones again.
Enjoy!
And as a bonus a cover from a song by Elvis Presley that was covered by many artists. For me there a two really good versions. The first was by Nick Cave, the other by Achim Reichel who translated the lyrics in the spirit of the so called king.
