Höga Nord Records from Gothenburg, Sweden is one of those record labels that are fantastic for me releasing great electronic music - especially re-releases from bands I never heard before. The last one I found was Lovin Hell an EP originally released in 2016 by Vox Low a band from Paris. Their dark sound is somewhere between cold, minimal Cologne techno and post-punk guitars like JAMC did. One of the best findings this year
Andrew Weatherall recognized their abilities much earlier and they were part of his Convenanza festival in 2015. Soon later Vox Low remixed his and Nina Walsh's The Last Walk. Also a beauty that didn't played too often.
Sometimes it happens a song appears on random play from my mobile phone and I can't get him out of my mind. The last song that came to me this way is the new song from Glasgow's indie-rock band Glasvegas. Released a few weeks ago as an appetizer to their upcoming album it is a song I can't get out of my mind. It may be James Allan's baritone that reminds me to Scott Walker or just the sound borrowed by Phil Spector, JAMJ and the Beach Boys that fascinated me. Anyway just a great song for a Sunday morning.
During the last years more and more bands from Italy showed up with new and fresh material mostly in the category of psychedelic music. One of those is Julie's Haircut from Reggia Romana. They released their ninth album a few weeks ago and it is very good and don't have to hide behind productions from other countries ruling this genre. Their music is spread between Mercury Rev and Spiritualized one one side and Can and JAMC on the other. It is great to hear that they make a very true and unique sound of their influences. Great songs with a motorik beat and some feedbacks make this record worth playing.
Long followers of this little place in the internet will know that I feature German bands from time to time. Not as a regular series but sometimes a (new) band appears on the scene that is worth to be featured - also in foreign countries. The recent days International Music released their first album Die Besten Jahre (The Best Years). It is a very unique sound. Reducing songs to their minimum to compose anew tones and sounds. It is like Jesus And Mary Jane meeting Can and F.S.K. for a record session. Above all floats in some songs a hardly handy, almost Shanty-like melancholy which one heard thus - quite differently - seldom in German music. It also seems like the mustache returns.
After 18 years The Jesus And Mary Jane announced a new record and released one song the last week. I don't have to tell you about their place in history with their groundbreaking first two records. Amputation is exactly this what they stand for: a cheap anc clanky rhythm, sweet melodies and noisy guitars. This also fits even today, even if we were younger in earlier times, today the times have become other and money wants to be earned. The rock'n'roll must still make a noise and sound as if it was about something, namely about the fact that all other is stupid.
Shiny Gnomes were a Psychedelic/garage band from Nuremberg. They were called earlier than German "The Jesus and The Mary Chain". Their music connects psychedelic rock, the 60s beat and folk keen to experiment with the floating, ethereally active voice of the singer Limo. In a criticism her style became as a "wild garage sound between pop and experimental noise". Rolling Stone once written about them: "... the beaming Gnomes may keep to have put down at that time the probably most pioneering garage punk and Psychedelia album maggot in Germany. If the Farfisa organs whine, the guitars the melodies shreddern and the drummers behind his Kit hyperventilates, then the lift-off factor, measured in US icons lies like the 13th Floor Elevators or The Electric Prunes at least on the same height... Shine On, you crazy Gnomes." And I can't describe it in better words. The Shiny Gnomes could have made it big! Their technical abilities on the instruments and the composition gift absolutely corresponded to an international level. I saw them a few times live and it was always a big pleasure.
Occupational change at the office. In addition to my general tasks they added new obligations to me. Now I have to switch to the customers to serve and to conclude contracts with them. That was exactly the thing I never wanted to. But I had no opportunity to refuse this job if I wanted to keep my job. And I was to lazy to look for a new job because I was integrated in my social life and the big advantage to have a job in my hometown. After weighing all the pros and cons I bit the bullet and did my best, knowing that this will be my final job. Therefore me and Susanne decided to take a longer time for vacation this year. In summer we went for a four-week vacation to the coast of the Algarve in Portugal by car. It was 1.300 miles one way from our town to the final destination of Albufeira. As we go by car we decided to take not the shortest way and visit some other places on our way. So we first drove through France towards Marseille and from there up to Barcelona. We also stayed a couple of days in the beauty Camargue. It was an easy and free time to travel and to stop and stay if ever we had the feeling inside that this place needs to stay for longer. All in all we had a great time, not knowing that this was the best moments in our both life so far. Looking back to this trip I ask myself how I could manage driving this distance. Maybe you can do this when you are younger - today it would be too much for me.
This year's records that are worth to remember again:
The Triffids - Calenture: Another great record by a underrated band
Public Enemy - Yo! Bum rush the show: A monument of rap
U2 - The Joshua Tree: You couldn't ignore because it was played everywhere
Gary Moore Wild Frontier: Blues rock with Irish influences
Deacon Blue - Raintown: Perfect pop about life in Glasgow
The Cure - Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me: Back again with an more optimistic mind
John Hiatt - Bring the Family: A perfect combination of Blues, Country and rock
Terance Trent D'Arby - Introducing the Hardline According to ...: The return of soul inspired songs
The Smiths - Strangeways Here We Come: Their legacy and final highlight
Nyah Fearties - A Tasty Heidfu: Minimal Irish Punk Folk; short songs - great fun
The Jesus and Mary Jane - Darklands: Gigantic
39 Clocks - 13 more Protest Songs: German New Wave goes Psychedelic
The Sister of Mercy - Floodland: Andrew Eldrich turnes into bombast
Aztec Camera - Love: One more great record from one of the finest Scottish bands
Aretha Franklin - One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism: The mighty voice goes back to the roots
Some songs that was played very often this years and others they should have been played more:
What was on the movies this year:
Good Morning Saigon: Robbie Williams as a radio DJ in Vietnam - awesome
The Untouchables: Fantastic movie about how to get Al Capone in jail
Dirty Dancing: Patrick Swayce tried to teach us how to dance
Dragnet: Dan Aycroyd's homage to the 50s cop series
La Bamba: Good biopic about the life of Richie Valens
Moonstruck: Nice movie about relationship in the family. Great: Cher
Angel Heart: Maybe the best movie about the devil ever. Fantastic: Robert De Niro as Lou Zeyfer (especially peeling the boiled egg)
The Big Easy. Corruption in the police department of New Orleans with great Cajoun music
Full Metal Jacket: Great idea to show military education on Paris Island and the reality fighting houses
Radio Days: Woody Allen takes us back to the times before television
Wall Street: Oliver Stone shows us how trading business works.
When I remember this year there are a few things that touched me personally:
The so called Unabomer Ted Kaczynski strikes another time in Salt Lake City with his bombing campaign against modern technologies // The Iran-Contra affair continues and blaming Ronald Reagan for not controlling his administration // The first appearance of the Simpsons in the Tracey Ullman show // Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II // Nineteen year-old West German pilot Mathias Rust evades Soviet air defenses and lands a private plan on Red Square in Moscow // Through a visit in Berlin Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet prime minister Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin wall // 400 Iranian pilgrims are killed in clashes with Saudi Arabian security forces in Mecca // Black Monday: Stock market levels fall sharply at Wall Street and around the world // English jockey Lester Piggot is jailed for three years after being convicted of tax evasion //worker rebel against the communist regime of Nicolae Ceausesco in Romania // King's Cross fire in London Underground kills 31 people - after that the historic wooden lift was replaced // Barschel-affair in Germany: One day before the state elections in Schleswig-Holstein, reports the mirror, Prime Minister Barschel have let spy on the SPD's top candidate Björn Engholm // Rudolf Heß kills himself in Spandau prison // Zeebrugge disaster: Roll-on/Roll-off cross-channel ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes off Zeebrugge Harbour in Belgium; more than 180 people die.
A year of very good music and essential records were released. Most of them I copied on tape listening to them on our vacation to Portugal and it was again very hard to decide what record I will show up for this year. Finally it was Prince with his monumental record 'Sign 'O' The Times'. Why? Because it shows Prince on the highest level he ever reached. He was full of ideas and combined his influences from R&B, Dance, Funk, Soul, Jazz, Rock and Pop to an extraordinary mixture that stands the test of time. No song is like the other and the title track was a veritable chart breaker. His class was also recognized by the great producer Quincey Jones who asked him for a duet with Michael Jackson on 'Bad'. But he denied because 'he doesn't do things like that anymore'.
What difference it makes to be in a relationship. In former times you could do whatever you want to do at every time. Now you have to take care of the sensitives of the one you're with. Not that I want to complain - but you have to sort your life in another way. You have to tell at this day I want to go playing football and at the other day I want to hit the pub to act like a DJ. From these days I knew that agreements will be the part of the game. Me and Susanne had a lot of good days together this year. We spent our holidays in a longer vacation to Yugoslavia. We was there a few years after the dictator Josip Broz Tito died and the whole Yugoslavian federation was peaceful and save. We have perceived that the whole state is stuck in the communist ideologies and no one was able to make a little business of his own. If one has gone in the back country, one has got to know the true people. They served us roasted mutton and some rice and we talked about our life whilst we had some shots of local liquor. What happened to Yugoslavia a few years later makes me sad right now.
The main thing I remember this year was Live Aid, organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Since 'Do they know it's Christmas', the first charity single I followed Bob Geldof's intentions to create a live project on two continents but forget it till the day it take place. I remember very well this day, because I was asked by my girlfriends sister to built up some shelfs in her room. While I was working, I asked her to switch on the TV so I can watch and listen Live Aid alongside. The more and more the concert in London continued the more we were fascinated by the different appearances of the artist. Most of them played their well known songs but what is still in my head, is the appearance of Elvis Costello. He showed up the stage alone with his guitar and introduced an old northern English folk song: His version of 'All you need is love' was the final aggregation of the whole event. One more example why E.C. is one of the greatest artists on earth.
Here's a small choice of songs that was released in 1985 - some of them I still like, some that was popular this year:
The Jesus and Mary Jane: Great debut - Noise, just like honey
Sting: His first record after Police's split. His political statement to Reagan's star wars plans.
Tom Petty: Back after a long time with a psychedelic sound
The Cure: Also back again - now not as somber as before
The Eurythmics: Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart appears with a fantastic record
Prefab Sprout: Listened so often to this song
The Waterboys: Since then I know Brigadoon
Paul Hardcastle: This year's song against the war
Kate Bush: She gave us a wonderful song and a superb video
And what most of my mates hated (and hate still):
Which records from 1985 are worth it that one remembers them:
The Mekons - Fear and Whiskey: The return of the giants with a perfect combination of punk style and country. Still a monument of a record.
Michael Franks - Skin Dive: One of his best records. Clear voice meets fusion jazz.
Roy Harper - Whatever Happened To Jugula: Roy Harper made one of his best records.
Chris Isaak - Silvertone: His first record is still a perfect combination of Americana, Rockabilly and Rock'n'Roll
Sisters of Mercy - First and Last and Always: Post punk meets doom rock
Eurythmics - Be Yourself Tonight: A superb mixture of great songs with the awesome voice of Annie
Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85: Sophisticated pop - only possible to make at this time
Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtle: Everybody's favorite of the year
Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen: One of the best records ever
The Waterboys - This is the Sea: Another album full of timeless songs
The Fall - This Nation's Saving Grace: Mostly I grab this record out of my box when I want listen to MES
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs: Now he's able to make songs with hooks
The Jesus and Mary Jane - Psychocandy: Noisy guitars with honey
Once there was a time, when it was impossible to get a movie on DVD. That's what we saw in this year:
Out of Africa: Maybe one of the best love movies that has been made
Year of the Dragon: Mickey Rourke as a cop in Chinatown
Silverado: The return of a classic western movie
Runaway Train: Fantastic escape from an Alaskan prison with Jon Voigt
Pale Rider: Another good western movie with Clint Eastwood
My Beautiful Laundrette: Stephen Frears and Daniel Day Lewis in a melodrama about racism and friendship
Letter to Brezhnew: A touch love story between east and west.
Kiss of the Spider Woman: William Hurt as it's best. A political imprisoned and a gay man in Brazilian prison recapitulate their life and dreams
The Falcon and the Snowman: Great story and fantastic soundtrack
The Color Purple: Most of us saw this movie from Spielberg with Whoopie Goldberg
What has moved the world and me this year: From now on you have to pay if you want to use Swiss highways; Mikhail Gorbachev is the new General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union; The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior is bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour by French DGSE agents; Scientists of the British Antarctic Survey announce discovery of the ozone hole; Schengen-Agreement igned between certain member states of the European Economic Community, creating the Schengen Area, a bloc of (at this time) five states with no internal border controls; Live Aid pop concerts in London and Philadelphia raise over £50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia; The cruise ship Achille Lauro is hijacked in the Mediterranean Sea by 4 heavily armed Palestinian terrorists. One passenger, American Leon Klinghoffer, is killed; a lot of air plane disasters all over the year - and also hijacking, too much to name them all.
There are a bunch of records released in 1985 that would be in a lot of 'Best-of-ever'-charts like the Prefab Sprout's 'Steve McQueen' what's one of my favorite records ever. Or Roy Harper, The Eurhythmics, The Mekons or Tom Waits. But the record from 1985 that grown deeply to my heart is from the Pogues. There second record is filled with a big basked full of great songs and followed me nearly 30 years in what kind of mood or relationship I was in. I think this record is the completest one they have ever made (ok 'If I should fall from grace with god' comes very close to it). The album's title is taken from a quotation often missatributed to Winston Churchill: 'Don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy, and the lash'. The artwork is based on the Raft of the Medusa, a painting by Théodore Géricault, with the band members' faces replacing those of the men on the raft. On this record Philip Chevron joined the band on guitar and they turned away from covering song to their own material. Although they made some ultimate versions of some well known songs like 'A pair of Brown Eyes', 'And the Band Played Waltzing Mathilda'. All in all this one of the few records I can listen from start to end without it becomes dull.
