More Paul Weller! This collection of Weller’s stray tracks from 1993 to 1995. This basically covers the same time period, but it’s only all acoustic songs.
The songs on this album generally fall into three categories: acoustic versions of songs from the 1993 “Wild Wood” album, acoustic versions from the 1995 “Stanley Road” album, and six cover songs. There also are one or two songs from the other stray tracks albums from this time period.
If you put it all together, it’s a fairly long album of 56 minutes. I would have liked to split it up into two albums, one covering the “Wild Wood” era and the other covering the “Stanley Road” album, but there just wasn’t enough material for that. Both albums have some mellow songs that work well acoustically, but both also have rockers that Weller seems to have never played in acoustic format.
Anyway, I love good acoustic music, and this is Weller in his prime.
Tracklist:
01. Black Sheep Boy (Paul Weller) 02. Hung Up (Paul Weller) 03. Out of the Sinking (Paul Weller) 04. Birds (Paul Weller) 05. Foot of the Mountain (Paul Weller) 06. You Do Something to Me (Paul Weller) 07. The Loved (Paul Weller) 08. Country (Paul Weller) 09. All the Pictures on the Wall (Paul Weller) 10. It’s a New Day, Baby (Paul Weller) 11. Out on the Weekend (Paul Weller) 12. A Year Late [Demo] (Paul Weller) 13. Broken Stones (Paul Weller) 14. I Shall Be Released (Paul Weller) 15. Corrina, Corrina (Paul Weller) 16. Reason to Believe (Paul Weller) 17. Time Passes [Demo] (Paul Weller) 18. Wings of Speed [Demo] (Paul Weller)
Weezer will release their 14th album “OK Human” on January 29th via Crush Music/Atlantic Records, it’s their first of two albums due out this year, with their other new album “Van Weezer”, due out later this year after being postponed from 2020.
Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo took inspiration from Beach Boys’ classic album Pet Sounds and last summer he and the band laid down tracks with a 38-piece orchestra resulting in OK Human (a nod of course to Radiohead’s Ok Computer). The band gave us a taste of the album that will be out next week with single “All My Favorite Songs.” The use of strings works pretty well with the pop friendly sound that they’re going for here which is mostly effective, if not rather safe.
The first song off of OK Human “All My Favorite Songs” is out everywhere now
If you’ve heard anything about Teen Creeps, it’s that the Belgian three piece loves the 1990s. Their sound is reminiscent of bands that era, like DINOSAUR JR, SUPERCHUNK or SONIC YOUTH with fuzzy guitars, melancholic vocals and fast-paced drums. That combo hit home on their 2018 debut “Birthmarks” (PIAS Recordings), that garnered interest from UK press outings like Upset Magazine, DIY Mag, Clash Music and GoldFlakePaint. Even getting some four stare reviews.
But on ‘Forever’ they do not simply repeat the formula. The fuzzy guitars and angsty lyrics are still here on ‘Forever’. But Teen Creeps are okay with slowing down, letting in some more melody and overall maturing their sound. Closing track ‘Crash Land’ is the closest they’ll ever get to a ballad and their longest track yet. ‘Defender’, ‘Toughen Up’ and ‘Brothers’ also let in the feels and turn down the pace. “I think we just got a little more mellow as we got older”, says guitarist Joram De Bock. “I’m just less angry”, says vocalist-bassist Bert Vliegen. “On “Birthmarks’ I was fuelled by anger and frustrations, now I’ve learned to let go and accept certain failings I have. Because they will always be there. Yes, forever.”
After recording their debut in London with producer Rory Attwell (Veronica Falls, Yuck, The Vaccines), Teen Creeps stayed closer to home this time around. They recorded ‘Forever’ in Audioworx, a studio in the Netherlands, with their long-time friend and collaborator Jesse Maes. Ramses Van den Eede (drums): “Jesse recorded all of our early stuff and mixed the last record, so he’s a natural fit. Plus, it made the recording sessions a lot of fun. That’s something we want to celebrate in the artwork and title of the record. ‘Teen Creeps Forever’ is like a battle cry, but also a celebration of our friendship. We even put a heart on the cover. We’re not afraid to get corny.”
Indie rock from Ghent, Belgium. New album ‘Forever’ out now!
Firestations return with the first instalment of a new multi-EP project titled “Automatic Tendencies” and their first new music on Lost Map Records since the 2018 album The Year Dot.
Released on November 6th, 2020, Automatic Tendencies is the first of three EPs set to be released digitally and on limited-edition CD-R over a six-month period, embracing a mixtape aesthetic with each release including alternative “sunken” versions by the band as well as covers and remixes of new Firestations material by other artists. Band member and visual artist Laura Copsey has curated collections of special artworks that expand on the ideas within each release.
Over the last two years, Firestations have refined their brand of conceptual alt-pop, and new songs are concerned with identity, belonging, progress and escapism. ‘Small Island’ is about finding ways to embrace an inclusive islander mentality when the dominant narrative seems to be stuck in slow motion or on repeat – the languorous but insistent groove providing the perfect “road-to-nowhere-fast” backdrop. It’s accompanied by a video from award-winning animator Jack Alexandroff, featuring striking time-lapse footage of clay statues melting, islands dissolving into seas of milk and watercress growing from clenched fists.
The first track on the Automatic Tendencies EP ‘New Device’ begins with a hooky synth line and moves along quickly, but hints also at a kind of fatigue and disillusionment with the progress on offer. With ‘Bedford Levels’ and ‘Greenmount’, songwriter Mike Cranny looks closer to home and examines ambivalent feelings towards his own sense of belonging and identity, and the pitfalls of outsiderness coupled with directionless escapism. Musically, the former has echoes of pastoral/ambient end kosmische, all gently nagging synth and light drum machine pulse, while the latter highlights the band’s deftness, a just-too-slow-to-disco chug with the subtlest interjections of Nile Rodgers-esque guitar. Last track ‘Just For A While’ offers a meditation on travelling, and the quiet joys of moving on towards infinite possibilities. It’s a reflective journey, punctuated by keyboard ripples and bent-note guitar twang. With this first offering in the Automatic Tendencies EP project, the band show a clear intent for their music – combining “big ideas” and pop songs in a new and unique way; this is the challenge that keeps them evolving.
About the art collections accompanying the Automatic Tendencies EPs, Laura Copsey writes the following:
“The music Firestations make together and the ideas we explore, have increasingly influenced the work I create. Sometimes it’s hard to see where the music starts and the art stops, and this cross-pollination comes from the time we spend together as a band – conversations, in-jokes and influences that we agree or disagree about. The way we work has become increasingly process-led, which has always been how I work as an artist. This way of working together grew out of our previous release Dream Home, which was the first time my visual work was so connected with the music.
“The songs on Automatic Tendencies reflect on ideas of cultural identity and belonging. A tendency for repetition, a desire to escape, but also a strong connection to place and the shared experience of being alive at the same time on this small island. The contents of the art collection work alongside the music to create a sense of belonging, yet there is an ever-present awareness of growing insularity. The waters surrounding the British Isles are increasingly politicised – viewed as a border, despite being fluid and acting as a connection.
Karl Wallinger has approved vinyl reissues of World Party‘s all five studio albums, including the acclaimed “Goodbye Jumbo” (1990) and the 1993 hit “Bang!”. The other long-players are “Private Revolution” from 1986, “Egyptology” (1997) and “Dumbing Up” which was the last studio album issued way back in 2000.
World Party is Karl Wallinger’s band. Born in 1957, the man has been immersed in music since his earliest childhood, favouring keyboards but practicing many other instruments. His career as a musician began in 1977 when he joined the band Pax. However, it was in 1983 that she took off when Mike Scott recruited him to play the keyboards on the tour of the Waterboys’debut album. He participated in A Pagan Place, showcasing his talents as a musician and producer and then played a decisive role on This Is The Sea, going so far as to influence the sound of the Waterboys. Indeed, while Scott was moving towards minimalist arrangements, it was Wallinger who opened the band to The Big Music by diversifying the instruments and arrangements.
He impressed Scott so much that he will eventually include one of his songs in the setlist of This Is The Sea (Don’t Bang The Drum). As a result, The Waterboys being Scott’s project, he sees Wallinger’s growing influence with a slightly negative eye. In 1985, he eventually ejected him from the band and replaced him with Guy Chambers for the This Is The Sea tour.
He created World Party in 1985 and arrived at Ensign. The following year, he released Private Revolution, Recorded at Wallinger’s home in 1986, his debut album a pop, folk, soul exercise not completely completed but very promising in which he does almost everything: instruments, production. Almost, because he still involves two Waterboys members to help him: Anthony Thistlethwaite and newcomer Steve Wickham (integrated into the line up in 1985). That same year, 1986, therefore, on the side of MikeScott will, during a tour in Ireland, fall in love with the country and completely change his optics for the folk rock music of the Waterboys. More a Celtic, rock, folk, sometimes minimalist orientation. This change is also accompanied by a change of record company. The band will leave Island for Ensign, label of World Party. Between World Party’s first and second albums, Wallinger aided a young female vocalist Sinéad O’Connor in recording her 1987 debut, The Lion and the Cobra. O’Connor, then an unknown, had appeared as a guest on World Party’s first album. She would go on to appear as a guest on the second LP as well.
Scott, will still be inspired by Wallinger and credit him for writing the song World Party on Fisherman’s Blues. One can therefore legitimately think that in 1988, Wallinger is in perfect position to begin the composition of “Goodbye Jumbo”.
It’s a shame because with Goodbye Jumbo, Wallinger releases an immediate classic. The kind of record that, despite its flaws, goes through the years without taking a wrinkle. In addition to the themes discussed, all are rather universal (love, nature, joy, disappointment, alienation by images, fear of the future), Goodbye Jumbo sweeps through all popular musical styles with an exceptional accuracy and talent. Whether he imprints on the Stones (the choruses of Way Down Now),the Beatles (Put The Message In The Box, the lyrics of Thank You World), to Prince (this voice perched high on the very soulful Ain’t Gonna Come or the funky Show Me To The Top), whether he’s doing poignant ballads (the magnificent And I Fell Back Alone),melancholic pop at will (When The Rainbow Comes),hits(Put The Message, Way Down Now),the Scotsman just aims and touches the heart to almost every song. It’s quite simple, once you’ve put your ears in the gear, it’s almost impossible to get rid of it. Wallinger collaborated with fellow songwriter Guy Chambers on some of the tracks. Goodbye Jumbo was voted “album of the year” by Q magazine and was nominated for a Grammy Award for “best alternative music performance” in the US.
Especially since Wallinger, as the perfect sound wizard that he is, thought Goodbye Jumbo for each song the optimism of Thank You World will contrast with the dull anxiety of Is It Too Late(last and first track of the album), the melancholy of And I Fell Back Alone to the lightness of Take It Up(last track of the face A and first of the B-side), Ain’t Gonna Come and Show Me To The Top will be two different re-readings of Prince (the first will see the very melancholy If I Was Your Girlfriend.
After the 1991 EP “Thank You World”, Wallinger recruited guitarist David Catlin-Birch and ex-Icicle Works drummer Chris Sharrock as fully-fledged members for 1993’s album “Bang!” It reached no. 2 in the UK Albums Chart, with the track, “Is It Like Today?” hitting the UK Singles Chart also becoming a moderately successful single in europe.
All the albums will be issued on 180g black vinyl and “Dumbing Up” (which will be a 2LP set) sees its debut on the format. The schedule is roughly one release a month, starting with Private Revolution in February. Self-produced and largely self-played by sixties-obsessed Wallinger, World Party has essentially been Karl’s solo project since he left The Waterboys in 1986. ‘They’ released an impressive run of singles in the late eighties and early nineties including ‘Ship Of Fools’, ‘Message in the Box’, ‘Way Down Now’ and ‘Beautiful Dream’ most of which failed to chart, although the sublime ‘Is It Like Today?’ did creep into the UK top 20 helping Bang! reach an impressive and unlikely number two position in the British album charts. ‘She’s The One’ from Egyptology was covered by Robbie Williams and reached number one in 1999.
It doesn’t look like there’s any CD reissues to go with the vinyl and anyone expecting some deluxe editions is probably out of luck. He also doesn’t like greatest hits, only grudgingly releasing 2007’s Best in Show in the USA and Australia when told he needed something to support the tour.
Their fourth album, “Egyptology” (1997), written following the death of Wallinger’s mother, was commercially unsuccessful, although “She’s the One” won an Ivor Novello Award and was subsequently recorded by Robbie Williams. Sharrock left the group after the recording of this album, leaving Wallinger on his own. Wallinger took a three-year break from World Party, before the release of “Dumbing Up” in 2000. However, in February 2001 he suffered an aneurysm that left him unable to speak. After a five-year rehabilitation, in 2006 Wallinger re-emerged onto the scene. With his back catalogue reclaimed from EMI, a distribution deal was agreed (via his own Seaview label) with Universal Music.
These release supposedly will be remastered, even though Karl also told us “I’m not really in to remastering tracks we’ve heard before, I don’t really agree with that”. We’ll confirm when that information is forthcoming. All the albums are great, but Goodbye Jumbo is probably World Party’s masterpiece, wonderful catchy pop songs, beautifully recorded, exhibiting a brilliant mesh of influences (Prince, Beatles etc.) and lyrically powerful with a hippy heart delivering messages around ecology and love.
The reissue campaign starts with Private Revolution due on 26th February 2021 and moves through the albums every three or four weeks. These are issued on Karl’s own Seaview label. Bang! has the ‘new’ cover art from 2000, which is a bit of a shame. I can’t find any pre-order links for Egyptology, yet.
Private Revolution (1986) is the first album by the British band World Party – originally released in 1987. It features the hit singles “Ship Of Fools,” “All Come True,” and “Private Revolution.” This is a new 180-gram audiophile re-issue LP. It has been out of print on vinyl for years in the US.
Goodbye Jumbo (1990) Bang! (1993) Egyptology (1997) Dumbing Up (2000)
Australian four-piece Flyying Colours are set to release their sophomore album ‘Fantasy Country’ on the 19th February via London-based independent label, Club AC30. Taking inspiration from the early 90s UK psych/shoegaze scene, ‘Fantasy Country’ is rich in sonic texture and shimmering atmospherics with a heavy dose of melody.
Formed in 2011 by school friends Brodie J Brümmer and Gemma O’Connor, Flyying Colours released their debut single ‘Wavygravy’ in 2013 with a self-titled EP following later that year. Honing their explosive sound on the Melbourne live scene and picking up numerous accolades along the way, the ‘ROYGBIV’ EP followed which received heavy rotation across worldwide radio including BBC Radio 6 Music and KEXP.
Having released their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Mindfullness’ in 2016, Flyying Colours have spent much of their time on the road with headline shows across the UK and Europe. “While it’s been a long time seemingly between records it doesn’t feel like that so much for us. We have previously been able to throw ourselves into recording over a period of time, however with this record was about creating that time in between touring and life. We are real people who work to pay our rent and to be able to go on tour,” says Brümmer.
From the swooning, sludgy ‘Goodtimes’ and urgent noise-fest of ‘Big Mess’, to the gorgeous melodic pop of ‘OK’, Flyying Colours look to redefine noise within the context of pop music. Elsewhere, ‘It’s Real’ is perfect, summery dreampop while the crushingly loud ‘White Knuckles’ and chugging ‘Boarding Pass’ is a hazy, echo-laden spaced-out affair.
“This album was supposed to now be 6-12 months old. We take touring and supporting our music live pretty seriously so it would have been very difficult for us to put out this album during the early stages of the pandemic. We are very lucky to be in Australia right now where shows are starting up again, and we of course hope to be touring internationally again soon,” says Brümmer.
Flyying Colours have toured with Johnny Marr, Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Black Angels and A Place to Bury Strangers and are set to return to the UK in 2021 with a 7-date April tour.
Flyying Colours is Brodie J Brümmer, Gemma O’Connor, Melanie Barbaro and Andy Lloyd-Russell.
Paul Jacobs, drummer from the Montreal indie rockers Pottery, is continuing his own musical efforts with new single “Half Rich Loner” off of his first album “Pink Dogs on the Green Grass” which will be out April 30th. With the touring world shutting down, Paul had the chance to put the finishing touches on this new record. The song saunters in with a very cool guitar lick before the drums kick in and we get some rambling psychedelic sounds swirling and tangling with the music. Paul begins to sing and it seems the title character is pretty lost in what they should be doing with their life.
I feel there is going to be many of these types of songs coming in the coming months, but I don’t know if they are going to swing like this does. The song has British Invasion vibes circa 1966 just as old school rock and roll was changing into a bigger sound
There was no one quite like Frank Zappa. He sucked the expected seriousness right out of rock ’n’ roll and triumphantly turned the genre on its head, injecting comedy and fusing other genres to it, like pop, jazz, psychedelia, proto-metal and more. He recorded more than 60 albums throughout his career as a solo artist and with his band, the Mothers of Invention, and he produced nearly all of them. A man who wore many hats, he also directed films, music videos and designed album artwork.
For Frank Zappa fans, his multi-night run at The Palladium in New York City back in October of 1977 is the stuff of legend. It came in the midst of one of the guitarist/composer’s most fertile creative periods, which would yield a dozen live and studio albums over the next five years as well as the feature film Baby Snakes, built from footage captured at one of these vaunted Halloween shows in ‘77. These performances were also a showcase for what is arguably Zappa’s best backing band of his lengthy career, an ensemble that boasted future Talking Heads/King Crimson member Adrian Belew on guitar, percussion master Ed Mann and, most crucially, the outrageously talented drummer Terry Bozzio.
The Zappa Family Trust is unleashing “Halloween ‘77″, the full performances from this small residency at The Palladium via a wonderfully-designed boxed set that includes a kitschy ‘70s-style costume (plastic Frank Zappa mask, plastic pull over top) and all the audio on a USB stick made to look like a candy bar. It’s charming as all get out, aimed directly at the hearts and bank accounts of (are they any other kind?) FZ super fans. There’s also a truncated three CD version for those not wishing to expend that much dough.
For the casual listener, it’s a lot to take in. The complete audio runs to just under 16 hours, and almost all the shows feature the same set list. The music, too, can be plenty imposing. Zappa’s compositions are full of quick time signature shifts, executed with almost rigid yet limber precision by a very well rehearsed band. The songs themselves are dizzying, braiding together jazz, psychedelia, proto-metal and contemporary classical. There are enough pop-style hooks to draw you in, but you’d better be prepared to hold on tight.
Zappa fans are more than familiar with his October 1977 residency at New York’s Palladium Theater. Zappa produced and directed a feature film around these shows called “Baby Snakes”, featuring backstage tomfoolery and stop-motion clay animation, as well as a live album box set, titled Halloween ‘77: The Palladium, NYC.
If you’re unfamiliar with Zappa’s work, it might be a little off-putting to listen to him invite audience members on stage to whip each other or delight in the uncomfortable sexual oddities of “Bobby Brown Goes Down,” the weird gay panic wrapped in “Punky’s Whips” or the tittering reference to mooning people in the title of instrumental “Pound For A Brown”...Luckily, much like the discomforting stage banter within, the music overshadows all of that nonsense. Especially when it is presented with such care and wit as with this set.
There’s also the matter of his conservative outlook, which peppers these performances, particularly the first show of the set, recorded on October 28th. In his intro to the song “Flakes,” he says, “This is a song about people who don’t do what they’re supposed to do. There’s a large concentration of these denizens in the state of California. The problem, simply stated, is that everybody who moves to California, moves there to collect unemployment or welfare or both.” He also makes clear what he thinks of his main character in “Bobby Brown,” calling him a “schmuck” for being “the first guy in town to say ‘Ms.’” Whether Zappa truly believed those things or not or was aiming for provocation, the cheers of the New York crowd in response is off-putting enough.
For those folks acutely familiar with the Zappa canon, this is the kind of treat you want someone to drop in your candy bag. All of the shows sounds spectacular. Working off of some great source material, the remixing and remastering work, overseen by Ahmet Zappa and Joe Travers, shows off each instrument with precision and clarity. There’s added allure here with the inclusion of rarely heard live tracks like the leisurely instrumental version of “Conehead” (a showcase for a particularly effusive solo by Zappa), a premiere of future single “Dancin’ Fool” and the only live performance of “Jewish Princess.” I can also see some fans debating over which epic version of “Wild Love” (each one ranges between 24 and 28 minutes in length) is the best or which Bozzio drum solo reigns supreme (I’m partial to the double kick drum-heavy antics of the first show on October 29th).
This Halloween-themed release comes along at a strange time for the Zappa family. Ahmet and Dweezil continue to fire off furious open letters to one another, and just as they keep reissuing FZ’s work in new formats, including freshly cut vinyl remasters, they’re going to attempt to bring the man himself back on tour via hologram. Those odd turns could tarnish this somewhat for long time supporters or leave a sour taste for someone looking to dive into this expansive body of work for the first time. Luckily, much like the discomforting stage banter within, the music overshadows all of that nonsense. Especially when it is presented with such care and wit as with this set.
Players:
Frank Zappa – Guitar, Vocals
Adrian Belew – Guitar, Vocals
Tommy Mars – Keyboards, Vocals
Peter Wolf – Keyboards
Ed Mann – Percussion
Patrick O’Hearn – Bass, Vocals
Terry Bozzio – Drums, Vocals
Lately I’ve been reading a book on a favourite artist which is ultimately about music and technology and the quest for a sonic purity in the context of rock and roll. “My Week Beats Your Year” is about Lou Reed. Yes, the Lou Reed of The Velvet Underground (VU), discovered by Andy Warhol and who worked with Bowie. He’s also the Lou Reed who walked away from rock ‘n’ roll’s drug-booze freak show of the 1970s to become a voice of reason and clarity about everything from the power of guitar and amplifier tones to the focused muscle-mind control of Tai Chi martial arts.
In reading My Week Beats Your Year a collection of fascinating interviews, compiled by Michael Heath and edited by Pat Thomas — we get a portrait of an artist discovering his true calling. There you also witness his frustration as a new generation of media seemed mostly focused on sensationalist retro history. From a publicity standpoint I suspect some blame lies with his handlers who I am guessing didn’t grasp what Lou was about and where he was heading. Thus he was put into situations which frequently turned hostile. Lou tries to talk about his music yet the reviewers fall back on insipid questions that had been covered and discussed to death everywhere else.
Across the interviews you start to side with Lou who could get quite aggressive with journalists. I suspect that if his publicists had steered Lou more towards the audiophile leaning press High Fidelity, Stereo Review and Audio rather than the (admittedly influential, marketing wise) rock ‘zines like Creem and Rolling Stone he would’ve been much happier. All he really wanted to do was talk about the music.
As I read “My Week Beats Your Year”, I recognized a compelling arc of artistic flower. Amidst this, an interesting detail emerges: Lou Reed was an audiophile at heart. I kind of knew this, but didn’t fully understand how deep his passion went into his soul.
Right from the start, when the VU was recording its first two albums Lou was searching for distinctive sounds. Frankly, it is remarkable that MGM Records even released that second VU album, White Light White Heat, as it contains perhaps one of the most intentionally distorted recordings ever released. The story goes that the band was playing so loud the engineers walked out in disgust until they were done. An exercise in magnetic tape over-saturation (which creates its own unique sonic texture) when you listen to the song “Sister Ray” it sounds like an eruption. In Spinal Tap terms, their amps “went to 11” but the tape recorder’s VU meters probably sat in the red zone most of it. And it sounds pretty amazing all things considered.
Fast forward through the 70s and we see Lou frustrated by not having complete control over his art. In response to this he created an album that is either considered by some as insane and others as absolutely brilliant. He delivered to RCA a recording that nearly killed his career: Metal Machine Music. Four sides of multi-tracked guitar feedback and distortion — it was even released in quadraphonic! Lou defends its release to the point where you realize it really wasn’t a joke. He was into it. That album was recalled three weeks after its release yet it went on to become the stuff of legend. Eventually it was transcribed and performed live with other musicians, which even surprised Lou! Heck, he even played it live on tour.
In the 1980s Lou exited the fast rock ‘n’ roll life, re-emerging focused, mature and shockingly happy in long term relationships, most notably to performance and recording artist Laurie Anderson. Free of drugs, booze and concern for what anyone thought, he was able to focus his passions for chasing perfect sound and unique guitar / amplifier tones. He had actually begun moving in that direction in the late 1970s with his “Binaural” recordings, Street Hassle and The Bells. The former album became the first commercially released pop record made using this microphone recording technique. It is also one of my all-time favourite Lou Reed records. The title track is particularly stunning, with its intimate, chamber-like cellos and haunting vocal layers (and an uncredited guest vocal appearance by Bruce Springsteen!).
Lou’s later records are often overlooked beyond the New York album. There are some remarkable works worth exploring such as Set The Twilight Reeling from 1996, parts of which were recorded live in his home studio called “The Roof.” Ecstasy (from 2000) is a marvel of pure electric guitar and amplifier tonality (and some great songs to boot!).
A song from that album — “Paranoia, Key of E” to open up a special playlist that I put together to accompany this quasi-review. On this playlist called “LouLou” you’ll hear a bunch of songs which I think are among Reed’s most fascinating accomplishments both sonically and musically. Listen for the interesting recording techniques, the distortion, amplifier tones, guitar sounds. Lou crafted sounds as well as songs. This was a man who understood his instruments and what he needed to do to convey them to you effectively… so when you played them on your home stereos, you would be able to experience that same vibe that he got in the studio.
Reading My Week Beats Your Year you are presented with a portrait of an artist absolutely passionate about the power of sound and the underlying magic of rock and roll. Lou Reed remains a rock ‘n roll hero in that light, influenced by his heroes Little Richard and Bo Diddly and a multitude of Doo Wop groups. He was a keeper of the flame for future generations to discover.
My Week Beats Your Year is a great place to begin appreciating him. Buy the book and read it while listening to his music.
It’s been a long time since we’ve had a great new album by the great guitarist, songwriter and member of no less than two legendary rock bands Neil Young’s Crazy Horse and Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band Nils Lofgren. Don’t get me wrong, he’s put out some good albums in the interim but none of them really stuck with me like his 1985 album Flip did. Given that Nils raised the bar pretty high early on in his career with some legendary song writing, such as the then-timely radio friendly hit “Keith Don’t Go” from 1975 some of us older fans have great expectations.
In the late 1970s Nils collaborated with Lou Reed, the results of which were sort of scattered across a number of different recordings of by both artists. So unless you were intimate with LouReed’s album The Bells (1979) and Nils’ self titled album from that same year and 1995’s Damaged Goods, chances are most of you have not heard the songs. As it turns out there were several other additional tracks from that collaboration which never saw the light of day and Nils has finally decided to finish up those songs up, partly the basis of his new album called Blue With Lou. There’s much more to this record than just those collaborations, however.
At the heart of Blue With Lou is a great band that Nils assembled to work up the songs, all record in his garage home studio. In the finest Crazy Horse tradition, these songs rock madly and have that wonderful tight-but-loose feel that can only be generated by a group of musicians who are intimate with one another and the music they’re playing. And intimate they are: Nils has played with drummer Andy Newmark and bassist Kevin McCormack for decades. These guys are kindred spirits and that comes through in the music which rings true as authentic as authentic rock ‘n roll gets. All that great playing would be for naught if the songs were forgettable.
Happily, Nils seems to have found his melodic muse and those melodic hooks ‘n riffs he’s been known for — but not often celebrated — are back! A musician’s musician, the reason Nils is in bands with Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young is because he’s a brilliant guitarist with a distinctive sound and technique. You get that all over “Blue With Lou” but you also get some great songs!
Tracks like “Attitude City” and “Rock or Not” deliver genuine ear-worms you’ll be tapping your toes or steering wheel as you rock along with Nils and his band. This album is a great one for driving on the highway, by the way.
Blue With Lou is not without its soft spots though. There are touching moments including a tribute to Tom Petty (“Dear Heartbreaker”) and seemingly simple references to the great filmmaker Charlie Chaplin. “Talk Thru The Tears” mashes up chord progressions akin to John Lennon’s “Starting Over” and “Isolation” with melodic springboards from Chaplin’s classic “Smile” (which itself is apparently based on melodies from Puccini’s Tosca!).
I don’t know if this is a bit of conceptual continuity but Chaplin comes up in the lyrics to “City Lights” his legendary film from 1930; Lou Reed previously recorded this song for his 1979 album “The Bells” but this new version is much nicer, replete with a refreshingly unusual retro 1950s male choir backing up Nils’ lead vocals.
The kicker for me on this album is the final song which is about Nils’ dog, “Remember You” is a touching sweet memorial that will leave you with a tear in your eye for his “forever friend.” I can so relate to this. If you haven’t listen to Nils in a while, Blue With Lou might be a good album to reacquaint yourself with what he’s been doing.
If you are a fan of long playing records, Blue With Lou is also available as a two disc set! This (probably) 180-gram dark black vinyl pressing is quiet, well centered and complimentary to the music, delivering significantly richer bass and round mid ranges. The guitars and drums sound fuller on the LP version, delivering more of the punch of the band playing together than the CD. Nils’ electric guitar amplifier tone really benefits a lot from this presentation and his vocals are warmer overall.
And if you’re not familiar with his older material I wholeheartedly recommend you seek out the albums “Cry Tough”, “I Came To Dance”, and his self titled debut, “Nils Lofgren”. Also look for the commercially released version of the album known as “Back It Up Live” which was initially a highly coveted and collectible promotional album in the mid 1970s heavily pirated back in the day so beware of counterfeits which eventually saw official commercial release several years ago. It is a wonderful document of the artist on his ascent to rock ‘n’ roll legend.
Nils and his band are often out on tour so you should definitely look for them in your town. And also I remember reading recently that he’ll be playing with Neil Young again soon in Crazy Horse. And… by now many of us now that Bruce Springsteen has a new album, maybe coming next year in 2022 … perhaps an E Street Band tour with Nils on board.
