Album Review: Franz Ferdinand – Blood (2009)

***

Six years on from the band’s celebrated debut album, I’m still not convinced about Franz Ferdinand. I enjoyed that album – in parts – and found a lot more to like about its almost immediate follow-up, but 2009’s Tonight left me feeling a tad disappointed and rather nonplussed about the direction Franz were headed. This release, Blood, a remix/Dub version of Tonight, merely reinforces those feelings of indifference, despite it containing the odd gem.

Where Pitchfork were happy to compare Blood to Primal Scream’s Echo Dek (the Dub version of the Scream’s Vanishing Point album – what is it about Scottish bands and Dub remixes?) it has to be said that producer Dan Carey (Blood) is certainly no Adrian Sherwood (Echo Dek).

While Carey does a decent enough job on some tracks, applying large portions of synthetic gloss, his work lacks the authenticity and hard edge of Sherwood, and Blood is clearly more geared toward floor-filling Electronica than genuine blissed-out bass heavy horizontal Dub (see Echo Dek).

In reality this is just another remix album with a few echo effects thrown in. No more, no less.

Recommended for Franz fans with a taste for experimental Electronica, but I can’t see this being particularly appealing to non-converts.

Highlights: ‘The Vaguest of Feeling’ (which is actually quite brilliant), ‘Katherine Hit Me’ (which I think in its original form was ‘No You Girls’ on Tonight?), and ‘Feeling Kind of Anxious’ (was ‘Ulysses’).

Album Review: Various Artists – Ghetto Arc Presents Serious Times (2006)

***1/2

Serious Times is one of the more mainstream post-millennium Reggae compilations on the market, and as such it represents an ideal sampler for anyone wishing to become more familiar with recent period flavours – be they of the Roots, One Drop, or Dancehall variety.

We get two CDs with essentially the same stuff on each – the first CD being an exclusive dubplate mix (by Federation Sound) with the second giving us the actual singles and split track versions.

Featuring the likes of Turbulence, Sizzla, Gyptian, Morgan Heritage, Richie Spice, Fantan Mojah, and Perfect, alongside others, it provides for a decent enough overview of what was happening within the genre (and an ever-increasing number of sub-genres) during 2006, and more generally over recent years. It all makes for a pretty good listen along the way, and for me the Roots-orientated numbers (like Rob Symeonn’s ‘Chosen One’ and Sizzla’s ‘Ain’t Gonna Fall’) provide the main highlights.

Other highlights include Gyptian’s title-track (so good we get three mixes), the two mixes of Turbulence’s ‘Notorious’, Morgan Heritage with ‘Wall Of Babylon’, Nitty Kutchie with ‘Ghetto’, and Nanko’s soulful and ultimately quite beautiful ‘Lucky You’.

Album Review: Fat Freddy’s Drop – Dr Boondigga And The Big BW (2009)

***1/2

It took four years to produce a follow-up to the successful 2005 breakthrough album Based On A True Story, but clearly Fat Freddy’s Drop wanted to ensure the quality control filter was set appropriately high, and despite the rather absurd album title, Dr Boondigga And The Big BW, for the most part, comes up trumps.

Combining elements of Dub, Funk, Blues, and old fashioned Soul, with an added jazzy hip-hoppy vibe on one or two tracks, this is most definitely a return to top form for Godzone’s leading purveyors of bass heavy eclectic funk. Again, as with BOATS, horns and brass feature prominently, there’s the usual quota of guitar, synth, and electronic loopy bits, but mostly Dr Boondigga is all about bass and percussion. Rhythm has always been the main course for FFD, and to some extent, everything else – including the vocals – feels a little bit like additional garnish.

If there is a criticism it is that the laidback nature of several tracks tends to emphasise their length (‘Shiverman’ for example, is just a little too long) and you’d want to be careful about setting your iPod on repeat lest you find yourself dozing off involuntarily.

Five (of nine in total) for downloading: ‘The Raft’, the singles ‘Pull The Catch’ and ‘The Camel’, plus ‘The Nod’ (which features rapper MC Slave), and ‘Wild Wind’ … basically the entire middle section of the album.

Gig Review: Paul Weller, Auckland, 2010

The Modfather

Concert Review: Paul Weller – Live at the Powerstation, Auckland, 30 October 2010

(a bit late getting this up, but the review was written a week or so after the gig) ...

With Paul Weller having never previously performed in New Zealand with either The Jam or The Style Council, or indeed while wearing his solo hat in more recent times, it was no great surprise that Weller was able to sell out three consecutive nights at Auckland’s Powerstation venue (capacity approx 1000) within hours of each gig being announced.

Despite many of my casual friends or work colleagues responding with a baffled “who?” when I informed them that I was attending the middle concert of the three, Weller remains a big draw in this part of the world, particularly when it comes to nostalgic middle-aged expat Brits looking to capture a glimpse of the man many consider to be a genuine legend back in his (and their) home country. Suffice to say that “Kiwi” accents were rather conspicuous by their scarcity on the night under review.

The Powerstation is certainly a great venue – large enough to accommodate a good sized crowd yet small enough to feel relatively intimate. Add to that decent acoustics, a genuine “club” feel with separate zones, home comforts such as plush sofas/chairs, not to mention easy access to multiple bars, air conditioning (!) and well … we were all set for a top night once a good spot on the mezzanine floor had been secured for our viewing pleasure. It was great to see the Powerstation almost full and buzzing, but by no means over-crowded, by the time the support act (The Conversations? - quirky Pop), started its thankfully-not-too-prolonged set.

Leading up to the gig there had been much speculation about which “version” of Weller we would see on the night. Would we get the beloved “Jam classics”? And what about those old faves from the Style Council years? Or would greater importance be placed on his most recent solo work?

The answer, of course, was a mixture of all three eras, but with emphasis weighted to the latter; a few older Jam tunes for the nostalgia nuts, a very memorable ‘Shout To The Top’ as the token nod to the Style Council, and a balanced journey through some of the very best material from his solo years, with his latest album, Wake Up The Nation (2010), taking pride of place.

The thing about Paul Weller, at age 52, is that he isn’t quite yet ready for the nostalgia circuit. He is a living breathing artist continually releasing new work at regular intervals. He is evolving all the time as a songwriter and performer. This was never going to be like, say, The Specials (to pluck a band from the Jam-era) visiting Auckland in 2009. I attended that gig on the basis that the band had reformed specifically for a series of concerts celebrating its illustrious past. There had been no new Specials material for something close to three decades, so I went to that gig knowing exactly what I was going to get (and loving the band all the more because of it). So those expecting Weller to populate his set-list with tracks from a bygone era were always going to be disappointed.

While I’m not a huge fan of Wake Up The Nation, songs from his latest album dominated the early part of the set and hearing them in a live context enabled me to connect with them in ways I hadn’t been able to when listening to the album. ‘As Tears Go By’, ‘Pieces Of A Dream’, ‘Fast Car/Slow Traffic’, and the title track itself all provided highlights on the night and Weller seemed especially keen to challenge those in the crowd who hadn’t made the effort to buy the album (or its predecessor, 22 Dreams) … in fact he seemed a little obsessed with poor recent album sales in this part of the world as he mentioned this on more than one occasion.

We also got other solo career gems such as ‘The Changingman’ and ‘Broken Stones’ (off Stanley Road), and while I was a bit personally disappointed that tracks from his ‘Wild Wood’ album were overlooked, I couldn’t have any complaint about his choice of material from the Jam era – ‘That’s Entertainment’ being given an riotous airing early on, while versions of ‘Pretty Green’ and ‘Start’ counted among the night’s best. And although there would doubtlessly have been a few grumbles that ‘Going Underground’ didn’t get an outing, there can be few better encore finales (the second of two) than ‘A Town Called Malice’, which concluded a thoroughly professional and enjoyable gig.

Weller look relaxed and in control throughout – dominating the stage like the veteran he undeniably is, smoking, chatting, regularly switching guitars – depending on what song came next – and spending a portion of the night behind one of several keyboards at his disposal. It was notable that longtime sidekick Steve Craddock and other members of the band got a warm introduction and an acknowledgement from the crowd near the end, with Weller happy to allow his youthful drummer the indulgence of a short drum solo in response to the crowd’s hearty “happy birthday” chorus as he celebrated his special day.

More generally it was a special night for all in attendance. I read a review of the first night suggesting that the crowd at that particular gig was more akin to a football crowd than your usual Rock audience and it is actually difficult to disagree with that assessment (a house load of Brits? – what can you do?), albeit a very polite and less hooligan-like mob, but most left the venue with large smiles and surely the sense that they’d backed the winning team after witnessing a classic match. Cup Finals don’t come along very often, after all.

Album Review: The Radio Dept – Clinging To A Scheme (2010)

****

I’m not sure what special additive is being applied to the drinking water in Scandinavia – or specifically Sweden in this instance – but I’m finding myself increasingly attracted to much of the exceptional “new” music being produced out of that part of the world. Following on from recent love-ins with the likes of Air France and The Knife, The Radio Dept is proving to be yet another irresistible proposition presently enjoying high rotation in my house.

Clinging To A Scheme is the latest album by The Radio Dept. Basically it is a pleasant Indie-Pop album full of carefully crafted guitar-based gems, rather reminiscent of Oxford-based Nineties Shoegaze exponents Ride. Or at least, it’s Ride without the associated wall of feedback. Simple short sharp jangly bursts of Swedish sunshine in a box – if I have a minor complaint, it’s merely that at some 35 minutes in length the ten track album feels a little too short. Then again, maybe that also adds to its charm and digestibility in the sense that it doesn’t ever become too overwhelming.

Highlights: ‘Domestic Scene’, ‘Heaven’s On Fire’, ‘This Time Around’, ‘Never Follow Suit’, and ‘David’.

List: 10 Important Reggae Albums

Local music blog ‘Blog on the Tracks’ (on www.stuff.co.nz) recently featured a post on the “ten most important” Reggae albums. It was part of a series where blogger Simon Sweetman selects a genre and then proceeds to list the most important albums of said genre. Or the “most important” as they relate to Simon’s journey and life as a music consumer. Not the ten best-sellers or the ten most acclaimed but the ten that have touched on a personal level.

I personally listen to a lot of Reggae (and/or Dub and a multitude of sub genres) so I thought I’d follow the blog’s lead and create my own list of ten for the genre. As with most lists of this nature, I suspect the contents would vary from one day to the next, depending on my whim, but the only prerequisite I’d insist upon for inclusion is that I own a copy of the album in some form or another – be it LP vinyl, CD, or a digital version … or in the case of one of the below (Signing Off), all three variations.

Here’s the list I submitted in response to the blog:

1. Third World – 96 Degrees in the Shade – combines Jamaican rhythms with funk to produce the perfect soundtrack for those long balmy summer nights.

2. Bob Marley & The Wailers – Kaya – won’t be the one for Bob purists but means so much to me on a personal level for reasons perhaps best not gone into here. Contains no filler.

3. Lee Scratch Perry & Dub Syndicate – Time Boom x De Devil Dead – Perry’s second coming masterfully produced by Adrian Sherwood. An important album in the evolution of Dub.

4. Peter Tosh – Equal Rights – Tosh’s most consistent solo effort just shading Legalise It. The title track is one of contemporary music’s all-time greatest protest songs.

5. Bob Marley & The Wailers – Exodus – prime period Bob. An important statement at a troublesome time for him personally.

6. Burning Spear – Marcus Garvey – Look no further for the true definition of ‘Roots’ in black plastic form.

7. Max Romeo – War Ina Babylon – Perry-produced set that raised the bar for all pretenders.

8. Jimmy Cliff/OST – The Harder They Come – not so much a Cliff solo set as a who’s who of Reggae as it morphed from its Ska and Rocksteady origins. My extended review of this soundtrack made the front page of the popular ‘Rate Your Music’ site … just sayin’.

9. UB40 – Signing Off – before they turned to mush, this Brummie collective had a lot to say. The opening quartet of tracks on this album ensured they said it with plenty of style and substance. The rest ain’t bad either.

10. Various – 15 Years in an Open Boat – showcases Adrian Sherwood’s On-U Sound label with 15 years worth of gems from a whole range of sources. A one-stop-shop/intro to an important label … but look out too for any one of the half dozen or so Pay It All Back compilations on On-U.

( … but ten is obviously all too finite as a number and there really is a batch of other albums that on any other given day I’d probably rate just as highly as some of the above. I’ll doubtlessly be looking to create a more definitive personal list at some point in the future …)

Album Review: Robert Plant - Band of Joy (2010)

****

What is there left to say about the genius of Robert Plant?

From his time as frontman with the legendary Led Zeppelin, through various solo incarnations during the Eighties and Nineties, to wonderful post-Millennium albums alongside the Strange Sensation (Mighty Rearranger from 2005 is a genuine pearl) and Alison Krauss, Plant’s range and versatility continues to astound and inspire.

And now the grizzled old rocker’s “Indian summer” continues with the sublime Band of Joy (apparently the name of Plant’s pre-Zep band – who knew there was life before Zep? Hell, who can even remember that far back?), which combines almost equal portions of Rock, Gospel, Blues, Folk, and Country elements to produce one of 2010’s best albums.

I’ve never really been sure what Americana is, because its definition tends to change every time I see the word being used, but I reckon I’d not be too far off the mark to describe Band of Joy as Plant’s tip of the hat to that genre (see above combination of styles).

For a boy from the dirty grey facades of England’s “black country” region, Plant certainly has an inordinate and almost unfathomable amount of the American “southern man” present in his music. But then, he always did, and if the previous collaboration with Alison Krauss helped emphasise and remind us of that, then Band of Joy hammers the point home so strongly we’ll be a long time forgetting it.

But every style must have some substance and the key to Plant’s longevity is that amazing voice – yes it’s getting older and rather more frayed around the edges, but that merely adds to its character; Plant has become a master at getting the absolute most from it, and the songs on Band of Joy – quite a few of them being carefully selected covers – are perfect for him.

I could probably rave on about this album indefinitely but I’ll spare you, and it might just be a helluva lot easier and less painless if you just pick up a copy for yourself. You won’t regret it.

Highlights include ‘Angel Dance’, ‘Cindy, I’ll Marry You One Day’ and ‘Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down’, but both ‘Monkey’ and ‘Silver Rider’ are the real hidden gems here, and each demands repeated listening.

Album Review: Broken Bells - Broken Bells (2010)

***1/2

Broken Bells is the latest project of renowned producer Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) and James Mercer, lead vocalist and guitarist of American Indie rockers The Shins.

Broken Bells is also the name of the duo’s debut album, and it rates (in my house, at least) as one of the nicest surprises of 2010 … containing as it does a pleasant mix of tuneful Indie pop and faux-Sixties guitar rock, actually not too far removed from a late period Beatles-type template, with some mild psychedelia thrown in.

While the music itself is an easy enough listen, and supremely enjoyable in parts, it isn’t especially experimental or challenging, and there is a certain amount of validity in claims that this is a very “safe” album. Much of the lyrical content/subject matter can also come across as being a little vague at times. The predominant theme appears to revolve around a sense of loss, or a yearning for something, without it ever becoming overly explicit or obvious as to what exactly might have been lost, or what specifically is being missed or coveted. Working out the meaning behind the words is a task in itself, but probably not one worth getting too hung up on.

Overall though, this is a pretty solid album, and well worth checking out. I wonder if we’ll get more from this unlikely pairing?  

Highlights: the lead-off single ‘The High Road’, ‘The Ghost Inside’, and ‘Mongrel Heart’.

Just One More Year And Then You’ll Be Happy ...

I was saddened recently to read of the death of Gerry Rafferty, the Scottish singer/songwriter who enjoyed massive chart success in the late Seventies with hits such as ‘Baker Street’, ‘Right Down The Line’, and ‘Night Owl’.

While I wasn’t a great fan of his music at the time, it would be churlish of me not to recognise that he was one of the very best of his generation when it came to making radio-friendly soft rock, and I can’t deny that Rafferty’s music – whether it be with Stealers Wheel or as a solo artist – did help soundtrack my high school years by dint of being one of commercial radio’s most reliable “go to” guys.

I read somewhere recently that ‘Baker Street’ royalties earned Rafferty around £80,000 annually (though I’m not sure how accurate that is) but try as he might, he never again found the formula to repeat the global chart success that ‘Baker Street’ gave him in 1978. Sure he had a few more hits and a couple of very good albums but ‘Baker Street’ raised the bar to such an extent that every subsequent release would only ever be measured against it.

Paisley-born Rafferty initially made his name as a folk singer of some repute alongside (future comic/superstar) Billy Connolly in a group called The Humblebums, before Connolly decided to concentrate on making people laugh, and Rafferty went on to form Stealers Wheel with an old school friend, Joe Egan.

Stealers Wheel struck gold in 1972 with ‘Stuck In The Middle With You’ but ultimately Rafferty was destined to follow the path of several of his Scottish contemporaries – see Rod Stewart, Al Stewart, Frankie Miller – by going it alone as a singer/songwriter ... and the rest, as they say, is history ...

What was especially sad about Rafferty’s death was that, like so many in the field of popular music, it came way too early, at just 63, due to liver failure ... which, of course, is another way of saying “alcoholism”.

Relationship problems, followed by divorce, depression, public notoriety, paranoia, and ultimately a futile search to recreate the heights of his brief – but very real and intense – brush with stardom proved to be a lethal cocktail when Rafferty added his own poison of choice to the mix.

It’s an all too familiar story, yet no less poignant, ironic, or sad because of that.

Gerry Rafferty:

"There have been periods in my life where I have experienced depression ... it has been through some of my darkest moments that I have written some of my best songs. For me, singing and writing is very therapeutic ... my main ambition is to continue to write music, which helps me to evolve in a spiritual sense and hopefully to inspire others."

(Daily Express – ‘Gerry Rafferty Is Back On A New Platform’, 22 November 2009)

RIP Gerry.

everythingsgonerandom

Welcome to my blog. I'm Michael and I'm an opinionated 40-something daydreamer living at the bottom of the planet. EverythingsGoneGreen is a place for me to share whatever random thing is bugging me on any given day. I'm not sure how often I'll get to post but I hope these pages will be updated fairly regularly. I'll ramble about music, put albums reviews up for ridicule, and I'll no doubt feel the urge to post on a whole range of subjects and issues of the day. I hope you enjoy reading.