Orbit 1. Recitals

Last week readers of the blog could meet Recitals for the first time. On 26 August the band's album was released. The expectations set by single 'Gradiant' were met alright and then some. On Orbit 1 Recitals presents itself as a band with one foot in tradition and one in a total universe of its own. It is better to stop speculating about what it is in the water there in New Zealand and just accept that a lot of very talented musicians thrive there in the near perfect isolation.

Recitals is from Dunedin, the final bigger town on New Zealand's south island and not the first act from there on this blog. There may not be a city further removed on this earth from where I live than Dunedin. Most likely Recitals would never have reached my ears, were it not thanks to the Flying Nun Records and store's newsletter. A true recommendation for all with an interest in more alternative music and then especially for the store's record label's releases and tips on other New Zealand acts.

Orbit 1 is the kind of record that takes those who put it on on a trip. Expect fine songs, some experiments but always a true listening experience. Because of the trumpet often being the lead instrument, I am constantly reminded of Soft Cell's 'Torch'. Recitals does not play electronic pop and still some of the songs on Orbit 1 have that melancholy feel 'Torch' (and 'Say Hello Wave Goodbye')  has. An instant feeling of loss and feeling lost comes through in the music. It is here that Recitals has one foot strongly set in a pop tradition.

The more traditional part is that the band is obviously influenced by alternative music of the past decades. From a more modern band like Warpaint, all the way back to the punk and new wave era of the later 70s. All the difference comes from Tharushi Bowatte, playing his trumpet.

In the way Recitals presents its music, is where the other foot can be found. The seven piece band, is not afraid of colouring outside the prescribed boxes. The result is sonic adventures that go beyond "traditional", alternative (rock) music. All sort of sounds come in, and time signatures, that make the atmosphere of Recitals change time and again, without the album becoming incoherent for one second. No matter how much I like Warpaint's latest album, Orbit 1 presents the trance inducing songs so much more exciting, and, no, that's not just because of the trumpet. Take 'The Pip'. There are sounds coming from everywhere. The bass is prominent, the keyboards produce little high notes, almost like little bells, a modest wall of sound supports the whole and only then comes that trumpet that explores the course already plotted by the band. The release, when the band decides to explode is, certainly, nice, but also not necessary. 'The Pip' had made its point long ago.

What remains is a comment on the beautiful and oh so dreamy voice of Xanthe Rook who often takes the lead, while playing bass. It brings to mind fairytales, including the dark side of fairytales, something often overlooked by all the little pink princesses. In that Recitals finds a match in Dutch band Elenne May. So, if you down under start listening to Elenne May (https://elennemay.bandcamp.com/), we'll return the favour to Recitals some more!

I am able to listen to Orbit 1 since a few days and am sure I will have many more pleasurable moments with the album. Had I lived close to the record store in Wellington, I would have had me that beautiful silver-grey coloured album immediately. Distance prevents that. The digital version will have to do. At this point it is totally satisfying, as another truly fantastic album has come out of New Zealand and may well be its best of 2022. This is a must listen, folks.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Orbit 1 here:

https://recitals.bandcamp.com/album/orbit-i

Deacon Blue live, Tivoli/Vredenburg Utrecht, 25 augustus 2022

Foto: HareD

De laatste van corona-inhaalconcerten! Kaartje gekocht in november 2019, twee keer verzet, uiteindelijk is er toch gespeeld. En hoe, wat een heerlijk concert was het in de uitverkochte Pandora-zaal van Tivoli/Vredenburg.

Dat het uitverkocht was, is zeer opmerkelijk, want het Schotse Deacon Blue is nooit groot geweest in Nederland. Wel in het Verenigd Koninkrijk, waar eind jaren tachtig / begin jaren negentig de eerste vier albums (dubbel) platinum of goud werden, en talloze compilatie -en live albums met succes werden uitgebracht (en inmiddels meer dan 25 miljoen views op YouTube). Blijkbaar was er toch ook genoeg spillover naar ons land, in ieder geval via MTV dat in de beginjaren veel Britse muziek uitzond en wellicht ook door de concerten die de band in het verleden in ons land heeft gegeven.

Deacon Blue (naar het Steely Dan nummer Deacon Blues) werd in 1985 door zanger Rickie Ross opgericht en speelt vooral uptempo poprock-songs, afgewisseld met ballads. Naast drums en gitaar ook een dominante rol voor de toetsen, en zoals Ricky zei ‘the love of my life for over 32 years now’, Lorraine McIntosh, is ook zangeres. Met zijn tweeën maken ze mooie zangpartijen, de stemmen vullen elkaar prachtig aan. Toetsenist James Prime (1960) lijkt wel tachtig, maar opvallender is dat hij  ook docent is aan de Universiteit van West Schotland. Zoals gebruikelijk had de band hoogte- en dieptepunten de afgelopen 30 jaar, gingen een keer uit elkaar, werkte een tijd op een heel laag pitje, maar de laatste jaren maken zij nieuw werk en touren ze weer. Ross heeft ook nog een solocarrière.     

De Cities of Love tour was vooral een zaak van festivals en zalen in het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Ierland, maar naast Utrecht werd op het Europese vasteland ook Oostende aangedaan. De ruim twee uur werden gevuld met materiaal uit het hele oeuvre, en er werd ook nog akoestisch kwartiertje gedaan. Ik was erg blij met de songs van debuutalbum Raintown (1987), zoals het titelnummer, maar ook Loaded, Chocolate Girl en vooral een hele fijne uitvoering van Dignity.  Van het tweede album When the World Knows Your Name (1989) vielen Real Gone Kid, Fergus Sings the Blues en -als ik het goed heb onthouden- ook Love and Regret op.  Van de EP met vier Bacharach & David nummers (1990) werd I’ll never fall in love again op een prachtige manier uitgevoerd. 

McIntosh ging vanaf het begin uit haar dak alsof ze in Metallica speelde en ook opvallend was dat de band diverse malen nummers van anderen als intermezzo in hun eigen songs verwerkte. Ross bespeelde het publiek op meesterlijke wijze. Een knip van de vingers en er werd weer geklapt, meegezongen, etc.. Kortom, het was een kostelijke avond.  

HareD

Blood Moon. Ry X

This spring Your Love, one of the singles of Blood Moon, featured in the weekly singles round up on this blog. The music instantly reminded me of City and Colours' If I Should Go Before You', an impressive double EP released in 2015. Blood Moon, finally released physically last week, does not do much to change that impression, so certainly deserves a spot on the blog as well.

There are enough differences between the two albums, so there's not much need to go deeper than this, except for the background of the two artists. The Canadian artist has an emo background, the Australian, a dance/electronics one. This is certainly discernable on Blood Moon. Although an acoustic guitar is the heart of the music on the album, the atmospherics and the, very slow but often deep beats betray his background. It makes for a hybrid album by a 2022 singer-songwriter. The differences in background, while coming up with a similar result, remains striking.

Blood Moon is an album to truly listen to. Singer Ry Cuming shares his emotions with his listeners in oh so subtle ways. His voice is layered, singing in a higher range, and here I must mention Canadian Patrick Watson as well. Like Watson, Cuming's voice is awash with effects, making its sound multi-layered as well as multi-tracked. The same goes for the music. Listening more closely brings forward a host of other sounds that are not immediately obvious when listening more superficially. Every session with Blood Moon may lead to new discoveries.

Ry X presents an album for the later hours, when the mind is receptive to listening and not wanting to do much else. One of those moments when nothing else is required and the world can be shut out for a while. These are the most rewarding moments for Blood Moon. This album is not about the individual songs. They are as such interchangeable, in the best meaning of something that may have a negative connotation. When listening to Blood Moon it is about the experience of the whole and not the individual song. Blood Moon can bring you in a trance like state with its, soft, slow and emotional music.

So nothing much going on then?, I can hear you comment. Yes, if you are in such of a party album, but a definite no when you're in search of a satisfying listening experience. Ry X delivers here 110%.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Blood Moon here:

https://ryxmusic.bandcamp.com/releases

These Are The Sounds Left From Leaving. Jenny Berkel

Na twee uitstekende albums legt de Canadese muzikante Jenny Berkel de lat nog wat hoger op het wonderschone These Are The Sounds Left From Leaving, dat in meerdere opzichten imponeert.

De Canadese muzikante Jenny Berkel speelde een tijd in de band van landgenoot Daniel Romano, maar ambieerde een solocarrière. Die solocarrière is inmiddels tien jaar onderweg en krijgt deze week een vervolg met These Are The Sounds Left From Leaving, het derde album van Jenny Berkel. Het is een album dat nog wat meer indruk maakt dan zijn twee voorgangers. De folky songs van de Canadese muzikante zijn echt prachtig ingekleurd en het zijn bovendien sterke songs, maar het is vooral de stem van Jenny Berkel die indruk maakt. Het is een warme en doorleefde stem die continu de aandacht trekt en de songs op These Are The Sounds Left From Leaving flink de hoogte in tilt. Indrukwekkend album.

De twee albums die Jenny Berkel de afgelopen tien jaar uitbracht, Here On A Wire uit 2012 en Pale Moon Kid uit 2016 ontdekte ik pas een jaar of twee geleden, toen Spotify er voor koos om me het laatstgenoemde album te laten horen nadat een ander album was afgelopen (een meestal irritante, maar soms zeer waardevolle feature). 

Ik was direct onder de indruk van de stem van de Canadese muzikante met Nederlandse wortels en heb met name Pale Moon Kid de afgelopen twee jaar heel vaak beluisterd. Het was reden genoeg om heel nieuwsgierig te zijn naar het nieuwe album van de Canadese muzikante, dat ik inmiddels al een paar maanden in mijn bezit heb, maar dat nu dan eindelijk is verschenen. 

Jenny Berkel speelde een tijd in de band van Daniel Romano, die haar vorige album produceerde. Ze heeft de kunst van het produceren toen goed kunnen afkijken, want These Are The Sounds Left From Leaving produceerde de Canadese muzikante deels zelf, al schoven ook Dan Edmonds en Ryan Boldt van de band The Deep Dark Woods aan voor de productie. Jenny Berkel deed verder een beroep op Colin Nealis (Andy Shauf) voor de strijkersarrangementen en rekruteerde bovendien het duo Kacy & Clayton voor fraaie klanken. 

These Are The Sounds Left From Leaving klinkt in muzikaal en productioneel opzicht fantastisch, maar het is ook dit keer de stem van Jenny Berkel die de meeste indruk maakt. De Canadese muzikante beschikt over een warme en wat donkere stem die de ruimte makkelijk vult en die emotievol en doorleefd klinkt. Het is een stem die op de vorige twee albums van Jenny Berkel al diepe indruk maakte, maar op These Are The Sounds Left From Leaving klinkt de zang nog wat mooier. 

Alleen vanwege de zang zou ik het derde album van Jenny Berkel al een topalbum vinden, maar ik ben ook zeer gecharmeerd van de zeer smaakvolle instrumentatie op het album. These Are The Sounds Left From Leaving valt op door een rijk en warm klinkend instrumentarium, dat de muziek van Jenny Berkel ook voorziet van wat mysterieuze accenten. Het past goed bij haar songs, die zich vooral door de folk hebben laten beïnvloeden, maar die ook uitstapjes richting andere genres niet schuwen. 

Zeker door de inzet van strijkers en wat zwaar aangezette basklanken klinkt These Are The Sounds Left From Leaving niet alleen smaakvol, maar ook wat donker en bezwerend. Het past prachtig bij de stem van Jenny Berkel, die het goed doet in wat voller ingekleurde songs, maar ook in een soberdere setting goed uit de voeten kan en in beide gevallen indruk maakt. 

De songs op These Are The Sounds Left From Leaving zijn nog wat beter dan die op de vorige twee albums van Jenny Berkel en tillen het uitstekende album nog wat verder op. Hier en daar voegt Kacy Clayton fraaie maar zeer subtiele achtergrondzang toe en dat had wat mij betreft vaker gemogen, want de stemmen van de twee kleuren prachtig bij elkaar. 

Jenny Berkel trok met Here On A Wire en Pale Moon Kid slechts in kleine kring de aandacht in Nederland en ontsnapte in eerste instantie ook aan mijn aandacht, maar met These Are The Sounds Left From Leaving kan ze wat mij betreft met de besten mee. Zeker in vocaal opzicht is het derde album van Jenny Berkel een fantastisch album, maar de instrumentatie en de productie en de songs blijven nauwelijks achter. Ga dit vooral horen.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt These Are The Sounds Left From Leaving hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://jennyberkel.bandcamp.com/album/these-are-the-sounds-left-from-leaving

.NoWordsNeedeD, 27-08-2022

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLI3_CsYN9I

 

.No

Kairos #134 , November 2021

Time to get a move on. It won't be long before I'm a year behind....

The familiar sound starts this month's Kairos and makes room for Brigid Mae Power's soft acoustic guitar and a warm organ. 'We Weren't Sure' is a modern folk song, where Power's voice hovers more over the track than take command of it. The ahh ahh ahh is followed by words, without changing the impact of her voice. Her highish voice determines what we hear. The sparse accompaniment of rhythm is embellished by the organ's notes that counter Brigid May Power's vocal melody. A banjo, I think, comes in as the lead instrument, playing a subdued solo.

The melodic is changed into rhythm. Dark, repetitive, artificial. Like a machine in a factory. Minutes or so it seems, into the composition Pink Floyd like sequences come in, mysterious and dark. A classical interlude comes next, although for a short while. The rhythm accompanies it next. Slow but significant changes. I'm listening to River Consoles' 'Hands'. Pink Floyd definitely is an influence but also something so much more darker than instrumental parts of 'The Wall'. Yes, darker than 'The Wall'. You've read right.

The little classical piece returns. A lonely flute is playing ahead of other members of the orchestra. The artificial rhythm returns as well, as do other pieces of 'Hands'. It all fits perfectly. Finally, the romantic music takes over. I have no clue as to what I'm hearing. A philharmonic orchestra that's for sure. Now, I know the famous sequence of the 'Bolero', but not what I'm hearing here. But, I cannot say that I'm not liking what I'm hearing.

The tranquillity is slowly being broken by snippets of Nick Cave's Litanies album with Nicolas Lens. It moves over so seamlessly that I'm not certain what I'm hearing. It could be the 'Bolero' with a female voice bursting through as if interference from another station. The music may have the same vibe, it is too modern in the end, is my conclusion. The music is also heavier, less fleeting to what I was hearing before. The touch of lightness does return, as if it belongs. This mix is extraordinary.

River Consoles moves back in with a second track, 'I Like'. It is like video art in a museum for modern art. Totally cut up, distorted, hard to make head or tails from. With lines, as if old-fashioned bad reception, running over the screen continuously. This is not music, it is art. What I'm missing are the visuals.

Violins and a piano come in, accompanying Laurie Anderson's voice reading a text. 'Our Street Is A Black River' is gone before I can form an opinion.

It is replaced by the serious and sonorous sound of House of Cosy Cushion's 'Duinpad'. Slow but steady as it goes, the music meanders around in my ears. Sacred as if in a church. I'm waiting for the choir to chime in, which it doesn't. The organ slowly but surely plays the same few notes, over time a central theme established itself. Then, are they voices, yes, but not like a choir, more as a sample in a Mellotron. Esther Rozenboom reads her poem over the music.

A touch of lightness enters at the end of the poem. I doubt whether I would call this light if I'd listened to the song as a stand alone experience, but here it certainly is. At the same time it flows beautifully from what has come before. It is a track from Rotterdam singer Ilse Hamelink, who made it to this blog late last year. 'Dive' is a beautiful song, dreamy in a way that the filtered light in a large forest can seem. All stripes of light in between the shadows. With the mystery that comes with fantasy behind it.

A choir-like song takes over. This is modern church music. A male and female voice meander around each other as if enraptured in prayer by song in a church. Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke's 'The Circulation of Shadows' is of a transcendent beauty, as if the two voices and the atmospherics surrounding them, could fall apart any second, leaving nothing but the illusion of the voice.

From, perceived praising, we move towards true praising of the Lord with Sergei Rachmaninov's 'Praise the Lord, O My Soul'. What puzzles me is the performing artists, The USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir. The Soviet Union and church music and praising the Lord? Weren't these iconoclast and church demolitioners? I'm totally surprised here. But then, why not? Someone at the time must have been proud of composers of the past. Just imagine hearing this in a cathedral. That would make quite an impact, alright. Also on me, the guitar loving (alternative) rocker. It's not my kind of music but beauty is beauty and certainly under the right circumstances.

Something more modern and certainly more profane takes over. The serenity remains though. A piano is at the basis of this composition but the chords are played wide apart with sparse notes every once in a while in between. An orchestra plays a few notes over and over in Ton Snijders' 'Valley Of Tears'. It must be the mood I'm in or brought into, as, again, this is beautiful music. In the second half Snijders' piano takes over. Slow played piano notes spread out into my mind like memories from long gone. Tiny little thoughts of other songs or classical pieces creep through my brain without me being able to pinpoint them. From long ago, perhaps even from before I truly listened to music but heard it anyway.

An electronic sound disturbs the tranquil playing. A long held or looped note repeats itself over and over. Esoteric sounds come in after a while. What to make of this? The mood totally fits with this Kairos but not with me. My peace of mind is severely disturbed by the industrial sounds, for lack of a better word, Jana Imert makes in her 'The Soft Bit'. I would not be surprised if a steam train would come rolling into the song or the sound of a factory from long ago would barge into my ears. They do not. Other sounds do. Some are made by an instrument, others are harder to determine and waves are crashing on the beach or something like it. 'The Soft Bit' is music when all is said and done but more a composite than a composition.

Something more electronic comes in. Synthesizers, high, buzzing notes, almost as if bees are emulated. Underneath a darker buzzing can be heard. 'Chiascuro' by Alessandro Cortini is played. The high and the deep do right to the term chiascuro, often associated with Leonardo da Vinci as one of the first painters to master the technique to the fullest.

A dark voice starts speaking and then speak-singing; beyond Leonard Cohen, as it were. Justin Sullivan returns to Kairos. More jazzy than the late, Canadian bard. The upright, fretless bass leads the music, accompanied by a piano playing high notes, again chiascuro. Sullivan obviously is influenced by Cohen but makes his style his own by making totally different music. The singing and the harmonies though are dead giveaways. I had to get into the mood of 'Sao Paolo' but it did not take any effort. The more melodic the song became, the more it took me with it.

Right up to the moment I'm in a dreamlike state. My fingers are moving over the board but almost sub-consciously. 'Dream 54' from Johanna Knutsson & Sebastian Mullaert's live performance in De Waalse Kerk. Filled with bird sounds, the duo's or .No's? It doesn't matter. Slowly the music progresses almost unnoticed.

This month's final song is by Astral Swans, Matthew Swann's moniker to release his songs. 'Cross Bone Style' from the album 'Astral Swann' is one of the songs where he shares his vocal duties with Julie Doiron, to great effect. Listening to the song for the first time in some time, I notice how laden the song is. Following this Kairos' main theme, I'd almost say this is modern church music as well. Just think a church and a choir. That aside, 'Cross Bone Style' again makes a huge impression on me. Time to pull the album out of my collection once again.

Wout de Natris

Here's the link to this Kairos:

https://www.concertzender.nl/programma/kairos_633242/

 

This is #134's Playlist:

00:00 – 00:16  Kairos Tune by Wino Penris.

00:08 – 04:18  Brigid Mae Power. We Weren’t Sure.
Album ‘Heaven on Fire (various artists). Fire Records. 

03:44 – 09:03  Rival Consoles. Hands. Album ‘Overflow’. Erased Tapes Records.

06:29 – 06:50  Claude Débussy. Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (fragment).
Album ‘Ravel: Bolero. Daphnis et Chloé Debussy: La Mer. Prélude
Herbert von Karajan. Deutsche Grammophon 427 250-2.

08:35 – 11:40  Claude Débussy. Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (partly).
Album ‘Ravel: Bolero. Daphnis et Chloé Debussy: La Mer. Prélude
Herbert von Karajan. Deutsche Grammophon 427 250-2.

09:03 – 09:34  Rival Consoles. Hands(fragment).
Album ‘Overflow’. Erased Tapes Records.

11:26 – 16:48  Nicholas Lens & Nick Cave. Litany of Divine Presence.
Album ‘L.I.T.A.N.I.E.S. Deutsche Grammophon 00289 483 9745.

16:33 – 16:53  Claude Débussy. Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (fragment).
Album ‘Ravel: Bolero. Daphnis et Chloé Debussy: La Mer. Prélude
Herbert von Karajan. Deutsche Grammophon 427 250-2.

16:48 – 18:57  Rival Consoles. I Like. Album ‘Overflow’. Erased Tapes Records.

18:38 – 19:58  Laurie Anderson. Our Street Is A Black River. Laurie Anderson & Konos Quartet. Album ‘Landslide’. Nonesuch Records. 

19:52 – 24:03  Richard Bolhuis. Duinpad. House of Cosy Cushions.
Album ‘Underground Bliss‘. Outcast Cats.

23:33 – 24:31  Poem by Esther Rozenboom. Voice and recording by Esther Rozenboom. Private recording.

23:03 – 24:42  Richard Bolhuis. Duinpad (fragment). House of Cosy Cushions.
Album ‘Underground Bliss‘. Outcast Cats.

24:34 – 27:44  Ilse Hamelink. Dive. Ischa. Album ‘Dive’. Tiny Room Records.

27:30 – 29:25  Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke. The Circulation of Shadows.
Album ‘Duality’. 4AD – CAD 8004CD.

29:12 – 34:39  Sergei Rachmaninov. Praise the Lord, O My Soul.
Album ‘Vespers op.37’. The USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir, Valeri Polyansky (cond.). Melodiya Record Company SUCD 10-00105.

34:27 – 39:55  Ton Snijders. Valley of tears. Album ‘Solo (2)’. V2 Records.

39:36 – 46:29  Jana Irmert. The Soft Bit. Album ‘The Soft Bit’. Fabrique Records.

45:58 – 49:46  Alessandro Cortini. Chiaroscuro (partly).
Album ‘SCURO CHIARO’. Mute. 

49:07 – 53:45  Justin Sullivan. Sao Paulo. Album ‘Surrounded’. V2 Records.

53:29 – 57:10  Johanna Knutsson & Sebastian Mullaert. Dream 54 (fade out).
Album ‘In Dreams – Live At De Waalse Kerk 2019’. Circle of Live/Modern Matters.

56:27 – 59:57  Matthew Swann. Cross Bones Style. Astral Swans.
Album ‘Astral Swans’. Tiny Room Records.

 

Three albums, 24-08-2022

A few albums were on route to oblivion on this blog, due to the holidays, two huge deadlines just before the well-deserved time off and too many albums to keep up with. Let's look at them in a shorter version.

 

XI: Bleed Here Now. ... And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

The band with the extraordinary (long) name is back with its XIth album and what an album it is. Bleed Here Now is all over the place, yet never not welcome. The music is blown up to tremendous proportion, to land back on its feet with slippers on feet, pipe and newspaper at hand. Everything in between can be found on the album as well. Containing 21 songs Bleed Here Now is a gigantic piece of work that is impossible to get even remotely completely with just a few listening sessions. You will have to make do with the first impressions and they are overwhelming. I can only come up with the experience a band like Motorpsycho gives me as a comparison that works. Perhaps somewhat deeper down in ... And They Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead's music Pink Floyd's longer masterpieces may count as an influence. Bleed Here Now is a rock album, no doubt about it. On top of that are prog, emo, folk, symphonic and even pop elements. The band does not even shun classical influences in its music. Hence, my description "all over the place". The listener is exposed to a whole host of emotions along the way. Although many sections may sound familiar in the way the music is built up and presented, the music itself is impressive. Conrad Keely and Jason Reece, the two founding members and band leaders decided to really go for it. And although it is too early to really tell, it may well be that they have created a new rock masterpiece and along the way the band's best album so far, or at least since 'The Century Of Self' (2009). I have to get me this one fast and listen to it a lot more. One conclusion, a trail of dead does not equal the death of rock (guitars).

We'll Have Tea. Caspar Milquetoast

Within 20 minutes Caspar Milquetoast's debut album is all over. Eight songs come by that are from 2022 but could have been recorded for a long lost album from 1967 or 68, the music and record having got lost in the mist of an LSD trip too many, recently rediscovered in a tea chest in the attic.

As we are in 2022, We'll Have Tea can be qualified under experimental music where the mind is expended by mental willpower only. Today there is experience to draw from and the artist does. The songs have come together working and recording them at home over a period of five years. The result was recorded and mastered by label manager Stefan Breuer.

Googling Caspar Milquetoast I run into a comic book character created by T. Webster for the series 'The Timid Soul'. That does not help. So, we have to make do with the bio supplied by the Tiny Room label. The singer is called Amani, and she sings her songs from the perspective of a character in a book.

The result is a mostly dark affair. Amani was not looking for clarity nor beauty in her music. Melodies are either hidden behind patches of music and sounds and rhythms or presented in a very elementary way, like in 'Pink House'. You will only find a pump organ accompanying the singer. A traditional song is harder to find on We'll Have Tea. It is there though and those with patience will be rewarded. Just listen behind the musical curve balls and weird sounds.

On We'll Have Tea Caspar Milquetoast dares to deconstruct a lot of the musical ideas she had and built up the pieces into something totally different. This asks for some patience of the listener but as I found out time and again, it is rewarding to listen to the album. Behind the more difficult music in the end songs are found that are worth exploring and listening to. "We'll have tea when the rapture comes", Amani sings in the final song, 'The Negation'. Let us drink whether the rapture comes or not, it's worth it.

Sometimes, Forever. Soccer Mommy

If I remember correctly Soccer Mommy's previous album found its way to these pages and then appeared to have been postponed and then again. All the while my review was online, despite there being no album. No such confusions this time around. I'm simply too late due to my holiday. Sometimes, Forever does merit a post though, as Sophie Allison, as Soccer Mommy is known to her parents and friends, made a giant step in her development as an artist. Her new album reaches deeper, is better on all fronts and is so much wider in sound. She recorded the songs as she would normally have done and then sent the tapes to producer Daniel Lopatin, also known as Oneohtrix Point Never. He sprinkled some magic over Sometimes, Forever. Where one things stops and the other ends sometimes is hard to say. Not when beats of some sort come in, but my first guess would be the keyboard sounds and the atmospherics added to the traditional instruments. In the meantime Soccer Mommy sounds extremely confident in the way she presents her new alternative rock, pop and (big) ballads. Here's a young singer who knows what she's doing and is content doing it this way. As an aside, along the way I'm impressed with how good Dutch band Amber Arcades is, as she matches this level of music easily as well. Sometimes, Forever is all about personal and artistic growth. This is an album that is bound to grow some more with each future listening session.

Wout de Natris

The hits of The Kinks, 1965 - 1969, part 3

With part three I conclude the hitsingles of The Kinks in this limited time frame of five years. What I would like to point to, before moving into the the final string of hits, is three things.

First, considering the huge number of hitsingles the band scored in these five years, shows how popular the band must have been at the time. So how come that nearly everybody seems to have forgotten the band? That may have to do with the fact that when the world was ready to go to big arena or stadium shows where the band could play its huge hits over and over again, The Kinks had fallen apart acrimoniously and never managed to patch up and two of the founding members were seriously ill by then. 2008 would have been the year to put the spotlight on The Kinks once again, Pete Quaife was too ill and then died and Dave Davies had suffered from a stroke. Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones and The Who are still going at it. So should have The Kinks, as behind the first two, The Kinks and The Who were number three and four in 1965 - 69. Being on the wrong label, did not help as well. It always helps if others profit from the comeback as well, like a label selling more units.

Two is a comment on some of the b sides of the singles. From a simple sounding rock and roller like 'Sitting On My Sofa' to more complex songs like 'I'm Not Like Anybody Else' or a perfect pop song like 'Party Line'. Some of the b-sides I love as much as the hit on side a.

Three. Where The Kinks in the 1960s is concerned, for a long time I remained a singles fan. I had none of the albums at the time. My first album was 'Schoolboys In Disgrace' from 1975 or 76. This was when I rediscovered the band and started to follow it from 'Low Budget' onwards into the 1980s. The 1960s albums I thought to be rather disappointing when I started buying them. I still do not have them all. The album I have started to really and deeply admire is 'The Village Green Preservation Society'. It took me a few decades though to do so. No The Kinks album comes close to my favourite albums of the time and never will. At heart this is about a young boy discovering music and the impact it has on him. The Kinks have filled in that near blank space alright and will remain there forever, whenever that ends for me.

A final comment then. Looking at the pace of singles once again, the strain and pressure to come up with a new song, that is supposed to become a hit single, every few weeks, must have been huge. Despite keeling over a few times, Ray Davies must have been an extremely resourceful and strong young man, as he delivered for years on end, whether the audience approved or not. It did for a few years.

Autumn Almanac (1967, 6)

And here's one of the hiatuses in my The Kinks songs from the 60s. I certainly do not remember this one from then. Maybe not from terribly long afterwards. Also, it is a song I always had a bit of difficulty getting. As a result I never "really" listened to it, it seems. Listening to it today, I notice a few things. Yes, the song does not have the obvious quality of the songs preceding it. I also start noticing other elements. Despite the endless chord changes, this song flows so easily. The typical background vocals of Rasa Davies feature highly here. There are other great features besides the singing. The way Ray Davies manages to change the chords, and thus the feel and pace of Autumn Almanac, is masterly, to come back to the main melody in such a subtle way. And then that little trumpet here and there. Somewhere in the back of his mind the village green concept must have been creeping around already as the song fits far better there than with all that preceded this song. So, after a serious listening in 2022, I have to revise my view on Autumn Almanac. This is another classic The Kinks song alright. (The stereo mix is 10 seconds longer and has a psychedelic ending.)

Susannah's Still Alive (1967, 10)

The second Dave Davies solo single, is a The Kinks affair once again. The four original members play on Dave's second hit single. I was able to buy the single at the only record store and what not, in the village we moved to when it put the single in the sell out box on its counter four years after it left the charts. I have always loved this song and more than 'Death Of A Clown'. The way the piano kicks the song in the butt each time it plays its riff is masterly. It gives the song its extra, as does Ray Davies' harmonica playing. Dave holds the lead vocals in a great way, a decent singer in his own right. Susannah's Still Alive is powerful and different from what The Kinks usually do and still thanks to the background vocals e.g. still totally recognisable. Dave Davies was lazy as a songwriter, also kept very busy by his prolifically writing brother, but I do wander what we would have heard, had he been a tad bit lazy.

Wonder Boy (1968, 6)

Another of those dumped singles at Ter Meulen that I must own for more than 53 years today. I hadn't heard the song for years to be honest. It is not the first single to play when I take out my stack of The Kinks singles. Listening to it, I notice I can sing along the whole of the way and still have the same liking of the song. It has this feeling of summer around it. "Everyone is looking for the sun", set to music perfectly. The song is worked out in a perfect way. Nicky Hopkins' piano is just nice and someone is playing a mandoline or something like it. Again the harmonies are so intricate. The la-la-la is perhaps ordinary, later on in Wonder Boy (as my sleeve tells me), in the U.K. it is called Wonderboy, it becomes much more fun. Ray, Dave and Rasa going at it together. Now I know she's singing so much, I notice her voice more and more on these old recordings. I sort of marvel at how young I was when I already appreciated this music, as it is not easy going. I was a fan already by then and moved with the band's development despite my age. Not having any knowledge of The Kinks' albums, I devoured the band's singles as far as they came onto my path. And many did.

Lincoln County (1968, 15)

This song became a hit only in my home country. Despite that I have no recollection of it whatsoever. I can't remember ever having heard it, although I must have. Dave Davies third hitsingle is different from the previous ones. It is country tinged, perhaps inspired by the title. The song is not that bad, really. The high organ played by Ray gives the song a distinct flavour. The strings do the rest. Again, the musicians are The Kinks, with Pete Quaife still on board. With this song, listen to the acoustic guitar runs, Dave must have been inspired by the work on Village Green. For the rest it stands aside from what The Kinks were doing at the time. He has made a song that is truly his own. Do I have a need to hear it more often? No, not necessarily but if it comes by, I can already sing along a little. "When I get home to Lincoln Country, la, la, la, la". It is the final song of Dave that charted. His fourth and final single, 'Hold My Hand' was released in 1969.

Days (1968, 7)

Another one of these suave songs Ray Davies wrote. Not an easy song yet where things seem to flow so easily from one part to the other, that are not so obvious. Not many other artists would have been able to come up with the individual parts. Most would have used them for three or four songs. In a way I've always had the same with Days as I had with 'Autumn Almanac'. The song seemed to complex for itself and for me. In 2022 I hear how clever the song was made. It all comes together so superbly, making it special. The mellotron, played by Nicky Hopkins, adds something extra to the song's sound, making it sound warmer. The piano is Hopkins as well and there are some very nice chord progressions he plays here. An inspiration for ABBA later on in e.g. 'Waterloo'? By this time The Kinks had become more popular in NL than in its home country, I notice. (Notice, Day's on the sleeve. A little language mistake...)

Starstruck (1968, 13)

At the time the album did almost nothing, for years aleady 'The Village Green Preservation Society' is seen as The Kinks' masterpiece and one of the overall great albums from the 60s and of all time. The single of the album was Starstruck. Listening to the song for the who knows how manyeth time, I still think the song is great. It has that cleverness in its melody, there are all the extras the average The Kinks song holds, the mellotron that wavers all through the song, Nicky Hopkins again and intricate vocal melodies. I can't help hearing a little of 'Come Dancing', The Kinks's last single hit in this country, already. Starstruck has something exotic around it as well. Again, the single only charted in my country. Reaching number 13 only, the loyalty was starting to wear thin already, as the final two charting songs will show.

Plastic Man (1969, 39)

A single charting for one week only and at the place just before the 40 in the Top 40? Can you call that a hit? It charted, so the answer is affirmative. Plastic Man is a so called non-album single. Released between two albums that are called concept albums since The Who's 'Tommy'. Plastic Man has an upbeat feeling to it. As such it is a fun song and just as fun to listen to. Fun fact. The song was meant as a rush release to score a new hit after the disastrous 1968. The word "bum" however led to a BBC boycott. Can you imagine? The hit potential is there, in my ears. A pleasant guitar hook, all four members singing nice harmonies. A less fun fact is that after recording Plastic Man and its b-side 'King Kong' Pete Quaife left the band. It wasn't until 2005 the four would be gathered again at The Kinks' induction at the U.K.'s Music Hall of Fame. Back to Plastic Man, of course the song is no match to the songs that came before or right after for that matter but deserved a better fate. For once again I'm listening to such a clever song.

Shangrila (1969, 27)

The final song here, is another minor hit and one I do not really remember from 1969. Two things may have caused this. The song is to complex for a young boy. On top of that the impression it made on me decades later is so huge it most likely wiped any recollection of what went on before. Shangrila is one of Ray Davies' masterpieces. Shangrila is so intricate, so delicate and so perfect. More happens in the 5 minutes and 21 seconds than my ears can keep up with. There's always something new to discover in the song. The mix between dreaming and reality is masterly. Dave Davies' background vocals seem to come from paradise, from another place than our valley of tears. In the story Ray Davies tells us of the way the world had come since the second world war. "Sit back in your old rocking chair", your worries are over, Shangrila has been reached, but has it? The cracks are shown in a clear way. In the meantime the music rises and rises. Whole orchestras have joined the song. All working towards the break in the song, where the band switches to a rocking mode, without loud electric guitars joining in by the way. And then the band turns into a mocking mood, when the shangrila is laughted at, before reality about the new shangrila sets in. Dave Davies moves back into the netherworld, with new (and old) bass player John Dalton taking the lead, while Mick Avery, making use of the room created, to go at it as well. Shangrila is such a fantastic song. It should have been a number 1 hit in 1969. I have no doubts here.

Late in 1969 The Kinks hit single career appeared over. Slowly the band faded in popularity. And then came that hit of hits, 'Lola' in 1970. It became number 1 twice in NL. In 1970 and in 1980 in the live version. However, if I remember correctly, the band had only three other minor hits besides Lola'. The band slowly built a second career in the U.S. as a rock band. Where I caught on as well with albums like 'Low Budget' and 'State Of Confusion'. However, had it not been for the album 'Schoolboys In Disgrace' from 1975, charting in the LP top 20 at the time, The Kinks for me might have become a relic, a cherished one at that, from my early youth. Like even The Beatles had become at some point. 'Schoolboys In Disgrace' is still one of my favourite albums from the 1970s and opened the option to keep following the band and to search backwards. When it all ended for the band in the mid 1990s, the quality of the last albums had declined beyond my interest. 'To The Bone' however was a great way to end a 30 year plus career.

Finally, my top 5 of the presented singles.

5. Waterloo Sunset

4. Till The End Of The Day

3. Mr. Pleasant

2. Shangrila

1. All Day And All Of The Night

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