2024, Week 40. 10 singles

Weeks fly by and ever faster it seems. Never a dull day, or not that I notice. What I do notice, is a world that is more in flames by the day it seems, while we live our lives. For the first time I can imagine that people somewhere between my grandparents and parents age where sitting outside on a surprisingly warm May evening and out of the blue heard air planes flying over and hearing explosions in the distance. NL was at war in the early morning of 10 May 1940 and I can only imagine who truly saw that coming. Where are we today with wars raging extremely close by? There's also a sense that there is nothing individuals can do to stop it. So, what else can a poor boy do but to play in a rock and roll band? Or listen to songs produced by artists and formulate an opinion on them? Within 24 hours I happened to have done both. So, enjoy the selection.

The Girl That I Call Home. Tears For Fears

When was it, 1983?, that Frits Spits played 'Change' in his 'Avondspits' show as his record of the week? Not much later followed by an even better song, 'Pale Shelter'. From there we went to ever greater achievements by Tears for Fears in the 1980s. And from there, things went quiet as far as I was concerned. Come 2024 and there is an announcement of a new Tears for Fears single, announcing a double live album. The single holds a lot of familiar elements from those glorious 80s days. Fans of old and those who latched on through their parents or other forms in which older music is heard will recognise these elements easily. The Girl That I Call Home, Roland Orzabal's love song for his wife of many years, is a song that may not be able to compete with the best songs of the duo. What it does, is make me feel good and love the music the band makes here. This single simply is good. It has that great flow and dreamy atmosphere. so typical for the band's best songs. The lyrics describe a situation where things are totally okay, where a look is enough. Daily life and routines of decades, may never have been set to music better. "You are the girl that I call home".

Verteere Heel. De Mannen Broeders

De Mannen Broeders, Colin van Eeckhout en Tonnie Dieleman, hebben een tweede single gepresenteerd aan de wereld. Op de dag van schrijven duurt het nog tien dagen voordat de plaat uitkomt op 11 oktober. Opgenomen in een paar dagen in een kerk in Middelburg. De video is dit maal opgenomen in een kerk in Gent. Verteere Heel is een lang, bijna zeven en een halve minuut, en intens nummer. Van Eeckhout zingt, indringend en bijna gepijnigd, met een minimale begeleiding. Een bas drum of floor tom en de banjo van Dieleman. Wel komt op een gegeven moment het kerkorgel erbij. Dit maakt het nummer direct anders en toch niet omdat het zo intens blijft. Verwacht geen spannende wendingen, maar hypnotische bezweringen, omdat veel hetzelfde blijft. Niet monotoon, maar wel veel herhaling. Dat is juist de kracht van Verteere Heel.

Audacious. Franz Ferdinand

It took about 20 years, but for the first time in all these years, I'm listening to a Franz Ferdinand song that does not excite me at first listen. I have doubted whether I should write about the song and even pushed Audacious back in the line after the first listen session, something I never do. Your in or out in the singles section of WoNoBlog. One week later I find that Audacious is not a bad song. I hear what the bands tries for. Franz Ferdinand is easing away from its erratic past and goes for a pop song and succeeds, I'd say. Audacious is a pop song with a surprising twist into the chorus. The guitars are far less prominent and that gives the song a totally different feel. I am even inclined to conclude that the band has listened to The Beatles for the first time. Most likely it allows to be heard that they are familiar with the Fab Four.. This song has Beatles written all over it and in that way the single works as well. It is just not exciting. There seems to be a new Franz Ferdinand that does not want to take us out but sit in our chairs and listen to how clever the new song is - and it is, so let's get on with it

Nytår. Aursjoen

Nytår is New Year in Danish. Aursjoen is Ria Aursjoen, a singer of Danish descent living in San Francisco. She plays in the band Octavian Winters. Nytår is her debut solo single. So now, you know the facts around the release. What you do not know yet, is the almost new age atmosphere of her single. What comes closest in my mind is Enya's number 1 single (in NL) from 1988, 'Orinoco Flow' and the songs from the accompanying album. Obviously, that music was called Celtic. The music in Nytår is just as mysterious. As if it is coming to me through the mist hanging over the landscape and time. Together with producer David Kruschke she created music that you can lie down on to be carried away ever so slowly into a dreamworld of angels and who knows what else. Everything is slow and relaxed but also somewhere between Scandinavian coolness and the warmth near the hearth in a Viking hall. Aursjoen presents music that could never have been made in the Middle Ages but sounds like as if it were played in dark, candle lit churches of old. Mysterious and almost otherworldly.

Il Manzo EP. BEEF

An American, Cincinnati, band on an Italian label? Why not? It is 2024 and globalisation is only just over its highest point ever. In the four songs on Il Manzo (the beef in Italian) can be called garage rock with an alternative rock twist, played with a punk attitude. There you have it all. Because of the staccato way of playing I'll let you opt for postpunk as well if you prefer. What stands out a lot, is the organ in BEEF's music. That little old fashioned style organ, probably a Farfisa organ, gives the whole a sixties vibe. BEEF keeps up the tempo for the whole time. In all four songs the band goes for it, making sure that lovers of the (sub)genres have a good time. BEEF lets attitude go before cleanliness. The music is a big wall of sound, in which the individual instruments stand out but almost as if it is not a conscious choice. More like a live experience where a wall of sound is blasted from the speakers. BEEF obviously aimed to capture its stage sound and energy. It's not hard to be convinced. No rest for the wicked here.

Never Looked So Good To Me Before. Kate McLeod's Mind The Gap

Time to wind down completely with Kate MacLeod and the three men who accompany her on this single under the name Mind The Gap, Paul Hammerton, John Bryant, and Matthew Metz. MacLeod can be found on this blog since 2022. Solo, including interpretations of Jean Ritchie songs. Here she is in the total relax mode. She starts with an intro on her acoustic country guitar before the accompanying musicians join in. With her high voice she moves the song somewhere between U.K. folk from around 1970 and country music of old. I would venture she delivers a perfect match between the two on Never Looked So Good To Me Before. The accompaniment on piano, bass, banjo and harmony vocals is modest, yet totally right as it makes Kate MacLeod's voice shine. She is the star of this single and rightly so.

Electric Cars. The Shitdels

It still exists, a band that sounds like it recorded its song with one microphone and just a tape or cassette recorder. The Shitdels go for energy and effect and not a clean multi-tracked recording. Electric Cars sounds even more mono than the garage bands from the 1960s that recorded one single before folding, only to make it to the 'Nuggets' or 'Psychedelic States' series decades later. The Shitdels is a band from Memphis (I think, as there are so many towns mentioned in the bio). Jordan Wayne started it all as a bedroom project, included his wife and later joined by Mike Bibbs and Carlos Ortiz. You can expect exactly what is described in the introduction. The Shitdells present garage rock with a punk attitude. Drums, bass and gitar pound away. On top is a nice farfisa organ with its high, thin notes providing some solo notes here and  there. The vocals are treated in such a way that the whole gets a psychedelic undercurrent but above all this is rock and roll for modern times. Even if its basis lies deep into the 1960s. A real fun track Electric Cars is.

Busy. Rachèl Louise

From garage rock punk to a pure pop track is but a small step in the WoNoBlog singles post. Dutch-American singer-songwriter Rachèl Louise has released the first single of her upcoming second EP (Feb 25). Busy is a very nice uptempo song that hovers successfully between upbeat and the slightly sad atmosphere of the topic of the lyrics. "Whatever happened to living in the moment"?, she mourns, wishing not to be busy and to do things she would like to do but doesn't. The music reflects this feeling perfectly. The tempo just goes on and on, without a single moment of introspection. The tempo in combination with the fleeting sounds over the rhythm is exactly what makes Busy work so well. Rachèl Louise sings over it all with a part longing, part resigned voice but also gives it a little edge in the chorus. In that little edge lies the answer in how to break free into that living in the moment. That place where she would like to be every once in a while. In her music she succeeded. Yes, I like this pop gem of a song.

Hold You. Isbells

Isbells is the band of Flemish singer-songwriter Gaëtan Vandewoude. One of its members is chanteuse Chantal Acda, who can be found on this blog in numerous guises. Vandewoude asked Acda to produce the new Isbells album, giving up control for the first time. Now, I am not an Isbells connaisseur but have heard many of Chantal Acda's albums of the past years. This first single definitely is a Chantal Acda kind of song. The slow tempo and the instruments used around the minimal band setting of an acoustic bass and a few sparse piano notes. From there a trumpet and strings come in regularly. Vandewoude sings with Acda on backing vocals for most of the song. The result is a song so vulnerable, that even just listening puts me in fear of breaking it. "Let me hold you" the two sing together, but to do so would shatter everything into smithereens. The effect Hold You has on me though, is one of being impressed. Hold You is truly beautiful.

Private Pyle. Nothingheads

Ah, all recommendations for Nothingheads' upcoming album 'The Art Of The Sod' (8 November) come with a Public Image Limited (PIL) reference. Unfortunately, I never was a PIL fan, so I can't tell. What I do hear is that Johnny Lydon (as Rotten is known since starting PIL) sneer in the voice of singer-guitarist Rob Fairey. On Private Pyle, he sneers as if in disdain of the whole world. The band supports Fairey by playing in a very direct way. There's a wall of sound and a stark riff stutting the whole fabric of the song. At heart a two note riff, that gets a little expansion towards the end of the vocal line. Matt Holt (Bass / synths), Ed Simpson (Guitar) and Chanter Whitehurst (drums) deserve all the credits here. When the vocals stop for a while, the band slips into another mood, a little more relaxed, allowing for a bit of a breather. Then that riff returns and we are back to square one right until that very abrupt ending. Postpunk? No, I opt for the real thing here.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

Sleepy Little Sailor (Deluxe Edition). Oh Susanna

19 Years after the original release I am listening to Sleepy Little Sailor, the second album of Toronto based singer Oh Susanna, born as Suzanne Ungerleiter.

For me Sleepy Little Sailor is a new album, so I can listen to it with totally fresh, though 19 years older, ears. Trying to remember what I listened to in 2001, I am fairly sure that I would not have been that impressed by Oh Susanna's music. Has this changed?

That answer is as short as it is clear: yes. The first notes on the album, the title song, told me to start paying attention. What I started to hear, was singer-songwriter, Americana with a touch of country songs, where each moniker gets the over hand over the others per song, leading to a varied, though serious album.

The re-release is a deluxe edition. Six songs are added in an acoustic version, perhaps the demos. That may be, I focus on the original songs and start with the final song, 'Ride On'. The kind of song that I love to end an album. Impressive, perhaps even epic. To really qualify 'Ride On' is too bare, too essential. Yet it does. It is the song that ends Sleepy Little Sailor in a grand, impressive way. 10 Minutes and a little long and not a second does not belong on this album.

Going back to the beginning, the album opens ever so hesitantly, even more bare, with a strong focus on Oh Susanna's voice. By turning the volume up a little, the result is a voice that sucks me into 'Sleepy Little Sailor' and thus the rest of the album. Brushed drums, that never go beyond that hesitating accompaniment, its the singing and electric guitar that become more confident by the minute. A few bowed string instruments do the rest. I'm in alright.

I'm not afraid to call Sleepy Little Sailor a modest album. A firmly hit snare drum in the second song 'River Blue doesn't take anything away from my impression. 'River Blue' is a great song, with such a fine chorus. The kind that make roots oriented songs great. A fiery guitar solo does the rest here. Despite the fact that I may know 499 other songs like this one, 'River Blue' is the kind that deserves that milestone 500th song spot. And then a piano solo comes in. Yes, I'm sort of in musical heaven for a few minutes.

With the two songs the two ends of the album have presented themselves. The more surprising is her choice to present a cover of  a famous song as third offering. 'I've Got Dreams To Remember', a big hit in The Netherlands a half year after Otis Redding's demise. It's good to hear Oh Susanna sing her version of this beautiful song. Perhaps my no.2 favourite Otis Redding song.

What sets Oh Susanna apart from the 1.000 other singer-songwriters who release albums in her segment of music? A good question, I just don't know really. What I do know is that I personally may not like 900 of those thousand. That may have to do that they play music that is too much country for me, it has to do with the voice, with the quality of the songs.

Oh Susanna falls into the 100 with ease. I like the slight edge in her voice, the compositions are simply alright and the musicians behind play parts that speak to me. And no, not only the guitars. It is the mix between all musicians. Hence, in my opinion Sleepy Little Sailor is an album to check out. Please do.

Wo.

You can buy and order Sleepy Little Sailor here:

https://musthavepr.bandcamp.com/album/sleepy-little-sailor-2020-deluxe


or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Just another list: the 00s

The 00s is a decade that brought a bunch of excellent albums. That started right in the year 2000 when I watched the support act of Travis in, I think it was, de Melkweg in mid winter. In fact I saw only three or four songs if I remember correctly and that was enough. I went out and bought the album the next day right after work and what an album it was by Keith Caputo. 2000 also brought the first Coldplay album, although 16 years later that band and I are really over.

In 2004 came Franz Ferdinand and I did not expect to hear a better album this decade and then came Arctic Monkeys. In fact that band's second album was even better, much better. Two bands became absolute live favourites: Kaizers Orchestra and The Hackensaw Boys. Perhaps I should mention Dropkick Murphies as well, as they fell out of this top 30. In 2009, completely at the end of the decade another artist rose to an extremely high position: Tim Christensen. I had liked 'Honeyburst' but with 'Superiour' he reached for the sky and touched it. Easily. In the meantime my 90s Spanish hero Jarabe de Palo kept producing fine albums and gave some great shows in de Melkweg.

Finally there is De Kift. The band from de Zaanstreek. The band only gets better and better and live there isn't a better band in the low countries. The combination of music, poetry, visuals and brass band is unique in this world. I should also mention Krang, that only just fell out of this list. Unfortunately I watch Krang draw smaller audiences by the album and disappear.

Almost non of my 60 and 70s heroes produced anything worth really mentioning. Neil Young still has a prolific output, but nothing that really touched me deeply. Ray Davies came closest with 'Working Man's Cafe', which may have made a top 50 or 40, but not this list. The exception is found on the number 4 position, a remix of The Beatles songs called 'Love'. So nothing new, but still extremely good.

1. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite worst nightmare

2. Tim Christensen - Superiour

3. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand

4. The Beatles - Love

5. Kaizers Orchestra – Maestro

6. Jarabe de Palo – Adelantando

7. Johan – Pergola

8. Tim Christensen – Honeyburst

9. Rammstein – Mutter

10. The White Stripes - Elephant

11. Vare demoner. Kaizers Orchestra

12. The Hackensaw Boys - Love what you do

13. System of a Down – Mesmerize

14. Kaiser Chiefs – Employment

15. Dogs Die in Hot Cars - Please describe yourself

16. Josh Rouse – Nashville

17. Keith Caputo - Died laughing

18. Green Day - American idiot

19. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever people say I Am I Am Not

20. The Strokes - Is this it?

21. De Kift – Koper

22. Jarabe de Palo - Vuelta y vuelta

23. The Plan - The Plan

24. Cracker - Songs from the land of milk and honey

25. De Kift - Hoofdkaas

26. The Hackensaw Boys - Keep it simple

27. The Decembrists. The hazards of love

28. Motorpsycho - Phenorothyme

29. Madrugada -The nightly disease

30. Coldplay - Parachutes

Blue Parade. Steve Waitt

Enkele dagen terug kwam er een e-mail voorbij dat een concert van Steve Waitt aankondigde in de Q-Bus in Leiden op 24 maart. Steve Waitt? Ik moest heel even graven in het geheugen, maar al heel snel kwam een magisch concert in de Q-Bus naar voren. Wanneer dat was? Ik had geen idee, maar in de tweede helft van de jaren 00. Om dat in herinnering te brengen, heb ik de recensie opgedoken van het concert en de cd die daar bij hoorde, 'Blue Parade', beide stonden in WoNo Magazine 8.5, samen met de column van Frits Abrahams, de NRC coumnist, over Waitt, die wij mochten plaatsen. (Ja, er kwamen toen nog vijf nummers in één jaar uit. De tijden zijn veranderd en de WoNo ook, al wordt er aan 16.1 gewerkt vroeg in het jaar.)

Inmiddels is er een nieuwe cd, 'Stranger In A Stranger Land'. Deze wordt later beschreven op dit blog, maar ga beslist al luisteren. Hij is prachtig! Als opwarmers eerst 'Blue Parade' en het concert uit 2008.

Af en toe verschijnt er een cd die verrast. De naam Steve Waitt zei mij niets en de kwalificatie dat zijn muziek op pianoklanken gebaseerd is, deed mij niet direct vooraan staan bij het uitdelen. Er bekruipen mij dan altijd visioenen van Elton John, Billy Joel, Bruce Hornsby. Niet bepaald muzikanten van wier muziek ik in de regel erg warm wordt.

Blue parade heeft zich echter ruimschoots aan de goede zijde van de muziekstreep van Wo. geplaatst. Waar komt dat dan door?, zult u zich afvragen. Ga daar maar eens aan staan. Ik weet het niet. Muziek is een gevoel. Het raakt je of niet. Een stem kan je naar binnen zuigen en meenemen op het avontuur dat de zanger en de rest van de band voor ogen heeft of juist volledig afstoten. Bij Steve Waitt begint het inderdaad met zijn stem. Deze is bijzonder prettig om naar te luisteren, maar heeft dat randje; de belofte van meer dan het brave waarin hij gevangen zit. Verder klopt het totaal plaatje. Geen overdreven gedoe, zoals bij John en Joel. Steve houdt het in het kleine. Spaarzame begeleiding, sfeervol en passend. Het geeft zijn luisterliedjes de juiste klankkleur mee om te boeien en vooral niet af te leiden van de hoofdzaak: het nummer. En bovendien: af en toe geen piano te horen, maar een aantal, zeer spaarzaam spelende gitaren. Als in bijvoorbeeld Love is a luxury aanvankelijk alleen een piano klinkt, valt er een prachtig tweede damesstem in. Kijk, Waitt weet precies hoe hij moet pleasen. En waarom is het dan leuk? Omdat hij zichzelf ten dienste stelt aan het liedje en niet omgekeerd. Omdat hij mooie cliffhangers inbouwt. Nu komt het refrein, dat prachtig gaat worden. Maar nee, de climax wordt nog even uitgesteld met een tweede couplet, maar met de belofte van meer. Luister maar naar Revolutionary. Als ik Waitt moet vergelijken met iemand, dan kom ik toch uit bij Bruce Hornsby, maar dan met warmte, een betere stem en veel betere nummers.

Wo.

Je kunt Blue Parade luisteren en kopen op cdbaby:

https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/stevewaitt2

Bade live in Het Paard van Troje, Den Haag 11 April 2014

Bade, photo: Wo.

Life is full of surprises and watching Bade (pronounced in Dutch, so Baa-duh) supporting Sunday Sun is one of these. Perhaps supporting is a wrong definition here. Bade played for about an hour, just like Sunday Sun did. It seems better to speak of a double bill with Bade having the first slot.

Bade is a new band. This was only its second gig and that showed here and there. Some charming miscommunication or starting a song when others were not ready. It did not take anything away from the charm of the show itself. After a hesitating start, the band shook of its restraints, rocked in all the right places, held back when appropriate.

Bart van Liemt, photo: Wo.

Bade is the new band of Bart van Liemt. In the 00s he played in Haarlem based band The Sheer, was a part of Baskerville and is back with a new initiative. He is a sight to see. Bending double when singing as if in pain, nervously shuffling a bunch of papers in front of him. (Lyric sheets? If so the bending is only to get closer to the sheets when necessary?) Around him a bunch of youngsters. The guitar player was more amazed about where she found her self, on stage, than anything else. One big smile of wonderment and working hard to get herself into the gig, which she managed to do.

The music went a bit up and down. (All was totally new, remember.) Not all was to my personal taste, especially the more poppy songs. Others were extremely good. A hard rocking song and one I remember as 'Miracle wave', I really liked. But above that all, I truly enjoyed Bart van Liemt's voice. This guy can sing and has different voices in him. He can sing higher, low and with different textures. And that is an element which is at the basis of all good rock and pop singers. On the whole Bade has to gel more, but has set a decisive step to becoming a band: songs of interest are presented.

Tess, photo: Wo.

One piece of advice and it is well meant. Bart, do a away with the hat and buy yourself a decent pair of jeans and a jacket. I won't repeat what my son said to me, but it wasn't nice and he was serious about it. Your band and music are to good to waste because of looks. Bade really surprised me and I'm looking forward to hearing the album after the summer when the release is scheduled. A verdict that was sanctioned by all three of us present.

Wo.

You can listen to first single 'Hide no more' here.

Too much information. Maxïmo Park

Torn in two

That's the title of this post, "Torn in two". Simply because that's what happening to me the whole time I'm listening to Too much information. I just don't know what to make of it. One moment I'm here, next there and liking it, hating it or just uninterested and coming back any way.

Maxïmo Park came into my life with 'Apply some pressure' in 2006. The first 8 songs on debut album 'A certain trigger' were so incredibly good, putting Maxïmo Park right in league with Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand. Where Arctic Monkeys became a league of their own, incomparable to nearly everyone and Franz Ferdinand developed itself further, Maxïmo Park was left behind more and more with each album. Too much information is its fifth and follows 'The national health'.

On Too much information Maxïmo Park is trying something new. The darker side of the 80s are let into the sound. Less guitars, more dark synthesizers. Yazoo, Depeche Mode, Soft Cell without the louder beats, with real drums. Paul Smith is even singing a bit like David Gahan in some songs. The thing is that in some songs it really works. 'Leave this island' is truly a beautiful song. But is it a song that I want to hear from Maxïmo Park? No, yes, yes, no; there's a reason why I (nearly) never listen to the bands mentioned just now. I just don't like this sort of music very much.

A few songs try to get the mid-00s vibe back and come close. Opener 'Give, get, take', 'Drinking martinis' and 'Her name was Audre' are up-tempo and (almost) exiting. From there on Too much information goes off into a lot of directions. 'Lydia. the ink will never dry' gives another emulation of Maxïmo Park. A laidback version that has a rocking drum, but soft acoustic and electric guitars, even something sounding like stealdrums from a keyboard. 'My bloody mind' is a sort of rocker, but has a great ending. Think The Doors, but great in its own right. In other parts we have A Flock of Seagulls like keyboards.

All together Too much information sounds like Maxïmo Park is adrift. I hope the band is trying for a new sound and a new form. The opposite means that we are listening to the dying rattles of the band. There are parts to Too much information that may give Maxïmo Park a new direction. The main problem is that audiences show up expecting excitement and to jump to the excitement of  a 'A certain trigger' and 'Our earthly pleasures' kind. And they will not be getting it I guess. So that is a bit of a spot Maxïmo Park is in. Let's see how this plays out. In the meantime you'll find me swinging to and fro with this album. I have not given up hope yet. There is enough to enjoy, but leave your preconseptions on Maxïmo Park behind. Perhaps the band needs more time to reinvent itself successfully, but it will have to hurry.

Wo.

You can listen to 'Leave this island' here.

Sequel to the prequel. Babyshambles

The club of 27 has been proven to be totally random, since Peter Doherty is still around. Perhaps only because in the end he's a good boy and listened to his mum. O.k., enough of that. It's silly. Let's focus on the music on the latest Babyshambles album.

To be honest, I had lost a bit track of Doherty's doings after the split with Carl Barat and the other two guys that made up The Libertines, that bands that coupled brilliance with rehashing. All the news around him distracted me so much that I simply filed him away under been there done that. Until my ear fell on Sequel to the prequel that is. To be exact 'Nothing comes to nothing'. That same spunky slurring, that seeming to be too lazy, drunk or retarded to pronounce a sentence in a correct way and at the same time a hint of brilliance. The kind of singing that I recognized instantly and like so much about The Libertines. O.k., it's time to pay attention and that I did.

That I lost track isn't so strange, as Sequel to the prequel is the first album Babyshambles has released since 2007. Members came and went except for Doherty and bass player Drew McConnell. Together with present lead guitarist Mick Whitnall they sign for most songs.

The mood of the album is at times mellow. A country tainted 'Fall from grace' is an almost traditional kind of song with sweet guitars doing Johnny Cash notes and honeydripped oo-oo-oo harmonies in the background. There is also 'Farmers daughter'. This ballad has an epic chorus. Perhaps the best Doherty has ever come up with on record. There's nothing in the verse that announces what is coming up next. It's just a sort of average ballad, with the same solo notes as The White Stripes' 'I just don't know what to do with myself' cover version in the intro. And then it happens, at 1.44, the sky opens, sun pours through. The next 20 seconds are pure heaven. The touch of brilliance hasn't left Peter Doherty. Another song I really like is 'Penguins', a song that goes from sweetness to loud rock with a great melody. A lovely brook that flows through a ravine to another flatland. Great excitement.

The difference between these two songs is what makes Sequel to the prequel an as intriguing album as it is a hard album to appreciate. Not all songs make the mark like 'Farmers daughter' does, while some do not make a mark on my list at all. Where inspiration seems missing. That makes the luxury edition a long session to listen to. At the same time many songs have a pleasant pop feel. E.g. 'Maybeline' is certainly on the good side of the fence and 'Fireman' has this pleasant punky edge. The title song has a jazzy feel. Looking at it from a higher vantage point, Sequel to the prequel can be seen as an album in a long British tradition. The Kinks' 'Village green preservation society', Queen's 'A night at the opera' both had all these very different flavours to its songs. Vaudeville, hard rock, ballads, country. Anything was possible and this seems the route Peter Doherty has taken and no, he doesn't come close to these two classic albums, but then that's impossible, isn't it? They are too high up for too long. What can take them down? Probably nothing, a new generation listening to new albums.

If I look at it this way, my conclusion on Sequel to the prequel somewhat changes. Then I hear an artist who came back after a long time, daring to step into any direction he feels like. Referencing his first heroes, The Clash, in punky rock and reggae, (and The Velvet Underground with a cover of 'After hours' as bonus track) but also the music his grandparents' generation enjoyed. Renewing himself and extending his playing beyond what he became famous for. Sequel to the prequel is an album that caught me a bit of guard, having filed Peter Doherty away as has been. I was proven wrong, so welcome back, Peter. Long may you play.

Wo.

You can listen to 'Nothing comes to nothing' here.