Enough. Office Culture

Enough is het vierde album van de voor mij tot voor kort onbekende Amerikaanse band Office Culture, maar de band uit New York levert met dit 70 minuten durende album een bijzonder interessant visitekaartje af.

Ik had eerlijk gezegd nog nooit van de band Office Culture gehoord, maar nieuwsgierig geworden door een aantal zeer positieve recensies begon ik aan Enough, wat inderdaad een bijzonder album is. Office Culture maakt muziek die wordt omschreven als soft-rock, jazzy pop of artpop, maar met geen van deze labels doe je de muziek van de band uit Brooklyn recht. De muziek van Office Culture is laidback en loom, maar Enough is ook een album vol bijzondere wendingen. Ik moest er absoluut even aan wennen, maar inmiddels begrijp ik de zeer positieve recensies die ik onlangs tegen kwam wel. Enough is een interessant album dat echt nog veel meer aandacht verdient.

Het Britse muziektijdschrift Uncut is de laatste maanden wat scheutiger met het rapportcijfer 9, dat in het verleden vooral was voorbehouden aan reissues van stokoude klassiekers. Vorige maand gaf het Britse muziektijdschrift een 9 aan Enough van Office Culture. Het is een album waarvan ik de opvallende cover wel voorbij heb zien komen, maar ik had tot voor kort niet geluisterd naar het vierde album van de band uit Brooklyn, New York.

Enough is een album waar ik wel even aan moest wennen, maar inmiddels begrijp ik de hoge waardering van Uncut wel. Het gerenommeerde Britse muziektijdschrift is overigens niet de enige die erg enthousiast is over het album van Office Culture, want ook een aantal Amerikaanse muziekwebsites, waaronder Pitchfork, zijn behoorlijk positief over het album.

Het is alleen al vanwege de speelduur een ambitieus album, want Enough bevat 16 songs en is goed voor 70 minuten muziek. In die 70 minuten maakt de band uit New York bijzondere muziek. Het is muziek die aan de ene kant lekker in het gehoor ligt en vermaakt met bijna zwoele klanken, maar de muziek van Office Culture zoekt aan de andere kant continu het experiment met bijzondere en soms wat schurende passages.

Bij eerste beluistering van het album had ik associaties met de muziek van de Schotse band The Blue Nile en dat is een associatie die ook na meerdere keren horen overeind is gebleven. Net als The Blue Nile maakt Office Culture sfeervolle muziek vol bijzondere wendingen, maar de muziek van de band uit Brooklyn klinkt wel wat Amerikaanse dan die van de Schotse band, die tussen 1984 en 2004 kwam tot vier prachtige albums. Office Culture is met Enough ook aanbeland bij haar vierde album, maar had daar slechts zeven jaar voor nodig.

Het valt niet mee om de muziek van Office Culture goed te beschrijven. Pitchfork omschrijft de muziek op Enough als soft-rock en draagt Steely Dan aan als vergelijkingsmateriaal. Dat laatste is vooral zinvol wanneer de muziek van Office Culture wat jazzier is, wat met enige regelmaat geval is. Ook het predicaat soft-rock is niet helemaal uit de lucht gegrepen, want wanneer de muziek op Enough loom en zonnig klinkt hoor je inderdaad wel wat invloeden uit dit genre.

Beide vergelijkingen houden echter geen rekening met het experiment dat Office Culture zoekt op haar nieuwe album. Het is vooral dit experiment dat van Enough een bijzonder album maakt. Met 70 minuten jazzy softrock zou de verveling op een gegeven moment gaan toeslaan, maar Enough blijkt 70 minuten spannend. Die spanning komt het ene moment van wat tegendraadse klanken, maar kan ook komen van bijzondere ritmes of van bijzondere lagen vocalen.

Office Culture noemt zichzelf een artpop band, maar dat is een stempel waar ik persoonlijk niet zoveel mee kan. Enough is wat mij betreft een album met een bijzondere mix van stijlen, waarvoor geen eenduidig etiket is te bedenken. Dat biedt misschien niet veel houvast, maar ondertussen valt er veel te genieten van de sfeervolle en veelkleurige muziek op het album, van de mooie zang en van de songs die je maar heen en weer sleuren tussen wegdromen en op het puntje van de stoel zitten. Dat heeft Uncut weer goed gehoord.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt Enough hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://officeculture.bandcamp.com/album/enough

A Token Of His Extreme. Frank Zappa: Tom Fowler (1951 - 2024) RIP

Yesterday evening I was watching an old DVD I had bought cheap in the 00s of a TV show Frank Zappa recorded in 1975 with what may be my favourite backing band: Napoleon Murphy Brock, George Duke, Ruth Underwood, Tom Fowler, Chester Thompson. They mostly played songs from 1973 - 1975, including the mighty 'Inca Roads', my absolute favourite FZ song.

Compared to later bands, they may not be the best band music-technically, as a younger generation became better musicians. Not where the music itself is concerned though. If you just look at what Ruth Underwood was capable of. Standing in her leopard bra, she is pounding all her percussive instruments into any direction Zappa ordered her. From complex and ultra fast melodies on vibraphones, to deep and dark percussion, supporting Thompson and everything in between. Chester Thompson himself plays all these endlessly long and fast drum rolls over his differently sized toms and floor toms, besides the (complex) rhythms he had to play. Compared to Zappa's later drummers, the wildly crazy Terry Bozzio and the clockwork-tight rhythm of Chad Wackerman, he is best described as a functional drummer, even if he gets a gorilla on his back. And then mind that Ruth Underwood are playing in total unison during these drum rolls. Most like George Duke as well.

Duke plays a host of keyboards, including one of the first synthesizers and may even have some programming machine beside him as well. Besides that he is one of best singers FZ ever had at his disposal. His supportive playing and solos are inventive and lent an authenticity to his work that others later missed. They were good singers foremost, not fantastic musicians as well.

In front is Brock. He is the lead singer, flautist and saxophone player and clown with his moves. He is a good singer Something that can be heard in a song like 'Florentine Pogen'. Besides he can get the party started as well.

FZ himself is FZ. He is riding the waves his band created under his direction. Singing a little, playing a solo here and there and not doing more than a song calls for. His ciggies are constantly lit, so he has time in abundance to do so, enjoying his band, playing his music.

Where everyone in the band is moving, laughing, doing crazy things when called upon there's one guy standing a little in front of the drums, as still as possible, just doing his thing, playing the bass. By far the youngest in the band, only in his early mid-twenties. The only moment in the movie he comes alive, is in a mock hardrock sequence where FZ and he are pretending to be Kiss or something. His name is Tom Fowler. His trumpet and horn playing brothers has played with Zappa already for a while in earlier incarnations of the Mothers of Invention.

I know nothing of Tom Fowler, let alone what he did after leaving Zappa's band soon after this show. When I looked at the movie, in a mildly bad video tape transferred to dvd quality and irritating clay figure sequences, no matter how well made, I wondered what happened to the players. I knew George Duke died some years ago and Zappa already over thirty of course. In 2024 Brock is 81, Underwood, 76, just like Thompson, The latter has been active in music for decades, as drummer for Santana, Genesis and Phil Collins, for instance.

Then I looked up Tom Fowler and found that he had died on 2 July at the age of 73. 50 Years ago a young man with mildly long hair, forever caught on tape with fantastic songs, where he is just playing his bass and underscores all the great but sometimes totally zany music going on around him. Enough to merit some words on this blog in commemoration, as he was part of one of my favourite bands, the last incarnation of Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

Frank Zappa in Vilnius

Photo: Wout de Natris

At least two decades ago I heard of a buste of Frank Zappa in Vilnius. When one of my former colleagues travelled to Lithuania's capital for an international meeting somewhere in the 00s, I asked him to take a picture for the erstwhile WoNo Magazine, which he dutifully did. Last week I was in the city for the fourth time in 16 years and finally found the time to do so myself.

About an hour before a great downpour I left my hotel in the morning to take a 15 minute walk down the street it is in. Past the former city wall and late 19th century buildings that most likely have seen better times but still show a form of grandeur.

At the beginning of a side street leading into a more modern residential area, Google Maps said destination reached. On one side appartment building and on the other a diagnostic centre with next to it a parking lot. So where was Zappa's buste? Next to the parking lot there is a postage stamp of a park. In front of a mural is the buste an a silver coloured round pedestal. It has a fairly good likeness to the American musician and composer. From a distance better than up close.

Zappa lived from 1940 to 1993, when he died of cancer. When he died I wondered what his legacy would be. I still don't know, to be honest. Zappa was on a plain of his own, musically and lyrically, besides writing (rather weird, even bizarre) songs and compositions. I have many of his records but the one I revisit the most is 'One Size Fits All'. My absolute favourite, including my absolute favourite Zappa song, 'Inca Roads'. This will undoubtedly be different for many people.

When I told people at the conference what my plan was for Wednesday morning, I noticed that many people had no clue who I was talking about. That tells you something but then Zappa was never one to get played on the radio with the exception of 'Dancing Fool' and apparently 'Bobby Brown' in Norway. He always was one for the connaisseur music lover.

Photo: Wout de Natris

But why the statue in Vilnius? That is a good question. I thought to know but when I visited the Go Vilnius website today, I found that there is no real story behind it. Fact is, Zappa never visited the town and has (no known) tie to it. It all started "with a visit to the USA by artist Saulius Paukštys, who told everyone a story of how he became friends with Zappa himself. It was all an elaborate lie". Because the story Zappa did get noticed by other people in Lithuania. This inspired "sculptor Konstantinas Bagdonas, known for his busts of Lenin during Soviet times, (who) created the legendary Zappa statue as a sign of a new era of post-Soviet Lithuania".

That is all behind the buste on a 2,5 meter high pedestal. You can find it at this address: K. Kalinausko g. 1, Vilnius 03107.

Was it worth the walk? Yes, when you're a Zappa fan, it is a must do when in Vilnius. The walk is nice and walk back a little down the same thoroughfare, turn left and you are in the old centre before you know it.

Wout de Natris

2024. Week 22, 10 singles

Some weeks are busier than others. Some are so busy that writing a post is simply not possible. Has anyone noticed we skipped a week? We received no complaints. This week we may do two singles posts once again, trying to catch up on the truck loads of singles being showered on the email in box. Once again it is a mixed lot you are presented with. So, let me leave you with them.

Riptide. 9-Volt Velvet

Oh, yeah. "On a riptide" whisper sings Mark Cross, 9-Volt Velvet's singer. The trio from Dallas in Texas, by way of a Brighton U.K. based label, simply bounces into my room. Yes, I've heard it all before but when that familiar sound comes with so much energy and fuzzed-out guitars, why should I complain? The trio Mark Cross (lead vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion), Donnie Robertson (drums, percussion, keyboards) and Kevin Robinson (guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals), really goes for it on their first single of the album 'Nude Beaches' (10 May). Who plays what is hard to discern when all members play nearly all instruments. Fans of The Black Angels' loud side can start saving to buy 'Nude Beaches' or the 7" single of Riptide. Just listening to that big, huge bass is enough. It takes the rest of the band in tow and over the highest mountain. Riptide is quite the single.

Ludwig. Winston

Winston, het vehikel van Simon Alice René, haalt dit blog opnieuw. Zelf schrijft hij dat hij zijn innerlijke Freddy Mercury weer heeft aangesproken. Daar zit hij goed naast, want zijn innerlijke Brian May knalt nog harder uit mijn speakers. Laten we het op zijn innerlijke Queen houden, daar kan ik goed mee leven. Ludwig begint heel klein. Winston heeft geen haast, zoveel is duidelijk. Een piano en een stem dat is het. Zo rustig, dat ik het nummer bij eerste beluistering bijna weglegde. Dat gaat heel snel bij zo'n single rubriek. Al snel komt de meerstemmigheid om de hoek kijken en ook een basgitaar. Mijn oren beginnen zich te openen. Langzaam maar zeker gebeurt er steeds meer, tot dat "Brian" mee gaat doen en Ludwig de overdrive in gaat. Ik onderga een veni, vidi, vici ervaring. Zo voelde de oude Julius zich dus? Dat moet Winston toch gedacht hebben, nadat je een single van deze epische proporties opgenomen hebt en daarna in de mix terugluistert. Kortom, u krijgt het advies dit ook te gaan doen nu en daarna pas verder te lezen.

Car Accident. Bermuda Squares

Sinks, Neo Neos, Citric Dummies, Color Tv, green/blue, Retainers, Dummy, the Soviettes, IV, and Awesome Snakes? Anyone? All names mean nothing to me, I'm afraid, but on the basis of these bands Bermuda Squares is described as a super group. Since the past few minutes I do know Bermuda Squares. The band rocks, the band punks, if that had been a word, so punkrocks. And garagerocks on the side as well. The inspiration comes straight out of the 'Nuggets' box set but then with a far more modern sound. With a screaming way of singing the mood is set, the tempo is relentless and the sound as dirty as can be controlled while playing. I'm remembered of an album from the 00s that I can't get my head around I'm afraid but had this great song 'Heart Attack' on it. That's how Car Accident sounds. One big blast of energy. There's an album called 'Outsider' on the way, but a whole album may be a bit much. For now I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

Artiminime. I Hate My Village

I Hate My Village is "Italy's most beloved indie supergroup" it says in the message I received introducing Artiminime. Now that is promising and raises the bar quite some for a band that I had never heard of. What to expect? And, especially when the song is introduced thus: "a hallucinated track that refuses to move within a refined orbit"? What I'm hearing is a nervous track, filled with electronic sounds that pop up to disappear again. The rhythm does not provide the listener with a single pause. "You drive me insane", the singer shares with us. I can totally imagine that there will be scores of people driven up the walls by the freaky sound of I Hate My Village. Listen through what is going on though and a fine song shows itself to the listener. Album 'Never Mind The Tempo' was released on 17 May. Finally, Mini Me has been turned into a song.

Honestly. Seb Zukuni

We have to go back for circa two years to find Seb Zukini on the blog. The Dutch band returns with a fine alternative rock single, matching expectations the band has set for itself with its two singles and EP. Honestly is an uptempo, somewhat darkish single. Singer Sebastiaan Kusters uses a whispering version of his voice giving the song its darker sheen. The band on the one hand matches this but in the choruses lets it go, enveloping Kusters in a huge sound. The guitars and drums simply don't hold back any more giving Honestly two faces that fit the song really well. Add the pre-chorus and the solo with a nice delay sound on it and Honestly is nothing but a success. This is the smooth kind of alternative rock that goes down really well here.

Sweet. Been Stellar

With Sweet NYC band Been Stellar makes it to the single section for the third time this year. With its debut album 'Scream from New York, NY' only weeks away, life is becoming more real by the day for the young band. Undoubtedly a tour will be slated and making music is about to become work. But let's focus on Sweet. Again, I hear an alternative rock song by a band that is not afraid to rock out and making big gestures in the music. A premonition of things to come? That is far too early to tell. Been Stellar has already created the songs to play far bigger places than they will be starting out in. This single can be played in huge, stadium style. Sweet contains the light and shade, with a drummer who is going at it as if his life depends on it. After a short interlude, the band goes at it once more and plays Sweet home.

Mumble EP. Texoprint

Texoprint was the second EP of Kalaallit Nunaat. The band decided to change its name and changed it to the name of the last EP. With Mumble the band has, at least in my mind, changed its approach to its music a little as well. Tramhaus is the band that comes to mind immediately. Can we speak of a Rotterdam sound? It seems like it. Texoprint fits the mould all right. The trio plays the Dutch version of alternative rock where energy meets an anything goes as long as it is not what everybody else in the world is playing kind of attitude. Texoprint meets that qualification with ease. The five songs on Mumble jump around, receive energised jolts, allowing for anything from pogoing to just jumping up and down. "The songs highlight a deliberate step towards capturing a more aggressive and energetic sound", the bio reads. How does that match my memory? I associate Kalaallit Nunaat more with noise, I guess. Maybe it's my memory that mixes things up, but an alternative rock ballad like '3' is certainly not what I would have expected. Noisy outbursts or not. Mumble is not an EP for the masses, but all alternative rockers here in NL and the rest of the world should be able to find their way into the EP. When it all ends with a nice bit of punk, 'Mumble', the album's title track, the audience widens once again. Mumble is more than worthwhile checking out.

Sit Down. FEET

FEET is from Coventry in the U.K. and about to release its album 'Make It Up'. The description of the music is alternative rock, but it could not be a lot more different than its U.S. brethren in this post. The music is jumpy, yet there is such a clear reference to a band like The Kinks in the music (the 1960s hit machine, not the later U.S. stadium rockers version), that it cannot be but an English band. The Kinks?, that's our grandparents' generation FEET's members may rightfully say in response.  Yeah, I know, I reply in answer. A much better reference can not be given. Sit Down is the kind of song that invites dancing to, listening to in two ways, seriously and to have fun, not forgetting to sing-along with. FEET does it all right it seems on Sit Down. In the video they do a nice Madness impersonation, scoring another point. Sit Down has a great flow, mixing pop with alternative rock, letting the former prevail. It's a song that a lot of people can relate to, jumping across generations with ease. Seldom was a title chosen so wrongly, as the only result of listening to Sit Down will be to jump up and to dance.

Virtual Hug. Bloomsday

The new single shows again the artistic growth Bloomsday has undergone in the past few years. 'Place To Land', the debut album was nice but did not stick when all was said and done. 'Dollar Slice', the previous single and Virtual Hug show all the signs that these song will. There's no doubt that Iris James Garrison has listened to Adrianne Lenker's band Big Thief. It is about what comes out as Bloomsday what counts and that is a beautiful song. There's nothing in Virtual Hug that is not supposed to be there. The song is totally essential with a few extra notes or lines here and there that have an immediate effect on the quality of Virtual Hug. Garrison sings in an ultra relaxed way, showing the world the quality of their voice. It is far too early into Bloomsday's career to talk about best songs, but I would be gravely mistaken if Virtual Hug would not be on that list in the future. This is beauty caught in music.

Low Hanging Stars. David Serby

It's time for some country rock. David Serby is about to release his first album in ten years. This is the title track. Again I marvel at how someone is able to come up with an original song that sounds so good, while using the same chords thousands of others used before him. Low Hanging Stars has that clear sound country rocking songs often have. Anyone with a love for this music will find that this song will go straight to your mind and heart. With a tough drummer, a serving bass, a warm Hammond and a high and a low sounding guitar with a clean and less clean sound, the music of Low Hanging Stars is defined. Serby has a nice voice somewhere between high and low and rough and smooth. It fits this song like the proverbial glove. The album is there on 14 June.

Wout de Natris

The WAEVE. The WAEVE

Rose Elinor Dougall (The Pipettes) en Graham Coxon (Blur) bundelen op bijzondere wijze de krachten als The WAEVE en laten bijna een uur lang horen dat één plus één soms veel meer dan twee is.

De samenwerking tussen Rose Elinor Dougall en Graham Coxon kwam bij toeval tot stand maar had grote gevolgen voor het tweetal. Daar mogen we nu in muzikaal opzicht van mee genieten, want de eerste stappen van hun gezamenlijke project The WAEVE leveren een ijzersterk debuutalbum op. Het is een album dat zich door van alles en nog wat heeft laten inspireren, maar dat op een of andere manier toch ook consistent klinkt. In muzikaal en vocaal opzicht is het smullen en ook de songs van het Britse tweetal blijven de fantasie maar prikkelen. Laten we hopen dat de samenwerking tussen Rose Elinor Dougall en Graham Coxon lang stand houdt, want dit smaakt echt naar veel meer.

The WAEVE is een project van de Britse muzikanten Rose Elinor Dougall en Graham Coxon. Rose Elinor Dougall ken ik vooral van de band The Pipettes, maar ze bracht inmiddels ook drie soloalbums uit, waarvan ik overigens alleen de eerste ken. Graham Coxon is uiteraard bekend als de gitarist van Blur, maar heeft inmiddels ook een respectabel soloalbums op zijn naam staan, die stuk voor stuk op zijn minst interessant zijn.

Rose Elinor Dougall en Graham Coxon grepen de coronapandemie aan om samen muziek te gaan maken, in eerste instantie voor een nieuw soloalbum van Rose Elinor Dougall, waarbij de twee open stonden voor zeer uiteenlopende invloeden. De samenwerking tussen de twee leverde inmiddels al een relatie en een liefdesbaby op, waaraan deze week het titelloze debuutalbum van The WAEVE wordt toegevoegd. Naar verluidt bracht een gezamenlijke liefde voor Britse folkrock uit de jaren 60 en 70 de twee bij elkaar, maar het debuutalbum van The WAEVE bevat veel meer invloeden.

Graham Coxon is vooral bekend als gitarist, maar op het debuutalbum van The WAEVE heeft hij ook zijn oude liefde de saxofoon weer opgepakt. Het fraaie saxofoonspel van de Britse muzikant is belangrijk in het geluid van het duo en roept meer dan eens associaties op met het werk van David Bowie, die zijn liefde voor de saxofoon met enige regelmaat liet blijken, en het vroege werk van Roxy Music. Zelfs wat invloeden van de bijzondere Britse band Van der Graaf Generator zijn nooit ver weg en dat is een inspiratiebron die ik tot dusver nog nooit heb gebruikt.

Rose Elinor Dougall en Graham Coxon uiten incidenteel hun liefde voor de folk(rock), maar het debuutalbum van de twee citeert met grotere regelmaat uit de archieven van de artrock en de Krautrock. Naast het fraaie saxofoonspel valt het debuut van The WAEVE ook op door eigenzinnig gitaarspel, speelse elektronica en fraaie orkestraties. Net als op de soloalbums van de andere leden van Blur, klinkt ook in het werk van Graham Coxon altijd wel iets door de van de Britse band en dat is dit keer niet anders.

Rose Elinor Dougall en Graham Coxon hebben elkaar op meerdere vlakken gevonden, maar ook in vocaal opzicht passen de twee goed bij elkaar. De stemmen van de twee Britse muzikanten vullen elkaar mooi aan en zorgen er bovendien voor dat The WAEVE een karakteristiek eigen geluid heeft. De songs van The WAEVE zijn mooi en sfeervol, maar er gebeurt ook van alles in de muziek van het tweetal, die af en toe herinneringen oproept aan de Berlijnse periode van David Bowie, maar me persoonlijk in muzikaal opzicht ook meer dan eens aan Radiohead doet denken.

Graham Coxon heeft zoals gezegd een interessante solocarrière opgebouwd en ook Rose Elinor Dougall heeft al aardig wat muziek op haar naam staan, maar zo interessant als het debuutalbum van The WAEVE was het wat mij betreft nog niet. De songs van het Britse tweetal zijn stuk voor stuk aangenaam en avontuurlijk, maar het debuutalbum van The WAEVE is ook een heerlijk veelzijdig album, dat in iedere track weer een andere kant op schiet en na een folky track ook zomaar de kant van de postpunk op kan schieten of een jazzy track uit de hoge hoed kan toveren. De samenwerking tussen Rose Elinor Dougall en Graham Coxon was een min of meer toevallige, maar het heeft de twee muzikanten al veel moois gebracht, waar we nu ook als muziekliefhebbers volop van mee kunnen genieten.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt The WAEVE hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://thewaeve.bandcamp.com/album/the-waeve

Ghost Interior. Combo Qazam

Ghost Interior starts with the enthusiasm of a Wet Leg song, only to turn the song into an 80s mood of existential angst better fitting in with the times of today. Existential angst from multiple angles, not the least of a maniac threatening the world with nuclear weapons.

Combo Qazam returns to the blog with a new album. An album filled with music created after the world grounded to a standstill. A time that was more difficult for the one person than for the other. Ab al Tamimi, Stefan and Arno Breuer and Gino Miniutti explored what it was to be a human in lockdown times and reflected on their insights in these new songs.

The answer must not have been easy to achieve and the time not easy by itself. Ghost Interior is an album filled with songs that demand an effort. An effort to listen to them. An effort to comprehend them. An effort to like them. The good news is: the effort pays off.

Songs with complex rhythms turn out to be songs after all. Different and sometimes difficult structures contain little sparks of inspiration that light things up. Often there are details to explore, to follow throughout a song. As many things are happening at the same time, surprises are all around.

Combo Qazam is a combo of four millennials with 80 years of experience by playing in 40 bands. Since I follow the releases of Tiny Room Records, now about six years, I have encountered these men in so many different guises, that I do not doubt the number of 40 at all, taking into account the 14 previous years.

What I cannot help you with, at least for large parts of the album, is to compare Ghost Interior to a lot of other albums. It is rather beyond my frame of reference. A little Japan and David Sylvian, that is as far as it goes and totally inadequate. Combo Qazam plays louder but also plays with the brake on in some of its songs in exactly the same way. This results in a mysterious sheen over its music, enter Japan/Sylvian. In a very laidback way there may be some hints towards Norwegian progrock bands, by lack of a better word for this adventurous music, like Motorpsycho and Soup. At the end of the album there are some references to the softer side of Yes as well. The latter is the "easy" part of the album.

For me an album like Ghost Interior is an adventure. Combo Qazam takes me along some new roads. Highways, byways and dirt tracks. The trip is nice and well worth it, surprises and all.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Ghost Interiors here:

https://tinyroomrecords.bandcamp.com/

Three Albums, 13 July 2021

Again a few albums that were getting away and two exceptional ones at that. Fasten you seatbelts folks, 'cause here it comes.

Hellfire. Black Midi

The more I listened to Hellfire the more I thought, finally, here's the band influenced by Frank Zappa in the truest and wide-scoping way possible. It all comes by. The madness, the extremities in the music containing an endless number of references and influences, the enormous musicality pushing musicians to their limits, etc. And then I read an interview with Geordie Greep and it all falls into place: 'Hot Rats' is one of his favourite albums and one that influenced him a lot. (Thank you, 'Oor'.) Listen more closely and you'll hear more, Much more. My guess is though, that anyone who is able to sit through the album - and this for many will be an issue- can come up with their own favourites. I don't want to spoil your fun there. As every few seconds something else happens on Hellfire. I couldn't listen to 'Schlagenheim', came in on 'Cavalcade' and was totally convinced by Hellfire. I do not promise I will listen to the album a lot. For that it perhaps is too much to chew off on an ordinary day. When I do though, I am sitting on the edge of my seat. There isn't a single dull moment on Hellfire. Where does a band with young musicians, like Black Midi is, get the imagination from? There's more of it than most bands would use in decades. In this case it is a great compliment. Hellfire is a grand tour of music.

Aura. Hatis Noit

This album is a straight tip for Kairos. Haris Noit is a Japanese vocal performer who now lives in London. Nearly all you hear on Aura is Hatis Noit's voice, except for some field recordings. The voice is in the classical range, though self-taught. In the background looped vocals are heard, providing the "music". Some percussive sounds come by every four bars or more sometimes. Vocal interruptions like bird song intersperse the classic singing. Musically it could not be further removed from 'Nina Hagen Band', what Nina Hagen does there certainly is akin to Hatis Noit's vocal performances. Can I listen to this for a whole album? Of course not, but on "a good day" Aura does get to me, trained as I am by Wino's 'Kairos' show on Concertzender. (Yes, I'm even further behind, I know.) As I wrote, this music would fit there perfectly. Now time will tell if Wino has read this short review concealed as a tip. The fact that Ben Lukas Boysen has played a role in the re-recording of the music, should be an extra incentive here.

Jobbernowl. Spygenius

Time to jump into the time machine and pretend to travel to the later 1960s where the band Spygenius finally releases its new, 7th album. The album was released to critical acclaim and warmly welcomed by the fans. The single shot into the charts and all was well. And then I wake up. It's 2022 and Spygenius releases a totally anachronistic album that is fun to listen to from start to finish. The band doesn't hide for a second what era in music it likes best. Beat music with the first hints at psychedelia or more than just a hint. The song always remains the most important. I'm not surprised that links to the Dutch band Johan are found, a great pop-rock band as well. Spygenius is a band from Canterbury in the U.K. that is able to recreate times gone by with original songs. The songs may have come together in a dark time, Covid, the outcomes have that bittersweet feeling that combines the sad with the happy, making it fun to listen while feeling the sting every once in a while. If you like this kind of music, you know everything you need to know.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and buy the albums here:

https://bmblackmidi.bandcamp.com/

https://hatisnoit.bandcamp.com/album/aura

https://spygenius.bandcamp.com/

Hits To The Head. Franz Ferdinand

In 2004-05 there was not a single issue of WoNo Magazine without a reference to Franz Ferdinand, the Glaswegian postpunkfunk band that really got to me in these two years. Albums, singles, b-sides and finally a show in the, then beer hall, in Amsterdam South-East. 18 years later the band releases its first compilation album. So how does Franz Ferdinand fare in 2022?

For one, I hardly ever play the band's records any more. The only song that comes by spontaneously, like on the radio or something, is 'Take Me Out'. And even that not often. In that sense the band never broke big in my country, which is weird. For the simple reason that the band made five more than decent albums in the past 18 years. They all delivered on consistency and quality. The only odd one out, is 'FFS' with Sparks. It also is no part of Hits To The Head. The second observation is that none of the band's singles charted in the Top 40, my country's oldest chart (A.D. 1965). Not one single single. Which is weird as well, as the band has a consistent level of singles through the years. The albums were all top 20 (2), some even top 10 (3).

What stands out on the album immediately, is the artwork. A clear call to the band's start. The cover is a mix of 'Franz Ferdinand' (2004) and 'You Could Have It So Much Better' (2005). It brings to mind the band's love for Russian art of the first half of the 20th century. Musically the momentum tilts towards the first two albums too, with nine songs out of twenty. What also stands out, like a sore thumb as far as I'm concerned, is the omission of one of its greatest songs: 'Bullet' from the album 'Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action'. That is a true omission, as the song is so much better than some of the singles that are on Hits To The Head.

The band has not managed to remain intact as well. Only Alex Kapranos and Bob Hardy are still members from the beginning. Guitarist/keyboardist Nick McCarthy left in 2016 before work started on 'Always Ascending'. Drummer Paul Thompson left in 2021. Of course, it is fairly unique when a band remains in the same line up for decades, on the other hand it is a sign that not all is well. Now a five piece, the band is releasing a compilation album and not a new one, despite Hits To The Head containing two new songs, 'Billy Goodbye' and 'Curious', that have come by in the singles overview of the past few months. To summarise, the former is a good addition to the oeuvre of Franz Ferdinand, the latter a so so left over. 'Always Ascending' is from the winter of 2018, so four year old. There should have been a new album. On the other hand a compilation could breathe new life into the band of course.

As far as I'm concerned, I will not buy Hits To The Head. Not for the two songs added to it. I have all the albums and a whole stack of cd singles and a few 7"s as well and not playing them anymore. So, I turned to Spotify to listen to the compilation and got cheered up and warmed immediately. From the moment I heard 'Darts Of Pleasure' the band's first single and the only one I had missed at the time, as I'm on board since 'Take Me Out', as most of the world, I guess, I was back on board with Franz Ferdinand. The song remains so good, so full of energy, so danceable, so listenable, so intelligent and so much fun all in one. A standard of quality the band kept as its benchmark. A mix where artrock, punkfunk and disco meet in the most perfect of ways.

In 2004 there all of a sudden was a host of bands put in the same punkfunk basket, with comparisons to a host of bands from the early 1980s that served as inspiration. Not one, young and old, came close to Franz Ferdinand though. The band was on a plane of its own. Highly elevated above everything and everybody. Until Arctic Monkeys came along, incomparable but so more powerful even. Where the class of 2004 was concerned, one band did come close, Dogs Die in Hot Cars. Also from Glasgow the band kept a level of music up for the first seven songs of its debut album, and final album, Please Describe Yourself, that was Franz Ferdinand worthy. Franz Ferdinand was the band that remained, though never on the level of its first two albums. The big breakthrough remained an illusion, and I wonder why?

Not that I have an answer. Listening to the singles, with minor exceptions I hear one great song after another. Too difficult for most people? Too much of a mix to appeal to the fans of the individual components? Too arty? Let me know what you think, if you like. What I hear is party time music as well as ear candy.

If Hits To The Head does anything, it is making me want to play my CDs/LP of the band once again. As they have been gathering dust for far too long. "Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action", if one title sums up the band's music its this one. It says it all, in fact.

Wout de Natris