The Good Ones Got Away. New Earth Farmers

The Good Ones Got Away? This sounds ominously like an album of second choices only. If this, however, are the leftovers from a great recording session, many-a-band would want to be able to come up with them. New Earth Farmers, formerly New American Farmers, has produced a fine record containing a mix of Americana, pop and rock. Colouring within the lines, true, but with the brightest colours imaginable. And then there's 'The Garden'. I'll get back to that song, promised.

New Earth Farmers is a five piece band from the West Coast with a link to The Alarm in drummer Nigel Twist and to Chuck Prophet. I must have seen lead-guitarist James DePrato and bass player Kevin T. White play besides Prophet several times in the pre-covid years. Musically the band evolves around Paul Knowles, singer, guitarist and keyboardist and his partner, guitarist and vocalist Nicole Storto. They set out the musical lines on this record.

Two songs stood out for me immediately, the very explosive, massive and near epic, 'The Garden' and the enormously poppy 'Oh, Mary'. I was inclined to write not to expect further fireworks on The Good Ones Got Away. New Earth Farmers plays decent music. That songsmithing was a better word for it. I was wrong. It is song two and three on the album that gave me that impression. There is so much more going on, like the World Party cover, 'Waiting Such A Long, Long Time'. The song truly rocks. I love it.

Anyone who has a musical ear of more than a few decades is able to pick out some of the influences that Knowles and Shorto have sucked up in their lives. It has all led to songs that are so good to listen to. Songs of warmth and compassion of love and tears. Some louder, some softer, always well crafted

The album starts with 'Oh, Mary', previously presented on this blog as a single. The pop feel ought to bring this band to the radio, as it has that little extra. The lyrics a little provocative for the very religious, with a little snipe at water and wine at the marriage in, where was it, Canaan? The kind of song that got songsmiths The Jayhawks on the radio 30 years ago. 'Oh, Mary' has that quality, that fun and level of playing. As far as I'm concerned, why not play it today?

From there on the album takes a turn towards more serious listening and this works out quite well. More subtle and moments where the little extra's come out nicely. An organ, nice lead lines, harmony singing. The sound is always warm and inviting. Perhaps the songs are a bit interchangeable but wait for that moment where James DePrato lets his guitar speak for him and the organ is turned up a little. One of the moments The Good Ones Got Away is turned upside down.

And then 'The Garden', the album's sixth song, recorded live. New Earth Farmers goes into overdrive and pump themselves up tremendously. A song of epic proportions. It should have been the final song. Now the album's candle is blown out by a short 'Interlude' and a beautiful ballad. 'Temporary Road', slowly washed away.

Reading the band's name I had expected a true country band. Luckily I tried it out anyway, resulting in a nice album having been added to my collection. Rock and roll comes in many shapes and sizes. Here's another example of that.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order The Good Ones Got Away here:

https://newearthfarmers.bandcamp.com/album/the-good-ones-got-away

Déjâ Vu. CSN&Y, a digital conversation for three

Gary's Copy

Starting out as a short debate about CDs and DVDs no longer being sold at Sainsbury's...

Gary, 9 July:

Interesting article on the BBC News site about one of the leading supermarkets in the UK stopping selling CDs and DVDs…. Note the quote "Vinyl is incredibly fashionable and the CD has gone out of fashion. A lot of indies [independent shops] may be stocking less CDs than they used to, but they're still selling. There's this myth that the CD is completely dead.”

Mark, 11 July: 

Thanks - yes I saw this. Not surprised. Sainsbury's decision is the tail end of a depressing trend to cut the availability of music on the high street that goes back 10 years or more. The supermarkets have only been selling a desultory list of top ten albums so it is not a huge loss to culture. Different story  50 years ago in my teenage years in north Wales when I started buying records. I would be able to get my Beatles, Stones, ELP, Yes, Rory Gallagher albums in local shops like Boots the Chemists, WH Smiths and Woollies (as in Woolworths, not sheep). There was also a department store across the border in Chester called Browns which had an impressive range of vinyl racks slotted in between haberdashery and the menswear department. I would pop in there to get the new Wings album before getting my bus back home from school, hiding it amongst the text books in my bag so my father wouldn't spot it. There was also the occasional foray to Liverpool to save up for. This required a bus, a train and a metro to get to so required some intricate logistics. I used to head straight to one of Richard Branson's first Virgin Records shops which was above a shoe shop in Bold Street. There a dazzling and diverse musical vista opened up before my eyes and ears featuring weird independent labels, rarities, imports...... 

There is a similar thrill still to be enjoyed when I head now to the last surviving record shops in London like Fopps and Rough Trade  They provide an increasingly rare opportunity to see the world of music and its history in all its diverse genres and geographies laid out physically all around you. It's an experience that I don't think can be matched by the online retailers. So I hope that following the demise and disappearance of Virgin megastores, HMV, Tower Records etc (except in Japan....) these remaining shops can survive and thrive. 

That's why it's important to support Record Store Day! This year's Drop Day 2 coming up next Saturday (17th) so join the queue of socially distanced diehard music fans - and tick the list !  The CSN&Y Deja Vu alternate takes is top of mine.

... the discussion moved to (the Record Store Day re-release of) Déjà Vu.

Gary, 11 July:

I agree Mark, but I would say that the vinyl market does seem to be healthy?

I still have my copy of Deja Vu I brought back in the 70s although somewhat a little worse for wear over the last 50 years!😊

Trying to avoid the bloody soccer at the moment… but will be interested to see how Branson gets on in space later… I wonder if he is thinking about an orbital record shop?😉

Mark's two copies*

Mark, 20 July:

* Spot the big difference

 

It certainly looks a well-worn copy, Gary, which kind of works really because the textured sleeve design with gothic lettering in gold was intended to mimic the kind of old album of sepia photographs that falls apart when retrieved from the loft. I hope the vinyl is not so battered and you still find time to play it because I think the half century old music it contains has lasted incredibly well. And the lyrics still resonate:

 

"The sky is clearing and the night has cried enough

The sun, he come, the world to soften up

Rejoice, rejoice, we have no choice but to carry on",

It probably vies with the White Album as my most-played record. When I got my copy - later than you, in the early 1980s -  the harmony-driven optimism, gripping melodies and powerful musicianship totally blew me away. It seemed  comparable to the Beatles formula of disparate talents magically hitting off on each other to produce a masterpiece. Only Dallas Taylor who was the drummer is no longer with us: he passed away in 2015 (liver disease after a history of alcoholism and his wife's donation of a kidney to save him).  

I got my limited edition alternate takes album on Record Store Day 2 on Saturday (a strong sense indeed of deja queue outside Rough Trade just off Brick Lane) and I've been playing it over and over since. The sound of the record is tremendous, like you're in the studio: the edge of every note captured with crystal clarity. 

Of the tracks, the extended take of Crosby's thunderous Almost Cut My Hair  is a forerunner of the kind of extended jams that Neil Young can intoxicate you with. The take of Teach Your Children is an early Graham Nash run-through done before Jerry Garcia dropped by the studio to add his delicious countrified guitar licks which would give the song such tremendous lift. 

As for Neil Young's Helpless - what can you say: a masterpiece of evocation of memory of his Canadian roots with intriguing, slightly oblique poetry in the lyrics, and a unique musical arrangement that almost stops but hangs on with tantalising beauty. This take has some additional harmonica playing which intrudes a little on the measured interplay of piano and guitar so the released version stripped of the harmonica has the slight edge maybe. It's great nonetheless to hear this alternate take of a song that is a spine-tingling listening experience every time I put it on the turntable.

Yellow moon on the rise over Coulsdon this evening during a beautiful sunset but the big birds have yet to reappear stacked up on their descent into Gatwick. No choice but to carry on.

 

*You got it: the disappearing dog! 

Wout, 20 July:

I have to admit that I do not own a vinyl copy of Deja vu. Only a cd. Because of your emails, I wondered why that could be. My first thought was that when I started buying records seriously in the late 70s, this band certainly was a thing of the past. Just like I have no Led Zeppelin records except for the last one, 'In Through The Out Door'. Until the last couple of years. The only old records I bought new despite having the cds.

I did get a second thought though. That in the end I do not like the solo output of the original three members. On Woodstock e.g., an album that I did get to know circa 1972 as a friend of mine had it and we played it endlessly, I could not get through 'Suite': Judy Blue Eyes' and totally raved after 'Sea Of Madness', a song never released anywhere else, I think. Always the Neil Young fan, even then, before I knew any better.

I did start buying some albums second hand, circa 1990, so I have the first album without Neil, I have 'CSN', but not Deja Vu, maybe because it wasn't for sale where I was looking? I have the first two Stephen Stills solo albums. the first David Crosby, and already had Graham Nash because I liked his two hit singles of 1971, 'Chicago' and 'Military Madness'. Even one Crosby & Nash album. They have one thing in common, all are very little played albums.

I have Deja Vu probably for over 20 years as cd, but it is also not often played. I'll play it again soon. Perhaps 51 years down the line, gives me the opportunity to reappraise it.

Now the story. When my son was born, my, now ex, wife had to go into surgery immediately and I was left behind with this little human being lying in some sort of scale, blood everywhere around us. I was looking into these big, dark brown eyes that were staring intently at me. I put my little finger in his hand and we were just looking at each other.

A cleaning nurse stepped into the room and without saying anything she turned on the radio. The song that came on was the first single I owned. My aunt gave me Ricky Nelson's 'Hello Mary Lou' because I always wanted to hear it and my mother could play it at home for me as well. One year old and already totally captured by music. It never left me. But this story is about the second song that came on.

The radio played Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. It could have been any song and it would never have made an impression on me. It was 'Teach Your Children'. A more befitting song after being alone with your first born right after childbirth is hard to imagine. Here I had been telling him about the first song he heard being alive and what it meant to me. Next I promised him to do my utmost in teaching him. Looking at how he's turned out, it's safe to say that my ex-wife and I did alright.

Also, he loves music as much as I do, with a major difference. I don't think he even spent €100 in his life on music. Owning music is a thing of the past for a lot of youths. They have You Tube and Spotify. This seems to be enough and in a way it is of course. I still feel the romance of holding an LP in my hand, looking at the sleeve, reading it for xth time. Not our youth, but that's a different story.

I will go and listen to Deja Vu once again after many years. Who knows what happens?

Mark, 25 July:

CSNY: Sea of Madness is a curiosity in Neil Young's oeuvre because there still hasn't been an official issue of a studio version. It doesn't feature on the Deja Vu 50th anniversary 4-cd deluxe boxset so maybe none exists. The live version on the Woodstock soundtrack  turned up on the first Neil Young Archive box in 2009 with a curious note explaining that that performance was actually recorded at the Fillmore East in New York a month after Woodstock in September 1969, so not at the festival itself.

Of the contemporary CSNY solo albums I recommend revisiting the first David Crosby album If I Could Only Remember My Name which despite its lousy title is now widely recognised as an impressive companion piece to Deja Vu.  Indeed S, N & Y all contribute to various tracks as do Jerry Garcia and other members of the Dead and also several members of Jefferson Airplane. So an impressive ensemble of San Francisco's finest and for me the album sums up that sun-bleached era of west coast music in a truly beautiful way with luscious harmonies and mesmerising arrangements.The stand-out track for me is Laughing so play that first and spot Joni Mictchell's beautiful background harmonies in the crescendo (a rare album guest appearance for her - she was hanging out with Crosby at the time). There is also a Beatles connection: I read somewhere that this song (which Crosby recorded again with less flair for the disappointing 1973 Byrds short-lived reunion album) was a message to George Harrison about disillusionment with the Maharishi (who had been derided by some sceptics as the "giggling guru" - hence the title).  I thought I met a man / Who said he knew a man / Who knew what was going on / I was mistaken..... A stunning song that always succeeds in sending symphonic psychedelic shimmers up my spine.

David Crosby is still going strong as he approaches 80 and he is in remarkably good voice too apparently. After an erratic career and a personal history that matches only Marianne Faithfull's for steep descents into near oblivion, he's now enjoying a late career resurgence that started with the 2014 nick-eponymous album Croz. His new album For Free (named after a vintage Joni Mitchell song that he covers from her 1970 album Ladies of the Canyon), earned a four-star review in yesterday's Financial Times (I haven't sold out but the Guardian had in our local supermarket). This was one more than that for the latest release (on the same day) by another west coast veteran, Jackson Browne: the gloomily-titled Downhill from Everywhere. The "glowing vocal harmony redolent of the golden age of CSNY" suggests For Free is worth checking out too. And as you may have seen, Joni Mitchell's wondrous archives are at last now opening up. 

Altogether now:

   

"All the leaves are brown (all the leaves are brown)

And the sky is gray...... "

Lookin' out the window here in Coulsdon, I see the summer of love has indeed clouded. 

California dreamin'.....

 

PS - I think I've just invented the word "nick-eponymous"! I can't immediately think of one but there must be other examples of album titles that are the artists' nicknames. Answers in an email please!

Wout, 26 July:

I'm listening to the new David Crosby right now. Jazzy, of course, but a quite potent sound and certainly so for an 80 year old.

Gary

Mark

Wout

 

 

Kingdom Of Oblivion. Motorpsycho

The trilogy of three albums of great, colourful album art artistry is done. To underscore that the cover to Kingdom Of Oblivion is not so much less artful, it is enormously more simple and less colourful. Art it is, that remains the same. Musically Motorpsycho stays fairly close to home. Fans of the band's music will be totally satisfied and can buy the album with plugged up ears.

There's one snag in reviewing new Motorpsycho albums. So much happens on them that it is impossible to truly form an impression after just a few listening sessions. A first impression is formed, the deeper relationship is something that happens over time, weeks, months and years. The long compositions have many nuances and layers that do not necessarily unfold themselves at the start. Something sounding familiar at first contains a new sound or even a new approach within a "normal" Motorpsycho environment.

On the last number of records whole walls of sound are erected. Somewhere in there the essence of the song lurks to be discovered at leisure. Sometimes to be discovered immediately, sometimes after many sessions by cutting a record up. Overload of musical information is a risk with an 80 minute or plus record and as overwhelming as a Motorpsycho record can be.

So on my first take I'm not afraid to share with you that Kingdom Of Oblivion is another great Motorpsycho record. The monumental opening. 'The Waning part 1&2', sets the pace and atmosphere. The bands plays in large, rough strokes, as if Karel Appel saying "I do not paint, I hit". Pushed on relentlessly by power drummer extraordinaire Tomas Järmyr, the two veteran members on the snare instruments can not hold back for one second. In that wall of sound so much is happening that just reviewing this song could take up much more time than I could ever allocate to the whole album. And should you be wondering how hard the band rocks, just listen to that groove on 'The United Debased'. The album takes a giant step back in and after 'The Watcher' and allows all involved, including you and me, to catch our breath, because what a ride that rocker is..

Promo photo Motor Magritte

Just like I was from 'The Tower' onwards, before that album from 2017 I had lost sight of the band for circa seven years, I am totally impressed by the band. Like I was at that great show in Victorie in Alkmaar in 2018. The band really wrings everything out of itself and the ideas the members come up with. No road remains unexplored, leading to monumental songs and to West Coast jazzy pop songs like 'Lady May 1'. Motorpsycho never is just the classic prog rock band. The bass playing of Bent Saether on this song very much reminds me of the jazzy outings Jefferson Airplane's Jack Cassidy played on 'After Bathing At Baxter's' more trippy, hippy songs. A song like this gives Kingdom Of Oblivion and other Motorpsycho albums, the air the listener needs to recover, while enjoying the song at the same time.

I can't help feeling, and if this is the case I apologise just a little here, in essence I'm writing the same review when reviewing a new Motorpsycho album. The reason is as I explained in the above. I am in awe, once again, but also overwhelmed by the giant amount of musical information hurled at me. One thing is for certain, I will be buying the album soon, as it will be another great addition to my slowly growing Motorpsycho collection and my faster growing collection overall. Kingdom Of Oblivion is as impressive as it is inspired.

Wout de Natris

You can order Kingdom Of Oblivion here:

https://www.stickman-records.com/shop/motorpsycho-kingdom-of-oblivion/

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

Jas. De Breek

Niet lang nadat Sander van Munster met zijn No Ninja Am I optrad in ons huis, deelde hij een nummer van een nieuw project met zijn volgers. De Breek was daar. De wereld werd nog geruime tijd in spanning gehouden voordat er een officiële, tastbare release werd aangeboden. Die is er nu in de vorm van Jas, een maxi single, waar de schoonheid van af spat.

Dat is niet het enige dat spat. Het glazuur spat van mijn tanden, bij zoveel zoetheid, zoals bij het snoep vroeger op de kermis. Zoals dat snoep, in ieder geval toen, enorm lekker was, zo heerlijk klinkt de muziek en samenzang op Jas.

De Breek is trio bestaande uit David Pino (El Pino & The Volunteers), Sander van Munster en Steef Hupkes (Stanley en de Menzo's). Alle drie gingen zij wonen in Amsterdam-Noord, niet ver van elkaar en besloten aan de oever van De Breek (de Schellingwouderbreek) samen muziek te gaan maken.

Wie naar die muziek luistert, komt binnen een paar seconden tot de conclusie dat deze diep geworteld is in de West Coast folk en pop traditie, zoals die ooit is aangevoerd door Crosby, Stills, Nash (& Young) en tegenwoordig door een Canadese band als Half Moon Run of The Shins. De Breek doet moeiteloos een gooi naar een plaatsje in dit pantheon van grootheden.

Zachte akoestische gitaarklanken, zoetgevooisde synths leggen de basis, waar overheen de drie heren zingen. Stemmen die over elkaar worden gelegd, langs elkaar heen scheren of elkaar versterken. Samen levert dat een aantal prachtige harmonieën op, die in combinatie met de relatief minimale muzikale ondersteuning, een prachtig geheel vormen.

De teksten verhalen, licht melancholiek over de jas van een opa, mijmeringen over de schooltijd met jassen en tassen en vrije middagen. 'Bom' is zo mogelijk een nog mooier nummer dan 'Jas'. Het nummer is minder versierd, maar daardoor in al zijn dromerigheid directer. Het soort nummer dat direct bij mij binnenkomt. Als ik het nummer vergelijk met de laatste plaat van Half Moon Run, dat op de avond van schrijven in een uitverkocht Paradiso staat, dan zijn daarop slechts twee nummers echt beter. De rest heeft een stevige kluif aan 'Bom', 'Jas' en 'Pluizen'. Kortom, er is zeker een toekomst en een publiek van De Breek. Toevallige verhuizingen kunnen tot samenwerkingen leiden die de mooiste dingen opleveren. Jas is daar een prachtig bewijs van.

Wo.

Je kunt Jas hier beluisteren en kopen:

https://debreek.bandcamp.com/releases


of luister naar onze Spotify Playlist en ontdek waar we over schrijven:

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

Performance. Stone Irr

Stone Irr debuteerde twee jaar geleden met het bijzonder fraaie Sinner en vervolmaakt het geluid van dit bijzondere debuut nu met wonderschone arrangementen.

De inmiddels in Los Angeles woonachtige Stone Irr dook twee jaar geleden op met de jaarlijstjesplaat Sinner. Het album werd helaas niet in brede kring opgepikt, maar heeft de lat hoog gelegd voor het nieuwe album van de Amerikaanse muzikant. Performance overtuigt desondanks makkelijk. Stone Irr heeft het recept van Sinner behouden, maar ook verrijkt met wat uitbundigere arrangementen, die met name putten uit de Westcoast pop, maar die ook eigentijds klinken. Het vollere geluid is gelukkig niet ten koste gegaan van de intimiteit van de muziek van Stone Irr, die ook dit keer indruk maakt met songs vol weemoed. Alle reden dus om Performance vol liefde te omarmen.

In de herfst van 2017 kreeg ik, overeigens naar aanleiding van mijn zeer lovende woorden over het debuut van Phoebe Bridgers, bij toeval Sinner van de Amerikaanse muzikant Stone Irr in handen.
 
Het officiële debuut van de muzikant uit Bloomington, Indiana, beviel me zo goed dat ik het album onmiddellijk uitriep tot een van de grote verrassingen van 2017, maar toen ik een paar maanden later mijn jaarlijstje samenstelde was ik het album kennelijk alweer vergeten. Zonde, want Sinner is een album dat absoluut jaarlijstjeswaardig was. Vorig jaar kreeg Sinner alsnog een Nederlandse release, maar echt opvallen deed het album in Nederland helaas niet.
 
Sinner, dat ik in de herfst van 2017 vergeleek met de muziek van Sufjan Stevens en Jeff Buckley overgoten met een Beach Boys sausje en dat opviel door bijzondere teksten waarin het opgroeien in de Amerikaanse Bible Belt centraal stond, komt hier nog altijd met enige regelmaat uit de speakers en daarom was ik verheugd toen ik de naam van Stone Irr deze week zag opduiken in de lijst met nieuwe releases.
 
Performance gaat verder waar Sinner twee jaar geleden ophield en laat een deels bekend geluid horen. Stone Irr heeft Indiana inmiddels verruild voor Los Angeles en kiest op zijn tweede album voor een wat voller geluid. Het is een geluid waarin nog altijd flink wat echo’s uit de muziek van The Beach Boys opduiken, maar in de melodieën zijn dit keer ook invloeden van The Beatles te horen.
 
Stone Irr koppelt de mooie melodieën en Beach Boys achtige vocalen aan intieme folksongs met een vaak wat weemoedig karakter. Het is een combinatie van invloeden die Sinner twee jaar geleden een uniek geluid gaf en dat geluid is vervolmaakt op Performance. Op het nieuwe album heeft Stone Irr meer aandacht besteed aan de instrumentatie en productie, waarvoor de mij onbekende Ben Lumsdaine heeft getekend. Performance heeft de intimiteit van zijn voorganger behouden, maar klinkt rijker. In de openingstrack duiken opeens gruizige gitaren op, maar ook blazers en strijkers duiken met enige regelmaat op in de arrangementen die met name bij beluistering met de koptelefoon van een bijzondere schoonheid blijken.
 
De muziek van Stone Irr herinnerde twee jaar geleden al aan de jaren 60 en 70, maar doet dat op Performance nog wat nadrukkelijker. Zeker wanneer de melodieën honingzoet zijn duiken flarden Westcoast pop op, maar de muzikant uit Los Angeles sluit ook aan bij de melancholische singer-songwriters uit het heden.
 
Waar melancholie op Sinner domineerde laat Performance ook met enige regelmaat een groots en wat zonniger klinkend geluid horen, maar de muziek van Stone Irr blijft ingetogen en intiem en heeft zeker wanneer de weemoed het wint ook wel wat raakvlakken met de albums van Elliott Smith.
 
Het debuut van de Amerikaanse muzikant maakte op mij een onuitwisbare indruk en dat heeft de lat hoog gelegd voor het toch altijd al lastige tweede album. Performance heeft mij desondanks vrij makkelijk overtuigd. Stone Irr heeft de kracht en schoonheid van zijn intieme debuut behouden, maar zet op zijn nieuwe album ook stappen. Sinner deed ondanks herhaalde pogingen niet zo heel veel, maar het bijzonder fraaie Performance verdient echt een veel beter lot.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt Performance hier beluisteren en kopen:

https://stoneirr.bandcamp.com/


of luister naar onze Spotify Playlist en ontdek waar we over schrijven:

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

Live At Woodstock. Creedence Clearwater Revival

Het toeval wil dat gisteren door Wo. Creedence in een recensie werd aangehaald als een van de invloeden op de nieuwe plaat van Eilen Jewell, 'Gypsy'. Daarom vandaag Erwin's recensie van deze uitgave van een plaat, die eigenlijk de grote boot gemist heeft. Niet in de film en niet op de plaat. 'Wist u dat Creedence op Woodstock heeft gespeeld'? De geschiedenis is rechtgezet, lijkt het.

Bijna 50 jaar na het optreden op Woodstock geeft Creedence Clearwater Revival een in meerdere opzichten legendarische en imponerende live-set vrij.

John Fogerty heeft zelf geen goede herinneringen aan het Woodstock festival. De band stond pas na middernacht op het podium en kreeg te maken met een publiek dat door Grateful Dead in slaap was gesust. Met de nu verschenen live-registratie van het optreden van Creedence Clearwater Revival op Woodstock is echter niets mis. Integendeel zelfs. De band klinkt energiek en gedreven en levert een fantastisch optreden af. De band klinkt net wat rauwer dan gebruikelijk en imponeert met songs waar de urgentie van af spat. Je hoort de band tijdens de bijna een uur durende set beter en beter worden en zo te horen werd een steeds groter deel van het publiek wakker tijdens de weergaloze set. Het levert een live-album op waar de magie in grote hoeveelheden van af spat.

In de originele Woodstock film en op de bijbehorende en inmiddels legendarische soundtrack is geen spoor te bekennen van Creedence Clearwater Revival, maar de band stond in augustus 1969 wel degelijk op het legendarische popfestival, dat overigens niet in Woodstock, maar in het 70 kilometer verderop gelegen Bethel werd gehouden.
 
De band stond gepland voor de late avond van 16 augustus, maar verscheen door een uitgelopen en volgens de overlevering slaapverwekkend optreden van Grateful Dead pas na middernacht op het podium.
 
De set van Creedence Clearwater Revival was vanwege een rechtenkwestie lange tijd niet beschikbaar, maar is 50 jaar na dato alsnog verschenen. John Fogerty was naar verluidt zelf niet onder de indruk van de set die zijn band na te lang wachten op Woodstock speelde, maar de nu verschenen live-registratie is werkelijk fantastisch.
 
Creedence Clearwater Revival klinkt op Live At Woodstock getergd en rauw. De rauwheid is te horen in het geluid van de band, maar vooral in de zang van John Fogerty, die hoorbaar boos zijn teksten in de microfoon spuugt. Het voorziet de songs van Creedence Clearwater Revival van energie, onderhuidse spanning en urgentie.
 
Ik ken een aantal andere live-registraties van de band die in de tweede helft van de jaren 60 de hits aan elkaar reeg, maar de registratie van het optreden op Woodstock bevalt me net wat beter. De 55 minuten durende Woodstock set knalt uit de speakers en laat horen dat de band aan het eind van de jaren 60 in absolute topvorm verkeerde.
 
Met name aan het begin van de set lijken er wat problemen met het geluid, maar naarmate de set vordert gaat het beter en beter klinken en wordt het publiek hoorbaar steeds enthousiaster. John Fogerty gaf na Woodstock gefrustreerd aan dat iedereen lag te slapen toen zijn band eindelijk het podium op mocht, maar zo te horen waren er nog genoeg mensen wakker.
 
De wakkerblijvers werden vervolgens rijkelijk beloond voor hun geduld, want het optreden van Creedence Clearwater Revival op Woodstock staat als een huis. Met name de versie van de Screamin’ Jay Hawkins klassieker I Put A Spell On You is weergaloos en imponeert met fantastisch gitaarwerk en zeer gedreven zang van John Fogerty, maar ook alle andere songs van de set vallen op door een enorme hoeveelheid rauwe energie en urgentie.
 
Het levert een album op dat laat horen dat Creedence Clearwater Revival ook op het podium met de allerbesten mee kon, waarbij de band natuurlijk profiteert van de magie van het Woodstock festival, dat de band ondanks de frustratie van de late start kennelijk toch inspireerde tot grootse daden. De fans van de band hadden de al vrij snel na het festival circulerende bootleg waarschijnlijk al lang in huis, maar voor de rest van ons is er nu deze prachtig klinkende live-registratie, die absoluut iets toevoegt aan de tot een klassieker uitgegroeide Woodstock verzamelaar die in zoveel platenkasten te vinden is.

Erwin Zijleman


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

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Here If You Listen. David Crosby

David Crosby is begonnen aan een nieuwe jeugd en levert zijn vierde meer dan uitstekende soloplaat op rij in nog geen vijf jaar tijd af. 

Ondanks mijn diepe bewondering voor de drie voorgangers ontsnapte Here If You Listen aan mijn aandacht. Het zal aan de spuuglelijke hoes hebben gelegen, maar in muzikaal opzicht is ook de nieuwe plaat van de inmiddels 77 jaar oude Amerikaanse legende weer dik in orde. Bijgestaan door een virtuoze jazzmuzikant en twee topzangeressen borduurt David Crosby voort op zijn roemruchte verleden, maar slaat hij ook nieuwe wegen in. Here If You Listen voelt daarom als een warm bad, maar het is ook een spannende plaat die de fantasie prikkelt. Een diepe buiging is op zijn plaats.

David Crosby was nooit zo productief wanneer het ging om het maken van soloplaten, maar de afgelopen jaren is zijn productie op dit terrein bijna ongekend.
 
De afgelopen jaren was ik behoorlijk onder de indruk van Croz (2014), Lighthouse (2016) en Sky Trails (2017), maar vreemd genoeg is de release van Here If You Listen aan mijn aandacht ontsnapt.

De vierde soloplaat van David Crosby in iets meer dan vier jaar tijd is gestoken in een eenvoudige en wat mij betreft lelijke hoes, waarop ook de namen van Michael League, Michelle Willis en Becca Stevens prijken. De drie staan inmiddels bekend als The Lighthouse band en waren nadrukkelijk van de partij op de gelijknamige soloplaat van David Crosby uit 2016.
 
De Amerikaanse muzikant, die naast Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young ook The Byrds op zijn CV heeft staan, vierde afgelopen zomer zijn 77e verjaardag, maar is in muzikaal opzicht begonnen aan zijn tweede (of misschien wel derde jeugd). Hij heeft de namen van zijn medemuzikanten niet voor niets op de hoes van zijn nieuwe plaat gezet, want Here If You Listen klinkt nog meer als een bandplaat dan zijn voorgangers.
 
De stembanden van David Crosby zijn niet meer zo krachtig als in zijn gloriejaren, maar dit wordt bijzonder fraai gemaskeerd door de mooie stemmen van Becca Stevens (van wie ik pas nog een prachtplaat heb ontdekt) en Michelle Willis, die de gaten die David Crosby laat vallen fraai opvullen. Overigens heb ik geen enkele moeite met de soms wat kwetsbaarder klinkende vocalen van David Crosby, die weliswaar aan kracht hebben ingeboet, maar aan emotie, doorleving en zeggingskracht hebben gewonnen.
 
Net als zijn vorige platen laat ook Here If You Listen echo’s horen uit het roemruchte verleden van David Crosby. Hier en daar herinnert de plaat aan de gloriedagen van Crosby, Stills & Nash (en een tijdje Young), maar ook zijn solo meesterwerk If I Could Only Remember My Name uit 1971 heeft zijn sporen nagelaten op Here If You Listen.
 
De nieuwe plaat van David Crosby klinkt, net als zijn voorgangers, ook jazzier dan we van de Amerikaanse muzikant gewend waren, wat ongetwijfeld de verdienste is van Michael League, die ook de avontuurlijke jazzband Snarky Puppy aanvoert. In de meest jazzy momenten klinkt Here If You Listen als een plaat die Steely Dan gemaakt zou kunnen hebben wanneer het twee topzangeressen zou hebben ingehuurd, maar de plaat graaft ook dieper in de folk zoals deze aan het eind van de jaren 60 in de canyons rond Los Angeles werd gemaakt; een plek waar David Crosby ooit met Joni Mitchell het liefdesgeluk zocht.
 
Here If You Listen is een plaat die bijzonder aangenaam klinkt en die de gevoelstemperatuur op een donkere avond onmiddellijk een aantal graden laat stijgen. Het is een plaat die één van de grootheden uit de geschiedenis van de popmuziek heeft gemaakt met een aantal topmuzikanten en dat hoor je. Het is echter ook een plaat die nergens voor de makkelijkste weg kiest. David Crosby en zijn uitstekende medemuzikanten citeren hier en daar uit het rijke oeuvre van de Amerikaan (en een enkele keer letterlijk), maar zoeken ook nadrukkelijk het avontuur, wat van Here If You Listen ook een sprankelende plaat maakt, die je nieuwsgierig maakt naar alles dat gaat komen. David Crosby kwakkelde de laatste decennia wat, maar dit is voltreffer nummer vier in nog geen vijf jaar tijd. Een prestatie van formaat.

Erwin Zijleman


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

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The Sparkling Black. Aura Blaze

Can a band surprise? Oh, yes. Can a band give me a fright? Sure it can. Can a band land on its feet any way? Hell, yes. That is about the process I went through listening to Aura Blaze's new album The Sparkling Black a few times.

My first listening session with The Sparkling Black was plainly disappointing. I was not hearing what I was expecting to hear. Where did that enormous, huge sound go? Where was the psychedelic hardrock I liked so much? What I was hearing could not be further removed from 'Aura Blaze'. What I was hearing instead was sixties pop with a weird little edge here and there.

So it took me a while before I put on The Sparkling Black once again. It was on route to the gym and I remember thinking this is actually quite fun and so I delved into the album some more. Slowly it opened itself to me, showing all the different layers Rhode Rachel put into his new album. The 60s are all over it for sure, but not the most obvious part of the 60s. Yes, there are loads of harmonies, in fact so many fine ones, but don't expect The Beatles or The Beach Boys. What I hear is more in line with a band like The Move, the little weirdness in the details, but with much better songs. Listen to how free flowing 'Good While It Lasted' is. There seem enough ideas in this single song to fill a whole record by a more average band. 'Good While It lasted' is a pop gem with so many details (and a classic 60s fast fade out), it is almost impossible to keep up with all of them.

Listening to the song I am reminded of how my mind works, its expectations, its longing for familiarity and more of the same. Not being complacent nor satisfied with my first impression is what gets me to my second or even third thoughts, to lend a little something from Terry Pratchett, a writer I've spent many a pleasant hour with through the year. The result often is the discovery of fine aspects in songs I did not hear before. And thus The Sparkling Black opened itself to me by the song and by the spin.

With 'Eyes Of The Rising Sun' a little early Pink Floyd enters the album. Again the song has this little extra and totally unexpectedly Aura Blaze's rock guitar erupts for a few bars, escaped and kicked back into the cupboard where it was locked up. The song does not need it, but it was nice while it lasted. The song in general reminds me of The Hague band The Stangs and its mini album 'Parable'. (Where are they now?)

The Sparkling Dark does not let itself be caught in one single hole. The album is diverse and ever stronger. Also less subtle by the song. With 'Manipulation' another and louder song is presented. Still there is this flavour of the 60s but more in a way Electric Light Orchestra was 60s or even the loudest side of The Moody Blues in the 70s was 60s. The guitar is let loose for the first time for real so we do move into 70s rock for sure, just listen to the harmonies at the end. The Sparkling Dark scores another point here with an extremely strong song. Notice I haven't even mentioned the strong voice of Björn Strid here, who adds some extra pepper to 'Manipulation'.

By then I'm totally convinced that The Sparkling Dark is one of the great releases of 2019 so far. This album is so diverse, ever surprising and not just because of how I opened this post, to the contrary. Listening to it presents the listener with so much different sides to hippie music, etched with more modern influences, that there are new details to discover with each spin. This makes The Sparkling Dark an intriguing album as well.

All the songs on this album show that Rhode Rachel is not just a good songwriter, but also a great arranger, singer and producer. And an art lover, as the artwork in itself shows. The Bosch figures in there are too cute in a cover that is simply intriguing. This is an album very much worth while to get acquainted with, deeply. So let me leave you today with giving the advice to start doing so here:

https://aurablaze.bandcamp.com/album/the-sparkling-black-2

and buy the album while you're there anyway.

Wo.


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

The Maureens. Living room show, Haarlem Sunday 24 March 2018

Photo by Wo.

The Maureens can be found on this blog since 2015 and are a regular guest ever since. How can a band with the same name as my mother not catch my attention? The music proved a match. The Maureens is one of those bands that go out in search of perfect popsongs and come out at the other end a winner. The kind of band that ought to be all over the radio, but somehow in the musical world of 2019 is not.

Put into a private setting of a living room, the band encountered the eyes of the audience as intimately as the audience eyes the band. "We can hear you listening", singer Hendrik Jan de Wolff said at a certain point in the show. And deservedly so. In an intimate setting like a private home show there's no hiding for band nor audience. Every detail is discernable putting pressure on the band to perform and on the audience to truly listen. And listen we did. Looking at the faces of the people around me intensely so. The impact was instant and clear to see.

The Maureens were able to provide those little sparks of pure magic to all present. How snapping a finger and tinkling the little iron plates of a foot tambourine can create a rhythm, how wild guitar effects come through even when everything is turned down to one. But, above all, how melodies can affect people, not to speak of the three part harmonies that rolled over us on the other side of the room. As I wrote there is no hiding in a living room. Neither for a good song that can become even greater due to the intimacy. Several did.

Photo by Wo.

Exactly how good The Maureens' songs are, you can read about elsewhere on this blog. The same goes for the performances on stages. The band has added another aspect to its palet for me. This music lends itself perfectly for an intimate setting. I wish them the main stage of Lowlands and other festivals though. In that case I can say that I saw them in my own living room. Not one guest left without the feeling having been part of an experience, being warmed by beautiful music and the emotions that come with it. Thank you again, Hendrik Jan, Martijn, Stefan and Wouter.

The whole show was filmed, so perhaps something will show up on the net somewhere.

Wo.

You can buy The Maureens' music here:

https://themaureens.bandcamp.com/


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

The Afterlife. Noctorum

Having never heard of Noctorum before my guess was to brace myself for a whole lot of heavy metal or worse. What I received instead was perfect pop/rock music, including music floating ever so lightly as if eternal.

The Afterlife is an enormously varied album. Almost as if each song was a loose project without any rules attached up front. Not that the band goes over my acceptance limits, so not that wild, yet so diverse. Nearly each song deserves its own words. As that would take up too much time, yours and mine, I will pick out a few examples, but first let me introduce this band, as it it totally new for me (to?).

Noctorum is a duo, perhaps a project would be a better description. Marty Willson-Piper and producer Dare Mason. Willson-Piper has played in 80s band The Church and collaborated with many other artists. Mason produced The Church among others. They teamed up in 2002 and released four albums to date. After an hiatus of seven years the fourth album, The Afterlife, is released.

On the album Noctorum explores music from West Coast singer-songwriting to progrock invested songs. The common denominator is that all are true pop songs, no matter what happens in the way they are played and arranged. The songs just come and flow ever forward. The kind of popsongs that are a true joy to listen to.

Promo photo: Olivia Willson-Piper

The Afterlife starts after a few seconds of ghostlike psychedelic sounds with slow mariachi rhythms and trumpets (or for 50% more likely synths). TMGS, Calexico territory. The slow pace gives the listener the chance to settle into The Afterlife. Within minutes the sense for details is divulged by Noctorum in the keyboards, the backing vocals, the trumpets. 'The Moon Drips' is a beautiful beginning of the album, but what to make of it, in the light from what follows?

'High Tide Low Tide' starts with a guitar intro and evolves into an indie guitar song. It is closer to a 70s rocker combined with 80s The Smiths than mariachi. You are starting to get the drift. The singing reminds me of Nat Freedberg's on his first solo album, 'Better Late Than Never', also released on 15 February. Both are not natural singers, yet the job gets done extremely effective and befitting the music.

Next up is 'Picadilly Circus In The Rain'. The music is as melancholy as the situation asks for. "Getting tired getting old" is part of the lyrics. In a way Willson-Piper sounds the part when he sings. Everything around him belies the tiredness as things sound light and spritely albeit in an old-fashioned way. That may be the paradox of The Afterlife. There are lots of bright silver linings to the clouds hovering over the whole album.

Some symphonic rock elements enter the album in a song called 'A Resurrected Man' but even more in 'Trick' and 'Head On'. Here the influences from Dutch symphonic bands like Focus and Earth & Fire come forward. Especially in the guitar sound and way of playing. Chris Koerts and Jan Akkerman's style found a place here.

Olivia & Marty by Charly Wulff

And then in 'A Girl With No Love' it really starts to rock. A fiery intro and a huge guitar riff drive the song onwards. The contrast with the opening (and what follows) is huge and more or less sets The Afterlife on fire. In the meantime Noctorum takes care of the option to sing along to 'A Girl With No Love'. Finally 'Head On' presents a flute like it is 1969 all over again. The slightly haunted sound presents a 60s flute sound, 70s keyboard as like 'The Persuaders'' soundtrack and modern sounds, while Olivia Willson-Piper does an approximation of Marianne Faithfull. Together they deliver one of the highlights of The Afterlife.

It is only the final song, 'In A Field Full Of Sheep' I could have done without. The lyrics are a bit like The Mamas & the Papas' 'Creeque Alley', a day in the life of The Afterlife in this case, it is the music, almost like The Afterlife had become bored with it all. It is not exactly inspiring.

On The Afterlife Noctorum explore past and present in a fully satisfying way. Two ageing musicians show inspiration has nothing to do with age. Noctorum delivers a very diverse yet solid album with The Afterlife. Many faces, yet consistent. Even a The Who style riff and organ come by in the intro to the title track after which the song takes its own turn. Just another small aspect of the band and proof how a band can surprise with each turn.

Wo.

You can listen to and buy The Afterlife here:

https://martywillsonpiper.bandcamp.com/album/the-afterlife


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

The Crucible. Motorpsycho

Looking at the cover art, it is clear that Motorpsycho sees a link between its previous album 'The Tower' and its new album The Crucible. The art has some resemblance as latter day Hieronymus Bosch paintings.

'The Tower' held several long, part experimental, part song structured compositions. The Crucible holds three long compositions in the same vein. Melodic, vocal passages alternate with long jams where a theme is explored on guitar, bass or keyboard while the drums pound away in the "background".

My very first impression is Motorpsycho presents itself as a powerhouse on its latest song collection. Another word is simply, wow. The high level of musicianship the Trondheim based band displayed on its previous album is easily maintained here. The combination of song and exploration again is presented so strong that its easy to conclude that the dip I noticed say around 2010 is totally gone.

Motorpsycho is releasing records for nearly 30 years. The band came into my life with 'Let Them Eat Cake', that I did not buy first time around. It was 'Phanerothyme' I bought a year later and came back to 'Let Them Eat Cake' any way. Since then I followed the band for most of the years up to circa 2010, to return with 'Heavy Monsters', albeit reluctantly. 'The Tower' really brought me back, including the fantastic show in Alkmaar last year. Full of enormous power and energy.

That is exactly what The Crucible offers to Motorpsycho fans. The album offers it in abundance. Of course there are no surprises. The trio does what it is good at. Think up a basic melody and hunt it down in the studio until it holds no more surprises; at least until they reincarnate live. There totally new vantage points could be discovered any way.

In a way the metal sounding opening of The Crucible is a surprise. 'Psychotzar' opens extremely loud. A huge guitar riff opens the album, a mellotron softens it just a little, but not a lot. Motorpsycho explores classic rock in its own style. There's no other word for it. 'Psychotzar' is no Deep Purple nor Led Zeppelin. This is what comes out though after this kind of music has gone through the Motorpsycho blender. Loud, fierce, solid, with always a melody around that only Motorpsycho can come up with. There're so many guitars flying about. Hans Magnus Ryan must have taken out his whole collection and stuck them in here one by one. The bass amp almost explodes under all the effects put on it by Bent Saether. After six minutes into the song there's even an interlude. Soft and ever getting louder, until the riffing starts all over again. Solid like a rock formation 'Psychotzar' is.

In 'Lux Aeterna' something surprising happens. The twists in the song sound just like Soup played on its latest studio album, 'Remedies'. Something not too strange as both bands come from the same city in Norway. It provides 'Lux Aeterna' with a little air as this composition has some extreme sides. It starts off ever so softly though. The CSN side to Motorpsycho gets aired here. Just an acoustic guitar and a voice. Slowly the song gets bigger, smaller, while the Mellotron gets a high place, especially in the 'Soup' section. Then the extreme and fast side breaks loose. Drummer Tomas Järmyr can really go full out in this almost jazz rock like interlude. There's devils and hellhounds on the tail of the whole band here. After the narrow escape all crash to the floor panting and puffing in what is one of the highlights of The Crucible. Not just because of the contrast between the two instrumental sequences, no, because it is so powerful, so melodic and extremely strong. The switch back to the acoustic CSN side is almost impossible and can only happen by letting all the noise die out, "to take the pain away", as the band sings. The Soup like sequence ends it all in grand fashion. 'Lux Aeterna' is another highlight in Motorpsycho's career and should be a great addition live. From darkness to eternal light indeed.

The third song is nearly 21 minutes long. 'The Crucible' shoots out of the grooves instantly. Follow it and again you will be surprised by all the twists and turns the band lays into the long composition. The only thing against it and this is extremely relative, is that it holds no surprises. This is a 100% Motorpsycho song, like they ought to be.

Recently I have started listening to the early albums of Dutch symphonic rockers Earth & Fire and Focus. Several parts of the music on The Crucible remind me of what I've heard on albums like 'Focus II' and 'Songs Of The Marching Children' and 'Atlantis'. Motorpsycho is able and willing to be far more extreme in its choices, but also to tap on nearly 50 years of experience in sympho and prog. Knowledge it obviously uses to its great advantage and turn it into a unique beast of its own. Motorpsycho is not the inventor, but the magician's pupil that regularly outshines its master effortlessly. The Crucible is another highlight in Motorpsycho's vast oeuvre.

Wo.

You can buy The Crucible here:

https://www.stickman-records.com/shop/motorpsycho-the-crucible/


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

2000 Motels Live, Patronaat Haarlem, Sunday 13 January 2019

Photo by Wo.

Tribute bands are no longer an exception in the program of venues. They come by in all shapes and seizes. International touring bands, sort of endorsed by the original, bands in which no original member is playing but the name continues on, there is The Analogues of course, bands that are more or less cover bands and everything in between.

My first show in 2019 was with a Frank Zappa tribute band called 2000 Motels. It was years since I played most of my Zappa records. With the exception of 'One Size Fits All' all records by Zappa remain in their allotted, alphabetical, chronological order in respective shapes and sizes. That fact was not keeping me from going.

Zappa live? Yes, in 1980 and 1982 in Ahoy, Rotterdam. I remember the more negative experience strangely enough. The man kept playing guitar solos in 1982. There was just no end and they all sounded the same. Everything he did was an excuse to "take it away" or he was the conductor waving his baton at the band, leading them through all the complex parts.

Not so with 2000 Motels. Here it is the singer who created the band around him. Of course there were some nice solos but the songs of Zappa stood central here and not the compositions or the improvising side of Zappa. Hence it was easy to have a good time. It all started with 'Can't Afford No Shoes'. I certainly can not sing along to all Zappa songs, but this one I know by heart. It grabbed me immediately and brought me into the mood for this show. The blues-rock song from my favourite album, yeah!

Photo by Wo.

All sort of different songs came by from the 60s to the 80s. 'Uncle Remus', 'Sharleena', 'I Don't Wanna Get Drafted', Zappa's greatest hit, #3 in Sweden -Wikipedia tells differently: #1 in Sweden and Norway with Bobby Brown in 1979-, 'Let's Make The Water Turn Black' just to name a few. The intro to Gruppo Sportivo's(!?) 'Superman' came by.

What 2000 Motels managed to show was how diverse Zappa's oeuvre is even without going into the heavy stuff. Even the most simple songs are adorned with all sorts of complexities, rhythmic oddities, etc. For an at heart four piece instrumental band, impossible to copy. No percussionist, no second and third guitarist, no horns, no five different singers.

And that brings me to the weakest part of 2000 Motels, mind this is written with a lot of respect for Wouter Helmink and Olga Meijer, there is no way one band can even loosely emulate the diversity of voices Frank Zappa let loose on the world. Let alone the, well almost, weirdest one of all: his own. Ray White, Ike Willis, Napoleon 'Murphy' Brock, George Duke, Ray Collins and all those others. To their credit the two singers of 2000 Motels are who they are, don't pretend to be someone else and do a great job.

The Zappa groove in the instrumental parts/solos comes across so nicely. Drums and bass get into the groove with obvious pleasure. It is guitarist Jan van der Veen who takes the spotlight most with his recreation of Zappa's solos. Playing them with obvious delight and such a strong sense of timing. I really admired that. Adding it all up, 2000 Motels certainly comes out the right way.

Photo by Wo.

What is also obvious, in 2019 with #MeToo just behind us, most of the lyrics Zappa wrote to provoke the Tipper Gore's of this world, just can't be written any more. There was a time for them and that time was circa 1980. The sniggering I did at the lyrics, as far as I understood them, I'll admit, now turn into a little embarrassment. Let's say I don't mind not having to sing them on stage. At the same time these songs are a time document and let's keep them that way,

If you're a Frank Zappa fan, do not hesitate to go and look at 2000 Motels. The band does great and those small setbacks like not having a Frank Zappa baritone, are easily over won. Yes, I did really and truly enjoy myself. I even took out some of my old LPs this week.

Wo.

You can find information on 2000 Motels here:

https://2000motels.nl/


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

Remembering Marty Balin (1942 - 2018)

Marty Balin died on 27 September of this year but I did not find out until the evening of 4 December. It had not made the news or I missed it for some reason. Paul Kantner made the evening news two years ago and even Signe Anderson made the newspapers although she only sang on the first Jefferson Airplane album. Balin apparently did not make the news.

I loved this man's voice once upon a long time ago and still several of his songs remain intimate favourites. Songs like 'Coming Back To Me', 'Today' and most of all 'Miracles', that seven minutes tour de force on Jefferson Starship's 'Red Octopus' album.

Like almost all other people in the Netherlands of a certain age, Jefferson Airplane came into my life with a double single in 1970. 'White Rabbit'/'Somebody To Love' became a hit three years after the original release of the 'Surrealistic Pillow' album. Both Grace Slick songs where Balin's role was marginal. A friend had a Taiwanese copy of the 'Woodstock' album. On it Jefferson Airplane features with a blistering version of 'Volunteers'. The intro spoken by Grace Slick is iconic "You've seen the heavy groups, now you will see morning maniac music, believe me, yeah. It's a new dawn!". Jefferson Airplane really took off there and then, with Marty Balin as the high priest of the anti-Vietnam and all other wars movement.

That made three songs I liked and yet I sort of forgot about the band, that faded away itself before 1973. It took a boat trip to London, my dad was a merchant mariner and coastal trips meant a chance at sailing along, when the third mate played a record in the harbour in the ship's bar. 'Flight Log', a compilation double album by Jefferson Airplane and solo stuff. Once at home I bought the album that was on sale. (Later the mate visited for my birthday party and gave me 25 guilders. That was turned into 'Exile On Main Street', one of the best investments ever. I never saw him again as far as I'm aware. So Dick of you happen to read this, thanks!)

From 'Flight Log' I quickly started to flash out my Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and all kinds of solo stuff, Hot Tuna collection. Although I certainly like the rock side of the Airplane, there soon was a special place for Marty Balin's ballads. In a few of them he seemed to have touched upon some divine inspiration, a source so deep that all became and becomes well. Everything seemed to fit in the universe for a few minutes. Most of all in 'Miracles'. In essence a slick AOR ballad, but one done in a way never done before and never gotten close to by anyone ever again and there's no use trying. The music flows so naturally, like making perfect love with your one and only true love. The miracle of love, the miracle of life and the miracle of joy. Balin captured this all in one song and the band executes it perfectly. The guest saxophone solo by Irv Cox is as perfect as the rest of the song. The climax to the lyrics. 'When I start dancing inside you". Do I need to write more? "If only you believe in miracles, so would I" and off went the sax into the stratosphere and beyond. In its tone and notes, and Balin's voice, the essence of mankind captured in music.

Marty Balin, who was born Martyn Jerel Buchwald in 1942, left Jefferson Starship in the mid 70s and left my musical world with that. The Airplane reunion in 1989 brought once again a few beautiful songs by Balin, 100% nostalgia like 'Summer Of Love', so befitting for the reunion that in my opinion was an artistic success.

Unfortunately I have never seen the band live. It was touring the U.S. in the summer of '89, like I was touring the U.S. as a tourist for the first time, but always in the wrong place. After that I haven't a clue what Balin did musically, until I read that he had died in September accompanied by a photo of an old man with horribly died hair that I would not have recognised if the name had not accompanied the photo.

It is of no consequence. There are a few songs I will keep playing for the rest of my days on this planet, songs that are a part of the most beautiful things man is capable of creating. Marty Balin did just that.

Wo.

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

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

Future Me Hates Me. The Beths

Eerder deze week beweerde ik nog dat wat je van ver haalt niet altijd lekkerder is, maar wanneer het gaat om even gruizige als zonnige popliedjes die zich al na één keer horen genadeloos opdringen, heb ik het de laatste tijd niet veel beter gehoord dan op het debuut van de uit Auckland afkomstige The Beths, de band rond zangeres Elizabeth Stokes.
 
Future Me Hates Me is een plaat vol zonnestralen, maar het is ook een lekker gruizige plaat, die ook de stekeligere songs niet schuwt.
 
De gitarist van de band strooit driftig met zonnige gitaarlijnen en gooit er af en toe wat vervorming doorheen om je bij de les te houden. Zangeres Elizabeth Stokes heeft een aangename stem die meisjesachtig maar ook rauw klinkt en verrast hier en daar ook nog eens met geweldige koortjes. De ritmesectie geeft het geluid power en een energie boost.
 
The Beths combineert het stekelige van Throwing Muses met het zwoele van The Bangles, het gevoel voor grootse popliedjes van Belly en de verleiding van Juliana Hatfield. Invloeden uit de jaren 90 spelen een belangrijke rol op de plaat, maar The Beths schuiven ook makkelijk op richting zonnige Westcoast pop, richting het beste van powerpop of komen opeens op de proppen met songs met een punky attitude.
 
Qua invloeden en geluid heb ik het allemaal vaker gehoord, maar het zijn de geweldige popliedjes waarmee The Beths zich onderscheiden van alles dat er al is. Het zijn onweerstaanbare popliedjes met geweldige melodieën, aanstekelijke refreinen en jeugdige energie en onbevangenheid.
 
De meeste popliedjes van The Beths zijn redelijk rechttoe rechtaan, maar de leden van de band, die allemaal zijn opgeleid tot jazzmuzikant, kunnen prima uit de voeten op hun instrumenten en kennen bovendien hun klassiekers. De songs van The Beths graven daarom veel dieper dan je bij eerste beluistering zal vermoeden en  worden eigenlijk alleen maar leuker.
 
Future Me Hates Me blijkt bovendien steeds veelzijdiger. The Beths kunnen uit de voeten met rauwe gitaarsongs zoals Sleater-Kinney die maakt, maar maken net zo makkelijk honingzoete popliedjes die opschuiven richting The Sundays of The Cardigans. Future Me Hates Me heeft bovendien het frisse en eigenzinnige dat veel Schotse bands hebben.
 
Het debuut van The Beths is al met al een plaat om heel gelukkig van te worden, maar het is ook een plaat die de fantasie prikkelt en die op ieder moment nieuwsgierig maakt naar hetgeen dat komen gaat. Iedere keer als ik de plaat opzet ben ik nog wat verliefder op het debuut van The Beths en bij iedere beluistering duikt er weer een andere omgevallen platenkast op. Het lijkt allemaal zo eenvoudig wat Elizabeth Stokes en haar medemuzikanten doen, maar ondertussen is Future Me Hates Me een razend knappe en volstrekt onweerstaanbare plaat. Heerlijk.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt Future Me Hates Me hier beluisteren en kopen:

https://thebethsnz.bandcamp.com/album/future-me-hates-me


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