Post Pop Depression. Iggy Pop

It's been years since I listened to a new Iggy Pop record beyond the first listen. Somewhere in the 90s, I suppose, although I can't even recollect the title. 'Brick By Brick'? No, not that obvious one. However, with that album title we have a link to Matt Helders, who sang a song by that title on the Arctic Monkeys album 'Suck It And See'. Helders drums on Iggy's latest effort, Josh Homme is there, as is Dean Fertita on things with strings and keyboards. The only one missing seems Mark Lanegan, but hey, we have Iggy.

Post Pop Depression is an aptly titled album, after the French sung albums. It is also an album that crept on me slowly. At first listen, I was not impressed. It wasn't bad, but not of the level I'd expected reading the names that collaborated. Not unlike that other collaboration of Josh Homme in the late 00s, Vultures something, I never got into that at the time. Another bridge though, as a song is called 'Vultures'. Remaining in style, it's the song I like less.

With Iggy there's always something that makes me give him a second chance. He has the treat him favourably factor for me. And so Post Pop Depression slowly became better and better, bringing me back from my personal Iggy depression.

Let me start with 'Gardenia', a song over which the ghost of David Bowie hovers. I can imagine him singing backing vocals here, in fact I seem to hear him. The song is a perfect Iggy Pop ballad, in which he sings with a deep voice, raking the bottom of his larynx clean.

The sound of this album is somewhat darker, but in some of the songs the atmosphere of 'Lust For Life' is called to mind. The punk part is gone, 'The Passenger' is all over the place. The hint of darkness and danger lurking somewhere. That is what started to trigger me. The guitars crawl through layers of dirt and come out sounding mean, creating an atmosphere in which the voice of Iggy Pop finds it way so easily. 'Sunday' is not a perfect composition. It is fairly simple. It is the mean sounding guitars, the soft backing vox by Helders and some ladies, while Iggy greases it all. Together they make a dirty blood diamond. One that needs a lot of work for many reasons, but shine it will. Make it to the end of 'Sunday' and find out.

A surprise is 'Chocolate Drop'. The song has an 'Another Brick In The Wall' rhythm and chord progression. From there imagination comes in. An exotic sound or two and a hint of Latin in the rhythm. Again the beautiful contrast between Iggy and Helders voice. The link with Arctic Monkeys returns in the intro of the final song 'Paraguay'. The song is far too light to qualify for Alex Turner c.s. but it's close.

The only thing against Post Pop Depression is that the album does not shine. Not like David Bowie made 'Lust For Life' shine and 'Brick By Brick' shone brightly. My guess is that this is a completely conscious decision. This album is meant to be dark and I better get used to it. Iggy Pop is back. Backed by a set of musicians with a great reputation themselves he has every right to be proud, as reception around the world shows.

Wo.

You can listen to 'Gardenia' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m8TmlS20ZA

or buy at Bol.Com

After Bathing At Baxter's. Jefferson Airplane

Since the death of Paul Kantner I have played this album each time I cooked dinner for a few weeks. Played it loud and singing along as I know whole sections by heart in ways that I never seem to do with newer albums. Don't ask me why, but that is the way of things when one gets older in my experience.

No matter how much I like 'Takes Off' and 'Surrealistic Pillow' when asked what is your favourite Jefferson Airplane album, there's only one answer: After Bathing At Baxter's. This album holds it all. (The cover obviously shows one star too less.) No matter how much the summer of love raged through San Francisco during the writing and recording of "Baxter's", this is a totally militant album. Whole parts rage, whole parts are totally experimental (another prove to point that record company execs didn't have a clue what was going on), but above all beauty rages in all corners of this album, although at times it is pretty much obfuscated.

The jump between 'Surrealistic Pillow' and 'Baxter's' is so large. Gone are the romantic love songs of Marty Balin. It is Paul Kantner who takes the helm with his rock songs and Jorma Kaukonen who is without any leash on this album. He is allowed to go all out and solos all over the album, imprinting his signature sound to posterity. 'Somebody To Love' but then wilder, rougher, without compromise.

The three lead vocalists reach great heights together (while Kaukonen leads on 'The Last Wall Of The Castle' as well). The voices of Grace Slick, Marty Balin and Paul Kantner were made for this album. They blend so well. Next to that all four are able to write a decisive song making the album even better. Like a true hippie collective they seem to enjoy giving each other a lead spot before disappearing into the collective again. Be it voice or instrument.

"Baxter's' kicks off with the (all but) 'The Ballad Of You and Me and Pooneil'. The feedback at the very start signals disturbance, wildness and no compromise. The guitars sound rough and the singing goes towards shouting. Whatever the song is about, I do not really have a clue, just that the sky looks green today, so we must be on a trip. LSD probably as it's 1967. There are worries for the future: "Will the moon still hang in the sky, when I die"? And where does that armadillo come from? (On Spotify I found an 11 minutes plus version where the band goes all out in very forceful way. Where all this album stands for comes together.) This song is so powerful and through the feedback morphs into the musical trip called 'A Small Package Of Value Will Come To You'. The total weirdness, a jam of sound and instruments and lines of some sort of poetry. In its weirdness it has beauty and remember people: "No man is an island". Was signed Spencer Dryden and friends.

Marty Balin soars to great heights with his 'Young Girl Sunday Blues'. Together with Paul Kantner he sings this beautiful pop-rock song. In which it is again Jorma Kaukonen's guitar that is all over the place. If I discount the great singing, it is the lead guitarist who captures the song and runs off with it.

'Baxter's' is subdivided into suites. Each has a few individual songs with it. We have moved into 'The War Is Over'. The Kantner ballad 'Martha' is one of the prettiest songs on the album. Kaukonen is still relentless though mixed into the background. It is the harmony vocals that make 'Martha' fly. Grace Slick and Marty Balin curl around Paul Kantner's voice or slide in from the far edges of the mix making the song as wide as possible.

Kantner continues. The war may be over, the times are wild and disconcerting. 'Wild Tyme (H)' is one of the Airplane's best rockers. The way Slick and Kantner attack the lyric is just so great. "They're doing things that haven't got an name yet" and I believe them right away. Still, I can add. Nobody makes music like this any more. By this time it is fair to mention the backbone of this band. Just listen to what Jack Cassidy is doing on his bass. Like Jack Bruce Cassidy can go off into his own stratosphere with some great bass lines that add a whole different flavour to a song. Spencer Dryden lies down intricate drum patterns of an extremely lively nature that forces everyone in the band to keep time on his own. 'Last Wall Of The Castle', Kaukonen's song, is a great example of both. No matter that all the other fortes of Jefferson Airplane come forward here again. it is the backbone of the band that excels in 'Last Wall ...' in a great way.

A very odd one out so far is Grace Slick's first contribution. It is the first of what I call the typical Grace Slick song of the time. Piano driven, mysterious, sort of classical. The lyrics are equally important. "I'd rather have my country die for me". Early Vietnam alright. Cassady plays an important role as do the classical instruments that play lead parts in turns. I can't find anything on who's playing here, beyond Slick playing a recorder, although Dryden is credited with "horn arrangement".

'Watch Her Ride' is another fine Kantner rocker. Where Slick does some fine harmonies, as does Balin more in the background of the mix. What becomes so evident is that Kantner has moved way beyond the folk oriented beginnings of the Airplane. This has made bassist Jack Cassidy and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen come alive totally. Cassidy plays a lead instrument here, firing off one bass run after the other, having nothing to do with the rhythm that is kept up frantically by Spencer Dryden.

'Watch Her Ride' slowly morphs into 'Spare Chaynge'. The long jam by Dryden, Cassidy and Kaukonen. Spacey, jazzy, a way out there sort of blues, but who listens more closely can imagine that certain parts of the jam could have been a foundation for many a Jefferson Airplane song. Listening to 'Spare Chaynge' for the first time in years, I notice how carefully the song is crafted. It takes me through different moods and in the end is the core of what Jefferson Airplane is in the second half of 1967. A harsh rocking band that has left the beauty of the summer of love far behind it. In this universe things have already turned quite nasty. I am also pretty certain that the three man have seen Cream perform.

Grace Slick returns with her second contribution. 'Two Heads' rocks a little more than 'Rejoice', but is related. The dreamy sequences make the song druggy as does the medieval sounding keyboard that is used sparingly. The lyrics are just as druggy and a part of Slick's imagery of the times. The song intrigues as it mixes some eastern elements with typical Airplane rock elements and the LSD age.

The fun all ends with the dreamy 'Won't You Try / Saturday Afternoon'. Another Kantner highlight on 'Baxter's'. It is the vocal that is strong. The instruments in some parts almost fall away, the song disintegrates instrumentally but certainly not vocally. That is one of the best in 'Baxter's'. The instrumental interlude proves my point in 'Spare Chaynge', that I appreciate so much more, I notice, than over 30 years ago. "Keep it going", Kantner says and the three go off together for a short while. 'Won't You Try / Saturday Afternoon' is a beautiful ending to a fantastic album. Jefferson Airplane and whatever followed it have never surpassed it. Not even close.

Wo.

You can listen to 'Won't You Try / Saturday Afternoon' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSDIC1etsFM&index=10&list=PLE802945F128F17E1

For the 11 minutes version of 'The Ballad Of You and Me and Pooneil' go here:

https://open.spotify.com/track/5zh6DHAESqryKxNraBcP4U

or buy on Bol.Com

In The Magic Hour. Aoife O'Donovan

De vier platen die de Amerikaanse (progressive) bluegrass band Crooked Still tussen 2005 en 2010 maakte zijn in Nederland niet heel bekend, maar iedereen die ze kent (en koestert) weet dat ze stuk voor stuk worden gedragen door de prachtige vocalen van Aoife O’Donovan.
 
Deze Aoife O’Donovan debuteerde in de zomer van 2013 met het al even mooie Fossils, dat helaas maar weinig aandacht kreeg. (Lees hier verder over Fossils: http://wonomagazine.blogspot.nl/2013/09/fossils-aoife-odonovan.html)
 
Ook het afgelopen week verschenen In The Magic Hour wordt niet in één adem genoemd met de andere grote releases van het moment, maar behoort wat mij betreft wel degelijk tot de betere platen die tot dusver in 2016 zijn verschenen.
 
In The Magic Hour borduurt voort op zijn mooie maar helaas ondergewaardeerde voorganger, werd wederom geproduceerd door topproducer Tucker Martine en opgenomen in diens studio in Portland, Oregon.
 
Aoife O’Donovan krijgt op haar nieuwe plaat hulp van een aantal sterren uit de progressive bluegrass scene, onder wie Chris Thile, Sara Watkins en Sarah Jarosz, maar net als op Fossils slaat Aoife O’Donovan ook op haar nieuwe plaat weer haar vleugels uit richting andere genres.
 
Ook In The Magic Hour is weer lichtvoetiger dan de op bluegrass georiënteerde muziek van Crooked Still en verrast ook volop met lekker in het gehoor liggende folkpop. Hiernaast eert Aoife O’Donovan op In The Magic Hour haar tijdens het opnemen van de plaat overleden grootvader door op zoek te gaan naar haar Ierse roots en is er ruimte voor experiment.
 
In muzikaal opzicht steekt het allemaal knap in elkaar, de productie van Tucker Martine is zoals altijd trefzeker en Aoife O’Donovan beschikt over een stem waarvoor je alleen maar kunt smelten. Het is een stem die nog steeds doet denken aan die van Alison Krauss, al herken ik inmiddels ook de eigen klankkleur van Aoife O’Donovan.
 
Omdat In The Magic Hour ook nog eens vol staat met even knappe als mooie songs, is In The Magic Hour voor mij inmiddels een plaat om te koesteren. Wie volgt?

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier luisteren naar 'Magic Hour':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3eaxEG03nQ

of kopen op Bol.Com

Hauora. Street Chant

Street Chant is a band from New Zealand that I had never heard of before until an e-mail dropped into my inbox with an invite to listen. So I did and from the first song at the first listen my ears picked up this indie rock in a rare mix of music: a positive slacker song called 'One More Year'. Time to start paying attention and I was not disappointed.

Hauora, from the Mãori word for the four aspects of personal health - spiritual, physical, mental and social, is Street Chant's second album after 'Means' (2010). Six years is a long time for a band not to release an album. Usually an album is called a comeback album after such a period of time, but that somehow does not sound befitting after just one album. In these years the band lost one member. The guitarist/bass duo Emily Edrosa/Billie Rodgers are the constants in the trio. Christopher Varnham is the new drummer. Edrosa sings with a somewhat bored sounding voice, more because of the deep end of her voice she chooses to sing with then of actual boredom it seems. The overdubs in a higher register attest to that. And there's Billie Rodgers on backing vocals of course.

That the band once upon a time toured with The Lemonheads is far from strange. The indie rock songs with a hint at pop are certainly influenced by bands from that era, Buffalo Tom being another reference. Boston in the first half of the 90s. An almost forgotten era in indie rock.

Promo photo

Underneath the songs of Street Chant is a hard hitting drummer. Christopher Varnham has a background in punk music and that shows. Together with Billie Rodgers he lays down a firm rhythm in which Emily Edrosa feels extremely well. The three together create a tight sound from which the vocals, lead overdubs and a thin sounding organ are allowed to escape from every once in a while.

Street Chant may actually be back right in time as in the past two, three years so many indie rock, punky female fronted bands released records, that it encounters a made up bed around the world. On the other hand this makes sticking out a lot harder. The difference is not made in the songs. Most are more than okay, but not outstanding. It is made in the singing -the vocals are direct and in your face- and in the tight playing. A lot of the bands out there in the past few years have what I tend to call The Shangri-Las factor. That dreamy element in the presentation and singing. Not Street Chant. The band has a punk edge that keeps it firmly tight. Even when the band moves into the Warpaint direction in 'Melbourne', the vocals remain a bit sneery.

The introduction to Street Chant is a pleasant one. A lot is going on on Hauora and for those who like their indie rock to have a punky edge, this is just the album to check out.

Wo.

You can listen to 'Sink' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE0NYS_ReYk

or buy at Bol.Com:

Till It's All Forgotten. Farao

Er zijn momenteel nogal wat zangeressen die zich bij voorkeur omgeven met een flinke bak elektronica, waardoor het niet meevalt om aandacht te trekken in dit genre.
 
Till It’s All Forgotten van Farao krijgt tot dusver maar weinig van deze aandacht en dat is jammer. Het alter ego van de Noorse singer-songwriter Kari Jahnsen heeft immers een hele spannende en bijzondere plaat gemaakt.
 
Till It’s All Forgotten werd deels in Londen en deels in Berlijn opgenomen en werd geproduceerd door de ook van de folktronica band Tunng bekende Mike Lindsay. Mike Lindsay zorgde ervoor dat het debuut van Farao prachtig en ook opvallend warm klinkt; Kari Jahnsen doet de rest.
 
Op Till It’s All Forgotten speelt elektronica een belangrijke rol, maar de plaat klinkt ook geregeld zeer organisch. Het is slechts één van de vele tegenstrijdigheden die van het debuut van Farao zo’n bijzondere plaat maken.
 
Kari Jahnsen heeft aan de ene kant een voorliefde voor toegankelijke popliedjes, maar schuwt aan de andere kant ook het experiment niet. De Noorse maakt af en toe warmbloedige popliedjes, maar kan ook klinken als een echte Scandinavische ijsprinses. Till It’s All Forgotten bevat atmosferische klankentapijten waarbij het heerlijk wegdromen is, maar staat ook bol van tegendraadse ritmes en andere klanken die tegen de haren instrijken. Farao maakt muziek die af en toe heerlijk rustgevend is, maar aan de andere kant gebeurt er zoveel op de plaat dat het je meer dan eens duizelt.
 
Till It’s All Forgotten van Farao kost daarom in eerste instantie flink wat energie, maar wat krijg je er uiteindelijk veel voor terug. Na enige gewenning werd ik compleet betoverd door het bijzondere debuut van Farao. Het is een debuut dat je steeds weer blijft verrassen en verbazen, maar het is ook een debuut dat vol staat met memorabele popliedjes waarvan je alleen maar intens kunt houden.

Till It’s All Forgotten van Farao is een ontzettend knappe plaat, die echt veel meer aandacht verdient dan de plaat tot dusver krijgt. Ik schrijf hem op voor mijn jaarlijstje. Ja, echt.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier luisteren naar 'Till It's All Forgotten':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBKFsnNhDi8

Of kopen op Bol.Com