Rick Parfitt, 1948-2016

1974 and even more 1975 I remember as years full of soft soul hits, novelty songs, fakish bands like The Rubettes and other stuff that I just did not like. The top 40 was not really my domain any more. The years before I truly discovered the power of albums, they were simply too expansive, financially beyond my reach for years to come. That discovery started late in 1975 and early 1976. In that wasteland of soul music a song was dropped that opened my ears to another sort rock, something I had not heard before. 'Down Down' and not much later the live version of 'Roll Over Lay Down' was released, both top 10 hits over here. They tuned my ears. Finally something was happening and the four men of Status Quo were responsible.

This was not the first time I had heard the band. In 1968 they scored a psychedelic hitsingle with 'Pictures Of Matchstick Men', the song with that mysterious riff and all the fading in and out of the sound. I remember liking hearing the song being played on the radio. The two minor hits that followed totally passed me by, as did the small hit the band had in 1973 that in hindsight announced what was to follow two years later. For me the switch was enormous from a memory to what was going on seven years later.

'Down Down' was the beginning of a long line of hit singles well into the 1980s, but that did not really have me interested any more. I have no Quo album in my collection, at least that I bought myself, but have several of the singles from 1975 up to 1979. That was enough for me and it's years since I played them. I never became a fan in the true sense. For that the band's music was too one dimensional for me. I moved on, but each time 'Down Down' is on the radio it can trigger the excitement I felt in the spring of 1975.

Apparently the band was still playing in 2016, although for decades Parfitt and Francis Rossi were the only original members, since 1964 when Parfitt joined the other three original members, then called The Specters. That will now have ended with an accident in a house in the south of Spain. Stairs are dangerous things, no matter how handy an invention they are. One of my dad's motto's was: one hand for your self and one for the ship/stairs. Something worth to incorporate.

Although Status Quo is a band from a long, long time ago, the memory of that first rock single will never fade and will be with me for may a year.

Wo.

Kairos by .No. Concertzender, November 2016

The moment is getting closer that Wo. has caught up with .No's Concertzender radioshow Kairos. Each month it is a surprise what .No unleashes on unsuspecting listeners, but perhaps even a bigger surprise what Wo. makes of it all. Associations, little stories, pure horror and the soft touch of emotions. It all comes by when Wo. takes an aural dive into music he often never encounters except on Kairos, a meditation in music.

After the familiar announcement, from the man with the extremely pleasant voice, I hear music from long ago. Elisabeth I may have danced to this or watched her court members do so from her throne if she wasn't inclined to dancing herself. Christopher Wilke plays a baroklute in Roman Turovsky's 'Revenge'. So much for the English court of 1570. Turovsky was born in the Ukraine in 1961. A lute player and writer of lute compositions. So is it the sound of the instrument that brings the early modern age to mind? It seems so. The composition is soothing, but just too long to my taste. If only just a little.

I would not call Larus Sigurdsson a Kairos veteran, but it is clear that .No likes the album as he returns to with through the song 'Helmut Holds Calmness In Chaos'. Helmut as in Schmidt? No, then it would have been called Helmut Holds A Cigarette in Chaos'. We move back to piano as we have done for a few months now on Kairos. Sigurdsson weaves his atmospherics around the softly played keys. Again what happens here impresses me in a pleasant way. There is a calmness and inner strength in this music that shows. No matter how vulnerable the music may seem, it is a tower of strength. Like an ages old oaktree on the top of a hill, withstanding the elements in all seasons, not wavering one bit.

Margriet Ehlen returns to Kairos again also. No organ this time, sorry Jo Louppen, but a composition for flute. It has a high piep-knor irritation factor, that irks me no little. 'Firefly, My Little Sister'? Fly away, little paraquayo, I'd say. It is beyond me to find beauty in this composition. So, let's move on, before I start writing something extremely unpleasant about it Ms. Ehlen, her sister and who knows what other family member. It is almost Christmas after all, so live and let play, I'm zen. As I ought to be with Kairos.

'Like Water Through Sand' is the title of the album from which the next song is lifted. What to expect with a title like this? Water moves through sand quickly, making a lot of mud before it dries up again. The piano notes move slow like big fat drops falling far and wide apart. Leaving wet circles in the sand. Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch plays 'Strelka'. Other instruments move in with the piano slowly, creating a darker mood than the piano does, which plays a 'Tubular Bells' like motive. The rain abides slowly for strings.

Tsjaikovsky is next or better variations on one of his compositions by Anton Stepanovitsj Arensky and those are played by the Atheneum Kamerorkest. Perhaps a bit hard to follow, but that's what it is. And over before I notice. The dark violins are not even in my ears for 90 seconds. What to make of that? Time to move on, but to my surprise I would not have minded to hear some more.

Ben Lukas Boysen returns also. This time with his song 'The Veil' from his album 'Spells'. Again solo piano notes, some light offset by a deeper one. This music is so light it would float away if let outside in the wind. Slowly the composition develops itself, reveals a little more of itself. If you let yourself, you will be carried away. The long held, sustained notes float through my room, my ears, my head and bring me in a trance. This is 100% Kairos music, Mr. Boysen. Each piano note is charged by things in the background, synths?, cellos", I don't know, I think the former or both? And there is this percussion, this coppery sound, cowbell like.

The move to Lubomir Melnyk's piano is abrupt by .No's standards. The piano playing is so much busier. 'Ripples In A Water Scene' it is called. For that it is too busy. Unless it is raindrops falling into the water making many ripples bumping into each other, upsetting the water scene completely. The song has a lightness of being. It floats or flies like girls playing hopscotch. The light touch with which the piano is played adds to my sensation. It is easy to imagine this song being made into a great popsong with a beautifully sung melody. 'Rivers And Streams' is an album to check out. Have I ever written that before in my years as Kairos watcher?

The next theme is about infiltration. The news is full of information warfare, false news, manipulation of news to influence elections. And what do we get on Kairos? "This is an official announcement of the authorities. Please skip this song and move forward to the next one. We can not guarantee that there are no hidden messages in the rendition of 'Vor Deiner Kreuz' by the Moskovite Men Choir 'Orthodox Singers'". As reviewer I proceeded, albeit carefully, and heard dark and higher voices move through a church composition. I missed the cathedral atmospheric quality in this recording. And rest assured, I could not understand a single word of what was being sung. The main message may have been hidden and targeted at my subconscious though. Warn me should you notice strange things on the blog.

Christian Wilke returns with a composition by Turovsky. I'm sure it is another song, but I can already state that they all sound the same to me. So I refer to the last sentence before last above on Wilke. The final one does not count any longer.

Alexander Scriabin? Wasn't he in the October '16 Kairos as well? In that case he returns also. Now with one of those incomprehensible titles like "Amarillo in G sharp and flattop major"or something like it. Håkon Austbo plays the piano here and again I notice how .No is captured by lightly touched pianos lately. Surely darker notes are played as well, but they are no more that a stormcloud in the far distance while overhead the stars shine and the young man dance the girls away in an endless twirl of youth no one wishes to end. The mood does change. Like a father or mother telling youth they have overstepped a line and telling them off. The girls giggle behind their hands and gossip on. Imagining life before it has caught up with them. While the boys boast, puff their chests, smoking a cigarette without being allowed to, behind the bushes.

Orcas' 'Until Then' is up next. Again a piano. Much less serious, although through the song something serious meanders as well. 'Until Then' makes me feel sad, although I can't really tell you why. It speaks to me at a level I do not want to be touched, I guess. A voice, a darker male one, a piano, some guitar and strange noises that is all. Yet it is enough. The title holds something indefinite within it as well of course, it could also mean until when?

Something seems to be taking the song over. Like an invasion from Mars or a swarm of insects, washing over all before it. Is .No at work or is this part of 'Until Then'?

When the noise fades out, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds take over. Another sad song. Empty, an organ and very little else. It's his duet 'Distant Sky' with Else Torp, a Danish singer. Again I'm surprised that such a huge effect can be reached with so little. The song is so slow that it almost hasn't got beats per minute and the instrumentation is beyond minimal. Yet, all is in its right place. Only at the end some instruments are added to great emotional effect.

The Atheneum Kamerorkest has the honour to close this Kairos, although I would have prefered the final notes of 'Distant Sky', a monumental, modern song. Instead we hear a composition by Edward Elgar. Listening to the stately violins I can understand .No's choice better. The mood of this composition underscores what Nick Cave has brought us. Ultimate seriousness and nothing to get happy about. Life is no laughing matter is the theme of November, I venture. Even if we try to make it so, see my take on Scriabin, someone will remind us it is not. The deep, silent notes of Elgar send us on our way, so softly that at first I do not notice this Kairos is over.

Wo.

You can listen to this Kairos here:

http://www.concertzender.nl/programma/kairos_357055/

This is November's playlist:


00:13 Roman Turovsky. Revenge.
Christopher Wilke, barokluit.
Album ‘De Temporum Fine Postludia’. Polyhymnion CD 001.
05:58 Larus Sigurdsson. Helmut holds calmness in chaos.
Album ‘We Are Told That We Shine. Volkoren 65.
09:47 Margriet Ehlen. Firefly, My Little Sister voor fluitsolo.
Helen Hendriks, dwarsfluit.
Album ‘Kus!’.Stichting Limburgse Componisten.
14:50 Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch. Strelka.
Album ‘Like Water Through The Sand’. FactCat Records CD13-20P (130701).
17:27 Anton Stepanovitsj Arensky. Variaties op een thema van Tsjaikovsky (fragment).
Atheneum Kamerorkest; Qui van Woerdekom, dirigent.
Album ‘Atheneum Kamerorkest 3’.Siemens / KRO KK-CD 9308.
18:46 Ben Lukas Boysen. The Veil.
Album ‘Spells’. Erased tapes Records ERATP085CD.
25:13 Lubomyr Melnyk. Ripples In A Water Scene.
Album ‘Rivers and Streams’. Erased Tapes Records ERATP077CD.
31:24 Klaus Heizmann (comp.), Johannes Jourdan (orig. text). Vor Deinem Kreuz.
Moskauer Männerchor ‘Orthodoxe Sänger’.
Album ‚Bässe des Heiligen Russland’. Duo-Phon Records 03283 / TCL.
36:23 Roman Turovsky. Indefinitely.
Christopher Wilke, barokluit.
Album ‘De Temporum Fine Postludia’. Polyhymnion CD 001.
40:08 Alexander Scriabin. Andante uit Sonata No. 2 in G sharp minor op. 19 (Sonata Fantaisie).
Håkon Austbo, piano.
Brilliant Classics 6137-2.
46:59 Orcas (Benoît Pioulard / Rafael Anton Irisarri). Until Then.
Album ‘Orcas’. Morr Music morr 111-cd.
51:06 Nick Cave. Distant Sky.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.
Album: Skeleton Tree. Bad Seed Ltd. BS009CD.
56:23 Edward Elgar. Adagio uit Elegie voor Strijkorkest op. 58.
Atheneum Kamerorkest; Qui van Woerdekom, dirigent.
Album ‘Atheneum Kamerorkest 3’.
Siemens / KRO KK-CD 9308.

II. Thisell

"In de zomer van 2010 besluit de Zweedse singer-songwriter Peter Thisell om met een aantal bevriende muzikanten een plaat op te nemen.
 
De muzikanten strijken, samen met vrienden, kinderen en huisdieren, neer in een leeg schoolgebouw in Lur, in het bosrijke zuiden van Zweden.
 
Het is een prachtige zomer. Zweden is groener dan groen, de dagen zijn zonnig en lang, de avonden loom en broeierig. Het klinkt als een hele mooie vakantie, maar er wordt ook hard gewerkt door Peter Thisell en zijn muzikale vrienden.
 
De songs voor de plaat krijgen stuk voor stuk vorm, worden geperfectioneerd en vervolgens live opgenomen in de tot een studio omgebouwde school. Aan het einde van de zomer van 2010 is er uiteindelijk genoeg materiaal voor een plaat en het is een prachtplaat”.
 
Met deze zinnen begon ik bijna tweeënhalf jaar geleden mijn recensie van I; het in de lente van 2014 dan eindelijk volop verkrijgbare debuut van Thisell. Kort geleden verscheen, bijna uit het niets, de tweede plaat van Thisell en ook II is een prachtige plaat.
 
Ook op de tweede plaat van Thisell grossieren Peter Thisell en zijn medemuzikanten in bijzonder stemmige Americana. Het is muziek die direct opvalt door de bijzondere klankkleuren. Thisell kiest ook op haar tweede plaat voor betrekkelijk ingetogen akoestische muziek, die vervolgens fraai wordt ingekleurd door melancholisch klinkende violen, voorzichtig tegendraadse gitaren, sfeervolle accordeon klanken en andere trefzekere accenten. Het kleurt prachtig bij de eveneens van melancholie overlopende stem van Peter Thisell, die zoveel emotie in zijn stem legt dat kippenvel niet uit kan blijven.
 
Net als het debuut van Thisell doet ook de tweede plaat van de band me af en toe denken aan Neil Young en My Morning Jacket, maar II heeft soms ook het sprookjesachtige van de muziek van Mercury Rev of verruilt de groene Zweedse zomer voor de koude en donkere Scandinavische winter. Tenslotte heeft de muziek van Thisell iets ongrijpbaars door subtiele invloeden uit stokoude folk, de psychedelica of zelfs de progrock.
 
Het debuut van de band vond ik in 2014 sensationeel goed. Dit keer is de verrassing natuurlijk wat minder groot, want II ligt duidelijk in het verlengde van zijn voorganger. Aan de andere kant heeft de muziek van Thisell zeker aan schoonheid en kracht gewonnen, waardoor het een plaat is die kan concurreren met het beste dat dit jaar is verschenen.
 
Het debuut van Thisell kreeg in 2014 veel te weinig aandacht, maar dat moet nu echt anders zijn. Je doet jezelf in elk geval flink tekort als je deze prachtplaat laat liggen.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier luisteren naar 'Will You Have Me?':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3r5A_QhSec

My Piece Of Land. Amanda Shires

Amanda Shires viel een paar jaar geleden op als violiste en zangeres op de platen van haar echtgenoot Jason Isbell, maar maakt ook al meer dan tien jaar soloplaten (en stond bovendien in haar tienerjaren al op het podium bij onder andere The Texas Playboys en Billy Joe Shaver).
 
Met het in 2013 verschenen Down Fell The Doves liet ze horen dat ze, net als manlief Jason Isbell, moet worden gerekend tot de smaakmakers van de Amerikaanse rootsmuziek van het moment.
 
Dat doet ze nog net wat nadrukkelijker met My Piece Of Land, dat in de Verenigde Staten inmiddels warm is onthaald, maar in Nederland vooralsnog slechts in kleine kring is opgemerkt en nog geen officiële release heeft gekregen. Dat moet heel snel gaan veranderen, want My Piece Of Land van Amanda Shires is een prachtplaat.
 
Amanda Shires schreef de meeste songs voor haar nieuwe plaat tijdens haar zwangerschap, wat mogelijk verklaart dat veel songs op de plaat fluisterzacht zijn en veel emotie laten horen. 
Amanda Shires beschikt over een stem die gemaakt is voor de alt-country die ze op My Piece Of Land maakt en die fraai kan ontroeren met een lichte snik. Met deze snik vertelt Amanda Shires mooie verhalen in intieme en persoonlijke songs die zonder uitzondering de aandacht opeisen.
 
Dat is overigens ook deels de verdienste van de fraaie instrumentatie op de plaat, waarin naast het weemoedige vioolspel van Amanda Shires en de gedegen bijdrage van een aantal Nashville veteranen ook het gitaarspel van Jason Isbell is te horen. My Piece Of Land bevat zoals gezegd flink wat ingetogen songs, maar het gitaarspel mag ook een paar keer los gaan en duelleren met de viool van de Texaanse singer-songwriter.
 
Wat voor de instrumentatie geldt, geldt overigens ook voor de prachtige heldere en gloedvolle productie van huisvriend Dave Cobb, die als producer inmiddels een prachtig rijtje rootsplaten op zijn naam heeft staan.
 
Hoe mooi de instrumentatie en productie ook zijn, het meest word ik toch geraakt door de bijzonder aangename stem van Amanda Shires, die constant zorgt voor kippenvel of ontroering.
 
Amanda Shires staat tot dusver wat in de schaduw van haar echtgenoot, die de afgelopen jaren goed is voor jaarlijstjesplaten, maar laat met My Piece Of Land horen dat ze dit kunstje inmiddels zelf ook beheerst.
 
Er zijn dit jaar heel veel goede platen van vrouwelijke singer-songwriters in het rootssegment verschenen, maar de nieuwe plaat van Amanda Shires steekt er wat mij betreft net wat bovenuit. Een prachtplaat, maar dat had ik al gezegd.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier luisteren naar 'Harmless':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkRB6qL3LmI

Can't Touch Us Now. Madness

The nutty boys are back three years after their previous album 'Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da'. The sound is instantly recognisable, but don't expect the music that graced Madness' first two records, 'One Step Beyond' and 'Absolutely'. The tempo is down to a pace that suits men approaching their sixties. No matter how shocking that sounds. It's what it is.

The cover is very much London as suits a band coming from Camden Town of the 70s. What is amazing that in 2016 the band is back to its formation at the time of its breakthrough in 1979, with the exception of Chas Smash, who has disappeared from the line up somewhere after the previous record. One of the two original producers, Clive Langer, is even on board. Older, musically wiser and in a form that is certainly acceptable.

It's the Madness of the years that the band still scored, major, hits in the U.K., but sort of had disappeared from consciousness in NL. 'House Of Fun', 'Cardiac Arrest', that sort of songs and even then we have to drop the sort of sharp corners that these songs held. So I would certainly not call the music found on Can't Touch Us Now ska or 2 Tone. Madness in 2016 excels in piano driven pop songs with hints at funky stuff in the rhythm guitar.

What is striking that in the lyrics Madness shows the sort of observing skills Ray Davies had in the 60s. Just listen to a song like 'Mr. Apples'. The Rotary Club is aligned to capitol punishment and modern day stress. It's the kind of lyric that adds to the quality of the album. Musically the rhythm is interesting and the lead guitar, organ and sax add very much to the pleasure. Another example is 'Another Version Of Me', where life has changed despite having all the things that seem to have remained the same. The lyric is extremely elementary though 100% recognisable.

On the other hand I have to admit that I have to be in the mood for Can't Touch Us Now. At the wrong moment I truly think that the album is converging on the boring. Too much of the same thing. It gives me a hard time to convince myself why it is a good thing that Madness is still releasing records. At the other moments like right now I'm having a great time. With just Madness in my ears and nothing much disturbing my mood, things are quite alright. The soft ska of 'I Believe'  and the ska mixed with a surf lead guitar in 'Grand Slam' make me wave in my chair while trying to tye, you see what I mean, in the meantime. The number of typos becomes shocking I can tell you.

With the shift of musical focus Madness becomes a more "normal" band, with a more general pop focus. There are even 60s "la la las" to be found. When 'Mumbo Jumbo' starts with its somewhat more up tempo ska rhythm it comes almost as a surprise. The song is fun, but not for nostalgic Madness reasons. Simply because it is fun in 2016. The hooky rhythm, the strong accents in the playing of the instruments, the cut off way of singing. It fits, rough lead guitar, organ and all. The 'Ghost Town' mood of 'Herbert' brings back fond memories. So there's a little 2 Tone after all.

In short, despite having second thoughts at some point, I'm glad Can't Touch Us Now is here. The album is not as good as 'The Liberty Of Folton Newgate', that totally took me by surprise, but certainly as good as 'Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da'. Fulfilling is the right word here.

Wo.

You can listen to 'Mr. Apples' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NKNGKNBYs0&list=PLiF0kTVfCbi9JkTPxPCclYb9mDXp44j9r