Hitchhiker. Neil Young

Neil Young never seems to stop amazing me and perhaps the world in general. When I started buying Young's records in the second half of the 70s I noticed that songs could have been recorded a few years before the release. I always wondered why that was. A little of that mystery is explained with the release of Hitchhiker.

The story is that Neil Young wanted to record demos of some new songs and so it happenrf that he went into his home studio with producer David Briggs and recorded 10 songs on the evening of 11 August 1976. The artist was so pleased with the result that he wanted to release the tracks as were. His label, Reprise Records at the time (and still), did not think it such a good idea. Demos are demos and not to be released. Hence the songs were shelved, only to be released in, mostly, new versions on albums like 'American Stars 'n' Bars' (1977), 'Comes A Time' (1978), 'Rust Never Sleeps' (1979) and 'Hawks And Doves' (1980).

Thinking that Neil Young had toured as a solo artist with just his acoustic guitar, it is amazing to read that his record company did not trust him to release this set of strong songs. He had already proven his strength as a solo performer, as the rest of the world knows now from released live albums in the past years. Hitchhiker should have been an album in 1976 or 1977. So what was keeping them from releasing this body of work? Probably because they expected it could be bettered and some were.

A release would have probably meant that the world would not have known the versions that came out of new sessions with other musicians. The extremely powerful 'Powderfinger' might have been lost or the countryfied 'The Old Countrywaltz', to name two.

Hitchhiker shows me how a typical Neil Young demoing session went. Neil sits down, picks up his guitar (and harmonica) and just starts playing some new songs. Not just any bit of songs, but songs that have found their place in Neil Young's catalogue. Hitchhiker shows how good the man was in 1976.

There is another side. None of these songs have become Neil Young classics, he still calls back on when playing shows. In other words, that may have been what the record company executives were missing on Hitchhiker, a "hit" in the Neil Young sense of the word. If so, in that they were right. There is no killer song in this collection. There's one exception. 'Powderfinger' became one, but, as far as I'm concerned, only in its new incarnation.

Hitchhiker is released in 2017 as a piece of nostalgia, as so many other albums were in the past years. Aimed at people my age, wanting something new from the past. That doesn't mean the album shouldn't have been released. The album shows Neil Young in a great form, relaxed in his own home, recording his t(h)en new songs. For Neil Young fans Hitchhiker is certainly recommended listening. For all others, I'm not so sure.

Wo.

You can listen to 'Hitchhiker' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ckHW3MFjk

Carry Fire. Robert Plant

Beware, dear reader, in the coming days we are emerging in old stuff. Musicians come by who started their respective careers in the 60s and are still around. Some with old, but newly released work, others with brand new songs. There's one constant: the quality is extremely high.

The quality of Carry Fire is everything what I have come to expect from Robert Plant and the musicians he works with, The Sensational Space Shifters. There are absolutely no complaints here. In fact, in my opinion Carry Fire is exactly what Led Zeppelin might have sounded like, now all the musicians of the band still alive are in or are approaching their 70s. All the elements, bar the classic (blues)rock are there. Folk, eastern and Moroccan influences and traces of the rock the classic rock band infused in its music. The blues is gone but Plant introduces some 60s pop into the whole.

Fact is that Carry Fire sounds so full of ambition. The artistic fire is burning brightly, even after nearly 50 year in the music business. In my review from 2014 (read here: https://wonomagazine.blogspot.nl/2014/10/lulleby-and-ceaseless-roar-robert-plant.html?m=0) I wrote that I guessed that Plant didn't want a reunion tour with his old band, just because of that. It would waiste time for the things he really wanted to do: create new music, where Jimmy Page is in a reminiscing mood for the past three decades.

The only complaint one can have of Carry Fire is its lack of originality. And then the music on Carry Fire kicks in. Robert Plant's voice is over-familiar. It may be more that fact, than the music on the album. Despite the fact that there are several familiar sounding tunes and sounds, the production is modern and even takes a jazzy, triphop, folk turn in a song like 'Keep It Hid'. There's no holding back on trying to be influential, even after all these years, here. And that is something that goes for more songs on the album. Robert Plant is still grooving with the best of them. Just listen to what happens to the late 1968 The Beach Boys hit 'Bluebirds Over The Mountain'. And don't I recognize Chrissie Hinde's voice there in the duet? Besides the vocal melody there is nothing helping me towards the original song. So much is going on at the same time. Classic rock (drumming), modern sounds, an Irish fiddle, folk, eastern sounds. A hodgepodge making up for a great cover.

The opening song has a title that points directly to things past. 'The May Queen' features in 'Stairway To Heaven' of course. The acoustic guitars reference many a folk song played by Led Zeppelin. Without a doubt Robert Plant is catering his fans of old here. Without ever touching on the hardest rock and blues side of the band, Plant is graciously dealing with his heritage. That is the only thing that could be seen as negative about Carry Fire, it leans on things past. The music no longer holds any form of danger. The quality of the music on the album outweighs any inhibitions as mentioned just now. If one could dream of a new Led Zeppelin album Carry Fire would come close. Without any forced ways of trying to find new riffs that may just no longer be there in their forté.

Robert Plant again comes up with a beautiful album that not only does right to his past, but makes him as relevant an artist as one can be at 69. His voice still contains that characteristic lightness that made it him stand out in the past. The pace of the songs befit his age and all, without a single exception, hold a level of quality that makes the singer shine. I already liked the previous album, 'Lullaby And ...  The Ceaseless Roar'(2014), I may come to like Carry Fire even better. I can't find a single fault.

Wo.

You can listen to 'The May Queen' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OPKSZyRPFQ

Collection. Soccer Mommy

Soccer Mommy is het alter ego van de uit Nashville afkomstige, maar tegenwoordig in New York wonende en studerende singer-songwriter Sophie Allison.
 
Deze Sophie Allison maakte haar thuis opgenomen muziek al een tijdje beschikbaar via bandcamp, maar nu is dan ook haar eerste echte album verschenen.
 
Collection bevat acht songs, gekozen uit haar eerdere werk, en duurt nog geen half uur. Dat is kort, maar het is ruim voldoende om het talent van Sophie Allison te onderkennen.
 
Collection van Soccer Mommy bevat zoals gezegd acht songs en het zijn acht zwoele en vrij ingetogen popliedjes. Sophie Allison speelt zeer verdienstelijk gitaar en heeft een stem die makkelijk verleidt. Een degelijke ritmesectie en subtiele bijdragen van toetsen maken het geluid van Soccer Mommy op Collection compleet.
 
Collection werd bij Sophie Allison thuis in elkaar geknutseld en dat hoor je. Het debuut van Soccer Mommy heeft het charmante en rammelende van veel platen die in het hokje lo-fi worden geduwd, maar in tegenstelling tot veel songs in dit genre, zijn die van Soccer Mommy allemaal voorzien van een kop en een staart.
 
Het doet meer dan eens denken aan de muziek van soortgenoten als Jay Som, Japanese Breakfast, Amy O, Palehound, de eerste platen van Waxahatchee en uit een iets verder verleden Julie Doiron, maar de muziek van Soccer Mommy heeft ook raakvlakken met 90s bands als Throwing Muses en Belly.
 
Collection werd opgenomen in de slaapkamer van Sophie Allison en klinkt zo loom als je verwacht van een op een slaapkamer opgenomen plaat. Het klinkt in muzikaal opzicht allemaal betrekkelijk eenvoudig, maar met name in het gitaarwerk hoor ik veel mooie dingen. De ingetogen gitaarloopjes van Sophie Allison klinken ruimtelijk en intiem en geven Collection een bijzondere sfeer, die af en toe ook wel wat doet denken aan de vroege platen van Elliott Smith.
 
De grote kracht van Sophie Allison schuilt echter in haar songs. De songs op Collection vallen op door mooie melodieën, die af en toe tegen de haren instrijken, maar toch vooral verleiden. Het zijn songs waarop je onmiddellijk verliefd kunt worden, maar vervolgens blijken de songs van Soccer Mommy ook nog eens groeibriljanten die lang winnen aan kracht en schoonheid. Ook in tekstueel opzicht maakt de jonge Amerikaanse overigens indruk met vlijmscherpe observaties. 

Sophie Allison is pas net 20 en komt op de proppen met een serie songs die ze in haar tienerjaren schreef. Het zijn songs die doen uitzien naar alles dat nog komen gaat, want dat Sophie Allison zeer getalenteerd is staat na het beluisteren van Collection niet meer ter discussie. Alle reden dus om Soccer Mommy in de gaten te houden, maar ook het kleine half uur van Collection levert al meerdere songs op die je na één keer horen wilt koesteren.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier naar Collection luisteren en het album kopen:

https://sopharela.bandcamp.com/album/collection

Dreameater. Garciaphone

With Dreameater Tiny Room Records releases its last album of 2017. Garciaphone is Olivier Perez, a Frenchman from Spanish descend living in Clermont-Ferrand, a town surrounded by former vulcanos where, I've been told, it can get very cold at night. Even in summer.

On Dreameater Perez keeps his music small. I am reminded often of another band I was introduced to by this label in 2017, Moon Moon Moon. Songs of such a delicate nature they may break from listening too hard to them. There is a main difference: Garciaphone has a clean sound the whole way through. Each instrument has its place and comes forward when its time and place is offered by the song.

It is exactly this what I like so much about the first bunch of songs on Dreameater. From a basic melody small little lead lines escape from the mould casting a bright light on the shadows surrounding it. Whether a guitar or some form of keyboard, the effect is always the same. A gleam of happiness where none is expected or even supposed to be.

Olivier Perez sings with the same subdued diction as Elliot Smith was so good at. His voice sort of slides over the music instead of leading or standing in front of it. Both leave these elements to the instruments in their respective best songs. This aspect provides Dreameater with an extremely familiar outlook and with aspects of extreme, though melancholy beauty.

What is surprising in a way is Garciaphone reaching a manner of completeness in its music with such minimal effects. Despite the fact different instruments are involved there is a spaciousness in its music that leaves all the room I need to hide myself in the music. To become part of it. Hence I come to a second Dutch reference: Maggie Brown, the Amsterdam based band who finds all the right ways to infuse its pop with a longing reaching far beyond what I find in most acts. Just compare 'Our Time To Spare' with a song like 'Another Place'. You will find some pleasant similarities in both bands' approach.

Dreameater is an album obliging people to listen. Those who do will find music of a very elementary nature with the sparsest of embellishments, none the less instantly pleasing. Without your undevoted attention nothing will come from your attempts. Spend the time Garciaphone describes and you will be aurally satisfied instantly. From sad dreampop to minimal folk and subdued pop, there's something here for all of you.

Wo.

You can listen to and buy Dreameater here:

https://tinyroomrecords.bandcamp.com/album/dreameater

Heiress. Novo Amor & Ed Tullett

This spring I reviewed an EP by Novo Amor on this blog, 'Bathing Beach'. A bit edgy because of the high voice of Ali John Meredith-Lacey, but the EP as a whole was a pleasurable experience to listen to (read on here: http://wonomagazine.blogspot.nl/2017/05/bathing-beach-ep-novo-amor.html).

Just over five months down the year there is a full album by Novo Amor with Ed Tullett. Tullett is a singer-songwriter from Oxford in the U.K. who has released two albums so far. Novo Amor and Tullett have cooperated before and now release their first full length record. Having only heard four songs by Novo Amor and none by Tullett it is hard for me to conclude whether the two are more than the parts of their sum. What I do know is that Heiress is an album worthwhile listening to.

Hearing the high voice of Meredith-Lacey dominating the first songs it comes as a surprise to hear 'Cavalry' explode in a Dotan kind of way. Lots of percussion are infused into the empty, vocal song. The silent parts of the song works with atmosphere. Lots of it. The songs are not so much non-songs as songs where the duo doesn't let anything into a song that it doesn't need. Hence the huge effect 'Cavalry' makes on me.

An acoustic guitar is the foundation of Heiress. From there sound effects come in, like the eerie guitar sounds in 'Amateur Blood'. Or a strong drums that do not so much produce a tight rhythm as a combination of fills and accents. The guitar effect, probably the combination of a volume pedal and a delay and/or an e-bow, in combination with Meredith-Lacey's high voice gives most of the songs a desolate atmosphere. Vocally the likes of Bon Iver, City and Colour or Ásgeir come to mind. The combination with the music works really well here. Far better than 'Bathing Beaches' Heiress is. The album contains so much more depth. Tullett's voice is far darker, so the effect is immediate when he joins in, like in 'Pteryla'.

I find that listening to Heiress with the headset on is an experience. The music really grabs me. It is easy to succumb to this music. The world of Novo Amor and Ed Tullett is created around me. Making me a private bubble to peruse in for a short while. Closing my eyes allows me to fully undergo this world of soft voiced singing, intricate playing and strong effects. Multi-layered and forceful in all its timidity Heiress is. A true gem of a record.

Wo.

You can listen to 'Cavalry' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GDUyOYiTw8