Por Murillo Moret

Pouco mais de um ano após o lançamento do Red Album, os californianos do Weezer lançaram um novo cd: Raditude. Não houve lançamento mundial. O cd foi às lojas, primeiramente, na Austrália, no dia 30 de outubro de 2009. Dias 2 e 3 começaram as vendas no Reino Unido e Estados Unidos, respectivamente.

O álbum foi um baque para os críticos e apreciadores do rock alternativo. Os tempos áureos do Blue Album e do Make Believe parecem que não voltarão. O Weezer tentou usar muitos artifícios eletrônicos em Raditude, o que empobreceu a sonoridade, e, praticamente não usaram da criatividade. Mesmo assim, quem sabe fazer música, sabe fazer música. Esse é o caso de Rivers Cuomo. O vocalista, mais uma vez, dá uma sobrevida a todas as músicas do álbum. Apesar de não ter letras tão bem trabalhadas, o Weezer ainda se diverte compondo e tocando.

Logo na primeira semana, Raditude chegou ao topo da lista da Billboard de cds de rock e de alternativos.

(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To foi divulgada no dia 18 de agosto. Primeiro single do álbum, remete a um rock mais antigo. A introdução da música é bem parecida com a de A Town Called Malice, do The Jam. I Want You To é aquela canção que você aprecia devido ao seu ritmo dançante. 2º lugar nas paradas da Billboard de músicas alternativas, perdendo apenas para Uprising, do Muse.

I’m Your Daddy e Can’t Stop Partying entram na lista de músicas: “por que raios eles fizeram isso?” I’m Your Daddy será o segundo single de Raditude e é simplesmente péssima. A Can’t Stop Partying foge do rock e entra no hip-hop/pop, com vocais do rapper Lil’ Wayne.

Das 10 faixas do cd, são poucas as que você consegue lembrar do velho Weezer. Tripping in the Freeway e The Girl Got Hot são algumas dessas. Mesmo que tenham refrões que grudam, estão numa escala de regular para bom. A Put Me Back Together poderia ser inclusa, porém, o final da música é bizonho. O fade out é simplesmente horrível e parece com muitas bandas de pop-rock que se vangloriam por acharem que fazem música.

As duas últimas faixas são as melhores. In The Mall, escrita pelo baterista/guitarrista Patrick Wilson é a música que mais convence em Raditude. I Don’t Want To Let You Go, mesmo sendo lenta e com samplers, pode fazer sucesso.

O álbum também foi lançado na versão Deluxe. São quatro músicas a mais: Get Me Some, Run Over by a Truck, The Prettiest Girl in The Whole Wide World e The Underdogs.

Por que vale a pena ter o Deluxe? Porque são essas melhores músicas do cd, principalmente Get Me Some, devido as guitarras pesadas e a mistura com elementos folk, e Run Over By a Truck, em função do piano.

Impressão do primeiro single: 7.0

Letras: 4.5

Sonoridade: 7.0

Criatividade: 4.0

Impressão final: 6.0

Ficha técnica: Raditude. 33′ (normal)/53′29” (Deluxe). Faixas: (If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To, I’m Your Daddy, The Girl Got Hot, Can’t Stop Partying, Put Me Back Together, Trippin’ Down the Freeway, Love Is the Answer, Let It All Hang Out, In the Mall, I Don’t Want to Let You Go. Inclusas na versão Deluxe: Get Me Some, Run Over by a Truck, The Prettiest Girl in the Whole Wide World, The Underdogs.

Para baixar, clique aqui.

A few weeks ago, a friend and I were sat at his house before heading out to the pub to watch the football. After a few beers and listening to some music our attention turned to Spotify, and more importantly the Top Hits section. For those of you who don’t have Spotify; a) you have lost the game and b) it’s the top 5 most played tracks by a particular artist.

As you can see, this is the top 5 most popular tracks by The Prodigy on Spotify. No real suprises there although I would have thought something from the new album would have made an appearance. But anyway, on to the game!

Basically choose an artist on Spotify, any artist at all but one that you know of. Before you click their name try and name all the tracks you think will be in their top 5 most played. Whoever gets most of them correct is the winner! Easy, eh?

Once you have established how many you’ve got, you have to choose your next musician from the Similar Artists section. And keep repeating this until you run out of music.

It’s a lot harder than it looks too, your brain often goes blank and can’t think of a song title or just forget the song all together. When my friend and I were thinking of the top 5 for The Jam we both forgot A Town Called Malice which is their #1 most popular.

Go ahead and try it, something to pass the time before the pub and a real way to test your music knowledge!

Remembrance Sunday and the eleventh of November are days that evoke conflicting emotions in me. I’m pretty much an absolute pacifist, so you’d expect me to disapprove of them, but at the same time the *reason* I’m a pacifist is because I don’t like seeing people go and get killed (or kill others), and I have nothing but respect for those who fought (and often died) for causes they thought were right, even when (as has so often been the case) they’re led by psychopaths. Those people DESERVE remembrance, and respect. They went through things that none of us who haven’t been in a war can possibly imagine, and many of them behaved with far more decency than their commanders (I’ve read studies that show that in war, even when afraid for their own lives, 85% of soldiers unconsciously shoot to miss, because even in that position they can’t bring themselves to kill – something borne out by stories of people like Harry Patch, the last British soldier from WWI who died earlier this year, who had made a pact with his friends never to shoot to kill, but to aim for the enemies’ legs.)

I also don’t wear poppies, partly because I don’t wear anything like that – no breast cancer awareness badges or make poverty history wristbands, but also because the poppy as a symbol has become incredibly politicised in Britain recently, and it’s increasingly become a symbol of support for a particular right-wing form of patriotism. That said, I do think it’s hugely important to remember the sacrifices people went through for causes both noble and otherwise, so I’ve put together this spotify playlist. A lot of these songs are angry songs, because people should not have to travel thousands of miles to kill or be killed unless there’s a good reason, and often there isn’t. I find it very hard to remember those who died, or those who were maimed for life, without also remembering those who put them in that position. Never again should mean that…

One song I wanted to include was Armistice Day by Paul Simon, which he titled that for reasons much like those in this Vonnegut quote:

I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.
Armistice Day has become Veterans’ Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans’ Day is not.
So I will throw Veterans’ Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don’t want to throw away any sacred things.
What else is sacred? Oh, Romeo and Juliet, for instance.
And all music is.

However, Armistice Day appears to be one of the few Paul Simon songs *not* on Spotify. So it goes.

The songs I have included are:
Veterans Day Poppy by Captain Beefheart (mislabelled as Apes-Ma – all the songs on this album are mislabelled). Sometimes Beefheart’s lyrics are difficult to understand, so here’s a transcription:

I cry but I can’t buy
Your Veteran’s Day poppy
It don’t get me high
It can only make me cry
It can never grow another
Son like the one who warmed me my days
After rain and warmed my breath
My life’s blood
Screamin’ empty she cries
It don’t get me high
It can only make me cry
Your Veteran’s Day poppy

Butcher’s Tale (Western Front 1914) by The Zombies is written and sung by Chris White, and his more fragile voice suits this deeply disturbing song much better than Blunstone’s would have.

Any King’s Shilling by Elvis Costello is a reminder of some of the more recent conflicts. “Stay at home tonight, if you know what’s good for you/I can’t say more, it would be telling/But if you don’t, what will become of you/Just isn’t worth any King’s shilling”.

Shipbuilding by Robert Wyatt is another Costello song (co-written), and possibly the saddest song ever written, about the hope a war brings to an economically depressed town – “It’s just a rumour that’s been spread around town/A telegram or a picture postcard/within weeks they’ll be re-opening the shipyard/And notifying the next of kin once again”.

Some Mother’s Son by The Kinks is from Arthur, the last of their incredible run of straight masterpieces in the mid sixties. “Some mother’s son lies in a field/Someone has killed some mother’s son today” I’d have liked to pair this with the other WWI song from the same album, Yes Sir No Sir (“Give the scum a gun and make the buggers fight/just be sure to have deserters die on sight/If he dies we’ll send a medal to his wife”) but that’s not on Spotify.

Song For The Dead by Randy Newman does a pretty good job of this though – a song from the point of view of a soldier in Vietnam burying his dead comrades and saying ‘a few words on behalf of the leadership’. At once utterly vicious and cynical about the motives of the leaders who start wars, but still recognising the real horror their decisions cause to those who have to carry them out.

Rich Man’s War by Steve Earle continues along these lines – “Somebody somewhere had another plan/Now he’s got a rifle in his hand/He’s wandering Baghdad wondering how it got this far/He’s just another poor boy off to fight a rich man’s war”.

Little Boy Soldiers by The Jam – “These days I find that I can’t be bothered/To argue with them, well what’s the point?/Better to take your shots and drop down dead/then they send you home in a pine overcoat/With a letter to your mum/Saying find enclosed one son/one medal and a note/to say he won.”

Where Have All The Flowers Gone? by Pete Seeger is often thought of as a rather twee song. It really isn’t.

And to finish, we have The Last Post.

cool:

^ I am really in love with this song at the moment, especially the trumpet solo in the middle.

The latest entry in Powerline A.D.’s Sounds From Across The Pond series features the London-based quartet Common Purpose. They first came to my attention through the BBC Introducing section of the BBC London Web site.

Common Purpose’s sound evokes some of the UK’s finest bands, such as The Jam and The Rifles. The members of Common Purpose are (pictured above, left to right) Harry Watts (drums), Elliot Beasley (lead guitar and vocals), James Evans (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), and Cary Smith (bass). James, Harry, and Cary participated in the Q&A, which you can read here.

For additional information on Common Purpose, go to:
http://www.myspace.com/commonpurpose

El otro día, leyendo una entrada en replicante me vino a la memoria esta tienda. Esta imagen, extraída de la web de Diario de Sevilla, pertence a un establecimiento “histórico” en pleno centro de Sevilla. Se llama simplemente “Higiene”, y en la pared luce orgullosa una placa con la licencia de venta desde 1932! para vender preservativos en sus 8 metros cuadrados de establecimiento. Aquí podéis conocer más detalles de este comercio singular.

DIARIO DE SEVILLA

20MINUTOS SEVILLA

y la inevitable “coplilla” para animar la lectura.

The Jam – Mr. Clean

Do you miss The Jam? Do you pine for a band that blends English soul, workingman punk and a dash of pub laced power pop? A streetwise sense of purpose reminiscent of The Clash, but not at the expense of the melody? Then you should check out The Lieutenants.

Guitarist and lead singer Adrian Symcox penned the six tracks on their eponymous EP, and if his vocal on the leadoff track “Burning the Backwoods” doesn’t make you think of Paul Weller, I guarantee you the fluid basslines of Tom Branch will evoke fond memories of Bruce Foxton. Branch is all over the neck like a snake, and his dominant pulse is the backbone of the band’s thick urban sound. You might be thinking U.K. like I did, but the band is based in Los Angeles. Looks like a personnel change has taken place; Jason LaRocca and Joey LaRocca of The Briggs played on the EP but Phil Robles (guitar) and Jordan Bryant (drums) are listed as band members on the website.

As one might surmise from song titles like “Down At The Revolution” and “The Church of Lesser Saints”, the songs rip against commercialism, apathy and the mind-numbing after-effects of trying to fit in where you don’t belong. The lyrical power is supported by the tension in the music, a quality that is consistent no matter what the pace of the song. But the musical highlight is undoubtedly the closer, “Keep On Moving”, a mash-up between anthemic BritPunk and the propulsion of a Stax or Motown track (the underlying rhythm is a direct descendant of “I Can’t Turn You Loose”).

I’m not saying this is a brilliant release, but there’s a lot to like here. Having heard an earlier version of some of the tracks, I think the band is moving in a good direction. I’m anxious to hear their full statement, but for now this very reasonably priced EP is available at their website and vendors like CD Baby.

The Lieutenants website

The Lieutenants on MySpace

Promo video of “Cemetery Life”

We’ve been playing “To Be Someone” and “That’s Entertainment” for quite sometime now during gigs using an acoustic guitar. When the opportunity for a tribute night presented itself, it was time once again to brush off the dust my electric guitar is collecting.

But first, little backgrounder.

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The Jam (from left to right: Paul Weller, Rick Buckler, and Bruce Foxton)

The Jam were an English rock band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. While they shared the “angry young men” outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore neatly tailored suits rather than ripped clothes and incorporated a number of mainstream 1960s rock influences rather than rejecting them, placing The Jam at the forefront of the mod revival movement.

They had eighteen consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their breakup in 1982, including four number one hits. As of 2007, “That’s Entertainment” and “Just Who Is the 5 O’Clock Hero?” remained the best-selling import singles of all time in the UK. They released one live album and six studio albums, the last of which, The Gift, hit number one on the UK album charts. When the group split up, their first 15 singles were re-released and all placed within the top 100.

The band drew upon a variety of stylistic influences over the course of their career, including 1960s beat music, soul, rhythm and blues and psychedelic rock, as well as 1970s punk rock, pop punk and new wave. The trio was known for its melodic pop songs, its distinctly English flavour and its mod image. The band launched the career of Paul Weller, who went on to form The Style Council and later had a successful solo career. Weller wrote and sang most of The Jam’s original compositions, and he played lead guitar, using a Rickenbacker. Bruce Foxton provided backing vocals and prominent basslines, which were the foundation of many of the band’s songs, including the hits “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight“, “The Eton Rifles“, “Going Underground” and “Town Called Malice“. (source: Wikipedia)

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The POP Shoppe! made this event possible one Thursday night on the 18th of June inviting acts like The Bernadettes, The Gentle Isolation, Patience Dear Juggernaut and Kate Torralba. You can read more about it Here and enjoy the videos below.

To Be Someone – the very first Jam song we rehearsed and performed during the early days of The Camerawalls. I can clearly relate to the lyrics that goes: “To be someone must be a wonderful thing… And the bread I spend – it’s like my fame – it’s quickly diminished… But didn’t we have a nice time.”

That’s Entertainment – a staple song in our set. Never fails to give us the kick we need.

The Butterfly Collector – reminds me of our song “Lord Of The Flies” with the words “there’s tarts and whores but you’re much more / you’re a different kind cause you want their mind / and you just don’t care cause you’ve got no pride / it’s just the face on your pillow case  that thrills you.”

Town Called Malice – we didn’t expect to pull this out live.  It was rather difficult but a whole lotta fun! A crowd favorite.

The Jam will always be a great inspiration to the three of us lyric-wise and sound-wise. Bursting with energy and insightful writings from a sagacious old bloke — Paul Weller.

Tribute nights in Manila abounds and even became a fad for a time being by mini production outfits in choice venues. The POP Shoppe! joined in the bandwagon by organizing a few of our own enthusiastic theme nights that hollers the name of great musicians like The Beatles, The Jam, The Smiths and even Blur.

After a night of rummaging through a big bag of mini v8s of live footages with Law and Antonette, we decided to share these fantastic moments of music and drunken hours beginning with the modfather himself — Paul Weller.

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Paul Weller (born John William Weller on 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter.

Starting with the very successful punk-rock band The Jam (1976-1982), Weller then went on to branch out musically to a more soulful style with The Style Council (1983-1989). In 1991 he re-established himself as a successful solo artist, and continues to remain a respected singer, lyricist and guitarist, a fact reaffirmed by his recent awarding of the 2009 BRIT award for ‘Best Male Solo Artist’. He has remained a national rather than an international star, which may be unsurprising considering much of his songwriting  is rooted in British culture. He is also the principal figure of the 1970s Mod revival and is often referred to as the Modfather. (source: Wikipedia)

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The Butterfly Collectors - A Night of Paul Weller Classics

It was an inevitable choice. I am a big fan of The Jam ever since I heard Morrissey’s gloomy version of That’s Entertainment. And over the years I was introduced little by little to Weller’s crooning and evolution. The event happened four months ago but watching the footages gave us an enormous sense of well-being for something you don’t hear quite often that only a scattering of music aficionados can relate to.

The event title was taken from one of The Jam’s B-side song titles.  As positive as it may sound “The Butterfly Collector,” penned by Weller, speaks of amorality and abuse. Something very socially relevant with the ‘butterflies’ amongst us directly related to unscrupulous politics and the entertainment industry as a whole.

Needless to say it was a fun intimate jam and we are grateful to all the bands that lovingly participated and the appreciative audience which made it far more memorable. Below is a video clip summary of what transpired.

(Video song sequence: Come To Milton Keynes – The Gentle Isolation, You’re The Best Thing – Kate Torralba & Cameron Aquino, From The Floorboards Up – Turbo Goth, David Watts – The Bernadettes, Start! – The Camerawalls)

Here’s a complete list of Paul Weller tunes covered during the night (some songs contain links to a full live video):

Come To Milton Keynes (The Style Council) – The Gentle Isolation
From The Floorboards Up (Paul Weller) – Turbo Goth
David Watts (The Jam) – The Bernadettes
You’re The Best Thing (The Style Council) – Kate Torralba & Cameron Aquino
Start! – Patience Dear Juggernaut
My Ever Changing Moods (The Style Council) – Patience Dear Juggernaut
Shout To The Top (The Style Council) – Patience Dear Juggernaut
Start! (The Jam) – The Camerawalls
Town Called Malice (The Jam) – The Camerawalls
The Butterfly Collector (The Jam) – The Camerawalls
To Be Someone (The Jam) – The Camerawalls
That’s Entertainment (The Jam) – The Camerawalls
From The Floorboards Up (Paul Weller) – The Camerawalls

Do you think Adam West goes to sleep at night with this picture by his bedside table, muttering “Best Photo Op Ever!” before drifting into bat-sleep?

Lemon: Batman (Twist!)

The Jam: Batman Theme

In this past Sunday’s (October 4th) edition of the UK newspaper The Observer, Bruce Foxton, the bassist with The Jam (pictured above in 1982), looked back on the end of the group in the newspaper’s Flashback feature. Foxton spoke of the pressures on the band, particularly on songwriter Paul Weller, and how the band came to an end:

“Earlier that year, when we were on tour in Japan, it was clear that Paul was unhappy. Rick [Buckler, drums] and myself felt we all needed a break. It had been a hectic six years or so and there was a lot of pressure on Paul in particular, with the songwriting. When we got back in the UK, Paul called a meeting. He just said he wanted to leave the band.

“We tried to talk him round, said: ‘Take as long as you need off,’ but he’d made up his mind. We had no idea what direction he was going to go in but when he came out with The Style Council, it made more sense to me. I thought, ‘OK, maybe you made the right decision,’ because at that point I wouldn’t have gone in that direction. Possibly he knew that.”

Foxton also discussed The Jam’s farewell tour in 1982:

“The farewell tour was very emotional. It was a while before I was talked round to have one last fling, and do it for the fans. They were among the best gigs we ever did, but off stage it was totally different. We still met fans after the show, as we’d always done, but their only question was, why? And at that point there was nothing to say but ‘I don’t know.’ I did feel we had more in us as The Jam. That we wouldn’t have become an embarrassment.”

After many years of not speaking to each other, Foxton and Paul Weller have renewed their friendship. Foxton said:

“Paul and I have been on good terms again for a few years now. My wife passed away recently and he’s been amazing. The friendship has been renewed and music aside, that’s all I ever wanted. That means more to me than any reformation.”

To read the article, click here.

Foxton has been playing in recent years with From The Jam along with The Jam’s drummer Rick Buckler. They perform the music of The Jam. Buckler recently announced that he is leaving the band. Foxton is reportedly going to play on Paul Weller’s next solo album.

To listen to The Jam’s final single, “Beat Surrender,” click below:

Det finns både energi och ledmotiv, textrader och tonartshöjningar som kryper in under huden när det är jobbigt och när jag behöver byta perspektiv. Jag har skrivit om Clash-effekten; när det är svårt att sitta still, när jag blir både glad och kär. Men det finns Jam-effekten också. Man får dans i benen, rosor på kinderna och det är som en back-up kör á la Ally McBeal som påminner mig. Tillbaka till fokus, här, Jenny, här är du. Det här måste du göra. Satt på ett möte i går kväll och fick förklara mina intentioner med vad jag håller på med. Sa att jag blev förbannad på att det är så mycket snack, så lite verkstad, att folk orkar gnälla och peka men inte har några egna förslag. När man frågar vad de tänkt göra åt det får man till svar att de inte orkar. Men jag orkar. Jag har mitt ledmotiv.

“The braying sheep on my TV screen
Make this girl shout, make this girl scream!”

Barnet och jag vänder upp och ner på vardagsrummet ibland till den här. Så sjukt stiliga killar, så otroligt svängig låt. Görs sån här musik över huvud taget fortfarande? Snälla tipsa i så fall. Kanske får du en kram för besväret.

One of the joys of Sunday morning is settling down with the Sunday papers. Or at least the Sunday paper – in my case The Observer, which continues to outdo itself in the colour supplement department. Admittedly, I can live without the monthly Food supplement, and the monthly Woman supplement isn’t really aimed at me, but Observer Sport and Observer Music are both superb, offering the kind of eclectic, informed journalism that gives literacy a good name.

Yesterday’s music supplement had a great interview with Corinne Bailey Rae, a fantastic nostalgia piece on the New Romantics, and a lovely short piece on the break up of The Jam. Perfectly aimed at my demographic. But the whole thing was all wrapped up in a Beck’s advertising promotion, which gave me pause for thought.

There’s no doubt that the Beck’s art campaign is thoughtful and, in places, thought-provoking. The idea of limited edition beer bottle labels is enchanting enough; the fact that they’re designed by zeitgeisty popsters makes it all the more intriguing. Ladyhawke on a beer mat ranks right up there with Lady Di as a barmaid in the “things worth staying up to watch” stakes. And what a fascinating idea to get artists to re-imagine classic album covers. Though of course there’s nothing to stop them doing that in their spare time, without the encouragement and cash of a German brewer. All fine and fascinating.

But what doesn’t quite ring true is the tone of earnestness. To read their lengthy “advertisement promotion”, one might almost imagine that the people at Beck’s – or at least at their ad agency and PR company – actually believe they’re doing something important for art. They cite lots of precedents for the juxtaposition of art and music (quelle surprise!) and place their own promotional efforts in the same continuum. Come on guys! You’re selling beer! To Observer readers! Lighten up.

I’m old enough to remember when Beck’s conferred a certain cachet on the drinker. But I’m not dumb enough to let a beer brand give me a fine art education. By all means sponsor the arts, and run some cultural experiments, but please don’t imagine that your beer belongs in a gallery, or that art belongs in my local bar. As for my fridge – if it’s not drawn by my kids, it doesn’t get doorspace.

Play Going Underground by The Jam [links to last.fm]

London Tube: Mind The Gap

Most of my regular readers will know I was recently in Boston – we were visiting one of my wife’s schooltime friends and celebrating her son’s birthday. For our own son, who has just turned one, it was his first ‘big’ city trip and did he see a whole new and exciting (but exhausting) world out there! Naturally, we took ‘The T’ to travel into the city, and this brought back memories for me of previous cities underground mass transit systems that I have traveled on. New York City has the steamy subway, Paris has it’s stinky metro, Buffalo has it’s I-really-am-a-big-city Metro Rail, and London has the original Tube. What each of them needs is a theme song, to bring together the drones of commuters into one harmonious group. My solution? The Jam’s “Going Underground”, released in 1980 and written by Jam founding member Paul Weller.

And where does the Boston T rank among my small list of moley travelling solutions? Well, it beats Paris, and NYC, but there are a lot of updates needed in it’s infrastructure. London needed the 2012 Olympics to kick it’s Underground into a much needed phase of improvements, but is there enough interest in Boston to accomplish something similar!?

The final chapter- and in no particular order other than the way they scattered across the floor-

Introducing Hanggai Hanggai (eMusic, 2008) My discovery of the summer. Hanggai is a Mongolian stringband featuring throat singing. Their traditional, Eastern sounds are provided bluegrass and old-time touches. Live, they are energetic and arresting. On disc, thoroughly engaging. Songs like “My Banjo and I” and “Drinking Song” are immediately appealing while more controlled material such as “Four Seasons” and “Haar Hu” sneak into long-term memory. A brilliant little album, and I still regret not purchasing the live recording they had on offer at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival; by the time I returned, they were all gone. Never hesitate when it comes to music. Those open to ‘world’ sounds should find something very appealing about Hanggai. Let’s hope they hook up with The SteelDrivers for a recording in the near future.

The Gift The Jam (1982) I missed The Jam, completly and inexplicitly. In the late 70s and early 80s, I loved everything British music offered. From Judas Priest, Girlschool, Kim Wilde, and Kirsty MacColl to Kajagoogoo, Nick Lowe, XTC, and Bauhaus, if it came from overseas, could be found in Smash Hits or NME, and was available on import- chances are I found it. Even things that didn’t really appeal to me (Japan) or that I didn’t really understand (Joy Division) got a listen.

But the Jam, I didn’t get. To be fair, I wasn’t exposed to them either. It was only with “Town Called Malice” that The Jam received commercial airplay in Edmonton, and I did buy the 12” single of it. Beyond that, the band fell on deaf ears. I got into Weller a bit with The Style Council- Our Favourite Shop was more than intriguing and I went thorough a serious Bruce Foxton period when everything from Touch Sensitive was absorbed- but for the next 20 years, Weller and The Jam (and The Jam were much more than Paul Weller) were ignored by me. Somewhere along the time Weller’s albums started appearing on YepRoc, I started exploring The Jam and each of their albums have become a new favourite as they have been acquired. Fittingly, their swan song was finally found this summer, and The Gift was worth the 27 year wait. Ridiculous, that I admit. From the opening bass rumble of “Happy Together,” The Gift is a masterpiece. “Precious,” “Just Who is the 5 O’clock Hero,” “Trans-Global Express,” and of course “Malice” have been heard and enjoyed on out-take collections, compilations, and live albums, but the songs work best as a cohesive set. It is an album of its time and beyond, one that can be taken as surface music that is laden with grooves, hooks, and catchy choruses as well as really listened to for nearly hidden sounds and lyrical insights. Well worth (re)discovering, depending on your history with Paul Weller and The Jam.

When Lost at Sea The Wooden Sky (Black Box, 2008) I believe this one came out two years ago, but I had never heard of them until a friend caught a bit of their music at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. I purchased the album at the Fest without having heard it- after all, all the Hanggai was gone- and have seldom been so pleased by a ‘never heard of it, but bought it anyway’ impulse buy. (The ultimate of which was my trifecta in the summer of ’82 when I purchased Billy Idol, Built for Speed, and Live It Up with my first semi-adult paycheque at Climax Records in Leduc- which would in a few months also be the location of my first record store job.) The album doesn’t seem or sound as calculated as their latest- and still very good- recording, with more rock elements obvious. The cold darkness of “Lonesome Death of Helen Betty Osborne” brings the album to a beautiful sounding if disturbing close.

Finally, album 25…

8:30 Newfoundland Mike Plume Band (Moraine/Fontana North, 2009) I don’t know where Mike Plume has been since Fool for the Radio appeared and then disappeared from store shelves, but I’m glad he’s back. (Hints of the past half dozen year are provided in “Weeds,” but I’ve no idea how literal they should be taken.) For a while there during the No Depression heyday, I was convinced that Plume was going to be ‘the next one’ to be discovered. I guess it never happened, but his recorded legacy stands up against those of Chris Knight, Robbie Fulks, Slaid Cleaves, and just about any other alt.country singer-songwriter type one could mention. The album title is a reference only a Canadian would understand, and the title track name checks as many small towns and features as a pair of Stompin’ Tom albums. The music surpasses the occasional songwriting indulgence Plume allows himself (really, Mike- “knocking boots?”) Produced by Brent Maher (he who discovered The Judds and has been a Nashville A-lister for 30 years) and Charles Yingling (according to Google, either a short baseball player from the late-1800s or a music consultant and contractor in Nashville- whichever, never heard of him), Plume seems to have found a team that understands the importance of staying true to your music and roots while skirting about the edges of the mainstream, much as Corb Lund has. I’ll even forgive him from stealing (in “Like a Bullet from a Gun”) from me a line I’ve been using for years- “Old enough to know better, young enough not to care”- although I haven’t actually lived that particular sentiment). Hockey, driving, judgment, love- all the important themes are explored, and the album – forgive the mindless cliché- completely rocks…in a non-commercial, country kinda way. His voice is as strong as ever. Comeback of the year, anyone?

And that is the list, although many more albums were listened to and enjoyed throughout the summer. Thanks for visiting Fervor Coulee.

Jamie T : Kings and Queens (****)

Released 7 Sept 09

Hey, so I just got the new Jamie T album ‘Kings & Queens’. Having been living in Argentina for the last few months I’ve missed the usual radio bombardment / industry hype / overinflated previews… which has been really quite refreshing.  So this album, bought on the strength of the last, came like a welcome lightning strike out of the blue, smacking my right between the eyes, bringing a smile to my face and a swagger to my step, something no album has done recently (it’s hard to swagger down the street to 1950’s tango, believe me). I was lucky enough to catch Jamie & the Pacemakers down at the tiny Peel Pub in Kingston earlier this year… drunkenly bouncing around the stage (him, not me), downing too many pints and singing badly (me, not him) and generally testing out his new material. Things sounded promising back then so I was interested to see how they took shape on the album.

From the raw and ragged roots of first album ‘Panic Prevention’ Jamie has made great strides in his songwriting, delivering a compact album of concise tracks, every bar essential and packed with punch, no fillers here, just thrillers. But the best part, and the skill which lifts him head and shoulders above the rest, his lyrical ability remains intact.  Cutting words, spat into the night, tales of stumbling home drunk, heckles in the street, violent men, English cowards and English pride, mistakes and addicts of love, broken dreams and broken hearts and another million and one ideas. 

“I got money in the jukebox, rots all night, same shit bands, too much hype”

It’s hard to pick favourites here, but early contenders are ‘Spider’s Web’ (wait for the outro, the payoff), ‘Sticks ‘n’ Stones’ and ‘Emily’s Heart’. ’Emily’s Heart’, the soft underbelly of the album, demonstrates a new side to Jamie’s songwriting, a beautiful song of abject apology, all acoustic guitars and keyboard strings sat behind murmured lyrics. Slow, and slap bang in the middle of the album this song leaps from the speakers more because of it’s sudden change of pace, every word is understandable on first listen, and every projected thought believable. Thankfully though, this isn’t a new direction (as previously threatened) but merely an interval before the excitable, electrically charged album resumes launching us onwards into the night for one final pint before bed.

I love it when a difficult second album lives up to the total lack of hype.

Buy the album from iTunes, Amazon, or wherever you like really.

Spider’s Web.mp3

www.jamie-t.com

Jamie T : Kings and Queens (****)

Released 7 Sept 09

Hey, so I just got the new Jamie T album ‘Kings & Queens’. Having been living in Argentina for the last few months I’ve missed the usual radio bombardment / industry hype / overinflated previews… which has been really quite refreshing.  So this album, bought on the strength of the last, came like a welcome lightning strike out of the blue, smacking my right between the eyes, bringing a smile to my face and a swagger to my step, something no album has done recently (it’s hard to swagger down the street to 1950’s tango, believe me). I was lucky enough to catch Jamie & the Pacemakers down at the tiny Peel Pub in Kingston earlier this year… drunkenly bouncing around the stage (him, not me), downing too many pints and singing badly (me, not him) and generally testing out his new material. Things sounded promising back then so I was interested to see how they took shape on the album.

From the raw and ragged roots of first album ‘Panic Prevention’ Jamie has made great strides in his songwriting, delivering a compact album of concise tracks, every bar essential and packed with punch, no fillers here, just thrillers. But the best part, and the skill which lifts him head and shoulders above the rest, his lyrical ability remains intact.  Cutting words, spat into the night, tales of stumbling home drunk, heckles in the street, violent men, English cowards and English pride, mistakes and addicts of love, broken dreams and broken hearts and another million and one ideas. 

“I got money in the jukebox, rots all night, same shit bands, too much hype”

It’s hard to pick favourites here, but early contenders are ‘Spider’s Web’ (wait for the outro, the payoff), ‘Sticks ‘n’ Stones’ and ‘Emily’s Heart’. ’Emily’s Heart’, the soft underbelly of the album, demonstrates a new side to Jamie’s songwriting, a beautiful song of abject apology, all acoustic guitars and keyboard strings sat behind murmured lyrics. Slow, and slap bang in the middle of the album this song leaps from the speakers more because of it’s sudden change of pace, every word is understandable on first listen, and every projected thought believable. Thankfully though, this isn’t a new direction (as previously threatened) but merely an interval before the excitable, electrically charged album resumes launching us onwards into the night for one final pint before bed.

I love it when a difficult second album lives up to the total lack of hype.

Buy the album from iTunes, Amazon, or wherever you like really.

Spider’s Web.mp3

www.jamie-t.com

A Grooveshark playlist…

Mission of Burma, Gang of Four, The Specials, Elvis Costello, The Clash, Talking Heads, Blondie, Television, R.E.M., The Police, The Jam, Echo & the Bunnymen…

Like the short story in literature, the EP is the most refined expression of pop/rock craft. More on this topic in times to come…

Bibio – Lovers’ Carvings

This is just awesome. Near the end, I feel like I’ve won the Showcase Showdown, the credits are rolling, and I’m touring the studio floor with my girl, surveying our booty.

Psychic City – YACHT

I can’t really recommend anything else from this album/band, which reaches for this digital, neo-N.O.U. vibe. But this one grasps it, in all its odd/ideological glory.

The Jam – Best of Both Worlds

Swervedriver – Maelström

The guitar solo dwells in the halls of Olympus.

Esta es la segunda parte de las Top 10 canciones que todo mod que se precie consideraría un himno, en la que se incluyen temas del mod revival y el grupo mod patrio por excelencia: Los Elegantes (pese a Pánico Speed).

6. Manfred Mann – “5, 4, 3, 2, 1”

Pioneros de la nueva ola londinense de R&B, Manfred Mann provenían del trad jazz y ese toque purista les hizo diferentes. Su tercer single “5, 4, 3 2, 1” llegó al número 5 de las Islas Británicas cuando fue elegida la sintonía del clásico show televisivo mod; “Ready, Steady, Go”, presentado por Cathy McGowan, The Mod Queen.

7. The Yardbirds – “I’m A Man”

Los Yardbirds siempre serán recordados como la banda seminal de tres de los mejores guitarristas de la historia: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck y Jimmy Page. “I’m A Man” fue escrita por Bo Diddley en el 55, pero la fama le llegó 10 años después con el cover de los ingleses.

8. The Jam – “A Town Called Malice”

Y ya llegamos a la segunda época mod, a caballo entre los 70 y los 80, que fue, sobre todo, fruto de la casualidad: al coincidir el estreno de “Quadrophenia” y el incipiente mod revival en las Islas encabezados por The Jam. En pleno apogeo del punk, Weller resucita clásicos de los 60 a golpe de Rickenbacker, impecablemente vestido con chaqueta de tres botones y pantalones sta-prest.

Es difícil escoger una de las canciones del Modfather como himno definitivo: En “A Town Called Malice” combina el sonido Motown con riffs rockeros; “Beginners” se basa en la novela homónima de Colin McGuinness en la que se describe el estilo de vida de los primeros mod faces.

9. Secret Affair – “Time For Action”

Su primer concierto fue en el 79 teloneando a los Jam. Glory Boys era como el líder de la banda, Ian Page, llamaba a sus fans, al igual que los 100 Faces seguidores de The Who, aunque “Time For Action” fue su alegato mod definitivo.

10. Los Elegantes – “Este es mi tiempo”

En su primera etapa estuvieron influenciaos por el R&B, el sonido de los 60 y el mod revival de los 70 y 80, pero fueron definitivamente adoptados por los mods españoles con su segundo single por canciones como “Me debo marchar” y “Este es mi tiempo”. Pero, por mor del tacaño Youtube, tengo que linkar “La Calle del Ritmo”.

PD: Para Rafa, el “Mod Face” del Almazán (1984-1987).