It is Monday October 21 and all is well in the wake of Posedon. This weeks listening has been dominated by Poseidon, a king in Greek mythology, and Daniel Amos, a pair of Biblical mythical prophets. A Pair Of Prophets would be a good name for a two person band. I scored some new vinyl this week: Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks – Where’s The Money?, Nick Lowe – Pinker and Prouder Than Previous, Daniel Amos – Horrendous Disc, and Steve Taylor And Some Band – Limelight I have been listening to Librarians With Hickeys – How To Make Friends By Telephone for over a week and all I can come up with is ‘this is good pop’ music.

They all gave me some quality listening time. I needed good music to distract me. I scraped the side of my car coming out of an underground parkade. I have been trying to get the dent out with a kit I bought on Amazon, to limited success. I will try again today, with more music to keep my head up instead of jumping into the valley of despair.

I hope you have a good week with no damage to our cars and lots of good music.

King Crimson – In The Wake Of Poseidon

There are some who have called In The Wake Of Poseidon volume 2 of In The Court of the Crimson King. I disagree with them. Although there are similarities between these two albums in the musicians, the lyrical content and the music, that does not make it a copy. I see it more as an extension of In The Court of the Crimson King. Turmoil and drama were swirling as In The Wake Of Poseidon was recorded, resulting in some lineup differences.

Please read more about the lineup on the Wikipedia site. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Wake_of_Poseidon

That instability contributed to the record’s dynamics, but I do not see that as a negative. It added to the music and contributed to the band having its own identity, separate from In The Court of the Crimson King. I hear a band evolving finding their unique song. They are doing a band up job of it.

One outstanding piece of music for me is from In The Wake Of Poseidon is ‘The Devil’s Triangle. It is an instrumental in three movements: King Crimson’s interpretation of Gustav Holst’s ‘Mars: Bringer of War.’ (from the Planets suite), which they often played in their live performances; however, Holst’s estate forbade the band from using a note-for-note rendition of the piece for the album, so the band used a different staccato riff.

I. “Merday Morn” (3:47)

II. “Hand of Sceiron” (4:01

III. “Garden of Worm” (3:45)

As is often the case with music, the more I play it, the more I can hear the intricacies the musicians placed here and there and another over here. It is like furnishing a house; they start with a blank slate, gradually fill in bits and moving bits about, and eventually arrive at the state you hear it in on this record. One of the beautiful things about King Crimson is that they are not locked in, never to be changed. I have seen them live a couple of times, and it is new and exhilarating each time.

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers –  Anthology – Through The Years

Tom Petty isn’t on my top ten list (I don’t have one), but I enjoy his music and will give credit when it is due. Tom Petty knew how to write 3 minute top ten songs. My goodness, these CDs are loaded, especially the first. Tom Petty was good at his job, and we benefitted from that work by having songs we could sing along with and tap our toes. Disc one lived in my car CD player for a week and had numerous trips around the city with me. I enjoyed this Anthology and may return to it before much time has passed; thank you, Mr. Petty, for this excellent music.

Daniel Amos – Horrendous Disc

This is the second album from the band that would go on to be one of my favourites. It comes out on the heels of the C/W album Shotgun Angel. I have trouble connecting with Shotgun Angel, a situation that goes way back. My brother wanted me to listen to Shotgun Angel, and I did, but in my booze-addled mind of that time period, I found nothing on the album that connected with me. A few years later, I went to the other side, and I still didn’t connect with Shotgun Angel, but I found Horrendous Disc and Daniel Amos were permanently seared into my neural networks. I still enjoy listening to it 43 years later, and today, I noticed one for sale on Facebook Marketplace and bought it, my third copy; I can’t wear the grooves out on this release. An interesting side note: the person who offered it for sale had a list of albums, and this was listed in the A column for Amos rather than under D for Daniel Amos. It’s not the first time I have seen this happen; even my favourite record store has been guilty. I know they don’t listen to much “Christian Music,” so this fax pau is easy to commit. Many people may buy it expecting a pop music album and could even feel that after listening to it. When Daniel Amos sings of love, it could allude to God or express love to a person. An easy mistake to make. This is another example of why I don’t like labels very much. When a band or artist gets a label applied to them, it can be a life-long weight to carry. Some bands carry that weight and often find it detrimental to their career in the music machine. Daniel Amos has had a long career with many great albums in their discography. I have them all, including Shotgun Angel.

Steve Taylor And Some Band – Limelight

Steven Taylor is another artist who has had a long and fruitful career in music, hovering on the edge of the Christian Music genre label. Limelight was recorded early in his career after only two albums were released. Many of Steve Taylor’s songs are aimed at Christian hypocrisy with satire and double entenders; this marginalized his music in the Christian music section of record stores. His music would hold up reasonably well in those stores’ pop/rock section. Steve Tayor was also part of the band Chagall Guevara, who vigorously tried to avoid being a “Christian” band. Their music (albeit against their wishes) was distributed through Christian bookstores, and they never rose above the Alternative Christian label, unfortunate to say the least.

Nick Lowe – Pinker and Prouder Than Previous

I have been a fan of Nick Lowe since the nascent days of the British New Wave music movement and his album Jesus of Cool. Nick Lowe has had an impressive career in music and associated and collaborated with an equally impressive list of fellow musicians. A New York Daily News article quoted Lowe as saying his greatest fear in recent years was “sticking with what you did when you were famous.”  Every Nick Lowe album is different, exploring new styles and new genres. I like it when I buy a Nick Lowe album, and I don’t know what I will hear.

Pinker and Prouder Than Previous is on its second listen since I bought it yesterday. It sounds like classic Nick Lowe with a few twists and turns, such as Geisha Girl, an old country music hit by Hank Locklin. Nick has a good relationship with country music, especially since he is about the most average English guy you will ever meet. He married Carlene Carter, the daughter of June Carter Cash and her first husband, Carl Smith. I’m sure hanging around the Carter/Cash family would impact his records.

Nick also ventures into a reggae beat on the song Cry It Out. I would leave the reggae to others; not everyone can pull off the unique, offbeat rhythms.

As with every Nick Lowe record that I own, I like it. It doesn’t break the mould of his sound, but it does sound new and exciting with a few twists and turns off the beaten path. I am sure this will get a few more listens; I am, after all, a Nick Lowe fan.

Librarians With Hickeys – How To Make Friends By Telephone

My first impression of this recording is that it is pleasant pop music. I’ll get back to you after I have listened a few more times and read the lyrics. I am listening to the stream of this courtesy of Big Stir Records.

Daniel Amos – Motor Cycle

I found This oldie goldie while checking the sound on my stereo. For some reason, it drops the right channel every once in a while. I’ve checked the plugs without finding anything wrong. It could be time for a new needle or, heaven forbid, a new turntable. It dropped while listening to Nick Lowe, so I popped in a cassette to see if it also dropped the right channel, but it didn’t. It was getting late, so I left it for this morning. Side two of Nick Lowe is playing with both channels; cross my fingers.

What about the album Motor Cycle? Right, it’s Daniel Amos, no doubt about that. Terry Scott Taylor has his unique way of singing, and the band plays into that style and the lyrics to good effect. I often listen to Daniel Amos on vinyl or CD; this one is on cassette. It was hiding in the cassette drawer, and I had forgotten about it. I was happy to listen to this, almost like new since it has been quite a long time since I had rummaged through there. I need to bin dive in the tapes more often.