Tag Archives: music

May 12 to 18

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Nightmares On Wax Shape The Future

I’m unsure how I stumbled upon this album, but I’m glad I did. Shape The Future is electronic by genre, but world music outside of that label. It has samples of music and building blocks from all over the place. It flows with an easy continuity and becomes two cohesive slabs of vinyl. Highly listenable.

Larry Norman  Upon This Rock

Larry Norman was an American musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and producer. He is considered one of the pioneers of Christian rock music and has released more than 100 albums. I do not recommend buying or even listening to all 100. Upon This Rock, So Long Ago the Garden and Only Visiting This Planet are albums that I would highly recommend. These three became known as Larry Norman’s trilogy of albums and comprise his most widely recognized albums, as well as his best material.

Oxbow  Thin Black Duke

The Oxbow album, Thin Black Duke, is another mystery as to how I found it. Oxbow was an experimental rock band known for the vocal prowess of frontman Eugene Robinson. If you are listening to this for the first time, I recommend having Wikipedia and Genius open to track what you are listening to. Thin Black Duke is an interesting album with twists and turns that kept me busy listening intently.

Gary Numan  The Pleasure Principle

The Pleasure Principle is a blast from the past. I would be willing to place a bet if you asked a random sample of people who were 15 or older when this album was released if they knew it. Then ask them if they have ever intently listened to it. I was guilty of using this album as background noise rather than paying attention as I listened to it. This time, I sat down with a cup of coffee, my second addiction after listening to music, opened Wikipedia and Genius, and paid attention to the grooves in The Pleasure Principle. It had a depth that I hadn’t heard before, and I developed a deeper appreciation for what Gary Numan created on this album. 

The Oak Ridge Boys  The Oak Ridge Boys Have Arrived

The Oak Ridge Boys Have Arrived sounds like a wheelbarrow full of other southern USA Nashville Pop vocal groups. Generic and quickly forgotten after the needle is lifted from the runout groove.

The Oak Ridge Boys    Heartbeat

The same band delivers Heartbeat as The Oak Ridge Boys Have Arrived, but it does not sound the same as the Oak Ridge Boys I listened to previously. Heartbeat is more polished, and while still a Nashville pop-flavoured album, it is more listenable, for me at least. The vocals are tighter, and the bass vocal is moulded into the vocals instead of the occasional bass word or two featured on the Arrive album. The Oak Ridge Boys don’t write any songs on this recording, but they have chosen some tasteful songs to cover. They are a pure vocal band, not playing any instruments themselves, but they use top-notch session musicians. Adding up, we get this: great vocals, well-written songs that fit their vocal style, and delivery by the aforementioned top-notch musicians.

Phil Ochs  Pleasures of the Harbor

Pleasures of the Harbor isn’t an album on my deserted island list. But Phil Ochs is an important musician to hear and to read about. Pleasures of the Harbor was released in 1967, and the Vietnam conflict and the protest movement were in full flight. And, naturally, it wouldn’t be much of a protest movement if there weren’t protest songs.

Pleasures of the Harbour is Phil Ochs’ fourth album, and a significant departure from the previous three albums, which were definitely folk music. Pleasures of the Harbour features traces of classical, rock and roll, Dixieland jazz and experimental synthesized music, and of course, folk music.

The songs in Pleasures of the Harbor are less apolitical than his folk albums. Pleasures of the Harbor features songs that are more in the realm of social commentary. “The Party” savaged high-class snobs, and “Outside of a Small Circle of Friends” is a sarcastic jab at the apathetic nature of people in certain situations. Ochs also used the medium of music to tell stories. The title track, Pleasures of the Harbor, is a dirge to lonely sailors seeking human comfort and connection while in port.

Pleasures of the Harbor is not a go-to album for me, but an entertaining and illuminating album just the same.

Mike Oldfield  Tubular Bells

This album is the same as The Pleasure Principle. Well known but not well listened to. I listened intently and had the same result as on The Pleasure Principle. There is much more going on in this album than I had heard before I started listening to albums focused and alert to what was going on musically, what the lyrics said, and how the message was delivered.

Michael And Stormie Omartian

Omartian Odyssey

Michael Omartian has created a pleasant album, but I enjoy him more for his work with other artists. Brace yourself, the list is impressive to say the least.

Michael Omartian produced number-one records in three consecutive decades. He has earned 11 Grammy Award nominations and won three of those nominations. He spent five years on the A&R staff of ABC/Dunhill Records as a producer, artist, and arranger; then he was hired by Warner Bros. Records as an in-house producer and A&R staff member. Omartian moved from Los Angeles to Nashville in 1993, where he served on the Board of Governors of the Recording Academy, and has helped to shape the curriculum for the first master’s degree program in the field of Music Business at Belmont University.

Artists whom Michael Omartian has produced albums for include:

Clint Black, Michael Bolton, Debby Boone, Steve Camp, Peter Cetera, Christopher Cross, Joe “Bean” Esposito, Amy Grant, Benny Hester, Whitney Houston, the Imperials, The Jacksons, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Cliff Richard, Steely Dan, Rod Stewart, Donna Summer, Wayne Watson, Billy Joel and Trisha Yearwood.

I told you it was impressive.

Roy Orbison  Roy Orbison’s Greatest Hits

Roy Orbison  In Dreams

Roy Orbison  The Very Best of Roy Orbison

Roy Orbison  The All-Time Greatest Hits of Roy Orbison

I was blessed to see the Big O live, and that show stood unchallenged for decades as the best concert I had ever attended. It has been nudged aside and shares that podium now, but I still deeply revere Roy Orbison and his music. I listened to all four of these albums, but you could get away with listening to In Dreams and the double album, The All-Time Greatest Hits of Roy Orbison. 

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Architecture and Morality

Architecture and Morality completes the trilogy of albums I had to appreciate and pay attention to, intentional listening. The Pleasure Principle and Tubular Bells are the other two. I have an earworm from Joan of Arc, the only song off the album that I carried forward from when I bought it. Architecture and Morality was a more challenging listen, but well worth the effort.

Gilbert O’Sullivan  Himself

Alone Again Naturally is the big hit for Gilbert O’Sullivan and the only reference I had for him and his music. He is a great storyteller and delivers the lyrics in a manner that is unique to him. It turns out he had a long and prosperous career, besides “Alone Again Naturally.” If you had asked me on Friday what I thought of Gilbert O’Sullivan, I would have labelled him a one-hit wonder. He isn’t. He had a long and productive career in music that spanned from his debut album, Himself, to his twentieth release, which was released last year, 2024. I may have to go bin diving to expand my discography of Gilbert O’Sullivan.

So, there we have it. Another week of great music checked off with Roy Orbison being the heavy hitter this week. I love my newest turntable, the Fluance 81+. It is paired with my Cambridge Azur 351A and image Concept 200 speakers. The sound is warm, and the separation is immaculate. I can hear sounds left, right and in between clearly. It is also capable of pushing the sound to a slightly higher volume when the music, or I, ask it to. I use it so much that the stereo in my office rarely gets used. It is a new Audio-Technica AT-LP120XUSB with Romanca R2 speakers, a decent stereo in its own right. It will get its turn to shine as time passes; meanwhile, onward and upward to another week of music.

The New Pornographers

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The New Pornographers Discography

Mass Romantic

  • Released: November 21, 2000

Electric Version

  • Released: May 6, 2003

Twin Cinema

  • Released: August 23, 2005

Challengers

  • Released: August 21, 2007

Together

  • Released: May 4, 2010

Brill Bruisers

  • Released: August 26, 2014

Whiteout Conditions

  • Released: April 7, 2017

In the Morse Code of Brake Lights

  • Released: September 27, 2019

Continue as a Guest

  • Released: March 31, 2023

I’m not sure if I was brave or foolish, but I listened to the entire discography of The New Pornographers in one week, actually in five days. I didn’t go insane and enjoyed revisiting some albums I hadn’t heard recently. I had this notion that I would write down thoughts, inclinations and assorted comments sifted from the internet and my noggin as I listened to each album. That didn’t happen, at least not in any meaningful or helpful way. I jotted down some notes as I listened to the first two albums and then quit. There were so many notes and comments that I would have written a short book rather than the short format I employ in my blogs. In a truncated style, here are some of my takeaways from this music marathon. A.C. Newman and Destroyer frontman Dan Bejar wrote all the songs on the album. Lead vocals were mainly by A.C. Newman and Neko Case. The New Pornographers’ membership has ebbed and flowed over the years and album to album, with Neko Case, A.C. Newman, Dan Bejar, and Kathryn Calder as more or less consistent members. The New Pornographers are often called a Canadian supergroup; as a Canadian, I am OK with that assessment; even if Neko Case isn’t a Canadian, she should be.

Mass Romantic

Wikipedia tells us that Mass Romantic was written over the three years prior to its release on November 21, 2000. Standout samples for me started with track one, appropriately, and blended into track two, then three and all the way to twelve.

“In the streetlight dawn

This beat turns on.”

In “Way Back Machine,” Sonny & Cher sang “The Beat Goes On.”

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.” – Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, drummer of Le Figaro. 😉

The Beatles sang that they “read the news today” & “the news was rather sad.”

The New Pornographers “wrote the news today” and then “Make headlines.”

Living in the modern era of social media, we have come to accept that “fake news” is the new normal, especially when Trump is proclaiming it. The New Pornographers wrote a song that goes from “make headlines” to “fake headlines.” They recorded Mass Romantic well before the era of Trump’s fake news nonsense.

Several more comments in my jotted notes have penmanship that make them all but indecipherable. So I won’t mention The Who seeing for miles and miles while The New Pornographers “claim to see for miles, you don’t, but I believe you do.” I have no idea what is going on there.

And I won’t mention that The Mary Martin Show ignited some random synapses in my brain that brought to mind Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, a television parody show. Go figure, eh?

“Breakin’ the Law” closes the album Mass Romantic with a cornucopia of delightful music. 

Mass Romantic must be one of the greatest debut albums. I asked the internet, and it appeared on a few lists, including Paste magazine, which I consider a legit music source, and The Village Voice, which is equally legit.

The New Pornographers‘ first four albums placed in the top 40 on The Village Voice‘s Pazz & Jop year-end poll of hundreds of music reviewers. From 2000 to 2006, either a New Pornographers’ album or a solo album from one of the band’s members ranked in the top 40 on the list each year. In 2007, Blender magazine ranked the New Pornographers’ first album, Mass Romantic, the 24th best indie album ever. In 2009, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the band’s second studio album, Electric Version, No. 79 in the “100 Best Albums of the Decade”. Stereogum has retrospectively praised the band’s debut album, Mass Romantic, as “one of the greatest” power pop albums. I agree.

See what I meant by writing a short book instead of a short blog? What we have here is the edited short version of the notes.

Their sophomore album is Electric Version. I lay awake at night, wondering where the acoustic version is.

On Electric Version, we have From Blown Speakers. That is a great song title; I didn’t drive my speakers that high, but I once worked with a guy who turned the volume so high it vibrated the speaker cabinet off the shelf and crashed to the floor. I had made the shelf and put the speaker on it with no expectation that anyone would listen to music that loud. He did.

New Face of Zero and One was a standout track for me. It’s Only Divine Right is a driving rock number. July Jonesreminded me of Danielson Famile. Why? I don’t know. It just does.

As a whole, the Electric Version sounds like The New Pornographers but dressed up a bit more posh. They are learning as they go, and it sounds good. It’s a more mature sound, fuller somehow.

Track 7 on Brill Bruisers is Another Drug Deal of the Heart with the line “Don’t meet me here

Just meet me out on that corner stop.”

In my mind, it jumped to “Just Walk On By.”

“Just walk on by, wait on the corner

I love you, but we’re strangers when we meet.”

written by Kendall Hayes and performed by American country music artist Leroy Van Dyke. Everyone and their children have subsequently recorded covers of it.

Here are some condensed takeaway thoughts from listening to the discography of The New Pornographs from Mass Romantic to Continue as a Guest. They retained their overall sound but matured and polished their skills as they moved from album to album. 

Mass Romantic, their debut album, stuck with me, which is incredible considering the fact that I listened to all eight of their records after Mass Romantic in chronological order. It isn’t amazing when I reconsider the album; it has always been a highlight favourite of mine. Their sophomore release, Electric Version, is a solid album that proves that Mass Romantic wasn’t a one-off. Twin Cinema, their third release, didn’t stick like glue; it was more like bubble gum. The song “Sing Me Spanish Techno” is a good un. I’ll always hold the album Together in a special place because that was the first time I saw them live. I scored a t-shirt, a poster and a CD from the show.

The Together record is a solid listen, with a couple of tracks that stood out to me, such as Crash Years and Silver Jenny Dollar. Brill Bruisers was gifted to me, which means it will stick with me forever. It is also a good listen for a bonus, and I love the cover art. Whiteout Conditions features Katherine Calder on vocals and harmony. Their last two albums, In The Morse Code of Brake Lights and Continue as a Guest, are good, but one of us is missing something. I will have to listen to them again. The fact that I had listened to all of their albums released up to these two in five days may have coloured my vision. Final comment? It was a good five days of good music; I wonder what will be next in my odyssey through my album library from Eh to Zed.

It was purely coincidental that I listened to this band in the week after their drummer, Joe Seiders, was arrested for possession of child pornography. The band cut all ties to him, and I imagine fans like myself will also distance themselves from him.

The name of the band, New Pornographers, has nothing to do with pornography. The New Pornographers‘ name was chosen by Carl Newman, who said that he came up with it because he was a fan of a Japanese film called The Pornographers. It was also an homage to The New Seekers and “The Pornographers,” a track on bandmate Dan Bejar‘s first Destroyer album, We’ll Build Them a Golden Bridge. My son, Joel Weatherly, and I have seen the New Pornographs live several times and Destroyer once, and it was intense.

April 21 to Star Wars

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As usual, I had an eclectic week of music, from Willie Nelson’s outlaw country to Sixties Music’s hard rock. I didn’t listen to a large number of albums this week, 13, which works out just short of two per day. In reality, I listened to four albums on some days and nothing on other days.

Willie Nelson  Red-Headed Stranger

This album is labelled by many sources as a classic in modern music, and rightfully so. Red Headed Stranger is a quasi-concept album about love, lust and loss. It is very high on my list of songs on the boat ride to the deserted island, when I get their I’ll let you know if it made it to the island or not.

Wikipedia: “Red Headed Stranger was a blockbuster among country music fans and mainstream audiences. It was certified multiple-platinum and made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. The cover of “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” released as a single before the album, became Nelson’s first number-one hit. The title of the album became a lasting nickname for Nelson. It was number 183 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and number one on CMT’s 40 Greatest Albums in Country Music. In 2010, it was inducted into the National Recording Registry.”

Willie Nelson  The Troublemaker

The Troublemaker is a good album, containing gospel standards with the trademark Willie Nelson feel running through it.

Willie Nelson  To Lefty From Willie

I have listened to this album dozens of times and never tired of it. As far as tribute albums go, Willie nails it on To Lefty From Willie. Willie captures the emotion Lefty wrote into his songs and can retain most of the song’s musical and lyrical feel. Lefty Frizell was an incredible all-around musician, a guitar picker, a singer, and a writer. This album is a good place to start if you are getting acquainted with Willie Nelson or Lefty Frizzell. To Lefty From Willie is a deserted island pick in my library.

Willie Nelson  Somewhere Over The Rainbow/The Minstrel Man

It’s a waste of vinyl. These are overcooked, with the orchestra obliterating any notion of this being a C/W album. Willie was good when he was an outlaw, not so hot as a pop crooner. I’ll go back and listen to Red Headed Stranger again to get The Minstrel Man out of my brain.

Pink Floyd  Wish You Were Here

This album has been overdue for a listen. I plopped down in the recliner, cranked the volume to 8, and opened Wikipedia to read about the album as I listened to it. I need to hear this more often; it has some very good music.

Oxbow  Thin Black Duke

I don’t know what genre Thin Black Duke belongs in; I hear alt-rock and experimental rock. Something quirky about this album caught my attention and has stuck with me. I have never listened to any of their other recordings, but I frequently listen to Thin Black Duke—a quality-over-quantity situation.

Various.  Electric Sixties

What a fun listen this was! Electric Sixties was a trip down memory lane with an album full of top-notch songs. The Electric Sixties will reside in my various artist’s collection with five stars beside it. It leans towards the harder rock bands of that era, and I was carried away hearing these songs again.

Juice Newton  Juice

Juice Newton has enjoyed a stellar career in music, with numerous cross-over albums that charted, as well as a long list of charting singles in both pop and country charts. Juice is her third solo album and the only one I have ever owned; it is a good one if it is the only one. Juice is packed with good songs and three charting singles, with Angel of the Morning being my favourite song from the album.

Bobby Bond  The Roger Miller Songbook

I could swear that this is a recording by Roger Miller. It isn’t. The Roger Miller Songbook is the first album, recorded in 1965, for an aspiring musician named Bobby Bond. The Roger Miller Songbook sold more for the name Roger Miller than Bobby Bond. Bobby Bonds’s next album, which was dedicated to Jim Reeves, enjoyed good sales, but like The Roger Miller Songbook did nothing to establish Bobby Bond as a singer. The Roger Miller Songbook is a nice album, especially for those of a certain age who can remember these songs from years long gone.

Van Morrison  Enlightenment

Enlightenment is a cassette that I used to sound test a new old cassette deck that I had purchased. The cassette is good, but the deck needs some TLC. Several Moments Later… I ran a pair of cleaning cassettes through the deck and it sounds better, but not good. It has a dirty sound that I suspect is more than I can fix.

A person that I used to work with was a fan of Van Morrison but stated that if you heard one Van Morrison album, you’ve heard them all. There is an element of truth in that statement. There are, however, different lyrics, fresh musical arrangements, and new emotions and feelings in every one of Van Morrison’s albums. I liked listening to Enlightenment and can see myself returning to this album someday. 

The Violet Burning  Chosen

The Violet Burning is a Christian alternative rock band from the days when I went to church. It is still a decent album; it has aged well. I suspect this could easily be categorized as an alternative rock band, but they got labelled as a Christian band. That label has been a weight around the necks of many good bands. They get stuck in the nowhere world of music, they are too Christian for popular media and too rock for most churches. Larry Norman and Daniel Amos are two fantastic bands, in my opinion, that never broke out of that wasteland. All three of those artists were able to make a career of walking that tightrope. The Violet Burning went on from this debut album to record about a dozen more albums and a slew of other related music projects. I enjoyed listening to this album again and realized that this is the only recording by The Violet Burning that I have. I’ll keep my eyes open for more in my search through thrift and second-hand stores.

Kevin on Repeat #294

I wasn’t familiar with these bands, other than Hendrix, but being open to listening to new music, I listened to this while I tapped out this blog. They are all good, Kevin, according to Norman.

April 15 to 20

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Last week, I went for quantity, with 18 albums in my playlist. That does not mean I listened to them so that I could brag about how much music I listen to. No, I listened to every single album with attention to its contents. What instruments were used? How did the lyrics mesh with the instrumentation? Etc. This week, I listened to six albums, several of which I listened to more than once.

Nash the Slash / Children of the Night

This is easily one of the most disturbing album covers in my recent memory.

Nash the Slash / And You Thought You Were Normal

Nash the Slash / American Bandages

I listened to the above three twice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=het1kl-A8qw

Wikipedia with some editing:

“James Jeffrey “Jeff” Plewman (March 26, 1948 – May 10, 2014), better known by his stage name Nash the Slash, was a Canadian musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he was known primarily for playing the electric violin and mandolin, harmonica, keyboards, glockenspiel, and other instruments (sometimes described as “devices” on album notes).

Nash worked as a solo artist beginning in 1975, founding the progressive rock band FM in 1976. Soon after releasing the band’s first album, Black Noise, in 1977, he left the band; he resumed his solo career in 1978 (it was not until after Nash’s departure that the album was widely promoted, eventually charting and receiving a gold record award). He rejoined FM from 1983 to 1988, followed by a brief reunion from 1994 to 1996, all concurrent with his solo work.

Nash’s music covers an eclectic range, varying from instrumental—mood-setting and shoe-gaze music to rock and pop music with vocals. In addition to giving concert performances, he composed and performed soundtrack music for silent films, presenting these works live in movie theatres to accompany screenings of the films. Another venue for his music was in performances to accompany the viewing of paintings by surrealist painter Robert Vanderhorst, an audiovisual collaboration, which took place in 1978 and again in 2004.

Nash famously never allowed guitars on any of his solo albums and singles. He turned down Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour‘s offer to lay down a guitar track on his Children of the Night album. It takes something special to turn down an offer from David Gilmour.

I don’t know what to make of his albums. They are exotic and non-conformant. Discogs has them pegged as Rock/Darkwave/New Wave/Prog/Rock. I have always had a soft spot for electric violin, Nash the Slash used that as his primary instrument. 

I like his cover of 19th Nervous Breakdown just because it veers away from the original recording by The Rolling Stones and becomes a unique recording by Nash, with no guitars. I’m not sure what Keith Richards would think of that! Another song that gets a work over is Smoke on the Water, which becomes Dopes on the Water. The music of Nash the Slash is not music for the faint of heart. Nash the Slash made music that challenged the boundaries of music and pushed them further out of the comfort zone of popular music in the early 80’s. He was a nonconformist and stayed that way in the three albums of his that I have.

American Band-ages, released in 1984, featured covers of popular American songs. The album, intended for the US market, never got the push it needed due to distribution and management problems, including a change in record labels.

American Band-ages featured Bandstand Boogie/American Band (We’re An American Band), veering from big band to punk on the same track. Wow, what a way to start an album. What follows is Born to be Wild. It sounds like the original but doesn’t. The electric violin and the use of synthesizers mimic the electric guitars featured in the original by Steppenwolf. I had a big deja vu trip listening to Born to Be Wild in the movie Easy Rider on YouTube. That movie resonated with me as a rebellious teenager in 1969. The Nash the Slash remake of Hey Joe blows. Hey Joe, it has been covered so often that no one knows the song’s origin. The most noteworthy version is likely the Jimi Hendrix Experience cover from their Are You Experienced album. You can do Wikipedia for more covers.

Another thing I noticed is the length of the tracks on American Bandages; these are not three-minute radio edits. The songs run from the shortest, Hey Joe, at 3:34 to several at four and five minutes and the closer, 1984, at 7:08. These are three songs per album side, and I like it. He gets a groove going on these songs and he works it with all the musical toys he can muster, but no guitars.

So I listened to Nash the Slash twice over the course of a couple of days and gave them a good listen, not a casual noise in the background while I did something else kind of a listen. I got his music, but not everyone did.

I suggest reading and listening here if you want to listen to his music and find out more about him as a person.

Rick Nelson The Very Best of Rick Nelson

Ricky Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician and actor. From age eight, he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. In 1957, he began a long and successful career as a popular recording artist. The Very Best is a standard Best Of album. It contains some hit songs you may recognize if you are a boomer like me.

NDTC Singers The Very Best of NDTC Singers

This album contains songs from several Caribbean nations, including my favourite, Jamaica. Truthfully, it is the only Caribbean island I have been to, but I liked it and would like to return. My Jamaican princess, Valerie, listened to this alongside me and hummed to many songs.

Bible Club Umbra

This album has been sitting on the back burner for a week or so. I enjoyed the first spin, so I found the lyrics and gave it another spin, reading along as I went. And then I forgot about it for one reason or another. And now I am listening to it again and hoping to flesh something out to write about.

This album starts out with some relaxing guitar and other instruments over some vocals that sound other-worldly. A nice chill track. Track two has a more or less alt-rock sound and recognizable vocals telling us about the futility of life and eventually getting to a place where they can forget everything and start a new life. Nihilist, that word pops up early in the song. A nihilist is a person who believes that life is meaningless and rejects all religious and moral principles. The lack of moral principles is a frightening thought. I can get on board with rejecting religion, heck, I’ve done that and feel fine with how my life is going, gut rejecting moral principles is on a whole new level. Life needs some morality to function, we can not throw out all concepts of good and proper. Without moral principles we will devolve into a culture of savage brutes trying to suppress each other. Come to think about that, and maybe we are living there already.

Track 3, Umbra, tells us what we are experiencing in the here and now. 

“Everyone cycling around not knowing why or how

Just drudging on

for a bliss that’s promised

Rid me of this mind now

Tell me there’s truth, things will get better

…

As I cast off these things

I grow older and weary”

That just about sums it up for me, I feel old and weary. There are moments of bliss, like when I get some new music that takes me of to the promised land. Please tell me that things will get better. Great music in the alt-rock genre. 

Track four takes the author to a dark and dreary place with some very interesting music, I found myself ignoring the lyrics and just soaking in the music. It has a feeling like listening to a click track that moves in and out with instruments that move in and out, not neccissarily in sync with the lyrics, but it works. I get lost in this track and put it on instant replay.

Track five explodes with the pent up angst, anger and weariness that the author has been carrying about for far too long. 

“We’re all eating cardboard

Crap wrapped in tinfoil

Bleached clumps of empty substance

We eat it just to feel

Saturated

Uncomplicated

Watch out

Why won’t you hear me out

So watch out

You’re gonna hear me out

Don’t

Don’t waste my time

Don’t waste my time

With all your lies”

“Capturing the stark awareness of a world stuck in disarray, ‘Umbra’ is a dreary rumination on the state of affairs in this post-consumerist world, offering vignettes of the symptoms of late-stage capitalism. Materialism has gone non-material, substance is replaced by empty filler, and callous waste of life. More now than ever before we are within the darkest shadow of our times – the umbra – a shadow cast by a force that overpowers.” – Bark PR http://www.barkpr.co.uk/

Five tracks of fusion alt punk, rock and shoegazing lamenting the world of capitalism and materialism. An album that sounds great despite the dreary tone of the lyrics. They use two guitars to great effect as they wander in and out and playing around each other and together. I want to hear these guys ten years from now to hear how their world view has changed, or hasn’t. Chalk Umbra up as a five star record.

p.s. I listened to their earlier music, and it is good listening.

April 8 to 14

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I scored a box of assorted albums, about 100, and most of them were vintage C&W. There was also a nice cache of Canadiana amongst those albums; all in all, it was a good buy for only $20. Needless to say, I have been on a C&W binge this week. I am not going to give a review for each and every one of these. There was too much listening, leaving too little time for writing. I will mention a few standouts. The Best of Smiley Bates was a good traditional C&W listen; he plays a mean guitar. Patsy Cline is always a good listen, and she should win an award for the album cover. Just an old cowboy putting in his two bits worth. It’s Hard To Be Humble by Mac Davis was a modest hit and made me smile as I listened. I had never listened to Cowboy Copas previously; he is another traditional, old-timey Country and Western singer, and I liked it. Moving on from C&W to some rock, I relistened to Crime of the Century by Supertramp, and I still like their sound. I ended the week with Release Me by Engelbert Humperdinck. I have an adage saying I can’t criticize an artist or an album unless I have listened to it non-judgementally. I gave Engelbert a good, honest listen, and I was surprised at how much I liked it. Sure, it’s sappy crooner pop music, but it is good sappy crooner pop music.

Hoyt Axton Life Machine

Smiley Bates The Best of Smiley Bates

Smiley Bates Flat Top Guitar Instrumentals

Al Caiola The Guitar Style Of Al Caiola

Patsy Cline Patsy Cline’s Golden Hits

Tony Booth Lonesome 7-7203

Mac Davis It’s Hard To Be Humble

Various 40 Country Classics

Various Canadian Country Jamboree Vol. II

Roy Clark Take Me As I Am

Supertramp Crime of the Century

Al Hirt Struttin’ Down Royal Street

Mac Davis A Satisfied Mind 

Cowboy Copas  A Satisfied Mind

Stan Freeman And The Twisters Everybody’s Twistin’

Larry Gatlin Oh! Brother

Billy Grammer Country Guitar

Engelbert Humperdinck Release Me

Until next week, happy listening, my friends.

April 1-7 2025

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Isolated Youth miserere mei

This band and their album are new to me, courtesy of Bark PR. I’ve given this album easily a half-dozen listens, and I want more. Addictive? Perhaps. It’s definitely music that I want to hear again and again. They churn out distortion-fueled post-punk that charges out of the speakers and assailes my ears. It is not dark, moody music. No, no! They serve the music up raw and gritty with lyrics that touch on faith and the search for meaning in life. Who isn’t?

From the press handout:

“Hailing from the remote coastal town of Norrtälje, Sweden. Isolated Youth’s debut LP is deeply shaped by the atmospheric Nordic landscape they grew up in. From the icy hooks of ‘Ghost Town’ inspired by the desolate streets of Stockholm to the ghostly ‘Psykosoma’, conceived in a studio nestled between a forested graveyard, the band channel the play of light and darkness of their region through a gothic, distortion-fueled lens. Formed by brothers Axel and William Mardberg, along with drummer Andreas Geidemark and bassist Elmer Hallsby, the band channels a raw and atmospheric style that draws influence from icons like The Chameleons, The Gun Club, and Siouxsie & The Banshees. With Axel’s piercing falsetto and William’s intricate, Johnny Marr-esque guitar lines, Isolated Youth have crafted an album that feels both nostalgic and deeply contemporary.”

The song Love Locked In A Dark Room mesmerizes me. It has a jaunty rhythm that reminds me of someone but sounds fresh and original at the same time. It has crashing cymbals and chugging guitars that melt into the lyrics that cry out in longing not to be left alone in a dark room like a bird in a cage. As I listened to this song and meditated on the lyrics, I was reminded of a poem by Maya Angelou, Caged Bird.

Love Locked In A Dark Room:

“Hold me

Before the sun hits and the walls they turn

The dark room is bending

Bird in a cage

Dancing in the Devil’s lair

Love locked in a dark room

I can’t see where I stay.”

Maya Angelou, Caged Bird:

“The caged bird sings   

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.”

I would love to hear Isolated Youth perform Love Locked In A Dark Room live. I may be in Sweden, their home and native land, in October. They don’t have any tour dates on their web page, but I remain optimistic. In conclusion, I rate this album as a 5 out of 5. It is a well-crafted musical experience with powerful music and insightful thought-provoking lyrics.

DISCOVER ISOLATED YOUTH 

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Joe Jackson Stepping Out

I hadn’t listened to the music of Joe Jackson other than competing with road noise on the radio back in the days when listening to the radio was a thing. I popped this in the big stereo, sat back in my recliner, closed my eyes and let the music come to me. What I heard was a side of Joe Jackson that I didn’t know existed up to that moment. I could hear sumptuous bass underscoring the songs, powerful but understated. It starts on the first track, Is She Really Going Out With Him? The bass is the bedrock on which the rest of the song is built. I won’t do a long track-by-track review of Joe Jackson’s greatest songs. This listening session gave me another side of Joe Jackson I never knew. I’m listening to it again, focusing more on the vocals and the lyrical content.

Modest Mussorgsky Pictures At An Exhibition

From Wikipedia:

“Pictures at an Exhibition is a piano suite in ten movements, plus a recurring and varied Promenade theme, written in 1874 by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. It is a musical depiction of a tour of an exhibition of works by architect and painter Viktor Hartmann put on at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg following his sudden death in the previous year. Each movement of the suite is based on an individual work, some of which are lost.

The composition has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists, and became widely known from orchestrations and arrangements produced by other composers and contemporary musicians, with Maurice Ravel’s 1922 adaptation for orchestra being the most recorded and performed. The suite, particularly the final movement, “The Bogatyr Gates,” is widely considered one of Mussorgsky’s greatest works.”

Pictures at an Exhibition is easily my favourite classical music album, CD or record. It is a good bit of easy listening for winding down from some business. It is also a favourite of mine for what I call intentional or focused listening. I sit back with no distractions and just listen. I pay attention to different aspects of the music every time I listen to it. I listen to what instruments are used. What is the pacing of the music? Is it going faster? Slower? Escalating or depressing? And other aspects of the album. Yeah, Pictures at an Exhibition is my go-to for classical music.

March 17 & 24

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This blog started on Monday, March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, covering my listening for the previous week. It has spun into a blog that carries that forward and blends in with my listening for the week leading up to today, March 24. I am hitting a brick wall when it comes to reviewing music. I can only give generics, but that seems so small compared to what I have been able to do in the past. Regardless, what you see is what you get; I will not cut and paste or plagiarize other people’s reviews.

Steve Miller Band Greatest Hits 1974-78

In 1975, my friend Steve Miller and I quit our jobs at the coal mine in the Crowsnest Pass and headed for Mexico. We listened to a lot of music on that trip, but I don’t recall ever listening to anything by the musician Steve Miller.

Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys – Bluegrass Classics Radio Shows 1946-1948

The header is almost as long as the review—classic early bluegrass music.

The Monkees The Monkees

The Monkees Headquartes

The Monkees More Of The Monkees

These three albums came in a haul of about 100 albums that I paid $20 for. It is a fun trip down memory lane for those of a certain age, and I think I got my money’s worth.

Harry Rusk Canadian Country Hits

Included in those boxes were numerous Canadian albums; this was among them. I couldn’t find much information about Harry Rusk besides the fact that he had a single that charted in 1969; it isn’t on this album. This album is a good listen if you enjoy Country and Western music.

Duane Eddy Twistin’ ’n’ Twangin’

Classic sock party music.

Jimmy “Arthur” Ordge Tears From A Country Hear

More classic C/W music. Jimmy “Arthur” Ordge was an Albertan who made a bit of a wave in C/W music. He had a few songs that charted, he appeared on Canadian television, and toured relentlessly. I enjoy his music; I’m not sure if I saw him live or on television, but I can remember him from the distant past.

The Moody Blues On the Threshold of a Dream

The Moody Blues Days of Future Passed

The Moody Blues Long Distance Voyager

The Moody Blues To Our Children’s Children’s Children

My musical week had two heavy hitters, one of them being The Moody Blues. They were a band I enjoyed in the past but didn’t dive into deeper than casual listens. They had their unique sound and made some delightful music.

Francine Morrison Sweet, Sweet Spirit

Francine Morrison had a strong and sweet, sweet voice, and my wife and I enjoyed listening to this sweet, sweet southern black church music album.

Montreux Sign Language

Montreux is considered a supergroup of electronica in the contemporary jazz scene. I enjoyed this album, but not enough to run out and buy another one.

Mountain Climbing

Mountain are a band with a long article in Wikipedia that you can read on your own. I will only add that I have a long history with this album. I’m not sure when I bought it, but I know I have been listening to it for a long time. It has held its age very well in my library. It is often cited as an album that started the heavy metal scene. I can hear why that connection exists. I like listening to this recording, and it has remained glued in my repertoire for good reason; it is a good album.

Tina Turner Gold

I gave my wife tickets to Tina – The Tina Turner Musical for Christmas. It was a grand show that both of us enjoyed immensely. Then we came home and listened to the album I gave her, along with the tickets. We should have withheld the album listen for a bit longer because the hangover from the live show was still fresh, and I couldn’t help myself from referencing back and forth. The show was top-notch, but Tina Turner, at her best, was a tough act to follow. She had powerful vocals and owned the show when she let loose.

Van Morrison Astral Weeks

Van Morrison Moondance

I only managed two Van Morrison records this past week; more will come next week. Van Morrison has a style that blends many elements of music. Here is what shows up on Wikipedia: blue-eyed soul, Celtic, rock, R&B, folk, blues, jazz, country and Christian. His music has something for everyone; you may have to listen to all of his records to find it, but it is in there somewhere. I don’t have a go-to Morrison album. I enjoyed playing through all of them. His music has something for everyone; you may have to listen to his complete discography, but it will be somewhere. I don’t have a go-to Morrison album. I enjoy playing through all of them. If you ask the casual man on the street what their favourite Van Morrison album is, you will probably get Moondance more often than not. While it is a good album, I’m unsure about holding down the number one slot. It came early in his solo career, and he was prolific, with 48 solo albums. If someone held a gun to my head and told me to pick a favourite Van Morrison album, I would have to say No Guru, No Method, No Teacher with Hymns To The Silence a close second. There are some that I am relistening to this week, and that answer might change.

Next up, the week from March 17 to 24.

Van Morrison Tupelo Honey

Van Morrison Saint Dominic’s Preview

Van Morrison Common One

Van Morrison Poetic Champions Compose

Van Morrison Van Morrison

I listened to an abundance of Van Morrison over the last two weeks. I have enjoyed the journey, but it is time to move on.

Elton Motello Victim Of Time

This album was a small-time hit with the song Jet Boy, Jet Girl. There was a bit of talk about the song’s contents, Jet Boy, Jet Girl.” It is about a 15-year-old boy’s sexual relationship with an older man, who then rejects him for a girl. Victim Of Time has not aged well from where I listen. It checked all the boxes for a punk/new band in 1977, but not in 2025.

Werner Muller and His Orchestra Percussion In The Sky

A bit of background music for whatever you are doing.

Various The All American Pop Collection Volume 5. I now have all five of these albums. I still love collections like this. I scored a couple of boxes of vinyl last week, and this was in that box.

Various 30 Original Artists Sing Their Original Country Hits

Adding another best-of collection to my collection.

Judy Mowatt Only A Woman

Judy Mowatt had a modest solo career but will most likely be best remembered as a backup singer to Bob Marley. This album was a good listen for a golf ball like me.

Barbara Mandrell The Best of Barbara Mandrell

Pop country. It’s pleasant, but not the country music I enjoy listening to; see the album two stories up; that is the original country I like listening to.

And now for some new music mentions.

Ecce Shnak Shadows Grow Fangs

I have enjoyed listening to this album. It is a bit of fresh music in an era that all too often celebrates the mediocre. Ecce Shnak, Eh-kay sh-KNOCK wanders between gentle sentimental songs, Stroll With Me, to the thunder of ‘Jeremy, Utilitarian Sadboy.’ Shadows Grow Fangs is a thrilling EP that takes the listener along on a journey I was never sure about when it started or where it should end.

Thanks to Shauna McLarnon for Shameless Promotion PR

Tombstones In Their Eyes Asylum Harbour

Tombstones In Their Eyes would be a good title for a spaghetti western. They could use Asylum Harbour as the soundtrack. I listened to the album again while I was writing, and I changed my mind. Tombstones In Their Eyes would work wonders with something like Jonah Hex or The Preacher, some of the new Western-themed shows.

The LA-based psych-rock shoegaze collective is made up of long-time members John Treanor (vocals & guitar), Stephen Striegel (drums), Courtney Davies (vocals), Phil Cobb (guitar) and Paul Boutin (guitar), along with new band members Joel Wasko (bass) and Clea Cullen (vocals).

“‘Gimme Some Pain’ was written in May 2023 – one of the worst years I’ve experienced since way back in my 20’s. Life was falling apart, I was feeling heavy guilt and shame. Suicidal ideation almost every day. I have no idea how I managed to perform normal functions like go to work along with all the other responsibilities I have. All that is background to the song’s creation. I realize that, compared to those in really unfortunate circumstances, my problems are probably pretty petty, but the thing about pain is that it’s a subjective experience,” says John Treanor.

  “I don’t usually write on acoustic guitar but I like to mix it up occasionally. The song is made up of some pretty simple chord progressions that rolled right out. The lyrics are like a mantra repeated over and over. A mantra about where I was and what I was feeling at that time. The chorus, which just came out of my mind as is, turned out great and is in a range where I can sing it with a lot of energy and feeling”.

Singing with energy and feeling is what Tombstones In Their Eyes do. They lasso you and pull you into the arc of their music, and it is very easy to linger there.

This album is another gem from Shameless Promotion PR 

Dragon Welding The Naughty Step

This album is another gem from Shameless Promotion PR . It’s been a good month listening to their tunes. The lyrics of The Naughty Step connected with me on more than a casual basis. The music adds to the allure of the album.

“The lyrical theme of the album overall is me trying to deal with problems that I’ve never quite resolved in my mind, while all the time, new problems appear. It’s never ending and I will continue to write songs about it until I stop caring,” says Andy Golding.

“The song is about that vague feeling you get when your judgement is questioned. You’re pretty sure you’ve done nothing wrong, but you still have the nagging cloak of guilt draped around your sloping shoulders,” Golding explains. “I was at school at a time when corporal punishment was still allowed: beating children with canes and slippers. The line about the ‘punishment boys’ is about queuing up outside the sport teachers office, waiting for the cane, but neither you nor the teacher remembering the exact reason you were there. It sounds Dickensian, but it was the 1980s!” continues Andy Golding.

Full stop. I look forward to what I shall listen to this week. Have fun and listen to the music.

March 9, 2025

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Pink Floyd D S o t M

I use Dark Side of the Moon as a reference to break in new gear, and I bought a new turntable. Therefore, I played this album. I wouldn’t even venture a guess of how many times I have played this album in its various formats. It would easily be in the hundreds. It hasn’t lost any of its lustre for me. I love to turn up the volume just a wee bit, sit back with a book or with nothing, and let the music wash over me. The mixing on this album is impressive. When Clare Torrycomes in, her vocals are absolutely spellbinding. Roger Waters made the mix of sound effects on Money, and once again, the production kept the standard high. The lads, including Richard Wright and Nick Mason, all contributed. I suggest listening to this album and pay attention to the keyboards and percussion. They blend into the mix and create a strong backboard on which Gilmour and Waters build. The four of them work so well together that it is easy to forget Richard Wright and Nick Mason are there. Gilmour and Waters get the front of the stage spotlights, but Mason and Wright are holding them up. Dark Side of the Moon remains my gold standard for all other recordings.

Bee Gees Best of Bee Gees

Best of Bee Gees was the first full-length album that I bought with my own money. It is still near and dear to my heart. The vocal harmonies were exquisite, and the lyrics were engaging while moving out of the standard love song ideation with songs such as New York Mining Disaster, and I’ve Gotta Get A Message To You, which brought a couple of Johnny Cash songs to mind most notably 25 Minutes to Go. Such good songs and top-shelf music that hasn’t grown old for me, I have, though.

The Steve Miller Band – Book of Dreams

A friend named Steve Miller jumped in my Rambler station wagon with me and we drove to Mexico doing the big circle. Down to L.A. through Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, then back up using the coastline highway most of the way to Seatle and a right turn to bring us back to Alberta. Hinton for Steve, I never saw him again. I tried to find him, but Alberta has a lot of Steve Millers. I phoned every Miller in the Hinton phone book with no hits. I guess that chapter has drawn a close.

Where was I? Oh, yeah, the Steve Miller Band, we listened to that album on cassette as we drove. We also got to hear Wolfman Jack live on the radio. We never had a clear station with him on it in Aberta.

The Mighty Diamonds – Changes

Che, Che Changes. NO! Not that one. Changes is the song from The Mighty Diamonds of Jamaica. This album was my in-law’s record, and I feel a tug at my heartstrings every time I play this record.

The Mills Brothers – Golden Anniversary

Golden harmonies. Harmonies seem to be popping up all over my listening lately. I’m not complaining about that. I love the shared singing.

Hank Mobley – Workout

Workout is a jazz album with Hank on saxophone. His style of playing and arranging is called Hard Bop, and this album will show up high on any jazz genre list featuring Hard Bop or saxophone players. Workout is a workout of talented musicians sharing their passion for music.

Mr. Mister – Welcome To The Real World

Pure 1980’s synth/pop. It is easy listening that doesn’t stray too far away from the 3-minute radio-friendly pop of that period. Welcome To The Real World is a good record showcasing Mr. Mister’s take on the music of that place and that time. 

Gerald Mitchell – The Hunt And Other Songs Of Labrador

In 1969, my Dad took a job at Churchill Falls, and we moved there shortly after. Churchill Falls is featured on a song from this album. Gerald Mitchell serves up some fantastic folk music on The Hunt And Other Songs Of Labrador. Accompanied by only his guitar, Gerald Mitchell sings and plays songs showcasing what folk music used to sound like.

The Kinks – The Kinks

The Kinks is a recording full of top-ten hits. I put this CD in my car and listened to it several times while I drove about. I like The Kinks, and I like this album.

Modest Mouse – Strangers To Ourselves

Strangers To Ourselves is the only album I have from Modest Mouse, but it is a good one. Strangers To Ourselves is a double album that gives us close to an hour of music. Lead singer and founding member of Modest Mouse Isaac Brock has a unique singing delivery. You have to hear it. I can’t write how he sings. I nominate Strangers To Ourselves to my island records and a year-end favourite.

So there we have it, my week in music. They are all good albums, but if I had to choose a favourite, it would probably be The Hunt And Other Songs Of Labrador.

March 2

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Another fine week of fine music gracing my ears. Some familiar faces that you may recognize and no fresh music this week.

Kate & Anna McGarrigle Pronto Monto

Kate & Anna McGarrigle love over and over

Sweet harmonizing with thoughtful lyrics. The McGarrigle sisters are a win-win. I need to get more of their music. No, I don’t; I need to listen again to the ones I already have.

McGuinn, Clark & Hillman McGuinn, Clark & Hillman

These are three talented men, but this album is barely palatable pop pulp. Next album, please.

Jethro Tull Aqualung

Aqualung is not pop music; it is hit-you-in-the-face rock and roll with a flute. Aqualung is very easy to consume. AllMusic gave it four and a half stars, and most of the initial reviews were positive. The album is generally lauded and viewed as a classic in retrospective reviews.

Aqualung is a classic in my music realm. I remember buying this album in 1973 and listening to it on my parents’ record player in the living room. Their reviews were harsh. Dad didn’t like any music that wasn’t country and western. ‘Nuff said. My mom is a protestant and protested vigorously about the religious imagery on the album. I bought headphones, and they didn’t critique my music again. Aqualung still gets played frequently. I plugged this one into the car and rock and rolled around the city for a week or two. Good music never gets old.

Bob & Doug McKenzie Great White North

Great White North was worth a chuckle or two. Some comedy doesn’t age very well. This album rides the middle of the road. You will probably find this amusing if you are already familiar with Bob & Doug McKenzie. Let me know how it fared with you if you had never heard of them before today.

Rod McKuen Greatest Hits Greatest

Rod McKuen delivers classic 1960s folk music. It’s not my jam; this should have stayed in the ’60s.

Murray McLauchlan Whispering Rain

Murray McLauchlan Only the Silence Remains

Forget Rod McKuen, Murray McLauchlan is a real folk singer. Maybe a bit more popish than folkish, but still a great entertainer who I would gladly buy a coffee to nurse while I listened to him sing. Perhaps best known for his hit single The Farmer’s Song, he also struck gold with Whispering Rain. Only the Silence Remains is a live album showcasing Murray McLauchlan’s talent as an entertainer. The instrumentation is scaled down to Murray on guitar and vocals and accompanied by Dennis Pendrith on bass guitar. I was fortunate to have heard Murry live, and it was a pleasant evening.

Men At Work Business As Usual

1982 is when this came out. I am sitting here listening to it with my foot tapping and loving it. Listening to this has been a pleasant walk down memory lane. Sure, it’s pop music, but it is well-made pop music. I liked it in 1982, and I like it today. “Who Can It Be Now?” is the opening salvo, and it hit me solidly. “Down Under” is probably a bar anthem in Australia; it is instantly recognizable here in their cousin country, Canada. Unfortunately, I don’t find side two as captivating as side one. Next album, please. Two days later, I am still listening to an earworm of “Who Can It Be Now?“

Bette Midler The Divine Miss M

Bette Midler Thighs and Whispers

I love her singing on these two albums, the only two I have featuring The Divine Miss M. Is it ironic that these are the only two?

Wikipedia: “The Divine Miss M reached the Top Ten on Billboard’s album chart and was later awarded a Platinum Disc by the RIAA. It featured three hit singles—”Do You Wanna Dance?”, “Friends”, and “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”—the third of which became Midler’s first No. 1 Adult Contemporary hit. In 1973, the album won Midler a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. “Do You Want to Dance?”, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Friends” were all Top 40 hit singles from the album, with “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” climbing to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching #1 on Billboard‘s Adult Contemporary chart.”

Thighs and Whisper received mixed reviews from music critics, but most were lukewarm and garnered only two stars on AllMusic. But I liked it. I like both of these records, one that got rave reviews and another that barely caused a ripple, and I like both of them. Go figure, eh?

Mike + The Mechanics Mike + The Mechanics

Top ten music that never really revved up; it may be time to see a mechanic.

So, there you have my music for the last week. I will continue my trip through the alphabet this week and try to squeeze in some new tunes.

Feb 24 2025

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It has been a wild and crazy week in my music sphere. A bit of vintage and a bit of new music. I hope you enjoy music as much as I do.

Steve Martin – A Wild and Crazy Guy

Classic Steve Martin. I saw Steve Martin open for The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1987 in The Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Forty years later, I saw The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with my wife and son at the same venue. Alas, no, Steve Martin the second time. He didn’t get a very good response from the audience, with only sporadic laughter. I think he got to Edmonton a couple of years before Edmonton got into that kind of comedy. I enjoyed it. I guess I was ahead of the curve.

Mashmakan – Mashmakan

1970, it’s hard to grasp that this album was released over 50 years ago. I have enjoyed it at least 55 times. I remember hearing the song, As the Years Go By, on the radio. It was a massive hit for them, with over 100,000 copies sold in Canada, 500,000 copies in the United States, and over 1,000,000 in Japan. After releasing three tracks from their self-titled album, Mashmakan released this album, and it had a more subdued response than the singles had generated. It garnered a better response from the critics, AllMusic critic Lindsay Planer stated that Mashmakhan blended “intricate progressive rock” and “resilient jazz fusion-inspired rhythms” and that Mashmakhan “consistently came up with brilliant material, rivalling many of their American contemporaries. Allmusic gave the album a solid 4 out of 5 stars. I do believe I will provide it with the same score.

Nick Mason – Nick Mason’s Fictitious Sports

I have the solo albums of all four of the members of Pink Floyd, but for some reason, I have a sentimental feeling about this album. Mason was less bombastic than Gilmour or Waters, and I gravitate towards that, being a reasonably calm person myself. The album was recorded outside of Pink Floyd, which was self-destructing. The band released The Wall in 1979, the end of Pink Floyd as a band. Everything that Pink Floyd released later than that is scavenged from the cutting room floor. Nick Mason’s Fictitious Sports was recorded in October 1979, but its release was delayed for almost two years. From out of the ashes of Pink Floyd, Nick Mason brought together an impressive list of collaborators, including Carla Bley, who wrote all of the songs.

The opening salvo from Nick Mason’s Fictitious Sports reminds me of King Crimson. The opening track, Can’t Get My Motor to Start, slides away from that into a rambling trip. The presence of Carla Bley is undeniable; it has a definite jazz feel to it. I had to listen to it thrice while writing this blog to let the music settle in. Subtle nuances could be easily missed on a more casual listen.

I quite enjoy this album; it is not Pink Floyd. It is Nick Mason’s album. None of the other Floyd band members contributed to making Nick Mason’s Fictitious Sports.

Pink Floyd A Saucerful of Secrets

Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets Live at the Roundhouse

I had to listen to the Pink Floyd version to give me an anchor point for the Nick Mason version of the two songs on this extended single featuring “See Emily Play” and “Vegetable Man.” In all honesty, I can add this to the Floyd albums within my album collection, but it does not reside in any place near the top. The Pink Floyd album is a better listening experience for me. Sorry, Nick, but Fictitious Sports and the original A Saucerful of Secrets trump this recording.

BLOKE – Living Without Expectations

“It promises to be a bold statement from a band unafraid to challenge conventional musical and social boundaries.” –  MYSTIC SONS

The wait is finally over for fans of the experimental noise-rock collective BLOKE, fronted by German artist Jakob Buraczewsk.

In a world oversaturated with predictable sounds, BLOKE emerges from the shadows with a sonic assault that defies categorization. Drawing inspiration from two legendary acts I enjoy, Spacemen 3 and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.The London/Berlin outfit has delivered a masterclass in controlled chaos, where waves of psychedelia crash against jagged post-punk rhythms and Krautrock persistence. Serving as more than just a collection of songs, their debut EP emerges as a carefully orchestrated soundscape that reflects society’s collective response to recent global events. 

“The project primarily revolves around my personal experiences in creating music and art and contemplates the struggle of being human in the 21st century.” lead singer Jakob Buraczewski adds. “Ultimately, it represents a journey of self-discovery and artistic growth, allowing me to express my thoughts and emotions more freely. I hope that listeners can connect with these themes and find their own reflections within the music.”

Born in the intimate confines of a home studio and meticulously refined professionally, each instrument on Living Without Expectations was carefully re-recorded to achieve the perfect balance of raw energy and polished production.

“It’s a process filled with passion and dedication, where every note matters and every sound contributes to creating something truly special,” says Jakob. The result is a cohesive sonic experience where feedback becomes an instrument of its own, developed through countless live performances and studio experimentation. 

While already released singles’ Money Says’ and ‘Up Tight’ tackle broader political and social landscapes, the EP’s standout track ‘Tomorrow’ delves into more intimate territory. Here, the band explore how past relationships shape our perception of reality, weaving through the hazy fabric of memory. The song reflects how we reconstruct our personal histories, even as time distorts the details. In contrast to the EP’s more outward-looking tracks, ‘Tomorrow‘ captures that universal experience of how memories of lost love continue to echo through our lives, bending and reshaping our understanding of what once was. “Initially, the sound of the track may come across as repetitive, but it is merely building momentum.” Jakob expands, “When it finally bursts into life with the roar of distorted guitars, the effect is truly poignant. This dramatic peak is made even more powerful by the soulful sound of a harmonica, highlighting the deep emotions in the music.”

Straddling the pulsing underground scenes of London and Berlin, BLOKE has emerged as a formidable force in contemporary psych rock. At the helm is German artist Jakob Buraczewski, whose five-year immersion in London’s alternative underbelly has shaped the project’s distinctive sound – a blistering fusion of Krautrock’s hypnotic rhythms, psychedelic textures, and raw garage punk. The band’s reputation for electrifying live performances has earned them spots alongside underground heavyweights like Helicon and Verstärker (Fuzz Club), Data Animal (Dedstrange), Body Horror (Permanent Creeps), and The Shadracks (Sub Pop).

I love this album. It has just the right amount of noise to keep it raw. It has just the right amount of originality to keep it fresh. This album brought the term controlled chaos to my mind. Within the apparent randomness of chaos, Jakob has crafted underlying patterns that create interconnection between and within songs. He uses repetition, similarity, and self-organization to build the songs. “Initially, the sound of the track (Tommorow) may come across as repetitive, but it is merely building momentum.” Jakob

And build momentum, this EP does very, very well. By the time the last strains of Tomorrow fade, I will be hitting repeat to keep the momentum flowing. I will close this discourse with the quote that started it. 

“It promises to be a bold statement from a band unafraid to challenge conventional musical and social boundaries.” –  MYSTIC SONS

It fulfills that promise boldly and courageously.

Living Without Expectations is available across all streaming platforms and in cool cassette and record formats for oldtimers like me who like physical copies.

DISCOVER BLOKE 

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Tonzonen Records/Cargo Records

Mystic Sons

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