May 12 to 18

Posted on May 19, 2025 by normanweatheredmusic

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.

April 15 to 20

Posted on April 21, 2025 by normanweatheredmusic

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

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 1-7 2025

Posted on April 7, 2025 by normanweatheredmusic

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

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | SPOTIFY

For all press enquiries, please contact james@barkpr.co.uk or Charlotte@barkpr.co.uk

miserere mei is available via Memorials of Distinction and Birthday Productions

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.

January 27, 2025

Posted on January 27, 2025 by normanweatheredmusic

It has been a very interesting week, very interesting indeed, but not super silly. I brought the week in with yet another shot of Bob Dylan, Empire Burlesque this time. That makes my twentieth Dylan album, and the time has come for a respite from Bob; too much of a good thing can be too much. However, I can’t part ways without mentioning my take on Empire Burlesque. I concur with the general reviews that this is an ’80s album; it has that feel. It is also eclectic, with a revolving door of talented accompanists, bringing a different taste to the album’s flavour. I won’t rate this album in the top echelon of Dylan albums, but it is still a pleasant listen and thus avoids the fate of Dylan’s self-titled 1973 album, banishment, never to be heard again.

Moving on, I listened to Resurrection Song by Mark Lowry—a shot of white Christian Bible belt church music. Just as popular music artists go on tours to take their messages to the masses, popular Christian artists also did that. They would go from town to town and church to church. The bigger the artist, the bigger the churches. Mark Lowry was of the Southern Baptist flavour and was an accidental comedian. As the backing tracks for his songs were set up and guitars tuned, he would do monologues that he noticed were bringing laughter to his routine. He began making that a staple of his shows and was quite good at it. Mark scored one mega-hit with the song “Mary, Did You Know?” I can remember a missionary that our church supported singing this song. It was a powerful performance. This album isn’t of that calibre, but as far as white Baptist singers go, this is par for the course.

Next, we have a different flavour of gospel music: black southern gospel, John Littleton Et The Clarence Jones Family, and Steel Away. This album seemed uneven to my ears and never really got a head of steam going, which is unfortunate because there is some excellent music to be heard on this album. I will do bin diving to find more from either of these two artist groups, John Littleton and The Clarence Jones Family.

K.O.G. Zone 6, Agege (feat. Franz Von & Gyedu-Blay). I have been listening to modern African jazz lately and enjoying what I hear. This album is more in the world music category but excellent in any genre. I’ve listened to it several times and am sure more spins will come.

Next in the queue, we have Nick Lowe. I have been listening to his music since his first solo album, Pure Pop For Now People. I am, in fact, listening to that album now. This album is titled “Jesus of Cool” in the UK and has some different tracks; check out Wikipedia for the long story. From his days in the band Brinsley Schwarz to playing bass in another band, Rockpile, Nick has had a stellar career and collaborated with some of music’s heavy hitters, including his once-upon-a-time wife, Carlene Carter.

I went on a binge with Nick Lowe this week: Pure Pop For Now People, Labour Of Lust, Nick the Knife, The Abominable Showman, Rose of England ( Nick Lowe and his Cowboy Outfit), Pinker and Prouder Than Previous, and closing with Love Starvation/Trombone/Tokyo Bay/Crying Inside.

These are only his solo albums, and I don’t have all of them. Elsewhere on our journey through the alphabet, we will encounter Nick in the records of Elvis Costello, Ian Gomm, Rockpile, Dave Edmunds and many others. Nick also produced albums for Dr. Feelgood, The Rumours and others and collaborated with Johnny Cash and a laundry list of others. Nick genuinely plays well with others.

I listen to the first two albums by Nick Lowe most frequently, Pure Pop For Now People and Labour of Lust. Two album titles hint at the wordplay in Nick Lowe’s songs. These albums came out in 1978 and ’79, fertile years for New Wave music for which I was a sponge. Although he didn’t have a long list of top ten hits, he did chart a few times and a couple of heavy hitters written by Nick Lowe and covered by others charted. He is best known for the songs “Cruel to Be Kind” (a US top 40 single) and “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass” (a top 10 UK hit), as well as his production work with Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, and others. Lowe also wrote “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding,” a hit for Costello and “I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock ‘n’ Roll),” a hit for Rockpile bandmate Dave Edmunds.

Nick Lowes’s influence is impressive. Paraphrased from Wikipedia:

In 2011, The New York Times claimed: “The 40-year career of the English singer-songwriter Nick Lowe constitutes a paradox: the songs he has written are better known than he is.” Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys described Lowe as one of his favourite lyricists. In another interview, he said he was “blown away” and sent “back to square one” by Lowe’s songwriting.

Wilco covered the Nick Lowe song “I Love My Label” as the B-side to “I Might” (2011) on their dBpm label. Nick Lowe toured with Wilco for their album The Whole Love and made guest appearances on his “Cruel to Be Kind” and (along with Mavis Staples) appeared onstage for a cover of The Band‘s song “The Weight.” The quality of this video sucks, but it gives a hint of the power that occupied the stage that night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qn75TFZA5k&t=4s

So there we have it, a week dominated by Nick Lowe with brief interludes by others. Happy listening, and “If the Good Lord’s Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise,” I look forward to exploring our musical journey again next week.

January 13, 2025

Posted on January 14, 2025 by normanweatheredmusic

I rarely miss a blog week, but I did that in the first week of 2025. In my defence, I was rather sick and hadn’t listened to any new music until then. I listened to some good albums in the letter L as I continued my journey through our vinyl slabs. So, without further ado, let’s see what we listened to in the first two weeks of 2025, up to Sunday, January 12.

The good folks at Big Stir (https://bigstirrecords.com/home) came through first to the post with the album Back To California by the band 20/20. But before getting there, we must travel the road from January 1 to today, January 13. These will be mini-readers to add some context to the sounds.

Joyce Landorf For People Who Don’t Hear The Music Anymore

She has a good voice, which could be used better than it is on this album; it is a great album name, though.

Leapy Lee Little Arrows

Earworm warning. Thinking about this song without hearing it is enough to generate an earworm. Little Arrows is a catchy, radio-friendly song that causes the remainder of the album to be overlooked, and that is a shame because Leapy Lee has a good voice.

Byron Lee and The Dragonaires Dancing Is Forever

Byron Lee is recognized in Jamaica for his contribution to the music of Jamaica, the Caribbean, and eventually abroad. Lee has a deep catalogue: https://www.discogs.com/artist/29820-Byron-Lee-And-The-Dragonaires

Alvin Lee & Mylon LeFevre On The Road To Freedom

On The Road To Freedom is an interesting mash-up of two artists who play in different worlds. Alvin Lee is best known for contributing to the band Ten Years After. Mylon LeFevre is a Christian musician.

John Lennon John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

John Lennon Imagine

John Lennon Shaved Fish

I don’t have words to express my feelings while playing John Lennon’s music.

Lettermen All-Time Greatest Hits

Good harmony and folksy music.

Gary Lewis And The Playboys This Diamond Ring

I had a first print of this once upon a time. I also encountered a lovely lady who liked this album and deserved better than me.

Gordon Lightfoot Don Quixote

Gordon Lightfoot Here On Earth

Gordon Lightfoot Sit Down Young Stranger

I like Gordon Lightfoot’s music. He has a unique vocal style that is his alone, and he does Canada proud.

Pink Floyd Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

I played this twice.

Spacemen 3 Performance

I need to plug this into the amp and crank it.

The Limeliters Our Men in San Francisco

The Limeliters Time To Gather Seeds

Nice harmony in folk music.

Little Feat Waiting For Columbas Disc 1

Little Feat Waiting For Columbas Disc 2

I listened to Little Feat in my first incarnation, then lost contact with them during my lost years, and then found them again just now. I still like them.

Todd Rundgren Something Anything

There is something about Todd Rundgren that has a magical, magnetic pull on me.

That brings us to today, January 13, as I write this, and Back to California by the band 20/20 is on the virtual turntable. I put this album on repeat, and I have racked up a dozen trips as I kept Coming back to California. There are some albums that I have heard once, and that is enough. There are some albums that I have listened to once, and that was one too many times. There are some albums that I can listen to more than once, and I still find them enjoyable. Some albums will become anual listeners given enough time to find that groove from the turntable to my brain. And some of those albums will become deserted island albums.

Coming Back to California by 20/20 isn’t a Deserted Island album yet, but it has passed the first test, the “repeat listener and still like it” category. The next step needs several months to see if I still like it. We’ll see how it fares in the year-end summary. Meanwhile, let’s listen to the album again and focus on the details.

The lead track is the title track, Coming Back To California. There are multiple reasons as to why we would be going back. The lyrics are open to speculation, giving us, the listeners, a chance to think about why we would be going back. I was a long-haired hippy when a friend and I dropped everything, jumped in my car and pointed it in the direction of California. I put some figurative flowers in my hair in 1975 and travelled up and down the west coast. We didn’t have Trump back then, but I would like to know what he would have thought of a Mexico-to-Canada border trip with some long-haired hippy freaks (Signs by Five Man Electrical Band.)

It’s gut-wrenching time when we get to track two. “Why Do I Hurt Myself?” I have an addictive personality; I easily get hooked on things, and then I ask, “Why Do I Hurt Myself?” I could go through this song line by line, nodding my head in demonstration of agreeing and keeping tempo because half the fun is in the music, and the other half is the lyrics. Great song, with credit to:

STEVE ALLEN: VOCALS, GUITAR, KEYBOARD

RON FLYNT: VOCALS, BASS, KEYBOARD, BARITONE GUITAR

RAY FLYNT: DRUMS, PERCUSSION

p.s. I love the harmonica coda

p.s.s. There is some lovely bass work, not just in this song. Play the album from start to finish, and listen for just the bass.

Dang it all, I am only on the third track, and this is changing from a glance at what I listened to in the last two weeks to a short book of music observations.

Throwing all caution aside, we dive in deeper, and the Springtime Love Song gives us some excellent guitar work. As a former guitar player, I know excellent pickin’ when I hear it, and I hear it in the Springtime Love Song.

This album takes a harsh grinding of the gears and shifts into some rocky terrain. “Lucky Heart” cries out for Donald and hopes that he has a heart. The headlines shout the news that Los Angeles is on fire and Laurel Canyon is in there. I hope everyone gets out safely, and I hope that their lives can heal and have hope for the future.

Wow, these lyrics hit home. Jumping ahead to the closing track, Farewell.

“Farewell farewell my good friend

Farewell farewell my good friend

I hope that I told you that I love you

I hope that I told you that I care”

I hope I have told you that I love this album.

I hope I told you that Coming Back to California is an album you should add to your collection.

I hope to go back to California.

I hope that you like this album as much as I do.

49/52

Posted on November 25, 2024 by normanweatheredmusic

Here is what tickled my ears over the past seven days.

Various – Rock ‘N’ Roll of the 70’s

The Moody Blues – Greatest Hits

The Giraffes – Cigarette

Baby Pictures – Wow! This is one of the best album openers I have heard recently. The lyrics resonated with me, and the music moved me.

“Moving on every time he couldn’t stay clean got him a room

To hunker down and hide from the covid nineteen

Well, he could’ve been you, and he could’ve been me”

Baby Pictures starts slow, like a baby learning to walk, builds, gets energized and blasts with those lyrics. I worked in addiction counselling for about 15 years, and those lyrics jumped off the page. “Moving on” is only too real. Guys, I would be proud to call them friends and brothers in our family of men who are in recovery. And then they move and hunker down in their bottomless pit of addiction in some crack house, hiding from everyone, including themselves.

“Well, he could’ve been you, and he could’ve been me”

All people with an addiction are one clean day away from returning to their flop houses. I don’t believe the time ever comes when we can say we are entirely apart from our addiction. I, like many others, change our addiction to something that society finds less troublesome. I went from being an alcoholic to having an insane amount of music in our house. It could’ve been you, and it could’ve been me all too easily. Staying clean takes hard work and commitment. On hard days, and those days come to us all, it is easy to say fuck it all and fall back to our old ways that don’t take hard work, accountability, social skills, commitment and a longer list than I want to post today.

That is just the opening track to an album that is good front-to-back. Skipping ahead a couple of tracks, we get to the song “Dead Byrd.” Shifting gears, this song gears down to a slower pace, but the lyrics got me again.

We overflow with our promises

And our promises like all promises

Are hopeful lies.

Yeah, they’re hopeful lies

We learn to lie, and the more we do it, the easier it gets. We make promises we do not keep but hope they will become reality someday. We hope that magic unicorn dust will someday turn our lies into reality. If we lie enough, we become habitual liars. But they are still lies, ‘Yeah, they’re hopeful lies.”

“The song “Million Year Old Song” is chugging power all the way. I love it.

From “The Shot” is this gem of wisdom,

“But the best part about being caught

Being cornered being forced to stop is that the pressures off.”

The album closes with the track Lazarus, a song that I am still trying to get a grip on what the message is. I have preached sermons on the complex life and death of Lazarus. I am more bewildered after hearing this song. I will listen to this album several more times and see if I get something.

Closing thoughts: I enjoyed this: The Giraffes new album Cigarette. I have listened to it several times and like it better after each session. I guess the best is yet to come.

TRACK LIST

1. Baby Pictures

2. Pipes

3. Limping Horse

4. Dead Bird

5. Million Year Old Song

6. The Shot

7. Lazarus

Keep up with The Giraffes

Website https://thegiraffes.squarespace.com 

Bandcamp https://thegiraffes1.bandcamp.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheGiraffes

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thegiraffesofficial

Twitter https://x.com/thegiraffes

TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@giraffes.official

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_MNr2PJpoZxBtyHCDXa52A

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/3OfQhA76hhDafHFYgyyokm

Apple Music https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/the-giraffes/4292129

Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR

Pause.

I had to pause after The Giraffes and reset my ears for another listening experience. Up next, we have The Pilgrimage by Arne Jansen, Anders Jormin and Uwe Steinmetz. I was looking for some chill music for bedtime a couple of days back and came upon this gem that is good to listen to at any time of day. But I still like it at bedtime.

King Crimson – Starless and Bible Black

Starless and Bible Black opens with classic King Crimson music; however, before the end of side one, it has morphed into a jazzy, open improvisation, psychedelic, prog/rock sound that continues on Side 2. Starless is a complex album, and I highly recommend reading the Wikipedia entry for a more lengthy story than I am offering here.

King Crimson – USA

USA is a live album that could easily be mistaken for a greatest hits album. It is another release that I encourage you to read more about on Wikipedia.

mewithoutYou – Live (vol. One)

I had been following mewithouYou for years. We had all of their discography but never seen them live. When their farewell tour came to Vancouver, we got 2 tickets, got a hotel room within walking distance of the venue and flew from Edmonton to Vancouver the day before the show. We loved the show, and it was amazing to see them live.

While we are on the topic of mewithouYou playing live, they released a stream of them live today. Also available on vinyl, CD, and cassette. Live (vol. One) is a good album, but it doesn’t matter how good they are; no one has been able to capture the blood, sweat and tears of the band on a stage, their energy, the crowd energy and the experience of being in a room with the band standing in front of you. At the same time, you are surrounded by people who love the band as much as you do. It is magical; this album is as close to that experience as possible. There are old favourite songs such as Tie Me Up! Untie Me! They sound amazing. mewithoutYou – Live (vol. One) could be the Frampton Comes Alive of this new era—or the whole Live at Budokan thing with Cheap Trick and Bob Dylan.

Wild, I am sitting at my desk with my head bobbing despite the headache that I have and my foot tapping despite the hip replacement surgery I had less than a year ago. Timothy Hay and O’Porcupine have captured me, live no less; the energy of Michael Weiss and Brandon Beaver on guitars, Greg Jehanian’s bass behind Aaron Weiss’ anguished vocals and pushing him towards me, and I am pumping the air to the beat of Rickie Mazzotta on percussion. And everywhere we look, Allah, Allah, Allah. All Circles is what their albums do on my turntable.

Love Ghost x SKOLD – Love Ghost x SKOLD

Click to access 2024-10-18-Listening_to_music_may_speed_up_recovery.pdf

This is a link to a study on how music may speed up recovery after surgery. The answer is, it does. I used music as a part of addiction recovery, which is finding healing as well.

Thanks for checking out this meandery stroll through the music I listened to this past week.

44/52

Posted on November 4, 2024 by normanweatheredmusic

This week has been full of audio adventures, the highlight would probalby be the new CSN&Y album. There is only one surprise on this list and that is “bodies of divine infinite and eternal spirit. If the music isn’t your cup of tea you can probably agree that the bands name and the album name are interesting.

King Crimson – Islands

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Live At Fillmore East, 1969

Federale – Reverb & Seduction

Librarians With Hickeys – How To Make Friends By Telephone

bodies of divine infinite and eternal spirit – the great guitar of universal compassion

Peter, Paul, & Mary – The Very Best of Peter, Paul & Mary

The Orb & David Gilmour – Metallic Spheres In Colour

King Crimson – Islands

From Wikipedia:

“Islands is the fourth studio album by King Crimson, released on 3 December 1971 on the record label Island. Islands is the only studio album to feature the 1971–1972 touring line-up of Robert Fripp, Mel Collins, Boz Burrell and Ian Wallace. This would be the last album before an entirely new group (except for Fripp) would record the trilogy of Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black and Red between 1973 and 1974. This is also the last album to feature the lyrics of co-founding member Peter Sinfield.

Musically, the album expands on the improvisational jazz leanings of King Crimson’s previous album, Lizard. It received a mixed response from critics and fans.” Norman also gives it a mixed response. I have tried to like this album, but it remains lukewarm and elusive.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Live At Fillmore East, 1969

Four Way Street is already on my deserted island playlist, and Déjà Vu is close behind, making ranking this album difficult. This was recorded shortly before Déjà Vu was released, and Four Way Street came the following year. The trio appears in this order: Live At Fillmore East in 1969, Déjà Vu in 1970 and Four Way Street in 1971.

I learned about Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSN&Y) in 1970 during a chance encounter in Montreal, Canada. I had a lengthy layover between flights, so I grabbed a cab to a nearby mall I knew had a record store. Déjà Vu was on the turntable, and I knew I had to buy that album. Fifty-four years later, I am still digging their music.

After just one listen, a highlight of Live At Fillmore East, 1969 is the 16 minutes of Down By The River. It’s incredible to hear these four musicians jam on four electric guitars. The closing song which follows Down By The River is Find The Cost of Freedom, and we hear four voices harmonizing. I am giving the album its second listen as I write this, and I love every second of it; these guys are next level.

I had my second go at Live At Fillmore East, 1969, and I must confess that it didn’t engage me like Four Way Street did. I’ve filed it in the library and will no doubt listen to it again. However, I didn’t have the rush of blood to my head that Déjà Vu or Four Way Street did. I remain hopefully optimistic until then.

Just for the record, I do not dislike Live At Fillmore East, 1969; it is a good album. It’s just not as good as Four Way Street. Live albums are a crap shoot at best. Everyone has an opinion on what the best live albums are. ‘Frampton Comes Alive!’ makes everyone’s best live albums list. Deep Purple ‘Made in Japan’ also shows up frequently; I think a lot is due to one song, Smoke On The Water. The Talking Heads’ amazing show, ‘Stop Making Sense,’ makes my list at number one, and Rolling Stone magazine puts it at eleven on their list. The Who, ‘Live at Leeds’ is a frequent flyer on these lists. Sunday at the Village Vanguard by Bill Evans would be on my list.

A few venues pop up on most lists of best live albums. Apollo Theater was in the Harlem district of New York City; it has been a significant venue for African American popular music. The list of musicians that graced its stage is enough to fill a book; several are written. Another important New York venue was The Fillmore East, dubbed the church of rock and roll due to the many great artists and penultimate shows it has hosted. Royal Albert Hall in England is a frequently used venue; it is a favourite of mine because I was privileged to see King Crimson play there. Budokan is a venue in Japan that has hosted some great live performances, including Bob Dylan and Cheap Trick. Birdland is the place to be if you want live jazz.

Live venues for Country and Western music usually default to The Grand Ole Opry, The Ryman or shows pulled from live radio performances, where The Opry and numerous stars got their start. The Carter Family and Hank Williams are just two highlights who started on the radio. According to the internet, Country and Western music seem to have one great live album, Waylon Jennings- Waylon Live! It shows up on list after list. Johnny Cash – At Folsom Prison is usually a distant second place.

The list of great live performances and their venue could go on and on. There are numerous web pages with their best live performance lists, which could be a list of the best lists. Ultimate Classic Rock is a decent list, and Rolling Stone has covered the rock and roll world quite well. There are too many lists for live jazz albums because jazz seems to come alive when played outside the studio. I could get lost on Reddit reading everyone’s opinion of the best live performances. I suggest listening to live performances and recordings of live performances and making your own list; that is what I did.

Federale – Reverb & Seduction

These guys have a sound that sucked my right in and held me for the entire length of this album. That’s all, folks; I just thought I would mention them because I listened to this album and liked it. Thank you, Shauna.

Dark Waters’ video https://youtu.be/bxdF2FzNf8U

‘Reverb & Seduction’ album order https://pocp.co/reverb-and-seduction

Bandcamp https://federalemusic.bandcamp.com/album/reverb-seduction

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/6gzstULLTR1OEwhnWeWojh

‘Heaven Forgive Me’ video https://youtu.be/uj7VLYutKgw

‘Advice From a Stranger’ video https://youtu.be/szTf8z5-y9c

‘No Strangers’ video https://youtu.be/RsiftDMjDNg

‘The Worst Thing I Ever Did Was Ever Loving You’ feat. Jenny Don’t https://youtu.be/pryjJsH_dvI

Tour tickets https://www.songkick.com/artists/584775-federale

‘Reverb & Seduction’ is out now on CD and limited edition vinyl, as well as digitally everywhere, including Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal and Bandcamp.

Shameless Promotion PR at contact@shamelesspromotionpr.com

Librarians With Hickeys – How To Make Friends By Telephone

Dang it all! Double dang it! I listened to this album over and over, and twice yesterday. I was working on a little modelling project and had this album on repeat, and I listened to it with intention. I liked it but still have difficulty putting a label on the Librarians With Hickeys. They bring back a warm fuzzy feeling of the heady days of summer as teenagers in the sixties and listening to pop music on the radio as we cruised town. They have good lyrics with lots of the usual suspects: love found, love enjoyed, and love lost and telephones. True to the album name, How To Make Friends By Telephone, there are plenty of references to telephones that naturally brought to mind some songs that I know with telephone as either the title or subject matter of songs. And so off I went, first from memory and then assisted by the Discogs search engine, limited to my music collection. Undoubtedly, the list would be endless outside of this search.

The Carter Family – No Telephone In Heaven

Tom Waits – Telephone Call From Istanbul

ELO -Telephone Line

Jim Croce – Operator (That’s Not The Way It Feels)

Bob Dylan & The Band – Long Distance Operator

Dr. Hook And The Medicine Show – Sylvia’s Mother

Arcade Fire – Cars and Telephones

Back to the Librarians after that rabbit hole, I have enjoyed listening to their music and feel very strongly that I may return to them.

BIG STIR RECORDS

Burbank, CA / Distributed Worldwide

bodies of divine infinite and eternal spirit – the great guitar of universal compassion

This album is new to me. I was strolling around the internet one night when inspecting the insides of my eyelids, and it wasn’t inducing sleep. I started scrolling through Apple Music for music to fall asleep with and found bodies of divine infinite and eternal spirit. They are not the best band to fall asleep listening to, but I was glad to find them. I knew absolutely nothing about bodies… so I turned my sleeplessness into a quest for knowledge about them. I found a bit of info on Bandcamp: https://b-odies.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-guitar-of-universal-compassion

And a bit more on

I found out on that sleepless night that bodies… have a significant back catalogue that I will have to spend some time exploring. For the moment, I will limit my time to their newest adventure, the great guitar of universal compassion.

This is an exciting album from bodies… It travels through the realms of improv, but they don’t sound like a jam band. They also have a psychedelic feel, but I would not call them a psychedelic band. Discogs label their album “all the songs i know about fire” as rock. bodies… bodies are experimental and use musique concrète elements, whether from sample sources outside of the use of musical instruments or through the manipulation of those instruments sounds by various means, including the pedal board.

This is not music for everyone, but it has been excellent music for me. They didn’t put me to sleep but sent me on a quest to listen to more of their music. It has been a grand quest rewarded by hours of exciting music that pushed my music boundaries into new pathways.

43/52

Posted on October 28, 2024 by normanweatheredmusic

This has to be a record for the smallest amount of albums that I listened to in a week. I even listened to more than this the week my hip was replaced. They are good records, and all four received more than one listen. I am slowly making progress on the King Crimson stack of wax.

King Crimson – Lizard

Lizard is the third album by King Crimson, and much like their previous album, In The Wake Of Poseidon, we have a band in transition and turmoil. It was the second consecutive King Crimson album recorded by transitional lineups of the group that did not perform live, following In the Wake of Poseidon. This is the last of two albums by the band to feature Gordon Haskell (and the only one where he was both the lead singer and the bass guitarist, as he only sang one song on the previous album) and the band’s only album to feature drummer Andy McCulloch.

Please read more about the lineup on the Wikipedia site. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizard_(album)

When released, the album received mixed reviews, and listeners still have inconsistent responses. Robert Fripp has been very critical of the album, calling it “unlistenable” and lovers of it as “very strange.” However, he revised his opinion upon listening to Steven Wilson’s surround-sound mix of the album for the 40th anniversary reissue, proclaiming, “For the first time I have heard the Music in the music.”

I regret that my quad music system was stolen, but I will set up a 5.1 system using a DVD to hopefully recreate some of the magic Mr. Fripp is alluding to. Listening to the original recording on either CD or LP, I enjoyed the record. I must admit that I am a lifelong King Crimson fan, and I can’t say that I don’t like any of their material. I also enjoy listening to jazz, and Lizard has plenty of jazz influence. I rate Lizard with a 4-star rating.

Magilla Funk Conduit – Just Dance

Recorded by the omnipresent Nik Kozub, aided and abetted by bassist Thom Golub, trumpet player Bob Tildesley, rapper Cadence Weapon, and singer/songwriter/saxophonist Brett Miles. Brett Miles is the son of legendary football player “Rollie” Miles.” This is a local band; I live in Edmonton and had trouble finding anything about Magilla Funk Conduit online. I know they were active in the early 00s playing live at the Sidetrack Cafe; I miss that venue. They released two albums besides Just Dance, which I found on Discogs. Just Dance isn’t in Discogs. I may have to do an entry for it.

This record was fun to listen to. I will have to keep my eyes peeled for the two albums that I do not have. It is funky and quality, and I enjoyed listening to it.

Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks – Where’s The Money?

Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks are a band that I have been listening to for a very long time. Their albums are not all top-shelf quality, but this one is perfect. Where’s The Money? has all of the traits that make Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks one of my long-time listeners. Last Train To Hicksville is probably the album I like the most, but Where’s The Money? is a close second.

Leslie Phillips – The Turning

The Turning is a pivotal point in Leslie Phillips’s career. Although this is considered a contemporary Christian album, The Turning moves her away from that image and into the career of Sam Phillips.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

“This album marks the first time Phillips worked with producer T Bone Burnett. The two married soon after the release of this album, and Burnett would go on to produce more albums for the singer. The Turning stands out as a turning point in Phillips’ career as a singer and songwriter; on one side, the cheerful, upbeat pop-rock albums that she recorded in the early 1980s, and, on the other, the quirky 60’s music influenced rock and folk albums, with a much darker and more poetic tone lyrically.”

I like this album. Its rhythm and “feel” run through it, setting the stage for each song and making the cohesive album an enjoyable half hour. Plus, I love the music of T Bone Burnett.

That, all folks. A grand total of four albums this week. Four enjoyable albums that all received more than one listen. Next week, we will feature more King Crimson and some music from the fine people who send me new music to listen to. Who those fine people are will be revealed next Monday; until then, happy listening to my friends.

41/52

Posted on October 14, 2024 by normanweatheredmusic

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Here is what I listed to this past week, there were a lot of samples, one off songs and such that didn’t make the list, here is the good stuff that did.

Our Noise – Our Noise

I was introduced to this album by my friend Daniel Jones at Mystic Sons PR. Can I call you my friend Daniel? We only know each other through the internet portals. Regardless, I have listened to this album over and over. And again and again. It is playing as I write this, with a bit of volume, which seems fitting for the music of Our Noise.

I’ve had a hell of a time writing something about Our Noise, both the album and the band. Inspiration just hasn’t hit me. I like the album, so that’s not the problem. It has smart music and lyrics; that’s not the problem. The problem is me getting an angle to hang this album on.

Let’s start with some basic facts about Our Noise.

They are a power trio.
They are from Toronto.
They are Lucy Di Santo on bass and vocals, Dan Cornelius on drums and Steve Fall on guitar.
I can’t put them in a nice, neat genre box.

They have elements of pop, punk, grunge, rock and even bits of metal. Mix that all together, and what we come up with is the album Our Noise.

The album starts with the hard-rocking track Break You. That sounds like a revenge plot. I’m going to break you!

Track two comes out of the gates at a full charge. The grinding solo guitar sets the stage for lyrics about pressing on despite the odds and the difficulty. Tracks three and four continue the hard, edgier sounds. Track five, Hereafter shifts gear to a more pop, radio-friendly sound. Track six is F.L.A., which starts with some nice bass lines and then moves on with a guitar sound I like. I’m curious what effect pedals were used. F.L.A. is a more complex track musically. Lyrically, I think it is about being on the road and looking forward to a place to park for a while.

Seven, Soul Killer, takes us back to grunge guitar land and lyrics to match. Take a Shot is track 8, played at a blistering pace; it throws out a challenge to take a shot at me. Next to last is the song Try, a more melodic track with introspective lyrics. The album ends with the song Amends; it starts with some nice acoustic guitar that shifts to a pop-rock sound as it moves along. More pain was on the closer track, Amends, but I was ready to try again.

There we have it, a mini-review of what is, in my opinion, a decent album. It certainly held my attention for a long time and many plays.

http://www.mysticsons.com

D I S C O V E R:

onmusic.ca

www.theonstore.com

www.facebook.com/onband.ca

www.instagram.com/ournoisemusic

twitter.com/ournoisemusic

www.youtube.com/@ournoisemusic

Next in line is King Crimson, and this will be a marathon. I have ten of their albums and may have more by the end of this blog. I have more on CD, but I will save that for another day, focusing on vinyl for now.

King Crimson – In The Court Of The Crimson King

Today, October 10, is the 55th anniversary of the release of In The Court Of The Crimson King. The album has taken on an almost mythical status in the world of music. I got on the bandwagon early, sometime in either 1970 or 1971. I heard the album playing in a record store in Montreal, and when I asked the staff who was making that music, he showed me the album. Seeing the cover sealed the deal, I took it home with me. I still love it. In The Court Of The Crimson King/(An Observation By King Crimson) is a deserted island album for me.

I had considered doing a full review of each King Crimson release as I went through their releases alphabetically. I quickly dispelled that consideration before the mere thought of that load bent me like Atlas carrying the heavens on his shoulders. I played this album through, start to stop, four or five times as I contemplated the movements of the music and the meaning of the lyrics. I tossed all that, and I ended up enjoying the album for the sheer joy of hearing the music, nothing else, just enjoying some outstanding music—the end. Well, not really; it is on to the next King Crimson release, In The Wake Of Poseidon.

L.S.U. – Dogfish Jones

The world lost a great musician on March 12, 2024, Michael Knott. L.S.U. was one of his projects, and Dogfish Jones was the last release under that nom de plume. While the music of Michael Knott was often jarring to some and confusing to others, he had a fan base and was respected in the circles of life he swirled about in. He released over 30 albums that took his music in many different directions, but never losing the essence of Michael Knott.

“Originally released on Light Records in 1998, Dogfish Jones is the result of musical genius and cult legend Michael Knott. Enlisting the help of such notables as Chuck Cummings and Gene Eugene, Knott’s last LSU release continues to push the boundaries of creativity in alternative rock. With Dogfish Jones, Knott creates a masterpiece by taking the dark, psychedelic, post-punk feel of David Bowie and meshing it with the aggressiveness of Jane’s Addiction. It was an album ahead of its time in 1998. Hopefully, this many years later, this classic heavy album can be appreciated for it’s musical brilliance.″ -Retroactive Records

King Crimson – In The Wake Of Poseidon

I only listened to this once yesterday, so I will have to fire up the record spinny thingy and hear it again.

It’s Thanksgiving Day in Canada, my home, so here is a song that pays tribute (mentions in passing?) to Thanksgiving Day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m57gzA2JCcM

39/52

Posted on September 30, 2024 by normanweatheredmusic

Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby present to you my listening fixes from the past week. Explosions In The Sky was a highlight live, and The Armoires had the most spins. Check them out, you may just find it as entertaining and enjoyable as I did.

Explosions In The Sky – Live at Midway

We have every album EITS (Explosions In The Sky) released, so we were excited to hear them live. They did not disappoint us. The show was excellent in every way. The venue was a good choice for them; it was not so large that they were playing in a half-empty room and not so small that we were packed like sardines in a tin. We had a good view straight in line with the middle of the stage and on the rail overlooking the standing-room floor. The volume was perfect; so many shows have the volume cranked to a level that must damage the speakers and have way too much bass. EITS had none of that. The stage lights were great as well. They didn’t use the front-of-stage lights; they are an instrumental band, so they don’t need to highlight the lead vocalist. Most of their music is collaborative, so there is no need to spotlight the soloist because they don’t usually have one. Their performance style, which is a testament to their collaborative nature, was a sight to behold. They employed plenty of back-of-house lighting to create a similar effect to shadow puppets.

The music, ah, yes, the music, it kept me enthralled for the entire show. EITS is a five-man band: a drummer, a keyboard player who also plays guitar, both bass and six-string, two electric guitar players and a bass/six-string player who often swaps guitars mid-song. They had moments when the music exploded from the stage to engulf us. EITS are experts at building tension in the music that gradually rises until the stage can’t hold it any longer, and it washes over us in a tsunami of sound.

Having Joel treat me to this concert as a gift for my seventieth birthday was beautiful. What a grand way to celebrate starting a new decade. Thank you, Joel.

Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited

This album is a frequent spinner on my turntable. It is not my favourite Dylan album; that title belongs to Desire, but Highway 61 Revisited is still a good album.

The Armoires – Octoberland

Big Stir Records

THE ARMOIRES – the Burbank, California-based band led by Christina Bulbenko (vocals, keys) and Rex Broome (vocals, guitar), also known as the founders of Big Stir Records – have exuded equal parts brash confidence and sophisticated mystery. There’s been the swirling psych-pop manifesto “We Absolutely Mean It,” the sweetly comforting “Music & Animals,” the dramatic strings-driven “Here Comes The Song,” and, up next, the giddy postpunk pulsebeat of “Ridley & Me After The Apocalypse.” All of them display the band revelling in their unique sound: the ambiguously androgynous harmonies of Broome and Bulbenko, the intricate instrumental interplay between Larysa Bulbenko’s endlessly versatile viola and the electric 12-strings, sweeping synths and delicate piano of the band leaders, and the unerringly empathetic rhythms of John M. Borack (drums) and Clifford Ulrich (bass).

Octoberland is easy to listen to, but I would not call it easy listening. It is playful but not childish. It is profound but not abysmal. It is joyous without being mawkish. It is sweet without being syrupy. In my own words, it is a damn good album.

Various – Cheapskates Vol. 4

This is not a good road trip listener. It does have some good tunes, just not enough for the road noise.

Various – At the Foot of the Cross

Valerie liked this one a lot. I used to like it a lot, but that has slipped, and I’m just liking it now. It is high quality in every aspect; if you are into Christian music, this should be on your playlist.

Various – Country Greats

It is a mixed bag of county and Western music, mainly from the sixties. This recording has no flow, and even the mix level is crazy. One song was so low we had to turn the volume up, and the next one blared at us to turn the volume down. The bass was too heavy on some songs, and the vocals were buried in the mix of instruments on other tracks. The songs didn’t have a chronological flow or have like-minded songs grouped.

They had a version of Jambalaya by George Jones, a good recording artist, no doubt, but this song belongs to Hank Williams. Daddy Sang Bass was by Carl Perkins on this CD, and it should be Johnny Cash. The list goes on. There are too many errors accumulated in these three CDs for an enjoyable listen; there are some great songs on here, but not enough, and not enough by the right artists or in the correct place on the tracklist.

An interesting twist on this album is the Queen of Soul, Tina Turner, singing three songs taken from her C/W album Good Hearted Woman. This isn’t her first C/W album either; Ike Turner had her record the album Tina Turns the Country On! in an attempt to expose her to a wider audience. I actually like her take on these songs; they are probably my favourite songs on a sketchy album.

The Moody Blues – Greatest Hits

I’m not a big fan of The Moody Blues, but I appreciate their music in general and a few songs in particular. Tuesday Afternoon, Nights In White Satin, & I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band) are all three good tunes; I remember them from being big hits on the radio way back when. Once upon a time, I had these on vinyl. Now I just have this on CD.

Phil Keaggy – Play Thru Me

Continuing my trip thru the alphabet we are still in K, and Phil Keaggy, who we started listening to last week. Play Thru Me is another good example of his guitar playing. This album has excellent notes on the inner sleeve that tell us which guitars he played on each song and a bit of history on how he wrote them. I wish more albums had inner sleeves this good; thanks, Phil.

Weathered Music

The musical explorations of Norman and Joel Weatherly.

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