Candi Staton and Cat Power

It is worth listening to the new Candi Staton CD, 'His Hands' and the new(ish) Cat Power CD, 'The Greatest' back-to-back. Cat Power (like contemporaries Neko Case and even Jenny Lewis), in an attempt to develop her sound, gathered herself a crack band, headed South, and sought to create a purer, more classic album.

Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) is probably the most successful of her peers in this endeavour. Her CD carries a sharpness, and also a depth, the others lack. She captures a restrained soulful feel without losing her own sound. The mood of the album, while draped in the trappings of 70s soul, is never anything other than that of Cat Power. She may have Booker T's drummer, and Al Green's partner on board; the sound may be polished and the rough edges removed, but there is an ongoing down-beatness, that is integral to the whole. It is a great album and it has resulted in my backtracking into her older material, but as an example of soul, it remains somewhat outside the territory.

Candi Staton, on the other hand, is a real soul singer. She has also gathered a crack band, and has returned (South?) to the studio. I am not sure how much Staton has sought to develop her sound, but we can suggest that by hiring Lambchop's producer, Mark Nevers, someone has sought to do the job. Nevers, who has contributed strongly the 'soul'fulness of Kurt Wagner's songs, clearly knows his way around, since this never sounds anything other than authentic.

Most of this can probably be put down to Candi Staton herself. Her voice continues to carry a broken determination, a certainty in her own will to survive and celebrate that is at the heart of all great soul singers. I have the feeling that she could sing the phone book, and it would suddenly take on a sense of drama and pathos.

Sonically, I am not sure that there is a million miles between Cat Power's and Candi Staton's. They both carry much of the same textures and sounds, and both have tales of sadness, woe and desparation. But the key difference is the difference between someone who wants to make a soul album and a soul singer. Cat Power's album is brilliant and cannot recommend it enough, but it is simply not a soul album. Candi Staton manages to take the same sounds and the same stories and bring hope to them. I probably prefer Cat Power's minor chords and melancholia - 'His Hands', while being excellent and a fine come-back, is still just a little too confined to the soul arena to win hands down.

But in the soul stakes... Candi has it everytime.

O is for... On-U Sound

This is a post for another blog somewhere else, but I see no reason why it shouldn't be here too, marking, as it does, one of my first musical obsessions.

O is for…. On-U Sound

This is a fairly formal first posting, but this simply what I found myself writing when I wanted to convey why I thought Adrian Sherwood’s On-U Sound should be included – biographical information and all…

It might be true to say that Adrian Sherwood and the On-U Sound System label lost its way in the very late 80s, and has not released anything genuinely essential since then. However, for about ten years, from 1978-1988, the On-U Sound label and all it’s offshoots were amongst the hottest, most experimental and perhaps, most influential outfits working in the musical underground during that time. Not bad for a geezer that got started by flogging reprinted Jamaican records up and down the country from the boot of his car.

It was by doing so, however, that Adrian Sherwood began to meet reggae hero Prince Far I, and became acquainted with his backing band, Roots Radics. Being a bit of a young upstart, and it being 1978 and all that, Sherwood wanted to start his own record label, and so agreed to produce a side by members of the band, calling themselves ‘Creation Rebel’ after a Burning Spear song.

Two early releases ‘Dub from Creation’ and ‘Rebel Vibration’ were released on the Hitrun label, which soon went bust. These two LPs were well received by some critics, but dismissed by hardcore reggae fans as being too experimental. Now, they sound as fresh as anything Tubby, or Lee Perry produced from the 70s. The dubs were sharp and spacey, and made good use of all musicians. Despite Hitruns collapse, Sherwood persisted, however, establishing the On-U Sound label soon afterwards.

The well-documented punk connection with reggae saw Sherwood forging links with Dennis Bovell, ex-slits Ari-Up, ex-Pop Group members Steve Beresford and Mark Stewart, as well as some from the Corpus Christi label, Penny Rimbaud, and Little ‘Annie’ Anxiety – even John Lydon shows up one release. Perhaps a consequence of the input of these artists, or perhaps a natural leaning in Sherwood himself, it saw On-U sound becoming increasingly experimental as the roster of artists on the label grew.

Every release was given the future-proof tagline ‘Another 1992 On-U Sound Production’ and with Adrian Sherwood was at the helm, the production became deliberately futuristic. Creation Rebel’s third release ‘Starship Africa’ stretched the sparseness of dub reggae to breaking point. Ari-Up’s ‘New Age Steppers’ pulled the genre towards a post-punk (post-everything) sensibility – their cover of Junior Byles’ ‘Fade Away’ needs to be heard. The arrival of Bonjo Iyanbinghi Noah and his band, African Head Charge, took the Rasta vibrations to unheard-of possibilities of abstraction, with their debut ‘My Life in a Hole in the Ground’.

Various studio-based projects prefigured Bristol based Trip Hop. Mark Stewart’s abrasive assault is best seen in his debut ‘Learning to Cope With Cowardice’ (especially the single release – a cover of Blake’s ‘Jerusalem’). The party reached its highpoint with the insanity of The Missing Brazilians’ ‘Warzone’. This LP pushed so many barriers down that even the open-minded distributor Cherry Red balked. Mixing trippy dub beats with heavy noise assaults pushed even Sherwood abilities to the extreme. There are points on the album where everything pours into the red. It is an album that really ought to be heard by everyone with an interest in avant-garde – even if only once.

A growing critical reaction and increasing studio technology (with perhaps a nod to the digital sound now coming from Jamaica) saw On-U Sound refine its sound away from raw experimentalism. Making use of Sherwood’s collaborators Skip McDonald, Doug Wimbush and Keith LeBlanc (the original Sugar Hill house band in NY), the sound became more electronic and more syncopated. This resulted in On-U Sound hitting both its high-water mark in terms of artistry and record sales, but also the slow slide away from what made the label so exciting in the first place.

Records of note from this period include Dub Syndicate’s ‘Echomania’, and African Head Charge’s truly magnificent ‘Songs of Praise’.

Perhaps reliance upon a formula, perhaps the move of key players to other labels, perhaps the increasing competition of other labels, producers, and genres all resulted in On-U Sound becoming something of a spent force by the very late 80s. Only very few truly great releases have emerged. New artists have joined the label, some of whom have made good releases (notably Ghetto Priest, Japan’s Audio Active, and Sherwood’s own 2Badcard), but nothing has gained the same level of impact as those early ‘1992’ releases.

Sherwood himself has kept busy at the helm of On-U Sound, but also as a jobbing producer, having worked with Depeche Mode, The Fall, Skinny Puppy, Simply Red, Michael Franti amongst many other. He has also established the reggae re-issue label ‘Pressure Sounds’. His influence on the path of music remains considerable, if only for those historic releases. The Bristol connection through Mark Stewart and Gary Clail has been credited by Massive Attack and others in that scene. The ambient field of The Orb and Orbital draws links to On-U Sound, and it is plausible to draw links to labels such as Mo’Wax and Warp, if only the range of their production.

Some final personal notes: I first recall properly listening to an On-U Sound release under the influence of magic mushrooms (circa 1989), listening to the suitably trippy (and undoubted classic) collaboration between Creation Rebel and the New Age Steppers. More than simply changing the shape of that evening (which remains exceptionally memorable), it changed the shape of my musical listening, opening my mind to reggae, dub and dancehall. I also managed to see African Head Charge at Glastonbury in 1990. The electrics kept cutting out, leaving only the heavy nyahbinghi drumming. Fireworks from another part of the festival were set off. I was in heaven.

Essential releases include:

Creation Rebel - Starship Africa (1980)

African Head Charge – Off the Beaten Track (1986) & Songs of Praise (1990)

New Age Steppers – New Age Steppers (1980)

Dub Syndicate – Pounding Systems (1981) & Echomania (1993)

Lies, My Latest Novel and Guns and Roses

OK. I lied. I couldn't help myself and I bought another couple of CDs. Here they are.

My Morning Jacket - Tennessee Fire - - 1999 - Wichita Recordings (£5)
Edwyn Collins & Orange Juice - A Casual Introduction - - 2002 - Setanta (£3)
David Axelrod - The Edge of Music - - 2006 - Stateside (£12)


Tuesday night, I caught My Latest Novel at the Glee Club in Birmingham (You have to love the Glee Club - so so intimate). The support was a band called the Semifinalists. This three-piece bewildered me at first with a shouty, amateurish burst before settling into something like a cross between Broadcast and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. They were OK, but I had no desire to pursue them further.

My Latest Novel seemed nervous at first, just not quite comfortable. As they got into it, though, they began to relax and appeared to enjoy themselves. Their set matched their CD virtually song for song, which on the one hand was cool, because it is a great CD. On the other, it meant that there was not so much spontenaity. By the end, it was a really good gig - a lot of good energy. I enjoyed it - check 'em out...

Now, Guns and Roses. I am thoroughly made up that people have commented on these short pieces of nonsense. And I really hope people continue doing so, but I need to get this stuff off my chest...

Let us set the record straight on this band. For all the new, dirty energy that they poured into heavy rock (of the popular sort) - a grit that had been absent for best part of a decade if you include punk, since the Stones if you don't - they truly suck. I bought the LP in 1986 (ish) on import, before 'Welcome to the Jungle' had really cracked, and I have to admit that I loved it. I played the LP to death. Until, that is, the LP was officially released in this country and you could not walk into a rock club without hearing it. It was around that time that I really began to get tired. I always thought that 'Sweet Child o'Mine' and 'Paradise City' were among the least interesting, and yet these were the tunes that would be played three to four times a night. By the time my friends began to tire also, I was so grateful.

I was mostly out of that scene by the time 'Lies' was released and so I was not subjected to it, and by the time 'Use Your Illusion' was out, I was long gone. And besides, rock music had learnt its lesson and was long gone too - grit was back and some genuinely good rock bands had climbed into their place, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Metallica (none of which bands I was really into, by the way).

Now, I have a bad compulsion. You may have noticed, I really like to buy CDs. One of the reasons I like to buy CDs is because I can re-buy my old vinyl collection from the 80s. That is why I bought 'Appetite for Destruction' last week. I listened through it once. Once was all I could handle - perhaps more. Even the one half-way decent track - the title track -
was, as I say, only half-way decent. The two tunes I recalled liking from the LP at the time, 'It's So Easy' and 'Mr. Brownstone' are so immature, it is embarrassing ('And besides I ain't got nothing better to do, and I'm bored...' I ask you... I mean, really...?). And the two aforementioned big singles... Well, it is probably fair to say that despite the 20 years that have since passed, the wounds have still not healed.

Occasionally, things I have learned to hate have been re-habilitated. Nirvana's Nevermind is a case in point (A housemate played it continually for a month), as is Doves's first CD (which was heard under mis-fortunate conditions, e.g. with Coldplay). But 'Appetite..' was not one of them. I genuinely cannot recall hearing a CD that made me judder so often while listening to it.

I understand that nostalgia can play sneaky tricks on the mind, but guys, I recommend that you go and try to listen to that CD afresh. You'll see what I mean...

Catching Up and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy gig

Bloody hell... exactly where did that week go? I almost feel ripped off, except that time blurring is kind of the norm around here, so really, I am the fool for being surprised.

Anyway, I have a pile of CDs to comment on, new purchases to report and a gig to mention. In the interests of post titles, I am going to post a number of entries.

New Purchase report:

My Latest Novel - The Reputation of Ross Francis EP - - 2006 - Bella Union (£3)
Brian Wilson - Smile - - 2004 - Nonesuch (£6 SH)
Various Artists - New Orleans Funk 1960-1975 - - 2000 - Soul Jazz Records (£8)

I also have a few en route via the post - all rare Bonnie 'Prince' Billy stuff.

On the Bonnie 'Prince' Billy tip... I am extremely happy to mention that I will see the great man in April. He is - as is his won't - doing a number of gigs in the far far North (the most southernly of which is Gateshead). But the final gig of the tour is at a very small village hall in the middle of nowhere (Glenuig Village Hall, to be precise). I have the suspicion that this is going to be one hell of an occasion. All the pieces fit:

1) end of a tour
2) a one off tour at that (it is funded by Scottish Arts and he is playing with a small Scottish folk band)
3) apparently the location of a boyhood holiday
4) middle of nowhere
5) the only people there are very likely to be the most determined and enthusiastic fans (this was confirmed to be by the management of the hall), so the atmosphere should be close to ecstatic.
6) From what I understand, an awful lot of those going will be camping nearby

Now, given the atmospheric, esoteric, and/or utterly unpredicatble nature of Will Oldham gigs (as I understand - this will be the first time I will see him), I think it is easy to see why this gig will be a monster. I think I would be a FOOL to miss it. Despite the million hour drive and perhaps even having to camp.

Thankfully, despite anything else I might say about my wife and daughter, they are both totally game when it comes to an adventure. Both of them are up for it. Che is excited because it is the first gig that she will be allowed to go to (children are allowed - it is a village hall) and it is in Scotland, and I think she has picked up my almost unbridlable excitement. Caroline is just tuned into the damned foolishness of the trip. She does like to try new things, much more so than me. So, my suspicion is that she has picked up on my determination and kind of figured that Bonnie 'Prince' Billy ain't that bad, and that I will not need any persuading on this one. You don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

So, April 22nd. I cannot wait.

(The Godlike Genius of) Scott Walker

It barely needs noting that there is no-one - not even Satan - who can resist the glory of Scott Walker's self-titled albums from the late 60s. The Walker Brothers' releases beforehand are pretty nifty too. I was blown away by Scott's tunes from 'Nite Flights', which leapt out of the darkness like that thing in my bad dreams, and showed me a whole new Scott (a scary Walker - a Walker brother from another planet). Even when I finally bought 'Tilt', it towered over me, and despite being really hard to get, gave me thrills ('21, 21, 21'). But for some reason, I kept putting 'Climate of Hunter' off. Perhaps it was the rumours of poor '80s production. Perhaps it was caught between the twin-glories of 'Tilt' and 'The Electrician', and so simply could not compete. Perhaps I just knew that a sparkly new remasted edition was on the horizon, and that I should really just wait.

Well, wait I did. And sure enough, a sparkly remastered edition was released, which I bought as soon as I saw it. Even then, however, the mood wasn't right and it sat, unplayed on my shelf for a further three and a half weeks. I do not know what I was thinking, or why I was thinking it. It might be the same reason that 'Au Hasard Balthazar' still sits unwatched on my DVD shelf after about three and a half months, despite years of wishing for it.

Anyway, about a week ago, I finally did it. I played 'Climate of Hunter'. Bloody Hell, the guy is good. Yes, it probably is fair to say that the production is not perfect - and yes, it is also probably fair to say that it is not as great as 'Tilt' or 'The Electrician'. But bloody hell, the guy is good. It does sound very much like it sits between those releases. It is not as operatic as Tilt, nor as much like a fucked up disco as 'Nite Flights', and as such, it probably is not as good. But this is a bit like saying that The White Album is not as good as Revolver or Sgt. Pepper - it is probably true, but it is hardly condemnation either.

As for the sound: heavy slabs of synths play host to Scott's loosely shaped lyrics. The word play is not tight or playful, but every word, every phrase and every phrasing seems forced. I feel like I am being a little over-dramatic here, but it does feel like the Garden of Gethsemane - everything feels like it is being forced into existence. Here is a sample of the lyrics (I do not claim to know what he's on about):

'This is how you disappear
out between midnight

called up
under valleys
of torches
and stars.

Foot, knee,
shaggy belly, face,
famous hindlegs,

as one of their own
you graze with them.'

('Rawhide')

Various contributors come and go throughout the disc - from Billy Ocean (who performs a duet on the one single from the CD - the appropriately named 'Track Three') and Evan Parker to Mark Knopfler. Somehow, these oddly inappropriate artists are sucked into Scott's universe, and give performances that somehow make the CD a little more tense again. I have waited a long time for this - and for no terribly good reason - but hey, it was worth the wait.

My Latest Novel, U2 and Michael Nyman

As I said yesterday, I did indeed go to purchase a number of CDs later that day. I had hoped to get back to you before then, but real life intervened and I didn't. Such is real life.

How real? Beats me.

I bought five CDs:

My Latest Novel - Wolves - - 2006 - - Bella Union (£12)
Pharoah Sanders - You've Got to Have Freedom: Anthology - - 2005 - - Universal (£9)
Leonard Cohen - The Future - - 1992 - - Columbia (£4 SH)
Michael Nyman - The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover - - 1989 - Venture (£5 SH)
Steely Dan - Can't Buy a Thrill - - 1998 (reissue) - - MCA (£6)

I am also going to mention two other recent releases:

U2 - Achtung Baby - - 1991 - - Island (£5 SH)
Scott Walker - Climate of Hunter - - 2006 Reissue - - EMI (£6)


First up - My Latest Novel. This IS going to be huge. I caught a track on the radio - DAB's The Arrow - 'Real Rock Radio'. (This is, incidentally, the best music station I have come across on DAB. Most of the time, it is more of the usual MOR rock standard. But there are floating around in the station a few DJs who know their music, and have played some very interesting bits and bobs. Anyway...) As soon as I heard this tune, I thought that it sounded interesting with a capital 'I' and instantly felt the need to hunt the sucker down. Discovering that it wasn't yet released as an LP, I pre-ordered with Steve (my dealer), and readied myself for possible vindication or disappointment. Thankfully, I am glad to announce that the former was in order. It's really fucking good.

To cut a long story short, its a folkier Arcade Fire. Whereas the Arcade Fire were more angular - especially in their Bowie/David Byrne/Pixies connections - these guys are a little more flowing, and less fixed in their textural palette. By that I mean that they let the percussion and strings do a lot more of the work than the Arcade Fire. (This is not to say that AF are stingy with these elements, but more that they use strings and percussion to augment what the 'traditional' rock instruments are doing, rather than let these instruments set their own terms - Does that make sense?). Where they are very similar, is in their energy and conveying a definite sense of urgency. On top of all that, the songs are pretty good too. 'Learning Lego', 'When We Were Wolves' and the single 'The Reputation of Ross Francis' make lovely use of chanting and shouting, while the opener 'Ghost in the Gutter' has a great Morricone feel. Go and buy it now!

I am going to deal with two more in the same chunk if that is OK. I used to have both U2's 'Achtung Baby' and Michael Nyman's 'The Cook, the theif...' on cassette (probably still do.... oh no, I don't - I binned all my cassettes) . Both of them had been somewhat sidelined in my attentions, and I felt almost lukewarm about re-buying them, despite the fact that they were both criminally missing from the collection.

Both of them were highly satisfying to actually play again and have reminded how damned great both artists are. Nyman's opener to this is such a headturner - 'Memorial' both recalls the film and is thoroughly evocative in its own terms. My instant thought is that I would love this track to a perpetual soundtrack to the whole of my life. Then, maybe, I would feel as important as I ought to feel. The whole world would be one grand procession. It's probably as well that this is not the case, since the sudden obligation to stand and walk at such a pace would surely piss every other living person alive off way too much. (Possibly even me). But the world would seem such a grand place. The last track was missable and probably accounts for my half-heartedness, being a vocal piece. I am not a great choral person.

'Achtung Baby' was placed in the deck with great misgivings. It has been heartily dissed by me on several occasions (despite kind of knowing that I was being unduly harsh). I am so so devoted to The Unforgettable Fire, that this seemed so so wrong on release. I bought it (on cassette - an indication of my purse-lipped attitude to it), listened to it and then set it to one side. I now know why: 'The Fly'. This was the first single and it sucks. It was all that was wrong with U2 post 1990 - over-brash and full of itself, but mostly shiny and luminescent. I liked the matt shades of greys from UF and even The Joshua Tree. But having listened to it through, with honest ears. I have to say that overall, it is pretty good. the other singles hold up very nicely. Even 'One', which is now Johnny Cash's, as far as I am concerned, was satisfying. It will never reflect that golden period of sullen growing up that I associate with UF, but still a damned good CD from a band that know how to rock (even if I wish they wouldn't).

Time prevents me from getting to the other stuff... I will be back.

Acoustic Ladyland, Jenny Lewis and snow

OK, guys. So this is how this thing is going to work now that that damned list is up. As and when I buy a CD or two - or more, I will write about it, and in doing so, perhaps make one or two comments about me and my life and the other stuff that surrounds it. In essence, the dumb list of CDs will provide a context and the soundtrack to stuff that happens here. Kinda the way it should be.

It is Saturday morning and, as is not entirely unusual, I sneakily bought a couple of CDs last night. I didn't mean to - I usually buy CDs (officially) on Saturdays. But I had a little cash in my pocket, they were cheap, figured it would make the dent today look a little less. So, you know, I did it. £10 - two CDs - one less than a month out (and critically acclaimed at that). Am I so bad? Probably not. Sad, though, maybe.

Anyhow here are the two CDs:

Acoustic Ladyland - Last Chance Disco - - 2005 - - Babel Records (£5)
Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat - - 2006 - - Rough Trade (£6)

Can I just add that it is Saturday and it is snowing like a motherfucker out there. All week I have been hoping and praying (no less) for serious snow that might afford us in the midlands a little equality with our more-Northern colleagues and get us some time off school. No. We wait until the weekend, when the only inconvenience is to ourselves and then it snows. And it snows.

The CDs.

I have only listened to these once, so neither review (if you could call them that) will be very comprehensive.

The Acoustic Ladyland is way too uptempo for me really. The best description would be punk-jazz, but all in all, it involves too much jumping around for tunes with no words. There are a few tunes that I can see making it onto the Radio Show, and perhaps on odd moments, it might get played from time to time. Is it any good? Erm, yes, I think so. There are a few standout tracks, the openers 'Iggy' and 'OM KONZ' are both brain-jarring, and later a track called 'Thing' leaps out nicely (in a bumpy kind of way). 'Of You' and 'Nico' - the last two tracks - push the jazzy thing up a little, which is nice after the barrage of sound that has hit for the previous half hour. All in all, it probably needs a few more listens. Just not certain that it'll get many of them.

Jenny Lewis has kind of passed me by a little. Her band, prior to this release, Rilo Kiley, has resided just a little too squarely in the indie-darling set to catch my attention. As such, I cannot make any great comments about how this is a grand leap forward or any bullshit like that. It's a nice LP. It has a pleasing country-esque vibe to it, while not over-powering in that way. Some of the songs seem very satisfying, and somehow I find it in the same territory as a few other quite satisfying CDs - 'The Greatest' by Cat Power, 'I am Shelby Lynn' by ermm... I forget (Shelby Lynn). Although I am not sure that it is quite as good as either of them. This will definitely get some further listens, though, since there are some tunes that are already shouting to be heard again 'The Big Guns', 'Rabbit Fur Coat', 'Born Secular'. I also suspect that it will grow a little with successive listens, so watch this space. Hopefully I will remember to update you.

It is Saturday, so a few more CDs are likely to arrive in the next few hours, including the new not-yet-released, My Latest Novel CD, 'Wolves'. So you might hear back from me quite soon.

Cheers

Opener - A List For All Seasons

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