Brian James's Blog, page 23

Weekend Music Roundup

The weekend is here and it's been an exciting two weeks in my house musically. I was given an extremely generous gift of a crate of amazing records. A friend had held onto his records from the '70s and early 80's despite not having a turntable...because that's what we do with music, we cherish it. A good bunch of the records were from bands that I'd heard, or heard of, some of which I'd foolishly written off for no real reason 20-25 years ago. So the theme for this week's list are records that I should've been listening to for a long time, but hadn't because of preconceived notions. Always revisit...always stay flexible...always listen with open ears. Enjoy.

Ian Hunter - Ian Hunter: After Mott the Hoople disbanded in 1975, Ian released his first solo record the same year. Of course, he snatched Mick Ronson to play lead guitar, making this a seamless extension of Mott's glam legacy. Being the mid-70s, it is also a record that is evolving into that bar blues sound tailored made to coke use, but still keeping his Bowie-esque flair. "Who Do You Love," "Lounge Lizard," "3,000 Miles From Here," "It Ain't Easy When You Fall," and the epic "Boy" are standouts on this true masterpiece of an album.
The Kinks - Misfits: Very few bands had the longevity, influence, or success enjoyed by Ray and Dave Davies. I've always considered them the third pillar of the British Invasion along with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Like the Stones, the Kinks carried on through the 70's and continued to evolve. This album was released in 1978 and is an introspective rock album, though it doesn't contain any of their hits (unless you count "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy"), it does contain many of great tunes. This reminds me of the kind of music John Lennon was writing at the time, however the Kinks always stayed in touch with that working class audience and these are the songs for the working class lads of the 60s that have grown older and are staring down middle age. "Black Messiah," "Live Life," "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy" and the title track are standouts on this late era album by one of the best rock bands ever. 

The Felice Brothers - The Felice Brothers: This is the 2008 album from the Hudson Valley heroes. Though they hail from my area, I wasn't introduced to their music until the album after this one, which was decent but nothing that really surfaced to the top for me. They are a mainstay on the local indie radio station and my thing about these guys is that the songs I hate, I REALLY hate. But this was their breakthrough record so I finally got around to listening to it, and now I understand why people around here have invested so much love in these guys. This album is fantastic indie folk rock. After the next album, the one brother, Simone, would leave and go on to being more a producer, and his input is missed on later releases. Here, it shines, and it balances Ian.

Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense: The 1984 live album the New York post-punk new wave band is a classic live record. This is a band that I've been familiar with since childhood, as they dominated the airwaves and MTv, but it's a band that I never got into as a fan. Over the past few years, having listened to the radio at work, something I hadn't done since childhood, I became more intrigued by this band and found this album at the library. This is like a greatest hits album, but a live version so that the songs have a different interpretation. Though I usually like to get into deep cuts, this is a great re-introduction to this band and one that I've been enjoying. 
Little Feat - Sailin' Shoes: The second album from the L.A. blues rock band came out in '72 and is probably their best known record. In L.A. at that time, there was a growing movement of southern rock and country influences going around. Gram Parsons was another artist finding inspiration there, as was this band. The blues are still dominant here, making this sound a bit like a mix between early Allman Brothers meets Led Zeppelin. This was one of those bands that I never exactly avoided, but just never bothered to explore, so I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed this record. I should have been listening to this for past twenty years.

The Moody Blues - Long Distance Voyager: Released in 1981, this UK prog-pop rock band's eleventh album. It opens with the well-known "The Voice" which is a nice combination of synth and pop rock that feels a bit like Pink Floyd's Momentary Lapse of Reason. It's 80's rock before 80's rock became a mainstream sound, which means it maintains a foot in the sound of the 70's, just enough that it makes this album stand out from what would follow. "Gemini Dream," "22,000 Days," and "Veteran Cosmic Rocker" are my personal favorites. 

Fiction Friday (82)

When I was choosing my next book to read a few weeks back, I decided to dig into the "to-read" shelves in my office and came across my signed copy of After Alice. Having been a huge Alice fan since my teen years, I was partially surprised that this has sat on my shelf for four years. Having just finished reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to my daughter, and it still fresh in my mind, it seemed like a good time to read this.
After Alice by Gregory Maguire
(William Morrow, 2015)

 In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice mentions one friend and mentions her exactly once. Her name is Ada, and all we know from Alice is that she wears her hair in ringlets. From that one glimpse, Gregory Maguire gives us this novel. Now, it's not that surprising as he's made a career out of spinning out stories from classic children's literature. What struck me about this book was how he was able to grasp the parameters of Lewis Carroll's world and expand on it in such a precise way that makes the reader feel as though they are inhabiting the same place, unlike say, The Looking Glass Wars which re-invents Wonderland.
Alternating between Ada's attempt to navigate Wonderland, and the frantic search happening in Oxford on that fateful summer day, this book, while slow to begin, becomes entirely engrossing after the first 50 pages or so. It's as much a commentary on Victorian society as it is an examination of the peculiar imaginary land. 
We've only ever seen Wonderland through Alice's eyes, a child who is strong-willed and confident. Ada is a very different child, and her perception of this place gives us new things to consider. I found this book to be extremely well-written (though the author does tend to be a bit pretentious a times). His inventions of Wonderland fit seamlessly with the original, something that was not easy to achieve. I would say this is a must read for serious Alice fans.  

Weekend Music Roundup

The weekend is here...Father's Day weekend. I wish I could showcase a bunch of records that my father loved, but to be honest, my dad had terrible taste in music. It's one of the things that made him so endearing. He loved his disco, and as he got older, he loved that terrible new country. But he loved it with a passion, and that's respectable. So instead, I'm going to feature records by artists that played their part in my musical upbringing. These are albums that I've recently acquired, but by artists that shaped me in my youth. Enjoy.
Captain Beefheart - Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1966: Released on vinyl last year, this live recording is a glimpse into the pre-Safe As Milk era (the band's debut from 1967). The sound quality is surprisingly fantastic on this collection of blues classics. The band hadn't yet morphed into the freak blues sound that would take shape by the end of the decade, so this is far more accessible to straight blues fans. I cam across this on RSD at the local shop and picked it up. A splendid addition to the Captain collection.
Black Sabbath - Sabotage: The legendary metal band's sixth album came out in 1975, and is considered by most to be the last of their classic LPs (though I do enjoy 76's, Technical Ecstasy). This is right at the beginning of Ozzy's decent and the tensions that would follow, and that lingering chaos is what makes this album feel so dangerous and awesome. This album doesn't feature any of their classic tunes, but every song on here adheres to their classic sound that fuses metal riffs with swing-jazz synchronization. Another wonderful album from one of the best and most influential bands of all time.

KISS - Paul Stanely: Always masters of marketing way before marketing was the norm, KISS released solo albums by all four members back in 1978. I've had Gene's record for a long time, as I was always led to believe it was the best. However, I recently came by Paul's for the sweet price of $2 and picked it up, and it might be the better of the two. Granted, this is not high art by any means, just straight up feel-good-rock-n-roll.
Babes in Toyland - Spanking Machine: The 1990 debut full length album from one of the iconic rrriot grrrl bands is a early grunge essential. I first acquired this album on CD about three years after its release, but recently found a nice copy of the original vinyl and couldn't pass it up. This is an album that has aged well. The aggressive noise rock sound still connects and makes this one of the landmark albums of its time. Every track on here is blistering and I highly recommend it to any fan of 90's American punk. 
The Beatles - The "Let It Be" Rehearsals Vol. 3: I recently came across this Beatles bootleg on CD in the library and of course wanted to check it out, being both a fan of the band and a junkie for bootlegs. These recordings are taken from the infamously troubled sessions which, in my opinion, produced some of the bands best work. Each of the three songwriters were each reaching their creative peak, and each were moving in different directions. All of that is captured in these tracks. This volume focuses on the Dark Horse, and this was George at his best, right as he was reaching the full potential of his talent.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - Up Your Alley: I had this album on CD when it came out in '88 but sold it long ago, probably in the early '90s. I've always dug Joan and thought this might be worth checking out again, thirty years on. It opens with the hit single (and still her best song) "I Hate Myself for Loving You," and continues with more solid hard rock stuff. The cover of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" is great and shows her punk roots. This certainly isn't essential, but a fun record that is very much of the time.

Series of Unfortunate Events (The Grim Grotto)

The plot continues to thicken for the Baudelaire orphans in the adaptation of the eleventh book in the series. As the story gets nearer and nearer to the conclusion, we learn more about the events that led up to the ordeal that effects not only Sunny, Violet, and Klaus, but dozens of children in the fantastical world created in Lemony Snicket's books.
After escaping the clutches of Count Olaf for the millionth time in the last episode, the orphans are rescued by a young girl, who is also an orphan of a VFD parent, not to mention, the captain of her own submarine. However, their relationship gets off to a rocky start. While Klaus trusts their new friend, Violet feels as though she is hiding something. 
Perhaps my favorite episode of the series so far, this is a Wes Anderson Life Aquatic inspired delight featuring 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea sets and amazingly quirky performances. It also expertly reveals big secrets in a way that only make you want to keep going.
The episode ends with the orphans back where they started in the very first episode. Perhaps a new beginning is in store, but we know better...more misery is sure to come and I can't wait.

Weekend Music Roundup!

The weekend has arrived! It was a sad week in music for me as I learned about the passing of one of my favorite artists, Roky Erickson last Friday. Roky was one of those originals that comes around very seldomly, and though his passing is sad, his life was a roller coaster of trouble and hopefully he'll find peace after life. It's also a reminder to always seek out new music, find something to cherish and enjoy while you still can. This week I'm showcasing a few new releases from favorite artists and some releases by artists I just recently discovered. Enjoy.
Death and Vanilla - Are You a Dreamer?: This is the fourth album from the Swedish psychedelic dream pop band. I've been a fan since 2015's fantastic "To Where the Wild Things Are" and this feels the true follow-up to that album. It's another journey into a fantasy soundscape world of dreams, the kind of lofty ethereal album that I've always loved. They remind me of a mix between Slowdive and Scala, two of my mid-90s favorites. This is one of those perfect summer albums when you want to escape into daydreams. "Mercier," "The Hum," "Vespertine," and "Wallpaper Pattern" are my personal favorites.
Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog: I've been a big Sam Bean fan since Iron and Wine's debut back in 2002, but for whatever reason, this 2007 album has been the one absent from my collection. I think I was a bit heavy into that indie folk genre back then and may have just felt a little overloaded. But now that the the genre has faded and I'm left with little in the way of new, it seemed like the right time to check this out...literally, as I checked it out from the library. This is the transition album that would've prepared me for 2011's Kiss Each Other Clean, which I HATED at first listen (but now love). This is the album that moves away from the softness of the early work and introduces the art pop sound that would define the albums after. Another wonderful album in a wonderful career. 
Nik Turner - The Final Frontier: The newest release from the space rock pioneer and former founding member of space rock giants Hawkwind. This continues his prolific run dating back to 2013 and is the fifth album of this modern incarnation, which is really a return to form incarnation. Everything on here sounds as though it could've appeared on a Hawkwind album from the 70's, just bigger and more expansive in it's space rockiness. "Calling the Egyptians," and "Interstellar Aliens" are my personal favorites.

Budgie - Budgie: The 1971 from the Welsh hard rock band is a bit of a forgotten album, and nearly unheard of album stateside. I only recently heard about this pioneering Led Zeppelin style band and from the raves that I read, I knew I had to check it out. They released, on average, an album a year through the '70s following this record. Just like Zep they use a blues based rock sound at the core, only heavier. Their slower songs are more proggish in the way they build into rock.  "Guts," "The Author," and "All Night Petrol" are my personal favorites. 
Cootie Williams - The Solid Trumpet of Cootie Williams: Discovered and recruited by Duke Ellington when he was 19 years old, the southern trumpeter would become one of swing jazz's most talented in my opinion. I picked this album up on trade-in for stuff I no longer wanted, and from the instant the needle hit the record, I was in a groovy trance. There is a texture to his playing that is unlike any I've heard before. Sure, it's not Kind of Blue or anything like that, but this is pure transportive jazz that will take you to all those places in your head that only jazz can. 

Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman: Released in 1988, this was an instant hit and widely acclaimed record by a debut artist out of Cleveland. I remember hearing "Revolution" and "Fast Car" a million times that year, and seeing the videos a million times on MTV, but I never had the album because it was rock enough for me. A few weeks ago, I picked up a box of free records and this was one of them. I was thrilled to see it in there because I've always had a soft spot for "Fast Car". In addition to those two singles, there are amazing tracks on this deeply political album. "Behind the Wall" is an acapella masterpiece of troubling beauty. In fact, this entire album is a masterpiece of troubling beauty and sadness, but colored with hope, which is what has made it timeless in so many ways.

Series of Unfortunate Events (The Slippery Slope)

After a hiatus to catch up on some other watchings, mostly movies, I've finally returned to Netflix's adaptation of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. I picked up with the Season 3 debut, the two-part interpretation of Book the Tenth, The Slippery Slope. When last I left the Baudelaire orphans, it was a cliffhanger...literally...as Violet and Klaus were racing toward a cliff in a runaway caravan and Sunny the lone prisoner of Count Olaf.
The orphans have never found themselves is such direct peril as they do in this episode. However, there is still hope. The VFD's secret headquarters is within their sights and there they hope to find answers and help in saving their sister and ultimately themselves. However, they soon discover that there are threats far more dangerous than Count Olaf at work.
This episode continues to peel away layers, exposing more secrets to develop the larger plot contained in the overall series. And while many horrible things happen to many other children in the story, the episode ends with a bit of hope for the Baudelaire orphans. But as we all know by now, that hope is likely to be short lived.

Forbidden Games

Forbidden Games is the 1953 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language film, directed by René Clément, one of the leading post-War directors in France. It stars a 6 year old Brigitte Fossey, who would later go on to have a successful career as an actress. This is the story of a little girl who is orphaned in the opening scene of the film as her family, along with hundreds of others, are fleeing Paris and being pursued by Nazi aircraft. During an attack on a bridge, Paulette's family perishes.
Rather than stay with the caravan, she follows the river to retrieve her dog, who has also died in the attack. There, she meets a little boy and he takes her to his family farm where she is temporarily adopted. While the movie deals with the horrors of war, it is not a war film. At its heart, the movie is about the ability of childhood innocence to prevail even in the darkest of times and examines children invent ways to understand them.
The two children live in their own secret world where the rules of conduct that govern the grown-up world don't apply. The world they create in an attempt to understand death creates conflict as it grows continuously at odds with the workings of the small farm community. 
There is no attempt to place morality on the children's world. Instead, the film depicts the ways children inventively deal with adult topics such as love, death, sorrow and joy. It's beautifully shot, wonderfully understated, and ultimately heartbreaking. 
Interestingly, the Criterion Collection includes an alternate beginning and ending, which were fully edited, indicating that these alternates were strongly considered up until the very last moment. The alternate opening and concluding scenes create a frame-tale structure that would've contained the entire movie in a storybook world. This would've lessened the heartbreak and preserved the innocence of the characters, but ultimately would have taken away from the impact of the film, which is probably why they wisely chose to delete them. But I must admit it was nice to see watch them afterward because it gave me some sense of relief for the children.

Weekend Music Roundup

The weekend is here and so is the Roundup. This week's list is all rock based, though as we know that is a pretty wide range of music. There's some new releases that I really dug, as well as some older albums that I've recently added to my collection. There's some new bands that I hadn't heard of, as well as old favorites. All in all, some good listening. I hope you all find something to check out. Enjoy.
Drugdealer - Raw Honey: The second album from the L.A. psychedelic pop band was released this spring. This is not at all what you might expect from a band with a name like "Drugdealer." This is actually a very controlled, very melodic, almost 70's sunshine inspired sound that is purely joyful to listen to. The cover of this album is a direct reference to The United States of America album from '68, and while this album has some of the beauty of that record, it accomplishes it without the weirdness. It doesn't make it more or less, just different. It's all a matter of taste, but for my money, both are great records. Definitely worth checking out. 
Son Volt - Union: This is the 9th studio album from one of the founding bands of the alt-country movement that began in the 90's. When Uncle Tupelo split, it branched off into Wilco and Son Volt. Both bands took pieces of the sound that band pioneered, with this band keeping more of the folk country aspects. This is the their first album in two years, and it's another great political album that falls in the tradition of early Dylan. So many great songs on this album, including "The 99," "Broadsides," and "Truth to Power Blues."  
Nazz - Nazz Nazz: The second album from the Philly band led by Todd Rundgren. It came out in 1969 and while it does hold some of that late 60's rock feel, it's certainly ahead of it's time by a few years, moving headlong into the 70's. Todd's guitar work is exceptional on this record and it's a true gem of the psychedelic pop rock genre. It was several months ago that I ventured into this band and really liked the first record. This one might be slightly better. Definitely a band that has gotten forgotten a bit, but hopefully some of you will discover them now. 
Trembler - Trembler: The debut record from the Houston band is pretty straight forward emo rock, bringing together fuzzy shoegazer guitar with post-hardcore flashes of aggression. It reminds me of early Brand New mixed with 90s sound of HUM. It's a good combination with lots of promise. But this is the kind of music that I feel really speaks more to teens and young twenties. It's the sound of isolated High School or College angst. It's not a knock on the music, it's just that I've passed the point in my life where this kind of internal struggle with confusion no longer applies in a way that would make this album meaningful for me. That said, I enjoy it and recognize it's ability to speak to those who are feeling that way. "Triple Vision," "Gramps," and "Confidante" are standouts for me. 
American Music Club - The Restless Stranger: The 1985 debut from the San Fran indie pioneers represents the beginning of my journey into this band after seeing Mark Eitzel perform (see previous Roundup). I was lucky enough to find this at my local shop. It's not a record that you see a whole lot of on vinyl, due to limited release, and especially not on the East coast where the band was under represented.

Generation X

There's been a lot of talk about Generation X lately, after being ignored for so long with all the focus on Millennials. There was a recent article in the New York Times about what a "mess" the generation is, and how all it knew was that it didn't want what it was told to want. There's also a recent article in Vanity Fair which, I think accurately, states that Gen X might be the last hope of saving us in these dark global times. 
We are the children of the Baby Boomers, and while we have thrown out so many of the bad values of that generation, we are linked to their past, which has shaped us in knowing certain things that are important. One thing that I think is often overlooked is that the culture of Millennials has been shaped by the inventions of Gen X'ers, and our overthrow of many conventions of the past. We are the shapers of the new progressive movement. We are the ones who made the internet and mass communication possible. Millennials have only taken hold of these things after the flood, and for the most part, have sort of allowed them to run amock because they may not understand the place from which these things were born.
When you look at 90's mainstream culture, it was bland and boring. But underneath that mainstream culture, thriving sub-cultures abounded...cultures created by Generation X. The 90's were a boom for counter-culture, even beyond that of the famed 60's. The "shocking" elements of those counter cultures are nearly forgotten because most of it has become mainstream. Tattoos, piercings, marijuana use, shunning formal work attire, caring about the environment, acceptance of homosexuality, damning big business and exaggerated consumerism...these are all hallmarks of Generation X. Our vision of the world hasn't faded, if anything, it's being propelled forward.  As the selfishness of the Baby Boomers begins to die off, I think we'll begin to see that Generation X's vision for the world is a much better model. Let's just hope we can survive the damage that's already been done long enough to see it take hold.

Weekend Music Roundup!

Memorial Day weekend has arrived, the unofficial start of summer. Now, it's not secret that summer is my least favorite time of year, but oddly enough, it's always been a great time of year for music. There's something about listening to music when the breeze is blowing, or when your hanging outside complaining about the heat. This week I'm sharing a bunch of new releases that I've been digging, as well as some older records I've recently been turned onto in various ways. Take the extra day this weekend to listen to some music. Enjoy.
The Flaming Lips - King's Mouth: Music and Songs: The new album from the neo-psychedelia pioneers is my favorite of theirs since 2013's The Terror. Perhaps because it's relatively short compared to some of their other works, it seems more accessible.  It's also more heartfelt than any release they've done this decade. Definitely one of their best in my opinion. "The Sparrow," "How Many Times," "Mouth of the King," and "Giant Baby" are my personal favorites.

A.A. Bondy - Enderness: In the '90s, Bondy fronted a criminally unheard band named Verbena before it sputtered out after three albums. He released his first solo record in 2007, and there was an instant love for it on my part (though, at that time, I was unaware of his connection to the beloved band since he had changed his stage name). This is his fourth solo album, and first in 8 years, and it's fantastic. Easily his best work since the solo debut. He's moved beyond the contemporary folk of that record and is exploring a more indie pop sound, yet still infused with his americana sound, reminding me of Jim James' solo records. 
LáGoon - The Unwelcome: This is the debut album from the Portland based heavy psych band. There's a clear affinity to other bands in the genre like Uncle Acid and feels reminiscent of that band's debut with lots of eerie tones and heavy riffs. But there's also a link to other heavy bands from the Pacific Northwest, bands like Green River and other early Seattle bands. It's unpolished to be sure, but that's not always a bad thing. The rawness of this is what makes it stand out. A very promising start and I look forward to what comes next. The title track, along with "Wheel Bite," "Chop City," and "Alligator (In Your Head)"are my favorites. 

Elton John - "friends": Released in 1971, just as Elton was reaching his peak, this soundtrack album was the last of early Elton records that was missing from my collection. A few weeks ago, I took a drive to pick up a box of free records and was thrilled to find a beautiful copy of this record in it. This is a bit of a lost album of his, partially because it's a soundtrack and contains quite a few instrumental score tracks (which were written by Elton and Bernie). I think the fact that it's not on his label is another reason it doesn't get attention, but the songs he sings on are as good as anything on Tumbleweed Connection. Definitely worth adding to the catalog of Elton records up to and including Blue Moves. 
Murder By Death - Who Will Survive and What Will Left Be Left of Them?: Released in 2003, this was the gothic indie band's breakout album, and perhaps their best (along with In boca al lupa). I've had this on CD for over ten years, but recently came across the 2013 vinyl pressing used and decided to upgrade. Having not listened to it in a bit, it was like a revelation when I put it on and remember just how great this record is.
Fiona Apple - Tidal: The infinitely eclectic NYC and notoriously media shy artist's debut album released in 1996 immediately projected her to stardom. In the 25 years since, she has released only three more albums, the last one coming seven years ago. That was the album that really introduced her to me when it came out, and I can't believe it's taken me this long to get around to her first record which is absolutely wonderful. Sure, I knew the popular songs, but every song on here is good and it's an album that deserves to be heard in full. I'm really late to this one, but glad I finally found it.