Montag, 18. März 2024

Monday's Long Song

 


I can't believe that I didn't featured Johnny Marr at this little place of the internet. Of course I named him several times especially when The Smiths were around. A few days ago I came back to his live album Adrenalin Baby from his tour in 2014/15 recorded at various venues in Manchester, Glasgow and Bristol. It is one of those live albums I always wished I could have been part of the crowd. 17 songs full of energy and enthusiasm and great versions of songs we all know by The Smiths. And it also shows Johnny's abilities of playing guitar. 

Johnny Marr - Playland

And as a bonus a live version of a song from a short lived project. In 1989 Marr and Bernard Sumner of New Order formed Electric an alternative dance band. The original was a song with a fantastic bass line and the voice of Neil Tennent made this an outstanding record of this time. That this song also works with a more guitar based sound is one of the highlights of this album.

Johnny Marr - Getting Away With It

Sonntag, 17. März 2024

Two For His Heels


The older I get, the more I appreciate the qualities of singers and songwriters. One of them is Sheffield's Richard Hawley, who announced a new album last week. The Wiener Standard labelled his music "somewhere between Roy Orbison bombast, soft rockabilly rumble and songs from the Lee Hazlewood and Johnny Cash school". Two For His Heels exactly a song in this label, a sparse, atmospheric and cinematic song about a deal that goes wrong, its low blues rumble reminiscent of Link Wray and Duane Eddy. Nothing less the song of the week for me.



Donnerstag, 14. März 2024

Love Mhisachine



A few days ago I found an album in my collection that I forgot that I owned. Supermax is Austrian musician and producer Kurt Hauenstein and he released his second album World Of Today back in 1977. It was the time when disco music with a massive funk influence was on it's peak. When me and a couple of friends were DJ-ing in the early 80's Love Machine was the song we played to fill the dancefloor. This song went to high position in various charts and is still a highlight of this genre from these days. Listening to this record after almost 50 years it sounds fresh, not overproduced and far ahead of time. Some R 'n' B artists would die for this bassline today.

Supermax - Love Machine 

Mittwoch, 13. März 2024

Corrupt Data



Last week Pye Corner Audio, a British music project by Martin Jenkins released since a decade steady new musical experiences in electronic music. Most of them and their remixes are far over the average of many other releases. The last one is another cosmic experience on a house based floor with great beats and a rhythm you could get lost by. Another piece of electronic music that could last the test of time.

Dienstag, 12. März 2024

Icicle Works



Almost 40 years ago Liverpool's The Icicle Works released their self titled album a classic record of the post-punk era. At this time Ian McNabb had a flair for excellent melodies which he underpinned with his unmistakable guitar sound. Their debut album entered the top 20 with several hit singles like Birds Fly, Love Is A Wonderful Colour and years later Understanding Jane were highlights of new-wave pop and still songs I always like to listen today. Timeless music that has inspired many bands to come. 





 


Montag, 11. März 2024

Monday's Long Song

 


Another eclectic song for this series I found in a deep corner of my hard drive. 40 years ago German industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten released their third album Halber Mensch. With their noise music, the Neubauten hit the nerve of the times and became Germany's most important representatives of music that knew no commercial boundaries in the 1980s. While their first two albums were characterised by improvised noises that were artfully put together, their third album offers a shift towards more rhythmic music. With Yü Gung they move towards the dancefloor with a strong rhythm and, as always, Blixa Bargeld's cryptic lyrics, which are difficult for me to understand. No wonder Adrian Sherwood has given this song a remix that is rather untypical for him.

Einstürzende Neubauten - Yü Gung (Adrian Sherwood Remix)

Sonntag, 10. März 2024

Wild God

 


Last week Nick Cave released the title track of his upcoming album. I am a huge fan of him and I wasn't sure what to expect because he has continued to evolve his sound throughout his 40+ year career. And I was pleasantly surprised that after his melancholy, loss-driven albums he was able to find positive attitudes in his songs again. Wild God starts accented calm and builds over the course of over five minutes to an enthusiastic and celebratory, anthemic furor. He still uses cryptic lyrics but as far I understand he sings/talk about searching. A very good song shorten the time to his new album.