In Praise Of....Natalie Merchant

My first introduction to the music of Natalie Merchant was, as was the norm at that time, through hearing My Mother The War being played by John Peel.

Originally released in '83 My Mother The War reappeared two years later in a rerecorded version on the criminally underrated album The Wishing Chair.

The shifts in style on The Wishing Chair are fascinating - it's sometimes hard to believe it's the same band you were listening to moments before. The album was produced by the great Joe Boyd who allowed bands to sound like themselves which was good news for Natalie Merchant and Co.

10 000 Maniacs made lots of fine music in their time but they never again put together an entire album as musically and lyrically rich as The Wishing Chair. The album has a very homespun, folky feel to it and is undoubtedly a less accessible album than the Maniacs' more pop-focused later work, but is all the more appealing for it. Over the years Natalie Merchant has been accused of being a bit po-faced and serious but this album proves that there was a time when the girl could rock.

Over the last 30 years or so Natalie Merchant has produced some of the finest music from across the pond and The Wishing Chair should be an essential addition to anyone's collection.

A brilliant, timeless masterpiece from start to finish. Can be bought here

10,000 Maniacs - My Mother The War

Great Debut Albums....Part 2

If you enjoy intelligent, melodic pop of the 80s jangly guitar pop variety as made famous by the likes of Aztec Camera and Orange Juice you could do a lot worse than the debut album from Del Amitri.

Jangly guitars , heartfelt singing and superb lyrics dominate on one of the great lost little gems of the era. It's astounding how different this is from anything Del Amitri went on to make. While Del Amitri went on to great fame during their A&M career - nothing they ever did came close to matching the sheer pop brilliance of their self-titled debut album. I have always felt that there was a certain charm to this album that was missing from all the subsequent releases.

I have always maintained a liking for the music of Del Amitri throughout the years but for me it will always be the self titled debut that gets aired around these quarters and which remains in my eyes a great debut release.

Del Amitri - Hammering Heart

The Mekons....

Dan Dare fans The Mekons emerged from the same Leeds University scene that also brought us the mighty Gang Of Four. Over the years they have transformed their sound from the anarchistic pounding of blokes who couldn't really play to a group versed in a wide variety of styles from punk to country and folk to reggae.

Whatever the scenario, what has remained consistent throughout The Mekons' existence has been great music performed with style, grace, and a ribald sense of humour, including this gem from '78....

The Mekons - Where Were You

Post Number 100....

Ever since I can remember music has always been my passion and more than likely always will be. I would like to think that I will still go along and see live music for quite a few years to come and still have that insatiable urge to hear something new. I've never been that sure where the sometimes near obsessional interest in music came from as either my mother or father were that into music - unless you include Lena Martell or Sydney Devine, both of which I remember being subjected to regularly when growing up.

Looking back it now seems fairly obvious that I would have ended up at some point working in something to do with music - and so it transpired that my first job would be working for a well known "music specialist" where I spent many a happy year. At 18 years old I thought I had died and gone to heaven especially when someone told me on my first day that you can "play anything you want as long as there's no swearing in it". At that time most of the stock was vinyl as CD's were just starting to come out. I spent an eternity working out what would be the first record that I would play much to the annoyance of my co-workers who just played any old shite that came to hand and couldn't understand why I was taking so long.

Eventually I went over to the 12" filing area searching until I came to what I was looking for...I still vividly remember hearing that distinctive, melodic baseline leading into....

"And this I know

His teeth as white as snow

What a gas it was to see him

Walk her every day

Into a shady place

With her lips she said"

...and thinking I could get used to this - getting paid to listen to your favourite records all day. It was a bit like that in the early days but even record stores had to change and adapt to the simple fact that they needed to make money to survive

What did not change, however, was my love of the purveyors of the ever wonderful "Gigantic".

Black Francis, Joey Santiago, David Lovering and Kim Deal released 5 albums between 1987 and 1991 containing some of the best and most influential music that has been recorded by anyone. Although I had been a big fan of bands like The Jam, The Specials and Madness I was too young to see the live in their prime. The Pixies arrived at just the right time for me and along with The Mary Chain and New Order they very quickly became my band.  

I first saw The Pixies live just as Doolittle was released, at Glasgow's QMU and was completely blown away by them and have remained a huge fan ever since. Paramount to the greatness of Pixies is Kim Deal whose thick basslines propel each song perfectly and hold their own well against the thunderous drumming and crashing walls of guitars. Kim's vocals are of note as well, serving as the perfect foil to the psychotic howls of Black Francis. Mostly she serves as a background vocalist, but she contributes some killer lead vocals as well, such as on "Gigantic" or the infectious "River Euphrates".

Surfer Rosa is a classic and is one those great albums you don't ever consider skipping a track on. The utter lack of pretension and the gleeful performances make "Surfer Rosa" a joy to listen to. It has everything - dark humour at its darkest, playful melodies, madcap shrieked vocals that sound like nothing from this world, some great Santiago guitar playing and a great unpredictability within the songs. Steve Albini's production is nothing short of superb, he captured them at there rawest and the album is a strong contender for the best album of the 80's.

Tracks 5-7 are the core of the album - the Kim Deal penned Gigantic is catchy, upbeat and somewhat anthemic considering the dark undercurrent of the lyrics. The quiet verse, heavy chorus structure would be a huge influence on Nirvana's songwriting. River Euphrates is frenetic, intense and hard-hitting with the album's catchiest melody. Where is My Mind? is the pinnacle of this album. It's beautiful, melodic, catchy and haunting. A classic by any definition.

Surfer Rosa, while not as musically intricate or well-constructed as later releases, leaps out of the speakers with a certain urgency and excited energy that the Pixies would never match. Everything sounds so uncontrolled and immediate, as if it came so naturally.

At the time of it's original release the sound that The Pixies gave us was something fresh and new. 23 years later Surfer Rosa is still an exciting and quite addictive rush of adrenaline matched by few other recordings.

Often imitated, but never bettered...

Pixies - River Euphrates
Pixies - Where Is My Mind

Because Vile Evils Are Vile Evils...

In early 1978 Subway Sect went into the studio to record their debut album with Mickey Foote. Unfortunately the tapes were lost and the album remained unreleased. However in 2007 Vic Godard decided that it was time to record the songs with their original spirit and sound so that they could be properly heard so he re-grouped Subway Sect and put them back into the studio to record the "legendary" album that should have came out in 1978.

They may not have been the most competent musicians around at the time - but that was hardly the point really was it ? The urgency and delivery of this music makes it an essential listen if you're interested in the late 70's time period.

Although the album was never released at the time they did release one of the tracks from the sessions as a single. Ambition is one of the best songs of that era. My own personal introduction to the song was via one of the many great NME tapes called Pogo A GoGo. It just seemed to stand out from the crowd when I heard it - you get the trademark scratchy guitars of the time tied to an inane keyboard sound, Goddard's seemingly sarcastic vocals and what appears to be some sort of arcade game playing in the background. It really shouldn't work but does brilliantly. They only released 2 singles in the 70's but in Ambition they produced one of the defining songs of the punk era.

Subway Sect - Ambition

Do You Remember ? ....

After 4 albums on the legendary SST label Husker Du finally took the plunge, or the money depending on your point of view, and signed to a major label, that of Warner Brothers.

Their first release on Warners could have went either way but fortunately Candy Apple Grey turned out to be a classic. There is an abundance of emotion, intelligence and power on Candy Apple Grey equalled by few others. Pretty much every track here is amazing, especially the Grant Hart compositions.

Candy Apple Grey has always been a peculiar album in the Husker Du catalogue because of several reasons - it has 3 ballads in it, it only has 10 songs and it's the only of all their albums in which Grant Hart's songs are actually better than the ones composed by Bob Mould. Most of the songs are about breakups including the blistering "Don't Wanna Know If You Are Lonely" which has to be Hart's finest moment. This is some of the most emotionally powerful music ever created; it's certainly not an easy album to listen to but if you are willing to persevere this is an album of quality songwriting, musicianship and production that is a great introduction to a great band.

They showed other bands that it was possible to record uncompromising music on a major label without losing any integrity or creative control.

Can be bought here ....

Husker Du - No Promise Have I Made

Soul Sunday....

In a distinguished career as a singer, songwriter and producer, William Bell has come to define the essence of "soul." Born in Memphis but based in Atlanta since 1970, William Bell was one of the pioneers of the classic Stax/Volt sound, joining such other illustrious musical forces at that label as Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Isaac Hayes, Booker T. & the MG's and The Staple Singers.

He had one of the Stax label's earliest hits with the classic "You Don't Miss Your Water" back in 1961.He is probably best known for "A Tribute To A King", his own personal tribute to Otis Redding but if you dig a bit deeper there's a wealth of great material out there. For a start there is this compilation that is well worth investigating. If you are feeling a tad more adventurous this double CD from Stax contains two albums of sublime material from one of the most underrated and understated soul singers of all time. Just listen to opening track "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" and feel your heart melting to this soul classic. Sublime....

William Bell - I Forgot To Be Your Lover