ORBITAL - In Sides (1996)

Review by: Charly Saenz
Album assigned by: Eric Pember

This album is pure Electronica, without major risks or surprises but lots of energy and a mission. Mostly instrumental, magnificent bass lines and decorating synths flourish here and there. It kicks off with “The Girl With The Sun In Her Head”, a title that already indicates one of the strong intentions of the album, that is Ecology. Yeah Greenpeace and all. 

“Petrol” with its birds effects is quite clear in its message too, the beat is heavily repeated but the song is slightly shorter. 

The piece that stands out in the album, is “The Box”, a multi-part song, with some welcome subtlety, will gradually grow on you with its pulsating bass and the little details here and there. Engaging electronica.

“Dŵr Budr” works on some effects that evoke water with some ominous sound that slightly grows and turns momentarily into a vocal theme. Another long song with a ritual dance bit in the middle, that becomes something else at about the 7 minute mark, loses a little focus but it’s a highlight in any case.

“Adnans”,  some sort of tale about robotic flower blossoming in terms of sound, has a background melody that should be more prominent. In the second part some ethereal harmonies take over, and were it not for the drone drums it could be a bit of Alan Parsons Project in the wild.

Not much to say about “Out There Somewhere”, a song that is perfect for a Sports Program intro. 

A good electronica album that won’t surely disappoint any fan of the genre.

JILL TRACY - Diabolical Streak (1999)

Review by: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Album assigned by: Alex Alex

The ambience is smoke-filled cabaret

And the cliches are all present.

The vocals: breathy, seductive -- 

Yer typical sultry Femme Fatale --

Nightclub bass and cocktail piano,

All wrapped up in an indulgent hush.

Lucky Old Jill Tracy

Trapped forever in an old film noir 

I think I’ll pour myself a bourbon

And join her.

A YEAR IN MUSIC: ENO - Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) (1974)

A YEAR IN MUSIC: 1974
Review by: Andreas Georgi

Eno's next album "Another Green World" is most often cited as his best and most influential, and it certainly is a great one, but "Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy" is my personal favorite. The combination of experimentation, humor, and plenty of pop hooks make this a classic, though a decidedly odd one.

Eno handles all the vocals and, while he certainly is no great singer technically (he's referred to himself as a "non-musician), he does have a unique. mannered style that grows on you. I don't know if you can call it a "concept" album, but there are some threads that run through the songs - travel, conspiracy, China. Each song has a unique sound texture to it, resulting from unorthodox instrumentation (one song has a typewriter solo) and Eno's trademark and groundbreaking sound treatments. The album starts of with a very melodic pop ditty called "Burning Airlines Give You So Much More". That incongruity sets the tone for the rest of the album. "Third Uncle"s scratchy, staccato guitars foreshadow Gang of Four and Wire, among others. The most challenging listen on the album is definitely "Put a Straw Under Baby", which is a deranged, deliberately out-of-tune lullaby with surreal lyrics, and features the Portsmouth Sinfonia. The Sinfonia, of which Eno was a member, has only two requirements - that members honestly try to play well, and that they show up for rehearsals. You need to hear this to believe it! Quite honestly it's a bit of an "Excedrin Moment", but very creative. The closing title track is a pretty, airy, melodic piece that presages the ambient direction that he would take, starting with his next album (A.G.W.).

 This album was released in 1974 and was ahead of its time. Eno had a huge influence on all sorts of new wave and post-punk bands that came on the scene some years later, starting with Talking Heads. I first heard the album in the late 70's and even then I remember how odd the album sounded. It's a cliché, but one of Eno's talents is his ability to "think outside the box". In an interview David Bowie, who worked with Eno in the late 70's on some groundbreaking albums, said they deliberately threw away the instruction manuals for the synthesizers, to see what kind of "bleeps and farts" they could come up with. Eno took (and further developed) elements from the avant-garde and applied them to pop music. Many of these innovations have since become part of the mainstream (sampling, incorporation of non-musical elements), and the electronics sounds decidedly retro now, but the creativity and quirkiness still makes it sound like nothing else. Historical significance aside, this is also a very enjoyable album. Highly recommended.

This review is also posted on Amazon here.

Roland and Nina's DECADES IN MUSIC: 1983 - SAGA - Heads or Tales

Review by Roland Bruynesteyn
Album assigned by Nina A.

I recently reviewed a pop rock album by an obscure Bulgarian group (Tangra) from 1982, called Our Town. As this is roughly from the same time and sounds somewhat similar, it may be interesting to compare them. The one thing you immediately notice is the (way) bigger budget, resulting in better production techniques, better positioned instruments, a much cleaner sound. Big arena sound, roaring guitars, good low end, solid drum sound and clean guitar sound. Sadly, there the differences end, as this album is not a whole lot better, if at all. Let us proceed with caution…

The Flyer opens the album energetically, Phil Collins in hard rock mode (imagine Easy Lover on cocaine). But it’s a lot worse. Apparently this was the single; I’m immediately getting worried.

Cat Walk has a somewhat interesting (guitar? keyboard?) sound at the beginning and goes down within a minute. Think of the worst possible 80’s power pop hit and you end somewhere here. The title is repeated ad nauseam, without making you want to know why.

The sound of strangers could have been improved with a more organic drum sound, and perhaps Jon Anderson on vocals, but not by much.

The Writing, ah, the ballad. No it’s not, it’s Toto jamming with Survivor, on a bad day.

Intermission; this must surely be the ballad! If you want to know how horrible a string synthesizer and a drum computer can sound, listen to this. The voice is OK though and may actually be the best part of the song. It sounds somewhat processed (although this recording predates autotune by decades). The guitar sound around the 4 minute mark is nice as well, but gets drowned in the tacky, cheesy keyboard.

Social Orphan (nice title) sounds like Starship, fronted by the singer of Alphaville (of Big in Japan fame). Not a good idea. The Vendetta has the same singer fronting Depeche Mode. Doesn’t work either.

Scratching the Surface is musically the worst song (especially the drums) and possibly the best, as there are some nice guitar lines. The fact that they combine these sounds really reflects badly on Saga.

The Pitchman, Jesus, does this ever stop? “Hey, I cannot really sing? Will you sing with me?” “Well, I can’t sing either…”. “That should work then; let’s do this…”. “I have an even better idea! We put some meaningful background voices in the instrumental break!”

And we end with another version of Cat Walk, twice as long. I really, really listened to it once, but I have no relevant comment to make.

This falls into what I propose to call the Asia/Styx/Foreigner/Boston/Starship genre of professionally recorded but loveless performed power pop music that was all the rage in the first half of the 80’s. Not interested then, not interested now. In retrospect, if you’re into this, for reasons I couldn’t possibly want to understand, go listen to Tangra, a low budget and altogether more sympathetic version of this type of music…

Roland and Nina's DECADES IN MUSIC: 1982 - ТАНГРА (TANGRA) - Нашият град (Our Town)

Review by Roland Bruynesteyn
Album assigned by Nina A.

Tangra is another famous Bulgarian band, at least in Bulgaria. Funny Wikipedia fact: after 1989, an interesting time to be an eastern European band, they actually lived and performed in Finland for a few years. I do not know the mechanics or background of that. Far be it from me to suggest this was some self-imposed exile, perhaps they moved to a place where they were internationally successful or thought they could conquer the world.

Anyway, the title song starts the album off on a bad note: it sounds like a desperate entry in the Eurovision song contest. Generic power pop, not unlike Van Halen or Bon Jovi. When the second song, Boriana, starts along the same lines: 80’s production, silly synthesizer lines, generic guitar sounds, simple bass playing and drumming (well, with the cymbal work being OK), I’m getting worried: I recently had the chance to review a few obscure eastern European bands, Shtourcite and FSB, and they were very interesting, a lot of fun and on a good day simply good albums. This sounds nothing like it.

Third song, Panelen rock, a 50’s rock song parody (or cover). Guitar is fine, background vocals are OK, but this is somewhat difficult to take seriously. The Love We Cannot Do Without is the ballad. Although it’s very bad, I’m starting to feel some sympathy.

Must be difficult, considering the political situation, to get a recording contract at all, give the guys some credit. No pop culture, hardly any international exposure, there are a lot of mitigating circumstances. But I remind myself that other artists could break through this. It doesn’t have to be like this.

A Girl From the Other Class is Panelen rock – the sequel. Again, not really bad per se. Perhaps it’s the way Bulgaria got in touch with western civilization. But I think a carbon copy of any musical genre is not the best way to position yourself as an artist. There is no unique sound, no character (national or individual), nothing. Then again, this is not unlike some albums by Johnny Hallyday in France in the 60’s, which DID establish him as a force in French rock music.

Wealth is a little more country and western, with some CCR thrown in. OK. Meetings is the second ballad, piano based this time. Starts somewhat promising, with drums and bass joining in. The singing drags it down, being overly theatrical. Rhythmically, the chorus (which is when they go in power ballad mode) doesn’t really work for me, but I have to acknowledge that they may have something here. 

Friends is their nervous pop song. I guess you had to be there. In fact, I recognize this type of music as very much of its time, in the Netherlands and Germany as well, for instance. The simple piano motif at the start evolves to become something of a Won’t Get Fooled Again sound when the song gets heavier, but the guitar doesn’t really get to rock out hard (also because the keyboard strangely sounds like some weird accordion…).

Saturday, well I could almost imagine it being played by Pink Floyd for the Wall. Also because David Gilmour could help a lot to improve the song. It’s still nothing too special, but it’s also not too bad.

Homecoming starts with some acoustic guitars, it’s the campfire song! Is that Neil Young singing in the background? I do like the electric guitar tone: well played, and well recorded.

What to make of it? Did the album really get quite a lot better as it went on, or did I lower my standards? I’m afraid I have to confirm that I most likely lowered my standards. Ultimately, it’s not the utter disaster it sounded like at first, but I do not feel the need to give it another listen, which in itself says a lot. Ordinary, quite competent band, nice for local weddings and larger parties, but not a very rewarding listen in the end for me. No great compositions, no amazing instrumental skills, ordinary singing (with a rather nasal sounding voice) and really nothing that stands out.

Roland and Nina's DECADES IN MUSIC: 1981 - THE REELS - Quasimodo's Dream

Review by Roland Bruynesteyn
Album assigned by Nina A.

If you like the second song on this album, Shout & Deliver, I don’t like you. The song shows that not only established artists (the rock dinosaurs) tended to fail miserably in producing their records in the 80’s but that it trickled down to minor artists such as the Reels. An automated keyboard figure repeated ad infinitum, synthetic drums and group singing of slogans. Come to mention it, the third song, After the News, runs into the same problem, crashing into the ground by itself. The reggae-ish rhythm (played by the keyboard) doesn’t help either. It somewhat resembles Fraction Too Much Friction by Tim Finn (ex-Split Enz, future Crowded house, who is from ‘basically’ the same region).

According to my Heart has a nice enough doo wop feeling and a nice melody but again the production ruins it: plastic drums, silly bass synthesizer and singing on automatic pilot. Yes, it can be nice to sing this in the shower, or with a group of friends in the car, but unfortunately it’s not nice to listen to by yourself.

Depression is sort of Clash-light, around the time of Sandinista, but then taken to its simple extreme. Embarrassingly so, really. And so is Colourful Clothes. For all we know starts somewhat differently, but they can’t keep it up, it does not stand out, the singer lacks any charisma (more like singing by committee). Media Themes has a nice shuffle rhythm (in the first theme) and vaguely sounds like Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark because of it. Because there’s no singing involved, it’s the best track on here, although that doesn’t say a lot (and the third theme basically ruins it, if only because there’s singing).

Cancer is slower than most of the others and shouting Cancer cancer! comes across as an early version of Weens HIV (the AIDS song), but that’s probably not their intention. Apart from this chanting vamp, nothing much happens, just some jungle noises and some silly voices.

Dubbo Go Go thinks it can equal ‘pretentiousness and ambition’ with ‘ability’, and fails painfully in doing so so. Slowing down does give you a chance to marvel at the singer: how can you be so non-descript and sing professionally? Also, suddenly this song lasts more than 5 minutes, where 3 would suffice to develop the ‘themes’ such as they are. Kitchen Man is another long (5,5 minutes) song that overstays its welcome.

And what about the title track, the hit single, the first song on the album? It’s a bit different, but not really better: more beeps and synthetic gamelan sounds, somewhat more emotion in the singing (that is really OK for this type of pop music), and perhaps a hit single that fits the time. But again, over 4 minutes is way too long and listening 35 years later this music has become completely irrelevant.

I really tried to look for New wave cleverness (i.e. Talking heads) or some interesting musical stylings in the instrumental parts, some great riffs or nice melodies, but that’s sadly impossible. On the whole, if you like this happy, westernized party music ska or reggae, go for something like El Rayo X by David Lyndley, or the Clash if you’re more (left wing) politically inclined and have a lot of fun. Stay away from this, as it’s definitely not comparable to INXS, Crowded House, Split Enz and the like.

Roland and Nina's DECADES IN MUSIC: 1980 - KATE BUSH - Never for Ever

Review by Roland Bruynesteyn
Album assigned by Nina A.

If you have a past in pantomime (so you know how to move elegantly), and you write your own material and you possess a very distinctive voice, you must be David Bowie. Oh no, you’re an 18 year old in 1978 and you’re an intelligent nice looking girl: you must be Kate Bush!

And so she is. A few years before a second wave of successful female singers (from Madonna to Cyndi Lauper) started to manifest itself, Kate Bush hit the world with a bang. Some say she never recovered from the instant success of Wuthering Heights. I say she knew how to create and follow her own path. Like Peter Gabriel or Robert Fripp, Kate Bush is ‘ready, willing and able’ to change course for artistic reasons, and to not repeat a successful formula if she feels she might get stuck. So from her somewhat humble folky singer songwriting beginnings (albeit with some symphonic stuff, such as Wuthering Heights), in a few years’ time she moved in a prog rock and avant garde direction. She would top this on The Dreaming (before moving on to an easier sound with some great video clips) but on this album already we hear the singles Babooshka and Army Dreamers (and other songs, like All We Ever Look For) getting progressive touches and weird sound effects. Getting out of the mainstream is the goal here. But ultimately it’s all still very listenable.

It’s difficult to understand how a 20, 21 year old can make this music and succeed. She has found her sound and performs in a convincing way. All the songs have something to offer: Egypt sounds more Asian to me than middle eastern, just like Delius (in parts), and they’re both nice songs. The Wedding List sounds even better, starting slowly and gaining in intensity considerably. Violin is her Nina Hagen song, not really my favourite. The Infant Kiss is sort of The Man with the Child in His Eyes, part 2. Breathing is truly epic, using the in – out chanting to great effect. And Pino Palladino on fretless bass (I assume it’s him, don’t want to look it up) sounds great.

This is simply an amazing record and an early highlight in the career of a very interesting artist.

Roland and Nina's DECADES IN MUSIC: 1979 - FSB - FSB II

Review by Roland Bruynesteyn
Album assigned by Nina A.

FSB, in case you did not know (I know I didn’t) stands for Formation Studio Balkanton, suggesting a studio project. However, this project has lasted for over 40 years now, so it’s proven to be quite sustainable (or unfinishable) for a project. Listening on youtube, I may have gotten some of the song titles (or the actual number of songs) wrong, but it was a pleasant listening experience.

The first track (Dawn) has the tranquillity of very quiet progressive music, not unlike Popol Vuh soundtracks of the 70’s, or EROC’s Wolkenreise II. The second song (Morning) is more up tempo and sounds like some kind of fusion or space jazz: busy bass playing, lots of percussion, electric piano and a sax(?) cruising on top of it. The third track (Three) starts as a quiet keyboard based track (Fender Rhodes, I think), with some female singing. It could be vocalizing for all I know, as I do not speak Bulgarian. When the rest of the band kicks in, it sounds a bit like Genesis, around Wind and Wuthering: slick, but still highly symphonic. Fourth track (Harmonies) is a fusion piece, this time with some flute added. This song is quite adequate, but somehow doesn’t grab me much. Luckily it’s very short.

Playing the Gamut is up next, it’s the start of the original side 2, I think. In its commercial appeal this could almost be Level 42 circa Love games (whose breakthrough would come a few years later, actually). Gold has a somewhat Brazilian feel, but that may be my language problem. It’s no Portuguese she’s singing after all. Rhythmically this works, but it’s no longer very proggy or fusion, that is, until the sax and later the piano kick in. Reminds me of Spyro gyra a little as well. A nice song, but more than before you can hear that the singer has to force herself to hit the right notes with sufficient power.

Song is a very contemplative piece of music again: several keyboards or synthesizers at the same time, creating a nice mood. The choral singing turns it into something more religious, but it may in fact be better than singing lyrics. There is not much development to speak off, but it floats along nicely.

For goodbye starts with frantic piano work, some mix of Firth of fifth and John Cage, almost. It moves to more neo-classical melodies, while retaining some jazzy notions. Very nice. When the synths start, it gets proggy again. I would have liked a trumpet part here, instead of one of the synths, but hey, what you’re gonna do? There is nice crescendo building and it’s by far the most epic track on the album.

Another pleasant Bulgarian surprise. I prefer their slow tracks over the fusion-ish ones, and I may prefer the instrumental tracks (or vocalizing ones) over the actual singing, but there’s quite a lot of variation here.

[Note of the assigner: There is actually no vocalizing on this album - it is all lyrics even if somewhat minimal, and the vocalist is a man as opposed to a lady, but he has a characteristic high voice.]

A YEAR IN MUSIC: ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK / BERLINER PHILARMONIKER / RAFAEL KUBELIK - Symphony No 9 "Aus Der Neuen Welt” (“From The New World”) (1974)

A YEAR IN MUSIC: 1974
Review by: Jaime Vargas Sánchez

1974 is “supposed” to be a low year in music according to the Rolling Stone Established School of Thought, but there are dozens of albums that are personal favorites of mine (War Child, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Red, It’s Too Late To Stop Now, Rejuvenation, Eduardo Bort, Señora Azul, It’s Only Rock’n’Roll…). But the most important album for me would be Rafael Kubelik’s recording of Dvorak’s Symphony nº 9, since this was the first symphonic recording I enjoyed all the way through when I was 12 years old or so. (Although I’m more familiar with Ferenc Fricsay’s recording, also in Deutsche Grammophon).

The first movement is has two main themes, the epic horns theme and the slow, American folk influenced lyrical theme, and both had a long lasting influence in the scores of classic Hollywood (and beyond - there’s a strange oboe passage that always reminds me of “Revolution 9”), and the intermediate melody that connects both is no slouch either. Nice find of Dvorak to base the development on the second theme but making it sound as epic as the first.

The second movement is probably the best known, the one based in a spiritual melody, which is one of the heights of 19th century melodicism, but I’m also very fond of the opening, those majestic crescendo chords that again sound like coming from an epic movie (I think this guy and Holst were the most pilfered by Hollywood). There’s another melody that after being introduced is developed in a marching, processional arrangement that is one of my favourite moments from the work.

The scherzo is very good; Dvorak said part of the inspiration came from Amerindian and folk songs but I also see a strong influence from the scherzo of Beethoven’s Ninth (but being that this is Dvorak’s Ninth it might be deliberate).Finally the last movement is to me the most disjointed (although its main melody is the first I knew from this work, since Miguel Ríos adapted it into a song way back in the 70s) but ends climaxing suitably in a brass pandemonium.

To sum up, one of the cornerstones of the symphonic repertoire and deservedly so. Like with Tchaikovsky, the melodic invention surpasses the structural craft, but the melodies are catchy and unforgettable.

Roland and Nina's DECADES IN MUSIC: 1978 - TODD RUNDGREN - Hermit of Mink Hollow

Review by Roland Bruynesteyn
Album assigned by Nina A.

Todd Rundgren has played garage rock in Nazz, Beatley pop music solo (Something/Anything? being a prime example) and proggy fusion (not unlike Mahavishnu Orchestra) in Utopia, and he produced everybody from Meatloaf to Patty Smith.

And I have a theory. With a few exceptions, songs by Todd Rundgren mostly have the same effect on me. I think that if the composition was a little better (more polished, more conventional) and his singing perhaps a little more distinctive, he would have had far greater commercial success.

At the same time, the actual arranging, playing and production is superb. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why Todd is very popular as an outside producer, but did not make it that big with his own music. Some of his solo albums or songs (such as Onomatopoeia on this album) actually suggest they’re meant to be a showcase for his producer skills, rather than being an artist in his own right. That’s my theory, and I stick with it.

However, this album contains a few of the exceptions, most notably Can We Still Be Friends, which is not just perfectly produced, it’s one of the better pop songs of the 70’s. On the whole I would consider this (power) pop, with energetic rockers and ballads that would fit Billy Joel very well and a few slightly more symphonic sounding tracks that move rather too close to Boston or Foreigner territory.

But how could anyone not like Lucky Guy, with ‘bagpipe guitar solo’? Or All the Children Sing, with its joyous refrain (very much resembling Songs of Praise by Roy Wood on Boulders)? Or the silly sound effects in Onomatopoeia? (eat that, mr Roger Waters!). Hurting for you, that might have been a major R’n’B hit if sung by Al Green? Check it out, I’d say…

Roland and Nina's DECADES IN MUSIC: 1977 - RANDY NEWMAN - Little Criminals

Review by: Roland Bruynesteyn
Album assigned by: Nina A.

Randy Newman shares some characteristics with the typical West Coast singer songwriters of the 70’s, apart from the fact that he sings and writes his own songs: slick production, hiring the same session musicians and covering a wide range of topics in his songs. Also, like good singer songwriting stuff, it can be appreciated in two ways: as simple not offensive background music, while you’re reading a book and while listening with concentration to the lyrics. But he goes way further.

First, his voice is somewhat of an acquired taste, and not in the ‘easy listening’ James Taylor/Jackson Browne category. Second, many of his songs have an old timey feel, and sound as if they could have been sung in a musical (and Randy moved on, later in his career, towards writing many very successful film scores). Furthermore, his advanced arranging skills reward repeated listening; there is a lot happening. Take the strings for instance: with artists like the Eagles strings generally embellish the sound, making it sound fuller and more complete, taking it beyond country rock. Fine. But in Randy’s music, the strings do not have a supporting role, they strongly add to the dynamics and often play counter melodies, making the sum of the parts bigger. 

Third, whereas your typical singer songwriter tackled topics close to his or her personal life, Randy is less introspective and covers many different topics, ranging from vertically challenged people to Germany in the 1930’s. He shows himself to be a great observer, not unlike Bob Dylan and he has meaningful things to say. A little less poetic than Dylan perhaps, and (quite) a bit more sardonic: in this respect he resembles Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan.

You basically cannot go wrong with Randy Newman in the 70’s and Little Criminals is a great example of the man’s talent as the thinking man’s (as apart from the only feeling man’s) singer songwriter!

Roland and Nina's DECADES IN MUSIC: 1976 - SHTURCITE - Shtourtsite ’76

Review by Roland Bruynesteyn
Album assigned by Nina A.

Well, this is one group I never heard of. The music has a late 60’s vibe with Latin American touches, reminiscent of Tropicalia artists such as Os mutantes. Not so much in the rhythm department but the variation in instruments, the melodies and the voices (quite often some people singing together) combine to give it a strong hippy feel.

Often there is a strong bass line anchoring the song, leading to comparisons with songs of the era (the end of the first song sounds a bit like In-a-gadda-da-vida for example). Generally it’s less heavy of course and it resembles groups like Marmalade or the Association in scope. Given that it dates from 1976, it’s all highly derivative of course, but hey, what’s wrong with following great examples?

Day Mi Malko Nejhnost (Give me a little tenderness) was the hit single, or so claims Wikipedia, but it’s not the best song of the album. A song like Obich, while still having that hippy vibe (because of the harmony singing gets some Santana-like touches. Not so much in the guitar department but rather in a nice organ solo. And we have some cowbell, ladies and gentlemen!

Some songs sound a bit more modern, because they employ some (silly) synthesizer noises that were not available in 1969. And in A utre they try to out-Emerson Keith, and they should not have done that. But take Dalechen zaliv: it’s not original, it’s not essential (and the piano is rather primitive), but don’t you feel happy when you hear the melody? Don’t you feel like smiling if that little violin ‘solo’ is played? And that little guitar line after the next verse?

And what about Mojat sin? If sung by Paul McCartney and Wings, it would not be out of place on, say, London Town. Really a nice song. Same goes for Djavolski sezon, another song that has this relaxed vibe, that you can so easily imagine yourself listening to on a boat in a bay near some Caribbean island, with a cocktail in your hand.

Did I lower my standards, because I’m happily surprised? I don’t think so. This is no desert island disc, but I think it belongs in a comprehensive collection. I would like to get an official release on CD someday. It’s that good, and simply great fun!

Roland and Nina's DECADES IN MUSIC: 1975 - SPLIT ENZ - Mental Notes

Review by Roland Bruynesteyn
Album assigned by Nina A.

This is the debut album by the band Split Enz (New Zealand spelling of Split Ends, nz, you get it). A quick run through the songs:

Walking Down a Road – Nice opener, quirky singing, nice keyboard runs at the end.

Under the Wheel – Almost a suite of songs, with lots of proggy pretentiousness thrown in. Speeded up gimmicky voices date it somewhat. The symphonic ambition works for me, however.

Amy (Darling) – This song reminds me of Cockney Rebel, fronting the Small faces, playing a 10CC song. It sounds very early 70’s English with some vaudevillian touches, and that’s a compliment. This is some good stuff!

So Long For Now – This sounds a little bit like Sparks meeting up with 10CC. A fun song, no pretence, but well performed. The backing vocals occasionally sound like Supertramp.

Stranger Than Fiction -  A very synthy opening, something that could have appeared on LldoB by Genesis. You expect Peter Gabriel to start singing any time. When the singing starts it remains firmly in Genesis/Supertramp territory (children singing in the background make you think of School off Crime of the century). The singer is no Peter Gabriel however. Distinctive, yes, attractive, less so.

Time For a Change -  The piano ballad. Yup.

Maybe – Quirky, partly because it’s mostly two voices singing at the same time. They should have given this to Elton John. He could have made this into one of his big hits of the mid-seventies, by also streamlining it a little.

Titus – A little banjo-like intro suggests a children's’ song. When the voice starts he’s working on his Roger Chapman vibrato. The rest of the band or the producer should have told him not to do that. Apart from that, this song feels somehow unfinished or throwaway.

Spellbound – Overproduced intro (backwards cymbal, acoustic guitar, acoustic piano, weird synthesizer noises) and then some solid ‘bass and drums’ (in the traditional sense of the word) enter, to build up the tension. Singers’ style annoys a little here as well, but this song is actually very nice. The instrumental parts sound a little like Dark Side of the Moon sometimes (Breathe/Time), although the urgent, panicky singing ruins the contemplative atmosphere.

Mental Notes -  40 seconds that didn’t fit anywhere else, and they’re hardly needed here.

Verdict: This is a resonating great album! Very eclectic music and very different from the new wavey Talking Heads-light I was expecting. I STRONGLY recommend this album if you love the 70’s.

Roland and Nina's DECADES IN MUSIC: 1974 - BIJELO DUGME - Kad bi' bio bijelo dugme

Review by: Roland Bruynesteyn
Album assigned by: Nina A.

This is a group from Sarajewo, at the time Yugoslavia, at the moment Bosnia and Herzegovina. The cover has later been used by Ween for Chocolate and Cheese, although the music is totally different. The title of the album includes the name of the group and apparently means something like “Like the white button”, which is indeed featured on the cover. So much for the irrelevant background info, on to the music.

The intro features birds, a One of these days-type bass line and a nice sounding organ that has a very prominent role. I may be an arrogant western capitalist, and I may underestimate the international contacts Yugoslavia had at the time (mainly due to tourism and international sports events, I gather), but the music sounds totally up to date and international, for the time. As stated everywhere, including in the few English comments on the youtube page, it’s heavily influenced by, or quite similar to Deep Purple or Led Zeppelin, but wait, there is more! I also detect a slight glam rock influence, it’s less dark and the singer has found his own voice.

They only start singing around the 9th minute. After 10 minutes a new song starts and this is more a slow blues, generically so, featuring more guitar and less organ. The singer sings his lungs out and does a good job. Somehow it sounds a little tongue in cheek (like Blue Öyster Cult of that time), but then I do not understand anything of the lyrics so this is highly speculative. I like it though.

Close to the 17 minute mark a new song starts (Ne spavaj mala moja muzika dok svira says Soundhound on my phone), which is a joyful cover of a traditional (Chuck Berry?) song I don’t remember right now. They do it justice.

19 minutes in, a new song. Up tempo, and the organ is joining in. This is the most glammy track so far but it also has some proggy touches. Well, almost, as it’s quite short.

23 minutes in, new song. A bit more folky and Mediterranean. We have definitely left Deep Purple territory here. In fact, here the voice gets somewhat theatrical. It could be about a girl called Selma, for all I know, and I think the affair did not end well. This is one of those tracks that you‘ll never buy an album for, but which is nice to have as a guilty pleasure. Imagine being 16 in 1974 and dancing with your girlfriend or boyfriend at a party. Very important and meaningful at that age…

29 minutes in, new song, a harmonica! This song again has this propulsing rhythm that really pushes the song forward. Solo guitar here is nothing special, and somewhat low in the mix (as if they know it), but the folky a cappella section still gives it something special. Not a good song to end the album with however.

Verdict: Not as eastern European as I would think (no gypsy influence, or Greek or Turkish or Russian or anything). It doesn’t surpass anything made elsewhere at the time (by ‘elsewhere’, this simpleton basically means America and Europe), but there is nothing to be ashamed about either. The album is quite varied, played energetically and with gusto, a pleasant surprise!

JOANNA NEWSOM - The Milk-Eyed Mender (2004)

Review by: Roland Bruynesteyn
Album assigned by: Viudas Tormo

This music at first sounds like a mix between nu-folk by Bonnie Prince Billy and ECM chamber pop. Joanna is a classically trained harpist and it shows in the unconventional choices she makes. She also plays the piano, but on the whole this sounds a little less technically advanced.

Although the instrumentation and the melodies are rather sparse (and very light on percussion), the album is all over the place stylistically, so the album is more varied than you would think. But she’s also a singer, and there I have a problem. She sounds like Kate Bush (high almost soprano voice) mixed with Joni Mitchell (jazzy attitude, somewhat snarling delivery) both channeling their inner child. Or think Ricky Lee Jones on hydrogen. While I generally admire goofiness if coupled with obvious talent, this CD can only be enjoyed in small quantities at a time by me.

Most are in singer songwriter mode, but a nice song like This side of the blue I could easily imagine being sung as a ballad by Jon Anderson. Three little babies is very painful to the ears and had me laughing at the fact that it’s actually been released. In a gospel setting it would be great for Aretha, in the actual folk setting it would fit Fairport Convention, in a country setting Johnny Cash could make it sound great, but this version is horrendous.

All songs would improve immensely, to the point that the cd can actually be enjoyed, if they had been sung by a more natural, professional and pleasant voice like Norah Jones or Carly Simon. Of course, this would be less original, more middle of the road, and it could even show some other inadequacies in the music that now are drowned in the effect the voice has on the listener, but for me Joanna’s voice on this album (I have another album by her, Have one on me, where it seemed less prominent) seriously hurts its entertainment value.

Sometimes having an original voice is not just ‘not enough’, it’s too much. Being talented and daring must count for something however, so I would urge you to listen for yourself if perhaps YOU can overcome MY problems with this release…

A YEAR IN MUSIC: FRANK ZAPPA/THE MOTHERS - Roxy & Elsewhere (1974)

A YEAR IN MUSIC: 1974
Review by: Dan Sullivan

The 1974 iteration of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention was probably the greatest in the history of the group, and the album Live At The Roxy & Elsewhere catches them at the peak of their powers. Zappa had been recording studio albums with this group of musicians throughout the early 70’s, but Roxy/Elsewhere is a far more satisfying listen than those previous efforts. The problem with most Zappa albums is that they either tend to become a showcase for Frank’s long-winded guitar solos, or they devolve into irritating comedy skits. Here, Frank wisely focuses on displaying the incredible technical prowess of his backing band, and the result is a collection of mind-blowing jams, imbued with an infectious energy that could only have been captured in a live setting. And while there are plenty of guitar solos and plenty of comedy, the solos are all spectacular, and the comedy almost never irritates. 

To understand the brilliance on display here, look no further than the album’s centerpiece, the instrumental showcase, “Echidna’s Arf/Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?”. The band shifts from melody to melody, constantly changing tempo, dynamics, and time signatures, yet the song never falls apart. Just imagine the hell that Zappa must have put his musicians through to perfect this arrangement. After several instrumental solos at the end of “Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?” (including a killer drum solo by Chester Thompson), Zappa brings the house down with one of his best fiery wah-wah solos. These songs in tandem are my favorites in the very prolific Zappa discography.

The other songs are mostly excellent as well. We get an updated version of the classic “Trouble Every Day” that trounces the original, an updated version of “Oh No/Orange County Lumber Truck” that also improves on the original, and the beautiful and nostalgic “Village of the Sun” with great vocals by Napoleon Murphy Brock (he also sings on a few other tunes and his soulful voice is one of the best things about the album). Just skip “Dummy Up”, an inane skit in which Frank tries to get his bandmates to smoke a diploma, and you have the best Zappa money can buy. Definitely my favorite album of ‘74.

A YEAR IN MUSIC: KING CRIMSON - Red (1974) (2)

A YEAR IN MUSIC: 1974
Review by: Alex Alex

“Red” by King Crimson is a concept album, telling a story of two brothers.  The older brother loved the younger one very much, ever since their childhood.  When he first learned that his mother was pregnant he could not hold the tears of joy, that’s how he loved his younger brother. The older brother even could not think of his own life as a separate one from that of his younger sibling.

As teenagers both brothers spent together much time on the streets of the New York, engaging in quite dangerous, perhaps, even criminal activities. Probably, they were members of some street gang, though the story does not have that clear. It was not a rare thing that the brothers participated in knife fights, often receiving some wounds.

Then the older brother moved some other place, we are not told where but it’s an airplane flight from New York. The younger brother remained in New York, continuing his shadowy activities, and was killed one winter in a street fight, presumably by some other gangsters.

When the older brother had learned that, he immediately flew from where he was living to New York. During the flight he can not think of anything but the blood. He is trying to sleep but cannot and is seeing the blood everywhere, as in a nightmare. That’s the blood of his younger brother. At the same time he realizes that bloody nightmare will be the last thing he will remember of his brother.

The older brother safely arrives to New York. He is now calmed down and thinks of the absurdity of the providence which has led to that tragic death.

Finally he stands at the funerals. It is a bright sunny day but he is not able to see the sun. All he sees is blackness. Some old friends are trying to tell him some words of condolence but he does not really hear, nor sees them, only seeing starless and Bible blackness all around him.

The album is called “Red” because of the blood and the earth. 

The phenomenon of seeing a total blackness under certain emotional stress is described in other works of art (“And Quiet Flows the Don” is the most prominent example) and is quite a common thing to experience should you happen to be VERY unlucky.

For an equally heartbreaking tale of two sisters see this movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365376/

A YEAR IN MUSIC: GENE CLARK - No Other (1974)

A YEAR IN MUSIC: 1974
Review by: Charly Saenz

To me, “No Other” is one of the top 10 albums of all time. I cannot exaggerate its influence in my life. It’s the album that some years ago brought me back to the emotion of music. 

Gene Clark, one of the creative forces in the original Byrds, was always a low profile man, the classic artist that never “gets there”. This album has a dramatic story of its own, a complicated and long production, economic losses, the usual. But the outcome is.. fantastic. Cosmic. Would it have succeeded, a Psychedelic Soul concept album was the next step. Go figure.

Meanwhile, here we have the most beautiful and deceitful “country rock” album ever; because calling it country rock is like trying to define The Beatles as “a pop group”. The music here is all over the place as defined by the title track - almost a prog rock number, with psychedelic tones, soul, blues and more. “Life’s greatest fool” (the opening number in non-US releases) is country .. with a big soul chorus ensemble in the background. But if you want to be up there with the angels, look no further than “Strength Of Strings”, every little detail, the piano track, the floydish girls chorus (Gorgeous, more than just complementing, they truly stand out), Gene’s voice, sweet and totally vulnerable… 

And If you’re still not convinced.. The acoustic intro of “Silver Raven” sends electricity down my spine to you know where. Or “From A Silver Phial” and its gentle caress, its pretty wah wah solo.. And yet, my favourite “Some misunderstanding”. The song I introduced to my nephew at 15, and he’s a prog rocker ever since. His world shaken totally. A direct child of those great hymns like “I Shall Be Released”. We should be singing this to praise the departed. Why not!? 

Forget Gram Parsons and his Grievous Angel (same year to add more disgrace). That’s just a great album. This is an epic forgotten masterpiece. Only Forever Changes comes close to my heart in terms of resonance. Cherish it. Do never let it go.

A YEAR IN MUSIC: KING CRIMSON - Red (1974)

A YEAR IN MUSIC: 1974
Review by: Roland Bruynesteyn

Red by King Crimson is the best album of 1974, and its relevance over 40 years later cannot be exaggerated for several reasons:

• Anything conceived by Robert Fripp is obviously bound to be interesting, possibly even more so if released under the KC brand name
• KC singlehandedly kept prog rock relevant by reinventing it, when others were starting to become silly dinosaurs, or tired rock stars, or both
• The musicianship is absolutely stunning. Technical virtuosity by itself is never enough, but it almost always helps
• As the big box The road to Red (that I’m lucky to own) shows, their playing is not just studio precision, KC 1974 was a thundering machine when playing live
• Red more or less set the template for several musical sub-genres, such as doom rock, prog metal, industrial (and even its popular spin offs like Depeche mode)
• Red not only preceded the aggressive punk attitude, it did so in a very sophisticated way, showing that you can channel your anger into music and words
• Starless and the title track are just two amazing songs…

FUSHITSUSHA - Fushitsusha (1989)

Review by: Roland Bruynesteyn
Album assigned by: Tristan Peterson

Never heard of them, and now I have, I’ll never forget them.

CD1, track 1 (Acchi, I think), A slow bluesy Neil Young / Crazy horse song. I hesitate to call their playing ridiculously bad or too sophisticated for my taste. The singing is pretty bad  though, and badly recorded as well. The song is way too long. Lukewarm interest to put it mildly: hmm, what have I done to deserve this?

CD1, track 2 (Ango), more of the same. Now I like my droney music, whether it’s of the krautrocky Faust/Can (or perhaps Magma?) variety of the 70’s or the more psychedelic droney music of the 00’s like Ozric tentacles, but this is going nowhere. The guitar player has a signature sound I guess, but the bass player and the drummer sound nothing special (and they are buried deep in the mix). What they lack in melody they sadly also lack in intensity: it may sound intense, and intensely focused, at first, but very soon you realise (or rather, it occurred to me) that this is a gimmick, exacerbated by the primitive recording technique.

CD1, track 3 (Suki ni Sureba li), has a nice poppy singalong chorus that makes you want to dance and . . .  oh no, who am I kidding? It’s more of the same, really. It’s a lot more quiet and less threatening. The beginning sounds like it could have been a King Crimson improv ca. 1974 (but with Belew vocalising, thereby strangely making it sound a little Pink Floydish), not bad at all. To be honest, if this was the first song, I would feel different about Fushitsusha; I like this song!

CD1, track 4 (Todokanai) Suki ni Sureba li 2.0, with added harmonica, or so it sounds. A little more up tempo drumming half way through, but this remains listenable.

CD2, track 1 Fuwafuwa: Very slow, but hiding underneath the noisy loud guitar there is actually an almost European pop song, melody-wise. Think Aphodite’s child, only with more guitar and less keyboards.

CD2 track 2 Nattan janai. Well, if you think Arc by Neil Young is loud and distorted guitar, try this! I think you can best compare it with a compilation of all the power chords at the end of all the Who songs played live in 1970 by Pete Townshend, just before he ruined his amplifier.

CD2,track 3 Maigo. During the song the tension builds up nicely until it all ends in a noise fest. If we stretch the definition of the word ‘technical’ to its utter limits, we could call the guitar playing on this track a little more technical, but a doubt remains: is this guitar playing the way of the future, or is it a three year old?

CD2, track 4, Koko starts like some of the long live tunes by Ween in their earlier days, but without the musicality. Not the brown boognish, but bland Metal Machine Music-like. Seven minutes in, it gets quieter, somewhat of a relief, getting back to that 1969 Pink Floyd vibe. I like this part immensely, but mostly because of what I had to endure before. When it gets louder, after 12 minutes or so, I still like it, he has a nice guitar sound going on there. Way too long, but ultimately the best song on the album.

What to make of it? It’s certainly different, quite challenging if you’re willing to listen with an open mind. My main problem is that it’s too intense to use as background music, and at the same time too monotonous to listen to in concentration.

A YEAR IN MUSIC: HÉROES DEL SILENCIO - Senderos de Traición (1990)

A YEAR IN MUSIC: 1990
Review by: Jaime Vargas Sánchez

When we were proposed this “A year in music” thing, I decided that the best way for me (especially for music from when I was alive) was to relate the albums to my personal history, since that gives me a sense of perspective. In that respect, 1990 is a very particular year. It was the year I finished high school and started college, with an awesome summer in between, and as such I always am surprised when I look at lists of albums from 1990 because they seem to cover a larger timespan than one year - because albums from early 1990 are remembered as “happening” to a totally different person than albums from late 1990.

But I don’t want to make this too personal, because then I’d have to select as “most important” Led Zeppelin’s Remasters (the 2-CD summary of their box set), which was only second to the Rolling Stones’ show in Barcelona in shaping my future listening self (no, I didn’t attend, I saw it on TV). So, from an overall perspective I’d say the album of 1990 in my immediate surroundings was “Senderos de Traición” by Héroes del Silencio (a band which is mainly known by 3 groups of people: a) Spanish-speaking audiences, b) Germans - if the contemporary accounts of their success there are accurate - and c) players of Guitar Hero 3). But really, in late 1990 and especially 1991 the hits from this album were EVERYWHERE, and the guys were bona fide stars. I personally didn’t like them, but I don’t know whether that was due to my recent allegiance to classic rock (“everything after 1979 is shit”) which today seems to me like the faith of the converse (yes, in the 80s I liked Italo disco and I’m not ashamed anymore), or to my dislike to what I perceived as unfounded arrogance. In fact I didn’t reconcile with the Héroes until I read some refreshingly self-deprecating comments by singer Enrique Bunbury after they had already disbanded.

Or maybe it was because they didn’t play guitar hero solos. Listening to it today, although the album historically fit into the “return to rock” aesthetic of the early 90s, sonically it’s still got some of the 80’s earmarks. Not the most plastic elements of that - Phil Manzanera’s production is organic enough - but the guitars have those clean-sound-with-reverb-echo-and-chorus/flanger earmarks of the Smiths / U2 / Simple Minds persuasion. Guitarist Juan Valdivia plays few solos, and those he plays are usually built around the chord changes instead of indulging in blues rock cliches, and prefers to devise arpeggio patterns. Singer Enrique Bunbury harmonizes with himself here and there, which together with his powerful and affected voice made him sound larger than life (that he seemed to pattern some of his on-stage demeanor after Jim Morrison in an era in which people were more or less rediscovering the Doors also helped), and the songs were a bit of a mix of hard rock attitude, goth rock sounds and pop sensibilities. Maybe a good comparison could be the then-contemporary The Cult. So, overall, an album that I remember as being in the environment rather than belonging to MY personal history, but which I can recommend today without hesitation.

A YEAR IN MUSIC: MEGADETH - Rust in Peace (1990)

A YEAR IN MUSIC: 1990
Review by: Dinar Khayrutdinov

Thrash metal was still hot in 1990, but this is not why this album was so successful in the charts and acclaimed by critics. Why was it that well-received, though? What distinguishes it from other thrash metal albums? The answer is quite simple – it simply went one step beyond everything the genre was known for: ferocious riffage, technical complexity, kick-ass speed and angry, socially conscious lyrics. Remember that movie, ‘This Is Spinal Tap’, where a rock band members really wanted to go ‘one louder’ by having their amps ‘go to 11’? This is what Megadeth did on this album (not literally, of course). Rust in Peace is an onslaught from the very opening riffs of ‘Holy Wars… The Punishment Due’ to the closing chords of ‘My Creation’, but not in the all-out crazy way either, no siree! Megadeth sure as hell ain’t Slayer. Mustaine is clever enough to amp up the songwriting, the musicianship and the production too instead of just going for speed and aggression. But the main thing is here, folks: THIS IS A CONSISTENTLY ENTERTAINING ALBUM! Every song has something to offer, be it hooky guitar lines (yes! they manage to make thrash-metal catchy!), tasty solos, time signature changes (they’re almost going prog on some of the songs!) or ironic lyrics about wars, nuclear holocausts and government conspiracies (with aliens!).

So, in a nutshell, this is why Rust in Peace is my favorite 1990 album. It pushes the boundaries of thrash-metal in every direction without ever going “out-of-the-genre”: it’s still just thrash metal, yeah, but it’s THAT good. If you’re a metalhead, you have probably already heard it. If you’re not but you have at least a passing interest in metal, this is not one to miss.