The Zombies - Care of Cell 44 (1968)

The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle (1968)

Odessey and Oracle by The Zombies is a gem of an album, and is quite simply a baroque/psychedelic pop masterpiece, as well as being one of the greatest albums of the 1960s. Released in 1968 at a time when the band where in the process of splitting up, this album was simply intended to be one last musical effort by them before going their separate ways, although little did they know that they were creating a masterpiece which would still endure decades on.

The sound of this album is a combination of baroque pop and psychedelic pop, with the band combining elements of both to create some of the most beautiful melodies and harmony singing. The album has a Beach Boys circa Pet Sounds feel to it, while The Beatles can also be heard, but one thing is for sure that when you listen to this album you can tell instantly that The Zombies have their own distinctive sound. Key aspects of the overall sound of this album include choral harmony singing, singing that is also often double tracked to create an amazing densely layered sound much like a church choir, the heavy use of classical piano and harpsichord, and a mellotron which creates the effect of baroque strings. Combine these elements with the singing of Colin Blunstone who projects a calmness in his delivery and you get what sounds like it should be a classical album, but what is actually instead a psychedelic pop record with an underlying baroque feel.

The baroque influence is what makes Odessey and Oracle so good, with the choral singing and classical piano giving the material quite an historical feel which would otherwise not have been there, as well as an overall Englishness to the album. Opening track “Care of Cell 44” has a Penny Lane-like sound to it with some of the most exquisite harmony singing in pop, as well as some great harpsichord lines from keyboard wiz and band songwriter Rod Argent. Other tracks in the baroque mould include “A Rose for Emily” and “Changes”, both of which are classic examples of the choral harmony singing throughout this album of which when listened to you can almost picture being in a church listening to a choir, the sound is that amazing.

Melody is also a key component of the sound on this album and is something The Zombies do brilliantly on here. There infectious psychedelic pop as seen on tracks such as “Friends of Mine”, “Brief Candles”, and “I Want Her, She Wants Me” takes the listener to another place, and for me conjured up images of autumn (strange as that may seem), in particular the certain calmness and beauty that autumn brings. The combination of piano/keyboards, mellotron and harmony vocals combines so well and creates a beautiful pop feel which is like nothing else from the late-60s period, making this album standout in a unique way from the more experimental British psychedelia, as well as the drug-fuelled electric psychedelia of America.

Ironically enough, the one track on the album which is stylistically quite different to the rest of the album is also the bands most famous song. “Time of the Season” is a 60s classic but it is not a baroque pop song, and in fact it has more of a Stax soul sound to it complete with a Hammond organ keyboard solo, marking a slight departure from the melodic pop of the rest of the album. This aside it is still to this day a fantastic track, while it is also quite a nice way to close out the album on a slightly different note for variety’s sake if not anything.

At the time of its release Odessey and Oracle was overlooked completely in England and was viewed indifferently in music circles. But over time its reputation has grown significantly to the point that it is now considered a 60s classic and recognised as one of the great albums. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it the eightieth greatest album of all time, while its popularity is also seen in that due to popular demand The Zombies play it in its entirety every year (yes they got back together). Odessey and Oracle represents the perfect pop album full of melody and harmony, and in my opinion even tops that overrated supposed masterpiece Sgt. Pepper in quality. I cannot recommend it enough as a 60s pop album and suggest you give it a spin, as it is might just be one of the most melodically beautiful albums you will ever hear.

A

- Sam

 

 

Elvis Costello & The Roots - "Walk Us Uptown" (2013)

Elvis Costello and The Roots - Wise Up Ghost (2013)

When I first heard that Elvis Costello and The Roots were going to collaborate together and record an album of new material I was a number of things. Surprised, curious, sceptical just to name a few, but for one sure thing I was very intrigued to find out how these two completely different artists would sound together and what they would ultimately come up with on record. The result was Wise Up Ghost, which has just been released in the past week or so.

I would describe the sound of Wise Up Ghost as being a mixture of styles. It seems to have a bit of everything from funk to R&B, dub to straight out pop, and even jazz influences. Some of the more Roots-influenced tracks on the album also have a similar groove based feel to them to the 1970s experimental funk of Parliament/Funkadelic and Sly and the Family Stone. That’s just what I think, Costello himself however is more descriptive in describing the sound of the album stating that it is a “cauldron full of powders and potions, frogs and fingers, and that’s what I call rock and roll”. With this unusual description I kind of guess where he is coming from in that he is basically saying that it is everything and anything, and doesn’t necessarily need to be labelled in anyway. The songs themselves were written from scratch in the studio and started as skeletons before gradually being built up into actual compositions. Considering that the album was initially made with no record label, or indeed deadline attached, there was no pressure on them during the recording process letting them focus entirely on the music and experimenting with sounds.

The Roots themselves as a standalone act are a huge standout on this album and contribute significantly to the overall feel of the album. Just their presence alone transforms Costello’s sound completely, taking it into the realm of funk and R&B to the point where it’s unrecognisable for Costello. Listening to this album you become even more amazed at the musical talents and abilities of The Roots as a band and as musicians, and just how revolutionary they were as a predominantly hip-hop act that played their own instruments. Their ability to adapt their style of playing to suit different artists and styles is simply incredible, and it shows on here as they fit so well with Costello. This might have been a surprise to me at first, but then you realise that a lot of Costello’s early 80s work with the Attractions was influenced by R&B and soul, therefore the fact they work so well together on this release should probably not be entirely surprising in the end.

I’ve talked a bit about the actual collaboration between the two artists, but what about the songs themselves, what actually stands out? Well the songs are an eclectic mix overall, but do not stray too far from the R&B/funk area. “Walk Us Uptown” is a groovy R&B styled track complete with horns and a funky rhythm section, while “Refused to Be Saved” and “Wake Me Up” are both funk influenced with some nice Herbie Hancock like keyboard playing. “Trip Wire”, one of the standout tracks on the album is a beautifully sweet pop ballad and offers a nice counter to the more groove based tracks, while “Cinco Minutos Con Vos” has a slow trip hop feel to it. In fact if Costello wasn’t singing you could be forgiven for thinking this song was a lost Massive Attack track. Finally, album closer “If I Could Believe” is a track which is reminiscent of the work Costello did in the late 90s with Burt Bacharach, and has a sort of slow piano based pop-jazz sound to it. This track is one the standouts on the album and is also a nice tender way to close the album when you consider the albums overall complexity and the immense detail of some of the tracks.

So far Wise Up Ghost has had a positive response from music critics and has been well received for its imaginative nature and detail, while Costello’s chameleon knack of going from style to style across releases has also gotten a favourable mention. Some criticisms I would have of the album would be that there are a couple of lesser tracks which didn’t really appeal to me, most notably “She Might Be a Grenade” and title track “Wise Up Ghost”, but these are the exception rather than the rule. Some of the tracks are also a bit labour-intensive to listen to and tend to go on too long without doing much of interest to the listener. Such criticisms however do not take away from the overall feel of the album and the depth of quality on display. In conclusion I would say this collaboration was a success, and I applaud both The Roots and Elvis Costello for attempting something that initially to me seemed quite radical. This album took quite an effort to listen to at first as the material is quite complex in places and at times can tend to waver a bit from any particular formula or song structure, but it does get better with each listen and with this comes even greater appreciation. So overall an interesting and probably worthwhile collaborative experiment by these two artists and in the end all I can say is that if you give this album a fair go it is definitely a grower.

A-

- Sam

 

Warren Zevon - Tenderness on the block (1978)

Warren Zevon - Excitable Boys (1978)

Warren Zevon is one of the forgotten artists from the 1970s California singer-songwriter era and has tended to be overlooked in favour of many of his contemporaries. Part of the reason for this is probably because he is not your typical rock star with his very distinctive voice as well as what I would describe as his quite nerdy looks complete with Harry Potter glasses, not entirely keeping in line with the glitz and glamour of the mid-70s California pop world. However, despite this, his musical talents are undoubted and it was on his third album Excitable Boy where everything moulded together in what is one of the great albums of the period.

Released in 1978, Excitable Boy was Zevon’s third album and it would also become his best selling release. It was on this release where he combined his often humours lyrics and overall quirkiness with a California pop-rock sound complete with gorgeous harmonies, a formula which obviously worked well in appealing to a mass audience. The music on this album is a mix of up-tempo pop rockers and slightly mellower piano ballads, while it is the wonderful harmonies of the large array of backing vocalists on display including some of Los Angeles finest in the form of Linda Ronstadt and J.D. Souther that gives many of the tracks a laid back California feel. Opening track “Johnny Strikes Up the Band” is a stomping guitar rocker, while title track “Excitable Boy” has a Beach Boys feel to it and features a storming sax solo and a section of female backing vocalists. Excitable Boy also notably contains Zevon’s most recognised song “Werewolves of London”, a song that went on to become a classic rock radio staple and which in recent years was sampled by Kid Rock in his smash hit “All Summer Long”. “Accidently Like a Martyr” is a beautiful piano pop ballad in a similar style to the great singer-songwriters of the 70s period, while “Tenderness on The Block” features some of the most infectious harmonies on the album, harmonies that would give The Eagles a run for their money. This is definitely a standout track on the album and one my favourites, I guess I am just a sucker for good harmony vocals.

One of the strong features of Excitable Boy apart from Zevon’s wonderful piano playing and unique vocal style is his ability as a songwriter and in particular some of the themes he focuses on in his songs. On “Veracruz” he dramatizes the US occupation of Veracruz during the Mexican Revolution, while “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” is about a fictional character called Roland who gets involved in the Nigerian Civil War during the 1960s. The theme of war continues on “Lawyers, Guns and Money” which represents Zevon’s humorous take on Cold War paranoia. So not only are the melodies and harmonies infectious on this record, but the song-writing is varied, vivid and interesting, ensuring that the listeners are kept amused with characters such as Roland the gunner and lyrics talking of seeing werewolves with Chinese menus in their hand walking in Soho. This is just the quirkiness and unusual mastery of Warren Zevon, showing why he is such a good musician and how his music makes for such good listening.

Excitable Boy gave Warren Zevon a larger audience and saw him crack the top 10 on Billboard, but he would struggle to capitalize in the long term on the openings this album gave him in terms of exposure. Although he would continue to retain his cult following in music circles and would earn the praise of people such as Dylan, Young and Springsteen, commercial success would elude him throughout the rest of his career and he eventually died prematurely in 2003, age 56. Warren Zevon is to this day still in many ways a cult figure in music and you have either heard of him or you haven’t. The 70s California singer-songwriter period and the music that came out of it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and people often view it cynically as a coked up bland period for music where money ruled the roost. This might be the case in some instances, but this album Excitable Boy by a nerdy looking guy with a strange last name proved that there were exceptions, and that in the end some of the music did sound good.

A-/A

- Sam

 

 

Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid (2009)

Keep It Hid is the debut solo album by Black Keys singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach, and is also so far his only non-collaborative solo album. Released in early 2009, the year before Brothers would catapult the Black Keys well in truly into the global music spotlight, Keep It Hid is an interesting album in that it is quite a diverse and varied album musically and is by no means a complete carbon copy of Black Keys material. This album rather than being a full on blues rock album contains a mixture of styles, with Auerbach moving between delta blues, garage rock, blues rock and even. This mixture of styles across the different tracks gives the album a nice balance and allows Auerbach to showcase other sides to his musical pallet, with the results speaking volumes.

Opening track “Trouble Weighs a Ton” is a rootsy pastoral folk tune of which when I first heard it I thought I was listening to a Mumford and Sons album. I certainly wasn’t expecting a Dan Auerbach solo album to start with a soft folk tune, but I was pleasantly surprised that it did. “I Want Some More” has an early-Black Keys feel to it with its swampy rhythm and dirty blues sound, while tracks such as “The Prowl”, “Keep It Hid” and “Street Walkin’” continues this theme with heavily distorted guitars and a blues rock template . “My Last Mistake” is one of Auerbach’s most poppy songs out of all his repertoire including his work with the Black Keys, and his also one of his best. Written in a similar vain to the tracks on Keys album El Camino, this is blues pop at its very best in the form of a driving backing track of guitar, bass and drums, as well as a very catchy melody which bounces along at you as you listen. The heavier blues tracks on this album are separated out nicely by some softer tracks where Auerbach shows off his tender side more so than he ever has done on any Black Keys album for mine. “Real Desire” is a beautiful soulful blues ballad laced with organ and very delicate guitar playing, while “When The Night Comes” is just Auerbach playing acoustic guitar and singing accompanied by a synth backing track. Album closer “Goin Home” probably gets the award for the softest track on the album and would also be in contention for the most beautiful, with Auerbach’s delightful finger picking and heartfelt vocal delivery floating along together in tandem in what is a gorgeous end to the album. What this album shows if anything is that this man can write softer soulful tracks just as good as he writes hard out blues rock epics, whilst singing them as equally as good.

A standard out feature for me on Keep It Hid was the overall production of the record, a task that Auerbach took on himself. Not only is Auerbach a wonderfully talented musician, but he is also a very good producer and it shows on this record where he pays careful attention to the needs of each track in attempting to get the right feel for each individual song, rather than an overall feel for the album. This comes across in the music, of which I noticed when listening is by in large less full on and fierce than the albums of his other band. The blues-oriented songs have a roughness about them and it is on these tracks where Auerbach uses distortion of the guitar and on occasion the vocals, while the folk and soul tracks have a beautiful simplicity to them with minimal production apart from the odd bit of echo. Overall I would give full marks to Auerbach for the production on this record in creating a sound and feel that I would describe as being quite organic in nature and very well suited to the eclectic mix of sound and style on display.

In conclusion then, I would say that Keep It Hid was an excellent debut for the Black Keys front man who showed with this release how he isn’t just a one dimensional blues rocker. Auerbach does a fantastic job in showing off his full range of musical abilities both as a songwriter and a player on multiple instruments on this album, while also giving a glimpse of his softer side as a song-writer, in particular showing how he can write tranquil folk songs as well as down to earth soulful blues. Keep It Hid is well worth a listen if you are into the Black Keys, especially their earlier work, and want to find out what Auerbach sounds like on his own. I thoroughly recommend this album, and I am sure you will be just as pleasantly surprised at the quality of the material as I was.   

A-

- Sam

Arctic Monkeys - Snap Out of It (2013)

Arctic Monkeys - AM (2013)

AM is the fifth studio release in seven years by the Arctic Monkeys, a pretty impressive feat for a band these days, while as an album it is their most diverse yet if not being the most un-Arctic Monkeys of their releases. On this new album the band have moved head first into a completely new area of music far removed from the indie rock sound which made them one of the best British bands of the 21^st century so far. The music on AM is heavily influenced by hard rock, contemporary R&B and even hip-hop which ensured the listening experience for me was in many ways one of confusion. At times I could have been mistaken for thinking this was the new Queens of the Stone Age album, with a strong current of heavy guitars, pounding riffs and high falsetto vocals scattered throughout the album. Interestingly enough Josh Homme does in fact make an appearance on this album as a guest backing vocalist, and of course helped to produce the bands third album Humbug.

The album stars in a very heavy fashion with opening track “Do I Wanna Know?” a guitar driven psychedelic rock track and “R U Mine?” a fast paced song reminiscent of classic Black Sabbath. The influence of Sabbath and hard rock continues on “Arabella”, a song that includes a seismic-like guitar riff during the chorus that thunders through the speakers at you. At this point I found myself thinking since when were the Arctic Monkeys influenced by heavy metal, an influence that continues on “I Want It All” which contains a very heavy guitar riff in the vein of early Metallica. After an incredibly fierce start to the album, the middle section is much softer and melodic. “No. 1 Party Anthem” is a John Lennon (circa 1974) sounding song that features acoustic guitar and piano accompanying what is quite a beautiful soulful vocal delivery from Alex Turner. I would bet my bottom dollar this will be a cigarette lighter in the air song during concerts. This song is followed by “Mad Sounds” which is the softest song on the album a midst a haze of heavy rock and R&B styled tracks. This song to me felt like it could have come from David Bowie’s “Young Americans” and has an underlying Philly soul feel to it complete with a chorus full of ooh-la-la’s. The final section of the album begins with my favourite track the poppy psychedelic stomp “Snap Out of It” with its hand claps and incredibly catchy chorus, “Knee Socks” which as a song has a new wave feel to it with echoey guitars and yet more falsetto vocals, and finally album closer the R&B laced “I Wanna Be Yours” which is my least favourite song on the album and where I had a what were they thinking moment.

As far as criticisms go, there are a few aspects of this album which did not do it for me namely the R&B/hip-hop influences which in my opinion did not suit them and hopefully will not be seen again on future albums. I also found myself at times getting annoyed by the falsetto vocals which are dotted across the album. Yes they work well on several tracks, but I do feel they ended up overdoing this a bit across the album as a whole. Finally, I also think this album is over-produced especially with the layers and layers of heavy guitars and multi-tracked vocals, which together at times feel like they are battling with each for supremacy on a particular song. There is a lot going on, on most of these songs and I feel many of them could have sounded better had they been a little less busy in places, and if the band had focussed more on getting the timbre right rather than the production.

So far AM has been well received by the critics on its release and has garnered plenty of positive reviews and ratings, with many in the music press commenting on the albums musically diverse nature and incorporation of styles that you wouldn’t usually associate with the Arctic Monkeys. Some have even gone on to say it is the bands best album, something I would not agree with as I still think their last release Suck It and See was better. However I do applaud the band for trying to evolve their sound and attempt new things on this release, even if the results are not always perfect. There are some very good songs on here and a lot of interesting things going on in what is by in large a consistent album, but all in all I am yet to be completely sold on the bands new sound. Despite this, I still think overall AM was an interesting listen and I would still recommend it if at least to see where the Arctic Monkeys are at after five albums, and what direction they could potentially be heading in the future.

B

- Sam

Ministry of Sound vs Spotify: Is making playlists ok?

Spotify has been in the news a lot recently, especially after Thom Yorke’s comments around whether up in coming artists get any significant financial reward from having their music available to be streamed on the site. And, just this last week, I was intrigued to read that dance music empire Ministry of Sound is suing Spotify for copyright infringement due to users of the online streaming service creating playlists that mirror Ministry of Sound compilation albums. When I first read this I was quite amazed as I had never heard of a case quite like it in music. Copyright issues have become more and more common within the music industry in the last decade or so, from the early days of digital downloading to just last month when members of Marvin Gaye’s family got embroiled in a copyright dispute with Robin Thicke over the song “Blurred Lines” of which they argued copied Gaye’s song “Got To Give it Up”, but suing a company because their users made playlists which copied official releases is something new all together.

The success of this particular case will be dependent on whether a case can be made for compilation albums to qualify for copyright protection because of the effort that goes in to arranging the track listing and putting the albums together, while also whether the actual order of tracks on a compilation album can be copyrighted. Compilation albums are a significant money earner for the mainstream music industry, especially if they are compiled and released through a major label or a brand such as Ministry of Sound. This makes me believe that in pursuing this case against Spotify, Ministry of Sound are simply out to protect their financial interests with no real care for the satisfaction of the casual music fan, users of Spotify, and indeed it seems Ministry of Sound fans.

To me this case is just another attempt from a music mogul to control how music is distributed, and in doing so control that distribution process so it is favourable to them and their financial interest, interests that are worth within the multi-million dollar range annually. Music streaming is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways in which people are listening to music in an increasingly diversified music listening landscape. And with sites like Spotify offering their services for free, or cheap subscriptions, major labels and other influential organisations such as Ministry of Sound will become more concerned as to whether their historically strong monopoly on music distribution will remain. Such concerns will only increase if they believe that the popularity of online streaming and other ‘free’ or cheap listening music services will affect their record sales and therefore the profit margins of the big global conglomerates.

This brings me back on to the issue of making playlists, something that is very popular amongst users of Spotify and iTunes. At the end of the day one must ask what is actually wrong with music fans compiling their favourite tracks into playlists for their own pleasure. Music and the act of listening to music is one of the most pleasurable experiences one can have, and if a music fan has the opportunity to enhance this experience through making themed playlists then surly that’s a good thing and should be encouraged not prevented. People have been compiling music for their own personal use for decades, you only need to think of bootlegging and tape making for starters, while ITunes is also in the business of allowing users to make their own personal playlists. The mind actually boggles as to where Ministry of Sound is coming from on this issue in what to me is simply an attempt by them to control how music fans listen to music, and from Ministry of Sounds point of view how they listen to their music. Surly they should be happy people are listening to their product in the first place and indeed getting enjoyment from it through the act of making their own playlists. Spotify and music streaming in general is just the latest example in a long list where music fans have beaten the moguls to the pump in changing the music listening and music consuming landscape. When these moguls realise their financial interests are threatened they target the copyright loophole that tends to come with the distribution of information online in an attempt to try and stamp out such activity, forcing people to resort to traditional means of acquiring music, which in the case of Ministry of Sound  means buying their fifty-thousand compilation albums.

At the end of the day the major players in the music industry have for too long now been behind the times when it comes to music distribution and the news ways in which people are getting their music today. Ultimately it is their responsibility to catch up with the developments of things such as music streaming and other forms of online music distribution in the digital age, because  If they don’t they will continue to lose out financially and the music fan will continue to rule the roost as to how and where they listen to music. Ultimately it is about options and giving music fans more diversity in how they can listen to their music without restricting what they can and can’t do. Making playlists is a harmless activity and should in reality have no significant effect on the compilation sales of Ministry of Sound. But when you consider the profit over product and capital over culture ideals that exist amongst the hegemons of the music industry, a harmless activity such as making a playlist on Spotify can evidently get heads turning.

- Sam

Franz Ferdinand - Love Illumination (2013)

Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions (2013)

Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions is the newly released album by Scottish indie-rock band Franz Ferdinand. It is their forth studio release overall and first since 2009, a long gap between offerings when you consider that most indie bands release an album every two years at the very least. I must say that since their second album You Could Have It So Much Better, Franz Ferdinand drifted off my musical radar and were seemingly ready to be forever known to me as the band who released that really artsy video in 2004 accompanying arguably their most well known song “Take Me Out”. However I found myself pleasantly surprised after listening to their latest release, in what appears to be a very strong comeback for the band.

The sound of this album is not to dissimilar to their last album which had an underlying dance feel to it, although all in all the band tends to mix up the material between traditional indie-rock and dosses of 80s new wave. Album opener the guitar driven “Right Thoughts” is probably the track which resembles their earlier work the most and is notably accompanied by a “Take Me Out” inspired music video, while “Evil Eye” has a sort of 80s post-punk feel to it including a thumping Duran Duran bass line. There are shades of Bowie on “Love Illumination” which channels his 80s work along with latest release The Next Day and includes driving guitars, a catchy melody and even drowning-like horns; there is no doubting that “Love Illumination” will be a live favourite among fans, whilst it is also for me a candidate for best track on the album. Other tracks that stood out for me on the album included the Supergrass-sounding “Bullet” with its high pitch vocals and surfer guitar, and the Beatlesque “Fresh Strawberries” with its lovely harmonies and glowing melody. “Fresh Strawberries” appealed to me as it is not your typical Franz Ferdinand track in that it is a slower more mellow number and is less guitar-driven.  Another candidate for best song on the album and nice to see them try something different. The only real negatives for me on this album were the tracks “Treason Animals” and “The Universe Expanded” of which both seemed to me as being annoying exercises in psychedelic synth pop. For me these were clearly the weakest tracks on the album and definitely don’t fit in with the up-tempo and melodic nature of the rest of the material. However, at ten songs it is a very short album and therefore a couple of lesser tracks can be excused. Yes they don’t add anything to the album, but at the same time they don’t take anything away from the rest of the material.

So far this album has been well received by critics with many giving it four stars and 8/10 ratings. I definitely concur with the critics and view the album as a strong comeback for the group especially after their last album was a bit uneven in places. I also probably view this release more favourably as I wasn’t expecting much out of it and was tossing up whether to even bother listening to it. In the end I’m glad I did and the surprise in the form of some quality songs was well worth it. I do recommend this latest offering from Franz Ferdinand especially if you enjoyed their earlier work, or are simply just an indie-rock nerd. I would also recommend it to those people like myself of which Franz Ferdinand had drifted out of consciousness within the overcrowded scene of indie bands that exist these days. You also might just be pleasantly surprised like I was.

B+

- Sam