David Bowie's Stage



Released as a double LP in 1978, Stage chronicled the Thin White Duke's world tour of that year. It showcases his arty Berlin years (Low, Station To Station) as well as a few of the classic hits (Ziggy Stardust). The band is great, and includes both Adrian Belew and Carlos Alomar on guitars, so you know it's rocking - this band went right into the studio after this tour to record Lodger, one of my personal fave Bowie records. This week saw it finally get the remastered reissue treatment in the US (I don't think it's ever been on CD), and it's fantastic. I've always loved how this group of musicians were able to pull off the arty, icy synth stuff as well as some of the more traditionally rocking tunes, and it's so nice to hear it "beefed up" a little. Stay sounds particularly good to me - the funky bass and drums, the big riffing guitars, Bowie's croon - it's all super tight. Another much welcomed reissue that if you're a Bowie fan you need to check out.

An '80s Obscurity Remastered



Franco-Belgian trio Antena originally released Camino Del Sol as a 5 track EP in 1985 on reknowned Euro indie label Les Disques Crepescule. Their music was a blend of electronic instrumentation and samba rhythms and jazzy touches. Their initial recording sessions were helmed by John Foxx, who with his first solo album Metamatic had laid a blueprint for icy electronic soundscaping. This music was largely ignored at the time, and it's only now with this loving reissue of the original EP plus a handful of B sides and rarities that their impact can be heard. You can hear their influence in the music of bands like Stereolab, or the eclectic experimentation of Beck or David Byrne. It's fascinating stuff, such cold renditions of warm music. Handling the vocals is Isabelle Antena, who went solo when the band fell apart soon after releasing the EP, and her voice is a big part of the band's charms. Here is their very oddball renedition of the old classic "Girl From Ipanema", changed to The Boy From Ipanema. A much warmer sounding track is the lovely Seaside Weekend with it's breezy melody and doo-bee-doos. This is one of those reissues that really makes you thankful for whoever took the time to get it together - in this case the recently formed Numero label, a specialty label that only does remastered reissues of "lost classics".

Flaming Lips Versus Thievery Corporation



The new Thievery Corporation album The Cosmic Game was released a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't sure whether I was going to pick it up - I've got all of the other albums, and I was feeling like maybe they were a little played out. Then I read something about some of their new collaborators and my interest was piqued. Perry Farrell handles vocals on one tune, a dubby track where he tries a bit of toasting that leaves me unimpressed. David Byrne co-writes and sings on Lonely Hunter, and it works pretty well - an uptempo, Afropop flavored tune given the glossy sonic treatment by the Thievery boys. The name that really grabbed me though was the Flaming Lips. Credited for vocals, guitar and additional orchestration on Marching the Hate Machines (Into the Sun), it's a downtempo beauty featuring lush keys, some great twangy guitar bits, a nice mellow beat and Wayne's vocals about robots. Their two styles blend very well. As for the rest of the record, it's business as usual - reggae, raga and Latin influences sprinkled over breakbeats and hip hop beats. Nice, but nothing new.

Funky Friday On The Old School Soul Tip



The Stylistics formed in the late '60s out of the dying doo wop scene, and rose to prominence in the early '70s with a string of memorable Philly soul hits like Betcha By Golly Wow and People Make The World Go Round. Produced and written by Thom Bell and co-writer Linda Creed, it was Philly soul at it's well orchestrated best. Main vocalist Russell Thompkins Jr. has the sweetest falsetto, and is ably backed up by the rest of the band's blissful harmonies. They specialised in mid tempo grooves and balladry, and they also did a handful of covers. From their second LP, 1972's Round 2 comes this supremely soulful rendition of Carole King's classic pop hit It's Too Late. It rides almost the same groove as People Make The World Go Round and is just as lushly orchestrated - great horns too. A lovely rendition.

Bettie Serveert's Attagirl



I fell in love with Carol van Dyk's voice the firt time I heard Kid's Allright back in '92. The track was from their debut LP Palomine, and that voice - capable of rocking hard, yet at other times so soft and quivering and vulnerable, like (sigh) Chrissie Hynde. The Dutch band plied a mix of indie rock, a love for Neil Young and Velvet Underground riffs, and were going to be the next big thing. It didn't quite play out that way and they parted with label Matador, but have continued to put out records on their own. The last few have shown them unafraid to experiment, getting quieter and adding strings. Their latest is Attagirl, and they continue to play with their sound. This record finds them adding synths and drum machines, and the result has them sounding a bit more pop-tastic. It is only on a couple of the LP's tracks where this is evident, and the rest is the same quality stuff they've been doing for years. Here's Dreamaniacs, a shiny, glossy tune. And ooh, that voice. If you don't feel this new direction, take solace in the fact that the US version of the CD has acoustic versions of these tunes on it. Me, I like the slight shift.

Lost Classic Of The Original Post Punk Era



When I first heard today's tune in 1981 I thought it was going to be a huge hit. Sadly, it was not. The Scottish four piece Scars had the looks and the hooks. All About You has gloriously sharp guitars, a nice pounding disco-ish beat, vaguely funky bass, and a super catchy melody. It's remarkable how good this tune still sounds, though in light of the recent second wave of post punkers it shouldn't be too surprising. It's a great song from a pretty good album that is in desperate need of the remastered reissue treatment. Guitarist Paul Research continues to do music and maintains a website with photos and stories about the band. Included there is the news that Lemon Jelly sampled a big chunk of the Scars tune Horrorshow for their recent hit single Shouty Track, and several members of Scars joined the band live on stage for a performance of the song.

Sergio Mendes On An Easy Listening Tuesday

     
     

Ever since I was 3 or 4 years old, Sergio Mendes and his music has been a part of my life. It started with my parents, who bought a lot of those early Brasil '66 records, and carried into the '70s where my family and I actually went and saw Brasil '77 live in concert. I've always had a soft spot for their music - sure, it's easy listening, but it's so well crafted and I'm a sucker for a bossa nova beat. In the '60s it was swanky, bachelor pad music - Brazilian rhythms + jazz applied to classic western pop tunes by the likes of Bacharach or Simon & Garfunkle or the Beatles. In the early '70s the group embraced their musical roots, and became an earthier, more traditionally Brazilian band - lots of crazy percussion and chants. By the time the '80s rolled around they had morphed into too much of an MOR act, and I lost interest. The older stuff still gets me going though, and I will buy the records if I come across them in the used bins, or if they are remastered and reissued on CD - which hasn't happened enough! Here are a couple of tunes from two different eras of the band. Pretty World is Brasil '66 at it's prettiest - gorgeous orchestration, lovely horns and the sweet voice of Lani Hall, plus a great melody all make this one a treat. By the time 1975 rolled around Sergio was making the transition to a more American style of pop music, and from his self titled LP of that year comes If I Ever Lose This Heaven. Kicking off with a wicked little breakbeat riff (can't believe this one hasn't been sampled!), it's pure r'n'b - funky bass and drums, disco strings and horns perfectly orchestrated by Dave Grusin, and the soulful vocals of Bonnie Bowden and Sondra Catton. Very groovy.

The Return Of The Moody Ones



Brit trio Doves released their third LP stateside last week. Some Cities is clearly their attempt to break out of the moody, mopey, melancholic groove they've perfected over the last couple of records. The record kicks off with two fast and loud songs in a row, which is almost unheard of on a Doves record. First single Black And White Town even rides an upbeat, Motown rhythm. It's a much more direct album, but they haven't forsaken the spaced out-ness altogether. As always they push a nice mix of classic, epic British rock, Northern soul and psychedelia. The production (by Ben Hillier who did Blur's Think Tank) is really clean - it's not nearly as murky souding as the previous stuff, and I think it heightens the whole experience to hear everything so clearly. Despite talking up the rockers I'm giving you The Storm, one of the slower, moodier tracks on the album. Featuring a lovely Ryuichi Sakamoto string sample and a chunky Gainsbourg-esque bass line, it builds and builds into a squall of feedback guitars and harmonica. Very tasty.

Funky Friday's Brazilian Girls



I didn't want to like the new self titled LP from Brazilian Girls. Does the world really need another culture-hopping, genre mashing (cringe) trip hop album? I had read a few reviews, and listened to a bit of it on a listening station at my local music emporium when I took the plunge. A few spins later I was sold. Musically it jumps from downtempo to house to dubby ska to latin jazz and a bit of rock, all expertly played by the 3 guys in the band and warmly sung by the lovely, forthright Sabina Sciubba. It's warm and melodic and sexy, and often quirky and amusing. Sabina sings in French, Spanish, German and English, and the band backs her up with slick precision, adding all manner of nice sonic touches. To answer my own question at the beginning of this post - yes, when a record is this warm and witty and groovy and fun, we do need it. Here's a couple of tracks - Don't Stop is a warm house-y number, and Lazy Lover is one of the slinky slower tunes. "Lazy lover, Casanova, you roll over when I want more." Perfect...

An '80s Obscurity

     
     

Leisure Process were a duo comprised of sax player Gary Barnacle and singer Ross Middleton. If you own any eighties albums that have sax on them, it's most likely Gary Barnacle playing - Visage, Pet Shop Boys, The Ruts, Paul McCartney, Phil Collins and PIL are among the many bands he tootled for. He was also an official member of jazz funkers Level 42 for a while. Ross Middleton came out of the Scottish indie pop act Positive Noise. They recorded a couple of singles, but I don't think they ever made an album - I never saw one, and googling gave me zilch. The singles were produced Martin Rushent, who over the years had become "the man" in British music, having produced Altered Images, the Stranglers, Buzzcocks and the Human League among others. Leisure Process' sound was typically Rushent - tight, synthetic funk tracks with Ross' vocals delivered in a manic, new wave style. I dug the singles alot, and thought they had chart potential but of course they were largely ignored. I especially dig this 12" version of A Way You'll Never Be - it has such enormously pounding drums and some super poppin' bass, courtesy of Level 42's Phil Gould and Mark King. You may not like what these guys did in their own band, but there's no denying their musical skills. The tune also features a cool James Bond like xylophone riff that gets me every time, and since Gary is in the band it has a big sax solo. You can definitely hear a bit of the Human League's synth action going on too, and that makes it doubly tasty to me. Nothing classic, but a fun little '80s obscurity nonetheless.

The Golden Republic



I picked up the self titled debut by The Golden Republic a few weeks ago. A four piece from Kansas City MO, they are being lumped in with the new wave of new wavers that have been dominating the indie rock scene. The album was recorded in New York at Tarquin Studios, and produced by Peter Katis, who also did Interpol and Robbers On High Street's albums, so they are part of the scene. This record is a little different though - there's a bit of soul, a dash of punk and some very '70s T.Rex glam moments on here too. It struck me the other day that it also sounds a lot like some of Soulwax's stuff from the Much Against Everyone's Advice album - a good thing in my books. NYC is definitely more of the new wave thing, and hooked me with it's shiny synths and the super catchy "uh-oh-oh-oh-oh's" in the chorus. It's also got a nice bouncy bass line and some cool guitar riffing. A record that I didn't expect much from, but have ended up enjoying quite a bit.

Scritti Politti - Early



I was scanning some new music release page on the internets last week when I came across a listing that made me bolt up in my seat - Rough Trade had compiled a bunch of the earliest Scritti Politti recordings from the late '70s and early '80s and released them in remastered form as Early. I snapped up a copy that day at my local shop, and have been playing it every day since. I first encountered the band when I heard The "Sweetest Girl" on the radio, and was fascinated by it's rudimentary drum pattern, killer dub bass lines, gorgeous melody and the remarkably odd voice of Green Gartside. It remains of my faves today. I was sold, and bought up the ensuing 45s (with their ultra-cool covers that parodied product labels like Dunhills and cognac bottles) and LPs, where over the years they turned into a slick, Arif Mardin produced synth funk act. I never got around to buying any of this older stuff though, so for me this compilation is a real boon. Most folks who know Scritti from their super polished and funky mid '80s stuff would probably be surprised to hear some of this earlier stuff. It's raw and ragged, though still full of those funky touches and reggae flavor. "It sounds like some anti-produced labour of negativity, kind of structurally unsound and exposed." is how Green himself describes it in the liner notes on the CD cover. Doubt Beat is a good example of this dynamic - scratchy guitars, dub bass, propulsive post punk beats (all of the drummming is fantastic on this record) and a very catchy chorus. You can definitely hear inklings of where the band's music would end up. My "buy of the week"!