Cream - "Goodbye" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1969 (ATCO Records)

Cream at its most magnificent and at its worse.  To get to the bad part of Cream, for me, it's their live recordings.  All on side one, "I'm So Glad" "Sitting on Top of The World" and "Politician."  Three fantastic songs, but overplayed and way too long.  When I hear recordings of Cream playing live, it seems like it's a miracle that they know when or how to end the song.  On the flip side, their studio recordings are tight, well-arranged, and always a trace of exotic touches, such as Jack Bruce's cello playing - and then there is his magnificent voice.  "Doing That Scrapyard Thing" is a brilliant Bruce and Peter Brown song.  A magnificent pop record.  The other surprise is Ginger Baker's song contributions.  "What A Bringdown" is also a snappy and great pop tune.  Clapton with the assistance of the mysterious George Harrison comes up with "Badge," of the better Eric songs. Still, it doesn't compare to the Bruce and Ginger contribution.  Eric is a technically great guitarist, but I always felt he was the one that could leave the band, and they can find someone better.  If they had Chris Spedding - now that would make the Cream engine go-go.   The studio sides also had the talent of  Felix Pappalardi, who had the light touch, but with the arrangements that were usually fantastic. 

Holger Czukay - "Movies" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 1982/1979 (EMI)

My first introduction to the world of Can is Holger Czukay's first solo album "Movies."  It took me a decade before I heard my first proper Can album, but that is another tale.  I purchased "Movies," which came out in 1979, and I immediately compared it to the more well-known album by David Byrne and Brian Eno, "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts."  Both albums used found sound, such as the Byrne/Eno recordings all used vocals from other recorded sources.  It's a nifty slightly experimental album, but hearing "Movies" seems to me to be the real deal.   Recorded around the same time, I feel Czukay's approach was more light-hearted, with great swaps of humor, compared to the Byrne/Eno, which had a sinister quality.   Both were natural groove orientated music, but I find beauty in such pieces by Czukay such as "Persian Love" that I don't find in "Bush of Ghosts."

The Czukay narrative is that he records all the jams from Can recordings, and never turns off the tape machine.  He then cuts, slices, and like a film, edits the aural aspect of the work.  Here he adds outside sounds/voices to the overall mix.  It must be time-consuming work, because the music doesn't sound disjointed or crazed, but structured in a manner that is, of course, listenable, but also catchy.  It was pop music with strong melodies but filtered through Czukay's knowledge of 20th century contemporary classical music.  Stockhausen is a significant influence on Czukay, and he even studied under the great composer.  A remarkable album that never sounds dated.  A joy from the first cut to the last.

Trans - "Green" Vinyl, EP, 33 1/3 RPM, 2014 (Rough Trade)

Trans is a band formed by Bernard Butler, of Suede fame, and John McKeown, who is or was in a group called The Yummy Fur.  Backed by the rhythm section Igor Volk and Paul Borchers, they remind me of Television, just due to the guitars of Butler and McKeown.  What I read of them is that they basically improvise, or jam, and then edit the recordings down, similar to Can's method of writing/making songs.   Also, there is very little information about Trans, because I suspect that the band rather have the music speak for itself, or just weary of the media/music promotion world.  Nevertheless, Trans is really good.

"Green" is minimal in a package, but cool design.  The music has a groove that is Can-like, but again, the guitars how they relate to each other is very Verlaine/Lloyd.   They made two EPs, with four songs each.  "Green" although improvised (in theory) is very melodic, and there is a hardcore guitar sound throughout the four songs.  Vocals are here, but it's the guitars that are forefront.  So if one has a need to hear Neil and classic Crazy Horse, or Can - and as mentioned Television, then Trans fit into that planet in a very organic manner. 

Traffic - "Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" b/w "Coloured Rain" 45 rpm vinyl single, 1967 (Island)

For me, Traffic was the most magnificent band, but only for the first nine or 12 months of their existence in 1967.  After that, I lost interest in them.  Never an offensive group, actually far from that category, but early Traffic was an essential listening experience.  Traffic always had a 'world' touch to their music, with traces of jazz, and folk leanings.  Still, in the early recordings, there was a sense of exploration in sound and songwriting structures.  The focus was on Steve Winwood, but it was the textural contributions from Chris Wood, their horn player, as well as Jim Capaldi (drummer).  Dave Mason was their guitarist, and he added songwriting skills, but there is something that kept him in line with the other three.  Original member, he left, then re-joined them for their second album.  A significant figure in the band, but his presence seemed to be the nail that stuck out too much, with respect to the band. 

"Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" is the theme song to the movie with the same title.  It has all the best elements of Traffic.  Soulful, melodic, superb musicianship, and superb songwriting.  I have a hunch that this song was not well-loved by Traffic at the time.  Still, an amazing recording, beautifully produced by Jimmy Miller, that had touches of exotic sounds that were dreamy, but very solid on the earth.  The b-side, "Colored Rain" is a classic Traffic cut.  A beautiful little window is looking out onto the landscape of late 1967. 

Suede - "Sci-Fi Lullabies" 3 x Vinyl, LP, Compilation, 2014/1997 (Demon Records)

Suede is a recent new love for me, and it is either because I'm becoming older, and therefore my ears are opening up, or I have bad taste.  I'll let my readers debate on that, but when I first heard Suede in the 1990s, I found them to be pretentious and too much of an imitation of various glam bands, and also, I suspected any group that was so good looking.   In other words, I criticize Suede for being too surface-like, when in fact my attitude toward them was precisely the same disease.  My thoughts on them were equally surface-like.  It was a happenstance series of moments when I purchased their third album "Coming Up," and reading Brett Anderson, their singers' moving memoir "Coal Black Mornings" at the same time.   Being a completist, I also purchase the three-LP vinyl discs compilation of their b-sides "Sci-Fi Lullabies." 

First of all, the opening song to this compilation "My Insatiable One" is classic.  Why it is not on their first album is a mystery to me.  Which comes to the fact, that all the b-sides are almost better than the final chosen songs for the first "Suede" album.  B-sides, by their nature, are usually throw-away songs, or little experiments on the tail end of a recording session.  Clearly Suede see their b-sides as important recordings.   A three album disc set seems obsessive, but "Sci-Fi Lullabies" is a very much release by these London artists.  For the music historian, Suede had two parts.  The first part is the Bernard Butler years, which didn't last long, but his importance is acutely felt in the first two albums, as well as a large handful of songs here.  Butler is not only the co-writer of the early Suede songs, along with Anderson, but also a magnificent guitarist.  He's a combination of Johnny Marr and Mick Ronson, and he serves Suede in the same manner as those two fantastic guitarists and arrangers.  When Butler left or got thrown out of Suede, one would think that's it.   Brett and company found another guitarist and co-writer, and an additional guitarist/keyboard player and they became even more popular.   What Butler brought to Suede is an orchestrated guitar sound that was textured and melodic, with a noisy tinge as well.   This guy is a musician's musician.  There is a nerdy, obsessive side to his playing that is very aggressive, but equally aware that he's part of the foursome (at the time).  

Anderson struck me as a lyricist who very much admires Bowie and JG Ballard.  With respect to Bowie, his "Man Who Sold The World" which strikes me as the framework for Suede, but I'm also amused and fascinated that Brett Anderson was listening to Robert Wyatt's "Rock Bottom" at the time of recording their first album.   Anderson is an 'observation' writer.   He has a good ear and language in describing a landscape in the U.K. that was lower class, yet had some vision of a future that is part science fiction, but based on the economic world of failure and misery.  Its songs are about youth, but not as bright young things, but more like the victims of their class and economic world.  It's romantic because the characters in the songs have no other choice.  It's either that or pure misery, which even with its romantic motif, is still a miserable existence.  Suede is the poets and voice for this underclass.

Once Butler left, he was replaced by Richard Oakes, who much admires the previous guitarist's work in Suede.   And on top of that, he is an excellent songwriter.  Him and Neil Codling, who happens to be the cousin to their drummer Simon Gilbert, is also a strong melodist. Mat Osman is also a very melodic bassist, and he adds a lot to their sound. The latter Suede is punchier and perhaps focused in their music.  There is not a significant difference between the two versions of the band, due I suspect to the vision of Anderson.   There is a Jacques Brel approach to the seedy world that he shares with the legend, and he takes on that role very well.  "Killing of a Flash Boy" and "Europe Is Our Playground" are such songs that are subjective, but has a journalistic skill in telling the narrative.   Suede is worth the effort to drop my objections and accept them for what they are: an outstanding band of great worth. 

The Raybeats - "Guitar Beat" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1981 (Don't Fall Off The Mountain)

The Raybeats were Don Christensen, Jody Harris, Pat Irwin and the late George Scott.   The music they focus on were sounds of The Shadows and The Tornados, but with the aesthetic of the No Wave era.   Since all the musicians were members of James Chance's The Contortions, or James White & The Blacks, there is a crossover of New York sophistication that reminds me a bit of The Lounge Lizards as well.   All is a very good thing because The Raybeats are terrific. 

The guitar work of Harris and Irwin are twangy, but with distortion effects that brings the picture of the sounds to another level.  For me, I adore The Shadows as well as The Tornados and there is equal respect for the guitarist Hank Marvin as well as a nod by the "Guitar Beat's producer, Martin Rushent to the outer space sounds of Joe Meek.  There have been revival bands devoted to surf/instrumental, but The Raybeats' attitude is different.  They are not here to imitate but to add their own sense of adventure with sound and vision.   If James White & The Blacks commented on the Disco medium, then The Raybeats play with the genre that is surf instrumental.    The Raybeats music is sharp, sophisticated, fun, and an eye out for the avant-garde.  Their music is a heady mixture.  

Johnny Kidd & The Pirates - "The Best of Johnny Kidd and The Pirates" Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Reissue, Mono (EMI)

Frederick Heath, better known as Johnny Kidd, is one of the first rock n' roll figures in England.  Him and his band of various players throughout the early years of the 1960s, The Pirates, were RnR authentic, but still British to the very core of their existence.  "Please Don't Touch" is the ultimate horny theme song, that to describe in one word,  is marvelous.    Although their one major hit is obviously "Shakin' All Over."  Canadian band 'Guess Who?' had a hit recording in America, and it was a song covered by The Who, and Pete Townshend is/was without a doubt a huge Peter Green of The Pirates fan.  Like another British rocker of the same period, one can trace the British accent of Johnny Kidd, which to my ears, makes the recordings unusual. 

As far as I know, Johnny Kidd never made an album.  All his recordings were 45 rpm singles, so this compilation is those singles, plus the b-sides.  A lot of the songs were written by Kidd, but also by a Gordon Mills, who became a powerhouse manager of Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Gilbert O'Sullivan.  Johnny & The Pirates were half show-biz of the Music Hall world and one foot in the prototype of early rock.   Kidd/Heath was very much a product of his time and place.  Of course, we now think of Adam Ant and His Ants as being the sons of Johnny Kidd, due to the Pirate motif in his stage shows and publicity photos.   

There are many compilations of Johnny's hits or non-hits, but I think this "Best of..."  is an incredible collection of music by Kidd, and it is like peeking into a keyhole of the British world at the time of the early 60s before the Fab Four hit the scene.   In a field of teenage pop stars, Kidd and Billy Fury were the real deals.   It's rock n' roll, but clearly, it's BRITISH rock n' roll.  

Miles Davis - "Ascender pour l'Échafaud" 3 × Vinyl, LP, 10", Album, Deluxe Edition, Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered (2018/1958 (Fontana)

According to my current bank statement, I'm broke, yet, I couldn't help myself purchasing this three-10" disk set of the Miles Davis' definition of perfection "Ascenseur pour l'échafaud."  The Louis Malle film is fantastic of course, but the soundtrack music is one of those series of perfect aural moments.  With incredible backing from French Jazz musicians Pierre Michelot, René Urtreger, Barney Wilen, and the great American drummer Kenny Clarke.   The mood is consistent, which has traces of sadness and reflection.  The ultimate 'Modal' sounding album, it reflects the sound of a moody sea or a sense of moisture on a Parisian pavement.  

I have at least four versions of this soundtrack album.  It is consistently reissued in various formats, but my favorite is the 10" record.   Last year, they released a 10" original version, but this package includes all the outtakes throughout three discs.  For the new listener, I would suggest this above package because it sounds phenomenal, and there is not a bad or wasted cut on this album, including the extra bonus cuts.   Economically you can find a more inexpensive version, but then again, why do you want a discount of vinyl greatness?  

The album works in the early morning as well as late in the evening.  It has a purity or a sense of place that is meditative, but not background music.  Choosing a favorite Miles album is almost pointless, due to his vast recorded history.  Although, on a very subjective level, this is my favorite Miles album.  It never fails in supplying me the food I need to move on, and although I don't feel it's a spiritual work, but perhaps more of a sexual experience.   Sensuality that is the forefront, and therefore the ultimate sound of lovemaking that enters the brain.  

Maurice Lemaître - "Poémes et Musiques Lettristes et Hyperphonie" Vinyl, LP, Limited Edition, 2014 (Alga Marghen)

I first discovered Maurice Lemaître's work in a Paris bookstore; I think somewhere in the Marais district.  It was a booklet that came with a CD of him reciting his 'letterist' poetry.   Once I got home, I was hooked on him and the entire Letterist movement, which was the first step that eventually leads to Situationist International.  Not really speaking a word of French, I was more in tune with Lemaître's voice and pronouncement of the words.  For me, it's music or sound that brings up the era of the Boris Vian's Saint Germain des Prés then anything else.  

Letterism or sometimes spelled out as Lettrism is an off-shoot of DADA, that focused on literature, painting, and films.  Isidore Isou is the most famous member of the group, but Lenaître was very much the public face of Letterism.  He even appeared in an Orson Welles documentary on Paris nightlife.   Still, this vinyl edition of his recitations is a marvel.  One can see traces of hip-hop in "Quatre Lettries Sur Des Thèmes Rock" which is him reciting his poetry over a French rock n' roll record.  Very primitive recording, yet a total delight.  I know very little of his paintings, and these recordings are my main entrance to the world of The Letterists, but still, it's a magnificent and fun approach to a Parisian culture at its height.   I find work produced in the Paris 1950s of great interest. To me, it's the bridge between post-war European years to the Hippie movement.  It's a fascinating journey to go on, and this album is very much a suitable soundtrack for that trip.  

Rain Tree Crow - "Blackwater" b/w "Red Earth" & "I Drink To Forget" 12" Vinyl, 45 rpm, Limited Edition, 1991 (Virgin)

In reality, Rain Tree Crow is the band Japan.  Why they changed their name when they decided to get back together to make an album is a mystery to me.  Still, this 12" single is one of their best songs.  "Blackwater" is a beautiful moody melody that expresses not exactly a romance, but the essence of looking back, and the need to move on.   Mick Karn, Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri, and of course David Sylvian, with assistance from guitarist and Cocteau fan Bill Nelson.  Mellow, with the ultimate Sylvian croon, "Blackwater" is a dream existence or location that one can feel, but maybe never touch or be in that location again.  It's a sad song.  It's melancholy with traces of wistfulness.   

Side two of this 12" single are two instrumentals.  "Red Earth" is on the Rain Tree Crow album, and it's very cinematic I think due to Brian Gascoigne's orchestration, and he also worked with Scott Walker's later recordings.  "I Drink To Forget" (don't we all) is prepared piano played by Sylvian with the rest of the band doing electronics is very slight, and it's almost an afterthought, but it is also very beautiful in its nature.  

Joe Meek - "The Joe Meek Story/The Pye Years" 2 x CD, Compilation, 1991 (Sequel)

Beside The Honeycombs CD that I bought in Japan, this compilation of Joe Meek's 1960s recordings was my introduction to the strange sounds and therefore the odd world of Joe Meek.  I remember buying the double-CD compilation out of curiosity more than anything else.  I was on one of my trips to Japan, and that at the time, was like going to another world.  Something like Meek made perfect sense at the time.   Knowing nothing of the man until I purchased this collection and read it's detailed liner notes, which was hard for me to re-fold in its packaging, was a life-changer.  Listening to the music on this package had a profound effect on me.  One, the sound was so eccentric, yet it's clearly pop or rock music, but with a twisted darkness as an aftertaste.  

The opening cut, Blue Rondo's "Little Baby" was a garage rock version of Roy Orbison, with an incredible echo like vocal that sounded like it came from either heaven or hell.  The other artist that made an impression on me is Glenda Collins, who had the perfect British girl pitch, but a sassy attitude. "It's Hard To Believe It" and "Something I Got To Tell You" are upfront, straight to the face, and a perfect match for Meek's experimentation and sense of romantic angst.  I have read that Meek at one time wanted to marry Glenda, but I suspect that would have been a tragic mistake.  "The Pye Years" is an excellent introduction to the Meek sound, especially with respect to the nod toward the British Invasion at the time.  Here you get instrumentals, but a strong leaning toward a beat rock sound.   His famous songs/works are not on this collection, but it's a very strong compilation.  Get and find it. 

Ennio Morricone - "Danger: Diabolik" CD, Album, OST, Italy, 2001 (Sycodelic)

Not exactly an obscure soundtrack by Ennio Morricone, but a very difficult one to obtain.  Only available as a bootleg, and always on a CD.   Seeing "Danger: Diabolik" is not that difficult in the world of the format DVD.  Still, Diabolik was a master thief who operated outside the law to do justice.  There was or is something extremely fetish about his lifestyle as well as his love life. He was devoted to his girlfriend/wife, with a sexual passion that is almost heated as his body suits, just exposing his eyes.   Influenced by Fantomas, but very much part of the James Bond world, Diabolik was also an Italian comic book.  I do have some copies that were translated into English.  A guilty pleasure of sorts, but on the other hand, Morricone's score/incidental music for the film is fun. 

If there is a hit song off this, it would be "Deep Down" sung by Christy, who I suspect was sort of an Italian Yé-Yé singer, who worked with Morricone as well as with Piero Piccioni.  The story behind the soundtrack is that the master tapes were destroyed from a warehouse fire, and what we have here is the actual music and dialogue from the film itself.  So, the quality is not that hot, and there is a lot of dialogue added here as well.  Personally, I just want the music, but I can understand that there are people out there who insist on studying the Diabolik film. 

Morricone is a composer of many styles.  "Danger: Diabolik" is the easy listening side of Morricone, a jazz tinge existence with great sound effects.   For the record, it's not my favorite Morricone score, but for those who prefer the Bachelor Pad music era, it is a must and a high point in that world. 

The Smiths - "Louder Than Bombs" 2 x Vinyl, Compilation, 1987 (Sire)

The Smiths represent an era or a time when things were felt with great wonder and excitement. It was also the last band that really expressed themselves through their design of album and 12" single covers.  Each one was an entrance to a world that seemed gay or at the very least, a portrait of an artist who railed against the system or machine, and either played the price of becoming obscure or a footnote to a series of sad moments.  The Smiths became the voice for those who felt differently or couldn't fit in the world that was clearly made for other people.

There is no such thing as a bad Smiths record, but for me, it is their compilations that speak loudly to me.   The Smiths were one of the last bands to make the 45 rpm single separate from the album.  Albums were important, but I suspect that The Smiths true aesthetic was the A-Side and the additional B-Side. "Louder Than Bombs" is a compilation of their singles, and none (as far as I know, and being a lazy sod, I'm not looking this up as I write this essay) ever made it on to an official Smiths album.    My favorite songs of theirs tend to be the singles and b-sides.  The Smiths were brilliant in releasing incredible B-Sides, which traditionally were throw-a-way songs, and not meant to have any attention attached to them.  But, all of us vinyl lunatics know that is not necessarily true, and The Smiths had brilliant songs placed in the obscure position of being forgotten.  Or not, because The Smiths has paid attention to these 7" little wonders by releasing "Louder Than Bombs," which for the consumer, is a bargain, due to the cost of purchasing 45 rpm imported singles. 

Then, we didn't watch the footsteps leading to a horror show that we now have on hand.   Who would have known?  So in that sense, The Smiths are a band that very much wears the past as a shield, even in its original time of release, but now, it seems that this world didn't exist, or did it?

Jacques Dutronc - "Madame L'Existence" CD, Album, France, 2003 (Columbia)

When I purchased Jacques Dutronc's "Madame L'Existence" it was more out of curiosity than being loyal to the Dutronc brand.   I was aware of Dutronc's music from the 1960s and 70s, mostly due to my devotion to Serge Gainsbourg's music and his world.  Still, I don't speak French, but my love for French pop and literary culture is an obsession that is hard for me to explain.  All I know is I want to explore this foreign world, and individuals like Boris Vian and Gainsbourg were the bookends on the shelve that allow me to wander between "BV" and "SG" and back again.  

I adore Dutronc's 60s recording because it reminds me of a hybrid between Ray Davies' commentary on London culture as well as garage rock.  Dutronc seemed to do music that had a wink to the eye, and one of great wit.  Perhaps mostly due to the lyricist Jacques Lanzmann, who was much older than Dutronc, still, served as his mouthpiece with respect to music.    Lanzmann was in his 40s when he wrote lyrics for Dutronc, which dealt with the French teenage culture, but with a profound wit of an older man looking over the scene.  A critical eye perhaps, but I often think of his relationship with Dutronc must have been similar to the much older Paul Verlaine's tutoring the teenage Rimbaud, minus the sexual relationship of course. 

So, I was very curious to know what Dutronc would sound like in 2003, and what I heard was a pleasant shock.  For one, it sounded nothing like his 60s work, but in fact covered in a layer of electronic mood pop music, with Dutronc sounding not that far off from late Serge Gainsbourg.  No longer singing, but in a mixture of talking/phrasing his words for dramatic effect, it had a slightly sinister quality to the music.  Not sure if smoking or drinking, or even aging, has caused the great difference from within his voice, it still had the spirit of Jacques Dutronc.  

The one song that stays in my mind like a fly being caught on flypaper is "Face à la Merde" (In Front of the Shit), which has a haunting melody, and it does have a Gainsbourg approach to life.   A superb album, and as far as I know the last studio album by Dutronc.   I will like to hear from him sometime in 2018.