Orange Juice - "You Can't Hide Your Love Forever" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 2014/1982 (Domino)

Orange Juice was a band from Scotland and was the leading light on the independent Scottish label Postcard.  First of all, no other group was cuter than Orange Juice.  The four young men were all pin-up material, and Edwyn Collins their 'perhaps' leader was striking in his pouty sensual lips and hair over one eye.   Their music was guitar driven but layered and extremely textural. It hints of the band Television, but to me, I hear two other groups influences on their first album "You Can't Hide Your Love Forever."   They are The Velvet Underground, and the other is The Feelies. 

To be specific The Velvets intimate third album, due to the intimacy of their sound, but also the beautiful guitar playing by Sterling Morrison and Lou Reed.  There is the conversational quality of Reed's lyrics that are very much part of Collins' writing as well.  Lou is direct, and Edwyn has a touch of Noel Coward commenting on a relationship in disaster or changed by circumstances.  With respect to The Feelies, and I'm specifically talking about their first album, I hear the interplay of the guitars that build up and then there's a melodic part that opens up the music in a fashion that is beautiful and feminine.  Which is an odd thing to say about a guitar band of all young guys, but there is a strong sense of not power, but the surge of melodies that come through like a sun breaking through the clouds. 

Elvis Presley - "The King In The Ring" 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, 2018 (RCA)

Released in many formats, this is a very recent re-release of Elvis Presley's incredible performance on his NBC-TV special from 1968.  At this point, Elvis was a figure from the past, who made too many mediocre films, and this was an approach to bring him back to contemporary culture.  Either by Elvis or the producers, they had the brilliant idea to do a set of songs unplugged and little to no sets, but surrounded by an audience.   

Covering his Sun-era recordings as well as his early 1950s RCA sides, plus a few Christmas songs (including one of my fave Elvis cuts "Blue Christmas"), he's not only back, but also to my ears has the energy of a young proto-punk band.  The Cramps came to mind when I hear this album, and it's not that weird of a comparison or aesthetic.  The sad thing is that Elvis regained his 'moment' but then lost it in the 1970s, at least image-wise.   Often bloated, but I would argue his magnificent voice never failed him.   Now, I wonder if Elvis actually had made a bad record?  Weak ones, yes, but a terrible record?  Still, clad in an all-leather outfit, and an f**K you to 1960s haircut and stance, he's magnificent. 

For one, to see him with his band is like being in a foreign country to me.  It's William Faulkner coming to life, and the happy relationship between him and the group, is very much like a small club where the membership is secret, and although he and they are human, it is still very much of a foreign culture.  But that's me, the ultimate Southern California fellow!  If The Cramps are exotic then so is "The King In The Ring."  It's a double album, of two live sets recorded for the TV special.  The idea was to film both shows and then edit the songs together for the final program.  So, as a listener, we are hearing repeated but different performances such as Jimmy Reed's "Baby What You Want Me To Do" (five times) "One Night (three times) and so forth.  Each version has its charms, and all are phenomenal.  

The band is basically the original Elvis group of Scotty Moore and drummer D. J. Fontana (playing on a guitar case used as drums), Charlie Hodge guitar and backup vocals, and two Memphis Mafia guys on percussion.  It's a superb band, with Elvis on guitar, and that remarkable voice that cuts down all sense of fakeness, yet theatrical in its presence.  Elvis was a unique artist, where his landscape turned against him, yet, among the rubble, he came out like a pauper King.  These recordings are my favorite Elvis.  It's up there with the Sun Records, but also I like them even better than the RCA early 50s recordings.   They're loose, and he's on fire.

Annette Peacock - "I'm The One" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, 2016/1972 (Light in the Attic)

I I have heard of Annette Peacock's name through the ECM Jazz world as well as with the David Bowie world.  The first time I heard Peacock's music is through Mick Ronson's two solo albums where he recorded her "I'm The One," "Seven Days" (as a bonus cut on a Japanese issued CD), and to my surprise Peacock's arrangement of Elvis' "Love Me Tender."  I didn't realize that until I heard "I'm The One" album for the first time a few days ago.   In many ways, the missing link between Bowie and Mick Ronson, and also long-term keyboard player Mike Garson is on this album as well.  Perhaps he was the bridge between her and Bowie/Ronson.

One hear traces of future Bowie music in her work.  Specifically "Young Americans" era Bowie, but also even on his later work from the end of the century "Hours" he borrows a section from "I'm The One."  Peacock's album is pretty amazing, due to the mixture of her version of soul, experimentation with the Moog, and singing that is borderline Yoko Ono range.   Her husband Paul Bley and others add a jazzy quality that redefines the border of the music categories that are on this album.  Her version of "Love Me Tender" is a minimal take of the song, and again, Ronson basically borrowed his version on her vision of the song. 

To my ears, this is very much the sound of New York City in the 1970s, where the song format is stretched into other possibilities, and it still sounds fresh with its mixture of Sly Stone funk, and the sound of the Moog coming in and out of the mix.  A remarkable album. 

The Walker Brothers - "Nite Flights" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 2016/1978 (Music on Vinyl)

To follow Scott Walker's career is like traveling on a parallel universe where things look similar but are very different than things back home.   "Nite Flights" is the last album from The Walker Brothers.  I think they realize that this road is coming to a dead end, and decided to make an album that will please themselves, but also their need to explore other sounds, yet, keep The Walkers mystique in order.   In a sense, it's three solo albums in one package, with four songs by Scott, four by John Walker, and two by their 'drummer' Gary.  The big surprise is how good the Gary cuts are on this album.  "Death of Romance" and "Den Haague" have a groove, but Scott through the production gives it another dimension sonically.  I don't know the working relationship between the "brothers," but I feel that Gary was more in tune with Scott's experimentation and sense of adventure.   The John Walker cuts are OK, but the one song of his that stands out is "Rhythm of Vision" just due to the chorus hook. 

The masterpieces here are of course from Scott, and it is a blueprint of the type of music he will do in the future.   Although it seems he dropped out of releasing music for five years until his next recording "Climate of Hunter."  A lot of listeners separate the early Scott from the current Scott, but in my opinion, I think he has been consistent ever since his early work with The Walker Brothers.  He moves slow, but his thinking and art making of sounds has been consistent.  "Nite Flights" is the first 'obvious' step into making new music that is emotionally drained, dark humor, and contained in a space.  I often think of Walker's work as a piece of sonic sculpture, and here he takes the first step to make that happen.  

The way the album is set up is that you have four songs by Scott, two by Gary, and then the remaining four by John.  So physically there are two EPs by Scott and John, and a single by Gary.  The album opens up with the Scott Walker's set, and it is a collaboration in the sense that John sings along with Scott, but beyond that, the density of the recording/sounds is very much like a solo Scott album.  I feel that these four songs were very much influenced by David Bowie's "Low," in that they are pop songs, but filtered through a relentless rhythm that gives it a Claustrophobic feel with the urgent voices of Scott and John.  Probably the most well-known song here is the title cut, "Nite Flights" which Bowie covered on his album "Black Tie White Noise.  A beautiful song that seems to belong to both Bowie and Scott.  "The Electrician" is a combination of Scott's new direction, but also his later film composing.  The string section is lovely, but it does go against the darkness of the main melody, which causes tension.  And Scott Walker is the genius of music tension.