Johnny Thunders - "So Alone" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 1978/2014 (Drastic Plastic Records)

It's hard to separate the image of Johnny Thunders, the very model of him, and his music.  When I listen to a Thunders recording, whatever it's a Heartbreakers or New York Dolls, the image of the Junkie is very well defined in our world.  Which is a shame, because it hides the fact that Thunders is an outstanding songwriter.  One should never bury their vices, but when it becomes the only subject matter when it comes to Johnny Thunders, you're losing the full motion picture and sound.

"So Alone" is the first 'solo' album from Thunders, and he's backed from Steve Jones and Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols, and more interestingly Peter Perrett and Mike Kellie from the band The Only Ones.  Another semi-tragic songwriter of sorts, Perrett is a perfect mirror image of the Thunders angst and pleasure.  The root of Thunders is, of course, The New York Dolls, which is a band that is about the history of rock n' roll, Rhythm n' blues, and various girl groups from the 1960s.  And of course a touch of The Kinks circa 1964/1965.   Thunders don't move from this core on his solo recording, because this is the music that he breaths in and out throughout his life. "So Alone" is a fantastic album, because, at the time, it cuts all of his interest on one disc.  

The album is co-produced by Steve Lillywhite, who worked with a lot of great British artists in the post-rock years of the late 1970s such as Peter Gabriel, XTC, early Ultravox, Siouxsie & the Banshees, and of course U2.   Lillywhite captures the Thunders magic, by not doing anything slick or mechanical and frames the Johnny aesthetic as if it was a retrospective than just an album.  The music covers NY Dolls, Heartbreakers, and choice covers to give a portrait of Johnny, at his most muscular stance to honoring not only his songwriting but the aesthetic that goes with his territory.  The first two New York Dolls, and the early Heartbreakers, and then "So Alone" is an excellent package to get. A vital artist who stated not only the image of rock n' roll but also the poetic almost dandified stance that goes with that (Thunders') world. 

Gavin Bryars ‎– "The Sinking Of The Titanic" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1978 (Obscure)

Probably the most 'reflective' album in my collection.  'The Sinking of the Titanic" is an aural documentary composed by the British composer Gavin Bryars.  The Titanic is such an iconic incident, that it has no meaning for me until I heard this album.   Extremely sad, and very moving, and basically one is living through the experience of a ship sinking, where one can hear traces of the ship's band playing as it disappears into the sea.   Also, there is a faint voice in the mix, that is a person who survived the Titanic's sinking. Which gives the whole record a sense of hope and beauty, even though it's heading toward the entrance of death. 

Side two is another composition by Bryars "Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet" that starts off with a recording a loop of a man singing a hymn with additional instrumentation added on as the piece progresses to a large orchestration.   For me, the work has an educational value that it seems to be a textbook study on arranging and how important that craft is to a music piece.  It's a pretty melody, but "The Sinking of the Titanic" is such a 'wow' piece of work, that makes it hard for me to turn the record over right away to hear "Jesus Blood.."   As a package, it's two albums in one disc.  

Speaking which, I can't overemphasize how important the label Obscure was when one purchased them in the 1970s.   Started by Brian Eno, it was a label devoted to experimental British composers, but of all sorts.   One can think of it as a school, but it covered a lot of musical ground within its limited releases at the time.  For me, in the late 1970s, it was a great introduction to new music being made in England, and it's one of the great projects that Eno brought to this world. 

Lou Reed - "Street Hassle" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1978 (Arista)

My favorite solo Lou Reed album is "Street Hassle."   It's the one album for me where Lou portrays the 'public' Lou Reed that we know and sort of love.   I may be wrong, but I feel that this is the last solo record where Reed is portraying a character.  His albums afterward, are basically Reed looking at the world as a first-person narrative.  Almost like a journalist covering his landscape in a John Cheever mode, or at the location of the gates of hell.   For instance, when he wrote and record "Berlin" he never at that time been to that city.  So, in a sense, the solo Lou is very much of a world that he made up, and put himself in as a character. 

The Velvet Underground years are spotless.  Full-on Lou genius work.  The solo career is a hit and miss, but when he's great, he's really fantastic.  "Street Hassle" is interesting to me because he's playing with the sound of the studio or the live recording.  This is such a murky sounding record that if it is a 3D object it would be mud or a heavy dish of food.   Aurally I think of Lou digging from the bottom to the top to get air, and there is something very closed off like one is locked in the basement, and one is really trying to break a hole to get light/air.  

The songs themselves are fantastic.  "Real Good Time Together," I think is an old Velvet's era song, and if memory is serving me correctly (always doubtful) it was on a live Velvet's album.  Nevertheless here it's a minimal piece of music, that builds to a tension, that eventually breaks loose.  A lot of the songs are arranged in that fashion.  The album's set piece is "Street Hassle," which is in three parts, yet still very contained narrative and the music arrangement is very tight.  The strings arranged by Aram Schefrin is minimal minded, that has a touch of Philip Glass/Steve Reich intensity. There is also a Bruce Springsteen uncredited cameo as well. 

The other song that sticks out is "Dirt."  Very direct, angry, catchy and wonderful.   This is very much bad-ass Lou Reed in his prime.  It's interesting to note that Reed's partner-in-crime, both Iggy Pop and Bowie also released ("Low" and "Idiot") compressed sounding records around this time (1977/1978).  There is an aesthetic link between these three albums.   Not sure if they were aware, or it was something in the air at that time.  Still, "Street Hassle,' the album,  is a remarkable piece of work.  

André Hodeir - "L'écume des jours" OST, 45 rpm Vinyl Single, France, 1968 (Philips)

André Hodeir is a fascinating figure in French Jazz.  Think of him as sort of a more adventuresome Gil Evans.  Musician, composer, arranger, and author.  He wrote numerous books on Jazz aesthetics that were published by Grove Books in the 1960s.  Hodeir is also a challenging artist to find record wise.  Even in Paris I had trouble locating his works, but now, with the internet, it's a tad easier, but not a whole lot of recordings are readily available.   One of the hard finds for me, is this record, the soundtrack to Charles Belmont's French film "L'écume des jours."  It's based on a fantastic Boris Vian novel ("Foam of the Daze" which I published through my press TamTam Books).   

Header uses jazz as a foundation, but he also had an interest in Musique Concréte practices as well.  "L'écume des jours" in parts, is almost electronic in that he processes the children's vocals into a hypnotic and haunting sound.   There is nothing on this French EP that is predictable. Incredibly melodic in parts, but also obsessed with the sound process as well.  Hodeir was a genius and very worth while to locate his recordings.  I think I have most of his work in my collection, as well as a huge Boris Vian presence in my sound and book library.