The Outlaws (Joe Meek) - "Dream of the West" LP, Vinyl, Album, 1961 (His Masters Voice)

The Outlaws is an instrumental band and worked with Joe Meek being their producer and songwriter.  Meek wrote all the songs on this album under the name of Robert Duke, as well as writing the liner notes.  The two guitars, bass and drums on a Meek recording can sound like it was recorded somewhere on the other side of the moon, yet pretend to be human.  Which is ironic, because this is an album that has a theme of the wild west.  "Dream of the West" is a concept album, but not one with a narrative, but with a place, a time, and of course, since it's British, more about the cinematic Western than the real west. 

If one compares The Outlaws to another band, it will have to be The Shadows.  Twangy guitars that are more British sounding than say surf, yet it's almost like scientists studying the surf guitar sound, and somehow getting it wonderfully wrong.   There is not one authentic western song on this album. All of the material, written by Meek (Duke) is a western that is imagined than real.  It's a beautiful album in the sense that fantasy plays a great role in Meek's world.  Yet, I sense he feels that all of it is 'real,' at least to him.   

Jack Nitzsche - "The Lonely Surfer" LP, Album, Stereo, 1961 (Reprise)

More likely if one has Jack Nitzsche even in the studio while one is making a recording, there is a good chance that the record will be a masterpiece. Nitzsche was a brilliant arranger, producer, and on the classic Phil Spector recordings, the producer's right-handed man. It was his arrangements of "He's A Rebel," and "Da Doo Ron Ron" that gave it such magnificent power. "The Lonely Surfer" was Jack's first solo album, of his arrangments of various songs of that time. One can imagine "The Lonely Surfer" as a surf album, but it's surf as if it was arranged by a 19-century Russian composer. The fact is, I never heard such a sad sounding instrumental album before this one. Even an up-tempo "Baja" or "Puerto Vallarta" has a depressing aspect of exotica island music. The depth of feeling is Nitzsche's genius.

His version of "Da Doo Ron Ron," and as mentioned, he made the original arrangement, but here he slows it down that it's almost not identifiable. A sharp-suited man on the album cover, yet his eyes expose a certain hesitation or maybe even fear. There is a lot to read on this album, and it is one of my favorite records in my collection. I love all of Nitzsche's solo albums (three all together, then the soundtrack recordings, and of course production/arrangement works) and he gives any work that he's involved in a broad sense of feeling, which is unusual for a pop record of the 1960s. It's almost like he's giving the record a foot-note, giving it more depth or layer of emotion that is not yet settled. A classic Wrecking Crew era record album, but also one that I think is the best of the lot - including the Phil Spector recordings. Nitzsche was the real deal.

The Viscounts' "Harlem Nocturne" (Amy Records, recorded in 1960, released in 1965)

The Viscounts, from New Jersey, where they started in 1958, made this album "Harlem Nocturne" in 1960, and somehow it sounds like the father of the first Lounge Lizards' album and the first solo Andy Mackay (from Roxy Music).   The basic sound is a great beautiful melodic saxophone, echo electric guitar, electric organ, and of course drums.  They have two sounds on this album.  Upbeat rock n' roll, and then dreamy.  The slow and dramatic ballads like "Harlem Nocturne, "I Cover the Waterfront," "September Song," and the great theme song to the French gangster flick Le Grisbi" are soaked in blue mood, that reeks of stale smoke and strong whiskey.   

I mentioned the early Lounge Lizards, because there is something sophisticated about how they approach their material, as well as The Viscounts.  The creepy organ sneaks between the guitarist and sax player, and it sits there in a very solid fashion.   The John Lurie melodic sense is also here.  With respect to Andy Mackay, the sax player's method is very similar to the Roxy Music member.  The glistering guitar is consistently in dialogue with the sax, and it's an orchestration that serves the song.   "Harlem Nocturne" is an exciting discovery for me.  God knows what one will find at their local record store - in this case, Mono Records on Glendale Blvd. 

Brian Eno - "1: Instrumental" 3 x CD Box Set, UK

Brian Eno - 1: Instrumental

3 x CD, Compilation Box Set, UK, 1993

Virgin

The completest that is in my DNA core needs this box set of instrumental cuts from Eno.  Even though I have some strong doubts about his instrumental work in the long run.  Discreet Music and the instrumental parts of Another Green World are masterpieces, but everyone has their peaks and valleys, and although Eno’s work in general is very successful with the music world, I find it a tad conservative. 

It is hard to criticize his work, because it is alway well-made and brilliantly played, but I find the concept or thinking behind the pieces not that strong or consistent.  Although not spoken, and perhaps this is totally from my perspective, I just don’t think he is challenging himself in the long run.  Which is a weird thought when you look at his career on a piece of paper or computer screen, but the first two Roxy albums, and of course the first four solo albums were such a great force, almost a kick in the stomach feeling - where things can never be the same anymore.   But alas, Eno has been dishing out the same material at least in style for a long time now.  There is no doubt that he is border-line genius and often hysterical in his work as well in interviews, but as an avant-garde artist he’s not out there like Christian Marclay or Rutherford Chang and I think someone in his field of interest should be really cutting-edge.  

Of course as an artist he should listen to his inner-voice, but as a listener I am often disappointed with the later results.   Especially the signs of his brilliance from the first Roxy Music to the Obscure record label releases, and now he produces Coldplay…

But still, this instrumental box set which came out in 1993 is an impressive package.   If you are a hardcore Eno fan you would need to own this.