The Modern Lovers - "The Modern Lovers Vinyl, Album, Reissue, 2019/1976 (Music on Vinyl)

The first time I heard the words "Modern Lovers" was in Interview magazine, and there was an interview with Jonathan Richman, the lead lover in this band. It was before I heard any music by them, and they were a band that mostly played in the Boston/NYC area. I was equally intrigued and amazed about Richman's stance on rock n' roll as a highly poetic/romantic platform but through his unique eyes. Not precisely innocence, but one who ruled out anything negative by taking ugly and making it beautiful. If rock n' roll is deformed in the sense of its decadence, then Jonathan only sees enlightenment that is borderline spiritual. Still, there are emotional feelings in every song. The way he portrays "Pablo Picasso" as a stud-in-the-make, in it's Velvet Underground minimalism. The juxtaposition of Picasso's image as an artist, human being, and Richman is treating him like a Velvet's subject matter. His observation strength is through, and his guitar playing is glued to the Lou Reed/Sterling Morrison aesthetic. If Reed is cynical, Richman is hopefully in the most profound manner. "Roadrunner," of course, is the ultimate car and get on the highway song.  An essential album because it's a unique voice, which artists like Morrissey and others used as a springboard for their angst and work. John Cale's production is never fussy, just reporting the fact.  With Jarry Harrison (Talking Heads), David Robinson (The Cars), and Ernie Brooks supply the foundation for Jonathan's flight into the genius level. 

John Cale - "Helen of Troy" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 2015/1975 (Wax Cathedral)

My favorite John Cale album from the Island Records era.  What I find appealing about his work, is more of his arrangement skills than his compositions.   For instance, I think Lou Reed is a better songwriter than Cale, but it's the talent of Cale to bring out the best in Lou Reed's songs.  That's the beauty of the early Velvet Underground recordings.  The same goes for his work with Tony Conrad as well.   This is not saying that Cale does not come up with wonderful songs, but for me, it's the way he puts the music together that I find his greatness.  

"Helen of Troy" is the third of the three Cale solo albums that were released on Island records, and it's the one where I feel he's working on a huge canvas for the first time on that label.  "Helen of Troy" is very a Cale sampler, and I mean that in a very good way.  You have the orchestrational Cale ("I Keep A Close Watch") and the gritty/electro "Engine" and the title song, but again, it is how the layers all the textures together that only a superb arranger can accomplish.  His version of The Modern Lovers (he produced their first and only album) of "Pablo Picasso" is pretty great.  That, and Jimmy Reed's "Baby What You Want Me To Do" are the perfect bar band sound that only can be placed in a saloon run by David Lynch.   

Cale is an artist of great taste and skill. The fact that he produced The Stooges, Nico, Squeeze, Patti Smith and The Modern Lovers shows that he was either in the right place at the right time, but more likely he had the brilliant touch to know what's important.  A very sophisticated taste, and "Helen of Troy" is nothing but, an album of great style, grace, anger, and brilliant arrangements.  "My Maria" is a perfect example of all of his skills placed in one song.  Here on this album, you have the grit to latter-day Beach Boys harmonies.  This is the best!

The Velvet Underground - "1969" 2 x Vinyl, LP, U.S., 2017 (Republic Records)

In the glory days of the music world, there would be releases from record companies that have nothing to do with time or space.  Just product.  I by chance found this album "1969" by The Velvet Underground, and I have to imagine that it's a combination of the 1980's release of "VU" and "Another View" which is basically putting everything out under the Velvet's recorded catalog of the time.   Now, Universal music has put together these two albums as a double-album set on vinyl.   Three-sides are the Velvets with Doug Yule in the line-up, and side four is when John Cale was in the band.  Probably somewhere between White Light/White Heat and the Third album.  There are no liner notes explaining the reason for this album, so it's very much of a rush-released piece of product. "1969" is also a great compilation of Velvet Underground tracks that never made it to the final works (albums).  

The truth is The Velvet Underground couldn't do anything wrong from the years 1966 to 1970.  Lou Reed was on the top of his songwriting powers, and even throwaway songs like "Foggy Notion" are magnificent.    When I listen to these set of songs decades later, it strikes me how original his approach to pop/rock songwriting was at the time of these recordings.  For one, (both line-ups) the band was fantastic, with Moe Tucker's dynamic primitive drumming, with the combination of Lou and Sterling Morrison's guitars going in and out of their arrangements.  Then you have someone like Yule with his backup vocals, or Cale's viola riding on the rhythm, and you have this tremendous noise that's The Velvet Underground. 

There are no weak cuts on this four-sided package. All of it is essential if you are a Lou or Velvets fan.   The cover/packaging is boring but the sounds inside the package are going to take one to other worlds. 

John Cale - "Fear" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 2015/1974 (Wax Cathedral)

When John Cale left Velvet Underground, I lost track of him. It wasn't until  1974 when he released his first album "Fear" on Island Records that I became aware of him again.  I did notice that Cale made solo albums before "Fear," but never paid much attention to them.  It may be that I was totally focused on Lou Reed, thinking that he was the Velvets in all name and practice.  That of course, is wrong, and due to my young teen years, almost forgivable.  "Fear" is great.  

In the years 1973/1974, for me, it was the glory time of Roxy Music and all of its outshoots.  Eno was making incredible albums, and I like all the solo work by Phil Manzanera and Andy MacKay as well. And of course, there were both Roxy and Bryan Ferry albums as well.  Fun times at the record shop.  Someone at Island had the grand idea to promote a Roxy world by adding Kevin Ayers, Nico, and of course, John Cale to their label.  Eno and Manzanera are listed as executive producers, which means to me that they pushed the label into signing Cale, but also a big part of the sound that is on this album.

"Fear" is a very stark album, with the mix high on Cale's voice and minimal backing, in a sense it is never busy.  The right sounds at the right places.   When I listen to this album, I think of Procol Harum's great albums on A&M around the same time.  I can't say if they were an influence on Cale, or he admired them or not, but I hear Gary Brooker (the lead honcho in Harum) presence on "Fear."  The thing about Cale he comes with the baggage of the noisy aspect of the Velvets, or experimental/orchestration, but he is also a very much disciplined and well-crafted songwriter. "You Know More Than I Know," "Buffalo Ballet," and "Emily" are excellent songwriter type of songs. "Fear" and "Gun" is more of the sonic "kaboom" of Cale.  "Gun" especially, which I have to presume it's Eno making the guitar sounds through his various methods of genius tools at the time.   An inspiring album made in an exciting place with exciting musicians.  A highlight for Cale and the Eno/Manzanera world. 

Lewis Furey - "The Humours of :" CD, Album, Reissue, Japan, 1976/1990 (A&M)

This French Canadian (now living in Paris) is an amazing talent and songwriter.  I had the vinyl back in 1976 but lost it through the ages.  This is his second album and although the material is basically the same, the production by Roy Thomas Baker is huge.  Huge as in over-production, and treating the songs here as Broadway tunes.  The first album by Lewis Furey is quieter, yet theatrical, but in an off-Broadway manner or in a small theater.   

Furey reminds me a bit of John Cale's solo recordings with a mixture of early Lou Reed.  Furey's songs tend to have street life tattooed on his aesthetic, but with a Bertolt Brecht distance and one gets the feeling he's writing a narrative than saying something out of his personal life.  It's interesting that I found the first and second album in Tokyo in the 1990s  At the time it seems that A&M released all their 1970s titles into the CD format for the first time.  It was like going to Tower Records in the 70s.  

I love Furey's music.  Although I do have a problem with the production, it still is a fantastic album.   The way "Cop's Ballet" emerges into   "Rubber Gun Show" is a great opening for an album/CD.  The songs are all catchy, and again, I suspect Furey is writing a musical, although I don't feel there is a running narration, it still feels like a Broadway or big budget show.   CD is very difficult to find, but the vinyl comes up once in every little while.  Get it. 

Angus MacLise "“New York Electronic, 1965” Vinyl, Sub Rosa

You have every album by The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, John Cale and even Moe Tucker, yet you haven’t yet purchased or heard Angus MacLise?  That’s a shame.  On the other hand, it’s not too late!   MacLise (1938-1979) was the first drummer for the Velvet Underground.   Not only the keeper of time/beats for that band, but also a composer, poet calligrapher, and occultist.   MacLise was an early member of the legendary Le Monte Young’s band, Theater of Eternal Music, which also had Marian Zazeela, Tony Conrad, Terry Riley, and future Velvet member, John Cale.  

MacLise is very much of a shadow figure in those days, due not only to being part of the Avant-Garde scene, but also according to Cale, he lived in his own time-zone, which he Cale commented as “living on the Angus calendar.” In other words, he wouldn’t show up for recordings or live gigs, and often disappeared for days.   The Velvets were offered a paying gig, and MacLise quit the band, claiming that was selling out.   And Moe Tucker replaced the drummer, and history was recorded.   

MacLise moved to Berkeley where he met and married Hetty McGee and they soon had a son, Ossian Kennard MacLise, who oddly enough was recognized as the reincarnation of a Tibetan Saint and became a Buddhist monk at the age of four.   This, of course, leads the family to Nepal.    Tragically, MacLise died in Katmandu at the age of 41.  A true adventurer on many accounts, and basically what we have left on this planet is various artworks, some writings, and the vinyl record album “New York Electronic, 1965.”  

1965 was the entrance for many amazing things happening in Manhattan.  The arts were exploding in different directions and in many mediums. Film, painting, poetry, literature was the ingredients put into the big bowl of soup.  Some artists took all the ingredients to make their own art, and MacLise was one of those artists who knew no wall or boundaries when it came to art making - or working in a laboratory of his own making - to record sounds.  With the assistance of John Cale and Tony Conrad, these insane artists came up with some pure magic.  The thing is, as you can gather, MacLise was not the most organized person on this boho planet Manhattan.  It took years for those who loved or in fascination with MacLise to find these tapes.   So, “Electronic, 1965” is very much an enjoyable document of a time, when things were really shaking in the creative landscape of New York City.

The essence of these recording, for me, is the adventure of exploring the unknown.  It has a relationship with what was happening in France, with respect to the Musique Concrete scene, but here, it is almost like a punk rock version of that world.  It’s music made by young men, who are enthralled with the world in front of them.   For me, listening to this album doesn’t represent 2016, but more of a beautiful snapshot of the past, when things were very new.  Artists like Jack Smith, Ron Rice were making independent 8mm/16mm films, and MacLise and company were supplying the soundtrack to these cinematic works.  

The sounds on this album are very organic.  Reels of tape speeding up/down, electronic blips, glass hitting against glass, percussion, feedback, gongs, ghost-like sounds, piano chords, string instruments, kitchen tools, various sci-fi sounds and what one would imagine would be the whole world of Angus MacLise.  At times, I imagine if one put their head under water, some of these sounds would be heard.  The echo and far-off aural delights that come and go on this album.  

Besides this album, there have been other recordings put out by various people.  Sub Rosa also put out a CD collection of his music, but now is out-of-print. Boo Hooray in New York City also have made vinyl editions of MacLise’s music.  He’s an important figure in New York underground world.  For one, he knew everyone who had the legendary touch during those years.  And he himself is a man of mystery.  We know when he was born and where he died, but the essence of him is very much like his music.  Hypnotic, ghost-like, and yet, a very positive presentation he left on this planet.   He rules the universe, even in death.  “New York Electronic, 1965, ” is a very essential recording.  Those who have an interest in the New York culture of the 60’s or have a deep interest in the avant-garde world of that time, must have this album.  Beyond that, for today, it is still as fresh as the sun arising.   

LEWIS FUREY - "Lewis Furey" (A&M Records) Vinyl, 1975

I picked up on this album when shopping at Moby Disc on Ventura Blvd, and it stood out in the cut-out bin.  I was kind of surprised to see something worthwhile in that section of the store - although, now we have sort of the romantic memory of finding gems for 99 cents to $3 in this section, mostly it was a horrible drudge.  Nevertheless, Lewis Furey's eyes spoke to me.  When I flipped over to see the back cover, I was impressed that there was a song on it called "Hustler's Tango."

I sense a glam Velvet Underground vibe, so what the hell, worth the $1.99 or so.  When I got home and played the album, that very instant, it became one of my all-time favorite albums.  The cover and the song title didn't lie.   Here was a guy who has the John Cale genius for arrangements, and seemed to have one foot in the music of the theater world, and the other is .... kind of gay-oriented pop, but with dark overtures to the night world.  There's accordion, piano, banjo - which gives it Brecht/Weil orientation, yet very American sounding.  Which is strange from a musician/songwriter from Quebec Canada, and now lives in France.

The album is co-produced and arranged by John Lissauer who also served the same duties on Leonard Cohen's "New Skin for the Old Ceremony" and "Various Positions" as well as the classic Cohen song "Hallelujah."   There is a strong connection between Furey and Cohen -not only sound wise, but both write songs that are very poetic, yet direct.   For those who love albums or artists who are beautifully orchestrated and arranged, will love this album.  Why, Lewis Furey fell between the cracks here in the U.S. (he's known in France, but also in Japan) is beyond me.  This album needs to be re-released.  Beautiful melodies, stark lyrics, street wise, and witty.

Many years later, after losing most of my vinyl collection due to past economic situations, I was deeply surprised to see his first two albums on CD, displayed in a music store in Tokyo.  Truly one of my happiest moments when I discovered the album again, and just waiting for my hands.   You must Locate, and buy it!

Brian Eno - "2: Vocal" 3 x CD Box Set

Brian Eno -  2: Vocal

3 x CD, Compilation, Box Set, UK, 1993

Virgin

This is a very good compilation of Eno’s vocal recordings in one package.  The essential aspect of the box set are the singles that never made it onto the official albums released by Eno.  “Seven Deadly Finns” and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” are important early Eno recordings.  As well as the record he made with Snatch “R.A.F.   The rest of the songs  are pretty much available on his other albums, but I think the key thing here is the packaging.  One who is a fan will want the box set of his vocals as well as the Instrumentals package.  It is sort of like owning and controlling the yin & yang.   So this, basically is a great present for the one who doesn’t have Eno’s recordings.  But I think for the hardcore fan, they would be happy to have the original albums as well as trying to locate the 45 singles.  

If one is on a strict budget, I would settle for the instrumental set, because I think there is a great deal of unreleased or hard-to-find tracks in that package.  The Vocal box set is not that obscure with respect to finding the original albums and recordings. 

Also keep in mind that at first look one would presume that his package would represent the entire early albums, but this is not the case.   Getting the original albums are much more of a desire, because those albums are nearly perfect.  Including the sequencing of the songs, which flows beautifully as an album.  

So in the nutshell, good gift item for the person who needs to hear Eno, but for the fan, I would settle for the original albums.