David Bowie - Ouvrez le Chien (Live Dallas 1995) ISO Records

 

It was not exactly a redesign of David Bowie, but of a re-think, or a new charge of energy and thought into his career and music in 1995.  For me, this is when Bowie got back his groove, and he became fascinated with the world around him.   After hitting a creative (and perhaps commercially) dead-end in the late 1980s, he started up with a band, Tin Machine. A guitar-driven band that reminds me at times of a rave-up era of The Yardbirds. All that is missing are songs by Graham Gouldman. Still, Bowie actually filtering the great British hitmaker in supplying or co-writing songs with fellow band members that are retro in the sense of the importance of being in a band.  In a manner, it is very much Bowie losing himself as a brand being part of a band.  The truth is, Bowie has always been a collaborator with every musician he has worked with in the past. 

"Outside" (1995) was the album that gave him an entrance back to the avant-garde, and re-invent a new approach in recording that album.  For example, almost every song is written by all the musicians during the recording of that music.  If not, co-written by Eno.  It's a late Bowie masterpiece, and when he went on tour to support "Outside," he put together a new band, except for his guitarist (and co-writer) Reeves Gabriel, Mike Garson, and Carlos Alomar.  The new star of the show is bassist and backup singer Gail Ann Dorsey, who is amazing. Lucky us there are live tapes of the shows.  "Ouverz Le Chien" is a show that took place in Texas, and it's a refreshing listening experience. 

For one, Bowie does only a handful of his older songs, and they are usually not done live at the time or deep cuts in his excellent catalog of material.  What is remarkable are the live versions of music from "Outside."  In the studio, it sounds very much like work produced in a laboratory.  Here, they come off as songs of great force and grace.  He does a re-work of "The Man Who Sold The World" without the major guitar riff until the end as a quiet reminder that is faint as a loving memory.  This must have been a remarkable show to witness, but at least we have a great recording, for those who weren't there, or a few that lives with that evening as a ghost-image of a wonderful performance. 

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.

Serge Gainsbourg - "Théâtre des Capucines" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 2018 (Jeanne Dielman)

A very important, and therefore a priceless document of Serge Gainsbourg's French nightclub performance in the year 1963.   Gainsbourg never had that awkward moment when he wasn't a genius.   Backed by a stand-up bass and an electric guitar, Gainsbourg covers his iconic 'jazz-like' songs, such as "Intoxicated Man," "Maxim's," and the ultimate ballad of all-time, "La Javanaise." In my opinion, there are better eras for Gainsbourg than others, and I think most of the listeners who live outside of France, probably prefer the Jane Birkin/Bardot recordings.  Which is understandable, because they are great songs, but I tend to fancy the jazz-era Serge.   I feel he was at the height of his songwriting skills, and he knew how to convey complex feelings into what seems to be like a love song.  In truth, he is expanding those emotions to express a world-view of the landscape that humorous, but also deadly serious at the same time. 

This was the tour before he released his album "Confidentiel," which this live album is a reflection of that official studio recording.  The sound is not that different due to the simple set-up of the guitar (Elek Bacsik), bass (Michel Gaudry), and voice.   Gainsbourg is not known as a great singer, but the truth is, he's unique, which makes him a superb vocalist, especially in the early years of his music career.   For me, this live album is like listening to The Beatles at the Cavern, or The Heartbreakers at CBGB's.  Not only is the band of great importance, but even more so, the theater or concert all.  Gainsbourg didn't tour much.  He did tour during the late 50s to early 1960s, and then again, in the 1980s.  One gathers that he preferred to be in the studio or composing than being in front of an audience.  Still, he never lost his iconic cool, and "Thêâtre des Capucines" captures an important moment in the Serge Gainsbourg world. 

Like the mysterious record label Doxy, Jeanne Dielman seems to be a European record label that specializes in re-issues of recordings that somehow fell between the cracks of copyright laws.  Therefore many of their releases are in limited editions.   I gather that the sound source came from digital or the medium of the CD.  Still, the packaging and sound are good.  

Donovan - "Donovan in Concert" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 1968 (Epic)

When this album was released in 1968, I was 14, and I remember that I avoided this album with a vengeance.  Which is strange, because I was a huge fan of his Mickie Most produced albums.  But even in 1968, the hippy-dippy version of Donovan was a turn-off to me. I can enjoy the studio albums from 1966 to 1968, but a live album at the height of flower power, no thanks. 

Decades later, and at the age of 64, I'm finally listening to "Donovan in Concert."  It's a great album, because one, his vocals are superb, and two, his minimal band behind him is fantastic.  At least in this show, he didn't do his 'hits but instead focused on his deep cuts from his studio albums from that era. What we have here is a jazz-orientated background, with Donovan coming off not so much as flower power child, but a torch singer for the Aquarius age.  "Young Girl Blues" is backed by piano, a bowed-standup bass, and light, gentle percussion and flute.  Strangely, it sort of reminds me of Nina Simone, in that like that iconic singer, can tear into the song, take it apart, and then put it back together toward the end of the piece. 

Donovan at this point in his career had the teenage female who loved the gentle folk singer, with the Scottish accent.   Still, I'm amazed that I never picked up on the sophistication of his arrangements, which to me is not all down to Mickie Most, but Donovan's sensitivity to his material, and not down-playing the hit song aspect of the material.   There's a sexual aspect, that is smokey, but one can understand that the flowers are part of the seduction of his image and sound.  Lyrically he has a journalist quality in placing the landscape to the listener.  "Donovan in Concert" is for sure very much a snapshot of that era, but years or decades later, I'm now admiring his daring of making dream music that transforms one into space, more likely a private place, but one that's in your own head. 

Serge Gainsbourg - "Théâtre des Capucines 1963" Vinyl, LP, Album, 2018 (Jeanne Dielman)

Serge Gainsbourg at his most jazzy, as well as the height of his brilliance as a songwriter.  This is a live recording that he did at Théâtre des Capucines in Paris.  For a short time in his life, Gainsbourg did a tour, and eventually start up touring or performing again in the 1980s.  What makes this live recording so essential is that it captures Gainsbourg with just an electric guitarist Elek Bacisk, and contrabassist Michel Gaudry.  Smokey, profound and very straightforward in the manner of delivery of the songs.  All the tunes on this album came from Gainsbourg's "Confidentiel" which again is backed only by Bacisk and Gaudry.  

There is not a major 'oh wow' difference between the live recording and the studio work, but it does capture an era and time when Gainsbourg worked in what sounds like a nightclub.  There is no small-talk from Serge to the audience.  What is impressive is that Gainsbourg rarely looked back. Like David Bowie, he consistently re-invented himself and his music.  Lyrically it is always Serge, but he wasn't afraid to explore new sounds, and like capturing a young Bob Dylan in a live recording, it is more of a testament of his worth at the time.   Essential for the hardcore Serge collector, and a great listening experience for the casual fan as well.  Jeanne Dielman is a label that I suspect specializes in releasing records that are in public domain but only for only a short period of time.  Like Doxy, they are a label of excellent curating.  But, I suspect that they are not here to exist forever. 

Japan - "Oil On Canvas" 2 X Vinyl, LP, Album, Live, 1983 (Virgin)

David Sylvian, Mick Karn, Richard Barbieri and Steve Jansen and on this album, guest guitarist from the country Japan is Masami Tsuchiya.  Not to be confused with the name of the band, which is Japan.  I loathe groups that name themselves after countries, cities or even states, but Japan is a different type of category.   As mentioned before in other of my writings, I have always felt Japan were influenced by Roxy Music, if not in style, in the music adventuresome of the Eno era of that band.   What I first thought was imitation, it eventually turns into originality.   I can't think of another group at the moment that had that odd journey to me.    I fell in love with Japan because of Mick Karn's darkened eyes and David Sylvian's mixture of preppy clothing and makeup.  Japan physically and musically changed in a rapid process from glam rock guys after that movement to a more spiritual and at times, border on a New Age aesthetic.  Sylvian and company have the good taste to go to the root of their obsessions.  Joseph Beuys, Jean Cocteau, Erik Satie, and a Westerner's fascination with the Asian East.  That, in a nutshell, is Japan. 

One thing Japan never was, is an overnight sensation.  With the assistance from their (brilliant memoirist) Simon Napier-Bell, he engineered their changes and a darker melancholy into a salable hit in England and oddly enough, in Japan.   The band at the end of their career as a group worked out a sound that was minimal and ambient but still had a funk rhythm, with Sylvian sad sounding vocalizing.  The combination was hard for me to avoid, and I ended up purchasing not only their original albums but also all the 12" remixes and the very few b-sides.   "Oil On Canvas" was the last official release from Japan, and it's a live album.  

For the tour, they brought in Masami Tsuchiya, who was at the time, in a band called Ippu-do.   At the time that band sounded like a combination of Bill Nelson and Japan, so his guitar work, as well as his aesthetic (makeup), fitted perfectly in the Japan format and sound.  It's a shame that he never became a permanent band member for recordings.   Still, this is a live album that is not a museum nor a document of a live show.   Among the live recordings are three studio pieces.  "Oil on Canvas" (composed and performed by Sylvian, and very Satie sounding), "Voices Raised In Welcome, Hands Held in Prayer" (composed and performed by Sylvian and Jansen) and to finish off the album "Temple of Dawn" composed and performed by Barbieri.    It's interesting that these instrumentals are placed in the beginning, the end of side two, and the last is the finishing track on side 4.   All of them frame the live material in the sense that these pieces expose the musicians' interest and future, while the rest of the album is very much like the studio recordings.  The riffs are longer, and the songs are stretched out, but not that far from the studio work.   So like "Oil on Canvas" as you mix paint, it becomes something new or an added texture.  I think Japan was of that opinion in that line of thought as well.   I don't feel this album is a product but in actuality a statement of sorts.  The great painter, Frank Auerbach's work, is on the cover, and he's known for his portraits that merge from massive paint strokes.  

The classic Japan sound is really two instruments up front.  That is David Sylvian's voice and Mick Karn's fretless bass.  The rest of the instrumentation backs up those two sounds, and this is what makes Japan so unique and wonderful.