Cream - "Goodbye" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1969 (ATCO Records)

Cream at its most magnificent and at its worse.  To get to the bad part of Cream, for me, it's their live recordings.  All on side one, "I'm So Glad" "Sitting on Top of The World" and "Politician."  Three fantastic songs, but overplayed and way too long.  When I hear recordings of Cream playing live, it seems like it's a miracle that they know when or how to end the song.  On the flip side, their studio recordings are tight, well-arranged, and always a trace of exotic touches, such as Jack Bruce's cello playing - and then there is his magnificent voice.  "Doing That Scrapyard Thing" is a brilliant Bruce and Peter Brown song.  A magnificent pop record.  The other surprise is Ginger Baker's song contributions.  "What A Bringdown" is also a snappy and great pop tune.  Clapton with the assistance of the mysterious George Harrison comes up with "Badge," of the better Eric songs. Still, it doesn't compare to the Bruce and Ginger contribution.  Eric is a technically great guitarist, but I always felt he was the one that could leave the band, and they can find someone better.  If they had Chris Spedding - now that would make the Cream engine go-go.   The studio sides also had the talent of  Felix Pappalardi, who had the light touch, but with the arrangements that were usually fantastic. 

Holger Czukay - "Movies" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 1982/1979 (EMI)

My first introduction to the world of Can is Holger Czukay's first solo album "Movies."  It took me a decade before I heard my first proper Can album, but that is another tale.  I purchased "Movies," which came out in 1979, and I immediately compared it to the more well-known album by David Byrne and Brian Eno, "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts."  Both albums used found sound, such as the Byrne/Eno recordings all used vocals from other recorded sources.  It's a nifty slightly experimental album, but hearing "Movies" seems to me to be the real deal.   Recorded around the same time, I feel Czukay's approach was more light-hearted, with great swaps of humor, compared to the Byrne/Eno, which had a sinister quality.   Both were natural groove orientated music, but I find beauty in such pieces by Czukay such as "Persian Love" that I don't find in "Bush of Ghosts."

The Czukay narrative is that he records all the jams from Can recordings, and never turns off the tape machine.  He then cuts, slices, and like a film, edits the aural aspect of the work.  Here he adds outside sounds/voices to the overall mix.  It must be time-consuming work, because the music doesn't sound disjointed or crazed, but structured in a manner that is, of course, listenable, but also catchy.  It was pop music with strong melodies but filtered through Czukay's knowledge of 20th century contemporary classical music.  Stockhausen is a significant influence on Czukay, and he even studied under the great composer.  A remarkable album that never sounds dated.  A joy from the first cut to the last.

Trans - "Green" Vinyl, EP, 33 1/3 RPM, 2014 (Rough Trade)

Trans is a band formed by Bernard Butler, of Suede fame, and John McKeown, who is or was in a group called The Yummy Fur.  Backed by the rhythm section Igor Volk and Paul Borchers, they remind me of Television, just due to the guitars of Butler and McKeown.  What I read of them is that they basically improvise, or jam, and then edit the recordings down, similar to Can's method of writing/making songs.   Also, there is very little information about Trans, because I suspect that the band rather have the music speak for itself, or just weary of the media/music promotion world.  Nevertheless, Trans is really good.

"Green" is minimal in a package, but cool design.  The music has a groove that is Can-like, but again, the guitars how they relate to each other is very Verlaine/Lloyd.   They made two EPs, with four songs each.  "Green" although improvised (in theory) is very melodic, and there is a hardcore guitar sound throughout the four songs.  Vocals are here, but it's the guitars that are forefront.  So if one has a need to hear Neil and classic Crazy Horse, or Can - and as mentioned Television, then Trans fit into that planet in a very organic manner. 

Traffic - "Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" b/w "Coloured Rain" 45 rpm vinyl single, 1967 (Island)

For me, Traffic was the most magnificent band, but only for the first nine or 12 months of their existence in 1967.  After that, I lost interest in them.  Never an offensive group, actually far from that category, but early Traffic was an essential listening experience.  Traffic always had a 'world' touch to their music, with traces of jazz, and folk leanings.  Still, in the early recordings, there was a sense of exploration in sound and songwriting structures.  The focus was on Steve Winwood, but it was the textural contributions from Chris Wood, their horn player, as well as Jim Capaldi (drummer).  Dave Mason was their guitarist, and he added songwriting skills, but there is something that kept him in line with the other three.  Original member, he left, then re-joined them for their second album.  A significant figure in the band, but his presence seemed to be the nail that stuck out too much, with respect to the band. 

"Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" is the theme song to the movie with the same title.  It has all the best elements of Traffic.  Soulful, melodic, superb musicianship, and superb songwriting.  I have a hunch that this song was not well-loved by Traffic at the time.  Still, an amazing recording, beautifully produced by Jimmy Miller, that had touches of exotic sounds that were dreamy, but very solid on the earth.  The b-side, "Colored Rain" is a classic Traffic cut.  A beautiful little window is looking out onto the landscape of late 1967. 

Suede - "Sci-Fi Lullabies" 3 x Vinyl, LP, Compilation, 2014/1997 (Demon Records)

Suede is a recent new love for me, and it is either because I'm becoming older, and therefore my ears are opening up, or I have bad taste.  I'll let my readers debate on that, but when I first heard Suede in the 1990s, I found them to be pretentious and too much of an imitation of various glam bands, and also, I suspected any group that was so good looking.   In other words, I criticize Suede for being too surface-like, when in fact my attitude toward them was precisely the same disease.  My thoughts on them were equally surface-like.  It was a happenstance series of moments when I purchased their third album "Coming Up," and reading Brett Anderson, their singers' moving memoir "Coal Black Mornings" at the same time.   Being a completist, I also purchase the three-LP vinyl discs compilation of their b-sides "Sci-Fi Lullabies." 

First of all, the opening song to this compilation "My Insatiable One" is classic.  Why it is not on their first album is a mystery to me.  Which comes to the fact, that all the b-sides are almost better than the final chosen songs for the first "Suede" album.  B-sides, by their nature, are usually throw-away songs, or little experiments on the tail end of a recording session.  Clearly Suede see their b-sides as important recordings.   A three album disc set seems obsessive, but "Sci-Fi Lullabies" is a very much release by these London artists.  For the music historian, Suede had two parts.  The first part is the Bernard Butler years, which didn't last long, but his importance is acutely felt in the first two albums, as well as a large handful of songs here.  Butler is not only the co-writer of the early Suede songs, along with Anderson, but also a magnificent guitarist.  He's a combination of Johnny Marr and Mick Ronson, and he serves Suede in the same manner as those two fantastic guitarists and arrangers.  When Butler left or got thrown out of Suede, one would think that's it.   Brett and company found another guitarist and co-writer, and an additional guitarist/keyboard player and they became even more popular.   What Butler brought to Suede is an orchestrated guitar sound that was textured and melodic, with a noisy tinge as well.   This guy is a musician's musician.  There is a nerdy, obsessive side to his playing that is very aggressive, but equally aware that he's part of the foursome (at the time).  

Anderson struck me as a lyricist who very much admires Bowie and JG Ballard.  With respect to Bowie, his "Man Who Sold The World" which strikes me as the framework for Suede, but I'm also amused and fascinated that Brett Anderson was listening to Robert Wyatt's "Rock Bottom" at the time of recording their first album.   Anderson is an 'observation' writer.   He has a good ear and language in describing a landscape in the U.K. that was lower class, yet had some vision of a future that is part science fiction, but based on the economic world of failure and misery.  Its songs are about youth, but not as bright young things, but more like the victims of their class and economic world.  It's romantic because the characters in the songs have no other choice.  It's either that or pure misery, which even with its romantic motif, is still a miserable existence.  Suede is the poets and voice for this underclass.

Once Butler left, he was replaced by Richard Oakes, who much admires the previous guitarist's work in Suede.   And on top of that, he is an excellent songwriter.  Him and Neil Codling, who happens to be the cousin to their drummer Simon Gilbert, is also a strong melodist. Mat Osman is also a very melodic bassist, and he adds a lot to their sound. The latter Suede is punchier and perhaps focused in their music.  There is not a significant difference between the two versions of the band, due I suspect to the vision of Anderson.   There is a Jacques Brel approach to the seedy world that he shares with the legend, and he takes on that role very well.  "Killing of a Flash Boy" and "Europe Is Our Playground" are such songs that are subjective, but has a journalistic skill in telling the narrative.   Suede is worth the effort to drop my objections and accept them for what they are: an outstanding band of great worth. 

The Raybeats - "Guitar Beat" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1981 (Don't Fall Off The Mountain)

The Raybeats were Don Christensen, Jody Harris, Pat Irwin and the late George Scott.   The music they focus on were sounds of The Shadows and The Tornados, but with the aesthetic of the No Wave era.   Since all the musicians were members of James Chance's The Contortions, or James White & The Blacks, there is a crossover of New York sophistication that reminds me a bit of The Lounge Lizards as well.   All is a very good thing because The Raybeats are terrific. 

The guitar work of Harris and Irwin are twangy, but with distortion effects that brings the picture of the sounds to another level.  For me, I adore The Shadows as well as The Tornados and there is equal respect for the guitarist Hank Marvin as well as a nod by the "Guitar Beat's producer, Martin Rushent to the outer space sounds of Joe Meek.  There have been revival bands devoted to surf/instrumental, but The Raybeats' attitude is different.  They are not here to imitate but to add their own sense of adventure with sound and vision.   If James White & The Blacks commented on the Disco medium, then The Raybeats play with the genre that is surf instrumental.    The Raybeats music is sharp, sophisticated, fun, and an eye out for the avant-garde.  Their music is a heady mixture.  

Johnny Kidd & The Pirates - "The Best of Johnny Kidd and The Pirates" Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Reissue, Mono (EMI)

Frederick Heath, better known as Johnny Kidd, is one of the first rock n' roll figures in England.  Him and his band of various players throughout the early years of the 1960s, The Pirates, were RnR authentic, but still British to the very core of their existence.  "Please Don't Touch" is the ultimate horny theme song, that to describe in one word,  is marvelous.    Although their one major hit is obviously "Shakin' All Over."  Canadian band 'Guess Who?' had a hit recording in America, and it was a song covered by The Who, and Pete Townshend is/was without a doubt a huge Peter Green of The Pirates fan.  Like another British rocker of the same period, one can trace the British accent of Johnny Kidd, which to my ears, makes the recordings unusual. 

As far as I know, Johnny Kidd never made an album.  All his recordings were 45 rpm singles, so this compilation is those singles, plus the b-sides.  A lot of the songs were written by Kidd, but also by a Gordon Mills, who became a powerhouse manager of Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Gilbert O'Sullivan.  Johnny & The Pirates were half show-biz of the Music Hall world and one foot in the prototype of early rock.   Kidd/Heath was very much a product of his time and place.  Of course, we now think of Adam Ant and His Ants as being the sons of Johnny Kidd, due to the Pirate motif in his stage shows and publicity photos.   

There are many compilations of Johnny's hits or non-hits, but I think this "Best of..."  is an incredible collection of music by Kidd, and it is like peeking into a keyhole of the British world at the time of the early 60s before the Fab Four hit the scene.   In a field of teenage pop stars, Kidd and Billy Fury were the real deals.   It's rock n' roll, but clearly, it's BRITISH rock n' roll.