Random Review #70 John Mayer - Continuum

C4S4CD1 John Mayer is a bit of a contradiction, an old gnarled blues slinger trapped in the body of one of ‘LA’s beautiful people’. If he’s ever interviewed Mayer sees himself as a guitarist who sings in order to get his music heard but really all he wants to do is play guitar.

He started as a bit of a teenage pin-up and over the years has used his looks to court the likes of Jennifer Aniston and Jessica Simpson, but really none of that interests me it’s his music I’m interested in and that’s what I’ll be talking about go read one of the gossip mags if you want to know about his love life.

This was the first album I bought of Mayer’s and it was his fifth album and as I’m prone to do if I like an artist then I’ll search out his back catalogue. I think his early work leads him to this album and the previous album Try! (The John Mayer Trio) released the year before this album (2005) really shows the leap he made from his ‘younger years’ and bridges the gap to the new more mature Mayer (I mean musically here) that I love.

Try! The live album is Mayer tipping his hat to Cream and all the other Blues power trios of the past, stripped to a very basic level with nowhere to hide, Try! Finds Mayer in his element and also trying out some of the songs that would appear on Continuum, he also takes a stab at covering I Got A Woman by Ray Charles, the clever thing he does is starts be singing the hook from Gold Digga by Kanye West before breaking into the Charles song, and therefore without giving the audience a musical history lesson shows where West had got his hook. I think Mayer is proud of America’s Blues heritage and wants people to know this.

So to Continuum, my favourite Mayer album filled with songs use in America drama’s from CSI to Greys Anatomy, if you’re looking for a song to soundtrack a emotional moment in a film there are plenty to choose from here. It feels to me that Mayer grew up on this album his song writing really taking shape, Gravity, Vultures, Slow Dancing In A Burning Room, Waiting For The World To Change, and Dreaming With A Broken Heart all deserve mention, but truthfully there isn’t a duff track on this album.

In the liner notes Mayer thanks Eric Clapton for letting him pinch his style, and you can see the similarities between Clapton and Mayer, both are guitarists that found their voice, both have been seen with the world’s most beautiful women on their arm, it seems that Mayer has used Clapton as a blueprint for his career (without the drink and drugs) in and outside of the recording studio.

I have a feeling that as Mayer gets older he will immerse himself more and more in the Blues, but at the moment sit back and enjoy his music for what it nicely crafted soft rock tunes with a big dollop of Blues guitar dropped on them every now and again!

Mark 8/10

Random Review #69 Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun

C8S1CD10 The last pick before I move from my current apartment and re-shuffle and re-sort a la High Fidelity into a new home. A couple of more columns to house my expanding CD and DVD collections and a change around of where the genre’s sit are the only real changes but it kept me happy for a few hours.

So on to my pick Erykah Badu and Mama’s Gun, Badu’s second studio  and third album over all, I have all of her albums (6 In total)  but suspect if you played any other than her debut Baduizm, I couldn’t tell you which one it was. This isn’t bad thing all are of a certain quality, what it means is I guess I haven’t played them enough so the chance to listen to this album has been hugely enjoyable.

Around the time of this albums release (2000) I was lucky enough to be in Florida and discover that Erykah Badu was playing in The House of Blues in Orlando, now living in Newcastle upon Tyne I can safely say the only way I would been able to see Badu live in the UK, would be to travel to London or maybe Manchester to see her, so I took the opportunity to see her in America and it was as fascinating to see a slice of America youth culture as it was to see the Badu live.

For those who don’t know Badu’s music she fits uncomfortably into the ‘Nu Soul’ genre, but her music is in a world of her own. It is laid back soul, old in origin but new in style. There is nothing here that is fast paced and you can’t imagine Badu, works to timetables! She was late on stage when I saw her and I CD booklet, has an apology where the lyrics to the first song should be, “dearest folks I didn’t have the lyrics in enough time to get them in the booklet”. So you can see Badu does things her own way.

It’s a perfect album to read the Sunday papers to whilst drink good coffee and dream of warmer places, with Didn’t Cha Know being the track that stands out, (it’s still spinning round inside my head).

From her appearance, to her music Badu is one of a kind, she is still pushing the boundaries, recently being fined for a video in which she walked through the streets stripping off before lying down naked in the spot Martin Luther King was assassinated.

Mark 8/10

Random Review #68 Coldplay - Parachutes

C2S8CD11 Where do I start with this one then? Last week Coldplay released their new single to the delight of the media but to a barrage of abuse across social media sites, calls of over produced, lazy writing, boring etc rang round the internet so are Coldplay as bad as we all think? I think they are somewhere between, ‘not as bad as we think’ and ‘not as good as they think they are’ and I think this album proves it.

Coldplay sit with Keane, and U2 as bands we love to hate. It’s when they become what I I call the‘supermarket bands’. What I mean by that is when bands become accessible to the masses people who threw Viva La Vida in the shopping trolley along with the latest Michael Buble and turn up at the gigs and only know the songs from the latest album and talk throughout the older tracks as they have no interest in them. It’s happening to Elbow at the moment but as yet we all still love them as the band still seem attached to the people where as the aforementioned bands seem to forget their roots and become distant memories of the people they used to be.

It is years since I have listened to this album and when I pulled it off the shelf my heart sank a bit, I can say I wasn’t looking forward to it but I can report that I have enjoyed listening to it, and I realise why we all loved Coldplay so many years ago, and the reason for that is actually they were good, full of energy and belief in what they were doing. This was before the celebrity wives, kids names after fruit, the silly outfits, the storming out of interviews by climbing out of windows and everything else that has made loath Chris Martin and the 3 other band members that I doubt we would recognise if they passed us in the street (unless they had those stupid patchwork jackets on!)

Parachutes is a good album, not brilliant but with potential to make us think we were on to something. Don’t Panic, Trouble, and Yellow are all great tracks and although Yellow has been played so much if I heard it again in the next ten years it might be too early there is much to like on Parachutes.

Coldplay were a good band who wrote good songs, both statements are now open to debate and I have to say I fell out of love with them after the second album, not because the they are a ‘Supermarket Band’ but because they seem to have forgotten about the music, and seem more interested in being very serious and changing the world and much as that’s very admirable we actually we want some good songs and the we can change the world! (Well maybe)

Mark 6/10

 

Random Review #67 Ben Harper - Welcome To The Cruel World

C4S1CD16 So Ben Harper, I can safely say he is one of my musical hero’s and somebody I’d love to have a beer with and talk about his music and his life.

If you don’t know anything about Harper then here is a brief overview, he has released music in his own name, with a couple of backing bands, The Innocent Criminals, and Relentless 7, as part of a ‘group’ called Fistful of Mercy with Joseph Arthur & Dhani Harrison (George’s Son) he was responsible for bringing The Blind Boys of Alabama back into mainstream music after releasing 2 albums of gospel music, and has  been a mentor for Jack Jackson and loads of other musicians, (he turns up on all sorts of albums from Beth Orton to Soul Tributes) and for me has managed to allow his creativity and love of music to flow and not be compromised by the music industry which is very hard to do in this day and age!

This album contains an eclectic mix of styles that dips into reggae, soul and folk, and lyrics that cover the normal, love and falling in love, (Waiting On An Angel, and Walk Away) black oppression and politics, (Like a King, How Many Miles Must We March, and I’ll Rise) sexuality (Mama’s Got A Girlfriend Now) and the songs are so beautifully crafted that whether you want to get into the lyrics or not you can still listen and enjoy this music. On Paul Weller’s Box Set, Fly On The Wall which was 3 CD’s of B-sides and rarities the Modfather covers Waiting On An Angel and in the liner notes talks about what a good songwriter he thinks Harper is.

I need to talk about a couple of track on the album as both have touched me profoundly firstly Like A King, a political statement that revolves around two men with the surname King that are both very significant for very different reasons. If you haven’t guessed by the two people are Martin Luther and Rodney King. Now I am not going to make comment on either the killing of Martin Luther King or the savage beating of Rodney King, Like A King does that already, all I’ll say is that the world would be a better place if neither event had ever happened, but Harper puts so much emotion into this song you kind of understand how black Americans must have viewed these events. Ok onto I’ll Rise and if pushed one of my favourite songs ever. If someone said to me I could only play 5 songs for the rest of my life, this would be one of them. I’ll Rise is an adaptation of a Maya Angelou poem (Still I’ll Rise) still now the song inspires me every time I hear it. The song deals with the history of slavery and African Americans struggle to be heard, but for anybody who has been knocked down or knocked back, then this is an anthem for you. (The poem has a slightly different point to make coming at life from a female point of view but is still a very strong piece of work) Live Harper usually sings the song without accompaniment, usually standing fist raised in the salute used by The Black Panthers and famously carried out by athlete’s Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the podium of the 1968 Mexico Olympics. No matter what colour your skin is I defy anybody not to be moved when watching Ben Harper sing this song. 

I love Ben Harper always have always will, he is always prepared to stretch himself and look to collaborate with lesser known artists but his music never suffers such is the talent of the man.

Mark 9/10

This Video is 15 minute version of Like A King that then merges into I'll Rise I think it's amazing but if you just want to listen to I'll Rise I have posted an early version below.

Random Review #66 Porcupine Tree - Voyage 34

C6S3CD14 So where do I start with Porcupine Tree? I’m guessing that most people reading this might not have heard of Porcupine Tree. Although a fully formed band Porcupine Tree is one of five vehicles for the music of Steven Wilson. I think I mentioned this when I reviewed No-Man in this blog (dated 24th Jan 2011) but for those who are new to the blog here they are;

• ·         Porcupine Tree – Melodic /Progressive Rock (Wilson writes sings and plays guitar)
• ·         Blackfield -  Melodic rock duo with Avi Geffen ( huge Israeli pop star)
• ·         Steven Wilson – Solo releases similar to Porcupine Tree (but full album of remixes was released)
• ·         No-Man – Ambient music with vocals, Wilson doesn’t sing, and have recorded version of Pink Moon by Nick Drake
• ·         Bass Communion – Totally ambient sounds no vocals 

As well to this Wilson has recently remixed King Crimsons back catalogue and is a regular contributor to Classic Rock magazine as a guest reviewer.

Most of Wilson’s music can be purchased on heavyweight vinyl and he also manages to release web only singles of cover versions where you don’t know what song he has covered until the single arrives in the post (they can be as diverse as ABBA or the Cure) As you can see Wilson is what you might call a music geek and I’m guessing a bit of a workaholic as I think he has released at least 3 albums in the last 12 months.

So on to the music, I think Voyage 34 is Porcupine Tree’s first album if not the first than one of their early albums. The album is 4 instrumental pieces aptly titles I, II, III and IV. The album lasts around 70 minutes and so you can imagine the tracks are long. The album tracks ‘Ryan’ whilst he takes part on a LSD medical trail and the only words on the album narration of how Ryan is feeling whilst going through the trail.

The music sounds like Pink Floyd playing dance music (I actually think Roger Waters has just done this with The Chemical Brothers) the album starts out as the ‘trip’ starts, fast paced,  the music is guitar driven, with influences from Morocco and the Middle East. The music builds without getting too frenetic and could easily sit on an Ibiza chill out album. The music isn’t indicative of how Porcupine Tree music now although I do have a live CD where they replicate track 1 in its entirety.

I’m a bit of a Steve Wilson fan and when I count up I have 22 albums across the 5 mediums that he delivers music, so I’m very bias when reviewing this but if you want to take a punt on some great musicians playing dance oriented rock then listen to this, however it comes with a warning liking Steven Wilson can serious damage your bank balance!

Mark 8/10

Random Review #65 Joe Henry - Tiny Voices

C4S3CD3 You might know Joe Henry for a couple of reasons other than his music, he is a renowned producer having produced amongst many, Solomon Burke’s Grammy winning Don’t Give Up On Me, he’s also the Brother-in Law of Madonna and I tell you this only because he’s probably more famous for these reasons rather his music and this is a great tragedy.

This album has a sticker on the front which is an endorsement from Elvis Costello and as Ron Sexsmith can confirm this is usually the kiss of death on a commercial release. Costello seems to try and champion artists that he believes deserve wider recognision of their work but unfortunately I think this has failed with Henry. There are a lot of parallels between Sexsmith and Henry, both are seen by successful musicians as amazing artists and songwriters, both consistently release quality music to critical acclaim, both are unable to gain any commercial success!

Henry’s music is very hard to define and I think that’s half the problem, part Americana, part experimental jazz, part country it doesn’t sit comfortably within any genre and sometimes what an artists need is a label, any label. If I was to try and describe I would say it’s very close to Tom Waits music without the gravel chewing vocals.

I have four Joe Henry albums and I think that’s about half of his output so you can see he’s no fly by night artist. This is the least played of the four only because it’s the newest album I have, and as my music collection has grown I have more music and therefore have more choice and therefore play CD’s less, but I remember playing his Trampoline album virtually on a loop and would have said it was my favourite album but I realise that actually it’s just the one I know the most. This is a great album, understated and I guess best listened to as the sun goes down with a good glass of red in your hand. It’s chilled and deserves to be appreciated in its entirety.

It’s hard to pick out tracks from this album, such is the quality, tracks seem to merge into each other and before you realise the album is finished, but if I had to choose then Sold, and This Afternoon would be my favourites.

Listening to this again I would say Henry’s music lends it’s self to jazz more than any other genre on this album but don’t left that put you off, there is loads to like about Joe Henry and this album.

Mark 8/10

May Music Purchases

Maxwell – Black Summers Night A Nu-Soul star with an old soul voice, Maxwell has an amazing voice and range that reminds me somewhat of Marvin Gaye. He has consistently released good albums, and this was his last released in 2009. He has previously covered This Woman’s Work By Kate Bush, and announced prior to singing it on MTV Unplugged that see “was the bomb” can’t really argue with that!

Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues Along with Radiohead and Elbow this rates on my list of ‘highly anticipated releases that had to be purchased of the day of release', and it hasn’t disappointed. On first listen I would say it surpasses their debut, which I thought was amazing. 

Jane Taylor – Live At St Georges 2010 I was Jane last month and bought this CD on the promise that she would send it in the post. I arrived this week, in a brown card sleeve with hand draw picture on the front and track listings on the back, guessing this is a real cottage industry! The music is beautiful as ever and I would recommend if you don’t know much about Jane Taylor that you look her up.

Agnes Obel – Philharmonics Bought on the recommendation of twitter buddy @bongbrummie nice album from an artist I wasn’t aware of and on first listen, it's really good stuff.

David Sylvian – Live In Concert 6 CD bootleg that covers 4 concerts from 1981, 1988, 1993, and 2002. Bought on eBay you never know what you will get with bootlegs but this appears to be pretty good quality apart from the odd blunt ending to a couple of songs. I really admire Davis Sylvian and this spans his career, the first concert is of the band Japan and there are 2 solo concerts and a further concert with Robert Fripp. Going to take a while to fully immerse myself in this but I can’t wait.

Wild Beasts – Smother 3^rd album from the Kendal four piece, sounds like everything that was good about the 80’s with a modern feel to it. The ghost of Billy McKenzie will be looking down, listening and smiling.

Kinks – The Singles Collection I have always allowed an intense dislike of Ray Davies cloud my judgement with regard to the Kinks; I don’t know why I don’t like him, (I don’t know him) but he always comes across as a bit of a arrogant knob in interviews. So here I am 45 years old buying my first Kinks album I’ll let you know how I get on!

Transistor – Self Titled I know nothing about this other than it was another vehicle for the wonderful talent that is Gary Clark. After Danny Wilson split, Gary recorded a wonderful solo album then a recorded with members of The Bible as King L, the brilliant album Great Day For Gravity was sadly overlooked, (saw the name fast and you might understand why!) I only found out about this album recently even though it was released some time ago. Hoping it’s as good as all his other stuff.

William Orbit – Pieces In A Modern Style Replacing an album I had on Mini disc (have been talking about the demise of the mini disc on twitter) classical pieces given a modern makeover.  I’m a bit of a heathen when it comes to classical music but this I like.

Beth Orton – Central Reservation I have Trailer Park  which has the lovely She Cries Your Name on it, this has Ben Harper, and Dr John making guest appearances so sure I’m going to like it.

The Reindeer Section - Son Of Evil Reindeer Side project of  Gary Lightbody. I like Snow Patrol so with the last 2 mentioned albums I bought this (3 for £5) let’s hope it’s good.

Sufjan Stevens – Michigan and The BQE bought after seeing Sufjan at The Sage Gateshead,  The BQE album comes with a CD/DVD/ and also 3D ‘StereoScopic ‘ viewfnder thing you used to have when you were a kid! I thought I had Michigan but realised I hadn’t and in a giddy state after the gig starting throwing money at the merch stand. I posted some photo's of the gig at http://www.flickr.com/photos/58452315@N08/

Sleepingdog – With Our Heads In The Clouds And Our Hearts In The Fields  I saw this band supporting Low amazing performance from a US/Belgium duo,they play minimal atmospheric music that blew my mind live and on first listen to the CD it's still doing it now!

Young The Giant – Self Titled They were on Later a few weeks back and sounded interesting, album is nice nothing new but they do it well, well crafted guitar based tunes that sometimes sound like Paolo Nutini singing Kings of Leon and I mean that in a good way!

Looking at the number of purchases I made in May I thought I wouldn't buy any music in June, so it's the 1st June and I have just bought 9 CDs in HMV for £28 (how could you refuse at that price!) You'll have to wait until next month to find out what I've bought.