Monthly Archives: June 2001

Below is my long awaited Margo Guryan review. Maybe I should listen to something else some time, but it’s hard to take the CD off sometimes…. I also got a parcel in the mail containing some bargain Italian LPs I bought on ebay. Reviews to come soon…

Margo Guryan: 'Take A Picture' (CD; Oglio; 1968)
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This record is truly a revelation to me. Unlike a few other 'lost classics' recently reissued on CD (e.g. Shuggie Otis), this one really lives up to the hype. All of the songs, which are beautifully timed (mostly around 2 to 3 minutes) were written by Margo herself.


- It opens with the explosively brilliant 'Sunday Morning'. I already knew this song well from the great version by Spanky and our Gang. This is very different, and also great, so great that it blows away my theory of 'I always seem to like the first version of any particular song I hear'. While the SAOG version is 6 minutes long with some intricate group vocal harmonies, this is a 2 to 3 minute jam, with funky drums and bluesy guitars. Margo's whispered vocal is exquisite, and the drum sound is super cool. Against this exquisite backdrop, the lyrics feel very resonant, simple as they are: 'come hold me in arms - I love you - everything's alright'


- The next track is the almost equally wonderful 'sun', a groovy piece with shimmering strings and some nice vocals, recorded in an interesting overlayed manner which reminds me of some 90s indie stuff (e.g. My Bloody Valentine). The use of strings is very subtle - they are mostly hidden behind the rest of the band, but come into view nicely every now and then.


- Next up is the quieter, more laid back 'love songs'. It's a truly delightful mournful pop number, ok, maybe I'm cheesy, but I think the line 'I can't tell you why/pretty love songs always make me cry...' is beautiful, especially sung by Margo. Claudine Longet covered a few of Margo's songs, and here the effect is similar to some of Claudine's stuff on A&M.


- 'Thoughts' is a quiet pop song with a bit of a Mamas and Papas feel, with an arrangement which is quite classical in style. The vocals occasionally have a great psych style echo effect. This is pleasant, but not as catchy or remarkable as some of the other tracks.


- 'Don't go away' has an unusual arrangement which reminds me of some of the more complex Beatles songs. It's rather unsettling.


- 'Take a Picture' is a really lovely little song, reminiscent of 'love songs' - sugary, simple and beautiful. It has been written that this album was heavily influenced by the Beach Boys's Pet sounds album, and you can certainly hear an influence in songs like this, both in the arrangements and the simple, innocent yet poignant lyrics.


- 'What can I give you' sounds to me exactly like some of the goofier Claudine Longet tracks (like 'hello hello'). It's a little ridiculous, but still charming.


- 'Think of Rain' is very familiar to me from Claudine Longet's 'The look of Love' album. This version is quite similar to Claudine's. Very cool.


- 'Can you tell' is another gentle, simple and catchy pop song.


- 'Someone I know' is an interesting experiment - using chords from Bach's 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring', Margo fashions a very pleasant pop song. It is saved from sounding trite by the vocals, which are typically sincere and touching. 'I know and you know that we never met before tonight/why then, should I feel so right/about being in your arms.' It's odd; I'm sure if Britney Spears or N'Sync sang these lyrics to me now, I would find them plastic and not in the least bit touching, but somehow in the context of this album they work beautifully. Does all music age well? I'll try listening to Britney and N'Sync in 30 years to find out.


- 'Love' is a highly unusual song. At over 5 minutes, it's the longest song on the album, and has a long experimental introduction, with electronic effects and some interesting guitar work. The song undergoes a couple of mutations, with some very funky drums, electric piano, and strange echoes. At one point a huge, effects laden guitar comes in, sounding exactly like 101 Strings's notorious 'Astro Sounds from beyond the year 2000'. So incredibly cool, I can hardly speak at this point. The vocals then come in, with a nice psychedelic melody. Total masterpiece!


- There are three extra tracks on the US release - 'I think a lot about you', 'it's alright now' and 'Timothy Gone'. All are pretty good; my only sadness about this record is that it's unique. If all pop music was as wonderful as this, the world would be a nicer place to live.

Paulo Achenza: 'Do it' (LP; Right Tempo; 1994)
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Well, I really know nothing about this one. Interesting item though - a Nicola Conte-related release on the Right Tempo label which pre-dates all of the easy tempo stuff. Promising sounding song titles.

Piero Umiliani: 'To-Day's Sound' (LP; Right Tempo; 1971)
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I hope this is good; I really just picked it up because it was super cheap, but hey, I love 'sweden heaven or hell', so let's see...

Yuxtaposition: 'The Cabildo's Three' (LP; Schema; 1970)
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Possibly the most interesting of the 3 italian records crop. a 70s recording of film/ad/library/soundtrack music. I have high hopes.

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A few things arrived from Ebay recently (see below), but all I listened to at work today was the increasingly-magnificent-in-my-eyes Margo Guryan album.

Margo Guryan: 'Take A Picture' (CD; Oglio; 1968)
Show Details
click to see larger image and full details
This record is truly a revelation to me. Unlike a few other 'lost classics' recently reissued on CD (e.g. Shuggie Otis), this one really lives up to the hype. All of the songs, which are beautifully timed (mostly around 2 to 3 minutes) were written by Margo herself.


- It opens with the explosively brilliant 'Sunday Morning'. I already knew this song well from the great version by Spanky and our Gang. This is very different, and also great, so great that it blows away my theory of 'I always seem to like the first version of any particular song I hear'. While the SAOG version is 6 minutes long with some intricate group vocal harmonies, this is a 2 to 3 minute jam, with funky drums and bluesy guitars. Margo's whispered vocal is exquisite, and the drum sound is super cool. Against this exquisite backdrop, the lyrics feel very resonant, simple as they are: 'come hold me in arms - I love you - everything's alright'


- The next track is the almost equally wonderful 'sun', a groovy piece with shimmering strings and some nice vocals, recorded in an interesting overlayed manner which reminds me of some 90s indie stuff (e.g. My Bloody Valentine). The use of strings is very subtle - they are mostly hidden behind the rest of the band, but come into view nicely every now and then.


- Next up is the quieter, more laid back 'love songs'. It's a truly delightful mournful pop number, ok, maybe I'm cheesy, but I think the line 'I can't tell you why/pretty love songs always make me cry...' is beautiful, especially sung by Margo. Claudine Longet covered a few of Margo's songs, and here the effect is similar to some of Claudine's stuff on A&M.


- 'Thoughts' is a quiet pop song with a bit of a Mamas and Papas feel, with an arrangement which is quite classical in style. The vocals occasionally have a great psych style echo effect. This is pleasant, but not as catchy or remarkable as some of the other tracks.


- 'Don't go away' has an unusual arrangement which reminds me of some of the more complex Beatles songs. It's rather unsettling.


- 'Take a Picture' is a really lovely little song, reminiscent of 'love songs' - sugary, simple and beautiful. It has been written that this album was heavily influenced by the Beach Boys's Pet sounds album, and you can certainly hear an influence in songs like this, both in the arrangements and the simple, innocent yet poignant lyrics.


- 'What can I give you' sounds to me exactly like some of the goofier Claudine Longet tracks (like 'hello hello'). It's a little ridiculous, but still charming.


- 'Think of Rain' is very familiar to me from Claudine Longet's 'The look of Love' album. This version is quite similar to Claudine's. Very cool.


- 'Can you tell' is another gentle, simple and catchy pop song.


- 'Someone I know' is an interesting experiment - using chords from Bach's 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring', Margo fashions a very pleasant pop song. It is saved from sounding trite by the vocals, which are typically sincere and touching. 'I know and you know that we never met before tonight/why then, should I feel so right/about being in your arms.' It's odd; I'm sure if Britney Spears or N'Sync sang these lyrics to me now, I would find them plastic and not in the least bit touching, but somehow in the context of this album they work beautifully. Does all music age well? I'll try listening to Britney and N'Sync in 30 years to find out.


- 'Love' is a highly unusual song. At over 5 minutes, it's the longest song on the album, and has a long experimental introduction, with electronic effects and some interesting guitar work. The song undergoes a couple of mutations, with some very funky drums, electric piano, and strange echoes. At one point a huge, effects laden guitar comes in, sounding exactly like 101 Strings's notorious 'Astro Sounds from beyond the year 2000'. So incredibly cool, I can hardly speak at this point. The vocals then come in, with a nice psychedelic melody. Total masterpiece!


- There are three extra tracks on the US release - 'I think a lot about you', 'it's alright now' and 'Timothy Gone'. All are pretty good; my only sadness about this record is that it's unique. If all pop music was as wonderful as this, the world would be a nicer place to live.

Paulo Achenza: 'Do it' (LP; Right Tempo; 1994)
Show Details
Well, I really know nothing about this one. Interesting item though - a Nicola Conte-related release on the Right Tempo label which pre-dates all of the easy tempo stuff. Promising sounding song titles.

Piero Umiliani: 'To-Day's Sound' (LP; Right Tempo; 1971)
Show Details
click to see larger image and full details
I hope this is good; I really just picked it up because it was super cheap, but hey, I love 'sweden heaven or hell', so let's see...

Yuxtaposition: 'The Cabildo's Three' (LP; Schema; 1970)
Show Details
Possibly the most interesting of the 3 italian records crop. a 70s recording of film/ad/library/soundtrack music. I have high hopes.

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Wow, I really can’t get that Margo Guryan album off my mind. I would recommend it to anyone – check it out some sound samples online. Anyway, I left it at home today, and have instead been listening to a great Michel Legrand compilation. The guy really is unbelievably cool, and his scat vocals are out of this world.

Compilation - Lou Donaldson: 'Ha' Mercy' (LP; Cadet; 1963-1970)
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This just came in from ebay, and I'm very much looking forward to checking it out. It's a compilation of Lou's material on Argo and Cadet in the mid-late 60s, and the idea of a sound reminiscent of both his groovy early 60s Blue note material and the 'cadet sound' is mouthwatering. I have never once seen one of his original cadet LPs, so this seemed like the next best thing. Being a bit of a geek, I have already done some research on this album, both at allmusic.com and the wonderful bsnpubs.com. Here is the info I came up with for the tracks on this compilation:

track name - album - year

1. hello dolly - Blowin in the wind - 1966

2. wig blues - At his best - 1966

3. cole slaw - Cole Slaw - 1964

4. man with a horn - Cole Slaw - 1964

5. ld blues - Rough House Blues 1966 or 1964

6. fried buzzard - Fried Buzzard 1970 or 1968 or 1965

7. time after time - Signifyin' - 1963

8. si si safronia - Signifyin' - 1963

9. tippin in - Rough House Blues 1966 or 1964

10. possum head - Possum Head - 1964

11. who can I turn to - Blowin in the wind - 1966

12. we - Fried Buzzard 1970 or 1968 or 1965

13. ha' mercy - Musty Rusty 1965

14. skylark - Cole Slaw - 1964

15. herman's mambo - Blowin in the wind - 1966

16. secret love - Possum Head - 1964

17. signifyin - Signifyin' - 1963

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I have bought a ludicrous number of things recently, but alas have no time to really report much on them. The big one is probably the Margo Guryan album ‘take a picture’, recently reissued on CD. I’m a little behind on this one, but I’m not too bothered. What a wonderful album! Fresh, excellently produced female vocal pop from 1968. Quite magnificent; it turns out that Margo also wrote the classic songs ‘Sunday morning’ and ‘think of rain’ (brought to my attention by spanky and our gang and Claudine Longet respectively. Anyway, a friend of mine mentioned it to me, and I’m very glad he did. Proper album review to come very soon.

I also bought the new Marcos Valle album, ‘escape’ (it was recommended very highly to me. It does sound cool. Definitely more to my taste than ‘Nova bossa nova’) and a gainsbourg CD from the ‘gainsbourg a gainsbarre’ box set. I have 4 or 5 now; it would be cool to have them all, and this one was available for $8 at Tower outlet.

If anyone from nyc is reading this, get down to Tower outlet at 4th and Lafayette – they have some quite incredible deals there at the moment.

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Everyone has really screwed me over in the last couple of days – from J&R; music world to the bastard on ebay who shipped me a battered copy of Henry Mancini‘s ‘symphonic soul’ with the wrong record in it. But there was a ray of light, from Odell Brown…

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I got up at 10am. This is highly unusual for me on a Sunday. Anyway, I’m listening to some old CDs…

Compilation: 'The Joe Meek Collection - Intergalactic Instros' (CD; Diamond; 1960-1966)
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This is a highly unusual compilation of murky instrumentals produced by home studio wizard Joe Meek in the early 60s. Some of the tracks are super-cool twangy, spooky masterpieces, but more often the tracks have more of a 50s edge, perhaps reflecting Meek's obsession with Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochrane. Probably the best tracks on here are 'Night of the Vampire' by the Moontrekkers and 'the spook walks' by the Spooks. Both are dirty, swampy spacey sounding early 60s instrumentals which capture a very cool sound. Alas, most of the other tracks aren't exactly to my taste. There are some nice touches, but somehow they are slightly too much like hard work to listen to... One incredibly interesting bonus on the disc is the original demo of Joe Meek humming the tune to 'telstar' over a backing track, with loads of echo. He loses his way a few times. It is pretty cool.

Compilation - Jean-Jacques Perrey: 'EVA' (CD; Ace/BGP; 1967-1970)
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I find J-J Perrey's moog /cut up tape stuff interesting, but I couldn't listen to it every day, and don't feel the need to buy any more than this 1-disc compilation. It opens with 'EVA', an anthemic, repetitive masterpiece, extra familiar to anyone in the UK due to its use in several TV adverts. The rest of the disc is slightly mixed. Almost every track starts off with some cool effects, but occasionally the choice of material (famous pop hits of the day - e.g. Winchester Cathedral) means that the songs end up sounding like generic cheesy Moog album interpretations. I get more out of the originals, of which there are several - e.g. 'Mister James Bond', 'Soul City'. Interestingly, this and several other tunes are co-written with Andy Badale who is no other than Angelo Badalamenti, who collaborated with David Lynch on several film scores which I'm very keen on. Several of the tracks sound very familiar due to their having been sampled - e.g. 'one note samba' by Stereolab on their 'transient random...' album, and 'cat in the night' by (I think) De la Soul. The track 'Moog Indigo' is a definite highlight - just as silly as many of the other tracks, but with a very groovy beat (there were a lot of groovy beats around in 1970 it seems) which seems to elevate it. Tacked onto the end of the CD are 2 Fatboy Slim remixes of EVA. These really don't do much for him. While I don't have a problem with the guy, these add nothing to the song - other than a lot of echo and distortion.

At the end of the day, this is a prety amazing disc.

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We just had an amazing thunderstorm here in Brooklyn, which felt as if it was directly overhead. This gave me a chance to listen to some records…….

Shirley Scott: 'Mystical Lady' (LP; Cadet; 1971)
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This is a pleasant enough LP, but somehow none of the organ LPs I've bought on Cadet have quite met my expectations. The album has 6 tracks, all very jazzy and a little too noodley for my taste. It's still a very pleasant LP to listen to all the way through. Shirley adds a very sweet vocal to one track, 'your song' (written by...er...Elton John. Hmm), and 6 and a half minute Creedence cover 'Proud Mary' is entertaining and wild, with a frantic beat and a strong bassline. Overall there's something missing for me - the tracks sound a little to smooth and a little too aimless. I have an Odell Brown record coming to me in the mail; I wonder if that will be more to my taste. I guess the sound I'm looking for is a little more pop and less jazz...

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Picked out a few of CDs to review today; I hope I get around to doing all of them…

Antonio Carlos Jobim: 'Jobim' (CD; Verve; 1972)
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An interesting 1973 release, the sleeve of which features a gaudy painting, apparently by Jobim's son. All nicely packaged in the 'verve - by request' series.
This was the album in which Jobim first introduced his classic 'Aguas de Marco' (in both english and portuguese), although it is the version from 1974's 'Elis and Tom' which is more celebrated. This a very interesting and complex album, with highly orchestrated arrangements from my idol, Claus Ogerman. The sound is rather unsettling throughout. I can't say exactly why or how, but somehow the vocal tracks sound very unusual. On some songs they are double-tracked with what sounds like a touch of reverb. The overall impression is very dark and atmospheric, certainly a world away from the jaunty sound he had on albums like 'Terra Brasilis' or even 'Elis and Tom'. Great stuff anyway though. It's just not one of those albums I put on very often. One track is a ten minute collage of film music, which is great in places. So, a slightly inpenetrable release, but with some great stuff thrown in there.

These reviews I'm doing are terrible, eh... I always do them at the end of the day when I'm tired......... ah well....

Scott Walker: ''til the band comes in' (CD; BGO; 1970)
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All in all, this is a very mixed record - there are some great moments, but it's lacking in focus. The overture at the beginning - a string variation of 'thanks for chicago' with sound fx (e.g. children's voices) thrown in - has the kind of dense arrangements that fans of the solo albums Scott 1-4 enjoy. The rest of the album is rather patchy to my ears, although nicely varied. Little things (that keep us together) is an anthemic, frantic song, but is followed by the relaxed crooning lounge jazz of 'Joe'. 'Thanks for chicago', although rather formulaic, is a stirring piece of classic Scott pop.
This album is often referred to as 'Scott 5', but it's not really of the same quality as Scott 1-4, in spite of similar arrangements from Wally Stott and Peter Knight. The songs were almost all cowritten with Ady Semel, Scott's then manager. I don't dislike any of the songs exactly (well, maybe 'jean the machine'), but they do sound slightly diluted, perhaps as a result of Semel's influence. Some of the cover versions are pretty good - it's corny, but I'm partial to the mournful 'the hills of yesterday' (another Henry Mancini composition, coming across here like a sequel to the excellent 'Wait until Dark' on Scott 2), and the early 70s easy-funk sound of 'Stormy' is very pleasant indeed. There are also some country-flavored songs, (e.g. 'Reuben James'), although not as many as on his later 70s albums. Oh, and the liner notes are dreadful - by the clunker Alan Clayson (who wrote that godawful Serge Gainsbourg biography).

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Really not in the mood for anything today. But I still managed to buy a record at lunchtime when I went down to Academy LPs. Really nice record; I hope it’s as good as it looks.

Richard Marino Orchestra: 'Out of this World' (LP; Liberty; 1961)
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Just bought. Lovely cover with optical patterns and circles cut out of the card outer sleeve. I totally dig the song 'out of this world' as well, so this looks like a good purchase.

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I was in Academy Records (18th St between 5th and 6th, NYC) today, where I ran into my friend David. In between fast talking, I managed to pickup four CDs – Lesley Gore, Laika and the Cosmonauts, Tindersticks and Jonathan Richman. I also might get around to entering some older CDs…

Compilation - Astrud Gilberto: 'Talkin' Verve' (CD; Verve/Polygram; 1966-1969)
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This is a fun compilation, opening with the superbly warm and groovy track 'Beginnings'. The bulk of the material here is from Astrud's later 60s albums on the Verve label, 'look to the rainbow', 'windy', 'september 17, 1969' and 'I haven't got anything better to do'. There are also a couple of great tracks from the album she did with Walter Wanderley. The contrasting arrangements (Gil Evans, Eumir Deodato, Alberto Gorgoni) sound interesting when heard side by side. Much of this stuff is only otherwise available on Japanese issue CDs, so this brings it together quite nicely. Unfortunately, I have all the Japanese CDs and original albums, so quite why I bought this, I'm not sure. Still, it is an undeniably great compilation featuring the cream of Astrud's groovier tracks.

Jonathan Richman: '¡Jonathan, te vas a emocionar!' (CD; Rounder; 1994)
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I feel pretty ignorant when it comes to this one. My interest in Jonathan Richman has been building recently. I read a great article on him in Cool and Strange Music magazine; also, a friend played me 'I was dancing in a Lesbian Bar', which I enjoyed very much. This album is from 1994, and is sung mostly in Spanish with phrases like 'rock'n'roll' thrown in. The backing is mostly acoustic guitar. I have very little more to say about it at this point. I think it's something I'll be getting into at a later date.

Laika and the Cosmonauts: 'Zero Gravity' (CD; Upstart; 1996)
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Laika and the cosmonauts are a Finnish surf band. This is really pretty cool. How I would have adored it in 1995-6, though! I wanted to hear and have this kind of music so much, but I had no money and knew nothing about it... It's twangy, beaty music with some interesting sound effects. Kind of like 'man or astroman?' but better, perhaps (less sound fx and distortion, more cool influences, I'd say...). There is at least one hawaiian themed track, 'oahu luau', which is really cool. Very listenable, with a great sound and some lovely guitar work (e.g. on 'fadeaway'). Some tracks, e.g. 'fear', have an excellent soundtrack feel. Nice extra bonus for me - one track, 'baja' (which I guess was originally a Duane Eddy song) is a Lee Hazlewood composition. Too much of this kind of music suffers from nasty production or bad taste (e.g. this is pretty much how I feel about Stray Cats from what I've heard by them - the vocals seem to cheesy and the production too modern). But this album seems to succeed where others have failed. If anyone wants to form a band sounding like this with me in NYC, let me know!

Lee Hazlewood: 'Hazlewoodism - its cause and cure' (LP; MGM; 1968)
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Very cool Lee album. Lee had a knack for creating simple, yet perfectly formed pop songs and executing them perfectly. This contains classic Lee narratives like the bullfighting song 'Jose' and Indian song 'the nights'. Other charming tracks are the warm pop in 'I am a part' and the upbeat 60s rock ripoff sounding 'In our time'. The whole record has great production and entertaining lyrics; it's not hard to see why Lee has been so influential.

Compilation - Lesley Gore: 'The Best of Lesley Gore' (CD; Mercury; 1963-1967)
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I actually wanted to get a Lesley Gore compilation for a while, and was holding out for the best one. However, I couldn't resist picking this up for under $5. It contains the classic, if overplayed 'It's my party', and its sequel song, 'Judy's turn to cry'. But the jewels are probably others, such as her classic take on 'You don't own me', a song which I curiously first heard via Klaus Nomi's version. Lesley's vocals are entertaining on this one, especially late in the song when several vocal tracks emotionally fill in around the tune. Much of this is sweet early 60s teenage stuff. It's enjoyable to listen to; I'm amused by the lyrics of 'that's the way boys are' - "when he treats me rough and he acts though he doesn't really care, well I never tell him that he is so unfair/'cause he loves me and I know it/But he's just afraid to show it/Cause that's the way boys are". Ah, that's the way boys are. There is also 'My town, my guy and me' another 'I like it in my small town, cities are crap' type song (like 'That's Not Me' on the Beach Boys's 'Pet sounds'). Overall, most tracks are somehow lacking the quality and emotional intensity of my favorite 60s pop singers (people like Dusty Springfield, Mina). But they are still quite fun, and there are some classic mid 60s pop moments - e.g. 'sunshine lollipops and rainbows'. Interestingly, of the 12 tracks on this CD, 11 are produced by none other than Quincy Jones, and the other is produced by Bob Crewe - both idols of mine. Bob Crewe's influence is more audible on 'California Nights' than Quincy Jones's is on any of the other tracks.

Tindersticks: 'Tindersticks (first album)' (CD; Bar None; 1993)
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This is one of the growing group of albums I've owned, sold and then bought again. In the case of Tindersticks, I originally came to the group via an interest in swampy, Gallon Drunk-style 50s oriented indie music. As it turned out, the group weren't really like that at all. I quite liked this album, but was quick to sell it when I was short of money about five years ago. I've since picked up all the other Tindersticks albums (except the latest one, which I will have to pick up soon). So I was happy to see the first album again used. Listening to it now, I still find the same tracks interesting as I did in 1993, but they have aged well, and have a classic feel...Tracks like 'marbles', 'milky teeth', 'jism', 'raindrops', 'her' (although I still prefer the Peel session version), and 'paco de renaldo's dream' are really quite superb - the production is mysterious and alluring, and the songs have a great otherworldly feel. None of the other songs are bad either, so I guess this is a pretty impressive LP, all in all...

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