Monthly Archives: July 2002

The heat here in NYC is making my life kind of annoying. The weekend was basically a write-off. Yes, I should have gone to the beach.

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Ok, the rock revival’s over. Back to bossa nova.

Antonio Carlos Jobim: 'Stone Flower' (CD; Epic; 1970)
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I know this has recently been reissued on a remastered CD; mine is the 1990 epic one. I must confess to not really 'getting' this album the first few times I heard it. I'd heard that this was even better than Tide and Wave, but it kind of passed me by.

Anyway, today, I finally got it. As you could figure from my site, and the fact that I make a lot of compilations, I'm someone who normally picks on individual tracks and devours them repeatedly. You can't really do that with this album. It's subtle and beautiful, and unusually for me, I found myself really only appreciating the record when listening to the whole thing in one sitting. There are some memorable melodies, notably 'tereza my love' and 'children's games', but the album really builds beautifully, and the extended (almost 10-minute) vocal version of the Barroso classic 'Brazil' makes perfect sense within the context of the album.

Joao Gilberto: 'The Boss of Bossa Nova' (LP; Atlantic; 1961)
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I have very little Brazilian music on vinyl, and most of what I do have is early American issues. This is a nice album, released by Atlantic in 1962. The cover, with Gilberto's head filling the circle in the middle of the Brazilian flag, clearly marks this as a record dating to the huge bossa nova craze that followed the sucess of Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz's Jazz Samba.

Unlike the records of Marcos Valle, The girls from Bahia, Sylvia Telles, Maria Toledo, and many more, this album doesn't seem to be that hard to come by. I recommend it highly anyway. It's a reissue of material recorded in Rio for Odeon records, and is a mixture of now well-known Brazilian standards by people like Caymmi, Jobim, and Menescal (e.g. samba da minha terra, barquinho, amor em paz, voce a eu, insensatez) and a few more that I hadn't heard before. Many of the tracks feature just Gilberto's voice and guitar, but he's joined on a few tracks by Walter Wanderley and his group.

Since I hear watered-down takes on bossa nova everywhere I go these days (in stores, on tv, everywhere), it's nice to have the opportunity to hear it as people heard it in the early sixties.

Bolinha de Papel
Samba da Minha Terra
Saudade da Bahia
Barquinho
A Primeira Vez
Amor em Paz
Voce e Eu
Insensatez
Trenzinho (Trem de Ferro)
Presente de Natal
Coisa Mais Linda
Este Seu Olhar

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Did I mention that I’m having a bit of a ‘rock’ revival? Ok, I’m not talking Whitesnake, but suffice it to say that the CDs on my desk today are Nico, The Teardrop Explodes, Pixies and David Bowie. And, er…Keely Smith.

Compilation - Nico: 'The Classic Years' (CD; Polygram; 1965-1974)
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I bought this compilation to replace my copy of 'Chelsea Girls', which was one of many CDs that I sacrificed when I moved to the USA in 1997. This 19-track disc has four tracks from that album, including the two I like best. It also includes perhaps the most exquisite Velvet Underground tracks: "I'll be your mirror," "Femme fatale," and "All tomorrow's parties."

As an extra bonus, there's both the A and B sides of the single Nico cut in 1965 with Andrew Loog Oldham, 'I'm not saying'. I'm rather taken with the title cut, a jaunty folk-pop song with a great chord sequence.

The final 10 tracks on the compilation are taken from her albums with John Cale, and a bit more hard-going, featuring Nico's work on the harmonium, and lots of bizarre sound effects. One of the more accessible tracks is the piano-driven 'Afraid'. I don't mean to diss the other tracks, which are undeniably powerful and intense. I just don't feel like listening to them right now.

All in all, this is a nice compilation; the inclusion of 'I'm not saying' makes it well worth having.

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Bedford Charity Shop Bonanza

I spent about 6 hours on Monday July 8th in Bedford, the town where I grew up. Many shops in the town centre have shut down and been turned into charity shops. Many more buildings seem to have been turned into enormous theme pubs. While I didn’t make it into any of the pubs, I took a good tour of the charity shops. All in all, I bought 16 albums and four 45s. I cunningly left a few of the records in England, to be savoured on my eventual return. Below are some of the ones I brought back with me.

Cyril Stapleton, his choir and orchestra: 'Love is...' (LP; Marble Arch; 1968)
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This was bought because it contains the rather interesting track 'Love today, cry tomorrow', which is featured on 'house of loungecore', one of the more interesting easy listening compilations to come out on the UK during the 'cocktail' revival of 1995-6.

It's a fun album. All of the tracks have a pleasant sophisticated easy listening sound, with harpsichord creeping in alongside strings and boy/girl vocals. The version of 'She loves you' is particularly upbeat and rousing.

Geo Daly: 'Geo Daly Plays' (EP; Concert Hall; 1964)
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An interesting curiosity, this 7" mini-LP was a record club issue from the 'Concert Hall Record Club.' Geo Daly plays the vibraharp, which is really rather pleasant. Alongside contemporary hits like 'Can't buy me love' and 'I only want to be with you', there are some pretty cool originals, such as 'Papa Palavas', 'Vibra surf' and 'Malibu Surf'. The feel is an odd mix of jazz and more rocky sounds. 'Papa Palavas' is a slow, atmospheric piece, with twangy guitar, yet also traditional jazz woodwinds alongside the vibes. 'Vibra surf' and 'Malibu surf' are both essentially the same upbeat 12-bar blues jam, with rather exquisite instrumentation: a sleazy organ, vibes, and drums.

Gunter Kallman Choir: 'The Very Best of' (LP; Polydor; 1969)
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'Daydream' by the Wallace collection was a big hit in Europe in 1968. It's a nice simple song. The verse contains what would now be described as a Portishead-style chord sequence. The chorus is taken from a Tchaikovsky piece. Some time around 1970, Polydor released a 2 LP set in England that included a version of this tune by the Gunter Kallman choir. I don't know how many millions of copies were sold, but the record is still everywhere, in spite of the fact that a couple of guys from Sheffield sampled the Kallmann choir version, making that record a bit more desirable.



This best-of record features this now-famous version of 'Daydream'. I'd hoped that the other tracks might be pretty nice too, since I like the version of 'Windmills of your mind' featured on the 'Mad mad world of soundtracks volume 2' CD. There's nothing else that immediately grabs me though. 'The 59th Street Bridge song (feeling groovy)' is another good track, as is the version of 'It's getting better' is also good (I love the Cass Elliot version of this track even more though). The rest is pleasant enough, but the versions of 'the more I see you' and 'La mer' are rather unambitious.

Pete Moore: 'Lively and Latin' (LP; Rediffusion; 1970)
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Pop Party: 'Luke Hoffmann and his Group' (EP; Concert Hall; 1963)
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"Eight sparkling pops to set your feet tapping and make your party go with a real swing. OR simply as background music, this record will ideally fill the bill for any social get-together!"

Another from the Concert Hall record club, this has some very cool early sixties discotheque-style tracks, played by a small group with brass, organ and twangy guitars. The best track is probably the cover of 'Sally go round the roses', but it's all pretty tasty stuff.

Tracks:
Jelly Gully, The Twist, Bossa Nova Baby, Let's twist again, Sally, go round the roses, Gag twist, Sugard and Spice.

Ronnie Aldrich: 'Come to where the love is' (LP; Decca; 1972)
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I'm still collecting the nicest Ronnie tracks for future compilation. This is a nice enough album, although not outstanding. The version of popcorn is comical. The best track here is probably a great version of Bacharach's theme to 'Lost Horizon', which has some thick strings and a nice beat.

The Kings Singers: 'Collection' (LP; EMI One-Up; 1972)
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This is quite an entertaining record. The Kings singers are an incredibly unhip singing group, founded by choral scholars at King's College, Cambridge in the late 60s. The group is actually still going today, although with new members. I bought this record solely on the basis of the version of 'Apres un Reve', which is a beautiful Faure tune that I used to play (badly) on the 'cello. The rest of the LP is pop tunes, performed with a mixture of lead and wordless vocals.

Although hardly my favorite record of all time, this has its moments. There are a couple of Michel Legrand-penned tracks, the better of which is 'watch me', which has a breezy feel to it that is reminiscent of Free Design and Roger Nichols (although the really goofy passage at the end kind of ruins it for me). However, the real vocal group influence for this group seems to be the Swingle Singers.

I wish the sound was jazzy, but it's an interesting hybrid all the same. In particular, the weird version of 'A taste of honey' is interesting, with its heavy drums and bizarre-sounding low vocals.

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I’ve done a bit of work behind the scenes here, as well as modifying the design a bit. I hope it doesn’t suck too badly. I got a nice shipment in from Dusty Groove yesterday, which I’ve written about below.

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Back in the USA, sat in a new office. Lots of new music to listen to. It’s really all too much for me.

Compilation - The Jerry Ross Symposium: 'The Jerry Ross Symposium' (CD; Sequel; 1969-1972)
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A strange item. I bought this very cheaply used in London. I was interested in Ross because of the great, smooth easy listening version of 'Little Green Bag' on the budget 'Lounge Deluxe' 3 CD set.

What clinched the purchase was the footnote on the cover that said 'arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman'. I'm pleased to see Ogerman get recognition, but in fact, this disc contains 2 albums worth of material, the first of which is from 1969 and is arranged by Ross himself, not Ogerman. In fact, these tracks are the best ones. The Ogerman-produced tracks, while nice, are of less appealing material, and include a number of multi-song medleys.

This is just a short review, since I haven't listened to this in detail yet. The first track, 'Ma Belle Amie' sounds great - a kind of hybrid of British late 60s easy listening instrumentals and the kind of beautiful lush percussive stuff coming out of Italy at the time (I'm thinking of the track 'Jet Society' by the Cordara orchestra). There are rich strings, and occasional vocals. The other bonus on the collection is the inclusion of a Morricone-written track, 'Duck you sucker'.

More details on this when I've listened more.

Reporting Back: Much of this disc is actually rather unbearably shmaltzy. This is strange, since I like a few of the tracks very much. But too often, the material is unforgivably fey. Still, a few good tracks, and I wouldn't be surprised if 'Ma Belle Amie' makes it onto one of my compilations.

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Deaths

Just back from my vacation. I see that Ray Brown and Rod Steiger have both died while I was away. Sad stuff. Ray Brown probably played on at least 10% of the records in my collection… I remember Steiger mainly for The Pawnbroker, a 1964 flick with a superb Quincy Jones score.

Compilation - The Jerry Ross Symposium: 'The Jerry Ross Symposium' (CD; Sequel; 1969-1972)
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A strange item. I bought this very cheaply used in London. I was interested in Ross because of the great, smooth easy listening version of 'Little Green Bag' on the budget 'Lounge Deluxe' 3 CD set.

What clinched the purchase was the footnote on the cover that said 'arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman'. I'm pleased to see Ogerman get recognition, but in fact, this disc contains 2 albums worth of material, the first of which is from 1969 and is arranged by Ross himself, not Ogerman. In fact, these tracks are the best ones. The Ogerman-produced tracks, while nice, are of less appealing material, and include a number of multi-song medleys.

This is just a short review, since I haven't listened to this in detail yet. The first track, 'Ma Belle Amie' sounds great - a kind of hybrid of British late 60s easy listening instrumentals and the kind of beautiful lush percussive stuff coming out of Italy at the time (I'm thinking of the track 'Jet Society' by the Cordara orchestra). There are rich strings, and occasional vocals. The other bonus on the collection is the inclusion of a Morricone-written track, 'Duck you sucker'.

More details on this when I've listened more.

Reporting Back: Much of this disc is actually rather unbearably shmaltzy. This is strange, since I like a few of the tracks very much. But too often, the material is unforgivably fey. Still, a few good tracks, and I wouldn't be surprised if 'Ma Belle Amie' makes it onto one of my compilations.

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