Monthly Archives: April 2004

We finally just got round to changing the CDs in our 100-disc CD changer. It’s really great to have the machine (it’s nearly four years old now, but has never given us any trouble), but it really does take a while to change the discs over. This time I left it so long that I was really tired of some of the things in it. Below is a list of what I just took out:

1. Hildegard Knef – Box set Disc 1

2. Quarteto em Cy – Quarteto em Cy (1972)

3. Radiohead – Ok Computer

4. Ramsey Lewis – Maiden Voyage

5. Ray Barretto – Hard Hands/Acid

6. Raymond Scott – Reckless Nights and Turkish Twilights

7. Saint Etienne – So Tough

8. Santo & Johnny – Best of

9. Scott Walker – Scott 1

10. Scott Walker – Climate of Hunter

11. Serge Gainsbourg – Vol 5 1970-71

12. Simian – Chemistry is what we are

13. Simon Warner – Waiting Rooms

14. Slowdive – Souvlaki

15. Smiths – Best II

16. Spell – Seasons in the Sun

17. Spiritualized – Pure Phase

18. Getz-Gilberto

19. Stereolab – Transient Random Noise Bursts With Announcements

20. The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses

21. Sylvia Syms with Kenny Burrell – Sylvia is!

22. Terry Callier – Essential, the very best of

23. Mamas and Papas – People Like Us

24. Mazzy Star – She hangs brightly

25. Mercury Rev – Deserter’s Songs

26. Mick Harvey – Intoxicated Man

27. Mina – Incontro con Mina

28. Les Baxter/Harry Revel – Perfume set to music/Music on the moon

29. Morrissey – Vauxhall and I

30. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless

31. Neu! – Neu 2

32. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Live Seeds

33. Nick Drake – Time of No Reply

34. Nico and the faction – CameraObscura

35. Nina Simone – Compact Jazz

36. Orpheus – The very best of

37. Pale Saints – In Ribbons

38. Percy Faith – Chinatown/Summer Place ‘76

39. Percy Faith – Angel of the Morning/Black Magic Woman

40. Peddlers – Comin’ home baby

41. Pixies – Surfer Rosa + come on pilgrim

42. PJ Harvey – To bring you my love

43. Pulp – This is Hardcore

44. Satie – Piano works, Pascal Roge

45. Esquivel – Exploring new sounds/Strings aflame

46. Eumir Deodato – Tremendao

47. Faure – cello works – Isserlis/devoyon

48. Finzi – clarinet works

49. Faure Requiem/Durufle Requieme – Michel Legrand/Philharmonia orchestra

50. Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim

51. Brian Eno – Ambient 1/Music for Airports

52. Gabor Szabo – 1969

53. Janko Nilovic – Rythmes Contemporains

54. James Brown – The Payback

55. Various – Samba Jazz Vol II

56. Various – The Joe Meek collection – Intergalactic Instros

57. John Cale – Paris 1919

58. Johnny Cash – At Folsom Prison and San Quentin

59. Jorge Ben – Brazilian Collection (from A to Z)

60. Joy Division – Closer

61. Julie London – Julie is her name/Julie is her name volume 2

62. Gilberto Gil – 1969

63. Hefner – We love the city

64. Henry Mancini – More Music from Peter Gunn

65. Lalo Schifrin – New Fantasy

66. Antonio Carlos Jobim – Urubu

67. Air – Italian thing

68. David Bowie – Low

69. Cocteau Twins – Milk and Kisses

70. Cinnamon – The Courier

71. Carpenters – Ticket to Ride

72. Burt Bacharach – Burt Bacharac (1971)

73. Broadcast – The noise made by people

74. Hayden – Paukenmess/Mozart – Vespers, K339/Choir of St. Johns College, Cambridge/George Guest

75. Various – Magpie – 20 Junkshop Pop Ads and Themes

76. Tindersticks – Waiting for the Moon

77. Kid Koala – Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

78. Elis Regina – En Pleno Verao

79. Elis Regina/Toots Thielemans – Aqualera do Brasil

80. The Beatles – The White Album (disc 1)

81. The Beatles – The White Album (disc 2)

82. Roxy Music – Siren

83. Dorothy Ashby – Jonny compilation

84. Eternity’s Children – Collection

85. Jackie Gleason – Romantic Moods (disc 1)

86. Jackie Gleason – Romantic Moods (disc 2)

87. Lee Hazlewood – complete MGM recordings (disc 1)

88. Lee Hazlewood – complete MGM recordings (disc 2)

89. Marcos Valle – Previsao do tempo

90. Serge Gainsbourg – Le cinema de (disc 2)

91. Colin Blundstone – One year

92. Claude Nougaro – Claude Nougaro/Frances Faye – In Frenzy

93. Paul Desmond – From the Hot Afternoon

94. Les Baxter – The Exotic Moods of (disc 2)

95. Walter Wanderley – The boss of bossa nova (disc 1)

96. Michel Colombier – Capot Pointu

97. Ride – OX4 (the best of)

98. Chris Connor – Warm Cool (the Atlantic Years)

99. Jimmy Scott – The Source

100. Luiz Bonfa – the composer of Black Orpheus plays and sings Bossa Nova

Off the top of my head, I hate Radiohead and Tindersticks, and I hit shuffle pretty much as soon as either of those came on. Other antihits were as follows:

· Scott Walker’s Climate of Hunter (very hard to deal with when you’re not in the mood)

· Simian’s Chemistry is what we are (the title track is amazing, but not exactly pleasant to listen to. Some of the others are just annoying)

· Spell’s Seasons in the Sun (Boyd Rice and Rose MacDowell’s take on off-beat 60s pop. I might start liking this album again in a few years, but right now I’m sick to death of it)

· Spiritualized’s Pure Phase (I could put together a good Spiritualized album. It would have maybe 9 or 10 tracks on it. I don’t think any of them would be taken from this album)

· Stone Roses – Stone Roses (I’m now at ease with the fact that I’m no longer 16)

· Terry Callier – Essential (Only one or two Terry Callier tracks are actually essential for me. This is a UK release aimed at a UK market that enjoys a different breed of soul music from the kind I like)

· Mamas and Papas – People Like Us (I used to think this was a cool album. Very offbeat sounding at first, but it became annoying very quickly)

· Neu! – Neu 2 (I have to say, I never really got this one)

· Nico – Camera Obscura (I’ve made a mental note to listen to this sparingly in future)

· Nina Simone – Compact Jazz (RIP Nina, but again, there’s only so much I can take in one sitting)

· PJ Harvey – To bring you my love (my interest in post-Dry PJ Harvey seems to have disappeared completely)

· Brian Eno – Music for Airports (I enjoyed this for a couple of months before it started to grate)

· Gilberto Gil – 1969 (simultaneously great and annoying)

· Kid Koala – Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (one of the few albums in this list that was probably actually meant to be annoying)

· Beatles – White Album (my big joke when this first came on was to say ‘what the fuck is this!’ I meant it though!)

It really feels wonderful to have new discs in there. I’ll report back on how they went down in a few months when I get around to changing them over again.

Well, here are some more recent hits, some of which will make their way onto Musical Taste before long.

Sandie Shaw & The Smiths – Jeane

I always loved this one, but for some reason I hadn’t thought of it for years until the other day. To me, this lovely spare version (with Johnny Marr’s outstanding acoustic guitar playing) is vastly superior to the Smiths’s own rather flat version, which appeared on the original ‘This charming man’ 7″.

Sylvia Telles – Sol de Meia Noite (midnight sun)

A very cool dramatic version of ‘Midnight Sun’, sung in Poruguese with some beautifully over-the-top string arrangements.

Elis Regina – Poema

An early Elis track in a similarly dramatic style, although this one is more percussive.

Esquivel – Gypsy Lament

A cinematic track from his ‘Strings Aflame’ album. The album is less accessible than lots of his work, but great all the same. This reminds me of some of Morricone’s spaghetti western soundtracks (which were all recorded several years later).

Raymond Lefevre – In the hall of the mountain king

A ridiculous funky version of the Grieg piece. It starts off sounding very cool, although I concede that it gets a bit hard to take towards the end.

Ozzie Torrens – Tijuana Grass

His Boogaloo in apartment 42 album sounds good, even if the tracks all seem to start with the same riff, in the same key!

Serge Gainsbourg – L’Alouette

This track is bizarre. It has a 70s piano feel that is similar to the Michel Colombier album that I have, Capot Pointu. I wouldn’t be surprised if Colombier was involved here. The piano plays some Bruce Hornsby-esque chords (cool, huh!), and meanders about, before the track explodes with some drums. The chord sequence kind of echoes ‘hall of the mountain king’, come to think of it.

Wilson Das Neves – Don’t go breaking my heart

This is a Brazilian instrumental pop version of the Bacharach song, and it appears on a record called Juventude 2000, a battered copy of which I picked up in Peru in 1998. The album is pretty cool, and the names and composers mean much more to me now than they did then!

Beaga Band’s – You Only Live Twice

A budget-sounding Brazilian band plays John Barry! This is very odd, with a slightly muted and out-of-tune bunch of players, with prominent woodwinds. The piano works quite well with the chords of the song to give it a really strange feel.

John Barry – Follow Me (Main Title)

I was familiar with the tune from the version on one of Barry’s 70s Polydor LPs. It’s cool to hear a vocal version, and the arrangement is beautiful.

Sven Libaek And His Orchestra – Misty Canyon

Apparently a notorious beaty library piece, this was recommended on Musical Taste. As I noted there, the secondary tune is borrowed from Bacharach’s ‘What the world needs now’. It’s a lovely instrumental with a strong beat and nice vibes.

James Brown – King Heroin

Another Musical Taste recommendation. Brown narrates a dark and depressing tale over a groovy backing.

Nancy Holloway – Sand and Rain

In a somehow similar vein to James Brown in the previous track, Nancy relates some nuggets regarding love, to a slightly more beaty and very cool backing.

Christiane Legrand – Cent Mille Poissons Dans Ton Filet (O cafona)

To be honest, this is one of the most annoying tracks ever! But I’m mentioning it because I think it’s remarkable that this French language translation of Marcos Valle’s scat-filled 1971 song ‘O cafona’ was ever written, let alone recorded! There seems to have been an increased awareness of quality Brazilian pop in France; I had no idea that tracks like this were really even known outside Brazil at the time. Christiane was Michel Legrand’s sister, and she sounds great. There is very little available by her on CD, aside from a compilation of early recordings, and isolated tracks that (like this) appear on Japanese compilations. Also, it doesn’t help that the store Dusty Groove insists on incorrectly referring to her as ‘Christine’.

Juan Torres – Jesuchristo (jesus cristo)

Another ‘difficult’ track! This bizarre organ version of the Roberto Carlos’s hit is from a record I bought in Peru called ‘Organ melodico vol. 11′. The album is pretty terrible – full of casio style meanderings. This track is ridiculous, but there’s something compelling about it. Some nice drums and backing vocals occasionally break through the organ sound.

Golden Boys – Chuva De Verao

Thanks are due to a commenter on Musical Taste called Galt for recommending this nice beaty Golden Boys track, which has some beautiful string arrangements. It’s not up there with their version of ‘Berimbau’ (one of my top tracks ever), but it’s pretty good.

Chris Montez – Keep Talkin

Chris sings Joao Donato’s ‘amazonas’ with words! It actually works really well! Thanks to Don aka opl3003 for hooking me up with this one, which is taken from the one A&M; album by Chris that I don’t have.

Donovan – Wear your love like heaven

This is a cool one. Donovan is ridiculous, but I think he knows it, and it’s entertaining to hear him over-enunciate lines like ‘crimson ball sinks from you’. The arrangement is super groovy with organ and drums. This was pointed out to me by my brother (the lazy one who never recommends anything at Musical Taste, even though he registered several years ago)

Jackie & Roy – Didn’t want to have to do it

I would love to get the original album this came from, ‘Changes’. It’s compiled on the ‘Get Easy’ sunshine pop compilation. This is of course a superb Roger Nichols-Paul Williams composition, and Jackie and Roy’s version is wonderful.

Bob Azzam – Mr Dieingly Sad

Another alternative version of a sunshine pop track, this came from Magnus (www.bellybongo.com)’s album of the week. Thanks Magnus!

Walk on by – Jack Mcduff

This is from an album I’ve had and loved for years, a Prestige issue called The best of Jack McDuff and the big soul band. A really nice version of this song, which as you might have gathered, I’m obsessed with.

Bobby Byrne and his Orchestra – Made in Paris

More Bacharach, but this time a more obscure soundtrack cut, recorded on the Command label. It’s a fantastic arrangement. It starts off sounding like a standard twist number, but has some wonderful string flourishes and some outstanding guitar playing from Tony Mottola, as well as superb organ work from Dick Hyman.

Richard Rome – Ghost a go go

I know nothing about this track, but it’s a groovy ‘graveyard bounce’ track with spooky organ and a super cool spare sound. This is what Stretcher Case wanted to sound like!

Sharon Tandy – One Way Street

I read about Sharon in last month’s Mojo, where if I remember correctly, she was described as ‘The South African Dusty Springfield of Swinging London’. I didn’t wind up enjoying the compilation quite as much as I had hoped to based on this fantastic track, which was the first I heard. It’s a soulful pop track that bounces along very nicely. Her voice is cool, but the arrangements are often a bit to rocky and guitar heavy for my taste.

Santo & Johnny – Bulls-Eye

A cool early track from my old favorites (note my spelling here. Am I English or American? Spelling-wise, I don’t seem to be able to decide). Like many of their tracks, this walks the tightrope between being beautiflly raw and being unlistenably out of tune. It just about falls the right side of that line.

Kai Winding – Spinner

A Claus Ogerman composition performed by Kai with Kenny Burrell on the More album. Very nice twangy neo-Hawaiian stuff.

Chaquito – Callan

Super cool laid-back late 60s/early 70s crime jazz from a record that constitutes the best 35p I’ve spent in my life.

Tommy McCook – The Shadow Of You Smile

A nice Ska version of this track (thanks to don aka opl3003 for this one).

Sound Dimension – Soulful Strut

Another ska version of one of my favorites, from the Studio One Soul compilation.

Brother Jack McDuff – Oblighetto

Finally, another Musical Taste recommendation. I’m a big McDuff fan, but had never picked up Moon Rappin’, from which this great track is taken. It’s long and jazzy with some spooky and appropriately other-worldly wordless vocals.

It would be kind of nice to throw tracks like the ones I mentioned yesterday out to the world in a radio show. But I don’t think there are any Internet radio stations that allow you to do that anymore without paying. I see that live365 would charge me $9 a month for the privilege, and that they would allow only 25 simultaneous listeners, as well as inserting a ton of ads. Somehow this doesn’t appeal! Hopefully some day I will sort out an outlet for at least a bi-weekly radio hour; in the meantime I hope these ‘recent digs’ playlists are of some interest…

Lee Hazlewood: 'Poet, Fool or Bum/Back on the Street Again' (CD; EMI; 1973-1977)
Show Details

After the rash of superb reissues back in 1999 on the Smells Like Records label, things had gone quiet in terms of Lee Hazlewood reissues. Then last year came the 2CD compilation of Lee's 1960s MGM work. And now EMI in the UK have reissued two more LPs. I had heard a few tracks from 'Poet...' on a bootleg, but it's nice to have the proper album.

That said, these recordings aren't as immediate as the other reissues I mentioned. The instrumentation is similar to classic Lee - guitars with a slightly country feel, jerky basslines, strings, and occasional backing vocals. But somehow it's not all that magical this time. I think perhaps the compositions aren't quite as good as his earlier work. There are also cover versions of songs by both Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits. The latter makes him sound very much like mid-90s Nick Cave.

Back on the Street Again has a slightly different production. The vocals sound icy and cool, but the backings are pretty wacky. 'Your thunder and your lightning' is mildly disco influenced and bit cheesy. Synthesizers and Lee just don't go together in my head. The rest of the album has a country feel most of the time.

I'm glad to have these albums, and they might grow on me, but right now they're not really up there with Cowboy in Sweden, The NSVIPs and his MGM albums. Apologies for this rather simplistic review, which I will revisit later.

Here’s some more recent hits on the delicado network:

Xavier Cugat – Soul Sauce (I thought I had all of his hip late 60s albums, but this one (Dance Party) has eluded me)

Cozy Cole – Topsy, part 2 (winning late 50s instrumental 45)

Tammi Terrell – Sinner’s Devotion (obscure early Bacharach number in the style of the Shirelles’ ‘Baby it’s you’)

Scatman Crothers – Ghost Riders In The Sky (it’s the guy from The Shining! Thanks, Dana Countryman)

Jackie and Roy – Turnpike (Very cool minimalist jazzy hi-hat-driven scat)

Janko Nilovic – Vocal Interventions (A theme he has used a lot on his library records, this time enhanced by some nice male/female scat vocals)

The Gimmicks – Boink (Groovy and percussive Brazilian style scat from Sweden)

Lill Lindfors – Upp Genom Himlen (Incredibly cool Swedish version of Upa Neguinho with a mindblowing scat intro)

Claudette Soares and Jongo Trio – Canto de Ossanha (cool live version with talking)

Ed Lincoln – Leçon de baion (Ed liked to speak French over his records. It sounds cool)

Nara Leão – Corrida de jangada (bizarre version of this classic; it starts off moody with a bare, slow rhythm and then cheers up after 25 seconds)

Laurindo Almeida – The girl from ipanema (I’m not usually too crazy about ‘Ipanema’ covers, but this is cool to me because of its organ sound and the fact that the melody is whistled!)

Conjunto Sambacana – Moca (tasty harpsichord/beat/group vocals version of this Adolfo-Gaspar classic)

Gerad Calvi – Obelix Samba (nice french bossa-easy instrumental that I know nothing about)

O Grupo – Sa Marina (always great to hear more versions of this song)

Greetje Kauffeld – Day by day (slow and groovy version of another perennial favorite by a Dutch eurovision singer)

Antonio Adolfo/Brazuca – Pela Cidade (slow burning Brazilian pop)

Evinha – Agora (a nice dramatic late 60s Brazilian pop number with a Marcos Valle-style piano intro)

Isabelle Aubret – La Ville Est La’ (very cool version of ‘mas que nada’ in French from 1971)

Dusty Springfield – In The Land Of Make Believe (Dusty sings Bacharach)

The Isley Brothers – Make it easy on yourself (amazing version with additional/alternate lyrics and bizarre operatic backing vocals)

Gene Pitney – The Fool Killer (an unusual Bacharach number)

Jenny Luna – Non Mi Pentirò (it’s ‘walk on by’ in Italian! from Mo’Plen Bacharach)

Catherine Spaak – L’ Ora Dell’ Addio (‘knowing when to leave’ in Italian from the same compilation)

Dave Pell Singers – Laughing (from the mah-na mah-na album, which also features possibly the grooviest track in history, ‘Oh Calcultta’)

Francis Lai – Le Voyou (a nice Morricone-style Francis Lai film number from the early 1970s)

Jonathan Richman – Down In Bermuda (I was looking for a version of the Bell Sisters’ ‘Bermuda’, but found this bizarre but fun track instead)

The Surfmen – Moon Over Manakoora (nice budget exotica featuring Alvino Rey (RIP))

The Sandpipers – Never can say Goodbye (it doesn’t quite match Percy Faith’s version, but it’s a nice soft-pop take on the song)

Soft Cell – Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (this really is an incredibly powerful track. My brother recommended it at Musical Taste. Marc Almond sounds so vulnerable, and the chorus just floors me)

And now Timi Yuro has passed away. I remember her well, but the mainstream press seems to know nothing of her – when I searched the New York Times for her obituary, they asked “Did you intend to search for timid euro?”