Regular readers and listeners may appreciate the fact that I have NOT been cold this week. Canberra, like most of Australia, has been subjected to heatwave conditions. Not only that but there was an earthquake this morning! DJ HighPantsToddo and I were out cycling and we thought a truck had dropped its load or something similar. Nope; it was an earthquake!
Carole King - I Feel The Earth Move (live) - https://youtu.be/5BAImmeHEIA
Onwards dear friends...here are the two long players from the "100 albums you must own on vinyl" that I listened to this week.
Album 5/100 - Oasis - Definitely Maybe
This one landed in record stores in August 1994 and was a #1 hit in the UK album charts. It's not hard to understand why this happened either as it's a great rock and roll record. Despite the fact that the recording sessions involved a number of failed attempts to capture the sound they were looking for, the final result is an upbeat, in your face album that sounds like a band playing for all they are worth. Kudos to Owen Morris (producer) for being able to take recordings that the band were unhappy with and turn them into a bonafide hit record. On first listen I was taken by the full sound but not convinced by the songs themselves. Perhaps this is as a result of being more familiar with Oasis' second album, "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?". On subsequent listens, and remembering that this is a debut album, there's no doubt that it probably should count as a seminal work. Certainly it launched a whole generation of Brit-indie-rock music and bands. And you have to admire the confidence of a band who, on track one of their debut outing, sing, "tonight...I'm a rock and roll star".
Oasis - Rock And Roll Star - https://youtu.be/wjx8wSc2cTQ
Album 6/100 - Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
This one is the second album from the Canadian band and was released in 2007. It was a more difficult listen than Oasis as I had no familiarity with the band at all. When you know that the band bought an old church and renovated it as a recording studio some of the sounds make sense. Or at least they do to me. There's a lot of what sounds like a church organ in there. Arcade Fire put out quite a varied release here and f I had to describe their sound to someone I'd probably say that they sound like a mixture of U2, Queens of the Stone Age, The Cure and Roxy Music. Sometimes vocalist Win Butler sounds like a young Bono. Arcade Fire seem equally at home with slower, quiet tunes as they do with almost anthemic numbers and this turned out to be an album that was much more accessible than I thought it would be.
Arcade Fire - My Body Is A Cage - https://youtu.be/Jdve08cG3pE
Dream Theater have released a new single from their upcoming album, "Distance Over Time". For a band that sometimes seem to stray into the "I'll play all the scales I can in a random order" this is a really focussed track. Even though it's over seven minutes long it never seems overblown. If this is representative of the new album, which lands on February 22nd, then prog-rock heads everywhere will be happily banging to all sorts of time signatures.
Dream Theater - Fall Into The Light - https://youtu.be/JFxH4kky6z4
I was expecting at least one comment about the Gary Clark Jr. track that ended last week's episode. Interesting. Maybe you all missed it. A ripper of a tune with an unmistakable message.
Tomorrow (Saturday 19th) DJ ZedBoots is hopping on a plane for her trip to Nepal. Yep, another disaster prone area! She's there with a group called the Wild Medic Project providing health support in a village about 45km out of Kathmandu. It sounds like a great trip and another amazing experience to have under her belt. If she can just make it home without needing to be rescued that'd be great. Before she left, Zoe had to submit a university assignment. She likes giving them interesting titles with references to a song or album (wonder where she got that from?) Anyway, I'm sure her lecturer will enjoy, "Reign In Blood: A Review of Tranexamic Acid Use During Postpartum Haemorrhage" as much as we enjoyed choosing the title!
Slayer - Raining Blood - https://youtu.be/Kyw-GQHWoTI
Yep, we know that the track is called "Raining Blood" and the album is "Reign In Blood". Relax all you Heavy Metal pedants!
Steve Earle released an album of Townes Van Zandt songs a few years ago. In March he'll bless us all with a new long player of Guy Clark tunes. Steve played bass in Guy's band in 1974 and regularly names him as one of his most significant influences. Here's the first single. It's great to hear Steve's diction has improved from some recent releases. This is an album I'll definitely be looking forward to as Steve is one of my biggest influences.
Steve Earle & The Dukes - Dublin Blues - https://youtu.be/wrNWrG385hg
I watched the movie, "Dumplin'" recently. If you like "coming of age" films then this is for you. I quite enjoyed some of it, especially the Dolly Parton soundtrack. "Joelene" is one of my favourite songs but I'll never forget playing this next one - the rhythm at the start always made me feel as if I was playing in "Dr Teeth & The Electric Mayhem" (the band from The Muppet Show)!
Dolly Parton - 9 to 5 - https://youtu.be/UbxUSsFXYo4
SBS TV have been good enough to keep airing replays of their most excellent show "RockWiz". Sometimes I even get the answers to some of the questions correct! Lately I saw an episode where they had Dr G. Yunupingu playing one of his songs. Although I know how amazing his voice is, it's always a treat to watch him play and sing live. For those that aren't aware of him, G is an Indigenous Australian who was blind from birth. He plays the guitar left handed but strung for a right hander. And he has a voice that, if there is a God, came straight from him/her. Sadly G passed away in 2017 at age 46.
G. Yunupingu - Djilawurr (live) - https://youtu.be/AyppTLuJm14
I'm off to Geelong next weekend to ride, with some friends, in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Ride. The ride, not the race. It's an excellent 115km course that loops out through Barwon Heads and uses some of the course that the World Cycling Championships were on a few years back. So, if next week's episode is a little late you know why. I'm out cycling as well as being a fanboy at the race itself!
Joey Scarbury - Believe It Or Not - https://youtu.be/WqF5M7IK7I0
Have a great week everybody,
Rob
"I like the way you copped your stuff from Sticky Fingers..." - I Love Living In The City, Danko Jones, 2003
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