World Wide Woozle episode #492

We could rename this episode as Episode V - Return of the Woozle. Ha! After a month in the musical wilderness here we are again friends. Read, listen, comment and as always; rock on!

A lot has happened in a month. We sold our house. We moved out. We did a lot of cleaning. Two removal guys and a truck played a game of Tetris (tm) with most of our possessions and a storage unit. DJ Declutr and I have both been working full time, I finished university for the year (with decent grades) and there's probably a heap more. We'll officially hand over the keys to our old house on Friday. That means we'll be debt free and hopefully have a weekend to ourselves.

Mental As Anything - Working For The Man - https://youtu.be/uG_Rg3xMMGs

DJ ZedBoots has returned from Fiji (after a short stopover in NZ). She's now pausing from saving the world, one developing nation at a time, to get ready to move to London. Two small dogs and her parents are rather pleased to see her! Our other champion will be heading back to Canada in 10 days. I think he's determined never to see Summer again!

Let's have some music. We'll start with a group who are one of the founders of thrash metal. Slayer have been assaulting our senses at breakneck speed since 1981. They're presently on their way through a farewell tour and have just released a live concert film, "The Repentless Killology", filmed in California. Out now on DVD, BluRay and CD this is Slayer at their brutal best. I'm disappointed that I didn't get to see this at the cinema but the BluRay will suffice in the near future.

Slayer - Repentless (live) - https://youtu.be/tqvvaY2LvuI

Seemingly a heap of people have a clown phobia and I must admit I don't get it. Too many horror movies as young children perhaps? Out of nowhere (to me anyway) came this next artist. I almost clicked past the first video I saw and then he opened his mouth and sang. Oh wow.....amazing! In the last couple of weeks I think I've watched everything he's released at least three times. See what you think...I think it's brilliant.

Puddles Pity Party - Friday I'm In Love (The Cure cover; Springsteen style) - https://youtu.be/65UbQXB-xFs

In the 90s I really liked a band called Soul Asylum, you may remember their hit "Runaway Train". Dave Pirner's vocals on the edge of cracking sort of reminded me of Neil Young but the songwriting was more rock and soul influenced to my ears. I hadn't heard anything about the band for years and then Spotify threw up a concert that they recorded playing at a school prom for two lots of kids whose celebrations had been cancelled due to big floods. Anyhoo, it's a cracking live set that contains some unexpected covers (Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Glen Campbell, Alice Cooper) as well their own material. I'd forgotten how much I liked this next song.

Soul Asylum - Misery - https://youtu.be/u3_SBdepXh4

I'm still really enjoying the latest releases from Ghost. That's the live album, "Ceremony and Devotion" as well as their most recent studio effort, "Prequelle". Whilst listening to a few tracks I chanced upon this version of Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" performed to sound like Ghost. You'd swear it was the band themselves even down to Papa's accent...but it's not. Props to these guys for pulling off a great, and original, cover version...

Melodicka Bros - The Sound of Silence - https://youtu.be/JabZV8GIQSk

Another band that I always thought I should get into, but haven't yet, are The Pixies. They've been around since 1986 so I really haven't got an excuse. Plenty of bands that I like namedrop The Pixies often so here we go. I've started with the most recent release and I'll work my way through their discography over the next little while. It reminds me a bit of Red Kross, Weezer and The Lemonheads. That's a good thing.

Pixies - Long Rider - https://youtu.be/thxrujYnY6c

Scream for me people, Iron Maiden are coming back to Australia. They'll be here in May to rock our little socks off. You may remember that I was lucky enough to see them back in 2010. At the time I thought it might be my only chance to get to an Iron Maiden show. Maybe they'll outlive us all...except Keith Richards!

Iron Maiden - Revelations (live 2019) - https://youtu.be/-22u95BxknE

I really don't care what anyone thinks, my opinion is that Taylor Swift is awesome. If you have doubts including autotune and backing singers and other musicians then can I direct you to the link to NPR's Tiny Desk Concert? It's Taylor by herself doing four songs. She's funny, obviously enjoying herself and very much at home in front of a small audience (as opposed to in a stadium). Try it.

Taylor Swift - NPR Tiny Music Desk Concert - https://youtu.be/FvVnP8G6ITs

Album 42/100 - David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)

This proved more difficult to review than I thought it would. As a result I've had it on heavy rotation for a few weeks. I've got a number of friends out there who are huge Bowie fans. My opinion, and it's just that; an opinion, is that Ziggy Stardust is a bit patchy. There are cracking songs here such as "Suffragette City" but then there are some that frankly are a bit blah. Not filler material by any means but just slightly below the amazing standard that one expects from Bowie. Some songs sound beautifully warm and full (these days we'd say analog!) whereas others suffer from thin production. I may be harsh here...1972 was very different to 2019 but the record feels disjointed to me. Some great songs but as an album it doesn't work for me.

David Bowie - Moonage Daydream - https://youtu.be/JFDj3shXvco

It would be remiss of me to promise another episode in a specified timeframe. You're as likely to get one this week as perhaps before the end of the month. But what you should know is that I think about what to write a lot. I listen a lot. I take notes. Working full-time with a bit of a crazy roster means that I just don't have the energy to write as much as I would like. However, my contract is up in mid January and that'll give me some more time at home and here wasting your time!

Let's finish with a track that, to my everlasting embarrassment, I played main lick in the wrong key during the start at a big gig...serves me right for not being able to read music and having to rely on patterns on the fingerboard of the guitar! I worked it out by the end of the first verse thankfully. Sorry to all that were there...

Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run (live 1975) - https://youtu.be/ajbJqfNS0aA

If you don't follow Bruce on YouTube you're missing out. He's recently released a whole swag of classic live footage.

Rock on,

Rob

"Does it feel that your life's become a catastrophe?
Oh, it has to be for you to grow, boy
When you look through the years and see what you could have been
Oh, what you might have been,
If you'd had more time...", Take The Long Way Home, Supertramp, 1979.