Hey ho, let's go.
There's a lot of music to get through this week and I'll do my best to keep the commentary relatively brief. None of the selections are random but I certainly understand if you skip some of my ramblings and just check out some music that you might have forgotten about or perhaps never heard before.
Stevie Wonder has just released a beautiful new song. Maybe there's an album coming. Sure, the lyrics are poignant but the sound on this track is truly sublime. From the first few notes you know it's going to be Stevie Wonder and for a man in his seventies, he sounds as fresh as he always did.
I was a huge fan of John Mellencamp's 1985 album Scarecrow. It's a protest album hiding in plain sight. This week I realised I hadn't really paid attention to his more recent work and threw on the 2017 album, Sad Clowns & Hillbillies. I was pleasantly surprised at how good the record was. Better than good. I'd not had the same reaction to the latest Bon Jovi long player which really is coma inducing. Izzy Stradlin (ex-Guns n Roses) is playing guitar on this cool track.
John Mellencamp - https://youtu.be/MrswHnweFig
Armored Saint are a heavy band that, for reasons I can't quite fathom, are a level below Metallica and Megadeth in popularity. Their output is consistently of high quality and John Bush's vocals really make the band stand out in a crowded metal marketplace. Who knows what the story is but I know I like them.
Armored Saint - End of the Attention Span - https://youtu.be/Ql3PAxkQy1s
I saw Billy Joel in Sydney on the Stormfront tour in the nineties. I wasn't a huge fan and I'm still not but I reckon I knew almost every song that he played at a show that was tons of fun. As I mentioned last time, I've been trying to write songs from the perspective of other people rather than myself (seriously, who needs more about what I think?!) and this song remains an inspiration. It's a bit folky and, as is important to me, it tells a story. Oh, and who doesn't love a piano accordion?
Billy Joel - The Downeaster Alexa (live) - https://youtu.be/duNltFtDR4Y
When I was out for a walk this afternoon I had a listen to an album that I may not have played all the way through for over twenty years. Faith No More's The Real Thing came out in 1989 and was a huge hit on the back of the single Epic. Today's listen reminded me how strong the album is. The songs are moody, catchy, heavy and light all at once. The band are great musicians who leave plenty of space for each other and Mike Patton, with an amazing vocal range of about six octaves, effortlessly sings, growls and raps his way around the songs. What a ripper.
Faith No More - Falling To Pieces - https://youtu.be/32bdevGClD4
Angus told me he's bought a surfboard today. He's well and truly recovered from the shoulder surgery of earlier in the year and now we wait for footage of him carving up the waves somewhere on the Sunshine Coast. I hope he remembers the lesson of having to be rescued by lifeguards at the beach when he was little and got caught in a rip on his boogie board. He wouldn't listen...and it was very "Bondi Rescue" in the end!
Def FX - Surfers of the Mind - https://youtu.be/O8VJq50pWCg
In the last few years I read and really enjoyed books about early to mid twentieth century America by authors like Steinbeck and Kerouac. I could relate their gritty and harsh imagery to the Americana style music of a range of artists. Woody Guthrie is one of those guys. Although the tune for this one was written long after Woody's death it fits so well.
Billy Bragg - Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key (live) - https://youtu.be/Mpoo1rja_2I
I don't know whether or not to include this song. I've been doing my best to limit my exposure to politics of late because, quite frankly I've had enough. Local, federal and overseas politics just seems to get more and more divisive and filled with hate from all parts of the spectrum. I'm not presenting this song as a commentary on Bush, Trump, Biden or anyone else. I just want you to hear the raw emotion in the singer's voice.
Bright Eyes - When The President Talks To God - https://youtu.be/cDHCXM9TujY
Righto, we're almost at the end...hang in there. This song is pure poetry and the guitar solo soars in a way I really like. I haven't been to Gladstone (yet) but after hearing this song you almost feel like you've been there too long. The line about the "rattle of broken men" really hits home. Redgum had a lot to say and it's still relevant.
Redgum - Gladstone Pier - https://youtu.be/8VCFW1WghXc
Language is an interesting thing. In some countries, indigenous languages are held up as important and preserved. Conversely there is the sad reality that others become extinct. Australia and Vanuatu both have this issue with some languages having no more speakers and not being well documented if at all. Anyway, I'm reading a book which is in English and Bislama. Bislama was great in that it allowed all people in Vanuatu to communicate as the large number of indigenous languages there made that challenging. The negative effect is that some people have lost their traditional language altogether. All of that helped me to find this song which I found thought provoking.
Mojo Juju - Native Tongue (Featuring The Pasefika Vitoria Choir) - https://youtu.be/JLQ4by3lUJo
Stay tuned for the next episode for more tunes and the wash up from me competing in Sunday's Australian Indoor Rowing Championships.
Keep smiling,
Rob
"A public service announcement followed me home the other day,
I paid it never mind....go away...", REM , Bad Day, 1986.
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