There are months where
you just can't find what you're looking for. Or maybe you were just in a cranky
mood when playing back the stuff you were able to find. Or maybe, even, you
just had the winter blues. We are talking here about what I was able to find,
on my regular internet trawls, in July of last year. Which is not to say that
everything that follows is a stinky dud; just that the culling process wasn't
as agonising as it often is. First world problems. On with the show.
"The Shadow Of
Your Smile", by Jack McDuff. The stereo separation on this is so extreme
that your brain will tell you the Hammond is coming from one corner of the room
and the guitar from the opposite corner, some way from where your speakers are
actually parked. Hammond jazz as a genre, done well, I find irresistible. This
is done well.
"128 Harps
(Anthony Naples Remix)", by Four Tet. I have a mental list of people whose
work I will jump on when it comes out, reviews be damned. It isn't a huge list,
but nor is it made up exclusively of old fogeys. Kieren Hebden is on that list.
Here is a track from his last album, "Pink", something of a
tentative, explorative step towards the dancefloor (at least that's one way of
reading it), remixed. We went through that last time.
"Comenius Garden",
by The Field. Free music! On the internet! (Last year!) Man, I love this place.
"House of Jealous
Lovers", by The Rapture. It's interesting to listen to this after the wave
has subsided. This really, in many senses, was where DFA records came in. The opening
bass line is straight off "Metal Box", the guitars are pure No Wave
distortion. Cowbells and disco cymbals are obviously of importance. The bass
changes up to New Wave propulsion (am I thinking Liquid Liquid here? I'm not
quite sure) and the guitars that come in are within a lawsuit's distance of
Gang of Four's "Entertainment".
"Is Your Love Big
Enough?", by Lianne La Havas. Okay, so this is more or less standard 21st
century soul singing (you can hear elements of both Amy Winehouse and Lily
Allen, should you choose to do so) but the song itself is way catchy, and the
guitar carries with it the faintest scent of African sands. Do African sands
have a scent? What does that even mean?
"Fineshrine",
by Purity Ring. This rather sounds like R'n'B with its insides pulled out. I
can't say I entirely understand its musical language, but I like it. Maybe you
will, too. (I have no idea what is going on in this video. I will probably have
bad dreams now.)
"Only In My
Dreams", by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti. I had an idea that Ariel Pink
was some kind of postmodern pop-music faker, or, uh, "artiste". I
don't know where I got that from. If I have ever heard a more perfect pop song
that this IN MY ENTIRE LIFE I don't know what it would be. As that ad says,
it's got everything you could possibly want. And a little bit more.
"Oh! Tengo
Suerte", by Masayoshi Takanaka. Spellbinding. Kind of as if Manuel
Gottsching got stranded on a Pacific Island with only his guitars and a box of
effects pedals, and something to crack open the coconuts. Bonus: album cover of
the month.
"Robots In
Heat", by Lem. There is, or at least there used to be, a blog of that name
that posted rare and/or unusual tracks at a rate of one per day: perfect source
material for someone like me. I take this opportunity to thank them. This is
early '80s angsty-and-angular, herky-jerky electronic pop (you know the one) of
the highest order. Oh. It's actually from 1977. It all gets a bit hazy from
this distance (and at this age!) but that seems surprisingly early to me. Well
done them. Brief pause: this actually reminds me, a little bit, of Tiga. Weird.
"Choreography",
by Modern Eon. Similarly, this 1979 business sounds like it could have come
from a couple of years later. (Although on the other hand it would have fit in
quite well with "A Forest"; and also with "Vienna" and
"Fade To Grey" (both 1981 -- I get so confused!).) Check it; it's a
lovely song.
"Space", by
Magic Wands. This on the other hand, although it is a 2012 production, might as
well be a lost chart hit from 1981. Is it just "A Forest" with
different vocals? Would it even matter if it was? Listen to it and try to stop
your arms from pinwheeling.
"Brolene",
by Welcome Stranger". Being a re-edit of, of all things,
"Jolene", by Olivia Newton-John. When your old dad sits you down and
says, "What's a re-edit, son?", you say, "Well, dad, that's when
some tech-head with musical instincts pulls apart an existing recording and
puts it back together leaving intact just the punctum (not a word your old dad
would have used) and none of the padding. It either works or it doesn't,
depending on the coincidence of your own taste and the taste of the dude doing
the re-editing". And he will probably just nod his head and smile. Or you
could just play him this, at which he will say something like, "I remember
this song, but I don't remember it being anywhere near this good; or, really,
any good at all". Which, in a nutshell, is the mark of a successful re-edit.
"Dancer", by
KZA. Another re-edit. Same principle; different source material. Solid result.
"Inaccessible
Mystery", by Jack White. Proof, if proof were needed, that Jack White's
B-sides are better than your A-sides.
"Smoke
Rings", by David Wiffen. Seems like we come to this point near the end of
every damn playlist: a lost country-tinged gem that either sounds like it came
from LA in the early seventies or, in fact, did. This one came from Canada in
1973. Which is close enough. Will have you crying in your maple syrup.
"Crystals",
by Thom Janusz. Funky electric-piano-based "jazz" number from 1975.
From an album called "Ronn Forella ... Moves". Who is Ronn Forella,
and why does he "move", will have to be left for another day.
