Gary Numan - We Are Glass

Electro pop would be forever relegated to the zone of 'geeky post-punk curiosity' without Gary Numan. The man came out of nowhere, took the style and brought it kicking and screaming into the mainstream world, whilst still never leaving his integrity behind. Numan would continue to play around within the music, creating intricate sounds and pieces which are so perfectly balanced that they would shatter like glass if even the slightest sound were changed. So it's kinda right for my first Numan review to be We Are Glass.

The A side it We Are Glass, it takes us in with a repetitive beat, and a cool alien symth sound, with Numan comming right in with the lyrics virtually bouncing around the music. The track has a more energetic and liquid feel compared to Cars, a more standard tune really boosted up by it's synths which add a real energy to it, and along with the galloping rhythm guitars, help propell it forward into the future.

The next is a cover of Erik Satie's Trois Gymnopedies (1st Movement), using the synth to give Satie's trademark dissonant melodies an even more ghostly and haunting feel. This reminds me very much of Mort Garson's early electronica. I'm quite a fan of Gymnopedies (learning it on guitar :D , so this track really speaks to me, and it's just so cool that Numan decided to have it as the B side, like, polar opposite of the first track. It carries such emotion and alienation with it.

So here we have two solid tracks on one solid piece of plastic. A great single from a great songsmith!

Fine young Cannibals - Johnny Come Home

Born out of Two Tone ska legends, The Beat, Fine Young Cannibals (or FYC if you're lazy like me) managed to combine rock, ska and soul together to form a unique sound which fortunately proved successful. Their music has a very down to earth and real feel, providing a true example of British life, everyday life. Johnny Come Home was FYC's debut single, and a suprise hit. It's also a damn good song.

The A side, Johnny Come Home, revolves around a guy running away from home to start a new life, but things don't always turn out well. A bouncy beat and a jazzy trumpet solo take us into the track, and Gift's voice takes us in. The chorus is quite early in the song, it's a very moody yet bouncy soul-like chorus. The verses are very ska, showing a connection to The Beat, and we get treated to a jazz soloette before returning to the verse. Like I said, damn good song.

The B side is called Good Times And Bad, a running drum beat takes us into the track, a nice rhythm, with voice samples over the top, combining dub stylings with a pop-rock sensibility, similar to what Fun Boy Three did on Funarama. It's got a good head moving beat, yet still melancholic. Kinda out of place, yet working, some violin appears towards the end, giving it an epic feel before it fades to silence.

As you can guess, this is a remarkable single and much recommended. I got it in a charity shop in a bundle of 10 singles for £5, so it's proof that you've gotta keep your eyes peeled!

COMPILATION SPECIAL #2!

ok, so here's three more groovy compilation albums, today with a more electic taste. I think we can say that these compilation specials occur when I wake up with a hangover! I need proper focus for a regular review, but these are short and sweet.
Today's involve Daevid Allen, Funkadelic and Miles Davis:

Daevid Allen: The Man From Gong The best Of Daevid Allen

Daevid Allen is widely regarded as a musical genius, and rightfully so. From Soft Machine to Gong to a successful solo career and collaborations with Acid Mothers Temple, Daevid has never stopped experimenting and playing with his own unique world of music. This little CD serves as an excellent introduction to the man, with highlight tracks such as Floatin' Anarchy (with Planet Gong), Why Do We Treat Ourselves Like We Do, and the post-punk excitement of Pearls and Bananareggae, you'll get a glimpse at an eccentric genius from another planet. His discography is vast, and you should all dive in!

Funkadelic: You Got The Funk We Got The Funk

2 CDs of pure Funkadelic, what can go wrong? Featuring trademark tracks One Nation Under A Groove, Electric Spanking Of War Babies and Maggot Brain, you know this disc is for true funksters only. George Clinton propelled Funk into a new territory during funkadelic's early albums in the seventies, and this sampler shows us the more refined P-Funk sound of the second half of that decade, grooves in total control, and an excellent tightness in the playing, whilst still staying true to the mothership. Also included are two instrumental versions of previously mentioned tracks, which are just perfect for sampling or backing tracks for jams. A good introduction to these crazy mothas.

Miles Davis: The Very Best Of Miles Davis The Warner Bros. Sessions 1985 - 1991

It's a widely held (and widely inaccurate) opinion, that Miles Davis' eighties work is cold, clinical and lacks the emotion and skill of his previous work. This is a total fallacy. Here we have a true artist going against the contemporary jazz scene (which became dominated by the 'mouldy figs' such as Wynton Marsalis, during the eighties, and still stays true to this day) and carrying on experimenting. Hip Hop production techniques brought Davis down to a real street level, enigmatic playing brought a new unease to his music, and his rendition of Time After Time turns a good pop song into a truely emotive jazz standard, and one of my favourite recordings of all time. Pure emotion that literally brings me to tears everytime I hear it. Tracks such as Chocolate Chip, Mystery, Amandla and Summertime show how Miles took jazz in new and exciting directions whilst also creating new interpretations of classic standards. A great introduction to a much misunderstood period of a great musician.

So here you go, three good compilation albums which can expand your musical understanding. The Miles Davis disc (the first of his I got) had such a profound influence on me as a young guitarist that I still try to model my playing on his horn blowing. I'd say get em all.

COMPILATION SPECIAL!

Ok, this one is different. Compilation albums don't really require the depth of a real review, since they are literally just a collection of songs, and unless specially mixed/edited to form a new album (such as Hawkwind's Roadhawks or Bowie's All Saints) treat each component as an individual. So here's three compilation albums to enjoy!

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Legend

More people know of this album than any of Marley's albums proper. We get all the classic tracks here, No Woman no Cry(this live version is outstanding), Buffalo Soldier, I Shot The Sheriff etc, etc. As you can expect, these are all great songs, and this is a perfect introduction into the world of Tuff Gong. Chilled reggae grooves by a man who has something to say, a true icon and a true legend. The disc's title says it all. A total MUST HAVE!

Lee Perry - Reggae Genius 20 Upsetter Classics

It'd always be hard to come up with a good compilation for this man, producing so many reggae classics and introducing the world to dub, Lee 'Scratch' Perry is a true genius. Highlights include The Return Of Django and I Chase The Devil, this album focuses far more on his straight reggae side. We get some lovely phased effects on the tracks but nothing as bizzare as his dub work, there's no Super Ape Inna Jungle, here, which to be honest is a shame, but Disco Devil is still great. The fail to include Perry's dub works make this a difficult compilation to recommend. The music here is all outstanding, but it's just an incomplete compilation.

Madness - It's... Madness Too

As a previous single review may have hinted at, I am a massive Madness fan, always have been and always will be. This disk here in my hand is one I have owned since I was about seven years old! Thankfully it is not the standard 'greatest hits' style of compilation, missing out on tracks like Baggy Trousers and House Of Fun, instead we get some solid singles, and their great B-Sides. Stand out tracks are... man, these are all stand out tracks! Cardiac Arrest deserves special recognition though, a chart topping hit about a guy having a heart attack. Awesome. Anyways, this is a good collection of great songs, it doesn't contain all of Madness' best, but would still be a good introduction to the nutty boys.

Three compilation albums reviewed for the price of one!
This is also proof that I can write an album review in under 2,000 words.

Grace Jones - Slave to The Rhythm

Singer, Model, Actress, Gay Icon(I don't know either!?) Grace Jones is a pretty big figure, and an example of what was good about eighties fashion, even her amazonian beauty graced Roger Moore's last bond movie as the unforgettable Mayday. Her music is on the dance spectrum of all things, however is decent enough to listen on it's own without being in a club!(unlike modern dance music and dubstep, but I'll moan about that another time)

Track 1 starts with a nice chord sequence followed by Jones' deep voice, Slave To The Rhythm, before we get to a nice funk beat, with her singing pretty seductive. The chorus is pretty, I don't know, epic? is moves well with the song, and has an uplifting kinda density to it, which contrasts yet compliments the verses. Originally, this track was written for Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and is stylistically similar. All I can say though is that Grace Jones' voice is utterly powerful, and the music is electro-funky. It's a really good song, and you should give it a check.

The B Side is Annihilated Rhythm, starting with a clicking beat and just grooving along motorik style, the bass comes in, and we get some spoken word sections, and a chorus of one word, SLAVE! As a dance track, it carries on this beat and rhythm, as is pretty cool to listen to, like great background music.

So yeah, a good little single, and I'd say give it a try!

Robin Scott's M - Pop Muzik 1989 Remix

At the turn of the eighties, synthpop was taking over. David Bowie's Berlin Trilogy had lit the paper, and the subsequent explosion of electronic groups would create a trend and style which continues to this day. Synthesisers allowed music to become impersonal, allowing the creation of truly synthetic music. A beat, a groove that people could dance to, and that became all that matters (something Bowie himself would revisit in Let's Dance). In 1979, Robin Scott's M released Pop Muzik, which was a chart smash, in 1989, they would release a remix of it, let's see how both compare, as the A side is the remix, and the B Side is the original!

Fanfare opens up to the 1989 Pop Muzik remix, followed by it's trademark beat and chorus, taking us into the rap-like voice. The beat stays the same throughout the track, we get slight moments of synth plodding and twinkling and processed backing vocals. The track is definitely danceable, but that seems to really be it. Also the beat sounds very much like that of the Ghostbusters theme. The lead singing shows an almost comical lack of caring, it's just some fun.

Side B is the original Pop Muzik, opening up with a digital fanfare as opposed to the remix's one. The beat is more synthetic and synthy, the vocals exactly the same, the beat the same, just the track sounds flatter, due to the more earlier synth sounds. Again it's danceable and that's really it. Why they included this as the B side makes no sense, as very little has changed between the two versions.

So, All in all, a dance track and nothing more. I can imagine it was fun to bounce to back in it's day, but lacks the mega-compressed bass of modern dance tracks, so I doubt it would work well in today's nightclubs, unless it had megabass and the same dirty synth chords which're used on every track. In short, don't get it, it's dull.

John Barry & Monty Norman - The Best Of Bond

James bond movies have over the years become a British institution, outlasting both the cold war and a-ha! They represent an older time, and are movies filled with misogyny, violence and black/white morality, Bond starting out as an anti-hero in his earlier films, but by Diamonds Are Forever, a total dickhead. But anyways, the films tend to have quite apt music (apart from the previously mentioned film with a diamond orientation), and so this record was a total no-brainer. Filled with music from the first five films, Side A has Dr. No, From Russia With Love and Goldfinger, while Side B continues with Goldfinger, then features Thunderball and You Only Live Twice.

Doctor No opens up with the now legendary James Bond Theme, brass band meets surf guitar, it's as catchy as ever, and is a very masculine sound, really suiting the character, especially when it gets louder, and the brass really kicks in jazz style. After it ends, we get Kingston Calypso, a gentle island strumming and percussion, with flute leading us into three blind mice in a pre-reggae style, instantly creating a Caribbean atmosphere. The jazzy guitar solo is nice and smooth, rolling through the ears, and this naive sound works well in the film, playing over an assassination. The track fades out, and we get treated to Under The Mango Tree, a simple island style song, sung by Diana Coupland, Monty Norman's wife at the time. It has the familiar naive island theme, a sweet lyrical about love. It's hard to separate the song from the moment in the film where Ursella Andress comes up from the beach, and why would we want to?

We're now onto From Russia With Love, track one is the catchily titled Opening Titles-James Bond Is Back-From Russia With Love-James Bond Is Back. It opens with a harsh sudden horn blast, taking us into the smooth silky romantic melody of From Russia With Love, the violin plays with our silky ears oh so sweet, and then it melts into the James Bond theme and ends with a sudden flare of horn. The second track from this movie is The Golden Horn,  a gypsy themed track, introducing with a percussion loop that keeps going, and bringing us on with a playful upbeat repeating melody, loosing it's gypsy edge a bit and becoming more traditional, but still keeping the same melody. The next track is simply titled 007, a timpani beat followed by horn and drum, the brass and string kicks in, this is the signiture action scene used in most of the seventies Bond films, a nice hint of menace and adventure and romance in the melody, like a European version of the old wild west themes. We also get a nice call and response bit between the brass and string sections. Bond has the edge, and is on the winning team.

Now we're onto the Goldfinger section, opening up with Golden Girl, a haunting melody which pens up with some creeping bass notes punctuated with brass hits and multi-instrument swells. It's got the really strong sense of danger, and builds the tension up with it's irregular structure, Bond's out of luck for sure. The final track is Oddjob's Pressing Engagement, a reprise of the main Bond Theme, mixed in with the big brassy punch of the Goldfinger theme, which just hits the right note for an action-packed sound, and fades into a nice tense section, before punching back up again. The Goldfinger melody on it's own is really inspired, but how it melts with the Bond theme here is just class, and forms a perfect end to the first side of the record. Bond Back In Action Again kicks off the second side of the record and finishes off the Goldfinger section whilst providing a brilliant way to kick start tthe final half of the album. The Bond theme takes on a more tense edge, as Bond's clearly up to some work here, playing with the main Bond rhythm with some neat brass flourishes and espionage sounds.

Thunderball opens up with... Thunderball! Starting kinda jazzy, it takes us quickly into romantic schmaltz zone, with some not-at-all-subtle strings, the brass further accentuates this, while the background rhythm plays with notions of the Bond theme and the Thunderball theme at time, it is all submerged under the main music and the cocktail lounge piano meandering over the top. This really is jazz-lite and doesn't have the strength or convictions of previous tracks so far, choosing to live in the world of Muzak. Ewwww. The second Thunderball track is Death Of Fiona, a caribbean rhythm and simplistic brass melody take us into the track, unusually upbeat for a deathsong, the percussion gets louder and louder before prettymuch overtaking the main music, then suddenly the track gets violent and we see why it's a death song, harsh stabs at strings and brass and a heavy beat before returning to the bland main melody. Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is the final Thunderball track, action, menace, loud brass hits, all are here! This combines Bond action music with jazz-lite, as the melody from the previous track makes a return, ruining the tension which was built up during the intro of the track. Later Bond movies would have a more successful jazz (and even funk) element to their background music.

The final movie on the record is You Only Live Twice, starting with Fight At Kobe Dock-Helga, which has some really good menacing sounds, keeping with Bond music tradition, the rhythm takes an influence from sixties beat music, while the main melody keeps with the Bond standards. The track punctuates with brass or string hits. The next track is Mountains And Sunsets, again, kinda tense, with some romantic strings layered over the top, and the main melody appearing. There's this faux-eastern sound to it, due to the film being set in Japan, but with random jazz trumpet, kinda weakens it. It's a schmaltzy track. The album ends with Bond Adverts World War Three, which is a pretty dramatic title! starting with the main You Only Live Twice melody with flourishes of harp and vaguely eastern sounding instruments, this continues the schmaltz before going all sinister, keeping a quiet melody plodding on, before the drama kicks in. The main melody is now sounding more menacing, a fake schmaltz. All in all, it's a soft track to end the record on, but after it ends, we get the Bond theme making a reappearance, the track hasn't ended! the drama kicks in! Bond is running out of luck, and has to fight as the brass hits start up, and the strings are suitably menacing!  The track builds up to a big splash and brings a menacing spacey melody into play, building up the tension, we feel like we're nearing WW3, but then the track ends after the build-up and we're done.

All in all, it's a good listen, I enjoy listening to it when reading. It's by no means a must-have but a proper curiosity, and does deserve a place in your collection.