The Genius of Judee Sill

My discovery of Judee Sill came about by chance, but when I heard her music I was almost outraged that I'd never heard her before. Here was an artist that people should be shouting from the rooftops about. I've spent an unhealthy amount of time reading the Dadrock reissue magazines like Mojo & Uncut - and great fun they are too. I really thought I knew all there was to know about early 70s singer songwriters especially the whole Laurel Canyon scene - Joni Mitchell & Neil Young are two of my all time favourites and I love a lot of the music from that period, which was why it was so weird I'd never heard of Judee. Also she recorded for David Geffen's Asylum label - was his first release in fact, and I had a lot of records on Asylum.

Her eponymous debut came out in 1971 - I can't think of many debut releases as fully formed as this. It features her best known track 'Jesus Was A Crossmaker' (produced by Graham Nash), 'Crayon Angels', which Fleet Foxes have been covering at their shows, plus 'My Man On Love' and 'Enchanted Sky Machines'

Lyrically there's a lot of religious imagery and weird theology - Enchanted Sky Machines is about the Day of Salvation via Close Encounters. The music she described as country-cult-baroque' and there's certainly a lot of melodies reminiscent of Bach, although there's also some gospel leanings too. Just listen...

Judee Sill 'Jesus Was A Crossmaker'

Judee Sill 'My Man On Love'

Judee Sill 'Enchanted Sky Machines'

Judee's life history was pretty troubled from a young age. She spent time in jail, took part in armed robberies, got addicted to heroin and ended up turning tricks to fund her habit. Her personal travails stand in complete contrast to her music, which always is searching for something higher than us mere mortals can provide - spiritual salvation.

Heart Food, her second album from 1973 is more of the same, beautiful melodies, metaphysical lyrics, another masterpiece.

Judee Sill 'Down Where The Valleys Are Low'

Judee Sill 'The Phoenix'

Unfortunately neither album sold in the quantities they should have. Judee went on to record demos for another album, called Dreams Come True, which eventually was released in a fantastic package in 2005. These recordings are not as stunning as her first 2 albums but do contain several wonderful tracks including:

Judee Sill 'That's The Spirit'

Physically Judee was in poor condition due to various injuries, and was in pain from back surgery gone wrong when she died of a drug overdose in 1979 at the age of 35. As the cliche goes, her music lives on and it speaks as loudly now as it did 35 years ago. If you like these tracks I urge you to buy more. They will enrich your life I promise.

Buy Judee Sill at Amazon and emusic

The Crying Light Is Gorgeous

Antony Hegarty is a unique artist, and the new Antony & the Johnsons album 'The Crying Light', their third, is beautiful and fantastical. Antony's voice has both a fragility and an inner strength which ensures that the lyrical themes for which he's known do not frighten off the more casual listener. Indeed his willingness to open up his life to scrutiny via these seemingly intensely personal lyrics only draws in the more open listener.

It's an album filled with yearning, sparsely arranged with mostly piano based ballads, and one that may pass you by if you do not actually take the time to listen. Please do - it will repay your time.

Antony & the Johnsons 'Aeon'

Antony & the Johnsons 'Kiss My Name'

Antony & the Johnsons 'Her Eyes Are Underneath The Ground'

Buy The Crying Light at emusic

Baltimore

I just started series 4 (or should I say season 4) of The Wire yesterday. 3 episodes in 24 hours. It's become a cliche to say it but as with most cliches, it's because they're true: The Wire is the best TV drama series ever (Just tell me what's better?? The Sopranos first seasons maybe, but then it went a bit off the boil). The dialogue crackles, and frankly has no qualms about leaving those of us who weren't concentrating behind. Dialogue is never used to expound the narrative. That's the joy of watching it on DVD - going back & checking those lyrical miracles. The characterisation is phenomenal - there are probably 15-20 lead roles in each series, and you care about all of them, whilst the host of minor characters are never simply stereotypes (or is that archetypes?). There are never easy endings, just like in real life. Anyway there's no need for me to write a glowing review of this show - it's been done by much greater minds than I - check Charlie Brooker's Tapping The Wire pieces.

I've always thought that Nina Simone's version of 'Baltimore', from the somewhat under-appreciated album of the same name, catches the hopeless, pained, downward spiral of Baltimore society as seen through the prism of The Wire - and wondered why it had never been synched to the show. Nina's delivery is just that bit more resigned than Randy Newman's original, but with a real slow groove which almost makes you wonder if she'll get to the end of the song.

Nina Simone 'Baltimore'

Thinking about urban decay this week, there's obviously some grounds for optimism in the election of President Obama. I've actually felt quite moved by the whole thing from afar, and thought his Inauguration speech was a great example of a political speech that did not take the easy option of sloganeering, but actually called on people to take responsibility for themselves (I admit I did shed a tear at the momentousness of it all). Apparently some watchers were disappointed that there was no particular phrase that one could take away from this speech, no particular tag line for the media - I thought this was a good thing - politics is too complicated for such simplicities. Certainly his message about remaking America, and showing a more open hand to the rest of the world is welcome.

I think it's inevitable that a lot of folk will end up being disappointed by Obama, as he seems to be regarded as a superhero at the moment, and all that compromise he's going to have to do through his term will surely turn off those who maybe have an unrealistic view of how much one (admittedly extremely powerful) man can do. But good luck to him, he'll need it!

So the first black President... well the line it made me think of this week, and indeed for the past months, was Flavor Flav's 'we got a black quarterback, so step back' from She Watch Channel Zero. Back then in the 80s, when the NFL was on Channel 4, I could probably told you who that black quarterback was, but I haven't a clue now. Wiki Answers tells me Marlin Briscoe in 1968, but Flavor sure wasn't talking about him. It doesn't matter so much (to me, at least) who the black quarterback Flavor refers to actually was in 1988 rather, that it was something remarkable that the team leader & strategist on the pitch should be black.

I was going to say initially 'it wasn't so long ago that it was something to be remarked upon (& celebrated) that there was a black NFL quarterback, and now there's a black president!'. But of course 'It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back' came out in 1988, so it's two decades since. Perhaps all this proves is that I'm getting old. And that change is possible.

Anyway here's one of Public Enemy's fiercest and greatest tracks from an amazing album which meant so much to me growing up. I guess PE actually often meant more to white than black teenagers (at least their audience seemed more white than black), probably cos they rocked better than all the rock bands at the time. Not that it matters.

Public Enemy 'She Watch Channel Zero'

And from the American ghetto to hard times in olde England. Billy Bragg's 'Between The Wars' is for my money his best song with a wonderful melody and lyrically a paen to an English nationalism that I find very easy to embrace with a 'faith in my common man'. This could be a very dry topic of course but to me it's real & heartfelt, even a line like 'Sweet moderation, heart of this nation'. It makes me well up - I think it's the sacrifice that generation went through - real hunger & want, to enable us to mess about on computers and watch reality TV all day.

Billy Bragg 'Between The Wars'

PS Here's a word that needs popularised, (thanks to the exellent A Word A Day site)

obambulate
PRONUNCIATION:(o-BAM-byuh-layt)
MEANING:verb intr.: To walk about.
ETYMOLOGY:From Latin ob- (towards, against) + ambulare (to walk). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ambhi- (around) that is also the source of ambulance, alley, preamble, and bivouac. The first print citation of the word is from 1614.
USAGE:"We have often seen noble statesmen obambulating (as Dr. Johnson would say) the silent engraving-room, obviously rehearsing their orations."The Year's Art; J.S. Virtue & Co.; 1917.

Just a quickie

La Roux have been heavily tipped for top pop success this year. They're the best of the bunch that's been shoved down our throats at the moment I think. 'Quicksand' is certainly an excellent electro pop track. And hopefully 'Fascination' will make you believe the hype some more

http://www.zshare.net/audio/544698512a321c2d/

And here's another great pop gem from a band we may hear more from in 2009. Just a great pop song...

Passion Pit 'Better Things'

That's it. Enjoy!

Buy Passion Pit music here

A Man In A Dress or A Different Vision of Beauty

I'm not feeling very well today. Last night was ruined by Everton's last gasp equalizer at Anfield. I could really see it coming though, as we're not as good as we should be defending set pieces, and I thought Skrtel looked a bit off the pace. Bit of a mistake drafting him into my Fantasy League team.

Plus I've caught my wife's cold, who caught it from our youngest Caitlin. So I'm feeling a little sorry for myself.

Normally I hate 'uplifting' music. I can't say that I hate much music. There are a few performers who are beyond the pale but I can see some value in most music. Most ostensibly uplifting tunes tend to be insufferable because it's all so obvious - the melody, chord changes, lyrics, all trying to make you feel one thing. And nobody sensible wants to be told what to feel. So here are some tracks that raise my spirits.

The first one is taken from the excellent Country Got Soul (Casual) compilation from 2003 excellently compiled by Jeb Loy Nichols. It's a great selection of early 70s Southern Soul and swamp R&B (one of my favourite genres obviously)

Razzy 'I Hate Hate'

http://sharebee.com/8409c55a

Next track is taken from a much reviled and ridiculed record, Kevin Rowland (Dexys Midnight Runners' singer) 'My Beauty'. I LOVE this album. It's an album of covers, tracks that had helped our Kevin emotionally when he was in a trough of despond post-Dexys. The songs on this album are certainly not what you'd expect to find in the collection of the archetypal Dexys fan perhaps. It includes a version of Whitney Houston's 'The Greatest Love Of All', and I know it's still not OK to express admiration for Whitney in polite company. I think she's done a few great tracks, though 'Greatest Love...' is definitely not one of them. However, Kevin's version wins me over #1 because he's so sincere, and #2 he doesn't bellow like Whit.

Perhaps the reason 'My Beauty' was most ridiculed however, was the album art. Children look away now!

And y'know it is pretty horrible - certainly as an image, but also as a photo - I think the photographer may have realised this was too much for eyes to bear, as it's slightly out of focus. Couldn't bear the terrifying reality of a former pop star in a pearl necklace flashing his black velvet (I'm guessing here - it's more sensual maybe?) thong.

Back in 1999, Creation Records were in their post-Oasis pomp signing anything that a cocaine raddled Alan McGee had a good feeling about. I happened to go to a Creation launch party / showcase at the Scala in London - can't remember what act it was for, but Kevin turned up in his 'sexy' get up. It made for quite a sight. I thought that not only was he deranged but also very brave (I don't suppose he came on the Tube though). This was proven when he took the stage at Reading Festival in a fetching negligee, surrounded by a bevy of semi naked (as I remember) dancing girls who draped themselves over him & the stage, and of course got bottled off.

Actually I'm now reminded that I had a promo VHS copy of the Concrete & Clay video, which also had a similarly high quotient of lingerie-clad dancing girls. My brother & his then 3 year old daughter came to visit that summer and I remember her intense liking for this video. She would ask for it to be played again and again. Perhaps it was not particularly politic to show her it in the first place but I'm not aware of any long lasting effects of this. And it is a great track.

Anyway the track I'm posting didn't actually make it on to the album. It's a cover of Bruce Springsteen's 'Thunder Road'. Pretty much nothing could beat the original of Thunder Road for making me feel better, but this is, I think, a strong version. Bruce apparently would not clear Kevin's version because he deigned to change the lyrics. The changes do change the meaning of the song but I think Kevin was just trying to personalise his version. I'm actually looking at the promo I have of this album and Thunder Rd isn't on it, so it must just have been on the initial copies. Is it sad to have 2 different promos and one proper copy of this album? Don't answer that.

Kevin Rowland 'Thunder Road'

http://sharebee.com/9371953b

Not much to say about these other 3 tracks, as they're all pretty well known artists. Just that they're all fantastic

Firstly

Jackie Wilson's sublime '(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher'

http://sharebee.com/dc06b50a

Todd Rundgren 'Just One Victory'

http://sharebee.com/de0c4486

and finally Toots & the Maytals 'Sweet & Dandy'

http://sharebee.com/3a132ec6

I hope these brighten your day

PS if any technically minded folk can tell me how I can embed my links ie so they don't show as a Sharebee URL, but for example the track title, I'd be really grateful. I'm sure it's very simple but I can't work it out

Now for something new

Ok new-ish. My favourite record last year, and the new record I listened to the most, was Vampire Weekend, but then I do love 'Graceland'. The sound is great, the lyrics are, at least, interesting / quirky, but what makes it such a great album is that the songs are fantastic - short, catchy, what pop music should be . Mind you, their cover of Fleetwood Mac's 'Everywhere' did not cover them in glory.
The Very Best who are Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit, two east London based producers, made a fantastic mixtape, which you can download for nowt at their http://www.myspace.com/theverybestmyspace Not so sure about the artwork - perhaps it's tongue in cheek but it looks very much like something you would see printed on a towel on sale at £5 at East St market. And their name is funny. Their music is a cross between traditional 'world' sounds (or maybe Malawian) for want of a better word, and rockin de dancefloor. It is superb. Check it out. Here's their cover of Vampire Weekend's Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa http://sharebee.com/33b0e676
There's also a great version of MIA's Boyz on there.

I've been feeling pretty excited about the new Animal Collective album. I realise I'm not alone in this, at least among the hipster section of society. I actually own four Animal Collective albums but have always felt a bit let down by them. Especially Strawberry Jam - I was expecting that to blow me away. But that's what happens when you believe magazine reviews.

Anyway I've read lots of reviews of their new album Merriweather Post Pavilion, and again I'm believing what the press is telling me. Will I ever learn? Probably not, but this time I have good reason to believe as I've heard the track 'My Girls', which actually has the semblance of a tune allied to the dynamics & general sonic weirdness that AC have always shown. It was so good that I went and bought the Panda Bear solo album Person Pitch. And I love it. It's a record you can spend a lot of time with. Lots going on on different levels but never getting too complex for complexity's sake. I think this is the best track, 'Bros'. I don't know if it's a paen to the Goss Bros. Unlikely.

http://sharebee.com/f421bd81

A Little More Beauty

The best moment of today was not actually managing to make a first blog post, but in fact, when reading to the kids as they drank their pre-bedtime milk, they both broke off to do a spastic dance to Blue Oyster Cult's 'Dominance & Submission'. I think it was the lyrics that did it.
Which reminds me I must post 'Astronomy', which is (at various times) my favourite song ever.
For the moment here's 2 beautiful pieces of quiet music: Peace Piece from Bill Evans
http://www.zshare.net/audio/5423879368d128aa/

and the first track of Virginia Astley's sublime 'From Gardens Where We Feel Secure'
http://www.zshare.net/audio/542404736d12b9ba/

One One Wonderful

Beauty in music. That's what it's all about for me. At the minute. There's plenty of room for anger and pubescent shouting, self pity, macho bellowing. Just not here for now. Well I say plenty of room...

My first blog post is about beauty and how Brian Wilson & the Beach Boys bring that to life. Last night I watched a doc on Sky Arts called Endless Harmony. It was a bit crap to be honest in terms of narrative but it did have a lot of phenomenal footage of the Beach Boys live and in the studio.

I must thank my erstwhile friend and colleague Craig Robinson for making me take the Beach Boys seriously. Well not seriously exactly as I did own Pet Sounds, Smiley Smile, a Best Of, and Love You (though I didn't listen to Love You very often). I did take them seriously, I just didn't realise the depth & breadth of their genius. We were working at a music sales company - we would call up independent record stores (I am contractually obliged to say 'remember them?' at this point) and try to sell them our (often) shoddy wares. In any office where there's a lot of nerdy, anal men, there's usually a good deal of one-upmanship and cooler-than-thou. That said, it was a fun place to work while it lasted and we got drunk together a lot. Occasionally on free beer at 'swanky music industry parties'. It was the golden days of Britpop.

Anyway we talked about music a lot in that place, and when I was getting to know Craig I asked him who his favourite band were. At that time my faves were Public Enemy, Kraftwerk, Black Sabbath and probably Primal Scream - all great bands of course but perhaps a little boy-ish. He answered 'The Beach Boys'. (you must've seen that coming, right?) Whilst I knew Pet Sounds was a Classic (TM) I really couldn't believe that they could be any 20-something's favourite band in 1996. But Craig seemed like a smart chap .

In fact, Craig turned out to be a very smart chap, by getting out of music and into design, running his own website, and seemingly making a living from making pixel models of pop stars, celebrities, & footballer - minipops. His http://www.flipflopflyin.com/ site is genius, if you like eccentric English witterings, and post modern .... hmmm postmodern-something or other.

So anyway I thought that I must properly listen to the Beach Boys - albums like Sunflower, Holland, Surf's Up. The 'post peak, post Brian's breakdown' albums, when Carl Wilson came into his own. And I realise that Craig was right. The Beach Boys were amazing. Their music spoke to the soul (not that I believe I have one), church music with all that religion stripped away.

Here's a couple of tracks from that era. Wonderful should have been on the famously scrapped Smile album, and ended up on the Smiley Smile scraps album in an inferior version. Here's the original version

http://www.zshare.net/audio/54233126b2d4dbe7/

When Girls Get Together is taken from another scrapped album - Landlocked from 1970

http://www.zshare.net/audio/542292337f4cf10f/

If you're not moved by the beauty of these, you're wrong