Posted in Album Reviews

Bob Dylan – New Morning (1970)

Posted on by Michael

Released just four months after the critical mauling that Self Portrait received, Bob Dylan’s New Morning arrived in October 1970. One of the highlights of the album is the piano and organ work of Al Kooper. “If Not For You”, the first track and only single released from the album is a country sounding, upbeat track. “Went to See the Gypsy” has a nice piano/organ groove with terrific guitar licks while “Sign in the Window” is another solid piano led track where Dylan sings of a more straightforward life – “build me a cabin in Utah/Marry me a wife, catch rainbow trout”.

In June 1970, Dylan received an honourary degree from Princeton University which is recalled with little joy in the lyrics of “Day of the Locusts”.  “The benches were stained with tears and perspiration” before “the locusts sang such a sweet melody”. “The Man in Me” would later feature in the movie The Big Lubowski.  “Winterlude” has an old timely feel with some nice sounding Spanish guitar picking, less winningly “If Dogs Run Free” is a jazz take featuring scat singing from Maretha Stewart, it is absolutely atrocious.  

At the time, New Morning was seen as a return to form by the critics. Really, it is nowhere near the heights of his 60s work and with no truly great songs, it works as a cool singer songwriter album from the burgeoning new 70s decade. “If Not For You” is the only notable song from this album, later covered by both George Harrison and Olivia Newton for her first album. The rest is for those wanting a deeper dive.

7.5/10

Posted in Album Reviews

The Cars – Heartbeat City (1984)

Posted on by Michael

After the first two albums that went multiple platinum, Boston new wave band The Cars saw their fortunes start to sag.  Neither Panorama or Shake It Up came close to selling their previous albums. For the first time, the band decided not to use long time producer Roy Thomas and instead used Robert “Mutt” Lange.  Lange was fresh off massive credits with AC/DC and Def Leppard, here he adds a mainstream pop sheen to The Cars sound. 

Heartbeat City plays like a greatest hits with six singles being released from it. Taking advantage of MTV, the band produced two memorable videos with their first singles.  “You Might Think” is a staple of 80s nights where the video’s the camera trickery gained the band plenty of attention as it rose to #7 in the US singles charts.  They followed it up with the guitar driven “Magic” before releasing their most popular international hit, “Drive”.  The synthesized ballad sung by Benjamin Orr about someone either dealing with alcoholism or a mental condition struck a nerve that creates a tear jerker across shiny tiled floors under neon lights.

After the big hits are dispensed, “Why Can’t I Have You” is a computer generated song of love making the disappears in the chorus.  “I Refuse” may be the song that best distills all the elements on the album. The up tempo track takes in synths with guitars and spunky vocals to make it a memorable rocker.  The album closes with the title track.  Like a dystopian “Boys of Summer”, the robotic yet warm soundscape lays a bed under the mysterious “Oh Jacki, what took you so long?” storyline.  Using Mutt Lange was a stroke of genius as Heartbeat City album sailed into the US top 3 and went 4x platinum.  It would have put a great cap on their late 70s/early 80s heyday, but instead they released another album 3 years later…

10/10

Posted in Album Reviews

The National – Laugh Track (2023)

Posted on by Michael

A surprise second album in 2023 from The National caught everyone off guard.  Songs originally written/recorded around the time of the First Two Pages of Frankenstein album were later honed and further worked on during the band’s summer tour the recorded with producer Tucker Martine.  The immediate difference between the two albums is the more extensive use of Bryan Devendorf on live drums vs the programmed drums on Frankenstein.  This immediately brings life to songs like “Dead End (Paul’s In Pieces)”  and “Turn off the House”.

A major talking point upon the release of Frankenstein was the writers block that Berninger suffered when trying to write lyrics for the album. That narrative doesn’t exist here, the album doesn’t sound as weighted down.  Guests make appearances including Bon Iver on the very good “Weird Goodbyes” where “the sky is leaking/the windshield’s crying”.  A return of Phoebe Bridgers who’s voice blends beautifully with Berninger’s on the title track, an album highlight.

The fussy strings and synths underneath “Alphabet City” add a layer of tension. The band extends tracks like “Space Invader” that turns into a helluva jam and album closer “Smoke Detector”, a menacing track filled with stream of conscious lyrics.   Not all of it works, like the Roseanne Cash track “Crumble” but in the end, Laugh Track is a welcome addition to their 2023 releases.  It works in tandem with Frankenstein and gives the band several more great songs to draw from. 

7.5/10

Posted in Paper Chase

Q3 2023 Read It

Posted on by Michael

Delia Owens’ first novel, Where the Crawdads Sing turned into a sensation when published in 2018. The story follows Kya who is abandoned by everyone in her family as a child and lives alone in the North Carolina marsh. She survives through ingenuity and kindness of others including Jumpin’ who runs the boat shack and looks out for her. A second narrative follows the possible murder of local celebrity Chase Andrews when he is found dead from a mysterious fall. The straightforward story is quite the page turner and has the reader rooting for Kya throughout.

7.5/10

Jane Austen’s fourth novel Emma was first published in 1815 and follows that young lady through her genteel life while trying to play matchmaker for her friend Harriet. The lives of Emma’s friends and family are explored, mostly through the lends of who’s marrying who. Her devotion to her father and lack of romantic interest in others suddenly catches up to her as her feelings start to change. The callsi novel is a delightful read with many funny moments and clever writing.

9/10

Posted in Album Reviews

David Bowie – Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars: The Motion Picture Soundtrack (30th Anniversary Edition)(2003)

Posted on by Michael

Recorded just over 50 years ago, the soundtrack to the D.A. Pennebaker live concert, Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars: The Motion Picture, didn’t see release until 1983.  The concert from the Hammersmith Odeon is famous for being the one where David Bowie announced to both the crowd and band that this would be the last ever show by his alter ego – Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.

The album has several songs in common with Live Santa Monica ’72 including the guitar bursting “Hang on to Yourself” and of course “Ziggy Stardust”.  The first sound of a blip gets a warm reception from the audience as the band plays, “Space Oddity” and Bowie again includes his cover of Jacques Brel’s “My Death”. “Suffragette City” ends the main set on a high note.

The album swaps out a few tracks from the Santa Monica concert.  Instead of The Velvet Underground’s “Waiting For the Man” you get a joyous cover of “White Light/White Heat”.  “Life on Mars” gets replaced by an abridged version of “Oh You Pretty Things” that appears in a medely with the Bowie penned “All the Young Dudes” and “Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud” that gets a big ovation from the crowd.

The 30th Anniversary edition includes 5 songs not on the original including the full 16 minute version of “Width of a Circle” that sees the band let loose and jam. It also includes the symphonic introductions that sound like they are played on a small record player to a theatre full of Bowie fanatics. “Cracked Actor” from the recently released Aladdin Sane album is a highlight on both versions. The night closes with Bowie making his famous speech that the Ziggy band will never tour again before they play the fitting “Rock N’ Roll Suicide”.  It was a historical rock and roll night that sees the band in electric form before the curtain closes and the rug gets pulled out from underneath.

7.5/10