Funkallero

Bill Evans - The Bill Evans Album  (1971) ***** 

Nominated by: Lew

Music club: MNAC

Highlight:  The Two Lonely People

Yeh! Jazz features on MNAC again and this would be the first album by a jazz piano trio we've ever had. No finer person to start that off with than Bill Evans.

Bill Evans is pretty much a genius. Did he ever do a bad album? Not that I'm aware of. This one is a bit odd - the first of his albums to feature electric piano (as well as yer standard Joana)! I've always loved the electric piano sound. It was 1971, so I guess he figured - what the hey.

The jazz trio format is great full stop. These three guys sound like an orchestra on the opener, Funkallero, before second track, The Two Lonely People, calms things down with a more traditional piano/bass/brushed drums tune. Reeks of class!

From there it's one sublime track after another. I listened to this album many times in the last two weeks, in a variety of settings and moods and it did the business every time.

Beautiful! Even Jacky liked it (and she is most definitely not a jazz fan).

This town

The Netherworld Dancing Toys - For Today - The Best Years (1996) ***

Nominated by: Kev

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition: This Town 

Clever leading off with the hit. For Today is a stone-cold kiwi classic that evokes the summer bliss of 1985 so well. It even penetrated our family bubble in New Plymouth because it was all over the radio.

The appeal was clearly the great production, the confident singing and the ska/Motown/horn driven sound that sounded fresh in 1985. Plus Annie Crummer of course.

I liked it then and I like it now.

The rest of the songs (apart from NZ Love Song that KS used on the places playlist) are new to me in 2022. Blame a frenetic mid to late 80's for that - if it wasn't on the radio (or TV) it passed me by. End of '85 we (Jacky/Keegan/me) moved back to Auckland - Jacky was pregnant again, I was commuting to Macleans College from Mt Eden (Windmill Rd) and so music took a back seat.

I suspect there were a lot of eighties songs/bands (especially NZ ones) that I missed at the time. So - catching up with this now is super cool. They were good! Tightly arranged songs, great production, excellent songs, played really well - all with a pop sheen (that I love). They should have been huge!

At times, they do sound like The Jam/Style Council (songs, sound, vocals) and Supergroove funked the sound up a bit more and had similar (maybe greater) success with that sound.

Given that these songs all come from a relatively short time frame (and I guess same musicians) this collection sounds like a cohesive album. Unfortunately, there was no other hit like For Today so they will forever be a one-hit wonder band. I mean no disrespect by that - just nothing that received enough heavy rotate to become another cultural marker. Checked out my Nature's Best CDs and that's their only song over 6 CDs.

Highlights on each listen, apart from For Today: The ska-ish This Town gets the toes tapping with a great bassline and spirited horn arrangement; Standing In The Rain sounds like The Mockers with horns (that's gotta be Andrew Fagen on vocals right?); Change to the Contrary sounds like a Midnight Oil song and also stood out. 

What was that thing?

The Able Tasmans - A Cuppa Tea And A Lie Down (1987) ***

The Able Tasmans - Hey Spinner (1990) ***

Nominated by: Kev

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition:  What Was That Thing?

The Abel Tasmans band was a new one for me. I think I've mentioned before how this and a lot of NZ/Flying Nun music passed me by at the time - life was full in the late eighties/early nineties with 3 then 4 children - making four rug rats under 7. Plus, we moved from Three Kings to Wakefield (Tasman). So musical scenes passed me by for a while.

A Cuppa Tea and a Lie Down (1987's debut) and Hey Spinner! (1990) are a lot of fun. What's not to love in these toe tappin cheeky chappie songs??

I've picked Hey Spinner! as the better of the two from my pov. Not only does it have the mighty Grey Lynn on it but overall, it's better produced and played. It's a fuller soundscape in many ways. A Cuppa etc is fine as it goes and I love the kitchen sink approach but like a lotta bands on their debuts it sounds at times like they were still learning about each other and their instruments (it has a quirky innocence so no negativity implied).

I also like Hey Spinner! more because it has so many prog flourishes throughout (as well as that distinctive kiwi brand of indie-pop). Hey Spinner! (the song) and Hold Me I are cases in point - deffo progtastic. HS! is the longest track I note as an aside.

Other tracks I really enjoyed were the first two poppy ones and The Theory of Continual disappointment. The only one I didn't enjoy much was Hold Me II (despite the trickster pun). Just got a bit too discordant so I tended to skip it.

As well as the great proggy bits they are also quite folk influenced it seems to me - particularly on the debut but also at times on Hey Spinner! I love that - makes them and their sound quite distinctive. Michael Fay is very folk oriented for my money.

I'm so glad I finally heard some Abel Tasmans' songs. The Bats still rule the FN roost for me (Ha ha! Bats/roost. Ahem) in that they most align with my musical taste but I enjoyed the ATs' meaty beaty big and bouncy approach. For me - I'd rate them as pretty fine! 

Play your rock n' roll on the stereo, push the cruise control, disappear into the groove

Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors - Good Light (2013) ***

Nominated by: Greg Knowles

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition: Another Man's Shoes

Hey hey - another week goes by - where does the time go? This week has been a blur at school - covid makes your brain mushy peas and the last week of term is always tough to get through.

But - the good news - I had Drew!

I've spent many pleasant mornings this week with Drew and his neighbours kicking off my day. Pleasant is going to be the operative word in the following.

There is certainly a place in the world for this kind of easy on the ear and easy on the brain music.

That first track, Another Man's Shoes remains my favourite - it was the one I immediately felt my shoulders relax and I could breathe easy. A very pleasant sound and song. I also heard it the most because I tended to drift in and out of the music as I worked before school started (my day starts as follows - 4.30 alarm/5.45 to 6.45 commute/6.45 - 7.45 prep for the day while listening to the week's selection/7.45 first zoom meeting of the day and we're off!).

From there on in I would find myself enjoying the songs playing in the background but I often lost focus and would eventually jolt back with songs like Tennessee and Nothing Like A Woman.

My slight worry was that the songs didn't really hook into my brain - so by the next morning I'd remember that pleasant relaxing sensation with the first track and then the same thing would happen - groundhog day.

Now - bear in mind that I have had covid-brain this week (words haven't come easily and Jacky has been unwell which has disturbed my brain even more). This music was soothing and definitely a good fit for my needs this week.

My other slight problem is that this Americana sub-genre has become really over-populated with singers like Drew. Things like Ryan Adams and Wilco have carved out personas for themselves (Tomorrow btw sounds very Adamsesque) but Drew and a slew of others haven't (as yet) because of that over-population I suspect. 

So - a pleasant, soothing pretty fine 3 stars from me.

Fraulein love

Alastair Riddell - Space Waltz (1975) *****  

Nominated by: KS 

Music club: WTWMC 

Playlist addition:  Fraulein Love

WATCH OUT YOUNG LOVE!!!!

Well well well- who would have thought that a look and a song that could be so subversive in 1975 could stand up to scrutiny in 2022.

The glam look was the shock value back then wasn't it - the androgynous Alastair Riddell. This was our Bowie moment - when Ziggy wasn't a starman from the other side of the planet (so - like Mars) but a Kiwi on our TV screens. Wow. An Auckland kid!! That was the shock for me.

We all watched him on New Faces (very appropriately named) transfixed, mouths open, giddy excitement welling up. I'm sure our dads were all either bemused (mine) or disgusted (GK's). But this was our time!

I enjoyed re-watching the episode - what a boring, terrible load of old codswallop was served up to us back then - no wonder SW and SE stood out so thoroughly.

Out In The Street was the song that launched me into a different way of appreciating NZ music. Sure it was hugely Bowie influenced but there was something else at play - a stretching of boundaries of what could be a successful pop song/ pop star in NZ. Phil Warren complains during the episode that Beautiful Boy is too similar to Out In The Street and yes and no, it is glam and Bowie/Ziggy derivative but it's also a different song! And so what. He was obviously after all-round entertainer-ship - a ballad, a folk song, some pop and disco. Bollocks to that! Something was happening Mr Warren and you didn't know what it was!

I had to have the album when it came out. Unlike Mental Notes which seemed scary and weird and fascinating and not One Two Nine - this album backed up my initial impression of OITS brilliantly. I bought a copy from George Courts in K Rd one Friday afternoon on a record ramble with amigo Greg Knowles (we'd start at K Rd and wander down Queen Street ending at Marbecks Records in the Queen's Arcade).

Turns out OITS was no one hit wonder - Fraulein Love and Beautiful Boy continued the Bowie fixation. 

Listening to it now I notice how some of the other songs sound similar to Mental Notes' prog rock moves. Love The Way He Smiles and Seabird could be long lost Split Enz songs (easy imagining Phil or Tim doing the vocals). Plus Alastair looks vaguely like Phil. No wonder the boys were interested in Alastair as an Enzer.

N.b. - the below relates to the vinyl original. For some reason Spotify flick the track order around crazily.

Side one is all great - four quality songs. Side two now sounds a little samey but Open Up has a nice hook and some lovely piano from Eddie although it's hidden a bit in the mix. Greg Clark and Alastair play their best glam guitar on songs like Scars Of Love and Brent Eccles looks the part and is solid throughout (and also a little buried in the mix). The Yandall Sisters (yes - the Yandall Sisters) add lovely harmony to Beautiful Boy and LTWHS; Eddie rescues Up To Now with great proggy keyboard flourishes and stars on the final track - LTWHS, by going full goose bozzo.

Negatives? Well, the lyrics are something Alastair may now look back on and go - what was I thinking? Some jar, some make no sense. But then again - who cares because they sound great. I read an article recently about why the language of song lyrics doesn't really matter and he makes some good points - Pocket - Why We Listen to Music With Lyrics We Don’t Understand (getpocket.com) So - there is that.

So, an easy 5 stars for me - a NZ classic. Both of it's time and timeless.

The cry of the earth

Tim Finn & Phil Manzanera - Caught By The Heart (2021) ***

Nominated by: Kev

Music club: WTWMC

Playlist addition:  The Cry Of The Earth

First up thanks for picking this, Kevy. I had had a listen when it first came out - just the one, I think, and moved on. Great to linger on it and give it a fair go this week.

As you both know I've had a catch-up binge of late with Tim's solo material. I also have some Phil Manzanera/801 stuff (Tim appears on backing vocals at times) and I really like his progressive rock stuff. Never much of a Roxy Music fan but I have their Greatest Hits CD. So, when I saw this out, I had a listen.

Second up - declaring this now: there are tracks on the album that I love, and there are tracks I really don't like. I found it a polarising album.  

Third up - I have a quote by psychologist and author Adam Grant in my head. I came across it this week (and put on my Jewels For The Thirsty blog):

"Criticizing is easy and fast. Creating is difficult and slow. The two hours you spent on a book or movie usually took two years to produce. Anyone can tear down someone else’s work. The true test of insight is whether you can help them improve it or build something of your own."

With all that in mind let's get into it shall we?

The obvious stand out for me is the music - for the most part it is superb. I don't know who plays it but I'm guessing it's mostly Phil (no liner notes on Spotify). I do love the prog rock elements more than the mambo/salsa moves though.

The songs I loved - Caught by the Heart, The Cry of the Earth.

The songs I didn't love - Mambo Salsa etc, La Ruleta (guitar by Phil on this - electric and bass remain great though), Bajo.

The song I loved and didn't love (that polarising thing I mentioned) - La Musica - music and Tim when he actually sings are great elements and at 6 mins they stretch it out to make a fitting final track. Love that guitar wig out!

What puts me off is the close microphoned Tim spoken vocal style on some tracks and the kiwi accent speaking Spanish - Ricco Suave style. I don't want to over analyse it (that quote above) or knock it especially but it often breaks the fourth wall for me (that conceptual barrier between the singer and the listener) and I am aware of the craft rather than enjoying the moment - it breaks my suspension of disbelief. Tricky to explain.

I also struggled to get beyond the idea that it sounds like Phil wrote and performed the music in the UK and emailed it to Tim in NZ for him to add vocals - although the music is really well produced, the combo sometimes sounds disjointed to me.

I suspect the album will get rave reviews, but for me it's a challenging listen. 

My recommendation to improve the experience - get everyone together in a studio (apologies if I've got this wildly wrong and they were - smiley face) and aim for a more organic experience. Plus don't let Tim get so close to the mic boys and have the female singer do the Spanish bits.

All up though there were many musical moments I genuinely enjoyed - Malecon's guitar, Bajo's guitar, trumpets and guitar on Galleon, that superb end to the final track so I'm giving this a *** review. 

Did I slip? I know I stumbled

Ryan Adams - Gold (2001) **** 

Nominated by: GK 

Music club: WTWMC 

Playlist addition:  Answering Bell

Gold eh? Pretty audacious title - cocky, arrogant even. But here's the thing - damn it if he hasn't got the chops to back it up.

I'm interested in the reappraisal of artists/actors who have been called out for their behaviours via the Me Too movement or else in high profile court cases. Paul McCartney and Pete Townshend regrouped successfully but Woody Allen is forever tainted. Watching his films now comes with the knowledge of his relationship with adopted daughter/now wife. Bill Cosby though? Wouldn't listen to/buy his comedy albums now. And I quickly sold my Lostprophet CDs after learning of the lead singer's crimes (that bad that the band broke up and regrouped with a new singer).

Ryan Adams is probably now not that affected by the sexual misconduct allegations but yet...listening to his albums comes with a vague ickiness that is hard to shake. And then I start listening to his songs and the icky feeling goes.

How to divorce the person from the art? That's the thing. Tricky.

So, Gold. I wrote about the album five years ago on my music blog. I'll get to that but first my 2022 thoughts:

Effortless is a world that springs to mind. Which for me equates to brilliance because to make it seem effortless it takes a load of craft and hard work. Just listening to songs like Answering Bell and Nobody Girl - they sound effortless. The acoustic strum along, the drums kicking in perfectly, terrific guitar and the singer is relaxed. It builds and builds. Peaks and builds again. The band sounds like they are playing together in someone's lounge on a Sunday afternoon with a dappled sun casting leafy shadows on the wall. Ha! And my brain tells me this was made in a studio with hours of layered overdubs. Effortless.

The whole album sounds like that to me. It's clearly a standout in his catalogue. I don't own everything he's done but I do have eight of his albums - so enough to judge the top 3 and Gold is in there.

I'd give this a four-star, flawed genius rating. It's not quite a 5-star Wozza classic - not every track is a masterpiece - my new KS inspired barometer of what makes a classic - there aren't too many of those. Sylvia Plath and Goodnight Hollywood Blvd don't work for me (and why finish on the downbeat Goodnight?) and the trying too hard rockers (Enemy Fire; Touch Feel and Lose) knock it into flawed genius realms for my money.

If I had this on vinyl I'd play side one (ending triumphantly with Nobody Girl) much more that side two (spotty).

Great to be reminded of those five-star tracks though GK: Nobody Girl; Wild Flowers; Harder Now That It's Over; Tina Toledo etc; New York, New York; Answering Bell; La Cienega Just Smiled; When The Stars Go Blue. A good percentage of the album!!

And now - back to the future - here's a link to my 2017 review of Gold - Goo Goo G'Joob: Gonna make you love me (Ryan Adams) (LP 96 - 97) (googoogarjoob.blogspot.com)

Someone else's eyes

Sneaky Feelings - Send You (1984) ****

Nominated by: Kev

Music club: WTWMC 

Playlist addition: Someone Else's Eyes

This album came out in 1984 and to be fair - music was not on my mind very much during that year. There was the marriage of the century in April, Jacky was pregnant with Keegan for much of 1984 and he was born late in December. Plus I was in my second year of teaching - that's a big year as you get a lot of attention leading up to the end of your two year probation period. 

I still listened to my old records of course but I didn't have the time or cash for expansive new purchases. I can list all 14 purchases of new albums from that year for you:  Van Halen (appropriately called 1984); Lennon's posthumous Milk and Honey; Grace Slick (Software); David Gilmour (About Face); REM (Reckoning) - played this one a lot; Jefferson Starship (Nuclear Furniture); Springsteen (Born in the USA); Prince (Purple Rain); U2 (Unforgettable Fire); Zappa (Them or Us); Big Country (Steeltown); Frankie Goes To Hollywood (Welcome to the Pleasure Dome); The Smiths (Hatful of Hollow); and Paul McCartney's Give My Regards to Broad St (terrible album).

So - you'll notice a couple of things (if I was the spreadsheet king I would do a much better job of this - sorry GK) - a 50/50 split between UK and US albums but no NZ albums. Nun. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Nothing. Genres - mainly rock, pop or indie pop - Smiths and REM. Overwhelmingly, white male.

NZ alt-pop was not on my radar. I had no idea there were bands in Dunedin feverishly recording stuff on reel to reels in their bedrooms while I was heading off to teach English at New Plymouth Boys' High School. Flying Nun was a TV programme I remembered watching back in the day. Sally Field. Much better as Gidget, but I digress.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in Nu Zild  - K Simms (Esq) was hoovering up indie-pop content by the shedful. Starting with this one - obviously you are heavily invested in this album Kevy.

You've lived with it and loved it for nearly 40 years. I haven't - my first listen to this album was this week. Context. Just saying.

Byrds and Beatles influences. This mention from your preamble notes intrigued me. Rightly or wrongly, I neglected to catch up with the Dunedin scene for so long because of a belief that the scene was in thrall to the lo-fi dark grungy Velvet Underground, rather than the bright  Byrds/Beatles pop fulcrum. Maybe there was some music snobbery involved there early on (I remember having an argument at school with guys who crazily rated McCartney over Lennon), but it's also because I grew up more with that pop fulcrum and it's aftermath. As Elaine says in Seinfeld - I'm a day person!

As it turns out - I'm partly right and partly wrong. Lo-fi? Oh yes, dark and grungy? - not so much. Look Blue, Go Purple and The Chills provide evidence for the defense. Velvet Underground-y? Yes and no. I hear VU in The Bats for instance but generally VU and Beatle pop sit side by side in the catalogue it appears. I also have grown to like Lou Reed and VU over the years. So it blurs.

The Sneaky Feelings choice is interesting. Definitely lo-fi. The drum sound is a dead give away. I think that's one of the key differences between lo-fi and hi-fi recordings - the amount of studio time lavished on getting the drum sound right. These sibilant drum sounds on the snare drum (I think it's the snare - GK will know) are mos def lo-fi but that's part of the charm of the Dunedin sound I guess. Time and place are crucial. If it sounded like John Bonham on the drums it wouldn't be the same time and place.

1984 is a long time ago in the world of sound recording. My general feeling is that the optimum time period for albums to sound great was from 1964 to 1980. Ish. The eighties and nineties have definite distinctive production qualities to my ears. Since then, perversely, too much time and too much technology has interfered with how great records can sound. Who knows what's good or bad.

Sneaky Feelings kind of exist out side of all that though - holed up in Dunedin with only number eight fencing wire via Chris Knox's tape recorder (I hate to think what state that was in after The Enemy et al) to create a sound, they forged their own identity and created their own music which owed nothing to those 14 new albums I bought in 1984. Bravo!! That's part of a great Kiwi DIY tradition and I applaud them for it. Seriously.

A star rating for this feels a little superfluous given it is so much it's own thing but I'll go with a 4 star rating - 'flawed genius', for Send You. It's grown on me more and more with repeat listens. Thanks for this choice Kevy - there is so much music out there - so much stuff we can never listen to in a lifetime, and I'm pleased to make their acquaintance finally.

Favourite tracks: Throwing Stones - this reminds me a bit of The Lemonheads - similar kind of indie pop jangle but then again a few bands in the alt world sound a tad similar; Someone Else's Eyes (well done on correct use of the apostrophe first up, good catchy Byrdsian guitar jangle to this one, cheesy organ and infectious/enthusiastic vocals); Not To Take Sides (a valiant effort at Beatle-ish harmonies - think This boy or Yes it is); Ready Or Not (it's on the Spotify playlist so fair game for comment, it wasn't on the original album but subsequently added as a bonus track - listen to those drums! Was it the same drummer? Made me wonder what those first 8 songs would sound like with that boss drum sound).