Smoke and mirrors

The Magnetic Fields - Get Lost (1995) ***

Nominated by: Alex

Music club: MNAC

MNAC playlist addition: The Desperate Things You Make Me Do

My only previous experience with The Magnetic Fields, which is dominated by one guy - Stephin Merritt, is 69 Love Songs.

A colleague at the time, played it a lot and a couple of the songs burrowed into my brain. So, I bought a copy, in some ways to be hip and current, but it's not a triple CD that I love or play often, although I do love and applaud the fool's errand idea. A consistently high-quality triple studio album cannot be done. Even The Fabs didn't try to do that. A decent single vinyl album is in 69 Songs somewhere, but he'd need a new title which wouldn't be as school-boy naughty would it.

It certainly didn't prompt me to head off and buy other albums by them/him.

So, Magnetic Fields and Get Lost is a new experience and I wish I could be all gushy with my praise, but this one made me go back and relisten to 69 Songs, which it turns out I like more, for reasons that I'm still grappling with.

Second track, The Desperate Things You Make Me Do is a standout because it feels like a fully formed, thought out song, whereas some of the others feel lo-fi slapdash (the opener frinstance).

I did like With Whom To Dance because it's a simple little ditty, reminiscent of dashed off stuff on 69 Songs, that relieves the gluggy feeling built up to that point. But then he goes back to the opener sound with his vocals and he kinda loses me a tad. Does this one (You And Me And The Moon) remind anyone else of wildly un-hip eighties synth poppers like Kajagoogoo?

The variety of approach does my head in, in the end. By the time I get to The Village In The Morning I'm starting to check whether it's still Get Lost, or another of his albums. I really don't like that one, sorry (it's probably everyone else's favourite).

Last song, The Dreaming Moon, is my second favourite - like Desperate Things, it sounds like a real song rather than a sketch.

My opinions of bands/albums are often influenced by the vocals and Stephin Merritt often sounds to me like he's left that aspect to the last minute and then dashed off a take because he's run out of time. Or else maybe he's ambivalent about providing vocals (like that look on the cover)? Dunno.

Still, I'm glad I had a sustained go at this, so thanks for sharing Alex.

Having now read Tom's email, I'd have to agree - The Magnetic Fields are not really my thing either. But then again, there are tons of things I listen to that you'd all shake your heads at, I'm sure.

Medusa

Annie Lennox - Medusa (1995) **

Nominated by: Gregarious

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition: No More 'I Love You's'

Cover albums are tricky and notoriously hit or miss. It's usually hard for me to ignore the original song. Very rarely do I think the cover version improves on the original. If the song is obscure and I don't know the original, it's much easier.

I've written that paragraph without listening to Annie Lennox's Medusa.

I figure I'll rate each song on this scale:

• A - Improves on the original
• B - good because I don't know the original (at all or much)
• C - meh (doesn't improve on the original)
• D - yikes (not a pass mark)

But before then - more preamble: Annie Lennox is pretty much a household name. In the eighties she was leading the vocal line for Dave Stewart in synth pop band, The Eurythmics. I own their Greatest Hits collection, but none of their albums. They never did it for me, I'm afraid.

Unlike GK, I haven't felt the pull of her solo albums, so this is my first listen to Medusa. 

Okay. Got all that? Then, here we go...

No More 'I Love You's' - B+. Excellent start to the album. I think this one was a hit at the time (1995 I was in my first year teaching back at Mt Albert Grammar so, a tad too busy to keep up with the pop world)

Take Me To The River - C. Al Green did it originally and Talking Heads made it an A version. Annie's is pleasant and spirited, but that's it.

A Whiter Shade Of Pale - D-. Procol Harum are one of my favourite all time bands. She should have avoided this one, their original is incomparable.  

Don't Let It Bring You Down - D. Brave or foolhardy taking on Neil? He has such a distinctive voice and I love this song when he does it. She doesn't add anything and I'm not sure I believe her.

Train In Vain - D - Same as for the Neil Young. I love this as done by The Clash. Their one's the definitive version.

I Can't Get Next To You - B. Annie takes on Motown and does a good job via some almost falsetto Temptations like lead vocal. Good choice - it's a relatively obscure song.

Downtown Lights - B. Another good choice.

Thin Line Between Love And Hate - B. A catchy song perfect for Annie.

Waiting In Vain - B. Bob Marley is another good choice to cover. Actually, reggae generally seems to translate well to alternative versions. This one hasn't been over exposed so it works well.

Something So Right - C. Paul Simon seems an unlikely choice for the final song on the album (Thin Line would have been better IMHO). As with Procol Harum, Neil Young and The Clash, I've known this song only one way until now, and it's jarring hearing someone else doing it. I think the crux of the biscuit here is that the emotional heft of an original is honest in the writer's hands, whereas, when it's covered it's liable to be a counterfeit or, at worst, a pastiche. This version is well sung by Annie but Paul's original is the true one.

In summary - a mixed bag with weakest moment Whiter Shade Of Pale and strongest covers coming from the less well known ones, especially the first song.

Conversations

Harper Finn - Newcomer (2022) ***

Nominated by: Kevy

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition:  Dark Side Of Summer

Harper Finn's father is Tim Finn, NZ music legend. That's a tough gig for a promising young singer-songwriter, working in the shadow of a legend. There are plenty of them now that rock'n'roll has reached that age.

If you are purely a musician like Elroy and Liam Finn then it seems to be a bit easier but a song like the recent Lennon McCartney cowrite/sung effort (that's Sean Lennon and James McCartney) just begs comparison.

Like Jakob Dylan, Harper doesn't sound much like his old man, but there are some vocal inflections in his songs where it's pretty obvious he's related to Tim.

This is an EP. As such it is something of a taster. It sounds to me like Harper is trying out sounds from various decades during these 7 songs.

So, along the way, we have eighties synth pop, sixties harmony pop, nineties dance music, 2000's Beyonce style pop, seventies pop.

It's almost like he deliberately tried for a different era for each song, which I like btw. Maybe he's a restless soul, maybe he's unsure of where to pitch his music.

I may be wildly off, but at times it sounded almost like an old school demo recording - something Bob Dylan or Neil Diamond might record to hawk their songs.

His best song on the EP is also the first, Dark Side Of Summer - an interesting and catchy pop single. The term dark side pops up a few times in his song lyrics but this is infectious, sunny pop music - right in my wheelhouse!

It will be very interesting to watch his progress - a full length album is just a matter of time for this talented musician.