Vinyl

Tour de la Cathedral, from Boul. de Maisonneuve behind Place des Arts, facing West - September 2011

Exploring a Friend’s Record Collection

So here’s how it’s going down –

I find that one can very easily become a collector of diverse things without paying much attention. In fact, it is precisely people of this type – hoarders & pawn brokers – who have mercilessly populated the primetime slots of television channels once oriented on discovery, learning and the entertainment one might find in art, of late, and they are giving the mere idea of having a collection a bad name.

Furthermore, it has recently become popular to own a record collection, though it seems as if remarkably few hipsters of late actually possess a working gramophone, phonograph or ‘record-player’. And so these great anthologies of diverse 20th century music dutifully handed down through prescient parents or via the hard-traveled road of used record stores end up sitting on shelves, out of order, their mysteries veiled, collecting dust. In some cases, they may eventually be melted into interesting party bowls for some hipster-doofus to serve cheesies in, ironically…?

But in my case I am quite fortunate, since I have both a functioning record player, a modest sound system and have been left a rather large record collection by my dear friend, whose apartment I am currently living in. This collection is typical of those amassed by the hippies of the parental generations, and it is as diverse a collection as I’ve yet seen.

Ergo, because I have little to do and a lot of free time on my hands, it is my intention to put this vinyl collection in alphabetical order, to catalogue each album, and then to write a review of each record, which will be featured here. Once I finish moving the rest of my own rather extended collection, I’ll turn my attention to reviewing each of those as well.

I have absolutely no idea how long this will take, nor what I might discover, but as a lover of great music I can assure the readership of one thing – my mind is most certainly going to be blown by what I encounter along this most fascinating of musical journeys. I truly hope you enjoy…

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I’m not going to review these albums in any particular order, though I’ll eventually place them in alphabetical order. Otherwise the first several album reviews will be organ compositions by Bach, followed by the entirety of the Beatles canon. Furthermore, I’m generally going to omit any gratuitous greatest hits or compilation collections, soundtracks or children’s music. I’ll probably omit any singles too if there’s also a copy of the album, though I’ll take a listen in case its mixed differently.

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1. David Bowie – Young Americans (RCA – 1975)

Suffice it to say I only had the vaguest of expectations with this album, and was completely blown away when I listened to it for the first time. I was familiar with the two principle singles, Young Americans and Fame, though I was not aware these tracks were actually from the same album. I’ve only begun to get into Bowie over the last year or so, and it’s largely a result of hearing Stay off of Station to Station, in addition to a close friend’s reserved praise of the Bowie canon. Knowing him to be a thorough and critical devourer of excellent music, I decided my initial experiences with Bowie were almost exclusively from a poorly executed greatest hits collection I purchased several years ago and thus felt overwhelmingly compelled to give his albums a listen. I know for a fact that many of Bowie’s albums fell on deaf ears, so to speak, and I suppose I’m curious to try and see if I can discern what drives such an enduring and prolific artist.

I should say from the outset that it has been three days since I fist listened to the entirety of Young Americans, and suffice it to say the album has dominated what I’ve been listening to since.

I remember I used to despise the title track for what I perceived to be saccharine musical qualities and its use in some good-awful teen drama I saw many years ago. Of course, the song is hardly sentimental nor overly approving of Americans in general, but I suppose this point was lost on test audiences. Of note is the presence of a lyric from a Beatles song, A Day in the Life. The album also boasts a uniquely Bowie cover of Across the Universe featuring backing vocals by John Lennon, who also co-wrote Fame and provides additional vocals. Luther Vandross played a significant role arranging the emphatic and precise backing vocals, which are prominent throughout the album.

What’s striking about this album is precisely its transitional musical nature. The Bowie so well-crafted during the earlier Ziggy Stardust/ Glam Rock era had been thoroughly shed by the time Young Americans as released in 1975. In fact, the transitional albums between Diamond Dogs and the Berlin Trilogy (beginning with Low in 1977) are marked by a pre-occupation with American soul and funk music, in particular the popular Philadelphia Soul sound. It’s a fascinating juxtaposition between cynical, bleak and often politically-conscious lyrics with a generally danceable musical backdrop. It’s a fantastic funk album by any account, with tracks such as Fascination, Right and Fame providing a unique window on an outsider’s interpretation of the genre. Fame, moreover, was used as the musical foundation for the James Brown track Hot (I Need to Be Loved, Loved, Loved); the main guitar riff is copied almost identically, and as it happens, Bowie’s lead guitarist Carlos Alomar had previously toured with James Brown in the late 1960s.

The composition and arrangement of the album is pleasant as it switches between soul and funk influences, ensuring the listener a guarantee of momentum. At some points Bowie reaches the edge of excess, his voice and the instrumentation intertwining momentarily to form epic walls of sound. A sampler’s album, though a good choice to get a party started as well. Highly recommended.

Key tracks:
- Young Americans
- Fascination
- Right
- Somebody Up There Likes Me
- Fame

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2. The Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet (London Records – 1968)

A refreshing sound for someone who thought he was getting weary of the Rolling Stones.

This is a fascinating album for several reasons. For one, both sides are bookended with triumphant, soaring motifs – it is as if the Stones were ecstatic they found their musical foundations after their enigmatic previous release, 1967′s Their Satanic Majesty’s Request. After wandering in the desert it seems the Stones came back in 1968 with a deviant new confidence, one made all the more significant given their foreign mastery of a principally American sound. Dear Doctor is a prime example of mature heavy blues.

This is also a prime example of the Glimmer Twins as a writing duo, which I feel is often only considered as secondary to their endurance and on-stage charisma. Street Fighting Man, Jig-Saw Puzzle and Sympathy for the Devil all stood out to me for their lyrical qualities. By contrast, while I appreciated the musical construction of Salt of the Earth, I found that the lyrics came across as disingenuous, perhaps because they lack subtlety, as though Mick and Keith felt compelled to remind the audience of their own working-class roots. Whatever the case, I feel that it corrects itself at the end, adding a reflective kind of conclusion to the record, making you want to play it all over again. Truly, quite a delightful listen, and consistently interesting throughout.

Street Fighting Man has a special place in my heart. I think it was one of the first protest songs I actually identified with, as opposed to the other well-known tunes of that category hand-picked and parachuted into so many flower-child compilation albums. I remember liking its soulfulness, and the long conclusion with its interwoven pattern of rhythms and melodies. Remnants of psychedelic soundscapes from an earlier period perhaps…

The transition between certain tracks, such as Street Fighting Man transitioning into Prodigal Son reminds me of the psychedelic rock/ roots blues/ fantasy folk arrangements of Led Zeppelin III; a bizarre point of overlapping musical styles characteristic of late-1960s ‘classic rock’ – musical post-modernism before the era of sampling, scratching, looping and breaking.

It seems as if they’re purposely trying to be playful on the B Side, switching from building musical ‘environments’ in one song, and then driving the next song with a pronounced riff or stylistic interpretation. I mean, there’s no question its the blues, but it is most definitely a new blues, I dare say an optimistic blues.

Worth every listen; of note – it was Brian Jones’ last album.

Key tracks:
- Sympathy for the Devil
- Stray Cat Blues
- Street Fighting Man
- Jig-Saw Puzzle
- Prodigal Son
- Salt of the Earth

Peter Gabriel IV (Security)

3. Peter Gabriel IV (aka Security, Geffen – 1982)

When I first looked up this album to get some basic background information, I was astounded to see Robert Christgau, who I usually think is right on the money, gave this album a C+ rating. What can I say, I was intrigued and I was expecting a half-assed musical diversion. After listening to this album maybe about a dozen times over the last few days I can say that its consistent, innovative and in some cases infectious, and worth more than a C+ for the arrangements alone and musical experimentation alone.

Peter Gabriel’s fourth eponymous album, (released as Security’ in North America) does indeed feature the single Shock the Monkey, a song Peter Gabriel describes as a love song. I always liked it, even before I knew what it was about, for its unique musical stylings, not to mention the oft-repeated and somewhat bizarre (possibly sexual?) hook. I didn’t entirely know what to expect, although I was curious to see what would lead into Shock the Monkey.

The album is definitely moody, at times triumphant, at times compelling, but without a doubt generally enigmatic. I don’t know how to describe it because the sound he creates across the album is unique and different from its constituent parts, which include Ghanian drums, tapes and loops, synths and funk-like bass lines. It’s as much a ‘world-music’ album as it is a proto-industrial one, and fits comfortably in the pantheon of New Wave. I’d compare it to the Talking Heads’ “Remain in Light”, or Byrne & Eno’s “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” though these are far from direct comparisons. At other times you hear what was clearly established back when Gabriel was fronting Genesis, at other times I’m convinced he’s channeling what Boards of Canada was seeking fifteen years later.

Of note – it was one of the first albums to feature a full digital recording and featured prodigious use of sampling and electronic percussion in addition to traditional African drums. The album is as innovative musically as it is socially conscious and critical. A wide-range of issues are dealt with, such as the plight of political prisoners or Aboriginal Americans. ‘Shock the Monkey’ is supposed to be a metaphor for the sting of jealousy reminding the individual of the sexual roots of love and passion. The track ‘the Family and the Fishing Net’ is a fascinating tale comparing a wedding to a voodoo sacrifice. Like I said, it’s a fascinating album to fall in love with.

Key tracks:
- San Jacinto
- the Family and the Fishing Net
- Kiss of Life

Brian Eno & David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

4. Brian Eno & David Byrne – My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (Sire – 1981)

A fascinating album to say the very least.

I’ve been a big fan of Talking Heads and David Byrne for years – actually, since I was a child, aged ten listening to Stop Making Sense over and over again while playing G.I. Joe with my brother. What can I say, Joe had some funky adventures.

This album opens with a track I found almost unlistenable at first, America is Waiting, which features a sample of an irate talk-radio host. The prodigious and precautions use of sampling on this album in fact held back its release, and it still stands as a shining example of a very early use of the technique. Moreover it is an analog recording, and therefore the samples would have had to have been synched manually, a difficult and frustrating task which often led to chance discoveries and happy accidents. The sampling itself, which also includes Lebanese mountain singers, an exorcism and radio evangelists sits in interesting juxtaposition to the African rhythms, which are complexly overlaid resulting in an intricately interwoven tapestry of funky punctuation. Eno would later say he thinks the principally innovative factor isn’t the sampling itself inasmuch as how the sampling is used as the principle vocals.

It is a political album, given the voices selected, and the interspersing of middle-eastern voices and themes (such as the use of a recording of an Arab reading the Quran, Egyptian pop singers and wailing mountain singers) with the darkest recesses of American Christianity (such as the radio preachers but also demonstrated indirectly with the conservative pundits and politicians on Mea Culpa) is demonstrative of the true longevity of what is otherwise considered a recent clashing of the cultures. On this album, the effect is mysterious, foreboding at times, an acquired taste and a testament to the genre-bending musical capabilities of two brilliant musicians and composers. To say that it is an eclectic album I think is to fundamentally miss the point – as a post-modern album composition and instrumentation need to be ‘off the beaten path’. Curiously, while this album stands as a very unique creation, certain songs demonstrate their genesis clearly, while others are anticipating music that won’t be made for another thirty years. Boards of Canada and Air come to mind while listening to the B-side.

Key Tracks:
- Regiment
- Mea Culpa
- Help me Somebody
- The Jezebel Spirit
- Moonlight in Glory

5. Talking Heads – Speaking in Tongues (Sire, 1983)

The phrases that most easily come to mind when I think about this album are ‘burning down the house’ for obvious reasons and the refrain of ‘stop making sense’ from the track “Girlfriend is Better” off of side A. This makes a fair bit of sense, given the former was the band’s only American top-ten hit and the fact that by David Byrne’s own admission, he made an album and created lyrics subsequently to fit the nonsense originally sung over the music composed by Talking Heads.

It is not a typical Talking Heads album given the previous prevalence of Brian Eno’s production. It is still a seminal work for the band andy Byrne in particular, in that it is as though the student has finally demonstrated a mastery of the teacher’s technique. It is more musically minimalistic than previous albums, especially if compared to Remain in Light, though lyrically it seems far more complex. Perhaps it is a commentary on the public discourse of the era, in which mass corporate communications were first beginning to make headway into the American popular discourse and create their own authority via the immediacy of their preferred medium. In another sense, perhaps it is the Talking Heads recognizing the danger of the new meta-talking head, made dangerous by combining sub-par intellect with state-of-the-art tools of communication. If the lyrics on side-A leave you confused about what exactly you’re listening to, then maybe Byrne has succeeded more than he expected.

I find the album perfectly listenable, enjoying the highs and lows, the elements of new wave, funk and reggae blending into one another, the stripped down instrumentation covering the sonic range while re-enforcing the cooperative ‘drum-circle’ spirit Byrne had explored with Eno on previous collaborations. That said, I remember the first time I listened to this album, perhaps about eight years ago, and finding it almost unbearable. It grew on me, and still does. And aside from the admissions of gibberish and nonsensical lyrics, and i can only say I agree completely with Robert Christgau in his opinion ‘Swamp’ is one of the greatest anti-Capitalist songs ever written (indeed, the album is exceptionally political and highly critical of early-1980s American society) and This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) is perhaps one of the greatest pro-Love songs of all time. I couldn’t agree more with that last bit too – it is an exceptional love song; sincere, timeless and real.

Key Tracks:
- Girlfriend is Better
- Slippery People
- Swamp
- Moon Rocks
- Pull Up the Roots

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