Stegzy's Music Project

A commentary on Stegzy's album collection

May 22

Crazy Diamond – Syd Barrett [#319]

by stegzy

CrazyDiamondSticking with bearded half mast corduroy wearing hipsters; there was a time in the noughties when Syd Barrett was cool. Long after the weird guy had left or been ejected from Pink Floyd, albums showcasing some of the never heard before work circulated on the internet and were snaffled by fans of both the band and the tragic genius that was Barrett.

Of course at that time in his life, Barrett was too mad and daft to even know that this was happening. At least that was the story. I recall seeing a picture of Barrett in the press around that time showing him as a Tesco bag carrying, anorak wearing odd ball. Which I thought was sad.

One guy I worked with claimed that he knew more about Barrett than Barrett. Some said he was Barrett’s secret love child. Others whispered about him being a bit weird and how he had a peculiar musty smell that came from the Tesco carry bag he kept his anorak in. I suspect it was he that gave me this album. Whatever the origin of the album, no doubt I gathered it in my Tesco carry bag, put on my anorak and rushed home to listen.

Crazy Diamond is a triple CD comprised of recordings of Barrett from his recording sessions during his moments of clarity. There are lots of out takes and lots of tracks where he is clearly not all there. Outside of Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Barrett is not an easy choice to just wander up to and listen to. You have to know about the tragedy, the pain, the madness  and the mythos behind the man and the band. It’s all well and good to approach the album with musical ears and listen, absorb the sounds and the lyrics, but there’s an extra flake to the music. A flake that sticks out like some sort of musical 99 with raspberry topping and nut sprinkles. A flake that people without the knowledge dismiss and thus misinterpret the whole album.

And if that sounds like a load of guff. Maybe it was.

 

1993 Syd Barrett

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May 21

The Crane Wife – The Decemberists [#318]

by stegzy

440px-Decemberists_TheCraneWifeI first came across the Decembrists when I worked at Liverpool University. Someone had left a handful of MP3s of some of their songs on the desktop of a shared PC. So I copied them over to my USB stick and so began my journey with the band.

During my journey, just like most people during the time, I snaffled some albums from the internet. This one being the first and purely because of the tentative and incorrect links to Wicker Man. 

So what about the album? Well, the Crane Wife is the bands fourth album and contains music inspired by the Japanese folk tale The Crane Wife and Shakespeare’s The Tempest. I wouldn’t say it is a great introduction to the band but it does show what they’re capable of. Indeed, it did take several years and car journeys until I became comfortable enough to listen to the album without skipping tracks.

Of course, bearded people who wear half mast corduroy and know all about things before other people knew about the Decembrists before I did and it took me some time to realise that I had actually been working with one such person for some time, without actually knowing.

Decemberists

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May 20

Crackle: The Best of Bauhaus – Bauhaus [#317]

by stegzy

Crackle_–_The_Best_of_Bauhaus_cover_artLong standing readers will recall that I came to the goth scene a little late in my life and in the grand scheme of things. While the majority of my contemporaries were busying themselves with goth, popular music, dad rock and Britpop, I was busy listening to prog. I make no secret of it. When I came to the end of my long draught on the tankard of twiddly, I embarked on the aural adventure of a life time with guidance from Ginger Dreadlocked Chris and his Cassette of Fields of the Nephilim.

Hungry for more goth, I downloaded Dead Can Dance and then began nibbling at the snack boxes of bands I’d heard of in passing. One such band was Bauhaus.

Anyone who’s anyone has heard of Bauhaus’ seminal song Bela Lugosi’s Dead and the band’s association with the Goth culture. Well I hadn’t actually heard the song. I’d heard of it. So I plucked up the courage and snaffled this album for my CD collection. However, at the time, I was unaware that it was a “best of” until a few years later.

It’s a good introduction to the band. It shows that Bauhaus were not always “goth” and that their musical prowess fits my tastes like a tight fitting glove. Hints of prog, hints of medieval and notes of classical music. Even the weird echo guitar sound that I like that reminds me of late nights as a passenger in my dad’s car en route from my nan’s. I just wish I’d heard of them before my thirties.

Bauhaus

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May 19

Courtesy of Choice – Leila [#316]

by stegzy

Courtesy of choice - Leila_-_COCThis album was turned up by a trawl of music newsgroups when looking for artists classified on Last.fm as “New Weird America”.

For a start, Leila is Iranian. Secondly, she’s not American. However she is weird. This is the kind of avant garde nonsense you chaps with the half mast trousers and trendy beard might want to play when trying to come across as quirky.

Seriously though, this is Leila’s “difficult second album”. It shows. Every second is difficult to listen to.

 

Leila

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May 18

Country Life – Roxy Music [#315]

by stegzy

Roxy_Music-Country_LifeBryan Ferry greases his way through 42 minutes of butteresque songs.

This is Roxy Music’s fourth studio album and has a number of memorable tracks that regularly feature on “Best of” and compilation albums.

Probably most noted for the rather raunchy album cover, Country Life has been described as the zenith of British art rock.

Bryan Ferry Roxy Music

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May 15

Country International Music – Sugarplum Fairies [#314]

by stegzy

Country International Music - Sugarplum FairiesBenny Bohm and Sylvia Ryder from sunny Los Angeles do their stuff again. We’ve met Sugarplum Fairies before on the music project so I don’t need to go into the reasons why they’re in my music collection.

What you get with Country International Music is the third album by the band. The rule of thumb is often that the third album is the breakthrough one. The album following the difficult second album.  Sugarplum Fairies have produced consistently good music but even Country International Music didn’t push them into the success they deserve. It’s a shit business is the music business and a cruel master.

I really don’t get it. Country International Music is a really bloody good album. Why it didn’t launch the guys onto the world stage with a bigger fanfare is a mystery to me. A bit like why so many people voted Conservative at the UK general election in 2015 or the disappearance of MH370. However, a number of songs from this album have appeared in popular American TV shows as incidental music. So I guess that’s a start.

Seriously, if you want some quality new music and you’re fond of shoegazery, husky voiced songs about corduroy wearing English teachers littered with clever references to Jules et Jim, get yourself onto iTunes or whatever you use and get some Sugarplum Fairies in your life.

I did.

2006 Sugarplum Fairies

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May 14

Couleurs Sur Paris – Nouvelle Vague [#313]

by stegzy

Couleurs sur Paris - Nouvelle Vague When I was at University the second time round I discovered that I had very similar music tastes to the majority of my tutors.

My journalism tutor liked the same and similar folk bands to me, my audiences and television production tutors enjoyed prog on a higher more enlightened plane than I and the guy who did a bit of lecturing while he was in training to be a teacher, Jason, liked quirky European bands and introduced me to the wonders of Nouvelle Vague.

My adventure with Nouvelle Vague began  listening to their sexy French cover version songs. They knitted a kind of aural sleaze with a cheeky faux-1960s swing style over modern songs like Visage’s Fade to Grey, Joy Division’s Love will Tear us Apart and The Clash’s Guns of Brixton. 

We’ve met Nouvelle Vague previously on the Music Project but I didn’t explain much about them. This album is unusual in that it is mostly French bands they are covering using their imitable style exquisitely. Short of a cover of Vanessa Paradis’ Jo le Taxi this gives French popular music the Nouvelle Vague treatment.

Nouvelle Vague

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May 13

Cosmos – Vangelis [#312]

by stegzy

Cosmos - VangelisLook hard and long at Vangelis’ catalogue and you’ll struggle to find this album. Probably because it is an unofficial compilation.

If you were about in the 1980s you’ll probably recall a ground breaking documentary series called Cosmos presented by Carl Sagan. You’ll also probably remember the futuristic music that accompanied the series, most of which was extracted from albums by Vangelis. Indeed, if you are British, you might remember Johnny Ball’s informative television programmes covering numbers, science and the like. You know, from the time when television programmes weren’t vacuous? Well there are a few tracks on this album that will bring memories of those times rushing back.

This album is a collection of Vangelis’ most overused tunes from various science programmes throughout the eighties nicely tied under the title, Cosmos. 

Great stuff.

2012 Vangelis

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May 12

Cornology – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band [#311]

by stegzy

Chronology - Bonzo dog doo dah band

Seeing Bonzo Dog live in the noughties was one of those defining “closure” moments in life for me.

I was living in Barnsley at the time and I drove over the Pennines to see them especially in the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. For the entire duration of the gig I sat grinning, amused and yet saddened that I was watching one of the last concerts for the band, two of whom had died and most of the remaining members were on their last legs.

Still it was an amazing night. But before then I had only this album to remind me of their greatness. Cornology is a three volume album consisting of the bands 5 albums and some of their solo work.

Divided into Intro (formed of Gorilla and  The Doughnut In Granny’s Greenhouse), Outro (Tadpoles and Keynsham) and Dog Ends (solo bits and Let’s Make Up and Be Friendly)  the album carried me through my first stint in university and beyond. Bizarre humour of the British kind often lost on the youth of today. Skilfully crafted music derived from old gramophone whimsies brought kicking and screaming back into modern music times for all to hear.

It was this album that began my obsession with rights free Gramophone recordings and introduced me to music that most people would find offensive today. But more of that later. Probably.

Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band

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May 11

Corinne Bailey Rae – Corinne Bailey Rae [#310]

by stegzy

Corinne Bailey Rae

Coffee table music from the noughties.

There came a point in history where people started buying stuff purely on the recommendation of journalists. This was the reverse of what had gone before, journalists recommended stuff that people had already bought.

So what would happen is some journo would go to their mates house for dinner or something. Their mate would play some music as background ambience, the journo would have a spaz about the music and write, usually for the Guardian, about how fab the music is and how a home is empty, meaningless and lower class without it.

That, in my opinion, is the only reason Corinne Bailey Rae’s Corinne Bailey Rae became popular. Of course, realisation probably hit most other people once they got through the one hit Put Your Records On. 

It is, of course, only in my music collection because it was “donated” by gay Jamie and, in turn, I am now donating it to the bin.

Corinne Bailey Rae

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May 8

Core – Stone Temple Pilots [#309]

by stegzy

StonetemplepilotscoreBack in the early noughties the seeds of goth planted during my twenties began to sprout when The Crow soundtrack landed in my Usenet news reader. I’d come to the film late. Pretty much like how I came to the goth music scene late.

On the soundtrack, which will feature on this project in a couple of weeks, one artist that took my musical fancy was Big Empty by Stone Temple Pilots. So I grabbed one of their albums just to see if the rest of their stuff was any good.

Stone Temple Pilots sound like a crap hybrid of Knucklecock Nickleback and Breaking Benjamin. Blisters of grunge, no doubt from Ugly Kid Joe, Offspring and Avril Lavigne concoctions, were starting to grow in my musical psyche. Stone Temple Pilots seemed to be the missing link for my gaping yawn.

Alas, it was not to be, Core is not the easiest of albums for a newcomer. The flame died and I progressed into the realm of Dark Wave, Neofolk and further into the recesses of Goth.

 

 

Stone Temple Pilots

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May 7

Contraband: The Best of – Men at Work [#308]

by stegzy

The+Best+Of+Men+At+Work+ContrabandIf you ever thought Men at Work were one hit wonders with Down Under, you’ll be very much mistaken. Men at Work were Australia’s answer to the likes of Huey Lewis & the News and such.

Contraband is a “best of” compilation for the antipodean musicians and provides the listener with a broad spectra of their work. If you’ve only ever heard Down Under then I suggest you get this on the old iTunes player and remind yourself that they have actually done a lot more than songs about travelling the world in a worn out combi.

I really like this best of. It’s a good example of how best ofs should work. You’ve heard of one of the artist’s songs but you’re not sure if you’ll like the rest of their work. So buy a best of, discover you like a few of their songs but not enough to warrant buying their entire catalogue.

I should listen to my own advice.

best of compilations Men at Work

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May 6

Continental Circus – Gong [#307]

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2015-04-26 at 14.59.40This album is the soundtrack to a film about a motorcycle racer. The greatest private rider in the world.

The film Continental Circus (1972) is a kind of documentary about motorcycle racing across Europe at a time before sponsorship money and safety took hold. It’s a bit like the motorcycling version of Rush with real life sports people rather than actors and motorbikes over F1 cars.  Jack Findlay talks about the sport, how it affects the mind and body.

The soundtrack is by French progsters and previous entrants in the music project, Gong, whose founder, Daevid Allen, died last month. This is possibly my most favourite of all Gong albums. It’s a proper driving album for driving long journey’s on wet late nights when there’s nothing good on Radio 4.

The film is difficult to get hold of though I have a copy if anyone wants one. Alternatively, there are versions on Youtube and via Amazon for those wanting a quicker access to it.

1972 Gong Progressive Rock Soundtracks

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May 5

Construction Time Again – Depeche Mode [#306]

by stegzy

Depeche_Mode_-_Construction_Time_AgainMore from Martin Gore, Dave Gahan and co, this time with their third studio album featuring the renown Everything Counts. This is a further departure from the Vince Clarke Depeche Mode era but still the fingers of Clarke linger like an audio version of a shitty smell.

It’s after this album that the more familiar Depeche Mode sound starts to flourish but this is a good stopping off point for those keen to identify the beginnings of early industrial genre music.

1983 Depeche Mode

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May 1

Conspiracy of One – The Offspring [#305]

by stegzy

Conspiracy of One - the OffspringOffspring again. Still no idea what they’re doing in my music library. I suspect they are a band that I “should get into” or something.

Well I tried this album out this weekend for the first time. They sound like a group of angry middle class American over-privileged teenagers who have formed a band in their parent’s garage. White punks on dope in actuality.

Noise.

 

 

 

Offspring (The)

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Apr 30

Conspiracy – Billy Sherwood & Chris Squire [#304]

by stegzy

Conspiracy - Chris Squire Billy SherwoodYes’ bass guitarist, Chris Squire and his chum, former two album Yes guitarist Billy Sherwood, collaborate and produce a sound that is rather quite good under the working band title of Conspiracy.

You can hear where Yes were heading with this collaboration. Hints of Talk and Big Generator permeate the overarching soundscape of this album and a version of More we Live (Let Go) from Yes’ later Union album features as well as Open Your Eyes and the twee  Man in the Moon from later (and best forgotten) Yes album Open Your Eyes. 

Sadly the collaboration only lasted one more album, The Unknown, and technically Conspiracy is a collection of studio workings gathered over several years. People still debate whether it was Squire who did the dirty on Sherwood or whether other forces were at work. Either way, Squire remains the only member of Yes to have played on every Yes album and Sherwood still floats in and out of prog bands and projects, not really adhering himself to any big name.

2000 Billy Sherwood Chris Squire Collaborations Conspiracy

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Apr 29

Consign to Oblivion – Epica [#303]

by stegzy

Consign to Oblivion - EpicaStaying in Europe; This time with big hair, symphonic orchestral choir backed operatic female singer led metal band Epica.

As with Nightwish, Edenbridge and Therion before it, Epica arrived in my life during a scour of Usenet for interesting new music based on them appearing on a compilation and by how much people protested about me playing the music.

Tight leather pants wearing flame headed Simone Simons compliments (in the loosest sense of the word) grunt vocalist and guitarist Mark Jansen in a band backed by choir and orchestra playing predominantly some variation of symphonic heavy metal akin to other European, Scandinavian and Dutch bands of the time.

For some (usually long haired youths with confidence issues, tattoos and bad facial hair) the presence of someone like Simons on posters, album covers and Youtube videos tends to  encourage popularity even if the majority of your music is shite. See Within Temptation for example. Sadly, in my case, it isn’t lack of tattoos and bad facial hair that puts me off, however it is age, sensibility and the loss of friends that has brought me to the point where I listen to this music and think: “WTF is this shite I’m listening to?”

Consign to Oblivion? Consign to the bin more like.

Epica

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Apr 28

Conquest, Love and Self-Perseverance – Ordo Equilibrio [#302]

by stegzy

UnknownSome time back I came across an album called Looking For Europe, a compendium of neofolk music from across Europe. This led to a musically investigational journey where I explored the boundaries of dark folk, neo folk, goth and similar genres in a quest to find something to blow my mind.

I found that something in the guise of David Galas but on the journey I acquired a collection of music that haunted my soul. Now, we’ve already met one such band on the music project, Ordo Equitum Solis, a band that had long dissolved itself when I was discovering the genre for myself. But in the hunger for more OES I would grab anything that seemingly sounded similar.

Swedish group Ordo Equilibrio have been described as apocalyptic folk. They’re certainly dark wave and more definitely neofolk in many respects. But I’d say they’re more dark wave than neofolk.

Conquest, Love and Self-Perseverance is their third album on the Cold Meat Industry label, often played on the Aural Apocalypse podcast produced by DJ Merrick and in goth clubs around the world, it has been described as “Music for your satanic cult” and “Music for your S&M dungeon”.

 

Ordo Equilibrio

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Apr 27

Concerts in China – Jean Michel Jarre [#301]

by stegzy

The_Concerts_in_China_Jarre_AlbumJarre spreads European culture and music technology to the exotic Far East by playing gigs in Beijing and Shanghai then brings back a little bit of Chinese culture and musical influence to the West.

This album is a live, yes a live, compilation best of thing. Just like all the other live best of compilations in this project only this time, to make it different, you know it’s recorded in China. Wow! Actually in CHINA!

Sure there are a few “Concerts in China” specific tracks on the album but the bulk is just live versions of tracks from previous albums recorded in China. It also sees Jarre whip out his laser harp. I even remember my brother telling me to watch Jarre play the laser harp on TV because it was a groundbreaking, never to be seen again, instrument.  Earth shattering never happened, Jarre went on to do more albums and laser harps will never beat seeing the Gamelan play live in Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.

 

1982 best of compilations Jean Michel Jarre Live

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Apr 24

Concerto – Roxy Music [#300]

by stegzy

Roxy_Music-ConcertoI had hoped that the three hundredth album in this project would have been a monumental one. Sadly it’s another best of/Live/compilation. It’s like all the albums this month have been compilations. I know they haven’t but it really seems like to be a successful musician you have to write about 20 songs on about 3 albums then release best ofs, lives and cover version albums for a few years then make a come back or reform.

Bryan Ferry is the master of come back. Concerto is the twenty somethingth release by Roxy Music and the sixth live album by the band. It is also noted for the fact that it was released in 2001 and is a recording of a concert in performed in Denver made in 1979.

Talk about milking your back catalogue and fans for everything they have!

Brian Eno Bryan Ferry Live Roxy Music

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Apr 23

Completion Backward Principle – The Tubes [#299]

by stegzy

The_Completion_Backward_PrincipleSometimes, on reflection and looking at things in their chronological placement, you realise that an album you like is actually more evolutionary for the band than you first thought. Completion Backward Principle is The Tubes’ sixth studio album. Again, another concept album, but this is was never evident to me until recently.

It’s evolutionary for the band because it sees them signed to Capitol records following their previous recording label, A&M, dropping them like a hot coal. It is also perhaps the pivotal album in their career as Outside Inside really starts to reflect the band’s decline which culminates in Love Bomb (1989).

My older brother recorded this onto a cassette for me. Home taping killed music. That’s why nobody has heard any new music since 1986.

 

1981 Tubes (The)

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Apr 22

Complete Mike Oldfield – Mike Oldfield [#298]

by stegzy

Mike_Oldfield_completeMore compilations. I’d like to say that you can tell the popularity of an artist by the number of compilation and “best ofs” they have. Sadly a great deal of musicians use “Best ofs”, Live concerts (as we will see soon with Bryan Ferry and others) and compilations (Box, Collection, Complete and otherwise) to fill the gaps in their “busy” schedules between drug taking, lying about in hotels with three or more women  and playing golf, usually to keep the fans interested or aware that they’re still out there….recording…being inspired….living the rock star life. You’d never see Geoff Love releasing a best of.

Today on Stegzy’s Music Project it’s Mike Oldfield and his 1985 compilation showcasing the wide range of musical talent he has. Featuring his memorable pop songs (Moonlight Shadow, Shadow on the Wall, etc), excerpts from his studio works (Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge, etc) and his film and television work (Blue Peter, Killing Fields).

This album was the first album I ever had on CD and I must have listened to it a thousand times over the years considering its age. I bought it from Boots in Liverpool in 1986 using gift vouchers received at Christmas to play on my shiny new CD player (also a Christmas gift bought from Boots). On the same visit I bought the Best of Donna Summer and probably a couple of computer games for my Commodore 64 from Bits and Bytes in Central Station. Bits and Bytes no longer trade, the Donna Summer CD cracked, flaked and went the way of the old dust bin along with the CD player and the stereo it was attached to. Boots no longer sell CDs or Hi-Fis but Mike Oldfield’s Complete Mike Oldfield triple CD compilation still exists and it sits. In a box. In the attic.

1985 compilations Mike Oldfield Progressive Rock

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Apr 21

Complete Madness – Madness [#297]

by stegzy

Complete_MadnessIf you were about in the 1980s you’re more than likely familiar with Madness. If you weren’t then you might be aware of Madness.

This album is a compilation of the best of Suggs and his chums and their unique ska sound from the very beginning of their career. Music like this acts as a kind of temporal benchmark were you can usually relate one or two of their songs to some sort of event or activity in your life.

For me the songs Baggy Trousers and Cardiac Arrest  have me at eight years old, listening to a cassette mix tape my dad made me for my old mono cassette player. House of Fun was rereleased in the 90s around about the time I was rejecting “popular” music so there’s nothing particular attached to that song.

It should be noted though, that this compilation is from 1982 so later songs such as Our House and Driving in my Car are absent. Therefore, if it is a complete compilation of Madness hits you’re looking for, you’ll want the later Ultimate Madness

best of compilations Madness

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Apr 20

Compass – Jane Taylor [#296]

by zoefruitcake

41-Bz6piNsL I’ve just learned from that know-it-all friend we all have called Wikipedia that in January 2011, Compass won Best Album in the Singer-Songwriter Category at the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards – well there you go something new every day eh? I also learned that that happened when the album was re-released after her pregnancy coincided with the first release. This all makes sense, as I remember her say on 26th August 2009 when I saw her play in Bilston that she was only just back at work after having a baby.  I took the date for this from my own spreadsheet, but I’ve just discovered it listed on Wikipedia too, which is slightly disappointing, what is the point in me keeping meticulous records if Wikipedia does it too? The reason I recorded it is I keep a spreadsheet of all the Ezio gigs I have been to since March 2003, and the one and only time I have seen Jane Taylor perform was supporting Ezio.  Support acts can be a bit hit and miss, sometimes I have gone only to see the support, other times I have arrived late to miss a support I had no interest in.  Luckily on 26th August 2009 my friend Amanda and I arrived in good time to see Jane Taylor play, because I bloody loved it.  I bought Compass on the spot, and have played it regularly ever since. I can’t say the same for her other album Montpellier, which I really didn’t rate at all, but that is just how it goes sometimes. So what is it about this album that makes me love it so much?  Maybe it talks to me of all those feeling that make up the human condition, all those moments you think and feel too much when you are awake in the middle of the night? I find the first track, Cracks, astonishing.  The combination of the soaring lyrics and strings create an enveloping sound.  I think this is my favourite of all her songs. Hallelujah, about the death of a grandmother cannot fail to make you think of your own grandparents.  It paints such an accurate image of childhood impressions of old relatives; carpet swirls, singing, jewellery and inherited resemblances. The title track, Compass, is stuffed with the feelings of a diminishing love affair.  Whenever I start listening to it I think ‘this isn’t one of the best’ but by the end I’m right there with her.  I think this is a particular talent of hers, drawing you in with her emotions before you realise you’ve felt this yourself, whether it was last week, last year or decades ago. ‘I’m fine’ is the song that when I heard it live decided the question of CD purchase.  I’m known for my dislike of anything “too jazzy” but this is just jazzy enough to be below the threshold for me. Sadly that one gig in 2009 is the only time I’ve seen her play live,  She’s never played locally and conveniently enough for me.   I still get the emails and hope that will change sometime in the future.

cracks
Jane Taylor – Cracks

all things change
Jane Taylor – All Things Change

Jane Taylor

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Apr 17

Comparsa – Deep Forest [#295]

by stegzy

Comparsa - Deep Forest When I came across Deep Forest’s Music Detected I fell in love with their sound. So guess what I did?

If you guessed that I went and downloaded everything I could produced by the band, you’d be correct.

This music project should be a lesson to those that follow that path. Downloading albums purely because you like one album or because you like one song, is not a good idea. Comparsa is a result of such an instance.

It contains some ok tunes but not on the same level as Music Detected and it contains some remixes of songs that would eventually develop popularity due to their over use in online videos. It’s still clearly early days for Deep Forest on this album.

 

1998 Deep Forest

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