Documentary Watch - American Masters: Brian Wilson

The most recent PBS installment of American Masters is Brian Wilson. I think it does as good of a job of telling the Wilson story as one can given only 80 minutes. Wilson is of course, anxious and interviewer Jason Fine from Rolling Stone magazine is someone who Wilson has a comfort level with. So we get a good conversation and a few insightful moments like Brian listening to the “Pacific Ocean Blue” album in its entirety for the first time. Wilson is someone we have wrapped with the great Rock n Roll myth. I suspect we tend to take those young and hugely famous as Brian and mentally stereotype them, as he talks about the infamous living room sandbox. We do get a very human side of Brian. He feels like an uncle or an older relative. It’s clear life is not easy for him, but he is not a totally mental casualty as sometimes he gets portrayed either. Wilson improbably has become a very active live performer recently, but you can still tell life outside his home is difficult for him. Through Fine, we get as close as a sit down with the legend as most anyone ever will. It is probably impossible to tell the story of Wilson without mentioning Eugene Landy, the disgraced celebrity psychologist. It’s still a complicated relationship in that it was surely hurtful for Brian, but Brian still sees positive in it. There are a great deal of celebrities and collaborators who chime in - Elton John, Springsteen, Nick Jonas, Linda Perry, Don Was, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Jakob Dylan as well as archival footage of Carl and Dennis and on a sad note, the recently late Taylor Hawkins. I’m not a huge fan of Brian Wilson I’m the expected sense of the word. I love the early Beach Boys hits. I think “Pet Sounds” and “Smile” are just ok. There I said it. There are going to be a lot of opinions around this movie, and certainly about Brian. I think it is a good portrait, done respectfully and I enjoyed it. (I did not realize this but this episode was released last year as the movie “Long Promised Road”)

RIP Chris Bailey

Chris Bailey, former lead singer of Australian punk band The Saints passed away this April. I have to admit my knowledge of the Saints doesn’t go much past the classic single “I’m Stranded” But I was aware of the band. A friend with more knowledge than me encouraged me to pick up some Ed Kuepper discs from the cutouts in the 90s. I saw Bailey open for Nick Cave. Bailey had appeared on Nocturama and I’m sure Cave was paying tribute and homage to Bailey by including him on the song "Bring It On" and the tour which Bailey opened and joined for the song. Nocturama by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds is an unloved record. Released in the Web 2.0 days, the reviews are well documented and most of the regular players hated it. Allmusic gave it 2.5 stars out of 5. I remember being disappointed on first listen. Cave, known for his dramatic lyrics and themes, seems to be trying to be extremely accessible and simple. Over the years, I actually like Nocturama quite a bit. A Cave album I might be more likely to pick up for a listen than more critically acclaimed Cave records. “Bring it On” is a tour de force. Cave always had great duets with women, but I felt his male duets (Blixa Bargeld, Shane MacGowan) sometimes don’t reach those peaks. The video for Bring it On is over the top like a rap video, made for Web2.0 services like Yahoo Music and others that were filling the MTV void. Naively, one can almost imagine the song on radio, but even released in the golden age of White Stripes, Radiohead, the Strokes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs et al, Nick was always going to be too weird for that. (One of the paradoxes of the current music businesses is songs break through other ways than radio. Via Peaky Blinders, Cave songs have got tens of millions of views on streaming music services and YouTube. By any definition, that is a hit) But it is still one of my all time favorites. Bailey and Cave have so much swagger between them, that the result is a powerhouse (and on record, as it builds, to (presumably) Blixa’s piercing scream) I also recently read Heylin’s “From the Velvets to the Voidoids” which documents NYC punk but gets the fact (and a quick glance at Wikipedia) that Australia was already head of the game before “Ramones” was released. The Saints formed in 1973 and “I’m Stranded” released in September of 1976 predates any releases by the Damned, Buzzcocks, Clash or Sex Pistols.

Documentary Watch - Reelz Front Man: Axl Rose and Front Man: Alice Cooper

I am a sucker for music documentaries so of course I checked out the Reelz “Front Man” series. Specifically some of my favorite metal men - Axl Rose and Alice Cooper. In certain crowds, it’s not cool to like Guns N Roses, but I am a fan. Even worse, I am actually a big fan of when Axl fully embraced his inner Freddie Mercury and started writing rock epics. Heck, I even like Chinese Democracy at least a little bit. I relate to the small boy who moved to the big city and Axl certainly reminds me of metal head friends I had in high school. I never met a rock doc I didn’t like, but Front Man isn’t making great docs. The focus is on the sensational aspects of its subject. Axl has certainly had a volatile personality. Guests include early friend Vickie Hamilton and people like Tom Zutaut who “found” the band and biographer Mick Wall. But it doesn’t diverge much from talking about how messed up Axl was and the (genuine) reasons he was that way. Music is only the background occupation he has. Im not sure Use Your Illusion was even mentioned at all. Like most of the Reelz docs, it draws largely from one interview ( in this case, 2012 with Jimmy Kimmel). It at least gives a decent coda with Axl finding stability with manager Beta Lebies. I am not sure there are romantic attractions between the two as the doc implies, but I have seen her credited as a “ mother figure” or “work wife” elsewhere. I would mostly recommend this doc for only people interested in the early life of Axl. Front Man Alice Cooper fares a bit better. Once again the music is a background mention to the more flamboyant life of the performer. In this case, that means it is more focused on the breakup of the Alice Cooper Band, with Alice going solo and the cocaine binge years called “Alice’s lost years”. On the plus side, there’s a lot of input from Dee Snyder who knows a thing or two about the kind of rock musician life as Alice. If you are a Cooper fan, there’s probably nothing new here, but it does cover his recent career- with a focus on his Christianity and playing Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar. Again, not much about the great albums he recorded but fans of modern day Alice will no doubt enjoy it. Casual fans could do better going elsewhere. Either way, give Dee Snider the mic for an hour and you’re going to be entertained.

Documentary Watch -Classic Albums - Rio

I caught the “Rio” episode of the British documentary series “Classic Albums”. I don’t know that I considered Rio to be the best of best albums though I do consider Duran Duran a great singles band and they are definitely an all time favorite of mine. For me, if asked to name ‘the’ classic Duran album, I might opt for the first one. It’s got some sublime moments and in the case of “Planet Earth” an all time great hit. Wanting to emulate Bowie, Roxy et al- they did in fact reach the peak and defined an era with that song (“like some new romantic looking for the TV sound”. ) The title track is nearly enough in itself to cement Classic status along with the yacht video and the Nagel album cover. Rio is surprisingly deep when you revisit it 40 years later. “My Own Way” is one of the band’s least favorite singles, but it’s a hidden 80s classic- like many of the songs here, as much Chic as Bowie/Ferry. Of Duran songs (and 80s songs in general) Lonely in your Nightmare isn’t particularly a standout track, but has aged better than most songs of the time. Hungry Like The Wolf is on par with Rio as being a decade defining moment, after that, it’s largely album tracks. But in that, not necessarily unremarkable, “Hold Back the Rain” in any other timeline would have been a smash pop hit. “New Religion” sounds awful on paper, going deeper into the funk sounds with LeBon rapping. It works though, with the underappreciated Andy and John Taylor”s guitar and bass work, sort of anticipating the “dark wave” movement. You likely know “Save A Prayer”, a successful single and one of my favorite Duran moments- LeBon sings plaintively while the band backs with an exotic sound that was promised from the album’s title and cover (and infamous video, check out the Wikipedia entry for that story). “The Chauffeur” ends the album - likely best known for the infamous R rated video. While it lacks the arena prowess of Duran’s biggest singles, it is one of the bands finest musical moments. If you only considered the band a pop band, surely this song will change your mind. What this episode did was remind me of course of just how talented this band was, but more surprisingly how instrumental Nick Rhodes was in crafting the end product. Nick creating the infectious Rio opening, the “do”s in Hungry like the Wolf, and finding the distinct sound for “Save a Prayer”. While I don’t think the rest of the band gets enough credit (John Taylor and Andy Taylor did some amazing things, and I haven’t even mentioned LeBon as the perfect front man for a group like this), I was impressed with how much Rhodes contributed and am surprised he never went on to do more outside of Duran. Now, he did coproduce the very Duran-y “Too Shy” by Kajagoogoo, but the only other significant work I know of besides that is the Dandy Warhols 2002 “Welcome to the Monkey House” record. Not surprisingly, I like that album quite a bit. The Warhols aspired to be heirs to the Durans, and they are one of my favorite bands of the last 20 years. If you are a fan, check out the video “You Were the Last High” which is a recreation of the “Planet Earth” video. You got me Classic Albums, “Rio” is really an excellent record.

Concert- Mark Wills

Des Moines has a special relationship with Inside (Arena) Football. Famously, Kurt Warner went from stocking grocery store shelves to Arena Football to being a NFL star. There was recently a movie about it, you might have even heard about. The Arena Football League stands as the most successful Spring football league ever. At various points, Des Moines was in and out of this league. The AFL was often on national tv. I think most sports fans knew Jon Bon Jovi co-owned a team called the Philadelphia Soul. Few others may remember in the peak that Vince Neil and the rock band Kiss (separately) bought into franchises. I was a bit bummed when the Barnstormers jumped to the Indoor Football League in 2015, but in retrospect, the Arena league had seen a high watermark and folded in 2019. The last few years have seen a lot of alternative leagues like the USFL, the XFL and the AAF. It doesn’t leave a ton of talent for the indoor leagues. Noticeably, the Barnstormers don’t draw like they used to, yet I know quite a few diehard fans. For the most part, the IFL is a spot for otherwise under the radar players getting a chance to show themselves. The Barnstormers most dynamic star is from a small university (Carson-Newman) running back/wide receiver Antonio Wimbush. The Quarterback too (U of Idaho) is undersized 5’11” but talented and fast- Darius James Peterson. Before the game, there was a free concert by Mark Wills. I suspect the name might not ring bells, but he was a very successful country artist for a time. He is not my normal cup of tea- one of the many 90s Sonic descendants of George Strait, but hugely popular and my wife is a fan. He charted 16 songs in the Country Top 40 from 1996-2003 - eight went Top 10 with two reaching #1 and three more that reached #2. He took five songs to the Hot 100. Wills biggest song was 2002’s nostalgic “19 Something” which was one of the biggest hits of Y2K era country. I suspect many would know “I Do (Cherish You) which though Wills did it first, was probably even bigger when performed by 98 degrees. Another big hit was his cover of Brian McKnight’s “Back to One”. Although he performed all his big hits, he did not perform “What Hurts the Most” which he recorded originally- three years prior to Rascal Flatts having a huge crossover hit with it. An interesting bit of the Setlist was three songs from the group Alabama, which I thought was interesting. Alabama kind of dominated country in the pre-Garth days and crossed over to the pop charts quite a bit in the 80s. Although we didn’t hear much about Alabama, they seem to be popping up again. There is certainly a line from the rock-influenced country of Alabama to modern country music like Luke Bryan (and a music detective would no doubt find that string through the aforementioned artists like Wills and Rascal Flatts but also a lot of the Y2k era contemporaries like Lonestar and Montgomery Gentry. That Eagles/Poco/Charlie Daniels/Marshall Tucker derived rock sound now dominating the “cowboy hat” market that Wills arrived initially in.

Album Review- The Arcade Fire- WE

I think there were a lot of us impressed by Arcade Fire’s “Funeral”. I (at least very briefly) contemplated traveling across the country to see them live. It was such a scene-changing disc. Arcade Fire seemed a bit more grounded in rock on their next two records, shifting into a band that was defining 00s indie rock as influenced as much by Bruce Springsteen as anyone. I still rate “The Suburbs” quite highly. With a three year layoff, they made another direction change with Reflektor. A Sandinista size mess that had some of their best singles hidden in it’s nearly hour and a half run time. 2017’s Everything Now seems an extension of the move to electronic dance rock and I thought then my love affair with the band had come to an end. Those thoughts lingered as I first heard WE, the surely difficult sixth album (I’m just making that up- is it a thing -LA Woman, Green, The Head on the Door, Physical Graffiti, Music for the Masses, New Order’s Republic, Van Halen’s 1984- you decide). But I have come around to WE which is a slight turn on the Arcade Fire experience which is likely to win as many as it turns away. The titles suggest a throwback to Funeral, but it’s a mix of the personal themes of those follow ups and then the electronic dance beat of Reflektor. Reviews seem to be either really high or really low. I think after a few listens, I am with the former, while acknowledging the shortcomings that cause the latter. In many ways, I am reminded of their contemporaries (a band whose timeline is very similar with just one more album in the discography) the Killers- a band that might not immediately spring to mind sonically. However, like the Killers recent work, Arcade Fire seems to be pushing through on just raw ambition, confidence and conviction. WE is an album that doesn’t sound like much on paper, and I suspect the lyric sheet looks more like The Stooges than Dylan. But Win Butler is as unshakable as Brandon Flowers, and the band is in fine form (and Régine Chassagne’s contribution can’t be overlooked). I think a big asset is that it’s a relatively short album (40 mins) and most songs generally end around four minutes with rare exception (“Rabbit Hole” follows “Reflektor” and “Nightlife” as a song that succeeds despite being essentially a repetitive dance floor jam). Another interesting and a bit ironic part to me has also been remarked upon by others in passing or in part. When Funeral came out in 2004, it did not sound like anything else. WE sounds like a band who has binged on the music that immediately preceded 2004 and it is chock full of that influence- Mercury Rev, Grandaddy, Flaming Lips, and Radiohead. Overall, I think Arcade Fire succeeded in what they wanted to do with WE. Now, listening to a new Arcade Fire album while not considering the band’s legacy is going to be next to impossible. I can’t do much to convince people who won’t like this, but I think I am a fan

Album Review- Tejon Street Corner Thieves- Thick as Thieves

One of my recent discoveries is the Colorado based Tejon Corner Street Thieves. Last years Stolen Goods was an enjoyable listen- old folk songs given a modern touch TCST are out of that tradition of mixing punk ethos and classic Americana themes. They call their music “trashgrass”. There weren’t many bands like this 20 year ago, but there’s quite a few now whose stock in trade is Murder Ballads and Southern Goth. It is probably descended from the mix of the 80s Cowpunk bands, the 90s No Depression crowd and the Outlaw Country genre (with occasional nods to Cave and Cash). Denver’s 16 Horsepower were surely one of the first of this strain of alt country, but the list has just grown, with along the way, with some of the biggest names being Those Poor Bastards, The Devil Makes Three and Murder By Death. If you haven’t heard these bands, they’ve been covered by bigger names like Hank Williams 3 or showed up in movies like Inglorious Bastards. These days, it isn’t an original idea any more, so it comes down to whether these bands have a charismatic front person and whether the band has tunes. That’s where TCST stands out. Also as an aside, TCST are given credit as the first band during the pandemic to do “drive by” concerts where they would literally drive where their fans requested them.

Album Review- Belle and Sebastian- A Bit of Previous

I’ve written about Belle and Sebastian plenty, but here goes. The first four albums are every superlative in the book in my eyes. After the fourth album, Isobel Campbell left the band and the band seemed to move into a more pop oriented (or as pop as this band could possibly get) direction that has defined them since. (All writing about the band indicate that Isobel had very little creative input into the band at that the two points are coincidental. I just say the two happened at the same time). The band would title a later album “Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance” but the band in this second stage did seem to add a little boogie to their melancholy. Although it took me some time to come around, there are plenty of latter era songs that can hang with their best. At 25 years in, they have unexpectedly became a dependable rock (in their terms) workhorse, even releasing live albums. I have seen very high rated and very low rated reviews for this album. If you like the last decade of their work, I think it is good odds that you won’t be disappointed. But as a longtime fan myself, I also wish there were a couple of songs that were on the same level as the highlights of Girls in Peacetime. I think for me, this means I imagine this will place lower (over time) in rating my favorite B&S discs, but it is still a consistent listen and it is a rewarding listen, just a throwback to a bit of the “recent” previous.

Album Review- Calexico- El Mirador

Let’s talk first a bit about Calexico’s “Hot Rail”. When I first heard the 2001 album, I was blown away. It was the kind of genre mashup like the first time I heard the Pogues (Celtic punk) or the Mighty Mighty Bosstones (ska and hardcore punk). Though not the bands first album, it was my first exposure to them and still holds up as this completely inventive idea- traditional Tex-Mex music meets Rock. Such a game changer that Uncut just named it # 214 of the best albums of the last 30 years. On a side note, outside of Uncut’s championing (which led to my discovery) -Allmusic, Rolling Stone and Christgau all panned it. Ironically, the UK press being a bigger fan of Americana than the States. Also, I was aware of Jump For Joey, the pre-Calexico ska meet big band group with Joey Burns and I thought they were lame. What’s interesting about Jump With Joey is that they predate the Brian Setzer Orchestra and the Cherry Poppin Daddies and that swing 90s revival as well as predating a lot of Third Wave ska bands. I truly should revisit that band. (Lest you forget, like I did, Burns next move, taking advantage of 90s trends, was the Friends of Dean Martinez) In any case, from those unlikely roots came Calexico, a band that has been prolific (12 albums and plenty of EPs in 26 years) and has done the unexpected (collaborating with Iron and Wine, Lisa Germano and Howe Gelb and various times crossing paths with artists as diverse as Tortoise, Neko Case and musician/producer JD Foster (Dwight Yoakum, Patti Griffin, Chris Mars)). Calexico has carried on, often to critical acclaim (2006's Garden Ruin and 2012 Algiers, to name maybe the most loved outside Hot Rail). With the workhorse element of the band, I have to admit I have watched their activity but not necessarily closely. It would be incorrect to say “El Mirador” is a return to form, but it certainly feels like an album that states “You may have not listened to us in awhile, but check this out”. There’s a very clean feel to the album, so I am not sure that any Top 40 radio station would ever play this, but one would like to think they could sneak it in. It’s hard to otherwise point out what is different about this album, but it feels like a lot went into putting together the best 12 songs that fit their style. There is (as always) a number of guest contributors who I am sure provide an extra creative spark. It is interesting for me (as far as the desert as I can be in Iowa) that a local artist Pieta Brown has become a consistent member of the band going back over a decade, and has a couple of writing credits on this record.

What I am listening to - The Pixies (Live from Murat Theatre, Indianapolis June 7, 2005)

Over the years, the Pixies have released albums of somewhere around 17 concerts they have performed. These were released as limited edition vinyls in pressings of 1000 copies. They have also slowly been releasing these concerts to streaming services over the last couple of years. I am a big Pixies fan, and though the classic lineup has maybe six albums worth of material (albums, EPs and Bsides), it never gets old to me. (As an aside, it’s hip not to like the Pixies Mk. 2, but they have had a few worthwhile moments and I haven’t counted out the possibility of a later era masterpiece). Of all these shows, I gravitated to the June 2005 performance at the Murat Theater. The reason was because of all the performances, the location most pertinent to my experience was Indianapolis. Without speaking to other concerts, this one is a pretty high energy show. The fidelity isn’t perfect but it’s good enough given the quality of the show. Like many of the performances that were committed to vinyl, this was from the band’s last tour with Kim Deal. Bizarrely, the set list for this show was performing the songs in alphabetical order. Probably not surprising, the set list is Doolittle heavy (12 of 27 songs) with Bossanova limited to two, and Trompe le Monde solely represented by “UMass”. Of note, other set list additions are “Into the White” (“Here Comes Your Man” b-side the band loves) “In Heaven” ( from the movie Eraserhead, another Pixies concert staple) and “Winterlong” ( the Neil Young song from the Tonight’s the Night era featured on Decade that would become an addition to the Pixies Mk 2 set list)

Album review- Harley Poe- Horrorful

CAUTION: Shock Rock ahead A few years ago, someone shared an Indianapolis and Indiana-centric Punk playlist with me. Although there was a lack of big names (Sloppy Seconds probably remain the biggest punk band to come out of the Circle City, or at least were until Margo and the Nuclear So and Sos), there was a lot of talent. One that especially grabbed me was a relatively obscure artist named Harley Poe. Now, a few years later, I see his name popping up on Reddit and gaining traction in a few places. I am not the first to say it, but Poe reminds me of the excitement of being in High School and hearing the Violent Femmes and the Dead Milkmen. Imagine that (if you were like me), but then never listening to anything else except maybe adding Misfits records into the mix. Harley Poe mix country goth with gross out horror movie lyrics. Like Spiritual forefather Alice Cooper, Harley Poe was a band, but I think the name is pretty much synonymous with Joe Whiteford. Bizarrely for a band that could almost pass for an unplugged Gwar, the core of the band started as Christian rockers. I am not sure I can reconcile that with a band who recorded an album named “Satan, Sex and No Regrets”, except I think he’s sincere (about his faith, if not the lyrics) and people probably thought the Cramps were the end of civilization, too. Fair warning, it’s hard to find a Harley Poe song without swearing. I can’t even pretend that most people will like it. But if you like genres that are called things like Ukulele Punk, Horror Folk, Acoustic Horror, and Folk Punk, if you find the Pogues more interesting than the Sex Pistols and if you think Woody Guthrie is more punk than Joe Woody Strummer, well, this might be for you.

Album Review- Soft Cell

I have spent a quite a bit of time on the Marc Almond discography (also lest we forget the still active Dave Ball dba The Grid who made an album with Robert Fripp last year) so on the event of the first Soft Cell album in 20 years ago, I’m going to focus on the duo’s albums. 1981’s Non Stop Erotic Cabaret is as good as it gets. It’s a great rock trope (small town boy in the big city a la Appetite for Destruction) and even the cover is perfect (Almond with the under the counter goods- presumably the album- in hand under his trenchcoat.) Its a fantastic start to end listen, and if it’s a bit camp, that’s only because if it wasn’t, if it was straight and sincere, it’d probably be too painful to listen to. 1983’s The Art of Falling Apart is as good as titled sequel as “The New York Dolls in Too Much Too Soon” and similarly it features a band in turmoil ready to break up. Soft Cell made a conscious decision to steer away from making a commercial radio friendly follow up and the album is generally described as a disaster. As a fan, I don’t want to oversell the second record, but it certainly is a worthwhile in that it does have some great songs. It is darker but generally always interesting. It also features the 10 minute Jimi Hendrix (?!?) medley and the George Romero inspired 10 minute “Martin” and these latter album songs are better (in my mind) than their descriptions (or reviews) imply, as they usually get a lot of blame for this albums reputation. The album is probably as good as a litmus test on how big of a Soft Cell fan you are. 1984’s This Night In Sodom is that path to the extreme. It is a difficult album in that it’s closer to Almond’s short-lived Immaculate Consumptive pals (Nick Cave, Lydia Lunch, JG Thirlwell) than new wave pop tunes. Considering myself a big fan, I would nonetheless steer most people away, even then, carrying forth the maniacal perspective of the predecessor, it does contain a few songs that are truly great- Meet Murder My Angel, Where was your Heart when you Needed it Most and Mr Self Destruct (not the Nine Inch Nails song). In 2002, the band reunited and recorded the album Cruelty Without Beauty. It could possibly be considered a great “lost album” in so much, that it didn’t get a ton of attention. It is very much in line with the bands that Soft Cell influenced (OMD, Pet Shop Boys, Yaz, etc) and is surprisingly solid as far as reunion records go. The band called it quits very publicly in September 2018 with a final show at the O2 Arena which was released as an album The new album comes somewhat as a surprise to me then, and has received generally very good reviews. As a fan, I hate to say it, as I would love to be gung ho, but I think it’s a good, not great album. The album feels very much a continuation of where TLN..IS left off. The mood is dark, outlook negative. Almond takes a couple of shots at the Holy Trinity (not only, but especially on a track called “I’m Not A Friend of God”) Thematically, it could be a sequel to N-SEC. Songs like Polaroid, Tranquiliser and Bruises on my Illusions are very much revisits and all throughout run the same themes, or reference to revisiting the time (check the title “Nostalgia Machine”). The nsfw “Nighthawks” which recalls Acid House Psychic TV with guest Christeene as some truly nonstop erotic cabaret. The most talked about song is the lead single Heart Like Chernobyl. The writer of “Sex Dwarf” and “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye” gives us one last jaw dropper with a song that begins with “Oh dear, I feel like North Korea in the winter”. The highlight for me is probably “The Purple Zone” which is a duet with the Pet Shop Boys and sounds exactly like the intersection of the two as you might expect. I get a kick out of the video of the pairing of the synth pop legends - both duos with a wry singer and a hard working instrumentalist- surely would love to grab a beer and sit at that table. In many ways, Purple Zone incorporates the theme of the album- hitting on outsider status and aging. It’s video reflects that - with reference to the story of the LGBT+ community as shared by those who survived the 80s and 90s but also (stealing from Dickens) “the best of times and worst of times” of modern today. Also in contrast to the downbeat lyrics, the melody is a celebratory anthem that fits with the Pet Shop Boys' best. As a big fan of the band, saying I am somewhat disappointed is not meant to give the wrong impression. I will listen (and have listened) to some of the songs quite often. Other songs I am unlikely to revisit often. Most songs fit somewhere in between, but the aforementioned Purple Zone and Heart Like Chernobyl, the opener Happy Happy Happy (which fits the mold of their 2002 record) and the title track (a more upbeat variation on the Chernobyl theme) are all worthwhile additions to inevitable career spanning retrospectives.

What I am Listening To - Curtis Harding- If Words Were Flowers

One of my favorite things each year is putting together a list of my favorite 20 albums of that year. I’m probably close to having done this for 20 years. It is of course impossible to hear every album released in a year. Though with the current environment, I suppose one could get close. To a certain extent, the “old ways” are the best. One needs albums to marinate sometimes, and at some point, the task of listening to as many albums as possible becomes a full time unenjoyable job. Nor would I ever take an approach that I would only listen to “new” music so that means a favorite album of Q1, 2022 is an album that came out in 2021 but missed my ears in 2021. I am not sure how I missed Curtis Harding. It seems criminal. Yet even after three albums, he’s not quite a household name. I loved Harding on first listen. He reminds me of the 70s soul records that have become a recent soundtrack of mine with artists like Curtis Mayfield, Al Green and Bobby Womack, among many others. The so called neo-soul genre has thrived though it often gets played as an affectation (Cee Lo Green, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, the Heavy, Aloe Blacc, Anthony Hamilton, Baba Ali, Nathaniel Ratliff and so on) But listening to Harding, I don’t feel that it’s playing for a joke (though the video for “Can’t Hide It” has those vibes). A look at Harding’s history is well, unexpected. He’s recorded for Burger and Anti records- labels most well known for bratty punks. The musicians he has worked and crossed paths with are so varied - Cee Lo, OutKast, the Growlers, Mastadon, the Black Lips, the Oh Sees, and Danger Mouse I bring this up because it is important to note that we look at music legends from a long distance to present day lens, and we do give them modern day attributes. We view Johnny Cash via a punk rock and Rick Rubin scope to a point where his image assumes a personality indistinguishable from a hard drinking, brawling, flipping the bird Mike Ness character or a gothic bible-quoting Nick Cave character. So it is with classic soul which these days brings to mind, Tarantino soundtracks and driving rap samples. While I would suggest both Marvin Gaye and Mr Harding have made timeless music, I would also suggest that Harding has the benefit that no circa-1971 soul singer would have - extensive knowledge of the discographies of Parliament-Funkadelic, Gil Scot-Heron and Outkast. Anyway, this is the first “new” artist that I have been this passionate about in awhile.