Adam's Music Reviews #5 (Nov 2020)

This particular post is being written while my home county of Kent has been plunged into 'tier three' coronavirus restrictions (basically a lockdown under another name). Cue the puns – it'll all end in tiers, three is the tragic number, etc. I was thinking what it must mean to be a hedonist in this situation – do you go all-out and make a cup of tea, or have a bit of a kip, or look out of the window, or really go to town and get a biscuit from the kitchen cupboard? It's life, but not as we know it!

Anyway, while sitting on the sofa drinking a glass of wine and listening to Pink Floyd I realised that we are at last living the lifestyle proposed by BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs programme. Let's face it, it's either that or The Matrix, and the 'desert island' scenario seems much more pleasant than floating in a sac of liquid wired up to a parasitic computer. Yes, we are pretty much on our own with just music for company, so what would one choose? Well, I've done my ultimate Desert Island Discs a couple of times before, so I thought 'How about writing about the albums I have listened to in their entirety over the past fortnight?' Like or not, I'm doing it, so here goes!

John Coltrane – My Favourite Things (1961)

Jazz is a genre I only really got into a couple of years ago. 'Kind of Blue' by Miles Davis featured highly in my book of 'The All-Time Top 1000 Albums' so I thought I'd give it a bash. Since then it has opened up new vistas, although I tend to like the 'cool jazz' era and then skip the post-bop era and pick up again with fusion. If I'm talking a foreign language, it was all Greek to me too until a couple of years ago. Anyway, this is an album for those who like to hear tunes they recognise played in an improvisational way. Coltrane's saxophone playing is superb and occasionally bordering on frenzied and the piano breaks are also pretty amazing.

Tears For Fears – The Hurting (1983)

When I was a child in the eighties I was not a fan of the 'current' bands, despising what I viewed as excessive use of synthesizers and much preferring the 'real instruments' of the sixties. However, with the passing of forty years, the bands of the era seem worth reappraising and this album is a gem. Like U2's 'The Joshua Tree,' the first half of the album is so strong that the second half tends to get passed over. 'Mad World' is a classic, even if you only know the Gary Jules' 'Christmas number one' version, but there are plenty of other angst-ridden atmospheric pieces here including 'The Hurting,' 'Pale Shelter' and 'Ideas as Opiates' which could be an anthem for our age – 'Lies spread on lies, we don't care.' Trump, anybody?

Tears For Fears – Songs From The Big Chair (1984)

Tears for Fears again, yes, but this is an album I've had much longer, initially because 'Shout' was such a good song. The other two hits 'Everybody Wants To Rule The World' and 'Head Over Heels' appeal next, but then one gets into the more ethereal stuff and you realise that Tears for Fears were not really an eighties pop band (like Duran Duran, etc.) but more akin to bands like Pink Floyd in what they were trying to achieve. Talking of which...

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)

Although I have professed 'The Dark Side of the Moon' to be my favourite album in both of my 'Desert Island Discs' blogs, this is the one I tend to go to for instant Floydian gratification. 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' is a symphony in two halves with some of Dave Gilmour's bluesiest soloing. The keyboard work by Richard Wright reminds me a bit of Procol Harum at times. Every song on the album is an out and out classic. Enough said.

The photograph depicts my visit to Grantchester Meadows in Cambridge, surely the 'Penny Lane' of the Pink Floyd world?

Pink Floyd – Meddle (1971)

OK, I've been having a bit of a Pink Floyd week. There is the side-long epic 'Echoes' (remember 'sides?') and five very pleasant tracks to boot. This is Pink Floyd at the nearest they ever got to 'easy listening,' with 'A Pillow of Winds,' 'Fearless' which has an added surprise for Liverpool fans, the vaudevillian 'San Tropez' and finally 'Seamus where the band let a canine take the vocals. If you don't believe it's a dog watch 'Live in Pompeii.' There's also the Doctor-Who-like 'One Of These Days (I'm going to cut you into little pieces)' – lockdown fever in action! As a footnote, I'm actually sure that I had this album as a 'hand me down' vinyl record as a child, although it was a bit tough for a ten-year-old to appreciate admittedly.

Barclay James Harvest – Barclay James Harvest (1970)

'Who?' I hear you say. Well, in truth BJH were bigger in Germany than in their native England. They were also the only band I know that had their own touring orchestra, as evident on this, their debut album. The album takes in a variety of styles from the rock of 'Taking Some Time On' and 'Good Love Child' to the balladry of 'Mother Dear.' I particularly like the orchestrations and plodding bass of 'When The World Was Woken,' and the the closing track 'Dark Now My Sky' is a symphonic masterpiece. Eccentric, yes, but superb!

Barclay James Harvest – Once Again (1971)

OK, OK, I've had a bit of Barclay James Harvest week too. What do you expect in lockdown - imagination? This was the band's second album and another bona fide classic, although lyrically pretty dark with a slightly unhealthy fixation on shuffling off this mortal coil, 'Happy Old World' being the most obvious example. It always seems a bit excessive to use a mellotron when you have an orchestra, as a mellotron was a keyboard instrument playing recorded loops of orchestra notes, but that's exactly what BJH did here to excellent effect. To break up the drama there is the lighter 'Vanessa Simmons' and the rock blast of 'Ball and Chain.' There's even a Jew's harp on the final track, but the show-stopper is 'Mocking Bird' which builds from a quiet ballad into frenetic rock before exploding into two of the most dramatic orchestral chords you'll ever hear in a rock song. If You like Pink Floyd, you'll like BJH.

Blonde on Blonde – Bob Dylan (1966)

In the 'Desert Island Discs' blogs I cited 'Bringing It All Back Home' as my favourite Bob Dylan album, although in reality it is so hard to choose with so much quality. This one was arguably the first double-album released by a rock act, the other one possibly being Frank Zappa's 'Freak Out.' Either way the contents are terrific, with bluesy tracks such as 'Pledging My Time' and 'Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat' interspersed among folky classics like 'Just Like A Woman.' There's a humorous poke at the Beatles' 'Norwegian Wood' with 'Fourth Time Around,' although in truth the flow of influence was mutual. And finally, 'Say Eyed Lady of the Lowlands' – an eleven-minute epic with Dylan at his most poetic.

Standing on the Shoulder of Giants - Oasis (2000)

This is often viewed as the album where the legend imploded and I was formerly of that opinion. However, a listen twenty years later reveals that we were all wrong. Admittedly, the expletively-titled opening track leaves you wondering what kind of ride you're in for, but the content is actually surprisingly good. 'Go Let It Out' perhaps sums up our feelings in these times, 'Is it any wonder that princes and kings, Are clowns that caper in the sawdust rings?' The album has a darker brooding feel than most Oasis albums and the final track 'Roll It Over' is sublime, but for me the high point it when Noel launches into the guitar solo on 'Sunday Morning Call.'

Tonight -David Bowie (1984)

Certainly not an album that springs to mind as classic Bowie, in fact initially I thought 'What on earth has happened to him?' However repeated listens make it more palatable and you can even overlook the eighties instrumentation. 'Loving the Alien' is actually a very good song, and it's quite novel to hear him having a go at reggae as well as covering a Beach Boys classic, a feat few would attempt. Most of the songs were written by Iggy Pop, but eventually you do appreciate this as much as Let's Dance although 'Ziggy Stardust' it ain't! After this one fast forward to the furious rock of Tin Machine.

Well, that's nine albums that I've played in the last week or so. I could well be back with another set in ten days or so. A few singles I've played a lot in the last week include 'A Forest' by The Cure, David Bowie's 'Absolute Beginners' (make sure you get the full length version) and 'Someday My Prince Will Come' by Miles Davis (available as a nine-minute single track download album if you're not ready for the whole album).

And bearing in mind the kind of music I listen to, if you'd like to see any well-known albums reviewed feel free to post your suggestions in the comments. Keep spinning those decks!

STOP PRESS: The musical musings and humour continue in '2021: A Musical Odyssey' - now available in digital and paperback formats.

Desert Island Discs - Classical [Adam's Music Reviews #4]

I've had a go at this 'Desert Island Discs' lark a couple of times. Generally these posts of mine have had a bent towards classic rock, so I thought I'd have a go at my top classical pieces this time. The musical musings and humour continue in '2021: A Musical Odyssey' - now available in digital and paperback formats.

12) Tchaikovsky - Sleeping Beauty, Act 1: Pas D'Action

We open with a bit of drama. Tchaikovsky couldn't help but be melodic even at his most dramatic. This was a kind of a shoo-in because eleven was a weird number to have in a list. Upon listening again it seems criminal to place it in such a lowly position!

11) Wagner - Prelude to Tristan and Isolde

I first encountered this piece when watching Lars Von Trier's film 'Melancholia.' It has a romantic feel that builds interminably (similar to Ravel's Bolero which would be my 'number 13'), but perhaps like my number one choice, there is a sense of impending darkness beneath.

10) Mascagni - Intermezzo from Cavaleria Rusticana

We begin our top ten with a short three-and-a-half-minute piece which has a bitter-sweet quality about it - a kind of peacefulness coupled with a resigned sadness. I always imagine this as a great funeral piece, with the final notes drifting away as the curtain closes on somebody's life. Less dramatic types will remember it as the music from an advert that I can't quite recall!

9) Holst - The Planets

Yes, it's commercial, but who cares? The most famous movements are the dramatic war theme of Mars and the 'jollity' of Jupiter, which should bring to mind a little bit of pride (in an inclusive way of course) to all British folk. As the suite progresses and we reach the mysterious distant planets the pieces become more surreal. As an aside, for a true sense of the distance we are dealing with, the scale model of the solar system at Otford in Kent is well worth a visit.

8) Bach -Tocata and Fugue in D minor

Originally composed for a harpsichord, this piece is much better known as an organ piece, routinely heard at Halloween. From the dramatic opening to the virtuoso gymnastics (IMO) on the keys, the piece regularly interjects the dramatic long chords that we know and love. Bach's 'Air on the G String; is a close second for me, as well as for those with a penchant for cigars!

7) Beethoven - Symphony No 3 (Eroica)

This one opens with the famous melodic first movement (I prefer the full 17-minute version), which I once dubbed over a video I made of a country drive through Kent, thus it will forever bring to mind the B2067 for me! This is followed by a dramatic funeral march, a light third movement and a rousing finale. Initially composed to honour Napoleon, Beethoven changed his mind as the leader's lust for power became apparent. The 5th, 6th and 9th symphonies are also pretty essential.

6) Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 21 in C

The whole piece is very pleasant with plenty of contrasting moods, but it is the middle movement that steals the show with its sense of contentment and just a touch of decadence. I first took notice of this piece when I heard it at a friend's wedding, previously having known it as 'the music from the Yardley advert.' These days it almost makes my top five.

5) Rossini - The Thieving Magpie Overture

It is hard for me to disentangle this piece from the scenes of 'ultra-violence' in Stanley Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange,' but for me this only adds to the drama when hearing it. Following the opening drum roll, this is predominantly a cheerful melodic piece which repeatedly builds to a crescendo of dramatic full-orchestra chords, each time dying away, until the finale whips up the pace into a fitting conclusion. Ten minutes of good fun!

4) Beethoven - Piano Sonata No 14 (Moonlight)

The piece begins with the famous moody section during which it is easy to imagine moonlight reflecting on a lake with all its drama kept safely beneath. The middle section is a cheerful little ditty, before the finale repeats the melody of the first movement but this time at speed, with a sense of triumph but always with the brooding feel trying to break through.

3) Rossini - William Tell Overture

I am not familiar with the legend of William Tell beyond 'arrows and apples' but this is not necessary to appreciate this twelve-minute piece which seems to take us through the entire gamut of human emotions. It begins with a resigned sadness and builds to a storm-like passage of anger and turmoil which then gives way to a relaxed section which feels a bit like the sun coming out after the rain has passed. Then comes the triumphant finale which everybody will recognise and what seems like one of the longest and most dramatic conclusions you'll encounter - you can hear the end coming about a minute before it does!

2) Gershwin - Piano Concerto in F

The version I have features Daniel Blumenthal on piano, and with Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris, this may have even been the first classical album I appreciated, having plenty of time on my hands to listen to vinyl during short days at college. 'Piano concerto in F' always returns fatalistically to the same dramatic orchestral chord, with variations that include the bluesy second movement and a high-speed summary of all that went before in the third movement. A sense of the bustling positivity of the 1920s seems to crop up several times throughout the piece. It was the pop music of its day and much more besides.

1) Tchaikovsky - Romeo and Juliet

Sit back and enjoy twenty minutes of dramatic bliss. The piece begins slowly with a fatalistic feel, presaging the story's ultimate destiny. The romantic theme has graced many a film and TV programme, perhaps to the point of becoming a cliche, but heard in its context with the turmoil of the feuding Capulets and Montagues seeming to butt in on the romantic vibes, the piece becomes much more interesting. The romantic theme reasserts itself only to collapse into an almost funereal finale with a sense of resigned defeat. You'll struggle to find a more impassioned piece of music. For more Tchaikovsky I'm assuming you know the ballets inside out, so have a bash at symphonies number 4 and 6 for a glimpse into the man's tumultuous mind!

Like all music, classical music is a very subjective thing and I'm sure you'll have your own favourites and recommendations.