On The Hi-Fi Part 62.5

Lou Reed (1972)/Rock N Roll Animal (1973) - Lou Reed

I've always been led to believe that Lou Reed's self-titled debut solo LP was a bunch of crap. Someone went so far as to say it was 'ineptly played.' So when this record finally got a spin in my presence I was pleasantly surprised. Lou's set free to become 70s Radio Reed. He does stormin versions of some old VU leftovers and some ace new tunes. This is another case of don't trust the rock-crit consensus. I think I like this album more than Reed's last Velvet Underground LP Loaded!

This year I was lucky enough to experience the opening of Rock N Roll Animal for the first time. Those familiar with the record know what I'm talking about. The album opens with this excellent powering guitar instrumental that eventually after 4 minutes effortlessly moves into a scintillating version of the riff to Sweet Jane. The crowd goes wild and so do I with chills goin up and down my spine. This is one of the greatest recorded rock moments. The rest of the record is just as exciting. Rock N Roll Animal is a metallic maelstrom of epic proportions. Reed even gets downright funky at the 5 and a half minute mark of a 10 minute version of the old Velvets tune Rock N Roll. This made me think that maybe it wasn't Orange Juice who were the first to funkify The Velvet Underground blueprint and that it was the main man himself who did so. The influence this record had can be heard right across the punk/post-punk milieu.

Down To The Silver Sea - GASP! 01LP

This is a promo for a new compilation LP on the new Goephonic sub label Geophonic Audio System Productions which is the label run by the dude from Moon Wiring Club. This fantastic video is a collage artwork in its own right.  Looks good. More here.

Daft Punk/Sherbet

I was reading the credits on Daft Punk's Random Access Memories the other day and noticed one D.Braithwaite as a co-writer of the last track Contact. I thought cool these guys really know their cheez. I thought they may have hired Daryl Braithwaite to write with them but it turns out they just sampled his former group Sherbet. By the time Sherbet made this track We Ride Tonight in 1982 they'd changed their name to The Sherbs to break into the US market. I assume the lolly co. had something to say about their old name. Anyway I don't even recall this being a hit in Australia but it was a hit in America. Aussie Rules fans take note the drummer is wearing a Geelong Football Club guernsey, trendy!

Daft Punk? Daft Cheez!

I always liked the tune below from 1988 which was a big hit. As The Days Go By was a comeback single for the (then) now solo Daryl Braithwaite.

Here's the original Sherbet from 1976 with their massive Antipodean and British hit Howzat!

*This track was used to incredible effect in a scene from the NZ movie Rain (2001).
** Also I once saw Daryl Braithwaite down the beach.

The Residents

You Gotta check out this laser disc of The Residents over at UbuWeb. It's called 20 Twisted Questions 1972-1991. It's an hour of great Residents shenanigans.

2013???

While still kinda waiting for 2013 to happen I'm going back through some old and some not so old music. 2013 isn't even throwing up many good archival releases. The only ones I've come across are Atomic Forrest's Obsession on Now Again (but the date on that says 2011) and a couple from Strut Records (I'm still waiting for their arrival in the post). Apart from those Cairo Liberation Front mixes (I've got 3 check Soundcloud for them) good mixtapes are also few and far between. The first six months of 2013 have got to be the thinnest musical times since oh I don't know 2004, 1944 or take your pick of history's lame musical years. It can't be as bad as it seems can it?

On The Hi-Fi Part 62

sunshine Superman (1966)

Mellow Yellow (1967) 

Totally diggin these 2 LPs (and on the lookout for those that followed). Why was he so maligned I wonder? Sure he wrote some naff lyrics but it's not like The Beatles, Incredible String Band or Nick Drake were immune to to this. Donovan was still being derided in the late 80s, I recall, in the pages of Melody Maker. He was psych's whipping boy in much the same way The Clash were punk's (I guess someone has to take the heat). This is some of the best 60s production this side of The Doors catalogue. Sunshine Superman's got funky psych-pop, sumptuous medieval vibes and meandering folk jams swathed in sitar. While Mellow Yellow's more of a stripped back folk pop vibe tinged with jazz and blues.

Clube De Esquina (1972) - Milton Nascimento & Lo Borges

I'd seen this record cover a million times before in record shops but didn't realise until now that it was a hidden gem hiding in plain sight (thank you interweb). Clube De Esquina is without doubt some of the most beautiful music ever recorded. Bossa nova, samba & South American folk are mixed with rock, orchestral arrangements, heavenly harmonies and drenched in reverb. It's all created by a group of musicians who all lived together in a house for six months, Trout Mask Replica stylee, at the beach before recording this classic.

Stuff On The Interweb

There's been heaps of good stuff over at blog to the oldskool including this mini mix from junglistz Foul Play and this 20 minute documentary on Gabber. This is quite bizarre and a little bit scary. It's a portal into a very specific time and place. Check out some of the most mental dancing from the 90s! It's funny now how tame and normal a lot of gabba now sounds. I'm in the 90s now.

Here's an excellent interview with Julian House the dude from the GhostBox label and man behind The Focus Group over at The Quietus. Here's an old bit on Julian from 2006 at K-Punk. Over at bandcamp there is a 19 minute track from The Children Of Alice, a trio made up of House and 2 members of Broadcast, called The Harbinger Of Spring which is well worth your 3 quid!

I only just discovered this Moon Wiring Club Mix Midnight In Europe over at NightVision here which is a bit different than MWCs usual mixes. This mix is of 90s ambient post rave electronica and includes Woob, Baby Ford, LFO, Biosphere, Luke Slater and many more. I'm in the 90s now in a chill-out room. Do they still have those?

Visions

Whilst convalescing after another operation my mind has been relatively inactive er... thanks painkillerz!  I did however manage to watch some stuff in a very passive/pleaz distract me kind of way. I started watching the drama Hell On Wheels which I was hoping would be half as good as Deadwood. The period detail in the sets and costumes is incredible so it was a bit of a shame that they couldn't pay the same attention to the script. I finally had to stop watching it as they were using modern terms and language that were just too jarring. With Deadwood as the benchmark for any kind of ye olde American type of show there is a lot to live up to and Hell On Wheels just didn't cut it.

I watched The Art Of Punk-Black Flag-Art & Music which is a mini 22 minute documentary on Raymond Pettibon the logo and artwork illustrator for Black Flag the LA punk band.  It turns out his simple yet effective Black Flag logo is now the most popular tattoo design in America. Pettibon is a character and his hatred towards certain members of the band definitely endears him to viewers who may think Black Flag's music is a little naff ie. me for the most part. This is a totally recommended untold story of popular culture. There are apparently two more to come in this series, one on The Dead Kennedy's and the other on Crass. I look forward to those.

Raymond Pettibon was so punk he hated Black Flag

Leader Of The Pack-The Shangri-Las

I read somewhere that Billy Joel played piano on The Shangri-Las Leader Of The Pack. A fabulous trivia fact that sounds too good to be true. Check out this video that turns out to be quite comical as The Leader Of The Pack turns up on his motor bike to be sung to by Mary Weiss.

Is this the best girl group song ever?

Ooga Boogas

At A Nice Price!

If like me you've been unable to track down Ooga Boogas self-titled LP from earlier this year no need to fear here it is in digital format at bandcamp. Along with the aforementioned LP you also get their first record Romance & Adventure from 2008 plus the As & Bs of their 2 7's all for the low price of $5. Do yourself a favour. The Ooga Boogas LP introduces keyboards and some very funky (I guess they always had a good sense of rhythm) elements to their sound. You gotta love an album that mentions Big Lizzie. Not only that they have dreams of getting Big Lizzie rolling again on the tune Archie & Me. 

*More here on Big Lizzie

Dolphins-Tim Buckley

Who needs words? Well one will do: Sublime.