Your last listen

[CN211276]

Fish - Weltschmerz

[Firebug1]

Darktrhone : Transilvian hunger

[NSNO2021]

St Germain Tourist - vinyl double album. This is the style of music I have always loved, it's got a great groove and it's a bit different

[NSNO2021]

The Specials 'The Specials' (1979)



A logical side-step from the reggae emphasis of 'Sandanista' is the Ska movement that was closely allied to the Punk explosion of the late 70's.

Leading the pack were multi-racial Coventry group The Specials with their self-titled debut LP. To my shame, this is another great album that I have never listened to before.

Tight and infectious, a combination of dancehall fun and hard-hitting political commentary.

Why has it taken me so long .... ?

These things are always subjective - I was into the whole scene back in the day. I went on marches and attended a number of big picket gigs starting with the Eddie Shah/Today newspaper one which was on my doorstep followed by the Rupert Murdoch Wapping picket. The music was a big part of everything and the fusion of reggae/ska/punk etc was a great outlet for our collective frustration of the Thatcher years.
Those days have been and gone and to great degree so has my love of that music. I still listen occasionally to Steel Pulse and early Elvis Costello stuff but the other stuff just washes over me which I regret but it does
Ps I am happy to report I still detest Rupert "digger" Murdoch and all he stands for

[CN211276]

David Bowie - Hours

[NSNO2021]

Soft Machine 'Other Doors' (2023)



Superb new album from veteran Jazz-rock formation with farewell performances from drummer John Marshall and bassist Roy Babbington, both of whom have been in the band since the mid-70's.

John Etheridge's guitar leads the way through moods varying from Pink Floydian introspection to workouts worthy of the great Allan Holdsworth

Immaculately played and recorded this is a fine album to sit back and enjoy

[CN211276]

Dream Theatre - A view from the top of the world

[CN211276]

The Clash 'Sandanista' (1980)



The current trip down memory lane to revisit the early days of Punk has had me constantly stumbling over a band that I didn't like much back then - The Clash. The only album of theirs I ever had was the sprawling and incomprehensible triple-LP set 'Sandanista' which had a couple of good tracks but the sheer volume of styles and material just baffled me. Time to re-evaluate this monster.

A shiny, new remastered 2CD copy has arrived and gets into the playback system. A couple of listens have got me addictively hooked, it's irresistable! Dub effects swap with folky tunes, Rock n' Roll mangled into something totally different. A unique experience. Constantly I am reminded of German mutant-pop extremists CAN and 'Sandanista' shares that restlessness and urge for experimentation.

Again I realise that the music hasn't changed - but I have. The Clash were written off by me as a shambolic bunch of yobbo's and this album proves me totally wrong. This is an 'Artistic Statement', something for future generations to remember them by. 'London Calling' lifted them out of the anarchy-gutter and 'Combat Rock' cemented their place in the pop-charts but it is 'Sandanista' that proves that The Clash were truly great musicians.

Magnificent !

Gave this a play for the first time in many, many years. Some of it is rather good, but there is a lot of padding. Would have been better as a double album.

[NSNO2021]

Joe Cocker ~ Cocker on vinyl - twas ok
ZZ Top ~ Eliminator on vinyl ~ It's difficult not to conclude they are America' s equivalent of Status Quo
The Brothers Johnson ~ Blast on vinyl ~ this was the best recording of the 3 but still nothing to get excited by.

[Geoff_Burns]

It's still playing, but Solti and the Chicago Symphony smashing out Mahler's 3rd. A long-time favourite.