16-09-2019 FAVTRAX:MiX ~ 33 FAVOURiTE tracks 1981-1976

16-09-2019 FAVTRAX:MiX ~ 33 FAVOURiTE tracks 1981-1976  >>Peter Hammill, Tom Waits, Gil Scott-Heron, Frank Zappa, The Raincoats, Pere Ubu, Rory Gallagher, Peter Gabriel, The Stranglers, Van Der Graaf Generator, Soft Machine<<

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1981-1976

Founder of Van Der Graaf Generator, and solo artist who has covered styles ranging from progressive to lo-fi rock. 
Peter Hammill
Breakthrough (Peter Hammill) 4:01
Ophelia  (Peter Hammill) 3:15
Sitting Targets (Peter Hammill) 5:26
from Sitting Targets 1981
Peter Hammill again plays the same trick as he did in 1978-1979, when, after the strange, experimental The Future Now LP, came the more straightforward pH7. The same relationship exists between A Black Box and Sitting Targets. The latter LP, released in 1981, is often overlooked because of its cold, very early-'80s production, but it has yielded many classic songs that would grow out of their rather square studio arrangements and go on to provide fans with many memorable live moments. And once you get used to the sound (something a lot easier here than with Skin), Sitting Targets is actually a pretty strong record -- and the presence of drummer Guy Evans on most tracks is no stranger to that...

A neo-beatnik songwriter who grew weirder and wilder in the '80s, earning a cult following that only grew larger as the years passed. 
Tom Waits
Jersey Girl  (Tom Waits) 5:11
'Til the Money Runs Out (Tom Waits) 4:25
On the Nickel  (Tom Waits) 6:19
from Heartattack And Vine 1980
Heartattack and Vine is Tom Waits' seventh and final album for Asylum. As such, it's transitional. As demonstrated by its immediate predecessors, 1978's excellent Blue Valentine and 1977's Foreign Affairs, he was already messing with off-kilter rhythms even in the most conventionally structured blues and jazz songs, with nastier-sounding guitars -- he plays a particularly gnarly style of rhythm on this entire album. Five of these nine tracks are rooted in gutbucket blues with rock edges and primal R&B beats. By this time, his singing voice had deteriorated to a gasping-for-breath whiskey-and-cigarettes growl that could make words indecipherable from one another, but his jazzman-inspired phrasing more than compensated...  In sum, Heartattack and Vine reveals just how much Waits had grown during his tenure with Asylum. Though not perfect in sequencing -- the alternating juxtaposition of rowdy blues and heartworn ballads gets old -- almost every song stands on its own as a dusty gem.

Politically charged poet and singer of enrapturing 1970s jazz/R&B polemics, and a huge influence on countless hip-hop incendiaries. 
Gil Scott-Heron
You Can't Depend on the Train from Washington (Gil Scott-Heron) 4:47
Waiting for the Axe to Fall (Gil Scott-Heron) 4:48
The Klan (R. Havens) 4:48
from Real Eyes 1980
In 1980, Gil Scott-Heron had a nice opportunity to promote his Real Eyes album when he became the opening act on Stevie Wonder's Hotter Than July tour. On his own, Scott-Heron usually played small clubs, but opening for Wonder gave him the chance to perform in front of thousands of Wonder fans in major stadiums and sports arenas. Many of Wonder's white fans seemed to be unfamiliar with Scott-Heron (who had never had a major pop hit), while a lot of Wonder's black fans at least knew him for "The Bottle" and "Angel Dust" even if they hadn't bought a lot of his albums. Opening for all those Wonder fans certainly didn't hurt Scott-Heron's career, but it didn't make him a superstar either. While it's possible that some Wonder fans enjoyed Scott-Heron's opening sets enough to go out and purchase Real Eyes, most of the people who acquired this LP were already confirmed Scott-Heron fans. Unfortunately, Real Eyes lacked a hit single, although the material is excellent nonetheless...

The creator of radical rock during the '60s who later pursued even more adventurous avenues, ranging from jazz-rock to classical composition. 
Frank Zappa
Central Scrutinizer  (Frank Zappa) 3:28
Joe's Garage  (Frank Zappa) 6:09
Catholic Girls  (Frank Zappa) 4:19
from Joe's Garage Acts I, II & III 1979
Joe's Garage was originally released in 1979 in two separate parts; Act I came first, followed by a two-record set containing Acts II & III. Joe's Garage is generally regarded as one of Zappa's finest post-'60s conceptual works, a sprawling, satirical rock opera about a totalitarian future in which music is outlawed to control the population. The narrative is long, winding, and occasionally loses focus; it was improvised in a weekend, some of it around previously existing songs, but Zappa manages to make most of it hang together. Acts II & III give off much the same feel, as Zappa relies heavily on what he termed "xenochrony" -- previously recorded guitar solos transferred onto new, rhythmically different backing tracks to produce random musical coincidences. Such an approach is guaranteed to produce some slow moments as well, but critics latched onto the work more for its conceptual substance...

All-female British band whose D.I.Y. approach and experimental sound defied categorization, influencing everything from indie rock to twee pop.
The Raincoats
Fairytale in the Supermarket 3:01
Lola (Ray Davies) 4:03
from The Raincoats 1979
Picking the "best" Raincoats is more an intellectual exercise than it is a work of thoughtful criticism. So, to make it easy for the benighted, all three studio releases are absolutely essential. Their live cassette is wonderful, but not the ideal entry point. Better yet, start with their debut, a soaring, daring, avant-garde-influenced folk-punk record. Don't let the words "avant-garde" scare you off; the Raincoats are not harsh or unapproachable. In fact, this music, even at its most dissonant, is stunning and captivating. There's a great cover of the Kinks' "Lola" that's so skewed and obtuse, Ray Davies probably never dreamed it could sound this way. Reissued by Geffen on CD with extra tracks in 1995.

Influential art punk band whose experimental sound harnessed self-destructing melodies, scattershot rhythms, and industrial-strength dissonance.
Pere Ubu
Non-Alignment Pact  (Tom Herman / Scott Krauss / Tony Maimone / Allen Ravenstine / David Thomas / Pere Ubu) 3:18
The Modern Dance (Tom Herman / Scott Krauss / Tony Maimone / Allen Ravenstine / David Thomas / Pere Ubu) 3:28
Laughing (Tom Herman / Scott Krauss / Tony Maimone / Allen Ravenstine / David Thomas / Pere Ubu) 4:35
from The Modern Dance 1978
There isn't a Pere Ubu recording you can imagine living without. The Modern Dance remains the essential Ubu purchase (as does the follow-up, Dub Housing). For sure, Mercury had no idea what they had on their hands when they released this as part of their punk rock offshoot label Blank, but it remains a classic slice of art-punk. It announces itself quite boldly: the first sound you hear is a painfully high-pitched whine of feedback, but then Tom Herman's postmodern Chuck Berry riffing kicks off the brilliant "Non-Alignment Pact," and you soon realize that this is punk rock unlike any you've ever heard. David Thomas' caterwauling is funny and moving, Scott Krauss (drums) and Tony Maimone (bass) are one of the great unheralded rhythm sections in all of rock...

Skilled Irish blues-rock guitarist whose stripped-down brand of blues rock touched everyone who heard it.
Rory Gallagher
Shin Kicker (Rory Gallagher) 3:56
Brute Force & Ignorance (Rory Gallagher) 4:42
Fuel to the Fire (Rory Gallagher) 6:16
from Photo-Finish 1978
...Reverting back to a trio, Gallagher toughens up his sound and blazes through some robust blues rockers  like "Last of the Independents," "Shadow Play," and "Brute Force & Ignorance" (one of his best hard rock riffs) with nervy energy... Still, the album has a samey feel due to some of the songwriting not being quite up to snuff, and a few tracks, like the moody, slow-burning "Fuel to the Fire," stretched well past its breaking point to over six minutes...

Theatrical leader of '70s-era Genesis and a bona fide pop star by the '80s despite his experimental, often exotic, material.
Peter Gabriel
Moribund the Burgermeister  (Peter Gabriel) 4:20
Solsbury Hill  (Peter Gabriel) 4:21
Modern Love (Peter Gabriel) 3:38
from Peter Gabriel 1 1977
Peter Gabriel tells why he left Genesis in "Solsbury Hill," the key track on his 1977 solo debut. Majestically opening with an acoustic guitar, the song finds Gabriel's talents gelling, as the words and music feed off each other, turning into true poetry. It stands out dramatically on this record, not because the music doesn't work, but because it brilliantly illustrates why Gabriel had to fly on his own. Though this is undeniably the work of the same man behind The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, he's turned his artiness inward, making his music coiled, dense, vibrant. There is still some excess, naturally, yet it's the sound of a musician unleashed, finally able to bend the rules as he wishes. That means there are less atmospheric instrumental sections than there were on his last few records with Genesis, as the unhinged bizarreness in the arrangements, compositions, and productions...

Stars of Brit punk's class of 1976-1977 who garnered headlines for their sexist posturing, drug use, occasional arrests, and irresistible singles.The Stranglers formed as the Guildford Stranglers in the southern England village of Chiddingfold (near Guildford) in 1974, plowing a heavily Doors-influenced furrow through the local pub rock scene -- such as it was.
The Stranglers
I Feel Like a Wog (The Stranglers) 3:16
Something Better Change  (Jet Black / Jean-Jacques Burnel / Hugh Cornwell / Dave Greenfield) 3:34
No More Heroes  (Jet Black / Jean-Jacques Burnel / Hugh Cornwell / Dave Greenfield) 3:28
from No More Heroes 1977
Rattus Norvegicus, the Stranglers' first album (and first of two in 1977), was hardly a punk rock classic, but it outsold every other punk album and remains a pretty good chunk of art-punk. On the other hand, No More Heroes, recorded three months later and released in September 1977, is faster, nastier, and better. At this point the Stranglers were on top of their game, and the ferocity and anger that suffuses this record would never be repeated. Hugh Cornwell's testosterone level is very high, but it's still an enjoyable bit of noise that holds up better than anyone would have guessed at the time.

Art rock unit led by Peter Hammill, distinguished for a dynamic range rivaled only by King Crimson and for their surprising influence on British punk. An eye-opening trip to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury during the summer of 1967 inspired British-born drummer Chris Judge Smith to compose a list of possible names for the rock group he wished to form. Upon his return to Manchester University, he began performing with singer/songwriter Peter Hammill and keyboardist Nick Peame; employing one of the names from Judge Smith's list, the band dubbed itself Van der Graaf Generator (after a machine that creates static electricity), eventually earning an intense cult following as one of the era's preeminent art rock groups.
Van Der Graaf Generator
Pilgrims  (Peter Hammill / David Jackson) 7:11
Still Life (Peter Hammill) 7:24
La Rossa (Peter Hammill)
from Still Life 1976
VDGG's second step on the mid-'70s comeback trail saw Peter Hammill attempting to meld the introspective and the cosmic throughout... The theme of humane cooperation informs the opening "Pilgrims," while "La Rossa" is an epic tale of desire fulfilled (a story that would be concluded on Hammill's solo album, Over)...
User Ratings (270) = 5 stars says it all.
To a VdGG fan, this is their defining album, their perfect album.
This is the album where the lyrics, tunes, arrangements, and performance passion all come together at once, in harmony.

A pioneering Canterbury psychedelic group that initially featured Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers, later developing into an experimental jazz-rock unit.
Soft Machine
Aubade (Karl Jenkins) 1:51
Out of Season (Kevin Cronin / Karl Jenkins / Tom Kelly) 5:31
The Camden Tandem (John Etheridge / Jack Marshall) 2:01
Etika (John Etheridge) 2:20
from Softs 1976
At this point in the band's history, Soft Machine's lineup might raise the question of Theseus' paradox: if all the pieces of something are replaced, bit by bit over time, does the identity of the original something still remain? On Softs, Mike Ratledge, the only original bandmember present on Bundles, the group's preceding Harvest LP, was relegated to guest status... Otherwise, keyboard duties fell completely to Karl Jenkins, who joined the group prior to the recording of Six and had gradually taken over the conceptual reins as the Softs finished their tenure with Columbia and moved over to Harvest. On Softs more than ever before, Soft Machine was Jenkins' band; he composed fully seven of the LP's 11 tracks, making the album a vehicle for his own artistic conception. And yet, as Soft Machine albums go, this one is just fine, thank you. Jenkins had always put his own personal stamp on the material he wrote for the band, but he also retained elements of a Soft Machine style that emerged around the time Ratledge began penning LP side-long opuses on Third: a marriage of modalism and minimalism with memorable themes in layered counterpoint and an occasional backdrop of rippling, echoey overdubbed electric keyboards, giving the music a trippy, trance-inducing quality. Nimble keyboard and reed solos were also an important element of the Soft Machine sound, although, as the group entered its Harvest fusion period, they tended to take a back seat to the work of fleet-fingered electric guitarists, first Allan Holdsworth on Bundles and then John Etheridge here.With Etheridge proving that Holdsworth wasn't England's only blindingly fast fusion guitar riff-meister, and with new saxophonist Alan Wakeman being a somewhat heftier reedman than Jenkins, the Softs lineup was plenty strong enough in the soloing department, so Jenkins could concentrate on overdubbing an arsenal of keyboards to give the music its overall structure and mood. Meanwhile, the Roy Babbington (bass) and John Marshall (drums) rhythm-section team, intact since Seven, was as fine as ever, kicking the band into overdrive at the drop of a hi-hat. While Softs has plenty to satisfy the Canterbury and jazz-rock fusion fan, another stylistic element -- new age -- can be heard blowing in with the synthesized wind and strings...Softs is adventurous listening, yet accessible and engaging enough to have broad appeal, and its stylistic links to the past maintain Soft Machine's distinctive identity -- even if this particular machine is constructed of replacement parts.

Soft Machine with John Etheridge