Playlist 6

Abiding infatuations with Folk Rock, electronic sounds and music from my youth still dominate my current listening.  This month’s highlights included two pink things, a prince and the next stage of human evolution.

‘Espers III’, Espers

This is not as intense and inward looking as the majestic ‘Espers II’ but not much else is really.  There’s more light and air in these songs and, if that one evoked candle-lit stone chambers; this is more like a stroll through woods and meadows.  As before, these slow to medium paced pieces feature gorgeous melancholic folk melodies of a dying fall and Meg Baird’s tender vocals combine beautifully with layers of predominantly acoustic instrumentation.

Whereas songs on ‘II’ tended to climax in passages of acid meltdown, here the psychedelic element comes from fuzzy, distorted electric guitar runs threaded throughout each piece.  Reviewers habitually liken contemporary Acid Folk bands to Fairport Convention and it’s probably fair to say that, amongst their peers, Espers come closest to the spirit of that band in its prime.

‘The Marble Downs’, Trembling Bells & Bonnie Prince Billy

I can live without Will Oldham’s work as BPB but have a lot of time for Alt. Folk, improvising song wranglers - Trembling Bells.  Actually, this recent collaboration makes loads of sense.  If Espers epitomise grace and poise, The Bells can tend more towards the ramshackle, uproarious and declamatory.  Their ‘more is more’ aesthetic easily absorbs Oldham’s tuneless warbling and portentousness into a big, barmy stew.  Lavinia Blackwall’s vocal chops challenge him to raise his game in their duets whilst Alex Neilson’s song writing reaches new levels of frankness and eccentricity.

Although TB generally work out of a North Country folk idiom, often referring to hymns and brass bands, this album confirms that their wider project is to discover just what song as a form can get away with.

‘Wonky’, Orbital

Orbital, - Still Illuminating The Dance Floor

It seems that, of any musical interest group, the electronic/dance music constituency are least tolerant of any act deemed behind the cutting edge of fashion.  After their 90s heyday, Orbital fell foul of the apparent Moore’s Law of accelerating novelty and diversifying sub-genres dominating the field; making this year’s enjoyable comeback album ‘Wonky’ a brave move.

Despite clear intentions to claim contemporary relevance, the album is misnamed.  There’s little of the genuine off-centre wonky aesthetic that held sway a couple of years ago and reworking old favourite ‘Satan’ into the dubstepping ‘Beelzedub’ feels like an attempt to jump the last bandwagon but one.  The manic Dancehall style female vocal on the title track also feels like mere bolt-on street cred.  What are present, however, are the things Orbital did so well originally.  ‘Wonky’ has plenty of their trademark lush, complex, rave-friendly techno constructed from entwined layers of rhythm and melody.  If not a new blueprint, it’s still a joy.  ‘New France’ is a trancey tonic for anyone who remembers that brief period when smiles ruled the dance floor.

‘Pink’, Four Tet

Prolific laptop maestro Keiran Hebden’s back catalogue includes work with the band Fridge and collaborations with Jazz drummer Steve Reid and Burial amongst others.  This latest bulletin under his solo Four Tet alias continues his recent move away from the hideously labelled ‘folktronic’ style toward a more dance-orientated sound.  Actually, it’s a compilation of twelve-inch releases from the last two years but works fine as an extended listen.  There is an increased functionality to these rhythms but Hebden can still make programmed music sound warmly hand crafted and incorporates plenty of his favourite chimes and woody percussion.  ‘Pinnacles’ is built around a jazz sample whilst a track entitled ‘128 Harps’ will come as no surprise to Four Tet connoisseurs.

‘Ringer EP’, Four Tet

Kieran Hebden, Aka Four Tet

Here’s where Kieran Hebden’s progression towards the dance floor first became apparent in 2008. These four tracks are his most Techno releases and possibly his best work.  With a cleaner, more polished sound than we’re used to; they refer to the ambient tradition, Kosmische sounds and glitchy minimalism by turns.  I have an impression of light dancing on water and moments of sheer limpid beauty whilst listening to them.

‘The Tomorrow People Theme’, Dudley Simpson

‘The Tomorrow People’ was a sort of ITV youth rival to ‘Doctor Who’ and a favourite show of my early teenage years.  The acting was terrible and the budget apparently very low, but I loved its weird futurism and 70s grooviness.  It had a great title sequence with a synthesized theme second only to The Doctor’s own in my view.  This kind of stuff tends to be appreciated by enthusiasts of the Ghost Box and Trunk labels and all things hauntological.


'Here's Little Richard', Little Richard

The Artist Still Known As Little Richard

You don’t need me to tell you this is great, do you?  Recorded in 1957, it includes ‘Tutti Frutti’ and ‘Long Tall Sally’ and proves that everything we ever really needed from Rock & Roll was there from the get-go.

‘Careful With That Axe Eugene’, Pink Floyd

We’re so used to associating Pink Floyd with huge spectacles, epic internal schisms and a license to print money, that it’s easy to forget how pioneering they once were, - and how high their standards.  This is what happens when middle class white boys get right out there.  There are various recorded incarnations of ‘CWTAE’ but I always return to a clip of them doing it live in 1973.  It’s full of atmospheric tension, Waters sounds downright psychotic and the old cigarette in the strings stunt and oversized Perspex drum kit just add to the magic.  That's a perfect title too.

‘Procol Harum’, Procol Harum

Procol Harum.  You Just Couldn't Get Away with This Today

Richard Wright’s keyboard work was a vital component of early Pink Floyd and hearing it reminded me of this other band of the period with a terrific organ sound.  It’s all over Procol Harum’s eponymous first album and, of course, ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’, - the debut single that made their name.  Although it’s totally over-played, I still love that particular anthem and it’s now packaged on the re-release of the ‘PH’, as is the equally stately ‘Homburg’.

That neither single was originally included speaks both of the band’s song writing confidence and the importance of stand-alone singles in the late 60s.  The album itself is full of good stuff and demonstrates that their range included bluesy guitar work, and concert party pastiche as well as the arty solemnity they’re usually remembered for.

‘Trio Sonatas For Organ’, J.S. Bach (Performed By Robert Quinney)

Johann Sebastian Pulls Out The Stops

After all that proggy organ work it seemed only right to revisit a possible source.  Certainly, Procol Harum openly constructed ‘AWSOP’ around a piece by Bach and many of their contemporaries had at least a modicum of classical training.  Bach’s organ pieces sometimes sound a bit flashy and bombastic but these are far more reflective.  I generally prefer Baroque music to that of the Classical or Romantic periods and while Bach is sometimes disparaged for imposing Equal Temperament and a sense of order on Western music, I always respond to the formal architecture of his compositions.