This is stunning. It captures the shift from soul to funk, without ever becoming guilty of falling into all the blaxploitation cliches. At the centre of this is the bass, which holds it all together. The sax solos, harmonicas, and even the stretched out instrumentals - it’s music for music sake. We need more uplifting albums like this for our times. SAULT currently fill the gap, but I could do without all the God stuff.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Thisis raising a much needed smile this morning, the Gay Jamaica Independence Time compilation. It was a heads up first thing from R. He’s very good at sourcing these ska and blue beat albums. From what I can gather, Arthur Duke Reid is involved in the production of all the tracks. There’s a some familiar early riddims that would later surface as reggae staple songs. It was released recently on Cherry Red. Keep smiling. Yep.
Short and sweet. Just the blast I needed to kick start the morning. Look a little deeper beyond all the dumb ass punk attitude and there’s a little more going off here. Musically, Minor Threat are very good at what they do. They understand the genre and its limitations, but push it a little further. Sounding DIY, but playing with skill - it’s a tricky feat to achieve. Impressive.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐
This sounded far too manufactured and false. Sure, I hear your social concerns. But it’s hardly What’s Going On, sung from the heart. The Jam and Lewis production never fails, no matter the artist. But I wanted a little more soul and meaning. I wanted authenticity, and not album sales.
⭐ ⭐
It’s been FORTY THREE years since the magic of Into Battle with the Art of Noise has been banging around in my head. Forty three chuffing years. Blimey. And now I’ve finally got a copy on CD.
I still proudly own the cassette EP that I first bought from Selectadisc back in the Fair City in 1983. It was the first official release on ZTT. I have vague memories of seeing a video on The Tube the night before, and taking a punt.
That cassette has long since been knackered and worn out. I rinsed it to death on an old Walkman whilst carrying out a paper round for a year or so. I remember it being such a cinematic sound as I walked around the family village, shoving some free sheet shit through the letterboxes as the light faded.
The CD that landed this morning contains the glorious 23 minutes of the original EP, plus 17 other tracks to stretch out the release. The beats still sound industrial, yet somehow soulful. Moments in Love remains LUSH.
Atomizer is a very rhythmic album, and not the clusterfuck of noise that I was expecting. It even sounds a little like Nu Rave, some twenty years too early. I swear I heard some bagpipes. Big Black had some soul. They just didn’t want you to know it.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐
This sounds like a diluted version of that horrid rock / rap crossover. Not that there’s any rap on it, but you get the point. It’s Lenny Kravitz outtakes, with all the original soul and energy sucked out with a clinical production style.
⭐ ⭐
There’s an awful lot of waffle on this album. Indian Sunset in particular had me losing the plot. It’s partially saved by the delights such as Tiny Dancer. This is why punk needed to happen.
⭐ ⭐
Uncle Joe’s 001 double CD. It’s a collection released after his death, capturing various bit and pieces across his pre and post Clash career. It stretches all the way from the early 101ers through to his final Streetcore album. There’s twelve unreleased tracks on there, with the usual disclaimer that demos are demos. I still find it impossible not to listen to the early pub rock of Keys to Your Hear without keeping my feet still. Oh how we miss him.
When I want dumb ass rock ‘n’ roll I turn to The Ramones. I’m finding that I want dumb ass rock ‘n’ roll more and more as life gets ever complex. This is the sound of a band learning how to play their instruments. They never really mastered this, but that’s not the point. It’s all about the attitude. It’s not Year Zero punk, either. There are some glam hangovers to be found in the guitar riffs. It could easily be a bastard version of Mick Ronson cutting out the chunky chords. This album makes me want to wear back leather for the rest of my life.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐
