Sunday Funnies - "Benediction" (1972)

This is an album I just found the other week, in one of Uppsalas stores for used records. A find that made me very happy! The price of 7$ made me even happier. I bought it without a doubt. Some faithful readers might remember one of this blog's first posts that was on Sunday Funnies debut album from 1971. Benediction was their second, and last, LP. I knew about this record through the internet but I had never seen it IRL, so it was a big event to find it.

Sunday Funnies originated from Detroit and was Richard Fidge (song), Ronald Aiken (guitar), Richard Kosinski (keyboard) and Richard Mitchell (drums). Wow, three Richards and a Ron! My first impression is that their first album is better then the second one, but I haven't owned Benediction for a long time and records sometimes have a tendency to grow on you. The label is Rare Earth which was a sub label of Motown, and focused on all-white bands.

Side A is a pretty funky creation where the band and the singer hits it hard in every song. The singer has a really raspy voice which makes me want to clear my throat. I guess it's Richard Fidge who sings on these songs, on the backside of the album cover it says that Aiken and Kosinski also do some singing, so I won't make any promises on who sings on what song. On some songs you clearly hear that someone else than the raspy-voice man is singing, the singing is done much more softly on these and often in harmonies. I like these better.
Compared with their first album side A of Benediction is more up-tempo and funky. I was somewhat disappointed in this since I like the first album's more calm and beautiful songs.

Side B gives the listener a new experience since the songs are totally different from side A. The soul/funk is almost gone and it sounds more like their first album. That's good. The songs a more beautiful, a little more complex and more interesting to listen to compared to the "simpler" funk on side A. The opening track Reach Out I'll Be There is the only song on the album that's not written by Kosinski-Aiken, instead Holland-Dozier-Holland are named as writers. It's less feeling of gospel on Benediction compared with their first album, even though a Christianity might be hinted here and there. The record's last words, and therefore Sunday Funnies last words to the world, are: 'Oh, dear God'. What do you say about that?

A difference compared to their first album is that strings are used on some songs on Benediction. Tom Baird is given the credit for arranging these and also some horns. This gives a certain feeling to these songs since string arrangements affects the sound quite a lot. Suddenly it sounds more produced, more professionell and the smell of th 70s becomes stronger. This can be good or bad depending on taste. Personally, my dominating feeling was surprise since it sounds different from the Sunday Funnies I've gotten used to earlier.
But overall you still recognize the Sunday Funnies sound. The electric organ is a important part in this since it's there in almost all the songs and plays an important role. The raspy voice and the bass playing are also parts that makes you recognize Sunday Funnies. No doubt it's them on Benediction.

It can be mentioned that Andrew Loog Oldham is the producer of the album, yes, the same man who was the manager of Rolling Stones in the 60s. Another, less amusing, curiosity is that the drummer Richard Mitchell ended up as a homeless and died in a halfway house in Detroit in the 90s. Richard Kosinski on the other hand contributed to albums with Aretha Frankling, Bonnie Riatt and The Temptations. He also created music for Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw and the Hanna-Barbera series Gravedale High.

In summary, Benediction is no doubt worth buying, at least for the make-me-happy price of 7$. In my world the B-side is the highlight of the album. Finally I want to mention the cover of the album. An angel with black wings, sitting on a motorcycle wearing two bandoleers in front of a mountain is alone worth 7$. On top of that she wears boots that goes all the way up to her thighs. Unbeatable.

Tracklist
Side A
1. Get Funky 3:52
2. Double Grace 3:36
3. Two Halves of a Whole 4:40
4. Keep on Truckin' 4:48
5. Rock Me Lord, Friends Indeed 6:04

Side B
1. Reach Out I'll Be There 3:28
2. We're All On The Same Side Of the Fence 4:44
3. Power & the Glory 2:44
4. Brother John 4:38
5. The Pillow 5:38

I only found this short clip, someone else might be luckier...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
A beautiful christmas song with Kate Bush is my gift to you (yes, I've got it on vinyl, a 45).

Kate Bush - "50 Words for Snow" (2011)

A new album release by Kate Bush is something of a world event, that she releases two albums in the same year is almost unique (it happened in 1978, too). Earlier this year she released Director's Cut, which contained a number of re-recordings of earlier songs. 50 Words For Snow is the first album since Aerial (2005) with new material from Kate, a release rate that we have become accustomed to in the past 20 years from our lady. A new album is therefore a special moment for a Kate fan.

I had pre-ordered the album and received it a few weeks ago. You've got to admit that Amazon packages their vinyl albums well, the size of the box was a number of sizes larger than the album itself, to say the least. It's a special feeling to hold a new vinyl record in your hands, something that perhaps is most comparable to holding a newborn baby in your arms for the first time. You are compassionate careful, afraid to drop the precious cargo to the floor. Your eyes may fill with tears and pride fills the body. One can hardly believe how beautiful the item is laying in your hands. The moment has a magic about it and you understand that this is a moment you will remember as an old man.
The cover of 50 Words ... glimmered so beautiful, untouched as it was. That special scent of "new" reached the nose and the brain, I opened the gate-fold cover, and thought that this must be among the most beautiful albums in my collection. Just as we usually think about our newborn children, how ugly as they may be.

The album is released on Kate's own label Fish People. It is her second album on this label and her tenth studio album overall. When it got a fifth place in England's charts, she became the first female artist ever to have had an album at a top five position in each of the last five decades (1970s to 2010s). This could make you believe that Kate is a very old woman, but she is actually only 53.

On vinyl, the record is a double album. It's around 65 minutes long and consists of seven songs. As the title suggests the theme for most of the music is snow, in some way. When I first heard the opening song Snowflake I spontaneously thought Kate's voice sounded strange. Had she become ill? But when I quickly looked in the album information, I realized that it was not Kate singing. That surprised me as I have no memory of any other Kate song where someone else than herself does the singing. It also made ​​me surprised that the woman who was singing was called Albert, but I thought perhaps this could happen in England. Then the truth came to me, this was Kate's son Albert who still has a relatively high voice. It's easier to accept that Kate lets her son sing a song than if she would have invited a singer from outside. Kate sings the chorus in this song which is about a snowflake's descend through the air to finally land on a human.

The three songs on the first record (side A and B) is all very calm with a quiet atmosphere, here and there small notions of jazz can be heard. Kate's piano is the instrument responsible for most of the background. Steve Gadd on drums also makes a fine job and complements the soundscape in a perfectly balanced way. The songs are long but don't become boring, it all takes place at a comfortable pace. It's as if Kate takes her time and is not in any hurry, she lets the songs take the time they need. In long songs like these, it's often a vocal part and then some longer instrumental part and then maybe a song part again. On this album the songs have no such distinction, but the singing is there all the way, it's just that often there are a few extra beats non-singing between the lines of text. Often I found myself to believe that the next verse would start but instead there were four more beats of quiet piano. Then the singing started.

This provides a calmness to the first record that might be much needed in our more fast-paced world. You can't call the first record a party album, far from it, but it's definitely not depressing. It is difficult to compare Kate with other artists. Kate is Kate, and usually others are compared with her.

The other record (side C and D) opens up with the more fast-paced track Wild Man. Thereafter we actually hear Kate sing a duet with Elton John on the track Snowed in at Wheeler Street, also a little more fast-paced song. Kate singing a duet in this way is unusual, the only such earlier song I can think of is Don't Give Up, which she did with Peter Gabriel on his album So (1986). To invite another star to sing on a record sometimes feels like a cheap trick to boost sales, especially if one's own stardom may be waning. Knowing that Kate doesn't need to resort to such methods makes it work well here. I've never really liked Elton John, but in this song, I think he complements Kate in a very good way. The song is about a loving couple who have followed each other throughout history, but never gotten hand on each other.
The title track on the last side is the album's oddest song, in which a man lists 50 different words for snow eagerly cheered on by Kate ("C'mon man, you've got 44 to go"). A gentle ballad with Kate and her piano finishes the album. Although it's a bit higher tempo on sides C and D, it's still a relatively calm experience.

Overall, I think it's a very good album, actually one of Kate's best records. She has the strange ability to create albums where you no doubt recognize Kate from album to album, but as she always takes a step forward in her creations each album has its own unique character and are not similar with any other record she's made. In 50 Words for Snow she calmly paints a beautiful musical landscape helped by fine musicians, her voice which has matured with age and a perfect production. Listening to this album gives you a peaceful and harmonious moment. She undoubtedly takes new steps in her creativity and provides the listener with some new approaches, such as the earlier mentioned duets (with her son and Elton John), and overall the album is quite different from what she has done before. And yet, it sounds just as we expect Kate Bush to sound like. Album of the year 2011?

Tracklist
Side A
1. Snowflake
2. Lake Tahoe

Side B
1. Misty

Side C
1. Wild man
2. Snowed In At Wheeler Street

Side D
1. 50 Words For Snow
2. Among Angels

Cirrus Winery (2008)

This summer I visited Uppsala Progressive Festival which took place at the scene Parksnäckan (Uppsala). It was a pleasant afternoon and evening with a bunch of interesting bands. Another thing that was pleasant was that a lot of vinyl records was being sold there, of course most of them on the theme progressive music. Even more pleasant was that some of these records were the kind that you can’t find in stores (physical ones nor internet based), instead it was the kind of records that the band itself distributed and sold at different occasions, such as concerts or their own homepage.

For a number of reasons it’s fun to buy these kinds of records; you get an album in your collection that not many other people have, this makes you feel special. It’s fun to own an album that doesn’t exist in a lot of copies, it becomes somewhat a rarity. And I always have the hope that some day the band, or one member in the band, will become world famous, then a record like this will increase its economical value like a maniac and become hot stuff. A thoroughly cynical and economical investment, in other words.

This album has a of the above mentioned ingredients.

Cirrus Winery has a link to my hometown Uppsala since the band was created at Wiks Folkhögskola (Folkhögskola = a place where you usually live and participate in different courses / educations, often with a creative focus, a year or two) which is situated just outside Uppsala. A lot of young men and women have stayed there throughout the years and have taken part in more or less structured courses and lived more or less structured lives. Something tells me that alcohol and alternative drugs is sometimes an ingredient in the life at the Folkhögskola. Something tells me that the members of Cirrus Winery liked the life at the Folkhögskola. After the time at Wiks Folkhögskola the band members somewhat spread over the country but the band still remained, and if I understood it all correct the band members also became members in other bands without threatening the existence of CW.

The members of CW are Andreas Lindmark (keyboard), Mikael Lennholm (guitar, song, flute), David Svedmyr (bass, song, flute) and Thomas Johansson (drums, percussion, song).

I like this album. It’s progressive music that’s not very difficult, just more interesting and funnier then more mainstream music. The too complicated and technical musical creations are not there which is positive. In other words, CW has managed to find a good balance between the difficult and the easy-going. The songs are overall of good quality and I think they have had a lot of fun creating the album. And sure, it smells a lot of the 70s which I mean as a complement.

The weak side of the album are the passages with song. Usually I don’t have a problem with Swedish bands singing in English, but listening to this album I found myself wondering why they don’t sing in Swedish. I don’t think that the band members at the time at the recording were seeing themselves on the international scene, and the possibilities for the album to find its way outside the Swedish borders were probably quite small. Why not then sing in Swedish? One problem with them singing in Swedish is that the Swedish accent is heard quite clearly which bothers me, it makes it harder to take the music serious.

Another problem with the song is that I find the lyrics quite immature and kind of naively pretentious. There’s a potential to make them better and maybe if they would write them in Swedish they would find the words easier?

A third problem is that I don’t really like the singer’s voice and the position of the voice in the soundscape. The singer doesn’t really sing badly, it has more to do with me (as one usually says). Some of this can be blamed at the production and if one would remaster the album this could be done better. Today the recording, and especially the singing, sounds a little bit home made. The passages without singing are on the other hand really good and funny to listen to, and here I really enjoy the album. The passages without song are also a major part of the album.

In the text above the negative part of the records gets more room than the positive part. Therefore I’d like to make clear that this is an album I really like and recommend, especially for all the progressive fans out there. I think it’s possible to order it from there homepage:
http://cirruswinery.argh.se/

I’m happy that I bought this album, both concerning the music and the feeling the album gives me; to own something quite hard-to-find and what a special person I must be to do just that.

Tracklist

SideA

1. Swing it!
2. Junior High
3. I'm in Love
4. Octopus
5. The Rose and the Grave

Side B

1. Jag Äter en Apelsin Utan att Skala Den
2. Al Capone
3. Jimmys Jordgubbe
4. Hymn for the living