Prince - "Sign o' the Times" (1987)

Many great artists have left us recently, and of these Prince's depart must have been the most unexpected. The spontaneous feeling when I heard the news was "can this really be true?". If I felt more emotionally affected by Lemmy's death, Prince's death was a more surreal event, in that it really came from nowhere.

Prince has not been a big part of my musical life as an adult. In my teenage years his records were played more regularly, but over the years they have increasingly ended up in a retired state in the record shelf. When I now listened to Sign o' the Times, it was the first time in maybe 20 years.

Sign o' the Times is considered by many to be his greatest work. Initially it was supposed to be a triple album, but the record company slimmed it down to "only" a double. It was Prince's first album after he got rid of the backing band The Revolution. In various lists in magazines and the internet on the topic "Best album ever", "Best album of the '80s" and so on, Sign o' the Times is ranked very high. This was not reflected in the sales numbers, though, that couldn't be compared to the sales of e.g. Purple Rain, although the critics already then loved the album.

I have the greatest respect for the Prince as an artist and musician, there are not many in the industry who can match him in knowledge. But his music is not really my thing. Sign o' the Times is a rather eclectic album with many different styles - funk, psychedelia, pop, ballads. But it's often a quite dry and minimalist production that is not really to my taste. Also, I have never been a funk guy, and then it can be difficult to love Prince's music.

On some of the songs we hear his alter ego from this time, Camille, where his voice is sped up and therefore considerably brighter / more feminine. My personal favorite on the album is The Cross, perhaps the least Prince-ish song on the album, which I guess proves that this is not really my thing anymore. If you only going to have one Prince album, this could however be the record to own. Here you get the most of what Prince had to offer.


Tracklist

Side A
1. Sign o' the Times 4:57
2. Play in the Sunshine 5:05
3. Housquake 4:42
4. The Ballad of Dorothy Parker 4:01

Side B
1. It 5:09
2. Starfish and Coffee 2:50
3. Slow Love 4:22
4. Hot Thing 5:39
5. Forever in My Life 3:30

Side C
1. U Got the Look 3:47
2. If I Was Your Girlfriend 5:01
3. Strange Relationship 4:01
4. I Could Never Take the Place of Yout Man 6:29

Side D
1. The Cross 4:48
2. It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night 9:01
3. Adore 6:30

Motörhead - "Bad Magic" (2015)

I've never been a huge Motörhead fan, listening to the band is like being run over by a truck. But I've always been a Lemmy fan. I've seen him as one of the coolest persons in the music industry, and that under the somewhat unpolished surface there was a gentle and funny guy. Someone I can identify with. I have admired his ability to withstand the surrounding's expectations and just do his thing (although, of course, after a while this exactly becomes the expectations). As a man who is an obeying part in society's machinery, I wished that I too would have more of the ability of liberty and go my own way. Lemmy lived the life I would want to live. He was a hard tocking rebel with a kind heart.

So when Lemmy passed away about six months ago, I became more emotionally touched than usual when a celebrity you've never met dies. The world lost a really nice guy. So to somehow honor the memory of him, I immediately went out and bought Motörhead's latest and of course last studio album, their 22nd.

In my record collection there's a couple of other Motörhead albums and a number of Hawkwind records, the band Lemmy played in before he formed Motörhead. But as mentioned, I'm no great knower of their music, Generally the album received positive reviews when it was released, in which a thread was that it sounds like Motörhead always does. No greater variation between the 22 albums the band has done. Lemmy insisted that they didn't play metal, they played rock'n'roll. Hard rock'n'roll, I would say. It's fast, quite aggressively in my ears, and in punk circles Motörhead has always been a popular band,

One must respect bands that are trios. You can't hide behind someone else. Here Motörhead is in the fine company of bands like The Police and Rush. Lemmy has said that his distinctive bass playing comes from that he plays bass as if it's a guitar, since he started his musical career as a guitarist. I myself am an old hobby bassist, at the lowest level, and can only say I respect anyone who can play the bass and sing at the same time.

Lemmy's autobiography, White Line Fever, can be recommended, in which his adventurous life journey is described. Bad Magic is probably as good as any of Motörheads albums, but of course not everyone will appreciate the rock monster Motörhead. Inside the LP box, some good stuff await the owner. In addition to the (almost) mandatory mp3 download, you'll get the CD, a cool patch to sew on your jacket's shoulder, a back patch for the same jacket and finally a Bad Magic poster. Very appriciated. The last song on the album is a cover of the Stones Sympathy for the Devil, which became the final words of Lemmy and Motörhead.

Tracklist

Side A
1. Victory Or Die 3:09
2. Thunder & Lightning 3:05
3. Firestorm Hotel 3:34
4. Shoot Out All Of Your Lights 3:14
5. The Devil 2:53
6. Electricity 2:17
7. Evil Eye 2:20

Side B
1. Teach Them How To Bleed 3:11
2. The End 4:05
3. Tell Me Who To Kill 2:57
4. Choking On Your Screams 3:33
5. When The Sky Comes Looking For You 2:55
6. Sympathy For The Devil 5:18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-

Sufjan Stevens - "Carrie & Lowell" (2015)

When I was young and more often part of the night life, when the awaiting night was an adventure with an unknown end, when the feeling of freedom permeated life and led the way forward, then Sufjan Stevens latest album wouldn't have been played on the pre-party. Then you wanted to hear fast-paced, energetic music that gave the spirits momentum. Carrie & Lowell would not have found a place there.

Today I'm almost never out with the night crowds, I don't remember the last pre-party I was a part of. The phenomenon "pre-party" doesn't even exist in my life anymore. I think that's good and age appropriate, but I'm not sure. Have I lost something on the way?

Carrie & Lowell is a fairly low-key, sparsely arranged record, where a large part of the inspiration comes from Sufjan's mother's death, in 2012. With this as its main inspiration it's not surprising that the album is sad, quiet and beautiful. It allows me to get into a melancholy mood far from the young years' pre-parties. Yes, rather the opposite. I like the album. Many believe it's Sufjan's best and that it was the best album of 2015. I haven't heard enough albums from 2015, so I can't have an opinion, all I can say it's a really good record.

Sufjan had a complicated relationship with his mother. She suffered from mental disorders and a substance abuse, she abandoned him as a child and was a figure that only occasionally appeared and disappeared again in his life. It made her death a bit more complicated to relate to, I'm guessing. It's beautiful, fragile creations on the album, which fit well on a cloudy day, when you feel alone, you realize how you get older, and the earlier, more adventurous years increasingly fade to a memory. Ah, sweet melancholy.

So I can definitely recommend the album. Should I be somewhat critical, it may be that not a lot of variety is offered. The songs keep the same pace, the same sort of arrangements and convey the same mood. But that's OK, it makes you stay in a calmer mindstate.

As 20 years younger, I would also have liked this album. But then it had probably been played the day after, when the night, which always ended the same way - you went home alone, wondering what you did wrong - and in the morning you kept thinking about what you really wanted to do with your life. A question that is still unanswered, by the way.

Tracklist

Side A
1. Death with Dignity 3:59
2. Should Have Known Better 5:07
3. All of Me Wants All of You 3:41
4. Drawn to the Blood 3:18
5. Fourth of July 4:39

Side B
1. The Only Thing 4:44
2. Carrie & Lowell 3:14
3. Eugene 2:26
4. My Beloved John 5:04
5. No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross 2:40
6. Blue Bucket of Gold 4:43

Fairport Convention - "Liege & Lief" (1969)

Voted by the people as the most influential folk rock album ever, and is considered to be the start of the British folk rock scene (which of course can be argued). Can it be anything else than great? No, it can't. Liege & Lief is a really good album. Recorded just after the tragedy when drummer Martin Lamble and the guitarist Richard Thompson's girlfriend died in a traffic accident. New drummer in the band was Dave Mattacks, and violinist Dave Swarbrick had also been added. It was the third album the band recorded in 1969.

Liege & Lief is a mix of the band's original songs and traditional material, English and Celtic folk songs. and their own pieces go in the same spirit. Electrified English / Celtic folk may be a term that is suitable.The songs are often evocative and quite dark. The story of the fairy queen and Tam Lin is a good example, a seven minutes long fairytale drama with a happy ending, where the Devil himself is involved.

One thing that appeals to me most with the album is the singer Sandy Denny. She has an amazing voice. However, she left the band before the album was released to embark on further adventures. Unfortunately, she died already in 1978.

Sandy Denny was the one who was behind Fairport Convention's clearer focus on folk music on this album. Although she left the band, Fairport continued on this path and actually still remains on it. The record is highly recommended, one of my own favorites. I have a reissue, of course, to find an original release was a project I had for a long time but had finally to see me defeated.


Tracklist

Side A
1. Come All Ye 5:01
2. Reynardine 4:34
3. Coiled Groves 8:10
4. Farewell, Farewell 4:24

Side B
1. The Deserter 4:24
2. Medley: The Lark in the Morning / rakish Paddy / Foxhunters' Jig / Toss The Feathers 4:08
3. Tam Lin 7:13
8. Crazy Man Michael 4:38

Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra - "Nancy & Lee" (1968)

The duo's first album together, and what can you say? Of course it's good. Lee's deep voice combined with Nancy's more fragile voice, it can't become anything else than successful. They are in a sense each other's opposites, both in voice and appearance. But it works.

But if we study the album more carefully, not all is that great, to be honest. Lee on his own is generally a bit more interesting, more dark humor and more surprising compositions. Together with Nancy, it becomes a little too sugary sweet sometimes. Nancy & Lee has a number of those, such as You've Lost That Loving Feeling or Storybook Children. They are just too cheesy. The albums with both of them together, I think became more commercial products than Lee's solo production.

This, however, is by far outweight by the album's groovier songs, like the psychedelic classic Some Velvet Morning. This song alone makes the record worth buying. I read in an interview with Lee that he was impressed by the band during the recording of this song since they were able to play it straight through.  Lee thought this would be difficult as the song jumps from the verses' 4/4 time signature to the chorus' 3/4. No problem for the musicians. According to me, one of the psychedelic era's greatest compositions.

Another one of my favorites is Sundown, Sundown, with its mighty horn and string arrangements. It sounds better the higher volume you have. So far, no neighbors have complained. Other groovy and well known songs from the album the 60s connoiseur will know: Summer Wine, Sand and Ladybird.

Absolutely an album to recommend even though some of the songs drip with sugar sweetness. One can not say the sound is timeless, you'll absolutely hear that it was recorded almost 50 years ago. But I think that's pretty nice.


Tracklist

Side A
1. You've Lost That Lovin 'Feelin' 3:23
2. Elusive Dreams 3:12
3. Greenwich Village Folk Song Salesman 2:35
4. Summer Wine 3:39
5. Storybook Children 3:10

Side B
1. Sundown, Sundown 2:35
2. Jackson 2:46
3. Some Velvet Morning 3:45
4. Sand 3:41
5. Lady Bird 3:00
6. I've Been Down So Long (It Looks Like Up To Me) 2:49

United States of America (1968)

United States of America recorded one album, this eponymous piece from the politically turbulent year of 1968. A few months after the release, the band split up because of differing ideas about the band's future direction, this has surely helped the album achieve a somewhat mythical status. Personally, I for some years cherished the hope of finding this album used, an original from 1968, but none of Montreal's record shops could deliver. I guess I was naive, in the end I  bought a reissue.

The original came wrapped (as did my reissue)

The band's leader, Joe Byrd, leaned towards an avant-garde direction and wanted the group to deliver musical and political radicalism combined with performance art. Other members were Dorothy Moskowitz, Gordon Marron, Rand Forbes and Craig Woodson. The focus Byrd had might scare some people, but the music is not at all difficult. The album received OK reviews when it was released, but over the years people's opinion obviously has escalated, for now it's hailed in the most different contexts.

The music is like a mix of early Pink Floyd à la Barrett, Jefferson Airplane, The Moody Blues and maybe some Beatles. Most Jefferson Airplane, according to me. Maybe it's because Dorothy sings on many of the songs which creates some Grace Slick vibes.

The opening song, The American Metaphysical Circus is my favorite number, a song that would have fit well at A Piper at the Gates of Dawn. There are lots of electronic effects in this and in many of the other songs. This is not always great when it comes to music from the late 60's since the electronics wasn't so developed, sometimes it can sound a little too primitive, somewhat cheap. United States of America may touch at times at this, but generally I think the electronic effects contribute to make it fun to listen to the album. Sure, we hear that this is yesterday's technology, but it doesn't matter so much.

And I imagine they had fun when they made this record, lots of experimenting and the songs offer many different styles. It feels like the pop/rock music during that time still was largely unexplored land, and the bands were competing to find new paths. And record companies allowed them to experiment relatively freely. Those were the days.

A nice album, simply put. I might not sing along in the choirs that celebrate the record as a masterpiece, but it has absolutely its place in the collection and get a rating above average. A recommendation if you like the 60s music, preferably with a psychedelic touch.


Tracklist

Side A
1. The American Metaphysical Circus 4:55
2. Hard Coming Love 4:43
3. Cloud Song 3:18
4. The Garden of Earthly Delights 2:39
5. I Will not Leave My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar 3:52

Side B
1. Where Is Yesterday 3:07
2. Coming Down 2:40
3. Love Song For The Dead Che3: 25
4. Stranded In Time 1:50
5. The American Way of Love 6:

The Pleasures of the Royal Courts (1976)

Sometimes you have to break the old patterns - leave everything and start a new life somewhere else, singing loud in the grocery store or listen to music from the Middle Ages and to top it all, write a blog post about it.

Classical music has never been my thing, I've done tame attempts to learn to appreciate it, but have always failed. With "classical music" I reflexively mean music from the 1600s onwards - Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Vivaldi and the other guys. But you go back even further, the 11-, 12- and 1300s, well, then it suddenly becomes interesting. Medieval music. Music of knights. Music of thieves(?).

Perhaps it is that it's often simpler music than the rather complex orchestral pieces that were created later. Fewer instruments. Not a bunch of different parallel parts. Not an orchestra with 50 members. The simple suits me better. Moreover, there are quite cool instruments, different kinds of flutes and horns, small portable organs, simple drums, harp. And some vocals on that.

David Munrow, director

I really know nothing about the epoch from a musical point of view. The companies who released these kind of LPs probably knew that, as the back of the covers are filled with facts. If you have the energy to read it. Personally, I read it quite absentmindedly while I appreciate the music.

On this particular LP, The Early Music Consort of London plays, and the director is David Munrow, apparently a legendary figure in the niche. He tragically committed suicide the same year this album was released. On the album, there is early music from, amongst others, Spain, Italy, Germany and Burgundy, from the 12s to the 1500s. When this record is spinning on the turntable I disappear from the living room and find myself sitting by a long table in an old castle, eating wild boar with a sword, ready to be swung. And that you also often find these kind of albums for $ 1 doesn't make things worse.


Tracklist

Side A
1. The Courtly Art Of The Trouveres: 7:26
(A) Rondeau, Tant con je vivrai
(B) La sexte real estampie
(C) Ductia
(D) Quant je voy YVER
(E) Fines amouretes ai
(F) Souvent souspire mon the speaks
2. The Burgundian Court Of Philip The Good 9:31
(A) Lower Dance, Falling con misuras
(B) Ballade, Entre vous noviaux Maries
(C) Chanson, Vergine Bella
3. The German Court Of Emperor Maximilian 7:19
(A) Isbruck, ich muss dich lassen
(B) SpanyolerTancz And Hopper Dancz
(C) Nun wollt ih horen neue March '

Side B
1 The Italian Music of the Medici Court 10:17
(A) O fallace speranza
(B) Tua volsi esser semper mai
(C) E quando andarete al monte
(D) Zorzi
(E) Pavana into passe e mezzo
(F) de la saltarello Pavana
(G) La Manfrolina
(H) El Pomo de lo Pomaro
(I) La Rocha electricity Fuso
(J) Non e tempo
2. The Spanish Courts In The Early 16th Century 11:00
(A) primera y segunda Recercadas
(B) La tricotea Samartun
(C) Diferenciassobre 'La Dama le demanda'
(D) Rodrigo Martine
(E) Ay triste que vengo
(F) Pase electricity Agoa ma Julieta