Wow And Flutter

Long and short pieces on music you should listen to; audio gear; and pop culture.

Month: June 2021

Review Time! More Record Store Day Part 1 releases

June 30, 2021 /

As I write this on the East Coast, it’s NINETY FOUR degrees. At 8:30PM. Yikes, stay cool people, by uncorking some reviews of even more finds from the first 2021 RSD:

Buzzcocks – A Different Compilation (Cherry Red Records)

(Cherry Red Records)

This two-disc (pink vinyl, poly-lined sleeves) collection of the Buzzcocks’ finest – and best known – songs is kind of the flipside of the Al Green RSD disc.  It’s a repress of a 2011 release from the band, where they absolutely blister through these songs in the studio as if they were playing them in a live set.  From that perspective the record succeeds, since probably none of you ever got to see them play live, and this is (was, RIP Pete Shelley) a great band.  But it’s inessential from the viewpoint of anyone who already has Singles Going Steady or A Different Kind Of Tension.  Those songs and performances are already perfect, and these renditions don’t really give you any different angle on the originals.  This is a very fine record, but only for the completists.

Lee Perry – Roast Fish Collie Weed & Corn Bread (VP/17 North)

(VP/17 North)

A thoughtful remaster (on nicely pressed clear red vinyl) of a 1978 release from the iconic reggae producer/writer/singer/everything-er.  Lee Perry’s hands were on everything in Kingston during the ascent of reggae, but to many he’s still not as nearly well-known as he should be.  One reason may be his production style, which is in full freak-flag mode on this release.  He throws in a kitchen sink of effects, from mooing cows (seriously) to … crying babies?  I don’t know, I can’t identify half of this stuff.  But the material is up to the challenge, and the songscape is creates is dense, but rich with detail that reveals itself on repeated listens. 

Record Store Day Part 1 releases, part 2

June 18, 2021 /

Happy Friday, everyone.  I hope you’ve had a happy and healthy week.  Here in Massachusetts, we’re in a very good place for the time being (and hopefully much longer than that), but other parts of the country (never mind the world) are not as fortunate.  So think of them; and if you can do something about it, do something about it.   

Let’s listen to some more finds from the first 2021 RSD: 

Al Green – Give Me More Love: The Orchestral Greatest Hits (Hi/Fat Possum) 

(Hi/Fat Possum) 

Winner of the first annual Wow And Flutter “Least Essential RSD Release.”  Al Green’s Hi recordings are legendary and essential American music, equal in stature to any of the great American vocalists.  Now, I’m not one to say a recording can NEVER be improved – look at what Giles Martin has been able to do with the Beatles remasters.  But taking Willie Mitchell’s perfect production, overlaying strings over it AND de-emphasizing the original instrumental work subverts one of the great beauties of the original recordings, which is the SPACE, or ‘holes’ that exists in those arrangements, that let Reverend Al’s delivery breathe.  To boot, a crappy paper inner sleeve is included.  It’s on pink vinyl, if you find that important.  Give Me Less. 

Donny Hathaway – Live (Atco/Rhino) 

(Atco/Rhino) 

This is a storied live album that regularly makes its way into lists of “best live albums.”  I don’t know if it makes my top 5, but it’s a wonderful, soulful set.  Hathaway, who was taken from us too soon at age 33, shows his estimable skills and beautiful voice in this VERY live set recorded at the Troubadour in Hollywood, and the Bitter End in the Village.  It sounds almost like a very, very good audience taper recorded it – you can almost smell the smoke and whiskey.  (This is not a complaint.)  Made up of mostly – well-chosen – covers and originals like his classic The Ghetto, the rapturous audience has every right to be rapturous.  John Lennon’s Jealous Guy is a highlight.  And the band COOKS, notably on the closer Voices Inside (Everything is Everything.)  Another carefully made Rhino reissue – wonderful gatefold jacket and a proper poly-lined inner sleeve.  

Toots and the Maytals – Funky Kingston (Island) 

(Island) 

Another classic, the definitive reggae album.  Yes, more than anything by any of the Wailers, or The Harder They Come.  Aside from the fancy white/blue split vinyl pressing, nothing fancy here packaging-wise (and yet another shitty paper sleeve!)  This is not remastered, but it’s a decent pressing, though nothing special.  At the end of the day though, it’s just fabulous and uplifting reggae.  If you don’t own this yet, please fix that immediately. 

Review Time! Record Store Day Part 1 releases, part 1

June 15, 2021 /

Fontaines D.C. – Live At Kilmainham Gaol (Partisan, 2021)

(Partisan/Knitting Factory Records)

Live recording/no audience for this July 2020 COVID lockdown session at this deeply historic site (I’ve been there, it’s a moving and amazing place you should visit if you are ever in Dublin.)  The jail (gaol) interior is all high ceilings, metal and stone, and you can really hear the reverb in this recording, where the band TEARS through ten songs from Dogrel and A Hero’s Death (including the great title track from the latter.)  You should get those albums too, but if you’re able to find this disc, snag it – it’s an excellent introduction to this very fine bunch of punks.  Great (180g) vinyl quality and packaging (one of the better made gatefolds I’ve seen.)  Plus: a poster for the dorm room wall!

Echo and the Bunnymen – Live In Liverpool (Cooking Vinyl/Demon UK Import)

(Cooking Vinyl/Demon)

This is a first-time-to-vinyl reissue of a 2001 performance at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts – “LIPA” for you acronym fans.  The band is in very, very, fine form here, running through not just the hits (including The Killing Moon, simply one of the finest songs ever written) but fine lesser-known songs like King of Kings.  The arrangements are muted, taking on an “Unplugged” vibe, but the different perspective suits the songs well – with the exception of Killing Moon, which sounds on the tinkly side – that song needs to go big.  EXCELLENT two-disc vinyl pressing on clear vinyl.

Kenny Dorham – quiet kenny (New Jazz/Craft Recordings)

(Craft Recordings)

Craft Recordings has been firmly establishing itself as the go-to label for high-quality reissues.  Their recent introduction of their “Small Batch” one-step pressing series, kicking off with John Coltrane’s Lush Life put them right in the mix with Mobile Fidelity, Speakers Corner, and Chad Kassem’s Analogue Productions.  This fine 1959 disc on the New Jazz label (a Prestige predecessor) is no exception.  The music is exceptional (Dorham is backed by a murderer’s row of Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers and Arthur Taylor) and the mastering, by the peerless Kevin Gray from the original mono tapes, is fab also.  The disc has the usual RTI quality – it’s a drop-dead quiet pressing, and the sleeve is a properly heavy cardboard with a poly inner sleeve.  If you can still find this disc (Craft only pressed 2500 copies), snap it up; it’s a gem.

“Good music is good no matter what kind of music it is.”  – Miles Davis

 

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