In the fall of 1964, folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel released their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3AM. Originally named Tom and Jerry, the Queens NY duo had scored a minor hit in the New York area several years before with “Hey School Girl” before they drifted apart. With the New York folk scene in full swing, the duo regrouped in the early 60s to start performing together again.
Though they would go on to great success, the debut is patchy at best. It is mix of folk standards (“Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream”/ “The Times They Are A-changin’”), gospel music (“Go Tell It On The Mountain”), and several original compositions written by Simon. The harmonies on the album are quite good but the duo bring little grit or soul to the traditional songs and instead come across as a squeaky-clean version of many of their peers.
Of the originals, “Bleecker Street” is a nice track about Greenwich Village. “He Was My Brother” is a good if earnest eulogy written by Simon about his friend Andrew Goodman who was killed in Mississippi at the hands of the KKK along with Michael Schwerner and James Chaney. The most famous song here is the original version of “Sounds of Silence”. Here the track appears backed by just an acoustic guitar, unadorned with the instrumentation later added by producer Tom Wilson that turned it into a folk-rock classic. Soon after the release, Simon moved to London but was later called back to NY by Garfunkel when the remixed version of “The Sounds of Silence” became a #1 smash hit. Unfortunately, there is little here that is essential to the Simon and Garfunkel story. The best thing is probably the album cover. Seen as old fashioned by some at the time, viewed through the Mad Men 60s prism, it is a classic shot of upstart young New Yorkers busking in the underground.
5/10
A year after their debut Please came out, Pet Shop Boys released a synth pop masterpiece with Actually. Retaining a similar album cover to their debut, this time around Neil Tennant is featured yawning on the but with what is contained inside, that reaction could not be further than from the truth. Side one is flawless. The spikey, dance track “One More Chance” opens up the album before second single “What Have I Done to Deserve This” comes in. Featuring 60s star Dusty Springfield, this #2 on both sides of the Atlantic became a radio staple throughout the mid-80s and fit in very well with other duets at the time from George Michael/Aretha Franklin, Michael Mcdonald/Patti Labelle, and the Dirty Dancing tracks.
Around the time of 2015’s Pageant Material, Texan Kacey Musgraves started to appear in places such as Pitchfork.com and Uncut magazine along with other newer country stars Margo Price and Sturgill Simpson. Musgraves followed that album up with a very well received Christmas album in 2016 before starting work on Golden Hour in 2017. Many songs from Golden Hour are sparked by new found love when she started dating then married Ruston Kelly, specifically first single “Butterflies”.
25 years ago The Breeders released their classic album, Last Splash featuring the iconic single “Cannonball” and “Divine Hammer”. That line-up included Kim and Kelley Deal on guitar along with Josephine Wiggs on bass and Jim Macpherson on drums. The band broke up soon after but came together for the 20-year anniversary tour. Sparked by that tour, the reformed band released All Nerve in earlier this year.
Following up on two well received EPs, Melbourne rockers Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever have now released their debut LP, Hope Downs. Preceded by dynamite single, “Talking Straight”, the album contains a spry 10 tracks that trend similar indie rock ground to one another. A great bassline propels “An Air Conditioned Man” whereas “Bellarine” ruminates that it “feels like rum is taking all my time…I never did my best”. “How Long” simply repeats the line “what are you running from” while your foot bounces up and down to the beat.
The Light Appears 