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Favourite Distant (Re)Discoveries of 2023

Posted on by Michael

5. Bob Dylan – Self Portrait (Album): Everything I had ever heard about Bob Dylan’s 1970 album, Self Portrait was how terrible it was.  It was with these ears I went to listen/review for the first time and was pleasantly surprised by the album. Not a lost classic by any means but songs like first track, “All the Tired Horses” and his unique cover of “The Boxer” keeps things interesting.  While his 60s albums need to be front and centre, this one can happily play in the background.

4. Madonna – Oh Father (Song): A song that I’ve liked since the early 90s, “Oh Father” is an odd track in Madonna’s career. Appearing on the Like a Prayer album, it is one of the worst performing singles of her career.  Regardless, the dramatic ballad is a show stopper of emotion that climaxes with the powerful line –  “Maybe someday/When I look back, I’ll be able to say/You didn’t mean to be cruel/Somebody hurt you too”.

3.  Liam Gallagher – Knebworth 22 (Album): It was a significant triumph for Liam Gallagher to headline the historic Knebworth Park over two nights in 2022. The album souvenir released a year later left out a few tracks but hit all the highlights.  The album plays like a greatest hits of Liam’s career with a few surprises like the inclusion of Oasis album track, “Roll It Over”.

2.  Ghost – Mary On A Cross (Song): This track from at 2019 was discovered through a youtube search after listening to the gang at Sea of Tranquility argue about the merits of Ghost. I’m sure it’s a track that metalheads can’t stand but I played this endlessly for months.  The catchy melody and clever lyrics turn the track into an anthem, one that gets amped up by the crowd in the youtube clip.

1. The Damned – Life Goes On (Song):  The end of 2022 was not the best time of my life but coming across this track by The Damned helped through many cold nights in early 2023. The song from 1982 tells the listener that “life’s a con” and the only answer is “to go on and on and on”.  Through the doom and gloom, the line “but always remember/this is the happiest day of your life” is a beacon of light.

Posted in Album Reviews

Mitski – The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We (2023)

Posted on by Michael

On the song, “The Deal”, New York’s Mitski’s voice swoops and swoons over an acoustic guitar during the first verse before the chorus brings the orchestral noise… drums sound like galloping wild horses towards the end. Like the album, there is a lot going on in that short burst of sound. Northern residents will know what it’s like for “The Frost” to look like dust on the landscape and shoveling the snow off the driveway like memories being swept away on “When Memories Snow”.

“Sometimes a drink feels like family” Mitski sings on first single “Bug Like An Angel”, a track where a choir bursts in to punctuate key points. “My Love Mine All Mine” is a love song to the love she feels inside. Country tinges songs like the aforementioned “The Frost” and on “Heaven” where “something set free is running through the night”. Mitski’s seventh studio album is a quiet album, raw at times, but one that is full of power and emotion. 

8.5/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Van Halen – Women and Children First (1980)

Posted on by Michael

Van Halen’s third album welcomed the band into the 80s. Once again produced by Ted Templeman, the band introduces a heavier sound. First track “And the Cradle Will Rock…” starts with an electric piano that sounds like a metallic guitar courtesy of Eddie Van Halen. A good rock song about the new metal generation of kids. The jungle drums and David Lee Roth making jungle noises opens “Everybody Wants Some!!”. The straightforward track about getting it on has been a long concert favourite.

The first half of the album is mostly about the kids, rock, and partying.  While the second half is mostly about that as well, a few different musical ideas start to appear. The punk/metal of “Loss of Control” sees Alex Van Halen doing double time on the bass drum. “Take Your Whiskey Home” and “Could This Be Magic” both turn in fine acoustic guitar moments. The former seeing a girl tell Diamond Dave, “well, I think that you’re headed for a whole lot of trouble” and the latter sounding like a good yet throwaway Doors song. 

The album ends with “In a Simple Rhyme” that starts as a 70s rock ballad before the rock comes in.  Nice vocals on the chorus make it a memorable album closer. Women and Children First sees Van Halen continue their party lyrics but the harder sounds is pushing the band forward.

7.5/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Paul Simon – Paul Simon (1972)

Posted on by Michael

Nearly two years to the day that the last Simon & Garfunkel album was released, the mega selling Bridge Over Troubled Water, Paul Simon returned with his second solo album.  The self titled album is based on acoustic singer-songwriter tracks but here Simon adds reggae touches and a couple blues based songs. The first two singles have pop elements with a nice flow. 

“Mother and Child Reunion” starts off the album on a track that reached the US #4 on the singles charts. Here Simon adds an island flair with some reggae flourishes on a track based on his pet dog dying.  Similarly, the enduring second single “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” is a pop track about a woman who calls the police as “what the mama saw, it was against the law” but the crime is never revealed.

“Everything Put Together Falls Apart” seems to reference drugs and the toll they can take. Later, the deep guitar sound of “Peace Like a River” sounds like CCR while he sings about what it would be like to live under martial law. “Duncan” is six verses of a story of a boy born to a fisherman before moving away, flutes between the verses add a nice touch.

A couple of songs refer to Simon’s then rocky marriage to his first wife, Peggy Harper. “Run That Body Down” sees Simon sing about going to see his therapist while on “Congratulations” he sings that “love will bring you down”.  Paul Simon’s first album since the dissolution of his highly successful duo is an eclectic record but rooted in acoustic sounds.  He leaves behind some of the bombast and skyscraper singing of the Garfunkel years, instead goes for breadth with various flourishes added to his sound. A very good early 70s album.

9/10