Tag: The Beatles

Posted in Listed

20 Musical Musings – 2026 (Part 1)

Posted on by Michael

The Beatles’ Anthology 4 has not been met with the same rapturous praise that their recent expanded albums have received. Nonetheless, there are some delights to be found on the newest anthology addition that stretches from the band’s earliest recording days right up to 2022. A few highlights include “I’ve Just Seen A Face (Take 3)”, “All You Need Is Love (Rehearsal For BBC Broadcast)”, and “Baby, You’re a Rich Man (Takes 11 & 12)”.  Perhaps a bit inessential for some but it would take more than two hands to count highlights from the 2 disc set.

The two main songwriters from British Britpop/Shoegazers Lush have released very good albums in the past few years. Emma Anderson’s Pearlies + the Piroshka albums that Miki Berenyi has released. Early in 2025, Miki released Tripla under the Miki Berenyi Trio moniker. Excellent songs include “8th Deadly Sins” and the dreamy “Ubique”. These next generation of releases by the Lush ladies have been a joy.

The much acclaimed Big Thief has been one that I’ve struggled to get into.  I appreciate them more than really enjoyed their albums. That changed with last year’s solo album from singer Adrienne Lenker and continued with the band’s latest release, Double Infinity. Finally, their music clicked on an album that many others loved as well.  All this time it’s been me with the issue, not you.

While others have long since listened, I’m still working my way through the David Bowie box sets that have been released over the years. The boxes that collect all the official releases and group by certain eras has been a bit of a mixed bag at times but finally reaching his Berlin Years on the brilliant A New Career in a New Town (1977-1982) released in 2017 was a glorious listen. It’s been one where each new album listen made me excited for the next to hear the next one. A highwater mark in the legend’s career, this will be a set returned to again and again.

I ordered Kim Deal’s 2024 album from a local record store with normally fast shipping times but this one seemed to take ages, to the point of thinking I already had it in the collection when the call came that it had arrived. It took a minute to finally have in my hands but the impression of the album was immediate, Nobody Loves You More could have been released some time in the 90s and would not sound out of place with the great records from that period. Several decades later, Deal sounds as relevant as ever as she sings, “coming around is easy/coming down is rough”.

The world has genuinely been a scary place at times this year. War, bombs, rampant racism/antisemitism, random violence, drug abuse, homelessness, etc. I don’t make it out to as many local band shows as I used to but did attend the Death Cassette show at Winnipeg’s fantastic Blue Note Park venue. The punk rock energy was a cathartic release from all of the world’s turmoil. The beers were cold and the energy was electric. Punk rock lives, the kids are alright.

When walking through the hallways of high school in the late 80s/early 90s, sounds from the golden age of hip hop was regularly being blasted. Some albums I was fully onboard with and others passed me by.  One of those albums that got away from me was the classic 3 Feet High and Rising from Long Island, New York’s De La Soul.  Famously the disc has not been re-released in years due to original record label Tommy Boy not bothering to get clearances for the sample heavy tracks. That changed in 2023 when it finally saw the light of day again, in slightly altered form. Well worth the wait to finally hear daisy chain era tracks like “The Magic Number” and top 40 hit “Me Myself and I”, among the many.

I heard about the new Geese album when it released and knew it was getting some great reviews. I made the mistake of listening to the Sound Opinion podcast guys who completely trashed the experimental album.  So it sat in my playlist for ages before finally getting back around to it months later. The podcast guys got it all wrong – Getting Killed was a helluva album that was chaotic at times but also had the melodies and tunes to back it up.  My pick as album of the year – this one is a classic.

The last I had heard about Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires was from the excellent 2023 documentary Running With Our Eyes Closed. I hadn’t heard about their relationship since then and was sad to hear that they have gone their separate ways. Isbell’s newest album, Foxes in the Snow talks a lot about old and new relationships. Working with engineer/producer Gena Johnson, he put out the album that is heavy on acoustic guitar and personal matters. When he played the Winnipeg Folk Festival in July of this year, the acoustic guitar was put to the side several times so he could riff heavily with his band The 400 Unit.  One of the great concert moments of the year.

For those of us that hit the drinking age in the 90s, 2025 was a big year for nostalgia.  Suede released a terrific album as did their former tour partners, Manic Streat Preachers. It was their album, Critical Thinking that caught my attention. Never short on ear catching songs, “People Ruin Paintings”, “Brushstrokes Of A Reunion”, and “Decline and Fall” all held up through the year.

Posted in Album Reviews

The Beatles – Anthology 4 (2025)

Posted on by Michael

One of the most talked about musical events 30 years ago was The Beatles Anthology TV special that aired on ITV in the UK and ABC in the US. Subsequent to those TV shows, the band released three anthology albums, each containing two discs of rarities.  All these years later the band has remastered those discs and have also released the fourth version – Anthology 4.

The two disc Anthology 4 extends the entirety of the band’s releases.  Starting with “I Saw Her Standing There” from 1963 to the 2023 release of single “Now and Then”. In between is a mixbag of tracks. “Tell Me Why” starts with studio banter and a false start before the band bursts into the song from A Hard Day’s Night. A sweet sounding version of “If I Fell” follows before a stop in your tracks version of “I’ve Just Seen A Face” arrives a few songs later. Like stumbling into a folk bar one night and hearing a singer do a spirited take on the track, helps if that singer is Paul McCartney.

“In My Life” is a more stripped down take, nostalgic young man John Lennon with a lovely vocal. “Got To Get You Into My Life” is more rough and ready, leaving out the horns that get replaced with a gritty guitar. One of the compilation’s highlights is “Baby, You’re A Rich Man” that has John and Paul asking assistants for cokes and cannabis resin before launching into a loose version of the track that would later appear on The Magical Mystery Tour. The band sounds like they are having a blast as they repeatedly sing the chorus. In similar fashion, the instrumental version of George Harrison’s “Hey Bulldog” is another blast of joy, regardless of Lennon’s comments at the end of the recording.

An instrumental version of “The Fool On The Hill” is intriguing as is the strings, brass, and clarinet overdub take of “I Am The Walrus” with Lennon’s vocals bleeding into the mix. The instrumental strings on “Something” are quite lovely while “All You Need Is Love” is taken from a rehearsal for the BBC broadcast with the reporter describing the band’s recording techniques. The album closes with the band’s last recordings with Lennon’s vocals used as the basis of the tracks. The 2025 mix of “Real Love” has a bit of a Ringo Starr drum kick and for some, it’s nice to have a physical version of “Now and Then” rather than the overpriced single from a few years ago.

Critically the album has been both treasured and trashed, a feeling of scraping the bottom of the barrel has been noted. A significant number of the tracks have already been released on past expanded editions of individual albums making those songs inessential for those who have paid big prices to already own them.  Many of the songs talked about above are the same ones that other publications have zeroed in on as well, there is a bit of a consensus on what the goods are. While there are some inessential versions/takes of songs, there is a span of about 15 tracks in the middle of the collection that are sublime and a joy to listen to.  Perhaps inessential but a great bit of fun to have playing around the holidays, songs that are as ubiquitous as the Christmas carols being played every where else at this time of year.

8/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Paul and Linda McCartney – Ram (Archive Collection – 2CD Edition) (2012)

Posted on by Michael

Like his first post Beatles album, Ram credited to Paul and Linda McCartney, was not well received upon release. Retrospective reviews have been far kinder and in some quarters its considered something of a classic. John Lennon heard it differently, with a few of the songs credited as being digs at McCartney’s former bandmate including first track “Too Many People” and it’s line, “too many people preaching practices”.  With an echoey beginning and strong melody line, it’s a great opener.

“Ram On” is the same verse over and over again sung over a ukelele, it later appears as a reprise.  “Dear Boy” sees McCartney appreciating his love for Linda with sly digs at her ex on how he did not appreciate what he had, it’s also one of the most Beatles sounding tracks. Both “Heart Of The Country” and closer “The Back Seat Of My Car” are terrific, breezy bits of music with no shortage of melodies.

At nearly six minutes, “Long Haired Lady” sees Linda take co-lead on a track that gets better as it goes on, the line “love is long” is repeated many times over.  The highlight of the album is McCartney’s first solo #1 single in the US, “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”. Separate songs stitched together by engineer Eirik Wangberg, the clever technique recalls past Beatles glories like the second half song suite of Abbey Road.  It starts off as a dreamy track before getting more jaunty in the second half, it’s a remarkable slice of 70s pop rock. The entire album has a loose feel to it that really works, one where everything feels just fine.

The Archive Collection reissue from 2012 adds a further 8 songs to the original album including excellent first single post Beatles, “Another Day”.  Describing an ordinary day for the rest of us, it’s similar in style to some of his past songs and British singles from The Kinks and blur. Bluesy B-side “Oh Woman, Oh Why” has a terrific guitar riff before giving way to a few more tuneful shorter tracks and the harder rocking 8-minute “Rode All Night”.

Ram – 9/10

Extras Disc – 7.5/10

Posted in Listed

10 Favourite Songs of 2023

Posted on by Michael

10. Slowdive – Alife: A mix of singing between Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead, “Alife” was the last single released from Slowdive’s album, everything is alive. The ocean of guitar with buried vocals is a pop song from another dimension, one with a constant refrain of “two hard lives are hard lives with you”.  Love is in the air.

9. Lana Del Rey – A&W:  One of the most unique tracks in popular music in 2023 was “A&W” from Lana Del Rey.  Instead of hamburgers, the song instead refers to an “American Whore”.  A song of two halves, the track is an unusual mix of folk and trap music, two styles that have figured in her music throughout Del Rey’s career.

8. Belle and Sebastian – When We Were Very Young: Belle and Sebastian released another great record early in the year. Containing the classic Stuart Murdoch line, “I wish I could be content with the football scores”, “When We Were Very Young” is another B&S track for all the outsiders.

7. Emma Anderson – Clusters: From an album bathed in light and twinkling stars, last track “Clusters” from Emma Anderson is one of the best.  Her voice floats above the air with lines like, “all the pretty boys/all the pretty girls”, then when she sings “dodododo”, it’s impossible not to sing along.

6. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Save the World: Jason Isbell released one of the most powerful songs of living in America with “Save the World” about a school shooting.  Grappling with senseless violence is something virtually all of us deal with every week whether a personal story or one read in the paper.  Isbell’s track shows you’re not alone in trying to figure this out.

5. Yo La Tengo – Apology Letter: Not released as a single, one of the most memorable songs on the latest from Yo La Tengo is the song, “Apology Letter”.  Ira Kaplan sings the funny/sad line, “And then I got mad because you got mad/another one of my delightful quirks/what a jerk”.

4. Robert Forster – Tender Years: One of the highlights of the latest album from Robert Forster was his tribute to his wife, “Tender Years”.  The touching song is an easy going track lead by a strumming guitar and features the line, “I’m in a story with her/No, I can’t live without her”. Love is definitely in the air here. (Video released in November 2022)

3. The Beatles – Now and Then: One of the most haunting sounds of 2023 was hearing John Lennon signing the first words “I know it’s true…” in the “Now and Then” song released as an official single by The Beatles. A much better track than what the band released in the 1990s, the song was not without its detractors… but the rest of us loved it.

2. blur – The Narcissist: Like other “nostalgia acts” releasing new music in 2023, blur released a track sure to be one of their finest with “The Narcissist”.  One that will be sung loudly at future concerts, the line “I’ll be shining light in your eyes/you’ll probably shine it back on me” is spine tingling.

1. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Easy Now: One of Noel Gallagher’s best tracks of his solo career, “Easy Now” was released in early 2023 with a memorable video featuring Milly Alcock from House of the Dragon. One of Noel’s best vocals that he uses to great effect. The skyscraper chorus rivals his most lighters up in the air tracks with his former band, Oasis.

Posted in Listed

Favourite Distant (Re)Discoveries of 2022

Posted on by Michael

5. George McCrae – Rock Your Baby (Song): Likely heard one night while listening to the Top of the Pops podcast on the BBC, somehow I had never heard this track before even though it is one of the biggest selling singles of all time at 11 million units. A staggering achievement for this understated slice of R&B disco that slinks along in it’s rhythmic funk. One that works as well on the dancefloor or while holding your baby on the couch.

4. Courtney Barnett – Before You Gotta Go (Song): I missed listening Barnett’s Things Take Time, Take Time album upon release in late 2021 and instead listened in early 2022. A grower of an album with several highlights. One of them being this track of breaking up but wanting to remain friends or at least go out with good memories. The video is equally as great.

3.  Siouxsie and the Banshees – Icon (Song):  Working through the Banshees catalogue, Join Hands was reviewed back in August.  The album proved to be a grim listen at times, lacking some of the pop smarts of the band’s other work.  Still, the track “Icon” was a standout. The slow building song changes midway to thundering drums before exploding into life. 

2.  Radiohead – Kid A (Album):  Kid A is an album I’ve listened to off and on for 20 years but never for more than a few tracks at a time and had never really done a deep dive into the tracks.  Released after the mega selling OK Computer, Kid A split opinion in the rock community, perhaps doing exactly what Thom Yorke was hoping.  Listening to the album and reading Steven Hyden’s excellent book, This Isn’t Happening, was a personal highlight of enjoying art in multiple mediums in  2022. 

1. The Beatles – Revolver (2CD Deluxe Edition) (Album):  Rating another Giles Martin remix of an album by The Beatles is hardly the stuff of surprise at this point. Still, it’s hard to ignore when the attention gets turned to one of the greatest albums of all time in Revolver.  The highlight of these packages, regardless of which edition you choose, is the bonus material. Hearing the all too familiar songs in different takes is thrilling.  From instrumentals (“Eleanor Rigby”), stripped down versions (“Tomorrow Never Knows”) or raw takes (“Here, There and Everywhere”), the bonus album was a delight.