Shuffle of the week #37

1. The Velvet Underground – I’m Waiting for the Man (The Velvet Underground & Nico, 1967) [singlepic id=323 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Second track on rock’s all time best album. Written of course by Reed, about his main concern around that time. Blueprint for lots of garage rock songs to follow by numerous bands, thanks to Tucker’s forceful drums and the pounding piano playing by John Cale.

2. DeVotchKa – Too Tired (How It Ends, 2004) [singlepic id=321 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Song from DeVotchKa’s fourth album. The band from Denver was named after the Russian word for ‘girl’ and acquired most of its fame with contributions to movie soundtracks like this album’s title track. I suspect the Greek bouzouki of being the stringed instrument returning throughout the entire song.

3. U.N.K.L.E – Nursery Rhyme / Breather (Psyence Fiction, 1998) [singlepic id=325 w=80 h=50 float=left]

A muscular guitar part opens this next song, that sounds like something from Primal Scream’s XTRMNTR at first, but surprisingly proves to be a song that was written by Badly Drawn Boy. It stands on British music project UNKLE’s debut album, dominated by DJ Shadow’s production (who left the ‘band’ after this album). Other collaborating artists on this album include Thom Yorke and Metallica’s Jason Newsted.

4. Badly Drawn Boy – Summertime in Wintertime (One Plus One Is One, 2004) [singlepic id=319 w=80 h=50 float=left]

A little joke from the shuffle, serving another song by Briton Damon Gough. Six years later he became a moderately successful solo artist and released his fourth album. Certainly not as solid as his debut album, but containing a couple of reasonable tracks like this one. Reminds of Jethro Tull, thanks to the nervous flute intermezzos.

5. Yim Yames – My Sweet Lord (Tribute To, 2009) [singlepic id=99 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Not the first time we meet this one.

 

6. 13th Floor Elevators – Slip Inside This House (Easter Everywhere, 1967) [singlepic id=257 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Absolute masterpiece, later covered by Primal Scream (in which mood does somebody decide to cover this song?), defined by Tommy Hall’s electric jug. Recommended for when sitting behind the wheel, without even having to drive the vehicule.

7. The Zombies – Changes (Odessey and Oracle, 1968) [singlepic id=324 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Probably the most sunny sound from a British band ever, including some delightful Westcoast choirs and an intro that must have inspired some Fleet Foxes. Second album from the band, entirely recorded during the Summer of Love and featuring an apposite album cover.

8. Pacific Gas & Electric – Death Row #172 (Pacific Gas & Electric, 1969) [singlepic id=217 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Some blues gospel that didn’t save on orchestration. Strings and horns are all over the place in this track containing a certain amount of criticism on the Vietnam War.

9. Cream – Strange Brew (Disraeli Gears, 1967) [singlepic id=320 w=80 h=50 float=left]

This incredible funky guitar intro will probably never bore me. Did we have blues mixed with some gospel and symphonic orchestration on the previous track, now the blues is injected with a satisfying dose of psychedelia. The perfect album opener?

10. Super Furry Animals – The Teacher (Guerilla, 1999) [singlepic id=322 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Third album from this Welsh rock band, released at the end of the previous century and a lost item in my collection. Somehow sounds like Elvis Costello under lots of stress. Till next time.

“Skip a life completely, stuff it in a cup”: The Velvet Underground (The Velvet Underground)

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Year: 1969

Genre: (Folk) Rock

Preceded by: White Light/White Heat (1968)

Followed by: Loaded (1970)

Related to: Lou Reed – Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal

 

 

While speaking about Lou Reed’s great live album before, it was already mentioned how the Velvet Underground overwhelmed me when hearing their debut album for the first time, some 40 years after it was released. Noteworthy of course, but not something completely unique. What was unique, was the fact that this occurred again with the two following albums; I embraced White Light/White Heat as well as The Velvet Underground from the first time I heard them and cherished them as some of the best records ever made. Not something evident in view of the huge contrast between those two albums, but revealing a lot about this band’s versatility.   

On the second of March 1942, Lou Reed was born in New York. Exactly one week later, on the other side of the Atlantic, a Welsh woman named Margaret Davies gave birth to her son John Cale. The first one completed his artistic education at university in June 1964, the latter organized his first concert on the sixth of July that year in London, where he studied at that time. The two met for the first time later that year when Cale moves to New York, as he was supposed to study classical music there. However, Cale was quickly enticed from his study books by the enchanting drones that came out of some guy’s guitar, playing a song called ‘Heroin’.

The two formed some bands together, before deciding to start performing as The Velvet Underground in 1965, together with Sterling Morrison on guitar and Angus MacLise on drums. If not for that book about the sixties’ secret subculture the band was named after, it could have easily been The Primitives, The Warlocks or The Falling Spikes. The final line-up was reached right on their first gig, as MacLise (considering that performance a sellout) was replaced by Maureen Tucker.

However, it only really started to go somewhere after pop art guru Andy Warhol became their manager, giving his new band carte blanche concerning their sound. Although, carte blanche? That was without taking into account the presence of German model Nico, who (on Warhol’s persistence) sang along on their debut album, with the meaningful title: The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967). The ever important second album followed early ’68, and Reed & Cale (Nico was meanwhile exiled) succeeded to astonish another time on White Light/White Heat. The fragile beauty that was an essential part of the debut had disappeared, but noise was given its dignity.

That the third album would once again sound different, was already predicted by the departure of John Cale from the band later that year, being replaced on bass by Doug Yule. However, that the electric powertrips would be almost entirely replaced by a gentle, melodic rock sound still was, to say the least, astounding. Rarely did  a band ever make such an abrupt switch concerning its characterizing sound without losing a single fraction of its quality. Let’s go.

The bands new style as well as its new member is immediately introduced on the first track, ‘Candy Says’. Yule takes the lead vocals in this song, about the trans woman Candy Darling. She played in some of Warhol’s movies and would remain a source of inspiration for Reed on later occasions, as the second verse of ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ on Transformer shows. A soft, slumbering guitar guides Yule, while the percussion is reduced to a minimum. When the needle moves over to the second track, the variation between the two sorts of songs on this album becomes clear. ‘What Goes On’ is a terrific straight forward rock song, on which that classic, pushing, Velvet guitar sound kicks in again. It’s a true gem, as the song contains one of the best instrumental combo’s ever with the rhythm guitars and the organ (Yule) constantly building towards a great peak at the end of the song.

The opener of side 2 (‘Beginning to See the Light’) is a similar song, but sounds like a light version of  the former. This makes it the most poppy song on the album, although ‘What Goes On’ was picked as the album’s only single. As most earwigs that seduce you to listen to a full album, it’s the first song that loses its glow after having accomplished its duty. Another song that jumps out is the penultimate one: ‘The Murder Mystery’, the only track on the album that points back to the avant-garde sound of the previous albums. It’s a very eccentric but intriguing piece thanks to the interchanging between  the vocals (Reed/Morrison during the ‘verses’, Tucker/Yule during the ‘chorus’) and the bewitching instrumentation (notice the organ again). Hidden beauty.

The rest of the album consists of  six soft ballads, often enriched by a folk rock accent. Three of them complete side 1, beginning with ‘Some Kinda Love’. It opens with a duet between guitar and bass while you can already hear Reed impatiently catching a breath in the background. Overall it sounds like a light melodic rock song, if not for the continuously pumping bass and interesting lyrics. However, on such a rich album it’s one of the ‘least’ songs. It’s followed by ‘Pale Blue Eyes’, a song of absolute beauty. Reed really shines here with extremely fragile vocals, only accompanied by another slumbering melodic guitar and a tambourine in the background. The song is said to be dedicated to Reed’s first love, Shelley Albin, but more important the centerpiece of the album shows Reed as a genius songwriter. Side 1 is closed by ‘Jesus’, with the writer of ‘Heroin’ and ‘The Black Angel’s Death Song’ now begging Jesus for help. The sophisticated soft sound is still there, but because of its place on the album it’s completely overshadowed by its predecessor.

Another personal favorite is ‘I’m Set Free’, which must be one of the key songs in Reed’s oeuvre. The reason is that it reminds of the Velvet’s debut and  is at the same time a forerunner of Reed’s solo career (most notably Transformer). It builds up slowly (Tucker demonstrates her skills here with  a simple but essential rhythm) towards this typical peak in the middle, featuring a nice guitar solo.  What’s left are two short songs, around two minutes long. First one is ‘That’s the Story of My Life’, with another typical folk tune and even a Beatles sounding guitar solo in the middle. The other one is ‘After Hours’, on which Tucker takes the lead vocals. It was obviously inspiring for Meg White, who would contribute similar songs to some White Stripes albums later on. Here, it fits perfectly as closing song.

The Velvet Underground is an album that profited from the growing role of Lou Reed and his expressive songwriting after the departure of the bands co-founder. It would become the third part of an impressive trilogy, on which the band showed it could handle a lot of different styles. One more album (Loaded) would follow and although it was not bad at all, Reed left the band before it was even released as it was completely edited (to get airplay) without his consent. However, in your search for pureness in rock music, one of those first three albums is your best bet.

Top Tracks:

1. What Goes On
2. Pale Blue Eyes
3. I’m Set Free

Shuffle of the week #24

This is an ode to the shuffle. How better to get a good insight in your digitized album collection than by a classic shuffle? Finally discover the albums you never got into, finally throw the ones away you will never get into and worship those classics that never grow old again. The Shuffle of this week:

1. Muse – Blackout (Absolution, 2003) [singlepic id=233 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Highly orchestrated and classical influenced song from Muse’ third album. No clue what happened to this band after 2006, when I lost them after a disappointing fourth album.

2. David Bowie – Sweet Thing (reprise) (Diamond Dogs, 1974) [singlepic id=231 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Another album that mixes different styles of music, this eight one from David Bowie. Although it’s already the third album after Ziggy Stardust (1972), preceded by a cover album and Stardust’s transformation to Aladdin Sane (1973), the remains of Ziggy’s sound are still audible here. What definitely characterized the album is the somehow distorted guitar sound (with Bowie himself replacing Mick Ronson on guitar) and (in this song) the start of using cut-up lyrics, something  Thom Yorke would repeat later on Radiohead’s Kid A.

3. Pink Floyd – Jugband Blues (A Saucerful of Secets, 1968) [singlepic id=95 w=80 h=50 float=left]

One of my favorite Pink Floyd albums, beautifully demonstrating the evolution the band had made between its good debut album and the outstanding Atom Heart Mother (1970). This evolution was marked by the fact that this key album was the only one featuring all five band members, as Gilmour was replacing Barett during the recordings. This closing song was written and sung by Barett  and (therefore not surprisingly) comes very close to the debut album’s sound.

4. The Velvet Underground – After Hours  (The Velvet Underground, 1969) [singlepic id=235 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Not Meg White on one of White Stripes’ albums, but another personal favorite album from the late sixties. This closing track was, just like all other songs on the album, written by Lou Reed while Maureen Tucker takes the lead vocals. A very surprising album considering its two predecessors and worth a complete review over here.

5. Beck – Ramshackle (Odelay, 1996) [singlepic id=229 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Another closing song, from an album you’re almost obliged to appreciate, although it didn’t really convince me yet. This song however is a true highlight, just like the  few other songs that originated from the acoustic sessions that were originally meant to constitute the album. Lay down and enjoy.

6. The Smiths – A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours (Strangeways, Here We Come, 1987) [singlepic id=234 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Time for an opening song then, from Marr and Morrisey’s last collaboration. Traditionally the album cover is featuring a classic movie star,  this time being Richard Davalos. One of The Smiths’ best songs.

7. The Yardbirds – Hot House of Omagarashid (Roger The Engineer, 1966) [singlepic id=236 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Very strange track (initially I thought that it was Black Monk Time again) from an album that was camouflaged by a serious layer of dust for a long time. The album stems for the period after Jeff Beck replaced Clapton on guitar and incited the band to start experimenting with different styles, resulting in some Gregorian chants on this song.

8. Brian Eno – St. Elmo’s Fire (Another Green World, 1975) [singlepic id=230 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Is this XTC with one of their better eighties records? No, it turns out to be technical pioneer Brian Eno (announcing something called ‘hypertext’ as one of the future’s defining phenomena before anyone had ever heard about the internet) with a wonderful song from his 1975 classic.

9. Electric Light Orchestra – Wild West Hero (Out of the Blue, 1977) [singlepic id=182 w=80 h=50 float=left]

And another closing song, from the most colorful album of 1977. The vocals are outstanding on this one, and the orchestration is just a little less predictable than elsewhere on the album.

10. Janis Joplin – Half Moon (Pearl, 1971) [singlepic id=232 w=80 h=50 float=left]

The Acid Queens’ most polished and therefore most successful album, with the Full Tilt Boogie Band. Recently saw her performance at Monterey again; such an unbelievable voice. Till next time.