Solstein is a project that melds the groovier side of fusion with elements of prog and funk. The band features drummer Keith Carlock (Steely Dan, Toto, John Legend, Sting) and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Holm-Lupo (White Willow, The Opium Cartel, Donner) as well as up-and-coming guitarist Stian Larsen and keyboardists Brynjar Dambo (White Willow) and Bill Bressler.
The album was mixed and given pristine analog mastering at Holm-Lupo’s Dude Ranch Studio.
The Solstein album demands your full attention, and is an instrumental album that does not work as background music. Opener Intersection features an addictive bassline from Holm-Lupo and the sort of attention to detail, mood enhancing synth and electric piano work that paints the canvas on the many wonderful White Willow / The Opium Cartel releases. A top flight drum performance from Keith Carlock and wildly experimental guitar lines from Oslo based Stian Larsen set the scene for the songs that follow.
American jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter’s Oriental Folk Song throws down some grooves and performances that will get the Steely Dan fans heads bobbing. Strong solo synth lines from Bill Bressler bring this song, born in the 60s, into the here and now. I can’t wait to hear this album on vinyl, the music is made for that medium, and will highlight one of Holm-Lupo’s finest mixes to date.
Southwester is the only track on the album to not feature Stian Larsen, so the synths take centre stage. It is also the albums longest track, so there is plenty of time for the musicians to stretch their wings.
Brynjar Dambo joins Jacob with a variety of string and solo synth lines feeding off the melody, that rides along with Carlock’s laid-back groove. Mr White Willow is of course no slouch on six-strings, so this is not a guitar-free zone by any means, but the keyboards lead the charge.
The Night Owl is not a Gerry Rafferty cover, before you start googling! Its one of two tracks not featuring live drums, and like February 9th that crops up a couple of songs later, it features a stripped back line-up of Stian Larsen and Jacob Holm-Lupo. The space and the occasionally desolate arrangement adds a unique dimension to The Night Owl, which quickly became my favourite piece on the album. The simplicity and direct emotion pours out of the speakers.
Siriusly is the only track to feature live vocals, with wordless backing vox supplied by Ina Aurelia, mixed in with synth lines. A short, warm reggae section drops surprisingly in the middle of the song, before giving way to more inventive guitar and synth interplay. There is real value for money in this track – with a jazz-funk section, then moving to a fusion section after taking a reggae detour. Its some journey, with the main melody staying with you long after the song ends.
February 9th cuts the arrangement back to the bare minimum, with Larsen’s mournful, echoing guitar lines atop Holm-Lupo’s deep electric piano and atmospherics.
The Creeper gives off strong Herbie Hancock vibes, with Stian Larsen’s jazz chops in full, majestic flow. This song has a post-midnight, inner-city feel that sends chills when heard loud and through headphones. Featuring classy Rhodes from Holm-Lupo, the album heads to its climax as The Creeper ushers in Hamada, with rhythmic guitars and bell-tree percussion, and one of the most progressive performances on the album.
Hamada is a fitting end to a wonderful album, that reveals surprising new layers after each play, which is always a sign of longevity in music.
Tracklist Intersection (Holm-Lupo/Larsen/Carlock) Oriental Folk Song (Wayne Shorter) Southwester (Holm-Lupo/Carlock/Dambo) The Night Owl (Holm-Lupo/Larsen) Siriusly (Holm-Lupo/Larsen/Carlock/Dambo) February 9th (Holm-Lupo/Larsen) The Creeper (Holm-Lupo/Larsen/Carlock) Hamada (Holm-Lupo/Larsen/Carlock/Bressler)
NOW Yearbook ’78 is a new 4CD or 3LP collection that covers one of the greatest years for UK pop singles. The compilation is available on vinyl – with a 3LP limited pink vinyl release featuring 46 tracks, and two versions of the CD release: the limited hardback 4CD version (including a 28-page booklet featuring a summary of the year, a track-by-track guide, a quiz, and original singles artwork) and a standard 4CD version, both featuring the same 85 tracks.
It is worth noting that the limited editions (vinyl and hardback) usually sell-out, and if you don’t want to pay a premium tracking down more expensive copies on Discogs or eBay, if you are interested, get your order in quick!
1978 was a great year for so many genres. Look at the new wave hits (mostly congregating on LP 2 side B and CD disc 2). Siouxsie and The Banshees debut single Hong Kong Garden jostles for attention with The Clash’s (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais, an early classic from The Jam with the chilling Down In The Tube Station At Midnight, alongside one of Ian Dury and The Blockheads finest singles What A Waste. The Bruce Springsteen / Patti Smith song Because The Night is a track that sounds as powerful today as it did back in 1978. Great music is timeless.
The rock and roll revival of the late 70s is represented by Darts with The Boy From New York City, and one of the biggest films of the year in Grease features with two of the soundtracks ballads, Olivia Newton-John’s Hopelessly Devoted To You and John Travolta’s Sandy.
Disco was one of the most popular genres in 1978, and some absolute classic are featured on NOW Yearbook 1978. Donna Summer features twice with MacArthur Park and the classic pop of I Love You. Instant Replay from Dan Hartman and the Michael Zager Band’s Let’s All Chant will get you on your feet as well as singing along. Eruption’s I Can’t Stand The Rain was all over the airwaves in 1978 and is deservedly included here, as is Earth, Wind and Fire’s Fantasy along with a couple of soul ballads in Heatwave’s Always And Forever and Love Don’t Live Here Anymore from Rose Royce.
Classic Rock and progressive pop also features strongly. An often overlooked band from this era, City Boy, contribute 5.7.0.5., their only hit single. One of the last great singles from The Who (Who Are You) is well-sequenced in this compilation next to Cold As Ice by Foreigner, a staple of FM radio in Life’s Been Good by Joe Walsh and the finest Blue Oyster Cult single, (Don’t Fear) The Reaper, a song used to wonderful effect in the TV adaptation of Steven King’s The Stand from 1994.
Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds was a massive selling album in the late 70s, and one of the key songs in Justin Hayward’s Forever Autumn features in NOW Yearbook ’78. Renaissance and their top 10 hit single Northern Lights is rarely played on oldies stations these days, but its a fine single. A Taste Of Honey with Boogie Oogie Oogie was another that was a much-played song on the radio and yet seems to have been forgotten as the years have passed.
Some songs that do still feature on 70s themed stations make a welcome appearance. Gerry Rafferty and Baker Street with one of the most iconic sax solos in pop and Mr. Blue Sky, a signature song from Electric Light Orchestra, are well-known, yet some less celebrated singles such as Love Is In The Air by John Paul Young and the late Andrew Gold with the pop nugget that is Never Let Her Slip Away are just as rewarding.
The only mis-step is the inclusion of Father Abraham’s Smurf Song. I know it was a hit but does anyone really want to hear this novelty song in 2023? The CD will be switched off before the song comes on, and I’m sure I won’t be alone in doing this. It was wisely programmed as the final track on the CD set.
Electric Light Orchestra – Mr. Blue Sky Gerry Rafferty – Baker Street Rod Stewart – Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? 10cc – Dreadlock Holiday Justin Hayward – Forever Autumn Wings – With A Little Luck Kate Bush – The Man With The Child In His Eyes
LP 1 Side B
Bonnie Tyler – It’s A Heartache Suzi Quatro – If You Can’t Give Me Love Clout – Substitute Crystal Gayle – Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue Elton John – Part-Time Love Billy Joel – Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) Joe Walsh – Life’s Been Good Blue Öyster Cult – (Don’t Fear) The Reaper
LP 2 Side A
Donna Summer – MacArthur Park Chic – Le Freak A Taste Of Honey – Boogie Oogie Oogie The Three Degrees – Givin’ Up Givin’ In Chaka Khan – I’m Every Woman Yvonne Elliman – If I Can’t Have You Odyssey – Native New Yorker Earth, Wind & Fire – Fantasy
LP 2 Side B
The Boomtown Rats – Rat Trap The Undertones – Teenage Kicks Buzzcocks – Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve) Siouxsie And The Banshees – Hong Kong Garden The Rezillos – Top Of The Pops Elvis Costello & The Attractions – (I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea The Jam – Down In The Tube Station At Midnight Patti Smith – Because The Night
LP 3 Side A
ABBA – Take A Chance On Me Baccara – Sorry, I’m A Lady Boney M. – Rivers Of Babylon Althea & Donna – Uptown Top Ranking Blondie – Denis Olivia Newton-John – Hopelessly Devoted To You Renaissance – Northern Lights Dean Friedman w/ Denise Marsa – Lucky Stars
LP 3 Side B
Marshall Hain – Dancing In The City Eruption – I Can’t Stand The Rain Dee D. Jackson – Automatic Lover Sarah Brightman & Hot Gossip – I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper Hot Chocolate – Every 1’s a Winner Commodores – Three Times A Lady Rose Royce – Wishing On A Star
4CD Track listing
Disc: 1
Electric Light Orchestra – Mr. Blue Sky Gerry Rafferty – Baker Street Rod Stewart – Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? ABBA – Take A Chance On Me Boney M. – Rivers Of Babylon 10cc – Dreadlock Holiday Althea and Donna – Uptown Top Ranking Donna Summer – MacArthur Park Chaka Khan – I’m Every Woman Yvonne Elliman – If I Can’t Have You Chic – Everybody Dance Odyssey – Native New Yorker Rose Royce – Wishing On A Star Commodores – Three Times A Lady Marshall Hain – Dancing In The City Clout – Substitute Bonnie Tyler – It’s A Heartache Suzi Quatro – If You Can’t Give Me Love Wings – With A Little Luck Kate Bush - The Man With The Child In His Eyes
Disc: 2
The Boomtown Rats – Rat Trap The Undertones – Teenage Kicks Buzzcocks – Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve) Siouxsie and The Banshees – Hong Kong Garden The Rezillos – Top Of The Pops Blondie – Hanging On The Telephone Elvis Costello and The Attractions – (I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea The Clash – (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais The Jam – Down In The Tube Station At Midnight Ian Dury and The Blockheads – What A Waste Patti Smith – Because The Night The Cars – My Best Friend’s Girl The Motors – Airport City Boy – 5.7.0.5. Sweet – Love Is Like Oxygen Elton John – Part-Time Love Billy Joel – Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) The Who – Who Are You Foreigner – Cold As Ice Joe Walsh – Life’s Been Good Blue Oyster Cult – (Don’t Fear) The Reaper Justin Hayward – Forever Autumn
Disc: 3
Chic – Le Freak A Taste Of Honey – Boogie Oogie Oogie Tavares – More Than A Woman Alicia Bridges – I Love The Nightlife (Disco ‘Round) Dan Hartman – Instant Replay Michael Zager Band – Let’s All Chant Raffaella Carrà – Do It Do It Again (A Far L’Amore Comincia Tu) Baccara – Sorry, I’m A Lady Sheila and B Devotion – Singin’ In The Rain Voyage – From East To West Donna Summer – I Love You The Three Degrees – Givin’ Up Givin’ In Eruption – I Can’t Stand The Rain Dee D. Jackson – Automatic Lover Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip – I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper Crown Heights Affair – Galaxy Of Love Gladys Knight and The Pips – Come Back And Finish What You Started Hot Chocolate – Every 1’s A Winner Earth, Wind and Fire – Fantasy Heatwave – Always And Forever Rose Royce – Love Don’t Live Here Anymore
Disc: 4
Blondie – Denis Olivia Newton-John – Hopelessly Devoted To You John Travolta – Sandy Darts – The Boy From New York City Bill Withers – Lovely Day John Paul Young – Love Is In The Air Barry Manilow – Copacabana Renaissance – Northern Lights Scott Fitzgerald and Yvonne Keeley – If I Had Words Boney M. – Brown Girl In The Ring Brotherhood Of Man – Figaro Co-Co – Bad Old Days Dollar – Shooting Star Andrew Gold – Never Let Her Slip Away Dean Friedman w/ Denise Marsa – Lucky Stars The Manhattan Transfer – Walk In Love David Soul – Let’s Have A Quiet Night In Crystal Gayle – Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue Elkie Brooks – Don’t Cry Out Loud David Essex – Oh What A Circus Brian and Michael – Matchstalk Men And Matchstalk Cats And Dogs Father Abraham – Smurf Song
The 4 CD version has 58 tracks exploring the creativity and progressive spirit of alternative British music from 1979-1989 featuring Wire, XTC, The Cure, Tears For Fears and Kate Bush. The CD and 7 LP versions include an expanded booklet (80 pages for the CD / 40 pages for the 7 LP) with extensive liner notes by James Nice and an introduction from Steven Wilson. The 2 LP version has a 12 page booklet.
The compilation was mastered by Phil Kinrade at AIR Mastering.
I presume that the idea for this compilation came from Steven Wilson & Tim Bowness’s successful, and always entertaining, The Album Years podcast. Its refreshing to see a compilation digging a little deeper, and avoiding the obvious hit singles.
Personal highlights for me include A Better Home in the Phantom Zone from Bill Nelson’s Red Noise, one of my favourite tracks from The Stranglers (the title track from their 1979 prog-punk masterpiece The Raven), Astradyne from Ultravox (here in its Steven Wilson Stereo Mix version), along with tracks from Tony Mansfield’s New Musik, post-Ultravox John Foxx, and the Associates.
Kudos to Mr Wilson for including the extended version of I Travel from Simple Minds and the rarely celebrated Sealand by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark from their wonderful Architecture & Morality album from 1981.
SW has also chosen a couple of less obvious choices from some of the eras big-hitters – Talking Drum from Japan, Faith by the Cure, Tears for Fears Memories Fade, the sublime Brilliant Trees by David Sylvian, and Waking the Witch from Kate Bush, in its first appearance on a compilation to my knowledge.
There are also several tracks from artists who I hope can receive more attention following this collections release – namely the haunting Airwaves from Thomas Dolby’s debut album, the epic Dream Within a Dream from Propaganda, Ivy and Neet by This Mortal Coil (their trilogy is a highlight from the 80s) and a band that have given me so much pleasure over the years, Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness’s no-man with Night Sky, Sweet Earth.
“This is my personally-curated attempt to redress the balance, and to perhaps introduce any ‘80s-sceptics out there to the idea that conceptual thinking and ambition didn’t suddenly evaporate after ’77… ambitious, weird and thrilling music was all around you in the ‘80s —if you looked in the right places.”
I Should Have Known Better – Wire A Better Home in the Phantom Zone – Bill Nelson’s Red Noise Back to Nature – Magazine Complicated Game (Steven Wilson 2014 Mix) – XTC Careering – Public Image Limited The Raven – the Stranglers Puppet Life – Punishment of Luxury Astradyne (Steven Wilson Stereo Mix) – Ultravox Contract – Gang of Four I Travel (Extended Version) – Simple Minds Sketch for Summer – the Durutti Column Health and Efficiency – This Heat Burning Car – John Foxx Cognitive Dissonance (Steven Wilson 2022 Mix) – Robert Fripp and the League of Gentlemen Fatal Day – In Camera
Disc: 2
I Can’t Escape Myself – The Sound The Eternal – Joy Division Big Empty Field – Swell Maps Enemies – Art Nouveau The Joy Circuit – Gary Numan The Gospel Comes to New Guinea – 23 Skidoo All My Colours – Echo and the Bunnymen Ghost Town (Extended Version) – The Specials They All Run After the Carving Knife – New Musik The Him – New Order White Car in Germany (Single Edit) – The Associates Hit – Section 25 Sealand – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Talking Drum – Japan Faith – the Cure
Disc: 3
Three Dancers (Steven Wilson 2021 Mix) – Twelfth Night Airwaves – Thomas Dolby Are You Ready? – Crispy Ambulance The Outsider – Rupert Hine Knife Slits Water – A Certain Ratio Memories Fade – Tears for Fears Patient – Peter Hammill Donimo – Cocteau Twins In a Waiting Room – Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake Close (To the Edit) – The Art of Noise Dalis Car – Dalis Car Rawhide – Scott Walker Brilliant Trees – David Sylvian Dream Within a Dream – Propaganda
Disc: 4
Waking the Witch – Kate Bush Ivy and Neet – This Mortal Coil Beehead (7″ Version) – Perennial Divide This Corrosion – The Sisters of Mercy Ascension – O Yuki Conjugate No Motion – Dif Juz Gutter Busting – Slab! Murderers, the Hope of Women – Momus The Host of Seraphim – Dead Can Dance R.E.S. – Cardiacs Good Morning Beautiful – The The Omega Amigo – The Shamen Night Sky, Sweet Earth – No-Man The 3rd Time We Opened the Capsule – Kitchens of Distinction
A Better Home in the Phantom Zone – Bill Nelson’s Red Noise Back to Nature – Magazine Complicated Game (Steven Wilson 2014 Mix) – XTC The Raven – The Stranglers Puppet Life – Punishment of Luxury Astradyne (Steven Wilson Stereo Mix) – Ultravox Sketch for Summer – The Durutti Column Health and Efficiency – This Heat Cognitive Dissonance (Steven Wilson 2022 Mix) – Robert Fripp and the League of Gentlemen Three Dancers (Steven Wilson 2021 Mix) – Twelfth Night
Disc: 2
Airwaves – Thomas Dolby Knife Slits Water – a Certain Ratio Donimo – Cocteau Twins Beehead (7″ Version) – Perennial Divide No Motion – Dif Juz Gutter Busting – Slab! The Host of Seraphim – Dead Can Dance R.E.S. – Cardiacs Night Sky, Sweet Earth – No-Man
Sweet Billy Pilgrim, now a duo comprising multi-instrumentalists Jana Carpenter and Tim Elsenburg, will release a new album, Somapolis on November 4 2022 via Republic of Music. Their story involves a Mercury Music Prize nomination, the IT Crowd, the Royal Albert Hall, Glastonbury Festival, Late Junction and The Culture Show.
Guests on the album include Kate St. John (Dream Academy) with string / horn arrangements and Darren Beckett (Brandon Flowers / Madeleine Peyroux / Bryan Ferry) on drums.
Somapolis opener We Are The Bright Carvers is a real statement of intent. Featuring the deepest bass I have heard for many a year, anchoring a hyper addictive song with powerful drums and a hard-hitting, emotional arrangement. The use of space is highly evident on Somapolis, with real and synthesised strings flitting in and out, alongside scratchy, mournful new wave guitars and delightful tag-team vocals from Jana and Tim.
Jana and Tim’s vocals blend so well together, adding a unique colour and personality to the songs. The production is perfect, adding a warmth and clarity to individual instruments and featuring short sound-designs linking each track, to give the feel of one whole, linked piece. Cities are linked by their transportation systems, which is maybe why all the tracks on this album are linked, often with transport or people interaction found-sounds.
Bliss Maps is initially a rich slice of electronica, evolving as acoustic instruments, including spaghetti western guitar lines, are thrown into the mix. The beautiful vocal arrangement, as Jana and Tim are joined by a collection of other voices, works so well with the trumpet, saxophone and funk bass taking the song home.
“Did I put something in your Chardonnay? Close your eyes…”
Attacus Atlas continues with the squelchy, Bootsy Collins bass and mellotrons that adorn many of the tracks, in a song referencing the worlds largest moth, whose brief and beautiful emergence lasts for just days before it dies. The chorus seeps into your soul, as Jana takes the lead on one of the albums key songs.
Instrumental lines appear and disappear when you least expect them, keeping you on your toes, and revealing new wonders on repeated listens.
“It’s the light that leads me home”
Attacus Atlas is a story of brief, breathless and fragrant love that undergoes a complete metamorphosis as Pass Muster, with its jittering rhythm (definitely not a dancer!) appears, layered with a honey-sweet vocal topping that transports the track into gospel directions that seemed impossible to imagine from the songs beginning.
The piano waltz of Down I Go (heralded by a tube-station sound-sketch, very clever) is simple but effective, with some of the albums strongest lyrics. When the synth sequence and percussion kicks in, the song hits you hard in your heart. The simplicity and directness of Down I Go‘s arrangement makes this song all the more powerful, following the previous songs rich and often complex arrangements.
“There is a river runs under the city at night, and down I go out of the light”
The arrangement builds for the songs final descent, and then washes away leaving just Tim’s solo vocal and piano. Down I Go quickly established itself as one of my favourite Sweet Billy Pilgrim songs.
Dead Man Dancing is an anthemic beast, featuring a mixture of 70s and 80s referencing synth sounds, with a hint of late 70s Bowie in the chorus. Stress Position returns to the dual vocals and a more widescreen arrangement, and could well be a tale of crime, but going on past Sweet Billy Pilgrim lyrics, the true meaning is probably hidden somewhere below the surface and is always open to the listeners interpretation.
Jana Carpenter and Tim Elsenburg
The processed music-box intro of The Night Watch quickly switches to a pure Steely Dan groove. The thoughts I had on first hearing The Night Watch included how on earth did the band afford to hire Donald Fagen to produce the song? It sounds so well-produced that I fully expect to see his name on the album credits. The attention to detail lovingly painted onto every detail of this song, from the shuffling drum pattern to the multiple layered vocal, make this an album highlight that I think will resonate with so many people.
A sweetly nostalgic 1960’s back-beat and organ swells underpin Pilgrim, which like Down I Go, has a feel of simplicity that makes the magical choral sections and more expansive moments all the more powerful. With no synths in sight, Pilgrim feels like a song from a bygone, long-lost era. Along with Big Big Train, Sweet Billy Pilgrim are not afraid to head back to the past and utilise more traditional tools such as brass bands, to convey emotion and help splash colour onto their wide musical canvas. The subtle production touches lift the arrangement, making Pilgrim a song that sticks with you long after the last reverb-drenched vocals fade.
Get Back To Where You Started drops you back into the here and now. After the two lighter songs that preceded it, the mood is buoyed with such a joyous chorus. The band throw everything at the production on this song, nothing is held back. Trumpet solos, big beats and deep Rhodes piano all make a welcome appearance, along with that funky as hell bass sound that is a star of the album. In an alternative universe, when the spirit of the 80s is still strong, this song would be the big hit single.
The album closes with its longest song, Skywriting. Another initially uplifting track, using a similar musical palette to songs earlier in the album, the discordant piano adds a slight feeling of apprehension that feeds into the dual mood that the song delivers. An almost classic rock driven instrumental section is simply delicious, and the synths, strings and deep electronics that see out the last minute or so hint at an ascension as the final part of the journey, with the album having lots of references to travel within the city, whether purely physical movement or through the individual journey’s that make up our lives.
There is so much love, care and a vast array of different styles shared throughout Somapolis, which appears to be the story of a city and tales of how the people who live within interact, travel and are affected by their surroundings. Somapolis is adventurous, rich, uplifting and meditative in equal measures, making it the most fully realised and satisfying release so far from the band.
We Are The Bright Carvers Bliss Maps Attacus Atlas Pass Muster Down I Go Dead Man Dancing Stress Position The Night Watch Pilgrim Get Back To Where You Started Skywriting
NOW Yearbook Extra 1979 is a 3 CD (sadly no vinyl for these “extra” releases”) compilation, highlighting an additional 67 tracks from the charts of 1979, and acting as a companion piece to the recently released NOW Yearbook 1979 (orange vinyl / CD).
As I constantly mention (on this blog, to my cats and to anyone who will listen), 1979 is my favourite year for music, so if I was in charge of compiling these collections they would be 10 CD sets at least. The main collection and now this “extra” companion compilation, collect some of the essential singles from the year, along with some less obvious (and sometimes skippable) tracks to highlight the diversity of the charts in 1979.
The three CDs contain some absolute classics – Kid by The Pretenders, Roxy Music’s Angel Eyes, Reasons to Be Cheerful (Pt. 3) by Ian Dury and The Blockheads, Sparks The Number One Song in Heaven, Lost in Music from Sister Sledge and that’s just disc one.
The first 12 songs on disc two would make a great new wave compilation in their own right. Featuring a run of amazing singles from The Jam, The Stranglers, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Clash and the Skids finest single in my eyes, Working for the Yankee Dollar, plus one of my favourite singles from 1979, Milk and Alcohol by Dr. Feelgood.
Life in Tokyo by Japan and Electricity from Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark hint at the electronic wave that was starting to crash into the charts, heralding the eventual new romantic movement that followed over the next few years.
Disc 3 has a few easy listening and novelty hits, but is otherwise filled to the brim with wonderful tracks such as Blondie’s Sunday Girl, Billy Joel’s Honesty (meaning The Boys Hughie Campbell will buy this compilation), plus Get It Right Next Time from Gerry Rafferty, The Ballad of Lucy Jordan by Marianne Faithfull, Toto’s Hold the Line, BA Robertson’s Knocked It Off and one of the last great Thin Lizzy singles Waiting for an Alibi.
So if you can’t afford (or invent) a time-machine, this wonderful compilation is the next best thing and it will transport you back to one of the great years for pop singles. Strap yourself in.
Crazy Little Thing Called Love – Queen Message in a Bottle – The Police Union City Blue – Blondie Kid – The Pretenders Last Train to London – Electric Light Orchestra Angel Eyes – Roxy Music Them Heavy People – Kate Bush Up the Junction – Squeeze Diamond Smiles – The Boomtown Rats Reasons to Be Cheerful (Pt. 3) – Ian Dury and The Blockheads The Number One Song in Heaven – Sparks The Runner – The Three Degrees Dim All the Lights – Donna Summer Lost in Music – Sister Sledge My Feet Keep Dancing – Chic Is It Love You’re After – Rose Royce Gotta Go Home – Boney M. Let’s Fly Away – Voyage The Prince – Madness Duke of Earl – Darts Blue Peter – Mike Oldfield Daytrip to Bangor (Didn’t We Have a Lovely Time) – Fiddler’s Dram
Disc: 2
The Sound of the Suburbs – The Members Babylon’s Burning – The Ruts Strange Town – The Jam English Civil War – The Clash Duchess – The Stranglers Playground Twist – Siouxsie and the Banshees Death Disco – Public Image Ltd Working for the Yankee Dollar – Skids Jimmy Jimmy – The Undertones C’mon Everybody – Sex Pistols Milk and Alcohol – Dr. Feelgood Banana Splits – The Dickies Time for Action – Secret Affair Back of My Hand – Jags The Loneliest Man in the World – The Tourists Life in Tokyo – Japan Electricity – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Take That to the Bank – Shalamar This Is It – Dan Hartman H.A.P.P.Y. Radio – Edwin Starr It’s a Disco Night (Rock Don’t Stop) – The Isley Brothers My Forbidden Lover – Chic The Boss – Diana Ross Take Me Home – Cher
Disc: 3
Sunday Girl – Blondie Painter Man – Boney M. My Simple Heart – The Three Degrees Sail On – The Commodores After the Love Has Gone – Earth, Wind & Fire Just the Way You Are – Barry White Honesty – Billy Joel The Ballad of Lucy Jordan – Marianne Faithfull Get It Right Next Time – Gerry Rafferty Hold the Line – Toto Whatever You Want – Status Quo Waiting for an Alibi – Thin Lizzy Car 67 – Driver 67 Knocked It Off – BA Robertson Luton Airport – Cats U.K. Some Girls – Racey Get It – Darts Who Were You With in the Moonlight – Dollar Mirrors – Sally Oldfield One Day at a Time – Lena Martell Wonderful Christmastime – Paul McCartney
The Bowie estate have released details of the official soundtrack to the new David Bowie documentary from Brett Morgen, Moonage Daydream.
The 2 CD collection and the 3 LP vinyl version features live versions, album tracks, interview excerpts, orchestral performances, and some film-specific remixes.
You can listen to one of the soundtrack’s exclusive Moonage Daydream mixes now, in the form of Modern Love (Moonage Daydream Mix).
The soundtrack includes a previously unreleased 1973 live medley of The Jean Genie and The Beatles Love Me Do, featuring Jeff Beck on guitar, recorded during Bowie’s farewell Ziggy Stardust concert at Hammersmith Odeon in 1973, along with an unreleased 1974 live recording of Rock n’ Roll With Me from Bowie’s 1974 ’Soul Tour’ and an early demo of the Hunky Dory fan-favourite Quicksand.
There were no other details released about soundtrack specific mixes at this stage, but we will be able to find out for ourselves on September 16 2022, when the digital version of the soundtrack arrives on streaming platforms, prior to a physical release.
“Time… one of the most complex expressions…” Ian Fish U.K. Heir (Moonage Daydream Mix 1) Hallo Spaceboy (Remix Moonage Daydream Edit) Medley: Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud / All The Young Dudes / Oh! You Pretty Things (Live) Life On Mars? (2016 Mix Moonage Daydream Edit) Moonage Daydream (Live) The Jean Genie / Love Me Do / The Jean Genie (Live) (featuring Jeff Beck) The Light (Excerpt) Performed by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop Warszawa (Live Moonage Daydream Edit) Quicksand (Early Version 2021 Mix) Medley: Future Legend / Diamonds Dogs intro / Cracked Actor Rock ‘n’ Roll With Me (Live in Buffalo 8th November, 1974) Aladdin Sane (Moonage Daydream Edit) Subterraneans Space Oddity (Moonage Daydream Mix) V-2 Schneider
CD2 Sound And Vision (Moonage Daydream Mix) A New Career In A New Town (Moonage Daydream Mix) Word On A Wing (Moonage Daydream Excerpt) “Heroes” (Live Moonage Daydream Edit) D.J. (Moonage Daydream Mix) Ashes To Ashes (Moonage Daydream Mix) Move On (Moonage Daydream acappella Mix Edit) Moss Garden (Moonage Daydream Edit) Cygnet Committee/Lazarus (Moonage Daydream Mix) Memory Of A Free Festival (Harmonium Edit) Modern Love (Moonage Daydream Mix) Let’s Dance (Live Moonage Daydream Edit) The Mysteries (Moonage Daydream Mix) Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide (Live Moonage Daydream Edit) Ian Fish U.K. Heir (Moonage Daydream Mix 2) Word On A Wing (Moonage Daydream Mix) Hallo Spaceboy (live Moonage Daydream Mix) I Have Not Been To Oxford Town (Moonage Daydream acappella Mix Edit) “Heroes”: IV. Sons Of The Silent Age (Excerpt) Performed by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop ★ (Moonage Daydream Mix Edit) Ian Fish U.K. Heir (Moonage Daydream Mix Excerpt) Memory Of A Free Festival (Moonage Daydream Mix Edit) Starman “You’re aware of a deeper existence…” Changes “Let me tell you one thing…” “Well, you know what this has been an incredible pleasure…”
John Mitchell’s Lonely Robot release their new album, A Model Life, on limited CD digipak, gatefold 2LP+CD and as a digital album on August 26 2022.
Lonely Robot is the solo project of John Mitchell (It Bites, Arena, Frost*, Kino and The Urbane). A Model Life is album number five, and the first since 2020’s Feelings Are Good, and features Craig Blundell on drums.
“I’m walking in the shadow of a world I used to know”
Opening with the first digital taster for the album, Recalibrating is a tale of personal re-birth and re-assessment after a relationship has sadly ended, but could possibly be seen as a reaction to the recent axis tilting few years we have all lived through.
Digital God Machine spits bile in the direction of online trolls and mis-informed, opinionated keyboard warriors. Musically, it seems to draw inspiration from Peter Gabriel 4 (Security). The heavily-treated percussion adds a palpable feeling of paranoia and dread, with some fine guitar lines on display towards the middle of the track.
“Throw your ‘oh so learned’ wisdom At the fool you wish to bait”
Species In Transition builds slowly, as the edgy percussion and found-sounds slowly reveal themselves. Disembodied voices and nature sounds are painted onto the canvas throughout A Model Life, and are a vital part of the musical journey on this stunning album.
“Oh let go, you’re just part of the condition So goodbye, to the species in transition”
Starlit Stardust is one of the most moving songs on the album, with a powerful and uplifting chorus.
The Island Of Misfit Toys is my favourite track on this release. The Art of Noise and the mid-80s electronica of ZTT artists such as Propaganda drive the production, with a hint of The Knack’s power-pop classic My Sharona thrown in for good measure. A Model Life is overflowing with quality guitar solos, and The Island Of Misfit Toys delivers one of the shortest but most effective solos on A Model Life.
The title track arrives at the mid-point of the album, and is one of the few down-tempo pieces. Suspended keyboard notes and an addictive bass-line underpin the verses on this song of reflection and regret.
The stripped back, short Mandalay acts as a preface to one of the albums key-tracks, the evocative Rain Kings. A track that will surely become a fan favourite, it sends shivers when the drums appear a minute and a half in. This is the song I return to most, although I prefer to listen to the album as a continuous piece, as it is sequenced with so much love and attention.
“There’s some memories, I just can’t erase”
Duty of Care highlights John Mitchell’s production and arrangement skills. The sound is crisp, clear and powerful, with simplicity and nuance in the playing, until a more theatrical performance is needed to deliver the stories in the songs.
Photo by Tom Barnes
The album closes with a real statement of intent. Saving some of his finest guitar work until the end, Mitchell’s performance on In Memoriam is calm, measured and yet emotional.
A Model Life is the most complete and cohesive release from Lonely Robot so far, and one that reveals itself fully after multiple plays.
“And in memoriam, we are not the same And I will reclaim, yes I will reclaim, what’s mine”
Recalibrating Digital God Machine Species In Transition Starlit Stardust The Island Of Misfit Toys A Model Life Mandalay Rain Kings Duty Of Care In Memoriam
Tim Bowness releases his 7th solo album Butterfly Mind as a Ltd. 2CD Edition, Ltd Edition LP+CD and digital album via InsideOut on August 5 2022.
Butterfly Mind features the stellar rhythm section of Richard Jupp (in his first major session since leaving Elbow) and Nick Beggs alongside a spectacular generation and genre spanning guest list including Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Dave Formula (Magazine), Peter Hammill (Van Der Graaf Generator), Martha Goddard (The Hushtones), Gregory Spawton (Big Big Train), Mark Tranmer (The Montgolfier Brothers, GNAC), Saro Cosentino (Franco Battiato), Italian Jazz musician Nicola Alesini, US singer Devon Dunaway (Ganga), Stephen W Tayler (Kate Bush) and, marking his first studio work with Tim for nearly three decades, former no-man violinist Ben Coleman.
Produced by Tim Bowness and Brian Hulse, Butterfly Mind was mixed and mastered by Steven Wilson.
Say Your Goodbyes bookends the album, with part one featuring added vocals from Peter Hammill, ushering in the album with a sense of foreboding as the sparse electronics give way to a powerful, distorted industrial arrangement that harks back to the no-man of Bleed / Say Baby Say Goodbye. This is not the first time I spot the DNA of no-man running through strands of the album, which should come as no surprise as Butterfly Mind was mixed and mastered by Steven Wilson and features Ben Coleman on three of it’s tracks.
Always The Stranger arrives at pace, propelled by the powerful beats of former Elbow drummer Richard Jupp, who adds a real feeling of urgency throughout the album.
“Yes, even their laughter gets you and even their smiles destroy you.”
The backing vocals from Martha Goddard and the Bowness / Brian Hulse (now a regular contributor to much of Tim’s work) synths glisten underneath the delightful evolving arrangement. Nick Beggs adds a deep, mature bass line to one of my favourite tracks on the album.
The frenetic pace of Always The Stranger makes you savour the downtempo delights of It’s Easier To Love even more.
“Maybe it’s your age, but everything feels colder.”
A fine Bowness ballad, It’s Easier To Love features a warm, restrained string arrangement from Saro Cosentino and added accompanying vocals from US dance / electronic vocalist Devon Dunaway, adding a unique, welcome texture to the song. Heavily treated / delayed sax from Nicola Alesini adds a delicious topping to the mix of instrumentation, that naturally evolves and builds throughout the song.
The second appearance from Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson (who also appears on the opening track), has Anderson really leaving his mark on one of the album’s heaviest tracks, We Feel. Peter Hammill adds guitar along with Brian Hulse, and Nick Beggs delivers a powerful and very inventive bass-line, one of his finest performances on the album. Devon Dunaway drops a Bowie like backing vocal around the mid-way point.
Tim has pulled out the stops with the multiple and varied guest appearances on Butterfly Mind, with musicians offering measured contributions that paint textures not heard before on his solo albums, whilst wisely having a core, stable band of Bowness, Hulse, Beggs and Jupp supplying the album with its cohesive identity.
Lost Player is one of the simpler arrangements, with a reverb-drenched drum pattern and sci-fi soundtrack synth waves, which then surprisingly shifts gear at the two minute mark, giving a chameleon-like transformation of sequenced synths and wordless, reflective hums from Bowness. This abrupt change in tone and theme should not work so well, but it really does deliver one of the albums most emotional moments.
Only A Fool features wonderful Associates like piano lines from Dave Formula (Magazine), on this percussive heavy, pacey piece. The bassline from Mr Beggs is simply delicious, and is another track I return to often, when not listening to the album in order, as the artist intended of course!
“The numbers are frightening, so much blood on our hands. we don’t need reminding, the punch never lands”
After The Stranger features Gregory Spawton (Big Big Train) on bass pedals, on this short continuation of the earlier Always The Stranger, with 90s trip-hop referencing percussion from Richard Jupp.
Glitter Fades is a tale of passing time and fading influence. Take us back… The electronic beats blend so well with the deep, late 80s feel of the electronics, and the lead vocal lines from Bowness are perfectly supported by Martha Goddard to add a touch of lightness. Stephen W Tayler contributes clarinet, and I’m reminded at times of the late Eighties synth soundscapes of Richard Barbieri during this very accessible and addictive track.
“We were a golden generation, the darlings of a cultured age”
Ben Coleman adds violin to the final three tracks, starting with About The Light That Hits The Forest Floor. A late addition to the album, its another personal favourite. Unlike anything else on the album, the arrangement is light, measured and more organic. Deep bass and brush drums add to the warm mood offered by the song. The last couple of minutes are pure magic, as electronics melt into Coleman’s trademark emotive violin lines.
“It was the fight that made you hope for more”
And then we have Dark Nevada Dream. The longest track on Butterfly Mind is also its best. Hints of no-man from the Flowermouth and Returning Jesus eras sit deep in the arrangement. Dave Formula adds pulsating Hammond organ lines, with another fine Devon Dunaway contribution to the chorus.
“Speaking less, drinking more”
Dark Nevada Dream skips by in an instant, and on my first listen one of my favourite parts was the Bowness spoken section towards the end of the song. It’s not quite a Bowness rap, so don’t worry, but it fits perfectly with the arrangement of one of my favourite solo tracks from Tim.
The core quartet excel on this song, and the contributions from the guest musicians take Dark Nevada Dream to another level.
I am sure this will be most listeners favourite track, and when the inevitable Best of Bowness album is compiled in a few years, Dark Nevada Dream will surely feature.
Say Your Goodbyes, Pt. 2 closes the album in a similar vein to the start of the journey, with the startling difference being the violent end section from Ben Coleman, duelling and driving out the organ swells, and bursting out of your speakers / headphones with clarity and force.
If you have opted for the vinyl version of Butterfly Mind, I would also recommend seeking out the limited double CD version. Disc two of this set features alternative takes of tracks from the album. The highlights include a powerful and raw take on Lost Player. This is the original solo demo from Tim and the track that started the whole project off, as Lost Player was the first song Tim wrote after eight months of doing covers and Plenty re-recordings. I also love the stunning alternative version of About The Light That Hits The Forest Floor along with the track that was for a while due to take its place in the original running order, Clearing Houses.
Clearing Houses contains one of Tim’s most moving lyrics, driven by a direct simplicity that makes it sit amongst the finest of recent Bowness stories. Its so true that the four walls that surround and protect us throughout key points in our lives hold so many memories, and are so much more than just bricks and mortar. When we move to a new home, we often reflect on the loves, losses and growth we have witnessed. Clearing houses can mean taking time to reflect on the ghosts that live on in the photos taken in the home we are leaving for the final time. Alongside another fine Ian Anderson contribution, Clearing Houses deserves to be heard and enjoyed as so much more than ‘just’ an album out-take.
Butterfly Mind is the most rewarding solo album from Tim to date. Although it has a rich consistency due to the four key musicians who feature throughout, the guests add spice to every song they touch. I sometimes worry that utilising such high profile guests can take away the focus, but none of the musicians or vocalists on Butterfly Mind overshadow the songs or the arrangements. They all add unique flavours and a different personality to the mix, always adding and never detracting from a career best album.
Say Your Goodbyes, Pt. 1 Always The Stranger It’s Easier To Love We Feel Lost Player Only A Fool After The Stranger Glitter Fades About The Light That Hits The Forest Floor Dark Nevada Dream Say Your Goodbyes, Pt. 2
Sony are releasing Prince and The Revolution’s classic Syracuse, New York 30 March 1985 Purple Rain tour show as a standalone release, remixed & restored in June 2022, as a 3LP vinyl set and a 2 CD / 1 blu-ray version.
For the visual side of the release, the original video source was rescanned, restored and colour corrected. The audio has been remixed from the original multitrack audio master reels by Grammy-nominated recording engineer Chris James.
The blu-ray has stereo, 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos sound options.
Have a sneak peak of the quality with the official video of Let’s Go Crazy from this restored release. Whilst the video still displays it’s obvious 1980’s source, it is a marked improvement on the original VHS that was so dark, it was a difficult watch. This is the nearest thing to time travel, if you want to pop back to 1985 to experience Prince and The Revolution in their absolute purple pomp. This is one of Prince’s legendary 80s shows, so grab your tambourine and a front row seat for Prince and The Revolution live!
CD 1 Let’s Go Crazy Delirious 1999 Little Red Corvette Take Me With U Yankee Doodle Do Me, Baby Irresistible Bitch Possessed How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore Let’s Pretend We’re Married International Lover God Computer Blue CD 2 Darling Nikki The Beautiful Ones When Doves Cry I Would Die 4 U Baby, I’m a Star Purple Rain
Blu-ray Let’s Go Crazy Delirious 1999 Little Red Corvette Take Me With U Yankee Doodle Do Me, Baby Irresistible Bitch Possessed How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore Let’s Pretend We’re Married International Lover God Computer Blue Darling Nikki The Beautiful Ones When Doves Cry I Would Die 4 U Baby I’m A Star Purple Rain
An expanded and remixed 10th Anniversary version of Tim Bowness and Giancarlo Erra’s 2011 album Warm Winter (now issued as Memories Of Machines, the original project name) will be released on 25th February 2022 through Kscope.
Featuring contributions from Robert Fripp, Peter Hammill, Julianne Regan, Jim Matheos, Colin Edwin, Huxflux Nettermalm, Peter Chilvers, Aleksei Saks and members of Nosound and Tim Bowness’s live bands, the album contains 12 sweeping and majestic songs.
Available on cd/dvd-a/v – with hi-res stereo and 5.1 Surround mixes – and double vinyl, the reissue contains two 2020 recordings – an album outtake and a new version of the 2006 Nosound piece Someone Starts To Fade Away – created especially for this release.
This new expanded edition of the album features a 2021 remix from the original tapes by Giancarlo Erra, and results in a very different album, with a warmer, more natural sounding release. Much as I loved the original version, I prefer this take on the songs. The songs sound more widescreen, if that makes sense? Comparing the original to this new version, the vocals are more central and more prominent in the mix, and there is more warmth added to the instrumentation. New Memories Of Machines ushers in a new era / Erra (sorry for the pun) of this classic album.
“Stories Come out of other stories Lead to other stories New memories of machines”
Before We Fall features backing vocals from All About Eve’s Julianne Regan, and it’s always a joy to hear Julianne, and is a timely reminder that we need more music from one of our finest vocalists. The 2021 mix offers a smoother and more joined up version of this wonderful song. The chorus soars on this version, that contains a powerful guitar driven wall of sound.
“It’s not love when we meet up It’s not love when we speak It’s not love when I say I can’t feel”
Beautiful Songs You Should Know has a slightly altered arrangement, with synth strings underpinning the song from earlier in the track, and the acoustic guitar is lower and less percussive in the 2021 version. As with all the songs on this re-imagining, the production feels more sympathetic, and this is not a criticism of the original, its a different, more organic listening experience.
“I want to play you All the beautiful songs you should know.”
Warm Winter is slightly longer in this incarnation, and after all these years, it still cuts deep, with one of Tim’s finest vocals. On first listen, it was slightly jarring having the drums stripped from the majority of the arrangement, but their absence gives the song a different, more unique pace. When they do appear (in a more treated form) at the song’s conclusion, it highlights Giancarlo’s powerful guitar lines, that are also more distorted and layered than before.
Lucky You Lucky Me is a revelation, with the chorus sounding like sparkling audio diamonds have been dropped into the mix by Mr Erra. Some of the synth backing has been removed from the second verse, and simplifying the arrangement makes the chorus hit even harder. The guitar solo is different on this take – with a psychedelic, bluesy double riff suiting the more earthy arrangement and mix.
Change Me Once Again has the drums sat further back in the mix, which lets the gorgeous guitars take centre stage. A fine vocal by Mr Bowness, underpinned by the layered vocals of Julianne Regan, make this one of the album’s most rewarding songs. The Gilmour-esque guitars help make this a key track.
The piano and electronics are dialled down in the new mix of Something In Our Lives, which makes the layered chorus richer. The atmospherics and brooding mood marks a shift in tone for the album from this point on.
I’ve said it before, and I will say it again – the music of Lost And Found In The Digital World has a real feel of Brilliant Trees era David Sylvian, with the aching synths and the haunting trumpet of Aleksei Saks adding a new flavour to the soundscapes. This new version is one of the most improved by Giancarlo’s new mix, especially with the solos at around the half-way mark. In the original, the trumpet and the lead solo are competing for space, whereas in the new mix, they complement each other perfectly.
“It’s time for letting go.”
Schoolyard Ghosts loses some of the intro section here, and the song that takes some of it’s cues from no-man’s Mixtaped is here as a definitive version of this well-travelled song. The end section has a flavour of the restrained power of David Bowie’s Blackstar.
“You and Jules down vodka shots To hide the feelings that you’ve got. You love her eyes, you love her mouth, You love her put on Rock-chick pout.”
The final track of the album proper is here in an extended form. At The Centre Of It All is a behemoth of a composition, and at the time of release was my favourite track on the album back in 2011, and my opinion has simply solidified hearing this new version. The funereal pace is interrupted by jagged solos bursting out like spikes of pain to disturb you and make you feel the hurt in the lyrics.
In my original review, I said: Porcupine Tree’s Colin Edwin contributes double bass to the song, as Giancarlo’s restrained guitar bookends the deep synth lines, as the “Beautiful Songs You Should Know” sadly become “Just pointless lists at the centre of it all.”
One of the most emotional and hard-hitting pieces of music from the entire rich catalogue of songs from Bowness and Erra, At The Centre Of It All has never sounded better.
“All the things that were meant to be, All the love you were meant to feel, Became too hard to reveal.”
The album concludes with two bonus tracks. Recorded in 2020, Dreamless Days feels like a long-lost no-man track. A discordant, slowly evolving riff underpinned by bass and an accordion gives way to a Mono band / avant-rock sounding end section, as Tim’s vocal loops see the song out.
The final extra track is a 2020 recording of the Nosound / Bowness piece Someone Starts To Fade Away. The original version was the first Bowness / Erra recorded collaboration, from the 2008 album Lightdark. This new recording features a similar riff based backing as Dreamless Days, as the sharp kaleidoscopic pieces replace the piano of the original recording. I hear hints of Flat Earth era Thomas Dolby in some of the arrangements twists and turns. Someone Starts To Fade Away fits so well on this album, and I do hope that these 2020 sessions lead to a new album from Tim and Giancarlo.
I can see this Kscope re-imagining of Memories of Machines leading to the album being heard and treasured by a larger audience than the original. And if you already own this album, the new version is a massive upgrade on the already amazing original, so I would urge you to buy this definitive version too.
Memories Of Machines is available as a 2 disc (CD/DVD), 2LP and digital album.
New Memories Of Machines [01:25] Before We Fall [05:10] Beautiful Songs You Should Know [05:37] Warm Winter [06:00] Lucky You Lucky Me [04:26] Change Me Once Again [05:46] Something In Our Lives [04:08] Lost And Found In The Digital World [05:25] Schoolyard Ghosts [04:53] At The Centre Of It All [09:49] Dreamless Days (outtake) [04:31] Someone Starts To Fade Away (2020 TBGE) (04:51)
Mr Kinski's Music Shack 