2nd batch of album finds in my collection that I have either listened through only once or not for a longer time period. No new albums will be bought before I’ve heard all 30 through. Call it a music white month.
Andra laddningen albumfynd i samlingen som jag antingen bara lyssnat igenom en gång eller som det är länge sedan jag lyssnade på.
Here’s the next 5 (albums 25-21, not grading, just counting down), här är de följande 5 (album 25-21):
David & The Citizens: Until The Sadness Is Gone
Swedish indiepop-band David & The Citizens are a great band, but still remained rather underground. I have for years loved their fantastic adrenalin-filled non-album track Stop! A stunning pop song. Unfortunately it’s not on this, or any other album. I have it on a wonderful festival compilation. And that song made me remember the band. This album, my first with David & The Citizens, was bought in Helsinki this winter. The record shop owner had never heard of them, he said, and I had properly heard just one song. But what a song! Sadly, there is no song here as impressive as Stop!, but there a many good songs on an album that also as a whole is great. Opening song, funnily titled The End, is a superb up-tempo start, followed by an equally fine Graycoated Morning, with some marvellous, joyful moments that remind me of Stop! The album cuts are mixed for a smooth, continuos musical ride without silent breaks. Also that works well. Sometimes it’s just great to follow your instincts and take a leap forward into (almost) unknown musical territory. I only knew they had one great song, and it was not on the album. Still felt that it was quite a safe bet. And yes, Until The Sadness Is Gone is both melancholic and up-tempo happy, an inspiring find. I was perhaps unsure when buying this album for 25€, but I’m definitely sure now, this albun deserves its place in my collection. Great stuff.
2Pac: Loyal To The Game (2LP)
Tupac Shakur, one the giants of hiphop, on a posthumous record from 2004, often labelled a ”remix experience”, that received mixed reviews, but still, there is also a lot of qualities shining through, namely the voice and words of Tupac. Good album? Sure. Great? Perhaps not. Production has been criticized for being too soft, and, yes, when considering Tupacs voice and fierce lyrics, the soundscape could have been heavier and, well, less-polished, rawer. That said, great to hear earlier unheard lyrics expressed with Tupac’s voice, even if it is posthumously. Out On Bail and Ghetto Gospel on side A sets a great tone for the following three sides. Among the highlights is also a fine Don’t You Trust Me. On the other hand, the production of for example the title track, shows what really doesn’t work as well. It would need to be remixed, and reproduced, which could result in a great album. The Tupac material is already great here, but isn’t fully coming to its right. So, a mixed bag, a good album, but not excellent. It has its fine moments and Tupac’s voice and lyrics are all over the record, but an album made by the man himself would of course be a better choice. If you have all of them, then this is a nice complement. Now hoping for a rawer remixed/reproduced version for us all.
Einszwo: Gefährliches Halbwissen (Instrumental) (2LP)
One of the famous early German hiphop crews, Einszwo’s legendary debutalbum is very hard to find on vinyl today. I saw one ex in Stuttgart, but unfortunately did not buy it then because of the high price. And will probably not see it on vinyl again. Or then at a considerably higher price. I have it on CD, though, and the instrumental version on vinyl. Cheaper, but certainly not cheap, and found in Einszwo’s hometown Hamburg. Not untypical that German hiphop album are also out in instrumental versions. I have for example albums from Waving The Guns and Funf Sterne Deluxe too. Very good albums, I may add. Gefährliches Halbwissen (instrumental) is even better.
From opening words ”Achtung, Achtung”, and asking the listener to put their hands in the air, the great rhythm of superb opening track Arbeitstitel: Aller Achtung rolls on. And before second track Liebes Logbuch, Einszwo MC Dendemann announces (in German) that hiphop is his work, from which he earns his living. Not taking things lightly then, we understand, before another excellent rhythm-based instrumental rolls on. Einszwo are legendary in Germany for a reason, they were early pioneers, and they were and are great. The instrumental album has an informative undertitel Fur Den DJ Fuchs Von Heute, and, sure, instrumental albums can be used to rap over att home and as a collection of rhythm tracks for DJ:s, but this album is good enough in its own right to enjoy listening to as a ”proper” album. And it makes you wanna rap and move to the rhythms. I will soon play this album again. And again. Simply brilliant.
Elephant9: Psychedelic Backfire 1 (2 LP) and Psychedelic Backfire 2 (2 LP).
Two live albums by highly talented Norwegian jazz group Elephant9, and so closely connected that I review them in the same text. Obviously, the albums are great together, but can equally well be enjoyed separately. And enjoy them I do. From the offset, inspiring I cover the mountain top builds a soundscape of tranquility, before a outburst of sound hits the listener and audience. It’s a wonderful start, a mesmerizing piece throughout. And you know you are in for a treat. Elephant9 have been highly praised, and rightly so. I had only heard a few tracks when I bought three of their records, these two included, at a record fair. All vinyls that also included CD-versions. And for the record, none of the tracks I had heard were on these records. Both Psychedelic Backfire albums were recorded live, at Kampen Bistro, during the same week in January 2019. And both are well-produced and fine-sounding live recordings. Only one track (Skink/Fugl Fönix) is included on both albums. That’s fine, as six of the tracks are side-long, and there's two each on the other two sides. The psychedelic in the titles points to long, instrumental live jams, equally highly appreciated in psychedelia and jazz.
It is two very different setlists and totally individual live experiences recorded the same week, or you could argue that these recordings really belong together and form a great common overview of wonderful jazz group elephant9 live in 2019. And yes, I think the whole is greater than the individual parts. But if I have to choose only one, it would be No 1. I cover the mountaintop is a superb start on No 1, while You are the sunshine of my life is a fine start on No 2. The elephant-trio on bass, drums and keyboards produce a live soundscape that feels much larger and wider, it brings to mind the brilliant Weather Report on Birdland live, and I am equally impressed here.
Psychedelic Backfire 1 is very intense, from its mellow and tranquil start it develops within minutes into an increasingly intense urgency, that also intensify the listening experience. Wonderful Skink/Fugl fönix (side C) never let’s the guard down, and never let’s you of the hook. Its pulsating and vibrant rhythms and well-matched keyboard melodies drives us, the listeners, on mercilessly. It’s spellbinding. So spell-binding in fact that my dinner got burned as I forgot it while intensively listening to this track. This could easily have been a great concert stopper, but then there was side D left. A great album.
Psychedelic Backfire 2 also starts well, with You are the sunshine of my life, and this double album consists of four side-long tracks, so it feels even more jam-oriented than No 1. The album starts less intense than No 1, but it is felt in every muscle when Skink/Fugl fönix brings the tempo and intense-level way up (on side B). Still, the No 1 version may still be slightly better. The tempo slows down again on side C, the weakest side with a very slowly building intro that for minutes is not going anywhere. However, if Habanera Rocket doesn’t feel that rocket-like, the album finale, Freedom’s Children/John Tinnick, is all the more impressive, and intense. Tempo-wise it starts-stop, but then slowly, over several minutes, starts to build up intensity again. You can feel the tension of held back energy - and then they are off with a final burst of power. It’s a very impressive way to end the album, and the better album closer.
So, in general a tie between two impressive live albums, but if forced to choose, Psychedelic Backfire is the one.
So there you have it. Five more archive finds in the collection listened to and reviewed.
Stay tuned for the next 5!
Det var fem till arkivfynd från min samling, genomlyssnade och recenserade.
Håll dig uppkopplad för nästa 5!
