Skull Snaps: Skull Snaps.
Ultra-rare soul/funk album, at least before it was re-released. The original is still very rare. Famous mainly for the stunning beat in It’s A New Day. That cut figured in different deep funk- and rare funk-compilations and made the interest for the mother album skyrocket. Yes, it’s insanely funky, super in any way you want. But it is not, unfortunately, representative for the album, rather it stands out. It’s the only really funky cut on side A, what you mostly get is soul and even some hints of proto-disco. Having You Around is mellow and very fine, and My Hang Up Is You is soul to the ears. It’s an album made in 1973, with a skull cover you certainly would have noticed back then, and now. Whether it is a great or good album is currently debated, but almost all agree that It’s A New Day is a stunner. My vinyl ex is a reprint and not the expensive original version, but it is a nice red-colored version.
Side B starts funky with I’m Your Pimp. This three-piece band does a fine job, and are for example here strengthened by both horns and strings, so the soundscape is far from thin. I Turn My Back On Love is another funky cut with a full sound, including prominent horns and cool drum fills. Skull Snaps move between soul and funk and while this album is including far more fine moments than only It’s A New Day, it is still fair to say that It’s A New Day is in its own league. If you accept that the superb heavy, dirty, minimalist feel on It’s A New Day is not reprised otherwise on the album, but that it mainly moves smoothly in soulful territories, with funk- and proto-disco influences, then you will like the Skull Snaps album, and not just one thrilling killer cut.
David Bowie: Blackstar.
Rolling Stone called Blackstar his ”best anti-pop masterpiece since the Seventies” and rewarded it 4/5.
It’s jazzy and experimental, eerie and even haunted soundscapes at times. This was Bowie’s farewell album before his death. A strong last statement of creativity, and certainly with a feeling of doom and darkness. You really can’t find a darker, blacker really, lyric booklet or album cover. And of course the title is, well, Blackstar.
It is a tremendous loss to the world of popular music to lose such a genius and gifted giant as David Bowie. ”Look up here I’m in Heaven” he sings in the wonderfully sad and majestic third track Lazarus, with beautiful crying saxophones high in the soundscape.
Released so closely before Bowie’s death, it probably somewhat affected the stellar reviews and prices that it received, a last highmark for one of the truly exceptional giants of popular music. Listening to the album now, and looking back, it is perhaps fair to say in hindsight that it was perhaps slightly overrated at the time, due to circumstances. However, that said, Darkstar is definitely a very good album, an impressive last stand and truly interesting. Never less than very good, it’s highlights are superb, especially the magnificent Lazarus.
On the B-side I love the Girl Loves Me, with its fine percussion from James Murphy.
A passionate and swinging I Can’t Give Everything Away ends the album, again with saxophone prominently present in the soundscape, as well as swingin’ high-hat drum fills.
It leaves an empty feeling when the last song slowly fades out. It is over. But the memories remain.
One moment I personally cherish with Bowie is his short speech on Live Aid, before the controversial and heart-breaking first showing of the Ethiopia Famine video, to the sound of Drive by The Cars. It moved a world.
I was also fortunate to see Bowie live, at Provinssirock festival 2004, his very last live performance in Finland, as part of the A Reality Tour. A stunning performance. And it proved to be historic. His last of a total of five live performances in Finland. RIP.
Anssi Kela: Parasta Aikaa (2 LP).
I was very sad to have missed Anssi Kela’s concert at classic rock club Tavastia just a few weeks ago. But this summer he will make a tour celebrating his wonderful debut album Nummela. And that really is a must.
Parasta Aikaa is Kela live on album, from 2016. He is a great live artist, with an equally great band behind him. I have seen him live a few times, and always liked what I saw, great shows.
Miten Sydämet Toimii? (How Does Hearts Work?) is a very strong start on this set, followed by equally fine fan favorite Jennifer Aniston. Last on side A is my old favorite Puistossa, but I must admit that this later new arrangement is not really to my liking, as I love the original driving bass beat, that also works better live than this re-arranged version. It is not at all bad, a rather fine version, but it’s not as good as the superb original. Hope Kela choose the original arrangements for the Nummela tour.
Side B begins strongly with impressive film hit Milla and includes the superb hiphop-inspired and groovy Petri Ruusunen, honest self-examination rocker Nostalgiaa, and a touching love gone wrong story, Palava Silta (Burning Bridge). It’s effective, considering the topic, that it ends the side without applause, just with the very last tone.
Side C brings us Levoton Tyttö (Restless Girl), a great instrumental and unforgettable hit 1972. I have heard Anssi Kela present Kuoleen Miehen Kitara (Dead Man’s Guitar) with such a moving story that it strengthened the enjoyment of this song. No introduction is included here, but it’s still a very fine tune.
Side D is mostly reserved for the long and tender classic Nummela, a major highlight in Anssi Kela’s career, which is presented here in a very intense version, and D-side then ends with the title track Parasta Aikaa (The best times), which is a very fitting end. Anssi & Band gives the listeners a frenetic and very inspired finale live.
Overall, then, a very strong live album, fine highlights, and a clear reminder why you should check out Anssi Kela live. There is of course not room for all great songs on a double album, but perhaps one of the fragile and beautifully delicate Älä Mene Pois or Kipinöitä could have been added, or the catchy Mikan Faijan BMW?
Fine as his songs are on a live album, they are even better when delivered live on stage. A great Finnish artist.
Depeche Mode: Global Spirit Tour - Live At Volt Festival, Sopron, Hungary, 26.6.2018 (2 LP).
Perhaps the greatest of Depeche Mode tours as a three-piece band. And the last to feature founding member Andrew Fletcher. On later tour(s) they have unfortunately scrapped the two major songs from the Spirit album, Going Backwards and Where’s The Revolution. But: When have they been more relevant and contemporary than right now? Perhaps they became too contemporary for DM? .Both surviving members Martin Gore and Dave Gahan lives in Trump-led America nowadays. Or perhaps they think they already have had their say, and now leaves that stage to other artists. That would of course be a choice and stand they are free to take. But on this tour they were very much in the setlist and Going Backwards sets the vibe from start at Volt in Hungary. Interestingly, in a show in Hungary, that also has taken many steps backwards, under Orban’s autocratic leadership.
Going Backwards, then, is a heavy start, serious and adult, more statement than party, and a very fine tune. It’s also brave to start with a tune which repeatedly states ”We feel nothing inside”, but the Hungarian fans shout their approval, and darkness is always part of the mature DM sound. It’s No Good then puts the concert in hit mode and is followed by A Pain That I’m Used To and Useless, more dark moods alright. Pain has transformed into a live blockbuster with a superb fat bassline and the bass stays heavy on Useless.
Side B starts great with World In My Eyes, before Cover Me. It’s a fine piece too, but really a disappointment that it is included instead of Where’s The Revolution. The latter was a milestone on this tour and one of the highlights when I saw Depeche live in Helsinki on the same tour. Of course there is not room for a whole show on two LP:s, but, really, Revolution is a better and more contemporary live cut than Cover Me, but perhaps too controversial in Orban's Hungary. Well, we have elections coming up now, and his position is swaying. Anyway, it’s a disappointment that Where’s The Revolution is not included. Otherwise I can’t argue with the setlist. The chosen songs are all well-performed in stellar versions. After chilling down with Things You Said and In Your Room at the end of side B, it’s time for the big guns and megahits on the second disc.
Side C starts with superb Everything Counts and DM never lose grip or slows the dance mood down. Stripped, Personal Jesus and Never Let Me Down Again excite and exhaust all fans in the audience.
Side D calms things down and gives the listeners a chance to catch their breath. Somebody is Martin Gore’s vocal masterpiece, also in this version, and then Walking In Your Shoes pumps up the speed again before the concert crescendo Enjoy The Silence and Just Can’t Get Enough.
It is a stunning concert, and a fine-sounding recording of a global superstar band in splendid form.
It’s also a heartwarming document of the last tour with founding member Andrew Fletcher. Amazing, really.
The Roots: Organix (2 LP).
Questlove in The Roots has become the new Chuck D (Public Enemy) as the intellectual brain of hiphop. If not before, so definitely after his very well-received landmark book Hiphop History (2024). Well, his international hiphop credibility stems mainly from his role in The Roots and productions of other hiphop acts.
Organix is The Roots’ debut-album and it has been called both experimental and jazzy. The views are mixed and divided over it, and by many seen as one of the weakest Roots albums. However, I would argue that Organix is worth to check out and not just be dismissed as weak. It might not be a classic, but it still has its moments. The Anti-Circle is a definitive highlight on side A. Black Thought, Questlove & co delivers an interesting album, that moves and grooves nicely. It’s very well-performed, but without lifting to the greatest heights. Grits, for example, is pumping along on a fine beat, and the same goes for Leonard I-V.
Side C starts with a fine experimental improvisation live from Slovenia, Essawhamah? (Live at the Soulshack), that both Roots and the audience seems to enjoy. Popcorn Revisited is a highlight on C, building on Black Thought MC:ing over a groovy and catchy bassline. Common Dust is another landmark on side C, with Questlove driving the beat. Great funky stuff.
Side D is totally dominated by 12-minute The Session (Longest Posse Cut In History). It has a fresh jazzy feel with horns prominent in the buildup. A slow and relentlessly rollin’ groove over which Black Thought intensively MC:s. Yes, it works very well. We are quite a few minutes in when the bassline and drums starts driving the beat. Syreeta’s Having My Baby is a fine 43 seconds instrumental while Carryin’ On is a jokey end that also copies some tones from Daylight.
Organix is an unfairly dismissed album. It might not be top of The Roots’ line, but it is definitely not a bad record. It has a few highs, and The Session is one of them, but not much of real lows. Some of the short joke numbers could have been scrapped, though.
So, it’s a good album, very good even. Not a classic, but dismissers would do wisely to check out Organix again. You could be surprised, hell, you should be surprised.
This list may give some moments, or hours, occupation if the weekend program is dull or you want to explore some newer territories in music. Or perhaps an Easter Music Quiz with friends and family? Perhaps the albums are like Kinder eggs, chocolate outer and hollow, but with a secret and surprising gift inside, or like Mignon chocolate eggs, compact dark nougat-chocolate under the white egg shell. Music can be like that too. Albums may hide secrets and surprises within, songs you would never have expected. Or they may look one way but be something else completely, what you see is not always what you get. Test these albums on your friends, some will love them, others will not. That’s life. We are not alike and that’s the way it should be.
Keep your eyes on the blogg, there might be more Easter eggs for the long weekend. Films or series perhaps.
For now I wish you a Happy Easter weekend, or just some well-deserved time to chill.
For now, over and out.
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