Thursday 31 December 2020

Albums Of The Decade ( Part One )


 In a different corner of t'internet* I've been taking part in some weekly polls where a bunch of music nutters  fans discuss their favourite albums of particular years or decades. This has led to the inevitable question of which were the best albums of the last decade. While obviously a very difficult choice for anyone who doesn't think that "music has been rubbish since the '80s / '90s / delete as applicable", I've managed to get my choices down to a workable list of 20 and I thought I'd inflict it on you, Dear Reader...

( In line with the original poll I'm going with albums released from 2010 to 2019  -  I'm not really sure that's how decades work but I'll stick with it. The Number One is really obvious but after that all numbers are arbitrary and completely irrelevant anyway because it's only my opinions and who am I? )

*( Twitter) 

Blackstar  -  David Bowie ( 2016 )

The Thin White Duke's parting gift to the world, an endlessly rewarding treasure box of mystery, melody and melancholy. Bowie's previous album, The Next Day, had been his kick-ass comeback after the quiet years when we'd all assumed he'd retired. It was by any standards a very, very good rock album and probably more than most people had expected from the former David Jones. Blackstar, on the other hand, was a masterpiece for the ages. Reconnecting with his more experimental days, Bowie hired a crack team of top New York jazz musicians and made some of the most exciting music of his career, mixing Hip Hop beats, Nadsat lyrics and call-backs to 17th century playwrites with songs that, in hindsight, anticipated his sad demise but were also bursting with life and energy.                                  "Something happened on the day he died..."

Masseduction  -  St. Vincent ( 2017 )

Staying in the artier realms of pop music we have this glossy, glassy, diamond-sharp album from the wonderful Annie Clark aka St. Vincent. A burst of Glam synth-pop colour, vibrant and shiny but with a dark flipside, Masseduction is the perfect soundtrack to the rainbow-coated Dystopia of your choice.     "I can't turn off what turns me on / I hold you like a weapon"

American Slang  -  The Gaslight Anthem ( 2010 )

After breaking big with their second album, The '59 Sound, New Jersey rockers The Gaslight Anthem refined and distilled their Springsteen-goes-Punk ethos on this cracking collection of heart-on-sleeve anthems. Blue-collar rock doesn't get more poetic yet clear-eyed than this album's The Queen Of Lower Chelsea. "American girls they want the whole world."

Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit  -  Courtney Barnett ( 2015 )

You know that moment when you're in a record shop and you hear a song playing and think "that's really good" and then the next song is just as good and the next is even better and you have to ask the guy behind the counter who's the artist and then you buy the record and walk out of the shop and take it home and it still sounds great? Yeah? Well, that's how I first heard the laconic, ironic garage-rock of Courtney Barnett.                                                                                                                                        "Put me on a pedestal and I'll only disappoint you / Tell me I'm exceptional, I promise to exploit you"  

Arc  -  Everything Everything ( 2013 )

It's hard to believe that Everything Everything have been chronicling the horrors of the 21st century for over a decade now. Their twisty-turny, R'n'B-flavoured math-rock sounds like no-one else  -  a complex but danceable sound, deftly entwining often uplifting music with grimly pessimistic lyrics. And in front-man Jonathan Higgs they have surely one of the most powerful, if underrated, singers in modern music. Arc still stands, for me anyway, as their most complete album, a laser-guided dissection of the increasingly bizarre world we happen to be living in.                                                                                   "And that Eureka moment hits you like a cop car / And you wake up, just head and shoulders in a glass jar."

Wrecking Ball  -  Bruce Springsteen ( 2012 )

"Hard times come and hard times go, yeah just to come again." Bruce Springsteen's 17th studio album is one of his angriest, a protest howl about the uncaring forces ripping out America's guts. From the Irish-folk-meets-Punk of Death To My Hometown ( a song which really kicks hard when played live ) to the Gospel revival of Land Of Hope And Dreams, these are songs of ordinary people taking on the challenges of life in the USA, whether it's institutional racism or Ivory Tower bankers destroying communities. There's very little here that's subtle but it's powerful, stirring stuff with some of the most cast-iron tunes of Bruce's recent career. On a personal note, the title track has an extra meaning for me, beyond Bruce's intentions. I was listening to this album at the end of 2012 when I'd first been diagnosed with cancer and the sentiment of taking on whatever could be thrown at you affected me deeply. I can remember driving home from work one Winter night, full of mixed feelings, wanting to talk to my parents about my illness but being unable to  -  my Mum had passed away only two years before and it still felt very raw. I found myself singing along to Wrecking Ball at the top of my lungs, with tears coursing down my cheeks. I wasn't going to let this collection of rogue white blood cells beat me...        "Take your best shot / Bring on your wrecking ball!"

Damn.  -  Kendrick Lamarr ( 2017 )

I have to admit I'm not that well-versed in modern Hip Hop but Kendrick Lamarr is, for me, the finest rapper I've heard since Jay Z, and "Damn." ( full-stop intentional ) is a fantastic album. Kendrick looks back over his life, comparing his early hard years in Compton with his more recent success and, of course, comes to the conclusion that "They won't take me out my element." The album pinballs back and forth through his timeline with recurring themes, motifs and lines, until the end which instantly catapults the listener back to the start. With its winning combination of old skool / new skool Hip Hop sounds and beats, and Kendrick's seamless flow, this is an album which does indeed demand repeat listening.                                                                                                                                                      "What happens on Earth stays on Earth."

Skying  -  The Horrors ( 2011 )

The Horrors were a band I never really paid any attention to until I saw them supporting Primal Scream at the Eden Project, whilst promoting this very album. I was so impressed by their performance that I rushed out to buy Skying and was just knocked out by it. It's a hugely confident, atmospheric collection of songs  -  a whirlwind of Psychedelia, shoe-gaze and post-Punk influences with some huge Motorik beats underpinning it all. Still their best album.                                                                                            "In endless blue / Reflections look so good"

Beard, Wives, Denim -  Pond ( 2012 )

More Psychedelia, this time with an Antipodean flavour. Pond, formerly Kevin "Tame Impala" Parker's backing band, first came to my attention with this, their fourth album. The song When It Explodes drew me in with its dreamy, Flaming Lips-inspired otherworldliness and then I was hooked. Pond are the kind of band that can zoom off into stratospheric improvisations and freak-outs but will always return to a blue-eyed pop sensibility. Later albums like Hobo Rocket and Man It Feels Like Space Again only underlined this relationship between tunes and trips. I saw Pond play live a few years ago and they were just incredibly loud and heavy, man. Far out!                                                                                              "I hope that my head is not all straight" 

The Navigator  -  Hurray For The Riff Raff ( 2017 )

HFTRR ( as I'm sure nobody calls them ) are basically a vehicle for ferociously talented singer / songwriter Alynda Segarra. Apparently more known for a rootsy, folky style, the band here stretch out to embrace Indie, Velvet Underground-inspired sounds and  -  crucially  -  Segarra's Puerto Rican heritage in the stirring underclass anthem Pa'lante. It's a wonderful album, never going where you expect and always suffused with melody and passion.                                                                "Colonised and hypnotised, be something / Sterilised, dehumanised, be something"

   

Okay, that's as much as I can manage for now. The next 10 albums on my list will have to be revealed when this shitty, shitty year is over and we're on to the "sunlit uplands" of 2021. 

For now ( Dear Reader ) look after yourself, stay safe, wear a mask and have a Happy New Year. I'll see you on the other side... 

( By the way, if some of the lines above seem irregular and not aesthetically pleasing it just shows how useless the recent Blogger update has been. As I write and edit stuff it looks kind of alright, after some tweaking, but when I view the same stuff in "Preview" it all seems to go to hell. Blogger's overlords must have a "Brexit-style" view of things where they want to make blogging as difficult, restrictive and non-user-friendly as possible. Rant over. For now. )                                                                 






Friday 25 December 2020

Happy Christmas from The Glass Walking-Stick

Here's wishing all you lovely people out in the Blogoverse a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year... hopefully with some kind of return to normality in 2021. Best wishes and love & peace to all.






And remember...



Monday 14 December 2020

It's that time of year again

 


Although it's even more self-indulgent of me than usual I just had to mention that it's my birthday today. I've had a lovely day with Sarah, walking around one of our favourite places on the planet, the beautiful Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge. Unfortunately, due to the continuing state of Covid crapness, our kids couldn't be with us today ( which was very strange indeed ) but they should both be home for Christmas.

As well as the usual birthday messages and cards, I've had a couple of cool shout-outs from two of my old blogging pals, over on Twitter. So, a hearty "Thanks!" and "Excelsior!" to Doug of Bronze Age Babies fame for the Big John Buscema Thor pic below, and to Peerless Pete Doree for the pantingly personalised birthday card above. Oh yeah, and thanks to Stan & Jack. And Irving Forbush. 'Nuff said!


( Please don't tell anyone but I think Pete's given away my secret identity... )

Saturday 12 December 2020

Richard Corben

 


I was sad to hear yesterday that the great comic book artist Richard Corben had recently passed away, following heart surgery. He first made a name for himself in the 1970s, working for various Underground comic publishers as well as for Warren magazines and Heavy Metal, and was a pioneer of the graphic novel form with the likes of Den / Neverwhere and Bloodstar. His comic strips were loud, brash and colourful, filled with brawny musclemen, over-endowed women, creepy creatures and outrageous horror. There was also a poetic, lyrical side to Corben's work which often showed through the fleshy spectacle and ultra-violence. He was a master of colour, achieving stunning chromatic effects with the limited resources of the four-colour comic. 

I thought I'd post a few examples of Corben's work from my collection. The first four images are all taken from P.R Garriock's Masters Of Comic Book Art, a wonderful book published way back in 1978 which first introduced me to Corben as well as the likes of Moebius, Druillet and Eisner. The next three images are taken from The Odd Comic World Of Richard Corben, a collection of some of his strips for Warren Publishing. Of course, Corben later went on to work for the likes of Pacific Comics and even went "mainstream" ( -ish ) for Marvel and DC but I'll always go back to the power and raw sensuality of his early material.

Absolutely beautiful artwork from one of the greats of the modern comic book who will be sadly missed.






RIP Richard Corben  -  1st October 1940 to 2nd December 2020

Tuesday 8 December 2020

It was 40 years ago today...


 I can vividly remember hearing the news of John Lennon's death. I was listening to Radio 1 before getting ready to go to school and was just stunned at the announcement. "Who would want to shoot a Beatle?" I thought in my 13-year old innocence. It didn't make any sense back in 1980 and doesn't make much more sense now.

As ever in these cases it's a strange thing to feel sadness at the death of someone you've never met but John was... well, he was John Lennon. He was a Beatle. The band had become so woven into the fabric of our lives that even a decade after their split the Fabs still had a huge importance. And now it's another four decades since even that fateful day and the world still mourns John Winston Ono Lennon. 

He was no angel, true  -  indeed, he was a mass of contradictions, like most great artists  -   but he was surely one of the greatest songwriters and singers in popular music. And let's not forget John Lennon was also a loving husband and father.

His old bandmate Paul McCartney Tweeted the following today: "A sad sad day but remembering my friend John with the great joy he brought to the world. I will always be proud and happy to have known and worked with this incredible Scouser! x love Paul"

And love, light and peace from us all  -  RIP John


Sunday 22 November 2020

And I always thought Blue Peter was boring...


I should have been paying more attention.

Here's a clip somebody posted recently on Twitter ( sorry, Blogspot, it's nothing personal ) from perennial BBC kids' magazine show Blue Peter, showing presenter Maggie Philbin and others discussing the manufacture and history of the corset. Leading of course, to Maggie modelling a corset with the added bonus of stockings and high heels. On a kids' TV show. The mind boggles. It's certainly something that would never happen today... but.... it was obviously acceptable in the '80s, to borrow a phrase from Calvin Harris.

It's strange but I don't think I've ever thought about Maggie Philbin's legs before  -  and now I've been thinking about them all week.


Don't worry, normal service will resume shortly...



Sunday 8 November 2020

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