Staff Picks Category: Music

Rags & tangos by Ernesto Nazareth, James Scott, Joseph F. Lamb performed by Joshua Rifkin, piano [Music CD]

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Put this in the CD player, close your eyes (assuming you’re not driving) and be transported to turn-of-the-20th-century piano heaven. Ernesto Nazareth is the greatest composer you’ve never heard of. His music is descended from Brazilian choro, Frédéric Chopin, and the soul of dance hall piano. In between the Nazareth “tangos” –which aren’t really tangos in any conventional sense– are works by my two favorite ragtime composers: James Scott, the bridge from Joplin to jazz, and Joseph Lamb, who can make the romantic tradition sound like striptease music and fill your heart with nostalgia for places and times that never were. One listen is worth ten thousand words.

Wild Flag by Wild Flag [Music CD]

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The Glasgow School by Orange Juice [Music CD]

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File this one under “neglected”.

Due to odd sizes of items, value, age, et cetera, we sometimes have material here at Forbes that lacks a certain “browseability” or just isn’t given an ideal sight line.  The Glasgow School certainly falls somewher under this category.  This cd, filed with our boxed sets because of its book bound style case, may be a little off the radar for our casual music browser.

Orange Juice, fronted by Edwyn Collins, was a group that successfully meshed clever, highly literary lyrics with danceable musical accompaniment.  The songs on The Glasgow School collects the band’s first singles and outtakes.  These sessions sound more rough around the edges than the slicker produced records that followed.  Collins’ romantic, baritone voice handles the majority of the lead singing with James Kirk interjecting some gems here and there (Kirk would leave OJ after the release of the classic full length debut You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever).

Here we have inspired music from Scotland at the start of the 80’s representing the lighter side of the post-punk era.  Lyrically, they match wits with the best.  Collins laments in Blue Boy “Oh curse and bless him with the gabardine which surrounds him/See him writhe at the sight of your eyes which repel him”.  Their lasting influence is easily heard throughout the catalogs of the Smiths, Belle & Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand and hopefully, if people can find Orange Juice, many more musicians to come.

The Mighty Uke [DVD]

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Any Day Now: David Bowie by Kevin Cann [Book]

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Any Day Now covers Bowie’s early life and the beginning phases of his exceptional musical career. This painstakingly assembled biography/chronology lists studio session dates and concert appearances, presents press clippings and handwritten letters and also provides a complete discography for the said period in time. Most impressive is the multitude of incredible photographs of the adventurous singer; each page is filled with striking images, large and small. It’s an interesting read and account of the rapidly progressing artist in both appearance and musical style.

Spooked by Robyn Hitchcock [Music CD]

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In 2004, Robyn Hitchcock recorded one of his finest albums with folkster heroes Gilllian Welch and David Rawlings. The trio set up shop in Nashville, TN and created this very sparse and absorbing recording. The album is filled with rich textured harmonies, picking acoustic guitars and a refreshing amount of open space. Though mostly an acoustic record, the album also features spots of electric piano, minimal drums, electric sitar for psychedelic touches and Eastern flavor and a couple electric bass guest spots by NRBQ man Joey Spampinato.

On the dobro led “We’re Gonna Live in the Trees”, Hitchcock’s famed clever lyrics bounce the literary reference of Virginia Woolf had a troubled mind, it was never at ease with the song’s title/refrain. He also shows a softer side with the slow and outer-spacey “English Girl”. Her skin was clear and her mum wore pearls/I fell in love with an English girl/ She asked me for an almond whirl/ I was obliged to the English girl.
Robyn Hitchcock is one of the few recording artists whose catalog has remained consistently inspired throughout a lengthy career. Spooked, in particular, stands out from his recent output due to the stunning contributions from Welch and Rawlings.

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby [Book]

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Hippies [Music CD]

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How To Wreck A Nice Beach by Dave Tompkins [Book]

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The vocoder is one of the strangest devices in the music world. One only has to listen to the recent trend of “Auto-Tune” (an offspring of the vocoder) to begin the mystification process! Dave Tompkins leads us through the invention of this vocal transmission synthesizer and its initial uses. We learn that Winston Churchill and later John F. Kennedy spoke into early modules before the vocoder was even considered to be used as a musical instrument. Tompkins gives us plenty of military, political, scientific and Cold War history side by side with the then nascent hip-hop and electro movements with tales of the Jonzun Crew, Roger Troutman and Kraftwerk to name a few. What a read!

Cover Story. Volume Two by Wax Poetics [Book]

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Our friends at Wax Poetics Magazine have released a book which compiles the craziest album covers one can possibly imagine. After the introductory pages by David Hollander, we say goodbye to commentary and are left only with high quality images of curated wacky lp covers. This is one of those books where one can flip through endlessly. Some of the images are truly original, inspired works of art, whereas others are just plain and unbridled insanity. Colorful and psychedelic explosions sit along side grinning, mustachioed men on roller skates and “Music For Your Plants”… Better yet, the artwork for the record “Music To Massage Your Mate By” could leave just about anyone in stitches.

Thanks has to go to all of the contributors who collect these treasures at various flea markets, record shops and thrift stores. Weirdos!

Hot Burritos: The True Story of the Flying Burrito Brothers by John Einarson with Chris Hillman [Book]

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This refreshing biography about the pioneer country rock outfit unearths plenty of new insight. Author John Eirarson leaves behind previously scattered, sensational headlines for contemporary accounts of the group’s living members (including extensive interviews with founding member/ex- Byrd Chris Hillman). Where as most biographies of the Burritos tend to lean on the “tortured soul” angle of the late Gram Parsons, “Hot Burritos” discusses the collective innovation and follies of this seminal group.

Ram by Paul & Linda McCartney [Music CD]

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“Ram on give your heart to somebody…soon right away, right away,” McCartney laments on the ukulele driven “Ram On”. Ram, the sole album credited to Paul & Linda McCartney, is truly a family affair with half of the songs credited to the couple. Despite several tunes with surreal, nonsensical lyrics, Ram seems to give us a window into a simpler life. There’s numbers about dogs, the desire to live in the country and young love.

While retaining an element of the homemade sound McCartney crafted on his debut record, the pair also delve into Beach Boys arrangements and harmony as well as exploring something I’d like to call easy-listening/avante garde (see “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” or “Long Haired Lady”). Other highlights include the rocker “Eat at Home” and the false ending with futuristic tag on “The Back Seat of My Car”.

Ram gives us the impression that these are people who are doing it their own way… just have a look at the back cover to see the cryptic message Paul has left about his feelings toward his old group.