So, this uneven but relatively interesting tour winds it's way to the UK, and kicks off with a surprisingly high standard show in the less than inspiring venue that is the Sheffield Arena.
1st 3 songs were a bit of a snoozefest, but, from Boots of Spanish Leather through It's Alright Ma was as good a run as I can remember.
A simply gorgeous Boots; Bob out front on guitar, with the stage backdrop bathed in some sort of bizarre lighting. Great vocal too. Levee was as hot as ever. Sugar Baby, one of the best songs from it's album, given a nice rendition.
Tweedle was great (wow, did I really just say that?!) - Bob out front, sans guitar, cowering and diving like an old bluesman with a hand held harp, doing this thing where he sings and blasts the harp almost in the same breath. Quite innovative really, similar to Lovesick earlier in the tour.
Po' Boy though, was the song of the night. This complicated song (melodically anyway) has been given a fine subtle new arrangement, and Bob nailed the lyrics.
It's Alright Ma has gained from a new punched up riff, but after this, the show became more predictable.
A good opening UK night though.
On to London, and the o2. A lot of people hate the venue, and it is ENORMOUS. But, I kinda like it. A very iconic structure, all out on it's own down there in north Greenwich. And post-gig, I'm happy the Underground was off, as travelling by boat down the Thames (as many did) sure was a novel way to attend a Dylan show.
Anyway, gig wise, possibly a shade under Sheffield in overall quality, and nothing extraordinary setlist wise, but again at least 4 or 5 songs that were worth the trip hands down.
Chimes of Freedom is not always sung well, great song or no, but tonight was the best I've seen, since the songs re-introduction. ie it was nearly as good as those great 2000/2001 versions.
I won't dwell on the songs that bore me as it is possibly my own fault for seeing too many shows, but stuff like Hattie Carroll, Things have Changed, Rollin Tumblin, Highway, Mobile.. you get the picture. Anyway, there were only a few nap opportunites tonight.
Other highlights were a slower quieter (almost acoustic) Hollis Brown, an amazingly well nailed vocal in Workingmans Blues, and tonights great visual moment - Bob out front on his own for Till I Fell in Love with You. I haven't seen him strike so many poses since 1995! He's still no Mick Jagger needless to say, but good to see him come out from his batcave in behind that keyboard, have some fun, and actually interact with the audience. Well, almost!
Oh, and the sound was perfect tonight. Incredibly well mixed, Bob's voice booming out on top of the band. Sheffield had been good too, albeit marginally too loud.
Band wise, they are ok. Doing well on the new arrangements, and Stu Cimpball is slightly more to the fore than in the past. Even gets to play a 'classic rock' style solo in Watchtower, which I suppose makes a change from Denny Freeman's more rootsy endeavors. Don't get me wrong though, I am a big Denny fan, but why on earth has Bob stopped him playing his amazing solos in Spirit on Water and Deal Goes Down?!! Surely, it could'nt be because he used to get spontaneous rounds of applause from the audience?!
Anyway, onwards and upwards.. Roundhouse tonight..
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Review of the new Bob Dylan album 'Together Through Life', April 2009
Here is a quick review of ‘Together Through Life’. Hot off the press, just one listen, and even that was in the car! But, it sounds great in a car. It’s a fun record.
Sound wise, it is not far off the last 3 albums, but sweetened by the predominant accordion of David Hidalgo. As other reviews have said, it is a Tex-Mex bordertown sounding album. Bob’s voice is good. Dog-rough, but good. Doesn’t seem to be any harmonica. Lyrically, not sure yet.
My first general impression songwise is that it is not quite up to the (accepted) high standard of Time out of Mind nor even to the (less accepted!) high standard of Modern Times. I love these two albums. Together Through Life for me is I think going to be closer to Love & Theft, which I thought of as an interesting exercise in genres, with one outstanding song (Mississippi).
And this album, too, has one outstanding song in ‘I Feel a Change Coming On’.
So I’ll start with that one – what a song! There’s very little I don’t like about this song. It is upbeat, optimistic, lyrically possibly a reflection on how good life and love can be, despite ageing. It’s the best band performance on the album, and probably the best vocal too. Also in an album short of guitar solos, this song has a lovely one, presumably played by Mike Campbell.
If all this album has given us is this song as an addition to the canon, then it’s definitely worth your 20 euros. A song that I think is one of his best latter day major songs, to file with Workingmans Blues, Nettie Moore, Missisippi, Not Dark Yet, Trying to get to Heaven and Standing in the Doorway.
Beyond Here Lies Nothing is an excellent album opener. Kind of rock-y and swinging but also swampy and murky if that makes any sense – it’s the only song on the album that in any way reminds me of ‘Oh Mercy’.
The much touted Life is Hard doesn’t live up to expectations. It is quite European sounding, but has he ever written a slower song. It’s almost moving backwards! Jury out on this one.
My Wife’s Hometown is my vote for worst song on the album. A mediocre re-write of a Willie Dixon song (duly credited, to be fair), presumably I Just Want to Make Love to You? Waste of time. He’ll probably play the bloody thing to death in concert too.
If You Ever go to Houston – nice song. The way he uses the accordion on songs like this reminds me a bit of the way people like Bruce Springsteen, John Prine, even latter day The Band, have used this instrument. I thought I wouldn’t like such a reliance on accordion, which is an instrument I am ambivalent about, but it seems to work I must say..
I won’t review every song, but two that I love (and suspect other people will not!) are Shake Shake Mama and Jolene. These are in the field of recent Dylan songs that veer between rockabilly and a kind of jump blues (not straight blues), which I love, and are great great dance numbers. His recent day musicians seem to have really got good empathy with each other in making these numbers swing. So, in other words, these two songs are this albums Summer Days/Thunder on Mountain/Someday Baby/Levees Gonna Break..
There are a few mid paced typical brooding gloomy type songs on the album that I quite like, such as Forgetful Heart. Not much else to say about them at the moment.
And, finally, I hate to finish on a negative note, but another of my least favourites is the closing track ‘It’s All Good’. Sadly, the title is somewhat inaccurate. This sounds like an Under the Red Sky outtake. Hopefully my opinion of it will improve.
Overall, though, I’m happy. 8 out of 10. Lousy album title though!
Sound wise, it is not far off the last 3 albums, but sweetened by the predominant accordion of David Hidalgo. As other reviews have said, it is a Tex-Mex bordertown sounding album. Bob’s voice is good. Dog-rough, but good. Doesn’t seem to be any harmonica. Lyrically, not sure yet.
My first general impression songwise is that it is not quite up to the (accepted) high standard of Time out of Mind nor even to the (less accepted!) high standard of Modern Times. I love these two albums. Together Through Life for me is I think going to be closer to Love & Theft, which I thought of as an interesting exercise in genres, with one outstanding song (Mississippi).
And this album, too, has one outstanding song in ‘I Feel a Change Coming On’.
So I’ll start with that one – what a song! There’s very little I don’t like about this song. It is upbeat, optimistic, lyrically possibly a reflection on how good life and love can be, despite ageing. It’s the best band performance on the album, and probably the best vocal too. Also in an album short of guitar solos, this song has a lovely one, presumably played by Mike Campbell.
If all this album has given us is this song as an addition to the canon, then it’s definitely worth your 20 euros. A song that I think is one of his best latter day major songs, to file with Workingmans Blues, Nettie Moore, Missisippi, Not Dark Yet, Trying to get to Heaven and Standing in the Doorway.
Beyond Here Lies Nothing is an excellent album opener. Kind of rock-y and swinging but also swampy and murky if that makes any sense – it’s the only song on the album that in any way reminds me of ‘Oh Mercy’.
The much touted Life is Hard doesn’t live up to expectations. It is quite European sounding, but has he ever written a slower song. It’s almost moving backwards! Jury out on this one.
My Wife’s Hometown is my vote for worst song on the album. A mediocre re-write of a Willie Dixon song (duly credited, to be fair), presumably I Just Want to Make Love to You? Waste of time. He’ll probably play the bloody thing to death in concert too.
If You Ever go to Houston – nice song. The way he uses the accordion on songs like this reminds me a bit of the way people like Bruce Springsteen, John Prine, even latter day The Band, have used this instrument. I thought I wouldn’t like such a reliance on accordion, which is an instrument I am ambivalent about, but it seems to work I must say..
I won’t review every song, but two that I love (and suspect other people will not!) are Shake Shake Mama and Jolene. These are in the field of recent Dylan songs that veer between rockabilly and a kind of jump blues (not straight blues), which I love, and are great great dance numbers. His recent day musicians seem to have really got good empathy with each other in making these numbers swing. So, in other words, these two songs are this albums Summer Days/Thunder on Mountain/Someday Baby/Levees Gonna Break..
There are a few mid paced typical brooding gloomy type songs on the album that I quite like, such as Forgetful Heart. Not much else to say about them at the moment.
And, finally, I hate to finish on a negative note, but another of my least favourites is the closing track ‘It’s All Good’. Sadly, the title is somewhat inaccurate. This sounds like an Under the Red Sky outtake. Hopefully my opinion of it will improve.
Overall, though, I’m happy. 8 out of 10. Lousy album title though!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
New Bob Dylan song free download
Well, if Beyond Here Lies Nothing is representative of the album, I'll be a happy camper. A great swinging rock number. Bluesy, but the accordian gives it a lovely melodic feel. Gorgeous guitar work - dunno who it is, but it sounds like Denny Freeman, despite the rumours he isn't on the album. Maybe it's Mike Campbell.
Terrific vocal too. I've literally just had one listen, so haven't considered the lyrics. For me, the music is more important anyway..
It's on http://www.bobdylan.com/ as a free download. But, hurry - it's for 24 hours only.
Ken.
Terrific vocal too. I've literally just had one listen, so haven't considered the lyrics. For me, the music is more important anyway..
It's on http://www.bobdylan.com/ as a free download. But, hurry - it's for 24 hours only.
Ken.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Dylan ignores new stuff and debuts 36 year old chestnut in Stockholm..
So, lots of pre-tour talk about whether he would play stuff from recent outtakes set 'Tell tale Signs' or even debut some songs from his new studio album (due in 3 weeks). But, no, ever perverse, he decides to debut an old chestnut from 1973 instead - 'Billy' from the Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid soundtrack.
.. which was great! Quite similar in arrangement to Romance in Durango from 03! 6 mins long - LOTS of verses, and easily the best vocal of the evening. Possibly some new lyrics - lots of references to cantinas and senoritas and whatnot.
Otherwise, not a bad show, especially considering it must be at least 4 months since he has performed. The sound was so-so, the bass was way too loud, and the drums a bit too high as well. But, at least Bob's vocals were high in the mix.
Absolutely gorgeous venue though, 130 yrs old, extremely ornate - and lots of associations with old Swedish writers apparently.
Spent the earlier part of the day walking around the old town, and in the excellent National Art Museum. Stockholm is a beautiful city. Later that night it was like a winter wonderland, with 3 or 4 inches of snow having fallen during the show.
Back to the show.. No band changes, other than Denny/Stu/Tony bizarelly positioned all facing Bob in a line!
Other highlights included Trying get to Heaven, I Believe in You and an incredible new 'walkin blues' type arrangement of Cry Awhile.
Contrary to some reports it was Riverflow where he played guitar, not Things have Changed. He also came out and sang without any instrument at the front of the stage for the first half of Honest with Me and the 2nd half of Cry Awhile.. There was harmonica on about 8 songs, and of a very high standard, on several occasions out front with hand held harmonica mike.
Otherwise, it was a standard show, lots of predictable songs were played as well as that rare one, and things were spoiled a little bit by the poor sound - jeez I even think Tony's bass sounded out of tune to some extent to my ears..
Bob's voice was pretty good, he seemed in good humour, although he looked alarmingly uncomfortable when singing or playing guitar at the front of the stage!
But, a good show, with one extraordinary highlight and an enjoyable, albeit short, trip.. Glad I went.. Roll on UK/Ireland..
.. which was great! Quite similar in arrangement to Romance in Durango from 03! 6 mins long - LOTS of verses, and easily the best vocal of the evening. Possibly some new lyrics - lots of references to cantinas and senoritas and whatnot.
Otherwise, not a bad show, especially considering it must be at least 4 months since he has performed. The sound was so-so, the bass was way too loud, and the drums a bit too high as well. But, at least Bob's vocals were high in the mix.
Absolutely gorgeous venue though, 130 yrs old, extremely ornate - and lots of associations with old Swedish writers apparently.
Spent the earlier part of the day walking around the old town, and in the excellent National Art Museum. Stockholm is a beautiful city. Later that night it was like a winter wonderland, with 3 or 4 inches of snow having fallen during the show.
Back to the show.. No band changes, other than Denny/Stu/Tony bizarelly positioned all facing Bob in a line!
Other highlights included Trying get to Heaven, I Believe in You and an incredible new 'walkin blues' type arrangement of Cry Awhile.
Contrary to some reports it was Riverflow where he played guitar, not Things have Changed. He also came out and sang without any instrument at the front of the stage for the first half of Honest with Me and the 2nd half of Cry Awhile.. There was harmonica on about 8 songs, and of a very high standard, on several occasions out front with hand held harmonica mike.
Otherwise, it was a standard show, lots of predictable songs were played as well as that rare one, and things were spoiled a little bit by the poor sound - jeez I even think Tony's bass sounded out of tune to some extent to my ears..
Bob's voice was pretty good, he seemed in good humour, although he looked alarmingly uncomfortable when singing or playing guitar at the front of the stage!
But, a good show, with one extraordinary highlight and an enjoyable, albeit short, trip.. Glad I went.. Roll on UK/Ireland..
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Revew of 'Cadillac Records' film
Another strong music biopic about American music, at least the equal of I Walk the Line and Ray. If you have ANY interest in American music, especially black music of the 50s, I guarantee you will enjoy this film.
It differs from those other biopics in that this one is about a label, the Chess label, so we get nice little snapshots of the stories of all the major artists therein, framed around the central story of the well meaning Polish immigrant label founder, Leonard Chess.
It tells the story well, never straying too far from the conventions of this type of film, but what really raises it up, is the feel for the period and the sheer majesty of the music.
Whatever your thougths about modern day black music (for me it's somewhat disappointing, rap and hip hop not being my bag, and the good old fashioned singers like Alicia Keyes seemingly lost in mediocre material) - surely no one can deny how good this stuff was, and how historic.
Each of these amazing artists of the period seemed to bring a new musical revolution to that studio on Michigan Avenue, be it Muddy Waters' electrified version of the country blues of his childhood, aligned with the urban harmonica of his less than stable friend, Little Walter. Or the almost non human sounds from the throat of Mr Howlin Wolf. Those guys really did create the blues as we now know them.
Even more creative, was the extraordinary country/r'n'b hybrid of Chuck Berry, which tied in with his clever lyrics and stage act, really was the start of rock'n'roll.
Finally, the incredible voice and life of Etta James, more than adequately played here by Beyonce Knowles, could arguably be the stuff of it's own full biopic.
The other actors are all good too - especially the actors playing Muddy Water's wife, and Little Walter. Adrian Brody is his usual quietly impressive self as Leonard Chess.
The film's key device is an unobtrusive narration by the actor playing Willie Dixon, who was one of the main songwriters at Chess. Both his songs and the narration are more than enough to tell us the social history behind the story of Chess and the music.
But, bottom line, the music (played by current day blues guys and sung mostly I believe, by the actors) drives the story, and is why you'll enjoy this film, preferably on some enormous screen where you can appreciate this slice of 20th century history blazing out of a good surround sound system!
It differs from those other biopics in that this one is about a label, the Chess label, so we get nice little snapshots of the stories of all the major artists therein, framed around the central story of the well meaning Polish immigrant label founder, Leonard Chess.
It tells the story well, never straying too far from the conventions of this type of film, but what really raises it up, is the feel for the period and the sheer majesty of the music.
Whatever your thougths about modern day black music (for me it's somewhat disappointing, rap and hip hop not being my bag, and the good old fashioned singers like Alicia Keyes seemingly lost in mediocre material) - surely no one can deny how good this stuff was, and how historic.
Each of these amazing artists of the period seemed to bring a new musical revolution to that studio on Michigan Avenue, be it Muddy Waters' electrified version of the country blues of his childhood, aligned with the urban harmonica of his less than stable friend, Little Walter. Or the almost non human sounds from the throat of Mr Howlin Wolf. Those guys really did create the blues as we now know them.
Even more creative, was the extraordinary country/r'n'b hybrid of Chuck Berry, which tied in with his clever lyrics and stage act, really was the start of rock'n'roll.
Finally, the incredible voice and life of Etta James, more than adequately played here by Beyonce Knowles, could arguably be the stuff of it's own full biopic.
The other actors are all good too - especially the actors playing Muddy Water's wife, and Little Walter. Adrian Brody is his usual quietly impressive self as Leonard Chess.
The film's key device is an unobtrusive narration by the actor playing Willie Dixon, who was one of the main songwriters at Chess. Both his songs and the narration are more than enough to tell us the social history behind the story of Chess and the music.
But, bottom line, the music (played by current day blues guys and sung mostly I believe, by the actors) drives the story, and is why you'll enjoy this film, preferably on some enormous screen where you can appreciate this slice of 20th century history blazing out of a good surround sound system!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Film Review - The Wrestler
I've seen a lot of films since Christmas (it's 18 Jan 09 now), a lot of them were very good and are getting a lot of coverage. For example The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire. Anyway, I might review them later.
But for now, I want to dwell on The Wrestler, which I saw a few days ago. My expectations were so-so, indeed I only went to it as Slumdog Millionaire was sold out, and given a choice between The Wrestler and Bride Wars, well you work it out..
But, it seems all the good notices for Mickey Rourke were valid. If anything, they've understated how bloody good he is. He is so believable, and the whole film is very believable.
It's also extremely visceral, partly due to the hand held camera style but also due to the extremity of the wrestling scenes. I dislike wrestling even more than I dislike boxing, but you have to respect the commitment of these guys (I suspect the other wrestlers were real, and not actors) and how much they put their bodies on the line. Actually, that's one of the themes of the film really, how everything Rourke does in his life is either damaging his body or his psyche, and all his attemtps at doing the right thing (be it trying to reunite with his daughter or retire from wrestling) seem doomed to failure. And of course, as we know, it's all paralleled neatly with the actor's own life.
So, be warned, this is no feel good movie, it's actually very sad and depressing. The only cheerful things, are the few flashes of humour and the glorious if somewhat cheesy 80s hard rock soundtrack. Plus that great new Springsteen song.
Only for very occasionally veering towards some of the cliches of this genre, I would have given it 9/10, so I'll give it an 8.
But for now, I want to dwell on The Wrestler, which I saw a few days ago. My expectations were so-so, indeed I only went to it as Slumdog Millionaire was sold out, and given a choice between The Wrestler and Bride Wars, well you work it out..
But, it seems all the good notices for Mickey Rourke were valid. If anything, they've understated how bloody good he is. He is so believable, and the whole film is very believable.
It's also extremely visceral, partly due to the hand held camera style but also due to the extremity of the wrestling scenes. I dislike wrestling even more than I dislike boxing, but you have to respect the commitment of these guys (I suspect the other wrestlers were real, and not actors) and how much they put their bodies on the line. Actually, that's one of the themes of the film really, how everything Rourke does in his life is either damaging his body or his psyche, and all his attemtps at doing the right thing (be it trying to reunite with his daughter or retire from wrestling) seem doomed to failure. And of course, as we know, it's all paralleled neatly with the actor's own life.
So, be warned, this is no feel good movie, it's actually very sad and depressing. The only cheerful things, are the few flashes of humour and the glorious if somewhat cheesy 80s hard rock soundtrack. Plus that great new Springsteen song.
Only for very occasionally veering towards some of the cliches of this genre, I would have given it 9/10, so I'll give it an 8.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Ken's Best of 2008
Well 2008 has almost gone it’s not-so-merry way, but there were cultural compensations a plenty for anyone overly depressed by financial woes.
Firstly, to one of the main reasons we all exist – live music!
Gigs of the Year
Bruce Springsteen
Leonard Cohen
I saw somewhat less concerts than normal this year, but quality made up for quantity, and the reason I only list the above two is that they were head and shoulders above the rest.
For me Leonard was a typical 2nd tier singer-songwriter prior to 2008, probably in my top 20-30 artists, fine lyrics of course etc, but he just didn’t do it for me the way other artists do. But seeing him live has changed all that. The single biggest surprise of the year was just how damn good he is live. And how funny, how warm, how graceful, how charming. Just like Bob, Van and Neil then?! Not.
I saw nights two and three in Dublin, with night three just shading it. Incredible vocal performance and a long powerful well constructed setlist with a terrific band. Rare too, to have audience and critics in agreement as much as they were that weekend. The old argument that his music is depressing was also put to bed, each concert being three hours of the most uplifting music imaginable. Highlights – Anthem, So Long Marianne, Take this Waltz, Hallelujah. Enough said.
Tough to call, but possibly Bruce just shades Leonard. I saw all three Dublin shows, each one better than the last. I never thought he’d top the quality of some of the recent years live shows (including those memorable nights with the Seeger Sessions band), but these were awesome, and surely were at least close to his earlier 1970s/80s peaks? The E-Street Band have never seemed more panoramic yet tight, and the singing and showmanship of rock’s greatest live performer rarely better.
Just to pick two hair-raising moments from these artists – never mind Pop Idol versions, one of the best moments of the year was when Leonard soared in to the chorus of Hallelujah with his three passionate but subtle backing singers and band behind him on a drizzly summers evening in Dublin. Secondly, on the 1st night Bruce came on stage in the RDS, to tumultuous applause, and man and band launched into a searing version of Promised Land – everything perfect; the sound, the volume, the weather, the atmosphere and the performance..
Anyway, I did see some other good concerts in 2008, including three Dylans – an above average performance in Helsinki, an emotional night in St Petersburgh for his first ever Russian show, and a below par night in Tallin.
Tom Waits was quite good despite that ridiculous venue in the Phoenix Park.
Neil Young was very good in Hammersmith in the Spring, but had lost just a little of the magic of this band and tour by the time he brought it to Malahide. Almost one third of the main set comprised ‘No Hidden Path’ – I’m all in favour of long songs if the jamming is purposeful, but this was very trying for a festival type audience.
Speaking of festivals, I went to Electric Picnic for the first time and enjoyed it a lot. The clichés about the wonderful vibes (not to mention food!) are mainly true, lots of interesting cultural activities to enjoy, but, for me personally, way too much emphasis on dance music. However, there were some great performances, such as;
Wilco - the festival highlight for me not surprisingly
Foals – a rare thing for me to like a modern band this much. It’s very clinical mathematical music, I don’t know how they do it but they manage to make music that is both very catchy and yet sounds extremely bloody complicated!
My Bloody Valentine – seeing them live helped me ‘get’ them where I never did before. Normally I dislike music this loud, but they have a wall of sound type thing going on that genuinely is much better this loud! Earplugs definitely required.
Michael Franti and Spearhead – infectious
Franz Ferdinand – very catchy
Candi Staton – excellent old school soul
Conor Oberst – fine band he has these days
Sigur Ros – is it prog rock, are they the new Floyd (or even Radiohead)? - whatever it is it sounded gorgeous on a warm Co. Laois evening
Electric Picnic disappointments;
Sex Pistols – competent, but tame
Nick Cave / Grinderman – tuneless nonsense I thought.. I seem to have very mixed opinions about Mr Cave these days
The likes of Duffy, Elbow, Sinead O’Connor were ok. No strong opinions.
Other enjoyable gigs this year were Al Green, Camille O’Sullivan, The Jayhawks (well two of ‘em anyway, the two that do the harmonies, gorgeous stuff..), Chuck Berry, Lisa Hannigan and Little Feat.
The Dun Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures was also as good as ever, almost as good as Electric Picnic and about 150 euro cheaper (ie free!)
Classical wise, I saw the final night of the Arvo Part festival, which was mesmerising. I’ve been listening to his music on cd for a few years, but to hear this stuff live was another thing altogether. He was in the audience himself and made a nice speech and signed autographs. A la Harold Pinter a few years ago, he seemed overwhelmed yet delighted at such a fuss being made of him in a strange land. Speaking of mesmerising, so was the RTE concert orchestra’s performance of Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrows, also in the National Concert Hall.
That just leaves my 3rd favourite gig of the year, ie runner up to Bruce ‘n’ Leonard. It was The Waifs in Whelans. They are a cracking alt-country/Americana type band, despite singing in Australian accents a la Paul Kelly! Amazing harmonies between the two sisters, and some really good songs. It was great to see them in their more recent rocked-up incarnation, although the semi acoustic set in the middle was a reminder of how they sounded in their early days. Anyway, it was all good..
Albums
Not a vintage year, so I’ll flit through my top few;
Fireman – somewhat experimental was this Macca/Youth collaboration but it still ranks as a bloody good Paul McCartney album. None of your ‘Dance Tonight’ nonsense either.
Fleet Foxes – stunning harmonies, west coast rock that somehow reminds me of English folk music (at it’s best)
REM – A definite return to form, albeit I have never believed they lost their form as much as some others did. But, this is a rocking little 35 minute affair that has at it’s heart it’s simplicity and Peter Buck cranking out more of those REM defining riffs (much as Keef cranks out Stones defining riffs on THEIR best albums). If you are sceptical – I’ll wager just the first 4 songs on the album will convince you
The Kinks – Picture Book is a great box set. But why does every reviewer say they were rubbish after 1970. They weren’t you know!
Lisa Hannigan – loved the album. But it was more fun live.
The Waifs – Sundirtwater is a very good Americana album. The new Lucinda Williams album nearly is.
Metallica – incredible return to form and to their patented genre defining chug-chug sound. For me it easily joins their impregnable quadrilateral (Lighting, Puppets, Justice, Black album)
Neil Diamond – incredibly this one was even better than his previous effort. Which was also produced by Rick Rubin. A good year, then, for Mr Rubin. Having moved on from Johnny Cash, this year he did two of my albums of the year, Neil Diamond and Metallica. He also did the very solid new Jakob Dylan album. The big questions remaining for him though, are, will he be able to salvage the forthcoming U2 album, and will he get his wish and produce a Bob Dylan album any time soon?
Disappointments this year? Well, the AC/DC and Oasis albums were nowhere near as good as the reviewing sheep seemed to think. The Guns’n’Roses album was not bad though. No masterpiece, but worth a listen. And try as I might, I just can’t get into this Damon Albarn Monkey Chinese opera malarkey.
I’m continuing to download a lot of live music. I usually fall in love with a new genre of music most years, or discover one I’d previously discarded, so this year I’ve been leaning towards choral classical music, especially the likes of Tallis, plus blues and some heavy metal. Other artists getting a lot of rotation on my Ipod for one reason or another include, Sufjan Stevens, The Kinks, David Bowie, George Harrison, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead..
But, the release of the year has got to Dylan’s Tell Tale Signs. A bloody amazing set, and topping most year end polls it seems. Basically it’s outtakes and odds and ends from 1989 to the present day. I know it’s not very original to say it, but his cast offs are indeed often better than the albums they were cast off from! I have made myself a one disc compilation version of the 3 disc released product, and it is seriously one of the best single discs I’ve ever heard. What’s not to like? - Girl from the Red River Shore is just a gorgeous ballad, Cross the Green Mountain also one of the very strongest latter day Dylan songs, a civil war tale well told, all those amazing versions of Dignity, Missisippi, the Bromberg outtakes, the 2 amazing acoustic album rarities. And great to get an insight to how he works, vis a vis the Time out of Mind sessions and all those chopped up lyrics and constant re- arrangements. No wonder he’s never happy with his albums, and has to go out and play them live for 20 years!
Films
No Country for Old Men was as good as people said. There Will be Blood not quite, but not bad. Juno was very funny, extremely well acted and had a lovely soundtrack. In Bruges was very funny, the 2 lads as good as each other. Sweeney Todd was splatteringly good. Quantum of Solace was a competent Bond movie, but was woefully lacking in the comedy and sex departments. Indiana Jones was a decent effort, if not quite worth the wait. Easy Virtue was funny and looked good but very light. Eastern Promises proved, as did Australia, that Naomi Watts is the new Nicole Kidman, and doing it much better. Albeit, Australia was an interesting, if confused, failure.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was a worthy adaptation of a great childrens book, but my top 2 of the year were the chilling Orphanage (produced by Guillermo del Toro so therefore somewhat influenced by The Devils Backbone and Pans Labyrinth) and the top notch Batman film, Dark Knight. I’m not an action movie buff particularly, but this was extremely well done, and very well acted by both Heath Ledger AND Christian Bale.
Plays
I didn’t really enjoy No Mans Land to be honest. Great acting, pity about the play. However, I should point out I do like SOME other Pinter plays, so I won’t feel too bad about putting down the work of a guy who died the day before I wrote this review!
Three Sisters was a bit disappointing too. Just because it has the names Chekov and Friel on the billboard, did not, in this case, a perfect production make. It just didn’t ring true.
So much for Dublin plays.
I saw some great things in London however – humour and poignancy in very affectionate adaptations of The 39 Steps and Brief Encounter and, finally, one of the best things I’ve ever seen – Shadowlands. Sometimes a cold and clinical actor, Charles Dance was just perfect in this as the awkward but deeply feeling CS Lewis, telling the story of the relationship between the Narnia writer and Joy Gresham.
Books
I very much enjoyed ‘What I talk about when I talk about Running’ – interesting thoughts from this Japanese writer, very useful for anyone interested in running, or writing, or life, written in a very simple way.
I’ve also enjoyed dipping in to Tony Ring’s ‘The Wit and Wisdom of PG Wodehouse’. Anyone who’s sat near me while reading a PGW knows he’s my favourite writer. It’s nearly, but not quite, too much to have all these one-liners compiled. Nothing can replace the original novels, but if you need a laugh quickly, this book is your chap.
I’ve also been reading Saki (thanks to a friend for the recommendation) – very droll and dry stuff, hard to believe it was written so long ago.
I’ve come to the conclusion this year that I much prefer Philip K. Dick short stories to novels.
And finally, my book of the year, is Hard Rain. It’s a series of pictures of the world taken by Mark Edwards, all linked to the Bob Dylan song ‘A Hard Rain’s a Gonna Fall’. Themes include global warming, poverty etc. It sounds po-faced, but is very far from that. I highly recommend going to the exhibition (if it’s still playing in your country), buying the book, or at least looking at the website www.hardrainproject.com
Art
I’ve popped in to the National Gallery in Dublin this year quite a bit, but can’t really remember any interesting exhibitions they had. Unlike the Hugh Lane, which had its fine 100 year exhibition. I really like this gallery, notwithstanding it’s silly exultation of that clown, Francis Bacon!
I saw some good exhibitions in London – the dark, gloomy but powerful Camden Town paintings, the Renoir Loge paintings at the Courthold, and the amazing Hammershoi at the Royal Academy. This fella was new to me, and it was very enjoyable.
Radio
Radio wise, I’m not listening to that much, mainly Lyric FM with the odd thing from Radio 1, Phantom, Anna Livia, Today FM or Newstalk.
Best thing on the radio by a mile STILL, is Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour – Season Three is the best yet. Now syndicated in Ireland on Phantom FM.
TV
I didn’t watch much TV either in 2008. The best two things for me by far were both on the BBC, Sense & Sensibility and Little Dorrit. I quite like Jane Austen, but if you compare her to Dickens she lacks a bit of humour and her characters can seem dull. Little Dorrit was full of everything that’s good about Dickens, a great adaptation, nearly as good as Bleak House from 2006. Having said that, Sense & Sensibility was the best Austen adaptation I’ve ever seen, better even than the Ang Lee/Emma Thompson film or any of those Pride & Prejudice(s). The performance from the two lead girls, especially Hattie Morahan, was top notch.
Otherwise, I watched bits of the occasional drama series, such as the silly but enjoyable Bone Collectors. Never saw the likes of the highly rated Spooks or The Wire.
Not much decent comedy on either it seems, but some good documentaries, and schedule changes notwithstanding the BBC continues to impress with The Culture Show and Later with Jools Holland.
Finally, some miscellaneous highlights of the year – Barack Obama, Padraig Harrington, Dublin Culture Night, your man from the Frames and whatshername winning the Oscar for best song, getting back into listening to vinyl..
Can’t think of anything else, roll on 2009, fingers crossed we all keep our jobs, our houses and our good (?) taste!
Ken.
Firstly, to one of the main reasons we all exist – live music!
Gigs of the Year
Bruce Springsteen
Leonard Cohen
I saw somewhat less concerts than normal this year, but quality made up for quantity, and the reason I only list the above two is that they were head and shoulders above the rest.
For me Leonard was a typical 2nd tier singer-songwriter prior to 2008, probably in my top 20-30 artists, fine lyrics of course etc, but he just didn’t do it for me the way other artists do. But seeing him live has changed all that. The single biggest surprise of the year was just how damn good he is live. And how funny, how warm, how graceful, how charming. Just like Bob, Van and Neil then?! Not.
I saw nights two and three in Dublin, with night three just shading it. Incredible vocal performance and a long powerful well constructed setlist with a terrific band. Rare too, to have audience and critics in agreement as much as they were that weekend. The old argument that his music is depressing was also put to bed, each concert being three hours of the most uplifting music imaginable. Highlights – Anthem, So Long Marianne, Take this Waltz, Hallelujah. Enough said.
Tough to call, but possibly Bruce just shades Leonard. I saw all three Dublin shows, each one better than the last. I never thought he’d top the quality of some of the recent years live shows (including those memorable nights with the Seeger Sessions band), but these were awesome, and surely were at least close to his earlier 1970s/80s peaks? The E-Street Band have never seemed more panoramic yet tight, and the singing and showmanship of rock’s greatest live performer rarely better.
Just to pick two hair-raising moments from these artists – never mind Pop Idol versions, one of the best moments of the year was when Leonard soared in to the chorus of Hallelujah with his three passionate but subtle backing singers and band behind him on a drizzly summers evening in Dublin. Secondly, on the 1st night Bruce came on stage in the RDS, to tumultuous applause, and man and band launched into a searing version of Promised Land – everything perfect; the sound, the volume, the weather, the atmosphere and the performance..
Anyway, I did see some other good concerts in 2008, including three Dylans – an above average performance in Helsinki, an emotional night in St Petersburgh for his first ever Russian show, and a below par night in Tallin.
Tom Waits was quite good despite that ridiculous venue in the Phoenix Park.
Neil Young was very good in Hammersmith in the Spring, but had lost just a little of the magic of this band and tour by the time he brought it to Malahide. Almost one third of the main set comprised ‘No Hidden Path’ – I’m all in favour of long songs if the jamming is purposeful, but this was very trying for a festival type audience.
Speaking of festivals, I went to Electric Picnic for the first time and enjoyed it a lot. The clichés about the wonderful vibes (not to mention food!) are mainly true, lots of interesting cultural activities to enjoy, but, for me personally, way too much emphasis on dance music. However, there were some great performances, such as;
Wilco - the festival highlight for me not surprisingly
Foals – a rare thing for me to like a modern band this much. It’s very clinical mathematical music, I don’t know how they do it but they manage to make music that is both very catchy and yet sounds extremely bloody complicated!
My Bloody Valentine – seeing them live helped me ‘get’ them where I never did before. Normally I dislike music this loud, but they have a wall of sound type thing going on that genuinely is much better this loud! Earplugs definitely required.
Michael Franti and Spearhead – infectious
Franz Ferdinand – very catchy
Candi Staton – excellent old school soul
Conor Oberst – fine band he has these days
Sigur Ros – is it prog rock, are they the new Floyd (or even Radiohead)? - whatever it is it sounded gorgeous on a warm Co. Laois evening
Electric Picnic disappointments;
Sex Pistols – competent, but tame
Nick Cave / Grinderman – tuneless nonsense I thought.. I seem to have very mixed opinions about Mr Cave these days
The likes of Duffy, Elbow, Sinead O’Connor were ok. No strong opinions.
Other enjoyable gigs this year were Al Green, Camille O’Sullivan, The Jayhawks (well two of ‘em anyway, the two that do the harmonies, gorgeous stuff..), Chuck Berry, Lisa Hannigan and Little Feat.
The Dun Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures was also as good as ever, almost as good as Electric Picnic and about 150 euro cheaper (ie free!)
Classical wise, I saw the final night of the Arvo Part festival, which was mesmerising. I’ve been listening to his music on cd for a few years, but to hear this stuff live was another thing altogether. He was in the audience himself and made a nice speech and signed autographs. A la Harold Pinter a few years ago, he seemed overwhelmed yet delighted at such a fuss being made of him in a strange land. Speaking of mesmerising, so was the RTE concert orchestra’s performance of Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrows, also in the National Concert Hall.
That just leaves my 3rd favourite gig of the year, ie runner up to Bruce ‘n’ Leonard. It was The Waifs in Whelans. They are a cracking alt-country/Americana type band, despite singing in Australian accents a la Paul Kelly! Amazing harmonies between the two sisters, and some really good songs. It was great to see them in their more recent rocked-up incarnation, although the semi acoustic set in the middle was a reminder of how they sounded in their early days. Anyway, it was all good..
Albums
Not a vintage year, so I’ll flit through my top few;
Fireman – somewhat experimental was this Macca/Youth collaboration but it still ranks as a bloody good Paul McCartney album. None of your ‘Dance Tonight’ nonsense either.
Fleet Foxes – stunning harmonies, west coast rock that somehow reminds me of English folk music (at it’s best)
REM – A definite return to form, albeit I have never believed they lost their form as much as some others did. But, this is a rocking little 35 minute affair that has at it’s heart it’s simplicity and Peter Buck cranking out more of those REM defining riffs (much as Keef cranks out Stones defining riffs on THEIR best albums). If you are sceptical – I’ll wager just the first 4 songs on the album will convince you
The Kinks – Picture Book is a great box set. But why does every reviewer say they were rubbish after 1970. They weren’t you know!
Lisa Hannigan – loved the album. But it was more fun live.
The Waifs – Sundirtwater is a very good Americana album. The new Lucinda Williams album nearly is.
Metallica – incredible return to form and to their patented genre defining chug-chug sound. For me it easily joins their impregnable quadrilateral (Lighting, Puppets, Justice, Black album)
Neil Diamond – incredibly this one was even better than his previous effort. Which was also produced by Rick Rubin. A good year, then, for Mr Rubin. Having moved on from Johnny Cash, this year he did two of my albums of the year, Neil Diamond and Metallica. He also did the very solid new Jakob Dylan album. The big questions remaining for him though, are, will he be able to salvage the forthcoming U2 album, and will he get his wish and produce a Bob Dylan album any time soon?
Disappointments this year? Well, the AC/DC and Oasis albums were nowhere near as good as the reviewing sheep seemed to think. The Guns’n’Roses album was not bad though. No masterpiece, but worth a listen. And try as I might, I just can’t get into this Damon Albarn Monkey Chinese opera malarkey.
I’m continuing to download a lot of live music. I usually fall in love with a new genre of music most years, or discover one I’d previously discarded, so this year I’ve been leaning towards choral classical music, especially the likes of Tallis, plus blues and some heavy metal. Other artists getting a lot of rotation on my Ipod for one reason or another include, Sufjan Stevens, The Kinks, David Bowie, George Harrison, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead..
But, the release of the year has got to Dylan’s Tell Tale Signs. A bloody amazing set, and topping most year end polls it seems. Basically it’s outtakes and odds and ends from 1989 to the present day. I know it’s not very original to say it, but his cast offs are indeed often better than the albums they were cast off from! I have made myself a one disc compilation version of the 3 disc released product, and it is seriously one of the best single discs I’ve ever heard. What’s not to like? - Girl from the Red River Shore is just a gorgeous ballad, Cross the Green Mountain also one of the very strongest latter day Dylan songs, a civil war tale well told, all those amazing versions of Dignity, Missisippi, the Bromberg outtakes, the 2 amazing acoustic album rarities. And great to get an insight to how he works, vis a vis the Time out of Mind sessions and all those chopped up lyrics and constant re- arrangements. No wonder he’s never happy with his albums, and has to go out and play them live for 20 years!
Films
No Country for Old Men was as good as people said. There Will be Blood not quite, but not bad. Juno was very funny, extremely well acted and had a lovely soundtrack. In Bruges was very funny, the 2 lads as good as each other. Sweeney Todd was splatteringly good. Quantum of Solace was a competent Bond movie, but was woefully lacking in the comedy and sex departments. Indiana Jones was a decent effort, if not quite worth the wait. Easy Virtue was funny and looked good but very light. Eastern Promises proved, as did Australia, that Naomi Watts is the new Nicole Kidman, and doing it much better. Albeit, Australia was an interesting, if confused, failure.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was a worthy adaptation of a great childrens book, but my top 2 of the year were the chilling Orphanage (produced by Guillermo del Toro so therefore somewhat influenced by The Devils Backbone and Pans Labyrinth) and the top notch Batman film, Dark Knight. I’m not an action movie buff particularly, but this was extremely well done, and very well acted by both Heath Ledger AND Christian Bale.
Plays
I didn’t really enjoy No Mans Land to be honest. Great acting, pity about the play. However, I should point out I do like SOME other Pinter plays, so I won’t feel too bad about putting down the work of a guy who died the day before I wrote this review!
Three Sisters was a bit disappointing too. Just because it has the names Chekov and Friel on the billboard, did not, in this case, a perfect production make. It just didn’t ring true.
So much for Dublin plays.
I saw some great things in London however – humour and poignancy in very affectionate adaptations of The 39 Steps and Brief Encounter and, finally, one of the best things I’ve ever seen – Shadowlands. Sometimes a cold and clinical actor, Charles Dance was just perfect in this as the awkward but deeply feeling CS Lewis, telling the story of the relationship between the Narnia writer and Joy Gresham.
Books
I very much enjoyed ‘What I talk about when I talk about Running’ – interesting thoughts from this Japanese writer, very useful for anyone interested in running, or writing, or life, written in a very simple way.
I’ve also enjoyed dipping in to Tony Ring’s ‘The Wit and Wisdom of PG Wodehouse’. Anyone who’s sat near me while reading a PGW knows he’s my favourite writer. It’s nearly, but not quite, too much to have all these one-liners compiled. Nothing can replace the original novels, but if you need a laugh quickly, this book is your chap.
I’ve also been reading Saki (thanks to a friend for the recommendation) – very droll and dry stuff, hard to believe it was written so long ago.
I’ve come to the conclusion this year that I much prefer Philip K. Dick short stories to novels.
And finally, my book of the year, is Hard Rain. It’s a series of pictures of the world taken by Mark Edwards, all linked to the Bob Dylan song ‘A Hard Rain’s a Gonna Fall’. Themes include global warming, poverty etc. It sounds po-faced, but is very far from that. I highly recommend going to the exhibition (if it’s still playing in your country), buying the book, or at least looking at the website www.hardrainproject.com
Art
I’ve popped in to the National Gallery in Dublin this year quite a bit, but can’t really remember any interesting exhibitions they had. Unlike the Hugh Lane, which had its fine 100 year exhibition. I really like this gallery, notwithstanding it’s silly exultation of that clown, Francis Bacon!
I saw some good exhibitions in London – the dark, gloomy but powerful Camden Town paintings, the Renoir Loge paintings at the Courthold, and the amazing Hammershoi at the Royal Academy. This fella was new to me, and it was very enjoyable.
Radio
Radio wise, I’m not listening to that much, mainly Lyric FM with the odd thing from Radio 1, Phantom, Anna Livia, Today FM or Newstalk.
Best thing on the radio by a mile STILL, is Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour – Season Three is the best yet. Now syndicated in Ireland on Phantom FM.
TV
I didn’t watch much TV either in 2008. The best two things for me by far were both on the BBC, Sense & Sensibility and Little Dorrit. I quite like Jane Austen, but if you compare her to Dickens she lacks a bit of humour and her characters can seem dull. Little Dorrit was full of everything that’s good about Dickens, a great adaptation, nearly as good as Bleak House from 2006. Having said that, Sense & Sensibility was the best Austen adaptation I’ve ever seen, better even than the Ang Lee/Emma Thompson film or any of those Pride & Prejudice(s). The performance from the two lead girls, especially Hattie Morahan, was top notch.
Otherwise, I watched bits of the occasional drama series, such as the silly but enjoyable Bone Collectors. Never saw the likes of the highly rated Spooks or The Wire.
Not much decent comedy on either it seems, but some good documentaries, and schedule changes notwithstanding the BBC continues to impress with The Culture Show and Later with Jools Holland.
Finally, some miscellaneous highlights of the year – Barack Obama, Padraig Harrington, Dublin Culture Night, your man from the Frames and whatshername winning the Oscar for best song, getting back into listening to vinyl..
Can’t think of anything else, roll on 2009, fingers crossed we all keep our jobs, our houses and our good (?) taste!
Ken.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
