November update

There is a lot going on these days that is exciting in terms of music releases.

Digital remastering

In terms of digital remastering, there has been a tremendous amount of activity. The Beatles back catalogue has been released. I bought Abbey Road and love it. Black Sabbath are systematically releasing their old albums and I can't wait to get my hands on them.

I have read that Fleetwood Mac are also looking at some remastering. My guilty pleasure album of all time is Tusk, and I would love to hear a digitally remastered version.

Listening list

As previously commented, I have been listening to The Fray - The Fray. This is a great album. The sound is that of somewhere between Coldplay and Snow Patrol, but with a bit of a better edge to it.

I have also heard the Muse album The Resistance and really love it. This band is one incredible, bombastic and creative unit! The album is a frenzy of creative work, with lots of nods in the direction of Queen and our old classical composers. I would love to see Muse live again.

An old album that I have just discovered is that of the Eels - Souljacker. It is full of really great material. I am definitely going to have to catch up on their back catalogue.

The new Arctic Monkeys album - Humbug, has always appealed to me considering the link to Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal - two of my favourite bands). I can report that it is a real gem.

Coming up

I have read that there is a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers release called The Live Anthology. I can't wait to get my hands on this. I have always enjoyed the 'Pack up the Plantations' live album, and have heard that this is way better.

December 2008 update

In South Africa, quality radio programming is a problem. Maybe it’s because we live in such a culturally diverse country, but radio station wise, it is very difficult to tune into some good quality rock.

 

This does not always have to be a huge issue since I now have my Squeezebox ( see www.slimdevices.com) and can therefore tune into radio stations around the world via the internet at home. The huge issue relates to what to listen to when I am driving.

 

I have blogged before on the college radio station UJFM that can be picked up in the Johannesburg area, and they have been a bit of a life-saver in this regard. You cannot begin to describe my joy in turning on the radio at 6:45 a.m. on my way to work and hearing the new AC/DC, Kings of Leon, Killers or Metallica song. Sometimes even an old classic comes on that leaves me overjoyed. This radio station can really be a life-saver sometimes.

 

There are slots in their programming where it all goes horribly wrong for me. They do have times that they play more of the commercial type industry bubble-gum. They also have some DJ’s who are abysmal. Some of these guys cannot even pronounce the street names around Johannesburg when providing traffic updates. That kind of makes the whole point of a traffic update redundant.

 

But on the whole, this is still a great station to listen to when looking for some good rock music.

 

A few weeks ago I even entered a competition on a Sunday afternoon whereby I won the new Kings of Leon album – how cool is that? For the record, it is a very good album. I had my reservations about this album and that is why I had not already bought it, but it certainly holds up as a strong offering from a really talented band.

 

Other news for December is that most magazines on the web have got their ‘Best of 2008’ lists out. Have a browse on NME.com (there is even a blog on NME.com that tries to compile results from all over), rollingstone.com and popmatters.com for a view on what people are rating for the year. For a South African flavour check out www.isolation.tv for Lloyd Gedye’s best of 2008 summary. My favourite South African rock offering is the new one (EP only unfortunately) from Foto Na Dans. They are an incredible band doing very fresh stuff. In terms of my favourites for 2008, what is new to me may even actually be a couple of years old.

 

What I can commit to however, is that the greatest musical experience I had this year was seeing Muse live in Johannesburg! Truly truly incredible. I am not sure that I will ever get to see something like this in South Africa again.

 

In terms of albums, Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago is my recommendation for 2008 in terms of what I have heard of all the offerings out there, which probably is not much.

 

The best music related DVD that I bought this year is Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Runnin’ Down a Dream by Peter Bogdanovich.

 

Albums that I listened to a lot this year regardless of when they were released are:

 

Rodriguez – ‘Cold Fact’,

Radiohead – ‘In Rainbows’,

Muse – ‘HAARP’,

AC/DC – ‘Black Ice’.

 

All in all I thought that 2008 has been a great year for music! Let’s see what 2009 has to offer….

CD Review: Muse - HAARP

Following on from my much documented Muse euphoria (after seeing them live in March), I ordered the HAARP package. This package is based on two live concerts that Muse held in the new Wembley stadium over two days in June 2007. The CD captures the one day while the DVD is of the other day. Fortunately for me it did actually arrive and I have been listening to/watching it ever since. It is described as a live CD that includes a bonus DVD, but to me I view it as the other way round i.e. a live DVD with a live CD to accompany it (there are more songs on the DVD than there are on the CD).

Separating them out, let’s take a look at the CD first. If I consider what makes a live album great, it is very difficult to pinpoint one single thing. Obviously there are some factors that have to be good, such as song selection and recording quality. But the truly great ones capture something extra. In the case of AC/DC’s ‘If you want blood..’ there is a raw energy and excitement that make the album crackle with energy. The crowd chanting ‘Angus, Angus, Angus’, and Angus himself giving it his all as solo after solo sneaks in and boogie woogies all round your head, cannot be equalled. Then there is Iron Maiden’s ‘Live after death’ with Bruce Dickinson exhorting the crowd to ‘scream for me Long Beach’, a now classic quote. Others such as the Eels’ ‘Oh what a beautiful morning’, Talking Heads’ ‘Stop making sense’, Little Feat’s ‘ Waiting for Columbus’, Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s ‘Pack up the plantations’, Nick Cave’s wall of sound on ‘The abattoir blues tour’ and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘One more from the road’ have something special that makes them great. There are also some weird anomalies such as Lou Reed’s ‘Take no prisoners’ where the level of self, and audience,-loathing makes this a one of a kind too, but that is the exception rather than the rule. In each case it may be a different factor but in the end it is all about what the artists choose to reveal to their audiences, and the fun that they have playing their music (except for Lou).

On this CD, sound quality is really good, with the live mix coming across well. The track-listing covers all aspects of their career so far and my only beef is that there is no ‘Feelin’ Good’ on the CD. In terms of the ‘something extra’ discussed above, the band give it their all with an energy that is infectious. While not much dialogue takes place with the audience, there are enough quips and ‘thank yous’ to ‘Wemberley’ to keep this alive and energetic. What is astounding is the way that the band sound better with every song. Towards the end, Matt’s voice sounds stronger than when he started.

The DVD however is what makes this package worthwhile in my opinion, especially if you have been to a Muse concert. It functions as a perfect document of what a Muse concert is like and had my daughter and me reminiscing all the way as we recognised elements of the concert we had experienced in Johannesburg. Here the track-listing is far more comprehensive than the CD, covering 6 more songs (including Feelin’ good). As a bonus DVD, this far exceeds expectations. The sound and visual quality is of the highest standard, hence my comment about it being the actual item in the package with the CD as a bonus. Their concerts in general are grandiose, high energy, affairs, and in the case of these Wembley showings even more so. The energy and spectacle is thrillingly captured in this format. Musicianship is flawless with Muse the band delivering like a well-oiled machine.

In terms of extras, there is not much. There is a ‘making of’ type documentary that is interesting enough, but what would have been nice are some interviews with the band members, and a photo gallery. This brings me to the one thing that I would raise as a criticism. This is definitely not a band that gets very involved with their audience. They keep to themselves. Ultimately I suppose that their interaction is more at the emotional level, and at this they are very good. They manage to generate excitement, elation and euphoria with their craft. This to me is preferable to singers or bands who hold long one-way conversations with their audiences and then deliver an average performance. But, some insights into the band members and what they are like as people would have been very welcome.

Well I don’t want this blog to become a Muse blog in general and therefore will have to get over the band at some stage.

Don’t forget, your comments are most welcome.

March 2008 What's on the player

OK – I did this for February, and here is the March roundup. This is a brief take on what my opinion is on a few albums that I have been listening to recently i.e. the current albums rotating through my player.

Radiohead – In Rainbows

I had this on frequent rotation in February, and still cannot bring myself to remove it from the CD player. I really like this album!

Muse – Black Holes and Revelations

As in my previous posting where I reported on seeing Muse live at the My Coke Fest, I mentioned that I had the Black Holes and Revelations album (my only Muse album) on heavy rotation for the remainder of that weekend, and up until now as well. It is a strong offering that survives repeated listening with ease. At the concert they also played ‘Feelin’ Good’ which really impressed me and I hope to get a copy of that soon. Speaking of which I have ordered a copy of HAARP from Amazon and I expect it to arrive this week (if it arrives at all – over Xmas I ordered some CD’s and books from Amazon that never arrived, some South African Customs employees family members are now grooving to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’s new album while reading the complete Michelle Paver ‘Chronicles of Ancient Darkness’ series, and I can’t bring myself to buy it all again – so I still haven’t heard the afore-mentioned album). I will provide my thoughts on HAARP in time.

Pearl Jam – Rearviewmirror

This was my first ever digital download of an album bought through the OD service. I must say, I still much prefer buying the physical CD’s. When it comes to Pearl Jam there is even more reason to buy the CD as their packaging is often quite different and fun. Well, what I find interesting about this one is that I seemed to have mellowed a bit since buying it. It has always been an album of two discs, and by that I mean that the first is the ‘heavy’ one and the second more ‘mellow’. When I first got the album I preferred the first disc, now I am tending more towards the second. My view is that the second discs songs are stronger.

Scars (Gary Moore) – Scars

This album is quite a curiosity. It is Gary Moore’s version of the power trio and it works very well. I believe that Mr. Moore should be much more successful than he is – not that he is struggling, but it could be even better. Perhaps he has been missing a constant creative partner much in the way Jagger - Richards or Page - Plant were writing teams. I recently listened to some of his early eighties output and found it quite cringe-worthy. I would call it Cheese-rock i.e. cheesy rock. But compare that to his work with Thin Lizzy, then to his Blues-era material and then to Scars and you can forgive him for that. Scars influences to me are Cream era Clapton, Hendrix and even, now that I think about it, more modern bands such as …..Muse. It is a solid album with strong songs, excellent guitar, and Moore’s vocals sounding strong. I wish he would do another Scars project. By the way one of my favourite DVD’s for a long time has to be ‘Gary Moore and friends – A tribute to Phil Lynott’, if you can get a copy of that grab it I guarantee you will love it. Something else worth mention is the StratPack DVD. This DVD contains a host of very average performances, until Mr. Moore takes the stage. Wow he outclasses everybody else with his version of ‘Red House’.

Review: My Coke Fest 08 in Johannesburg 21 March 2008

This weekend I was able to get to the My Coke Fest 08 held at the New Market Racetrack near Johannesburg. It is billed as the biggest Rock Festival held in South Africa, with a line-up of:

Local bands -

Lonehill Estate
Crash Car Burn
Wonderboom
Prime Circle

International bands -

30 Seconds to Mars
Kaiser Chiefs
Good Charlotte
Chris Cornell
Muse
Korn

The Venue

The stage looked pretty good, with two video screens on either side and a big one behind the stage. The sound was also actually OK. I have been to quite a few big festivals in South Africa, and often it is the sound that disappoints.

Facilities were also pretty good. Two years ago I attended this same festival at another venue, and I believe that people nearly died from dehydration. This time, apart from being allowed to bring in 1 litre of water each, it was very easy to buy drinks too. Parking was fine and everything very well organised.

The Shows
I arrived in time for the last few songs in Wonderboom's set. They are one of my all time favourite SA bands, and I was disappointed to have missed most of their set (my GPS had issues with the exact location of the venue). Regardless - what I heard was great, with them finishing off with their excellent cover of Rabbitt's 'Charlie'.

Next up was Prime Circle - I have seen them several times and they definitely improve every time. Live their blend of AOR and MOR comes across heavier, rockier and fun. On stage with them was an additional guitarist from the Nudies. It was a quick set of 5 songs only and then the wait for the International bands was over!

30 Seconds to Mars came on amidst a huge girlie scream. Jared Leto looked the picture perfect emo rocker. They screamed and shrieked through a fairly solid set, with Leto spending quite some time between songs chatting to the crowd. Apparently 4 tracks from their last album were recorded in SA. At one stage Leto moved out into the crowd to try for some more interactive stuff, but this was cut short by what seemed to be a power failure (I thought that maybe he had been mugged - this is Johannesburg after all). After a couple of minutes they were all back on stage and completed their set.

Next came Kaiser Chiefs, to me like a refreshing burst of sunlight after the doom, gloom, shrieking and wailing of 30 Seconds. They kicked off with 'Every day I love you less and less', and contrasted completely with 30 Seconds. Strong, witty and melodic tunes seemed to suddenly turn the party on! The crowd were singing along, and the number of songs they could play that everybody recognised were surprising to me considering that they only have two albums out. Ricky Wilson impressed with some astounding one-legged dancing! One song was introduced as a new one - either called 'History' or 'Memory' which gives an inclination that album number 3 will be just as good as the last two.

Considering the paucity of good international acts venturing into South Africa, it was incredible to witness an act as slick as this laying the party down so effectively - for me, I could not believe it was happening. I'm not sure how things sounded on the stage to the band, but I had a concern that crowd participation was not what they were used to, but looking around me, the crowd were certainly having a good time. The Chiefs finished off their set as the sun set.

After a longish wait, Good Charlotte came on. They went down extremely well with the younger element in the crowd, but I heard quite a few derogatory comments coming from the Korn faithfuls. Their brand of radio friendly pop had the crowd singing along, and it was quite amusing to hear all the guys in the open air latrines singing: 'Girls don't like boys, they...'.

Joel was effusive about the country, and the crowd. He also dedicated The Cures 'Love Song' to his new born baby daughter (I prefer the Cure version).

After GC came Chris Cornell. Another complete contrast when compared to the act before. No funny hats, no twiddly poking at keyboard keys and not much chit chat. What we got was intense guitar riffing, rock solid sounds, extremely strong songs and The Voice. This was good hard rocking with solo songs alongside Temple of the Dog, Soundgarden and Audioslave songs. Cornell is, without a doubt, a rock god. His backing band delivered an immense sound and Cornell was on fine form. In the middle of the set he invited a local guy on stage (called Gareth) to play along on an acoustic track. This set was definitely over too soon, but the sense of anticipation for the next group carried me through with euphoria levels maintained.

After a longish break, and my witnessing some amusing altercations between the Vice Squad and underage drinkers, the next act came on - Muse.

Chris, Dom and Matt came on stage and transformed the evening! I don't believe that they had their full lighting set with them as I saw no lasers, but they had enough. Song after song was delivered with a flourish, and there was no reason to doubt the judges who saw fit to proclaim Muse the best live band in the world. Witness Matt doing knee slides across the stage while peeling off blistering guitar solos. Matt's fingers flying across the piano keyboard, guitar slung across his back - only to leap up and peel off some huge demolishing riffage.

The crowd were stunned. I heard grown men singing along word for word in high keening voices (I cast about for my BB gun as I momentarily thought the cats were on the garden wall again), and just as what I thought must have been the best live performance of a song ended, the next one started and bettered the previous one. I can't remember how many songs were played and how long the set lasted, but I remember thinking as they sang '..time is running out...' that yes indeed it was. We would have to wait a very long time here in South Africa before seeing something as awesome as this again.

After an inordinately long break, Korn came on (I amused myself visualising them in a fluster after a late start to their make-up application routine - maybe there was a bit of a bust up over who stole Munky's mascara). Eventually they made it on stage and looked dressed to kill - literally. Davis in his skirt of course, with me hoping not to catch a glimpse of what was going on under there, as he lept up and down on-stage. The sound was truly mind numbing, and I don't think SA has witnessed anything as formidable as this ever before. Everything was there including the bag-pipes, and the crowd lapped it up.

Overall, Muse came out tops for me, then Chris Cornell, the Kaiser Chiefs and then Korn.

The biggest rock festival in SA, and probably the only one this year - it was all over too soon!