What song are you listening to right now? (Page 383 of 389)

Here’s an attachment about The Heavy Heavy.  They are not The Heavy.
They are a UK based band from Brighton that has more in common to Sixties psychedelic, pop, country and blues than anything else. 
Very promising and talented.  A band to keep your eyes on.

https://www.theheavyheavy.com/

Been listening to a lot of Metallica's new album 72 Seasons. I like it! I don't think the writing is as tight as Hardwired, but there are some great riffs and cool songs.

Newcastle Cluny - 29th April 2023

Not long back in from another hot & bouncing Saturday night down at The Cluny. This time it was something a little "off the reservation", someone I've been wanting to catch for a while, Si Cranstoun making a rare visit up these parts.

So quick question, what does Si have in common with Chrissie Hynde? This was my 2nd Cluny gig this year that was an total sell-out: the place was packed to the rafters. So busy, if you went to the bar for a pint, you'd have to drink it there and then as there was no way you could get back to your spot with more than a half full glass (if indeed you could get back to your spot); all the folks dancing and clapping....

Si's style is, in a thumbnail, best described as "retro": my first thought was "Bobby Darin".  He seamlessly manages to fuse his influences of 1950s and 1960s rock and roll and R&B music, obvious by kicking off the show with the likes of Frankie Ford's Sea Cruise and Sam Cook's Wonderful World, before mixing in his own compositions such as Coupe De Ville. He also manages to mix in a nod to his father's love and promotion of Jamaican music (Ska). And other great self-penned numbers, Dance Forever More & Caught In The Moonlight that almost got Si catapulted into the next league after being picked up on [BBC] Radio 2

As a performer, with his 4 piece band, (drums, bass, guitar & baritone sax) he's absolutely electric; hardly ever still, always with a smile and giving off enough energy to charge the audience's electric vehicles.

Some Live clips from other recent dates:-

Be My Guest - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9lrro01JNw
Kiss On The Lips - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FOMjYqB6BQ
Reet Petite - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOiWA8rkxgA

Si Cranstoun - Smokehouse Sessions  (2013)

One of a clutch of albums I picked up in a deal the other night...  This was recorded "live" over a 2 day session in Si's home ground ay the Smokehouse, London. A mix of self-penned and standards that really bounce in a style that wouldn't have sounded out=of-place back in 1958; just a whole lot clearer with today's recording technology, though the telecasters and amp would probably be period...

It ain't rock'n'roll, but close enough for jazz...

The Church - The Hypnogogue (2023)

The 26th album from one of my favourite bands, that a lots of you have probably never heard of. well, they are a bit "alternative", some call them "Goth", but that is a bit of misnomer even though in their day, they walked the ground somewhere between The Cure and The Mission.

Anyway, that's a digression. The Hypnogogue is a concept (okay, deep breaths...) album that is set in 2054… a dystopian and broken down future, Invented by Sun Kim Jong, a North Korean scientist and occult dabbler, it is a machine and a process that pulls music straight of dreams. The album is about Eros Zeta the biggest rock star of 2054 who has travelled from his home in Antarctica (against his manager’s advice) to use the Hypnogogue to help him revive his flagging fortunes.. In the midst of the toxic process, he also falls in love with Sun Kim and it all ends tragically (of course…as these thing often do).

Heady stuff... So what's it actually like? Well, Steve Kilby, the only original and guiding light of The Church is back on top form. The vocals have that distant Berlin-period Bowie feel, though in a deep register; the music sways from the jangly to the ethereal, but a little discordant, with the feel of the concept.  The classic Church sound is given a modern, edgier twist whilst embracing a more retro "proggy" twist.

Making up The Church these days, the 2022 epic five-piece line-up is bassist, vocalist and founder Steve Kilbey; with long-time collaborator Tim Powles, drummer and producer across 17 albums since ’94; guitarist Ian Haug formerly of Australian rock icons Powderfinger, who joined the band in 2013 and Jeffrey Cain (Remy Zero), touring multi-instrumentalist who is now a full-time member of The Church since the departure of Peter Koppes in early 2020. The band have also recruited Ashley Naylor, long-time member of Paul Kelly’s touring band and one of Australia’s finest and most respected guitarists (Even, The Grapes, The Stems).
So, not one for the feint of heart, but the band at their best in quite some time, so worth a late-night exploration. (And an album I'd love to hear "live" in it's entirety.
The Hypnponogue - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_zkH4d3ITU&t=5s

Jethro Tull - RökFlöte (2023)

So, the 23rd album, and the quickest turn-around in albums since 1980 for Tull... And, unlike Zealot gene, this one deserves to be under the Tull banner. I don't think it reaches their highwater mark, but it's far from being the worst they've done; maybe somewhere between Stormwatch and Catfish Rising...  Maybe even a little higher, but Anderson's vocals are showing wear and the guitar work, though good just isn't as crisp without Martin Barre.

Love the Norse theme that runs through the album, like a Viking Songs from The Wood - time to change the band's name to "Ragnar- Tull" maybe?

Lindisfarne - Radio Times (Live at the BBC 1971 - 1990)  2023

An eight disc box-set, featuring over 8hrs of Live recordings of Newcastle's folk-rockers Lindisfarne - what a treat. Charting their rise & fall rise again and sliding into "national treasure" status for a band rightly revered in their home town as much as Dire Straits, The Animals, Sting et cetera, and who's song, the title track of their 2nd album, is as much a Geordie anthem as The Blaydon Races

So, this anthology kicks off as the band's debut album Nicely Out of Tune starts gaining momentum, with songs such as We Can Swing Together, and the growing classic, Winter Song gaining the attention of DKs such as Brian Matthew, Mike raven and of course, John Peel. As 1971 progresses, material from the 2nd album, Fog On The Tyne starts to be aired; January Song, Meet Me On The Corner; (of which several renditions are played in the set); the haunting Lady Eleanor, Train In G major and the albums title track which had every schoolkid sniggering over a certain couplet...

By the time their 3rd album, Dingly Dell came out, the strain was showing within the band and the album wasn't as well recieved. By the end of 1973, the band split and It was agreed that he and Jackson would keep the group name while Cowe, Clements and Laidlaw left to form their own outfit Jack the Lad; while Tommy Duffy (bass guitar), Kenny Craddock (keyboards), Charlie Harcourt (guitar) and Paul Nichols (drums) were brought in to back Alan Hull and Ray Jackson. The new line-up lacked the appeal of the original and with Hull also pursuing a solo career, the band's next two albums Roll on Ruby and Happy Daze and the subsequent singles failed to chart and they disbanded in 1975.

That could very well have been the end of the story, but in 1976, the original line-up reformed for a one-off show at Newcastle's renown City Hall; the  reunion was so acclaimed that the band repeated it a year later and decided to get back together on a permanent basis in early 1978, Jack the Lad having disbanded after none of their singles or albums on two different labels made the charts. They continued to perform at Newcastle City Hall every Christmas for many years performing a total of 132 shows at the venue overall. This prompted a new album deal, and their first new album Back and Forth saw them once again riding high in the album charts and single success with Run For Home.

Five more albums were released during the 1980s, and while sales weren't as high as the 1970s peak, they were well received;
The News (1979); Sleepless Nights (1982); Dance Your Life Away (1986); C'Mon Everybody (1987); Amigos (1989). However, it was probably more their legendry Christmas Shows for which the band were mainly noted for; often they ran a 10 might runs over the Christmas and New Year holidays; consistently sold out "parties"; I know, I didn't miss one that decade.... Two discs of this set were recorded at these shows in 1984 & 1986.

In 1990, Ray Jackson left the band and Marty Craggs (who joined a few years earlier on sax, took over his lead vocals, adding piano accordion and tin whistle, as the band gradually rediscovered its acoustic roots. Clements started to play slide guitar and mandolin, his former role as bassist being filled by Steve Cunningham and, later, Ian Thomson.

That's the period covered by this collection, and you can hear the shifts and changes in this great band. They did continue for several years after, though a blow was dealt by the early death of songwriter Alan Hull in 1995. They continued until 2004 when they split again, various members did tour their own way for several year, until the threatened closure of Newcastle's City hall prompted another reunion gig, though not of the original band, and the shows still continue, and while a calendar highlight, they are but an echo.

This set though, is a great reminder of their halcyon days; and I'm saying that, not just because I got it signed by Rod Clements and Ray Laidlaw but because they were part of my musical growing up...

Winter Song (1984 City Hall) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsHvFOAGJ8k

Hawkwind - The Future Never Waits (2023)

So, excluding the Flicknife albums and the Weird Tapes, I think this must be getting on for the collective's 35th or so album. I call the band that, as folk seem to drift in and out at will, though they are still guided by the original galaxy Guardian, Dave Brock, when he's not feeding the horses.

Not saying it's their best album, though they are doing what they do best, swinging between Space Rock and Ambient anarchy; both of which if they didn't invent, they certainly pioneered. that's the main let down, it can't decide it's identity: if there's one past member who could have pulled this together, it would have been Robert Calvert R.I.P.

They probably also invented sustainable, ethically sourced vegan gluten, though I'm pushed to name any song containing those words in any combination, (but I claim copyright before anyone pinches the line...)