Primal Scream............. more of a dull whimper. They tend to lose their way past track 4, so track 8 'Loaded' 'We want to be free, we want to have a good time, we want to get loaded' fails to excite. Starting with promise it soons turns into a swathe of sound with elctronic drum rythmns, multi layered voices that just don't seem to go anywhere. Maybe good for a summers afternoon passively smoking someone elses herbal infusion, and having imbibed too much sangria. Sorry, fails to inspire.
I am a Bird now. Anthony and the Johnsons.
Overtones of Jeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen and maybe a touch of Radiohead thrown into the mix. At first I wanted to hide inside a piano stool and sight read a composition by Wagner, and then thought maybe I would build myself a leaky wigman in a thistle patch and commune with nature. I endured to the end though. Now is track 10 'Bird gerhl' a spelling mistake, or is it bird girl as can be clearly heard on the track. Perhaps a quick whip round to purchase him some wings would help. Track 7 had promise, with some welcome brass arrangements, and trying to separate the tortured lyrics and singing from the musical score was not easy, but when I could it was quite melodic. Good on Anthony for sharing his innermost feelings, he's written an album, I haven't. I might need to have a glass of wine tonight to cheer myself up.
Thanks to Fiona & Tom for a great evening, Jo & Gerry for running the meeting. Everyone had a great time. After some chit chat regarding the power of moustaches and the advantages of wood burning stoves etc the group really got into the music zone and some fascinating discussions ensued..
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
Generally a thumbs up from the group. Double thumbs up from both Tom and Fiona and it was clear that the album held some very happy memories for them - for which the steady beats and long tracks had special importance in their London attic love nest!
The others, for which the album had less 'special' significance nevertheless agreed that the album had a lot of musical merit; "Movin on up", "Don't Fight it Feel" it & "Loaded" ("what EXACTLY do you want to do") seemed to be the favourites. Repetitive, yet subtly changing rythms, against a synthesised backcloth of electronic insect & chicken & submarine or space sounds sustained the interest of the group. An excellent album for a long distance drive, even if you don't have happy memories of the 90s rave scene.
Footnote: Primal Scream was the term used for the release of emotional energy when undergoing Primal Therapy - which is used to cure neurotic patients by re-living their supressed childhood emotional pain. The therapy was developed by Arthur Janov Ph.D in the late 60s who claimed a 100% success rate and wrote the book called "The Primal Scream: Cure for Neurosis". The therapy had several high profile followers including John Lennon, but fell out of favour in the 80s. On the cover of his book, was Edvard's Munck's famous painting "The Scream" is slightly reminiscent of the album cover (except the album cover face is a lot happier), The album cover was painted by the in-house artise at Creation records and also achieved some more limited fame by being chosen for a UK postage stamp in 2010.
Amusing Quote of the evening: Joe "I don't really like albums" Ian "Joe: this is an ALBUM club" Wynn "Maybe you should start a singles club ?"
Most of the group thought this was great, aching with emotion which welled up inside you from deep down. Fiona played it constantly in her car and was probably in danger of taking her hands off the wheel to express some grand emotional gestures - inspired by the angst of the songs.
However, the adolescent piano bashing and the warbling voice did not get thumbs up from everyone. Not from me (Ian) anyhow.
Footnote Antony Hegarty (claimed by Gerry to be second generation Irish) came from Chichester (where Jim comes from) moved via Netherlands to California... So its no suprise that he's rather a mixed up character, certainly about his gender. He identifies himself as a transgendered individual, like a woman trapped in a man's body. Could the lyrics "One day I'll grow up to be a beautiful woman, but today I am a BUOY" be the words of someone who is all at sea with regard to his sexual identity ? No surprise then that Boy George is a big fan of the music and that he sang on one the tracks "You are my sister". Antony seems to have found his emotional and spiritual home in New York and once said "New York is like a bird sanctuary for Oddballs" - maybe that's why the album title is "I am a Bird Now".
OK,
ReplyDeletePrimal Scream............. more of a dull whimper. They tend to lose their way past track 4, so track 8 'Loaded' 'We want to be free, we want to have a good time, we want to get loaded' fails to excite. Starting with promise it soons turns into a swathe of sound with elctronic drum rythmns, multi layered voices that just don't seem to go anywhere. Maybe good for a summers afternoon passively smoking someone elses herbal infusion, and having imbibed too much sangria. Sorry, fails to inspire.
I am a Bird now. Anthony and the Johnsons.
Overtones of Jeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen and maybe a touch of Radiohead thrown into the mix.
At first I wanted to hide inside a piano stool and sight read a composition by Wagner, and then thought maybe I would build myself a leaky wigman in a thistle patch and commune with nature. I endured to the end though.
Now is track 10 'Bird gerhl' a spelling mistake, or is it bird girl as can be clearly heard on the track. Perhaps a quick whip round to purchase him some wings would help.
Track 7 had promise, with some welcome brass arrangements, and trying to separate the tortured lyrics and singing from the musical score was not easy, but when I could it was quite melodic. Good on Anthony for sharing his innermost feelings, he's written an album, I haven't. I might need to have a glass of wine tonight to cheer myself up.
And that's all from Australia.
Thanks to Fiona & Tom for a great evening, Jo & Gerry for running the meeting. Everyone had a great time. After some chit chat regarding the power of moustaches and the advantages of wood burning stoves etc the group really got into the music zone and some fascinating discussions ensued..
ReplyDeletePrimal Scream - Screamadelica
Generally a thumbs up from the group. Double thumbs up from both Tom and Fiona and it was clear that the album held some very happy memories for them - for which the steady beats and long tracks had special importance in their London attic love nest!
The others, for which the album had less 'special' significance nevertheless agreed that the album had a lot of musical merit; "Movin on up", "Don't Fight it Feel" it & "Loaded" ("what EXACTLY do you want to do") seemed to be the favourites. Repetitive, yet subtly changing rythms, against a synthesised backcloth of electronic insect & chicken & submarine or space sounds sustained the interest of the group. An excellent album for a long distance drive, even if you don't have happy memories of the 90s rave scene.
Footnote:
Primal Scream was the term used for the release of emotional energy when undergoing Primal Therapy - which is used to cure neurotic patients by re-living their supressed childhood emotional pain. The therapy was developed by Arthur Janov Ph.D in the late 60s who claimed a 100% success rate and wrote the book called "The Primal Scream: Cure for Neurosis". The therapy had several high profile followers including John Lennon, but fell out of favour in the 80s.
On the cover of his book, was Edvard's Munck's famous painting "The Scream" is slightly reminiscent of the album cover (except the album cover face is a lot happier), The album cover was painted by the in-house artise at Creation records and also achieved some more limited fame by being chosen for a UK postage stamp in 2010.
Amusing Quote of the evening:
Joe "I don't really like albums"
Ian "Joe: this is an ALBUM club"
Wynn "Maybe you should start a singles club ?"
Antony & The Johnstons "I am a Bird Now"
ReplyDeleteMost of the group thought this was great, aching with emotion which welled up inside you from deep down. Fiona played it constantly in her car and was probably in danger of taking her hands off the wheel to express some grand emotional gestures - inspired by the angst of the songs.
However, the adolescent piano bashing and the warbling voice did not get thumbs up from everyone. Not from me (Ian) anyhow.
Footnote
Antony Hegarty (claimed by Gerry to be second generation Irish) came from Chichester (where Jim comes from) moved via Netherlands to California... So its no suprise that he's rather a mixed up character, certainly about his gender. He identifies himself as a transgendered individual, like a woman trapped in a man's body. Could the lyrics "One day I'll grow up to be a beautiful woman, but today I am a BUOY" be the words of someone who is all at sea with regard to his sexual identity ? No surprise then that Boy George is a big fan of the music and that he sang on one the tracks "You are my sister". Antony seems to have found his emotional and spiritual home in New York and once said "New York is like a bird sanctuary for Oddballs" - maybe that's why the album title is "I am a Bird Now".