Some things Old, some things from the News, some things Borrowed, and some Blues: (Take 2)
Friday is fun because it's all about the music - with lots of playlists and links and clips. Even more so today than on a regular Friday, cos I've gone all gimmick again. (Sorry/not sorry).
Hello, welcome to Friday. How are you finding the new bulked-up Substack with all of the old Off The Tracks posts, and some new content trickling in around the newsletters? A couple of months ago I debuted what I was calling a new segment. And so, in order for it to recur – so as to be an actual recurring segment – it’s time for the second attempt at it.
I’ll share some old things I’ve newly discovered or rediscovered, some things that are new or in the news, some things I’ve borrowed and some things that take from or fit into the blues. Yeah, I know, it’s a cheap gimmick. But it’s my cheap gimmick! So, here we go with round two then:
Some things Old
I am learning to make soup. I have never made soup before. And it is a glorious thing. Such a new discovery for me. No idea what finally motivated me to make my own soup, but I’m all in. Last week’s first attempt was a very basic leek and potato, this week’s was both of those things with extra onions and broccoli and spinach. And it was good. One of the things that makes it fun – and I’m convinced helps to make it taste good too – is lining up some records to play while I chop and prep and then boil and stir.
So last night it was John Harrison’s score for Day of The Dead which was the real gem while making soup. So much so that, for now at least, I’m considering it soup-making music; the record I’ll return to while chopping the spuds next week eh. Well, we’ll see…But at any rate it's a fabulous score (to a wonderful film). And my new vinyl reissue sounds wonderful every time. I’ve owned this score for a couple of years and played it a bunch but for me it feels new almost every time.
I’m also listening to all of the Prince albums in order – some legend on Spotify made a playlist of the complete catalogue. It features all the albums in order in one handy, long playlist and there are the B-sides and some of the extended versions of the albums thrown in for good measure. You don’t need me to tell you that Prince is a genius. Although earlier in the week I tried to tell you that even one of his duds isn’t that bad! Prince is one of those artists for me where it’s almost a case of: Whichever album I’m listening to at the moment is my favourite Prince album! But I’m right in the sweet spot at present – listening to Around The World in A Day and Parade, which means Sign O’ The Times is up next. This was such a fertile period for him creatively – maybe more so than the five years at the start of the 1980s when he was pumping out the side-projects (The Time, The Family) and making an album a year. I love all of that great stuff, but I feel like World, Parade, and Sign is the absolute peak of him being experimental and mainstream-pop at the same damn time. It stopped just after Lovesexy. We still got some magic, but the true genius was on the wane. And maybe that’s more to do with the loss of Wendy and Lisa from his band than he would ever have let on. They did some rather thankless heavy lifting. They gifted melodies, had hooks stolen, helped with arrangements, suggested lyrics and it all went in the pot and came out as the soup served by Prince. Hmm…
This documentary on the film score work of Bernard Herrmann is pretty wonderful. I just got to it this week.
Some things from the News
Last night I watched the new Netflix documentary about Wham! It’s called WHAM! Look, I don’t know if you learn anything, it’s really a bit thin all up, but it was fun. Some great music, a wonderful bond between the two stars of the band – really quite touching – and it benefits from having so much of George Michael on tape. It’s a fun wee watch if you like a bit of 80s pop, and who doesn’t eh? I loved Wham! when I was a kid. Then there was a period where you almost had to like them ironically or something. But it’s a post-irony world now (thank you internet) so you get to just enjoy things like Wham! And some great songs in there.
There is a new PJ Harvey album. Here it is:
I haven’t listened to it – but by the time you read this I will have heard it at least once. She is a genius. She is one of my forever favourites. I love all of her albums. They’re all different. They’re all great. I’ve seen her live twice and they were two of my favourite shows by anyone. The first time was in December 2004, I flew over to Sydney on my own to see her. She announced at the end of that tour that she was taking an indefinite break from performing. It felt like I’d just snuck in – finally getting to see her. It made the memories of that night instantly stronger. But of course she was back. That brief hiatus was to reset, and to comeback with a new musical direction. When I saw her again (about five or six years ago now I guess) she was more wonderful than ever. In recent years she’s been busy going widetr than just new songs: a book of poetry, a live theatre score, and now a conventional album again. Though she’s never really what you would call conventional. What a legend.
Wellington-based band, Sure Boy, released their EP Better recently. It’s good! I put a track on the weekly playlist recently, but check out the whole thing. Also they’re on tour launching the EP good and proper. Wellington is next Friday, July 14 at Valhalla. See you there!
In last week’s Friday newsletter about Nick Drake I mentioned a tribute album was coming. Well it’s here.
Oh, and I guess I should mention that my band, Dirty Spoons, has a couple of July gigs. We’re at “Mainly Acoustic” in Upper Hutt this coming Tuesday, July 11 as one of the supports for the feature act, The Salty Hearts. And we’re at the Vogelmorn Bowling Club on Saturday July 22 with our friends The Brooklyns and Planet. You can buy tickets here (or cash on the door). Dirty Spoons has merch too! Have I told you? Badges. For sale. Get in touch if you want some limited-edition Dirty Spoons merch! It’s two badges for $6 or four for $10. That’s the bargain. That’s how it works. And you can see there that you can follow Dirty Spoons on Instagram too. Exciting huh?
Some things Borrowed
I’m back borrowing CDs from the brilliant Wellington Public Library system. You can reserve things on your phone via the app, you can even scan them in the building as self-service, just using your phone like you’re totalling your groceries as you go (it’s a wonderful world some of the time). My favourite CD I checked out this week was the 50th Anniversary double-disc edition of David Crosby’s solo debut, If I Could Only Remember My Name.
So this is a couple of years old, the album celebrated its 50th in 2021, and I missed this re-issue at the time. But I’ve been a fan of the album for a long, long time. It is my favourite solo album from any of the CSN guys. And though Crosby didn’t really amount to all that much as a solo act (he was better in collaboration, gifted harmony vocalist, brought out great songwriting around others) this album really is a gem. Nice to hear it again as if a new product. And of course, there’s some demo versions and bonus tracks and that’s part of what helps make it feel brand new. And anyway, Cowboy Movie!
But the real magic in borrowing CDs from the library is getting things I can’t share (or find) on Spotify. So this week I’m digging Prince’s Black Album (the only official Prince album – it was officially released in the early 1990s after its fabled bootleg run in the late 80s) that is not on the streaming platforms. It’s so devastatingly good. I went to buy a CD copy of it this week (such was my hankering) but it’s hard to find. If you’re in possession of one, but you don’t really want your CDs anymore, let me know…
Same goes with The Essential John Carpenter. My favourite compilation of his material. It’s been reworked with updated recordings as an Anthology, and that’s fine also. But it’s not this particular album. This was what made me fall in deep for Carpenter’s compositional and playing skills.
And some Blues.
Darren Watson released Too Many Millionaires back in 2018 – a cracking good album too.
Well, late last year, he upped the demos to Bandcamp and it’s a stunning wee album all of its own; maybe it’s better?
Well, I’m biased, I’ve been a fan of his work for a long time…and I also wrote the liner notes to the Millionaires album. But I had never heard these new (old) versions of the songs until Darren released them for all. Such a revelation. You can’t get all of DW’s stuff on Spotify but his most recent (official) album is there. So I’ll share that here too if you’re new to his work and want a quick taster. (So good).
I’ve been a fan of the Tedeschi Trucks Band for a while. Way back in my daily-blogging daze I once interviewed Derek Trucks. He was charming. And it was such a treat to talk to him - I’d also interviewed Gregg Allman around that time, so I got into a whole history of the Allmans with Derek. I used to listen to some of Susan Tedeschi’s solo records when I was a CD Store employee. And when Susan and Derek hooked up they merged their bands and made this big supergroup. It was this clip of the band performing their song Midnight in Harlem at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival back in 2010 that really sold me on the sound. And that version of that song still works for me ever time I see and hear it. So I wanted to share that here.
I’ve also been digging the band’s recent/ish release where they covered Derek & The Dominos’ Layla album. I saw Trucks play many of these songs with Clapton in Napier way back. And so, yeah, cool to connect all this up.
Back when I was regularly reviewing albums, every couple of years without fail there was something new by the Hedvig Mollestad Trio. I went looking for new work recently and found this older clip of the band in full fury. Such a great energy and sound they produce. Check them out if you haven’t already.
Well, that’ll do for today. Hopefully there’s a bunch of old (and new – or new to you) music there.
And of course there’s even more when I add this week’s volume of the ongoing weekly playlist series, A Little Something For The Weekend…Sounds Good!
Tell me what you’re listening to and loving. Drop a recommendation down below. Let me know what you think of the now extra-stacked Substack. And I’m also taking soup recipes if anyone has a particularly good one. Hit me up for a Dirty Spoons badge pack. Or let me know if you like this kind of blogging/writing format and you want this to be a semi-regular Friday thing. Or anything else you want instead. Also, just comment away about anything that’s on your mind, with music (or soup) as the focus.
Happy weekend to you all. And as always – thanks for reading. And happy listening!
Love the Friday format. Sets me up for some weekend listening, which is when I get some time to get out walking with my EarPods. Alabama Shakes is my latest discovery.