BlogRoddus

Thursday, March 8, 2012

The Buzzcocks - Another Music In A Different kitchen (UK 1978)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

Classic Albums from my past

Stepping up the intensity with this brilliant Punk/Pop album from the legendary Buzzcocks. This may have quite possibly be the very first punk LP I owned along with Stiff Little Fingers "Inflammable Material", both of which were brought off my cousin as this music was a bit too hard for his liking (he was a big Jam fan though).

Their debut album awash with buzzsaw guitar and great pop melodies, probably the most commercial sounding of the first wave of Punk bands and one of the most influential, i.e. no Buzzcocks, no Nirvana. Another classic album that still packs a punch over 30 years later. My CD copy has additional tracks from some early singles but the songs listed above were the original tracks. Rating 5/5.

Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth (UK1979)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review.

Classic Albums from my past.

Sticking with the minimalist approach for this wonderful album, which comprises of a female singer, guitar and organ and bass to propel the songs along. Wonderfully quirky little pop songs enliven this release with plenty of quality ideas to draw us in. A late night album to mellow to and be mesmerises by the lovely guitar licks, bass lines and quirky organ effects, and still sounding good after all these years. The only album from this trio, this statement stands as a totally unique and early example of the post punk scene of the British Isles. The original record, which I had on vinyl, only had 15 tracks and apparently got to No. 20 on the NZ album charts, this CD reissue has an additional 10 tracks from various EPs and singles.Highly recommended and gets a rating of 4.5/5.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Trio - Trio (Germany 1981)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

Classic Albums from My past.

Just been trolling through my Hard drive, when I came across this forgotten gem. Way way before the White Stripes and the plethora of other Drum and Guitar bands there was Trio. Exposed to the world through the innocuous dittie "Da Da Da", which I found interesting enough to actually buy this album. Very minimalist and stripped back this album is choked full of great little numbers with some cool guitar riffs and good vocal melodies sung in that droll German way. Some fast punky numbers and some slower ones fill out this lo-fi extravaganza with enough English language songs to get me singing along. A long lost album that I connected with back in its day and am still enjoying today, 30 years later. Rating 4/5.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

John Zorn - Masada Songbook One (USA 1993)

Masada Book One

I have had an interest in the music of John Zorn for some time now and have a moderate sampling of his vast catalogue in my CD collection. A man of prolific output, covering a huge range of the modern music vocabulary, mostly rooted in the idiom of jazz. Up there with other prolific geniuses like Sun Ra and Frank Zappa, Zorn's music has always been adventurous and exciting. Not all of it is to my liking and some of the more out there Avant-Guard/Experimental stuff is a bit hard to digest(especially his early game peices like Lacross), but for me, the Masada Songbook is the highlight of his output so far.
I am not a musician, or composer, and so, the intricacies of composition and improvisation are beyond my understanding. In about 1993, Zorn decided to write 100 new songs for what he called Radical Jewish music. The compositions were written with certain rules, such as the number of Staves, and the modes and scales used, as well as being able to be playable by any small group of instruments.
He then put together a Quartet of Himself on Sax, Dave Douglas on Trumpet, Greg Cohen On Bass and Joey Baron on Drums to play and record this music. Another 100 songs were written over the next couple of years, bringing the total of the First Masada Songbook to 200 Songs. Many of these Songs were recorded by the above mentioned Masada Quartet and released on 10 volumes between 1994 and 1998, each volume being named after the first letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Over the following decade and more, the song book has been recorded by many musicians within the Zorn stable in various musical groups with different instrumental line ups, also several excellent live collections were release by the original Masada Quartet.
I believe that I now have ALL the releases of the First Masada Song book(although some are only digital, as the original 10 volumes are not that freely available, but I will secure them all on Cd eventually) and after a bit of research I found that while a large number of the songs were debuted on the original first 10 volumes, quite a number were recorded and released on other CDs. Loading All my collection into itunes and listing the songs in alphabetical order I have found that all up there appears to have been 150 songs released over 30 separate releases. I believe that leaves 50 songs in the songbook still unreleased.

The following list is all the Masada Book One Releases:

Masada: Alef (1994; DIW)
Masada: Beit (1994; DIW)
Masada: Gimel (1994; DIW)
Masada: Dalet (1994; DIW)
Bar Kokhba (1994–96; Tzadik)
Masada: Hei (1995; DIW)
Masada: Vav (1995; DIW)
Masada: Zayin (1996; DIW)
Masada: Het (1996; DIW)
Masada: Tet (1997; DIW)
Masada: Yod (1997; DIW)
First Live 1993 (2002; Tzadik)
Masada Live, NYC, 1994 (1995; Jazz Door)
Live in Jerusalem 1994 (1997; Tzadik)
Live in Taipei 1995 (1997; Tzadik)
The Circle Maker (1998; Tzadik)
Live in Middleheim 1999 (1999; Tzadik)
Live in Sevilla 2000 (2000; Tzadik)
Live at Tonic 2001 (2001; Tzadik)
Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 1: Masada Guitars (2003; Tzadik)
Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 2: Voices in the Wilderness (2003; Tzadik)
Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 3: The Unknown Masada (2003; Tzadik)
Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 4: Masada Recital (2004; Tzadik)
Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 5: Masada Rock (2005; Tzadik)
50th Birthday Celebration Volume 1: Masada String Trio (2004; Tzadik)
50th Birthday Celebration Volume 4: Electric Masada (2004; Tzadik)
50th Birthday Celebration Volume 7: Masada (2004; Tzadik)
50th Birthday Celebration Volume 11: Bar Kokhba Sextet (2005; Tzadik)
Sanhedrin 1994-1997 (Unreleased Studio Recordings) (2005; Tzadik)
Electric Masada: At the Mountains of Madness (2005; Tzadik)

The Music itself is a fantastic blend of Jewish kletzma fused with Jazz, the original Masada Quartet being based on Ornette Colemans Original Jazz Quartet of the 1960s and heavily influenced by that mans music, so we have an exotic blend happening with bits of classical, avant-garde, thrash and rock etc thrown into the mix. The music is consistently of a very high standard of musicianship and song quality across the entire 30 releases and the production and sound is exceptional.

The Following is a list of the 150 songs I have across the 30 releases and what releases they come from.

Note: This project I started some time back but is talking too much time and I only got to song 16(See below) and as I don't want to delete what I have assembled so far, I will post this as incomplete but will add the full list of songs from my itunes library.

01: Abed-Nego: In the Bible, a young man who with Meshach and Shadrach emerged unharmed from the fiery furnace of Babylon.
Appears on Masada Vol 8: Het
One and only appearence on Vol 8

02: Abidan: Son of Gideoni, was a judge and head of the tribe
of Benjamin at the time of the exodus. Meaning: My father (i.e.) God has judged
First appears on Masada Vol 3:Gimel but also appears on 10 other occasions:
Bar Kokhba Disc 1
Bar Kokhba Disc 2
Sanhedrin - 1994-1997 Unreleased Studio Recordings [Disc 1]
Masada: Live in Jerusalem Disc 2
Masada Guitars - Bill Frisell
Masada Recital -Mark Feldman/Sylvie Courvoisier
Voices in the Wilderness Disc 1 - Jewlia Eisenberg
Masada String Trio: 50th Birthday Celebration, Vol. 1
At the Mountains of Madness Disc 1 - Electric Masada
At the Mountains of Madness Disc 2 - Electric Masada

03: Abrakala: Meaning is a little obscure, but it appears that it is an early Jewish version of abracadabra and may mean "I will create as I speak"
This track's one and only appearence is on Masada Vol 10: Yod

04: Acharei Mot: Hebrew for “after” or “after the death" from the "Torah" and The Book Of Leviticus

First appears on Masada Vol 9:Tet and also on the following releases:
Masada: Live at Tonic, 2001 Disc 1
Masada: Live at Tonic, 2001 Disc 2
Sanhedrin - 1994-1997 Unreleased Studio Recordings [Disc 2]
50th Birthday Celebration, Vol. 7
Voices in the Wilderness Disc 2 - Peter Apfelbaum

05: Achshaph: "fascination", a royal city of the Canaanites, in the north of Canaan (Josh. 11:1; 12:20; 19:25). It was in the eastern boundary of the tribe of Asher, and is identified with the modern ruined village of Kesaf or Yasif, northeast of Acre.

Appears on Masada Vol 2: Beit and also on Live In Taipei

06: Ahavah: "Love"
From Masada Rock By Rashanim.

07: Amarim: As in "Likutei Amarim" Hebrew, "collection of statements", an early work of Hasidic philosophy, by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad Hasidism, first published in 1797.

It's only apperence is on Masada Vol 8:Het.

08: Anakim: A pre-Canaanite tribe, dwelling (according to Josh. xi. 21, 22, and Judges i. 10, 20) in the hill country of Judah and in the Philistine plain (Hebron, Debir, Anab, Gaza, Gath, Ashdod). Three clans are mentioned: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai (Judges, i. 10; Num. xiii. 22). These names seem, from their form, to be Aramaic; but what this fact signifies is not clear. The Anakim are said to have been conquered by Caleb (Josh. xv. 14; Judges, i. 20), who received their territory. In Deut. ii. 11, the Anakim are called a branch of the Rephaim, which is perhaps a generic term. The Hebrew of Num. xiii. 33classes them also with the Nefilim; but the clause is not in the Greek, and is probably a late gloss. In Judges, i. 10, the conquest is ascribed to Judah. How far the Anakim had been absorbed by Canaanites and Philistines is uncertain. On the genealogy in Josh. xiv. 12-15 and xv. 13, see Hebron and Kirjath Arba. T.

Appears only on Masada Rock - Rashanim

09: Arad: A city in Israel.

Also appears only on Masada Rock - Rashanim

10: Aravot: Aravah (ערבה, pl. aravot - ערבות) is a leafy branch of the willow tree. It is one of the Four Species (arba'ah minim - ארבעת המינים) used in a special waving ceremony during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The other species are the lulav (palm frond), hadass (myrtle), and etrog (citron).
Appears on The Circle Maker Disc 1 - Masada String trio and Masada Anniversary Edition, Vol. 4: Masada Recital - Mark Fieldman/Sylvie Courvoisier.

11: Ashnah: Biblical City in Israel.
First appears on Masada Vol 1: Alef
Also on:
Live NYC 1994
Live In Middelheim
Masada: Live in Jerusalem Disc 2
50th Birthday Celebration, Vol. 7

12: Avelut: The year of mourning after the burial of a parent.
First appears on Masada, Vol. 6: Vav.
Also on:
Masada Guitars - Bill Frissell
50th Birthday Celebration, Vol. 11 Disc 2 - Bar kokhba
50th Birthday Celebration, Vol. 11 Disc 3 - Bar kokhba

13: Avodah: A Hebrew word, literally meaning "work".
Only appearence on:
Voices in the Wilderness Disc 2 - Rashanim

14:Azekah:
Meaning: Dug over.
A town in the Shephelah or low hills of Judah (Josh. 15:35), where the five confederated Amoritish kings were defeated by Joshua and their army destroyed by a hailstrom (10:10, 11). It was one of the places re-occupied by the Jews on their return from the Captivity (Neh. 11:30). Only Appearence on:
Masada Anniversary Edition, Vol. 4: Masada Recital - Mark Feldman/Sylvie Courvoisier

15:Bacharach: As in Bert, was all I could find.
Only appearence on:
Masada, Vol. 7: Zayin

16:Bahir: "Book of the Brightness"is an early work of esoteric Jewish mysticism which eventually became known as Kabbalah. Or An Arabic boys name.
Only appearence on:
Masada Rock -Rashanim

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Bloodshot Records

While I'm having a lazy day hiding out from the cold and wet weather that has plagued us throughout this weekend, I have been doing plenty of mucking around on the web and this blog and in my travels today I came across the above record label, due to me listening to a song of one of their artists on one of my Uncut CDs. Staying with all things Americana, this label appears to be an excellent source of some great sounding music of this variety and other related genres. I know this now because I downloaded their free sampler of selected tracks from last years releases and I must say I am suitably impressed. Highly recommended by Uncle Roddus, so check out their sampler HERE

Nevermind: Glitterhouse Is 20 - Various Artists (Germany 2004)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

A small diversion from the Uncut Magazine recommended artists I have been reviewing but right up the same alleyway is this record label birthday sampler from the German Glitterhouse label. Focusing mostly on Americana/Alt-Country, this 3 CD set, which now appears to be getting difficult to find, was purchased for some ridiculously cheap sum from some bargain bin I can't remember where now, but apart from being gob-smacked by the totally brilliant Mofro track "Lochloosa" and rushing off to buy the album it came off, I hadn't really connected with most of the other music on this set and so it had sat on the rack collecting dust for some time.

Having listened again to this mammoth set in the car and on the home stereo a few times over the last couple of weeks, I am starting to appreciate more the quality of music released by this label. Music that grown in stature over repeated listens as it becomes more familiar, even if I don't connect with it straight away, almost always ends up being some of my favourite music, and this sampler is slowly growing on me in this way. Not all strictly Alt-country also make for some variety of listening pleasure. Haven't heard anything on here that I distinctly dislike, but I do keep discovering excellent tracks that I have missed on previous listens. Many more listens are needed to remember the names of which songs stand out for me, but there are two or three anthemic monsters that have really piqued my attention, as well as other stand outs like the familiar "Soft Hand" by The Willard Grant Conspiracy, "Tarmac" By Hazeldean and of course the aforementioned "Lochloosa" A lovely folksy bluesy lament to urban development. A great set and worthy of a Roddus rating of4/5.

The Flying Burrito Brothers - Hot Burrito: Anthology 1969-1972 (USA 2000)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

Still staying with that group of Uncut artists I am listening to for this review and we go back to the origins of Alt-Country, or Americana or what ever else you want to call it with the fantastic Flying Burrito Brothers. This 2 Disc set comprises the complete first two albums with the legendary Gram Parsons and the third album(see cover shots below) after he left the group and several cuts from other releases after that.

At the top of the pile of pioneering country rock, along with Dylan and Young, is Gram Parsons. I reviewed his first band, The International Submarine Band a while back and the Burritos were the band he formed with Chris Hillman after they left the Byrds. Brilliant twangy country with some cool psychedelic undertones. consistently excellent song writing with some stunning stand outs like the totally awesome"Sin City", which was the track that turned me onto them, as well as, what should have been a big hit, "Devil in Disguise" and another stand out "Wheels", just to mention some of my favourites. Essential listening for any fans of country rock and this anthology get an overall Roddus Rating of 4.5/5

Calexico - Feast Of Wire (USA 2003)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

Another of the Uncut Compilation artists with this highly recommended release which was well trumpeted about in the aforementioned magazine when it was released. Another one I have had for some time and not really given much attention to. I am quite familiar with the folksy "Not even Stevie Nicks..." which was on another of my Uncut CDs and is a great song. Although cited as Alt-Country/Americana, this set is far more experimental than those styles suggest, especially the instrumental tracks that dissect the album. The more pop orientated songs certainly do offer some nice country touches with the guitar sounds and there are some good string and brass arrangements to flesh the tracks out and make them more interesting. Well crafted music with a wide variety of influences subtly incorporated giving plenty to explore on repeated listens and this is an album that will reward and grow in stature with additional attention, as all good albums should. Not as immediately arresting as the album in my previous review but far more diverse. Rating 3.5/5

Monday, February 27, 2012

Willard Grant Conspiracy - Regard the End (USA 2003)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review.

Been listening to plenty of my Uncut CD compilations both at home and on the ipod at work and thought that I might check out some of the artists that The Uncut Magazine had introduced me to over the years. Many of these records haven't had much attention lately or in many instances, none at all. I went to the very earliest Uncut CD I have, "Sounds of the new West" from 1998 and looked at the list of artists included on this set and found I had recordings by 10 out of 20 of the artists included. This album is the first one I listened too.

I have been going back to this album frequently over the last few days and am finding it an addictive set of well crafted and recorded Americana. The ...Conspiracy were well liked by Uncut and well represented on 13 of the compilations I have, and yet this is the first time I have really had a decent listen. I am very surprised that I didn't even have "Soft Hand" on my massive Uncut sampler, as it is a classic piece of Alt-Pop. The album has an acoustic feel to it and Robert Fisher sings some great duets with some female singers, one being Kristin Hersh. The lyrics go to some darker places and the music has a melancholic feel in places, which appears to be standard for this type of music and not a bad thing. A consistent effort and stays interesting throughout. Thoroughly recommended for any Americana fan and gets a Roddus Rating of 4.5/5.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Turtons Saddle - Comyns Hut - Clent Hills Saddle - Lake Heron - 18-19th February 2012

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary:Tramp No.115

Turtons Saddle - Comyns Hut - Clent Hills Saddle - Lake Heron - 18-19th February 2012

I nearly didn't go on this trip as I had already been out the previous two weekends but when I realised that Comyns hut was profiled in Mark Pickering's "Huts: Untold Stories from Back Country New Zealand", a copy of which Mrs. Roddus gave me for Christmas, then I thought I should go.

First a little history. According to Mark Pickering's book, Alfred Comyns Jnr. arrived in New Zealand from Hertfordshire, on the Lancashire Witch, after a three month journey, during which he lost his younger brother and mother to scarlet fever, arriving in Lyttelton in October 1863. During the early 1880's Comyns was possibly the first European to travel over Mathias Pass. In 1897 Comyns apparently managed the impressive feat of herding 2000 sheep over Mathais Pass into the head of the Hokitika River only to have all die by freezing and starvation. The original hut that bears Comyns Name was constructed as a Musterers hut some time between 1895 and 1899, while Comyns was Manager of Double Hill Station. The Hut is now situated on DOC Conservation Estate.

On a spectacular summers day, our group of 4 trampers left the car at Double Hill Run road and proceeded to wander up Glenrock Stream on an easy vehicle track, cooking in the heat and enjoying the views of the Rakia and Wilberforce rivers and Mt Oakden as we climbed Turtons Saddle. The cool breeze helped cool us down as we had a bite to eat on the saddle before heading down to A Frame hut further down Turtons Stream. The heat of the day put pay to any over enthusiasm of serious notions of climbing any serious peaks on this seriously warm day, but our leader suggested we trundle on up to point 1305, just above Comyns Hut to take in the great views of this barren and mountainous landscape. From point 1305 we got great views of our route the next day over Clent Hills Saddle and even managed to spot the crossover party coming down the river some 400m below us, which spurred a race for the hut before they got there and scored all the best bunks. Arriving at the huts first we had to wait another 30 odd minutes for the other party to arrive. The actual hut we stayed in was built next to the original in 1957 by the owner of Double Hill Station and is a really cool hut indeed, although it's outward appearance wouldn't suggest as much.

On Sunday Morning, after our leader grilled the leader of the crossover party as to the exact location of our car at Lake heron, we managed to get away at the reasonably early time of 8am in anticipation of a longish day, with 21km to travel and a saddle at 1480m to cross. The day was much cooler with low cloud perched snugly on the tops of the mountains obscuring much of the views. We headed up Round Hill creek crossing the stream over 50 times, following the marker poles, as this whole trip is part of the new Te Araroa trail. We made Clent Hills Saddle in the surprising time of 3 hours, it being easier than it looked from our viewpoint the day before. We didn't stay long as the visibility was pretty low and it was also quite cold. Travel slowed down slightly as we sidled around long stretches of scree and tussok and with the long spacing of the route markers, had some difficulty spotting them in the fog. Still we made good time and neared the bottom in about 6 hours before running into a maze of Spaniards that the other party warned us about, but we still had difficulty getting through them. Once down on the barren flats of Lake Heron it was a 6KM slog back to the car which we attained in the surprising time of 7.75 hours.

This time Uncle Roddus didn't leave his camera in the car, he did even better this time, leaving the bloody thing at home in the office. Thanks to Richard for these photos, hence so many with Uncle Roddus actually in them.