Mt Maukuratawhai - 23 September 2012

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary: Tramp No 124

Mt Maukuratawhai - 23 September 2012

A fairly regular trip on the CTC calendar, this scribe had done this trip as recent as 2010. This time I was hoping for a lot more snow and after the disappointment of lack of views last weekend, I would have been strongly disappointed if I didn't get to see any thing again.

The weather God chose to co-operate this time as 8 keen trampers prepared for the chilly crossing of  the Clarence River on this fine but frosty morning. Everyone, bar this scribe, chose to don river crossing shoes for the fording and then change into their boots before scrambling up the hill(Uncle Roddus is made of harder stuff). It didn't take long before Alan spotted some wilding pines small enough to succumb to his silky saw and so a pattern was set for the lower part of the journey. Things progressed well, with good time being made of our ascent and the first snow being encountered. By the time we got to the last section of hill to be climbed, the snow and the steepness of the last part prompted the donning of  crampons. It was at this point that this inattentive scribe discovered that he had ripped the strapping away from one of the rivets during last weekends adventures and couldn't fasten that strap. Fortunately, ever prepared, a magic spare bootlace appeared from his bottomless day pack and all  was well as we scaled the final leg to the summit where we got to enjoy the magnificent views of the surrounding snow capped mountains.      

Leader Bryce(Who had also been on this mountain before) was keen to try another route down from the one both he and I had done on the previous club trips. Therefore we headed off along the ridge to the west this time and had no problems circling around the tops and back down the Western ridge to the Clarence River.
We estimated we walked about 13km, climbed an accumulated gain of about 1200M and executed about 40 wilding pines.

Dr John - The Sun, Moon and Herbs (USA 1971)

Uncle Roddus Album Of The Day.

So, on a recent shopping spree I picked up several more of the Original Album Series Box sets and due to my recent purchase of Dr Johns Latest album, "Locked Down" and the fact that I was at least vaguely familiar with some of his earlier stuff,  this promptly fell into my shopping basket.

This unusual blend of soul, funk, New Orleans R n' B, blues, jazz and Cajun is something else and I struggle to think of any comparisons. The songs are complex and  busy, and although do kind of follow traditional song structure, they are not overly catchy or poppy. That doesn't mean they are difficult to listen too but I did find myself wanting to move onto something else by morning tea today. Revisiting this tonight I don't find myself immediatly effected by this music but I have a feeling that repeated concentrated attention may reveal more to this music and should increase my affection for it, although I think this is an acquired taste. Rating 3/5.

Whiskeytown - Rural Free Delivery (USA 1997)

Uncle Roddus Album of the Day

1. Take Your Guns to Town (2:29)

2. Nervous Breakdown (2:19)

3. Tennessee Square (2:49)

4. Captain Smith (2:10)

5. Macon, Georgia County Line (2:29)

6. Pawn Shop Ain't No Place for a Wedding Ring (4:33)

7. Oklahoma (2:55)

8. Angels Are Messengers from God (4:06)

I really dig Whiskeytown and this sort of stop gap EP/Album is just as good as the three proper albums they released, although pretty hard to get your hands on nowadays, which is why I don't have it on CD. A bunch of great country tinged rockers, with elements of bluegrass, country ballads and good rockin numbers some time reminiscent of mid period Violent  Femmes(see "Captain Smith")on the more up-tempo numbers. The wonderful "Angels Are Messengers from God " is a classic and one I am most familiar with from this set and the fact that it is a slightly different version of "Faithless Street" from the first album, "Oklahoma is a very cool slab of cow punk. Not a weak moment here on this awesome set of Americana which really kicks ass in an Alt Country way. Rating 5/5.

Fela Ransome Kuti and Koola Lobitos - Lagos Baby 1963-1969 (Spain 2008)

Uncle Roddus Album Of The Day.

I had actually seen a new copy of this a while back as I was first discovering the music of Fela Kuti, but decided not to purchase it at that time, partly due to the price and partly due to the fact that I was grooving to his later Afrobeat stuff. I picked this up second hand recently and there is a slight possibility that this could be the same copy I saw new earlier as I would doubt there are too many copies of this floating round my town. This CD is in near new condition so I feel it is a very good score.

All the music on this double CD set was originally compiled and released via Japan and some dedicated Fela fans as " Fela Ransome-Kuti and His Koola Lobitos

Highlife-Jazz and Afro-Soul (1963-1969) (CD Japan; P-Vine PCD-18511/3) " in 2005.(see Fela Kuti Discography at http://biochem.chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~endo/EAFela.html )

 That 3 CD set is very difficult to find now and this reissue I have by the Spanish label "Vampisoul" is also getting pretty scarce and has been deleted by the aforementioned label.

The whole set is made up of ultra rare recordings from Fela's Highlife Band "Koola Lobitos"  with several early single, his first album from about 1965, a live set from about 66' and a few singles of very early Afrobeat before he went to the USA and recorded the first real Afrobeat music on the " 69 LA Sessions"

The recording quality of these primitive recording is pretty lo-fi by today's standards but is far more listenable than most Bootlegs and the music is so rare that much of it was recorded off original vinyl and tapes and masters that weren't all that well looked after or indeed weren't all that good quality to begin with.

So putting aside the sound quality and concentrating on the actual music being played, we find that the Highlife music of Nigeria that Fela and his band is playing is a mixture of American Jazz, Caribbean and African rhythms. Fela and his band are great exponents of this music and there is some great playing and great grooving going on here and several tracks have become quite familiar with me now. A few straight jazz instrumentals interspersed with the Highlife tracks before we get into the Afrobeat on the second disc, which is recognisable as such but still as a strong  Highlife flavour more so than his later Afrobeat epics. A great taste of early Fela and although not as essentual as his 70s music, still a most enjoyable listening experience and again becoming a rare one as it was before this CD set was compiled. Rating 4/5.

Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits (USA 2012)

Uncle Roddus Album Of The Day

0.1: My Love Is Real (2:47)

0.2: Flaggin a Ride (3:47)0.3: What Gets You Alone (3:1)0.4: Would That Not Be Nice (3:59)0.5: The Salton Sea (4:19)0.6: Baby Get Worse (4:15)0.7: Civilian Stripes (2:25)0.8: For Your Heart (5:35)0.9: Shivers (4:55)0.10: Like Ice Cream (3:38)0.11: Neopolitans (3:59)

Hot off the press, so to speak, this very recent release was reviewed in the October issue of Uncut magazine and was given a 9/10 rating for the review, so I thought I had better check it out.

A sort of American indie-rock super-group of sorts, this is a slightly above average synth driven indie set of good quality catchy songs well crafted and played. After a whole day on the iPod I didn't get tired of this set, although I'm still a bit hard pressed to actually recognise some of the songs, which means that some of them sound all a bit similar. Although I am enjoying this music, I don't feel excited and inspired enough by it to want to purchase it, Rating 3/5.

The Decemberists - The King Is Dead (USA 2011)

Uncle Roddus Album Of The Day

Quite possibly album of the year, or last year as the case may be. Was Lucky enough to pick up on the most wonderful "Down By The Water" which was on one of the Uncut CD's I picked up at my local second Hand CD emporium earlier this year. The aforementioned track impressed so much that I knew I had to get this CD and after downloading a copy for evaluation and being wowed by the excellent Americana influenced indie pop contained herein, I started to keep an eye out for it in the local shops. Unfortunately, the only copy I saw was an overpriced import at the aforementioned CD emporium, so from Amazon did my copy duly come.

This is just one of those totally wonderful albums just chock full of great catchy numbers that  never grow stale after many many listens, great pop music with a real country tang to it. Colin Meloy is an excellent songwriter and has a great singing voice too, even my 81 year old Mother-in-Law was impressed with him, which also means that this is "Nice" music and unlikely to offend any one. I believe this went to No.1 on the American music Charts, if so, it's great to see such great music at the top for a change. A highly recommended album and gets a Roddus rating of 5/5.

Dead Can Dance - Anastasis (UK 2012)

An Uncle Roddus daily album review.

A new Dead Can Dance album(the first in 15 years)was always going to to be a must listen for me. I have been most impressed by some of their earlier material, although I haven't given them much thought for some time.

The quality of this recording is of the usual DCD high standards and the Medieval Gothic and ethnic sounding pieces on this set are what you would expect from Brendan and Lisa. Haunting, enchanting, dark and quite unique, this music sounds most impressive on the Cyrus via headphones, although as casual listening on the iPod at work today I was ready to listen to something else by lunch time. The sort of music that requires more dedicated concentrated listening to reap the rewards and although I am enjoying this, I'm still not convinced I really need to buy it. Roddus Rating of 3.5/5.

The Gap - Torlesse Range - 16th September 2012

Uncle Roddus Tramping diary: Tramp No. 123

The Gap - Torlesse Range - 16th September 2012

A trip along the tops of the Torlesse Range, over Foggy Peak and Castle Hill to The Gap had the potential to be a stunning trip with the amount of snow still visible on the mountains and the views available from these peaks. Nine optimistic trampers meet at Springfield with a forecast for clearing conditions later in the day. The actual weather wasn't as bad as expected for the start of this trip, with the temperature mild, the winds reasonably light but with clouds shrouding the peaks we were to climb.
After leaving Porters Pass around 9:30am and heading up towards Foggy Peak, it was starting to look promising as blue skys and the sun became visible. Re-grouping on Foggy Peak after re-donning outer layers for wind protection, it became apparent that the clag was gonna stay and we weren't going to climb above it.
Setting off in very poor visibility, following the foot prints of another group ahead of us, someone soon got wise to the fact that those aforementioned foot prints didn't seen to be going in the direction we wanted, as we couldn't hardly see more than 20 meters in front of us and certainly not out next destination, a check on a GPS soon put us back on track. First lunch was finally had on about contour 1800, just before the steep ascent to Castle Hill Peak. The mist did lift slightly to give limited views while lunching and fortunately the wind had dropped also at that point.
Donning crampons, we set off for a considerably steep climb up into more fog and finally onto Castle Hill Peak, where the stunning views remained stubbornly hidden behind the aforementioned fog. After dropping off Castle Hill Peak, the snow became softer, resulting in the removal of crampons but the terrain became more challenging due to the rocky nature of the section we were heading into. We finally arrived in The Gap around 2:30pm where we had second lunch, enjoyed the stillness of the air particles and some limited views of what was below.
With plentiful snow in The Gap and down into the Kowai a rapid descent was guaranteed via the technical art of Bum Sliding. Uncle Roddus was the last one off the top and was able to make a very rapid descent via the bum grooves left by the previous sliders, but when he got to near the bottom, after an exhilarating ride, he discovered that his crampons had come adrift from his back back and indeed there they were right near the very top of the snow slope some 200M above. The rest of the group waited patiently while he slogged back up the slope through quite deep snow until he retrieved the missing items. Then got to do and even better bum slide all the way back down again. It was at this point, after he suggested that Uncle Roddus could now be a contender for a Loo Loo award, that the ever reliable DOC Bryce(That's Droped Of Cliff) managed to trip over his own feet and do an ungainly somersault in the snow while Gashing himself in the face with his ice axe. The rest of the trip down the kowai was uneventful and we made it back to a conveniently parked car just before 6:00PM after a distance of about 15.5km and just over 1000M height gain(Except Uncle Roddus who did about 1200M).

The Martian landscape looking back to Porters Pass.

Teasing us with Blue sky.

Saying goodbye to any views.

Getting back on track.

First lunch Stop.

A brief window of clarity.

At least we had some snow to keep things interesting.

Climbing to  The Gap.

Looking down into the Kowai from, The Gap.

Uncle Roddus in The Gap.

The Bumslide.

Looking back up the Kowai.

Heading down the Kowai.

John Zorn - The Goddess: Music for the Ancient of Days (USA 2010)

Uncle Roddus Album Of The Day

I actually managed to pick up this CD at my local CD store recently, which is unusual as not that much Zorn actually turns up here and I usually import it from Amazon.

This set involves a sextet of  mostly regular Zorn musicians and the music is dominated by piano, Vibes and Harp, with some occasional guitar parts from Marc Ribot. I have been really enjoying this CD of some of Zorn's most accessible music. A mostly contemporary Jazz set and played pretty straight, no avant-garde freakouts and other weirdness in this music. Rating 4/5

The Howling Diablos - Car Wash (USA 2005)

Uncle Roddus totally exhausted end of the day album review.

Ultra cool sounding heavy blues based garage rock starts off well with the title track and could appeal to Black Keys fans. A good sounding modern recording and yet another Alive Records release. I do like the style of music here but this release is another average set from this label with some fairly good tracks but nothing to get the pulse racing. Rating 3/5. 

Bed Of Eyes - Crimp In The Facts (USA 1994)

Uncle Roddus half time in the Lawn mowing album review.

I kept thinking I was listening to some old X album with this punk/power pop album from another obscure Alive Records release. Their only album, as far as I can tell, is a pretty average collection of punky riffs and beats, not bad but nothing to get overly excited about and worthy of a Roddus rating of 2.5/5. 

Martin Rev - Cheyenne (USA 1991)

Uncle Roddus lunchtime Album Review.

This one only had a short run on the iPod between morning tea and lunch, which is thankful, due to the fact that this lot doesn't really inspire me at all.

Another from the Bomp/Alive bundles I got in from the USA, this set is a solo effort from Suicide Man Rev, with this mostly uninteresting Electronica. Before I realised who he was I recognised some similarities to Suicide's music and also some stuff that sounds similar to the stuff The Orb have released . Purely instrumental tracks here with some touches of ambience here and there and overall not something I can really enjoy much at all, Not that I don't enjoy this type of music but this release doesn't offer much to impress.

Rating 2/5

Dodge Main - Dodge Main (USA 1996)

Uncle Roddus Album of the Morning.

Rockin' out to this set while cleaning up the damage in the garden after the big snow at the start of winter. This obscure band is another of the CDs from Bomp records, this one via Alive records and my first impressions were of it being very Detroit/Motor City and reminiscent of MC5 and the Stooges. When I come in for morning tea and to quickly write this review, I see that the leader of this band is no other than Wayne Kramer, which explains the type of music herein. This set kicks of with Fred 'Sonic' Smith's excellent punky "City Slang" which I already knew well from the "Straight Outta Burbank" Compilation.

At first this set sounds pretty underwhelming but as the morning wore on and the songs became more familiar, they started to grow on me and reveal their qualities. After the brisk start of "City Slang, "1.94" motors along with a slight reggae inflection before rocking out punkerly. "Citizen Of Time" sounds like it could have been lifted directly off  The Masters Of Reality"s debut album. "Future Now" sounds like early ZZ TOP. track seven is an ok cover of the Jimmy Cliff Standard and the album closes with some more Motor City grooves with a straight cover of the Stooges Brilliant "I Got A Right. A fast and furious rockin' set that all over in 33 minutes and leaves one reasonably satisfied. The best from the Bomp/Alive bundles so far and gets a rating of 3.5/5.

The White Stripes - Icky Thump (USA 2007)

Uncle Roddus Album Of The Day

Can't believe its been five years already since the last ever White Stripes album. Thank god Jack White feed us with his first solo album earlier this year. Another excellent album that lasted the whole day on the iPod and well into the evening as I unloaded trailer loads of next winters firewood. Jack White is a major talent and not much that he touches isn't extremely good. This album of fleshed out blues/garage rock many not be their best but may be the most ambitious with some interesting instruments used. It's kinda good that the ...Stripes finished on such a high note and Jack is still feeding us addicts, but what will become of Meg now?

My rating for this most enjoyable set 4.5./5. 

Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved A Man The Way I love You (USA 1967)

Uncle Roddus Album Of The Day

The Original Album Series box sets of 5 classic albums for 20 bucks has been a real bonus find lately and the first time I have owned any Aretha on CD, or Vinyl for that matter. I mostly knew her from the Blues Brother's movies but was slightly familiar with some of her songs due to them being so famous.

This total classic stayed on the iPod for the entire day, which was quite a long one, and even after 20 odd listens I wasn't''t at all inclined to change to something else. Aretha is peerless as a R n'B soul and gospel shouter with a voice that sends proxy-isms of pleasure down to my very soul. This set from 1967, well into her career by then and her first with Atlantic Records, is the earliest in the box set and perhaps the best. 

Kicking off with a triple play of absolutely fantastic classics in "Respect", Which we all know, an amazingly soulful cover of  "Drown in My Own Tears", also made famous by Ray Charles, and The albums title track, which is just sublime. The rest of this brilliant set jumps between slow gospel tinged soul and more up-tempo  R n' B tracks with the quality staying at peak intensities throughout, with "Do Right Woman..." being the slow burning highlight on side 2. One of the all time classic albums from the 60s and gets a very enthusiastic Roddus Rating of 5+/5.  

P.G.Six - Slightly Sorry (USA 2007)

Uncle Roddus Album Of The Day

01.Untitled Micro Mini [2:47]

02.The Dance [6:03]

03.Strange Messages [4:08]

04.Cover Art Reprised [1:59]

05.The End Of Winter [4:34]

06.I've Been Traveling [2:03]

07.Bless These Blues [4:04]

08.Not I The Seed [4:15]

09.Lily Of The West [5:19]

10.Sweet Music [3:41]

Today's CD brought to you by Uncut Magazine, as is a lot of the music I listen too these days. The wonderful "The Dance" was on one of Uncut's cover CDs some time back and quickly attracted my attention but it wasn't till I heard another of their songs on a more recent Uncut compilation that I really sat up and took notice. Actually managed to pick up the CD of this release in a second hand CD emporium. 

A lovely mellow laid back set this lot with some nice 70's style guitar licks, some male/female vocal harmonies and a strong folk feel to the minimal arrangements, all pulled of with style to make for a very enjoyable listen. Another fairly obscure modern indie group who deserve wider recognition on the strength of this album and get a Roddus rating of 4.5/5.  

VA - Angola Soundtrack: The Unique Sound of Luanda 1968-1978 (Analog Africa No.9) (2010)

Uncle Roddus Album of the Day.

Mamukueno - “Rei do Palhetinho” 3:10

Os Kiezos - “Comboio” 3:35

Jovens Do Prenda - “Ilha Virgem” 3:45

Zé Da Lua - “Ulungu Wami” 2:50

Os Bongos - “Pachanga Maria” 3:20

Dimba Diangola - “Tira Sapato” 2:55

Santos Júnior - “N´Gui Banza Mama” 4:25

N´Goma Jazz - “Mi Cantando Para Ti” 3:35

Ferreira Do Nascimento - “Macongo Me Chiquita” 3:50

David Zé - “Uma Amiga” 2:40

Jovens Do Prenda - “Farra Na Madrugada” 4:45

Os Korimbas - “Sémba Braguez” 4:20

Dimba Diangola - “Fuma” 4:08

Alliace Makiadi - “Passeio por Luanda” 3:50

Os Bongos - “Kazucuta” 3:20

Quim Manuel O Espirito Santo - “Eme Lelu” 5:02

Africa Ritmos - “Pica O Dedo” 4:00

Africa Show - “Massanga Mama” 5:35

I think this is the 4th various artist compilation put out by the fabulous and groovy Analog Africa and their 9th release overall. This duly arrived in my mail box a couple of weeks back and today is the first time I have really spent any time on it. The stuff from Angola doesn't have the instant impact on me like a lot of the Ghanaian  and Nigerian Afro funk from the earlier compilations and although still very funky, this particular blend of Afro-centric grooves is a bit more traditional sounding. During the day I was thinking that this stuff doesn't appeal to me quite as much and 76 minutes of it gets a bit overwhelming. But revisiting it again tonight it surprises how much these tunes are growing on me already and it appears Analog Africa hasn't let the side down at all on this great compilation.  Jovens Do Prenda's - “Ilha Virgem” is just a stunningly beautiful instrumental and Santos Júnior's- “N´Gui Banza Mama” is another stand out for me with its relentless polyrhythms and wonderful guitars. Many of the names, like  Os Korimbas, Os Bongos and David Zé, give away the indebtedness to Latin America for the grooves contained herein. Another essential compilation of African music which will rock my world for many many years to come as these wonderful songs osmosis into my subconscious and become classics.. Rating 5/5. 

Smallstone - Smallstone (USA 2000)

Uncle Roddus Album of The Day

I thought I might have another go at doing daily album reviews and use that as an excuse to actually listen to the backlog of CDs I have purchased but not yet given much attention. Some CDs just don't inspire me to actually give them too much attention soon after I buy them and this one kinda falls into that category. Any one who actually reads anything I write on this blog may remember that I mentioned purchasing some CD bundles of cheap CDs from Bomp! records last year and I did start to review some of them back then but just got sidetracked with much better  music. This disc was one of those that arrived in those bundles.

This middle of the road indie rock outfit from the USA West Coast only put out this one album back in 2000  before consigning them selves to oblivion and relative obscurity. Can find very little info about  them on the web and after listening to this several times today there didn't seem much point to them carrying on.

The album is a short 30 odd minute set of melodic indie and power pop informed by 60s psych and pop. Has the occasional nice power riff and ok vocal melodies, but the songs sort of blur into each other and although not unpleasant, after several listens it all becomes pretty uninspiring and tiring. By morning tea I was starting to think about listening to something else. A well recorded album and well played but not something I would want to listen to too much again. Rating 2.5/5.

The Little Willies - For The Good Times (USA 2012)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

Norah Jones great little side project returns with a second album after their self titled debut in 2006 and this set has finally arrived in the mail from Amazon after I failed to find it in the shops locally.

 A fun and laid back set of mostly covers of country songs played by a suburb quartet of musicians. The playing is suburb and the recording is outstanding and well polished. Norah is a Goddess and a has a great voice and I am almost tempted to check out some of hers solo stuff, almost. If you are familiar with The Carolina Chocolate Drops, The Little Willies are similar but not quite as authentic but 10 times better.

My Rating 4.5/5

Bob Dylan - Tempest (USA 2012)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

Uncle Bobs latest opus is about to hit the stores in a matter of days and I have finally found a leaked copy to check out to see if it is worth buying. Uncut Magazine, October issue, just recently arrived airmail direct from the UK, also had a review of this set, three  pages, and rated it 10/10, album of the month(Of course).

Now Bob has been consistent over the last 15 years, if not prolific, and although I have consistently approved and enjoyed his late works which exude a mature quality of craftsmanship and musicianship and have been rooted in a juxtaposition of Jazz, blues, and country infused pop/rock, I also have to point out that none of the music has induced proxy-isms of euphoria for me, unlike the reviewer in Uncut. 

Tempest sounds like it is following pretty much in the footsteps of its predecessors. On first listens it sound like standard late period Bob and that isn't a bad thing. Nothing here that is gonna make me think twice about buying this and plenty here to appreciate on repeated deeper investigation. Mostly mid tempo and some slower, laid back stuff and the now obligatory Howlin' Wolf rip off I can safely say that I would rate this 3.5/5 at this early stage but I doubt that rating will improve all that much after more in-depth familiarisation.