Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
Rod the Mod finds his solo footing, headed for stardom, with the Faces in his wake.
6:00 AM GMT 22/06/2011
Features Disc of the day
It's Immaterial
Song
(Siren, 1990)
Northwest duo's auditory melancholia to lighten the gloom.
It's Immaterial, AKA Johns Campbell and Whitehead, called Song "commercial suicide but definitely worth doing". Think of the interesting music there'd be if more people thought like this. Imaginative former attendees of Liverpool punk nexus Eric's, the band had been signed as Britain's answer to the Talking Heads and scored an irregular hit with 1986's English road song Driving Away From Home. But, emerging from the mist four years later, one thing Song isn't is chart eager. As in opener New Brighton - a Larkinesque mini-play of a fading holiday resort and an old friendship - this is music made in the rain and on the edge of town, peopled by frequently unemployed characters with a mind to get moving but who are too much part of their locales and pasts to escape. The smoothly synthetic productions, featuring zither, piano, brass, tribal-lite drum programming and Campbell's soulful winetaster's voice, variously touch on country, flamenco, some Satie and Ryuichi Sakamoto, with The Blue Nile's ambient pop music another parallel. Such are the subtleties, that when elegant single Heaven Knows (sample lyric - "I know what it's like when you come round to thinking how you've missed the gravy train") insists that despite everything, things will be alright, the directness is almost jarring. The spirit of the album is arguably better found in closer Your Voice, an insomniac journey into memory full of heightened significance that exists half in the subconscious mind. Annoyingly, this was the group's last album release, but word is Campbell and Whitehead still meet every Thursday to work on new music. Any chance, etc?
Ian Harrison
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 11:49 AM GMT 22/02/2010
Further Listening
It’s Immaterial – Life’s Hard And Then You Die (Siren, 1986)
The Blue Nile – A Walk Across The Rooftops (Linn, 1984)
Talk Talk – The Colour Of Spring (EMI, 1986)
Previous Disc of the day
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Earl Brutus - Larky
Last salvo of Ginsters Pasty-Warholism from Britpop ramraiders.
12:04 PM GMT 08/06/2011
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Loudon Wainwright - T-Shirt
An overlooked small wonder from an unpredictable career.
6:00 AM GMT 03/06/2011
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Landscape - From The Tea-rooms Of Mars… To The Hell-holes Of Uranus
Dry computer club Futurists, upon hitting implausible chart paydirt.
6:00 AM GMT 17/05/2011
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-
Causa Sui - Summer Sessions Vol 1-3
Epic Danish jams, for when the neighbours get you down.
6:00 AM GMT 12/05/2011
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Life's Hard And Then You Die which preceeds this is a work of genius but I haven't heard this, thanks for the recommendation.
Maybe 'Forever Breathes The Lonely Word' by Felt also for further listening?
Cheers.
Posted by mirrorsofthesun at 4:01 PM GMT 22/02/2010 Report Abuse
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One of the most beautiful albums ever recorded.
Posted by Anonymous at 2:06 PM GMT 09/09/2010 Report Abuse
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RE: Anonymous
I totally agree. It's up there with Brilliant Trees, A Walk ACross the Rooftops etc. And the rumour that they might release House For Sale is the best musical news in a very long time.
Posted by marco at 12:07 AM GMT 25/03/2011 Report Abuse
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