Album: JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON – Englabörn (4AD CAD2733 2007)

I hate and I love. Why do I do this, perhaps you ask? I know not, but I feel it happening and I am tortured.

Roman poet Catullus’ conflicted poem known as Catullus 85 or Odi et Amo was written for his mistress Lesbia. An orchestrated version opens Englabörn with the original Latin text intoned by a robot soprano. It’s both moving and oddly chilling, transferring the original’s human turmoil to the stirrings of consciousness in artificial life. So far, so very Philip K Dick.

Englabörn originally came out on the Touch label five years ago this month. It was Jóhann Jóhannsson’s debut release, and was a written to accompany dramatist Hávar Sigurjónsson’s play of the same name. The pieces are short, and the instrumentation limited to a chamber sextet of Jóhannsson on piano and electronics with Matthias Hemstock (percussion) and the Eþos String Quartet. I don’t know anything about the play, but I’m willing to bet it isn’t a zany comedy. The Catullus poem sets the tone for some serious introspection. There are many moments of desperate sadness, such as the mournful piano scales of “Krókódíll” and the suspended violin figures of “Ef Ég Hefði Aldrei…”. At times the album reminds me of Jóhannsson’s compatriot Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson’s score for the Friðrik Þór Friðriksson film Englar Alheimsins. Although it doesn’t lean as heavily on a central motif, it has the same graceful melancholy about it. Proceedings end with a reprise of “Odi Et Amo” slowed to a crawl, not unlike HAL 3000’s final incantation of “Bicycle Built For Two” in 2001. It sounds like a missive from another world where hope is an emotion forgotten through the passage of time immemorial.

Many will listen to this 4AD reissue on the strength of Jóhannsson’s brilliant IBM 1401, A User’s Manual from last year. Englabörn doesn’t have the same breadth and scale of that record, but shares with it an exquisite sadness and scarce beauty. Hopefully Virðulegu Forsetar and Dis will be made available again soon.

Tracks:
1 Odi Et Amo (3:10)
2 Englabörn (1:34)
3 Jói & Karen (3:24)
4 Þetta Gerist Á Bestu Bæjum (1:02)
5 Sálfræðingur (3:49)
6 “Ég Sleppi Þér Aldrei” (2:57)
7 Sálfræðingur Deyr (3:40)
8 Bað (3:07)
9 “Ég Heyrði Allt Án Þess Að Hlusta” (2:05)
10 Karen Býr Til Engil (3:45)
11 Englabörn – Tilbrigði (1:24)
12 “Ég Átti Erfiða Æsku” (3:41)
13 Krókódíll (2:45)
14 “Ef Ég Hefði Aldrei…” (3:42)
15 …eins og venjulegt fólk (3:51)
16 Odi Et Amo – Bis (4:00)

Website:
http://www.johannjohannsson.com/

Album: HARMONIA – Live 1974 (Grönland CDGRON78 2007)

These tapes languished in a vault somewhere for 33 years before being dusted down and given a release. The trio of Michael Rother, Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius recorded it on March 23rd 1974 at an old railway station-cum-venue in Griessem, a small town half way between Hannover and Bielefeld in north-west Germany. The ‘concert’ aspect of the recording is lacking since there is nary a murmur to be heard from the audience. Generally, though, the sound quality is good, but the electronic beats sound cheap and tinny, and there is a lack of dynamism leaving it feeling a little flat.

The recording dates from a period between Harmonia’s two studio efforts Musik von Harmonia and Deluxe. Only “Veteranissimo”, an seventeen minute take on “Veterano” from the first record, ever made it on to a studio set. The five pieces here are largely lengthy groove-based improvisations, three surging well past the ten minute mark. There are is an element of the Neu motorik beat present, but these pieces don’t quite have the same urgency and have an occasional tendency to meander. The most successful tracks are the ones where Rother’s guitar is pushed to the fore, as it is on “Arabesque”, a (relatively) short piece which is basically an extended guitar solo laid over a burbling, oscillating synthesiser.

Close your eyes and “Holta-Polta” could almost an extended demo of the Black Dog’s “Pot Noodle”, recorded twenty years later. Live 1974 is a good album on its own terms, but is going to be more of interest to students of the era than those who just want some wigged out avant-prog electronica to groove to. This is the sound of three musicians pushing limited, primitive equipment to the max. The ideas are sometimes hidebound by the limitations of the technology, but that is part of the charm. Harmonia lasted barely 18 months before Rother returned to Neu for one album, and then on to a solo career, whilst the other two reverted to their day job as Cluster.

Tracks:
1 Schaumberg 10:45
2 Veteranissimo 17:25
3 Arabesque 5:20
4 Holta-Polta 15:00
5 Ueber Ottenstein 9:30

Song of the day: BRIAN ENO – An Ending (Ascent) (1983)

One of the odd things about instrumental music is that it can trigger off different moods in different people, even when they agree on its merits. “An Ending (Ascent)” is one piece that some find desolate and depressing where others see rhapsody. It appears on the 1983 album Apollo – Atmospheres and Soundtracks, an ambient collaboration between Brian Eno, his younger brother Roger and producer Daniel Lanois. The record is loosely inspired by the Apollo moon missions. As an album it has its moments, but it’s not particularly exceptional. Apart from the 4 minutes 20 of this track, that is.

“An Ending (Ascent)” has an astonishing psychological resonance with a lot of people. Out there in webworld you’ll find a surprising number of passionate testaments acclaiming it as the greatest, most moving piece of music of all time, and many folk who want it played at their funeral. It’s difficult to work out how it has the immense power that it undoubtedly does possess. On the face of it, it’s just a series of chords (mainly in a minor key) that ebb and flow. There’s no dramatic progression, no changes of structure, nor any conventionally repetitive melody. And yet it is so much more than a chilled out ambient wash of sound. I think its secret is in the way that it uses a series of ‘dissolves’ for each chord change. If you think of a computer slide show, the dissolve setting makes each picture fade into the next so that, for a large part of the process, there are a series of ever changing composite images in between each focussed shot. Eno does the same with this track. Rather than a clang and fade that would be achieved with the percussive action used on an acoustic instrument, each chord fades in, climaxes and then fades away, bleeding into the next one in the process. It sounds totally different to most music we hear, and have been conditioned to hear over centuries, and this, I think, gives it its other-worldly quality.

Other-worldly music is, by its very nature, suited to outer space (an other-worldly place!). Thus “An Ending” is so effective at conjuring up some pretty cosmic resonances. With closed eyes, it really is possible to drift into a state that borders on blissful rapture listening to it. And that may be the key why different people have such polarised responses of mood to it. It can unlock emotions and memories that can be moving in very different ways. It can release inhibited grief, but also can induce a kind of mesmeric joy not a million miles away from the effects produced by mild dosages of hallucinogens or other dissociative narcotics. It’s a stunning piece of music, whichever way you look at it.

There are a few home-made videos to the track on YouTube. One is a beautifully shot slideshow of images of cemeteries. No, no, no! That’s just completely wrong on every conceivable level. The one I’ve linked to consists of heavily filtered footage of rippling, ebbing and cascading water. The dancing lights on the surface look like stars. The film-maker’s budget obviously didn’t stretch to a trip on the space-shuttle, but he’s done a good job of evoking the cosmos right here on earth. The film was made by someone going by the name of Tracerprod.

A Few Forthcoming Long Players

These are all subject to change, of course.

BOXCUTTER GLYPHIC PLANET MU 29-Oct
BUCK 65 SITUATION STRANGEFAMOUS 29-Oct
CHARALIMBIDES LIKENESS KRANKY 29-Oct
FROG POCKET COME ON PRIMATES PLANET MU 29-Oct
GESCOM A1-D1 SKAM 29-Oct
HEINER GOEBBELS LANDSCHAFT MIT ENTFERNTEN VERWANDTEN ECM 29-Oct
NADJA RADIANCE OF SHADOWS ALIEN8 29-Oct
BUCKETHEAD ISLAND OF LOST MINDS TDR 5-Nov
BURIAL UNTRUE HYPERDUB 5-Nov
HIS NAME IS ALIVE SWEET EARTH FLOWER HIGH TWO 5-Nov
KIM HIORTHOY MY LAST DAY SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND 5-Nov
KOOL KEITH DR OCTAGON 2 REAL TALK 5-Nov
LOREN CONNORS AS ROSES BOW: 1992-2002 FAMILY VINEYARD 5-Nov
SIGUR ROS HVARF / HEIM EMI 5-Nov
NICK CAVE & WARREN ELLIS THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD MUTE 12-Nov
PLURAMON THE MONSTROUS SURPLUS KARAOKE KALK 12-Nov
BIRCHFIELD CAT MOTEL SEVENTH HEX IMPORTANT 19-Nov
JOE LALLY NOTHING IS UNDERRATED DISCHORD 19-Nov
MY CAT IS AN ALIEN / KEIJI HAINO COSMIC DEBRIS 3 A SILENT PLACE 19-Nov
REVERBAPHON HERE COMES EVERYONE BENBECULA 19-Nov
SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE SHELTER FROM THE ASH DRAG CITY 19-Nov
JOHANN JOHANNSSON ENGLABORN 4AD 26-Nov
MOB MAY INSPIRE REVOLUTIONARY ACTS OVERGROUND 26-Nov
SYLVAIN CHAUVEAU NUAGE TYPE 26-Nov
BRITISH SEA POWER DO YOU LIKE ROCK MUSIC? ROUGH TRADE 14-Jan
CAT POWER JUKEBOX MATADOR 21-Jan
SUSUMU YOKOTA LOVE OR DIE LO 21-Jan
AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB THE GOLDEN AGE COOKING VINYL 4-Feb

Song of the day: Burial – Ghost Hardware (2007)

A delicious dose of distressed dubstep from the new album Untrue. 

Album: The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 8: 1968 (Hip-o-select 2007)

In George Pelecanos’ 1968 set novel Hard Revolution, black rookie DC cop Derek Strange dismisses Motown as “soul music for white people” (although he retains affection for DC-born Marvin Gaye). The quote is indicative of how things had changed in America by 1968. It was a country at war with itself, with huge schisms opening up between the old and the young, between liberals and conservatives and, particularly, between black and white. The year started with a massive escalation of the war in Viet Nam with the Tet Offensive, and continued with the assassinations of Dr Martin Luther King and Senator Robert Kennedy. Detroit was riven by bloody rioting for the second year in succession, but so were many other cities throughout the country. The Black Panthers and other radical organisations were rapidly gaining in influence among young blacks – it was the year of the famous Black Power salutes of athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos after they’d won two of the medals in the 200 metres at the Mexico City Olympics. Motown’s slogan “The Sound of Young America” sounded increasingly hollow. The label even had its own internal militant problem when Abdullah (aka singer Joseph McLean), a black nationalist muslim, threatened white A&R chief Ralph Seltzer with a letter opener! His tenure at the label didn’t last long after that.

Motown’s family image was crumbling. First, the executives moved into a new building, away from the studios, writers and producers. Berry Gordy then moved with his family to Los Angeles (the label would up sticks altogether in 1972). Lamont Dozier, Brian and Edward Holland had split from the company in late 1967, and now there were law suits and counter-suits flying in all directions. Some of the acts clearly suffered from the loss of one of the label’s key writing teams, especially the Four Tops whose 1968 singles consisted of dusted down HDH tracks from the vaults or covers of contemporary pop hits by the Left Banke and Tim Hardin. The upbeat, backbeat driven Motown sound, dominated by the 2 minute 40 single, was beginning to sound anachronistic in 1968 compared to the deep soul coming out of Atlantic and the new rock-infused sound of the Chambers Brothers and Sly and the Family Stone. And yet the company ended the year with five records in the Billboard top ten, and its biggest seller to date. The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 8: 1968 tells the story of a very turbulent year over 6 CDs.

The hole left by Holland Dozier Holland was largely filled by two new teams who’d come to the fore. Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson specialized in a more sophisticated soul sound that looked ahead to the “sweet soul” of the seventies. Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong brought a more earthy sound to the table. The most radical change came on October 1st 1968 when the backing tracks to the duo’s “Cloud Nine” were laid down, marking a complete break from the past. Otis Williams of the Temptations claims he had an epiphany when he and Kenny Gamble (of Gamble and Huff) heard Sly Stone’s “Dance To The Music”. He mentioned it to Whitfield who dismissed the rock-soul sound as a fad, so when the group returned from a tour, he was surprised to hear the new song that Whitfield and Strong had written. Everyone connected with it has always denied the drug connotations, but however it was intended, it is not hard to see it as a reflection of the increasing addiction problems of the ghetto underclass. “Cloud Nine” was one of the five top ten entries that Motown had on December 28th 1968. At number one was another Whitfield-Strong tune, Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” (the cover mounted seven inch single included with this set). Originally shelved in favour of Gladys Knight’s version, the song was issued as an album track, but due to massive radio play, starting in Chicago, was finally put out as a 45. It went to number one on both sides of the Atlantic and was the biggest seller in the company’s history at that point.

The beauty in this series, of course, is the fact that it is not just about the familiar, or the epoch defining tracks. In including every A and B side issued or scheduled to be issued during the year, it has its share of filler. It is remarkable, though, how little of this there is. Many of the B sides would have been perfectly acceptable A sides – indeed some, like the Isleys’ “Behind A Painted Smile”, were utterly wasted on the flip. There are also some hidden gems from lesser known acts, like Rita Wright’s (aka Syreeta) Supremes-influenced “I Can’t Give The Love I Feel For You”, Chris Clark’s northern stomper “Whisper You Love Me Boy” and the Detroit Wheels’ explicitly druggy rock song “Linda Sue Dixon” (unlike the Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”, there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever what this is about. Sample lyric “you make me see things other people can’t see”). Solid gold, carved in stone classics include “Love Child”, “Gotta See Jane”, “For Once In My Life”, “Walk Away Renee” and “You’re All I Need To Get By” and there are rare oddities like the Miracles’ ode to their home town “I Care About Detroit” which was only ever issued as a one-sided promo on the Standard Groove label.

As always with this series, the packaging is second to none, and there are 132 pages of notes and pictures with two excellent essays by Otis Williams and activist and academic Herb Boyd. I’ll reiterate what I’ve said before when reviewing the previous volume in the series that these issues set the benchmark when it comes to archiving catalogue material.

Tracks
Disc 38
1. I Can’t Give Back The Love I Feel For You – Rita Wright
2. Something On My Mind – Rita Wright
3. Night Fo’ Last – Shorty Long
4. Night Fo’ Last – Shorty Long [instrumental]
5. Walk Away Renee – Four Tops
6. Your Love Is Wonderful – Four Tops
7. The End Of Our Road – Gladys Knight & The Pips
8. Don’t Let her Take Your Love From Me – Gladys Knight & The Pips
9. (You Can’t Let The Boy Overpower) The Man In You – Chuck Jackson
10. Girls, Girls, Girls – Chuck Jackson
11. Why Am I Lovin’ You – Debbie Dean
12. Stay My Love – Debbie Dean
13. Thank You Love – Billy Eckstine
14. Is Anyone Here Goin’ My Way – Billy Eckstine
15. If You Can Want – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
16. When The Words From Your Heart Get Caught Up In Your Throat – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
17. Whisper You Love Me Boy – Chris Clark
18. I’ll Say Forever My Love – Jimmy Ruffin
19. Everybody Needs Love – Jimmy Ruffin
20. Does Your Mama Know About Me – Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers [promo version]
21. Fading Away – Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers
22. Does Your Mama Know About Me – Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers [commercial version]
23. Forever Came Today – Diana Ross & The Supremes
24. Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While) – The Isley Brothers
25. Why When Love Is Gone – The Isley Brothers

Disc 39
1. Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day – Stevie Wonder
2. Why Don’t You Lead Me To Love – Stevie Wonder
3. I Am The Man For You Baby – Edwin Starr
4. My Weakness Is You – Edwin Starr
5. Where Would I Be WIthout You – Barbara McNair
6. Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
7. Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
8. Bring Back The Love – The Monitors
9. I Promise To Wait My Love – Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
10. Forget Me Not – Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
11. Gotta See Jane – R. Dean Taylor
12. Gotta See Jane – R. Dean Taylor [second pressing]
13. If I Were A Carpenter – Four Tops
14. Wonderful Baby – Four Tops
15. I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You) – The Temptations
16. Gonna Give Her All The Love I’ve Got – The Temptations
17. Linda Sue Dixon – The Detroit Wheels
18. Tally Ho – The Detroit Wheels
19. Here I Am Baby – The Marvelettes
20. Keep Off, No Trespassing – The Marvelettes
21. Sing What You Wanna – Shorty Long
22. Here Comes The Judge – Shorty Long
23. Ain’t That Lovin’ You – The Volumes
24. I Love You Baby – The Volumes

Disc 40
1. Yester Love – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
2. Much Better Off – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
3. It Should Have Been Me – Gladys Knight & The Pips
4. You Don’t Love Me No More – Gladys Knight & The Pips
5. What The World Needs Now Is Love – Diana Ross & The Supremes
6. Your Kiss Of Fire – Diana Ross & The Supremes
7. Some Things You Never Get Used To – Diana Ross & The Supremes
8. You’ve Been So Wonderful To Me – Diana Ross & The Supremes
9. Don’t Let Him Take Your Love From Me – Jimmy Ruffin
10. Lonely Lonely Man Am I – Jimmy Ruffin
11. You Met Your Match – Stevie Wonder
12. My Girl – Stevie Wonder
13. I Am Your Man – Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers
14. If You Love Her – Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers
15. Yesterday’s Dreams – Four Tops
16. For Once In My Life – Four Tops
17. You’re All I Need To Get By – Mavin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
18. I Care About Detroit – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
19. Please Return Your Love To Me – The Temptations
20. How Can I Forget – The Temptations
21. Hip City (Part 2) – Jr. Walker & The All Stars
22. Hip City (Part 1) – Jr. Walker & The All Stars
23. I Can’t Dance To That Music You’re Playin’ – Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
24. I Tried – Martha Reeves & The Vandellas

Disc 41
1. Special Occasion – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
2. Give Her Up – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
3. A Little Bit For Sandy – Paul Peterson
4. Your Love’s Got Me Burning Alive – Paul Peterson
5. I Wish It Would Rain – Gladys Knight & The Pips
6. It’s Summer – Gladys Knight & The Pips
7. For Love Of Ivy – Billy Eckstine
8. A Woman – Billy Eckstine
9. Can I Get A Witness – Barbara Randolph
10. Chained – Marvin Gaye
11. Don’t Let Me Lose This Dream – The Ones
12. I’ve Been Good To You – The Ones
13. Step By Step (Hand In Hand) – The Monitors
14. Time Is Passin’ By – The Monitors
15. Alfie – Eivets Rednow
16. More Than A Dream – Eivets Rednow
17. Destination: Anywhere – The Marvelettes
18. What’s Easy For Two Is Hard For One – The Marvelettes
19. Think (About The Good Things) – The Detriot Wheels
20. For The Love Of A Stranger – The Detroit Wheels
21. His Eye Is On The Sparrow – Marvin Gaye
22. Just A Closer Walk With Thee – Gladys Knight & The Pips

Disc 42
1. I’m In A Different World – Four Tops
2. Remember When – Four Tops
3. I Love You Madly – The Fantastic Four
4. I Love You Madly – The Fantastic Four [instrumental]
5. Keep On Lovin’ Me Honey – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
6. You Ain’t Livin’ Till Your Lovin’ – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
7. Love Child – Diana Ross & The Supremes
8. Will This Be The Day – Diana Ross & The Supremes
9. Love Child – Diana Ross & The Supremes [alternate version]
10. You Could Never Love Him (Like I Love Him) – Barbara McNair
11. Fancy Passes – Barbara McNair
12. I’ll Pick A Rose For My Rose – Marv Johnson
13. You Got The Love I Love – Marv Johnson
14. Malinda – Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers
15. It’s Growing – Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers
16. Malinda – Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers [alternate mix]
17. Sweet Darlin’ – Martha Reeved & The Vandellas
18. Without You – Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
19. For Once In My Life – Stevie Wonder
20. Angie Girl – Stevie Wonder
21. I Comma Zimba Zio (Here I Stand The Mighty One) – Abdullah
22. Why Them, Why Me – Abdullah
23. Bad, Bad Weather (Till You Come Home) – The Spinners
24. I Just Can’t Help But Feel The Pain – The Spinners

Disc 43
1. Cloud Nine – The Temptations
2. Why Did She Have To Leave Me (Why Did She Have To Go) – The Temptations
3. Way Over There – Edwin Starr
4. If My Heart Could Tell The Story – Edwin Starr
5. All Because I Love You – The Isley Brothers
6. Behind A Painted Smile – The Isley Brothers
7. I Wouldn’t Change The Man He Is – Blinky
8. I’ll Always Love You – Blinky
9. Gonna Keep On Tryin’ Till I Win Your Love – Jimmy Ruffin
10. Sad And Lonesome Feeling – Jimmy Ruffin
11. The Impossible Dream – Diana Ross & The Supremes& The Temptations
12. I’m Gonna Make You Love Me – Diana Ross & The Supremes & The Temptations
13. A Place In The Sun – Diana Ross & The Supremes & The Temptations
14. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer – The Temptations
15. Silent Night, Holy Night – The Temptations
16. I Heard It Through The Grapevine – Marvin Gaye
17. You’re What’s Happening (In The World Today) – Marvin Gaye
18. This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You) – Tammi Terrell
19. Just Too Much To Hope For – Tammi Terrell
20. Baby, Baby Don’t Cry – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
21. Your Mother’s Only Daughter – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
22. Home Cookin’ – Jr. Walker And The All Stars
23. Mutiny – Jr. Walker & The All Stars
24. I’m Gonna Hold On Long As I Can – The Marvelettes
25. Don’t Make Hurting Me A Habit – The Marvelettes