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Dire Straits: Making movies.

Nearly everyone on earth must have this album and for many people of a certain age it is a sort of defining album in their lives. The music is hard to describe when people are putting it into the perspective of their lives. What was, in those days, the first side of the record is smooth and even romantic but it never loses that feel you get from music designed for a big city. This is not music which will work well on a remote hillside. The three tracks on the A side of that old fashion black vinyl were certainly the songs which transformed this from another album into a classic album which became caught up in the lives of millions. Even today when I play "Tunnel of Love", "Romeo and Juliet" and "Skateaway" it isn't just music, it's people I used to know, where are they now? Rooms I used to know but which now belong to others. These three A side tracks present a concerto to people, feelings, places and dissapointments from days gone by. I often wondered if anyone went to the trouble of turning the record over to play the tracks on the B side. Again this is big city music but it has somehow lost the vibe of the A side. I doubt if many people sat up talking about life, love and the American Dream to the sound track of "Expresso Love" or Les Boys" as the B side tracks are just too brash, too loud and with no little booths which the listener can enter and reflect for a few minutes on, well on stuff. The best offering on the B side is "Hand in Hand" which, while not quite to the standard of the A side at least attempts to reflect on a similar universe using a similar language. When this album first came out it was, we were told, a good example of how an album should sound in all it's glorious hi-fi quality. In my view it sounded pretty OK and it still does. Sometimes it's better not to know these things but it seems important to point out that this record was released in 1980. Anyone who feels old and in need of therapy should go to my Emily Cargan web page and post a question to agony aunt Emily.

Big Brother and the Holding Company: Cheap Thrills.

Janis Joplin can, without doubt, be considered one of the great figures of Rock 'n' Roll history but there are probably a wide and varied selection of views on her singing. Some hate it, and with very good reason. For others she has an energy and expressiveness which makes the music come alive. I fall into the latter camp. This album holds some of the great gems of her short career including a rocking "Piece of my Heart", a wonderfully emotive "Summertime" and her "biggie" "Ball and Chain." I have heard Big Mamma Thornton introduce "Ball and Chain" in a why which implied that it was Big Mamma Thornton who was covering the song. In actual fact later performances by Thornton seem to owe more than a little to Janis, though I suppose that works both ways. It must be said that the band are a bit on the relaxed side and the guitar solos will certainly not be famous for their artistry. Tactfully put they are a bit rough. Despite all that I still think that this is a good blues album, specially in the tradition of vocal blues, but not everyone is going to agree with that statement.

John Adams: The Chairman Dances.

You may be wondering how this got in here, and to be honest so am I . John Adams is probably most famous for his tedious opera about Nixon in China. I doubt if I could last 5 minutes of that stuff never mind the hours and hours that it seems to go on for. However, it must be said that I like this CD. It opens with a little foxtrot which I just love. It does tend slightly to the minimalist in places but the orchestration is always interesting and dense. Worryingly this piece is called "The Chairman Dances" but don't let these hints of Nixon in China put you off. For me the other outstanding work is "Short Ride in a Fast Machine," an enthusisastic fanfare for an orchestra and, even, two synths. This work certainly rattles along at a goodly pace and is most enjoyable, the title says it all. The other works on the CD tend somewhat to the minimalist, one even manages a bit of voice playing over it, edited in a way that I am sure John Adams would refer to as "arty." Personally, I have my doubts. All told I think this selection of works by John Adams manages, for the most part, to avoid the fall into the zone of pretentious crap and for this reason I would suggest it as a worthwhile buy for anyone with an interest in Adams or who is looking to "get into" 20 Century music. Look out though, pretentious folly is just around the corner.

Van Morrison: A Night in San Francisco.

What in the world is Van up to? We all know that Van Morrison writes great songs and there is also little doubt that he can put in a pretty interesting live performance marred only by his belief that he can actually play instruments. Now clearly he is not a stupid man, I mean he must know that he can't play the Saxophone! By the same measure he must also know that his daughter can't sing, wouldn't you think? I would also guess that he must know a bad edit when he hears one but, it would seem that he is only too keen to put out an album of bad edits. I really feel very sorry for the audio engineer on this album as I can't for one minute imagine that he wanted to litter the album with bad edits. In the end that's what you get though, an album of bad edits and a selection of guest stars. I wonder, I really do, if Van is really aware of all this and is waiting to see if someone will actually come out and criticise him for producing material which is technically and musically below par. In saying all that there is no doubt that many in the band put in great performances and this is a good album to buy and sing along with but "Did you get healed tonight?" Not a chance, I was too busy getting mad about those bad edits.

Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, Fanfare for the Common Man. Louis Lane/Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Buy this CD now. That is my simple comment on this recording. The quality of the actual recording is pretty good with all the solos and so on as they should be, my only slight complaint is that the orchestral piano does get a bit lost but that is probably more a matter of taste. I'm always a bit keen on pianos. The performance is excellent in what is pretty difficult material. Both Rodeo and Appalachian Spring leave little place to hide should one section of the orchestra not quite be up to the job. There are many solos and it is crucial to the flow of the music that they all appear on time and in the correct place. While this may seem like something which hardly needs saying I have had the misfortune to witness performances, specially of the "Hoe-Down," where it was hardly possible for the listener to determine what work was being performed. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra have no such troubles even though Louis Lane lays into "Hoe-Down" at a considerable rate of knots. They also have no problems coping with the slower items or areas where a more romantic feel is required. Perhaps it is only their sense of humour that lets them down where Copland has marked "with humour" but who am I to argue about the humour of others. Have you bought a copy yet? Get on with it.

Eric Clapton: Just One Night.

In view of us having some Van Morrison up the page a bit I thought now was a good time for some live Eric Clapton. I really do believe that this album is how live recordings should be, you can hear the amps buzz and fry and you really do feel as if you are in the hall. You also get to hear the drum kit and not just an electronically gated click as is often the case. Those who read the Van Morrison review will also be interested to note that there are no dodgy edits during the music and this certainly helps things along. As you might expect the band are great and feature a few well known names, Albert Lee probably being the most well know. The material also ranges quite widely, bearing in mind that this is an 1980 album release. We get a dose of "Cocaine" and "Wonderful Tonight" but I think the highlight of this album is the "real" blues tracks such as "Worried Life Blues" and "Rambling on my Mind." When this band play the blues it really does feel like the real thing. Can Blue Men Play the Whites? Who knows? That's an argument that you shouldn't get into until you give this a listen. The good news for those of you with really top notch hi-fi gear is that the better your gear the more you feel like you are in the hall with Eric. I believe that this album is a must-have and wish that more live albums sounded as good.

Zappa/Hendrix/Nurock: Smart Went Crazy performed by Meridian Arts Ensemble.

I just sort of came upon this CD and you might like to do so as well. The Meridian Arts Ensemble are two trumpets, one horn, one trombone, one tuba and some drums and percussion. This is certainly a strange line up and may seem somewhat limited but they have a full range of tone and dynamic which soon had me forgetting that what I was hearing was a mini brass band. In fact within a few minutes it would have been an easy matter to convince me that Jimi Hendrix had written Purple Haze for this line-up. Perhaps, it is true, some of the music does wear slightly and it will certainly not be to the taste of everyone but if you like a bit of Frank Zappa or Jimi Hendrix then you will certainly like a lot of this CD. It is important to put the idea of "new music," or whatever the current term is, far from your mind. There is no doubt that this CD is often a fusion of jazz and classical and there is even one track that goes all out for that afro/Cuban sound. However, that does not mean that you can put this CD into the little box along with a pile of other pretentious stuff where the appeal is purely academic and peer pressure. This is good music, well recorded. In fact I think it has a wonderful sound with an excellent feeling of space and it avoids the very close feel imparted to many recordings of 20th Century music because no one knows what else to do with them. I think, for me, the main thing this CD does is to reveal just what can be done with a group, such as this brass ensemble, in terms of creating a full and interesting sound from what I might consider to be a less than full or interesting collection of instruments. While this is clearly a direct reflection on my attitudes I suspect that many people may also come to a similar conclusion when they give this a listen. It is also not short on energy and I doubt if there are many other recordings by a brass ensemble that make you want to get up and dance to music by Frank Zappa.

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