CD Odyssey Disc 1639: Marina and the Diamonds

Having spent half my weekend working I returned to Victoria last night and recharged with a fine night of music listening with friends. Yeehaw!

Later I’ll be watching the Bruins in a do-or-die playoff Game 7 against the Florida Panthers. Yeehaw x2 - but only if we win.

Disc 1639 is…Electra Heart

Artist: Marina and the Diamonds

Year of Release: 2012

What’s up with the Cover?  Giant Head Cover alert! In this case Marina Diamandis’s giant head. She’s doing a bit of a Madonna thing here, which I suspect is deliberate.

How I Came To Know It: I learned about this record well after it came out through some online “best of” list. I don’t remember if it was a best of 2012, best indie pop or what – only that it was one of the albums noted and I gave it a chance.

After unsuccessfully trying to find it for a couple of years, I gave up and went to Amazon. I am sorry to have fallen so low, dear reader. In my defence I tried very hard before I hit the rock bottom of Amazon ordering.

How It Stacks Up: This is my only Marina album. I have vague recollections of trying out her other stuff and not loving it but can’t be sure. I may revisit those other records at some point and see if I still feel that way now that I’ve had a chance to immerse myself in this album.

Rating: 4 stars

With “Electra Heart” Welsh singer Marina Diamandis lands an art-piece composed of plastic and dance pop. It is the kind of modern art that I usually walk by on my way to some Romantic landscape or Renaissance chamber scene but this time I stopped. These tunes are infectious as hell, but they also have a whole lot to say about both the characters Marina inhabits, but about the society that helps create those characters.

Stylistically, expect a lot of drum machine thump mixed with sugary pop hooks and more than a little anthemic mystery. Think Florence + the Machine crossed with Lady Gaga, with more than a hint of early Madonna.

This record is accessible and fun on the surface, but don’t be fooled; it cuts deeper if you let it. It is at it’s best when exploring the meanness in all of us, at times from the angle of social commentary and at others jut through the deep-seated pathologies of the narrator. Marina is unafraid to explore this space which lies at the nexus of revelry, self-examination and the external influences that help create the terrifying phenomenon of the Mean Girl.

Marina wastes not time digging into the theme, opening with “Bubblegum Bitch” a song about that superficial dream girl, but not the manic pixie variety. This is all pin-up dresses, fancy drinks and candy-flavoured lipstick, or so she tells you. The tough girl you meet at a party who is full of sardonic quips, but that you can’t resist chatting up. You won’t get to know her well, and that’s by design.

These characters are nasty on the surface, but as you dig into the record you see them through the pressure of the society that made them. The crushing pressure of expectation that makes them into diamonds – beautiful and hard as hell. Sometimes the themes are just buried in the character for you to discover, such as on “Bubblegum Bitch” or “How to be a Heartbreaker”. Other times, (“Sex Yeah”) Marina is more overt about the societal values doing the damage. In both cases, you are given funky dance beats that get your feet moving. The chocolate coating makes it go down easier.

So many great characters showcase the theme, but my favourite is “Teen Idle”. The title alone is a well-placed play on words, but the tune’s exploration of a confused teen, trying to find herself in a world that feels like its shouting at her so loud about who she should be she can’t think it through for herself. Plenty of great lines, but I like this stanza best:

“I wanna drink until I ache
I wanna make a big mistake
I want blood, guts and angel cake
I’m gonna puke it anyway.”

Yeesh. The tune is like a pleasant pop anthem, but at every turn you get regretful sex, suicidal thoughts and – as is the case above – burgeoning eating disorders.

Marina’s vocals are bright and powerful, and she’s able to sing sweetly or with a staccato groove with equal ability. The record is pure dance pop, but within the genre it finds plenty of space, landing pining ballads, bangers and eighties-inspired pop hooks.

It is not a musical style I am typically drawn to, but like any great piece of art, it transcends expectations and cuts through with its excellence and thoughtful composition.

Best tracks: Bubblegum Bitch, Primadonna, Power & Control, Teen Idle, Hypocrates, How to be a Heartbreaker

CD Odyssey Disc 1638: Jimi Hendrix

Upon arriving at home today there was a CD in the mail! While my favourite way to buy albums is from my local record store (support local business!) there is also something fun about ordering things that arrive at random times days or weeks later. A little delayed gratification of the musical variety.

Today’s arrival was the new album from the Brother Brothers. Last week two Rick James and a Pat Benatar arrived (I was feeling old school). Some of these old albums can be hard to get on CD, and often the way they become available is through Japanese re-issues. For whatever reason Japan continues to embrace the CD. Yay, Japan!

Disc 1638 is…Axis: Bold as Love

Artist: Jimi Hendrix

Year of Release: 1967

What’s up with the Cover?  My edition of “Axis” Bold as Love” had two covers. One was a Giant Head cover, with Jimi looking all mysterious and artful. The other side of the booklet was the original art, which features a bunch of Indian religious iconography. According to Wikipedia (which as we know is never wrong) Jimi was disappointed in the Indian-inspired art, and so out of respect for his memory, I’ve opted for the Giant Head version.

If you want to see the original (warning – as noted above, this version takes liberties with Hindu religious iconography, so only look with that understanding), you can see it here

How I Came To Know It: Sheila doesn’t buy many albums, but many years ago she did a deep dive into Jimi Hendrix, buying all three of his classic albums. I’m glad she did!

How It Stacks Up: As just noted, we have all three of Jimi Hendrix’s studio albums. My friend Randall insists that “Axis: Bold as Love” is the best of these. With apologies to Randall, I rank it…third. Hopefully the fact that I still liked it a lot will salve any resulting offence.

Rating: 4 stars

There were many times listening to “Axis: Bold as Love” where I felt singularly unqualified to write about it. There is just too much going on here that I don’t fully understand. My musical vocabulary falls short. In summary this record is a panoply of musical styles and influences that leaves no stone unturned.

In lesser hands this “do whatever” attitude would have created a hot mess, but Jimi’s brilliance steers all the craziness safely home. His ecstatic love of music manages to fuse high art with the power of rock, then liberally sprinkling the resulting concoction with groove-juice. The result is a tossed salad of musical inspiration, heavily dressed.

It would be easy to focus on Hendrix’s mastery of the guitar. “Spanish Castle Magic” has reverb crunch and a perfect riff (and later an exquisite solo) and “Wait Until Tomorrow” has a light funky groove that shows Jimi can take any style and make it to his own.

Later Jimi will work a sixties hippy vibe on tunes like “You Got Me Floatin’” where he channels early Kinks and the Who and then brushes his guitar mastery all over the tune. Hendrix’s compositions are like an Impressionist painting of what rock and roll sounds like. It isn’t any single distinct image, or even collection of images, but the whole pastiche leaves you with something greater than the sum of its parts.

The record also features one of my favourite Hendrix tunes, “Castles Made of Sand”. If there is a better song about how the random universe can sometimes suck, I can’t think of it. This tune is a bummer about how things don’t always work out and where everything emphatically does not happen for a reason. That’s OK though. The song may make you confront an uncaring universe, but never was that meaninglessness groovier.

The album is not perfect, mostly because as brilliant as Jimi is, sometimes he’s too clever for his own good. The opening skit “EXP” is a goofy exploration of “alien appears on a radio station”. Ten years later the Carpenters would make this idea work (kind-of) on their cover of “Calling Occupants” but Hendrix’s “EXP” is before its time in a not-good way.

Also, some of the songs descend into a noodle so overcooked that even Jimi can’t get it to stick to the wall. Case in point is the overrated “If 6 was 9”. The first half of this song is all kinds of awesome, and vintage Jimi. The second half is a Doors-worthy journey into self wankery, culminating in some sort of flute/whistle that sounds like someone throttling a songbird. Proof that even the great Jimi Hendrix can overdo it.

However, that is a very small moment in what is overall a very great record by someone who helped change rock and roll for the better. Thanks for all the awesome stuff, Jimi. This record is bold as love, and I’d have it no other way.

Best tracks: Spanish Castle Magic, Wait Until Tomorrow, Castles Made of Sand, One Rainy Wish, Little Miss Lover

CD Odyssey Disc 1637: Old Crow Medicine Show

Hockey update – Bruins up 2-1 in the series! 14 wins to go!

My work had me four hours on the road this week and I put the time to good use. On the way to my meeting, I gave the new Florence + the Machine album a good three listens. However, it wasn’t my next review so you’ll just have to wait until I roll that one to hear more about it.

My next randomly rolled album was what I listened to multiple times on the way home.

And here’s the review.

Disc 1637 is…Paint This Town

Artist: Old Crow Medicine Show

Year of Release: 2022

What’s up with the Cover?  Someone started painting this town and then stopped, leaving it looking like an unfinished Doodle Art. Has anyone ever finished a Doodle Art? And by finished I don’t mean “colour all the fish in the fish one” I mean colouring all the seaweed and the coral and what-not as well.

I have not. In fact, that fish Doodle Art is still lurking in the house somewhere, unfinished from years ago. But I digress…

Anyway, blah blah blah…colouring book cover…blah blah blah.

How I Came To Know It: I’ve liked Old Crow Medicine Show since their first record, but my love is an intermittent love, only surfacing about every 8-10 years or so. I give each of their records a chance, but about half the time I move on without buying. I must have been due for a good one again, because “Paint This Town” tickled my fancy.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Old Crow Medicine Show albums. Somehow the other two have avoided random selection, so this will be the first one I rank. And I rank it…third. Not that it’s bad; the other two just edged it out.

Rating: 3 stars but almost 4

Coming off my recent listen to “Sigh No More” it is hard not to compare Old Crow Medicine Show with Mumford & Sons. Both are banjo friendly folk bands, even if one comes out of the British tradition of the music and the other from American bluegrass.

With this kind of music two things are key: musicianship and authenticity. I always felt musicianship was there with Mumford & Sons but the authenticity was lacking at times. Old Crow Medicine Show (OCMS) lands both, demonstrating the perfectly timed urgency that makes bluegrass sound like it does, without sacrificing emotion.

There are songs that aren’t designed to give you a heavy case of the feels, but on those the band recognizes that the mission is energy. In bluegrass if it isn’t a dirge it oughtta be danceable. If those danceable fast-pacers are also loaded with some character and story, so much the better. Such is what we get from songs like “Bombs Away” that is a frenetic fiddle fest of fun, while underneath it is a journey of “don’t give a damn” destructive behaviour.

This is the first outing without original founder Critter Fuqua, who was responsible for a number of the original songs on previous albums as well. It is a travesty to lose someone named Critter from any endeavour, artistic or otherwise. I’m not enough of an OCMS devotee to properly analyze his absence, but generally I think the band survived the departure just fine. Secor remains the driving force of the band, and it no doubt helped that he also has a good bluegrassy first name (Ketch).

Secor writes or co-writes all the songs on “Paint this Town” which continues the departure of the band from doing classic bluegrass covers and branching into their own music. Secor is a first-rate songwriting talent. Not only did I like these songs, but many also had that timeless quality that made you think they were classics. If there were a third “must have” for a bluegrass band, this is it.

Case in point is “Gloryland” which has a chorus that feels like a church hymn, but lyrics that remind you that it isn’t just lost souls at the Gates of St. Peter that are being denied, but all the dispossessed and marginalized people on earth. This is OCMS’ greatest strength; utilizing old school approaches to music and mixing them with modern commentary.

Similarly, the band deploys a bit of early Bob Dylan on “New Mississippi Flag” while mixing heartfelt southern patriotism and love with a plea that we can always do better on the road to a better society.

As that Dylanesque number shows, the album is not strictly bluegrass, and there are also old school country songs like “Reasons to Run” to give the ear some variety. These songs also showcase a softer production than is present on the two earlier albums in my collection and the different musical approaches are welcome and well-placed.

Overall this is a fine addition to the catalogue of a band that continues to reach out into new soundscapes, without ever losing the main artery of their musical inspirations.

Best tracks: Paint This Town, Gloryland, Reasons to Run, New Mississippi Flag

CD Odyssey Disc 1636: Mumford & Sons

Hockey playoffs have begun and so I am all in cheering for my beloved Boston Bruins. Tonight was a loss, and we’re now tied 1-1 in the series against the (recently) hate-able Florida Panthers.

On the plus side, I change jerseys after every loss, and that long winning streak was making my #6 Joe Thornton jersey get a bit musty.

On to music…

Disc 1636 is…Sigh No More

Artist: Mumford & Sons

Year of Release: 2009

What’s up with the Cover?  The band stands mannequin-like in a window. No sign on the storefront, but I’ll assume this place is called “Hipster Consignment Fashion and Instruments”.

I would wear exactly none of the clothes being showcased here, and while the guitar is nice, I play lefty.

How I Came To Know It: I think Sheila and I saw these guys on some awards show. She recalls it was the Grammys but the idea that I watched the Grammys is so repulsive that I fervently hope she’s wrong, and that it was Saturday Night Live.

How It Stacks Up: I have two Mumford & Sons albums, and this is the better one.

Rating: 3 stars

Mumford & Sons were all the rage back in 2009, and this album did very well, going platinum in multiple countries. I was swept up in the excitement back then. I’m not sure if I over-listened to this in the day or just that I’ve moved on musically, but this record no longer speaks to me like it once did.

If you were living in a cave in 2009 and it wasn’t “The Cave” you may have missed this record, but otherwise it was unlikely, because this thing was played everywhere. It is an early bit of indie alternative music, with a heavy lean toward Irish folk music in the mix.

The one thing that immediately jumps out is that these guys play fast and tight, sitting nicely at the front of the pocket in a way that gives every track a pining urgency. I’ll also give full credit to lead singer Marcus Mumford’s vocals. He has a compelling tone in that slightly shaky, head voice that was all the rage back around the time this record came out (the Decemberist’s Colin Meloy does the same thing, albeit slightly better).

When they’re good they evoke a restless sadness. “Winter Winds” pulls you in with a timeless grace that makes this music feel older and wiser than it is. The song is a mood piece and a well-done one at that. A lot of the songs on “Sigh No More” evoke mood well, although many failed to inspire me lyrically after repeat listens. “Winter Winds” manages to be both musically and lyrically interesting so, kudos.

“Dust Bowl Dance” is the finest bit of storytelling on the album. The song has a nice meander, and with its themes of depression-era hopelessness it reminded me favourably of Dylan’s “Ballad of Hollis Brown” except where Hollis’ son is left alive and uses the remaining shotgun shells on the bankers coming to possess the farm.

Apart from a few standout moments, however, I didn’t feel as inspired by this record as when I first heard it. Musically it is tight, but it has a lot of busyness and many of the songs suffer from a lack of compelling melody. Lots of fast and furious banjo, but it can blend together into soup of sound. I kept waiting for an amazing Pogues song to develop out of this, but it never quite happened.

There is lots to like about this album and I was hoping I would fall under its charm as I’d done in days of yore, but the spell was intermittent at best. It could be that I’ve heard similar albums to this since and liked them better, or maybe I just need a few more years of separation from the ubiquity of this record. Whatever the cause, I had a hard time feeling the “deep feels” that I think the band intends to evoke with these tunes. Instead they walk too close to the edge of the age-old bane of indie music – ironic detachment – occasionally straying over.

Best tracks: The Cave, Winter Winds, Dust Bowl Dance

CD Odyssey Disc 1635: Salt-N-Pepa

Two amazing hip hop albums in a row! This next album is from what is sometimes called the Golden Age of Hip Hop. And you know what? It really was...

Disc 1635 is…Blacks’ Magic

Artist: Salt-N-Pepa

Year of Release: 1990

What’s up with the Cover?  Salt, Pepa and Spinderella gather around an ancient grimoire to summon the spirits of Black musicians. From left to right we’ve got Billie Holliday, Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong and Nina Simone. I have happily summoned three of these artists into my collection over the years, Louis Armstrong being the exception. I don’t jam with the jazz.

I assume Salt-N-Pepa are summoning these spirits to inspire them musically, or maybe just to let them know they’re going to be using a sample or two. Or could they be summoning them to unleash their vengeful ghosts on their enemies? Jimi Hendrix had army training, making him a potentially dangerous poltergeist, and it well known that no one fucks with Billie Holliday or Nina Simone without regretting it. Not sure about Louis Armstrong. As I said, I don’t jam with the jazz.

How I Came To Know It: I’d wanted this album for a long time but hip hop from this era on CD can be devilishly hard to come by in the record store. I was complaining of this while hanging out with friends on a music listening night when my friend Chris pulled out his phone, found a used copy on some website and five minutes later had ordered it for me on the spot.

Chris is a lot more internet savvy than I am.

How It Stacks Up: I have two Salt-N-Pepa albums and they are both awesome. I must reluctantly put “Blacks’ Magic” in second place. I didn’t want to, but in the end, it was very necessary. Get it? Get it?

No? Well, it’ll make sense one day when I roll the other album.

Rating: 4 stars

Salt-N-Pepa are a refreshing reminder that art can be uplifting and positive without sounding like an after-school special. “Blacks’ Magic” will make you feel good and still hits as hard as anything you’ll hear from the era.

So what do they ladies sing about that’s both fun and tough? This being the early years of rap you get a lot of “I rap better than you” songs with a side of “let’s party” and “what is it about men?”

The thread through it all is about standing strong, trusting your talent and respecting yourself. So much of modern hip hop I hear (usually when I’m doing a channel surf through some awards show) is full of empty status-symbol focused garbage. Salt-N-Pepa are focused on a message of positivity and a ‘hell no!” in the face of anyone trying to put them down.

It also helps that they also funky as hell. Their flow hits hard and fast, with a level of internal rhyme that is far advanced beyond what most other artists were doing in the late eighties and early nineties. Here’s a selection from “Doper than Dope”:

“Salt and Pepa's gettin' funky on a brand new track
And more up-to-par, swift like a car
Stickin' to your mouth like rooftop tar
Leaving a scar on those who spar
So pass the cigar, get a drink from the bar
Lyrics gonna flood your mind like the reservoir
Here they are, come and join the Salt and Pepa seminar”

Deliciously dizzying rhyme flow. On “Swift” they take this same intricate rhyme flow, double the cadence and miss exactly zero beats. I was favourably reminded of the great Rakim.

While “Swift” is a brilliant technical display, on the title track the ladies show that they’ve also got the funk. “Blacks’ Magic” is a song that will make your head bob. If you don’t sing along with that refrain of “magic!” then your groove is broken. See a doctor.

The worst thing about this record is the low recording level. This copy came out in 1990, at a time when a lot of albums recorded for vinyl were getting transferred to compact disc without much thought on how to set the levels. To hear it properly, I had to crank the volume about 30% above normal.

Fortunately, turning up a record like this isn’t a chore, it’s a pleasure.

Best tracks: Doper than Dope, Swift, Black’s Magic, Let’s Talk About Sex

CD Odyssey Disc 1634: Dessa

I feel a bit fresher than usual today. This could be the therapeutic effect of a four day weekend or maybe that I got out of work slightly less late than usual.

Whatever it is, let’s get this review rolling!

Disc 1634 is…Ides

Artist: Dessa

Year of Release: 2021

What’s up with the Cover?  I am not sure. Feathers?

How I Came To Know It: I love Dessa but didn’t even realize she’d released this album until a year late. CDs as a format sell out quickly in these days of vinyl supremacy, and I was worried it would be out of print. Fortunately, she was still selling CDs at good ‘ole dependable Bandcamp. And here we are!

How It Stacks Up: I have five Dessa albums and “Ides” comes in at lowly #5. There is no shame in this, however, just a recognition that Dessa has an amazing catalogue of music.

Rating: 3 stars but almost 4

Minneapolis hip hop artist is one of a kind. Rarely will you find someone who has an incredible voice, great phrasing or the ability to spit rhymes – Dessa does all three. On top of that, she has an uncanny talent for knowing which approach each of her songs call for. Often that answer is some crossover of two or three different styles, stitched together into something greater than the sum of its parts.

The biggest challenge for “Ides” is that it is a lowly EP and doesn’t give you enough time to fully fall under Dessa’s charm and genius. Even so, there are plenty of high points to latch on to.

The record starts with the accessible but totally amazing, “I Already Like You”. This one has a funky beat, and a disco-adjacent groove that will have you doing the sideways head slide when you’re waiting at a light. There are about 10 distinct things going on in this song, all different, all awesome. Maybe you’ll catch a bit of early Madonna, plus some Jamiroquai style funk and then a falsetto Bee Gee-esque dance-friendly echo of the chorus. Or maybe you’ll find three different things that will equally tickly your fancy with the artful why they’re combined into art. to I could spend this entire review talking about how all the pieces connect to each other and still miss the nuance. She does it all in under 2:30, meaning it could have also been a radio hit if only it weren’t so damned smart.

The next tune, named for American author Terry Gross, has Dessa ascending into her half-rap/half-spoken word brilliance. This record lands a host of great turns of phrase, but “Terry Gross” has one of my faves:

“A base hit is the son of a pitch
A tanning bed is the sun for the rich”

Clever.

Rivalling “Terry Gross” for Dessa’s best entry in “furious spitting” is “Rome”. This song has a great groove in the chorus, but that’s nothing compared to the sheer power of her intellect reflected in turns of phrase that are both memorable and socially pointy. She references Chekhov’s gun in reference to police patrols, and then takes aim a few rhyme-filled seconds later at the beauty industry with:

“And I think beauty fucks us up?
It's like sugar in the natural world, we'd never get this much
So the appetite is bottomless
Call Maybelline Anonymous
Make narcissists of all of us”

I like Dessa best when she’s in this fast-rap phase, but she’s just as good at crooning some heart-breaking stories of uncertainty and anxiety, working the frontal lobes and the lizard brain with equal skill.

Additionally, while it is fun to quote her thoughtful lyrics, they are even better experienced out loud her singular style. She bends time around that long second line above, and then strings the next three together like a quick traipse down a never-ending staircase. Or put another way – it is a good read, but a great listen.

The one thing I’d change on this record, is to remove one of the two versions of “Life on Land” that it ends with. The first version is lovely, stark, and raw. The second, “Hope Masike Remix” version adds a lot of bells and whistles that get in the way of the great song you’d just heard moments ago.

Also, at only 25 minutes (21 if you don’t count “Life on Land” twice) it left me wanting more. Not a bad problem to have, and about what you’d expect from a record that finished fifth but is still amazing.

Best tracks: I Already Like You, Terry Gross, Rome

CD Odyssey Disc 1633: Rammstein

This week I discovered a number of new Americana and country artists, and I am looking forward to hunting down their albums with wild abandon. I’d tell you all about them, but let’s wait for that moment to occur randomly, shall we?

Instead, how about some German industrial metal? If you don’t like both Americana and metal I can only assume you spend a fair bit of time scrolling absently past vast chunks of my blog. Outrageous.

Disc 1633 is…Zeit

Artist: Rammstein

Year of Release: 2022

What’s up with the Cover?  I don’t usually sleuth anything out about a cover beyond my own idle observations, but looking at this weird looking building I confess my curiosity got the better of me.

Turns out this is a building called the Trudelturm in Berlin. It was built in the mid-thirties as an aeronautics research facility. Equally fascinating, this photo was taken by Canadian musician Bryan Adams.

In his youth Bryan Adams was the lead singer of Sweeney Todd after Nick Gilder left the band. The same Nick Gilder that was the subject of the review immediately preceding this one!

I have zero Bryan Adams records in my collection and only those two Nick Gilder albums just reviewed. The chances that they’d be connected by a photograph on a metal album cover are very low. Yet here we are. Synchronicity!

How I Came To Know It: I have had a growing appreciation for Rammstein in recent years, fueled in large part by my friend Chris, who has bought me their last two records as gifts. That includes this one – thanks, Chris!

How It Stacks Up: I have three Rammstein albums and I like them all, but I must reluctantly put “Zeit” in at #3.

Rating: 4 stars

Rammstein’s latest record sees the veteran industrial metalheads taking a slower and deliberate approach to their sound that leaves you with the feeling that things of Dread Import are being broached, though perhaps not resolved.

Of course, I had no idea if this was happening while I was listening. Rammstein are a German band and naturally enough, sing in German. As an English speaker you get spoiled by foreign language bands indulging you with translated lyrics but with seven straight #1 records in Germany and throughout Europe, Rammstein doesn’t have to indulge any Anglocentric bullshittery.

With Rammstein’s earlier work you can expect to be bombarded with furious pace, but on Zeit it is a slow but deep churn. They only launch into a full boil on two or three songs, but that churn is like a powerful and dangerous current. You can see it swirling across the top of the river, ready to pull you under if you venture too close.

It took a couple of listens for me to do so, as I spent my first exposure wanting Rammstein to get on with it and give me the furious aggression I am used to. However, over time the album’s dark beauty revealed itself to me and by the end I liked it just the way it was; a slowly rising stair that only rarely comes out into the open air. In many ways the Trudelturm is a fitting cover photo. That building was designed to harbour heavy currents of air but keep them all inside a thick concrete building. Emotionally, that’s how “Zeit” feels.

Because I love lyrics not knowing what these songs were about drove me nuts and shortly before writing this I succumbed to the urge and looked them up. I was not disappointed. There is an incredible range of topics. These include an anti-Nazi song (“Armee der Tristen”), a song about a domineering abusive mother (“Meine Tranen”), and one on plastic surgery (“Zick Zack”). These harsh topics sit alongside tunes that are a lot less serious, like “OK” (no condom) and “Dicke Titten” (big boobs).

Longtime Rammstein fans will have to be OK (meaning comfortable here, not condomless) with the slower pace, but the album is very much the equal of the more furious sound that has come before. If anything, the starker approach allows the vocals of Till Lindemann to come even more to the fore, and – if you speak German – to delve into his deliciously dark mind all the more fully.

Best tracks: Schwarz, OK, Meine Tranen, Angst, Dicke Titten, Adieu

CD Odyssey Disc 1631 and 1632: Nick Gilder

I was supposed to be on holidays today, but cruel fate intervened, and I had to work all day. I reconciled this sad reality by deciding to leave work at a reasonable hour (note: I rarely do this) and come home.

Now I’m using some of that rarely seen after-work energy to write a music review. Two in fact, since CD Odyssey rules stipulate that if both albums are on a single CD they count as two reviews but share a single entry.

OK – on to the review(s).

Disc 1631 is…City Nights
Disc 1632 is…Frequency

Artist: Nick Gilder

Year of Release: 1978 (City Nights) and 1979 (Frequency)

What’s up with the Cover?  We have two covers in one, with the originals down the left-hand side.

“City Nights” features a coy and sexy Nick Gilder android, showing off his best clubbing clothes in what looks like a local parkade.

On “Frequency” we have what looks like a scene from “Scanners” as Gilder-bot reaches out to you through the incredibly modern and eerily futuristic cathode ray tube!

Finally, an “alternate stance” Nick Gilder is on the right, lit from below so you can see that his pants are far more interesting than you could have ever imagined in that ‘low light’ original cover. Gilder stands in the spotlight, no doubt from an overhead chopper keeping an eye on him until Rick Deckard can get to the location and “retire” him.

How I Came To Know It: I grew up with Nick Gilder, and had his two big singles on a couple of different K-Tel compilation albums back in the day. I’d always wanted those songs on CD.

Then, I saw this album advertised. A Most Incredible Deal! Original 2 LPs – 19 Classic Tracks – on 1 CD! I would have to be the WORLD’s GREATEST FOOL to not leap at this amazing offer. Not being the WORLD’s GREATEST FOOL, I leapt.

Both songs I wanted were on “City Nights” making “Frequency” an afterthought in the calculation but an afterthought that worked out OK in the end.

How It Stacks Up: I have two Nick Gilder albums (on one incredible CD, etc., etc….). If you are following along, you know which two. Since I’m reviewing them both at the same time I’ll say “City Nights” comes in at #1 and “Frequency” lands a respectable second.

Rating: 4 stars for “City Nights”; 3 stars for “Frequency”

Before I break down each record, a few common notes on “man from the future” Nick Gilder. You may fancy that Nick Gilder is actually from the past, since he recorded the majority of his music in the late seventies and early eighties, but he is definitely from the future, with his high almost artificial vocal and songs that are glossy, neon and chrome.

Everything about Nick Gilder is shiny. Second only to Gary Numan (who practically admits it) no artist is more likely to be an android than Nick Gilder. He comes out of that peculiar and short-lasting era of late seventies/early eighties rock and roll where the voices are so high and sharp-edged that you would be wise to put away your glassware before turning it up too loud.

This is not for everyone, but I have a small but special place in my heart for such artists (another equally-Canadian example – Prism). This stuff sounds weird, but it is weird in an anthemic, inspiring kind of way. Like the soundtrack to a robot love story.

OK – get the picture? Let’s move on to the records themselves.

City Nights

“City Nights” is the best Nick Gilder has to offer, and if you are not fortunate enough to find two classic albums on a single CD! (as I have done) this is the one you want first.

As I mentioned earlier, Gilder’s music has a futuristic element that borders on the inhuman. Fed partly by his voice, and partly by the structure of the songs. Left to his own devices it could get weird, but as the opening track, “Got to Get Out” he has a secret weapon: lead guitarist and fellow songwriter James McCulloch.

Whereas Gilder has a pop-like innocence to his music, McCulloch understands that the songs need an underpinning of crunch. It isn’t a ton of crunch, and it is levelled out in the mix with an equally healthy dose of synthesizer, but it is enough to pull the record back to its rock and roll roots. Even on lesser tracks like “(She’s) One of the Boys” it is McCulloch’s natural gift for a timeless guitar riff that will have you coming back for more.

“City Nights” will always be remembered more for its singles, particularly “Hot Child in the City.” This song was a pretty big deal back in the day in Canada. The New Wave chorus juxtaposes perfectly with a sort of late-night croon from Gilder. Anyone of a certain vintage will hear the riff and immediately start singing the chorus.

It is great, but my favourite tune is the album’s ‘lesser’ hit, “Here Comes the Night”. I had easy access to this song and played it a lot (see K-Tel record reference above). The tune has this great “late night party” vibe, and lyrics like:

“After dark the shadow people walk
It's another world
Playing Valentino, trying to get a kiss
From the trendy girl
It's that lipstick game
Captured by a look from her x-ray eyes
She looked right through my best disguise”

...fascinated my much younger self. I wasn’t sure what “that lipstick game” was as a kid, but I knew it was something I wanted to know more about. The fact that one of the characters had x-ray eyes was a sci-fi connection that made it all the more alluring (the metaphor may have been lost on me as a boy).

“City Nights” has plenty of great deep cuts as well. My favourite on this listen was “Fly High” which has a song structure and arrangement that feels like it is literally lifting you. Yes, I was on a plane twice when I heard it, which helped, but I can confirm it has a similar (if lessened) effect when you hear it on terra firma.

Frequency

From the start, you can tell Gilder and McCulloch are interested in rocking out a bit harder on “Frequency”. The guitars are just a bit crunchier, and there is an urgency to the music that says, “hey – it’s rock and roll.” Usually this works, but there are times where it felt forced.

“(You Really) Rock Me” is a bit of both. There is plenty of good stuff here, but there is also a bit of that “Dancin’ Round and Round” rock/pop medley in Xanadu that makes you feel like maybe old people got in the mixing booth late at night and tried to tell the kids what was cool in their day.

I like Gilder when he just doubles down on the camp instead.  “Frequency” is best when it sits disco adjacent, like a guy with a rock guitar sitting outside playing for tips to the lineup waiting to get into Studio 54.

“Metro Jets” is a strong example, featuring plenty of synthy organ, as it paints a picture of late-night partiers – equal parts vacuous and heroic.

Nick Gilder songs often have a rising anthemic quality to them, and there are moments on “Frequency” where things get more than a little Meat Loaf. I like Meat Loaf, so this was no problem.

Even more than “City Night”, “Frequency” is ‘future looking’ and the album ends aptly with “Into the 80’s” as Gilder’s enthusiasm for the coming decade is on full display, both in terms of style and theme. The eighties let a lot of us down, and listening to Gilder’s imagined version I can see why he’s hopeful. It is schlocky and awkward in places, but with all those harmonized background vocals and that insistent synth beat, you can imagine it is all going to be amazing. At the very least we’ll all have flying cars.

Summary

On both records, Gilder shows himself a master songwriter, and grounded by McCulloch’s guitars a lot of these songs that have no business working, manage to stick the landing.

Gilder famously wrote other Canadian hits as well, like Scandal’s “The Warrior”. I found an aged Gilder performing this tune but it was painful, so here’s Patty Smyth’s original in all its dance-battle glory. Pat Benatar covered Gilder’s “Rated X” on “In the Heat of the Night” (reviewed at Disc 667) as well.

These songs were chosen because the guy could write, and while his singing style is not for everyone, if you give it a chance you might find it will grow on you. Just accept that it is simultaneously of its time, and also from the future and you’ll have your head in the right space to enjoy the experience.

Best tracks:

City Nights: Got To Get Out, Hot Child in the City, Here Comes the Night, 21^st Century, Fly High

Frequency: Time After Time, Metro Jets, Watcher of the Night, Into the 80s