a coherent collection of random statements regarding God, words and tunes

Hit and Run, Volume II

This'll be the shortest one, because really, you know already if you want this. As I've said elsewhere, this one isn't gonna get the band any new fans, but anyone jonesing for a new album from these guys - and that includes me -- will certainly enjoy it.

The Verve -- Forth. I stumbled across these guys fairly early -- a friend back in Jersey bought an import of their second album, A Northern Soul, ear-unheard - just 'cause of its user-friendly-Clockwork-Orange look. (And c'mon, TELL me Richard Ashcroft doesn't have that "Alex" look about him.) And we both dug on it -- think: early Waterboys, without Mike Scott's great lyrics but with an entrancing English twist on that equally great "big music" sound (and Ashcroft's voice ain't entirely dissimilar to Scott's, either -- cut out all that joyous whooping and y'r danged close). All the vague spiritual guitar-laden atmospherics you could eat and enough snarl to put the just-OK lyrics across. A great album to crank up and not have to listen too closely to.

Then came Urban Hymns and a boatload of actual songs and lyrics and everything -- including the near-perfect hit that inadvertently made the Stones even stupid-richer, "Bittersweet Symphony" -- and the secret was out. And then the breakup, followed by a couple kinda uninspiring Ashcroft solo albums that had the songs to head for the mainstream but not the sound to put them across.

And so, back to Forth. Think: A tighter Northern Soul. Not a lot of specific songage here -- with the exception of the obvious single (for The Verve, anyway) "Valium Skies" and the epic closer "Appalachian Springs," probably the two best songs here -- but that sound is back with a vengeance. Every one of the 10 songs on the "official" album breaks five minutes (one of the two bonus tracks is a modest 3-plus, but that's it), but if you like atmosphere with attitude, you won't mind it a bit.

Here's hoping they can hold it together for another album and take it up a notch, but it's nice to have them back, 'cause again no-one this side of Mike Scott does it better (and Mike largely abandoned it for more Celtic pastures 20 years ago). And again, if this is all new to you, Urban Hymns is a more sensible starting-point. But one could do worse than to start here.

And speaking of "nice to finally have you back..." Well, that's for Volume III.

Posted by: burninglight at 01:03 | link | comments (9)

Comments:

#1  20 September 2008 - 01:17

 

nice.... a band i have not only heard of, but like a lot..... i wouldn't have figured you for a fan.......

i'll have to check this out, for sure!

larryl

#2  20 September 2008 - 01:26

 

Well, make sure you get yr Waterboys fix first. :D

burninglight

#3  20 September 2008 - 02:27

 

"Flintsones, meet ..."

Just messin'. ;-)

Hmmm, intriguing. I remember hearing a tune by them once and thinking it was pretty good.

Jim

Anonymous

#4  20 September 2008 - 15:54

 

It was likely "Bittersweet Symphony." Some big honkin' strings, a sitar, and off we go. :D

burninglight

#5  24 September 2008 - 23:43

 

Yo Carl,

Will give "Urban Hymns" a re-listen
tommorow and report back, it didn't
leave much of an impression first time round outside of "Bittersweet Symphony".

Have you ever heard a piece of music called "Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet?" by Gavin Bryars
and Tom Waits?

Rick

Anonymous

#6  24 September 2008 - 23:56

 

Yo Rick!

Were you ever as big into The Waterboys as I was/am? That'd certainly help. "The Drugs Don't Work" was pretty moving, too. After that it gets a bit more space-jammy, I guess. Which again, is fine by me.

Nope. Heard a bunch of quasi-gospel tunes by Tom Waits but not that one. Steve Earle did an interesting hip-hop/bluegrass spin on "Down in the Hole" on his last album (yeah you heard that right). Even more interesting watching him pull it off live in Boulder a few months back, with this fat 55-year-old white guy working the turntables. :D

burninglight

#7  26 September 2008 - 20:49

 

Yo Carl,

Gave "Urban Hymns" a listen today,
and while I still think "Bittersweet Symphony" is gorgeous I find the rest of it kind of ordinary musically,
which is a shame because I really
like Richard Ashcroft's voice and words. Plus the fact that he bears more than a passing resemblance to
a young Mr. Byrnes.

I didn't pay much attention to the Waterboys back in the day, despite
Tim being almost evangelical about them for a couple of months. (I think I was going thru my Husker Du "noise or nothing" faze)

"Jesus Blood" was done originally in the late 1960's (I think). The composer, Gavin Bryars, lugged a tape recorder to a Salvation Army mission and taped some of the singing. He took a short snippet of a hobo (his words) singing this hymn, made it into a tape loop, let
it run for close to an hour, then added orchestration. What he wound up with is the saddest, most
hypnotic piece of music I've ever heard, and one of the most beautiful. A better description might
be "upliftingly sad" if this makes sense. Oh, and when it was reissued in the late 90's he added Tom Waits' voice, it replaces the hobo's about 30 minutes in. You should hear it at least once.

And lastly,

LET'S GO METS!!!!

Rick

Anonymous

#8  27 September 2008 - 12:10

 

1) I still like 'em, particularly that SOUND. Ashcroft's not the greatest lyricist, but the chords just kinda washing over you....

2) Really, really liked the early Waterboys. Then Fisherman's Blues came out and turned everything on its head (see also here http://burninglight.motime.com/post/535983). Since then, a bit more hit and miss, but Mike Scott's almost a "sing-the-phone-book" guy" for me (Universal Hall excepted -- that was just kinda dreck).

3) Lemme see if I can track that down somehow.

4) Funny what a difference a century makes. The Red Sox are the Yankees, the Rockies are the Mets, and the Mets apparently are now the Cubs. :(

But let's spit into the wind anyway: LET'S GO METS!

Anonymous

#9  30 September 2008 - 00:04

 

Yo Rick: Tracked down the original non-Wauts Bryars album (ironically, in a torrent of Tom's 20 favorite albums, which BTW and not real surprisingly, includes Thelonious Monk, Trout Mask Replica, and The Basement Tapes).

I'll let you know. It's certainly curious so far, and I can hear Tom singing "In the Neighborhood" over the top of it already....

burninglight

Comments: