GENERAL ALBUMS

ALBUMS: General

DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS TOO-RYE-AY (AS IT SHOULD HAVE SOUNDED)

Mercury Records

Who ever knew that a bona fide 80’s masterpiece was not the finished product its principal creator envisioned. Dexys first incarnation was a big brass-driven band uniformly clad in dockworkers attire that prefaced their horn driven hard edged soul. Riven by financial and personal issues, and after a massive first hit (“Geno”), they imploded, and Kevin Rowland embarked on his vision of a unique Irish soul sound that still featured horns but also injected strings and other traditional folk instruments; a change of attire to rag-tag gypsy chic completed the transformation, and the Celtic Soul Brothers were ready to storm the barricades. All bar their record company agreed on two things – they had played brilliantly in the studio, and the final mix didn’t capture the passion and power of their studio recordings. That the album and its subsequent singles became a global phenomenon is testament to the music (and our ears). Forty years on and, having been given license to do so, Rowland and co have entirely remixed the album (and although tempted, refrained from re-recording any parts) to “as it should have sounded”, and it is breathtaking. In particular, the clarity of the vocals and dynamic enhancement of the instrumentation is patently noticeable, whether it be the radio staple ‘Come On Eileen’, ‘Liars A To E’, or Van Morrison’s splendid ‘Jackie Wilson Said’. The package is rounded out by two genuine bonus discs; the first contains A and B sides of singles released during the period (including nonalbum tracks). The third disc is another jewel, a previously unreleased October ’82 show from the Shaftsbury Theatre that makes one regret not being in the boisterous audience. Too-RyeAy was brilliant then, it’s lifted several notches higher now.

TREVOR J. LEEDEN KILBEY/KENNEDY THE STRANGE LIFE OF PERSEPHONE NIMBUS

Foghorn Records/MGM

Where on their previous collaborations, Churchman Steve Kilbey has improvised his lyrics in response to the music All India Radio’s Martin Kennedy creates alone in his home studio in Hobart, Tasmania, with The Strange Life of Persephone Nimbus, his stream-of-consciousness has been defined by a nebulous narrative, a “retelling” of the myth of Persephone, the classical Greek goddess of the dead, “Queen of the Underworld”, within a framework loosely informed by the science-fiction of Aldous Huxley, Isaac Asimov or Robert Heinlein, though ‘Goldmund & Narcissus’ takes its title from a novel by surrealist Hermann Hesse. Yes folks, this is that most dreaded and reviled creations of Britain’s progressive musicians of yore, a “concept album”, more in the vein of Pink Floyd than Yes, Genesis or Jethro Tull (despite Carina Brewer’s opening flute work on the 8 minutes 51 seconds ‘Galaxy’, or subtly passing embroidery in ‘Jesus Warehouse & Judas Smith’), so don’t be too fearful. There are even moments where sound and spirit of classic Church shines through, as on ‘A New Planet’ – Kilbey even plays bass on ‘Galaxy’ – while ‘Persephone’ is a pretty straightforward chugging piece of rock. So, the stage is set in this for the ostensible protagonist of the record, Persephone Nimbus, “just an ordinary girl” to be similarly “kidnapped by the Plutocracy” to live six months below ground and six months above, in “the Overworld”. As is the way with concept albums, spoken connective passages are interpolated between the songs, some propelling nebulous narrative along – ‘Walk On Down The Hall’ – some mere banalities – ‘The Room’, ‘Radio SuperNova’ and ‘Please Alight’. Are they really necessary? Probably not, since the “concept” doesn’t really matter. It’s the mood, the atmosphere, the evocative nature of the sounds that really carry the listener forward, that and Kilbey’s voice, aided here and there by guest vocalist Leona Gray, on ‘Goldmund & Narcissus’. There’s even a non-narrative-connected ‘Bonus Track”. Just drift away with this Strange Life, mostly harmless.

MICHAEL SMITH

JOE MEEK TEA CHEST TAPES: THE TELSTAR STORY

Cherry Red

The iconic English producer and sound engineer Joe Meek walked that fine line between genius and insanity; for the purposes of musical posterity, he teeters on the ‘genius’ side of the equation. Meek was a pioneer in the development of studio recording techniques such as recording instruments separately, overdubbing, reverberation and sampling, all in his quest for a unique sonic signature, space age and experimental pop music. The legendary Tea Chest Tapes, a fabled trove of nearly 2,000 Meek tapes, are being painstakingly restored, and The Telstar Story is, appropriately the first spaceship off the launching pad. Sixty years after its release, this is a deep dive into the creation of Meek’s signature tune, an instrumental masterpiece that held top spot on the UK charts for five weeks and becoming the first record by a British rock group to top the US charts. It runs like this: Meek’s original vocal demo consists of him spontaneously humming and la-lahing the embryonic tune; Dave Adams (one of Meek’s hand-picked keyboard specialists) Clavioline demo of Meek’s vocal doodling; former Tornado and impromptu Led Zeppelin pianist Norman Hale cajoled into play a magnificent piano rendition (a true rarity, not previously known to have existed); devoid of special effects, The Tornados original speed clean master recording is not what became the final single, and had not previously been heard by the band members

ALBUMS: General

themselves; the Telstar sound effects tape is reproduced in isolation; a version recorded by hitherto unknown and unheard studio band The Rhythmics; Glenda Collins’ ‘Magic Star’ is an astonishing, previously unheard vocal version that unfortunately sank without trace; the final track is a shortened alternate take of the instrumental. The restoration of the tapes and the subsequent sound is phenomenal. ‘Telstar’ stands as one of the truly great instrumentals, and the Tea Chest Tapes is destined to be the box that keeps on giving.

TREVOR J. LEEDEN

JOYCE PRESCHER OUT OF MY MIND

Cheersquad Records & Tapes

It’s five years since Dutch-born Melbournebased singer-songwriter Joyce Prescher released her debut album, Home, back in 2017, but her second album, Out Of My Mind, sees her returning to a melodic landscape steeped in European sensibilities that creates of a sense of drama subtly yet distinctly different to the English or American folk approach. Melodically for instance, ‘Closed Doors’ owes more to Jacques Brel than Joni Mitchell. It’s a melodic sensibility that Marianne Faithful tuned into when she resurrected her career with Broken English, and it’s quite intriguing, and moving, in its effects. It’s there on this album’s opening song, ‘Am I Lost’, just Prescher’s plaintive voice and acoustic guitar, bare and vulnerable, and the haunting ‘Between Your Love and Mine’, particularly resonant for this long-time train commuter. In contrast ‘Paper and Pen’ has a nifty mid-tempo mid-‘60s pop (Euro-pop?) swing groove via ‘Stand By Me’ to it, while you’d never guess that the delicate tracery of limpid acoustic guitar notes opening ‘Dark Places’ predicates childhood memories of paralysing nightmares. Her musical conspirators are also remarkably in tune to that sensibility with their low-key interjections, spacious and spare in their underlining flourishes, from Craig Newman’s double bass counterpointed by Lily Thornton’s cello, Jed Pickett’s lap steel adding that extra layer of shimmering ominousness to ‘Closed Doors’. Lyrically, the landscape across which Out Of My Mind traverses ponders the familiar ones – love, heartbreak, loss and healing – but a real freshness that makes this album one to savour in the quiet hours, to cherish when your own loved one is far from you. As she writes of her song ‘His Love’, “When there’s much to say but no words to say it” – and that’s a beautiful way to put this whole love, loss and this whole crazy emotional life thing. Khristian Mizzi joins Prescher in her paean to the peace of the countryside as she ponders the ‘City Lights’.

MICHAEL SMITH

The people have spoken!

“Unsurprisingly brilliant” - David Cosma “A delight” - Glen Anderson “Pure poetry”- Regina Safro “Few construct such sweetly classicist pop” - Ross N. Clelland

“Overflowing with truth and beauty” - Derek Guille

“A driving tour-de-force. Top shelf” - Cathy Dowling “Leaves you wanting more” - Dean Lombard

“ Homegrown brilliance” - Duncan Smith, Top Shelf Music

“Another brilliant album” - Pauline ‘Bones’ Mackinnon

“This summer’s scintillating soundtrack” - Michael Rae