Not Forgotten
Not Forgotten: White Noise – An Electric Storm
“Many sounds have never been heard-by humans:some sound waves you don’t hear-but they reach you. “Storm Stereo” techniques combine singers, instrumentalists and complex electronic sound. The emotional intensity is at a maximum.” So read the bold sleevenotes on this unique release on which David Vorhaus ,an electronics graduate, teamed up with two members of the …
Not Forgotten: Chu Ishikawa – Tetsuo: Complete Box
Right at the end of 2017 came the news that Japanese industrial composer Chu Ishikawa had died aged 51. I wouldn’t want to attempt any kind of obituary – I’m no expert. But he was responsible for what is my very favourite film soundtrack – something that it took me years to track down. So …
Not Forgotten: Leonard Cohen – I’m Your Man
It shouldn’t work. It should have been a complete and utter dud. Of the old guard of the 60s and 70s, almost no one had made the hard synthetic production techniques of the 80s work for them. Sure, a few had maintained a certain level of commercial success, but at what cost to their integrity? …
Not Forgotten: A-Ha – Scoundrel Days
In 1985, Norse rock gods A-ha ruled the airwaves. Powered by remarkable cheekbones, teen acolytes and a cutting-edge video, they were on the Smash Hits cover most weeks. We worshipped them fervently, but we knew that like Odin, even if they carried on, their fame would inevitably fade. Nobody troubled to tell A-ha this. Secretly …
Not Forgotten: Warren Zevon – Excitable Boy
Sometimes a single song becomes so synonymous with an artist, that they are unable to outrun its shadow and anyone who is not a established fan only ever associates the act with that song, regardless of how rich and varied the rest of their output. “Werewolves of London” certainly isn’t a bad song, but as …
Not Forgotten: Rush – A Farewell to Kings
By 1977, although Canadian progressive power trio Rush had taken the scenic route to commercial success, they were well on the way to becoming one of the biggest bands from the North American continent. Their proverbial last roll of the dice in recording an album, 2112, had finally found the band’s audience of kids who …
Not Forgotten: Smog – A River Ain’t Too Much to Love
For the first minute or so there’s nothing but melancholic acoustic guitar and a far away harmonica. It’s moving, deeply moving. Then comes Bill Callahan’s voice, and you’re utterly invested. By the time he released A River Ain’t Too Much to Love in 2005, Callahan has been recording under the identity of Smog since the …
Not Forgotten: Lowell George – Thanks I’ll Eat it Here
One of the things that is most often remembered about Thanks I’ll Eat it Here is the fact that it was released just ten days before the Little Feat frontman’s early death. What is remembered less frequently is that Lowell George’s only solo album is very good indeed. Given that George had slowly been losing …
Not Forgotten: The Darkness – Permission to Land
I initially took them as a joke. Actually, it seems that most people took them for a joke the first time they saw them. After all, stadium rock played by skinny blokes with big hair in tight catsuits, leaping around could only be a parody of the 80s hair-metal acts. Hell, they even looked a …
Not Forgotten: The Replacements – Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash
The Replacements, scruffy quartet that they were, may very well be the definitive American rock and roll band. From the garages of the suburbs of Minneapolis, possessing a youthful energy rather than any technical proficiency, and a collective ambition which seemingly stretched no further than avoiding the dead-end jobs that the majority of their classmates …