A Broadside, For One And All

 

Bellowhead – Broadside

Bellowhead are an eleven piece ensemble who give traditional folk songs a modern treatment and are heavily brass-oriented. Live they work up a rip-roaring atmosphere.

Broadside is their fourth studio album and it continues their style of twisting what were previously familiar trad songs – the ubiquitous Byker Hill, the Copper Family’s  Thousands or More, for example – into unfamiliar and exciting forms. The downside for me is that this album is a bit over elaborate and too clever for its own good, with vocalist Jon Boden struggling to be heard against the wall of sound his fellow musicians aided and abetted by erstwhile Stone Roses and Radiohead producer, John Leckie create. The mp3/CD format cannot do justice to the vibrancy of the live performance – perhaps Shakey is right after all – but, that said, there is enough here to keep you entertained with a wide range of interesting and unusual instrumentation. My favourite tracks are The Wife of Usher’s Well, a stunningly atmospheric version, the final track, Go My Way, and Black Beetle Pies. A fun way to spend an hour.        

 

Have They Really F**ked It Up This Time?

Babel – Mumford & Sons

To successfully follow up a critically acclaimed debut album is always a difficult trick to pull off as, unfortunately, the Mumfords have found out. “Sigh No More” was a breath of fresh air because of its joie de vivre and the deployment of a frenetic banjo as the lead instrument. That was then – the novelty has now waned but Babel treads the same path as its predecessors. It is not a bad album and there are some highlights – I particularly like Holland Park – but it seems to be formulaic and suffers from over production.

They need to get back to basics, pare down the production values and add some variety to their approach. For the true devotees of the Mumfords, this album will cement them in their affections. For those of us who thought they were a breath of fresh air in an increasingly stagnating musical landscape, we will be disappointed that they have played safe and not really kicked on.  

Hey Now Now, Hey Now Now

Psychedelic Pill – Neil Young and Crazy Horse

The enigmatic Neil Young has teamed up with Crazy Horse to release his first studio album with them for ten years and his second of the year. Young is clearly in FU mood presenting his listeners first off with the 27 minute long Driftin’ Back, a wistful look back at his life, his regrets that the 60’s generation didn’t change the world and (his latest hobby-horse) the deficiencies of MP3 which starts off with acoustic guitar but soon gets into a great groove peppered with stunning raw electric guitar solos and ending with the reflection he may be a pagan. Even Dylan positions his longer songs further down the track listing.

Young has, famously, given up drugs and booze but instead of making him concise and edgy it seems to have made him contemplative, nostalgic and loud. Stand out track, at least after a couple of listenings, is Ramada Hotel (weighing in at around 16 minutes) about a long-married couple. As well as the heavier side we are familiar with when Young and Crazy Horse team up, the double album ranges from the light and poppy Born in Ontario, the least appealing song to me, to the mass whistleathon at the beginning of Walk Like A Giant (another 16 minute opus). There are two versions of Psychedelic Pill although, to my ears at least, they seem so similar as to beg the question, why?

Like Dylan, this is his 35^th studio album but whereas Dylan, whose formative influence on Young is acknowledged on Twisted Road, has become obsessed with death, Young is content to put his life into some kind of perspective. The old fire is there and his guitar style veers from growls and heavy solos with feed-back to soaring blistering assaults on the fretboard while the rest of the band chug along, as if they are egging him on.

At 66 Young seems to have hit another peak in his creativity – perhaps this is what he meant by it being better to burn out than fade away. If this great album is any testament, he is not going to fade away any time soon.

It’s All Over Now Baby Blue

Death, other people’s mainly, is  the unremitting theme of Bob Dylan’s latest oeuvre, Tempest, which Amazon’s famous one day guaranteed delivery service finally delivered to me on Tuesday. There is a profound sense of doom and foreboding running through the album. The monster eponymous track, weighing in at just over 13 minutes, recounts the story of the sinking of the Titanic, the bleak story of a love triangle that goes wrong in Tin Angel and the final track, Roll On John, a tribute to John Lennon, all build up on that theme.

Where to me Dylan is at his best is where he uses his mordant, biting wit to express outrage and indignation. In tune with the zeitgeist Dylan rails against politicians and bankers in what for me are his better tracks, Early Roman Kings, Pay In Blood and Narrow Way. He has not lost his touch for the killer put downs.

Duquesne Whistle, the opening track, gives the album a light start but that feeling is soon dissipated by the next track, Soon After Midnight, which speaks to the lovelorn and sets the mood for the rest of the album.

Musically, the album seems to play it safe, exploring the byways of gentle country and blues with his band quickly establishing a riff to accompany his lyrics and being content to stay there. There is good use of fiddle and banjo – harmonica noticeably absent. At times it almost seems rather formulaic. His voice is good (for Dylan!) and he avoids the use of backing vocals to disguise a failing range, a trick which some of his contemporaries use.

After three listens I would put it up with the better of his later albums, Modern Times and Time Out Of Mind but I wouldn’t say it is a masterpiece. At 71 it may be his last but there is enough in the album to suggest that the old boy isn’t finished it. If you like Dylan, check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

Prospero Or Caliban?

For self-confessed Dylanophiles today is a red letter day as, thanks to the pre-ordering service provided by a South American river, the long-awaited latest studio album, Tempest, from the man himself is due to plop through my letter box. I always look upon the latest release with a mix of eager anticipation and fear of disappointment. The release date is timed to coincide with the 50^th anniversary of his debut studio recording – a phenomenal testament to his longevity and creativity, although there have been some duff albums along the way. It is unlikely the 71 year old is going to hit the artistic heights of his true masterpieces – in my view, Blood On The Tracks, Blonde on Blonde, Highway 61 Revisited  and Time Out Of Mind – but hey, with a back catalogue like that, who cares.

Unlike most of my favourite artists, I have seen Dylan only once live – bizarrely in an airfield near Fleet in the late seventies. That experience was a disappointment – he was going through a strange stage at the time – and I figured I would stick with the albums rather than the ex tempore rehashes of his back catalogue.

I am looking forward to ripping it on to my MP3 player tonight and to see what his 34^th studio album is like.