PINK FLOYD - OBSCURED BY CLOUDS @ 50

 

Released on June 2nd, 1972, Pink Floyd’s seventh studio album, Obscured by Clouds, is celebrating a half century on the shelves today. It was recorded over the course of a couple of rushed sessions at Château d'Hérouville, France, between February 23rd and April 6th while the band were on break from touring. It was commissioned as the soundtrack for the film, La Vallée, by Barbet Schroeder and continues their work in that arena along with prior soundtracks for the films, The Committee (1968), More (1969) and Zabriskie Point (1970). Production of the album pushed back work on Dark Side of the Moon briefly as they had already begun to record sections for that album prior to beginning work on Obscured by Clouds.

Musically, the album focuses a lot on short acoustic guitar heavy songs rather than the longer, more expansive compositions the group were known for. The film’s themes of love and romance became central to the lyrical direction of the album and, while the group originally set out with little concern for creating concise “songs”, aiming more for loose motifs which could be cross faded across the film’s various scenes, the resulting material is surprisingly coherent. The cover image was inspired after seeing rushes of the film where, in one instance, the film became jammed on an out of focus image. Thus the shot of a man in a tree, blurred to the point of being unrecognizable, was created by Hipgnosis for the album.

The album was reasonably successful, but is seen mostly as a stopgap project prior to the release of Dark Side of the Moon, which would solidify the group’s position as megastars in the world of rock music.

DAVID BOWIE - DAVID BOWIE @ 55

 

June 1st marks the 55th anniversary of the release of the debut eponymous album from David Bowie. It’s an album from a young artist struggling to find his voice, but not quite near the superstar he’d eventually become. Musically, it is very much “of its time” with a quintessential 1960s British music hall & baroque pop sensibility more reminiscent of singers like Anthony Newley.

Prior to this LP, Bowie had released a string of unsuccessful singles which resulted in him being dumped by his then label, Pye Records, before being picked up by Decca subsidiary, Deram, for his debut album. Bowie wrote the songs over the autumn of 1966 before booking into the studio over the winter from November ’66 to March ’67. The music for the album was provided by a mostly anonymous selection of studio and session musicians. As a result, the album sounds quite dated and rather quaint when compared to the work he’d manage to do in a few short years. There’s little indication of the visionary trend setting innovator that was lurking below the surface of the artist captured on this debut. There are a few flashes of novelty sprinkled among the song and dance, but it’s all verging on camp.

THROBBING GRISTLE - THE DESERTSHORE INSTALLATION @ 15

 

Fifteen years ago today, on June 1st, 2007, Throbbing Gristle began a three day residency at the art gallery where they were first declared “wreckers of civilization” over three decades earlier. London’s ICA, Institute of Contemporary Arts, became host to a 12 hour installation, conducted in two hour segments, twice a day, over the course of three consecutive days (Friday, Saturday & Sunday). The Desertshore Installation was intended to offer its rotating audience a glimpse into the creative process of TG while they began work on a complete cover version of Nico’s classic album, Desertshore.

 

The idea for the project originated with Peter Christopherson, who wanted to take TG into new territory and push the collective into processes outside their comfort zone. The idea to do this in front of an audience was both daring and risky as they put themselves on display during the must vulnerable parts of their creative process. This was particularly challenging for Genesis P-Orridge, who was tasked with interpreting Nico’s idiosyncratic vocal style, often in languages other than English. The other members were less on the spot as some elements, like basic rough rhythm tracks, were prepared in advance of the installation.

 

In practice, the bulk of the sessions seemed to revolve around trying to capture usable vocal takes, though the group would intersperse these with numerous improvisations completely separate from the Nico songs. A selection of these improves eventually became mixed and augmented to form The Third Mind Movements album, which was issued in 2009 to coincide with the group's US mini-tour. The entirety of the show was videotaped and recorded on binaural digital audio with the audio portion issued in a limited edition 12 disc CD-R bound wallet set of approximately 250 copies. The video documentation has never been published to date to my knowledge.

 

After the installation and before the group could complete the album, Genesis suddenly & mysteriously departed TG after the initial London gig for a scheduled short EU tour in December of 2010. Peter Christopherson then died suddenly soon after that and the project lay dormant for a couple of years. Eventually, Chris Carter & Cosey Fanni Tutti took up the task of completing it in 2012, salvaging the recordings and equipment Sleazy had collected and taking it to their Norfolk schoolhouse studio for completion.

 

With Genesis estranged from them and the recordings of he/r vocals from the ICA sessions deemed unusable, the duo decided to take a different approach to finish the project and invited a number of friends and associates to do guest vocals. The resulting album was then released under the X-TG banner along with a second disc of improvisations recorded at their studio by Chris, Cosey & Peter before his death. A third ambient remix CD was also issued in a limited edition for close friends.  The Desertshore project would ultimately serve as a capstone for TG as no further material has yet to surface from the surviving Industrial Records shareholders.

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD - THIS IS PIL @ 10

 

Marking its tenth anniversary today is the ninth studio album by Public Image Ltd, This Is PiL, which was released on May 28th, 2012. It marked the end of a 20 year gap between LPs for the band and a return to something vaguely resembling their earlier, more experimental sound.

After releasing That What Is Not in 1992, John Lydon found his post Sex Pistols band getting shelved by circumstances, mostly due to owing large debts to his record label, Virgin. Because of this, it became virtually impossible for him to release new music. While a solo album, Psycho’s Path, was released in 1997, it did nothing to help his situation. The same was true of various Sex Pistols reunions held between 1996 and 2007. Lydon also took up something of a TV personality career in the interim, briefly hosting an arts magazine show (Rotten TV), a nature program (John Lydon’s Megabugs) and participating in an aborted appearance on the UK reality show, I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. Lydon’s big break, which allowed him to finally get his financial house in order, came in 2008 when he was hired to do a series of TV advertisements for Country Life Butter in Britain. Though he was mocked at the time and accused of “selling out”, he brushed off those criticisms by promptly plowing his significant earnings directly into funding a PiL reunion and tour.

To put the band back together, Lydon first reached out to guitarist Lou Edmonds and drummer Bruce Smith, both of whom had worked with him in PiL during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The bass role, however, was still in question as Allan Dias was no longer available from that old lineup. Lydon even approached original bassist, Jah Wobble, making an offer that Wobble didn’t take seriously, countering with a financial demand he knew was over the top. The quartet finally got fleshed out with Scott Firth, who was a multi-instrumentalist who’d worked with the Spice Girls, among others. In 2009, this lineup set out on tour, backed by the cash from the butter ads, and proceeded to rebuild the PiL name, one gig at a time. They were a hit on the road and managed to eventually bank enough earnings to fund some studio time at Steve Winwood’s Wincraft Studios in Cotswolds, England.

The studio was located on a sheep farm in the countryside and, while isolated, was also inexpensive enough to fit their independent budget. Now that Lydon was clear of his record label debts, he determined to remain independent, setting up his own label, PiL Official, and recruited long time trusted friend, John “Rambo” Stevens, to help with managing this new enterprise. In essence, PiL had finally become the “company” that they’d long ago boasted about wanting to be. With this self sufficiency now baked into their DNA, PiL and Lydon were free to pursue their music as they saw fit, with no one to lay claim to it beyond themselves.

The resulting album, stylistically, straddled a line between some of the early PiL experimentalism and the angular post rock that had been their stock-in-trade after the original lineup had dissipated with the departures of Keith Levene and Martin Atkins. For some it was a welcome return, for others, if still felt sluggish and uninspired. My own opinion fell somewhere between those poles, with some songs capturing an echo of those past glories while others seemed mediocre efforts at best. Regardless, it was good to see a version of PiL out in the world again and functioning on its own terms, answering to no one.

This lineup would produce a follow up album in 2015 of similar caliber and continue to tour until late 2019. The venture, however, stalled with the outbreak of COVID in 2020. The situation was aggravated by Lydon’s wife, Nora, falling victim to dementia, necessitating constant care. Lydon has done some small speaking tours to coincide with books he's published and made a few TV appearances, but his shift into apparent conservative political dispositions, notoriously supporting Brexit and the Trump campaign in 2020, has lead to a lot of negative backlash from his fan base. Financially, he seems to be in dire straights again after failed legal battles against producers of the Sex Pistols docudrama series due for release at the end of May, 2022. There are plans for PiL to tour in the summer of this year and apparently plans to head into the studio again, so there may still be some life left in the old tab yet.

P.S. PiL performed live at the recent Cruel World Fest with Lydon looking trimmed down, though struggling to remember lyrics, at least in the clips I’ve seen.

FUNKADELIC - AMERICA EATS ITS YOUNG @ 50

 

Marking half a century in the cosmos today is the fourth studio album from Funkadelic, America Eats Its Young, which was released on May 22nd, 1972. A sprawling double album with a notable identity crisis, it nonetheless set the stage for the emergence of the wider P-Funk universe in all its glory.

By the time this album began to gestate, the Funkadelic collective were undergoing many changes. Firstly, the core personnel were shifting and new players were coming into the fold, many of whom would prove to be critical contributors throughout its future. These included the likes of Bootsy Collins, Garry Shider & Bernie Worrell. Stylistically, they were leaving behind the acid fueled psychedelic rock influences of their early albums and moving into a heavily Afro-centric embrace of soul, R&B and gospel. Not that they were losing their weirdness, far from it, but they were much more focused on the blackness of their culture going forward.

Conceptually, Clinton was looking to create a pointedly political album with the heavy cost of the Vietnam war looming largest over its landscapes. Clinton also continued to showcase his obsession with the Process Church of the Final Judgement, a pseudo-religious cult offshoot of Scientology which was operating in the US and UK at the time. Many found that element objectionable, but I find it fascinating as it puts the P-Funk collective into a “strange bedfellows” kinship with what Genesis P-Orridge and Psychic TV would do a decade later based on the very same influences. It’s a connection that didn’t reveal itself to me until recent years, but which makes so much sense now in terms of how both communities functioned and presented themselves.

The 1970s was an era of some of the greatest decadence in the realm of popular music & culture that has ever been seen and the double album was, in this age, an exemplar of that indulgence. America Eats Its Young certainly doesn’t shy away from those excesses. As such, it’s a relentlessly mixed bag with soaring highs and baffling detours that left fans and critics befuddled and, more often than not, dissatisfied. Even with the benefit of hindsight, many still consider this a low point for the P-Funksters, but personally I find that assessment short sighted. There are simply too many touchstones in this set which were directly necessary for the futures of these artists. Much of what was laid out here was critical in relaunching the Parliament imprint, which had faltered in the early 1970s, but dominated in the latter half of the decade. The DNA which made them essential is totally starting to bubble up in songs like Loose Booty and the instrumental masterpiece, A Joyful Process.

One of the albums most emotional highlights comes from Everybody’s Going to Make It This Time. As a gospel revival, it remains one of the most moving songs in the entire P-Funk canon. It’s a song that embodies the deep sorrows of the past with an elevating optimism for the future. The tension between those poles rends the most heartfelt resonance from the listener. I can’t listen to it without getting choked up. It’s dazzling moments of perfection like this which make America Eats Its Young an essential piece of the P-Funk puzzle and so perfectly illustrate the overall feel of the album as a bridge between the band’s impressive past and its brilliant future.

THE MONKEES - HEADQUARTERS @ 55

 

It was 55 years ago today, on May 22nd 1967, that The Monkees released what could arguably be called their most significant album. It deserves this status more for what it represents creatively than commercially. If it were only about sales, More of the Monkess would rule hands down. But what is significant about Headquarters is that it represents a triumph of creative spirit over commercialization.

The Monkees never needed to be artistically valid. This artificial concoction of a couple of beatnik aspiring film producers could have been content with top 40 mediocrity, but something took hold within this creation that demanded to find expression. The driving force behind this has to be primarily credited to Michael Nesmith. It was his stubborn determination, against all council, that helped to overthrow the micromanaging totalitarianism of original musical director, Don Kirshner.

The ability to oust this corporate sponsored megalith of assembly line pop production was no mean feat. Millions of dollars in sales were at stake here. Corporations don't take lightly to people messing with the cash flow like this. Yet Mike's insistence (backed by the TV show's producers) became a fulcrum for the band to pry control of their product out of the hands of Kirshner and they dove into the opportunity of creating their own version of themselves with complete dedication.

Though, in some cases, their musicianship may have been limited compared to the seasoned professional session players who had created the music on their first two LPs, what they managed to craft was a thoroughly engaging and inspired example of psyche tinged garage rock that has stood the test of time and rivals the best that the era was able to offer. It's a solid album from Nesmith's rousing opener, You Told Me, to Micky's crown jewel of LSD inspired madness, Randy Scouse Git. In between you get gems like Tork's utopian For Pete's Sake.

The album was performed almost exclusively by the 4 band members along with first time producer Chip Douglas on bass so Peter could focus on keyboards, banjo and other instruments. They'd only ever do an album this self contained again some 30 years later in 1997 with Justus.

After Headquarters, they'd revert to engaging studio musicians again while still contributing themselves as they pleased, remaining in control of the production and selection of songs. It was a kind of hybrid approach combining the techniques from the first two albums with the creative freedom gained on their third. Headquarters hit the number one LP spot in the US only to be unseated by The Beatles Sgt. Pepper shortly thereafter. For all the struggle that lead to its creation, this album is the sound of triumph and camaraderie capturing a moment in time when it was possible to climb the mountain and enjoy the view, even if somewhat briefly

QUEEN - HOT SPACE @ 40

 

May 21st marks the 40th anniversary of Queen’s tenth studio LP, Hot Space, which was released on this day in 1982. Widely considered the band’s most disappointing and misguided album, it remains grossly under appreciated and misunderstood, even by the surviving band members themselves. It took decades for me to embrace it, but in the end, it won me over with its daring and risk taking and the quality of the song writing.

Queen were never a band to allow themselves to be constrained by stylistic restrictions. Indeed, their willingness to explore genres, styles and techniques was one of their biggest assets and a key reason many people appreciated them, myself included. But their foray into electronic dance music on Hot Space ended up being a measure too far for many, including some members of the band. That shift began in 1980 on The Game with the runaway smash hit, Another One Bites the Dust. Bassist John Deacon, who composed the song, was central to this shift as he’d always leaned towards soul and R&B influences. His interest was reinforced by Freddie Mercury, who was also listening to the counsel of his then manager, Paul Prenter, who like Mercury, was drawn to the gay club scenes of the day and wanted Queen’s music to move into this arena. Prenter, while holding sway over Mercury, was notably hated by the rest of the band, who were troubled by the degree of his influence over the singer. And then there was none other than Michael Jackson, who upon hearing Another One Bites the Dusk, strongly encouraged the group to release it as a single. All of this momentum coupled with the unprecedented success of the single, ended up leaving the more rock oriented May and Taylor in the position of having to reluctantly adapt to the tides of the times.

While Queen had tried to curb their studio time and indulgences after the excesses of landmark albums like A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races, recording for Hot Space dragged on longer than any album they’d previously done. Recorded at their studio in Munich, part of this had to do with some in the band getting more heavily involved in drug and alcohol consumption, something which left the group struggling and leaving all of them in "deep emotional trouble".

Technically, while they’d spent the previous decade proudly proclaiming “no synths” on their albums, since The Game, they’d embraced using an Oberheim OB-X. They went a step further on Hot Space by bringing a drum machine into the equation for the first time. Roger hated the muted, flat sound of the drums that was de rigueur for dance music of the day, so he was fine with a machine taking up the role to achieve that sound in this context.

The band didn’t completely abandon their rock roots, but their forays into the style were much lighter and more pop friendly than the heavy rock of their early days. Brian’s role on guitar was substantially reduced within this context as well. Guitars weren’t the central musical component like they had been on previous albums. Instead, they were a mostly textural element or used to shade the arrangements. Fans looking for a flat out rocker on the album were left out in the cold.

When the album was released, it managed to garner some decent sales, but a lot of that was due to the fact it had been used as a home for the massive hit single by Queen and David Bowie, Under Pressure, which was tacked onto the album as the closing track. Bowie had also contributed to another song on the album, Cool Cat, but he was unsatisfied with the results and his contributions only made it as far as a test pressing before the track was remixed to remove his vocals. That version has since survived as a commonly available bootleg. Body Language also managed to do well as a single, helped along by a particularly salacious video which was so sexually charged it was banned in some markets and relegated to only late night rotation on MTV, but it was still enough to propel the single to #11 on the US charts.

Critical reception for the album was decidedly not supportive of their new direction with some commenting on how out of step the band were when disco music in general had become so demonized by this time. This was further compounded by the reaction of fans to the new songs when they were played live, especially in the US where “DISCO SUCKS” T-shirts were a common sight in the audience. Mercury was even captured on stage lamenting the negative response, scolding the audience saying “It’s only music”. That was a major factor in the band’s decision to stop touring in the US after the Hot Space gigs. While the band went on a number of world tours before retiring from the stage entirely at the end of 1986 due to Mercury’s HIV related health issues, they bypassed the US market after 1982, opting for South America instead. They would not return to the US again until well after Mercury's death when they reconstituted with Paul Rogers in the 2000s.

At the time the album was released, my interest in the band was at its lowest ebb. It was a time when I was moving into progressively more experimental and obscure music and my days of being a Queen fan were quickly falling behind me. It wasn’t until the turn of the millennium that I started to revive my interest in them and reconsider their output through the 1980s. When I did take the time to give that work a closer listen, I was taken by surprise by how much I now enjoyed the music on Hot Space, which has become my favorite album of theirs from that decade.

When I listen to it now, I can appreciate its idiosyncrasies. Queen’s willingness to take risks was always something I admired and, in retrospect, I don’t think they ever stepped further out of their comfort zone than this LP. Yet it continues to be maligned and dismissed as a “disaster” or “misguided”. Were they overreaching? What does that even mean for a band like Queen? I can hear so many things on this album that are worthy of praise and appreciation that the criticism is meaningless to me. Michael Jackson, again, loved the album so much that he cited it as a major influence on him when working on his most successful release, Thriller. Though Jackson’s own legacy may be tarnished, that vote of confidence still, I think, means something.

I hope that time will offer up a revision of judgement for this album because it does have charms that become apparent when one is willing to sweep aside preconceptions and expectations and just let the music speak for itself. I only wish I’d been open minded enough to discover its worth sooner than I did.