27th June - The Mothers of Invention's Freak Out!

Artist – Album: The Mothers of Invention – Freak Out!

Released:  27^th June 1966

Sounds Like: I want to get freaky with you

The Mothers of Invention, Frank Zappa’s band, even did debut albums differently, smashing down their mission statement on not one but two discs of delightful doolalliness.

Disc one is a  pop album of sorts, distilling all the discernible elements of popular music at the time and churning out a sound that was both accessible and unique at the same time. As well as the obvious titular pastiches on the likes of ‘Go Cry on Somebody Else’s Shoulder’ and ‘I’m Not Satisfied’, whole genres are parodied in the comical turns of doo wop or the xylophone-tastic beat pop of ‘Wowie Zowie’ (A writer friend described thusly – whimsical words married with stand-alone rhythms which may well have served as an unsung template for the Pixies. Smart eh?). Zappa wasn’t just a clown though, and lyrically he delivers masterful turns at songs of alienation, love and loss and avante-garde irony. As silly as ditties such as ‘Wowie Zowie’ and ‘You Didn’t Try to Call Me’ are, ‘How Could I Be Such a Fool’ and ‘Anyway the Wind Blows’ (written when Zappa was considering divorcing his first wife) are truly devastating. Meanwhile, tunes such as ‘Hungry Freaks, Daddy’ and ‘You’re Probably Wondering Why I’m Here’ flag up the fact that the band isn’t dealing in your standard pop rock, and that their music is aimed at “those who aren't afraid to say what's on their minds (The left-behinds of the Great Society)”.

Disc two is SUPER-trippy and may be best indulged after copious volumes of drugs. Still, ‘Trouble Every Day’ is brilliant blues rock set against an amazingly smart retort against racism, and on ‘Help, I’m a Rock’, well, it’s just fun to sing “help, i’m a rock” repeatedly.

It’s brilliant. In fact you might say that “just the other day I got so shook up I had a flash in the afternoon”.

Albumaday... rating:   10/10

1.       Hungry Freaks, Daddy – 3:32

2.       I Ain’t Got No Heart – 2:34

3.       Who Are the Brain Police? – 3:25

4.       Go Cry on Somebody Else’s Shoulder – 3:43

5.       Motherly Love – 2:50

6.       How Could I Be Such a Fool? – 2:16

7.       Wowie Zowie – 2:55

8.       You Didn’t Try to Call Me – 3:21

9.       Any Way the Wind Blows – 2:55

10.   I’m Not Satisfied – 2:41

11.   You’re Probably Wondering Why I’m Here – 3:41

12.   Trouble Every Day – 5:53

13.   Help, I’m a Rock (Suite in Three Movements) – 8:37

14.   The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet (Unfinished Ballet in Two Tableaux) – 12:22

Listen to ‘You Didn’t Try to Call Me ’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tJ6sUxMQ5M

Also released on the 27^th June:

2005: Hayseed Dixie – A Hot Piece of Grass

25th March - Raphael Saadiq's Stone Rollin'

Artist – Album: Raphael Saadiq – Stone Rollin’

Released:  25^th March 2011         

Sounds Like: Going back

Ever wondered what it would sound like if your favourite Motown artists (except for Boys II Men, we’ll have none of that nonsense here) were whisked off their sparkly platform shoes and deposited into today’s music scene? You haven’t? Oh. Well, are you wondering it now that I’ve said it? Still no? Oh. Well. Anyway. This is what you would get. So...

Listening to the album is like listening to a Soulwax/2manydjs’ album and playing guess-where-the-multitude-of-samples-have-come-from - you can hear a little bit Sly & the Family Stone here, a little bit of Stevie Wonder there, a pinch of the Temptations here, a dash of Prince there. The songs here aren’t rehashed old recordings though; they’re not samples, they’re just excellent original tracks that happen to wear their creator’s influences prominently on their sleeves.

It also seems clear to me that this album has legs. I’d never listened to it before today and, to be honest, I’d never even heard of Raphael Saadiq. But the exuberant bursts of R&B and charismatic slices of soul quickly gripped me and I’m still finding it refreshing and new having listened to it all day. Songs that deserve particular mention are the peppy first three ‘Heart Attack’, ‘Go to Hell’ and ‘Radio’, the funky summer soul of ‘Just Don’t’ and atmospheric closer ‘The Answer’. Saadiq doesn’t have a great powerful voice like Levi Roots or Stevie Wonder, and it’s not as silky smooth as Marvin Gaye’s or Smokey Robinson’s, but it does do a decent turn at each style, and, after such a long time, it’s just great to hear someone giving it a go.

So, seriously, are you still not curious about what this review and update of the old Motown sound is like? There’s just no convincing some people...

Albumaday... rating: 8/10

1.       Heart Attack – 3:03

2.       Go to Hell – 4:20

3.       Radio – 3:22

4.       Over You – 2:31

5.       Stone Rollin’ – 3:37

6.       Day Dreams – 3:20

7.       Movin’ Down the Line – 4:25

8.       Just Don’t – 5:17

9.       Good Man – 3:46

10.   The Answer – 9:30

Listen to ‘Just Don’t’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtfOQ4thwJQ

Also released on the 25^th March:

1997: The Notorious B.I.G – Life After Death

Also released on the 25^th March:

2008: Elf Power – In a Cave