The Album Considered

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JEFFERSON STARSHIP: EARTH, CONSIDERED (1978): Who's at the controls on the flight-deck?

28 Mar 2022  |  5 min read

Pulling albums randomly from the shelf for this stand-alone section of Elsewhere can be fraught. As with this one by Jefferson Starship who were on their fourth album in that post-Airplane incarnation, with some solo outings by various members between times. By just a fraction of a centimetre we could be looking at their much better album, Red Octopus of '75 which -- although more MOR... > Read more

WINGS: RED ROSE SPEEDWAY, CONSIDERED (1973/2018): The malaise or just lazy?

21 Mar 2022  |  3 min read  |  2

For every person who loves Paul McCartney's Mull of Kintyre there is another who couldn't hate it more. For everyone who loves With a Little Luck there is me. McCartney's most popular songs seem to divide people: he could write beautiful love songs . . . and Silly Love Songs. A curious case in point is My Love which appeared on his Red Rose Speedway album in 1973. Some people find it... > Read more

Loup (First Indian on the Moon)

ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL: COLLISION COURSE, CONSIDERED (1978): Sage and silly songs from sagebrush territories

14 Mar 2022  |  2 min read

Ray Benson seems an unlikely character to have created the soulful Western Swing outfit Asleep at the Wheel, a band which took its lead from the sound of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys as well as sweet Southern soul. Singer-guitarist Philadelphia-raised Benson – now in his late 60s-- is Jewish and founded Asleep at the Wheel half a century ago in West Virginia with pedal steel... > Read more

LULU: THE MOST OF LULU, CONSIDERED (1971): Pop without the Shout!

7 Mar 2022  |  3 min read  |  1

Six weeks after her 15thbirthday, Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie didn't go back to school in Glasgow and never bothered to get her official leaving certificate. Six months later a school inspector knocked her parents' door and said, “We want to know why Marie hasn't been at school”. “Do ye nae read the papers or watch TV?” he mum laughed. “She's a pop... > Read more

THE HASSELHOFF EXPERIMENT: ALWAYS OUTNUMBERED ALWAYS OUTGUNNED, CONSIDERED (1999): Loud, fast and in control

28 Feb 2022  |  2 min read

History and memory become conveniently codified, reduced down into a few key images, explanatory paragraphs, illustrative memories and some further associations to suggest breadth and depth. But all nuance disappears, outliers or those things which don't conform are ironed out. Consider the case of Flying Nun. The shorthand has been simple: white-boy guitar bands in black jeans, reverb... > Read more

Brown Paper Bag

THE OSMONDS: THE PLAN, CONSIDERED (1973): One way ticket to nowhere in particular

21 Feb 2022  |  4 min read

Even those who couldn't abide the idea of the Osmonds, let alone their music, had to concede their '72 single Crazy Horses was a pretty terrific slice of hard rock. And that the album of the same name -- if they heard it -- was much better than anyone might have expected from this family band which, flashing their teeth like grilles, took their brand of soft rock and teeny-bop pop into... > Read more

THE MOTORS: APPROVED BY THE MOTORS, CONSIDERED (1978): They had the look, unfortunately

14 Feb 2022  |  3 min read  |  1

You gorra feel sorry for the Motors. Although owing a debt the genre, this British band weren't really “pub-rock” in the manner of, say, Dr Feelgood or Ian Dury's Kilburn and the High Roads. They were more pop-rock – strong on melody, hooks and choruses – but they formed in '77 when the spirits of pub-rock and then punk were abroad. Their origins had been in... > Read more

DAVID BOWIE. LOVE YOU TILL TUESDAY, CONSIDERED (1984 compilation): From when 'e was before who 'e was

7 Feb 2022  |  3 min read

Believe me, Elsewhere has no shortage of David Bowie records on its shelves other than this odd one. A quick scan of his discography would confirm we have all his albums on vinyl right up to Tonight in '84 and after that we measure the wall in CDs. We also seem to have two copies of the double live Stage as well as him reading Peter and the Wolf, the Christiane F soundtrack, blackstar... > Read more

JUDY MOWATT: BLACK WOMAN, CONSIDERED (1979): A woman's strength in the concrete jungle

31 Jan 2022  |  3 min read

When the great reggae singer Judy Mowatt toured New Zealand's North Island under her own name in 1990, she was surprised to be greeted by local members of the Twelve Tribes of Israel at the airport. But after the death of Bob Marley, reggae had become embedded in Aotearoa New Zealand and the Twelves Tribes (named for the descendants of Jacob in the Old Testament) were a significant and... > Read more

VANILLA FUDGE: THE BEAT GOES ON, CONSIDERED (1968): The most pointless album of the rock era?

24 Jan 2022  |  4 min read

When Vanilla Fudge released their Shadow Morton-produced album The Beat Goes On in 1968 the times and drugs were different. Rock musicians were reaching, and often over-reaching, the idea of a “concept” album had become embedded after Sgt Pepper, singles were being sneered at and albums – often with pretensions to classical influences – were where you could make Your... > Read more

MEREDITH MONK: DOLMEN MUSIC, CONSIDERED (1981): Sing, shout, let it all out

17 Jan 2022  |  3 min read

When Meredith Monk performed at New York's Town Hall on West Forty-Third in January 1973 she had only recently turned 30 and this was, after years of experimental music, dance and multi-media projects, a big moment for her. She had rented the 1500-seat theatre and her only instrument – aside from her astonishing voice – was a wine-glass which she played in the familiar manner of... > Read more

Travelling, from Dolmen Music

GAVIN BRYARS: THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC/JESUS' BLOOD NEVER FAILED ME YET, CONSIDERED (1971): Music of ghosts gone by

11 Jan 2022  |  3 min read

The problem with Tom Waits singing on the 1993 recording of Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (with the orchestra arranged by Gavin Bryars) is that it is Tom Waits singing. Waits has such a distinctive voice that it is always going to be Tom Waits – in his tramp mode – that you hear. For the full melancholy and true religious import of the piece you need to go back to the... > Read more

JUDY COLLINS: WILDFLOWERS, CONSIDERED (1967): Respect it, can't love it

10 Jan 2022  |  3 min read

Elsewhere's shelves are weighed down by albums, some shameful, some in shameful covers, others just plain odd and some unusual 10'' records. There are also excellent records of course, the rare free jazz albums, masses of Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, the Beatles and Stones and . .. There is Laura Nyro and Dory Previn, punk and country, rare reggae, classic soul and... > Read more

Albatross

MOLLY HATCHET: DOUBLE TROUBLE LIVE, CONSIDERED (1985): Flogging a bit too much Molly

13 Dec 2021  |  1 min read

Molly Hatchet out of Florida may never have reached the critical acceptance of the Allman Brothers Band or the popularity of Lynyrd Skynyrd, but like Atlanta Rhythm Section they were a pretty powerful second tier band. And given those three bands mentioned who had either disbanded or were in decline in the mid Eighties, they were a decent off-course substitute. On this mostly flat-tack... > Read more

Gator Country

JOHN DEEN AND THE TRAKK. BEAT 69, CONSIDERED (1969): And tonight Matthew, we're going to be . . .

6 Dec 2021  |  3 min read

Usually for this column the album under consideration is something pulled from the shelves at random, hence the haphazard subjects. But this one wasn't like that. It came to hand recently through a friend – who, despite this album, remains a pal – and he thought I might be interested in it. I played it once and put it aside. Since then it has shifted from the front of... > Read more

High Phen (instrumental)/Your Whole Life Through

LUCINDA WILLIAMS. HAPPY WOMAN BLUES, CONSIDERED (1980): A distinctive voice emerging

22 Nov 2021  |  1 min read

Because we've had a few decades of Lucinda Williams' distinctive, vowel-dragging and often world-weary vocal style, it's hard to remember when she was a more clear and less affected singer, let alone when she was close to cracking a jangling pop single (I Just Wanted to See You So Bad in '88). This album – her second after Ramblin' On My Mind – pulled from the shelf at random... > Read more

King of Hearts

THE LOUVIN BROTHERS: SATAN IS REAL, CONSIDERED (1959): Hellfire and burning tyres

15 Nov 2021  |  4 min read

It's not strictly true that “You can't judge a book by its cover”. If the title is Sex, Strippers and Sleaze and the photo is of naked people cavorting in a dungeon then you can probably guess it isn't essays on the life of St Francis. Okay, that's not exactly judging, but you get the point. Similarly with album covers. Gothic lettering, umlauts and a devil's head tend... > Read more

Dying From Home and Lost

BURN YOUR BRIDGES. BURN YOUR BRIDGES, CONSIDERED (2003): The phlegm and the fury

8 Nov 2021  |  1 min read

As regular readers will know this column happens when I pull an album off the shelf at random and sit down to give it some consideration. It's in the random nature that sometimes it might be an album by a major name (sometimes a lesser album by them, of course), an oddity or a rarity. And then there are albums like . . . well, this one by Burn Your Bridges (Chris and Bob apparently) out... > Read more

Always Been a Good Boy

MC OJ AND RHYTHM SLAVE. WHAT CAN WE SAY?, CONSIDERED (1991): If you wanna rhyme they gotta crop

1 Nov 2021  |  2 min read

Every now and again tribes face off on the field of battle to establish supremacy, or at least to stake their claim on the ground. Turntablists Vs guitar bands; rappers Vs singers; home-recording electronica boffins Vs those slugging it out in clubs and pubs; punks Vs just about everyone . . . When hip-hop arrived there was considerable resistance from mainstream rock artists and... > Read more

Sway Like This

VARIOUS ARTISTS. ART FOR CHART SAKE, CONSIDERED (1986): Straight outta right-field Dunedin

18 Oct 2021  |  3 min read

For many New Zealand artists the Eighties was the decade of EPs, cassettes and compilations. EPs were manageable if you only had a few songs you'd polished up, while tapes allowed more free range. But compilations could be pulled together quickly by someone else and getting your song on one meant you were sometimes rubbing shoulders with fellow travelers or even those you respected. And... > Read more

Love in Vein by Armalite Hour (recorded from vinyl)