Concubine Rice - Lone Pigeon

Track list:

1. Dad's Blue Danube / Concubine Rice / Your Tie Perhaps?
2. King Creosote's Wineglass Symphony / Sally Bradwell
3. The Road Up To Harlow Square / Been So Long
4. Heaven Come Down / Ancient Hubbard Cow Of Bubbletoop
5. Beatmix Chocbar Rap / Victoria
6. Waterfall / Boats
7. Old Mr. Muncherman / Endless Ballad Of A Riccoco Moon
8. Melonbeard / Lay Me Down / Stars Won't Sleep
9. Lonely Vagabond
10. Oh Catherine
11. Bona Fide World / Johnny & Jodie / Long Way Down
12. The Rainking / Don't Look Back
13. Concubine Rice Reprise / I Am the Secret Unknown
14. I Am the Secret Unknown
15. Untitled

Running time: 60 minutes
Released: 2002

So I think this will be an odd one. Lone Pigeon, aka Gordon Anderson, one of three musical brothers in my library, the others recording as Pip Dylan and my perennial favourite boy, King Creosote.

This is a solo work, though Anderson also recorded with The Beta Band and The Aliens, and I seem to recall it being weirder than his band-based work. There also seems to be no consensus on the proper track list for this album, so I've gone with what matches the titles in my player.

I rather like the simple rhythm that we start with, even if the tinny synth keys aren't exactly musical in nature. Anderson's voice is deep here, and the lyrics are definitely odd, but at the same time there is a simple charm to it all. Is that a recording of an elephant trumpeting?

This morning I have already been thwarted by bad luck once, discovering a slow puncture on the rear wheel of my bike meant I couldn't get out for some exercise before the day got too hot; I lack the necessary bits and pieces for repair so my pathetic attempts at healthy living is stymied again for now. I can well believe that the wineglass symphony is actually what it says on the tin, because the actual sound is a horrible din in places. Thankfully it gives way to more of a tune, and some repeated Beta Band limits. Recycled material is something I see a lot with Lone Pigeon - As an example, Boats crops up here as part of track 6, has it's own place on Schoozzzmmii, and then made it on to Luna by The Aliens too.

This whole album cuts about all over the place, splicing vignettes together into longer tracks. It gives it a very tumbledown air, very random. In places this manifests as some frankly appalling sounds, in others its just slightly odd, and then here and there you get lovely little loops, melodies or vocal lines cutting in and out. Honestly, just from the 4 and a half tracks that have played by now, I half feel I should just cut the lot. But only half. The other half of me loves the oddity, enjoys the arbitrary nature, and finds real beauty hidden in those nicer, more melodic moments.

I'm pretty sure my track list is wrong. Track 6 seems to have the Ancient Hubbard Cow of Bubbletoop at the start. You would have thought in this day and age it would be easy to get a definitive listing but... no. The rest of 6 sounds like it should be Beatmix Chocbar Rap, but no list I see anywhere fuses those two half-tracks together. I think this must be deliberate. Even pausing and going to look for the physical disc and liner notes really doesn't help clear anything up because the presentation there doesn't click with the 15 tracks it ripped to. I don't like the inaccuracy, but at the same time I'm damned if I can be arsed to sort through this any further.

There's a really nice guitar part at the start of what I have as track 7. It doesn't last long before we get into a really low-fi, echoing recording all sharp sounds and over-sustained vocals obscured by fuzz. Completely random, and still no Boats.

Of course.

The very next thing that plays is Boats. At the start of track 8. Only the opening hook though, then we're on to something else.

By this point the constant switcheroo is getting tiring. The interesting bits and lovely melodies are fewer in number than the meandering dross. I have been reluctant to mention it to this point, as someone who has been through (minor) depressive episodes in the past, but I find it hard to escape the thought that this disc might reflect Gordon Anderson's struggles with the mental illness that caused him to drop out of the Betas just as they made their name. The lack of cohesion in particular gives me that impression. Between the muddled track presentation, the skipping between styles, bits of atonal or incidental recordings and frankly nonsense lyrics its a hard one to escape.

Those nice moments are now so rare, and presented in such chaotic context that I'm considering junking the lot. Lonely Vagabond has a nicer touch to it, but of course the player things I'm on Oh Catherine now; only 1 tune out by this point, but still. It's frustrating me enough that I'm seriously considering junking the listen here, and there's still 20 minutes to go, including a 9 minute epic.

Somewhere along the way I have tuned out and got distracted by other things. It seems that might be a sensible thing, but it is contrary to the intent of these listens. I'm really rather disappointed by this. I knew this disc was weird but I hadn't realised just how poor most of it actually is. That said, if it was an endeavour that got Gordon Anderson through tough times and poor mental health then for all I dislike it I am happy that it exists.

I am the Unknown foreshadows the Aliens some, that rockier sound points towards things like I am the Robot Man, and The Happy Song... or rather to itself. This appeared on Astronomy for Dogs as well. The clashing guitars are actually a really welcome change from all that went before but not enough for me to save anything from this hot mess of an album.

Boys Outside - Steve Mason

Track list:

1. Understand My Heart
2. Am I Just a Man
3. The Letter
4. Yesterday
5. Lost & Found
6. I Let Her In
7. Stress Position
8. All Come Down
9. Boys Outside
10. Hound on My Heel

Running time: 40 minutes
Released: 2010

Blimey, is this really 6 years old? Time flies. I really liked this album when it was released but have listened to it a lot less frequently of late. Looking forward to this one.

Mason's multiple personalities have surfaced before on this blog (see Black Gold), but this effort apparently followed a serious depressive episode, which might be one of the reasons I connected with it. It has many, many echoes of The Beta Band, ditches the hardest edges of electro from Black Affair, and instead crafts very approachable songs. Am I Just a Man is a pretty perfect example of this - radio friendly rhythm, poppy tones, but with a darkness lurking in the bass. It fades in influence compared to the rather uplifting vocal and the overall message of the song is a pretty positive one despite the topic. Its a song I identify with on a couple of levels.

I missed out on doing this yesterday - time vanished on me - and somehow I have lost an hour or so this morning too. My week off is almost over, just the regular weekend to go now. The Letter continues the dark and light theme. This drops the electronica for percussion and strings and a more subdued tone. The vocal is muted, regretful, with a crescendo of support in the chorus. Its a break up song, and could be accused of being a little bit mopey except for the strings which impart a roundness to the sound that suggests that its not being seen as the end of the world. I have always liked a little dark undertone, particularly when it has something to contrast. The first four tracks all see Mason's vocal as insubstantial, soft and floating over the soundscapes he has created for them. They feel light in contrast to the lurking threats implicit in the construction of that support. The light mostly wins out. Yesterday is the weakest track so far, the blocky nature of the call/response in the composition feeling a bit... tacky.

Lost & Found was always a favourite, though I never clocked just quite how black the lyrics were. Blackness is everywhere here - from the album art which had no identifying content (I seem to recall that the back of the jewel case was similarly plain, but white) to the themes to the monsters lurking in threatening aural space. Again the chorus cuts through this though - the keys and that almost ethereal vocal provide a contrast. The light touch on the singing is a high point, exposing a little vulnerability and a voice that has a lived in quality - we'll see later when it is not quite so softly applied, I think.

I Let Her In strips away the percussive base that has supported most of the tracks. A guitar melody - simple and looping - is the only support for that almost disembodied voice until a roiling darkness swirls and rises from beneath in a subtle soundtrack-like way. It works better than I remember. We then hit Stress Position which I recall as the weakest track on the disc. This is back to full electro beat; its just a little dull. I thought Mason's voice was applied more forcefully on this track, and I suppose it has a little more body, a breathiness to the delivery, but not a harder edge which is what I misremembered. Actually the whole track is just toned down from my recollection of it, and it feels a little empty, all over the place and bland as a result.

Ethereal Mason is back for All Come Down, a tune which has an awful lot of empty space, like a gas expanding to fill a container at very low pressure. The composition is very sparse. There's a vocal backing, a medium paced rhythm and, until we hit a crescendo that is about it. When it does rise, there is a harmonic effect, a ringing that seems to help the sound expand more. My ear is not sure which thread to follow even though there aren't that many separate strands here. It feels like the song has built a sphere of noise around me and I am cocooned until the point a long fade-out begins. We then get the title track, which has a nice acoustic guitar riff carrying it, but lyrically it wavers a bit; it seems to be Mason drawing a line between his present and his past - the whole album in a nutshell. I have to say tough that whilst that riff is soft and soothing, the track as a whole is... lacking something.

My favourite track on this disc was always the last one; Hound on My Heel - the title says it all. The pacing of the track, the rhythm, the hushed delivery of the lyrics, the slow build of the support. The contrast in the chorus, the threat in the subject matter. It all hangs together in a way that has an immediate appeal to me. There is darkness here, but it is implicitly behind, not ahead, and the keys which lend the light are the dominant theme by the end.  As it closes, I don't think the album holds up as well as I would have liked, but the strong finish has me smiling at the end anyway. Its not bad at all, just a little flat in places. I have a less visceral connection to it these days too, which probably explains the distancing.

Black Gold - King Biscuit Time

Track list:

1. C I Am 15
2. Izzum
3. Impossible Ride
4. Kwangchow
5. Lefteye
6. All Over You
7. The Way You Walk
8. Paperhead
9. Rising Son
10. Metal Biscuit

Running time: 39 minutes
Released: 2006

What to say about this as an introduction? Start with the obvious, I guess. King Biscuit Time was a moniker used by Steve Mason - I think of all the artists in my library, this guy shows up under more names than anyone else having been with The Beta Band, and also released under his given name and as Black Affair. Talk about an identity crisis?

I remember really loving this a while back - hard to believe it is still less than a decade old actually - and  it only just missed out on selection to go into the wallet of CDs I keep in the car when I last changed up the bundle. However I do wonder if an extra few years may not have been kind to it or its place in my affections. Time to see!

This is my second listen of the day because I am too braindead to do anything else but feel a desire to not play games or watch TV... I am left with music. I toyed with the idea of messing about doing this as an Audiosurf log of the album for kicks but at the end of the day that would mean no comment on the listening itself. I am starting with a digression because the opening track is not really worth anything else. Every bit as weak as I remembered, C I Am 15 is not representative of the rest - or such is my memory. Bland rhythms and a guest rapper are not really what I was buying this disc for and they won't be missed.

Izzum is really where it starts. Pretty simple musically, it is the vocal style that makes it work - fast, peppered lines with barely a breath between them chanted as much as anything. Husky, framed by minimal music but given an ethereal, echoing quality. The sounds that are placed alongside this remain low key, and in contrast. Bass dark, treble rare but very light when it emerges. For what it's worth I'm already glad I didn't include this in the new selection for the car but not because I dislike this piece, its just not good driving music, and the album is on the short side anyway. The final rites of Izzum are a little repetitive, alas not knowing when to end is a very common fault in music. What picks up is a weird spacey sound, again structured so that Mason's voice fills the consciousness. I find it interesting how someone who doesn't really sing much has constructed everything around the vocal, so much so that if you took it away you would wonder what the hell the point of the tune was (as I do because the vocal ends early on in Impossible Ride). It isn't even as if the lyrics are stunning or deep. No, the appeal is all in the charisma with which they are imparted, a warm texture that wraps you up.

If I'm honest, the only reason I was considering Black Gold for the car was because my memory of the next track is so damn good. Kwangchow is electric, vital and so, so shonky. It really isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but I love it to bits. I suspect because it is very much like a misplaced Beta Band track in that it would fit right in on Heroes to Zeroes. Listening now, the track is nothing like as strong as my memory of it would imply but it still has something intangible that makes it just work. Lefteye starts with what sounds like a Western theme, something about the guitar loop that makes you think of dusty savanna and cacti, I guess it is the slightly uneven cadence that speaks to horses hooves. Again the appeal of the track is all in Mason's voice; even if the compositions aren't genius, how they are shaped for his singing really is. The synergy between the rhythms, melodies and vocal is as good as anything I can think of, the voice integrated seamlessly into a cocoon of music that feels empty and unnecessary whenever he is not signing.

I find myself not really remembering these tunes well; it's clearly been a while since I listened to any in earnest. All Over You is, after Kwangchow, perhaps the one I recall most clearly, a low key and simple guitar loop over a basic percussion but it manages to be catchy and affecting at the same time. Again, not a masterpiece by any means but a pretty little break up song nonetheless. This is rattling through, but then it is only a 40 minute album, and I had 2 tracks amount to more than that last week so... The Way You Walk takes until the first verse is delivered before it really kicks in. There is something in the roll of this tune that makes it work. Again here the elements that have been shunted together to produce the track are deceptively simple and the charm is all in the combination, with the chorus being particularly effective. I should detest its love-y dove-y tone and schmaltz but yet somehow I find myself swaying in time as I type. It's funny how things can make us see (or hear) the same thing very differently, eh? If this was anyone else I would run a mile... and yet.

Paperhead is more like the material on Mason's later offering, Boys Outside. That album is better than this one but I wouldn't call this track as effective as the last few... I think because the vocal feels further removed from the music here that at any point since the guest rapper muttered his last on track 1. Its all fairly low key, the brief interjection of a repeating guitar aside, before it ends rather abruptly. I find myself more glad with every minute of every track that I did not waste a wallet slot on this CD but I have little desire to get rid of anything other than C I Am 15 either. Rising Son gives me cause to question that statement as it fails to deliver anything interesting whilst providing what is quite a pleasant little loop to sway gently along with, and then we hit the final track. Metal Biscuit has a more electro sound, and is a short little outro more than anything else but its a bright little finish, upbeat and happy.

So, it's nothing like as good as I remember. Full of tracks that would be dull by anyone else. Made as a vehicle for a singer who doesn't sing much and yet... its also really nice when considering how it sits with Mason's other work. It clearly bridges the Betas to Boys Outside and even hints at the darker themed content of Pleasure Pressure Point in places.

Beware - Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

Track list:

1. Beware Your Only Friend
2. You Can't Hurt Me Now
3. My Life's Work
4. Death Final
5. Heart's Arms
6. You Don't Love Me
7. You Are Lost
8. I Won't Ask Again
9. I Don't Belong To Anyone
10. There Is Something I Have To Say
11. I Am Goodbye
12. Without Work, You Have Nothing
13. Afraid Ain't Me

Running time: 45 minutes
Released: 2009

I have a couple of albums from Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. I am not sure what drove me to pick them up or what I made of them when I did, but it is probably connected to a brief yearning for Americana. This is more discovery than anything else, then, for I cannot have listened to many of these tracks very often.

It opens with a really appealing guitar, a fairly simple loop but it immediately taps into my buoyant morning mood. I get older today and am not working, a lazy day of listening to the cricket and writing up my last RPG session ahead of me and I am squeezing this in first thing. The song uses a harmony nicely, the combination of sounds, voices and words is slightly messy but in a compelling way that invites listening, rather than the cacophonous sense that was evident on The Beta Band. It is a much stronger, brasher start than I was expecting, as my preconception was that Bonnie 'Prince' Billy was all fairly stripped back.

More like You Can't Hurt Me Now, in fact. A somewhat trembling voice, and a sparse construction echoing the wide open spaces and big sky landscapes that typify Americana. I could imagine this refrain drifting over ranch-land in the days of the frontier. It could be soundtrack to set the scene for a game of Dogs in the Vineyard. Hard to say where my appreciation for this drifting, stylised sound came from. I am pretty sure that my first conscious exposure to "modern" Americana was Willard Grant Conspiracy but I have no clue how I stumbled across them. Anyhow, from there LastFM came into play and threw me up some other suggestions. Actually, thinking about it, I might have that the wrong way around; it may have been LastFM throwing up suggestions based on Grand Drive.

That's not important anyway. What is more important is that like an idiot I forgot to switch WMP off shuffle so actually the listen has not been in running order, aside Beware Your Only Friend. Bugger. I don't have time to reset and restart, so I am going to have to continue. I am relatively sure that a) I will still only get each track once (repeat is not on) and b) that I am unlikely to dislike anything here enough to want it out, and even if I do I can respond to that immediate dislike.

What gives me that feeling? Well for a start I am in a good mood and approaching the listen in relaxed fashion which helps, but more pertinently everything I have heard thus far - about a third through by time - has been interesting. There is a discordance in some of it, but it is very controlled and deliberate, adding an edge but held in check to make it an interesting one - this applies most consistently to the vocal harmonies between Will Oldham (the man behind the moniker) and his backing singers, but I think I hear some in the jangling guitar vs. the structural strings too.

OK, so shuffle is no good. I have a repeat. It has occurred to me that I can use LastFM to work out what I have and haven't heard though. That second paragraph refers to Without Work, You Have Nothing, by the by - though it is fair to say You Can't Hurt Me Now also conforms to the preconceptions I had of the artist now that I am directing this playthrough. The only piece that does not, perhaps, is the xylophone, which feels out of place amongst the gently swaying countrified plod. Plod - its not a positive word really is it? I think it fits here - the pace is slow to warrant it - but without the dragging, uninteresting connotations. Somehow it plods positively.

My Life's Work seems to hybrid the brasher sounds, largely delivered by the lead guitar with the general pleasantry and reservations of the album as a whole. It forms a compelling track of ups and downs, and then throws a curveball by introducing a mouth organ or other blown instrument in the more orchestrated sections - an element that has been missing to this point, or at least had passed me by. I am finding that I prefer the songs that have a bit more depth of sound to them - contrasting the typical trappings of Americana with a richer, louder centre - but still enjoying the more standard fare.

Its funny, I have a feeling that on a general library-wide shuffle then if I was at the keys I probably wouldn't let any of these tracks get started before hitting the skip. I am beginning to suspect that is a massive mistake. There is something here for any mood. As you might expect, the sparser tracks would suit quieter moods better, but there is some proper joy here too. You Don't Love Me brings a trumpet in for another new sound and this really works for me - I have been a sucker for a well used trumpet since forever.

Two tracks left to go. I am still enjoying the music, but with an eye on the clock I am willing it to end before it reasonably can as I want to get the radio on and bring up TMS. I am forgoing the first 5 minutes of build up to the 4th Ashes test for this - no play, you understand. I wouldn't have countenanced that. I Won't Ask Again is very different from the rest of the songs here. Many of the structures are similar but the overall effect has a completely different tone, in a way that I wish I could articulate, but find myself failing to.

I skip to the end now, the last track being the only one unplayed following the shuffle mix-up. It again has a different tone, a bit darker without being oppressive in the verse, bright in the chorus. A flute or similar soaring over the general tumult. It is a different sort of big sky music - this is not drifting out over open plains but appealing to the heavens in a concentrated burst and would not be out of place on a film soundtrack somehow. I think Afraid Ain't Me is probably my second favourite track here after the opener which really set the tone for this listen by breaking my expectations first up.

I'm happy about this one, finally validating a purchase of several years back. I doubt I will run out and buy more of Oldham's work - unless I am similarly impressed by Lie Down in the Light - but it is a nice little nugget to have on the shelf.

The Beta Band - The Beta Band

Track list:

1. The Beta Band Rap
2. It's Not Too Beautiful
3. Simple Boy
4. Round The Bend
5. Dance O'er The Border
6. Broken Up a Ding Dong
7. Number 15
8. Smiling
9. The Hard One
10. The Cow's Wrong

Running time: 62 minutes
Released: 1999

The Betas are interesting in that of the four albums I own two are absolute favourites, and two I never listen to. At all. This disc is in the latter category and I struggle to recognise more than the name of any track here. I wonder what I will make of it when forced to pay some attention, instead of being able to skip to something from The Three EPs or Heroes to Zeroes instead.

It opens with a pretty awful cacophony, dull hook, no harmony in the attempted harmonisation. The Beta Band Rap gets better when that all dies down and a more pleasant loop and beat replace the background. The overall impression still isn't great, and the track is more an almalgamation of different mini-tunes than a coherent whole. It is fair to say I do not like this opening and I can only hope that it gets better.

It's Not Too Beautiful is an immediate improvement. A more considered rhythm sets the pattern. Whilst I suspect it will get old over the 8 minute duration, it starts as fairly catchy. The biggest initial improvement is in the vocal, Steve Mason's delivery really working. Alas, the track goes to pot as it apes a Bond theme in structure and leaves me with the feeling that smashing tracks together might be an unwelcome thread through this disc. The more enjoyable structure returns after the experiment filters out, but alas it might be back as a chorus, since it contained the title as a lyric. The track just does not have enough to it to justify its duration and frankly I am bored of it long before it finishes. Technically it doesn't even finish, as I somehow manage to go back to a previous playlist, interrupting this listen momentarily before I skip to Simple Boy.

This track is stripped back some. Vocal and beats with minimal support; it should not work but it manages to by cleaving to something else: brevity. Mason's voice is another one that really works for me, whether on the Beta Band work or his own. His delivery appeals to a degree that allows me to forgive a lot. Alas, so far it is asking too much to forgive most of these tracks. I am stunned at how bad this is when held up against Dry the Rain, Needles in My Eye, Assessment etc. - tracks that pre- and post-date this rubbish. 

Its not that there aren't nice bits and pieces in here. Some of the hooks are very classic Betas and the vocals are generally a beacon of hope in the darkness, but the lack of vision and the impression that someone basically stuck a recording mic on a session of them pissing about during downtime then released it as a produced album is impossible to escape. In that regard it reminds me of the Ben Folds Five track For Those of Y'all Who Wear Fanny Packs from Naked Baby Photos. None of that would be so bad if it wasn't a whole hour in length. I am finding this uncomfortable, I don't like writing so persistently negatively about a group that I am very fond of.

Alas I am struggling to find anything positive in what I am hearing to address that tonal problem. I am seriously considering pausing the playback and breaking this up because it is so uninspired. Fingers crossed that there is something a bit brighter unearthed soon.

As I type that, Broken Up a Ding Dong starts (some confusion as to whether this should be a one-word title, but LastFM says no so it isn't here; source disc was no help at all due to crappy fonts). This tune is a little better. Handclap percussion and funky hooks remind my oddly of Rodrigo y Gabriela which is a pleasant change. Alas I find that it repeats a little too long, and when I say a little, I find myself wishing it stopped at half distance because the hook wore thin and there isn't enough interest brought in to keep the good vibe going. It does change up a little bit in the second half, but ends up sounding like the recording of a carnival crowd, steel drums and whistles to the fore. Ultimately it is another weak track. I have only liked one so far, and that is the 2 minutes of the 62 total runtime. Oh dear.

Another reasonable pattern establishes itself early in Number 15. Alas the album conforms to its own larger pattern of letting it run too long. Thankfully though there is a bit more mitigation here in the form of the chimes and other background sounds - screaming monkeys?! - that are thrown into the mix. Whilst not all of these sounds are nice they do manage to break up the repetition to an extent. Not enough for me to want to keep the track, mind, but it is an improvement of some of what came before in this aspect.

Three tracks to go, I must be nearly home... no, lengthwise I'm about 60% through. Smiling is 8 minutes and uses a vocal sample I am sure I have heard elsewhere... one of the tracks on The Three EPs perhaps? Or maybe its just the style that is very similar and it is a newly recorded chant. This track is less of an offender than many of its predecessors in terms of being annoying. Whilst the munchkin-like aspect to the vocal might grate a little, and the structure is very similar to earlier tracks, this one seems to offend less with its repetition of patterns that are frankly not as interesting as they might be. I don't know if this is because there is a touch more musicality in the crafting of the loops, a bit more depth or what. I am not saying I like the song, but I dislike it less than what has come before, even with its length - I have reached the 6 minute mark and whilst it could do with finishing, it is not overstaying its welcome in the way Broken Up a Ding Dong did so egregiously.

The Hard One is the longest single track on the album at 10 minutes and change. It is, or at least starts, softer than what has been before. Less reliant on percussion. I very much doubt it will last its distance without doing something to annoy me at this point, but it is much more promising than I was expecting before it started. Spacey piano was just getting going when it is replaced with the clip-clop of a return to the reliance on percussive instruments (not surprising given how many of the group were drummers I guess!) in an unwelcome intrusion. The interest lasted about 2 minutes. The whole thing virtually fades out on 4 minutes 30 and rebuilds from nothing. The key loop it starts with could have led to something interesting but it simply repeats for too long and loses interest while some bassy rumbles join, these too fading out in favour of something else. This is just incoherent again, which is more or less exactly what I expected the track to be. Awful. Just as I type that word, the soft piano comes back and the track returns to something like the opening that I rather liked. Alas, but for the 5 minutes in the middle this tune would be redeemable. Oh well.

We end with The Cow's Wrong, which I really hope is a surrealist reference to an animal opinion (quite possibly so given the off-the-wall nature of this disc) rather than a misogynistic declaration. Lyrics refer to cows in fields first, so I hope that answers that one, but it's not conclusive. I am actually finding it hard to follow the lyrics as I try to discern the conclusive answer - the effects applied to Mason's voice combined with the supporting structure make certain words hard to pull out. The song is just dull mind, so I don't feel like I am missing out on much,

As it winds down, I am left to reflect on the waste of an hour. I am stunned by how bad this disc is, especially coming on the heels of the Three EPs. Yeah, there are a couple of really bad tracks on that collection, but there are also several great ones. Here there is one pretty decent 2 minute experiment and an hour of utter tripe. At least they came back from this. Heroes to Zeroes is awesome, so I am hoping that Hot Shots II is not this bad.

Astronomy for Dogs - The Aliens

Track list:

1. Setting Sun
2. Robot Man
3. I Am the Unknown
4. Tomorrow
5. Rox
6. Only Waiting
7. She Don't Love Me No More
8. Glover
9. Honest Again
10. The Happy Song
11. Caravan

Running time: 71 minutes
Released: 2007

The Aliens. What the Beta Band did not become, but some of them did next. No Steve Mason here, but rather Lone Pigeon is back to front up. My recollection of this one is that it is a bit of a mess with the odd high point worth celebrating, but I am looking at the length with a sense of trepidation. I doubt I will have all 71 minutes intact.

I am starting this listen tired. It's just prior to 9pm and I wish I was in bed. I made that mistake yesterday and managed to get 3 1/2 hours of sleep before waking up and being up the rest of the night. Joy. So I am trying to push back bedtime to something more usual. Setting Sun does not go kindly with this mindset, jangly and loud - very retro. It is not a song for a tired man, my state of mind makes it feel dull somehow though... like it has a lot of body but no soul. Big sounds fall flat, the riffier bits are more successful but still lacking something. I feel it would be better as a shorter track (its 5 minutes) where the punch would be more effective. It loses strength as it drags on. There is a hint of a less good Assessment about it if you sniff hard enough.

Robot Man is all trippy sounds - this feels like something the Betas could have done, a feeling only strengthened when the keyboard appears. The rhythms are not necessarily all that, but the other lines hang together surprisingly well given the song is basically "I'm [I am] the Robot Man" repeated ad nauseam.  This cohesion is also present in the next song, similarly stunted lyrically, though this is threatened when it gathers a big sound (and expands lyrically) rather than concentrating on meshing the various odds and ends together. It ends up being pretty dull after a good start - especially as they take to repeating "We are The Aliens" a lot as it closes. "I know that you chump, it's right there on the cover!"

Tomorrow reminds me more of Lone Pigeon's solo work - a bit more stripped back. I am half surprised not to find it on the work I have of his. This is nice, diverting rather than engaging, but very easy to end up nodding your head to. There is more of a song there, a more recognisable structure, but it suffers from overrun and by the time it starts drawing down I am bored. If I called Robot Man trippy, the start to Rox beats it out for that. However after the awful beginning the rhythm it adopts if surprisingly infectious - the touchpoint that immediately springs to mind is Woke Up This Morning by Alabama 3 (insert unshared anecdote here). The track veers all over the place - messy is a good term for it - but it does maintain a neat beat and an edge to it that keeps it interesting. It would never become a favourite but I like it more than I was anticipating.

So obviously that signals the time to throw in some really dull, repetitive guitar riff. That is disappointing, and whilst the track builds a little past that Only Waiting is a sharp reminder that this album is not of consistent quality. The very fast vocal is the only point of interest, and mostly that is because it masks the backing which remains consistently unpleasant. On the plus side, it gives way to the nicest melody on the album, the keys that introduce She Don't Love Me No More are a nice touch, and the structure of this song is a tuneful interlude where the vocal gives hints of Pip Dylan (not a massive surprise, as that is one of Lone Pigeon's two musical brothers) - enough that I have to check to see whether he contributed backing vocals here (not that I see credited). The song itself it pleasant enough but there just is not quite enough to it - certainly not for its full length. It should have closed at the 4 minute mark as the vocal fell away. Instead we get an extended outro, then the keys appear to take up a new melody, with string backing... its all a bit unnecessary, the song already ended.

A nice punchy beat and chord progression introduces Glover - the kind of thing that works really well for 10 seconds but when it continues unabated and does not get much accompaniment can start to really drag. Guess what happens here? It persists for too long anyway. It softens over the middle of the piece and there is a little bit more going on as it is replaced but much of what comes in is experimental balls. The track lacks structure, cohesion. Instead it plays with strange sounds and samples for sounds sake. FOR EIGHT MINUTES! Could really have done without that, guys...

Nearing the end, I think? Well yes, but there is still 16 minutes of Caravan to come. Gulp.

Honest Again is a poorly realised track - it half feels like a reprise of She Don't Love Me No More even thought it is not (actually that is part of what makes Caravan so long). Blandness abounds... but it does well to clear the aural palette for The Happy Song which is just deliriously silly. My abiding memory of this track is of seeing King Creosote (no surprise there, because KC is the other musical brother) play it live and a whole crowd jumping like loons - its the only thing to do when you are happy right? It is not a complex song but there is something infectious about it; the uplifting quality is definitely enhanced by the simple repetition of the word "happy" - hear, sing, think, be. It smacks of self affirmation after Lone Pigeon's troubles with mental health, but whether that was actually the muse for the song is another matter.

Caravan has begun. Boring start. Not very musical loop, dull rhythm, odd vocal skit. It has plenty of time to build (and I am sure it will) but it is not a promising start. It meanders along, and individually some of the sounds that contribute to the way are alright, but as a whole? No, it is a total jumble of incoherence. I am not even bothering to write anything because it is just so devoid of form, purpose and quality that there is nothing to say. An awful way to close the disc. The reprise appears for the last couple of minutes or so, which means there is 12 minutes of crud and 2 of silence. And I listened to it all.

Yeah - on reflection this is getting cut down a bit, but nothing like as much as I thought I might reduce it. There are some neat songs on this disc but there is no consistency of quality so you get some utter dross too. I liked them enough at the tie that I bought The Alien's second album, Luna, too, but we shall have to wait a year or two to find out what I think of that.

Anutha Zone - Dr John

Track list:

1. Zonata
2. Ki Ya Gris Gris
3. Voices In My Head
4. Hello God
5. John Gris
6. Party Hellfire
7. I Don't Wanna Know
8. Anutha Zone
9. I Like Ki Yoka
10. The Olive Tree
11. Soulful Warrior
12. The Stroke
13. Sweet Home New Orleans

Running time: 53 minutes
Released: 1998

I think this was the second or third Dr John album I bought - but the first one that was newly released after I knew about him. I can hear several of the tracks in my mind's ear even now, despite not listening to it a lot in the last decade. Should be a nice one.

There is a good cover of a John Martyn classic, a guest appearance from Paul Weller, guest percussion from Steve Mason and, less excitingly, the main face of Supergrass playing guitar somewhere too - all according to Discogs. The Weller appearances I remembered, the others not so much. To be fair, I did not know who Steve Mason was or why I should like him back in 1998, even if I might have been passingly familiar with The Beta Band by name (another alumnus also appears).

We start with an into, bluesy piano to set the scene, which dies away to yield to a funky, riffy, rhythm. Ki Ya Gris Gris plays on the image of the Night Tripper, the early incarnation of the Dr John persona, more than most of these tracks I think.  It has a soft, slightly muffled vocal, but the percussion, and the high-strung guitar hiding behind it, really take you into the Louisiana swamps, though given the supporting cast of UK musicians...

The ambiance continues into Voices In My Head, a fug hanging over the song; this is the Gaz Coombs number - thankfully he doesn't sing. We then go into two tracks that are much more spoken than sung, stories set to blues, albeit ones with choruses. I am listening now (the second today) because trying to nap this afternoon did not work. Into the second half of Sunday and I still do not feel recovered from the week before; that does not bode well. Tried to motivate myself to get outside and do some overdue garden clearance (dropped leaves and dead heads) but despite the day being unexpectedly bright, the perma-wetness of the ground at this time of year ultimately persuaded me out of it. Late autumn and winter are just so... demotivating.

There is actually more to John Gris than my memory would have said, and actually there is more of a sung lilt to the vocal than I recalled too. It is a dark and moody piece, not easy listening; it has lost a fair bit of the bluesy sounds, but has a swagger to it. I am a little relieved as it ends however, to a much more guitar-driven piece (the first Weller number). The harmonies on the chorus work here, but the one verse could do without mentioning rape (as something never done, but still). The track is not as strong as I remember it and I find myself wanting it to end to hear I Don't Wanna Know. Martyn's version - without the I and colloquial spelling -  is superior (of course!) but here Dr John and Weller combine nicely. It is pretty much a straight cover, with a slightly richer arrangement and less fragility. This was my introduction to the song though and I still like the work done here. The swampy influence comes back in with the title track, big band blues but flavoured by the southern states. There is a majesty to the track, a distance between the base (not bass) and the brass which lends the song a style that sits well with me.

Back in the day, the spiritual heart of this album was towards the end, with The Olive Tree and Soulful Warrior, I wonder how they stand up to modern scrutiny. If the first few bars are anything to go by, quite well in the former case. The percussion is infectious and the thrumming guitar to build the background offset the vocal nicely - again spoken more than sung, a story of the ages. The chorus builds, adds in some simple horns; it is a comfortable pattern that I feel I could relax into (or could, were I not folded over the laptop keyboard). Once established, the song plays out to the pattern, though the second chorus is arranged differently to the first and then annoyingly fades out in a fashion that I have always disliked. Learn to write endings (not always a fair criticism)! Soulful Warrior also stands up nicely. Similarly engaging percussion, and a riff to go with it build our platform again. The pattern only breaks for the choruses and bridges. In another context I might call it boring and repetitive, but here it is used to back up a rich vocal which takes on the task of interesting the listener instead. Comfort tunes indeed.

That applies equally to the final two tracks. It may just be my reawakened familiarity with these songs, or it might be the good doctor's fine penmanship but I get a strong feeling of being wrapped in a blanket and warmed against the closing darkness. I am happy I chose to listen to this now, even if the reasons for that choice were not positive. We close with Sweet Home New Orleans - a richly orchestrated track, keys horns and percussion woven around each other to build the intro, fading for the first verse, then picking up with a slightly different syncopated rhythm. The song just has a really good roll to it, building, fading, combining, swinging and smiling its way through 6 minutes.

Unfortunately it ends the album by fading into nothingness rather than building to the big ending that the tune deserved, but this disappointment does not outweigh the positive sense I got from the album as a whole. I recall this being a favourite after I picked it up, and I could well imagine it making it into the car for accompaniment to commutes to come as a disc worth revisiting.