I'm writing this column on a rainy early January afternoon. By the time you read it, it will be rainy February. Now is not the time for introspection: ruminations on catalogue numbers of Racey singles or reflections on rare Marmalade Spanish picture sleeves. It is the time for a gonzo appreciation of Wales' finest man from Wales: John Cale.
I love John Cale. I think I love him more than Lou Reed these days (looks upwards, crosses self, whispers, Sorry, Lou). Everyone loves Paris 1919, don't they? And that marvellous trio of boozy coked-up Island albums. The paranoid masterpiece that is Fear. The histrionic even-more paranoid Helen Of Troy (featuring our hero in a straightjacket on the cover) and Slow Dazzle. Cale wearing a ski-mask on the cover looking not unlike Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Who would start a song with the immortal couplet, "Bugger in the short-sleeves fucked my wife, did it quick then split"? That would be John Cale on Guts (from Slow Dazzle). Who would dare to reference Sharon Tate (Leaving It Up To You) just five years after her murder? Incidentally, the bugger in the short-sleeves was Cale's early 70s playmate Kevin Ayers, who a few lines (and possibly "lines") later gets referred to as "parrot-shit". Cool.
Bu hikaye Record Collector dergisinin March 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Record Collector dergisinin March 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
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In the late 80s, Shelleyan Orphan made rarefied, ravishing, precious (both meanings) baroque pop, all chamber quartet accompaniment and literary reference points, like an 18th century Cocteau Twins.
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Breaking new ground for black music in Britain from his teenage years in Matumbi in the early 70s, Dennis Bovell went on to become one of reggae's most highly regarded producers, helping popularise lovers rock. He also played a pivotal role in post-punk's experimental incorporation of dub influences on records like The Slits' Cut and The Pop Group's Y. As new compilation, Sufferer Sounds, reaches back to his early days to compile some of his best early dub plates, Lois Wilson gets the full backstory from one of British music's most enduring forces.
FRENZY REUNITED
Swindon's finest musical export, XTC were also one of the most quietly influential British bands, setting a template for Britpop while pioneering a brand of left-field guitar pop – from herky-jerky invention to consummate craftsmanship – that has spawned many imitators.
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David Bowie is one of the most venerated musicians ever. But even he had his bad periods. For many, 1984 remains the nadir of his Phil Collins” phase; an artistic/sartonial/tonsorial disaster area. But was it really that awful? Forty years on, Matt Phillips explores Bowie's so-called annus horribilis.
