Jive Time Turntable

J.J. Cale’s fourth album Troubadour is a mixed stew of everything from country, jazz, arena rock, blues, folk to funk; and that’s just in the first song. He manages to whisper like Nick Drake, growl like John Lee Hooker and wine like Dylan…did I mention he’s an extremely adept guitar player as well? Cale’s songs have been covered by many artists, the most famous being “Cocaine” by Eric Clapton, but here we have the original; stripped down, but somehow fuller, with funky jabs and clumsy power chords. There’s also some simple love songs as well, “Hey Baby” never gets too corny with jazzy horn phrases intertwining with country style chicken-pickin.’ “Travelin’ Light” is an intense study of the driving song with guitars and vibes throughout, pulsing like highway lines in the corner of your eye. This record is about the groove, while brilliant arrangements and clever instrumentation provide the texture, making everything unclassifiable. –ECM Tim

Rush’s first truly definitive release, 2112 kickstarts a run that would vault the power trio to the top of the heap among Canada’s rock exports. Sporting an iconic sleeve and crystal- production values, the album has come to define Rush’s early sound, featuring traditional hard rock retooled with progressive precision, while lyricist Neil Peart’s mix of philosophy and fantasy would ignite the sci-fi dreams of pimply-faced rockers for years to come. The epic title suite covers the whole of side one, and credits it’s dystopian storyline to author Ayn Rand’s Anthem, whose individualist outlook would fuel the lyrical fire of many a Rush classic. The track tells it’s Saturday afternoon story of futuristic rebellion with an interwoven set of songs ranging from the complex “Overture” section and barnstorming “Temples of Syrinx,” through the delicate “Discovery,” tortured “Soliloquy” and tear-down-the-walls “Grand Finale.” The remainder of 2112 in no way pales in comparison to it’s flip side, boasting the fan favorite wacky-tabaccy ode “A Passage to Bangkok,” supernatural imagery of “The Twilight Zone,” and self-reliant rocker “Something For Nothing.” As the critics looked on in dumbfounded disbelief, the sounds of 2112 filled the bedrooms and basements of suburban exiles worldwide, who from then on would live in anticipation of the next time they could lay their comic book ink-stained fingers on a new Rush album. –Ben

The more I listen to Randy Newman, the more I’m impressed. It’s not his voice, even though his nasally vocal has a pleasant, relaxing quality. It’s certainly not the music which on Little Criminals is particularly one paced with a soporific, dozy aspect. It’s not even the lyrics. They can be incisive, biting and sardonic but they also are simple and endearing with a homey feel. No, it’s none of that. What it is, is the subjects he choses to write about and the subtle twists he puts into the stories. Take the title track as a prime example. Start listening to “Little Criminals” and you have this picture of indigant locals determined to rid their town of a small-time drug dealer. But, as the song progresses, you suddenly realise his protagonists are themselves criminals worried about a newcomer taking away their business – or, even better, lowering the tone of the neighbourhood because they’re into armed robbery and consider that a higher calling than drug dealing. Brilliant! Or how about “Rider In The Rain” which subverts the myth of the lone cowboy wandering the plains by reminding us of the wife he’s abandoned and the fact he’s “raped and pillaged” his way to the place he is now. Or “In Germany Before The War” which conjures up a picture of a old guy shutting up his store every day to wander down to the banks of the Rhine to gaze out over the river. Only this guy is (I think) Peter Kurten, a real-life serial killer, preying on defenceless children. And all that’s without mentioning Newman’s dig at psychiatry in “Sigmund Freud’s Impersonation Of Albert Einstein In America” or how appearances can be deceptive with “Jolly Coppers On Parade”. And another example of how satire can backfire in “Small People” which a great many people took offence to because they believed Newman was deadly serious. Although, thinking about it, I suppose it wasn’t technically a backfire as the song became a massive hit! As you would expect there are a couple of tender love songs – “Kathleen (Catholicism Made Easy)” and “I’ll Be Home”. Plus the song “Baltimore” is particularly affecting as I visited the city very recently. I think there must have been a great deal of urban regeneration since that song was written because Newman’s Baltimore is a far bleaker and darker place than I saw. I don’t think Newman will ever release a classic album because of the way he writes. The uncertainty of the does he mean it? is he joking? is unsettling and uncomfortable and makes it impossible to like everything. But I’m equally convinced that, after hearing just two of his albums, there will always be something for me to enjoy on all his others. –Ian