Playlist February

• Dido—Still on My Mind (upcoming, 2019)
• Tim Bowness—Flowers at the Scene (upcoming, 2019)
• Patty Griffin—Patty Griffin (upcoming 2019)
• The Mute Gods—Aethiests and Believers (upcoming 2019)
• Jessica Pratt—Quiet Signs (2019)
• Rustin' Man—Drift Code (2019)
• Rival Sons—Feral Roots (2019)
• The Pineapple Thief—Dissolution (2018)
• Father John Misty—Pure Comedy (2017)
• Marillion—A Sunday Night Above the Rain (2014)
• Sarah Jarosz—Build Me Up from Bones (2013)
• Pink Floyd—More: Original Soundtrack (1969)

Mark Hollis: A life (1955-2019)

The thing about rock stars is that we somehow expect them to live forever. We often forget that these musical gods are mere mortals. So when they die, we're seldom prepared for the news when it comes.

On Monday afternoon, I saw a tweet on Twitter that Mark Hollis of Talk Talk had died. It wasn't an official announcement—it was something more like a rumor. It seemed hard to believe. He was only 64 years old. But, since Hollis quit his professional music career 18 years ago, he's been so elusive, his life so private, that it's almost as if he had completely disappeared off the planet. No one knew anything about what he'd been up to. I imagine that Hollis was one of the inspirations for Nick Hornby's excellent novel Juliet, Naked (recently made into a movie) about a fictitious musician who mysteriously packed it all in and hadn't been heard of, let alone spotted, for decades.

By all accounts, Hollis was quite humble and quite ordinary in his down-to-earth nature (he wasn't the sort of exotic alien species of rock star like Bowie or Prince). Yet his disappearance and disinterest meant that fans bestowed upon him a mythos, a certain mystique—qualities that also apply to Talk Talk's utterly timeless music. During all those years since Hollis had exited the public square, I held out a faint hope that he'd pull a Kate Bush and announce a surprise shows as a solo artist or with a reunited Talk Talk. I would have flown cross-Atlantic for those shows, just as I did with Kate Bush. (Btw, few people know this but Hollis and Bush briefly tried writing in the studio together in the 1990s but it didn't work out. A shame. That tantalizing partnership remains one of music's great what ifs?) But Hollis was the rare artist who had little interest in returning for a cash-in reunion, writing a memoir, or producing a comeback album for the Spotify generation.

So when word of Hollis's death spread on Twitter on Monday and the confirmations began to arrive, I sat down at my laptop and spent three feverish hours writing a lengthy obituary/appreciation for Under the Radar magazine. (The piece doesn't flow and breathe the way I would've liked but it was a rush job to get something up on the website.)

it was a sad moment for an ardent fan such as myself. The finality of the selfish wish for a return of some sort so that we could have more of his remarkable gift.

...But he'd already given us so much. He endured a torturous experience in making of The Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock. (Things were so bad that engineer Phill Brown's wife told him that if he did that if he ever spent that many months locked in a studio again that he could move out.)

So it's best to be grateful to Hollis for those beautiful works he created for Talk Talk and as a solo artist. They include five albums that don't sound dated and whose qualities ensure that they will remain timeless masterpieces.

This week I've swapped emails with several musicians who were as deeply affected by Mark's passing as I was. We all know how special he was. I also emailed Toby Benjamin who runs the Spirit of Talk Talk fansite on Facebook. Several years ago, Toby spearheaded a beautiful and informative book titled Spirit of Talk Talk, cowritten by music writer Chris Roberts (read his tribute piece here) and longtime Talk Talk visual artist James Marsh. (I also contributed some interviews about Talk Talk with Elbow's Guy Garvey, Robert Plant, Glenn Phillips, Richard Barbieri, and David Torn). Toby also put together a Talk Talk tribute album featuring King Creosote, White Lies, Zero 7, Jayson Little, Turin Brakes, Goldheart Assembly, Joan As Police Woman, Duncan Sheik, Nils Frahm, The Acorn, Alan Wilder, and Linton Kwesi Johnson. (Apparently Hollis's favorite track on it was a classical music version of April 5th by Matthius Vogt Trio.)

In my email to Toby, I expressed how much it would have meant to Mark Hollis if he could have seen all the love and affection in the tributes to him. Toby responded, "Mark wouldn't care about any of it. Its a nice thought but he was really beyond all praise and adulation of any kind. He did it and moved on."

Fans such as Toby and myself will find it harder to move on. Thank you, Mark, for creating transcendent art that has affected so many of us inside the most intimate part of our souls.

Playlist January

• Tim Bowness—Flowers at the Scene (upcoming, 2019)
• Mercury Rev—The Delta Sweete Revisited (upcoming, 2019)
• Crippled Black Phoenix—The Great Escape (upcoming, 2019)
• Toni Childs—The Vault (2019)
• Steve Gunn—The Unseen In Between (2019)
• Steve Mason—About the Light (2019)
• You Tell Me—You Tell Me (2019)
• Deerhunter—Why Hasn't Everything Disappeared? (2019)
• Marillion—All One Tonight: Live at the Royal Albert Hall (2018)
• Shearwater—Low; Heroes; Lodger (live cover versions 2018)
• Rush—Working Men (live compilation, 2009)
• David Bowie—Never Let Me Down (1987)
• Brian Eno and Harold Budd—The Pearl (1984)

Playlist December

• Robben Ford—Purple House (2018)
• Steven Wilson—Weekender 221115 (2018)
• Joe Bonamassa—Redemption (2018)
• YES feat. Anderson, Rabin, Wakeman—Live at the Apollo (2018)
• Henrik Freischlader—Hands on the Puzzle (2018)
• Tinariwen—Elwan (2017)
• Amplifier—Trippin' with Dr. Faustus (2017)
• Gary Moore—Blues and Beyond (2017)
• Joni Mitchell—Transmission Possible (2016, live radio broadcast compilation, '60s-'90s)
• Thom Yorke—Tomorrow's Modern Boxes (2014)
• Sufjan Stevens—Seven Swans (2004)
• Slowdive—Just for a Day (1991, two-disc reissue), Souvlaki (1993, bonus tracks edition), Pygmalion (1995, two-disc reissue), Slowdive (2017, Japanese bonus track edition).
• Peter Gabriel—Peter Gabriel (1977), Peter Gabriel (1978)
• Bob Dylan—Blonde on Blonde (1966)

Various reviews I've written recently

Here's a rundown of some recent reviews I have written...

Evenings with Led Zeppelin: The Complete Concert Chronicle may just be the biggest, heaviest book I own. Dave Lewis and Mike Tremaglio's gargantuan tome, which offers a detailed history of every single Led Zeppelin show, takes pride of place in my small collection of books about the band.

I wrote an extensive review the book, framing it in the context of how Zep's live shows fit into its legacy, for Under the Radar magazine. As I noted in my piece, this exemplary piece of rock scholarship offers valuable insights into how perspectives on the group have changed over time:

'Evenings with Led Zeppelin also illumines how the public and press alike viewed the band during its 12-year lifetime. Though some notable rock writers such as Robert Hilburn and Charles Shaar Murray offered rave concert reviews, other write-ups ranged from less-than-appreciative to openly hostile. There's good reason that Cameron Crowe's movie Almost Famous mocked Rolling Stone magazine's snobbish coverage of Zeppelin. Reading through the reviews collected in Evenings with Led Zeppelin, it's apparent that an older generation of music writers simply wasn't prepared for the radical power of Led Zeppelin. They were frequently bewildered by its genre-spanning progressions. A frequent complaint leveled at the band is the old fogey complaint that they're "too loud."' 

You can read my full review here.

Under the Radar Magazine recently released its list of the Best Albums of 2018. I contributed new reviews of the debut albums by Loma (#16) and Soccer Mommy (#35) for the list, which you can access here.

Of late, I've also written a few short blurb reviews of a few new releases for Monitor Weekly magazine:

Joni Mitchell—Live at the Isle of Wight















Sheryl Crow—Live at Capitol Theater

Mark Knopfler—Down the Road Wherever














Ingrid Michaelson—Songs for the Season














David Byrne—The Best Live Show of All Time

Playlist October/November

• Steven Wilson—Home Invasion (2018)
• Thom Yorke—Suspirium OST (2018)
• Julia Holter—Aviary (2018)
• Mark Knopfler—Down the Road, Whereever (2018)
• St. Vincent—MassEducation (2018)
• Sheryl Crow—Live at Capitol Theatre (2018)
• Richard Barbieri—Variants 5 (2018)
• Blackfield—Open Mind - The Best Of (2018)
• Eilen Jewell—Sea of Tears (2009)
• Radiohead—Pablo Honey (1992)
• The Vaughan Brothers—Family Style (1990)
• Neil Young—Freedom (1989)
• Pete Townshend—Empty Glass (1980)
• Jeff Beck—Beckola (1969)
• Bob Dylan—The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)

"The Art of Rush" reprint

Here's a video that peeks inside the recent reprint of The Art of Rush, which I wrote in 2015. The band Rush and its longtime art designer Hugh Syme commissioned me to write 40,000 words for the beautifully designed tome. Interviewing Neil Peart, Geddy Lee, and Alex Lifeson about their extraordinary back catalog was a dream project. (I wrote this lengthy post about the project a few years ago.) Here's a peak inside its pages...

Playlist June/July/August

As usual, my eclectic tastes in my latest playlist spans indie-rock, hip-hop, ambient, blues, singer-songwriter/folk, progressive rock, classical, Americana, and jazz.

ALBUMS

• Low—Double Negative (2018)
• The Pineapple Thief—Dissolution (2018)
• Interpol—Marauder (2018)
• Neil and Liam Finn—Lightsleeper (2018)
• Hermit and the Recluse—Orpheus vs. the Sirens (2018)
• Iceage—Beyondless (2018)
• Iron and Wine—Weed Garden (2018)
• Lunatic Soul—Under the Fragmented Sky (2018)
• Richard Barbieri—Variants.4 (2018)
• Joseph Arthur and Peter Buck—Arthur Buck (2018)
• Sweet Billy Pilgrim—Wapentak (2018)
• Henrik Freischlader—Blues for Gary (2017)
• Steve Earle and the Dukes—Terraplane (2015)
• Steve Reich, feat. Jonny Greenwood—Radio Rewrite (2012)
• Jaga Jazzist—One-Armed Bandit (2010)
• Laura Veirs—Year of Meteors (2005)
• Howlin' Wolf—Memphis Years compilation (2004)
• Ray LaMontagne—Trouble (2004)
• Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Steve Howe—Symphonic Music of YES (1993)
• Frank Zappa—Sheik Yerbouti (1979), Weasels Ripped My Flesh (1970)
• Joni Mitchell—Both Sides Now: Isle of Wight (1970), Miles of Aisles (1974), Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (1977), Shadows and Light (1980), Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm (1988)
• Jeff Beck—Wired (1976)
• Brian Eno—Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy) (1974)
• Jeff Beck—Beck-Ola (1969)
• The Beatles—Revolver (1966)

My Latest Album Liner Notes

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to write liner notes for two new albums, Blackfield’s Open Mind and Vertical Horizon’s The Lost Mile.

The pressure was on. It always is. I wrote sleeve notes for the previous Vertical Horizon record and I’ve written numerous sleeve note essays for Steven Wilson but, like any writing assignment, it’s always slightly daunting and a fresh challenge.

BLACKFIELD

The brief from Steven Wilson was as follows: Could I pen sleeve notes for an upcoming best of Blackfield album, and could I write it without doing an interview but “maybe something more poetic,” or just highlight how the long-running side-project collaboration between him and Aviv Geffen came together.

What Steven envisioned by "poetic" was something akin to the sleeve notes of the first Roxy Music album. Those liner notes, penned by Bryan Ferry’s good friend Simon Puxley, are a blast of fun. They read like a hallucinogenic fever dream in which random thoughts and observations are scattered on the page with ellipses as the only connective tissue between them. Cut-and-paste Beat poetry with shifting time signatures!

Not very easy to emulate....

 

In my first attempt at writing something inspired by that style, I also took cues from, variously, Susannah Clarke's novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (a sort of literary Harry Potter for adults), the fanciful origin story of Porcupine Tree, and the terminology of 19th century medicine peddled by quacks.

The result was as bizarre as it sounds. There's a perilous line between the ridiculous and the sublime and I teetered over into the former territory. It had to be scrapped.

Back to the drawing board.

The final version of the sleeve notes was a more straightforward telling of the Blackfield origin story combined with some of the more toned-down elements of my attempt at bizarrely styled sleeve notes. The end result retains a bit of mystique and mischief, I think. (Though Aviv modestly axed my line about how he’s such a superstar that even Gal Gadot wants to take selfies with him—which is true!)

VERTICAL HORIZON

Speaking of Steven Wilson, the first time I met Matt Scannell was backstage after a Porcupine Tree show in Los Angeles. Matt's band, Vertical Horizon, was the soundtrack of 1999, the year that I first moved to the USA. Their #1 single, “Everything You Want” was the single most played song on all American radio that year. Other singles “You’re a God” and “Best IEver Had (Grey Sky Morning)” were also ubiquitous. The first time I heard the album Everything You Want was through my then-girlfriend, now wife.

That night in Los Angeles, Porcupine Tree decamped to a bar a block from the venue with a few friends in tow. I recall that Porcupine Tree were in great spirits after their show, laughing about how an Italian girl in the front row kept lifting her top and flashing them while they were trying to play very complex parts! My pal John Wesley, the touring guitarist in Porcupine Tree and a solo artist in his own right, introduced me to Matt. He and I sat down and began talking about music. We are both Rush fans and I was aware that he is one of Neil Peart’s best friends. I was thrilled to find out just how wide-ranging Matt’s music tastes are and how many favorites we enjoy in common, including—to name but just a select few—Peter Gabriel, Yes, Robert Plant, Kate Bush, and, of course, Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree. Soon after, Matt came over to our little West Hollywood apartment on a sweltering hot day for a listening session to some music from my collection. And thus began one of my most treasured friendships.

It’s hard for me to adequately express just what a special person Matt is. He’s someone whose focus is outward, rather than inward. His natural instinct is to be attentive and attuned to others. He gives of himself, selfless and egoless. He has such a joyful zest for life as he pursues his various interests, which include test-driving sports cars and collecting wristwatches.

Matt is a very talented songwriter. How does he continually come up with such great melodies and hooks? I once told him that he writes the best middle-eights so that his songs suddenly veer off in a thrilling new trajectory midway through. Matt told me that Alex Lifeson had also commended him on that aspect of his songs. Matt’s a killer guitarist—the last few Vertical Horizon albums really showcased his six-string solo skills. The dude's also just, well, naturally cool. 

It was an honor to receive Matt’s invitation to write a short essay for Vertical Horizon’s sixth album, Echoes from the Underground, which included the rare privilege to go into a studio to watch Neil Peart lay down drum tracks on two songs. A few years later, I've now written sleeve notes for Vertical Horizon’s new album, The Lost Mile. It’s Matt’s best work to date (he keeps one-upping himself). This was the most difficult and boldest project he’s undertaken. I attempted to capture in words just how difficult the act of creation can be, and how transformative it is when an artist breaks through barriers to achieve what he set out to do.

I am very blessed to work again and again with both Steven and Matt. They’re each incredibly talented and I am such an admirer of their respective work. Make no mistake, it is work. Their albums are so good because they both put in the blood, sweat, and tears into their music. In my own writing endeavors, I continue to learn a lot from both of these artists.

Blackfield: Open Mind is released September 25th and can be ordered on Amazon or Burning Shed.

Vertical Horizon: The Lost Mile can be ordered on Amazon, and is available to download/stream at all the usual outlets.