You may be a lover, but you ain’t no dancer..,
“Helter Skelter” – The Beatles (1968)
They called John “The Smart One”. Ringo was “The Funny One”, George, “The Quiet One” and Paul, “The Cute One”. They said John was the only real Rocker in the group and that Paul (as if it were somehow less creditable), wrote ballads. But when “The Cute One” wrote “Helter Skelter” for the sprawling double-album, ‘The Beatles’, the critics fell silent. Having recently turned 71, Macca may now be one of Rock’s senior citizens but there’s no indication he’ll be renting that summer cottage in the Isle of Wight (if it’s not too dear). And there’s plenty of evidence that he still enjoys getting his scream on, performing “Helter Skelter” as part of his almost 3-hour long concerts. He’s made some noise with Killing Joke bassist, Martin Glover (aka Youth) under the banner of The Fireman, and recently performed with the surviving members of Nirvana. In this edition of JR, we find him at it again, this time, with the Italian Dance/Punk outfit, The Bloody Beetroots. (Happy Birthday, Paul.)
Another veteran of note making a return in this edition is Booker T. Jones. Establishing his fame more than half a century ago leading Booker T. & The MGs, Mr. Jones continues to make some compelling music in the here-and-now, playing with a new generation of stars including, Mayer Hawthorne and Gary Clark Jr.
Scotland’s KT Tunstall also returns this week with ‘Invisible Empire//Crescent Moon’. After dabbling in Electronica on her previous long-player, KT Tunstall headed for Tucson, Arizona to record an Americana tinged collection of songs with Giant Sand frontman, Howe Gelb.
Also representing Scotland in this edition is Ambient/Electronica duo, Boards Of Canada. Eschewing the beat-driven sounds of the dancefloor in favour of arcane instruments and an obvious fondness for film music, their 4th album, ‘Tomorrow’s Harvest’ is a highly rewarding sonic adventure. Another Electronica duo featured this week is Sydney’s Jagwar Ma. Reminiscent of the UK’s Manchester scene of the mid-‘80s (and with an obvious debt to The Beatles’ psychedelic period), their debut album, ‘Howlin’ still manages to sound refreshingly new. The duo will make a brief tour in July/August, including an appearance at this year’s ‘Splendour In The Grass’ Festival. Did I mention we have another Electronic music duo this week?
Good, because making it a JR hat-trick for this edition is the return of Empire Of The Sun.
The JR Radar was buzzing, as usual, and this week it picked up on the debut album by the young Adelaide band, Atlas Genius. At its core are three brothers, who formed the band at the urging of their parents who were both big fans of The Beatles which brings us back, full circle, to that long shadow of influence cast by Paul McCartney. Copacetic? Yeah, we thought so, too.
Atlas Genius: “If So” (from the album ‘When It Was Now’)
Empire Of The Sun: “DNA”/”I’ll Be Around” (from the album ‘Ice On The Dune’)
Booker T Jones: “Sound The Alarm"/”66 Impala” (from the album, ‘Sound The Alarm’)
KT Tunstall: ”Invisible Empire”/”Crescent Moon” (from the album, ‘Invisible Empire//Crescent Moon’)
Boards Of Canada: “Sick Times” (from the album, ‘Tomorrow’s Harvest’)
Jagwar Ma: “Man I Need” (from the album, ‘Howlin’)
The Bloody Beetroots (featuring Paul McCartney & Youth): “Out Of Sight” (new single)
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♫ {](-_-)[} ♫ Thanks for listening.
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