In the garden of England dead moles lie inside their holes:
Opeth ‘The Last Will And Testament’ - repeated hearings reveal this amazingly complex album’s quality and impact. Here is a band at the peak of their creativity;
Steely Dan ‘Aja’ - in 1977 this was the absolute antithesis of what was dominating this side of the rock divide, yet nearly a half century on it’s dated far less to my punk-ravaged ears. Sheer fucking class;
Queen ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ - their last good album, with a still decent hard rock quotient prevailing over the wearing pop, balladry and nostalgia pastiches that defined much of their output thereafter. But who am I to criticise? They sold zillions by selling out;
Robert Wyatt ‘Rock Bottom’ - from the same year as the aforesaid, but an entirely different universe. This is the epitome of popular music as timeless art, revealing new subtleties with every listen;
Eels ‘Hombre Lobo’ - more great songs about liking girls;
Erroll Garner ‘Turquoise’ - perfect piano jazz from a record that’s been in my house for nearly sixty years. God bless you, Mam and Dad - and Happy New Year;
Lou Donaldson ‘Swing and Soul’ - high quality small group jazz from a fine alto sax man we recently lost. The up-tempo tracks really swing. RIP Lou;
Beethoven: Choral Fantasy, Op.80 (Alfred Brendel/LPO/Bernard Haitink) - starts like a piano sonata, grows into a piano concerto, then transforms into a choral template for the still unwritten Ninth Symphony. Twenty glorious minutes of everything that makes Beethoven great;
Beethoven: Symphony no.7 (Munich PO/Rudolf Kempe) - and here’s 35 more. No repeats, but at least Kempe’s Seventh doesn’t outstay its welcome. The finale is as fast as the introduction is slow;
Beethoven: Symphony no.2 (RPO/Sir Thomas Beecham) - Tommy never professed any love for Ludwig, but you’d never guess that from this. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the Larghetto sing as sweetly;
Beethoven: Symphony no.6 (Staatskapelle Dresden/Herbert Blomstedt) - ticks all the boxes of a great performance, from a cycle so cheaply priced it’s indecent;
Bruckner: Symphony no.8 (New Philharmonia/Otto Klemperer) - poor Otto waited too long to record Bruckner’s magnum opus, the result being an interpretation too measured and haggered for comfort. Still glad to have heard it, mind.
All the best for a happy 2025.
Dave x
