Arrive without travelling:

Can ‘Soon Over Babaluma’ - this was the first Can album I heard on release and remains one of their best for me. A near-ideal meeting of free thought and rhythm, with a perfect single kicking things off. What’s not to dig?

Wire ‘154’ - sod ‘London Calling’, THIS is the apex of punk-initiated art. High time it was acknowledged as such;

K.K.’s Priest ‘Sermons Of The Sinner’ - corny as owt, but true metal-heads couldn’t fail to dig this. Not sure that I fulfil that classification, but I find this great fun;

Black Sabbath ‘Master Of Reality’ - alternates with ‘Paranoid’ as my favourite Sabbath album, not that I’d be without any of them up to ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’. When the needle hits the vinyl and you hear Ozzy’s bronchial problem, you know you’re in for one helluva ride;

Brian Eno ‘Music For Airports’ - rivals ‘Discreet Music’ as my fave Eno instrumental creation, much as I love all of his subsequent work. This pretty much defines ambient music for me. I reckon that I could listen to this on constant repeat without ever getting irritated;

Little Feat S/T - the Feat’s first album was a mighty opening statement: just over a half hour of primal swamp rock performed with an edge I missed when they got more slickly produced. Reminds me of the Stones’ records I love best;

The Beatles ‘Mono Masters’ - such is the class of most Fabs’ B sides they could make an album every bit as vital as their standard canon. Is ‘Rain’ their greatest track ever? I’m starting to think so;

Wishbone Ash ‘Live In Geneva 1995’ - the sadly short-lived Wishbone lineup of Andy Powell, Roger Filgate, Tony Kishman and Mike Sturgis’ legacy was restricted to a superb studio album (‘Illuminations’) and this live CD. Good as Powell’s band remain, they’re yet to better this IMHO;

Blodwyn Pig ‘Getting To This’ - by the faintest margin my choice of the original Blod’s excellent long playing brace, the (thankfully brief) abomination that is ‘To Rassman’ notwithstanding. There’s a rawness and edge to these songs that keeps them fresh to this day. Controlled chaos, I’d call it. Succeeded by:

Mick Abrahams ‘A Musical Evening With The Mick Abrahams Band’ - Abrahams’ post-Blods combo was a fine one, as this unsung opening platter confirms. As I opined in an Unsung review nearly a quarter century (!) ago, their sound sometimes predicted The Charlatans who weren’t to emerge until nearly two decades later. Mick has had some health problems in recent decades. Hope you’re doing well, great man;

Mark Hollis S/T - as quietly indefinable a record as ever existed: shit, this makes ‘Astral Weeks’ sound like a Now! compilation. Jasonaparkes’ 2007 Unsung review gets as close to describing it as I never could. Whatever, this exists in my own parallel universe alongside Robert Wyatt’s ‘Rock Bottom’, David Sylvian’s ‘Manafon’, Scott Walker’s ‘Tilt’ & Tim Buckley’s ‘Lorca’, and is every bit as wondrous. RIP, Mark - and thank you;

Nucleus ‘Elastic Rock’ & ‘We’ll Talk About It Later’ - two truly essential fusion albums for me: early indicators of where Soft Machine would go a few years later, enhanced by Ian Carr’s ice-pure trumpet and Chris Spedding’s jazzier-than-usual guitar. Of their time (1970) yet timeless too;

Wayne Shorter ‘Speak No Evil’ - one of Shorter’s best albums as leader, and to my mind every bit the equal of Miles Davis’ mid-Sixties albums with similar personnel, one of whom was:

Herbie Hancock ‘Flood’ - excellent double live momento of Herbie’s funky mid-70s era. But, back to his mentor, specifically:

Miles Davis ‘In Person Friday Night At The Blackhawk 1961’ - Miles caught in rude form between classic quintets. Hank Mobley and Wynton Kelly have the juiciest chops here, notably on the lengthy ‘No Blues’;

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas no.17 in D minor, Op.31 no.2 (Malcolm Bilson) & no.26 in E flat, Op.81a (Bart van Oort) - played on fortepianos, the colours of these remarkable sonatas glow all the brighter - or darker, where a storm is depicted;

Schubert: 4 Impromptus, D 935 (Alfred Brendel) - I know of no finer short pieces for piano than Schubert’s Impromptus, and no finer exponent of them than Brendel;

Brahms: 7 Fantasias, Op.116 (Julius Katchen) - moody and mesmerising late Brahms idiomatically performed by Katchen, a great American pianist we lost too soon;

Brahms: Symphony no.2 (Munich PO/Hans Knappertsbusch) - a typically wayward take on Brahms’ Second from a great opera conductor who was less great with orchestral music. Worth hearing once;

Sibelius: Symphony no.6 (Gothenburg SO/Neeme Jarvi) - one of my favourite recordings of one of my favourite symphonies*. 27 minutes of ethereal perfection;

Sibelius: Symphonies 3 & 6 (Helsinki PO/Leif Segerstam) - Segerstam’s Sibelius 6 is more wilful than Jarvi’s, yet fascinating. His Sibelius Third is more conventional, if a little too slow for my tastes. Whatever, the music’s beyond reproach. For me, only Beethoven and Brahms better Sibelius in the consistent excellence of their symphonic oeuvres.

(*Jarvi has recorded Sibelius 6 twice, once for BIS and once for DG. Both are groovy, but the 1984 BIS release edges it both artistically and sonically.)

If you’re lonely you can talk to me.

Felicitations from Lerwick

Dave x