Word (Thing) Association
What do all of these things have in common with our next gig?
Holy Orange-Julius-Ce[a]sar-Chavez-Romero-Salad-Dressing Batman! It's the Ides of March!!!
Holy Orange-Julius-Ce[a]sar-Chavez-Romero-Salad-Dressing Batman! It's the Ides of March!!!
posted by Pam at 3:29 PM
2 Comments:
Posted on the Kalends of March, I see.
New Ray Davies album, Working Man's Cafe arrived yesterday. Let's have a listen...
First track "Vietnam Cowboys". Sounds good, not like his previous solo effort. This sounds more Kinks-ish. Singing style is more like Phobia era mixed with Storyteller...
"You're Asking Me", melody sort of throw-back to early Kinks. However, the guitar and fill is too busy and nondescript. This one could really have benefited from Dave's guitar and the more traditional Kinks style...
"Working Man's Cafe" good...
BTW, New West Records gets an A for packaging. Recycled materials, nice design, and rather than put that ghastly FBI logo everywhere they put a positive statement in the copyright area on back saying they appreciate the purchaser's support for them and the musicians.
OK, back to the music.
"Morphine Song" about Ray's experience going to hospital in New Orleans. OK song, with a touch of New Orleans sound. However, the backup singers aren't strong enough and jazz-band background isn't authentic enough, which is odd because the Kinks have done this to perfection before on "Muswell Hillbillies". Should have gone full out New Orleans jazz-band on this one...
"In A Moment" good. There's a solo 3/4 through sort of like Dave, but a Dave solo would have been better...
The sticker on the front says "As good as anything Ray has written in decades"--Mojo. Now way, Phobia is a masterpiece.
"Peace In Our Time" up next, "end this war and live our life"...
"No One Listen", oo, here's a really good one. State of Confusion and Think Visual era. If Dave were playing guitar, and Mick were playing drums this would be a hit...
"Imaginary Man", eh, too AOR-ish. Has an interesting sort of key change leading into the chorus. Chorus is good, but the rest is sort of too well tread by other contemporary writers. Also, the opening of the song is too pedestrian and uneventful...
OK, time out. Have to check my laundry.
Alright, I'm back. I can fold and listen at the same time.
Next up is "One More Time". Great lyrics, "corporations get the tax breaks while the city gets the crime"...
"The Voodoo Walk" and "Hymn For A New Age" are both similar to material on Ray's previous "Other People's Lives"...
"The Real World" closes the album and is a low-key ballad. But the guitar, like with most of the album, sort of takes up space without adding much...
BONUS TRACKS
"Angola" is another one about his experience in New Orleans. Alright, here the lyrics are very direct, dark and revealing, what one would expect from Davies...
Another one, "I, The Victim", that sounds pretty good. The production is different from the rest of the album. Guitar has a slightly different sound and meshes with Ray's voice better. Wouldn't be out of place on "Other People's Live's". Ray's acoustic guitar comes in a little loud at one spot, but no biggy...
OK, that's it. Couple more bonus tracks, but they are demos of "Vietnam Cowboys" and "Voodoo Walk". My general impression is that the songs are good, but the production is somewhat lacking and monotonous throughout... hold on, this demo version of Vietnam Cowboys is kind of interesting, has a Stray Cats-like rhythm, can hear the lyrics much better too... The guitar parts really don't add much. The producer said it was put together in a relatively short period of time. One can tell. Konk Studios would have been better.
I think I like "Other People's Lives" of the two solo albums--more variation and better character portrayal. Ray could benefit from Dave's guitar. If one listens to Dave's latest stuff, like "All About Me" off "fractured mindz", they'll find it has a lot better sound and more energy.
Nutbar,
Don't toy with me man! I know who you are! You're the only guy I know who neatly folds his clean T-shirts.
I'll have to go get me one of them there CDs and draw a great big FBI warning on it.
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