Desert Wind - Rider In The Rain - # 270

Desert Wind - Rider In The Rain - 270

I'm shifting records from one room to the other and back and think "I might as well put some CD in the player" and the first one that's in my grip is the Desert Wind's "Rider In The Rain". Normally I would take it out of the slot and dispose it in the trash, never to be seen again and never bother my tired old soul. But then, I'm staunch supporter of the local music scene. In my case, local is the whole country (others would call it their backyard).

Country music (or what's called Americana for the xxx years) and it's so bad, it doesn't even qualify for the weird section. I don't doubt that the band is pretty much qualified on their instruments and on the mics. But, Jesus Christ on a bike, I've never heard such a slick and boring presentation of C&W. Or rather it's what the band was thinking it sounded like and the way it's needed to be presented in the land of Cows ... and I'm not talking about the US of A. When they try their luck at the biggies, say "Folsom Prison Blues" or worse still "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys", you really have an idea what the term "To Whom The Bells Toll" really means.

This is not music for a rowdy bar, it's more like something to be found in a Sunday afternoon matinee while you nod off on a diet coke. It has zero street credibility and it sounds like this. But what can you expect coming from a band with their personnel raised on the sunny side of life. I mean, they've not been to (or in) Hindelbank, much less to Folsom Prison. Aside to being one of the most unbelievable CDs I ever heard, this is boring as well. After a few tracks your feet will go to sleep and you start longing for Motörhead.

There's nothing I could find on the internet about Desert Wind, but do believe that the band doesn't exist anymore. The CD was recorded in 1998/1999 and the outfit seems to be hailing from a nearby hamlet. Maybe, just maybe, I could have seen and heard the band at a local village event and wonder, would I have stayed throughout the whole gig? It will forever be a question without an answer.

Cheers

Roland

The Lords - And At Night (7") - # 269

The Lords - And At Night (7") - # 269

The Lords, a band from Germany I've been obsessed with since the days I couldn't even spell their name properly. They started off in 1959 as the Skiffle Lords and it was an eventful journey. They disbanded in the early 70s and the singer (Lord Ulli) set our for greener fields with a new outfit, named "New Lords". Just to reform The Lords sometime later. But this is not the story about the band (who's still a working outfit after many line-up changes and sometimes they even play live but are really in their final stages. For people of a certain age having had the fortune to listen to Beat music from Germany (a very good scene) when it was en vogue, the name means a lot.

I'm still after some of their rather hard to get 7"s and a special Cover for the "IV" LP, otherwise known as "Good Side Of June". This 7" I'm talking about is actually one of their best known tracks (of which there is no shortage) and is usually to be found in the retail version, with this sleeve.

I just came across a seller, who's dealing in 7"s for which he produces custom made sleeves of high quality and this one had me up in a second. I've never seen this picture (although I'm not 100 % sure, might have been in a Bravo magazine back in the 60s). I just had to buy it, despite the fact that I have the single several times over. There's even a Typo, the A-side track is called "And At Night" and not "And The Night". How I love these quirks.

Cheers

Roland