Collecting Dr. Feelgood And Wilko Johnson - No. 211

Collecting Dr. Feelgood And Wilko Johnson

Being a diehard fan of Dr. Feelgood and Wilko Johnson, since before "Down By The Jetty" was released, thank you German "Sounds" for being on the edge with your reporting, searching for items not yet in my collection has become a chore. Make no mistake, I'm still missing a lot of items, mainly country variations of commercially released records. And, of course, testpressings, acetates and the like. But the days are truly gone, when I checked lists on a weekly schedule to find out, wether I could add something to my collection. In fact, I laid rather low, because I was, truth be told, bored with scouring the internet and waste hours on searches not very fruitful. And I don't have the feeling I missed out on good stuff.

Most of the missing pieces I added during the last 10 years or so, I caught upon on a hunch. Either checking one of the big internet dealers or just plain walking into a record shop or a record fair. No more lists for me. I know, I'm stilling missing one Dr. Feelgood release on 7", but I've forgotten which one. There's another in my wants list on Discogs, but that's it. I'm not saying no to good product and by good, I mean collectible. The problem is also, there's rather little available and if it is, the asking price goes through the roof. I'm a Dr. Feelgood/Wilko Johnson collector who's bought items on the off-chance that they might be fakes (you very seldom get a second chance - despite what the saying states).

I came across this B-side just recently, not looking for Dr. Feelgood items especially, but it was a nice surprise. Of course, no A-side and GB£ 50.00 for you, govn'r. If someone asks me, do you really need stuff like this, the only possible answer is a resounding YES! Even though I've sworn off checking lists, I still buy any interesting item that comes my way. There's not even a question wether I need this or not (YES again!), but I believe it's too late for me to stop collecting Dr. Feelgood and Wilko Johnson.

One thing I'm glad about, both are not exactly the Beatles and thus, spending cash is conceivable and will not break the bank. Even high class items can be had for a decent amount unless the Beatles where you might have to fork out in the 6 figures. Lucky me!

Cheers

Devon

Thrift Store Find - No. 210

Thrift Store Find

Every now and then I check local thrift stores (called Brockenhaus around here) to see, what their latest in LPs/7"s and the like is. Most of the times, I leave empty handed, but over the years, there were a few surprises in store for me (so to speak). Normally the LPs go for around CHF 1.00 (ca. EUR 0.80) per item with some thrift stores even selling you five for four, that is, you select five and buy only four. Or you get a discount from the word go.

A few thrift stores have begun to price the better stuff, albeit on a low level. Which is mostly a joke, because they don't factor condition into their pricing and seem to think every Bob Dylan record is worth a lot of cash. Hello, it's not, and especially not considering that the sleeve is falling apart and there are more scratches on the record than a drunken hedgehog would leave behind, checking out a local record store.

The last major surprise was the above shown LP (German release from 1964 or 1965) in a very desirable condition. The record itself is in a nice VG+, bordering on M- condition and the sleeve is VG. This is flimsy paperstock and there's a 2 cms split in the fold at the lower right hand corner plus, as you can see, some damage on the right hand side from handling the item.

Although not a M/M item, this would be a record that would sit very well in anyone's collection. The thing actually was, when I took the record out of the sleeve (in the shop), there was a hazy mist on the run-out area. For a split second, I thought that this was due to an akward PVC-sleeve used as an inner (and you can't remove those prints - folks, never ever use PVC sleeves - no inners - no outers - if you value your records - PE is fine). 2 seconds later, I did realize, that it wasn't a case of PVC gone wild, but should easily be removable (which was quite the truth when I cleaned it at home). Fantastic item and all for CHF 8.00 (EUR 7.00), which is quite below the true market value.

Since I have a lot of time on my hands these days, I tend to frequent thrift stores more often now and it's really hard to believe what one can find. I got my hands on four or five 1950's Blue Note Deep Groove 10"s within the last couple of months. And all of them in at least VG+ condition. Of course, I've seen my share of James Lasts in the racks, but as long as I'm rewarded with something like the above, all is good. No complaints from me.

Cheers

Devon

A Strange Behaviour - No. 209

A Strange Behaviour

Sometime towards the end of 2018/beginning of 2019, I realized, I didn't listen to music as often as I used to. Very little LPs, CDs or even live gigs. Every now and then, the stereo on the desk was blaring out some oldie station. Every now and then really means, every three or four days for 15 minutes. And up to the beginning of 2019, LPs were piling up and still standing were I put them when I brought them home. Meaning, there are around 500 brandnew albums waiting to be heard at least once.

Oh well, there's very little in the way of CDs, as I almost stopped buying these. For quite some time, I used to buy vinyl only and if that meant, waiting for months on end. Just in case I was pretty sure (and sometimes wrong) an album wouldn't turn up on LP, I'd spent my hard earned cash on the small discs. It's come so far, that I actually decided, not to go to this year's record fair in Utrecht. I've been there, saw that, did it, the whole lot. Funny thing, I've not been to a record store (any record store) within the last 4 months. How about that? And the worst thing, I don't miss it a bit. Nada, zero, niente!

What I did, however, was trying to weed out some of my collection, because the CDs and LPs crept ever closer. All together, about 600 LPs and 400 CDs went to a landfill (if there's still such a thing, which I doubt), meaning, they're gone for good, if not landfill than at least for long distance heating. The better stuff I'm flogging on Discogs and one day I'll have my collection reduced to 2000 LPs and 1000 CDs. And then I can walk through the flat without almost tripping over my stuff.  I'm dreaming but I'm also trying.

Recently I was sorting through a bunch of CDs I had bought about a year ago. It was supposed to be all Metal and stuff, forget it. About half of the more than 300 CDs, went to the bin. Jesus Christ, it's not so hard to pinpoint the genre, is it? The condition of the items was generally beautiful though, everything in M- or M condition. About 100 CDs have been marked for sale on Discogs and what you see above is the rest. Too good to be thrown away, not valuable enough to put up for sale. Now I'm trying to seperate the chaff from the rest. And then it's goodbye for some more discs.

Well, it's Kiss time now and I guess they're here to stay. Not really my band, but I had a discussion a while ago and the other guy mentioned, that, to his big regret, he missed out on Kiss. And I thought, bloody hell, I wish I had been to one of their gigs as well. But, if I go through the stack at the current rate, I'm not finishing this by the end of the year. Let me see, where this leads me to. And for Utrecht November 2019, I believe, the desire to make the trip again, might bounce back.

Cheers

Devon

How Up - Every Time I Roll The Dice - No. 208

How Up - Every Time I Roll The Dice

A local band. Very local. About around the corner. One I didn't know existed, for they seem to have thrown in the towel and believe me, it's for the better of us all. The only reason I bought this CD in the first place was, it was a local band (might have said that already!), the other reason, it cost me less than the equivalent of one Euro and, so much for the "only" reason", there's a song called "Down At The Doctors" on offer here.

I'm a staunch supporter of the local scene. Local in the sense that every Swiss band gets a fighting chance, never mind which part of the country they hail from. Sometimes it's amazing what kind of bands exist, or have existed, flying under the radar. There's great stuff to be found and, I'm afraid to say so, even more the redundant and unnecessary ones. Just to get this out of the way, How Up belong to the latter, but let's see.

When a band churns out covers only media (o.k., minus one song, "snore"), I expect at least an original take on the song material. And How Up are indeed original, can I quote Greg Koch with one of his excellent songs "I'm Bored To Tears". This sums it up. All said and done. I just don't understand it when bands play covers in the most polished way, resulting in all life exorcised from the material. "Proud Mary" anyone? Jesus Christ, CCR (and legends of other artists) don't deserve this and even the excuse on record is lame. Most tracks on this CD are not my daily bread anyway, very well known, but if I can circumvent this, o.k. with me. Classic radio will do.

Sometimes I think, the band is trying to bite more off the cake than it's healthy for them, almost choking in the process. "Another Brick In The Wall"? Give me a break, not a very good song to start with (in my book at least), but an amateur band trying to ape the big stage? Thank you, but no, thank you. Or "Come Together"? Believe me, you don't want to hear this Throughout the CD, How Up sound like Eric Clapton on sleeping pills, say "August" era or thereabouts.

But what about "Down At The Doctors" I hear you ask. Mickey Jupp, be glad you haven't heard this, you'd sue How Up to their grave. The song is dead flat in the water. I mean, you must be trying very hard to flog all life out of a song and How Up, you definitely succeeded. I'll keep the CD as a curio and an example of how not to do it. Having said that, it's even more interesting to listen to the band, because they don't sound like amateurs without a clue. Their playing seems competent enough and for this alone they get top rating. Nothing to do with what they cooked up in the end.

And the singer, sorry, but this an absolute no-go. Roger Mottaz sounds like a cheap version of Toni Vescoli (and I can't stand the latter post 1970). This overdone zurichoise pronounciation of English lyrics (with a boyscout guitar in hand, sitting around the campfire at night) is many a Swiss band's downfall. I might be a bit harsh here, but definitely, life is to short for this kind of "entertainment".

Cheers

Devon

Sunsets/Mindbenders/Lords - 7" Split Release (Iran) - No. 207

Sunsets/Mindbenders/Lords - 7" Split Release (Iran)

Sometimes you'll come across something, you haven't even been looking for. This item is exactly such a WTF moment. But I digress before I've even started. Let's try this again and from the beginning:

German Beat scene anyone? Well, not really, except a boy in Switzerland who got an old-fashioned radio as a gift sometimes in the mid 60s and who listened at night to all these far away radio stations on AM with their strange kind of music. Not that I understood a word, but the rhythms were more than enough to keep me searching for ever more stations. And at night (quite a bit of a wordplay, btw), trying to get Radio Luxemburg and even some solid senders (another wordplay, btw) from as far away as England. Locally there was only a state-run radio with about 30 minutes of Beat music (per week, that is).

Must have been around 1964/1965 when I heard of a band out of Germany (call that exotic) who were kind of top of their league and in a constant battle with another outfit (the latter were called The Rattles). They were an o.k. Beat band, but The Lords was where the real meat lay. In a way comparable to the Beatles vs. Rolling Stones question, you really couldn't like both bands, it was one or the other. And in hindsight, they had one over the Rattles, The Lords had released a cover of "Shakin' All Over" rather early in their career (and later followed this up with an LP called "Shakin' All Over 70").

Times did change and back in the 60's, you were a hipster (the expression didn't exist then - at least not around here) flying the flag for The Lords (or The Rattles). In the 70s, you had to watch out and not show your cards saying The Lords. The Rattles was still ok,, but the former turned into a joke among the "cognoscenti", but I'm proud to say, I never wavered and held the fort against all attacks. No underhand joke nor mean drivel could change my stand. Most of it had to do with Lord Ulli's (the singer) command of the English language. Granted, some of it does sound strange and funny, but hey, it was the sixties and minor matters such as proficiency in a foreign language was not on anyone's top of the list.

In the 60's and at the beginning of the 70's, the band had a rather high profile in Germany which lessened over time and led to the break-up of the band soon after. Lord Ulli started anew with another band called New Lords, but this venture sank without almost any trace (one LP and two 7"s only). At the same time, Lord Ulli kept himself afloat with a number of German schlager releases (they have some cult status nowadays), but really, best to cover this up. Unless you are me.

And voilà. after the New Lords were no more, out of the ashes rose The Lords again and kept busy to this day (although they're on their last ever tour now). About 20 years ago, Lord Ulli fell from a stage during a gig, broke his skull and died quite soon afterwards. The band carried on, but was mostly rehashing their old songs. Whenever a new CD was announced, you could bet your whole savings, that it'd be another "Best Of" or similarily named. Some of their releases bordered on cheekiness, because they had the nerve to release a CD with a title that represented the only new song and the rest was the same old rehash again.

Their last two CDs presented a change of direction, although not for the better. Once again a "new" collection of old songs done in a Rock/Hardrock way, but it wasn't The Lords, not by a long shot. The Lords never did Hardrock, they were Beat and Pop, period. It was clear (at least to me), that the ship had lost its course and was steering in to troubled waters. But then, the band is now on the road (and in the studio) for nearly 60 years (in ever changing line-ups) and claiming to be the oldest working band in the world (and conveniently forgetting, that they all had a rather long break in the 70s and I really don't know wether "oldest" band is worth bragging about, but that's me). And noone would have thought that there ever was going to be another studio album with new songs. Think again, to everyone's surprise, they did release exactly the one I'm talking about. It wasn't for me though, Rock/Hardrock again (and although I do listen to the genre, I don't need it from The Lords) and so, in the end, I jumped ship and haven't bought the last two releases.

That's not to say I'm not still interested in their history and music and that's where I'm slowly coming to the end of this piece. Even now, I'm still looking for the odd 7" or even one LP (cover variant) that's not yet in my collection. And sometimes surprises hit hard.

Recently, i came across the one you see in the pictures here. 7" EP from Iran. Iran? Yes, I-R-A-N! I had no idea this even existed. Must have been before the revolution and a major surprise to me. It's actually a split 7" with cheesecake cover and not in the best of all conditions (however, I really doubt you'll find a better copy), but I can easily wait for a couple of decades before another one turns up. As a The Lords follower for nearly five decades, this must be quite the highlight in my collection with regards to this band. Forget the other stuff (which I'm still looking for), this is the real deal.

Cheers

Devon

P.S.: "And At Night" was one of their big hits (see above).

V/A - Souvenirs Of Rare French Opera - No. 206

V/A - Souvenirs Of Rare French Opera 

I'm far from being an expert in classical music, but I do like some Opera. Way back, when I was very much younger, I had a boss at work, who was a complete Opera buff and almost all he ever talked about was Verdi and Co. Somehow that stuck with me and decades later, I'm still buying the odd Opera LP/CD and listen to it at home. Not that I understand it or have an inkling as to what the genre really is, it's just the sound that I enjoy.

This here I picked up in a thrift shop for the grand total of CHF 1.00 (that's under 1 Euro). What caught my eye was the fact, that all recordings stem from the very beginning of the 20th century and are certainly not Hi-Fi or audiophile. It's as expected, I have to turn up the volume quite considerably to get a good level and have to watch out to turn it down after listening to this CD, unless I want to kill my speakers with the next CD I slide into the player.

Sounds exactly like a beginning of last century recording. No doubt about it. Great stuff if you're in the mood for this. And although I do prefer Vinyl over Digital, one thing does speak for the CD. About 75 minutes and I don't have to turn a record over. And let's be honest, recordings made more than a hundred years ago, they don't need to be high-end. No Shellac for me, but this'll do quite nicely.

Wether these are great performances in the history of the genre, no idea either. In any case, I don't recognize a single name on the inlay. This is not my only musical corpse in the cellar, but more later. Now back to some other stuff, V/A "We Wish You A Metal Xmas And A Headbanging New Year", although it might be the wrong time of the year.

Cheers

Devon

Exkrement Beton - Schön, stur, arrogant - No. 205

Exkrement Beton - Schön, stur, arrogant

Back in the day, I was about the only one in our clique to give Punk a chance and my love for this genre has never waned. Of course, U.K. Punk bands were the first and in a way still the most important to me. I can still remember Swiss TV trying to film a feature story about the new Punk movement and what did they get, smashed cameras and one or two fisticuffs. It was a national joke among the cognoscenti and when I think about it to this day, it's still kind of funny. But the Swiss Punk scene was no sleeper either, a few years later, yes, but there were excellent bands and they made their mark.

Germany and Finland are some other noteworthy flags on the Punk map. Especially the German scene is something to lend an ear to. The density of class A Punk bands is just amazing and they have a living culture (music, fanzines and specialized record stores). It's about 50/50 English/German vocals, but the ones with vocals in their native language have a tough stand, because they're readily pushed into the rightwing corner, even though they might be leftwing as they come. In Germany, singing in German evokes memories of Schlager and Saturday evening TV-shows and believe me, this is not a good thing.

However, with an open mind, you can find excellent bands in whatever language. Before the week is over with this longwinded introduction, let me just say, I'm trying to streamline my collection (LPs and CDs) and by streamlining I mean, either selling part of it off or plain throwing items out. This is mainly stuff I have no idea why I got it in the first place, I'm not interested in anymore, some items I bought in thrift stores and so on.

Recently I came across a CD in a pile by a band called Exkrement Beton (Album: Schön, stur, arrogant), which has been in my collection for a long time, but I certainly hadn't listened to it yet. No idea where I got this from, no idea what it was (I did suspect Punk) and I was about to throw it in the bin. Booklet and inlay torn up and then ... put the CD into the player and had a listen. What can I say, Punk from Germany the kind of I pay money for. O.k., now there's a CD without any booklet or inlay, good enough to play on my desktop stereo in my "office". And, friends and neighbours, the thing has been on heavy rotation ever since.

So much so, that I'm actually thinking to get myself their other releases as well. Actually, lyrics on the side, this is more Hardrock than Punk. A bit like a more melodic Motörhead (if you pardon me). O.k.. maybe not quite. And the kicker? I had to buy this album new again, this time on vinyl. I mean, I can try and throw everything out the window and turn on my heels and go shopping for the same stuff. Anyway lesson learned.

Cheers

Devon

Electric Recording Co. - Jazz (Re-releases) - No. 204

Electric Recording Co. - Jazz (Re-releases)

A while back, I read in a forum about this label with their super expensive records and I did check them out. I'm not a classical music fan (I can listen to some of it, but that's about the extent of it), and that was, as I remember, all they had on offer. I knew from other sources, that their product was supposed to be amazingly good, a lot of detail and care going into the production of these re-releases. All valve (and of course all analogue), sleeve redone (not a scan of an old issue), going as far as tracking down the original photograps and relettering the text as per the original specifications.

There's some informational video on their website. What you get is a top product, that comes at a price. No discussion or trying to downplay this fact. Haptically, this is simply an amazing product, record (no scuffs as with other "audiophile" labels), proper innersleeve, thick cardboard sleeve, OBI style wrap-around, ERC embossed protective sleeve and a certificate.

And then, they started with Jazz records. I listen to Jazz from Be-Bop upwards, but my main genre in Jazz is certainly Free Jazz, Avantgarde, Noise, Industrial and Experimental, but Be-Bop is never far away. Although I have to admit, I'm not listening to any Jazz pre-Be-Bop. Maybe Bop on a good day, the rest is not for me. I wasn't sure wether to buy one record, just for the heck of it, because they are asking serious money. In the end I put the cash down and bought their latest release at the time, Jackie McLean's "Lights Out!" and despite the cash that went out the window, I was (and still am) extremely satisfied with what I got.

What I had to do then, I bought myself another "audiophile" release by another label, to compare both LPs side by side. I'm not too good at it, but I wanted to give it a try and have done ever since. One of the reviews I read, warned the reader, not to expect a sunrise, but rather the best possible performance you can have on vinyl. I can confirm this, you have to realise, that there is no mastering done, no remixing, no nothing of the fancy stuff you get these days. It's a beautifully crafted item, that's it! Needless to say, so I say it anyway, no background noise to speak of (with vinyl you always have a certain low level), and absolutely no crackling or pops. I don't expect the record to hold up the quality forever, because the, frankly, medieval manufacturing process and the needle of a cartridge ploughing through the groove, don't really help to preserve an LP (unless you're forking out for one of these Japan turntables that work via laser, but it'll be digital in the end - and peace for your mind, because your record will survive it without detoriation - if you can afford to cough up this kind of money - we're talking about a very expensive record player).

My set-up is good, but there's nothing "audiophile" about it, nor is it "high end" per se. But for whatever it is, I can still enjoy those ERC records. Some time back, in fact because of the ERC releases, I bought myself a dedicated Mono MC and since I don't have two decks, I always need to change the cartridges. One other drawback, my amp doesn't do Mono, it's Stereo only. Apparently, there's a world of difference, listening to Mono on a Stereo System (amp and loudspeakers). But truth be told, I don't have that many Mono records to shell out for a complete second set-up gear-wise.

Up to now, my second choice, to compare these records with, had always been AP. The latest however, Bill Evans "Sunday At The Village Vanguard", is a bit of a problem. AP apparently had released this LP as well, but it seems hard to come by. My solution now, I have a MFSL One-Step copy that'll have to do.

There are, in the above example of Jackie McLeans "Lights Out!", some subtle differences between ERC and AP. There's at least one track on the latter release, that has a more pronounced noise level (must have been the tape) and I got the feeling, that Bass and Drums are somewhat clearer on the former. Actually, the problem here is, that one is trying to find a difference, there must be one, you paid of lot more for one LP than for the other. This is the same everywhere, human nature. And yet, we all know, more expensive doesn't always equal better.

At the time of writing this, I've bought all of ERC's Jazz releases, with the exception of Tommy Flanagan's Trio "Overseas". Somehow I was a bit late and some of their offers sell out quite fast. The main market must be in the Far East, because the brochure that came with one of the LPs is written in Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English. Says a lot in fact.Just a word of caution, don't buy these if you're planning on reselling on the secondary market. I might be wrong, but I don't see any chance for a price hike. If anything, you're likely to sell below your cost price. Buy these items and enjoy them.

 https://electricrecordingco.com/

Cheers

Devon

P.S: Recently, ERC started to issue Mono and Stereo releases of their Jazz output, cutting it down to 150 copies of each. Standard (Mono or Stereo only) releases are numbered to 300. Talk about limited.