Record Reviews - RecordDB

Artist	Title	Review
Renee Geyer	Winner
Emil Giles	Tschaikowsky
Mark Gillespie	Sweet Nothing
Mark Gillespie	Sweet Nothing	<p>They don't come much more eccentric than Mark Gillespie. Best known for 1980 debut album Only Human, the one-time Melbourne singer-songwriter refused to play the music industry game. Instead of touring behind that record or giving interviews, he travelled through Asia. His genre-hopping songs, meanwhile, indulge in weird arrangements and dark, philosophical lyrics. Before turning to music, Gillespie had written short stories, co-founded the Aussie-centric Outback Press, and done a six-year architecture degree at Melbourne Uni. Today he lives in Bangladesh, where he works at an orphanage, writes songs in the jungle, and has penned a text-message novella called No Hope. Not your average troubadour, then.</p><p>Last year Aztec reissued Only Human as a two-disc package with comprehensive liner notes and Gillespie's offbeat commentary. Now comes the second entry in his four-album career. Although it doesn't quite have the anything-is-possible vibe of the first, Sweet Nothing (1981) keeps several of its players and again enlists producer John Sayers (Radio Birdman, John Williamson). Daddy Cool's Ross Hannaford, who was on board for Only Human, plays guitar on two songs, and there are backing singers, synths, and saxophone. Like Only Human, this is a fascinating combination of '70s singer-songwriter-isms and the now-cheesy production values of the early '80s.</p><p>But it's much more than that, too. While seeming innocuous enough, the title sums up the startling existential quandary of Gillespie's songs. Uplifting music is often paired with bleak themes as he rattles off the kind of lines you wouldn't expect to hear from a singer-songwriter even today. On the self-reflexive opener 'Nothing Special', Gillespie describes America's iconic Midnight Special train line as something that will deliver him to the promised land. Backing singers come in just after he sings, "I think I hear the gospel band", but by the time he announces, "There's nothin' special in this world", his optimism has drained away and he seems to be staring head-on into oblivion. The train becomes downright menacing, and Gillespie watches it roar past him with fear and hopelessness in his gut.</p><p>And that's all in the first track. Later, 'Swing Tonight' proves to be a burbling funk-pop number about suicide ("We're all gonna swing tonight") and 'Miss Right' darkly intones "I know you're gonna be Miss Wrong." 'Night & Day' sees society robbing one's identity ("They might give you all a number/You don't have a say"), while 'Rivers of Blood' is as unsparing in its imagery as you'd expect from that title.<p><p>Amid all that pessimism, though, the music remains jaunty, twanging, and spiked with playful bass lines and harmonies. Despite warnings about seeking meaning in love and money, 'Traveller in the Night' strongly recalls the skeletal funk and underdog yearning of the Stones classic 'Beast of Burden'. Other tracks summon Cat Stevens, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, and 'Wild Night'-era Van Morrison, while 'Pile-Up' seems to lift a page from the art-school adventures of Talking Heads.<p><p>This re-mastered edition includes much briefer liner notes than Only Human and only two b-sides as bonus tracks: the barroom gospel of 'Passing' and the layered 'Looking for You'. That means it's still best to start with Only Human. It's also worth noting that three of these songs had rawer incarnations in 1978's demo batch The Black Tape, which was included with the Only Human reissue: a meditative eight-minute version of 'Nothing Special', a bluesier 'Stormy Night' with prominent female vocals, and a gospel-edged version of 'Miss Right' called 'Another Ms. Wrong'.<p><p>"While seeming innocuous enough, the title sums up the startling existential quandary of Gillespie's songs."<p><p>At the time of its release, Sweet Nothing peaked in the top 10 on the Melbourne charts and in the top 30 nationally. And aversion to self-promotion aside, Gillespie appeared on Countdown and supported the likes of Rodriguez, Tom Waits, and Jackson Browne in his day. But he didn't want to be a star, as proven by his stubborn attitude, as well as his current line of work. Knowing how things turned out for him only enhances Sweet Nothing's recurrent theme of struggling to find one's place in an unforgiving life. On the near-psychedelic 'Hand to Hand', Gillespie doesn't mince words: "But if there was some reason to live/Then there would be something to understand."<p><p>He's since found a reason to live, but he's left behind some bold artefacts from his days of peering into the void. At his best, Gillespie was an unflinching poet of lost souls, mixing doubtful messages of hope with resounding portraits of despair.<p><p><strong>—Doug Wallen</strong></p>
Mark Gillespie	Only Human	<p>When released in 1980, Mark Gillespie's debut album, Only Human, was fêted as a very impressive debut. Trained as an architect, Gillespie's songs were well crafted constructions that looked to older monuments the likes of Hendrix, Dylan and solid rock, rather than the new wave. An element of Dire Straits crept through in the hard strut of Shake It, while the acoustic prism of Mercury harks back to simple elements that made the country-tinged rock of The Eagles socompelling. The athletic prowl of Long & Strong and the slow triumph of Suicide Sister really bite home, demonstrating that great songwriting never goes out of fashion.</p><p>For Gillespie fans the meat in the sandwich is the bonus disc of compilation tracks, October 1978 Black Tape sessions and early singles that track the development towards the finished Only Human LP. Among these there's a fantastic, organ-heavy version of SuicideSister and Savonarola. As with all Aztec releases the gatefold CD packaging is sumptuous and the sleevenotes informative – to the point of Gillespie detailing the construction ("Key of G, open tuning E") of his songs.</p>
Mark Gillespie	Mark Gillespie
David Gilmour	On An Island	Need to edit this record
David Gilmour	Remember The Night - Live At Albert Hall
Glenn Gould	Goldberg Variations	<p>If there is a piece of music most associated with one performer, then surely it is Bach's Goldberg Variations, and Glenn Gould. Gould made the Goldberg Variations, and the Goldberg Variations certainly made Glenn Gould.</p><p>Gould had made his concert debut at age 16. Then, while known in Canada through his concert appearances, he burst onto the international stage with his first recording, the now-legendary 1955 version of the Goldberg Variations.</p><p>The young, headstrong Gould had completely rejected the common romantic interpretations of Bach as performed by Wanda Landowska. He brought an ice-down-the-back-of-the-shirt clarity to Bach's neglected keyboard masterpiece, and turned it into a best-seller, and himself into a star. In fact, the recording has never been out of print in the almost 50 years since it was recorded.</p><p>Landowska's famous statement to a pianist "You play Bach your way, and I'll play him his way" becomes ironic after you've heard Glenn Gould bring out every nuance of counterpoint in these works, revealing their full complexity. Glenn Gould's performances are usually described with words such as cold, crystalline, icey, sharp, intellectual, impeccable, eccentric and arrogant. Not all complimentary words. After hearing this version of the Goldbergs I must add to this list lighthearted, free, friendly, delicate, witty and fulfilling.</p><p>Bach's Goldberg Variations are one of those rare works in classical music that have instant appeal to beginners, but also a richness and complexity that gratifies the expert. The more you look, the more you find, and it is impossible to tire of them.</p><p>Tradition has it that Bach was commissioned by the insomniac Count Keyserlingk to write the pieces for his court musician Johann Gottlieb Goldberg to play to help him sleep. As Gould says in his liner notes to the 1955 recording, this is a charming story and difficult to disprove.</p><p>But there remains much scepticism: Goldberg was just 14 years old when it was published, and his keyboard skills may not have been adequate for the task, there is no dedication on the title page (as was customary), and there is no evidence of the golden chalice that Keyserlingk was supposed to have paid Bach for the music.</p><p>For those interested in Bach's almost mathematical structures, the Goldberg Variations will fascinate. The Aria, a Saraband, appears like two pillars at either end of the work. In between are 30 variations, grouped into 10 groups of three. Each set of 3 pieces is a free variation, a variation in duet and a canon. Thus every third piece is a canon, starting with a canon in unison (ie the canonic parts are in the same key) followed by ever increasing intervals until the 27th variation, a canon in ninth.</p><p>As a musical joke, the 30th variation is not a canon at all, but a quodlibet, music where two independent melodies are played together. Here Bach uses two low-brow folk melodies, "I long have been away from you" and "Cabbage and turnips have driven me away, Had my mother cooked meat, I'd have chosen to stay".</p><p>Glenn Gould The Goldbergs are a showpiece of keyboard virtuosity and variety. Glenn Gould brings out the flavours of them all. The pensive Aria, the cheeky 5th variation and the deeply introspective 25th Variation, that Landowska called the Black Pearl. And yes, if you turn the volume up, you can clearly hear Gould singing along, obviously enjoying himself.</p><p>As a final irony, Gould re-recorded the Goldbergs in 1981, despite rarely doubling up in recordings throughout his career. It was the same Gould, but a completely different set of Goldbergs. Slower (much slower), less fireworks but deeper and more meditative. He died from a massive stroke soon after, the two Goldberg Variation recordings pillars at each end of his creative life.</p>
Glenn Gould	Goldberg Variations	<p>While Glenn Gould's 1955 debut recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations has attained legendary status, there are many devoted fans who rank the 1981 recording just as highly, even though it offers a dramatically different interpretation. This album was made shortly before the pianist's premature death at age 50, so it is significant for being his last recording; indeed, the opening measures of the Aria are carved on Gould's headstone, in final recognition of the work's importance to him, so these two recordings may be regarded as bookends to the pianist's extraordinary career. Gould's tempos are slower and more measured in the 1981 performance, and the observance of some repeats here also differs from the earlier version. On the whole, the 1981 performance is reflective and carefully considered, in contrast with the technical brilliance and impulsive energy of the first. Gould's background humming is common to both Goldbergs, and even though the technology existed at the time of this recording to remove it, Gould kept it in, for fear of losing the piano's full sound. This eccentricity may be off-putting to some listeners, but there are so many fine points in Gould's playing that it must be overlooked to appreciate the true value of his playing and his understanding of Bach, which is original by any standard. Columbia's reproduction is crisp and clear, in keeping with Gould's wishes.</p><p>— <strong>Blair Sanderson</strong></p>
Paul Grabowsky	Tales Of Time And Space	<p>Recorded in New York, Tales Of Time And Space brings together the compositions of one of the most respected names in Australian music, Paul Grabowsky and some of New York's (indeed the world's) finest jazz musicians in an orgy of improvised splendour.</p><p>Also featuring renowned Australian trumpet player Scott Tinkler, Grabowsky's aim was a “special collaboration between some very committed individuals….an Australian perspective [on] the music which so represents the very soul of New York….a dedication to two worlds, both of which mean so much to me”.</p><p>From the stirring abruptness of "Silverland", a jazz tribute to Silverchair, to the sharp scatting shuffle of "Updraft", Tales Of Time And Space is without a doubt, an exemplary musical dialogue by true masters of their craft, namely Branford Marsalis, Joe Lavano, Ed Schuller, Jeff Tain Watts, the aforementioned Tinkler and of course Grabowsky himself. Incidentally, Grabowsky also did the symphony arrangements for several tracks on george's new LP Unity.</p>
Grateful Dead	Wake Of The Flood
Grateful Dead	History Of Grateful Dead
David Gray	White Ladder
Peter Green	The End Of The Game
Slava Grigoryan	Sonatas And Fantasies
David Grisman	Hot Dawg
Stefan Grossman	Blues Guitar
Stefan Grossman	Yazoo Basin Boogie	<p>Grossman has spent so many years producing videos and how to books on acoustic guitar, it's hard to think of him as a guitarist himself, which is why albums like this are so valuable and reassuring. Grossman can back up everything he says and believes musically, with an encyclopedic knowledge and feel for country-blues, rags, and fiddle tunes as demonstrated here. He runs through a gaggle of fine-sounding instruments, alternating between slide, 12-string, and fingerpicked six-strings in a plethora of tunings, and never fails to deliver top-notch playing on every track. A must-have for folk-blues guitar enthusiasts.</p><p>— <strong>Cub Koda</strong></p>
Stefan Grossman	Yazoo Basin Boogie / Play Blues Guitar	<p>Grossman has spent so many years producing videos and how to books on acoustic guitar, it's hard to think of him as a guitarist himself, which is why albums like this are so valuable and reassuring. Grossman can back up everything he says and believes musically, with an encyclopedic knowledge and feel for country-blues, rags, and fiddle tunes as demonstrated here. He runs through a gaggle of fine-sounding instruments, alternating between slide, 12-string, and fingerpicked six-strings in a plethora of tunings, and never fails to deliver top-notch playing on every track. A must-have for folk-blues guitar enthusiasts.</p><p>— <strong>Cub Koda</strong></p>

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