LISTENING TO - Mad! by Sparks

Those regular readers of my blog will know I'm a lifelong fan of Sparks. Sparks over the last two decades have been on a pretty consistent run of excellent and innovative albums since Lil' Beethoven in 2002. One would expect that at least there'd be the occasional duffer. So I approached this their 28th album with a certain amount of trepidation. Well, some of Mad! feels a bit substandard, but not all of it,. For me it comes down to the variable quality of the song writing. With not enough of the ironic wit and pizzazz from Ron on show. The worst tracks on this album are strangely when they conform too closely to their own cliches. 

Their album before this The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte from 2023, was such a consistently good album, with hardly a bad track on it. So one wonders what creative shift they were aiming for here and slightly missed.

Some of Mad! demonstrates how one songwriters strengths can easily slip into being their most glaring faults. Ron Mael has always had the ability to turn the simplest line of lyric into an urgent musical exploration of a songs theme, by the often manic use of repetition. This goes back, at least as far as My Baby's Taking Me Home  off Lil Beethoven. He uses this minimalist technique to great effect on what turns out to be Mad!'s best and opening track - Do Things My Own Way - and later on on the delightful  A Long Red Light.. But then it is used to some degree on almost every track here. So you get Drowned In A Sea Of Tears, or Jan Sport Backpack which just end up being really irritating. A person wearing a Jan Sport Backpack keeps walking away, is lyrically and musically dull as ditch water. Bereft of any sense of irony or the tongue in cheek witticisms that might elevate this into something truly special. On previous albums, just listen to Lawnmower or Escalator to see at their best what they can do with an equally simple scenario. Jan Sport Backpack, is severely lacking in that sort of quality.

They appear to have, temporarily we hope, lost their usual firm grasp and astute ear for social and cultural phenomena to wittily lampoon. Its also the slim beer of its musical innovation too. This album feels, in comparison to their recent oeuvre, a tad complacent. So much of the art pop arena that they've single-handedly carved out for themselves, has thrived on the interplay between the gently acerbic nature of their lyrics and the musical risks that they've been prepared to take. They appear to have chosen to pare back the degree of adventurousness. At times it just ends up producing a blandly anodine song like - Lord Have Mercy. This has all the annoying 'wave your hands in the air' quality's of a Cliff Richard Christmas No 1. And no, this is not written ironically!

Running Up A Tab At The Hotel For The Fab is a great song title. I suspect Ron came up with that title first and then had to write around it. It ought to be a wonderful satirical send up of celebrity culture. Though undoubtedly a catchy song, it relies yet again on a lot of repetition of that title over a Dwayne Eddy style guitar riff.  Once upon a time this would have been a tighter, much more sharply written song lyrically. It gets by purely on the mood it conjures up, which is still great with a capital G. 

Having said all that, Mad! has a lot about it that is enjoyable. The song My Devotion does literally start off sounding like the most twee sentimental song possible, full of the fresh naivety of first love that you can imagine, its all -

My devotion to you is about all that I do
Got your name written on my shoe
And I'm thinkin' of gettin' a tattoo

But then halfway through Russell sings counter point over the main song with a vocal line that tells you how they feel now -

Through all the years  Rent in arrears
You never cared  Can't help but stare
You've never changed  Hair rearranged
That, though, is all  Time seemed to stall

Now that is the sort of unexpected twist in the tail you do expect of Sparks.

A Little Bit Of Light Banter is one great romp of a song. Given a musical style that Ron Mael is very fond of returning to- the vaudeville song. This is one of those routines with a long established relationship he easily settles into. Sparks have been coming up with this type of song since Reinforcements on the album Propaganda. Idiosyncratic certainly, but these days its hardly breaking new boundaries. Nonetheless this an infectious simple hearted show tune that I'm sure will be very popular live.

Just a little bit of light banter and then we say goodnight

Just a little bit of light banter and the we turn off the light

Each days a day of sorrow, we each bemoan our plight

But night is a different story and oh it feels oh so right

Its a really really deep connection, we do it every night

With a little bit of light banter, and then we turn off the light.

I find it significant that the songs they chose not to pre-release before the whole album was available, are in fact the more interesting tracks musically. 

In Daylight - is one beautifully sparse song, a highlight of the album

A Long Red Light - spookily discordant strings and all, l'm completely in love with this track.

Hit Me Baby - sung over a strongly propulsive opening stick rhythm, this is a terrifically well constructed track, that catches you off guard every time with yet another new development. 

I -405 Rules - all semi-operatic theatrically dramatic strings about to go completely off kilter any moment. Yeah, its fun. But its essentially Dick Around revisited. As if you needed to hear it twice, with less effect.. 

Don't Dog It - It's a crazy ride of a tune, couldn't tell you what its about really. 

So Mad! feels a tad disappointing, often infuriatingly inconsistent, some truly great stuff, alongside the really substandard. Let down occasionally by not just minimalist lyric writing, but poor song craft from Ron Mael. Its almost as though he exhumed these rejected songs from his bottom draw, accepting the challenge to make something of them despite their poor quality.

CARROT REVIEW - 4/8

PS. On further reflection I feel I am being quite unfair here, in overstating the problems with this album. I think I'm holding them to a standard that its actually quite hard for any band, let alone one on its 28th album, to meet. But, that is also a consequence of the cross they've made for themselves to bare.  So maybe I ought to be more forgiving.

MUSIC REVIEW - Sparks - A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip

With this new album, a musical Annette directed by Leo Carax, starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard and a documentary about their career made by Edgar Wright, both due out later in the year, Sparks are having another moment in the spotlight. After near on fifty years in the music business you'd be rightly wondering what they have left to say. On the evidence of A Steady Drip Drip Drip there are plenty of innovative ideas left in these septuagenarians yet.

The lively lyrical and musical driving force is, as ever, Ron Mael. It would be a mistake though to assume the vocal expertise of Russell is all he contributes. How Team Mael works has always been a mysterious two headed beast. Their lives outside of their pop personas are closely guarded, do they even have partners or children?  Not that we need to know, its just interesting that in our Instagram world there's still not a sniff of anything other than their brotherhood.

Like Hippopotamus, A Steady Drip Drip Drip utilises a song portfolio approach similar to Indiscreet, my favourite Sparks album from their Island Records period. But whilst there are knowing nods to their back catalogue, none of this is self-parody, it feels fresh and musically alive. Sparks remain at the top of their own particularly unique game as acute observers of the ridiculous side of human behaviour, and how recent social media technological developments, in a sense, only change the setting for them.

Of the many many delights on this album I'll focus on three to give a sense of the peachy perfections it contains. Ron Mael has always been able to write an effortlessly sparse song, a simple premise, simply executed, of which 'Lawnmower' is a classic example. Its about a chap who is so obsessed with mowing his lawn that his girlfriend leaves him.

'The neighbors look in awe at my lawnmower
With jealous and awe at my lawnmower
I'll never loan it out, not my lawnmower
La-la-la, la-la-la
La-la-la, la-la-la

You're pushin' on your lawnmower, lawnmower
Your lawn will be a showstopper, showstopper
Your lawn will be a jaw-dropper, jaw-dropper
La-la-la, la-la-la
La-la-la, la-la-la

What makes the prospect of the upcoming film Annette so exciting is that Ron Mael has been writing show tunes in a pop vein for years. There are a couple here 'Self-effacing' and a beautifully tongue in cheek song, about a woman called Onomato Pia who communicates without using words.

Onomato Pia came from Rome, had a head of angel hair
Couldn’t speak a word of English, no one cared
Onomatopia flowed out everywhere
Pia had a real communication flair

Every little sigh was oh so epic
Every little gasp for air
Every little yawn a yawn beyond compare
Onomato Pia’s gift was oh so rare
Pia had a real communication flair

There are a couple of songs with expletives in, which is unusual for Sparks, but used appropriately. The self explanatory 'Please don't fuck up my world' is one, the other 'I Phone' has the catchy chorus line of  'Put your fucking I Phone down and listen to me'.

Musically, they continue to be adventurous in their music arrangements, pushing at the envelope of what popular music can encompass, such as in the strident 'Sainthood is not in your future'   The wildest example here is 'Stravinsky's Only Hit' a song about how Stravinsky was convinced to make one concession to pop success that he subsequently regrets.

Stravinsky’s only hit
He toned it down a bit
He didn’t write the words, that was my job
He hated minor thirds
Thought them too absurd
I recommended them to make the girls sob

Adulation, how he loved it
All that action, Igor was digging it and
Party, party, rum and women
Party, party, a long way from Rite O’ Spring.

A Steady Drip Drip Drip gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from me.  

MUSIC REVIEW - Richard Dawson - 2020

How would I describe Richard Dawson's music? For a start, it appears to be beyond accurate categorisation, it has in a way carved out its own category. But what you'd call that I couldn't say. You only have to listen to the sixteen minute long The Vile Stuff from 2014's Nothing Important about a teenage school trip gone wrong, and its accompanying hallucinogenic video, to realise this man works off the usual beaten track.

The current album has clearly arisen out of his earlier folkish origins, but it now occupies newer territory where folk can only be used in its original sense of 'of the people'. By 2020 he's evolved a style of guitar playing that builds in clumsy execution, embraces dissonance and veers wildly from grungy riffs to an anarchic atonality. Lyrically his subject matter is frequently the day to day inconsequential details of ordinary people and their lives. His words often sounding as though they're verbatim transcripts of actual conversations.

Open your eyes, time to wake up
Shit, shower, brush your teeth, drain your cup
Wolf down a bowl of Ready-Brek
Fasten a tie around your neck

All over the city we arise, arise
For a job we despise, despise, despise

I don't want to go into work this morning
I don't think I can deal with the wrath of the general public
And I don't have the heart to explain to another poor soul
Why it is their Disability Living Allowance will be stopping shortly

Bus fulls of meat slumped in our seats
Staring at phone screens and our own feet
Shuffling off at the business park
Let's linger awhile in the smoking bubble

From every direction we arrive, arrive
With a swipe of the fob, the fob, the fob, the fob

I don't want to go back to that seething viper's nest
I can't listen anymore to the bleating of the terminally depressed
Or the stream of opinions from the creep in the office next to mine
I dream of bashing his skull into a brainy pulp with a Sellotape dispenser

(from Civil Servant )

His subject matter is, local football matches ( Man On ), the agonising resistance to doing a job you hate ( Civil Servant ) and the anxiety depression and paranoia you can develop when you either lose or no longer can do your job ( Jogging ). This could seem on paper to be all quite resolutely grim and gritty, but he is attempting a more truthful representation of the lived reality of a lot of people's lives. Much of this one assumes draws on Dawson's own experience. There is always a good deal of humour, sometimes gallows, sometimes self-deprecating, but frequently touched with an affecting poignancy, as in 'Heart Emoji'.

Dawson would readily admit he's not in possession of a great voice, but a characterful one, which, like all the best singers of this type, he uses with an honest passion, bellowing away as though singing uninhibitedly in the shower. He's not trying to be anything other than himself. Take him flaws and all. Because of this I guess Richard Dawson will never be hugely popular, he's one of those artists existing on the periphery of popular music, garnering critical praise and slowly growing a band of followers.

2020 is his most accessible album to date, moving on from the contemporary medieval inflected tales of 2017's Peasant. Whatever he does I find its usually worth bearing with, because here is a person with a rather unique perspective on music making and life, even if his appearance does resemble an out of work extra from Lord of the Rings.

My entry point into appreciating Richard Dawson began with the video for 'Jogging' so I'll leave you with that to savour.

MUSIC REVIEW ~ John Grant - Love is Magic

What is there left to say about John Grant that hasn't already cashed its chips in on an already established line of musical myth making?  Its as hard to look at an artist from a fresh perspective as it is for an artist to find one for themselves. Both develop expectations and associations built up from a repeated experience of what they love to write and what we love about them. We can become so accustomed to Grant's self confessional material that its robbed of its power to shock. amuse or awe.

He has often expressed his life experience in such a frank manner, its difficult to see beyond it to notice how he's filtered and packaged it for our consumption.  The results process his feelings via some of the most honest, witty, yet scathing songs about former lovers you are ever likely to hear. Emotional truths struck home and cause reciprocal resonant chords in others -'yes me too'.  Anyone who has broken up badly with a former lover and wanted to get back at them for the hurt they've caused, could hear it in a John Grant song. Much of this early solo material arose from a precarious sense of himself, to which the songs became a sort of cathartic therapy. Trying to rid himself of layers of self- destructive hate, doubt and anger. Over his three previous albums and associated live performances it was apparent that Grant has gradually been putting to rest, or at least managing better, the bitterness that drove his most cutting early songwriting. Where too now though for the bard of the withering put down?

As he releases Love is Magic, his fourth solo album, what more can we hear that hasn't been heard before? As Bella Union pre-released tracks from the album online, I felt concerned. What I was hearing, seemed like retreading old ground,  a lost sense for a melodic line, run out of fresh ways to write songs? Grant himself thinks this album is the most complete realisation he's yet achieved of what he's wanted an album to be. My feelings about it before hearing it in full were then a little troublesome. I was surprised then to end up loving it.

Queen of Denmark released in 2010 was in effect a salvage job by the group Midlake, to rescue Grant from slipping into a self imposed retirement. The resulting highly successful album has much more of a country lite feel to it, and had echoes of his previous work in the Csars. By the time of Pale Green Ghosts, three years later he's confident about where he wants to go musically experimenting with electronics, though still dropping back into the style of the first album from to time to time. This gave the album stylistically speaking an uneven feel, even though its full of songs that are some of his best.  My sense of 2015's Grey Tickles & Black Pressure was that it consolidated without developing further what he achieved on Pale Green Ghosts. With Love Is Magic, I believe I have a sense of what he's tried to achieve with this album. Its is more coherent in its form, being largely electronic in style from start to finish, but it also toys with something a bit more sonically adventurous too.

Between the last two albums he's done quite a bit of feature vocals on other people's albums. Most noticeably on Susanne Sundfor's Mountaineers, and with Creep Show. Both these allow Grant to sing over the most gorgeous sonic backgrounds allowing space to accommodate the full richness of his vocal timbre. Susanne Sundfor's album Music For Troubled Times, is a patchwork of songs each beautifully wrought. At times sparsely backed, sometimes lushly orchestrated,  experimentalally mixing in the spoken word, whilst still hanging together as a whole album concept. Love is Magic bears a few similarities, there are re-statements of what is good in a John Grant song, whilst weaving into this bolder explorations of the song form, pushing at his own compositional boundaries. The track Metamorphosis for instance opens the album with a crazy in your face list of things that appear to have no association, bookending a sad little tune about the death of a loved one, written from the perspective of someone with an emotionally alienated sense of loss. It doesn't quite convince you to fully buy into whats happening, its a fraction too clever to touch you, but it is a courageous track to open your album with.



The theme that holds the album together, resides in the title track Love Is Magic. Laying out the different reasons for our experience and desire for love. He sings that however it arrives ' when the door opens up for you, don't resist  just walk on through, there's really nothing else to do.'  Since an earlier song Marz there's has been a nostalgic vein that reflects back on his early life. Its present here in the Tempest, where he yearns for someone to come play the Atari arcade game with him. It has within it a plangent vein of loneliness, requesting someone to come and share an enthusiasm with him, to love what he loves. Preppy Boy, is a young inexperienced gay teenager imagining himself falling for the most straight looking and hence unobtainable love object. Smug Cunt could be seen as another of Grant's character assassinations of a hate figure. But there is often a sense that Grant only dislikes them because they have what he wants, the Smug Cunt has unwarrented self-confidence, but by the bucketful. Diet Gum, opens with the line 'I manipulate, that's what I do, I manipulate that's what I'm doing to you' interspersed with a lot of gay bitching trying to put down the manipulator 'Do you really think you could seduce me in a leisure suit' . Yet these pathetic expressions of independence are empty ones. They are only susceptible to being manipulated, because they love the manipulator.

Critical appreciation for this album has been mixed, some have like me loved it, often for the very same things that others have found irritating. Sometimes, I have to say, Grant's use of electronic instrumentation can seem a bit like he switched the machine on and used whatever its factory default settings were. He needs a musical collaborator to push him to be bolder in his arrangements, someone who'll conceive a unique sound to enhance Grants songs further. That said, Love Is Magic's compositional themes are as rounded and thoughtful as ever. It still has its pokey moments, but in a gentler, less cruel way, and he is perhaps more forgiving of others failings than before. Though not quite the superlative album that one might still expect him to write, it points towards a few bold musical directions he could pursue and expand on further. Nonetheless, for all its sometimes half resolved quirkiness, its a really interesting album that I'm already quite besotted with.

  

FEATURE 142 - Four Moments When I Loved The Fall

Say what you may about the late Mark E Smith he was something of a one off.  Repeated reputation has it that he was a bit of a git, but a genius, which makes being a git synonymous with genius, which simply cannot be always so. Mark E Smith was, however, one of a bunch of single minded poetic northerners along with John Copper Clarke, Morrissey and Ian Curtis, who were sparked into creative life by punk arriving in Manchester in the mid 70's. What marks out Smith as different is that he resolutely continued to maintain his independence and pursue his own muse, even when that led him close to penury. You have to admire someone for sticking unflinchingly to his guns for thirty years of creative output, and sixty band members!

On one day I could find The Fall's jangly amateurism, delightful, with Smith's traditional mode of vocal delivery; half mangling vowels and half one spit away from derision, emitting a rebellious charm. On another day I could find The Fall abrasive and whingeing, with Smith's writing and delivery sounding like an incomprehensible mess, all of which made for uneasy listening. As he got older, the drink and drugs did take their toll. Smith became the sort of person you'd avoid in a pub, sitting glowering in a corner, occasionally shouting out an addled obscenity. So, though you could like and often feel admiration, even a sort of vicarious pride in the fact that Mark E Smith ever existed, rarely was he or The Fall lovable. But even I have had my moments where I succumbed, and here are four of them.

THE FIRST MOMENT I LOVED THE FALL ~ Rowche Rumble  ~ 1979
The Fall in their naive earliest incarnation had a ramshackle spirit, declaring 'fuck 'em if they don't like this,we don't care.'  There are musical moments here to treasure that achieve greatness, by sheer accident. I heard Rowche Rumble first, unsurprisingly, on the John Peel Show, and I was so taken with it I went out and bought it. More than likely recorded in one take, it has this zestful burst of enthusiastic but inept instrument playing that sounds thin and tinny, but it catches your attention from the marching drum beat of its opening bars. Then come the jangly guitars only just on the beat. Its all basic and embellished with the puny sound of a child's organ tinkling tunelessly over the top. This is a joyful few minutes of earnestly left field pop, about chemical addiction! Prophetically Smith sings 'now I've tried crazy things, abusing my body to a great end, but I'll never never never do it again.' , except of course the latter never did happen.




THE SECOND MOMENT I LOVED THE FALL ~  Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul ~ 1981
An almost traditional rock drum opening, quickly becomes perverted into a fast paced demented hand jive. Smith's more confident vocalising is now going at full tilt, his lyrics depicting a grim picture of the seedier run down aspects of urban life, and the northern casino soul scene is painted as a fantasy escapade  ~ ' went home to my slum canyon, on my way I looked up, I saw turrets of Victorian wealth, I saw John the ex-fox, sleeping in some outside bogs, there's a silent rumble, in the buildings of the night council'. Going on behind this rather cracking little number, are off key guitars and keyboards fighting like cats for dominance with those relentless drums.




THE THIRD MOMENT I LOVED THE FALL ~ Living Too Late ~ 1986
I first heard this at Sadlers Wells, when it was played behind a lewdly extravagant performance by The Micheal Clark Dance Company. There is something about that plodding bass line with its downtrodden air, as a jarring keyboard stabs repeatedly into it like a knife, that I love. Over the top Smith intones 'Crows feet are on my face, and I'm living too late, try to wash the black off my face, and I'm living too late'  He's writing about a universal melancholic feeling of being out of sync with your life and  times. Though Smith is often characterised as dour, he's never been averse to a bit of lyrical dry humour, something he's rarely credited with ' Sometimes life is like a bar, plastic seats, beer below par, food with no taste, music grates, I'm living too late'  For me this is The Fall's finest moment.




THE FORTH MOMENT I LOVED THE FALL ~ Hit The North ~ 1987
We are still in the Brix Smith era of The Fall, where the band is, lets say, more professional and on the case. They also sound distinctly poppy with an accessible danceable edge to it. However, one look at the cryptic lyrics I think you'd be hard put to find one iota of sense in them. they are more like a series of dissociated abstracted images that paint a picture, albeit a very out of focus one ~ ' In the reflected mirror of delirium, Eastender and Victorian lager, the induced call, mysterious, come forth ~ Hit the North!  
Still, its a great rallying cry, with a very addictive sax riff.




After this, though I've probably missed out on some great music, I lost interest as they seemed to be becoming part of the familiar well worn furniture.  I fell out of love, with The Fall, you might say.

FEATURE 141 - Perfume Genius ~ No Shape

No Shape is Perfume Genius's fourth album, and its a defiant confirmation of his talent, giving fuller flesh to his idiosynchratic imagination. Visually there's always been something about him that's of the 1920's, slight of build, fey and winsome, but with a harder queenly eye that says don't mess with me. His voice has little basso profundo, though he utilises and enhances his voice's qualities well. So vocally, though slight, breathy and light in tone, on No Shape he gives it the most exotic, sensuous and dramatic of musical settings to frame it with. There is probably no pop artist working at the moment who ponders on his place in queerdom and the world at large, as this man.

The album's opener Slipaway which starts with an aboriginal tribal electro beat, that then explodes out into this dramaticly wide panorama, is an exhilerating flourish. 'don't look back, I want to break free, if you never see what's coming, there's no reason to hide'  he sings. Capturing the feeling of how falling in love can take you by suprise when it arrives. There has always a mode of transgressiveness surrounding Perfume Genius and his music. He wants to break out of limitations, personal, social and musical conventions of all kinds. We all may feel from time to time, that.our views of ourselves are self-limiting and witholding of our potential. Which is probably why its taken four albums for Perfume Genius to reach this level of achievement, it has been hard won.



There are many musical peaks on No Shape but Die 4 You is a truly beautiful thing. One that is hard to quite put into words. Exploiting PG's hushed vocal qualities, its a sinuous and heartfelt peaon to attraction and longing for a loved one. The video is a wonderful accompanyment to this song, like a surreal dream, full of wishfulfillment and a nebulous physical sense of the love object. Its artfully contrived, but somehow evoking the loneliness in longing, of waiting, the perilous febrile qualities of desire, how muscular intimacy and emotionally tenderness are fed by the precognition of our imaginations



In many ways just picking out a handful of tracks from an album that has such a cohesive feel and theme woven through it, leaves an incorrect impression of it. However, you have to attempt from giving snapshots to paint what the complete picture maybe like. With Wreath, there's a life giving urgency to it that propells it forward. As he sings 'I see the sun go down I see the sun come up, I'm moving just beyond the frame' it could seem like that urgency is to do with making the most of life, because who knows where the end of it is, just beyond the frame of it? 'I want to hover with no shape'. would indicate another reading, of the need to keep dying to yourself, to not stay the same out of habit, but to constantly shift shape, to keep breaking through to another way of being, 'to put a wreath upon the grave'. The video is joyous, an edited selection of  videos from people around the world miming or dancing in their own individual way to this track, it has a universality to it, encapsulating audi-visually what the words life affirming is meant to discribe.

1970's German Experimental Rock ~ Faust

Faust emerged from the late sixties Hamburg music scene and consisted of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, This lineup lasted from its founding in 1971 to 1975. After a period of being disbanded, Diermaier & Peron reformed Faust with a fluctuating collective of musicians from 1996 onwards.

If any band existed to scotch the notion of 'krautrock' as a cohesive genre of music it is Faust. Though the idea of non-musicians who nevertheless make music is often found to be the working premise of many bands as stylistically distant from Faust as Kraftwerk. The sound world that Faust inhabited was filled with a relentless search for new sounds by mangling conventional instruments or innovating cruder instruments out of salvaged machinery, pipes and industrial tools.

Though often called a rock band, these early albums rarely fully or consistently conform to any tradition without consistently veering wildly and chaotically away from its cliches or standard form. Theirs is an anarchic rag bag of influences from Syd Barrett, Velvet Underground to Stockhausen as if  processed through a cement mixer.  Hippie without being trippy or dippy, but not beyond being whimsical whilst being hard core deadly ernest experimenters, they defy categorisation, subvert styles and expectations more than any other band of this or any period. They're the very epitome of what an indie underground band was at that time.

Their first two albums  Faust and So Far were released on Polydor and these laid down the template for the Faust musical approach. Here's a distinctly abrasive track from So Far called Mamie Is Blue.



Eager to ride the wave of new bands emerging from Germany a fledgling Virgin Records signed Faust in 1973. They attempted to open up a market for this distinctly non-conformist music, by releasing a budget album The Faust Tapes, renowned for being sold for the price of a single at 48p. The album though essentially a series of experiments and outtakes roughly edited together, probably  captures the spirit of the Faust musical zeitgeist better than their more considerd albums. Having failed with their sales strategy, Virgin dropped them two years later.

This is one of the most famous tracks from The Faust Tapes , J'ai Mai Aux Dents. Just when you think you've understood the groove they inexplicably take a jazz break before returning to it. The vocals and style are reminiscent of the Velvet Underground's Sister Ray though with substantially more avant-garde slabs of noise and meaningless lyrics, there being no room for laconic streetwise sasseyness in Faust world

Nevertheless they did produce Faust IV in 1973 whilst signed to Virgin. Now recognised as a classic 'must hear' album of the period it showcases an admittedly more refined version of their trademark mash up of styles. On the album's opening track Faust fully embrace the cliche of the by then recognisable new German sound as espoused by the likes of Neu!,taking it and leaving it somewhere it doesn't normally go, a track they've called rather toungue in cheek - Krautrock.

Faust IV proved divisive, whilst it attracted new fans, older ones thought they'd lost their edge and sold out by producing,what was for Faust, a relatively accessible album. The original band that was Faust parted ways in 1975, Whilst the reformed band carries on in the spirit of what the first Faust band stood for, their early work still stands head and shoulders above their subsequent albums.

FEATURE 140 ~ Here, Have 6 more of my ear-worms from 2017

Here are 6 more of favourites tracks from 2017, in no particular order.
Susanne Sundfor ~ Accelerate
An addictive dance track, I love the way it opens with that punchy fast drum sound, and then her fabulous voice.


Susanne Sundfor ft John Grant - Mountaineers 
A glorious song, grandly rising from out of the echoing depths swooping up to its thrilling zenith.




Fever Ray ~ To The Moon & Back
The brilliant return of the unhinged dark maiden of electro~indie.




St Vincent ~ Los Ageless
A great song, arty, angular, lyrically cutting, prescient in both style and substance.




Leonard Cohen ~ You want it darker
I just loved the gravelly truth-telling quality of Cohen's voice on this track

 

Toddrick Hall ft Ru Paul ~ Low
Sassy drag update of The Wizard of OZ, written with wry wit and so many hooks I never tire of hearing it.

FEATURE 139 ~ Here, Have 6 of my ear-worms from 2017

Here's 6 favourites I've played a lot throughout the last year, in no particular order.

Bellowhead ~ Crosseyed & Chinless
Exemplifying what was so good about Bellowhead confidently mixing other musical genres into the folk melting pot whilst getting your feet tapping.



Sparks ~ Giddy Giddy Giddy
This for me is pure enjoyment for its barmy vision, musical insistence and lyrical acuteness.



Arcade Fire ~ Creature Comfort
A catchy dance song about an attempted suicide, and how we pursue fame in order to hide our pain.




Laura Marling ~ Soothing
Sparse, sophisticated and erotically charged, plus the sensuous wonder of Laura Marling's voice..




Elbow ~ Little Fictions
Orchestrated masterfully to build on a stuttering rhythm pattern. The peak point of a consistently excellent album




Beyonce ft Jack White ~ Don't Hurt Yourself
The mistress of any styles she attempts,. Catchy, vengeful, political and very impressive.




6 more favourite tracks to follow soon.

MUSIC REVIEW ~ Sparks ~ Hippopotamus

Its been a while, but a new album by Sparks, for me, is like a reunion with much loved old friends. It's not that they haven't been busy during the eight years since there last studio album. Most recently they've been working on music for a film script called Annette, filmed by Leos Carax of Holy Motors fame, starring Adam Driver, Rooney Mara, and reportedly a cameo by Rihanna. Personally can't wait to see it. After that Sparks returned to the studio for ten months to make this album, which has a guest vocal appearance by Carax on When Your A French Director., singing 'When your a French director, you're an auteur as well, What does that mean? Every scene must be as obscure as hell.'
So, yes, as that lyric indicates, Ron Mael has been sharpening his customary wit once more. It's been well worth the wait.

On Hippopotamus there are fifteen songs, each a miniature gem, each quite different from the other, but still inimitably Sparks. Here are my personal favourites in no particular order, just as they come to mind.




The album's opener, is a short, bitter sweet song, with a simple piano accompaniment. Probably Nothing, is sung in the first person, its a man trying to remember what it is he wants to say to his partner. Devoid of irony, wit or whimsy, its just a very poignant song about someone with dementia.
'Something to tell you, but now I forget. Probably Nothing. Some little story, No nothing, not yet. Probably Nothing. Don't try to think of it, then it'll come, Happens a lot lately, I feel so dumb. It'll come, when it comes, but I still feel so dumb'



The albums title song Hippopotamus, is one of those off kilter Sparks songs where you just have to surrender to the barmy logic of it. On the face of it, it's just a list of odd things this guys found in his swimming pool, including the aforesaid hippopotamus, a painting by Heironymus Bosch, a Volkswagan micro bus, and Titus Andronicus wearing a snorkel. It has all the lyrical inventiveness we expect from Ron Mael, whilst having the insistence of a playground nursery rhyme that children might skip along too, whilst driving you mad at hearing over and over again.
'There's a book by anonymous, a book by anonymous, a book by anonymous in my pool. There's a book by anonymous, a book by anonymous, and a hippopotamus in my pool. No I've not read it, no I've not read it, when it drys out I'll have a go.'  



Giddy Giddy Giddy, on the surface appears light and insubstantial, but nevertheless this addictive little song drives along at an insane gallop as if it startled the horses. But I absolutely love it. Its sending up the rather hyped up state that contemporary life can often get us all into, so self intoxicated and just giddy with glee about something and nothing.
' from another city, where nobody's giddy, comes a scientific group, to analyse our giddiness, Their water ain't too giddy, their diet ain't too giddy, we're prettier than they are, but their infinitely giddier.'



Scandinavian Design, is a classic Sparks song where knowing cultural references are paraded as a lure to attract a woman to stay the night.
'I've got nothing, just a table and two chairs, But I know that everything I need is there, Every line, every shape, sculptural, no escape. Its Scandinavian Design. Sometimes she comes over, I think I know why, she says the sky has bored her, what's wrong with the sky? Who am I to turn her out, all that she thinks about, is Scandinavian Design.'



Unaware, is another of those Ron Mael songs that by concealing plays with our expectations and interpretation. Eventually to reveal the reason why she's unaware is that she's only a baby.
'Taylor Swift has something new, Nike has a brand new shoe, Reads your heart rate, anywhere, she don't know, she don't care, She's unaware, unaware.'



I Wish You Were Fun, is a great song, reminiscent of a music hall tune in its musical and lyrical style. It demonstrates that in another era Ron Mael could have been a successful Broadway songwriter.
'I wish you were fun, I wish you were fun to be around, I wish you were fun, You say that your favourite colours brown. In every other way I find you amazing but one, I wish you were fun, I wish you were fun.'



The closing song on the album, Life With the Macbeths, Russell sings a duet with an opera singer, in a grand satire on celebrity TV, where Lord and Lady Macbeth's life is being filmed as a reality show.
'As the cameras are rolling, we roll our eyes, But our lifestyle demands we hide our sighs, One season, is all you'll see, As the Lady inspires me to depths unseen, Killing all in my way, some will yell 'obscene' The ratings are off the charts. Life with the Macbeths, both tart and smart.'

Hippopotamus, I think will be viewed as one of Sparks late, but great albums. In its range of styles and invention it bears similarity to Indiscreet, an oft overlooked album from their first flush of success. With Russell now 69 and Ron 72, how much longer these two can keep going recording, let alone touring, remains to be seen. There are a number of songs here that refer to aging and mortality, perhaps this is spurring them on to make best use of whatever productive time they have remaining. Long may they continue.

ARTICLE ~ Heaven in the Lyrics of Ron Mael..

THEMES IN THE LYRICS OF RON MAEL
Part Two ~ Gabriel plays it, God how he plays it.

In Part One we looked at Ron Mael's quirky views on the sexual dynamic between men and women.
I thought I'd take a closer look at the theme of God and Heaven. with the release of Hippopotamus we have a new song to add to the growing lexicon of Ron Mael songs that poke gentle fun at the divinity or highlight the more prosaic aspects of having to live in heaven. The history of Sparks songs featuring the godly realms has a broken, but quite distinguished, lineage.

On Kimono My House from 1974, is the track Here in Heaven. Its sung from the point of view of a 'romeo' who has deliberately killed himself, whilst his lover Juliet, who hasn't gone through with their joint suicide pact, is still alive and not here in heaven with him. An odd subject for a song you might think but it contains one of Ron Maels's most smart and wittiest lyrics.

Here, there are lots of things to do
And a panoramic view
Of the universe completely surrounding you

And here you cannot buy souvenirs
You're never going back, never, never
Basically, I guess it could be worse
Yes, I do suppose it could be worse

Here, there are many, many sheep
And the people only sleep
And awake to tell how gory and gruesome was their end
And I don't have many friends
And it's really very clean and I'm thinking
Juliet, you broke our little pact
Juliet, I'm never coming back

Chorus
Up here in Heaven without you
I'm here in Heaven without you
Up here in Heaven without you
It is Hell knowing that your health will keep you out of here
For many many years

Dear, do you often think of me
As you overlook the sea
Do I qualify as dearly departed or am I
That sucker in the sky
The fall guy for the first and the last time
Juliet, I thought we had agreed
Now I know why you let me take the lead

Chorus

Second thoughts, is that what you had?
Second thoughts, first I broke my back
Second thoughts, as I hit the sea
Second thoughts, for eternity, for eternity, for eternity

Indiscreet, from 1976, is full of a very eclectic mix of songs that shows their growing confidence in the range of styles they could successfully master. However, the wider public didn't quite get it, and it marked the end of the first phase of their popularity, only for them to emerge re-energised and electro three years later. It did none the less contain two hits, Looks Looks Looks, a parody of fashionistas, that paradoxically got readily adopted as catwalk music, and Get In The Swing, whose tune thumps along accompanied by what sounds like an American football brass band. Towards the end there is a brief interlude where the divinity completely breaks the entire flow of the song to raise a complaint. There is no rhyme or reason for it at all, its just an excuse to lampoon, its completely unnecessary but a delightful intervention.

Hello down there
This is your creator with a questionnaire
Hello up there
I don't have the time to fill out questionnaires

No 1 Song In Heaven, produced by Giorgio Moroder in 1979 and here we have probably their best known heavenly themed song. Always looking for that slightly askew angle, Ron Mael imagines that heaven is as prone to an addictive pop tune that everyone hums as we are on earth, except that in heaven all the very best tunes are written by god. The full song has two parts, first, a slow ballad with a wistful elegiac air, which then breaks into a fast paced romp, that proceeds at such a pace its almost too brisk to be danced too.

This is the number one song in heaven
Written, of course, by the mightiest hand
All of the angels are sheep in the fold of their master
They always follow the Master and his plan

This is the number one song in heaven
Why are you hearing it now, you ask
Maybe you're closer to here than you imagine
Maybe you're closer to here than you care to be

It's number one, all over heaven
It's number one, all over heaven
It's number one, all over heaven
The number one song all over heaven

If you should die before you wake
If you should die while crossing the street
The song that you'll hear, I guarantee

It's number one, all over heaven
It's number one, all over heaven
It's number one, all over heaven
The number one song all over heaven

The one that's the rage up here in the clouds
Loud as a crowd or soft as a doubt
Lyrically weak, but the music's the thing

Gabriel plays it, God how he plays it
Gabriel plays it, God how he plays it
Gabriel plays it, God how he plays it
Gabriel plays it, let's hear him play it

The song filters down, down through the clouds
It reaches the earth and winds all around
And then it breaks up in millions of ways
It goes la, la, la......
In cars it becomes a hit
In your homes it becomes advertisements
And in the streets it becomes the children singing.

The album Balls from 2000, is their 18th album, and it fell to earth in what was creatively a somewhat flat and directionless bardo between the wacky coherence, and commercial success, of the concept like album Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins and the equally bizarre. yet groundbreaking album Lil Beethoven that was to reinvent them, yet again, in 2002. Nonetheless, its an album I'm still quite fond of, if only for the balls of the title track Balls and speed of Bullet Train. But it also had this sweet little love song called The Angels, where the titular angels are both overwhelmed and green with envy at how stunning this man's girlfriend looks.

I heard the angels call your name

They feel ashamed. They feel ashamed

Because you look so fucking good

I saw the angels glaring down

I saw the angels glaring down

They feel inane,They feel in pain

Because you're oh so fucking cool

Me, I take it in stride

Me, I know I'm on the right side this time

I see the angels disappear, I see the angels disappear

They feel confused, They feel bemused

They are a pale picture of you

Me, I take it in stride

Me, I know I'm on the right side this time

They've felt the heat, And felt defeat

Because you look so fucking good

They've felt the heat, And felt defeat

Because you look so fucking good

So we come to their most recent heaven themed song What The Hell Is It This Time? from the Hippopotamus album. It's like a more extensive rap on that short coda from Get In The Swing. God is getting so pissed off with the number, type and frequency of the requests for helpful intervention he's receiving. 

Historically, Historically we make and appeal

To something greater then we are when we need to heal

But don't concern Him with your little bad day affair

His temper will flare, he'll rise from His chair

What the hell is it this time

My god is great, my god is good, he loves every man

But show consideration when you pray in demands

His plate is filled with famine and clean wholesome air

If Arsenal wins he really don't care

What the hell is it this time

You've asked Him for attention twenty times in the past

But twenty times is granted you and again you have asked

But twenty is the limit and he's now getting peeved

And when he gets peeved It's not to be believed

What the hell is it this time

My god is great, my god is good, he loves every man

He loves every man, he loves every man

My god is great, my god is good

But show some restraint if you're feeling faint

Appeal to a saint

What the hell is it this time

It's you again it's you again, you get on my nerves

What the hell is it this time

I've millions to serve, you get on my nerves

What the hell is it this time

My girl has left, my dog has left, I've cracked up my car

The only one who listens to me stands in the bar

He turns his back and walks away

And I say for you I ain't hardly through

He says "Yeah you're through"

Our god is great,our god is good, he loves every man

But there's a limit to what even He can withstand

So be selective in what you slip under His door

It it isn't war, It may be ignored

What the hell is it this time

My god is great, my god is good, but don't waste his time

He's dealing with crime, so don't waste his time

Historically historically he has carte blanche

He don't take carte blanche

He don't take carte blanche

What the hell is it this time

* all lyrics are by Ron Mael.

ARTICLE ~ Sexual Relationships in the Lyrics of Ron Mael

THEMES IN THE LYRICS OF RON MAEL
Part One - Unwitting Chaperons.

In 1974 I had a moment of blissful musical revelation, as a keyboard refrain faded in, built up and propelled guitars into the fray, and then Russel Mael's falsetto sang the following lyric : ~










Zoo time is she and you time
The mammals are your favourite type, and you want her tonight
Heartbeat, increasing heartbeat
You hear the thunder of stampeding rhinos, elephants and tacky tigers
This town ain't big enough for both of us
And it ain't me who's gonna leave

Some might say that Russell Mael's semi operatic voice, has frequently hidden the lyrical inventiveness of his brother Ron under his high pitched, rapid fire delivery and often indistinct diction. You knew This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us contained a batty brilliance to it, unique at the time. But what on earth were they on about?

Over the years and twenty plus albums, Ron Mael has ploughed a distinct lyrical furrow with themes around the dynamics in sexual relationships reoccurring. These are presented from the masculine perspective, and focus on male insecurity in their relationships with women. These are perceptive, often challenging preconceived views about the dominance of male power in sexual relationships. In sexual relationships the use of power by either gender, quite often arises out of fear and insecurity rather than a primary desire for dominance. This woman/man has free will and could just up and leave you. Men over the centuries have exercised overt and covert uses of power, as a means of controlling by keeping women at home. Though never misogynistic, Mael doesn't particularly toe a PC line either, there is plenty of objectification and idealisation of the open playing fields of ones first youthful sexual explorations for instance. This he rarely does without his tongue being firmly in his cheek, or a healthy dose of irony being left hovering over it. As in Amateur Hour :~

The lawns grow plush in the hinterlands
The perfect little setting for the one night stands
The drapes are drawn and the lights are out
It's the time to put in practice what you've dreamed about

Well she can show you what you must do
To be more like people better than you

Chorus
Amateur hour goes on and on
When you turn pro you know she'll let you know
Amateur hour goes on and on
When you turn pro you know she tells you so

Girls grow tops to go topless in
While we sit and count the hairs that blossom from our chins
Our voices change at a rapid pace
I could start a song a tenor and then end as bass

Choose your partners everyone
If you hesitate the good ones are gone

Chorus

Dance laugh wine dine and talk and sing
But those cannot replace what is the real thing
It's a lot like playing the violin
You cannot start off and be Yehudi Menuhin

Chorus

Often the men in Ron Mael songs don't quite know what to do, nor what to make of how a woman is behaving. The uncertainty within this atmosphere feels threatening or intimidating. So on Don't Leave Me Alone With Her, its the woman whose seen as being predatory and putting the man on his guard against her unwanted advances.

The Exodus is on
The impetus is gone
Nobodys having fun
How about another drink
Or maybe just a snack
The rest will be here soon
Here, let me take you mac
I know its started slow
Theres still no need to go

Chorus
Dont leave me alone with her
Every home is Rome alone with her
And if you all go, who'll say no to her
Dont leave me alone with her
Dont my sweat and shaking register
Cause if you all go, who'll say no to her

You look at her and say, "She looks OK to me"
I look at her and say, "She looks OK to me"
The reasons very clear
You're watching her with me

Chorus

Unwitting chaperons, how come you cannot see
Unwitting chaperons, how come you cannot see
A Hitler wearing heels
A soft Simon Legree
A Hun with honey skin
De Sade who makes good tea
Dont leave me here to be

Chorus

On the track The Lady Is Lingering, Mael's lyrics capture the uncertainty surrounding attraction from the male point of view. You think someone might fancy you, but you're not quite sure. Should you make a move, or are you misreading the signals ?

Every word pronounced distinctly, slowly
There are no contractions, nothing slurred
Unprepared you watch in rank amazement
As she lights her cigarette and stirs
Every motion is complete, no editing of anything
Encouraging, encouraging, and not
the customary bill of fare

Chorus
Can't you see the lady is lingering
This lady's lingering, and you cannot believe
the reason why

Every sip is of the smallest quantity
That still denotes apparent thirst
Every question is a means to draw long answers
Play the fool, it doesn't hurt
Splitting, splitting headache coming
Get up early in the morning
Where are the funny phrases
That are always followed by goodbye

Chorus

Is it now all up to you, do you now
guide the evening, or do you await
a further signal, a look, a touch, a sigh

Chorus

Risky business, all this waiting, wondering
A risky business, all this waiting, wondering
A risky business, all this waiting, wondering
A risky business, all this waiting, wondering

Chorus 

Don't you know she's here?

The next lyric is from Indiscreet, one of the early Spark's most inventive and diverse albums. On a track called Tits, Ron Mael's perfectly evokes a realistic experience of a conversation, its character and tone, how the focus of the narrative can jump around from Harry, to his wife, to the barkeeper and back again in an instant. The scenario is of two men drinking in a bar, one believes he's got marital troubles, and is confiding in his best friend Harry. As the night goes on the pair get more and more drunk, and the conversation takes on an increasingly paranoid turn.  Though the chorus talks about the change in availability of his wife's tits since they've had a child, the use of the word Tits in the title has a double meaning.  Both these guys, the more drunk they become, are behaving like proper tits. This is fine lyric writing, and Ron Mael at his witty and ironic best.

Harry, it's good of you to stay
Hear every word I say
And not just duck away

God, these drinks are something warm and watered down
Barkeep, how 'bout some ice
Hey, Harry sit back down
Say, that little thing there's fine from behind

They all look good after three or four,
So drink Harry, drink Harry,
Drink 'til you can't see no more
of anything, no more of anything
Drink Harry, drink Harry, drink 'til you can't see no more

For months, for years,
Tits were once a source of fun and games at home
And now she says, tits are only there to feed our little Joe
So that he'll grow

Harry, it's really rough at home
I've caught her on the phone
Hey, who's that on the phone?
Oh, that's no one dear,
The standard sort of line
Harry, you know me well,
You know that I'm not blind
Hey, you ain't been drinking
Don't you know I'm buying?

They all taste good after three or four
So drink Harry, drink Harry, drink 'til you can't drink no more
of anything, no more of anything
Drink Harry, drink 'til you can't drink no more

How well I know
Tits were only there for fun and games at home
And now she says, tits are only there to feed our little Joe
So that he'll grow

God, the room is spinning round
Hey, drive me home old pal
God, you sure get around
Harry, I know it's you who's breaking up my home
Harry, don't say a word, just drop me off at home
Harry, forgive me Harry, let's have just one more

It's all so good after three or four
It's all so good after three or four
It's all so good after three or four

So let's drink Harry, drink 'til we can't drink no more
of anything, no more of anything
Drink Harry, drink Harry, drink 'til we can't drink no more

How well I know
Tits were once a source of fun and games at home
And now she says, tits are only there to feed our little Joe
So that he'll grow into a man

So let's drink Harry, drink 'til we can't see no more

Even on Exotic Creatures Of The Deep their most recent studio album, there;s a track She Got Me Pregnant, where he teasingly subverts traditional gender stereotypes. Wondering how men would cope if they were the ones who became pregnant, would they feel any different if they were left holding the baby?

Pregnant
She got me pregnant
Done using me
I'm just a memory

You know how these girls can be they treat you all so casually
They wine you and they dine you and expect a little la-dee-dee
And then you learn that though she's several thousand miles away
There is a part of her she's given you and now you have to deal with being
Pregnant

Chorus

You know how society is showing some sobriety
By letting individuals decide on how they get their thrills
And if there is a consequence then you are left to deal with it
Government will not be there to tell you what to do if you get
Pregnant

Chorus

I offer you I offer you a simple word of warning
Think it's never gonna happen to you, better, better, better think again

Chorus

A wham and bam and thank you sir is all that I would get from her
I never should have given in I never should have given her
The golden opportunity to love me and to leave me
Without giving me the time of day and she is half the world away

Chorus

There are other subjects in Ron Mael's lyrical lexicon, too many to incorporate into one article. Recently the Mael brothers have released a book of selected Spark's lyrics which if you are interested you might want to investigate. In The Words Of Sparks

* All Lyrics in this article are by Ron Mael.

FEATURE No 6 - Sparks - Shopping Mall of Love

The 1980's was not an era favoured with success for Sparks, but neither did they do themselves any favours either, as, to be honest, most of their Eighties output sounds insipid. But, there was the odd song which was a gem. On 'Pulling Rabbits out of a hat'- 1984 it was - 'Pretending to be drunk'. 'Music You can Dance to' in 1986 produced this one bona fide classic, and that very rare thing indeed, a song on which Ron takes the lead vocal. I've been playing it constantly since I discovered it on You Tube, in the form of a video taken at their 21 album concert retrospective in June 2008. Here's the original recording.

CD Review No 13 - Sparks - Exotic Creatures of the Deep

The Sparks Renaissance, ( is that Wren-naissance or Run -naissance ? ) continues, with another very lively, collection of pop tunes, on their 21st album. A feat of endurance, as much as one of consistent inventiveness, which many performers half their age fail to maintain with this much virulent energy and attack beyond their third album. In contrast to 'Hello Young Lovers,' Exotic Creatures of the Deep' is less diverse in the musical styles the Mael Brothers choose to pinch, parody or parade. It has a more refined, focused punch, giving it a consistency which its predecessor did sometimes lack, due to its eclecticism. If any cost has been exacted for this, it is that it is lyrically weaker. You have to really search out the sly, dry wit, you've come to expect from Ron Mael.

It does have its delights that are worth finding, such as on 'Good Morning' - about a man who wakes up one morning in bed with a woman he doesn't know. It's full of funny throwaway quips - ' I hope its just your laugh that is infectious' ,or 'Please spare me derision, I'll do my rendition, A lengthy recital, Of every song with foolish in the title.' Even songs that are less successfully conceived, such as - 'This is the Renaissance' - contain hidden gems - ' We can see the moon, We can see the stars, We can see the future and the freeways and electric cars, And they might think we're quaint, We don't really care, We've got Michelangelo and they graffiti everywhere'

It began with 'This Town ain't big enough for the both of us', and they became totally obsessed with it on the album 'Lil Beethoven', and they continue to this day, to shamelessly plunder styles from classical music. Blending them in a variety of confections with grumbling guitars and electronic throbbing beats. Set off by an unerring ability to build up songs around the simplest of riffs or hook lines. The essential idea, nay amusement, of a song is declared loudly by it's title - 'She got me (Pregnant)' - 'Lighten up Morrissey' - 'I can't believe you'd fall for all the crap in this song' - 'I've never been high.' Sometimes the humour of a song title -'I can't believe you'd fall for all the crap in this song' for instance - is all it amounts to, which can leave you feeling a little short changed. All Sparks songs explore a standard theme- male neuroses/paranoia when in a relationship - giving it yet another peculiar twist. This album can sometimes sound like its from the seventies, at other times it's on a more contemporary pulse, all the while staying within the idiosyncratic musical territory Sparks have singlehandedly carved out for themselves.

The track 'Lighten up Morrissey,' is a bit of an oddity, it seems like a remixed out take from their 'Big Beat' period, (not one of their best). Morrissey is a lifelong Sparks fan. so maybe this song is by way of a cheeky, back handed compliment. It is one of their feebler attempts at satire, it fits, to my ears, less comfortable within the musical landscape of 'Exotic Creatures of the Deep.' Here, they rummage through their own back catalogue for ideas to dust off and rehash, but what artist wouldn't this far into their career? There is a direct line of musical sympathy between 'Never turn your back on Mother Earth' and 'I've never been High'. It's never, ever a boring retread, they have always added something new, to freshen its appeal. On' Photoshop', about a spurned lover who wants to erase from memory the relationship that's failed, it explores a new use for digital technology - 'You know what your doing, Look at the acclaim, Grant me one more favour, Alter the terrain, Make it look as though I were in Hell, Or something near enough to Hell, Give it a caption of farewell, Photoshop me out of your life.'


Some day the music buying public will re-discover Sparks and realise what delights they've been missing, since their undoubtedly great 1970's Island records period. I just hope they're not retired, or well passed their best, or dead, by then.