The Bill Murray film Broken Flowers was on the other day, and I was rather taken with the soundtrack. Turns out much of it is Ethiopian jazz/funk from the series "Ethiopiques", of which there's a rather handy "best of" - see www.ethiopiques.info.

Highly recommended.

os, July 2008

Tags: film, soundtrack, jazz, Ethiopiques

I enjoyed this article in The Guardian the other day.

"The album that almost completely killed our career seems to have become a work of dysfunctional genius," says Andy McCluskey with a grin. "The reality is that it's taken Paul [Humphreys] 25 years to forgive me for Dazzle Ships. But some people always hold it up as what we were all about, why they thought we were great."

I've always loved Dazzle Ships. Some great songs, and moreover some really great sounds. After this album OMD start sounding 'successful' i.e. they sound like they can afford the same gear as everyone else. I love the lack of polish in the earlier albums.
I always remember when I bought Dazzle Ships (which is not something I can say about most albums I own). I thought I owned everything OMD had ever done, and yet I came across the tape (yes, it was a while ago) of Dazzle Ships in a little music shop on Waterloo Station. I felt like I'd stumbled on hidden treasure. And indeed I was right.

os, April 2008

Tags: omd, dazzle ships, guardian

Darkroom post-xmas listening has been filled with a shiny metal box: Miles Davis' 'On The Corner'. It's the 3rd time I've owned the disc itself - both vinyl and BGO reissue having been part-exchanged long ago... so why again? Starting with the reason I haven't owned it for a while - I kept finding myself playing earlier, more atmospheric Miles (Nefertiti/In A Silent Way) or later, fuzz-heavy workouts (Aghata). OTC always seemed too dense, and somehow astringent... meant to be good, but never something I'd reach for to enjoy. Now, having heard all those sessions through, I think this was one set really waiting for digital: the unedited tracks are allowed to stretch out and develop, with the intense balanced out by the more subdued. Like a time capsule, waiting for some alien future technology to help decode it. Some real discoveries; some puzzles (couldn't 'Red China Blues' have been hidden somewhere else, on a separate disc?) Some of the most intense sound ever packed onto tape.

Mike, Jan 2008

Tags: miles davis

I've long been a fan of ambient tuba player Tom Heasley. I recently got a copy of his latest album, Passages, which for the first time sees him recording with a drummer. Great stuff - check him out at www.tomheasley.com.

I came across Tom when I heard a track of his (Prelude from On the Sensations of Tone) on somafm's Drone Zone. Gorgeous swathes of looped tuba - I was instantly hooked.

os, Jan 2008