STACK New Zealand May 2016 Issue

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Augustus Pablo
This is Augustus Pablo
In the mid-'70s the hypnotic sound of
Augustus Pablo pulled 95bFM listeners close
to their radio, because host Duncan Campbell
used a Pablo piece (the leisurely Up Wareika
Hill) as the theme to his groundbreaking roots
reggae programme. Campbell's show was appointment listening
and if you heard it the memories will flood back with the reissue of
this classic album from '73 where producer/guitarist Pablo's deep,
old-school reggae grooves – with Ansell Collins also on keyboards
alongside bass legends Aston Barrett and Lloyd Parks – get Pablo's
gloriously quirky and tuneful melodica pasted over the top. Pablo's
sound was that of gentle breezes, warm visions, sleepy moods and
rolling melodies which – with the right personal medication – just
took you away, and then even further. Pablo died in 1999, but do
yourself a favour and latch onto this to either remember him or be
sad about what you missed. Essential.
The Mint Chicks
Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!
Has it really been a decade
since this fizzing crunch of rock,
pop, electronica and metal was
unleashed? With it, The Mint
Chicks picked up Album of the
Year, Best Group, Best Rock
Album, Best Cover Art and
even Best Music Video (for the
title track) at the 2007 NZMAs.
Now re-presented as a double
vinyl (with download code), the
lo-fi C?Y!D?N! still sounds like
timeless adolescent enthusiasm,
bottled lightning, raw'n'ragged
pop-rock and more than the
sum of its many influences.
(The experimental, ambient 100
Minutes of Silence pointed in
another direction.) An album
which lived up to its title.
Various Artists
Kinked!
Subtitled Kinks Songs and
Sessions 1964-1971, this 26-song
collection is Ray Davies' material
in the hands of others after his
publisher hawked them around
(the best known is the throw-
away musical hall/pop hit Dandy
by Herman's Hermits). And what
diverse artists/covers. Aside from
Lennon-McCartney you couldn't
imagine any other songwriter
being covered by Goldie and the
Gingerbreads, Peggy Lee, Leapy
Lee, Petula Clark, the Pretty
Things, the Knack, the Chocolate
Watch Band, Marianne Faithfull…
Some generic beat-era pop but
also oddities and rarities. Fun, a
spotlight on the past – but more
for fans/obsessives.
visit
32 MAY 2016
MUSIC
By Graham Reid
Sister (1987)
They'd started life a decade previous as a noisy,
post-punk No Wave outfit, but by the time they got
to this, their fourth studio album, they'd moved to
more subtle sonic textures and cohesive alt-pop-
rock songs, with discordant twists of course. The
template for much of what followed.
Daydream Nation (1988)
Generally considered their first great album (it
was their last on an indie label before signing
to uber-major Geffen, thus opening the door for
Nirvana and so on), it only sold 75,000 in the US
in its first year. In the days between the dying No
Wave and emerging grunge scenes, they showed
there were still possibilities in rock which were
uncompromising, innovative and exhilarating. A
defining album of the '80s.
Goo (1990)
Their major label debut sprung radio items in Dirty
Boots and Kool Thing with Chuck D. It sold twice
as many as Daydream Nation, but only just scraped
into the US top 100. Pitched between alt, indie,
experimental and emerging grunge, it's a real
keeper.
Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star
(1994)
With mostly economically short songs, by dialling
down a little and dealing with more personal issues
(almost nostalgic for indie-days in places), they
made their first – and only – commercially successful
album. It sold about half a million on release.
With their albums being reissued on vinyl it's
timely to look at SonicYouth's catalogue; they
were a band whose influence far outstripped
their album sales.
SONIC YOUTH
And also...
Fans and casual listeners all have different favourites, so let's pitch
in Washing Machine (1995) for the exceptional 20-minute Diamond
Sea alone. Also their Whitey Album under the name Ciccone Youth
from 1989 (with Minutemen, Firehose and more recently Stooges
bassist Mike Watt) because it takes loving pokes at pop, Madonna
and Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love. Don't ignore The Eternal
(2009), their final album and first to crack the US top 20. They went
out on a high.
For more interviews, reviews and overviews from Graham Reid visit