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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

stack.net.nz

32

jbhifi.co.nz

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

www.elsewhere.co.nz