STACK December 2016 Issue No. 146

98 / 121

visit
24 DECEMBER 2016
MUSIC REVIEWS
John Farnham and Olivia
Newton-John
Friends For Christmas
It’s beginning to look a lot like
Christmas, though Australia
doesn’t have a great tradition of
Christmas albums. But our two
arguably most-loved artists have
teamed up this year, to tackle
tunes such as Santa Claus Is
Coming To Town, Silent Night and
The Little Drummer Boy. Many
of the songs are absurd in an
Australian setting – Let It Snow!,
Winter Wonderland, Baby It’s Cold
Outside and White Christmas – but
Farnham and ONJ are in fine voice,
having fun and injecting just the
right amount of seasonal spirit. Of
course, an album is for life, not just
for Christmas, and this collection
will expire on Boxing Day... until
next year, that is.
(Sony) Jeff Jenkins
Gillian Welch
Boots No.1: The Official
Revival Bootleg
Back in 1996 Gillian Welch released
her debut album, Revival. To
celebrate its 20 year anniversary,
Welch and music-making partner
Dave Rawlings have curated an
official bootleg, featuring songs
they recorded from the making of
the album. This is a meaty double
CD offering eight previously
unreleased songs, 21 outtakes,
alternative versions and demos. If
you’ve missed the magic of these
outstandingly talented folks, start
here, and you’ll soon want to catch
the whole journey of music that
has been a major influence on alt-
country, old time and Americana
music since. Songs that have
stood the test of time and will
continue to be timeless.
(Acony/Redeye) Denise Hylands
Brian Cadd & The Bootleg Family Band
Bulletproof
Molly Meldrum once introduced Brian Cadd to
Elton John: “Brian is probably to Australia what
you are to England.” But Cadd is perhaps more
our version of Leon Russell, an underappreciated
musical great. “I’m just an ordinary guy,” Cadd
sings in the title track of his first album in 11 years.
But there’s no doubt he’s a legend. He’s written classics such as A Little
Ray Of Sunshine, Don’t You Know It’s Magic , Elevator Driver, Ginger
Man, Woman You’re Breaking Me and Marshall’s Portable Music Machine
(and auditioned for the David St. Hubbins’ role in Spinal Tap). Here, Cadd
reclaims some songs originally recorded by other artists, including Love Is
Like A Rolling Stone (The Pointer Sisters), I Still Can’t Believe It’s True (Joe
Cocker) and Yesterday Dreams (Bonnie Tyler), and uncovers some new
gems, including the beautifully boisterous Long Time ’Till The First Time.
Just as Sharkmouth breathed new life into the career of his good buddy
Russell Morris, Bulletproof shows there’s a lot of life left in Brian Cadd.
In fact, I don’t think he’s made a better album; these songs have a spirit
that can’t be denied. Not bad for a bloke who’s just turned 70. Bulletproof,
indeed. (Caddman/MGM) Jeff Jenkins
Ronnie Earl & the
Broadcasters
Maxwell Street
Legendary guitarist Ronnie Earl
pays tribute to his friend and
former Broadcaster, pianist David
Maxwell who died earlier this
year, with this soulful blues/R&B
album – a well-balanced mix of
blues-inflected instrumentals and
vocal tracks that feature the band's
regular singer Diane Blue. The
instrumental tracks – particularly
the slow blues, showcasing the
softer side of Earl's guitar playing
– fit comfortably with Blue's
convincing vocals on Eddy Arnold's
You Don't Know Me and Gladys
Knight's (I've Got To Use My)
Imagination. Earl's unspoken love
for his friend is palpable on Blues
For David Maxwell.
(Only Blues) Billy Pinnell
Tommy Emmanuel
Christmas Memories
Five years after his first collection
of seasonal songs, Aussie guitar
great Tommy Emmanuel gets
in the spirit again with his take
on classics such as Jingle Bells,
White Christmas and Winter
Wonderland. And he comes up
with three new Christmas tunes:
Christmas Time, Let’s Make A
Christmas Memory and Christmas
Memories . Emmanuel’s Maton
acoustic is augmented by Annie
Sellick’s vocals (she even manages
to rhyme “Emmanuel” with
“jingle bell”), while another guitar
virtuoso, John Knowles, also
pops up. Playful and poignant,
Christmas Memories will work for
kids of all ages as they wait for
Santa to arrive on Christmas Eve.
(Sony) Jeff Jenkins
Various
A Life In The Sun
Surf’s up! This 49-track compilation
gathers songs from the soundtracks
of 15 Aussie surfing films from the
’60s and ’70s, from 1965’s Surfing
Roundabout to 1977’s Highway
One, showcasing bands such as
Tamam Shud, The Sunsets, Tully
and six previously unreleased
tracks from Python Lee Jackson. A
highlight is Billy Green’s rollicking
Bells Beach Stomp, with Mike
Brady on vocals, sounding like
a cross between Billy Thorpe
and Doug Parkinson. Hippy and
trippy, these are essential tracks
for readers of Tracks. “I can’t
remember when I ever felt so
good,” Hans Poulsen sings in
Getting Back To Nothing. Catch this
wave.
(Festival/Warner) Jeff Jenkins
Body/Head No Waves
Master musicians Kim Gordon and
Bill Nace create songs together
as Body/Head. It's a neat two-part
name that says a lot about the
elegant simplicity and powerful
complexity of their approach. Until
now, Coming Apart was their
only record, a conversation of
improvised sounds and structures.
No Waves is a natural extension
of that album. Saved to tape in
2014 during Big Ears Festival in
Knoxville, the high fidelity live
recordings are presented less as
songs, or tracks, and more as a
single moment captured. Guitars
and vocals are layered, processed,
built. Melodies and rhythms appear,
are submerged in abrasive waves
of noise, and surface once more in
different forms. It's a captivating
flow of ideas that carries you from
beginning to end, and back again.
(Remote Control) SimonWinkler