Great Track, Shame About The Album

[howard male]

Adam wrote -

That's a thread for you if you like: crappy albums with one good track on that you can't bear to part with!

Good idea, Adam, and good to have you back. However I fervently disagree with Berlin being included in this category. And what's with all the think-of-the-children hand wringing - I'm sure they'd forgotten about it all by the next day! As already stated, Caroline Says II, in the way Reed juxtaposes a beautiful gentle melody and arrangement with the harshest of subject matters, is beautiful. The whole album is a cross between a car crash and a symphony - compelling yet somehow compulsive, with an overall majestic sweep rare in Reed's work. But I'm someone who even liked Sally Can't Dance so I'm not really the right person to judge.

Being the contentious fellow that I am, I'll start this thread by disagreeing with someone's choice before they've even posted it! I remember Charlie saying the only decent track on Momo Wandel Soumah's Afro Swing was Toko. Nothing could be further from the truth. The album is a thing of beauty from beginning to end from the moment momo stops growling for a moment and picks up his sax to deliver the sublime solo (a contender for best sax sol if we ever do that topic) on the opening track onwards. Yes, it borders on chaotic at times, but what a delightful chaos!

As for actually nominating an album in this category, I'm stuck at the moment. I usually find that the rule is: the majority of albums have three good tracks.

[Dayna]

I've had a couple albums that were bad. It's funny how some of my favorite music from the 80s also turned out to be the most disapointing albums.

[Con Murphy]

I'd like to nominate Noir Desir's hypnotic Le Vent Nous Portera. Let's just say that the album whence it came, Des Visages, Des Figures, lacks the deft, commercially-savvy Manu Chao touch that was applied to that song. Thank goodness for World 2003, eh?

[gordonfmoore]

(a contender for best sax solo if we ever do that topic)

Think I already plugged this one once: Stan Getz on The Girl From Ipanema, with Astrud Gilberto, Joao Gilberto...There is no doubt folks, you cannot get better than this :)
Stop arguing, I've told you already... :()

[gordonfmoore]

Television - Marquee Moon, title track only.

[RobHall]

Television - Marquee Moon, title track only.

Now that's spooky. I just put it on, it's about halfway through as I type, and I just saw your post.

You are, of course, dead right.

Rob

[howard male]

Gordonfmoore wrote -

Television - Marquee Moon, title track only.

I think this is a bit unfair actually. The problem is, the track Marquee Moon is such an extraordinary, unique piece of musical architecture that anything would pale by comparision. Therefore I would argue that if the track Marquee Moon had not been on the album Marquee Moon, Marquee Moon would still have been an album which redefined what a rock band could sound like.

[Charlie]

Being the contentious fellow that I am, I'll start this thread by disagreeing with someone's choice before they've even posted it! I remember Charlie saying the only decent track on Momo Wandel Soumah's Afro Swing was Toko. Nothing could be further from the truth. The album is a thing of beauty from beginning to end from the moment momo stops growling for a moment and picks up his sax to deliver the sublime solo (a contender for best sax sol if we ever do that topic) on the opening track onwards. Yes, it borders on chaotic at times, but what a delightful chaos!

Since reading this comment, I've been listening to the album again, and agree it's a very enjoyable experience, sometimes soothing, sometimes arresting. But I'm not sure whether or where I ever said that Toko was its only good track. The album was record-of-the-month on the site in January 2001, but unfortunately the text temporarily does not render.

I've gone back to my file copy and find that although I did say " ‘Toko’ [track 6] is the standout track by quite a long way" I went on to add "but I find myself happy to listen to the previous five, knowing the reward that lies ahead. And with repeated plays, the album does hold up, sounding like it was recorded pretty much as we hear it, a group of musicians jamming each new song on a few chords, taking turns to play solos like a jazz group, punctuated by Momo’s barks and chants. 'Léfa Lu', at track 7, picks up the tempo and makes a powerful impact in its own right.

"All in all, it’s a unique record which will appeal to all kinds of people, a treat for fans of blues, jazz or traditional African music."

I don't think we're so far apart, Howard, and agree that this album doesn't deserve to be shuffled into the category of only one good track (or even only three good tracks). It hangs together as a coherent whole. But I still think Toko is its peak.

[howard male]

Charlie wrote -

Since reading this comment, I've been listening to the album again, and agree it's a very enjoyable experience, sometimes soothing, sometimes arresting. But I'm not sure whether or where I ever said that Toko was its only good track

The only reason that I think you did at some point dismiss the rest of the album on air, Charlie, was that it stuck in my head because I remember thinking - so, the man's taste or judgement is flawed after all. So you can take it as a kind of backhanded complement!

Perhaps it was soon after you first started playing 'Toko' and therefore hadn't fully acclimatised to the rest of the album which certainly isn't as instant in its appeal as that track.

[David M]

Relevant to Howard & Charlies discussion of Momo above I have just posted a link in the downloads section of the forum where you can hear a few tracks from his earlier 'Matchowe' album including another version of Toko . The blog is fresh today & the link to the music doesn't last forever.