The Enigin Pez

Top Albums of the 1970s

admin — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 01:33:04 +0000

Apart from heating oil, knitted tank tops and flares, the 1970s were the start for many legendary bands and singers. The decade played host to a whhole range of genres, from reggae to punk and glam rock to pop music. This article will look at some of the greatest bands of the 1970s and in particular the greatest albumss they had produced. From Bowie to Lennon and Pink Floyd to Led Zeppelin, the spectrum of good music in the 70s was almost endless…

Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie was considered a breakthrough in glam rock. Bowie created the character Ziggy Stardust (much like Lady Gaga today) and teamed them with the Spiders From Mars. The album contains glitzy rock numbers such as Hang On To Yourself and dramatic ballads such as Lady Grinning Soul. The androgynous Bowie pens some outrageous, and sometimes camp, lyrics. Ziggy Stardust should be a staple in your music collection.

Led Zeppelin IV, but officially untitled, by Led Zeppelin, is one of those albums that people wont admit is “cool”. The album immediately jolts into life with the song “Black Dog”. Also in the album is “Rock n Roll”- the iconic Zeppelin track that seems like it has existed forever! Medieval–rock-esque “Stairway to Heaven” is also on the tracklist…a reason in it’s own right to buy the album.

Exodus, by Bob Marley, is popularly considered as his greatest work and strongest statement. The album includes the briliant songs “Jamming,” “Three Little Birds,” and “One Love.” Time Magazine branded this album as the best of the 20th century.

The Doors last album with Jim Morrison, LA Woman, arguably has the most popular song on it: “Riders on a Storm”. The album also contained tracks such as “Love Her Madly” and the title track “LA Woman”. However, this wasn’t the last album The Doors released…the last 1970s album was An American Prayer.

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Liane Carroll at the 606 Jazz Club

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:03:14 +0000

If you didn’t know – and you really should – the 606 is a great London jazz club; one that’s leading the way in many aspects. Modern and stylish, new acts are always blessing the stage with cutting-edge style. In the case of this review, it’s all about Liane Carroll. A woman who may not be as fresh-faced as some of the performers out there, but who can certainly hold her own when it comes to singing the blues and pouring out the demons from her soul.

…it was obvious that this would be no normal gig…

The best thing about Liane is her honesty – something which can’t be matched, and a thing which is a million miles away from the beauty supplies found in most celebrities dressing rooms. In a world where acting and image can sometimes be more prevalent than singing – as if that really needed to be said about show-business – this woman is a thing of freshness and purity which has to be witnessed to be truly appreciated and known. And when Carroll entered the 606 on this night, everyone seemed to know this. It was almost as if the club had always been hers, in a way.

Soon as Liane started, it was obvious that this would be no normal gig. Gone was the seriousness that usually isolates singers from their crowd, and in its place was a feeling of everyone coming together, as if the crowd were backing singers and we were all close friends doing what we always did. Although the singer’s voice probably wasn’t at its peak, it didn’t seem to matter. The atmosphere swamped the room, and it was easy to imagine that she wasn’t that concerned. Which strangely made for a more earnest and serious performance. At times it was very moving. But then, when you consider how good she is on the piano it’s not difficult to understand that. I wholeheartedly recommend a gig with this singer for anyone, no matter what their mood they are bound to find themselves wondering why everyone can’t sing like this.

The retro is back

admin — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:33:10 +0000

Do you remember the 60s, 70s, the 80s or the 90s? Some of you do, others probably don’t, some of you hadn’t even been born yet. Nevertheless, the years after the Hippie revolution were years of rapid change in the way we live, the way we dress and the music we listen to. People used to wear coloured shirts, long hair and weird looking pants. The music was played out loud and we were all rebels fighting against the gas companies and the government. We fought for the freedom of speech and the freedom of our own minds. Anyway, then suddenly everybody thought that disco music is outdated and started listening to techno and other weird sounding noises, often with no vocals and no music value what so ever. Until recently, just like punk music, many of us though that the retro is dead. However, for the past five or so years, the things have changed in a better way.

What have changed, well for starters nowadays being retro is cool. We consider old cars like the Fiat 500 and the Mini cooper to be extremely cool. Also, today, contemporary is everything that has bright colours, a really square-like shape and most of the time is very impractical. We all wear converse trainers and Ray Ban sunglasses. Don’t you see, it is 1975 again? Most cloths have the same colourful patterns as before, everything is the same. Anyway, back to the music. Do you know that today the most exclusive clubs in the world play retro music? The real music lovers listen to music with, as I call it, a certain musical value. Tracks which will be remembered, you know what I mean. I hate the commercial tracks of today. They all sound the same, their lyrics are just meaningless and most of the time this new music is stupid, vulgar and even worse, it is played everywhere, why.. I really don’t know. I hear people saying that the old times were better and in a certain way they were. Anyhow, despite being a huge retro fan, I also appreciate the real musicians of today like U2, Coldplay or Adele. However I cannot stand guys like Justin Bieber or Jean Sean.

Play it again

admin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:33:08 +0000

A friend of mine who was having a bad day – hair-dryer blown a fuse, missed the bus, unable to find anyone who can supply red diesel Bath – interrupted a very happy and cheerful conversation I was having with another chum the other day about music with the slightly controversial statement that “nothing new is really new”. At first we pooh-poohed her gloomy outlook, but once she’d explained what she meant, I started to realise that she might have a point.

She wasn’t trying to claim that all the new artists out there are simply ripping off retro tunes, but that every new form of music, whether Techno or Death Metal, has been so heavily influenced by musical movements that have gone before that you can almost trace their journey; kind of like figuring out the family tree for LCD Soundsystem or Metallica. In fact, if you take her argument to the extreme, you’d find out that LCD Soundsystem and Metallica were actually related! Although their common ancestor was probably just some caveman banging a couple of rocks together…

Think about every new band that comes along. Most of the time the past influences are hidden in amongst slick production, dance beats or some other modern musical invention, like sampling. Every now and then you get a new artist where the past influences are subtle as a brick. Think about when Oasis first crawled out from under their Mancunian rock. Didn’t take an NME journalist to figure out they liked The Beatles!

So it seems my grumpy friend was right and there is nothing really new out there at all. As a fan of retro music, that’s the best news I’ve heard all week. Perhaps I should ditch my precious collection of vinyl for a few months, and actually start listening to Radio 1!

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Mixin'the old with the new

admin — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 22:03:11 +0000

Sometimes it is difficult for us to find time to keep up with modern music – let alone find the time to take a trip down memory lane to listen to the albums of those great bands we used to love and that have shaped the music we hear today. Those who are really fond of a certain band from their youth or young adulthood tend to dismiss modern music all together – doubting that they can produce songs that will compare to the music they love so much. I think this is a mistake because there are always going to be fantastic bands emerging – you just have to root them out and take the time to find them. Casting our attention back to our favourite bands of times gone by – the fact that we can now listen to these old albums on portable music devices is a fantastic juxtaposition of the old and new. Downloading Deep Purples classic Machine Head or Rainbow’s Down to Earth on to your mp3 player or mobile phone means that during those times that you are roaming worldwide with work or more simply taking your morning jog in your local park – you can bring the memories of those fantastic sounds right back to your ears. So next time you are updating your music play list and downloading the latest tracks that have been released, don’t forget that it is often just as easy to search and download classic albums too and mixing the old and the new is finest way to tune your musical ears!

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Retro Music – Why Does It Never Die?

admin — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 12:03:12 +0000

Nature of London teaching jobs today is not longer what it was in the 50s and 60’s. From the clothes we wear to the technology we use, everything has changed and will keep on changing. In such a scenario, one is forced to ask a very pertinent question about the music of 50’s and 60s – Why does it not die?

Why is that retro music makes a comeback despite no logical reason for its popularity? Retro music has not become popular once again as a mere fad. Rather, the entire music industry is geared to the idea of making retro music all over again? Why?

It probably has something to do with the fact that 50s and 60s saw music become popular at a mass level. Technology enabled individuals to play music from their homes again and again without any difficulty. Mankind has been making music since the beginning of time. Yet, it was only in the past 4-45 decades have we managed to simplify the process of recording and replaying music again and again.

Not surprisingly, we do not want to lose any music ever again. Music can be made by manipulating computer programs to emit certain sounds. However, we keep on reverting back to the good ol'days of bands, light music, dancing and lots of fun. What makes the return of retro particularly puzzling is that it is the younger generation that has access to more advanced music that is falling head over heels for these old fashioned musical tunes.

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An Introduction To Lou Donaldson

admin — Thu, 05 May 2011 06:35:22 +0000

In an endeavour to get some artistic qualities out of me as a child my parents tried to get me to play a number of instruments. My father was a guitarist and decided I should probably take up and instrument that was a bit different because as far as he’s concerned everyone and his brother could play the guitar. I spent a few years learning the saxophone but never really stuck with it for too long. I started when I was very young (I still have the vinyl stickers on my saxophone case to prove it) and I was still finding my musical tastes. When I got into rock and heavy metal I realised I could never play that kind of music on the sax so I kind of gave it up as a teenage. As my musical tastes broadened and I became less fascist about what I considered to be good music I found that there are many fantastic pieces of music that have been made so by their use of the saxophone. Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street along with Money and Shine On You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd to name a few. I blew the dust off of my sax a booked a lesson at The Blow Out Sax School in Bath where my teacher listened to my reasons for getting back into playing and put on Lou Donaldson’s Pretty Things album. This was my first introduction to Donaldson, what with me dismissing jazz as self-indulgent for a time, but this was enough to make me think different. The sax solos are the most inspiring, soulful and funky pieces I have ever heard. This album is out of print now, I’m hoping for a re-issue soon.

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Fats Domino

admin — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:04:18 +0000

I was doing work with some HR software at work recently when I heard one of Fats Dominos song over the office intercom. I began to ponder days long gone by and how Fats became so well known. Here is a bit about the man and his music that we all miss.

He gave us music that was not only innovative but also catchy and long-lasting. His songs got us moving whether we wanted to or not. He is a maestro at the piano and has one of the most unique and recognisable voices ever recorded.

Fats was born Antoine Dominique Domino,Jr. On February 26, 1928 and by the time he was twenty-one years old had signed with Imperial Records. He was already a popular fixture at the Hideaway Club in his community and signing with Imperial lead to the release of his first single in 1950 titled ‘The Fat Man’. The Fat Man sold over a million copies and became the very rock and roll record to do so. This started a string of hits from Fats Domino in the 1950’s which included songs like ‘Blueberry Hill'and ‘Ain’t That a Shame’. His version of ‘Blueberry Hill'in one year sold over five million copies.

By the early 1960’s Fats popularity began waning and a change in recording companies did not help his recording career either. Yet he had a strong following. This meant that he remained an attraction at live performances from the 60’s onwards.

He was among the very first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and at the 30^th Grammy awards the following year was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

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Life has surface noise

admin — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 16:03:30 +0000

Buying music on iTunes is undeniably convenient, and the automated nature of the sale means that there are not many overheads so the products are cheaper etc etc. However, the record shop should certainly not be underrated. Buying good music should never be a chore, even if it is a long process. Like buying prestige car insurance – which I can testify is a long process, having insured both my GT40 and my Continental this morning – it is a joyous occasion when one is reminded of the good things in life. Perhaps more so with music shopping than buying car insurance, the nitty-gritty reality of musical delight manifests itself in a strangely tactile and tangible way. A far cry from our sanitised, silent iTunes world, which has all the character of a brushed aluminium bar and a pint of ice cold Fosters.

I believe we should return to the music stores en mass. HMV reported a terrible year for CD and DVD sales, and WH Smiths has only survived this long because it has got rid of its entertainment aisle. This must change! We must stop bowing down to our Apple overlords, and instead go back to the dusty vinyl shops of yore. Rustling through ancient records in order to find that one, delightful gem – whole generations have lost this skill and the euphoric feeling of actually finding something after looking for it. Of course it applies not just to music, but the Spotify method of searching (tap on keyboard followed by immediate gratification) has made our lives dull and homogenised. Rise up, music lovers! March on HMV with one wish and under one banner: “Life has surface noise!”

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The Continued Success of Vinyl Should Surprise No-One

admin — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 23:33:13 +0000

Vinyl came back at the start of the last decade. Despite having been displaced by the radio, and the cassette tape, and the CD, and the MP3, and by streaming music online, vinyl still some how made a come back. What happened? Initially people just thought it was something people did because it was trendy. Of course vinyl was still around, if you really looked for it, but not many records were still being produced and it seemed that the death knell of vinyl had been sounded decades before. But then something surprising happened. Vinyl was selling. It wasn’t just trendy, but it was selling to hundreds of thousands of people. In the U.K. while the singles chart was tanking, and album was suffering from changing music habits and the invent of the Internet, YouTube, and free methods of accessing music, vinyl was meanwhile increasing in sales by massive percentages every year. Of course, this wasn’t hard when starting from such a low base.

So people started buying records again. Literally! Instead of buying a CD, or illegally downloading music, they were investing in vinyl. Of course, only people who had had an incredible year thanks to investing with the help of Galvan Research were able to really afford to replace their music collection, but many began to. The charm is perhaps why. When you buy a record it’s much more tangible, something you can feel, and will give more attention to than YouTube videos playing in the background or a whole discography downloaded and never listened to or fallen in love with.

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