R2OK!

Cherskiy

Tonight’s guests in the middle hour was Yoriyos, who Bob has featured on the programme before but it was interesting to hear him live.

There was something of a DJ-themed start to the show, with Patrice Holloway’s “Those DJ Shows” (written by Smoky Robinson and taken from the “Bob Dylan Theme Time Radio Hour” CD). Just the sort of eclectic tune that Bob selects along with the more contemporary and Americana sounding tracks, this paved the way for Jet’s “Roll Over DJ”, from their 2004 album “Get Born”. There was a thumping good guitar intro on display here, and Nic Cester’s vocals screech is forgiven when the rest of his delivery is taken into consideration. A great effort from this Melbourne four-piece.
Bob played “Don’t Turn Back” from The Afternoons again this week, this coming from their newly-released CD “Sweet Action”. Pleasant enough but ultimately doesn’t do enough to stimulate the senses – but I think it’ll hit the B playlist on R2.
The Gin Blossoms are one of those bands that seem to be widely known but no-one you know has any of their albums – and I’ll count myself among this. I really should rectify this, since their 1999 album “Outside Looking In” included the wonderful track “Till I Hear It From You”, which also included the CD title as a lyric – played in a style that reminded me of The Story’s “Long Hard Road” which I also hold in high esteem.
There was a repeat performance of South San Gabriel/Centromatic’s new CD single “Kept On The Sky” – almost Sufjan Stevens-like in it’s drawling delivery, whilst there doesn’t seem to be an immediate commercial appeal to this song, I can see it growing on me. Actually, it’s almost as if Sufjan Stevens joined the Travelling Wilburys for the most part, although they’ve dipped out completely at the end when the truly head-scratching yet rather charming instrumental section takes over….
Bob thought Fleet Foxes’ “Mykonos”, from their recent EP “Sun Giant”, was probably his track of the year so far. I can see why, especially when Seattle-based Robin Pecknold’s high yet oddly-sweet-sounding vocals remind me of so many 70s West Coast artists, it’s frightening. Whilst I won’t commit myself at this stage, I can see why it appeals to Bob – there’s simply nothing to criticise in either the vocals or backing departments. It’s also been a favourite of the Radcliffe and Maconie pairing in the recent weeks, so already has had a fair airing on R2’s less mainstream shows.
Pairing The Skids and Big Country might on the face of it be somewhat strange, but when you realise that the late Stuart Adamson was the lead in both acts, it becomes clearer. “Chance” was taken from the 2002 two-CD compilation album featuring the best from both bands, although it comes from Big Country’s 1983 CD “The Crossing” – which takes me back a long way since my cousin was potty about them back then and every time I used to go up to the Highlands to see her, she’d play this album non-stop on her cassette recorder! Listening now, it almost seems hard to say, but it’s a rather mournful track yet I still couldn’t help myself singing along with it – definitely one of the most under-rated and under-stated bands during the 1980s in the UK.
Elbow’s newly-released fourth studio album “The Seldom Seen Kid” yielded “Friend Of Ours”, a melancholy yet heartfelt tribute to a Manchester-based singer-songwriter friend of the band who died a few years ago. Highlight of the track for me were the crystal clear piano notes towards the end, but the whole song was great – one of those pieces that will never be classed as innovative but does everything right.
Irish-born Heidi Talbot is coming in to the studio to play a set in three weeks time, and should “If You Stay” from her new album “In Love And Light” be any indicator, I can’t wait. She’s already known to US audiences as the lead in “Cherish The Ladies” but I haven’t really come across her before. She’s been compared to Mindy Smith, but to me, she sounds a lot like her fellow-countrywoman Gemma Hayes in her more introspective moments here, which is a very big plus for me, so I’m definitely wanting to hear more of this. Whilst more folkier than Hayes, the line-up of accompanying artists on this CD sounds like a track listing from Mike Harding’s show – Kris Drever, Eddi Reader, John McClusker and John Doyle. I’ll forget Fleet Foxes - this song is probably the best thing I’ve heard all year.
Described by some as the “Renaissance Man of English Folk”, Chris Wood’s album “Trespasser” continues the acoustic theme, the track “Summerfield Avenue” telling how people were swindled by the post-war “you’ve never had it so good” politicians. Whilst some knock acoustic music, you can’t really get away from thinking how good a simply-delivered song with just a guitar for accompaniment really is. Fantastic stuff.
The trend continued with Fairport Convention’s Farewell, Farewell[/b] from their 1969 “Liege and Lief” album. Sandy Denny’s vocals seem timeless – Bob is playing more of her music shortly to mark the 20th anniversary of her passing. This is regarded as a tribute to the band’s first drummer, Martin Lamble, who was killed in a road accident – an old song with re-worked lyrics.
Mountain might not be known by many in the UK, but if you were around when Brian Walden presented “Weekend World” on ITV more years ago than I can remember, you’d recognise the band’s “Nantucket Sleighride” as providing the show’s theme song (well, part of the song, since it’s pretty long – the last time I heard it on the radio was back in the days of the Annie Nightingale Request Show on R1!). However, instead of this seminal work, Bob played “Mississippi Queen” from their “Best of” album. Whilst “Sleighride” was prog rock, this is simply straight-up late 60s/early 70s rock at its finest.
Australian outfit The Waifs have been on my radar for a little while now so I was pleased to hear “How Many Miles” from their latest album “Sundirtwater” played tonight. Classed as folk-rock, the trio have produced five albums so far and if this track is indicative of their previous output, I should have been buying their CDs years ago. Donna Simpson makes it sound so easy with her restrained yet harmonious vocals – and it’s more alt-country than folk but that’s not a bad thing at all.
The Oz influence continued with the John Butler Trio, whose 2004 album “Sunrise Over Sea” included the track “Treat Yo Mama (With Respect)” – a much more bluesy, funked-up guitar sound so laid back that it’s practically horizontal in places. They’ve been known for sprawling ten-minute epics in previous albums but this was shorter and better organised.

So to Yoriyos, whose album “Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee” has been featured by Bob on the show before – and more later. “Love At The Gates Of Dawn” was the B-side to his first single, “The Pied Piper” (qv) – a demonstration of his clear vocals that hardly needed the sparse accompaniment from acoustic guitar and drum. Reminiscent somewhat of Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, Yoriyos’ voice also sounds somewhat similar to Cat Stevens, although that’s not particularly surprising since he’s actually Muhammad Islam – Yusuf’s son, with “Yoriyos” coming from his grandfather’s name. Reading a book on Native Americans, he felt a resonance with their treatment, and wrote the songs for “Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee” around this. Despite having a famous father, he wasn’t surrounded by music at an early age since the instruments had been sold off – any CDs the younger Islam bought were hidden, then discovered by his father and destroyed. He played a slower acoustic version of “The Pied Piper” next (from the “Bury My Heart” album). Another cracking track, it followed the same successful formula. The final live track was unnamed – he admitted it wasn’t even finished (it needed a third verse) but he liked it so much he wanted to play it. Again this song succeeded due to his simply-delivered yet effective vocals. Bob played “Endoscopisis” from the album as a finale, a track I’ve heard before with it’s neatly-woven brass instrumentals and thoughtful lyrics. A quiet and reflective set – although I couldn’t help thinking that Yoriyos wasn’t exactly thrilled to be in the studio – couldn’t quite put my finger on my but….

Bob was certainly thrilled to feature the new album by Hayes Carll in the show, “Trouble In Mind” including the song “Bad Liver And A Broken Heart”. Known for his carefully-plucked guitar style and ironically humorous lyrics, this is no different.

Umfortunately, time beat me and I don’t have time to review the final hour (I’ve got a photo shoot at a helicopter ‘drop-in’ on Saturday so have to prepare) – hopefully I’ll be able to do this weekend’s show more justice….

Next week’s show celebrates the 80th birthday of late Alexis Korner – with Geoff Griffin (who produced of his shows) and Del Taylor (his manager) providing plenty of rare stuff in the middle hour.
_________________
Author: “To the Ends of the Earth: A Snapshot of Aviation in North-Eastern Siberia, Summer 1992”
(Free to read via Kindle Unlimited)