Across the years, John Cale`s music has hopped around from one genre to another, so this is a great thread for getting to know his rather daunting discography. I thought I`d give it a bump, to mention two albums:-
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4ZZZ
Church Of Anthrax. 1971.
This is a collaboration with minimalist composer Terry Reilly. Consisting of 5 songs in total this was no doubt what the more avant garde/experimentalist fans of Cale were after as the VU days that had not long passed were still a strong memory. This is an album that is rather unique in my Cale listening, in fact if I had been given the opening track blind I would have thought that I was listening to a jazzy jam by say someone of Keith Emersons ilk. The opening track is the title track Church Of Anthrax and is a rather jazz oriented 9 minute improvisation of keyboards and saxophone. Late into the song the familiar drones of Cales VU and earlier days appear and make this a chunky opener. The Hall Of Mirrors In The Palace At Versailles follows and having visited this wondrous room I for the life of me had never imagined that this was a tune that would somehow suit the ambience. Be that as it may it is a nice piece with minimalist piano under a free form sax. I am reminded of something that Nyman may have composed from his soundtrack work for a Peter Greenaway movie. The Soul Of Patrick Lee is a vocal pop song that is an odd change of direction considering the non pop/rock nature of the 2 previous songs. This may have been better on a Cale solo album considering that he headed in the direction of Pop with several of his 1970's recordings. Ides Of March follows and normal service is resumed. Chunky piano and off beat drum start out and end this 11 minute song. To me there is an almost ragtime feel to this song though in a thoroughly modern and minimalist kind of way. I like the drumming as it compliments without being overbearing. We finish with a short 3 minute track called The Protege with the piano the prominent instrument and the drums keeping a good beat.
This is a minimalists dream and I suspect that those of the progressive jazz ilk will be impressed as well. Considering that Cale and Reilly both play keyboards, the most prominent being the piano I am presuming that they are duelling as most of the time there are two playing as counter points. Reilly also plays the Sax with Cale playing his trusty viola. A good album for the progressively inclined.
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^ I think 4ZZZ should have laid more stress on this album, as being an absolute stand-out in JC`s work. With the exception of one track, it`s an instrumental album of gloriously ramshackle playing, with so much going on that the "minimalist" tag is pretty misleading. Yes, there are insistent rhythmic piano phrases, but they always maintain a brisk pace and the overall impression is of two musicians so enjoying the collaborative experience that they are hardly listening to what the other guy is playing. Track after track bounces along as JC or TR swap from electric organ to honky-tonk piano to sax to give a change of tone to these long, exuberant workouts.
Whatever merits the one vocal track has, here in the middle of
Church of Anthrax it sticks out like a dog`s bollocks, if you`ll forgive the expression. It really should`ve been put on another album because it`s a complete mood-breaker, in a stlye alien to the rest of the album.
Quite why JC didn`t make more albums like
Church of Anthrax is a mystery to me. (The closest I could find on other albums were the tracks
Philosopher and
Days Of Steam.)
Walking On Locusts (1996)
After almost a decade of silence, JC released this album, which no-one has mentioned yet. It features JC, the cryptic crooner of his own quirky style of sombre pop.
The opener,
Dancing Undercover is a catchy, loping song about a trip to New Orleans or Mexico which closes with a few bars of sweet and satisfying violin.
Unfortunately, the album tails off after that imo. There are some agreeable, mellow songs that seem to be lamenting past relationships, most obviously on
So Much For Love . Most of the songs are easy on the ear, but unadventurous; best title award goes to
Indistinct Notion Of Cool which perhaps indicates what JC wanted to achieve with this subdued album; capture a kind of wry resignation. There is a track,
Crazy Egypt , co-written with David Byrne, which is a lot livelier, but as with most of the album, the lyrics don`t make much sense and if you`re waiting for a hook line, then your wait will be in vain. Songs seem to be full of oblique references to events at which we weren`t present; lyrics that only John Cale understands, and ultimately, I suspect, only JC is interested in.
If you `re stuck indoors on a rainy afternoon, this album might quietly lift your spirits for a while, but for me it remains, to copy a phrase from Goofle, "pleasantly boring."