Doom & Gloom Dispatch #54: What I Heard
Bitter Cold, Pentagle, Television, Mazzy Star, Sonic Youth
We revisited the work of David Obuchowski a few weeks ago with a look back at the excellent Distant Correspondent LP, released just about a decade ago. But David (who you may also know from such groups as Publicist UK and Goes Cube) isn’t just a blast from the past; he’s got a new / great project called Bitter Cold — and it is killer stuff, my friends. Though Obuchowski thrives in collaborative settings, Mirrors is a completely solo affair, with the Denver-based songwriter creating a pleasingly skeletal one-man-band sound — simple drum machine patterns, Johnny-Marr-goes-shoegaze guitars (that occasionally get nicely heavy), shadowy synths and tense, dramatic vocals. We’re in the 80s post-punk comfort zone to some extent — and Obuchowski can definitely write a classic pop hook — but there’s a wildness and idiosyncrasy to the arrangements here that puts Mirrors leagues above the run-of-the-mill. The lyrics match the music, leaning fearlessly into disappointment and disillusionment, a soul in turmoil. But there’s always a hint of humor and warmth as well, a knowledge that the darkness will pass.
New to me! New to you?! This is one of those sweet early 70s fly-on-the-wall documentaries — it’s not trying to make any grandiose statements about music, it’s just kind of hanging out with some amazing musicians for a half-hour. In this case, Pentangle! The vibes are impeccable. We get to go backstage to smoke a few ciggies after a gig, we get to ride a train up to Scotland with the band, we get to check out some groovy performances. Maybe best of all is the closing sequence at Dunnottar Castle, a coastal/medieval ruin that looks too amazing to be real. But it’s real! Just like Pentangle!
Bert Jansch: Musically, it was never the same twice. Bands like Led Zeppelin, their music stayed the same, roughly. We used to do things in any combination, numbers that lasted half an hour. As a band we were more outrageous than The Who, there was no question about it.
John Renbourn: We got away with a lot of bad stuff. I’m not going to tell you what.
Television - Max’s Kansas City, New York City, August 28, 1974
I just got my copy of Uncut’s Ultimate Music Guide — the Television edition! Very cool to see a band that was far from a chart-topper / arena-filler get this kind of lavish treatment. The mag is a thing of beauty: tons of fascinating vintage articles/interviews, fantastic photos, interesting new reviews and plenty of dips into Television-adjacent zones (Voidoids, Heartbreakers, etc). Go grab it …
You will probably not be shocked to learn that my contribution to the UMG Television extravaganza is a lengthy writeup of the band’s live albums and bootlegs … a favorite Doom & Gloom subject since before the beginning. Here’s what I wrote about the Max’s gig in 1974, which is one of the earliest Television (if not the earliest) live tapes out there. (How early? Well, “Marquee Moon” is introduced as “the new one.”)
Richard Hell was long gone by the time Television recorded Marquee Moon. In the beginning, however, it was as much his band as it was Verlaine’s — a fact made clear by this Max’s gig, which took place just a few months after the quartet had played their first shows. Hell’s rudimentary-but-right bass work and strung-out vocals may make later Television sound like Steely Dan in comparison, but the impressive verve and originality of the band is positively thrilling even at this early stage. With a host of songs that wouldn’t survive Hell’s ousting from Television, this tape is a vital document of what might have been.
Ohhh yeah. I’m fascinated by the list of songs above, which seems to be a comprehensive rundown of the Hell era. A lot of tunes for a band that hadn’t existed for all that long — and many of them future classics.
And hey, one more thing: sad news that Keith Allison passed away this month. Keith was the webmaster / Television aficionado behind the long-running The Wonder website, which has been an indispensable resource on Verlaine and the band and beyond for decades now. It was the kind of site that always made you remember that the internet could actually be … good? I didn’t know Keith personally, but I greatly appreciated his work. Hopefully there is some way that The Wonder can stay up for future generations to access …
Mazzy Star - The Mint, Los Angeles, California, July 15, 1993
It came to my attention that Mazzy Star’s So Tonight That I Might See came out just about 30 years ago this fall — an occasion worth celebrating? Sure, why not? It’s an album with a weird trajectory: I remember hearing it around that time (on cassette, kiddos!) and thinking it was very nice, kind of like Stevie Nicks sleepwalking through a VU record … my kind of thing! But then, sometime in the summer of 1994, “Fade Into You” became the Alternative Nation’s slow dance number of choice, and STTIMS was a surprise hit!
That was all in the future in the summer of 1993 when Mazzy Star sauntered onstage at the Mint on Pico. In fact, it was so far in the future that the band doesn’t even play their future chart-topper on this particular evening. But that’s OK, it’s still a cool tape, with the band keeping things impressively minimal — sometimes just David Roback and Hope Sandoval, sometimes adding spare percussion, cello and keys.
Check out the bone-chilling version of “Into Dust,” a performance that brings a fairly chatty LA crowd to a standstill; or the plaintive “Flowers In December,” which wouldn’t come out for a few more years (“I’m going to attempt to play harmonica,” a relatively chatty Sandoval says); or the awesome “Mary Of Silence” which evolves into an impressive freakout, Roback sounding like Syd Barrett jamming with the Doors at the Whiskey in ‘66. Good stuff, people!
Sonic Youth - Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris, France, August 29, 2007
“The new face of jazz!?” Lee Ranaldo proclaims at the close of this set, which was part of the La Villette Jazz Festival in 2007. And ... yeah! Rather Ripped, from the previous year, was perhaps Sonic Youth’s most pop-rock album ever. But they had not lost their avant-garde bona fides — not by a long shot.
The opening number on this tape is a 45-minute freeform improv, with the band joined by underground luminaries Jean-Marc Montera, Michel Doneda and Mats Gustafsson. Is it jazz? I don't know! But it's awesome.
After that trip into unknown zones, Sonic Youth play a more standard set, mixing Rather Ripped numbers with Daydream Nation chestnuts; they’d start playing that latter album in full in the coming months. But it's not the usual Daydreamers here, no “Teenage Riot” or “Silver Rocket.” Instead, SY lay into “The Sprawl,” “Cross The Breeze” and “The Wonder,” rediscovering these abstract ragers with glee. There are a few technical hiccups, naturally — check out the “Cross The Breeze” false start with Thurston filling in a cappella-style.
The night ends with another freakout — Montera, Doneda and Gustafsson re-appear for a post-”Expressway” jam that gets even wilder than the previous one. This is the real Sprawl!
Bandcamp | Merch | Concert Chronology
From the Doom & Gloom Archives
Bob Dylan - Nothing Is Revealed (John Wesley Harding, Live 1969-2018)
As you’ve no doubt heard, there’s a new Bootleg Series hitting shelves next week. I’ve heard it and – fear not – I’ll have more to say about it soon. The most interesting stuff on Travelin’ Thru is definitely the heretofore uncirculated John Wesley Harding material. John Wesley Harding remains one of the murkier corners of the Dylan discography, and while the different versions shed light on the sessions’ knotty & gnostic mysteries, they don’t reveal everything.
To dig a little bit deeper, I’ve put together a live/rehearsal version of the album that stretches from 1969 to last year. Sound quality varies wildly – oh lord, does it vary! Bob voices vary wildly, too – oh lord, do they vary! Can the dude crooning at the Isle of Wight in 1969 be the same dude growling through the millionth rendition of “All Along The Watchtower” in 2018? Is life but a joke? Anyway, it’s a cool listen, even if it’s incomplete: Dylan has never played JWH’s title track or “I Am A Lonesome Hobo” live. There’s still time! OK, here are the details:
“As I Went Out One Morning” - An amazing one-off from Tour 74 with The Band. Lo-fi but high quality.
“All Along The Watchtower” - A somewhat reggae-fied version from 2018 that sounds pretty much like an entirely different song.
“I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine” - Live in 1969. Bob and The Band might sound like they’re still in the basement … but they’re actually playing to half a million punters on the Isle of Wight. Amazing. Closest we’ll get to hearing what JWH would’ve been like if Dylan had followed through with getting Robbie Robertson and Garth Hudson to overdub some instrumental accents.
“Ballad of Frankie Lee & Judas Priest” - A sparkling Never Ending Tour version from 2000. Maybe the most faithful to the original arrangement recording here?
“Drifter’s Escape” - A breakneck-paced roller coaster ride from 2001 with killer Sexton/Campbell guitar action and a devilish harmonica break from Bob.
“Dear Landlord” - Heavy soul in 2003.
“I Pity The Poor Immigrant” - The “chicky boom boom” Rolling Thunder version, live in ‘76. Wild piano, an almost ska backbeat, locked-in Dylan/Baez harmonies. Gleefully disrespectful. Fuck pity, let’s dance!
“Wicked Messenger” - Another blazer showcasing the Love and Theft-era Never Ending Tour band at their best.
“Down Along The Cove” - Easy boogie from 2008.
“I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” - A deliciously sleazy Rundown rehearsal recording. Hey, let’s have the next Bootleg Series cover the 77-78 period! Pretty please.
Currently Reading: Tremor by Teju Cole