Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

Back in 1979 Bristol was hardly renowned as a creative hot spot, and the notion of the "Bristol Sound", let alone Trip-Hop, was completely unheard of. However things were slowly beginning to change as The Pop Group released the genuinely revolutionary Y. You can almost trace the entire artistic expansion back to this one cutting edge masterwork. Y is the sort of record that sounds just as daring and intriguing in 2010 as it did in 1979. The way in which styles flow into one another is just glorious; fuzzing uncomfortable electronica, moody Television like post punk stylings, West Indian infused drum beats, sudden inexplicable blasts of free form jazz and avante guard noise making. It's still sounds wonderfully eclectic, but unlike so many fusion artists The Pop Group held their experimentation together with tight and addictive bass grooves; this was a record that had a sense of unity and direction. Y is one of those strange albums that ages well, "She Is Beyond Good And Evil", "Thief Of Fire" and "We Are Time" undoubtedly sound better, cooler and ultimately more palatable today they they would have thirty one years ago.

For Your Pleasure is one of my favourite records, and if you are an unashamed fan of pop music you will love this record to. While no one doubts that it was daring and challenging at the time For Your Pleasure is first and foremost an engaging pop record. It's the standard that the mainstream should aspire to. A record that's instantly accessible but thought provoking at the same time. Even at it's most direct and catchy For Your Pleasure maintains a sense of the unexpected; "Do The Strand" and "Editions Of You" are wittier and cheekier than their contemporaries without being any less infectious. Yet it's those moments when Eno really cuts loose that steal the show; the warped synths of "In Every Dream Home A Heartache" creates a foreboding atmosphere while Brian Ferry delivers a gripping verse. It's one of his greatest performances as he delivers cruel dark lines in a delicious dead pan. The super serious façade is of course broken by the ludicrous line "Inflatable Doll, Love Ungrateful, I Blew Up Your Body, But You Blew My Mind". Despite the obvious tonal differences you can't help but feel a symbiotic link to Pulp's ironic epic "This Is Hardcore". Brian Eno is of course allowed his weird out moment in "The Bogus Man" giving the album it's true art house chops (if it hadn't earned them already) . Despite all the internal tensions, by the time "Grey Lagoon" and "For Your Pleasure" roll around you can't help but be convinced that For Your Pleasure is the sound of a band having the time of their lives, revelling in their own wit and their own creativity.

One of the great struggles for all artists is how to follow up a "great album". Luckily by 1977 David Bowie had garnered plenty of experience in this field. Aladdin Sane followed Ziggy Stardust and even though it's forgotten now following up the provocative Station To Station with Low was no mean feat. It was the aforementioned Low that presented Bowie with his greatest dilemma; how to follow another career best album (more on that later). Bowie was never one to baulk from a challenge bouncing right back with with Heroes. A gorgeous album that combined the talents of three of music's great pioneers; Bowie himself, Brian Eno and Robert Fripp. The result was a captivating album that saw Bowie's distinctive tones melding into these wonderfully lucid arrangements. Recorded in Berlin Heroes managed to capture the unsettled division of the times while also embracing the Krautrock/synthpop scene that was leading the world in pop innovation. The nods to Kraftwerk and Neu! are hardly subtle (nor were they meant to be), and while Heroes' instrumentals are still looming and melancholic Heroes feels positively uplifting after the bleak introspection of Low. Heroes was the mid point in Bowie's Berlin trio, and represented his new commercial height and his return to ground breaking form. An album's whose quality is only diminished by comparisons to masterpiece of a forebear. Proof that sometimes more of the same, is exactly what's needed.

The two track fifty two minute Tribute To Jack Johnson is a captivating stand out work. Almost forty years later it remains difficult to define; Jazz fusion? Who cares? Most see it as the leading light in the early formation of Jazz-rock. "Right Off" has a rough around the edges live feel, like it's just a bunch of guys sitting around jamming. The guitar starts the affair with a classic rock riff and soon Miles jumps in with a rip snorting solo and then the band hit full flow jamming and grinding their way through twenty minutes of visceral excellence (yes that's right visceral jazz). The guitar riffs are still uneasy; they bite and fizzle, bursting out of the record as if your old vinyl record is slowly cracking. "Yesternow" by contrast is a more considered classic affair. Low key and solemn it's a track that wafts with cool composed sense of desolation. It's gorgeous and the perfect counterpart to the loose rip roaring patchwork of an opening track. Two perfectly parts of one mind blowing package that ends with a wonderful whirling finale.

Following the commercial triumph of Harvest it seemed the world was waiting for Young to marry his brand of infectious endearing folk-rock and harsh affecting lyricism into one start to finish masterpiece. After all, no one doubted Harvest's quality, or more surprisingly it's accessibility, but it felt uneven and in a way unsatisfactory. On The Beach by comparison was the complete start to finish listen the world had been awaiting. It didn't feel as daring as After The Gold Rush but what it lacked in all encompassing variety it made up for in focus and cohesion. Tracks cascade into one another beautifully "See The Sky About To Rain" is perfectly married to the mesmerizing "Revolution Blues"; whose spite laden lyricism is the perfect transition to the country blues stomp of "For The Turnstiles". Things get really bleak and scathing as "Vampire Blues" rolls into the harrowing "On The Beach" with it's sparse and mournful arrangement centred around one simple sentiment "I Need A Crowd Of People, But I Can't Face Them Day To Day". Many consider On The Beach to be Young's greatest work and it's easy to see why; On The Beach is the perfect balance between deep emotion, scathing lyricism and accessible engaging musicianship.