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Content by Martin Warminger
Reviewer Rank: 2,254
Helpful Votes:
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Reviews Written by
Martin Warminger (UK)
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Acid Bath
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by Vaseleos Garson
Edition: Audio CD |
| Price: £13.69 |
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| Availability: In stock |
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Space Race Nostalgia, 19 Oct 2009
A space pioneer at a lonely outpost is captured by aliens and condemned to die. Can he hold out until the relief ship arrives...?
I understand that this story by Vaseleos Garson was written in the 1950s, a time when space flight became a reality for the human race and there is a sense of wonder in its telling that reflects that age of goggle-eyed expectancy. Russian born TV producer and writer, Max Bollinger, narrates the tale beautifully, his Russian vowels adding yet another link to that time of east-west space-racing.
Unlike the usual style of audio book, this has a music and effects soundtrack backing the narration giving it a radio play feel rather than a straightforward reading. Someone has also been playing with some Dalek-voice electronics allowing the aliens to have strange mechanical voices. The whole effect gives a slightly `boys own' ambience which is not unpleasant and is a nostalgic link to those years of sitting in front of the `wireless'.
As other reviewers have indicated, this is a short story, not a full length novel and as such should be balanced against price. Nevertheless, this is a charming audio book which evokes a period feel of Dan Dare style early space travel and alien encounters which no boy, or even `old' boy should miss.
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Sad end for the pioneers of Female Rock, 4 Sep 2009
By 1974 Fanny had lost guitarist June Millington and drummer Alice De Buhr due to internal strife and had replaced them by Suzi's sister, Patti Quatro and long time cohort, Brie Howard, respectively. Consequently the change of line-up, as well as a change of producer and record label created an entirely new ambiance on this, their fourth and last album.
The normally prolific songwriter, Nickey Barclay, contributes only two songs which bookend the album; the opening title track, a typically structured rocker comprising a riff-driven verse complimented by Brie's Latin tinged drumming and a leisurely, pastoral interlude and the closer, a syncopated melody that brings to mind early 50s tinged Carole King songs.
Sadly, Jean Millington's `Butter Boy', became a belated hit for Fanny at a time when the band was in final disintegration. There is a pervading 1950s undercurrent to this album, which manifests itself here by some `wah-oo' backing vocals and a relentlessly jaunty rhythm.
The remainder of the album comprises three rather workmanlike covers and four songs composed by Patti Quatro of varying degrees of competence and immersed in her thin buzzing guitar tone. `Beggar Man', arguably her best effort, is a mid tempo rocker given an unusual treatment by the use of her wah-wah rhythm playing, whispered vocals and some wonderfully moody keyboard shadings from Nickey.
`Rock `n' Roll Survivors' is a patchy album and somewhat unrepresentative of the band Fanny had been on their previous three Reprise albums. As a long time fan of the band, I found this a disappointing end to the career of a truly pioneering quartet.
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Reaching for greatness again, 9 April 2009
In this, currently the final volume of DC's run charting the Silver and Bronze Age adventures of the Legion of Superheroes, we find the Legion only a few years from arguably their second high peak under writer, Paul Levitz. At this point in their history, Jim Shooter had returned as writer for a second run with artwork by fan favourite `Iron' Mike Grell.
New legionnaires continue to arrive (Tyroc this time) and as usual with Shooter stories, some memorable new villains like Grimbor and Charma. Unfortunately the book ends just short of the `Pulsar Stargrave' story arc which points the way to a more epic nature in the writing that would continue into Levitz's period as storyteller.
For this reason, this volume is a little frustrating as it still shows the Legion in transition mode. I hope that DC has more of these books in the pipeline which will take us into arguably their finest period in the 1980s.
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Legion in Transition, 9 April 2009
In volume 11 of DC's 12 volume run charting the Silver and early Bronze Age adventures of the Legion of Superheroes, the revival of the Legion in the mid-seventies under writer Cary Bates and fan favourite artist, Mike Grell was well under way. Now sharing billing as `Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes' rather than guesting in `Superboy', the Legion stars in some classic Bates mysteries involving villains old and new.
Indeed it is one of the older villains that kills a long time Legion member in the very first story in this archive. Elsewhere we get a look at the Legion of Supervillains, the Legion of Substitute Heroes and the romance between Brainiac 5 and Supergirl.
As seems prevalent in this transition period of the early to mid-seventies, the quality of the stories is a bit patchy and lack the epic nature of those that both preceded and followed it but nevertheless there is good to see the Legion once more stretching out to full book length after their shabby treatment in `Action' comics (Volume 9 of this series).
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Rebirth!, 9 April 2009
In volume 10 of DC's 12 volume run charting the Silver and early Bronze Age adventures of the Legion of Superheroes, we find the Legion spluttering back to life in the early 1970s after a brief period of inactivity following the ignominy of being moved from `Adventure' to the back up feature in `Action' comics (as documented in Vol 9) and then cancelled.
No longer under their own title, but appearing sporadically in `Superboy' the Legion was slowly resuscitated by veteran writer E Nelson Bridwell and young gun, Cary Bates with art by Nick Cardy and Dave Cockrum. Cockrum was largely responsible for redefining the look of the Legion by redesigning many of the Legionnaires' costumes and whilst the majority were an improvement, I'll never forgive him for what he did to Phantom Girl - the legacy of her bell-bottoms lives to this day!
This period in the Legion's history where the Silver Age crosses over to the Bronze Age is a bit patchy. It seems that the writers were torn between remaining faithful to the earlier continuity of the 1960s `Adventure' series and re-introducing the re-styled team to new readers after the enforced break. Inevitably the stories suffer a lack of direction although they do include the first Legion wedding.
Nevertheless, for Legion followers this is a crucial period where the team, having been resurrected by public demand from a premature demise, takes on new and popular member in Wildfire and reasserts itself again in the DC universe.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Double Dutch!, 17 Oct 2008
I first saw Dutch prog-rockers, Alquin when they had a TV guest slot on that holy of holies, `The Old Grey Whistle Test' doing a cut down version of `The Dance' in 1973 and decided that I would take a chance on them. After an age of trekking around all the local record stores in the district I finally secured a copy. Thankfully, they didn't disappoint and my slightly warped vinyl copy has been a constant companion until I finally managed to get hold of this twofer CD copy.
This CD twins the albums `Marks' and `The Mountain Queen' and in my opinion presents them at their best.
The later `Mountain Queen' will always merit a place in my heart (music division) because a) it was a bugger to find in the first place - and that fact alone gives it a sort of rarity mystique and b) it contains some of the finest instrumental rock outside of Focus despite the band looking like a bunch of hippy rejects. As with most card-carrying prog albums it contains two lengthy pieces clocking in at around 13 minutes each surrounded by a smattering of shorter fillers. There are some vocal moments, sung in a hushed whispery voice but generally it is the instrumental sections that really shine.
Being a 6 piece band, Alquin had variety of sound as a major asset. It means that the two long pieces, the title track and `The Dance' are constructed of a number of sections of differing moods including not just the usual guitar based rock but softer parts making use of flute, saxophones and keyboards. As is usual for bands of that era, the playing is fabulous and the musical dynamic carefully built throughout the length of the piece. This is why I like it - it is the mixture of great musicianship and the constructional understanding which prevents it from being a boring extended jam.
`Marks' is a sort of embryonic `Mountain Queen' comprising one longer piece with a greater selection of shorter tracks, all of which demonstrate the same musical dexterity but with less prog and a more esoteric style. Frankly you'd be hard pushed to find a better twinned CD than this if you like 1970s solid musicianship with progressive overtones.
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Split
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| Availability: Currently unavailable |
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Lush's Finest Moment, 12 Mar 2008
Split is Lush's crowning moment. It melds the swirling aural soundscapes of their shoegazing past with the hook-laden pop sensibility they would bring to the fore on their subsequent album, `Lovelife'. Add in Mike Hedges' glacial production to the mix and what you have is an album of sparkling, yet delicately brittle guitar driven songs of varying tempo and intensity.
The combination of `Light from a Dead Star' followed by `Kiss Chase' is probably one of the finest starts to an album anywhere. In fact the first half, mainly written by Miki Berenyi is almost relentlessly upbeat and contains arguably one of her best ever songs, the bile spitting `Hypocrite'. The second half comprises Emma Anderson's more laid back musical architecture, including the deliriously languid `Desire Lines' and spine-tingly melancholic closer, `When I Die'. This half lets you down gently after the rush of the first half and gives the whole project a shape and sense of purpose.
Hedges, brought in to replace Robin Guthrie after the criticism aimed at previous album, `Spooky', draws on his early 1980s work and pitches his production somewhere between the sparseness of the Cure's `Seventeen Seconds' and the raw energy of the Banshees `A Kiss in the Dreamhouse'. It gives the album an almost glassily clear sound that draws you into its unfathomable depths.
Altogether a much underrated album. Who said the 1990s didn't produce anything of note?
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Early Promise, 20 Feb 2008
As a longstanding Bangles fan, I bought this album soon after its release in 1984 and it still remains a favourite because it captures them in their early stages, belting out their trademark garage rock with psychedelic overtones.
After this release their career took a more polished road towards mainstream stardom, eventual implosion and later reincarnation, but at this stage, their first full length album, they were rough, ready and compelling.
The first batch of five songs (side 1 on the original vinyl) is as upbeat as they have ever been, starting with the sing-a-long `Hero Takes a Fall' and ending with the shimmering `Dover Beach' where their steely guitars clash and grind against a stately rhythm. I remember seeing them live around this time and they played this song twice to rapturous applause.
The remainder is more mellow and includes Kimberley Rew's `Going Down to Liverpool' (the video of which featured Leonard Nimoy), but the energy levels never drop.
The recognisable hits `Manic Monday' and `Eternal Flame' would follow but this album showcases a young and hungry Bangles and highlights their mature songwriting and more than competent playing at a time when they had little recognition. A must for all Bangles fans and anyone else who like their rock a bit rough around the edges.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Simply Brilliant!, 3 Jan 2008
In the 1960s, in an effort to ride on the coattails of the burgeoning new-fangled pop music wave, television companies snapped up the more presentable performers and gave them their own TV shows.
It became apparent that Dusty was head and shoulders the best singer, but perhaps not the best host, so her show played to her strength and comprised little more than a succession of songs sung against a cheap backdrop, with a guest spot or two to break it up. This BBC DVD release of several surviving archive tapes of these programmes shows the format and is sensational.
These are programmes from an era when material was recorded `Live' and then broadcast (and then generally wiped!) so what the viewer is seeing is effectively a live concert of 6 or so songs. No miming, no edits. What strikes you when watching these shows is not how primitive they look, but what a stunningly good singer, Dusty was. She takes on every style and musical genre with consummate ease without the need for dance troupes or tele-visual effects. The songs include showtunes, standard ballads, gospel, folk, blues, and most important of all, R&B. Nothing seems to be beyond her canon and it is captivating. How many singers do you know today who could sing live on television and cross all these boundaries in 30 minutes?
Most interesting of all is the undercurrent of subversion. Here was a white, seemingly middleclass woman appearing on the bastion of middle England; the BBC, but singing a great wodge of black American music and one wonders how this went down with the establishment of the day?
These early tapes show her at her best, just singing and entertaining us as she did so. The slow descent into relative obscurity and eventual death through cancer seems so far away at this point it makes you want to cry.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Real Progress, 3 Jan 2008
I have had a conditional relationship with Polly Jean, dipping in and out of her career as the urge took me whilst she ploughed her lonely and eclectic furrow over the last 15 years or so. Whilst I admire her greatly and like a great deal of her work, I find her albums difficult to listen to in their entirety (all except `Stories from the City...' anyway). But `White Chalk' is something else - brittle, haunting and utterly captivating.
By all accounts, she decided to discard her trusty jagged guitar and learn to play the piano. All the songs on this CD are piano based and this probably explains why they are so different to her usual fare. John Lennon, as a guitarist, once said that he preferred writing at the piano as it was a lesser-known instrument and he didn't fall into the trap of following well-known chord sequences. I suspect the same applies to PJ and it has produced a magical album, full of ghostly melodies and unusual atonal chord structures.
In the early 1990s, the music magazine `Q' decided that the future of females in music was represented by PJ Harvey, Björk and Tori Amos and to be fair they were not far wrong. The interesting point is that all these years later `White Chalk' sounds very close to what you would expect a collaboration between the other two sides of the `Q' triangle, Björk and Tori Amos might sound like! It marries Amos's kooky piano to Björk's melodic invention but and then sprinkles it with the lyrical directness that makes it a PJ album without doubt.
This is progress and possibly her best album to date.
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![Dusty Springfield - Live At The BBC [DVD] [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ch57xSkML._SL110_.jpg)
