ROCK • A • RAMA

ROCK-A-RAMAS

This month’s Rock-A-Ramas were written by Richard Riegel,

Craig Zeller, Dave Segal, Jon Young, Richard C. Walls, Michael Davis, and John Mendelssohn.

THE COLOUR FIELD Virgins And Philistines (Chrysalis)

Like his old colleague Jerry Dammers of Special AKA, Terry Hall refines their shared ska origins a bit more each time out. Now Hall’s the principal in the Colour Field, a group which recalls the Specials’ black & white twin tones by layering jazzflow melodies and vocals over what are essentially folk songs, structurally speaking. But the Colour Field come across loud & bracing, even when they’re using acoustic instruments. Their 10 original songs exhibit many layers of thoughtful-English-boyof-the-’80s anxieties over our current dilemmas, while the two covers (the Roches’ “Hammond Song” and ? And The Mysterians’ “Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby”) are so leftfield-inspired, I am, too. Good stuff, “just like a beatnik love affair.” R.R.

JONATHAN RICHMAN & THE MODERN LOVERS Rockin’ And Romance (Twin/Tone)

One of the most unique figures in rock ’n’ roll continues to prove that he hasn’t lost his sense of wonder. (He’s the only person I know who could write a song of praise about a discarded chewing gum wrapper and mean it.) On Rockin’ And Romance his music is more stripped down and basic than ever (mainly guitar, drums, and lots of affectionate back-up vocals). Richman’s singing is as warm and open as ever; he’s at his best on “I’m Just Beginning To Live,” “The Fenway,” and “Now Is Better Than Before,” singing about himself. He doesn’t always do as well on other subjects (“My Jeans,” “The U.F.O. Man”) but his special little touches always keep things interesting (the doo-wop hook on “Vincent Van Gogh” is priceless). C.Z.

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS The Firstborn Is Dead (Homestead import)

This goes for the jugular more effectively than last year’s From Her To Eternity. No, Firstborn isn’t as gut-churning and frenzied as Cave’s deceased Birthday Party material, but what is, really? Once more, Mick Harvey (d), Barry Adamson (b) and Blixa Bargeld (g) furnish the perfect hard-ass backing Cave needs. The Bad Seeds shine on the thunderous “Tupelo,” the propulsive, tortured “Train Long-Suffering” and Bob Dylan’s “Wanted Man,” an epic of paranoia. Anything Cave does runs to excess, and he can’t help transforming pop culture figures into mythical icons. His continued obsession with da blooz may disappoint some of his small but rabid following, and I, for one, hope Cave puts a lid on his tombstone blues. As always, Cave’s mouthful-of-nails voice draws the most attention and it remains the ideal vehicle for his midnight-of-the-soul themes. For some, Firstborn will be religious experience. For others, it’ll be a huge pain in the gluteus maximus. D.S.

NICO + THE FACTION Camera Obscura (PVC)

Although she has a reputation for being one of the walking wounded, Nico, the ex-Velvet Underground chanteuse and cult figure for the dirge-obsessed, has actually been getting her act together of late. She’s found capable collaborators and has convinced John Cale to produce her once again and the results are quite encouraging once you get past the impenetrable weirdness of each side’s opening track. Synthesizers and Ian Carr’s Miles Davis-like trumpet have more or less replaced the harmonium and viola instrumental base of her past triumphs but the moods induced are still dark and unsettling, in part because of the percussion that’s skillfully scattered across the tracks. This LP won’t make her old fans forget Marble Index but it still delivers more chill thrills than the latest efforts of Siouxsie or the Cure, that’s for sure. M.D.

KEITH JARRETT Standards Vol. 2 (ECM)

JACK DE JOHNETTE The Jack DeJohnette Piano Album (Landmark)

Pianist Jarrett’s third installment (after Standards Vol. 1 and Changes) from his Jan. ’83 trio sessions with Gary Peacock, bass, and Jack DeJohnette, drums, has the expected expansive lyricism, tasteful swing and dying swan beauty—and though somewhat constrained by the format, it’s a beauty pursued with the kind of single-mindedness that inspires a cult following. A fine record and all, but not for everyone. This reviewer, for example, prefers DeJohnette’s album; though a more superficial and less coherent improviser than Jarrett, his record is also more fun, communicating to the listener the apparent excitement the famous drummer feels at making his full-length domestic debut as a pianist. The record’s OK, these are the official records from the revival of the Blue Note label gala concert held in NYC in Feb. ’85—and the volumes to buy are 1 and 2. Vol. One has that peak Blue Note sound with Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson and Tony Williams as well as flutist James Newton on the Eric Dolphy tribute “Hat and Beard” (which was originally a Monk tribute). Vol. Two has the passionate Jackie McLean and the hard-edged Bennie Wallace as well as 121/2 surprisingly accessible minutes from Cecil Taylor and some decent McCoy Tyner (& Woody Shaw, too). Vol. Three, apart from one Art Blakey cut, is the easy listening section (like, Grover Washington & Stanley Turrentine) while Vol. Four is Charles Lloyd & Stanley Jordan (separately), something akin to novelty acts, or jazz for people who aren’t sure if they like the stuff. Also available in one boxed set, or on two slightly-differentfrom-the-records video cassettes, or on compact discs and soon to be a major comic book, no doubt. R.C.W

range ain’t bad either, with tributes to Ahmad Jamal and Bill Evans, a couple of synthesizer pieces (including another neat version of C. Lauper’s “Time After Time”) for the cheap seats, and ambitiously long improvs on Coltrane’s “Spiral” and Gigi Gryce’s “Minority.” Entertaining, recommended. R.C.W.

JAMES Village Fire (Factory import EP)

An antidote to the traditional “miserablist” image of Manchester,

England, James are a new, fourpiece, vegetarian band creating songs that sound at once traditional and fresh. They are intelligent but not pretentious. Their clever song structures are derivative of no one. Thanks to vocalist Tim’s earnest schoolboy inflection, the five songs here brim with a genuine human warmth that’s sadly missing from much of today’s pop. There’s so much to love in James’s music: ringing, edgy guitars, jerky rhythms, unexpected accelerations, odd chord changes. But words alone can’t convey the honesty and passion that inhabit this collection of miniaturist songs. And it is a very rare group that would offer this wisdom: “Go and read a book/it’s so much more worthwhile.” If it makes any difference, Morrissey champions James. D.S.

DEL “AMITRI (Chrysalis)

The Dell Vikings...Dells...Del Shannon...DelLords...Del Fuegos...the list of swell dels goes on and on. Now add to the roll of honor del Amitri, four fresh Scotboys who could give cuteness a good name. Like the Bluebells, they aren’t afraid to appear unsuave when discussing matters of the heart; like Tom Verlaine (thanked on the cover), they use rippling guitars that reverberate in the subconscious long after the record’s over. Though fervent lead singer Justin Currie expresses both confusion and hostility in his encounters with the fair sex, he remains largely free of the misogyny that could’ve spoiled the fun. Anyway, in true adolescent fashion, his subject isn’t others, but himself. Lyric highlight: when he calls an adversary a “crow in a wheatfield.” J.Y.

VARIOUS ARTISTS One Night With Blue Note Preserved Vols. I-IV (Blue Note)

EARLE MANKEY Real World (Happy Hermit)

This guy was recording what’s come to be known as the ambient drum sound—the big clamorous one—while Steve Lillywhite, who’s commonly credited with its invention, was still making tea and fetching fishcakes. Like Sparks, whose original guitarist he was, Mankey can be off-puttingly precious. But he gets terrific sounds, as witness the astonishing ARP drums on “1983.” His singing, which can’t decide whether it wants to remind you more of Joey Ramone or Mike Love, is an acquired taste which makes you want to acquire it. And “Bigger Than Life” really is! J.M.

THE JUNE BRIDES There Are Eight Million Stories...

(The Pink Label import)

The mid-’80s have heralded a boomtime for Janglophiles (lovers of jangly guitar pop), and few can jangle as sweetly as the June Brides. They are descendants of the Buzzcocks, Josef K, Fire Engines, Orange Juice and Aztec Camera—an impeccable lineage. For one so young, Phil Wilson is an exceptionally sensitive and gifted songwriter. He shares with many other U.K. songsmiths an inferiority complex and a propensity toward social-sexual awkwardness, explicit in their eloquent lyrics. The use of trumpet and viola distinguish the June Brides from dozens of other jangle merchants. The rollicking “Every Conversation” and “Sunday To Saturday” are two of the best songs of ’85. The former makes “Good Day Sunshine” sound like a dirge; the latter employs ecstatic, chiming guitars to propel a profoundly sad song (an irony prevalent throughout the LP). A dazzling debut. D.S.

BILLY JOEL

Greatest Hits Volume I & II (Columbia)

Love him or loathe him (and I tend towards the latter more often than not), you have to admit that this is one of the best-assembled hit collections of the last few years. Anything that you’d ever wanna own (and a lot that you’d be ashamed to say you sang along with in the car) by Christie’s honeybunny is in these grooves. Includes the insufferable “It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me,” the unintentionally uproarious “You May Be Right” (get rough, B.J.) and “Uptown Girl,” perhaps the best Four Seasons tribute ever. (Well, at least since the Happenings tackled “Go Away, Little Girl.”) C.Z.

NENA

It’s All In The Game (Epic)

“99 Luftballons” was so snazzy that Nena just had to be a one-hit wonder. Sure enough, with their second U.S. LP, these German folk make every effort to slip out of the spotlight for good. Instead of pure pop in the Blondie mode (always a welcome commodity), many tunes ineptly try to strike a dance stance— “Woman On Fire,” “Warning Signs,” and others were obviously designed to accommodate a 12-inch mix, though it’s hard to imagine anybody wanting such a thing. Factor in Nena Kerner’s exceedingly modest vocal skills, cruelly exposed on the ballad “Are You Awake?,” not to mention boring all-English lyrics (“We can humanize/The value of our lives/With the power of our feelings”), and you’ve got a classic case of yesterday’s news. Thanks for the memory, kids. J.Y.