Yarrow

Foretelling futures
With a handful of yarrow
And a cunning book

Henry's Dream by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

This is pretty much everything that you want from a Nick Cave album - a couple of drunken torch songs, a couple of murder ballads and plenty of growling and prowling. Musically, the sound is boosted the addition of cello and violins on a couple of tracks, and some nice organ sounds combined with cicadas on “Christina the Astonishing” giving the effect of a sinister small town at night.

Whether you like it or not will very much depend on your opinion of Nick Cave. I love his stuff, but this feels like a middling example of his work - perfectly fine, but not quite up there with his best albums (arguing about those is left as an exercise for the constant reader). This album did remind me in places (particularly on the tracks with the strings) of Scott Walker, which is a good thing.

I listened twice, and enjoyed it more the second time around. Currently at three stars but knocking on the door of four.

Narcissus

Gym lined with mirrors
Bro studies his reflection
Modern narcissus

Muddy Waters At Newport 1960 by Muddy Waters

By all accounts the normally strait-laced and preppy Newport Jazz festival was something of a chaotic affair in 1960, with cancelled shows and angry crowds causing trouble, to the point that the National Guard were called in and 200 people arrested. Muddy Waters’ show on the closing Sunday was also very nearly cancelled by the local council but the promoter convinced both the council and the performers to go ahead, as the event was being filmed and recorded.

The result was an absolute blistering live set of Chicago Blues that had people dancing in the aisles, and left Waters so hoarse that Otis Spann took over on vocals for the final number, “Goodbye Newport Blues” that had just been written as a response to what had been a wild weekend by Langston Hughes.

Forget all of the inferior knock-offs by certain white male artists, this is the real blues and this is exactly how it should be played. Accept no imitations.

Smoldering, Time

At the end of time
Just the ashes of the world
Smoldering slightly

The Rolling Stones by The Rolling Stones

You know that wedding that you went to one time, where they obviously wanted a big do but things were a little tight, so instead of booking a proper band they found a group of young upstarts who your cousin saw playing in a pub once, who said they would play covers of that American music the young people like in exchange for free drinks and the left overs from the buffet.

Okay, they’re a little bit rough and ready, the lead singer fancies himself and the bassist is already casting lecherous glances at the young bridesmaids, but they’re only playing for half an hour before the DJ arrives and they will drown out the noise of the caterers putting out the food for the evening guests. Nobody really pays them much attention, except your auntie who has had one too many sherries and is gamely trying to dance along with mixed results.

The mood drops noticeably when they try to sneak a couple of their own tunes claiming that they were written by someone called “Nanker Phelge” but eventually they shuffle off stage and disappear with pockets stuffed with sausage rolls and half empty bottles of plonk.

What did they say they were called again? The Strolling Bones, or something like that? I wonder whatever happened to them?

Glade, Chestnut

Shady forest glade
Neath the spreading chestnut trees
Where love conkers all