1970s


MILES DAVIS Bitches Brew: 40th Anniversary Legacy/Deluxe Editions Sony 2-CD/DVD www.sonymusic.co.uk


Forty years on it’s hard to convey the seismic impact this album had on the


underground rock scene of


the time, altering the gravitational pull and focal points of music as we knew it. Psychedelic jazz was born. We knew about the psych but many went


scuttling off to discover more about the jazz world from where this otherworldly music had beamed in. Meanwhile, the world’s greatest jazz player could now appear at that year’s Isle Of Wight Festival (between Tiny Tim and Ten Years After).


During the ’50s, Miles defined jazz’s cool


school, but by the early ’60s artists like Sun Ra and Albert Ayler were smashing the moulds with inter-galactic flights and raw emotions. Miles’ own musical outlook was swivelled by Hendrix, Sly and Cream. Wanting to escape the cloistered jazz scene, he introduced electric instruments on the previous year’s In A Silent Way in order to start realising his new visions. Bitches Brew was recorded over three


days in August 1969 at Columbia’s New York studio. Lining up to launch into the unknown were electric pianists Joe Zawinul and Chick Corea, bassists Dave Holland and Harvey Brooks, British jazz guitarist John McLaughlin, sax-player Wayne Shorter, drummers Jack De Johnette and Lenny White, percussionist Juma Santos and Bernie Maupin on bass clarinet. Miles instructed the band to stretch out and


improvise, following his cues. Also influenced by the new studio techniques pioneered by George Martin, Miles gave his producer Ted Macero free rein to edit and add effects to the hours of recorded material. For rock this was adventurous –for jazz it was unheard of and lambasted by purists. Bitches Brew is now getting the Legacy and


This version restores all the material that was


supposed to make the original single LP a double –clocking in at a whopping 73 minutes. There’s a huge variety of style and shapes on offer here, moving from spoken word theatricality to acidic guitar lines, which cut across consistently strong material. Despite the experimental nature of many of the songs, there are real tunes and hooks in abundance on many of the tracks. This is an absolutely unique record – think of it


as somewhere between Genesis and Zappa if you need a reference point. The tunefulness throughout acts a perfect counterweight to the more outlandish passages of music and surprises abound even after several listens. OHO conjure up a truly mind-melting


alternative world that you’ll want to visit again and again. The 2008 outing Bricolage is also available as


a double CD/DVD set. Austin Matthews


62


PAPER LACE And Other Bits Of Material/First Edition 7T’s CD


www.cherryred.co.uk


For those of us growing up in The Windy City during the early ’70s, ‘The Night Chicago Died’ was a staple on local radio and #1 with a bullet across the fruited


plains. The era of AM Gold was in full swing and while The Carpenters and The Osmonds ruled the charts, Nottingham outfit Paper Lace and their UK brethren Jigsaw, Pilot and The First Class swiftly dropped poptastic 45s on an unsuspecting America, before disappearing just as quick into the dreaded netherworld of “one hit wonder” status, (almost) never to be heard from again. Which is a shame and after hearing this two disc set, it’s clear Paper Lace was a talented


bunch with plenty more on offer. Bubblegummy and lightly touching on the Badfinger/Beatles school of Britpop, the anti-war ‘Billy Don’t Be Hero’ put the band on the map at home just as Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods took the song to the top spot across the pond. But Paper Lace were just as fearless when it came to covering other artists’ work. A solid version of the evergreen ‘Hitchin’ A Ride’ and a sweet as pie take on ‘Sealed With A Kiss’ are worthy of the originals. This edition adds a brace of rare and hard to


find single sides, making for a definitive and well rounded collection. Eric Abrahamsen


VARIOUS ARTISTS The World Ends: Afro Rock & Psychedelia In 1970s Nigeria Soundway 2-CD/2-LP www.soundwayrecords.com Soundway continue to excavate lost musical treasures from faraway lands, this time turning


their attention to psych- influenced Afrobeat/ Afrorock from a time of social upheaval in Nigeria. All the usual


afrobeat trademarks are


present and correct – polyrhythmic drumming, chanted vocals and a funky undercurrent, though this time shot through with acid fuzz guitar lines and Hammond organ. When it works it’s absolutely stunning,The Elcados’ ‘Chokoi & Oreje’ or Bongos Ikwue’s‘All Night Long’ being two perfect examples. The accompanying story is fascinating, detailing how many of these acts were sponsored by, and played for, the entertainment of various army chapters. A few tracks here are pretty borderline in terms


of psych influence but that’s splitting hairs with regards to this excellent release. I can’t imagine anyone who picks this up will be disappointed. Austin Matthews


Deluxe treatment with the original six tracks joined by alternative versions, concert DVD and 180 gram vinyl joining the latter. Hearing it for the first time in this many years I


was transported back to my mate’s ear- blasting bedroom stereo setup –stunned again by this alien blend of dense voodoo rhythms, starburst pianos, malevolent bass and Miles’ haunted


Strange Brew. Miles at the 1969 Newport Jazz Festival.


trumpet cascades. It still sounds like nothing else on this


planet. Kris Needs


Photo by Teppei Inokuchi


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