Spirit of SSL v4

27th February 2001

1. Supergrass - Moving (nat)
   Interesting enough.
       6/10

2. Oscar Peterson - Three Little Words (chrisg)
   First impressions were good, and I imagine that the more I hear this, the more I'll like it. You just can't complain about Proper Old Fashioned Jazz, now, can you?
       7/10

3. Guns 'n' Roses - Nightrain (sacha)
   A total waste of time. At least Squeeze Me Macaroni had the redeeming feature of being interesting, in its unpleasant sort of way. To tell the truth, it's rather grown on me over the last year or so. But this ... This is without any redeeming feature. It's the sort of song that if it had never been recorded, the world would not be different in any way whatsoever. I've listened to this four times. What a waste of seventeen minutes and forty seconds of my life. I could have made an omelette in that time.
       1/10

4. Mozart - Duo For Violin And Viola In G (john)
   What can you say? OK, I admit that Mozart was a superhuman genius and all that but, but ... isn't it a bit, you know? Well, dull. To my ears, all Mozart sounds rather like superior elevator music. (But don't tell Fiona I said that.)
       5/10

5. David Bowie - The Jean Genie (mas)
   The logical next step after choosing The Stranglers' 96 Tears last time. The sort of song which, by its mind-numbing predictability and mediocrity, gives a bad name of the concept of the ``rock classic''. I suppose we should just be grateful that it's not Nyman - a vice from which Selway seems to have managed to free himself for this compilation. I shall be grateful for small mercies.
       2/10

6. Jethro Tull - Witches Promise (nich)
   Now Jethro Tull seem to be just the kind of band I ought to like: every review I've seen of them describes them as intelligent, inventive, literate and thoughtful. So I went and downloaded the Aqualung album from Napster. The fact of the matter is -- I'll tell you straight -- I don't like it. Sorry, that's just how it is. And this song doesn't do anything to change my mind about Tull generally. That whole sound with syllables strung out over several notes and flutes all over the place gets boring really quickly. I really liked Nich's previous selection, Harry Nilsson's Everybody's Talkin', and of course I loved his Hendrix selection, which set me off on what's since become one of my musical obsessions. But this. Blah.
       3/10

7. Nirvana - The Man Who Sold The World (gurv)
   Fascinating title (Philip K. Dick?), but a dull song. Badly played too. The guitar break definitely wobbles off piste towards the end. Ho hum.
       4/10

8. John Mayall - Walking On Sunset (mike)
   Well, it's the blues, isn't it?
       6/10

9. Buena Vista Social Club - Chan Chan (sarah)
   Yeah, whatever.
       5/10

10. Underworld - Pearl's Girl [excerpt] (alec)
    Oh dear. I really wanted to like this, especially as it was the only alec selection on this SoSSL, but I just can't do it. I can't even not dislike it. Why would anyone deliberately choose to devote any of their attention to music so devoid of melody, of rhythmic invention, of ideas of any kind? Dunno. You got me there.
        0/10

11. Thomas Dolby - Screen Kiss (dino)
    Hard to believe that dino gave us Stevie Wonder's wondrous I Wish last time around. This is hardly from the same planet. Nothing to object to, and I suspect I might find myself liking it more as I hear it more, but it's not exactly as if it's set my world alight. Maybe when I figure out what point it's trying to make ...
        5/10

12. Bach - Cello Suit No. 1 in G Major [excerpt] (mas)
    Wonderful in its small way, but there's not really enough of it to make an impact.
        7/10

13. Fairport Convention - Mr. Lacey (mike)
    A stereotypical mike choice (think White Rabbit from way back on the original Spirit of SSL.) And I mean that in the bad way. Sorry.
        3/10

14. Gomez - Here Comes The Breeze (mark)
    Probably my favourite of the songs on SoSSL 4. I'd be hard pressed to explain why though. Probably because so few of the others are in any way interesting, which this more or less is. Hmmm. This is faint praise, isn't it?
        7/10

15. Gabriel Faure - Piano Quintet In D Major [excerpt] (george)
    Gorgeous.
        8/10

16. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Love Struck Baby (mh)
    Yeah, OK.
        4/10

Other Comments
My general feeling is that consecutive SoSSL's are getting more middle-of-the-road compared with the much wider spread of widely different styles on the first and second CD. Spirit of SSL is just not the same without a female C&W singer courtesy of Chris Martin. Still makes very interesting listening though!

(on to Volume 5.)