ULVER - Chldhood's End - major new release!!

Here's another of those head turning moments. Swedish death metal band Ulver - undeniably fine musicians that I have never owned a record by before - come out with a record of covers. And not some lame group of covers, and not a group of songs done over in death metal style - a group of underground psych classics, with one exception all pre-1970, by bands like The Troggs, Chocolate Watch Band, Jefferson Airplane, The Pretty Things, 13th Floor Elevators, The Left Banke - and others. For the most part, not the usual tracks to cover either - look at the track listing and see how many titles you recognize, and match them up. This is obviously a tribute not only to the era but to the bands and songs which were formative to the band, and they have covered them with respect, where respect is not to mimic, not to maim, not to remake - but to capture the spirit, capture that feeling. There is no trace of Ulver's usual music here, these are not death metal butcherings. They are played like pop songs, by a fabulous group of musicians, in fact the musicianship is far higher than on any of the originals. The vibe is more Syd Barrett-ear Pink Floyd and even Revolver era Beatles, with a bit of Ayers era Soft Machine thrown in, but so much more as well, and a very singular voice. The sound is totally modern, and I can tell you that the CD sounds every bit as good as the vinyl - the songs have been mixed and mastered beautifully to retain the dynamics and tonality - and a fleeting, ethereal vibe - that Ulver bring to these great songs.

Whatever your opinion of Ulver, whatever you have hear from them before - put it aside. This is simply a stunning, beautiful, surprising record, and it is all the more so by being such an unexpected one. By far one of the best records of 2012, and it is one that I have listened to over and over for the past several weeks - and it still surprises and delights. Five massive doobies for where this great record has taken me.

The final four from Music Matters (for now)...

 Just received my last order from Music Matters until they resume in the fall. Herbie Hancock's "Empyrean Isles" has never been a record I could get into...until this one. This shows the genius of Ron and Joe in selecting Blue Note titles not to cater to the warhorse audiophile crowd, but to bring titles that have both massive musical value and are masterpieces - either minor or major - as well as being unique in the Blue Note catalog.

What could be more unique than a quartet record that features a cornet as the lead horn?? Some numbnuts on the Hoffman forum claimed the horn sound on this reissue is 'thinner', which is stupid, the cornet is a smaller horn than the trumpet and actually that is the whole point of Hancock's conception - to not only get Hubbard out of his comfort zone, but to produce a lighter, more ethereal, almost a proggy jazz record that moves away from running changes towards evoking vistas.

The sound is simply gorgeous. Now I 'get' exactly what Hancock was aiming for. It is a stunning record - another peak in the Music Matters series. Hubbard leaves his trumpet behind and gets deep inside. Carter, rarely recorded well by Van Gelder, sounds big, fat, solid. Williams' shimmering high work is beautifully etched, bombs are dropped with a solid, in the chest feeling.

As always, Music Matters pressings are the best RTI can produce. Mine came with new style RTI inners that unfortunately ripped the shit out of the inner seams of the cover - and believe me, the inner photos in this gatefold are totally cool.

In many ways, this is a tremendously important Blue Note record. Awesome job.

 Horace Silver's "Six Pieces Of Silver" I had a harder time with, it is cut fairly loud, I found the mono sound a bit on the rough side which is all to do with the source tape's vintage, all in all, it is a bit jarring to move from "Empyrean Isles" to Six Pieces Of Silver so that may be part of it. This is going a bit far back for me, so take it for that - the mono sound is driving, full bodied, propulsive, and so far above the earlier Classic Records mono 33 rpm LP it isn't even worth thinking about.

 On another plane entirely - Grant Green's "Street Of Dreams", by far the best record Green did in his career (including Idle Moments) - the team assembled here is gigantic - Larry Young, Bobby Hutcherson, Elvin Jones - it just doesn't get better, the first and only time these iconic artists recorded together. Four wonderful, elegant, relaxed improvisations that are still thoroughly modern today. Green is challenged to go to another level in this company, and plays like a dream. Hutcherson's metallic, percussive sound is a perfect counter to Green's long, beautiful lines, Young's organ presages his later work like "Heaven O Earth" while keeping fully in tune with the vibe, and there is no Elvin Jones that is less than amazing. The sound here is subtly huge - deep and wide, Green floats about 6 feet out in the middle, Hutcherson floats above, Jones cymbal work on top and holding down the bottom with Young's bass pedals - this is simply a must for any Blue Note traveller.

Last for now is a choice that may divide critical listeners - Wayne Shorter's "Speak No Evil". This is without a doubt a sonically challenged RVG recording, in truth, it wasn't one of Van Gelder's better days. It all has to do with the master tape, which has Carter's bass way too far back, not in another room - more lliked in another city - buried in the mix, a haze over the proceedings, generally a kind of fuzzy hash to the sound - the tapes simply lack the usual clarity and - more importantly - tonality. It is a challenging recording, sonically. Musically, though, it's an awesome date - Hubbard is completely on fire, as is Elvin, Hancock was just entering his most important phase, and Shorter's compositions on this record are virtually all standards of the modal hard bop repertoire at this point. This record ends a trilogy from Night Dreamer, to JuJu, to Speak No Evil, and in some ways closes a phase of Shorter's early career. It just HAD to be done by Music Matters, who haven't shied away from taking on a masterpiece with sonic challenges.

So go into it as what it is - a masterpiece, an essential record, but one where sonics take a back seat. Music Matters have done an amazing job with what they had to work with - Carter is still way too far back for my tastes, but there is nothing to be done about that. RVG never recorded Carter well until the CTI era, onehas to wonder if RVG simpy didn't care for Carter's playing at that point. Hubbard and Shorter punch through beautifully, and are right out front, in the room, projecting wide and deep. Jones thunders away in behind, a slight bit of haze over top, and Hancock shines through. I have a Japanese King pressing that has long been regarded as the best - and I can say that the Music Matters reveals more than would have been thought possible. One of Shorter's greatest records, and a must for anyone who cares for advanced hard bop at its best. Totally recommended.

New Smashing Pumpkins "Oceania" on vinyl:

I love the Smashing Pumpkins, straight through Gish to Machina, and so I have been looking forward to the new "Oceania" with baited breath.

I suppose that expectations can be hard to reconcile. The recent reissues of Gish and Siamese Dream were outstandingly well done, and great sounding. That maybe doesn't help when confronted with the newest reincarnation of the Pumpkins, which is far removed from the band that was a major influence for a generation.

My first impression, from the opening track, is that Corgan is fully in charge here and the supporting cast are falling under his vision. As a band, they strike me as fairly anonymous, even to some extent Corgan. There are more similarities with Adore and even Machina here, although Corgan's poppish, bubblegum tendencies come through not infrequently - Billy has a fair amount of pure pop cheese in his blood, particularly lyrically - some of the songwriting is cringe inducing.

There is an attempt at a grand concept here, and an attempt at painting on a grand scale. There are some great songs spread over these 2 vinyl slabs. There is a wide range of expression, and some cheesy duff songs. Nothing comes near Mellon Collie or Siamese Dream, but that is unfair - a record should be taken on its own merits. I think Corgan tries to cover too much Pumpkins territory here, and hasn't got the songs to do it. In the LP era, there is a hell of a good 40 minute record here. But a mediocre 70 minute one.

So I give it 3.5 doobies out of 5, for trying and for trying too hard, for being the Pumpkins, for the parts that are really superb. If you are looking for grunge, it isn't here. If you are looking for Mellon Collie or even Adore, Corgan on his own has too much bubblegum leaning to do that, and he has moved on. This is the Smashing Pumpkins in 2012, take it for what it is.

Decent - not great - vinyl that needs a good First Rv cleaning, then comes up fairly quiet, not a bad LP mastering by any means. Good rock mastering on vinyl, and if you are a fan, it's probably a buy.

RUSH Clockwork Angels - new vinyl:

The new Rush Lp, on vinyl, Clockwork Angels, absolutely the best Rush record in 25 years, my first reaction is - WTF - how can this be so good? Start to finish, a very organic sounding, back to the beginning and at the same time thoroughly today prog-adventure record, every track is just fabulous.

This is just a great record - from the starter "Caravan" straight through. And unlike last year's stop-gap Moving Pictures Live, where the damn MP3 files sounded better than the totally crap vinyl, this vinyl edition is not only clean, flat, quiet, well pressed, it sounds excellent, obviously a unique vinyl mastering. Obviously, this is being treated as a major release and handled with care - and you know what- it IS a major release.

This week, another Toronto band release an album - the much younger Metric put out Synthetica, a completely lame record by a bunch of proto-hipster posers fronted by a chalk on the board vocalist with lame, generic try too hard lyrics. 30 years on, Rush come back with a record that blows them away. These old guys are far from finished.

Comes with a download code for MP3 or FLAC files - thanks for that. Best $30 I have spent in a long time. Massively recommended.