LaRM day 10 (Allman Brothers-American Music Club)

Evening all. Well, it's been a whole morning of "the blues" today, with Gregg & Duane and the rest of the Allman Brothers Band showing how them southern boys play the blues. First up is the eponymous first album from 1969. It's pretty bland stuff, with some unremarkable blues workouts, but it does end with the massive 'Whipping Post' which became a staple of their huge live show. Second up is Idlewild South (1970) which is a vast improvement, really showcasing Duane's phenomenal guitar work and adding some different tones ('Midnight Rider') to the straightforward twelve bar stuff. The we skip the monumental Live at Fillmore East and move on to 1972's Eat a Peach which is a double album of immense proportions, including as it does the 33 minute live version of 'Mountain Jam'. Now I don't know about you but the very thought of a 33 minute blues jam makes me go cold to my core. But in this case it's great, because it's the Allmans, see? The studio stuff on Eat a Peach is nice and light, and hearteningly brief, but the majority of it is live workouts, some of which work brilliantly and some of which are dreadful. But it's the 1970's and it's a double album so what can you expect? Finally we have 1973's Brothers and Sisters. The cover of this album reminds me of being a kid, going for walks on the Pilgrim's Way in my new Clothkits dungarees. Anyway, it's alright, but after Duane Allman died the grubbier bluesiness of the whole band went with him and it's all a bit smoother, a bit more about showing off the technical skill. And it's got Jessica on it which we all know from the snooker.

Here's some more cute pop music with the Australia/Kent mash-up of Allo Darlin'. The eponymous first album (2010) is a charmer. It's twee, indier-than-you stuff but it somehow miraculously avoids being nauseating, and instead is, a bit like Dressy Bessy, completely winning. Usually (even though I love this sort of stuff) I can see why the super-twee can drive people round the bend, but Allo Darlin' really manage to stay on the right side, even when they're quoting other schmindie bands. It's lovely, honestly.

Now, speaking of twee pop music, we take a short step back in time and confront Altered Images' last album, Bite (1983). This record is a strange affair and one which destroyed their already faltering career, leading the lovely Clare Grogan to return to acting jobs (a delightful turn in Blott on the Landscape, a completely weird spell in Eastenders). After the bubblegum max-out of 1982's Pinky Blue, the band tried their hand at contemporary mature pop-soul on Bite. At the time it was a disaster and I can imagine hearing it would have been similar to the crushing disappointment of hearing Dexy's Don't Stand Me Down. But like that album, Bite has benefitted hugely from the passage of time and taken in its own right now, it's got some great songs on it. The production is still decidely dicey (thanks Mike Chapman) and the cover shot tells a story (CG dressed all stylish, like. And where are the rest of the band?), but on the whole Bite is fine record, a bit like a cross between the pop of late Blondie and the string laden sex-disco of late 70's Curtis Mayfield.

Keeping the spirits up it's Welcome to Mali (2008) by Amadou and Mariam. This is some fantastically uplifting Malinese pop music, albeit with, one suspects, quite a dark side lyrically. All of the stereotypical elements of what a European audience might suspect of an African record are all present and correct, but given such a remarkable spin that it sounds nothing more or less than a seamless fusion of African, European and American pop and rock music of the last thirty years. Now, of course, that's going to sound like (and maybe is perhaps) the patronising view of the Womad type, but honestly, this is a truly exceptional record.

Penultimately we have the only album by American Football. It's a terrible band name but strangely appropriate for a floundering emo act. In many ways, the eponymous album (1999) along with the Van Pelt album, set the template for the kind of post-rock version of emo that had quite a day in the early 2000's. It's a downbeat but heartfelt little record with some interesting little time changes and unexpected phrases and it's a gentle listen which does serve to remind me that when it was done well, and before it was completely bastardized by our corporate record company chums (they're good at ruining things aren't they?), emo had some really great proponents.

Finally for today we have the lead-in to tomorrow's American Music Club marathon. We'll get the low point over with this afternoon, clearing the way for a whole day of exceptional miserable brilliance tomorrow, by listening to essentially disowned first album The Restless Stranger (1985). "Bad new wave" is how head AMCer Mark Eitzel described this album and although it's hard to argue that it's lacking most of what made the band so great later on, it still has a couple of fabulous tunes (and indeed Eitzel continued to play 'Room Above the Club' live for many years) and it has the requisite despairing tone that got more and more, er, despairing as the band grew. It's a gruelling ride but it feels a little bit as if Eitzel is straining to come up with stories and songs that are sufficiently grubby and depressing. It all came quite naturally to him later on, as we'll find out tomorrow...

A domani, mein kleine ducklings.