With the departure of Barlow, Mascis seems to have decided that nobody could really get the job done the way he wanted and when it came to recording fourth album, Green Mind (1991), even drummer Murph was only allowed into the studio for three of the songs. Instead Mascis played and recorded everything himself with the exception of some small parts added by luminaries of the indie scene. All told then Green Mind is sort of a solo project rather than a band album, and as such it really is mightily impressive. A lot of the grungy, squalling guitar is stripped back and there's a lot of acoustic guitar instead. Admittedly it's then buried in fuzz-bass and deep drumming recorded at the top of the mix, meaning that it's all still pretty heavy. The songs are great, engaging bits of indie rock melody and (although nobody really agrees with me) I think that some of the songs on Green Mind are the best Mascis ever wrote. Follow-up, Where You Been (1993) carries on in direction of Green Mind. It's cleaner, more precisely produced and although some of the songs are superb ('Start Choppin'', 'Get Me', 'What Else Is New') it's perhaps a little too secure and clear. There's not much of the messy, thrilling unpredictability of the earlier albums. I suppose Mascis was mellowing into the kind of singer-songwriter that he always idolised but never emulated (Neil Young being the most glaringly obvious touchstone, due to his wilful switching from scrappy electric guitar workouts to delicate acoustic numbers) and that's no bad thing. Where You Been still has its due amount of huge solos and solid guitar chops and most of the songs really are great and it's only in the context of what went before that it sounds a little jaded. Without the precedents it's superb.
Although there were some great songs still in Mascis (the mighty 'Feel the Pain' for instance) it was all diminishing returns and I never got round to picking up the last two albums (Without a Sound and Hand It Over) before the band called it quits . After many years of blisteringly acrimonious feeling (understandable bearing in mind that Mascis had sacked both Barlow and Murph) the three original members reunited in the mid-2000's (much like every other band that ever split up has) for a tour, which led in turn to the recording of Beyond (2007). It's a grandstanding return. Sonically it's as if nothing has changed in the world, the chugging, thudding rhythms and the muddy, propulsive guitar combined with Mascis' melody and drawling delivery are all present and correct, but it sounds like a band energised. It's a great, lively, enthused record and Mascis' songs are really strong again. Even Barlow is allowed a couple of tracks which must mean that all was well in the Dinosaur camp. Only two years later and another Dinosaur Jr album appeared, 2009's Farm. Farm is slightly more subdued than Beyond, but that's not a bad thing, as the songs are as strong as ever. Indeed, some of the slower songs are really lovely ('See You' is gorgeous for instance) and there is still the sense that the band are working together well. You don't have that dramatic tension of old, but then we're all a lot older and a lot less impatient now aren't we?
Now much as I should be inclined to absolutely slate everything about Dire Straits, I can't do it. I can't do it for a number of reasons, but primarily because they were a big part of my childhood (my mum and dad were big fans) and they were the first band that I saw live (Wembley Arena, 10 July 1985. I had just turned 12. The whole concert is on YouTube for some reason), and I loved it. Obviously Brothers in Arms is pretty awful and everything after it is absolutely unforgiveable. But the early records, I can't help but like. It's the same thing we've discussed before - I have no idea if they're actually alright or appalling because all I hear is being young again which is a great thing. So, the eponymous first album is probably genuinely the best. It's the one on which Knopfler indulged all of his burning love for JJ Cale's albums and it really does sound like an Anglicised version of Cale. Hilariously, on a couple of songs ('Water of Love' particularly) Knopfler's vocals are recorded with exactly the same level of reverb that Cale always uses and he sounds identical. The songs are langourous, smooth but occasionally loping and always subtle. There's some nicely cynical lyrical content too which seems surprising considering the anodyne nonsense that would constitute lyrics on later records. I don't know but I think it's probably a genuinely decent record.
I've never had any reason to pick up the other albums, but I couldn't say no to a mint copy of the double live album Alchemy (1984) when I found it for 50p. As overblown, showy live records go, Alchemy even gives the notorious live sets by Humble Pie, the Floyd and Rush a run for their money. It's preposterous. Every song goes on forever but the crowd love it - listen to them clap along to the one note bassline of 'Private Investigations'! Despite my innate affection for Alchemy, I have to admit for the majority of its 90 minute running time it's pretty bloody boring. Finally for "the Straits" we have the 1998 catch-all compilation Sultans of Swing: The Best of 1978-1993. As you can imagine by 1993 any notion of "best of" is looking pretty anaemic. But there are some choice early numbers - I have to admit my weakness for 'Lady Writer', 'Tunnel of Love' and even 'Romeo and Juliet'. It's a shame there's no 'Skateaway' or 'Portobello Belle' though. Balls, do I have to get Communique and Making Movies now? Please God, don't make me. Anyway, Sultans of Swing has five decent tunes at the front and one at the end and a whole load of unspeakable garbage in between.
Dinosaur Jr and Dire Straits. Whoever would have thought? Oh well, I'm no indie snob, I'm prepared to admit that there's a Dire Straits or two in the pile. Anyway, finally for the day it's the superb Dirty Projectors album from 2009, Bitte Orca. As angular art-rock goes this is the business. It's an expertly structured piece of disconcerting experimentalism but it's shot through with melody and as far as showing off goes it takes some beating. The greatest trick it pulls off is staying the right side of tediously pretentious, it's pure stuff and it's really pretty clever. The juddering, skittering songs are the ones that get the attention (the clattery 'Stillness is the Move' and twitchy 'Cannibal Resource'), and rightly so because they're fantastic, but it's the simple beauty of 'Two Doves', showcasing the vocal graces that the band can conjure up, that is the cornerstone of the album as far as I'm concerned.
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