During his 36-year recording history,
Welshman John Cale has never had an album enter the UK charts.
So, Cale can never be accused of selling his soul with blackAcetate.
The 63-year-old is not likely to change his tune, however unusual it might be.
It has however, made the BBC Radio 2 playlisting. Since his debut in 1969 with
(Columbia), Cale has forged a career of avante-garde
Rock’n’Roll from the days of forming The Velvet Underground in 1966 with Lou
Reed.
Originally a student of classical music, he was considered an extremist. His
profound repertoire is based upon a fascination with opposites, comprising
lyricism with noise, bluntness, subtlety, rapid change and sometimes hypnotic
repetition. BlackAcetate offers much of the same experimentation, adding
his strong baritone (here and there) with great effect.
Lauded as one of
Punk’s godfathers in the ‘70s, Cale has never ceased in being progressive,
though there’s a strong element of self-indulgence once again.
Outta The Bag is a flushing stroll of mid-paced peculiar
indieness as he stretches his voice to the extreme.
Track three, Brotherman, is an overly laboured quirky cacophony, though.
Satisfied is a little mellow stunner, and as close as commercial as
you get on the entire album, which could actually be considered a single, of
sorts. Full of delightfully genteel touches it resonates high above anything
else. In A Flood is a close second for accessibility, displaying a keen
ear for atmospherics and subtlety.
Jauntiness raises its head on the wiry and funky Hush (in the Prince
mode), again a possible single contender, as is raucous rip-roarer Perfect,
showing his Punky tendencies. For serenity top marks, the winner is the
ethereal Gravel Drive. More odd experimentation seeps through on
Sold Motel with wiry guitars and raging synths.
Acoustic driven Wasteland is a subtle combination of orchestration
meets delicate ballad. Going out on another mish-mash of musical ideas,
Mailman leaves you rather weary as it plods along aimlessly to its
terminal lowpoint.
It’s an interesting ride, but not one you’ll want to experience too often.
1. Outta The Bag
2. For A Ride
3. Brotherman
4. Satisfied
5. In A Flood
6. Hush
7. Gravel Drive
8. Perfect
9. Sold-Motel
10. Woman
11. Wasteland
12. Turn The Lights On
13. Mailman (The Lying Song)
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
