Needle Time

  Eno & Cale - Wrong Way Up [WAST 009LP UK 2020 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Time now for a brand new ...and much improved re-rip of one of my favourite albums from the nineties. I had been kicking myself for years (thirty-plus it would seem), that I never bought the original vinyl pressing of Wrong Way Up . At the time, I was happy enough with my original compact disc however ever since then, yearned to get it on vinyl. When it recently a few years back as a thirty year anniversary repress, I snapped it up. This is an album which evokes fond memories - the intricate layers of electronica, strings and guitar mixed in with clever vocal melodies sung by rock/avant stalwarts (both now aging old codgers) Brian Eno and John Cale. If you have never heard this before - you really need to!  Lay My Love , One Word and Spinning Away are the finest antidotes you will ever hear to the dizzy-druggy-baggy-pseudo-indie-pop fodder of the late eighties and early nineties. Robert Ahwai's rhythm...

John Cale - Caribbean Sunset [ILPS 7024 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] Caribbean Sunset was the tenth solo album from Velvet Welshman John Cale and it suffered from a wrath of indifferent reviews around the time of release. With a degree of hindsight, these seem quite harsh, as this is Cale most accessible work, leaning towards adult-orientated rock which is a shift in direction from his original experimental art-rock. The record has the feeling of a live recording in the studio (especially on Experiment Number One ), which to these ears is a blessing given the volleys of over-produced mainstream rock music recorded to vinyl in the years between 1982 and 1986 by many of Cale's contemporaries. It was the mix of styles without direction which dissuaded those learned scribes during 1984, perhaps they were right, however this album needs another listen. Hungry For Love and Where There's A Way  tick all the right boxes for rock/pop fans with all the hooks needed for a hit single...