Van Morrison - Album by Album discussion - PART THREE

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by DJ WILBUR, Feb 29, 2008.

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  1. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    I thought we'd do a double shot later this week with Van's 1996 works How Long Has This Been Going On? and Tell Me Something:The Songs of Mose Allison. Check your local listings for day and time.
    Reason: I need a couple of days to refamiliarize with the material (or familiarize, as in the case of How Long:shh: ). I've been laid low for the past week with the flu so it's been slow-going for me to get anything done. S'alright?

    Complaints? Please see DJWILBUR at the courtesy desk.
     
  2. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid Thread Starter

    tom, take your time...i for one am so burnt out on Van...the breather is nice....feel better...
     
  3. mrbillswildride

    mrbillswildride Internet Asylum Escapee 2010, 2012, 2014

    I second this, the flu is a killer, and the Van overdose severe, though I'm hoping my vinyl copy of Keep It Simple comes in tomorrow in time for our four hour Van special on Wed. night. Full show set/track listings will follow...
     
  4. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    Okay, good, I'm getting a little Vanned out too. It's starting to feel more like work than play, which is a testament to Van's prodigious output than anything the Man has done wrong. We'll take it down a bit and resurface after a brief hiatus. I'm still quite sick.
     
  5. mrbillswildride

    mrbillswildride Internet Asylum Escapee 2010, 2012, 2014


    As I writ, this flu is a killer, never has such **** lingered so long...get well...

    And, BYW, per your avatar, I picked up a used copy of Mr. Tamborine Man, the 2005 Clark bio, and it is a very interesting read, skipping around, started right at my fave gene masterpiece, No Other...what a masterpiece, his story is fascinating and heartbreaking... sort a like Van recently...
     
  6. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    That's a great book, but terribly sad.
     
  7. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    I've always enjoyed Songwriter. And those vibes. I've never taken it seriously, and yet it's kinda true. I dunno, to me it is a cliche, but the kind of cliche where there's both humor and truth in it. A campy indulgence from Van is kind of a treat. ;)
     
  8. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    Yes, I too have been experiencing, Oh the warm feeling, and it is a fever of 102.:shake:


    I agree that a brief respite may be due. I need to flush out my ears. Then I can hear Van freshly again. This is a marathon not a sprint.:thumbsup:
     
  9. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    Keep It Simple. ;) :righton:
     
  10. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    A review of which appears on AMG today. Standard 3-star review from Erlewine:

    http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3ifyxz8jldde

    Keep It Simple is a mantra for Van Morrison, as he stripped his music down to the bare basics years ago and then comfortably rode that groove, comprised in equal parts of blues, soul, jazz, and country. Van has been riding this groove so long that it's hard to pinpoint exactly when he settled into it, but looking back, things started to shift in the mid-'90s, as understated R&B rhythms took precedence and he started to punctuate them with country songs (or in the case of Pay the Devil, an entire LP of country tunes). Despite his new label Lost Highway's insistence that the fact this is his first album of all-original material since 1999's Back on Top, Keep It Simple doesn't feel all that different than the records since 1999, either in its feel or in structure, nor does it help that Van's songs play with older tunes, both in their lyrics and their very titles ("That's Entrainment," of course, but "Don't Go to Nightclubs" is a winning spin on "Don't Get Around Much Anymore"). Familiarity can breed contempt -- and there's no denying that there is no figure as stubborn in popular music than Van Morrison, so it'd be easy for the cynical to assume that his refusal to change is a mere spiteful act, just as it would be easy for some listeners to think all his albums sound the same, because they kind of do -- but familiarity can also deepen the music, which is the case with Morrison. This is lived-in, soulful music, the kind that can only be made after years of playing the classics, and if that doesn't quite make for a compelling album, it does make for a comforting one. It's as easy to slip into this album as it is a warm bath, as Van's cantankerous rumblings only surface (quite slyly) on the closing "Behind the Ritual," where he scats "blah blah blah" on the corner, suggesting that whatever he's singing doesn't really matter -- and, in a way, he may be right, as the lyrics, the songs even, don't matter as much as the overall sound on Keep It Simple, which is as pure a groove album as he's ever made. There are no surprises, but when you do something this well, there doesn't need to be.
     
  11. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid Thread Starter

    the Itunes version of "Keep It Simple" contains 1 bonus cut...a live version of "Little Village".
     
  12. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    How were those needledrops, William?
     
  13. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    Yes, I've taken a break to discuss the alleged continuing musical relevance of Kiss, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest in another thread. I guess by my use of the term "alleged" you tell which side I'm on. But a little bit of British Steel will certainly flush the Van right out of your ears ;)
     
  14. mrbillswildride

    mrbillswildride Internet Asylum Escapee 2010, 2012, 2014

    I prefer a LOUD dose of Unleashed In The East~straight up... :righton: :shh:
     
  15. drewslo

    drewslo Forum Resident

    I just picked up the new Van (released today in the U.S.A.). Are we going to wait until the end to discuss this album? I like the stripped down sound.
     
  16. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid Thread Starter

    please share your thoughts on Keep it Simple...we're still on "Days Like This"...but taking a bit of a break...we're all Van burnt out....so what do you think of the new one?
     
  17. drewslo

    drewslo Forum Resident

    I'm about half way through it right now. I'll post more thoughts when I've had some time to absorp it.
     
  18. mrbillswildride

    mrbillswildride Internet Asylum Escapee 2010, 2012, 2014

    I just scored the vinyl version, and now Drew is putting the exclusive live cuts onto a CD-r so we can play at least one of them to~morrow night...

    Oh happy day!!! for this fool...
     
  19. peterC

    peterC Aussie Addict

    Location:
    sydney
    I hope you don't mind if I share my thoughts. I'm not a budding music reviewer and don't express my thoughts all that well.

    I've had the album for several days.

    I've been a Van fan since around 1969 and naturally have all his official releases and a good deal of the unofficial stuff. I've stuck with him all the way as I have with only a few other artists, eg Ray Davies.

    I've probably been thinking this for several years now but I will finally force myself to say it. In my opinion Van has dried up creatively. There must be a limit to how many times he can re-write the same songs before his long-time fans will tire of it. Surely! You just know that he's going to go to the relative minor (is that the right term?) in every bridge. Great production and musicianship alone doesn't do it for me.

    Van can sing the phone book is just not good enough. Maybe he's starting to believe that himself. I think his vocals for the last decade or so have been lazy. Where's the old passion? Where's the vocal variety? The tone of his voice is the same on every track. Where's the beautiful upper range he used to have (crazy love, warm love, gypsy queen etc).

    On its own, for someone who has never heard Van before, Keep It Simple might be fine, but it really doesn't cut it for me.

    Can Van come up with another latter day masterpiece as he kind of did with No Guru (to me, that was latter day!). He's had a few years to write these new songs and this is the best he can do? Is he up to the challenge anymore? Does he care? Probably not.

    The best thing I can say is that at least he hasn't turned into an oldies/nostalgia act and he continues to record "new" music and perform. Full credit for that, but I fear that the inspiration has long gone.

    If you go back now and listen to some of his earlier "failed" albums, eg A Period of Transition, they sound like masterpieces compared to everything he has released in recent years.

    (Edit: Sorry, I know that this isn't really a review of Keep it Simple, but I had to get it off my chest!)
     
  20. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    I hear you Peter C. I keep buying the new releases hoping for magic, but it hasn't happened for quite a long while now. I'm not ready to write him off yet, but he is down for the count.
     
  21. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    Listening to KISS now, :D .
    I don't know how you guys have kept the Van Mo' going as consistently as you have. It's amazing. Hopefully, I can add whatever gibberish I add, and get back into this thread a little bit.

    Propaganda far and wide, no wavelength, no mileage, no current, no currency, no answers, only sighs, nothing looks like it's meant to be...

    I was educated by the school of hard knocks...who's going to patronise me now...:laugh:

    But Van doesn't sound angry to me, just amused. I love it, I mean, I like it. :)
     
  22. JasonK

    JasonK Active Member

    Location:
    Tujunga, CA.
    Considering the rather tepid reviews "Keep It Simple" is getting, I'm really enjoying it. Is it groundbreaking? no. But it's groovy and bluesy and Van's vocals sound as good as ever. The vinyl mastering is very nice. I'm nearly through side two, this album has a great vibe. Definitely going on the i-pod. Late night driving, rainy day, kicking it back on a Sunday afternoon. Van is still the man.
    The Rolling Stone review I read doesn't seem to fit at all. The Allmusic review is much closer.
     
  23. mrbillswildride

    mrbillswildride Internet Asylum Escapee 2010, 2012, 2014

    Keep It Simple, buy the vinyl...

    Got to give the vinyl a spin today, and I really LIKED it, much better than I'd hoped, after reading some opinions here... and the extra tracks, recorded January 26th, 2008 are superb, making it even better... fool review to follow in a couple of daze, can't wait to open the show tomorrow night with.. :shh:
     
  24. mrbillswildride

    mrbillswildride Internet Asylum Escapee 2010, 2012, 2014

    Keep It Simple... Buy The Vinyl... Enjoy The Music...

    Playing the Keep It Simple vinyl now, a beautiful sounding record, nice thick slabs of wax, good clean sound, a very pleasant listen. Maybe because I didn't have high expectations I am pleasantly surpised and like the record.

    Nothing earth~shaking and heart~breakingly perfect a la Astral Weeks Veedon Fleece, Common One, or No Guru on here, but some nice songs, sung in a VERY mellow mood, and some quite nice textural accompaniment by a host of backing musicians. I'm happy to live with it awhile, to see if it can knock Magic Time off my "fave since No Guru" top spot...

    Having said that, side FOUR, playing now, the live tracks records just this past January, are by far the best part of this vinyl exp. for me. Three great Van songs, wth a smoking hot band (big kudos to John L. for his sweet guitar licks on Blue and Green, I just love his playing...) Some great sax on Little Village... It is telling that these three tracks, older songs, sung with more passion, and with the man and his band in a higher groove are of a higher level of accomplishment than the album proper, but it might be down to studio vs. live recordings. I'd love a whole album (or Cd) of this show...

    Keep It Simple worth buying on Long Playing Record Album for its beautiful cover art shot and gatefold lyrics and sweet sonics, and especially side fours exclusive live cuts...

    cheers,
     
  25. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid Thread Starter

    haha, i'm glad you got that off your chest....i:D ...please stick around for the rest of the thread, we're getting lazy in here but we'll finish it over time...

    would you care to list your five faves by the man and maybe a short blurb about them for us?

    When we find a Van fan with the complete catalog we want to squeeze you for all you are worth....:nauga:
     
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