Album of the Week - Vol.21

Queen of Denmark JOHN GRANT (2010)
Week: Wed 4th to Tue 10th August
Format: CD/iPod
Producer(s): Eric Pulido, Paul Alexander and John Grant
Track listing:
1. TC and Honeybear
2. Marz *
3. Where Dreams Go to Die *
4. Sigourney Weaver *
5. Chicken Bones
6. Silver Platter Club
7. It's Easier
8. Outer Space *
9. Jesus Hates Faggots
10. Caramel
11. Leopard & Lamb
12. Queen of Denmark *
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 51:16

It took me a while to really warm to this album. I first sought it out after Midlake shared a post on social media about it. Midlake are one of my favourite bands, having delivered one of my favourite albums ever, The Trials of Van Occupanther in 2006. So, I was keen to see why they were celebrating the ten year anniversary of this record's release and decide to have a listen. 

I discovered that Midlake were actually the backing band for Grant during the recording of this album, which took place at their studio in Denton, Texas. The record was born out of two lengthy sessions in mid-/late 2008 and mid-2009, possibly while Midlake were recording their third album The Courage of Others. I don't know for sure.

Grant used to be the frontman for a band called The Czars, who broke up in 2004. I've not heard any of their music, and I don't know how Midlake came to cross paths with Grant, but maybe they toured or played together at some point? Anyway, the recording of this album was a very cathartic process for Grant, and Midlake's help in getting it made might have helped him on more than one level. Shortly after the album was completed, Grant checked himself into hospital after grappling with suicidal thoughts. 

Struggling with alcohol and drug abuse for many years, Grant wrestled with the self-loathing he felt growing up as the only homosexual boy in a conservative Colorado high school. His mother passed away in 1995 having not reconciled with her son's sexuality. Born in Buchanan, Michigan, his family moved to Colorado while Grant was a teenager, stupidly hoping that somehow his gay feelings would stay behind. He released his fifth album this year, titled Boy From Michigan, which also revisits these feelings of accepting his own identity as a gay man.

Grant spent years being angry at himself for being so scared of who he was, living amongst many who used religion to convince him that he was going to hell. Working through traumatic experiences from his past and his parents' disappointment in him resulted in a lot of subject matter of this album. As I've delved into it more and more since that first listen, I've come to be very fond of what he and Midlake recorded together. 

I had actually heard one of the songs before, and I'd forgotten about it totally. Album highlight Sigourney Weaver also has some of the album's best lyrics, as Grant expresses how his family's move from Michigan to Colorado affected him:

"I feel just like Winona Ryder in that movie about vampires/

And she couldn't get that accent right, neither could that other guy"

The track's production is bang-on as well. The use of the harmony guitar lines in the chorus are fabulous and the excellent kitschy keyboard parts add to that 70s prog feel that permeates the album. Interestingly, this latter instrumentation that I loved on Midlake's ...Van Occupanter is sorely missing on The Courage of Others. I think if they'd embraced those fabulous synth-y sounds for their third album it would have been, um, better. He he he...now, that's unfair. It was always going to be hard to top ...Van Occupanther, but the pastoral production makes much of the material sound like a dirge. 

But I digress! I also really like Where Dreams Go to Die, which is quite mournful in tone, but manages to sound uplifting. The song laments the end of a relationship, and even regrets that it ever started, but there's a glimmer of hope in the finality of it all. The finally resolves of the chorus are quite gentle and beautiful, with some lovely violin lines courtesy of English musician Fiona Brice. 

Other big highlights for me include Marz (which is the name of a lollie store in Grant's Michigan hometown), the self-serving resignation of It's Easier and the wonderful Outer Space, a statement of awe and the failure to describe someone that the singer has become enamoured with. The stunning title track, and the album's final song, is another excellent offering. Apparently the tune has been covered by Sinead O'Connor, but I've yet to track it down to have a listen. I love that the song's last line, and ultimately the album's last line too, is "Who knows, maybe you'll get to be the next queen of Denmark".

One of the more explicit songs that deals with Grant's attempts to accept himself, and his sexuality, is the somewhat controversially titled Jesus Hates Faggots. The second verse starts off with:

"I can't believe that I've considered taking my own life/

Cos I believed the lies about me were the truth"

The opening lines possibly inspired the bizarre album cover as well:

"I've felt uncomfortable since the day that I was born/

Since the day I glimpsed the black abyss in your eyes"

But yes, the song does use potentially offensive language in getting its point across. That being that you can use religion to hate anything and feel justified. It is deceptively jaunty in its production and feel, but there is a deep pool of resentment bubbling underneath it all. 

While some of this album isn't an easy listen, as is the case with many cathartic releases, there is a lot to enjoy. I'm not the biggest fan of Chicken Bones or the unnecessarily overlong Silver Platter Club, but they're still easy to listen to. This has been an album that I've gone back to a lot lately, mainly because I got sucked into Grant's newest release, which I'm really enjoying.

Co-produced by Grant with Midlake's bassist Paul Alexander and now lead vocalist Eric Pulido this record is a nice step from ...Van Occupanther to The Courage of Others. Midlake's lead singer (and chief songwriter) during this period, Tim Smith contributes some lovely bits of flute, particularly on the strangely haunting album opener TC and Honeybear. This is an album that keeps revealing treasures after each listen, and I'm quite grateful to own a copy. I will no doubt dig a little deeper into Grant's other releases. Maybe. He he he...

What's the deal with Logan's Run?

There's something almost mythical about the seminal 1976 sci-fi movie Logan's Run. While it certainly enjoys cult status in this day and age, there's an air of excitement at the mere mention of its name. People who haven't even seen it could probably tell you the plot, or might have seen parodies/references in other forms of pop culture. 

One instance that comes to mind is Friends. The episode with Denise Richards as Ross and Monica's cousin Cassie (aptly titled The One with Ross and Monica's Cousin) somewhat overstates the film's appeal. While Ross struggles with his feelings for his cousin, his internal monologue shares this thought with the audience: "She was the one who wanted to rent Logan's Run, the sexiest movie ever." While it doesn't live up to that description, there is still a lot to like. And a fair sprinkling of naff stuff too. 

I can't remember what gave me the impetus to want to watch it again, but a recent search through various streaming services bore no fruit. 

Until a few Monday nights ago. 

I saw that it had landed on Netflix as I scrolled through their new additions. I did not hesitate, he he he, and started watching it straightaway, despite the late hour. After about forty minutes, I succumbed to the wave of sleep that was lapping at my brain. But, before that happened, I was enjoying being transported into the future. For those unfamililar with the movie, the year is 2274. You're presented with a seemingly utopian future wherein its occupants live only for pleasure, inside a bunch of geodesic domes. Cut off from the outside world, and history itself, people in this city are harvested rather than born. The idea of knowing your parents or being raised by them is a foreign concept. Each child has a crystal implanted into their palm, which are called 'life-clocks'. The colour of these crystals change as the person ages, and they also dress in clothes of the same colour. 

The life clocks start flashing red as you approach your Last Day, which is the age of thirty, and you must go through the ritual of 'carrousel'. This is a ceremony where those who have arrive at their Last Day are gathered in a circle before an audience and fired upon with lasers as they fly in the air. The all-seeing/all-knowing computers that run the city say that there is a chance of being re-born, and the onlookers at the events joyously chant "Renew!" as the thirty-year-olds of their population are summarily executed. 

Those unwilling to surrender themselves to the 'carrousel' ritual try to run. This won't do. So the city's computers recruit enforcers called Sandmen to hunt and terminate these runners. The titular Logan is played by Michael York and he is the former, a twenty-six-year-old Sandman enjoying all the pleasures this world offers. For those more familiar with York's work as Basil Exposition in the Austin Powers franchise, it may be quite jarring to see him so young, but still sound so Basil. 

Anyway, the powers that be decide that there are too many people unaccounted for. It is suspected by the computers that some of the runners may have possibly escaped the city and found the mythic 'Sanctuary', a place spoken of amongst the small movement of freedom fighters as an alternative to life in the domes. To verify this, Logan is selected to find this Sanctuary, but to create a plausible cover the computer alters his life-clock crystal to flash red, suddenly removing the four years he had left. 

The scene in which this happens is my earliest memory of this movie. I would have been fairly young...possibly six or seven. Maybe as old as nine or ten. I'm unsure. But during the time I lived in Morley with my family, I would very occasionally watch a late-night movie on Channel 9 during a house party on our street. Logan's Run was one of these films, and I think I came into it about five or ten minutes after it started. There's not much that really stuck, but those words Logan nervously uttered, "Question: Do I get my four years back?" certainly did. 

I don't know why that resonated so much with my young self. Maybe it was the panic in Logan's face. Maybe the idea of having your life shortened was slightly terrifying. The age of thirty would have felt like it was years away at that time, which, let's face it, it was! But, say, if I was 10, then one year would have been one tenth of my life. Now that I'm 45, one year is just one forty-fifth. And don't they fly by?!

I also had memories of the colourful sets and bright clothing, but I'd forgotten that it was Jenny Agutter in the role of Jessica. Logan happens upon her by chance, but ends up connecting with her over the need to find Sanctuary. Peter Ustinov also has a small role, and rising star of the day Farrah Fawcett-Majors appears briefly, complete with THAT hairdo.

But, getting back to my original question, and the title of this blog, what is the deal? What is the excitement that is attached to this movie? Considering this was only a year before the release of Star Wars, the model work is incredibly obvious. When the movie cuts to the monorail transporting characters from place to place it looks like an amazing high school science project, but you can tell it's not real. Interestingly, the film won an Academy Award for its visual effects, particularly the 'carrousel' sequence, which employed the use of wide camera angles and hidden wires. But some of the other practical effects have not aged so well, particularly the robot Box that Logan and Jessica happen upon. It is nearly fifty years old, after all.

There is that thrill of escape that might appeal to many. It's not uncommon in a sci-fi flick for the supposed utopia we are presented with to actually be revealed as a sinister dystopia. So, when the characters try to escape their fate, you're immediately on board. It's like Plato's cave. Once you're exposed to the light, and recover from the shock, you can see what else is around. There's a small measure of delight in seeing Logan and Jessica try and make sense of a world that they never knew existed. They're like newborns in that regard.

One of Logan's Sandman contemporaries, Francis (played by Richard Jordan), starts following Logan and Jessica on their quest to find Sanctuary. His intent to catch them becomes another main plot point, adding a chase element to movie. So there's certainly enough of a story to keep you engaged. You want to know the fates of the characters, and you want to know if Sanctuary exists.

But is that movie all that? I think there is a lot to like here, but ultimately it had the potential to be something quite special. I've not read the novel the movie is based on, but I understand there are a few changes. One being that life ends for the people in the city domes at the age of twenty one, not thirty. Apparently the reason behind that change was from a casting point of view. It was going to be too difficult to have a large number of young teenage actor onset. I don't think it takes away from the story though. The notion of 'carrousel' is unique to movie as well. In the book, people on their Last Day are required to report to special booths that sedate and kill them. Or something, he he he. 

While it's certainly not 'the sexiest movie ever', there are some titilating scenes involving brief nudity and in one moment, implied homosexuality, quite bold for the mid-seventies. York and Agutter are certainly nice to look at, and the costumes are a little racy, but possibly not as racy if the movie was made today. 

Whatever motivated me to want to watch the movie again, I'm glad that I did. It gave me some moments of nostalgia, remembering watching some moments as a kid, and wondering how the movie ended all over again. Being a seventies sci-fi film, the ending is somewhat ambiguous, of course, but that adds to its overall kitschy appeal. I seemed to remember the music score being more electronically dominated, but that wasn't the case either. Jerry Goldsmith's work does use orchestral elements mixed with electronic noises and keyboards for scenes set inside the domes, but once the characters get outside the score employs a full orchestra. Nice idea. 

Anyway, in summing up, I would recommend watching the film with an open mind if you haven't seen it before. Enjoy the slightly wooden performances and dodgy effects. Enjoy the thrill of the escape and the possibility of a new life. There is certainly more that could be written, but in the end, it's entertaining and that's what the movies are all about.

Album of the Week - Vol. 20

Dreamboat Annie HEART (1975)
Week: Sun 11th to Sat 17th July
Format: CD/iPod
Producer: Mike Flicker
Track listing:
1. Magic Man *
2. Dreamboat Annie (Fantasy Child)
3. Crazy on You *
4. Soul of the Sea
5. Dreamboat Annie *
6. White Lightning & Wine
7. (Love Me Like Music) I'll Be Your Song *
8. Sing Child *
9. How Deep It Goes
10. Dreamboat Child (reprise) 
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 40:02

This is the very solid debut album of the band Heart. Before they became a mainstay in FM radio power ballad playlists they were quite the gritty rock band. Not averse to a little bit of 70s synth work too. Their original lineup consisted of sisters Nancy and Ann Wilson, guitarist Roger Fisher, guitarist/keyboardist Howard Leese, bassist Steve Fossen and Mike Derosier on drums, although he only plays on two tracks here. 

The bulk of the album was written by the Wilsons, with Ann's outstanding lead vocals just one of the band's assets. The band wears its love of Led Zeppelin on its sleeve with Ann's voice seemingly channeling Robert Plant on occasion. This is especially on show during the Zep-esque Sing Child, which also boasts some Zep-like riffs and motifs, and interestingy is the only track co-written by Ann with Fisher and Fossen. The multi-layered vocals on the "sing, child, sing" lines are another appealing facet of the track. Nancy contributes an unexpected flute solo as well, but in a good way. There's some nice riffing and noodling on White Lightning & Wine too, and it might just get you yelling out 'more cowbell!'.

Nancy's amazing ability to get around an acoustic guitar is another massive factor in what makes Heart so great. Just listen to the intro of Crazy On You. It's crazy good. Add in Ann's crazy good vocals plus a most excellent guitar riff and you've really got something special. This is the album's absolute highlight, without a doubt. 

One of the more puzzling elements of this record is the inclusion of three different versions of the title track. There's no huge difference between them, as far as arrangement or lyric changes go. This isn't Another Brick in the Wall or anything. Did I miss something? Is this is a concept album? It's not that they're unpleasant to listen to though. The second version is certainly one of the album's better tracks, but it seems a little unnecessary to include two more takes. The first one has the parenthetical title of Fantasy Child and doesn't last much longer than a minute, whereas the reprise at the album's end nearly hits the four minute mark.  A single of Dreamboat Annie was released in late 1976, and that version is not any of the ones on this album either! Ahhh, the seventies... but I digress! The title track (no parenthesis) is my favourite of three as the banjos add a great, gentle gallop. 

Other songs I really like here are the lovely ballad (Love Me Like Music) I'll Be Your Song) and the punchy opener Magic Man. The latter is my second favourite track here in fact, complete with some seventies synth, cool guitar breaks and a fabulous lead vocal from Nancy. 

The weird thing with this album is that it was turned onto me by a former friend. The person in question shared quite a bit of music with me while we were friends. Some of that music brings a small memory of them, which I think we can all relate to. That little pang gets a bit smaller with each listen. It doesn't take away from the fact that this is a great album, and I'm glad to know it.