Chuck Berry, The Great Twenty-Eight (side A)

The Great Twenty-Eight collects most of Chuck Berry's hits between 1955 ("Maybellene") and 1965 ("I want to be Your Driver", which is less memorable to me than 1964's "No Particular Place to Go").  It does omit "You Never Can Tell", which is apparently perceived as more of a hit today, thanks to its prominent movie soundtrack placement, than it was in 1984 when this compilation was assembled.  My biggest surprise on listening was the diversity of arrangements.  For example, there are no cymbals on "Memphis", while the guitar solos are illogically loud in "Carol".  The liner notes also surprised me, as I had not realized that Willie Dixon played bass on many of these tracks, or that Jerome Green contributed maracas on "Maybellene".  Berry's tenor sounds rich and beautiful on most tracks, though there is occasionally weird mix EQ, as on "Back in the USA".  I have a 1987 copy, with ugly packaging, apart from the large, impressive picture of Berry in the studio inside the gatefold.  The mastering job wisely preserves the dynamics, even unusual ones like "Carol", but the emphasized treble brings unflattering focus to the hi-hats and cymbals.

Negativland, Escape from Noise (side A)

1987's Escape from Noise captures a wide cross-section of Negativland's conceptual palette.  The group is obviously known for its creative use of appropriation, and tracks like "Sycamore" and "Yellow Black and Rectangular" emphasize this aspect of their work.  Where these tracks bring the appropriated elements to the foreground, other tracks like the notorious "Christianity is Stupid" juxtapose it against a vaguely "industrial" beat that resembled fashionable dance music in 1987.  It's not clear if Negativland enjoyed such hits or mocked them, or perhaps if they thought appropriating a vaguely then-commercial might help them reach an audience.  No matter their motivation, the palette of beats sounds somewhat dated today, and makes their whole approach feel slightly confusing.  Alongside the direct appropriation are songs with more subtle commentary on brands and advertising, like "Nesbitt's Lime Soda Song" and "The Playboy Channel" — alongside the commentary on brand comes a playful questioning of taboos.  There are also purely playful moments like "Car Bomb", which emphasize that even the group's most scathing commentary was meant with purposeful levity.  The sound quality is diverse, which is unsurprising given the range of approaches here — I do wish the mastering job brought things a bit more together, but perhaps that was not the group's intention of the absurd diversity of material.  The front cover, full of text and with an upside-down image, hints well at the chaotic range of the music, and the zine-like insert provides a nice contextual overview of the group's work at the time.

Dyani / Temiz / Feza, Music for Xaba (side A)

In some ways Music for Xaba logically follows the second half of Don Cherry's 1971 LP Orient.  A year after working with Cherry, Johnny Dyani and percussionist Okay Temiz teamed with Dyani's former collaborator from The Blue Notes, trumpeter Mongezi Feza.  While Music for Xaba was recorded only a year after Orient, the change in trumpeter led to a very distinctive change.  Where Cherry was clearly the leader, driving the music and mixed the loudest on record, Feza (who may be best-remembered for his collaboration with Robert Wyatt on "Sonia") falls more into the ensemble here.  He often plays percussion in extended sections that focus heavily on groove and place Temiz into the foreground.  Even when Feza switches back to his natural trumpet, he's not leading here on melodies like "Sonia" — the ensemble feel is really central here.  Music for Xaba was originally released in 1973, but the US reissue did not come until 3 years later (and Volume 2 was not reissued in the US until 1979).  The cover photo of the trio wearing overcoats in a snowy field is amazing, and the simple live recording captures the magic of this group's collaboration.

Hudson-Styrene, A Monster and the Devil (side A)

While the Styrenes released their first single in 1975 ("Drano in Your Veins") and a collection of their early singles in 1982 (Girl Crazy), it took them 14 years to make an album that was not a singles compilation.  1989's A Monster and the Devil marks, in many ways, a departure from their earlier work.  Vocalist Mike Hudson of the Pagans is a new collaborator in the group's shifting line-up, and he receives equal billing to the rest of the band.  The songs are built around his deadpan narrative style, with his storytelling placed in the foreground.  Side A contains a series of short songs, while side B is filled with one long tale, "Jetsam".  Hudson wrote all of the lyrics that he recites except in "Opus 12", where he and the group rework an old Styrenes tune from Girl Crazy.  His voice is equalized drastically, and the timbre hints at the sound of an old phone.  His stories are equally drastic, full of dark, somber events and personalities — many seem to have roots in his personal experience.  The group here combines electric and acoustic instrumentation, with founder Paul Marotta's piano (which sounds like an electric) prominently placed in the foreground.  The line drawings on the cover, by John Morton of the Electric Eels, fit nicely with the dark and brooding content of Hudson's tales.  These songs were also reissued with similar material on the CD All the Wrong People are Dying in 1998.

Black Motor, Black Motor (side A)

Black Motor hail from Finland, and this self-titled 2007 LP is their debut.  They can loosely be described as a free-jazz trio, with saxist Sami Sippola splitting time between tenor and alto in their sax / bass / drum configuration.  Black Motor feels less chaotic and more compositional than ESP-style energy jazz from the 60s, but swinging and jazzier than more FMP's more improv-centric albums of the 80s.  Four of the five tracks even have a composition credit assigned solely to bassist Ville Rauhala.  The recording is even more lo-fi and dirty than most old ESP releases.  The loudest things are clearly the hi-hat and ride cymbals, with the rest of the kit sounding murky and the kick drum getting slightly lost.  The saxophone is roughly even with the drums, but lacks body and distorts a bit.  The upright bass is a bit too quiet also.  The nice black-and-white photo on the front cover gives no stylistic hints about the music by Black Motor.

Trummors, Over and Around the Clove (side A)

I've always enjoyed Trummors's live performances because of their timeless songwriting.  Their songs nicely reference '70s country-tinged folk-rock without ever seeming derivative or dated, and they live nicely in a classic tradition.  On 2012's Over and Around the Clove, the songs are presented with strong vocal and instrumental performances that help their subtle details shine through.  Marc Orleans, who sometimes accompanies the band live, shares the dobro and pedal steel accompaniment here with Chris Zaloom, and Dave Lerner adds bass overdubs on a few songs that show off his amazing talents there.  The recordings, and to a lesser extent the arrangements, reflect the duo's roots in '90s indie rock — the sounds hint at lo-fi, and there are some creative, untraditional mix and reverb decisions.  A part of me wishes the record sounded more like a reissue, and in other ways I like how the approach emphasizes Trummors's distinctive personality — it's nice to feel like a living band and not a stylized exercise.  The beautiful, handmade packaging is particularly remarkable, fitting the band perfectly without feeling referential.

Ken Lauber, Ken Lauber (side A)

Ken Lauber's second album, from 1971, follows a similar formula to his 1969 debut, Contemplation (View).  He's again teamed up with professional session musicians to perform his well-crafted songs, and his slightly innocent and awkward vocal style remains out of place against such a polished backdrop.  The songs themselves still feature hints of narrative in their lyrics, which are placed in a traditional pop structure.  While the Dylan reference remains obvious, the LA session players here, including Larry Carlton, take a more conservative and commercial approach than the Dylan associates on Contemplation (View).  Joe Osborn is the most interesting player, and the increasing prominence of funk bass shows up at times in his playing, in a way that reminds me of parts of Colin Blunstone's One Year.  The songwriting on Ken Lauber also fears a bit more forced the second time around, without the weird highlights like "Undertow".  Even song titles like "I've been a Fool" and "Follow the Wind" hint that Lauber's playing it a bit straighter here.  The recording (by Dave Hassinger, once known for his disagreement with the Grateful Dead and for hiring session players on Electric Prunes record) and cover design also feel appropriate for a commercial songwriter record of 1971.  Lauber's songwriting talent and personality still peek through in places, but Ken Lauber has fewer of the magical moments that differentiate Contemplation (View).