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H PageContents: Ben Harper, Roy Harper, Emmylou Harris, Jerry Harrison, Don Henley, Richard X Heyman, Hindu Love Gods, The Hold Steady, The Housemartins, Tim Hughes, Hüsker DüBen Harper has his own pageRoy HarperValentine (1974)Not to be confused with American singer-songwriter Ben Harper or fictional English soccer hero Roy of the Rovers, English folkie Roy Harper is a somewhat idiosyncratic figure, using his undeniable talents to promote political interests and an often unsavoury hippie lifestyle. But he's got such a warm lilting voice, excellent guitar technique and fine sense of melody, that he almost always comes across charmingly, even if his lyrical stance lacks political correctness. The closest comparison I can find is Nick Drake, although Harper is more of a boundary pusher and lacks Drake's aura of timeless decorum. Valentine is a collection of outtakes from his acclaimed early seventies releases Stormcock and Lifemask, but it hangs together well as an individual statement. As the title implies, most of the tracks are romantically themed. Harper's view of women is somewhat controversial; in his world view they're mainly around for for sex, cooking and cleaning, but his general likeability cancels out the less savoury elements of his lyrics. He does take it a step too far with 'Magic Woman (Liberation Reshuffle)', where Harper brags of seducing a feminist, but it doesn't help that the song also lacks the musical magnetism of most of the other tracks. A lot of the tracks were recorded live in studio with just Harper and his guitar, sometimes with some nice orchestration laid over the top. The only full blown rock song is 'Male Chauvinist Pig Blues' where Harper teams up with Jimmy Page to create an interesting collage of guitars, assisted by Keith Moon on drums. The other famous face involved in John Leckie, in the producer's chair. For a collection of out takes Valentine is remarkably excellent. Apart from 'Magic Woman' and the somewhat lacklustre instrumental 'Che', this is top notch material from a wonderful musician. Most of it's low key and charming; Harper puts in a charming cover of 'North Country' while 'Twelve Hours of Sunset' has the dusky ambience that its title implies. Harper's liner note description of 'Acapulco Gold' as "lounge lizard music with a sting" is entirely accurate, as it travels into another sexually themed bridge, while 'Commune', perhaps the album's best song, is another charmer despite some disturbingly intimate images. Despite his overuse of sexual themes, Harper is an accomplished enough lyricist as well, with thoughtful phrases like "love isn't jealous/or bitchy and callous/she's here for us all and she's ours." It's not precisely compatible with St. Paul's definition of love, but it's certainly a well-turned phrase. 'Forever' is a nice humble closer, while 'I'll See You Again' is a soaring ballad, underscoring the fragility in Harper's voice. The three bonus tracks on the reissue aren't particularly exciting: 'Too Many Movies' has an eerieness that evokes the westerns that Harper is referencing, but the two versions of 'Home' are both unnecessary. It's hard to put Valentine in context when I haven't heard any of his other material, but I don't like my chances of finding another one cheap in the near future. In any case it's clear that he's an interesting and talented character, and well worth an investtigation. 
Feedback: from Gerard Hudson Emmylou Harris has her own pageJerry Harrison can be found on the Talking Heads pageDon Henley can be found on the Eagles pageRichard X Heyman has his own pageHindu Love Gods can be found on the R.E.M. pageThe Hold Steady have their own pageThe HousemartinsThe People Who Grinned Themselves To Death (1987)One thing that's always puzzled me is how the political aspect of the initial punk movement in Britain burnt out so quickly, when there was plenty of ammunition for left-leaning idealists throughout the Thatcher regime in the 1980s. Indeed, popular music took the opposite path in the era, with the dire mainstream pop of the mid-1980s providing a vacuous and unchallenging form of escapism. It turns out, however, that there was a solitary group of Clash-influenced young men from Hull, promoting a particular brand of Christian socialism. If that combination of ideologies doesn't make sense, the following couplet may help clarify matters; "All things bright and beautiful/All creatures great and small/All we've got is London Zoo/'Cause farmer owns them all." While I find the lyrics of the first wave of punk appealingly cute (I want a riot of my own? How quaint; God save the Queen? Bless you son), for some reason The Housemartins' political stance doesn't appeal to me at all. While most political bands are young and aimless idealists, The Housemartins' anti-royalist, anti-agriculturalist and anti-progress rants are mundane, and far more threatening and realistic for it. Their lyrics would be a lot more palatable if P.D. Heaton didn't have such a nasal voice. Although they cite The Clash as a major influence (bassist Norman Cook later swiped 'The Guns Of Brixton' bass line), it is far easier to compare them to The Smiths; inhabiting the same era and pursuing a similarly guitar oriented semi-Indie pop/rock. They do throw in a few more expansive musical elements than Morrissey and Marr, with horns (Heaton plays the trombone) and keyboards, but it's hard not to look at them as the poor man's Smiths; no one has as many great guitar parts as Marr, or as nice a voice as Morrissey. Having got all of the criticism out of the way, The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death is a solidly average album. The Housemartins' politically oriented lyrics do set them apart from anonymous pop/rock, while their stylistic variations enable them to maintain interest throughout the span of the album. While some of the songs are anonymous (the first side ends dully with the boring instrumental and 'We're Not Going Back'), their call and response choruses are catchy ('The World's On Fire', 'You Better Be Doubtful') and some of their biting social criticisms are amusing. 'Me and the farmer like brother, like sister/Getting on liek hand and blister" snipes 'Me And The Farmer' while the protagonist of 'Five Get Over Excited''s second verse claims that "My clothes are black and my bread is brown/I'm really into early Motown'. The prettiest songs are the low key 'Johannesburg', and 'Build' where they wisely let the drummer sing, while the anti-royalist title track is the most obvious choice for a single. The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death was The Housemartins' second and last album, although Heaton and drummer Dave Hemingway went on to form The Beautiful South (who I've hardly heard) and Cook later re-marketed himself as Fatboy Slim. In their break up press release The Housemartins famously claimed that 'in an age of Rick Astley, Shakin' Stevens and the Pet Shop Boys quite simply they weren't good enough'. With all due respect, there's a reason why The Housemartins aren't remembered as well as The Clash, The Smiths or the Pet Shop Boys; they're an interesting band, but will never be more than a footnote in the annals of rock
Tim HughesHere I Am To Worship (2002)At the beginning of the twenty first century worship seems to be the new big thing in Christian music, which isn't surprising as Christian musicians are generally better at being earnest and contemplative than at being foot-stomping or original. There seem to be two major schools of worship floating around at the moment: the bombastic illegitimate child of Boston and Billy Graham as practised by America's Sonic Flood, and the melodic and low key style emanating from England's Survivor Records. It goes without saying that I have a huge preference for the latter. It's tempting to accuse Tim Hughes of being overly derivative of his older and more prominent label mate Matt Redman, but difficult to blame him given that Redman attends the same Church and has developed an effective and unembarrassing musical style. If anything, Hughes streamlines Redman's style even further; there's less of a retro feel to Hughes' arrangements, a greater willingness to rock out and a gratifying paucity of female backing vocalists. I have a suspicion that the album would sound better without so many strings, but there's a limit to how far Hughes can push the boundaries in one stroke. This is Christian music, not a collaboration between Captain Beefheart, Syd Barrett and the Beastie Boys. Did you know that the Captain once ordered 16 bells for a recording session? The producer pointed out that there were only 12 people in the studio, and asked what the Captain intended to do with the 4 surplus bells. The Captain simply replied "we'll overdub them." And when Syd Barrett was in Pink Floyd, he played the same chord for an entire concert. The Beastie Boys are included in my fictitious collaboration to play the straight man and provide a funky beat. Hughes is bland by comparison, but his debut Here I Am To Worship is virtually a demonstration of how to create a worship album without any annoying cliches attached. Ironically, the producers of this album were founding members of Sonic Flood, but they've either curbed their worst tendencies or were unwilling parties in the first place. Hughes' vocals are excellent as he consistently sounds enthusiastic and sincere, while his voice is reassuringly warm and English. While Hughes hasn't quite developed Redman's gift for evocative melody, his songwriting is impressively consistent. My favourite songs are 'If There's One Thing', 'Never Lose The Wonder', which floats by like a soft whisper, and the melodic title track. Here I Am To Worship is also nicely shaped as it starts out relatively intense ('Maker Of All Things' rocks quite respectably), and cools down into a more worshipful feel. I've yet to find a Christian album that I find intriguing or innovative enough to give five stars, but Here I Am To Worship is the closest I've come. It's inherently derivative and straightforward (so that the songs can be used in Church, and so that listeners can sing along easily; "I would never personally use the word 'artist' to describe myself," [Hughes] admits. "I'm a worship leader, and I write songs to fuel the church."), but it achieves its aims virtually perfectly with sincerity and taste. Postscript: Listening to this album again, there's more of an influence from the Sonic Flood school than I previously acknowledged, but it's acceptable in this context because Hughes is so sincere that the bombast makes it interesting rather than tacky. In other words, Here I Am To Worship synthesises the best elements of both schools of worship.
 Hüsker Dü have their own page |
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Written 2001-2007, Graham Fyfe
