Signe Svendsen "Hvem vil ikke elskes igen" (2022)

Hvem vil ikke elskes igen

release date Oct. 14, 2022

format: vinyl (LGLP2201) / digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]

producer: Lars Skjærbæk

label: Lydia Gramophone - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Tiden" - 2. "Du fik hendes øjne" - 3. "Hvem vil ikke elskes igen" - 4. "Sig at solen rejser sig" - 6. "Ville give dig alt" - 7. "Hun sagde det" - 9 "Lydia" - 10. "Uden aftale"

5th studio album by Signe Svendsen following a little more than 2½ years after Det forlyder (Jan. 2020) is like all of her albums produced by Skjærbæk, who also contributes on guitars, mandolin, synths, and on backing vocals - his younger brother Troels plays bass, and Lars' daughter Sofie Juliane is backing vocalist. The album has been made with a handful of handpicked musicians, which also include multi-instrumentalist Christoffer Møller, who has often teamed up with Skjærbæk as acclaimed producer-duo Mahler & Bir. Svendsen's own label Lydia Gramophone is named after her grandmother, and she's the centre of the strong "Lydia" (track #9), where Svendsen recounts the harrowing fate of her grandmother.

Hvem vil ikke elskes igen ['Who Wouldn't Be Loved Again'] follows Svendsen's mellow-styled folk, ballad-line of singer / songwriter releases. The pen has been sharpened and the songs appear more personal and really suit the minimalist musical expression on what clearly comes out as Svendsen's best album to date. This is truly an album without fillers and imho, it's the Danish album of the year.

Highly recommended.

[ Gaffa.dk 4 / 6, Politiken, BT 5 / 6 stars ]

The American Breed "Bend Me, Shape Me" (1967) (single)

Bend Me, Shape Me, 7'' single

release date: 1967

format: vinyl (KSS 6)

[single rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]

producer: Bill Traut

label: Stateside - nationality: USA

Track highlights: A) "Bend Me, Shape Me" (4 / 5) (other mix) - - B) "Mindrocker"

Single by The American Breed taken from the forthcoming second album Bend Me, Shape Me (Feb. '68). Also the B-side appears on the same album. The title song may have been an international hit thanks to this version but originally, it's a song by the American songwriter duo Scott English and Larry Weiss. About one year earlier, the song was first released by another American band: The Outsiders, and their version of the song is found on the band's third album In released Feb. '67 (recorded in '66). But it was another band, who made the first cover of the song, and that was the all-girl group The Models with their only single released in 1966 [The Models' version] (released prior to The Outsiders album but recorded after). It's peculiar listenening to these highly different versions of the same song and still released within a year's time. In retrospect, I believe that the version by The Models appears as the most daring with its acid, psychedelic, and Phil Spector-like production. In that regard, The Outsiders' version is a more stripped down and simple song but it's also the one with the purest rock appeal held in a typical garage rock style, and then the American Breed came along and made it the song a hit with a much bolder mainstream appeal. Listening to both previous versions, it does appear that The American Breed take up some of the arrangements from both earlier recordings albeit it's nevertheless the most polished version of these three recordings. The song has later been covered by various other acts but over the years, it's The American Breed, who has gone down in music history with the most wide-spread rendition of this fine song.

This very single, was one of my favourites from when I was 10-14 years old. I guess, my brother must have purchased it at some early point before he threw himself over British psychedelic rock of the 70s.

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This post is part of MyMusicJourney, which enlists key releases that have shaped my musical taste when growing up and until age 14. Most of these releases come from my parents' and / or my older brother's collection.

Tommy Steele "Singing the Blues" (1957) (ep)

Singing the Blues, 7'' EP

release date: Feb. 1957

format: vinyl (DFE 6389) (1957 repress)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,45]

producer: ?

label: Decca - nationality: Engalnd, UK

Tracklist: A) 1. "Singing the Blues" - 2. "Rebel Rock" - - B) 1. "Knee Deep in the Blues" - 2. "Elevator Rock"

EP release by Tommy Steele - on the the back cover and on vinyl labels, this is credited 'Tommy Steele and the Steelmen'. Tracks #A1 and #B1 are credited American songwriter Melvin Endsley and both #A2 and #B2 are songs written by Tommy Steele. Endsley's title song was a major hit in the US for Guy Mitchell, which was released almost simultaneously with Steele's version, which on the other hand became a British number 1 hit and a hit song all over Europe. Puzzlingly, both Mitchell and Steele's versions exchanged places at the top of the singles charts in several countries.

This particular repress comes from my parent's record collection. I clearly recall playing this at 7-12 years of age, and it was an early favourite of mine at a time when I mostly enjoyed music by The Beatles, country, beat, and rock & roll. I also remember the song "A Handful of Songs" (taken from the soundtrack album The Tommy Steele Story from May 1957) as probably the most popular song by Steele in my childhood years. The early stage performances with Steele miming to his most popular songs showcased Steele as a more well-tempered Bill Haley and Elvis Presley type of clone, which I guess made rock & roll more likeable for those who associated rock & roll with bad-mannered and uncontrollable youngsters. Tommy Steele has gone down in history as the first British star of rock & roll but he was soon followed by Cliff Richard as a more enduring pop-star.

In retrospect, this ep is an important document of early rock & roll history, but it also puts Steele in a category of his own trying hard to copy American icons without actually having much to offer himself. Yes, he helped transforming rock & roll into something more digestible, he exemplified a new type of rock-and-roller but he mainly delivered via covering others. On this ep, Steele's own two contributions sound heavily inspired by Bill Haley and Chuck Berry, and his second album out, the soundtrack to The Tommy Steele Story says much about form over matter with only little relevance and understanding to how music becomes legend. That said, Steele certainly has a place in the story books on how rock & roll became an international phenomenon and he plays a major part in the stylistic evolution of popular music.

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This post is part of MyMusicJourney, which enlists key releases that have shaped my musical taste when growing up and until age 14. Most of these releases come from my parents' and / or my older brother's collection.