LP Select returns with a round-up of recent-ish releases.
The Who and Neil Young live, a blistering Waterboys track, and more in an hour of curated music in LP Select #072
Listening Guide #072
This playlist is getting stronger. I’ve been a little quiet on Substack recently for multiple reasons. I’ve been launching my book on Pete Townshend’s Lifehouse, (follow the link to buy a copy, or see the end of this post) working on the next book, and thinking about how LP itself can be better. Details are on my rewritten About page.
Specifically for LP Select - I’ll continue to curate new playlists, and these will be linked to new fortnightly essays. It will include tracks associated with the album under discussion - influences, alternative, and live versions. Sometimes, a seemingly random track that just fits.
The Listening Guide sets out the thought behind the curation, and will be exclusively for paid subscribers beginning with the next playlist (#073), so when you want to take a deep dive into the album I’m writing about (free, as ever) consider joining the LP insiders at £5/month. That’s the cost of a cup of coffee these days, apparently, but you can enjoy a hand-crafted playlist more than once.
The second essay of the month is connected to a new feature, the Audio Essay. More on that soon.
This listening guide is for everyone. Let’s dive in.
I’m suspicious of remixes. For every triumph, there’s a disaster: for every ‘A New England’, Kirsty MacColl’s triumph, there’s something like a lengthy and - to my ears - unlistenable remix that bears no relation to the original track. There was one by Royksopp for Peter Gabriel, ‘My Head Sounds Like That’ from Up, I found unlistenable. This playlist opens with a remix that sets all my alarms ringing. The Who’s epic Quadrophenia closing track, ‘Love Reign O’er Me’. Don’t doodle on a masterpiece. And yet here it is. This, by Mark Hannah, called the Boomerang Remix, retains the majesty of the song and Daltrey’s amazing vocal and plays with the atmosphere; more silence, more space, less is well, if not really more, a valid alternative. It’s from the new Hunger Games film.
This playlist was going to close as it began, with The Who. (It’s almost as if I’ve published a book about them.) The plan changes - see below. Anyway, this is the version of ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ from the new Live at Eden Project 25/07/23 album, which is a gig by the orchestral version of the band. The middle section breaks down to Daltrey and Townshend’s vocal against a bass drum beat (Zak Starkey before the band chaos resulting in his departure).
The other live track here is by Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts. I selected ‘After the Gold Rush’ because the lyric gets increasingly timely (updated now to become “Look at mother nature on the run / In the 21st century”).
I suspect the new Paul McCartney album will take a few listens to fully appreciate (the best albums usually do). In this case, it’s because most of the songs are seeking to occupy a liminal space between his memories of the early days of an incredible life, and his continuing relevance now. I selected ‘Momma Gets By’ for its classic McCartney beauty. It’s a potential future classic.
Peter Frampton is another veteran of music with a terrific new album. On ‘I’m Sorry Elle’ he speaks to the theme of ‘After the Goldrush’, with a letter to his granddaughter, written as a response to the Covid pandemic. Not just that, though, with lines such as “We let you down / We’re burning up / We’re melting down.”
Andy Partridge of XTC has been adding his Fuzzy Warbles series to streaming services. I’m fascinated by the alternatives that musicians explore before working with the full band and releasing what becomes the definitive version of a song. The truth is, songs can be arranged and performed in a whole universe of different ways (which makes my suspicion of remixes er … suspect).
There are some new tracks, too, including Ed O’Brien from Radiohead, Arcade Fire, The Durutti Column, Midge Ure, and more. Don’t miss ‘End of the Rhythm’ from Hen Ogledd. If there’s a hint of the world falling apart in my curation (hard to avoid, and we shouldn’t seek to avoid it) perhaps Hen Ogledd has the answer. As the album review by Ben Beaumont-Thomas, The Guardian’s music editor, put it: “What do you do when the world’s falling apart? Take to the streets? Run to the hills? The latest album by this British folk-rock quartet suggests that a blend of fantasy and realism can provide a better way of living.”
That closing track? Somehow it had escaped me until it erupted from our smartspeaker this morning: The Waterboys ‘Don’t Even Have to Say His Name’. If you need an explicit protest song, a quickly brilliant three minute single in the grand tradition, here it is. Don’t say his name.
A reminder my book Pete Townshend’s Lifehouse is available now as an ebook and a paperback.
Reader Greg Roensch, Writer, Musician, Filmmaker, and Fan of The Who, enjoyed it:
“In my humble opinion, this is a must-read for any serious fan of The Who and Pete Townshend.”
This was a wonderful guide, Ian. What I enjoy most is that it never feels like a playlist assembled by habit; it feels like a line of thought. The Who, Neil Young, McCartney, Frampton, Hen Ogledd, and The Waterboys all seem to be circling memory, protest, relevance, and a world under pressure.
I’m with you on remixes, too. Once a song has settled into your emotional architecture, altering it can feel intrusive. But sometimes an alternative version does not replace the original; it simply lets light enter from a different angle.
I also wanted to say how much I enjoyed your Pete Townshend’s Lifehouse book. It gave me exactly what I want from music writing: clarity, context, and a real sense of why the work still matters.
Do you own the recent Who’s Next / Life House box set — the one that included Life House – The Graphic Novel? My understanding is that the graphic novel was intended to expand and give visual shape to the original Lifehouse story behind the album. I’d be very interested to know how you think it sits alongside the music and Townshend’s larger concept.