Audiophile Digital

Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets
Indoor Safari
Yep Roc YEP3085

If any word describes nearly every Nick Lowe album, it’s ‘eclectic’. This time, it’s as if he wanted to delight audiophiles in particular, with what almost amounts to a throwback to the 1950s music of Martin Denny – but this is absolutely not ‘loungecore’. The title refers to the sit-back-and-wallow capacity of the material, all easy-on-the-ears, Lowe-composed songs or collaborations, and the sounds range from surf guitar to country-flavoured rock to rockabilly and a sly nod to The Beatles’ ‘Please Please Me’. Pure fun from start to finish, glorious twangy rock ’n’ roll but with knock-out sound rather than the cod emulation of, say, Sun Studios. As one US Lowe LP claimed, it’s ‘Pure Pop For Now People’. KK

Sound Quality: 95%

Neil Christian
He’s Got The Action Anthology 1962-1974
Strawberry CR2JAM029 (two discs; mono/stereo)

Like the Barry Ryan box [HFN Jan ’25], this tells the story of another 1960s British one-hit wonder who sustained a career regionally rather than globally. It’s typical pop of the era, but augmented by enough elements to have collectors drooling. Joe Meek’s production is the most obvious, but the real hook is that Christian’s band, The Crusaders, at times included Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore and Nicky Hopkins. Thus obsessives of The Yardbirds, Led Zep, Deep Purple, Screaming Lord Sutch, etc, have a family tree with which to reckon. Another superb discovery culled from Meek’s near-mythical ‘Tea Chest Tapes’, no UK rock historian should be without this. KK

Sound Quality: 85%

Erik Deutsch/Theo Bleckmann/SLY 5th Ave
Reason
Octave Records OCT-0022

Live-in-a-jazz-club this may be – recorded at Denver’s Dazzle – but the results are so clean that it sounds like a studio session. Indeed, Reason reminded me of Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly Live [HFN Dec ’22] which was virtually indistinguishable from the original album. That said, this release will intrigue listeners who would like to know what a multi-instrumentalist jazz trio of electronics, keyboards and woodwinds sounds like with originals mixed with tracks from Pink (‘God Is A DJ’), Kate Bush (‘Wuthering Heights’ and ‘This Woman’s Work’) and Judee Sill’s ‘Lopin’ Along Through the Cosmos’ from her first LP. KK

Sound Quality: 90%

Hawkwind
Stories From Time And Space
Cherry Red CDBRED901

Hawkwind completists, take note that this is their 36th studio release, and it’s a monster. I’m sure that aficionados of ‘space rock’ might challenge the statement that this band is the definitive exponent of the genre, but this reaffirms the claim. The title of this epic is actually ironic – musically, it’s as if time stood still, and with original member Dave Brock still leading the proceedings. Yes, the band has evolved from its druggier, heavier early days, but this thought-provoking concept release is simply gorgeous. Also out is the newly-remastered and expanded 2CD Doremi Fasol Latido [Stonehenge QATOMCD21056] with bonus cuts and second stereo mix. KK

Sound Quality: 90%