Reviews
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros
Streetcore
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Add to del.ico.us.Review Date: 2004-12-25
When it comes to xmas I usually use the holiday as an opportunity to fine tune my CD collection. This year literally the only thing I put on my list was albums that I have been wanting for a while. Last year.... I pretty much did the same thing. And I figure since it is now officially xmas I'd review my favourite album I unwrapped last year, and that album is by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros "Streetcore". "Streetcore" was released after Joe Strummer's death, and much of the album had to be wrapped up without him, but if you didn't know that you would never be able to tell. The album was completed masterfully. Joe Strummer in this band doesn't really sound like the guy who fronted The Clash, but if you strain your ears and listen for that context you can still pick it up. This material instead has the sound you could expect from a guy who was at the very top of the music mountain, and now was a struggling musician on Hellcat records touring and still living the hard life that a guy with as much success as he had should never have needed to live. But then again..... maybe that is what makes him so accessible. You have to admire that kinda commitment to the music.
This music has a variety of influences, but in general the sound has a large infusion of reggae and dub music. There is almost no punk, and it would be a stretch to call any of the songs punk although it does rock rather hard. The single biggest influence is Bob Marley. I saw an interview with Joe Strummer on the punk show yesterday, and I found out that Bob Marley went to a Clash show and left understanding why people were so into punk and then he wrote a song influenced by seeing The Clash. That is some heavy shit to swallow man, Bob Marley writes a song influenced by you! And now Joe Strummer returns the favour with an album of heavy hitting dub/reggae with cautiously optimistic, and at times god damn deflating lyrics. Joe Strummer though at times he tries to come across as ok, doesn't really sound like he is doing so well on this album. And it is not his voice, his voice sounds fantastic. Just the tone.... the lyrics.
Where to begin? I could talk about every song on this album, but it is xmas eve and I am starting to fade so i'll begin with "Burnin' Streets". This song falls into a few genres. It has a bit of a folk element in the way it is sung, but at times the vocals are a bit more reggae. The background is just a nice typical soft rock background. Joe Strummer's voice just takes over on this song, when he tells you to "c'mon... yaaaah, .... c'mon" you listen. The background female vocal of "London is burning" works well, and brings to mind perhaps Strummer's most famous album with the Clash "London Calling". The back of the cd explains streetcore is distallation of all the most extreme psychedelic music. Knowledge of reggae, dub, funk, blues, jazz, folk, and hip-hop. And that sums up this song, and in a way that is the best way to sum up the entire album. You name the genre, Strummer has been there and done it and better than almost anybody else. On every song he shows you a different style and nails it.
"Ramshackle Day Parade" is my clear cut favourite on the album, and probably is one of my 5 favourite songs of all time. The song opens with what sounds like a soft piano, playing a little tune and echoing in the background. Joe Strummer's voice enters sounding distant, and then coming to the forefront and getting harsher and more morouse. This song some people might say is depressing, and the lyrics definitely aren't perky in nature. But when listened in the right context it can be oddly uplifting. The song again uses background vocals to perfection, with a group of background vocalists in unison quitely singing "Ramshackle Day Parade" in between the brilliant lyrics of Joe Strummer. The contrast of the harshness of Joe Strummer's veteran voice, against the light airy young sound of the choir like background vocals is genius. How somebody can be so close to having their health give out on them, and still sound so great on record is unbelievable. I go through the same feeling when listening to Johnny Cash's last recordings, how he managed to sound so powerful in such a bad state is awe inspiring.
Want a pure Marley inspired reggae tune? Then you are looking for "Get Down The Moses". Opening with a wicked electric guitar riff, it is then joined by your trademark bass and reggae drums. This song has your typical reggae hop, but a lot more rockish sounding guitar than you expect. Heck it even has some horns, and reggae background vocalists "na-na-na-na-ana-ana"". Joe Strummer's voice singing reggae is something everyone should hear. He doesn't have a voice that you would ever really think would be great with reggae, but it works and it is completely unique. I can't think of anybody else who sounds anything like it. To be able to pull this off you have to be a student of music, someone who can listen to and grasp the pulse of what reggae, or funk, or folk is all about and tap into it. Plenty of artists try to show range..... not very many have success. And those who do can hop between two or three genres, Joe Strummer hops around between 5 or 6 routinely.
The album closes with the Tom Waitts/Mark Laneganesque folkish song "Silver and Gold". It isn't the perkiest way to end the album, but I can't think of a better way to end the album. The song has a violin in the background, playing a sombre tune. That and an acoustic guitar track are all that accompanies Strummer on this stylishly minimal tune. "I do a lot of things I know is wrong/ Hope I'm forgiven before I'm gone/ It will take a lot of prayers to save my soul/and I got to hurry up before I grow to old/ Gonna take a trip around the world/ gonna kiss all the pretty girls / gonna do everything silver and gold/ and i gotta hurry up before I grow to old... /"
What wonderful lyrics, and what a wonderful album. This year I was lucky enough to receive the older Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros album for xmas, and have heard it twice now. My early impression is it another terrific album. However, it is going to be hard to top "Streetcore". I have a special attachment to the album. From the vibrant orange case, to the neat cd booklet, to the message written on the back of the cd right through to the lyrics, the background music and the sheer power of the album. This album inspired me to do my homework, and what I found is that Joe Strummer is my favourite singer of all time. And one of my favourite musicians. As far as I am concerned this album is as essential in your cd collection as "London Calling" or "Never Mind The Bollocks". If I had to start my cd collection all over again and I could only have 10 albums..... this would be one of them. And that is the legacy of Joe Strummer..... a guy who was making his best and most powerful and impressive music when hardly anybody knew he was still making music. If Joe Strummer had of died at the peak of The Clash he would have been a legend, but with it happening when he did the only tribute I ever saw was two nights ago on The Punk Show. You know cds are pretty cheap on boxing day, I suggest take my advice and pick this album up. You will not regret it.
Songs that you should download: "Coma Girl", "Get Down Moses", "Arms Aloft", "Ramshackle Day parade", "Burnin' Streets", "Silver and Gold"
Score: 9.4
Either the first or second best album of 2003. Neil Young's "Greendale" would be the competition. This is the newest and freshest Joe Strummer material that ever will be -- you know you want it :)
- Dan