new music reflection #2

Continuing my reflection on new music discovered/found I'll move to December. It looks like a bought a mountain of CDs last month, but many were either Christmas gifts or purchased with Christmas money ...

• Mortimer, Mortimer [Rev-Ola]
• Live at Benaroya Hall, Pearl Jam [Ten Club]
• No Roses, Shirley Collins [Castle US]
• Live at the Fillmore West February 1969, Byrds [Sony]
• Captain Beyond, Captain Beyond [Fontana Island]
• Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne [Sony]
• Anyway the Wind Blows: The Anthology, JJ Cale [Fontana Island]

Mojo Magazine has turned me onto a number of cool albums and bands over the years. Recently I read a perused a snippet on a 60s band called Mortimer. Like many bands their history reads like a soap opera, in this case with tenuous connections to Judy Garland and Apple Records. Mortimer's intriguing story and positive music reviews led me to seek out their self titled album, which I did at Soundscapes (the Holy Grail of Toronto music shops). While Mortimer is a bit lighter than Flossie Fillett (see my last entry), it's an enjoyable album of folkish harmonies.

No Roses is an exquisite album combining the forces of Shirley Collins and Ashley Hutchings' first (& rather loose) version of the Albion Country Band. Collins is a bit softer than someone like Sandy Denny, who by 71 was focusing on her own writing, rather than interpreting traditional songs. I will refrain from describing this album tempting as it is. Instead I'll tell you where it sits on my bookshelf: No Roses rests in a cosy spot surrounded by classic albums of Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, Steeleye Span, etc.