Album from 2009
Since this project has been really draining on my wallet, I decided to use another album that I already own. I've been rationalizing that these are all things that I would've bought eventually anyway, which is true, but in such a condensed period of time, it can be a little taxing. Anyway, the two albums that I own from 2009 are "Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl" by Van Morrison, and "Aim and Ignite" by fun., and since I just did fun.'s second album three weeks ago, Van Morrison it is.
"Astral Weeks" is one of Morrison's best album. It's dreamy at times but has enough structure to keep it together. It's one of those albums that's almost just like that time of the morning when you're awake but you still kind of remember what you were dreaming about. It's hazy but not unfocused, at times ethereal in its instrumentation.
I couldn't concentrate on "Astral Weeks Live" though. I'm a huge proponent of live music and everything, bumper stickers should be issued and all that stuff. I go to numerous concerts every year, and if a band that I like in the studio doesn't impress me on the stage, I've found that that band will eventually fall out of favor with me. But I'd rather listen to "Astral Weeks" than "Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl."
Morrison does this wonderfully aloof vocal thing, where you almost can't hear what he's saying, but you know. It's like eavesdropping on a conversation, where you can just barely make it out. It creates a certain magical realism effect on most of his songs, especially the live songs; but in 2008 he was 64 years old, and his voice has lost some of its pop, like a dead tennis ball, and so when he jabs his vocals out from behind the music, it's not as effective.
I feel about the songs on here the way that I often feel about certain cover songs; it's fun and interesting to here them in a new light, or with a new twist, or just plain different from the way that I'm used to hearing them, but they're not as good as the original.
I think there's almost a gap here between seeing Morrison and his band play these songs live, and simply listening to them on a record player at home. It's still a good experience, but it's not as transcendent as I imagine actually being there would be. Watching what he's doing, watching each player in the band do their thing, must've added so much more to it; the way that you don't get the same effect from certain comedians when you listen to their album compared to watching their special. There's just some jokes that don't land as hard when you don't see what the person telling it is physically doing when he/she says the punch line. It's the same way with live music. With a good live album, I should be able to close my eyes and imagine exactly what's happening on stage, but so often on "Astral Weeks Live" I'm left wondering what the hell is he doing right now?
I know that that seems like a weird criticism, and I can't exactly expand on why I'd rather be seeing him than only hearing him and how that would enhance the experience.
"The Way Young Lovers Do" is a standout, as in it challenges its original recording in quality. Of course, there are other great songs on this album, but I've been thinking about it in terms of this version of the music as compared to other versions of the same music. If we're talking about just this music in general, this album is wonderful and entrancing. Track to track it's basically flawless when we're talking about the merits of the songs themselves. This version of "Ballerina" is a little bit self-indulgent and meandering, but the song is still a fantastic song. A bad version of a good song is still a good song, and these versions aren't even bad versions, just not the best out there. It's a shame that almost none of these songs, (excepting "Cyprus Avenue") are on Morrison's best live album, "It's Too Late to Stop Now," from 1974.
If I seem down on the idea of this album, the idea of playing one his greatest albums in full live, I'm not. This recording needed to exist. It's not the Van Morrison on stage of 1974, but it's still "Astral Weeks," and it's still a Van Morrison, and any Van Morrison playing any "Astral Weeks" is better than nothing. If this album didn't exist, I would long for it, for the chance to hear it. It might even be one of those things where I'd try and piece it together from different recordings, track by track. But it exists in this form, and this form is all right with me.
Last Week's: "Lonely Avenue" by Ben Folds and Nick Hornby
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