Author Archives: Randophonic

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About Randophonic

For now, I'm best thought of as a radio program. Sometimes it may seem I'm all the work of one person, other times many. What matters is the program.

712. beware of darkness

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“Speaking of darkness, I would’ve been eleven when George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass hit the world (and hit it did). The Beatles had just broken up and it was the first serious indication that all was not lost. The big singles were My Sweet Lord and What Is Life, but I got to hear the whole sprawling six-sided thing because my cousin got it for Christmas. I wouldn’t say I understood a song like Beware of Darkness but I got it anyway. That is, who cared about the specifics of the words? The title and mournful tone were enough, speaking volumes about the nature of a messed up world, all that hungry darkness floating around, wanting a piece of me.” (Philip Random)

GeorgeHarrison-1970

713. In My Hour of Darkness

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Gram Parsons was dead before the world ever heard his final album, Grievous Angel. Which made In My Hour Of Darkness, its final song (completely concerned with people who had died before their time) all too relevant, particularly the part where he sings his own eulogy: he was just a country boy his simple songs confess – and the music he had in him so very few possess. Who says there’s no such thing as ghosts? And angels, because that’s Emmylou Harris singing backup.

GramParsons-1973

714. guilt

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“Marianne Faithfull‘s Broken English being one of the best albums of 1979 (or any other year for that matter), Guilt being a track that made no sense to me at first. I thought she was saying she felt ‘good’. Why so exquisitely gloomy then? Was it some twisted junkie thing I needed heroin in my veins to figure out? Then I bought the album and read the title, and there it was: Guilt. Which reminds me of sage wisdom c/o old friend Jill. Guilt is easy to avoid. Just don’t do that thing that you know you’ll end up feeling guilty about. Words to live by.” (Philip Random)

(photo: Derek Jarman)

715. when am I coming down?

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The Godfathers being another one of those 1980s bands that should’ve hit way bigger than they did, with 1988’s Birth School Work Death (song and album) the closest they ever came to a proper breakthrough. “When I Am I Coming Down is exactly what it sounds like. The story of a bad trip. My friend Gary likened it to losing control of your car.  You’re bombing along at high speed and everything’s perfect, superlative even. Until you’re halfway around a bend, going maybe ninety mph and you lose traction, with various trees, a ditch, a fence, all looming. You are going to crash. The question is, how will you crash? And what will you crash into? Everything playing out in very slow motion.” (Philip Random)

Godfathers-1988

716. kiss the champion

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Original reggae upsetter Lee Scratch Perry plus the Dub Syndicate plus Adrian Sherwood‘s mix mastery equals Time Boom X De Devil Dead, arguably the greatest (mostly) forgotten album of all time. Mad rants, left field boasts, insights that only make sense once you stop trying to make sense of them — all set to grooves that can’t help but melt in your mind. “Needless to say, we listened to this a lot whilst tripping the old lysergic back in the day. Who ever said reggae wasn’t psychedelic, or the 1980s for that matter?” (Philip Random)

717. nature

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“The Beatnigs only released one album, and it’s unique. A place where industrial noise and all manner of other musics don’t so much blend as find a way to grind together, intensely and intelligently, with Nature a standout because I agree with Michael Franti, yeah, I love all the doves and coyotes and flamingoes and rats running wild and free, but short of a dog or two, all of my favorite animals are human.” (Philip Random)

(photo: Cor Jabaiij)