The Dodman Blog

I caught a chance hour and a half of John Cale (and ex wife Rise) on German satellite TV singing all the songs from Fragments of a Rainy Season in what looked like a small, smoky, crowded club. I was so transfixed I didn’t even think of recording it. I’ve been trying to locate a video ever since. This album is an equisite portrait of one of the best artists around singing and playing the pick of his own songs (plus one beauty from Leonard Cohen) from the past twenty years, accompanied by himself on piano or guitar. The original “unplugged”. Delicious.

Having seen John Cale at St Luke’s without the benefit of knowing Hobosapiens back to front, familiarity with the new songs meant I enjoyed Brighton ten times more. The set list was similar, though no Hallelujah, nor Cordoba. In fact, it was almost identical to the others posted recently.

Queuing to get in, I was worried only a smattering of people would turn up. In the end, (more…)

This is undoubtedly John Cale’s second best album of his career – after Paris 1919 – and it beats hands down most music from any era for sheer, stirring emotion. That’s what I think, anyway. Of course, I love all Cale’s music, so I am biased; but give the guy a chance and you might come to realise how good he is, too.

I went to this show with my brother and our respective wives. We were both very familiar with all of Cale’s stuff except Hobosapiens which neither of us had heard. The ladies ‘knew’ Hallelujah and that was about it.

The setting was small, intimate, theatre sized, in a converted church. Cale dressed in white the first half, black the second. (more…)

This, along with Roxy’s first album, were – and still are, to some extent – way ahead of their time. Haunting is the word. Lovely, evocative music. Grey lagoons just sends me, every time.

This sumptious album has to be one of the best this century by any artist. John Cale is vastly underrated as a singer/songwriter; but although he has produced lashing of good music since, this second solo album of his remains my favourite.