Family Affair - Gaian Soul (Charlie Marshall)
Because I've been in a tunnel several years long it's been a while since I reviewed a CD. I won't say I'm out of the tunnel because I'm not. As most music writers know, LP or CD reviews always take up a lot of time (the book I'm currently beavering away at doesn't get much of a chance when reviews come tapping at the door. Poor little thing).
However. I was asked if I would do a CD review to get The Barman out of a hole and I rashly said yes, so this will probably be the last for a while, so there.
Deeper in the tunnel I had no idea that Harem Scarem founder, Melbourne's Charlie Marshall, had released two CDs, one of which “Change Has Got To Come” was back in 2021 (yeah, it's a long tunnel, don't ask), which I just noticed Charlie's Bandcamp page has described as "nine songs about personal change, societal change, madness, bushfires, voodoo economics, nature, family, quantum entanglement". I've not had a chance to listen yet, but that's not the ordinary mixture of song subjects.
Family Affair is Charlie and his son Louie Marshall, who's a multi-instrumentalist with a penchant for improvisation. I suppose you could use the term “jazz'”(if you must), but that's not really necessary. Charlie's Bandcamp page says, “Gaian Soul” "is their debut album, a collection of favourite songs from Charlie’s back catalogue performed with free wheeling spirit, pulsing groove and deep connection between two like-minded musical souls. Some songs adhere to a strict pop format, others rise and fall with a spirit of exploration and invention".
Charlie is on guitar, stomp box, tambourine and mellotron, while Louie handles tenor sax, Wurlitzer and grand piano; both are vocalists.
The CD came out last year, but don't let that stop you: if you've not heard anything from this LP, dip in.
You'll notice there's a distinct nod towards the 1960s and 1970s, as much through the instruments and attitudes of the day: Charlie was (I think) born in 1962, which means he might have seen a most tumultuous era unfold - if, unlike most of us, he was observant. Louie's finger is right on this retro trigger - only none of it is retro, not really. The music these two are making is like a shimmering mirror from one possible past into another possible future.
The songs come from several of Charlie's astonishing back catalogue (excluding Harem Scarem). It occurs to me that, while so very many rock bands release live LPs which cater to fans as well as provoke interest in their back catalogue (which Best Of compilations also hope to do), not that many folks re-record their own songs and release them in a different format.
Oh, except jazz and blues musicians, who are always obsessively tinkering with their songs; in those cases fans buy the LPs instantly, always on the lookout to see what (say) Sonny Rollins or Thelonious Monk or John Lee Hooker have done with their songs this time.
Personally, I think there should be more of this. (I could say that I'd love to see carefully selected chronologically ordered live box sets of several bands whose progress through their career has seen their own songs dramatically shift and alter - Nick Cave, Dave Graney and The Fall spring to mind, but I'm sure you can think of a bunch of others).
Sure, I could compare these versions on “Family Affair” to the originals, I think I'll just mention the original LP in brackets, and let you do the digging - they're all available to download on his Bandcamp page. If you haven't investigated this rather unique character, let “Family Affair” be a springboard.
“Fall” (from “I Don’t Want It”) opens proceedings, and it's instantly both appealing and rich, yet restrained and almost sparse - one of those doomed love songs which rotate inside you at the wrong or right time. Charlie's voice is a lush fruit, glossy and yearning to be scarfed, and Louie's sax dances about the lyric, adding extra ache and beauty. Apparently there's some shithouse tv shows which feature Australian Idol/Voice/Got Talent or whatever. Charlie's voice is bloody marvellous, and if there were any justice, he'd be a regular feature on film soundtracks (and, I s'pose, telly).
“Almighty Carousel” (from the album of the same name) is cheerful, upbeat telling the track of our planet - which of course is a loaded metaphor whether Charlie intended it or not. Louie's piano and Wurlitzer balance the fragile beauty of Charlie's voice.
“Weightless” (“Charlie Marshall and the Body Electric”) is a rather wonderful love song, here rendered gently, sweetly and redolent of that improbable yearning which sometimes captures us and sends our senses to ... well, you know. Just because there is huge emotion in a song doesn't mean you have to belt it out like a drunk yodeller on a bloody mountain. Tugs at your heart, this one.
“Change Has Got To Come” (“Change Has Got To Come”) lays a laid-back groove on you, emphasised by Louie on the Wurlitzer. It's an angry but methodical howl against the "filthy system" that we're all a part of, but ... the song is rendered so prettily, with that hypnotic groove ... dig this:
The system’s broken in the first degree, the time for words is done
Time to shake some action cos it’s guaranteed
You know a change has got to come
“Premonition” (“Almighty Carousel”) is, I'm afraid, a(nother) soppy love song, with sentiments are so familiar that you'll want to post '#metoo' and wear a 'love is all' t-shirt. Charlie's distinctive personality is the antithesis of the Melbourne dour hip; he's just so bloody happy, I keep thinking there's no way this bloke's from Melbourne:
And all the love that you're giving, I get caught out everyday
Should I admit that I’m blessed or just confess I’m a lucky guy
Once more, the musicianship has opened up Charlie's original song into a fuller, more vivid experience. You're swept up into the Marshall's musical arms.
The other songs are: “Wrap Me Up” (from “Inordinate Fondness for Beetles”, and “Almighty Carousel”); “Sing Me A Song” (“Change Has Got To Come”); “We Connect” (“I Don't Want It”); “Shiny and New” and “Gravity Waves” (both from “Shiny and New”) and “Strength” (from “I Don't Want It”).
Family Affair is an outfit you need to see; I certainly want to. Meanwhile, I've got the CD, and so should you.
