Tag Archives: Alison Moyet

In appreciation – Lamont Dozier

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Lamont Dozier in 1969. (c) Michael Ochs Archives, via Getty Images

Last week we heard the sad news of the death of Lamont Dozier, one of Motown’s chief songwriters. If you have listening to British radio stations over the last week you may well have heard a tribute or two in his honour – and even if you haven’t heard the tributes, the chances are you have heard a song in which Lamont had a vested writing interest.

The shower of tributes from artists in the wake of his death says everything about the quality of his songwriting. Carole King, in a Twitter post, said this:

As a member of that fabled Holland-Dozier-Holland trio (with Brian and Eddie Holland) he helped form something of a production line of quality Motown hits, a trio of songwriters the label could turn to at incredibly short notice, and who thought nothing of challenging their star vocalists.

First in this tribute is an appropriate one for this website – The Supremes’ I Hear A Symphony, from 1965. Here it is on an episode of Hullabaloo, introduced in a classical context:

Some of Holland-Dozier-Holland’s finest songs were written for The Four Tops – and it would be hard to top Reach Out, I’ll Be There, exploiting the incredibly powerful voice of lead singer Levi Stubbs to give the song its strongest possible impact:

Meanwhile another recipient of the trio’s fruits were Martha & the Vandellas, whose Heatwave remains one of Motown’s most powerful and affirmative calling cards:

Back to The Supremes, and the feverish You Keep Me Hangin’ On – not just for the pleading Diana Ross vocal but for the insistent guitar line that just will not go away:

Another Martha & the Vandellas track, Jimmy Mack, written in the wake of the death of the songwriter Ronnie Mack at the age of only 23, asks ‘when are you comin’ back?’

Another UK chart topper for Dozier and the Hollands was Band of Gold by Freda Payne, released in 1970 and a radio staple to this day:

Finally here is a wonderful song Lamont wrote for the imperious Alison Moyet in 1984. Invisible is surely one of her finest vocal achievements:

For a full list of songs in which Lamont was involved, you can go to the SecondHandSongs website

Switched On – Max Cooper: Yearning For The Infinite (Mesh)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

For anyone who attended his sellout Barbican show, the release of Max Cooper‘s second album will be big news indeed. As Arcana reported, this was a rare occasion where a gig lived up to its ambitious title, and since this is the music behind that gig attendees will need little encouragement.

For those new to the story, Max Cooper is a progressive artist and bioscientist looking to explore music through algorithms and pre set patterns in a way that doesn’t dilute its emotional impact. In other words, music that makes you think and feel while pushing the boundaries of composition. “We are rats in the wheel”, he says, “imprisoned by our nature to endlessly pursue. But the view of the essence of this process as a whole, is a beautiful thing.”

What’s the music like?

Cooper’s music is flexible in a way that rewards lovers of ambient music as much as those who love wide, sweeping vistas rich in percussion.

Yearning For The Infinite is a through composed work able to be enjoyed as an hour long stretch or in its constituent parts. Let There Be establishes the wide scope of the ambient sound, seguing into the pulses of Repetition where the extent of the emotion becomes clear. Parting Ways presses forward with a deliberate beat but Perpetual Motion hits a more natural, syncopated groove. After a brief repose Aleph2‘s thick textures are capped by rolling percussion, then Scalar fires rallies of drum and bass around processed vocals from Alison Moyet. Busy beats ricochet through Penrose Tiling while Morphosis has dazzling beauty.

Does it all work?

Yes. On occasion you may find some of the beats too busy for your mood, but that should not be a problem. As Cooper progresses through his voyage the listener is drawn right in to the action, and will find it easy to stay to the end.

Is it recommended?

Yes, without reservation to Cooper devotees, but also to lovers of Jon Hopkins, Nils Frahm or Floating Points. The music here forges a deeply individual path that makes it one of the electronica albums of the year.

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