The brother must read the old blog once in a while as, after posting about The Jam back in December, I received a copy of that band's lead singer Paul Weller's latest CD, Studio 150 for my Christmas pressy. A covers album, more Style Council cool than the anger of The Jam, it's dandy dandy dandy. Weller covers "The Bottle" with a backing of 1974 Jethro Tull art-rock flute with some of the left over waa-waa guitar from Shaft that are floating around the universe: [wma, 3.0 MB]. His voice is perfect for this style and sounds about two decades of two packs a day from his pissed teen sound of "Eton Rifles" or "A Town Called Malice". Recall thinking every time a new album by the Jam came out how his voice got closer and closer to singing. He's pretty much there now.

Thinking about the voice of someone covering a Gordie Lightfoot tune is a bit strange for anyone exposed to CBC's weekness for him but Weller's approach to "Early Morning Rain" [wma, 3.6 MB] is right, not so much reverential as honest. I've always thought that Lightfoot's 1960s Canadian camp keener voice made some of the good liquor and fast women ideas a little fake. Weller's got crap on his boots and a hangover when singing this one to me. Nice touch on the pretty authentic Ontario folkie fiddle for a Londoner's set recorded in Amsterdam. In fact, the instrumentation is some of the best stuff about this album. The organ in "Early Morning Rain" at the end, the clarinet in "One Way Road", the flute and waa-waa in "The Bottle", the disco strings in "Thinking of You". The Modfather, he cleans up well in a three piece suit and is the only human who could get away with wearing a canary yellow Faire Isle sweater in the presence of Pete Townsend.

Hans really needs to buy this one.