Yes, yes, I know you've all been wondering why I've been silent. Truth be told, it's always hard to put your first thought up when working on a project like this. So many ideas, but so hard to decide what to write. Fortunately, Jess has been more diligent at posting with her new record player and ridiculous collection of assorted albums. Anyways…

What better way to start posting than with one of the artists who has influenced me the most, Joe Strummer. Sure, sure everyone knows him from his work with the Clash--which is understandable--but most people unfairly write off the work he did as a solo artist. This is largely due to the fact that a lot of it avoided the conventional definition of punk rock. Instead of the quick tempo, 3-chord, guitar-bass-drums set up that everyone associates with punk, Strummer often favored a more world music approach. This didn’t mean a merely ska/reggae edge, either. His influences have a lot of Latin influence as well as eastern European notes. This of course, before bands like Devotchka and Beirut made the whole Gypsy-punk thing the latest buzz with the hipsters.

One of the best examples of this is his orchestral compositions for the soundtrack to the movie “Walker”, a 1987 Ed Harris film about a coup in Nicaragua. Never heard of it? Not really that big of a surprise, since it wasn’t a box office smash or anything. The soundtrack is a great piece of work, though, and definitely not what people would expect from Strummer. You can hear the Latin-tinged cowboy-style music in tracks like “Sandstorm,” and even a bit of jazz-inspired, new age in “Latin Romance”. Some of the string and horn arrangements are definitely not what you would expect to hear from a veteran punk rocker. He seems, for instance, to have a particular obsession with waltzes, or at least songs in waltz-time.

The fun part is where Joe actually writes pieces he gets to sing, such as “the Unknown Immortal”. The lyrics are interesting because they are entirely based on the movie (“I once was once an immortal/with William Walker…”), so they are obviously not as deep as say “Clampdown” or something of the Clash era, but this shouldn’t stop them from being enjoyable. Take “Tennessee Rain”, a country/blues song heavy on the banjo and harmonica; a great departure that really shows the diversity of influences that Strummer draws upon and a track that encourages fans to broaden their own tastes a bit. One of my favorite pieces is “The Brooding Side of Madness,” which is hauntingly beautiful in its simplicity. A catchy piano riff, some classical style guitar and basic auxiliary percussion.

For your consideration:

1. Joe Strummer - "Tennessee Rain"

2. Joe Strummer - "The Brooding Side of Madness"

3. Joe Strummer - "Machete"