Sice the first demise of the Velvet Underground – when all the band members went their separate ways – it has just been taken as a given that Lou Reed would always be the most successful solo performer. It seemed logical for Reed to still be up front; his was the voice people heard and he was the primary lyricist, not to mention the fact that he had the most accessible image and musical sensibility. On a comparative scale, John Cale breaking through on his own was a long shot; he always cultivated his image in the “artist as aesthete” vein, he recorded albums in foreign languages with exotic approaches to form and never offered much in the way of explanation for his actions.
That Cale didn't care about the popular success Reed enjoyed (some would say “abused”) for decades may be true, but Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood offers just the smallest possibility of envy. It might come as a surprise but how else could one explain the creative turn represented by this album? Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood marks the first time that Cale has actively bowed to convention and attempted to make a pop/rock record in thirty-nine years.
Now, saying that Cale has attempted to compose something “rocky” or “poppy” is a pretty astounding announcement (There is an entire community of people asking, “Populist media? Really?” right now), but it's also important to point out that the singer is still very much doing it only on his own terms. Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood may be a rock record, but everything about it is managed very carefully and by degrees, and excessive care is taken to ensure that everything is on terms that Cale and Cale alone finds palatable.
With the knowledge that an aesthete's comfort is the primary concern of this music in mind, it will probably come as no surprise to readers that Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood spends most of its time pulling Krautrock and Bowie's excursions into that form (think Station To Station, “Heroes,” Lodger and Scary Monsters) out of mothballs with perfectly cavalier – if musty – results, but it still works well because of the singer's sensibility. The basic stiffness of Cale's vocal approach actually proves to be one of the biggest boons as, on songs like “I Wanna Talk 2 U,” “Scotland Yard” (which lifts the sonorous vibes, bass line and at least some of the melody out of “Fashion” without being too mawkish about it), “Face To The Sky” and the positively groovy title track, the slippery and smooth rhythm figures set up a great and even danceable contrast to the vocals which becomes a really attractive amalgam in listening. True, there are a few weak moments like the masturbatory vocoder workout of “December Rains” (which somehow manages to sound even more soulless than the average fumbled out vocoder mishap or Pro-Tools assisted hiccup) but the overall impression left with those who hear the record is that Cale has the chops to pull this off – which will only make them wonder what took him so long to get around to it.
That said, going so far as to declare Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood a success seems a little redundant – but there is an ulterior bonus in this record's success for John Cale. That this record is as good as it is and that it appears in the same year that Reed released his metallic(a) flop Lulu suddenly puts Cale in a very good place where his public image is concerned. Now Cale has the chance to gain back some of the ground he lost to Reed years ago; it'll be interesting to see what comes and how much public perception shifts.
Artist:
www.john-cale.com/
www.myspace.com/johncaleofficialsite
www.facebook.com/OfficialJohnCale
www.twitter.com/therealjohncale
Album:
Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
