With latest album 22 Dreams doing brisk business among those who always preferred the more soulful side of Paul Weller, the DVD release of Far East & Far Out seems prudently timed. Filmed on The Style Councilโs debut excursion to Japan in 1984, this 55-minute recording of the bandโs live set provides a fascinating reminder of Wellerโs chameleon-like passage through pop. Emerging from the wings sans guitar and fronting a nine-piece soul band, Weller is unrecognisable from the brooding figure who felt heโd come up against a musical brick wall in the shape of final Jam album The Gift. Instead, in a career swerve unseen since David Bowieโs transition from diamond dog to blue-eyed crooner a decade before, he leads the band through vaporous Philly soul (โLong Hot Summerโ), jazzy instrumentals (โLe Departโ) and militant P-Funk (โMoney Go Roundโ). Occasionally, he even smiles. The sense of a great weight having been lifted from his pastel-shirted shoulders is palpable. โHereโs One That Got Awayโ and โMy Ever Changing Moodsโ are breezy exercises in bespoke pop, all neat edges and fine tailoring, while a spirited โDropping Bombs On The White Houseโ should make all you old-school Red Wedge activists go a little misty-eyed. This new found sense of freedom and enthusiasm spills over into the band. Itโs hard to imagine Rick Buckler tying a white kamikaze scarf around his head, playing a drum solo and then taking a bow centre-stage, but thatโs exactly what a beaming Steve White does. Not that these new musical horizons mean the past has been entirely forgotten. Delivered almost a cappella, โIt Just Came To Pieces In My Handsโ is a scathing dismissal of his tenure as โvoice of a generationโ, โI thought I was lord of this crappy jungle/I should have been put behind barsโ he seethes, before adjusting his pullover and embarking on Booker T-inspired feet warmer โMickโs Upโ. As the sleevenotes to โWalls Come Tumbling Downโ put it: โHeโs back! Yes, and a changed person.โ EXTRAS: None. PAUL MOODY
With latest album 22 Dreams doing brisk business among those who always preferred the more soulful side of Paul Weller, the DVD release of Far East & Far Out seems prudently timed. Filmed on The Style Councilโs debut excursion to Japan in 1984, this 55-minute recording of the bandโs live set provides a fascinating reminder of Wellerโs chameleon-like passage through pop.
Emerging from the wings sans guitar and fronting a nine-piece soul band, Weller is unrecognisable from the brooding figure who felt heโd come up against a musical brick wall in the shape of final Jam album The Gift.
Instead, in a career swerve unseen since David Bowieโs transition from diamond dog to blue-eyed crooner a decade before, he leads the band through vaporous Philly soul (โLong Hot Summerโ), jazzy instrumentals (โLe Departโ) and militant P-Funk (โMoney Go Roundโ). Occasionally, he even smiles. The sense of a great weight having been lifted from his pastel-shirted shoulders is palpable. โHereโs One That Got Awayโ and โMy Ever Changing Moodsโ are breezy exercises in bespoke pop, all neat edges and fine tailoring, while a spirited โDropping Bombs On The White Houseโ should make all you old-school Red Wedge activists go a little misty-eyed.
This new found sense of freedom and enthusiasm spills over into the band. Itโs hard to imagine Rick Buckler tying a white kamikaze scarf around his head, playing a drum solo and then taking a bow centre-stage, but thatโs exactly what a beaming Steve White does.
Not that these new musical horizons mean the past has been entirely forgotten. Delivered almost a cappella, โIt Just Came To Pieces In My Handsโ is a scathing dismissal of his tenure as โvoice of a generationโ, โI thought I was lord of this crappy jungle/I should have been put behind barsโ he seethes, before adjusting his pullover and embarking on Booker T-inspired feet warmer โMickโs Upโ. As the sleevenotes to โWalls Come Tumbling Downโ put it: โHeโs back! Yes, and a changed person.โ
EXTRAS: None.
PAUL MOODY