The Best Of Johnny Cash that was Thursday on the way to work CD, This is the last of my Johnny Cash discs and as I am a mere spit away from the end of the C's, this is unlikely to change unless a visit to HMV beckons.
This is a mid nineties release on Columbia and of all the Cash CD's that I have, its the worst of an excellent bunch. Do not get me wrong it is still superb but in the scheme of Cash, its the worst.
The Columbia years produced some marvellous work, some absolute greats, but this album seems to have rerecorded versions, live versions and odd selections. I like Jackson, but why would you put an alternate version of Jackson on a best of? Orange Blossom Special is one of my favourite Cash songs, but is it considered a best of track?
Strange.
Its still good for the strange reasons, it closes with Ballad Of Ira Hayes, a fantastic song, a little dark in its tone, but still great. Thats the thing with Cash, he can have a best of, he has earned that and he has the material to do it, you should look to see how many best of's and G.Hits that have been released bearing his name, he must have some kind of record, no pun intended. Anyway, busy week, Cash's label drops a point for this, 9 out of 10.
The Ballad of Ira Hayes by Johnny Cash
Showing posts with label 9's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 9's. Show all posts
Saturday, 13 March 2010
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Underachievers Please Try Harder Review
Claire Nazir was back on GMTV today, I like Claire Nazir. I could tell that it is going to be a good day. So after the musical equivalent of a chinese burn that was Converge yesterday, today we have the musical equivalent of the other side of the pillow in Camera Obscura and their second album, Underachievers Please Try Harder.
I have been off of the indie for some time, I may have mentioned its cyclic, every 5 years or so I despair at just how dull, or po faced, or bad that there indie music is and I go looking for something else, Kev has played witness to my dance phase and along the ways there has been hip hop, metal and this time its been listening to old music, but new to me. Recently though I have been slowly coming back to the fold and enjoying new music again and this brings me to this album, not new, but 5 months ago I may have not thought it quite as excellent as it is.
Its not indie though, broadly yes I suspect thats the way to describe the band, but this album is more aligned, with Phil Spector, with Patience and Prudence, with Leonard Cohen on at least one song.
Camera Obscura better their debut on this album and hint at the strength of material that they produced on their third album, on suspended from class singer Traceyanne Campbell advises us that she doesn’t know her elbow from her arse, but in such a way that she could be telling us that she has just saved a kitten. It’s cute but not cutesy.
Teenager and Keep It Clean were released as singles but you suspect any of the tracks could have made it out into the wild. Its a fantastic collection of great pop songs that made me wish my journey was a few extra miles and the album a little longer. 9 out of 10
Suspended From Class by Camera Obscura.
I have been off of the indie for some time, I may have mentioned its cyclic, every 5 years or so I despair at just how dull, or po faced, or bad that there indie music is and I go looking for something else, Kev has played witness to my dance phase and along the ways there has been hip hop, metal and this time its been listening to old music, but new to me. Recently though I have been slowly coming back to the fold and enjoying new music again and this brings me to this album, not new, but 5 months ago I may have not thought it quite as excellent as it is.
Its not indie though, broadly yes I suspect thats the way to describe the band, but this album is more aligned, with Phil Spector, with Patience and Prudence, with Leonard Cohen on at least one song.
Camera Obscura better their debut on this album and hint at the strength of material that they produced on their third album, on suspended from class singer Traceyanne Campbell advises us that she doesn’t know her elbow from her arse, but in such a way that she could be telling us that she has just saved a kitten. It’s cute but not cutesy.
Teenager and Keep It Clean were released as singles but you suspect any of the tracks could have made it out into the wild. Its a fantastic collection of great pop songs that made me wish my journey was a few extra miles and the album a little longer. 9 out of 10
Suspended From Class by Camera Obscura.
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
A Date With Elvis
This morning The Cramps were my co-pilot, their album A Date With Elvis was the soundtrack. This my friends is music how it should be played. This isn’t even their best album and its better than 99% of bands produce.
On this album The Cramps inject their own humour, beligerance, style and attitude that has been with them since their first EP.
On People Aint No Good they tell us that the choir is the McMartin Preschool Choir, I suspect it isn’t. They tell us of a fictional land called Kizmiaz and this date with Elvis wishes us Aloha From Hell. They can do humour without belly laughs and that’s their charm.
They do a pretty perfect cover of Charlie Feathers It’s Just That Song, Feathers meant a lot to the psychobilly scene and along with the Ricky Nelson tribute on the sleeve, Elvis in the title and Feathers in the song, its ok celebrating the future but you got to acknowledge the past.
The thing I love a lot about The Cramps is their turn of phrase, the way they say things, the language they use, language that I think only Americans at the very least can get away with, Cornfed Dames being a perfect example, you couldn’t or at least shouldn’t have Neds Atomic Dustbin singing about Cornfed Dames, where as Lux, well Lux does it perfectly.
I like Lux, he was a great man.
This album in its 11 songs makes me miss The Cramps massively and it’s a band that I wish I took the opportunity to see, however, that’s one of them things.
High points are the fantastic Can your Pussy Do The Dog, hearing that even at 16, I knew it sounded rude, but I couldn’t work out why, that’s a theme with The Cramps, you know it sounds rude but you don’t know why. Hot Pool of Womanneed and What’s Inside A Girl, just track after track of excellent songs and along with Cash and the Clash, the C’s are just going to be marvellous. 9 out of 10.
What’s Inside A Girl by The Cramps
On this album The Cramps inject their own humour, beligerance, style and attitude that has been with them since their first EP.
On People Aint No Good they tell us that the choir is the McMartin Preschool Choir, I suspect it isn’t. They tell us of a fictional land called Kizmiaz and this date with Elvis wishes us Aloha From Hell. They can do humour without belly laughs and that’s their charm.
They do a pretty perfect cover of Charlie Feathers It’s Just That Song, Feathers meant a lot to the psychobilly scene and along with the Ricky Nelson tribute on the sleeve, Elvis in the title and Feathers in the song, its ok celebrating the future but you got to acknowledge the past.
The thing I love a lot about The Cramps is their turn of phrase, the way they say things, the language they use, language that I think only Americans at the very least can get away with, Cornfed Dames being a perfect example, you couldn’t or at least shouldn’t have Neds Atomic Dustbin singing about Cornfed Dames, where as Lux, well Lux does it perfectly.
Now good girls can't pay the rent these days.
These cornfed dames done found a way.
Unzip that zipper...snap that snap.
Round up the cattle in the Cadillac.
Whip that cream baby 'til the butter comes
I like Lux, he was a great man.
This album in its 11 songs makes me miss The Cramps massively and it’s a band that I wish I took the opportunity to see, however, that’s one of them things.
High points are the fantastic Can your Pussy Do The Dog, hearing that even at 16, I knew it sounded rude, but I couldn’t work out why, that’s a theme with The Cramps, you know it sounds rude but you don’t know why. Hot Pool of Womanneed and What’s Inside A Girl, just track after track of excellent songs and along with Cash and the Clash, the C’s are just going to be marvellous. 9 out of 10.
What’s Inside A Girl by The Cramps
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Hey! Bootleg
The journey through my loosely alphabeticised CD album collection continues this morning. The C’s aren’t as predictable as the B’s and todays pleasant surprise was a Cud compilation made for me by a friend called Hey Bootleg.
As time goes on I was wondering as to include self made or friends made compilations, I mean it’s not as if you can buy it, it’s not as if you may have it and agree or disagree woith my review, but for completeness I decided to keep them in and even if you don’t have a copy of Hey Bootleg, or the BRMC compilation, you may have an interest in the band.
So Cud. When I was young I used to trawl this fair land following The Wedding Present wherever they would play, be it Birmingham, be it Manchester, be it Leeds or be it Coventry. Coventry and the following date on their tour, Wolverhampton, is where I first saw Cud, supporting their Reception Records label mates and ultimately at one point, boss. Cud’s first release was put out on The Wedding Present label, Reception Records, Mind The Gap if my memory serves, and that release is present on this, effectively a greatest hits compilation. The first time I saw Cud at Coventry, they were an odd beast, similar in their looseness and beat driven sound to The Happy Mondays, similar, but infinitely better. They even had their own Bez in this man with a balaclava on and dressed in a silver lame shellsuit. Strange times indeed. I went with a friend of mine called Richard and neither of us knew songs by Cud and were very surprised that almost all of the audience knew pretty much all of the songs. From then on in I was smitten and saw them a number of times between then and their demise, and when they reformed a couple of years ago went to see them again with my wife, who was a fan but never had an opportunity to see them. They were as great then as they were when I saw them at Glastonbury Festival.
So this disc, as I said, effectively a greatest hits, my Cud, with a few singles being the exception is on vinyl, hence the need for this compilation. It spans their career in almost its entirety, from Mind The Gap to Purple Love Balloon. Cud were very good at packaging things up and making you want to buy them, Purple Love Balloon came with a make your own mobile in its 12” vinyl version.
Most of the singles are on this album, Eau Water, Robinson Crusoe and the ridiculously good Strange Kind Of Love, Only A Prawn In Whitby, Hey! Wire and more and more.
A number of covers are present, they did a lot of tracks for Imaginary Records, who were prone to putting out tribute albums, as well as putting out the three best Cud albums in Elvis Belt, Leggy Mambo and When In rome Kill Me. The covers though, go from the Quo’s Down Down, this taken from the NME’s 40th anniversary disc, Ruby Trax, Bohemian Rhapsody from the anti poll tax album, Alvin Lives In Leeds and finally their take on The Family Cat’s career high point, Remember What It Is That You Love.
So across 21 tracks, none unfamiliar to me, all great, all fantastic, superb. 9 out of 10.
Strange Kind Of Love by Cud
As time goes on I was wondering as to include self made or friends made compilations, I mean it’s not as if you can buy it, it’s not as if you may have it and agree or disagree woith my review, but for completeness I decided to keep them in and even if you don’t have a copy of Hey Bootleg, or the BRMC compilation, you may have an interest in the band.
So Cud. When I was young I used to trawl this fair land following The Wedding Present wherever they would play, be it Birmingham, be it Manchester, be it Leeds or be it Coventry. Coventry and the following date on their tour, Wolverhampton, is where I first saw Cud, supporting their Reception Records label mates and ultimately at one point, boss. Cud’s first release was put out on The Wedding Present label, Reception Records, Mind The Gap if my memory serves, and that release is present on this, effectively a greatest hits compilation. The first time I saw Cud at Coventry, they were an odd beast, similar in their looseness and beat driven sound to The Happy Mondays, similar, but infinitely better. They even had their own Bez in this man with a balaclava on and dressed in a silver lame shellsuit. Strange times indeed. I went with a friend of mine called Richard and neither of us knew songs by Cud and were very surprised that almost all of the audience knew pretty much all of the songs. From then on in I was smitten and saw them a number of times between then and their demise, and when they reformed a couple of years ago went to see them again with my wife, who was a fan but never had an opportunity to see them. They were as great then as they were when I saw them at Glastonbury Festival.
So this disc, as I said, effectively a greatest hits, my Cud, with a few singles being the exception is on vinyl, hence the need for this compilation. It spans their career in almost its entirety, from Mind The Gap to Purple Love Balloon. Cud were very good at packaging things up and making you want to buy them, Purple Love Balloon came with a make your own mobile in its 12” vinyl version.
Most of the singles are on this album, Eau Water, Robinson Crusoe and the ridiculously good Strange Kind Of Love, Only A Prawn In Whitby, Hey! Wire and more and more.
A number of covers are present, they did a lot of tracks for Imaginary Records, who were prone to putting out tribute albums, as well as putting out the three best Cud albums in Elvis Belt, Leggy Mambo and When In rome Kill Me. The covers though, go from the Quo’s Down Down, this taken from the NME’s 40th anniversary disc, Ruby Trax, Bohemian Rhapsody from the anti poll tax album, Alvin Lives In Leeds and finally their take on The Family Cat’s career high point, Remember What It Is That You Love.
So across 21 tracks, none unfamiliar to me, all great, all fantastic, superb. 9 out of 10.
Strange Kind Of Love by Cud
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin again today, the penultimate Zepellin of this little stack of CD’s I think. Led Zeppelin II to be more precise, their second album. Tomorrow it’s the debut, but for today it’s the sophomore effort.
This is a great album for all intents and purposes, its almost a great album, its one song off a great album. Yes I could be spending blog inches telling you perhaps what you already know about the atlantic soul beauty of The Lemon Song, or Whole Lotta Love was THE greatest theme tune outside of Ronnie Hazlehursts work, or Heartbreaker being one of the most fantastic rock songs ever written. I could tell you all this, and those alone could be the reason why this album is noted as one of the greatest rock albums ever written.
This is all negated by Ramble On. Ramble On destroys everything else on this album due to one verse.
Christ. Minus this song 9 out of 10, with this song 1 out of 10.
Ramble On by Led Zeppelin
This is a great album for all intents and purposes, its almost a great album, its one song off a great album. Yes I could be spending blog inches telling you perhaps what you already know about the atlantic soul beauty of The Lemon Song, or Whole Lotta Love was THE greatest theme tune outside of Ronnie Hazlehursts work, or Heartbreaker being one of the most fantastic rock songs ever written. I could tell you all this, and those alone could be the reason why this album is noted as one of the greatest rock albums ever written.
This is all negated by Ramble On. Ramble On destroys everything else on this album due to one verse.
Mine's a tale that can't be told, my freedom I hold dear
How years ago in days of old when magic filled the air
'twas in the darkest depths of Mordor, mm-I met a girl so fair
but Gollum and the evil warg crept up and slipped away with her
her, her, yeah, and ain't nothin' I can do, no
Christ. Minus this song 9 out of 10, with this song 1 out of 10.
Ramble On by Led Zeppelin
Friday, 16 October 2009
Good Vibrations - 30 Years Of The Beach Boys
This week I will be listening to the Beach Boys box set, Good Vibrations, Thirty Years of The Beach Boys. Its about 5 or 6 discs long and it is career spanning, released in 1993 it has elements of their entire career, from pre Beach Boys up to the detestable Kokomo.
This boxset is possibly my greatest bargain, a number of years ago I worked as an auditer for Woolworths and I saw they were selling this boxset for around 2.99, it was foolish not to buy it.
So anyway, Disc one today, leading off with a demo version of Surfin USA and finishing with a little tribute to the Four Freshman.
Surfin USA by The Beach Boys
This is my last alphabeticised B, I may dip into a few misfiled B’s in the future but this is the end. And what an end, an absolute joy this morning. Disc one is potentially the best of all the discs on this compilation taking in the supremely good Don’t Worry Baby, Little Deuce Coupe, Be True To Your School, Surfer Moon, Little Honda and the magnificent In My Room. As well as alternate versions and demos of the classics, Surfin USA and Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring.
In My Room by The Beach Boys
As a start to any boxset that would be enough but over 35 or 36 songs you get the foundations of what made The Beach Boys one of, if not THE greatest pop band ever.
Disc two (Tuesday) and more of the same but moving towards a more experimental point in their career, this disc features tracks from Pet sounds, Smiley Smile and the unreleased, Smile. Heroes and Villains in particular is given a lot of space on disc 2, in total 8 of the tracks from smile appear on this release.
Disc 2 as I said is the more experimental disc and this is it’s downfall for me, the songs are undoubtedly great but a little overblown. One of my favourite Beach Boys tracks is Heroes and Villains but I am unsure if I need to hear it in various guises three times.
Heroes and Villains by The Beach Boys
I was a mere lad the first time I heard Heroes and Villains and if I recall correctly I thought it was very very long and a little odd, time means that I know it isn’t that long and even though the oddness is still there, it’s a great track.
Disc 2 may have been a bit lengthy but it still has its fair share of amazing tracks that alone would make up a greatest hits, and reaffirmed why The Beach Boys need a box set to show off their career.
Disc 3 today and moving slowly into a period of The Beach Boys career that I love, although inexplicably it kicks off with yet another version of Heroes and Villains. I suspect that will not be the last time I hear that song in this boxset.
This period I guess is fallow for a lot of people, moving away from surfing and cars and the experimentation that preceeded it and more a case of Carl Wilson leading the band during Brian’s retirement from live performance and subsequent mental illness. The thing that I find with this era is this is when they were more reliant on the songs and to a degree, other band members were allowed to produce some stunning songs.
Disney Girls by The Beach Boys
Disney Girls, Bruce Johnstons track makes an appearance and this is one of my all time favourite songs. Described by some as sentimental crap, but I like sentimental, its what I like best. Also appearing is Dennis Wilson’s Forever, again it could be described as sentimental, but again, its something that really is a high point.
Also present is a take on the Leadbelly track, Cottonfields, it does seem a little out of place in all fairness and when ever I heard it, it suffered from not ringing true, a good song though, just a little out of character.
The hits are fewer and far between on this disc, a quick glance and it seems that only Heroes and Villains, Darlin, Do It Again, I Can Hear Music and the Brian and Murray Wilson (father) penned Breakaway. This disc though for my money is not about the hits, its about exploring the album tracks produced in the 70’s, the alternate takes, and the previously unreleased, This Whole World, San Miguel and Can’t Wait Too Long, respectively.
As disc 3 closes another strong disc that contains some of my favourite Beach Boys album tracks.
Disc 4 and it must be Thursday, and this album is the transition from the 70’s to the 80’s. A period that saw the Beach Boys kicking and screaming, after all the transition from the 60’s to the 70’s was difficult enough for them.
Although this disc is as bursting at the seams with great tracks like its predecessors, it certainly has a few greats, notably the Dennis Wilson song Baby Blue, a real treat and one that would not have been out of place on his solo album Pacific Ocean Blue. Baby Blue is the best track on this disc, but it isn’t alone.
Baby Blue by The Beach Boys
You Need A Mess of Help To Stand Alone, a track that I first encountered as a Hefner B-side and one that is almost bluesy in its feel, so quite different to the cover. Another great track though.
What isn’t a great track, and I think it is indicative of where The Beach Boys were heading without Brain Wilson’s influence is the saccharine flavoured Kokomo. As a final song to the chronological discs, its an appalling closer.
The return journey today will be the sessions, demos and tracks from their Stack o Tracks box. Maybe that will erase the memory of Kokomo.
The final disc was as expected a trainspotters paradise, but if you are a casual fan it could be an eyebrow raiser. The final disc gives you an insight into the recording process, you get to see the genesis of Good Vibrations, but also hear the guide vocals. A superb ending to a great box set, an enjoyable boxset and a great way to bow out of the killer B’s.
God Only Knows Demo by The Beach Boys
This would be 10 out of 10, it should be 10 out of 10, but through this, listening to Mike Love’s vocals, and recalling what an utter dick the man is. I had to mark it down purely an simply for that. He has the weakest vocals of any band, and through this boxset he is given the chance at lead vocal. Couple that with him being, to quote my daughter, a total douche. This loses one for his presence. 9 out of 10.
This boxset is possibly my greatest bargain, a number of years ago I worked as an auditer for Woolworths and I saw they were selling this boxset for around 2.99, it was foolish not to buy it.
So anyway, Disc one today, leading off with a demo version of Surfin USA and finishing with a little tribute to the Four Freshman.
Surfin USA by The Beach Boys
This is my last alphabeticised B, I may dip into a few misfiled B’s in the future but this is the end. And what an end, an absolute joy this morning. Disc one is potentially the best of all the discs on this compilation taking in the supremely good Don’t Worry Baby, Little Deuce Coupe, Be True To Your School, Surfer Moon, Little Honda and the magnificent In My Room. As well as alternate versions and demos of the classics, Surfin USA and Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring.
In My Room by The Beach Boys
As a start to any boxset that would be enough but over 35 or 36 songs you get the foundations of what made The Beach Boys one of, if not THE greatest pop band ever.
Disc two (Tuesday) and more of the same but moving towards a more experimental point in their career, this disc features tracks from Pet sounds, Smiley Smile and the unreleased, Smile. Heroes and Villains in particular is given a lot of space on disc 2, in total 8 of the tracks from smile appear on this release.
Disc 2 as I said is the more experimental disc and this is it’s downfall for me, the songs are undoubtedly great but a little overblown. One of my favourite Beach Boys tracks is Heroes and Villains but I am unsure if I need to hear it in various guises three times.
Heroes and Villains by The Beach Boys
I was a mere lad the first time I heard Heroes and Villains and if I recall correctly I thought it was very very long and a little odd, time means that I know it isn’t that long and even though the oddness is still there, it’s a great track.
Disc 2 may have been a bit lengthy but it still has its fair share of amazing tracks that alone would make up a greatest hits, and reaffirmed why The Beach Boys need a box set to show off their career.
Disc 3 today and moving slowly into a period of The Beach Boys career that I love, although inexplicably it kicks off with yet another version of Heroes and Villains. I suspect that will not be the last time I hear that song in this boxset.
This period I guess is fallow for a lot of people, moving away from surfing and cars and the experimentation that preceeded it and more a case of Carl Wilson leading the band during Brian’s retirement from live performance and subsequent mental illness. The thing that I find with this era is this is when they were more reliant on the songs and to a degree, other band members were allowed to produce some stunning songs.
Disney Girls by The Beach Boys
Disney Girls, Bruce Johnstons track makes an appearance and this is one of my all time favourite songs. Described by some as sentimental crap, but I like sentimental, its what I like best. Also appearing is Dennis Wilson’s Forever, again it could be described as sentimental, but again, its something that really is a high point.
Also present is a take on the Leadbelly track, Cottonfields, it does seem a little out of place in all fairness and when ever I heard it, it suffered from not ringing true, a good song though, just a little out of character.
The hits are fewer and far between on this disc, a quick glance and it seems that only Heroes and Villains, Darlin, Do It Again, I Can Hear Music and the Brian and Murray Wilson (father) penned Breakaway. This disc though for my money is not about the hits, its about exploring the album tracks produced in the 70’s, the alternate takes, and the previously unreleased, This Whole World, San Miguel and Can’t Wait Too Long, respectively.
As disc 3 closes another strong disc that contains some of my favourite Beach Boys album tracks.
Disc 4 and it must be Thursday, and this album is the transition from the 70’s to the 80’s. A period that saw the Beach Boys kicking and screaming, after all the transition from the 60’s to the 70’s was difficult enough for them.
Although this disc is as bursting at the seams with great tracks like its predecessors, it certainly has a few greats, notably the Dennis Wilson song Baby Blue, a real treat and one that would not have been out of place on his solo album Pacific Ocean Blue. Baby Blue is the best track on this disc, but it isn’t alone.
Baby Blue by The Beach Boys
You Need A Mess of Help To Stand Alone, a track that I first encountered as a Hefner B-side and one that is almost bluesy in its feel, so quite different to the cover. Another great track though.
What isn’t a great track, and I think it is indicative of where The Beach Boys were heading without Brain Wilson’s influence is the saccharine flavoured Kokomo. As a final song to the chronological discs, its an appalling closer.
The return journey today will be the sessions, demos and tracks from their Stack o Tracks box. Maybe that will erase the memory of Kokomo.
The final disc was as expected a trainspotters paradise, but if you are a casual fan it could be an eyebrow raiser. The final disc gives you an insight into the recording process, you get to see the genesis of Good Vibrations, but also hear the guide vocals. A superb ending to a great box set, an enjoyable boxset and a great way to bow out of the killer B’s.
God Only Knows Demo by The Beach Boys
This would be 10 out of 10, it should be 10 out of 10, but through this, listening to Mike Love’s vocals, and recalling what an utter dick the man is. I had to mark it down purely an simply for that. He has the weakest vocals of any band, and through this boxset he is given the chance at lead vocal. Couple that with him being, to quote my daughter, a total douche. This loses one for his presence. 9 out of 10.
Monday, 5 October 2009
Revolver
Revolver was my CD of choice, driving my car too and fro from MOT place. It tried to lighten my mood and in a way I guess it did.
Let me be honest here, you may have noticed that I dont hold the revered albums up there that I should, the ones that make the lists I tend to think are ok, and so Revolver was picked from the shelf and an opinion formed very very quickly, christ, moddy shit from The Beatles.
Its good isn't it, it's a bloody good album and I really didn't realise it, it's superb, you can really see where Oasis got their sound, and when was it released, what 66? Really ahead of it's time, Tomorrow Never Knows could be The Chemical Brothers, certainly ther Chemical Brothers owe the drums on Tomorrow Never Knows a bit of a debt.
The only real downsides are Yellow Submarine and Harrisons efforts, and although this review is brief, I cant really tell you much about Revolver, but as this started out as a 4, it is a generous 9 out of 10.
She Said She Said by The Beatles
Let me be honest here, you may have noticed that I dont hold the revered albums up there that I should, the ones that make the lists I tend to think are ok, and so Revolver was picked from the shelf and an opinion formed very very quickly, christ, moddy shit from The Beatles.
Its good isn't it, it's a bloody good album and I really didn't realise it, it's superb, you can really see where Oasis got their sound, and when was it released, what 66? Really ahead of it's time, Tomorrow Never Knows could be The Chemical Brothers, certainly ther Chemical Brothers owe the drums on Tomorrow Never Knows a bit of a debt.
The only real downsides are Yellow Submarine and Harrisons efforts, and although this review is brief, I cant really tell you much about Revolver, but as this started out as a 4, it is a generous 9 out of 10.
She Said She Said by The Beatles
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Pet Sounds
Today I was commuting in the company of The Beach Boys, the first Beach boys album that has managed to accompany me to Coleshill.
I own on CD very very few Beach Boys albums, I own a lot of Beach Boys albums but they are on vinyl and MP3, but I do own the 1990 reissue of Pet Sounds and that was todays commute CD.
I see Pet Sounds as a bit of a paradox, like it’s british cousin Sgt Pepper, the critics, the monthly magazines, society tells me that this is one of the greatest albums ever made. I consider The Beach Boys to be amongst the top 5 greatest bands ever, so really I should agree with this though shouldn’t I?
I don’t. Not to say that it contains one of the greatest songs ever in God Only Knows, but the remainder are just pretty good. That’s almost blasphemous isn’t it.
God Only Knows alone would warrant a ten though, that song is perfection, but that is thanks in no great part to lyricist Tony Asher, musically it is complicated and marvellous and staggeringly gorgeous but as someone that does not listen to lyrics at all, it’s the words that grabbed me.
If I were reviewing singles or specific songs then that would be it, 10 out of 10, much love, goodnight. But the rest of the album, although good it is only good and although their aren’t any George Harrison contractual obligations on it, there are the odd yelps from dogs and the like, but even that isn’t the reason why its only good. It isn’t even the emperors new clothes, but does is it really as great as the world insists it is? No.
What is good about it though are the songs, outside of God Only Knows, there is Sloop John B, I know There’s An answer, Caroline No, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, the list really goes on, hold on, an album full of good tracks, some are great?
Maybe I am wrong and maybe this album is better than Carl and The Passions – So Tough, maybe it is better than Holland, maybe its better than Surf’s Up, but it sure as hell isn’t better than Party, therefore, 9 out of 10.
God Only Knows by The Beach Boys
I own on CD very very few Beach Boys albums, I own a lot of Beach Boys albums but they are on vinyl and MP3, but I do own the 1990 reissue of Pet Sounds and that was todays commute CD.
I see Pet Sounds as a bit of a paradox, like it’s british cousin Sgt Pepper, the critics, the monthly magazines, society tells me that this is one of the greatest albums ever made. I consider The Beach Boys to be amongst the top 5 greatest bands ever, so really I should agree with this though shouldn’t I?
I don’t. Not to say that it contains one of the greatest songs ever in God Only Knows, but the remainder are just pretty good. That’s almost blasphemous isn’t it.
God Only Knows alone would warrant a ten though, that song is perfection, but that is thanks in no great part to lyricist Tony Asher, musically it is complicated and marvellous and staggeringly gorgeous but as someone that does not listen to lyrics at all, it’s the words that grabbed me.
If I were reviewing singles or specific songs then that would be it, 10 out of 10, much love, goodnight. But the rest of the album, although good it is only good and although their aren’t any George Harrison contractual obligations on it, there are the odd yelps from dogs and the like, but even that isn’t the reason why its only good. It isn’t even the emperors new clothes, but does is it really as great as the world insists it is? No.
What is good about it though are the songs, outside of God Only Knows, there is Sloop John B, I know There’s An answer, Caroline No, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, the list really goes on, hold on, an album full of good tracks, some are great?
Maybe I am wrong and maybe this album is better than Carl and The Passions – So Tough, maybe it is better than Holland, maybe its better than Surf’s Up, but it sure as hell isn’t better than Party, therefore, 9 out of 10.
God Only Knows by The Beach Boys
Saturday, 26 September 2009
The Beastie Boys Anthology, The Sounds of Science Disc 1
Yesterdays commute CD was the first disc of the Beastie Boys Anthology, Sounds of Science. You might not recall that I listened to the second disc a few weeks ago and didnt think much of it, thats how I roll!
Disc 1 was an entirely different affair, it may have been me, my mood, the tracks or all of the above but if the anthology was a single disc then it could be just disc one and it would be almost perfect.
Disc one has nuances, where disc 2 didnt, it has light and shade, up and down, yin and yang, and of course 3 MC's and 1 DJ, Root Down and Slow and Low. Three of my favourite Beastie Boys tracks.
The only downside to this album is Country Mike and Fatboy Slim, both serve no purpose in my mind and stop straight out Beastie Boys tracks making it on to this album.
Otherwise a contender for the best of the B's. 9 out of 10
Slow and Low by The Beastie Boys
Disc 1 was an entirely different affair, it may have been me, my mood, the tracks or all of the above but if the anthology was a single disc then it could be just disc one and it would be almost perfect.
Disc one has nuances, where disc 2 didnt, it has light and shade, up and down, yin and yang, and of course 3 MC's and 1 DJ, Root Down and Slow and Low. Three of my favourite Beastie Boys tracks.
The only downside to this album is Country Mike and Fatboy Slim, both serve no purpose in my mind and stop straight out Beastie Boys tracks making it on to this album.
Otherwise a contender for the best of the B's. 9 out of 10
Slow and Low by The Beastie Boys
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
The nations favourite old person, Sarah Kennedy kept me entertained for the main part for my journey to London, she is like a walking talking version of The Daily Mail, after all she does believe that Enoch Powell was the best leader this country never had. She does play show tunes though and there really is nothing better than zipping through England screaming at the top of your lungs, “Therea ain’t nothing like a dame”.
It doesn’t last long though and as soon as Terry Wogan came a long it bought me neatly to my commute CD, apparently the greatest album ever made depending on the day, The Beatles’ Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Its not the greatest album ever made though, its note even The Beatles greatest album, but considering I wasn’t particularly looking forward to listening to it, it wasn’t an altogether bad experience.
I hadn’t listened to this album in quite some years, I had listened to the NME compiled Sgt Pepper Knew My Father but the actual album that tribute was based on, it may have been around 25 years since I last heard it, I find it quite dull you see.
It wasn’t dull though, I would say that She’s Leaving Home is possibly The Beatles most accomplished and well put together song. Potentially their best song, it caught me off guard a little as it was a song that I hadn’t really given any thought to.
The album as a whole demonstrates extremely well just how good Lennon and McCartney were as songwriters, in all of the songs on this album there are no clichés, they aren’t lazy lyrically or musically, they don’t feel the need to add superfluous “ooh baby’s” and the album fits together better than a jigsaw, carefully compiled running order makes it an effortless album to listen to.
The only downside for me is when they allow George Harrison to have free reign as he does on the tabla and sitar infused Within You Without You. If The Beatles can’t be arsed to play on it, then I think that is rather telling. It only takes one bad apple and this bad album loses this surprising (to me) album a point. 9 out of 10.
She’s Leaving Home by The Beatles
It doesn’t last long though and as soon as Terry Wogan came a long it bought me neatly to my commute CD, apparently the greatest album ever made depending on the day, The Beatles’ Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Its not the greatest album ever made though, its note even The Beatles greatest album, but considering I wasn’t particularly looking forward to listening to it, it wasn’t an altogether bad experience.
I hadn’t listened to this album in quite some years, I had listened to the NME compiled Sgt Pepper Knew My Father but the actual album that tribute was based on, it may have been around 25 years since I last heard it, I find it quite dull you see.
It wasn’t dull though, I would say that She’s Leaving Home is possibly The Beatles most accomplished and well put together song. Potentially their best song, it caught me off guard a little as it was a song that I hadn’t really given any thought to.
The album as a whole demonstrates extremely well just how good Lennon and McCartney were as songwriters, in all of the songs on this album there are no clichés, they aren’t lazy lyrically or musically, they don’t feel the need to add superfluous “ooh baby’s” and the album fits together better than a jigsaw, carefully compiled running order makes it an effortless album to listen to.
The only downside for me is when they allow George Harrison to have free reign as he does on the tabla and sitar infused Within You Without You. If The Beatles can’t be arsed to play on it, then I think that is rather telling. It only takes one bad apple and this bad album loses this surprising (to me) album a point. 9 out of 10.
She’s Leaving Home by The Beatles
Sunday, 2 August 2009
Back To Basics
I thought it may have been Billy Bragg and what do you know, it was, the odds weren’t the most adventurous though. Today though it is the compilation of early material, Back To Basics.
This album is a compilation of the albums Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy and Brewing Up with Billy Bragg and the EP Between The Wars. This should be an easy album to review then, Lifes a riot got 9 and Brewing up with got 8, bingo, 17 out of 20, or 8.5 out of 10.
Which it could be, and I don’t want to be too dismissive here, but as these songs are coming round over and over again I don’t really have much more to say on them, I did on my commute agree that Saturday Boy is still one of the finest songs ever written and lyrically A New England probably can’t be bettered, and that the Leon Rosselson song, Th World Turned Upside Down is done absolutely superbly.
So that’s it really, if this had been The Internationale you would have got something more indepth as it isn’t, Back To Basics, 9 out of 10.
Saturday Boy by Billy Bragg
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Selmasongs
Selmasongs today, the one and only Bjork album that I like, and I do like it. It was the 2000 soundtrack to the Lars Von Trier film, Dancer In The Dark.
Now the reason why I like this album may be because of many reasons, maybe its because Bjorks vocals on this album are as close to her vocals on The Sugarcubes material, maybe because it’s the soundtrack to an outstanding film, maybe because the songs are pretty good, or maybe it weighs in at 7 tracks long.
Along those 7 tracks I do have to put up with Thom Yorke so its not the walk in the park that is assumed, thankfully his presence isn’t too great and is merely an interruption, you know like Adrian Chiles on The One Show, its worth suffering him for the opportunity to see Morrissey being asked fucking inane questions.
Cvalda features the fragrant Catherine Deneuve, who doesn’t look like a mole with a shit haircut that looks like her mum has done it, but this isn’t about Thom Yorke, Cvalda uses the noise of the factory for its backing and you may assume that its some man shouting something about Jordans boobies or the terrible state of immigration in this country but no, you would be wrong, Mark Bell, the producer has quite cleverly got industrial sounds not only to back Bjork but also in a way got Bjork to create sounds that fit in with the scenes in Dancer In The Dark.
New World appears twice on the album, as the opening Overture and the final track and the normal run of things, effectively the same Bjork track twice on one album that would be a fate too nasty to comprehend but as this is my favourite Bjork track (admittedly it’s a very shallow pool) it is a bit of a delight.
So a great mini album, thoroughly enjoyable, start to finish, that soundtracks a ridiculously good film. 9 out of 10.
New World by Bjork
Now the reason why I like this album may be because of many reasons, maybe its because Bjorks vocals on this album are as close to her vocals on The Sugarcubes material, maybe because it’s the soundtrack to an outstanding film, maybe because the songs are pretty good, or maybe it weighs in at 7 tracks long.
Along those 7 tracks I do have to put up with Thom Yorke so its not the walk in the park that is assumed, thankfully his presence isn’t too great and is merely an interruption, you know like Adrian Chiles on The One Show, its worth suffering him for the opportunity to see Morrissey being asked fucking inane questions.
Cvalda features the fragrant Catherine Deneuve, who doesn’t look like a mole with a shit haircut that looks like her mum has done it, but this isn’t about Thom Yorke, Cvalda uses the noise of the factory for its backing and you may assume that its some man shouting something about Jordans boobies or the terrible state of immigration in this country but no, you would be wrong, Mark Bell, the producer has quite cleverly got industrial sounds not only to back Bjork but also in a way got Bjork to create sounds that fit in with the scenes in Dancer In The Dark.
New World appears twice on the album, as the opening Overture and the final track and the normal run of things, effectively the same Bjork track twice on one album that would be a fate too nasty to comprehend but as this is my favourite Bjork track (admittedly it’s a very shallow pool) it is a bit of a delight.
So a great mini album, thoroughly enjoyable, start to finish, that soundtracks a ridiculously good film. 9 out of 10.
New World by Bjork
Thursday, 18 June 2009
Sunrise Sunset A Bright Eyes Compendium
The predicted Billy Bragg spell didn’t really materialise and this morning it was instead Sunrise Sunset A Bright Eyes Compendium. A very well made compilation of Bright Eyes songs someone, forgotten, made me in around 2001.
I first became aware of Bright Eyes when the Virgin Megastore in which I worked stocked the split single Bright eyes did with Her Space Holiday in 2000. Virgin stocked about 5 copies of this and I could get in the car now and drive to where 3 of them copies are. Admittedly work might wonder where I was and it would be a drain on the petrol purely to prove a point. None the less. That single was fantastic and on my way to the next B album this morning I flicked past it.
This album as I said was done for me but someone long forgotten as an exchange for a Hefner disc I did for them, the sleeve is professionally printed and it was, even more than the split single, the catalyst for my love of Conor Oberst, in a purely platonic heterosexual way.
The compilation takes tracks from the albums prior to and including Fevers and Mirrors, with tracks from the odd EP thrown in for good measure. The Fevers and Mirrors tracks are the strongest, with the odd exception, drawing on The Calendar Hung Itself, Something Vague, Sunrise Sunset and The Center of The world, but the real joy is a track from Every Day and Every Night EP, and that track is A Perfect Sonnet. A song that has been known to reduce a grown man to tears and THE track that cemented my love of the band. The only reason I don’t give this compilation a ten is that it is a compilation, nothing more. The songs are strong enough as the mix draws on the best elements of Obersts Bright Eyes work prior to 2001. Stunning. 9 out of 10.
A Perfect Sonnet by Bright Eyes
I first became aware of Bright Eyes when the Virgin Megastore in which I worked stocked the split single Bright eyes did with Her Space Holiday in 2000. Virgin stocked about 5 copies of this and I could get in the car now and drive to where 3 of them copies are. Admittedly work might wonder where I was and it would be a drain on the petrol purely to prove a point. None the less. That single was fantastic and on my way to the next B album this morning I flicked past it.
This album as I said was done for me but someone long forgotten as an exchange for a Hefner disc I did for them, the sleeve is professionally printed and it was, even more than the split single, the catalyst for my love of Conor Oberst, in a purely platonic heterosexual way.
The compilation takes tracks from the albums prior to and including Fevers and Mirrors, with tracks from the odd EP thrown in for good measure. The Fevers and Mirrors tracks are the strongest, with the odd exception, drawing on The Calendar Hung Itself, Something Vague, Sunrise Sunset and The Center of The world, but the real joy is a track from Every Day and Every Night EP, and that track is A Perfect Sonnet. A song that has been known to reduce a grown man to tears and THE track that cemented my love of the band. The only reason I don’t give this compilation a ten is that it is a compilation, nothing more. The songs are strong enough as the mix draws on the best elements of Obersts Bright Eyes work prior to 2001. Stunning. 9 out of 10.
A Perfect Sonnet by Bright Eyes
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Brewing Up With Billy Bragg
Yesterday William Bloke, today Brewing Up With Billy Bragg. I have a lot of Bragg, I mentioned that and I think as far as commuting CD’s go, we are due to hit a patch of them, don’t get me wrong I don’t look ahead to see what is coming, I return the days CD to the shelf sticking out a little and take the next album along, they are always a moderate surprise, in as much as I don’t know which B, just that it is a B.
Brewing up with.. is Billys second album, coming out in 1984 on Go! Discs, pitching half way between folk and punk and on the whole its Billy and his guitar. Rare appearances from Dave Woodhead playing trumpet on Saturday Boy and the late Kenny Craddock adding organ to A Lover Sings, this extra instrumentation only add to the beauty of the two tracks, but anything more would destroy them.
This album is a far more political album than anything that came after it. 1984 topped off a period that had seen Thatcher secure a second term, the beginnings of the miners strike and the Falklands War was only a mere 2 years in the past. 80’s greed was tightening its grip, Duran Duran were typical of the music that was filling the charts, and Billy was atypical. This album comments on all of this and more.
Billys contemporaries were the Redskins, Specials AKA, Paul Weller and The Smiths, Red Wedge had yet to be formed when this album was released so as political voices went in 1984, you would struggle, but Billy combined pop and politics and his usual excuses. On this album it works better than any other by him. He is still young, and bilious, and not living in a Dorset pile. He cares. He might still care but he has the school run to attend to and not kick over chairs.
The music is entirely strong and very few lines will make you furrow your brow, even after all these years, that’s the thing with political music, as time goes on, its likely to leave the listener scratching their head as to what they mean or it becomes trite. Billy’s words do still seem relevant, be it the tabloid press, the complications of love or being a modern soldier.
An enjoyable album today and one that will continue to entertain me, Saturday Boy remains one of my favourite songs. 9 out of 10.
Saturday Boy by Billy Bragg
Brewing up with.. is Billys second album, coming out in 1984 on Go! Discs, pitching half way between folk and punk and on the whole its Billy and his guitar. Rare appearances from Dave Woodhead playing trumpet on Saturday Boy and the late Kenny Craddock adding organ to A Lover Sings, this extra instrumentation only add to the beauty of the two tracks, but anything more would destroy them.
This album is a far more political album than anything that came after it. 1984 topped off a period that had seen Thatcher secure a second term, the beginnings of the miners strike and the Falklands War was only a mere 2 years in the past. 80’s greed was tightening its grip, Duran Duran were typical of the music that was filling the charts, and Billy was atypical. This album comments on all of this and more.
Billys contemporaries were the Redskins, Specials AKA, Paul Weller and The Smiths, Red Wedge had yet to be formed when this album was released so as political voices went in 1984, you would struggle, but Billy combined pop and politics and his usual excuses. On this album it works better than any other by him. He is still young, and bilious, and not living in a Dorset pile. He cares. He might still care but he has the school run to attend to and not kick over chairs.
The music is entirely strong and very few lines will make you furrow your brow, even after all these years, that’s the thing with political music, as time goes on, its likely to leave the listener scratching their head as to what they mean or it becomes trite. Billy’s words do still seem relevant, be it the tabloid press, the complications of love or being a modern soldier.
An enjoyable album today and one that will continue to entertain me, Saturday Boy remains one of my favourite songs. 9 out of 10.
Saturday Boy by Billy Bragg
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Title TK
Todays CD should have been A Hard Days Night by The Beatles, but it isn’t, because somehow my copy of this album wont play in my car stereo. All other Beatles albums have so far, I am not best pleased.
I hightailed it back into the house and the next CD along was The Breeders third album, Title TK. The Steve Albini produced album was a long time coming in our house and as of early morning on the 2nd of June it is my favourite Breeders album.
I need to be brief as I want to post something else but Title TK is a fantastic record, and the only thing stopping me giving it a ten is that I think two tens in two days is a little over the top.
If you liked Last Splash then this album is for you, pretty faultless on the whole and as good as anything I have on my shelves. A self editing 9 out of 10.
Off You by The Breeders
I hightailed it back into the house and the next CD along was The Breeders third album, Title TK. The Steve Albini produced album was a long time coming in our house and as of early morning on the 2nd of June it is my favourite Breeders album.
I need to be brief as I want to post something else but Title TK is a fantastic record, and the only thing stopping me giving it a ten is that I think two tens in two days is a little over the top.
If you liked Last Splash then this album is for you, pretty faultless on the whole and as good as anything I have on my shelves. A self editing 9 out of 10.
Off You by The Breeders
Friday, 29 May 2009
Rubber Soul
Today was really the first day of summer, the weather dictated that I should be playing a suitably summery record that had me skipping down my road to my car, so it was fear that gripped me when I went to the CD shelf this morning, knowing that it could spew something perfect or it could Spew Bjork’s Vespertine. The sun gods were happy though and decided that one Bjork a week is more than ample. Rubber Soul was the music, Stafford to Coleshill was the journey, Sunny was both my disposition and the weather, Scottish replacement for Claire Nazir was right this morning.
Rubber Soul was the first Beatles record I adored, I acquired my parents copy in my late teens and played it endlessly, somewhere in a cupboard I have these poems I wrote when I was 15 or 16 and those poems rip this album off without the merest hint of trying to hide it, I listened to it a lot!
As of now though it isn’t my favourite Beatles album, but it is certainly up there and it kind of heralds the start of their more experimental phase, playing with instruments that you didn’t really hear on mainstream pop records, Sitar, Harmonium and potentially spoons (I like the idea of spoons on records). The subject matter was getting a little darker also, not just Norwegian Wood, but in Run For Your Life the tone is menacing. Lennon said that Run For Your Life was his least favourite songs, cant see it myself.
Enough to say I think this album should be owned by everyone and it always perplexed me that in those greatest album polls this was eclipsed by the likes of Revolver or Sgt Pepper, this is in my opinion far stronger than both those records, but still not the strongest Beatles record. 9 out of 10
Run For Your Life by The Beatles
Rubber Soul was the first Beatles record I adored, I acquired my parents copy in my late teens and played it endlessly, somewhere in a cupboard I have these poems I wrote when I was 15 or 16 and those poems rip this album off without the merest hint of trying to hide it, I listened to it a lot!
As of now though it isn’t my favourite Beatles album, but it is certainly up there and it kind of heralds the start of their more experimental phase, playing with instruments that you didn’t really hear on mainstream pop records, Sitar, Harmonium and potentially spoons (I like the idea of spoons on records). The subject matter was getting a little darker also, not just Norwegian Wood, but in Run For Your Life the tone is menacing. Lennon said that Run For Your Life was his least favourite songs, cant see it myself.
Enough to say I think this album should be owned by everyone and it always perplexed me that in those greatest album polls this was eclipsed by the likes of Revolver or Sgt Pepper, this is in my opinion far stronger than both those records, but still not the strongest Beatles record. 9 out of 10
Run For Your Life by The Beatles
Friday, 22 May 2009
Enema of the State
The enema of the state today, the charmingly titled album by pop punkers, Blink 182. I love Blink 182, you should know that and none of their albums in the coming weeks will get below 8 out of 10, that might spoil it a little for you, but you can save up you bile until the last album of theirs.
This is potentially my favourite Blink 182 album, it could be called Greatest Hits and I would nod in agreement, one of my favourite Blink 182 tracks in Adams song, a single track across an extremely consistent album, from Dumpweed to Anthem and everything in between it really cant be bettered by them.
It would be easy to write them off as a band that play guitars and do jokes about ladies parts. On Adams Song they sing about teenage depression and suicide and it startles me that a group of their ilk could write something so good, and that I think was the song that made me love them.
Also present are the singles, All the small things and Whats my age again, 2 more reasons to love this album. 9 out of 10.
Adams Song by Blink 182
This is potentially my favourite Blink 182 album, it could be called Greatest Hits and I would nod in agreement, one of my favourite Blink 182 tracks in Adams song, a single track across an extremely consistent album, from Dumpweed to Anthem and everything in between it really cant be bettered by them.
It would be easy to write them off as a band that play guitars and do jokes about ladies parts. On Adams Song they sing about teenage depression and suicide and it startles me that a group of their ilk could write something so good, and that I think was the song that made me love them.
Also present are the singles, All the small things and Whats my age again, 2 more reasons to love this album. 9 out of 10.
Adams Song by Blink 182
Monday, 20 April 2009
Moon Safari
Moon Safari by Air today, and I will be honest with you, I was pre-empting this to be the best that A could offer, its an album I like very much and should be rather conducive to pleasant drives in early summer sun. The weather helped this morning and the congestion around Coleshill was not going to dampen my mood.
But lets be objective about it. This is an album that has soundtracked so many home makeover programmes, reveal section, every track pictured in my mind Kevin McLoud extolling the virtues of a seed roof or rococo architecture, or Sarah Beenie criticising someone for going over budget because they fancied a granite worktop, this is the soundtrack to a Channel 4 produced home improvement show and there was no getting around that.
Also the over-use of the vocoder made me picture the Rah Band on Clouds across the moon, or was that the Zap Band, its neither here nor there, it was vocoder heavy.
So what of the album, it is one of my favourites ever and the fact that it is used by the UK's versions of Ty Pennington doesn't distract me from it, every track is rather gorgeous and due to the aforementioned congestion I got to hear it all twice. I recommend it heartily and think it should be a mainstay of every record collection. 9.5 out of 10, dropped half a point as they should have used a project manager.
Kelly Watch the Stars by Air
But lets be objective about it. This is an album that has soundtracked so many home makeover programmes, reveal section, every track pictured in my mind Kevin McLoud extolling the virtues of a seed roof or rococo architecture, or Sarah Beenie criticising someone for going over budget because they fancied a granite worktop, this is the soundtrack to a Channel 4 produced home improvement show and there was no getting around that.
Also the over-use of the vocoder made me picture the Rah Band on Clouds across the moon, or was that the Zap Band, its neither here nor there, it was vocoder heavy.
So what of the album, it is one of my favourites ever and the fact that it is used by the UK's versions of Ty Pennington doesn't distract me from it, every track is rather gorgeous and due to the aforementioned congestion I got to hear it all twice. I recommend it heartily and think it should be a mainstay of every record collection. 9.5 out of 10, dropped half a point as they should have used a project manager.
Kelly Watch the Stars by Air
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Footprints Through The Snow
Alphabetically speaking it was the turn of ant today, Ant Harding and namely his last album, Footprints through the Snow, released on Homesleep records. Ant being a multi instrumentalist from the Isle of Wight that now resides in Malmo. Home Sleep I think is an Italian label.
I like Ant, and have effectively been following his career, its difficult to be subjective really but as I gave one of his other albums 6.5 I think I can and will be.
Todays journey through the midlands was a bleak one, the sky was black, torrential flooding was occurring, thunder, lightening and my soundtrack was Ant Harding, it was it has to be said a perfect soundtrack, the weather outside was frightful but the soundtrack was so de… you get the idea of that.
I personally think this album is the best piece of work he has recorded, he releases a reasonable amount of EP’s (he has just put one out recently, more details over at http://www.antpop.com/) and few albums, but I think personally this album is his best offering. Its love again, unless it is all metaphors and really he is speaking about Norwegian Swedish political relations and not about his life in Sweden, I will wager it’s the latter, its what he does well.
The songs on the album are better formed than any of his earlier works and his songwriting skill definitely kicked up a notch, you hear more of his influences breaking through as well, but not running all over the songs, Clifford T ward I know he is a fan of, similarly Drake, they are apparent, but not over bearing, Antony is his own man and the over riding voice is his. 9 out of 10.
I like Ant, and have effectively been following his career, its difficult to be subjective really but as I gave one of his other albums 6.5 I think I can and will be.
Todays journey through the midlands was a bleak one, the sky was black, torrential flooding was occurring, thunder, lightening and my soundtrack was Ant Harding, it was it has to be said a perfect soundtrack, the weather outside was frightful but the soundtrack was so de… you get the idea of that.
I personally think this album is the best piece of work he has recorded, he releases a reasonable amount of EP’s (he has just put one out recently, more details over at http://www.antpop.com/) and few albums, but I think personally this album is his best offering. Its love again, unless it is all metaphors and really he is speaking about Norwegian Swedish political relations and not about his life in Sweden, I will wager it’s the latter, its what he does well.
The songs on the album are better formed than any of his earlier works and his songwriting skill definitely kicked up a notch, you hear more of his influences breaking through as well, but not running all over the songs, Clifford T ward I know he is a fan of, similarly Drake, they are apparent, but not over bearing, Antony is his own man and the over riding voice is his. 9 out of 10.
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Londinium
Commute soundtrack today was Londinium by trip hop band, Archive. An album it has to be said I have been looking forward to. For a very brief period in the mid nineties I really did like Archive, I liked their sound and the fact that it wasn’t out and out dance music.
Wikipedia has bought me up to date on them and it appears they didn’t split up, they carried on doing what they do but along the way losing the female vocalist from Londinium, Roya Arab and also briefly losing the rap guy Rosko John, only for him to return this year.
So Londinium, a magnificent album that was as enjoyable today on the A38 as it was when I bought it in 1996. If anything a little better as I am hearing things a little differently.
I hear the world music influence that possibly Roya Arab may have bought in, yes they are doing a similar thing to Portisheads Dummy and both albums are fantastic but Archive were always better in my opinion as they released an album that was extremely strong from start to finish, that still sounds fresh, (fr-fr-fresssshhh) and in my opinion doesn’t really produce any clichés.
The stand out track is definitely So Few Words and it was this single that I bought prior to buying Londinium, gorgeous vocals all over it and utterly the the best soundtrack so far to my commute. Therefore 9 out of 10.
Wikipedia has bought me up to date on them and it appears they didn’t split up, they carried on doing what they do but along the way losing the female vocalist from Londinium, Roya Arab and also briefly losing the rap guy Rosko John, only for him to return this year.
So Londinium, a magnificent album that was as enjoyable today on the A38 as it was when I bought it in 1996. If anything a little better as I am hearing things a little differently.
I hear the world music influence that possibly Roya Arab may have bought in, yes they are doing a similar thing to Portisheads Dummy and both albums are fantastic but Archive were always better in my opinion as they released an album that was extremely strong from start to finish, that still sounds fresh, (fr-fr-fresssshhh) and in my opinion doesn’t really produce any clichés.
The stand out track is definitely So Few Words and it was this single that I bought prior to buying Londinium, gorgeous vocals all over it and utterly the the best soundtrack so far to my commute. Therefore 9 out of 10.
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