Category: Album of the Month

What to say about this album? Or the man behind it? His story is at times harrowing, sad, joyous, in fact the very fact he’s made a new album and put it out given what he’s gone through in the last year is an achievement in itself. A former frontman, beset by a lack of faith in his own skills and voice, time spent int he musical wilderness was saved by American outfit Midlake when they persuaded him to record an album with them. The result of that was the fantastic Queen Of Denmark, which layered piano and velvet, dual-tracked vocals, disguising the extremities of emotion in almost MOR style balladry. But underneath the surface of the standard musical structure lurks darkness at every turn. And The Queen Of Denmark was about his happiness spent with a partner, then Pale Green Ghosts is the bleakness of post-break up, taken up a notch with the announcement, onstage, that he was HIV+. Others would have retreated into solitude, but Grant simply confronted this head on, and the result is an album that’s accessible immeadiately, then gradually snares you, as the emotional impact the words hits home.

Made with Biggi Viera of Gus Gus, there’s an electronic slant on it, but it’s much more than just some synths added to Grant’s syrupy voice. For me, I’ve actually become obsessed with the album. I tend to listen to new albums three or four times over to get to know them in the first week, but occasionally I end up with a mild addiction, and in this case I’ve listened to it over 30 times in the first two weeks. I find myself waking up in the night and the morning with songs stuck in my head (the fist in a velvet glove GMF, or the ehtereal title track) and it’s pretty much taken me over this month.

There’s a brilliant interview with him in the Guardian that’s worth reading too:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/mar/03/john-grant-interview-singer-songw…

Laid bare, Pale Green Ghosts is one of the albums of the year.

Brother David – Deptford Goth – Life After Defo

Similary sprung on me this month, by a friend and while at first impression it just sounds a little like identikit male-voice, lots of reverb, dubby Croydon stuff, it’s a real grower. It’s not so much the vocals or the fx, but the melodies, and they’ve really stuck with me. two of my favourite albums this year so far. There’s a good interview with him in the Guardian as well. Enjoy!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/mar/15/deptford-goth-life-after-defo

Of all the hard-luck stories in rock – and there are many – you’d have to go a long way to beat Big Star. Perhaps only Badfinger (look em up on Wikipedia – a properly tragic tale) have a more depressing backstory. Big Star are one of those quintessential rock fables: a band with ridiculous talent who made 3 astonishing albums, who made no impact at all and fell to pieces – and who are now lauded by all and sundry as one of the great rock bands. Indeed, if you ever do a search under ‘Power Pop” (that is, rock music influenced by Brit invasion bands that are strong on melody and jangle, but are definitely crunchy rock pop rather than pop), Big Star will invariably be mentioned as one of the finest exponents: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_pop

And yet none of you own a record by them or have heard of them. Cruel old world, eh?

Big Star were formed in the early 70s in Memphis by Chris Bell and Alex Chilton, once of the teen-pop Box Tops, whose song The Letter you’ll remember:

Never have a band sounded less like they were from Memphis or from the early 70s. Bell and Chilton were both obsessed with The Kinks and The Who and I think Chilton even sings with a bit of an English accent! They certainly don’t sound like they were from the US South. And therein lies their tragedy. Their first album, the brilliantly titled Record #1, garnered amazing reviews, but Big Star were signed to Stax, a soul label who had no idea how to deal with them and seemingly underinterested in marketing them. The first album bombed. Bell’s drug use got out of hand. He and the band fell out and by the time their second album, Radio City, came around, he’d left – though the record bears some of his playing and songwriting. The second album fared as badly and the band only managed one more record, the bleak, harrowing Third/Sister Lovers, before disbanding. Soon afterwards, Bell died in a car crash.

Over the years, successive generations of musicians have discovered and their reputation has grown – R.E.M. were hugely influenced, as were The Lemonheads, Teenage Fanclub, Wilco and so on. They’re the basis, really, of melodic American college rock, except that makes them sound so-so when they’re so much better than that. I first came across them via 4AD’s supergroup This Mortal Coil, whose albums feature several covers of what I later realised were Big Star songs. You’ll also recognise September Gurls from The Bangles, who scored a hit with a cover. In the 90s, Chilton reformed the band with some success – he at least, got to see what the band’s reputation had become. Sadly, he died in 2010.

As with Bowie, there was a temptation to give you the most obvious album, which in Big Star’s case is their first album. It’s probably the most accessible, though their music is hardly difficult. But I think Radio City tells us the most about the band: despite Bell’s absence, it’s a band at the top of their powers making a bunch of quite incredible songs that burrow under your skin the more you listen to them. But you can also hear the strain on Chilton and a sorrow and tension in his songwriting and in his voice. Despite the chiming guitars, exquisite melodies and crunchy rock, it’s somehow quite a melancholy record. I also think it’s a beautiful piece of production. So much space between the instruments. Somehow both stripped back and yet really full. The guitar sound alone I could wax lyrical about endlessly. For me, it’s where chiming 60s pop meets 70s rock. It’s been often copied but never equalled.

Big Star have become a very, very important band to me. They’re one of the few bands whose work I can’t live without. When people first ask me who I’m into, I mention the three Bs: Beatles, Bowie, Big Star. I hope you feel the same.

Slightly late brothers, but the December album is Josh Rouse – Nashville. It came out in 2005, and I got alerted to it by my girlfriend at the time. It was something I’d have never really gone for without guidance, but don’t be fooled by the title, despite the odd steel guitar, it’s not a country album. It’s just a pitch-perfect slice of songwriting that tugs at the heartstrings. It grows with each listen, and it’s written distinctly with vinyl in mind, even when I had the CD it was listed as ‘side A/B’.

It had some emotional resonance with me, as it straddled the breakup of the relationship that brought it to me at the time, but that’s years in the past, and its effect hasn’t lessened, even though the association to that time’s now in the distant past. It’s also something I’d go – knowing the Brothers’ cd collections (and how hard it was to select something outside them) – as far as to say may just not fit for you, but if it does, it’ll be worth it. That’s the risk with new music. 99% of the albums I like, one of us has, so this is something different (it was between this and a Ben Folds Five album, but I chose this as it was more rewarding in the long term for me).

It sounds pretty timeless. It could’ve been made in 1975, or 1995, and it’s rare to find a modern album like that that hasn’t aged at all. I saw him perform it live in 2005, and it was just as powerful.

So, listen, digest, critique, and lay it all back on me. Only a cold soul could fail to be moved by Sad Eyes. An absolutely heartbreaking record.

Here’s one of the album’s lighter moments, My Love Has Gone.

So it’s my kick at the can as we continue delving into classic albums that have a special place in our music libraries. 

Like everyone else I have been racking my brain to bring an album to the table that isn’t already in your record collections but also deserves to sit next to two great albums from the Talking Heads and Bob Marley respectively. 

I have chosen Van Morrison’s first solo album: Astral Works. 

My history with this album to be honest with you is fairly young. You will often find it in top 50 ‘Greatest Albums of All Time’. That said, I have traditionally avoided it as it always was put across as Van Morrison’s less successful album. I find other albums painted with the same brush are placed in lists to be ‘controversial’ or show off a writer’s music knowladge. When I fell across this album a few years ago I was proven wrong. 

Van Morrison is known largely for the music he made whilst fronting the band “Them’ who were responsible for classic tracks ‘Gloria’ and ‘Here Comes The Night’. After ‘Them’ separated, Van Morrison moved to New York to work on a solo career. Sadly the music he wanted to do wasn’t what his label wanted him to do (the oh so familiar story). Subsequently Van Morrison was blacklisted from doing gigs and releasing music for a few years. This album was written in that time. The result is a very raw honesty from Van Morrison that set a standard for many artists of his generation. 

I’m going to avoid pointing out my favourite tracks as I think the whole album is amazing. I say that knowing that it look me a few listens to get into it at first. Personally I think you should start the album on ‘Sweet Thing’ (which is the third track) and listen to the first two tracks last. 

I hope you enjoy this album as much as I do. 

Please may I introduce ‘Catch a Fire’ by Bob Marley and The Wailers. Technically, the first album released by the band (Previous releases were released under the name ‘The Wailers’ without the pre-fix of ‘Bob’ … but just to make it confusing the album was released in 1973 by ‘The Wailers’ and in 1974 by ‘Bob Marley and the Wailers’- good Music Quiz knowledge).

‘Catch a Fire’ means attracting a wrath or ‘catching hell’ in Jamaican patois. The line comes from the song ‘Slave Driver’ and is meant in revenge or retribution for the crimes of slavery. Bob Marley has come to represent positive struggle. His image and music have been adopted globally often by oppressed minorities who take his message and make it their own; Maoris’ in New Zealand, Tamils in Sri Lanka, rich white kids whose parents aren’t around enough.

The album was released in 1973 (and then re-released in 1974) and was their first release on Island Records. The Island Records link here is significant. Chris Blackwell (Record Exec and Producer) was interested in selling Reggae to rock audiences. Island, until that point dealt almost solely in rock music. Blackwell described Rock as ‘Rebel Music’ and saw the link between what the Wailers were presenting and this definition.

Whilst the album does have significant cross-over appeal to rock audiences it is still a reggae album rather than a cross-over album which some of the later output could be described as. This is one of the reasons that I have chosen this as my album for October. It catches the band in transition but a transition that produces a consistent and complete sound rather than a work in progress.

Another reason that I have chosen this is that the ‘Legend’ greatest hits album only has one track from Catch A Fire, Stir It Up. While it is impossible to have never heard many of the tracks on this album they will I hope, be relatively fresh to your ears.

Probably the biggest reason for me choosing this is its place in my life. I ‘use’ music. I use it is a potent influencer on my mood and well being. I ‘use’ reggae for calmness, for positivity and for feeling warm. ‘Catch a Fire’ is generally held up as one of, if not the best reggae album of all time. It is often in peoples Top 100 / 50 / whatever albums of all time. This is right. This is not exaggeration.

I hope that you get from this album what I do. I would be interested when you listen to it. What drives you to it (if at all). I would be interested if you can get over the massive pre-conceptions that come with an artist as widely known and reputed as Bob and the Wailers.

If you get the chance then please watcht the documentary that I’ve put up top. Its 50 mins long and will serve as an excellent introduction to the album. Albums are on the way, estimated delivery 1st Oct.

As always, listen without prejudice. And prejudice in this instance means ignore the annoying students you knew at Uni who sat and smoked weed to Legend. Ignore rich white kids with dreads. Ignore the fact that Bob Marley is a global icon and therefore an opinion on him will already be formed in your head. You may nod your head while listening. You may not say ‘skanking’ or ‘riddim’ at any point.

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So. We’re kicking off a 4 month classic album stint with Talking Heads. Ah, Talking Heads. The band that everyone knows but no one knows. The band who’ve influenced everyone and yet so many people are a bit wary of. I think it’s the fault of the A word.

ART. It’s that rock meets art thing. Maybe Bowie has that reputation too. And when people here about art-rock, they start thinking about concept albums or high-minded dense songs with no tunes or lyrics about Tibet or women in art galleries with dark lipstick and loud voices. And you end up thinking THIS ISN’T ROCK MUSIC. Where’s the sex? Where’s the grit? Where’s the dirt? WHERE’S THE FUN?

Choosing a TH album was always going to be tricky – like Bowie, they’ve had a long career in many guises. And as with my Bowie choice, I could probably have gone for something ‘easier’. Their debut, Talking Heads 77 is probably their most poppy, or perhaps their swansong Naked. But you want the best, right? Well I reckon you’re looking at it right here.

OK. Two rules to this album:
1) You read the Wikipedia page about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remain_in_light
2) You listen to the whole thing 3 times before responding.

Why? Well, it’s an album you need to invest in, like so many of the best are. And the unusually excellent Wikipedia gives you a really fantastic sense of how this album came about. This is a band who were pushing at the musical straitjacket they’d made for themselves and suddenly found a whole new sound. I still think that marriage of African rhythms and the edgy New York paranoia of the band is so fresh, it’s startling. It was a sonic leap forward like nothing else for the band and that sense of excitement comes right off the songs.

The other interesting thing to note is the presence of Eno. He’s such an influence on this album. What a presence he was in the 70s and 80s on so many musicians, pushing them into new territories. He is of course the link to Bowie, with whom he also worked during his Berlin period.

Before I fell for this album, I knew Once In A Lifetime but none of the rest of the album – maybe as you do right now. You’d think there was nothing to add about the incredible awesomness of that song, an astonishing record that manages to be a party favourite that questions your entire existence. But when I first heard in the *context* or the rest of the album, I suddenly got it in an entirely different light.

I hope you too find the light and remain in it. 😉

While I know there’s a distinct love of the electronic on here, we’ve not really had an out-and-out electronic album up for the Brothers yet. And I’ve come across one this summer that I’m really really enjoying. It’s not a whack-you-over-the-head one like Justice or Daft Punk, nor is it uber-cool soundcapes a la Shed or Something Else. But I’ve been a fan of Simian Mobile Disco for a while, but never delved too much into their music up to now, not in album form. They’ve done a pop album a while back that had some intersting tracks on it, but appalled fans of their dancefloor stuff. Then they did Delicacies, which was the opposite end of the scale, and a bit too growly for me.

But James Ford and Jas Shaw are two lovers of analogue, and that I like very much. They’re two endearlingly nerdy, very English guys, and when I saw them at Sonar talking about the album and their music, it was hard not to get drawn into their own take on it. Jas Shaw’s pet project is a wardrobe-sized modular synth, which they take out on the road at times, and live, they’re actually an outfit that really can claim to create pretty much everything on the hoof, far away from laptop/ableton jockeys. Their music’s across the whole spectrum, but listening to Unpatterns, there’s a proper actual knowledge of the past that comes through and colours everything they do. The music is warm, plump, punchy, solid….. they know what they’re doing, basically.

So, enjoy. I didn’t get blown away by this, but I didn’t want to be. I just wanted a collection of electronic tracks that crossed the genres that were made by people that gave a fuck and that wanted people to listen as well as just dance.

While you’re there, I highly recommend their RA Exchange interview, here:

http://www.residentadvisor.net/podcast-episode.aspx?exchange=101

And not just because I was sat there, hungover, nodding, all the way through.