Category: Album of the Month

 

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.

.

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.

Dear Brothers,

We’ve done a full 4 month cycle. Congratulations. No one has fallen out, no blood has been shed. We have agreed. We have disagreed. This is good. Now, cycle 2;

I have chosen ‘Past Life Martyred Saints’ by EMA (Erika M. Anderson) a lady not a band. That’s her there on the cover with the magic finger. She used to be in a band called Gowns who apparently performed ‘Noise-Folk’ a genre I am neither familiar with nor interested in being familiar with. The album was well received by critics but made no commercial impact as far as I can tell. It ended up in loads of 2011 ‘Best of Lists’. I think it is a very ‘Pitchfork’ type of album so it was no surprise that it made their top 50 albums of 2011 but also made SPIN, Popmatters and BBC Music lists placing as high as 4th. But hey, critics liked Alabama Shakes too and that proved not to meet this blogs standard.

So why have i picked this? A number of reasons. I like it. I’ve always had a soft spot for emotionally unstable talented young women. I like albums that pour out raw & real emotion with little disguise or metaphor (this maybe the reason that you don’t like it, who knows). This emotion is well-done-emotion ‘I wish that every time you touched me left a mark’ a repeated refrain that feels as if addressed to you.

I also chose it as I thought it would be totally new to you. I know there is a temptation to read reviews before you listen but its as new as I could muster as it seems none of you have heard too much about it.

Another reason is that I find it quite difficult to place genre wise. The closest comparison for me is that she is like a contemporary Patti Smith. Maybe listen to this then ‘Horses’ for an intersting double bill.

Anyway, it’s on its way. Enjoy Brothers.

 

So brothers, I present to you a hip hop concept album. Now before you get it in your head, Kanye’s 808’s wasn’t concept, it was experimental; two VERY different things. 

 

I must admit when I read about this album I left it alone. I don’t generally like concept albums because they rarely stick to the concept.. they become experimental, or are a compilation with in between links (Handsome Boy Modeling School). More – so a hip hop concept album? The thing is that actually many artists have done concept albums; first to mind for me is Scarface – The Diary.  More recently there is no better example than Plan B – Striktland Banks which pushed the concept to the max. So it can happen, some good and bad. 

 

I digress; let’s talk about ‘First Serve’. I like this for so many reasons. You’re not going to be blown away, this is De La through and through. This isn’t a good thing, it’s a great thing. 

 

The best way to do this for me is point form. I like this album because….

– Plug One and Two do what they maybe did on one or two songs an album traditionally; made party joints and told a story at the same time (think ‘It Aint All Good’)

– They stick to their story the whole way through and actualy show and interesting beginning, middle and end.  

– The album makes me dance, has catchy lyrics but still gets you into the story. 

 

The reason that this isn’t a De La album is that it’s the brain chils of another producer. I like that fact. I’m glad they’ve done this album but not as De La Soul. Enough can’t be spoken about having an alias. They have got to do this with this album. 

 

When listening, give it a couple listens, some tracks are more and club radio than others. All are very catchy.  The interlude’s are important to the story (some very funny) and keep it all consistant.

 

I’m so looking forward to more De La Soul hip hop, but I do hope First Serve get a guest spot on a track or two. 

 

It took me a few months to buy but I’m happy that this album is in my life and I hope you feel the same. 

 

Enjoy brothers!

 

 

So we officially begin 2012 with an album that was on many reviewers top lists of 2011. I can’t speak highly enough for this album. An album that I regret I only got into over the last month.

You are welcomed by one of the most random intros to grace and album in recent years and then the beautiful long keys of first watch. The next 6 tracks float by in an order that would be hard to better.

This album is a great way to start your day, end your day or just sit, listen and look out the window.

Sadly it lacks in length (7 tracks). You are very much left wanting more.

Enjoy this brothers and I look forward to your thoughts and feedback.