Tag: Album of the month

Posted in Album of the Month, New Tunes

AUGUST: Miguel – ‘Wildheart’

Posted on by misterstory

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Dear Brothers. Happy August. Sorry this is late. I think its my first ever late buy/post so please don’t hold it against me for too long. This month has been pretty painful for me choosing an album. I’ve not had enough head space to look into my own collection and/or new things to have something nailed on for the choice.

Months ago I posted ‘NWA’ by Miguel on the blog. I don’t recall it getting much of a response which is often a sign of how busy we are rather than how much we like or dislike something so I didn’t lose too much sleep about it. I was excited to see an album follow shortly and to see it gather positive reviews from all corners of the music media. I decided then I would choose it as my next album of the month … then I chickened out … then I chickened back in again. Then I decided Mbongwana Star was a better bet but found David had it (how much do you spend on music Brother David? You are a one man music industry!).

So here we are listening to (and hopefully) enjoying Wildheart. So what is it apart from the winner of the worst cover of any of this blogs previous albums of the month? There are numerous interviews with Miguel suggesting his inspiration behind this album. There are numerous interpretations of the album offering different suggestions as to how he got where he did with this one. The cover says ‘Prince’ so does the fact that many of these tracks are guitar driven. He is filed under ‘Alternative R&B’ on many sites. WTF is Alternative R&B anyway? I admit that i did come across him via a spotify Alternative R&B playlist so I can’t complain about the genre too much but it seems to be a tag that was created for Weeknd and then others were labelled accordingly?

For me, what ever the aim of this album was, the end result is pure pop. It has boatloads of Californian swagger. It has head-nodding tracks, sleaze and stadium-pop-rock anthems too. I think I chickened out from choosing it as the 3rd track ‘The Valley’ was a lot to take if you are new to this, not a huge R&B fan and not too keen on the naming of female body parts as the lyrical content to a bridge section of a pop song. The album is not shy of sexuality but I think this comes across as being ‘sex-positive’, if this is even a term? I don’t think this is offensive sexual referencing, overt but not offensive? For you to decided. Anyway, don’t switch off after Track 3 cause all the pop songs come after it.

I do suspect that Guy, you may need find this a tougher listen than David or Nolan but I may be totally wrong.

In its Californian-ness it feels like a summer album. In its love of a chorus it comes across as feel-good. I hope you enjoy it too.

Posted in Album of the Month

JULY: Get to Heaven – Everything Everything

Posted on by David Allison

So so sorry this is so late. July is nearly over, and alas I’ve been unwell. Anyway, plenty of time to digest this fine album, huh?

I thought this might be a bit more of a curveball after a straight run of albums we’ve all pretty much liked. So I’m dying to know what you think – though from what I’ve heard, you’ve warmed to it to.

EE are an odd proposition – odd to me because I know the bass player Jeremy via his partner Katie. He is a deeply lovely man and I’ve always wanted to like the band more than I actually do. They have so much going for them that I like – that uptight arthouse funk thing is right up my street – anything that descends from the Talking Heads line is going to get my vote. They’re GREAT live, they’re fine musicians, and they know how to write a killer melody.

The insurmountable problem I’ve had in the past is with lead singer Jonathan Higgs’s voice. Male falsetto is always a tricky beast, up high in the register and it can sound pure and unfettered, but lower down the register near the ‘crack’ with the normal voice, it can sound violently horrible. So I’ve heard their music over the past years, and time and time again, I’ve nearly dipped my toe in the water, but something has stopped me. I’ve had a listen on Spotify, and thought to myself – I couldn’t stomach a whole album of this. Same thing happened with Wild Beasts (bought 2 albums, never listen to either).

Something changed when I first heard Distant Past (btw, how crazy is that video? Brilliant and brutal). The moment I heard it, I thought: this is BRILLIANT. And then came Regret. Same. Something had clicked. Maybe his voice has smoothed out, but my god, those choruses. They’re like the best music of your childhood belting out in your head. They’re *irresistible*.

When I first heard the album as a whole, I thought it started incredibly strongly, then faded a bit. As time has gone on – and I’ve played this a LOT – that’s changed. I’m not sure there’s a genuinely weak track on there. And now I’m wondering whether I’ve dismissed their earlier work too quickly – or whether they’ve just hit a new high watermark.

I love the queasy mix of glorious pop melodies and his eloquent, angry and paranoid lyrics. It’s quite overwhelming at times, but hell, we don’t get to say that much about pop music these days. I love it very much. And so, weirdly, do my kids, even though they keep asking me about the lyrics, “Why does he feel like a fat kid in a pushchair?” Good question, kids.

Anyway, over to you. Have Everything Everything got That Something?

Posted in Album of the Month

APRIL: Sufjan Stevens ‘Carrie and Lowell’

Posted on by misterstory

carrie-and-lowell

By now you should all have your copy of this album. Apologies for the delay in getting this post up on the site.

I’ve owned this album for about a week now and while I have spent some time with it, I’ve not been able to focus on it as much as I would like to. Therefore, this won’t be the usual heartfelt, personal introduction that so often Album Of The Month posts are. What I will do is share my path to this album and my initial thoughts.

My introduction to Sufjan Stevens, like so many others was through ‘Illinois’ a concept album of tracks inspired by the state, perhaps the worst idea for a concept album ever … but one of the finest albums of its decade (in my humble opinion). The critics agreed and Sufjan became a relatively well-known name in the 20-40 something, music loving, gig-going crowd. From there I went backwards to ‘Seven Swans’ which is a far simpler affair more about song writing than the complex musical adornment seen on Illinois. I missed a lot of what came after Illinois (4 albums including an Xmas album that really is worth a listen when it comes to that time of year again!) and picked up again with Age of Adz. This was released around the time that Silvia was born and very much reminds me of the time and feelings involved. For this reason it has a very special place in my heart. However well received by critics I think a lot of people found that a step too far in terms of musical trickery (wankery) and needless complexity. An album and an EP later and Sufjan releases Carrie & Lowell.

The album is inspired by the death of his troubled Mother, Carrie and her life including her relatively short relationship with his Father (or Carrie’s partner? I cant recall and am not too concerned about these details) Lowell. That doesn’t sound like a particularly good start for many … expect for me. As has become obvious through the course of our ramblings, I love a musical tear-jerker. I have a very high threshold for heart breaking personal lyrics and always have. I have no problem that the hook on ‘Fourth of July’ is ‘We’re all gonna die’ a sentiment that Sufjan has visited on numerous previous tracks in less detail and with more poetic disguise. This album is full of emotional detail and no attempt at disguise … unless you compare it to something like ‘Benji’ by Sun Kill Moon (a favourite of mine from last year). ‘Benji’ was heartbreakingly sad and even I find it a tough listen unless I am in precisely the right place.

The difference for me is that ‘Carrie & Lowell’ is hypnotic in its presentation, its beautiful in its simplicity. Mr. Steven’s has removed many of the musical obstacles that he created in earlier works to reveal the beauty of his melodies. His voice is a fragile and at points a brittle instrument but it is perfectly suited to the lyrical content. At points he sounds like Elliot Smith which for me is no problem as he is another artist that I have held close to my heart (I am an ageing, depressed and confused teenager after all).

The big question I think others will need to answer is ‘do I find this depressing or do I find it beautiful?’.

Enjoy (if you think that is the right word).

Posted in Album of the Month

March Album Of the Month: Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly

Posted on by nolankane706

A bit late on our March album brothers, but I do think it’s worth the wait. 

Brother David and I were having a chat last weekend about Kendrick Lamar’s last album. I can’t remember the exact words but in short we both agreed that we were big fans, but it did take a while to get what he was about and what he was doing with his music. If album 1 was a slight climb to get to it, this is a steep hill. 
 
When I approached ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ I was ready for something different, but what I was presented with was a curve ball. It would have been very easy for Kendrick to continue on from where he had last left us and what he has shown between albums with guest appearances; amazing lyrics and one of the most versatile flows in current hip hop. Big beats and solid lyrics, job done. To be honest I would have been more than happy with that, in-fact that’s what I wanted from this album. Sadly for me this isn’t the case… luckily for me it’s much better. 
 
I will give you a couple pieces of advice. Firstly, listen to this album end to end. I found it a bit hard but it’s worth it. When you listen to it end to end, do it again… and for me much fell into place. 
 
I think many artists have tried with mix reviews doing an album with a jazz foundation. Kendrick enlisted the likes of Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin and Thundercat who had input on the majority of the tracks. Now I’m not big on jazz but I even know who those guys are. 
This album is an adventure and lets you in the mind of King Kendrick. This is a guy with allot to say, and I think has put it across in a way that has made me think more than a few times when listening through. There are allot of political thoughts, thoughts on society, and thoughts on his day to day. Hip hop, soul, jazz, punk, metal, etc. What ever genre you’re in it’s tough to put accross an album with impact…and he has. Is there a message to this album? Yup, arguably a few. 
 
The first single “I” was great, and the album version still is. The second single “The Blacker the Berry” hits pretty heavy but within the album ads allot of context and lets the penni drop in many ways for what he’s done with the entire effort. Pitchfork compared his albums to how Spike Lee does films. It’s a pretty spot on analogy. This album is full!
Hats off,  two weeks in “TO Pimp a Butterfly’ is still giving me more and more. I think this has potential to be an all time classic. 
I digress, brothers I look forward to your thoughts and hope you enjoy this as much as me. 
Posted in Album of the Month, New Tunes

February: I Love You, Honeybear – FATHER JOHN MISTY

Posted on by David Allison

I came across FJM surprisingly recently – I say, surprisingly, because as soon as I heard his 2012 album Fear Fun, I wondered how I could have missed something that so was squarely up my street. He has all the credentials – former drummer for Fleet Foxes, crazy religious upbringing, impressive beard and sharp suit, and *those* incredible lyrics, a mixture of cutting, self-loathing and self-loving, or just plain plaintive.

I LOVE YOU, HONEYBEAR doesn’t mess with the formula, but if anything it’s an even more impressive piece of work. There isn’t a weak track on here and most of them are absolute humdingers. Tonally, it’s quite an odd mix – and I heard him on the radio (Dermot O’Leary, on R2 – which was rather bizarre!) explaining that half the album are angry songs of being pissed off at himself and others in matters of love and life, and the other is a really very touching love letter to his new wife. You’re unlikely to hear a more romantic songs than Chateau Lobby (“People are boring, but you’re something else”).

Now, I know we always get onto that discussion of authenticity and influence, so this record is a GREAT one to look at in that context. The band and the songs seem to me to be seeped in two obvious styles – one is country music (and 60s/70s country influenced singer songwriters), and the other is Beatles-esque (well, McCartney-esque, actually) melodies, all gorgeous descending chords or sudden explosions into beautiful middle 8s or choruses. God damn, but Josh Tillman (for that is his name) knows how to write a song. And no, they don’t feel ‘contemporary’, though the sequences on True Affection, for example, are a nice nod to the 21st Century. So yes, this is a record influenced by 50 years of rock music.

For me, there are two things that elevate it into something spectacular. The first is that authenticity thing. This guy means every word. We went to see him live on Friday (at the Brudenell). It was, needless to say, a fucking fantastic gig – and I can’t think of the last time I saw a performer throw every ounce of himself into a show. He feels this shit, man, and he cares about his songs. The 6 piece band were slick and brilliant and they rocked hard too. This guy isn’t an amateur. Oh, and THAT VOICE. Like honey.

The other thing that places this record squarely in 2015 is his lyrics. The darkly modern takes on the universe is so deliciously paired with this classic sound. I’m completely sold. You’d have to look hard to hear a better skewering of an individual than the vicious lyrics to The Night Josh Tillman Came to Our Apartment. In the wrong hands, this could almost feel mysogynistic, but you know he’s known this girl and he’s here to tell us just what a fucking pain in the arse she is. (“She blames her excess on my influence, but gladly hoovers all my drugs”. Love it!). And what about the piece de resistance – Bored in the USA. Eviscerating is the word. He just nails it, he nails everything that’s wrong about Western Culture in a song that could easily come across as pastiche. This an album steeped in anger, confusion, lust, love and fear. What could be more 21st Century than that? 😉

He does play with you a bit (see the fake piano playing on the Letterman appearances above – and the weird laughter track on the song, which I initially hated and now love), and I guess it’s hard to know where Josh Tillman ends and Father John Misty begins. But that’s part of the fun. If this isn’t my album of the year, or very, very close come December, I’ll be amazed. I hope you liked it just as much.

Posted in Album of the Month

DECEMBER: Young Fathers: Dead

Posted on by misterstory

young-fathers-theonepointeight

Can we forget about the Mercury? Probably not but I fear this may descend into a critique of the Mercury decision rather than critique of a piece of music. Anyway, let’s have a roll and see how this works out?

For me, this is an album of 11x 3 min pop tracks (no song under 2 min 50, none over 3 min 51). I am sure we will debate the word ‘pop’ as I think at least one of us will struggle with that definition? I would argue that you can’t have as many hooks in one album of 3 min tracks and it not be a ‘pop’ album.  It doesn’t matter  that the group choose to deliberately sabotage their own ‘pop’ credentials in dark, dystopian, discordant, choral chants, nose-diving bass lines and berating beats.

This isn’t easy listening. Having said that I found it effortless to get into (not bragging I just think this ticks loads of my boxes). But I understand that most people find the opposite to be true. I’ve recently gone back (album released in Jan 2014) and read loads of reviews of this album and most say that it is difficult to penetrate but massively rewarding when you do. I always bang on about ‘when’ I can listen to music and this is a distracting listen that really requires you to engage in its finer points. Background music this is not. Tunes to play while working? Nope. Driving, public transport etc, Yep. I listen to it most when training.

Much has been made about the multi-cultural make up of the band which all feels a little ‘Mercury’ to me until you start listening to the lyrics and picking through the subject matter.  ‘Ak47 take my brethren straight to heaven’ is pure hip hop cliche in an LA accent but it appears more impactful and evocative in an African (Young Fathers = Liberian, Nigerian. Scottish) accent and preceded by the imagery conjured up in the opening verses of ‘No Way’, the albums opening track. If you like this album then I would suggest spending some time with the lyrics of these tracks.

http://genius.com/artists/Young-fathers

I think this album avoids the ‘worthiness’ which it could have created with its multi-ethnic (Scottish included) influences and a lyrical topics. It feels like all of the constituent parts (ethnic background: check / socially conscious lyrics: check / eclectic influences: check) make for a cliche-ridden horror show but at each opportunity to fall into that hipster trap is swerves either lyrically or sonically and avoids the cliche. As if sat in the studio they felt it a track was getting a bit too nice so they chucked in a massive tribal rhythm and discordant drone to scare off the ‘wrong crowd’.

Who does this sound like? Anti-Pop Consortium, TV on the Radio, Shabazz Palaces, New Flesh, Saul Williams … New Fathers?As mentioned before this ticks loads of my boxes and I love all of the artists listed above (Shabazz excluded – sorry David may be I need to try that one again?).

So, similar to FKA Twigs, at the point of winning the Mercury, they’d only sold 3,000 units. Its now at least 3,004. But does this matter? Sales does not correlate to quality. Just look at the Cinema Box Office.

Brothers, your thoughts?

Posted in Album of the Month

OCTOBER: Wonder Where We Land by SBTRKT

Posted on by David Allison

Funny how an artist can make something that doesn’t grab you, and then make something else that isn’t so different – and it blows you away.

I *liked* the first album – or rather, I *loved* the singles and another track or two, and I thought the rest of it was a little undercooked. I expected this album to be a re-run of that experience – I *love* the Ezra Koenig tune and the Sampha single, and on first listen, I had a feeling of deja vu. Nice, inventive, soulful, but downbeat and – yup, maybe a little undercooked.

Wow, was I wrong? Every single time I played the album, it opened up a little more. Until I couldn’t stop playing it, and the songs started ringing round my brain even when I wasn’t listening to them.

This record is such a huge step forward from his debut. He was always clearly insanely talented, but he’s honed that talent very quickly, and this genuinely feels like an artist firing on all cylinders. And like all musicians of any note, he seems to create a sound that makes you wonder where the fuck it even came from.

What I like about it is that he doesn’t feel like a guy immersed in some hipster culture or trying to create something to do with fashion. It is *soul* music in the broadest sense. I knew nothing about the guy until I read this interview:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/02/sbtrkt-wonder-where-we-land-interview

– and it really informed my listening of this album. He does sound like an outsider, someone who’s willing to try anything out and see where it leads. A song like Look Away, featuring the Chairlift singer, could easily come across as repetitive or moribund – instead it feels insistent and melancholy. Higher, the Raury track, feels a bit like a slap in the face the first few times you hear it, coming as it does quite early in the tracklist. But again, it became something quite different after a few listens. He sure as hell knows how to get the best of Jessie Ware, an artist I *really* like but who can easily drift a little into bland territory without the right material. Best of all is the album’s closer, Voices in My Head, a terrifyingly real drug psychosis song delivered with paranoid genius by ASAP Ferg.  Again, you struggle to imagine how a collaboration like that came about. And then I read this:

http://rock.genius.com/Sbtrkt-voices-in-my-head-lyrics

And this kind of sums up what I love about this. He’s a collaborator – a proper one, who can bring out the best in everyone he works with – but one who at the same time has a complete musical vision.

This, Brothers, is undoubtedly one of my albums of the year. I look forward to your thoughts.

Posted in Album of the Month

April Album Of The Month: Space Dimension Controller – Welcome To Mikrosector-50

Posted on by GuyHornsby

The first time I came across Space Dimension Controller was at ADE in 2012, and I honestly knew his stuff only by name. I knew he was from Ireland, so it’s fair to say that I was a bit thrown by what was coming out of the speakers: the sound of a throaty deep black voice over a Prince-like groove. I had to stand there for a few minutes to see what was going on, but it became clear he was doing a live effected vocal, and it kind of blew me away.

Come through to 2014, and I’ve finally got the album after months of being recommended it, and what an odd, strange, brilliant, crazy beast it is. A concept (ugh) album of sorts, with the ‘Space Dimension Controller’ a futuristic time traveller arriving back on his home planet to odd goings on. It sounds preposterous and daft, but then you realise the guy is in his early 20s, and he’s making music that sounds like a melting pot of Prince, Rick James, Mike Oldfield, Afrika Bambaata, Josh Wink and you start to realise the guy has chops.

On top of that, there’s something quite endearing about an album that reminds me of some of the semi-B-movie films of my youth (think The Running Man and Total Recall). It’s a bizarre package for a 20-something Irishman to make, but I’ve not heard anything like it in the last ten years, and the more I listen, the more it grows on me.

So, here’s April’s album of the month. Listen, enjoy (I hope) and comment away….

Posted in Album of the Month

January 2014: Lorde’s Pure Heroine

Posted on by GuyHornsby

 

So, I’m late to Lorde’s album, only by a couple of months, but it’s been worth the wait. The hype’s been around for months and months, following her single, Royals, earlier in the year, which I’d realised had permeated my brain thanks to the peerless 6Music, which seems to sow the seeds of records I like without me even realising it on a weekly basis (see also: Midlake).
Let’s look at the facts: Lorde is Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O’Connor (yeah, Lorde’s easier, isn’t it?), a 17-year old New Zealander from Auckland. She first came to prominence with her Love Club EP back in the second half of last year (when she was still 15!), and this album was produced by local Joel Little. What’s it like? Well, it’s very modern electronic pop, if we’re going to get all genre-y. You can see the influences – she’s often cited James Blake’s sparseness – and it’s pretty stripped back, with clever, barbed lyrics, very much showing a love for hip-hop, but putting it in the prism of a girl that, at the time, had never left her home country, it’s pretty startling that it’s actually written by someone that’s tucked away in the end of the southern hemisphere. And that’s not being patronising, it’s just that it’s an unlikely result of such a situation, especially in terms of her age (one lyric on the album states “pretty soon I’ll be on my first plane”, which says it all).
But it’s a great example of lyrics and songs that a 25-year old over here may have written, but likely with songwriters and other producers behind her, as soon as the hype machine took hold. While those not in the know (or too lazy) dismissed her as another record-company construct, she’s the opposite, arriving as a pretty fully-formed artist, most likely a product and a benefit of the cultural or musical isolation of sorts. There’s hints of stuff like James Blake, Massive Attack’s more Spartan arrangements, Lana Del Rey’s languid style (which she’s also stated as an influence) and most obviously the xx (minus the guitars). Most of the album’s dubby pop, but there are a few dancefloor moments too. And there’s a good slab of irony in there, which sings to my ears. Having been to NZ a few times – and this is no slight, as it’s an amazing place – the ennui that also sits throughout the album isn’t faked. Small-town life out there is pretty dry when you’re near to Auckland, let alone coming from London.
I’ve only had a week or so with this album, so my opinions aren’t fully formed yet either, but it’s clear that Lorde’s a precociously talented artist. There’s a bit of a dip in the middle of the album, but then considering that I was busy drinking cider and scooting around Surrey in my Mini at 17, and she’s writing music like this, I can’t really get my head around just what it must take to do that at that age. And most of all, it’s refreshing to have someone emerge like this from an unlikely location, without the taint of record companies and hype or being pushed to work with producers or use songs written for her. Only time will tell how she develops, and one would hope that, while she absorbs the expanding world around her, it doesn’t affect her ability to do what she does.
She’s touring now, especially in the States, where I think her songs will go down as well as they do in the UK, and I can’t wait for her next album.
Enjoy, brothers!