Of course Arrival is a bubble of unreal sugarcoated fantasy. It's a record that has me believing I can dance, I can jive. It's my bubble and I'll cry if I want to ('My love, my life'). That too. (20150927)
Afternoon delight. Love songs from Sub Pop (1992)
Ironic? This ranges further than you'd expect. Standard Northwestern grunge (Come, Green River, Codeine, Afghan Whigs), some magnificent faux-naïve pop (Sebadoh, Beat happening, Unrest, Vaselines, Billy Childish) and even some deranged spoken word performance (Steven Jesse Bernstein). And all up to Sup Pop's pre-1994 sardonic standards. (20190707)
Christina Aguilera - Stripped (2002)
It's a conundrum that Aguilera's most indulgent (from a very indulgent artist) is also her best. Sure, if she doesn't get her coffee in the morning, life's still 'impossible'. She 'broke the mold' that way, I guess. Sure, there's an interminable string of ballads at the halfway point of a long record. But it's filled with moments that work ('Can't hold us down', 'Walk away', 'Fighter', 'Beautiful', 'Dirrrty' and more). One question: what happened to her feet on the cover picture? She doesn't have any? That's indulgence, I guess. (20151115)
Air - Premiers symptomes (1999)
Mr Dunckel and Mr Godin's early work (95-98) is collected on Premiers Symptômes - analogue bubblebath sound in place but where are the songs? (c. 2013)
Air - Virgin suicides (2000)
Soundtrack to the otherworldly Coppola film: a perfect fit. Mood music for a horror fairytale with vintage carpets. (c. 2013)Ironic? This ranges further than you'd expect. Standard Northwestern grunge (Come, Green River, Codeine, Afghan Whigs), some magnificent faux-naïve pop (Sebadoh, Beat happening, Unrest, Vaselines, Billy Childish) and even some deranged spoken word performance (Steven Jesse Bernstein). And all up to Sup Pop's pre-1994 sardonic standards. (20190707)
Christina Aguilera - Stripped (2002)
It's a conundrum that Aguilera's most indulgent (from a very indulgent artist) is also her best. Sure, if she doesn't get her coffee in the morning, life's still 'impossible'. She 'broke the mold' that way, I guess. Sure, there's an interminable string of ballads at the halfway point of a long record. But it's filled with moments that work ('Can't hold us down', 'Walk away', 'Fighter', 'Beautiful', 'Dirrrty' and more). One question: what happened to her feet on the cover picture? She doesn't have any? That's indulgence, I guess. (20151115)
Air - Premiers symptomes (1999)
Mr Dunckel and Mr Godin's early work (95-98) is collected on Premiers Symptômes - analogue bubblebath sound in place but where are the songs? (c. 2013)
Air - Virgin suicides (2000)
Air - 10.000 Hz legend (2001)
Though a self-conscious stylistic turn into moodier, severe music, it may be their peak, if the listener gives it time to unfold. (c. 2013)
Yeah...but...wallpaper. (20190707)
A strong set of songs, Talkie Walkie is nevertheless the point where Mr Dunckel and Mr Godin retreat from the world and start making music for the cult. Its music plays out on a much smaller scale, but it wins on quality. Their most personal record - even if that means they float in a happily unhappy cocoon and they bring out the banjos. (c. 2013)
Air - Pocket symphony (2007)
Pocket Symphony is more of the same, but less winning (no banjos, but Jarvis Cocker and Neil Hannon guest - a bad deal). In truth, Air seem less and less inclined to invite their audience in. (c. 2013)
Pocket Symphony is more of the same, but less winning (no banjos, but Jarvis Cocker and Neil Hannon guest - a bad deal). In truth, Air seem less and less inclined to invite their audience in. (c. 2013)
Air - Love 2 (2009)
Continues the trend. (c. 2013)
Continues the trend. (c. 2013)
Damon Albarn - Everyday robots (2014)
Soundtracks a common 21st-century affliction - the light of a thousand led screens can't take you home. Or 'Lonely press play'.
But what's he gonna do about it? (20190707)
Arthur Alexander - The Monument years (1965-1972) (2001)
Soul, oh hallowed genre. Long-lost treasures are a penny a dozen. These tracks sadly not monuments, just recorded for the Monument label. 'Glory road' and 'The migrant' glowing exceptions. (20190707)
Arthur Alexander - Rainbow road (1972)
Fuck man, life stings. It gets worse as it pulls you along, right up to the yawning chasm of nothingness. Look, right there, nothing. Everywhere. At this point Arthur knows. A grown man's record. (20190711)
Alex G - Beach music (2016)
Like a fly caught in amber - adolescent pain's forever. He may sound like he lives in a drawer, but he could be your fucked-up friend. (20190707)
Alex G - Rocket (2017)
Enigmatic DIY auteur (writes a lot, sometimes about drugs). Pop songs ('Proud', 'Bobby') occur by happenstance. So it seems. In the midst of chaos. It's good to have some musicians around for whom the process will always remain a mystery. (20170623)
Alice Cooper - Love it to death (1971)
Boa constrictors, live chickens, gallows and a guillotine... and a record full of tight punches too. Knocks you out. (20190707)
Alice Cooper - Killer (1971)
You can get lured into thinking 'How shocking is it anyway? We've got Rammstein these days.' Then you get to 'Dead babies'. Still thrilling, and musically too. (20190710)
Alice Cooper - Billion dollar babies (1973)
Hell, it's all theatre, right? If Sophocles can up the body count, why not one of the great early '70s rockbands? (20190712)
All girl summer fun band - 2 (2003)
Girls, punk pop, K records. That means teenage diaries. That means fun. (20190714)
Allman brothers band - Idlewild south (1970)
On the verge of greatness. (20190707)
Allman brothers band - at Fillmore East (1971)
Masterclass in group play. Lyrical guitars. Once I'd have countered 'Yeah, but...blues'. But they leave even the blues behind after the first two songs. Just play. (20190709)
Allman brothers band - Eat a peach (1972)
A sumptuous feast. Half of these 70 minutes is 'Mountain jam'. I wish it'd never end. Also 'Ain't wastin' time no more', 'Melissa', 'Blue sky' and more. (20190711)
Allman brothers band - Brothers and sisters (1973)
Sounds like liquid honey (that slide!). So sweet. (20190713)
Oren Ambarchi - Audience of one (2012)
One of this century's outstanding avant albums. Sure sounds melodic for a record with at its centre a heroic 30 minute drums and lighting storm duet. Capped by a Kiss cover as acoustic mantra. (20190707)
Oren Ambarchi - Hubris (2017)
Percolates. Erupts. Nicely. (20190714)
Oren Ambarchi - Simian angel (2019)
As usual this has two sidelong (15 minutes, 20 minutes) explorations. But lighter than previous albums. Gently meandering synth tones, shuffling rhythms. You can tell this is never going to explode, just drift by on a cloud. Nice. (20190716)
Sam Amidon - The following mountain (2017)
Modern folk improvisations. Quite experimental. But nice. (20190714)
Eric Andersen - 'Bout changes and things (1966)
Andersen is a good man, but he'd need more change to get where he was going. An 'Another side of' rewrite two years out of time. Just the words are different. (20190707)
Eric Andersen - So much on my mind. Anthology 1969-1980 (2007)
There really is. But worthy songpoems for those nights in the wicker chair by the fire with the lyric sheet. (20190715)
Al Anderson - Al Anderson (1972)
A sidenote in the NRBQ discography, Al's contractual obligation album before he could join the band for Scraps. Easygoing, jovial country pop with immense charm. Inconsequential, but the playing is fingerlicking (3/4 of NRBQ is on it). Al's charisma carries the day. (20190707)
Al Anderson - Party favors (1988)
If I knew what I was looking for, I wouldn't be looking. But this isn't it. Uncharacteristically stiff. (20190709)
Al Anderson - Pay before you pump (1997)
Al continues his one a decade solo album streak. This one follows his departure from NRBQ for a songwriting career in Nashville. Countrysongs by committee. Professionalism does it no favours. There's no I in team, but there's one in songwriter. (20190712)
Al Anderson - After hours (2006)
Ten years after his last album he gets it right. Still country songwriting by committee, but this time with feeling. Bowing out gracefully. (20190715)
Laurie Anderson - Big science (1982)
Music as stage prop for cultural studies essay. 'Hello, is anybody home?' Just my superbrain. 'O Superman''s success inexplicable. (20190715)
Fabrizio de André - Vol. 8 (1975)
Sounds exactly like Leonard Cohen's Song of Love and Hate, except I don't understand a word. I imagine it's very poetic. A classy album nevertheless. (20190715)
Animal collective - Spirit they're gone Spirit they've vanished (2000)
Animal Collective set their goals further and higher than their contemporaries. That in itself may be the reason for the fawning reception critics give their records, however flawed they may turn out. It takes a while for the listener to cotton on to their ambition, truth be told. This writer supposes they're after a communal experience based on an effacing of the self. To that end, the senses must overwhelm the mind. Animal Collective overpower the senses moving constantly from hyperkinetic, violent ecstacy to overbearingly long stretches of unmoving zen and back.
'Spirit they're gone spirit they've vanished' - an Avey Tare solo album with Panda Bear on drums - is almost a prelude, Mr. Tare emptying his cupboards of anything resembling a song before setting out on sonic adventures. Take away the sonic weirdry and there's a '70s piano singer-songwriter in there, the record's all the better for it. (c. 2013)
Animal collective - Danse manatee (2001)
'Danse Manatee' - an Avey Tare / Panda Bear / Geologist team-up - is 45 minutes of fireworks without the visuals. This writer does not feel challenged. (c. 2013)
Animal collective - Here comes the Indian (2003)
'Here comes the Indian' sounds simultaneously more controlled and more baffling. Why would anyone choose to sound like this? (c. 2013)
Animal collective - Campfire songs (2003)
'Camfire songs' marks a change - the first of two records in which Mr. Tare and Mr. Bear set forth on that acoustic campfire acid adventure. Its rambling and longform approach still has more in common with its immediate predecessors. (c. 2013)
Animal collective - Sung tongs (2004)
One year later, 'Sung tongs' is sometimes surprisingly lucid and pretty, but loses itself in dribbling indulgence. Nevertheless, headed in a good direction. (c. 2013)
Animal collective - Feels (2005)
'Feels' - the first full band album project - is one step forward two steps back. They set a newfound powerful sound to a set of misshaped and sometimes ugly compositions. (c. 2013)
Animal collective - Strawberry jam (2007)
'Strawberry jam' is more like it - a heavy blend of concentrated ecstacy, confusion and childlike whimsy arranged for clanging keyboards, tribal drumming and hyperventilating Hare Krishna chanters. Consider this writer's senses overwhelmed. (c. 2013)
Animal collective - Merriweather post pavilion / Fall be kind (2009)
It all came together on 'Merriweather post pavilion' - the critical consensus is right. The collective (minus Deakin, but who can keep up?) filter their ambitions on a perfectly formed 'classic' album, without losing anything of their essence in translation. It happens. Attendant EP 'Fall be kind' floats by on spacious, dreamy pillows of synth but may turn out a slight pleasure. (c. 2013)
Animal collective - Centipede Hz (2012)
'Merriweather''s long gestating follow-up 'Centipede Hz' is an altogether more wild and physical sound (full quartet present), which perplexed many on arrival, but furthers the collective's adventure while offering plenty to dazzle the senses. (c. 2013)
Hmm, that was just my insect eating phase. (20190716)
Animals - Animalisms (1966)
You know these songs, so you can focus on their style. None of the hits (excepting the bonus tracks), just some great R&R and R&B covers. They've got it in spades. (20190716)
Anjou - Epithymia (2017)
Sound bath. They know all the right frequencies. And when the trumpet kicks in, it's a great moment. (20190719)
Annie - Anniemal (2004)
Anniemal - and attendant 'Heartbeat' succes - brought Annie to the foreground of pop. Succeeds in one of pop's great ploys - building a family for the outsiders. Its rush of momentary disposable pleasures - all about love and young people partying - builds into transcendent release set to last the ages. (c. 2013)
Annie - Don't stop / All night EP (2009)
Five years later not much of the debut's 'Come together'-ism remains. A brash and cynical sound that's all about wanting and taking. Nightlife as a jungle in which greedy packs of glamorous predators prowl the innocent. Too much of it is calculated or pointless, but parts of Don't Stop reveal themselves as slickly irresistible. Accompanying EP is all the more frustrating for revealing she had at least a couple of tracks up her sleeve to lift Don't Stop out of the slop. (c. 2013)
Soundtracks a common 21st-century affliction - the light of a thousand led screens can't take you home. Or 'Lonely press play'.
But what's he gonna do about it? (20190707)
Arthur Alexander - The Monument years (1965-1972) (2001)
Soul, oh hallowed genre. Long-lost treasures are a penny a dozen. These tracks sadly not monuments, just recorded for the Monument label. 'Glory road' and 'The migrant' glowing exceptions. (20190707)
Arthur Alexander - Rainbow road (1972)
Fuck man, life stings. It gets worse as it pulls you along, right up to the yawning chasm of nothingness. Look, right there, nothing. Everywhere. At this point Arthur knows. A grown man's record. (20190711)
Alex G - Beach music (2016)
Like a fly caught in amber - adolescent pain's forever. He may sound like he lives in a drawer, but he could be your fucked-up friend. (20190707)
Alex G - Rocket (2017)
Enigmatic DIY auteur (writes a lot, sometimes about drugs). Pop songs ('Proud', 'Bobby') occur by happenstance. So it seems. In the midst of chaos. It's good to have some musicians around for whom the process will always remain a mystery. (20170623)
Alice Cooper - Love it to death (1971)
Boa constrictors, live chickens, gallows and a guillotine... and a record full of tight punches too. Knocks you out. (20190707)
Alice Cooper - Killer (1971)
You can get lured into thinking 'How shocking is it anyway? We've got Rammstein these days.' Then you get to 'Dead babies'. Still thrilling, and musically too. (20190710)
Alice Cooper - Billion dollar babies (1973)
Hell, it's all theatre, right? If Sophocles can up the body count, why not one of the great early '70s rockbands? (20190712)
All girl summer fun band - 2 (2003)
Girls, punk pop, K records. That means teenage diaries. That means fun. (20190714)
Allman brothers band - Idlewild south (1970)
On the verge of greatness. (20190707)
Allman brothers band - at Fillmore East (1971)
Masterclass in group play. Lyrical guitars. Once I'd have countered 'Yeah, but...blues'. But they leave even the blues behind after the first two songs. Just play. (20190709)
Allman brothers band - Eat a peach (1972)
A sumptuous feast. Half of these 70 minutes is 'Mountain jam'. I wish it'd never end. Also 'Ain't wastin' time no more', 'Melissa', 'Blue sky' and more. (20190711)
Allman brothers band - Brothers and sisters (1973)
Sounds like liquid honey (that slide!). So sweet. (20190713)
Oren Ambarchi - Audience of one (2012)
One of this century's outstanding avant albums. Sure sounds melodic for a record with at its centre a heroic 30 minute drums and lighting storm duet. Capped by a Kiss cover as acoustic mantra. (20190707)
Oren Ambarchi - Hubris (2017)
Percolates. Erupts. Nicely. (20190714)
Oren Ambarchi - Simian angel (2019)
As usual this has two sidelong (15 minutes, 20 minutes) explorations. But lighter than previous albums. Gently meandering synth tones, shuffling rhythms. You can tell this is never going to explode, just drift by on a cloud. Nice. (20190716)
Sam Amidon - The following mountain (2017)
Modern folk improvisations. Quite experimental. But nice. (20190714)
Eric Andersen - 'Bout changes and things (1966)
Andersen is a good man, but he'd need more change to get where he was going. An 'Another side of' rewrite two years out of time. Just the words are different. (20190707)
Eric Andersen - So much on my mind. Anthology 1969-1980 (2007)
There really is. But worthy songpoems for those nights in the wicker chair by the fire with the lyric sheet. (20190715)
Al Anderson - Al Anderson (1972)
A sidenote in the NRBQ discography, Al's contractual obligation album before he could join the band for Scraps. Easygoing, jovial country pop with immense charm. Inconsequential, but the playing is fingerlicking (3/4 of NRBQ is on it). Al's charisma carries the day. (20190707)
Al Anderson - Party favors (1988)
If I knew what I was looking for, I wouldn't be looking. But this isn't it. Uncharacteristically stiff. (20190709)
Al Anderson - Pay before you pump (1997)
Al continues his one a decade solo album streak. This one follows his departure from NRBQ for a songwriting career in Nashville. Countrysongs by committee. Professionalism does it no favours. There's no I in team, but there's one in songwriter. (20190712)
Al Anderson - After hours (2006)
Ten years after his last album he gets it right. Still country songwriting by committee, but this time with feeling. Bowing out gracefully. (20190715)
Laurie Anderson - Big science (1982)
Music as stage prop for cultural studies essay. 'Hello, is anybody home?' Just my superbrain. 'O Superman''s success inexplicable. (20190715)
Fabrizio de André - Vol. 8 (1975)
Sounds exactly like Leonard Cohen's Song of Love and Hate, except I don't understand a word. I imagine it's very poetic. A classy album nevertheless. (20190715)
Animal collective - Spirit they're gone Spirit they've vanished (2000)
Animal Collective set their goals further and higher than their contemporaries. That in itself may be the reason for the fawning reception critics give their records, however flawed they may turn out. It takes a while for the listener to cotton on to their ambition, truth be told. This writer supposes they're after a communal experience based on an effacing of the self. To that end, the senses must overwhelm the mind. Animal Collective overpower the senses moving constantly from hyperkinetic, violent ecstacy to overbearingly long stretches of unmoving zen and back.
'Spirit they're gone spirit they've vanished' - an Avey Tare solo album with Panda Bear on drums - is almost a prelude, Mr. Tare emptying his cupboards of anything resembling a song before setting out on sonic adventures. Take away the sonic weirdry and there's a '70s piano singer-songwriter in there, the record's all the better for it. (c. 2013)
Animal collective - Danse manatee (2001)
'Danse Manatee' - an Avey Tare / Panda Bear / Geologist team-up - is 45 minutes of fireworks without the visuals. This writer does not feel challenged. (c. 2013)
Animal collective - Here comes the Indian (2003)
'Here comes the Indian' sounds simultaneously more controlled and more baffling. Why would anyone choose to sound like this? (c. 2013)
Animal collective - Campfire songs (2003)
'Camfire songs' marks a change - the first of two records in which Mr. Tare and Mr. Bear set forth on that acoustic campfire acid adventure. Its rambling and longform approach still has more in common with its immediate predecessors. (c. 2013)
Animal collective - Sung tongs (2004)
One year later, 'Sung tongs' is sometimes surprisingly lucid and pretty, but loses itself in dribbling indulgence. Nevertheless, headed in a good direction. (c. 2013)
Animal collective - Feels (2005)
'Feels' - the first full band album project - is one step forward two steps back. They set a newfound powerful sound to a set of misshaped and sometimes ugly compositions. (c. 2013)
Animal collective - Strawberry jam (2007)
'Strawberry jam' is more like it - a heavy blend of concentrated ecstacy, confusion and childlike whimsy arranged for clanging keyboards, tribal drumming and hyperventilating Hare Krishna chanters. Consider this writer's senses overwhelmed. (c. 2013)
Animal collective - Merriweather post pavilion / Fall be kind (2009)
It all came together on 'Merriweather post pavilion' - the critical consensus is right. The collective (minus Deakin, but who can keep up?) filter their ambitions on a perfectly formed 'classic' album, without losing anything of their essence in translation. It happens. Attendant EP 'Fall be kind' floats by on spacious, dreamy pillows of synth but may turn out a slight pleasure. (c. 2013)
Animal collective - Centipede Hz (2012)
'Merriweather''s long gestating follow-up 'Centipede Hz' is an altogether more wild and physical sound (full quartet present), which perplexed many on arrival, but furthers the collective's adventure while offering plenty to dazzle the senses. (c. 2013)
Hmm, that was just my insect eating phase. (20190716)
Animals - Animalisms (1966)
You know these songs, so you can focus on their style. None of the hits (excepting the bonus tracks), just some great R&R and R&B covers. They've got it in spades. (20190716)
Anjou - Epithymia (2017)
Sound bath. They know all the right frequencies. And when the trumpet kicks in, it's a great moment. (20190719)
Annie - Anniemal (2004)
Anniemal - and attendant 'Heartbeat' succes - brought Annie to the foreground of pop. Succeeds in one of pop's great ploys - building a family for the outsiders. Its rush of momentary disposable pleasures - all about love and young people partying - builds into transcendent release set to last the ages. (c. 2013)
Annie - Don't stop / All night EP (2009)
Five years later not much of the debut's 'Come together'-ism remains. A brash and cynical sound that's all about wanting and taking. Nightlife as a jungle in which greedy packs of glamorous predators prowl the innocent. Too much of it is calculated or pointless, but parts of Don't Stop reveal themselves as slickly irresistible. Accompanying EP is all the more frustrating for revealing she had at least a couple of tracks up her sleeve to lift Don't Stop out of the slop. (c. 2013)
Anthology of American folk music (1926-1933) (1952 released)
Avant garde record collection from 1932. Don't be fooled by the fact these artists lived in the days of your great grandparents. These guys would've freaked out your great grandparents. They still made tape hiss manually in those days. (20190719)
Antony & the Johnsons - I am a bird now (2005)
Avant garde record collection from 1932. Don't be fooled by the fact these artists lived in the days of your great grandparents. These guys would've freaked out your great grandparents. They still made tape hiss manually in those days. (20190719)
Antony & the Johnsons - I am a bird now (2005)
Have you heard of Antony and the Johnsons?
Have you heard their music?
Is it the bee's knees?
Is it a big cheese?
Does it offer release?
Or is it just a tease?
Do you want more, please?
When it ends, is it a relief?
Have you heard their music?
Is it the bee's knees?
Is it a big cheese?
Does it offer release?
Or is it just a tease?
Do you want more, please?
When it ends, is it a relief?
(c. 2013)
Any way the wind blows OST (2003)
Just when you think Tom Barman never plays anything but Wham, he hits you with a hip mixtape soundtrack: some jazz, electronica, belpop, oddities. He sneaks in some of his own new music as highlights. He remains a card. (20190719)
Aphrodite's child - 666 (1971)
Heavy concept rock from dawn of the '70s. Demis and Vangelis bought all of the capes. (20190721)
Apples in stereo - Her wallpaper reverie (1999)
Quaint 1967 throwback, purposedly. These days 1999 seems a long way to throw things back into... Nice tunes. (20190721)
Appletree theatre - Playback (1968)
Pre-Saturday Night Live audio sketches (I don't get it) and some period pianosongs (that trademark staccato block chording the Beatles did too - of course). It's alright, but anything from 1965-1968 can/does become a cult. (20190722)
Ariel Pink's haunted graffiti - Before today (2010)
Filthy, smeared out sound. Filthy, smeared out mind. Ace. (20190721)
Ariel Pink's haunted graffiti - Mature themes (2012)
Ariel deepens his caricature. Still filthy, now he's got feelings too. It works. (20190722)
Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington - The great reunion of ... (1961)
Sequel overclasses original (Together for the First Time, also 1961). Classicism. (20190721)
Louis Armstrong - The definitive collection (1938-68) (2006 released)
Early Satchmo is another world, academic. I don't get it. Later Satchmo, the 'entertainer', is glorious, sentimental, over ripe. Somewhere in the middle is 'That lucky old sun (just rolls around heaven all day)' (1949), one of the best renditions (see also Ray Charles, the Caravans...) of maybe the prettiest song ever written. (20190722)
Louis Armstrong - What a wonderful world (1970)
Very late (last?) Armstrong session. He's a guest in his own band and he doesn't really know these songs ('Everybody's talking', 'Give peace a chance' and others). The title track is definitely not the performance we all know. But it works. Moving stuff, filled with his big hearted personality. (20190722)
Maki Asakawa - Blue spirit blues (1972)
Ersatz blues and pre-war jazz from '70s Japan. Hard to tell if it's sung in English or Japanese. So why listen to it now? It's beautifully odd, for one. And emotionally it hits home more often than not. If you've ever felt like life is a bad translation, this is for you. (20190724)
Ashra - New age of earth (1977)
A new age gold standard. (20190725)
Association - And then... along comes the Association (1966)
Two hits, ten harmony soft pop also rans. Sleevenotes say 'they can play bluer blues than the Rolling Stones, harder hard-rock than the Raiders and put more folk into folk music than the Kingston Trio'. Not here in any case. (But - the Association's career would go on to weirdness and glory, sometimes simultaneously.) (20190721)
Association - Renaissance (1966)
'Pandora's golden heebie jeebies'! Psychedelic oddballs in straight suits. (20190721)
Association - Birthday (1968)
None more lush. Lovely. The fact they still look like a conservative think tank is lovely too, in a way. (20190724)
Association - The Association (1969)
Hey, what if CSN had 7 singers and no egos? A sentimental favorite. Not a shred of revolution in it. (20190725)
Augsburger tafelconfect - Friendly mohawk tastes maaloxan (2006)
Now this is, quite honestly, why I love music. A vinyl single, 2 times 3 minutes - that's all it takes - of completely uncategorizable sounds, played by German (?) band with Mauro Pawlowski sitting in on guitar. One of them plays a 'wet computer' - it's either a brain or a dangerous work situation. It takes a leap of imagination to call this music, or anything at all. To say 'That's the take. Mix it, press it on a record, and distribute to the world' (or 300 record nerds) - well, respect. I'll never get my head around it. That's excitement. It may be art. (20190809)
Autumn defense - Circles (2003)
Canyon soft rock with subtle country flavor. That frinction between smoothness and grain. A refined pleasure. (20190726)
Autumn defense - Autumn defense (2006)
Too smooth. (20190726)
Autumn defense - Once around (2010)
Ah, that's just right. Poco lives. (20190726)
Avalanches - Since I left you (2000)
I imagine this playing in the background of an Ikea catalogue. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Some of my best friends... Even me... (20190726)
Avi buffalo - Avi buffalo (2010)
The manic energy of inexperience. And helium vocals. Poetically vague words. Plus a monster guitar solo on penultimate track.
Maybe it's just me but music is now going sideways, not onwards. Is Avi buffalo in the line of the Shins and ilk or just besides? I like 'em so they're doing something right.
Includes band history chronicling first gig at vegan snack restaurant. (20160105)
Avi buffalo - At best cuckold (2014)
As is the custom these days, Zahner-Isenberg (his real name) has his eyes set on miniature masterpiece. Still delicious wetness, awkwardly blooming sex drive, sweaters too tight. Impossibly high singing (pre-adolescent?). No obvious progress for this band, just more command. It could wel be a miniature masterpiece. Only a college student could tell. But greatly enjoyable at all ages. (20160106)
Kevin Ayers - Joy of a toy (1969)
Ayers is a fauvist painting in a grey city street. He's the picaresk ideal: living the good life, taking off to the Mediterranean sun, dedicating himself to the moment, benign absurdity. Songs about eating cake and cake eating you. And for 45 minutes I can step into that world. What can go wrong? (20190726)
Kevin Ayers - Shooting at the moon (1970)
The band takes over the record. Too much noodling, not enough Ayers. (20190802)
Kevin Ayers - Whatevershebringswesing (1972)
My favorite. A feast of moods and settings, from the orchestral opulence of opener 'There is loving / Among us / There is loving' to the frightening clang (shlock horror) of 'Song from the bottom of a well' and from the sunkissed majesty of the harmony drenched title track to the Lou Reed riffing of 'Stranger in blue suede shoes'. There's some C&W and dixieland jazz too. But it's all in the service of the songs. Recommended as a starting point for those who like variety (like me). (20190802)
Kevin Ayers - Bananamour (1973)
There's a deliberate unity of sound, all those girl singers and horns everywhere. Someone must've told the artist to get it together. There's no escaping the lusciousness on this record. Took me a while to get into, but the experience paid back in spades. What songs. Lyrically he's focussed and razorsharp. 'Decadence' slices through all stylistic barriers with its alien soundscape. (20190802)
Kevin Ayers - June 1, 1974 (1974)
This is what happened in case you'd care to remember. Musically nothing to get excited about. An uneventful evening. (20190803)
Kevin Ayers - That's what you get (1980)
Screw Piketty. Ayers told us all we needed to know back in 1980. 'Ooh, money, money, money / where does it go / it always goes back to the rich'. The record only revs up on side 2 when Kevin takes on the world of commerce (again). First side's ruminations on mid-life crisis love ('There are no guarantees') sound kinda desperate. Must be all the Carribean rhythms. (20160211)
Baby Huey - The Baby Huey story (1970)
Unfinished, part-Curt Mayfield old school, part-Sly Stone psychedelic soulfunk, debut. 'A change is gonna come' goes to the ghetto, a 9 minute highlight, every shriek. (20190804)
Burt Bacharach - Casino royale (1966)
Delightful patchwork of short thems and cues. I suppose there's not much holding it together, but since I appreciate all of the little moments I don't mind. (20190804)
Burt Bacharach - Reach out (1967)
Solo Burt Bacharach is in my blood. Yes, my blood is sticky goo. Highlights: 'Bond street', 'A house is not a home'. (20190730)
Burt Bacharach: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid (1969)
(alternate ending)
Butch: 'We're surrounded, Sundance. Police, sherrif, marksmen, the works.'
Sundance: 'I know I should be worried, but listen...'
Butch: 'Worried? We should get armed to the teeth and bust out!'
Sundance: 'Yeah, but listen to the soundtrack. It's so lovely and summery and unhurried. Not a care in the world. I just can't motivate myself for all that violence just now, Butch.'
Butch: '...'
Butch: 'Screw this, I'm busting out!'
Sundance: 'See you on the other side of this bossa, Butch...' (20190731)
Burt Bacharach - Living together (1973)
Just a gorgeous, gorgeously sad album. Something big disappearing on a lost horizon. (20190731)
Burt Bacharach - Lost horizon (1973)
Burt and Hal were born to soundtrack midlife crises. Here disguised as mythical parable. Bleak never sounded so lush. (20190806)
Burt Bacharach - In concert (1974)
You never see this album on those lists of great '70s live albums. Maybe they should've done a sidelong version of 'Close to you' with drum solo and talkbox. Regardless, it's great. As lawsuits erupt between Burt, Hal and Dionne, Hal went into movies, Dionne changed her name, and Burt finds refuge on the road. His stage patter is tremendously stiff ('This. Is. Don't ... Make. Me over'). I only mention it because the band (orchestra?) is swinging. There's a drum eruption in 'Promises promises' that gets me out of my seat everytime. Could've been a drum solo, but he justs plays it under the song. Now there's a thought. (20190731)
Burt Bacharach / V/A - The first book of songs 1954-1958 (2009 released)
Wait for the sequel. (20190806)
Burt Bacharach / V/A - The songs of Burt Bacharach (1952-62, 2013 released)
Triple disc of out-of-copyright early endeavours. I really need Buddy Clinton's 'Take me to your ladder (I'll see your leader later)' - about loving 20 feet women on the moon. Sane people may not. Cause nothing on the moon could be greater. (20151028)
Burt Bacharach / V/A - Make it easy on yourself 1962 (1962, 2013 released)
For Bacharach archivists who want to compare and contrast, say, Sophia Loren's and Babs Tino's versions of 'Too late to worry' (I prefer Tino's cause it's not translated into French). In between are the first triumphs 'Make it easy on yourself', 'I just don't know what to do with myself', 'Don't make me over' (Tommy Hunt version), 'It's love that really counts' and so on. Marvelous project for small audience. (20151019 - first listen)
Badfinger - Magic christian music (1970)
All the parts of the Beatles' sound that could survive in the harsh light of the '70s. 'Carry on till tomorrow' invented Wings. No wonder Paul wrote them a single. The debut is least tainted by the inevitable disillusion, sounds most like the eyes wide open '60s. Good times, sadly proved not undeniable the way they should be. (20151013)
Joan Baez - Where are you now my son (1973)
One side is an audio vérité documentary of her time in Hanoi during the 1972 American bombings. Say what you will, she's lived it. If she wants to recite a poem about it, who am I to argue? Anyway, you think David Briggs ever played piano with anyone who wasn't tough as nails? (20190810)
Joan Baez - From every stage (1976)
When Baez sings 'Blowin' in the wind' in 1975, it's a protest song, not an existential question. And what have I done in this life for the better? (20190810)
Baio - Man of the world (2017)
The problem with most sophistopop - how can you sing something so sophisticated without ending up coarse and well, unsophisticated within your own creation? (20190810)
Band - The Band (1969)
It just wouldn't be the same coming from a pianoteacher, a failed filmstudent and three rockers from the Canadian Squires. Mythmakers extraordinaire. (20190822)
Band - Rock of ages (1972)
Iconic careers get reduced to at most two key moments. This is not one of them. But stray a little from the musical tourist path. This is the heart of the Band. Great Allen Toussaint horn charts too, which they apparently heard on stage for the first time. (20190822)
Band - Northern lights, southern cross (1975)
Late career highlight. 'It makes no difference'. Probably their best, most musical album. (20190822)
Band - Islands (1976)
After all this time surely we can agree the Band were best when they had no ambition. The ones to come back to aren't pink and brown, but Northern Lights, Southern Cross, Stage Fright and this one. An unassuming bag of covers, instrumentals, a Christmas song and some Robertson originals with no ambition but plenty of feel. 'Right as rain', 'Georgia on my mind', 'Livin' in a dream' and, wonderful, 'Christmas must be tonight'. They can drive down old Dixie forever. Give me the throwaway gold dust. (20150926)
The Band - The last waltz (1978)
Bloated rockstars make bloated triple live album. A betrayal of all the Band stood for. It was meant to be a new beginning, but filled themselves with such disgust they promptly quit. (20190825)
Band of Susans - Veil (1993)
Dark early '90s alternative rock. Tunes optional. Moods compulsory. Dark moods. (20190825)
Bang on a can - Music for airports: Brian Eno (1998)
Makes me aware of the act of listening. Am I acting or listening? (20160118)
Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing in the hands (2004)
Solo troubadour reimagines Tropicalia. Exotic, so candid it's frightening, alluring. (20190825)
Basehead - Play with toys (1992)
Stoned mumbled hiphop grooves. Zany skits his only connection left to the real world. (20151021)
Robbie Basho - Seal of the blue lotus (1965)
Maybe it's monday morning, but this has little of the mood its title and cover wonderfully suggest. It's just a guy and an acoustic guitar, I guess. (20160215)
Fontella Bass - Rescued: The best of Fontella Bass (1964-68, 1992 released)
Sure it sounds like Aretha, but I never was smitten with 'Rescue me'. Good voice looking for a home. Arrangements are a little ornate, bigband send offs. Not the thrill of the (1960s) modern. But striving for that moment. (20151022)
Quality, if formulaic mid-60s soul. Chess as in roots. Likeable. (20190827)
Bat for lashes - Fur and gold (2006)
There's a gothic undercurrent which suggests Natasha Khan's idea of a great band is the Bad Seeds, but we've all been young once. She paints herself the ugly duckling awaiting transformation. In the real world that's unlikely. In this magic pixie dreamworld, who knows? It could happen. Great repetitive, percussive piano (and other keys) playing too. (20150929)
Bat for lashes - Two suns (2009)
Awkward follow-up. She's on the dark side now. (20151110)
Yeah... but no. (20190827)
Bat for lashes - The haunted man (2012)
Delivers the dramatically personal great record she'd only hinted at before. Puts you through the wringer, sometimes I nearly cry, and I still want to hear it again. Excorcism. (20151001)
Yeah... but no. (20190827)
Franco Battiato - Fetus (1971)
Italian popsongs and special effects. An early '70s trip through at the time cutting edge technology, and also a dreamscape. Bad dreams. (20190827)
Lucio Battisti - Amore e non amore (1971)
Amore. Half of the fun went out of record listening when I learned English. Joyously spontaneous, belted out Italian freakbeat extemporizations and pastoral instrumentals. The one that sounds like 'Sit on your belly, boy' is a favourite. Probably a millionaire in Italy (of course, who isn't?) and deservedly so. A monster. (20160104)
Peter Matthew Bauer - Liberation (2014)
Bauer knows what rock'n'roll is all about. That's right - liberation. Built on rugged 3rd album VU style riffing, but there are layers more. All the parts are simple but chosen with sophistication. Suggestive song titles like 'I was born in an ashram', 'Philadelphia raga' and 'Scientology airplane conversations' pay off. The kind of record I didn't realise I was waiting for. (20151009)
Beach boys - Surfin' Safari (1962)
Sketches of the sea. Primary colors. Even Mozart made a surf album at 6. (20190827)
Beach boys - Surfin' U.S.A. (1963)
Toughening up. An early classic. They own this formula (surf + harmony). (20190827)
Beach boys - Surfer girl (1963)
Expanding. The romance of surfing. Also cars and having your own bedromm. One question: what's a car club? (20190827)
Beach boys - Little deuce coupe (1963)
Two weeks after their last record, the Beach Boys released their car album. Some old, 8 new songs recorded in a day. Remarkably some of it works. (20190827)
Beach boys - Shut down Volume 2 (1964)
Despite the meticulous studio hours that went into this album's epic 'Cassius Love vs Sonny Wilson' (longest song on the album, folks), it still falls flat.
As with most early Beach Boys albums, there's more gold than you remember: 'Fun, fun, fun', 'Don't worry baby', 'In the parkin' lot', 'The warmth of the sun', 'Why do fools fall in love', 'Keep an eye on summer'. But by God, they succeed in making the whole sound makeshift. (20151003)
Half a brilliant record ('Fun, fun, fun', 'Don'ty worry baby'), half studio debris ('Denny's drums', 'Cassius Love...'). These days there's something innocent and naïve about such brazen product creation. There was heart in it. Can we ever go back? (20190827)
Beach boys - All summer long (1964)
Feels like it's about 10 minutes long. All you need to know about being a teenage boy, straight to the point. It might as well be the first hardcore punk album. 'I never thought a guy could cry / till you made it with another guy'. Only one of the best albums ever. (20151015)
Everything comes together in this eternal youth classic. The high- and endpoint of their early phase as the platonic ideal of a youth band. From here on they'd have no other path but to grow up. (20190827)
Beach boys - Today! (1965)
Wonder and doubt. And some of the most beautiful ballads in the annals of pop. (20190827)
Beach boys - Summer days & summer nights (1965)
Some bands' autopilots are better than other bands' autopilots. Some come up with 'California girls'. Or even 'Let him run wild'. (20190827)
Beach boys - Party! (1965)
Who sings Bob Dylan folk anthems at parties? (20190827)
Beach boys - Pet sounds (1966)
It's that moment when the girl on the beach goes home with you and you realize you have no inner life to share. Start growing. (20190827)
Beach boys - Smile sessions (1966-67, 2011 released)
The good stuff was out there. They were right not to release this. At some point you wanna strangle that guy that's been going 'Awadadoowop' for 45 minutes. Then they can arrest me. I feel Mike Love's pain. (20190827)
Beach boys - Smiley smile (1967)
If one album could've saved rock from self-importance. Such a joyful half hour. Come on now 'If I only had a little pad ... in Hawaii' Now that rock stars are effectively bald, tell me this album didn't see it all coming. Love that album cover too. (20190827)
Beach boys - Wild honey (1967)
Songs from the home. (20190829)
Beach boys - Lei'd in Hawaii (1967, 2017 released)
They sound misplaced, so they misplaced the record. The smallest a blockbuster band has ever sounded. But that's an intriguing sound too. (20190829)
Beach boys - Friends (1968)
The Beach boys never went to college. After high school they grew up. The hard won pleasures of this music are beyond the experience of the teenage audience. Mike Love must've been otherwise occupied to let control slip out of his hands again after Wild Honey. He couldn't have written these songs. (20190829)
Beach boys - 20/20 (1969)
Wrapping up before heading off, but for now that's a strength. Even more democratic - side A is a succession of individual productions. Side B is Brian's, waving at us from the past. (20190901)
Beach boys - Sunflower (1970)
Patchy new start. Some lovely, but as a whole quite schmaltzy. I don't think that was the intention. They lack direction. (20190901)
Beach boys - Surf's up (1971)
The new direction is health. Be good to your feet, be good to your planet. Somehow it works, even through some awkward songs. Brian rises above with an apocalyptic message. Our soul is lost, then we die. (20190901)
Beach boys - Carl and the Passions 'So tough' (1972)
Everyone pitches in to fill the gap. Still, they've got heart. I want it to work. (20190901)
Beach boys - Holland (1973)
Quiet peak of the Brother years. You'd predict an artistic future for these guys, but this was the last stand. (20190908)
Beach boys - In concert (1974)
Underrated concert recording from the last days when they were a modern band. (20190908)
Beach boys - 15 big ones (1976)
Nobody loves you when you're up and about.
How much better would this have been if Brian's front had shown up too?
Here the Beach boys are deep in the cough syrup, while embalming some unsuspecting oldies, and yet, there's a bizarre charm to this cut out madness ('Had to phone ya', 'Everyone's in love with you', 'Back home'). (20150920)
Beach boys - Love you (1977)
Confessions of a recluse with a synth. Legend has it they planted a keyboard in front of Brian's tv and he didn't realize a thing. But legends aren't real. It takes research and development to sound this damaged. You won't find a record like it, and neither will Johnny Carson. Even the synth needs psychological treatment. (20190908)
Beach boys - Keepin' the summer alive (1980)
I'll be in the garage chopping up this surfboard. (20190908)
Beach boys - Beach boys (1985)
The franchise. (20190908)
Beachwood sparks - Beachwood sparks (2000)
Pedal steel from outer space floats over Byrdsian miniatures. Balm for the weary. Interweaves like one long plainsong, but that's ok too. (20160109)
Beak> - Life goes on EP (2019)
Annex to last year's excellent >>>. Cut from the same cloth, but fragments rather than the full stitch. (20190708)
Beat - The Beat (1979)
Tries too hard. Hammers the guitar strings as if conquering them over jam jar glasses. Not the elegance required for rock'n'roll. (20151020 - first listen)
Beatles - A hard day's night (1964)
John Lennon eats the Beatles. (20151017)
Beatles - Beatles for sale (1964)
The first of their peak trilogy of semi-acoustic albums, their fourth album and best so far. John and Paul hit hard, not just on the unbeatable opening salvo of Lennon-channeling-Dylan, but on deeper melodic gold 'I'll follow the sun', 'Every little thing' and 'What you're doing'. Regrettably their last album to consistently feature cover songs ('Kansas city'!, 'Words of love'!, 'Mr Moonlight'!). If ever they took an unwise decision, it's that. (20151006)
Beatles - Anthology 1 (1958-64 + 1995, 1995 released)
When I was briefly in a professional recording studio on my own dime, my band vowed to watch Anthology videos all night. Seemed like the most rock'n'roll thing to do ('xcept I fell asleep). 'But', said my bandmates, 'not the early ones. Skip to the good stuff.' How wrong we were.
'Free as a bird' is Beatles worthy. (20151013)
Beatles - On air. Live at the BBC Volume 2 (1963-64, 2013 released)
With two, maybe three songs (officially) unheard by Beatles fans, you'd be hard pressed to call it essential. Nevertheless this is more prime live material from the era when the Beatles mattered most. As a rock'n'roll band, nobody could touch 'em. (20151011)
Beatles - Revolver (1966)
Stoned moptops giggling reach platonic ideal. Still baffling.
That by today's standards it sounds somewhat impersonal, only shows how far we've slid down the path of self absorption. This is an adventure story. (20160211)
Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's lonely hearts club band (1967)
Paul McCartney eats the Beatles. Harrison the vegan option. (20160216)
Be-bop deluxe - Sunburst finish (1976)
The emotional life of the super-intelligent is a theme I'm naturally more familiar with than most. Nevertheless this smart alec glam/art/new wave hybrid's got me stumped. Funny though. (20151104)
Beck - Stray blues. A collection of b-sides (1993-98, 2000 released)
He advanced remarkably in technical expertise. Nevertheless the two I return to are early lo-fi ballads 'Totally confused' and 'Feather in your cap'. (20151103)
Beck - Morning phase (2014)
Autumnal reflections from Beck Hansen. 54% of this record is reverb. Hangs in the air beautifully, leaves nary a trace in the mind. (20151015)
William Bell - Bound to happen (1969)
William Bell is such a classy singer. Classic single 'I forgot to be your lover' accompanied by great contemporary covers: 'Everyday people', 'Hey Western Union Man'. And originals 'Born under a bad sign', 'I got a sure thing'. 'A smile can't hide a broken heart' another classic. Brings me to my knees. (20160118)
Belly - Star (1993)
A unicorn in a one horse town. You'd think the novelty of hearing a woman's voice taking on guitar rock would wear off someday (discounting male fantasies like Chrissie Hynde here), but the record still radiates like unknown continents. When you've walked down indie rock's admittedly narrow highway, that's something. (20151103 - first listen)
Belly - King (1995)
Enigmatic Tanya Donelly sings vaguely dramatic, subtly anthemic mid-tempo rock riddles. Always propulsive, even at half speed. Chords and melodies are slippery, hooks are disjointed. Did I mention enigmatic? And yet, I'm not averse to sliding on in. (20151008 - first listen)
Jorge Ben - Africa Brasil (1976)
Opener 'Ponta de lança Africano (Umbabarauma)' is a highpoint of Brazilian pop. There is a moment when everything drops out but the percussion -and an echo of a shimmering synth note- and in that moment is heaven's groove.
The next song does it again. And the next.
Best in small doses. Heaven nevertheless. (20150924)
Tony Bennett / Bill Evans - The Tony Bennett / Bill Evans album (1975)
No sentimental mush. Stark, crystal clear piano and vocal. The real story. (20151110 - first listen)
Chuck Berry - St Louis to Liverpool (1964)
Fresh out of jail, Berry re-claims his throne. His late '63 and '64 recordings show he had it in him. This inelegant hodgepodge of new and late '50s material indicates he didn't grasp the LP format fully. (20151017)
Bevis frond - High in a flat (1987-90, 2014 released)
Best of the home recorded years. Reverse chronology may have been a more customer friendly approach, but as it is this has Nick Saloman stumbling around in an acid fuelled daze for the first third, then melodies suddenly snap into place and we're off for a string of gently weeping, stuck together with duct tape, maybe not nuggets, but chestnuts at least. The British J Mascis, if J had been in touch with his emotions. (20151002)
Big star - In space (2005)
Can't remember when I last played their '70s albums, but this one goes on all the time. Razor sharp opener 'Dony'. Then skip through a 3 song Posies reunion (no thanks). Arrive at an 8 song late period Chilton crash course in American music from R&B to disco, audibly created on the spot. Thrilling. (20160829)
Don Bikoff - Celestial explosion (1968)
Solo instrumental acoustic guitar. Folk, maybe not on a psychedelic voyage, but at least tripping. Oh, to spend one day in the mind of a late 1960s hippie who decides to name his latest composition 'Earth (revisited)'. Closes with the appropriate quartet of 'Today was no tomorrow', 'The Formentera moors are stomping tonight', 'Crystal lakes of frangipani' and the title track, on which the sudden appearance of crystal percussion -probably played with his feet- truly approaches mind expanding lift off. (20151019 - first listen)
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic - Sonic geology (1983-86, 1988 released)
Nutso four keyboard instrumental pieces, with Roger Miller of Mission of Burma-fame. Sometimes noisy, sometimes tranquil, always intellectual. Nobody's gonna earn a million dollars with this music. Puzzling. What am I supposed to do with it? (20151004 - first listen)
Black bananas - Rad times xpress IV (2012)
Royal Trux gone Funkadelic. Thrilling when it works ('Rad times'), just confusing when it doesn't. Surely not everything needs to sound like the bottom of a fishtank. (20160210)
Dan Black - [Un] (2009)
Damn, that's some good cheesy synthpop anthems. Waferthin melodies, sung blankfaced into Fisher Price mic. (20160819)
Black sabbath - Paranoid (1970)
From the eastern inflected solo guitar on 'War pigs' to the piano underneath 'Planet caravan', this is always more subtly detailed than I remember. Side A near perfect, side B lost in a jam. Ozzy of course lost in a jam forever. (20151020)
Black sabbath - Sabbath bloody sabbath (1973)
Their first album that doesn't sound like a musical leap forward, just consolidation. Impressive consolidation, but no emotional click. Songs are awesome constructions, but nobody lives there. (20151023)
Black sabbath - Sabotage (1975)
Monstrous pomposity from young rockband destined to conquer a continent before breakfast or 5 PM, whichever comes first. The trouble is Iommi's constructions are now so awe-inspiring, no mere singer could voice them. And Ozzy's more challenged than most. I'd have him hide out in the wings of the stage and try to replace him with the English Chamber Choir too. (20151024)
Black sabbath - Technical ecstasy (1976)
After the previous twin colossi it's a relief to hear a human band, even one preoccupied with dirty women. I wonder - if you'd compile all the songs that don't sound like primal heavy Sabbath, wouldn't that be the best Sabbath album of all? This has more candidates than most ('It's alright', 'You won't change me', 'She's gone'). (20151105)
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers - Moanin' (1959)
In the midst of new jazz and turbulence, Blakey has a statesman's poise and elegance, respected by all comers. He is swing incarnate. Talent swarms around him. (20151014)
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers - Indestructible (1964)
I couldn't tell a Morgan from a Shorter, but I know what I like. Side A has two monster Curtis Fuller (on trombone) tunes, band breathing as one over Blakey's circular rhythms. Side B: a blues, a ballad, a jam. (20151003)
Karl Blau - Introducing Karl Blau (2016)
As deceptive yet honest a title as Dylan's Self Portrait. Classic country songs done right. Karl's voice carries the day and night, the joy and suffering. A ten minute version of Link Wray's 'Fallin' rain' is a remarkable reverie. (20190721)
Blind boys of Alabama - Spirit of the century (2001)
I'm racking my brain if this is the only great Real World album there ever was. If today's veteran artists are venerated for showing up at the studio awake and unhooked from the oxygen machine, it's because of records like this, on which true veterans showed us just what experience can do to capable artists. Something frightening. And it's not just the vocal quartet (combined age 678), but David Lindley, Danny Thompson, John Hammond, Charlie Musselwhite... A man's band. (20151031)
Blonde redhead - Melody of certain damaged lemons (2000)
Carefully plotted turn of the century post-punk post-rock. They never lose their cool, sometimes their pitch. Musically go to great lengths to maintain their 'three musicians, no overdubs' crede, lots of switching of instruments, more plotting. But...it works. (20151014)
Blood orange - Cupid deluxe (2013)
One anthem of self assertion 'You're not good enough' (Prince pastiche, I wish it happened more) and a whole lot of pleading, needling songs that demand perseverance. This modern pop plays hard to get, and not just with melodies you can whistle. Implied chord changes, subaquatic bass, confusing drum shuffles, scratchy guitar, rotating singers. I'm playing along, but can I get it soon? (20150922)
Blue cheer - Vincebus eruptum (1968)
Amped up blues with cruder distortion than anyone else and suitable caveman drumming. A template. (20151116)
Blue nile - High (2004)
Is opening track 'The days of our lives' one chord all the way through, or does it just sound like that?
I promised my analyst I wouldn't do this anymore, yet here I am, saturday night, outside my ex's apartment, in the pouring rain, with no umbrella. I can't help it. (20151005)
Blue oyster cult - Tyranny and mutation (1973)
First impressions: good ole American rock & roll. Maybe misses some barrelhouse piano. Maybe some songs. (20151120)
Blur - The great escape (1995)
Track 1-7: the grandeur of a classic band just over the hill. If rock'n'roll's purpose is liberation for socially inept frontmen, you wonder why Blur is such a hard sell. Track 8-10: looking at the door. Track 11-15: who knows? (20150930)
Blur - Think tank (2003)
Lost in the supermarkets of the world. World travel no guarantee for enlightenment. Beauties 'Out of time', 'Sweet song', 'Battery in my leg' - all stoic weepers to sing into an airplane window. (20151105)
Blur - The magic whip (2015)
If you believe the interviews, around 1997 Albarn turned into a conveyor belt of noodles and sketches, beamed straight in from the collective subconscious.
The Magic Whip was post-produced in a NASA lab, but still wears the half baked jam well. Who would've thought 20 years ago Blur would be one of the stalwarts for tossing it up in the air and watching where it falls. (20160201)
Bob & Gene - If this world were mine (1968-71, 2007 released)
Worthy late '60s soul obscurity. Young people singing their way out of a no-prospects situation. It just misses that final spark. (20160127)
Boedekka - Hapi nightmares (2001)
Whatever happened to Boedekka? Despite going for the post-Beta Band shilling a little too obviously, they couldn't hide their way with a melody and a song (i.e. they wrote some good ones). Did they ever follow up? (20150930)
V/A - Boest! (2009)
As they say, poetry - it's a closed book to me. Even when read out loud. Minimalism is not in their vocabulary. Side B is a chaotic soundscape to devour these poets. You'd think I'd get more satisfaction from it. (20190901)
Lou Bond - Lou Bond (1974)
Lou Bond's only album never belonged on Stax, who couldn't make sense of his patchouli scented Bill Withers / Curtis Mayfield hybrid. Relaxed grooves, amply orchestrated, well meaning lyrics of public and private activism, possible insights gained from nights on the bong. 11 minutes of 'To the establishment''s meandering soliloquies and this pillar of the community would take 11 more. (20151010)
Bongos - Drums along the Hudson (1982)
Feeling jaded? My prescription: one listen to 'In the Congo' daily.
Part of the primordial turn of the '80s swamp that would lead to college rock (see also the Feelies), but don't hold that against them. 16 blasts of infectious uptight fun - gusty acoustic strumming, sharp solo guitar, nervous Talking Heads-inspired drums, the kind of bass played by a guitar player kindly asked to switch instruments cause the band 'needs it', enthusiastic Byrds-induced harmonies. 16 is a lot, even when the doses are concentrated, but just when boredom looms, they hit you with free jazz horns, a T.Rex cover or an earworm like 'Automatic doors'. By jove, they've chanced upon the magic formula. (20150925)
Bongwater - The power of pussy (1990)
Pussy, mystery hole... pleased to meet you. Freakishly hilarious feminist attack on rock's boys only club. Deviously memorable hooks and sometimes tunes amidst collages, short stories, folk covers and Pretty Woman deconstructions. 'The last time I took hallucinogenic drugs was about 5 years ago.' You don't say. (20151022)
Benjamin Booker - Benjamin Booker (2014)
Lord help us if this guy ever lets it all hang out. This will do for now. (20160110)
James Booker - Classified (1982)
Essentially a singular piano stylist who treated the idea of solo records at best as incidental to his art. When you finally get him into the studio, you make do with what you get. 1976's Junco Partner -more acclaimed- is, however, bunk. This one though, captures good nights. New Orleans parlour tricks and card playing kicks. And a cover of 'Swedish rhapsody'. He sings too, and sometimes he lets other people play along without giving 'em the runaround. He easily could. (20150921)
Booker T & the MG's - Melting pot (1971)
So casual it's telepathy. Four people under one mind. Must be a bitch to drive a car that way, but in music it works. (20190708)
Boo Radleys - Wake up (1995)
Autumn of their years, and they know it. (20151119)
Boo Radleys - C'mon kids (1996)
This bag of fairytale concoctions is full of twists, and Carr is as cruel to his creations as the Brothers Grimm.
The newly slashing guitar implies the Radleys are caught on the defense.
But for all the nursery rhymes rudely interupted by dub bass lines, it's a long wait for that one song that makes me break down and cry. That's one genre the Radleys just don't do. (20150922)
Boo Radleys - Kingsize (1998)
The summit of their 'pop' phase, if not their career. 'You've got to be all that you can be', they sing on single 'Free Huey' and here they finally are. No one was listening or, if they did, they didn't like it. Band split up shortly after. But they succeeded in the end. (20151008)
Boris - Smile (2008)
'Fraid the songs are indistinguishable when they switch to Sabbath Youth modus, but I like the slow and hazy ones, atmospheric noise. They go on for a long time. I like that too. (20151029)
Boscoe - Boscoe (1973)
Funk has many faults, but few on this album thankfully.
Miraculous sound - the bass truly is bottomless, the polyrhythms a jungle, the spoken words about Africa.
Starts off somewhere between the Last Poets (but longer) and Badfoot Brown & the Bunions Bradford Funeral and Marching Band (but shorter), and that's not a bad place to be. More straightforward songs further in. (20150921 - first listen)
David Bowie - Station to Station (1976)
He can't remember recording it. Bowie's Achilles' heel is overthinking, so that's not such a bad strategy, apart from the health risks. He's not all there and it pays off on maybe his best album. Soars at all the right points. An alien groove. (20150927)
David Bowie - Scary monsters (1980)
That silence at the start is the sound of an exhausted Bowie wondering 'Am I really going to do this all over again?' Then they dive into it with the abandon of artists who have nothing left to lose. One last time. Fripp shines on guitar, though it's just one trick. (20151026)
David Bowie - Let's dance (1983)
Bowie's bid for the money opens with thrills galore ('Modern love', 'China girl', title track), though you suspect empty gestures. Side 2 loses the thrills. (20151009)
David Bowie - Outside (1995)
Anyone picking up a Bowie album made this side of the election of Ronald Reagan, knows exactly what to expect. I will not pity such a man or woman. This is the only one I have time for, knowing full well that after a strong start (title track, 'The heart's filthy lesson', 'A small plot of land', 'The motel') I'm in for 40 minutes of punishment, with titles 'I'm deranged' and 'The voyeur of utter destruction (as beauty)', before he redeems himself at the end ('Strangers when we meet'). Wretched guitar (as beauty). (20151020)
Brad - Shame (1993)
Brother, please stop slapping the bass that way. You know it's unseemly. Anyway, 'Shame' - is there no end to Washington's culture of guilt? Is it a religious thing? Back to the record: too many jams. The slow and sensitive ones work best ('Buttercup', 'Screen'). (20151027)
Charles Bradley - Victim of love (2013)
Spread the love. (20151120)
Brainiac - Hissing prigs in static couture (1996)
Everybody needs a gonzo in their lives. Model '96. (20160125)
Brave captain - Advertisements for myself (2002)
Calling out the leftist revolution from a bedroom 4-track recorder. It's a thought. Bewildering maze, good tunes hide inside. (20151111)
Brewer & Shipley - The best of. One toke over the line (1968-72, 2001 released)
'Hey Brew, pass me that honey slide.'
'Sure do, Lesley, you feelin' inspired?'
'Oh yeah, strum some chords, will you?'
'How you like that?'
'I like it. This one's about... freedom.'
'Oh yeah.'
(20151016)
Anne Briggs - The time has come (1971)
Briggs has a voice to alter the passage of time, but it's built for unaccompanied ballad singing. The acoustic guitar is expertly judged, but occasionaly overpowers. Still a much loved haven for quiet listening. (20151110)
Brinsley Schwarz - Nervous on the road (1972)
Take me to any terrarium and I'll be eyeing out the chameleons. To hold up rock'n'roll's banner in inhospitable times, is the second best thing in rock'n'roll. To proudly state 'Everything will be alright'. You're alright, Brinsley Schwarz! (20151020 - first listen)
Brinsley Schwarz - The new favourites of Brinsley Schwarz (1975)
Couldn't wait to hear more from this band out of time and place. They should've put some of these songs in a time machine and hawked 'em to Motown, Atlantic, hussled with Chips Moman, maybe even Col. Parker. What's so funny 'bout melodies, homage and old fashioned songwriting? (20151021 - first listen)
Brothers Johnson - Right on time (1977)
Grinding but smooth funk-pop helmed by Quincy Jones. Ooh, you're smooth. I'm gonna let you do everything to me. Sure feel bad in the morning though. ('Strawberry letter 23') (201511022)
Bundy K. Brown - Directions in music (1996)
How the 1990s fathers of post-rock were betrayed by their children.
Listen to this twin record to Tortoise's Millions Now Living Will Never Die and you hear tropes now well worn from pilfering, but adventurous spirit still undimmed, rarely engaged by followers. I remember a time when post-rock was more than that feeling of being alone in a crowd. This record says I remember correctly.
But then, instrumentals are usually my favorite songs on albums. (20150923)
Duncan Browne - Give me take you (1968)
As 'baroque pop masterpieces' go, it's a shock how sparsely arranged this is: one Spanish guitar playing some very English strains, lots of singing and some subtle shading. Too subtle? It'll need more killer instinct if it wants to grow up into a stage show. (20160117)
Jackson Browne - Late for the sky (1974)
Sorry I'm late, I was just thinking. (20190710 - first listen)
Jackson Browne - Running on empty (1977)
Total teenage drama - lonesome, insecure troubadour on the road preyed on by beautiful groupies and dealers, still comes out on top. Browne is never as deep as he aspires, but neither am I. Gets my heart pumping that little bit faster. Looks like it's me and you again tonight - Jackson. (20151023)
Paul Bryan - Listen of Paul Bryan (1973)
Hey you, listen of!
A soft rock classic on a bed of bossa nova from charmingly lisping Brazilian bedsit pianist. Early '70s gold. (20160209)
Bubble puppy - A gathering of promises (1969)
Proto hard-rock, aimless enough to conclude it was an accident. 'Hot smoke and sassafrass' - also bubblegum. (20151019 - first listen)
Too many promises, only one fulfilled. 'Hot smoke and sassafrass' has an album's supply of killer riffs. The rest of the album has none. Mostly sub-late '60 stoned jamming. And yet they wrote the hit in the studio, an afterthought. How did that happen? And who calls themselves Bubble Puppy anyway? (20160123)
Vashti Bunyan - Just another diamond day (1970)
They say it's sickly sweet, but any hippie travelling the length of Great Britain on horse and cart, on their way to Donovan's lost commune, would've written 'em this way. The beat of the horses' hooves is in every song. Missives from an alternative society. (20151007)
Eric Burdon & the new Animals - Winds of change (1967)
The new Animals made some unheralded great singles, but unless you're wearing a kaftan and are looking forward to poems about the black death, a best of should suffice. (20151119)
Solomon Burke - Soul alive (1983)
'Are you with me?!'
'Gee, Solomon, I just wandered in here.'
'Are you with me?!'
'I'll give it a try.'
'Are you with me?!'
'Guess so.'
'Are you with me?!'
You're kinda getting into my personal space.'
'Are you with me?!'
FUCK. OFF. SOLOMON. BURKE.
Solomon Burke is a selfish lover. (20160219)
Solomon Burke - Don't give up on me (2002)
Kinda reminds me of that brief window in time when Santana's Supernatural drifted out of every window in town, but that's the only downside to this remarkable triumph. Elderly music legends (and I include the songwriters) have no business being this good. If it keeps up, we'll have to listen to new Rolling Stones album to determine how boring they are.
So that's two downsides.
I might prefer the record to Burke's '60s records. Really. Some might say it's Madame Tussauds '60s soul. I say, wax on. (20150923)
Kenny Burrell - Have yourself a soulful little christmas (1966)
Not just for christmas. (20151001)
Kenny Burrell - God bless the child (1971)
All the voodoo was never Burrell's bag. After two electric jam adventures (percussion in a trance, Fender Rhodes, strings mysterious ltd, Burrell's guitar like a snake slithering through the grass) we're back to hard bop. And at the end, some solo guitar performances. All fine indeed. (20150930)
Gary Burton quintet - In concert (1968)
Too twiddly, didn't understand. (20150929)
Kate Bush - The kick inside (1978)
Thrillingly strange. It's amazing to think David Gilmour had a (small) hand in a record this good. It's Kate's show though, weird helium-pitched child priestess of some pagan English cult. She reached her summit right at the start. (20151007)
Kate Bush - The dreaming (1982)
One -the best one- in a line of highbrow, well meaning '80s popstars (Peter Gabriel, Sting) whose work regrettably has come back into favour.
There is a thin line between pop and three act theater on The Dreaming. Makes me fidget uncomfortably in my upholstered seat.
Ms. Bush, please put the Fairlight back in storage, crank up the ole 88 and give us some rock'n'roll. (20150924)
Kate Bush - Hounds of love (1985)
A peculiar kind of British dandyism. Lord, will someone take this burden from me. (20151002)
Kate Bush - Aerial (2005)
A sky and a sea of honey - she knows she risks drowning in syrup. A sea of honey runs the training wheel of British art-rock tropes, unimpressively. (Elvis lives! Numbers! Household appliances are sexy! I want to disappear!) A sky of honey is rarefied. A musical version of To The Lighthouse, except no conflict or tension, just staring at a painting in the rain. Quite wonderful.
Household appliances still not sexy anywhere but Great Britain. (20160104)
Any way the wind blows OST (2003)
Just when you think Tom Barman never plays anything but Wham, he hits you with a hip mixtape soundtrack: some jazz, electronica, belpop, oddities. He sneaks in some of his own new music as highlights. He remains a card. (20190719)
Aphrodite's child - 666 (1971)
Heavy concept rock from dawn of the '70s. Demis and Vangelis bought all of the capes. (20190721)
Apples in stereo - Her wallpaper reverie (1999)
Quaint 1967 throwback, purposedly. These days 1999 seems a long way to throw things back into... Nice tunes. (20190721)
Appletree theatre - Playback (1968)
Pre-Saturday Night Live audio sketches (I don't get it) and some period pianosongs (that trademark staccato block chording the Beatles did too - of course). It's alright, but anything from 1965-1968 can/does become a cult. (20190722)
Ariel Pink's haunted graffiti - Before today (2010)
Filthy, smeared out sound. Filthy, smeared out mind. Ace. (20190721)
Ariel Pink's haunted graffiti - Mature themes (2012)
Ariel deepens his caricature. Still filthy, now he's got feelings too. It works. (20190722)
Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington - The great reunion of ... (1961)
Sequel overclasses original (Together for the First Time, also 1961). Classicism. (20190721)
Louis Armstrong - The definitive collection (1938-68) (2006 released)
Early Satchmo is another world, academic. I don't get it. Later Satchmo, the 'entertainer', is glorious, sentimental, over ripe. Somewhere in the middle is 'That lucky old sun (just rolls around heaven all day)' (1949), one of the best renditions (see also Ray Charles, the Caravans...) of maybe the prettiest song ever written. (20190722)
Louis Armstrong - What a wonderful world (1970)
Very late (last?) Armstrong session. He's a guest in his own band and he doesn't really know these songs ('Everybody's talking', 'Give peace a chance' and others). The title track is definitely not the performance we all know. But it works. Moving stuff, filled with his big hearted personality. (20190722)
Maki Asakawa - Blue spirit blues (1972)
Ersatz blues and pre-war jazz from '70s Japan. Hard to tell if it's sung in English or Japanese. So why listen to it now? It's beautifully odd, for one. And emotionally it hits home more often than not. If you've ever felt like life is a bad translation, this is for you. (20190724)
Ashra - New age of earth (1977)
A new age gold standard. (20190725)
Association - And then... along comes the Association (1966)
Two hits, ten harmony soft pop also rans. Sleevenotes say 'they can play bluer blues than the Rolling Stones, harder hard-rock than the Raiders and put more folk into folk music than the Kingston Trio'. Not here in any case. (But - the Association's career would go on to weirdness and glory, sometimes simultaneously.) (20190721)
Association - Renaissance (1966)
'Pandora's golden heebie jeebies'! Psychedelic oddballs in straight suits. (20190721)
Association - Birthday (1968)
None more lush. Lovely. The fact they still look like a conservative think tank is lovely too, in a way. (20190724)
Association - The Association (1969)
Hey, what if CSN had 7 singers and no egos? A sentimental favorite. Not a shred of revolution in it. (20190725)
Augsburger tafelconfect - Friendly mohawk tastes maaloxan (2006)
Now this is, quite honestly, why I love music. A vinyl single, 2 times 3 minutes - that's all it takes - of completely uncategorizable sounds, played by German (?) band with Mauro Pawlowski sitting in on guitar. One of them plays a 'wet computer' - it's either a brain or a dangerous work situation. It takes a leap of imagination to call this music, or anything at all. To say 'That's the take. Mix it, press it on a record, and distribute to the world' (or 300 record nerds) - well, respect. I'll never get my head around it. That's excitement. It may be art. (20190809)
Autumn defense - Circles (2003)
Canyon soft rock with subtle country flavor. That frinction between smoothness and grain. A refined pleasure. (20190726)
Autumn defense - Autumn defense (2006)
Too smooth. (20190726)
Autumn defense - Once around (2010)
Ah, that's just right. Poco lives. (20190726)
Avalanches - Since I left you (2000)
I imagine this playing in the background of an Ikea catalogue. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Some of my best friends... Even me... (20190726)
Avi buffalo - Avi buffalo (2010)
The manic energy of inexperience. And helium vocals. Poetically vague words. Plus a monster guitar solo on penultimate track.
Maybe it's just me but music is now going sideways, not onwards. Is Avi buffalo in the line of the Shins and ilk or just besides? I like 'em so they're doing something right.
Includes band history chronicling first gig at vegan snack restaurant. (20160105)
Avi buffalo - At best cuckold (2014)
As is the custom these days, Zahner-Isenberg (his real name) has his eyes set on miniature masterpiece. Still delicious wetness, awkwardly blooming sex drive, sweaters too tight. Impossibly high singing (pre-adolescent?). No obvious progress for this band, just more command. It could wel be a miniature masterpiece. Only a college student could tell. But greatly enjoyable at all ages. (20160106)
Kevin Ayers - Joy of a toy (1969)
Ayers is a fauvist painting in a grey city street. He's the picaresk ideal: living the good life, taking off to the Mediterranean sun, dedicating himself to the moment, benign absurdity. Songs about eating cake and cake eating you. And for 45 minutes I can step into that world. What can go wrong? (20190726)
Kevin Ayers - Shooting at the moon (1970)
The band takes over the record. Too much noodling, not enough Ayers. (20190802)
Kevin Ayers - Whatevershebringswesing (1972)
My favorite. A feast of moods and settings, from the orchestral opulence of opener 'There is loving / Among us / There is loving' to the frightening clang (shlock horror) of 'Song from the bottom of a well' and from the sunkissed majesty of the harmony drenched title track to the Lou Reed riffing of 'Stranger in blue suede shoes'. There's some C&W and dixieland jazz too. But it's all in the service of the songs. Recommended as a starting point for those who like variety (like me). (20190802)
Kevin Ayers - Bananamour (1973)
There's a deliberate unity of sound, all those girl singers and horns everywhere. Someone must've told the artist to get it together. There's no escaping the lusciousness on this record. Took me a while to get into, but the experience paid back in spades. What songs. Lyrically he's focussed and razorsharp. 'Decadence' slices through all stylistic barriers with its alien soundscape. (20190802)
Kevin Ayers - June 1, 1974 (1974)
This is what happened in case you'd care to remember. Musically nothing to get excited about. An uneventful evening. (20190803)
Kevin Ayers - That's what you get (1980)
Screw Piketty. Ayers told us all we needed to know back in 1980. 'Ooh, money, money, money / where does it go / it always goes back to the rich'. The record only revs up on side 2 when Kevin takes on the world of commerce (again). First side's ruminations on mid-life crisis love ('There are no guarantees') sound kinda desperate. Must be all the Carribean rhythms. (20160211)
Baby Huey - The Baby Huey story (1970)
Unfinished, part-Curt Mayfield old school, part-Sly Stone psychedelic soulfunk, debut. 'A change is gonna come' goes to the ghetto, a 9 minute highlight, every shriek. (20190804)
Burt Bacharach - Casino royale (1966)
Delightful patchwork of short thems and cues. I suppose there's not much holding it together, but since I appreciate all of the little moments I don't mind. (20190804)
Burt Bacharach - Reach out (1967)
Solo Burt Bacharach is in my blood. Yes, my blood is sticky goo. Highlights: 'Bond street', 'A house is not a home'. (20190730)
Burt Bacharach: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid (1969)
(alternate ending)
Butch: 'We're surrounded, Sundance. Police, sherrif, marksmen, the works.'
Sundance: 'I know I should be worried, but listen...'
Butch: 'Worried? We should get armed to the teeth and bust out!'
Sundance: 'Yeah, but listen to the soundtrack. It's so lovely and summery and unhurried. Not a care in the world. I just can't motivate myself for all that violence just now, Butch.'
Butch: '...'
Butch: 'Screw this, I'm busting out!'
Sundance: 'See you on the other side of this bossa, Butch...' (20190731)
Burt Bacharach - Living together (1973)
Just a gorgeous, gorgeously sad album. Something big disappearing on a lost horizon. (20190731)
Burt Bacharach - Lost horizon (1973)
Burt and Hal were born to soundtrack midlife crises. Here disguised as mythical parable. Bleak never sounded so lush. (20190806)
Burt Bacharach - In concert (1974)
You never see this album on those lists of great '70s live albums. Maybe they should've done a sidelong version of 'Close to you' with drum solo and talkbox. Regardless, it's great. As lawsuits erupt between Burt, Hal and Dionne, Hal went into movies, Dionne changed her name, and Burt finds refuge on the road. His stage patter is tremendously stiff ('This. Is. Don't ... Make. Me over'). I only mention it because the band (orchestra?) is swinging. There's a drum eruption in 'Promises promises' that gets me out of my seat everytime. Could've been a drum solo, but he justs plays it under the song. Now there's a thought. (20190731)
Burt Bacharach / V/A - The first book of songs 1954-1958 (2009 released)
Wait for the sequel. (20190806)
Burt Bacharach / V/A - The songs of Burt Bacharach (1952-62, 2013 released)
Triple disc of out-of-copyright early endeavours. I really need Buddy Clinton's 'Take me to your ladder (I'll see your leader later)' - about loving 20 feet women on the moon. Sane people may not. Cause nothing on the moon could be greater. (20151028)
Burt Bacharach / V/A - Make it easy on yourself 1962 (1962, 2013 released)
For Bacharach archivists who want to compare and contrast, say, Sophia Loren's and Babs Tino's versions of 'Too late to worry' (I prefer Tino's cause it's not translated into French). In between are the first triumphs 'Make it easy on yourself', 'I just don't know what to do with myself', 'Don't make me over' (Tommy Hunt version), 'It's love that really counts' and so on. Marvelous project for small audience. (20151019 - first listen)
Badfinger - Magic christian music (1970)
All the parts of the Beatles' sound that could survive in the harsh light of the '70s. 'Carry on till tomorrow' invented Wings. No wonder Paul wrote them a single. The debut is least tainted by the inevitable disillusion, sounds most like the eyes wide open '60s. Good times, sadly proved not undeniable the way they should be. (20151013)
Joan Baez - Where are you now my son (1973)
One side is an audio vérité documentary of her time in Hanoi during the 1972 American bombings. Say what you will, she's lived it. If she wants to recite a poem about it, who am I to argue? Anyway, you think David Briggs ever played piano with anyone who wasn't tough as nails? (20190810)
Joan Baez - From every stage (1976)
When Baez sings 'Blowin' in the wind' in 1975, it's a protest song, not an existential question. And what have I done in this life for the better? (20190810)
Baio - Man of the world (2017)
The problem with most sophistopop - how can you sing something so sophisticated without ending up coarse and well, unsophisticated within your own creation? (20190810)
Band - The Band (1969)
It just wouldn't be the same coming from a pianoteacher, a failed filmstudent and three rockers from the Canadian Squires. Mythmakers extraordinaire. (20190822)
Band - Rock of ages (1972)
Iconic careers get reduced to at most two key moments. This is not one of them. But stray a little from the musical tourist path. This is the heart of the Band. Great Allen Toussaint horn charts too, which they apparently heard on stage for the first time. (20190822)
Band - Northern lights, southern cross (1975)
Late career highlight. 'It makes no difference'. Probably their best, most musical album. (20190822)
Band - Islands (1976)
After all this time surely we can agree the Band were best when they had no ambition. The ones to come back to aren't pink and brown, but Northern Lights, Southern Cross, Stage Fright and this one. An unassuming bag of covers, instrumentals, a Christmas song and some Robertson originals with no ambition but plenty of feel. 'Right as rain', 'Georgia on my mind', 'Livin' in a dream' and, wonderful, 'Christmas must be tonight'. They can drive down old Dixie forever. Give me the throwaway gold dust. (20150926)
The Band - The last waltz (1978)
Bloated rockstars make bloated triple live album. A betrayal of all the Band stood for. It was meant to be a new beginning, but filled themselves with such disgust they promptly quit. (20190825)
Band of Susans - Veil (1993)
Dark early '90s alternative rock. Tunes optional. Moods compulsory. Dark moods. (20190825)
Bang on a can - Music for airports: Brian Eno (1998)
Makes me aware of the act of listening. Am I acting or listening? (20160118)
Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing in the hands (2004)
Solo troubadour reimagines Tropicalia. Exotic, so candid it's frightening, alluring. (20190825)
Basehead - Play with toys (1992)
Stoned mumbled hiphop grooves. Zany skits his only connection left to the real world. (20151021)
Robbie Basho - Seal of the blue lotus (1965)
Maybe it's monday morning, but this has little of the mood its title and cover wonderfully suggest. It's just a guy and an acoustic guitar, I guess. (20160215)
Fontella Bass - Rescued: The best of Fontella Bass (1964-68, 1992 released)
Sure it sounds like Aretha, but I never was smitten with 'Rescue me'. Good voice looking for a home. Arrangements are a little ornate, bigband send offs. Not the thrill of the (1960s) modern. But striving for that moment. (20151022)
Quality, if formulaic mid-60s soul. Chess as in roots. Likeable. (20190827)
Bat for lashes - Fur and gold (2006)
There's a gothic undercurrent which suggests Natasha Khan's idea of a great band is the Bad Seeds, but we've all been young once. She paints herself the ugly duckling awaiting transformation. In the real world that's unlikely. In this magic pixie dreamworld, who knows? It could happen. Great repetitive, percussive piano (and other keys) playing too. (20150929)
Bat for lashes - Two suns (2009)
Awkward follow-up. She's on the dark side now. (20151110)
Yeah... but no. (20190827)
Bat for lashes - The haunted man (2012)
Delivers the dramatically personal great record she'd only hinted at before. Puts you through the wringer, sometimes I nearly cry, and I still want to hear it again. Excorcism. (20151001)
Yeah... but no. (20190827)
Franco Battiato - Fetus (1971)
Italian popsongs and special effects. An early '70s trip through at the time cutting edge technology, and also a dreamscape. Bad dreams. (20190827)
Lucio Battisti - Amore e non amore (1971)
Amore. Half of the fun went out of record listening when I learned English. Joyously spontaneous, belted out Italian freakbeat extemporizations and pastoral instrumentals. The one that sounds like 'Sit on your belly, boy' is a favourite. Probably a millionaire in Italy (of course, who isn't?) and deservedly so. A monster. (20160104)
Peter Matthew Bauer - Liberation (2014)
Bauer knows what rock'n'roll is all about. That's right - liberation. Built on rugged 3rd album VU style riffing, but there are layers more. All the parts are simple but chosen with sophistication. Suggestive song titles like 'I was born in an ashram', 'Philadelphia raga' and 'Scientology airplane conversations' pay off. The kind of record I didn't realise I was waiting for. (20151009)
Beach boys - Surfin' Safari (1962)
Sketches of the sea. Primary colors. Even Mozart made a surf album at 6. (20190827)
Beach boys - Surfin' U.S.A. (1963)
Toughening up. An early classic. They own this formula (surf + harmony). (20190827)
Beach boys - Surfer girl (1963)
Expanding. The romance of surfing. Also cars and having your own bedromm. One question: what's a car club? (20190827)
Beach boys - Little deuce coupe (1963)
Two weeks after their last record, the Beach Boys released their car album. Some old, 8 new songs recorded in a day. Remarkably some of it works. (20190827)
Beach boys - Shut down Volume 2 (1964)
Despite the meticulous studio hours that went into this album's epic 'Cassius Love vs Sonny Wilson' (longest song on the album, folks), it still falls flat.
As with most early Beach Boys albums, there's more gold than you remember: 'Fun, fun, fun', 'Don't worry baby', 'In the parkin' lot', 'The warmth of the sun', 'Why do fools fall in love', 'Keep an eye on summer'. But by God, they succeed in making the whole sound makeshift. (20151003)
Half a brilliant record ('Fun, fun, fun', 'Don'ty worry baby'), half studio debris ('Denny's drums', 'Cassius Love...'). These days there's something innocent and naïve about such brazen product creation. There was heart in it. Can we ever go back? (20190827)
Beach boys - All summer long (1964)
Feels like it's about 10 minutes long. All you need to know about being a teenage boy, straight to the point. It might as well be the first hardcore punk album. 'I never thought a guy could cry / till you made it with another guy'. Only one of the best albums ever. (20151015)
Everything comes together in this eternal youth classic. The high- and endpoint of their early phase as the platonic ideal of a youth band. From here on they'd have no other path but to grow up. (20190827)
Beach boys - Today! (1965)
Wonder and doubt. And some of the most beautiful ballads in the annals of pop. (20190827)
Beach boys - Summer days & summer nights (1965)
Some bands' autopilots are better than other bands' autopilots. Some come up with 'California girls'. Or even 'Let him run wild'. (20190827)
Beach boys - Party! (1965)
Who sings Bob Dylan folk anthems at parties? (20190827)
Beach boys - Pet sounds (1966)
It's that moment when the girl on the beach goes home with you and you realize you have no inner life to share. Start growing. (20190827)
Beach boys - Smile sessions (1966-67, 2011 released)
The good stuff was out there. They were right not to release this. At some point you wanna strangle that guy that's been going 'Awadadoowop' for 45 minutes. Then they can arrest me. I feel Mike Love's pain. (20190827)
Beach boys - Smiley smile (1967)
If one album could've saved rock from self-importance. Such a joyful half hour. Come on now 'If I only had a little pad ... in Hawaii' Now that rock stars are effectively bald, tell me this album didn't see it all coming. Love that album cover too. (20190827)
Beach boys - Wild honey (1967)
Songs from the home. (20190829)
Beach boys - Lei'd in Hawaii (1967, 2017 released)
They sound misplaced, so they misplaced the record. The smallest a blockbuster band has ever sounded. But that's an intriguing sound too. (20190829)
The Beach boys never went to college. After high school they grew up. The hard won pleasures of this music are beyond the experience of the teenage audience. Mike Love must've been otherwise occupied to let control slip out of his hands again after Wild Honey. He couldn't have written these songs. (20190829)
Wrapping up before heading off, but for now that's a strength. Even more democratic - side A is a succession of individual productions. Side B is Brian's, waving at us from the past. (20190901)
Beach boys - Sunflower (1970)
Patchy new start. Some lovely, but as a whole quite schmaltzy. I don't think that was the intention. They lack direction. (20190901)
Beach boys - Surf's up (1971)
The new direction is health. Be good to your feet, be good to your planet. Somehow it works, even through some awkward songs. Brian rises above with an apocalyptic message. Our soul is lost, then we die. (20190901)
Beach boys - Carl and the Passions 'So tough' (1972)
Everyone pitches in to fill the gap. Still, they've got heart. I want it to work. (20190901)
Beach boys - Holland (1973)
Quiet peak of the Brother years. You'd predict an artistic future for these guys, but this was the last stand. (20190908)
Beach boys - In concert (1974)
Underrated concert recording from the last days when they were a modern band. (20190908)
Beach boys - 15 big ones (1976)
Nobody loves you when you're up and about.
How much better would this have been if Brian's front had shown up too?
Here the Beach boys are deep in the cough syrup, while embalming some unsuspecting oldies, and yet, there's a bizarre charm to this cut out madness ('Had to phone ya', 'Everyone's in love with you', 'Back home'). (20150920)
Beach boys - Love you (1977)
Confessions of a recluse with a synth. Legend has it they planted a keyboard in front of Brian's tv and he didn't realize a thing. But legends aren't real. It takes research and development to sound this damaged. You won't find a record like it, and neither will Johnny Carson. Even the synth needs psychological treatment. (20190908)
Beach boys - Keepin' the summer alive (1980)
I'll be in the garage chopping up this surfboard. (20190908)
Beach boys - Beach boys (1985)
The franchise. (20190908)
Beachwood sparks - Beachwood sparks (2000)
Pedal steel from outer space floats over Byrdsian miniatures. Balm for the weary. Interweaves like one long plainsong, but that's ok too. (20160109)
Beak> - Life goes on EP (2019)
Annex to last year's excellent >>>. Cut from the same cloth, but fragments rather than the full stitch. (20190708)
Beat - The Beat (1979)
Tries too hard. Hammers the guitar strings as if conquering them over jam jar glasses. Not the elegance required for rock'n'roll. (20151020 - first listen)
Beatles - A hard day's night (1964)
John Lennon eats the Beatles. (20151017)
Beatles - Beatles for sale (1964)
The first of their peak trilogy of semi-acoustic albums, their fourth album and best so far. John and Paul hit hard, not just on the unbeatable opening salvo of Lennon-channeling-Dylan, but on deeper melodic gold 'I'll follow the sun', 'Every little thing' and 'What you're doing'. Regrettably their last album to consistently feature cover songs ('Kansas city'!, 'Words of love'!, 'Mr Moonlight'!). If ever they took an unwise decision, it's that. (20151006)
Beatles - Anthology 1 (1958-64 + 1995, 1995 released)
When I was briefly in a professional recording studio on my own dime, my band vowed to watch Anthology videos all night. Seemed like the most rock'n'roll thing to do ('xcept I fell asleep). 'But', said my bandmates, 'not the early ones. Skip to the good stuff.' How wrong we were.
'Free as a bird' is Beatles worthy. (20151013)
Beatles - On air. Live at the BBC Volume 2 (1963-64, 2013 released)
With two, maybe three songs (officially) unheard by Beatles fans, you'd be hard pressed to call it essential. Nevertheless this is more prime live material from the era when the Beatles mattered most. As a rock'n'roll band, nobody could touch 'em. (20151011)
Beatles - Revolver (1966)
Stoned moptops giggling reach platonic ideal. Still baffling.
That by today's standards it sounds somewhat impersonal, only shows how far we've slid down the path of self absorption. This is an adventure story. (20160211)
Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's lonely hearts club band (1967)
Paul McCartney eats the Beatles. Harrison the vegan option. (20160216)
Be-bop deluxe - Sunburst finish (1976)
The emotional life of the super-intelligent is a theme I'm naturally more familiar with than most. Nevertheless this smart alec glam/art/new wave hybrid's got me stumped. Funny though. (20151104)
Beck - Stray blues. A collection of b-sides (1993-98, 2000 released)
He advanced remarkably in technical expertise. Nevertheless the two I return to are early lo-fi ballads 'Totally confused' and 'Feather in your cap'. (20151103)
Beck - Morning phase (2014)
Autumnal reflections from Beck Hansen. 54% of this record is reverb. Hangs in the air beautifully, leaves nary a trace in the mind. (20151015)
William Bell - Bound to happen (1969)
William Bell is such a classy singer. Classic single 'I forgot to be your lover' accompanied by great contemporary covers: 'Everyday people', 'Hey Western Union Man'. And originals 'Born under a bad sign', 'I got a sure thing'. 'A smile can't hide a broken heart' another classic. Brings me to my knees. (20160118)
Belly - Star (1993)
A unicorn in a one horse town. You'd think the novelty of hearing a woman's voice taking on guitar rock would wear off someday (discounting male fantasies like Chrissie Hynde here), but the record still radiates like unknown continents. When you've walked down indie rock's admittedly narrow highway, that's something. (20151103 - first listen)
Belly - King (1995)
Enigmatic Tanya Donelly sings vaguely dramatic, subtly anthemic mid-tempo rock riddles. Always propulsive, even at half speed. Chords and melodies are slippery, hooks are disjointed. Did I mention enigmatic? And yet, I'm not averse to sliding on in. (20151008 - first listen)
Jorge Ben - Africa Brasil (1976)
Opener 'Ponta de lança Africano (Umbabarauma)' is a highpoint of Brazilian pop. There is a moment when everything drops out but the percussion -and an echo of a shimmering synth note- and in that moment is heaven's groove.
The next song does it again. And the next.
Best in small doses. Heaven nevertheless. (20150924)
Tony Bennett / Bill Evans - The Tony Bennett / Bill Evans album (1975)
No sentimental mush. Stark, crystal clear piano and vocal. The real story. (20151110 - first listen)
Chuck Berry - St Louis to Liverpool (1964)
Fresh out of jail, Berry re-claims his throne. His late '63 and '64 recordings show he had it in him. This inelegant hodgepodge of new and late '50s material indicates he didn't grasp the LP format fully. (20151017)
Bevis frond - High in a flat (1987-90, 2014 released)
Best of the home recorded years. Reverse chronology may have been a more customer friendly approach, but as it is this has Nick Saloman stumbling around in an acid fuelled daze for the first third, then melodies suddenly snap into place and we're off for a string of gently weeping, stuck together with duct tape, maybe not nuggets, but chestnuts at least. The British J Mascis, if J had been in touch with his emotions. (20151002)
Big star - In space (2005)
Can't remember when I last played their '70s albums, but this one goes on all the time. Razor sharp opener 'Dony'. Then skip through a 3 song Posies reunion (no thanks). Arrive at an 8 song late period Chilton crash course in American music from R&B to disco, audibly created on the spot. Thrilling. (20160829)
Don Bikoff - Celestial explosion (1968)
Solo instrumental acoustic guitar. Folk, maybe not on a psychedelic voyage, but at least tripping. Oh, to spend one day in the mind of a late 1960s hippie who decides to name his latest composition 'Earth (revisited)'. Closes with the appropriate quartet of 'Today was no tomorrow', 'The Formentera moors are stomping tonight', 'Crystal lakes of frangipani' and the title track, on which the sudden appearance of crystal percussion -probably played with his feet- truly approaches mind expanding lift off. (20151019 - first listen)
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic - Sonic geology (1983-86, 1988 released)
Nutso four keyboard instrumental pieces, with Roger Miller of Mission of Burma-fame. Sometimes noisy, sometimes tranquil, always intellectual. Nobody's gonna earn a million dollars with this music. Puzzling. What am I supposed to do with it? (20151004 - first listen)
Black bananas - Rad times xpress IV (2012)
Royal Trux gone Funkadelic. Thrilling when it works ('Rad times'), just confusing when it doesn't. Surely not everything needs to sound like the bottom of a fishtank. (20160210)
Dan Black - [Un] (2009)
Damn, that's some good cheesy synthpop anthems. Waferthin melodies, sung blankfaced into Fisher Price mic. (20160819)
Black sabbath - Paranoid (1970)
From the eastern inflected solo guitar on 'War pigs' to the piano underneath 'Planet caravan', this is always more subtly detailed than I remember. Side A near perfect, side B lost in a jam. Ozzy of course lost in a jam forever. (20151020)
Black sabbath - Sabbath bloody sabbath (1973)
Their first album that doesn't sound like a musical leap forward, just consolidation. Impressive consolidation, but no emotional click. Songs are awesome constructions, but nobody lives there. (20151023)
Black sabbath - Sabotage (1975)
Monstrous pomposity from young rockband destined to conquer a continent before breakfast or 5 PM, whichever comes first. The trouble is Iommi's constructions are now so awe-inspiring, no mere singer could voice them. And Ozzy's more challenged than most. I'd have him hide out in the wings of the stage and try to replace him with the English Chamber Choir too. (20151024)
Black sabbath - Technical ecstasy (1976)
After the previous twin colossi it's a relief to hear a human band, even one preoccupied with dirty women. I wonder - if you'd compile all the songs that don't sound like primal heavy Sabbath, wouldn't that be the best Sabbath album of all? This has more candidates than most ('It's alright', 'You won't change me', 'She's gone'). (20151105)
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers - Moanin' (1959)
In the midst of new jazz and turbulence, Blakey has a statesman's poise and elegance, respected by all comers. He is swing incarnate. Talent swarms around him. (20151014)
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers - Indestructible (1964)
I couldn't tell a Morgan from a Shorter, but I know what I like. Side A has two monster Curtis Fuller (on trombone) tunes, band breathing as one over Blakey's circular rhythms. Side B: a blues, a ballad, a jam. (20151003)
Karl Blau - Introducing Karl Blau (2016)
As deceptive yet honest a title as Dylan's Self Portrait. Classic country songs done right. Karl's voice carries the day and night, the joy and suffering. A ten minute version of Link Wray's 'Fallin' rain' is a remarkable reverie. (20190721)
Blind boys of Alabama - Spirit of the century (2001)
I'm racking my brain if this is the only great Real World album there ever was. If today's veteran artists are venerated for showing up at the studio awake and unhooked from the oxygen machine, it's because of records like this, on which true veterans showed us just what experience can do to capable artists. Something frightening. And it's not just the vocal quartet (combined age 678), but David Lindley, Danny Thompson, John Hammond, Charlie Musselwhite... A man's band. (20151031)
Blonde redhead - Melody of certain damaged lemons (2000)
Carefully plotted turn of the century post-punk post-rock. They never lose their cool, sometimes their pitch. Musically go to great lengths to maintain their 'three musicians, no overdubs' crede, lots of switching of instruments, more plotting. But...it works. (20151014)
Blood orange - Cupid deluxe (2013)
One anthem of self assertion 'You're not good enough' (Prince pastiche, I wish it happened more) and a whole lot of pleading, needling songs that demand perseverance. This modern pop plays hard to get, and not just with melodies you can whistle. Implied chord changes, subaquatic bass, confusing drum shuffles, scratchy guitar, rotating singers. I'm playing along, but can I get it soon? (20150922)
Blue cheer - Vincebus eruptum (1968)
Amped up blues with cruder distortion than anyone else and suitable caveman drumming. A template. (20151116)
Blue nile - High (2004)
Is opening track 'The days of our lives' one chord all the way through, or does it just sound like that?
I promised my analyst I wouldn't do this anymore, yet here I am, saturday night, outside my ex's apartment, in the pouring rain, with no umbrella. I can't help it. (20151005)
Blue oyster cult - Tyranny and mutation (1973)
First impressions: good ole American rock & roll. Maybe misses some barrelhouse piano. Maybe some songs. (20151120)
Blur - The great escape (1995)
Track 1-7: the grandeur of a classic band just over the hill. If rock'n'roll's purpose is liberation for socially inept frontmen, you wonder why Blur is such a hard sell. Track 8-10: looking at the door. Track 11-15: who knows? (20150930)
Blur - Think tank (2003)
Lost in the supermarkets of the world. World travel no guarantee for enlightenment. Beauties 'Out of time', 'Sweet song', 'Battery in my leg' - all stoic weepers to sing into an airplane window. (20151105)
Blur - The magic whip (2015)
If you believe the interviews, around 1997 Albarn turned into a conveyor belt of noodles and sketches, beamed straight in from the collective subconscious.
The Magic Whip was post-produced in a NASA lab, but still wears the half baked jam well. Who would've thought 20 years ago Blur would be one of the stalwarts for tossing it up in the air and watching where it falls. (20160201)
Bob & Gene - If this world were mine (1968-71, 2007 released)
Worthy late '60s soul obscurity. Young people singing their way out of a no-prospects situation. It just misses that final spark. (20160127)
Boedekka - Hapi nightmares (2001)
Whatever happened to Boedekka? Despite going for the post-Beta Band shilling a little too obviously, they couldn't hide their way with a melody and a song (i.e. they wrote some good ones). Did they ever follow up? (20150930)
V/A - Boest! (2009)
As they say, poetry - it's a closed book to me. Even when read out loud. Minimalism is not in their vocabulary. Side B is a chaotic soundscape to devour these poets. You'd think I'd get more satisfaction from it. (20190901)
Lou Bond - Lou Bond (1974)
Lou Bond's only album never belonged on Stax, who couldn't make sense of his patchouli scented Bill Withers / Curtis Mayfield hybrid. Relaxed grooves, amply orchestrated, well meaning lyrics of public and private activism, possible insights gained from nights on the bong. 11 minutes of 'To the establishment''s meandering soliloquies and this pillar of the community would take 11 more. (20151010)
Bongos - Drums along the Hudson (1982)
Feeling jaded? My prescription: one listen to 'In the Congo' daily.
Part of the primordial turn of the '80s swamp that would lead to college rock (see also the Feelies), but don't hold that against them. 16 blasts of infectious uptight fun - gusty acoustic strumming, sharp solo guitar, nervous Talking Heads-inspired drums, the kind of bass played by a guitar player kindly asked to switch instruments cause the band 'needs it', enthusiastic Byrds-induced harmonies. 16 is a lot, even when the doses are concentrated, but just when boredom looms, they hit you with free jazz horns, a T.Rex cover or an earworm like 'Automatic doors'. By jove, they've chanced upon the magic formula. (20150925)
Bongwater - The power of pussy (1990)
Pussy, mystery hole... pleased to meet you. Freakishly hilarious feminist attack on rock's boys only club. Deviously memorable hooks and sometimes tunes amidst collages, short stories, folk covers and Pretty Woman deconstructions. 'The last time I took hallucinogenic drugs was about 5 years ago.' You don't say. (20151022)
Benjamin Booker - Benjamin Booker (2014)
Lord help us if this guy ever lets it all hang out. This will do for now. (20160110)
James Booker - Classified (1982)
Essentially a singular piano stylist who treated the idea of solo records at best as incidental to his art. When you finally get him into the studio, you make do with what you get. 1976's Junco Partner -more acclaimed- is, however, bunk. This one though, captures good nights. New Orleans parlour tricks and card playing kicks. And a cover of 'Swedish rhapsody'. He sings too, and sometimes he lets other people play along without giving 'em the runaround. He easily could. (20150921)
Booker T & the MG's - Melting pot (1971)
So casual it's telepathy. Four people under one mind. Must be a bitch to drive a car that way, but in music it works. (20190708)
Boo Radleys - Wake up (1995)
Autumn of their years, and they know it. (20151119)
Boo Radleys - C'mon kids (1996)
This bag of fairytale concoctions is full of twists, and Carr is as cruel to his creations as the Brothers Grimm.
The newly slashing guitar implies the Radleys are caught on the defense.
But for all the nursery rhymes rudely interupted by dub bass lines, it's a long wait for that one song that makes me break down and cry. That's one genre the Radleys just don't do. (20150922)
Boo Radleys - Kingsize (1998)
The summit of their 'pop' phase, if not their career. 'You've got to be all that you can be', they sing on single 'Free Huey' and here they finally are. No one was listening or, if they did, they didn't like it. Band split up shortly after. But they succeeded in the end. (20151008)
Boris - Smile (2008)
'Fraid the songs are indistinguishable when they switch to Sabbath Youth modus, but I like the slow and hazy ones, atmospheric noise. They go on for a long time. I like that too. (20151029)
Boscoe - Boscoe (1973)
Funk has many faults, but few on this album thankfully.
Miraculous sound - the bass truly is bottomless, the polyrhythms a jungle, the spoken words about Africa.
Starts off somewhere between the Last Poets (but longer) and Badfoot Brown & the Bunions Bradford Funeral and Marching Band (but shorter), and that's not a bad place to be. More straightforward songs further in. (20150921 - first listen)
David Bowie - Station to Station (1976)
He can't remember recording it. Bowie's Achilles' heel is overthinking, so that's not such a bad strategy, apart from the health risks. He's not all there and it pays off on maybe his best album. Soars at all the right points. An alien groove. (20150927)
David Bowie - Scary monsters (1980)
That silence at the start is the sound of an exhausted Bowie wondering 'Am I really going to do this all over again?' Then they dive into it with the abandon of artists who have nothing left to lose. One last time. Fripp shines on guitar, though it's just one trick. (20151026)
David Bowie - Let's dance (1983)
Bowie's bid for the money opens with thrills galore ('Modern love', 'China girl', title track), though you suspect empty gestures. Side 2 loses the thrills. (20151009)
David Bowie - Outside (1995)
Anyone picking up a Bowie album made this side of the election of Ronald Reagan, knows exactly what to expect. I will not pity such a man or woman. This is the only one I have time for, knowing full well that after a strong start (title track, 'The heart's filthy lesson', 'A small plot of land', 'The motel') I'm in for 40 minutes of punishment, with titles 'I'm deranged' and 'The voyeur of utter destruction (as beauty)', before he redeems himself at the end ('Strangers when we meet'). Wretched guitar (as beauty). (20151020)
Brad - Shame (1993)
Brother, please stop slapping the bass that way. You know it's unseemly. Anyway, 'Shame' - is there no end to Washington's culture of guilt? Is it a religious thing? Back to the record: too many jams. The slow and sensitive ones work best ('Buttercup', 'Screen'). (20151027)
Charles Bradley - Victim of love (2013)
Spread the love. (20151120)
Brainiac - Hissing prigs in static couture (1996)
Everybody needs a gonzo in their lives. Model '96. (20160125)
Brave captain - Advertisements for myself (2002)
Calling out the leftist revolution from a bedroom 4-track recorder. It's a thought. Bewildering maze, good tunes hide inside. (20151111)
Brewer & Shipley - The best of. One toke over the line (1968-72, 2001 released)
'Hey Brew, pass me that honey slide.'
'Sure do, Lesley, you feelin' inspired?'
'Oh yeah, strum some chords, will you?'
'How you like that?'
'I like it. This one's about... freedom.'
'Oh yeah.'
(20151016)
Anne Briggs - The time has come (1971)
Briggs has a voice to alter the passage of time, but it's built for unaccompanied ballad singing. The acoustic guitar is expertly judged, but occasionaly overpowers. Still a much loved haven for quiet listening. (20151110)
Brinsley Schwarz - Nervous on the road (1972)
Take me to any terrarium and I'll be eyeing out the chameleons. To hold up rock'n'roll's banner in inhospitable times, is the second best thing in rock'n'roll. To proudly state 'Everything will be alright'. You're alright, Brinsley Schwarz! (20151020 - first listen)
Brinsley Schwarz - The new favourites of Brinsley Schwarz (1975)
Couldn't wait to hear more from this band out of time and place. They should've put some of these songs in a time machine and hawked 'em to Motown, Atlantic, hussled with Chips Moman, maybe even Col. Parker. What's so funny 'bout melodies, homage and old fashioned songwriting? (20151021 - first listen)
Brothers Johnson - Right on time (1977)
Grinding but smooth funk-pop helmed by Quincy Jones. Ooh, you're smooth. I'm gonna let you do everything to me. Sure feel bad in the morning though. ('Strawberry letter 23') (201511022)
Bundy K. Brown - Directions in music (1996)
How the 1990s fathers of post-rock were betrayed by their children.
Listen to this twin record to Tortoise's Millions Now Living Will Never Die and you hear tropes now well worn from pilfering, but adventurous spirit still undimmed, rarely engaged by followers. I remember a time when post-rock was more than that feeling of being alone in a crowd. This record says I remember correctly.
But then, instrumentals are usually my favorite songs on albums. (20150923)
Duncan Browne - Give me take you (1968)
As 'baroque pop masterpieces' go, it's a shock how sparsely arranged this is: one Spanish guitar playing some very English strains, lots of singing and some subtle shading. Too subtle? It'll need more killer instinct if it wants to grow up into a stage show. (20160117)
Jackson Browne - Late for the sky (1974)
Sorry I'm late, I was just thinking. (20190710 - first listen)
Jackson Browne - Running on empty (1977)
Total teenage drama - lonesome, insecure troubadour on the road preyed on by beautiful groupies and dealers, still comes out on top. Browne is never as deep as he aspires, but neither am I. Gets my heart pumping that little bit faster. Looks like it's me and you again tonight - Jackson. (20151023)
Paul Bryan - Listen of Paul Bryan (1973)
Hey you, listen of!
A soft rock classic on a bed of bossa nova from charmingly lisping Brazilian bedsit pianist. Early '70s gold. (20160209)
Bubble puppy - A gathering of promises (1969)
Proto hard-rock, aimless enough to conclude it was an accident. 'Hot smoke and sassafrass' - also bubblegum. (20151019 - first listen)
Too many promises, only one fulfilled. 'Hot smoke and sassafrass' has an album's supply of killer riffs. The rest of the album has none. Mostly sub-late '60 stoned jamming. And yet they wrote the hit in the studio, an afterthought. How did that happen? And who calls themselves Bubble Puppy anyway? (20160123)
Vashti Bunyan - Just another diamond day (1970)
They say it's sickly sweet, but any hippie travelling the length of Great Britain on horse and cart, on their way to Donovan's lost commune, would've written 'em this way. The beat of the horses' hooves is in every song. Missives from an alternative society. (20151007)
Eric Burdon & the new Animals - Winds of change (1967)
The new Animals made some unheralded great singles, but unless you're wearing a kaftan and are looking forward to poems about the black death, a best of should suffice. (20151119)
Solomon Burke - Soul alive (1983)
'Are you with me?!'
'Gee, Solomon, I just wandered in here.'
'Are you with me?!'
'I'll give it a try.'
'Are you with me?!'
'Guess so.'
'Are you with me?!'
You're kinda getting into my personal space.'
'Are you with me?!'
FUCK. OFF. SOLOMON. BURKE.
Solomon Burke is a selfish lover. (20160219)
Solomon Burke - Don't give up on me (2002)
Kinda reminds me of that brief window in time when Santana's Supernatural drifted out of every window in town, but that's the only downside to this remarkable triumph. Elderly music legends (and I include the songwriters) have no business being this good. If it keeps up, we'll have to listen to new Rolling Stones album to determine how boring they are.
So that's two downsides.
I might prefer the record to Burke's '60s records. Really. Some might say it's Madame Tussauds '60s soul. I say, wax on. (20150923)
Kenny Burrell - Have yourself a soulful little christmas (1966)
Not just for christmas. (20151001)
Kenny Burrell - God bless the child (1971)
All the voodoo was never Burrell's bag. After two electric jam adventures (percussion in a trance, Fender Rhodes, strings mysterious ltd, Burrell's guitar like a snake slithering through the grass) we're back to hard bop. And at the end, some solo guitar performances. All fine indeed. (20150930)
Gary Burton quintet - In concert (1968)
Too twiddly, didn't understand. (20150929)
Kate Bush - The kick inside (1978)
Thrillingly strange. It's amazing to think David Gilmour had a (small) hand in a record this good. It's Kate's show though, weird helium-pitched child priestess of some pagan English cult. She reached her summit right at the start. (20151007)
Kate Bush - The dreaming (1982)
One -the best one- in a line of highbrow, well meaning '80s popstars (Peter Gabriel, Sting) whose work regrettably has come back into favour.
There is a thin line between pop and three act theater on The Dreaming. Makes me fidget uncomfortably in my upholstered seat.
Ms. Bush, please put the Fairlight back in storage, crank up the ole 88 and give us some rock'n'roll. (20150924)
Kate Bush - Hounds of love (1985)
A peculiar kind of British dandyism. Lord, will someone take this burden from me. (20151002)
Kate Bush - Aerial (2005)
A sky and a sea of honey - she knows she risks drowning in syrup. A sea of honey runs the training wheel of British art-rock tropes, unimpressively. (Elvis lives! Numbers! Household appliances are sexy! I want to disappear!) A sky of honey is rarefied. A musical version of To The Lighthouse, except no conflict or tension, just staring at a painting in the rain. Quite wonderful.
Household appliances still not sexy anywhere but Great Britain. (20160104)
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