Albums 2014: February/March

Yes, there are less albums in February AND March combined than in January:-

 22)  AFI ‘The Art of Drowning’ (2000)

·         A recommendation from Liz F, but no comments from me (I wrote nothing down). Sorry!

23)  Joni Mitchell ‘Blue’ (1971) and ‘Ladies of the Canyon’ (1970)

·         Amazing! This was a recommendation from Liz C, I never expected to be a Joni Mitchell fan and I love it and want to devour her whole discography. This has become a default for listening to at work.

24)  Limp Bizkit ‘Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavoured Water’ (2000)

·         Both James and Aidan told me to listen to this one. On a first listen, I really liked it musically, particularly the later songs (from ‘My Way’.) But I do dislike the excessive use of the F word (I’m generally fine with swearing in songs to a point. This is beyond the point and just irritated me.)

25)  The Piano Guys ‘The Piano Guys’ (2012)

·         An excellent recommendation from Sian. These guys have been on the edge of my consciousness for a while, not least seeing a video of theirs in a Christmas morning service, but I’ve never actually listened. A lot of fun and musically brilliant too.

26)  ‘Reckless Love’ by Reckless Love (2010)

·         This one was a recommendation from Adrian, who then disagreed strongly when I called it ‘cheese’. It is 'Finnish glam metal' according to Wikipedia. However, it feels like the kind of music you would sing your head off to at a 80s party, and thus 'cheese'. Thoroughly enjoyable.

27)  Arcade Fire ‘Funeral’(2004) Rob F and others

·         Technically I think I had heard this before. I like it.

28)  Death Cab for Cutie 'Plans' (2005)

·         Another one from Simon T and Peter H. I like it.

29)  Pain of Salvation “Remedy Lane”  (2002)

·         I listened to this in a funny order, but I did really enjoy it. I was particularly enjoying ‘Thorn Clown’ until it went off on one in the last minute. (Recommendation by Peter H)

30)  Tom Waites ‘Closing Time’ (1967)

·         Another one for the ‘listened to driving’ list, and it suited. This was another recommendation from Simon R, and another one I liked.

31)  Quantic Soul Orchestra ‘Pushin On’ (2005)

·         I also listened to this in the car. The first tracks were a bit more frantic than the kind of music I like most, but I then really enjoyed it, and have enjoyed subsequent listens.

32)   Perfect Circle ‘Mer de Noms’ (2000)

·         I listened to this first with James, but I fell asleep. However, he was singing along with such joy that I couldn’t help but like it. When I listened to again, I was not convinced- perhaps partly because I was a bit uncomfortable with the imagery in ‘Magdalena’ and the sentiment in ‘Judith’.

33)  Rage against the Machine ‘Battle of Los Angeles’  (1999)

·         This (or their self-titled album) was recommended by a number of people, notably Aidan, James and Len. Now my reaction was possibly not helped by the sound quality but: I really don’t get it. I realise it’s the kind of music I might not be expected to ‘get’ but there is heavier stuff I really like. This however; the one or two interesting riffs get boring fast, lyrically (where I can hear it) it does nothing for me, and there's not a sufficiently strong mosh-bass either. I can’t see a context where I’d want to listen to this- on a night out, one song would be plenty. And it is the screaming-type.

34)   Michael Jackson ‘Thriller’ (1982)

·         This was a recommendation by Jon, I think. Also I felt I should probably listen to it! It’s good ole’ pop, really. I didn’t realise so many of the classics were on this one album (Beat it, Billy jean, Thriller and Gotta be starting something). I also didn’t realise that the 90s classic ‘Right Here’ sampled Michael Jackson, namely ‘Human Nature’- although now I know it this is very obvious, his voice is distinctive! It was a fun fact to discover.

35)  Tori Amos ‘Boys for Pele’

·         This was another recommendation by Liz C, and as I’d loved her previous recommendation and I know the remix of ‘Professional Widow’ I had high hopes! I’m not sure what I think of it, but this could just be because it didn't live up to expectations.

Finally, a pledge: in April I will attempt to find new ways of expressing liking and enjoyment, as my use of the word 'like' in the above is prolific...

Albums 2014: January

 As promised, here is the first installment of 'the sound of 2014 according to Caroline'. This particular installment is rather long, because I was enjoying the challenge a lot. To give you a spoiler before you plough through it though, if I had to recommend one of these to listen to, I would say Jeff Buckley 'Grace'. I think I would also argue for Lou Reed 'Transformer' and Regina Spektor 'What we saw from the Cheap Seats'.

1)      Kasabian ‘Kasabian’ (2004).

This is a bit of a cheat really- if anyone recommended it, it was James, but I think I partly listened to it because I had been meaning to do so for at least five years. I quite enjoyed it, but it sounded exactly as I expected it to sound; not necessarily a bad thing, but no musical surprises here!

2)      Bastille ‘Bad Blood’ (2012).

This was recommended by Sammie B, and others I think. I surprised myself by enjoying it- I don’t think I’ve actually heard any of their songs (somehow) except ‘Pompeii’ which I listened to when everyone was raving and really didn’t enjoy that much. I listened to this before I’d resolved to record my thoughts, so sadly I can’t think of anything to say except that that I liked it.

3)      Fleetwood Mac ‘Rumours’ (1976)

Recommended by Sammie B and later Rob F. This I enjoyed, it didn’t meet my preconceptions in that it was more ‘poppy’ than I thought but I enjoyed the pop. I hadn’t realised that Songbird and Dreams were Fleetwood Mac originals, and I enjoyed hearing them in their original form.

4)      Regina Spektor ‘What we Saw from the Cheap Seats (2012)

Brodie P recommended Regina Spektor – I’m not sure he meant this album, but it was the first I found so I went for it. I’m not sure what I expected but I think I expected her to not sound distinctive. How wrong I was. I really liked this, I found it interesting, and really, really powerfully emotive- from song to song varying between uplifting and evocative of pain. It reminded me a bit of Duke Special in the storytelling themes and the piano-driven nature.

5)      Above and Beyond ‘Group Therapy’ (2011)

Nat M responded to my question ‘what should I listen to’ with ‘don’t ask me, I listen to trance’. So I said, ‘try me’. And this is what he suggested. I really enjoyed it; I was having an errand-y evening and it very much fitted with that level of engagement, rather than a proper ‘listen to’ album but that isn’t meant to do it down.

6)      Delta Rae ? (?)

Hannah G said Delta Rae, who I’d never heard of. My general feeling was that they were good, big anthems, but they didn’t particularly do anything for me.

7)      Pink Floyd ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ (1973)

I had already listened to this this year when Rob L told me I had to, because it is so well touted as an iconic album. As mentioned in my previous post, I have heard it before, but I couldn’t particularly remember much about it. I ‘got’ it more on this occasion, and I understand why it has its iconic status. I have to say I didn’t particularly love it, but I didn’t dislike it.

8) Lou Reed ‘Transformer’ (1972)

This came as somewhat of a surprise from Simon R, who I has as a dead cert on Springsteen, but again I had been meaning to listen to it since his death last year. All I wrote down was ‘Yes, I should definitely have heard this before’. Again, lacking in anything more profound. But if you haven’t heard it, GO NOW.

9)      Enter the Haggis ‘Gutter Anthems’ (2009)

Another one from Hannah G, and another I’ve only listened to once (this was before I made the ‘two listens each’ resolution.) I liked it, but again, it didn’t grab me with anything especially interesting.

10)  Emeli Sande ‘Our Version of Events’ (2012)

I can feel people recoiling that she’s on the same list as Pink Floyd- however, I did want to listen to some new, popular stuff, and I really like some of her releases (Clown, for example). Sadly, she’s released all the good bits. I got exceptionally bored in the middle of the album, and felt a bit like I was listening to All Saints (note, I loved All Saints, but I wouldn’t recommend them as a classic).

11) Tool ‘Lateralus’ (2001)

Meg C and it turns out Jamie T rave about this album. I listened to it on a Sunday afternoon after a run and fell asleep… and haven’t got around to trying again yet.

12)  Jeff Buckley ‘Grace’ (1994)

Pete G for this one, although other people didn’t mask their belief it was madly depressing and wonder at why I’d want to listen to it. Again though, as with Lou Reed- stonking. I was expecting all mellow, and yet there’s a great diversity in the tracks. I thought it was great on the first listen, and have listened several times since. Great album. Listen to it.

13)  The Pixies ‘Bossanova’ (1990)

For some reason I thought the Pixies were a 1960s band, so this was a bit of an education… Roberto suggested this one, and although there were bits I enjoyed. There was too much screaming for my liking, though.

14)  The Smiths ‘The Queen is Dead’ (1986)

I was really unsure of this on the first listening, but I did recognise a few songs. Another recommendation from Roberto… I got into it on the second listen however, it’s a very distinctive sound. There was some good upbeat sound though, and down to earth gritty lyrics.

15)  Greenday ‘Dookie’ (1994)

I enjoyed this, recommended by Jill. It reminds me of being a teenager. It also sounds as I expect Greenday to sound, and there were no surprises (after one listen). I did really like the song ‘Longview’.

16)  Jamie Cullum ‘Twentysomething’ (2003)

This was a bit of a cheat, on many levels, as it was one of my favourites as a teenager and so I was listening again, on my own recommendation. It’s still great.

17)  Panic! At the Disco ‘Pretty Odd’ (2008)

Recommended by a couple of people- Peter H and Simon T.  I didn’t write anything down at the time except that I recognised one of the songs. So it can’t have made a very strong impression.

18)  Cream ‘Disraeli Gears’ (1967)

Another education, since I hadn’t really heard of Cream and didn’t realise it was Eric Clapton. I listened to it driving, which I’ve discovered is always a good way to listen to albums. My main revelations were ‘wow, it’s short’ and ‘wow, it’s that riff’ (in 'Sunshine of your Love'). However, it turned out I really like the blues/rock overlap, and I enjoyed it almost equally but in very different ways the first and second time of listening.

19)  Frank Turner ‘England Keep My Bones’ (2011) & ‘Love Ire and Song’ (2008)

This was recommended by various people, and I’ve heard it celebrated before. The first few tracks of ‘England Keep My Bones’ generally felt like happy, pratting around with mates, summer festival music, and were generally enjoyable, but didn’t stand out as anything special. However, the more folky themes e.g. ‘English curse’ didn’t feel haunting enough for me; it felt it needed a bit more time, space and development. “One foot before the other” was different and therefore refreshing for about a minute. Generally some nice songs, but the angry no-God song just got my back up a bit.

As for the other album, ‘Love, Ire and Song’, I found less to dislike, and I thought I’d heard some of it before. I found him overly angry though, and I gave up at ‘Imperfect tense’.

20)  Neutral Milk Hotel ‘In the Aeroplane Over the Sea’ (1998)

I think both Simon and Sean recommended this. I surpirised myself by enjoying it- it was gentle, and normally I don’t `do’ gentle. On a second listen I found it a really mixed bag, however; some of it a bit too odd (‘Oh Comely’), some of it really great (‘Two Headed Boy’ and ‘Holland 1945’) but there were moments that sounded as if they were just wrong, although this could be my laptop having an off day. The jury is out on this album!

21)  This was another cheat re-listening to ‘Reel Big Fish’ and ‘Less than Jake’, because I went to see them (yes, I am a 16 year old boy…), and also ‘John Butler Trio’ because I’ve always loved ‘Ocean’ but never listened to a whole album.

"Albums 2014": An introduction!

Hello! It has been a very long time since I blogged anything. However, I've been undertaking a challenge so far this year and people wanted to know how I've been getting on, so I'll be using this blog as a record.

Here's the thing: I’ve never been a big one for new year’s resolutions. The standard ones (exercise more, eat less, don’t drink) have never been ones I’ve particularly felt the need or desire to do, and any I do make are vague and therefore, hard to demonstrate to myself that I’m sticking to. This year was no exception, until, setting off on a long car journey on 2^nd January, I realised that the CD collection accumulated in my car contained nothing I wanted to listen to with the exception of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. I was heading off to an Orchestra and Choir weekend, too (a wonderful organisation called OneSound, do check them out!) which made my lack of musical interest even more upsetting. I quickly resolved to undertake a project; each week in 2014, I would listen to an album I had never listened to before (and really should have done).

I’ve known for a long time that my musical education has gaping holes; my parents’ influences mean that I can almost sing along note-for-note to the base line of Widor’s toccata and fugue (OK I can’t but let’s pretend), but their grasp of anything 20^th century extends to the Seekers, Simon and Garfunkel, a bit of Bob Marley, and Karl Jenkins.  This is admittedly a good snapshot, but a small one. Whilst some of my contempories were subjected to endless repeats of Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ on childhood car journeys, I was listening to ‘Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat’ and ‘Hello Children Everywhere’ (both experiences I would not trade for the world, by the way). 

So. It came to pass that I came to the start of my twenties having never listened to more than one or two of the so called ‘classic albums’. Aged 21 I listened to Dark Side of the Moon on a flight across the Atlantic (probably a good place to do so) and I heard Metallica on Radio One’s excellent classic album series. I came into 2014, aged 25, not knowing that David Bowie was Ziggy Stardust, never having heard of Cream, and not identifying Ozzy Osborne with Black Sabbath. (I am going to be entirely honest in this blog, so please take compassion on my ignorance!) I have my own mental list of brilliant albums- Lauryn Hill’s ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ (this having been introduced to me thanks to my sister Alison), The Streets ‘Original Pirate Material’, various albums by Muse, Red Hot Chilli Peppers ‘By the Way’ and Bellowhead ‘Broadside’ would all feature- but it is short and a matter of luck by what has come my way. It is time, I have resolved, to rectify this. Since I like to be different, and do not like to buy into industry what-I’m-told-to-do lists, I have been asking friends and colleagues; what two albums must I listen to? They can be old or new, but I want them to be recommended because my friends think my life will be the richer for it.

I have unintentionally phrased the questions slightly differently to different people (a poorly conducted experiment) which may have conditioned the answers I have received. But the answers I have received have been brilliant. In some ways they are a product of my sampling; the majority of people were growing up in the late 90s or mid 2000s, and so Britpop features, as does a lot of indie music from the last decade. I also seem to know a lot of people who like metal. Some people recommend exactly the album I thought they would. Some astonish me because they give me a band I didn’t expect, and then another band of a totally opposite nature in the next breath. Some people who I have no clue are really into music come up with crackers; and some people who I thought were, can’t think of anything. Some give me their favourite album; others avoid doing so because they don’t think I’ll like it. Yet one thing that’s agreed on seems to be, that people want to know how I’ve got on. Therefore, I’m going to blog each month about the albums I’ve listened to, and my first (and second/third) impressions.

A side note- initially the resolution was ‘one a week’. I then found myself enjoying it so much, and getting so many suggestions, that I changed to ‘one a day’. I was then told in no uncertain terms that this would not do; if I was to do this I had to listen to the albums properly, not as background music, and some of the albums will definitely demand a second listen. I’ve settled therefore on around about two a week, each with two listens; but one can be the absolute minimum. This means that January has an average of 4 or 5 a week, and the later months more like 1 a week! I’m generally picking them by using a ‘random number generator’ (ie ask an officemate) and picking the album that is that number on the list, but sometimes I pick an album that I think will fit my mood. I’m also going to give a mention to a few albums I liked years back and haven’t heard for a while!

So: for each album I’m going to reference the person or people who suggested it (first name and initial only) and the year of the album. I don’t promise to say what the industry would want me to say, or to try to be clever, as I’d fail; my aim is to be as honest as possible. My comments might get better as the year progress, as I didn’t decide to blog my thoughts until a month or two in and so wasn’t keeping good notes. On the other hand, as my year gets busier and the keen New Year feeling wears off, my notes might get worse as I forget to write the albums down!

So, let's go...click to the next post for January's installments.