July/August Albums

I appear to have been slacking a little on the albums front. I have just about kept up on the one a week, but that's definitely an average rather than a precise art! I apologise for the delay in July and August's entries- I was busy getting married (although admittedly this didn't take me two months so is a feeble excuse!)


July
55)       Fairport Convention ‘Liege and Lief’ (Rob) 1969
            Awesome folk rock. Good storytelling and lovely sound.
56)       The National ‘The National’ 2001 and ‘Trouble will find me’ (Lizzie) 2013.

I found the first (self-titled) album rather boring on a first listen, and not much better on a second. I therefore decided to listen to a newer album, which seems to have better critically reviewed, but I didn't find much more to interest me.

57)       Metallica ‘Metallica’ and ‘Ride the Lightning’ 1984 (Danny and Liam)

‘Metallica’ (aka the black album) is, quite frankly, an awesome awesome awesome album. I think I like my music to sound like there is a considerable amount of skill involved; which this does. It quite frankly makes me want to jump up and down yelling my head off. Love love love. Exactly the right pace (I’ve decided this is also quite important r.e. what music I do and do not like).

Also, though, it's flipping messed up.  (I watched 'Master of puppets live...' on youtube…)

"Ride the Lightning"; although I don’t like the individual tracks as much as those on the Black Album, it works well as a whole album. It's a bit too fast for my liking, but the guitar is awesome, on tracks 3-5 especially.

58)       Coheed and Cambria ‘The Second Stage Turbine Blade’ (Brodie) 2002

I’m not sure what I think of this. I’d call it generic indie-rock-pop. It reminds me of Fallout Boy and Paramore (but I think this is just my subconcscious expecting it to sound like them because of who recommended it!) I don't dislike it but there’s nothing special to make me like it, either.

59)       The Clash ‘London Calling’ 1979 (Catherine and Liz)

This is undeniably iconic, but I’mnot sure whether that is because it is anything special or because history has made it so. I prefer the vocals on ‘Lost in the Supermarket’ to many of the other tracks (a particular that I don’t like is ‘The Right Profile’)- I think it’s Mick Jones on the former rather than Joe Strummer who does most of them. My opinion definitely improved as the album went on, possibly because it's quite a varied album. It is difficult listening to such an iconic album because you expect it to blow you away, but after a first listen the jury was definitely out; on a second listen, I decided I really liked it. The songs got stuck in my brain!

60)       Sarah Blasko ‘I awake’ (Luke)
            I like this. A lot. Listening to it at work a lot.

August 

61)       Catatonia 'Way beyond Blue' (Liz C) 1996

Notwithstanding the dulcet tones of Cherys Matthews (mmmmmm) this was underwhelming. Not unpleasant, but even after listening again and trying to listen carefully, I was uninspired. I then also listened to 'International Velvet' as I knew a few of the songs, but I had much the same reaction. Sorry Liz!
62)       The cribs 'Men's Needs, Women's Needs' (Catherine) 2007

This isn't bad, at all. I'm fairly certain if I'd have heard it first when it was released, in 2004, it would have been something I'd have really enjoyed and I'd probably now love due of nostalgia. But because it's new to me now, I can't derive anything special out of it and I am not particularly motivated to come back to it now I've had my first couple of listens! 'Be Safe' is interesting; spoken word over music. 

63)       Nirvana 'MTV unplugged in New York' (Kieran) 1994               

There's something special about Kurt Cobain's voice. I only know a few of these songs in their original version, and it makes me want to listen to more Nirvana.... 

64)       Rodrigo y Gabriela ‘Rodrigo y Gabriela’ (Kieran) 2006

This is really fun, instrumental Mexican guitar excellence. Have listened to it several times!

 

Albums: a break

Since it's halfway through the year, I thought I would address a question a few people have asked me when I requested their album choice; what two albums would I recommend? I've not been able to give anyone a good answer, but here's an attempt (I can't stick to two, though!) So, in no particular order, here are 6.
(You may notice it differs a bit from what I've been listening to on recommendation!)

1) Andy Palacio 'Watina' (2007)
Andy Palacio is a figurehead of Garifuna/Belizean Punta music (I lived in Belize for 7 months). He died in 2008, just a year after this album; it's in the Garifuna language, and although I didn't listen to it for the first time until just before I left Belize, it's now one of my favourites.

2) The Streets 'Original Pirate Material' (2002)
This album is brilliant. The beats are divine and lyrically it's genius (political too:- I defy anyone to produce a more effective argument about the relative impact on English society of weed and alcohol than "The Irony of it All".) I remember listening to songs from this live from One Big Weekend (I think) while revising for my GCSEs. Happy days. Also, for anyone who instantly thinks 'fit but don't you know it', that's on "a grand don't come for free"- you are safe!

3) Lauryn Hill 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill' (1998)
Great album. I think I was heart-broken on two different occasions and this album got listened to A Lot. Still a great album now all's good with the world.

4) Various Artists "Handel's Messiah: A soulful Celebration" (1992)
This is possibly the most obvious of a long list of musical influences that I wouldn't have if I hadn't been part of what's now called OneSound (which I should blog about another time... but for now http://www.onesound.org.uk/). In short it's a place of fellowship, sharing faith, life-long friendships (I'm not exaggerating- I have 10year friendships, I know people with 15 year friendships, and at our forty year anniversary concert there were people with, well, 40year friendships!) and stonking music (and rather fabulously diverse repertoire). I can trace an awful lot of my favourite music back to music performed there, or recommendations from friends met there, or activities I've only taken part in due to OneSound!
Anyway. The repertoire we've covered is something else (as implied above) and this gem is a part of that (we only did a few of the tracks, I should clarify). It's a reworking of Handel's Messiah influenced by a whole heap of African-American musical styles. Some tracks work better than others but 'But Who May Abide' is something else. It kicks in at 2:05 and I go a bit mad. And 'Unto Us...' starts like the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air...

5) Hypnotic Brass Ensemble "Hypnotic Brass Ensemble"
This one is attributable to Greenbelt, and so possibly to OneSound, as I first went with friends from there and it now forms an annual extra reunion. Seven brass-playing brothers from Chicago. And a mate who plays the drums. (I think). Funktastic, and you may recognise a track from 'The Hunger Games' (which I haven't seen...)

6) Bellowhead "Broadside" (2012)
And here's another musical influence that appeared indirectly as a result of OneSound! One of the friends I made there (hey Liz!) was my housemate for a year in Reading, and by the time she had spent a year telling me how great this lot were, only for me to miss them at Greenbelt festival because I was stewarding, I went to see them in Reading a while later. And, erm, wow. If you don't like this, go to see them live. If you still don't like them, then if you're very lucky I might still trust your judgement occasionally. But probably not. Folky madness.

Albums 2014: June

Welcome to the June installment (I'm halfway there!) This month we have hiphop and possibly the strangest musical comparison you've ever seen...
I should add that I've introduced some colour coding, because someone asked me whether I was buying, borrowing, spotiyfing, etc... so generally I'm borrowing or spotifying, but there are a few I've bought (in green), either because I like them a lot or because I wanted something to listen to in the car; and a few I intend to buy, because I really like them, which are in red.

48)   Athlete ‘Vehicles and Animals’ (2003) (Ian)

Great album. I’m astonised I’ve not listened to it before. It contains the familiar ‘El Salvador’ and ‘You Got the Style’ so I had a good singalong (although I thought I  knew the words, and didn’t); some religious allegories (good Samaritans and houses built on rocks); some quirky bits; all in all I like it. 'Westside' and 'One Million' are both good songs that sound like they could be on a TV or movie. I really like the fact that they aren't just soppy love songs. I can't quite work out what they are, really, but in an interesting way, not a 'they make no sense at all' kind of way. On that note, I like 'vehicles and animals', it’s cute. 'Out of Nowhere' is my favourite I think, a bit of a genre crossover.

49) Velvet Underground ‘White Light/White Heat’ 1968. (Sean)

The award for ‘album most likely to give me nightmares’ goes firmly to this, for its pure (lyrical) weirdness. I listened to it in the car, so had a relatively large amount of attention to spare for said lyrical weirdness, and I think this was probably apparent on my face. Anyway, a bit of a mix of responses here; first an ‘OHHH it’s Lou Reed’, then a ‘this is weird, and somewhat self indulgent’ (basically it feels like listening to a long jamming session) and then ‘hmmm, there’s some cool guitar going on’- it’s a very raw 60s guitary sound and mostly I find it goes on too long and does nothing for me but there’s also something pleasing about the sound.  I should clarify I bought this one before I listened to it!

50) Lifehouse 'Lifehouse' (James H) 

This is one of husband-to-be’s favourite albums so I felt I should give it a proper listen (rather than half listening in the car). It’s kind of generic, guitar-led, American-TV-show-scene-music (things like Scrubs…) which explains why I didn’t really know it, and also why it’s always seemed to me a bit like background music. However, some of the songs are really beautiful lyrically and good for singing along to, so I have to say I quite like it!

51) Dire Straits 'Brothers in Arms' (no one really)

This was a cheat; I started listening because we were playing ‘Walk of Life’ in a band I play in and it was stuck in my head, but mostly in a good way... Anyway, I suspect I am turning into an old man when I admit this; but it's impossible not to like it! It’s catchy, sing-along-able, and there's even a nice touch of sax 'Your Latest Trick'. I’d forgotten I’d already listened to another Dire Straits album, but it’s very different- it's much less involved, i.e. poppy and requires no thought input to enjoy, than 'Love Over Gold'.

52) Nas ‘Illmatic’ (Ray Bell) 1994

Since  my knowledge of 'old school hip hop' is fairly limited, this instantly reminded me of the Fugees: The Score, which is my only other venture into this (and which I love- I blame this on middle-big-sis, who used to play it into my ear on car journeys and remove it at diplomatic moments. Listening to it as a Grownup I understand why her 14-yr-old self decided to shelter my 8-yr-old self from certain bits...). Anyway, I have quite a lot of love for this- I'm always impressed by the lyrical skills (skilz) in anything rap/hiphop, and plus, it makes me want to drive around like a Gangsta with my windows down. (Because y'know, I strongly resemble a gangsta when I drive around in a Yaris in my converse, Next jeans, and geeky tshirt...)

53) Local Natives 'Hummingbird' (Matt Y) (2013)

Nice album- chilled, I don’t really know how to describe it. So I won’t try, you can google it. But I really like it. I’ve listened to it a lot at work.

54) Passenger 'All the Little Lights' (Ekbal) (2012)  
Now, it's weird musical analogy time:- he's like a folk-pop mike skinner; or a cross between Mike Skinner and Paulo Nutini, maybe! The link with Mike Skinner (of The Streets) is partly subject matter, partly how poetic it is, and partly that it’summer lying-on-a-clifftop-enjoying-life music. However, the best thing about this album is that the song “All the little lights” sounds just like cult kids TV classic “spider in the bath”. Don’t believe me? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgQ1JuUIexA 45seconds in. Bet you didn’t expect that. That said, this is one of my favourites of the albums I've listened to. I think.
 

Albums: May

May has been a bit sparse- although I have just managed one a week- but I have made up for it by listening to everything a few times and writing a few rambling reviews. It’s a bit of a niche selection this month…

42)              Hank Green ‘Ellen Hardcastle’ (2011) (Sian)

·         Sian hadn’t recommended a specific album, so I picked this one at random. This is a really rather enjoyable album of clever songs and maybe erring on musical comedy, and on my first listen I had to give up at 'My Phone' because it is NOT work music! Listening again of an evening I enjoyed it just as much. The first two songs on the album are an education about quarks (“up down strange charm top bottom...”) followed by a song about the failure of other young adult fiction to match Harry Potter, which contains one of the best song lines I have ever heard which ends in 'better than anything in Breaking Dawn'.  This guy is well worth a listen (and has a new album out recently entitled ‘Incongruent’, which I’ve yet to listen to.)

43)              Caravan Palace ‘Panic’ (2012) (Chris)

·         I think I have had Caravan Palace recommended to me before, and I see why. It feels as though dancing is required; I'd probably have to describe the genre as 'gypsy swing' or something. The third track very much suited the album name of 'Panic'.

44)              Skunk Anansie ‘Stoosh’ (1996) (Meg)

·         I can't say I'm very inspired by this; on the first couple of listens I found it musically and lyrically repetitive. It is also angry and a bit dark, which isn't a problem in and of itself but it means I have higher demands of the lyrics and music to make me appreciate the whole package, which this didn't do. Having listened to this album more however, there are aspects of it that have grown on me; the intros on the first few are quite interesting, although I just don’t like the songs in their entirety and I find bits of it a bit shouty; but the middle three tracks (‘Infidelity’ through ‘Twisted’) I have got quite into, and Skin’s vocals on the softer tracks are stunning.

Interestingly, I thought I knew some stuff by Skunk Anansie, but the only song I knew was ‘Weak’, which is actually off their first album, ‘Paranoid and Sunburnt’; and I actually prefer that to anything on ‘Stoosh’. It might just be familiarity, of course.

45)              Mazzy Star ‘So Tonight That I might see’ (1993) (Ana)

·         This band were completely new to me, and nothing about the music particularly grabbed me, but that said I found it really good calming background-work-music, and they are nice songs. My year four teacher would lynch me for use of the word nice.

46)              Saint Raymond ‘Ghosts’ (2014) (Jess)

·         Whenever someone is described as a 'new singer-songwriter', I don't have high expectations because there are lots of singer-songwriters around that I just don't like (for example, James Blunt is the classic case of a singer-songwriter that the world raves about and who leaves me cold if not downright angry). However, although Saint Raymond is breaking out onto the big-time (he's done Radio One's live lounge and is supporting Ed Sheeran), this came as a recommendation several months before said Ed Sheeran/Radio One stuff so I thought I'd give it a shot. Moreover, when I pre-ordered the EP (I have never done this before, how exciting) I was given one track 'Brighter Days' as a pre-release, and on a first listen it seemed a bit quirky, I liked the texture and the rhythm, it was upbeat and summery, and his voice didn't annoy me (this is a good start!) However. The other tracks on the EP, while each having their own distinctive sound and pulling me in to start with, were a bit repetitive within themselves and really didn't hold my interest. I’d have to rank him as better than many in the singer-songwriter camp, and I can see why he’s getting big, but still not totally my cup of tea (although ‘Brighter Days’ might make it onto a summertime playlist).

47)              Joseph Curiale  ‘Awakening’ (1997) (Matt and JB, I think)

·         This was completely new to me and since I obviously wasn’t paying attention when I scribbled it down in my phone, I had no idea what it was, other than that the Royal Philharmonic were involved somehow. It turns out, its a modern symphonic composition (oooooh). The first movement opens with that big joyous sound that I associate with Jupiter (from Holst’s The Planets), and the second with the folksong feel that I associate with Vaughn Williams, and throughout there is the kind of evocative story-telling feel that goes with blockbuster movie soundtracks, a feeling reinforced by the names of the movements. All in all, good stuff.

"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.