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Fri Mar 31 2023
Illinois
Sufjan Stevens
3
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Sat Apr 01 2023
Melodrama
Lorde
4
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Sun Apr 02 2023
Heroes
David Bowie
4
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Mon Apr 03 2023
Fear Of Music
Talking Heads
5
View Album
Tue Apr 04 2023
B-52's
The B-52's
4
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Wed Apr 05 2023
Beautiful Freak
Eels
3
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Thu Apr 06 2023
Crocodiles
Echo And The Bunnymen
5
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Fri Apr 07 2023
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Raekwon
5
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Sat Apr 08 2023
The Undertones
The Undertones
4
View Album
Sun Apr 09 2023
Heartattack And Vine
Tom Waits
4
View Album
Mon Apr 10 2023
Daydream Nation
Sonic Youth
4
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Tue Apr 11 2023
My Aim Is True
Elvis Costello
3
View Album
Wed Apr 12 2023
Fulfillingness' First Finale
Stevie Wonder
4
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Thu Apr 13 2023
Moon Safari
Air
2
View Album
Fri Apr 14 2023
Sea Change
Beck
2
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Sat Apr 15 2023
S&M
Metallica
1
View Album
Sun Apr 16 2023
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Beatles
5
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Mon Apr 17 2023
Django Django
Django Django
2
View Album
Tue Apr 18 2023
Tapestry
Carole King
5
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Wed Apr 19 2023
Odessey And Oracle
The Zombies
3
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Thu Apr 20 2023
I'm Your Man
Leonard Cohen
3
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Fri Apr 21 2023
Siembra
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
5
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Sat Apr 22 2023
Home Is Where The Music Is
Hugh Masekela
2
View Album
Sun Apr 23 2023
Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Spiritualized
4
View Album
Mon Apr 24 2023
Is This It
The Strokes
4
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Tue Apr 25 2023
Figure 8
Elliott Smith
2
View Album
Wed Apr 26 2023
Arise
Sepultura
3
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Thu Apr 27 2023
Stand!
Sly & The Family Stone
4
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Fri Apr 28 2023
British Steel
Judas Priest
3
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Sat Apr 29 2023
This Is Fats Domino
Fats Domino
4
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Sun Apr 30 2023
Parklife
Blur
5
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Mon May 01 2023
Rock 'N Soul
Solomon Burke
5
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Tue May 02 2023
Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes
5
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Wed May 03 2023
The Soft Bulletin
The Flaming Lips
4
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Thu May 04 2023
Nevermind
Nirvana
5
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Fri May 05 2023
Come Find Yourself
Fun Lovin' Criminals
2
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Sat May 06 2023
Dummy
Portishead
4
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Sun May 07 2023
John Prine
John Prine
3
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Mon May 08 2023
Solid Air
John Martyn
5
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Tue May 09 2023
Countdown To Ecstasy
Steely Dan
3
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Wed May 10 2023
Time Out
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
5
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Thu May 11 2023
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
The Flaming Lips
5
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Fri May 12 2023
Elephant
The White Stripes
4
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Sat May 13 2023
The Number Of The Beast
Iron Maiden
5
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Sun May 14 2023
Pacific Ocean Blue
Dennis Wilson
4
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Mon May 15 2023
Exile In Guyville
Liz Phair
3
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Tue May 16 2023
Forever Changes
Love
5
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Wed May 17 2023
Coat Of Many Colors
Dolly Parton
3
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Thu May 18 2023
Back At The Chicken Shack
Jimmy Smith
2
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Fri May 19 2023
The Boatman's Call
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2
View Album
Sat May 20 2023
The Man Machine
Kraftwerk
5
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Sun May 21 2023
69 Love Songs
The Magnetic Fields
5
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Mon May 22 2023
Black Holes and Revelations
Muse
5
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Tue May 23 2023
Vol. 4
Black Sabbath
3
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Wed May 24 2023
The Genius Of Ray Charles
Ray Charles
5
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Thu May 25 2023
The Stooges
The Stooges
2
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Fri May 26 2023
Post Orgasmic Chill
Skunk Anansie
2
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Sat May 27 2023
Grace
Jeff Buckley
2
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Sun May 28 2023
Bug
Dinosaur Jr.
2
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Mon May 29 2023
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
5
View Album
Tue May 30 2023
The Blueprint
JAY Z
4
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Wed May 31 2023
Endtroducing.....
DJ Shadow
4
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Thu Jun 01 2023
In The Court Of The Crimson King
King Crimson
3
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Fri Jun 02 2023
Hounds Of Love
Kate Bush
4
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Sat Jun 03 2023
Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Wu-Tang Clan
5
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Sun Jun 04 2023
Frampton Comes Alive
Peter Frampton
2
View Album
Mon Jun 05 2023
Sail Away
Randy Newman
5
View Album
Tue Jun 06 2023
Boston
Boston
3
View Album
Wed Jun 07 2023
Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
4
View Album
Thu Jun 08 2023
Remedy
Basement Jaxx
4
View Album
Fri Jun 09 2023
Dr. Octagonecologyst
Dr. Octagon
2
View Album
Sat Jun 10 2023
Smash
The Offspring
3
View Album
Sun Jun 11 2023
Sulk
The Associates
5
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Mon Jun 12 2023
Armed Forces
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
5
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Tue Jun 13 2023
Licensed To Ill
Beastie Boys
5
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Wed Jun 14 2023
Fear and Whiskey
Mekons
5
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Thu Jun 15 2023
OK
Talvin Singh
3
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Fri Jun 16 2023
Water From An Ancient Well
Abdullah Ibrahim
5
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Sat Jun 17 2023
OK Computer
Radiohead
5
View Album
Sun Jun 18 2023
Tea for the Tillerman
Cat Stevens
3
View Album
Mon Jun 19 2023
Toys In The Attic
Aerosmith
2
View Album
Tue Jun 20 2023
If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears
The Mamas & The Papas
3
View Album
Wed Jun 21 2023
Bummed
Happy Mondays
I’ve kept coming back to this album for more than 30 years. It’s a complete mess from start to finish and sounds like it was recorded in a club toilet. But it’s also great in its own shambolic way. Shaun Ryder sings out of tune like no one’s listening and there’s something of the everyman in that, he’s not trying to be a rock star. He’s also a great lyricist. The way he uses the rhythms of ordinary (often sweary) language to express meaning and match the melody is extraordinary. For example, the lines from ‘Wrote For Luck’ about his lack of education: ‘I’ve not been trained, I can sit and stand and beg and roll over, I don’t read I just guess’. Ryder isn’t book smart and he can barely sing, but he’s very good with words. He was awarded the NME Godlike Genius award in 2000, and I know they give the award every year but there really is something preternaturally gifted about Shaun Ryder that justifies the genius label.
Best song: Wrote For Luck
5
View Album
Thu Jun 22 2023
Oar
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
It’s difficult not to be influenced by the back-story, but this stumbling search for music seems completely authentic. I felt close to something mysterious and powerful.
5
View Album
Fri Jun 23 2023
After The Gold Rush
Neil Young
4
View Album
Sat Jun 24 2023
Meat Is Murder
The Smiths
4
View Album
Sun Jun 25 2023
Exodus
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5
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Mon Jun 26 2023
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
John Lennon
5
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Tue Jun 27 2023
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Wilco
4
View Album
Wed Jun 28 2023
Unknown Pleasures
Joy Division
5
View Album
Thu Jun 29 2023
Here, My Dear
Marvin Gaye
5
View Album
Fri Jun 30 2023
Tarkus
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
I listened to the Jordan Rudess cover of Tarkus and it really helped. Back to the original album again and after a few listens I eventually liked Tarkus and Bitches Crystal.
3
View Album
Sat Jul 01 2023
Electric Ladyland
Jimi Hendrix
5
View Album
Sun Jul 02 2023
Time (The Revelator)
Gillian Welch
2
View Album
Mon Jul 03 2023
Let It Bleed
The Rolling Stones
5
View Album
Tue Jul 04 2023
One Nation Under A Groove
Funkadelic
4
View Album
Wed Jul 05 2023
Green
R.E.M.
5
View Album
Thu Jul 06 2023
Snivilisation
Orbital
3
View Album
Fri Jul 07 2023
Maxinquaye
Tricky
I like the witty cover of Public Enemy and the Portishead adjacent “Hell is Round The Corner”. The rest is just too evocative of a sinister demi-monde for me. All credit to Tricky for diving into this psychosexual morass, but it's very disturbing. The fact that it’s also really boring to listen to doesn’t help.
2
View Album
Sat Jul 08 2023
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
David Bowie
5
View Album
Sun Jul 09 2023
Peter Gabriel 3
Peter Gabriel
4
View Album
Mon Jul 10 2023
evermore
Taylor Swift
4
View Album
Tue Jul 11 2023
Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin
3
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Wed Jul 12 2023
At Folsom Prison
Johnny Cash
5
View Album
Thu Jul 13 2023
Little Earthquakes
Tori Amos
3
View Album
Fri Jul 14 2023
Moving Pictures
Rush
The run from 'Red Barchetta' to 'YYZ' to 'Limelight' is great. The rest doesn't grab me in the same way, but I like 'Witch Hunt' enough.
4
View Album
Sat Jul 15 2023
Hot Fuss
The Killers
Mr Brightside is a bit annoying after you’ve heard it a zillion times, but I have to concede that the first half of this album is relentless, banger after banger. The second half is pretty good as well, it only seems weak compared to the first half.
5
View Album
Sun Jul 16 2023
Superfly
Curtis Mayfield
4
View Album
Mon Jul 17 2023
Third/Sister Lovers
Big Star
An excellent album. Ahead of its time, but great songs in their own right as well.
5
View Album
Tue Jul 18 2023
Garbage
Garbage
3
View Album
Wed Jul 19 2023
Felt Mountain
Goldfrapp
5
View Album
Thu Jul 20 2023
Deep Purple In Rock
Deep Purple
5
View Album
Fri Jul 21 2023
At Fillmore East
The Allman Brothers Band
The blues rock jamming on Disc 1 is nice to listen to, but In Memory of Elizabeth Reed and Whipping Post on Disc 2 take it somewhere else. About 15 minutes in Whipping Post is clinically dead, but I kind of like how they nonetheless persist and keep going, even resorting to Frere Au Jacques at one point. It's the impression of music being formed in real time that draws my attention.
4
View Album
Sat Jul 22 2023
Bat Out Of Hell
Meat Loaf
An exhilarating, energising album. It's campy fun, but there's also a raw, primal power.
5
View Album
Sun Jul 23 2023
Fred Neil
Fred Neil
4
View Album
Mon Jul 24 2023
Searching For The Young Soul Rebels
Dexys Midnight Runners
Classic Northern Soul. Kevin Rowland captures the feel of late 50s/early 60s US soul perfectly. The mannered vocals, the crying/singing is very specific to the music he's evoking, and outside of that context it's a bit of a challenge to listen to.
4
View Album
Tue Jul 25 2023
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
The Smashing Pumpkins
I liked the drumming, quite a distinctive style. I liked some of the songs: Tonight Tonight, Jellybelly, Zero, Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Love, Galapogos, Take Me Down, Bodies, XYU, By Starlight.
3
View Album
Wed Jul 26 2023
Wild Gift
X
The female vocalist (Exene) really makes this album for me. Her singing is terrible, but that’s exactly what this kind of music needs. John Doe can sing, and the combination of the two voices is just perfect. The lyrics are wonderfully clever/stupid. Great fun.
5
View Album
Thu Jul 27 2023
Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes
Beautiful music and excellent lyrics. I like the patterning of words and phrases across the different songs. For example, variations on the phrases ‘come home’ and ‘lay down’. The patterns create strange emotional ambiguities as the phrases are repeated with slightly different meanings.
5
View Album
Fri Jul 28 2023
The Last Broadcast
Doves
I liked Words and There Goes The Fear. A bit folky, ethereal, dance beats. The rest was dreary and leaden.
2
View Album
Sat Jul 29 2023
1989
Taylor Swift
Jaw-droppingly stunning.
5
View Album
Sun Jul 30 2023
Black Metal
Venom
The singer sounds like he’s on the verge of laughing at the silliness of it all. Pirate aaarghs!, amateur dramatic society Olden Times accents, a chorus of ‘Get your tits out for the lads!’. It’s such a daft album, lots of fun.
4
View Album
Mon Jul 31 2023
Rust In Peace
Megadeth
Surprisingly delicate in places, but mostly like being plugged into the mains.
5
View Album
Tue Aug 01 2023
Since I Left You
The Avalanches
4
View Album
Wed Aug 02 2023
Debut
Björk
4
View Album
Thu Aug 03 2023
Shake Your Money Maker
The Black Crowes
Maybe I'm missing the point with this kind of music, but isn't it supposed to be fun and exciting? Like The Faces and The Rolling Stones. This is mostly a joyless trudge, except for the excellent piano work provided by session musician Chuck Leavell (formerly of The Allman Brothers, keyboardist on Rolling Stones studio albums). I watched the video for Hard to Handle, and the lead singer is a cool dude, he looks a lot of fun. None of that came across listening to the album.
2
View Album
Fri Aug 04 2023
Seventeen Seconds
The Cure
Songs that pulsate like living things on life support. Electronic heartbeats, waves crashing, lovely swooshing noises, swirling, enveloping, jangly, surprisingly danceable. A Forest is a great dance track. Part John Carpenter horror movie, part disco for the despondent.
5
View Album
Sat Aug 05 2023
Fragile
Yes
The music changing every 10 seconds made this a difficult album to get a fix on. I really liked Heart of the Sunrise, especially the last sung part. I also liked South Side of the Sky.
3
View Album
Sun Aug 06 2023
Sweet Baby James
James Taylor
3
View Album
Mon Aug 07 2023
Cross
Justice
An erratic dial up internet connection in musical form. Nostalgic for interference, static and distortion. Stuttering, dark, dystopian, decadent, nihilistic. Also very catchy and accessible.
4
View Album
Tue Aug 08 2023
The Bends
Radiohead
5
View Album
Wed Aug 09 2023
Floodland
Sisters Of Mercy
Alternates between dance tracks and gloomy gothic. I really liked Lucretia, This Corrosion, Flood II and Driven Like Snow. 1959 is pretty good as well.
4
View Album
Mon Aug 21 2023
Document
R.E.M.
Definitive late 80s indie pop. Best in class for this kind of thing. Soul and dance beats, funky bass lines, jangly guitar, interlacing melodies, bookish lyrics. A lot of indie disco floor fillers here.
5
View Album
Tue Aug 22 2023
Bitches Brew
Miles Davis
5
View Album
Wed Aug 23 2023
Guero
Beck
I like the first half. Weirdly aggressive lyrics at odds with the easy-going vibes. Girl is a creepy song. The second half is mostly cowboy songs and 60s pop pastiches, but Rental Car is back in the world of the funky psychopath.
3
View Album
Thu Aug 24 2023
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
Mudhoney
I liked the indie/post-punk tracks: Generation Genocide, Good Enough, Something So Clear, Fuzz Gun and Pokin Around. I didn’t like the full-on metal tracks.
3
View Album
Fri Aug 25 2023
Before And After Science
Brian Eno
The second half is really rather lovely. It just lifts you up and floats you away. By the end of the final lullaby I was completely relaxed. And it works surprising well with the daftness of the first half. Like you’re loosening up with jokes and a good old sing song first.
5
View Album
Sat Aug 26 2023
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
Ray Charles
Romantic, sexy music for grownups. A great let's get back together album.
So many people saying it's too long, you're listening to Vol 1 & 2! The original album is 40 minutes long and ends with Hey, Good Lookin'...
5
View Album
Sun Aug 27 2023
Bluesbreakers
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
4
View Album
Mon Aug 28 2023
The Healer
John Lee Hooker
4
View Album
Tue Aug 29 2023
Transformer
Lou Reed
5
View Album
Wed Aug 30 2023
American IV: The Man Comes Around
Johnny Cash
4
View Album
Thu Aug 31 2023
The Sensual World
Kate Bush
4
View Album
Fri Sep 01 2023
Risque
CHIC
5
View Album
Sat Sep 02 2023
Arrival
ABBA
Outside of the hits, I really liked some of the curios here: That’s Me, Tiger, Arrival. A more eclectic album than I was expecting.
4
View Album
Sun Sep 03 2023
La Revancha Del Tango
Gotan Project
2
View Album
Mon Sep 04 2023
Ágætis Byrjun
Sigur Rós
3
View Album
Tue Sep 05 2023
London Calling
The Clash
5
View Album
Wed Sep 06 2023
Alien Lanes
Guided By Voices
3
View Album
Thu Sep 07 2023
Os Mutantes
Os Mutantes
5
View Album
Fri Sep 08 2023
Being There
Wilco
A pleasant, undemanding listen. Ideal music for a nice sit down and a cup of tea. I’m really liking some of the Randy Newman vibes.
4
View Album
Sat Sep 09 2023
Fear Of A Black Planet
Public Enemy
I bought the follow up to It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back as soon it was released, and, blimey, if it wasn’t even better. One of the most powerful musical experiences of my life.
Instead of rough, industrial beats for Chuck D to rap over, the music is much lusher, more depth, more funk. It wasn’t the political content that hit me back when I first heard it (because ITANOMTHUB is similar in that regard, although Fear Of A Black Planet does package it up more neatly into discrete topics), it was the new way it was being delivered. It takes the ITANOMTHUB song ‘Party For Your Right To Fight’ and follows through on its promise.
As well as the full-on party friendly funk, another thing that’s different on this album is the use of interludes and snippets. They control the pace, but also provide context and/or make rhetorical points. For example, the ‘They would rather switch than fight’ introduction to Fight The Power and the phone call that abruptly transitions between Anti-Nigga Machine and Burn, Hollywood Burn. You don’t get that kind of thing on It ITANOMTHUB.
On the downside, Meet The G That Killed Me is incredibly crass, and I always skip it. While I’m about it I skip Pollywanacraka as well. The attitude to women in a couple of the tracks is a bit cringe. Chuck D isn’t a convincing feminist, which isn’t surprising really because he’s one of the world’s great mansplainers.
5
View Album
Sun Sep 10 2023
Atomizer
Big Black
3
View Album
Mon Sep 11 2023
I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight
Richard Thompson
4
View Album
Tue Sep 12 2023
Music in Exile
Songhoy Blues
4
View Album
Wed Sep 13 2023
O.G. Original Gangster
Ice T
3
View Album
Thu Sep 14 2023
Ramones
Ramones
5
View Album
Fri Sep 15 2023
The Beach Boys Today!
The Beach Boys
5
View Album
Sat Sep 16 2023
Paul's Boutique
Beastie Boys
5
View Album
Sun Sep 17 2023
Loveless
My Bloody Valentine
5
View Album
Mon Sep 18 2023
Cut
The Slits
I’d heard of The Slits, thought they would be a challenge, wasn’t expecting this at all. It’s loads of fun, incredibly catchy post-punk/ska.
5
View Album
Tue Sep 19 2023
Deja Vu
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
4
View Album
Wed Sep 20 2023
Physical Graffiti
Led Zeppelin
3
View Album
Thu Sep 21 2023
Drunk
Thundercat
3
View Album
Fri Sep 22 2023
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite
Maxwell
5
View Album
Sat Sep 23 2023
Brothers
The Black Keys
I like this, but the soul seems like filler to the blues. El Camino is the other way round.
4
View Album
Sun Sep 24 2023
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
3
View Album
Mon Sep 25 2023
The Idiot
Iggy Pop
5
View Album
Tue Sep 26 2023
Dire Straits
Dire Straits
3
View Album
Wed Sep 27 2023
Lazer Guided Melodies
Spiritualized
4
View Album
Thu Sep 28 2023
Tres Hombres
ZZ Top
3
View Album
Fri Sep 29 2023
Talking Timbuktu
Ali Farka Touré
3
View Album
Sat Sep 30 2023
Amnesiac
Radiohead
Turn of the century electronica/exotica/cabaret combined with turn of the century singer-songwriter. I didn't find it very interesting. I do like that they did a track with Humphrey Lyttelton though, it’s the best on the album.
2
View Album
Sun Oct 01 2023
A Little Deeper
Ms. Dynamite
Ms Dynamite emerged from the UK Garage scene, but she didn’t have the same global success as Craig David. It’s a decent British R&B album. I really liked it.
4
View Album
Mon Oct 02 2023
All Directions
The Temptations
The Temptations are the epitome of classy, the kind of act that if you're in a tight spot you might think, what would The Temptations do? The answer being grab a tuxedo and style it out. Turns out they were in a tight spot with this album. They wanted to keep it classy and not use the n word. On the other hand, they also wanted to keep it classy and not sing a song about an irresponsible father. They weren't happy, but they slid into the tuxedos and went to work.
3
View Album
Tue Oct 03 2023
The World is a Ghetto
War
4
View Album
Wed Oct 04 2023
Rapture
Anita Baker
4
View Album
Thu Oct 05 2023
Made In Japan
Deep Purple
4
View Album
Fri Oct 06 2023
It's A Shame About Ray
The Lemonheads
It’s making me think of ‘My So Called Life’. So many bands sounded like this in the late 80s and early 90s, The Lemonheads don’t really stand out from the rest, but it’s easy on the ears, pleasant enough indie pop.
3
View Album
Sat Oct 07 2023
Lost In The Dream
The War On Drugs
5
View Album
Sun Oct 08 2023
Liege And Lief
Fairport Convention
5
View Album
Mon Oct 09 2023
Youth And Young Manhood
Kings of Leon
3
View Album
Tue Oct 10 2023
GREY Area
Little Simz
4
View Album
Wed Oct 11 2023
Boy In Da Corner
Dizzee Rascal
5
View Album
Thu Oct 12 2023
E.V.O.L.
Sonic Youth
3
View Album
Fri Oct 13 2023
It's Too Late to Stop Now
Van Morrison
2
View Album
Sat Oct 14 2023
We Are Family
Sister Sledge
4
View Album
Sun Oct 15 2023
Truth
Jeff Beck
2
View Album
Mon Oct 16 2023
25
Adele
4
View Album
Tue Oct 17 2023
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
5
View Album
Wed Oct 18 2023
Let's Get It On
Marvin Gaye
5
View Album
Thu Oct 19 2023
Microshift
Hookworms
3
View Album
Fri Oct 20 2023
Darklands
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4
View Album
Sat Oct 21 2023
Head Hunters
Herbie Hancock
The proto EDM of Chameleon makes an initial impact. There’s a jittery, nervous energy to side 1 that I found anxiety inducing. The anxiety is resolved about 2 minutes into Sly at the start of side 2. The two halves complement each other perfectly. It's also got a great album cover. Favourite track: Sly.
5
View Album
Sun Oct 22 2023
Rip It Up
Orange Juice
4
View Album
Mon Oct 23 2023
Aja
Steely Dan
5
View Album
Tue Oct 24 2023
Superunknown
Soundgarden
4
View Album
Wed Oct 25 2023
White Light / White Heat
The Velvet Underground
I thought this was great. It’s got a 60s Happenings vibe to it, part beatnik party, part performance art. The white noise and distortion add to the atmosphere, sounding like the hubbub of a crowd or a poorly recorded bootleg. Favourite track: Sister Ray.
5
View Album
Thu Oct 26 2023
...And Justice For All
Metallica
3
View Album
Fri Oct 27 2023
The Contino Sessions
Death In Vegas
Better than I expected. And it’s trying so hard to be liked, bringing in the guest vocalists and everything. It meets the listener half-way, and I’ll return the courtesy by bumping them up to a 4.
4
View Album
Sat Oct 28 2023
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
5
View Album
Sun Oct 29 2023
Ingenue
k.d. lang
4
View Album
Mon Oct 30 2023
The Dreaming
Kate Bush
My favourite Bush album so far. The title track includes contributions from well-known animal impersonator Percy Edwards, and well-known didgeridoo player Rolf Harris. Bush herself channels Kenneth Williams’ Rambling Syd Rumpo. She really embraces the music hall tradition, 60s and 70s light entertainment and novelty records. The whole thing is completely bonkers, loads of fun.
5
View Album
Tue Oct 31 2023
Tidal
Fiona Apple
3
View Album
Wed Nov 01 2023
In The Wee Small Hours
Frank Sinatra
It’s all very film noir. The romantic tough guy. The lyrics are strikingly prosaic and domestic. There are a few poetic descriptions of rain falling and whatnot, but mostly it’s easy chairs, empty beds and toothpaste around the mouth.
4
View Album
Thu Nov 02 2023
Grievous Angel
Gram Parsons
4
View Album
Fri Nov 03 2023
The Infotainment Scan
The Fall
Absolutely bloody brilliant, like everything by The Fall. The only downside was that I knew I was going to listen to the full 2 hours including extras. This is described as one of the most accessible albums from The Fall, but don't worry, the ‘accessible’ bit just refers to a dance music tilt, other than that it's business as usual.
Favourite lyric from the extras: ‘If I ever end up like Richard Madeley cut my hands off with an axe please’ (A Past Gone Mad, Peel Session 16)
Favourite song: Lost in Music
5
View Album
Sat Nov 04 2023
The Stranger
Billy Joel
3
View Album
Sun Nov 05 2023
Crossing the Red Sea With the Adverts
The Adverts
4
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Mon Nov 06 2023
What's That Noise?
Coldcut
4
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Tue Nov 07 2023
The ArchAndroid
Janelle Monáe
5
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Wed Nov 08 2023
Something Else By The Kinks
The Kinks
4
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Thu Nov 09 2023
Rising Above Bedlam
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
3
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Fri Nov 10 2023
Sheer Heart Attack
Queen
3
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Sat Nov 11 2023
Live At The Regal
B.B. King
One of my all-time favourite albums. BB hams it up something rotten, but to say the audience lap it up is something of an understatement. The atmosphere is electric, I’m imagining people being carried out on stretchers.
5
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Sun Nov 12 2023
Scream, Dracula, Scream
Rocket From The Crypt
Meat and potatoes rock, but the horns and Elvis Costello vibes are fun, I might come back to it.
3
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Mon Nov 13 2023
Teenager Of The Year
Frank Black
4
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Tue Nov 14 2023
Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park
4
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Wed Nov 15 2023
Rid Of Me
PJ Harvey
5
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Thu Nov 16 2023
Bookends
Simon & Garfunkel
5
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Fri Nov 17 2023
Crime Of The Century
Supertramp
2
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Sat Nov 18 2023
Rust Never Sleeps
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
I liked Side 1, and the closer Hey, Hey, My, My.
3
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Sun Nov 19 2023
Nighthawks At The Diner
Tom Waits
4
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Mon Nov 20 2023
Music From Big Pink
The Band
Favourite song: I Shall Be Released.
3
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Tue Nov 21 2023
Rubber Soul
Beatles
5
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Wed Nov 22 2023
Paranoid
Black Sabbath
3
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Thu Nov 23 2023
Kick Out The Jams (Live)
MC5
3
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Fri Nov 24 2023
Disraeli Gears
Cream
5
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Sun Nov 26 2023
American Idiot
Green Day
3
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Mon Nov 27 2023
The Dark Side Of The Moon
Pink Floyd
5
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Tue Nov 28 2023
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
OutKast
3
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Wed Nov 29 2023
Smile
Brian Wilson
4
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Thu Nov 30 2023
Hard Again
Muddy Waters
5
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Fri Dec 01 2023
Fifth Dimension
The Byrds
4
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Sat Dec 02 2023
The Fat Of The Land
The Prodigy
5
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Sun Dec 03 2023
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
2
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Mon Dec 04 2023
Hail To the Thief
Radiohead
4
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Tue Dec 05 2023
Bossanova
Pixies
3
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Wed Dec 06 2023
Live At Leeds
The Who
3
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Thu Dec 07 2023
In A Silent Way
Miles Davis
5
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Fri Dec 08 2023
Henry's Dream
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5
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Sat Dec 09 2023
Ill Communication
Beastie Boys
3
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Sun Dec 10 2023
1999
Prince
3
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Mon Dec 11 2023
Different Class
Pulp
5
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Tue Dec 12 2023
Five Leaves Left
Nick Drake
5
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Wed Dec 13 2023
Isn't Anything
My Bloody Valentine
5
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Thu Dec 14 2023
Songs In The Key Of Life
Stevie Wonder
5
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Fri Dec 15 2023
When I Was Born For The 7th Time
Cornershop
3
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Sat Dec 16 2023
Cloud Nine
The Temptations
3
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Sun Dec 17 2023
Suicide
Suicide
4
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Mon Dec 18 2023
Caetano Veloso
Caetano Veloso
3
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Tue Dec 19 2023
Gorillaz
Gorillaz
3
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Wed Dec 20 2023
Electric Warrior
T. Rex
5
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Thu Dec 21 2023
Deloused in the Comatorium
The Mars Volta
3
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Fri Dec 22 2023
Jagged Little Pill
Alanis Morissette
4
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Sat Dec 23 2023
Zombie
Fela Kuti
5
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Sun Dec 24 2023
Madman Across The Water
Elton John
4
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Mon Dec 25 2023
Station To Station
David Bowie
5
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Tue Dec 26 2023
A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Various Artists
4
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Wed Dec 27 2023
Goo
Sonic Youth
4
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Thu Dec 28 2023
Real Life
Magazine
4
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Fri Dec 29 2023
The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
The Incredible String Band
3
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Sat Dec 30 2023
Blonde On Blonde
Bob Dylan
I like Bob Dylan, but oddly enough have never listened to Blonde On Blonde. It’s quite poppy, isn’t it? More swinging 60s than the two preceding albums, a bit more continental sounding.
5
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Sun Dec 31 2023
Remain In Light
Talking Heads
5
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Mon Jan 01 2024
Marcus Garvey
Burning Spear
4
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Tue Jan 02 2024
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
5
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Wed Jan 03 2024
Africa Brasil
Jorge Ben Jor
4
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Thu Jan 04 2024
Technique
New Order
3
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Fri Jan 05 2024
Gentlemen
The Afghan Whigs
3
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Sat Jan 06 2024
Catch A Fire
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5
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Sun Jan 07 2024
Your New Favourite Band
The Hives
5
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Mon Jan 08 2024
Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin
3
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Tue Jan 09 2024
Straight Outta Compton
N.W.A.
4
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Wed Jan 10 2024
Abbey Road
Beatles
5
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Thu Jan 11 2024
Smokers Delight
Nightmares On Wax
3
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Fri Jan 12 2024
Pretzel Logic
Steely Dan
2
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Sat Jan 13 2024
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
I really liked this, maybe even more than ‘classic’ Maiden. They went off in a more epic and epically silly direction, which was also great, but this is an enjoyable dance rock album. Surprisingly reminiscent of bands like The Jam, The Police, even The Clash, as well as the more expected Status Quo and Gary Glitter.
5
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Sun Jan 14 2024
Pelican West
Haircut 100
4
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Mon Jan 15 2024
Protection
Massive Attack
There’s an ominous sense of dread and foreboding that I don’t enjoy. But Protection (the song) is a real earworm, and I do like the James Bond side of trip hop eg Sly.
2
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Tue Jan 16 2024
KIWANUKA
Michael Kiwanuka
3
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Wed Jan 17 2024
The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers
4
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Thu Jan 18 2024
The United States Of America
The United States Of America
4
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Fri Jan 19 2024
New Boots And Panties
Ian Dury
4
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Sat Jan 20 2024
2112
Rush
I know it’s not a serious aesthetic/political treatise, and that the authority being resisted is more likely your parents telling you to turn it down than totalitarianism. But even so, what a load of rockist tosh.
2
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Sun Jan 21 2024
Gris Gris
Dr. John
5
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Mon Jan 22 2024
Slayed?
Slade
5
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Tue Jan 23 2024
Odelay
Beck
3
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Wed Jan 24 2024
Heartbreaker
Ryan Adams
2
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Thu Jan 25 2024
Bad Company
Bad Company
I’ve never heard of this band before. I really liked the mix of rock and soul/R&B, very smooth The singer has a great voice.
5
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Fri Jan 26 2024
The Coral
The Coral
3
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Sat Jan 27 2024
Sign 'O' The Times
Prince
4
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Sun Jan 28 2024
Private Dancer
Tina Turner
2
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Mon Jan 29 2024
Femi Kuti
Femi Kuti
4
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Tue Jan 30 2024
A Love Supreme
John Coltrane
5
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Wed Jan 31 2024
Pretenders
Pretenders
5
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Thu Feb 01 2024
Beauty And The Beat
The Go-Go's
4
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Fri Feb 02 2024
Ambient 1/Music For Airports
Brian Eno
5
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Sat Feb 03 2024
That's The Way Of The World
Earth, Wind & Fire
4
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Sun Feb 04 2024
Back In Black
AC/DC
5
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Mon Feb 05 2024
Teenage Head
Flamin' Groovies
3
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Tue Feb 06 2024
You Want It Darker
Leonard Cohen
3
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Wed Feb 07 2024
Dookie
Green Day
3
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Thu Feb 08 2024
Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor
Lupe Fiasco
4
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Fri Feb 09 2024
Country Life
Roxy Music
5
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Sat Feb 10 2024
Funeral
Arcade Fire
Remember when that Big Brother contestant said she was into a new kind of music called indie? (I checked the date and it was 2007). Everyone thought it was the most hilariously stupid thing to say. Because, obviously, indie was a 1980s thing. But reading the reviews on the Wikipedia article, and some of the reviews here, there does seem to be support for the idea that indie started in the 00s. This album, and the Big Brother comment, may mark the start of a cultural fragmentation, alternative versions of reality existing in their own bubbles. Fittingly enough, Arcade Fire address just this kind of problem. Their response is to build tunnels connecting people by returning to childhood. The primary emotion is nostalgia, in its original sense as a kind of homesickness. They’re not the first indie band to do this, REM got there first in the 1980s, obviously. They didn’t invent this kind of music, or this kind of sensibility, but they do it very, very well. And listening to it, you’d be forgiven for thinking that indie did in fact start in 2004.
5
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Sun Feb 11 2024
Killing Joke
Killing Joke
4
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Mon Feb 12 2024
The Nightfly
Donald Fagen
3
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Tue Feb 13 2024
Hot Buttered Soul
Isaac Hayes
4
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Wed Feb 14 2024
Hot Rats
Frank Zappa
5
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Thu Feb 15 2024
Porcupine
Echo And The Bunnymen
4
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Fri Feb 16 2024
Queen Of Denmark
John Grant
A more polished version of something like Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs. An interesting combination of unmediated shower thoughts, rhyming doggerel and slippery images.
4
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Sat Feb 17 2024
You've Come a Long Way Baby
Fatboy Slim
A mash-up of electronic dance and old school rock ‘n’ roll dance. A style of music that scored several number one hit singles in the 1980s, by artists as diverse in their artistic intentions as Art of Noise and Jive Bunny. But it wasn’t Rockafeller Skank (which samples Art of Noise’s version of Peter Gunn and resembles Jive Bunny’s That’s What I Like) that got to number 1, it was Praise You. And that song remains the standout song on the album. It’s essential to the album, gives it a bit of class.
4
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Sun Feb 18 2024
Crosby, Stills & Nash
Crosby, Stills & Nash
Good, but also kind of creepy, these guys singing to each other. They sound like members of a cult.
4
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Mon Feb 19 2024
Sticky Fingers
The Rolling Stones
5
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Tue Feb 20 2024
Frank
Amy Winehouse
4
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Wed Feb 21 2024
Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches
Happy Mondays
4
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Thu Feb 22 2024
Rock Bottom
Robert Wyatt
What a beautiful album. The baby talk love songs to his wife are wonderful. They’re so tender and reassuring. The music is noodling, but everyone involved is pulling in the same direction. Ivor Cutler is doing the spoken word parts at the end of each side. (Ivor Cutler was a comedy/folk singer who doesn’t have an album on the list, but he recorded 20 Peel sessions, more than any other artist except The Fall).
5
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Fri Feb 23 2024
Manassas
Stephen Stills
2
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Sat Feb 24 2024
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Elton John
5
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Sun Feb 25 2024
Peggy Suicide
Julian Cope
4
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Mon Feb 26 2024
The Specials
The Specials
5
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Tue Feb 27 2024
Music for the Masses
Depeche Mode
I loved my cassette of the Singles 81 – 85, but by 1987 Depeche Mode had dropped off my radar completely. I don’t think I missed much with this ponderously gloomy goth album. It’s interesting that it really took off in the US. Maybe there were fewer bands that sounded similar.
2
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Wed Feb 28 2024
Young Americans
David Bowie
4
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Thu Feb 29 2024
My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts
Brian Eno
4
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Fri Mar 01 2024
Cupid & Psyche 85
Scritti Politti
The most 80s album imaginable. Parody isn’t quite the right word, maybe hyperpop? I like the way Green takes on male and female roles, singing duets with himself. He’s a bit of a smarty pants, all the references to Derrida and Lacan, and I like that as well.
5
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Sat Mar 02 2024
The Wall
Pink Floyd
I’ve seen the film a few times, but never got much out of the music compared to the visuals (the marching hammers, the children being fed into the sausage machine etc.). Giving it a proper listen today, I’m still not hearing a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. I do like side 3 and all the versions of Another Brick In The Wall, throwing The Happiest Days Of Our Lives into that.
2
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Sun Mar 03 2024
Let It Be
The Replacements
3
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Mon Mar 04 2024
Happy Sad
Tim Buckley
A combination of psychedelic folk, jazz and exotica sung in a lounge style. Buzzin Fly is very reminiscent of The Stone Roses, and that’s something of a way in to the album’s belated contribution to music, via the late 80s resurgence of interest in psychedelic folk.
3
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Tue Mar 05 2024
Pink Moon
Nick Drake
5
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Wed Mar 06 2024
Faust IV
Faust
4
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Thu Mar 07 2024
Doolittle
Pixies
5
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Fri Mar 08 2024
Survivor
Destiny's Child
3
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Sat Mar 09 2024
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Kanye West
5
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Sun Mar 10 2024
Diamond Life
Sade
4
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Mon Mar 11 2024
Either Or
Elliott Smith
4
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Tue Mar 12 2024
(What's The Story) Morning Glory
Oasis
Very evocative of a 1970s childhood, with musical borrowings from eg Gary Glitter, the theme tune of Whatever Happened to The Likely Lads and educational kid’s show You and Me. The last one I can’t stop mansplaining whenever She’s Electric comes on the radio. No Way Sis’s parody ‘I’d Like to Teach The World To Sing’ really nails what Oasis are about.
5
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Wed Mar 13 2024
Chore of Enchantment
Giant Sand
3
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Thu Mar 14 2024
Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
Eurythmics
4
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Fri Mar 15 2024
Rain Dogs
Tom Waits
5
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Sat Mar 16 2024
Buena Vista Social Club
Buena Vista Social Club
4
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Sun Mar 17 2024
Imperial Bedroom
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4
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Mon Mar 18 2024
Back to Mystery City
Hanoi Rocks
3
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Tue Mar 19 2024
Liquid Swords
GZA
3
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Wed Mar 20 2024
Third
Portishead
4
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Thu Mar 21 2024
The Madcap Laughs
Syd Barrett
Loose, shambolic, Beatleseque, the band this reminds me of the most is The Libertines. I really liked it.
4
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Fri Mar 22 2024
Only By The Night
Kings of Leon
3
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Sat Mar 23 2024
Pearl
Janis Joplin
5
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Sun Mar 24 2024
Devil Without A Cause
Kid Rock
Not as bad as I was expecting from the reviews. Boisterous party music. Cowboy and Wasting Time are fun songs, and there are some hard driving bangers, Devil Without A Cause, I Am The Bullgod and Roving Gangster. If you’d have put this on at a party in 1998 it would have got people bopping around. I’m actually surprised it didn’t have much of an impact in the UK.
3
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Mon Mar 25 2024
She's So Unusual
Cyndi Lauper
3
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Tue Mar 26 2024
Purple Rain
Prince
4
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Wed Mar 27 2024
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
TV On The Radio
3
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Thu Mar 28 2024
I’m a Lonesome Fugitive
Merle Haggard
4
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Fri Mar 29 2024
Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Fiona Apple
5
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Sat Mar 30 2024
It's Blitz!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3
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Sun Mar 31 2024
World Clique
Deee-Lite
4
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Mon Apr 01 2024
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady
Charles Mingus
4
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Tue Apr 02 2024
Dirt
Alice In Chains
4
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Wed Apr 03 2024
Songs Of Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
5
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Thu Apr 04 2024
The Chronic
Dr. Dre
5
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Fri Apr 05 2024
Rage Against The Machine
Rage Against The Machine
3
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Sat Apr 06 2024
Aqualung
Jethro Tull
5
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Sun Apr 07 2024
Goodbye And Hello
Tim Buckley
Sometimes heartfelt, sometimes impossibly twee medievalism. But more good songs than bad, bumping it up to a 4.
Best tracks: Pleasant Street, I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain, Once I Was, Phantasmagoria In Two, Morning Glory.
4
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Sun Apr 14 2024
Rattus Norvegicus
The Stranglers
5
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Mon Apr 15 2024
Logical Progression
LTJ Bukem
It’s a faff to reconstruct the album (spread over 5 separate YouTubes: CD1, CD2, and three missing tracks). Going back to individual tracks (or even identifying them) is also a faff. And it’s got a 2 hours playing time… What a great album, though. All killer, no filler, difficult to single out favourite tracks, but Pharoah/Rings Around Saturn towards the end of CD2 stood out for me.
5
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Tue Apr 16 2024
This Year's Model
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
5
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Wed Apr 17 2024
Meat Puppets II
Meat Puppets
3
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Thu Apr 18 2024
Pyromania
Def Leppard
3
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Fri Apr 19 2024
Joan Baez
Joan Baez
3
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Sat Apr 20 2024
Ten
Pearl Jam
I really liked Even Flow. It sounds very similar to Soho’s 1990 single Hippy Chick, but that’s surely coincidental. Other tracks I liked: Why Go, Jeremy. Anthemic rock with shoegazey stuff going on in the background.
3
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Sun Apr 21 2024
We're Only In It For The Money
The Mothers Of Invention
5
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Mon Apr 22 2024
Band On The Run
Paul McCartney and Wings
5
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Tue Apr 23 2024
Harvest
Neil Young
4
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Wed Apr 24 2024
Homework
Daft Punk
It’s quite physical, fleshy, squishy squashy. I found most of it a challenge to listen to, but it’s probably a grower.
Best tracks: Revolution 909, Da Funk, Phoenix, High Fidelity, Alive.
2
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Thu Apr 25 2024
Peace Sells...But Who's Buying
Megadeth
4