1001 Albums Summary

Not being a hip-hop fan I’ve probably missed the old-skool references, though for some reason I can hear Mothership Connection deep in the background. But I more than enjoyed this album - it’s the down tempo mixed with instrumentals, the interplay of four voices within changing textures that held my attention - that, and Charli 2na’s voice being just gorgeous - as well as in the poetry overall and DDT in particular. Definitely on my ‘go to’ list now.

Listens more as a playlist, but there are some fabulous tracks to choose from, Where I End and You Begin and There, There, to the intensely lush and dissonant harmony of Scatterbrain and the soundscapes of Sail to the Moon. But Backdrifts now sounds rather dated and We Suck Young Blood doth protest too much. A Punch Up at a Wedding didn’t seem to cut it either, but overall a great bag of tricks to dip into whether you’re a Radiohead fan or not.

Some fabulous music, of course, as in When the Levee Breaks in particular - difficult to dis Led Zeppelin but wasn’t exactly keen on Misty Mountain Hop and Four Sticks.

For the eponymous track alone, it’s a five

With jazz only on the periphery of my listening life this turned out to be a treat - loved that big band sound and Midnight Blue in particular - the musical thread was always clear, holding my attention with quite gorgeous harmonies.

Side one’s great - side two, not so much - from the ‘Time After Time’ to the ‘He’s so Unusual’.