Nov 28 2024
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Aja
Steely Dan
An exquisitely crafted album, one of my favourites and the album that got me into Steely Dan. Becker and Fagen employ the cream of the session music world - Larry Carlton, Joe Sample, Chuck Rainey, Steve Gadd, Bernard Purdie - and combine them into as many groups as there are uniformly excellent songs. It’s all superb but highlights include Wayne Shorter’s solo over Gadd’s subtle drum patterns on the title track, and one of the most incredible guitar solos in popular music, in Peg, a masterclass by Jay Grayson, who was allegedly the 11th guitar player to give it a go. What a great album to start with.
5
Nov 29 2024
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The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
David Bowie
Ziggy, Moonage Daydream, Suffragette City, Hang On To Yourself, Starman; Ronson, Bolder, Woodie, Bowie. Apocalyptic glam. Extraterrestrial rock. Bowie’s first hit album and, as with so many of his albums, there’s an argument to be made that it’s his best. And some days it is…
5
Nov 30 2024
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The Wildest!
Louis Prima
I really only know Louis Prima from the voice of King Louie in Jungle Book and Dave Lee Roth's cover of Prima's Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody medley but this album is a fun collection of jump jive jazz. Gigolo/Nobody opens the set and is great fun and, while the rest of the album is not quite as good, tracks like Oh, Marie and Jump, Jive An' Wail come close, Prima's Louis Armstrong-like scatting perfectly complimented by his (20 years younger) wife, Keely Smith's sweet voice. 32 minutes of enjoyment from almost 70 years ago.
4
Dec 01 2024
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Paranoid
Black Sabbath
While I didn't appreciate it initially, seeing them as fairly one dimensional compared to their '70s peers, I have come to appreciate Sabbath so much over the years; there is so much more going on that the, admittedly spectacular riffs. Listen to Geezer Butler's bass runs, especially at the end of War Pigs, the way Bill Ward plays, like a jazz drummer, and always to serve the song rather than merely to keep time, and Planet Caravan which holds the listener, at least this listener, spellbound for the duration, despite consisting of two repeated chords - Tony Iommi's deft jazz guitar solo skipping over the top. Black Sabbath would go on to even greater experimentation on later albums, particularly Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage but Paranoid built on the promise of their debut and laid the groundwork for even better things to come.
5
Dec 02 2024
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Lady Soul
Aretha Franklin
Aretha has one of the most distinctive and individual voices in music. And she also plays piano and saxophone. This album contains the classics “Chain of Fools”, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” and “Sweet Sweet Baby (Since You’ve Been Gone)” and excellent versions of “People Get Ready” and “Groovin’”. The remainder of the album sparkles almost as brightly, Aretha’s stunning gospel vocals raising even lesser numbers close to the heights of the hits. Such was her talent that there was no such thing as filler on Aretha’s late ‘60s and early ‘70s albums.
5
Dec 03 2024
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Cheap Thrills
Big Brother & The Holding Company
Never fell in love with this. Janis’s voice is singular, the music fairly basic garage rock. It IS good and I do enjoy listening to it but I think Pearl is my Janis Joplin album.
4
Dec 04 2024
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Foxbase Alpha
Saint Etienne
This was new to me, although I have heard other St Etienne songs. Pleasant enough, a blend of ethereal chill and house music, amen breaks, piano riffs and samples. There’s a nice version of Neil Young’s “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”. I’d listen again but it won’t be on regular rotation.
3
Dec 05 2024
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Floodland
Sisters Of Mercy
Another new one for me. I have heard some Sisters of Mercy but never a full album. It’s well produced, sounds somehow cinematic to me, big reverbs. I can hear Depeche Mode, and the beginnings of Rammstein. I’d listen to this again.
4
Dec 06 2024
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Solid Air
John Martyn
I love Solid Air, John Martyn’s voice and guitar, the jazz folk feel, the upright bass. It meanders and take detours and the journey is rich and rewarding. The songs are uniformly excellent but the echoplex tour de force that is Martyn’s cover of Skip James’s “Rather Be the Devil” is breaktaking. Every time.
5
Dec 07 2024
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Home Is Where The Music Is
Hugh Masekela
I know Masekela’s name primarily from the fight against Apartheid in South Africa, very little about his music. This is a double album of entertaining, if relatively unchallenging, soul-jazz with an Afrobeat flavour in many tracks. Really well played by the whole band with Hugh’s flugelhorn and Dudu Pukwana’s saxophone in particular standing out, the tone of each is excellent. Nothing earth shattering but a really pleasant chilled listen.
4
Dec 08 2024
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Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black
Public Enemy
I don’t really have much of a frame of reference for most rap and hip hop, but over the years, if there is one group that resonates more than most, it is Public Enemy. They will never be on my most listened list but I can appreciate the production values and the political anger. And the links to Anthrax and ROTM make it a little more accessible for me. This is certainly miles ahead of the gangsta/bling/look at what I got stuff that seemed to dominate the genre a few years later.
4
Dec 09 2024
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Take Me Apart
Kelela
I admit my heart sank a little when this popped up; slick modern R&B is not my thing at all. I had never heard of Kalela but knew exactly how this would sound. And I was so wrong.
Take Me Apart is modern R&B but it has a huge soundscape. Atmospheric, with rumbling sub-bass and glitchy beats. Loads of EDM elements but also proggy (especially in the layered, 10CC-like vocal parts) and consistently interesting. Apparently Kalela played in metal bands at one stage and it’s not too fanciful to hear some of the things Sleep Token are doing, particularly in the breakdowns.
4
Dec 10 2024
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To Pimp A Butterfly
Kendrick Lamar
Again my lack of anything but a superficial knowledge of Hip-Hop means I only know, and like, Kendrick Lamar’s Black Panther soundtrack. But I do know George Clinton and Ronald Isley and Thundercat and Kamasi Washington, all of whom appear here. Yet To Pimp A Butterfly sounds like a cohesive album. There are echoes of Parliament, ‘70s Stevie Wonder, Prince - impressive.
4
Dec 11 2024
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Shadowland
k.d. lang
It’s been a while since I listened to this album, although I used to play it a lot. I enjoyed getting to know it again. kd lang’s voice is excellent and really suited to the material, essentially country jazz torch songs. I first heard her on her duet with Roy Orbison and her voice sits somewhere between his and Patsy Cline’s. Black Coffee and I’m Down To My Last Cigarette are particularly good. Really well produced and played, with a lovely pedal steel snaking through many of the tracks.
5
Dec 12 2024
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The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Yet another hip-hop album, 3rd in 10, but one that I have listened to, and like, a lot. It has recently been voted best album ever by Apple Music, it’s not that, but it is very, very good. I can hear a direct line from ‘70s soul like Donny Hathaway and Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley too. Strange that she never made another but perhaps Miseducation said everything she needed it to…
5
Dec 13 2024
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Come Away With Me
Norah Jones
This is one of those albums which has a reputation as the musical equivalent of coffee table books; everyone had a copy in the early '00s and it was mostly played low, as background music, at a wine and cheese party... Come Away With Me is actually much better than that. Norah Jones's smoky voice and deceptively simple piano playing are sublime; some of her chord voicings are stunningly good. The backing musicians are excellent, the light jazz/country ballads uniformly good. Don't Know Why is a torch song that can stand with the best of the American Songbook greats.
5
Dec 14 2024
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Rubber Soul
Beatles
Rubber Soul is the start of the second phase of the Beatles. They have been great a great band before, and many of the songs have been wonderful, but this is where the experimentation really begins. Within a year they will have quit touring and become a studio band and the soundscape will open even more but here we have sitars, and fuzz bass, and double-tracked vocals, more complicated arrangements, a touch of psychedelia. They would push things even further on Revolver and Sgt Pepper's but Rubber Soul deserves to be held in the same esteem.
5
Dec 15 2024
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Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Been a long time since I listened to this album, possibly because it’s a little inconsistent. It starts and ends really well, Moribund the Burgermeister being very Genesis-like and Solsbury Hill still being among my favourite Gabriel songs, Her Comes the Flood closing in epic style. But, much as I love Bob Esrin’s production style, he’s a little bombastic for PG in places, particularly when his favourite Alice Cooper guitarist, Dick Wagner, shows up on Slowburn. And the Randy Newman sounding blues of Waiting for the Big One doesn’t suit Gabriel at all. Tony Levin and Robert Fripp would have a bigger impact on the better albums to come. Good, not Great.
3
Dec 16 2024
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Nick Of Time
Bonnie Raitt
I probably liked this more at the time. The production, by Don was, is slick and very '80s in places, with a few tracks full of synths and electric pianos, and a little too much reverb on some of the snares. It is still a very good album, the singing and guitar playing, particularly Bonnie's slide is fantastic. The bluesy numbers, some with The Fabulous Thunderbirds are better, elsewhere the sound is very like Eric Clapton’s mid-‘80s output and just sounds a bit dated now.
3
Dec 17 2024
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Heroes
David Bowie
Not my favourite of the Berlin Trilogy (this week…), although the only one entirely recorded in Berlin, Heroes sits with Low (my current favourite) and Lodger as part of an atmospheric, ambient trilogy, pretty far removed from Ziggy or Aladdin Sane, but still Bowie. The core band of Alomar, David and Murray is excellent, then add Brian Eno and Robert Fripp, both of whom are all over this, and Tony Visconti’s production. The first side, more traditional song structures, foreshadows New Romantic and industrial rock; the second side, largely instrumental, is more ambient and reflective, echoing Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk. Bowie’s voice is slightly alien, almost synthetic, and it really suits the colder, even bleak, music. Love it.
5
Dec 18 2024
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I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail
Buck Owens
Other than Act Naturally, i don’t think I have ever listened to Buck Owens - I didn’t know he wrote Cryin’ Time which is on this album - but I have listened to a lot of artists whom he influenced. This is twangy, guitar-driven honky-tonk out of Bakersfield CA. You can hear Owen’s influence in Gram Parsons-era Byrds and Burritos, and Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yokum and many more. Telecasters and Nudie suits - this is where it started.
4
Dec 19 2024
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Frank
Amy Winehouse
Back to Black is Amy Winehouse’s magnum opus, but her debut album, Frank, is equally impressive. Frank has a stronger jazz influence compared to its more classic soul-inspired successor. The title, evidently referring to Amy’s love for Sinatra, could equally apply to the candid and raw honesty of the lyrics. There are also ‘90s Neo-Soul influences in the music. For instance, “October Song” blends these influences with the jazz elements, with a playful reference to “Lullaby of Birdland” and a nod to Sarah Vaughan. At the age of 19, Amy’s voice, while not as confident as on her later material, is still strong and distinctively hers.
4
Dec 20 2024
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...Baby One More Time
Britney Spears
Not for me. I know, and don't particularly like, Britney from the singles; a whole album doesn't make it better. It's well-produced (possibly over-produced) bubblegum pop, largely inoffensive, although I don't like Britney's nasal, adenoidal voice, but some of the songs, like the duet with Don Phillips, are really poor. Apart from Baby, Hit Me... the best song is probably the cover of The Beat Goes On... and that pales in comparison with the Sonny and Cher original.
2
Dec 21 2024
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Hot Buttered Soul
Isaac Hayes
Stunning album and astounding to think that this came out in 1969. It is such a jump from Isaac Hayes writing and production for other Stax artists, amazing though many of the resulting tracks were. Only four songs, one of which is growling, distorted funk of "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic", another the good but relatively forgettable "One Woman". It is the other two tracks which make this album essential - covers of Bacharach and David's "Walk On By" and Jimmy Webb's (Glenn Campbell's...) "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", the former just over 12 minutes, the latter 18:42 - over 8 minutes before the recognisable part of the song starts, Isaac rapping, free-styling, telling a story to introduce the narrative of the song. Amazing stuff - orchestral strings, fuzz guitar, soul choirs. Unmissable.
5
Dec 22 2024
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Deserter's Songs
Mercury Rev
I knew nothing about Mercury Rev other than the name. Apparently this album is unlike their earlier, noisier sound. This is delicate, fragile, ethereal. There are orchestral sounds, string quartets, mellotrons, calliopes. It is reminiscent of Funfairs & Saloon pianos. It’s well-played and sounds great and, although the material didn’t grab me, it’s a pleasant listen. The second half rocks a little more and is more compelling. Enjoyable but not essential.
3
Dec 23 2024
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The Rise & Fall
Madness
I must admit that I overlooked this album despite a growing fondness for Madness that I didn't necessarily have when they were at their height. I know a few of the songs, but I wasn’t prepared for such a powerful, mature, and thought-provoking collection. It’s like a loose concept album that explores childhood and London, similar in feel to the much later “The Liberty of Norton Folgate,” which I also enjoy. I’ve heard comparisons to the Kinks’ “Village Green Preservation Society,” and that makes sense. The humour in Madness’s singles is still present, and the album holds together remarkably well, with a level of sophistication that isn't necessarily gleaned from a casual listen to the band’s greatest hits, good though they undoubtedly are.
5
Dec 24 2024
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At Newport 1960
Muddy Waters
Excellent band - Muddy’s incredible voice, Otis Spann on piano, James Cotton’s harp - with a great setlist. This live album, and the concert at which it was recorded, effectively introduced Waters’s brand of electrified country blues hollers to entire America, and inspired a who’s who of British artists to play this music - the Rolling Stones, John Mayall, and the guitarists who developed in his band - Clapton, Green, Taylor - and so many more. Essential stuff.
5
Dec 26 2024
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A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Various Artists
Simply the best Christmas album ever. Darlene Love, the Ronettes, the Crystals, Bob B Soxx and Phil Spector’s wall of sound production never sounding better.
5
Dec 27 2024
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Here's Little Richard
Little Richard
1001 Albums describes these songs as “rock and roll stem cells” and they’re spot on. Little Richard, as much as anyone ever has, influenced all that rock and roll became. The Beatles recorded his songs, Paul McCartney was proud of his Little Richard yell, the showmanship of Jimi Hendrix, who played in his band, the flamboyance of Disco, the driving, rattling rhythms of metal; they were all in Richard’s debt. And the songs - “Tutti Frutti”, “Long Tall Sally”, “Slippin’ and Slidin’”, “Rip It Up”, “Jenny Jenny”, my personal favourite, “Can’t Believe You Wanna Leave” and the rest - all classics and all as vibrant as the day they were cut.
5
Dec 28 2024
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Cloud Nine
The Temptations
My favorite period of my favorite Motown group began with this album. Norman Whitfield, who had already produced singles for The Temptations, took full control of production. This coincided with David Ruffin’s departure and the arrival of Dennis Edwards. “Cloud Nine” featured the five Temps sharing lead vocals, often trading lines within verses, to an increasingly funky, psychedelic soul sound. The Funk Brothers added wah-wah guitars and intense instrumental vamps to the traditional Motown sound, and the lyrics introduced social commentary to the more familiar love songs. The title track kicks things off and we’re in Sly & the Family Stone territory; the 9-minute “Runaway Child, Running Wild”, which builds to an organ- and guitar-fuelled crescendo, is stunning and points the way to the even more powerful workouts to come in the early ‘70s. The ballads were still here but times were getting tougher and, with Whitfield’s encouragement, so were The Temptations…
5
Dec 29 2024
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Konnichiwa
Skepta
I don’t really get grime, fam. But then it’s not targeted at me. Some of the beats are good and I really like the sub-bass. If it comes up randomly I won’t skip but unlikely to seek this out.
3
Dec 30 2024
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Gentlemen
The Afghan Whigs
I have a weird blind spot when it comes to The Afghan Whigs. They weren’t really on my radar in the ‘90s and I discovered them later through Greg Dulli’s work with Mark Lanegan. I own Congregation and several Twilight Singers albums but rarely listen to them. I’ve seen Dulli and Lanegan live as The Gutter Twins and love the album. And I really like this. I’ve probably heard it before. I should probably listen more frequently.
4
Dec 31 2024
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Out Of The Blue
Electric Light Orchestra
5
Jan 01 2025
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Talking With the Taxman About Poetry
Billy Bragg
I’ve just never got Billy Bragg. He does what he does well but I’ve rarely heard one of Bragg’s songs and wanted to replay it. “Greetings to the New Brunette” and “Levi Stubb’s Tears” come as close as any.
3
Jan 02 2025
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In The Wee Small Hours
Frank Sinatra
While I prefer "Songs for Swinging Lovers", this album, Sinatra's first with Nelson Riddle arranging, is arguably more consistent in that it holds that melancholy mood throughout. It reinvigorated Sinatra's career and, as one of the first records released on the new 12" vinyl format, allegedly kicked off the album era. Not as much fun as some of the later recordings, it is an album to wallow in, late at night, perhaps with a whisky in hand.
5
Jan 03 2025
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Calenture
The Triffids
Never heard this before nor, as far as I recall, have I heard of the Triffids. It’s not a bad album, jangly pop-rock, a little earnest. The production is of its time, big snare reverb, and reminds me of something, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions possibly. I can’t imagine rushing back.
3
Jan 04 2025
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She's So Unusual
Cyndi Lauper
It’s a fun pop album. Cyndi has a unique voice, quirky, the arrangements are good. A lot of it still stands up 40 years later, obviously “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and “Time After Time” but others too. And it has a bouncy song about wanking…
3
Jan 05 2025
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Fisherman's Blues
The Waterboys
Another big surprise - I know the Waterboys from Whole of the Moon and a few other tracks but this album is excellent. It’s like they saw what Dexy’s had done with traditional Celtic folk instruments and thought “We could do this so much better” even down to the Van Morrison cover, “Sweet Thing” which incorporates “Blackbird” by the Beatles. It’s like prog folk and I wasn’t expecting it.
5
Jan 06 2025
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GI
Germs
Only album by short-lived LA punk band featuring Pat Smear on guitar and produced by Joan Jett. It’s fun, frantic and fast, with the exception of the last song, Shot Down (Annihilation Man), which at almost 10 minutes compared to the sub-two minutes of most of the other tracks, might be my favourite on the album.
4
Jan 08 2025
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Hotel California
Eagles
It’s become fashionable to hate the Eagles, and some of them don’t seem to be particularly likable people, the current touring version of the band is a cynical money grab. The truth is, in the 1970s, they were very good at what they did. I still listen to Desperado on a fairly frequent basis but I haven’t listened to Hotel California for a good few years. It’s an excellent album. There isn’t a bad song on it. It’s well played, it’s incredibly well produced, and Don Henley, no matter that he appears to mime certain songs these days, was an excellent singer. Meisner and Frey were good too but Henley was top drawer.
5
Jan 09 2025
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The Low End Theory
A Tribe Called Quest
It appears I like more hip-hop than I realised. I’d forgotten how good this album is. The first track compares hip-hop to bebop and that’s really apt, not just due to the jazz samples, but also in the fast riffing throughout. One of the most musical hip-hop albums I’ve heard.
5
Jan 10 2025
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Rum Sodomy & The Lash
The Pogues
Another album that I am embarrassed, particularly as an Irishman, to have neglected, if not ignored. And it is an excellent album, a mix of punk-cèilidh thrash, more tender reflective ballads, some great instrumentals, even a touch of Ennio Morricone in "A Pistol for Paddy Garcia" and all anchored by Shane Magowan's wild, slurred growl. A lot of credit has to go to Elvis Costello who, as producer, controls the mayhem and gives the instruments and voices, including that of his soon to be wife, Cait O'Riordan, room to breathe. It feels like you are in the room with them, and what a room that would have been...
5
Jan 11 2025
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Live At The Regal
B.B. King
BB King captured at the height of his considerable powers live in concert at the Regal Theater in Chicago in 1964 and released the following year, the year I was born, so this is as old as me, and just as great. It is a remarkable live recording. The tight rhythm section never stop, literally - until it's time to flip the record; the music segues seamlessly from one classic blues song to the next, BB introducing each with a little story "Ladies and Gentlemen" about having a girl, or losing a girl. The horn section is clear and sharp, the sound overall is stunning. And on top of the fantastic band, BB's guitar and voice are supreme. His lead playing is sounds so simple and is so perfect, and many greats have failed to duplicate the magic. His voice slips and slides from deep throaty growls to falsetto highs. This record marked the start of BB King's move from chitlin circuit to rock audiences. Innumerable guitarists, many of them white, many of them British, many of them great players took influence from this. A few came close...
5
Jan 12 2025
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Made In Japan
Deep Purple
From 1969 to 1973, Deep Purple was undoubtedly the best live band in the world, and this album, one of the pioneering double live albums, captures them near their peak. This is the album to present to those who claim Led Zeppelin was the greatest rock band of the ‘70s; much as I like them, they never came close to the energy and inventiveness of the Purple live experience. In reality, Deep Purple was more akin to Miles Davis’s electric bands than to Zeppelin or Sabbath; they weren’t a jazz band, but they possessed supremely talented improvisers. In Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Paice, and Jon Lord, they had three of the finest musicians in rock music.
There are only seven songs on the album, spanning just over an hour and a quarter, four of which are from their recent Machine Head release. However, as in jazz, the songs, while excellent, are essentially structured ‘head’arrangements upon which the improvisations are built. A common criticism of Purple’s live shows was their lack of significant setlist variation. However, as Ian Gillan rightly pointed out to an interviewer, tonight’s set could be two hours long, while yesterday’s was two-twenty, so something different was happening. Live, the band would take off, solos extending as long as they required, accompanied by a system of hand signals and motives to signal to the rest of the band when solos were concluding. Listening to the three complete concerts from which the album was compiled is both educational and entertaining. The songs remain the same but different; you can discern the development of ideas that had emerged on previous nights.
There are so many unforgettable moments on this album. The introduction to “Lazy” starts with Lord’s squealing bleeps and blips, gradually transitioning into churchy chords, jazzy riffing, and eventually Blackmore’s bluesy and funky Stratocaster licks. Paice’s cymbal work and Gillan’s ferocious screams are showcased in “Child in Time,” while the vocal/guitar duet in “Strange Kind of Woman” features a battle of wits. The interplay between Blackmore and Lord throughout the album is truly remarkable. There’s a sense that at any moment, everything could go awry and end in disaster, but it never does. And that could be due to bassist Roger Glover, the solid rock around which the soloists weave.
I must admit that I occasionally skip “The Mule”’s lengthy drum solo. While it’s hugely impressive, showcasing light and shade, loud and soft, almost musical, it’s still a drum solo, and I don’t need it every time.
I recognise that I may have a slight bias. I possess at least 50 live recordings of Deep Purple from this period, both official and bootleg, and I could happily listen to them for hours on end, and I often do. However, “Made In Japan” stands out as the pinnacle. The recording is exceptional, allowing for clear separation and definition of each instrument, particularly Ian Gillan’s voice, which is unmatched by any other singer in any other band of the era.
Despite still recording and touring impressively, Deep Purple is often unfairly derided and even forgotten these days. This wasn’t a heavy metal band or a progressive rock band; it was a group of five incredibly talented musicians who fed off each other’s energy in live performances, challenging one another, rocking hard while seamlessly blending classical, rock and roll, and blues motives, playing with both power and subtlety, incomparable to any of their peers.
I LOVE THIS BAND AND I LOVE THIS ALBUM.
5
Jan 14 2025
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Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
PJ Harvey
I’ve listened to some PJ Harvey but don’t know this album. There’s a late ‘70s Patti Smith feel, some Christie Hynde mixed with ‘90s indie. I like it. Very listenable, all the songs good, without there being a standout. It’s largely guitar, bass & drums, well recorded with a couple of contributions from Thom Yorke including a duet on “This Mess We’re In”. I do really like the sound of the record and it could well be a grower.
4
Jan 16 2025
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Brothers In Arms
Dire Straits
This was one of those albums, the equivalent of coffee table books, which was everywhere in the mid ‘80s, everyone had a copy. It is better than that but not my favourite Dire Straits record. It’s well produced, sounds excellent, and some of the songs are very good but there is nothing on hear to match the best on “Love Over Gold” or “Making Movies” but the second side is better and I could listen to the Hammond organ outro on the title track over and over.
4
Jan 17 2025
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You Want It Darker
Leonard Cohen
I wasn't expecting this. The title track, which opens the album, is amazing, Cohen's voice darker and smokier than ever, the Jewish (?) chanting at the end adding to what seems to be criticism of religion or preachers. I didn't realise that this was released days before Cohen's death but it has that feeling, similar to Johnny Cash's American recordings, of a final statement, a setting right of things, a last will and testament - especially on "Leaving the Table". I have always respected, never loved, Leonard Cohen's work but I really like this and maybe I have to go deeper, and darker.
5
Jan 18 2025
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21
Adele
Well produced, good voice, tasteful arrangements, southern soul influenced. It starts fairly strong and there are moments in some of the songs but it’s ultimately relative bland, inoffensive dinner party piano ballads.
3
Jan 20 2025
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Spy Vs. Spy: The Music Of Ornette Coleman
John Zorn
I have never listened to John Zorn before and, looking at his extensive discography, there is a lot to catch up on. Unfortunately, I couldn't find this album on my streaming services, so listened on an 'ok' YouTube stream but I'm intrigued. It is definitely not easy-listening, but worth the work. I found it difficult to get into Ornette Coleman and am still not hugely familiar with his work, even those albums I own, and I am not sure this 'tribute' makes it any more accessible, but it does make me want to explore both artist and composer further.
The music is Avantgarde jazz with a hardcore punk/metal aesthetic and the band - two saxophones, bass and two drummers - make a glorious noise, powerful. It reminds me of what Imperial Triumphant have been doing in the metal scene. Best to sit in front of the speakers and let the force of this album hit you in the chest. I'd like to find a decent copy on vinyl.
4
Jan 22 2025
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Cafe Bleu
The Style Council
Beyond (some of) the singles, I never really got The Style Council, although late Jam was probably pointing in this direction. First time I have lists to the album all the way through as I recall. It’s cool jazzy lounge music. I like Mick Talbot’s keyboards, particularly on the instrumentals. I’ve never liked Tracy Thorn’s voice, and “Paris Match” doesn’t change that.
And then there’s the second side. “The Gospel” - Ill -advised and poorly executed - followed by an awful, in both senses, EWF/Trouble Funk karaoke abomination “Strength of Your Nature”. “You’re the Best Thing” is good, returning to the lounge, but it’s not enough.
2
Jan 23 2025
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OK
Talvin Singh
"OK" is ok. It is light, pretty chill D&B with Indian Bhangra percussion and stringed instruments layered over the beats. It's a bit Buddha Bar, quite pleasant to listen to, a little bit background 'musak' in places. I had never heard of the artist or the album previously, but it doesn't feel like an undiscovered gem that had been waiting for me to dig it up.
3
Jan 24 2025
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Marcus Garvey
Burning Spear
I really need to listen to more reggae. This is heavy roots music with deliberate, slow tempos, three part harmonies, deep bass and excellent production, although apparently Winston Rodney aka Burning Spear (although they were a group at this point) hated the mix that Island Records did. The lyrics are political and spiritual, centring on the Rastafarian aims and ideals. The music is hypnotic and somewhat soothing while the lyrics carry that implied threat, Revolution.
5
Jan 25 2025
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The White Album
Beatles
While not my favourite Beatles album (this week), I love the White Album. Been a while since I listened to it from start to finish - it is a cornucopia of different styles and is therefore a little disjointed, but it is great to dive into - I even enjoyed "Rocky Raccoon" and "Revolution Nr 9" this time, and that's not always the case. There are some truly exceptional, wonderful songs here which come close to their best; the rest are rarely less than really good although it is true that by this time The Beatles were really operating as individuals, with little real collaboration in the songwriting. Things were starting to fragment, the indicators to their subsequent solo careers are evident, but what a soundtrack the breakup had.
5
Jan 26 2025
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Talking Timbuktu
Ali Farka Touré
Malian guitarist and singer, Ali Farka Toure, collaborates with Ry Cooder on this very listenable album. Certain moments stand out, especially when Cooder’s slide guitar seamlessly blends with Toure’s melodic drones and repetitive patterns. However, the album does become 'samey' after a while, and a shorter runtime of 40 minutes might have enhanced its overall impact. Nevertheless, this album sparked passionate debates about the origins of the blues, with the pair fueling these discussions on the track “Amandrai.” The driving motive on which this song is built could be have been lifted straight from the John Lee Hooker or Muddy Waters songbooks.
3
Jan 27 2025
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1977
Ash
Despite Norn Iron being such a small place we have produced some talent. Ash are certainly the most fun, mixing the pop sensibilities of The Undertones with the aggression of Stiff Little Fingers. Eclectic teenagers that they were they threw in metal, Dinosaur Jr and ABBA influences, pop-culture references from Star Wars, X-Men, Jackie Chan, Karate Kid, Captain Scarlet. The album starts with the sound of a TIE fighter and ends, at least on early versions, with a hidden track of them egging each other in a vomiting competition. In between there are so many catchy fun, wall of noise songs - Goldfinger, Girl From Mars, Kung Fu, Angel Interceptor - really not a bad tune and all delivered with the youthful exuberance of kids having the time of their lives. Downpatrick’s best!
5
Feb 03 2025
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Jack Takes the Floor
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
It’s not terrible, it’s not great, some of it is played on an obviously out of tune guitar. Not my kind of folk…
2
Feb 04 2025
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The Dark Side Of The Moon
Pink Floyd
There is really nothing much I can add to reviews of DSOTM. It is simply one of the best albums of the '70s (and beyond) and captured a moment rarely repeated. Musically, lyrically, production-wise, it is an almost perfect album. The themes of madness and the human condition might seem trite - "Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way..." - but it all works.
The only thing I will add is that the line "I don't know, I was really drunk at the time..." is spoken by Henry McCullough (soon to be ex-Wings) and, 20 years later, I spent an enjoyable Thursday afternoon getting drunk with Henry...
5
Feb 05 2025
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Tubular Bells
Mike Oldfield
An odd album which sort of stands on its own. What is is? Prog Rock? NeoClassical? Ambient? Film music? It certainly worked as the main theme from The Exorcist from where a lot of people will recognise it. Tubular Bells is essentially two long instrumental tracks in which the then 19 year old Mike Oldfield layers multiple instruments, building to a crescendo. I listen to it about once a year and I'm always surprised by the time variations, the way some parts come in just after you think they should, which keeps you off balance. And then there is that bonkers, but wonderful, part and the end of the first sequence where Viv Stanshall announces each instrument as it joins, finishing with "TUBULAR BELLS!!!". It shouldn't work, but it does.
4
Feb 06 2025
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Pretzel Logic
Steely Dan
Not my favourite Steely Dan album, in fact I would probably rank it lowest of their '70s output. Of course, that doesn't mean that it is a bad album; it is a very good if transitional one, and the guitar solo on "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" is worth the price of admission alone. Like all Dan records, it is incredibly well played, produced and arranged and there are pointers here to later LPs which I play more often; the direct steal from Horace Silver on Rikki teases the jazzier direction. This is probably the point where Steely Dan gave up any pretence of being a 'band' and became a two-man project which strove for perfection by hiring the best session players for each track.
4
Feb 07 2025
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Halcyon Digest
Deerhunter
I’m sure I have listened to this before, and I wouldn’t be resistant to listening to it again, but it’s not a particular standout. I didn’t recall any of the songs and didn’t hum any of the tunes later. It is competent, well-played indie. Listenable, enjoyable even, some interesting electronic noises, but not essential.
3
Feb 09 2025
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The Beach Boys Today!
The Beach Boys
This is the first release by the Beach Boys which feels like an album rather than a collection of singles. There are no Surf songs. The first side is uptempo pop - Do You Wanna Dance, When I Grow Up (to Be a Man). Help Me Rhonda - The second is more introspective, with more orchestral arrangements. With songs like Kiss Me Baby and She knows Me too Well (much as I hate it) you can hear the beginnings of Pet Sounds. It is slightly surprising though, given the stories of how the Beatles pushed on the Beach Boys, or Brian Wilson to be exact, and vice-versa, that the jump from this to Pet Sounds, is more stark than, say, that from Rubber Soul to Revolver or Revolver to Sgt. Pepper…
3