1001 Albums Summary

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1001 ALBUMS- # 37 Bert Jansch the minimalist man! A self-titled easy listening little ditty of an album, from an understated musician poetically strumming acoustic folksy with his heart indelibly on his sleeve. I had never heard of Mr. Jansch, rather surprisingly as there are clear echoes of Dylan and Drake, quite a delightful discovery that I really enjoyed listening through this evening. No production tricks here, just a simplistic analogue recording of an artist conveying his authentic thoughts and feelings vulnerably through his guitar. 🎧 Classic Track: Needle of Death 🎧 Deep Cut Gem: Running From Home 🎧 personal Favorite: Strolling Down The Highway This album would make for a wonderful companion piece to sitting by a campfire, driving through the countryside on a crisp autumn day or just unwinding at the end of the week with your beverage if choice. 🖼️ Album Artwork: Perfectly suits the aesthetic of these tunes 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Bonus marks for Bert hailing from Scotland, however it is his subtle vocals that really allow the songwriting to shine. It is rather curious that he is not more well known, especially with a prolific catalogue of 26 albums! Hit the Thumbs Up icon below if you enjoyed my take on the album :)

This one really challenged me with the experimental soundscapes that are a bit beyond my musical comfort zone, which is what I absolutely love about the 1001 album listening journey! BJÖRK is an artist I’ve been somewhat familiar with beyond her early career with The Sugarcubes and understood to have significant accolades for her unique and inventive song structures, however I’ve always been reluctant to dedicate the time required to fully absorb her music. Primarily, my listening experience to her output has been with the more mainstream tracks from the 90’s records Debut and Post, as I tend to overlook the more pure electronic and ambient genres, however I have appreciated elements of these styles that bands such as Radiohead and to a greater extent Portishead have brilliantly incorporated into their discographies. The recording here includes an array of instrumentation that transcends a fixed category, as BJÖRK fuses electro-beats with strings and even music boxes! Having listened to this album in its entirety, as a full body of work, is what makes me appreciate what the artform of a record can be as a true sensory experience. Dreamy, melodic, ethereal and wintery are feelings this album emotes, adding that it also appears to be deeply personal and intimate through the evocative vulnerability in her lyrics. 🎧 Classic Track- Hidden Place 🎧 Hidden Gem- Harm of Will 🎧 Personal Favourite- Pagan Poetry Now BJÖRK’s voice can be an acquired taste and at times distracts from the lush sensuality of the album’s production. It will demand repeated listens to fully grasp the broad scope of intricate details and meaning, however my initial reaction was a definitive 4 rating! 🖼️ Album Artwork: Glorious 💿 Add to your vinyl collection! Click the thumbs up icon below if you enjoyed my take on the album :)

Don’t fear this art rock masterpiece! 😱🤘 As Talking Heads rank among my all-time favorite bands and Fear of Music being my most enjoyed album of their discography, I wanted to avoid any personal bias with re-listening to the album from a purely subjective vantage point….which only reaffirmed the place it holds for me as a truly remarkable artistic feat. David Byrne and co. continued to ascend the musical landscape of the late 70’s post-punk and emerging new wave scene as true pioneers, uniquely crafting a sound all their own with genre defying releases that this one further eclipsed following their terrific first efforts respectively in each of the two years prior. For those keeping score, a record a year pace that would carry through to their landmark creative output on Remain in Light (as foreshadowed on the opener here I Zimbra). Artfully reinventing groovy disco funk with elements of world music influences (afro beat), punk and experimental rock with a jarring energy that steers clear of any commercial sensibility, yielding a heightened confidence and self assured maturity in these eclectic batch of songs. 🎧 Classic Track: Life During Wartime 🎧 Deep Cut Gem: Animals 🎧 Personal Favorite: Mind The central theme of fear is the focal point of the album’s tone, conveying a nervous anxiety through Byrne’s neurotic songwriting and vocal delivery, exploring the emotional complexity of life experiences in topics such as drugs, war, the environment, animals, cities, mindfulness, death and well….music. Not a single skippable track in the bunch, each one as entertaining and memorable as the last, coming in at a breezy 40 minutes that leaves an indelible mark. 🖼️ Album Artwork: Top tier 💿 A must own for your vinyl collection! Special mention must also be had for what producer Brian Eno brought to this record, a mainstay with the band throughout their career and for good reason. The chemistry between these musicians would have them breakthrough the mainstream with their 80’s output, however by that time stylistically were becoming a bit too toned down. Fear of Music are Talking Heads at their edgiest, weirdest, coolest, quirkiest, funkiest finest hour. **I recommend having a read of the Fear of Music book (Jonathan Lethem) in the 33 1/3 series, which is a great companion piece to the album 📗** Click the thumbs up icon below if you enjoyed my take on the album :)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1001 ALBUMS- # 1 Having never listened to an entire Zeppelin album from start to finish, I was struck by the heavy dose of blues throughout this record! Wow what have I been missing all these years…There is much more to enjoy here than I would have thought, going in with a preconceived expectation of simply hearing a pure ‘classic rock’ sound. 🎧 Classic Track: Good Times Bad Times 🎧 Deep Cut Gem: Black Mountain Side 🎧 Personal Favorite: Dazed and Confused Sure there is much sampling, however isn’t that what most great artists do in some form or another? Their specific take on those specific songs was rocking to my ears and my foot was tapping all the way through. I’m looking forward to experiencing further deep cuts and hopefully a few more surprises by this legendary (indeed classic rock) band! 🖼️ Album Artwork: Iconic 💿 Worthy of adding to your vinyl collection! Click the thumbs up icon below if you enjoyed my take on the album :)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1001 ALBUMS- # 38 In Rainbows 🌈 could not be a more fitting title for how this music makes you feel, when taking the time to truly experience it…on vinyl, with great headphones, undistracted and immersed in its alluring warmth. For those that understand Radiohead well and respect their artistic musicianship (I’m quite surprised by how many don’t seem to out here) Thom Yorke and co. are always exploring innovative means to evolve their unparalleled sound regardless of how accomplished it becomes and this album is another solid example of that dedicated process. Having already released 3 landmark albums (The Bends, Ok Computer & Kid A) expanding the horizons of alt-rock with each new release (for all the shit Pablo Honey gets it really is no slouch for a debut and Hail To The Thief’s uniquely cohesive in its own right), In Rainbows was the record that nearly broke them. A new Radiohead album is a celebrated event, with it comes otherworldly expectations based on a superior discography that most groups would crumble under the pressure of. However this is no ordinary outfit. Crafting these songs of relaxed intensity and developing the album’s core intimate art rock sound texture was an arduous task for the band that took nearly three years to complete, resulting in what could be the best release in their catalogue, certainly within the genre and one of the greatest of all-time. It truly is a masterpiece of creative instrumentation, apt sensual production and mellifluous songwriting brilliance. 🎧 Classic Track: Jigsaw Falling Into Place 🎧 Deep Cut Gem: Reckoner 🎧 Personal Favorite Weird Fishes / Arpeggi 🎧 Bonus Track Highlight: Last Flowers The tracklist flows eloquently with lush heady chords, a well manicured blend of seductive guitar hooks, groovy bass lines, electronic ambiance and beautiful piano notes that are presented to your ears in a cozy-like manner. The songs are striking yet subtle, unmistakably Radiohead without sounding too familiar to previous output. Was this the band at the height of their powers, achieving another unfathomable feat of surpassing the legacy of albums that proceeded it? One could argue this is the case, however when your line-up includes not one but two genius rock composers and chemistry across the full band unrivalled by few others, there could just be another rung for them to reach beyond what has come since- King of Limbs & A Moon Shaped Pool both serving as worthy contenders, along with Yorke & Greenwood’s side project output with The Smile. The bonus companion Disk 2 also offers some excellent tracks, which sweetens the deal of this studio collection (check out the From The Basement sessions on YouTube for a real special treat from the band performing these live). 🖼️ Album Artwork: Stanley Donwood delivers as Radiohead’s greatest visual collaborator. This one is a personal top 10 of all-time and on my desert island list. The fact this incredible album was released independently with a ‘pay what you want model’ as a big 🖕to the music industry is just the icing on the cake! Hit the Thumbs Up icon below if you enjoyed my take on the album :)