Now, I may not be fully objective here as I have a vested interest in this man and all he has done for blues music. He truly is one of the best musicians ever, and I cannot believe I did not see him at Byron Bay Blues festival in 2011. I should've had better music taste at 9 years old.
This all being said, it is not my favourite album of his. The blues/jazz cross-over becomes conflicting for my ears when it starts sounding like a holiday Christmas album. The live element is fun, and the energy is palpable. I don't think the audience at The Regal in 1965 fully understood how good they had it. All I can get in Brisbane is lacklustre punk band with smelly dudes in their late 20s playing at 7pm on a Friday night at Tomcat.
Still an awesome album. As it often goes with blues, some songs feel repetitive, some lyrics a bit too whiny. Like, in It's My Own Fault, the song goes on and on about how he did not treat her right: 'She used to make her own paychecks and bring them all home to me' I would go out and cheat on her blah blah blah. I love this theme in blues music. Men wallowing about how shit they are but then continue to drink and drown in their own self-pity.
How blue can you be is probably my favourite song. Unbelievably raw and gutteral. His voice is so beautiful. Midway through the album it reminded me of why I love the blues so much, despite its sometimes rudimentary chord progressions, it truly is one of the most interesting, and historically significant genres.
Thank you B.B.
Upon first glance, I did not expect much from this album. I think hearing Ms. Jackson and So Fresh so many times over the course of my life has desensitised me to not think of much when I hear the name 'OutKast'.
Listening to Stankonia epitomises the reason I like this website. I had the opportunity to really discover an artist who I had not really given a chance before. Like the name, the album is a portmanteau of andre's avant guard experimental style and big boi's ability to bring it back with streetwise lyrics. The interludes made me laugh and were wonderfully well thought out. It really feels like it was meant to be released in 2000. It also really is a proper album. Not everyone enjoyed it and picked out the hits. But listening top to bottom, this album is a fucking piece of art.
Nick Drake is beautiful. Always.
It is not my favourite album though. We all know that his acoustic prowess is astounding with an understanding of counterpoint that let his fingers produce their own mini orchestra from 6 strings. And yet, they decided to overpower this with a bunch of other stuff. I think he gave in to the common idea that his first album should be enormous with as much sound as possible! String sections! Conga players! Five Leaves Left is an unnecessarily overstuffed treasure chest. But this is not his fault! It feels like the music is crowding a sensitive soul who really did not know yet how to say no (me too king). Compare this with Pink Moon. Now that is an album that shows all of the beauty of Drake in its purest form :)
Highlights are Saturday Sun ALWAYS and 'Cello Song.
Miss u Nick
Despite being an opening album track, my introduction to the first song on this album was when it was used to close out a movie. A film that, despite its international acclaim and awesome director, left me perturbed and uncomfortable. If I wanted to watch an old white man be racist and attracted to a woman way younger than him for 1h 41minutes, I might as well just go to Japan. Virgin Suicides is way more up my alley, don't read into that.
BUT ANYWAY. This is not a film review. This is an album review.
As a lover of shoe gaze since I was a pretentious 16-year-old, hearing this album for the first time all the way through, I can definitely see why people say they were pioneers. Especially because this album was released in 1985 and they were friends with the likes of Cocteau Twins and Slowdive. The guitar effects are awesome. Sweet melodies and distorted noises. I can now see why Sofia used them in her movie :) Seriously awesome that these Scottish brothers figured out how to make feedback, gave their drummer only two drums-- a floor tom and a snare, sang lyrics drenched in the selfish, mostly monosyllabic vocabulary of rock’n’roll, and somehow didn't sound like dickheads? Like the music is all so pretty and vulnerable.
So yeah, 5/5. This shit rocks.
JMAC supremacy.
Get Innocuous!
Feel like I am an in an underground discotheque rave. Love any sound bites with cheerleader-like expressions. 'You can normalise!' yes! thank you ladies! Yes I can! A useful daily affirmation to quash any autism present in my body. Odd though that the outcome then is to 'get innocuous'.
Wait is this an anti-autism anthem.
Time to get away: Ok. A certified banger. But nothing compared to the 4-track dream run that proceeds it. I like the good old 'omg it is so hard to be a musician' sentiment, but nothing groundbreaking.
North American scum: YES. Amazing beat that only gets better with the bass (as most songs do lol) and makes me bop my head like a fucking pigeon. If writing these reviews to impress a boy was not pick me enough, I could add fuel to the fire by going to a house party, playing this song and dancing on the dining room table like Kat Stratford. Also reminds me a lot of 'Daft Punk is Playing in my House'... one of my favourite LCD songs.
Someone great: It's a Talking Heads revival and I am loving it.
All My Friends: My favourite song on the album, though arguably this love is fuelled by nostalgia. You know what that means! Get ready for more diabolically cringe pick me behaviour. Between Baba O'Reilly, Bittersweet Symphony, and this, getting from A to B in the first year of getting my red Ps was fun as fuck and made me feel really cool.
Us vs. them: Here you have a distillation of all things LCD Soundsystem. The layering of sounds is insane and makes me want to boogie. The cow bell-like instrumentals make me want to shake what my mother gave me (nothing). Rattle them bones sister!
Watch The Tapes: bass bass bass bass, nothing else to note.
Sound of Silver: Title track kind of gets lost amongst the greats in way. Far more instrumental which I quite like. I was on the fence about whether I wanted to purchase this album on vinyl, but this swayed me. Would be lovely to have on in the background while I puzzle. What is even better is you are then met with a complete energy change as subito the album moves to 'New York I Love You'.
Overall, 5/5. This shit rocks.
Highlight: North American Scum, All My Friends, Us vs. Them
Look. I am not completely against Britpop as a genre. However, going into this album thinking it was British punk put it at a serious disadvantage in terms of my initial perception first listen. Not to sound like a passe baby boomer, but it felt quite teenybopper. Reminded me of the Beatles/Monkees. Actually, my favourite parts were when it felt more like the Stones.
Like most Britpop at the time, I think this album looks to encapsulate the 'voice of the youth'. I was going to argue that Supergrass did a pretty good job of this because they were teenagers at the time, but this time I actually researched before I opened my big mouth. And guess what! I was wrong. Only frontman Gaz Coombs was an adolescent when the album was recorded, the others in their early to mid 20s. But who cares really, I mean, the relation between maturity and age is not statistically significant, and maturity isn’t an all-or-nothing kind of thing. I know people in their middle age with the maturity of a child who cannot take accountability for spilling a glass of milk, and people my age with almost too much emotional intelligence.
I Should Coco contains songs that celebrate being an independent, free young person, as well as songs designed to please their mums. Supergrass quite comfortably push and pull between trying to separate themselves from the dominant sound and finding comfort in its normality. There are times they get too mawkish for my tastes, and there are times they kick ass with confident command.
If I were to place them under the larger umbrella of Britpop, the band did well to capture the ebullience of the cheerful years of youth, but, compared to Blur or Pulp, did little to really make a mark in the area of socio-cultural reflection.
I wish I could give this a 3.5, because 3 feels too harsh for such an important piece of music. However, I really do treat this website as a convoy for my personal opinion.
In this review I really cannot critique by forming my analysis from an objective, empirical baseline. This of course is the way I should construct any argument, but frankly, imma be like an apocalyptic Christian and construct a belief system that protects it from any empirical refutation.
I just really do not like how it is produced in multiple sections. It hurts my ears, and I struggle to find meaning in the mess as times.
That being said, beauty and the beast is epic, and I like V2-Schneider (because its a cleaner instrumental track). From my choices you can probably also tell I am in my luteal phase and really only want to hear sweet boppy tunes.
May have to do a rescore/rewrite next week.
Why does it feel like I am listening to beat poetry in a dive bar in San Francisco.
unimaginative. i cannot be assed writing a whole review. in my opinion 'pop punk' will never be a genre, it makes no sense.
no one is good enough for this album. it is literally better than all of us. it is the first time I have listened to an album thrice before reviewing it; each time excited to hear the songs and unpack another layer of sound the band has thought to include with discretion. the lyrics are sophisticated and make me want to cry. my chest tightens and my heart is filled. 'Ashes of American flags' is more relevant now than ever with lyrics like 'Speaking of tomorrow, how will it ever come? All my lies are always wishes. I know I would die if I could come back new.' It is noisy, but serenity exists alongside it.
This album is simply a masterpiece. It sounds good through so many different mediums, the car radio, through headphones, household speakers. I have never been to a Wilco concert, but I can imagine the fan base being diverse. This music can find a home in the collections of anyone. From empty minded frat boys to pretentious record store employees, like I said, no one is better than this album, and no one is good enough for this album.
5/5
Highlights: I'm the Man Who Loves You, Pot Kettle Black and Reservations
man this would've BANGED at woodstock '69.
This album is Awesome with a capital A. the album is not polished, and there is an element of formlessness in all of the songs, and it works well. Not be because it is overly complex, but because it is wonderfully simple in a way. Sly put on a show, but they are not showmen. There is no attempt at sophistication. they are all super competent musicians, but the music is not about showing off how well they can play them, it is about making people move. and more importantly, this entire album tells of the ways things should be, and how we should act, and be one.
this album ain't for perfectionists, it is for anyone who enjoys moving to music created by people telling you what they think, whether you wanna hear it that way or not.
my favourite songs are: sing a simple song, sex machine, and i want to take you higher
5/5
An integral part of any Australian teenager's music mix. What a beautiful album. Full of humanity and layering of pleasant sounds, a blessing for the ears and soul. A complicated, restless, slightly neurotic band leader meant this album is the product of a year-long, gruelling process of recording, revising and scrapping. But man does it pay off. I think it is the band's most lustrous, intricately detailed and beautifully rendered record to date.
This is an album that reminds me to invest in good headphones. Older albums are remastered and reformed to be perfectly registered in a portable device. This album does not need any revisions; it is utterly perfect.
