Loved this. Jobim is a master and Frank Sinatra’s twist on his work (for the most part) was superb. A few didn’t hit, but this was an excellent after work unwind.
Folktronica? Sure. But this album is also very much the descendant of the corner of 120 Minutes populated by Sophie B Hawkins, The Sundays, Mazzy Star, and even Dolores O’Riordan. And like those acts, the vocals are doing the heavy lifting, so much so that on the more ethereal tracks the atmosphere fades into emptiness. Put another way, some of these tracks don’t need to be 7+ minute songs. But, either way, a great revisit of an album that is somewhere in my crate of CDs.
This is what I’m here for — classic albums that I’ve never heard before (for whatever reason). And as someone who believes that good art is well edited art (movies should, with rare exception, be no longer than 100 minutes) I am thrilled by the 35-minute run time. That’s a tightly composed album. Even Illmatic is 39 minutes! I wonder how much of that is due to the constraints of the physical product — vinyl (the main media at the time) encouraged recording shorter albums that could be pressed to one record. Whereas Orton had the luxury of CDs and their significantly longer run time. Anyhow, on to the music. Turns out I know the first two songs really well. Like they were huge. The rest of the album is an interesting conglomeration of punkish riffs, electro bleeping and upbeat pop lyrics. While it’s an enjoyable ride, if I’m being honest, I’m probably not revisiting this one any time soon. Also, totally expected “I want you to want me” to be on this album. Fact check: that song was recorded by Cheap Trick. Oh well.
Not a Dylan album that I'm familiar with, and my jaw dropped when he came out of the gate firing trap house bars like Future on March Madness (albeit in a different key). The album kinda fell uneven from there though. I’m very on the fence about his voice (and harmonicas generally) and the lyrics range from clever to snidely artsy to actually cringeworthy. Also, maybe this is Spotify’s fault, but the audio felt very flat and in the high range. No warmth or bass/mid. Probably not one I’m going to be spinning again. But I enjoyed “It’s alright ma” and “Baby Blue” (along with the intro track).
Pleasant document of the early soul sound, with blues inflection (or back when it was understood that rock was part of the blues tradition). And an interesting contrast to Dylan trying to do the same thing (sort of) to much more annoying effect. Solomon is just so much cooler. The name checks of Ray and Sam, setting out the big three of their time. That said, I think the arrangements were a little busier than I prefer with Burke. This is much more influenced by the sound of the time, whereas his later, sparser ballads is the sweet spot for me.
The good-ish times roll with the Pump it Up king. I’m already pretty familiar with this record through the singles and The Deuce, but it all coalesces nicely in album format. And it seems oddly parallel to our terrible reboot of the Reagan years. Highlights are This Year’s Girl, Lipstick Vogue and I Don’t Want to go to Chelsea.
An enjoyable morning listen, but not really anythjng there that’s going to help me distinguish between journey, Boston, rep speed wagon, or even Kansas. That said, really enjoyed Foreplay/Longtime, which I’d never heard before.
I expected to like this much more than I actually did. While I’m partial to the 1980s iteration (more Phil Collins!), my introduction to Wind and Wuthering (via Blood on the Rooftops), left me with high hopes for Selling England. But, in the end, it wasn't for me. Too quirkily 70s without some dynamic sounds or epic ballad to compensate (well, Battle of Epping Forest and After the Ordeal deserve some honorable mention). I’ll have to stick to Blood on the Rooftops.
24 Hour Party People forever! New Order is a really amazing link in the chain from disco to techno and this album was fun journey through that link. Still give a slight nod to Joy Division, but this is a good one.
I enjoyed this more than I expected. The lyricism is great and it’s an original sound. But at the end of the day this is a bit outside of my comfort zone. Found two standout tracks, both on the slower side: Let the Sad Times Roll and Cryin Time. I found the faster ones a little too countrified for my taste.
The Vampire Weeked Rosetta Stone. Thoroughly enjoyed this one over repeat listens.
I was predisposed to dislike this record because of where hip-hop was in 2000. But… 25 years later, enjoyed quite a bit.
Aggressively mid, but with some spotlight moments. Was fascinated to learn that Grohl played everything. But seems kind of stuck on neutral and in need of an editor.
Always meant to give this a spin. Interesting, but not life changing
Loved this. Jobim is a master and Frank Sinatra’s twist on his work (for the most part) was superb. A few didn’t hit, but this was an excellent after work unwind.