This is the album that got me into Radiohead, and hit me at a very formative time in the development of my music tastes, so it’s hard to say anything objectively about it. While it’s no longer in that top tier of Radiohead albums for me, I don’t think there’s a single bad song on there.
There’s a 50/50 split here between really lushly produced, catchy as hell funk and these big soulful ballads, and my personal preference leans hard towards the former. I really didn’t know much about EW&F outside of September, and because of my upbringing and the way my music taste was formed, always kind of wrote them off as corny disco guys. But over the years I’ve dipped into so much stuff that is clearly pulling from disco, funk, and soul records of the ‘70s, so I had a feeling I’d vibe with it.
Shining Star’s the clear frontrunner here and it’s hard for anything that follows to hit the same highs. It opens the album with so much energy, and I felt like that energy gradually dropped off throughout the remainder of its runtime.
Wasn’t really sure what to expect from this one, I’ve dipped into a bunch of the 2010s pop girlies before but never really gave Swift a good solid go. It’s really hitting on (and arguably key in popularising) that synthpop sound that was absolutely everywhere in the 2010s, but the version of it here feels kind of sloppy and amateurish in a lot of ways. There’s this really unpleasant, tinny sounding drum machine backing almost every song in this album, and most of the tracks outside of the big singles kind of blended together for me.
Ultimately inoffensive, but not something that I’m really tempted to revisit.
Experimental in ways good and bad. You can hear the genesis of something like prog rock in here, but it’s incredibly unfocused and doesn’t really cohere as an album. Way too many cases of them just kind of noodling on their instruments to seemingly no real end, some deeply cheesy vocals even by the standard of the time. Glad I got to listen to this one and kind of fill out some music history, but probably not one I’m coming back to.
There’s a few real standout tracks on this album (A Day At the Races is a personal fave) and the whole thing has an infectious, fun energy to it, but there’s also way too much chaff that they should have really cut. There’s a 30-40 minute version of this album you could do that’s so much tighter.
It feels a bit formulaic, but it’s a formula I like so I can’t be too down on it.
Solidly really enjoyable. I don’t have a ton to say about this one, it’s just a nice vibe, some really solid production and a fun fusion of traditional Senegalese music with those sweet ‘80s synths. Always fun to find an album I’d never have heard of outside of this project.
This was a fave back in the day, and while the years have taken a bit of the shine off it, I still really enjoyed the chance to revisit it. “Zero” and “Heads Will Roll” are the clear standouts, and hew closest to the band’s dance punk roots, but I do really like the more low key back half of the album.
I was a little cold on this one on the first listen, but it’s really grown on me with the second. It’s a very low key, atmospheric record that you can just kind of soak in.
I liked this a bunch! I’ve seen Kiwanuka’s name floating around before so it’s nice to know what the deal is. Between yesterday’s pick and a bit of extracurricular Broken Bells listening, you do really learn to pick up when Danger Mouse is in the building.
Really liked the blend of genres on this one, and he’s got a really great voice. “Hero” was probably the standout track for me.
Catchy class conscious britpop, what more could I want?
