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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Loss

Mull Historical Society

2001

Loss
Album Summary

This album has been submitted by a user and is not included in any edition of the book.

Loss is the debut album of Scottish indie pop band Mull Historical Society. It includes the singles "Barcode Bypass", "I Tried", "Animal Cannabus" and "Watching Xanadu". The album reached number 43 in the UK album chart. It was inspired by the sudden death of his father in 1999 and his upbringing on the Isle of Mull. It contains samples from a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry and the waves on Calgary Bay in Mull. "Barcode Bypass" is about a small shopkeeper threatened by the supermarkets, and "Watching Xanadu" is about watching the film Xanadu.

Wikipedia

Rating

2.84

Votes

76

Genres

  • Indie
  • Pop
  • Electronica

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Reviews

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Jul 18 2024
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4

Fun entry, filling in some of that millenial indie stuff that the original list lacked.

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Jul 19 2024
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4

I enjoyed this. Refreshing and catchy. A bit Oasis-ish at times. Nice album cover too. 4 stars.

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Jul 19 2024
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4

I hear a lot of early Flaming Lips in here. It’s good!

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Jul 18 2024
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1

Relatively awful album, all in all. Little rhythmic or dynamic contrast means there’s not much excitement to be had in any way, and coupled with dollar-store chord progressions the whole LP feels flatter than a pancake. The vocals do nothing to build up this poor foundation, instead opting for repeating phrases that feel lazy and grate as the album goes on. The whole thing feels like a stuck gearbox with clutch caught on first gear and making an awful grinding noise, but even that would be a more interesting listen than this LP.

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Jul 18 2024
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4

Strong start, a real interesting sort of melange, though I feel like it got bogged down in the middle. Ended well though, and merits an extra point for being such a strong debut.

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Jul 19 2024
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4

Not really special. But wasn't bad too

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Jul 21 2024
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4

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Watching Xanadu, This is not who we were

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Nov 07 2024
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4

This was a nice album - some early-oughts indie pop that goes down easy. Maybe not earth shattering for me, but I did enjoy. I’m all for a song about Watching Xanadu, and I can relate to the plight of a shopkeeper threatened by supermarkets. So rounding up a bit for those.

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Nov 07 2024
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4

Lots of fun, and bonus points for a song about the movie Xanadu.

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Jul 18 2024
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3

The Society made the call to copy the studio not the beach and kept the lushest brand of pop alive into the millennium. Lyrical referents are twee and local, rounding out the record and making the package feel a bit overstuffed.

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Jul 18 2024
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3

A mix of Radiohead and Supergrass!

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Jul 18 2024
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3

Harmless enough indie. Maybe a bit gay? Has a show-tuney vibe at times, as if REM and Elton John wrote a rock opera together on a budget of instruments you could have in a bedroom studio in 2001. Which means the dog on the cover is dead by 2024, I guess. RIP dog. 3/5.

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Jul 25 2024
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3

I remember this when it came out. Heavily influenced by Beach Boys. Not too surly like other macho Brit-Pop. Barcode Bypass reminds me of Radiohead’s Fake Plastic Flowers as well as perhaps a little early Arcade Fire. Fits in well with Belle & Sebastian, Snow Patrol etc.

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Aug 18 2024
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3

This album is a little Britpop, a little jangle pop, and a little indie electropop. There are a lot of influences floating around here and it is fairly cohesive. It is a bit bland to me, but perhaps that’s because so much of what is in this album is taken for granted in today’s indie music.

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Aug 27 2024
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3

Perfectly pleasant, melodic, quirky, well-made Indie pop that's easy on the ears. I don't know how much of this I'll remember, but this was a solid listen. Fave Songs: Instead, This Is Not Who We Were, Watching Xanadu, Barcode Bypass

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Oct 21 2024
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3

Pleasant but ultimately ordinary. If you're going to go with the pop angle, you need to have something catchy, a hook, a groove. This is samey, and though easily approachable, doesn't make me very interested in anything else they might do.

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Nov 04 2024
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3

A week from now I'll have absolutely no recollection of hearing this

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Jul 18 2024
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2

This artist, despite being modern, gave me the impression that he has an influence from the fifties and sixties, his melodies are ambient, very similar to those used to set television series and movies. He didn't surprise me, but he's not bad either. 2.5 stars

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Jul 18 2024
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2

Musically this was pretty ok, but those whiny vocals really got on my nerves.

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Jul 19 2024
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2

Does the submitter know someone in the band or something?

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Aug 21 2024
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2

So damn hipster-y, actually has a song just about watching the movie "xanadu" all this would be fine if the music was enjoyable, despite being upbeat it's also boring with grating vocals 1.5

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Oct 21 2024
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2

It seems to be a concept album of sorts. Musically, there's something lacking. Not sure what it's missing. Maybe rhythm? ugh.

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Nov 02 2024
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2

I feel like this is one of those musicians where I'd love the person, but the music comes out a bit plain despite the interesting ideas and great influences. Similar to Shack or (British) Sea Power. I didn't dislike anything, but didn't get beyond "Hmm, that was quite good".

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Jul 19 2024
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1

wtf why why I don't even care about the music, if it has a cover like this its a 1 (The music sucks too I found) I am sorry

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