Crispian's Album Reviews

Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues

2011-05-11T16:20:00.008+01:00

All too often a critically acclaimed, platinum selling debut album deviously entices its creators into an overly ambitious follow-up that despite consuming a far greater budget and timeframe falls somewhat short of its predecessor.

Fleet Foxes’ much anticipated second album is indeed more ambitious than its critically acclaimed, platinum selling predecessor. It has, no doubt, been completed on a far greater budget, and although finally recorded relatively quickly, nonetheless had a generous gestation period. This begs the inevitable question, have Fleet Foxes managed to retain the captivating charm of their debut masterpiece in the midst of the inevitable distractions enabled by its ensuing commercial success?

Montezuma opens the new album and picks up pretty much where the band left off in 2008, cautiously adhering to their proven formula of ornate choral harmonies overlaying tranquil acoustic folk. Bedouin Dress adds some richer flavours to the established recipe with a middle-eastern infused fiddle and subtle mandolin undertones.

The title track itself showcases the stylishly matured lyrics that, when taken across the whole album, invoke the mystical that so neatly accompanies the bands persona and melodies, yet astutely manages to retain an incredulous sense of veracity and non-deluded awe.

The Cascades occupies the centre of the album and provides a short instrumental interlude with intricate layered guitars reminiscent of a Mike Oldfield segue.

The Shrine / An Argument at just over eight minutes is a mini epic that kicks off with the familiar acoustic picking and Robin Pecknold’s sumptuous vocals that so enthralled on the inaugural album. The six piece outfit build up a head of steam in the middle section before the stage is cleared to allow Robin to get overly precious about his green apples. Scrumping presumably deterred, the piece breaks into a free jazz cacophony invoking the recently departed spirit of Beefheart before gently winding down with the assistance of some honeyed strings.

So all in all in seems as though Fleet Foxes have pulled off the tricky task of following up on their initial success by appropriately employing the natural process of evolution. But its gradualism, not punctuated equilibrium that has set up a sumptuous second success that should bring beardy weirdy baroque pop back to its highest level of credibility since its sixties heyday.

Crispian’s Best Albums of 2010

2010-12-29T12:49:00.046Z

It appears as though I haven’t written a single bloody album review all year. Personally, I blame my other blog which has taken up the majority of my spare time under my comfortable delusion that I was getting somewhere with it.

But despite not making the time to review my favourite albums from 2010, I have nonetheless still been buying and listening to a lot of new stuff this year. I have therefore sorted my iTunes library by year and creamed off my top 40 from 2010.

Feel free to disagree, but I'm pretty sure that I am in fact right…

40:
Duffy
Endlessly

39:
Jeff Beck
Emotion and Commotion

38:
The Hoosiers
The Illusion Of Safety

37:
The Script
Science and Faith

36:
Teenage Fanclub
Shadows

35:
Kings of Leon
Come Around Sundown

34:
Gorillaz
Plastic Beach

33:
Robert Plant
Band of Joy

32:
Eels
Tomorrow Morning

31:
MGMT
Congratulations

30:
Richard Thompson
Dream Attic

29:
Iron Maiden
The Final Frontier

28:
The National
High Violet

27:
Deer Hunter
Halcyon Digest

26:
Cyndi Lauper
Memphis Blues

25:
Sleigh Bells
Treats

24:
Leonard Cohen
Songs from the Road

23:
The Album Leaf
A Chorus of Storytellers

22:
Black Mountain
Wilderness Heart

21:
The Sudden Passion
Central Standard Time

20:
The Orb (featuring David Gilmour)
Metallic Spheres

19:
Peter Gabriel
Scratch My Back

18:
Edwyn Collins
Losing Sleep

17:
Joe Satriani
Black Swans

16:
Joe Bonamassa
Black Rock

15:
Plan B
The Defamation of Strickland Banks

14:
John Grant
The Queen of Denmark

13:
The Greenhornes
****

12:
Midlake
The Courage of Others

11:
K. T. Tunstall
Tiger Suit

10:
The Jim Jones Revue
Burning Your House Down

9:
Guitar Shorty
Bare Knuckle

8:
Paul Weller
Wake Up The Nation

7:
The Dead Weather
Sea Of Cowards

6:
Neil Young
Le Noise

5:
Bad Religion
The Dissent of Man

4:
Kula Shaker
Pilgrims Progress

3:
Grinderman
Grinderman 2

2:
The Black Keys
Brothers

1:
The Arcade Fire
The Suburbs

Top 100 Albums of the Noughties

2009-12-22T09:39:00.160Z

After careful consideration, I have decided that these are the 100 best albums of the noughties.

100. The Killers:
Hot Fuss
2004

99. Alabama 3:
La Peste
2000

98. Iron Maiden:
A Matter of Life and Death
2006

97. Motörhead:
Kiss Of Death
2006

96. Beck:
Modern Guilt
2008

95. Gorillaz:
Gorillaz
2001

94. Goldfrapp:
Felt Mountain
2000

93. Razorlight:
Up All Night
2004

92. The Zutons:
Tired of Hanging Around
2006

91. Eminem:
The Marshall Mather LP
2000

90. Blur:
Think Tank
2003

89. AC/DC:
Black Ice
2008

88. Kings Of Leon:
Youth & Young Manhood
2003

87. Lily Allen:
Alright Still
2007

86. The Black Keys:
Thickfreakness
2003

85. The Arcade Fire:
Neon Bible
2007

84. Roger Waters:
Ca Ira
2005

83. Norah Jones:
Come Away With Me
2002

82. AC/DC:
Stiff Upper Lip
2000

81. Kula Shaker:
Strangefolk
2007

80. Coldplay:
Parachutes
2000

79. Bert Jansch:
The Black Swan
2006

78. George Harrison:
Brainwashed
2002

77. Greydon Square:
The Compton Effect
2008

76. Gorillaz:
Demon Days
2005

75. Kate Bush:
Aerial
2005

74. Black Mountain:
In The Future
2008

73. The Good, The Bad & The Queen:
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
2007

72. Iron Maiden:
Dance of Death
2003

71. Radiohead:
Amnesiac
2001

70. The Flaming Lips:
Yoshi Battles The Pink Robots
2002

69. R.E.M.:
Accelerate
2008

68. Bob Dylan:
Love & Theft
2001

67. Paul Weller:
As Is Now
2005

66. Arctic Monkeys:
Whatever People Say I Am I’m Not
2006

65. Bob Dylan:
Modern Times
2008

64. Duffy:
Rockferry
2008

63. Queens of the Stone Age:
Songs for the Deaf
2002

62. The Strokes:
Is This It
2001

61. The Low Anthem:
Oh My God Charlie Darwin
2009

60. Robert Plant & The Strange Sensation:
Mighty Rearranger
2005

59. Radiohead:
Kid A
2000

58. Muse:
Origin of Symmetry
2001

57. Elliott Smith:
Figure 8
2000

56. The Jeevas:
Cowboys and Indians
2003

55. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds:
Dig Lazarus Dig!
2008

54. Tool:
Lateralus
2001

53. Kings Of Leon:
Only By The Night
2008

52. Kings Of Leon:
Because of the Times
2007

51. The Libertines:
The Libertines
2004

50. Don Cavalli:
Cryland
2008

49. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss:
Raising Sand
2007

48. My Morning Jacket:
Z
2005

47. TV On The Radio:
Dear Science
2008

46. Muse:
Absolution
2003

45. Eels:
Hombre Lobo
2009

44. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds:
No More Shall We Part
2001

43. The White Stripes:
De Stijl
2000

42. The Arcade Fire:
Funeral
2004

41. Joe Bonamassa:
The Ballad of John Henry
2009

40. Wilco:
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2002

39. The Black Keys:
Attack and Release
2008

38. Jarvis Cocker:
Further Complications
2009

37. Bon Iver:
For Emma Forever Ago
2008

36. Libertines:
Up The Bracket
2002

35. Kasabian:
Kasabian
2004

34. Roger Waters:
In The Flesh
2002

33. The Waterboys:
Book Of Lightning
2007

32. Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes:
Live At The Greek
2000

31. Them Crooked Vultures:
Them Crooked Vultures
2009

30. The Dead Weather:
Horehound
2009

29. PJ Harvey & John Parish:
A Woman, A Man Walked By
2009

28. Kasabian:
Empire
2006

27. The Beatles:
Love
2006

26. Pink Floyd:
Is There Anybody Out There?
2000

25. Kasabian:
West Ryder Lunatic Asylum
2009

24. JJ72:
JJ72
2000

23. Franz Ferdinand:
Franz Ferdinand
2004

22. Geldof:
Sex, Age & Death
2001

21. The Decemberists:
Picaresque
2005

20. David Gilmour:
Live in Gdansk
2008

19. The Zutons:
Who Killed The Zutons
2004

18. Grinderman:
Grinderman
2007

17. Patti Smith:
Twelve
2007

16. The White Stripes:
White Blood Cells
2001

15. The Decemberists:
The Crane Wife
2006

14. David Gilmour:
On An Island
2006

13. Kaiser Chiefs:
Employment
2005

12. Turin Brakes:
The Optimist LP
2001

11. Leonard Cohen:
Live in London
2009

10. Neil Young:
Chrome Dreams
2007

9. Led Zeppelin:
How The West Was Won
2003

8. Tom McCrae:
Tom McCrae
2000

7. The Raconteurs:
Broken Boy Soldiers
2006

6. Fleet Foxes:
Fleet Foxes
2008

5. PJ Harvey:
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
2000

4. The Decemberists:
The Hazards of Love
2009

3. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds:
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus
2004

2. The White Stripes:
Elephant
2003

1. The Raconteurs:
Consolers of the Lonely
2008

The Best Album’s of 2009

2009-12-06T13:48:00.127Z

To continue my annual tradition of listing my favourite albums of the year, here is my pick of top 50 albums from 2009. Click on the album names for my full album reviews:

50. Echo & The Bunnymen:
The Fountain

49. Bob Dylan:
Together Through Life

48. Official Secrets Act:
Understanding Electricity

47. Gomez:
A New Tide

46. Neko Case:
Middle Cyclone

45. Bat For Lashes:
Two Suns

44. White Lies:
To Loose My Life

43. Starsailor:
All the Plans

42. Animal Collective:
Merriweather Post Pavilion

41. The Prodigy:
Invaders Must Die

40. Ian Brown:
My Way

39. Porcupine Tree:
The Incident

38. The Flaming Lips:
Embryonic

37. Madeleine Peyroux:
Bare Bones

36. Mastodon:
Crack The Skye

35. Florence and the Machine:
Lungs

34. Doves:
Kingdoms of Rust

33. Yeah Yeah Yeahs:
Its Blitz

32. U2:
No Line on the Horizon

31. Brett Anderson:
Slow Attack

30. Yoko Ono / Plastic Ono Band:
Between My Head and the Sky

29. Seasick Steve:
Man from Another Time

28. Lily Allen:
It's Not Me, It's You

27. Neil Young:
Fork in the Road

26. Chickenfoot:
Chickenfoot

25. The XX:
The XX

24. Black Crowes:
Before The Frost

23. Röyksopp:
Junior

22. Muse:
The Resistance

21. Antony & The Johnsons:
The Crying Light

20: The Horrors:
Primary Colours

19. Andrew Bird:
Noble Beast

18. Editors:
In This Light and Of This Evening

17. Bill Callahan:
Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle

16. The Kittiwakes:
Lofoten Calling

15. Pearl Jam:
Backspacer

14. Madness:
The Liberty Of Norton Folgate

13. Arctic Monkeys:
Humbug

12. The Low Anthem:
Oh My God, Charlie Darwin

11. Them Crooked Vultures:
Them Crooked Vultures

10. Franz Ferdinand:
Tonight

9. Eels:
Hombre Lobo

8. Wolfmother:
Cosmic Egg

7. The Dead Weather:
Horehound

6. Kasabian:
West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

5. Joe Bonamassa:
The Ballad of John Henry

4. Jarvis Cocker:
Further Complications

3. PJ Harvey & John Parish:
A Woman A Man Walked By

2. Leonard Cohen:
Live In London

1. The Decemberists:
The Hazards of Love

And here’s a video countdown I compiled of my top 10 albums:

Although I do buy quite a lot of albums, there’s always stuff I miss, so please send me any glaring omissions so I can check them out. Also this year is the end of the decade as well, hence I’ve published my top albums of the year early and will be publishing a top 100 albums of the decade before the end of the year.

And finally, here’s a few links to previous years top albums:
2008, 2007, 2006

The Horrors: Primary Colours

2009-12-05T16:30:00.002Z

After a harsh and edgy garage rock debut, The Horrors have taken stock and, no doubt aided by Portishead producer Geoff Barrow, re-emerged with a far more polished and elegant follow up. The raw arty originality of the their debut is perhaps the only element retained in this fresh blossoming of sophisticated psychedelia.

Florence & The Machine: Lungs

2009-12-05T15:53:00.001Z

Every year the media seem to select an upcoming artist, and focus all the promotional effort and hype equipment on that one act. Florence Leontine Mary Welch and her accomplished machine seem to be this years fairly worthy benefactors.

Despite being a fairly modern upbeat poppy album, there’s a bit of a dark, sometimes disturbing and almost gothic thread running through the piece.

For example the well jolly little domestic violence ditty, “Kiss With A Fist” is entertaining and is hopefully tongue-in-cheek enough to ensure its message is not misconstrued.

The Low Anthem: Oh My God, Charlie Darwin

2009-12-05T14:21:00.002Z

What a brilliant album title, how could I not get myself a copy? The Low Anthem are an American alternative rock/folk combo with founding members Ben Knox Miller and Jeff Prystowsky now augmented with classical composer Jocie Adams, (A NASA technician no less).

So is there much beyond a quirky album name. Oh yes indeed. OMGCD is released on the Bella Union label (the home of Fleet Foxes), and there are many comparisons that can be drawn between the two bands.

There’s plenty of variety within the album from the sepia toned gentle folk of “To Ohio”, the stomping blues of “Home I’ll Never Be” the country romp of the title track, the harmonic, almost, Simon & Garfunkel vocals of “Cage the Songbird” and the atmospheric brilliance of “To The Ghosts Who Write History Books”.

OMGCD has tinges of Dylan and Cohen and is modern Americana at its finest.

Mastodon: Crack In the Skye

2009-12-04T14:17:00.001Z

It appears that by buggering about with Greek mythology, silly spiritualism and dodgy physics Mastodon have created a nice little metallic yarn of astral projections, wormholes and spiritual channelling.

The music itself is heavier than a sack of anvils with lustrous guitar solos leaning much more on Metallica than the heady earlier days of metal. Not really a genre I know extensively, but this certainly seems to be the cream of this particular genus.

Brett Anderson: Slow Attack

2009-12-04T14:16:00.003Z

As with last year’s enchanting “Wilderness”, the pop hooks and sleek guitar solos of Andersons Suede days are shelved in favour of more pastoral piano and cello pieces with slight orchestration. Anderson’s instantly recognisable voice fits beautifully with this delicate chamber pop and songs like “The Hunted” and “Julian’s Eyes” perfectly demonstrate how successful it can be. However, for me, the album as a whole falls slightly short of its predecessor.

Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band: Between My Head and the Sky

2009-11-29T13:31:00.002Z

Ono’s weird and unsettling music that may once have alienated here from many mainstream pop fans is what fascinates and entertains on her new album.

“Between My Head and the Sky” is the first album to be released under the Plastic Ono Band moniker since “Feeling the Space” back in 1973, and features, amongst others, Sean Lennon.

Fearless experimental jazz, 60’s psychedelia and modern techno fuse in a bold and challenging piece that my daughter hates, but I rather like.

The XX: The XX

2009-11-29T11:57:00.002Z

An intriguing debut from this London 3-piece. I was going to say 4-piece, but one of them is knackered already and gone for quick lie down. Bless.

The crisp clean repetitive and swirly guitars give a sort of early Cure or minimal Goth flavour enhanced by the seductive boy-girl lead vocal thing.

I like it.

Porcupine Tree: The Incident

2009-11-28T16:10:00.002Z

Following the Prog Rock path to success is a long old road these days. Porcupine Tree have indefatigably toiled away since the early 90’s producing a string of consistently good albums and have very gradually and slowly established a sizable fan base.

Although I pine slightly for their early albums of cheeky floydish psychedelia, the rockier and more seriousness of recent albums seems to be wining them through.

The incident builds once again on the success of its predecessor with lengthy compositions interspersed heavy riff-age, gentle acoustic strum-age, and (to continue to invent my own lexicon), delicate piano-age, with of course a healthy dose of moody aural soundscapes.

Madness: The Liberty of Norton Folgate

2009-11-28T15:44:00.000Z

Now that Chas and Dave have hung up their trilbies, Madness are cashing in on their Camden roots with a corking cockney classic.

I always saw Madness as masters of the 3-minute singles charts, but was a little more weary of their album output. Especially after such a long break, there’s always a worry of a reformation in order to bolster the pension fund. However, don’t be put off by such notions, this is a genuine classic Madness album.

The Liberty of Norton Folgate takes you around the streets of London on a musical journey with plenty of evidence of the old nutty-ness mixed in with musical and lyrical maturity.

A genuine and extremely pleasant surprise.

Röyksopp: Junior

2009-11-28T15:27:00.002Z

Röyksopp are a brace of modern upbeat, Jean Michelle Jarre’s and their 3rd studio release provides a rather satisfactory aural happy slapping compared to my habitual dour preferences.

The Norwegian duo seems to have picked up the baton from French duo Air, whose 1998 breakthrough “Moon Safari” set the standard for this sub genre of modern electronica.

Them Crooked Vultures: Them Crooked Vultures

2009-11-27T11:51:00.003Z

WTF, A supergroup that actually exceeds the sum of its constituent parts. And as those constituent parts include the greatest rock bassist from the greatest rock band, ever, that’s no light statement.

Work on TGV has been a fairly covert affair with Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) beavering away for much of the year under the radar. And with Jonsey on this sort of form, Planty should be feeling suitably embarrassed for not wanting to come and play with his old mates.

“New Fang” has a vivacious beat that could cause you to hop around the lounge like Mr Spigott at a Tarzan audition.

“Scumbag Blues” has a Cream-like guitar and vocal introducing a sort of “Trampled Under Foot” clavinet funk that occasionally threatens to turn into the theme tune to Mission Impossible before squealing guitars steer things back on track.

Top track for me though is “Gunman” with its super solid bass-lines, last heard on Jonsey’s 2 solo albums at the start of the noughties.

I seem to have focused rather more on John Paul Jones’ bass parts than the other two contributors. Did I never mention that I’m a massive Zeppelin fan?

Mark Knopfler: Get Lucky

2009-11-25T13:11:00.001Z

In terms of quantity, Knopfler’s solo output has now eclipsed his Dire Straits output. However, I don’t think many would be so quick to make the same claim for quality. It is perhaps unfair to compare Knopfler’s solo albums with his Dire Straits albums, they are essentially separate beasts, and to his credit, Knopfler has explored some different and often interesting avenues when not shackled to Dire Straits. However, in the case of Panic Crew, it seems to me that Knopfler has at times strayed into a Celtic-folk cul-de-sac.

It’s not that I’m just pinning for the rockier riffs and guitar solos of the old days, I have in fact enjoyed many of the slower more subtle pieces on his solo albums. Especially when he’s sniffing around that American Blues sound, and indeed there are some tracks on this album, such as “You Can’t Beat The House” where I am happily reminded of it.

Echo & The Bunnymen: The Fountain

2009-11-25T12:38:00.001Z

Ever since Rick from the Young Ones addressed his letter of complaint to the lead singer of Echo and the Bunnymen, I’ve been a fan of Ian McCulloch and his merry band of Scouse rabiteers.

However, if you’ve yet to buy an Echo and the Bunnymen album (and you really should), this is not the place to start. The album is instantly recognizable as an Echo album, but it’s a completely uninspiring set of mediocre songs covered in a dull coat of Coldplay production.

The lyrical puns embed in “Shroud of Turin” are so cringing it makes the song hard to listen to. Things do however pick up on the upbeat “Proxy” and the contemplative “Idolness of Gods” that closes the album

A great band sadly treading water.

The Editors: In This Light and On This Evening

2009-11-24T17:25:00.002Z

I must confess to making the mistake of prejudging this album. I was expecting the well worked out commercially successful, but often bland indie rock standard formula to be adhered in order to maximise sales. I am however delighted to hear that this album has far more interest and originality than I anticipated.

Despite the vocals on many tracks sounding rather like a cross between Gene Pitney and Vic Reeves’ pub singer, I have to confess that this is a most agreeable album.

Although, it might be an idea to listen to the tracks in reverse order, as I reckon the tracks at the arse end of the album out shine the openers. In fact, better still, start off with, “Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool” as its wobbly bouncing rhythm and sing-a-long chorus should certainly engage your enthusiasm.

The Flaming Lips: Embryonic

2009-11-24T13:30:00.006Z

Weird avant-garde music often requires you to put in a lot of hard groundwork, listening multiple times before the free form cacophony comes into focus. I frequently give up before I reach the fourth bobo of avant-garde musical enlightenment. However if you an persevere, once you’ve achieved this higher astral musical plane it is possible to exclusivley and meaningfully converse with ones fellow musical aficionados and sneer at the musically unenlightened rather like Dicky Dawkins poking out a bit of Christian from the tread of his shoe.

Actually, Embryonic isn’t really that hard work to get into. It is also quite early Floydian in places, which as far as I’m concerned, is a good thing.

Arctic Monkeys: Humbug

2009-11-23T13:12:00.007Z

Admitedly a lot of pop culture passes me by unseen. However, even I couldn’t help notice the fanfare accompanying the release of the first two Arctic Monkeys albums. I was therefore fairly surprised when perusing the Amazon web site for some new audio delights, that there was in fact a third Arctic Monkeys album available that I was previously unaware of.

The distinctive thick bass and modern crisp and edgy guitars of Humbug’s brace of predesors are certainly still in evidence on this third offering, but it seems as though Alex Turner has also retained some of the suave 60’s sophistication of last year’s “Last Shadow Puppets” album.

I always enjoy a few good euphemisms in my lyrics, so I was of course delighted with album opener “My Propeller” which is basically a simple ode to Alex’s cock. The album lyrics in general though reflect the change in lifestyle that the success of the first two albums has afforded the band. The sharp working class humour has thankfully not been lost but reflects the circles that the band now move in.

So I’m not sure if there was less hype or if I jussed missed it, but either way the content is well worthwhile.

Try and seek out a copy with the Japanese bonus track, a nice cover of Nice Cave’s Red Right Hand.

Recommended.

Paramore: Brand New Eyes

2009-11-23T13:10:00.002Z

In previews reviews I’ve waxed lyrical about albums that I’ve bought blind, and then been delighted to discover a great new band. Well I took a punt on this album with that in mind, but sadly it didn’t pay off on this occasion.

Prefab Sprout: Let’s Change The World With Music

2009-11-23T13:05:00.005Z

Perhaps it’s because I haven’t listened to any Prefab Sprout since the 80’s, but this album has a very strong 80’s essence. Apart from a couple of exceptions, Paddy McAloon doesn’t seem to have done an awful lot since the 80’s either, and this new album of dated material (mainly composed of “lost” stuff from 1993) has certainly not been remixed for a new 21st century audience.

Actually I was never really much of fan of Prefab Sprout in the 80’s to start with. If it wasn’t for the fact that they came from a nearby village to where I lived at the time in Durham, I probably wouldn’t have bothered. But this finally completed new set of songs has received much critical success so it would be rude not to give it a go.

The album is a concept covering the largest and most profound topics. The opening track starts off with the Big Bang and the topic of religion is frequently pondered throughout the album. “Ride” kicks off with a funky bass-line that could have accompanied an Art of Noise hit. But most of the album is a more sedate affair with tracks like “I Love Music”, which has a sort of 80’s, Jazzy, Broadway, Christmassy sort of thing going on, which I find quite agreeable.

Seasick Steve: Man From Another Time

2009-11-21T10:33:00.004Z

More deft picking, sliding and stomping seems to be the only 3 ingredients needed to maintain his unique blues sound. As a big fan of last years , I Started Out With Nothing and Still Got Most Of It Left, I was delighted to hear a whole bunch more of the same.

Steve Wold sticks with his distinctive rough working class American blues that served him so well on last years breakthrough album and fascinated all those like me watching his rise to stardom courtesy of Mr Jools Holland.

The album kicks off with “Diddley Bo” played on, yes, you’ve guessed it, his one stringed Diddley Bow. A simple construction made from a wire a broom and a couple of cans with an output that defies its basic design.

“Big Green and Yeller” is a song that resonates well with me. As my dad worked for Cornwall Farmers and many of my school friends where farmers son’s, I frequently argued the superiority of a good John Deere over a Massey Ferguson, David Brown or Ford.

The Kittiwakes: Lofoten Calling

2009-11-14T12:47:00.005Z

Lofoten Calling is a rich album of folklore and myth inspired by the Lofoten Islands above the Arctic Circle in Norway.

The Kittiwakes are a highly talented trio of musicians comprising of Kate Denny: vocals, violin, Jill Cumberbatch: violin, mandolin, octave mandola, guitar, vocals and Chris Harrison: piano, accordion, piano and vocals.

The title track however sees the Kittiwakes setting their instruments aside for a sublime and powerful harmonic performance. The mixture of solo vocals and beautiful and mesmerising harmonies paint a mystical picture of bleak haunting landscapes complete with soaring eagles and distant whale-song.

The album opens with Maelstrom, an accordion lead shanty based around local folklore and Edgar Allen Poe’s “A Decent Into the Maelstrom”. Denny’s captivating vocals create a power musical meme that is frequently stuck in my brain.

Perhaps my favourite track from the album is “Lynx”. It’s opening fiddling riff gives way to an elegant acoustic guitar and the tale of the Lynx searching for the path down to the salt salt sea. As the Lynx eventually finds the shore and places his paw in the sea the song fades with a beautiful piano outro. An interesting album footnote explains how the Norse name for the islands comes from their shape resembling a lynx footprint.

A wonderful, beautiful debut combing Nordic and British folk influences.

Wolfmother: Cosmic Egg

2009-11-14T11:43:00.007Z

If like me, you respect the Sabbath, you may want to wrap your lugholes around the second studio offering from the Lupine Mater.

Like the early 70’s metallic giants they successfully ape, Wolfmother have already undergone a major line-up change, citing the classic "irreconcilable differences” for a reshuffle that simply retained guitarist and vocalist Andrew Stockdale.

As with the debut album, although the majority of the album sticks to an extremely plausible classic 70’s rock script, the game is given away by a couple of rouge contemporary tracks. Namely: “Far Away” which sails painfully close to a true rock fans most dreaded two words, power ballad. And the much better “Violence of the Sun” which is an excellent modern indie rock anthem akin to some of the latest Kasabian offerings.

These two songs aside, the rest of the album is pure unadulterated classic rock. For example “California Queen” has fast paced pounding verses before four slow snare beats hail in the heavy slow riffing and high vocal chorus where Stockdale takes on the roles of both Iommi and Osbourne concurrently.

The title track offers jerky Deep Purple riffs and more Sabbath Bloody Sabbath vocals. And why not check out the awesome “New Moon Rising” yourself. It's right here…

Super stuff. Ignore Mojo’s 3 paltry stars this is a 5 starrer.

10 Great Cover Versions That Are Better Than The Original

2009-11-08T18:24:00.021Z

10. Roxy Music : Jealous Guy

9. Sanatna: She’s Not there

8. Nirvana: The Man Who Sold The World

7. Headgirl (Motorhead & Girldshool): Please Don’t Touch

6. Kula Shaker: Hush

5. Jeff Buckley: Hallelujah

4. Devo: Satisfaction (I Can't Get No)

3. Patti Smith: Smells Like Teen Spirit

2. Bauhaus: Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders from Mars

1. Jimi Hendrix: All Along the Watch Tower

Eels: Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire

2009-10-24T13:33:00.004+01:00

Eels’ 7^th studio album is a concept album. However, it’s one of those rather “loose” concept albums. Despite numerous listens (I was going to say countless, but thanks to iTunes I know exactly how many times I’ve listened to it), I was simply enjoying it as a collection of random songs without seeing the connection. Perhaps if my Spanish was a little better and I’d taken the time to read the album sub title, I might have realised that “Hombre Lobo” is the Spanish for werewolf, and the whole album is a follow up to Souljaker’s “Dog Faced Boy”, exploring the various types of desire through the album’s hairy protagonist.

Standout tack is “Fresh Blood” which starts off with thumping drums and a slow bass keyboard before the song title is followed by a piercing scream that leads us into a rollicking chorus with howling and declarations for the need of fresh blood. Hang on a minute, how did miss the theme of this album again. Cock.

Pearl Jam: Backspacer

2009-10-24T11:36:00.005+01:00

The term “return to form” is a favourite amongst music journalists, and I’m sure if I read back through my old reviews, I’ll discover that I’ve abused it a fair bit too. I loved Pearl Jam’s debut album so much that the anticipation of any new material in the early to mid 90’s was always high, but with each subsequent new release the anticipation diminished until their eighth studio album that I never actually got around to buying until at least 6 months after its release. “Oh, another new Pearl Jam album, better get it, after all I’m such a completist”.

But I’m glad I didn’t waste too much time acquiring a copy of “Backspacer”, named after that outdated typewriter key. Production reigns have been handed back to Brendan O’Brien and although their Grunge roots may seem quite distant at times from this poppier and punkier direction, it seems to work, so I’m loathed to call it a sell-out.

The overall tempo has picked up from those early moody, angst soaked, slow burning classics that eventually worked their way around to the blistering guitar solos. The Coldplay styled bashing keyboards on “Unthought Known” are overlaid with Eddie Vedder’s rich vocals. “Supersonic” as the title suggests is a face-paced number with a simple punk riff that could get the less self-conscious pogoing around the lounge. But my personal favourite is “Amongst The Waves” which admittedly is one of those moody angst soaked, slow burning classics that eventually works it way around to the blistering guitar solo.

I really like the artwork on the cover too. Take note Ian Brown.

David Sylvian: Manafon

2009-10-23T15:19:00.001+01:00

This album is so minimal it’s like Chinese water torture waiting for the next note to finally arrive. My pigeon remains unfluffed. Sorry.

Ian Brown: My Way

2009-10-19T16:18:00.003+01:00

Ex Stone Roses front man and bipedal ape, Ian Brown, returns with his 6th solo offering. I really enjoyed Brown’s first two solo albums so I’ve kept with him, but despite retaining those familiar vocals, still undistinguishable from the Stone Roses’ classic debut, I’m left pondering what could have been.

Without John Squire on guitar, Brown, as the album title suggests, does it his way, and that way invariably involves synthesisers, loops and processed beats. There’s nothing wrong with stretching the boundaries and looking to take things in a new direction but Brown seems to have set off without a map and consequently I’m not really sure where he is right now.

Opening track “Stellify” is engaging enough with its boppy keyboard and energy levels are retained with the equally bouncy “Just Like You”.

Brown’s cover of “In the year 2525” is not terribly dissimilar to the original which make it instantly likeable, but I prefer my cover versions to add a new dimension rather than just being a facsimile.

The remainder of the album fails to provide anything to really engage me. Perhaps the most memorable thing will be the truly awful album cover. Is there a prize for worst album cover ever? If so, this has to be in the running.

Black Crowes: Before The Frost

2009-10-13T13:36:00.006+01:00

Mid 70’s southern blues rock isn’t as fashionable now as it was in say, the mid ‘70’s, so kudos indeed to the Black Crowes for refusing to kowtow to current vogues.

There is not a single sound bite on “Before The Frost” that would identify it as a contemporary album. Recording the album in Levon Helm's Woodstock barn before a special selected close audience may well sound like a simple marketing gimmick, but it adds a cosy feel, hearing a small enthusiastic crowd in between tracks. Unless that was just a way of masking the in between track brawling noises of brothers Chris and Rich Robinson going at each other like, well two brothers in a rock band.

“Good Morning Captain” gives us a boogie-woogie piano intro into a blues rock standard that sets the scene for the entire album.

My favourite track of the album, “Been A Long Time (Waiting On Love)" is a lengthy piece that gives the band the room to stray into something that sounds like a live jam with guitar, Hammond organ and harmonica taking it in turn to play the lead.

“Appaloosa” has the slow sliding guitars of an Eagles classic that slows things down again.

It may sound a little dull to the modern rock fan used to more speed and gusto, but to my ears this is perhaps their best album.

Monsters of Folk: Monsters of Folk

2009-10-13T13:35:00.000+01:00

Meh.

Muse: The Resistance

2009-10-12T16:04:00.004+01:00

It’s often easy to convey the feel of an album by throwing in a few musical comparisons. This can be very easily and accurately accomplished in the case of Muse’s 5^th studio offering which quite literally sounds like they’ve taken a selection of Queen and Radiohead CD’s and cleverly remixed them down into a single album.

The album kicks off with the vivacious “Uprising” and its rolling back beat, not dissimilar to the Timelords’ “Doctor and the Tardis”, punctuated with a simple guitar riff.

“United States of Eurasia” has an epic Freddie Mercury style vocal and a Brian May styled screeching guitar solo before fading into a classical piano outro.

“Guiding Light” shamelessly recycles Ultravox’s “Vienna” and adds a Thom Yorke vocal and tinkling guitars that to be honest left me pining for the sparseness or the original classic.

“Unnatural Selection” cranks it up a few gears with a clean and sharp Rush styled guitars.

The closing 16 minute classical symphony in 3 parts, “Exogenesis” proves without any shadow of doubt that Muse are so far up their own arses that an embarrassing trip to casualty will be required to bring them back to reality. The classical element of the first part is a simple repetitive Philip Glass affair with extravagant vocals and a guitar crescendo that leads into a truly moving and impressive classical piano piece. I know that sounds a little unkind, but it’s not a criticism I love a nice bit of pompous rock.

A truly grandiose rock album as pretentious as anything Yes ever accomplished in the 70’s.

Tori Amos: Abnormally Attracted to Sin

2009-08-18T20:46:00.003+01:00

I’ve had this album on my iPod / iPhone / iWhateverAppletellmetobuynext, for a couple months now so that I can listen to it and finally get around to writing this bloody review.

Every time I put it on and listen to the album's opening with its beautiful production and intriguing style I think to myself, this is bloody brilliant, why don’t I listen to this album more often.

Then all of a sudden I’m on track 6 or 7 and I realise that my attention has been lost and my brain has drifted off somewhere else thinking about some tedious acceptance test scripts or something else equally mundane.

I refocus, on the music, and yes it still sounds great, oh listen, there’s a really nice subtle guitar solo and that bit sound like Kate Bush, then, hang on I’m thinking about rewriting a Monty Python sketch in order to poke fun at some alternative medical treatment and stopped listening again. Bugger

I have no idea why this record can’t hold my attention. Perhaps if you can concentrate better than me you’ll be able to appreciate it. I'm sure its really good if I didn't have the attention span of Homer Simpson at the Opera.

The Dead Weather: Horehound

2009-07-23T13:39:00.001+01:00

Doesn’t Jack White just make you sick with his endless talent, energy and originality. For his latest project, Jack has decided to leave the primary guitar duties to Dean Feritita (Queens of the Stone Age) and take his place behind the drum kit. Meanwhile “little” Jack Lawrence (The Greenhornes, The Raconteurs) straps on the bass and Alsion Mosshart (The Kills) assumes the position behind the microphone.

While White’s various groups all have a stiff back bone of raw blues/rock, there is a distinct flavour to each of his 3 main projects (The White Stripes, The Raconteurs & The Dead Weather). The Dead Weather seem even more deep rooted in the classic blues genre with perhaps a few punk undertones. The album has a crisp sharp feel and subtle and minimal production flowering that I suspect will make it hard to date.

“60 Feet tall” has simple blues refrains, crashing drums and blistering guitar solo’s all punctuated by atmospheric gaps. “I Cut like a Buffalo” has a keyboard chord keeping slow time behind a more freeform blues jam session and “Treat me Like Your Mother” has a corking zeppelinesque riff.

My high expectations have been met and even exceeded.

Kasabian: West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

2009-06-20T18:08:00.006+01:00

Today’s album review is brought to you by the medium of Excel Charts. I have ranked the first three Kasabian and Kaiser Chiefs albums and determined the following trend lines for both bands:

As can clearly be seen, despite a strong opening album by the Kaiser Chiefs, the gradual steady increase in quality of Kasabian’s output has caused the trend lines to cross in 2006 now giving them a clear lead .

Good work lads, great album. Stand out tracks include:

Underdog
Where Did Our Love Go?
Fast Fuse
Take Aim (which includes a synthesiser that is evocative of Jeff Wayne’s Martians)
West Ryder Silver Bullet
Fire

Chickenfoot: Chickenfoot

2009-06-15T20:50:00.003+01:00

Super Groups seldom live up to the sum of their constituent parts, let alone exceed it. Chikenfoot are a real super group and as such the sum of their impressive line-up is large.

Joe Satriani
Chad Smith (Red Hot Chilli Peppers)
Michael Anthony (Van Halen)
Sammy Hagar (Van Halen, Montrose, Solo)

With scorching Satriani guitar solos and great vocals from the Red Rocker himself it does indeed add up to an impressive package. They sound like their having fun too, nothing too over-produced or orchestrated, simply live jamming rock n roll the way its meant to be.

Equal to the sum of it parts, but not greater, but that’s still a lot.

Jarvis Cocker: Further Complications

2009-06-14T10:43:00.002+01:00

This is easily Cocker’s best work since Pulp released Different Class way back in 1995. Cocker’s distinctive voice ensures there’s plenty of Pulp parallels in this album, but there’s a stronger, quirkier and perhaps rockier thing going on here too that evoke early Roxy Music albums, especially tracks like “Homewrecker!”

“Leftover” contains my favourite opening lyric of the year so far: “I met her at the museum of palaeontology. And I make no bones about it”. The song has a very Pulp-like chorus consisting of a pause followed by three sharp drumbeats that you just have to drum along to. If you see someone on the tube hitting an invisible drum in the air three times in quick succession, chances are there listening to this song on their iPod. This track also includes the following line that also tickled me: “He says he loves you like a sister, well I guess, I guess that’s relative”.

The title track and album opener is a fast paced romp with an uncomplicated recurring guitar riff. The guitar riff and slow wind down at the end of the track reminded me a little of the first Devo album. Anybody else out there buy that?

“Angela” is very much an old school sub 3-minute rock number with Jagger styled handclaps and lashings of treble.

I’m no going to go through all the tracks here but “Pilchard”, Fuckingsong” are also superb. This is a buyer not just a free downloader from The Pirate Bay.

Joe Bonamassa: The Ballad of John Henry

2009-06-06T12:26:00.003+01:00

Don’t you just love it when someone lends you a CD of someone you’ve never heard of that they think you might like, and it turns out to be a real gem? This is one such album. Joe Bonamassa may only have been born in 1977, but his blues-rock style has clearly been influenced by those eminent British Blues Rock aficionados of the late 60’s (Beck, Page, Clapton, Green, Kossof, Mayall). “The Ballad of John Henry” is in fact Bonamassa’s 9th official release, which means I have a bit of catching up to do on his back catalogue.

The title track at the top of the album sets the standard of stonking blues with its solid riff, clanking chains and string orchestration that could augment Zeppelin’s Kashmir.

After the self-penned opener, we move to a cover of Sam Brown’s 1989 classic, “Stop”. The extended outro compliments an already fabulous song with Jeff Healey like guitar work.

“The Great Flood” is a slow blues number that draws strong comparisons with Gary Moore, it builds up slowly to that crisp clean guitar solo emphasising each perfect squealing note. A return guitar solo at the end of the track is accompanied by a saxophone that would have been at home on Rogers’ “Pros and Con’s of Hitch Hiking”.

Although, I’ve only really covered 3 tracks, I could have picked on any three, as there’s no chuff on this album. Before finishing up I’ll just bandy about a few more names: Rory Gallagher, Stevie Ray Vaughan, BB King, Albert Collins, and Muddy Waters. If any of those names mean anything to you, then you should really check out this album.

Coming Soon on Crispian’s album reviews (May-June 2009)

2009-05-27T13:38:00.001+01:00

Here’s another batch of new releases I hope to be covering in the next month or so

Jarvis Cocker: Further Complications
Tori Amos: Abnormally Attracted To Sin
Silversun Pickups: Swoon
The Hours: See The Light
Royksopp: Junior
Kasabian: West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Chickenfoot: Chikenfoot
Eminem: Relapse
Madness: The Liberty Of Norton Folgate
Eels: Hombre Lobo
Jason Lytle: Yours Truly, The Commuter

More suggestions welcome…

Depeche Mode: Sounds Of The Universe

2009-05-21T12:38:00.002+01:00

This album has been on my review pending list for over a month now, but every-time I make the effort to listen to it, I can’t really think of much to say about it. There’s not a lot to get excited about and conversely there’s nothing worth getting too upset over, or ranting about as I am occasionally prone to do. The one track that retained a few reminders of their heyday (Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion), is “Wrong”, but now I’ve written this short review of it, I can’t really envisage myself revisiting it that often. If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Depeche Mode fan than I’m sure you’ll like it, if not, this is probably not the album that will change your mind.

Doves: Kingdoms of Rust

2009-05-06T13:29:00.002+01:00

4th studio release from Cheshire based 3 piece after a four year wait since “Some Cities”. I say 3 piece, I don’t know why their keyboardist is not afforded full band member status.

Like Elbow, Doves seem to resurrect a progressive rock resonance into their contemporary indie vibe, although for my tastes, Doves accomplish the task even more proficiently than Elbow.

There is scant evidence on display for their dance-floor past lives indeed the vocals on “Winter Hill” remind me more of Jagger singing “Lady Jane”.

“Compulsion” features a well defined funky bass line aping Blondie at their height.

“House of Mirrors” is one of the standout tracks with its hammering drums and rapid keyboards and jarring guitars.

I’m at a complete loss at to why albums like this don’t outsell the likes of Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”. I propose too many people select their musical purchases based on band label popularity (like buying the current in-vogue designer label clothes), or perhaps marrying an actress means that you can make better music? There’s almost an argument for releasing all albums in plain white sleeves so they have to be judged purely on the merit of the music. No wait, the Beatles have already done that. Just listen to the music people, and then make your judgements. Music is art not fashion. That reminds me, does anyone else get really annoyed with young girls wearing Ramones T Shirts when they’ve clearly never seen them? Oh hang about I seem to have switched from review mode to rant mode. Best stop now.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It’s Blitz!

2009-05-05T15:11:00.002+01:00

There is one stand-out corking bouncy instant hit on this album in “Heads Will Roll”. It’s a likeable mixture of old school rock augmented with more clubbing beats than a beach full of seal pups. As Karen O sings out “Off, Off, with head, dance, dance till your dead” to a euphoric rhythm it’s hard not to get swept along with her. Sadly for me the rest of the album has looped around several times on my iPod and all the other tracks have failed to grab my attention.

With the exception “Heads Will Roll” I’m surprised that I’m not a little more enamoured by an album produced by Nick Launay whose previous clients include Talking Heads, PiL, Nick Cave and Arcade Fire. Maybe there’s just too much emphasis on courting the dance-floor instead of the mosh-pit for my tastes.

Connect 4

2009-05-04T16:10:00.025+01:00

Following my list of unsurpassed debut albums, and my seminal tricky third albums, the final instalment of my list trilogy is the most prestigious.

In order to qualify, you need to release 4 consecutive superb studio albums. (Compilations and live albums have been ignored). Strict admission only, Oasis three great albums followed by “Standing on The Shoulder of Giants”, hence no admission.

So here’s my top 60 list of 4 sequential studio masterpieces:

60. Ramones

1976: Ramones, 1977: Leave Home, 1977: Rocket To Russia, 1978: Road To Ruin

59. The Clash

1977: The Clash, 1978: Give 'Em Enough Rope, 1979: London Calling, 1980: Sandinista!

58. Kaleidoscope

1967: Side Trips, 1968: Beacon From Mars, 1969: Incredible! Kaleidoscope, 1970: Bernice

57. The Black Keys

2003: Thickfreakness, 2004: Rubber Factory, 2006: Magic Potion, 2008: Attack and Release

56. Black Sabbath

1973: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, 1975: Sabotage, 1976: Technical Ecstacy, 1978: Never Say Die

55. ABBA

1975: ABBA, 1976: Arrival, 1977: The Album, 1979: Voulez-Vous

54. Siouxsie and the Banshees

1978: The Scream, 1979: Join Hands, 1980: Kaleidoscope, 1981: Juju

53. Savoy Brown

1970: Looking In, 1971: Street Corner Talking, 1972: Hellbound Train, 1973: The Lion's Share

52. INXS

1985: Listen Like Theives, 1987: Kick, 1990: X, 1992: Welcome to Wherever You Are

51. Jefferson Airplane

1967: Surrealistic Pillow, 1967: After Bathing at Baxters, 1968: Crown of Creation, 1969: Volunteers

50. Leonard Cohen

1979: Recent Songs, 1984: Various Positions, 1988: I'm Yur Man, 1992: The Future

49. Paul Weller

1992: Paul Weller, 1993: Wild Wood, 1995: Stanley Road, 1997: Heavy Soul

48. Status Quo

1971: Dog Of Two Head, 1972: Pildriver, 1973: Hello, 1974: Quo

47. Yes

1971: The Yes Album, 1971: Fragile, 1972: Close To The Edge, 1973: Tales From Topographic Oceans

46. Mike Oldfield

1980: QE2, 1982: Five Miles Out, 1983: Crises, 1984: Discovery

45. Radiohead

1995: The Bends, 1997: OK Computer, 2000: Kid A, 2001: Amnesiac

44. Blondie

1976: Blondie, 1977: Plastic Letters, 1978: Parallel Line, 1979: Eat to the Beat

43. Kings Of Leon

2003: Youth and Young Manhood, 2004: Aha Shake Heartbreak, 2007: Because the Times, 2008: Only By The Night

42. Eurythmics

1985: Be Yourself Tonight, 1986: Revenge, 1987: Savage, 1989: We Too Are One

41. Rush

1978: Hemispheres, 1980: Permanent Waves, 1981: Moving Pictures, 1982: Signals

40. Cat Stevens

1970: Mona Bone Jakon, 1970: Tea For The Tillerman, 1971: Teaser and the Firecat, 1972: Catch Bull at Four

39. Roxy Music

1973: For Your Pleasure, 1973: Stranded, 1974: Country Life, 1975: Sirens

38. Kate Bush

1978: Lionheart, 1980; Never For Ever, 1982: The Dreaming, 1985: The Hounds Of Love

37. The Cure

1979: Three Imaginary Boys, 1980: Seventeen Seconds, 1981: Faith, 1982: Pornography

36. Roy Harper

1971: Stormcock, 1973: Lifemask, 1974: Valentine, 1975: HQ

35. AC/DC

1975: T.N.T., 1976: High Voltage, 1976: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, 1977: Let There Be Rock

34. Suede

1993: Suede, 1994: Dog Man Star, 1996: Coming Up, 1999: Head Music

33. Mike Oldfield

1973: Tubular Bells, 1974: Hergest Ridge, 1975: Ommadawn, 1978: Incantations

32. Queen

1975: A Night atthe Opera, 1976: A Day at the Races, 1977: News of the World, 1978: Jazz

31. The Police

1978: Outlandos d'Armour, 1979: Reggatta de Blanc, 1980: Zenyatta Mondatta, 1981: Ghost in the Machine

30. Iron Maiden

1980: Iron Maiden, 1981: Killers, 1982: The Number Of The Beast, 1983: Piece Of Mind

29. Neil Young

1970: After The Gold Rush, 1972: Harvest, 1974: On The Beach, 1975: Tonights The Night

28. The Beatles

1963: Please Please Me, 1963: With The Beatles, 1964: A Hard Days Night, 1964: Beatles For Sale

27. David Bowie

1977: Low, 1977: "Heroes", 1979: Lodger, 1980: Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

26. The Rolling Stones

1966: Aftermath, 1967: Between The Buttons, 1967: Flowers, 1967: Their Satanic Majesties Request

25. Simon And Garfunkel

1966: Sounds Of Silence, 1966: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme, 1968: Bookends, 1970: Bridge Over Troubled Water

24. The White Stripes

2000: De Stijl, 2001: White Blood Cells, 2003: Elephant, 2005: Get Behind Me Satan

23. Leonard Cohen

1967: Songs Of Leonard Cohen, 1969: Songs From A Room, 1971: Songs Of Love and Hate, 1974: New Skin For The Old Ceremony

22. AC/DC

1978: Powerage, 1979: Highway To Hell, 1980: Back In Black, 1981: For Those About To Rock

21. The Stranglers

1977: Rattus Norvegicus, 1977: No More Heroes, 1978: Black and White, 1979: The Raven

20. Dire Straits

1978: Dire Straits, 1979: Communique, 1980: Making Movies, 1982: Love Over Gold

19. The Doors

1967: The Doors, 1967: Strange Days, 1968: Waiting For The Sun, 1969: The Soft Parade

18. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

1997: The Boatman's Call, 2001: No More Shall We Part, 2003: Nocturama, 2005: Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus

17. Bob Dylan

1975: Blood On The Tracks, 1975: The Basement Tapes, 1976: Desire, 1978: Street Legal

16. Black Sabbath

1970: Black Sabbath, 1970: Paranoide, 1971: Master Of Reality, 1992: Black Sabbath Vol. 4

15. R.E.M.

1991: Out Of Time, 1992: Automatic For The People, 1994: Monster, 1996: New Adventures in Hi-Fi

14. U2:

1984: The Unforgettable Fire, 1987: The Joshua Tree, 1988: Rattle And Hum, 1991: Achtung Baby

13. David Bowie

1970: The Man Who Sold The World, 1971: Hunky Dory, 1972: The Rise And Fall Of Zigy Stardust & The Spiders from Mars, 1973: Aladdin Sane

12. The Who

1966: A Quick One, 1967: Sell Out, 1969: Tommy, 1971: Who's Next

11. Deep Purple

1970: In Rock, 1971: Fireball, 1972: Machine Head, 1973: Who Do You Think You Are

10. Roger Waters

1984: The Pro's and Cons of Hitch Hiking, 1987: Radio K.A.O.S, 1992: Amused To Death, 2005: Ça Ira

9. Bob Dylan

1964: Another Side Of Bob Dylan, 1965: Brining It All Back Home, 1965: Highway 61 Revisited, 1966: Blonde on Blonde

8. Genesis:

1971: Nursery Cryme, 1972: Foxtrot, 1973: Selling England By The Pound, 1974: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway

7. Led Zeppelin:

1973: Houses Of The Holy, 1975: Physical Graffiti, 1976: Presence, 1979: In Through The Out Door

6. The Rolling Stones:

1968: Beggars Banquet, 1969: Let It Bleed, 1971: Sticky Fingers, 1972: Exile On Main Street

5. The Beatles:

1965: Help!, 1965: Rubber Soul, 1966: Revolver, 1967: Sgt. Peppers Lonley Hearts Club Band

4. Jethro Tull:

1969: Stand Up, 1970: Benefit, 1971: Aqualung, 1972: Thick As A Brick

3. The Beatles:

1968: The Beatles, 1969: Yellow Submarine, 1969: Abbey Road, 1970: Let It Be

2. Led Zeppelin:

1969: Led Zeppelin I, 1969: Led Zeppelin II, 1970: Led Zeppelin III, 1971: untitled

1. Pink Floyd:

1973: Dark Side of the Moon, 1975: Wish You Were Here, 1977: Animals, 1979: The Wall

Bob Dylan: Together Through Life

2009-04-30T16:07:00.006+01:00

There’s no doubting that Bob Dylan has released some truly seminal albums. “Highway 61 Revisited”, “Blonde on Blonde”, “Blood on the Tracks” and “Desire” are all unequivocal musical masterpieces.

Although his musical quality took a steep nose dive in the late 70’s early 80’s (curiously enough, the period where he became a born-again Christian, compelling evidence indeed to support the hypothesis that the Devil has all the best music), he has however had a late blooming purple patch with recent albums like “ Time Out Of Mind”, “Love and Theft” and even “Modern Times”

The professional critics' reviews that I have read for Dylan’s latest album all provide glowing endorsements for this recent work. Maybe they’re right, or perhaps they’re so in awe of the genius that created those aforementioned works of art, that they have failed to mention that the emperor is inclined to occasionally wonder around stark bollock naked.

I’m not suggesting that this is not a good album, there are indeed some great new songs on here, but I still think the package as a whole is a bit of a mixed bag. Accordion player, David Hidalgo, has a constant presence on this album but despite his talent, for me, he outstays his welcome.

Dylan is at his best on this new album with tracks like “Forgetful Heart”, “My Wife’s Hometown” and “Shake Shake Mama” where he opts for a more unadulterated blues formula. Conversely he’s at his most irksome on tracks like “Life is Hard” where the semi-spoken and strained vocals grumble over a painfully slow rhythm.

The Australian Pink Floyd Show: The Wall (Wembley Arena, Wednesday 29th April 2009)

2009-04-30T14:13:00.005+01:00

The opening accordion introduction resulting from the wrapping around of “Outside the Wall” at the arse end of the album, opens proceedings, but wait a minute they’ve somehow drifted off into a rendition of “Waltzing Matilda”; they get back on track just in time to be drowned out by the opening power chord of “In The Flesh”.

The Oz Floyd are meticulous in their goal of reproducing an accurate live facsimile of Roger’s magnum opus. The energy of the opening track is in full evidence, especially behind the vast array of drums setup in front of Paul Bonney. I was going to say that he had more drums than you could shake a stick at, but that would be a particularly poor metaphor as he was in fact shaking sticks at them in a most accomplished manner.

The fact that they played “The Wall” in its entirety, competently matching the original score leaves me little to blog about as I’m sure you’re familiar with the work. If you’re not stop reading my blog and go and get yourself a copy of “Smash Hits”, or whatever it’s called these days.

The Floyd only originally performed “The Wall” in a select few venues including (from memory) New York, Los Angeles, Dortmund and London. The original show was an immense theatrical performance with gigantic inflatable puppets and a huge wall constructed during the show that by the conclusion of “Goodbye Cruel World” completely segregated the band from their audience. Roger took the theatrical elements of the show to its ultimate level when I saw him perform it in Berlin in 1990 replete with helicopters, limousines and marching bands.

The Australian Pink Floyd do not have the resources to imitate this, but despite the brilliance of Roger’s theatre, the music is more than enough to stand on its on two feet. That’s not to say that the Australian Pink Floyd are completely bereft of props, they have a brace of fine inflatable pigs, not to mention a large pink kangaroo and some impressive lasers.

I was relieved that the music followed the slightly different live version rather than the studio album. This means that it included the extended version of “What Shall We Do Now”, the additional guitar and keyboard solo’s at the end of “Another Brick In the Wall Part 2” and that little overture of the first half at the end of “Another Brick In The Wall Part 3”. To correctly mimic the live shows they also only introduced “Young Lust” in the first half with no further audience banter.

The intermission after “Goodbye Blue Sky” was followed by an equally competent and delightful second half of the album. The guitar solo for “Comfortably Numb” was handled with aplomb and much to the delight of the audience as a new level of respect was gained for guitarist Damian Darlington by those who had not seen him before.

The second half of the show features the more complex sounds with heavier orchestration and special effects which gave the band a larger reliance on tapes as a lot of this could not be fully recreated live.

As no physical wall was constructed on stage the final destruction of the wall was depicted with an impressive animation on the large rear screen. Other films were also used throughout the show with recreations of Gerald Scarfes original animations for “Good Bye Blue Sky”, “What Shall We Do Now” and “The Trial”.

However unlike the original shows we didn’t have to bugger off after the wall came down. Our hosts soon reappeared and continued to entertain us with the following additional set:

Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part 1-5)
The Great Gig In The Sky
One Of These Days
Wish You Were Here
Brain Damage / Eclipse

As the final strains of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” faded an image of Syd, its inspiration, adorned the large screen. The opening piano for “The Great Gig in the Sky” started up and the pictures of Syd were replaced with a respectful montage of images of Richard Wright, reminding the audience of the sad loss of Floyd’s keyboardist last year.

The tuning radio introduction to “Wish You Were Here” was also ozzied up with snippets of Australian soap opera theme’s and even a quick snatch of “Skippy the Bush Kangaroo” before neatly segueing into another perfectly copied Floyd standard.

3 full hours of Floyd genius never veering away from those 1970’s classics.

Bat For Lashes: Two Suns

2009-04-28T14:38:00.005+01:00

Bat For Lashes is a pseudonym for Natasha Khan and “Two Suns” is her second studio album following on form her 2006 Mercury nominated “Fur and Gold”. Before reviewing the actual music, here’s a copy and paste from the press release of “Two Suns” harvested from Wikipedia:

"a record of modern-day fables exploring dualities on a number of levels – two lovers, two planets, two sides of a personality," bringing reflection about "the philosophy of the self and duality, examining the need for both chaos and balance, for both love and pain, in addition to touching on metaphysical ideas concerning the connections between all existence."

I’ve read and re-read the above quote a number of times now and it still makes no sense to me. Perhaps it’s because I have an allergy to words like “metaphysical” as I favour empiricist principles and more logical based philosophies. Maybe I’m just on a lower astral plane than Natasha (whatever that means), but I don’t really want to get hung up it; I’m far more interested in the musical and lyrical content of the album itself.

“Moon and Moon” combines piano and vocals in an elegant piece that must surely be a homage to Tori Amos. “Daniel” on the other hand is more in the style of Stevie Nicks with the softer vocals. To complete my trio of female musical references I would have to compare both songs with the world “sleep” in their title with Kate Bush.

As a dedicated fan of both Kate Bush and Tori Amos these are not comparisons I throw around lightly. Although I instantly appreciated her voice, her musical style and the great production of the album, it didn’t immediately produce that sonic spark that ignites that explosion of musical cerebral pleasure. However having now given it a few more listens it is becoming a real pleasure.

The Decemberists: The Hazards of Love

2009-04-22T20:33:00.020+01:00

Let’s start off this review with a few introductions. The Decemberists are:
Colin Meloy: Singer / Songwriter
Chris Funk: Guitar / multi instrumentalist
Jenny Conlee: Hammond Organ / Accordion / Piano / Keyboards
Nate Query: Bass
John Moen: Drums

The Decemberists formed in 2000 in Portland, Oregon and “The Hazards of Love” is their fifth full length studio album. It is a dark musical fairytale that like a classic Pink Floyd album must be taken as a whole, not a random collection of songs. The story unfolds throughout the 17 connected tracks. I shall attempt to retell the narrative whilst describing each song in turn, but first, allow me to introduce you to the characters in our little story:

William: The Hero, who takes the form of a faun by day
Margaret: The Heroine
The Queen: William’s Mother, The Queen of the Forest
The Rake: The child killing villain of the tale

1. Prelude
A low morose hum gradually increases pitch and is eventually joined by a series of organ chords and choral backing vocals, very evocative of Floyd’s “A Saucerful of Secrets”. I can see why the Decemberists opted to play a recording of “Echoes” in its entirety at the start of the recent gigs premiering this album.

2. The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won’t Wrestle The Thistle’s Undone)
Acoustic guitars join in as the prelude fades and the story begins with the narrator describing how Margaret rides out into the forest and after straying somewhat she meets

“a white and wounded faun”

in the woods, she helps the faun and stays with him till later when

“The beast began to change”

into William, its true form. William takes Margret to the Taiga deeper in the forest and makes love to her. The track is a fairly gentle folk affair with intricate guitar work that reminded me of a late 60’s Kaleidoscope (US) track. A distant shout heralds the start of the next track

3. A Bower Scene
The music speeds up with a ticking beat and running electric guitar as Margaret returns home and

“when young Margaret’s waistline grew wider, the fruit of her amorous entwine inside her”

she returns to the Taiga to seek out William.

4. Won’t Want For Love (Margaret in the Taiga)
A more bluesy and rockier guitar kicks in as the thumping beat continues assisted with a stomping piano refrain and Margaret sings

“columbine, columbine, please alert this love of mine, let him know his Margaret comes along”

in search of more love as she sings out

“Despite this swelling in my belly it won’t quell my want for love”

5. The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)
We return to the slower folkier sound of the next instalment of the title track as William finds Margaret and sings

“to lay you down in clover bed, the stars a roof above our heads”

as they make love again throughout the night until the corncrake crows.

6. The Queen’s Approach
A short “Bert Jansch” style acoustic intermission heralds the approach of William’s mother, the Queen of the forest.

7. Isn’t It A Lovely Night?
An acoustic guitar and accordion (whose player sound like they may well be wearing lederhosen) provide a backdrop for Margaret to recount their lovely night together:

“And here we made a bed of boughs, And thistle down, That we had found, To lay upon the dewy ground”

The upright bass joins in for the last verse and a slide guitar adds a more country and western feel to this track.

8. The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid
A harpsichord accompanies William as he hears the Queen approach and declares:

“Mother I can hear your foot-fall now, Soft disturbance in the dead-fall how, it proceeds you like a black smoke pall”

The beat picks up and we enter an “Arcade Fire” style piece as William anticipates his mothers rage and pleads that the

“wanting comes in waves”

A heavier rockier change introduces the Queen who screams

“This is how I am repaid”

at William after all she has done for him. We return to the harpsichord / Arcade Fire style for William to offer a deal to the Queen.

“Grant me freedom to enjoy this night and I'll return to you at break of light”

There’s a final return to the Queen’s rockier sound which allows her to accept his proposition as she screams

“Consider it your debt repaid”

9. An Interlude
We then fade into an acoustic instrumental intermission that would fit rather nicely at the end of a lengthy Mike Oldfield composition.

10. The Rake’s Song
If there is to be a single from the album, I propose this dark sinister tale giving us the back story of the villain of the piece. The song reminds me a little of the 3rd Pixies album with its simple electric riff. The harrowing tale explains how the Rake was married at 21 and considered himself cursed as

“her womb starts spilling out babies”

The Rake has a total of four children whom he describes thus:

“First came Eziah with his crinkled little fingers. Then came Charlotte and that wretched girl Dawn. Ugly Myfanwy died on delivery. Mercifully taking her mother along”

The Rake is then able to persue his freedom by killing his remaining children in a various macabre ways.

11. The Abduction of Margaret
We return to the main plot and some classic rock as the arbours provide cover for the Rake to sneak up and

“Our heroine here falls prey to her abductor”

12. The Queen’s Rebuke / The Crossing
A slow heavy Black Sabbath like beat with squealing guitars allows the Queen to fill in the back story of William’s upbringing and how she found him abandoned as a child and turned him into a faun by day. Jon Lord styled keyboards and guitar solos give a classic Deep Purple style sound as the Queen aides the Rake by allowing him to cross the river Annan with Margaret, out of William’s reach:

“But the river is deep to the bends and the water is wild. I will fly you to the far side”

13. Annan Water
The pace of the music quickens with rapid strumming guitars as William pursues Margaret and the Rake and reaches the shores of Annan Water where the Queen helped the Rake flee. Unable to cross the turbulent waters, but undeterred by the Queens warnings that he will drown, he prays to the river spirit and makes another deal to the accompaniment of Church organ.

“So calm your waves and slow your churn. You may have my precious bones on my, on my return”

14. Margaret in Captivity
The Rake taunts Margaret telling her that her calls cannot be heard, but Margaret continues to call out to William to rescue her.

15. The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)
The ghosts of the Rakes children return for their revenge to the familiar opening refrain of “The Wanting Comes in Waves” . The children all sing

“The Hazards of Love”

in unison along with a painfully screeching cello sounding like finger nails down a blackboard. The children take their revenge on their loathsome father.

16. The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)
A final triumphant reprise of this song to reunite William and Margaret.

17. The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)
The slow and sad conclusion to the tale features a beautiful slide guitar that could have come from a classic Eagles hit. As their boat begins to sink William promises Margaret that they will be together as ghosts as they take their wedding vows and sink beneath the waves.

“Oh Margaret the lapping waves are licking quietly at our ankles another bow another breath this brilliant chill's come for the shackle. With this long last rush of air we speak our vows and sorry whispers, when the waves came crashing down, he closed his eyes and softly kissed her.”

In 1969 there was “Tommy”, in 1979 there was the “The Wall”, now in 2009 we finally have “The Hazards of Love”. I guess it could be considered a tad pretentious but I have a huge hard-on for this album. Superb stuff. Go buy it.

Bill Callahan: Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle

2009-04-20T14:28:00.002+01:00

Bill Callahan (aka Smog) sounds like a distinguished graduate from the Nick Drake School of acoustic bliss with a double first in Philosophy and Music. In actual fact he’s a singer/songwriter from Silver Spring, Maryland with beginnings more in low-fi instrumentals.

“Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle” is his second album under his own name and has lyrics that explore love, responsibility and most eloquently, faith, or rather the lack of it.

“Eid Ma Clack Shaw” is certainly the only song I can think of about a horse written in the first person, or should that be first horse? It also manages to feature Eleanor Rigby’s Cello.

“The Wind and the Dove” is a gentle acoustic ballad encased at either end by ancient Arabic sound-bytes that prepared me for lyrics about magic carpets, genies and Persian Princes that failed to materialise.

The album closes with its best track, “Faith/Void” almost 10 minutes of delightful mesmeric acoustic harmonies and the frequently repeating line: “It’s time, to put God away”.

Highly recommended.

AC/DC: Live at the O2, London (14th April 2009)

2009-04-15T11:26:00.006+01:00

Because AC/DC are a band that have always kept it simple, it makes for a great live show as the five well versed musicians can simply and accurately recreate what they have put down in the studio without the need for session musicians, orchestra’s or fancy instruments.

Over the years however, the live shows have included a number of set pieces with the appropriate props and showmanship associated with certain key tracks, and it got to the stage now where these form the expected content of any AC/DC show. This means that live show does include all those AC/DC classics that you know and love, and as you would also expect, a showcase of their latest material, which all in all leads to a fairly predictable set list.

The show starts off with a new animation on the giant screen behind the stage (and smaller side screens), featuring a cartoon Angus driving the Rock ‘n’ Roll train to the thundering sound of the train rattling down the track whilst the band take centre stage in the darkness. The pounding sound of the train steaming down the track segues into the opening number, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Train”, as the rear screen splits in two, and their new stage centre piece, a huge AC/DC steam train, glides onto the stage. Cliff and Malcolm flank Phil’s drum kit at the rear of the stage, occasionally walking forward to their mikes to sing backing vocals, and leaving the stage free for the twin alpha males, Brian and Angus to roam at will.

The crowd are suitably warmed up with a couple of old classics, “Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be” and “Back in Black”, the opening riff of the later causing squeals of delight and making the sea of illuminated AC/DC devil horns surrounding the stage dance in unison.

The band seemed a little afraid to play a string of new material and preferred instead to pepper the 5 songs from the new album across the set list. The attention noticeably dropped during the new material and the whole row of seats in front of me refilled their plastic lager cups during “Black Ice”, returning just in time to catch the audience sing-a-long favourite, “The Jack”. As expected, Angus teases the crowd with his striptease as he sheds his jacket, tie and shirt whilst pouting at the audience like a cross between Jimmy Page and Adrian Edmondson. He briefly drops his shorts and flashes his AC/DC emblazoned under-crackers to all and sundry before whipping up his shorts and breaking into the guitar solo.

The bell is lowered during the opening chimes of “Hells Bells” and a spritely and well worked out Brian Johnson, despite his years, still easily manages the anticipated swing on the bell rope as the crowd appreciate another classic from the “Back in Black” album.

Another film accompanies the new track “War Machine” which I thought was the pick of the new material; the film features the band and a selection of rock chicks astride various pieces of heavy military hardware.

The one stage prop that we all love best however is Rosie. The giant inflatable whore and her car sized tits danced around to her theme tune as she straddled the mighty steam train, like the band, giving it her all.

“Let There Be Rock” features Angus’s extended, extended guitar solo and includes the bit where he walks along to end of the catwalk, stands in the little round stage and is elevated above his adoring fans whilst turning circles on the floor and never missing a note. The band leave the stage at the conclusion of his epic solo and the two numbers most noticeable by their absence flash through my mind as the required encores.

After a little coaxing, a small trap door opens in the stage, and Angus rises up out of the smoke playing the opening of “Highway to Hell”. At this stage we are all on our feet (which enables us to easily see past the over enthusiastic Australian flag waving fan who seemed to be having the time of his life). Then the big guns are rolled out for the finale, “For Those About to Rock” complete, as usual, with the full 21 gun salute. AC/DC, we salute you. Superb.

Full set list below:

Rock N Roll Train
Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be
Back In Black
Big Jack
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Shot Down In Flames
Thunderstruck
Black Ice
The Jack
Hells Bells
Shoot To Thrill
War Machine
Anything Goes
You Shook Me All Night Long
TNT
Whole Lotta Rosie
Let There Be Rock

Highway To Hell
For Those About To Rock

NB Photo's from the internet (different show), mine didn't come out very well.

Madeleine Peyroux: Bare Bones

2009-04-14T13:41:00.002+01:00

Bare Bones is the fifth studio album from Athens, Georgia born traditional American Jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux. The album consists of 11 freshly penned tunes all firmly entrenched in good old fashioned traditional jazz and blues.

“Instead” kicks of this album with a brushing snare keeping perfect time behind timeless tinkling ivories, slow sliding guitar and Billie Holiday styled crooning. This is perhaps the best track on the album and despite the fact that the actual lyrics are quite positive; it is the one most evocative of those depressive slow jazz standards.

“Bare Bones” is packed with Shakespearian mentions and a soft reverberating organ fills in between the slow ticking beat picked out on the acoustic guitar.

On my first listen, I considered the remainder of the album to be a little weaker after these first 2 great tracks, but having had it on repeat for a few days soaking up that smooth jazz vibe; I’m getting to grips with the album as a whole now.

This is the soundtrack to the best dinner parties in 2009