Day 0927 - Time (the Revelator)

Gillian Welch "Time (the Revelator)" (2001) - got it

The film "O Brother Where Art Thou" had revived public interest in rootsy, folky Americana.   Welch and her writing/performing partner David Rawlings had previously worked with the producer of that soundtrack, T-Bone Burnett.  They'd agreed to have Burnett as their producer when he'd let them know he was happy to stick to their approach of minimal instrumentation.

The pair themselves had recently been working with Ryan Adams on his 'Heartbreaker' album and "Time (the Revelator)" was the pair's third album under Welch's name.

The album is a rootsy sort of mountain music.  It feels like a weird mix of music that's 100 years old an brand new at the same time.   The opening track is nice and mellow, then it heads into "My First Lover" which is more of an upbeat banjo-heavy track.   The one that (by its name) sounds like it should be punchier "I want to see that rock n roll" is all vocal harmonies and restraint.

"Ruination Day part II" has an almost dangerous tone to its subdued melody.  Like there's murder under the notes somewhere.   "Dear Someone" is my favourite off the album, a nice trotting pace rendered in acoustic guitar and a vocal harmony that wouldn't have been out of place 90 years ago, or 150 years ago or last week.

Another one of those albums where owning it is one of the many perks of being married to my wife.

Day 0902 - Heartbreaker

Ryan Adams "Heartbreaker" (2000)

I've never had a huge urge to check out Ryan Adams.  Not sure why, I think I heard a song or two back in the day that I didn't care for, then heard stories about him being a bit of a dick (not that that necessarily makes for bad music) so didn't really feel the motivation.

After the breakup of his alt-country group Whiskeytown, Adams teamed up with country/Americana artists Gillian Welch and David Rawlings to work on his solo album.

The album was actually pretty good.  It's mostly alt-country with a bit of a Bob Dylan vibe in places (drawling vocal, harmonica and acoustic guitars).   The opening track is wasted on a discussion about which album a particular Morrissey song is on... not exactly going to stand up to re-listens that one.  

After that it bursts into an ambitious rockabilly track "To be young (is to be sad, is to be high) which breaks into more melodic passages.  "Amy" is a gorgeous 60s flavoured ballad that wouldn't be out of place on a later era Beatles album.   "Oh my sweet Carolina" is a smouldering country ballad with guest vocals by Emmylou Harris, whose album "Red Dirt Girl" shows up shortly in this list.  "Bartering Lines" almost has that atmospheric T-Bone Burnett production to it and some lovely vocal harmonies.

Perfectly listenable, and I'd be more than happy to check out further Adams albums based on this.

Day 0639 - Technique

New Order "Technique" (1989)

So the book lines this up as one of the founding pillars of the acid house movement... now if I knew anything much about that movement, it might help me assess or have a deeper understanding of the album.   As it is, I don't know much about the genre/movement, but I still enjoyed this as a workable blend of dance music elements, with new-wavey synth pop.

The band went to work on this, their 5th album, in Ibiza and ended up having an extended holiday, taking in the local dance culture.  According to the book they came home with 12 rhythm tracks and a guitar solo rather than an entire album, but had successfully managed to filter the Ibiza feel into their music.  

This would be New Order's second-to-last album before a nearly-decade long break.