Day 0976 - Seldom Seen Kid

Elbow "Seldom Seen Kid" (2008) - got it

I had no real expectations coming into this one, though I later remembered that my wife owns some Elbow albums. I'm happy to say that is now another taste that we share.

Loved it! It has such a great mix of sonic experimentation, clever arrangements.  It keeps things interesting by changing the approach to best suit each song.

The album opens with "Starlings" which begins with reverbed guitars, gentle pulsing vocals and vocals, almost sonically evoking the birds themselves, before bursting into huge soundings of horns, very loud in the mix.    Guy Garvey's gentle vocals ride the winds between.   Such sonic picture painting is also used in "The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver", which with its slow booming drums and slow strings underpinning a staccato guitar line seems to evoke a wide, beautiful city scape viewed from up high.

"The Bones of You" starts off much more stripped down with sparse guitar over a percussion groove, but it builds with fuzzed guitar and vocal harmonies that bring Muse to mind for me.  The middle section is wild guitar that wouldn't feel out of place on Radiohead's "The Bends".   But none of this is to suggest this band are derivative, these are just the nearest reference points I can draw.   For example, the band out-Black Keys the Black Keys with the bluesy rock of "Grounds for Divorce".   "An Audience With the Pope" has an angular piano-backed groove that hangs somewhere between Space (the band) and the Specials' "Ghost Town".

"The Fix" features guest vocals from Richard Hawley, and his deep croon nicely plays against Garvey's higher tone.   "Some Riot" has an almost Beatles-y/Lennon vibe to it.   "One Day Like This" has an uplifting choir backing.

After all the darting around and grand arrangements, the album ends on a subtle key with the subdued "We're Away".   Loved the journey and had no qualms about taking it back to the start and listening again a couple more times.

Day 0938 - A Rush of Blood to the Head

Coldplay "A Rush of Blood to the Head" (2002) - got it

It would have been easy enough for Coldplay to do "Parachutes MKII", to bust out sound-alikes of "Yellow" and "Trouble" but they did seem to be resisting that and trying to push their sound to other places.   From the thumping relentless rhythm of "Politik" to the on-edge "God Put a Smile on Your Face", to the almost Echo and the Bunnymen vibe of "A Whisper".   

Even a big hit like "In My Place" seemed to be moving towards a new more stadium-friendly vibe which, though the band would lean on more as they went on, was a bit of a change from their debut.   

The band had been feeling an urgency after the huge success of Parachutes, both to follow the album and to not just repeat what they'd done.  The recording process stopped and started as they went through stages of self-doubt and not being happy with the songs.  I'm sure there are plenty of people who'd be happy enough for them to have pulled the plug then, but I'm happy they got this one out.   I've kind of lost track of them for the last four or so albums, but I definitely enjoyed the first couple and their fourth album "Viva la Vida, or Death and all His Friends"

 

Another one that I own thanks to my wife.

Day 0908 - Parachutes

Coldplay “Parachutes” (2000)

Though the name Coldplay has gone on to be used as a shorthand by some music fans for ‘bland’ and ‘MOR’, I do quite enjoy their first album.    It’s a concise slice of melodic rock and balladry without too many airs and graces.

Reading up on the band’s progression to their first album it does sound as though they were fairly single-minded and ambitious, pressing demos and playing showcases to get the attention of labels from pretty early on.  It also sounds like the labels responded in kind, grooming the band and having someone advise them on their musical direction (which I find a tad distasteful... sort your own shit).

The musical direction they chose is frequently dismissed as being ‘Radiohead-lite’ but again I feel like this is an unfair assessment.   A higher-pitched voice over alt-rock built on acoustic guitar and an electric guitar with some effects doesn’t necessarily = Radiohead.    As a side-note I would say the same for Muse who get tarred with the same brush, yet to my mind their sound owes a much larger debt to Queen than Radiohead.

With Coldplay, the write-up in the book suggests that Jeff Buckley could well have been an influence, and I could certainly agree with that on a song like “Shiver” (one of my personal favourites) which builds to ascending guitar parts and desperate yet somehow unrestrained vocals.

There’s a pleasing amount of variety with the piano ballad “Trouble”, the gentle acoustic interlude of the title track, the pulsing-along pop of “Don’t Panic” and of course the gentle acoustic ballad-turned-wall-of-guitar-squall that is the is the single “Yellow” (never really one of my favourites).

All in all, a fine if possibly cynically calculated pop album.  The follow-up “Rush of Blood to the Head” was likewise still reasonably worthy.

Day 0852 - Life Thru a Lens

Robbie Williams "Life Thru a Lens" (1997)

My sister loved this album back in the day, she had the first couple of Robbie albums on cassette (because we're getting old) and as all big brothers should do, I suspect I poo-poohed it at the time.   I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Robbie though, and a few years later when I was going through a bout of depression and was feeling like most music just seemed like a wall of grey noise I turned to Williams' greatest hits (and some Kanye West if memory serves) and that seemed to be something that my brain was willing to let in.

As far as debuts go, it is pretty damned good.   Robbie had left boy-band Take That somewhat acrimoniously and teamed up with song-writer/producer Guy Chambers, and worked to recast himself as a cheeky rock n rolling pop star.  

The album seems to lean very heavily on the 'Brit-pop' sound, with Oasisy sneery rock and bouncy Blur-esque pop.  Regardless of the influences on display though, Williams makes it his own through his charisma and voice.   Mission statement, the brassy rocker "Let me Entertain You" lays out what he's about.

It's a fairly even album too without too much filler ("Baby girl window" maybe seems like a bit of a retread of some ideas already covered), with even the overplayed ballad "Angels" seeming entirely bearable in the context of the album as a whole.   The track "Ego a go go" slagging off Robbie's ex-Take That bandmate Gary Barlow feels musically like it's drawing on the Beatles' Revolver album, the title track has a pop-punk bent to its verses. For the most part though it's about melody with a bit of grit, and Robbie having a good time (and occasionally finding himself regretting it).

Day 0658 - Repeater

Fugazi "Repeater" (1989)

 
After the dissolution of Minor Threat, Ian MacKaye had played in a few other bands but was a bit burnt out from it.  He decided to focus less on 'being in a band' and more in just finding people he could play with.   He also wanted to combine his punk background with a reggae sound.  Both of these goals eventually led to the formation of Fugazi, though I'll be damned if I can hear a lot of reggae in it.

There's some crystal clear bass and drums, with the repetitive hypnotic approach to basslines being something that Joe Lally would go on to revisit in John Frusciante's band Ataxia.   The guitar is occasionally tight and concise, and at other times is a diffuse wall of noise.   MacKaye and guitarist/vocalist Guy Picciotto provide punky vocals that at times find points of harmony... almost pointing to the catchy pop-punk popularised in the 90s to early 00s (though you couldn't really call Fugazi 'pop').

Day 0551 - Brothers in Arms

Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms" (1985)

I think it's safe to say that I'll never be a hardcore Dire Straits fan.  While there are definitely some worthy tracks here (most notably the subtle and moving title track), this album is largely the epitome of MOR.  The album's most known hit "Money for Nothing" is co-written with another eventual MOR star: Sting.

In 'Money for Nothing', 'Walk of Life' and the title track, the album has memorable tracks enough to ensure it would be a hit. 

With Mark Knopfler being one of the only members from the original lineup left, his vocals and guitar dominate; whether it's the riff-heavy 'Money' or the folky, almost country bent of "The Man's too Strong".