Day 0975 - Renaissance

Q-Tip "Renaissance" (2008)

I've seen a lot about Q-Tip, but almost always either as a member of a group (most notably Tribe Called Quest and Soulquarians) or as a producer for other artists' work, often partnering up with J-Dilla.

Q-Tip released his first solo album 'Amplified' in 1999.  A further release was abandoned by his record company and he changed labels.   After some more production work and with a 9 year gap since 'Amplified' he followed up his first release with 'The Renaissance'.

It took me a listen or two to really latch onto the album, though tracks like "You", "WeFight/WeLove" and "Life is Better" (with Norah Jones) clicked straight away for me.  I'm on my fourth listen now and the album is funky, soulful, and of course well produced.  Lots of live drum sounds prominent in the mix.   Something like "Shaka" sounds kind of retro and totally contemporary at the same time.

Day 0972 - In Rainbows

Radiohead “In Rainbows” (2007) – got it

Radiohead took a bit of a break following the tour for their previous album “Hail to the Thief”.  They’d completed the obligations of their record contract, and arguably "Hail" wasn’t their finest hour.   After the steady evolution of Pablo Honey through to the Kid A/Amnesiac albums, Hail felt like a bit of a backward step.

The band regrouped and tried to come up with some music but the sessions proved difficult.  The band tried working with different producers and then went on tour.  Finally they reunited with producer Nigel Godrich who, Thom Yorke said, gave them a “walloping kick up the arse”.   Work picked up and the band ended up with 16 songs which they trimmed down to just 10 tracks on the album, wanting to put forward a concise musical statement.

The album is pleasingly defiant of overall categorisation, with opener “15 Step” starting with a Kid A-esque electronic beat but overlaid with clean guitar and coherent vocals.  There’s a lot of clean guitar tones, for instance with "Nude" and single “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” which sounds to be a mix of acoustic and electric guitars.  Nude has melodic atmospheric guitar parts that swell and fade in the background along with harmonised backing vocals.

"Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" has a propulsive almost dance beat with a fairly clean start that eventually builds to swirls of sound and at one point the music underneath cuts down to just the beat and Yorke's vocal.

"All I Need" has a loping synthy bass but builds to a crescendo.   "House of Cards" almost has hints of later era U2 (not in a bad way) in its earnest minimalism but still with some sonic experimentation.

Radiohead generally seem to pick great songs as their album closers, and “Videotape” is no exception, with it’s slow sombre piano and stuttering stabs of drums.

Day 0906 - Kid A

Radiohead "Kid A" (2000) – got it

 

An album where genius and arrogance meet.  The band completely changed their melodic alt-rock sound for a direction more influenced by electronic music (particularly the sounds of alt-electro artists like Aphex Twin and Autechre) and left it up to fans to follow them on the journey or get out of the way.

I’ve often wondered if this change in direction was a natural evolution decided on unanimously by the band.  Reading about it though, it sounds as though the push came primarily from singer Thom Yorke.  Yorke was convinced that guitar rock was a dying genre… at the risk of being a touch salty, he wasn’t the first slightly self-important rocker to come to this conclusion with Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins having made similar declarations as he moved his band towards an electronic and acoustic sound for their 1998 album “Adore”.  

The other members of Radiohead had concerns about the change.  Concerns ranging from whether it was self-indulgent art rock for the sake of it, through to what (if anything) they’d personally be doing on each of the new songs.    Definitely this second point is a valid concern when you look at a song like “Idioteque” which is based around a drum machine part and a looped sample of an experimental 1960s piece of computer music with Yorke being the most prominent member featured.  Yet the album works.

The new sound is on display right from the off, with the warm bleepy synth and looped vocal opening of “Everything in its right place”, the synth and drum machine of the title track and the Krautrock vibe of “National Anthem”.  

Guitars start to make a reappearance around the middle of the album.  “How to Disappear Completely” (with its acoustic guitar, morose vocal and light live drums over a soupy drone) sounds like it could have easily been on “OK Computer”.   “Optimistic” and “In Limbo” also feature guitars but with the vocals seeming less like a narrative and more like a free-form chanted mantra.  The vocals across the album are treated with various effects and processing that often sees them buried in the mix rather than front and centre as you'd expect for a rock or pop album.

Even the promotion of the album mixes genius and arrogance.   Instead of doing music videos for 2 or 3 select tracks, the band did a series of short advert-length videos for each track on the album.  It was a smart move because it helped signpost the band’s change of direction and gave the public a passing familiarity with the whole album without getting them burnt out on any one song.  Of course though the band felt the need to couch it as a ‘comment’ on how music videos are commercials and blah blah blah, (to reference Frank Zappa) “SHUT UP ‘N PLAY YER GUITAR”.

Love this album.  With some bands that have made big stylistic changes, I've taken a bit of time to acclimatise to them, but I enjoyed this one from the start.

Day 0797 - the Bends

Radiohead "The Bends" (1995) - got it

The heady days, before many Radiohead fans became insufferable snobs who crapped over the bands they perceived Radiohead to have influenced.  When Radiohead themselves were just "that band who sang Creep" with everyone waiting to see if they could follow up their 'hit'.

While the bleeps and bloops of "Kid A" are often pointed out as the big change in direction for Radiohead, arguably their first few albums all displayed fairly major stylistic shifts.   "The Bends" saw the band move away from their straight-ahead alt-rock to a more densely nuanced, melodically sophisticated sound, but still with more of a rock-guitar sound than follow-up "OK Computer" would have.

The band worked more collaboratively on songrwiting and arranging, instead of creating a wall of guitars, they played with arrangements that put together different parts for each of the three guitarists that worked together.  In some places the sound was still dense, like on single "Just" a bit of a favourite of mine, and something of a good middle point between their rock sound and their intelligent melodic directions.  Elsewhere, they stripped things back on songs like the acoustic, atmospheric "Bullet Proof... I wish I was" and album-closer "Street Spirit (Fade Out)".... damn, actually Radiohead always have the best album-closer tracks.

Most of the tracks start small and build their arrangements, as can be heard in songs like "Fake Plastic Trees", "My Iron Lung" and "Nice Dream".   

An argument could be made for this being the album where Radiohead really found their sound, with that more melodically sophisticated vein being mined; but you could also argue that Radiohead are another of those good bands who never quite fix on their sound and are constantly trying to forge new ground.

Day 0758 - Venus Luxure No.1 Baby

Girls Against Boys "Venus Luxure No.1 Baby" (1994)

The band utilise synthesisers and dual bass guitars... I have to admit that I did not notice these things on first listen, it was only when I went back and gave it a second listen that could hear the two different basslines going on.

The music is largely grungey rock but it feels like it touches on the sounds of bands as diverse and Mazzy Star and Clutch.  There is some stonking, riff-heavy rock but there are also some moodier moments.  They play around with distorted piano lines in "Billy's One Stop", a hypnotic almost sensuous groove on "Get Down" and a slow groove-metal feel to "Rockets are Red".

Day 0673 - Behaviour

Pet Shop Boys "Behaviour" (1990)

This album continues the P.S.B's line of quality, interesting pop, that uses some technology (analogue synthesisers as the Boys were unhappy with the digital synths available at the time) but retains its humanity, through stripped down arrangements and Neil Tennant's light, sometimes plaintive voice.

Much like their second album, Angelo Badalamenti (best known for his scoring work on David Lynch films and the "Twin Peaks" series) provides some string arrangements.  A change to the formula though comes in the form of Johnny Marr providing guitar across one or two tracks.

I don't have too much else to say about this one.  It has some fairly nostalgic and introspective lyrics (which then makes it a pity that they'd already used "Introspective" as the title for their previous album) in songs like "Being Boring" and "This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave".  

Day 0668 - Shake Your Money Maker

The Black Crowes "Shake Your Money Maker" (1990)

 
To pull out the 'old reliable' again "I'd heard of the band by name, but wasn't familiar with any of their music".  Turns out that I had heard a couple of these tracks ("Too hard to handle" and "She talks to angels") but just wasn't aware that they were Black Crowes songs.

The band was maybe one of the earlier groups to start the fad of reviving the 1960s blues rock sound.  Channelling artists such as Rolling Stones, Joe Cocker ("Seeing things") and Tom Petty.  They deliver a set of tracks that dwell in the sleazy, greasy good-time aspect of rock n roll, while still delivering a slice of gravity in "She talks to angels" which deals with another rock n roll 'classic'... heroin addiction.

Day 0584 - The Queen is Dead

The Smiths "The Queen is Dead" (1986)

Seems I kind of have this thing with the Smiths, whereby I like their music, but I can't really tell their albums apart.  It all just sounds kind of... Smithy.

This is an enjoyable album though.  Johnny Marr paints the songs with a range of guitar tones from swirling and dreamy to vigorous folk, to country twang and everything in between.  Morrissey's lyrics continue to be intelligent and with a touch of humour.

This was the band's 3rd album in 4 years, and after one more album the band broke up.  Unlike most bands that go through the whole break up thing, they seem to have resisted the urge to reunite, even to revisit their back-catalog for a quick buck.

Day 0571 - Talking With the Taxman About Poetry

Billy Bragg "Talking With the Taxman About Poetry" (1986)

The book talks about Bragg's ability to find the personal in politics and the political in the personal.  As is often the case, I didn't really pay much attention to the lyrics so I didn't really pick up on that so much, but I did enjoy the album musically.

Bragg's reverb drenched guitar manages to accentuate a variety of styles, from rockabilly, folk, pop and country.  I didn't even realise the first time I listened to the album, but there's little-to-no drumming in it, and the songs don't suffer at all as a result.  One or two tracks have limited percussion but that's it.

The album also features contributions from the Smiths' Johnny Marr, and Kirsty MacColl (of 'fairytale of New York' fame.

Day 0558 - Meat is Murder

The Smiths "Meat is Murder"

I'll admit to not being hugely familiar with the Smiths' music.  They were solely active in the 80s which was not a time that I was actively seeking out music.  Once I was more into music I was more interested in 60s pop or loud distorted guitars; the Smiths don't fit the bill in either case.  A teacher of mine who also helped out one of the high school bands I was in recommended the Smiths to me and I listened to one or two tracks, but it didn't really peak my interest.

So essentially I came to this fairly 'blank slate', the only song I was familiar with on this album was "How soon is now?" (only featured on certain versions of the album) as the theme tune to the tv show 'Charmed'.

I'd say there are more than a few connections that could be made between the Smiths and U2; both bands with solid rhythm sections, sonically explorative guitarists, and cause-heavy lyricists.

Guitarist Johnny Marr is the real star on this album, his guitar sounds ranging from jangly rockabilly, wicky funk, extreme tremolo guitar overlaid with slide lead parts, delicate acoustic guitar, clean new-wave-style guitar.

Morrisey's vocals seem to largely follow the pattern of being emotive and drenched in reverb.  While he is all about his causes here (pacifism, anti-monarchy, and the obvious vegetarian message of the title track) he does occasionally show a bit of a sense of humour, which I'm not sure is still present in his more recent work.

Day 0524 - Hearts and Bones

Paul Simon "Hearts and Bones" (1983)

Following a decline in his popularity as a solo artist, Simon reunited with Garfunkel for some successful shows.  The two of them started working on a new S&G album, but all the old arguments flared up and they broke up again.  Paul chucked Art's songs and worked some of his into a new solo album.

At the time of its release, this album didn't fare much better commercially than his recent releases, though it seems to have been reassessed with hindsight.  To me it shows hints of his next (much more successful) solo album Graceland, in that it has a good bit of groove to it and the quite '80s' sounding production.  In places, the synth laden grooves even sound a bit like that good 70s era Stevie Wonder.

It's a bit of a mixed bag, and I'd argue that the more straight-ahead mellow tracks are still his strength, such as the sombre "the late great Johnny Ace", his tribute to John Lennon.  That being said, the peppy "Cars are cars" is a fun little song, regardless of its slightly so-so lyrics.

Day 0511 - Nebraska

Bruce Springsteen "Nebraska"  (1982) - got it

Springsteen originally recorded the demos for this album at home on his 4-track.  He took the demos into the studio to record them with his E-Street Band.  But, once the tracks were down, Bruce and his team decided that the rootsy, stripped-down melancholy of the original demos was the sound that the songs needed and elected to just release Springsteen's demos.  The record company were less certain, but eventually allowed it.

The album remains (justifiably) critically acclaimed.  It is a morose and intimate portrait of struggling small town America.  Bruce moved to more radio-and-stadium-friendly fare for his next album "Born in the USA", but this one certainly adds an extra dimension to his oeuvre.

Day 0394 - Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols "Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols" (1977)

 
Well this one was really always going to show up, wasn't it. This album gets held up as one of the most influential, the one to really 'put punk on the map'.  Quite frankly though, with so many punk artists and albums around at the time, the 'revolution' would have happened whether this band released an album or not.

I can see why this one got seized on though: for a start, it was hugely publicised with the Pistols being assembled and marketed by Malcolm McLaren.  The band had gone on the Bill Grundy show and dropped the F-bomb.  But aside from all of that, where a lot of the other artists at the time, such as the Clash or Suicide or whoever were punk, mixed with other musical elements the Pistols seemed to be designed as some kind of punk shorthand.  The album has simplistic 3 chord songs played fast, noisily and with a large dose of sneery, smirking attitude.  There's not lot of variation so it almost reflects the later more "pure" underground and American hardcore punk that followed over the next decade or so. 

Day 0386 - Suicide

Suicide "Suicide" (1977)

I'd been keen to check these guys out ever since I saw/heard them referenced in Don Letts' excellent documentary "Punk Attitude".

Suicide are another band that took the punk attitude and abrasiveness but avoided falling into a generic 'punk' sound. The duo combined a confrontational name, a dose of nihilism and an approach that eschewed the basic ingredients of rock (even punk rock) by having no guitar player or drummer!

Using a primitive drum machine and a distorted organ the band delivers a set that is part punk rock, part avant rock with beat poetry overlaid, part drone... I could imagine these guys having been fans of the Velvet Underground's first couple of albums.

Day 0364 - Ramones

Ramones "Ramones" (1976)

One of the original punk albums that totally lives up to its hype.  Right out of the gate, it's a blistering stampede of raw rock.  Stripped of grandiosity complex virtuosity that had become prevalent in certain areas of rock, to present an "anyone can play" style of music.

There are so many great tracks here, 'Blitzkrieg bop', 'Beat on the brat', 'Today your love, tomorrow the world', 'Havana affair', and the surprisingly dark '53rd and 3rd' written about a street hustler taking violent action... legend/rumour suggested that Dee-Dee Ramone was writing in a somewhat autobiographical frame.

Surprisingly for an early punk album, it was fairly well received critically on its release, though not with the sales to match.