Day 1000 - MBV

My Bloody Valentine "MBV" (2013)

Finally made use of that first character. 😉

I don't know that this album really tickled my fancy.   The book trumpets the fact that MBV managed to produce this album after a 20+ year break and have it sound like a continuation of their previous sound.   While I do like it when bands can still maintain their identity after a lengthy break (because it shows that their sound is very much a result of their joint chemistry) I don't know that an album following the same formula as their other releases really warranted inclusion here.   Don't get me wrong, I like what they're doing, but when it's really just more of what they were doing on their other albums on this list then I'd prefer it to have been left off rather than removing albums from artists like Gorillaz, Florence and the Machine and Gnarls Barkley from the 1001.

MBV had signed a huge recording contract after the success of their "Loveless" album (see day 685), but the band struggled through aborted recording attempts, a temporary breakup, and media speculation that vocalist/guitarist Kevin Shields might have had a breakdown and turned recluse a la Brian Wilson or Syd Barrett.   The band reformed after a number of years and toured for a bit before knuckling down to try and get their third album wrapped up.

Opening tracks "She Found Now" and "Only Tomorrow" definitely seem to pick up where the band left off with buzzy swirls of guitar and soft, not always distinct vocals.

"In Another Way" has a nice rolling dance beat to it.   "Nothing Is" builds from a great, repetitive, unrelenting yet kind of off-kilter beat.   The album closes with "Wonder 2" that sounds like it's being recorded in a hangar at a busy airport (in a good way).

As of 2021 the band have not followed up "MBV"... maybe give it another decade or so.

Day 0983 - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Animal Collective “Merriweather Post Pavilion” (2009)

Animal Collective are nothing if not prolific.  Along with releasing either an album or EP for every year they’ve been in existence, the individual members have released a slew of solo albums between them.  Whether or not that’s a good thing obviously depends on your opinion of the quality of their output.

My limited experience of their work (from memory, this one, previous release “Strawberry Jam”, “Centipede Hz” and Avey Tare’s’ solo album “Down There”) leads me to believe it’s not a terrible thing.   I’m not a rabid fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I’ve never heard anything that puts me off them either.   What I find with them is something similar to some other bands from that era: that I quite enjoy it on first listen but (a) I don't retain too much memory of the songs after the fact and (b) the initial enthusiasm vanishes on re-listens.

The band had briefly parted company with their guitarist so were writing songs based more around samples and keys.   Some comparisons are made to Flaming Lips, which I could kind of hear in that it's spacey, swirling, layered psychedelic pop.  “My Girls” and “No More Runnin’”  have kind of a Beach Boys vibe to them, both in the vocal harmonies, the production, and even the timbre of the lead vocal.  “Lion in a Coma” reeks of  India-influenced Beatles.  

Again, overall there were a lot of interesting sounds, and I'd be willing to check out their other albums that come 'into my orbit' but they're not a band that are on my mind much (cool album cover though).

 

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 0893 - The Slim Shady LP

Eminem "The Slim Shady LP" (1999)

Eminem/Slim Shady/Marshall Mathers' story has already been told (in broad strokes) via the film "8 Mile":  Poor, working class white kid in a predominantly black neighbourhood, falls in love with hip-hop and builds up his skill in  underground rap battles.

Mathers released the relatively straight-ahead  hip-hop album "Infinite" which was a commercial failure and led to some DJs suggesting that as a white guy he should stick to 'rock'.   Mathers channelled his anger and frustration into a new persona Slim Shady, an angry-yet-mischievous alter ego who could and would say anything Mathers wanted him to say.

The character was a success, after an EP release, Mathers got to work with N.W.A.'s Dr Dre of whom he was a fan.   The pair worked well together, with beats by Dre inspiring Em.   The arrangements are mostly just stripped back to bass and beats while Mathers is rapping, but with lots of interesting bits and pieces going on in between.    

The album opens with a pretty hefty 1-2 punch of "My Name is" and "Guilty Conscience", both solid tracks that introduce the new anarchic, angry Slim Shady (his voice even sounds different than from on "Infinite") who was also an engaging storyteller.  

Where Will Smith released "Just the two of us" as a loving ode to fatherhood, Eminem's track "97' Bonnie and Clyde" previously also titled "Just the two of us" is a horror story of making his daughter unwitting accessory to murder.   The horror theme feels like it's continued on "Rock Bottom" the backing track of which sounds akin to old giallo soundtracks, maybe something from Morricone.

Mathers' first album sold around 1,000 copies.  Though he would come to largely retire the Slim Shady character as he matured, Slim helped him sell millions of copies of this second album and essentially put him on the musical map.

Day 0892 - Le Tigre

Le Tigre "Le Tigre" (1999)

Le Tigre - not just one of Derek Zoolander's many varied looks.

After the breakup of her riot grrrl (90s feminist punk movement) band Bikini Kill, Kathleen Hanna released a solo album under the name Julie Ruin.   She put together a band with Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning to play the album live but they soon moved beyond that and began making music together.

The abrasive punk of Bikini Kill is less prominent here, outside of the odd track like "The The Empty".  There is still that coiled spring energy but it's channelled into much catchier (though still rocking and lo-fi) danceable fare, like opener "Deceptacon".  Or there's "Hot Topic" which name-checks a number of notable creative people in a way that works as almost a kind of beat poetry.   "My My Metrocard" has kitschy 60s, Austin Powers-esque organ over a shouted punchy groove.

The whole thing has a retro feel to it that seems like it's referencing catchy  50s and 60s pop-rock but without sounding specific to that period thanks to its underlying raw power and punk attitude.

Day 0853 - Butterfly

Mariah Carey "Butterfly" (1997)

For album number 6, Mariah dialled back her usual vocal acrobatics and explored some other genres outside of her pop ballad sound with the help of a bevvy of collaborators, including Puff Daddy, Missy Elliott and Q-Tip.   Those names don't diminish Mariah's own role in her creative path though.  She had been slowly pulling away from the influence of her controlling husband, Sony Music executive Tommy Mottola (who she broke up with around this time) to take a few creative risks and court the hip-hop/RnB market a bit more.

There is still straight ahead-diva pop like the choir-backed title track, but there's also the RnB of "The Roof (back in time)" and "Baby Doll", the collaboration with the brilliant Bone Thugs-n-Harmony "Breakdown" and even a stonking rendition of "The Beautiful Ones" from Prince's "Purple Rain" album.

Mariah's not an artist that I spent a lot of time investigating in the 90s, and this is still not my favourite style of music, but this is a strong album, and obviously she has an incredible voice.

Day 0685 - Loveless

My Bloody Valentine "Loveless" (1991)

Another enjoyable late-era shoe-gaze album.  Funnily enough, I didn't think too much of this on first listen, but then I gave it another go through headphones and it kind of clicked for me.  Not sure if this is just headphone music, or if I just needed time to get on board with it.

The band spend a lot of time (and money) experimenting with sounds and studio techniques and I'd say it's paid off.  The sounds are almost orchestral, there's a wall of sound that is most likely guitar but (full credit to them) I can't tell for sure.   There's enough melody tucked away in there as well that it's not complete drone.

Day 0623 - Isn't Anything

My Bloody Valentine "Isn't Anything" (1988)

The band had produced a few EPs, had some line-up changes and then buckled down to produce this, their first full-length album.

The description in the book sounded really interesting.  It said that they would pile effects on the guitars, and then take the clean guitar signal out of the mix, leaving only the guitar-shaped outline of the effects.   It has its moments, but the overall effect is just of a slightly more aurally interesting take on the shoegazer sound.  Perfectly listenable, but not something I would specifically seek to revisit.

Day 0514 - Rio

Duran Duran "Rio" (1982)

Perhaps the band that most typified the vibe of the 80s pop scene: synth-heavy new-romanticism with a touch of white-boy funk; glossy, high-production music videos in high rotation on MTV, depicting the band as sophisticated, jet-setting young men with the world at their feet.

I have a Duran Duran greatest hits album and half of these tracks are on it, which to my mind suggests that this is a solid album.  I would say that something like "Save a prayer" even though it's steeped in 80s-ness still sounds quite contemporary.  Likewise, the last track "The Chauffeur" is a nice gradual piece that wouldn't sound out of place on the radio today.

Day 0196 - All Things Must Pass

George Harrison "All Things Must Pass" (1970) - got it

 
George Harrison must have had the worst case of musical blue balls working under Lennon/McCartney, because he shot forth a triple album!

I was always a fan of George's Beatles songs, and similarly his solo work doesn't disappoint.  Even across 3 LPs there is pleasingly little (to my ears) that seems like filler, with a range of sounds being explored, all with the help of Clapton and his 'Derek and the Dominoes' band.  The album also features Billy Preston, the Organ maestro from the Let it Be/Get Back sessions.