Day 0841 - Dig Your Own Hole

Chemical Brothers "Dig Your Own Hole" (1997)

The Brothers Chemical (not their real names, I checked) moved quickly to follow up the success of their debut “Exit Planet Dust”.   They released the EP “Loops of Fury” in 1996 and plunged on with work for their second LP.

Electronic music is not my first love, but even I find this to be an exciting collection of tracks.   From the staccato opening bassline and punchy, ever-changing beats of opener “Block Rockin’ Beats” the album takes you on a journey of big funky bass (“Get up on it Like This” and “Lost in the K-Hole”), quirky 'found sound' laden dance tracks "Piku", to psychedelic looped soundscapes (“Setting Sun” “Where Do I Begin”).  

 The album features guest vocals from Beth Orton and Oasis’ Noel Gallagher.  The latter had met the Brothers (y’know what, they have different names… I’m not even sure they are legitimately related) and complimented them on “Exit Planet Dust”.   They contacted him about singing on the track “Setting Sun” and the result was reminiscent enough of the Beatles' groundbreaking track "Tomorrow Never Knows" that that band's lawyer attempted to sue the Brothers (you know what, they don't even look alike... really don't think they're related) for sampling it... they hadn't.

The album was another success and the brothers (y'know what, maybe it's not strictly familial, more of a term of endearment) were soon in hot demand as remixers, as well as continuing to make great music of their own.

Day 0488 - Talk Talk Talk

The Psychedelic Furs "Talk Talk Talk" (1981)

An 80s band that managed to bridge the gap between the mainstream and underground pop scenes.  Melding melodic guitar lines and catchy saxophone, with a bit of punk directness showing up on some track.  The vocals seem to run somewhere between the ragged drawl of Shane McGowan and the snarl of Lou Reed.   The lyrics are anti-love and more focussed on sex for sex's sake, with penultimate track "I wanna sleep with you" feeling particularly aurally 'climactic'.

The track "Pretty in pink" had something of a resurgence in popularity after John Hughes used it in his film of the same name.

Day 0253 - Clube Da Esquina

Milton Nascimento and Lo Borges "Clube Da Esquina" (1972)

Another album that I had checked out when I first read the "1001 albums" book around 2009 or so.  The description of it as a "Brazilian Sgt Pepper" was just too good to pass up.

Milton, Lo, and their compatriots were members of the Tropicalia movement, and had come together to write, and to bond over their love of the Beatles.  That mutual creativity and collaboration leading to this collection of great melodies, unexpected changes, and lush arrangements.

The 60s may have been dead, but thankfully Brazil was still keeping it alive at this point.

Day 0160 - Stand!

Sly and the Family Stone "Stand!" (1969) - got it

This has got to be one of the first serious 'funk' albums.  Those beats.  Dat bass.  Those horns. Sly and the family are one of those bands that have always been on my radar but I've never quite got around to checking them out properly.

A mixture of races and genders coming together to make great music, and one of the earliest bands to mix upbeat funky 'party' music with serious political commentary.  Great stuff, and as the "got it" at the top implies, I ended up picking up a copy of the album as a result of listening to it.

Day 0159 - Cloud Nine

The Temptations "Cloud Nine" (1969)

 
Love the Temptations, I only have a greatest hits, so some of this was new to me. The Temps got teamed up with a new lead singer and a hot producer who wanted to take them new places, moving beyond the standard motown sound to throw in some looser, slinkier funk beats and some whicky whicky wah wah guitar.  It's great stuff, and suits the Temps' vocal harmonies and passionate lead vocals down to the ground.
 

Day 0129 - Caetano Veloso

Caetano Veloso "Caetano Veloso" (1968)

 
Groovy and quirky, Veloso was at the head of the 'Tropicalia' movement, playing highbrow art pop psychedelic bossa-nova.  He was hated by the dictatorship in Brazil and was forced out of the country to live in exile in the UK (which just made him seem cooler to the various anti-establishment types who were attracted to him at the time).  Veloso went on to become hugely popular with artists in the UK and US such as David Byrne and Beck.

Great album.

Day 0112 - Os Mutantes

Os Mutantes "Os Mutantes" (1968) - got it

The original Mutantes line-up centred around the three Baptista brothers, one of whom didn't really perform, but built a lot of the band's electronic instruments.

They took the popular Brazilian music forms such as bossa-nova and jammed it together with the mod and psychedelic music of the US and UK, and to be honest, kind of made something better than a lot of those bands were able to.

The Mutantes ended up being hated for a time in their homeland (along with much of the 'Tropicalia' movement) by conservatives for their outlandish, hippy appearance, and by bossa nova aficionados for their subversion of the genre.

As a complete aside, I saw the Mutantes live at a festival in 2008.  They were the last act that night, so were allowed to play for over 2 hours.  Nobody wanted them to stop, it was a brilliant and magical show!

Day 055 - Rubber Soul

The Beatles "Rubber Soul" (1965) - got it

Wow, 1965 was obviously a decent year for music (not like smelly old 1961), including as it does, this... contender for best Beatles album?

It manages somehow to be hugely varied, yet it still feels like it has a kind of uniform sound.  Possibly the only weak song is the country cover with Ringo on vocals.  Even that's not 'bad', and kind of makes a nice counterpoint to the baroque pop and increasingly psychedelic mod rock that makes up much of the rest of the album.  So many brilliant songs, I was going to list the great ones but it's pretty much all of them.  My one gripe (and it's only a small one) is around sequencing: "In my life" would have made a great album closer, rather than being jammed in the middle of the second side.

Apparently this was one of the first albums released in the US to not feature the artist's name on the cover... I guess at this point, they didn't have to.  It also adds to the enigmatic vibe of the album.