Day 1001 & a 1/2: Postscript

I named my blog after '2001 a Space Odyssey', and much like the Kubrick film of the same name, I feel as though I’ve gone through a dizzying, disorienting kaleidoscope and come out the other side as an old man and with a baby floating around somewhere in the mix. 

My copy of the book also looks like it's seen some sh*t.   The dust cover is missing, presumed dead, the spine has been ripped off and the whole thing is scarred with coffee rings, because I'm a slob.

 Though I've been listening to, writing and posting stuff about these albums in different places at different times, I believe I listened to the first album (Sinatra "In the Wee Small Hours") around 1 June 2016 and finished up Bowie's "The Next Day" 4 December 2020.   At the time Jenni commented that it would be weird that I'm not doing the 1001 any more because I'd been doing it the entire time she'd known me at that point.

I have loved this experience though.  It has opened my ears to new music, it's made me reassess bands I maybe made some unfair assumptions about, and even made me listen more intently than I have for a while to some old favourites (I often find myself becoming more and more of a passive listener as I get older).  I've enjoyed the experience of always having something lined up to listen to while at the same time being relaxed enough about it that I could totally blow it off if there was something outside the list that I'd prefer listening to at any given time.

My music collection has been added to throughout as I've been turned on to new things, and while there are lots of albums I'd deem more deserving to be in the list, and one or two albums on the list were 'just okay', there have been few stinkers.

As the old adage goes, "talking/writing about music is like dancing about architecture" so I'll sign off here and go play some more music.... I'll probably still talk about it though.

Day 1001 - The Next Day

David Bowie “The Next Day” (2013)

So we come to the end of the road, and how appropriate that the list should end with the late-great Mr Bowie.  An artist who transcended genres, genders and seemingly even planets, and was active for nearly all of the decades represented in this list.

This was the first album Bowie had released since 2003’s “Reality” album.  He had suffered a mild heart attack during the tour for that album and had largely slid out of sight.   For his return he decided to make it a surprise, swearing his band to secrecy.   Perhaps he was less confident, it seems to have been a stop-start process.  There were initial jam sessions between Bowie, his producer Tony Visconti and Bowie's drummer, then Bowie sat with those recordings for some time.   They then got back together and Bowie started drafting in his band to flesh out the ideas.

The album was preceded by the single "Where Are We Now?" which seems like a relatively safe choice with its classic Bowie ballad sound.

Much of the rest of the album takes an art-rock approach that seems to simultaneously reference multiple eras of Bowie while also breaking new ground.  There's the Tom Waits-esque bump and grind of "Dirty Boys",  the speedy, quirk of "If You Can See Me" and the baggy-meets-Beatles of "I'd Rather Be High".

There's a bit of saxophone on some tracks like "Boss of Me" which, mixed with the bass guitar, gives the album a pleasing bit of bottom end.

This is a worthy addition to Bowie's catalogue, though I much prefer Bowie's follow-up/final album "Blackstar".  That album seemed to perfect the sound put forward by "Next Day" with some better songs and so much more weight and emotion... (hard to tell if that opinion is coloured by his death or if I would have felt the same otherwise) and also seemed a summation of Bowie's work.

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 0999 - Blunderbuss

Jack White "Blunderbuss" (2012)

Jack White didn't really need another project, what with the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, the Dead Weather, and his various production jobs.   But it was during one of these 'hired hand' recording gigs where an artist didn't show up and White started using the band he'd assembled to record some of his own compositions instead.    It sounds as though he enjoyed the experience of being able to direct musicians to play what he wanted instead of having to work around other bandmates' ideas and wants, and that process led to this album.

The album starts in familiar enough territory for White with some rocking tracks, but mellows as it goes.  The title track is a nice string-backed country-tinged 3/4 piece, whereas "Trash Tongue Talker" picks up the pace again and has the bouncy hollerin' blues of mid-era Rolling Stones.

"Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy" almost sounds like it could have fit on Paul Simon's "Gracelands" album with its acoustic guitar and bouncy rhythm.  "On and On" is a mellow, rolling, piano-backed groove.   Closer "Take Me With You When You Go" starts with thick vocal harmonies over a Dave Brubeck-esque jazzy groove which eventually moves into a Southern Rock vibe.

It really feels like White took a lot of stuff that he'd learned from his various projects and put it on display here. I'm still not a Jack White fanatic by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd certainly listen to this again if someone else put it on.

Day 0998 - Django Django

Django Django “Django Django” (2012)

The group produced a single each year from 2009-2011 but took their time on releasing this, their debut full-length.

I was kind of interested in this one, having not even heard of this band, but with the book describing them as incorporating a multitude of styles in quite a cohesive way.  I also found it interesting (though not sure if this would directly influence their music) that the members hailed from Scotland, Ireland and Yorkshire in England.

From the opening intro track the mix of styles is born out with sounds like Morricone but with synthesizers and weightier percussion and then picks up some some 80s new-wavey flavoured vocals and synths with clean guitars.   It moves through ping-pong vocals and propulsive guitars in "Default" to a laidback 60s vibe of the bass, drums and acoustic guitar.

“Zumm Zumm” mixes folky vocal harmonies with jaunty fuzzy dance bass and almost 'world music' beats.

“Life is a Beach” almost has a kind of cheesy 60s beach movie sound to it but with 60s folk vocal harmonies and reasonably subtle melodic hints of middle-eastern and classical music.
"Skies Over Cairo" with its chanty Middle-Eastern-to-a-beat almost sounds like a poppier take on Mr Bungle's "Desert Search For Techno Allah" (high praise from a Bungle fan).   I feel like the Bungle guys would also appreciate album closer "Silver Rays" with its 60s surf-style production and Brian Wilson via the 80s sound that seems like a sunnier take on the sound of Mini Mansions.

My feel on it is that they've drawn from the previous 5 decades of music but with the lion's share of the sound coming from the 60s with 00s technology making it more contemporary.   I'd definitely be keen to check out more from these guys.

Day 0997 - Channel Orange

Frank Ocean "Channel Orange" (2012)

Frank was studying at the University of New Orleans and working on his songwriting when Hurricane Katrina destroyed his home and recording setup.  He moved to Los Angeles, worked a number of jobs and established himself as a songwriter, writing for artists like John Legend and Justin Bieber.

After a run as part of a hip-hop collective, and a songwriting gig with Def Jam records, Frank self-released a mix-tape of him singing over other artists' songs.   The release blew up and Def Jam worked with Frank to release an album of his own material.

"Channel Orange" features collaborations with John Mayer, Andre 3000 and Pharrell Williams.  The book makes comparisons to Stevie Wonder and Prince, and those seem apt.   He has that 'soul mixed with good songwriting and embracing of technology' of Stevie, and the funk and sexuality of Prince.

"Crack Rock" "Bad Religion" and "Pink Matter" were my favourites.   "Bad Religion" in particular feels like it blends the Prince/Wonder influences perfectly.

In the album Ocean told of his unrequited love of a young man when he was in his teens which, given the more than occasional homophobia found in hip-hop, was a pretty damned brave thing to do.  It would have been worthy of inclusion in the list just for that, but the music earns its place too.

Day 0996 - In Our Heads

Hot Chip “In Our Heads” (2012)

I first became aware of Hot Chip through the quirky video for their single “Over and Over”… I do seem to pick up on a lot of music that way.  I think, even though I’m a big music fan, audio alone doesn’t always grab me.  I seem to connect more to music when I have a visual ‘hook’.

The album featuring that song was their second release “The Warning”.  This is their fifth album and finds them dealing in a similar brand of intellectual, geeky, catchy electro-pop

The album veers between being so derivatively 80s (such as on “Don’t Deny Your Heart”) that if someone said “I’m sure I saw these guys open for Duran Duran on their Rio tour” it’d be understandable.  Elsewhere on “Look at Where We Are” they sound completely contemporary with a gentle soul song with clean guitar over a subdued beat.   Mostly though they fall halfway between those extremes, 80s sounds and styles with enough modern touches to keep it from being a straight copy.   "Night and Day" changes things up a bit with an aggressive groove to it that sounds like it's come from the mid-late 90s dance scene.

The band’s three vocalists give them a little extra scope too so they can have vocal harmonies going or interplay between the three of them like on “Let Me Be Him”.    

Hot Chip are kind of on that borderline where I like what they do but can't quite muster enough enthusiasm to purchase any of their albums.