Day 0919 - Music

Madonna "Music" (2000)

I've already gushed on about Madonna's virtues as a chameleonic creative force in my entry about "Ray of Light" (day 869) so here I'll just focus on this album itself.

Following the critical success of "Ray of Light", Madonna had been keeping busy.  She'd done some more acting and released a couple of songs for movies soundtracks ("Beautiful Stranger" for 'Austin Powers' and a cover of "American Pie" for the film 'the Next Best Thing' which she had starred in).   Looking to get started on her new album she teamed up with producer William Orbit again but also brought in French electronic artist Mirwais who had attracted her attention when he submitted a demo to her record label.

The two producers definitely put this release in the electronic zone but their differing styles help set it apart from her previous release and keep things interesting.

The opening, self-titled track has a (for the time) contemporary sound to compete with all the Britneys and Christinas of the time.  

The sort of 'digital cowgirl' vibe of the album (personified by the cover photo with Madonna in a stylish Stetson) is showcased on peppy single "Don't Tell Me" and the sombre alt-country-with-a-beat of "I Deserve it".   "Nobody's Perfect" shows the other side of the album's sound, all slinky groove, synths and auto-tune vocals... it doesn't feel cold though, despite the technology.  It has heart.            

The album closes off with the cover of "American Pie" a cover that feels somehow ill-judged and yet hearing the lyrics from Madonna's mouth, it almost feels like it could have been written for her.

Day 0737 - New Wave

The Auteurs “New Wave” (1993)

The Auteurs were started by then couple Luke Haines and Alice Redman with former classmate Glenn Collins.  They put together a demo and were quickly signed to Hut Records.  “New Wave” was their first full-length release.

The entry in the book talks about them being progenitors of ‘Britpop’… but then, as frequently happens with genres or musical movements, several albums in the book have been given this honour.   I do find it interesting that so many of these musical movements can spring up like this, with multiple different bands all relatively independently arriving at similar musical destinations.

While I was living in the UK there seemed to be this trend towards artists who ruminated on everyday things (the Streets, Arctic Monkeys) whereas I’ve always preferred more obscure lyrics that maybe use a bit of clever or creative wordplay.   This band seems to have a more cinematic/theatrical vibe, such as on opening track "Show Girl" with the crashing, flashy intro suddenly vanishing into a quietly subdued verse.  The arrangements are bit more interesting than straight-ahead ‘rawk n roll’ and I could certainly hear similarities between this band and artists like Blur or Suede (Supergrass at a stretch).

While I won’t say they’re my new favourite band, I do think they are an artist that requires further investigation.  

Day 0629 - California

American Music Club "California" (1988)

The book outlines this as being an 'Americana' album before that was really established as a genre.  There is certainly a very American mix of genres here, with country featuring prominently, along with alt-country, rock, and a touch of what is almost psychobilly ("Bad Liquor"). 

The band had been compared (by themselves too) to R.E.M. so they were a little surprised to see that band take off mainstream while they themselves did not.  They resolved to record in a different, more mellow style this time around.

Really quite enjoyed this album, nice mix of styles: "Western Sky" almost has a Smiths kind of thing going on.  "Jenny" (much like my wife, with the same name) is gorgeous.  A delicate, sombre acoustic ballad.  "Somewhere" has a bit of a Springsteen flavour to it... maybe Springsteen-meets-REM.

The album is mostly low-key, mellow, with production geared to create mood around the sparse arrangements.   A few livelier tracks keep things spicy.

Day 0430 - GI

The Germs "(GI)" (1979) - got it

 
The band kicked off their first show in 1977; lead singer Darby Crash was dead of a drug overdose 3 years later.  In that time they built up a fierce live reputation and recorded this stonkingly good punk album.

Darby Crash is like Johnny Rotten, Henry Rollins and the Ramones thrown into a blender and spat on, then spat out.  Venomous, yet cartoonish. Pat Smear's riffs are killer, and it's a pity that this side of his sound doesn't really come out with Foo Fighters, but then I guess that's "Dave's band".

A great punk album, full of attitude, noise and... interestingly enough turns out it was produced by Joan Jett!

Favourite track "Richie's Dagger's Crime"

Day 0005 - This is Fats

Fats Domino "This is Fats!" (1957)

...not to be mistaken with his 1956 album "This is Fats Domino"

I listened to this one a few years back when I first had a look at the '1001' albums book and remember thinking it was maybe a bit samey.  Certainly, when you compare it to the albums released in the mid-late 60s sure it can seem a bit limited with similar blues basslines being the core of pretty much every song; but then you get a mix of ballads and more upbeat numbers and something like "the fat man's hop" which has an almost middle-eastern vibe to the horn arrangements!  I've come to appreciate the subtleties a bit more.

"Blueberry Hill" will always have a special place in my heart because when we'd go on family holidays my parents had these compilation albums 'Cruisin' Classics' and that song was a favourite from it. According to the book, Blueberry Hill was never successfully recorded in the studio and was plagued with issues.  They couldn't find the sheet music, then once things were underway Fats kept forgetting the lyrics so they ended up cutting and pasting several aborted takes together after the fact.