Day 0925 - Gold

Ryan Adams "Gold" (2001)

I have to admit that my earlier prejudice against Adams (as per my write-up for "Heartbreaker", day 902) was definitely unfounded.   This is another good album, this time in an alt-country vibe with more than a few nods to the rootsy folky rock of The Band.

Adams had wanted to make it a double album but his record company cut the last few songs and offered them up as a bonus disc on some versions of the album.   They would later refuse to release albums Adams had recorded and tore 3-4 potential albums to pieces in order to put together the next album they released... so much for artistic freedom.

"Gold" is at least a collection of songs that Adams wanted to present together.   It opens with the peppy "New York, New York" which got a lot of airplay after the September 11 attacks (which occurred just a few days after Adams filmed his music video in front of the NY skyline).   "Answering Bell" sounded familiar to me, and "When the Stars go Blue" is just lovely.   

 

The last track "Goodnight, Hollywood Boulevard" seems an appropriate closer with its piano and strings putting forward an 'end of night' feel.

Day 0820 - Being There

Wilco "Being There" (1996)

Following the dissolution of his band Uncle Tupelo, Jeff Tweedy and the majority of his bandmates formed the new band Wilco.

 

Initially Wiclo carried on Uncle Tupelo's alt-country sound, but with this, their second album they branched out, both stylistically (genres) and sonically (production).   The opening track "Misunderstood" mixes mellow piano with loud, fuzzy guitar... kind of starting off by letting you know that this is going to be a different kettle of fish.  There is brash rock in "Monday" which, with its bluesy rock and sassy horns doesn't sound a million miles from the Rolling Stones.  

The album is not without its alt-country tracks though.  "What's the world got in store" is a nice bit of banjo heavy balladry.   "Red-eyed and blue" is a beautiful song with almost a sort of jazzy undertone to its mellow country.  The bridge features an atmospheric roomy sounding whistle solo (love a good a whistle solo).  

The penultimate track "The lonely 1" starts with lush strings, letting you think that the album will end on a gentle emotive tack, until the closing track "Dreamer in my Dreams" comes crashing in with its raunchy honky tonk and rocks you out to the close.

A double album and probably a bit long for me, but another one where there no songs I actively disliked and I could happily listen to this in bits and pieces (my wife has a few Wilco albums so this one might even be around the house somewhere).   Actually it'd probably be quite a good road-trip album with its mix of reflective and rocking tracks.

Day 0811 - Dr Octagonecologyst

Dr Octagon "Dr Octagonecologyst" (1996)

Originally a founding member of Ultramagnetic MCs, Kool Keith started working on solo material.  He completed a couple of tracks with collaborator Kutmasta Kurt which they sent out to radio stations and local DJs.   The tracks got into the hands of producer Dan 'the Automator' Nakamura who came on board and recorded the album with the two KKs in his home studio in his parents' basement.

It's a concept album featuring (particularly for a rap album) surreal lyrics about Kool Keith's alter-ego, a time-travelling gynaecologist Dr Octagon.   Though Keith would go on to downplay the input of Kurt and the Automator on the sound of the album, Nakamura is a sorely underappreciated producer.   From his own projects such as Handsome Boy Modelling School, Lovage and Got a Girl, to his production work for bands like Kasabian and Head Automatica, to his collaborative work such as Peeping Tom, the first Gorillaz album and several projects with Del tha Funky Homosapien.

The music here is inventively produced, loaded with film samples, and cinematic production, mixing strings, sci-fi/horror cues and interesting beats.

I'd say that as a fan of the Automator I wanted to like it more than I did.  I enjoyed the music and didn't actively dislike Keith's rhymes but for some reason the whole thing didn't really 'capture' me.

Day 0628 - Shadowland

k.d. lang "Shadowland" (1988)

Lang's previous work with the Reclines had raised eyebrows and left a few country fans unsure of what to make of its mix of styles occasional sense of humour, and Lang's own androgynous style.  Luckily it also attracted the attention of Patsy Cline's long-time producer Owen Bradley.  Bradley came out of retirement to take Lang under his wing and help her fashion her first solo album.

The album is still not a straight country album, "Busy being blue" lives up to its name.  "Black Coffee" also has a kind of jazzy blues to it.  There's the beautiful string-laden country of "Tears don't care who cries them" which recalls Roy Orbison (who Lang has also worked with).  Tracks like "Lock, stock and teardrops", "Sugar Moon" and "(Waltz me) once again around the dancefloor" though have a pleasingly straight-ahead honky tonk country sound to them.

Day 0621 - The Trinity Session

Cowboy Junkies "The Trinity Session" (1988)

The Cowboy Junkies were something of a family affair, formed by lifelong friends Alan Anton and Michael Timmins, and eventually also featuring Michael's brother Peter on drums, and their sister Margo on vocals.

Margo was originally plagued with shyness, recording her vocals with her back to the rest of the band.

This album was recorded with the band grouped around one microphone in Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity (thus the album's title).  The result is a beautiful album of minimalistic, intimate country tracks.  A mixture of  original tracks and covers ranging from Hank Williams to Lou Reed.

Day 0615 - Idlewild

Everything But the Girl "Idlewild" (1988)

Everything But the Girl named themselves after a department store advertisement that proclaimed it could provide all your bedroom needs "...everything but the girl".   Despite the skeezy origin of their name, they made beautiful, sultry and soulful music.

I was more familiar with EBtG's later more electronic-tinged music, but this was really nice.  Their soulful tunes are given a vaguely jazzy flavour due to the horn section.   Smooth as silk.

Day 0609 - The Joshua Tree

U2 "The Joshua Tree" (1987) - got it

Love or hate them, this really is U2 at the height of their powers.  They still had their earnestness and honesty, but hadn't become insufferably preachy.  They had mastered their instruments and embraced studio technology without being overly reliant on it.  With one Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois-produced album (the Unforgettable Fire) under their belt, they had found their groove with the producers and were able to trust them and take risks with their sound.

I'd obviously heard a lot of this music (even before I'd bought the album), but I was still pleasantly surprised what a strong overall 'package' the album is.  You have the awesome pop trio of "where the streets have no name" "Still haven't found what I'm looking for" and "With or without you" followed on by the atmospheric rock of "Bullet the blue sky".  The quality doesn't dip on the second side with "Red Hill mining town" and the NZ-inspired "One Tree Hill".

As someone who isn't a rabid U2 fan, but appreciates parts of their oeuvre, I would still point to this as their pinnacle.   Passion meeting studio-savvy without getting too far up their own arses in either of those aspects.

Day 0538 - Purple Rain

Prince & the Revolution "Purple Rain" (1984) - got it

Prince set aside his sleazy synth-funk to put forward his pop opus, "Purple Rain".  This soundtrack to Prince's semi-autbiographical film of the same name would go on to become the third highest selling soundtrack (such as it was) of all time.

Prince lays down some catchy tunes with his usual ear for skilled and effective musical arrangements, overlaid with his wild, desperate vocals.  This was Prince's shot at the bigtime so he even set about cleaning up his sex-heavy lyrics... mostly.  He couldn't help himself, so the beautiful, melodic "Darling Nikki" features reference to masturbating with a magazine and (apparently) helped kickstart the "Parental Advisory" stickers that Al Gore's wife and her 'good taste' crusaders spearheaded.

Interestingly, the title track was originally aimed to be a country song, and a duet with Stevie Nicks.  She said that Prince sent her a 10 minute instrumental demo with a request for her to write lyrics, but she balked at the task.  It was eventually reworked as the epic psychedelic gospel pop rock track that it is.

Day 0521 - A Walk Across the Rooftops

The Blue Nile "A Walk Across the Rooftops" (1983)

According to the book, being a fan of Blue Nile requires only patience.  The albums are all pretty similar but it takes them at least 5 years between releases.  Apparently even in being offered a recording deal it took them several months to come back with an answer for their record company.

There was a persistent story that the band had been commissioned to make an album by a company wanting to show off their hi-fi equipment and that the recording so impressed the company that they formed a record label to release the album.  Apparently though that is not true and the company had already released one or two things already; but it makes for a nice story.

The sound of this album is reminiscent of a few other artists of this era, in that these are essentially soulful pop songs but just steeped in instrumentation and production techniques of the 80s that maybe make them cleaner and colder than they want to be.  I liked it well enough.

Day 0503 - the Rise and Fall

Madness "the Rise and Fall" (1982)

 
By this stage Madness had released 3 albums, a greatest hits collection, and (most importantly) had made the first of their two appearances on 'the Young Ones'.  Their fourth album is suitably sonically interesting.  Still working within their ska framework, but pushing that sound to its very limits with songs that alternatively bounce, cajole, swing, wallow, and reminisce.

'The Rise and Fall' was designed to be a concept album of sorts, looking at aspects of the band's childhood and upbringing, but that concept fell slightly by the wayside with tracks about New Delhi, and Margaret Thatcher ('Blue skinned beast') being included.  The latter of these two would signal a slightly more political bent in Madness' future albums.

At the moment I have a greatest hits album by Madness, but listening to this one has convinced me that I should probably explore their discography a bit more!

Day 0499 - Imperial Bedroom

Elvis Costello and the Attractions "Imperial Bedroom" (1982)

Costello was up to the grand total of 6 albums in 5 years, including raw rock n roll with a punk energy, a country album and an album of keyboard-heavy pop.

With the Beatles' engineer Geoff Emerick on board as producer, Elvis and co set down a platter of lush pop here, with arrangements ranging from smokey jazz blues to full-on Sgt Peppers-esque bouncy baroque pop.  Sonically, the band throws in everything from backwards guitars to horn sections.

As with previous Costello albums, I keep thinking that his prolific output is going to offer up a few duds, or at least 'middle of the road' fare... if it is, it's yet to show up, because this is a great album!

Day 0422 - Stardust

Willie Nelson "Stardust" (1978) - got it

Riding on the success of "Red Headed Stranger" Willie was given a reasonable degree of freedom by his record company.  But they must have still had their doubts when Willie went outside of his country background to release a collection of covers of classic tin pan alley songs.  It's a musical gamble that works though.  Willie seamlessly blends the jazzy tunes like "Georgia on my mind", "Blue skies", "Somebody to watch over me" and Moonlight in Vermont" with a hint of his country background, similar to the mix of styles that Norah Jones would later toy around with in her first two albums (but then it's known that she's a big Willie fan).

The real star here is Willie's voice.  It's so distinctive, somehow strong and frail at the same time.  He makes these familiar songs come alive in a new way. Will definitely keep an eye out for this one next time I'm out shopping.

*as you can see from the top of this post, I have since found a copy too

Day 0392 - Lust for Life

Iggy Pop "Lust for Life" (1977) - got it

Rawk! Since his days with the Stooges, the punk rock sound that they'd been chipping away at had come of age and started to find its way into the mainstream consciousness, which must have offered up some degree of vindication to Iggy.  This, mixed with his positive experience making "The Idiot" restored his confidence, and he felt comfortable shaking off the more prominent Bowie influences from his sound to produce another slice of gritty Stooges-esque rock but now with more of an underlying pop flavour.

The singles 'Lust for life' and 'the Passenger' feel like instant classics.  'Success' is a raging exorcism and 'Turn blue' is brilliant, drawn out bluesy jam.

The rhythm section for the album are brothers Hunt and Tony Sales, who would go on to become half of Bowie's (I feel unjustly) maligned Tin Machine band.

Day 0375 - Hard Again

Muddy Waters "Hard Again" (1977) - got it

Muddy let's everyone know how hard he is... thanks Mud'

Muddy had recently parted company with Chess Records after some 28 years and set out to prove that he still had it: spoiler: he did!

I find that the blues... I can take em or leave em. My issue with them is much the same as my problems with reggae, that there is some good material, but that over the runtime of an album it all starts to sound a bit 'samey'.  I belive that part of the draw with the blues is the stories, but as I don't spend much time listening to lyrics, that doesn't elevate the material at all for me.

With that all said, this album is at another level. Hard is in fact one of the better adjectives to describe these tracks, and the arrangements are pretty straightforward.  The vocals are unadorned and passionate, and this music rocks!  There are some tracks here that would give Hendrix a run for his money as far as rocking, deep-grooving blues go.

This is an album that I actually picked up as a result of listening to it for this list.

Day 0373 - Out of the Blue

Electric Light Orchestra "Out of the Blue" (1977)

Jeff Lynne once made the daring declaration that ELO would pick up where the Beatles left off but still presenting it on stage rather than being a studio-bound unit.

I was quite surprised to see that this was actually the 7th album by the band, they're a tad more prolific than I'd thought.  They're even prolific within the album itself, it's a double LP, over 70 minutes long and includes a 3-part 12+ minute 'concerto' that took up much of one of the sides.

This album sounds like the work of someone who could easily have 3 or 4 different bands on the go to explore all of his musical ideas, but I find it enjoyable to have the mix of elements such as rock, prog, classical, pop and even hints of disco all fighting for space on one album. I've always liked what I've heard from ELO. This album in particular sounds to me, almost like a meshing of the Beatles and 80s era Queen, among other things.

Day 0002 - Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley "Elvis Presley" (1956) got it

With some of these early albums by famous artists, I almost expect them to be a bit 'meh'.  It seems like they'll sound dated (especially with this album being recorded in different studios, years apart with many of the songs coming from Elvis' early sessions at Sun) or maybe a bit embryonic with the artist still finding their feet... but this album still sounds fresh, and vital right from the off.  From the jocular swagger of "one sided love affair" to the sweet and gentle rendition of "Blue Moon".

Whenever I listen to this album I feel like "yeah, I can see why he's referred to as 'the king'."
The music is accompanied by an appropriately lively album cover that would later by referenced by the Clash for 'London Calling'

Apparently this was the first rock n roll recording to enter the billboard charts... and so that whole thing began.

Day 0001 - in the Wee Small Hours

Frank Sinatara "In the Wee Small Hours" (1955) Got it

I once listened to this album on headphones while walking home on a moonlit night and it was freaking magical!

I'd read a biography of Nat King Cole that said Nat had helped the (at that stage) failed Sinatara, who had been dropped by his record company and had tried to commit suicide, to get his record deal with Capitol and helped put him together with composer/arranger Nelson Riddle.  Both of these moves essentially rejuvenated Frank's career and lead to the golden age of his career... (thanks Nat!)

This is (according to the book) is one of first, (if not the first ) longplaying 12" 'albums', and it is just a thing of beauty.  Riddle's sombre, delicate and imaginative arrangements and Sinatra's voice combine to make something that is #overusedphrase 'timeless'.