Day 0897 - Remedy

Basement Jaxx "Remedy" (1999)

I love the Jaxx! I don’t own a lot of their albums (a greatest hits and “Crazy Itch Radio”) but I enjoy everything I’ve heard from them and have used them as inspiration for some of my own forays into electronic (pop) music.   So with that in mind, when I saw one of their albums on the list, I was definitely keen to check it out.  I wasn't disappointed.

Jaxx felt that a lot of electronic music was a bit too shiny and superficial, and certainly their music (the 'remedy' to this) seeks to make you shake your thang, but with fun and interesting music with enough hooks to appeal to a broader audience rather than just existing ravers and club-goers.

There's the body-moving "Jump N Shout", the moody triphop of "Always be There" and the electro pop of "Rendez Vu" with its propulsive acoustic guitar break.

The Jaxx quirkiness is on display with the funky "U Can't Stop Me", the twitchy "Bingo Bango" and the chanted chorus of "Same Old Show".

The album ends on a subdued, smooth grooving fingersnapping note with "Being With U" and there's enough of a mix of genres that you don't really come away feeling like there's a single wasted track on the whole thing.

Day 0607 - Bad

Michael Jackson "Bad" (1987)

My sister used to crank this album on a regular basis shortly after its release, and I remember out-and-out hating it.  I quite like it now, and I'm not sure if my tastes have just changed over time, or if back then my 1990s contrariness was just rearing its head a little early.

Jacko, together with producer Quincy Jones, had produced 2 amazingly successful albums in 'Off the Wall' and 'Thriller'.  With Thriller having been the highest selling album of all time (still is), it was a bit of a difficult act to follow.  Despite the weight of expectation, they come out firing with what is a brilliant (if somewhat over-polished) collection of songs.

The songs continues Jacko's mix of funk-rock (Smooth Criminal), cheese-rock and weepy soul (I Just Can't Stop Loving You).  He got right into the tough guy roll hinted at by the title track, donning his leathers with more buckles and zips than had been seen on an album cover before.

Whether or not this music is up to the standard of his previous couple of releases is up for debate; either way, it's a solid collection of songs.   Certainly from this point on, success  (presumably also fuelled by his messed up childhood) started to warp him into a crazy, monkey-toting, plastic-surgery-getting weirdo, whose music could still stoke the fires every now and then; but didn't really continue to hit the same heights.

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.