Day 0956 - Destroy Rock n Roll

Mylo "Destroy Rock n Roll" (2004)

The book heaps praise on Mylo, stating "Everbody loves Mylo" and in my usual contrary way I went in ready to hate it.    Truth be told it was okay though.   I wouldn't say I 'love' Milo, but I can certainly hear some value in what he does.

It's all upbeat dance music with an ear for pop.  A few of the earlier tracks have a kitschy sound that almost brings to mind St Étienne.

"Guilty of Love" and "Otto's Journey" have a bright, shiny 1980s pop vibe to them, while "Paris Four Hundred" feels like it would fit in alongside many of the big electro aritsts of the late-90s/early-00s.   

The title track seems to just be a spoken-word roll-call of different famous artists.   Kind of reminds me of a disco version of Tomahawk's "Harlem Clowns".   "Rikki" has a glitchy but still electro-pop sound, like a dance version of what the Shortwave Set would attempt with their "The Debt Collection" album a few years later.

Day 0570 - The Last of the True Believers

Nanci Griffith "The Last of the True Believers" (1986)

I was not familiar with Nanci before this list.  She doles out a style of alt-country and folk that largely still sounds contemporary, due to artists such as Wilco and Beck continuing to tap into the same vein. 

A couple of these songs were covered (with slightly more commercial success) by singer Kathy Mattea, but these original versions are great, as is the whole album.  If you're into interesting country, this is as good a place as any to start.

Day 0498 - The Message

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five "The Message" (1982)

 
One of the first 'rap' albums, though this is packed with everything from funk, soul and almost krautrock grooves with robot voices over it. 

It's similar to a few of the early hip hop records, both in its socially conscious (if sometimes mildly homophobic and misogynist) lyrics, and its magpie-like approach to creating musical tracks.

Day 0267 - The Rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

David Bowie "The Rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" (1972) - got it

As with a few of the albums on the list, I didn't really need to listen to this one specifically for the 1001 albums thing, because it's indelibly printed on my synapses.  Having said that... I'll take any excuse to listen to some Bowie.

It's a lush, interesting, and immaculately crafted pop album.  All the more impressive that (aside from some sax and trumpet) it is pretty much just the standard "drums, bass, guitar, piano/keyboard and vocals".  Speaking of the vocals, they do really feel like they help to flesh out the arrangements.  Much of the shift from 'intimate' to 'grandiose' that comes when the choruses of "Starman" kick in comes from Bowie swinging between octaves in best "Somewhere over the rainbow" fashion.

Bowie's voice is sometimes gentle and confessional, sometimes brash and glammy, occasionally desperate and howling.  'Five years' has an almost Marlene Dietrich feel to it.  There's the gospel feel of 'It ain't easy', and 'Rock n roll suicide' might be the most perfect album closer ever conceived, going from a burnt out acoustic jam and building to a cathartic crescendo.

With the quality of music, it's no wonder that this album was a success in the US and UK, and lednew fans back to "Hunky Dory" and other previous releases.

Bowie reinvented himself and, with his androgynous alien persona, reinvented the idea of what a rock star could be. The black and white photo tinted after the fact just adds to the sci-fi/alien vibe that Bowie is putting out.