Day 0842 - Vanishing Point

Primal Scream "Vanishing Point" (1997)

I really enjoyed Primal Scream's "Screamadelica" album where they combined rock sounds, dance sounds, and the in between 'baggy' sound.   As much as I enjoy musical variety, I felt that some of the electronic tracks didn't really sit along the more guitar-based songs, possibly it's because it was a fairly new direction for the band and they hadn't quite worked out how to properly integrate everything.   Colour me pleased then that this album still mixes its sounds but seems to have found more of a balance across the album.

The album is named after a film of the same name that the band loved.   They felt that the film's score was a bit too much like hippy music for a film about speed-jacked cross-country car antics and sought to reimagine this at least for the track "Kowalski" (the main character).  

The album also manages to work in the trip-hoppy jazz of "Get Duffy", the rock sound of "Medication", the Krautrock of "Stuka", a slightly dance-infused cover of Motörhead's eponymous track, and the 60s-spy-music-evolving-into jazzy-trip-hop-voyage of penultimate track "Trainspotting".  

Excellent album, liking what I'm hearing and should probably check out at least the album between "Screamadelica" and "Vanishing Point" some time.

Day 0762 - Haunted Dancehall

Sabres of Paradise "Haunted Dancehall" (1994)

Producer and remixer Andrew Weatherall formed Sabres with engineers Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns.  The group made acid house and dub-based music and set up their own "Sabresonic" warehouse raves.

This is a sonically interesting album of largely (maybe completely, I'm forgetting) instrumental electronica.   There are some grimey dubby baselines, moody synth-lines, interesting beats, what sound like industrial/machine noises and even a brass band at one point.  

This album would work really well as a score/soundtrack: interesting, but not overwhelming.   Hypnotic, but not repetitive in any kind of boring way.

Day 0708 - Slanted and Enchanted

Pavement "Slanted and Enchanted" (1992)

Originally started as a studio-only project, Pavenement released a number of lo-fi releases.   They eventually recruited a drummer for more recordings and even some live shows.

The band certainly weren't courting fame and success, with the original version of this album being circulated on cassette with no song titles listed.   The music created some buzz and eventually the full version of the album was released.

It has kind of a Velvet Underground vibe with vocalist Stephen Malkmus' drawling vocals.  The music is vaguely melodic with lots of noisy guitar; so not unlike more than a few other bands active at the time.   It didn't really grab me.  It's perfectly listenable, but not something I'm likely to revisit or investigate further.

Day 0674 - Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches

Happy Mondays "Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches" (1990)

I wasn't a huge fan of "Bummed" the previous Happy Mondays album on this list, but this one appealed to my sensibilities much more.   The production is clearer than 'Bummed's muddy sound, and the mix of raucous, almost punky rock, with dance beats and hints of 60s influences presents a sound that largely doesn't feel like it has aged too much at all.

The album and band helped link rockers to ravers and probably influenced some of the 'Cool Britannia set with its interesting mix of sounds a production ideas.

Day 0619 - Bummed

Happy Mondays "Bummed" (1988)

Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it, but bummed didn't do anything for me.  It didn't bum me out or anything, but it just passed by in a bit of a mess of sound.  I probably like the album cover more than I like the music inside it.

Apparently the band were taking a shit-ton of ecstasy during the recording process.  Producer Martin Hannett draped the resultant recordings in reverb and echo aiding to the 'audio soup' feel of it all.

Day 0598 - The New Tango

Astor Piazzolla & Gary Burton "The New Tango" (1987)

There is nothing I didn't like about this album.  It's like the best mix of a dream and a nightmare.  Beautiful melodies occasionally crash into discordant screeches of violin, or even just a subtle hint of uneasy dischord.

The album features a meeting of Piazzolla, on the bandoneon (an instrument I love the sound of) and Burton, a Vibraphone wizard.  Together they made this album, recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, an album that seems to blur the lines between composition and improvisation.

Highly recommend it.

Day 0474 - Kilimanjaro

The Teardrop Explodes "Kilimanjaro" (1980)

The book makes several comparisons between Teardrop Explodes and Love... I'd say there are some parallels with Love's "Forever Changes" album as far as the use of orchestral flourishes and building some of the songs from innocent, simple beginnings to lush crescendos.

The album is still of its time though, so has less of an acoustic folky bent like 'Forever Changes' and more of a post-punk (heading towards new-wave) sound. Definitely wouldn't mind another album from this band to show up on the list.

Day 0452 - The Pleasure Principle

Gary Numan "The Pleasure Principle" (1979)

Numan!   Stop eyeballing that pyramid.

Another synth-pop album that kind of heralded the sound that would come to rule the airwaves in the 80s. Numan's band consisted of drums, synthesisers, bass, and a viola... the last of which adds a touch of the organic to what can occasionally be an overly polished and dehumanised genre.

The cover too speaks of that move from flamboyant or macho scruffy musician in the 70s to a buttoned down, corporate look that a few bands opted for the following decade.

The track M.E (or a part of it) is the basis for the popular Bassment Jaxx song "Where's your head at", aside from that, I was familiar with the song "Cars".