Day 0970 - Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not

Arctic Monkeys “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” (2006)

I remember first encountering Arctic Monkeys via their video for “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” and not being impressed.  From vocalists Alex Turner’s intro “Arctic Monkeys... don’t believe the hype” (it just seemed like a humble brag, like ‘yeah there’s hype around us, but we’re like whatever’) to the throwback 1970s garage-rock style they were playing and the accompanying lo-fi late 70s/early-80s retro look to their Strokes-esque performance video.  It all smacked of effort masquerading as ‘we don’t care’.  

The songs worked their way under my skin though, and the song “Teddy Picker” from their second album really turned my opinion of them around, and I eventually embraced this album.

While it is less diverse than their later releases, and is definitely in that retro, garage-revival vein, with guitar ranging from trebly-and-jangly to distorted-and-raucous; there’s lots to recommend the album.   Whether it’s the propulsive punky energy of “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor”, the lazy funky groove of “Fake Tales of San Francisco” or the speedy, tight arrangement and zingy lyrics of “You Probably Couldn’t See for the Lights but You Were Staring Straight at Me”.   Alex Turner would improve in leaps and bounds as a lyricist but "When the Sun Goes Down" was already a great narrative and some good word-smithing.

Day 0911 - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea

PJ Harvey “Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea” (2000) got it

 

PJ had been based in New York to do some acting work, wrote some songs and decided to live there for a time.   She was insistent that this was not her “New York album” but there is certainly a bit of a musical link to American alt-rock and punk.  In opening track “Big Exit” her vocal delivery sounds not unlike favourite NY son Lou Reed (though the drawl-meets-snarl vocal may just be Harvey’s own developing vocal style).  

Some of the lyrical content is definitely more American with “Something you Said’ listing off places and events in NY, and “Big Exit’s” gun fixation certainly sounds a lot more American than British.

The album has an overall more melodic and polished sound than PJ’s previous albums, though “This is Love” is still a fairly noisy rawk song that places swagger over sophistication.  Each verse consisting of a couple of repeated lines e.g.
“I can't believe that life's so complex
When I just want to sit here and watch you undress”.

Single “Good Fortune” has a nice folk-rock vibe to it and I think it was actually the first PJ Harvey song that I ever heard…. Well it was either that or “One time too many” from the (surprisingly good) “Batman Forever” soundtrack.

PJ continues to be an interesting musical force.  I’m slightly disappointed that the list doesn’t feature her “White Chalk” album where she challenged herself by switching to composing and recording on piano and singing in the upper reaches of her register.  The result was a beautiful yet uncomfortable listen.   She is well represented on the list though, so I can’t really complain.

Day 0864 - Apocalypse Dudes

Turbonegro "Apocalypse Dudes" (1998)

Turbonegro had started off with noise-rock, moved through their own 'death-punk' sound and here adopt a style that is straight out of the 70s rock, punk and glam play-books.   By all accounts their line-up was as changeable as their choice of genre.

"Selfdestructo Bust" sounds like a slightly updated take on the Stooges.  "Prince of the Rodeo" throws in some congas to glam up the mix, and album closer "Good Head" leads out with enough excessive guitar soloing to make Slash blush.

The song titles nod to the Norwegian group's tongue-in-cheek approach too, with pearlers like "Rock Against Ass", "Don't Say Motherfucker, Motherfucker" and "Rendezvous with Anus".

I probably won't rush to revisit it, but it was fun enough.

Day 0829 - Logical Progression

LTJ Bukem "Logical Progression" (1996)

This one was a bit of an attention marathon, being well in excess of 2 hours.   Electronic music is not my first love, though as with any area of music (yes even country and teeny pop) there are good albums/artists.  But my lack of a natural affinity with the genre does mean I find it harder to take longer albums in this style.

Bukem had been producing tracks himself through the early 90s but by this stage had quietened on that front to concentrate on running his club 'Speed' and his label 'Good Looking Records'.   This album seems to be a way of promoting both those ventures in that its long runtime seems to frame it less as a concise 'album' statement, and more like a DJ's set at a dance club.  In addition, the album features tracks not only by Bukem but some of his label mates on Good Looking Records, so it's a bit like a label sampler.   

It's interesting because I didn't really think that compilations were included on the 1001 Albums list, maybe Bukem's remixed the other artist's tracks enough that they let it slide?

The music is drum and bass, but not the aggressive pounding style maybe more associated with the genre, instead it's more of an ambient jazzy sound but still with the beats.

Day 0784 - Music for the Jilted Generation

Prodigy "Music for the Jilted Generation" (1994) - got it

Liam Howlett handed Keith Flint a cassette with some dance mixes on one side and some of his own material on the other, labelled with the name 'Prodigy'.  The name was taken from an old Moog synthesizer and was being used by Howlett for his DJ performances.  The two, along with rapper Maxim and keyboardist/dancer Leroy then formed a group to pin the name Prodigy too.

The group achieved success on the rave scene with their initial singles and debut album "Experience".   Jilted Generation marked a kick against the mainstream adoption of the rave scene and the Conservative Party's attempt to crack down on that scene (the track "Their Law" seeming to be a direct attack against this).

This album still sounds pretty damned fresh for a release creeping up on 30 years old.   "Poison" is still a banger, and Howlett's mix of aggressive beats, hypnotic loops and dialogue sound samples works nicely.   I daresay that the album could stand to be a track or two shorter, but I really enjoyed revisiting it.

Day 0728 - The Predator

Ice Cube "The Predator" (1992)

Put "Are we there yet?" out of your mind, because this is the real Ice Cube.  Angry, confident, justifiably enraged.   Predator was released following the acquittal of police responsible for the on-camera beating of Rodney King, and the album certainly takes a look at racism and the police.

The production is bassy, beaty and interesting, with a number of collaborators (including Cypress Hill's DJ Muggs) involved.   A number of dialogue samples are mixed in, joining it all together and giving it a feeling like a whole 'album' as opposed to just a collection of songs.   All in all, another interesting early 90s rap album

Fun fact: this album is believed to be the origin of the phrase "it's on like donkey-kong".

Day 0772 - Copper Blue

Sugar "Copper Blue" (1992)

After Hüsker Dü called it a day, frontman Bob Mould released a couple of acoustic-y solo albums that didn't fare too well.   His record company released him from his contract and he set about writing the music for what would become Sugar. 

Mould returns to his favoured style of distorted guitars with melodic vocals.  I'll be honest, his stuff doesn't do much for me.   It's generally listenable enough, and I can hear his influence on a few bands I know and like, but these songs really just passed me by without leaving much of an impression.  Same with much of the Hüsker Dü I've heard.

In interviews and press, Sugar were plagued by Nirvana questions and comparisons and whether the band was doing well thanks to the grunge scene.  All this despite Mould's former band having been a probable influence on many of the grunge bands, so that can't have been easy for Mould.

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 0581 - Guitar Town

Steve Earle "Guitar Town" (1986)

Another album being given the "birth of alternative-country" badge.  The book outlines Earle's country credentials by pointing out that he was a rebel who ran away from school, struggled with addiction and was married 7 times (including twice to the same woman)... that's enough material for 10 country albums right there.  Certainly he also addressed the nature of addiction when guesting on the tv series 'The Wire' as an addicts-anonymous facilitator and former addict.

I'm not sure that the album earns its alt-country credentials.  To my ears it sounds like a pretty straightforward country album, but then maybe compared to what had come before it, it was a bit of a minor left-hand turn.  There is a little touch of 'rock' going on in places. 

Not a bad album, mind, just not as interesting or good (in my mind) as something like Nanci Griffith's "Last of the True Believers" or the Mekons' "Fear and Whiskey".

Day 0437 - Risqué

Chic "Risqué" (1979)

So, right off the bat the first song is essentially the basis for "Rappers delight", so that's pretty cool. The band were looking to make a fun, good-times album to counteract financial hard times that were going on at the time (kind of like the Black Eyed Peas apparently tried to do with "I've got a feeling" years later).

I still can't totally get on board with the idea that this is "disco", I guess because I have a certain set idea of what that genre is.  To me this sounds more like soft-funk with some slower jams (though, bleak slow-jams) thrown in for good measure. I prefer this album to the previous Chic album (C'est Chic) on this list.

Day 0371 - The Stranger

Billy Joel "The Stranger" (1977)

 
Billy had apparently played in piano bars during his high school years to help support his single mother (good boy) which must have been a help in both refining his chops, and increasing his confidence as a performer.

This isn't his first album, and he had had a hit with "Piano Man" previously, but this album was considered by many to be his commercial breakthrough. It makes me feel like I should check out more of his albums too because, yes the singles ("Movin' out (Anthony's song)", "Just the way you are", "Only the good die young", "She's always a woman") are great, but there are some tasty deeper cuts here. The title track opens with a moody noir piano piece with Morricone-esque whistle over the top that segues into an upbeat pop-rock track and then back into the piano and whistle at the end, as though the whole song has emerged from and then vanished back into the fog in some Humphrey Bogart film.

"Scenes from an Italian restaurant" sounds almost like Billy Joel meets Paul McCartney with the growly vocal and bouncy baroque-tinged pop.

"Vienna" is delicate and lovely, "Get it right first time" has an almost fusiony world-music feel to it informing a bright and brassy pop song.

The album wraps up with the gospel tinged rager "everybody has a dream", that gives way to a reprise of the title track's intro/outro section. An enjoyable listen all round.