Day 0941 - The Last Broadcast

Doves "The Last Broadcast" (2002)

This one didn't really hit me on the first listen in the way their first album "Lost Souls" did.   It all just seemed a little less memorable.   It wasn't until I hit the track "N.Y." that it clicked for me.  The song has a nice groove overlaid with harmonised vocals that gets overrun with noise building to a crescendo and then bringing it back down to earth afterwards.   

 

The album really opened up for me after that.   The title track has a nice folk-rock feel to it, almost a bit like Fleet Foxes, but with a few spacey touches.   The last few tracks were solid too so I went back to the start and re-listened to the whole album which I now felt much more in tune with.

Similar kind of vibe to their previous album as far looped musical ideas with some nice vocals and vocal arrangements over the top.

Day 0900 - Lost Souls

It'll be interesting going into the 00s.  With the earlier albums on the list it's a lot easier to justify their place in the list based on longevity or influence on subsequent artists and genres.  I imagine the selection criteria will be less clear as it goes on.

 

0900
 

Doves "Lost Souls" (2000)

The book mentioned something about DJs/dance music so I thought I'd be listening to something in that vein.   Turns out that was Doves' previous incarnation 'Sub Sub' where they worked in the dance genre.   Their studio space burnt down, and the band lost their equipment and the music they'd been recording at the time.  The band used the insurance money to re-start and shift into a more alt-rock sound... and I like it!

They still have a bit of a dance approach to their tracks in that they seem to build a lot of the songs on repeated/looped ideas, and there's some nice production touches in place, but with more of an organic feel that dips into pop, indie, post-punk and even a touch of shoegaze.   They build up layers of sound, which is an approach that I dig.

The title track builds until it feels like a rising wave of voices rolling into shore.   "Catch the Sun" is a catchy, upbeat propulsive pop track built over a fuzzy drone.    "The man who told everything" is a more stripped down alt-rock track that brings strings and clean guitars over the choruses.   

 

Closer "A House" is an almost an alt-country track but with the sound of burning buildings fading in and out of the mix.   It's a musically adventurous and interesting album.

Not bad, 2000.  You're off to a good start.