Day 0837 - Blur

Blur “Blur” (1997) – got it

Blur’s self-titled album was a dramatic sea change for the band.  After three albums of perky, clean, cheeky Britpop, containing plenty of piano and occasional brass bands; they suddenly emerged with this murky, often downbeat, sparser, lo-fi rock album.

The band’s previous album “the Great Escape” had been relatively successful commercially and critically (and it’s the first one really got me into them).  But, with the highly publicised ‘battle of Britpop’ between Blur and Oasis and the success of the latter’s “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory” album Blur faced backlash, being seen as inauthentic middle-class pop, next to ‘working class heroes’ Oasis.

Guitarist Graham Coxon was also feeling increasingly creatively restrained within the band, to the extent that he wrote a letter to singer Damon Albarn urging that they make music that “scares people again”.   Albarn talked to producer Stephen Street about going for a more stripped down sound and the band took a more collaborative approach, jamming together instead of just working on Albarn's compositions.

Right from the off it's a different sound.  Opening track "Beetlebum" starts with muted, struck guitar strings giving way into an almost monotone fuzzy guitar line with Albarn's slow drawl creeping in over top; the overall effect owing more to American indie rock than to the British music hall.   The second track, the imaginatively titled "Song 2" was something they'd thrown together with Coxon and drummer Dave Rowntree playing drum kits at opposite ends of studio from each other and Albarn riffing lyrics over the top.  The short rocker ended up becoming a hit for the band.

Most of the rest of the record continues with its scungey alt-rock vibe on tracks like "Death of a party", "Movin' on", the Coxon penned and sung "You're so great" and epic closer "Essex Dogs".    Elsewhere, tracks like "MOR" and "Chinese Bombs" bring a rocking velocity to contrast the more lethargic numbers.   "On your own" flirts with electronic beats, and mixes that with guitar noises and singalong choruses.

The album doesn't completely depart from previous offerings.  As with the previous three albums there is an instrumental track, but instead of being a jaunty brass or piano piece, it's the moody "Theme from Retro", all organs and indistinct vocal samples.   The song that bears the most resemblance to their previous Britpop work (bouncy rhythm and string backing) is, funnily enough, the track titled "Look Inside America".

It's funny in a way: Oasis spent so much time trying to be the Beatles by copying that band's various sounds, whereas Blur ended up being more like the Beatles through their constant reinvention and deconstruction of their own sound.

Day 0771 - Parklife

Blur “Parklife” (1994) – got it

Blur were feeling reinvigorated following the release of their second album “Modern Life is Rubbish”.  It hadn’t broken records with its sale figures, but was critically well received and the band felt they were on the right track.  As soon as they’d finished that record, singer Damon Albarn started writing a large number of songs and the band worked at demoing them.  They got back in the studio with producer Stephen Street as soon as they could, and most of the album was recorded fairly quickly.

Aside from the opening track “Girls and Boys” which has a bit of a European dance/disco vibe to it, and one or two of the more grand tracks like “To the End”, this album is British through and through.  In fact even "Girls and Boys starts" with a line about “following the herd to Greece on holiday”, sounding like the start of episode of “Boozed up Brits Abroad”.   

The Britishness continues with the “oi oi oi” punky rock of “Bank Holiday”, the brass band waltz of instrumental “the Debt Collector” (as well as brassy bass embellishments on the title track and rocking "Jubilee"), the pastoral harpsicord of “Clover over Dover” and of course Albarn’s almost aggressively cockney/mockney accent pushing into the songs.  Even bassist Alex James' composition "Far Out" sounds like it would be at home in a 1960s Pink Floyd club gig in swinging London.

It's a brilliant album (if maybe a track or so too long).  They do copy Modern Life a bit with the overall sound and having a couple of fun instrumental 'interludes', but with "Girls and Boys" and the loungey stylings of "To the end" they were definitely forging new ground.

Day 0746 - Modern Life is Rubbish

 Blur “Modern Life is Rubbish” (1993) – got it

 

Blur had released their debut album “Leisure” which aligned itself stylistically with the ‘baggy’ scene, the musical movement mixing rock and dance rhythms.  The album fared well enough but things quickly went downhill.  The band came to be seen as bandwagon jumpers, they had an ill-received tour of the USA and found themselves owing quite a large sum of money, all while rival band Suede’s star was in ascension.

On the US tour, singer Damon Albarn had found himself missing the UK and listening to the pastoral, almost kitsch pop of the Kinks and formulating a bold change of direction for the next Blur album.  They all cut their hair and geared up in doc marten boots, narrow jeans and polo shirts to pose for photos under the label “British Image 1”.  The music followed suite with a more resolutely British bent to it.  Whether it was the brass band in “Sunday Sunday”, the London-centric lyrics of lead single “For Tomorrow” or Albarn's distinctive accent (labelled 'mockney' by his detractors) throughout.

It’s essentially the ‘classic’ Blur sound of upbeat pop songs with cheeky raucous vocals, lashings of backing vocals and embellished with brass bands and strings.  The clean pop doing battle with guitarist Graham Coxon’s love of noisy lo-fi indie rock and fuzzed-out distorted guitars.

But before you can get ideas about this album being all about Albarn and Coxon, the jagged bassline for “Colin Zeal” starts, with the drums and guitar coming in to create polyrythms against it, until it all congeals into the propulsive pop-rock chorus.

The band explore a range of sounds with "Miss America" being an interesting experiment in minimalism and atmosphere, that vaguely hints at Coxon's future work for "the End of the F**king World".  "Oily Water" almost bears a resemblance to what was going on in American indie-rock and "Advert" sounds like a blueprint for the faster tracks on their next two albums.

A lot of fans feel that “Modern Life…” is the best Blur album, others feel they perfected their sound with the next album “Parklife”.  My own heart lies with their murky, morose self-titled album, but I also like the fact that they don’t just settle on one sound and seem to be eternally questing for the next thing.

Day 0606 - Calenture

The Triffids "Calenture" (1987)

I had heard the Triffids' name but had no real idea of what they'd sound like.  This album is almost indie-meets-gospel.  It has a really raw, soulful feel that is admittedly curtailed somewhat by the amount of studio sheen heaped on it.

The musical style, combined with David McComb's deep and declamatory vocal delivery make the music sound like a more upbeat take on early-mid era Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.  Not surprising then that bass-player Martyn Casey would later go on to play in the Bad Seeds.

Definitely enjoyed this and will keep it in mind for further investigation at a later date.

Day 0505 - Pelican West

Haircut One Hundred "Pelican West" (1982)

Another album that presents a certain familiar side of 80s pop.  Tame and glossy funk guitar licks, with smooth horns and roomy percussion hits.  Slightly melodramatic vocals sail over the top of it all to create something that feels polished and shiny, but with its emotional core as more of an act rather than something genuine.

If you're not too worried about earnestness in your music (it doesn't overly bother me), then this is an extremely well-constructed pop album, that even throws out some clever little musical left-turns every now and then.

Day 0490 - Fire of Love

The Gun Club "Fire of Love" (1981)

Another album that I'd listened to when I first read through the 1001 albums book a few years ago.  I'd judged it by its cover and thought it was going to be something like "Dr John the nighttripper", a bit of voodoo-laced New Orleans rhythm and blues.  Much like the Cramps and X though, this is more of a rockabilly-meets-punk stripped down sound.  This album takes the stripped-down thing a bit further with the music being laid almost bare, with very little studio trickery to airbrush it.

The lyrics are occasionally in-your-face and uncomfortable with racial slurs and lines like  "I will fuck you till you die" thrown in to the mix.... possibly delivered with a sense of humour, but it's hard to tell.

Day 0380 - Pink Flag

Wire "Pink Flag" (1977)

This one sounded cool on paper: "Slightly older punks who squeezed 21 songs onto a 35 minute album.  Not always sticking to a verses-choruses structure, and occasionally just stopping songs when they felt they had run their course... or they were bored.  Intellectual lyrics that sound like mathematical equations or surrealist poetry."  On a less musical front, I really liked the album cover too. 

Unfortunately, the reality of the album wasn't something that appealed to me.

I listened to this 10 or so years ago when I made a small list from the '1001' albums book, and it didn't do much for me then either.  I've tried to give it a chance and listened to it 2 or 3 times, and it has grown on me a little, but much of the album just dissolves into aural wallpaper after a while.  Sometimes that can be a good thing, but not so much with an 'in-your-face' punk album.