Day 0948 - Deloused in the Comatorium

The Mars Volta "Deloused in the Comatorium" (2003)

Post-hardcore band At the Drive-in were coming close to commercial success when they broke up.  From the ashes of AtD-i, two bands continued on, Sparta and Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala's Mars Volta.

Mars Volta brought in aspects of Rodríguez-López Puerto-Rican heritage, the duo's love of afro-beat and their desire to spread out musically.   There are busy grooves, long instrumental passages, big powerful vocal parts and even hints of math-metal.  "Drunkship of Lanterns" features all of these elements with Bixler-Zavala's voice bursting forth with passionate wails.

I missed the initial hype around At the Drive-in and came to this band via the odd video for single "Televators" which, with its slow sinister melodicism, interesting lead parts and great vocal harmonies reeled me in straight away.   While I'm not a devout fan of the band I've always enjoyed the parts of their work I've listened to.

The album was produced by Rick Rubin which probably explains how they came to have Flea playing bass on nearly every track and John Frusciante sitting in on one song.   Frusciante and Rodríguez-López would continue to collaborate in the ensuing years.

Day 0909 - Figure 8

Elliott Smith "Figure 8" (2000)

 
The inclusion of some of Smith's songs in the soundtrack for "Good Will Hunting" (which garnered an Oscar nomination for best original song) raised his profile.  He was signed to Dreamworks records, which meant his days of recording his albums at his and other people's houses was numbered.

This album was recorded at professional studios including Abbey Road... which seems apt as Smith's increased budget and big label direction allowed him to make a Beatles-esque baroque pop album.

The stripped down sound of "Either/Or" gives way to a lush layered approach.  Opener "Son of Sam" features some backing vocals that wouldn't be out of place on a mid-60s era Beatles album.   "Pretty Mary Kay" has a certain Lennon (via Pink Floyd) vibe to it.

Strings, layered vocals and bouncy Ringo-styled drums abound.  But while the Beatles' songs were generally uplifting, hopeful, love-focussed; Elliott had struggled with addiction and heartbreak and his songs funnelled that pop sound through a more nihilistic filter.   Not a million miles from the lovely, yet oddly sinister sound of the band Mini Mansions nearly a decade later.

Probably a track or so too long, but with a sound this lush and interesting, I'll let him away with it.

Day 0831 - Now I Got Worry

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion "Now I got Worry"

Spencer had started off with noise rock band Shithaus and garagey/noise/punk rock band Pussy Galore.   He stated that those bands were about him kicking against rock music but that JSBE was was him accepting and even celebrating the sound a bit more.

It's been mentioned by critics that the bands sound was not very 'bluesy'... I guess you could argue that maybe their sound is not supposed to be blues but rather the aftermath of the titular explosion.   "Now I got Worry" was recorded while the band were also working on the "A Ass Pocket of Whiskey" album with bluesmen R L Burnside and Kenny Brown and it seems to have injected a little more blues to 'Now I got Worry' which features another blues singer Rufus Thomas on song "Chicken Dog".

There is more of a blues vibe but it's still buried amongst a raft of other noisy, off-the-wall sytles.  "F*ck Sh*t up" has a noisy, beat-backed bit of drawling street poetry with miscellaneous noises jumping out at you.   "2kindsa Love" has almost a funk-metal Janes Addictiony vibe to it.  "Get Over Here" has an aggressive alt-rock groove similar to Mark of Cain or Helmet.  "Cool Vee" has a laidback, cruisy vibe with vocal samples being scratched over the top of it.

Day 0825 - Tellin' Stories

The Charlatans "Tellin' Stories" (1996)

The band had to promote themselves as the UK Charlatans when touring the US due to a band over there having prior claim to the name.   Maybe they should have called themselves 'the New Charlatans'.
 

The music is an organ-heavy rock sound, with nasally vocals... not surprising then that the band had supported Oasis for their 1996 shows at Knebworth.   Kind of like the Oasis sound but mixed with a bit of the 'Madchester' style, more dance-esque beats and swirly guitars.

Not too bad, a few catchy numbers, but not one that has really stuck with me too much after listening to it.  The track "How can you leave us" kind of reminded me in places of the equally catchy rock of "Long Grass" by the New Zealand band Pan Am.

Day 0740 - Whatever

Aimee Mann "Whatever" (1993)

Aimee had been bassist and vocalist for the band Til Tuesday, who had a successful Mann-penned single "Voices Carry".   The band broke up and Mann pursued her solo career.

This is Aimee's first solo album and it's brilliant for a couple of reasons.  First and foremost, Mann is an amazing songwriter.  She's another of those rare songwriters whose lyrics actually made me stop and take notice, she has real way with words.  The ballad "I know there's a word" is brilliant and affecting while still being tastefully opaque.

The other reason is that Mann enlisted the help of Til Tuesday touring member and multi-instrumentalist Jon Brion, who would go on to produce my favourite Fiona Apple album as well as albums by such adventurous souls as the Eels, David Byrne, and Rufus Wainright.

The music has a bit of a country lilt to it, maybe a hint of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, and then (possibly courtesy of Brion) a subtle theatricality in places.

I thoroughly enjoyed this.  It's almost the opposite to a lot of albums, in that rather than being a bit front-loaded, it gets better the further into the tracklist you go so that you end on a high note, ready to revisit the songs.

Day 0574 - Slippery When Wet

Bon Jovi "Slippery When Wet" (1986)

 
I'm not the biggest Bon Jovi fan, but it's hard to deny the sheer commercial whomp of this album.  You've got "You give love a bad name", "Livin' on a prayer" and "Wanted: dead or alive", three huge pop-rock anthems.
The band had been shooting for a pop sound on the album, but wanted to retain a hard rock feel.  To try and find this balance they would go and play their recordings to local teens to get feedback on the best running order or whether the songs were working.

The band had originally planned a different album cover featuring a woman in a wet t-shirt.  It had been posited that this cover was pulled as it would be deemed sexist and might not be run by some of the record stores, but the band themselves claimed that the record company tried to put a bright pink border around the planned cover so they rejected it.  Apparently not the most enlightened guys.

Day 0531 - Colour By Numbers

Culture Club "Colour By Numbers" (1983)

CC built on the success of their debut album "Kissing to be Clever" with another hit.  This album leads off with "Karma Chameleon" which would go on to be the band's signature song.

It'd be easy enough to just classify them as "80s pop", but they're actually a ridiculously diverse band for the time, with the reggae vibe of the previous album's hit "do you really want to hurt me" to the mix of RnB, pop, and even full-headed soul on show here.

Day 0445 - Entertainment

Gang of Four "Entertainment!" (1979)

 
A band from (my one-time home) Leeds named after a group of Chinese Communist Party officials... hinting at the band's left-wing sympathies.

Another one of those bands that mixes the attitude and melodic minimalism of punk with a bit of white-boy funk (though here the funk element seems to have been ramped up considerably). Another of those bands that most likely stylistically inspired some of the early 00 indie rock bands like Bloc Party or Gossip.

Listening to the angular funk sounds here, I wouldn't be surprised if the Gang were listened to by Les Claypool or his band Primus.  They were certainly an influence on the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who drafted the Gang's guitarist Andy Gill to produce their first (self titled) album on the basis of the "Entertainment!" album.