Day 0984 - It's Blitz

 Yeah Yeah Yeahs “It’s Blitz!” (2009)

Whereas the YYY’s debut “Fever to Tell” (day 950) leaned on a Riot Grrl-esque art punk approach; “It’s Blitz” takes things in more of a poppy, new-wave sound, which was presumably right in the wheel-house of their producer (and TV on the Radio member) Dave Sitek.   Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ producer Nick Launay was also in the mix (so to speak).

The new sound is obvious from the off, with first track “Zero”, opening with a pulsing synth-line.  More polished than ‘Fever to Tell’ but without becoming toothless in the process.

“Soft Shock” showcases a kind of propulsive, anthemic pop, while “Skeletons” has a dreamy pop sound.  There’s a nice alt-rock groove to “Dull Life” while “Runaway” is straight-up cinematic.

Impressive that they can shift gears from their original sound like this and come up with an album that is (to my tastes) even better than what they started with.

Day 0953 - Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand “Franz Ferdinand” (2004) – got it

I remember being into these guys from the off.  I saw their video for “Take Me Out” with its cool visuals.  The song seemed to have an interesting melody, then it suddenly started to decelerate (which I thought was awesome) and suddenly a danceable funky groove kicked off and I was totally hooked.

A danceable groove is something that ranked high on FF’s to-do list as they stated one of their goals was to “make music for girls to dance to”.   The music owes a heavy debt to Talking Heads’ mid-era material with its nerdy white-boy funk groove (especially second track “Tell Her Tonight”).  That mix of disco beats, and funky guitar harks back to a similar style popular in the 80s/late 70s and would soon become widely popular with artists such as Bloc Party and Gossip.

The band recorded with producer Tore Johansson, who had helmed the Cardigan’s brilliant “First Band on the Moon” (see day 832) which featured a similar catchy mix of dance beats and funky guitar.

The album is nice and concise coming in under the 40-minute mark.  There are bursts of punky energy on songs like “Darts of Pleasure” and “This Fire”.  “The Dark of the Matinée” (a personal favourite of mine) has almost a theatricality to it that always brings to mind early Split Enz.

Day 0952 - Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds "Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus" (2004) - got it

 

I'm a big Nick Cave fan, but releasing a double album as a follow-up to the uncharacteristically lacklustre "Nocturama" did not seem like the best idea.   But, this seems to be a case of something I've talked about before, where artists can creatively fire up for a period of time (and should probably mine that vein while they can) but then fizzle out in others.   Nick Cave was definitely on fire here.

The first disc (Abattoir) is all power, opening with the crash of high power gospel rocker "Get Ready For Love" which I've always felt is about people missing out on everyday miracles because they're too busy waiting for 'a sign'.   The disc proceeds through grinding twisted blues rock in "Hiding Away", upbeat melodic rocking songs with "There She Goes My Beautiful World.   It is surprisingly short on fat ending on the uplifting "Let the Bells Ring" and then "Fable of the Brown Ape" that feels like it would fit nicely on 'Let Love Rule' next to a track like "Red Right Hand".

The second disc (Lyre) starts on a more sedate note with the unrelenting murder-folk of the title track.   A lighter folk informs the love songs "Breathless" and "Babe You Turn Me On" which features the gently murmured line "I put one hand on your round ripe heart, and the other down your panties".  Putting that line in a love song just seems to nicely sum up Cave's mix of the intimate/yearning and naughty/perverse.   "Supernaturally" is nicely propulsive piano-centred track and adds a little variety against the first few quieter tracks.   

This disc feels like maybe it could have lost a track and still been pretty good, but maybe the mellower sound was just less gripping than the bump and grind of Abattoir.   It starts and ends well at least.

This was the band's first album without guitarist Blixa Bargeld.  It would be unfair to lay the success of this album and the inadequacies of the previous release totally at Bargeld's door, but possibly removing one cook helped improve the broth?

Day 0950 - Fever to Tell

Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Fever to Tell” (2004)

I’ve been aware of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and their singer Karen O for a while, but I’ve not investigated much of what they do outside of what I ran into on music tv.  

Listening to this album, while I don’t know if they deserve every scrap of hype they’ve received, I can certainly see the appeal.  The band play wild arty punk rock with drums, guitar (no bass as was the style at the time) and Karen O’s wild vocals that run the gamut from coy croons to hot-blooded yelps.

O and guitarist Nick Zinner had originally put together an acoustic duo but decided to form a noisy avant punk band like the ones O had experienced via art school.   They enlisted an acquaintance of O’s, Brian Chase on drums who was studying jazz (usually a good skill-set on a drummer).  They quickly built up a ‘buzz’ and did tours with hot-tickets the Strokes and the White Stripes and landed a spot at the SXSW festival.

The band opted to fund their debut recording themselves and enlisted Dave Sitek from the often brilliant TV on the Radio to produce the album.

In amongst the art punk stylings there is enough variety to keep things ticking along with some catchier parts and a song like "Man" which has an almost dangerous bluesy slant.  “Maps” offers up a mellower, more melodic reprieve from the maelstrom, as does the dreamy closing track “Modern Romance” and the subsequent ‘secret track’

 The music is complemented by the band's strong visual, from their arresting album cover, to O’s on-stage fashion which mixes punk, catwalk and fabulous.

Day 0939 - The Coral

The Coral "The Coral" (2002)

What the what?!

Another situation where I was familiar with the name but for some reason assumed this band was one of the indie rock groups making the scene at the time; far from it! This album mixes a punky raucousness with melodic sensibility.  Musical control with wild abandon.  The whole thing is smothered in vocal harmonies which is something that (if you're keeping track) I love.

"Goodbye" has jazzy fusiony vamps.  "Shadows Fall" has a Specials-esque bit of moody two-tone with folky vocals that suddenly launch into a burst of hot jazz and plays out with a cool ping-pong vocal thing.  "I Remember When" moves between slow morose alt-rock and bursts into an explosive almost punky rock for the chorus and rounds out on a sort of klezmer section.

It's a definite "all sounds considered" approach that wraps in rock, folk, jazz, balladry, reggae, sea shanty, indie rock.  Music for the sake of music, and I love it!

Day 0926 - Is This It

 The Strokes "Is This It" (2001)

One of the wave of garage rock revival bands (also known as the 'the' bands, e.g. the Strokes, the Datsuns, the Hives, the White Stripes etc.) and another of those bands given the plaudit of "Saving rock n roll".  I don't know about that, rock just seems to naturally ebb and flow rather than "die" or need "Saving".   

This is an enjoyable album though.  It's compact (under 40 minutes) and gives definite nods to its influences, Velvet Underground, and the first wave of bands influenced by them.   Definitely Julian Casablancas' vocals owe a debt to Lou Reed.   I detect a bit of 'Lust for Life' era Iggy Pop too, particularly in the rhythms of "Someday".   "Hard to Explain"  is a bit of a favourite of mine and always kind of brings Weezer (of all things) to mind.

Most of the songs have a propulsive rhythm to them, even something like "Alone, Together" which is a slower tempo track has an unrelenting beat behind it and the guitars keep pace.   The twisty turny interplay between the two guitars does offer a bit of a point of difference between the Strokes and some of their more rhythmically straight-ahead Rawk contemporaries. 

Day 0918 - Punishing Kiss

Ute Lemper "Punishing Kiss" (2000)

I'd not heard of Lemper, but it seems she is an acclaimed actress as well as being a singer.   She had built much of her music career dipping into the past, particularly interpreting the songs of Kurt Weil.  For this album she went with modern composers, though many of them had been inspired by Weil too, so still within Lemper's comfort zone.

Thankfully it's VERY much in my wheelhouse too, with her modern composers being such luminaries as Scott Walker, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Elvis Costello and Neil Hanlon.   Hanlon's band the Divine Comedy provide backing for much of the album and he duets with Lemper on a couple of tracks.

The album is bombastic, theatrical and bursting with good music.    Though the individual composers' voices can certainly be heard (Lemper even seems to mimic Costello's snarling crooning style on some of his songs) there's a cohesiveness across the album, and Lemper owns each song with a voice that ranges from gentle theatrical murmur through to passionate howl, on the almost Bjork-esque opener "Little Water Song".

The Costello-penned title track is a fun highlight for me, but the whole album is really good.  The finale is a brooding 10-minute late-era style Scott Walker dirge, which is quite frankly as good a way as any to close an album.

Day 0868 - This is Hardcore

Pulp "This is Hardcore" (1998) - got it

Pulp's "Different Class" album had been a success, but the band were not revelling in their new-found fame.  Facing it instead with a mix of drugs, resignations and paranoia that blighted the euphoria.   The angst all comes out on this album, with opening track "the Fear" featuring lines like "the sound of loneliness turned up to 10" and "this is the sound of someone losing the plot, making out that they're okay when they're not".

The album moves away from the bouncy, perky britpop of 'Different Class ' and into a more brooding, reflective realm.   The band's theatrical side (musically and via Cocker's low murmur-to-impassioned yell vocals) remains.   The title track has a noirish, almost cinematic bent.  Single "Help the Aged" moves from an easy-listening groove to a huge anthemic chorus.

With their propulsive grooves and Cocker's deep croon, "Party Hard" and "Glory Days" seem to nod to late 70s/early 80s Bowie.   Album odd-duck "Seductive Barry" is an atmospheric, meditative track which feels again like it owes a debt to Bowie, specifically his Berlin albums.

Day 858 - Urban Hymns

The Verve "Urban Hymns" (1997)

The Verve reformed a year or two after breaking up (where's the commitment to the quitting?) and started working on new music.  Initially they were joined by Simon Tong in place of guitarist Nick McCabe but McCabe was convinced to rejoin.

While there is still some of the swirly, psychedelic rock  of "A Northern Soul" in tracks like "The Rolling People" and album closer "Come On" (featuring Liam Gallagher on backing vocals), the album's strong points are more in its subtler melodic moments like morose ballad "the Drugs Don't Work" or Orchestra-sampling, lawsuit-courting album opener "Bittersweet Symphony" that borrowed a little too obviously from an old Rolling Stones song.

I remember when this came out in the late 90s I didn't really care for it at all.  I kind of liked the track "Lucky Man" but I found the other singles to be quite grating.   I'm not sure if I was just being contrary, if my tastes have changed or these songs just needed time to percolate because coming into this listen I was really looking forward to hearing "drugs don't work" and other tracks, and just enjoyed listening to it all.

Day 0850 - When I was Born for the 7th Time

Cornershop “When I was Born for the 7th Time" (1997)

Cornershop was formed in Leicester by Tjinder Singh.  The book suggests that as time went on, Singh started to incorporate elements of Indian music into the band, but I listened to a compilation of their first couple of EPs and that influence was already pretty clear even back then.

"When I was born..." features production from Dan the Automator, and definitely track "Butter the Soul" has his sound all over it with its mix of retro kitsch and unconventional turntablism.

"We're in your corner" in a full on raga drone, while "Indian Tobacco"  takes elements of drone but puts them in more of a triphoppy frame.   "Candyman" is pure funk, but most of the rest of the album is generally a nice beat-heavy form of indie-pop with "Brimful of Asha" being the most known track.

The album closes with a cover of the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" that takes that band's experimentation with Indian music and puts a spin on it by performing the song in Punjabi.

Day 0848 - The Boatman's Call

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds "The Boatman's Call" (1996) - got it

Cave had described the experience of making previous album "Murder Ballads" as 'a holiday'.   It was an album of twisted stories with gorgeous arrangements that Cave could lose himself in.   

"The Boatman's Call" is completely the opposite.   The cover once again features a picture of Cave, this time a bleak black and white rendering.   The songs are all painfully personal, alluding to breakups (Cave had recently divorced his wife and had a brief relationship with PJ Harvey), religion and a generally cold view of the word.   The Bad Seeds, responded to these songs with sparse arrangements (in some cases, just a piano backing Cave's deep croon) putting Cave even more in the burning spotlight.

The result though is a beautiful collection of songs that somehow manage to take pain and sadness and make something from it (like a rainbow after the fall if you want a trite analogy).   "Into my arms" may be one of the most beautiful songs written by anyone.   "Brompton Oratory" is a suitably hymn-like song for the church of the same name in London (I've been, it is a beautiful building).
"People Ain't No Good", "Where do we go but Nowhere" and "(Are You) the One That I've Been Waiting For" tell tales of heartbreak that almost seem to revel in the pain they're exorcising.

The next few Bad Seeds would move away from this kind of bare honesty back into a more narrative and sometimes character-driven form of writing, but this album is rightly held up as one of the best in the band's canon.

Day 0828 - Murder Ballads

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds "Murder Ballads" (1996) - got it

The album was a bit of change up for the Bad Seeds, with the change of a charming oil painting in place of the usual moody photograph of Cave on the album cover, through to the lyrics being completely narrative and non-autobiographical.

The album, which Cave has described as 'a holiday' had its genesis during the sessions for the "Henry's Dream" album, where the song "O'Malley's Bar" (the near-enough-to quarter hour penultimate track on Murder Ballads) was written.   The band felt it didn't fit on any of their albums, so created an album that would work for it.   Having said that, musically the album isn't a million miles from the gothic blues, folk and lounge stylings of their previous album "Let Love In".

Murder ballads are a subgenre within balladry, featuring songs that recount the gruesome details and sometimes aftermath of murderous deeds.   Cave launches into it with twisted glee, with a foul-mouthed account of the actions of one "Stagger Lee" at the Bucket of Blood Inn.   You can almost hear how much fun he's having as he assumes the role of the mass-murdering schoolgirl Loretta in the wild organ-driven song "the Curse of Milhaven".   

It's not all Cave by himself though, PJ Harvey guests on "Henry Lee" and wildcard Kylie Minogue duets with Cave on the beautifully cinematic "Where the Wild Roses Grow" which provided the band with an unlikely hit and adds a bit of colour amongst some of the low-key groove-based tracks.  On that note "Stagger Lee" is an interesting one in that it doesn't have verses and choruses, just the same groove repeated throughout the entire song (including the freakout section at the end).   

The album closes on what seems like a more positive note, with a cover of Bob Dylan's "Death is not the End" featuring guest vocal spots from Kylie, PJ, Shane Macgowan and members of the Bad Seeds.

Is it the best Bad Seeds' album?   Depends which day of the week you ask me.

Day 0822 - Oedipus Schmoedipus

Barry Adamson "Oedipus Schmoedipus" (1996)

 

I really enjoyed Barry's "Moss Side Story" (see day 654) and its mix of soundtrack composer vibes (Bernard Hermann, Angelo Badalamenti et al) and sonic experimentation.

Barry continues with that sound here, but with a bit more vocal input this time around.   From the opening choir at the start of the Jarvis Cocker-featured "Set the controls for the heart of the Pelvis", the sultry "Achieved in the Valley of the Dolls", the spoken word of "Vermillion Kisses" and Barry's former Bad Seeds bandmate Nick Cave featured on "the Sweetest Embrace"

Possibly less cohesive than "Moss Side Story" but still an enjoyable collection of sounds.

Day 0802 - Different Class

Pulp "Different Class" (1995) - got it

If Blur were drawing on the Kinks, and Oasis on the Beatles, Pulp is like some weird smash together of the Pet Shop Boys and Scott Walker (would later produce their final album "We Love Life").   There are some minimalist keyboardy pop tracks and then some more cinematic mixes of acoustic guitar backed with strings, occasional jabs of rock guitar.

These sounds back singer Jarvis Cocker's stories that reflect both his northern upbringing and his geeky outsider status.  He has a certain theatrical flair to his delivery, moving between sultry whispers and spoken word, from sleepy croons, through to impassioned howls.

Many of his stories are a little downbeat, while still not without a sense of humour and a shrug of the shoulders.  Whether it's his scathing yet amused take on rich twats glamourising working class life in "Common People":

"Laugh along with the common people
Laugh along even though they're laughing at you
And the stupid things that you do
Because you think that poor is cool"

Or this line from album opener "Mis-shapes" which seems to sum up the band's self-image:

"We don't look the same as you
And we don't do the things you do
But we live around here, too"

As I've said a few times, I'm not really much of a lyric fan, but Jarvis has a way with words that I can get behind.   He does seem to be very sex-focussed, but in kind of an awkward, unconventional way.

Another pillar of Britpop/Cool Brittannia.

 

Day 0800 - A Northern Soul

 The Verve "A Northern Soul" (1995)

 

Okay, I have to admit that my only real experience with the Verve was the "Urban Hymns" album.   This whole psychedelic rock with hints of droney shoegaze took me (pleasantly) by surprise.

There are some almost dance-influenced beats like on "Life's an Ocean", mixed with the noisy wash of guitar that is reminiscent of bands from My Bloody Valentine, Ride and maybe the Happy Mondays.

The long, slow moody mellow atmospheric "Drive you home" is quite dreamy and wonderful.  

The  band broke up after this, but reformed and hit new commercial heights.

Day 0743 - Emergency on Planet Earth

 Jamiroquai “Emergency on Planet Earth” (1993) – got it

 

Kind of like a combination of Herbie Hancock’s fusion material, and Steve Wonder… in fact, if I were to be uncharitable, I’d say that that’s pretty much all their sound is.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Jamiroquai’s tight funk grooves, danceable beats and Wonder-esque vocals, and I have a few of their releases; but I have to admit that their sound doesn’t change hugely between albums.  They might chuck in a ballad here or more of a disco influence there but generally they stick with what they know.

That aside, I could definitely understand this record and band making a splash when they first appeared.  Their music is lively, their musicians skilled, and lead-singer Jay Kay (who people forever assume is a solo artist called Jamiroquai) was a ball of big-hat-wearing energetic stage presence.

Day 0731 - Henry's Dream

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds "Henry's Dream" (1992) - got it

After internal conflicts, the Birthday Party broke up.  Members Nick Cave and Mick Harvey put together a pretty impressive collection of talent with Barry Adamson, Blixa Bargeld (Einstürzende Neubauten) and JG Thirwell (Foetus, Steroid Maximus, Manorexia etc.).  The line-up eventually pared down somewhat and started cranking out the albums, evolving towards the Bad Seeds' particular blend of delta-blues, murder ballads and goth-gospel.

"Henry's Dream" was their seventh release.  Reportedly Cave didn't enjoy the recording process for it himself, but the result is pretty arresting.   It's like some giant apocalyptic catastrophe hits during the pulsing, unrelenting acoustic first track, with its dark imagery building to include "lynch mobs/death squads/babies being born without brains".  In the aftermath of this event there are those cracked, dry and broken ("Brother my cup is empty"), wandering around the world ("When I first came to town"), but there is also the chance for redeeming love ("Straight to you").

I love the bad seeds, but I have to say that a few of their albums (this one included) tend to lag a bit towards the end.  I find the last couple of tracks to be less interesting than what has preceded them.  Not bad, just not up to the standard of the rest of the album.

Day 0725 - Connected

Stereo MCs "Connected"

Stereo MCs had slowly been building their reputation through their first couple of releases.   Tracks backing MC Rob B and vocalist Cath Coffey were largely sample-based.   For "Connected" they upped the ante with several backing singers and a full band.

The tracks mix rap, soul, electronica, dub and pop to create a sound that is catchy, danceable and almost a touch hypnotic.

The album was a huge success, but the band would not follow it up for another 8-9 years.  The intervening time being peppered with some remix work for other artists.

Day 0687 - Woodface

Crowded House "Woodface" (1991) - got it

For a long time this was my favourite Crowded House album, though "Together Alone" is slowly drawing me into its orbit.

Neil Finn's writing towards CH's 3rd album had met with lukewarm response from his record company.  He was concurrently working on some material with his brother Tim so invited him to join the band and put their collaborative songs towards Crowded House.

As much as I enjoy most Finn related musical activities, Split Enz has always been my favourite, so the reuniting of the two brothers and the injection of slightly more quirk and humour to the often overly earnest House mix, was welcome.

There's a nice mix of light (Chocolate Cake, Italian Plastic) and sombre (Fall at Your Feet, Four Seasons in One Day).   Tim's beautiful"All I ask" is probably my current favourite on the record, but half of these songs have held that position at some point.

The album was a big hit for the band in the UK and back home in the Antipodes, but tanked somewhat in the US after the single "Chocolate Cake" (featuring the line "the excess of fat on your American bones, will cushion the impact as you sink like a stone") failed to make an impression.  

 Despite the album's success, Tim was fired from the band during the subsequent tour.  Though they'd made beautiful music together, it didn't seem as though Tim was the right fit for Crowded House, leading to any number of 'witty' headlines about how crowded the house was yadda yadda yadda.

Day 0671 - Rust in Peace

Megadeth "Rust in Peace" (1990)

Megadeth gonna Megadeth.

This is the fourth Megadeth album and features their third lineup, though apparently this one would stick for the next few albums.  As always with Megadeth, the album largely centres around Dave Mustaine, his riffs, his lead guitar, and his voice.  David Ellefson should be given his due though, being one of the most constant members of the band, and providing bass that ranges from nimble and virtuosic; and restrained and interesting.

This album gets held up as one of the highlights of the thrash movement, and I can buy that.  While I've always been more of a Metallica or Slayer fan, this album features some speedy riffs and (as the superlative goes) 'fretboard pyrotechnics' from Dave.  It has enough melody and intensity to it that it almost feels like it sits between thrash, and something more in the 'party-rock' vein like Guns n Roses.

I always felt like Mustaine took himself far too seriously though.  I never felt his music was quite as good as his old band, and he seemed to be stuck repeating what they were doing in their first couple of albums.  Mind you, some metal fans (though not all) appreciate a spot of creative inertia, so....