Day 0976 - Seldom Seen Kid

Elbow "Seldom Seen Kid" (2008) - got it

I had no real expectations coming into this one, though I later remembered that my wife owns some Elbow albums. I'm happy to say that is now another taste that we share.

Loved it! It has such a great mix of sonic experimentation, clever arrangements.  It keeps things interesting by changing the approach to best suit each song.

The album opens with "Starlings" which begins with reverbed guitars, gentle pulsing vocals and vocals, almost sonically evoking the birds themselves, before bursting into huge soundings of horns, very loud in the mix.    Guy Garvey's gentle vocals ride the winds between.   Such sonic picture painting is also used in "The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver", which with its slow booming drums and slow strings underpinning a staccato guitar line seems to evoke a wide, beautiful city scape viewed from up high.

"The Bones of You" starts off much more stripped down with sparse guitar over a percussion groove, but it builds with fuzzed guitar and vocal harmonies that bring Muse to mind for me.  The middle section is wild guitar that wouldn't feel out of place on Radiohead's "The Bends".   But none of this is to suggest this band are derivative, these are just the nearest reference points I can draw.   For example, the band out-Black Keys the Black Keys with the bluesy rock of "Grounds for Divorce".   "An Audience With the Pope" has an angular piano-backed groove that hangs somewhere between Space (the band) and the Specials' "Ghost Town".

"The Fix" features guest vocals from Richard Hawley, and his deep croon nicely plays against Garvey's higher tone.   "Some Riot" has an almost Beatles-y/Lennon vibe to it.   "One Day Like This" has an uplifting choir backing.

After all the darting around and grand arrangements, the album ends on a subtle key with the subdued "We're Away".   Loved the journey and had no qualms about taking it back to the start and listening again a couple more times.

Day 0765 - Brutal Youth

Elvis Costello "Brutal Youth" (1994)

The book mentions Costello having recorded albums of surf and classical music.... so in a way it's a pity that they haven't really looked at those, instead selecting this one which returns to his early sound of melodic, yet biting rock music.

Having said that, the album does seem to wrap in different sounds that Costello had been playing around with, from jazz and soul flavours, piano balladry, and Beatles/Wilson-esque vocal harmonies which helped to keep things interesting.

As with all his other albums here, I enjoyed this and would happily listen to it again.

Day 0699 - Foxbase Alpha

Saint-Étienne "Foxbase Alpha" (1991) - got it

This album channels 1960s sounds through a 1990s 'filter', so it's pretty much in my wheelhouse.

The group was formed by Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, who had both been music writers (who says 'those who can't, write).  They'd originally planned to feature different singers across every album, but after working with Sarah Cracknell on this, their debut, they decided to invite her in as a permanent vocalist.

The album does something that I love, namely it engages in musical collage/experimentation, but uses it to create something quite accessible and poppy.   The dancey beats were akin to the sounds fermenting in the triphop scene, some of the film/dialogue samples lend things a touch of musique concrete, but the melodies and much of the arrangement hints more at summery 60s pop, with wistful female vocals and swirly psychedelic string touches.

Oddly, I've never got around to checking out the rest of their albums.  Might have to put it on the musical to-do list once I've finished the 1001.

Day 0542 - Ocean Rain

Echo & the Bunnymen "Ocean Rain" (1984) - got it

According to the book, Echo's lead singer Ian McCulloch himself described this album as their definitive statement; I'd have to agree with him.

This is my favourite of the E&tB albums that I've heard.  After the sonic experimentalism of "Porcupine" where they threw everything including the kitchen sink at their songs; for Ocean Rain they stick with one audio embellishment: a string section.

The strings really add the right touch of drama to the gothy, interesting post-punk of E&tB.  They nicely complement McCulloch's voice, whether he's crooning somnambulantly or wailing with emotion.  My favourite here is probably the gothic "Nocturnal Me", but it's all good.

Day 0525 - Porcupine

Echo & the Bunnymen "Porcupine" (1983)

E&tB's third album was apparently a bit of a chore coming after the ease of their first two.  They were experiencing a bit of writers block, and once they'd finished the album their record company dismissed it, saying that it was uncommercial.  ...Normally this would be the bit in the story where the band kicked against this assessment and pushed for 'their album'.  Instead, they said "Yeah, okay" and used the original album as a jumping off point to create something else.

Some sitar was laid down here and there (apparently against the wishes of much of the band).  A horn section was added to the song 'The Cutter', again, the band weren't happy but begrudgingly admitted that it improved the song somewhat.

This album is certainly a different beast to the previous two albums.  Aside from the different instrumentation, the Bunnymen's usual slow, Gothic groove was accelerated a bit in places.  Would have been interesting to hear what the original album sounded like, but the released version is enjoyable. 

Day 0517 - Pyromania

Def Leppard "Pyromania" (1983)

The book tries to claim that the only thing that's dated about this album is the cover (showing sniper sights on a burning building, which probably wouldn't go down well in these days of modern terrorism) but I'd disagree.  This music sounds about as 80s as it possibly could; from the shiny production to the programmed drums, that apparently annoyed drummer Rick Allen so much that he threw a drum stick at the wall, where it embedded itself.

This is a big slab of glossy 80s stadium rock with all the epic-scale reverb the music could handle, flashy lead guitar breaks, and wailing harmonised vocals.  I can understand the sentiment of the guy saying it hasn't aged, because to me, most the albums of my youth still sound as fresh to me as they did when I first heard them... though I can still hear all of the hallmarks of their (usually) 1960s and 1990s backgrounds.

Day 0462 - Crocodiles

Echo and the Bunnymen "Crocodiles" (1980)

Echo and the Bunnymen: the 80s-ness continues.

I have their album "Ocean Rain" which had a kind of atmospheric, gothic somnambulism to it and I really liked it... however, I'm glad that they sound different here, because variety is the spice of life.

This is much more a dark and jangly album with a definite post-punk  flavour, though still with hints of what their sound would become.

0414 - Another Music in a Different Kitchen

The Buzzcocks "Another Music in a Different Kitchen" (1978)

Viewed as one of the poppier bands of the initial punk movement, yet they definitely embraced the punk attitude.  The band refused to include the bulk of their 'hits' on the album... unlike the sex pistols who were happy enough to oblige with this.

The album largely consists of short, tight, energetic but melodically and emotionally open tracks, that would pave the way for 'feeling' pop-rock artists such as Morrisey and Damon Albarn.

The tracks are so full-on and brief that at one point I thought I'd reached the halfway mark on the album... when I checked, I realised that I was only 8 minutes into it! The tracks rarely make it too much past 2 minutes, but then just to be contrarian, the band finishes the album with a pounding 7 minute rocker "Moving away from the pulsing beat".

Day 0401 - This Year's Model

Elvis Costello "This Year's Model" (1978)

 
A bit more of a polished effort than "My aim is true" (though still a little gritty production-wise).  The swirly, occasionally psychedelic electric organ adds a little extra flavour to Costello's jaded stories of love, lust, disgust and the grey areas between them.

The song "pump it up" was ripped off wholesale by U2 for their track 'Get on your boots' but then Costello claims that his track was likewise an appropriation of Bob Dylan's "Subterranean homesick blues"...music continues to eat itself.

This album sounds like it's another one (and maybe it's true of the more stripped down rock of this whole period of music) that influenced the 00s indie sound, I can hear shades of the Shins on one song.

Day 0193 - Live at Leeds

The Who "Live at Leeds" (1970)

The book muses on the fact that the studio always somewhat deadened the energy of the band, and that the best way to experience them was live.  That sure as hell seems to be the case here, the band is explosive.  Moon's drumming seems totally out of control yet fits perfectly into the songs.  Entwistle's bass-playing pins the song down while still being dexterous and exciting!  Townsend and Daltry paint over the top of all of this.

There's a hilarious contrast between the wild rocking performance and the quiet, polite well-spoken moments in between (with the occasional cheeky interjection by Keith up the back in the cheap seats).