Day 0897 - Remedy

Basement Jaxx "Remedy" (1999)

I love the Jaxx! I don’t own a lot of their albums (a greatest hits and “Crazy Itch Radio”) but I enjoy everything I’ve heard from them and have used them as inspiration for some of my own forays into electronic (pop) music.   So with that in mind, when I saw one of their albums on the list, I was definitely keen to check it out.  I wasn't disappointed.

Jaxx felt that a lot of electronic music was a bit too shiny and superficial, and certainly their music (the 'remedy' to this) seeks to make you shake your thang, but with fun and interesting music with enough hooks to appeal to a broader audience rather than just existing ravers and club-goers.

There's the body-moving "Jump N Shout", the moody triphop of "Always be There" and the electro pop of "Rendez Vu" with its propulsive acoustic guitar break.

The Jaxx quirkiness is on display with the funky "U Can't Stop Me", the twitchy "Bingo Bango" and the chanted chorus of "Same Old Show".

The album ends on a subdued, smooth grooving fingersnapping note with "Being With U" and there's enough of a mix of genres that you don't really come away feeling like there's a single wasted track on the whole thing.

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 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 0778 - Dog Man Star

Suede "Dog Man Star" (1994)

Things were not tickety boo in the Suede camp.  While they were riding high on the success of their self-titled album, a US tour was delayed due to the death of guitarist Bernard Butler's father.  When he returned to the fold, Butler distanced himself from his bandmates, and by the time they came to record their follow-up, the situation was becoming untenable.

Bernard either left or was fired partway through recording, finishing some of his parts after his departure due to contractual obligations.  The rest of his parts were completed by session musicians.

I have mixed feelings towards the album.  There's a lot more variety and theatricality than on their first album, which I enjoy.  On other hand it feels as though there are less memorable tracks here than on "Suede".  I do quite enjoy the mini-epic "The Asphalt World" though.

Day 0748 - The Infotainment Scan

The Fall "The Infotainment Scan" (1993)

The Fall embrace electronic elements on top of the rock, noise, spoken word sound of their previous two entries in this list.

The Infotainment Scan did reasonably well, hitting no.9 in the UK charts, and it has some interesting sounds throughout, but for some reason it just didn't tickle my music-bone the way other two entries (Live at the Witch Trials and This Nation's Saving Grace) did.

Day 0734 - Suede

Suede "Suede" (1993) - got it

Suede was started by couple Brett Anderson and Justine Frischmann.   They recruited other members, even having an audition with the drummer from the Smiths (an influence on the pair).  They eventually enlisted drummer Simon Gilbert via future 'Office' creator Ricky Gervais.

Anderson and Frischmann broke up and Frischmann started dating Blur's Damon Albarn.  The band didn't survive the break with Frischmann leaving to form Elastica  while Anderson moved forward with Suede.

Something about Anderson's voice reminds me of the Dunedin sound, made famous in the late 70s and 80s.  The music though has that more 90s sound of distortion and indie rock with touches of leftover washy shoegazey guitar flavouring things slightly.

I initially bought this album on the strength of catchy single "Animal Nitrate" though I honestly don't listen to the album much now, it does still have some great tracks like the equally catchy "The Drowners" and the beautiful album closer, piano-based "The Next Life".

Day 0664 - Heaven or Las Vegas

So we enter the 1990s.  I expect I'll get through this decade a little quicker, as I'll possibly own a few more of these releases.   The 1960s and 1990s have always been prominent decades in my music collection for some reason.  I guess in the cyclical nature of music, the 90s were trying to revisit the psychedelia (though with a lot more distortion) of the 60s, with a lot of even the heavier bands citing the Beatles as an influence.  The fluidity of genres as displayed by the Beatles and even more straight-ahead acts like Zeppelin, the Stones and the Beach Boys was also drawn upon with aplomb.  

Anywhoo....



Cocteau Twins "Heaven or Las Vegas" (1990)

Really loved the last Cocteau Twins' album on the list "Treasures".   The dreamy, ethereal pop with stark desaturated album cover seemed to be the modus operandi for their first few albums.   With "Heaven or Vegas" they change things up.   From the bright, colourful neon album cover to the slightly more polished pop within.   The vocals are much clearer and more prominent than on previous releases.   The balance had definitely shifted more towards perky pop with propulsive bass.  Robin Guthrie's guitar continues to be a shimmering clean presence.

Guthrie was dealing with a heavy drug problem, on top of that, he and singer Elizabeth Fraser had their first child (the album was released on her first birthday) and they had had issues with their management.   Maybe the Vegas reference is hinting towards the more faded, jaded neon side of Vegas rather than the glitz and glamour.

Day 0651 - Disintegration

The Cure "Disintegration" (1989) 

Robert Smith plumbed the depths again, facing the realisation that he was growing old because he was turning 30...  my near-40-year-old heart bleeds for him.

Smith felt pressured to follow up on the Cure's prior successes.  They had initially had a Gothic vibe to them, but once people came to expect that, he switched to a more accessible pop vein, but disliked the increased popularity so returned again to the goth fold.

This album certainly doesn't appear to court MTV or commercial radio, with the songs being lengthy morose grooves that take their time creating an atmosphere (though still with a keen sense of melody on display).  Whatever Smith's intentions, the album did reasonably well commercially.

Day 0578 - Graceland

Paul Simon "Graceland" (1986)

Described by the book as Paul Simon's midlife crisis - which seems somehow appropriate as, when I was growing up it was that album that everyone's middle-aged parents seemed to own.  My own parents had the concert on VHS.

PS had briefly reunited with Art Garfunkel, only for it to end acrimoniously.  His marriage had likewise ended, and his previous solo album had flopped.  A depressed PS found himself listening to bootleg recordings of South African township music.  Inspired by the sounds, he and his producer visited South Africa to record with musicians there, this despite a cultural boycott against South Africa due to the existence of Apartheid

PS stated that on previous albums he'd written the songs then brought them into the studio to teach them to his band, but for this album he tried to work the other way: jam out ideas with his musicians and then write a song around them.  The public were ready to slate the album for its perceived breach of the cultural boycott, but instead it became one of the biggest releases of the year and certainly of Paul Simon's career.

I enjoyed this a lot... it is possible that I am middle-aged now.

Day 0547 - This Nation's Saving Grace

The Fall "This Nation's Saving Grace" (1985)

The band had had a bit of a reshuffle prior to making this album.  One of their two drummers having left, and their stand-in bass-player moving onto keys and guitars once their original bassist returned from parental leave.

According to the book, the Fall teamed up with producer John Leckie who gave the band's new songs a glossy, professional sheen... which singer Mark E Smith hated.  He insisted that the producer instead work with the shabby audio cassette version of the recordings that he had.  One song even ended up with some sounds inadvertently recorded over the music by Smith when he was at home, leading to an impromptu sound collage that... actually kind of works.

The album is somehow noisy, uncompromising, yet quite accessible and catchy.  I guess that must be 'the way of the Fall'.

Day 0535 - Treasure

Cocteau Twins "Treasure" (1984)

 
Another of those bands that I knew by name, but was left wondering what they sounded like.  The answer to that one it seems is: 'ethereal, shoegazer music, with sighing, crystal clear vocals, but which can occasionally switch to more propulsive energetic tunes".  Really good stuff.  I could see it having influenced a few 00s indie pop groups and maybe even some of the really early Smashing Pumpkins' dreamier material.

Really liked this one, and will keep an eye out for a copy.

Day 0524 - Hearts and Bones

Paul Simon "Hearts and Bones" (1983)

Following a decline in his popularity as a solo artist, Simon reunited with Garfunkel for some successful shows.  The two of them started working on a new S&G album, but all the old arguments flared up and they broke up again.  Paul chucked Art's songs and worked some of his into a new solo album.

At the time of its release, this album didn't fare much better commercially than his recent releases, though it seems to have been reassessed with hindsight.  To me it shows hints of his next (much more successful) solo album Graceland, in that it has a good bit of groove to it and the quite '80s' sounding production.  In places, the synth laden grooves even sound a bit like that good 70s era Stevie Wonder.

It's a bit of a mixed bag, and I'd argue that the more straight-ahead mellow tracks are still his strength, such as the sombre "the late great Johnny Ace", his tribute to John Lennon.  That being said, the peppy "Cars are cars" is a fun little song, regardless of its slightly so-so lyrics.

Day 0514 - Rio

Duran Duran "Rio" (1982)

Perhaps the band that most typified the vibe of the 80s pop scene: synth-heavy new-romanticism with a touch of white-boy funk; glossy, high-production music videos in high rotation on MTV, depicting the band as sophisticated, jet-setting young men with the world at their feet.

I have a Duran Duran greatest hits album and half of these tracks are on it, which to my mind suggests that this is a solid album.  I would say that something like "Save a prayer" even though it's steeped in 80s-ness still sounds quite contemporary.  Likewise, the last track "The Chauffeur" is a nice gradual piece that wouldn't sound out of place on the radio today.

Day 0500 - Pornography

The Cure "Pornography" (1982)

 
It's almost like one of those cheesy billboards "Pornography!  Now that I've got your attention..."

The last of the 'early' Cure albums as the band was torn apart by in-fighting, drug use, and Smith working to cope with his depression.  From this point on, the band would move away from their gothy droney alt-rock sound for more of a gothy pop influence.

This album is all bass and drum grooves with synth and minimal guitars layered over the top, creating music-beds for Smith's desolate lyrics.

The final (title) track is an interesting sound collage.

Day 0461 - Seventeen Seconds

The Cure "Seventeen Seconds"

The Cure are another band that I was primarily familiar with through a few singles... that I wasn't overly keen on; but this is a pretty fantastic album. Aside from the odd wailing, dramatic vocal this is a pretty low-key affair with jangling but mostly unobtrusive guitar. There are odd spots of keyboards but they're used sparingly and in such a way that they add to the music without drawing attention to themselves. In fact everyone here seems to be just doing good work to serve the songs.

I can definitely hear the influence of this band on artists like early REM, a lot of 00s indie rockers, and even the early demos of the Smashing Pumpkins bear a startling resemblance to this collection of songs.