Day 0901 - The Virgin Suicides (Soundtrack)

Air “The Virgin Suicides (Soundtrack)” (2000) – got it

Air’s debut album “Moon Safari” (entry 874) had been chilling people out for a year or two, and then the French duo reappeared scoring Sofia Coppola’s directorial debut ‘Virgin Suicides’, the film adaptation of Jeffery Eugenides’ novel.

The film is full of beauty and bleakness, life and death.  The music offsets this with a quality that is dreamy, yet with an underlying darkness.  A vibe not unlike Angelo Badalementi’s work for David Lynch on Twin Peaks.

The opening track "Playground Love" is a dreamy electro indie-pop track, but much of the rest of the album is instrumental with a few melodic themes repeated on different tracks like one of Marvin Gaye's song-suite albums.   

There's a vaguely trippy 70s-era Pink Floydian vibe to some of the music, particularly closing track "Suicide Underground" which also features narration from the film, linking the score back to its source.

Day 0875 - OK

Talvin Singh “OK” (1998)

For once I didn’t read the blurb in the book ahead of listening to this album.  At first, listening to opening track “Traveller” I thought it sounded like pretty straight-ahead trancey electronica… then the orchestral section kicked in and I was blown away.

Throughout, the music is adorned with tablas, chants, strings and sitars that evoke India, where Singh studied tabla.  Singh is apparently viewed as the godfather of the 'Asian Underground' subgenre of electronica, but being a bit of a Luddite in regards to that genre I was unaware of this.

Singh spent 2 years in India studying the tablas and had worked with artists including Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bjork and Madonna.  So even if his own music wasn’t great (it is), his credentials are pretty solid.

Day 0812 - Emperor Tomato Ketchup

Stereolab "Emperor Tomato Ketchup" (1996)

Knew the name, hadn't really heard the music.

Stereolab was formed from the ashes of the band 'McCarthy' by lovers Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier.  The latter, having become disillusioned with the French pop/rock scene moved to the UK where she met Gane.

Stereolab were named after a division of Vanguard Records who delved into hi-fi effects.

I really loved this album.  In some ways it reminded me of another British band with a French connection, Saint Etienne.   Both bands have a 1960s pop vibe, with a more modern beat and sample-based approach applied.

The book makes comparisons to Nico, (both her solo releases and her work with the Velvet Underground) and I could certainly hear that.   There's a kind of naive, almost childlike 60s pop charm to the vocals and some of the music, but again through that modern filter.

Day 0794 - Me Against the World

 Tupac "Me Against the World" (1995)

Tupac started off rapping with Digital Underground.  As he developed his sound, he moved away from their sound and more towards Dr Dre's developing 'G-funk' sound.

Despite having been recorded at multiple different studios and with different producers, the album has a certain cohesion.   Tupac covers a number of different sounds, including the ballad "Dear Mama" and the heavy reality of "So Many Tears".   That seems to be something that is repeatedly noted about this album, that Shakur was wearing his heart on his sleeve a bit more with these songs.  Digging deep and honest with his lyrics.

He definitely had plenty of drama to draw from, he'd shot at cops, been accused of sexual assualt and was even in prison as the album went to number one.

The album opens with an oddly prescient series of newsreaders talking about Tupac having been shot and checked himself out of hospital.  Ultimately Tupac was murdered in his mid-20s, a victim of 'the game' that he rapped about so much here.   

Day 0672 - Sex Packets

Digital Underground "Sex Packets" (1990)

I got some enjoyment out of this, but that is based more on the source material that the album is built from than from anything D.U. bring to it.  Funky samples are used from artists like George Clinton, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, and Herbie Hancock.

I have to admit that this is not what I'd thought Digital Underground would sound like.  I was expecting a nascent electronica album; instead, it's rap built on top of funk grooves with a sense of humour and, unfortunately, a touch of misogyny.

Apparently it's a concept album with a narrative around a drug that provides sexual pleasure.  I didn't really take any of that in though.  As I've said before, I'm not generally a lyrics person.

Day 0520 - Swordfishtrombones

Tom Waits "Swordfishtrombones" (1983)

Great album, and the beginning of a whole new era of Waits' music.  His wife Kathleen Brennan had been introducing him to a range of avant music and began collaborating on songwriting with him and it really starts to show with this album.

To me, this album feels like Waits' drunken barfly character fell so far down his hole of inebriation that he ended up in some strange hallucinatory underworld.  The opening track "Underground" could be seen as a signal of this, or a paean to Waits' own new musical discoveries courtesy of Brennan "It's a place I've found/There's a world going on/Underground.  The album title seems like something of a nod to Captain Beefheart's "Trout Mask Replica" too.   

The other image the music conjures up for me is the Waits barfly joining a travelling circus and hitting the road.  The jarring instrumentation holds a definite carnival vibe, and Waits practises his ringmaster's holler on several tracks.  There are still one or two gentle moments here, including the melodic outro of "Rainbirds", providing a nice contrast to the abrasive opener.