Day 0963 - Coles Corner

Richard Hawley “Coles Corner” (2005)

Hawley had played in a couple of bands Treebound Story and Longpigs.  Following the breakup of the latter band, Hawley split his time between playing as a touring guitarist for Pulp and as a session musician.  Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker and Steve Mackey heard some of Hawley’s solo demos and encouraged him to do something with them.

He recorded his first album in bits and bobs, often using leftover studio time from other recording gigs.   The album was well received, and Hawley was up and running.

This album, like Hawley’s previous release “Lowedges” references a location in his native Sheffield for the title.  Coles Corner apparently being a spot for courting lovers to meet.  That reference seems appropriate with the collection of gentle, atmospheric tracks, and Hawley holding a bunch of flowers on the cover.

I was turned onto Hawley’s music by a friend in Leeds who played me his song “Tonight the Streets are Ours” and this album follows a similar vibe; 1950s balladry styles with the vocals and guitar drenched in reverb.  Strings back selected tracks and this, combined with the overall sound and Hawley’s deep croon brings Scott Walker’s early material to mind.   There’s more of a country lilt to a couple of songs including “Just Like the Rain” “(Wading Through) the Waters of My Time”, but much of it is lush chamber-pop and torch songs.

I like this album and Hawley’s sound in general, but I couldn’t claim that every song stuck indelibly in my mind.

The album was nominated for the Mercury Prize but lost out to Arctic Monkeys.

Day 0448 - The Wall

Pink Floyd "The Wall" (1979) - got it

A monster! Genius!

While many great prog bands had fallen from favour in the face of punk, or had attempted to change their sound to fit with the evolving musical climate; Pink Floyd pretty much just kept doing Pink Floyd.  Exploring their feeling of alienation from their audience in the spotlight of fame by building a literal wall (a beautiful wall, the bigliest) between them and the audience.

This is one of those rare double albums that actually legitimately works and doesn't just feel like a bunch of songs that could just as easily have been stuck on a couple of single releases.

The album uses repeated musical themes without sounding like it's just running short of ideas. Most of the songs work fine in isolation as well as part of the overall narrative. I can listen to one of my favourite Floyd songs "Goodbye Blue Sky" and not feel like I'm missing out on the story by not having heard the previous 6 tracks.

The album has plenty of variety, with theatrical art rock, pseudo-funk, atmospheric ballads, and yet manages to wrap all of this into a cohesive lyrical and musical narrative whole across two discs/records.

As a teen I used to listen to this album on a regular basis. Doing nothing else but lying back and listening to the whole 26 tracks uninterrupted.

Day 0375 - Hard Again

Muddy Waters "Hard Again" (1977) - got it

Muddy let's everyone know how hard he is... thanks Mud'

Muddy had recently parted company with Chess Records after some 28 years and set out to prove that he still had it: spoiler: he did!

I find that the blues... I can take em or leave em. My issue with them is much the same as my problems with reggae, that there is some good material, but that over the runtime of an album it all starts to sound a bit 'samey'.  I belive that part of the draw with the blues is the stories, but as I don't spend much time listening to lyrics, that doesn't elevate the material at all for me.

With that all said, this album is at another level. Hard is in fact one of the better adjectives to describe these tracks, and the arrangements are pretty straightforward.  The vocals are unadorned and passionate, and this music rocks!  There are some tracks here that would give Hendrix a run for his money as far as rocking, deep-grooving blues go.

This is an album that I actually picked up as a result of listening to it for this list.

Day 0292 - Dark Side of the Moon

Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" (1973) - got it

In some ways it seems odd that this became a platinum-selling hit record.  It was created by the band members trying to shed the psychedelic image that they had become popular for.  They were sat around drummer Nick Mason's kitchen table and making a list of things that worried them (money, time, death, madness) put some songs together and took them on the road as "Eclipse: a Piece For Assorted Lunatics".

In the studio the funky grooves and spacey guitar solos were augmented with avant, wordless female vocals; a musique concrete approach, bubbly synthesizers, and ALL of the studio technology of the time thrown at it.  With all of these non-'pop' elements, in some ways it doesn't seem like it should be the most 'mainstream' album.. but there are enough melodies and catchy grooves for the record-buying public to hang their hats on and so this album helped usher in the next stage of Floyd's sound.

"Dark Side of the Moon" became a musically and visually iconic album.   Just for the record, I haven't done the "Dark Side of the Moon/Wizard of Oz" thing, though I am Dark Side-curious.