Day 0971 - Sounds of Silver

 LCD Soundsystem “Sounds of Silver” (2007)

I'd been introduced to LCD Soundsystem via their track "Daft Punk is Playing at My House".   They're one of those bands where I've enjoyed everything I've heard from them but for some reason have never made an effort to investigate any more of it.   I was hoping they'd pop up on the list to force my lazy, disorganised arse into listening to them.

The late-70s influence is all over this,  “Get Innocuous” feels like an update of Bowie’s Young Americans album, while “Time to Get Away” is like mid-era Talking Heads.   Actually TH is a definite presence here with the danceable rock and skittish intellectual vocal approach.

“Someone Great” is a bed of swelling synths with a perky lead line, all topped with Murphy’s repetitive melodic vocal on top.  Comes across kind of like if Kraftwerk’s music making robots found a little more humanity... and lethargy.

Much of the rest of the album occasionally touches on the above influences but falls more into a sort of indie rock sound with a few electronic conceits included.
The album ends well with “New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” which starts out as a delicate piano piece sounding not unlike Lou Reed's 'Perfect Day'.   It eventually builds to an excellent crazed rock freak-out and then backs off again for the denouement.

Day 0925 - Gold

Ryan Adams "Gold" (2001)

I have to admit that my earlier prejudice against Adams (as per my write-up for "Heartbreaker", day 902) was definitely unfounded.   This is another good album, this time in an alt-country vibe with more than a few nods to the rootsy folky rock of The Band.

Adams had wanted to make it a double album but his record company cut the last few songs and offered them up as a bonus disc on some versions of the album.   They would later refuse to release albums Adams had recorded and tore 3-4 potential albums to pieces in order to put together the next album they released... so much for artistic freedom.

"Gold" is at least a collection of songs that Adams wanted to present together.   It opens with the peppy "New York, New York" which got a lot of airplay after the September 11 attacks (which occurred just a few days after Adams filmed his music video in front of the NY skyline).   "Answering Bell" sounded familiar to me, and "When the Stars go Blue" is just lovely.   

 

The last track "Goodnight, Hollywood Boulevard" seems an appropriate closer with its piano and strings putting forward an 'end of night' feel.

Day 0611 - If I Should Fall From Grace With God

The Pogues "If I Should Fall From Grace With God" (1988) - got it

Good gravy, that is a whole other kettle of fish!  I enjoyed the last Pogues album in this list ("Rum, Sodomy & the Lash"), but this one takes their punk-Celtic sound and spreads it out over a range of other genres.  From the jazzy nightclub swag of "Metropolis" to the Middle-Eastern-sounding "Turkish song of the damned", the lolloping oompa of closer "Worms", and of course the slightly drunken ballad of "Fairytale of New York" that has rightfully become one of the most beloved of the modern Christmas songs.  That last song featured vocals from Kristy Macoll the wife of the band's producer Steve Lilywhite.

Their previous producer Elvis Costello had become romantically entangled with bass-player Cait O'Riordan, who ended up leaving the band, leading to a bit of a lineup shuffle prior to the recording of the album.  "Fairytale of New York" had originally been written with her in mind as the female vocalist.

Day 0497 - 1999

Prince "1999" (1982)

Though Prince's next album "Purple Rain" would contribute to the parental advisory stickers being added to albums, this one is also pretty full-on (in typical Prince fashion).  It includes the ad-libbed line "I sincerely want to fuck the taste out of your mouth".

Barry White, Isaac Hayes and Marvin Gaye may have been masters of the bedroom groove that gave you the aural equivalent of being laid down on satin sheets, but I daresay Prince was king of the 'fuck-groove'.  The pull your panties down in the backseat and get buck-wild vibe.  "Lady Cab Driver" and "International lover" are pretty overt with this with Prince's ecstatic squeals and hard funk grooves, but the whole album has touches of the erotic.

Combining the warm grooves of Funkadelic with the machine-like rhythms of Kraftwerk, Prince was the future.