New Order "Technique" (1989)

Technique
release date: Jan. 30, 1989
format: digital (FACT 275)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,39]
producer: New Order
label: Factory Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Fine Time" (3,5 / 5) - 2. "All the Way" (4 / 5) - 3. "Love Less" (4 / 5) - 4. "Round & Round" (3,5 / 5) - 6. "Run" (4 / 5) (other link) - 9. "Dream Attack" (3,5 / 5)

5th studio album by New Order released as FACT 275 on Factory Records. I heard a few tracks from it then, and decided that it wasn't worth it. I guess, I wasn't ready for their acid house and dance-pop combo with synth pop. To me, it was just dance pop music, and in those days, that meant: bad. 15 years later I bought the album after listening to "Run", thinking "Now, what album is that from?". I had to look through their back catalogue, and found so many positive reviews telling stories of how New Order was one of the sources to the techno and electronic revolution of the 90s, and my new heroes were The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy. Today I get why New Order is mentioned as a source. Nearly all their albums of the 80s point to what later became techno. And Technique and Republic (1993) contains some fine proto-'house' material. Well, even today I can listen to "Round & Round", although, I don't find it great, and I couldn't stand it when it was a dance floor hit. Anyway, despite the album mostly shows how they're perfectly capable of incorporating the band's characteristics when adapting to new styles. It's the second New Order album to be enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5  stars ]

Sebastian "Den danske sang - Opsamling 81 - 85" (1985)

Den danske sang - Opsamling 81 - 85 (compilation)
release date: 1985
format: vinyl (MdLP 6240)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Nils Henriksen, Sebastian
label: Medley Records - nationality: Denmark

Compilation album by Sebastian with the full title Hodja, Romeo, bohemen og den danske sang - Opsamling 81 - 85. It contains compositions from his albums Stjerne til støv (1981), 80'ernes boheme (1983) and Tusind og en nat (1984), and feature two new tracks.

Leonard Cohen "The Future" (1992)

The Future
release date: Nov. 24, 1992
format: vinyl / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Steve Lindsay, Leonard Cohen; various
label: Columbia Records - nationality: Canada

9th studio album by Leonard Cohen.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Q Magazine, Spin, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, NME 3 / 5 stars ]

Felt "The Pictorial Jackson Review" (1988)

The Pictorial Jackson Review
release date: Mar. 1988
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,15]
producer: Joe Foster
label: Creation Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Apple Boutique" (3,5 / 5) - 2. "Ivory Past" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Until the Fools Get Wise" - 4. "Bitter End" (3,5 / 5) - 6. "Christopher Street" - 8. "Don't Die on My Doorstep"

8th studio album by Felt, now with a new producer. The album mostly shows the band continuing its style with something that feels like the addition of sophist-pop. The original vinyl release contains 8 tracks on the A-side, all composed by Lawrence, and in the usual jangle pop style, whereas the B-side contains only two tracks, both entirely played and composed by keyboardist Martin Duffy. The first of these is the 12 min. "Sending Lady Load", and both tracks are solely piano instrumental jazz compositions, and as such in a different style, which makes it an odd release. Not that it's bad, the last two tracks just seem completely out of sync with the other (usual Felt tracks). The whole album is not bad, it does feel like Felt (except for the aforementioned tracks), it's just without great tunes, really. It's a bit like a band going through its usual repertoire, which is kind of sad.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Paul Young "The Secret of Association" (1985)

The Secret of Association
release date: Mar. 25, 1985
format: cassette / 2 cd (2007 remaster - Deluxe Edition)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,12]
producer: Laurie Latham
label: Edsel Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Bite the Hand That Feeds" (4 / 5) - 2. "Every Time You Go Away" (5 / 5) - 3. "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse" (4 / 5) - 4. "Standing on the Edge" - 5. "Soldier's Things" (5 / 5) - 6. "Everything Must Change" - 7. "Tomb of Memories" (3,5 / 5) - 8. "One Step Forward" (4 / 5) - 10. "This Means Anything"

2nd studio album by Paul Young originally released on Columbia Records. Stylistically, this is a move away from the synthpop and pop-shape of the debut to a more mature and complex style of pop / rock founded in soul.
Already in the aftermath of his debut album Young experienced problems with his vocal chords and suffered throat difficulties - something that would re-appear throughout his career, and explain his few live tours, a steady increasing period between studio releases, and a general absence from the spotlight.
I recall buying the album on original cassette upon the release, and I was rather fond of the album - the only Paul Young album, I have bought when it was released. I have always found this album by Young his absolute best, and I have often wondered why he didn't continue in its footprints instead of returning to contemporary pop. This is also pop but it's also so much more than 'just' that with a distinct tone of jazz and soul. Again, the best tracks on this album are cover versions, but here they have been totally rearranged to fit his expression and the sound of the album, which is quite homogeneous despite the many writers and composers, which also distances it from the debut, which sounded more like a compilation of tracks.
The album went straight to number #1 on the national albums chart list like his debut album, but also the single "Everytime You Go Away" topped the charts, and other singles (tracks #3 and #6) from the album became top 10 single hits in the UK. My favourite track of the album is "Soldier's Things" written by Tom Waits. The original is great but so is this, and the best thing is how Young doesn't even try one bit to sound like Waits but simply manages to make the song his own. Only years later I realised that Waits had written the song and released it on his great album Swordfishtrombones from 1983.
The album comes in various re-issues and I happen to have the 2007 2-disc Deluxe Edition released on Edsel Records containing a bonus disc of 12" mixes and single B-sides. Paul Young went on to make other fine albums but he never again managed to record an album of this high standard.
To me, this is an essential album of the 1980s and thus highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Grace Jones "Island Life" (1985)

Island Life (compilation)
release date: Dec. 1985
format: vinyl (207 472) / digital
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Alex Sadkin, Chris Blackwell, Tom Moulton, Trevor Horn
label: Island Records - nationality: Jamaica / USA

Compilation album by Jamaican-American artists Grace Jones with songs recorded from 1977-85.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Richard Hawley "Standing at the Sky's Edge" (2012)

Standing at the Sky's Edge
release date: May 7, 2012
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,06]
producer: Richard Hawley and Colin Elliot
label: Mute / Parlophone - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 5. "Seek It" - 9. "Before"

6th solo album release by Richard Hawley is also his 6th to be co-produced by Colin Elliott, although, it's really his most experimenting album to date. It seems like he's in search of a new style, and it remains rather unclear what it is. It's psychedelic, alternative and experimenting, and only little chamber pop and folk, and I haven't accustomed to it. The album harvested some fine reviews and many critics loved his change of style. Actually, the album was nominated The 2012 Mercury Prize, a prize he was previously nominated with Coles Corner (2005). I just don't agree with the positive reviews, and despite the fine date of its release, and not because it isn't Hawley as usual, but simply because the music doesn't appeal that much to me.
[ allmusic.com, The Independent 4 / 5, The Guardian 5 / 5, Uncut 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Lou Reed "The Blue Mask" (1982)

The Blue Mask
release date: Feb. 23, 1982
format: digital (1999 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Lou Reed, Sean Fullan
label: RCA Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "Women" - 3. "Underneath the Bottle" (live) - 7. "The Heroine" - 8. "Waves of Fear" (live) - 9. "The Day John Kennedy Died" - 10. "Heavenly Arms" (4 / 5)

11th studio album by Lou Reed is his return to RCA Records. The return to the label that released his most famous album Transformer (1972) is subtly commented in the cover art - being a retouched image from that album. It's a fine return to shape and form, and basically it continues very nicely where the predecessor, Growing Up in Public (1980) left. Here, things are just a little more controlled and it brings about a feeling of Lou back on the right track with something to say.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 5 / 5 stars ]

The Glove "Blue Sunshine" (1983)

Blue Sunshine
release date: Aug. 23, 1983
format: vinyl (SHE LP 2) / digital (2006 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Merlin Griffiths, Robert Smith, Steven Severin
label: Polydor / Wonderland - nationality: England, UK

Studio debut and only album by collaboration project The Glove consisting of guitarist and vocalist Robert Smith - founding member of The Cure, and guitarist in Siouxsie and the Banshees, shortly in '79 and then again from '82-'84 - together with bassist Steven Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees.

[ collectors' item ]

Laura Marling "I Speak Because I Can" (2010)

I Speak Because I Can
release date: Mar. 22, 2010
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. "Devil's Spoke" (3 / 5) - 2. "Maid by Maid" (3 / 5) - 3. "Rambling Man" - 6. "Goodbye England (Covered in Snow)" (3 / 5) - 8. "What He Wrote" - 10. "I Speak Because I Can" (3 / 5)

2nd studio album by Laura Marling. The style is unchanged, the quality of her songs are at an even higher standard, like she has matured as songwriter, although, I kind of feel that the album misses really great and unforgettable songs, like "Ghosts" and "Tap at My Window" from the debut.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, The Guardian, The Times 5 / 5 stars ]

XTC "Beeswax - Some B-sides 1977-1982" (1982)

Beeswax - Some B-sides 1977-1982 (compilation)
release date: Nov. 5, 1982
format: vinyl (OVED 9)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: various
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Compilation album by XTC containing 13 B-side singles, which came for free with the purchase of the 1982 compilation album Waxworks - Some Singles 1977-1982.

I have however, only purchased both of the albums individually as second-hand albums.

The "Waxworks" album more or less showcased the band to people who weren't familiar with XTC, but the real gem is of course the "Beeswax" album, which proves the true potential of XTC.

XTC "Waxworks - Some Singles 1977-1982" (1982)

Waxworks - Some Singles 1977-1982 (compilation)
release date: Nov. 5, 1982
format: vinyl (V2251)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: various
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Compilation album by XTC containing 12 A-side singles.
Originally, the album was released as a double vinyl album. The front cover of the album is provided with a sticker stating "2 Albums for the Price of 1", which meant that you were also handed the compilation album Beeswax- Some B-Sides 1977-1982 containing an additional 13 tracks. Unfortunately, I have so far only been able to purchase the two albums as individual albums.

Pink Floyd "The Final Cut" (1983)

The Final Cut
release date: Mar. 21, 1983
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,28]
producer: Roger Waters, James Guthrie, Michael Kamen
label: Harvest Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "The Post War Dream" - 2. "Your Possible Pasts" - 4. "When the Tigers Broke Free" - 6. "The Gunner's Dream" - 12. "Not Now John" - 13. "Two Suns in the Sunset"

12th studio album by Pink Floyd released four years after The Wall. As was the case then, Roger Waters is in almost complete control, as he not only wrote all tracks except one (co-written with Gilmour), but he also came up with the concept of the album, which is about loss and betrayals of war, and specifically WWII and The Falklands War. Also, Waters is the only band member to be credited as producer of the album, and he also deigned and made the album cover. David Gilmour and Nick Mason are credited as band members but rumour has it that the album in reality is in fact a solo project by Waters, and only a record contract obligation kept him from releasing the album under his own name.
The album is the most mainstream pop / rock, singer / songwriter album by Pink Floyd to date, and I recall my immediate disappointment after having purchased the album. Yes, it contains fine songwriting and is almost like a linear novel, but Waters' voice and arrangements are tiresome in the long run, and I have never paid the album a lot of interest and actually resold it about a decade later. Still, the production sound is fine, the stories are anything but mediocre, and a couple of strong tracks keep it above average. In the aftermath of the album, Waters intended to dissolve the band, knowing as he had become its undisputed, yet self-appointed, leader. Gilmour and Mason, however, wanted to continue Pink Floyd, which led Waters to initiate law-suits against his former colleagues who won the right to carry on using the name Pink Floyd. Gilmour and Mason's decision to continue as Pink Floyd resulted in the first album without Roger Waters in 1987 with A Momentary Lapse of Reason.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

BEST OF 1993:Tindersticks "Tindersticks" (1993)

Tindersticks [debut]
release date: Oct. 1993
format: cd
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,34]
producer: Ian Caple & Tindersticks
label: This Way Up - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Nectar" - 2. "Tyed" - 6. "City Sickness" (5 / 5) - 8. "Marbles" - 10. "Milky Teeth" - 14. "Tie-dye" - 17 "Her"

Studio debut album by Tindersticks released on This Way Up and produced by Ian Caple and Tindersticks. The band took the whole music industry by storm with this fantastic debut. It really sounds like nothing else, and their use of classical chamber instruments within a pop / rock setting was soon copied by many others. The music is very varied with references to baroque pop, post-punk, art pop, jazz, r&b, and soul. It contains the beautiful track "City Sickness", a song I played over and over again that year, but it's also a song that wasn't to be part of their later musical universe, which I regretted at first, but they proved to re-invent themselves and find their most unique sound and style. The original album contains 21 tracks and has a total playing time at around 77 min., another thing that makes it rather unusual, and it was released as a double lp on vinyl. Both band and album was met with critical acclaim, especially in Europe, but the album released on a small independent label wasn't a best selling album, much like none of the band's later releases would prove to be.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, NME 4 / 5 stars ]

1993 Favourite releases: 1. Tindersticks Tindersticks - 2. Björk Debut - 3. The Breeders Last Splash

<  show lyrics >

~ ~ ~
"City Sickness"

"I'm crawling, don't know where to or from
The centre of things from where everything stems
Is not where I belong
And the city sickness, growing inside me
So this is where I ran for freedom
Where I may not be free

[Chorus:]
I have these hands beating with love for you
And you're not here to touch
Sent you away, what else can I do
When I need something that much?
I'm hurting babe, in the city there's no place for love
It's just used to make people feel better

It's not like us
I got this sickness as I got off the train
Now it chafes away at my heart
Until nothing remains

[Chorus]

I'm okay afterwards
Afterwards lasts for minutes only
I'm okay during
You kind of fill up my mind
It's just that before, may last forever
It's just that before, may just f**k my mind

[Chorus]"

~ ~ ~

Mikael Wiehe "1977-85" (1986)

1977-85 (compilation)
release date: 1986
format: vinyl (AM 60)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: various
label: Amalthea - nationality: Sweden

Compilation album by Swedish singer / songwriter Mikael Wiehe with 10 compositions released from 1977 to '85 released on MNW sub-label Amathea. Wiehe is internationally acclaimed as one of the main composers and driving forces of the Swedish band Hoola Bandoola Band, which also featured another acclaimed Swedish songwriter, Björn Afzelius. 8 of the songs here are composed by Wiehe except two written by Bob Dylan (translated by Wiehe). Another two tracks are live songs and several songs are from various collaboration projects.

BEST OF 1999:The Chemical Brothers "Surrender" (1999)

Surrender
release date: Jun. 21, 1999
format: cd
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,78]
producer: The Chemical Brothers
label: Freestyle Dust / Virgin - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Music: Response" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Under the Influence" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Out of Control" (feat. Bernard Sumner) (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Let Forever Be" (5 / 5) - 6. "The Sunshine Underground" (5 / 5) - 9. "Hey Boy Hey Girl" - 10. "Surrender" - 11. "Dream On" (5 / 5 )

3rd full album by The Chemical Brothers released on Freestyle and produced by the duo. Again, they have put together a strong big beat album, and this time they experiment within the genre of big beat to produce longer and more progressive or neo-psychedelic tracks. In fact, I think it takes off where Dig Your Own Hole (1997) ends with its two great end-tracks.
The track "The Sunshine Underground" is a marvellous piece - I simply can't get tired of that one, just like I can't help turning up the volume whenever I hear it. This is an absolute wonderful and 'must-have' album. Together with Further, I think this is where they touch the sky.
Highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine, NME 4 / 5, The Guardian 5 / 5 stars ]

1999 Favourite releases: 1. The Chemical Brothers Surrender - 2. Underworld Beaucoup Fish - 3. Everything but the Girl Temperamental

Simple Minds "Up on the Catwalk" (1984) (single)

Up on the Catwalk, 7'' single
release date: Mar. 18, 1984
format: vinyl (106 263)
[single rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Steve Lillywhite
label: Virgin Records - nationality: Scotland, UK

Tracklist: A) "Up on the Catwalk" - - B) "A Brass Band in Africa"

Single release by Simple Minds is the third and final single from the album Sparkle in the Rain (Feb. '84). The B-side is a non-album track.

The Stranglers "Aural Sculpture" (1984)

Aural Sculpture
release date: Nov. 17, 1984
format: vinyl (EPC 26220) / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Laurie Latham, The Stranglers
label: Epic Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: A) 1. "Ice Queen" - 2. "Skin Deep" - 5. "North Winds"

8th studio album by The Stranglers following close to two years after Le Feline (Jan. '83) shows how the band has moved into the fold of mainstream pop / rock. There's hardly any evidence of new wave or an eager to shake the world of the established.
Regardless its bold pop-shape, I did really like the single "Skin Deep" upon its release, although, I quickly found it tiring, and the album just seemed too slick to my liking. Despite the less than two years separation, there's a huge cleft between Feline and this. Where the former had its unique sound of primary instrumentation and strong original sound, this is shaped via traditional pop / rock compositions with strings and multi-layered sounds that characterises the vast mainstream pool of '80s artists. Yes, critics liked it and it brought them a much bigger crowd of consumers, but it also made their music slightly more forgettable.

Radiohead "Amnesiac" (2001)

Amnesiac
release date: Jun. 4, 2001
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Nigel Godrich, Radiohead
label: Parlophone - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Pyramid Song" - 6. "Knives Out" - 8. "Dollars and Cents"

5th studio album by Radiohead are in fact compositions recorded at the same session as Kid A. Thom Yorke has also described it as "another take on Kid A, a form of explanation." Or one could argue that these recordings are much as the other disc of what could have been a double cd release, only this is even more experimental in style. The album was met by positive reviews and also topped the album charts list in the UK and making it to top 3 in many countries around the world, and it's also included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

I like it and find it one of the band's better albums but don't see it on par with Kid A.

[ allmusic.com, Slant, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, NME, Sputnikmusic 4 / 5 stars ]

Hüsker Dü "New Day Rising" (1985)

New Day Rising
release date: Jan. 1985
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: Hüsker Dü, Spot (aka Glen Lockett)
label: SST Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "New Day Rising" - 3. "I Apologize" - 4. "Folk Lore" - 6. "Celebrated Summer" - 8. "Terms of Psychic Warfare" - 11. "Books About UFO's"

3rd full studio album by Hüsker Dü. The album may not be as daring experimental as Zen Arcade (1984) but it's the first album where I hear what is unmistakeably Bob Mould harmonies - just listen to "I Apologize". The band is the same trio of Mould, Hart and Norton, only this time Mould has written eight out of fifteen and is co-writer on another four tracks. Three of the tracks are written solely by Grant Hart. Compared to the 84 double album this clearly takes a firm direction of punk rock and alt. rock glued together by power pop. The fact that Mould has established himself as the musical composer of the band is a highly infectious point of discussion. Hart and Mould were both lead vocalists as well as writers, but unlike the broader musical output on Zen Arcade this reflects Mould's dominant role within the band - something that ultimately led to arguments and may even have been a primary conflict leading to the future split.
However, so far, this is the band's best effort, although, the production sucks, being poor and murky.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 5 / 5 stars ]

Robyn "Don't Stop the Music" (2002)

Don't Stop the Music
release date: Oct. 30, 2002
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: Ghost [Ulf Lindström and Johan Ekhé]
label: BMG Sweden - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Keep This Fire Burning" - 2. "Don't Stop the Music" - 3. "O Baby" - 4. "Blow My Mind" - 9. "Big City"

3rd studio album by Robyn again with producer and musical songwriter songwriter duo, Ghost, on 9 out of 12 tracks, and again with BMG, although, she left the company to have more artistic freedom and signed with Jive Records in 2001, only to realise that her new label had become a sub-label to BMG. The controversy she experienced with My Truth (1999), and the subsequent label decision not to release the album internationally, rebounds on this. The album was released in Sweden and Japan only.
Stylewise, it's Robyn as we know her from her two previous albums. The dance-pop is again at the centre of the songs, which makes this more like a natural follow-up to her '95 debut album, and she has turned down on the American r&b style and instead jumped onto the back wheel of Michael Jackson.
The album spawned the two singles #1 and #2 peaking at number #3 and #7 respectively on the Swedish singles chart list, and the album reached number #2 like the predecessor. Once again, she proves to be up front on the pop scene in Scandinavia, but the album feels as her least interesting to date. There's too much recycling, no really great songs and little originality on what turns out as a bit of an anonymous release.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Gaffa.dk 3 / 5 stars ]

Abstract Magazine - Issue 5 (1985)

Abstract Magazine - Issue 5 (compilation)
release date: Mar. 1985
format: vinyl (plastic sleeve - SAM 005 / AM05)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: various
label: Sweatbox - nationality: England, UK

Compilation album by Abstract Magazine featuring the following artists The Test Dept, Colourbox, Swans, Gene Loves Jezebel, And Also the Trees, The Wolfgang Press, Cindytalk, The Jazz Butcher, Nyam Nyam, 400 Blows.

Morrissey "Viva Hate" (1988)

Viva Hate [debut]
release date: Mar. 14, 1988
format: vinyl (7 90180 1) / cd (1988) / (2012 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,18]
producer: Stephen Street
label: HMV - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Alsatian Cousin" (4 / 5) - 3. "Everyday Is Like Sunday" (5 / 5) - 4. "Bengali in Platforms" (5 / 5) - 5. "Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together" - 6. "Late Night, Maudlin Street" (4,5 / 5) - 7. "Suedehead" (4 / 5) - 8. "Break Up the Family" - 9*. "The Ordinary Boys" - 10. "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me" (4 / 5) - 11. "Dial-a-cliché" - 12. "Margaret on the Guillotine" (4 / 5)
[ full album ]
*[track replaced on 2012 remaster by the original outtake "Treat Me Like a Human Being"; on the US version track #9 is the bonus track "Hairdresser on Fire"]

The solo studio debut album by (Steven Patrick) Morrissey, former vocalist of The Smiths. This was a marvellous album demonstrating how much he could do without his former band members in The Smiths and especially without his usual friend, guitarist, and composer Johnny Marr. The composer duo Morrissey / Marr was already a legendary brand like Lennon / McCartney, so it truly was one of the major questions if Morrissey as a solo artist could perform without Marr. Producer Stephen Street co-wrote the songs with Morrissey and helped writing the music for his lyrics - he did the Marr part - and Street was more than adequate in filling that task because he brought in an essential person who helped giving birth to the album, as well as filling the shoes of Marr: guitarist Vini Reilly (aka The Durutti Column), who really has his fingerprints all over most of the tracks on the album. Allegedly, Reilly absented from being credited just as long as he could have control of the musical part. He was not credited, and nor was he given any royalties to this day. In fact, Reilly, who was credited as instrumentalist on the original issues isn't even mentioned on the 2012 remaster. 

The album was generally well-received, especially in the UK a huge crowd of fans just wanting to hear more of The Smiths. The two singles for the album, "Suedehead" and "Everyday Is Like Sunday" both received much success, whereas the final track "Margaret on the Guillotine" was regarded highly controversial as Morrissey in the song suggests that former Prime Minister Thatcher was beheaded.
Morrissey won as Best Solo Artist at the NME annual prize awards - a prize he would go on to win the following consecutive four years.
The album remains one of only three Morrissey solo albums to top the UK album charts list, and it is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars, NME, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 ]

1997 remaster

2012 remaster

Show lyrics <- click...

~ ~ ~
"Bengali In Platforms"

"Bengali, Bengali 
Bengali, Bengali 
No no no,
He does not want to depress you
Oh no no no no no
He only wants to impress you
Bengali in platform
He only wants to embrace your culture
And to be your friend forever - forever

::Bengali, Bengali

Oh shelve your Western plans
And understand 
That life is hard enough when you belong here
A silver-studded rim that glistens
And an ankle-star that...blinds me
A lemon sole so very high
Which only reminds me, to tell you
I break the news gently
I break the news to you gently
"Shelve your plans"
"Shelve your plans"
"Shelve them"

::Bengali, Bengali
It's the touchy march of time
That binds you
Don't blame me
Don't hate me
Just because I'm the one to tell you
That life is hard enough when you belong here
That life is hard enough when you belong here

(Shelve your western plans)
(Shelve your western plans)
'Cause life is hard enough when you belong
Life is hard enough when you belong here
Shelve your western plans
'Cause life is hard enough when you belong here
Life is hard enough when you belong here"

~ ~ ~

Crystal Castles "Crystal Castles" (2008)

Crystal Castles [debut]
release date: Mar. 18, 2008
format: digital
[album rate: 2 / 5] [2,20]
producer: Ethan Kath, Matthew Wagner, Squeak E. Clean
label: Lies Records - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "Untrust Us" (3 / 5) - 9. "1991" (2,5 / 5) - 10. "Vanished" (3 / 5)

Studio debut album by Crystal Castles, a Canadian duo consisting of musical composer and instrumentalist Ethan Kath and vocalist Alice Glass. The music is experimental electroclash with incorporation of samples. The album is actually a collection of unreleased material and singles compiled as the band's first album. I mostly find it annoying and of little interest. Apparently, the band wanted to re-use the cover art from their first ep Alice Practice (2006), which featured artwork by Trevor Brown but wasn't granted permission.
[ allmusic.com, NME 4 / 5 stars ]

<  show cover art >

Album cover art
by Trevor Brown
for "Alice Practice", 2006.

Omara Portuondo "Flor de amor" (2004)

Flor de amor
release date: Jul. 13, 2004
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Jerry Boys, Nick Gold, Demetrio Muniz, Ale Siqueira
label: World Circuit Records - nationality: Cuba

Studio album by Omara Portuondo. Another splendid release by this great singer.

Julian Cope "World Shut Your Mouth" (1984)

World Shut Your Mouth [debut]
release date: Mar. 1984
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Steve Lovell
label: Mercury Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Bandy's First Jump" - 2. "Metranil Vavin" - 5. "Quizmaster" - 6. "Kolly Kibber's Birthday" - 9. "Pussyface" - 10. "Greatness and Perfection of Love" (4 / 5)

Solo studio debut by Julian (David) Cope - former frontman of The Teardrop Explodes. All songs are written and composed by Cope and released by Mercury Records, who saw a potential in Cope with the continuation of the style and music set out by his former band. Musically, Cope does continue much down the same path as characterized by The Teardrop Explodes, also because some of the songs had actually been composed and intended for a follow-up to the group's last album Wilder (1981) - the third album was released posthumously in 1990 as Everybody Wants to Shag... The Teardrop Explodes, but fact is, the nature of the recording sessions with Cope sacking most of the band members before finishing the album is practically a Cope solo release.

World Shut Your Mouth did not sell all too well and wasn't reviewed in the most positive of ways, and Cope was more or less written off by the English music press, who saw him as a bit of a tyrrant as well as an LSD-wreck. And because the time of the early 80s needed music to belong to a specific sound and style, which this clearly contradicts. The neo-psychedelia was yet a new and not-appreciated style at this point. It seems Cope was somewhat too early out combining styles and using unusual ways of composing music.

The album has, however, become widely accepted as an important and great release of the early and mid-80s and an early example of neo-psychedelia.

I find it close to the hights of Kilimanjaro but also somewhat slightly weaker.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

Thåström "Thåström" (1989)

Thåström [debut]
release date: Sep. 1989
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Stefan Glaumann
label: Mistlur Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Ståaldrigstill" (live) - 2. "Hon o han" - 3. "Djävulen och jag" - 5. "Pang boom krash" - 7. "Alla vill till himlen" - 8. "Döden i Schlager-SM" - 9. "Karenina" - 11. "I en spegel som jag har"

Studio album debut by Thåström (aka Sven Joachim Eriksson Thåström) as solo artist after leaving the band Imperiet - here with familiar producer Stefan Glaumann is released only one year after Imperiet officially disbanded.
The sound and style is not far from what Thåström released with Imperiet. In fact it sounds much like a combo of several albums by the band. It consists of post-punk energetic songs (tracks #1 & #11), keyboard-driven synthpop songs (#5 & #7), blues rock-inspired songs (#2 & #3), smooth pop ballads (#4, #6, #9 & #12), and songs that lye somewhere in a mix of what Imperiet released on its last three studio releases (some songs sound like reworks of songs released by Imperiet), which was a unique mix - like if you think Rolling Stones released its back catalogue in modernised synthpop versions... I guess.
At the time of the release I didn't pay much attention to the album and would probably have rated it as a mediocre release. Of course the sound and production reek of the 1980s but it's actually not a bad album altogether. Thåström has written a bunch of fine songs and balances his songs on sheer energy and soft and mellow ballad-like compositions, and despite pointing in (perhaps too) many directions, it really serves to document his songwriting qualities. Especially his ballads may have inspired Kent on albums they should later record, but by now Thåström already has put himself upfront with the best known Swedish artists.

Thin Lizzy "Vagabonds of the Western World" (1973)

Vagabonds of the Western World
release date: Sep. 21, 1973
format: cd (1990)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: Nick Tauber
label: Deram Records - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 1. "Mama Nature Said" - 4. "The Rocker" - 5. "Vagabonds of the Western World" - 6. "Little Girl in Bloom"

3rd studio album by Thin Lizzy originally released on Decca Records following the album Shades of a Blue Orphanage (1972), also produced by Nick Tauber. Stylistically, the band touches on some of its later characteristic sonic style, although, there's still a lot of more traditional blues rock and other influences around making it a bit of a mixed experience.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Rangleklods "Home EP" (2011) (ep)

Home EP, ep [debut]

release date: Nov. 6, 2011

format: digital (3 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]

producer: Esben Nørskov Andersen

label: self-released - nationality: Denmark

Tracklist: 1. "Home" - 2. "Young and Dumb" (live 2012) - 3. "Behaviour"

Studio ep-debut by Danish one-man electronic project Rangleklods consisting of Esben Nørskov Andersen. The EP was originally released on CD via independent label Sound Of Copenhagen (founded by the two Danish DJs Kjeld Tolstrup and Le Gammeltoft) and later distributed via bandcamp.

Although, this first release only contains three compositions, it's quite a varied 'collection', basically showcasing what Rangleklods is all about. It appears as influenced by idm, drum n bass as you know it from Aphex Twin and then with influence from house, big beat, and 'beats' in general - music with an electronic dance appeal - and some indietronica where rock blends with the electronic genre. I hear bonds to other Danish artists such as Veto and Trentemøller, but also with influence from LCD Soundsystem, Aphex Twin and Fatboy Slim.

Best song here is the end-track "Behaviour", which also sounds like a fine mix of Veto and Aphex Twin.

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds "Kicking Against the Pricks" (1986)

Kicking Against the Pricks
release date: Aug. 18, 1986
format: cd (1992 Japan reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Flood, Tony Cohen, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
label: Mute Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Muddy Water" - 3. "Sleeping Annaleah" - 7. "Black Betty" - 10. "By the Time I Get to Phoenix"

3rd studio album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds following The Firstborn Is Dead (1985) is an album entirely of cover versions. This is the first album to introduce an actual drummer, Thomas Wydler, in the band who had used the multi-instrumental skills of Mick Harvey and Barry Adamson. The band still plays post-punk but perhaps even more punk blues, and the album is the first time Nick Cave appears as a crooner. Some of the songs are rather fine and others are poorer covers of great songs, but all in all it's a fine album, and above mediocre... for once by these experimental Aussies.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Rolling Stone Album Guide 3 / 5 stars ]

R.E.M. "New Adventures In Hi-Fi" (1996)

New Adventures in Hi-Fi
release date: Sep. 10, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,45]
producer: Scott Litt & R.E.M
label: Warner Bros. - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" - 2. "The Wake-Up Bomb" - 3. "New Test Leper" - 4. "Undertow" - 5. "E-Bow The Letter" (4,5 / 5) (live) - 6. "Leave" - 7. "Departure" - 8. "Bittersweet Me" - 9. "Be Mine" - 10. "Binky The Doormat" - 11. "Zither" (2,5 / 5) - 12. "So Fast, So Numb" (live) - 13. "Low Desert" - 14. "Electrolite" (4 / 5)

10th studio album by R.E.M. is a 14 track album and the 6th consecutive but also final album to be co-produced by Scott Litt and the band - 6 albums, which more less constitute THE most interesting material by the band excluding Lifes Rich Pageant, from 1986, produced by Don Gehman, and they all represent a decade of heydays spanning from 1986 to '96.
The band has almost always throughout their long career been able to seek out new ways of expression, and this is no exception, although, the change from Monster (1994) to this is huge, it's still a small change from the sound they had before Monster. I've always felt that it was more like the natural follower to Automatic for the People (1992) with Monster in between as a unique and highly original release. Their musical style here is expanded to embrace americana and a stronger folk rock style, although, it's still certified alt. rock. It also contains some grunge rock fragments left in the distorted guitars as heard on "The Wake-Up Bomb", "Undertow", and "Departure". Patti Smith adds vocal to the great single hit "E-Bow The Letter". Overall, it's mighty fine, it doesn't contain a lot of poor tracks or fillers (perhaps with "Zither" as the only), it's like a bit... safe with many fine compositions but not many great ones either. The album is the band's best selling album to date, and it went to number #1 on more than a dozen of albums hit lists world-wide except for in the US where it reached number #2. Furthermore, it's known for being the band's own favourite among their own releases. Whether or not personal emotions play a major role in this their own ranking, is of course difficult to verify, but fact is that this was the first album to feature Bill Berry back on drums after his departure from the band due to a serious brain aneurysm on the live tour with Monster. I remember how it was in the news at the time, and frankly I recall thinking that he would most likely never return to such a stress-related job in the spotlight after that. But for a short while he did return to studio recordings, and this is the so far only album to feature Bill Berry back on drums as he would leave the band permanently in '97.
This was the last R.E.M. album that I purchased at the time of its release. All their following 5 studio albums were not my cup of tea, but along the way, I have looked for and found the band's soul in what followed, and I also found it necessary to acquire them all, although, I don't really listen much to exactly those 5 releases but like all the band's 15 studio albums, they also do contain fine songs.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 /5, Rolling Stone 4,5 / 5, Q Magazine 5 / 5 stars ]

Show lyrics <- click...

~ ~ ~
"E-Bow The Letter"
(feat. Patti Smith)

"Look up, what do you see?
All of you and all of me florescent and starry
Some of them, they surprise
The bus ride, I went to write this, 4:00 a.m.
This letter
Fields of poppies, little pearls
All the boys and all the girls sweet-toothed
Each and every one a little scary
I said your name

I wore it like a badge of teenage film stars
Hash bars, cherry mash and tinfoil tiaras
Dreaming of Maria Callas
Whoever she is
This fame thing, I don't get it
I wrap my hand in plastic to try to look through it
Maybelline eyes and girl-as-boy moves
I can take you far
This star thing, I don't get it

I'll take you over, there
I'll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
I'll take you over
It tastes like fear, there
I'll take you over

Will you live to 83?
Will you ever welcome me?
Will you show me something that nobody else has seen?
Smoke it, drink
Here comes the flood
Anything to thin the blood
These corrosives do their magic slowly and sweet
Phone, eat it, drink just another chink
Cuts and dents, they catch the light
Aluminum, the weakest link

I don't want to disappoint you
I'm not here to anoint you
I would lick your feet
But is that the sickest move?
I wear my own crown and sadness and sorrow
And who'd have thought tomorrow could be so strange?
My loss, and here we go again

I'll take you over, there
I'll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
I'll take you over
It tastes like fear, it pulls us near
I'll take you over

Look up, what do you see?
All of you and all of me florescent and starry
Some of them, they surprise
I can't look it in the eyes
Seconal, Spanish fly, absinthe, kerosene
Cherry-flavored neck and collar
I can smell the sorrow on your breath
The sweat, the victory and sorrow
The smell of fear, I got it

I'll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
I'll take you over
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
I'll take you over

It tastes like fear, pulls us near
Tastes like fear, pulls us near
I'll take you over
...
Nearer, nearer
Over, over, over, over
Yeah, look over
I'll take you there, oh, there
I'll take you there
Oh, over
I'll take you there
Over, there, let me
I'll take you there...
There, there, baby, yeah"

~ ~ ~

Aztec Camera "Frestonia" (1995)

Frestonia
release date: Oct. 31, 1995
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,76]
producer: Roddy Frame, Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley
label: WEA/ Warner - nationality: Scotland, England

Track highlights: 1. "Rainy Season" (4 / 5) - 2. "Sun" - 3. "Crazy" - 4. "On the Avenue" (4 / 5) (live on Later) - 6. "Debutante" (4 / 5) - 7. "Beautiful Girl" - 9. "Method of Love" - 10. "Sunset"

6th and final studio album released as Aztec Camera is produced in a collaboration work with the big 1980s producer-duo Winstanley / Langer, who stood behind many British mainstream and alternative artists who sought a "broad" mainstream appeal. Despite this, the album is far from the almost sterile synthpop of the previous album Dreamland (1994). I see Frestonia as an attempt to make a more 'naked' / 'honest' album without synths, drum machines and instrumental programming. Instead it's more traditional music blending folk rock, pop and jangle pop accentuating the singer / songwriter aspect of Roddy Frame. Aztec Camera was always just a moniker for Roddy Frame, and I think he just came to terms with the fact that he should release his music under his own name. The album turns out as a more sincere album dedicated to personal experiences with a minimum amount of additional musicians, and it sort of kick-starts / underlines his forthcoming solo career as Roddy Frame.
Music critics and album buyers simply rejected the album, and Frestonia may be regarded as a commercial failure. It only made it to number #100 on the UK albums chart list and far from previous sales numbers of any album by the Roddy Frame moniker, which may have led to his decision to start releasing material in his own name after this.
What I initially experienced as another hits and misses attempt from this 'had-been' artist is actually more of a new beginning. Had he only released it as Roddy Frame, I think it would have been much more appreciated at the time. Aztec Camera was jangle pop and sophistipop, but this is not. It's much closer to his first release, North Star as Roddy Frame, which would be released in 1998, but it also continues with the jazz and folk elements from Stray, which I always considered his best. This is simply one the best album by Aztec Camera / Roddy Frame and therefore highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

The Style Council "The Lodgers" (1985) (single)

The Lodgers, 12'' single
release date: 1985
format: vinyl (TSCX10)
[single rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,68]
producer: Paul Weller & Brian Robson
label: Polydor Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) "The Lodgers (Extended Mix)" - - B) 1. "The Big Boss Groove" - 2. "Move on Up" - 3. "Money-Go-Round / Soul Deep / Strength of Your Nature (Medley)" - 4. "You're the Best Thing"

Single release by The Style Council Featuring Dee C. Lee issued after the album Our Favourite Shop. The band has now officially been extended to include drummer Steve White and backing vocalist (and future wife of Paul Weller) Dee. C. Lee. This is not one of the band's best issue's, although, it's the first time they release live takes. The first three tracks on the B-side are live recordings with the track "Move on Up" being a familiar cover, which The Jam used to play live.

Tindersticks

~ ~ ~

Tindersticks: formed 1992 (Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK); against the traditions of popular music context, the band originally counted 6 members: Stuart A. Staples (vocals, rhythm guitar), David Boulter (keyboards), Dickon Hinchcliffe (violin), Neil Fraser (guitar), Mark Colwill (bass), Al Macaulay (drums).
Before forming Tindersticks several members played in the band Asphalt Ribbons, formed in 1988. Members of AR were: Garry A. Watt (bass), Gaynor Backhouse (cello, trumpet), Rob Howard (guitar, accordion), Stuart A. Staples (vocals), later joined by Neil Fraser (guitar) and David Boulter (keyboards). In 1991 three new members were recruited: John Thompson (bass) and two of the members that should later form (i.e. change its name to) Tindersticks: Dickon Hinchliffe (violin), and Al Macaulay (drums). The band released an ep in 1991 titled Old Horse. Still as Asphalt Ribbons, and shortly before changing the band name, bassist John Thompson was replaced by Mark Colwill, which meant that the two bands basically now had identical line-ups.

Tindersticks is one of my absolute favourite bands. They make music that in an almost disturbing way suits my temper on most occasions. I have followed their progression from the very start, as I bought the debut album upon its release. The only time I've seen the band perform live was back in 1997 when they held a fabulous tight and intimate concert in Copenhagen (with Cornershop as warm-up band!).

~ ~ ~

My collection of Tindersticks albums (1993-2012)

~ ~ ~

Peter Murphy "Love Hysteria" (1988)

Love Hysteria
release date: Mar. 1988
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Simon Rogers
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "All Night Long" - 3. "Dragnet Drag" - 5. "Indigo Eyes" - 6. "Time Has Got Nothing to Do With It" - 7. "Blind Sublime" - 8. "My Last Two Weeks"

2nd studio album by Peter Murphy following his acclaimed debut Should the World Fail to Fall Apart (1986) after the disbandment of Bauhaus. Where the debut consisted mainly of music written by multi-instrumentalist Howard Hughes, Love Hysteria is an album where Murphy has teamed up with another established composer in the form of guitarist and composer Paul Stratham (of B-Movie) with whom Murphy has written most of the tracks, and together with Simon Rogers from The Fall and a new backing band called The Hundred Men, the album marks quite naturally a change of sound. The album includes a cover of "Funtime" by Bowie and Iggy Pop, originally included on the 77 album The Idiot by Iggy Pop.

The dominant art pop touch Murphy demonstrated his interest for with the project Dalis Car as well as on his solo debut, has stepped into the background for a style, which instead combines Murphy's taste for melodrama rooted in the gothic rock scene, which characterised the Bauhaus period and older styles based on his obvious fascination and inspiration in glam rock, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and with hints of Tom Verlaine, which also had been a component of the Bauhaus era. On the one hand, you'll find hints of a continuation of a will to explore bright pop-melody structures as found on his debut, but more layers appear on this one, both containing a darker tone but also points in new stylistic directions.

With Love Hysteria, Murphy aims his solo career for an audience with a taste for the darker sides of Bauhaus as opposed to complex rhythms and art pop, as he demonstrated on the otherwise fine Should the World Fail to Fall Apart (1986). The new album garnered quite positive reviews, where it was noted that Murphy partly continues to show his influence from Bowie, but also that he has made his so far most solid release since leaving Bauhaus. My initial verdict was experienced as a disappointment because he hadn't continued in his new-found style of the debut, but that sensation wore off after a while, and when comparing with his later releases, there's no doubt that this very album stands stronger than what his more detached and impersonal debut turned out to be.

Putting Murphy's Bowie-imitating style aside, Love Hysteria is quite a solid and distinctive album that stands the test of time and actually may be his very best.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]