Chick Corea Elektric Band "Eye of the Beholder" (1988)

Eye of the Beholder
release date: 1988
format: vinyl
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,52]
producer: Chick Corea, Ron Moss
label: Supraphon - nationality: USA

Studio album by Chick Corea Elektric Band.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark "The Pacific Age" (1986)

The Pacific Age
release date: Sep. 29, 1986
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,86]
producer: Stephen Hague
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Stay (The Black Rose and the Universal Wheel)" - 2. "(Forever) Live and Die" - 3. "The Pacific Age" - 9. "We Love You"

7th studio album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark is a return to mainstream middle-of-the-road pop compositions. Graham Weir on trombone, keyboards, and guitar, and Neil Weir on trumpet and bass are now credited as full-time members of OMD.
After a fine single earlier that year I expected something more substantial this time. "If You Leave" is not on the album, and I only find a few good tracks on this, which I find superficially over-produced and directed for the non-existent model fan. To me this is even below mediocre, below the poor 1984 album, and thus the band's least favourable album release. With this I simply stopped following the band for the next 20 years or so.
The album wasn't exactly met by the best reviews nor good sales. The first five albums all made it to top ten on the national album charts list, but with Crush (making it to number #13) and this 'only' reaching number #15, the band certainly didn't experience a growing popularity.
I didn't listen to the album until after the new millennium, and I do understand the band's lacking popularity. I find it rather boring and without the originality previous albums all possessed.
Not recommended.
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5 stars ]

The Knife "Shaking the Habitual" (2013)

Shaking the Habitual
release date: Apr. 8, 2013
format: digital (2 cd)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: The Knife
label: Rabid Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: Disc 1) 1. "A Tooth for an Eye" - 2. "Full of Fire" (4 / 5) - 4. "Without You My Life Would Be Boring" - - Disc 2) 1. "Raging Lung" - 2. "Networking"

4th and proclaimed final studio album by The Knife released as stylised The Kniφe is issued as a double cd or a triple vinyl album. The duo hasn't released new material as often as most artists do, and four studio albums in 12 years may not sound as much but looking at the stylistic changes and stages they have gone through, document a considerable journey. This is no near Silent Shout or any other previous album by The Knife. Actually, it probably comes closest to their collaboration album from 2010 by being experimental and electronic. It's not classical opera though, but close to what one might categorise as modern or neo-classical, which is a rather broad term. Again, much like Tomorrow, in a Year (2010) this is more like an 'electronic' tapestry but really not without thought. The texts are about sexual behaviour, the political right, and human conditions. The title is apparently taken from the Michel Foucault quote: “The work of an intellectual is not to mould the political will of others; it is, through the analyses that he does in his own field, to re-examine evidence and assumptions, to shake up habitual ways of working and thinking, to dissipate conventional familiarities, to re-evaluate rules and institutions and to participate in the formation of a political will (where he has his role as citizen to play).” I cannot quite decide if I enjoy the music greatly or just hardly. Too often I end up putting one of their former albums on, which basically says that I don't, but somehow I still feel that I ought to because of something, and not just the subject matter of the lyrics, but elements within the music that stirs my attention.
[ allmusic.com, The Independent 4 / 5, Rolling Stone, NME 3,5 / 5, The Guardian 3 / 5 stars ]
=> needledrop review [ 9 / 10 ]

Talk Talk "Life's What You Make It" (1985) (single)

Life's What You Make It, 7'' single

release date: Dec.? 1985

format: vinyl

[single rate: 4 / 5] [4,12]

producer: Tim Friese-Greene

label: EMI - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) "Life's What You Make It" (5 / 5) - - B) "It's Getting Late in the Evening"

Single release by Talk Talk taken from the forthcoming third album The Colour of Spring (Mar. 1986). The single was first issued in Australia and New Zealand in late '85 and then later, close to the album release, in the rest of the world. Only the title track is found on the album, and both tracks are credited Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene. This is the first of four singles to be released from the '86 album, and it was the best-charting of these four peaking at number #16 on the national singles chart.

As all the albums by Talk Talk, the cover is made by James Marsh.

Pearl Jam "Ten" (1991)

Ten (debut)
release date: Aug. 27, 1991
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Rick Parashar, Pearl Jam
label: Sony Records, Japan - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Once" - 2. "Even Flow" - 3. "Alive" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Black" - 6. "Jeremy" - 8. "Porch" - 9. "Garden" - 10. "Deep" (4 / 5)

Studio album debut by Seattle grunge rock band Pearl Jam org. rel. by Epic Records. Pearl Jam is the fusion of members of various bands all originating from Seattle except for Eddie Vedder. The band consists of vocalist Eddie Vedder, bassist Jeff Ament, rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard, lead guitarist Mike McCready, and drummer Dave Krusen [story of the formation] (Krusen would leave the band shortly after recording the debut only to be replaced by Matt Chamberlain for a short period before Dave Abbruzzese would take over).
The style represents a huge blend of influences, which ultimately is grunge rock. There are clear references to early 70s psychedelic and progressive rock (Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple) and to Jimi Hendrix blues rock, later 70s metal rock, and I also hear fragments of Neil Young with Crazy Horse, as well as parts of an American punk rock history, especially Hüsker Dü.
This guitar-founded electric hard rock has never really been that appealing to me, and the only reason that I ever got to listen through this in the first place, was because of the hit single "Alive", which is the album's biggest highlight, as far as I'm concerned. Sure, tracks like "Once", "Even Flow", "Black", "Jeremy", and "Garden" are all fine songs, and in a Pearl Jam fan context they are everything the audience wants, but to me, they are like 3 out of 5, meaning: good songs, no more, no less - nothing special. I simply get tired of the reverberating guitars, the heavy rhythm section and the heavy rock sound, which takes me nowhere. To me, it's dark and heavy (noise). If "Alive" got me interested in Pearl Jam and the rest didn't live up to that, I have to admit that I have always fancied the voice of Eddie Vedder. He's the main reason that I keep listening to this band.
Anyway, the album was well-received by critics, and the album reached number #2 on the American albums chart list. As the only Pearl Jam album, Ten is included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". In my mind - despite the band's own view on the production sound of the album - it's among the band's top 3 albums, although, it does contain some of the absolute best single tracks by the band: "Alive" and "Deep", but in terms of quality songs, I find it too bland. Something that would prove to be a fitting characteristic to their future albums, imho.
[ allmusic.com, Blender, Uncut 5 / 5, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine, Mojo 4 / 5 stars ]

10,000 Maniacs "Blind Man's Zoo" (1989)

Blind Man's Zoo
release date: May 11, 1989
format: digital (11 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,38]
producer: Peter Asher
label: Elektra Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Eat for Two" - 2. "Please Forgive Us" - 4. "Trouble Me" (4 / 5) - 5. "You Happy Puppet" - 7. "Poison in the Well" - 11. "Jubilee"

4th studio album by 10,000 Maniacs released on Elektra and once again with producer Peter Asher. Stylistically, the band keeps to a defined combination of folk pop, jangle pop, and pop / rock, which works for the band without the need to try out other styles or look for a progression in their sound, and the album sounds like a continued chapter to In My Tribe (Jul 1987). They have their distinct and unique style, which binds them to traditional folk roots but also to a contemporary jangle pop, and you sort of know what you may expect.
The album is not bad but not one of their best - the sound is similar to In My Tribe but it simply doesn't contain that amount of great and memorable tracks, and everything is just... quite solid workmanship, which isn't bad - it just doesn't really move me that much, and it stands as a somewhat forgettable album in between two really unique releases.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Joan As Police Woman "The Classic" (2014)

The Classic
release date Mar. 10, 2014
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]
producer: Tyler Wood & Joan Wasser
label: Play It Again Sam - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Witness" - 2. "Holy City" (4 / 5) - 3. "The Classic" (4 / 5) - 4. "Good Together" (live in Paris) - 5. "Get Direct" - 7. "New Year's Day" - 10. "Ask Me"

4th studio album by Joan As Police Woman follows The Deep Field (Jan. 2011) and is released on Play It Again Sam and produced by Wasser and Tyler Wood, who also contributed as keyboardist on the 2011 album.
Initially, I found it a bit of a difficult task to rate this album. On one hand it's very much in family with the music by St. Vincent in the sense that it's both art pop and singer / songwriter-oriented (without the noise pop influence), but it's also Joan's perhaps boldest chamber pop and soul-oriented album so far, although, not just soul and not really folk-based singer / songwriter. I think, what I'm hinting at is that it has so many stylistic references (even neo-psychedelia and doo-wop elements) that it's really a huge melting pot of styles and genres, which ain't necessarily bad, but it does make the album a bit uneven, yet, also interesting. Especially the bolder soul-shaped tracks are great but then again: I also really enjoy "Good Together", which is more art pop cloned neo-soul. Bottom line: it's really good, refreshing, and quite original, and it's probably quite popular as National Public Radio music.
My initial verdict didn't have me thinking of more than 3 stars but having returned to the album in recent months, I now feel more accustomed to the new style, and I think it clearly betters the predecessor, which I still consider a bit of a low point, and The Classic comes close to the qualities of Wasser's acclaimed debut. For me, this is one of this year's more fascinating releases.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

The Knife, Mt. Sims, and Planningtorock "Tomorrow, in a Year" (2010)

Tomorrow, in a Year
release date: Feb. 1, 2010
format: digital (2 cd)
[album rate: 2 / 5] [2,18]

Track highlight: Disc 2) 3. "Colouring of Pigeons"

A studio collaboration double album released as The Knife, Mt. Sims, and Planningtorock. The album is the studio version of the homonymous opera performed by Danish performance act Hotel Pro Forma based on Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of the Species'. The collaboration artists have written the opera together with Planningtorock [aka Janine Rostron, English electronic musician] who participate in the music recordings but only has co-written music for two tracks, Mt. Sims [aka Matthew Sims, American (electronic) musician] who co-wrote most of the material with The Knife, who was involved in all compositions. Several traditional opera performers participate on the vocal side of the album. The music is experimental modern classical, or electronic opera and as such very different from what The Knife has released before.
I think, to fully appreciate the album, one has to be open to sub-genres of traditional opera as well as experimental music in general. It may not make much sense if you are a fan of synthpop only or techno for that matter. I must admit that the album needs more than just attention to digest. I find it interesting but difficult to enjoy in one take. I think, the music would suit fine as background noise if you are a creative painter, designer, or sculptor, or perhaps as a soundtrack.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Drowned in Sound 5 / 5 stars ]

Chumbawamba "Shhh" (1992)

Shhh
release date: 1992
format: cd (2003 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Chumbawamba
label: Mutt Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Shhh" - 4. "Behave" - 5. "Snip Snip Snip" - 6. "Look! No Strings!" - 11. "Stitch That"

5th studio album by Chumbawamba originally self-released on Agit Prop - reissued on Mutt as a 2 cd compilation with the album Slap!, which it follows two years after. Apparently, the album had a troublesome way to its final form. The band had recorded material for an album, they wanted to call "Jesus H. Christ", but due to non-legal samples the album was shelved, reworked and released in this form (which may explain why One Little Indian were unwilling to release it, as they did with the predecessor).
The style is much in the band's new-found shape of indie pop / alt. dance, and much against the band's normal subject-matter, the album is largely directing criticism on the censorship of the music industry, instead of (the usual) political and social motifs involving rights of everyday people.
Sampling plays a major part on an album that doesn't quite meet the expectations sat out on Slap! (1990) - yes, it contains bright and humorous lyrics, but I generally find it a bit unfocused and somewhere on the duller side of what they have previously succeeded with.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Zbigniew Preisner "La double vie de Véronique" (OST) (1991)

La double vie de Véronique (soundtrack)
release date: 1991
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]

"Weronika"

Original Soundtrack album made for the brilliant movie "La double vie de Véronique" (1991) directed by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski. Preisner (aka Zbigniew Antoni Kowalsk) has worked with Kieślowski on several feature films including "Blind Chance", "Dekalog" (TV-series and feature film), and the trilogy "Trois couleurs: Bleu", "Trois couleurs: Blanc", "Trois couleurs: Rouge".
This is my favourite Kieślowski film and one of Preisner's best soundtracks (I know many consider the 1st of his Trois Couleurs' films the best but I think it's too cheesy with way too heavy symbolism, and Presiners' score seems too close to this earlier work, and it lacks complexity). Preisner is a modern classical composer mostly making music for films.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

[ film trailer ] [ extract ]

Chumbawamba "Slap!" (1990)

Slap!
release date: Jul. 1990
format: cd (2003 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Chumbawamba
label: Mutt Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Tiananmen Square" - 3. "Cartrouble" - 7. "Slap!" - 8. "That's How Grateful We Are"
[ full album ]

4th studio album by Chumbawamba originally released on the band's own label Agit-Prop (in '98 also reissued by One Little Indian). The Mutt Records label is also founded (in 2000) by Chumbawamba. Stylistically, this album marks a major change of sound and style, as the band has moved from its primary anarcho-punk style with influences from punk rock and folk to now embrace alt. dance, indie pop and dub.
The leap into a completely new style may seem enormous - fans have surely found it a radical change; but Chumbawamba doesn't just abide to commercialism or the accepted rules of capitalism. The songs reveal the band's political viewpoints as always, and they concentrate on contemporary political movements and episodes around the globe such as ultra-leftist Ulrikke Meinhof from (German) Red Army Faction [Rote Armee Fraktion], the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 in China, the situation in Northern Ireland, and the continued story-telling of reactions to former ultra-left Soviet under Stalin and life in Nazi German concentration camps during WW2.
Although, utilising the mechanisms of popular music, Chumbawamba stays loyal to its social and political viewpoints, and that mission is fully accomplished on Slap!, which proves to be the band's so far most harmonically sounding album to date. You may choose to just listen to the music, and that's a fine construction of various tunes with hooks and choruses, and you may let yourself linger on the lyrics and listen to stories about real people and crucial historical fragments.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Van Morrison "Hymns to the Silence" (1991)

Hymns to the Silence
release date: Sep. 1, 1991
format: 2 lp vinyl (849 026-1) / cd
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,58]
producer: Van Morrison
label: Polydor Records - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Tracklist: A) 1. "Professional Jealousy" (5 / 5) - 2. "I'm Not Feeling It Anymore" (5 / 5) - 3. "Ordinary Life" (4 / 5) - 4. "Some Peace of Mind" (4 / 5) - 5. "So Complicated" - - B) 1. "I Can't Stop Loving You" (4 / 5) - 2. "Why Must I Always Explain?" (5 / 5) - 3. "Village Idiot" (5 / 5) - 4. "See Me Through, part 2 (Just a Closer Walk With Thee)" - 5. "Take Me Back" (5 / 5) - - C) 1. "By His Grace" - 2. "All Saints Day" - 3. "Hymns to the Silence" (5 / 5) - 4. "On Hyndford Street" (4 / 5) - 5. "Be Thou My Vision" - - D) 1. "Carrying a Torch" - 2. "Green Mansions" (4 / 5) - 3. "Pagan Streams" (4 / 5) - 4. "Quality Street" (5 / 5) - 5. "It Must Be You" (5 / 5) - 6. "I Need Your Kind of Loving" (4 / 5)

21st studio album by Van Morrison following one year after his great 20th album Enlightenment is a double album containing 21 new compositions. I'm a big fan of 'Van the Man', which comes through in the following, mind you. Although, I "only" own about 3/4 from his what... 40-45 studio albums (?), my musical taste includes all sorts of musical genres, styles and sub-genres. However, this album is one of my favourite albums of all styles and of all albums, and it will most likely always be that. It's beyond my recognition that e.g. Allmusic only direct 3,5 stars to this masterpiece. Avalon Sunset (1989) may be seen as his most pure and polished pop album but it receives a bit too much recognition, in my mind. I find that this even surpasses Enlightenment (1990), which by many is considered one of his best. I know that Avalon is extremely popular - many like it and not that many hold anything against it - and still not that many would be as bold to call it a masterpiece - this release is just that [period].
What I find works so well on this is the combination of several forces: it contains compositions that seem much in family with tracks that you'll find on his acclaimed No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (1986) and his more pop-minded Enlightenment (1990), and then you'll also find songs where he drifts into a musical dimension of sub-consciousness that reminds me of the strengths you'll find on Beautiful Vision (1982), Veedon Fleece (1974), and on Astral Weeks (1968). It's not an album that copies former successes, but here he dwells on compositional lines and arrangements of his past like a musical exploration.
In my view, this is not only his best studio release but also one of the most successful double albums and best 'pop / rock' albums in the history of modern music - that's how I feel about this album. I know it's a lot of roses and a completely subjective opinion but sometimes it may be right even so. The only reason I won't call it a 5 star release is because of a few songs that simply goes too far in the praising of (a) god. Yes, I'm aware of the title, and it's no real surprise that Van (especially during the 80s) could be a bit (over-)religious - but hey, that's Okay! I'm not judgemental. And it does seem that he has found a new faith after having released a couple of albums paying tribute to - if not exactly atheist conviction - non-religious spiritual philosophy. No, in fact, it's perfectly all right, I'm a very tolerant but non-religious person and I don't preach. I just don't adore a few of the songs... which explains that I cannot put it ahead of Talk Talk's best album and call it the best album of '91, but forced to pick just one album from that year (and the 90s overall) for a desert island trip - this would certainly be one of my top-3 albums.

1991 Favourite releases: 1. Talk Talk Laughing Stock - 2. Van Morrison Hymns to the Silence - 3. Kitchens of Distinction Strange Free World

Sigur Rós "Hlemmur" (OST) (2003)

Hlemmur (soundtrack)
release date: Aug. 20, 2003
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]

4th studio release by Sigur Rós following only one year after ( ) is not a traditional studio album but an original soundtrack to a documentary movie about the main bus terminal in Reykjavik, "Hlemmur", by Ólafur Sveinsson (2002).

The music is more ambient than any of their previous albums, and it contains many short musical fragments all without vocals. It's not easily digested as stand-alone audiophile work.

The album was reissued as a boxset including the film on the band's own label Krúnk in 2007.

Stuart A. Staples "Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04" (2005)

Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04 [debut]
release date: Jul. 18, 2005
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]
producer: Stuart A. Staples
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Somerset House" (feat. Gina Foster) - 2. "Marseilles Sunshine" (feat. Gina Foster) - 3. "Say Something Now" - 3. "Friday Night" - 9. "She Don't Have to Be Good to Me" - 10. "I've Come a Long Way"

Solo studio album debut by lead vocalist Stuart A. Staples of Tindersticks is an album, which has been released at a time when the band is rumored on the verge of breaking up. As the title indicates, the tracks were recorded in the years 2003-2004 and could eventually have been indtended for release with the band but internal conflict led Staples to release the songs under his own name, however, still aided by individual Tindersticks members, such as guitarist Neil Fraser and keyboardist David Boulter, who both were part of the band Asphalt Ribbons together with Staples - a band which preceded the formation of Tindersticks. They appear together with some of the band's regular studio musicians, such as trumpeter Terry Edwards, and a few other studio musicians - including French multi-instrumentalist Yann Tiersen and drummer Thomas Belhom. In addition, British soul vocalist Gina Foster features on several tracks.

Stylistically, this isn't a huge difference to the music by Tindertsicks. However, the album still appears significantly simpler in the arrangements, which really suits the music and not least Staples' dark vocal, which in places stand very much alone without it seeming wrong in any way. Perhaps it was never the intention that these songs should be published as a single work, but it nevertheless proves to be a successful collection of songs that together form a coherent work without fillers, and in this way the album actually appears as a much stronger output than the band's most recent album Waiting for the Moon (2003), which should prove to be the bands final in its original line-up.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Jello Biafra and The Guantanamo School of Medicine "White People and the Damage Done" (2013)

White People and the Damage Done
release date: Apr. 2, 2013
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: Marshall Lawless
label: Alternative Tentacles - nationality: USA

[ full album ]

2nd studio album by Jello Biafra and The Guantanamo School of Medicine. With this album, Biafra and T.G.S.O.M. comes out as one of Biafra's better musical projects after his time in Dead Kennedys, and the music isn't that far from the old legendary band. Not that it's a simple return to 1980's formula of hardcore punk, but it's more like how you could imagine DK would have sounded had they stayed together. Compared to the debut from 2009, the production side has improved and there's a fine balance of hardcore punk combined with industrial rock and metal, some of which comes close to the music Biafra played with Lard, D.O.A., NoMeansNo, as well as with The Melvins, and then he hasn't stopped having a critical view on his home-country, which was more blurred on the predecessor The Audacity of Hype (2009). Marshall Lawless seems like Biafra's first choice for the production seat as he has produced albums for Biafra since the early 1990s whether Biafra played in collaboration projects, alone, or in more traditional band compounds, This is an improvement to the band's music, I think, and mostly because the material is more originally diverse.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

The Knife "Silent Shout" (2006)

Silent Shout
release date: Mar. 20, 2006
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: The Knife
label: Rabid Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Silent Shout" - 2. "Neverland" - 4. "We Share Our Mother's Health" (live) - 6. "Marble House" - 7. "Like a Pen" - 9. "Forest Families"

3rd studio album by The Knife also signals the third stylistic change by the duo. On this, they introduce minimal techno to their repertoire, and I'm not really a big fan of traditional techno but neither is this - it's more like a new ingredient.
Initially, I found the album too extravagant, too experimentally electronic, but I have come to appreciate it more and more. The thing is, The Knife is constantly in search of new untouched territory and they do it ever so skilfully. The tracks on the album are like a complex tapestry, a variety of pieces that fit together like a jigsaw, forming a special dimension of sound, and I like it. But it requires time and attention. This album was the first by The Knife to reach number #1 on the Swedish album chart list.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, The Observer, Spin 4 / 5 stars ]

The Cure "Concert - The Cure Live" (1984) (live)

FIXH 10

Concert - The Cure Live (live)
release date: Oct. 16, 1984
format: vinyl (FIXH 10)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: Dave Allen [David M. Allen], The Cure
label: Fiction Records - nationality: England, UK

1st live album by The Cure. The album is quite fine as documentation. The tracks were recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, on May 9 & 10, 1984, and in Oxford, May 5, 1984. Although, the concerts were held after The Cure had been engaged in seeking out a new style, and after turning its back on gloomy gothic rock, this album, with the exception of three compositions, only document the old days with tracks from the band's first four albums. In that way the album seemed like a strange release. Anyway, when you know the first albums it's fine but also incoherent with tracks of synth pop in between.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Bloc Party "Intimacy Remixed" (2009)

Intimacy Remixed (remix)
release date: May 11, 2009
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5]

Tracklist 1. "Ares (Villians Remix)" - 2. "Mercury (Hervé Is in Disarray Remix)" - 3. "Halo (We Have Band Remix)" - 4. "Biko (Mogwai Remix)" - 5. "Trojan Horse (John B Remix)" - 6. "Signs (Armand Van Helden Remix)" - 7. "One Month Off (Filthy Dukes Remix)" - 8. "Zephyrus (Phase One Remix)" - 9. "Talons (Phones RIP Remix)" (4 / 5) - 10. "Better Than Heaven (No Age Remix)" - 11. "Ion Square (Banjo or Freakout Remix)" - 12. "Letter to My Son (Gold Panda Remix)" - 13. "Your Visits Are Getting Shorter (Double D Remix)"

Remix album by Bloc Party. Again, a remix release of their latest studio album. This time I actually find it a welcome release. Stylistically, the band has moved into electronic and alt. dance, which makes this more of a digestible remix. Kele obviously has a certain something for club and dance, and this only adds to their new style. "Talons" is still a great track in this outfit.

The Durutti Column "LC" (1981)

LC
release date: Dec. 15, 1981
format: digital (fact 44)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,15]
producer: Stew Pickering and Vini Reilly
label: Factor Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Sketch for Dawn I" (4 / 5) - 2. "Portrait for Frazer" - 3. "Jaqueline" (5 / 5) - 4. "Messidor" (4 / 5) - 5. "Sketch for Dawn II" (4 / 5) - 6. "Never Known" (5 / 5) - 7. "The Act Committed" (4 / 5) - 8. "Detail for Paul" (4 / 5) - 9. "The Missing Boy" (4,5 / 5) - 10. "The Sweet Cheat Gone" (4 / 5)

2nd album by The Durutti Column, where Reilly continues his own original style, which seems so unprovoked by anything else, and leaving music critics at the time with a difficult time labelling his music. LC (short for 'Lotta Continua' i.e. 'The fight continues') is one of his finest albums. "The Missing Boy" is written in memory of Reilly's late friend Ian Curtis (lead vocalist of Joy Division).
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

1996 Remastered Bonus Tracks Edition

Love Shop "Kærlighed og straf" (2014)

Kærlighed og straf
release date. Oct. 20, 2014
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Mikkel Damgaard
label: A:larm Music / Playground - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Bellavista regn" - 2. "I morgen" - 4. "Nede ved floden" - 5. "Danmark Bye-Bye" (4 / 5) (live) - 6. "Den længste drøm er alt for kort" (live) - 7. "Tåreflammer ned" - 9. "Evaklubben" - 10. "Du kyssede morgenlyset bort"

10th studio album by Love Shop, or: released as 'cause the band is in essence reduced to a Jens Unmack solo project. However, it's a playground for this talented Danish artist to release material that has a more uptempo pop / rock feel than his releases under own his name tend to be. The album is likely an attempt to follow the strong Skandinavisk lyst from 2012 with its stronger synthpop sound thanks to Mikkel Damgaard's keyboards and programming, which stir up the old soul of the band but also takes its sound further up stream.
My initial verdict was a luke-warm reception, and I found it like a lesser copy of the band's most recent album, but I have come to enjoy it much more and on its own premises. It's slightly less synthpop based and frankly more in the tradition of the classic Love Shop albums, which I first saw as an attempt to revive the past, but it turns out to work more than just Okay. I do think, Unmack, with the aid of Damgaard's keyboards and programming, successfully has found back to the playground that once was by adding new dimensions to the picture.
This album is a grower and a recommended listen.

Unfold video content <- click...

[ read more: www.jensunmack.dk ]

The Chemical Brothers "Further" (2010)

Further
release date: Jun. 7, 2010
format: cd
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,28]
producer: The Chemical Brothers
label: Parlophone / Freestyle Dust - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Escape Velocity" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Another World" (5 / 5) - 4. "Dissolve" - 5. "Horse Power" (4,5 / 5) - 6. "Swoon" (4,5 / 5) - 8. "Wonders of the Deep"

7th studio release by the Chemical Brothers is a truly astonishing album in my mind, and "the brothers" are back on track, now pushing big beat to new pastures with electro house in a big beat soundscape. It's been on my car cd-player for a very 10o0ng time (at least when I drive on my own). It's like one long track evolving into new sound and soundscapes. This is one of those albums where you know your speakers and amplifier just aren't good enough.
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 /5, NME 3,5 / 5, Q, musicOMH, Mojo 4 / 5 stars ]

2010 Favourite releases: 1. Søren Huss Troen & ingen - 2. The Chemical Brothers Further - 3. Robyn Body Talk

Last Dinosaurs "Back From the Dead" (2010)

Back From the Dead (EP) [debut]

release date: Feb. 26, 2010

format: digital (6 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,28]

producer: Jono Ma

label: Dew Process - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Honolulu" - 2. "As Far as You're Concerned" - 3. "Saturn" - 4. "Alps"

Studio ep debut by Australian quartet Last Dinosaurs consisting of the brothers Caskey: Sean on vocals and rhythm guitar and (younger brother) Lachlan on lead guitar and backing vocals together with bassist Sam Gethin-Jones and drummer Dan Koyama.

This Ep-debut is a melodic and energetic fusion of light-hearted melody-based indie pop with influence from a native pop / rock tradition, and with bonds to British / American and Japanese culture. The songs are well-executed - the only flaw is a tendency to over-simplify arrangements and song structure with an end result putting much focus on short hooks and chorus lines. That said, Last Dinosaurs are definitely worth checking out.

Lou Reed "Mistrial" (1986)

Mistrial
release date: Apr. 1986
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,58]
producer: Lou Reed, Fernando Saunders
label: RCA Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 3. "Outside" - 9. "I Remember You" - 10. "Tell It to Your Heart" (2,5 / 5)

14th studio album by Lou Reed is one of his least favourable albums in his long career. The production side is poor with excessive bass and drums - a bit late, but even Lou made his bad 1980s typical sound. The previous album New Sensations (1984) already showcased his interest for incorporating new musical influences but this is not good. He makes use of synths and drum programming in a strange mix of pop / rock, new wave, with elements from r&b, funk, and rap [!] (track #7 "The Original Wrapper" - a low point), which doesn't work (at all). Actually, I don't think I have ever listen the whole album through in one take.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Chicago Tribune 2,5 / 5 stars ]

M.I.A. "Arular" (2005)

Arular [debut]
release date: Mar. 22, 2005
format: cd (XLCD 186)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: various
label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Pull up the People" - 3. "Bucky Done Gun" - 4. "Sunshowers" - 8. "Bingo" - 9. "Hombre" - 13. "Galang"

Studio debut album by M.I.A. [birthname: Mathangi Arulpragasam] produced by Paul Byrne, Cavemen, Diplo, KW Griff, Richard X, Switch, Anthony Whiting, and Wizard. Before this, she was involved in documentary as a way of expression, and she was hired by Elastica - through her friendship with guitarist and vocalist Justine Frischmann - to cover the band's live tour in 2001. It was then Frischmann who let M.I.A. play with a Roland MC-505 sequencer on which she recorded several demoes that was eventually used to pursuade XL Recordings to invite her in to record some of her own music.

M.I.A. is both a reference to her birth name - often shortened to Maya - and to the abbreviation for Missing in Action. I didn't come across this album until around 2010, and only regret not to have heard it when it was released. Her following two albums are named after her parents. This one has its name after her father's political code name in the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS, a resistance group fighting for a free state, Tamil Eelam, in Sri Lanka).

I really enjoy her aggressive style, sometimes making me think of a more contemporary Lil' Kim, but with more sophisticated lyrics and music. The sampling and glitch pop tone is just another positive element and fusioned with electropop and grime, it's a nice and original cocktail. What's really impressive about M.I.A. is her involvement in her own music. She hasn't got a bunch of songwriters and composers but basically makes everything herself. The story is, she send a demo tape to several labels with XL Recordings being the only label to invite her in. Alledgedly, she knew from the very beginning exactly what she wanted and was so lucky to actually have it her own way. She also did her own cover art.

[ allmusic.com 5 / 5, The Guardian, The Independent, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

New Order "Lost Sirens" (2013)

Lost Sirens
release date: Jan. 14, 2013
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,98]
producer: New Order and various
label: Rhino Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "I'll Stay With You" - 2. "Sugarcane" - 3. "Recoil" - 4. "Californian Grass (Doomy)"

9th studio album by New Order released close to 8 years since their most recent studio album, Waiting for the Sirens' Call (Mar. 2005). Like that it's produced by New Order and various others - Stephen Street, Stuart Price and Jim Spencer are back as producers on a few tracks and then Mac Quayle and Swedish producer Tore Johansson is credited on tracks #6 and #2 respectively. After several years with rumours of a new album under way this was finally released in 2013 after the band had unofficially split due to controversies between vocalist Bernard Sumner and bassist Peter Hook. And speaking of a completely new collection of songs to show us a new direction since their mediocre 2005 album this isn't exactly that. All tracks were recorded in 2003-04 and are "outtakes" from Waiting for the Sirens' Call. These songs were intended to follow the 2005 release within a two-year period but the split that ended with founding member Peter Hook leaving the band in 2007 ended up delaying the release. So, almost a decade after the recordings it finally had was released after New Order officially had disbanded, and it actually proves to be a much better album than the shallow 2005 album. I think, it basically show how some recording take bad turns based on wrong decisions about what works and what people (band members? / producers? / managers?) think is the right thing to do. Initially, they chose another musical direction but this show us that the very same people were still capable of making good music. Still, it's not one of their best, and I rate it just above mediocre.

Still in 2007, after Peter Hook left New Order, he formed the band Freebass with ex-The Smiths' bassist Andy Rourke, ex-The Stone Roses bassist Gary Mounfield and ex-Haven vocalist Gary Briggs. Bernard Sumner and Phil Cunningham formed the band Bad Lieutenant with vocalist Jake Evans, and Steve Morris featured as guest drummer. Tom Chapman, who would eventually substitute Peter Hook in the new formation of New Order also made guest appearances in this band.

In the fall of 2011 New Order reformed with a new line-up for a number of live performances, and in 2012 the Lost Sirens album was announced for an upcoming release, which led to new disputes with former bassist Peter Hook regarding copyrights, which further delayed the release another year.

[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Psyched Up Janis "Beats Me" (1997)

Beats Me
release date: Feb. 1997
format: cd (RECD 8707)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Craig Leon
label: Replay Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 2. "Dying Flame" (4 / 5) - 3. "Airhead" - 4. "The Stars Are Out" - 5. "Waiting to Grab" - 7. "Hopefully" - 14. "Where the Lights Won't Shine" (4 / 5)

2nd studio album by Psyched Up Janis released on Danish label, Replay offers 16 new tracks and is like the debut produced by Craig Leon. After the artistic success of Swell the band moved to England and signed with This Way Up / Universal for a follow-up album and drummer Jakob Bjerregaard left the trio, and the band is here reduced to a functional duo of Sune Wagner and Jakob Jørgensen. As for the album recordings Jesper Reginald (aka Yebo, member of Danish band Thau) plays drums and percussion - he became official member after the album release for a short period of time.
The music is generally gloomier compared to the debut. Some tracks show Sune Wagner's fascination for 1960s surf rock, and other tracks seem more alt. rock-styled as of sheer raging energy, and in connects the band with Pixies and Sonic Youth. "Dying Flame", "Airhead", and "Waiting to Grab" are close to the best tracks on the debut, whereas track #1, "Lo-Fi Industry" is more industrial with hints to Marilyn Manson and / or Sonic Youth. "Somebody Loves Ya" and "Hopefully" are surf rock-inspired and together with the fine "Where the Lights Won't Shine" they all point more to Wagner's future albums with The Raveonnettes (which is also visually underlined in the album cover).
The album was met by national enthusiasm - especially from critics, but it wasn't the international step forward that the record company or the band had set out for and after this they returned to Denmark. In the fall of '97 Psyched Up Janis signed with EMI-Medley although they were now back to being the duo of Sune Wagner and bassist Jørgensen they started out as, and Wagner took over playing all other instruments. An ever-changing line-up - and / or difficulties in finding a steady drummer didn't make prospects easier, and Sune Wagner may not have made it easier for other members to contribute as he was THE composer and artistic source within the band.
From my perspective, this is almost on par with the splendid debut.

BEST OF 1990:Neil Young & Crazy Horse "Ragged Glory" (1990)

Ragged Glory
release date: Sep. 9, 1990
format: cd
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,28]
producer: Neil Young & David Briggs
label: Reprise Records - nationality: Canada

Tracklist: 1. "Country Home" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "White Line" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Fuckin' Up" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Over and Over" (5 / 5) - 5. "Love to Burn" (3,5 / 5) - 6. "Farmer John" (4,5 / 5) - 7. "Mansion on the Hill" (3,5 / 5) - 8. "Days That Used to Be" - 9. "Love and Only Love" (4 / 5) - 10. "Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)"

19th studio album by Neil Young released as Neil Young & Crazy Horse. This is one of my most beloved albums, not only by Neil Young, but of all the albums that I have in my collection. If Eldorado and Freedom had some grunge potential, this may be seen as another primary source to that style, but it's also one of the best garage rock albums ever released, and I would rather listen to this than any "clean" grunge album - this is IT! It's one of those rare albums that you can play on your car stereo riding long trips, in rain, snow or sunshine, and fits an evening perfectly drinking red wine and clearing the world of politics or whatever in good company. Damn it's so good! It's also very simple, and maybe that's why critics are somewhat reluctant in handing it 5 stars, although it was well-received. Like good wine, I think, in time this will only be rated higher and higher. All songs are written by Young except "Farmer John", which is a cover of a '60s r&b song by Don & Dewey but I doubt that version rocks like this. The album is the most recent Neil Young album to be enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

1990 Favourite releases: 1. Neil Young Ragged Glory - 2. Van Morrison Enlightenment - 3. Sinéad O'Connor I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

Antony and the Johnsons "Swanlights" (2010)

Swanlights
release date: Oct. 11, 2010
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,36]
producer: Antony Hegarty
label: Rough Trade - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "The Great White Ocean" - 3. "Ghost" - 4. "I'm in Love" - 8. "Thank You for Your Love" - 9. "Flétta" (feat. Björk)

4th studio album by Antony and the Johnsons following nearly two years after The Crying Light (Jan. 2009) - released by Secretly Canadian (Rough Trade for the European market). The style is somewhat unchanged with Antony's melancholic piano-founded mourning stories with less focus on traditional instrumentation in the exchange of orchestral arrangements with an end result that appears both touching on a neo-classical score and a more naked and simple expression. This way it appears as his most quiet and intimate so far. All tracks are (as usual) composed by Antony Hegarty except two written together with classical composer Nico Muhly, and the track "Flétta" co-written by Björk.
The album was generally met by critical acclaim, although, I just don't find that the album reach the height of its two giant predecessors and imho it just sits low in Antony's discography. I'm possibly missing some point here. I find that the stories are intact, Antony's voice also, there's lot's of sincerity and strong emotions but the strong compositions don't escape the surface.
[ allmusic.com, BBC Music, Mojo, Uncut 4 / 5, Pitchfork 7,7 / 10 stars ]

The Beautiful South "Choke" (1989)

Choke
release date: Oct. 1990
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]
producer: Mike Hedges, The Beautiful South
label: Go! Discs - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Tonight I Fancy Myself" (4 / 5) - 3. "Let Love Speak Up Itself" - 4. "Should've Kept My Eyes Shut" - 5. "I've Come for My Award" - 8. "A Little Time" (4,5 / 5) (live) - 9. "Mother's Pride"

2nd studio album by The Beautiful South now with Briana Corrigan (featured as backing vocalist on the debut) as full member making the band a sextet (symbolised by the cover art). The style is more or less the same as on the debut. Only downside to another fine album is the production side of it. I mean, playing with piano, brass, horns and strings as in a sophisti-pop, chamber pop universe doesn't require much to make it warm and ambient-sounding - it just sounds a bit like a first take and as a single-layered production. And yes, the texts play a major part, I know, which is why I find it clearly above the average.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

various artists "Sun City - Artists United Against Apartheid" (1985)

Sun City - Artists United Against Apartheid (compilation)
release date: Dec. 7, 1985
format: vinyl (1C 064 24 0467 1)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: Little Steven and Arthur Baker
label: Manhattan Records - nationality: USA

Compilation album released in support of The Africa Fund, a charitable trust based in New York City and registered with the United Nations. The album only contains 7 tracks but it mentions 52 featuring artists with the addition of many starring names amongst the technical personnel.

Morrissey "Certain People I Know" (1992) (single)

Certain People I Know, single
release date: Dec. 7, 1992
format: digital
[single rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Mick Ronson
label: HMV - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Certain People I Know" - 2. "You've Had Her" - 3. "Jack the Ripper"

Single release taken from the album Your Arsenal (Jul.) with only the title track from the album. Track #3 is also included as B-side to the single "Now My Heart Is Full" from 1994 but on that it's identical to the live version on Beethoven Was Deaf from '93, and here it's the studio version.
What I really like about single releases by Morrissey is how he is still capable of making good B-sides like in the tradition of The Smiths. "Jack the Ripper" is a great composition but it really shines the brightest in the live version.

Malurt "Tour de Force" (1983)

Tour de Force

release date: Oct. 1983

format: cd (1998 reissue)

[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,68]

producer: Per Chr. Frost, Malurt

label: CMC Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "På boulevarden" - 2. "Under uret" - 4. "Luxusliner" - 8. "Flugten til Amerika"

4th and initially final album by Malurt before the band's disbandment in '84, originally released on Medley Records, following 1½ years after Black-out (Apr. 1982).

The line-up remains the same and Michael Falch and Malurt are as usual credited all songs and music respectively. Producer Per Chr. Frost (guitarist in Gnags) is credited additional guitar, just as Nils Henriksen contributed in that role on the predecessor.

Stylistically, the album presents the band with a mainstream-seeking sound that resembles that found on the '82 album only with a new slight softer tone, which in a way puts the band closer to the sound of national acts like Gnags and C.V. Jørgensen with loans and inspiration from Springsteen but also from Dire Straits.

I purchased the vinyl album when it was released, but only found it a clear further step down compared to their previous release and I ended up reselling my copy less than a decade later together with three solo albums by Michael Falch. On this, the band seems to have lost more than just vitality, as they come out as a band, who doesn't know how to add new inputs to their music and without much will to stand out. Falch appears stuck as a songwriter repeating the same stories over and over again, and Malurt clings on to its status as a Danish version of Springsteen & The E-Street Band only without the inspiration to take it any further than just that, and some songs on this most evidently reveal a natural recycling of some of their older songs.

Tour de Force had been delayed as members of the band were preoccupied playing in other projects and lead vocalist Falch had been engaged as actor in his first feature film "Isfugle" (1983) by Søren Kragh-Jakobsen. Initially, the album came out as Malurt's final studio album after which they released the 1984 live album Kys mig før jeg bliver Cool. Falch then released his self-titled solo debut in Mar. '85 while the other band members turned to other acts. However, the band had a reputation as a great live band and this led to a reformation for Roskilde Festival in 1990 with Peter Viskinde replacing Christian Arendt as lead guitarist, and with that near original line-up they followed up with a fifth studio album Spøgelser in Mar. 1992. They continued as a much asked for live act and released their second live album Uden filter (1992) and then released their so far final and sixth studio album Ghetto in 1993. From '94 and onwards the band has been 'parked' on an indefinite hiatus while Falch has continued as a solo artist.

Of the band's original four studio albums, Tour de Force stands as their least favourable release.

Not recommended.

My Bloody Valentine "m b v" (2013)

m b v
release date: Feb. 13, 2013
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Kevin Shields
label: m b v (self-released) - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 1. "She Found Now" - 2. "Only Tomorrow" - 3. "Who Sees You" (4 / 5) - 4. "Is This and Yes" - 5. "If I Am" (4 / 5) - 8. "Nothing Is" (4 / 5) - 9. "Wonder 2"

3rd studio album by My Bloody Valentine is what is regarded the final album by My Bloody Valentine, and it follows some 22 years after the band's most recent album, the acclaimed Loveless from 1991. Alledgedly, Kevin Shields had tired of how the music industry worked in terms of having decisive opinions on his music, which in this case has become a self-made product - self-produced, -mastered, and self-released. Yes, this is complete control.
Apparently, the majority of these tracks were initially recorded before the band split in 1997. Other recordings were presumably made in 2006, shortly before the band officially reformed in 2007, but ultimately, all tracks here are credited Shields, and it falls rather fine in the chronology despite following more than two decades after the band's most recent album. In 2013, Shields publicly said a new album was soon to be release, and seemingly, it had already been mastered, but then Shields the prefectionist took over, and another 8 years passed before the end-result was approved.
This is a modernized noise pop and dream pop release that finally came out some 22 years after its predecessor Loveless (1991), as Kevin Shields didn't work in ordinary ways. As was the case with the two previous albums, this also ended up in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", and really, it's a certified grower.
[ 👍allmusic.com, Spin 4 / 5, Pitchfork 9,1 / 10, The Guardian 5 / 5 stars ]

Thin Lizzy "Fighting" (1975)

Fighting
release date: Sep. 12, 1975
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,15]
producer: Phil Lynott
label: Vertigo Records - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 1. "Rosalie" - 3. "Suicide" - 4. "Wild One" - 7. "Spirit Slips Away" (3,5 / 5) - 9. "Freedom Song"

5th studio album by Thin Lizzy. Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson are more upfront on this album and it comes out as the first Thin Lizzy album with its characteristic sonic style founded on two dominant electric guitars. It's clearly better than the band's earliest albums, the style may be there, but I don't find that the songs are that interesting.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Blaue Blume "In The Disco Lights" Live, Koncerthuset, Copenhagen, 2014

Blaue Blume "In The Disco Lights"

This is evidently a song with reference to Cocteau Twins but what could have been a total rip-off only comes out as a tribute and great great track.

Bloc Party "Talons" (2008) (single)

Talons, single
release date: Oct. 20, 2008
format: digital
[single rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Paul Epworth

label: Wichita - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Talons" (5 / 5) - 2. "Talons (Phones R.I.P Mix)" (4 / 5) - 3. "Talons (XXXChange Remix)" (3,5 / 5) - 4. "Talons (Moody Boyz Remix)" (3,5 / 5)

A single from the recent album Intimacy, and what a track! The original version is easily the best, and the first mix is a rather good remix.

The Knife "Heartbeats" (2003)

Deep Cuts
release date: Jan. 17, 2003
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: The Knife
label: Rabid Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Heartbeats" (5 / 5) - 2. "Girls' Night Out" - 6. "Listen Now" (4 / 5) - 8. "You Take My Breath Away" - 10. "Is It Medicine" - 12. "Got 2 Let U" - 13. "Behind the Bushes"

2nd studio album by The Knife is like the debut from 2001 released on Rabid Records. Stylistically, the duo has turned up on the tempo and the variation making this an improvement from the interesting but slightly grey, moody, and one-dimensional debut. Instead, this turns out to be a highly original album of electronic pop and synthpop with more energy-laden and dance-friendly compositions.
The duo has had a considerable impact on musical styles in the first decade after the millennium and is highly respected for its innovative and experimental approach, which has much to do with this and the successive album. It's really hard to make comparisons with other artists because the music by The Knife builds on many sources but still turns out as something quite unique. In some tracks I hear Laurie Anderson, The Sugarcubes and Björk, but that's just a few, and never always the case. Swedish artist Jenny Wilson appears as guest vocalist and co-writer of track #8 "You Take My Breath Away", which was released as a single. Aside from that, track #1 brought the band more fame after Swedish artist José González in October released an acoustic cover on his debut album Veneer.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]