Gorillaz "Humanz" (2017)

EU cover
[2-D]

Humanz
release date: Apr. 28, 2017
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]
producer: Gorillaz, The Twilite Tone of D/\P & Remi Kabaka
label: Parlophone - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Ascension" (feat. Vince Staples) - 3. "Strobelite" (feat. Peven Everett) - 7. "Submission" (feat. Danny Brown & Kelela) - 8. "Charger" (feat. Grace Jones) - 10. "Andromeda" (feat. D.R.A.M.) - 14. "Let Me Out" (feat. Mavis Staples & Pusha T)

5th studio album by Gorillaz is a 20 track album ending a seven year hiatus from the Damon Albarn-led project is the follow-up to The Fall (Dec. 2010). The many tracks are the result of having six short breaks in form of various intermezzos, however, its total running time is approx. 49 min. Stylistically, it's a bit subdued compared to the first three releases. You'll find bits of glitch pop but more apparent is the presence of electropop and art pop in combination with hip hop. There's the almost natural ever-present signature element of dub on top or underneath all tracks. What I find less attractive is the constant use of various rappers instead of Albarn's characteristic vocal, which places it alongside Plastic Beach (Mar. 2010). He's there, but more as complementary vocal, which is a bit of a shame. When Albarn's most present, there's an immediate connection to his fine Everyday Robots from 2014.
At a first glance it may not be as direct and good as Demon Days (2005), but I easily found it bettering Plastic Beach and The Fall, and after ten spins or more, I simply consider it the band's best [!]. Yes, I know some reviewers haven't been that positive about it. I on the other hand find it much more pleasant, accessible and enjoyable. It may not add "that something new" to the Gorillaz project, and in that way could be considered a bit on a plain, but the positive dance pop tunes and the laid-back unworried tone mix so well. I've rated this lower almost for a whole year, but at the end of the day, it has come down as one of the most enjoyable albums of 2017.
The front cover comes in various versions, all of which naturally made by Gorillaz' "art department" member Jamie Hewlett.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, NME, Q Magazine 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

UK cover
[Noodle]

vinyl cover
[Murdoc]

deluxe double
vinyl cover
[Russel]

streaming cover
[Gorillaz]

Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari "SpiritoDiVino" (1995)

SpiritoDiVino (Italian version)
release date: May 27, 1995
format: cd (reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: Corrado Rustici
label: Polydor - nationality: Italy

Track highlights: 1. "Voodoo voodoo" - 2. "Datemi una pompa" - 4. "Pane e sale" - 6. "Il volo" (4 / 5) - 7. "Senza rimorso" - 8. "Papà perché" - 9. "Così celeste"

7th studio album by Zucchero released as 'Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari' follows 2½ years after the album Miserere (Oct. '92) is an album released in various different versions, and most issues contain 10 tracks. The English-versioned issue with the subtitle "Stray Cat in a Mad Dog City" is made according to the formula of the predecessor with six tracks with translated English lyrics and new titles as well as a quite different running order. A Spanish version was also issued with translated Spanish lyrics and a North American version with two older tracks replacing two tracks with Italian lyrics. All songs are written and composed by Zucchero except track #1 with music co-composed by Luciano Luisi, track #4 with lyrics by Franceso De Gregorio, tracks #7 & #8 with lyrics by Alberto Salerno and track #10 with lyrics by Jovanotti.
Style-wise the album is a step towards more pop soul and uptempo energy and it basically sounds more in tune with Oro incenso & birra from '89 than his most recent Miserere, which reeked of American soft rock and traditional r&b. With this Zucchero confirms his position as an international artist of contemporary rhythm & blues with a strong mainstream pop / rock appeal.

Recommended.

International English-
versioned issue

Beth Hart Band "Immortal" (1996)

Immortal [debut]
release date: May 21, 1996
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]
producer: Hugh Padgham, David Foster, Mike Clink
label: Lava Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "Spiders in My Bed" - 4. "Hold Me Through the Night" - 9. "Ringing" - 10. "God Bless You"

Studio album debut by Beth Hart released as Beth Hart Band after having released the self-released semi-official album Beth Hart and the Ocean of Souls in '93 (reissued as an archival Beth Hart album in 2009).
Immortal is the only album released as Beth Hart Band. The majority of the original album's twelve compositions have lyrics by Hart and music by Hart together with guitarist Jimmy Khoury and bassist Tal Herzberg. The fourth and last member of the band is drummer Sergio Gonzalez.
Stylistically, this is primarily blues rock, although, there's also a clear influence from heavy rock and grunge rock, which from my perspective makes it a bit of a bland experience - on the other hand, it's still a fine example of Hart's incredible vocal register, which is hard to imagine without Janis Joplin and her significant vibrato and intense dynamic range, and it's really her vocal performance that raises this far above the mediocre 'cause musically, there's simply too much generic and unoriginal heavy rock on a debut that makes you question if this is a Led Zeppelin or Pearl Jam tribute album.

BEST OF 2001:Björk "Vespertine" (2001)

Vespertine
release date: Aug. 27, 2001
format: cd (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,32]
producer: Björk
label: Polydor Records - nationality: Iceland

Track highlights: 1. "Hidden Place" (4 / 5) - 2. "Cocoon" - 3. "It's Not Up to You" (5 / 5) (live) - 4. "Undo" (live) - 5. "Pagan Poetry" - 7. "Aurora" (4 / 5) - 10. "Heirloom" - 12. "Unison" (4,5 / 5)

4th studio album by Björk following four years after Homogenic (Aug. 1997) is primarily produced by Björk and is originally released by One Little Indian. Before this she released the soundtrack album Selmasongs (2000), an album with (reworked) songs from the musical film "Dancer in the Dark" starring Björk and directed by Lars von Trier.
Vespertine marks a new change of style with the addition of ambient and glitch pop. A move from trip hop towards glitch pop may not be the biggest imaginable leap, but with the album, Björk introduces a completely different sound compared to any of her previous releases. It's an album with much less focus on electronic beats and a bolder organic sound filled with strings and vocal harmonies.
I've always enjoyed this album and think of it as possibly her biggest accomplishment.
Vespertine is the second album by Björk to be enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, NME, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars ]

2001 Favourite releases: 1. Björk Vespertine - 2. Nathalie Merchant Motherland - 3. Rammstein Mutter

Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd "Mysterious Skin: Music From the Film" (OST) (2005)

Mysterious Skin: Music From the Film (soundtrack)

release date: May 24, 2005

format: digital

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]

producer: Robin Guthrie

label: Rykodisc - nationality: Scotland, UK / USA

Collaboration album by Scottish guitarist Robin Guthrie together with American composer Harold Budd. The album is not an official soundtrack but the actual film score album for "Mysterious Skin" (2004) by Gregg Araki. The soundtrack has also been issued and is somewhat different with music by various artists of dream pop and shoegaze including original compositions by Sigur Rós, Slowdive, Cocteau Twins, Ride and Curve. Harold Budd is renowned for his contributions as jazz avantgardist and composer of music described as minimalism and / or neo-classical, and here he has composed 15 tracks together with Robin Guthrie.

Musically, it doesn't fall far from Guthrie's solo debut Imperial (2003) as it's first and foremost instrumental and ambient music relying heavily simple music structure based on guitar and piano / keyboards with some occasional drum programming as additional instrumentation.

The album is their first in a series of collaboration works, which came to an abrupt end with Another Flower (2020) as Harold Budd died from COVID-19, Nov. '20. Actually, Guthrie and Budd already met back in 1985 when they worked together on the album The Moon and the Melodies (1986), which is released as a collaboration work between Budd and the Scottish band Cocteau Twins - as Budd's first encounter with popular music - credited all four and to the individuals of the band: Simon Raymonde, Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie. So, Mysterious Skin: Music From the Film is realised some 20 years later; however, the two have made several other albums together, e.g. After the Night Falls and Before the Day Breaks both released simultaneously Jun. 2007.

This film score may work on a completely different level while accompanied with images and dialogue from the film, but as a stand-alone work, it's a difficult listen.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

XTC "Apple Venus Volume 1" (1999)

Apple Venus Volume 1
release date: Feb. 22, 1999
format: cd (COOKCD 172)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Haydn Bendall, Nick Davis
label: Cooking Vinyl - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "River of Orchids" - 2. "I'd Like That" - 3. "Easter Theatre" - 5. "Frivolous Tonight" - 6. "Greenman" - 7. "Your Dictionary" - 9. "I Can't Own Her"
[ full album ]

11th studio album by XTC, and the last to feature guitarist Dave Gregory. The album is released some seven years following Nonsuch (Apr. '92) and after a controversy with the band's label, which meant that XTC had rejected to record any new material for Virgin to finally be freed from its contract and from the label. Free to do as they like, the three band members struggled to find financials to materialise a follow-up album. Apparently, Partridge & Co. had enough songs to record what should've been a double album but as a result of insufficient finances they ended up with this, which may be regarded as the first part of a conceptual work - hence the title "Volume 1".
The album differs somewhat from other XTC albums being perhaps closest to the album Skylarking from '86 - especially, when comparing to the 2014 "corrected" issue of that particular album. This one is likewise what has been labelled as neo-psychedelic and distinctively also chamber pop from a band that was reduced to its most prolific songwriters, Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding during the recording sessions when Dave Gregory left the band due to 'musical differences' [ Gregory's version ].
XTC once again prove their ability to be able to renew themselves over and over again without losing themselves. With only two songs by Moulding, the album mostly contains compositions by Partridge, but although, it plays with new styles and incorporates brass and The London Sessions Orchestra it's still clearly an XTC album.
The album didn't sell in great numbers, but critics were generally quite positive about it, and it's also one of only two XTC albums to be enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
Surely, it may not contain obvious single hits - it's an album for listeners, and I really find it a bit of a surprise after Oranges and Lemons and Nonsuch, both of which saw the band explore more simplistic pop / rock traditions. Some tracks are strongly experimental, some make me think of The Divine Comedy, or Love and Rockets, others are closer to The Church, and not seldom one is reminded of bands like The Beach Boys and The Beatles, but mostly I just hear XTC on top of it all.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, The Guardian, Spin, Q Magazine 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Cornershop "Urban Turban - The Singhles Club" (2012)

Urban Turban - The Singhles Club

release date: May 14, 2012

format: cd 

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]

producer: Tjinder Singh

label: Ample Play Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "What Did the Hippie Have in His Bag?" (ft. Castle Hill Primary) - 3. "Non-Stop Radio" (ft. Celeste) - 4. "Solid Gold" (ft. Katie) - 7. "Concrete, Concrete" (ft. Kay Kwong) - 8. "Something Makes You Feel Like" (ft. SoKo)

7th studio album by Cornershop released only one year after the highly original Cornershop & the Double 'O' Groove Of Featuring Bubbley Kaur is a release I first thought of as a compilation album due to its title, but that only points to band leader's surname. Once again the album is with Tjinder Singh as producer, main songwriter as well as main composer.

It has been made with various collaborating artists and is the result of "The Singhles Club" project, which meant that the band sent subscribers of their website a new single each month over a six month time-span. Urban Turban has then been expanded to compile twelve tracks most of which are made by the collaborating artist and Cornershop.

Maren Morris "Hero" (2016)

Hero
release date: Jun. 3, 2016
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,96]
producer: Busbee & Maren Morris
label: Columbia Nashville / Sony Music - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Sugar" - 2. "Rich" - 5. "80s Mercedes" - 7. "How It's Done" - 10. "Second Wind"

4th studio album by Maren Morris but her first on a major label. Stylistically, it doesn't stir up styles and genres but sits back with a traditional American broad mix within the vast container of pop / rock brooding country elements directed at the same audience as Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, etc., which also explains why I'm not really part of the target audience.
I can't say it's bad, 'cause it aint. It just doesn't appeal to me [above 40!]. I read more than one review praising the album as one of the best of 2016 - and yeah, sometimes you find new great music, and at other times you end up with something like this: Well-played, -orchestrated, -produced, and sold to thousands of radio stations world-wide. Now that's how the music industry works. People like it, people go buy it, and people are happy.
I can't say that I would recommend this to anyone above 18, though I'm sure fans of the aforementioned stars would find it more than fine.
[ allmusic.com, SputnikMusic 4,5 / 5, PopMatters, Spin 3,5 / 5 stars ]

LCD Soundsystem "This Is Happening" (2010) (live)

This Is Happening (live)
release date: May 18, 2010
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,24]
producer: The DFA [ aka Tim Goldsworthy & James Murphy]
label: DFA Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Dance Yrself Clean" - 2. "Drunk Girls" - 5. "I Can Change" (live) - 6. "You Wanted a Hit" (live)

3rd studio album by LCD Soundsystem follows a well-known formula with Goldsworthy and Murphy of the band in the producer seat and with Murphy both as the most extensively credited members as well composer of most tracks. According to the credit list the band has been reduced to a quintet, but in essence it's more obvious that it has become a one-man project band as the other four members are reduced to appearances on one track [!]. Pat Mahoney, Nancy Whang and Tyler Pope are credited for drums, vocals and bass on track #7, whereas Philip Mossman simply isn't credited for any contributions. Eric Broucek and Mandy Coon seem out of the [project] band and also co-founding member and co-producer Tim Goldsworthy is only credited for his producer part. So in essence, LCD Soundsystem is James Murphy.
The style is very close to that of the predecessor, and that's both good and bad as all the influences the band play on are so wide-ranged that it's hard to just copy but that's nevertheless what comes out as: a close to a copy of Sound of Silver. The album is a mix of tracks that play on either rock- and dance punk-influences, indietronica and old-school synth pop and what could be labelled new wave.
The album was met by positive reviews and became the band's so far best selling album reaching number #10 in the US (number #1 on the Top Dance / Electronic Albums list), number #7 in the UK and #11 in Australia.
It's really not bad at all, but I don't think that it adds much new to the repertoire, and what seems "worse" is the absence of strong hit-songs. It sounds to me as an attempt to make another album they've already produced. "Dance Yrself Clean" and "I Can Change" are clearly the album's best tracks. "Drunk Girls" is a fine up-tempo track but sounds much like an Undertones replica, "All I Want" sounds too close to an indietronica version of Bowie's " 'Heroes' ", "You Wanted a Hit" starts off like a Sakamoto rip-off (but then luckily winds up on its own), and the remaining tracks sort of vanish in anonymity, imho, which ultimately makes it a bit of a bland experience.
Shortly after the album release James Murphy apparently had announced that it would probably be the last album by LCD Soundsystem, although, he later that year is said to have suggested that the band may continue as a project-band - but without being a big thing.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, NME, Spin, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, 

Highasakite "Camp Echo" (2016)

Camp Echo
release date: May 16, 2016
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: Kåre Chr. Vestrheim
label: Propeller Recordings - nationality: Norway

Track highlights: 1. "My Name Is Liar" - 4. "My Mind Is a Bad Neighborhood" - 7. "Golden Ticket" - 8. "Deep Sea Diver"

3rd studio album by Norwegian quintet Highasakite following the successful 2004 album Silent Treatment.
Musically, the indie pop and synth pop band has made a further step into electropop on this, and the album was like the predecessor met by positive reviews from the Norwegian press - where the national radio channel, NRK P3 handed the album 6 out of 6 stars. The album also became the band's second consecutive release to sit safely on #1 on the national album charts.
Camp Echo is nicely produced and with much focus on harmonies and a tight electropop sound. I only wish they would dare incorporate a bit more aggressiveness and originality, 'cause it does tend to sound a wee bit anonymously and dare I say: a taste of Eurovision song contest, which I didn't hear on the predecessor, and which, imho, makes this a bit redundant.

Trentemøller "Harbour Boat Trips 01 - Copenhagen by Trentemøller" (2009)

Harbour Boat Trips 01 - Copenhagen by Trentemøller

release date: May 22, 2009

format: cd (hfn01cd)

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

producer: various, Trentemøller

label: HFN Music / Rough Trade / A:larm Music - nationality: Denmark

DJ Mixes compilation album by Trentemøller feature a vast variety of artists including Soft Cell, Suicide, The Raveonettes, Beach House, I Got You On Tape and Emiliana Torrini just to mention a few on this 21 tracks album with a playing time just over 77 minutes.

Yes, the original compositions and artists all represent great diversity, and yes, Trentemøller is the unifying factor, who makes it all the same kind of minimal techno, but I do find the original songs too strong and even unchanged here to include them as brand new mixes - the alteration is simply too minimal an effort.

To me this is touching on mediocre - not really the kind of music I listen to occasionally.

PowerSolo "Egg" (2006)

Egg
release date: May 15, 2006
format: cd (FROG 046-2)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: Jesper Reginal, The Great Nalna and PowerSolo
label: Crunchy Frog - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 2. "Knucklehead" (4 / 5) - 3. "Action" - 5. "Every Litte Girl" - 7. "Rockin' " - 10. "White Choklet"

3rd studio album by the Danish trio PowerSolo who sound more like They Might Be Giants on this than any other band, imho. The album is co-produced by Jesper Reginald (aka Yebo) of Thau and Tremolo Beer Gut.
There's still a huge blend of styles involved (a bit like on many albums by TMBG). PowerSolo is not just a copy-band or a clone of the American indie pop duo, the music is still highly original and full of energy and craziness - I guess with some inspirational source in Monty Python and the original American surf rock bands of the early '60s as well.
I don't find this quite as catchy as the previous album, and the best track here is a harmony-driven and chorus-based song that stands out on an uneven album. There are many uptempo tracks filled with surf rock and psychobilly elements securing a steady beat just without great ideas or memorable chorus-lines, and Egg is, except for the debut album, perhaps the band's least interesting release.

Anna Ternheim "Somebody Outside" (2004)

Somebody Outside [debut]

release date: Oct. 12, 2004

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,36]

producer: Anna Ternheim; Andreas Dahlbäck

label: Stockholm Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "To Be Gone" (4 / 5) (live) - 2. "Better Be" (4 / 5) (live) - 3. "I'll Follow You Tonight" - 4. "Bring Down Like I" - 9. "My Secret" - 10. "Shoreline" (live)

Studio album debut from Swedish artist Anna Ternheim (aka Anna Alexandra Ternheim) produced by Ternheim herself and Anders Dahlbäck as co-producer on eight tracks, Daniel Jansson on two, and with Mattias Areskog and Åsa Jacobsson as co-producers on one track. The album peaked at a high No. #3 on the Swedish albums chart and the first single "To Be Gone" only made it to No. #40, whereas the track "Shoreline", released nearly one year later, landed at No. #5 on the Swedish singles chart.

Somebody Outside starts off really well with two catchy tracks, after which the quality drops a bit and some compositions are a bit more on an adequate to the mediocre. I don't know anything about the story behind the album, but it definitely contains songs of high quality but also some flaws. Ternheim's occasional English-Swedish accent is somewhat thick, which on the one hand brings memories of Björk or Danish artist Tina Dickow, and on the other hand it's not a thing that should take focus away from the music, but it still does, especially on songs ["I Say No", "A Voice to Calm You Down", "Somebody's Outside"] where the lyrics sound tend towards Swedish high school music... in other words: album fillers that could have been replaced. And it's a bit of a shame, because Ternheim writes and composes really solid songs, which stylistically could fall in an admittedly crowded field somewhere in between Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow, and Suzanne Vega - a field of female singer-songwriters who may fill entire ball rooms - but: Ternheim does it better than many others and in any case, the album is clear proof that you should keep eyes and ears open for releases from this artist.

[ Gaffa.dk 4 / 6 stars ]

Paul Weller "Saturns Pattern" (2015)

Saturns Pattern
release date: May 11, 2015
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,06]
producer: Jan 'Stan' Kybert, Paul Weller
label: Parlophone Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "White Sky" - 2. "Saturns Pattern" - 3. "Going My Way" (live on CBS) - 4. "Long Time" - 5. "Pick It Up" - 6. "I'm Where I Should Be" (live on CBS) - 7. "Phoenix" - 8. "In the Car..." - 9. "These City Streets"

12th studio album by Paul Weller is a very strong release. He has tuned down on the electronic part, as heard on the predecessor Sonik Kicks (2012) and successfully made a new blend of his own, incorporating mod revival, pop soul and singer / songwriter without repeating former successes and put that cocktail into a contemporary context.

As a first impression I found it one of the best releases in 2015, and also making it Weller's best solo.. album.. ever. The album kept growing, and by the end of the year it was for some time my absolute favourite in a strong year.

Highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

2015 Favourite releases: 1. Mellemblond Fra et sted - 2. Paul Weller Saturns Pattern - 3. Alabama Shakes Sound & Color

The National "High Violet" (2010)

High Violet
release date: May 10, 2010
format: cd (CAD 3XO3CD)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]
producer: The National
label: 4AD Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Terrible Love" (live) - 2. "Sorrow" (5 / 5) - 3. "Anyone's Ghost" (4 / 5) (live on Later) - 4. "Little Faith" - 6. "Bloodbuzz Ohio" (5 / 5) - 7. "Lemonworld" - 9. "Conversation 16" - 10. "England" - 11. "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks"

5th full-length studio album by The National follows three years after their acclaimed Boxer (May 2007) and it's the first to be produced exclusively by the band, as well as being their first album on the Beggars Banquet parent label, 4AD.
At first, I was a bit lukewarm about this. Obviously, the giant single "Buzzbomb Ohio" stole much of the attention, but slowly, and over time, I think it's more than just a decently good album, and eventually, I have come to consider it the band's absolute best. The sound quality, the arrangements, and the production as such are much as on Boxer, only this one comes with several truly fine songs.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, 👍NME, 👍The Guardian, Spin 4 / 5 stars ]

Julia Cope "Autogeddon" (1994)

Autogeddon

release date: Aug. 9, 1994

format: cd (ECHCD 1)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]

producer: Julian Cope

label: Echo - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Autogeddon Blues" - 3. "Don't Call Me Mark Chapman" - 4. "I Gotta Walk" - 6. "Paranormal in the West Country (Medley): i) 'Paranormal Pt. 1', ii) 'Archdrude's Roadtrip', iii) 'Kar-ma-kanik' " - 7. "Ain't But the One Way"

10th solo album by Julian Cope follows The Skellington Chronicles (Jun. 1993) but is seen as the natural sequel to Jehovahkill (Oct. 1992). Also, following the '92 album, he released the collaboration album Rite (Feb. 1993), made with Donald Ross Skinner. The album is the first issue on the newly founded sublabel Echo, a division of Chrysalis Group.

Autogeddon [whose title is a play on the Christian term 'Armageddon' for the annihilation of the Earth] is on the one hand his final part of a trilogy, but at the same time it appears very much as a fairly independent release, as it doesn't contain a smilar extensive tracklist as the other two albums - it comes with 'only' eight tracks but stil has a total playing length of 46 minutes - and then it's not divided into phases either. Musically, focus is also on other styles. The cosmic space rock and the German krautrock have been reduced and / or replaced by an indie rock style mixed with neo-psychedelia and progressive rock. The compositions are longer but not unusually long - with the exception of two songs: "West Country (Medley)" consisting of three parts, i) "Paranormal Pt. 1", ii) "Archdude's Roadtrip" and iii) "Kar- ma-kanik" with a total running length of 8:30 minutes, and the song "S.T.A.R.C.A.R." running 11:28 minutes. Common to all tracks is an overall theme of car culture as an image of (especially) Western consumerism and Cope's perspective on the destruction of the global environment - which in this way adds the album to his main theme in the trilogy. A greater focus has crept in on progressive compositions at the expense of more catchy songs, which nearly always were part of his albums. Perhaps Cope has simply adjusted to his own mindset of getting messages across instead of following the record companies' desire for sales ability - this new perspective on music is emphasised by giving the individual tracks an explanation in the inlay, rather than the regular reproduction of the song's text (also seen on Peggy Suicide).

Autogeddon received a mixed reception but still sold well and is ranked as Cope's second best solo album with a number #16 in the UK, only surpassed by Saint Julian (1987). Despite good sales figures, the album appears as less accessible, where focus has been accentuated on musical originality and perhaps especially on the message, which in any case may also be seen as an increased demand for the listener's attention and his / her willingness to come to terms with the actual meaning of the songs as something other than just pure musical enjoyment.

Shortly after this, Cope and Thighpaulsandra released the instrumental album Queen Elizabeth (Nov. '94) under the same name.

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

Tom Waits "Alice" (2002)

Alice
release date: May 4, 2002
format: cd (6632-2)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Kathleen Brennan, Tom Waits
label: ANTI- - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Alice" - 5. "Kommienezuspadt" - 7. "Table Top Joe" - 11. "Reeperbahn" - 12. "I'm Still Here" - 13. "Fish & Bird"

15th studio album by Tom Waits following three years after the acclaimed Mule Variations (1999) is released simultaneously with the album Blood Money, which contains music by Waits to the play "Woyzech" by Georg Büchner in a theatrical adaptation directed by Robert Wilson, which premiered at Betty Nansen Theatre in Copenhagen, Nov. 2000. In this regard, Alice is not just one of Waits' more regular studio releases - as I initially thought of it. The 2002 album Alice is actually Waits' new recordings to his own music written and composed for the the play 1992 play "Alice", which he also made with Robert Wilson. Both albums have lyrics and music by Kathleen Brennan and Waits and they are both released on ANTI-. And as has become a bit of a habit, the couple, Waits and Brennan, also co-produced the album together.

The album follows closely in the same style as Mule Variations and like that has a bit of a return feel picking up some of his more laid-back albums with focus on vocal jazz as contrary to his more noisy albums of the '90s. The title track is a mighty fine and mellow tune, and the album's best song, although, it really sounds a lot like "Soldier's Things" from Swordfishtrombones (1983). And that's really also the album's most evident weakness - that it sounds much like a mix of what we've heard before from '83 and up until '99, and in that sense Waits doesn't deliver what he always sat out to do: to never repeat himself.

Compared to Blood Money the album contains songs in a gentler ballad-like style, which could be refered to as a more feminine tone.

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

Tom Waits "Blood Money" (2002)

Blood Money
release date: May 4, 2002
format: cd (6629-2)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan
label: ANTI- - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Misery Is the River of the World" - 5. "God's Away on Business" (official video) - 9. "Starving in the Belly of a Whale" - 13. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"

14th studio album by Tom Waits is his music to the play "Woyzech" [an album title Waits rejected as he apparently thought noone would know who that was, and Brennan suggested "Blood Money", 'cause that's what the play is basically about], which premiered at Betty Nansen Theatre in Copenhagen, Nov. 2000. The album is released simultaneously with the album Alice both written, composed and produced by Tom Waits and (wife) Kathleen Brennan.

Stylistically, the music doesn't add new angles nor new elements to the music by Waits but it emphasises his experimental cabaret music, which seems to lean on the music by Kurt Weill, and while the songs themselves are not bad, they simply sound like pieces you've heard before.

Comparing the album to Alice this appears more angry and masculine as a person's wry position to all the bad things about the world.

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

Best of 2009:Kent "Röd" (2009)

Röd
release date: Nov. 6, 2009
format: cd
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,35]
producer: Kent & Joshua (aka Jon Schumann)
label: RCA Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 2. "Taxmannen" (4 / 5) - 3. "Krossa allt" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Hjärta" (5 / 5) - 6. "Vals för satan (din vän pessimisten)" - 7. "Idioter" (4 / 5) - 10. "Töntarna" - 11. "Det finns inga ord" (5 / 5)

8th studio album release by Kent and the second consecutive album with producer Jon Schumann continues the style launched on Tilbaka till samtiden (2007) with a bolder progression into more electronic synthpop.

If not Du & jag döden (2005) is my absolute favourite Kent album, then this is. Those two represent the very best of Kent in my mind. Here you'll find single hits like "Krossa allt", "Hjärta" and "Det finns inga ord" but unlike the previous album, the strongest tracks are within the context of the album. The whole album is like one piece of work - much like a proper composed painting, which took the band two years to realise. Everything is in place. And everything makes sense. Well, maybe just almost 'cause I have no clear idea of the exact meaning of track #1, the psalm "18:29-4". My guess is that it has to do with an overall theme about life & death, and that the psalm may be some kick-start to that theme...

Highly recommendable.

[ allmusic.com, Aftonbladet 4 / 5, Svenska Dagbladet 4 / 6, Gaffa.dk, Politiken 5 / 6 ]

2009 Favourite releases: 1. Kent Röd - 2. Gossip Music for Men - 3. Dolores O'Riordan No Baggage

<  show lyrics >

~ ~ ~

Hjärta

"Ingen lämnas kvar
Vi hämtar dig bakom fiendens linjer
Ingen lämnas kvar
Vi skyddar dig med all kraft vi har
Mot svinen
Och ja, vi regisserar slutet tystnad, tagning

Man vet man blivit gammal när ens ungdom
Börjat glittra som Allens Manhattan
Dagen före dagen

Som det strålar från ditt hjärta
Som en motorväg av ljus
Genom hålet i mitt hjärta
Kommer räddningen till slut
Genom hålet i mitt hjärta

Har du kartan kvar?
Eller en aning om vart vi är på väg?
Så led oss
Ingen lämnas kvar
Vi saboterar allt vi inte kan ta med oss
Och när du öppnar fönstret blåser en vårvind
Förändring

Och bakom murarna vid ån lämnar jag spår
Jag skrev mitt namn i vattnet
Så du vet var jag finns

När det strålar från mitt hjärta
Som en motorväg av ljus
Genom hålet i mitt hjärta
Kommer räddningen till slut
Genom hålet i mitt hjärta

Som det strålar från mitt hjärta
Som en motorväg av ljus
Genom hålet i mitt hjärta
Kommer räddningen till slut
Genom hålet i mitt hjärta"

~ ~ ~

"Det finns inga ord"

"Sjung sånger för mig på radion
Sjung för mig igen, du lät som regn
Sjung sånger för mig om varma gator
Sjung för mig igen, mitt hjärta tyst

Och i mitt land så får man inte vara förmer
Det här är Sverige och vi gråter aldrig mer
Det finns inga ord för det, på det här jävla språket
Jag har inga ord för att vi andas, tänker, känner samma sak

Sjung en sång utan ord om ljusa nätter
Sjung för mig igen, du lät som snöfall
Jag håller andan med dig, för jag vet hur du känner
Sjung om de gånger vi delade ett liv med en blick

Och i vårt land så får man inte vara förmer
Det här är Sverige, snälla gråt när ingen ser
Det finns inga ord för det, på det här jävla språket
Jag har inga ord för att vi andas, tänker, känner samma sak

Känner samma sak
Känner samma sak

Det är så många här som aldrig sagt nej
och som aldrig kommer få en chans
så många här som aldrig såg mig
och jag vet att jag haft tur som få
Så många här som ville ha dig
men vi kände samma sak

Vi känner alltid samma sak
Vi känner alltid samma sak

Vi känner alltid samma sak"

~ ~ ~

Pearl Jam "Pearl Jam" (2006)

Pearl Jam
release date: May 2, 2006
format: cd
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,48]
producer: Adam Kasper, Pearl Jam
label: BMG Japan - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "World Wide Suicide" - 5. "Marker in the Sand" - 12. "Come Back"

8th studio album by Pearl Jam org. released as the band's first and only on J Records is the second consecutive album produced with Adam Kasper. The album comes after a long hiatus and four years after its predecessor Riot Act from 2002. It's also known as "The Avocado Album", and it was promoted as the band's return to basics. The title obviously reflects an idea of being able to create something fresh, as a new start, since the band's long contract with Epic Records had come to an end in 2003.
Yes, the album is full of grit and aggressiveness, Pearl Jam classic, or to put it simple: grunge rock by Pearl Jam. But more than a decade after the initial grunge rock releases this seems... obsolete, imho. I never was a great fan but still had to turn to this, because the band always seemed to elude me, and ain't that just the same here?! I... don't get it. I always find it difficult to listen through an entire album by Pearl Jam, 'cause there's too much fuss, too much screaming, howling, shouting, but more so: too many things that don't attract me about the compositions - the progressiveness and the electric guitars that sound like Led Zeppelin-jam sessions.
The album is much like Riot Act - also in terms of not being very good - this is just less art rock-shaped and with more focus on a hard rock edge. Vedder's vocal is best when he's at his most sincere and vulnerable. There are few good spots on this, but it sold more than well and was generally well-received by critics - very much as usual. The album went as high as number #2 on the national albums chart list, and music critics lauded it as a true come-back album.
The band always was a darling of the press. I have tried to listen to it several times and still don't get it, and even find it less than mediocre, which is why I really can't recommend it. Ultimately, I find it on par with their so far least favourable studio album, Yield from 1998.
Best thing about the album is clearly the cover.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, Spin 3 / 5 stars ]