The Church "Sometime Anywhere" (1994)

Sometime Anywhere

release date: May 31, 1994

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,44]

producer: The Church & (Andy) Dare Mason

label: Arista Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Day of the Dead" - 2. "Lost My Touch" - 3. "Loveblind" - 4. "My Little Problem" - 5. "The Maven" - 9. "Two Places at Once" - 10. "Business Woman"

8th studio album by The Church released two years after the significant change in style with Priest = Aura (Mar. 1992) may have been released under the moniker of The Church, but a lot has changed since the rock-solid quartet of Kilbey, Koppes, Wilson-Piper, and Ploog released the international breakthrough album Starfish in 1988. The record company was in control when shaping the sound on Gold Afternoon Fix (Feb. 1990), and with the daring '92 album, you saw the first cracks in a quartet that had only been on a rise since the beginning of the 80s. The drummer was replaced, and then guitarist Peter Koppes left after the 1990 album - and for a time he formed the band The Well together with Richard Ploog, among others, and both Kilbey and Wilson-Piper were busy on their own music projects. Wilson-Piper played in the band All About Eve and Kilbey had started the collaboration Jack Frost with Grant McLennan from the Go-Betweens, so that The Church still existed really could be seen as the last convulsions. Arista still stood behind Kilbey and Wilson-Piper, even though the band was in some sort of disbandment. When it turned out that neither new drummer Daugherty wanted to continue, Kilbey and Wilson-Piper met alone and took advantage of having more freedom to shape the music they wanted. In this way, Sometime Anywhere is the result of a new perspective on music created with bold use of drum machine and synths, although there is also room for traditional drums - here played by Tim Powles, who later ended up as a permanent member of the new formation of The Church and he who also features on the second Jack Frost album Snow Job (1995).

Although the album is largely created through improvs and experimentation in the studio, it appears tighter and on the one hand as more closely connected to the band's previous albums than as a direct continuation of the looser Priest = Aura - and on the other hand, it appears as a mix of the band's previous characteristics and by doing so actually addresses the '92 album - or: somewhere in between. Sometime Anywhere has a duration of approx. 77 min. - something close to the absolute maximum for CD releases, and most tracks have a playing length that challenge the traditional three minutes in popular music. Also, there is no focus on single hits, and only one single was chosen for single release: the song "Two Places at Once", which has not charted on any singles charts. Despite positive reviews, the album didn't perform well, and it became the band's final with Arista, who by then no longer saw potential in the band's music.

Unlike the band's previous album, I actually acquired the album when it came out. After a single listen, I thought the band was once again embarking on an exciting development. Afterwards, I didn't listen to it that much - I found it a bit unstructured, but still with a certain originality, although, I could also found it had the touch of a special production, not far removed from U2's Achtung Baby (1991).

In retrospect, the album hasn't aged as one of the band's best, but it's part of the new improvisational approach Kilbey established in the early 90s and which he has since continued in the many musical projects he has been involved in.

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

Toumani Diabaté "Boulevard de l'Indépendance" (2006)

Boulevard de l'Indépendance
release date: Jul. 25, 2006
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Nick Gold
label: World Circuit - nationality: Mali

Studio album by Toumani Diabaté released under the name of Toumani Diabaté's Symmetric Orchestra is the third and final of three albums on World Circuit in the "Hotel Mandé Sessions" series initiated by the fabulous collaboration album In the Heart of the Moon (2005) by Ali Farka Touré and Diabaté - and like that, this is also produced by Nick Gold.
The music is energetic, full of drums and horns, and seems quite similar to that of another great Malian musician: Salif Keita. It's rather far from his works with Ali Farka Touré. Here the kora plays a secondary part as a rhythm and / or background instrument to orchestrated music featuring vocals, brass and traditional instruments of the Mandé folk tradition.

Blaue Blume "Syzygy" (2015)

Syzygy [debut]
release date: Oct. 23, 2015
format: digital (10 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]
producer: Aske Rud Jørgensen, Blaue Blume
label: A:larm - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Candy" - 2. "Sky" - 3. "Bouyant Forces" - 4. "Thinking of Roxy" - 5. "On New Year's Eve (Reprise)" - 8. "Tranquil Curtains" - 9. "Before the Sun Blows Up Our Lungs"
[ The Syzygy sessions ]

Studio full-length album debut by Danish dreampop band Blaue Blume following its ep debut Beau & Lorette (June 2014).
Musically, the band builds on inspirational sources as diverse as Cocteau Twins, Jeff Buckley, and Antony and the Johnsons. In that respect it's quite original, and what seemed like a promising release with the 2014 ep turns out as a more solidified and wholesome affair with this one.
Yes, it's a mighty fine accomplishment but alas, I think, too few (will ever) know of it. The band's decision to only release through streaming services and on vinyl makes it less accessible, which I think is really bad as the music requires high fidelity equipment. The soundscape is spacious and voluminous - how does that comply with streaming services with 192 / 256kps?
The album is the last in the initial line-up with Peter Bøgvad on bass.
[ EDIT of 2022: Thankfully, the band has now made their music accessible in FLAC-format from their bandcamp profile! ]
[ Soundvenue 5 / 6, Gaffa.dk 6 / 6 stars ]

Blondie "Panic of Girls" (2011)

Panic of Girls
release date: Jun. 1, 2011
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: Jeff Saltzman
label: Five Seven / EMI - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "D-Day" - 2. "What I Heard" (live) (better performance) - 3. "Mother" - 8. "Sunday Smile"

9th studio album by Blondie. This doesn't feel like the usual comeback albums. The previous album Curse of Blondie was a decent album, but that was released in 2003, so once again the band tries to fuel a comeback. I actually think they succeed rather well with this, although, I have seen and heard Deborah Harry sing live, and... well, she never had a great singing voice in the first place, but at least she was able to hit most notes in the past, but the new millennium does not provide her with much luck. It isn't too noticeable on the album so what the heck. This is a fine pop / rock album with at least a few fine songs.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]

Grant Hart "The Argument" (2013)

The Argument

release date: Jul. 23, 2013

format: digital (20 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]

producer: Grant Hart & Mike Wisti

label: Domino - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "Morningstar" - 4. "If We Have the Will" - 5. "I Will Never See My Home" - 7. "Sin" - 8. "Letting Me Out" - 9. "Is the Sky the Limit?" (acoustic live) - 11. "So Far from Heaven" - 12. "Shine, Shine, Shine" - 15. "Glorious" - 20. "For Those Too High Aspiring"

4th and final studio album by Grant Hart released 3½ years following Hot Wax (Oct. 2009) is his first album on a label with some credibility. In recent years, Hart has become a more stable performer, he has fought for musical rights of his former solo releases as well as the music released with Nova Mob - these albums have subsequently been reissued in 2014 on Hart's own label Con D'Or Records. It also seems he has come out in better conditions - on the credit list of the album he addresses: "very special thanks to my friends and familiars who pulled me from smoldering ruins and helped build my New Pandemonium".

The album is of conceptual dimensions being based on John Milton's "Paradise Lost" (1667) and inspired by his friendship with author William S. Burroughs. All music is written and composed by Hart except the lyrics on track #1 by Milton. The Argument was released as a double vinyl album and consists of 20 tracks with a total running time of more than 74 minutes. Nearly all music is played entirely by Hart, who is simply credited 'instruments'.

It's mostly melodic alt. rock and indie rock with the usual bonds to psychedelic rock (tracks #9, #13, #15, #16, #20), oldies / standards (track #17), baroque pop (tracks #2, #4 - 7, #10, #11, #12), rock & roll (tracks #8, #16, #19) and experimental rock (tracks #1, #3, #6, #14, #18). Yes, it's a big mix but it never feels forced or out of context and generally sounds like one coherent whole. Hart plays and sings with strong vitality and he narrates with his blessed sense for melody and song structure without losing focus on the existential themes. Needles say, the album was met by critical acclaim.

Alas, the album was to be Hart's final. He appeared to be back from a life in the shadows - marked by many years with drug addiction and the effects of living with Hepatitis C for more than 25 years. He had gained the ownership rights of his many songs over the years, founded a label and appeared more focused than ever before. In his last years, he was plagued by treatments and hospitalisations. Grant Hart died Sep. 13, 2017 of complications from liver cancer and Hepatitis C.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, 👍Pitchfork 8.0 / 10, Consequence of Sound 3,5 / 5 stars ]

[ Grant Hart tribute ]

[ Grant Hart remembered in local news ]

Jean Michel Jarre "Electronica 2: The Heart of Noise" (2016)

Electronica 2: The Heart of Noise
release date: May 6, 2016
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Jean-Michel Jarre
label: Sony Music - nationality: France

Track highlights: 1. "The Heart of Noise, Pt. 1" (feat. Rone) - 6. "Here for You" (feat. Gary Numan) - 7. "Electrees" (feat. Hans Zimmer) - 8. "Exit" (feat. E.S.) - 9. "What You Want" (feat. Peaches) - 11. "Switch on Leon" (feat. The Orb) - 13. "Why This, Why That and Why" (feat. Yello) - 18. "The Heart of Noise (The Origin)"

17th studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre is his second part in collaborative works featuring artists of various electronic styles. Both albums were recorded over a six year period from 2011 to 2016 and they are difficult not to regard as one and the same project, and thus should have been released as a double album. Both albums are highly experimental, and overall it's nice to witness a collaboration work like this where you witness a symbiotic end-result of the process involving different takes on a genre and style leaving equal evidence from both artists. That also means that the individual songs point in different directions as the featuring artists represent very different styles but together with Jarre the output still has his fingerprints all over, making it quite interesting, but not as a perfect overwhelming work of art. Both of the two parts are quite extensive, the first part running for more than 68 mins and this one just above 74 mins.
Recommended.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars ]

Jean Michel Jarre "Electronica 1: The Time Machine" (2015)

Electronica 1: The Time Machine
release date: Oct. 16, 2015
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Jean Michel Jarre
label: Columbia Records - nationality: France

Track highlights: 4. "Automatic (Part 1)" (with Vince Clark) - 8. "Suns Have Gone" (with Moby) - 11. "Zero Gravity" (with Tangerine Dream) - 12. "Rely On Me" (with Laurie Anderson) - 13. "Stardust" (with Armin van Buuren)

16th* studio album by Jean Michel Jarre is his first real studio album in 8½ years following the album Téo & Téa (2007). It consists of 16 tracks composed and played with 15 different collaborators featuring artists such as Air, Vince Clarke (Erasure), Moby, Fuck Buttons, Pete Townsend, and Laurie Anderson, and as its title suggests, it's the first of two collaborative albums of this sort.
Musically and stylistically, the album represents (at least on some of the songs) a move towards vocal-founded electronic and more strict compositions in terms of popular music tradition. According to Jarre himself, who had invited various artists to participate in his project, his intentions were to make an album that paid tribute to electronic music and an album that would reflect the link between his musical history to other artists, who were either deeply involved or closely (or somewhat) related in the making of electronic music.
My first impression was luke-warm but I have come to see greatness in this project, and knowing a few of the details about this album makes it much more interesting, but it also wins over time.
[ Renowned for Sound 4,5 / 5, The Guardian, Gaffa.dk 4 / 5 stars ]

*Some mention it as his 17th, 18th or 19th album requiring his 2001 album Interior Music (exclusively released for Bang & Olufsen in 1000 copies), his 2004 remix album Aero, and / or Oxygène: New Master Recording from 2007 being regarded as studio releases.

Bombino "Agadez" (2011)

Agadez [debut]

release date: Mar. 2011

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,46]

producer: Ron Wyman

label: Cumbancha Discovery - nationality: Niger

Track highlights: 1. "Ahoulaghuine Akaline (I Greet My Country)" - 3. "Adounia (Life)" - 4. "Kammou Taliat (You, My Beloved)" - 8. "Assalam Felawan (Peace to You)" - 9. "Tebsakh Dalet (A Green Acacia)"

International debut by Omara 'Bombino' Moctar (aka Goumar Almoctar) following some appearances on local recordings as well as the album Agamgama 2004 (2010). Bombino was born in Niger and fled with his father and grandmother to Algeria when he was ten, where he initated his musicial upbringing before returning to Niger in '97 and his professional career started. When the Tuareg Rebellion erupted in 2007 he moved to Burkina Faso until the conflict settled in 2010 and he once again returned to his homeland.

The album here appears more laidback and with bolder meandering compositions than the successor Nomad from 2013. This means also, there is more room for Bombino the guitar instrumentalist, which can be both nice and enchanting but also less structured with traits of improvisation.

I didn't come around to this one before listening to his fine 2013 album, and I think that have me prefer the other to this, although, Agadez surely has its moments. It's more of a simple structured album with less emphasis on the arrangements - but to say is a lesser album is a hard verdict, it's more like I'm more into his later albums, which also bridge to traditional Western strucuring of compositions. That said, I think Bombino is a wonderful and original guitarist and vocalist.

Natalie Merchant "The House Carpenter's Daughter" (2003)

The House Carpenter's Daughter
release date: Sep. 16, 2003
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,04]
producer: Natalie Merchant
label: Myth America Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Sally Ann" - 2. "Which Side Are You On?" - 5. "Weeping Pilgrim" -7. "Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow"

4th studio album by Natalie Merchant is her first album release on her own independent label, Myth America Records and it has the subtitle "A Collection of Traditional and Contemporary Folk Music". It marks a substantial change in style towards traditional folk as a majority (7 out of 11) of the tracks are traditionals rearranged by Merchant. The remaining 4 tracks are songs written by others, which means that the album doesn't contain songs written by Merchant herself.
It's a very scraped down album with only few instruments - some songs appear as vocal with strings only, and it may only appeal to people who prefer [traditional] folk. I don't really enjoy this much. Yes, Merchant has a fine singing voice, but I don't think she challenges that one particular well on this.
[ allmusic.com, Uncut 4 / 5, Rolling Stone, Mojo 3 / 5 stars ]

Natalie Merchant "Motherland" (2001)

Motherland
release date: Nov. 12, 2001
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,02]
producer: Natalie Merchant, T-Bone Burnett
label: Elektra Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "This House Is on Fire" (4 / 5) - 2. "Motherland" - 4. "Put the Law on You" - 5. "Build a Levee" - 8. "The Worst Thing" (live) - 9. "Tell Yourself" (4,5 / 5) (live) - 10. "Just Can't Last" - 11. "Not in This Life"

3rd studio album by Natalie Merchant, co-produced by T-Bone Burnett, her last release on Elektra Records may not reflect big changes in her repertoire as it's primarily a singer / songwriter and folk release with focus on everyday-life existence. In a note Merchant dedicates the 12 track album to the victims of the recent 9/11 tragedy, but the album was made and recorded before the incident.
At first, I found this much in her usual style, and thought of it somewhere in between Tigerlily and Ophelia, but in a matter of months I came to see it as a major work - the songs just kept emerging from the album. Now, it may not contain the great uptempo compositions by her former band 10,000 Maniacs and their great In My Tribe or Our Time in Eden - only "Tell Yourself" sounds much like a typical 10,000 Maniacs composition - but I like this one just as much. Perhaps with the aid of Burnett in the production seat they have found room for elements of americana and roots rock, which makes it sound just right. Merchant's voice is almost always great, but here there's a strong inner sincerity brought to the listener, and the emotions are stressed by a strong soulful approach - there's a tone of blues and soul one hasn't heard on her albums before, which adds an extra layer of dynamics to the songs.
Imho, this the best solo album by Merchant and as such highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com, Mojo and Uncut 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

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

Ásgeir Trausti "Dýrð í dauðaþögn" (2012)

Dýrð í dauðaþögn
release date: Sep. 11, 2012
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]
producer: Guðmundur Kristinn Jónsson
label: One Little Indian - nationality: Iceland

Track highlights: 1. "Hærra" - 2. "Dýrð í dauðaþögn" - 4. "Leyndarmál" - 6. "Nýfallið regn" - 7. "Heimförin" (live version) - 8. "Að grafa sig í fönn"

Studio debut album by Icelandic Ásgeir Trausti is somewhere in the quiet region of dreampop, and it's easy to mention related artists like Emilíana Torrini, Jónsi, and múm, but that's also too narrow-minded, and one might just as well include Sigur Rós and Björk as musical familiarities - fact is Trausti makes his own blend and only his high-pitched singing voice and the Icelandic language guides the listener to the island of Iceland. Stylistically, it's in the genre of folk, and really: in the style of folktronica and singer / songwriter making American Bon Iver a closer musical stylist than any of the aforementioned.

The album won in four categories at the Icelandic Music Awards in 2012 including the Album of the Year prize, and it became the best-selling album debut in Iceland overtaking popular albums from Björk and Sigur Rós. A translated English-spoken version "In the Silence" was released in 2013 but this is the original album, and I do really enjoy it and also prefer this over Bon Iver.

Although, the quiet melancholy, which flows on the majority of the compositions, I really like it when there's a contrast with energetic outbursts like on "Nýfallið regn"; however, Dýrð í dauðaþögn is one fine and recommendable album.

John Mayer "Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles" (2008) (live)

Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles (live)
release date: Jul. 1, 2008
format: 2 cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Chad Franscoviak, John Mayer, Steve Jordan
label: Columbia - nationality: USA

4th live album by John Mayer - or his fourth live album released on cd 'cause in 2004 he released a series of four downloadable albums (making this his (eigth live album) from four consecutive live concerts all from August that year: As/is Mountain View, CA, As/is Houston, TX, As/is Cleveland/Cincinnati, OH and As/is Philadelphia, PA. In Oct. 2004 As/is a double cd was released containing selected tracks from these four concerts, and in Nov. 2005 he released the live album Try! released as John Mayer Trio with Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino with recordings from live concerts from the Fall of 2005.
Where the Light Is is a double live album containing the recordings of a live concert held at L.A. Live Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles, California, Dec. 8, 2007 - the album has also been released as a music concert film on dvd like Any Given Thursday before that. Disc 1 consists of 13 tracks of which the first five songs are acoustic songs, and the following eight are with John Mayer Trio (five of these also appear on the album Try!) - all paying maximum attention on blues rock . Two of these are Jimi Hendrix' compositions: track #7 "Wait Until Tomorrow" and track #13 "Bold as Love". Another two of the eight compositions by the Trio "Who Did You Think I Was" and "Good Love Is on the Way" sound as if written by Hendrix, and "Come When I Call", "Out of My Mind" and "Vultures" sound more like Clapton inspired by Muddy Waters, but at the bottom-line they're all eight blues rock-shaped and as such performed.
Disc 2 consists of nine tracks - eight taken from his most recent studio release Continuum - all blending his pop / rock repertoire with acoustic folk rock, fusion rock (e.g. "Belief") and blues rock.
It seems that Mayer shines so much more when playing live, and this album only serves to document just that. He embraces blues rock and plays with clear influences from jazz, traditional r&b and folk rock when playing these songs live, and at the same time he distances himself from his early studio albums of mere polished pop / rock.
The album is easily his so far best live album, and as such a highly recommendable album.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]