Direct Hits (2003-2013) (compilation)
release date: Nov. 12, 2013
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]
Tracklist: 1. "Mr. Brightside" - 2. "Somebody Told Me" - 3. "Smile Like You Mean It" - 4. "All These Things That I've Done" - 5. "When You Were Young" - 6. "Read My Mind" - 7. "For Reasons Unknown" - 8. "Human" - 9. "Spaceman" - 10. "A Dustland Fairytale" - 11. "Runaways" - 12. "Miss Atomic Bomb" - 13. "The Way It Was" - 14. "Shot at the Night" - 15. "Just Another Girl"
5th album release by The Killers is their first best of compilation album. The band has enough material to choose from, and several great tracks have been omitted, which seems strange when there's room for two new songs on this best of collection. "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" and "Bones" are just a few great ones missing, however, it's still a fine collection with tracks from all of their so far four studio albums and recommendable for anyone without all their albums.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]
[ just music from an amateur... music archaeologist ]
"Dagen er reddet & kysten er klar - Jeg er den der er skredet så skaf en vikar!"
28 November 2017
U2 "Songs of Innocence" (2014)
release date: Sep. 9, 2014
format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: Danger Mouse with others
label: Universal-Island Records - nationality: Ireland
Track highlights: 1. "The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)" - 2. "Every Breaking Wave" - 5. "Iris (Hold Me Close)" - 7. "Raised by Wolves" - 11. "The Troubles" (feat. Lykke Li)
13th studio album by U2 follows 5½ years after No Line on the Horizon (Mar. 2009) sees a change in producer-credits. Preceeding the album, U2 released the (non-album) single "Invisible" (Feb 2014) produced by American artist Danger Mouse (aka Brian Joseph Burton), who was initially hired as producer on this, and they actually already had recorded the new album back in 2010. Danger Mouse is credited as co-producer on the majority of the tracks (7 out of 11, and is only producer on two), but he mostly shares the credit with others, as the band alledgedly wasn't satisfied with the recordings, and subsequently presented the recordings to various others to add details to the outcome, which explains the relative long time span between their 2009 album and this one. The finished album sees British producer Paul Epworth as co-producer on 4 tracks and additional producer on one, American musician Ryan Tedder as co-producer on 4 tracks, sound engineer Declan Gaffney is credited as co-producer on 3 tracks and as additional producer on two, and Flood (aka Mark Ellis) is co-producer on one song. To some controversy U2 sold the album to Apple, who made it 'free' with the launch of a new iPhöne model or a Watch, as well as for all (paying) customers on its iTunes platform.
Musically, the album appears as a 'return to rock' - although, the band has done this on multiple occasions since their first 'return' with All That You Can't Leave Behind (Oct. 2000) - something they sought to establish with the succeeding two, or three including this.
U2 sounds exactly like you would expect them to. Sometimes they tend to sound like other bands aiming to follow a bit too closely in their footsteps, or, they sound like a band without much new under the horizon, except from procaliming "Heey, stadium lovers, we're still here!!". Yes, admittedly, this is a new collection of songs, but beware, 'cause you already know what you get. I guess, they have reached the point most other artists have to deal with at some (late) stage in a long career, asking themselves: 'Are we still relevant?' And questioning if it's Okay just to stick to some kind of reproduction.
This new album is practically like watching a train fixated at a station. You may ask yourself: is this about to leave, any soon now? Has it just arrived?, or: Is this its final stop?! It's like time itself has stopped 'cause nothing really seems to be in a process - this is but a nicely produced distilation.
Not recommended.
Bryan Ferry "Avonmore" (2014)
Avonmore
release date: Nov. 17, 2014
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Bryan Ferry, Rhett Davies, Johnson Somerset, Todd Terje
label: BMG - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Loop De Li" - 2. "Midnight Train" - 3. "Soldier of Fortune" (4 / 5) - 4. "Driving Me Wild" - 5. "A Special Kind of Guy" (4 / 5) - 7. "Lost" - 10. "Johnny and Mary" (live)
14th solo studio album by Bryan Ferry following his 2012 album The Jazz Age. Now, who would have thought this possible? 69 year-old Ferry has come up with an album that resembles his best solo works of the late 70s and mid-80s, and his most recent album from 2012 was basically 'only' a collection of re-recordings - and before that, he launched Olympia in 2010, which was only a shadow of his heydays with Roxy Music.
From my perspective, his last good album was Dylannesque (2007) and his last really fine solo was As Time Goes By from 1999. This is like Roxy Music revisited but not just old classics disguised as new material. It's vibrant and solid sophisti-pop from one of the genre's best voices, and he does more than just Okay. Most tracks are from his own hand but track #3 Soldier of Fortune is co-written with Johnny Marr of The Smiths, and the end-track Johnny and Mary is Robert Palmer's fine classic, which Ferry handles in his own and personal way without losing touch with the original.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]
release date: Nov. 17, 2014
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Bryan Ferry, Rhett Davies, Johnson Somerset, Todd Terje
label: BMG - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Loop De Li" - 2. "Midnight Train" - 3. "Soldier of Fortune" (4 / 5) - 4. "Driving Me Wild" - 5. "A Special Kind of Guy" (4 / 5) - 7. "Lost" - 10. "Johnny and Mary" (live)
14th solo studio album by Bryan Ferry following his 2012 album The Jazz Age. Now, who would have thought this possible? 69 year-old Ferry has come up with an album that resembles his best solo works of the late 70s and mid-80s, and his most recent album from 2012 was basically 'only' a collection of re-recordings - and before that, he launched Olympia in 2010, which was only a shadow of his heydays with Roxy Music.
From my perspective, his last good album was Dylannesque (2007) and his last really fine solo was As Time Goes By from 1999. This is like Roxy Music revisited but not just old classics disguised as new material. It's vibrant and solid sophisti-pop from one of the genre's best voices, and he does more than just Okay. Most tracks are from his own hand but track #3 Soldier of Fortune is co-written with Johnny Marr of The Smiths, and the end-track Johnny and Mary is Robert Palmer's fine classic, which Ferry handles in his own and personal way without losing touch with the original.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]
26 November 2017
The Durutti Column "Idiot Savants" (2007)
Idiot Savants
release date: Jul. 16, 2007
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5]
Track highlights: 1. "Better Must Come" - 2. "Interleukin 2 (For Anthony)" (4 / 5) - 3. "Please Let Me Sleep" - 4. "2 Times Nice" - 8. "That Blows My Name Away (For Rachel)"
17th studio album by The Durutti Column issued on Fullfill / Artful Records and produced by Keir Stewart (track 3 produced by Tim Thomas). Before this, The DC released the album Sporadic Three (April 2007, Kooky Records). On this release, Reilly again plays with sampling and electronic but without adding new dimensions or contributing with much else than what at times sounds like versions or improvs of older material, although I really like "Interleukin 2 (For Anthony)".
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]
release date: Jul. 16, 2007
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5]
Track highlights: 1. "Better Must Come" - 2. "Interleukin 2 (For Anthony)" (4 / 5) - 3. "Please Let Me Sleep" - 4. "2 Times Nice" - 8. "That Blows My Name Away (For Rachel)"
17th studio album by The Durutti Column issued on Fullfill / Artful Records and produced by Keir Stewart (track 3 produced by Tim Thomas). Before this, The DC released the album Sporadic Three (April 2007, Kooky Records). On this release, Reilly again plays with sampling and electronic but without adding new dimensions or contributing with much else than what at times sounds like versions or improvs of older material, although I really like "Interleukin 2 (For Anthony)".
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]
23 November 2017
De efterladte "Adjø tristesse" (2016)
Adjø tristesse
release date: Sep. 12, 2016
format: cd (8melo 015)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]
producer: Boi Holm
label: Melodika - nationality: Denmark
Track highlights: 1. "Drømte jeg gik og blev ved med at gå" - 2. "Jeg falder" - 4. "Bravo november" - 5. "Alt forsvinder og vender hjem" - 8. "Surfin' Sjælland" - 9. "Glæden ved at være undervejs" (live) - 11. "Hver dag er et comeback" (live)
3rd studio album by De efterladte released three years after the fine Alvorsord og etagevask is produced by Boi Holm, who also worked as co-producer and additional instrumentalist on the 2013 album - here, he's both credited for (additional) instruments and as composer of two tracks (tracks #2 and #7). Musically, the album initiates by following the message of the title, which could be translated to "Goodbye sorrow". It opens up with much more energy and uptempo compositions than usually heard from a band who has been dominated by a melancholy and not seldom a bitter tone by lyricist and vocalist Peter H. Olesen. The message is accentuated in the cover design. The inlay is a folded poster that when unfolded is the instruction to 'how to fold a basic dart paper plane'... By that, it already attempts to be the exact opposite of what could be taken as a pretentious album.
The album contains the usual inclusion of a spoken-word composition, here: "Vi er tidsrejsende" and an entirely instrumental - "Surfin' Sjælland" - credited primary musical composer Michael Lund, who has a nice 'flanger' / delay quality feedback to his Fender[?] always rhyming with americana.
Adjø tristesse is yet another fine and sincere album by Peter Olesen and Michael Lund, who seems to have found the balance between the ever-present melancholic gloominess of songwriter Olesen's lyrics and (almost) equal parts of liveliness, but also by adding more tempo to a few songs without losing the sense of coherency as a sharpening to the whole picture.
I really enjoy this for now and keep returning to it, and I may just raise my rating in a near future 'cause the album is quite intense and multi-faceted.
[ Gaffa.dk 5 / 6, Berlingske 4 / 6 stars ]
release date: Sep. 12, 2016
format: cd (8melo 015)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]
producer: Boi Holm
label: Melodika - nationality: Denmark
Track highlights: 1. "Drømte jeg gik og blev ved med at gå" - 2. "Jeg falder" - 4. "Bravo november" - 5. "Alt forsvinder og vender hjem" - 8. "Surfin' Sjælland" - 9. "Glæden ved at være undervejs" (live) - 11. "Hver dag er et comeback" (live)
3rd studio album by De efterladte released three years after the fine Alvorsord og etagevask is produced by Boi Holm, who also worked as co-producer and additional instrumentalist on the 2013 album - here, he's both credited for (additional) instruments and as composer of two tracks (tracks #2 and #7). Musically, the album initiates by following the message of the title, which could be translated to "Goodbye sorrow". It opens up with much more energy and uptempo compositions than usually heard from a band who has been dominated by a melancholy and not seldom a bitter tone by lyricist and vocalist Peter H. Olesen. The message is accentuated in the cover design. The inlay is a folded poster that when unfolded is the instruction to 'how to fold a basic dart paper plane'... By that, it already attempts to be the exact opposite of what could be taken as a pretentious album.
The album contains the usual inclusion of a spoken-word composition, here: "Vi er tidsrejsende" and an entirely instrumental - "Surfin' Sjælland" - credited primary musical composer Michael Lund, who has a nice 'flanger' / delay quality feedback to his Fender[?] always rhyming with americana.
Adjø tristesse is yet another fine and sincere album by Peter Olesen and Michael Lund, who seems to have found the balance between the ever-present melancholic gloominess of songwriter Olesen's lyrics and (almost) equal parts of liveliness, but also by adding more tempo to a few songs without losing the sense of coherency as a sharpening to the whole picture.
I really enjoy this for now and keep returning to it, and I may just raise my rating in a near future 'cause the album is quite intense and multi-faceted.
[ Gaffa.dk 5 / 6, Berlingske 4 / 6 stars ]
22 November 2017
Tom Waits "Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, & Bastards" (2006)
Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, & Bastards (compilation)
release date: Nov. 20, 2006
format: cd (3-disc box set)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: Kathleen Brennan, Tom Waits
label: ANTI- - nationality: USA
release date: Nov. 20, 2006
format: cd (3-disc box set)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: Kathleen Brennan, Tom Waits
label: ANTI- - nationality: USA
A compilation album, and there's some when a man has made music very consistently for four decades. This is not the usual Best of kind of release. First thing that differs is that it's a box set of 3 discs. Well, that should maybe do it in comprising his long career but that's not really the way it has been compiled. Apparently, Waits had wanted a release with some of the songs that had been left out of albums throughout the years and he intended to make a slow ballad-like disc of all his softer songs and a raw and ferocious disc with his energetic complementary side, but then Brennan came up with the idea of three discs 'cause they also needed room for the ones that didn't fit either of the two labels. So the songs are intentionally placed according to style and temper, so that the first disc of "Brawlers" are tracks that rock. They are his blues rock and most poignant rock tunes. The second disc of "Bawlers" is a collection of singer / songwriter ballads and vocal jazz songs, as many of his albums contain these two complementary tempers, and the last disc of "Bastards" is reserved for his experimental cabaret and art rock... or you could say the ones that don't fit in - the most... 'crazy' stuff, perhaps. In this way it's a fine box set, and it's a rare compilation that makes it all a whole, although the individual songs have been written in different periods of time, so according to your mood and / or interest, one may select a specific musical style.
Clif Richard "The Day I Met Marie" (1967) (single)
release date: Aug. 1967
format: vinyl (DB 8245)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [2,82]
producer: Norrie Paramor
label: Columbia - nationality: England, UK
Tracklist: A) "The Day I Met Marie" - - B) "Our Story Book"
Single hit song by Cliff Richard. The A-side track is credited Hank Marvin of The Shadows, and the B-side is a song by Joan Kingsbury and Lor Crane.
This issue comes from my parents' record collection, and I recall playing this at age 6-10 years old, although this was never one of my preferred singles. The single comes with many different front covers. This particular issue is a Danish print.
~ ~ ~
This post is part of MyMusicJourney, which enlists key releases that have shaped my musical taste when growing up and until age 14. Most of these releases come from my parents' and / or my older brother's collection.
19 November 2017
Sort Sol "Stor langsom stjerne" (2017)
Stor langsom stjerne
release date: May 19, 2017
format: 2 lp vinyl (gatefold) / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Randall Dunn
label: Columbia Records - nationality: Denmark
release date: May 19, 2017
format: 2 lp vinyl (gatefold) / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Randall Dunn
label: Columbia Records - nationality: Denmark
Track highlights: 1. "The Weightless" - 2. "...Like a Trance Like..." (4 / 5) - 3. "Nocturnal Creature" (feat. Emily Cripe) - 5. "Stor, langsom stjerne" - 7. "Life Took You for a Freq." (feat. Chelsea Wolfe) - 8. "K-141 Kursk"
8th studio album by Sort Sol released 16 years after the band's last studio album Snakecharmer from 2001 - an album that had come to represent the end of the band.
The vinyl edition contains a bonus track ("Forever Present" on the D-side played at 45rpm). Founding member, as well as one of the band's essential songwriters, Knud Odde left the band in the aftermath of the last studio album, which left the band to a trio for another three years during which they managed to release a soundtrack to the movie "Baby" (2003). Guitarist Lars Top-Galia then left the band in 2004; however, both vocalist Steen Jørgensen and drummer Tomas Ortved determinately refrained from putting an end to the band and they managed to shelve it for the following years, and then in 2010 Top-Galia returned and the trio began performing for live concerts and they have stayed together since then. Rumours about a forthcoming new studio album began circulating after the new reformation, but then as most people had written that idea off this album was released.
Naturally, the musical output has changed, but perhaps to a degree where old fans will find it hard to associate this newfound style with that of Sort Sol. Apparently, the band had followed the incident of the Russian submarine K-141 Kursk and its tragic end with all 118 crew members being killing, as the band was finishing the album Snakecharmer. Jørgensen and Top-Galia had both wanted to compose a song based on the last notes by the submarine's captain, Dmitri Kolesnikov, but they never found the surplus artistic energy at a time when the band members had seen its own end approaching. The composition "K-141 Kursk" lasts 10:29 mins and is an orchestrated ambient hymn and it appears as the central composition of the album.
The album consists of 8 tracks and has a running time exceeding 51 mins. with the end-track lasting more than 10 mins. All songs except two are credited Jørgensen and Top-Galia. "Nocturnal Creature" has lyrics by Emily Cripe, who also sings on the track and "Life Took You for a Freq." has lyrics and vocals by Chelsea Wolfe. The album is credited Jørgensen, Top-Galia and Ortved as only band members but it's recorded and produced using a bunch of additional musicians where producer Randall Dunn plays synths and electronics on all tracks, and Timm Mason handles keyboards, synths and programming on five compositions, and both seems vital to the end-product.
Stylistically, this is an electronic ambient, synthpop, and art rock album, which doesn't sound like any other album by Sort Sol. You may recognise Top-Galia's distorted guitar-picking, but other than that, you will probably only associate this with Sort Sol by the characteristic dark vocal of Steen Jørgensen.
The single "...Like a Trance Like..." was released a month prior to the album release, and it became a bit of a national radio hit. The album was met by positive reviews and the band was nominated "Best Release" at the 2017 Grammy Awards, where the band was handed an "Honorary Prize".
The album is a big positive surprise, which I find quite fine and easily bettering most of the band's earlier releases and basically placing it close to top 3 of all their studio albums.
[ collectors' item 'near mint' - from ~ €45,- ]
<
all albums rated >
~ ~ ~
"Albums by Sods / Sort Sol rated top to bottom"
1. "Glamourpuss" (1993)
2. "Flow My Firetear" (1991)
3. "Minutes to Go" (1979)
4. "Stor langsom stjerne" (2017)
5. "Under en sort sol" (1980)
6. "Everything That Rises..." (1987)
7. "Dagger & Guitar" (1983)
8. "Snakecharmer" (2001)
9. "Unspoiled Monsters" (1996)
~ ~ ~
"Albums by Sods / Sort Sol rated top to bottom"
1. "Glamourpuss" (1993)
2. "Flow My Firetear" (1991)
3. "Minutes to Go" (1979)
4. "Stor langsom stjerne" (2017)
5. "Under en sort sol" (1980)
6. "Everything That Rises..." (1987)
7. "Dagger & Guitar" (1983)
8. "Snakecharmer" (2001)
9. "Unspoiled Monsters" (1996)
~ ~ ~
18 November 2017
Rikki Price "You're for Real" (1962) (single)
release date: 1962
format: vinyl (267 200)
[single rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,56]
producer: ?
label: Fontana - nationality: England, UK
Tracklist: A) "You're for Real" - - B) "When You Pass By"
Single release by Rikki Price with the title track being England's contribution to the 1962 Eurovision Song Contest.
This copy of the single is a Danish issue, perhaps released at some point after the original release, as it says 'Recording first published 1962" on labels. The single was part of my parents' record collection and not one I found of great interest - although, I recall finding the B-side bettering the title track.
~ ~ ~
This post is part of MyMusicJourney, which enlists key releases that have shaped my musical taste when growing up and until age 14. Most of these releases come from my parents' and / or my older brother's collection.
17 November 2017
Anna Ternheim "Leaving on a Mayday" (2008)
udgivet: Nov. 12, 2008
format: digital (US)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: Björn Yttling
label: Verve Forecast - nationality: Sweden
Track highlights: 1. "What Have I Done" (live) - 3. "Terrified" - 4. "Let It Rain" - 5. "My Heart Still Beats for You" - 6. "No I Don't Remember"
3rd studio album by Anna Ternheim released two years after the slightly disappointing Separation Road (Sep. 2006) is originally released on Universal Music - the release here on Verve is a US edition with a single bonus track (track #7) and a total running time at 44 minutes.
Stylistically, Ternheim's releases are found in the softer end of the art pop register, but on this she has moved further into a territory where she distances herself from what could rightly be labeled singer / songwriter. By doing so, she is now closer to artists such as Lykke Li, Emilíana Torrini, Anna Persson, and Danish Oh Land without artistically showcasing something entirely original. However, it's her music in particular that has improved significantly since Separation Road. The musical arrangements and Ytling's production add a grandiose quality and ethereal sensation to her songs and clearly elevates the album above the ordinary. Ternheim's vocal, on the other hand, is not a sparkling instrument that presents us with great qualities, and she still has a distinct Swedish-English intonation, which doesn't exactly improve things, and then the lyrics are occasionally characterised by bilingual banalities like "I'm losing you - what can I do?" ["Losing You"]. One may only wonder why Ternheim, as so many other Scandinavian artists, insists on singing in English when the language doesn't flow naturally? Overall, progress can be traced on an album that simply lacks catchy ear hooks. Without signs of remorse, Ternheim continues to release music and she also has stable support in the Scandinavian market, but it seems a bit like she's come to an artistic dead end, where many other talents shine brighter in the genre - Ternheim has, however, proven that she possesses a talent and has the skills in place, so perhaps she will hit it better next time.
Above average but no favourite.
15 November 2017
Alanis Morissette "Havoc and Bright Lights" (2012)
Havoc and Bright Lights
release date: Aug. 28, 2012
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
Tracklist: 1. "Guardian" (3,5 / 5) - 2. "Woman Down" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "'Til You" (3 / 5) - 4. "Celebrity" (3 / 5) - 5. "Empathy" (3,5 / 5) - 6. "Lens" (3,5 / 5) - 7. "Spiral" (4 / 5) - 8. "Numb" - 9. "Havoc" (3 / 5) - 10. "Win and Win" (3,5 / 5) - 11. "Receive" - 12. "Edge of Evolution"
8th studio album release by Alanis Morissette. The album received mixed reviews but I think, it's better than most of what else is released in the genre of singer / songwriter, pop / rock. Alanis has a saying with her lyrics - her subjects may be heard of before but she's an intelligent songwriter, and her music is never boring or dull. The style is as usual a product of a genuine will to be sincere and personal, and the music is often voluminous, spacious anchored around her strong singing voice. Sometimes her music tends to be too heavy orchestrated for my liking, e.g. on "Receive", but overall, this is far from a lesser release.
release date: Aug. 28, 2012
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
Tracklist: 1. "Guardian" (3,5 / 5) - 2. "Woman Down" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "'Til You" (3 / 5) - 4. "Celebrity" (3 / 5) - 5. "Empathy" (3,5 / 5) - 6. "Lens" (3,5 / 5) - 7. "Spiral" (4 / 5) - 8. "Numb" - 9. "Havoc" (3 / 5) - 10. "Win and Win" (3,5 / 5) - 11. "Receive" - 12. "Edge of Evolution"
8th studio album release by Alanis Morissette. The album received mixed reviews but I think, it's better than most of what else is released in the genre of singer / songwriter, pop / rock. Alanis has a saying with her lyrics - her subjects may be heard of before but she's an intelligent songwriter, and her music is never boring or dull. The style is as usual a product of a genuine will to be sincere and personal, and the music is often voluminous, spacious anchored around her strong singing voice. Sometimes her music tends to be too heavy orchestrated for my liking, e.g. on "Receive", but overall, this is far from a lesser release.
14 November 2017
C.V. Jørgensen "I det muntre hjørne" (1990)
release date: 1990
format: vinyl (gatefold) / digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,18]
producer: C.V. Jørgensen
label: Epic Records - nationality: Denmark
Track highlights: 1. "På gyngende grund" (live) - 2. "Pligterne kalder" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Træt som en junkie" - 4. "Det si'r sig selv" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Til skaberens fulde tilfredshed" - 6. "Tre portrætter" - 8. "Tiderne skifter" (4 / 5) (live-uddrag) - 9. "Tak for sangen"
10th studio album by C.V. Jørgensen following two years after Indian Summer (Aug. '88) is like that produced by C.V. Jørgensen himself. And just as was generally the case with the predecessor, the lyrics and music here are credited Jørgensen himself, with the exception of "Træt som en junkie", which was composed together with Lars Hybel. The album offers nine tracks and has a total running length of just over 40 minutes. Among the participating musicians are a number of old acquaintances including Lars Hybel on guitar, banjo and bass, Jacob Andersen on percussion, and with Gert Smedegård on drums. The album shows a reunion with Aske Jacoby, who also took part on four tracks on Vennerne & vejen (1985) and who has been a stable member of C.V.'s touring backing band. Here, Jacoby is featured on on all tracks and he is credited guitar, mandolin, and keyboard - normally, instruments Jørgensen's long-time fellow musician, Nils Henriksen, previously handled, as he did on Indian Summer.
As the title and certainly also the cover indicate, C.V. here is in a more positive mood than previously heard, and it's an atmosphere he brings to the musical expression. Incidentally, the title is taken from the song "Pligterne kalder". Musically, he continues some of the positive tones you'll find on the predecessor, and the style is warm and laid back. It's a turn back to the folk rock that initially inspired him, but which he has never really made as stylishly as he does here. There is a clear inspiration from his old role model Dylan, as well as both Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. On his earlier albums, the inspiration was clear, both musically and lyrically, while this is almost like a tribute to a musical style, as the music is quite original and the lyrics are also Jørgensen's own shape, which has gained a clearer layer of humour and a positive tone. The album may easily be seen as Jørgensen's own comment to national music critics who have long labeled C.V.'s albums as sarcastic sulkiness, just as he has long fought against a media image as a left-wing social critic, although he has never professed to a political position and instead deliberatedly have pointed to the corrupting power. On most of these new songs, he continues his new narrative 'I' form, which he initiated on Indian Summer. He says, among other things, that he is ...'so tired of being a communist' with a barely concealed salute to the critics' predicate, and on the album's end track "Tak for sangen" he thanks his sources of inspiration and his musical acquaintances. After poor sales figures with the album Indian Summer, the band Sort Sol's cover of the title track, released as a single in late '91, helped to bring new focus to this very album, and C.V. here sends a direct greeting to the band with the line: "...tak til Sort Sol for den lyse nat" [...'thanks to Sort Sol for the bright night'] - in other words: With their tribute, Sort Sol helped pointing out the qualities of the album.
I det muntre hjørne found positive reception, and the album was nominated Danish Album of the Year at the 1991 Danish Music Awards, it won as Danish Rock Release of the Year, and C.V. was handed the award for Danish Songwriter of the Year.
In sales numbers, the album is one of Jørgensen's biggest successes, although, critics were divided. Some hailed C.V.'s new positive style and the musical turn, while others found it too light, without his trademark of social awareness and without his sharp wit with which his name was bound.
In Jørgensen's discography, the album is one of my absolute favourites and the it's the only C.V. album I so far have purchased on vinyl.
Front cover and artwork are (as usual) credited Annemarie Albrectsen.
Highly recommended.
13 November 2017
Queen Elizabeth "Queen Elizabeth" (1994)
release date: Nov. 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,28]
producer: Julian Cope
label: Echo - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Superstar" - 2. "Avebury: The Arranged Marriage of Heaven and Earth"
Studio album debut from duo Queen Elizabeth consisting of Julian Cope and multi-instrumentalist Thighpaulsandra (aka Tim Lewis) - the latter features on Cope's most recent Autogeddon (Aug. '94). The album (only) consists of two compositions running just under 35 and just over 31 minutes, respectively.
The music is characterised by experimentation and is mainly kept in a simple electronic universe, where synths, mellotron, and programming are main components, and although traditional instruments such as guitar, bass, piano, and drums are part of the compositions, the final product is a work of electronic model completely without any apparent influence from styles that one might be inclined to associate with Cope, such as funk, space rock, or neo-psychedelia. As the experimental collaboration album Rite - made by Cope and the long-time musical associate Donald Ross Skinner (who, by the way, also features here) from '93 - it's easy to think of Queen Elizabeth as music made for a film, but where Rite was influenced by many well-known styles and genres from the past three decades, the album here appears far more minimalistic, more stylish experimental - without being downright masterful for that matter.
10 November 2017
The Stone Roses "Fools Gold 9.53" (1989), single
Fools Gold 9.53 (cd single)
release date: Nov. 1989
format: digital (1992 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: John Leckie
label: Silvertone - nationality: England, UK
Tracklist: 1. "Fools Gold 9.53" - 2. "What the World Is Waiting For" - 3. "Fools Gold 4.15"
Single release by The Stone Roses originally released in a 7'' vinyl version Fools Gold 4.15 and a 12'' titled Fools Gold 9.53, identical to the cd reissue. The 7'' had what is here track #3 as the first track - and in either case the lead single was partly titled with the running time in the name.
The single was released 8 months after the debut album, and it's without tracks from the album.
With a running time at almost 10 minutes, the title track is an unusual lengthy composition, but given the baggy / madchester style it's just a more dance-oriented / -friendly song that follows close to the style laid out on the debut album. The shorter version is the better.
The front cover artwork is a painting by guitarist and musical composer John Squire titled "Double Dorsal Dopplegänger".
release date: Nov. 1989
format: digital (1992 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: John Leckie
label: Silvertone - nationality: England, UK
Tracklist: 1. "Fools Gold 9.53" - 2. "What the World Is Waiting For" - 3. "Fools Gold 4.15"
Single release by The Stone Roses originally released in a 7'' vinyl version Fools Gold 4.15 and a 12'' titled Fools Gold 9.53, identical to the cd reissue. The 7'' had what is here track #3 as the first track - and in either case the lead single was partly titled with the running time in the name.
The single was released 8 months after the debut album, and it's without tracks from the album.
With a running time at almost 10 minutes, the title track is an unusual lengthy composition, but given the baggy / madchester style it's just a more dance-oriented / -friendly song that follows close to the style laid out on the debut album. The shorter version is the better.
The front cover artwork is a painting by guitarist and musical composer John Squire titled "Double Dorsal Dopplegänger".
09 November 2017
Steve & Russell P. Kilbey "Gilt Trip" (1997)
release date: May 9, 1997
format: digital (2005 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Russell P. Kilbey
label: Karmic Hit - nationality: Australia
Track highlights: 1. "Gilt Trip" - 2. "The Onset" - 3. "Tragic Mandarin Love Story" - 4. "Eyes Smeared With the Ointment of Love" - 9. "Happy Endings"
1st studio album collaboration by brothers Steve & Russell P. Kilbey, originally released on Vicious Sloth Collectables, in 2005 reissued on Kilbey's own label Karmic Hit. The album consists exclusively of instrumental compositions composed by the brothers - composed together or alone. The two Kilbeys play all instruments, except on "Tragic Mandarin Love Story", which is the only uptempo composition to feature both violinist Linda Neil and drummer Tim Powles (of The Church).
Musically, it is a type of 'soundtrack' to a non-existent film. It's ambient and atmospheric with an almost organic tone, and some tracks are progressive minimalism, and in some ways the album ties to Steve Kilbey's second solo album Earthed (1987), which also reflects some of the same soundtrack quality.
The two brothers subsequently issued several releases and later founded the project Gilt Trip, but here they have released their first collaboration under their own names, which has its qualities.
08 November 2017
LCD Soundsystem "London Sessions" (2010) (live)
London Sessions (live)
release date: Nov. 8, 2010
format: cd (2011)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]
producer: James Murphy; DFA
label: DFA Records - nationality: USA
Track highlights: 1. "Us v Them" - 2. "All I Want" - 4. "Get Innocuous!" - 5. "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House" - 6. "All My Friends" - 8. "I Can Change" - 9. "Yr City Is a Sucker"
[ full album ]
Live-in-the-studio album of recordings at The Pool recording studio of Miloco Studios in London, England, Tuesday Jun. 29, 2010. The album was released as a downloadable album only Nov. 8, 2010 and on cd Jan. 24, 2011. On this occasion the band consists of James Murphy on vocals and percussion, Nancy Whang on keyboards and vocals, Pat Mahoney on drums and vocals, Tyler Pope on bass, percussion and vocals, Gavin Russom on synth, keyboards, percussion and vocals, David Scott Stone on guitar, percussion, synth and vocals and with Matt Thornley on guitar, percussion and vocals.
The collection of songs here are taken from all three previous studio albums, which makes it a good compilation as it comes with two tracks from the debut, three from Sound of Silver and four from This Is Happening. I actually find that the tracks (#2, #3, #7 and #8) from the most recent studio album all sound better in this more vibrant and dance-punk production, and on top of that, they also make the compositions from the various albums feel like one whole.
All in all this is truly one of the band's best albums.
Prior to the album release James Murphy had started rumours about the band's near end, and on Feb. 8, 2011, on the band's website, LCD Soundsystem proclaimed that they would play their last concert in April.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]
release date: Nov. 8, 2010
format: cd (2011)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]
producer: James Murphy; DFA
label: DFA Records - nationality: USA
Track highlights: 1. "Us v Them" - 2. "All I Want" - 4. "Get Innocuous!" - 5. "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House" - 6. "All My Friends" - 8. "I Can Change" - 9. "Yr City Is a Sucker"
[ full album ]
Live-in-the-studio album of recordings at The Pool recording studio of Miloco Studios in London, England, Tuesday Jun. 29, 2010. The album was released as a downloadable album only Nov. 8, 2010 and on cd Jan. 24, 2011. On this occasion the band consists of James Murphy on vocals and percussion, Nancy Whang on keyboards and vocals, Pat Mahoney on drums and vocals, Tyler Pope on bass, percussion and vocals, Gavin Russom on synth, keyboards, percussion and vocals, David Scott Stone on guitar, percussion, synth and vocals and with Matt Thornley on guitar, percussion and vocals.
The collection of songs here are taken from all three previous studio albums, which makes it a good compilation as it comes with two tracks from the debut, three from Sound of Silver and four from This Is Happening. I actually find that the tracks (#2, #3, #7 and #8) from the most recent studio album all sound better in this more vibrant and dance-punk production, and on top of that, they also make the compositions from the various albums feel like one whole.
All in all this is truly one of the band's best albums.
Prior to the album release James Murphy had started rumours about the band's near end, and on Feb. 8, 2011, on the band's website, LCD Soundsystem proclaimed that they would play their last concert in April.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]
06 November 2017
Mogwai "EP+6" (2000)
release date: Aug. 2000 / Oct. 1, 2001 (first UK issue)
format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: various
label: Chemikal Underground - nationality: Scotland, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Superheroes of BMX" - 2. "Now You're Taken" - 5. "Rollerball" - 6. "Small Children in the Background" - 7. "Stanley Kubrick" (official video) - 8. "Christmas Song" - 9. "Burn Girl Prom Queen" - 10. "Rage: Man"
Compilation album by Mogwai essentially compiling three eps into one longplayer with EP being their most recent release from Oct. '99. It consists of ten tracks with a total running time at 72 minutes. The first three compositions are from 4 Satin (1997), tracks #4 to #6 from No Education = No Future (Fuck the Curfew) E.P (1998), and the last four are from EP (1999) - thus the title: EP+6 comes with four tracks plus six other tracks... The album was originally intended for the Japanese market only (released on Toy's Factory, August 2000) but was soon made in various digital issues for the European market primarily because the original three eps only had been pressed in limited numbers. Some European cd-issues are enhanced issues containing an extended version of "Stanley Kubrick", the music video, whereas the first Japanese edition has reversed track order (from newest to oldest) and some Japanese issues also came with the music video for "Xmas Steps".
Again, Mogwai has produced a fine album, although, all tracks have already been released in ep-versions, and it's difficult to pin out the best tracks, however, none of them appear on the band's normal full-length albums making this another fine album to know of. Also because the last four tracks here bond nicely to the most recent an otherwise different album Rock Action (Apr. 2001).
Recommended.
EDIT Nov. 2021: The album has been re-issued in a remastered 3 lp vinyl version (for the first time) with the new title "e.p. x 3", but with the same tracklist and with new front cover (still photo by Neale Smith of the same water tower). The album is also made available as download release via the band's bandcamp profile.
The Stone Roses "The Stone Roses" (1989)
The Stone Roses [debut]
release date: Mar. 13, 1989
format: vinyl (ORE LP 502) / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,96]
producer: John Leckie
label: Silvertone Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "I Wanna Be Adored" (4 / 5) - 2. "She Bangs the Drums" (4 / 5) (live) - 3. "Waterfall" (studio live 2013) - 5. "Bye Bye Badman" - 7. "(Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister" (live) - 8. "Made of Stone" - 11. "I Am the Resurrection"
Studio album debut by Manchester band The Stone Roses consisting of vocalist Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire, Mani [aka Gary Mounfield] on bass and Reni [aka Alan John Wren] on drums, backing vocals and piano. All 11 songs are credited Ian Brown and John Squire. Stylewise, the album was released as indie pop and jangle pop, which had its roots in the Manchester scene with close bonds to The Smiths, but time has first and foremost put it in the category of baggy / Madchester and neo-psychedelia including bands like Inspiral Carpets and Happy Mondays all of which with connection to the (New Order) nightclub The Haçienda music scene, but also with a distinct relation to other bands like The Sundays (jangle pop / dreampop) and Australian band The Church (jangle pop / neo-psychedelia).
I bought the album upon its release after having heard the single hit "She Bangs the Drums" on the look-out for the "new big thing" after the demise of The Smiths. It was quite all right and pretty good, but it wasn't great, imho. What I became more hooked on was the music by Kitchens of Distinction, also releasing their debut album in '89, music by Bob Mould and Pixies with more power-fuzed compositions. However, time has been quite gentle with this album, I think. Actually, I consider it a whole lot better today than I did back then. I would play the first half of the album finding that part above average, but as a whole, I thought of it as too unfocused and without sufficient variation. I also found it somewhat difficult to label 'cause was it close to The Smiths and jangle pop, or was it more in line with noise pop or dream pop bands like The Sundays?
What is particular good is not just the variation of mood and energy, there's also a fine incorporation of classic pop pointing back to The Byrds and a baroque pop period, which basically had its comeback with britpop - Oasis and Blur, years later - and there's the whole neo-psychedelic part linking the band with the 60s and a long line of bands dealing with that style throughout the 70s and into the 80s where it fuses with other styles and genres. The Church, XTC and Love and Rockets all incorporated neo-psychedelia but none of these bands were dance-oriented like The Stone Roses and the baggy / Madchester scene of late 80s Manchester.
The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
The front cover is a Jackson Pollock-inspired painting "Bye Bye Badman" by John Squire.
[ allmusic.com, Q Magazine, Uncut 5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]
[ collectors' item, 1989 repress 'near mint' - from ~ €60,- ]
release date: Mar. 13, 1989
format: vinyl (ORE LP 502) / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,96]
producer: John Leckie
label: Silvertone Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "I Wanna Be Adored" (4 / 5) - 2. "She Bangs the Drums" (4 / 5) (live) - 3. "Waterfall" (studio live 2013) - 5. "Bye Bye Badman" - 7. "(Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister" (live) - 8. "Made of Stone" - 11. "I Am the Resurrection"
Studio album debut by Manchester band The Stone Roses consisting of vocalist Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire, Mani [aka Gary Mounfield] on bass and Reni [aka Alan John Wren] on drums, backing vocals and piano. All 11 songs are credited Ian Brown and John Squire. Stylewise, the album was released as indie pop and jangle pop, which had its roots in the Manchester scene with close bonds to The Smiths, but time has first and foremost put it in the category of baggy / Madchester and neo-psychedelia including bands like Inspiral Carpets and Happy Mondays all of which with connection to the (New Order) nightclub The Haçienda music scene, but also with a distinct relation to other bands like The Sundays (jangle pop / dreampop) and Australian band The Church (jangle pop / neo-psychedelia).
I bought the album upon its release after having heard the single hit "She Bangs the Drums" on the look-out for the "new big thing" after the demise of The Smiths. It was quite all right and pretty good, but it wasn't great, imho. What I became more hooked on was the music by Kitchens of Distinction, also releasing their debut album in '89, music by Bob Mould and Pixies with more power-fuzed compositions. However, time has been quite gentle with this album, I think. Actually, I consider it a whole lot better today than I did back then. I would play the first half of the album finding that part above average, but as a whole, I thought of it as too unfocused and without sufficient variation. I also found it somewhat difficult to label 'cause was it close to The Smiths and jangle pop, or was it more in line with noise pop or dream pop bands like The Sundays?
What is particular good is not just the variation of mood and energy, there's also a fine incorporation of classic pop pointing back to The Byrds and a baroque pop period, which basically had its comeback with britpop - Oasis and Blur, years later - and there's the whole neo-psychedelic part linking the band with the 60s and a long line of bands dealing with that style throughout the 70s and into the 80s where it fuses with other styles and genres. The Church, XTC and Love and Rockets all incorporated neo-psychedelia but none of these bands were dance-oriented like The Stone Roses and the baggy / Madchester scene of late 80s Manchester.
The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
The front cover is a Jackson Pollock-inspired painting "Bye Bye Badman" by John Squire.
[ allmusic.com, Q Magazine, Uncut 5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]
[ collectors' item, 1989 repress 'near mint' - from ~ €60,- ]
04 November 2017
Neil Young "Storytone" (2014)
Storytone
release date: Nov. 4, 2014
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,35]
producer: The Volume Dealers (aka Neil Young and Niko Bolas)
label: Reprise Records - nationality: Canada
35th studio album by Neil Young and his second in 2014 is a big band music / orchestrated album with Young singing and a full orchestra backing him live with strings, brass and choir while recording the arrangements. This is a long way from A Letter Home - not to say anything else by Neil Young - and stylistically, it's difficult to narrow down, as Young mostly sings in his traditional folkish and bluesy singer / songwriter style with a full orchestra backing him up without or with only a few traditional rock band instruments. Yeah, there's a electric guitar in some places and bass and whatever, and some tracks are held in a stronger blues or folk tradition by putting emphasis on the use of a guitar or by being less dominating, but it still feels strange when a song kicks in as some movie-theme ballad from "When Harry Met Sally", only to be interrupted by Neil Young's fragile singing voice. It's... odd. And frankly, too strange for my liking.
I won't say I'll never get to appreciate this. I've been wrong before with Neil Young. Perhaps when I'm hanging in there at 78 or 88 I will start to like it. For now, I doubt it. It's simply an odd experiment, 'cause that's also what it is, and these recent years Young does seem to have come to a point where he just jumps into the water without too much thinking or asking about a project's validity. I think, he just goes along with that new idea of his and skips the consulting process. "What the heck! What's there to lose?! The album, the idea will sell itself!! And... I don't know what to do with the money anyhow."
I really can't find any tracks to highlight from this album, and I simply do not find it anything but mediocre - and sometimes hardly even that. Boy, when Neil Young misses he makes sure we all know, but that's how it is with this genius 'cause very often - not to say mostly - he hits a lot better than most.
Not recommendable.
[ allmusic.com, Mojo 3 / 5, Rolling Stone, Slant 2,5 / 5 stars ]
release date: Nov. 4, 2014
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,35]
producer: The Volume Dealers (aka Neil Young and Niko Bolas)
label: Reprise Records - nationality: Canada
35th studio album by Neil Young and his second in 2014 is a big band music / orchestrated album with Young singing and a full orchestra backing him live with strings, brass and choir while recording the arrangements. This is a long way from A Letter Home - not to say anything else by Neil Young - and stylistically, it's difficult to narrow down, as Young mostly sings in his traditional folkish and bluesy singer / songwriter style with a full orchestra backing him up without or with only a few traditional rock band instruments. Yeah, there's a electric guitar in some places and bass and whatever, and some tracks are held in a stronger blues or folk tradition by putting emphasis on the use of a guitar or by being less dominating, but it still feels strange when a song kicks in as some movie-theme ballad from "When Harry Met Sally", only to be interrupted by Neil Young's fragile singing voice. It's... odd. And frankly, too strange for my liking.
I won't say I'll never get to appreciate this. I've been wrong before with Neil Young. Perhaps when I'm hanging in there at 78 or 88 I will start to like it. For now, I doubt it. It's simply an odd experiment, 'cause that's also what it is, and these recent years Young does seem to have come to a point where he just jumps into the water without too much thinking or asking about a project's validity. I think, he just goes along with that new idea of his and skips the consulting process. "What the heck! What's there to lose?! The album, the idea will sell itself!! And... I don't know what to do with the money anyhow."
I really can't find any tracks to highlight from this album, and I simply do not find it anything but mediocre - and sometimes hardly even that. Boy, when Neil Young misses he makes sure we all know, but that's how it is with this genius 'cause very often - not to say mostly - he hits a lot better than most.
Not recommendable.
[ allmusic.com, Mojo 3 / 5, Rolling Stone, Slant 2,5 / 5 stars ]
03 November 2017
Ukendt Under Andet Navn "Glade dage i St. Vemod" (2014)
Glade dage i St. Vemod
release date: Apr. 3, 2014
format: cd (ukendt 003)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]
producer: Troels Bech & Henrik Olesen
label: non-label-release - nationality: Denmark
Track highlights: 2. "Drømmen om et liv" - 3. "Glade dage i St. Vemod" - 6. "Hjertet" - 7. "Drone" - 9. "Nat falder" - 10. "Skridt" (4 / 5)
Full-length studio solo debut by Ukendt Under Andet Navn (aka Henrik Olesen) is produced by Troels Bech together with Henrik Olesen and is like the mini-album Ekskursion (2012) another non-label release. Co-producer Troels Bech is also credited for several instruments on this, and the album also features songwriter Solveig Sandnes on vocals. All songs are credited Henrik Olesen, except track #2, "Drømmen om et liv", which has words by (the late) Danish poet Morti Vizki, who also gave name to the final album by Olesen-Olesen, on which the song appears with slightly different musical arrangement - also by Henrik Olesen.
Without being over-produced with multi-layering, the album is more orchestrated than the first two releases by Henrik Olesen, and the album also contains two tracks that are found on his ep debut from 2010, "Hjertet" and "Skridt", however, both have been altered, lengthened and also improved. Especially, the end-track "Skridt" with its repetitious / droning form is quite successfully transformed.
The album received some fine reviews but failed to attract any interest from national radio stations and sales numbers - also as a consequence of being a non-promoted self-release, which is sad, 'cause it contains some fine compositions and deserves far more recognition. That said, it doesn't appear much as a full-coherent album. Some songs are quite introspective, some are light-weight indie-pop songs, which makes me think of early releases by Radio Dept. and another Swedish band, the duo-project Paus by Joakim Berg of Kent and Peter Svensson from Cardigans, and yet other songs are slower compositions with a bold ambient style. The strongest tracks are musically driven progressive compositions, whereas the weaker ones focus more on a lyrical force that lacks the poignant weight, imho, but it's altogether a very fine and also highly original collection of songs.
[ Gaffa.dk 3 / 6, Berlingske 4 / 6 stars ]
release date: Apr. 3, 2014
format: cd (ukendt 003)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]
producer: Troels Bech & Henrik Olesen
label: non-label-release - nationality: Denmark
Track highlights: 2. "Drømmen om et liv" - 3. "Glade dage i St. Vemod" - 6. "Hjertet" - 7. "Drone" - 9. "Nat falder" - 10. "Skridt" (4 / 5)
Full-length studio solo debut by Ukendt Under Andet Navn (aka Henrik Olesen) is produced by Troels Bech together with Henrik Olesen and is like the mini-album Ekskursion (2012) another non-label release. Co-producer Troels Bech is also credited for several instruments on this, and the album also features songwriter Solveig Sandnes on vocals. All songs are credited Henrik Olesen, except track #2, "Drømmen om et liv", which has words by (the late) Danish poet Morti Vizki, who also gave name to the final album by Olesen-Olesen, on which the song appears with slightly different musical arrangement - also by Henrik Olesen.
Without being over-produced with multi-layering, the album is more orchestrated than the first two releases by Henrik Olesen, and the album also contains two tracks that are found on his ep debut from 2010, "Hjertet" and "Skridt", however, both have been altered, lengthened and also improved. Especially, the end-track "Skridt" with its repetitious / droning form is quite successfully transformed.
The album received some fine reviews but failed to attract any interest from national radio stations and sales numbers - also as a consequence of being a non-promoted self-release, which is sad, 'cause it contains some fine compositions and deserves far more recognition. That said, it doesn't appear much as a full-coherent album. Some songs are quite introspective, some are light-weight indie-pop songs, which makes me think of early releases by Radio Dept. and another Swedish band, the duo-project Paus by Joakim Berg of Kent and Peter Svensson from Cardigans, and yet other songs are slower compositions with a bold ambient style. The strongest tracks are musically driven progressive compositions, whereas the weaker ones focus more on a lyrical force that lacks the poignant weight, imho, but it's altogether a very fine and also highly original collection of songs.
[ Gaffa.dk 3 / 6, Berlingske 4 / 6 stars ]
The Durutti Column "Heaven Sent (It Was Called Digital. It Was Heaven Sent)" (2005), ep
Heaven Sent (It Was Called Digital. It Was Heaven Sent) (ep)
release date: Mar. 2005
format: digital (6 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
Tracklist: 1. "Bruce" - 2. "Keir" - 3. "Neil" - 4. "Mike" - 5. "Alan" - 6. "Anthony"
A digital ep (download album only) by The Durutti Column released through F4 Records [4th incarnation of Factory Records] produced by Vini Reilly. The release consists of 6 tracks distributed by F4 Records for download only. The ep was later included as a bonus disc on the album A Paen to Wilson (2010), which is where I got it.
release date: Mar. 2005
format: digital (6 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
Tracklist: 1. "Bruce" - 2. "Keir" - 3. "Neil" - 4. "Mike" - 5. "Alan" - 6. "Anthony"
A digital ep (download album only) by The Durutti Column released through F4 Records [4th incarnation of Factory Records] produced by Vini Reilly. The release consists of 6 tracks distributed by F4 Records for download only. The ep was later included as a bonus disc on the album A Paen to Wilson (2010), which is where I got it.
02 November 2017
Cliff Richard and The Shadows "Please Don't Tease" (1960) (single)
release date: 1960
format: vinyl (45-DB 4479) (yellow vinyl)
[single rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,45]
producer: ?
label: Columbia - nationality: England, UK
Tracklist: A) "Please Don't Tease" - - B) "Where Is My Heart"
Single hit by Cliff Richard and The Shadows with misprinted B-side label: "Were Is My Heart" instead of "Where Is My Heart". This Norwegian issue is a yellow vinyl where the original sleeve has gone missing. The A-side is credited (British) Bruce Welch (aka Bruce Cripps) and Peter Chester, and the B-side is credited Tepper-Bennett, and alias for the (American) songwriting duo of Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett.
This issue comes from my parents' record collection, and I recall playing this at age 6-10 years old, and for some years found this a preferred single. Some years later, it was not the kind of music I enjoyed, and I never saw myself as a huge fan of Richard.
~ ~ ~
This post is part of MyMusicJourney, which enlists key releases that have shaped my musical taste when growing up and until age 14. Most of these releases come from my parents' and / or my older brother's collection.
01 November 2017
Steve Kilbey "Narcosis +" (1997)
release date: Feb. 1, 1997
format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: Steve Kilbey
label: self-release - nationality: Australia
Track highlights: 1. "Somna" - 2. "Limbo" - 6. "The Egyptian" - 7. "Midnite in America" - 8. "Linda Wong" - 9. "Double Exposure"
5th studio album or 'only' an ep re-issue with bonus tracks? The Narcosis EP was already released Jan. '92 as a 5-track EP and was Kilbey's final release on Red Eye Records in Australia. In '97 the album was released on Vicious Sloth Collectables under the title Narcosis +, consisting of nine tracks, and then in 2004 released as Narcosis + More with twelve tracks, and at some point [unknown year] it became a digital self-release [this one] again under the name Narcosis + with eleven tracks, but with three new songs compared to the '97 CD version. In all cases, the first five tracks are identical to the tracks from the original ep, but with slightly varying content. The digital self-release has a playing running at 57 minutes.
The compositions are of experimental nature and fall relatively far from contemporary releases such as the solo album Remindlessness (Jul. 1990) and the three collaboration albums Charms & Blues (Sep. '90), Vast Halos (Sep. 1990), Jack Frost (Nov./Dec '90?) and Priest = Aura (Mar. '92) by The Church. Although the added extra tracks were probably composed later than the first five, the album is nevertheless a reasonably coherent volume. There is, however, a clearer electronic touch to the newer tracks, which in the end appear to be the most elaborate, but in terms of style they are quite a close extension of the other tracks. This is Kilbey all alone and as with his compositions they go in all directions but still maintain a distinct fingerprint, and Kilbey seems to have an inexhaustible well to dip into to come up with new tracks, which always contain quality and originality.
The fron cover is a detail of the original cd-cover of Kilbey with his and Karin Jansson's twin daughters, Elektra and Miranda.
[ bandcamp ]
Trentemøller "Fixion" (2016)
release date: September 16, 2016
format: digital (13 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]
producer: Anders Trentemøller
label: In My Room - nationality: Denmark
Track highlights: 1. "One Eye Open" (feat. Marie Fisker) - 2. "Never Fade" - 4. "River in Me" (feat. Jehnny Beth) - 6. "Redefine" - 7. "My Conviction" (feat. Marie Fisker) - 11. "Complicated" (feat. Jehnny Beth) - *13. "Redefine (Trentemøller Rework)"
*Bonus track on digital album
4th studio album by Trentemøller following three years after Lost showcases the combo of Trentemøller's own stereotypical IDM microhouse progressive compositions in between more uptempo and bolder standard melody-structured and chorus-based songs with vocal arrangements made in collaboration with the two songwriters Marie Fisker and Jehnny Beth - much in the same manner as he presented with his 2013 album, only here, he has cut down on the number of featuring artists. With Beth he stood behind two single hits from this album, the almost electroclash-shaped song "River in Me" and the bolder post-punk / gothic rocker - the Siouxsie and the Banshess-like: "Complicated".
Although, the songs point in many directions - with inspiration from post-punk, from electroclash and from his catalogue of microhouse and ambient material it's still held together by a striking and predominantly coldwave soundscape. I suppose many would tend to label it darkwave and thus being inspired by gothic rock of the 1980s, but I also find it one of his better and more straightforward albums. Compared to his most recent album, this may contain stronger singles, but as a full-scaled album it lacks some of the cohency he after all demonstrated better on Lost.
A fine and yet somewhat flawed album with strong individual compositions and a lack of direction.
[ bandcamp ]
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]
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