The Divine Comedy "A Secret History: The Best of The Divine Comedy" (1999)

A Secret History: The Best of The Divine Comedy (compilation)

release date: Aug. 30, 1999
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]
producer: various
label: Setanta Records - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

7th album release by The Divine Comedy is Neil Hannon's first best of album. The album contains 17 tracks and it's a fine collection of songs for anyone not familiar with The Divine Comedy. For someone who knows some of his albums, I suggest that you buy the original albums, as these songs come from albums with either conceptual tracks or various styles and subject matter.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Søren Huss "Midtlivsvisen" (2017)

Midtlivsvisen [stylised 'MidtlivsVisen']
release date: Nov. 24, 2017
format: vinyl / cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]
producer: Mahler & Bir (aka Christoffer Møller & Lars Skærbæk)
label: Universal - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Et forbehold eller to" - 2. "Achilles" - 3. "Et helt almindeligt liv" (4 / 5) - 4. "Ingen appel" (4 / 5) - 7. "Opvasken" - 9. "Mig og mine tanker"

3rd solo album by Søren Huss follows five years after his acclaimed Oppefra & ned (Oct. 2012) and two years after the come-back album by Saybia, No Sound From the Outside. The front cover already suggests that this is something else from the hands of Søren Huss, who has become associated with melancholic and introspective morose narration, but on this he reveals himself with a large amount of irony in a study of self-criticism, which also signals a strong contrast to his first two solo albums and their black and white front covers.
MidtlivsVisen is a play of words with the established expression 'Midlivskrise' [Midlife-crisis] combined with 'vise' [ballad] - suggesting a collection of songs that all connect thematically with midlife status, stories of current life - at this mature point in life, AND with the implication that it contains some kind of crisis.
Stylistically, it really isn't a long stretch from his 2012 album, it just seems like a much willed effort to meet the content of the album with other expectations and to view the songs from a more positive and lighter perspective. I deeply admire and enjoy the solo works by Huss, who has already established himself as on of the most important national singer / songwriters of a generation who has the ability to embrace and bond with the great songwriters and poets of traditional Danish literature and who still produce highly relevant contemporary music. At times he reminds me of the late troubadour Povl Dissing, at other times he comes closer to C.V. Jørgensen, but mostly he just sounds like no one else moulding an image of a modernist without obvious limitations.
My initial thoughts of the album were less positive than they quickly grew to be. MidtlivsVisen is a beautiful collection of warm and, yet melancholic ballads, exposing Søren Huss as a formidable lyricist and with that underlines that he is a strong contender to the title as the most significant contemporary Danish songwriter.
Recommended.
[ Gaffa.dk hands it 4 / 6, Soundvenue 5 / 6 stars ]

Kent "Jag är inte rädd för mörkret" (2012)

Jag är inte rädd för mörkret
release date: Apr. 25, 2012
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Kent, Stefan Boman
label: Sonet Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "999" (4 /5) - 2. "Petroleum" - 4. "Jag ser dig" (4 / 5) (live) - 5. "Tänd på" - 6. "Beredd på allt" - 8. "Färger på natten" - 9. "Låt dom komma" - 10. "Hänsyn" (4,5 / 5)

10th studio album release by Kent who is back to a two year shift between albums. This is the first time I think the band hasn't been able to reinvent themselves with great success. Undoubtedly, the album is more than just fine. The single tracks are rather good song writing, and the whole thing is really well-produced and everything. Maybe I shouldn't pay too much attention to the expectation about new music and / or new stylistic progress. After all, many artists, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, and new chamber pop / indie pop bands like The National and Tindersticks may face fine reviews when they release music that fans expect to be within certain boundaries. My own expectations to this album are just a bit unfulfilled 'cause Kent has proven to be a band that keeps searching new territories - they have accustomed their fans to exactly that, and then this time they sort of... stay on the track of En plats i solen, which, after all, is a warm and shiny spot... So why the sulky face? This is good! Though,... Yes yes, I know!
Highlights are "999", "Jag ser dig", both uptempo tracks that are meant to be played LOUD, and then the astonishing "Hänsyn", which is really up there among the very best of Kent ballads ever.

<  show lyrics >

~ ~ ~

"Jag ser dig"

"Över Klara kyrktorn steg en blek och bitter sol
Trafiken kryper blank som skalbaggskal i månskenet
Ditt hjärta rusar förbereder terrordåd
Du är snabb som ljus men kommer aldrig härifrån

Och jag följer dina gnistor under tunga moln
och jag vet exakt vart du ska gå
En lögn blir lätt en sanning när den kommer inifrån
och det enda som är säkert är att
Jag ser dig
Jag kan se dig

Vi nålar upp experter bleka män med mörkersyn
De cirklar tyst kring offren som ett moln av Neurosedyn
De är lugnet över landet deras ord är fria från bly
Håll hårt i era barn nu
man skjuts i ryggen om man flyr

Kan man bygga nåt som bär oss med så lite ljus
nu när kärleken blev trött och blind
Kan man få alla de här bitarna på plats till slut
när det enda som är säkert är att
Jag ser dig

Stäng ute verkligheten
Älskling slut ögonen
Hör du melodierna i natthimlen
Det kommer ta en evighet
Vi sluter ögonen
och lyssnar på en psalm som bor i hjärtslagen
Vad som helst utom verkligheten
Jag kan se dig äntligen
Min vän jag hör en sång i dina andetag
Rakt in i evigheten
Älskling slut ögonen
och lyssna men vad fan du måste lyssna nu
för Jag kan se dig…"

~ ~ ~

"Hänsyn"

"Han vet att han gör fel
Han vet att du oftast har rätt
Du räknar aldrig poäng
Bryr dig inte om vem som vinner

Han vet att han gör fel
att du står bakom
och tar emot honom
när han faller
Bara en av tusen detaljer

Som gör att han älskar dig
som gör att man älskar dig
som gör att jag älskar dig
Som gör att vi älskar dig

Du kommer alltid i tid
men jag har aldrig sett dig skynda
det slår mig när jag ser dig gå iväg
så rak i ryggen så mjuk i hållningen
du är som en förtrollning

Som gör att man älskar dig, som gör att man älskar dig
Som gör att jag älskar dig - som gör att vi älskar dig

Jag gör dig så illa ibland
jag ser spår av dina tårar
du väntar ingenting och du har alltid
haft så lätt för att förlåta
bara en av tusen små gåtor

Som gör att han älskar dig, som gör att man älskar dig
Som gör att jag älskar dig - som gör att vi älskar dig"

~ ~ ~

Pixies "Indie City" (2014)

digipack

Indie City
release date: Apr. 28, 2014
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,26]
producer: Gil Norton
label: Pixiesmusic - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "What Goes Boom" (live on Later) - 3. "Indie Cindy" - 7. "Blue Eyed Hexe" - 5. "Magdalena 318" - 9. "Another Toe in the Ocean" - 11. "Snakes"

5th studio album by Pixies is the band's first full-length release in 23 years [!] and has legendary Gil Norton as producer - as guarantee for coming close to the original sound. The album has been labelled a compilation because it consists of all 12 songs taken from three recent three EPs: EP1 (tracks #1, 3, 9, 10) released Sep. 2013, EP2 (tracks #2, 5, 7, 11) from Jan. 2014 and EP3 (tracks #4, 6, 8, 12) released Mar. 2014; however, it still IS the band's first full length studio release since Trompe le monde from 1991. The line-up has changed since then, as founding member, bassist Kim Deal, much to the band's regret, left the band before going to the studio to record these new songs. For a European tour the band found a substitute in Kim Shattuck, but only to be replaced two months later by Paz Lenchantin, also for live concerts only. As for the album, Simon 'Dingo' Archer (formerly The Fall) is credited as non-member bassist on all tracks.
The album was met by luke-warm reviews mostly pointing to the incoherence of the material, where some songs point to Black Francis' early solo works, and other compositions play with too many influences. Some also suggest that fans had awaited the return of Pixies for a long time, and as they finally release a full-length album, it's the songs they already know from the three EPs.
I too hear way too many stylistic traits, but on an overall basis, I also hear the unmistakable sound of Pixies, which is really nice. As was the case two decades ago, Francis is at the steering wheel, and together with Santiago and Lovering this new journey may just be a fine ride.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, Q, Spin, Rolling Stone 3 / 5, NME 3,5 / 5 stars ]

original cover

Happy Mondays "Hallelujah" (1989) (ep)

Hallelujah, ep

release date: Dec. 1989

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]

producer: Martin Hannett

label: Factory Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Hallelujah (MacColl Mix)" - 2. "Clap Your Hands" - 4. "Rave On" - 5. "Hallelujah (Club Mix)" - 6. "Rave On (Club Mix)" - 7. "W.F.L. (Think About the Future Mix)"

Ep release of the non-album track "Hallelujah" by Happy Mondays. Originally it was released exclusively for the UK market in Nov. '89 in two versions: a 4-track 12'' ep titled Madchester Rave On, and as a 2-track 7'' single titled Hallelujah. In December it was re-released in this expanded 7-track edition consisting of other remixes spliced with the Madchester Rave On ep now targeted for the European continental and US markets. Martin Hannett is producer of the original recordings but four of the tracks are made as additional production remixes. Paul Oakenfold is credited as remix producer on tracks #5, #6, #7 - track #5 together with Andy Wetherall and track #6 with Terry Farley - Steve Lillywhite is remix producer of track #1.

This is a nice collection of extended mixes and various remixes, and it serves as a fine document of the general appeal of Happy Mondays on the club arena back in the day. It also features some of Paul Oakenfold's early remixes for the band, which paved way for his role on the 1990-album, which may be seen as the band's pinnacle.

The Durutti Column "Sunlight to Blue... Blue to Blackness" (2008)

Sunlight to Blue... Blue to Blackness
release date: Jun. 23, 2008
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. "Glimpse" - 3. "Messages" - 4. "Ged" - 5. "Ananda" (feat. Poppy Morgan) - 6. "Never Known Version" - 8. "Head Glue" (feat. Poppy Morgan) (4 / 5) - 10. "Cup a Soup Romance" - 11. "Grief"

18th studio album by The Durutti Column issued on Kooky Records produced by ? [Vini Reilly?]. Feb. 2008 he had released a live album, Live in Bruxelles 13.8.1981, and still of 2008 he released the soundtrack album Treatise on the Steppenwolf (OST) both issued on LTM Recordings. This is like Tempus fugit (2004) a collection of quietness and soulful ballads with Reilly primarily picking his guitar strings, acoustically or electrified, but often with little additional instrumentation. The album is dedicated to Reilly's girlfriend Poppy Morgan (aka Poppy Roberts). It's quiet, nice and very fine.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Robin Guthrie "Carousel" (2009)

Carousel

release date: Sep. 4, 2009

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,12]

producer: Robin Guthrie

label: Darla Records - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Some Sort of Paradise" - 2. "Sparkle" - 9. "Waiting by the Carousel"

3rd full-length solo album by Robin Guthrie following nearly 3½ years after Continental (May 2006). Three years between albums may seem like a long time but Guthrie has released several other albums in between his solo albums. In 2007 he released two albums After the Night Falls and Before the Day Breaks as collaboration works with American composer Harold Budd - both released June 11, 2007, and in 2008 he released the soundtrack album 3:19 - Bande originale du film with Guthrie's music for the 2008 feature film "3:19 Nada es casualidad" by Mexican director Dany Saadia. Also, earlier this year (May 2009), he released the collaboration album Mirrorball with British new wave and synthpop artist John Foxx (also former vocalist of Ultravox).

Carousel pretty much takes off from where his collaboration work with Harold Budd had left him: in spacious spheres of bright blue light - well-pictured in the cover art (although, that may probably be an underwater shot). It's first and foremost an ambient release without a distinct rhythm section, and Guthrie makes use of guitar-layered effects. Only on track #9 "Waiting by the Carousel", whcih probably gave name to the album title, you hear drum programming and something that brings dynamics into the picture. I'm not all that fond of this particular album, as I generally don't have a sweet tooth for new age music. It simply reeks a meditative state that only sends you to bed and echoes anything but great originality. Guthrie is still a great guitarist, but only seldom utilise this gifts to produce strong compositions.

Not recommended.

[ 👍Pitchfork 6.5 / 10, Record Collector 3 / 5 stars ]

The Refo:mation "Pharmakoi / Distance-Crunching Honchos..." (1997)

Pharmakoi / Distance-Crunching Honchos... [debut]

release date: 1997

format: digital

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]

producer: The Refo:mation

label: Phantom Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 2. "Don't Move" - 5. "All See It Now" - 10. "Get Over It" - 11. "Take Your Place" - 14. "Stop"

1st and only album by The Refo:mation, whose full title is Pharmakoi / Distance-Crunching Honchos With Echo Units may almost be considered a studio album by The Church, but there is a particular reason why the album isn't credited the better known band. After the critically acclaimed but financially disastrous Magician Among the Spirits (Aug. 1996) both Steve Kilbey and Marty Willson-Piper were preoccupied by their own solo careers as well as collaborative projects, and they remained physically separated as both Kilbey, Peter Koppes, and Tim Powles were in Australia, while Willson-Piper was living in Sweden busy saving recordings for the fifth album by All About Eve, which in '97 was released under the title of Seeing Stars, but he was also writing songs for several artists in '96 and therefore couldn't find time for Australia nor The Church, so Kilbey, Koppes, and Powles decided to release these new tracks under the project name The Refo:mation.

Stylistically, the band has moved more into an electrified rock universe, as a counterpart to the more experimental '96 album. Powles' technical skills as a sound engineer and mixer may be heard in the production, which gives contributes with a more dynamic expression. The album points in many directions, but there is still a balance, and although the album doesn't fall directly into the back catalog of The Church, there is no doubt that the group has found new paths with this album, which later will be heard on the albums Hologram of Baal (1998) and After Everything Now This (2002) by The Church.

Kings of Leon "WALLS" (2016)

WALLS
release date: Oct. 14, 2016
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Markus Dravs
label: RCA Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Waste a Moment" - 4. "Find Me" (4 / 5) - 6. "Muchacho"

7th studio album by Kings of Leon following three years after Mechanical Bull (Sep. 2013) has been recorded with something as rare to this band as a new man in the producer seat. All of their previous six studio albums have been made with Angelo Petraglia exclusively or as co-producer.

Just as the band's style has evolved over the years, so has the band's soundscape, yet there have been fundamental characteristics to the band's music. One could then imagine slight changes to WALLS [written in caps as it stands for 'We Are Like Love Songs' as written in the inlay] to show the current direction / progress they find themselves in, but the album doesn't contribute with anything new, and pop / rock is still the first thing that pops to mind when faced with their version of alt. rock. Kings of Leon is (like, e.g. U2) quite a solid unit, still of the same three Followill brothers and their (Followill) cousin on guitar.

With Markus Dravs as producer, you would at least imagine that the band had some kind of desire to add new dimensions to their music or perhaps even change direction from their usual sound matrix. Some argue [downright] that WALLS should be seen as the band's change of direction with clear ties to their original style and that the compositions haven't been carved in the usual dense Kings of Leon-construct. That's just by no means what I'm hearing here. To my ears, this is the continued journey down the very same path - the same group of people dedicated in bridging the gap between American and British alt. rock and pop / rock, which you will hear tried out by bands like Snow Patrol, Keane, Travis, Foo Fighters, and the three who are musically closest to Kings of Leon: U2, Coldplay, and The Killers. From this four-leaf clover of bands with two stemming from each side of the Atlantic, I actually prefer listening to Kings of Leon. U2 has its very own weighty and significant spot in music history, which none of the others come close to.

WALLS was generally met by positive reviews, and the band secured its first and so far only number #1 on the US Billboard 200 - the position was short-lived, however, and in total sales figures the album has actually been the band's least selling album in the US where Only by the Night (2008) is the Kings of Leon album topping the sales figures - both nationally, in the UK, as well as worldwide.

"Waste a Moment" is a song, which begins as a clone of U2 and The Killers, but it's still fine. The critically acclaimed "Around the World" sounds like R.E.M. [in their later days] mixed with Talking Heads - and a bit too much of the latter. "Find Me" is again a song inspired by U2 in a mix with Keane, Snow Patrol and The Killers - but done quite convincingly, and it's the album's best track despite the obvious references. "Over" is more like The Killers and Snow Patrol on the same stage - and the result is not impressive. "Muchacho" is an almost Tindersticks or Editors-like song - not entirely bad and quite nicely done. "Conversation Piece" is... yeah, what do I know?! Beach Boys meets Carpenters, Fleetwood Mac and U2 [!]... - in any case, it's a curious scenario, but not really unique or with anything new on the horizon. "Eyes on You" is U2, Coldplay and The Killers jumping around the stage and getting everyone jumping up and down [big surprise!! Not really!]. And that's... it! Even the good songs here sound like some other band or just like something else, but after all, the album also contains musically fine compositions, although, the worst thing at this point in the band's career is the absence of originality. The music is nicely packaged - better than a Coldplay package or some of the others mentioned these days for that matter. "Stadium Arcadium" could have been an appropriate title for the album - as this collection of tracks will surely do well on big arenas and at huge festivals where people have had their share to drink - only, that title has been used.

I'm not quite sure, which of the band's most recent two albums I prefer - I do know, however, that neither of them is among the best by Kings of Leon.

Not recommended.

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

Kele Okereke "Fatherland" (2017)

Fatherland

release date: Oct. 6, 2017

format: digital

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]

producer: Justin Harris

label: BMG - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Streets Been Talkin' " - 3. "You Keep on Whispering His Name" - 5. "Grounds for Resentment (feat. Olly Alexander)" - 7. "Do U Right" - 8. "Versions of Us (feat. Corinne Bailey Rae)" - 9. "Portrait"

3rd solo studio album by Kele Okereke following Trick from 2014. Since then, and together with Bloc Party they released Hymns in 2016.

Fatherland is the first time Kele releases music using some of his surname, and it's also a markedly different album from his previous releases. Before Kele released any music as a solo artist, Bloc Party had flirted with the dance genre, but Kele went much further into that scene on his two previous solo albums and on several EPs, but Fatherland contains exclusively folk-inspired, singer / songwriter, and vocal jazz, and arranged with acoustic guitar, piano, and wind instruments.

Generally, the album received positive reviews, however, without leading to great sales numbers. Perhaps his previous release with its relatively low placement at No. #99 on the albums chart prompted a change in style?. His debut had fared better reaching a position as No. #20. Who knows, in any case this is a completely different release, where Kele does his best as a genuine folk singer. If you are able to forget his earlier uptempo and danceable melodies, Fatherland has its own qualities without sounding particularly original for that matter, and this latter sensation is probably my biggest complaint about the album.

Not really great and not all bad either.

[ allmusic.com, Clash, Drowned in Sound 3,5 / 5, The Guardian 3 / 5 stars ]

Neil Young "The Monsanto Years" (2015)

The Monsanto Years
release date: Jun. 29, 2015
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Neil Young & John Hanlon
label: Reprise Records - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "A New Day for Love" - 3. "People Want to Hear About Love" (live) - 6. "Workin' Man" (live) - 8. "Monsanto Years" (live)


36th studio album by Neil Young released as 'Neil Young + The Promise of the Real' is something as antique as a protest album. The band 'Lukas & Promise of the Real' is made up of frontman Lukas Autry Nelson (son of Willie Nelson) on guitar & backing vocals, Corey McCormick on bass, Tato Melgar on percussion & backing vocals and with Anthony Logerfo on drums. Furthermore the band feature Lukas' brother Micah Nelson on electric guitar, electric charango and on backing vocals.
Stylistically, it's nothing new as they play country rock and folk rock. Some of the songs a more hard rock-shaped and mostly just sound like Young with Crazy Horse. Apparently, Young's long-time friendship with the Nelson family bound them stronger together after the 2014 Farm Aid project and paved the way for a collaboration album.
The protest thing here is against the American agricultural corporation Monsanto, which has found itself involved in many controversies - on the American continent, in Asia and in Europe most of which apparently dealing with the company's role in the handling of chemical waste and pesticides, and its production of GMO-related (Gene-Modified) crops and seeds as well as PCB-material. All of which sounds pretty nasty.
Anyway, the album turns out a bit like Neil Young has landed his freight ship on a subject that has caught his attention. He is a farmer - or: he is running a farm and has been preoccupied with ecological farming and ideas of 'green' products throughout the years. He has also been working on making car engines run on various types of energy, and in my mind, he sort of does whatever he wants. Lately, he has been highly productive musically - putting lots of energy into releasing new material, as if he ponders on when to leave the planet, and whenever something crosses his path, he puts "the plane down" and deals with it before taking off to another project that make him turn his head. This is a bit like that. Having been involved in Farm Aid, he perhaps felt like he needed to pay tribute to that idea by releasing a studio album in that "ballgame". And here it is!
The album mostly gained positive reviews, although, I don't find it that good and feel much like Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone. The great songs are absent and at best some compositions sound much like Neil with Crazy Horse, but others just sound like old-school protest songs without much else to offer than some lines about what Monsanto did wrong, which make me think more of Neil's old collaborative project-band CSNY - as they didn't always find the common ground. Having said that, Neil is Neil Young, and he can do whatever he wants in this world, and this is a project that he engages in and that ain't bad.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, The Guardian 5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]