Young Marble Giants "Colossal Youth" (1980)

Colossal Youth [debut]

release date: Feb. 1980

format: cd (1994 reissue)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]

producer: Dave Anderson, Young Marble Giants

label: Les Disques du Crépuscule - nationality: Wales, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Searching for Mr. Right" - 2. "Include Me Out" - 4. "Eating Noddemix" - 6. "N.I.T.A." - 8. "Music for Evenings" - 12. "Salad Days" - 13. "Credit in the Straight World" - *18. "The Clock"

*Bonus track on '94 reissue taken from Testcard E.P. (ep) (1981)

Studio debut and only album by Walesian post-punk trio, Young Marble Giants, originally released on Rough Trade Records. The band was founded by the Moxham brothers, bassist Philip and primary songwriter, composer, and guitarist, Stuart, together with vocalist Alison Statton. In the course of band's early lifetime also keyboardist Peter Joyce took part in the formation, but here they have been reduced to a trio, where Stuart is also credited organ.

Style-wise, this is something quite orginal at a time when punk rock was still alive and new styles emerged on the music scene while no one understood new potentials in indie pop and jazz pop, but Young Marble Giants were pioneers. Unfortunately, they dissolved as early as 1981 after which Stuart amd Philip Moxham continued briefly as another remarkable act called The Gist - a single album, Embrace the Herd made almost single-handedly by Stuart was released in '82.

Colossal Youth is truly an album to know of.

[ allmusic.com, Blender 4,5 / 5, The Guardian, Uncut 5 / 5, Pitchfork 9,3 / 10, Rolling Stone, Spin 4 / 5 stars ]

Martha Wainwright "Sans fusils, ni souliers, à Paris..." (2009)

Sans fusils, ni souliers, à Paris... (live)
release date: Nov. 24, 2009
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Hal Willner
label: V2 - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "La foule" - 4. "L'accordéoniste"

3rd album by Martha Wainwrigth, where the full title is Sans fusils, ni souliers, à Paris: Martha Wainwright's Piaf Record following the acclaimed I Know You're Married but I've Got Feelings Too (May 2008). The album is not the expected new studio album. Instead, it's the live recordings of three concerts from mid-June 2009 at Dixon Place Theatre, New York, thus not what the title could imply recorded in Paris, France. The album title is with reference to the lyrics of "Les Grognards". All songs are Wainwright covers of familiar Edith Piaf songs and it's basically a tribute album.

It's indisputable that Wainwright is a most talented vocalist with a large repertoire and register, and as a French-Canadian she may possess a natural bond with French culture and traditions, and although she is highly capable as a singer, I just don't think she is up to the task particularly convincing on this arena. Wainwright is known for mastering contrasts between the emotionally vulnerable and the more expressively devilish, and yet here her voice seems to lack an emotional attuned dimension that you find in Piaf's versions, but also in songs performed by Mireille Mathieu, who have given most of these songs a different and personal quality.

It's not an unambiguously bad album, where Wainwright misses the mark - it's only more so that others have done it better.

[ Sunday Tribune 3 / 5, The Times, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars ]

Nena "Oldschool" (2015)

Oldschool

release date: Feb. 27, 2015

format: cd (Deluxe Edition)

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

producer: Samy Deluxe (aka Samy Sorge)

label: Laugh + Peas - nationality: Germany

Track highlights: 1. "Oldschool" - 2. "Lieder von früher" - 3. "Genau jetzt" - 4. "Ja das wars" - 7. "Berufsjugendlich" - 8. "Sonnemond" - 11. "Magie" - 12. "Kreis" - 14. "Peter Pan"

12th studio album by Nena following a little more than two years after Du bist gut (Nov. 2012). The standard issue contains 13 tracks with a running time of 43 minutes, whereas the Deluxe Edition comes with an additional four songs - not collected at the end but scattered here and there all over the album, and it comes with a total running time at approx. 58 minutes.

Stylewise, the album is a bit of a turn to more electronically-based compositions and at the same time with a fresh incorporation of elements from songs of Neue Deutche Welle of the 1980s without sounding 'oldschool'. The title obviously both refers to the lyrical content as well as the new take on older styles. Surprisingly, the album comes with several great songs, the whole album being a fine uptempo diverse collection, and in general, this is actually turns out as one of Nenas all-time best studio albums!

Recommended.

Sharon Van Etten "Are We There" (2014)

Are We There
release date: May 26, 2014
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,04]
producer: Sharon Van Etten, Stewart Lerman
label: Jagjaguwar - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Afraid of Nothing" (live) - 2. "Taking Chances" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Your Love Is Killing Me" - 4. "Our Love" - 5. "Tarifa" - 6. "I Love You But I'm Lost" (live) - 8. "Break Me" - 11. "Every Time the Sun Comes Up"

4th studio album [not counting her 4-5 non-label and self-released albums and mini-albums as CD-R handouts] by Sharon Van Etten released on the independent label Jagjaguwar.
Stylistically, Van Etten embraces the huge singer / songwriter pool of indie pop and indie folk with equal bits of alt. country and alt. rock.
The album was met by almost universal acclaim, and was Van Etten's commercial breakthrough album peaking at position #25 on the Billboard 200 and as high as #6 on the Top Alternative Albums chart list in the US, and the album was enlisted on allmusic.com's list of "Favorite Indie Pop and Indie Rock Albums" alongside acclaimed artists like Lykke Li, Fear of Men, Future Islands, Little Dragon, Owen Pallett, Swans, and St. Vincent.
The album has really grown on me over the past 3-4 years, and I must confess to have re-discovered Van Etten a bit late as someone to pay attention to, and Are We There was also my first encounter with her music. At first I found her a bit colourless and anonymous, but it seems she has kicked in a door and invited me in 'cause all I hear now is truly fine musicianship. Her voice is quite original - somewhere between strong female artists like Patti Smith, Cat Power, PJ Harvey and Lana Del Rey. Her tonal singing voice contains the strong blatant explosiveness of Smith and Harvey but also the mellow-inner-felt melancholic alto of Power and Del Rey. Some have mentioned her as a female counterpart to Nick Cave. I don't consent to that comparison but understand what people imply with a "dark" lyrical universe, though I find the three former artists share more of the same characteristics. Some times I think more of the female Stuart Staples, but why the need to compare? Van Etten is great on her own terms. Just leave her time to find the door in. The album is easily her best album out and a natural contender to album of the year.
This is an extraordinary and highly recommendable gem.
[ allmusic.com, Q, NME, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

2014 Favourite releases: 1. Ukendt Kunstner Forbandede ungdom - 2. Kent Tigerdrottningen - 3. Sharon Van Etten Are We There

Bombino "Nomad" (2013)

Nomad

release date: Apr. 1, 2013

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]

producer: Dan Auerbach

label: Nonesuch - nationality: Niger

Track highlights: 1. "Amidinine (My Friend)" (4 / 5) (live - live - acoustic live) - 3. "Azamane Tiliade (The Era of Young Girls)" - 6. "Adinat (People)" - 7. "Her Tenere (In the Desert)" - 9. "Aman (Water)" - 11. "Tamiditine (My Darling)"

2nd studio album by Omara 'Bombino' Moctar (aka Goumar Almoctar) following his 2011 album Agadez. 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. Bombino's playing style reflects his musical upbringing listening to cassettes with Jimi Hendrix and Mark Knopfler, reggae-influenced African contemporaries as well as the stylistic impressions from Tuareg guitarist Haja Bebe, who has been a musical teacher of his.

Nomad is a warm and beautiful mix of Western musical influence and a variety of African tradition - it's smooth and meandering and it comes with a solid flavour of the blues.

Papir "Papir" (2010)

Papir [debut]

release date: Dec. 1, 2010

format: digital (5 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,92]

producer: Troels Bech [masterered by]

label: self-released - nationality: Denmark

Tracklist: 1. "Kurl Te Pow Ralise" - 2. "Lykk Trep-R Hi-Losé" - 3. "Une Frensal N-Erit" - 4. "Rogter Sot Oe Koft"

Studio album debut by Danish space rock and prog rock trio Papir consisting of guitarist Nicklas Sørensen, bassist Christian Becher Clausen, and drummer Christoffer Brøchmann Christensen. The band was founded in Gladsaxe, Copenhagen around 2008. The album consists of four instrumental pieces, and it was originally released on vinyl by independent label Red Tape, and later made available as downloadable via the band's bandcamp profile. The album mentions no producer credits, but Troels Bech is credited mastering and the band is credited mixing.

Stylewise and musically, the band explores experimental progressive rock with bonds to 1970s krautrock and German prog rock band Can in particular.

The album is not an immediate favourite but it definitely isn't without talent. There's both something disturbing, something fascinating, and a great deal of originality to these four compositions.

Sten & Stanley "Får jag följa dig en bit på vägen" (1967) (single)

Får jag följa dig en bit på vägen, 7'' single

release date: 1967

format: vinyl (F77005)

[single rate: 2 / 5] [2,12]

producer: ?

label: Decca - nationality: Sweden

Tracklist: A) "Får jag följa dig en bit på vägen" - - B) "Kapten Kidd"

Single release by Swedish schlager and 'dansband' Sten & Stanley named after two of the founding members Sten Nilsson and Stanley Gransström. The two songs stem from two albums, the title song is taken from Röd var din mund, and the B-side is found on Sten & Stanley's australiska sångbok, both released in 1967.

This single was part of my parents' record collection, and it's a single I knew of at age 6-10 but never really enjoyed - probably because it's styled as schlager music.

~ ~ ~

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.

The Divine Comedy "Victory for the Comic Muse" (2006)

Victory for the Comic Muse
release date: Jun. 19, 2006
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Nel Hannon
label: Parlophone Records - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "To Die a Virgin" - 2. "Mother Dear" (live on Later) - 3. "Diva Lady" - 4. "A Lady of a Certain Age" (4 / 5) (live) - 5. "The Light of Day" - 7. "Party Fears Two" (4 / 5)

9th studio album by The Divine Comedy is very much like a part two to Absent Friends from 2004, and also much on par with that, making it a very fine release.
"Party Fears Two" is a great cover version of a (likewise great) new romantic track by The Associates from their debut album Sulk (1982), which Hannon nicely succeeds in transposing to his own chamber pop version [Associates original version].
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars, The Guardian 4 / 5 ]

The Cranberries "Something Else" (2017)

Something Else
release date: Apr. 28, 2017
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]
producer: The Cranberries
label: BMG - nationality: Ireland

[ playlist of album songs ]

7th studio album, or: 7th official band release is a collection of ten previously released songs in acoustic versions recorded live at the University of Limerick, Ireland with the addition of three new songs (#2, 7 and 13). The album follows a series of live albums (8 albums in 2010 recorded at various European locations and another 2 live albums in 2012 also in Europe), and it presents some of the band's most popular compositions in acoustic / orchestral versions with the addition of the Irish Chamber Orchestra, which really distinguishes this from ordinary live albums.
The album was met by positive reviews and a following European live tour was scheduled, but during its initial stage in late May, the remaining dates were cancelled due to O'Riordan's health problems. Also the American tour was subsequently cancelled in July, and the band didn't get to do any further live performances that year. However, they managed to record O'Riordan's vocals for a forthcoming album when in Jan. 2018 it was announced that she had been found dead at London's Park Lane Hilton hotel. So in a way, this material feature the last official live recordings of The Cranberries and by Dolores O'Riordan, although, a successive and final album, In the End would be released in 2019.
As for track highlights, I find it too difficult a task to pick tracks at the expense of others 'cause there really are no fillers nor any mediocre tracks on an album that may require some familiarisation to these arrangements, but in the end, it's a truly fine result and a recommendable album.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]