Astrud Gilberto "The Shadow of Your Smile" (1965)

The Shadow of Your Smile
release date: Oct. 21, 1965
format: cd
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]

Tracklist: 1. "The Shadow of Your Smile" - 2. "(Take Me To) Aruanda" (4 / 5) - 3. "Manhã de Carnaval" (3,5 / 5) - 4. "Fly Me to the Moon" - 5. "The Gentle Rain" - 6. "Non-Stop to Brazil" - 7. "O Ganso" - 8. "Who Can I Turn To? (When Nobody Needs Me)" - 9. "Day by Day" - 10. "Tristeza (Goodbye Sadness)" - 11. "Funny World"

2nd studio album by Astrud Gilberto. This is an attempt to expand her repertoire with (American) standards, and it's a bland experience. She still succeeds best with her narrow instrument and voice on the bossa nova tracks like "Aruanda".
[ allmusic.com 2 / 5 stars ]

Big Country "Steeltown" (1984)

Steeltown
release date: Oct. 19, 1984
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: Steve Lillywhite
label: Mercury Records - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Flame of the West" - 2. "East of Eden" (4 / 5) - 3. "Steeltown" - 4. "Where the Rose Is Sown" (4 / 5) - 7. "Girl With the Grey Eyes" - 8. "Rain Dance"(live) - 9. "Great Divide" (4 / 5) - 10. "Just a Shadow" (4 / 5) (live)

2nd studio album by Big Country is once again produced by Steve Lillywhite, who in the early 1980s seemed to be engaged with all new artists with an energetic and new wave profile of some sort (including U2, XTC, Simple Minds, Toyah, The Pogues to mention a few). Compared to the great debut, Steeltown is somewhat more quiet, and reflects a move towards a broader audience, focusing on pop / rock. The sound is heavier (a typical 1980s syndrome heard from Springsteen, Tina Turner, and almost everywhere - drums and bass 'should' dominate) compared to the debut, and the tracks are generally slower. All compositions are still credited the band, although, Stuart Adamson probably has come up with many ideas, lyrics, as well as demos to build on. Anyway, for many years this was clearly my number two favorite by the band, however, from a modern perspective, I think, it lacks the same amount of truly great compositions one will find on the debut, but also miss the fine diversity one will find on its successor. However, the album is a modern classic of pop / rock, and of course a certified 'must-have' for fans of celtic rock.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Bill Frisell "Rambler" (1985)

Rambler

release date: Apr. 29, 1985

format: cd (reissue - ECM 1287)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]

producer: Manfred Eicher

label: ECM - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 3. "Rambler" - 4. "When We Go" - 7. "Wizard of Odds"

2nd studio album by Bill Frisell follows two years after In Line, and it's like the debut produced by Eicher and released on ECM Records. But that's not like saying these two albums are closely related 'cause this is something entirely different. It's still jazz, though, but where the debut was ambient touching on minimalism, this one is uptempo, straightforward and anything but ambient, and by that it also appears much more in the spirit of what Frisell should later be renowned for. Here, you're both handed the qualities of Frisell as composer but moreso the virtuose instrumentalist, who seems capable of playing almost anything.

This is fusion jazz with bonds to post bop and free jazz, and you might as well add: Miles Davis. Later in his career, Frisell focuses more on melody styructure, guitar sound in combination with other instruments, but on Rambler horns (tuba, cornet, fluegelhorn, trumpet) play a central part - which in some ways seems a bit odd given the fact that he's a guitarist. The title track is imho the most refreshing composition on an album that both shows us what Frisell masters and also incorporates americana and basically dwells so nicely in between the more quiet passages and the energy of older jazz styles.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings 3 / 4 stars ]

The Housemartins "Now That's What I Call Quite Good" (1988)

Now That's What I Call Quite Good (compilation)
release date: Apr. 1988
format: 2 lp vinyl (gatefold) / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: various
label: Go! Discs / Chrysalis - nationality: England, UK

24-track compilation album by The Housemartins released after the band had split. The album was simultaneously released as a double vinyl album and a single disc cd, and it was promoted like a best of album, although, it's actually more than that. It contains a number of great songs by the band but also some B-sides to single releases as well as BBC recordings for radio live transmission. Two more recent and more regular best of albums were issued in 2004 and 2011 respectively: The Best of the Housemartins and Happy Hour: The Collection. Being familiar with the band's two studio albums, I really prefer this compilation over the two later ones, as it reflects a broader view on the band.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Van Morrison "Enlightenment" (1990)

Enlightenment
release date: Oct. 1990
format: cd (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,22]
producer: Van Morrison
label: Polydor / Exile - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Real Real Gone" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Enlightenment" - 3. "So Quiet in Here" - 4. "Avalon of the Heart" - 5. "See Me Through" - 6. "Youth of 1,000 Summers" - 7. "In the Days Before Rock 'n' Roll" (4,5 / 5) - 8. "Start All Over Again" - 9. "She's My Baby" - 10. "Memories"

20th studio album by Van Morrison originally released on Polydor comes in a year of celebration it seems. In January he released The Best of Van Morrison (later identified as Best of Van Morrison - Volume 1) - his first ever best of compilation album compiling some of his best known songs of his first 25 years' recording career spanning back to when he was part of Them, and then this, his 20th studio album.
Compared to his most recent album, the sales-wise successful Avalon Sunset (1989) he withdraws somewhat from digging further into mainstream territory with a clever combination of forces. The album continues a path laid out on some of the lesser known songs from the '89 album - songs that blends rhythm & blues, soul and singer / songwriter folk, and he does that so skilfully with the assistance of a few stable musicians: bassist Steve Pearce, drummer Dave Early, and keyboardist Georgie Fame with whom he has played with on many albums as well as live performances.
The reception of the album wasn't quite as positive as that of his former album, although, the album peaked at #5 on the UK albums chart list, and the only single release "Real Real Gone" made it to number #18. However, imho, this is Van Morrison at his best and picking the highlights of this album is a hard one 'cause it's such an incorporated whole with one song after the other that just shines of star quality. It simply doesn't contain one filler and the level here is impressive. When I first listened to this, I thought it was a compilations album of his best songs. Avalon Sunset is a fine album with songs that reminds of the material on this but the '89 album doesn't share the same coherency as this one. There may not be another "Have I Told You Lately" here but nearly all tracks have a lasting quality of classic memorable compositions. Today, it still contains more than a handful of great compositions and it's a mere wonder why this hasn't found its way to higher fame.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com, MusicHound 3,5 / 5, Rolling Stone, Select 4 / 5 stars ]

1990 Favourite releases: 1. Neil Young Ragged Glory - 2. Van Morrison Enlightenment - 3. Sinéad O'Connor I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

Bo Kaspers Orkester ""Amerika" (1996)

Amerika
release date: Sep. 20, 1996
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: Bo Kaspers Orkester, Kaj Erixon
label: Sony / Columbia - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Vi kommer aldrig att dö" (4 / 5) - 3. "Ett & noll"

3rd studio album by Bo Kaspers Orkester introduces a slight change of style to music with more lounge and / or easy listening and sophisti-pop thanks to a more noticeable incorporation of horn sections, violins, and backing vocals, but it's also a warmer and more spacial production compared to the band's first two albums. At first I found it a boring and mediocre release but I have come to see it as a better release, though not really great. This was the last album to feature founding guitarist Lars Halapi. It was the band's so far most successful studio album in Sweden reaching number #3 on the national albums chart list.

Grand Avenue "Grand Avenue" (2003)

Grand Avenue [debut]

release date: Oct. 9, 2003

format: cd (EMI 5927422)

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

producer: Nick Foss, Rune Nissen-Petersen; Grand Avenue

label: Medley-EMI - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "What's on Your Mind" - 2. "This Is Not an End" - 3. "Take It as It Comes" (4 / 5) - 4. "Everyday" - 9. "As You Are" - 11. "Come 'Round"

Studio debut album by Grand Avenue consisting of vocalist Rasmus Walter Hansen also on guitar, harmonica, and Rhodes, Niels-Kristian Bærentzen on guitar, Marc Charles Stebbing on bass, and with Hjalte Thygesen on drums. Early on, the band was "promised" a golden career by international artists including R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe. Others saw the band merely as a clone of British soft rock bands and especially Coldplay. I found this particular album quite promising and have never found the bold Coldplay nor Chris Martin analogies in either Grand Avenue nor in the voice of Rasmus Walter. He does; however, at times sound like the aforementioned Stipe, and the band has generally more American indie pop rock-roots in its style than britpop, imho.

The album contains great tracks and a few fillers but all-in-all it's a fine debut.

[ Gaffa.dk 4 / 6 stars ]

Bob Mould "Workbook" (1989)

Workbook [debut]
release date: Apr. 1989
format: vinyl (209 938) / cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]
producer: Bob Mould
label: Virgin Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Sunspots" - 2. "Wishing Well" - 3. "Heartbreak a Stranger" - 4. "See a Little Light" (4 / 5) - 5. "Poison Years" - 6. "Sinners and Their Repentances" - 7. "Brasilia Crossed With Trenton" - 11. "Whichever Way the Wind Blows"

Studio album debut by Bob Mould after the disbandment of Hüsker Dü (1988). The year also gave us his former band mate Grant Hart's fine solo debut Intolerance (Dec. '89).
Workbook really shows a new side to the energetic punk rocker and power pop artist with its many acoustic driven compositions. It basically draws on the same musical influences as his former trio but it's much more of a singer / songwriter and folk rock-oriented release, which in many ways has more in common with some of Neil Young's releases with Crazy Horse than the power pop and punk rock of Hüsker Dü.
I think, the album is good but not really great. Its weakness is the huge pot of styles and genres represented and a blunt sensation of incoherency. It's both slow, ballad-like and blazingly angry and filled with white noise, but it's a nice treat to have a first full solo album from one of the main composer of one of the most important punk rock bands coming out of the USA, and the album also shows us that Mould has more to offer the world.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Antony and the Johnsons "Antony and The Johnsons" (2000)

Antony and the Johnsons [debut]
release date: Feb. 8, 2000
format: cd (2004 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Antony Hegarty
label: Secretly Canadian - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Twilight" - 2. "Cripple and the Starfish" (4 / 5) - 4. "The Atrocities" - 5. "River of Sorrow" - 6. "Rapture" - 8. "Divine" - 9. "Blue Angel"

Studio album debut by Antony and the Johnsons originally released on the small independent label Durtro is an album written, composed and produced by vocalist Antony Hegarty. The band is basically a project centered around (British born) US-resided singer and keyboardist Hegarty, although, his 'collaborators' are a stable unit but also a wide range of musicians of 7-8 persons.
It took me some time to get accustomed with Antony Hegarty's voice but I soon found it surreal, out-of-this-world. Also, I found that he sounded much like Bryan Ferry but he's anything but a clone or a copy, and the music is wonderful theatre-like. This was the first album I listened to by Antony Hegarty though it's not my favourite from this project. Unfortunately, it should take Hegarty another five years before revealing his next full album.
Still, this is a very good place to start.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Kate Bush "Hounds of Love" (1985)

Hounds of Love
release date: Sep. 16, 1985
format: vinyl / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]
producer: Kate Bush
label: EMI - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: A-side) ['Hounds of Love'] 1. "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" 2. "Hounds of Love" (5 / 5) - 5. "Cloudbusting" (4 / 5) - - B-side) ['The Ninth Wave'] 2. "Under Ice" - 5. "Jig of Life" - 6. "Hello Earth" - 7. "The Morning Fog"

5th studio album by Kate Bush released three years after The Dreaming (Sep. 1982). After the long and financially difficult studio sessions working on her 82 album Bush built her own studio so she could use whatever time she needed on making new music. The album's style is more mainstream but it still could be categorised as art pop. Where The Dreaming appears as introspective and somewhat angry this comes out as deliberately more positive and open. The A-side on the original vinyl issue is titled 'Hounds of Love', and it encompasses the more evident pop hits, whereas the B-side, titled 'The Ninth Wave' is more of one conceptual progressive composition in several acts. The album contains some of her best single hits and it was her second album to top the albums chart list in the UK. It's by many considered her very best album, which I understand, although, I think you cannot overestimate her magic debut. Hounds of Love is nevertheless enlisted in countless lists comprising all time best albums, which includes "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Sounds, Q Magazine 5 / 5 stars ]

Bruce Springsteen "Tunnel of Love" (1987)

Tunnel of Love
release date: Oct. 5, 1987
format: vinyl (460270 1) / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]
producer: Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin
label: Columbia Records - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "Ain't Got You" - 2. "Tougher Than the Rest" (4 / 5) - 3. "All That Heaven Will Allow" (4 / 5) - 4. "Spare Parts" - 5. "Cautious Man" (4 / 5) - 6. "Walk Like a Man" (4 / 5) - - B) 1. "Tunnel of Love" (5 / 5) - 2. "Two Faces" - 3. "Brilliant Disguise" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "One Step Up" - 5. "When You're Alone" (5 / 5) - 6. "Valentine's Day" (4,5 / 5)

8th studio album by Bruce Springsteen released more than 3 years since his world breakthrough album Born in the USA (1984). To satisfy fans and album buyers everywhere he released the 5 lp box set Live / 1975-85 in '86 but with this, the man finally released new material.
The first couple of years I felt that the album was a lesser release but in retrospect, I consider it one of his great singer / songwriter albums, which basically continues his style from The River (1980) but also puts the album in my personal top 3 list of Springsteen albums alongside Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978). I for one, didn't like his '84 album all that much, and just found it too darn pro-American, but mostly just too one-dimensional. Drums and bass destroy that album. This, on the other hand, I felt was too slick, too sweet and nice, and I abandoned "the boss" for almost the following two decades while he rode along on his Born in the USA-style. At some point I finally understood that this album may just be well-produced BUT the songs are absolutely there and in contrast to his 84-breakthrough release Tunnel of Love is an album that includes the sincerity of Nebraska, the span of The River with the energy of Darkness..
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Q Magazine 4 / 5, Rolling Stone Album Guide 5 / 5 stars ]

<  show lyrics >

~ ~ ~
"Ain't Got You"

"I got the fortunes of heaven in diamonds and gold
I got all the bonds baby that the bank could hold
I got houses 'cross the country honey end to end
And everybody buddy wants to be my friend
Well I got all the riches baby any man ever knew
But the only thing I ain't got honey I ain't got you

I got a house full of Rembrandt and priceless art
And all the little girls they wanna tear me apart
When I walk down the street people stop and stare
Well you'd think I might be thrilled but baby I don't care
'Cause I got more good luck honey than old King Farouk
But the olny thing I ain't got baby I ain't got you

I got a big diamond watch sittin' on my wrist
I try to tempt you baby but you just resist
I made a deal with de devil babe I won't deny
Until I got you in my arms I can't be satisfied

I got a pound of caviar sitting home on ice
I got a fancy foreign car that rides like paradise
I got a hundred pretty women knockin' down my door
And folks wanna kiss me I ain't even seen before
I been around the world and all across the seven seas
Been paid a king's ransom for doin' what comes naturally
But I'm still the biggest fool honey this world ever knew
'Cause the olny thing I ain't got baby I ain't got you"

~ ~ ~
"Brilliant Disguise"

"I hold you in my arms
As the band plays
What are those words whispered baby
Just as you turn away
I saw you last night
Out on the edge of town
I wanna read your mind
To know just what I've got in this new thing I've found
So tell me what I see
When I look in your eyes
Is that you baby
Or just a brilliant disguise

I heard somebody call your name
From underneath our willow
I saw something tucked in shame
Underneath your pillow
Well I've tried so hard baby
But I just can't see
What a woman like you
Is doing with me
So tell me who I see
When I look in your eyes
Is that you baby
Or just a brilliant disguise

Now look at me baby
Struggling to do everything right
And then it all falls apart
When out go the lights
I'm just a lonely pilgrim
I walk this world in wealth
I want to know if it's you I don't trust
'Cause I damn sure don't trust myself

Now you play the loving woman
I'll play the faithful man
But just don't look too close
Into the palm of my hand
We stood at the alter
The gypsy swore our future was right
But come the wee wee hours
Well maybe baby the gypsy lied
So when you look at me
You better look hard and look twice
Is that me baby
Or just a brilliant disguise

Tonight our bed is cold
I'm lost in the darkness of our love
God have mercy on the man
Who doubts what he's sure of"

~ ~ ~
"When You're Alone"

"Times were though love was not enough
So you said sorry Johnny I'm gone gone gone
You said my act was funny
But we both knew what was missing honey
So you lit out on your own
Now that pretty form that you've got baby
Will make sure you get along
But you're gonna find out some day honey

When you're alone you're alone
When you're alone you're alone
When you're alone you're alone
When you're alone you ain't nothing but alone

Now I was young and pretty on the mean streets of the city
And I fought to make 'em my home
With just the shirt on my back I left and swore I'd never look back
And man I was gone gone gone
But there's things that'll knock you down you don't even see coming
And send you crawling like a baby back home
You're gonna find out that day sugar

When you're alone you're alone
When you're alone you're alone
When you're alone you're alone
When you're alone you ain't nothing but alone

I knew some day your runnin' would be through
And you'd think back on me and you
And your love would be strong
You'd forget all about the bad and think only of all the laughs that we had
And you'd wanna come home
Now it ain't hard feelings or nothin' sugar
That ain't what's got me singing this song
It's just nobody knows honey where love goes
But when it goes it's gone gone

When you're alone you're alone
When you're alone you're alone
When you're alone you're alone
When you're alone you ain't nothing but alone"

~ ~ ~

Bo Kaspers Orkester "På hotell" (1994)

På hotell
release date: Sep. 26, 1994
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: Bo Kaspers Orkester, Fabian Torsson, Johan Vävare
label: Sony / Columbia - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Ingenting alls" - 4. "Puss" - 5. "Hon är så söt" (live) - 10. "Vi tar in på hotell"

2nd studio album by Bo Kaspers Orkester is very much the same as the band's debut from '93, which means a combination of jazz pop, lounge, and sophisti-pop. Perhaps this is slightly more uneven with both tracks pointing to a more pop-founded sound but also to more traditional jazz. The band members' list remains the same. Still, Bo Kasper only writes most of the lyrics and sings, whereas he on later albums contributes on keyboards as well.

R.E.M. "Around the Sun" (2004)

Around the Sun
release date: Oct. 4, 2004
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,71]
producer: Pat McCarthy and R.E.M
label: Warner Bros. - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Leaving New York" (3,5 / 5) - 2. "Electron Blue" - 5. "Final Straw" - 9. "Aftermath"

13th studio album by R.E.M. For many 13 is anything but a lucky number [it also contains 13 tracks], and that fits perfectly on this band. 3 years after the promising Reveal (2001) they do the exact apposite from displaying greatness once again. Instead, they release their worst album to date - in all their career.
In 2003 they had launched what many thought was a single from a forthcoming album, "Bad Day", but that remained a single release, which isn't included here. Actually, that song appears on the 25th Anniversary Edition of Lifes Rich Pageant as a demo, which reveals how old it is. When I saw the video and listened to that song, I was struck by disappointment, and may totally have given up on the band. In hindsight the song isn't that bad after all, and knowing its age, it's more like the blueprint for "It's the End of the World..." from Document (1987).
Around the Sun is an album absent of great songs, with several compositions below the mediocre, and more than anything it displays a band just releasing something new as just to state: "hey, we're still around, although we really have nothing to say or show!". Apparently, guitarist Peter Buck agrees on this after their next album when he said that for him Around the Sun "... just wasn't really listenable, because it sounds like what it is, a bunch of people that are so bored with the material that they can't stand it any more."
[ allmusic.com 2 / 5, NME, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]

Show lyrics <- click...

~ ~ ~
"Leaving New York"

"It's quiet now
And what it brings
Is everything
Comes calling back
A brilliant night
I'm still awake
I looked ahead
I'm sure I saw you there
You don't need me
To tell you now
That nothing can compare

You might have laughed if I told you
You might have hidden a frown
You might have succeeded in changing me
I might have been turned around
It's easier to leave than to be left behind
Leaving was never my proud
Leaving New York, never easy
I saw the light fading out

Now life is sweet
And what it brings
I tried to take
But loneliness
It wears me out
It lies in wait
And I've lost still in my eyes
The shadow of necklace across your thigh
I might've lived my life in a dream, but I swear
This is real
Memory fuses and shatters like glass
Mercurial future, forget the past
It's you, it's what I feel.

You might have laughed if I told you (it's pulling me apart)
You might have hidden a frown (change)
You might have succeeded in changing me (it's pulling me apart)
I might have been turned around (change)
It's easier to leave than to be left behind (it's pulling me apart)
Leaving was never my proud (change)
Leaving New York, never easy (it's pulling me apart)
I saw the light fading out

You find it in your heart, it's pulling me apart
You find it in your heart, change...

I told you, forever
I love you, forever
I told you, I love you
I love you, forever
I told you, forever
You never, you never
You told me forever

You might have laughed if I told you
You might have hidden the frown (change)
You might have succeeded in changing me
I might have been turned around (change)
It's easier to leave than to be left behind (it's pulling me apart)
Leaving was never my proud (change)
Leaving New York never easy (it's pulling me apart)
I saw the life fading out (change)
Leaving New York, never easy (it's pulling me apart)
I saw the light fading out (change)
Leaving New York never easy (it's pulling me apart)
I saw the life fading out (change)"

~ ~ ~

Chumbawamba "English Rebel Songs 1381-1914" (1988)

English Rebel Songs 1381-1914
release date: 1988
format: cd (1994 reissue)
[album rate: 2 / 5] [2,18]
producer: Chumbawamba
label: One Little Indian - nationality: England, UK

3rd studio album by Chumbawamba originally released on Agit Prop is really something else. It's the band's traditional folk music ('folklore') and a cappella interpretations of traditional British workers' folk songs. Apparently, the band re-recorded the songs in 2003 and released the album as English Rebel Songs 1381-1984, an album containing the addition of two songs.
Allmusic.com hasn't reviewed the original release but the site has handed the new 2003 version 4 / 5 stars, although, claiming "Fifteen years on, they've learned a lot more about their voices, about music, and about the world." But still, I cannot grant it more than half the amount of stars. It must have been a huge turning point for any fan of this band, who up until this nearly only played anarcho punk rock and here they suddenly play traditional folk music without other instrumentation than their singing voices. The predecessor Never Mind the Ballots (1987) introduced a different approach to music with narrating style, but still it was presented with strong satire and social awareness. This has only the social awareness, and no satire, and no strong criticism.
I think, you have to be (more than) just a bit interested in ancient music to embrace this collection of songs.
Not recommended.

New Order "Singles" (2005)

Singles (compilation)
release date: Oct. 3, 2005
format: 2 cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: New Order and various
label: London Records - nationality: England, UK

A compilation album by New Order consisting of single releases only. The album consists of 31 tracks released as (primarily 7'') singles in the span of two decades from 1981-2005. The band has released several Best of albums over the years starting off with Substance (1987), and they all contain different track lists. With the band's extensive back catalogue it's hard to pick one of these as the best 'cause they all miss out on great tracks, but I really like this one, which is not an attempt to pick the most popular tracks but simply to document all single releases in one album. Except from showcasing some of their greatest moments, the album also enlists the tracks in the order of their release, so the listener upon hearing the different tracks may come to terms with how the band progressed from post-punk influences into synth pop and alt. dance with various electronic elements, which is quite nice.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, NME 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Laurie Anderson "Homeland" (2010)

Homeland

udgivet: 22. jun. 2010
format: cd
[vurdering: 3,5 / 5] [3,65]
producer: Laurie Anderson med Lou Reed og Roma Baran
selskab: Nonesuch Records - nationalitet: USA

Udvalgte numre: 2. "My Right Eye" - 5. "Only an Expert" (4 / 5) (live on Letterman) - 6. "Falling" - 7. "Another Day in America" - 9. "Dark Time in the Revolution" - 11. "The Beginning of Memory" - 12. "Flow"

7. studiealbum fra Laurie Anderson følger ca. 9 år efter Life on a String (aug. 2001), hvilket betyder, at Anderson endnu en gang har forlænget tidsrummet mellem nye studiealbums. Jeg tror, mange måske var af den opfattelse, at hun måske havde opgivet tanken om at udgive flere studiealbums, men her er det så, 9 år efter hendes forrige. Faktisk ser det ud til, albummet oprindeligt var planlagt til udgivelse så tidligt som 2007 / 2008, hvor hun faktisk begyndte at turnere med sangene, men da de løbende ændrede og udviklede sig gennem live-formatet, blev den faktiske udgivelsesdato efter sigende kontinuerligt skubbet fremad.

Min umiddelbare dom var mere negativ, end min senere dom. Det er ingen hemmelighed, at Laurie Anderson's musik kræver en vis opmærksom lytning. Efter et par år - hvor albummet har fået lov til at sætte sig, eller modne sig som en flaske vin - ser jeg det nu i et mere positivt perspektiv. Jeg tror, jeg havde håbet finde mere af Anderson's flotte musikalske numre, hvor musikken ligesom taler for sig selv og i stedet overså dets narrative kvaliteter. For det er i høj grad et album, der er funderet på det lyrisk-narrative, hvilket gør det til et komplekst musikalsk kunstværk, men på den anden side: Laurie Anderson er meget mere end 'bare' musiker. Hun har noget på hjerte og er nok bare mere optaget af at udstille amerikansk livsstil og moral, end at være pop-sanger. Som altid, har hun mange fine betragtninger om det moderne (amerikanske) liv og om eksistentialisme generelt. Det er bestemt et anbefalelsesværdigt album, som kræver åbenhed over for budskaber og implikationer, og ærligt talt, kommer jeg nok til at estimere albummet højere med tiden - når jeg måske forstår det bedre.
Anbefalet.
[ almusic.com, PopMatters, Slant 4 / 5, Los Angeles Times 4 / 4, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stjerner ]

Bo Kaspers Orkester "Söndag i sängen" (1993)

Söndag i sängen [debut]
release date: Nov. 25, 1993
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: Michael Malmgren
label: Cupol - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Det går en man omkring i mina skor" - 2. "Söndag i sängen" - 3. "Köpenhamn" - 5. "I botten på glaset"

Studio debut album by Swedish band Bo Kaspers Orkester consisting of Bo (Sigvard) Sundström [aka Bo Kasper] on vocal, Lars Halapi on guitar, Fredrik Dahl on drums, Michael Malmgren on bass, and with Mats Asplén on piano, and organ. The album is nice and warm, and shows the band when it's most jazz-influenced. Some tracks are lounge and more sophisti-pop-balanced with a trip-hop and neo-soul sound.

Underworld "Oblivion with Bells" (2007)

Oblivion with Bells
release date: Oct. 15, 2007
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,22]
producer: Rick Smith
label: Underworldlive.com - nationality: England, UK

7th studio album by Underworld is a five-year old follow-up to A Hundred Days Off (Sep. 2002) and it's a self-released studio album, for which the duo has engaged in the more original electronic styles of techno. It's still progressive house but they have turned up on the tech house and idm style with the addition of ambient elements.
It's both a return to their initial experiments with electronic music and a progression to include what to me sound more like original techno with trace elements, leaving the breakbeats of house. It may still be progressive but as progressive techno the album is not one of my preferred Underworld albums.
I really neglected the album for years, but I have come to see it as more than 'just' a take on original techno' as its simply more instrumental and experimental proving that Hyde and Smith are seeking new ways of expressing themselves without letting go of their known formula of tech house.
[ allmusic.com, Slant 3 / 5 stars ]

Tindersticks "Trouble Every Day" (OST) (2001)

Trouble Every Day (OST) (soundtrack)
release date: Oct. 1, 2001
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]
producer: Tindersticks
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Opening Titles" - 10. "Coré on Stairs / Love Theme" - 12. "Closing Titles" - 14. "Trouble Every Day"

Original soundtrack score by Tindersticks is the band's second for a movie by Claire Denis - here featuring Béatrice Dalle and Vincent Gallo. I still have to watch the movie one day but so far I just enjoy the soundtrack.

Generally, it's always a bit difficult to rate a full soundtrack album like this (apart from many Morricone soundtracks that often live very well on their own). Some tracks stand out like "Opening titles", which is repeated at the end in track #14. "Trouble Every Day". In fact there's a repeated theme in many of the songs, which is played by violins in the title track. Other tracks may fit specific film scenes very nicely but are not received easily as audio tracks alone, and I think that's the point about this album. Stylistically, it's still chamber pop but the album is more 'ambient' than anything they have released before.

Mike Oldfield "The Complete" (1985)

The Complete (compilation)
release date: Oct. 1, 1985
format: 2 lp vinyl (gatefold - 302 689-503) / cd (1988 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: various
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Compilation album by Mike Oldfield released as a double gatefold vinyl album. The album is subdivided into four sections - the A-side is labelled 'The Instrumental Side', the B-side 'The Vocal Side', the C-side 'The Complex Side', and the D-side 'The Live Side'.