~ mavaffantastico

07 December 2014

Malurt "Tour de Force" (1983)

Tour de Force

release date: Oct. 1983

format: cd (1998 reissue)

[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,68]

producer: Per Chr. Frost, Malurt

label: CMC Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "På boulevarden" - 2. "Under uret" - 4. "Luxusliner" - 8. "Flugten til Amerika"

4th and initially final album by Malurt before the band's disbandment in '84, originally released on Medley Records, following 1½ years after Black-out (Apr. 1982).

The line-up remains the same and Michael Falch and Malurt are as usual credited all songs and music respectively. Producer Per Chr. Frost (guitarist in Gnags) is credited additional guitar, just as Nils Henriksen contributed in that role on the predecessor.

Stylistically, the album presents the band with a mainstream-seeking sound that resembles that found on the '82 album only with a new slight softer tone, which in a way puts the band closer to the sound of national acts like Gnags and C.V. Jørgensen with loans and inspiration from Springsteen but also from Dire Straits.

I purchased the vinyl album when it was released, but only found it a clear further step down compared to their previous release and I ended up reselling my copy less than a decade later together with three solo albums by Michael Falch. On this, the band seems to have lost more than just vitality, as they come out as a band, who doesn't know how to add new inputs to their music and without much will to stand out. Falch appears stuck as a songwriter repeating the same stories over and over again, and Malurt clings on to its status as a Danish version of Springsteen & The E-Street Band only without the inspiration to take it any further than just that, and some songs on this most evidently reveal a natural recycling of some of their older songs.

Tour de Force had been delayed as members of the band were preoccupied playing in other projects and lead vocalist Falch had been engaged as actor in his first feature film "Isfugle" (1983) by Søren Kragh-Jakobsen. Initially, the album came out as Malurt's final studio album after which they released the 1984 live album Kys mig før jeg bliver Cool. Falch then released his self-titled solo debut in Mar. '85 while the other band members turned to other acts. However, the band had a reputation as a great live band and this led to a reformation for Roskilde Festival in 1990 with Peter Viskinde replacing Christian Arendt as lead guitarist, and with that near original line-up they followed up with a fifth studio album Spøgelser in Mar. 1992. They continued as a much asked for live act and released their second live album Uden filter (1992) and then released their so far final and sixth studio album Ghetto in 1993. From '94 and onwards the band has been 'parked' on an indefinite hiatus while Falch has continued as a solo artist.

Of the band's original four studio albums, Tour de Force stands as their least favourable release.

Not recommended.

My Bloody Valentine "m b v" (2013)

m b v
release date: Feb. 13, 2013
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Kevin Shields
label: m b v (self-released) - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 1. "She Found Now" - 2. "Only Tomorrow" - 3. "Who Sees You" (4 / 5) - 4. "Is This and Yes" - 5. "If I Am" (4 / 5) - 8. "Nothing Is" (4 / 5) - 9. "Wonder 2"

3rd studio album by My Bloody Valentine is what is regarded the final album by My Bloody Valentine, and it follows some 22 years after the band's most recent album, the acclaimed Loveless from 1991. Alledgedly, Kevin Shields had tired of how the music industry worked in terms of having decisive opinions on his music, which in this case has become a self-made product - self-produced, -mastered, and self-released. Yes, this is complete control.
Apparently, the majority of these tracks were initially recorded before the band split in 1997. Other recordings were presumably made in 2006, shortly before the band officially reformed in 2007, but ultimately, all tracks here are credited Shields, and it falls rather fine in the chronology despite following more than two decades after the band's most recent album. In 2013, Shields publicly said a new album was soon to be release, and seemingly, it had already been mastered, but then Shields the prefectionist took over, and another 8 years passed before the end-result was approved.
This is a modernized noise pop and dream pop release that finally came out some 22 years after its predecessor Loveless (1991), as Kevin Shields didn't work in ordinary ways. As was the case with the two previous albums, this also ended up in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", and really, it's a certified grower.
[ 👍allmusic.com, Spin 4 / 5, Pitchfork 9,1 / 10, The Guardian 5 / 5 stars ]

Thin Lizzy "Fighting" (1975)

Fighting
release date: Sep. 12, 1975
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,15]
producer: Phil Lynott
label: Vertigo Records - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 1. "Rosalie" - 3. "Suicide" - 4. "Wild One" - 7. "Spirit Slips Away" (3,5 / 5) - 9. "Freedom Song"

5th studio album by Thin Lizzy. Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson are more upfront on this album and it comes out as the first Thin Lizzy album with its characteristic sonic style founded on two dominant electric guitars. It's clearly better than the band's earliest albums, the style may be there, but I don't find that the songs are that interesting.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

06 December 2014

Blaue Blume "In The Disco Lights" Live, Koncerthuset, Copenhagen, 2014

Blaue Blume "In The Disco Lights"

This is evidently a song with reference to Cocteau Twins but what could have been a total rip-off only comes out as a tribute and great great track.

Bloc Party "Talons" (2008) (single)

Talons, single
release date: Oct. 20, 2008
format: digital
[single rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Paul Epworth

label: Wichita - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Talons" (5 / 5) - 2. "Talons (Phones R.I.P Mix)" (4 / 5) - 3. "Talons (XXXChange Remix)" (3,5 / 5) - 4. "Talons (Moody Boyz Remix)" (3,5 / 5)

A single from the recent album Intimacy, and what a track! The original version is easily the best, and the first mix is a rather good remix.

The Knife "Heartbeats" (2003)

Deep Cuts
release date: Jan. 17, 2003
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: The Knife
label: Rabid Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Heartbeats" (5 / 5) - 2. "Girls' Night Out" - 6. "Listen Now" (4 / 5) - 8. "You Take My Breath Away" - 10. "Is It Medicine" - 12. "Got 2 Let U" - 13. "Behind the Bushes"

2nd studio album by The Knife is like the debut from 2001 released on Rabid Records. Stylistically, the duo has turned up on the tempo and the variation making this an improvement from the interesting but slightly grey, moody, and one-dimensional debut. Instead, this turns out to be a highly original album of electronic pop and synthpop with more energy-laden and dance-friendly compositions.
The duo has had a considerable impact on musical styles in the first decade after the millennium and is highly respected for its innovative and experimental approach, which has much to do with this and the successive album. It's really hard to make comparisons with other artists because the music by The Knife builds on many sources but still turns out as something quite unique. In some tracks I hear Laurie Anderson, The Sugarcubes and Björk, but that's just a few, and never always the case. Swedish artist Jenny Wilson appears as guest vocalist and co-writer of track #8 "You Take My Breath Away", which was released as a single. Aside from that, track #1 brought the band more fame after Swedish artist José González in October released an acoustic cover on his debut album Veneer.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]

Fuck Buttons "Street Horrrsing" (2008)

Street Horrrsing [debut]

release date: Mar. 17. 2008

format: cd

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

producer: John Cummings

label: ATP Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Sweet Love for Planet Earth" - 2. "Ribs Out" - 5. "Bright Tomorrow" - 6. "Colours Move"

Studio album debut by British electronic duo Fuck Buttons consisting of Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power, the latter also synonymous with the acclaimed solo-project Blanck Mass initiated 2011. Apparently, the two got together as early as 2004 when Hung was into Aphex Twin whereas Power was a fan of Mogwai - the album is produced by founding member of Mogwai, John Cummings - and that basically explains much of the duo's starting point, although, the album here reveal a new aspect of their music, which initially was about... noise.

The founding denominator on Street Horrrsing is the electronic progressive element, although both members may be said to be grounded in instrumental experimental electronica.

The album both seems inspired by the aforementioned artists but is really anything but merely a copy. The drone element is everywhere and the compositions are often built on a structure of simple, repetitive patterns that either transforms slowly or abrupt. On all compositions the duo play with harmony and chaos. There's always some soothing melody line, here and there, and at the same time, there's noise, or: a bleak darkness underneath that keeps you alert. It's definitely an album for listeners, and if you don't find it appealing at first, you may give it a second chance.

[ allmusic.com, Uncut 4 / 5, Pitchfork 8,6 / 10, 👎Spin 3 / 5 stars ]

Blaue Blume "Beau & Lorette" (2014)

Beau & Lorette, ep [debut]
release date: Jun. 2, 2014
format: digital (5 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,84]
producer: Blaue Blume
label: MBO - nationality: Denmark

Tracklist: 1. "Birthday" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Lost Sons of Boys" (4 / 5) (live) - 3. "In Disco Lights" (4 / 5) - 4. "Lemon Tree" (3,5 / 5) - 5. "Conventional Dreams (Our House)" (3 / 5)

[ live session of 'Lost Sons of Boys' and 'Lemon Tree' ]

5-track studio ep debut album by Blaue Blume, a Danish band consisting of composer Jonas Holst Smith on vocals and rhythm guitar, Peter Bøgvad on bass, and the brothers Jensen Buhl: Robert on lead guitar and Søren on drums.

I first heard the band play live at the Danish music award show Gaffa Prisen. They played the track "Lost Sons of Boys" at an instrumentally and technically very high level. Most extraordinary, though, is the strong and charachteristic vocal of Jonas Smith who sings like a clone of Antony Hegarty, Morrissey, and Elizabeth Fraser [!] of Cocteau Twins. "In Disco Lights" sounds much like a cover of / tribute to several songs by Cocteau Twins in their classic dream pop style, but the other tracks point more in the direction of Antony & The Johnsons without obvious chamber pop but with art pop and neo-psychedelic pop as the most obvious styles.

I'm really impressed by the band's skills and of this first release, although, it really points in several directions. It's quite un-Danish and very British in style and in a way that could make it difficult for the band to be noticed, but they do deserve a closer attention, and I'm really looking forward to hear their first full studio album release, which should be planned for release in 2015.

Highly recommended.

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05 December 2014

Paul Young "The Crossing" (1993)

The Crossing
release date: Oct. 1993
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]
producer: Don Was
label: Columbia Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Hope in a Hopeless World" - 2. "Now I Know What Made Otis Blue" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Bring Me Home" - 4. "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" (4 / 5) - 5. "Won't Look Back" - 9. "Half a Step Away" - 10. "Follow On" - 11. "It Will Be You"

5th studio album by Paul Young primarily produced by Don Was - Chris Neil produced tracks #2 and #3, and Steve Lindsey track #11. It's like a fine combination of all his albums so far: with both plain pop songs, soulful tracks with some jazz feel, and a variation of covers and self-composed material. Young is co-writer on 5 of the songs. Generally, it's on the softer side of his pop / rock albums offering an album of fine pop soul.
"Now I Know What Made Otis Blue" is one of Young's absolute finest (cover) songs where his voice just fits the composition like hand in glove. The album features a vast crowd of studio musicians with a line-up that changes from song to song, but still it sounds very much like a whole, which is quite an effort. This is a fine return to form for Young, although, the album undeservedly wasn't a grand success, and that may be a result of various luck in making consistently good albums. Actually, I find that this is simply his second best album.
In 1993 Young reformed the band the Q-Tips, which had been his starting point before becoming a solo artist and with whom he had played pop soul and released two albums from 1979-82. Together with the Q-Tips, Young played a number of concerts in '93 before the band was put to rest once again.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

04 December 2014

Bob Mould "Black Sheets of Rain" (1990)

Black Sheets of Rain
release date: May 1990
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]
producer: Bob Mould
label: Virgin Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Black Sheets of Rain" - 3. "It's Too Late" (4 / 5) - 5. "Stop Your Crying" - 8. "Hear Me Calling" (4 / 5) - 9. "Out of Your Life" (4 / 5)

2nd solo album by Bob Mould sees him in a return to alt. rock and power pop after the more folk rock and singer / songwriter-shaped debut Workbook (1989). He has also returned to a familiar setup of a three-man piece: Mould on vocals and guitar is backed by Tony Maimone on bass and Anton Fier on drums and percussion. Both were part of a slightly bigger backing band on his debut.
Together with the Hüsker Dü releases this forecasts the whole 'grunge' movement with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, Soundgarden etc, as it's more "one-way" directed and also more coherent than it's predecessor. A track like "It's Too Late" could almost very easily have been included on Warehouse: Songs and Stories (1987) the last great album by Hüsker Dü but it also points to the new material by Sugar.
After this his second solo album Mould initiated the project Sugar with bassist David Barbe and drummer Malcolm Travis, and in 1992 they released the much lauded debut Copper Blue.
[ allmusic.com, Spin 3 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Elvis Costello "Out of Our Idiot" (1987)

vinyl cover

Out of Our Idiot (compilation)
release date: Dec. 4, 1987
format: vinyl (X Fiend 67) / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: various
label: Demon Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: A) 1. "Seven Day Weekend" (Guest Star Jimmy Cliff) - 2. "Turning the Town Red" - 3. "Heathen Town" - 5. "So Young" (previously un-issued) - 6. "American Without Tears No. 2" (Twilight Version) - 7. "Get Yourself Another Fool (Out of Our Idiot Mix)" (5 / 5) - - B) 1. "Blue Chair" (Single Version) - 2. "Baby It's You" (Guest Star Nick Lowe) - 3. "From Head to Toe" - 8. "Imperial Bedroom" (demo)

Compilation album by Elvis Costello advertised as 'Rare and Unreleased Cuts'. The vinyl version is a 17 tracks single album - the cd issue contains 21 tracks.

The album is credited to "Various Artists" (on record spine) rather than to Elvis Costello because the tracks were recorded and credited under a variety of names, including The Costello Show, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Elvis Costello and the Confederates, The Coward Brothers, Napoleon Dynamite & the Royal Guard, The Emotional Toothpaste, The Imposter, and recorded with a variety of collaborators. Most tracks are featuring The Attractions and several of the strange band names are credited single songs only.

It reflects anything but self-sufficiency and comes out as that extra dimension to his songwriting - if you want it. Yes, it's a bit of a wide and strange compilation without head or tail but it shows us nicely how wide the man grasps in terms of styles, and I have always found it quite enjoyable - perhaps because of its lightness and funny takes, and then you can always hear that Costello puts a whole lot of sincerity into his songs, also the most corny ones, which then makes them meaningful.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Eric Clapton "The Cream of Eric Clapton" (1987)

The Cream of Eric Clapton (compilation)
release date: 1987
format: vinyl
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: various
label: Polydor Records - nationality: England, UK

Compilation album by Eric Clapton containing 16 tracks of which five compositions are with Cream and one is credited Derek and the Dominos.
I fully acknowledge the importance of Eric Clapton but I have never been attracted to the British pop blues variation, and blues in particular doesn't take up much space in my music collection.

The Knife "The Knife" (2001)

The Knife [debut]
release date: Feb. 5, 2001
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: The Knife
label: Rabid Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Neon" - 3. "Kino" - 4. "I Just Had to Die" - 5. "I Take Time" - 6. "Parade" - 7. "Zapata" - 8. "Bird" - 11. "Reindeer"

Studio album debut by The Knife, which is a project-duo consisting of (the siblings) Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer. The tracks are playful compositions of various styles. It's electropop, synthpop, and art pop but the band uses elements from trip hop and downtempo as well as points to new styles like electroclash and indietronica.
I think, the album may need time to open up and is less pop and chorus-founded than its successor.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

03 December 2014

Tindersticks "Waitting for the Moon" (2003)

Waitting for the Moon
release date: Jun. 17, 2003
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: Stuart Staples & Ian Caple
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Until the Morning Comes" - 2. "Say Goodbye to the City" - 4. "4.48 Psychosis" - 6. "Trying to Find a Home" - 7. "Sometimes It Hurts" (feat. Lhasa de Sela) - 8. "My Oblivion" (live)

6th studio album by Tindersticks following two years after Can Our Love... is like the predecessor produced by songwriter and vocalist Stuart Staples and Ian Caple - with the latter also co-producing the band's first two albums.

The album marks a clear stylistic change, where the releases from the second to the fifth album share much of the same musical settings and have roughly the same tempo. Waiting for the Moon, on the other hand, is more strictly a chamber pop release, where the arrangements are carry bolder use of strings and wind instruments.

The album was generally met by lukewarm reviews, and it wasn't really what I had hoped for neither. I tried to listen it, tried to be open to the new set of songs but they never really unfolded. It wasn't long before I had to realize that this was an immediate 'misfire' or if nothing else, the band's thinnest outing to date. I couldn't help thinking that the band was in a lack of inspiration, that with no new ideas they had turned on autopilot and were satisfied going through the motions adding new arrangements to outtakes without much success.

Apparently, the studio recordings for the album were not the easiest process with internal conflicts that the following years accumulated and ultimately led to a major change in the group's line-up.

After this, one of the band's founders, composer and violinist, Dickon Hinchcliffe recorded the soundtrack album for the movie "Forty Shades of Blue" (2005), and lead vocalist Stuart Staples followed in his footsteps by releasing his first solo album, Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04 (2005) and already the following year he released the solo follow-up Leaving Songs (2006), which (may / may not) have heralded the end to Tindersticks as a band. They played a one-off gig at London's Barbican Centre, performing the band's second full-length studio album and shortly afterwards three of the original members left Tindersticks: Dickon Hincliffe, bassist Mark Colwill, and drummer Alistair Macaulay, and Tindersticks were effectively reduced to a trio. Or that is the very simplified explanation for the band's major 'remodeling'. Another and longer explanation tells the story of lead singer Stuart Staples' ambiguous signals that may indicate he harbored desires to go solo with his 2006 album Leaving Songs. The album contains the following notes from Staples' hand: "These are songs written on the verge of leaving the things I loved and stepping into a new unknown life, both musically and personally. I was always aware that these songs were the end of something, a kind of closing a circle of a way of writing that I started so long ago and I knew I had to move on from."

Fortunately, Tindersticks and Staples didn't end the circle here, but Tindersticks in a 'Mark II' version was soon to rise from the ashes as another bird Phoenix.

The front cover is from a painting by Staples' wife, Suzanne Osborne.

[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

02 December 2014

Jan Garbarek "Legend of the Seven Dreams" (1988)

Legend of the Seven Dreams
release date: Jul. 1988
format: cd (ECM 1381)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]
producer: Manfred Eicher
label: ECM Records - nationality: Norway

Track highlight: 1. "He Comes From the North" (5 / 5) (live) - 4. "Brother Wind" - 7. "Voy Cantando" (4 / 5) ( live )

Studio release by Jan Garbarek is an album with focus on ambient and contemporary / modern free jazz with traditional folk elements, sometimes Indian sounding fragments. All compositions are credited Garbarek but the album is made together with three of his 'usual' working partners: German pianist Rainer Brüninghaus, Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos (aka Juvenal De Holanda Vasconcelos, who is also credited for his vocal performance), and German bassist Eberhard Weber. Aside from playing soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones, Garbarek is also credited for playing flute and percussion.
The album is a nice blend with latin folk its, thanks to Vasconcelos and Nordic folk, which here works quite nicely.

Bo Kaspers Orkester "New Orleans" (2010)

New Orleans
release date: Oct. 18, 2010
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,34]
producer: Bo Kaspers Orkester
label: Columbia / Sony - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 2. "Låt mig komma in" - 4. "Ännu en dag" - 5. "Tiden läker ingenting" (4 / 5) - 6. "En sländas andetag" - 7. "Stället som jag kommer från" - 9. "Vad vi än gör"

9th studio album by Bo Kaspers Orkester is almost as usual produced by the band and released through Columbia Records / Sony Music Entertainment. The album was recorded in New Orleans and is characterized by American folk pop influences intertwined with americana, jazz pop, rhythm & blues - a bit like on their best album Vilka tror vi att vi är (2003), and although, I don't find it as great as that, I find it more than just fine. Compared to the band's previous three albums, this is quieter, more delicate, and more... 'naked'. The songs are not over-produced with strings, horns and other fine arrangements but appear as more simple songs with fewer instruments. The album reached #1 on the Swedish album chart list.

01 December 2014

Jean-Michel Jarre "Rendez-vous" (1986)

Rendez-vous
release date: Apr. 1986
format: cd (2015 remaster)
[album rate: 2 / 5] [2,18]
producer: Jean Michel Jarre
label: Sony Music - nationality: France

Tracklist: 1. "First rendez-vous" - 2. "Second rendez-vous" - 3. "Third rendez-vous" - 4. "Fourth rendez-vous" - 5. "Fifth rendez-vous" - 6. "Last rendez-vous (Ron's Piece)"

8th studio album release by 'Jean Michel' Jarre originally released on Disques Dreyfus. Before this, he released the album Music for Supermarkets in 1983, Zoolook in '84, as well as a live album from a concert in China. Of course I heard and listened to those albums but I never really liked his new more popular style initiated with Magnetic Fields from 1981. With this he continues his progressive synthpop by exploring more popular musical territory, he had touched on his '81 and '84 albums. He has moved away from an entirely experimental and more minimalist form, removed guitars and vocals and instead added more synths to his soundscape.
Especially the track "Fourth Rendez-vous" was a popular single from this album.
Instead of pursuing an artistic approach, it seems he fell for the popularity (and money?) that his new age pop songs attracted. In the early 1980s TV channels enthusiastically stumbled over each other to record and transmit his gigantic live concerts and performances soothed in laser light shows with millions of spectators. I simply disliked his progressive electropop and synthesizer pop ballads, and this album isn't any better. He dwells on musical themes and loops he created in the 1970s by adding electronic drums, and keyboard bass-lines to make it more funky or disco-like. This is muzak when it's mostly just annoyingly neutral.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Tinderticks "Don't Even Go There" (2003) (ep)

Don't Even Go There, ep
release date: Jun. 9, 2003
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Stuart A. Staples, Ian Caple
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Trying to Find a Home" - 2. "Sexual Funk" - 3. "Everything Changes" - 4. "I Want You"

4-track ep by Tindersticks including the track "Trying to Find a Home" from the forthcoming album Waiting for the Moon as well as three previously unreleased tracks. I bought this on the day of release, and was disappointed but still hoped that the album would prove to be fine as usual. The only worthwhile track here is the one from the album.

Bloc Party "Intimacy" (2008)

Intimacy
release date: Aug. 21, 2008
format: cd (LTD. O-Card)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]
producer: Jacknife Lee & Paul Epworth
label: Wichita - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Ares" (4 / 5) - 2. "Mercury" - 3. "Halo" (4 / 5) - 4. "Biko" (4 / 5) - 5. "Trojan Horse" (4 / 5) - 6. "Signs" - 7. "One Month Off" - 8. "Zephyrus" - 9. "Talons" (5 / 5) [PLAY LOUD!!] (live) - 10. "Better Than Heaven" - 11. "Ion Square" - *12. "Letter to My Son" - *13. "Your Visits Are Getting Shorter" (4,5 / 5)
*Bonus track on Limited Edition

3rd studio album by Bloc Party follows 1½ years after A Weekend in the City (Feb. 2007) and it already appears as an attempt to combine the sound of Silent Alarm produced by Paul Epworth and the 2007-album produced by Jacknife Lee simply by putting the two producers together for this one. The two are aside from production, also credited programming and keyboards. The Limited Edition contains two bonus tracks of which the last simply happens to be the second best song on the album.
The album doesn't sound like either of the two previous studio albums and it reveals a combo of electropop, alt. dance, and indie rock. Although, it doesn't sound alike, it's still very much the natural progression from A Weekend in the City with more electro and more dance, however, they're still able to incorporate Russell Lissack's guitar skills - as he once again demonstrate his abilities as an exceptional instrumentalist - just listen to "Talons" - that song is like a rocket launch or a flame thrower. I just love the sound of that guitar and it makes me wanna go out and buy one again. It's Bloc Party when they're best: "And when it co-o-o-mes, it'll feel like a kiss"... The first 100 times I was really annoyed by the simpleness and repetitious "Mercury", but today I find it pretty damn good, and overall it's truly nice to witness these guys' change of style. Instead of copying other post-punk revivalists and indie rock bands, these four guys go their own way and by doing that, they lose lots of fans and critics but they sort of say: "we don't make music for you - we do this now!" And I applaud their attitude and their will to experimentation.
Highly recommended.

2008 Favourite releases: 1. Sigur Rós Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust - 2. Bloc Party Intimacy - 3. Alanis Morissette Flavors of Entanglement

R.E.M. "Accelerate" (2008)

Accelerate
release date: Apr. 1, 2008
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,35]
producer: Jacknife Lee and R.E.M.
label: Warner Bros. - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Living Well Is the Best Revenge" - 2. "Man-Sized Wreath" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Supernatural Superserious" (4 / 5) - 4. "Hollow Man" (3,5 / 5) - 5. "Houston" (3,5 / 5) - 7. "Until the Day Is Done" (3,5 / 5) - 9. "Sing for the Submarine" (3,5 / 5) - 10. "Horse to Water" (live)

14th studio album by R.E.M. released on Warner Bros. and produced by Jacknife Lee and R.E.M. Maybe it has to do with a new producer in the driving seat, or it's just a strong will to do better than their worst release 3,5 years earlier with Around the Sun (2004). I know that many had seen the end of the band, and almost 4 years is a long time without releasing new material. Apparently, The Edge of U2 recommended to have Jacknife Lee produce the album. Stylistically, it's like a decision to make a another rocking compilation of energetic songs, which makes it their most hard rocking album since Monster (1994). It's only recently that I have listened fully to the album, and it really blew me away 'cause frankly, I had given in on the band, which is why I didn't bother when it was released. The album consists of 13 tracks with 8 fine compositions and the rest not much lower, so it's not an album of fillers. It's not great like their 5 best albums but just below that. To me, it's better than Up (1998), equaling their first three albums, Out of Time (1991), New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996), and Reveal (2001).
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

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