Neil Young "A Letter Home" (2014)

A Letter Home
release date: Apr. 19, 2014
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Jack White and Neil Young
label: Third Man / Reprise Records - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "A Letter Home Intro" - 2. "Changes" (live) - 3. "Girl From the North Country" - 4. "Needle of Death" - 5. "Early Morning Rain" (live) - 7. "Reason to Believe" - 9. "If You Could Read My Mind" - 12. "I Wonder If I Care as Much"

34th studio album by Neil Young released on Jack White's label Third Man Records and recorded using a 1947 recording booth-device named Voice-O-Graph, which in the day (would be found all over the country up until the 1970s) was introduced to the ordinary man as a possibility to record his / her own record of a message or song directly onto vinyl. This particular device has been re-established at White's Nashville headquarter of Third Man Records, and the whole album has been recorded using the technique of the Voice-O-Graph.
I think, one has to dig into the idea behind this album to fully be able to appreciate it. Against his normal writing process, Young has covered familiar and classic songs by various artists of various styles and decades including artists like The Everly Brothers, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Bert Jansch and Bruce Springsteen. Most of the tracks are played solely by Young playing guitar, harmonica and piano. Jack White contribute on guitar, piano and with backing vocals on two tracks. Because of the recording process, all tracks have been recorded in one take and without any post-processing, i.e. without dubbing, mixing, mastering, and any normal post-production methods, which has its obvious limitations but also a unique form and strength. The songs are country, traditional folk and singer / songwriter material and the most apparent common denominator is naturally the sound of the recordings, and Young's fragile vocal. The scratchy and narrow tone could be experienced as annoying but the result is more an album with a strong historical message and something genuine. Young's force with just a guitar and harmonica at hand is something that will forever live on and follow his legacy, and that is here only once again underlined. The best songs here are perhaps the strongest "natural" sources of inspiration found on this for Neil Young - as he explains in his phone-call intro to "Reason to Believe", he explains his mother that he and Jack [Jack White] have discovered some of the original songs, he used to sing.
A Letter Home is a homage to ancient days, lost values, and a reminder of what it takes to make music: great songs, and it's not a necessity to have 56 tracks available in a million-dollar studio with all the right producers and mixers to make an album worthwhile. Even nowadays. It's an album that would serve well as introduction to all contemporary pop and rap artists. Listen and learn - and: skip most of your recording tracks and cut down to the essence!
The idea and the songs together make this a nice and warm album and then the narrowness in the production sound also showcase natural limitations - its perhaps like treasuring a vintage wine from a specific fine year - it's there to look at and to talk about but as for drinking with pleasure... Of course this is for listening but for hours and day after day, I guess you have to be more than just a bit nostalgic. The whole album is not Young at his most vivid and utmost inspiring but nonetheless it has great moments and it's one of his better studio releases since Silver & Gold (2000) and consequently it's an album worth more than just a quick glance. In Young's late career this serves as a recommended listen.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Kent "Tillbaka till samtiden" (2007)

Tillbaka till samtiden
release date: Oct. 17, 2007
format: cd (repress) / vinyl (2022 repress)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Kent, Joshua (aka Jon Schumann)
label: RCA / Sony BMG - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Elefanter" (4 / 5) - 3. "Ingenting" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Vid din sida" - 5. "Columbus" (5 / 5) - 7. "Vy från ett luftslott" - 10. "Generation Ex" - 11. "Ensammast i Sverige" (4 / 5)

7th studio album by Kent, who once again spends a long time preparing new material has here found Danish producer Jon Schumann, who has previously worked with the Danish acts Kashmir, Mew and Carpark North. Before recording the new album, rhythm guitarist Harri Mänty left the band in late 2006. It's been 2½ years since the great Du & jag döden (Mar. 2005) and the result is a strong and very diverse experience. If Isola felt like a rough turn, this may seem like a U-turn compared to its predecessor. The Hjärta & smärta EP (Oct. 2005) revealed nothing of the decision to jump onto the synthpop train and leave guitar rock behind. Perhaps this had Mänty reduce the band to a quartet?
By diverse, I mean in comparison with what fans had come to terms with that Kent was. And for some fans this was perhaps hard to swallow, but it's still a very coherent and focused album, and if you instantly feel this is something completely else, then listen again 'cause the Nordic noir soul never left this band.
"Ingenting" and "Columbus" are wonderful tracks though they may feel somewhat detached from the remainders - critics would perhaps argue that the album points in many directions. I don't find that it contains poor tracks or fillers, there's just an overall sensation of absence in the collection of songs here that leaves me with the impression that 'something' lacks in binding the album together. Having said that, the album is still a solid singles release that just doesn't reach the same level as the predecessor but it contains enough quality material to distinguish the band from most other artist in Northern Europe. And with a brand new sound and style, Kent should be ready to explore and surprise anew.
Recommended.

EDIT 2022:

Purchase of 2022 vinyl repress.

<  show lyrics >

~ ~ ~

"Ingenting"

"I Hagnesta Hill
blinkar tv-ljusen
Jag gör vad jag kan
Drömmer mig bort
I Hagnesta Hill
bland de identiska husen
Rycker vi till
Reklamen avbryts för sport

Ingenting
Först kom ingenting
Sen kom ingenting
Sen kom ingenting
men ingenting är (ingenting, inget, inget)
De jävlarna tog oss
en efter en
De ljög och bedrog oss
med sanningen
De jävlarna tog min älskling där
Från krönet av kullen kan jag se
min förlorade värld

Jag ska göra nånting
Jag ska slå er med häpnad
Gå över en gräns
Jag ska bryta mig ut
Jag älskar dig så
som att vara beväpnad
Och under belägring kan jag skjuta dig ut

Ingenting
Först kom ingenting
Sen kom ingenting
Sen kom ingenting
men ingenting är (ingenting, inget, inget)
De jävlarna tog oss
en efter en
De ljög och bedrog oss
med sanningen
De jävlarna tog min älskling där
Från krönet av kullen kan jag se
min förlorade värld

Ingenting
Först kom ingenting
Sen kom ingenting
Sen kom ingenting
men ingenting är (ingenting, inget, inget)
De jävlarna tog oss
en efter en
De ljög och bedrog oss
med sanningen
De jävlarna tog min älskling där
Från krönet av kullen kan jag se
min förlorade värld"

~ ~ ~

"Columbus"

"Du har tänkt allt som sagts om mig
Du kan tro allt du hört om mig
Du kan ställa frågor om sanningen
Finns det en eller finns det tusen

Svara rakt från hjärtat nu
Ditt medlidande kan jag vara utan
Om det här ska vara allt vi hann
Så håll mig hårt
Håll mig älskling nu.

Stockholm vaknar långsamt
På droger och på sorg
Snön hyr ut sin oskuld
till hela Kungsholms torg
Det känns som när jag kom hit
way back in 93
en ynklig rad av fotspår
En okänd kontinent

Släpp snälla, släpp taget nu
Jag kan stå, gå eller krypa härifrån
Om det här är allt vi hinner med
så håll mig hårt min älskling nu

Vaknar staden långsamt
och jag är full igen
Snön hyr ut sin oskuld
för skiten bara känns
Det känns som när jag kom hit
way back in 93
en ynklig rad av fotspår
en oändlig kontinent

Stockholm vaknar långsamt
och jag är full igen
Snön hyr ut sin oskuld
till hela Kungsholmen
Och det känns som när vi kom hit
till möjlighetens land
Du kan följa mina spår hem
Columbus var mitt namn"

~ ~ ~

Alanis Morissette "Flavors of Entanglement" (2008)

Flavors of Entanglement
release date: Aug. 28, 2008
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]

producer: Guy Sigsworth

label: Maverick - nationality: Canada

Tracklist: 1. "Citizen of the Planet" - 2. "Underneath" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Straitjacket" - 4. "Versions of Violence" - 5. "Not as We" (4,5 / 5) - 6. "In Praise of the Vulnerable Man" (3,5 / 5) - 7. "Moratorium" - 8. "Torch" (3,5 / 5) - 9. "Giggling Again for No Reason" (3,5 / 5) - 10. "Tapes" (3,5 / 5) - 11. "Incomplete" (3,5 / 5)

7th studio album release by Alanis Morissette. Together with Jagged Little Pill and Under Rug Swept this album is clearly among her top 3 albums, I think. And frankly, of these, I do prefer this one. 

The album contains no weak tracks at all, which is the basic reason that it's on my top 3 list of best releases this year, and the singles "Underneath" and "Not as We" are simply some of her finest songs ever.

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. - 15 Studio Albums Listed 1-15

Pos.		Album		Year		Rate
1.		Green		1988		4,36
2.		Lifes Rich Pageant		1986		4,31
3.		Document		1987		4,12
4.		Monster		1994		3,80
5.		Automatic for the People		1992		3,76
6.		Reckoning		1984		3,70
7.		Fables of the / Reconstruction of the		1985		3,66
8.		Murmur		1983		3,58
9.		Up		1998		3,52
10.		Out of Time		1991		3,48
11.		New Adventures in Hi-Fi		1996		3,44
12.		Accelerate		2008		3,35
13.		Reveal		2001		3,32
14.		Collapse Into Now		2011		3,28
15.		Around the Sun		2004		2,71

Thin Lizzy "Renegade" (1981)

Renegade

release date: Nov. 20, 1981

format: cd (1990 reissue)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]

producer: Thin Lizzy, Chris Tsangarides

label: Vertigo - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 1. "Angel of Death" - 2. "Renegade" - 5. "Hollywood (Down on Your Luck) - 6. "No One Told Him" - 9. "It's Getting Dangerous"

11th studio album by Thin Lizzy following one year after Chinatown (Oct. 1980) is again made with a new co-producer - a sound engineer for Judas Priest, who later co-produced Gary Moore's debut on which Phil Lynott co-wrote the fine "Parisienne Walkways". The album is the first with keyboardist Darren Wharton as official member.

The album is not renowned as one of Thin Lizzy's best, and I do understand that. In total, the band ended up with 12 studio albums and their final three are mostly left out of what is considered the band's best. Chinatown may be one of my favourites but as I have come to understand, fans of the band saw it as a detour, or: an album a bit off, but Renegade appears to be less loved - in fact, it's claimed that the band themselves have regarded this as their worst. Imo, it's not entirely that but it really lacks great songs - generally, that is, 'cause Lynott and Scott Gorham still knows what it takes to make a great tune - the real problem is that there are just too many fillers on this one to make it a good album. And then the production sound doesn't help much as it feels shallow and thin compared to the bolder arrangements on the band's earlier releases. On the hard rock forum Metalmusicarchives.com the album takes position as the band's tenth best (or 3rd worst) with only the debut (1971) (as eleventh) and second album Shades of a Blue Orphanage (1972) as its worst.

Not recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 2 / 5

Ane Brun "Live in Scandinavia" (2007)

Live in Scandinavia (live)

release date: Feb. 7, 2007

format: digital

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]

producer: Ane Brun

label: DetErMine Records / V2 - nationality: Norway

Track highlights: 2. "To Let Myself Go" - 6. "A Temporary Dive" - 8. "So You Did It Again" - 9. "The Dancer" - 10. "Changing of the Seasons / Fight Song" - 12. "So Real"

Live album by Ane Brun with 17 tracks from a series of concerts in Norway and Sweden recorded from Sep. 10 to 20, 2006. Although, the album quite nicely draws attention to the whole of Scandinavia (where she rightly toured) the songs are taken from eight performances, of which nine are from Norway and eight from Sweden. And of these eight Swedish concerts, seven are from one and the same show on 20/9 in Södra Teatern in Stockholm, while the last one is from the night before at Katalin in Uppsala. The concert recordings in Norway, on the other hand, stem from six different locations. The album has a total running time of 75 minutes.

The songs are mainly from her two studio albums, Spending Time with Morgan from 2003 and A Temporary Dive from 2005, in addition there has been room for three covers by PJ Harvey, Jeff Buckley, and Henry Purcell, with the latter's song also featuring on her 2005 studio album.

It's not the big traditional backing band that Brun brings with her for these concerts. When she doesn't play alone on guitar or piano, she's often accompanied by either the string quartet The DMF String Quartet, by guitarist Staffan Johansson, by pianist Nina Kinert, and / or by percussionist Erik Arvinder. And whether playing with minimal instrumentation or as a soloist, she has said, "There is something about the focus in playing by myself that fascinates me", she says. "There’s nothing to hide behind when I'm alone on stage and it becomes almost meditative for me when I play."

Live in Scandinavia is a fine rendering of Ane Brun on a stage where you can almost sense her natural abilities as a great and present live artist, something which her early career as a street musician may have had a positive effect upon.

Red House Painters "Old Ramon" (2001)

Old Ramon

release date: Apr. 10, 2001
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]
producer: Mark Kozelek
label: Sub Pop Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "Byrd Joel" - 3. "Void" - 4. "Between Days" (4 / 5) - 5. "Cruiser" (4 / 5) - 6. "Michigan" - 7. "River" - 8. "Smokey" - 10. "Kavita"

6th and final studio album by Red House Painters follows almost five full years after Songs for a Blue Guitar (Jul 1996). Since that, the band has gone through a fase where Mark Kozelek was only performing member to this new line-up after guitarist Gordon Mack had already left the band in 1995, and the album is actually released after Kozelek had already issued his first solo ep Rock 'n' Roll Singer (Jun. 2000) and his first full-length solo album What's Next to the Moon (Jan. 2001) but Red House Painters is not yet a burried project. On Old Ramon, the band consists of founding member, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Mark Kozelek, new guitarist Phil Carney (former guitarist of Indian Bingo), and a return to the band's rhythm section made up by bassist Jerry Vessel and drummer Anthony Koutsos.

The releative long timespan in between albums is not only a matter of reconstructing the band anew as this had actually been recorded three years earlier, however, due to a merging of labels, the band essentially found itself without a legal record contract, and it wasn't until Mark Kozelek succeeded in purchasing the recordings of the album that he managed to finally release it on the American label, Sub Pop. All tracks are credited Kozelek and they're typical of his style a combination of alt. folk, indie rock, and singer / songwriter with bonds to American folk traditions.

Some tracks and parts of the overall sound tend to point to what was to become one of Kozelek's most praised albums - also my personal favourite by Kozelek - the Sun Kil Moon debut Ghosts of the Great Highway (Nov. 2003). As a Red House Painter's album this appears as quite light-hearted and electrified.

Red House Painters dissolved at some point following the album release, and then Kozelek more or less morphed the remains into a new band with primarily Kozelek but also with Vessel and Koutsos taking part in the formation of Sun Kil Moon - later Carney would also be included before it would turn into a Kozelek solo-project.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com, NME 4 / 5 stars ]

Grant W. McLennan "Fireboy" (1992)

Fireboy
release date: Nov. 9, 1992
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Dave Dobbyn
label: White Label - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Lighting Fires" - 2. "Surround Me" - 3. "One Million Miles From Here" - 4. "The Dark Side of Town" - 8. "Fingers" - 11. "Bathe (In the Water)" - 13. "Riddle in the Rain"

2nd solo album by Grant W. McLennan released one year after his debut Watershed is once again produced by Dave Dobbyn. The album was released in Australia in late '92 and internationally in early '93. Once again, the album feature Dave Dobbyn with a handful of session musicians - only this time without Amanda Brown.

It's not a long period between the two McLennan solo albums but in between them he has co-founded the collaboration project-band, Jack Frost, together with Steve Kilbey of The Church. At least the songs here are more up-tempo styled, and knowing the works by Kilbey only adds to the fact that the related work has rubbed off.

Fireboy presents 13 new songs, which showcases McLennan narrating about the usual love stories - and especially his lost relationship with former bandmate Amanda Brown - and the subject matter makes it appear as Chapter 2 to his debut focusing on his shattered love life; however, the arrangements here are what really makes this a better album. It's simply more multi-facetted, and where the debut felt like too strongly bonded to former singer / songwriter artists as a one-dimensional ride, this is a more contemporary contribution, which immediately makes me think of Lloyd Cole and yes, Steve Kilbey.

Once again, McLennan demonstrates his ability to write and compose beautiful pop songs in a style founded on a singer / songwriter tradition. He has a gift for melody, which puts him on level with the finest songwriters, but he's also a person who seems in need of support or aid to maintain the course.

[ allmusic.com review (no stars indicated) ]

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark "English Electric" (2013)

English Electric
release date: Apr. 8, 2013
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: OMD
label: Sony Music Japan - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Metroland" - 3. "Night Cafe" - 5. "Helen of Troy" - 7. "Kissing the Machine" (live) - 9. "Stay With Me" - 10. "Dresden"

12th studio album by OMD originally released by 100% (aka 100% Records) is the band's second studio release after its reformation in 2006 and it features the same original line-up.
Compared to its predecessor History of Modern from 2010 this contains more songs written by McCluskey & Humphreys, and it generally contains newer material written after the reformation. The style has been altered to reflect a more "pure" synthpop form building strongly on electronic - as OMD shaped its music in the early 80s bonding with both the pioneering minimalism as exemplified by Kraftwerk and the more spacious synths as played by Jean Michel Jarre.
The album was met by positive reviews and also became the band's best charting album since 1991 reaching #12 on the national album charts list, which at the time of its release placed it as the 6th highest charting OMD studio album.
I do understand the fine reviews as it both appears brand new but at the same time contains much of the band's original sound and almost perfectly bonds with the original incarnation of the band. The album comes with pure pop songs that could easily be whistled on your way to work, and a fundamental electronic sound that almost pays tribute to Kraftwerk and Jarre, and to top it all: there are experimental traits memorising the band's incorporation of musique concrete and more experimental electronic compositions they played with in the early days.
It took me a few years to appreciate this one, though. Initially, I found it too "willed", in the sense that it seemed so obvious an attempt to recreate an album that would be compared to and linked with Dazzle Ships blended with Architecture & Morality. They may have had that combo in mind, and so what? They are fully legit aspirations and the resulting work is really more than a decent collection of songs.
Finally, OMD has created a fine studio album - again!
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Mojo, Pop Matters 4 / 5 stars ]

Mathilde Falch "Alle taler" (2015)

Alle taler

release date: Oct. 22, 2015

format: cd (MATFA15)

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

producer: Christian Ki Dall

label: self-released - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Det eneste du skal sige" - 2. "Det jeg ville se" - 3. "Alle taler" - 4. "Det jeg allerede har" - 5. "Ild i min røg" (4 / 5) (live) - 9. "Stikkende savn"

3rd full-length studio album by Mathilde Falch following Bag mine øjenlåg (Mar. 2014) is made with a new producer, just like her two previous albums has been made with unique producers. This approach secures some kind of progression in terms of soundscape and focal point in the arrangements. Like the predecessor, the album isn't a lengthy one as it consists of ten tracks with a total running time just exceeding 33 minutes.

Stylewise, the album is Mathilde Falch's most rocking album to date, although, it contains a few slow ballad-like singer / songwriter tunes, and despite already being an artist in her own rights, the album stands as her national breakthrough, and especially the song "Ild i min røg" was an instant radio hit.

Not unlike her father, Michael Falch, she makes music with obvious bonds to the music by one certain Mr. Springsteen, but imo, Mathilde doesn't sound like a mere copy of an American idol but actually performs with much original confidence, and on Alle taler she understands to balance the quiet, sincere, personal, and the dirty, and the album is easily represents her so far best collection of songs.

Recommended.

[ Gaffa.dk, BT.dk 4 / 6 stars ]

Protomartyr "No Passion All Technique" (2012)

No Passion All Technique [debut]

release date: Oct. 8, 2012

format: cd (2019 reissue)

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

producer: non-produced

label: Domino - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "In My Sphere" - 4. "3 Swallows" - 6. "Jumbo's" - 10. "How He Lived After He Died" - 11. "Feral Cats"

Studio album debut by Detroit-based post-punk revivalist quartet Protomartyr consisting of vocalist Joe Casey, guitarist Greg Ahee, bassist Scott Davidson, and drummer Alex Leonard. The album was originally released on independent label Urinal Cake Records, and after releasing the critically acclaimed The Agent Intellect (Oct. 2015) the band signed with Domino.

This their first album out doesn't mention producer credits apparently because it was recorded as is by recording engineer Chris Koltay. Stylewise, it sounds much like proto-punk as played by MC5 and The Stooges with some tracks pointing more at the early British punk rock scene with especially The Fall as an obvious influence. Although, it's garage rock-styled in sound and probably hasn't been submitted to any post-production techniques, the sound is still better than what it's inspired by. Drums, bass, guitar, and vocal all have a certain crispiness that makes one aware that it wasn't recorded several decades ago when musical equipment just didn't always suffice to transport the actual energy back on vinyl or to a tape.

No Passion All Technique is hard proto-punk, which doesn't aim to satisfy anyone's request for traditional harmony-driven melodies. Protomartyr are in that regard strongly inspired by other ways of musical expression, and without it being tribute material, it does echo strong references to MC5, The Stooges, Pere Ubu, and The Fall. The album stands as the band's most simplistic and also only actual garage-rock album as all preceeding releases contain more complex compositions. The front cover feature a photograph of Julius Robert Oppenheimer.

To me, this is a fine debut, but also one that sits somewhat on its own as living its own life as a release that could nearly fill in a spot in musical history together with some of the band's influences.

Not recommended.

The Durutti Column "Fidelity" (1996)

Fidelity
release date: 1996
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,96]
producer: Laurie Lexicon
label: Crépuscule - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "For Suzanne" - 3. "Future Perfect" - 5. "G & T" - 7. "Sanko" - 9. "Guitar for Mother" - 10. "Storm for Steve"

10th studio album or so by The Durutti Column released on Crépuscule and produced by Laurie Lexicon [Laurie Keith, aka Laurie Laptop]. By this, Reilly has released so many obscure albums on likewise obscure record labels that it has become difficult to keep count of what are "official" albums and what are collaboration works and / or just regional / limited releases. This is not released through Factory Records (who had a troubled time in the early '90s and eventually closed in '92) nor on Factory Too, but the album had its release on the Belgian label Crépuscule (or: Les Disques du Crépuscule, a label with strong bonds to Factory Records as it was also called Factory Benelux, which originally was a sublabel of Factory Records residing in Belgium). This is another of his electronic experiments, and he really tries many styles on this, mainly in a downtempo house area. I feel it's slightly better than Obey the Time (1990) but not much, although, allmusic disagree.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Neil Young "Psychedelic Pill" (2012)

Psychedelic Pill
release date: Oct. 30, 2012
format: 2 cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Neil Young, John Hanlon and Mark Humphreys
label: Reprise Records - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: Disc 1: 1. "Driftin' Back" - 2. "Psychedelic Pill" - 3. "Ramada Inn" - 4. "Born in Ontario" - Disc 2: 2. "She's Always Dancing" - 3. "For the Love of Man" - 4. "Walk Like a Giant"

33rd studio album by Neil Young recorded with Crazy Horse is released only 4½ months after his collaboration studio album with Crazy Horse Americana, once again proving Young's vitality. Every now and then Young slows down - two years pass on and then he puts out two albums in the same year - back on track! Where Americana was a bunch of old songs and covers in new arrangements, this is brand new material from the man himself, and I can't help thinking that this was the album he really put all efforts in that year. Not only is it an album of new compositions - it's also Young's first 2-disc album, and with a playing time at more than 1 hour and 27 mins, it's his longest studio album to date; although it 'only' contains 9 tracks. Two of the compositions have a playing time above 16 mins. and the very first track has a playing time at 27:36 mins [!].
With its distorted 'psychedelic rock' sound, the album makes me think of Broken Arrow and an older album like Rust Never Sleeps both also with Crazy Horse. It has the same distorted feedback sound, as one will find on Broken Arrow and yet it dwells likewise throughout the single tracks as opposed to the more 'rock'-fussed albums Ragged Glory and Weld with Crazy Horse. And although, he also made Americana this year together with Crazy Horse the style here is really not linked in any way with the former release from this year, which compared to this sounds more like less worked-through material - something that could have stayed in the studio. However, their get-together work for Americana was probably what was needed to create this one, 'cause here they sound like the tight unit they used to be.
The album may not contain great single hits - it's more like one organic type of thing that grows, evolves and changes its direction running through a field, sometimes rapidly, sometimes in slow-motion while reviving some of the same elements one will find on some the quartet's familiar pieces.
I really enjoy this one and think of it as Neil Young's best studio album in more than a decade.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Rolling Stone, NME 4 / 5 stars ]

Mogwai "Kicking a Dead Pig - Mogwai Songs Remixed" (1998)

Kicking a Dead Pig - Mogwai Songs Remixed (remix album)

release date: May 18, 1998

format: digital (12 x File, FLAC - 2001 reissue)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,88]

producer: Mogwai & various

label: Mogwai self-relase - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Like Herod (Hood Remix)" - 7. "Mogwai Fear Satan (Surgeon Remix)" - 10. "Mogwai Fear Satan (Mogwai Remix)" - 12. "Mogwai Fear Satan (My Bloody Valentine Remix)"

Remix album by Mogwai primarily of compositions from the band's debut album Young Team (1997). Originally the album was released as a ten track album on Eye Q Records, but after the label had closed the album was expanded by another two tracks and it was released as a 2-cd album with the two new remixes on disc 2 as the final version, track #12 is a 16 minute long version of "Mogwai Fear Satan" - the original being 10 seconds longer.

Most of the compositions have been heavily altered and mostly into electronic dance or with an ear for old school techno rave. You may argue that the point in making a remix album with songs that sound much like the original seems wrong, but when the end result is music of a completely other genre, it's also a natural source of criticism. It's experimental and daring and some ideas and even whole compositions are made with some success, but overall it doesn't fit that well in the band's discography - it's more of an oddity. Best remixes here are actually Mogwai's own mix of "Mogwai Fear Satan" only bettered by Kevin Shield's (My Bloody Valentine) daring but aso highly original version.

Collector's item only.

[ bandcamp ]

David Sylvian "Blemish" (2003)

Blemish
release date: May 2003
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: David Sylvian
label: Samadhisound - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Blemish" - 8. "A Fire in the Forest"

6th studio solo album by David Sylvian. The album is released on Sylvian's own label Samadhisound (as the label's first release) after leaving Virgin Records for whom he has released his solo albums since his very first solo album in 1984. This is not the "normal" Sylvian solo sound, if ever there was one. Usually, a solo album from his hands is in the style of art pop and sophisti-pop with more or less jazz to it but here he excels in electronic art pop and glitch, although, I guess the overall sensation is one of experimental. The album consists of 8 tracks with track #1 lasting more than 13 minutes. The music was primarily recorded during improvisational sessions live in a studio with few people to support him. Jazz guitarist Derek Bailey feature on three compositions (#2, #5, #7), co-written by Bailey, and Austrian electronic guitarist Christian Fennesz has co-written, arranged and features on the end-track. The music is not easily digested but has its moments, and it was generally met with positive reviews and I find it more than just interesting.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

LCD Soundsystem "Sound of Silver" (2007)

Sound of Silver
release date: Mar. 12, 2007
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: The DFA [Tim Goldsworthy & James Murphy]
label: DFA Records Japan - nationality:

Track highlights: 1. "Get Innocuous!" - 2. "Time to Get Away" - 3. "North American Scum" - 4. "Someone Great" (5 / 5) - 6. "Us V Them"

2nd full studio album by LCD Soundsystem in a Japanese edition including 3 bonus tracks.
It's really not that different from the debut album as they still make use of various influences - on the first three tracks one will hear funk and alt. dance / dance-punk pointing to a more standard rock-outing, but with the track "Someone Great" the album takes a turn towards indietronics and synth pop, which is nicely continued on "All My Friends" before returning to a funky rhythmic conglomerate of all their styles blending funk, electro-disco, synth pop and dance-punk in just one song: "Us V Them". The standard album closer "New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down" is another "weird"-styled track building on a singer / songwriter tradition that makes me think of Lou Reed.
The Japanese edition of the album continues with two (much alike) remixes of the album track "North American Scum" and "Hippie Priest Bum-Out" - all of which are danceable tunes without being really memorable.
The huge blend is really not bad at all - it's highly original, though you may need to reserve time to digest this fusion of styles. It strikes me that the band re-use bits and pieces one will find in the late 1970s varying from the disco sound to more new wave- and art pop-oriented artists - from American artists like Donna Summer, Blondie, Talking Heads, Devo and The B-52's to British David Bowie, Altered Images, Human League and Gang Of Four.
Sound of Silver was met by positive reviews and nominated a Grammy Award for Best Electronic / Dance album of the year [handed to We Are the Night by The Chemical Brothers], and it's included in "1001 Album You Must Hear Before You Die".
I really enjoy this album, although, I don't find it all that homogeneous, and "Someone Great" is a marvellous track.
[ allmusic.com, Spin 4,5 / 5, NME, Q, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

The Divine Comedy "Promenade" (1994)

Promenade

release date: Mar. 28, 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,22]
producer: Neil Hannon, Darren Allison
label: Setanta Records - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Going Downhill Fast" - 3. "The Booklovers" - 6. "Don't Look Down" - 7. "When the Lights Go Out All Over Europe" (4 / 5) (live) - 8. "The Summerhouse" - 11. "Tonight We Fly" (4 / 5) (live)

3rd studio album by The Divine Comedy. This was the first really critically acclaimed album by Neil Hannon. Commercially, he still didn't reach any major sales but the critics and a growing crowd of fans hailed Hannon after this his first conceptual album. The entire album is about two lovers meeting one day at the seaside. The style is as its predecessor chamber pop but this time with much more use of strings and orchestrated symphonic arrangements.
[ allmusic.com, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

Jon Hopkins "Immunity" (2013)

Immunity
release date: Jun. 3, 2013
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Jon Hopkins
label: Domino Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "We Disappear" - 2. "Open Eye Signal" - 3. "Breathe This Air" - 4. "Collider" (official shorter video) - 7. "Sun Harmonics" - 8. "Immunity"
[ full album ]

4th studio album by London-based Jon Hopkins (aka Jonathan Julian Hopkins). The album is my first acquaintance with Hopkins, and definitely not my last. Musically, it's a blend of styles of pure electronica. It encompasses house elements commonly known as minimal house - a blend of house and tech house, characterised by simpler compositions with loans from IDM and glitch pop, usually without or with little focus on traditional lyrics and instead making use of vocal arrangements in the shape of musical instrumentation. The album consists of eight distinctive tracks, although, the album really works as one whole - one long progression.
Immunity is widely regarded as Hopkins' breakthrough album and in Britain it was nominated the 2013 Mercury Prize Award (handed James Blake for the album Overgrown).
I really like its organic sound(s), which makes me think of both Icelandic post rockers Sigur Rós and glitch pop band múm fusioned with a neo-classical and progressive rock approach of say Mike Oldfield despite being far from any of those, really.
Recommended.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Mojo, Q Magazine, The Observer, NME 4 /5, Pitchfork 8,5 / 10 stars ]

Paul Weller "Sonik Kicks" (2012)

Sonik Kicks
release date: Mar. 26, 2012
format: cd
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,68]
producer: Paul Weller, Simon Dine
label: Universal Island Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "The Attic" - 6. "That Dangerous Age" - 8. "Dragonfly"

11th studio album by Paul Weller follows two years after Wake Up the Nation (Apr. 2020) is once again with producer Simon Dine but is still a bit of a new turning point. The album is Weller's first with a bold use of electronics. Sometimes the blend of pop soul and electro pop / indietronica works out fine or say sufficiently here, as on "The Attic", on "That Dangerous Age", and on "Dragonfly"; however, at other times, which actually is 'mostly', it falls flat like on "Kling I Klang", and on "Sleep of the Serene". The album fared well, sold well, topping the albums chart list in the UK. But to me, this is no less than his least appealing and his least successful solo album to date. It feels like more than a bitter pill to swallow.
Not recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Pitchfork 6,5 / 10, Mojo, 👉The Guardian 3 / 5 stars ]

Louis Prima "My Cucuzza" (1960) (single)

My Cucuzza, 7 '' single

release date: 1959

format: vinyl (D 45-208) (1960 issue)

[single rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]

producer: ?

label: Dot Records - nationality: USA

Tracklist: A) "My Cucuzza (Goo-goot-za)" - - B) "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop"

Single release by American entertainer and vocalist Louis Prima, who often made use of Anglicisation of popular Italian (folk) songs. The A-side is a song by Victor (Gari) Corpora music by Milton Rogers, and the B-side is a song by Curley Hamner (aka William J. Hamner) and Lionel Hampton.

This Danish issue of the US version switched the A and the B-sides, and the item was part of my parents' record collection. It was a single I used to play on a portable turntable at 6-8 years of age. The front cover went missing early on, say some 3-4 decades ago.

~ ~ ~

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.