Mazzy Star "Among My Swan" (1996)

Among My Swan
release date: Oct. 29, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: David Roback, Hope Sandoval
label: Capitol Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Disappear" - 2. "Flowers in December" (4 / 5) (live) - 3. "Rhymes of an Hour" - 5. "Take Everything" - 7. "All Your Sisters" - 8. "I've Been Let Down"

3rd studio album by Mazzy Star follows (another) three years after their sophomore So Tonight That I Might See (1993). All songs here are credited David Roback and Hope Sandoval.

The album introduces a change of style as the album is primarily founded on the use of acoustic guitars instead of the feedback electric guitar sound on the first two albums, and the bond to both the 'baroque pop' of the '60s as well as to Velvet Underground has been accentuated.

The album produced the UK top-40 single "Flowers in December" but apart from that the album was seen as a lesser album, and also music critics seemed less drawn to the change of style.

After the release, the band went on a live tour and also began work on a follow-up, but they found the demands of the record label management intolerable with "the money people" interfering in their creative craftmanship and Sandoval and Roback eventually asked to be released from their contractual obligations. Without officially dissolving, the band went on a hiatus in '97 that should last fourteen years and Among My Swan was eventually followed by the fourth album in 2013, Seasons of Your Day.

I find this one on a completely different level than the first two albums. It simply tastes too much of the '60s. It's good but not really essential.

[ allmusic.com 3.5 / 5 stars ]

Mazzy Star "So Tonight That I Might See" (1993)

So Tonight That I Might See
release date: Oct. 5, 1993
format: cd / vinyl (2022 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,76]
producer: David Roback
label: Capitol Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Fade Into You" (4,5 / 5) (live on Later) - 2. "Bells Ring" (4 / 5) - 3. "Mary of Silence" - 7. "Unreflected" - 9. "Into Dust" - 10. "So Tonight That I Might See"

2nd studio album by Mazzy Star following nearly 3½ years after the debut She Hangs Brightly (1990). Since then, the band signed with Capitol after the Rough Trade division closed in the US, and it appears that although both Keith Mitchell and Will Cooper of Opal participate on the album, they are merely additional personnel, and Mazzy Star has become what it basically always was: the duo-project of composer, guitarist and pianist David Roback and songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Hope Sandoval.

At first, the album sounds much alike the predecessor, in tone and especially sound, as the style has become even darker and mesmerising with drone-like guitar-sequences with Sandoval's haunting vocal on top.

"Fade into You" became the band's first and only top-100 single in the US peaking at #44; however, the band may never have aimed at making hit songs and becoming mainstream artists, but the album is often found listed among the best Dream Pop albums ever made [Pitchfork's 30 best dream pop albums].

The album comes out as the aural version of a highly original dream landscape - both hauntingly beautiful and disturbing at the same time. Roback and Sandoval appear more laid back on this, although, some tracks are 'noise rock' influenced and the title track sounds unimaginable without thinking of "The End" by The Doors and (perhaps also) "Heroin" by Velvet Underground, but overall I find it bettering their debut. This is simply their best studio album.

Now, did anyone say Lana Del Rey? Well, I betcha she heard this one!

Highly recommendable.

[ allmusic.com, Uncut 4,5 / 5, NME, Sputnikmusic 4 / 5, Soundlab 5 / 5 stars ]

Prefab Sprout "Jordan: The Comeback" (1990)

Jordan: The Comeback
release date: Sep. 7, 1990
format: vinyl / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Thomas Dolby
label: Kitchenware / CBS - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Looking for Atlantis" (4 / 5) - 2. "Wild Horses" (4 / 5) - 3. "Machine Gun Ibiza" - 4. "We Let the Stars Go" - 5. "Carnival 2000" (4 / 5) - 6. "Jordan: The Comeback" (4 / 5) - 7. "Jesse James Symphony" (4 / 5) - 8. "Jesse James Bolero" - 10. "All the World Loves Lovers" - 12. "Ice Maiden" - 13. "Paris Smith" - 15. "One of the Broken" (4 / 5) - 18. "Scarlet Nights" - 19. "Doo-Wop in Harlem" (4 / 5) (live)

5th studio album by Northhern English band Prefab Sprout following Protest Songs (Jun. 1989). The band has had a changing line-up but the two McAloon brothers have been the only stable members. On this, the band consists of what was the most stable line-up over a period of 13 years from 1984-97: Paddy McAloon on vocals, guitars, keyboards, Martin McAloon on bass, Wendy Smith credited vocals, guitars, keyboards, and Neil Conti on drums and percussion. Although, the band is founded with two brothers, the undisputed leader is older brother, Paddy, who writes (near) all songs for the band - not only for this album but on all their studio releases from 1982 to present days).
Jordan: The Comeback is untraditionally long, in terms of total running time for a 2-sided longplayer exceeding more than 64 minutes. It peaked at number #7 on the albums chart in the UK (by the band only surpassed by the '88 album, From Langley Park to Memphis, reaching number #5). The track "Carnival 2000" had a lot of airplay on the national Danish radio station P3 that year, but other than that, the album contains so many great tracks that the whole album is the biggest hit of the release., which initially made me confusing it as a compilation. I owned a cd issue for years and only as of 2022 managed to get hold of a fine original vinyl issue.
Prefab Sprout initiated their career by playing guitar-founded jangle pop but this one (like the majority of their albums) is dominated by a sophisti-pop style that loans from other genres and styles, and the album simply stands as one the best pop /rock albums of the 1990s, in my opinion.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, SputnikMusic 5 / 5 stars ]

Julian Cope "Interpreter" (1996)

Interpreter

release date: Oct. 14, 1996

format: digital

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

producer: Julian Cope

label: Echo - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "I Come from Another Planet, Baby" (4 / 5) - 2. "I've Got My TV & My Pills" - 3. "Planetary Sit-In" - 5. "Cheap New-Age Fix" - 7. "Arthur Drugstore" - 9. "Re-Directed Male" - 12. "Dust"

12th studio album (some file it as his 13th and probably include his collaboration album Rite) by Julian Cope is like its predecessor 20 Mothers (Aug. 1995) released on Echo, as his final on another company after which he should only release his music via his own labels. Alledgedly, Cope had rejected to perform in the US, which made Echo cancel their work with Cope. The incident was perhaps the last straw, which made Cope turn his back on the established music industry and from hereon take full control of everything he would do. The album follows more or less the same musical paths as his '95 album, albeit as a stylistically narrower release, where the compositions are Cope's own neo-psychedelic mix of glam rock, beat, folk rock, space rock, and pop. Thematically, it varies between the cosmic, about space travel, and the more down-to-earth stories, but especially strong political positions are noteworthy, which take their starting point from Cope's commitment as an environmental campaigner. There has also been room for his 'Neolithic hobby', although it's only reflected in a poster and the album front cover.

Musically, this appears quite complex with a certain grandiosity, but still with a strict simplicity in the harmonies, as an echo of 70's nostalgia.

The album was not commercially successful, briefly peaking at number #39 on the UK albums chart, and with two singles - tracks #1 and #3 both peaking at number #34 on the singles chart.

Personally, I think there's too much room for distorted guitars, heavy rock attitude, orchestral arrangements, and a repetition of naïve choruses, but still: it's probably part of his fascination of space rock. On the whole, there is a lot of recycling without much originality and at times I find myself wondering if he had either Lou Reed, David Bowie, Tom Verlaine, Scott Walker, or Neil Young on his mind when he wrote and recorded individual tracks. However, it's not only in the somewhat more distant music history that he finds his inspiration. At times he takes completely different paths when incorporating new styles with electronic or a synth-pop touch - and wherever he moves, Cope's strength is to write songs and to speak his mind, even if the messages occasionally drown a little in pompous and odd mixtures of styles. And you really have to give it to him: despite pulling all kinds of stuff from his musical shelves, there's still a remnant of presence and strong universal musical skill at stake - a Copesque charm and completeness, which manages to elevate the album to anything but copycat and mediocrity.

The album was Cope's final on Echo and all of his subsequent music has been self-released either through his own label Head Heritage or through his internet site, carrying the same name, and where he has commented on this and that up until Mar. 2014 when he made his final post. However, he has kept releasing and issuing new albums via Head Heritage since.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Julian Cope "20 Mothers" (1995)

20 Mothers

release date: Aug. 28, 1995

format: cd (ECHCD 5)

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

producer: Julian Cope

label: Echo - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Wheelbarrow Man" (live) - 2. "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" - 3. "Try Try Try" (Top of the Pops performance) - 4. "Stone Circles 'n' You" - 10. "Adam & Eve Hit the Road" - 15. "Senile Get" - 16. "The Lonely Guy"

11th studio album by Julian Cope is like the one year old predecessor Autogeddon released on the Chrysalis-owned sublabel Echo. With the album, Cope returns to his 'habit' of releasing extensive albums - 20 Mothers is nearly 72 minutes long and is divided into four 'phases', as was also the case with Peggy Suicide (Apr. 1991). His new album is similar to his most recent concept albums without it' being absolutely obvious where the focus lies, because it's more of a unifying album for all of Cope's thematic interests: climate and environment, the condition of our planet, consumerism, cars, religion, prehistoric cultures, and then as a more recent theme of his: stories from one's own lived life about family relationships. In the same way that themes are diverse, the music aspect is even more varied than on most of his other albums. Yes, there is the usual neo-psychedelia and space-rock, and then you'll also find indie rock, funk, and tracks with a clear folk touch, but also elements taken from Europop, synth-pop and rock & roll - in other words, the range is w--i---d----e, and the seemingly conceptual title, supported by the cover featuring family members - wife Dorian and friends, all of whom are actually mothers (as mentioned in the inlay) - then the album basically covers everything, and in that way it comes across as a bit of an all sorts mix - on all levels.

20 Mothers is by no means a bad album, the best side to it being Cope's stories, but at the same time it's somewhat incoherent and occasionally odd to listen to in its entirety.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

 

back cover: 
Julian with his
two daughters

inside:
Julian with family and friends
(wife Dorian on Julian's right)

Kraftwerk "The Mix" (1991)

2009 remaster

The Mix

release date: Jun. 11, 1991

format: cd (2009 remaster)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,38]

producer: Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider

label: Kling Klang / EMI - nationality: Germany

10th studio album by Kraftwerk following a full five years after Electric Cafe (1986) isn't officially a compilation, although it may perfectly appear as that since it's dedicated to compositions stemming from all of the band's studio albums beginning with Autobahn (1974) right up to the most recent studio album Electric Cafe (1986). Ralf Hütter has offered his thoughts on why it's not to be considered a compilation or let alone a remix album, as others would claim. He states that these tracks are an expression of the band's live versions of well-known songs, all of which have been subjected to reshaping during the many years of performances. Since '86 percussionist Wolfgang Flür has left the band and as of '87, he was practically substituted by Fritz Hilpert. In 1990, Karl Bartos also left the band, after which Fernando Abrantes took over in his place and on the album here, but Abrantes left shortly after the release only to be replaced by Henning Schmitz.

Incidentally, 2009 is the year in which Kraftwerk reissued all of the it's essential albums in newly remastered editions - like this one - and they also reissued the box set Der Katalog (2004) with a back cover label '12345678', indicating the band's 8 studio albums from 1974 to 2003. Regardless Hütter's explanation, and intention, it doesn't change the fact that the tracks on The Mix have all been taken from previously released studio albums, and yes, they are here in completely new remixed versions. The album consists of 11 tracks and has a total running length of 65 minutes.

From both Autobahn (1974) and Radio-Aktivität (1975) only the respective title tracks have been included; from Trans Europa Express (1977) three tracks are included: the title track, "Abzug" and "Metall auf Metall"; from the album Die Mensch-Maschine (1979) only "Die Roboter" has found its way the this; from Computerwelt (1981) we again find three selected tracks: "Taschenrechner", "Computer Liebe", and "Heimcomputer", and from Electric Cafe (1986) only the song "Music Non-Stop" is included. With a bit of quick math, that sums up to only ten tracks, and that's because, in addition to album tracks, there's also room for "Dentaku", which is a Japanese version of "Taschenregner" in a slightly different version, originally featured as a B-side to the single release.

The album received a slightly luke-warm reception, but still landed at number #7 in Germany and at number #15 in the UK. Kraftwerk also released the new versions of "Die Roboter" and "Radio-Aktivität" as the two (promotional) singles from the album.

The Mix is a fine album without dazzling. However, I think that especially the earliest compositions have been altered and given a more modern sound in such a way that they certainly don't stand as improvements to the originals. Later well-known tracks have been exposed to a little bit of everything, and at the end, the album is mostly for fans and connoisseurs, as others will be better served with the original versions. And of course you're are free to think what you want about all their fine tracks they have passed on and not included here. You may ask yourself why on Earth they didn't just release a double album, when there's plenty of material to revisit? It's certainly not an essential release, which basically functions more as bonus material - an appendix you can easily do without.

[ allmusic,com, Mojo 3 / 5, Q Magazine, Uncut 4 / 5 stars ]

org. cover

Les Negresses Vertes "Famille nombreuse" (1991)

Famille nombreuse
release date: (Nov.?) 1991
format: vinyl (gatefold) / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Sodi & Clive (aka Clive Martin)
label: Delabel / Razzia Disques - nationality: France

Track highlights: 1. "Famille heureuse" - 2. "Perpétuellement vôtre" - 6. "Sous le soleil de Bodega" - 8. "Hou ! Mamma mia..." - 9. "Infidèle cervelle" - 10. "La France a ses dimanches" - 12. "Car c'est un blouze"

2nd studio album by French band Les Negresses Vertes, which here enlists eleven members, although the cover photos only counts ten members. Prior to this, the band featured on the international Cole Porter tribute album Red Hot + Blue from 1990 with their version of "I Love Paris".

Here, the band attempts to continue in the same style from Mlah (1989), but nevertheless with more polished arrangements, which lacks the rebellious streak that caused the band to be compared to Madness and The Pogues. However, the album does succeed in presenting a more common tone, where Mlah pointed in various directions and also reflected music from a sea of ​​styles, and in that regard Familie nombreuse is an album that roughly stays on the same ground throughout. It's original, but in my mind it's missing that extra kick the debut contained. Having said that, the music here is by no means poor, but at times sticks out as slightly uninspired, although I personally find that the album actually improves in the latter half - perhaps simply because these songs share some of the traits from Mlah.

Familie nombreuse [meaning 'large family'] is the band's final with the its front figure, lead vocalist, and one of its major songwriters: Helno Rota, who died of an overdose in '93 (at the age of 29), after which the band's line-up changed considerably. The band continued to release albums up until around 2001, after which they have been less active. However, around 2018 and up to the 30th anniversary of this very album, Les Negresses Vertes (reformed with several of the original members) resumed their live performances, playing tracks from Mlah in particular (see here and here - and here a promotion spot for their tour).

[ 👎allmusic.com 2 / 5 stars, Popdose review ]

Fatboy Slim "You've Come a Long Way, Baby" (1998)

You've Come a Long Way, Baby

release date: Oct. 1998

format: cd / digital (2008 2cd 10th Anniversary Edition)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]

producer: Fatboy Slim

label: Skint Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Right Here, Right Now" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "The Rockafeller Skank" - 4. "Gangster Tripping" - 5. "Build It Up - Tear It Down" - 9. "Praise You" (4,5 / 5) - 11. "Acid 8000"

2nd studio album by Fatboy Slim following his fine debut Better Living Through Chemistry from '96 is like that released on Skint and produced by Fatboy Slim (aka Norman Cook). The title is taken from the American cigarette brand Virgina Slims, which was sold (to women as target group) in the 1960s and 70s using the slogan "You've Come a Long Way, Baby" - the title here then is used with reference to the cover and the official video for track #1 as an ironic statement about the human race.

Despite being crafted almost only using heavy sampling, the album is very much of a whole, building on hooks, catchy phrases and small bits from this and that, primarily soul and funk artists, but the common denominator is something original within the big beat style of electronica.

The album spawned four single releases and they all peaked in top 10 on the UK singles chart list. In order, the songs selected for single releases were tracks #2, 4, 9, and 1 with the first two preceding the album release and the last two issued in '99. The third single, "Praise You" (Jan. '99) followed by an official video creation that was work of geniality performed the best peaking at #1 in many countries world-wide including the UK, Scotland, Iceland, and it peaked at #2 in the US on the Alternative Songs list. The last single also performed quite well peaking at #1 on the UK Indie list (#2 overall) and furthermore, the video for "Praise You" won three major awards at the 1999 MTV Video Awards, and in 2000 it was voted #1 of the 100 best music videos ever released in an MTV anniversary poll. The album peaked at #1 in the UK, and it has sold more than 3 mio. copies worldwide and is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

The album is undoubtedly Fatboy Slim's best and most coherent album. In 2008, a 2-disc 10th Anniversary Commemorative Edition with 10 bonus tracks was issued on Skint.

Highly recommendable.

[ allmusic.com, Select 5 / 5, 👍NME, Muzik, Q Magazine, Spin 4 / 5, 👎Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]

1998 Favourite releases: 1. Grant Lee Buffalo Jubilee - 2. Mark Hollis Mark Hollis - 3. Fatboy Slim You've Come a Long Way, Baby

Fatboy Slim "Better Living Through Chemistry" (1996)

Better Living Through Chemistry [debut]
release date: Sep. 16, 1996
format: cd (BRASSIC 2CD)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,96]
producer: Fatboy Slim
label: Skint Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Song for Lindy" - 2. "Santa Cruz" - 3. "Going Out of My Head" - 5. "Everybody Needs a 303" - 8. "First Down"

Studio album debut by Fatboy Slim aka Norman Cook (aka Quentin Leo Cook) former bassist of The Housemartins. Musically, this doesn't have much in common with the former jangle pop band; however, Fatboy Slim may be Cook's new pseudonym but his experiments within the electronic scene started way way earlier, and if he's associated with The Housemartins, it's rather undeserved, 'cause fact is, he released his first electronic solo album All-Star Breakbeats Volume 1 in 1990 under his own name as well as the follow-up Skip to My Loops in '92 - both collections of... loops to use when sampling, and even before that Norman Cook was the leader and main songwriter of the British electronic dub project-band, Beats International, which had a short life-span from '89-92 releasing one fairly successful album Let Them Eat Bingo with the international hit single "Dub Be Good to Me". Before playing in The Housemartins he was already an established DJ of the early 1980s playing primarily American "black music". After ending the Beats International project, Cook went on and formed the acid jazz and hip hop trio Freak Power, which existed from '93-96 experiencing some success before internal friction had him choose a solo career and Fatboy Slim was invented. He has released music by dozens of pseudonyms incl. Pizzaman, Cheeky Boy, Chemistry, Charlie Stains, and many others. In fact, he is known for being the British artist to have featured most times on the UK singles chart list with the most aliases.
Anyway, Better Living Through Chemistry is an electronic samples album of big beat music, which really put him on everyone's lips in the mid-90s, and it's the first of two consecutive albums by Fatboy Slim to be enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". The album contains some really fine hooks and samples, but to me, it's still an album pointing to his past as a DJ mixing this and that, and being allover the place in terms of style. His force of nature keeps him so busy that creating a coherent release seems the impossible mission, although, he would do even better on the follow-up. That said, Better Living Through Chemistry is an energetic and vibrant dance album of high importance for the electronic pool of styles.
[ 👍allmusic.com 4 / 5, 👎Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]

1996 Favourite releases: 1. Bob Mould Bob Mould - 2. Fatboy Slim Better Living Through Chemistry - 3. Ryuichi Sakamoto 1996

Etta James "Her Best - The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection" (1997)

"Her Best - The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection", compilation
release date: 1997
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: various
label: Chess - nationality: USA

20 track compilation album by Etta James.

B-52's "The Best of The B-52's - Dance This Mess Around" (1990)

The Best of The B-52's - Dance This Mess Around (compilation)
release date: 1990
format: vinyl
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: various
label: Island Records - nationality: USA

Best of compilation album by B-52's focusing on the band's first two albums. The band had only just released its "comeback" album Cosmic Thing in '89 on a new label, Reprise Records, so their old company, Island Records found it timely to issue this collection of old material.
[ 👍allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Bill Frisell "The Sweetest Punch" (1999)

The Sweetest Punch
release date: Sep. 21, 1999
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,96]
producer: Lee Townsend
label: Decca - nationality: USA

Studio album by American jazz fusion guitarist Bill Frisell is actually fully titled: The Sweetest Punch - The New Songs of Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach Arranged by Bill Frisell, and as the title suggests all songs (but one) are the songs released by Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach on their '98 collaboration album Painted From Memory. The Costello / Bacharach collaboration work included Costello sending Bacharach his demo takes of his half-finished compositions upon which Bacaharach would contribute with ideas for a music score and the two would then elaborate on the songs, however, Frisell was already introduced to the Costello demos, sent to him by Costello, and Frisell would then use these early sketches to compose / re-arrange them to his very own interpretations, and this albums is the result of that process and therefore not Frisell's arrangements of the finished album.

Costello is featuring vocalist on two tracks (#2 and 10) and Cassandra Wilson also on two (#5 and 10), and apart from these three vocal jazz arrangements all other compositions are held in a subtle big band jazz fusion-style.

Costello / Bacharach harvested critical acclaim for their collaboration album, which is a fine piece of work. This, however, is something entirely different, and I also think it comes out as the slightly better and essentially more well-founded whole. I really enjoyed the live album Deep Dead End (1995) by Costello and Frisell, which is why I was eager to check this one out, and I'm glad that I did 'cause I think that Frisell has made an even stronger album than the original Costello / Bacharach release. And then this release only follows four months after Frisell's fine Good Dog, Happy Man (May 1999).

These compositions are beautifully arranged and Frisell shines with his drops of elegant dozes of subtle jazz notes here and there. As a consequence of the recording process, where Frisell didn't know of the final Costello / Bacharach compositions before finishing his own recordings this album delivers on a different scale, and what a gem it truly is.

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Far Out Corporation "FOC" (1998)

FOC [debut]

release date: Oct. 26, 1998

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Tim Whitten & The FOC

label: Polydor - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Don't Blame the Beam" - 4. "Montreal" - 6. "If You Want Release" - 9. "Suicide at Home" - 10. "Parachute"

Studio debut and only album by side-project band The Far Out Corporation consisting of vocalist & guitarist Grant McLennan (The Go-Betweens), guitarist & vocalist Ian Haug (Powderfinger), bassist Adele Pickvance (Natives of Bedlam, later in Dave Graney Show, later member of The Go-Betweens), and drummer Ross MacLennan. Apparently, Grant McLennan had been asked to provide some ambient music for an art project event in early '98 after which he gathered a band that could perform the music live, which then led to the idea to produce an album.

Stylewise, this is far from McLennan solo and / or The Go-Betweens - and it basically sounds more like something his bandmate Steve Kilbey from Jack Frost could have been involved in, which is also reflected in Grant's singing style (listen to "Montreal"). It's touching on neo-psychelia but may be characterised as art pop blending inspiration from an alt. rock / art rock sphere (Australian alternative rock band Underground Lovers being inspired by The Velvet Underground) with bonds to earlier classic synthpop (Depeche Mode meets New Order). The band played some gigs after the release but as The Go-Betweens was reformed in '99 the project was abandoned.

It's not entirely bad, and then on the other hand, it doesn't deliver something remarkably unforgettable. Most of all it shows McLennans artistry, and although all songs are credited all band members it seems likely that Mclennan - who started the project - wrote the lyrics, and especially the song "Suicide at Home" made Robert Forster attentive on McLennan's mental state, which Forster in this period recalls as 'really bad'. Luckily, the two kept touring supported by Adele Pickvance, and when McLennan approached Forster about the idea of reforming the Go-Betweens he accepted, and in the Summer of '99 the two constituted the new band assisted by Pickvance, Janet Weiss and Sam Coomes.

Bill Frisell "Good Dog, Happy Man" (1999)

Good Dog, Happy Man

release date: May 18, 1999

format: cd

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]

producer: Lee Townsend

label: Nonesuch - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Rain, Rain" - 2. "Roscoe" - 4. "My Buffalo Girl" - 5. "Shenandoah (For Johnny Smith)" - 7. "The Pioneers" - 8. "Cold, Cold Ground" - 11. "Good Dog, Happy Man" - 12. "Poem for Eva"

14th studio album by Bill Frisell following Gone, Just Like a Train (Jan. '98) is Frisell's second of eight consecutive albums with long-time producer Lee Townsend.

Stylewise, Frisell has been on a long and twining progression in shaping that highly personal sound of his, and for me, this is when he first comes out the cleanest. He combines and bonds with other genres and styles and you'll notice elements from jazz, blues, americana, country and folk, and what appeals the most to me, is the absence of jazz fusion or the bold traits of rock fusion of the 1970s and 80s. Many will probably associate Frisell with artists like Pat Metheny, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea and others belonging to, and keeping alive, the heritage of the innovative Miles Davis and the ingenuity of Thelonius Monk. Exactly that may also be a starting point to his own orginal blend, but what I really enjoy, lies more in his ability to combine roots music - be it blues, jazz, or country folk with bits of americana and a tad more gentle approach that flows into something highly original - and that's basically all found on this one.

Highly recommended.

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

Grant McLennan "In Your Bright Ray" (1997)

In Your Bright Ray

release date: Jul. 1997

format: cd

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]

producer: Wayne Connolly

label: Cortex - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "In Your Bright Ray" (4 / 5) - 2. "Cave In" - 3. "One Plus One" - 5. "Malibu 69" - 6. "Who Said Love Was Dead" - 8. "All Them Pretty Angels" (4 / 5) - 10. "Down Here" - 11. "Lamp by Lamp" - 12. "Do You See the Lights?" - 13. "The Parade of Shadows"

4th and final studio album by Grant McLennan following three years after the double album Horsebreaker Star (Dec. 1994) - in between these two albums he shortly returned to the duo-project Jack Snow together with The Church frontman Steve Kilbey and assisted by drummer Tim Powless (also The Church) and together they released the loose follow-up album Snow Job in '95 after which they shelved the project. Prior to the recordings of this album (Dec. '96), McLennan found his way back to performing with Robert Forster but plans about reforming their old band were still in the melting pot as Forster and Karin Baümler were about to become parents and McLennan was busy touring with his new album and writing new music for his new band, Far Out Corporation.

In Your Bright Ray is McLennan when he shines the brightest. The album contains 13 songs all by McLennan with a total running time right on 50 minutes, and it's recorded with Australian producer and multi-instrumentalist Wayne Connolly (from The Whipper Snappers - he also produced for Underground Lovers and Died Pretty) and drummer Tim Powless (from The Church and Jack Frost) together with guitarist Brett Myers (from Died Pretty) and bassist Maurice Argiro (from Underground Lovers).

Musically, this is probably McLennan's cleanest rock-album - with a sheer amount of jangle pop. Imho, this is easily McLennan's best solo album. Where the predecessor was his boldest singer / songwriter album this is something as unusual from this gifted bard as a lush and bright pop / rock album and primarily a collection of uptempo songs where McLennan shows his worth as one of Australia's best songwriters ever. It documents what Robert Forster meant, when he described Grant as ahead of him. Forster claimed that where he had to work hard to write his stuff and to come up with a good song - for Grant, it just came naturally - like opening a hose.

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Gaffa.dk 5 / 6 stars ]

Black Grape "Stupid Stupid Stupid" (1997)

Stupid Stupid Stupid

release date: Nov. 10, 1997

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,28]

producer: Danny Saber

label: Radioactive Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Get Higher" (4 / 5) (official video) - 2. "Squeaky" - 3. "Marbles" - 4. "Dadi Waz a Badi" - 6. "Spotlight" - 8. "Money Back Guaranteed" - 9. "Lonely"

2nd studio album by Black Grape following a little more than two years after the fine debut It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah (Aug. 1995) is like that released on Radioactive. Since the debut, the line-up has changed with founding member Bez leaving due to dissatisfaction with his paid royalties, and then the band has been expanded to a septet. The band's rapper Paul 'Kermit' Leveridge was hospitalised with blood poisoning during a tour and was replaced by Carl 'Psycho' McCarthy, who ended up being a stable member after the tour and after Kermit was back. Also live guitarist and keyboardist Martin Slattery [he should later join Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros] became a stable member before begining the recordings for the album. And Danny Saber, who had played a major part in making the debut is also new band member. In '96 Black Grape and Joe Strummer stood behind the football support song "England's Irie" and Saber was producer on the joint project. The majority of the songs here are credited Ryder, Saber and 'Manmade' - a joint moniker for Kermit and Psycho. The album contains a cover of the '72 Frederick Knight soul tune"I've Been Lonely for so Long" (by Posie Knight and Jerry Weaver), here just titled "Lonely".

Stylewise, it's a rougher and more rock-oriented album than the predominantly electronic and alt. dance, which shaped the debut, but there's still room for funk and soul as well as the usual sampling bits and parts. The album was preceded by the single release of track #1 peaking at number #24 followed by the European only release of "Dadi Waz a Badi" and lastly "Marbles" was selected as the third single.

Stupid Stupid Stupid was met by mixed reviews. Stephen Erlewine of allmusic.com says: "...it plays like 'It's Great', part two, only without its predecessor's infectious beats, mammoth hooks, and surreal humor". I don't fully agree on the "without" 'cause the album is not without good beats, hooks and humour but there's unquestionably just less of it. And yes, it is like a part two, which in many ways tries too hard to follow-up on the success.

The succeeding tour didn't last long and ended up being cancelled as Shaun Ryder in Dec. '97, allegedly after a fight of band members simply dismissed the whole band resulting in massive cancellations of already scheduled shows, and Ryder also sacked the band manager, which in the end meant that Ryder via rule of court ended up in receivership for the next 12 years. The end of Black Grape was stressed in the Summer of '98 when Ryder stated he should no longer be recording under that name [only he would much later, though].

This is not great and not entirely bad either. "Get Higher" is a marvelous track, and the album is worth a spin or more but it's not up there alongside the debut.

[ allmusic.com, NME, Spin 3 / 5, Pitchfork 3,5 / 5 stars ]

"The Compact 2 Tone Story" (1993)

The Compact 2 Tone Story (compilation)
release date: 1993
format: digital (4-disc box set)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: various
label: Chrysalis / 2 Tone Records - nationality: England, UK

4-Disc Box Set compiling all A and B-side singles released on legendary 2 Tone Records. The album is basically an expanded reissue of the '89 album The 2 Tone Story, which was a double vinyl album containing 26 tracks released by Chrysalis / Two-Tone.
The album contains 68 tracks of which 32 are credited The Special A.K.A. / The Specials - which more or less is the same band. The name The Specials was used on the band's first two full-length studio albums, but the moniker 'The Special A.K.A.' had been used in the formative years and for the early single releases of "Gangsters" and "Too Much Too Young" (both 1979), which were included on the first album by The Specials ('Gangsters' only on non-UK versions), and the name was then re-used again after the major split of the band in '81, when the three vocalists Terry Hall, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding formed Fun Boy Three leaving the remainders to continue as The Special A.K.A. and releasing one studio album in '84.
The remaining 36 tracks are with various important and lesser known artists associated with the 2 Tone label. Major artists like Madness and The Beat only released one single each on 2 Tone before signing with Stiff and Go Feet respectively, which is why there's only two songs with each of the two. Also, one single by Elvis Costello & The Attractions, "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" / "Girls Talk" was released and subsequently withdrawn due to legal rights issues, as Costello was on contract with F-Beat; however, the songs are included here, despite, not really being 'ska revival' songs like nearly all other compositions on the album. The Selecter is another important band of the period, and they contribute with 7 tracks, and then there's a long list of various artists like The Bodysnatchers, The Swinging Cats, Rico Rodriguez, The Appolinaires, The Higsons, The Friday Club, and JB's Allstars, all of which contributed with just one or two single releases on 2 Tone before dissolving or morphing into other bands.
The album is a difficult listen - partly because of inconsistency of quality material, but also because of a wide span of stylistic expression. That said, the release is of high importance as a music historical document of an important time and musical expression.

Black Grape "It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah" (1995)

It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah [debut]

release date: Aug. 7, 1995

format: cd

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,02]

producer: Danny Saber, Stephen Lironi, Shaun Ryder

label: Radioactive Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Reverend Black Grape" (4 / 5) - 2. "In the Name of the Father" (4 / 5) (live on Later) - 3. "Tramazi Parti" (live on Later) - 4. "Kelly's Heroes" (official video 1 - official video 2) - 5. "Yeah Yeah Brother" - 6. "A Big Day in the North" - 8. "Submarine" - 9. "Shake Your Money"

Studio album debut by the Northern English quintet Black Grape released on the small independent American label Radioactive. The band was formed in 1993 on initiative of vocalist Shaun Ryder and dancer Bez [aka Mark Berry] shortly after the disbandment of the Happy Mondays. Together with vocalist Paul 'Kermit' Leveridge (of Ruthless Rap Assassins), guitarist Paul 'Wags' Wagstaff (Paris Angel), and drummer Ged Lynch (Ruthless Rap Assassins) they constitute Black Grape. However, this quintet nearly only contains two performing instrumentalists. Bez is credited 'vibes' but is commonly known as a dancer - at times equiped with maracas, so 'vibes' would mean something like good karma. Apart from sharing vocal roles, Paul Leveridge is credited as co-songwriter on half of the ten songs, whereas Ryder is songwriter and composer of all tracks, and that aside, no one else from the band are credited music on this album. Instead the music basically seems manufactured, organised and arranged by the producer-trio of Saber, Lironi, and Ryder. Co-producer Danny Saber is a multi-instrumentalist and here, he is credited on guitar, bass, and keyboards as well as being in charge of programming. He is also sound engineer and co-composer of four tracks. Other co-producer Stephen Lironi (guitarist & drummer of Altered Images) is credited on guitar and keyboards, and he is co-composer of two songs. Apart from that, other instrumentalists feature on some of the songs but it's quite evident that it's an album driven by Ryder and two multi-instrumentalists, and the perception of a band effort is merely a manufactured official image. According to Ryder (from his autobiography "Twisting My Melon"), American manager Gary Kurfirst had initially made contact with Ryder to hear what he was up to after The Mondays. Ryder had then sent him a few demos and Kurfirst had been ready to manage Ryder as solo artist but Ryder had wanted it to be a new band effort with Kurfirst then making the needed contacts. Just like Kermit and Ryder were on the same channel when speaking musical influenses, also Saber and Ryder had the same perception of how to arrange songs, and Lironi was there to secure a certain rock-feel to the songs as opposed to the bolder hip-hop direction ensured by Saber. In that sense, it's really just the right combination of musical talent to start with.

Naturally, the music shares traits with that of Happy Mondays. Some suggest it sounds more like a natural progression from Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches (1990) than a move from the recent final album by The Mondays, and that's exactly what Ryder had wanted - also because his vision of Yes Please! (Oct 1992) had been an album based on the style from the '90-album, but then he had sort of been stoved away on that. With Ryder as the dominant figure - as both songwriter, composer, co-producer and vocalist - it's no wonder that it reminds people of his former project. Unfairly, Shaun is at times reduced to an original and creative songwriter with a highly distinctive vocal, but he's more than just that. Initially, he played the guitar with his younger brother Paul playing bass, and from the beginning of The Mondays, he shared composer-role with the rest of the band, which both underlines his ear for music structure as well as his role in Black Grape. Without Shaun there would've been no Happy Mondays nor a Black Grape - a name, which alledgedly comes from when they were to sign the release contract and the management opted for a band name before they would go any further and Kermit came in with a handful of black grapes, and Shaun then used the situation to get the contract settled.

Musically, the album comes out as a new original conglomerate of styles. It's alt. dance and indie pop in a bolder electronic shape than that of The Mondays, and it mixes elements from neo-psychedelia, funk and soul. A few of the songs, e.g. "A Big Day in the North", "Shake Well Before Opening" and "Yeah Yeah Brother" (actually written for the ...Yes Please! album) more strongly continues the style of The Happy Mondays with an acid house-tone but the overall sensation is that of a coherent whole of more uptempo funky alt. dance.

The title is almost like the answer to Pills 'n' Thrills... saying it's (probably) better to stay away from substance abuse, and then also suggesting that it's (again: probably) not really gonna go that way. Again, Ryder has given his accounts on how they were all on various substances, from Guiness, weed, and Temazis - "Tramazi Parti" is actually taken from 'Temazis' (name for 'Temazepam', which Ryder had recently discovered), but that would be granted as an album song - which had led them (back) to heroin. And the strong psychedelic colours of the front cover showing a pop art photo of the infamous terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (aka Carlos the Jackal) follows closely in the footsteps of covers for Ryder's former band.

Music critics welcomed the album and it went straight to number #1 on the UK chart list. It was preceded by the the single release of track #1 peaking at #9, and the album was followed by two singles, tracks #2 and #4, respectively peaking at #8, and #17 in the UK.

I vividly recall the album as something I considered an improvement to the Happy Mondays. In retrospect, it hasn't faded all that much and still carries a certain amount of quality.

It may not be as significant as Pills 'n' Thrills... but I find it better as more poignant, better structured, showcasing better hooks, filled with great songs, explicit and funny lyrics, and then it's just one of my favourites of the nineties and therefore highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Vox 4,5 / 5, NME 5 / 5, The Guardian, Mojo, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

Happy Mondays "...Yes Please!" (1992)

...Yes Please!

release date: Oct. 1992

format: cd

[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,64]

producer: Chris Frantz & Tina Weymouth

label: Factory Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Stinkin Thinkin' " - 3. "Sunshine and Love" - 6. "Cut 'Em Loose Bruce"

4th and originally final album by Happy Mondays and also the final album on Factory Records. The album follows two years after the acclaimed Pills 'n' Thrills & Bellyaches (Apr. 1990) and is produced by Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Tom Tom Club and Talking Heads. Initially, the album was planned to have Oakenfold and Osborne as producers but as they were unable to find the time, new producers had to be considered. The album is notorious for several reasons. Before the recordings, both Shaun Ryder and Bez were deep into drug addiction, Whelan and Paul Ryder took to alcohol abuse and Paul Davis was both on drugs and alcohol. The manager and managers at Factory brought up the idea to have the band re-located to Barbados in an attempt to prevent substance abuse and secure ideal circumstances. However, in Barbados drugs and substance abuse was out of control, which of course afflicted the recording sessions. Furthermore, Factory were in financial difficulties and with new skyrocketing costs of the album Republic (1993) by New Order together with near-endless growing costs for this very album, the legendary record label declared bankruptcy Nov. 1992.

When reading about the recording sessions, it's probably not without sheer luck that they managed to come up with a new album. But two dynamic producers couldn't prevent the material from suffering. Drugs and alcohol in combination with strained internal relations hasn't exactly helped produce a bunch of great songs. The style has changed and perhaps even inadvertently to something more stringent. It's no longer the huge melting pot of styles but a style heavily built on funk and indie rock, and mostly without the strong traits from acid house and rave beats. Yes, it still maintains some alt. dance but in a subdued manner where guitars and drums dominate. Apparently, Shaun Ryder had been unable to produce the lyrics at the original sessions, which had to be added later back in England and that also reflects the end result. It's music without nerve, without strong hooks and ideas. Only positive thing here is the strong vocal performance by backing vocalist Rowetta, which says a great deal about the album. You can still tell it's Happy Mondays, but Shaun Ryder, who's lost all vitality only represents the rest of a band sounding as if they don't even bother trying. According to Shaun [see below link], the choice of producers was crucial to the failure of the album. He acknowledges Frantz and Weymouth as great artists but believes they directed the music into something more rock-oriented, which didn't fit with the new-found sound of the band, and that also prevented him from coming up with proper lyrics 'cause he needed to be inspired by their new music, which simply wasn't there. An argument, I completely buy because the alt. dance and pop-sound of the '90-album is seriously lacking on this.

The album was met by luke-warm to mostly negative reviews but still charted as high as number #14 on the UK charts. Tracks #1 and #3 were the only songs selected for single releases and didn't reach top-10 in the UK but went number #1 and #5 on the Hot Dance Club Songs list in the US. After the release, Happy Mondays toured with the album in the UK and Europe, and then finished off in Japan early '93. After the collapse of Factory Records the band and manager were in contact with various labels but after internal conflicts about the failure of the new album and the-who-did-what-thing, the band finally disbanded in early '93. Later that year, Shaun Ryder and Bez continued in the quintet Black Grape.

This album is not more than plain mediocre, and at times sounds (disastrously) more like Frantz and Weymouth have taken over (more than) the arrangements - it's clearly the least favourable album by Happy Mondays and not recommended.

[ allmusic.com 1,5 / 5, Select 2 / 5, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

[ Shaun's version of ...Yes Please! ]

C.V. Jørgensen "Sjælland" (1994)

Sjælland

release date: Sep. 26 1994

format: cd (PCCD 8074)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,22]

producer: Kasper Winding

label: Pladecompagniet - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Ude af sync" (4 / 5) - 2. "Blåt blod til alle" (4 / 5) - 3. "Fuld af forundring" - 4. "Florafobi" (5 / 5) (short live clip) - 5. "Spildte bedrifter" (4,5 / 5) (live) - 7. "Skygger af skønhed" (5 / 5) - 8. "Intet er mig helligt" - 9. "Hvad mere er der egentlig at sige" (4,5 / 5)

11th studio album by C.V. Jørgensen released a long full four years after his fine I det muntre hjørne (1990). In the meantime, Elap released the compilation 16 hits (1992) as a revised edition on cassette and CD of the previously released Det Ganske Lille Band's bedste from 1980. After having produced his two most recent studio releases on his own, C.V. returned the task to someone else taking care of the production sound. All his previous albums have been grounded in traditional rock but by engaging with the bolder 'pop' artist, vocalist and producer Kasper Winding, he ensures a distinctly different expression. C.V. had already worked with Winding in '78, when the two collaborated on the music for Morten Arnfred's film "Mig og Charly" and also the following year for the music to "Johnny Larsen". Since 1990, C.V. gradually turned down the concert activity and led a slightly more withdrawn existence, so the release of new material has been awaited with great excitement. The album's title is a play on the words 'soul' ['sjæl'] and 'country' ['land'] - put together in Danish also happens to be the name for the island of Sjælland [Zealand] - indicating a collection of tracks with a spiritual quality. In that way, it's also a highly personal album, which was also made completely without the usual close team of stable musicians. C.V. is credited on guitar in addition to his vocals, and Winding acts as multi-instrumentalist handling bass, keyboards, and drums, while the tracks are otherwise made with few other musicians, and where only trumpeter Flemming Agerskov is heard on several tracks.

Stylistically, C.V. always had a soft spot for jazz, and on his breakthrough album Storbyens små oaser from '77 you'll clearly notice a special jazz tone on several tracks - something you may also sense in small measure on his last two albums, but with Sjælland this is further emphasized with a style that combines previously unknown terrain - at least when it comes to the discography of C.V. Jørgensen. There is basically no focus on rock in a traditional sense, but only in a combo of trip hop and free jazz in a synthpop wrapping. It's a totally different expression than any other of his albums and in relation to his idiosyncrasy, which has given him status of a national rock icon. The inclusion of electronic instrumentation and a distinct synthpop style founded on keyboards, synths and rhythm programming fused with elements from free jazz is a most daring and remarkable change of style - something that e.g. shares traits with the '89 album Hats by Scottish band The Blue Nile.

Sjælland was released to mostly positive reviews, and although several critics were not exactly enthusiastic about Winding's production, the album ended up as one of Jørgensen's most praised albums. It's also my impression that the first critics of the album's sound nevertheless forgot their first judgment at a later stage.

It's C.V. in his most poetic corner, thus far. It must be remembered that at this point of his career he had been put on a pedestal as the outstanding national rock artist with an unusually sharp pen, which he directed against consumerism, double standards, social conflicts, as general ridicule of those in power and criticism of the political establishment without him taking a stand in relation to a clear left-right sympathy. He then advances here as a 'real' poet with songs full of lyrical features such as inner dialogue, sentiments and figurative language, which in places are the opposite to the characteristics of the epic narrative form and his image as a songwriter who was widely considered some kind of equivalent to that of the short story only adapted to a musical expression.

I attended one of his first live concerts with the album tour in '94, and the weirdest thing from the concert was my shock experiencing the aversion of the audience to his new songs. It was C.V.'s first live tour in four years with new material, and yet all a large group of fans clearly wanted was to hear him play his old stables, which meant that whenever the band started up with one of the new songs, people showed their contempt by hooting and booing. Apart from that 'detail', C.V., band and music were excellently executed, but I still left the concert with a bitter taste in my mouth after witnessing something that was so utter disrespectful. And with that in mind, I can't help thinking that experiences like that on that particular tour may be linked to C.V.'s later renunciation to live performance and also to his otherwise somewhat general withdrawal from the spotlight.

However, Sjælland was both an artistic triumph and a sales success, but it's also clear that fans were immensely divided about the his new musical direction. Some of long-running fans simply couldn't come to terms with C.V.'s progress as an artist, and he would at times be referred to as someone who had 'sold out'.

Imho, this album is no less than the best Danish album of the 1990s. It's C.V's best and most coherent album, and it's simply among the best Danish albums ever. It's nearly right up there fighting for the title as Best Danish Album Of All Time fighting side by side with Hip by Steppeulvene and the album Supertanker by Kliché.

The front cover is routinely credited C.V.'s girlfriend since 1970, Annemarie Albrectsen.

Highly recommended - a must.

1994 Favourite releases: 1. The Prodigy Music for the Jilted Generation - 2. Everything but the Girl Amplified Heart - 3. C.V. Jørgensen Sjælland