Best of 2022:Hurray for the Riff Raff "Life on Earth" (2022)

Life on Earth

release date: Feb. 18, 2022

format: vinyl (gatefold) / digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,14]

producer: Brad Cook

label: Nonesuch - nationality: USA

Track highlights: A) 1. "Wolves" - 2. "Pierced Arrows" - 3. "Pointed at the Sun" (4 / 5) - 4. "Rhododendron" - 5. "Jupiter's Dance" - - B) 1. "Nightqueen" - 2. "Precious Cargo" - 3. "Rosemary Tears" - 4. "Saga"

8th studio album from New Orleans project band Hurra for the Riff Raff is the band's first on Nonesuch. From its origins as a multi-piece orchestra, the band has become synonymous with songwriter, composer, lead singer and guitarist Alynda Mariposa Segarra (aka Alynda 'Lee' Segarra) with roots in Puerto Rico and raised in the Bronx, New York. The band's name loosely translates to "Hurrah for the Pack" meaning 'the underprivileged' (the homeless, the unemployed, immigrants) which relates to Segarra's own life lived on the American highways and as a blind passenger on freight trains, which was the preferred mode of transportation, after they [Alynda identifies as non-binary] ran away from their foster parents (their uncle and aunt) in the Bronx and headed for New Orleans. From here, Segarra ended up as a street musician and for a time they played banjo and washboard in the street band Dead Man Street Orchestra from 2007 to 2010, and with the band Hurray for the Riff Raff they made two self-released albums in 2008 and 2010, and they feature on Six Feet Down (2010) with the band Tuba Skinny, which was an offshoot of the Dead Man Orchestra. In 2011, Segarra released the album Hurray for the Riff Raff on the Loose label in 2011, whereas the 2012 follow-up Look Out Mama (also on Loose) is released as a band release. With 2013's My Dearest Darkest Neighbor, the band appears once again seemingly reduced to a solo project, (self-released and credited to Segarra's own label 'Mod Mobilian Records' and This Is American Music), which feature recordings from a 2013 UK tour. The most recent two albums Small Town Heroes (2014) and The Navigator from 2017 again seem like pure solo releases. The former is, however, recorded with several old acquaintances such as drummer and violinist Yosi Pearlstein, guitarist Sam Doores, and bassist Dan Cutler, who have all appeared on previous albums and they also played with the band on live tours but are not regular instrumentalists on all tracks and the cast credits reflect more that it's Segarra together with a wide variety of others. The album The Navigator is, like all previous studio albums, solely written and composed by Segarra, and here all other participating musicians are completely new names.

Life on Earth is undoubtedly Segarra's most beautifully produced album, although the predecessor also offered more tracks and reflected a more committed technical preparation than the more lo-fi arranged predecessors, which on the one hand are more closely connected to life as a street musician and on the other hand are not made to satisfy radio stations and the music industry as such. With Life on Earth, Segarra takes the full step as a significant contemporary artist with well-formed arrangements and a strong commitment to express their mind. It is a hybrid form of modern singer / songwriter which both echoes 70's folk rock as well as contain hints of punk rock's directness and social / political engagement (The Clash), and at the same time they make use of elements from classic rock and modern indie pop in a balanced form of their own. Some might point to similar traits from PJ Harvey, early St. Vincent, or other strong personalities in music, but it is most of all a highly original blend - and perhaps this type of comparison automatically happens when a single artist narrates with both sophisticated sting and sincerity, because Alynda Segarra's expression comes from a strong personality, and from someone who with their own distinctive melancholy and at the same time a devilish energy, which saturates a number of beautiful, relevant and original compositions.

The album has already garnered good reviews, and Hurray for the Riff Raff has entered the charts with the album and has appeared in major national TV shows.

In my opinion, Life on Earth is no less than album of the year, and naturally a highly recommended album.

[ bandcamp ]

[ Pitchfork 8,3 / 10, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars]

2022 Favourite releases: 1. Hurray for the Riff Raff Life on Earth - 2. Big Thief Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You - 3. Band of Horses Things Are Great

Best of 2005:Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté "In the Heart of the Moon" (2005)

2021 vinyl reissue

In the Heart of the Moon [debut]
release date: Sep. 13, 2005
format: cd / 2lp vinyl (2021 reissue)
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,88]
producer: Nick Gold
label: World Circuit - nationality: Mali

Tracklist: 1. "Debe" (5 / 5) (live in Brussels) - 2. "Kala" (4 / 5) - 3. "Mamadou Boutiquier" (5 / 5) - 4. "Monsieur le Maire de Niafunké" (4 / 5) - 5. "Kaira" (4 / 5) - 6. "Simbo" - 7. "Ai Ga Bani" - 8. "Soumbou Ya Ya" - 9. "Naweye Toro" - 10. "Kadi Kadi" - 11. "Gomni" (4 / 5) - 12. "Hawa Dolo"

G R E A T! That's what this is. It's the collaboration debut by Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté, two Malian musicians. The music is delicate, surreal and haunting. What rhythm, and what wonderful dreamy tunes these guys produce! Splendid music - and highly addictive. Play it when you drive to or from work, or just anywhere, when you read, or when you make love - just play it, and listen. It's extremely soothing for body and mind. I give it my warmest recommendations, and… I only need more of that kind! On this, Touré plays guitar and Diabeté plays the 21-stringed African kora, which is responsible for the spiderweb-like strings on this amazing release. The album received world-wide recognition and led to a World Live Tour with the two playing in Europe and USA.
Touré had been politically engaged and became mayor of the local town of Nianfunké in 2004, and although there are 25 years between these two musicians and they do sound as if having played together for years, when in fact the album was recorded without initial rehearsals and without Touré and Diabeté had played together for more than 3 hours in total over a span of 15 years.
Diabaté was 40 and Touré 65 years of age when this album was released, and most sadly, Touré died Mar. 2006 as a 66-year-old, only just experiencing the international acclaim this album was attributed. The album is the first in a series of three albums commonly known as the "Hotel Mandé Sessions" - the second would be Tourés last solo album Savane (released posthumously, Jul. 17, 2006) and Diabeté's Boulevard de l'Independence (credited Toumani Diabaté's Symmetric Orchestra was released Jul. 25, 2006).

EDIT Jan. 2022:
I only just received a vinyl copy of the album. Alas, the album wasn't released on vinyl until 2012. The vendor sold it filed as a 2012 issue, but it turns out, it's a 2021 re-issue. Anyway, the album is for me a cornerstone in 'world music' and simply is one of those must-have releases I wish more people knew of.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

2005 Favourite releases: 1. Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabeté In the Heart of the Moon - 2. Sigur Rós Takk... - 3. Kent Du & jag döden

original CD front

Best of 2021:Mogwai "As the Love Continues" (2021)

As the Love Continues

release date: Feb. 19, 2021

format: 2 lp vinyl (gatefold gold vinyl) / digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,14]

producer: Dave Fridmann

label: Rock Action - nationality: Skotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "To the Bin My Friend, Tonight We Vacate Earth" - 2. "Here We, Here We, Here We Go Forever" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Dry Fantasy" - 4. "Ritchie Sacramento" - 5. "Drive the Nail" - 6. "Fuck Off Money" (4 / 5) - 7. "Ceiling Granny" (4 / 5) - 8. "Midnight Flit" - 10. "Supposedly, We Were Nightmares"

10th. studio album from Scottish Mogwai released 3½ years following Every Country's Sun (Sep. 2017), however that doesn't mean that the band has been on a hiatus. Primarily an instrumental ensemble, Mogwai has long been known for their soundtracks for both documentaries and feature films and we have also seen them issuing eps in between full length studio albums. Most recently, they made the music for the Italian tv-series "ZeroZeroZero", which was released via bandcamp in May '20, and before that they released two albums in 2018: in August the soundtrack Kin made for the American Sci-Fi-flic of the same name, and the following month they released the live-album 2018.

Mogwai sounds like no other band and it's an orchestra primarily engaged with instrumental music based on traditional rock-instrumentation centrered around guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums, and with that in mind it's really impressive what kind of new music they manage to create without making it a mere repetition of the last, or any former album. Over the years, and much in the same manner they build up their compositions, they have slowly incorporated synths as a colour to their basic sound, which undoubtedly makes you point to the notion of post-rock, although, the band allegedly never has given much for that term. It's also a narrow etiquette, when your aim is to describe the band's style.

The album has garnered positive feedback and several critics has now come to see the band's tenth studio album as one of its absolute most coherent and best. At the same time, it's Mogwai's first to reach the very top of the album chart list in Great Britain. Mogwai has nearly always made use of the method known from noise rock, which may be described as taking a stance in between the quiet and the explossive and that aspect also comes in use on several compositions here, although, their method is always kept original and fully shaped to the progressive expression of the individual song. Mogwai is renowned for their coherent albums and As the Love Continues could in some ways be compared to the structures of classical works without actually being neo-classical.

As the Love Continues invites its listeners on a musical time travel back to the noise rock of the 90s, to Mogwai's starting point but also mix newer influences from the alternative scene in the last three decades with bites from electronica. At times you're tempted to think bits and pieces are inspired by Smashing Pumpkins, other frgaments by James Blake but then you eventually only realise that it's all pure Mogwai. It's demanding music - and in that way it follows a pattern of theirs where the music requires an implicit listener. You're bound to let the music speak, to let it unfold, and first then, you're may find yourself in a position where you're ready to take it in, to float in its stream and to experience its multifaceted structure.

The best by Mogwai is also the album of the year, and it's highly recommended.

[ bandcamp ]

[ allmusic.com, musicOMH, Uncut 4,5, 👍PopMatters, Mojo 4 / 5, 👎Pitchfork 6,9 / 10 stars ]

2021 Favourite releases: 1. Mogwai As the Love Continues - 2. Thåström Dom som skiner - 3. Lisa Gerrard & Jules Maxwell Burn

Best of 2020:Gorillaz "Song Machine, Season One - Strange Timez" (2020)

Song Machine, Season One - Strange Timez

release date: Oct. 23, 2020

format: vinyl / digital (17 x File, FLAC - Deluxe)

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

producer: Gorillaz, Remi Kabaka; James Ford et various

label: Parlophone - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Strange Timez" (feat. Robert Smith) (4 / 5) - 3. "The Lost Chord" (feat. Leee John) - 4. "Pac-Man" (feat. ScHoolboy Q) (4 / 5) - 5. "Chalk Tablet Towers" (feat. St. Vincent) (4 / 5) - 7. "Aries" (feat. Peter Hook and Georgia) (4 / 5) - 8. "Friday 13th" (feat. Octavian) (4,5 / 5) - 9. "Dead Butterflies" (feat. Kano and Roxani Arias) - 10. "Désolé" (feat. Fatoumata Diawara) (4 / 5) - 11. "Momentary Bliss" (feat. Slowthai and Slaves) (4 / 5) - 12. "Opium" (feat. EarthGang) - 15. "With Love to an Ex" (feat. Moonchild Sanelly) - 16. "MLS" (feat. JPEGMafia and Chai) - 17. "How Far?" (feat. Tony Allen and Skepta)

7th studio album by Gorillaz following two years after the The Now Now album is the continued Damon Albarn-led music project. Albarn is the mastermind behind the songs and Remi Kabaka, Jr. is his wingman in terms of producing the sound of the individual tracks.

The Song Machine experiment is an episodical project launched Jan. 2020 with the song "Momentary Bliss" (featuring Slowthai and Slaves) (track #11) - and the idea has been to release one new song each month alongside a video directed by graphic director of Gorillaz, Jamie Hewlett - something that has been accentuated after the Corona-lockdown. Albarn has written and composed partial or more definitive ideas and sent these to collaborating artists, who then have developed on or contributed with vocals or instrumentation, after which Albarn and Kabaka have laid down a final production. The cast of featuring artist is as diverse as the music itself. Here, Albarn mostly collaborates with new musical friends, although, the final track features the late (Nigerian-born) Tony Allen - who also were part of Albarn's side-project The Good, The Bad & The Queen. Robert Smith of The Cure has contributed with vocals and instrumentation making the first song sound like a mix of 1980s post-punk scene and electronica of the early noughts. And in a not so far stylistic universe, Peter Hook of New Order seamlessly blends with Albarn's most Bernard Sumner-like vocal and produces a song resembling New Order's Low-Life-period. Beck has never sounded fresher and Elton John comes to live again, but the featuring artists has been gathered from not only various decades and genres but from several continents - especially when including the Deluxe Edition. The majority of artists come from Britain or the US, but you will also find Malian singer / songwriter Fatoumata Diawara, South African vocalist Moonchild Sanelly (Sanelisiwe Twisha), Japanese all-female rock quartet, Chai, Venezuelean vocalist Roxani Arias [?], and Unknown Mortal Orchestra from New Zealand.

Stylistically, this is a genuine Gorillaz album - considering the wide-spread pond of musical influences you always hear in the music by Albarn - or at least in his post-Blur period. However, far he moves in various directions, he almost magically condenses everything to something fitting within the Gorillaz' universe. The 2017 album Humanz also featured various guest artists but somehow this works even better on this album. and if the 2018 album was a favourite of mine, this newest collection of songs simply beats that and not only is years' best album but also Albarn's best-ever album.

Albarn is simply one of the most underrated artists in the world of modern music, and I do know he's quite successful and that his music is cherished and played all over the globe, but from my perspective, it's nearly only possible to underrate the value of his contributions. On this album he makes sure that the guest artists comes out as individual artists - they shine because of his arrangements and at the same time he adds his own vocals and / or instrumentation to the songs making all compositions sound as stemming from one and the same source - which in a way they do 'cause Albarn made it all happen!

As far as concern the album's track highlights it's a bit of a job to pin out highs on an album that shines in its own light. The standard vinyl album is an eleven songs album, and the Deluxe Edition - made available in a download edition and as a 2 lp vinyl edition contains seventeen tracks (the Japanese edition contains 18 tracks).

Unfortunately, I find that it has become a rare thing to come across new music that stirs you in the same way music did when you were young but with this, I can frankly say that this is it! And did you notice? The album is called "Season One"... And yeah, the second chapter is already on its way and according to Albarn himself scheduled for release Mar. 2021. This man is a factory of music!

Highly recommended!

[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, The Guardian, Clash, NME, Mojo 4 / 5 stars ]

2020 Favourite releases: 1. Gorillaz Song Machine, Season One - Strange Timez - 2. Kesi BO4L - 3. I Break Horses Warnings

Best of 2019:Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds "Ghosteen" (2019)

Ghosteen

release date: Oct. 3, 2019

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

label: Ghosteen Ltd. - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Spinning Song" - 2. "Bright Horses" - 3. "Waiting for You" (4 / 5) - 6. "Galleon Ship" - 7. "Ghosteen Speaks" (4 / 5) - 9. "Ghosteen" - 11. "Hollywood"

17th studio album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds as the follow-up to the 3-year-old emotional Skeleton Tree (Sep. 2016). The album is the first to be solely credited exclusively Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, and the album has been released in all formats on the band-owned label at the time, Ghosteen Ltd. As a vinyl and CD release, the album comes as a double album consisting of eleven tracks with a total playing time of more than 68 minutes, and the album's first eight tracks - occupying the vinyl sides A+B / CD 1 - are collectively named "The Children" while the last three have been given the designation "The Parents".

Stylistically, it's much like the sequel to the 2016 album, which was seen by most as Cave's response to the recent loss of his 15-year-old son, but as Cave himself later explained, the majority of the songs had already been written when the tragedy struck, and the album's depressed mood can only be attributed to the personal tragedy and grief he and the band found themselves in during the recording sessions. On Ghosteen, the starting point of the songs is on the other hand deeply rooted in the emotions the loss gave rise to, and the album is designed as a universal reaction to the experience of grief and loss, with the poetic expression perhaps taking up more room - asking for more attention - than the music itself. It's not a collection of songs with traditional rhythm structures, but an album that via its style without percussion and drums and instead soaked in string harmonies, spheric piano and keyboard in many ways approaches a pure ambient release.

The album was released almost exclusively to overwhelmingly positive reviews and good rankings on albums charts worldwide, e.g. a No. #2 in Australia, No. #4 in the UK (No. #1 on the independent charts) and No. #12 on the US Top Rock Albums chart. It's a near impossible task to point out the best tracks on an album that is such an overall experience. Ghosteen should be listened to from start to finish, and in the listening process you may try to absorb the musical sensation in approximately the same way as you breathe. It's a very emotional release that contains both touching beauty and deep pain, which is made for meditative moments more than popular-musical entertainment. It does what it's meant to do, to facilitate emotions and support deep sadness, and it most probably works magnificently as spiritual background music. It contains lots of beauty but it's nevertheless also enormously heavy and one-dimensionally sad and as such not made for much else. But then, art itself doesn't need to be multi-purposeful.

My biggest recommendation for grief processing and just overall a big recommendation of Cave's perhaps finest and most delicate output.

[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 4,5 / 5 NME 5 / 5 stars ]

2019 Favourite releases: 1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Ghosteen - 2. The Cranberries In the End - 3. Rammstein Rammstein

Best of 2018:Jon Hopkins "Singularity" (2018)

Singularity

release date: May 4, 2018

format: digital (9 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,94]

producer: Jon Hopkins

label: Domino - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Singularity" (4,5 / 5) (official shorter video) - 2. "Emerald Rush" - 3. "Neon Pattern Drum" - 4. "Everything Connected" (4 / 5) - 6. "C O S M" - 8. "Luminous Beings"

[ full album ]

5th studio album by Jon Hopkins follows five years after Immunity (Jun. 2013). Five years is quite a long time in the music business, and it hasn't been time wasted for Hopkins, who has been a much sought for producer, co-writer, and composer on various releases. He has worked for Coldplay and toured with the band, and he has made the soundtrack album How I Live Now for the drama film by Kevin Mcdonald.

The album is a different creature than the acclaimed predecessor, and it's actually impressive how varied the album is, when it's still an extremenly coherent whole. Immunity also excelled with progressive compositions and patterns that keep evolving but that's something you dsicover is taken much further here. Stylewise, it's still in the same ballgame where tech house meets downtempo and where the experimental ingredient is ever-present. All that remains, but on top of that all compositions have that ambient quality that proppels you on a forward trip into unknown territory of deep space. Listening to this, have me thinking that it's liekly the closest you can get to have an experience that equels that of tripping from Crystal Meth without actually having taken a drug. Of course you don't hallucinate, you still consciously know where you are but may have an impression of sinking into some kind of transmission and feel an out-of-body-experience. Anyway, I get it.

Singularity is Hopkin's first and only album to top the UK Dance charts and it's also his best charting album on the general albums chart list peaking at number #9, which I fully understand. His 2013 album rightfully provided him international fame and this newest album only underlines his status as one of Britain's most fascinating composers of electronic music. This is simply Hopkins' best album to date!

Highly recommended.

[ 👍Pitchfork 8,3 / 10, Mojo, Q Magazine 4 / 5, Uncut 3,5 / 5, NME 5 / 5, 👎The Guardian 2 / 5 stars ]

[ Jon Hopkins on bandcamp ]

2018 Favourite releases: 1. Jon Hopkins Singularity - 2. The Fratellis In Your Own Sweet Time - 3. Robyn Honey

BEST OF 2003:Sun Kil Moon "Ghosts of the Great Highway" (2003)

2018 reissue

Ghosts of the Great Highway [debut]
release date: Nov. 4, 2003
format: 2 lp vinyl (2018 reissue - gatefold) / 2 cd (2007 reissue)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,65]
producer: Mark Kozelek
label: Rough Trade / Caldo Verde - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "Glenn Tipton" (4 / 5) - 2. "Carry Me Ohio" (5 / 5) (acoustic live) - 3. "Salvador Sanchez" (5 / 5) (live) - 4. "Last Tide" (4 / 5) - 5. "Floating" (4 / 5) - 6. "Gentle Moon" (5 / 5) (live) - 7. "Lily and Parrots" (4 / 5) - 8. "Duk Koo Kim" (5 / 5) (live) - 9. "Sí, Paloma" (4 / 5) - 10. "Pancho Villa" (4 / 5) - *11. "Gentle Moon" (acoustic)

*Bonus track on 2018 vinyl issue - The 2007 2 cd issue contains 6 bonus tracks.

Studio album debut by Sun Kil Moon originally released on Jetset Records (reissued in 2007 as a double cd containing 6 bonus tracks issued on Kozelek's own label Caldo Verde Records and reissued in 2018 by Caldo Verde in the US and by Rough Trade in the UK). The album follows 2½ years after the Kozelek-led band Red House Painters' final album Old Ramon (Apr. 2001).

This is gentle, voluminous music only requiring ears that will find... joy. "Mark Kozelek & Co." you could call it, since Kozelek was founder, singer, composer, guitarist and bandleader of Red House Painters before Sun Kil Moon, and his solo albums are hard to distinguish from both bands' releases. Despite the fact that Kozelek wrote both music and lyrics, this album stands out, however, being the most electrified indie folk rock of "his" albums so far. Apart from Kozelek the band consists of two bassists, Jerry Vessel (former bassist of Red House Painters) and Geoff Stanfield, as well as two drummers, Anthony Koutsos (former drummer of Red House Painters) and Tim Mooney. Guitarist Phil Carney of Red House Painters is not credited on the album but he would join Sun Kil Moon on a later point, although only for live performances.

Mark must have a certain fascination for boxing, it appears. The band name Sun Kil Moon is a direct reference to the Korean boxer, Sung-Kil Moon, and three of the tracks on this album are named after boxers who faced untimely deaths - the "ghosts of the great highway", presumably. Salvador Sanchez was a Mexican boxer who died in a car crash in 1982; "Duk Koo Kim" [an absolutely amazing track lasting 14:30 min.] is the moniker [real name is Kim Deuk-Gu] of the Korean boxer who died after a knock-out in a title match against Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini that put him in a coma in 1982 - a sad story of tragic deaths, which had serious effects on both Mancini and Kim's mother; and Pancho Villa [aka Francisco Guilledo] died after a tooth extraction in 1925. The two tracks "Salvador Sanchez" and "Pancho Villa" have the exact same lyrics and song structure but the first is with electric guitar and the latter is only with acoustic guitar. Although, most music by 'Kozelek & Co.' normally is quiet folk-oriented music, he is influenced or inspired by heavy metal and hard rock. The track "Glen Tipton" is simply named after the guitarist of the British heavy metal band, Judas Priest, and his earlier solo debut album What's Next to the Moon (Feb. 2001) only features Kozelek's musical adaptations of AC/DC songs (insofar, he has only kept the lyrics but completely altered the music).

Musically, this is indie rock and folk rock with a fine balance of swirling electric guitar-arrangements as well as subtle and gentle parts with strings and acoustic instrumentation. Sometimes it's raw energy that may be influenced by Neil Young with Crazy Horse without plagiarism, other times it's more in the domain of Simon & Garfunkel or Nick Drake, sometimes to Spanish composer Andrés Segovia; but most of all, it's without confining bonds to others with a highly original style embracing it all.

I really enjoy his more quiet acoustic guitar folk-based releases but they do have a tendency to sound a bit much alike - this one, however, is simply out of this world altogether fantabulous.

Imho, this is no less than the best album of a decade and naturally a highly recommend listen.

[ allmusic.com, Pitchfork, Uncut 4 / 5, 👎Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, 👉Sputnikmusic 5 / 5 stars ]

2003 Favourite releases: 1. Sun Kil Moon Ghosts of the Great Highway - 2. Rufus Wainwright Want One - 3. Bo Kaspers Orkester Vilka tror vi att vi är

Best of 2006:Amy Winehouse "Back to Black" (2006)

original cover

Back to Black
release date: Oct. 30, 2006
format: cd (2007 Deluxe Edition)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,48]
producer: Mark Ronson, Salaam Remi
label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: Disc 1) 1. "Rehab" - 2. "You Know I'm No Good" - 3. "Me and Mr. Jones" (live) - 4. "Just Friends" - 5. "Back to Black" - 6. "Love Is a Losing Game" (5 / 5) (live) - 7. "Tears Dry on Their Own" (live on Later) - 8. "Wake Up Alone"
Disc 2) 1. "Valerie" (5 / 5) - 2. "Cupid" - 3. "Monkey Man" (live) - 4. "To Know Him Is to Love Him" - 5. "Hey Little Rich Girl" (feat. Zalon & Ade) (live) - 6. "You're Wondering Now" - 8. "Love Is a Losing Game" (Original Demo)

2nd studio album by Amy Winehouse released three years after her debut album contains 6 tracks produced by Mark Ronson and the remaining 5 tracks on the standard album produced by Salaam Remi. The Deluxe Edition released 13 months later is a double disc album with the standard album in a remastered edition and a bonus disc with a collection of B-sides and live recordings.
The original album peaked at number #1 on the UK albums chart list, just as it did in many countries world-wide including Austria, France, Ireland, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland and New Zealand. It also went as high as number #7 on the American Billboard 200, and when it was reissued as a double disc it peaked at number #2. It contains a number of great tracks and several singles made it to top-10 in the singles charts, although none were topping the charts. The first single from the album was "Rehab", peaking at number #7 on the UK chart list, This was followed by "You Know I'm No Good", peaking at number #18, "Back to Black", peaking at number #8, and "Tears Dry on Their Own" and "Love Is a Losing Game" peaking at number #16 and #33 respectively.
Now, how do you pick a short list displaying only the best tracks from this album? It's an impossible task, and with the double disc edition it doesn't become any easier with a bonus disc full of gems including ska revival and rock steady tracks, e.g. "Hey, Little Rich Girl" (org. by The Specials), "Monkey Man" (by Frederick 'Toots' Hibbert) and "You're Wondering Now" (by Clement Seymour 'Sir Coxsone' Dodd). All songs here are wonderful examples of this woman's extraordinary gift and great potential.
"Back to Black" is naturally included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" as it's one of the most evident top-of-year album releases, you may come across.
Highly recommended.

2006 Favourite releases: 1. Amy Winehouse Back to Black - 2. Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not - 3. Band of Horses Everything All the Time

2007 2-Disc
Deluxe Edition

Best of 2017:St. Vincent "Masseduction" (2017)

Masseduction
release date: Oct. 13, 2017
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,06]
producer: Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent
label: Loma Vista - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Hang on Me" - 2. "Pills" - 3. "Masseduction" - 5. "Los Ageless" (live) - 7. "Saviour" (live) - 8. "New York" - 9. "Fear the Future"
[ live solo and acoustic on KEXP ]

5th studio album by St. Vincent co-produced by John Congleton and with Lars Stalfors.
With this, Annie Clark establishes herself as a purer art pop artist than on her previous releases. The noise pop attitudes are more low-key - bits are found here and there but the dominating picture is one of restrained originality taking a move as to embrace both earlier fans of her experimental and progressive rock as well a more recent audience who found her St. Vincent album more digestible. It's her most dance-able release so far and several tracks are touching synthpop meets electropop glued together with a glam rock attitude. But as with her previous albums this is truly a conglomerate of styles.
The album harvested fine reviews and it has become her best selling album to date reaching number #10 on the Billboard 200 in the US and number #6 in the UK. It ended high up on many year-end lists including a first spot on lists by the New York Times and The Guardian.
Musically, she has moved into the spotlight and I think it shows very much in her professional attitude. Earlier she contained and reflected a vulnerability that has been disguised by now. Sometimes I cannot stop thinking of her as an American PJ Harvey. She has the same directness, sexual awareness and a link to a Patti Smith / Janis Joplin-strong-women-of-rock-personality. It's also clear that her new-found (glamorous) image is far from her earlier open-hearted appearance (just watch some of her live performances).
I find this her most cohesive album so far and it appears as a true conceptual album with "Pills" and "Los Ageless" as my immediate favourites but also the title track and "New York" are fine songs, and where her previous works nearly all contained hits and misses this one keeps a high quality throughout, and that's ultimately why it's such a fascinating ride.
In a year with few truly great releases, I find this the most gripping.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, The Guardian, NME, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

2017 Favourite releases: 1. St. Vincent Masseduction - 2. Paul Weller A Kind of Revolution - 3. Love Shop Risiko

BEST OF 2001:Björk "Vespertine" (2001)

Vespertine
release date: Aug. 27, 2001
format: cd (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,32]
producer: Björk
label: Polydor Records - nationality: Iceland

Track highlights: 1. "Hidden Place" (4 / 5) - 2. "Cocoon" - 3. "It's Not Up to You" (5 / 5) (live) - 4. "Undo" (live) - 5. "Pagan Poetry" - 7. "Aurora" (4 / 5) - 10. "Heirloom" - 12. "Unison" (4,5 / 5)

4th studio album by Björk following four years after Homogenic (Aug. 1997) is primarily produced by Björk and is originally released by One Little Indian. Before this she released the soundtrack album Selmasongs (2000), an album with (reworked) songs from the musical film "Dancer in the Dark" starring Björk and directed by Lars von Trier.
Vespertine marks a new change of style with the addition of ambient and glitch pop. A move from trip hop towards glitch pop may not be the biggest imaginable leap, but with the album, Björk introduces a completely different sound compared to any of her previous releases. It's an album with much less focus on electronic beats and a bolder organic sound filled with strings and vocal harmonies.
I've always enjoyed this album and think of it as possibly her biggest accomplishment.
Vespertine is the second album by Björk to be enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, NME, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars ]

2001 Favourite releases: 1. Björk Vespertine - 2. Nathalie Merchant Motherland - 3. Rammstein Mutter

Best of 2009:Kent "Röd" (2009)

Röd
release date: Nov. 6, 2009
format: cd
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,35]
producer: Kent & Joshua (aka Jon Schumann)
label: RCA Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 2. "Taxmannen" (4 / 5) - 3. "Krossa allt" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Hjärta" (5 / 5) - 6. "Vals för satan (din vän pessimisten)" - 7. "Idioter" (4 / 5) - 10. "Töntarna" - 11. "Det finns inga ord" (5 / 5)

8th studio album release by Kent and the second consecutive album with producer Jon Schumann continues the style launched on Tilbaka till samtiden (2007) with a bolder progression into more electronic synthpop.

If not Du & jag döden (2005) is my absolute favourite Kent album, then this is. Those two represent the very best of Kent in my mind. Here you'll find single hits like "Krossa allt", "Hjärta" and "Det finns inga ord" but unlike the previous album, the strongest tracks are within the context of the album. The whole album is like one piece of work - much like a proper composed painting, which took the band two years to realise. Everything is in place. And everything makes sense. Well, maybe just almost 'cause I have no clear idea of the exact meaning of track #1, the psalm "18:29-4". My guess is that it has to do with an overall theme about life & death, and that the psalm may be some kick-start to that theme...

Highly recommendable.

[ allmusic.com, Aftonbladet 4 / 5, Svenska Dagbladet 4 / 6, Gaffa.dk, Politiken 5 / 6 ]

2009 Favourite releases: 1. Kent Röd - 2. Gossip Music for Men - 3. Dolores O'Riordan No Baggage

<  show lyrics >

~ ~ ~

Hjärta

"Ingen lämnas kvar
Vi hämtar dig bakom fiendens linjer
Ingen lämnas kvar
Vi skyddar dig med all kraft vi har
Mot svinen
Och ja, vi regisserar slutet tystnad, tagning

Man vet man blivit gammal när ens ungdom
Börjat glittra som Allens Manhattan
Dagen före dagen

Som det strålar från ditt hjärta
Som en motorväg av ljus
Genom hålet i mitt hjärta
Kommer räddningen till slut
Genom hålet i mitt hjärta

Har du kartan kvar?
Eller en aning om vart vi är på väg?
Så led oss
Ingen lämnas kvar
Vi saboterar allt vi inte kan ta med oss
Och när du öppnar fönstret blåser en vårvind
Förändring

Och bakom murarna vid ån lämnar jag spår
Jag skrev mitt namn i vattnet
Så du vet var jag finns

När det strålar från mitt hjärta
Som en motorväg av ljus
Genom hålet i mitt hjärta
Kommer räddningen till slut
Genom hålet i mitt hjärta

Som det strålar från mitt hjärta
Som en motorväg av ljus
Genom hålet i mitt hjärta
Kommer räddningen till slut
Genom hålet i mitt hjärta"

~ ~ ~

"Det finns inga ord"

"Sjung sånger för mig på radion
Sjung för mig igen, du lät som regn
Sjung sånger för mig om varma gator
Sjung för mig igen, mitt hjärta tyst

Och i mitt land så får man inte vara förmer
Det här är Sverige och vi gråter aldrig mer
Det finns inga ord för det, på det här jävla språket
Jag har inga ord för att vi andas, tänker, känner samma sak

Sjung en sång utan ord om ljusa nätter
Sjung för mig igen, du lät som snöfall
Jag håller andan med dig, för jag vet hur du känner
Sjung om de gånger vi delade ett liv med en blick

Och i vårt land så får man inte vara förmer
Det här är Sverige, snälla gråt när ingen ser
Det finns inga ord för det, på det här jävla språket
Jag har inga ord för att vi andas, tänker, känner samma sak

Känner samma sak
Känner samma sak

Det är så många här som aldrig sagt nej
och som aldrig kommer få en chans
så många här som aldrig såg mig
och jag vet att jag haft tur som få
Så många här som ville ha dig
men vi kände samma sak

Vi känner alltid samma sak
Vi känner alltid samma sak

Vi känner alltid samma sak"

~ ~ ~

Best of 2011:The Streets "Computers and Blues" (2011)

Computers and Blues
release date: Feb. 7, 2011
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,22]
producer: Mike Skinner

label: 679 / Locked On - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 3. "Roof of Your Car" (5 / 5) - 4."Puzzled by People" (4 / 5) - 5. "Without Thinking" (4 / 5) - 6. "Blip on a Screen" - 7. "Those That Don't Know" - 8. "Soldiers" - 9. "We Can Never Be Friends" - 11. "OMG" (4 / 5) - 12. "Trying to Kill M.E." - 13. "Trust Me" (4,5 / 5) - 14. "Lock the Locks" (feat. Clare McGuire) (5 / 5)

5th and final studio album release by The Streets. It just sounds silly to end this project at this point, and I really hope Mike returns with much more 'cause this is way too good. Yes, he did it again - didn't he just. Some argue this album has annoying hooks and tracks [!] - eh.. all music is about taste and not only do I find this in perfect line with The Streets' artistic profile - I also like it a lot! Yea, the geezer was fresh and came outta da blue with Original Pirate Material but this new one has fine and interesting music likewise. He's back with fine stories, witty jokes, delicate knife-cutting sarcasm that never leaves himself untouched, sing-a-long choruses and fine hooks 'n' riffs. It's really much better than the previous two releases that sound much alike, this one doesn't, and it's actually very much on par with the debut. This might be The Street end but it's no dead end - and Skinner takes off on top, now playing as The D.O.T. ...
[ allmusic.com, Q Magazine, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph 4 / 5 stars ]

2011 Favourite releases: 1. The Streets Computers and Blues - 2. Tom Waits Bad as Me - 3. Liz Green O, Devotion!

Show lyrics <- click...

~ ~ ~
"Puzzled by People

"We never had a crossed word
My words got lost and you never heard
I'm 2 down, you're 1 across the room
Beginning with I and ending in U
Beginning in my eye, ending as an X
Leaves a bad taste in my mouth

To think of you again
Like the bad taste leaking from the ink in my pen
Doodle at the side as I do to in life
Choosing to lose time instead of doing what I like
Starts off black and white and lacking in life
Until pen in blue lends it a hue

Puzzled by people
Loving isn't easy
You can't google the solutions
To people's feelings

Sometimes - You have to find out for yourself
Sometimes - You need to be told
Sometimes - You never find the answer
So the story it goes"

~ ~ ~

Best of 2013:Arctic Monkeys "AM" (2013)

AM
release date: Sep. 9, 2013
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,21]
producer: James Ford, Ross Orton
label: Domino Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Do I Wanna Know?" - 2. "R U Mine?" (4 / 5) - 3. "One for the Road" - 4. "Arabella" - 6. "No. 1 Party Anthem" (4,5 / 5) - 7. "Mad Sounds" - 8. "Fireside" - 9. "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?" (acoustic) - 12. "I Wanna Be Yours" (4 / 5)

5th studio album by Arctic Monkeys is in my mind, the band's best album since the debut Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006), thus making it their second best effort so far. It's still pretty new to me, but I've already played it more than the predecessor Suck It and See (2011) and Humbug (2009), the latter being their lowest point. It's not a return to the sound of the debut but a fine work showing what an excellent songwriter, Alex Turner is. Just before the band's last album (2011), Alex released the solo album (or ep), the soundtrack Submarine (2011) with much more quiet music and a distinct singer / songwriter profile, and that new style shines through on this one. The album comes out as a more mature release. It contains singer / songwriter folk rock but still reeks of garage rock and alt. rock, which makes it rather complex but still pretty coherent, and then it may be heavily influenced / inspired by Reed, Bowie, and Lennon / The Fab Four, but without plagiarism.

2013 Favourite releases: 1. Arctic Monkeys AM - 2. Tindersticks Across Six Leap Years - 3. De Efterladte Alvorsord og etagevask

BEST OF 1991:Talk Talk "Laughing Stock" (1991)

org. vinyl cover

Laughing Stock
release date: Nov. 19, 1991
format: vinyl (847 717-1) / cd (1999 remaster)
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,86]
producer: Tim Friese-Greene
label: Verve / Polydor - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Myrrhman" (5 / 5) - 2. "Ascension Day" (5 / 5) - 3. "After the Flood" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Taphead" (4 / 5) - 5. "New Grass" (5 / 5) - 6. "Runeii" (5 / 5)

5th and final studio album by Talk Talk originally released on the Polydor sub-label Verve Records. After the band's controversy with former label EMI, bassist Paul Webb left the band, officially reducing Talk Talk to a duo of Mark Hollis and drummer Lee Harris, but practically, Harris had left Talk Talk before recording the album. The band had become a one-man project, but Harris is still credited as band member because he was hired as session musician, and the 'real' duo of Talk Talk was rather one consisting of Hollis and producer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist Tim Friese-Greene, although he never was an official member of Talk Talk.
The music on Laughing Stock is the extended journey to what was initiated on The Colour of Spring (1986) and much bolder heard on Spirit of Eden (1988). It's like one long coherent composition, although, there are 6 tracks on the album. The music is inter-woven jazz rock, art rock, and / or experimental but ultimately post-rock compositions with thematic ideas as foundation to improvisations.
Of all the great Talk Talk albums, I have always loved this album the most. Alas, the vinyl pressing of the release is not impressively manufactured. The sound is too low and the quality of the record is poor. This is the sort of album you just need to own on optical disc because of the minimal and spatial sound. Hollis was never the arch typical star of the music industry - he always distanced himself from the media circus, be it TV, reporters and-the-like, and he only reluctantly agreed to make music videos to some of the band's singles - as he didn't believe in the whole idea of promoting music.
Laughing Stock was met by positive reviews but Hollis had no intentions of touring to promote the album, very much like it had been the issue with the previous album(s). By 1992 Hollis dissolved the band and withdrew from music to concentrate on his family. However, he would go on to release one critically acclaimed solo album, the eponymous Mark Hollis in 1998 - produced, only to fulfil the contractual obligations of the two albums record deal with Polydor. Unfortunately, he hasn't released music since. He was embraced as a gifted singer and songwriter, and although, he could have continued as a famous solo artist, producer and/or songwriter, Hollis just wanted no part of the business. Paul Webb and Lee Harris went on to launch their duo-project .O.rang - for two full-length albums after which Paul Webb founded his own (acclaimed) project Rustin Man, and Tim Friese-Greene initiated his solo project Heligoland. Both .O.rang and Heligoland expose some of the experimental ideas you'll find resonating with Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock.
Sigur Rós has played Talk Talk compositions when playing live, and alongside many bands of the mid- and late 90s (Mogwai, Recoil, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Radiohead, Portishead - yes, the list goes on) they have found much of their inspiration in Talk Talk and especially the band's last two albums that have come to stand like cornerstones of the modern music era.
To me, Laughing Stock is an album that I have always listened to - never a year without it - and I find it a modern masterpiece.
[ allmusic.com, Sputnikmusic 5 / 5, Q Magazine, Select 4 / 5 stars ]

1991 Favourite releases: 1. Talk Talk Laughing Stock - 2. Van Morrison Hymns to the Silence - 3. Kitchens of Distinction Strange Free World


[ collectors' item - plus €100,- and up for VG+ ]

1999 cd remaster

BEST OF 2004:Arcade Fire "Funeral" (2004)

Funeral [debut]
release date: Sep. 14, 2004
format: cd
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,56]
producer: Arcade Fire
label: Merge Records - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" - 2. "Neighborhood #2 (Laïka)" (5 / 5) (live in Amsterdam) - 3. "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" (5 / 5) (live on Jools Holland) - 5. "Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)" - 7. "Wake Up" - 8. "Haïti" (5 / 5) - 9. "Rebellion (Lies)" (5 / 5) - 10. "In the Backseat"

Studio debut album by Arcade Fire. Despite the amount of hype that preceded it, the album lives up to all expectations and more! This is great innovative music that takes you places and makes you wanna turn up the volume and just... dance. It may not look pretty [me dancing] but it sure makes me wanna move :-) In spite of the sinister theme of death and loss, it really is an uplifting and positive album, and with this: they deserve all the hype. This was without comparison my most beloved cd that year.The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com 5 / 5, NME 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone, Uncut 4 / 5 stars ]

2004 Favourite releases: 1. Arcade Fire Funeral - 2. The Streets A Grand Don't Come for Free - 3. Grant-Lee Phillips Virginia Creeper

Best of 2014:Ukendt Kunstner "Forbandede ungdom" (2014)

Forbandede ungdom [debut]
release date: May 12, 2014
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,22]
producer: Jens Ole McCoy
label: Sony Music - nationality: Denmark

Tracklist: 1. "Begyndelsen" - 2. "Hun sagde" (feat. Karen) (4 / 5) - 3. "Feelings" - 4. "Alting / Ingenting" (4 / 5) - 5. "Fortæl dem" (feat. Lord Siva) (4 / 5) - 6. "Spor 6" - 7. "Boulevarden" - 8. "Daglige brød" (3,5 / 5) - 9. "Stein Bagger" (4 / 5) - 10. "Gennem byen" (4,5 / 5) - 11. "Englebarn" (feat. Caroline Henderson) - 12. "Kjærlighed" (4 / 5)

Full studio debut album by the Danish duo Ukendt Kunstner consisting of Hans Phillip on vocal and Jens Ole McCoy credited as producer. They have already released several eps, singles, and a fine mixtape in the span of just a few years.
It's nice and fine music the two produce, which loans from various artists like Tricky and Drake, but they still manage to make it sound quite unique in this blend of British and American styled conscious hip-hop, rap, r&b, and trip hop. Lyrically, they sing exclusively in Danish only, which is made in a subtle and artistic way, and subject-wise, I find that they have improved on this by distancing their stories and subjects from other Danish contemporaries, but also elevating Danish music to new standards in the rap and hip hop categories.

EDIT August 2016: In 2015 and early 2016 I still had the album in fourth place for 2014, then I placed it as third best, but I have slowly come to realise that's it's simply the best album, surpassing Bob Mould and Kent. The album has already become a certified Danish classic.

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

Best of 2016:Tindersticks "The Waiting Room" (2016)

The Waiting Room
relase date: Jan. 22, 2016
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,14]
producer: Stuart A. Staples
label: Lucky Dog / City Slang - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Second Chance Man" - 3. "Were We Once Lovers?" (4 / 5) - 5. "Hey Lucinda" (feat. Lhasa de Sela) - 7. "How He Entered" (4,5 / 5) (live) - 8. "The Waiting Room" (4 / 5) - 10. "We Are Dreamers!" - 11. "Like Only Lovers Can" (4,5 / 5)

11th studio album by Tindersticks is much to the usual formula produced by the band's frontman, main songwriter and composer Stuart Staples. In addition to lead vocalist Staples, the band here consists of Neil Fraser on guitars, David Boulter on piano, Dan McKinna on bass, and with Earl Harvin on drums and percussion - the same quintet who stood behind the two most recent albums: Across Six Leap Years (Oct. 2013) and The Something Rain (Feb. 2012), which both present the simple and yet complex combo of chamber pop mixed with a strong inspiration from jazz.

The Waiting Room is yet another very fine studio release from a band who have really understood how to reinvent themselves after a few years of searching for past greatness.

The song "Hey Lucinda" is said to be a song begun a decade earlier that has had many takes on final versions. During a visit to Montreal, Staples recorded a vocal version with Mexican-American singer Lhasa de Sela, who appears here on the final version [de Sela died in 2010].

My first impression of the album was good, but after another six months of constantly playing the album, tracks as well as the whole album only kept growing on me, and I have to admit that these Brits have done it again and simply made Album Of The Year. The Waiting Room is no less than one of the band's absolute best and can only be recommended.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

2016 Favourite releases: 1. Tindersticks The Waiting Room - 2. Ukendt Kunstner Den anden side - 3. Bob Mould Patch the Sky

   

inlay photos by Richard Dumas

<  show lyrics >

~ ~ ~
"How He Entered"

"This is how he entered
How he came in
With an open heart and his eyes wide
A rubber in his pocket
Without socks, and a skip in his step
In an ill-fitting suit with something up his sleeve
A slither of a dream, a last gem
And the fear in his eyes of how dear it was held

This is how he entered
How he came in
Falling from the back of a transit van
Crumpled, desperate for relief from the humdrum
Each step a story, a song in the making
Each step cemented the living
The broken hearts left behind
They were just material to him
And how they would come to pursue him
How they would eventually come to drag him back in

This is how he entered
How he came in
With his hair cold he stood in the doorway
Like a lost dog holding his missing poster
Just to be sure - to be sure everyone knew just how lost he was
Telling his story he broke onions and sang songs
The street walkers carol
Soft tissue
The fear of emptiness
Planting holes to grow some money
These were his songs
And this was how he came in

This was how he entered
How he came in
With chips in his pocket
Just waiting for the chance to get into the game
With his head combed and the checks on his shirt just right
He sang of it but knew nothing of it
The house of cards by an open window
Pack of frazzles
An unsolvable puzzle
He knew nothing of what you needed from him
He knew nothing of giving
He only knew of his desires
He only knew of that woman

This is how he entered
This is how he came in

This is how he entered
How he came in"

~ ~ ~

BEST OF 2002:The Streets "Original Pirate Material" (2002)

Original Pirate Material [debut]
release date: Mar. 25, 2002
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,16]
producer: Mike Skinner
label: 679 / Locked On - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Turn the Page" (4 / 5) - 2. "Has It Come to This" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Let`s Push Things Forward" - 5. "Same Old Thing" - 6. "Geezers Need Excitement" (4 / 5) - 7. "It's Too Late" (4,5 / 5) - 8. "Too Much Brandy" - 9. "Don't Mug Yourself" (5 / 5) - 11. "The Irony of It All" - 12. "Weak Become Heroes" (4 / 5)

Studio album debut by the Mike Skinner solo project The Streets, and what a great release that is! Skinner is THE dominant figure behind the project, he wrote all tracks for the album and produced it on his own.
The album was well-received and came in at number #10 on the British albums chart list, but in a few years time it gained even more recognition, and today it's one of the highest ranked albums of the decade.
Highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com, Uncut, and Drowned In Sound 5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

2002 Favourite releases: 1. The Streets Original Pirate Material - 2. Interpol Turn on the Bright Lights - 3. Johnny Cash American IV: The Man Comes Around