Faye Webster "I Know I'm Funny haha" (2021)

I Know I'm Funny haha

release date: Jun. 25, 2021

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]

producer: Drew Vandenberg, Faye Webster

label: Secretly Canadian - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Better Distractions" - 3. "I Know I'm Funny haha" - 4. "In a Good Way" - 5. "Kind Of" - 6. "Cheers" - 9. "A Dream With a Baseball Player" - 10. "Overslept" (feat. Mei Ehara)

4th studio album from Faye Webster released two years after what is conceived as her breakthrough album Atlanta Millionaires Club. An unforseen aid has nursed the new album to international attention when ex-president Barrack Obama's Spotify playlist revealed it included the song "Better Distractions".

Webster continue on the same path of alt. country, indie folk mixed with elements from r&b and hip hop. At times it comes close to lounge and jazz pop, and then it also reach out to a stronger hip hop-influence but it mainly stays on a narrow stylistic space filled with lap steel, bass and jazz percussion together with Webster's gentle melancholia keeping everything on the same road. Compared to her 2019 album, the new album comes out as lesser challenging but also as a tighter release.

The album has been met by positive reviews and it has landed two US Billboard top 10 positions with a position as number #10 on the Americana / Folk chart list and a 9th spot on the Heatseekers Album list, and the album also ended as number #11 on Pitchfork's 2021 year-end-list.

Webster is definitely an artist to look out for, and with I Know I'm Funny haha, she has made her most coherent and so far most fascinating album.

Recommended.

[ 😶allmusic.com 3 / 5, 👍Under the Radar 7,5 / 10, NME 4 / 5, Pitchfork 8,4 / 10, Uncut 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint "The River in Reverse" (2006)

The River in Reverse

release date: Jun. 6, 2006

format: digital (13 x Files, FLAC)

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

producer: Joe Henry (exec. produced by Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint)

label: Verve Forecast: - nationality: England, UK / USA

Track highlights: 1. "On Your Way Down" - 2. "Nearer to You" - 4. "The Sharpest Thorn" - 5. "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?" - 6. "The River in Reverse" - 7. "Freedom for the Stallion" - 11. "All These Things"

Collaboration album by Elvis Costello and New Orleans-based songwriter, composer, record producer, pianist and composer, Allen Toussaint, who is a familiar name of traditional American rhythm & blues.

Toussaint had previously contributed as pianist on Costello's "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror" for his Spike album, and the two had earlier discussed the possibility of a collaboration work, but it wasn't until the hurricane, Katrina flooded New Orleans in 2005 that Costello was concerned about Toussaint, as he was one of many affected artists of the disaster. Both was involved in benefit concerts and Costello initially thought of and performed with Toussaint's song "Freedom for the Stallion" after which the two was paired for live concerts, which ultimately led to Costello suggesting that they made an album together. And in that way The River in Reverse is a requiem on the New Orleans tragedy. Except for the title song, which is written and composed by Costello, the remaining 12 compositions are reworkings of songs composed by Toussaint - a few with new lyrics by Costello.

The result is actually really good. Toussaint has composed lively and traditional music, and Costello delivers some a vocal performance on the majority of the songs with warmt and emotions that at times make me think of Van Morrison. It's a quite different arena than Costello's recent collaborations: Painted From Memory (1998) with Burt Bacharach, and Deep Dead Blue (1995) with Bill Frisell, but it's by no means a left-handed work or a lesser experience - it's just... different, mostly because this album is a genuinely rhythm & blues album, which again shows us how easily Costello adapts to different styles. Not that he masters everything, but I don't think he believes there's a style or genre he cannot handle.

This is a warm and delightful album.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, 👍Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, Pitchfork 6,1 / 10 stars ]

Brittany Howard "Jaime" (2019)

Jaime [debut]
release date: Sep. 20, 2019
format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,55]
producer: Brittany Howard
label: ATO Records - nationality:

Track highlights: 2. "He Loves Me" (live session) - 3. "Georgia" - 4. "Stay High" (live session) - 6. "Short and Sweet" - 7. "13th Century Metal" (live session) - 9. "Goat Head" - 10. "Presence"

Studio solo debut album by Alabama Shakes front-figure, Brittany Howard. Well, actually she made the full-length album work already in Sep. 2015 under the moniker of Thunderbitch, which was more of a musical project, where Jaime should be regarded as her actual solo debut. Howard is in complete control as she has written and composed all tracks and also produced it.
In Alabama Shakes the music is a tight mixture of warm and energetic r&b, blues rock, and soul, which also is a mixture you will find here, but on top of that this is much more complex in terms of styles. She blends all that with jazz rock, hip hop, contemporary r&b, and art pop to make her own conglomerate of styles and genres and succeeding without sounding forced or too varied.
Jaime has been met by critical acclaim and it peaked at number #13 on the US Billboard 200 and topping the US Americana / Folk albums chart list.
The musical arrangements and stylistic complexity immediately had me thinking of St. Vincent, but it's rather unfair to point at comparisons 'cause Howard only proves her artistic originality and worth, which pays tribute to the American heritage of great artists of jazz, soul, r&b as well as a great variety of modern performers of pop music.
Recommended.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Robbie Robertson "How to Become Clairvoyant" (2011)

How to Become Clairvoyant
release date: Apr. 5, 2011
format: 2 cd (Deluxe Edition)
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,68]
producer: Marius de Vries and Robbie Robertson
label: Macrobiotic Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Straight Down the Line" - 2. "When the Night Was Young" - 3. "He Don't Live Here No More" - 5. "This Is Where I Get Off" - 6. "Fear of Falling"

5th studio album by Robbie Robertson released more than thirteen years [!] after his most recent studio album Contact From the Underworld of Redboy (1998).

The album doesn't fall far from his previous albums in the sense that this is also a combo of preferred styles, a natural love for rhythm & blues, americana and traditional singer / songwriter folk rock blended with contemporary styles and influences from alt. rock and small dozes of electronic. The album features several guest musicians, e.g. Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Trent Reznor, Tom Morello, Robert Randolph, Rocco Deluca, Angela McCluskey, and Taylor Goldsmith. Apparently, the album was initiated from Robertson and Clapton's jam sessions, which grew to the idea of a new album - Clapton features on three of the songs and is co-composer of two and is sole writer of the instrumental "Madame X" (track #8).

Although using bits of electronic elements, How to Become Clairvoyant is not the continued experience with electronica as was initiated most boldly on his fine '98 album - neither is it the return to his other solo releases. In fact, it shares much more with albums produced while playing in The Band. And then the songs with Clapton, well, they simply sound like Clapton featuring Robertson, which means r&b pop / rock in that unmistakably (ordinary) traditional British style of his.

The album is not one of his most spectacular solo efforts - in fact, I find it his least favourable. The songs are solid compositions but all sound like others and older compositions, and Robertson sound as if in doubt of who to lean towards: Clapton or Dylan? And sometimes he even sound like imitating John Mayer.

The album fared more than just well as it actually became Robertson's best charting album on the US Billboard 200 Albums list peaking at #13 (his solo debut is still his best-selling and only Platinum-selling album peaking at #38).

The Deluxe Edition comes with a bonus disc titled 'Deluxe Disc' containing five "songwriter versions", i.e.. demo takes and one outtake from the recording sessions.

Not really recommended.

[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

McAlmont & Butler "The Sound of... McAlmont & Butler" (1995)

The Sound of... McAlmont & Butler [debut]
release date: Nov. 27, 1995
format: box-set (2 lp vinyl + 2 cd + 1 dvd) (2015 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: Bernard Butler
label: hut Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Yes (Full Version)" (4 / 5) (live) - 4. "Although" - 6. "Disappointment / Interval" - 9. "How About You" - 12. "You Do"

Collaboration debut by McAlmont & Butler by the project-band of David McAlmont and Bernard Butler (ex-guitarist of Suede). McAlmont is songwriter and vocalist and Butler guitarist and keyboardist, and he has arranged, composed and produced the album.
After McAlmont's overlooked but great debut, McAlmont (1994), he found together with Butler on this project, which was received with mostly positive reviews and peaking at number #33 on the UK albums chart list. The album features a huge blend of genres and styles of pop / rock, art pop, r&b and neo-soul in a Dusty Springfield-kind of way. I do think that the huge mix of styles and what at times feels like a multi-layered sound are what keeps this from being a truly great pop album. The great "Yes" was quite a big hit, reaching number #8 on the national singles charts and together with "Disappointment" and "You Do" (second single from the album peaking at number #17) they are the finest tracks on what at a first glance may appear as a somewhat varied album, but after accustomising to the layered sound, it does resonate as a fine coherent album with strong bonds to productions of the '60s.
The duo, however, soon split after this release and individually they went back to pursue their solo careers; however, in 2001 they came back together again to release the sophomore Bring It Back (2002).
The 2015 remastered boxset on Edsel is a mighty fine issue which also includes a 12'' maxi single, the original album on cd with a bonus cd, a dvd containing music videos, live recordings, an interview, as well as a nice book.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, The Guardian 5 / 5 stars ]

Van Morrison "A Night In San Francisco" (1994) (live)

A Night In San Francisco (live)
release date: May 17, 1994
format: 2 cd (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Van Morrison
label: Exile / Polydor - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Double disc live album by Van Morrison - which could've been called "Two Nights in California", are the recordings from two live concerts in Dec. 1993 in California - one night at the Mystic Theater, Petaluma, Dec. 12, and another night at the Masonic Auditorium, San Francisco, Dec. 18 - the 2008 Remaster contains the bonus track "Cleaning Windows" recorded at the Masonic Auditorium, Dec. 17, 1993.
A handful of special guests appear on some of the 23 songs, which represent many covers as well as familiar Morrison compositions. The guest artists are John Lee Hooker, Candy Dulfer, Junior Wells, Jimmy Witherspoon, and Morrison's daughter, Shana Morrison. Aside from these, a strong group of handpicked supporting musicians appear throughout all compositions: Ronnie Johnson on guitar, James Hunter on guitar & vocals, Brian Kennedy on vocals, Nicky Scott on bass, Georgie Fame on keyboards & vocals, John Savannah on piano & vocals, Geoff Dunn on drums, Teena Lyle on percussion & vibraphone, Kate St. John on soprano & tenor saxophone, and Haji Ahkba on flugelhorn. And this bunch really back Morrison in the best possible way.
The album is full of individual performances as well as tight, spontaneous and delightful playing, and on top of it all, Van Morrison swims in, with, against the streams of sound in the most natural manner. The album contains more than 2½ hours of music, which may seem like a long time, but frankly, it doesn't feel one minute too long. Also, the recordings and the production sound is just like being there.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Terence Trent D'arby "Vibrator" (1995)

Vibrator
release date: Jun. 1, 1995
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,27]
producer: Terence Trent D'Arby
label: Columbia Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 3. "Holding on to You" (3,5 / 5) - 6. "We Don't Have That Much Time Together" - 8. "If You Go Before Me"

4th studio album by Terence Trent D'Arby continue its style from Symphony or Damn (1993), only it doesn't contain compositions on the same high level. It sounds and feels much like leftovers from his previous work. Together with Neither Fish Nor Flesh from '89, I find this his least interesting album, and the one that makes me think of Prince the most, and I'm not a fan of his. This is only just mediocre. This is one huge blend of styles: funk, soul , pop / rock, r&b, well even jazz is represented here making it fusion jazz rock. It seems he's almost trying to embrace all styles and genres, which can only lead to the style of... confusion [!].
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5, Select 1 / 5 stars ]

Terence Trent D'Arby "Symphony or Damn" (1993)

Symphony or Damn
release date: May 11, 1993
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Terence Trent D'Arby
label: Columbia Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "She Kissed Me" (4,5 / 5) (live - live) - 3. "Do You Love Me Like You Say?" - 4. "Baby Let Me Share My Love" (4 / 5) - 5. "Delicate" (feat. Des'ree) (4 / 5) - 6. "Neon Messiah" - 7. "Penelope Please" - 12. "Are You Happy?" - 14. "I Still Love You"

3rd studio album by Terence Trent D'Arby is a fine return to form. The style is closer to his great debut album, but also has a more hard rock profile, which makes me think of Lenny Kravitz as a younger (and lesser gifted) admirer of his.
D'Arby's struggles with an image of being over-ambitious doesn't come easy with tracks #1-9 labelled "Part I - Confrontation", and tracks #10-16: "Part II - Reconciliation". However, once again D'Arby shows his great musical skills by being credited as musical arranger, for handling lead and background vocals, as instrumentalist playing bass, clavinet, drums, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, percussion, for making drum programming, horn and string arrangements, sound effects, AND for producing the album. Aside from that he has composed all music on the album. Yes, he is enormously gifted, and (sadly) he points to that himself, BUT this is a fine album almost parring his great debut. I didn't come across this album until after 2005, but it really doesn't sound like being produced in '93. It has a big and vivid sound, and considering the seemingly absent attention that was attributed the album, it surprises me how good it is. It's a recommended, almost essential r&b album of the 1990s.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Terence Trent D'Arby "Neither Fish Nor Flesh..." (1989)

Neither Fish Nor Flesh...
release date: Oct. 23, 1989
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,46]
producer: Terence Trent D'Arby
label: CBS Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 3."It Feels So Good To Love Someone Like You" - 4. "To Know Someone Deeply Is To Know Someone Softly" (4 / 5) - 5. "I'll Be Alright" (4 / 5) (live) - 6. "Billy Don't Fall" (3,5 / 5)

2nd studio album by Terence Trent D'Arby with the full title Neither Fish Nor Flesh (A Soundtrack of Love, Faith, Hope & Destruction) is released 2½ years after his great debut. The style is less focused, and loans from funk rock folk and gospel. It doesn't contain the same great single hits as the debut, but it contains fine music. I don't recall hearing it upon its release, and frankly suspect that most radio stations and distributor links didn't want D'Arby at all. Critics were hard on D'Arby. Well, he hadn't made it easy to himself claiming that his debut was a more important album than Sgt. Pepper... by The Beatles, and generally just taking it for granted that everyone in touch with the music industry could tell he was a genius. Prior to the album release, a German producer, Frank Farian reissued the album Love on Time (1984) by the German band, The Touch, a band featuring Terence Trent D'Arby on vocals. He played in the band while serving the US army stationed in Frankfurt, and Farian took advantage of D'Arby's new-found international debut to reissue the album as Early Works against D'Arby's will. When Neither Fish Nor Flesh was released, many music critics called the new album over-ambitious, pretentious, and simply rejected D'Arby's persona. Apparently, and according to D'Arby he found himself and the record label with conflicting ideas about promotional aspects, which wasn't in favor of the album nor the artist behind it. Some time after the release, TTD referred to himself as Sananda Maitreya, a name he legally changed to in 2001. On his homepage referring to this album, he recalls: "We believe this is the project that literally killed ‘TTD’, and from whose molten ashes, began the life of Sananda."
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Terence Trent D'Arby "Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby" (1987)

Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby [debut]
release date: Jul. 13, 1987
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,05]
producer: Martyn Ware, Terence Trent D'Arby, Howard Grey
label: Columbia Records - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "If You All Get to Heaven" (4 / 5) - 2. "If You Let Me Stay" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Wishing Well" (4 / 5) - 4. "I'll Never Turn My Back on You (Father's Words)" (3,5 / 5) - 5. "Dance Little Sister" (4 / 5) - 6. "Seven More Days" (4 / 5) (live) - 7. "Let's Go Forward" (3,5 / 5) - 8. "Rain" (3,5 / 5) - 9. "Sign Your Name" (4 / 5) - 10. "As Yet Untitled" (3 / 5) - 11. "Who's Lovin' You" (4 / 5) (live)

Studio debut album by Terence Trent D'Arby (born Terence Trent Howard). This is a fabulous debut album. D'Arby wrote, sang, played, arranged, and co-produced most tracks single-handedly. He is a multi-instrumentalist and has a singing voice that pars the best soul artists, and feels stronger, tighter and more intense than any contemporary r&b, soul, and pop / rock singer around. Stylistically, it's a huge blend of styles with rhythm & blues at the center of everything, and around that, D'Arby drags from especially soul, but also from pop / rock, blues, and vocal jazz with noticeable sources like Otis Redding, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, and Stevie Wonder. The album went straight to #1 in the UK and many other European countries, whereas it had a harder time in D'Arby's home country, the USA. To me, this is much better than Michael Jackson or Prince, perhaps because it contains more rock and soul influence - it's more hard hitting than most r&b releases, which may explain its difficulty in his home country. After this first great album, D'Arby strangely almost vanished from the public eye. Initially, I bought the album on cassette in '87, and only first in the 90s bought it on cd. The album is rightfully enlisted in "10001 Albums You Must Here Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Q Magazine 3 / 5 stars ]

Lira "Return to Love" (2011)

Return to Love
release date: Jan. 31, 2011
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]
producer: Robin Kohl
label: SME Africa - nationality: South Africa

Track highlights: 1. "When I Dance" - 3. "Call Me" - 4. "Love to Love" - 11. "Get Into Action"

4th studio album by South African (model and) pop artist Lira, who makes music in a more traditional contemporary jazz-inspired r&b and pop-style. Her second album Feel Good from 2006 was met as a great success in South Africa, where she was nominated in 5 categories at the Grammy Music Awards in 2007. Lira has a crisp, soulful, and velvet-like singing voice, not unlike that of Sade, and she varies the single compositions from singing in African tongue and English, which seems her preferred singing language.

Robyn "Don't Stop the Music" (2002)

Don't Stop the Music
release date: Oct. 30, 2002
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: Ghost [Ulf Lindström and Johan Ekhé]
label: BMG Sweden - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Keep This Fire Burning" - 2. "Don't Stop the Music" - 3. "O Baby" - 4. "Blow My Mind" - 9. "Big City"

3rd studio album by Robyn again with producer and musical songwriter songwriter duo, Ghost, on 9 out of 12 tracks, and again with BMG, although, she left the company to have more artistic freedom and signed with Jive Records in 2001, only to realise that her new label had become a sub-label to BMG. The controversy she experienced with My Truth (1999), and the subsequent label decision not to release the album internationally, rebounds on this. The album was released in Sweden and Japan only.
Stylewise, it's Robyn as we know her from her two previous albums. The dance-pop is again at the centre of the songs, which makes this more like a natural follow-up to her '95 debut album, and she has turned down on the American r&b style and instead jumped onto the back wheel of Michael Jackson.
The album spawned the two singles #1 and #2 peaking at number #3 and #7 respectively on the Swedish singles chart list, and the album reached number #2 like the predecessor. Once again, she proves to be up front on the pop scene in Scandinavia, but the album feels as her least interesting to date. There's too much recycling, no really great songs and little originality on what turns out as a bit of an anonymous release.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Gaffa.dk 3 / 5 stars ]

Elvis Costello & The Attractions "High Fidelity" (1980) (single)

High Fidelity, 12'' single

release date: Apr. 4, 1980

format: vinyl (XX3T)

[single rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]

producer: Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello

label: F-Beat - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) "High Fidelity" - - B) 1. "Getting Mighty Crowded" - 2. "Clowntime Is Over (Version 2)"

2nd single taken from the album Get Happy!! (Feb. 1980) following the first single I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down (Feb. 1980) and succeeded by the third and final single from the album: New Amsterdam (Jun. 1980). The A-side is produced by Lowe, whereas the two B-side compositions both are produced by Costello.

High Fidelity was not another Top 10-single hit as the first single, which had charted as number #4 as it topped as number #30 on the UK singles chart, however, over the years, the song is regarded as one of Costello's major songs and in a way embellies the Motown soul tribute of the album and stands as one of his most danceable songs.

Elvis Costello & The Attractions "Get Happy!!" (1980)

Get Happy!!
release date: Feb. 15, 1980
format: vinyl / cd (1994 remaster Extended Play)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,46]
producer: Nick Lowe
label: F-Beat / Demon Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Love for Tender" (5 / 5) - 2. "Opportunity" - 3. "The Imposter" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "King Horse" - 6. "Possession" (5 / 5) - 7. "Man Called Uncle" - 8. "Clowntime Is Over" - 10. "High Fidelity" - 11. "I Can't Stand Up (For Falling Down)" - 14. "B Movie" - 15. "Motel Matches" - 18. "Temptation" (5 / 5) - 19. "I Stand Accused" - *23 "Getting Mighty Crowded" - *24. "So Young"
*Bonus track on 1994 remaster 'Extended Play'

4th studio album by Elvis Costello is like the predecessor made with The Attractions, and it's his now fourth album to be produced by Nick Lowe. The original vinyl release is released on F-Beat and the '94 remaster in the Extended Play-series, is released by Demon Records.
Already, at this point Costello was known for the incredible production speed he was pursuing. Many artist spewed out albums faster than ever before at this point in modern music history, but Costello wrote and composed close to 100% of his material on his own, and here just one year after the new-found style of Armed Forces he bangs another style-shift on the counter with this one to avoid repeating himself.
Get Happy!! contains 20 tracks in the original vinyl version, which in itself is an accomplishment and something almost unheard of with its running time at 48 mins they indeed pressed the limits with the vinyl format. Several songs run out under 2 mins, and the average playing time of the songs must be somewhere around 2:30, but still he demonstrates impressive writing pace. Stylistically, the album showcases Costello's musical strengths as he explores soul and r&b sources to mix his own new wave and power pop version of pop soul and with the tight backing band, The Attractions they make it a bomb of sheer rhythmic energy.
I think the album is one of my first purchases after having bought This Year's Model with Costello in the early 1980s, and it immediately felt great. I know, contemporary critics praised his earlier and some later releases higher than this, but from my perspective this is Costello at his best. Much like with his '79 album it's a pretty hard job to enlist the track highlights on an album that just consists of great songs, which is why I have only enlisted the very very best. The 1994 remaster on Demon is worth every penny. Like the vinyl was followed by producer Nick Lowe's comment to the record buyer to pay attention that the album has 10 tracks on each side without loss of quality, the remaster has another 10 bonus tracks in the 'Extended Play' series (actually, 11 tracks counting the unlisted 31st incomplete demo track of "Love for Tender" intentionally ending abruptly after 1:39). The original vinyl album was issued with a wrong playing order - having swapped the A and B-sides, and the '94 remaster plays along with this by enlisting the total tracks in reverse order.
The first (and the best charting) single from the album is I Can't Stand Up (For Falling Down) (Feb. 1980) peaking at number #4 on the UK singles chart list, followed by High Fidelity (Feb. 1980) and New Amsterdam (Jun. 1980). The album was well-received, and it reached the same high position on the national albums chart list with a second place, although, it wasn't met by the same positive reviews as his two previous albums. Retrospectively, however, the album is by many considered one of Costello's absolute best. On the website Acclaimed Music, the album is ranked the 76th most acclaimed album of the 1980s, and in 1989, Rolling Stone placed Get Happy!! at number #11 on its list of 'The 100 Best Albums of the 1980s'.
The album is and has always been one of my absolute favourites by Costello, and would surely end up on my personal top 3 list of his extensive production, if I should ever attempt to make such a list.
Highly recommended.
"EveryHomeShouldHaveOne."
[ allmusic.com, Blender, Sounds, Uncut 5 / 5, Rolling Stone, Select 4 / 5 stars ]

Robyn "My Truth" (1999)

My Truth
release date: May 17, 1999
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,98]
producer: Lindström & Ekhé
label: BMG Sweden - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: *1. "Play" - 2. "My Only Reason" - 4. "Electric" - 6. "Main Thing" - 12. "Not on the Inside"
* The track list starts with #0 making this the 2nd song on the cd.

2nd studio album by Robyn was only released in Sweden due to conflicts about two of the songs. RCA were to make a version to be released on the American market and the record company wanted Robyn to re-record parts on the album, where Robyn speak of abortion, which was a too sensitive subject, according to RCA. Ultimately, Robyn denied to alter any of the songs and the album release was shelved.
The approach to write and produce songs for the album is like on her debut, but the biggest difference here is that My Truth is made through the aid of a long long list of musicians and technicians.
Stylistically, the album follows much in the footsteps of her debut album, although the songs are less dance-pop and not as uptempo and vivid as the predecessor. It starts out focusing on ballads in a contemporary r&b mode without the strong dance-floor pop hits. The album produced four singles of which only "Electric" made it to top 10 peaking at number #6 on the Swedish singles chart. The three other singles (#1, #2, and #6) didn't reach top 30; however, the album sold well, reaching number #2 on the national albums chart list and it secured Robyn her first Grammis in 2000 for best Female Pop / Rock Artist.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Beyoncé "Beyoncé" (2013)

Beyoncé
release date: Dec. 13, 2013
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]

Track highlights: 2. "Haunted" (3,5 / 5) - 9. "Mine (feat. Drake)" (3,5 / 5) - 10. "XO" (3,5 / 5) - 11. "***Flawless (feat. Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche)" (3,5 / 5) - 14. "Blue (feat. Blue Ivy)" (4 / 5)

5th studio album release by r&b, dance-pop mega-star Beyoncé. People want it, they decide it's good to own and that she's on top. The critics bow and praise the album as her best. "Surprise of the year!". Well, I'm not impressed, or: it's just not my style. I usually don't like contemporary r&b and American mainstream pop. I can't find the originality but do acknowledge that she's talented at... that.

Robyn "Robyn Is Here" (1995)

Robyn Is Here [debut]
release date: Oct. 14, 1995
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,04]
producer: Ghost [aka Ulf Lindström & Johan Ekhé]
label: BMG - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 3. "You've Got That Somethin' " - 4. "Do You Know (What It Takes)" - 6. "Just Another Girlfriend" - 8. "Do You Really Want Me"

Studio album debut by Robyn (aka Robin Miriam Carlsson) with various producers, although Ghost is credited on 7 of the album's 13 tracks.
The album is a dance-pop and typical American contemporary r&b. Not as such, something I would ordinarily listen much to; however, the second single release "Do You Really Want Me" became a major hit and was played everywhere that year (the first single from the album was track #3), and also "Do You Know (What It Takes)", which was released in '96 got much airplay, so everyone knew Robyn had landed.
My only interest in this is due to her later releases, and I picked it up at a second-hand store around 2011 in order to make it a full discography of her studio albums. It's nicely produced and Robyn already here shows what a talented songwriter she is, and she initiates her formula co-writing her songs with selected songwriters / producers. Ulf Lindström and Johan Ekhé are credited as co-writers on the seven tracks they have produced like is the case for Christian Falk, and the producer-duo Anders Bagge and Harry Sommerdahl.
Most of the songs sound like echoes of American pop by Madonna and her followers, which is really not my preferred music. There's much copying and only little originality.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Yuki "Joy" (2005)

Joy
release date: Feb. 23, 2005
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5]

Track highlights: 2. "Joy" - 4. "Walking on the Skyline" - 7. "Air Wave"

3rd solo studio album by Yuki is her best so far, I think. The style is j-pop art pop and now also with some r&b elements and a more distinct synthpop, which makes it a more danceable and joyful release and a clear turn away from her initial indie pop and art rock-inspiration.

Zap Mama "ReCreation" (2009)

ReCreation
release date: May 26, 2009
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]

Studio album by Zap Mama is a another style fusion album by this interesting singer. The music here is a capella, neo-pop soul, r&b, world, lounge, vocal jazz, synthpop... the variety is there! I think it's too messy, too mixed up and without direction. It's not better than her 2007 release but even more varied. I think she could be more direct in her style.

Zap Mama "Supermoon" (2007)

Supermoon
release date: Aug. 7, 2007
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]

Zap Mama has released albums since the debut, Zap Mama in 1991. She's obviously inspired by African music - this one is however, more contemporary neo-soul and r&b, although one may hear world and / or African style on several tracks, and a few are almost entirely much more African world, like: track #8. "Gati", and track #9. "Kwenda". Also, there's vocal jazz inspiration on some of the slower tracks. It's really not bad, it's just not unforgettable.