Modest Mouse "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" (2004)

Good News for People Who Love Bad News
release date: Apr. 6, 2004
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]
producer: Dennis Herring
label: Epic Records - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "Horn Intro" - 2. "The World at Large" (4,5 / 5) (live) - 3. "Float On" (4,5 / 5) (live) - 4. "Ocean Breathes Salty" (4 / 5) - 5. "Dig Your Grave" - 6. "Bury Me With It" (4 / 5) - 7. "Dance Hall" (3,5 / 5) - 8. "Bukowski" - 9. "This Devil's Workday" - 10. "The View" - 11. "Satin in a Coffin" - 12. "Interlude (Milo)" - 13. "Blame It on the Tetons" (4 / 5) - 14. "Black Cadillacs" - 15. "One Chance" - 16. "The Good Times Are Killing Me"

4th studio album by Modest Mouse is released nearly 4 years after the band's first studio album on Epic Records and it sees the band's growth from a trio to a quintet. In 2002 the band was expanded with guitarist Dann Gallucci (who played additional guitar parts on 'The Lonesome Crowded West') and multi-instrumentalist Tom Peloso joined in 2003, whereas drummer Jeremiah Green was temporarily absent due to a nervous breakdown from 2003-04 and is replaced by Benjamin Weikel on this album.
Good News... is a different album with respect to the band's former albums. It's still alt. rock and indie pop for people with a sense of humor, and for people who require that music sometimes is different from traditional mainstream pop / rock but it's a much more uptempo and positive collection of songs, although, moodiness still plays a major part.
This was actually the first album I heard with the band. I believe the Danish national radio program P3 played the song "Float On" a few hundred times that year, and I for one really loved it. It made me search for and listen to the band's older albums but without being poor or mediocre none of those come really close to this, I think, although The Lonesome Crowded West from 1997 with its apparent musical inspiration from Pixies with a noise rock, alt. rock style albeit less punk rock-minded tone and with a stress on a story-telling mission may be regarded as a blue-print to this.
I simply love to hear and watch the band perform live. You can really hear them try to play and sing out of tune to make that special twist to the overall picture, which is a nice garage rock and authentic sound. The album was nominated Best Alternative Album at the 2005 Grammy Awards, and it's a good place to start if you don't know this band. I also recommend We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (2007), which is very much in style with this specific album. This is really nice ... with a twist :-)
This album is highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Mojo, Q Magazine, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

The Pogues "Red Roses for Me" (1984)

Red Roses for Me [debut]

release date: Oct. 1984

format: cd (2009 reissue)

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

producer: Stan Brennan

label: Stiff Records / WEA - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Transmetropolitan" (4 / 5) - 2. "The Battle of Brisbane" - 3. "The Auld Triangle" (4 / 5) - 4. "Waxie's Dargle" (4 / 5) (live) - 5. "Boys From the County Hell" - 6. "Sea Shanty" - 7. "Dark Streets of London" (4 / 5) - 8. "Streams of Whiskey" (4 / 5) - 9. "Poor Paddy" (4 / 5) - 10. "Dingle Regatta" - 11. "Greenland Whale Fisheries" - 12. "Down in the Ground Where the Dead Men Go" - 13. "Kitty"

Studio album debut by The Pogues, who at this early stage is a sextet consisting of Shane MacGowan on lead vocals and guitar (only on this album), Jem Finer on banjo, Spider Stacy on tin whistle, James Fearnley on accordion, Cait O'Riordan on bass, and with Andrew Ranken (inserted photo in left bottom corner on the front cover, which flank the members around a photo of J.F. Kennedy!) on drums. At this point the band often played traditional celtic folk songs to their own music played in up-tempo arrangements with a smaller portion of the punk rock element they would become more associated with already from the successive album, except from on the traditional "Waxie's Dargle" and on "Streams of Whiskey" which both sounds more like what may be found on Rum Sodomy & the Lash (1985). The band was formed by songwriter Shane MacGowan, who had begun his music career as songwriter and vocalist in the new wave and garage rock band The Nipple Erectors, later The Nips with MacGowan under the alias of 'Shane O'Hooligan'. This band underwent a long row of changing line-ups which also included James Fearnley until MacGowan and Spider Stacy for a period put more energy in the celtic folk group Stacy's Millwall Chainsaws, and also both performed in the New Republicans before they eventually got together with Finer and to form Pogue Mahone. Fearnley was included early on and was then followed by O'Riordan, and drummer Ranken was the last to join before releasing the band's first single "Dark Streets of London" in Jun. '84, which was initially sold at concerts but still ended up as a popular new release. The band was then banned on BBC because of the band's name. 'Pogue mahone' is Irish dialect for 'Kiss my arse!'. Alledgedly, it was a BBC announcer, who enjoyed their music, who then announced them as 'The Pogues' to avoid the ban and appearently that called for a quick name change, and the single was soon re-issued under the new name on Stiff Records.

The TV music programme, The Tube on Channel 4 used a video of The Pogues playing "Waxie's Dargle", apparently a song that brought the band a considerable amount of fame. Five out the album's thirteen tracks are traditionals, seven songs are written by Shane MacGowan, and the last track is music by The Pogues to a poem written by Irish poet Brendan Behan.

I didn't listen to this before after their third album and didn't appreciate it as much as I have come to. In a way, this is like The Dubliners meet The Pogues. The traditional folk is at center and it only takes a small twist to turn it into something really great, and then again, it's also really fine with their touch on folk music and what appears as a genuine love for the genre.

[ allmusic.com and Sounds hand it 3,5 / 5, Mojo and Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

Squeeze "Cool for Cats" (1979)

Cool for Cats
release date: Apr. 9, 1979
format: cd (1997 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,70]
producer: John Wood & Squeeze
label: A&M Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Slap and Tickle" - 3. "Touching Me Touching You" - 4. "It's Not Cricket" - 5. "It's so Dirty" - 7. "Hop Skip and Jump" - 8. "Up the Junction" (official video) - 10. "Slightly Drunk" - 11. "Goodbye Girl" - 12. "Cool for Cats" (official video) (Top Of The Pops)

2nd studio album by new wave quintet Squeeze - consisting of the two founders and the band's main songwriters: lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and keyboardist Glenn Tilbrook and (other) lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Chris Difford. Here, they have teamed up with bassist Harri Kakoulli, keyboardist (and lead vocalist on track #7) Jools Holland, and with drummer Gilson Lavis they constitute Squeeze.

The album peaked at number #45 in the UK (number #18 in Australia). The song "Goodbye Girl" was chosen as first single and peaked at number #63 (the track was released in a special single edition and a third edition is available on the American version of the album). The second single was the title track, which became one of the band's highest-charting singles reaching number #2 on the UK singles chart. "Up the Juction" was third single, and it also made it all the way to number #2, and the fourth and final single from this album, "Slap and Tickle" reached number #24.

I've always liked Squeeze and Cool for Cats is one of the band's best-known albums with several great songs, but I'm not entirely enthused. There are moves to lots of energetic songs incorporating funk, traditional English beat, and power pop, but it seems the band doesn't quite know whether to pull completely towards the inspiration of the Beatles, Kinks, and The Who, or to follow the contemporary currents alongside Elvis Costello, Madness, and The Jam. Should they be modern and dirty, or should they be more traditional? They seem stuck in a schism that isn't fully resolved. And with the experience concerning the debut Squeeze (1978) in fresh memory with a producer (John Cale) who most probably found a platform for his own ideas, so the indecisions are actually common sense! And Cool for Cats is definitely a much better, more contemporary, and more defining of the band's style and also a much more coherent album than the near famous debut. One thing that already shows the band's strength here are the strong compositions. With the band's 'only' second album, Difford / Tilbrook have already established themselves as a contemporary Lennon / McCartney songwriter duo with evident gifts as songwriters, a position they only strengthen on the following albums.

Cool for Cats is imho, part of the band's top-3 albums, and it lands in third place.

[ allmusic.com, Smash Hits, Uncut 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone Album Guide 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Paul Weller - Live

Paul Weller
"My Ever Changing Moods"

[Live at Abbey Road Studios]
[track by The Style Council from Café Bleu, 1984]

Paul Weller Live:

"You Do Something to Me" (Live on Later with Jools Holland, 1996) (track from Stanley Road, 1995)
"Brand New Start" (Live on TV) (track released as single 1998)
"Thats Entertainment with Noel Gallagher" (Live at The Royal Albert Hall, 2010) (track from Sound Affects by The Jam,1980)
"English Rose" (Live at The Royal Albert Hall, 2010) (track from All Mod Cons by The Jam, 1978)

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Modest Mouse "The Moon & Antarctica" (2000)

The Moon & Antarctica
release date: Jun. 13, 2000
format: cd (2004 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]
producer: Brian Dec (2004 reproduced by Simon Askew)
label: Epic Records / Sony - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "3rd Planet" - 2. "Gravity Rides Everything" - 3. "Dark Center of the Universe" - 6. "A Different City" - 14. "Life Like Weeds"

3rd studio album by Modest Mouse and the band's first on Epic Records is not much different from the predecessor The Lonesome Crowded West from 1997 released on Up Records, except from being slightly more muddy and / or subdued.
The album was not the first I came across by the band - in fact I only sought it out upon hearing Good News for People Who Love Bad News from 2004, and I have had my trouble in finding the greatness in this acclaimed album. It has it moments, undoubtedly, but it hasn't really found its way to my playlist that often. But I occasionally keep returning. I generally find it like the second coming of the '97 album - only less appealing - and find it hard to hear the three year time span that separate the two albums.
The original album consists of 15 tracks. It was reissued in an expanded and remastered version in 2004 containing 4 bonus tracks taken from a BBC Radio 1 session.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone, Melody Maker 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Modest Mouse "Building Nothing Out of Something" (2000)

Building Nothing Out of Something (compilation)
release date: Jan. 18, 2000
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Calvin Johnson
label: Up Records - nationality: USA

Compilation album by Modest Mouse is a collection of primarily A-side and B-side singles and three tracks from the ep Interstate 8 (1996) released from 1996-98 when the band was on contract with Up Records. The album also signals the end with Up as the band later this year released its first studio album for Epic Records.
Stylistically, this falls well with the band's first three studio albums.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Siouxsie and the Banshees "Join Hands" (1979)

Join Hands

release date: Sep. 7, 1979

format: cd (2006 remaster)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]

producer: Nils Stevenson, Mike Stavrou

label: Polydor Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Regal Zone" - 3. "Placebo Effect" - 5. "Premature Burial" - 6. "Playground Twist" (4,5 / 5) - 8. "The Lords Prayer" - *9. "Love in a Void" (7'' single) (live)

*Bonus track on 2006 remaster

2nd studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees follows 10 months after the debut and it features two new co-producers and a band that stays to the same line-up but who was already a split unit during the recording sessions, and the inevitable split occured as soon as the album had been released.

Compared to The Scream, the album continues the style, but the sound has become darker and more sinister, and it's basically already a gothic rock album, although the term is not yet fully accepted.

The album was received in positive ways and also fared well peaking as number #13 on the British albums chart list. The only song from the album to be issued for single release was "Playground Twist" reaching #28 on singles list - the song was, however, a must in any live concerts from hereon. That single was issued with the non-album composition "Pulled to Bits" (also on the '83 live album Nocturne) as B-side, and that became nearly as iconic for the band.

Personally, the album has never been on my favourites' list but it undoubtedly paved way for many other artists, and it stands as one of the purest and first of the style of gothic rock. Also, songs like "Regal Zone", "Placebo Effect", "Premature Burial" and "The Lord's Prayer" - none of which are great but which all contain an immense sensation of coldness and dark aggressiveness that would stick with the band almost throughout its time, something different but at the same time a quality that charachterizes Siouxsie and the Banshees as an original exponent of change, which also links the band with The Sex Pistols, Killing Joke and early The Clash - bands that inspired to rebel.

Join Hands is not full of strong compositions - it contains one of the band's best known songs - and it still showcases a highly original and vital band struggling in its very existence, which seems ironic given the title of the album 'cause that's exactly what they were incapable of. Internal conflicts within the band prevents the group from performing at a productive level, and the album comes to stand below better end products.

The split of the band happened as the upcoming tour started, when both guitarist John McKay and drummer Kevin Morris decided to leave the band, and Robert Smith saved the tour with his assistance on guitar (for two live concerts) before John McGeoch became new stable guitarist, and Budgie of The Slits joined on drums to finalise a new strong version of the band.

[ allmusic.com 2 / 5, Sounds 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Thin Lizzy "Thin Lizzy" (1971)

Thin Lizzy [debut]
release date: Apr. 30, 1971
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,48]
producer: Scott English
label: Decca Records - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 5. "Look What the Wind Blew In" (3 / 5) - 7. "Return of the Farmer's Son"

Studio album debut by Thin Lizzy, founded as a quartet but here a trio that had been formed in Dublin, Ireland consisting of Phil Lynott [Philip Parris Lynott] on vocals, bass guitar and acoustic guitar, Eric Bell on lead guitar and twelve-string guitar, and with Brian Downey on drums and percussion. The style is a blend of hard rock, blues rock and folk rock with some psychedelic rock traits, and in that way appears as strongly inspired by the sound of The Jimi Hendrix Experience (and Cream), especially on "Return of the Farmer's Son".
I don't find it all that interesting except from being the first by this later great band. The music is like sketches of covers, bits from here and there pointing to different sources of inspiration. Lynott's vocal is fine and although guitarist Eric Bell was inspired by The Shadows and Hendrix, he didn't have the same impact as Gary Moore and Scott Gorham later would signify for the band.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Modern English "Mesh & Lace" (1981)

Mesh & Lace [debut]
release date: Apr. 6, 1981
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,58]
producer: Modern English
label: 4AD Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Gathering Dust" - 4. "Move in Light" - 5. "Grief" - 9. "Dance of Devotion"

Studio debut album by Colchester-based quintet Modern English is a self-produced 9-track album. The band consists of Robbie Grey on vocals, Gary McDowell on guitar and backing vocals, Mick Conroy on bass and backing vocals, Stephen Walker on keyboards, and with Richard Brown on drums.
Stylistically, it's evident that the band owes a great deal to other bands of the era - and in particular Joy Division, The Sound, Bauhaus and Killing Joke. ME both plays a simplistic and energetic post-punk incorporating gothic rock and certain industrial rock elements. "Gathering Dust" sounds like a clone of Bauhaus and The Sound. A track like "Move in Light" is almost a rip-off from early Joy Division and listening to "Grief" as it kicks in after 2 mins. is unthinkable without "Atmosphere" also by Joy Division, AND "A Viable Commercial" (track #7) is just another JD clone - this time like a lesser copy of "Atrocity Exhibition". The album closer, "Dance of Devotion" sounds like an attempt to produce something made by Killing Joke. A similar approach may be utilized to find sources to every other composition on the album, which ultimately makes this debut boast of very little originality.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Malurt "Kold krig" (1980)

Kold krig [debut]

release date: Sep. 15, 1980

format: cd (1994 reissue, MdCD 6102)

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

producer: Flemming Ostermann

label: Medley Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Kanonføde" - 3. "Stormsoldater" - 4. "Friheden Station" - 5. "Lort nok" - 8. "Sidespring" - 9. "Ocean Island"

Studio album debut by Danish quintet Malurt consisting of lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Michael Ehlert Falch, lead guitarist Peter Viskinde, bassist Dia Nielsen (aka Hans Andrias Hans Mariuarson Nielsen), keyboardist Henrik Littauer, and drummer Peter Mors. The album is co-produced by Flemming Rasmussen.

Stylewise, the band plays a simple uptempo rock with many stylistic influences going from other contemporary Danish acts like Gnags, Gasolin, C.V. Jørgensen, and American artists like John Mellencamp, The Knack, and especially Bruce Springsteen, but also melodic parts from the British punk rock and new wave scene and most obviously from The Clash.

Thematically, the songs are about anti-war, generation cleft issues, and free love, which all appear as somewhat dated issues pointing back to early 70s subjects, and that is partly resonated in the music, where you also find an influence from boogie and AOR-styles with traits from J.J. Cale, Doobie Brothers and Little Feat. So, yes, it's a huge mix of styles, which both comes out as a refreshing energetic boost and at the same time a simplistic and narrow form.

I recall being very fond of this very album and had it among my favourite Danish releases from that year, but in retrospect I find that it has dated more than other fine releases from this period.

org. vinyl cover

The Divine Comedy - Live

The Divine Comedy
[aka Neil Hannon]
(Live at the Palladium, London 2003) [full concert]

The Divine Comedy Live:

"Someone..." (in Lyon 2012)
"A Lady of a Certain Age" (2010?)
"Tonight We Fly" (at the Palladium, 2003)

~ ~ ~

And a wonderful cover of the Smiths: "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" [from the tribute album The Smiths Is Dead (1996). The rest is of no interest, a really poor tribute but thanks to Neil Hannon it has one great tune].

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Aztec Camera "Love" (1987)

Love
release date: Nov. 1987
format: vinyl (WX128) / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,02]
producer: various
label: WEA - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Deep & Wide & Tall" (4 / 5) - 2. "How Men Are" (4 / 5) - 3. "Everybody Is a Number One" - 5. "Somewhere in My Heart" (4 / 5) (acoustic live) - 6. "Working in a Goldmine" (4,5 / 5) - 7. "One and One" - 9. "Killermont Street"

3rd studio album by Aztec Camera with several producers: Tommy LiPuma, Russ Titelman, Roddy Frame, David Frank, Michael Jonzun, and Rob Mounsey - with the latter producing a majority of the tracks together with Frame. The album is released three years after Knife (Sep. 1984) and it really is something else. Not only is the band reduced to Frame working with session musicians, which again points to the fact that Aztec Camera is a project name for Roddy Frame. Gone is the natural link to the post-punk period and the characteristic jazz feel. It's still jangle pop but here the pop element is underlined. Having said that, it's a brilliant transformation, and without doubt the band's cleanest mainstream album.
Critics were divided on this, as some saw it as a failure with its obvious commercial production and an attempt to satisfy a broader audience of the American market - and something it failed to reach.
At first, I thought of it as compilation album as I found it packed with great songs and nicely arranged compositions. The production sound is broad and glossy introducing sophisti-pop to the band's repertoire.
I really enjoy this, and think of it as the band's best commercial contribution, although, I'm reluctant to call it Aztec Camera's best, just slightly inferior to the successor, Stray from 1990. The album tops as the band's highest ranked studio release making it to number #10 on the UK albums chart list. I just think it's a wonderful and highly recommended album.
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5 stars ]

Modest Mouse "The Lonesome Crowded West" (1997)

The Lonesome Crowded West
release date: Nov. 18, 1997
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,36]
producer: Calvin Johnson with Isaac Brock and Scott Swayze
label: Up Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Teeth Like God's Shoeshine" - 2. "Heart Cooks Brain" - 3. "Convenient Parking" - 8. "Trailer Trash" - 13. "Polar Opposites" - 14. "Bankrupt on Selling"

2nd studio album by Modest Mouse is like the debut a rather lengthy album with a playing time above 73 mins. Also like the debut this is indie pop and alt. rock but it's also played in a more aggressive style of post-hardcore [punk rock] and not really in the lo-fi style of the debut, and then it shows much stronger emphasis on 'soft vs. hard' / 'slow vs. energetic' opposites, as a familiar trait of Pixies and The Breeders.
The Lonesome Crowded West has been lauded as the band's true breakthrough, and then others criticize it for its long playing time. It's clearly bettering the moody debut, although, I don't find it an earth-scattering unforgettable collection of songs. That said, Modest Mouse do experiment with content and matter, and sometimes the direction they explore seems like the deliberate wrong turn - just to have themselves discover what's at the end of that road - if anything.
It has taken me an unusual long time and persistent returns to this particular album to grasp its qualities. This is the closest Modest Mouse has been in making an album that has a tone that takes off in the spirit of Pixies' early albums. There's a strong blend of noise-pop / post-hardcore pieces and fragments of melody-lines and harmonies thrown in all over the album making it a strange, bumpy but appealing listen. It's not my favourite Modest Mouse album but I do find it the band's best among its first three full-length albums.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Yves Montand "Le Paris de Montand" (1964)

Le Paris de Montand
release date: 1964
format: cd (1992 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer:
label: Columbia Records - nationality: France

Tracklist: 1. "Paris canaille" - 2. "La vie en rose" - 3. "Le Chevalier de Paris" - 4. "L'ame des Poetes" - 5. "Sous le ciel de Paris" - 6. "Les feuilles mortes" (Live at Olympia) - 7. "C'est si bon" - 8. "Sa jeunesse" - 9. "Mon manage a moi" - 10. "A Paris dans Chaque Faubourg" - 11. "Marie Marie" - 12. "A Paris"

Studio album by Yves Montand originally released in 1964 by CBS Records and re-issued in '92.
I'm a fan of Yves Montand (birthname: Ivo Livi), his music and the many movies he stars in. Not that I know all of his great catalog. I only own a double cd box containing this release alongside Chansons populaires de France (1956) and of the two, I must have heard the '64 release hundreds of times. What's so amazing about Montand is listening to how he gives life to each song. Maybe because he was such a great actor, he used his gift as impersonator when performing. And therefore you can still find many such live performances with Montand on UTube. I consider Yves Montand to be one of a few great male performers of the 1960s and '70s standards and vocal jazz which includes Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Nat 'King' Cole, Charles Aznavour, and Jacques Brel. The latter perhaps being his biggest contemporary idol, who wrote and composed many of the finest French chansons. Montand didn't compose great songs but had a natural gift of making songs his own.

org. 2 cd release (1992)

[ Another great live performance with Montand: "La bicyclette" ]

The Prodigy "Experience" (1992)

Experience [debut]
release date: Sep. 21, 1992
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Liam Howlett
label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Jericho" - 2. "Music Reach (1/2/3/4)" - 3. "Wind It Up" (4 / 5) (official video) - 4. "Your Love (Remix)" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Hyperspeed (G-Force Part 2)" - 6. "Charly (Trip Into Drum and Bass Version)" (4 / 5) (official video) - 7. "Out of Space" - 8. "Everybody in the Place (155 and Rising)" - 9. "Weather Experience" - 10. "Fire (Sunrise Version)" - 11. "Ruff in the Jungle Bizness" - 12. "Death of The Prodigy Dancers (Live)"

Studio debut album by The Prodigy. I only listened to the entire album after The Fat of the Land, and found it a difficult step back in time in 1997. I thought it was okay but didn't really like it a great deal for the first many years, and actually only in the late 2000s I have come to fancy this album as well. My initial verdict was 2,5 / 5 stars, I guess, whereas today, I think it's worth 4. "Jericho", "Wind It Up", "Your Love (Remix)", and "Charly" are great breakbeat tracks suited for a sweaty night at the disco.
After re-discovering the album, I am almost certain to have heard some of the tracks when watching a techno rave truck driving through a park at Copenhagen Carnival in the summer of 1992. The truck was full of young 'ravers' dancing away on the lorry while The Prodigy played at maximum volume. I recall being impressed by the music, which seemed to come from another planet.
[ allmusic.com 5 / 5, Record Collector 4 / 5, Q Magazine 3 / 5 stars ]

The Boys Next Door "The Birthday Party" (1980)

The Birthday Party

release date: Nov. 1980

format: digital

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

producer: The Boys Next Door, Tony Cohen, Keith Glass

label: Missing Link Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Mr. Clarinet" - 3. "The Hair Shirt" - 4. "Guilt Parade" - 6. "The Friend Catcher" - 10. "Happy Birthday"

2nd and final studio album following Door, Door (1979) by Australian The Boys Next Door - or: the debut album by The Birthday Party... Yes, seen from a music historical perspective, it's unfortunately common practice to tamper with the facts, and the album here is most often mentioned as the starting point and the debut for The Birthday Party. And in a way, it most certainly is - it was just released by The Boys Next Door BEFORE they made a decisive name change. The album was recorded in Australia in the Summer of '79 and completed Feb. '80, and only then did all five members of the band: Nick Cave, Rowland S. Howard, Mick Harvey, Tracy Pew, and Phill Calvert choose together to move to London, UK and here pursue the dream of making a living from making music, and at the same time they changed the band name to The Birthday Party - without changing the band's line-up. So in that way, yes, it is their first album together, only they still went by a different name.

Stylistically, The Birthday Party is a different and more raw release than Door, Door by the same band. The band was early inspired by The Stooges and the raw proto-punk style, and here they show both inspiration from the flourishing post-punk, art rock, new wave, as well as a much earlier experimental expression, as exemplified by Captain Beefheart of the late sixties. It's not yet art punk or no wave, which The Birthday Party later becomes an exponent of, and the compositions here still have traditional harmony structures.

The Birthday Party is a fine example of the creative scene that emerged from punk rock around 1980, and both album and band have been source of inspiration for countless artists since.

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

Reissue debut by The Birthday Party

Marine Girls "Lazy Ways" (1983)

Lazy Ways

release date: Mar. 1983

format: digital (14 x File, MP3) (1987 reissue)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,76]

producer: Stuart Moxham

label: Cherry Red Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "A Place in the Sun" (official video) - 3. "Falling Again" - 4. "Love to Know" (4 / 5) - 5. "A Different Light" - 7. "Second Sight" - 8. "Don't Come Back" - 10. "Fever" - 12. "Lazy Ways"

2nd and final studio album by Marine Girls is the follow-up to Beach Party (1981). After releasing the debut, percussionist Gina Hartman left the band reduced to a trio. The album is produced by Young Marble Giants and The Gist-founder Stuart Moxham, and in many ways it signals great potential but when it finally came out, Marine Girls was a disbanded act with Tracey Thorn pursuing a solo career, she had already released her solo debut A Distant Shore (Aug. 1982) and founded Everything but the Girl with Ben Watt in the Spring / Summer of '82 - Lazy Ways was recorded in September '82.

Six songs are credited Thorn, seven are by Jane Fox, and one song (track #10) is a cover. The minimalist style remains intact but it's no longer a lo-fi product. Instead, it's acoustic indie pop with elements of jazz pop, and the album marks considerable sound improvement to that of the debut. One month after the release, the album peaked at number #4 on the UK Indie Charts, and the album became a minor hit, although, the band had ceased to exist. Apparently, Kurt Cobain included the album on his list counting his 50 top-favourite albums of all time, and it's not a strange note, as this album is such a unique manifest of musical originality and crystal clear talent. Where Beach Party appears as disguised potential, a first draft, Lazy Ways is the true gem to know of.

The front cover is from a photo of Tracey Thorn by Ben Watt.

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Modest Mouse "This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About" (1996)

This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About [debut]
release date: Apr. 16, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Steve Wold
label: Up Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Dramamine" (4 / 5) - 2. "Breakthrough" - 3. "Custom Concern" - 7. "She Ionizes & Atomizes" - 12. "Ohio" - 13. "Exit Does Not Exist"

Studio album debut by Seattle-suburban trio Modest Mouse consisting of primary composer, vocalist and guitarist Isaac Brock, bassist Eric Judy and drummer Jeremiah Green.
The style is alt. rock and indie rock with strong bonds to artists like Pixies, The Breeders, Pavement and XTC, I think.
The album release was pretty much unnoticed but it has found its way to some critical acclaim in the aftermath and after the band experienced much greater success. It has a considerably long playing time with its sixteen tracks and a total running time of more than 76 minutes.
I have only come across the album after having found the band's fourth studio album Good News for People Who Love Bad News from 2004, but the '96 album doesn't move me to consider it other than a first rough draft, which seems obscured by the intention to release everything as is. It is; however, a collection of highly original pieces.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Bauhaus "She's in Parties" (1983) (single)

She's in Parties, 12'' single
release date: Apr. 1983
format: digital
[single rate: 4 / 5]

Tracklist: A) "She's in Parties" (4,5 / 5) - - B) 1. "Here's the Dub (Special Effects by Loonatik B. Drinks)" - 2. "Departure"

A single release by Bauhaus. The title track is from the forthcoming and final studio album Burning From the Inside (Jul. 1983), and it was another of my favourite tracks of the early 1980s gothic rock.

Warm Guns "Follow Your Heart or Fall / Lonely" (1983)

Follow Your Heart or Fall / Lonely
release date: 1983
format: vinyl / cd (1996 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]
producer: Nils Henriksen
label: Vertigo Records / CMC - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: A) 1. "Bedtime Story" - 2. "I'm Just Blue" - 3. "Love Waits for No One" - 4. "The Girl's Not Happy" - 5. "Let's Go" - - B) 1. "Every Teardrop Means a Lot" - 5. "You Can't Make It Alone"

3rd and final studio album by Warm Guns following Italiano moderno (Apr. 1981) is produced by Danish producer Nils Henriksen who also pre-produced the band's previous album before sending all songs to England for final production, only this time everything remains produced in Sweet Silence Studios in Denmark. Lars Muhl on vocals and keyboards, and Lars Hybel on guitar are the only two remaining members from the formation of the band, and new members credited here are bassist Kaj Weber and drummer and percussionist Troels Møller. Furthermore, Pete Repete from Malurt is credited as keyboardist on the album. All songs are (as usual) written by Lars Muhl (Lars Hybel is co-composer on tracks #4, #5, and #8), and the style is developed from the predominant new wave on Italiano moderno with a stronger mainstream pop / rock sound. Compared to its predecessor, the sound is broader with the use of strings and a stronger focus on keyboards and vocal arrangements. The 1996 cd reissue on CMC Records comes with the truncated title: Follow Your Heart or Fall.
Like previous albums by Warm Guns this didn't attract much national interest, and I think Lars Muhl saw this as a final test - if this didn't make it, they might as well call it a day. On the following tour the band recorded the live album Hey-Hey-Hey (1984) at Roskilde Festival, which was intended to be the band's final live performance, but the band continued to play throughout 1983 and in the first half of '84 before finally splitting up. Lars Muhl began composing music for others and after experiencing success with the song "Ind til dig" (a hit in Norway for Sissel Kyrkjebø as "Inn til deg", in Denmark a hit for Lis Sørensen with "Ind til dig" - released as "One More Minute" on his debut album), and after taking part in the Danish 'Music for Africa' project, he initiated a successful solo career, which took its start with his solo debut album The Glorious Art of Breaking Little Girls' Hearts and Blowing Big Boys' Brains in 1986.
Initially, and back in the day, I remember seeing this one as a pretty decent album, which I used to play quite a lot. Time hasn't been that good to it though, and in retrospect I understand how they weren't perceived on par with British contemporaries, as the album comes close to British influences from how Elvis Costello and Squeeze handled their move from a more energetic version of new wave to a embrace a softer mainstream sound - eg. East Side Story by Squeeze and (the mix of) Get Happy!! (1980) and Trust (1981) by Costello. The album contains some good music, but imho, their '81 album outshines this one with a clear margin.