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

You've Come a Long Way, Baby

release date: Oct. 1998

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

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

producer: Fatboy Slim

label: Skint Records - nationality: England, UK

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

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

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

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

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

Highly recommendable.

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

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

Signe Svendsen "Det forlyder" (2020)

Det forlyder

release date: Jan. 31, 2020

format: cd

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

producer: Lars Skjærbæk

label: Lydia Gramophone / I Do Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Det forlyder" - 2. "Sort / hvid" - 3. "Langsom musik" - 4. "Lys ud, lys ind" - 7. "Fugl fra min hånd"

4th studio album by Danish singer / songwriter Signe Svendsen. The album follows nearly four full years after Rift (Mar. 2016) and it's Svendsen's first on her own label Lydia Gramophone. On her own website, Svendsen points to the album as a turning point and a new beginning in her songwriting. Only downside here is a short album of eigth tracks and a total running time just a little above 35 mins.

Where the predecessor took a turn towards a simpler and more direct rock-sound Det forlyder is a slight return to more quiet alt. country and folk. The songs seems primarily with acoustic instrumentation - here and there, you hear electric guitar and keyboard but the overall sensation is one of stronger intimacy. At first you may find it closer related to her second album Kun de faldne rejser sig (2013 but the soundscape is now coloured by dobro and lap steel, and a wider vocal range.

All in all, Signe Svendsen has by now established herself as an original Danish singer / songwriter of highest quality and one to keep eyes and ears for.

Recommended.

[ Gaffa.dk 4 / 6 stars ]

Fatboy Slim "Better Living Through Chemistry" (1996)

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

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

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

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

Fine Young Cannibals "She Drives Me Crazy - The Best Of" (2008)

She Drives Me Crazy - The Best Of (compilation)
release date: 2008
format: 2 cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: various
label: Music Club Deluxe - nationality: England, UK

2-disc best of compilation album by Fine Young Cannibals released on the BBC Worldwide parent-label Demon Groups' sublabel Music Club Deluxe (with a speciality of re-issuing 2 cd compilations).
The album contains 30 tracks (15 on each cd). The back cover reads "This collection boasts hit singles, 12'' mixes, key album tracks and rare B-sides. Enjoy." There's a decent description on the formation of the band, its short-lived career and what became of the three band members, and the selection of songs is fine without being what it could have been, had they put more energy in the selection of compositions, e.g. making an effort to put important releases in chronological order. The band only released two albums, which means that most of their album songs are included, and then you only wonder why some of their biggest hits from the second album, "Good Thing" and "As Hard as It Is" are not even here when instead several songs are represented in more than one version. The band made so many great tracks that it's hard not to like almost no matter how it was put together, but with material like that, you could at least pay the band a little more respect. Despite my verdict as a 4/ 5 stars' album, I would instead recommend purchasing their two studio albums.

Roland Gift "Roland Gift" (2002)

Roland Gift [debut]
release date: Mar. 2002
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: David Z, Ben Barson, Roland Gift
label: MCA Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Tell Me You Want Me Back" (4 / 5) - 2. "Looking for a Friend" - 3. "It's Only Money" (4 / 5) (live ?) - 5. "A Girl Like You" - 7. "Superhero" (4 / 5) - 8. "Lady DJ" - 11. "If We Ain't Got Love"
[ full album ]

Solo album debut (and so far only) album by Roland Gift - former lead vocalist of Fine Young Cannibals released on American label, MCA with primary American producer David Z (aka David B. Rivkin), who also worked with FYC on a number of songs for the band's final studio album The Raw & The Cooked (1988).
The album doesn't fall far from the works by FYC, although, it's clearly more polished building on 'pop soul' and pointing at a more (adult) mainstream audience. The album was made while Gift stayed in the US, but unfortunately, also while MCA went through management changes being merged and absorbed by bigger companies (and dissolving in 2003), which meant that the album was practically released without promotion.
Critics were hard on the album claiming that it's without strong songs like "She Drives Me Crazy" and that it simply lacks dynamics. And yes, how could he run away from the ultimate success of Fine Young Cannibals?! The trio had kicked in the door on the world, and then just slipped out the back. Even more than a decade as an actor didn't make it any easier - Gift will forever be linked with FYC and the fact that they couldn't continue as a band after experiencing the downside of the success.
I actually listened to the album shortly after its release, and was completely astonished as to why they never played the album or any of its songs on the radio stations. This is simply too good not to be played. It may not be as strong as the two studio albums by Fine Young Cannibals - but lesser will do more than just fine, and frankly Mr. Shankly, why at all compare a soloist with the works of his former band? Its's completely unjust not to evaluate this album for primarily one of the strongest and most characteristic voices coming out of Britain - ever.
Recommended.

T. Rex "Gold" (2018)

Gold (compilation)
release date: Sep. 7, 2018
format: 3 cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: various
label: Crimson - nationality: England, UK

Best of compilation album by T. Rex released by Demon Music Group and by Demon Records for the double vinyl issue and by Crimson for the cd issue. The double vinyl album contains 24 tracks (6 on each side), but the cd issue compiles 45 compositions (15 on each disc), which is such a major difference that you practically speak of two different releases.

There are so many best of albums by T. Rex that it's more than difficult to pick the best or just one that attempts to embrace all the great songs on one album, and in that regard Gold really doesn't differ from the rest. You can't put a finger on the selected tracks but you always ask yourself why a certain track or more aren't there. At least they got it right in one small regard, or it only appears so at first sight: they may have put the early tracks first and later songs at the end, but it's really far from chronological order. And I mean, when you have access to all this splendid material couldn't you just make an effort an compile it as they were released?! This leads to my biggest complaint: the album starts out with three songs credited Tyrannosaurus Rex... Three! The double vinyl album contains two tracks by the same band, but the formative and highly interesting beginning, which at least should have counted 5-8 fine tracks, is not represented like the later years. And speaking of which, there are simply way too many not great songs on this best of compilation to call it truly great despite the effort in collecting many of the single releases that never found their way to studio albums. Even worse is that a bunch of truly great songs are not here - where are "Chariots of Silk" from Unicorn, "Pavillions of Sun", "Lofty Skies", "Elemental Child" and the title song from A Beard of Stars, "Jewel" and "The Visit" from T. Rex, "Mambo Sun" and "Girl" from Electric Warrior, "Baby Boomerang", "Spaceball Richochet" and "Chariot Choogle" from The Slider, "Tenement Lady" from Tanx, "Sound Pit" from Zinc Alloy..., "My Little Baby" from Futuristic Dragon? Way too many iconic songs from the hands of Bolan are missing out.

I know the album is credited T. Rex, but when you actually go back and pick the band's earliest works, you could at least have picked a few more before selecting all the well-known hit songs of the early 1970's. Overall, the album is an interesting look into the vault of Marc Bolan compositions, but it's simply too mixed in way to many ways to actually leave you satisfied with just that.

There are more than... what? At least 150 different best of releases with selected songs by Tyrannosaurus Rex, T. Rex, and Marc Bolan, I guess, and still, there are, not one single truly great compilation album to be found, as far as I know, that attempts to give you the best songs of the '60s, the early '70s, and Bolan's later years up until his last studio album Dandy in the Underworld (1977). My advise is to make your own playlist of his best songs, as there's definitely enough material to fill a double album.

Kraftwerk "Autobahn" (1974)

2009 cover

Autobahn

release date: Nov. 1, 1974

format: cd (2009 remaster)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,06]

producer: Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider

label: Kling Klang / EMI Records - nationality: Germany

Track highlights: 1. "Autobahn" (5 / 5) - 3. "Kometenmelodie 2" - 5. "Morgenspaziergang"

4th studio album from by German band Kraftwerk as follow-up to Ralf und Florian (Oct. '73) is by many considered the start of the band's success story - a group which originally, and partly still here, is a duo with Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. 'Partly' because Kraftwerk is at this point both a functioning duo-project and an artist collective at the same time. Although, not yet an official member during these recording, percussionist Wolfgang Flür plays on the album - and he will be a stable member from the release and up until '86. On the other hand, both guitarist Klaus Röder and songwriter Emil Schult (who is also credited the front cover) appear together with Hütter and Schneider inserted in what should look like a rear-view mirror on the front cover, where a picture of Flür has been inserted onto the dashboard of the car, as illustration of the band's five official members - however, Röder already left the band by the time of the album's release. On some later vinyl releases, Schult is not mentioned as a member... And on other releases, the rearview mirror image and dashboard have both been retouched. However, there is no doubt that the two musical driving forces are the founders of the band: Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider.

Autobahn with its five tracks has a total running time of approx. 42 minutes, and it has achieved iconic status in music history as a groundbreaking avant-garde album with a colossal significance for the beginning of synthpop, ambience and the entire electronic genre, and an album that has inspired contemporary and later artists across genres, and it's not only the title track, which has given the album this extraordinary status. On the band's previous albums, it was mainly or partially unmistakable krautrock and musique concrete which characterised Kraftwerk's music, but with this very album, the band marks the start of a predominantly electronic approach with the inclusion of elements from musique concrete. On the vinyl edition, the track "Autobahn" - credited Hütter, Schneider and the poet Emil Schult (who often co-wrote the songs) - with its nearly 23 minutes running time fills the entire A-side, and the song has become a modern evergreen. A song like "Kometenmelodie 2" has significant similarities with some music by Jean-Michel Jarre, while inspiration especially from this and from the final track "Morgenspaziergang" may be heard on several compositions by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, who have shown great admiration throughout the band's career on multiple occasions via album and song titles, in compositions, as well as on covers. David Bowie, Roxy Music, and Brian Eno are also indebted to the music by Kraftwerk.

Personally, I didn't give the band much importance until they made "Das model", or rather: not until the song was re-released with an accompanying video in '81, and then I didn't even know that the track featured on the album Die Mensch-Maschine ( 1978). The band and its music was always in the periphery of what I found interesting, without understanding that much of the British synthpop that I was particularly excited about in the early '80s owed huge debt to Kraftwerk. I do however, reacll the title song from some airplay on the national radio back in the lat 70s, and it was a tune that stood out. One of the great Danish bands from the 80s was the new wave band Kliché, and their two acclaimed studio albums Supertanker (1980) and Okay Okay Boys (1982) are nearly unimaginable without Kraftwerk and especially this very album.

The album peaked at No. #4 on the UK albums chart, as No. #5 on the US Billboard 200, and as No. #7 in Germany. The title track released as a single went to No. #9 on the national chart list, No. #11 in the UK, and made a 25th place in the US. Still, the track has achieved iconic status.

Autobahn is a piece of music history on par with the best works of the greatest artists. And it's not just huge because it's original, but because it anticipates and forms new styles and helps creating a whole new genre. The album is naturally included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". The band has reissued this album and most other albums in 2009 in remastered editions, however, it's worth noting that the first three albums by Kraftwerk have never been officially reissued in any format. This rejection is also seen on the 8-disc box set Der Katalog (2009), where they enlists all their studio albums from 1-8 on the back cover starting with Autobahn, thus completely omitting the first three albums, just as Hütter says that with that collection they have collected all of their previous albums. On a later occasion he said that they have plans to release a second box set containing the earliest recordings, although, this has not yet materialised.

Essential.

[ allmusic.com, Uncut 5 / 5, Drowned in Sound, Spin 4,5 / 5, Mojo, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

original cover

detail from cover

~ ~ ~

This post is part of MyMusicJourney, which enlists key releases that have shaped my musical taste when growing up and until age 14. Most of these releases come from my parents' and / or my older brother's collection.

Dead Can Dance "Within the Realm of a Dying Sun" (1987)

Within the Realm of a Dying Sun
release date: Jul. 27, 1987
format: cd (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]
producer: Dead Can Dance, John A. Rivers
label: 4AD Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Anywhere Out of the World" - 3. "In the Wake of Adversity" - 5. "Dawn of the Iconoclast" - 6. "Cantara" - 7. "Summoning of the Muse"

3rd studio album by the duo-project Dead Can Dance following 1½ years after the fine Spleen and Ideal and much like that, this is also produced by the duo in collaboration with John A. Rivers.

The album marks the continued journey within the duo's own stylistic soundscape of neo-classical darkwave and with a subtle addition of electronica. It's pompous and it's ethereal without the dreampop-sound that shaped the debut from '84. This is lighter and more simple without audible electric guitars - instead, it employs keyboards, synths, dulcimer, and classical orchestra representation by organ, strings, oboe, and brass.

Compared to the predecessor, there's a stronger emphasis on classical instrumentation on this as well as more simple compositions with a progressive ambient touch.

Another recommended release from the duo.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

The Go-Betweens "Bright Yellow Bright Orange" (2003)

Bright Yellow Bright Orange
release date: Feb. 24, 2003
format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]
producer: The Go-Betweens
label: Trifekta - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Caroline and I" - 2. "Poison in the Walls" - 3. "Mrs. Morgan" - 6. "Crooked Lines" - 8. "Make Her Day"

8th studio album by The Go-Betweens released 2½ years after The Friends of Rachel Worth (Sep. 2000) is once again with a changed line-up in the 'supporting roles' of a band that is essentially no more than a duo-project. Now officially, the band is back as a quartet with the two founders at the front, the songwriters and composers Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who are both credited on vocals and various guitars (Forster is also credited on organ and piano). As on the predecessor, they are here backed by bassist Adele Pickvance, who is also credited on keyboards and backing vocals, and then new member Glenn Thompson is seen on drums, electric guitar, organ, keyboards, and backing vocals. Beyond these, only a small duo of string instrumentalists are credited musical contributions.

Stylistically, there are no major changes since the 2000 revival release, but as a positive contrast, this is a much more cohesive collection of songs, with the two songwriters actually sounding like they've been working together on the new tracks and not 'only' have met in the studio with a handful of their own individual tracks, as they had become accustomed to in the years after their break-up in '88. The album contains an expected even number of 10 new tracks, which typically indicate five songs by Forster and five by McLennan, only this time they don't make a big fuzz about telling us who wrote what song. Instead, all tracks are credited Forster / McLennan, although they are believed to have contributed roughly equally with lyrical and musical contributions. They match each other in unison - and not that they didn't do that before, but it's as if they rise together on more optimistic notes, and perhaps the title suggests exactly what is seen on the cover - the only album by the band without actual photos of the band members - a reflection of a lighter lyrical content. Fact is, many of their earlier songs were woven and soothed in bittersweet melancholy. In contrast, they here sort of narrate in lighter spheres adding tailored vocal harmonies and chamber pop arrangements. The only thing I miss are a number of distinctive strong songs, and seen as a whole the album is perhaps a bit too cohesive with the two songwriters tiptoeing along more or less down the same path on golden rays of sunshine.

Expectedly, Bright Yellow Bright Orange was met by positive reviews and was even nominated, without winning, Best Album at the Australian Music Awards but The Go-Betweens now sound like they have found their footing and are back on course again. And nevertheless, it's always a pleasure to hear new songs with this classic songwriting duo.

[ allmusic.com, Blender, Q Magazine, Uncut 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5, 👉The Guardian 5 / 5 stars ]

Sun Kil Moon "Benji" (2014)

Benji
release date: Feb. 11, 2014
format: 2 cd (LTD. 2-disc Edition)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,84]
producer: Mark Kozelek
label: Caldo Verde Records - nationality: USA

6th studio album by Sun Kil Moon following nearly two years after Among the Leaves (May 2012) but only six months after the fine collaboration album Mark Kozelek & Desertshore (Aug. 2013). Despite being credited Sun Kil Moon, Benji is basically just another solo project by Kozelek, who changes from releasing new material either in his own name or via the moniker Sun Kil Moon adopted from what was initially the continuing of Red House Painters. The album is also released in a Limited Edition with a bonus disc containing five live recordings taken from five different concerts in 2013: in Aveiro, Portugal at Teatro Aveirense, in Göteborg, Sweden at Stenhammarsalen, in Copenhagen, Denmark at Jazzhouse, in London, England at SBE, and in Leamington Spa, England at The Assembly.

The music here is predominantly acoustic alt. folk, alt-country, and singer / songwriter compositions featuring Kozelek on vocal and on acoustic guitar. It's gentle music and fine stories about everyday life and often about meetings with friends, lovers or family - stories of his past and present - all delivered as if the told story is of highest importance.

The album was lauded by many critics as one of his major works, and it ended up on many lists presenting the best releases of the year.

It's definitely good - almost as usual - it may not offer much new, but it presents Kozelek at his best, when he he's left with his acoustic guitar and is given room to present any given story. Presenting the expected is not the same as being of lesser value, which this serves to document.

Recommended.

The front cover is a photograph by Mark Kozelek.

[ 👎allmusic.com 3 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, 👍NME, Spin, PopMatters 4 / 5, Uncut 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Montasje "Presence!" (1982)

Presence! [debut]
release date: 1982
format: vinyl (MAI 8201) / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Helge Gaarder; Erik Aasheim (assistant)
label: Plateselskapet Mai - nationality: Norway

Track highlights: A) 1. "Nykter" (TV performance) - 2. "Reisning" - 3. "Presence!" - - B) 1. "Glass" (4 / 5) - 2. "Tundra" - 4. "Europa" - 5. "... Etter regnet"

Studio debut and only album by Norwegian new wave, post-punk and art pop quintet Montasje, who also featured with one song on a sampler album (Zink Zamler, '82) as an act called Modul 5. The whole project only existed from late 1981 to '82, and the album was recorded from Dec. '81 to Jan. '82, and the band here consists of vocalist and keyboardist Helge Gaarder, Erik Aasheim on guitar, bass and percussion, Jøran Rudi on guitar, Per (Kristian) Tro on bass, and Danish drummer Michael Rasmussen [who should later join the Danish band The Sandmen]. The album comes with an alias, as it says in the few notes on the cover: "Presence! et Montasje produkt - Modul 1".
Musically, it's quite a unique sound they have put together. There are some influences from early New Order - Movement-period ever-present but it's more than just a Scandinavian replica of that. What makes it much more its own blend is the presence of something ethereal - it's not ambient, nor jazz fusion but there's a layer of open landscape meandering throughout the album, which makes me think of Norwegian free jazz artist Jan Garbarek. The unique sound also helps building a sensation of timelessness to the project.
Recommended.

[ collectors' item ]

Blaue Blume "Bell of Wool" (2019)

Bell of Wool

release date: Nov. 8, 2019

format: digital (9 x File, FLAC - HFN 99)

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

producer: Blaue Blume

label: HFN Music / Universal - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Swimmer" - 2. "Someday" (live) - 3. "Morgensol" - 4. "Vanilla" - 7. "Sobs" - 8. "Loveable" (live) - 9. "New Navel"

2nd full-length album by Blaue Blume follows two years after the release of the 4-track ep Sobs and four [!] full years after the sophomore Syzygy (Oct. 2015). The band followed the debut by playing concerts and at festivals but were forced to withdraw from further band activities in 2018 as front figure and lead vocalist Jonas Smith was overtaken by depression, which explains the long time in between albums.

Bell of Wool sort of continues from Sobs with more instrospective songs - some of which is said to have evolved from Smith's lyrics about personal experiences and sentiments during his time out. It's still music bonded with 1980s dreampop but also with links to Talk Talk and Antony and the Johnsons, and then there's athe addition of a stronger electronic sound, which bonds with contemporaries like Beach House, ultimately making this the band's so far most varied album. And on top of the various styles, the songs are both with English as well as Danish lyrics, although, only "Morgensol" is in Danish. The track was released June 14, 2019 as the album's first single, and then followed by the singles "Loveable" (Sep. 13, 2019) and finally "Vanilla" (Oct. 11, 2019) before the album release.

Smith still executes the lyrics with his strong vibrant and technically skilled vocal, which perhaps forever will bring to mind Elisabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins but Jonas Smith is much more than just a mere copyist and the production sound always delivers on highest level.

The album is without doubt one of the best Danish albums of the year.

Highly recommended.

[ bandcamp ]

[ Soundvenue 5 / 6 stars ]

Kele "2042" (2019)

2042

release date: Nov. 8, 2019

format: digital (16 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]

producer: Gethin Pearson

label: Kola / !K7 - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Jungle Bunny" - 3. "Let England Burn" - 4. "St. Kaepernick Wept" - 6. "My Business" - 7. "Ceiling Games" - 9. "Between Me and My Maker" - 13. "Catching Feelings" - 16. "Backburner"

4th studio release by Kele, who once again have returned to stand by his first name only, in contrast to Fatherland (Oct. 2017), which was released under the name Kele Okereke. There has now been room for a total of sixteen tracks and a total playing length of 61 minutes. The album follows four months after he and the band Bloc Party released the live album Silent Alarm Live (Jul. 2019) recorded during the band's European tour in 2018.

Stylistically, he's back in dance mode with an uptempo release using various electronic styles as alt. dance, neo-soul, funk, and disco mixed with indie pop, and a sound which isn't far from that of Bloc Party. Furthermore, he's more political than heard before, and the title apparently alludes to a collection of tracks revolving around an image of England in the year 2042. The album received fine reviews in the UK but didn't chart on the albums chart.

2042 is another fine example of Kele's musical skills, where he picks from all sorts of genres and styles to produce his own personal mix. In that way, stylistically and in terms of form, the album reminds me somewhat of his solo debut The Boxer (2010), without speaking of mere recycling. At times in the past, he hasn't always been able to hit the target with his releases but with 2042, I think he's back on track and the album simply appears to be his best and clearly most exciting album since his exiting debut and is therefore worthy of a recommendation.

[ NME, DIY 4 / 5 stars ]

Alice Boman "Dream On" (2020)

Dream On [debut]
release date: Jan. 17, 2020
format: digital (10 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Patrick Berger
label: PIAS - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 2. "Heart on Fire" (live) - 3. "The More I Cry" - 5. "Don't Forget About Me" - 6. "Everybody Hurts"

Studio album debut by Swedish singer / songwriter Alice (Maria) Boman primarily produced by Patrick Berger. Other producer credits: Fabian Prynn (tracks #4, 6, 9); Tom Malmros (#4, 6); Alice Boman (non-produced, self-recorded track #10).
The album has attracted my attention for its original qualities. Boman draws on some of the same strengths of introspectiveness that you'll find on albums with Chelsea Wolfe, Anna von Hausswolff, Sharon Van Etten, and Lana Del Rey - without further comparison, and completely without plagiarising any of them. The music on Dream On is in a subtler gear and with a delightful absence of pompous sensations, yet, it's still like a ceremonial breeze. There's a simplicity and a lightness, which goes hand in hand with Boman's delicate vocal.
Dream On is more than fine.
[ allmusic.com, Uncut 3,5 / 5, Gaffa.dk 4 / 5 stars ]

other: live on KEXP 2014

Kraftwerk "Ralf und Florian" (1973)

Ralf und Florian

release date: Oct. 1973

format: digital (1994 unofficial reissue)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,15]

producer: Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider

label: Germanofon - nationality: Germany

Track highlights: 1. "Elektrisches Roulette" - 3. "Kristallo" - 5. "Tanzmusik" (live) - 6. "Ananas Symphonie"

3rd studio album by Kraftwerk originally released on Philips and here in an unofficial version from Czech Germanofon released approximately 1½ years after Kraftwerk 2 (1972), and as on that, the band / music project here, as the title indicates, only consists of the two founders: Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Both are jointly credited a long range of instruments - and as something new: now also on vocals, which is, however, quite minimalistic with vocals as backing choir and a kind of secondary instrument - also without recognisable lyrics. Konrad 'Conny' Plank is not co-producer on the album, as he was credited on the first two albums, instead he is here credited as sound engineer. And just like the two previous albums, Ralf und Florian was reissued on Philips and Vertigo through the 70s, but releases after 1979 are all unofficial issues, and Kraftwerk has basically written off the albums from before Autobahn (1974).

The album is the first to be listed as having been recorded at the band's Klingklang studio in Düsseldorf, and it clearly bears the stamp of being somewhat more well-produced and reworked. Stylistically, Kraftwerk has moved towards the mastery of greater spaciousness and a more condensed simplicity, again taking a move further away from the rhythmic krautrock, although you'll find reminiscences of more traditional instrumentation with guitar and rhythm instruments such as bass and drums on some compositions. With the exception of the final track, 'songs' have generally become shorter and the music has been shaped as electronic ambient and less chaotic. The album has been hailed as essential for the ambient genre, and when listening to "Tanzmusik" it's hard not to think of more contemporary acts such as The Orb, Boards of Canada, Sigur Rós and Danish band Efterklang - to name just a few.

After the release, the band made several live performances, including on German TV, where Wolfgang Flür often participated on drums (see live version of "Tanzmusik") - from Autobahn and afterwards he was credited as permanent member of the band's new line-up.

[ 👍allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Icehouse "Icehouse" (1981)

Icehouse [debut]
release date: Jun. 1981
format: digital (1990 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: Cameron Allan
label: Chrysalis Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Icehouse" [same song by Flowers] - 2. "Can't Help Myself" [same song by Flowers] - 4. "Walls" [same song by Flowers] - 6. "We Can Get Together" [same song by Flowers] - 10. "Not My Kind" [same song by Flowers]

Studio album debut by Australian band Icehouse; or actually: the international debut 'cause fact is, in Oct. 1980 this band was called Flowers, and they released the debut album Icehouse exclusively for the Australian and New Zealand markets on Regular Records. Flowers was founded in '77, and the debut album provided some entries on the Australian charts and the band soon signed with Chrysalis, who wanted the album released worldwide. Songwriter, lead vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and oboist Iva Davies was the band leader and together with bassist and backing vocalist Keith Welsh they founded the band, who were joined by keyboardist Michael Hoste - who is replaced during the recordings of the first album by Anthony Smith, and together with drummer John Lloyd they were Flowers. Now with a record contract with Chrysalis the quartet was sat out to re-record both music and vocals, and the company wanted Flowers to pick another band name for the release, since a Scottish band were already called Flowers, so they came up with the title of their first track for new band name. The two albums (Flowers' Icehouse and Icehouse by Icehouse) appear almost identical. The '80 album was released with eleven tracks - one more than the Icehouse album, and then the track order is different.

Stylistically, it's in the category of uptempo synthpop and pop / rock with influences from especially Ultravox, Gary Numan, David Bowie, early Roxy Music, and T. Rex.

I didn't listen to this until some point in the 90s, and by then found it of little interest but simply had to hear it 'cause Icehouse's sophomore album, Primitive Man (1982) was such a distinctive and originally strong release. Despite also being 'synthpop', it's still quite far from their more famous album(s), and what really strikes me - of course listening to it from a later point - is how little original it sounds. It is very much with Ultravox, Gary Numan, Roxy Music and Bowie in mind that you listen through (nearly) all of these songs.

Only a must for collectors.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

"Icehouse"

by Flowers (1980)

Dead Can Dance "Spleen and Ideal" (1985)

Spleen and Ideal
release date: Nov. 1985
format: vinyl (CAD 512) / cd (1986 reissue) / cd (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,06]
producer: Dead Can Dance & John A. Rivers
label: 4AD Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "De profundis (Out of the Depths of Sorrow)" - 2. "Ascension" - 4. "The Cardinal Sin" - 5. "Mesmerism" - 6. "Enigma of the Absolute" - 7. "Advent" - 8. "Avatar" - 9. "Indoctrination (A Design for Living)"

2nd studio album by Australian neo-classical darkwave band Dead Can Dance, who at this point have been reduced to a duo consisting of singer, drummer & percussionist Lisa Gerrard (who would later become an acclaimed film composer) and British multi-instrumentalist Brendan Perry. The album consists of nine compositions with varied durations from approx. 3 minutes to the album's longest track "The Cardinal Sin" of approx. 5½ minutes, and with a total running length of just 38 minutes.

In terms of style, the music here can only poorly be compared to other contemporary releases. In its time it fell under the category of post-punk, which it really never was. I think the closest critics could rightly describe the style as was gothic rock and experimental rock - perhaps with a touch of art rock, but seen from a music historical perspective it's nothing less than a modern cornerstone, which has only gained greater recognition over time. It's difficult, and perhaps impossible, to imagine contemporary works by artists such as Jocelyn Pook and Anna von Hausswolff, but also Chelsea Wolfe and Lingua Ignota, and basically: the whole wave of contemporary artists in neo-classical darkwave without pointing to the legacy of Dead Can Dance and perhaps this album in particular.

I purchased Spleen and Ideal on vinyl back in the mid-80s without having any knowledge of the band or of the music they played. All I knew was that 4AD Records put out music with super-interesting names and pretty original artists, and the band oozed that particular post-punk edge that (to me) connected them to bands like Bauhaus, Modern English, This Mortail Coil, and Joy Division (which admittedly came out on Factory Records). However, I also remember the first time I listened to the album and was really disappointed. It wasn't at all like the other bands I knew of. And it wasn't even close to some of the ones mentioned here. I tried repeatedly to listen to the album but always ended up putting something else on. Luckily, I kept the album, although in the late 80s and early 90s I got into a really bad habit of selling off early 80s albums that I didn't listen much to in order to finance newer music with a stronger appeal.

When I finally re-listened to Spleen and Ideal again in the 2010s it was like a sheer revelation. How could I have failed to understand the obvious qualities of this very album?! No, it doesn't sound like anything else from the early or late 80s - except subsequent albums by Dead Can Dance. It's enchanting and beautiful music sounding like timeless tones that call for a kind of ceremonial gathering. The beauty of it is that you can simultaneously let it fill you without thinking about cultural or religious boundaries. But above all, it's remarkable how little it shares with other music originating in the mid-80s.

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

[ collectors' item ]

Kraftwerk "Kraftwerk 2" (1972)

Kraftwerk 2

release date: Jan. 1972

format: digital (1994 uofficial reissue)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,02]

producer: Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider-Esleben, Konrad 'Conny' Plank

label: Germanofon - nationality: Germany

Track highlights: 1. "Klingklang" - 3. "Strom" - 5. "Wellenlänge"

2nd studio album by German band Kraftwerk, here only credited the two co-founders of the band, Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider, after the recently included drummer Klaus Dinger left the band and instead co-founded the band Neu! According to Hütter, it was hard to find drummers for Kraftwerk because no one would work with them when they chose to use non-typical (electric) instruments, so Hütter and Schneider themselves are credited percussion on the album here, just as they are on sucessorRalf und Florian (1973). The opening track "Klingklang" is almost 18 minutes long and in addition to being the album's longest composition, it has also given name to Kraftwerk's studio and record company Kling Klang, founded around '73.

Musically, a lot has actually happened since the debut Kraftwerk from 1970. The absence of actual drummers distances the album from other contemporary 'krautrock' releases and points to a purer electronic-founded style, where Hütter and Schneider - aided by the later legendary Konrad 'Conny' Plank sound - only stage their instrumental compositions using rhythms from percussion instruments such as xylophone, marimba and primitive programmable instruments, and on top of this basic substance they have added sounds from organ, electric piano, flute, violin, accordion, but also from more traditional instruments such as bass and guitar.

Still, it's a long way to the band's more iconic compositions with more traditional musical structures, but there is much pointing in the direction of ambient and progressive pop, and then the music has also taken a direction away from the initial improvisational and more abrupt compositions from the debut, which still had contained elements from psychedelic rock.

The album (just as its predecessor and the follow-up) has never officially been reissued, but only exists as a result of pirated copies - as here from the supposed Czech company Germanofon.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Michael Kiwanuka "Kiwanuka" (2019)

Kiwanuka
release date: Nov. 1, 2019
format: 2 lp vinyl (gatefold)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: Danger Mouse, Inflo
label: Polydor Records - nationality: England, UK

3rd studio album by Michael Kiwanuka is a double gatefold vinyl album produced by Danger Mouse [aka Brian Joseph Burton] and Inflo [aka Dean Josiah].
His two previous albums more more traditionally crafted with a folk rock style, but here he has added a psychedelic touch, which is widely known as psychedelic soul and shows influences from Prince and Sly and the Family Stone. It's an even bolder introspective collection of songs than you'll find in his back catalogue.
The album was generally met by positive reviews and Kiwanuka has gained reputation as a modern singer / songwriter of contemporary soul.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, The Guardian, NME, Q Magazine 5 / 5, 👍Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Kraftwerk "Kraftwerk" (1970)

Kraftwerk [debut]

release date: Dec. 1, 1970

format: digital (1994 unofficial reissue)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,84]

producer: Ralf Hüttel, Florian Schneider-Esleben, Konrad 'Conny' Plank

label: Germanofon - nationality: Germany

Track highlights: 1. "Ruckzuck" - 2. "Stratovarius"

Studio debut album by Kraftwerk consisting of the two founders Ralf Hüttel and Florian Schneider-Esleben after they had left the experimental German band Organisation, who had released the album Tone Float (Jun. '70). On this first outing, the drummers Andreas Hohmann and Klaus Dinger are also credited as members. Hohmann plays drums on the first two compositions, while Dinger is credited drums on the final cut.

The album consists of four tracks with varying playing time running from 7:50 to 12:10 minutes and with a total running time of just under 40 minutes. It's experimental instrumental music pointing to inspiration from another German band: Tangerine Dream, which had just released its debut Jun. '70, and then it's also music with influence from experimental releases by Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, John Cage, and especially Karlheinz Stockhausen and musique concrete in general. Several tracks and parts of compositions sounds very much like the result of spontaneous sessions with Hüttel playing organ and a special instrument: electric 'tubon', while Schneider is credited playing violin, flute, and percussion. Besides a krautrock style, the individual compositions are made with some interesting twists pointing to ambient and progressive elements and rhythms you may find on early electronic music of the mid-70s by Brian Eno, Roxy Music, David Bowie, Jean-Michel Jarre, and in the early eighties by an artist like e.g. Laurie Anderson and among many synthpop bands, and then again in the early techno scene. You'll find sound bits hinting at this in the actual electronic explosion from the late 80s and early 90s with bands like The Orb, The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Dust Brothers etc. and in much wider sub-styles. The album was originally released on Philips - reissued several times through the 70s and also on cassette from '77, but it has never been officially released on CD format, nor has it been reissued after 1980, and Germanofon releases (many from '94) of the band's three earliest albums are all unofficial or 'bootleg' releases, and the band themselves haven't found it fruitful to reissue the earliest albums. This may also be seen e.g. with the band's own 8-CD box set Der Katalog (2009), which doesn't include releases from before Autobahn (1974).

The album is a pure curiosity. There are many other and better experimental albums from the period, and it's only interesting that Hütter and Schneider already here named their music-project Kraftwerk, although, the electronic characteristics were only established with the band's fourth album. Still, it's a bit of shame how Hütter and Schneider somehow won't acknowledge their musical starting point. There are some fine parts pointing to both their own later progression, but also to much other music that flourished during the 70s.

[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]