Lightning Bug "October Sky" (2019)

October Sky

release date: Sep. 6, 2019

format: digital

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]

producer: Lightning Bug

label: selvudgivet - nationality: USA

2nd studio album by Lightning Bug is like the debut Floaters (2015) self-released and may be found on bandcamp. The band consists of songwriter and vocalist Audrey Kang, who also handles bass and drums, Kevin Copeland on guitar, and with Logan Miley on synthesizer and as sound engineer.

Stylistically, Lightning Bug lands somewhere in an indie pop sphere with a distinct shoegaze / dream pop touch, which brings to mind artists such as My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins, and Flaming Lips without being a mere copy.

October Sky is quite an exciting and original release.

Underworld "Drift Series 1 - Sampler Edition" (2019)

Drift Series 1 - Sampler Edition

release date: Nov. 1, 2019

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Rick Smith

label: Smith Hyde Productions - nationality: Wales, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Appleshine" - 2. "This Must Be Drum Street" - 3. "Listen to Their No" - 4. "Border Country" - 6. "Schiphol Test" - 7. "Brilliant Yes That Would Be" - 9. "Imagine a Box" - 10. "Custard Speedtalk"

[ 40 tracks playlist ]

10th studio album by Underworld following three years after Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future (Mar. 2016) is much more than 'just' another studio album. Actually, Karl Hyde and Rick Smith has produced the album on the basis of their one-year project named "DRIFT", initiated Nov. 2018 through Oct. 2019, which saw the duo release new videos and new tracks each week as free-downloads via Underworld's official website. The result was released simultaneously with this one-disc outtake from no less than a 40 tracks digital album, or: a 5 cd + 1 DVD box-set of nearly 6 hours new music. The 'Sampler Edition' is a fine coherent collection of some of the tracks, which for the occasion has been edited to fit a one-cd format of approx. 57 minutes.

With this, Hyde and Smith more than anything demonstrate they're alive and kicking. The entire 40 tracks Drift Series 1 is actually a splendid and most impressive release, but to think of that as their tenth studio album appears too overwhelming if not somewhat contradictory.

Stylewise, the duo investigates various stylistic corners of house, trance, downtempo, techno - and with a the delicate use of progressiveness that has come to shape (nearly) all of their previous albums from Dubnobasswithmyheadman (1994) and via subtle variations up until present day.

Highly recommended.

[ Mojo, Q Magazine, Uncut 4 / 5, UnderTheRadar 8 / 10, PopMatters, The Music, Clash 9 / 10 stars ]

Cornershop "England Is a Garden" (2020)

England Is a Garden

release date: Mar. 6, 2020

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]

producer: Tjinder Singh

label: Ample Play Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "St Marie Under Canon" (4 / 5) - 2. "Slingshot" - 3. "No Rock Save in Roll" - 4. "Everywhere That Wog Army Roam" - 6. "Highly Amplified" - 10. "I'm a Wooden Soldier" - 11. "One Uncareful Lady Owner"

9th studio album by Cornershop following five years after Hold on It's Easy (2015) is the band's first album with new songs in eight years as the 2015-album presented acoustic versions of songs from the debut album Hold on It Hurts (1994) making Urban Turban - The Singhles Club (2012) their so far most recent album with new material.

The band primarily consists of the two founding members: vocalist, multi-insrumentalist, songwriter and composer Tjinder Singh and multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Ben Ayres. The two are here supported by the two guitarists Adam Blake and Pete Downing, bassist James Milne, drummer Nick Simms and percussionist Peter Bengry. Also former keyboardist of the band Anthony Saffrey, guitarist Duncan Whyte and keyboardist Alan Gregson participate on the album, and the official line-up remains a bit of an uncertain issue. When visiting the band's Facebook-account the band photo consists of only Singh and Ayres, and it seems the two represent the band and invite various stable musicians to assist when recording new songs and also to make up the band while touring.

England Is a Garden has been released to mostly positive reviews, and it appears to be a collection of songs that more or less sum up most of their career. It's a nice return to the more simple fusion of indie pop, rock & roll with bits of traditional Indian folklore world-music that you also find on the band's 1997 breakthrough album, and it's basically a nice coherent release with good vibes and some fine lyrics.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, The Independent, 👉The Guardian 4 / 5, musicOMH, NME 3 / 5 stars ]

The Fratellis "In Your Own Sweet Time" (2018)

In Your Own Sweet Time
release date: Mar. 16, 2018
format: vinyl (LTD. orange vinyl) / digital (11 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,90]
producer: Tony Hoffer
label: Cooking Vinyl - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Stand Up Tragedy" (4 / 5) (Jon Fratelli solo acoustic) - 2. "Starcrossed Losers" - 6. "I've Been Blind" - 7. "Laughing Gas" (Jon Fratelli solo acoustic)

5th studio album by Scottish trio The Fratellis following the 2015 album Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied with music exclusively composed by vocalist and guitarist Jon Fratelli (aka John Paul Lawler) who is also credited as keyboardist.
Where the 2015 album revealed a more laid-back and less garage rock-styled collection of songs, this new album brings back the prolific energy of the debut, which may coincide with the fact that they have brought back the producer of their debut album, Tony Hoffer, who also produced their 2015 album.
I easily find it the band's second-best album, much alongside We Need Medicine from 2013, but this has more of the original simplicity that characterised the band's first studio album, and then there's a stronger glam rock sensation that makes you understand the importance of one Marc Bolan.
[ 👎allmusic.com 3 / 5, 👍PopMatters, Spill Magazine 3,5 / 5, Express 4 / 5 stars ]

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

The National "I Am Easy to Find" (2019)

I Am Easy to Find

release date: May 17, 2019
format: cd (4AD0154CD)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]
producer: The National, Mike Mills
label: 4AD Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "You Had Your Soul With You" - 2. "Quiet Light" - 5. "The Pull of You" - 10. "Not In Kansas" - 11. "So Far So Fast" - 14. "Rylan"
[ a short film "I Am Easy to Find" directed by producer Mike Mills ]

8th studio album by The National following the acclaimed Sleep Well Beast from 2017 follows closely with the same formula as the successor.
What appears as the most poignant new change to a rather strict soundscape is an inclusion of several featuring (female) vocalists including Gail Ann Dorsey (5 tracks), Lisa Hannigan (4 tracks), Kate Stables (3 tracks), Mina Tindle (1 track), and Sharon Van Etten (1 track). The album contains 17 tracks and has a running time just above 63 mins.
The National sounds like no other act around, and they play as a strong and well-balanced entity without adding much new to an already established sound and compositions, primarily by lyricist(s) Matt Berninger and / or Carin Besser together with composer(s) Aaron Dessner and / or Bryce Dessner that touch on the usual subjects about identity and (love) relations.
It's not bad. It's quite fine, and really not surprising in any way.
[ 👍allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, The Guardian, Mojo, NME, Q Magazine, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Heligoland "Pitcher, Flask & Foxy Moxie" (2005)

Pitcher, Flask & Foxy Moxie

release date: Jan. 1, 2006

format: digital (9 x File, MP3)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]

producer: Tim Friese-Greene

label: self-released (bandcamp) - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Wedding Feast" - 3. "Black Girl" - 5. "The War, Stupid" (4 / 5) - 7. "Down to Zero" - 8. "3 Stills"

2nd full-length album by project-band Heligoland (aka Tim Friese-Greene) following Heligoland (Jan. 2000). Friese-Greene was co-composer of most of the music in Talk Talk where he and Mark Hollis were the musical wizards behind a great portion of what later became labelled post rock. With Friese-Greene's heavy legacy in mind, it's actually not difficult to hear similar soundscape in his music by Heligoland, and with this he delivers another criminally overlooked collection of fine alternative music.

Magazine "The Correct Use of Soap" (1980)

The Correct Use of Soap
release date: May 2, 1980
format: cd (2001 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Martin Hannett
label: Virgin / Universal Music - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Because You're Frightened" (4 / 5) - 2. "Model Worker" - 3. "I'm a Party" - 4. "You Never Knew Me" - 7. "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" - 8. "Sweetheart Contract" - 10. "A Song From Under the Floorboards" (5 / 5)

3rd studio album by Manchester quintet Magazine originally released by Virgin is the band's only album to be produced by Martin Hannett, and it's the last to feature guitarist John McGeoch, who would leave the band after this. Fact is, two other acts had sought his expertise - together with both bassist Barry Adamson and keyboardist Dave Formula, McGeoch also took part in the early formation of Visage, and he already was engaged with Siouxsie and the Banshees for the recordings on the album Kaleidoscope earlier in 1980, and from the Summer of '80 he became a stable member of the more guitar-fuelled The Banshees while continuing as full-time member of Visage, and you may say that Magazine ended up losing a key member.
Without being the most obvious post-punk band, Magazine has been recognised as one of the most original and defining acts of the post-punk era. On The Correct Use of Soap the band consists of lead vocalist Howard Devoto (formerly punk rock band The Buzzcocks), guitarist John McGeoch, bassist Barry Adamson (former stand-in with The Buzzcocks), keyboardist Dave Formula (aka David Tomlinson), and drummer John Doyle. The band's style is a blend of genres and styles where post-punk is the easiest label when no other really suffice. They are known for a highly original rhythm section with avantgardist bass and drum-lines, and both bassist Adamson, keyboardist Formula and guitarist McGeoch have all gained artistic acclaim for their contributions, and on top of this vocalist Devoto surely has his own distinct sound. There's hardly any links to the punk rock era here but somehow this band works in its own dimension of art rock, new wave and avant-garde building on elements from soul, synthpop and... who-knows-what?!
The album peaked at number #25 on the UK albums chart list but both band and album were met by critical acclaim without reaching top popularity.
From a contemporary perspective this very album hasn't aged as much as most other releases from the 1980s, and Adamson, Formula and McGeoch have all rightfully been hailed among the most influential British musicians of modern ages.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, 👍Uncut 4 / 5 stars ]

Sun Kil Moon "Universal Themes" (2016)

Universal Themes

release date: Jun. 2, 2015

format: digital

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

producer: Mark Kozelek

label: Caldo Verde - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "The Possum" - 2. "Birds of Flims" - 4. "Cry Me a River Williamsburg Sleeve Tattoo Blues" - 6. "Garden of Lavender" - 7. "Ali / Spinks 2" - 8. "This Is My First Day and I'm Indian and I Work at a Gas Station"

7th studio album from Mark Kozelek's solo project Sun Kil Moon following a little over one year after the critically acclaimed Benji (Feb. 2014). Musically, it is somewhat in the same vein as his other recent albums, although, there's a new bearing of compositions with a more informal tone. This approach consists of several passages of spoken word and compositions consisting of more complex arrangements, where parts of songs sound like single tracks that together form a whole. The album features a reunion with Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, who also appeared on Benji, and who here is only other musician besides Kozelek on all tracks. There are quiet semi-classical tracks, compositions where Kozelek mostly dwells on pure narration, tracks with a more distinct folk feel, and more uptempo sequences that remind us of his former heydays with Red House Painters. And then there are abrupt shifts from distorted electric guitar to acoustic passages and vice-versa, as well as passages that mostly sound like studio improvs.

The album consists of 8 compositions of relatively long playing length with the shortest track ("Ali / Spinks 2") at 6:45 minutes, and the longest ("Garden of Lavender") running for more than 10 minutes, and a total playing length of 60 minutes. Kozelek seems long ago to have given up on the idea of ​​reaching a greater audience and he basically sounds like someone who only releases music for his own pleasure - which is a super nice premise, and in that way, Universal Themes is so unlike anything else. I like Kozelek's weird universe, his acoustic guitar sound, his melancholic and occasionally devilish expression where he sounds like a distant cousin of Black Francis.

Universal Themes is not an album with ear hooks but with distinctive songs about colourful people from Kozelek's life. It's narrations of meetings with family members and short and long stories about daily life - life and death. There are also the usual references to the sport of boxing, specific boxers (Ali / Spinks) and it all needs to be taken in at full length and preferably just attentively listened to.

Recommended.

The front cover image, as on the latest album, is a photo by Mark Kozelek.

[ allmusic.com, Mojo, Q Magazine, Spin, NME 4 / 5 stars ]

Papir "VI" (2019)

VI

release date: May 10, 2019

format: digital (4 x File, FLAC)

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

producer: Lars Lundholm [rec.]; Troels Bech [mast.]; Papir [mix.]

label: Stickman Records - nationality: Denmark

Tracklist: 1. "VI.I" - 2. "VI.II" - 3. "VI.III" - 4. "VI.IV"

6th studio album by Papir following two years after V is like that recorded by Lars Lundholm and released on Stickman. The trio remains unchanged with guitarist Niklas Sørensen, bassist Christian Clausen, and drummer Christoffer Christensen.

VI are four untitled tracks with a total running time at just under 40 mins. and stylewise, Papir explores their new-found original blend of post-rock, space rock and prog rock with hints of this and that but still held together on their own musical path.

VI also continue a new fine level demonstrating individual qualities as well as insight in musical realisation. My only 'complaint' is the end-track, which to me sounds like something they composed earlier with too much improvisation and too much unorganised space rock, whereas the first three all appear more contemporary and better arranged. That said, this new distillation is still more than a worthwhile listen.

Small recommendation.

[ bandcamp ]

[ Musikreviews.de 13 / 15, SputnikMusik 3,7 / 5 stars ]

Robbie Robertson "Sinematic" (2019)

Sinematic
release date: Sep. 20, 2019
format: digital (13 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Robbie Robertson
label: UMe (Universal Music Enterprises) - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "I Hear You Paint Houses" (feat. Van Morrison) - 2. "Once Were Brothers" - 3. "Dead End Kid" - 4. "Hardwired" - 7. "Shanghai Blues"

6th studio album by Robbie Robertson released 8½ years after How to Become Clairvoyant from 2011 is a nice return from a man who has never exactly been renowned for releasing an abundance of new studio material. The actual foundation to the album here is probably with some persuassion from Robertson's 'Cinematic' friend Martin Scorsese, for whom Robertson composed the title track "I Hear You Paint Houses" and the closing track "Remembrance", both for Scorsese's TV movie "The Irishman". The Scorsese-Robertson friendship was initiated with Scorsese's 1978 film "The Last Waltz" - which many critics have on their top list of the best concert / music films of all time - the epic music by The Band. Since then, Robertson has contributed with musical scores to several films by Scorsese, which includes "Ragging Bull" (1980), "The King of Comedy" (1983), "The Color of Money" (1986), and Robertson is also credited as a musical -producer on these plus several other films by Scorsese in addition to being credited music-producer for other directors and especially from the early 80s to the present day. Most recently, Robertson is seen as music producer on "The Irishman", which in a way says a great deal about his professional commitment as an artist, who is linked to film art and who only rarely deals with the release of his own studio albums.

The title of the album is of course a play on words with the term 'Cinematic', as a word used with reference to film art, and when you know that the album here is purely sound based, then a 'sound motion' release rightly described as a 'Cinematic' experience. Simultaneously, the quality of music is pointed out as something that activates inner images while listening.

Sinematic is Robertson at his most playful and, I dare say, at his most original expression for several years. His 2011 album gave an experience of sparse originality, which in a way was also seen with his second solo album, Storyville back in 1991. On this his sixth studio album, and at the age of 76, Robbie turns up with one of his most sincere albums and with unusual amounts of freshness and vitality.

It may not be among his very best, but it's certainly more than just a decent collection of new tracks to recommend.

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

Kraftwerk "Radio-Aktivität" (1975)

Radio-Aktivität

release date: Oct. 1975

format: cd (1986 reissue)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,98]

producer: Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider

label: Kling Klang / EMI - nationality: Germany

Track highlights: 2. "Radioaktivität" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Radioland" - 4. "Ätherwellen" - 8. "Antenne" - 12. "Ohm Sweet Ohm" (4 / 5)

5th studio album by Kraftwerk and the band's second album on the compilation Der Katalog (2009) following one year after Autobahn. Here the band is for the first time a permanent quartet with the two primary composers and musicians Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider, again together with percussionist Wolfgang Flür - who also played on the predecessor, as well as new percussionist Karl Bartos. Emil Schult is songwriter of more than half of the songs and he is also credited the artwork of the album, but still not credited as an official member. The album runs just under 38 minutes and it's the band's first to be simultaneously released in an original German version as well as a versioned English edition with English song titles mainly for English-speaking countries, but also for release in the Netherlands and in Scandinavia - where the album was released as Radio-Activity.

Once again, the band has managed to take another leap further into the electronic genre. You'll find only a few overlaps with Autobahn and additionally, the album here is more stringent with electric percussion pads, vocoders, and a stronger pop profile with melodic choruses, in addition to a number of experimental traits, which tend towards modern glitch pop with what some have condescendingly called 'blip-blop music' - with reference to sounds simulating radios and electronic instruments. Between more traditional compositions at three to six minutes duration, shorter compositions from 14 seconds to just over one minute are interspersed, as small breaks with different sound sequences. It's a new and ground-breaking way of making music, which has inspired artists then and now. English band Orchestral Manouevres in the Dark have especially on their Dazzle Ships (1983) included some of the same sound loops and fun quirks found on Radio-Aktivität.

The album was met by lukewarm reviews and didn't perform to well commercially on a national scale, where it peaked at number #22, but the album went to number #4 in Austria and simply topped the albums chart in France. Contemporary reviewers were skeptical - probably because it's so different, but retrospective reviews attest to the album's status as yet another of the band's seminal releases.

Personally, I can easily hear OMD's huge inspiration, but because I first listened intensively to OMD, it's somewhat difficult to see Kraftwerk's music as better. It's obvious though, that the British band stole with hands and claws, but they didn't just copy, and that's ultimately what musicians do when they help push boundaries and create their own sound. Radio-Aktivität is a proof of the band's innovative style and is not a complete album without twists and turns, where in particular the slightly outdated instruments used distinguish the album from later releases, but it's nevertheless so beautifully produced and thoroughly new in form and sound that it surpasses much else of contemporary releases.

Highly recommended.

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

Dead Can Dance "The Serpent's Egg" (1988)

The Serpent's Egg

release date: Oct. 24, 1988

format: cd (2008 remaster)

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

producer: Brendan Perry, Lisa Gerrard, John A. Rivers

label: 4AD Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "The Host of Seraphim" (4,5 / 5) (live 2018) - 3. "Severance" (live) - 4. "The Writing on My Father's Hand" - 5. "In the Kingdom of the Blind the One-Eyed Are Kings" - 6. "Chant of the Paladin" - 7. "Song of Sophia" - 10. "Ullyses"

4th studio album by Dead Can Dance follows 15 months after Within the Realm of a Dying Sun and is like their recent two albums produced mainly by the duo and in collaboration with John A. Rivers on four tracks. All songs are credited Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard with the former singing lead vocals on three songs (tracks #3, #5, and #10), whereas Gerrard once again proves her stunning vocal on the remainders. The album consists of ten songs with a relatively short total running time at around 36 minutes.

Compared to the predecessor, The Serpent's Egg is also experimental, less electronically-founded and even more stripped to the bone regarding the musical arrangements. On this, not only Gerrard lives up to her almost usual brilliant vocal standard but Perry also delivers some of his best performances. The album is without fillers and it showcases the duo's originality and capability to keep renewing itself as front runners withtin an alt. rock sphere bonded to classical works and to no particular dominating style, which in itself is so rare.

The album is no less than a timeless classic and highly recommended.

[ 👍allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Lingua Ignota "All Bitches Die" (2017)

original cover

All Bitches Die

release date: Jun 7, 2017

format: digital (4 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,98]

producer: Kristin Hayter

label: selvudgivet - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Woe to All (On the Day of My Wrath)" - 2. "All Bitches Die (Bitches All Die Here)"

2nd studio album by American Lingua Ignota [meaning 'unknown language'], as the moniker of Kristin Hayter. She debuted on bandcamp with the album Let the Evil of His Own Lips Cover Him in Feb. 2017 and only five months later she's then ready with this album, which was also released via her bandcamp-profile, but this time to overwhelming international interest. She soon became associated with the record label Profound Lore, who re-issued this one with a new cover in 2018. The album consists of only four compositions of varying length from 5½ to 15 minutes and with a total running time of just over 42 minutes.

Musically speaking, it's based on a mixture of dark - or rather: absolute black noise metal with elements from classical music and a clear inspiration from industrial rock. Hayter's own life story as a victim in a long violent relationship lays a great foundation for her musical and lyrical universe. She is a classically trained musician and is credited the entire performance alone as songwriter, composer, sound engineer, producer, photographer, instrumentalist, and vocalist. Her expression balances on the extremely brutal, and she experiments with the use of pure noise, just as the use of her vocal reflects a similar approach. She possesses an excellent singing voice, which can be soft, finely tuned and sometimes terrifyingly distorted as bestial death screams and disturbing throat singing.

There is no doubt that Hayter is an original. The queen of darkness, Diamanda Galás, is closest as an inspiration and related artist, but Hayter is not only concerned with performance and singing, as a primary instrument. The compositions have both qualities from ambient and classical compositions, which make it both neoclassical works and experimental noise rock.

All Bitches Die is a fierce acquaintance. You probably have to have a certain fondness for Galás or black metal to find this beautiful. To my ears it's more fascinating than ordinary black metal, death metal, or related styles, but it's also too extreme a musical expression for me to just think it's really cool.

Disturbing. Fascinating. And at the same time, too much brutality.

[ SputnikMusic 4 / 5 stars ]

2018 reissue on Profound Lore

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

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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.