The Cardigans "Life" (1995)

Life
release date: Mar. 1, 1995
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]
producer: Tore Johansson
label: Stockholm Records - nationality: Sweden

Tracklist: 1. "Carnival" (4 / 5) (live) - 2. "Gordon's Gardenparty" - 3. "Daddy's Car" (live) - 4. "Pikebubbles" - 5. "Tomorrow" - 6. "Beautiful One" - 7. "Travelling With Charley" - 8. "Fine" - 9. "Sunday Circus Song" - 10. "Hey! Get Out of My Way" - 11. "Closing Time"

2nd studio album by The Cardigans. This release annoyed me a bit for many years because it included several tracks from the debut album. But the thing is, it comes in at least three versions with the same cover and released almost at the same time. Only recently, I managed to get hold of the original Swedish album edition, which is without any tracks from the debut, which makes sense. The international (UK, French, Canadian) release on the other hand has five tracks from Emmerdale, and that was unfortunately the most common release very soon outside Sweden. Another version was released in the US with a different track list but also featuring five tracks from the debut. Anyway, the best tracks on the original Swedish release are "Carnival", "Daddy's Car", "Pikebubbles" (omitted on the international editions), and "Tomorrow".
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

1995 Favourite releases: 1. Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill - 2. The Cardigans Life - 3. The Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

The Stranglers "Feline" (1983)

Feline
release date: Jan. 14, 1983
format: vinyl (embossed cover) / cd (2001 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]
producer: The Stranglers, Steve Churchyard
label: Epic Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: A) 1. "Midnight Summer Dream" (4 / 5) (single version) - 2. "It’s a Small World" - 3. "Ships That Pass in the Night" - 4. "European Female" (4,5 / 5) - - B) 1. "Let's Tango in Paris" - 2. "Paradise" - 3. "All Roads Lead to Rome"

7th studio album by The Stranglers is the band's first album on a major label is the continued blend of new wave and synthpop that the band explored on La folie (1981). By standards of 1982 / 83, the sound-production is in a league of better releases of the early '80s. The band has more obviously put away the experimental compositions and instead issued a collection of smooth-sounding new wave with a certain twist of art rock - of its very own kind. Not unlike their best charting single "Golden Brown" from La folie, several tracks are moulded with similar harmony-based choruses and a blend of acoustic and electronic instrumentation. Most notably, there's a distinct use of electronic drums and synthesizers.
I recall listening to "Midnight Summer Dream" and "European Female" on a national radio rock programme presenting new music in early '83 and hardly believing that these new songs was made by The Stranglers, who I still thought of as an original punk-rock band. It took me awhile to get accustomed to the this synthpop incarnation, but I also loved these dream-like fascinating compositions.
The album fared quite well - better than its predecessor - peaking at number #4 on the UK albums chart list and the first of three singles, "European Female" made it to number #9 on the singles chart list. Also tracks #A1 and #B2 were selected for single releases without being close to top-10 charts. The band showed its ever-present lust / need to do the unexpected by producing a B-side track to "Midnight Summer Dream" with the full title: "(The Strange Circumstances Which Lead To) Vladimir & Olga (Requesting Rehabilitation in a Siberian Health Resort as a Result of Stress in Furthering the People's Policies)". This track is included on the 2001 remaster, which feature 6 bonus tracks - amongst these are also the composition that was released with first UK issue of the original vinyl album as a one-sided 7'' bonus single titled "Aural Sculpture Manifesto".

Sugar "Copper Blue" (1992)

Copper Blue [debut]
release date: Sep. 4, 1992
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Bob Mould, Lou Giordano
label: Rykodisc / Creation - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "The Act We Act" (4 / 5) - 2. "A Good Idea" (4 / 5) - 3. "Changes" - 4. "Helpless" - 5. "Hoover Dam" - 7. "If I Can't Change Your Mind" (5 / 5) (video) (live on WFUV) - 9. "Slick" - 10. "Man on the Moon"

Studio debut album by the Bob Mould-led project Sugar, in early '92. In a sense it's kind of hard to musically pin down strong differences from e.g. Mould's second album Black Sheets of Rain (1990), which is very much to say the music he already made, but for the short period of time Sugar came to exist, the style was always alt. rock, indie pop, power pop with much less focus on the singer / songwriter and bond to folk rock elements you may attribute Mould's previous solo releases. All ten tracks is written between 1990-92 by Mould himself. Only two full albums and one ep were released under the name of Sugar; hence the second album, also known as F.U.E.L (1994), signals the end of this short-lived trio, but that only meant a new start for front figure Bob Mould.

Copper Blue is Mould's best-selling album to date and it generally harvested positive reviews. The album topped the music magazine NME's list "Album of the Year", and it's the second of just two featuring Bob Mould (Warehouse: Songs and Stories by Hüsker Dü being the first) to be enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

Personally, I find it a difficult but not impossible choice to pick the best of the two full-length Sugar albums, as they both have individual strengths, but I simply prefer the '94 album. This is the first by Sugar, and it comes out as something quite fresh to demonstrate the bond between Hüsker Dü / Bob Mould and the whole grunge rock movement. On Candy Apple Grey (1986) and Warehouse: Songs and Stories Mould and Grant Hart's former band paved the way for a whole string of new American bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Mudhoney and many other, who all became bigger names but owns everything to a band named Hüsker Dü.

Copper Blue is nicely produced, it's strict and it contains a bunch of strong melodic rock songs fueled by Mould's enigmatic vocal and distorted guitar.

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

The Go-Betweens "Before Hollywood" (1983)

Before Hollywood
release date: May 1983
format: 2 cd (2002 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: John Brand
label: EMI - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 2. "Two Step, Step Out" - 3. "Before Hollywood" - 5. "Ask" - 6. "Cattle and Cane" (4,5 / 5) - 8. "As Long as That" - 9. "On My Block" - 10. "That Way"

2nd studio album by Australian jangle pop band The Go-Betweens is the band's first and only after signing with Rough Trade Records (who originally released the album) - here in a 2002 remastered and enhanced edition issued as a 2-disc album with eight bonus tracks and the video for track #6. The Go-Betweens remains the same trio as on the debut Send Me a Lullaby (1982) and credited as shown on the album back cover: Lindy Morrison on drums & backing vocals, Grant McLennan on bass, guitars & vocals, and with Robert Forster on lead and rhythm guitar & vocals. As additional personnel Bernard Clarke is credited for organ and piano. All music is credited Forster / McLennan with Forster as songwriter on four songs (tracks #3, #5, #7 and #9), McLennan as songwriter on five (tracks #1, #2, #4, #6 and #10), and with both as songwriters of track #8. As Rough Trade found strong interest in the band with their debut, the record label offered them a record deal and the three relocated to Britain. Unfortunately, Rough Trade soon lost its interest for the band as their new-found darlings of The Smiths sky-rocketed to stardom, and the The Go-Betweens soon stood without a record deal - again.

Before Hollywood was the first album I ever listened to by the band. "Cattle and Cane" was played on the national radio and I really loved that song, so I was happy to find the album at the local library but didn't appreciate the whole album all that much.

Stylewise, the band was labelled as new wave but they have become more natural exponents of indie pop / jangle pop, and they were compared to Television and Talking Heads, although, it's evident that they shared more common traits with Aztec Camera and Josef K.

In retrospect, I find it better than I did back then, and I also notice how several songs build on some of the same elements as their early famous tune, which led me to their music catalogue. "Cattle and Cane" was issued as a single prior to the album release and basically coincided with their album debut release outside Australia: however, upon hearing the album I initially rejected the majority of the songs. "Cattle and Cane" peaked as number #4 on the UK independent charts and it also figures on the untitled Swedish Rough Trade / MNW compilation album from '83.

Before Hollywood is a much stronger and originally shaped album than their debut, and with this they already establish a unique sound and style rooted in the traditions of singer / songwriter material, which is something that would be further elaborated on with the following albums to come.

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

The Cardigans "Emmerdale" (1994)

Emmerdale [debut]
release date: Feb. 18, 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,02]
producer: Tore Johansson
label: Stockholm Records - nationality: Sweden

Tracklist: 1. "Sick & Tired" (4 / 5) (live on MTV) - 2. "Black Letter Day" - 3. "In the Afternoon" - 4. "Over the Water" - 5. "After All..." - 6. "Cloudy Sky" - 7. "Our Space" - 8. "Rise & Shine" (5 / 5) - 9. "Celia Inside" - 10. "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" - 11. "Seems Hard" - 12. "Last Song"

Studio album debut by The Cardigans originally released in Sweden on Trampolene Records - the first in a long series of albums produced by Tore Johansson - is a new introduction to great modern, classic pop music with bonds to baroque pop of the late '60s.
Aside from great original songs like "Sick & Tired", "In the Afternoon", "Over the Water", "After All...", "Cloudy Sky", and the best track "Rise & Shine", it also contains a very original and fine cover version of the Black Sabbath classic "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath".
I may not have entirely loved the album from day one. I remember, listening to it thinking it was quite all right, a bit too innocently naïve, I mean, my favourites at the time was music in the alt. rock genre like Sugar, Bob Mould, Psyched Up Janis, R.E.M. and Brittish rave electronica phenonomen, The Prodigy, so yes, this was somewhat slower and... not really rock or electrified enough BUT I still liked it. A few years later, I realised that loved it. This is one of their absolute best alongside the two following albums. It's also their defining moment when they played lounge pop, by some referred to as 'blue-eyed' pop or twee-pop, but with a certain jazz feel to it. Later on it became too britpop and pop / rock-inspired loosing the band's unique style and sound, imho.
But this is pure gold.

The Cardigans

~ ~ ~

The Cardigans: is a Swedish band formed in Jönköping, Sweden, 1992. Members: Peter Svensson (aka Anders Peter Svensson, guitar), Magnus Sveningsson (aka Magnus Johan Sveningsson, bass), Bengt Lagerberg (drums), Lars-Olof Johansson (keyboard), and Nina Persson (aka Nina Elisabet Persson, lead vocalist). The band has existed unchanged since its formation in '92. Peter and Magnus were influenced by heavy rock and heavy metal before joining with the other band members. The initial sound, which may be heard on their first three albums, starting off with the debut, Emmerdale (1994), the band played a style with vocal jazz elements and a style close to easy listening with a strong influence from baroque pop of the 1960s, and to what some would refer to as indie pop or twee-pop. Hence, the band progressed into more traditional pop / rock, at first with some britpop inspiration and later shaped with a more country rock, folk rock style, and ultimately on their latest and so far final album, Super Extra Gravity (2005), the sound is pop / rock close to alt. rock / indie pop. The majority of their songs have lyrics written by Nina Persson and music composed by guitarist Peter Svensson. After the band's commercial success with Gran Turismo (1998) they all went on a hiatus. Nina Persson got married, and she formed the project band A Camp together with Niclas Frisk (from Atomic Swing) and her husband Nathan Larson (from Shudder to Think). Bassist Magnus Sveningsson released a solo album under the name of Righteous Boy, and guitarist Peter Svensson formed a collaboration project with Kent vocalist Joakim Berg named Paus (Swedish for Pause or Break, as both Kent and Cardigans were bands contemporary on hold). Most recently, the band played live concerts at various festivals in 2012 and 2013 but no material has officially been under its way.

~ ~ ~

Kashmir "Travelogue" (1994)

Travelogue
release date: Feb. 17, 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 2 / 5] [2,05]
producer: Poul Martin Bonde
label: Start Electric - nationality: Denmark

Studio debut album by the Danish alt.rock, indie rock and grunge rock trio Kashmir, consisting of Kasper Eistrup on vocals and lead guitar, Mads Tunebjerg on bass, and with Asger Techau on drums. Stylistically, the band base its sound on Red Hot Chili Peppers funky alt. rock style in a mix with grunge rock from Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins. On the national scene, however, the band experienced huge success with its releases, and Kashmir found itself in a league with the best new rock artists especially including (better and more original bands like) Dizzy Mizz Lizzy and Psyched Up Janis - the latter being my personal favorites.
To me, this is pastiche alt. rock and not recommended :-/

Chick Corea Elektric Band "Eye of the Beholder" (1988)

Eye of the Beholder
release date: 1988
format: vinyl
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,52]
producer: Chick Corea, Ron Moss
label: Supraphon - nationality: USA

Studio album by Chick Corea Elektric Band.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark "The Pacific Age" (1986)

The Pacific Age
release date: Sep. 29, 1986
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,86]
producer: Stephen Hague
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Stay (The Black Rose and the Universal Wheel)" - 2. "(Forever) Live and Die" - 3. "The Pacific Age" - 9. "We Love You"

7th studio album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark is a return to mainstream middle-of-the-road pop compositions. Graham Weir on trombone, keyboards, and guitar, and Neil Weir on trumpet and bass are now credited as full-time members of OMD.
After a fine single earlier that year I expected something more substantial this time. "If You Leave" is not on the album, and I only find a few good tracks on this, which I find superficially over-produced and directed for the non-existent model fan. To me this is even below mediocre, below the poor 1984 album, and thus the band's least favourable album release. With this I simply stopped following the band for the next 20 years or so.
The album wasn't exactly met by the best reviews nor good sales. The first five albums all made it to top ten on the national album charts list, but with Crush (making it to number #13) and this 'only' reaching number #15, the band certainly didn't experience a growing popularity.
I didn't listen to the album until after the new millennium, and I do understand the band's lacking popularity. I find it rather boring and without the originality previous albums all possessed.
Not recommended.
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5 stars ]

The Knife "Shaking the Habitual" (2013)

Shaking the Habitual
release date: Apr. 8, 2013
format: digital (2 cd)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: The Knife
label: Rabid Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: Disc 1) 1. "A Tooth for an Eye" - 2. "Full of Fire" (4 / 5) - 4. "Without You My Life Would Be Boring" - - Disc 2) 1. "Raging Lung" - 2. "Networking"

4th and proclaimed final studio album by The Knife released as stylised The Kniφe is issued as a double cd or a triple vinyl album. The duo hasn't released new material as often as most artists do, and four studio albums in 12 years may not sound as much but looking at the stylistic changes and stages they have gone through, document a considerable journey. This is no near Silent Shout or any other previous album by The Knife. Actually, it probably comes closest to their collaboration album from 2010 by being experimental and electronic. It's not classical opera though, but close to what one might categorise as modern or neo-classical, which is a rather broad term. Again, much like Tomorrow, in a Year (2010) this is more like an 'electronic' tapestry but really not without thought. The texts are about sexual behaviour, the political right, and human conditions. The title is apparently taken from the Michel Foucault quote: “The work of an intellectual is not to mould the political will of others; it is, through the analyses that he does in his own field, to re-examine evidence and assumptions, to shake up habitual ways of working and thinking, to dissipate conventional familiarities, to re-evaluate rules and institutions and to participate in the formation of a political will (where he has his role as citizen to play).” I cannot quite decide if I enjoy the music greatly or just hardly. Too often I end up putting one of their former albums on, which basically says that I don't, but somehow I still feel that I ought to because of something, and not just the subject matter of the lyrics, but elements within the music that stirs my attention.
[ allmusic.com, The Independent 4 / 5, Rolling Stone, NME 3,5 / 5, The Guardian 3 / 5 stars ]
=> needledrop review [ 9 / 10 ]

Talk Talk "Life's What You Make It" (1985) (single)

Life's What You Make It, 7'' single

release date: Dec.? 1985

format: vinyl

[single rate: 4 / 5] [4,12]

producer: Tim Friese-Greene

label: EMI - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) "Life's What You Make It" (5 / 5) - - B) "It's Getting Late in the Evening"

Single release by Talk Talk taken from the forthcoming third album The Colour of Spring (Mar. 1986). The single was first issued in Australia and New Zealand in late '85 and then later, close to the album release, in the rest of the world. Only the title track is found on the album, and both tracks are credited Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene. This is the first of four singles to be released from the '86 album, and it was the best-charting of these four peaking at number #16 on the national singles chart.

As all the albums by Talk Talk, the cover is made by James Marsh.

Pearl Jam "Ten" (1991)

Ten (debut)
release date: Aug. 27, 1991
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Rick Parashar, Pearl Jam
label: Sony Records, Japan - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Once" - 2. "Even Flow" - 3. "Alive" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Black" - 6. "Jeremy" - 8. "Porch" - 9. "Garden" - 10. "Deep" (4 / 5)

Studio album debut by Seattle grunge rock band Pearl Jam org. rel. by Epic Records. Pearl Jam is the fusion of members of various bands all originating from Seattle except for Eddie Vedder. The band consists of vocalist Eddie Vedder, bassist Jeff Ament, rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard, lead guitarist Mike McCready, and drummer Dave Krusen [story of the formation] (Krusen would leave the band shortly after recording the debut only to be replaced by Matt Chamberlain for a short period before Dave Abbruzzese would take over).
The style represents a huge blend of influences, which ultimately is grunge rock. There are clear references to early 70s psychedelic and progressive rock (Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple) and to Jimi Hendrix blues rock, later 70s metal rock, and I also hear fragments of Neil Young with Crazy Horse, as well as parts of an American punk rock history, especially Hüsker Dü.
This guitar-founded electric hard rock has never really been that appealing to me, and the only reason that I ever got to listen through this in the first place, was because of the hit single "Alive", which is the album's biggest highlight, as far as I'm concerned. Sure, tracks like "Once", "Even Flow", "Black", "Jeremy", and "Garden" are all fine songs, and in a Pearl Jam fan context they are everything the audience wants, but to me, they are like 3 out of 5, meaning: good songs, no more, no less - nothing special. I simply get tired of the reverberating guitars, the heavy rhythm section and the heavy rock sound, which takes me nowhere. To me, it's dark and heavy (noise). If "Alive" got me interested in Pearl Jam and the rest didn't live up to that, I have to admit that I have always fancied the voice of Eddie Vedder. He's the main reason that I keep listening to this band.
Anyway, the album was well-received by critics, and the album reached number #2 on the American albums chart list. As the only Pearl Jam album, Ten is included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". In my mind - despite the band's own view on the production sound of the album - it's among the band's top 3 albums, although, it does contain some of the absolute best single tracks by the band: "Alive" and "Deep", but in terms of quality songs, I find it too bland. Something that would prove to be a fitting characteristic to their future albums, imho.
[ allmusic.com, Blender, Uncut 5 / 5, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine, Mojo 4 / 5 stars ]

10,000 Maniacs "Blind Man's Zoo" (1989)

Blind Man's Zoo
release date: May 11, 1989
format: digital (11 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,38]
producer: Peter Asher
label: Elektra Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Eat for Two" - 2. "Please Forgive Us" - 4. "Trouble Me" (4 / 5) - 5. "You Happy Puppet" - 7. "Poison in the Well" - 11. "Jubilee"

4th studio album by 10,000 Maniacs released on Elektra and once again with producer Peter Asher. Stylistically, the band keeps to a defined combination of folk pop, jangle pop, and pop / rock, which works for the band without the need to try out other styles or look for a progression in their sound, and the album sounds like a continued chapter to In My Tribe (Jul 1987). They have their distinct and unique style, which binds them to traditional folk roots but also to a contemporary jangle pop, and you sort of know what you may expect.
The album is not bad but not one of their best - the sound is similar to In My Tribe but it simply doesn't contain that amount of great and memorable tracks, and everything is just... quite solid workmanship, which isn't bad - it just doesn't really move me that much, and it stands as a somewhat forgettable album in between two really unique releases.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Joan As Police Woman "The Classic" (2014)

The Classic
release date Mar. 10, 2014
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]
producer: Tyler Wood & Joan Wasser
label: Play It Again Sam - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Witness" - 2. "Holy City" (4 / 5) - 3. "The Classic" (4 / 5) - 4. "Good Together" (live in Paris) - 5. "Get Direct" - 7. "New Year's Day" - 10. "Ask Me"

4th studio album by Joan As Police Woman follows The Deep Field (Jan. 2011) and is released on Play It Again Sam and produced by Wasser and Tyler Wood, who also contributed as keyboardist on the 2011 album.
Initially, I found it a bit of a difficult task to rate this album. On one hand it's very much in family with the music by St. Vincent in the sense that it's both art pop and singer / songwriter-oriented (without the noise pop influence), but it's also Joan's perhaps boldest chamber pop and soul-oriented album so far, although, not just soul and not really folk-based singer / songwriter. I think, what I'm hinting at is that it has so many stylistic references (even neo-psychedelia and doo-wop elements) that it's really a huge melting pot of styles and genres, which ain't necessarily bad, but it does make the album a bit uneven, yet, also interesting. Especially the bolder soul-shaped tracks are great but then again: I also really enjoy "Good Together", which is more art pop cloned neo-soul. Bottom line: it's really good, refreshing, and quite original, and it's probably quite popular as National Public Radio music.
My initial verdict didn't have me thinking of more than 3 stars but having returned to the album in recent months, I now feel more accustomed to the new style, and I think it clearly betters the predecessor, which I still consider a bit of a low point, and The Classic comes close to the qualities of Wasser's acclaimed debut. For me, this is one of this year's more fascinating releases.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

The Knife, Mt. Sims, and Planningtorock "Tomorrow, in a Year" (2010)

Tomorrow, in a Year
release date: Feb. 1, 2010
format: digital (2 cd)
[album rate: 2 / 5] [2,18]

Track highlight: Disc 2) 3. "Colouring of Pigeons"

A studio collaboration double album released as The Knife, Mt. Sims, and Planningtorock. The album is the studio version of the homonymous opera performed by Danish performance act Hotel Pro Forma based on Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of the Species'. The collaboration artists have written the opera together with Planningtorock [aka Janine Rostron, English electronic musician] who participate in the music recordings but only has co-written music for two tracks, Mt. Sims [aka Matthew Sims, American (electronic) musician] who co-wrote most of the material with The Knife, who was involved in all compositions. Several traditional opera performers participate on the vocal side of the album. The music is experimental modern classical, or electronic opera and as such very different from what The Knife has released before.
I think, to fully appreciate the album, one has to be open to sub-genres of traditional opera as well as experimental music in general. It may not make much sense if you are a fan of synthpop only or techno for that matter. I must admit that the album needs more than just attention to digest. I find it interesting but difficult to enjoy in one take. I think, the music would suit fine as background noise if you are a creative painter, designer, or sculptor, or perhaps as a soundtrack.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Drowned in Sound 5 / 5 stars ]

Chumbawamba "Shhh" (1992)

Shhh
release date: 1992
format: cd (2003 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Chumbawamba
label: Mutt Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Shhh" - 4. "Behave" - 5. "Snip Snip Snip" - 6. "Look! No Strings!" - 11. "Stitch That"

5th studio album by Chumbawamba originally self-released on Agit Prop - reissued on Mutt as a 2 cd compilation with the album Slap!, which it follows two years after. Apparently, the album had a troublesome way to its final form. The band had recorded material for an album, they wanted to call "Jesus H. Christ", but due to non-legal samples the album was shelved, reworked and released in this form (which may explain why One Little Indian were unwilling to release it, as they did with the predecessor).
The style is much in the band's new-found shape of indie pop / alt. dance, and much against the band's normal subject-matter, the album is largely directing criticism on the censorship of the music industry, instead of (the usual) political and social motifs involving rights of everyday people.
Sampling plays a major part on an album that doesn't quite meet the expectations sat out on Slap! (1990) - yes, it contains bright and humorous lyrics, but I generally find it a bit unfocused and somewhere on the duller side of what they have previously succeeded with.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Zbigniew Preisner "La double vie de Véronique" (OST) (1991)

La double vie de Véronique (soundtrack)
release date: 1991
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]

"Weronika"

Original Soundtrack album made for the brilliant movie "La double vie de Véronique" (1991) directed by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski. Preisner (aka Zbigniew Antoni Kowalsk) has worked with Kieślowski on several feature films including "Blind Chance", "Dekalog" (TV-series and feature film), and the trilogy "Trois couleurs: Bleu", "Trois couleurs: Blanc", "Trois couleurs: Rouge".
This is my favourite Kieślowski film and one of Preisner's best soundtracks (I know many consider the 1st of his Trois Couleurs' films the best but I think it's too cheesy with way too heavy symbolism, and Presiners' score seems too close to this earlier work, and it lacks complexity). Preisner is a modern classical composer mostly making music for films.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

[ film trailer ] [ extract ]

Chumbawamba "Slap!" (1990)

Slap!
release date: Jul. 1990
format: cd (2003 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Chumbawamba
label: Mutt Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Tiananmen Square" - 3. "Cartrouble" - 7. "Slap!" - 8. "That's How Grateful We Are"
[ full album ]

4th studio album by Chumbawamba originally released on the band's own label Agit-Prop (in '98 also reissued by One Little Indian). The Mutt Records label is also founded (in 2000) by Chumbawamba. Stylistically, this album marks a major change of sound and style, as the band has moved from its primary anarcho-punk style with influences from punk rock and folk to now embrace alt. dance, indie pop and dub.
The leap into a completely new style may seem enormous - fans have surely found it a radical change; but Chumbawamba doesn't just abide to commercialism or the accepted rules of capitalism. The songs reveal the band's political viewpoints as always, and they concentrate on contemporary political movements and episodes around the globe such as ultra-leftist Ulrikke Meinhof from (German) Red Army Faction [Rote Armee Fraktion], the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 in China, the situation in Northern Ireland, and the continued story-telling of reactions to former ultra-left Soviet under Stalin and life in Nazi German concentration camps during WW2.
Although, utilising the mechanisms of popular music, Chumbawamba stays loyal to its social and political viewpoints, and that mission is fully accomplished on Slap!, which proves to be the band's so far most harmonically sounding album to date. You may choose to just listen to the music, and that's a fine construction of various tunes with hooks and choruses, and you may let yourself linger on the lyrics and listen to stories about real people and crucial historical fragments.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Van Morrison "Hymns to the Silence" (1991)

Hymns to the Silence
release date: Sep. 1, 1991
format: 2 lp vinyl (849 026-1) / cd
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,58]
producer: Van Morrison
label: Polydor Records - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Tracklist: A) 1. "Professional Jealousy" (5 / 5) - 2. "I'm Not Feeling It Anymore" (5 / 5) - 3. "Ordinary Life" (4 / 5) - 4. "Some Peace of Mind" (4 / 5) - 5. "So Complicated" - - B) 1. "I Can't Stop Loving You" (4 / 5) - 2. "Why Must I Always Explain?" (5 / 5) - 3. "Village Idiot" (5 / 5) - 4. "See Me Through, part 2 (Just a Closer Walk With Thee)" - 5. "Take Me Back" (5 / 5) - - C) 1. "By His Grace" - 2. "All Saints Day" - 3. "Hymns to the Silence" (5 / 5) - 4. "On Hyndford Street" (4 / 5) - 5. "Be Thou My Vision" - - D) 1. "Carrying a Torch" - 2. "Green Mansions" (4 / 5) - 3. "Pagan Streams" (4 / 5) - 4. "Quality Street" (5 / 5) - 5. "It Must Be You" (5 / 5) - 6. "I Need Your Kind of Loving" (4 / 5)

21st studio album by Van Morrison following one year after his great 20th album Enlightenment is a double album containing 21 new compositions. I'm a big fan of 'Van the Man', which comes through in the following, mind you. Although, I "only" own about 3/4 from his what... 40-45 studio albums (?), my musical taste includes all sorts of musical genres, styles and sub-genres. However, this album is one of my favourite albums of all styles and of all albums, and it will most likely always be that. It's beyond my recognition that e.g. Allmusic only direct 3,5 stars to this masterpiece. Avalon Sunset (1989) may be seen as his most pure and polished pop album but it receives a bit too much recognition, in my mind. I find that this even surpasses Enlightenment (1990), which by many is considered one of his best. I know that Avalon is extremely popular - many like it and not that many hold anything against it - and still not that many would be as bold to call it a masterpiece - this release is just that [period].
What I find works so well on this is the combination of several forces: it contains compositions that seem much in family with tracks that you'll find on his acclaimed No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (1986) and his more pop-minded Enlightenment (1990), and then you'll also find songs where he drifts into a musical dimension of sub-consciousness that reminds me of the strengths you'll find on Beautiful Vision (1982), Veedon Fleece (1974), and on Astral Weeks (1968). It's not an album that copies former successes, but here he dwells on compositional lines and arrangements of his past like a musical exploration.
In my view, this is not only his best studio release but also one of the most successful double albums and best 'pop / rock' albums in the history of modern music - that's how I feel about this album. I know it's a lot of roses and a completely subjective opinion but sometimes it may be right even so. The only reason I won't call it a 5 star release is because of a few songs that simply goes too far in the praising of (a) god. Yes, I'm aware of the title, and it's no real surprise that Van (especially during the 80s) could be a bit (over-)religious - but hey, that's Okay! I'm not judgemental. And it does seem that he has found a new faith after having released a couple of albums paying tribute to - if not exactly atheist conviction - non-religious spiritual philosophy. No, in fact, it's perfectly all right, I'm a very tolerant but non-religious person and I don't preach. I just don't adore a few of the songs... which explains that I cannot put it ahead of Talk Talk's best album and call it the best album of '91, but forced to pick just one album from that year (and the 90s overall) for a desert island trip - this would certainly be one of my top-3 albums.

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

Sigur Rós "Hlemmur" (OST) (2003)

Hlemmur (soundtrack)
release date: Aug. 20, 2003
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]

4th studio release by Sigur Rós following only one year after ( ) is not a traditional studio album but an original soundtrack to a documentary movie about the main bus terminal in Reykjavik, "Hlemmur", by Ólafur Sveinsson (2002).

The music is more ambient than any of their previous albums, and it contains many short musical fragments all without vocals. It's not easily digested as stand-alone audiophile work.

The album was reissued as a boxset including the film on the band's own label Krúnk in 2007.