12th September - Sigur Rós' Takk...

Artist – Album: Sigur Rós – Takk…

Released:  12^th September 2005

Sounds Like: Planet Earth

Just how a band from Iceland, the world’s 178^th most populous country, have managed to release an album – an album with goobledigook lyrics and ten minute long songs no less – that has sold 800,000 units worldwide is anyone’s guess. On the face of it, Sigur Rós make music that is as far removed from conventional rock and pop as is imaginable. And yet... 

In actual fact, Takk is simply stadium rock done on the grandest scale. Don’t worry! They’re not U2! But their music on this less introspective album is made to be consumed by the masses, the sort of epic experiences that are best enjoyed as part of one exuberant throng. There’s a reason BBC have jumped upon the likes of ‘Hoppípolla’, ‘Sæglópur’ and ‘Mílanó’ for virtually every programme trailer they’ve made since 2005 – this is extraordinary music that speaks to people. 

Albumaday... rating: 9/10

1.       Takk… - 1:57

2.       Glósóli – 6:15

3.       Hoppípolla – 4:28

4.       Með blóðnasir – 2:17

5.       Sé lest – 8:40

6.       Sæglópur – 7:38

7.       Mílanó – 10:25

8.       Gong – 5:33

9.       Andvari – 6:40

10.   Svo hljótt – 7:24

11.   Heysátan – 4:09

Listen to ‘Sæglópur’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84i7zQ_ACnU

Also released on 12^th September:

1975: Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here

Also released on 12^th September:

1980: David Bowie – Scary Monsters... And Super Creeps

Also released on 12^th September:

2006: The Black Keys – Magic Potion

23rd June - Sigur Rós' Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

Artist – Album: Sigur Rós – Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

Released: 23^rd June 2008

Sounds Like: Gobbledigook

The traditional Sigur Rós sound could be described as tectonic: it’s slow and creeps up on you gradually, yet it’s also almost incomprehensibly vast and colossal. Similarly, the fact that on Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust the group so emphatically discard this decade-long-honed approach is nothing short of plate-shifting.

The albums first two tracks, ‘Gobbledigook’ and ‘Inní mér syngur vitleysingur’, make giant leaps on from the previous albums lightest moments, becoming (still relatively!) poppy and rousing. In fact, the former is such a change in direction that it almost feels like a statement. After all, it’s title is surely a reference to the media’s fascination with singing songs in their invented Hopelandish language. Fidgety and playful, the song is propelled by a dancing guitar riff, foot stomping percussion and chattering vocals, and still sounds like nothing else. ‘Inní mér syngur vitleysingur’ is an infectious, sunny slice of indie pop and these two (plus ‘Við spilum endalaust’) high tempo songs are where the album works best.

Unfortunately, the diversification somewhat loses momentum about halfway through, and Sigur Rós slip back into their old habits of epic soundscapes and snail-paced ballads. Which isn’t such a bad thing, but having re-imagined themselves so fruitfully it’s just a touch disappointing that they couldn’t make that last for the full hour.

Albumaday... rating: 7/10

1.       Gobbledigook – 3:08

2.       Inní mér syngur vitleysingur – 4:05

3.       Góðan daginn – 5:15

4.       Við spilum endalaust – 3:33

5.       Festival – 9:24

6.       Með suð í eyrum – 4:56

7.       Ára bátur – 8:57

8.       Illgresi – 4:13

9.       Fljótavík – 3:49

10.   Straumnes – 2:01

11.   All Alright - 6:21

Listen to ‘Inní mér syngur vitleysingur’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiOU9NAiYlQ

11th April - M83's Saturdays = Youth

Artist – Album: M83 – Saturdays = Youth

Released:  11^th April 2008             

Sounds Like: Ferris Bueller’s Pretty in Sixteen Weird Breakfast Clubs

In recent years there seems to have been a bit of a trend to embrace all things 80s. Classic cult films such as Labyrinth and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off have become must haves in students' DVD collections, and new(ish) movies such as Drive, Hot Tub Time Machine or Tron 3D owe a lot to their 30 year old ancestors. There’s been a reconsideration of the hairstyles and clothes worn – no one’s going to start wearing piano ties or sporting mullets again (please, please don’t), but there’s echoes of a previous time in the general styles and shapes paraded on the catwalk today, whilst colourful leggings, big earrings and even shoulder pads can be seen on most streets now. Over in television land, we’ve seen new series resurrect the ghosts of Yes, Prime Minister and Red Dwarf, as well as the release of the subpar Only Fools and Horses spin off Rock and Chips just a few short years back. In politics, Mrs Thatcher may have finally giving herself up to the devil and the fiery bowels of hell this week, but her working class battering philosophies are still very much in fashion down Parliament way, where the idiotic clowns that currently run our country no doubt have posters of the 80s most evil (only) Prime Minister taken straight from old Smash Hits magazines and plastered on to their bedroom walls.

In music, there is probably more adoration than anywhere for the decade that taste only really had a fuzzy memory of. Bands like Cut Copy, MGMT and Passion Pit obsess over synthpop. Destroyer’s Kaputt, released 2 years ago, is enamoured with the smooth soul and new romantic sounds of circa 1982. Raphael Saadiq is our Prince. Calvin Harris has love for you if you were born in the 80s, the 80s. Which is nice.

But everyone immersed in this 80s fad have warped the time to suit their own needs. They (for the most part) reside in a world where everyone was named Corey and they had a totally radical time dancing Thriller and eating voul-au-vents. No duh, right? Nobody does this more than M83 on this album, which sounds like the greatest John Hughes movie ever made. ‘Graveyard Girl’, one of the albums many highlights, actually has a spoken middle from an outsider teen and references Molly Ringwald. ‘Kim & Jessie’ is swooping, murmured and epic, like The Psychedelic Furs meets A-Ha. ‘We Own the Sky’ does a phenomenal job of balancing retro instrumentation and modern indie rock. It’s just all round a great album. It may see the decade through rose tinted Ray Bans but it’s definitely righteous to be a part of.

Albumaday... rating: 8/10

1.       You, Appearing – 3:39

2.       Kim & Jessie – 5:23

3.       Skin of the Night – 6:12

4.       Graveyard Girl – 4:51

5.       Couleurs – 8:34

6.       Up! – 4:27

7.       We Own the Sky – 5:02

8.       Highway of Endless Dreams – 4:35

9.       Too Late – 5:00

10.   Dark moves of Love – 3:18

11.   Midnight Souls Still Remain – 11:10

Listen to ‘Kim & Jessie’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abqy3DdAzHI

20th Feb - Eluvium's Copia

Artist – Album: Eluvium - Copia

Released:  20^th February 2007    

Sounds Like: Watching the sunrise from a luscious green meadow. Kind of like the cover art.

Eluvium’s Copia is one of the most soothing and beautiful albums I’ve ever heard. Bold statement I know...

This album sounds like a sunny afternoon canal trip in a hired boat, sipping on cooled beers with your a bunch of your best mates. It is like a luxurious Radox bath just for your ears. It is what you would get if you put the films Harvey, Babe and Life is Beautiful into a blender and then poured the results into a CD shaped cast. It’s like when your birthday lands on a Saturday. It’s the same as when the clocks go back and you have an extra hour in bed. It sounds like walking in a meadow with your sweetheart, gazing at the fluffy clouds in the sky and picking up forget-me-nots. It’s the aural equivalent of Soothers. For any lady readers that I may or may not have, it sounds like that feeling you get when you’ve shaved your legs and then get under a nice soft quilt. Or so I’m lead to believe.

I could go on...

Albumaday... rating: 7/10

1.       Amerik – 3:18

2.       Indoor Swimming at the Space Station – 10:29

3.       Seeing You Off the Edges – 5:03

4.       Prelude for Time Feelers – 5:48

5.       Requiem on Frankfort Ave – 2:41

6.       Radio Ballet – 3:12

7.       (Intermission) – 0:50

8.       After Nature – 1:51

9.       Reciting the Airships – 4:35

10.   Ostinato – 6:08

11.   Hymn #1 – 1:32

12.   Repose in Blue – 9:18

Listen to ‘Radio Ballet’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqb60rxl96I

Also released on the 20^th February:

2001: Spoon – Girls Can Tell

14th Jan - David Bowie's Low

Artist – Album: David Bowie - Low

Released:  14^th January 1977

Sounds Like: Bowie & Eno, or Beano, withdraw

When I’m feeling low, I stick on some music, write a blog and eat some cheesy puffs (hint: I’m eating said crisps now and would really love a hug); When David Bowie’s down in the dumps, he gets together with his buddy Brian Eno and creates weird and atmospheric soundscapes.

Admittedly, Bowie was at a different place back then to me now (in his life that is, not that he was in Berlin and I’m in my flat in Salford). He was attempting to get himself off cocaine, and had moved to the capital of West Germany to escape the trappings of life in L.A. The feel of the album reflects a druggy come down – the first half is all snappy guitars and short tracks, while the second has calmed slightly and consists of eerie mood pieces. Bowie’s vocals drift in and out of the album, and are multilayered and strange, conjuring up abstract thoughts and images, before giving way completely to the avant garde instrumentals halfway through.

It’s hard to pick out individual tracks for special mention when it is the album as a whole that gives it it’s notoriety, but I feel I should mention ‘Sound and Vision’, which is the closest thing to contemporary music on the record. It’s chiming guitars and peppy bass contrast magnificently with Bowie’s murmured and paranoid lyrics, and it was my ringtone for a few years whilst I was at uni and trying to be cool.

In summation, Low is an initially challenging but beautiful listen, an enlightening capsule of Bowie trying to escape his Thin White Duke persona that rewards with perseverance and repeated use. And I would like somebody to give me a hug.

Albumaday... rating:   8/10

1.       Speed of Life – 2:46

2.       Breaking Glass – 1:52

3.       What in the World – 2:23

4.       Sound and Vision – 3:05

5.       Always Crashing in the Same Car – 3:33

6.       Be My Wife – 2:58

7.       A New Career in a New Town – 2:53

8.       Warszawa – 6:23

9.       Art Decade – 3:46

10.   Weeping Wall – 3:28

11.   Subterraneans – 5:39

Listen to ‘Sound and Vision’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IJsAuUgSgc

Also released on the 14^th January:

1972: Paul Simon – Paul Simon

Also released on the 14^th January:

2008: British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?