25th December - Gorillaz's The Fall

Artist – Album: Gorillaz – The Fall

Released: 25^th December 2010

Sounds Like: Happy Christmas everyone 

It’s Christmaaaassss! 

Whenever somebody new learns about my little stupid boy project they all tend to ask the same question: “Whyyyy?” Once the peculiar mix of confusion and somewhat patronising pity has washed from their face, people tend to get in to the idea and their second question is usually the same too: “you got an album for every day?!” It’s hard to believe, but yes, some poor fool did release an album on Christmas Day. It may have just been a bit of a marketing gimmick for an otherwise under-the-radar Gorillaz album, but the online release on Christmas Day of The Fall is to me a Christmas miracle. God bless us everyone.

Albumaday... rating: 5/10

1.       Phoner to Arizona – 4:14

2.       Revolving Doors – 3:26

3.       HillBilly Man – 3:50

4.       Detroit – 2:03

5.       Shy-town – 2:54

6.       Little Pink Plastic Bags – 3:09

7.       The Joplin Spider – 3:22

8.       The Parish of Space Dust – 2:25

9.       The Snake in Dallas – 2:11

10.   Amarillo – 3:24

11.   The Speak It Mountains – 2:14

12.   Aspen Forest – 2:50

13.   Bobby in Phoenix – 3:16

14.   California and the Slipping of the Sun – 3:24

15.   Seattle Yodel – 0:38 

Listen to ‘Bobby in Phoenix’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jh7r6d2u-Q

26th October - R.E.M's Up

Artist – Album: R.E.M - Up

Released: 26^th October 1998

Sounds Like: Rarefied electronic music

R.E.M. didn’t find things easy after the massive success of their career defining album Automatic for the People. In fact, after more than a decade of carving out a niche sound all of their own, they began to suffer from an identity crisis. Automatic was followed by the glam grunge of Monster; still a special album in my book, but one with enough flaws and a hard enough edge to alienate sections of their fans. Next up was New Adventures in Hi-Fi, a pretty lost record which couldn’t really make its mind up on what it wanted to be. And so we come to Up, an excursion into electronic music that baffled half of its audience upon release. Uh-oh.

On first listen, there’s only two shining lights that pierce the otherwise all consuming electronic fug: the Brian Wilson tribute ‘At My Most Beautiful’ and the typically beautiful, old-school R.E.M. ‘Daysleeper’. However, further listens reveal a stash of hidden gems: the ominous opener ‘Airportman’, the Casiotone for the Painfully Alone-esque ‘Hope’, the sarcastic ‘The Apologist’ and the folktronica of ‘You’re in the Air’. It is a hesitant, unsure album, but once it opens itself up to you, it is incredibly well-crafted and ahead of its time. Well done again boys. 

Albumaday... rating: 7/10

1.       Airportman – 4:12

2.       Lotus – 4:30

3.       Suspicion – 5:36

4.       Hope – 5:02

5.       At My Most Beautiful – 3:35

6.       The Apologist – 4:30

7.       Sad Professor – 4:01

8.       You’re in the Air – 5:22

9.       Walk Unafraid – 4:31

10.   Why Not Smile – 4:03

11.   Daysleeper – 3:40

12.   Diminished – 6:01

13.   Parakeet – 4:09

14.   Falls to Climb – 5:06

Listen to ‘Daysleeper’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUcKeKt8C1k 

8th July - Ratatat's LP3

 

 

Artist – Album: Ratatat – LP3

Released: 8^th July 2008

Sounds Like: They’re missing one vital cog

 

Before today I knew Ratatat for two songs: the exhilarating ‘Seventeen Years’, which, like many of my favourite songs from the last half decade or so, I first stumbled upon on one of Pitchfork Media’s top 100 tracks of the year, and which for me is inexorably linked with the party scene before the mega monster rampage in Cloverfield; and ‘Bird Priest’, a foreign sounding piece of electro-indie, which was my ex-girlfriend’s ringtone and hence makes me look for a phone whenever I hear it, Pavlov’s dog style. So what I actually knew about Ratatat was this – they do instrumentals. On guitars and keyboards. And they’re quite cool.
 

What’ve I learned about them after listening to LP3 then? Well, not a lot more to be honest. Half of the album is danceable rock, built around multilayered wailing guitars like ‘Seventeen Years’, whilst the other half is the same electronica as ‘Bird Priest’, bumping and beeping in vaguely interesting ways. They never venture far from this set up -  ‘Black Heroes’ is a memorable ballad, ‘Bruleé’ is whimsical pop and ‘Mi Viejo’ has an element of flamenco to it, but in truth the band operate exclusively within their box here. 
 

What’s more, whilst I’m not exactly a lyrics man – I tend to focus on the music more than the poetry, and on more than one occasion I’ve found out that I had been completely oblivious to the actual meaning of some songs that I’ve listened to (though not as badly as a great friend of mine, who used to naively sing along to the main chorus of Band Aid’s Do They Know? with the words “Beano world”) – some vocals would be nice. I’ve only reviewed one other instrumental album in 190 days of Analbumaday… and that (Copia by Eluvium) had a deep, textured sound akin to classical music, rather than the experimental rock on offer here.

 

They still do instrumentals. Still mostly on guitars and keyboards. And I can’t deny that they’re still cool. I’m just looking for something a bit more exciting.

 

Albumaday... rating: 6/10
 

 

1.       Shiller – 4:18

2.       Falcon Jab – 3:55

3.       Mi Viejo – 2:40

4.       Mirando – 3:52

5.       Flynn – 1:56

6.       Bird-Priest – 3:07

7.       Shempi – 3:58

8.       Imperials – 3:34

9.       Dura – 3:08

10.   Bruleé – 3:43

11.   Mumtaz Khan – 2:38

12.   Gipsy Threat – 1:38

13.   Black Heroes – 4:06

 

Listen to ‘Bruleé’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9_XiVS9w5k

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

21st Jan - Air's Talkie Walkie

Artist – Album: Air – Talkie Walkie

Released: 21^st January 2004

Sounds Like: Airy

Air announced their arrival back in 1998 (16^th January 1998 to be exact, check out that day’s blog!) with their brilliant debut Moon Safari, a critical and commercial success that had a terrific blend of pumping electro-pop and mesmerizing soundscapes. Their real follow up, 10,000 Hz Legend (in-between they had contributed the soundtrack to the film The Virgin Suicides), spectacularly failed to elicit the same response. Detractors complained of overproduction and lack of focus, and, to be perfectly honest, times had moved on from the robot vocoders and simple synthpop of yesteryear. Talkie Walkie, thankfully, was a definite return to form.

Stylistically, it is closer to the cool, instrumental tunes from their first album then the fun bouncy hits, but that’s not to say that it takes itself too seriously. Instead, there’s an almost cloud-like, fluffy feel to the record: yes there’s nothing here you’d think of as a single, but it remains a very entertaining listen throughout.

You might recognise the whistled intro to ‘Alpha Beta Gaga’ from Orange adverts, whilst ‘Run’ and ‘Alone in Kyoto’ have appeared in various films such as Lost In Translation. ‘Cherry Blossom Girl’, ‘Surfing On a Rocket’ and ‘Universal Traveler’ are beautiful gossamer tunes that would not be out of place on album from indie dream pop specialists Beach House. They may not quite reach the heights of their fabulous first but this is still a fine third.

Albumaday... rating:   7/10

1.       Venus – 4:04

2.       Cherry Blossom Girl – 3:39

3.       Run – 4:12

4.       Universal Traveler – 4:22

5.       Mike Mills – 4:26

6.       Surfing on a Rocket – 3:43

7.       Another Day – 3:20

8.       Alpha Beta Gaga – 4:39

9.       Biological – 6:04

10.   Alone in Kyoto – 4:51

Listen to ‘Cherry Blossom Girl’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcUrEn7xmNE  

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?