28th November - The Jam's Sound Affects

Artist – Album: The Jam – Sound Affects

Released: 28^th November 1979

Sounds Like: Something to be thankful for

Hot dawg, it’s Thanksgiving!

Over here in Britain we don’t really celebrate Thanksgiving, and with plenty of good reasons: the tale of the pilgrims and the Native Americans breaking bread together doesn’t really relate to us; having another big family meal just a month before Christmas seems just a touch greedy; our particular brand of football is miles better than NFL (ooo, fighting talk!); and – ok, we admit – we couldn’t throw a good parade to save our lives.

Still, the real point of Thanksgiving is to take a moment and appreciate all the things in life that you have to be thankful for. At least, that’s what Friends and The Simpsons have taught me. And what am I thankful for today? The Jam. I’m thankful for spiky, psychedelic, and ever so British rock. I’m thankful for the infectious ‘Monday’, the acoustic marvel of ‘That’s Entertainment’ and the bristling ‘Man in the Corner Shop’. I’m thankful for ‘Start!’ despite of its shameless thievery of an old Beatles classic.  

It’s more of a thanksgiving special than a thanksgiving turkey.

Albumaday... rating: 8/10

1.       Pretty Green – 2:37

2.       Monday – 3:02

3.       But I’m Different Now – 1:52

4.       Set the House Ablaze – 5:03

5.       Start! – 2:33

6.       That’s Entertainment – 3:38

7.       Dream Time – 3:54

8.       Man in the Corner Shop – 3:12

9.       Music for the Last Couple – 3:45

10.   Boy About Town – 2:00

11.   Scrape Away – 3:59

 
Listen to ‘Start!’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdSqpT6gfDU

15th Feb - Elvis Costello & the Attractions' Get Happy!!

Artist – Album: Elvis Costello and the Attractions – Get Happy!!

Released:  15^th February 1980    

Sounds Like: Driving soul and R&B through a New Wave filter

So, for 46 days now I’ve been listening to a different album and blogging about it, and it has, for the most part, been pretty cool. To be perfectly honest though, it ain’t always easy to find the time to sit down and give the music your full attention and then bother to write a couple of semi-interesting (ha!) paragraphs about it. This is especially true on Fridays, cos I just wanna get druuuunk! With that in mind, I thought I’d give you a little insight into how I give each record a whirl (which should be quicker than a regular review!):

·   Ages ago - Gave both this and The Ruby Sun’s Fight Softly one evaluative hearing to decide which I’d rather try again. The latter fought a little too softly. Get Happy!! won hands down.

·   7.45 this morning – Banged the album on while I got ready for work. Found myself dancing to ‘The Imposter’ in the shower. Enjoyed ‘New Amsterdam’ whilst cleaning my teeth. These are good signs.

·   6pm this evening – Got home from work. Decided to drink ginger beer and play Mario Kart 64 with my friend, and try the album once more. ‘Human Touch’ had her foot tapping. She didn’t seem interested by my story about how Costello wrote this collection of Motown, soul and R&B type songs to make up for insulting icons like Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles though. I won at Mario Kart.

·   45 minutes later – We just played it through right again. She sang along to ‘Opportunity’. I noted that ‘Secondary Modern’ and ‘Men Called Uncle’ are incredible songs. I’m so much better than her at Mario Kart.

·   An hour later – Ate some pizza. Although the album is a hit with me, I found it hard to write about. She told me to say it’s good to play Mario Kart to.

·   20 minutes after that – I’m done... nnnnnnoooow.

Albumaday... rating: 8/10

1.       Love for Tender – 1:57

2.       Opportunity – 3:13

3.       The Imposter – 1:58

4.       Secondary Modern – 1:58

5.       King Horse – 3:01

6.       Possession – 2:03

7.       Men Called Uncle – 2:17

8.       Clowntime Is Over – 2:59

9.       New Amsterdam – 2:12

10.   High Fidelity – 2:28

11.   I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down – 2:06

12.   Black & White World – 1:56

13.   5ive Gears in Reverse – 2:38

14.   B Movie – 2:04

15.   Motel Matches – 2:30

16.   Human Touch – 2:30

17.   Beaten to the Punch – 1:49

18.   Temptation – 2:33

19.   I Stand Accused – 2:21

20.   Riot Act – 3:35

Listen to ‘New Amsterdam’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZFcHF-wjBA

Also released on the 15^th February:

2010: The Ruby Suns – Fight Softly