26th June - Air France's No Way Down

Artist – Album: Air France – No Way Down

Released:  26^th June 2008

Sounds Like: kind of like a dream, isn’t it? No, better.

I may be going a bit mad, but today I’ve chosen to ignore Badly Drawn Boy’s scruffy indie folk masterpiece The Hour of the Bewilderbeast. Likewise, I’ve forsaken Sonic Youth’s major label debut, the visceral but cool noise rock of Goo. I’ve even skipped over a Bob Dylan album for God’s sake. What on earth has come over me?  

Well, dear reader, Air France have come all over me (eww, not like that). The Swedish duo (yep, they’re not even French) welded their first two EPs – 2007s On Trade Winds and No Way Down – together to produce their only full length in 2008, and it is gooood. Tropical beats, joyous harmonies and uplifting orchestration wash over you in ten beautiful blue waves, but whilst the music is upbeat and modern, the sampled snippets of conversation (I particularly love the sound of the affable French geezer about halfway in) and hazy sound affects bring a nostalgic air to proceedings. The cut-and-paste collage, uplifting electronic and classic feel of the album is reminiscent of The Avalanches’ Since I Left You if that’s a reference point you can work with. Amongst the  individual highlights you could list ‘Collapsing at Your Doorstep’, ‘No Excuses’, ‘No Way Down’ and ‘Beach Party’, but truly the record is so lush and fluid that it works best as one glorious whole.

It’s what I imagine beach parties in heaven sound like.

Albumaday... rating:  8/10

1.       Maundy Thursday – 2:50

2.       June Evenings – 4:02

3.       Collapsing at Your Doorstep – 4:34

4.       No Excuses – 4:03

5.       No Way Down – 4:05

6.       Windmill Wedding – 3:13

7.       Introduction – 1:37

8.       Karibien – 3:15

9.       Beach Party – 3:15

10.   Never Content – 5:20

Listen to ‘Beach Party’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxMLaPsx2SU

Also released on the 26^th June:

1975: Bob Dylan & the Band – The Basement Tapes

Also released on the 26^th June:

1990: Sonic Youth – Goo

Also released on the 26^th June:

2000: Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour of the Bewilderbeast 

25th June - Prince's Purple Rain

Artist – Album: Prince and the Revolution – Purple Rain

Released:  25^th June 1986

Sounds Like: Prince’s crowning glory

In Purple Rain the film, "The Kid" (Prince) is a damn good musician but also a bit of a douche. He has a band which is close to mutiny and a relationship in which he has become jealous and abusive. A couple of his bandmates cut an instrumental demo called ‘Slow Groove’ that the Kid is a bit meh about. A dodgy performance of ‘Computer Blue’ at the club only makes things worse and the Kid is in a bit of a state when he heads home to find that his father is down in the  basement attempting to shoot himself. Naturally the Kid takes to his piano and sorts out ‘Slow Groove’. Back to the club, everyone’s keeping out of the Kid’s way. He gets on stage, but doesn’t initially do anything for a while. Finally, he announces that they’re going to perform a new song by his bandmates. It turns out that he’s turned ‘Slow Groove’ into ‘Purple Rain’, and everyone loves it. His father gets better in hospital, he patches things up with his girlfriend, and they all live happily ever after.

But nobody really cares about the film...

In Purple Rain the soundtrack album, the kid Prince is a damn good musician. Combining typically Prince genres like funk and R&B with more ambitious styles such as pop, soul and rock, the album is the pinnacle of the little genius’ career.  Despite being a huge commercial success – it boasts two US no. 1s in ‘When Doves Cry’ and ‘Let's Go Crazy’ and has gone platinum a whopping 13 times over – the album is also refreshingly experimental. ‘When Doves Cry’ is the first one people talk about, with its stunning spacey gospel funk, but there’s also the psychedelic pop of ‘Take Me With U’, the metallic soul of ‘Computer Blue’ and the epic rock of ‘Purple Rain’. On the infamously sexual ‘Darling Nikki’ he also pushes the boat out lyrically. Every song promises something new and special.

Little wonder then that this is the Purple Rain that people care about.

Albumaday... rating: 9/10

1.       Let’s Go Crazy – 4:39

2.       Take Me with U – 3:54

3.       The Beautiful Ones – 5:13

4.       Computer Blue – 3:59

5.       Darling Nikki – 4:14

6.       When Doves Cry – 5:54

7.       I Would Die 4 U – 2:49

8.       Baby I’m a Star – 4:24

9.       Purple Rain – 8:41

Listen to ‘I Would Die 4 U’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li9ffoLxNqk

24th June - Beyoncé's 4

Artist – Album:  Beyoncé - 4

Released:  24^th June 2011

Sounds Like: Party Up (Up in Here)

Well today has been a massive write off. I had the longest lie-in I’ve ever, ever had – it was about quarter to one when I woke up! – and I’m already looking forward to heading back to bed. Why? Because yesterday I had a grand old craic partying with the Irish side of my family. A party featuring dancing in equal measures to traditional Irish music and Gangnam Style, talking to (and poking fun of) lovely strangers, downing Jaeger shots, whisky, beer and anything else we can lay our hands on and, during the afterparty, giggling at R.Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet and Autotune the News on Youtube. Yep, we like to party.

You know who else likes to party? Beyoncé. I know this because she rounds up Kanye West and Andre 3000 amongst others to tell us all about it on ‘Party’. In truth she didn’t really need to spell it out, as the album is stocked full of tracks to boogie on down to. From the shimmering dance of ‘Love on Top’ to the stomping ‘Run the World (Girls)’ the album successfully fuses elements from such diverse sources as dad rock, 70s disco, 80s R&B, afrobeat and her usual brand of sassy hip pop. Next to the floor fillers are the lung-busting ballads that showcase her brilliant vocals. ‘I Care’, ‘Best Thing I Never Had’ and ‘Rather Die Young’ are huge adoring anthems; ones that you can imagine being  belted out at a karaoke by some local songstress emboldened by passion and half a dozen double vodka and red bulls.

The album’s best moment, ‘Countdown’, takes its cue from ‘Crazy in Love’ – propelled by a marching band percussion and funky brass, it’s a giddy declaration of the love that she has for her husband and her soon-to-born baby (“I’m trying to make a three from the two. Still the one”). The accompanying music video, which shows a heavily pregnant Mrs Z dancing away like the icon that she is, is a wonderfully playful fashion piece that reiterates her love for the lucky duo. You couldn’t be happier for the couple that they were able to bring another person into their little party.

Albumaday... rating: 7/10

1.       1+1 – 4:33

2.       I Care – 3:59

3.       I Miss You – 2:59

4.       Best Thing I Never Had – 4:13

5.       Party – 4:05

6.       Rather Die Young – 3:42

7.       Start Over – 3:19

8.       Love on Top – 4:27

9.       Countdown – 3:32

10.   End of Time – 3:43

11.   I Was Here – 3:59

12.   Run the World (Girls) – 3:56

Listen to ‘Countdown’:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XY3AvVgDns

Also released on the 24^th May:

2003: The Mars Volta – De-Loused in the Comatorium

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

22nd June - Joni Mitchell's Blue

Artist – Album: Joni Mitchell - Blue

Released:  22^nd June 1971

Sounds Like: she’s kind of blue

Didn’t get your fill of depressed Canadians with Neil Young’s Tonight’s the Night? Why not try Joni Mitchell’s Blue – now even more sad!

Before Blue, Joni Mitchell had experienced some success, first writing songs for others and then as a solo artists in her own right. But the emotion shown on those biggest songs – the philosophical ‘Both Sides Now’, the disappointment on ‘Woodstock’ and the environmentally angry ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ – gave no indication of the raw wounds exposed on this, her fourth album.

Detailed here is the heartbreak of broken relationships (she had recently split up with her longtime boyfriend Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills & Nash fame), failed marriages (‘The Last Time I Saw Richard’) and, most tragically of all, giving up the baby she couldn’t afford to keep (‘Little Green’).

Mitchell herself has said of it “I felt like a cellophane wrapper on a pack of cigarettes. I felt like I had absolutely no secrets from the world and I couldn't pretend in my life to be strong. Or to be happy”. Like cellophane though, she does come across as delicate and eye-catching. The sparse arrangements centre mostly on lightly picked acoustic guitars and her wonderful, distinctive voice. And as weak or crushed as she may have felt, she did possess incredible courage to be able to detail all of these issues with unparalleled power and perception.

Albumaday... rating: 9/10

1.       All I Want – 3:32

2.       My Old Man – 3:33

3.       Little Green – 3:25

4.       Carey – 3:00

5.       Blue – 3:00

6.       California – 3:48

7.       This Flight Tonight – 2:50

8.       River – 4:00

9.       A Case of You – 4:20

10.   The Last Time I Saw Richard – 4:13

Listen to ‘Carey’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO4WXTIZ7Uw

Also released on the 22^nd May:

2003: Beyoncé – Dangerously in Love

Also released on the 22^nd May:

2004: Wilco – A Ghost is Born

21st June - Guided by Voices' Bee Thousand

Artist – Album: Guided By Voices – Bee Thousand

Released:  21^st June 1994

Sounds Like: Shit yeah, it's cool

I stuck this album on ten minutes ago, and I’m already on the sixth track. Say what you want about Guided by Voices, but they don’t mess about.

If you are going to say something about them though, I do hope it’s positive. Because GbV are one of the most important and influential rock bands of all time. Yep. At times they laid down experimental, punk-tinged rock tunes of the sort that made a name for fellow cult heroes Pavement. They mixed that though with bustling pop melodies that certainly rubbed off on nineties darlings Weezer. Robert Pollard’s mannish vocals and obtuse, childlike imagery can bring to mind the great Neutral Milk Hotel. Their seemingly unstemmable flow of ideas has been mirrored by the likes of the Mountain Goats and the Magnetic Fields’ Stephen Merrit. However, their influence is felt most keenly on the thousands of great unknown bands worldwide, those who record at home and on their computers, for whom DIY ethic or a lo-fi quality isn’t a choice but a necessity.

Released a full eleven years after they first formed, Bee Thousand was the album that finally helped them bridge that gap from being a great local band to a great band all round. It fires off great tracks at a relentless pace – ‘Hardcore UFO’s’, ‘Tractor Rape Chain’, ‘The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory’, ‘Smothered In Hugs’ ‘Echos Myron’ and ‘Gold Star for Robot Boy’  are all brilliant little songs that light up the first half of the album alone – and strikes a wonderful mix of quirky rock and gentle pop.

Quite simply, it’s excellent. It may not have been recorded in a studio, but it’s better than 99.9% of the works that were.

Albumaday... rating:  9/10

1.       Hardcore UFO’s – 1:54

2.       Buzzards and Dreadful Crows – 1:43

3.       Tractor Rape Chain – 3:04

4.       The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory – 1:45

5.       Hot Freaks – 1:42

6.       Smothered in Hugs – 2:59

7.       Yours to Keep – 1:15

8.       Echos Myron – 2:42

9.       Gold Star for Robot Boy – 1:39

10.   Awful Bliss – 1:12

11.   Mincer Ray – 2:21

12.   A Big Fan of the Pigpen – 2:09

13.   Queen of Cans and Jars – 1:55

14.   Her Psychology Today – 2:04

15.   Kicker of Elves – 1:04

16.   Ester’s Day – 1:51

17.   Demons Are Real – 0:48

18.   I Am A Scientist – 2:30

19.   Peep-Hole – 1:25

20.   You’re Not an Airplane – 0:33

Listen to ‘Echos Myron’:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYtEulKl3yE

Also released on the 21^st June:

1965: The Byrds – Mr Tambourine Man

Also released on the 21^st June:

2004: Badly Drawn Boy – One Plus One is One

Also released on the 21^st June:

2004: Kings of Convenience – Riot On an Empty Street

20th June - Neil Young's Tonight's the Night

Artist – Album: Neil Young – Tonight’s the Night

Released:  20^th June 1975

Sounds Like:  The bleeding heart show

I’ve got something that’s been troubling me, dear readers, and its high time I got it off my chest. You see, yesterday I was told that my dear friend Rufus doesn’t have long left to live. Heartbreaking. It was hardly unexpected – he’s very old and, in truth, he’s been hanging on for a while now. But, you know, we’ve been on some real journeys together and I’m not ashamed to say he’s carried me in times of need. Yep, yesterday was a sad day indeed: Rufus, my fourteen year old Nissan Micra, needs a new exhaust, back box, and pretty much everything, and it’d be cheaper for me to just get a new car. In the next few months I’m going to have to sell him to webuyanycar.com... I took the decision to fill you in with that difficult news there to illustrate that, yes, I’ve known some bloody hard times in my twenty-five years on this earth. Not even these experiences though could equip me for the harrowing ordeal that comes with Neil Young’s Tonight’s the Night.

Young went through a couple of (arguably) even more upsetting experiences than losing his car in the build up to recording this album: fellow Crazy Horse Danny Whitten died just under a year before recording took place, whilst roadie pal Bruce Berry succumbed to a drug overdose just a few months later. Additionally, the success he’d amassed after his work with Crosby, Stills & Nash, and his solo albums After the Goldrush and Harvest, left him disillusioned and disenchanted, and he was desperate to move away from the commercial side of things. Throw in his morbid obsession with drug addiction (driven by the fatalities of his friends) and you have something of a perfect storm of unflinching despair.

That being said, the weariness and turmoil of the albums themes do not make this the unlistenable record of other similar efforts. True, the playing is sloppy and loose, and Young’s voice cracks and strains more than once, but the man is second to none in turning out beautiful country rock melodies. That talent is as much on show here as on his other, happier attempts and the consistency of the record makes it truly special. Outstanding.

Albumaday... rating:  9/10

1.       Tonight’s the Night – 4:39

2.       Speakin’ Out – 4:56

3.       World on a String – 2:27

4.       Borrowed Tune – 3:26

5.       Come on Baby Let’s Go Downtown – 3:35

6.       Mellow My Mind – 3:07

7.       Roll Another Number (for the Road) – 3:02

8.       Albuquerque – 4:02

9.       New Mama – 2:11

10.   Lookout Joe – 3:57

11.   Tired Eyes – 4:38

12.   Tonight’s the Night – Part II – 4:52

Listen to ‘Albuquerque’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppkrb0VhN9A

Also released on the 20^th June:

2000: The White Stripes – De Stijl