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 

25th October - The Jimi Hendrix Experience's Electric Ladyland

Artist – Album: The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland 

Released: 25^th October 1968

Sounds Like: Electrical Dylan d (it’s a rubbish anagram!)

Defining cool is not an easy thing to do:

Marge: Am I cool, kids?
Bart and Lisa: No.
Marge: Good. I'm glad. And that's what makes me cool—not caring, right?
Bart and Lisa: No.
Marge: Well, how the hell do you be cool? I feel like we've tried everything here.
Homer: Wait, Marge. Maybe if you're truly cool, you don't need to be told you're cool.
Bart: Well, sure you do.
Lisa: How else would you know?...

The closest anybody ever came to embodying cool was Jimi Hendrix. His recording engineers and bandmates may have disagreed, as they struggled with the hanger-ons and the titanic consumption of drugs, but the flamboyant guitar-God was the coolest of them all and this album just so happens to find him at the very peak of his powers. From the groovy ‘Crosstown Traffic’ (the only Hendrix recording to not feature a guitar solo) to the apocalyptic Dylan cover ‘All Along the Watchtower’ (my vote for the greatest cover song of all time), Hendrix and his Experience come out all guns blazing in one of the most free-wheeling, experimental albums of the 60s. A stoned cold classic.

Albumaday... rating: 9/10

1.       …And the Gods Made Love – 1:21

2.       Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) – 2:11

3.       Crosstown Traffic – 2:25

4.       Voodoo Chile – 15:00

5.       Little Miss Strange – 2:52

6.       Long Hot Summer Night – 3:27

7.       Come On (Part 1) – 4:09

8.       Gypsy Eyes – 3:43

9.       Burning of the Midnight Lamp – 3:39

10.   Rainy Day, Dream Away – 3:42

11.   1983… (A Merman I Should Turn to Be) – 13:39

12.   Moon, Turn the Tides… Gently Gently Away – 1:02

13.   Still Raining, Still Dreaming – 4:25

14.   House Burning Down – 4:33

15.   All Along the Watchtower – 4:01

16.   Voodoo Child (Slight Return) – 5:12

Listen to ‘Burning of the Midnight Lamp’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smNJQZxZMeA

Also released on 25^th October:

1974: Bob Marley & The Wailers – Natty Dread

24th October - Traveling Wilburys' Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1

Artist – Album: Traveling Wilburys – Traveling Wilburys vol. 1

Released: 24^th October 1988

Sounds Like: The league of super best friends

The most super of all supergroups, the Traveling Wilburys saw Nelson (George Harrison), Otis (Jeff Lynne), Lefty (Roy Orbison), Charlie T. (Tom Petty) and Lucky (Bob Dylan) team up in a constellation of stars that is unlikely to ever be bested. Throw in the fact that it was produced at one half of the Eurthymics’ home studio, and that the liner notes were written by Michael Palin, and it’s enough to make even the most cynical of music fans’ head explode. Ignoring the silly Wilburys backstory, our heroes really joined forces when Lyne, Harrison and Orbison were having dinner together (as you do). Harrison needed help with the b-side to his ‘This Is Love’, and they agreed to jointly record ‘Handle with Care’ over at Bob Dylan’s house (as you do). The result was so brilliant that they decide to lay down a whole album, and the band was completed when Harrison went over to Petty’s house to pick up his guitar and roped in the Heartbreaker (as you do).

Vol. 1 is noteworthy because of the stellar cast assembled, but it’s special because it’s actually just an album of mates having a laugh together. ‘Handle with Care’ may have been the first and best of their tunes but its not short of competitors – ‘Dirty World’ is a riot with its vehicular euphemisms (“You don't need no wax job, you're smooth enough for me, If you need you oil changed I'll do it for you free”), ‘Margarita’ is propelled by flighty guitar licks and glorious harmonies, whilst Roy Orbison on the soaring ‘Not Alone Any More’ and Bob Dylan on ‘Tweeter and the Monkey Man’ contribute arguably their best performances since their sixties and seventies heydays. ‘End of the Line’ at the end of the album is a belter, with the, ahem, mature stars wittily commenting on their age – “Well it's all right, even if you're old and grey, Well it's all right, you still got something to say”

It might not technically be the best album released on this day – that accolade would probably have to go to Don McLean’s American Pie or Smashing Pumpkins’ Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness – but goddamn it is a lot of fun.

Albumaday... rating: 8/10

1.       Handle with Care – 3:20

2.       Dirty World – 3:30

3.       Rattled – 3:00

4.       Last Night – 3:48

5.       Not Alone Any More – 3:24

6.       Congratulations – 3:30

7.       Heading for the Light – 3:37

8.       Margarita – 3:15

9.       Tweeter and the Monkey Man – 5:30

10.   End of the Line – 3:30 

Listen to ‘Margarita’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UEu5iusUOE

Also released on 24^th October:

1971: Don McLean – American Pie

Also released on 24^th October:

1995: Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Also released on 24^th October:

2003: The Cat Empire – The Cat Empire

23rd October - PJ Harvey's Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea

Artist – Album: PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea

Released: 23^rd October 2000

Sounds Like: Polly makes a cracker

Polly Jean Harvey seems to enjoy being contrary. She first received attention as the rebellious leader of PJ Harvey, at a time when frontwomen were staggeringly rare. She was one of the most popular female artists of the mid-nineites in the UK, despite releasing music that was scarily uncompromising and unpoppy. She was initially uncomfortable with the media attention, but still had a penchant for theatricality and saucy photoshoots. There have been plenty of image and sound changes during her long career, as she wilfully challenged assumptions and stereotypes. Even the song title of the first track here deals with opposites – the band enter proceedings with a song named ‘Big Exit’.

That being said, ‘Big Exit’s sound does not conflict with established views - it’s as noisy and punk-bluesy as ever. Thereafter, though, things get interesting as ‘Good Fortune’, ‘You Said Something’ and ‘This is Love’ rank amongst the most accessible and lovely songs in her oeuvre. She can still pack a punch with the likes of ‘The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore’ and ‘Kamikaze’, but these are interspersed with mellow ballads such as ‘Beautiful Feeling’ and ‘We Float’, inspired by Harvey’s affection for NYC and her new love. Two other notable tracks are ‘Horses in My Dreams’ which strikes me as a direct reference to biggest influence Patti Smith, and ‘The Mess We’re In’, where Thom Yorke takes guest vocals in a gorgeous, interweaving piece of alternative rock.

Perhaps Harvey’s most contrary move of all was the making of Stories from the City. Famously primal, punky, abrasive, it’s almost an act of defiance that she should release an album whereby she’s actually besotted with a guy, a city and just about everything; even more so that it should be such a joy to listen to. The awkward little so-and-so.

Albumaday... rating: 8/10

1.       Big Exit – 3:51

2.       Good Fortune – 3:20

3.       A Place Called Home – 3:43

4.       One Line – 3:14

5.       Beautiful Feeling – 4:00

6.       The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore – 4:01

7.       The Mess We’re In – 3:57

8.       You Said Something – 3:19

9.       Kamikaze – 2:24

10.   This Is Love – 3:48

11.   Horses in My Dreams – 5:38

12.   We Float – 6:07

Listen to ‘The Mess We’re In’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH2I9fJ0ALk

Also released on 23^rd October:

2007: Tullycraft – Every Scene Needs a Center

22nd October - Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin II

Artist – Album: Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II

Released: 22^th October 1969

Sounds Like: The only way to fly

Their debut was good, but Led Zeppelin II was the album where Led Zep became Led Zep. Blues based hard rock (‘Heartbreaker’), Tolkein-inspired lyrics (‘Ramble On’) and even a bloody long drum solo (‘Moby Dick’): these are to Led Zep what tiny Stonehenges, amps that go up to 11 and self-combusting drummers are to Spinal Tap. Oh look, I mentioned Spinal Tap on a heavy metal album review (I have previous: here and here)! This time, though, there is a fair excuse; for Led Zeppelin II didn’t only cement the sound of Led Zeppelin, it provided the blueprint for every other heavy metal album that followed. And, even now, it’s still better than them all.

Albumaday... rating: 10/10

1.       Whole Lotta Love – 5:34

2.       What Is and What Should Never Be – 4:44

3.       The Lemon Song – 6:19

4.       Thank You – 4:49

5.       Heartbreaker – 4:14

6.       Living Loving Maid (She’s Just a Woman) – 2:39

7.       Ramble On – 4:23

8.       Moby Dick – 4:21

9.       Bring It On Home – 4:20

Listen to ‘Ramble On’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKVp-atyiVA

Also released on 22^nd October:

2001: Gotan Project – La Revencha del Tango

Also released on 22^nd October:

2001: The Hives – Your New Favourite Band

21st October - Grandaddy's Under the Western Freeway

Artist – Album: Grandaddy – Under the Western Freeway

Released: 21^st October 1997

Sounds Like: I’m tired

I’m sorry that it’s a bit late in the day for me to be making my post, and I can only apologise if I run out of steam before too long. My excuse is that I’m not long back from work, having had a mammoth journey to and from Grimsby to contend with either side of working my nine to five (fifteen). Ah, Grimsby, the town with the silent “-sby”. Driving for a couple of hours in the pouring rain isn’t great fun at the best of times, but when your destination is looked down upon even by folk from Hull you know you’re in trouble. I can hardly be blamed for momentarily debating swerving off the Humber Bridge in a desperate bid to escape that fate.

Thankfully, I was accompanied by Under the Western Freeway whilst travelling the M62 motorway. Grandaddy’s debut, it combined Uncle Tupelo-esque Americana with Pavement-style experimental rock, and there’s even a hint of Pink Floyd in the psychedelic synth-pop. Jason Lytle warms the cockles of your heart with his faltering croon and ‘A.M. 180’ and ‘Summer Here Kids’ are deceptively simple cases of perfect pop.

The record was a welcome companion when I set off in the dark hours of the morning, and it was still great fun when I was bombing back in the evening. Now, to bed.

Albumaday... rating: 7/10

1.      Nonphenomenal Lineage – 3:11

2.      A.M. 180 – 3:20

3.      Collective Dreamwish of Upperclass Elegance – 5:26

4.      Summer Here Kids – 3:35

5.      Laughing Stock – 5:59

6.      Under the Western Freeway – 3:01

7.      Everything Beautiful Is Far Away – 5:13

8.      Poisoned at Hartsy Thai Food – 1:13

9.      Go Progress Chrome – 2:31

10.  Why Took Your Advice – 4:07

11.  Lawn and So On – 9:04

Listen to ‘A.M. 180’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptPXxAds1Jc

Also released on 21^st October:

2003: The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow

Also released on 21^st October:

2002: Feeder – Comfort in Sound

Also released on 21^st October:

2011: Tom Waits – Bad As Me

20th October - Kaiser Chiefs' Off With Their Heads

Artist – Album: Kaiser Chiefs – Off With Their Heads

Released: 20^th October 2008

Sounds Like: The Kaiser Chiefs, with added muscle.

The biggest challenge facing the Kaiser Chiefs after their stupendous debut album Employment, and its accompanying singles ‘I Predict a Riot’, ‘Oh My God’ and ‘Every Day I Love You Less and Less’, was following it up with a release that was progressive enough to avoid accusations of one-trick-pony-ism but still punchy enough to satisfy their stadium filling, largely lager-fuelled fanbase. That test was passed with flying colours with the anthem ‘Ruby’, but then the Leeds lads took their collective eye off the ball with its weak parent album Yours Truly, Angry Mob. It looked at that point like the Chiefs may have been succumbing to the law of diminishing returns and, as Apollo 440 so nearly sang, “stop the rot, can’t stop the rot”. Drastic measures would have to be taken if Off With Their Heads wasn’t going to be another disappointment.

To that end, they enlisted the man of the moment Mark Ronson and a bevy of his mates (Lily Allen sings backing vocals on ‘Always Happens Like That’ and ‘Never Miss a Beat’, and the rapper Sway proffers an odd verse to the unsuccessful ‘Half the Truth’) to reinforce their admittedly handy pop rock songs. The result is a mixed bag, but overall I’d say it’s a success. The lead single ‘Never Miss a Beat’ is old hat for the Yorkshire quartet and just a bit boring, but the likes of ‘Always Happens Like That’ and ‘Addicted to Drugs’ are enjoyably atypical. ‘Like It Too Much’ is a brilliant effort at XTC-esque New Wave, whilst album closer ‘Remember You’re a Girl’ is a surprisingly mellow ballad.

The birds were circling in 2008, but Off With Their Heads should have done enough to shoo them away for a little longer. In actual fact it didn’t, but I wouldn’t say that that’s the boys fault. It seems the public had already sentenced them to the guillotine...  

Albumaday... rating: 6/10

1.    Spanish Metal – 2:19

2.    Never Miss a Beat – 3:08

3.    Like It Too Much – 3:23

4.    You Want History – 3:45

5.    Can’t Say What I Mean – 2:49

6.    Good Days Bad Days – 2:53

7.    Tomato in the Rain – 3:51

8.    Half the Truth – 3:44

9.    Always Happens Like That – 3:12

10. Addicted to Drugs – 3:53

11. Remember You’re a Girl – 2:37

Listen to ‘Like It Too Much’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNfzL9Xkm1g

Also released on 20th October:
2008: Imelda May - Love Tattoo