Thursday, September 10, 2026
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 118 Olivia Rodrigo
I make no great claims for this blog as an act of cultural commentary and significance. It's just a way of marking the days. Olivia Rodrigo's you seem pretty sad for a girl in love is an album that's making a global splash and see,s like a pretty likeable Pop Record with vegue pretences of cultural edginess.
Song(s) of the Day # 4,506 Luluc
'It's just gonna be carnage....' 'I wasn't prepared for the intense outpouring of emotion...'
The new Oasis film is in cinemas near you now. Here are two lines from its trailer. One from each of the Gallagher Twins. They're clearly 'living the dream.' Well they have been for as long as I can remember. You could go and watch it. Or you could give Luluc's sixth album Sweet Thief a listen instead.
To my ears this is a preferable option. Sweet Thief is the easiest uneasy listening experience on the block. Soft and gentle with dark interiors and infinite depths. Nico and Simon & Garfunkel are listed on the Spotify bio and that generally works for me . This at the moment is my place of eternal stillness. The weekend beckons !
' Dopamine slot machine. Stole my baby.....' Luluc Dopamine Slot Machine,
'It's Ok to be different. It's OK to want to get free...' Luluc. Wanna Get Free
Wednesday, September 9, 2026
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 119 Real Numbers - Was It Always This Way
Mineapolis Jingle Jangle. Anglophile Indie that makes June Brides its Polar Star..
Song(s) of the Day # 4,505 The Womack Sisters
The Womack Sisters eponymous album hits the spot. It's not innovative so much as a confirmation. There's not a sequence or note out of place . It's state of the art Expressway To Your Soul !
500 Greatest Albums of the 2000's # 66 Queens of the Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf
Queens of the Stoneage were a Rock & Roll franchise very much in tune with the age of Tarantino, Wes Anderson and The Coen Brothers with a very refined taste and sense of history and where they wanted to fit within it,
Song(s) of the Day # 4,504 Off Contact
Sioux Falls, South Dakota's finest's latest album Can You, (their third by my reckoning), draws an interesting line in the sand.
There's something quite special here. A sense of genuine engagement. Fervent, questing insurrectionary quality of Jane's Addiction.The Doors, Big Thief and Protomartyr . The way that only an American band at their best can sound and Off Contact sound like they're in line and urgent for their turn. .
I really believe that life matters and it's a test. I get the sense of that in good records and I get it here. Can You has a febrile, insolent quality. Ones to watch.
Tuesday, September 8, 2026
500 Greatest Albums of the 2000's # 67 Eminem - The Eminem Show
Eminem happened during my cd years. I bought a couple of cds but didn't listen to them much. It doesn't tell my story.
Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,321 Agalloch - The Mantle
Exreme metal band out of Portland Oregon. I wondered how long I would last. It started promisingly with portentious major chords. The first track passed without vocals. I was a bit wary though. The next track was fifteen minutes long and called In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion . I rode The Spotify advert break. We sailed into The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion . I suspected it was by Styx. The first vocals came in. I was minded of Gollum. I ejected.
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 120 Ultra Lights - Pleasure's All Yours
I noticed recently that these days I'm generally listening to young bands from Idaho that sound quite a bit like Pavement. There are worse things to do as you make your way into your sixties. As far as I know it's not an indictable offence. Though you can't be sure of anything these days.
Ultra Lights are the next best thing. They hail from Atlanta, Georgia and sound not unlike Kiwi Jr. Montreal's very own nephews of Pavement whose latest album Blowin' Up I eulogised on Wednesday.
Ultra Lights are definitely too cool for school and cast their net slightly wider. To err Parquet Courts, Teenage Fanclub , The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand and err Pavement on debut Pleasure's All Yours.as with Kiwi Jr' they keep it simple, avoid complications, are catchier than the Plague and have more hooks than Captain Hook. This seems to be a feature of this err Modern Age.
They're firing aces and tying laces for thirty minutes here. It's a formula sure. But pretty much Formula One, Certainly on the podium come the chequered flag. . Another near bullseye from Darren Jones, best friend and first mate of this blog. Many thanks Starbuck.
Song(s) of the Day # 4,503 Reds.Pinks & Blues
Red. Pinks & Blues are one of those bands that you know what their album sounds like before you've heard it. That is precisely their charm and appeal. Or perhaps if you weren't inclined why you wouldn't touch their records with a long bargepole.
I'm in the former rather than the latter category. I listened to their latest record Acknowledge Kindness last night. it's a sound basic principle and the songs adhere to its principles. The songs unroll like a summer afternoon doing nothing in particular in grassy sunlit meadows. Being seeventeen forever, at least at heart There's something effortless about the atmosphere inetrwoven here. It's like staying seventeen forever.
Monday, September 7, 2026
500 Greatest Albums of the 2000's # 68 Low - The Great Destroyer
Low own their sound, which in itself is unusual. And it mutates but in logical and gradual fashion from album to album. The Great Destroyer has an awed metallic thrill about it.
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 121 Peking Duk - Paradise
Australians Peking Duk's awaited debut album strikes me as a branch on The Avalanches tree. All bound for Party Town. Many miles and hours away on The Good Ship Paradise !
Song(s) of the Day # 4,502 Dexys Midnight Runners
'The only way to change things is to shoot men who arrange things of...' Dexys Midnight Runners have changed down the years. Ireland To Wolverhampton but dreaming of America. New album Love is rather lovely and unashamedly barmy. An inclusive, expansive dance. Towards the sunset.
The songs are less frantic and worked on than those of the early days . Searching For the Young Soul Rebels or Too Rye Aye. More akin to the slower pace the band have favoured since. But you get the sense that Kevin is more comfortable in his skin and wardrobe than he ever was.
There's very little here that is essential but it's all rather lovely and easy on the ear. Kevin has become a crooner. Everything has a race grace. ragged unashamed poise and beauty.For those who like a bit of ham with their ham. 'See you on the other side. '
Sunday, September 6, 2026
Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,322 Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator)
Unwinds like a hot afternoon on the porch with a pitcher of Pims between old friends down South.
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 122 Tricky - Different When It's Silent
Tricky is hardly a man with anything to prove. All these years on he works his way up and down his own uneasy slope in darkness. This is rewarding, challenging music and the man deserves respect.
500 Greatest Albums of the 2000's # 69 The National - Alligator
The National always seem to talk to me about the move to suburbia. With all that implies.You get the feeling listening to Alligator that Life Is Elsewhere.
Song(s) of the Day # 4,501 Paris Paloma
I went to UEA in the Mid Eighties . Looking back I was in the right place at the right time. I started as a History Student using the common judgement of youth of my A Level Results but switched majors in the second term to Literature. It was the right thing to do.
The American & Literature faculty at U.E.A. at the time was unfeasibly strong. Critics, writers. Authorities on the subject. A strong Feminist reputation. Lorna Sage, Angela Carter. gossiping in the bar over cigarettes and shots. As good as it got. In a memorable lectore I attended a fresh faced young woman hasd the temerity to ask Carter if she was a feminist. The response was shrivelling and embarassing to witness.Carter cut her down. I wonder whether the girl concerned has ever forgotten it. We were all so young. Impressionable. Green.
Forty years down the line I'm listening to Paris Paloma's awaited second album, The Fatal Flaw and it's an incredible record. Most certainly Feminist and with an immpressive inventory of melodies and narrative. By turns celebratory and introspective. Joyous and defiant. They're songs which tackle issues.
Occasionally it's slightly pleased with itself and you wonder whether issues are being ticked off but that's not without reason or rhyme. These are the times. She's a brave artist who stands tall and makes artistic statements which are worthy of scrutiny. It's actually the stuff of master's theses which you wonder a little about.
But I grew up in an earnest age too. I just think with that without smartphones we were a little more carefree.Not needing to check the way we were feeling with The Internet prognosis on a constant basis. That's no real criticism of The Fatal Flaw. It's an incredible record I'll keep coming back to.
Saturday, September 5, 2026
Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,323 Sinead O'Connor - The Lion & The Cobra
Sinead O'Connor was not like anyone else. An astonishing talent. She was raw on The Lion & The Cobra and more amenable for the pop market than she ever was therefter.
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 123 Margaret Glaspy - I Am Both
Margaret Glaspy is in Michigan and it's colder than she'd like. So she's here to sing you some songs. They're plucked, guitar songs of reflection and emotion. Of heartbreak and heartache. Like sitting down of an afternoon with a great novel. Recommended.
500 Greatest Albums of the 2000's # 70 Panic At The Disco ! A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
Panic At The Disco ! A group speaking a language that was never mine. Frantic and rather discordant.
Song(s) of the Day # 4,500 Allah Las
I like milestones and we're heading towards a notable summit on It Starts with a Birthstone.The arrival of an Allah Las album is always notable and worthy of recognition. But Sirenas, their sixth is different. It's a series of spaced and spooky instrumentals, and is really rather beautiful.
Reviews suggest it explores modern preoccupations, Liminal Spaces and the like. I leave discussion of such matters to others. It's certainlyplayful and elusive. You can hear the sound of lapping waves and imagine that they are Californian ones. That's where the quartet hail for. There's plenty of sunshine here and no little joy !
Friday, September 4, 2026
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 124 Cleo Sol - Gentlewoman
Cleo Sol's Gentlewoman is classic and rather lovely Soul of the loveliest stripe.
500 Greatest Albums of the 2000's # 71 Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Endless invention from the Animal Collective / Beach Boys stable.
Song(s) of the Day # 4,499 Black Marble
Black Marble's Life In Small Places an album of Synth Pop inflected tunes by a man named Chris Stewart sporting a moustache Peter Hook left on the shelf in 1980. Not lacking in garvitas. melody or shameful dancefloor moves.
Thursday, September 3, 2026
Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,325 Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend
A band that I struggle to locate where they are coming from.
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 125 The Jayhawks
The Jayhawks offer a very American, Literary Everyman experience. Picked songs in the tradition of The Byrds, Gram Parsons and Petty straight out of Minneapolis. On latest album Sanctuary Park it's best to pull up a pew with a brew on a placemat and let the record spin; let the melodies unwind and the songwriters within the band tell their tales.It's not a tough ask.
It's Americana mapped out on a fresh canvas. Deeply familiar but let's face it. The somgs we love most are the ones we're most familiar with. Song after song unfolds with uncanny wonder and wisdom. Quite devoid of cynicism and dread.These melodies are trustworthy and true
Song(s) of the Day # 4,498 William Matheny
'I've been talking to stray dogs. And empty stools.'
Material Witness is a proper gem of the old school from William Matheny out of West Virginia. It's an album that speaks loud and clear about the story of life. The way we navigate the bends in the road as best we can,`
It's deteminedly glass half full and well adjusted. Full of good lines and good tunes. Worldly wisdom. Homely charm. Good Night Jim Bob. Good night Erin.
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,326 David Sylvian - Secrets of the Beehive
I've reviewed Secrets of the Beehive but given the chance to play it again, I'm not going to turn up by nose. He's an artist who works at his own pace and to his own dictates.
500 Greatest Albums of the 2000's # 73 The Cure - Bloodflowers
I find myself apprciating The Cure more with the years, Their records increasingly have the poise and grace of the grand masters in previous decades and artforms.
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 124 Drug Country - Country Drugs
Do drugs. Do drugs. Do Drugs in the country ! While you're at it. set the controls for erm, the heart of Drug Country. Richmond, Virginia's finest. And their latest album erm Country Drugs. They're nothing if not consistent. Dinosaur Jr and Whiskeytown's ragged feral children. They start by purloining the riff from Sweet Jane and riding their charabang out of town and onto the Road to Nowhere.Careering on and off the road. loose and inspired. Rarely in tune but that's just as it should be. Another cherrypick from Seabuck / Darren Jones and another winner.
Song(s) of the Day # 4,497 Little Gold
Out of Athens, Georgia, always a welcome roadsign. Little Gold's Public Gold is unrecostructed Independent C&W open strumming of the kind you might have heard any year going back to 1965.Neil Young, Dinosaur Jr and R.E.M. high in the mix. Familiar chord changes and moodswings it pressages an attitude which will never date .
Tuesday, September 1, 2026
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 125 Twisted Teens - Florida Water Blues
Florida Water Blues by Twisted Teens like most records thee days is another one which reminds me of way back when. Quite a lot reminds me of the first few terms of University in Autumn 1985 when I was harvesting experience with no little appetite.
Twisted Teens are certainly twisted, possibly not teens, but seem to be at least sligtly akin to American bands of these days in that they have a tangible craving for life that's highly memorable. They have a songwriter and vocalist who basks under the name of Caspian Holywell.
They hail from New Orleans which is even better and their sound is somewhere between Death of Samantha, Pixies and Gun Club. They're depraved and possibly cursed. I couldn't recommend them more highly.
500 Greatest Albums of the 2000's # 74 The Handsome Family - In The Air
A band that understands the importance of establishing a brand and sticking to the road you've set out on.
Song(s) of the Day # 4,496 Daughn Gibson
It's all about the voice Daughn Gibson's fourth album Lake Mary Not Mysterious. his first for eleven years is definitely sll about the voice. It's a smoky, insinuating Tom Waits kind of thing. Certainly not to all tastes.
But I found the beguiling enough while I made my way fromo ne online lesson to another on Tuesday. Sometives this veers into weird lanes of M.O.R. blandness . I was minded of Crash Test Dummies at points which for me is not always a happy place.
But I persisted and it won me over eventually. Narratives of disappointment. Songs of drift and doubt. But a gentle and quite winning resignation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)