Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,809 Peggy Lee -Black Coffee With Peggy Lee

 

Not a wise offer to refuse. So I didn't. Peggy Lee has one of the most sultry, come to bed voices of the 20th Century.

500 Greatest Albums of the 1980s ... Ranked! # 248 Depeche Mode - 101

 

I was slightly old for Depeche Mode at the time. That crucial year. But now 101 sounds like the weirdest thing. Boys from Basildon wuth dreams of global conquest which they were acrually realising. Strange dreams of teenagers realising fantasies of S & M to adoring masses appreciative euphoruc chants in an arena in Pasedena. It makes a strange historical parallel wuth Nuremberg of 50 years previously.Strange. But a fantastic listen. 

It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2024 # 100 Beabadoobee - This Is How Tomorrow Moves

 

Hey I can do the commercial thing. This isn't really a Pop blog though labels are slippery and unreliable . Generally I lean towards Rock & Roll. It worked for most of the people who hang out in CBGBsback in the day. . Once and for always my favourite scene..

But there was Pop in that scene. Blondie most particularly. Blondie did Pop as well as any band before or since. They also had thir Rock & Roll moments. Beabadoobee is Pop primarily. Bea Kristi, who is as melt in your mouth pretty as Debbie,  is Beabadoobee.

Her new albun, the poetically named This Is How Tomorrow Moves sounds like a record that knows it's time has come, or is coming tomorrow at the very latest. And why shouldn't it. Beabadoobee are signed up as Taylor Swift's support. Isn't that pretty much all it takes these days.

Personally I prefer Bea to Taylor. Taylor is simply too vast, too enormo to process. Or even really have an opinion on. Like the Death Star moving slowlyacross the widescreen at a multiplex. This is all a lot more human. On a smaller and more manageable scale..Even if it was produced with Rick Rubin of all people at the helm.  Bea's voice at times reminded me eerily of Harriet Wheeler of The Sundays. Sunday's Girl ! It was a reminder that endeared me further to the record. 

This Is How Tomorrow Moves is a lot easier to digest than Taylor.  Yjere's always a slight Pavement thing going on. Bea has long had a thing for Syephen Malkmus. Mut in general, this is a sweet and sincere record that emotes It has a heart that pumps, a soul that bleeds. Like the best Pop.Pop product.  I hope it shifts.

Song(s) of the Day # 3,857 Clark

 

Sculpted electronic, spiritual noise. In Camera by Clark. Strange altered vocal effects slipping in and out of the mix. I thought of Radiohead's In Rainbows. There is a ghostly take on The Carpenters Superstar which let's face it was ghostly enough in its own right. 

Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,810 Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Bandana

 

A bit heavy on the'N' word but hey I'm a white liberal. Otherwise ticks all the Jazzy laidback hipster boxes you might choose. 

It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2024 # 101 Liz Lawrence - Peanuts

 

Liz Lawrence is a performer with a Low Fi past who seems intent on making a louder noise and a bigger splash on latest record Peanuts, just out on Chrysalis records. 

Now there's a blast from the past. Weren't Blondie on Chrisalis records. Like that band , this manages to be both arty and radio friendly. 

Liz is pictured in chain mail and medieval battle gear on marketing photos for the record. Well if she keeps throwing these fighting poses, I'll keep cracking these weak gags. 

Apparently 'crossing her fingers for a nineties revival' which is an odd one. This record joins the dots between Cate Le Bon and Katy J Pearson. A good thing in my book, 

500 Greatest Albums of the 1980s ... Ranked! # 249 Pet Shop Boys - Actually

 

During the Pet Shop Boys peak years I didn't pay them much attention. They were just there. Always on the radio. Always on Top of the Pops. They pushed a gay sensibility and I didn't consider myself gay. Though I wasn't bigoted.

Now I take to them much more. Their sensibility is beaurifully realised. This was their commercial peak. Several of their best singles. Frankly this is state of the art. As good a soundtrack to ever day life in the UK. They were fantastic chroniclers.

Song(s) of the Day # 3,856 Young Scum

 

'Jamgly Indie Pop from Richmond Va,' Sometimes it pays to keep things simple. The decription on Young Scum's Spotify's bio. Debut album Lighter Blue is exactly that. Eleven uncomplicated, melodic musings  on life. I enjoyed it while it spun, but probably won't return. 

New York in 100 Songs - # 68 The Strokes

 

500 Greatest Albums of the 1980s ... Ranked! # 250 Bengt Berger - Bitter Funeral Beer

 

Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,811 Queens of the Stone Age - Villains

 

I was never drawn to Metal sounds. It just didn't appeal at 13 and hasn't really done so since. But QOTSA still cast a particuar spell. They're good at what they do.

.

It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2024 # 102 Okay Kaya - Oh My God - That's So Me

 

Another week. Another journey. This one starts with Okay Kaya. Her fourth album has what Oh My God - That's So Me has much to recommend it. A cool step in its stride.

Saying rhat, the Bio on Spotify doesn't really do the artist favours particularly. Apparently she's 'an artist at the peak of ambivalent lyrical mastery.' You mean the words are good. Well they are actually but deserve better than this.

What I was reinded of mostly while the record unfolded was Weyes Blood. Oh My God - That's So Me has some of the wistful nostalgia for an age you may not have lived but still yearn for. This is a rather lovely, beguiling record. 

Song(s) of the Day # 3,855 julie

 

Slightly generic alternative guitar noise. Very Nineties. That Pixues / Sonic Youth / My Bloody Valentine.  dissonance and emotional lyrical unease.But the powerswitch is the guitar noise. Backbone.

julie's debt on their debut album my anti-aircraft friend  is so absolute, so all concuming, that in the end I thought whu not listen to Isn't Anything. But this beguiling while it spins,

New York in 100 Songs - # 69 The Chainsmokers

 

Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,812 Frank Sinatra - Come Fly With Me

 

It's my father's ninetieth birthday. My dad always wanted to fly. This seemed like an incredibly relevant album to listen to. 

500 Greatest Albums of the 1980s ... Ranked! # 253 The Vapors - New Clear Days

 

'I wnt a doctor. To take your picture . So I can look at you from nside as well.

I try not to live in the past. I have few regrets. I don't see any point in living a place that's gone. What good is that to me. Ot anyone else for that matter. . But I might have bought  The Vapors,  New Clear Days in 1980. O liked the cover. U liked short, snappy three minte songs. And if I had, I might have listened to it a fair bit. It's a fone record.

Very mych of ts time but with melodies that endure and sentiments that prevail. A song about The Cold War. Let's face it. That's probably stull going on. Their famous moment. Turning Japanese. About unrequited passion. Obsession. And erm. You work it out yours 

It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2024 # 103 Head Portals - A Lesson In Object Permanence.

 

Saturday. 'Saturdays the day for fun,'as my dear Father says. Darren Jones AKA Starbuck to the rescue once more. A band from Salt Lake City and their staggering new album A Lesson In Object Permanence.

I can tell you no more about Head Portals. You don't really need to. The recird speaks for iyself. It's conflicted. It's anguished and then sensitive. It's a journey.

Its a record that suprrises you and doesn't need labels. If you want some I would just mention Bob Mould.The sporit probably mre than the actual sound.  Compliments don't get much higher. 

It's another good one Darren. Fetch yourself a gold star and put it next to your name on the wall. Another good deed. 

Song(s) of the Day # 3,854 Nick Lowe

 

Listening to the new Nick Lowe album. Has he been a Song of the Day artist on It Starts before. I imagine so probably. When I started this series I said it woudn;t happen. But I'm so far down this particular road that I can't be bothered to check. Sue me.

It's am old school record. Nick hasn't really changed in terms of his tastes, perspectives .and approach since he kicked off as a Pub Rocker with Brinsley Schwartz in the early Seventies. Sometimes this is comforting. I like a man who knows what he likes..

Nick likes Rock & Roll and Country. He was Johnny Cash's son in law. On Indoor Safari his latest, he goes through tried and tested motions. He has a happy constituency who will  be more than pleased with the results here. 

You can sometimes judge a book b its cover you'll be pleased to hear. Indoor Safari has a cover with a sutry siren type raising a concktail, sporting a classy bob, with a glass in hand, and with a come hither look.

As fir the songs. This is a language Nick is utterly fluent in. This is a record that could have been made in 1959. 1979. Any year really. But it's been made in 2024 and it's a cool record. . 

New York in 100 Songs - # 70 Cat Power

 

500 Greatest Albums of the 1980s ... Ranked! # 254 Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Trust

 

Costello was fiery on all cylinders when he recorded Trust in 1981. The sessions were plagued with alcohol and drug issues and tensions between the players. In this case though the tensions spark brilliantly.

Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,813 Four Tet - There Is Love In You

 

Electro dance. Fir me this strikes me as workout music. I don't have atreadmill here so I dont get through a track before I'm off elsewhere though it's certainly hypnotic.

It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2024 # 104 Sinai Vessel - I SING

 

                                                             'Victim of a leaking pen..'

Browsing through the playlists on a Saturday morning you can chance upon the shiniest catches, like gold glittering in a net trawl dragged aboard a fishing trawler in the early morning sunight. 

Reminders of Pavement, Elliott Smith and Beck. But this is I SING. The fourth album by Caleb Cordes out of Chicago going by the Nom De Plume Sinai Vessel, a great new personal discovery.

This is great post Nineties singer songwriting that deals with introversion and the universe. Two of the great modern Internet obsessions.

Sinai Vessel manage a great balancing act here. The songs here burrow inwards and gaze outwards. An incrediblbe balancing act which is incredibly sustained and never succumbs to self pity. This is an extrordinary record. 

Song(s) of the Day # 3,853 The Howl & The Hum

                                 

              

                                              'The ghost of Thelonious Monk. in my mind.'

Ambition. You can't fault youth and ambition. The Howl and The Hum's Same Mistake Twice has no lack of either. Sam Griffith's set off from his studies at York University ovet ten years back and now he's got a band of fellow travellers who tayyle like a band possessed from the off in the spirit of the likes of Arcade Fire, James and The Waterboys. It's certainly a case of hang on to your hats 

It'snot a record that does anything to attempt disguise its ramshackle fervour. The band rattle like The Ant Hill Mob in Whacky Races. Barelling down the highway. Griffiths can't but help exhibit his education and the wounds, the scars of his life. This definitely strikes me as a band to see if they make their way to your doorway. 

New York in 100 Songs - # 71 Princess Nokia

 

500 Greatest Albums of the 1980s ... Ranked! # 255 A R Kane -69

 

A R Kane aare nor a hugely remembered band and '69 not a hugely remembered album in Rock annals. But Melody Maker eulogised the band to the high heavens at the time and the record stands up I'd say whule also remaining very much of its time. A dubby, youthful and hugely creative reminder of a different world. 

Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,815 Sampha - Process

 

Restful.

It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2024 # 105 Villagers - That Golden Time

 

Villagers have been a name I've been aware of for a while. I finally got round to listen to an album. Latest record That Golden Time. Living on the earth can be a slightly disquieting thing right now,  given the burning earth we are living on.

Politics and the changing planet cannot be totally ignored and avoided. We're experiencing a second Industrial Revolution and it can be frightening and disturbing. Music is often the best refuge or consolation.

Villagers pilot, Dublin's Conor O'Brien, has a distinctive voice. It may be marmite-ish, but I warmedyyo its humanity and enjoyed That Golden Time increasingly as it span. It's an eloquent poetic record, highly wordy and lyrical.

Mostly it was full of humanity and I appreciated its warmth and slightly sad wisdom. On the album cover there's's an image of a butterfly pinned. The ultimate contradiction. Midway through the record ther's a song where O'Brien slips into a vocal loop 'keep the dream alive...'. Poignant is a word I've been discussing with my students this week . It's an adjective which applies to this record. In spades.

Song(s) of the Day # 3,852 Oh Rose

 

More grog for Starbuck methinks. For several years now Darren Jones, First Mate of these parts has been chucking tasty morsels fot the crew of  It Starts With a Birthstone to feast on at the Captain's Table. On a regular basis .

Here's one of his latest wonders. Dorothy from Portland Oregon's Oh Rose.  Written in tribute to Olivia Rose, their lead singer's late mother. Yes, Rose.

There's clearly a deeply personal narrative at work here which may lead to listeners investing no end of time and emotion in  here. It strukes me as a record whuch would fully reward such investment. 

It's a Folky, dreamy and celebratoryexercise and  tribute. Not shrouded in grief but transcendence love and joy. It's a rather lovely record actually. A close cousin of Katy J. Pearson 's Sound of the Morning. And a marvellous, emotive and layered lalbum in its own right.  

Herbie Flowers 1938 - 2022

 

New York in 100 Songs - # 72 Cam'ron

 

500 Greatest Albums of the 1980s ... Ranked! # 256 Lambrettas - Beat Boys in The Jet Age

 

Not essential. Mods at the fag end f the Mod Revival in 1983. The songs were good  and the ties and suits were sharp but onlt full on revivalists get very excited about this in 2024 surely.

Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,816 Son Volt - Trace

 

Before Wilco there was Son Volt. A purer  Cosmic Country place.

It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2024 # 106 Personal Trainer - Still Willing

 

A Pessimist is Never Disappointed, (the first site listed on the Blogroll to the right hand side of this page), has been a go to place for me for many years, and continues to prove so.

This morning it's guided me to Personal Trainer a Dutch Inide band based in Amsterdam. Their latest album Still Willing is steadfast Indie product, just out on the ever reliable Bella Union label.

The record does feel like product rather than a record of artistic desiderum that' needs to be '. That doesn't make it any less commendable.It's very well put tigether nuanced producton every level. 

The band are a good time septet. Pavement is the most obvious comparison point which will tell you all you need to know about its ramshackle, cute charm.

This kept me company between five and six this morning until my bath was ready to run. I'm grateful to it and will be back.   

Song(s) of the Day # 3,851 knitting

 

knitting, Toronto's finest young guitar shape throwing Young Turks have just released their debut album. Some Kind Of Heaven. It's an excellent record and a bracing start to a Tuesday morning.

Grounded on a love of sinuous, twisting Eighties and Nineties guitar melody. Pixies, Sonic Youth. Nostalgia's not what it used to be. 

There's something intriguing about this winding, gnarly sound. A flirt with pain. A hint of danger. Excess. kntting are young but know exactly to do with their needles. This is a daring start. I imagine they'd be ones to catch live.

500 Greatest Albums of the 1980s ... Ranked! # 257 Scott Walker - Climate Of Hunter

 

I love Scott Walker. But I found  Climate Of Hunter hard work this morning. It's plagyed by that clinical 80s production and artful detachment that gets rather wearing after a few tracks.

Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,817 Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo

 

Kurt Vile does a very similar thing on each succeeding record . Nowt wrong with that. The finest artists work on the premise of variation on a theme. Anyhow it certainly appeals to me. Guitar driven streams of consciousness meandering.

It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2024 # 107 Travis - LA Times

 

I always liked Travis. Essentially I think because lead singer Fran Healy was an introvert. That's how I see myself. You can sense it in his songwriting. He's an unusual one. In an industry of exteoverts and showboaters he and his band fly the flag for those that prefer to look within.

LA Times is their tenth album. It's not too different from their first three albums in texture and shape . The one they made their reputation on and established their craft. There's is a simple formula. Belle & Sebastian with the quirks ironed out and an eye on the charts,

The somgs are crafted and unfurl at their own assured pace. They're everyman anthems for the quiet thinker in front of the stage. The album is as good as their early recirds but will get less attention because that's the way the Pop World is. It's off elsehwere in search of the new.

But Healy and his bandmates Andy Dunlop, Dougie Payne and Neil Primeose are skilled artisans. I've been appreciating it a lot over the past few days and thinking about where I've been in the trwenty five years since The Man Who came out.

It was 1999 and I was off to Catania, Italy. It was a wonderful year in my life and I listened to The Man Who a lot while I was there. Teaching in a Language School. Living with Sicilian students. Writing my crap, unneeded novel.

I've recently rediscovered it and I'm preparing myself to head back to Catania at the end of September where I'll celbrate my 59th birthday and hook up with old friends again. I imagine I'll listen to LA Times while I'm there. Like The Man Who it strikes me as a grower. It's worth staying with. One of its closing tracks Naked In New York goes straight into their canon. There's plenty else here for anyone else who has ever cared for the band. 

Song(s) of the Day # 3,850 Okay Kaya

 

Another week. Another journey. This one starts with Okay Kaya. Her fourth album has what Oh My God - That's So Me has much to recommend it. A cool step in its stride.

Saying rhat, the Bio on Spotify doesn't really do the artist favours particularly. Apparently she's 'an artist at the peak of ambivalent lyrical mastery.' You mean the words are good. Well they are actually but deserve better than this.

What I was reinded of mostly while the record unfolded was Weyes Blood. Oh My God - That's So Me has some of the wistful nostalgia for an age you may not have lived but still yearn for. This is a rather lovely, beguiling record. 

New York in 100 Songs - # 73 Busta Rhymes

 

500 Greatest Albums of the 1980s ... Ranked! # 257 Van Morrison - Common One

 

Virtually every Van Morrison album has something goin for it. And that something is usually Van. This is mud period Van. His great work was probably mostly behind him. But he's Van Morrison so had plenty of interest in the bank.  

Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,818 The Offspring - Americana

 

The Offspring frankly are pretty hard work 35 years on. I found them pretty hard work first time round. I iagined they used the term Punk to describe themselves. But they sounded like Grunge for the masses. In dreadlocks, beach shorts and tatoos. With irritating ska thythms chucked into the mix in case you weren't irritated enough aready.

It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2024 # 108 Astrid Sonne - Great Doubt

 

Astrid Sonne is a Danish composer and viola player currently living in London. Her latest record Great Doubt has a cover shot of her face. She has a nice smile and is wearing a plain gold earring.

The album is avant gard and probably won't be heard by many people. The kind who might listen and persevere will probably be prone to this kind of stuff already and more than likely have some Laurie Anderson, Yoko One and Post Punk records from back in the day when it was genuinely Post Punk.

I found this a cool lesson sat listening in the dining room of my parents house. As my dear mother cooked us all a lovely meal.I thought it was great. The meal and the record. As I listened later on in the evening, weirder and more wonderful still. My current favourite off the wall Danish viola player. 

Song(s) of the Day # 3,849 Beeef

 

What's your Beef? Nice of you to ask. Well actually at the moment my beef us Beeef Allston, MA's finest. Their new album is an uncomplocated Indie breeze.

It made me think of Jonathan Richman's masterpiece Roadrunner. Out on the modern highway with the radio on. Guitars ringing like bells.

Not reinventing.wheels. But wheels work fine after all. Think Real Estate,Think La's. A straight talking Pavement. Mighty fine.   

New York in 100 Songs - # 74 Boogie Down Productions

 

Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,818 Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II

 

Delightfully quirky and deteminedly eccentruc modern art pop dreaming. 

500 Greatest Albums of the 1980s ... Ranked! # 258 Psychedelic Furs - Forever Now

 

Strange kismet, I'm preparing myself to go to Teddington for a school reunion today.Seeing people who I haven't seen for over forty years. Back to the future. Psychedelic Furs oddly hailed from Teddungton themselves. A still idlyllic suburb on the commuter belt. South West London.

Forever Now, and that's a great album title and great way of approaching life if you can take was the Furs third album came out in 1982, the year I left my secondary school and moved to  college and off into life. As you must if you have any sense.

It's a good Art Pop album. The Furs were un transition at this point themselves. From Cult trendies towards the American market. MTV and the open road. This is a fine set of songs. Velvet Underground for the masses. Good lyrics. Bowie moves. Bowie always casts a shadow on Richard Butler. He cast a shadow on plenty. Lots of echoes of Beatles twisted lyrics too.The lyrics and sentiments stand up.

It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2024 # 109 Rose Hotel - Pawn Surrender

 

Sometimes it's a good idea to just follow a thread. This is the third Song Of The Day in a row from a list that Darren Jones sent me a few days back. I've come to trust his judgement and tastes. Here's another record worth cupping an ear to..

Rose Hotel is an Atlanta, Georgia based songer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jodran Reynolds and  a Pawn Surrender is her latest record. It's a warm immersive, emotive album that encourages surrender. I listened to it initially in a state of distraction trying to read something else. Eventually I found it demanded my full attention.

This is familiar territory musically. But sometimes we seek the familiar.  Rose Hotel is not a million mles from artists like Pearl Stone, Rosali and Liz Phair. this is a recommendation rather than a criticism. A warm, emotive recotd that presses for a greater sacrifice than a pawn surrender. 

Song(s) of the Day # 3,848 Nale Sinephro

 

A good way to start what could prove an interesting day. Nale Sinephro's Endlessness. A cool looking lady with an afro. A set of musical tracks of inspired Modern Jazz freeform meanderings. Not a bad way to start any day frankly.

Not the kind of thing I listened to when I was twelve. In a while I'll get dressed and prepare to head for South West London where I'm going to attend a school reunion later, But things change. Memory and dealing with it inevitably stirs up a whole nest of memories and emotions and you couldn't choose a better record to set you in a restful frame of mind for the journey.

The Coletranes John and Alice are the two guiding touchstones that apply most immediately here. This is inspired and one to return to. Plonk the virtual needle down anywhere on thus meandering but at once highly structured spiritual wandering and you'll find yourself carried away. 

Songs About People # 1,408 Rip Torn

 

May or may not be about the superlative actor. But it's a superlative song from the superlative new M J Lenderman record and holds the ground for me until I get round to writing about that in a while.

New York in 100 Songs - # 76 Bomb The Music Industry

 

500 Greatest Albums of the 1980s ... Ranked! # 259 Hunters & Collectors - Human Frailty

 

Somewhere between the Austalian Talking Heads and Nits. This is a remarkable, engaged and questing album/

Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,819 Tom Waits - Heartattack & Vine

 

I've been thinking about the past a lot this week with one thing and another. I won't bother you wuth a blow by blow account. I'm sure you've got stuff to do today. In the words of the late, great and sorely lamented Grant McLennan. 'If you spend your time looking behind you. You don't see what's up front. '

Well, quite. But still what's the point of doing things if you're not going to look back and think about them once in a while. The finest musical week of my entire life, and I suspect we can put a wrap on that one, was in Autumn 1985 during my first term at university.

I came to see Tom Waits and R.E.M. playing at great London venues at a point when it was possible to see superlative music artistes like these without too much actual expense or some kind of media scrum. 

Both Tom and R.E.M. were pretty much in their pomp and both were among the finest artists that the  twentieth century produced for reasons I won't bother to justify at any length here. 

There were definite comparisons between the two. Both were touring in upport of fine albums that ruminated deeply on the past andwondered if they were altogether over. Rain Digs in Tom's case. Fables of the Reconstruction in R.E.M's. I'm happy just to exist within the pages of these two fantsatic records but both had plenty more to offer.

I knew all of R.E.M's recorded work better than I knew most of the people I knew at this pont. I was an ingenue where Tom was concerned. I knew Swordfishtrombones and I knew Rain Dogs. The rest has come since. You might as well start with Heartattack & Vine. The man is the finest storyteller. If you have any instincts to tell a story properly, study at his knee first.

 

It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2024 # 110 Snowy Band - Age Difference

 

If in doubt on It Starts, turn to Starbuck. AKA Darren Jones, first mate to this blog and faithful guide. To steer us into calmer waters from the eye of the storm. Into port for the weekend, Another excellent tip.

This morning. The Snowy Band. Not the most inspiring band name perhaps. But persevere. Because the record itself, their latest album Age Difference, is a still a gem of the most valuable kind and no mistake. 

A Melbourne band. I'm always pleased to tumble across another one of those. In the words of a review I tracked down ' each song ambles through big themes like religiosity , existentialism, fear of regret, time and love.'

This is dappled, nuanced stuff. Textured. Like meeting a whole new set of people one evening from the other side of the world and realising you might have known them your whole life. You have so much in common. Thanks Darren. Another pearl. 

Song(s) of the Day # 3,847 Boston Manor

 

A parlour game for the likes of me who concern myself with things lke this. Take a new release at random iff the album of new releases. Take a look at a photo of a band you're not familiar with. Tr to anticipate what they'll sound like. Listen to the record to see whether you're right. Well it keeps me happy. It beats trainspotting,

So today Boston Manor and their new album Sundiver. My thoughts. They're from Boston. Emo and metal I thought. Stageloghts. Stagediving. I wasn;t far wrong. It was OK. But not for me. Generic Too shouty. I felt. A few songs were enough. I've got lessons this morning. What else have I got?  

Duster - In Dreams

 

Duster seem to be becoming a bigger and bigger splash in the alternative lake. A quiet, and atmospheric trio from San Jose, California that have been fairly consistent regulars since the band formed in 1996.

They have an album  Stratosphere that achieved fairly solid cult status which I would expect to grow in the coming decades. They reformed a few years ago and are now released a new album In Dreams which I expect will only serve to consolidate their standing.

 Dreams is the apposite word here. Each song sounds like a dream of a different colour. There is range, mystery and depth that indicates it's an album that has staying power and will nag at you and encourage you to come back and try to work out what it is about the thing that makes you want to return to it. Like many of the best records. A question mark hangs.I've got a good feeling about this. I'll give it nine.  

500 Greatest Albums of the 1980s ... Ranked! # 260 Terrence Trent D'Arby - Introducing the Hardline According To Terrence Trent D'Arby

 

Today I've spent a few hours in a time machine. First an early morning trip to the late Nineties with the Beta Band. And now, after an online lesson, and doing some shopping for my mother I'm having an out of body experience with  Introducing the Hardline According To Terrence Trent D'Arby. Or Sananda Maitreya as Terrence prefers to be called these days.

This is a true Back to the Future experience for the likes of me. Introducing the Hardline was the true frontline rank of cool in my first year at university. Terrence had the look, the moves, the talent and the songs. Nobody has any right to the talent and songs that man had. 

I bought the NME religiously and was not averse to sneaking a look at my honey's copy of The Face when she wasn't looking. I did buy the album as both of these publications practically ordered me to. The music wasn't really my thing at that point in time. Literate boys with Rickenbackers. Or Fender Telecasters, was more to my liking then. But I was learning, and fast.

The others I hung out with in my accomodation block at Fifer's Lane had no such reservations. They had the look; the polo neck sweaters, the Denim 501s, the regulation Doctor Martins. Scott Crilla cords too if you will, according to something I heard from a very good friend from those days earlier on today. 

I thought they were a bunch of fashion victims frankly although I loved them all at first sight and we had a wonderful time for three terms before I decided what I really wanted was my honey and practically moved in with her early on in the second year. That's not the whole story I'm afraid to say. But it's all you're getting here. It's my story so I have every write to tell it my way. 

But listening today, almost forty years on  Introducing the Hardline is clearly as cool as it gets and doesn't age a day even if the rest of us do. If The Picture of Dorian Grey were an album, this might as well be it. It's absolute state of the art Soul Pop panache and bravado of the highest order. 'Sign a Name Across My Heart. I want you to be my baby...' 

 

Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,820 The Beta Band - The Three EPs

 

Yes. What a special treat to take me from nine to ten , The Beta Band  and their first three EP's were a wonderful gift in the late Nineties when they came along. Utterly from the blue. Rare moments of utterly inspired Magpie pick and mix genuis.Std Barrett and John Lennon would have loved this. John Cale did. That man knows a good thing when he sees it.  Noel Gallagher. Put down your guirar and prostrate yourself before the genuis of the Beta Band.You truly are not worthy.  I could write more. Much more. But I have lessons to plan.

It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2024 # 111 The Drin - Elude The Touch

 

The dark streets of Cincinnati, Ohio spawn an unholy monstrous noise. Jesus & Mary Chain meet early Pere Ubu in a messy bar in the midnight hour.

Latest album Elude The Touch stakes an instant claim for Outsider Boho Classic status. Dylan McCartney formerly of Mardou has been around the block a few times and he's earned his stripes in shades and leathers.Feater boas/

This is a record which buzzes hums and drones the nonconformist gospels. A fantastic counterculture scripture .that I'll namedrop again as the days grow shorter in my rundown for 2024. 

Song(s) of the Day # 3,846 Seefeel

 

Seefeel are a name that I associate with Melody Maker and the late Eighties and early Nineties. I used to buy NME and Melody Maker most weeks. Even though I would consider myself promarily and NME reader, it's the writing of the Melody Maker writers that I remember most from this period.

They were more ambitious than the NME witers for the most part. Post Structuralists and prone to pretention, but also funny and with quirkt raaste. They ficused largely on bands like Seefeel who were never going to bother the charts as they were essentially ambient in nature but made interesting records.

Seefeel have come back together and put out an interesting six track EP called Everythung Squared. I don't suppose that it will trouble the charts either, I imagine that thought never enters the heads of Seefeel members. Good for them. There are more important things than being in the charts. I very much enjoyed listening to it this morning. It set me up well for the day.  

500 Greatest Albums of the 1980s ... Ranked! # 261 Eric B & Rakim -Paid In Full

 

Full on razor sharp early Hip Hop classic. The edge doesn't dull.

Best Ever Albums - 2,000 - 1,001 - 1,821 David Bowie - Heathen

 

There's actually something rather marvellous about this, though I've never listened to this before. This man was David Bowie. Who are you?