2003 Favourites
Massive Attack - 100th Window
Elvis Costello - North
David Sylvian - Blemish
Steve Reich - Three Tales
Bjork - Livebox
Set Fire To Flames - Telegraphs In Negative/Mouths Trapped In Static
Cliff Martinez - Solaris (OST)
Mark Eitzel - The Ugly American
Joni Mitchell - Travelogue
Martina Topley-Bird - Quixotic
Robert Wyatt - Cuckooland
Randy Newman - The Randy Newman Songbook Volume One
Neil Young - Greendale
Blur - Think Tank
Outkast - Speakerboxx/The Love Below
Although the following are albums I was involved in releasing, I'd still highly recommend -
Hugh Hopper - Jazzloops
For me, as a Hopper fan, this represented a brilliant and convincing contemporary re-working of Hopper's late '60s/early '70s loop experiments.
Markus Reuter - Older Than God
A blissfully beautiful loop album with a cumulative emotional effect comparable to that of Fripp's most affecting Soundscapes album, A Blessing Of Tears.
Rhinoceros - Tiny Ghosts
A haunting, compact and accomplished follow-up to a haunting, compact and accomplished debut. Trip-Hop Electronica with heart.
Steven Wilson - Cover Version Single
The man Wilson at his sweetly melancholic best. Fully deserving of a Cover Version Album follow-up.
August 2003
This month I have mostly been listening to:
Blur - Think Tank (2003)
In which, after the experiments of Mali Music and Gorillaz, Damon turns into a passable David Byrne for the new Millenium.
The poignant single Out Of Time is a particular highlight.
Roy Harper - East Of Eden (2002)
A mostly excellent compilation of Harper's more romantic material, which adds credibility to the theory that at his best he was easily an equal of the likes of John Martyn and Nick Drake.
The main flaws on this otherwise well selected album are the omissions of the devastatingly nostalgic When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease and the elegant Elizabeth.
The Korgis - Everbody's Gotta Learn Sometimes
(taken from 'The Very Best Of The Korgis', 2003)
10cc balladry updated for the early 1980s snyth crowd. Sickly sweet, but very lovely nonetheless.
David Sylvian - Blemish (2003)
An inventive Pro Tools-era extension of what Sylvian's done best since the atmospheric melancholy of the seminal Ghosts.
Neil Young - Greendale (2003)
A consistently strong, yet totally typical, Crazy Horse offering, in which Young's voice, thinner and more strained than usual, lends the album's overriding theme of the death of the hippie dream an authentic air of beautiful resignation.
An accompanying DVD of live acoustic versions of Greendale's songs provides an interesting contrast to the bluesier Crazy Horse renditions.
September 2003
This month I have mostly been listening to:
Herbie Hancock - Future 2 Future (2001)
Bill Laswell and Herbie's foray into Goldie and 4 Hero's symphonic drum'n'bass territory is far better than I expected and further evidence that Herbie learned well from his ever-evolving mentor, Miles Davis.
Cliff Martinez - Solaris Soundtrack (2003)
Steve Reich-esque take on gamelan music drenched in reverb and strings.
An appropriately haunting soundtrack to a sombre and affecting movie.
Randy Newman - The Randy Newman Songbook Volume One (2003)
A stark piano and voice rendering of the great man's back catalogue produced by the genius Mitchell Froom.
I Think It's Gonna Rain Today, Marie and In Germany Before The War are as heartbreaking as ever.
Judee Sill - The Donor (taken from the album 'Heart Food', 1973)
The grace of Karen Carpenter and the edge of Lauro Nyro redefined by the ambition and influence of Brian Wilson's Surf's Up. Proper bo, I tell thee.
Neil Young - On The Beach (1974)
A long-overdue reissue of one of Young's best albums.
Aside from the atypically jaunty opener, Walk On, this is a deep and disturbing album that probes into Young's feelings surrounding the drug-related deaths of two close friends.
The title track, See The Sky About To Rain and the shambolic charm of the achingly moving Ambulance Blues make this essential listening.
October / November 2003
I have mostly been listening to:
Big Star - Big Star Story (2003, compilation)
An excellent overview of some of Big Star's finest moments including tracks from their power pop beginnings, the warped majesty of the abandoned 1975 classic, Sister Lovers, and two songs culled from Chris Bell's melancholy Lennonesque solo output.
The dislocated beauty of Holocaust remains essential.
Elvis Costello - North (2003)
A song-cycle influenced by the break-up of Costello's long-term relationship (sounds familiar!) and the beginning of his affair with Canadian Jazz diva, Diana Krall.
The album consists of intimate piano-based ballads with exquisite and sometimes surpirisng string, wind and brass arrangements (Lee Konitz makes an excellent guest appearance).
Although clearly influenced by the the likes of Billie Holliday and the Sinatra 'concept' albums of the 1950s, North never descends into period pastiche (thankfully, you can abandon all thoughts of Jamie Cullum and Harry Connick Jr) and has a definite identity of its own. For those who liked Costello's pairing with Burt Bacharach, this comes highly recommended.
Lamb - Between Darkness And Wonder (2003)
Pitched somewhere between the blissed-out grace of What Sound and the fury of Fear Of Fours, Between Darkness And Wonder sounds like a trip back to the eclectic territory of their debut album.
Darkness makes for a mesmerising intro and Hearts And Flowers, a triumpahnt ending, but somehow this leaves me less convinced than What Sound, which had a defiant sense of integrity and completeness. That said, this is still an impressive experimental post-Trip Hop offering which suggests a long-term talent well worth following.
Kylie Minogue - Slow (2003)
Infectiously catchy, yet inventively minimalist single from Pop's finest backside.
One of the only things that makes the agony of occassionally watching MTV worthwhile.
Opeth - Damnation (2003)
A freebie courtesy of the man Wilson that I actually liked!
Free from the 'cookie monster' vocals of yore, Opeth have fashioned a lovingly pastoral and melancholy collection of emotionally driven songs.
Often sounding like Morten Harket singing on top of some of Porcupine Tree's (or No-Man's, for that matter) most affecting ballads, this is a success I didn't anticipate celebrating.
Pink Floyd - Live At Pompeii (2003, DVD)
Probably the first 'serious' band I took seriously (the strains of Wish You Were Here and Atom Heart Mother providing a cosmic soundtrack to my distinctly un-cosmic mid-70s childhood obsession with Subbutteo!), it was good to finally get a decent version of this concert, which highlights the band at its most abstract and adventurous.
Including fascinating footage of the Dark Side Of The Moon sessions, a fairly pointless new set of 'space' images replete with an idiotic overriding concept, and the original performance film in full, Live At Pompeii provides nostalgia without the pain.
Robert Wyatt - Cukooland (2003)
At 70 minutes, despite the 'pause for tired ears', the lack of dynamics and instrumental variety makes Cukooland seem a tad too long (as the venerable Dr Fox might say).
All the Wyatt hallmarks of quality are still in place, the eerie beauty of the voice, the fragile compositions being torn apart by fractious Jazzy intrusions, the unquestioned emotional commitment, but...
A worthy addition to Wyatt's catalogue, but one that will take time to fully absorb and appreciate. |
