30 Rock: My 30 Favourite Memories

30 Rock is one of my favourite sitcoms ever. I've loved it ever since I picked up the first season on DVD for a mere £5 in the Christmas sales when I was at college. The show about the making of fictional show "TGS with Tracy Jordan" has made a star of creator Tina Fey and re-affirmed what a fantastic actor Alec Baldwin is.

But alas, after seven great seasons, 30 Rock was brought to a close and its final show aired a few weeks ago. Having now finally caught up with their final season, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to reflect on what I loved most about the show.

So, here are (mostly from the top of my head and in no particular order) thirty of my favourite quotes, plots, running jokes and characters. Most are just Youtube clips since I don't want this to be too long a read. I hope you enjoy.

1. Werewolf Bar Mitzvah

2. "Aw, blerg!" 

Just beat out "What the WHAT?" and "I want to go to there" for my favourite Lemon-ism.

3. Jenna lying about her age

4. "Dr." Leo Spacemen

There have been some great recurring characters on the show (Will Arnett's Devon Banks, Steve Buscemi as Jack's private investigator, Sherri Shepard as Tracy's wife Angie), but my favourite without a doubt was Dr. Spacemen, played by SNL veteran Chris Parnell. To call him a moron would be putting it lightly. He's had many great quotes, perhaps my favourite being "...we have no way of knowing where the heart is. See, every human is different."

5. "You take a hot dog, stuff it with some jack cheese, fold it in a pizza..."

*air guitar* "...you got Cheesy Blasters!"

6. "Where's my MAC AND CHEESE!?!"

Word of advice: don't take Liz's food.

7. Guest stars

So many great names have guest starred in the show, many have been as love interests for Liz (Jason Sudeikis, Michael Sheen, Matt freakin' Damon) and Jack (Edie Falco, Selma Hayek, Elizabeth Banks). A surprising amount of those who guest starred as themselves worked really well too, from all the musicians featured in "Kidney Now!" to Kelsey Grammer and Buzz Aldrin. A heck of a lot of star power passed through the doors at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

8. "I love this cornbread so much..."

"... I wanna take it behind a middle school and get it pregnant."

9. Tracy's films

Not only is Tracy batshit crazy and the star of TGS, he's also the star of those low-rent comedies even Eddie Murphy would turn down, such as "Who Dat Ninja?", "Black Cop White Cop" and "Honky Grandma Be Trippin' ". You can find most of the posters for these films here.
In fact, two of my favourite storylines involving Tracy in the series involved him trying to get films off the ground.
In Season 1, Tracy discovered he was a distant relative of Thomas Jefferson, which led him to pitching a biopic with him as the start entitled "Jefferson" (see the hilarious trailer below). Then in Season 5, Tracy sought the one award he had yet to earn, an Oscar, and so came up with the academy-baiting "Hard To Watch", a film loosely based on his upbringing.

10. Liz & the Co-op board

We've all been there, too much alcohol and a phone in your hand can be a dangerous mix, as Liz illustrates here: from "You know what? I'm fine." to "I AM GOING TO THE HOSPITAL! AND I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY!" to singing Alanis Morissette to "I bought a black apartment". Fantastic.

11. Season 2, Episode 13: "Succession"

If you put a gun to my head and forced me to pick my favourite episode, I'd probably pick this one - although to be honest all of the final three episodes of Season 2 are gold. Jack finds out that Don Geiss has chosen him as his successor as head of G.E. This leads to the rise of "corporate" Liz Lemon ("Hey nerds! Guess who's got 2 thumbs, speaks limited French, and hasn't cried once today? This moi!"). Also, Tracy sets out to make a porn video game. Genius.

12. Homonym/God Cop

Some of the funniest moments have come from the shows within the show itself. These two both came from Season 7 opener "Tank It!". While God Cop was hilarious ("Why is he learning ANYTHING, he's supposed to be God?"), Homonym might have been even better, the most impossible game show ever ("It's always the other one!").

13. "Shut it down!"

From the top of my head, Jack first uttered this line when it was clear Ken's game show "Gold Case" (15 models hold cases, one contains gold) was a liability. This then became a running turn of phrase many characters would use when a venture wasn't turning out right.

14. Jenna-Mickey Rourke history

I don't know what on Earth Mickey Rourke ever did to anyone on the 30 Rock team, but for some reason it was decided Jenna should create this bizarre sexual history between the two of them when they supposedly went out. The kind people at Vulture have put some of her best tall tales into pictorial form.

15. Frank's hats

At least once an episode, Frank - one of the writers for TGS - would be wearing a new hat with a message on it in felt letters. You can view every single hat he wore at this gallery MTV have painstakingly compiled.

16. "Queen of Jordan"

Another excellent parody, this time of reality television. "Queen of Jordan" saw Tracy's wife Angie star in her own reality TV series after negotiations with Jack to keep Tracy at TGS. A spot on put down of shows like "Keeping Up With The Kardashians", two whole episodes of 30 Rock were broadcast as episodes of "Queen of Jordan". Angie's entourage (particularly D'Fwan) were all fantastic. 

My favourite plot threads over the two episodes were Jack being made out to be a clumsy gay guy who farts all the time because of the show's editing, and Liz's "feud" with Tracy's two-year-old daughter Virginia.

17. Live shows

This was such a fantastic idea. Play off the fact that the show is about making a live TV show by doing live versions of the show, and performing it inside the SNL studios in 30 Rock Plaza. They did a great job of recreating the vibe of the traditional shows by having a group of live musicians performing the score, and even managed to keep the flashbacks by having Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Amy Poehler play Liz, Donald Glover play Tracy and Jimmy Fallon play Jack.
I personally prefer Season 5's "Live Show" to "Live from Studio 6H" from Season 6, although the latter did include many spot on parodies of US TV, including this amazing "how the hell did they allow that on the air?" Afro-American sitcom featuring Jon Hamm in black face.

18. Kenneth the Page

Jack McBrayer is a fantastic comedic actor who cut his teeth on the Chicago improv circuit just like Tina Fey did. Over the course of 30 Rock's seven seasons he really made the role of Ken Parcell, a naive NBC page in love with television, his own. Hearing him remember the golden days of television through rose-tinted glasses never got old. His tales of his old life in Georgia and the running gag about his age were also frequently hilarious.
My favourite quote of his though is "I don't drink hot liquids of any kind. That's the devil's temperature."

19. MILF Island

Yet another genius parody TV show, this one a mix of "Survivor" and "America's Next Top Model".

20."Workin' on my night cheese"

21. Jenna Maroney

Or to be more specific, the things Jenna Maroney would say. This sample of quotes from Season 2 barely scratches the surface.

22. "I am a stabbing robot..."/ Season 1 Episode 7: "Tracy Does Conan"

Another of my favourite episodes, playing off Tracy Morgan's real life breakdowns on talk shows. Liz and Pete have to help Tracy successfully promote the show during his appearance on Conan O'Brien's talk show.  Only problem is Tracy is "buggin' out" after taking the meds Dr Spacemen (in his first appearance on the show) prescribed him, including seeing footless blue men ("Blue Man! Where your feet at?").
The flashback to his first appearance on Conan's show is just as funny.

23. Liz's Barbara Bush outfit

One of my favourite running visual gags. Ever since the pilot episode, if Liz needed a formal business outfit - whether she's meeting Tracy for the first time or negotiating with a network from Germany or pretending to be Jack's wife - she'd dig out this little number from the wardrobe department, which was apparently from a sketch about Barbara Bush.

24. 1-900-OK-FACE

Oh the things poor Liz Lemon did for money in Chicago...

25. Season 3, Episode 10: "Generalisimo"

The first half of Season 3 holds a dear place in my heart, as I'd watch the show in my flat at the time on Comedy Central (before our hall stopped showing non- Sky Sports Sky channels). This was possibly my favourite episode.

Jack finds himself the subject of disapproval from the grandmother of his girlfriend (Selma Hayek, whose "boobs were amazing" to quote Tina) because he resembles the villain in a Spanish language soap opera (who is also played by Baldwin, another example of his great comedic range). Hence he tries to use his political stroke to get said villain killed off.

This is also the first episode Jon Hamm guests in, as Liz's new neighbour and love interest, whom she accidentally roofies on their first date!

26. The Rural Juror ("The rher jerr")

Tracy's not the only one with a substandard acting career outside of the show. In Season 1, Jenna gets a major role in made-for-TV-movie "The Rural Juror". Only trouble is her pronunciation of the title leaves the rest of the team without any idea of what it's called.
This running joke then led to a great episode that season of the same title, where Liz & Jenna fall out because Liz hate the film and Tracy invents a George Foreman grill knock off to replace the bread in sandwiches with more meat.

27. Jack roleplays Tracy's family

Just like the Jon Hamm black face sketch, this was another "How did they get away with this?" moment. Sublime.

28. "There ain't no party like a Liz Lemon party..."

"...because a Liz Lemon party's mandatory!"

29. Liz's "assistant"

30. Jack Donaghy

Last but by no means least we have Jack, played by Alec Baldwin. Super analytical and never without a scathing put down to hand, Jack has a very warped sense of the world having spent so long in corporate America.
Nothing illustrates this better than Tina's favourite quote from the show (and to be honest it could well be mine too). If you had to pick one moment that sums up Jack's character this would be it:

Liz: Why are you wearing a tux?
Jack: ...It's after six, what am I, a farmer?

Now, repeat after me...

"Good God, Lemon!"

1001 Albums Update: 346 and counting...

Before I run down what I've been listening to this past week (and a bit), I thought I'd mention the excellent series of programmes the BBC have been broadcasting this past week all about "The Golden Age Of The Album".
You can find a run down of the shows in the series here. The BBC Four shows "When Albums Ruled The World" and "Danny Baker's Great Album Showdown" were real treats in particular.

The former was a pretty good documentary about how the change in the physical format of the record helped shape the concept of albums (with 22 and a half minutes a side, you could do more than just the typical three minute pop record) and appropriately enough led to the idea of concept albums.

While Danny Baker's show could get a little bit nerdy about records ("The smell! The weight! The sleevenotes!"... alright guys, get a room.) the three episodes were a really great debate about what goes in to making a great album.

Both shows naturally brought up a lot of the albums I've been listening to thanks to the book. Speaking of which, this week I have mostly been listening to...

• Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables: Fantastic bit of punk. "California Uber Alles" brings back happy memories of playing the Tony Hawk's skating games.

• Megadeth - Rust In Peace, Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?: I know I've found mixed results when I've listened to the metal albums on this list, but these were really enjoyable, lived up to their tongue-in-cheek titles definitely.

• Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway: I found this a patchier listen than Peter Gabriel's solo albums (which have really surprised me) but there's flashes of brilliance here. I know Genesis are almost the very definition of dad rock but when Gabriel was on board there was just no resisting moments like "Carpet Crawlers"

• Slayer - Reign In Blood: And now we come to the flip-side of the metal coin. This just felt like substandard Metallica. Play your instruments real fast to hide the fact you're not playing anything interesting, add some vocals that go "RAAAAWUUUUUGH" in between, wash, rinse, repeat.

• Fela Kuti & Afrika 70 - Zombie, Live (w/ Ginger Baker)

My first encounter with some real African music. Appropriately enough, I found Zombie to be very infectious (I know, I know, I'll get my coat...), and the live album with Ginger Baker (of Cream fame) was also a great listen with cracking rhythms, as you'd imagine.

• Frank Sinatra - In The Wee Small Hours, Songs For Swingin' Lovers!

Fun fact: In The Wee Small Hours was the first album issues on 12 inch vinyl, which probably makes it the record that kicked off the album era. Being one of the first records that wasn't a soundtrack or classical piece whose songs had a thematic link probably helped too - and arguably made it the first concept album. Songs For Swingin' Lovers  is also excellent and influential in equal measure, including the simply perfect "I've Got You Under My Skin".

• Louis Prima - The Wildest: Apparently this guy gets a bit of flack for just being a Louis Armstrong knock-off, but I really enjoyed this record. The bloke who played King Louis in The Jungle Book can't be bad can he?

• The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs: As the title suggests this is literally a (triple) album of 69 love songs. Nearly three hours long, this was a project of extraordinary breadth that stylistically veered from Leonard Cohen sorrow to Brian Wilson sugar. Extraordinary.

• Suicide - Suicide: This was just plain weird. The weirdness peaked with the unsettling "Frankie Teardrop" which basically was the musical equivalent of being a pre-teen girl and having Jimmy Saville chasing after you.

• Spiritualized - Lazer Guided Melodies, Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space 

I bought Songs In A&E not long after it came out and was rather disappointed by it, so I wasn't holding my breathe about liking these albums. However, they certainly had their moments, Ladies And Gentlemen... especially: the on-two punch of "Come Together" and "I Think I'm In Love" after the introductory track, and "Broken Heart" were fantastic.

• Siouxsie Sioux & The Banshees - The Scream: Best cover version of "Helter Skelter" ever!

• Ray Charles - Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music: Ray doing country music raised a few eyebrows at the time, but he most certainly pulled it off, his renditions of "Born To Lose" and "You Win Again" were especially sublime.

• 2pac - Me Against The World: While I wasn't surprised that I found myself enjoying this album, I was surprised by the album's highlight: the unexpectedly touching "Dear Mama".

• Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers): Well this was rather disappointing. There are a whole bunch of great MCs in Wu-Tang, but this album was pretty much just everyone shouting their verses over barely audible and substandard beats. What a let down.

• The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones: Their first album is predominantly a covers album, but try listening to this and then telling me they don't make the likes of Bo Diddley's "I Need You Baby (Mona)" and Chuck Berry's "Carol" their own. You can't can you?

• Billie Holiday - Lady In Satin: Her voice was shot after years of heroin abuse, but boy Billie was as captivating as ever here. "I'm A Fool To Want You" is simply iconic (and was the real star of Channel's recent ad campaign featuring Audrey Tatou).

• The Who - Tommy

Sublime. When I talked about how the LP drove the idea of concept albums earlier, this was a prime example. The only traditional whole song on here is "Pinball Wizard". Everything else is comprised of running pieces and overtures fading in and out of each other, a couple of which would later be fused together into the single "See Me, Feel Me".

• The Cure - Pornography: Another gloom masterpiece from The Cure, this one an important precursor to Disintegration. The likes of "One Hundred Years" and "The Hanging Garden" stand up their with their best work.

• The Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker: Great bit of post-AC/DC rock here. This was released in 1990 - I had no idea this band had been going for so long! I only knew them for "Before the Frost... Until the Freeze" before this.

• Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman: "Father And Son", "Wild World", the title track (used as the theme tune for Extras). Need I say more?

• T-Rex - The Slider: Marc Bolan's often seen as more of a singles artist than an albums man, but this was still a great listen. "Metal Guru" is a classic.

• Pink Floyd - The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn 

Pink Floyd are another band I'd assumed I'd hate but found myself enjoying. This was in their relative early days, when Syd Barrett was part of the band. Barrett wrote the majority of the songs himself and so much like the man himself this album's a bit inconsistent, but the much more focused side one is brilliant.

• Stevie Wonder - Innervisions: 

Sublime stuff from Stevie here, made right in the middle of his early-mid 70s run where, post-Marvin Gaye Tamla Motwon realised how important albums were and Stevie had the creative juices to give them what they needed. "Living For The City" and "Higher Ground" (later slaughtered by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers for the Power Rangers movie soundtrack) are particular highlights.

• Dr Dre - The Chronic: Good stuff, but what is it with early to mid 90s rap albums and those awkward interludes where we're supposed to believe they're having sex? Biggie & Snoop had these skits on their albums too. Some people's egos, eh?

 Others I heard which I enjoyed were

• Miles Davis - Birth Of The Cool
• Faith No More - The Real Thing
• Van Halen - Van Halen
• Ride - Nowhere
• Fats Domino - This Is Fats
• The Roots - Pherenology (Now I love Questlove for his music as well as just being awesome on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon)

while the following didn't make much impression:

• Black Flag - Damaged
• The Gun Club - Fire Of Love
• Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
• Duke Ellington - Ellington At Newport
• Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners 

So that wraps up another chunk of great (and not so great) music. I'm sure I'll power through another bunch soon! Catch you later.

1001 Albums Update: 307 and counting!

Long long looooong time since I've given an update on this. I figured having made so much progress since last time I should be more economical with this update, so I'll split the album's I've heard into three categories: yay (stuff I liked), nay (stuff I didn't) and meh (stuff that didn't make much impression).

Yay

• Madonna - Ray Of Light, Music 

Yeah I think it's acceptable to listen to Madonna sometimes, sue me! Well, except for that ill-advised cover of "American Pie" on Music: What were you thinking Madge?

• Biggie Smalls - Ready To Die

Song #1 I've always heard but never put a name to til now: turns out the student bar I lived above at Dalton Ellis played "Juicy" every other week. "Big Poppa" is irresistibly catchy as well.

• Hole - Live Through This, Celebrity Skin 

Sounds like Kurt Cobain had his fingerprints all over Live Through This, but Celebrity Skin proved Courtney Love could write a good record on her own too.

• System of a Down - System of a Down (SoaD tow the line between flat out ace metal and flat out crazy so perfectly)

• Television - Marquee Moon (This was a really good listen, an obvious influence on The Strokes)

• Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes

Song #2 I've always kept hearing without putting a name to: "Blister In The Sun". Terrific, as is the rest of the album, a great ode to teenage frustration.

 

• Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River, Bayou Country ("Bad Moon Rising"! "Proud Mary!" "Good Golly Miss Molly"! This is the good stuff right here.)

• Randy Newman - Sail Away (Well it's not the Toy Story soundtrack, but it's great nonetheless)

• Eminem - The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP

Oh man this takes me right back to my childhood here, I remember when I used to visit my cousin and we'd play his copy of Marshall Mathers and laugh our arses off at the swearing. We were 10 at the time and tracks like "Kill You", "Criminal" and "The Real Slim Shady" just sounded incredible. Eminem never topped that record.

• Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Deja Vu/ Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Ragged Glory/ David Crosby - If Only I Could Remember My Name

I've found myself seriously getting into more of Neil Young's work and that of his collaborators after reading his book Waging Heavy Peace, which is excellent.

Unsurprisingly I enjoyed Neil's contributions to Deja Vu ("Helpless" and "Country Girl"), but I also found myself surprisingly familiar with Graham Nash's "Teach Your Children Well" and "Our House" (and yes it IS that song used on some advert recently, can't think which off the top of my head.)

Crosby's If Only I Could Remember My Name is also great, "Music Is Love" (featuring Young on backing vocals) and "Song With No Words" being my favourites. David was also formerly a member of The Byrds and features on the excellent Fifth Dimension amongst others.

But the undisputed best of the bunch was Ragged Glory, Young & Crazy Horse at their heavy rocking best. Filled with riffs and solos to die for, "F*!#in' Up" and "Love To Burn" being particular highlights.

• De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising ("How high's the water mama?" Anybody who samples Johnny Cash intelligently is alright by me)

• Travis - The Man Who ("Why does it aaaalways raaaaain on meeeeeeee?")

• The Who - The Who Sell Out, Who's Next?

I had the pleasure of listening to my Dad's vinyl of these records while I was home at Christmas. Who's Next? was my favourite, but The Who Sell Out was also excellent - with all the skits between songs ("Radio Lon-doooooon") it felt more like a time capsule than a record.

• The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico (Well I knew I'd love this what with practically half the album being on the Velevet Underground Best Of I have.)

• Pink Floyd - The Wall (Am I getting old? Just like the other Floyd albums on the list I loved this.)

• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz

Another one I've had on Spotify for years and couldn't remember if I'd hear the whole way through. Worth it for "Zero" and "Heads Will Roll" alone. Plus, I only just realised the album cover is of someone breaking an egg in their hand!

• Aretha Franklin - Lady Soul

This was Aretha at her peak right here. "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "Chain Of Fools" ("Chain chain chaaaaaaain", so effortlessly cool), plus her take on Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" (which Springsteen also liberally borrows from these days). Fantastic.

• Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything? (For some reason I had low expectations for this, despite Rundgren having produced several other albums in the book, but I really enjoyed it, the first disc especially)

• Fleetwood Mac - Tusk (A worthy follow up to Rumours, whose colossal success is probably why this album gets overlooked. "Over And Over" is one of my favourites.)

• The Jesus and Mary Chain - Darklands (Considering that my ears were met with pure, unendurable feedback when I gave a Jesus and Mary Chain best of a listen a few years ago, this album is surprisingly melodic.)

• Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle (G-Funk at it's best, an absolute classic)

I also enjoyed (deep breath...)

• Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
• Nas - Illmatic
• Jay Z - The Blueprint 
• Common - Be 
• Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley 
• The Clash -The Clash 
• Motorhead - Ace Of Spades
• Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club 
• Booker T & The M.G's - Green Onions 
• Rush - Moving Pictures 
• Janis Joplin - Pearl  (More music I heard from adverts first! "Mercedes Benz" is a classic)

• Sonic Youth - Sister 
• Wire - Pink Flag 
• The Sonics - Here Are The Sonics 
• Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
• The Doors - LA Woman
• Depeche Mode - Violator, Music For The Masses
• The Police - Regatta De Blanc
• Carole King - Tapestry
• The Mama's & Papas - If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
• The Byrds - Fifth Dimension, The Notorious Byrd Brothers
• The Mekons - Fear and Whiskey 

Nay 

• Captain Beefheart & His Magical Band - Safe As Milk, Trout Mask Replica (Oh good lord these albums just made me ears hurt. The opposite of SoaD - the weirdness of this music really hurt my enjoyment of it.)

• Can - Future Days, Tago Mago/ Neu! - Neu (This is krautrock? How disappointing. My first impressions were "...well where's the rock?")

• Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene

And here's one last example of a song I've heard for years but never been able to name! (skip to 1:43 in the video below). Rather like Tubular Bells this just left me a bit cold.

• Tortoise - Millions Now Living Will Never Die (I can't believe a band called Tortoise would disappoint me so much.)

• Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
• Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician
• Slipknot - Slipknot, All Hope Is Gone

 

Meh

• Van Morrison - Moondance (In fairness this was much more my cup of tea than Astral Weeks)

• Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida: 

Turns out The Simpsons were right, the title track was supposed to be called "In The Garden Of Eden", but lead singer Doug Ingle was so drunk when he wrote it, his bandmates couldn't understand him and wrote the title down phonetically. Shame the album is the very definition of a one track album.

• Queens of the Stone Age - Queens of the Stone Age (Why do QOTSA keep disappointing me? I've heard people effuse with praise for them yet I've only liked a handful of their songs.)

• Tim Buckley - Goodbye and Hello (Jeff's Dad! Who sadly was taken from us before he was 30 too. I think my expectations of this album were too high.) 

• Iron Maiden - Number Of The Beast (Well at least it had "Run To The Hills") 

• Brian Eno - Here Come The Warm Jets, Ambient 1: Music For Airports, Before and After Science (OK, Before and After Science is more "yay" than "meh" really, the thematic split halfway through the album worked really well. But the point is on the whole I've found Eno's work a bit of a let down)

Also not quite doing enough to gain my affections were...

• Sly & The Family Stone - There's A Riot Goin' On
• The Jeff Beck Group - Trust
• Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
• The Grateful Dead - American Beauty
• James Taylor - Sweet Baby James
• Magazine - Real Life
• Gang Of Four - Entertainment
• Killing Joke - Killing Joke
• War - The World is a Ghetto
• Dr. John - Gris Gris
• A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels Through the Paths of Rhythm
• G Love & Special Sauce -  G Love & Special Sauce
• The Bee Gees - Odessa 

Whew, I'll try not to leave it so long between updates next time. See you soon!

My Favourite Albums of 2012 Part 2

Right, let's pick up where we left off shall we? For those who missed part one, you can find it here.

5. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Psychedelic Pill

Psychedelic Pill kicks off with the epic, 28 minute long "Driftin' Back". That sentence alone will probably be enough for you to decide whether this album is for you or not. Personally I love just being absorbed by Neil and the Horse's longer stuff and getting lost in my own world listening to it.

Having written his memoir Waging Heavy Peace, Psychedelic Pill finds Neil in a rather reflective mood.

On "Driftin' Back", he muses over the state of recorded music today ("When you hear my song, You only get five percent. You used to get it all") and how the advent of MP3's has killed sound quality. ("I used to dig Picasso, Then the big tech giant came along and turned him into wallpaper."). As if the point needed hammering home further, the title track which follows features particularly harsh production making it sound like your speakers have turned to cloth when Neil sings (the alternative version at the album's end is a God-send.)

"Ramada Inn" explores how love can last after routine sets in (and seems to be in reference to his wife and disabled son), while album closer "Walk Like A Giant" mulls over the ravages of time and how fickle his generation were in their drive for change("Me and some of my friends, We we gonna save the world... But then the weather changed").

A ragged, stunning piece of work.

4. Cat Power - Sun

2012 was a bit of a mixed year for Chan Marshall, A.K.A. Cat Power, to say the least. Coping with turning 40, splitting from her long term boyfriend and then having to see him marry Agyness Dean, and cancelling tour dates due to her ill health. Although she now seems in good spirits thankfully, certainly she feels well enough to lampoon herself on Funny Or Die:

Kids Songs With Cat Power from Cat Power      

She also made herself bankrupt funding the making of Sun, a move which should hopefully pay off in the long run financially (it was her label Matador's first record to debut inside the Billboard Top 10) and at the very least has resoundingly paid off musically. 

Lead single "Ruin" is a lively affair with driving keys and drums, bemoaning materialism, while opener "Cherokee uses the same devices to illicit a more haunting and affecting sound ("If I die before my time, Bury me upside down"). The production on the whole is pretty uncharacteristic of her previous chanteuse-ish reputation and as mentioned above some songs have much more pace than her previous work, but her vocals are still those of a woman laid emotionally bare, "Manhattan" is a particular triumph in this regard.

Hopefully the catharsis of this record will help Chan move forward.

3. Beach House - Bloom

More dream pop excellence from Baltimore-based Beach House. The pair are the kind of band you always kind of expect to find in the shadows, and that mystique is maintained on this, their fourth record. From the echoey riffs of Alex Scally's guitar to the lofty vocals of Victoria Legrand, the hallmarks of the bands sound which they'd excelled in using on previous effort Teen Dream are all here on a record that is undoubtedly more of an evolution than a revolution. But as the old adage goes "If it ain't broke...".

The opening half of the record in particular is a terrific atmospheric experience, as one song gently follows on from the previous one and the care and attention put into the songs becomes evident. The wistfulness of "Lazuli" and "Other People" are to die for, while the likes of "Wild" come close to matching previous revelatory moments such as "Ten Mile Stereo".

It's still difficult to not get misty-eyed when listening to a Beach House record, and this album is certainly an example of "more of the same" doing no harm.

2. Richard Hawley - Standing At The Sky's Edge

I think this will now make it my third entry where I gush over this album and Richard Hawley, but the only time I'll stop gushing over Richard is when he stops being excellent and I don't anticipate that happening any time soon.

Having said that, Standing At The Sky's Edge will have undoubtedly caused some alienation amongst those that love him for him crooning, nostalgic romanticism. The album is much heavier than previous efforts. 

The crashing drums of "She Brings The Sunlight", the big riffs of "Down In The Woods" and "Leave Your Body Behind You" and the bleak subject matter of the title track (taking the perspective of several people in harsh circumstances in the titular area of Sheffield Sky Edge) are all enveloped in production that ranges from psychedelica to shoegaze and gives the album a much darker tone.

The record is undoubtedly, by Richard's own admission, his angry record, written mostly in light of his differences of opinion with our current Government. But Hawley finds time to be gentle, and dare I say it at times frisky, too. "Don't Stare At The Sun" is a lovely little ditty about riding kites with his son, with Richard's voice as touching as it was on the heights of Cole's Corner. "Seek It" also finds Hawley keen to show affection, "you won't find another's eyes so blinded by love" he croons.

You also get the best of both worlds in brilliant closer "Before", with Hawley's voice virtually segregated from the dramatic guitars so that it has space to shine. A marvellous record. 

1. Chromatics - Kill For Love

As much as I love Richard (and his album was my favourite of the year for so long), this is undoubtedly the record I've spent the most time this year obsessing over.

Despite having losing out to Cliff Martinez in the running to compose the soundtrack to 2011's brutal indie film hit Drive, 2012 still managed to be a high watermark year for Chromatics head honcho Johnny Jewel. "Tick Of The Clock", a track from the band's 2007 album Night Drive which wound up featured in Drive, continued to give the band some exposure via its appearance in HTC's ad-campaigns this year. In addition, Jewel's continued obsession with music in film despite missing out on the Drive gig eventually led to the creation of Kill For Love, an absolute masterpiece.

Although the band are primarily one of the leading lights in the Italo-disco revival, the scale of ambition on this record has generated a veritable Smorgasbord of electronic music that is sure to cater to all tastes. Subtly reworked classics (their excellent cover of Neil Young's "Into The Black"). The throbbing, pulsing synth-pop of the title track. The hazy balladeering of "The River" (lead singer Ruth Radelet absolutely shines on all of these tracks). The moving ambient sequence of "These Streets Will Never Look the Same" and "Broken Mirrors". All are prime examples of how large a catchment area the album possesses with respect to the ways in which electronic music can move you (figuratively and literally). 

Most importantly despite this variety, the different tracks never sound disparate and the album very much stands as one you get the most joy from listening as a whole. From start to finish, the experience you feel listening to this record is, well, cinematic. You feel songs are placed at certain points in the album because of how they fit the narrative as much as how they fit in sonically. If "Into The Black" were the pre-credits introduction and "Kill For Love" the opening credits, then "Back From The Grave" would be the first plot point.

In addition to being a band of stunning artistry, they are also a band of stunning generosity. On Jewel's Soundcloud page not only will you find a stream of the album in full (which you can listen to below, or here if the embedding messes up), but also a download for outtakes from the album's sessions, and he's also made a drumless version of 11 of the albums tracks available here.

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So there you have it. It turned out to be a pretty cracking year for music. Here's to 2013, and Merry Christmas!

My Favourite Albums of 2012 Part 1

I wasn't particularly optimistic at the start of the year, but 2012 has turned out to be quite a good year for new music. In fact I don't think I've heard and liked so much new music in one year since Spotify launched and changed my listening habits forever.

It was quite difficult to pick out which albums from this year have been my favourites, but I think I've finally narrowed things down. Note the distinction: favourites. I don't necessarily think these are the absolute, definitive, ten best albums from this year, just the ones I've enjoyed most.

Before we get to it, a few honourable mentions for albums that just fell short:

Wild Nothing - Nocturne: These guys sound like a band that've listened to a lot of New Order, gloomy baselines ahoy!
Grizzly Bear - Shields: The likes of "Yet Again" and "Sun In Your Eyes" are just irresistible.
Jack White - Blunderbuss: Possibly the most consistent record White has ever made.

So, onto numbers 10 to 6...

10. Jessie Ware - Devotion

Even more so than usual it seemed pop was a dirty word in 2012: a word which tarred you with the same brush as chart dross like Tulisa, Bieber and Wand Erection... sorry I mean One Direction. But if anyone proved pop shouldn't be a bad word this year, it was Jessie Ware.

A true class act in every sense of the word, this year saw the former Jack Penate and SBTRKT cohort step into the limelight with a smooth, thoroughly modern album mixing smooth RnB, heartfelt soul and lo-fi electronica. Her voice is undoubtedly the star on this record. Though not a woman without ambition (as she divulged in an interview with The Fly, "why do you think I wrote a song called Running in an Olympic year?"), the restraint she shows on songs such as the delightful "Night Light" as far as when here vocals should veer from ethereal to powerful is truly masterful.

Blows the pop "music" this other bird called Jessie makes right out of the water.

 

 9. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange

Before the release of Channel Orange, the album, or more specifically its creator Frank Ocean, was making headlines around the world. Frank posted an extract from the album's sleeve notes on his Tumblr page and in the process came out as a gay man. It was a brave decision for a man who walked in circles which are often deemed macho-ist and at worst misogynist. That same bravery is reflected in this record and results in the record living up to the maelstrom of expectation Frank's open letter on his sexuality created.

Ocean delivers sugar sweet Stevie Wonder soul on ballads such as "Thinkin' 'Bout You" and "Forrest Gump", fuses modern day electro-funk and classic Prince on the likes of album centrepiece "Pyramids", and features top guest-spots from Earl Sweatshirt ("Super Rich Kids") and Andre 3000 ("Pink Matter").
As if there were any doubt Ocean was going to take off big time this year, he would give a star-making performance of "Bad Religion" on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and take the song's tale of love unrequited to even further heights.
An album we'll be talking about for years to come.

8. Alt-J - An Awesome Wave

Take four nerds from Leeds who uproot to Cambridge, add in obsessions with Luc Besson, Sergio Leone and Maurice Sendak, sprinkle smidgens of folk, Massive Attack style trip-hop, artsy keys and smart riffs and what do you get? This year's Mercury Prize winners, and a lo-fi indie delight.

With the appreciation of space of The XX but without the starkness, the occasional menace of James Blake without the occasional ear-piercing lack of comfort and the inventiveness of Wild Beasts but with added innocence ("Tessellate" is my new favourite euphemism), An Awesome Wave's diverse influences come together as an impressive whole. This album is far more approachable than its oddball mix of genres and approaches would suggest, and the bright and breezy (no pun intended) likes of "Something Good" will sneak up on you and stay in your head for weeks.

7. First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar

I hadn't realised that Sweden had such a rich history in folk music until I read Little Star by John Ajvide Lindqvist. It's not a genre I'd necessarily have associated with Scandinavia, and yet in a crowded year for the genre Stockholm sisters Johanna and Klara Soderberg - better known as First Aid Kit - produced an album that soared above the competition.

With the Mumford-driven folk explosion, a lot of fuss had been made over authenticity within the genre, or rather the lack of it due to people attempting twee for the sake of it being in vogue. The Lion's Roar immediately dispels any such questions about First Aid Kit. Right from the opening title track the sisters really excel with their rich vocals which have the strength of character such that the songs become all that more tangible. The relative bleakness of the lyrics ("Oh the bitter winds are coming in, and I'm already missing the summer.") are balanced out by the warmth of the melodies, tender guitar play and the sun-kissed production.

Oh, and just to add to their credentials, Conor bloomin' Oberst turns up on album closer "King Of The World". An inspired second album.

6. Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball

Springsteen is a man who prides himself on being a musician who documents "the distance between the American dream and American reality". Bruce can certainly consider Wrecking Ball as being "mission accomplished" in that regard: an album which is very much reflective of the climate we are in today and is probably Bruce's most relevant and pertinent record since The Rising.

Taking inspiration from another great American story teller, Woody Guthrie, and the rebellious nature of Irish folk (most obviously evident on "Death To My Hometown"), Wrecking Ball is in essence a protest record reflecting Bruce's anger at those few that frittered away the money of the many in the Wall Street collapse and who still have not been made accountable for their actions. "Gamblin' man rolls the dice, workin' man pays the bills" ("Shackled And Drawn"), "Send the robber barons straight to hell" ("Death To My Hometown"), "If I had me a gun I'd find the bastards and shoot 'em on sight" ("Jack Of All Trades"): safe to say, the bankers don't come off in a very good light in this album!

It would perhaps veer towards being a bit one-note, however the album is counter-balanced by a resilience of the characters in the songs despite the hard times. The title track, originally written to commemorate the now demolished Giants Stadium, is a perfect statement of defiance: "We know that come tomorrow, None of this will be here. So hold tight to your anger... And don’t fall to your fear". 

Closing tracks "Land Of Hope And Dreams" (an old E-Street standard dating from their first reunion in 1999, and featuring the dearly missed Clarence Clemons on saxophone) and "We Are Alive" (which lifts elements of Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire") even find resilience in death: in the former by taking solace in the fact that your suffering in this life will be redeemed in the next, and in the latter rallying those passed on "to carry the fire and light the spark" and assuring them of their legacy ("It's only our bodies that betray us in the end").

Proof that even at 63, an angry Bruce can still muster one heck of a fight.

1001 Albums Week 3: 222 and counting

Again, slightly behind when it comes to putting this in blog form, but I'm now over a fifth of the way there! Here's what I've been listening to in my third week.

•  Sepultura - Arise (Not these guys again! If there was such a thing as meat & potatoes metal these guys would be it)
• Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain , Slanted & Enchanted

Much smarter than their slacker rock reputation would indicate, Pavement were a real treat. Slanted & Enchanted is a terrific debut, but they surpassed it with Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. "Cut Your Hair", "Gold Sounds" and "5-4 = Unity" all being fantastic.

• Dinosaur Jr. - Bug, You're Living All Over Me

Predecessor You're Living All Over Me may not have made much impression, but 1988's Bug is just a perfect mesh of guitars that change from scuzzy riffs to heavenly hooks in a moment, and great vocals from J Macsis. "Pond Song" and "Freak Scene" in particular are sublime.

• Kraftwerk - The Man Machine

Great album, and another one of those where, upon listening to it, its influence on some of my favourite music is obvious. For example, I'm willing to bet James Murphy was listening to opener "The Robots" a fair bit when he came up with LCD Soundsystem's "Get Innocuous!"

• Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Califonication (I understand this is supposed to be the better record, but having grown up with By The Way I have to say I still prefer that.)

• Jane's Addiction - Nothing Shocking, Ritual De Lo Habitual

Their albums sleeves may be the definition of NSFW, but I found these two albums surprisingly to my taste. Nothing Shocking was the best, featuring the likes of "Mountain Song", while Ritual De Lo Habitual ran it pretty close, with "Caught Stealing" a particular highlight.

• The Doors - Morrison Hotel (The Doors never got dreamier than this, "Waiting For The Sun" in particular is just a delight to hear.)
• The Cure - Seventeen Seconds (Bit of a strange choice to put on the list when The Cure would go on to better this album many times over)
• X - Wild Gift (Seen these guys live supporting Pearl Jam. Nice bit of post-Ramones speed-punk)
• Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion (Really cool album, but stare at the sleeve for too long and your eyes will hurt!)

• Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel, Peter Gabriel 3

Am I getting old? How is it that I'm liking so much of Peter Gabriel's stuff!? In particular I loved "No Self Control" and "Game Without Frontiers" from Peter Gabriel 3, but for me Peter Gabriel is unquestionably my favourite. Not only does it have  the sublime "Solsbury Hill", but with the entire B-Side, from "Slowburn" to "Here Comes The Flood", I found myself being more consistently entertained that I ever thought I could be by a Peter Gabriel record!
I don't know why I've have this stigma with him. Guy Garvey loves him so maybe that should have sent me some warning signs that his work had more merit to it than I thought.

• The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses  

I want to hate The Stone Roses so much, but there's no denying there's some fantastic stuff here, the closing sequence from "Made Of Stone" to "I Am The Resurrection" being sublime.

• Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield Again (This was a real treat to find as a Neil Young fan. Cracking album)

• New Order - Low Life

Yet more New Order I wasn't familiar with? Crikey what's wrong with me? I enjoyed this even more than Technique, and I've now made it part of my record collection. In particular I loved the sequence of "Elegia", "Sooner Than You Think" and "Sub-Culture" on the B-side, each song bleeds into the other so elegantly you'd be forgiven they were part of one big song at times.

• Paul McCartney - McCartney (Can't quite top Band On The Run for his best post Beatles album, but this has plenty to offer, including "Maybe I'm Amazed")
• John Lennon - Imagine (Speaking of post- Beatles albums by a Beatle, here's possibly the best of the bunch.)
• Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left (Years of listening to Guy Garvey's radio show has made me more familiar with this guy than I thought. Sheer acoustic bliss.)

• Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man, Songs Of Leonard Cohen

These two albums are definitely good cop/bad cop. I'm Your Man is definitely the bad cop, the production is almost unbearably dated, virtually ruining classics like "First We Take Manhattan". Songs Of Leonard Cohen, however, is just pure gold. It's unlikely I'll come across such an assured debut album for some time, "Suzanne" and "Teachers" being particular favourites.

• Steely Dan - Aja, Can't Buy A Thrill, Countdown To Ecstacy, Pretzel Logic/Donald Fagen - The Nightfly 

Other than Fagen's solo album I was really impressed with this stuff, Can't Buy A Thrill being my favourite. Was just expecting ANother band of troubadours but found them to be more interesting than that.

• Miles Davis - In A Silent Way (definitely my new favourite Miles record)
• Herbie Hancock - Headhunters (Something tells me Beck sampled one of the songs from here. Very innovative jazz record right here)
• David Bowie - Heroes (OK this is now my favourite of the Berlin trilogy, running Station To Station close for my favourite Bowie record too)

• Iggy Pop - The Idiot

Producer David Bowie's fingerprints run all over this album, made in Berlin during his Low/Lodger/"Heroes" period. Much of the success of this album is down to Iggy's charisma and unorthodox, almost spoken-word vocals, which give a fresh enough take on Bowie's excellent production to really differentiate it from anything either of them had done before.

Again, you can see how the likes of "NIghtclubbing" influenced LCD Soundsystem on "Somebody's Calling Me" (boy, James' attorneys really shouldn't read this!)

• Moby - Play (So many great childhood memories listening to this album)
• Fever Ray - Seven (Another of those albums I've had on a Spotify playlist for ages but couldn't remember if I'd heard the whole way through. Suitably freaky electro-noise from an alumnus of The Knife)
• Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman (Worth it for "Fast Car" and "Baby Can I Hold You" alone. Such a tremendous voice.)
• Terence Trent D'Arby - Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'Arby 

 Surprised to see this guy on the list, since he's basically just the answer to some obscure question in pub quizzes now. Turns out he did that song "Sign Your Name".

• Don McLean - American Pie (Not quite the one track album I was expecting. "Vincent" may sound familiar to you if you heard it. "Starry starry night...")
• Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow (I was expecting  just another post-Byrds/ Beach Boys guitar band, I wasn't expecting this to be the band behind "Somebody To Love"!)

 

• Van Morrison - Astral Weeks (Sounds like Mick Jagger trying sub-standard bluegrass. Not a good first impression for Mr. Morrison)

• Eric Clapton - 461 Ocean Boulevard/ John Mayall's Bluesbreakers w/ Eric Clapton/ Cream - Disraeli Gears

Another example of what I'm now calling "the Radiohead effect": the further back in time I go, the more I like Clapton's stuff. 461 Ocean Boulevard was slightly disappointing and a bit hammy for me. His album with John Mayall was rather good, but best of the bunch was Disraeli Gears. Fantastic riffs throughout.

Other corkers I've heard which I found very much deserving of their place on the list are:

• The Who - My Generation
• Royksopp - Melody A.M.
• Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
• Boston - Boston ("More than a feeeeeeeeeeliiiiiiiiiiiiiin'")
• Bad Company - Bad Co.
• Patti Smith - Horses
• Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory
• Beck - Odelay

...while these albums that didn't make much impression on me either way were:

• Jethro Tull - Aqualung
• Slint - Spiderland
• John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
• Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laugh
• Siouxsie & The Banshees - Juju
• Stephen Stills - Stephen Stills 
• DJ Shadow - Endtroducing...
• Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms 
• Def Leppard - Hysteria
• Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove
• Fugazi - Repeater 
• Jamiroquai - Emergency On Planet Earth ("Do do do deeeeew do do dooo do do duuuuh")

Still got more to come, but lately I've been listening to Neil Young's latest album, "Psychedelic Pill" on repeat, so I've been going slower than usual. Come to think of it, next time out I'll probably talk favourite albums of the year. So hopefully see you then!