1001 Albums Update: 657 and counting

Right, I've been rather slow lately. I played through everything in this entry before Christmas, and I've not been listening to anything else on the list since then so that I don't have a huge backlog of albums to write up. So I'd best get a move on with this!

Before I do though, I noticed a new 2013 edition of the "1001 Albums to Hear Before You Die" book came out. Flicking through it, it seemed like there were a lot of new additions I really approved of - The Next Day by David Bowie and Channel Orange by Frank Ocean amongst them. I've not had chance to find out which albums from the old edition they replaced.

But just to clarify, for the purposes of this blog I have been using, and will continue to use, the 2011 edition of the book.
Right, away we go!

• The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers: I think this rounds off all the Stones' albums on the list, and what a way to go. A big bluesy riot featuring "Brown Sugar" with it's irresistible riff (and totally non-pc subject matter) and possibly their best ballad in "Wild Horses". Also famous for THAT album sleeve that came with an actual zipper when it was first released.

• Chicago - Chicago Transit Authority: Not for nothing, but I was just expecting a set of straight-up Creedance imitations, but I was quite surprised to find this record dominated by brass and piano sounds initially, before all the guitars took over as expected. The star attraction was "I'm A Man", which featured in that VW Polo ad with the singing dog that eventually got banned.

• Traffic - John Barleycorn Must Die: Much like Chicago, a lot more keys and soul-style arrangements than I expected. Not to mention a welcome big of sax on "Freedom Rider".

• Dusty Springfield - Dusty In Memphis: I've already waxed lyrical about my love for Dusty in my previous entry, and this album saw her sky-rocketed to success and people's heart through the single "Son Of A Preacher Man".

• Blood Sweat & Tears - Blood Sweat & Tears: Did not expect this group to be responsible for the song below - have a listen and I'm almost certain you'll recognise it.

• The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Guilded Palace Of Sin: Great mix of Byrds-esque guitar play and more traditional country vocals.

• Leonard Cohen - Songs From A Room: Yet again Cohen dazzles me thanks to the primary weapons in his arsenal - his way with words and that low, cathartic voice. "Bird On A Wire" is hands down my favourite song he's ever written.

• The Kinks - Something Else By The Kinks, Arthur - Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire, The Village Green Preservation Society

No doubt it's down to the fact that the latter were concept albums before the concept album was cool, I found fewer gems amongst these albums that I was expecting. Although that's not to say there aren't any; "David Watts" and the sublime "Waterloo Sunset" from Something Else, "Shangri-la" and the infectious "Victoria" from Arthur and the daft charms of "People Take Pictures Of Each Other" from Village Green... are all classics.

• The White Stripes - White Blood Cells: This is a little more what I'd expect out of a White Stripes record. I usually find Jack White's guitar play a bit variable and some things he tries don't really come off, but the likes of "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" and "Fell In Love With A Girl" are much more to my tastes that what I'd heard before.

• Ash - 1977: 

Ash really were living the dream on this record - at the time just a bunch of teenagers playing like they're just jamming in their garage that found tremendous success with this record. There's a lot of influence from the likes of Dinosaur Jr. in the way the vocals and guitar play work out, but the band put enough of a twist on it with their youthful exuberance and very of-the-time sample/production like on the naive "Kung Fu".
As far as opening salvos go, the trio of "Lose Control", "Goldfinger" and "Girl From Mars" are about as good as they come.

• Doves - Lost Souls: 

Most of my fond memories come from the likes of "Pounding" and "Black And White Town", and also seeing a clip of them at Glastonbury and being amused to hear Jimi Goodwin talked just like he sang; "Fuck this weather man!", he chided as if he were still singing that bit in "Black And White Town" where he goes "you better watch you don't crack your head on a pavement, it's a dangerous place man!"
Certainly "Catch The Sun" quenched my thirst for that side of the band. However, what I took away most from the record were how brilliant the band were doing genteel, more melancholy songs like "Sea Song" and the undisputed highlight of the album, "The Cedar Room". That song... just does something to me. Something just comes over me when I hear it. The chorus especially is one of the most powerful things I've come across in years.

• Belle & Sebastian - Tigermilk: Unbelievably this was the band's final year project when they were studying music business at university. Such a warm, homely, lovely record.

• Super Furry Animals - Rings Around The World: I have a lot of time for Gruff Rhys' kooky voice, especially on this record with the rest of his band on their best form.

• Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain: Mildy disappointed with this I have to say, much preferred Goldfrapp when they were in their sultry "Ooh La La" phase. This album was a tad too slight for me.

• Nico - Chelsea Girl: Surprised to see Nico made such a strong record away from The Velvet Underground, "The Fairest Of The Seasons" and "These Days" in particular were great.

• Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited: Another classic, most famous for the tracks that bookend the album, "Like A Rolling Stone" and "Desolation Row", probably two of the all time high points in his career lyrically (and let's face it, he had a load of them!).

• Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends: Speaking of bookends, another bit of magic from Simon & Garfunkel. This was the album they probably had their best chemistry on, before tensions between the two change the tone of their music slightly on Bridge Over Troubled Water. Most famous for the single "Mrs Robinson", and yes, she will seduce you!

• Pixies - Doolittle, Surfer Rosa: 

Here we have one of the most influential alternative rock groups of the past several decades rearing their heads again. With the likes of "Debaser" ("Got me a mooovie I want you to KNOOOOW"), "Here Comes Your Man" and "Monkey Gone To Heaven", Doolittle was definitely their finest hour for me. The foundations of what made the album work so well - the brevity of the songs, like short bursts of mayhem, Black Francis' unorthodox vocals, the tight guitar play and the satisfying snap of the drums - were all present and correct on predecessor Surfer Rosa too, although they didn't quite reach the same heights on that record.

• The Monkees - Headquarters

[Marge gets on the bus for her first day of school, carrying lunchbox with The Monkees on it]

Girl: Eww! You like The Monkees? You know they don't write their own songs.

Marge: They do so!

Girl: They don't even play their own instruments.

Marge: No! No!

Girl: That's not even Michael Nesmith's real hat.

Marge: Agggghhhh!!!

 

Marge's therapist then claimed The Monkees weren't about the music, but I'd dispute that hearing this album. Whoever wrote "Forget That Girl" and "I Can't Get Her Off My Mind" for the group sure knew what they were doing.

• Merle Haggard & The Strangers - I'm A Lonesome Fugitive: Hardly surprised to find country with such a great mix of wit and directness from a man who was inspired by seeing Johnny Cash playing San Quentin. I wish more ex-convicts contributed such excellence to society.

• The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat: A very experimental addition to, let's face it, what was a very experimental canon of music from the late great Lou Reed. Countless people from Bowie to James Murphy have tried to borrow from the unequivocal cool of the title track, and none have been able to match it.

Other enjoyable listens came from

• The Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East
• Astrud Gilberto - Beach Samba
• Scott Walker - Scott 2
• Deep Purple - In Rock

 On the other hand, not making much impression were

• Os Mutantes - Os Mutantes
• Laura Nyro - Eli & The Thirteenth Confession
• Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum
• Alexander Spencer - Oar
• Spirit - Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus
• Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails
• The Beau Brummels - Triangle 

So that's you're lot this time around.

My Favourite Albums of 2013: Part Two

Right then, let's crack on. For those of you who missed part one, click on this.

Before finishing off my run down of my favourite albums of the year, I thought I'd highlight some of my favourite individual songs from the year. Obviously lots of my favourites are going to have come from the albums I've already listed, so I thought I'd talk about songs from albums that didn't quite click with me from the most part.

Honourable Mentions (tracks)

• James Blake: Retrograde: Usually Blake's songs just make my ears hurt, but this track stands head and shoulders above his previous work and wisely puts his great voice at centre stage instead of any techno-garbage.

• !!!(Chk Chk Chk) - "One Boy/One Girl": Unbelievably likeable, catchy and groovy number by DFA cohorts Chk Chk Chk - guitars like that were just made to dance to.

• Mazzy Star - "California": 17 years away doesn't seem to have dulled Mazzy Star's capabilities when it comes to creating works of haunting beauty that'll still tug on your heartstrings long after the closing chords. Sensational.

• Queens of the Stone Age - "My God Is The Sun": Just in case you needed convincing QOTSA meant business for their comeback this year, all you had to do was listen to the opening ten seconds of this absolute monster. That opening riff alone should be enough to put hairs on your chest.

• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Sacrilege", "Despair": Karen O and company returned a little more to their lo-fi roots on this year's Mosquito album, and produced two gems in particular. "Despair" echoes  "Maps"(everybody's favourite entry-point on Rock Band), while lead single "Sacrilege", with its gospel finale, features one of the most potent climaxes to a song all year.

Now, time to round of my favourite albums this year.

5. Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer Different Park

Remember how I said Haim's album never failed to put a smile on my face? Well this album never failed to put a massive shit-eating grin on my face.
One of the leading lights of a new wave of feminist country along with the likes of Lindi Ortega and the Pistol Annies, the tone of Kacey's songs, particularly the wit and warmth of her lyrics, recall a young Brad Paisley, and show she's not afraid to rock the boat in a very conservative genre. The wordplay on the likes of "Merry Go Round" ("Brother's hooked on Mary Jane, and Daddy's hooked on Mary two doors down") and on stand out track "Follow Your Arrow" ("If you save yourself for marriage you're a bore; You don't save yourself for marriage you're a hor....riable person") always raise titters of delight from this listener.
Incidentally, Musgraves was involved in writing several songs for the hit ABC show Nashville, so it's no surprise that show had some solid material.

A real joy to listen to.

Download: "Silver Lining", "Merry Go Round", "Follow Your Arrow"

4. Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady

Ever since "Sgt. Peppers..." loads of artists have strived to pull off the much vaunted "concept album". Few pull it off and it seems R'n'B has particular trouble making the concept work. However, I was delighted to come across Janelle Monae's The Archandroid album upon its release in 2010. Its follow-up, The Electric Lady, is equally immersive and excellent.
Just like its predecessor, the album follows the exploits of android Cindi Mayweather, a somewhat Pinnochio-type figure in a dystopian future. More importantly (and also just like its predecessor) the album is chock full of fabulous, fully-fledged pop tunes (something lots of concept albums are severely lacking in) such as the infectious "Dance Apocalyptica" and "Ghetto Woman".
There are also several winning cameos - from Prince(!) causally being Prince on "Give Em What They Love" and Erykah Badu fitting the sassy "Q.U.E.E.N." like a glove to Solange somehow making the title track even more addictive ("Ele-le-le-lel-le-le-lectric") and Miguel shining on the sultry "Primetime".
Bursting with ideas, Monae's brand of R'n'B will hopefully keep the genre moving forward even past her alter-ego's time.

Download: "Dance Apocolyptica", "Primetime", "Q.U.E.E.N."

3. MONEY - The Shadow Of Heaven

I wasn't particularly aware that Manchester was in need of it's own Connor Oberst, but we may have found him anyway in Jamie Lee of MONEY, and bloody excellent he is too.
Naturally with a title like The Shadow of Heaven, the album is incredibly hymnal and atmospheric. Everything feels grand, important and graceful, as Lee's voice soars majestically on "Who's Going To Love You Now" and the tropical-tinged guitars on the likes of "So Long (God Is Dead)" echo Wild Beasts, while both often come together gloriously and especially on "Bluebell Fields".
For me though, the piano-led balladary of "Goodnight London" and "Black" are really where the album comes into its own, as the poetic lyrics of Lee really come to the forefront. "She had to turn the lights off to look me in the eyes" from the former always has my ears burning, but its more the flow of the lyrics and the journey they send the songs on rather than particular choices of words that stands out for me, and puts the band up there as one of the most compelling acts to come out of Manchester in quite some time.

Download: "Who's Going To Love You Now", "Goodnight London", "Black"

2. The National - Trouble Will Find Me

At this stage of their career, quality is virtually guaranteed when it comes to The National, and indeed Trouble Will Find Me finds the band maintaining their stellar tack record as the kings of the US independent scene.
Their previous record, 2010's High Violet (my favourite album of that year) showed that the band had found a winning formula for success - intricate and often moving arrangements played with assurance by the brothers Devendorf and Dessner, all built upon by the outstanding imagery of Matt Berninger, who sings like someone poked Leonard Cohen up the arse with a hot iron.
While Trouble Will Find Me doesn't deviate too much from that formula, the band are hardly resting on their laurels either. Take the album's centrepiece, "Sea Of Love", a colossus of pent up drive, urgency and desperation that swells and swells until its fit to burst at its climax ("I SEE YOU RUSHING NOW, tell me how to reach you").
Another high point is the off-kilter "Pink Rabbits", which recalls career high point "Fake Empire" with its unusual time signature and wistfulness, littered with great lines from Berninger - "You were staring down the street 'cause you were trying not to cry", "Somebody said you disappeared in a crowd, I didn't understand then, I don't understand now". Although, unsurprisingly, the lyrics delight across the whole album - "I have only two emotions, careful fear and dead devotion" from "Don't Swallow The Cap" being a personal favourite, although "Heavenfaced"'s playfulness with words showing echoes of "Ada" from Boxer is also adorable.
Once again though it's the consistency of the group that puts this album up there with the best of their career, and there's something in every song that illustrates how the band have become masters of measuring out their sound and making you truly invest in what's going on. On this form I could listen to the band for an eternity.

Download: "Sea Of Love", "Pink Rabbits", "This Is The Last Time"

1. David Bowie - The Next Day

So here we are. My favourite album from this year, and I'm sure some of you are hardly surprised given my Bowie fandom and the heaps of praise this album has received throughout the year. But at the end of last year, the existence of this album would have been inconceivable to many.
All had been quiet from camp Bowie ever since emergency heart surgery cut short  his Reality world tour many years ago, and it was widely assumed in the media that his reclusion from stardom was because he was ill and essentially dying from his heart complications. Oh, (you pretty things!) how easily fooled we were.

On January 8th 2013 - Bowie's 66th birthday - came the release of "Where Are We Now?", the announcement that an album, The Next Day, would follow in March, and the sound of jaws hitting the floor across the globe. Luck just kissed me hello, and ever since that moment, no other album has occupied my attention quite like this one.

Initially I was sceptical. To be honest I thought the artwork was complete tosh, and "Where Are We Now?" sounded a bit tired, although it was a nice enough ode to Bowie's former life in Berlin ("a man lost in time"). But when I heard the album in full for the first time, my lips cut a smile on my face and everything started to come together. Incidentally, I now think the album artwork is pretty darn clever - a study of how your past is inescapable when it comes to people's impressions of you, even if you're David Bowie!

From the opening title track, it was clear David was in full swing, and throughout the record he gets to show off his range as an artist. The filthy Tom Waits brass of "Dirty Boys". The cheery exterior of "You Feel So Lonely You Could Die" hiding the seething tone of the lyrics. The pure pleasure of "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" reaching its chorus. The satisfying swing of "Dancing Out In Space". I don't think I could ever put into words adequately how good it feels not just to hear David again, but to hear David sound so good at this stage of his life.

Guitars either crunch with vitality ("Valentine's Day", the title track) or jangle pleasingly ("I'd Rather Be High"). Extensive listening through headphones has brought to my attention how badass so many of the basslines sound, especially "Boss Of Me" and "If You Can See Me".
Words and phrases jump out at you like quirks of personality - "Girl you move like water, you've got stars upon your head" ("Dancing Out In Space"), "They know God exists for the Devil told them so" (the title track), "I'll burn all your books and the problems they make" ("If You Can See Me"), "Would you still love me if the clocks could go backwards?" ("How Does The Grass Grow?"). Synth and keys skitter about in excelsis ("If You Can See Me", "Love Is Lost").

Oh, if only I could find out what that man puts in his breakfast to make himself so great. Alas, I'll never know the real story, just a couple of dreams. And this is the kind of record dreams are made of.

Download: "Valentine's Day", "I'd Rather Be High", "How Does The Grass Grow?"

Anyway, "It's time we should be going". I hope you've enjoyed looking back with me and enjoy the holidays. See you soon.

My Favourite Albums of 2013: Part One

Hey guys. So seeing as we're on the verge of 2014, we're now well into "List Season" where everyone decides what they enjoyed about 2013 the most. Guess what that means? That's right, it's time for the least relevant list of them all, as I run down my favourite albums of the year! As per usual I'll stress the word "favourite" - I'm not saying this is a definitive list of the 10 best albums you'll hear this year, just the ones that gave me the most pleasure personally. (Oi, stop giggling at the back!)

This year was an absolutely ridiculous one for new releases, as artists who hadn't released anything in donkey's year decided to crawl out of the woodwork and deliver some cracking stuff (which we'll get to later). I probably could have done a top 20 of the year because there was so much stuff but not even I'm pretentious enough to believe anyone's that arsed about my opinion, nore could I be arsed to put all those albums into order, so I've stuck with giving a handful of honourable mentions as usual.

Honourable Mentions

• John Murry - The Graceless Age: I'll admit, I've only just stumbled upon this thanks to The Guardian's end of year list. Boy am I glad I did. Here was me thinking Mazzy Star made the most beautiful song called "California" this year - along comes Murry's track of the same name to blow me out of the water! So heartfelt  and marvellous.

• Follakzoid - II: I dunno what they're smoking in Chile but it must be good shit lemme tell you. Grooves that are the very definition of earworms litter this album. A psychedelic treat. (and a bargain too at $7/roughly £4)

• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away: Equal parts menacing, brooding, poignant and beautiful, Cave shows there's life after Mick Harvey with a stripped back delight.

• Jagwar Ma - Howlin: The trippy-indie scene really took off in Australia post Tame Impala's Lonerism, and Jagwar Ma really rode the crest of that scene with highly danceable numbers like "Come And Save Me" and "The Throw".

• Arcade Fire - Reflektor: The jury's still out on whether this record fully lived up to its potential, but there's no denying that it's littered with touches of class. The way the guitars and drums breakdown in "Here Comes The Night Time", the way the synths and strings work together on "We Exist", the saxophone and David Bowie cameo on the title track ("Thought you were praying to the resurrector...") are all fantastic, but "Normal Person" is the high point for me.

10. Kurt Vile - Waking On A Pretty Daze

Right, onto my actual top ten now, and first up is Philadelphia's Kurt Vile. Equal parts Neil Young and Lou Reed, Vile's natural knack for melody and sustaining hypnotic, breezy sounds ("Wakin On A Pretty Day") are matched by his ear for a nice, crunchy riff ("KV Crimes", "Snowflakes Are Dancing"). With the two styles brought together, WOAPD is probably the most effortless sounding album of the year (most noticeable on the aptly titled "Too Hard"): listening gives you a sense Kurt and his band, The Violators, went into a world of their own and got lost there, and as the record merrily skips along it lures you there too. A terrific, infectious listen.


Download: "Wakin On A Pretty Day", "Snowflakes Are Dancing", "Air Bud"

9. California X - California X

Despite the name, California X actually hail from Amherst, Massechusetts, which also happens to be the hometown of Dinosaur Jr. This inevitably led to the former being compared to the latter (that and the fact that like J Mascis' crew, the band play loud. REALLY loud), a comparison not unwarranted. However, California X by no means stand in Dino's shadow.
This is just a flat out, air-punchingly good, good old fashion rock record. Big, heavy, grungy guitars are prevalent throughout, opener "Sucker" being a prime example, as the opening riffs ascend into a truly awesome head-banger. Definitely one of my favourite finds this year.

Download: "Sucker", "Hot Hed", "Pod Rot"

8. Haim - Days Are Gone

In a world where the music industry has flat out fallen on it's arse and genuine break through stars are hard to come by, record company execs across the globe must have been doing cartwheels when the sisters Haim emerged. They've all got a great sense of humour, give often hilarious interviews and the camera seems to love them. That's practically the complete package when it comes to "star quality" in the music biz even before you actually get to the music.
Luckily they deliver on that front too. I can't remember a pop album in the past few years that's been just so flat out fun like this, listening to it can't fail to put me in a good mood. What it lacks in originality, the album more than makes up for in infectious call-and-response vocals and inhibition stripping sing-a-longs - I'm particularly susceptible to belting out "IF I COULD CHANGE YOUR MI-EE-III-EEE-IIIIIND" during the chorus of said song. Every listen puts a smile on my face.

Download: "Don't Save Me", "If I Could Change Your Mind", "The Wire"

7. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

Few albums this year were hyped quite to the extent of Random Access Memories. The drip-feed of previews and eventual astronomical success of lead single "Get Lucky" put anticipation at fever pitch - to the extent that some idiot bookmakers were putting odds on the album to break Be Here Now's first week sales record (come on, no album is every going to sell in those kinds of quantities again). Inevitably the eye-watering amount of hype led to many convincing themselves the album was awful simply for being over hyped. Silly people.
This album was born in the disco and absolutely drenched in the influence of the heroes of dance music and brimming with ideas. "Giorgio by Moroder" being a case in point: who else would be able to take a simple monologue from Moroder (who has the most awesome pronunciation of "synthesiser" ever) and make it into one of the most innovative dance tracks of the decade? My heart never ceases to race when the keys kick in after the immortal line "My name is Giovanni Giorgio, but everybody call me... Giorgio". Album closer "Contact" is also simply sublime just in the sheer sense of synesthesia it creates.
Granted it's not a prefect record - during my first few listens it felt like literally nothing happened between "Get Lucky" and the delightful "Fragments of Time", but it's a dance smorgasbord of innovation and homage that's never short of delighting you.

Download: "Giorgio by Moroder", "Fragments of Time", "Contact" [because you've either already downloaded "Get Lucky" or been unable to escape it's ubiquity enough to not need to download it]

6. Suede - Bloodsports

Everyone always assumed that if Suede - Britpop before Britpop was cool - were to return to former glories then Bernard Butler needed to come on board and get back into his song writing groove with Brett Anderson. Turns out everyone was wrong - Bloodsports is an unfathomably good record, to the extent that several songs here actually rank up there with their best work period.
The satisfying clash of drums (especially the intro to "Hit Me"), the pulsing basslines and addictive guitar riffs all sit nicely alongside each other, and are elevated further when there's a dramatic chorus involved  - "It Starts And Ends With You" in particular is a corker, while the mere key change in "Snowblind" is enough to raise you adrenaline. Musically you definitely feel the thrill of the chase and carnal nature Anderson was after when making the album.
Like I mentioned above, it was a year of comebacks, and you needed something exceptional to stand out. Suede certainly achieved that. Well played.


Download: "Snowblind", "It Starts And Ends With You", "For All The Strangers"

That's your lot for now, keep your eyes peeled for part two soon. Byeeeeee.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Manchester Apollo 30/10/13

I've talked before about my admiration for +Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Whether it's the tender balladry of The Boatman's Call and The Good Son or the swaggering, brutal rock of Dig Lazarus, Dig!!! or Henry's Dream, Cave has a lyrical gift and a unique delivery that puts him up there with some of the best songwriters of the past thirty years.
Off the back of this year's excellent Push The Sky Away album, his first with The Bad Seeds in five years, and an excellent Glastonbury set, I was seriously looking forward to seeing the band live. I was not disappointed.

Unfortunately I can't say the same for support act Shilpa Ray. Picture if Lana Del Ray found an accordion and decided she was going to try and ape every ballad Cave ever wrote. It was a very trying act that tested the patience of the crowd and wore a little thin.

Thankfully, with no band behind her, Shilpa packed up relatively quickly and the wait for The Bad Seeds to start the show was a short one. Right from the opener, the dark, subtly menacing "We No Who U R", Cave was an absolute force of nature. Apparently the man is not only allergic to staying still but also to staying on the stage, as he spent most of the show stood over the barricades in front of the front row.

This was the best picture I could get all night

The pace then picked up midway through "Jubilee Street", as the elegant string arrangements and bassline transformed into a ramshackle Pogues-esque fiesta ("I'm transforming, I'm vibrating, I'm glowing, LOOK AT ME NOW!") just as it did at Glastonbury. This then launched the band into a flurry of Bad Seeds classics including "Tupelo", "Red Right Hand" and "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry".

I've heard some concern that without guitarist Mick Harvey, who's departure arguable influenced the stripped back, stark nature of Push The Sky Away, Cave & the Bad Seeds' music would lose its bite, but their performance on this night (appropriately enough, on the eve of Halloween) is yet another example that that simply isn't the case. Particularly the rhythm section of the band really shines, Thomas Wydler's drums often filling the building and leaving you with the impression that you've just been shot in the chest. Warren Ellis occasionally adds extra guitar to proceedings as well, including "Mermaids", which he now augments with a new solo near its climax.

Around midway through the set, in what was a personal highlight, Cave managed to glue himself to the piano for long enough to perform a mini-set of his gentler songs including "Into My Arms", "God Is In The House" (a delightful surprise) and "People Ain't No Good".




It wasn't long before Nick (I hope I'm allowed to call him Nick!) returned to the sanctuary of the audience for "Higgs Boson Blues", arguably the highlight of Push The Sky Away. In a slick bit of sequencing it was followed by "Hiding All Away" which perfectly complemented the preceding number in my opinion.

Before I close, though, it would be remiss of me not to mention the band's performance of "Stagger Lee". While it may be a bit clichéd to say it was the highlight of the set, there's just simply no denying the fact that that's what it was! While Cave didn't hypnotise anyone as he appeared to at Glastonbury (although that didn't stop one audience member getting on a friend's shoulders early on in the set to try and recreate that moment), he still delivered a monstrous performance.
His ultra-intense crowd interaction as always made the song memorable. Inviting one audience member to touch his chest, he asked "Can you feel my heart beat?" in a recall to "Higgs Boson Blues". But the best bit was the improv he did whilst getting pissed off at people shoving their phones in his face. "PUT THE FUCKING PHONE AWAY!" he screamed, later changing the lyrics to "Here come the devil... with an iPhone in his hand!"
He eventually changed his tune though. "TAKE MY FUCKIN' PICTURE!" he bellowed, before pulling one of the most brilliantly ridiculous poses you'll ever see from him.

Closing with an encore including more crowd favourites ("Deanna", "Jack The Ripper") and new song "Just Give Us A Kiss", I was eventually able to pick my jaw up from the floor and leave the theatre, awe-struck and chuffed to bits to have caught a sublime show. Safe to say, The Bad Seeds are a must see act, so if they come to a town near you, I'd advise doing all you can to go see them.

Setlist

1. We No Who U R
2. Jubilee Street
3. Tupelo
4. Red Right Hand
5. Papa Won't Leave You, Henry
6. Mermaids
7. From Her to Eternity
8. West Country Girl
9. God Is in the House
10. People Ain't No Good
11. Into My Arms
12. Higgs Boson Blues
13. Hiding All Away
14. The Mercy Seat
15. Stagger Lee
16. Push the Sky Away

Encore:

17. We Real Cool
18. Jack the Ripper
19. Deanna
20. Give Us a Kiss

1001 Albums Update: 622 and Counting

Right, time to finally knock this one out so I can start making some more progress getting through this list.

• Paul Simon - Paul Simon:  More good stuff from Simon, "Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard" in particular is irresistible. Plus it's even got a song called "Duncan" on! Can't tell you how thrilled I am to share my name with a song by one of America's greatest songwriters.

• Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto - Getz Gilberto: I'm surprisingly finding myself to be pretty blasé about these samba style jazz albums, perhaps they're a bit too laid back for my tastes. I found it hard to pay attention to this album I'm afraid.

• Dusty Springfield - A Girl Called Dusty: Here marked the arrival of one of the best voices of the sixties, as the likes of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" and the Burt Bacharach penned "Anyone Who Had A Heart" and "Wishin' And Hopin' " strode the perfect balance between the Motown soul sound and perfect pop.

• Eagles - Eagles: Lots of great West Coast-style rock on offer here, "Take It Easy" and "Witchy Women" helping define the band's sound that would later really take off commercially with Hotel California.

• Tim Buckley - Greetings From LA, Happy Sad: These two albums seemed to showcase a different, brassier aspect of Buckley's voice than Goodbye And Hello. While Happy Sad was very melodic and romantic, I was very surprised to find Greetings From LA to be so full of funk and R&B influence. I never expected Tim had the likes of "Get On Top" in him.

• The Temptations - All Directions, Cloud Nine:  Two all-out classics here, as The Temptations started to experiment beyond the traditional three minute Motown single formula. All Directions in particular is a triumph, and features probably one of the greatest songs ever recorded in "Papa Was A Rolling Stone".

• Stevie Wonder - Fulfillingness' First Finale, Songs In The Key Of Life, Talking Book

Lots of classic stuff from Stevie here. Hands down the best of the lot here is Songs In The Key Of Life, a brilliant double album that's just a joy to listen to with the likes of the big-band jazz of "Sir Duke". Its influence is such that many have liberally lifted and sampled from songs featured here: "I Wish" was butchered into "Wild Wild West" by Will Smith, while the likes of "As" and "Pastime Paradise" were more successfully used by R Kelly and Coolio respectively.

• The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead, Strangeways Here We Come

It's been hard to avoid noticing Morrissey's autobiography came out last week. Personally I think the best thing that's come out of it so far is Peter Serafinowitz singing the opening page to the tune of "William, It Was Really Nothing"

The other thing I found interesting was apparently the part of the book covering the court case where Smiths drummer Mike Joyce (ace name) won a quarter of the group's earnings is about four times as long as the part covering Moz's time actually in The Smiths. If true, that's a real shame - it's as if he's letting the bitterness of the dispute over his work in the band overshadow what he achieved as a part of that band. Between the two of them, The Queen Is Dead (incidentally named the best album of all time by the NME this week) and Strangeways... had songs that would establish Morrissey as one of the best wordsmiths of his time (and anytime). "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side", "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" and "Girlfriend In A Coma" are all songs that thankfully will outlive any bitterness Moz has in his life.

• Penguin Orchestra Café - Music From The Penguin Orchestra Café: This I more like the kind of instrumental music that can hold my attention, as unique a listen as you'd hope for given a title like that.

• Curtis Mayfield - There's No Place Like America: Similar to Superfly in its bleak subject matter, yet lacking some of that record's polish as Mayfield attempted to avoid the influence of disco music. I much prefer something like What's Going On? personally.

• Fatboy Slim - You've Come A Long Way, Baby: Oh boy does this contain lots of childhood memories - "Right Here, Right Now", "The Rockerfeller Skank", "Gangster Tripping" and the incomparable "Praise You" are all present and correct and all are essential listening.

• Primal Scream - Screamadelica

 Primal Scream have always been a hard group to pin down stylistically. On this, their most celebrated album, they not only ride the "Madchester" wave of the time with the likes of "Higher Than The Sun" but go through psychedelia (appropriately) with "Come Together" and the simply glorious, gospel tinged trippy dream of "Movin' On Up". It's vibrant sleeve is also a great, juvenile icon of the time.

• Mott The Hoople - Mott

One could be harsh and say Mott The Hoople were more famous for who they knew rather than what they did in music - David Bowie famously lent them their biggest hit "All The Young Dudes" (interestingly they could have had "Suffragette City" if they wished). But this album shows they could stand out of the shadow of their famous friends. "All The Way To Memphis" and "Honaloochie Boogie" in particular are great slices of post T Rex rock.

• John Martyn - Solid Air, One World: Listening to Guy Garvey's radio show for several years has helped me appreciate the work of John Martyn a lot more. Right up there with friend & contemporary Nick Drake as one of the standouts of British folk, I love his "after hours" voice.

• Nick Drake - Bryter Layter: Speaking of Drake, here he is with a record that almost matches his excellent Five Leaves Left LP, "Northern Sky" being the standout.

• Tears For Fears - Songs From The Big Chair: Bit overly long for my liking, despite featuring the great "Shout" and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World".

• The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet

This album kicked off a real golden period for the Stones musically. Despite featuring well known classics "Sympathy For The Devil" and "Street Fighting Man", the highlight for me was "No Expectations", featuring some brilliant guitar play from Brian Jones, who would sadly pass away the next year after drowning in his pool a mere month after being let go by the band due to his drug issues.

• Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, A True Star: I think Something/Anything raised my expectations of what Rundgren is capable of a bit too much, as I didn't find this album delivered everything it promised.

• Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones: I could do without the call backs to Captain Beefheart, but once again I'm unexpectedly enjoying Waits' work, his voice captivating me much more than I thought it would.

• Santana - Abraxas: Black Magic Woman ooh yeeeah.

• The Jesus And Mary Chain - Psychocandy: Sad to say after Darklands left me pleasantly surprised, Psychocandy was more like what I expected out of a J&MC album. My ears hurt.

Also impressing me this time around were;

• Bert Jansch - Bert Jansch
• Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will The Circle Be Unbroken
• Stephen Stills - Manassas
• Alice Cooper - School's Out
• Traffic - Traffic
• Joni Mitchell - Hejira, The Hissing Of Summer Lawns
• Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure
• T-Rex - Electric Warrior
• Pixies - Bossanova
• Sonic Youth - Evol, Dirty

While I was slightly disappointed by;

• New York Dolls - New York Dolls
• Air - The Virgin Suicides OST
• Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express

Sexism & Music - Plus 1001 Albums Update: 580 & Counting

Well, it's been a while since I touched this blog. Other things in life took over for a while. Lots has happened since I last posted, and I'm actually well into the 600s with my 1001 albums challenge. I'll update you a bit about that below, and I'll do another proper post about some of the albums I heard over summer I can remember more about.

Before that though, I'd like to touch on a subject I've been contemplating writing about for a good long while: is it just me, or does it feel like misogyny and sexism in music is more rampant than ever?

This topic was brought to my attention once more after reading an excellent article on the Guardian website by Lauren Mayberry, vocalist in Glaswegian synth-poppers Chvrches. In the post, Lauren covers the kind of comments that get directed towards her on social media from "admirers" - from the plain naïve (the person propositioning her for dinner because "I think we'd make superior love together") to the more graphic ("I'd fuck the accent right out of her and she'd love it") and of course our good old friend rape culture ("This isn't rape culture. You'll know rape culture when I'm raping you, bitch"). Mayberry also points out neither of her male bandmates receive this kind of attention.

Granted the objectification of women isn't exactly new, but with the anonymity certain parts of the internet gives us consequently leading to the rise of trolling, some people feel the need now more than ever to share their stone-age opinions of women with the world. I honestly don't know how someone can feel they've found their calling in life informing female music personalities of how they'd "give them one", but it's clear that there are people like this who exist.

What dismays me even more, however, is when music itself actually appears to encourage these attitudes. Yes I am of course referring to THAT song and THAT video that lead to THAT MTV VMA performance: "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke.

I have several reasons for hating said song. Not only did it make Robin Thicke, the older, crapper Justin Timberlake, a thing again and completely rip off Marvin Gaye, but it seemed to go out of its way to become the most sexist piece of media in history. If music were fashion, this song and its video would be one of those horribly inappropriate Topman slogan shirts.

The music video, where all the women are topless while the men involved stay fully clothed because, you know, that's just how the music industry works, is bad enough. But the two big refrains in the chorus are absolutely horrendous. "You're a good girl" - the implication being "you'll do what you're told " (or else). "I know you want it" - exactly what all those #LADS say when the girl BLATANTLY doesn't want it but #LAD is too proud to admit that's the case. Real stoneage stuff.

The success of "Blurred Lines" led to two more incidents that left a sour taste in my mouth. The first was when ACTUAL Justin Timberlake decided to make similar use of gratuitous nudity in his video for "Tunnel Vision", in some sort of nod to how Thicke essentially owes his whole career to ripping off Trousersnake's sound or something. Granted, JT's effort is perhaps trying to be more "James Bond film opening credits" that Thicke's, and at least the women don't actually share a room with Justin & Timberland so they're not crawling all over them and being gawped at like they would have been in Thicke's video.
But it was still a miss-step in my book and made Justin seem behind the curve when in actuality, his music is vastly superior to Thicke's. Alas, the damage was done, and in the UK at least "Tunnel Vision" didn't even scrape the top 40 (a damn shame, it was the best track off his first "20/20 Experience" album) and then when follow up single "Take Back The Night" (which stalled around the 30 mark in the charts) had the misfortune of sharing its name with an anti-rape charity, said anti-rape charity became furious when it turned out the song's lyrics weren't "SEXUAL VIOLENCE IS WRONG" said on repeat.

The second incident, I'm sure I don't have to go into detail. In fact, why don't we let the pictures tell the story for us

What irked me about this performance was how some segments of the media were quick to point out how inappropriate it was for Miley to be doing this to a 36 year old husband and father ("Won't somebody PLEASE think of the children!?!") yet completely forgot about the fact that Thicke effectively endorsed this kind of behaviour by making the "Blurred Lines" video.
I just hope that as a consequence of this there aren't women who watch these kinds of things and think "Ah, so barely wearing any clothes isn't enough to get peoples attention anymore - now you have to barely wear any clothes AND flaunt yourself in front of a man!", because that's the way things seem to be going. I mean Lady Gaga basically only wore a pair of scallops all show and nobody gave a fuck!

Sadly this will no doubt encourage the trolls such as those that made Lauren from Chvches the object of their desires, as their tiny Neanderthal minds can't comprehend that not every attractive woman wants to be the Miley Cyrus to your Robin Thicke.

The moral of the story is, next time you see someone talking about women in stoneage language simply quote Taylor here and tell them this:

1001 Albums Challenge Update

So the reason I'm just listing what I heard is partly because it's been too long since I heard all of these and partly because not a lot in this run really stood out - besides Muddy Waters, Outkasts, The Boo Radleys and, despite any preconceived prejudices I had against them, Bjork and Ryan Adams. I promise I'll talk more about the next lot I listened to

• The Louvin Brothers - Tragic Songs Of Life
• Marty Robbins - Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs
• Jimmy Smith - Back At The Chicken Shack
• Muddy Waters - Live At Newport 1960, Hard Again
• Bill Evans - Sunday At The Village Vanguard
• Morrissey - Vauxhall And I, Your Arsenal, Viva Hate!
• Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd - Jazz Samba
• Scott Walker - Scott 4
• Fairport Convention - Liege And Lief, Unhalfbricking
• Nina Simone - Wild Is The Wind
• Paul Simon - Heart And Bones
• Ray Price - Night Life
• Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise
• Charles Mingus - The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady
• The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium
• Missy Elliott - Under Construction
• Ms Dynamite - A Little Deeper
• Jurassic 5 - Power In Numbers
• Ryan Adams - Gold
• Soloman Burke - Rock N Soul
• Bjork - Vespertine, Debut
• Lambchop - Nixon
• Outkast - Stankonia
• Ute Lemper - Punishing Kiss
• Sebadoh - Bubble And Scrape
• The Boo Radleys - Giant Steps
• Red Snapper - Our Aim Is To Satisfy
• Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun

On that note, I bid you adieu and will see you all soon.

An Armchair Viewer's Take On Glastonbury 2013

 

So if you didn't realise it was festival season yet, along came Glastonbury, which should have well and truly set your festival season klaxons off. As usual I was nowhere near organised enough to jump through the hoops they make you tackle if you want tickets, and like most people I've been stuck at home making do with the BBC's coverage.

They've put a generous amount of people's sets up on their website and I've been trawling through them all week. I was disappointed to find some bands' performances weren't online (I'd have loved to have seen First Aid Kit, Jagwar Ma, Suuns and Dog Is Dead in particular), but there was still more up than anyone could feasibly watch.

Anyway, here's my two cents on what I had chance to watch:

• So obviously the big headliner everyone was interested in this year was The Rolling Stones, and understandably their showing has divided opinion. Many are like "Dude they're like 70 WTF? They should quit before they pull a hip out!" while others were more "About time they came to Glasto!"
  I personally enjoyed their set (well, what the Stones allowed the Beeb to broadcast). Even though poor Keef looked a bit lost at times to say the least, and Ronnie and Jagger were basically having to carry the band. I appreciated the lack of any guest stars, especially given the standard of some of them on their US tour (Taylor Swift & Katie Perry, seriously?), and the band weren't totally resting on their laurels with "2000 Light Years" sounding great in a rare outing, and the closing "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" was about as great as the band are ever going to be in their advancing years.

 

• On the other end of the age-scale were The Strypes. With most of their members still in their mid-teens you'd have forgiven them for being intimidated by the thought of playing the John Peel Stage, but they looked right at home and played with the assurance of men twice their age. A cracking bluesy-rock outfit much in the vein of early Stones, I reckon the odds of these guys headlining a future Glastonbury were slashed after this performance.
  
  Also of note on the John Peel Stage were the uncompromising Savages. Known for taking themselves very seriously, they nevertheless delivered, with the terrific riffs of "She Will", "I Am Here" and "Husbands" coming through in spades. Deap Vally were similarly entertaining and certainly a raucous way to begin an early Sunday afternoon. When they avoided some of their more sub-Jack White numbers they delivered some great good old fashioned rock n roll.
  
  In complete contrast to the moody Savages was the positively giddy  Jessie Ware, who's voice was a delight to hear when she could keep herself from the obligatory "HELLO GLASTONBURY! OMG, YOU'RE SO FAR AWAY!". Her onstage chatter stayed just the right side of endearing ("I once saw Florence [Welsh]" climb that [stage scaffolding]. That ain't happening today!") and when she resisted the urge to get gobby mid-song she outshone her band.

• West Holts Stage featured a fair few acts that were sleeper hits in my book. The vibrant Toro Y Moi had a great outing, aided by some colourful background displays and a funky set list full of really danceable numbers. I'll have to check them out again sometime.
  
  Twitter seemed abuzz with praise for Public Enemy but I'm ashamed to say I gave up after half an hour. With Flavor Flav missing, Chuck D was left to practically carry the load himself. While he's an amazing MC, the fact that he only did his parts of their songs meant you got a couple of verses before he started preaching about "Fuck the Government" and stuff. Sorry, but I wanted to hear music not a lecture.
  
  The undisputed King of West Holts though, was Nile Rodgers, whose band Chic put on possibly the set of the festival. Pure non-stop hits - "Good Times", "I'm Coming Out", "Spacer", even Bowie's "Let's Dance" - you'd be startled these all came from the mind of Rodgers if you weren't dancing so much!

• Some acts needed very little time warming up in the ball-pin so to speak to get in their groove. When Phoenix roared out of the blocks with a blinding "Entertainment", then played "Lisztomania" only a few songs later, I was worried they'd run out of steam and familiar songs pretty quickly. However, they clearly knew what they were doing and went on to deliver a thoroughly likable set.
  Vampire Weekend similarly got right to business and delivered big time with their sharpest, most rambunctious songs like "Cousins", "Diana Young" and "A-Punk" all present and perfectly formed. With the songs from their most recent album, Modern Vampires Of The City particularly shining, they're quickly developing into a must-see act.

 

 

 

• Other bands, however, talk a little while to really settle in. Dinosaur Jr. were unlucky to be beset with technical difficulties at the start, with J Macsis' voice almost inaudible. They never seemed to recover, despite whipping out their cracking cover of The Cure's "Just Like Heaven".
  
  Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds sounded surprisingly shakey at first, but after a remarkable turnaround midway through "Jubliee Street" - where it morphed into a Pogues style ramshackle breakdown - the band seemed to kick it in a higher gear. "From Her To Eternity", "Jack The Ripper" and "Stagger Lee" (where Cave seemed to have hypnotised a young woman in white in the crowd on someone's shoulders) were all staggering (apologies for the pun), while "People Ain't No Good" and "Push The Sky Away" were delightful and poignant.
  
  Unsurprisingly given some of her health issues and past on-stage breakdowns Cat Power didn't appear to start out her set in the best of voice. She covered for herself pretty smartly however, by keeping many of the heavier songs from her recent Sun album prominent in her set so that her voice didn't have to do all the work. This bought her the time she needed to settle in and give a really terrific performance with the likes of "Manhattan", the recently emerged "Bully" and "Nothin' But Time" all sounding gorgeous.

• Honourable mentions must also go out to Portishead for a brilliant set that included a fantastically evil image of David Cameron with frickin' laserbeams coming out of his eyes during the equally unnerving "Machine Gun", Arctic Monkey for somehow making that string arrangement of "Mardy Bum" work, Rodriguez for the best onstage joke...
  
  So Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse are at a marriage counsellors office, and the marriage counsellor turns to Mickey and says, "But Mickey, being stupid is not grounds for divorce". And Mickey said "I didn't say she was being stupid, I said she was fucking Goofy"
  
  ...and a dishonourable mention must unfortunately go out to alt-J for their terrible mash up of "Slow" by Kylie Minogue and Dr Dre.

 The thing is though there's still so much more to check out. I've still yet to see Lianne Le Havas, Haim, Smashing Pumpkins, Peace, Daughter and Bobby Womack to name but a few.
It's this kind of range and depth of artists performing that really make Glastonbury the best festival in the world. I'd love to go some day, but for now I'll make do with what the BBC has generously left at my fingertips.