Archive for the ‘CLASSIC ALBUMS’ Category

GLOOM BALLOON – ” Drying the Eyes of the Goddess of Gloom “

Posted: December 14, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Drying the Eyes of the Goddess of Gloom, Underneath the Stars and the Moon

The songs on Des Moines band/project Gloom Balloon’s sophomore album, Drying the Eyes of the Goddess of Gloom, Underneath the Stars and the Moon were inspired by life-changing events of falling in love and the birth of Patrick Tape Fleming’s son Nilsson (who makes an appearance on the opening track, “Password”). During an in-studio interview in September on Ames alternative radio station KURE, he refers to the songwriting process as opening up a magic stratosphere. These songs form a song cycle that is a letter to his son: “The majority of the record is about falling in love … it’s me telling him that’s all that really matters in the world.”

But, living up to his own moniker as the Gloom Balloon, he would be remiss to not share love’s attendant darkness. In “The Shit You Put Me Through,” he declares to a past love, “If I could put you through/the shit you put me through/you’d understand that it’s hard to be in love.”

Drying the Eyes owes a lot to the sonic ground broken by Gloom Balloon partner Christopher the Conquered’s 2016 album I’m Giving Up On Rock and Roll, which Fleming produced. Drying the Eyes shares a huge, bombastic sound laden with strings, horns and vocal chorus. The album was written largely on piano, which would seem to contribute to the complexity of the compositions. Overall, the album’s reliance on themes and groupings of songs together props the album up in cohesiveness, reminding me of Flaming Lips circa Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. The harmony vocals on the album at times act as a sort of Greek chorus, providing commentary — like in “Password,” when Fleming sings “And I’ll come running to you” and Ford rejoins “Oh fuck yeah…”

Fleming has said in recent interviews that Drying the Eyes might be his last album, as he plans to focus on his new role as father. If that’s the case, then this album is a crowning achievement: an album with a cohesive theme wrapped in dramatic symphonic rock. I suspect, however that the stratosphere will open again with songs for the taking, and we’ll get more Gloom Balloon.

From the upcoming album, “Drying the Eyes of the Goddess of Gloom, Underneath the Stars and the Moon” on Maximum Ames Records.

STARS – ” There Is No Love in Fluorescent Light “

Posted: December 14, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Twinkling ever so brightly is this one by Quebec group Stars, produced by Peter Katis who has done an excellent job blending orchestral manoeuvres with upbeat synth pop. As always, Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell take turns at the mic delivering sensitive lyrics. The album was heralded by single “Privilege” which opens the disc. Playful B-side “We Call It Love” is included. “Losing to You”, at over 6 minutes, is packed with enough goodies to keep you captivated: a nocturnal shimmer that breaks into slapping beats and burbling bass. Another standout is “Hope Avenue” suggesting a place to go for Strange Advance’s “We Run”. “Real Thing” seals the deal for a great album, a synth pop ace. Even on the mellower tracks, genius is present, an example being “California, I Love That Name”. “Wanderers” is the perfect closer, dramatic and feel-goody. Three JUNO nominations, all for Alternative Album of the Year, are among Stars’ achievements.

BLINKER The STAR – ” 8 of Hearts “

Posted: December 14, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Since the mid-90s, Pembroke, Ontario’s Blinker the Star has been concocting some delicious music. 2017’s 8 of Hearts could be classified as alternative rock; in addition, you will hear a good dose of a retro progressive rock kneaded into the dough. At times, there are surprises, like a banjo on track “Heather” and haunting piano with fluttering analog synth on “Caves and Shadows”. Here are well written songs that are highly enjoyable to listen to.

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MT WOLF – ” Aetherlight “

Posted: December 14, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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While Mt. Wolf’s sound is built upon a bedrock of flittering electronics and chiming acoustic guitars, Stevie McMinn’s playing is full of light and shade. Have a proper listen to debut Aetherlight and you’ll note the guitarist’s nifty clean tapping licks, big distorted blasts and waves of tremolo picking. It’s post-folk-rock, if you will.

Mt. Wolf have taken the circuitous path to indie success. They exploded out of the gate in 2012 with their debut EP, Life Size Ghost. But instead of capitalizing on the hype by immediately releasing a full-length album, they opted to take the slow, gradual path. A succession of singles and remixes and three other EPs would follow within a four-year period, giving their growing fan base enough to chew on but not satiating their ravenous appetites. At long last, the time has arrived, and Mt. Wolf has presented the gift for which thousands of people have been waiting.

Aetherlight is more than anything that could have been envisioned by the London-based trio. Their EPs – in addition to Life Size Ghost include Hex, Red, and Hypolight – were hypnotic affairs. Aetherlight, though, transcends them all. Its blend of cinematic indie, electronic, and post-rock is unlike anything heard since Sigur Rós‘ Kveikur.

SAM SKINNER – ” Danny Through Junior “

Posted: December 14, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Pinegrove are one of those bands with many talented songwriters in the mix, though Evan Stephens Hall is the one who gets the spotlight in that lineup. Thus, his bandmates channel their own inspiration into other projects. Nandi Rose Plunkett has impressed us with her project Half Waif, and now Sam Skinner is releasing his own debut EP. Danny Through Junior is a batch of drowsy, shambling indie rock tunes with intriguing arrangements and immense charm.

All songs written, performed, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Sam, with additions from:
Evan Stephens Hall – vocals (tracks 1, 2), drums (tracks 1, 2, 4)
Natasha Jacobs – vocals (tracks 2, 4, 5)

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Danny Through Junior is out 1/27 on Soft Speak Records.

DESTROYER – ” Ken ” Best Albums Of 2017

Posted: December 14, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Destroyer 'Ken' artwork

Dan Bejar, aka Destroyer, has announced a new album today called Ken. The title is apparently lifted from the original title of Suede’s “Wild Ones”. Ken will be Bejar’s first album since 2015’s Poison Season. It’s out October 20th on Merge Records . Chaos strikes in a hospital. Satan haunts a fashion show. Tinseltown swims in blood. Destroyer’s twelfth album, ken, is full of unforgettable scenes from Dan Bejar, one of indie rock’s finest lyricists, with a macabre bent suiting his newfound penchant for gothy synths.

The LP’s opening number, “Sky’s Grey”,

The CLASH – ” London Calling ” Classic Albums Released 14th December 1979

Posted: December 14, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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This day in 1979, I walked home from Virgin Records exactly 38 years ago today with a plastic bag containing the double album by The Clash. It was priced as a single LP but had two vinyl records tucked inside. The inner sleeves had “hand written” lyrics and it has to be the lyrics I’ve read most often. Both historically and personally  The Clash, London Calling had a huge profound impact.

The Punk-Rock legends’ third album was released in 1979 by CBS Records. Like so many great albums included on the Best Of’s lists: genres switch and there is an ambitious mix of sounds and musical ideas. London Calling addresses social displacement, unemployment and racial conflict – drug use and responsibility was also touched upon. From Lover’s Rock’s messages of safe sex to the anthemic rally of the title track; it is an album that has defined the decade and continues to influence bands. It has sold over five-million copies and is thought of as one of the defining records of the Punk era. London Calling captured The Clash’s energy and primal urges; their loud and vital voice and social consciousness. If previous albums (from the band) focused on British sounds and ideas: London Calling incorporated more American sounds and suggestions. Rebellious, romantic and exhilarating: a true one-of-a-kind treasure from one of Britain’s greatest bands of all time.

It was released in the United Kingdom on 14th December 1979 through CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 through Epic Records. The album represented a change in The Clash’s musical style, featuring elements of ska, funk, pop, soul, jazz, rockabilly, and reggae more prominently than in their previous two albums.

London Calling was widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 1987, it was ranked on Rolling Stone magazine’s “100 Best Albums of the Last Twenty Years”. In 1993, NME ranked the album at number six on its list of The Greatest Albums of the ’70s. Vibe magazine included the double album on its list of the 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century. Q magazine ranked London Calling at number four on its 1999 list of the 100 Greatest British Albums, and, in 2002, included the album in its list of the 100 Best Punk Albums

This fantastic catchy song was not listed on the cover of the original album so it was my first experience with so called bonus tracks that is so common these days. The Lyrics was however printed on the inner sleeve.

This album has been in my top ten since it was released, it is a classic rock’n roll album that everyone should own. I do not concider it a punk rock album musically but the attitude that reeks off this album is quintessential punk. The styles and genres are excitingly mixed and woven together, but laid on top of  a punk rock foundation.

Depending on the source, the working title for what would become London Calling was either The New Testament or The Last Testament. The story works better if you believe Kosmo Vinyl’s argument for The Last Testament—that The Clash intended London Calling to be the last rock ‘n’ roll album, the paired bookend to Elvis’ first album, right down to the pink-and-green lettering.

Since The Clash continued to make rock music after London Calling, it’s silly to take the “last rock ‘n’ roll album” assertion literally or as evidence of a collective ego gone mad. I think it’s more accurate to say that The Clash approached London Calling from the perspective of “What if this were the last rock ‘n’ roll record—what would that sound like, feel like, be like?” Given their concern about impending world doom expressed so clearly in the title track, they may well have felt on a subconscious level that London Calling could very well be the last rock ‘n’ roll record.

I can’t think of any other album that triggers as many different emotions, ignites so much passion and authenticates so many deeply held personal values. A work of tremendous energy, London Calling is also extraordinarily energizing. At the end of the record you may not be any clearer than Joe Strummer was about what we can do to change this fucked-up world of ours, but you leave with more confidence that somehow we’ll figure it out. More than any other record in my collection, London Calling can pick me up when I’m down, and give me hope whenever I feel all is hopeless.

STRAWBERRY RUNNERS – ” The Garden, In the Night ” Best Albums Of 2017

Posted: December 14, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Emi Knight, the woman behind Strawberry Runners’ magical In The Garden, In The Night EP, has come along way since, as a seven-year-old in Indiana, she picked up the guitar and learnt to strum along to church hymns and Bob Dylan tunes. After a number of years drifting in and out of various musical projects, Emi seems to have stumbled upon something special in Strawberry Runners. Now based in Brooklyn, Emi formed Strawberry Runners back in 2013,  and has been crafting the tracks that would go on to make this most magical of records ever since.

The resulting record is an exploration of adolescence, presented from the point of view of an older songwriter reflecting on the experiences that shaped her. Emi paints beautiful lyrical pictures, rich musical canvases where joy and sadness co-exist; entwining, shifting and growing together. Take the stunning Dog Days, a track that contrasts the sheer joy of slipping off your shoes and dipping them into a winding river, with the shocking death of a friend’s child, ultimately concluding, “search your whole life long, there ain’t nothing strong as a Kentucky woman”. It reads like a teenager’s diary entry, fluttering from the usual everyday self-doubt, to moments of beautiful tranquillity and devastating loss. The brilliant Brother is an apology and a promise to a sibling, “born five years after me”. It reflects on how Emi never picked up on his loneliness, She never realised how her teenage exploits and nights outs left him with nobody, and concludes with the most beautiful of sisterly sentiments, “when you’re a little older I’ll explain it all to you, why the good will never stay and all the dark and scary things will never go away but we’ll be bigger than them someday”.

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Musically it is a record that drifts easily between styles, one second recalling the indie-pop of Allo Darlin’, the next drifting off into rich orchestral pop and then off to sweet honest alt-country that Lucinda Williams would be proud of. The record’s finest moment comes at it’s finale, Your Bed Was Tall is a tribute to Emi’s mother, who “stand’s tall in spite of the mighty tempest”. The tracks builds to a crescendo of entwined guitar lines and steady, booming drum beats, as Emi sings into the musical storm, “when the world ain’t crumbling, do you think we’ll stop fighting? When the world ain’t crumbling, will I let you in, will I let you in”. In a world where life can be a struggle, In The Garden, In The Night, was a reminder that we must always battle to  shape the world we want to see, that compassion, effort and, yes, music, can help us all make a little more sense of it all.

Emi Night: vocals, guitars, mandolin, additional percussion
Baby Timm: trumpet, vocals, keyboards
Sam Kelley: guitars
Tyler Morse: bass, vocals
Max Barcelow: drums, vocals, additional percussion
Rich Goldberg: keyboards

DRAHLA – ” Third Article ” EP

Posted: December 14, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Drahla’s new EP, “Third Article”, coming out at the back end of November, Recorded with Hookworm’s MJ, “Third Article” showcased why this Leeds-based trio are so hotly tipped, and why excellent Canadian racket makers Metz took them along on a European tour.

The lushly-produced EP showcased the band’s gentle evolution into a unique and formidable act, mixing the no-wave energy of post-punk with the creativity and angularity of art-rock. Opening track, Form Of Luxury, is one of the year’s great statement of intents; squalling, swirling guitar lines joined by crisp drum battering and languid bass, before Lucile Brown’s anxious, spirited vocal enters, and blows the whole thing apart. Elsewhere, Silk Spirit fused gritty swagger with wonderfully jagged guitar noise, while New Living Creation adds some bonkers saxophone to the mix and comes out reminding us just how exciting Your Code Name Is: Milo sounded when they first burst onto the scene. Bristling with energy and ideas, Third Article shows Drahla to be one of the most ambitious and intriguing newcomers of 2017: utterly thrilling.

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All tracks written and performed by Luciel Brown, Rob Riggs and Mike Ainsley.
Saxophone written and performed by Christopher Duffin.
Additional guitar on Circuit by Mr J.
Recorded by Matthew Johnson at Suburban Home Studios, Leeds, July 2017.

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FALSE ADVERTISING – ” I Would Be So Much Happier If I Just Stopped Caring “

Posted: December 14, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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In a year when the influence of 1990’s alt-rock was all the rage, few injected the sometimes stale genre with as much fresh energy and excitement as the Manchester/Oxford-trio False Advertising. The band’s excellent EP, I Would Be So Much Happier If I Just Stopped Caring, was partly recorded at Abbey Road, before the band were forced to leave because they were, “too loud”. The EP collects a number of stand-alone singles that False Advertising  put out over the last year, but is none the less a remarkably coherent affair. The sound of the ’90s is alive and well with Manchester-based fuzz lovers False Advertising. Guitarist Jen Hingley lays down thick octave riffs and chiming chords with the best of them, catalogued on EP I Would Be So Much Happier If I Just Stopped Caring.

The five tracks that make up the EP, are a winning blend of angst, anger and grunge. For the most part, singer Jen Hingley’s guttural vocal howl is accompanied by fuzzy walls of guitars, clattering cymbal heavy drum beats and propulsive, strutting bass-lines. Lyrically these tracks are a dissection of growing up in a world where monotony and stupidity still seem to run the planet; Hey You is a rallying call for gender equality, Not My Fault asked whether it is okay to attempt to detach yourself from the political landscape, while the excellent Honest, dealt with the toxic nature of media bias. 2017 is a year where politics and music became reacquainted, and few people have sound tracked it better than False Advertising.

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