Previous exposure to Sundfør is really only "Ten Love Songs" from 2015. I remember really liking it.
This album was a delight. It was similar in parts to the Marissa Nadler I just listened to. Only, the lines were sharper, the melodies for me sounded less dreamy and more clear and more indelible. "reincarnation" (or was it "Good Luck Bad Luck"...) in particular had a melody so gorgeous, and so catchy I was humming it for an hour afterward.
Also I love the variety. There are atmospheric electronic sounds. There is a pedal steel part in one of the songs which you know is the way to my heart. The baroque pop songs are shimmering and gorgeous. The spoken word parts by that dude who comes in is cool. And the whole atmosphere and flow of the album is so delicately balanced. I really REALLY like this one. I am super stoked I heard it. I need to relisten t Ten Love Songs now or soon because its been 5 years and I think if I still like it as much as I remember, I may have found yet another brilliant "new" favorite.
previous exposure to Hawley? None. This is my first foray into his music as far as I know.
I liked this. It really reminds of a modernized "Looks Like Rain" by Mickey Newbury in a way. Insofar as it has a clear lovesick vibe, similar vocal tones, subjects and the opening of the album has birdies at dawn whereas Mickey did a similatr thing with his own hazy start to a lovesick album only with the sound of raindrops and thunbder. I think the comparison may be a slight stretch. But that is what I thought of.
Also I thought of Jens Lekman randommly on track 2. Jens always was an artist I liked in small doses. I get very annoyed by sugary sweet sounds if exposed to it for too long. "Twee" is not a term I use endearingly. I kinda hate it. And at times Jens just seems too much like he is Twee or even worse, Ironically acting Twee, so a double feint Twee??? I don't know. Why am I mentioning other artists? Oh I remember! I guess parts of this album are much more mature, love-themed, big and cavernous sounding parts that reminded me of Jens for some reason. Moving on...
This was good. The lyrics are really nice and to the point, the vocals are good if not great. The production is fine, with a lot of atmospheric symphonic parts that don't encroach too much on the experience but kinda paint the edges of the music a little. And all in all it was a good album. Actually reminded me of a less perfectly crafted Boatman's Call at times. Damn it! I'm mentioning other albums now.
The point is its good. The first 2 tracks in particular are fabulous love songs. Will revisit some day. Also I hear his album "Coles Corner" is just as well regarded so I will check that out.
This gets a 3-3.5/5. In that range. Feels like maybe a grower. Too bad for it, cuz I am listening once before making a decision! Them's the rules!
-----------------------------------
Music for People In Trouble Pulls the Upset! Susanne has earned a place in Round 2 and, more importantly, a place in my heart! Like she says in the song "Good Luck Bad Luck":
"Double trouble, neither are to blame
One wins the round but we will both lose the game"
and yes the odds are that she will lose eventually. But who knows maybe this will end up being one of my faves and pull the ultimate unlikely run through the toruney... stay tuned and find out _________________ -Ryan
previous exposure to Cave? Lots. I bought Nocturne at 15 and thought it was cool. Then in the post-BEA years of constant searching for albums, I have heard Let Love In, Push The Sky Away, No More Shall We Part and Skeleton Tree. All have consistently struck me as good but not something that connected with me. Thus his criminal exclusion from my singer/songwriter list despite being considered one of the all time greats.
This is a famous album and well regarded and is thus a high seed in this thing. I am just finishing first listen. The following are my thoughts.
What the fuck?!
To further my thoughts, this was not really what I expected. Nick Cave has a distinguished and unique voice, but it never was something I liked really - just bored me, that deep crooning voice almost gothic style. But here he strips off almost all the extra punk music influences and just strips literally the entire album down to piano, bass, some guitar some strings and his voice. His voice dominates the sound and every word, hopeful, sad, mournful, loving etc, is clear and in your face. This brings to the forefront Cave's songcraft. Both lyrically and structurally. The understated beauty of the lyrics are truly amazing. The piano chords and the old-fashioned presentation of the music is perfect for expressing as purely as possible the message of the songs and the songs themselves.
I saw a comment that this was like Cave's Blood On The Tracks. And I can hear that. It's a heartbreaking break up album but, just like Dylan with BotT, Cave is such a brilliant writer he strips all the extraneous stuff away and aims the music directly and purely at the emotional core of the listener. I can't describe it well. I think this album is very impressive. Sonically it is a bit boring and unadorned. But that is the point methinks. And I think this will be one that grows on me as I more fully understand the words and the messages. Much like how the first time I heard Blood On The Tracks I was super disappointed. At 14 I was like what?!? This was considered the greatest Dylan album post-66? WTF is this boring shite? Well, I came around to that classic more and more with more listens and more years and now it is a part of me.
I doubt this album will ever ascend to BotT levels in my heart. But for now I really like it. It gets a 4/5 and will be going on the ever-evolving chart. And I look forward to future listens and at some point a re-appraisal of his other classics in his all-time great discography. (Seriously I was just looking at his RYM page and Cave has as many renowned albums as Bowie or Dylan... okay maybe not quite as many as those giants. But its in that range with Bowie, Joni etc and I guess I never realized he has such a broad and renowned discography he has vreated over the last 36 years. Amazing stuff.
Great review. As are the others. I'm familiar with about half of these, your singer/songwriter chart goes to my canon game queue (hopefully I'll find the time to return to that soon). And, as always, I have to say something about Cave. While Boatman's Call is often regarded as one of his best works (and your review shows exactly why), I've never been too keen on it. It's in the bottom half of my Cave rankings. Which doesn't say a lot since it's still an 8/10 album, but yeah. Instead, I've always been more drawn to No More Shall We Part. Boatman and No More... are a duo of sorts, both are stripped back Cave at his earnest, but the latter is even more piano driven. It's also "sonically unadorned" as you've put it, maybe even more monotone than Boatman, but it's also unique and inventive in its use of backing vocals, chamber folk elements, songwriting chops and lyricism dealing with his rehab/addiction. It's devastatingly beautiful. I wholeheartedly recommend it, especially since you're a singer/songwriter fan. Those two are right up your alley Merc.
Edit: inspired by your comments on RYM, I counted the following:
Cave - 11 bolded albums
Dylan - 11 bolded albums
Bowie - 8 bolded albums
Joni - 6 bolded albums
By this very scientific method we've concluded that Nick Cave is as good of a songwriter as Bob Dylan and better than the other 2. Non-debatable. _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
previous exposure to Cave? Lots. I bought Nocturne at 15 and thought it was cool. Then in the post-BEA years of constant searching for albums, I have heard Let Love In, Push The Sky Away, No More Shall We Part and Skeleton Tree. All have consistently struck me as good but not something that connected with me. Thus his criminal exclusion from my singer/songwriter list despite being considered one of the all time greats.
This is a famous album and well regarded and is thus a high seed in this thing. I am just finishing first listen. The following are my thoughts.
What the fuck?!
To further my thoughts, this was not really what I expected. Nick Cave has a distinguished and unique voice, but it never was something I liked really - just bored me, that deep crooning voice almost gothic style. But here he strips off almost all the extra punk music influences and just strips literally the entire album down to piano, bass, some guitar some strings and his voice. His voice dominates the sound and every word, hopeful, sad, mournful, loving etc, is clear and in your face. This brings to the forefront Cave's songcraft. Both lyrically and structurally. The understated beauty of the lyrics are truly amazing. The piano chords and the old-fashioned presentation of the music is perfect for expressing as purely as possible the message of the songs and the songs themselves.
I saw a comment that this was like Cave's Blood On The Tracks. And I can hear that. It's a heartbreaking break up album but, just like Dylan with BotT, Cave is such a brilliant writer he strips all the extraneous stuff away and aims the music directly and purely at the emotional core of the listener. I can't describe it well. I think this album is very impressive. Sonically it is a bit boring and unadorned. But that is the point methinks. And I think this will be one that grows on me as I more fully understand the words and the messages. Much like how the first time I heard Blood On The Tracks I was super disappointed. At 14 I was like what?!? This was considered the greatest Dylan album post-66? WTF is this boring shite? Well, I came around to that classic more and more with more listens and more years and now it is a part of me.
I doubt this album will ever ascend to BotT levels in my heart. But for now I really like it. It gets a 4/5 and will be going on the ever-evolving chart. And I look forward to future listens and at some point a re-appraisal of his other classics in his all-time great discography. (Seriously I was just looking at his RYM page and Cave has as many renowned albums as Bowie or Dylan... okay maybe not quite as many as those giants. But its in that range with Bowie, Joni etc and I guess I never realized he has such a broad and renowned discography he has vreated over the last 36 years. Amazing stuff.
Great review. As are the others. I'm familiar with about half of these, your singer/songwriter chart goes to my canon game queue (hopefully I'll find the time to return to that soon). And, as always, I have to say something about Cave. While Boatman's Call is often regarded as one of his best works (and your review shows exactly why), I've never been too keen on it. It's in the bottom half of my Cave rankings. Which doesn't say a lot since it's still an 8/10 album, but yeah. Instead, I've always been more drawn to No More Shall We Part. Boatman and No More... are a duo of sorts, both are stripped back Cave at his earnest, but the latter is even more piano driven. It's also "sonically unadorned" as you've put it, maybe even more monotone than Boatman, but it's also unique and inventive in its use of backing vocals, chamber folk elements, songwriting chops and lyricism dealing with his rehab/addiction. It's devastatingly beautiful. I wholeheartedly recommend it, especially since you're a singer/songwriter fan. Those two are right up your alley Merc.
Edit: inspired by your comments on RYM, I counted the following:
Cave - 11 bolded albums
Dylan - 11 bolded albums
Bowie - 8 bolded albums
Joni - 6 bolded albums
By this very scientific method we've concluded that Nick Cave is as good of a songwriter as Bob Dylan and better than the other 2. Non-debatable.
lol! first off if you include archival releases and live albums from both Solo and Bad seeds then 16 for cave (!)
Dylan if you include and the band and live stuff and archival he has sixte--- errr, nevermind.
point taken. He is a legend. Science wins!
----------
and I'm glad you liked the review(s). I really appreciate the recommendation. I will for sure revisit No More Shall We Part due to it. And I have next to no recollection of what my thoughts were when I listened some time ago so it will be a fresh experience with added context. sure to be AT LEAST a marginal win. _________________ -Ryan
(2) Paris 1919 by John Cale defeats (15) Take A Picture by Margo Guryan by a hair due to [insert reason]
3.5/5 are the grades for both with a slight nod to the former due to it feeling more like a singer/songwriter album i guess.
(2) Year of the Cat by Al Stewart defeats (15) Solitude Standing by Suzanne Vega by a relatively sizable margin, probably due to [insert reason]
4-4.25/5 and 3.5ish grades respectively
(2) The Boatman's Call by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds defeats (15) The Saga of Mayflower May by Marissa Nadler due to [insert reason].
4/5 and 3.5/5 grades respectively
(15) Music for People In Trouble by Susanne Sundfør defeats (2) Truelove's Gutter by Richard Hawley due to [insert reason].
3.75/5 and 3.25/5 grades respectively.
If you have any predictions on the future, thoughts on the past, or lascivious personal tales, please comment below.
Otherwise, I will be listening to these albums over the next little bit. I listen fast. But maybe I won't this time. Either way, feel free to listen along with me if ya wanna. _________________ -Ryan
A few words about this match-up before the short reviews themselves. In my last post I wrote the following after revealing what the 3 v 14 match was: "(Jessus chriist! This is BRUTAL! What was I thinking?!? this match is uncalled for.)"
And I guess even then I knew that these 2 albums were going to both be fantastic and also very uniquely fantastic. And, sure enough, that is true. If they were both similar and shared a little more attributes than they do maybe the decision would be easier. However, they are very VERY different types of singer songwriter albums by 2 iconic songwriters, singers, and musicians.
When I started this game I knew that EVENTUALLY 2 matches would occur: 1. That 2 very great and very similar albums would face off against each other. Something like a Heartbreaker vs a Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, or a Pink Moon vs a Jackson C. Frank. 2 albums that just seemed to hold similar moods and musical attributes and places in my heart. Nothing like THAT, however, has happened. But...
2. The other thing I knew would happen is 2 juggernauts would face off in the first round and make me think about breaking all the rules of the bracket. Sure enough this has happened for the first time. (Both these albums are 4.5/5 albums at least and deserve to move on). So I'll do my little write ups on the albums and then choose my winner. But, you should know that I probably will find a way to move both to the next round. If ever I have a match between 2 albums I like but don't really really like and the winner is a 3 to 3.5 I may go ahead and replace them with one of these Joni/Denny albums. Just a forewarning before I get the inevitable dozens of angry DMs. lol. engagement is REALLY that high (no it isn't, i'm lying).
Anyway, That thought of sticking an older album randomly into the 2007-2020 bracket made me laugh. I started writing make believe lines of Dialogue, where like Sandy Denny shows up in the new bracket with her bags and is looking around the lunch room where all the other younger/newer songwriters are quietly eating and sneaking glances at the new entry. And maybe Joanna Newsom is the only person in the bracket to actually go up to Sandy or Joni and welcome her and they exchange a little chit chat about their songwriting methods and where they get their inspiration, and maybe Joanna is like "Hey I actually really love and respect your album. Huge influence in some of my work. But you should know I'm here to win and we aren't buddy-buddy until this thing is over." and then Joanna walks away as she idly strums her wee harp. You know those types of totally normal fantasies.
But seriously can you imagine 2006 Joanna Newsom and 1975 Joni Micthell just shooting the shit talking music and and their creative processes? Doesn't that sound amazing and the basis of a really cool and out there fanfic?
This album is just goddamn masterful in almost every way. The arrangements and the sheer brilliance of the musicianship that is on display throughout this entire album is mind-blowing. The inhumanly deft way Joni and her session band can switch on a dime from introspective folk ballad, to piano-driven jazz, to wild bass-heavy jazz-rock--funk-fusion, then yet again switch to some experimental and kinda so-new-it-throws-you-off sounds, ... well its amazing, brilliant, *insert fawning hyperbole here*
And over the top of it is the woman herself, Joni Fuckin Mitchell. Her voice is still in top shape, not soaring maybe quite as majestically as it was in Blue or Ladies of the Canyon, but pretty damn close. Her voice just dominates the songs, pitch perfect throughout. Her songwriting, well, its Joni. I consider her to be top 5 lyricists I've ever heard. (along with Dylan, Chen, TVZ, Newsom is newly blossoming into legend status in my mind, Waits, Simon, - that's the shortlist - and obviously that is all through the lens of americana folk fandom and not taking into account non-english greats that I just don't know the words so can't judge, nor does it take into account rappers, etc. I'm saying I have a bias toward that Dylan-And-His-Peers/Disciples line of songwriters).
The confluence of all these factors (musicianship, arrangements, lyricism, themes, vocal performances) on this album makes for one of the most rich, inventive, invigorating musical experiences available. Somehow Joni took what she did with the amazing Court and Spark and made it more smooth, more dense and slightly better. This makes me really, really want to revisit Hejira, as the 2 times I've listened I have liked but not loved it. I believe now that I have a bit more context and familiarity with the step between Court and Spark and Hejira, maybe I'll dig it and it will finally "click".
Anyway, This album and its competition made me break my self-imposed rule for round one - which is to listen to each album once, make a decision and move on. I listened to this 2 times and Denny's album 3 times. This is incredible, top-tier Joni and an all-time cool album and if not for the existence of Blue and to a lesser degree Ladies of the Canyon, The Hissing of Summer Lawns would be probably in the top 10-20 albums on my singer/songwriter chart.
Now, here is the one thing that is going against The Hissing of Summer Lawns and it has nothing to do with its quality: I, generally speaking, don't vibe with this brand of sort of sophisticated, seemingly perfectly crafted jazz-rock-folk fusion albums. Like, if I were to listen to such an album it would be 1974-1976 Joni, or maybe Solid Air or even some Steely Dan. But if you were to take an album of similar merit but within the realm of more traditional folk/country/americana/or British folk, I would choose that style almost every time. That is a stylistic/personal taste point - I like things that are a little more stripped down and maybe a little more either melancholy or gritty.
Which brings us to the next album, one of the few albums that could ever compete with this Joni masterpiece...
How the f have I never listened to this album? It makes almost no sense. I have listened to Sandy, The North Star Grassman and the Ravens, and the 2 most lauded Fairport Convention albums from 1969. Also I have listened to her sing on Led Zeppelin 4's "Battle of Evermore" but that doesn't count. But somehow never checked this out.
Now its interesting that the critics and some reviewers seem to think this is maybe not her best work and some even say her solo stuff never reached Fairport Convention levels. That may be true - I will for sure be delving into her other solo albums again as well as her work with Fairport Convention and maybe as much as I love this, I will love them even more. But, really I heard one thing that maybe could be counted against this album as a cohesive album - and that is that the production is a bit much. Specifically the strings and the large-scale sweeps of the strings/symphonic parts may detract from the intimacy of the songs and may kinda hamstring the songs' merits by pouring a tub of syrupy, molasses-like, very un-folky rocky-y strings over some of the songs.
To this point I say "yeah, I can understand it, even if I don't totally agree."
The production is awesome in my opinion. It works surprisingly well to take those incredible Denny vocals - so warm and introspective - and pair them with these big rock songs with and symphonic parts. I don't know exactly why I love it so much. It speaks to the brilliance of Denny's vocals that she can sound so close and clear and vulnerable even when surrounded musically by these larger-than-life instrumentals. And I would say in some cases of other great songwriters I have had an issue with over the top and sweet production being paired with a vulnerable songwriter's voice. Some early 70s Townes Van Zandt albums and tracks suffer a little from this. And, unpopular opinion, but Five Leaves Left rubs me the wrong way at times due to this marriage. But here, maybe its just me being in the honeymoon stage of this album, I think the production works super well with her vocals and songs.
Next, there are a couple Ink Spots covers that she sings here. I didn't realize that these were covers the first time I listened but on second time through I knew the songs that were not hers (Whispering Green and Until The Real Thing Comes Along) and it still kinda blew me away how she makes these songs her own. I personally don't feel this throws the album off at all. Both are excellent renditions and made to fit nicely alongside her originals.
There isn't a less than fantastic song here. The album has a consistent mood yet with enough variety to keep me engaged the whole way through. I am losing steam descriptively. The basic thing is this album is a moving, somber and truly gorgeous folk rock album and it has been placed pretty high on the singer/songwriter chart. If what so many people are saying is true, that her album "Sandy" is her masterpiece, well, I need to revisit that stat!
This gets a 4.25-4.5/5 oh and Joni gets a 4.5.
and now the time to choose a winner...
--------------------------------
I vacillated on this for a pathetically long time. I probably changed my mind 10 times as to which album I love more. In the end:
Joni Mitchell takes home the win! It came down to a great (if not singular) album that fit snugly with what I probably most love in music, versus an album that WAS a singular, groundbreaking and perfect representation of a style that I am far less familiar with/fond of. The win goes to the latter by a hair. If this were an American Football game this was that insane Chiefs vs Rams game a few years back where the final score was 55-51 or something and I don't remember even who won. I just remember it was just about the most firepower ever seen in a non-playoff game. _________________ -Ryan
4. Did you see my long-winded response to you a couple pages back about why I chose these albums? I am worried because I move so fast and there are new reviews so fast that people won't see posts because they'll be quickly buried.
I most certainly did 😎
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
4. Did you see my long-winded response to you a couple pages back about why I chose these albums? I am worried because I move so fast and there are new reviews so fast that people won't see posts because they'll be quickly buried.
I most certainly did 8)
Okay, good! Phew! I was worried I managed to bury my response yet again! Haha! _________________ -Ryan
And I now get your plan much more clearly now, and don't hesitate to throw in some personal stuff.
I now listened to that Margo Guryan album now and really liked (see also my own thread). But of course in that particular matchup it can't win against Paris 1919, one of the best John Cale albums. I can get what you say about the winking but I saw him a few times live ramming on his piano and I can tell you: he really means his stuff and in this sense there is a bit of resemblence with Jeff Tweedy, that other guy who I have seen many times live: they both have a kind of tongue-in-cheeck attitude towards their music and they both like to deconstruct their songs but in fact those deconstructions only add up to how wonderful these songs are.
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