JOE MARILLO
MILES GREW UP
1997 – SELF RELEASED
No Production Credit
1. Miles Grew Up
2. Violets For Your Furs
3. The Flea
4. Lush Life
5. For Walter
6. Skylark
7. Teresa
8. O Beautiful Glenwood Springs
9. Quiet Now
10. My One And Only Love
11. It Never Entered My Mind
12. When I Fall In Love
Joe Marillo (1932-2016) was the father of someone who used to be a friend of mine. He was well known in the San Diego area. This album of tenor sax led jazz contains elements of new age music and older bop, and can be found at online shopping venues like ebay and Amazon. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
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Of dying history
LORDE
MELODRAMA
2017 – UNIVERSAL
Produced By LORDE, JACK ANTONOFF, FRANK DUKES, MALAY, JOEL LITTLE & ANDREW WYATT
1. Green Light
2. Sober
3. Homemade Dynamite
4. The Louvre
5. Liability
6. Hard Feelings / Loveless
7. Sober II (Melodrama)
8. Writer In The Dark
9. Supercut
10. Liability (Reprise)
11. Perfect Places
In 2013, Lorde became the biggest thing to have come out of New Zealand in pretty much almost forever. Her debut album, Pure Heroine, was a worldwide smash, thanks in large part to the hit “Royals”. After taking a break, the follow up, Melodrama, came four years later. It was almost as big of a hit as her debut, but this is seriously the Lorde album you’ll want to have. Melodrama marks a shift in her sound and her writing, and it all works. Where Pure Heroine was built mostly on electronic beats, Melodrama’s songs are piano based and more fully realized. Her best weapon is her voice…which is smokey, powerful and vulnerable at the same time. But it’s her songwriting that shows the most growth here, thanks to her partnership with Jack Antonoff.
The highest points here are “Perfect Places”, “Homemade Dynamite”, and especially “Green Light”, but you won’t find a weak moment on this disc anywhere. Lorde proves herself to be not just a pop star…she’s a true star who deserves to be taken quite seriously. Yes, she had a lot of help here…the lists or credits for production, programming and mixing are quite extensive…but to her credit, she comes out on top. In the end, Melodrama is a huge victory for her. It’s a smart and creative collection of songs that is entertaining, well crafted and beautiful. Her next album, 2021’s Solar Power, is not on the same level as her first two efforts. It’s not even close. But Lorde in the 2010’s was a force to be reckoned with, and Melodrama is her best outing.
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THE SUGARCUBES
STICK AROUND FOR JOY
1992 – ELEKTRA
Produced By PAUL FOX
1. Gold
2. Hit
3. Leash Called Love
4. Lucky Night
5. Happy Nurse
6. I’m Hungry
7. Walkabout
8. Hetero Scum
9. Vitamin
10. Chihuahua
The Sugarcubes put Iceland on the popular music map in the late 1980’s with a cool alternative sound and a unique and talented lead singer named Bjork. They released three albums, the last of which was 1992’s Stick Around For Joy. The band had a decent following in England while being almost unknown in America. Influenced by the cooler new wave bands of the eighties (like Cocteau Twins), they had a dreamy sound that could also be heavy, buoyed by big guitars, new wave keyboards, a surprising trumpet…and that voice. It was ultimately Bjork who made The Sugarcubes as interesting as they were, with her quirkiness and impressive range keeping everything legitimate. She was a talent that would not be held within the confines of a band for very long.
But as cool as The Sugarcubes could sound, they never quite found the formula for consistent success. And while Stick Around For Joy is not bad, it’s also the sound of a band on its last legs. ‘Leash Called Love”, “Hit”, “Vitamin” and “Walkabout” are easily the best songs here…the rest is unfortunately muddy and somewhat uninspired. It’s more upbeat than the first two efforts, but that can’t save this from being ordinary…nor can the soaring of Bjork’s vocals. Predictably, at the end of 1992, The Sugarcubes broke up and slipped into obscurity. Except for Bjork, who went on to become Iceland’s biggest star, and one of the most successful artists on the planet. This won’t stick with you for long, but it is worth a listen.
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SLEATER-KINNEY
THE WOODS
2005 – SUB POP
Produced By DAVE FRIDMANN
1. The Fox
2. Wilderness
3. What’s Mine Is Yours
4. Jumpers
5. Modern Girl
6. Entertain
7. Rollercoaster
8. Steep Air
9. Let’s Call It Love
10. Night Light
The awesomeness that has always been Sleater-Kinney continues on their seventh album, The Woods. This all female trio stormed out of Olympia, Washington at the height of grunge and made women who rock cooler than ever before. They’ve pretty much had a revolving door at the drummer position, but the core of Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein has always been the driving force of the band. Like The Doors, Sleater-Kinney has never employed a full time bass player. They’ve always been ahead of the curve, and they’ve always been cool. In 2005, they made a stylistic change with The Woods, a more loud guitar album that showed more of their classic rock influences than ever before. And like pretty much everything else they’ve ever tried, it works.
“Jumpers” and “Entertain” are the best songs here, and while there isn’t anything as immediate as “All Hands On The Bad One” or “Get Up”, just about everything here fits in just fine. The Woods is different from any Sleater-Kinney record, and that’s a good thing. After touring for this, they went on a hiatus that lasted for a decade…then came back and picked up right where they left off. You don’t get hits with this band, you don’t get radio friendly singles, and you don’t get a band trying to win you over with hooks. What you do get with Sleater-Kinney is a hard rocking and hard working band that is consistently great…they always kick ass, they’re always smart, and they are always worth hearing. The Woods is right there with the best from this band, and that makes it definitely worth your time.
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BOBBY WOMACK
COMMUNICATION
1971 – UNITED ARTISTS
Produced By BOBBY WOMACK
1. Communication
2. Come l’Amore
3. Fire And Rain
4. (If You Don’t Want My Love) Give It Back
5. Medley: Monologue / (They Long To Be) Close To You
6. Everything Is Beautiful
7. That’s The Way I Feel About Cha
8. Yield Not To Temptation
He may be in that Hall Of Fame thing, but Bobby Womack is a name that you don’t hear nearly enough these days. After working in the 1950’s with his brothers in a group, he sang with Sam Cooke until Cooke was killed in 1964. He then began a long and fruitful, and important, solo career that lasted until his death in 2014. Communication, from 1971, is his fourth album, and is the one that brought him his first real solo success. It was the first of five consecutive top ten US R&B records, gave him his first major hit, and made him a major player in both soul and funk music for decades to come. A somewhat forgotten album these days, Communication is everything good about what Womack was to be for a long time to come.
The song that put Womack on the map was “That’s The Way I Feel About Cha”, which was his first top ten hit. Also excellent is the title track, which is about as good as funk gets…ever. But Communication is also loaded with surprises. His take on the James Taylor classic “Fire And Rain” is surprisingly soulful, as is Ray Stevens’ “Everything Is Beautiful”. The record is built around the Bacharach / David classic, “(They Long To Be) Close To You”, which includes a lengthy and more than effective monologue. Womack is backed up by the great Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, and he gets guest vocals from actress Pam Grier and his four brothers. Communications is a great seventies soul record, one that deserves not to be forgotten.
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MGMT
CONGRATULATIONS
2010 – COLUMBIA
Produced By MGMT & SONIC BOOM
1. It’s Working
2. Song For Dan Treacy
3. Someone’s Missing
4. Flash delirium
5. I Found A Whistle
6. Siberian Breaks
7. Brian Eno
8. Lady Dada’s Nightmare
9. Congratulations
MGMT made it big with their 2007 debut album, Oracular Spectacular. So…could they follow it up? The answer was yes, they could. And while the debut is the better album, their second effort, 2010’s Congratulations, is not far behind. MGMT is a duo from Connecticut. Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser both play multiple instruments, sing, and write, and it’s a collaboration that works well. While Oracular Spectacular was a synth driven more electronic record, Congratulations finds the duo spreading out instrumentally, which brings the record a more full sound. It’s not as strong overall in the way of songs, but the adventurous nature of the music makes up for most of that. So there is no sophomore slump here, thank you very much.
“Siberian Breaks”, at over twelve minutes, is the centerpiece here, and it’s a great track. But also of high quality are “It’s Working”, “Flash Delirium”, and the closing title track. This is more of a rock record than their first release, and it was a top ten hit in almost every market in the world, including number 2 in America. Their next two albums have sold well also, but Congratulations remains their peak. With only five albums in seventeen years, you know that when there is a new MGMT release, they will have taken their time and gotten it right…which makes this a band to always look forward to. Congratulations is their high point so far. While it wasn’t the one that put them on the map, it is the one that showed they were not a in any way a fluke.
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ENYA
A DAY WITHOUT RAIN
2000 – REPRISE
Produced By NICKY RYAN
1. A Day Without Rain
2. Wild Child
3. Only Time
4. Tempus Vernum
5. Deora Ar Mo Chroi
6. Flora’s Secret
7. Fallen Embers
8. Silver Inches
9. Pilgrim
10. One By One
11. Lazy Days
New Age music has pretty much zero impact on the world of popular music, unless it’s made by Irish artist Enya. She’d had a sizeable hit in 1988 with “Orinoco Flow”, and her albums are always big sellers. In 2000, Enya hit it big again with the single “Only Time”, which paved the way for A Day Without Rain to sell over 15 million copies. For a New Age album. It was helped out tremendously by the single becoming a sort of a theme song used by all of the news networks showing the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. And it’s a pretty terrific song with everything there is to love about Enya…airy, moody and lovely music as a backdrop to her sweet vocals. But even though the song became a massive hit (it was also used on Friends), the album itself is another story.
This is Enya’s biggest selling album, by quite a bit. Outside of “Only Time”, the only other track that seems to have any life in it is “Wild Child”…otherwise, A Day Without Rain is what you would expect from most New Age discs…pretty, unremarkable background music. You could easily hear this album in an elevator, and you would have no idea because it blends into the walls so easily. This is almost the equivalent of musical white noise. Which is too bad, because it really is lovely sounding…there just isn’t any substance to keep it from slipping into the background. Enya has made more than a living making this music…she’s made herself an international star. Her best songs are worth hearing. This album, unfortunately, doesn’t hold up.
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SONIC YOUTH
EVOL
1986 – SST
Produced By SONIC YOUTH & MARTIN BISI
1. Tom Violence
2. Shadow Of A Doubt
3. Starpower
4. In The Kingdom #19
5. Green Light
6. Death To Our Friends
7. Secret Girls
8. Marilyn Moore
9. Madonna, Sean And Me
10. Bubblegum
In 1986, Sonic Youth was not a great band…yet. That transition began on their third album, Evol. After a handful of failed drummers, the band finally settled on Steve Shelley, and their main lineup was finally set. Evol set the stage for their tremendous output in the late eighties and nineties as their sound began to gel and the members started to really work well together. This is where they became a real alternative rock band, and where their sense of song and album became clear. It’s a dark record, setting the stage for Sister, and especially, Daydream Nation. This also (with the track “Madonna, Sean And Me”) marks the start of their Ciccone Youth phase, in which they embraced not only Madonna, but also the addition for the project of Mike Watt from Minutemen and Firehose.
But back to Evol. “Starpower” is a terrific track, but you won’t find anything inferior here. Sonic Youth isn’t always the easiest band in the world to listen to, but once you embrace what they do, the rewards are plenty. And there are plenty to be had on this record. The guitar work of Thurston Moore and Lee Rinaldo is mesmerizing, while Kim Gordon and Shelley are an underrated force as a rhythm section. Watt also plays on a couple of tracks, and Lydia Lunch co wrote “Marilyn Moore”. But the best thing about Evol is that you can hear the roots of their soon to come best works. This is a band that was finding themselves on record, and that was realizing they had the makings of something special. And to their credit, Sonic Youth did not waste any of it.
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BUILT TO SPILL
KEEP IT LIKE A SECRET
1999 – UP/WARNER BROS
Produced By PHIL EK & DOUG MARTSCH
1. The Plan
2. Center Of The Universe
3. Carry The Zero
4. Sidewalk
5. Bad Light
6. Time Trap
7. Else
8. You Were Right
9. Temporarily Blind
10. Broken Chairs
Built To Spill is simply one of the coolest bands ever. Don’t believe me? I give you a short list of three albums by this band from Boise, Idaho (of all places) that I am sure will convince you. Three consecutive releases, all within five years of each other. Their second album, There’s Nothing Wrong With Love from 1994. Then 1997’s Perfect From Now On. And finally, Keep It Like A Secret from 1999. At the end of the nineties, there was not a band that was better than Built To Spill. These three discs are great…a group at the height of their powers. Keep It Like A Secret is a great band at their peak, a should have been hit. It was not, which is okay…it keeps this band a cool little secret we can say we know about while others don’t have a clue. It’s good to have a band like this in your hip pocket.
“Center Of The Universe” and “Carry The Zero” are monster tracks. “You Were Right” utilizes lyrics from other famous songs by other artists in the best way. Nobody here is trying to come up with a hit single, and it shows…Built To Spill makes their own music on their own terms, which is what only the best of bands do. That late nineties trio of albums by Built To Spill is about as good as it gets. And they are still a great band…still together, still making records, and still not seeming to care a lick if they have a hit single or not. You really can’t go wrong with anything by Built To Spill, one of the best and most underappreciated bands of the last thirty years. And please…take the challenge I presented above. Your ears will appreciate you for it!
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STONE TEMPLE PILOTS
NO. 4
1999 – ATLANTIC
Produced By BRENDAN O’BRIEN
1. Down
2. Heaven & Hot Rods
3. Pruno
4. Church On Tuesday
5. Sour Girl
6. No Way Out
7. Sex & Violence
8. Glide
9. I Got You
10. MC5
11. Atlanta
Stone Temple Pilots had changed their sound for their third album, Tiny Music…Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop. That record was more 60’s psychedelic influenced, and seemed like a good direction for the band. Those changes were ditched on their fourth album, aptly titled No. 4. Here, STP goes back to what made them famous in the first place…hard and heavy rock. A good move, as it turned out, but the problem here isn’t their style…the problem is that the band was running out of songs. And also energy. The first half of No. 4 sounds pretty good, but the second half is where they seem to really run out of gas. And by the album’s closer, “Atlanta”, they seem to be almost asleep. There was a time when energy would have been the last thing you would think these guys would run out of. But they did.
“Sour Girl” and “Down” are both fine enough songs to have kept the STP ship from sinking. “No Way Out” and “Heaven & Hot Rods” are also very good. As for the rest…you can live without them. Scott Weiland is in good enough voice here, but he’s not as prominent as he had been in the past. Stone Temple Pilots had spent most of the nineties trying to not be in the shadow of Pearl Jam (many saw them as a copycat band, which was not the case), and now that they had expended their sound, they were then retreating backward. After one more record in 2001, STP broke up and regrouped a decade later. They’ve released 3 albums since (Weiland was fired, then died in 2015), with none reaching the heights of the first four discs. No. 4 is not their greatest, but it is really the last from their earliest and best period.
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