Lockdown listening

[callagkm]

Well, yes, lockdown. In general, a real pain, but one unexpected benefit has been the home-working allowing me to listen to a LOT of music. I'm lucky enough to have my own office at home, so I don't disturb anyone else. And my job doesn't involve too many online meetings.

Here in the UK, we first went into lockdown on 23rd March 2020. Since then I've listened to 381 albums. Yes, I keep a diary. There's a spreadsheet involved. It makes me very, very happy!

As a returning member of BEA (I used it for a bit about 4-5 years ago, and then fell off for some reason) I thought it would be good - since there's this whole Music Diaries forum - to share what I'm listening to, with a few comments. I'll especially be highlighting any new (to me) albums that make a real impression. Discovering new music is one of life's great joys, after all.

So, first album post coming up. What will it be?

[callagkm]

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Lodger by David Bowie

I am a HUGE David Bowie fan. I make a point to listen to every one of his albums at least once a year. (In fact, for several years I would play all of his albums, in order, starting on his birthday. Then he died, and it hurt too much )

Lodger is often thought of as the poor relative in the Berlin Trilogy, but I really like it. The rhythmic-ness (is that a word) that goes through the whole album is fantastic, and the quartet of stand-out tracks. - D.J., Look Back in Anger, Boys Keep Swinging & Repetition - towards the end rank this album up there with his best.

[callagkm]

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No More Shall We Part by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Nick Cave is a bit of a genius isn't he? His lyrics just get to you. This is one of his mellower albums, but the bite of his words (especially on tracks such as God Is In The House and Oh My Lord) just cuts through.

[callagkm]

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The Lost And Found 2nd Edition by Rasputina

Some of Rasputina's trademark cello-punk-cabaret applied to 7 classic songs by Credence Clearwater Revival, The Velvet Underground, Led Zeppelin, etc. It's OK. It's quite interesting. It's not brilliant. But it's OK. Give it a quick listen.

[callagkm]

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Tonight by David Bowie

As I mentioned earlier, I'm a huge DB fan, but it did go a bit wrong for him in the 80s and 90s. After Let's Dance, DB tried to replicate the mainstream success he had with that album (and had pretty much eluded him up to that point) with another album of pop (what else would you call it?). It didn't work. Apart from the first track, "Loving the Alien" (which is rather brilliant), the album is pretty poor. Although not as poor as the next one would be.

[callagkm]

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Bubblegum by Mark Lanegan Band

I hadn't heard this for about 4 years. There's some good stuff on here, but nothing that makes it stand out for me. Even the duet with PJ Harvey (who I really like) left me a bit flat.

[callagkm]

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Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys

Ah, Pet Sounds. Widely touted by all the "Best Albums" polls as one of the best - usually up in the top 5 of these polls.

But...

Is it? Really?

One of the things I always wonder about these best album polls and reports is whether the history of an album gets in the way of a real critical appraisal of the album's worth. So, with Pet Sounds, there's no doubt that for its time (1966) it was ground-breaking, especially in its use of studio techniques. And of course, the Beatles loved it - and used may of the same "recording studio as an instrument" techniques for their later albums.

But if you listen to it today, for the first time, not knowing the history, what would your view be? Is it one of the great albums?

Me, I'm not so sure. There isn't a single track on this album that makes me go ""Wow!" - and an album generally needs at least one of those for me to really rate it. The song subjects are pretty standard, and even the production is a bit average to me.

So, not a great in my books. Sorry.

[callagkm]

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Gentlemen Take Polaroids by Japan

I love Japan. As someone who cut his musical teeth in the period from 1979-1984, Japan stood out for me as being exactly what I was looking for in a band: they were extremely talented musicians, they (mostly) ploughed their own furrow, and they looked gorgeous! They got a lot of criticism at the time for being "too much like Roxy Music". And yes, you can definitely hear the Roxy elements in their music, and especially in David Sylvian's vocal style. But early Roxy were a great band, and Bryan Ferry a great singer. So what's wrong with a bit of emulation?

[callagkm]

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Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts by Kula Shaker

A lot of the time, an album grabs hold of you not because it's artistically brilliant but because it fulfilled a need at a particular time. Back in 1998, when Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts was released, I had a daily commute along the coast road from Worthing to Portsmouth. It was about 75-90 minutes each way and like all commutes, it quickly got boring. At the same time, I was suffering from a lack of decent, new, uplifting music. Then Kula Shaker's two albums came along, and they became my go-to driving listens. Not because they're brilliant albums, or they have something artistically significant to say, but just because they make me happy! And that's what music is for, isn't it?

[callagkm]

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Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend

Another one I've come back to after not hearing it for at least 5 years. It's good, isn't it?