Month: July 2024

Posted in Album Reviews

The Kinks – Lola Versus Powerman and The Moneygoround Part One (2CD Deluxe) (2020)

Posted on by Michael

For their eighth studio album Lola Versus Powerman and The Moneygoround Part One, The Kinks led by Ray Davies  released a loose concept album based on the music industry.  From dreaming of being rock stars on the country sounds of “The Contenders” (before the guitar and piano get cranked up) right to the Southern Rock vibe of “Got To Be Free” when our man says goodbye to show business.  In between is an eclectic group of songs including the old ragtime feel of “Denmark Street” and the jauntiness of “The Moneygoround”.

It’s the band’s first album of the 70s and a few of the songs crank up the power rock guitar that would be heard throughout that decade. Dave Davies’ dirty guitar riff powers “Rats” and the expert bass work of John Dalton underlays the driving sound of “Powerman”.   “Apeman” rings just as true now as it did back then with its themes of over population, inflation, and crazy politicians. The catchy song went top 5 in the UK. Both Ray and Dave Davies have standout tracks on the album.  “Strangers” is a midtempo track from Dave about a close friend that died from a drug overdose.  The heartfelt song contains the tearjerker line, “strangers on this road we are on/we are not two, we are one”.

 One of the best rock songs of the 70s also appears in the gender bending hit, “Lola”.  Another heartfelt song, this time about meeting a transvestite (transgender?) in a bar and dancing all night with the lady but knowing something is different.  “Well I’m not dumb but I can’t understand/Why she walks like a woman and talks like a man” as the guy tries to figure things out. The single propelled the band back into the charts. While overall the general conceit of the album being the troubles of being a rock star can be hard to relate to at times, there are several truly great songs here that it is hard to resist.

In 2020 the deluxe edition added alternate and remix versions of most of the songs found on the original album.  The mono single of “Lola” switches the drink of choice to “cherry cola” while later a live version with a choir and orchestra strip the song of all it’s charm. One of the four version of “Apeman” to appear is an alternate stereo version that sounds like the band jamming to great effect. At the end of the disc, two songs from Ray Davies appearing on TV are added in “Marathon” and “Got to Be Free”. These have a distant, dreamy sound and standout among some of the hard rock tracks.  

Lola Versus Powerman and The Moneygoround, Part One – 9/10

Extras – 7/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown (2024)

Posted on by Michael

The voice is unmistakable from the one that is a key component of her band, Portishead.  Lives Outgrown is singer Beth Gibbons’ first solo album.  It has a woodsy vibe with an atmosphere of ghosts swirling around a campfire.  “Tell Me Who You Are Today” has a bit of nice guitar but then a foreboding tension fills the air.  “Burden of Life” has drums sounding like they are coming from deep in the forest.  Later, those same drums are more propulsive on “Reaching Out”.

“Floating On A Moment” is perfectly named as it does make it feel like you are floating in a river, heads up. The sound of birds chirping close out “Whispering Love” and the album. Lives Outgrown has gained much critical acclaim for it’s mournful folk sound and songs that speak about growing old and mortality. It may not register for all but for many, it will one of the better albums of the year.

7/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Madonna – Erotica (1992)

Posted on by Michael

The first studio album for Madonna after the Immaculate Collection greatest hits album wrapped up her first era was Erotica in 1992. For this album, Madonna worked with Shep Pettibone on a set of songs that was released at the same time as her infamous Sex book. The title track was the first single released. More explicit than past recordings, the club beat and catchy chorus took the song to #3 in the US. For “Deeper and Deeper”, a disco house vibe is worked into her sound with a couple of lines from her song “Vogue”.  The song has references to Mommy and Daddy with a story of a deeper sexual awakening.  The memorable 70s inspired video helped push the track into the top 10 and is one of her best tracks of the 90s.

The album is front loaded with singles.  Her remake of the Peggy Lee classic “Fever” fails to ignite while “Bye Bye Baby” has a slight Everly Brothers feel to the chorus on a single released outside of the US. “Bad girl drunk by six/kissing someone else’s lips” on “Bad Girl” sees the protagonist torpedoing yet another relationship.  Other tracks feel like rehashes of what has come before. “Where Life Begins” is filled with terrible sexual double entendres and covers similar territory as “Erotica” but not nearly as well. Worse is the studio joke song “Did You Do It” that has the beat from an earlier track with Andre Betts freestyling about whether he’s slept with Madonna.  It’s atrocious.

Erotica is tailor made for the burgeoning CD era. The beats are digitally crisp and the running time comes in at 75 minutes, about 35 minutes longer than most of her previous albums.  The second half of the album features the stellar ballad “Rain” that has a warmer feel than what came before it and the album closes with the minimal hip hop beats of “Secret Garden”.  With the extended running time, Erotica simply does not have enough good songs to make listening all the way worthwhile.  But with the digital age, also came the skip button that comes in handy when listening to Madonna’s first album of the 90s.

7.5/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Adrianne Lenker – Bright Future (2024)

Posted on by Michael

Remarkably, Bright Future is Adrianne Lenker’s sixth studio album even with the success she has had as the lead singer in Big Thief.  The spare album was released in the spring 2024 and is enriched with many emotions.  The way she sings “don’t know what I’d do without you” on the chorus of “No Machine” makes it heartbreaking or the dusty piano that plays beneath “Real House” where she sings, “Now 31 and I don’t feel strong”.

“Vampire Empire” is a bit more rough and ready while “Feel Treasure” has a sort of epicness that Simon and Garfunkel could ring out of their minimal arrangements.  Bright Future ends with two terrific songs. She is joined on the chorus by Nick Hakim on “Donut Seam” that makes it sound a bit like Bon Iver on a track that sings to the human condition of swimming and kissing while the world burns.  “Ruined” has her best vocal on the album on a track that is a bit more pop in nature, though one with plenty of emotion. Adrianne Lenker is one of those rare artists whose solo work is just as intriguing as her main gig.

8/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Simple Minds – Real To Real Cacophony (1979)

Posted on by Michael

In 1979, Simple Minds were keen to quickly follow-up their debut album that they were not happy with a mere seven months later. Once again working with producer John Leckie, the Glaswegians decamped to Rockfield Studios in Wales to record what would become Real To Real Cacophony.  The first track, “Real To Real” sees synths firing out signals for a disco in another world. “Carnival (Shelter in a Suitcase)” has a circus keyboard with a solid rhythm section behind it on a song that fits in well with the post punk movement. “Calling Your Name” has a similar sound but adds dancefloor moves.

The only single released from the album was “Changeling” that has a more straightforward guitar riff.  Better is “Premonition” that has elements of the band’s sound that they would take to stadiums in the mid 80s, not to mention a sound that U2 would also further develop. Along with these tracks, several instrumentals appear including the ominous “Cacophony”.  On Real To Real Cacophony, the band does what it wanted to do by moving their sound in a more art pop direction that takes in heroes like Roxy Music and Bowie but also creates their own world.

8/10