Michael

The Smile – Wall of Eyes (2024)

Posted on February 13, 2024 by Michael

Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood have once again teamed up with jazz drummer Tom Skinner for their second release under the moniker, The Smile. Wall of Eyes is a moody, atmospheric listen that incorporates electronics and prog-like moments through its 45 minutes. A warm sound envelopes the title track with echoey drums that sound like they are played through pillows. Guitars appear from the onset of “Read the Room” with its indie rock sound and military drumming. The guitars go from art rock to 70s rock on the outro with Yorke’s spacey vocals.

The piano of “Friend of a Friend” brings a new dimension to the sound as Yorke sings about Italians during COVID appearing to sing/talk on their balconies. The cold breeze returns on “I Quit”, a softly sung track with a defiant stance. “I quit… this is my stop/this is the end of the trip”, is sung over a bed of sounds like obscured traffic horns with muffled beats and the added tension of a string section.

Emblematic of Wall of Eyes is the doom laden yet dreamy 8 minute “Bending Hectic”, a song about driving over the cliff in the Italian country side. For its beautiful moments, icy stares, and warmly sung songs of death – The Smile have delivered an album to dive deep into and then disappear completely.

8/10

Album Reviews

The Doors – The Soft Parade (1969)

Posted on February 8, 2024 by Michael

The Doors last album of the 60s, The Soft Parade, is a mixed bag of sorts. Combining their Californian take on the blues (“Shaman’s Blues”) and lengthy album closer (“The Soft Parade”), the band add orchestration and a nostalgic feel to their sound. The story goes that singer Jim Morrison hated the Robby Krieger penned opening track, “Tell All The People”. Still, Morrison turns in a solid vocal performance on the somewhat schmaltzy track. Not coincidently, this is the first album by The Doors where songs are credited to individual writers instead of the band as a whole.

Much better is the top 3 US hit, “Touch Me”. The organ and drumming of John Densmore build up before the song bursts into a showtune. A sax solo later appears as Morrison croons, “I’m going to love you/Til the heavens stop the rain”. One of The Doors finest songs. While mostly inessential, “Do It” sounds like it could have been released in the late 80s during the second coming of love with it’s swirling organ and groovy bass. The band give a nod to Otis Redding who had recently passed away on “Runnin’ Blue” and throw a few good guitar licks on “Wild Child”.

The aforementioned title track reaches for greatness like previous album closers, but instead goes all over the place then ends up nowhere. The album went top ten in the US but did inexplicitly neither “Touch Me” nor the album charted in the UK. One of the lower reaches of The Doors career but still turns in a few fine performances especially the drumming of Densmore.

7/10

Album Reviews

Leonard Cohen – Songs Of Love And Hate (1971)

Posted on February 4, 2024 by Michael

Leonard Cohen’s third album, Songs Of Love And Hate, came out in the late winter of 1971. Again working with producer Bob Johnston, the first half of the album feature longer songs, that can be really dark with few choruses. This starts right away with the intense guitar work of first song “Avalanche”, a dark and moody lament covered in six verses. A children’s choir appears on “Dress Rehearsal Rag” where Cohen sings “That’s not the electric light, my friend/That is your vision growing dim”.

“Love Calls You By Your Name” gets attention right from the start with strings adding a cinematic intensity to Cohen’s poetry. On “Joan of Arc”, Cohen sings for the famous martyr that she is “tired of the war” and wants to wear “a wedding dress”. The most well known song here, “Famous Blue Raincoat” is another cinematic track that is a classic Cohen. No less sullen than anything else on the album, the words “the last time we saw you, you looked so much older” still cut.

The first side of Songs Of Love And Hate can be a tough go. Sounding like Bob Dylan at times but mostly it wallows in sadness. The second side is easier to get through with its intriguing stories. orchestral strings and slightly less moody atmosphere.

7.5/10

Album Reviews

Sufjan Stevens – Javelin (2023)

Posted on January 28, 2024 by Michael

2023 was not the easiest year for Sufjan Stevens. He lost his partner Evans Richardson IV which is touched on in the first track, “Goodbye Evergreen”. He also posted on his Instagram page in the fall that he had been hospitalized with Guillain-Barre syndrome and was undergoing physical rehab. Several songs on Stevens’ 10^th studio album have a spiritual side including “Genuflecting Ghost” and his cover of Neil Young’s “There’s A World” where, “There’s a world you’re living in/No one else has your part”.

First single, “So You Are Tired” is a touching song where he sings in his soft voice that “I was the man still in love…”. The 8 minute “Shit Talk” is an album highlight, a bit more cynical where Stevens’ sings that “our romantic second chance is dead” before sounding more hopeful in the second part of the song. Javelin was highly regarded by critics last year as a return to the singer-songwriter style that Sufjan Stevens has been successful with in the past like 2015’s Carrie & Lowell. For these ears, Javelin is a good album but with only a couple truly memorable songs.

7/10

Album Reviews

Pink Floyd – A Saucerful Of Secrets (1968)

Posted on January 21, 2024 by Michael

On just their second album released in 1968, Pink Floyd already had to shake up the band. With Syd Barrett’s mental state further deteriorating, they brought in guitarist David Gilmour. Barrett’s last track with the band appears as the last song on the album, “Jugband Blues”. Pink Floyd retained some of the whimsy from their first album on tracks like “Remember a Day” written/sung by keyboardist Richard Wright with solid drumming from producer Norman Smith.

“Let There Be More Light” starts off the album with a heavy guitar riff and psychedelia floating around on a song about UFOs. Hushed vocals almost sound secretive. Similarly, “Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun” has Waters basing the lyrics on Chinese poetry, delivered in a serious deadpan manner. The mysteriously atmospheric track is the heart of the record and features all five members of Pink Floyd. At 11 minutes, the title track’s collage of sound misses the mark. With a handful of very good songs, the sophomore release of A Saucerful of Secrets is more than just a curiosity in the Pink Floyd collection.

7.5/10