Author: Michael

Posted in Album Reviews

Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death (2020)

Posted on by Michael
A Hero's Death

Released in 2019, Dublin’s Fontaines D.C. debut was one of the rock albums of the year.  Dogrel bristled with punk rock energy while the band toured the globe.  Their second album, A Hero’s Death, was written while out on the road.  Once again working with producer Dan Carey, this time around several of the tracks are more atmospheric and the sparks from the first album are more toned down with a weariness not previously seen.

Second single, “I Don’t Belong” uses singer Grian Chatten’s voice like an instrument as he changes his approach on several of the lyrics. Here, he sounds tired but ready to bite at any time. The pounding drums announces the beginning of “Love is the Main Thing”, the distorted guitars sound like a freight train coming down the tracks. “Televised Mind” sees Tom Coll’s drums and Conor Deegan’s bass lock in while Chatten sings “swipe your thoughts from Broadway/turn ideals to cabaret/water dreams of yesterday”.

On “Living in America” the band tap into their inner Joy Division with Chatten’s baritone growl doing a solid Ian Curtis impression whereas the guitars of Carlos O’Connell and Conor Curly at the beginning of “A Lucid Dream” recall early Interpol. “Oh Such a Spring” is a softer track, where the people “wish they could go back to spring again”.  In this day and age, many of us are looking back to simpler times of early spring before the COVID pandemic started.

The band work in nuances not hear on Dogrel like the background vocals on “Sunny”.  The title track was the first single with the band setting the tone with “oooooohhs” before Chatten tells the listener, “life ain’t always empty” and to “tell your mother that you love her/and go out of your way for others”. The “bap bap bap” vocals are sublime.  The sparks of the debut don’t burn as bright but A Hero’s Death sees the band successfully moving in different directions.  

8.5/10

Posted in Album Reviews

The Cars – Candy-O (1979)

Posted on by Michael
Candy-O

Released just one year after the self-titled debut, 1979’s Candy-O is another batch of new wave tracks written by Ric Ocasek. Like it’s predecessor, Candy-O is produced by Roy Thomas Baker but this one also features memorable art work by pin-up artist Alberto Vargas as suggested by drummer David Robinson.

The band’s first top 20 hit appears with the first track “Let’s Go”. Destined to be one of their classic singles, bassist Benjamin Orr sings about a teenage girl with a budding interest in the nightlife, the simple keyboard line is punctuated by handclaps and a shouted “Let’s Go!” in the chorus.  Second single “It’s All I Can Do” is an understated track that sounds similar to Tom Petty with a nice synth in the chorus. “Double Life” compares driving to life and relationships, it gets pumped up by the drums in the refrain.  The title track is harder driving with keyboard squiggles throughout.

For most bands, it would have been nearly impossible following up a debut where virtually every track is now considered a classic.  But here, The Cars do a fine job on an album that would peak at #3 on the Billboard albums chart. The singles are the more memorable tracks but songs such as “Since I Held You”, “Night Spots”, and “Lust for Kicks” are all solid.  Candy-O is another fine example of 70s power pop from the band that still endures.

9/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Jessie Ware – What’s Your Pleasure (2020)

Posted on by Michael
What's Your Pleasure?

In 2012, Jessie Ware was nominated for the Mercury Music Award for her debut album Devotion that featured the hit singles “110%” and “Wildest Moments”.  Her next two albums also reached the top 10 in the UK but with diminishing returns.  A disaster tour of the US left Ware needing a rethink.  After starting a popular podcast with her mom, Table Manners, Ware started work on her fourth album.  Co-written and produced with James Ford, so far a staggering six songs have been released as singles.

The beat and bassline on album opener “Spotlight” appear 40 seconds in.  A mature and sophisticated disco track, Ware sings that “It’s like you never even left”.  The slinky “Save a Kiss” sounds a bit like Robyn with a terrific chorus and on “Adore You”, Ware rides a laid back groove with a sound vocal performance and production from Joseph Mount.

What’s Your Pleasure is one of those rare albums that actually gets better as it goes on and saves three of it’s best tracks for the end.  Bananarama get a co-writing credit for “Mirage (Don’t Stop)” that uses parts of their hit “Cruel Summer”.  “Mirage” sounds like a dance track from a bygone era.  “The Kill” employs a darker synth before album closer “Remember Where You Are” turns the lights down with a good amount of soul.  When Jessie Ware decided to let music go, she turned in her best album since her debut.  

7.5/10

Posted in Paper Chase

Q3 Read It 2020

Posted on by Michael

Thus far George RR Martin has released five volumes of his ever popular A Song of Ice and Fire series with two more expected to be released at some point. The first book sees the family of Winterfell torn apart as Ned Stark is chosen as the new hand of the king to his good friend Robert Beratheon as he goes through troubles on the throne. Like the series, the book is chock a block of characters and places so having seen the TV show makes it a bit easier to follow and picture what is happening. Introductions are made to Khaleesi, Jon Snow, the Wall, the Lannisters, the Starks, etc as they venture through Martin’s fantasy world. The thick book is hard to put down as the action moves swiftly from one seen to another in this excellent fantasy novel.

10/10

The Break

The Break, the first novel by Winnipegger Katherena Vermette, won the author a boatload of awards and appeared on numerous year end lists in 2016.  The novel centres around a brutal assault and how the extended family each deals with that trauma and the other events in their lives. Each chapter is written in the voice of a different narrator to gain insight into what each character is going through. The Break is a memorable story that takes place in Winnipeg’s north end area which shows both it’s grittiness and the loving people who try to carve out a life in Manitoba’s largest city.

8/10

New York Rock: From the Rise of The Velvet Underground to the Fall of CBGB

Steven Blush’s 2016 book, New York Rock takes the reader through the NYC rock scene from Lou Reed/Velvet Underground through the Alternative rock scene of the early 2000s.  It touches on scenes such glam, punk, hardcore, noise, etc.  It is not just the music that Blush writes about but also the bars/clubs that played such an important role in the development of all these scenes.  The problem here is that it tries to touch on every band within a scene vs writing about a few of the major player. It ends up just being a list of bands that most rock fans will never have heard of or will ever care about. Oddly, even though it touches the new century Blush does not even mention The Strokes.  A similar but far better book is Meet Me in the Bathroom that instead focuses on one particular time period to better effect.

5/10

Eiffel's Tower: The Thrilling Story Behind Paris's Beloved Monument and the Extraordinary World's Fair That Introduced It

Jill Jonnes 2010 book Eiffel’s Tower is one of those that sat on my bookshelf for years.  The tower acts as the centrepiece of the book that is actually about the 1889 Paris World’s Fair. Notable characters including Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, Thomas Edison, and artist Paul Gauguin all play pivotal roles to create the scene of the fair.  It does a very good job of describing the trials and tribulations that Eiffel went through to both have his tower built as well as accepted by Parisian society. Jonnes paints a colourful history of life in 1889.

8/10