Category: Album Reviews

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Davie Bowie – Station to Station (1976)

Posted on by Michael

David Bowie started writing the songs that would end up on Station to Station in 1975 while working on the movie The Man Who Fell to Earth.  Deep in a cocaine addiction, Bowie in this time period was surviving on a diet of just peppers and milk. Co-produced by Harry Maslin, the sound of the album carries on some of the funk/soul influences he explored on Young Americans and adds a bit of a croon with a European shininess on an album that went top five in both the UK and US.

The title track is a 10 minute epic that begins with the sound of a train then a slow, trudging march of sounds.  The song introduces his newest character, the Thin White Duke.  The song gets sped up in the second half where it turns into a tour de force of drums and piano while Bowie sings, “It’s too late to be grateful”.  “TVC 15” is based on a hallucination of the TV eating someone’s girlfriend, the fun upbeat track adds a bit of a sci-fi element to the themes.  The twin guitars of Earl Slick and Carlos Alomar turn “Stay” into a dirty, funky jam that also features the throbbing bass of George Murray.

The first single is the highlight.  “Golden Years” carries on the funk rock sound he previously explored on “Fame”. The guitar riffing that starts the track gets punctuated with finger snaps and handclaps that beam the groove to life before Bowie’s vocal brings a bit of a bit of blue eyed soul to the disco gloss. Its an extraordinary song that the band + Bowie really nail.  Station to Station sees Bowie make the sounds explored on Young Americans truly his own.  How he created the album while in a deep drug addiction, barely remembering anything about this period is a minor creative miracle.

9/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Bill Ryder-Jones – lechyd Da (2024)

Posted on by Michael

Its been 16 years since Bill Ryder-Jones left the band The Coral and in that time he has carved out and impressive catalogue of solo albums.  His latest release, lechyd Da, came out almost a year ago to great critical acclaim. The personal album explores relationships and how one feels at their most vulnerable. On several tracks, Jones really captures the emotions of love and life in general.  

This is expressed on songs like “It’s Today Again” Jones sings, “There’s something great about life/But there’s something not quite right” or on “If Tomorrow Starts Without Me” with the line “I’ve a sense of shame when it feels alright”. Several songs are minimal with just piano or guitar but others like “Nothing To Be Done” are dramatically sweeping on a track where he seems resigned to fate.

“This Can’t Go On” is an atmospheric mini epic that could have been lifted from Mercury Rev’s classic Deserter’s Songs album. Throughout the self produced album, Bill Ryder-Jones is emotional but it never turns soppy. Instead it lets the listener peak into his emotions while reflecting on their own.

8/10

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The Cure – Songs Of A Lost World (2024)

Posted on by Michael

In 2023, Robert Smith and The Cure went out on an acclaimed tour of North America. This year the band released their 14th album and first in 16 years.  Songs Of A Lost World contains 10 songs, several of which contain lengthy opening instrumentals including first single, “Alone”.  It starts the album off in dramatic fashion with Jason Cooper’s prominent drums under greying skies as Smith sings, “this is the end of every song that we sing”.  That line sets the stage for the rest of the album.

Co-produced by Paul Corkett who has a lengthy list of producer and engineering credits to his name, Smith is also joined by longtime bass player Simon Gallop and Reeves Gabrels on guitar, making his first album appearance is a member of The Cure. The piano and keys of Roger O’Donnell play crucial roles in several songs including the bright synth of “And Nothing Is Forever” and “A Fragile Thing” whose passages are connected through piano lines.

A couple noisier rock songs appear before “I Can Never Say Goodbye” returns the atmosphere to the melodic fog on a track about Smith’s brother who passed away.  “All I Ever Am” updates The Cure sounds for 2024 before the album closes with “Endsong”.  The 10 minute track has a hypnotic quality as Smith sings, “I’m outside in the dark, wondering how I got so old”. A feeling that many of his fans will identify with.  After the lengthy recording hiatus, Robert Smith has returned with a moody and atmospheric album capturing both holding on to love and losing it as we drift into the darkness of winter.

8/10

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Bob Dylan and The Band – Before The Flood (1974)

Posted on by Michael

After finishing the album Planet Waves, Bob Dylan and The Band headed out on tour of North American hockey arenas in early 1974.  Before the Flood collects a double album of tracks mostly from the final three shows in Inglewood, California.  The release sees both artists sharing the spotlight with The Band taking the lead on eight of the albums 21 songs. Several of Dylan’s songs appear in alternate forms from their originals.

In later years Dylan would reportedly complain that the only compliment he would receive about the shows were ones about the energy.  The well meaning compliment is spot on – opener “Most Likely You Go Your Way” from the classic album Blonde on Blonde really gets things moving before top 10 hit “Lay Lady Lay” is performed. The energy shifts with the one track taken from a New York show with “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” that brings a heavier atmosphere than the rest of the side. Side 2 sees The Band turn in a funky groove on their classic “Up On Cripple Creek” and a beautifully soulful version of “The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down”.

The second album opens with Dylan playing an acoustic set with sped up versions of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” that the crowd really appreciates and “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)”.  These two tracks + a countrified rock version of “Blowin’ In The Wind” take the Dylan sound out of folk rooms and onto the massive arena stage. “Like a Rolling Stone” appears as a groove laden country take on the incendiary classic.  The drumming of Levon Helm steals the spotlight away from the original’s organ. Both versions work.  Along with these Dylan songs, The Band turn in a vocally rough and ready version of “The Weight” that really swings + the upbeat “The Shape I’m In” from their Stage Fright album.

Years ago, there was a commercial that aired on MuchMusic that showed Bob Dylan mumbling through a song in concert. It was an amusing commercial but that is far from what Dylan sounds like here. His vocals are clear and the different arrangements on several of the tracks work really well to give a different flavour of his sound. The Band locks into grooves and really swing throughout.  A great live album of two legends.

8/10

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Jessica Pratt – Here In The Pitch (2024)

Posted on by Michael

Here In The Pitch, the fourth album from Californian Jessica Pratt sounds like it was beamed in from a 1960s space age country lounge.  Pratt sounds a bit like a British, blue-eyed soul singer on “Empires Never Know” over a dreamy, otherworldy piano.  An acoustic guitar and spacey sounds swirl in the mix of “Get Your Head Out” while “By Hook Or By Crook” has a slight bossa nova feel.  “World On A String” simply floats on air.

Highlights book end the album. The single, “Life Is” has Phil Spector levels of drama in every bass drum kick while Pratt softly sings, “when you’ve fallen out, get both feet on the ground”.  Here In The Pitch closes with the sweet sentiments of “The Last Year”.  “I think it’s gonna be fine/I think we’re gonna be together/And the storyline goes forever”.  A truly wonderful record.

9/10