Following up last year’s ecstatically received Sgt Pepper remix, The Beatles camp released their s/t 1968 double White Album also in remix form from Giles Martin. In mid-November the Celebration Rock podcast debated what tracks they would include if they cut The White Album down to just a single disc and neither host was happy with their choices. The sprawling double album has many hits, several misses and a few redundant tracks but without them all, somehow it doesn’t hang together as well.
On the new remix, tracks that in the past were easier to skip (to these ears) now have a new groove. “Glass Onion” has always been one of my least favourite later day Beatles tracks but here the background atmospherics are brought out to the forefront to add to the madness. “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” greatly benefits from a more exhilarating chorus. “Wild Honey Pie” on the other hand is still completely unlistenable.
On the second side, “Yer Blues” has John Lennon really going for it in the vocal but “Cry Baby Cry” all the way on side four is the better of the two. The latter appears before the cut and paste “Revolution 9” that could have been cut out altogether. Ignoring the hits spread across the album (“Back In the USSR”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”), the underlining memory of The White Album is that it’s challenging but going back and hearing it, many of the tracks are just terrific. Paul McCartney’s “I Will” is a pleasant pop song before Lennon’s “Julia” that is utterly beautiful.
Two of Lennon’s best album tracks appear here with “Dear Prudence” and the drowsy “I’m So Tired”. Non-singles “Birthday” is familiar to anyone who’s ever heard FM radio in their lives and vocal shredder “Helter Skelter” is a big part of late 60s dark crime wave. Everyone will have their random favourites with this writer’s being the jaunty Ringo Starr lead “Don’t Pass Me By” and the “Good Night” album closer that saw The Smashing Pumpkins Melon Collie years in the future.
On the three disc edition, the third disc is devoted to the famous Esher demos recorded at George Harrison’s home. A generous 27 tracks in acoustic form. The version of “Back In the USSR” with the double tracked vocals is superb, great musicians just banging around. “Mother Nature’s Son” sounds great and “Honey Pie” finds a new home as a campfire singalong. A few Harrison tracks appear such as the organ accompanied “Circles”, the angry “Not Guilty”, and “Sour Milk Sea”. Two Abby Road tracks also pop up in demo form – “Mean Mr. Mustard” and “Polythene Pam”. Not really a disc to listen to all in one sitting but fascinating to jump around and discover different tracks. The six disc super deluxe edition offers a deeper dive into the valley of the White Album.
The White Album – 10/10
Esher Demos – 8/10
Honey marks the full length recording return of Robyn, the first since 2010’s compilation Body Talk. Title song “Honey” appeared in the final season of HBO’s Girls. Like first official single, “Missing U”, this is perfect futuristic pop music. Robyn has said that she spent more time on “Missing U” than any other tracks she’s ever recorded and it shows. The lyrics are heartfelt and the music sparkles with electricity 
In early 2018, Suede released the 25th Silver Anniversary edition of their classic debut s/t album. Here it appears remastered with three additional discs of music + a DVD. At the time Suede released their debut album in early 1993, it was the fastest selling debut in UK music history. Famously appearing on the cover of Melody Maker magazine before releasing their first single, the build-up/hype through 1992 was palpable through the UK press. There are many examples through history of the music press building the hype of a mediocre band just to tear them down again. This was not the case here. A clutch of brilliant singles and a near flawless album saw Suede release great music through the mid-90s.
The much talked about EP from super group boygenius is the work of Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker. Each singer brought one song to the project along with one additional idea. The result is a six song EP that takes in folk, country, and indie rock. It is no surprise that the strong female group has covered the Dixie Chicks in concert.
Just as summer was starting, 19 year old Lindsey Jordan’s debut album as Snail Mail was released by Matador Records. Matador is a fitting label for Lush as it recalls early 90s “slacker” bands like Pavement and Jale. Growing up in Maryland, Jordan was a big hockey fan and player, the sport features prominently in the video for second single “Heatwave” whose upbeat chorus and crunching guitars are one of the finest moments on the album.
The Light Appears 