Sometimes going back and looking at your own “best of lists”
from past years can be painful. While Solange’s last album, A Seat At The Table, was in our top 5,
somehow the towering loveliness “Cranes in the Sky” didn’t even get into our
top 20 songs (gulp!!). The expansive song
appeared on CBC Radio 2 earlier this week and still sounds magnificent. Solange released her follow-up, When I Get Home, in March to enthusiastic
reviews.
19 tracks appear in 39 minutes with plenty of interludes between the longer songs. The first track to really hit is “Way To The Show” with its 80s influenced synths. “Stay Flo” is a slinky jam guaranteed to make shoulders dance. “Almeda” is harder hitting with its lyrics about brown liquor and a strong cameo from Playboi Carti. Co-Produced by Panda Bear, album highlight “Binz” is the bounciest track here with the playful vocal play hitting all the right notes. When I Get Home could use a few more substantial tracks but it plays like a really good jazz record that burns with cool blues in the background and hot reds that grab your attention.
In 2015, David Bowie started releasing remastered versions of all his albums and spreading them out over several box sets in a project that still continues. The first disc to appear on Five Years (1969-1973) is not his self-titled debut but rather 1969’s self-titled more commonly referred to as Space Oddity. Because of this, our David Bowie review journey will start here and hope to be done by the time we reach retirement age as we work through all the sets….
The standout is the title track and first song to appear on the album. A staggering work that seems teleported from outer space, “Space Oddity” is tailor made for late night rock radio. The lyrics have the listener float among the stars while the guitar hook halfway through is one every rock fan has memorized. A countdown appears in the background and just after it hits “lift off”, the song sets its controls for the sun and explodes into sound. While the rest of the album was produced by long time collaborator Tony Visconti, “Space Oddity” was cast off to Gus Dudgeon who helped create one of Bowie’s best loved songs.
The rest of the album struggles to be as important as the
title track but not for a lack of ambition on some of the longer songs. The
nearly seven minute “Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed” about an unwashed
hippie dating a rich girl features some great harmonica and horns. Bowie loses
the hippie dream on the unwieldly “Cygnet Committee” that veers in several
directions. Second single “Memory of a
Free Festival” about a festival Bowie played the year before closes out with
the mantra, “sun machine is coming down and we’re gonna have a party”
The remaster brightly highlights the bass on “Janine” and “An Occasional Dream” could easily slide onto a Belle & Sebastian album from the 90s. Elsewhere, a woman steals a can of stewing steak and declares “God Knows I’m Good” and that “God may look the other way today”. The orchestral “Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud” is a bit ridiculous but compelling at the same time. This pretty much sums up Space Oddity as a whole. It has many snippets of music that Bowie would later perfect on future albums so there are not many reasons to return here other than for the title track. Nonetheless, it is an interesting portrait of an artist starting to find his feet.
A few months ago, if someone had said that an album on the state of the world from former Brit Poppers was going to be one of the best releases of the year thus far, I would have been skeptical at best… but here we are. From the ashes of the Lush reunion comes the new project from Miki Berenyi. Joining forces with her partner KJ McKillop, Elastica’s Justin Welch and Modern English’s Mick Conroy, the band released first single “Everlastingly Yours” last November and the debut album followed in February. Berenyi’s voice is as distinctive as ever and while there are clearly shoegaze elements on this release, it is not rooted in nostalgia.
In the 90s, the emotional lyrics were about drinking and relationships but here Piroshka come out firing with political lyrics that claim “I take what’s yours and I’m not going to stop” and declare that “nobody here ever escapes with no blood on their hands”. One of the best songs here, “Hated By The Powers That Be”, turns the simple “I am love” lyric into “and you should feel as proud as me because we are love and we’re hated by the powers that be”.
“Village of The Damned”
about school yard shootings is somehow breezy in the weight of its subject
matter and in “Everlastingly Yours” features a nice bit of Welch working the
hi-hat. The ballads “Blameless” and “Heartbeats”
are the two that most sound like Lush at their quieter moments. Brickbat
is a timely release that has its full eyes and hearts on the here and now.
In the mid-80s, Pet Shop Boys’ sophisticated blend of
electronics and classic songwriting was leading to smash hits around the
globe. Following up their UK #2 album Actually, they released Introspective in October of 1988. With radio playing the shorter single versions,
the album flips the script by having the longer dance versions on the album
including a medley of hit single “Always On My Mind” and a previously released B-sides
in extended form. Even with the unusual track
listing, Introspective is the second
biggest seller of PSB’s career.
The band’s first singles collection, Discography, is one of my all-time favourites but the tracks from
Introspective rank as some of my least favourites. Presented here in extended
form allows them to breathe a bit more. “Domino
Dancing”, their last top 20 hit in the US is the most improved by this approach. The Latino horns mix with an extended
percussion section before a piano appears to make the listener’s hips sway. “Left
To My Own Devices” adds extra lyrics not included the single version but still
contains the classic line “In the back of my head I heard distant feet/Che
Guevara and Debussy to a disco beat”. The
music fades out at 5:35 to feature a terrific piano beat.
Initially given to Patsy Kensit’s band, Eighth Wonder, the PSB version of “I’m Not Scared” is what they do extremely well; dramatic lyrics with a (harder) electronic beat. “Always on My Mind/In My House” is more minimal and gives less focus on the strings than the single version. The second half amps up the house elements and repeats “always” throughout before the first track reappears in full glory. “It’s Alright” starts out with a bit of gospel before the frivolous lyrics of wishing music to save the world comes through.
The best versions of these songs appear on the album so the
Further Listening disc here is not as strong as the first disc. The demo version of “Domino Dancing” floats
by (in a good way) and two versions of its Spanish/Western influenced B-side “Don
Juan” appear. The jaunty chorus of “What Keeps Man Alive” sounds plucked from a
West End musical whereas “I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too)” and “One of The
Crowd” (with its lyrics about fishing) are made for the dancefloor. The disc ends with the beautiful and touching
ballad “Your Funny Uncle” about the funeral of a friend who sadly passed away
from Aids. Such as it is with this period
of Pet Shop Boys, even the lesser tracks are worthy and there are several diamonds
scattered here.
Hard to believe it’s been 11 years since the first s/t album from The Good, The Bad & The Queen. The Damon Albarn lead group includes Paul Simonon (The Clash), Simon Tong (The Verve) and the expert drumming of Tony Allen. With the cloud of Brexit hanging over England, Albarn sings what at times sounds like a stream of consciousness lyrics over a bed of improvised music. “Nineteen Seventeen” has no chorus and the lyrics of “The Great Fire” have a free association feel. The title track is an anxious yet very wordy statement on England and its current politics.
Unlike most modern albums, the second half is more memorable. “Drifters & Trawlers” is an anthem for weary workers the world over and “The Truce of Twilight” features rough and ready gang singing in the chorus. Great bassline and horns, this sounds like a mature ska band banging out a classic tune. Albarn is at his best when softly and wistfully looking back on times that may or may never have ever existed. “Ribbons” is one of his most beautiful songs in ages and closer “The Poison Tree” says goodbye with a dreamy organ lulling you to sleep.
Produced by Tony Visconti, there is a dark and creepy aspect to the album. Like a fairground closing down but you can still hear music playing from somewhere. On Merrie Land; The Good, The Bad & The Queen chases down England’s ghosts that haunt the alleyways and cobblestone corners. Not all of it works but there are moments that will haunt the listener’s mind long after the stereo has turned off but magically still plays.
The Light Appears 