Posted in Album Reviews

Vampire Weekend – Only God Was Above Us (2024)

Posted on by Michael

“F**ck the world” are the first lyrics heard on Vampire Weekend’s fifth album, Only God Was Above Us. Even with that lyric, the song starts off slow then really picks up with a galloping beat and furious strings a stringing. Like several songs on the album, “Classical” has a rap beat at it’s heart then adds some jazzy horns. The Surfer, cowritten with former band member Rostam Badmanglig, also has a hip hop feel though this time it’s more of a lazy, hazy beat. Koenig’s art school lyrics reach their heights on Mary Boone, the New York art dealer and collector on a track that also incorporates Soul II Soul’s smash “Back to Life”.

Where the album really shines on Ezra Koenig’s songs is the instrumentation of the main trio, including drummer Chris Thomson and bassist Chris Baio. The piano break on first single “Capricorn”, the jazzy bass of “Connect”, the excellent drumming of “Hope” is what really stands out on the 10 track album. While the second half drags slightly, the album never really falls off the tracks and there are plenty of terrific moments like the ones mentioned.  The preppy New York aesthetic is still there but they also travel downtown to add excellent jazz and rap elements as the band expands their sound.

8/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Siouxsie and the Banshees – Kaleidoscope (1980)

Posted on by Michael

After releasing Join Hands in 1979, it’s safe to say Siouxsie and the Banshees were in disarray.  Both guitarist John McKay and drummer Kenny Morris left the band on the day the album was released. Siouxsie and Steven Severin would then regroup and bring in new drummer Budgie who became a mainstay along with guitarist John McGeoch for their first release of the 80s,  Kaleidoscope.

The first single was a sarcastic take on the drama the band had endured.  “Happy House” is one of their best tracks – gloomy with pop sensibilities that went into the UK top 20.  Here, Siouxsie deadpans that that happy house is “such fun” and that “it never rains”. A bass riff played through electronics powers “Tenant” that dispenses any of tongue in cheek joy that precedes it, it’s the happy house at night when the squatters move in.  Downbeat with glitchy beats, “Lunar Camel” could have come out in the last 10 years and been hailed as innovative.

“Hybrid” puts the drumbeat front and centre, with a ringing guitar and wailing horn. While there is a lot going on musically, the song is always locked down and the quieter moments are quite lovely.  Second single “Christine” is another highlight. Lyrics by Severin, the song chronicles the split personality of Christine Sizemore over an acoustic guitar strum and chugging bassline.  It’s just one of many tracks that create an atmosphere all their own on a highly influential album. Kaleidoscope would see Siouxsie and the Banshees continue to move well past their punk origins into helping form the underground music world of the 1980s.

9/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Bob Dylan – Planet Waves (1974)

Posted on by Michael

In late 1973, Bob Dylan entered the studio with old friends The Band to work on songs that would become Planet Waves. For the most part, gone are the voice of the generation songs that defined his 60s output.  Instead, “You Angel You” uses lyrical clichés on lines like “the way you walk and the way you talk” but is played with energetic country rock making it a winner. “Tough Mama” is a bit funky with some terrific organ work from Garth Hudson and opening “On A Night Like This” works as a country tinged uptempo folk song. 

Dylan’s ode to to one of his sons, “Forever Young” appears in two different versions with the slower version working as a lullaby. “Dirge” takes in a classic dirgy melody as he sings that he has “paid the price of solitude, but at least I’m out of debt”.  Album closer “Wedding Song” is a terrific acoustic song in the older Dylan style but replaces the politics with love. 

Surprisingly, this is the first Bob Dylan album to go to #1 in the US where it stayed for for four weeks starting in mid February, 1974.  His first release for Asylum Records after leaving his longtime Columbia home, Planet Waves is greatly benefited by the playing of The Band who help elevate an album of OK songs. Like 1970’s New Morning, this is another album of decent 70s singer songwriter tracks but nothing that could be called essential.

6.5/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Elbow – Audio Vertigo (2024)

Posted on by Michael

On Elbow’s tenths studio album, the band rides the groove on several songs including the swampy murk of first track, “Things I’ve Been Telling Myself For Years” where singer Guy Garvey sings of “kissing hands and shaking babies”.  “Her To Earth” uses mumbled lyrics as a sound bed with a bit of an 80s vibe while second single “Balu” sees synths dominate with some horns thrown in for funky effect. “Lovers’ Leap” uses vocal effects with a steady bass groove.

The second half sees the band sound like an older, wiser indie rock band.  Newest official member, drummer Alex Reeves provides the quick beats of “The Picture” where a hotel room provides the scene of a woman that is like “a slender elegant foot on the neck”. “Knife Fight” and “Good Blood Mexico City” provide two great rock tracks with Garvey singing “when the sun goes down/the night explodes in their eyes” on the latter.  It’s on those songs plus the closing “From The River” that lifts Audio Vertigo up a couple notches for yet another solid Elbow record.

7.5/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Oasis – Definitely Maybe (Deluxe Edition – 2014)

Posted on by Michael

1994 was a pivotal year for music. Artists who released notable albums include Green Day, Weezer, Hole, Soundgarden, The Beastie Boys, NAS, Notorious B.I.G., Jeff Buckley, Sloan, Nirvana, NIN, blur, Portishead, Manic Street Preachers, Suede, etc. On August 29th, one of the decade’s biggest albums was released by a new Mancunian band named Oasis. Lead by loudmouth brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher, the band’s debut album Definitely Maybe would become the fastest selling debut in UK history and land at #1 on the UK chart.

Oasis in 1994 was a mixture of UK guitar based bands up until that point.  The base was 60s British rock, with a punk attitude infused with 1990s British lad culture.  First track, “Rock N Roll Star” laid down the band’s intent, the first of several songs that have lived on for 30 years through concert setlists. Noel has regularly said that the band’s first single, “Supersonic” is his favourite Oasis track.  “Live Forever” has long been a feature at the end of concerts for both Gallagher brothers on solo tours while fan favourite “Slide Away” shows a loving heart beneath the bluster. 

For its 20th anniversary in 2014, the band released a deluxe edition that features an additional 2 discs of b-sides, singles, live tracks, and rarities.  The Noel Gallagher acoustic track “Sad Song” appears, a song that had only appeared on the vinyl version of the debut.  The second disc contains one of the band’s fiercest early songs in “Fade Away” along with their live cover of The Beatles’ “I Am The Walrus”.  The second disc closes with the single “Whatever” released in December 1994 and went to #3 in the UK singles charts.  The b-side “Half the World Away” is the last track – it would later go on to be the theme song to British show The Royale’s as well as covered in a popular John Lewis Christmas advert.

The third disc contains an acoustic version of the band’s second single, “Shakermaker” that cheekily adds a verse from the Coca-Cola 70s advert jingle, a soundalike song that landed the band in legal trouble. The psychedelic swirl of “Columbia (Eden Studios Mix)” appears with a snarling live version of “Cigarettes and Alcohol” before closing with the strings only mix of “Whatever”.  Thirty years on, Definitely Maybe remains one of the classic UK rock albums of all time. The deluxe edition is a must have reminder of how things were in 1994 as Britpop started to take flight.

Definitely Maybe – 10/10

Extra Discs – 9/10