Tag: Robert Forster

Posted in Listed

10 Favourite Songs of 2023

Posted on by Michael

10. Slowdive – Alife: A mix of singing between Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead, “Alife” was the last single released from Slowdive’s album, everything is alive. The ocean of guitar with buried vocals is a pop song from another dimension, one with a constant refrain of “two hard lives are hard lives with you”.  Love is in the air.

9. Lana Del Rey – A&W:  One of the most unique tracks in popular music in 2023 was “A&W” from Lana Del Rey.  Instead of hamburgers, the song instead refers to an “American Whore”.  A song of two halves, the track is an unusual mix of folk and trap music, two styles that have figured in her music throughout Del Rey’s career.

8. Belle and Sebastian – When We Were Very Young: Belle and Sebastian released another great record early in the year. Containing the classic Stuart Murdoch line, “I wish I could be content with the football scores”, “When We Were Very Young” is another B&S track for all the outsiders.

7. Emma Anderson – Clusters: From an album bathed in light and twinkling stars, last track “Clusters” from Emma Anderson is one of the best.  Her voice floats above the air with lines like, “all the pretty boys/all the pretty girls”, then when she sings “dodododo”, it’s impossible not to sing along.

6. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Save the World: Jason Isbell released one of the most powerful songs of living in America with “Save the World” about a school shooting.  Grappling with senseless violence is something virtually all of us deal with every week whether a personal story or one read in the paper.  Isbell’s track shows you’re not alone in trying to figure this out.

5. Yo La Tengo – Apology Letter: Not released as a single, one of the most memorable songs on the latest from Yo La Tengo is the song, “Apology Letter”.  Ira Kaplan sings the funny/sad line, “And then I got mad because you got mad/another one of my delightful quirks/what a jerk”.

4. Robert Forster – Tender Years: One of the highlights of the latest album from Robert Forster was his tribute to his wife, “Tender Years”.  The touching song is an easy going track lead by a strumming guitar and features the line, “I’m in a story with her/No, I can’t live without her”. Love is definitely in the air here. (Video released in November 2022)

3. The Beatles – Now and Then: One of the most haunting sounds of 2023 was hearing John Lennon signing the first words “I know it’s true…” in the “Now and Then” song released as an official single by The Beatles. A much better track than what the band released in the 1990s, the song was not without its detractors… but the rest of us loved it.

2. blur – The Narcissist: Like other “nostalgia acts” releasing new music in 2023, blur released a track sure to be one of their finest with “The Narcissist”.  One that will be sung loudly at future concerts, the line “I’ll be shining light in your eyes/you’ll probably shine it back on me” is spine tingling.

1. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Easy Now: One of Noel Gallagher’s best tracks of his solo career, “Easy Now” was released in early 2023 with a memorable video featuring Milly Alcock from House of the Dragon. One of Noel’s best vocals that he uses to great effect. The skyscraper chorus rivals his most lighters up in the air tracks with his former band, Oasis.

Posted in Album Reviews

Robert Forster – The Candle And The Flame (2023)

Posted on by Michael

The eighth solo album from former Go-Betweens front man, Robert Forster is a family affair. Faced with the news that wife Karen Baumler was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer, son Louis adds guitar/bass/percussion and daughter Loretta adds additional guitar on the home recorded tracks. What stands out immediately is the stellar guitar playing on song such as “It’s Only Poison” and the warm tones of “Go Free”.

Album highlight, “Tender Years” is a beautiful tribute to his wife where Forster sings, “Images of her are vivid/Her beauty has not withered”.  “The Roads” is another acoustic track about the roads we travel that eventually lead back home. First song, “She’s a Fighter” just repeats the title over and over.  The driving acoustic guitar adds tension in a fight where his wife is “fighting for good”.  The Candle And The Flame is another classy, mature record from the elder statesman of the indie rock community.

7.5/10

Posted in Listed

Favourite Albums of 2019

Posted on by Michael

5.  Purple Mountains – Purple Mountains:  The music world lost a lot of great musicians in 2019 including David Berman of Purple Mountains.  This was my first introduction to the man’s music and was touched by many of the lyrics contained here.  Knowing what happened to Berman soon after release makes some of the songs hard to listen to but this is part of his legacy that he passed on to us. Purple Mountains touches on many of the emotions we all feel from time to time and let’s us know we are not alone. This album will live on for a very long time.

4.  Robert Forster – Inferno:  Another long running musician that I was really hearing for the first time in 2019.  Ex of the much-loved Go-Betweens, Forster doesn’t sound dissimilar to Leonard Cohen and at times on tracks like “The Morning” and “Life Has Turned A Page” he offers much wisdom.  Like Cohen, Forster’s music is mature and on the cover he looks dapper as hell.  We can still aspire to be this cool.

3.  Vampire Weekend – Father Of The Bride:  This came out in May and was ready made for the summer. More complex musically than past releases and adding in a few cameos, most notably from Danielle Haim, this continues to increase the range of Vampire Weekend releases.  Many gems to be found here including “Sunflower”, “How Long”, and especially our song of the year – “Harmony Hall”.  Like most albums at 18 tracks long, there are a few that can be skipped but those are relatively few on an album that can be played on repeat for several hours.

2.  Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell!:  This album is getting lots of love even from people who don’t normally show it to Del Rey. Admittedly, the last few albums can be a bit hit and miss at times but this one never lags and distills the best of her sound onto 12 songs. “Venice Bitch” was a favourite from last year and “Mariners Apartment Complex” sounds like a movie in four minutes. “California” and “The Greatest” are timeless tracks that could have been released at any time in the last 40 years.  This is Lana Del Rey’s best album.

1.  Fontaines D.C. – Dogrel:  It’s not very often a straight up rock record gets us this excited but Dublin’s Fontaines D.C. delivered blow after blow on their debut.  It’s amazing that this literary band released poem collections before forming a band, as they seem ready made for the big stages in the UK. “Hurricane Laughter”, “Chequeless Reckless”, and “Boys In The Better Land” are a roar heard across the world as people keep falling for the band’s charms.  This is the best rock album we’ve heard in years.

Posted in Album Reviews

Robert Forster – Inferno (2019)

Posted on by Michael

In a never-ending cycle of collecting music, I bought the five-disc album collection from The Go-Betweens based solely on their reputation.  Even though this is now the sixth album of Robert Forster music that I have in my (online) collection, this is the first one I’ve ever listened to. Inferno is the man’s seventh solo album and is a noted favourite of Andy Greenwald’s.  

Forster looks dapper with a great outlook on life, subtly uplifting and spiritual. “I know what it’s like to be ignored forgotten” he sings on “Remain” where the lyrics recall James Clear’s lessons of doing great work in obscurity.  To a flamenco tune, “Life Has Turned A Page” sees a family growing old where the breezy “I’ll Look After You” focuses on supporting each other in a relationship.  “Inferno (Brisbane in the Summer)” is a fiery track about the increasing heat in Australia that is burning up the country. 

After the youthful punk energy of Fontaines D.C., coming to this album is a complete 180.  “The Morning” is a reflection on waking up to the warming sun after a scary dream, both grateful and reflective.  At five minutes, last track “One Bird In The Sky” is almost epic about “eat only what I eat and breathe what I breathe”.  Clocking in at 35 minutes, Forster has created a musical short story collection about growing older and accepting who you are in this ridiculous world.

8.5/10