Reviews by galway_rat

Back to December 30th, 2023

HL: “Play to Win”, “Geisha Boys and Temple Girls”, “Let’s Make a Bomb”, “We’re Going to Live for a Very Long Time”

Like another synth-pop album I really love, Architecture and Morality, I need to remember there wasn’t much of a blueprint for this stuff that would be everywhere by the mid-80s.
The reverb-less, dry production wasn’t something I cared for at first, esp. in “Fascist Groove Thing” & the title track.
I was about to write the album off as an early British new wave relic, but then the 2nd half’s more avant-garde tracks were surprisingly tolerable.
The pads in “Bomb” sound like something Aphex Twins or Boards of Canada would use

December 27th again

HL: title track, “Family Band”, “Love’s Enough”, “Ballad of the Ship of State”, “Montana Song”

Well this was delightful

The title and rustic cover did nothing to advertise the orchestrations and theatricalism on display, but also fits perfectly with Ackles’ pastoral ballads (“Love’s Enough”)

-1st note unrelated to the music... streaming has a stained-glass version of the cover art that I like quite a bit more
- is this what they mean by "eat hot chip and lie"
- In Our Heads continue the trend of modern albums on this list that sound like they're representing older decades. (Queen of Denmark, Kiwanuka, hell even Chemtrails Over the Country Club) Here's the thing my lil chili babies, I like those decades a *lot*, so I shouldn't be complaining at all.
-This sort-of renaissance of New Order & the Pet Shop Boys hits the spot, because it's derivative in a good way. The nostalgic synth bass of "Night and Day" is appropriated in a very funky and strange melody that isn't easily put in a box
(cuz Boxing Day)
- "These Chains" has a shuffl-y, UK garage sound, but enhanced with dreamy effects and, temporarily, a martial snare beat. None of these elements sound out of place to me
- if there's any reason why this isn't a 5 star classic, maybe it's that I underrate dance albums. Or that crave a more demented energy right now ( i.e. "Night and Day") over more polished tracks on display here ("Look at Where We Are", "Let Me Be Him")

December 26, 2023 📦

HL: "Night and Day", "Flutes", "Always Been Your Love", "Motion Sickness", "Don't Deny Your Heart"

also December 29th, 2023

HL: "Lose Control", "Girl From Mars", "Gone the Dream", "Kung Fu", "Innocent Smile"

The overblown guitars and strings are a match made in heaven and I'm not sure why

At least good enough to make me forget about my water boiling for my instant noods

December 27th, 2023

HL: “Make it Right”, “Get on Top”

Takes forever to go nowhere

I don’t often think “I wish I was listening to the Doors right now”, but I had that a couple times today

December 24th, 2023

HL: “The Worst Band in the World”, “Hotel”, “Wall Street Shuffle”, “Clockwork Creep”

Musically, it’s a smorgasbord of forward-thinking bops. Lyrically it contains some stuff that could just as easily be left behind in 1974.

HL: “When You Gonna Learn?”, “Too Young to Die”, “Music of the Mind”

The *bass*

December 23, 2023

HL: “I Can’t Dance”, “Hickory Wind”, “Love Hurts”, “In My Hour of Darkness”

Idk how many versions of “Love Hurts” I’ve listened to at this point but this is easily one of the most moving.
Also GP seems to be having more fun here (aside from the devastating ballads) doin his own thing than he did in Sweetheart of the Rodeo!

December 21, 2023

December 20, 2023

HL: “who sees you”, “new you”, "in another way"

Sad that 1001 Albums forgot about this, the entry for Loveless in the newest edition says they haven’t released an album since then -__-
So probably not essential for any non-MBV fans, but I found this pretty enjoyable.
How’s 21st-century My Bloody Valentine? Kinda similar to 90’s MBV but a bit more danceable 🕺

3.5

this took a while to rate, my first impression was that it's a bit slight, like 70's AM radio pop, but there are quite a few interesting layers and diversions that I didn't quite get on the first listen.

odd and disjointed but I might love it

HL: "In France They Kiss On Main Street", "The Jungle Line", "Shadows and Light", "Don't Interrupt the Sorrow", "Shades of Scarlett Conquering"

P.S. With the way I stopped and started this project, I've gotten a Joni Mitchell once a year since 2021. Looking forward to Hejira in 2024

never ask a woman her age,
a man his salary,
Wikipedia why we don't hear about Afrika Bambaataa anymore

If I'm going to be honest, this is pretty enjoyable 80's hip-hop for me (though I'd rank Paul's Boutique, It Takes A Nation of Millions, 3 Feet High & Rising, etc. all higher)
Maybe it's just been a good day for me, or maybe it's the blend of rap, funk & electronica doing something to transcend its 80's-ness

HL: title track, "Renegades of Funk", "Looking for the Perfect Beat", "Go Go Pop"

December 18, 2023

HL: "N.Y.", "Satellites", “There Goes the Fear”

The intro and album cover combined suggest a different, scarier album than what it actually is: nothing too out of line with other British 2000s indie, e.g. The Verve and Coldplay. Although Doves seems to have more of a flair for musical experimentation than their contemporaries, those diversions are mostly contained either when a song is ending or about to begin.

someday, I’ll relisten to this on the highway late at night and probably love it a lot more.

Special shoutout to the woodwinds in “The Sulphur Man” & “Friday’s Dust”

Ubu #2

My first impression is, I kinda liked this more than the first one? Even if that just means that I’m now more accustomed to the funhouse-mirror-warped rock that is Pere Ubu’s music.
Not the easiest of listens, but I think this gets a bad wrap on this website.
I can’t decide on the big finale “Codex”, on 1st listen it sounded like the worst song ever written, but I keep going back to it…? Hm

3.5

HL: title track, “On The Surface”, “Caligari’s Mirror”, “I Will Wait”

December 16th, 2023

December 15, 2023

HL: “9 Milli Bros”, “RAGU”, “Whip You With a Strap”, "Back Like That", "Dogs of War"

Obligatory “I saw the Wu-Tang live this year” reminder.
First off, I didn't expect how sunny this album sounds? The contrast between the soul/r&b samples and the gritty mafioso lyrical content creates a tension that might help hold the album together.

Looks like 'rateyourmusic' favourites MF Doom and J Dilla produced some of my favourite tracks. It's past time that I checked them out

3.5 (for now)

HL: “Human Behaviour”, “One Day”, “Venus as a Boy”, “Aeroplane”

Talk about R A N G E.
In the red corner, you have “Violently Happy”, “Big Time Sensuality” & “There’s More to Life Than This”, 90’s dance bops that don’t do a whole lot for me other than remind me that this is an album from the 90’s.
In the blue corner, there are the sharp woodwinds of “Aeroplane” & “The Anchor Song”, the incredibly catchy “Human Behaviour” and the harp/traffic ballad “Like Someone in Love”.
I think this rounds up for a 4* for going in so many neat directions, despite not vibing to a couple tracks.

A cursory trip to Wikipedia shows there was a non-album single called “Play Dead”, whose cinematic elements may have overwhelmed this already eclectic record; even so, it’s pretty great & I highly recommend

December 14, 2023

HL: “Sweet Emotion”, “Walk This Way”, “Round and Round”, “Uncle Salty”, “No More No More”

Back to the classics today

December 13, 2023

So good

I knew of TV on the Radio way back in 2009, when I had a subscription to Rolling Stone (at the age of 13 :/)
And maybe a contrarian streak kicked in, but the more they raved about this band, the less interested I was in seeking them out

As a result, I robbed myself of some funky, punky good times (especially because this would have been the album that Rolling Stone was raving about)-- until today :)

Even the point where I thought the album was getting too long was during the 2nd bonus track, “Dogs of Light”, so…

HL: “Crying”, “Gray Skies” (bonus track), "Stork & Owl", "Family Tree", "Lover's Day"

December 12, 2023

Mostly been a pretty undemanding week for me here, much of it I've already heard a lot on FM radio ("Stay With Me", "Wanted Dead or Alive")-- and still like to this day!
Kinda thought Cheap Trick would be an easy breezy 4 or 5, but apart from the trilogy of the Fats Domino cover, "I Want You to Want Me" & "Surrender", I don't think much of this was particularly elevated by being a live performance.
And generally, the thing I like the least about a live recording is the audience, and there's plenty of that here. Bookending At Budokan is about 2 straight minutes of screaming, which at a certain point oversells basically any band or song ever. There's a reason why I don't really seek live versions of Beatles songs

Don't let my mixed enjoyment of this live album fool you, I unapologetically like Cheap Trick's radio hits, even as much as "I Want You to Want Me" [Live] gets overplayed.
Hey Siri, play "The Flame"

HL: "Big Eyes", that trilogy

December 11, 2023

December 10, 2023

HL: "Could Well Be In", “Blinded By the Lights”, “Dry Your Eyes”, “Empty Cans”

I’ll need time to stew on this one.
Having only heard “Dry Your Eyes”, the grime-y parts came as a bit of a surprise.
The production and performances are sometimes inspired (the overlapping argument in “Get Out of My House”) sometimes irritating (the hook in “It Was Supposed to Be So Easy”). My first instinct is that Mike Skinner isn’t a good enough actor to portray the emotional hills & valleys, but then I remember this is a hiphop album, not a radio play.
The fact that I’m interested at all in the story is more than I can say for a lot of concept albums.

HL: "Stay With Me", "Debris", "That's All You Need"

December 7, 2023