Reviews by henry-winchester

Essentially a 50-minute prologue and a 15-minute epilogue for "Mr Blue Sky."

Silly and stupid and cartoony, but also ridiculously tight and musically proficient. Like a well-made horror film.

I always thought I preferred Underworld to Leftfield, but this album really is a banger. Especially when "Open Up" just comes out of nowhere and completely fucks you up.

I had the gravel wheels on my bike, so I went for an off-road course and got a bit lost and scratched up. It was a nice day. I had this as my soundtrack and it was perfect.
I should probably get a job, but for now this feels like it's what life is about. Why can't we just do shit like this all day, every day.

I never really got Bjork and always thought she was indulging in weirdness for its own sake. But this is such an assured, um, debut and it really works, balancing weird with accessible. Each track stands on its own two feet, but it also feels cohesive as an album.
I get Bjork.

This really shouldn't work, but it really does.

I had "Some Kind of Kink" as one of my five or so MP3s in 2001! I was expecting this to be unsatisfying, but it's not actually too bad. It does seem there were a lot of tone-deaf singers in this era though.

A bit too scrappy for my liking.

This was nice and chill, but also it's basically classical music and I'm not sure why it's here?

I didn't realise how much rap albums needed a bad English evil accent until now. This was also switched-on and super exciting, although I'm not sure how well "Da Bichez" will go down now.

All the ingredients of their later albums are here: the tight, euphoric grooves, the Britpop cameos, the final comedown track. It's not quite as polished or confident as the follow-up albums, but it makes up for it with sheer innovation and charm.

Loved it.

I initially hated this, but when I realised every single little thing is in service of Mariah Carey's Voice™ it's actually kind of amazing. It's musically and lyrically so light it needs to be tied down, but just Mariah Carey's Voice™ OMG.

This is what Prefab Sprout would sound like if they had talent.

I saw Suede live last year and, despite my low expectations they were amazing. Brett is such a natural frontman and he has the energy of someone a quarter of his age.
This album is great as well; like The Verve, I much prefer their earlier slightly shoegazery stuff. It does sag towards the end a bit though.

Elliott's one of those artists who gets a little bit better each time I listen to him. Very easy to dismiss as slacker rock, but there's something heartbreakingly beautiful and melancholic about it as well, like he's super smart and obviously knew his intentions.

Actually enjoyed this? I don't know what's wrong with me.

I remember my dad having this on tape in the 80s. I hated it and always complained about Cohen being so depressing and moany.
But now his wit and mastery shines through. It's such a weird combination of Cohen's world-weary vocals and (then) state-of-the-art electronic compositions, but somehow it works brilliantly.
Sorry, Dad!

"Sunday Shining" is such an evocative song for me and I love it. It's almost jazz-like in the way it constantly shifts and changes. The rest of the album is patchy as hell, sometimes verging into futuristic dubstep while other tracks sound like Finley was high with a tape recorder in his bedroom.
Also not sure if Finley himself is "troubled" or "a complete dick."

Holy shit. Psalm.