Reviews by ikejiri

What’s That Noise?
*This isn’t on Tidal, so it was a YT listen.

I don’t think I ever really knew what type of music Coldcut made, even though I know the name. I think I assumed they were a straight ahead hip hop group from the US, but, while that is clearly an element of their makeup I wasn’t expecting a primarily electronic/house album. And I didn’t actually know they did People Hold On, I always thought that was a Lisa Stansfield solo track.

Anyhow it’s a great listen, with a great sense of energy. People Hold On is a banger, Fat and Which Doctor have a great downtempo groove to them, and In Deep has a nice synthy/electroclash feel. I particularly love the juxtaposition of the two Lancastrians with Mark E Smith’s flat tones on I’m in Deep against Lisa Stansfield’s soulfulness on My Telephone.

I do like the scratching and sampling of Stop this Crazy Thing, although I’m not super keen on the electro-swing sound. No Connection is great, as is the ragga Smoke 1. Doctorin’ the House has a great squelchy bassline, and Yazz’s vocals are excellent, but it’s possibly the one track where it gets a bit close to Jive Bunny. What’s That Noise though is a great eclectic mash up.

It pulls the curious trick of sounding very much of the time period it’s from, while still sounding fresh and interesting, with a fun sense of magpying from different genres, and you can also hear the influence it would have subsequently

It’s a shame it’s not on streaming, as I would definitely listen more if it was easily available, it’s a great record and a 4 for me.
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Playlist submission: People Hold On

Bad Company
Can’t Get Enough is a cracker, a great bit of catchy bluesy pubby classic 70s rock, with a superb drum sound. And despite a slight tang of glibness and undoubted lyrical cliche I’ve always liked Paul Rodgers’ voice, his tone fitting this style of music perfectly.

I like Don’t Let Down and Bad Company (despite some terrible lyrics), Movin’ On is good and Seagull is probably the strongest song behind Can’t Get Enough, a lovely tilt at folky introspection, especially in contrast to much of the album, which although never awful, is ultimately a bit of a 70s blues-rock plod. Free and Mott the Hoople are both great, so you might expect more from a supergroup of those two, and although they are probably closest to Free spiritually, they haven’t carried through the same litheness and groove and then there is very little of the glam fun of MTH.

It’s never unlistenable though, and although I’d rather listen to Free, I would probably come back to this in the right mood, so I’ll go 3.
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Playlist submission: Can’t Get Enough

Headquarters
The context of this is perhaps more interesting than the actual album, even if the self penned tracks are generally among the strongest, and it does drag a little for an album that is only 30 minutes long. I do love the combination of their voices though, their harmonies and vocal sound are distinctly mid 60s in a very pleasing way.

It starts off well with the excellent You Told Me, but the less said about Band 6 the better. You Just May Be the One is good, with a great bassline and tone. For Pete’s Sake is a nice Byrds/Buffalo Springfield country rock track, as is Sunny Girlfriend. I’ve never liked Randy Scouse Git. I’ll Spend My Life With You, Early Morning Blues and Greens and Shades of Grey are probably the best of the rest.

The story of the Monkees and their desire for creative input into what was a quite insane output of content in their name is fascinating. As part of that story this is a nice historical curio, containing a handful of enjoyable mid 60s songs. But it’s also notable that this was released 4 days before Sgt Pepper, and in that light it feels like it already sounded anachronistic as soon as it came out.

Still I did enjoy it, both musically and contextually, so I think it makes the 3s.
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Playlist submission: You Told Me

1977
If Dig Your Own Hole was spring of 1997 A-Levels, this is pure summer of 1996 A-Levels. I haven’t listened to it in years but it still feels like a summer album, particularly Goldfinger, Girl from Mars and of course Oh Yeah, with its evocation of summer holidays from school.

I absolutely loved this when it came out, but listening now it’s striking how American, particularly grunge and US punk sounding it is, something I don’t think I realised back in 1996. I’m not massively into those genres, but I think their sense of pop melody really differentiates them, and particularly Tim Wheeler's voice. It's very slight and teenage sounding, but that lightness and naivety combined with some excellent melodies gives their best songs a great dynamic.

Those singles remain superb; Goldfinger, Girl from Mars, Kung Fu, Angel Interceptor and Oh Yeah in particular, and I still really like Lose Control and Let it Flow and Darkside Lightside is decent, but I’m not sure the rest stand up particularly well, not least as I had no rush of memory hearing them again now, and many of them do feel quite underdeveloped.

Ultimately it's a bit of a mixed bag of some truly excellent songs, a massive heap of teenage nostalgia and some rather forgettable songs, putting it on the cusp of 3 and 4. I’ll let Oh Yeah and the nostalgia carry the day and give it a 4.
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Playlist submission: Oh Yeah

Are You Experienced
This is a brilliant album, and one that particularly reminds me of the summer of 1998 between the 1st and 2nd years at Uni for some reason. I had the UK CD version, which at the time I didn’t realise wasn’t the original track listing - I always just assumed it was an hour long and had Hey Joe and Purple Haze on it.

You could easily argue that the original US release is a stronger album, with those two tracks and the excellent The Wind Cries Mary, but as the UK version was released a few months before the US version, and as it's the CD I had, I’ll stick to it for this.

As much as I love Electric Ladyland, and as much as this was sporadically recorded and put together, it feels like his most focused and consistent album, or at least the most immediate and direct, and it drips with the weight of everything it subsequently influenced, for good and for bad.

Against the output of many of his contemporaries, his synthesis of blues, psychedelia, jazz and rock and roll is fantastic, Mitch Mitchell’s superlative drumming gives it groove and swing alongside the guitar, and stops it from getting bogged down in leaden footed blues rock orotundity.

It's interesting that he never liked his voice, I think it’s great, his laconic, sometimes spoken delivery complements his guitar playing brilliantly, I really don’t think the songs would work without that voice. It’s a great set of songs too; Foxy Lady, Love or Confusion, I Don’t Love Today, the brilliant Fleetwood Mac-esque May This Be Love, Fire, the Doorsy 3rd Stone From the Sun and the fantastic Are You Experienced, are all bangers.

Sometimes those classic 5 star albums aren’t actually great, but this is. 5.
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Playlist submission: Are You Experienced?

Colour by Numbers
I really love Church of the Poisoned Mind, and despite Karma Chameleon being school discoed / 80s playlisted to the point of background music, it’s clearly an excellently and skillfully tooled reggae lilted new-wave banger. It’s a Miracle continues in that reggae-pop vein and is also incredibly catchy and also very school disco.

But I wasn’t expecting so much of the rest of it to be so soul influenced, which, bearing in mind COTPM is heavily inspired by Uptight, I probably should have. Black Money, Changing Every Day, That’s the Way and Victims all stand out in this regard.

It also feels a lot like Wham!/George Michael in places, particularly the 2nd side run from Miss Me Blind of Victimes. George and George both share similar vocal tones, and if you heard Miss Me Blind on the radio it could quite easily be mistaken for either artist.

It’s on the cusp of 3 and 4. It’s a far more interesting album than the ubiquity of Karma Chameleon would suggest, and there are some excellent tracks in KC, COTPM, Black Money, and Miss Me Blind. But despite it’s soulfulness I do think it drifts a little at the back end after Miss Me Blind, Mister Man and Stormkeeper feeling like they get a bit lost. I’ll definitely come back, but I’m not sure I’ll come back enough for it to be a 4, so I’ll go with a very high 3.
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Playlist submission: Church of the Poisoned Mind

Dire Straits
It’s amazing how self assured this sounds for a debut, their harking back to a bluesy folksy early 70s sound in stark contrast to new wave, post punk and disco around them elsewhere in 1978. But then Knopfler’s stock in trade has always been in tasteful, considered and accomplished songwriting, so it feels like it makes sense it sounds so fully formed.

Sultans of Swing is of course superb, the most immediate and direct stand out, but the rest of the album around it is excellent as well, for all the same reasons: Dylan-esque imagery, a hushed but spiky conversational singing style, tight arrangements and graceful, elegant guitar playing.

The first side is great, particularly the opening pair of Down to the Waterline and the brilliant Water of Love, as well as Six Blade Knife and Southbound Again, and side two is equally as good, I love In the Gallery and Wild West End.

It’s a brilliantly satisfying listen, and 5 for me.
☪️☪️☪️☪️☪️
Playlist submission: It probably has to be Sultans of Swing

Porcupine
Two of their best songs, Back of Love and The Cutter front load this, and while there’s nothing as immediate and as great as those, it’s worth persevering with as there are some excellent songs that take their time to warm up, and ultimately its a solid to very good album, if clearly not at the same level as Ocean Rain.

It carries some of the darkness of their new wave/proto goth contemporaries, particularly on My White Devil with it’s excellent bass hook and the title track, although I don’t think it has quite the same density or mass to it as, say, Juju, with a slight sense of that gloominess being slightly ill fitting.

It has a few relative dips in Clay, Heads Will Roll and Gods Will Be Gods, but it does finish very strongly with Ripeness, Higher Hell and the excellent In Bluer Skies. It’s between a 3 and a 4, but as I am a fan of the band and as alongside The Cutter and Back of Love there are some great slow burning tracks, I’ll just nudge it to a 4.
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Playlist submission: The Cutter

Live at the Harlem Square Club
Obviously he has one of the greatest voices of all time, and it is excellent here, with a worn-in rasp that really accentuates both his tenderness and ruggedness across some of his best songs - Chain Gang, Cupid, Twistin’ the Night Away and Bring it on Home (although his stage patter could do with some work). The band are great too, tight and efficient, backing him without ever threatening to upstage him, although they aren’t as well recorded as his voice.

It definitely does feel raw and raucous, especially for 1963, but, I can’t help the nagging sense of him kind of rushing through his set, like he can’t wait to be somewhere else and that he’s not fully engaged. The vocal ad libs sound a bit practiced, and as the medley of It’s Alright and For Sentimental Reasons transitions it sounds a bit autopilot-y to me.

It’s tricky to rate. Even if (to me) he is phoning it in a little, his voice is superb, and the songs are very good. But it isn’t recorded well, so it’s not really a particularly easy listen. I think that all balances out as a 3.
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Playlist submission: Twistin’ The Night Away

Dig Your Own Hole
This is pure 1997, right between A-Level mocks and the actual exams, when I passed my driving test and listened to this on my discman on a gimbal in my car, with one of those cassette to mini-jack adapters.

I haven’t really revisited this as often as I should have, there’s clearly a huge amount of nostalgia baked in, but it is a superb album. The 4 or 5 singles - Block Rockin’ Beats, Setting Sun, Elektrobank, Where Do I Begin and The Private Psychedelic Reel - are all fantastic, but the rest of the album is great too, a characteristic mix of rave, house, psychedelia and hip hop with some excellent, catchy hooks and samples.

I bought the Setting Sun single, and although I marginally prefer Let Forever Be of the two collaborations with Noel, it is still an absolute banger, a brilliant mash up of rave, Tomorrow Never Knows drums and Noel’s melodic skill and lyrical daftness. Much has been made of the influence of Tomorrow Never Knows, and maybe I’m looking for it too much, but I think there’s quite a bit of Ringo elsewhere too - the Ticket to Ride/Rain/TNK broken drum patterns and are scattered throughout, and there are some very swinging fills too, not least on the fantastic Private Psychedelic Reel.

You could argue there is a bit of a dip from It Doesn’t Matter to Get Up On It Like This, and although I like each of those songs I think there is a bit of a similarity of feel in this section and you probably could lose Get Up On It Like This and not miss a great deal, before the excellent bass driven Lost in the K-Hole (for when you eat too much Special K), Where Do I Begin’s superb electro-folk and the excellence of The Private Psychedelic Reel.

Nostalgia aside, and while it may be one song too long, those big songs are enough for a 5, even more so when the rest of the songs are great as well
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Playlist submission: It’s Setting Sun really, but I do love The Private Psychedelic Reel.

The Colour of Spring
Although I would likely gravitate more towards the fantastic Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock, this is still an excellent album and an interesting meeting point between their synthpop origins and the strange, austere magic of those next two albums.

There’s a bit of jazz, a bit of psychedelia, a bit of Eno-ness in places and a kind of icy dreaminess to it, almost like being held at arms length. Despite the warmth of the bass (both electric and stand up) and the organ, it feels like the drums and piano have an algid quality to them.

You can almost hear moments, eg on Life is What You Make It or Time It’s Time, where it feels like It’s My Life is going to break out, and Living in Another World has some of the poppy exuberance of their first couple of albums, but around those moments it’s full of considered, meticulous layers of instrumentation, with songs slowly unfolding themselves, especially on repeat listens - although Happiness is Easy is pretty catchy, it is brilliantly arranged, languidly building piece by piece. I Don’t Believe You is a grower too, I love the George Martin-esque horns over the last half. April 5th, a song surely about the last day of the tax year, has some of that iciness and distance to it, a superb downcast song that never quite resolves, with a little touch of Astral Weeks. Give It Up has a great soulful swirl to it, I think the first song where you get close to the emotions of the narrator, before the maudlin, solemnity of the superb Chameleon.

It’s a superb album in its own right, but also as the sole Talk Talk album on the list its easily a 5.
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Playlist submission: Give It Up

Third
*_The version I listened to on Tidal is the 1992 Rykodisc edition, but I ignored the bonus tracks_.

This is a bit of a funny one. Without context it all feels rather ramshackle, slipshod and slapdash, and not really like an album at all, more a collection of demos and sketches. Whereas if you are a fan of Big Star and if you like their first two albums it makes much more sense in light of their disintegration and Alex Chilton’s declining mental state.

With that in mind it certainly does achieve moments of genuine transcendent brilliance, and it clearly has all the ingredients and circumstances to be a cult record, but as its own listening experience I’m not convinced it stands up _that_ well - if it wasn’t by Big Star I doubt it would be remembered, and it would be unlikely that you would have to hear it before your die.

Its influence on 90s lo-fi is very palpable though, not least on two recent albums we’ve had, Pavement and Mercury Rev, and the cover of Femme Fatale traces a neat line from the late 60s through the 70s and then through that influence on to the 90s.

For a hit of Big Star I would nearly always reach for #1 Record or Radio City, but this definitely an interesting album, although I do think the ratio of context to quality is a little out of balance, so I’ll go 3.
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Playlist submission: You Can’t Have Me

Ingénue
There are some songs and some moments when this is either very good or very pleasant, i.e. the low key and rather lovely country shuffle of Save Me, Outside Myself, or the undeniably excellent Constant Craving, or when it leans closer to country, but they are too often outweighed by the overwhelming sense of ho hum musical theatre jazziness that pervades much of the rest of it, a result of the Marlene Dietrich inspiration I suppose.

Musically it’s all very skilfully and tastefully performed, but that extreme competency only adds to that lacklustre ambiance, and although she clearly has a very, very good voice I do find it a bit characterless, and I struggle to engage with it fully, again adding to the slightly bland experience and the sense that it just drifts by between the very good opening and closing songs.

It’s between a 2 and 3 on relistenability - for competency and execution it’s easily 3, but I just can’t imagine listening again, so I’ll go 2.
🧒🧒
Playlist submission: Save Me

Slanted and Enchanted
I’ve never got into Pavement, not because I don’t think I’d like them, but because I’ve never really tried. I used to like Shady Lane, I remember that being played a fair bit on Radio 1 around A-Levels.
I liked this, although it took a few listens to get into the swing of it, and there were bits I liked more than others. But the lo-fi-ness, their calling card, is definitely charming in a ramshackle way, and underneath the sense of laissez faire intelligence is a slightly caustic undercurrent and of course a skill at off kilter melody and catchiness

I get quite a bit of Jonathan Richman, as well as Sonic Youth and MBV and a little bit of glam in the tone of the lead guitar, particularly on the very good Summer Babe, Trigger Cut and No Life Singed Her. There’s a bit of Pixies/surf to the sound of In The Mouth of the Desert and the excellent Conduit for Sale, with its catchy backing vocals. Zurich is Stained is great too, a great lo-fi melancholic track.

It continues much in that vein, some noisier and bouncier like Two States, some more low key, like the lovely Here, some more sludgy like Fame Throwa, and some somewhere in the middle like the hypnotic Jackals.

Although it’s not totally my sort of thing, it grew on me with repeat listens, its slightly skewed lo fi alt rock is much more playful and interesting than many of the other bands in this period, and I’m keen to listen to more of their albums, and I think it just tips into a 4.
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Playlist submission: Conduit for Sale!

I See You
Compared to xx this is pretty boring. Although xx is a bit one trick, it was a very well done one trick, with a reverby, atmospheric elegance and legerdemain.

That well very much feels like it has run dry here, there’s a real lack of artfulness and interest, missing the enigmatic character of xx, and it all feels pretty rote and uninspired. The only song that really stood out was I Dare You, the only song hinting at the quality of xx.

A bit of a disappointment, and I don’t think I’ll revisit, so a 2 for me.
❌❌
Playlist submission: I Dare You

Cypress Hill
I didn’t have many particular expectations either way going into this.

Pigs is a great opener, the hook sample is excellent and that overall funk/soul vibe continues with How Could I Just Kill a Man’s using Tramp, and throughout the rest there are further great samples including Muddy Waters on Ultraviolet Dreams, giving the whole thing a pleasing sound. Rhythmically, however, and despite the great soul samples, I found it curiously un-groovy, feeling a bit leaden footed in places, with the exception of the insistent Latin Lingo

Vocally I like their Latin American tone, giving them a distinctive sound and also a slightly different point of view from their contemporaries, however I don’t find their lyrics to always be that interesting or that convincing, I don’t get the same sense I get from Nas or Wu Tang Clan about the violence and inequality around them - although I do believe they aren’t fans of the police.

But overall I enjoyed it, the extensive soul sampling pointing to the West Coast sounds to come and giving it a very listenable quality, even if rhythmically and lyrically it left less of an impression. I’ll go for a high 3.
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Playlist submission: Pigs

More Specials
There are some great tracks on here; Man at C&A, Stereotype, Do Nothing, I Can’t Stand It, International Jet Set, the ebullient cover of Sock it to ‘em JB and the push of new influences and sounds on the music is estimable, if imperfect, ut it does feel a bit disjointed and the apparent exhaustion they were feeling definitely gives it a curious sense, a slightly flat, jaded feeling. The energy and focus of the first album has definitely dissipated, and you can feel the tension of the different members wanting to pull in different directions.

It is an enjoyable album, but even with those highlights it’s clearly a notch or two below their debut, so I think it settles as a high 3.
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Playlist submission: Stereotype

Seventh Tree
I was really surprised by how great this was. I wasn’t keen on Felt Mountain at all, and although I like the synth pop of their previous two albums I wasn’t necessarily expecting such a low key, pared back album of folk and downtempo electronica.

The golden hour light of the album cover is reflected in the analogue warmth of the sound, with strings, bass and guitars interlaced with subtle, atmospheric synths and sampled drums and percussion, creating a dreamy, hazy soundscape.

Clowns is rather lovely for a song about fake tits, with a superb string arrangement, and I love the burbly, bubbling synth on Little Bird, as it builds into a superb psychedelic-dance conclusion, recalling Strawberry Fields with the drums and bass. Happiness feels like it could have been an electro-synth pop banger on Black Cherry or Supernature, but here it feels more whimsical and baroque, and it works really well. Road to Somewhere has another great string arrangement, and is a nice track, if maybe not as compelling as some of the others. Eat Yourself feels a bit Pepper/MMT/White Album in its slightly creepy childlike atmosphere, and I love the swelling strings of Some People, even if it does feel slightly Radio 2 in places. A&E is another great folktronica track, picked guitars, strings and synths working brilliantly together as it builds. Cologne Cerrone Houdini, along with Little Bird is probably the stand out track, yet more superb strings and an ethereal vocal melody, carried along by some lovely bass and guitar, feeling like slightly more sophisticated Morcheeba. Caravan is rare uptempo moment, with a nice Belle and Sebastian feel, and a rhythmic, gurgling synth. Monster Love closes things on a suitably low key and sun dappled bit of vaguely creepy folk.

This is right on the border of 4 and 5, a great album of shimmering, hazy folk-synth-psychedelic-electronica, but I think I’ll settle on the highest of 4s, and will look forward to listening again.
🌳🌳🌳🌳
Playlist submission: Cologne Cerrone Houdini

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
For an album cut from similar cloth to Liquid Swords, this didn’t immediately land with me in the same way that album did, but it’s still a great RZA produced WTC adjacent album, and is definitely a bit of a slow burner.

I do love Raekwon’s distinctive delivery, part drawl, part exaggerated plosives, and it’s great when the rest of WTC turn up, in particular Ghostface Killah on Criminology, Guillotine and Heaven & Hell, and with Method Man on the excellent Ice Cream.

I really like the loose cinematic concept tying it all together, informing RZAs production - a great combination of murky filmicness and dusty beats. Apart from the remix of Can It All Be So Simple, there probably isn’t anything as immediate as Liquid Swords or Hell’s Wind, but the more you listen, the more tracks burrow their way in; the looped piano hook on Knuckleheadz, the stabbed strings and piano of Knowledge God, the odd little hook and shivering strings of Guillotine, the harpsichord sample on Glaciers of Ice, the tense, highly strung piano and vocal sample on Ice Cream and the flowing, laid back groove of Heaven & Hell.

It’s a pretty dense album, musically and lyrically, at times feeling slightly impenetrable, but it is an excellent listen. I wouldn’t put it on the same level as Liquid Swords or Enter the 36 Chambers so I’ll go with a very high 4.
🔗🔗🔗🔗
Playlist submission: Ice Cream

Bad
I had this on official cassette, I must have asked for it for a present as I was only about 8 when it came out and I don’t think I was really into music at that age, unless it was the Spitting Image chicken song or the Fraggle Rock theme (which I had on vinyl single), or Boney M songs recorded onto cassette for me. So when I see the album cover I immediately think of the cassette cover in portrait orientation, and also that the tape itself was clear plastic, which was _very_ exciting. I can also clearly see the Epic records logo printed in white on the cassette itself.

Listening to it, it surely has to be one of the most evocatively late 80s albums in existence - It’s Big Trouble in Little China, it’s Coca Cola, Sprite and Fanta yo-yos, it’s Going Live, it’s the Challenger disaster, it’s Max Headroom, it’s renting Three Men and a Baby for the 10th time from Ritz video, it’s the Pizza Hut salad bar, it’s birthday cake wrapped in a paper napkin to take home after a party, it’s Andy Crane’s cast iron hair, it’s the Smooth Criminal video where the coin magically changes orientation before going into the slot on the jukebox, it’s the great Storm of 87, it’s the Blue Peter York Minster bosses appeal. It’s not Noel Edmond’s Telly Addicts though.

Divorcing it from all those Proustian feelings, it is a genuinely excellent mid-late 80s funk-pop-soul album, with nearly every track a banger, and with barely a lull. It's arguably more consistent than Thriller and Off the Wall, even if nothing quite touches the stellar heights of Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough, Billie Jean or Thriller. Although Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel, Man in the Mirror, I Just Can’t Stop Loving You, Dirty Diana and Smooth Criminal are all of course superb, and could all vie for a place in his top 10 songs. It’s notable how many of the songs are built around relatively simple, rhythmic, repeating synth hooks, and nearly all of them are incredibly catchy.

Lyrically it is interesting too. Man in the Mirror is a bit of an outlier in its more mature and thoughtful outlook, but much of the remainder feels very much the words of an adolescent talking about love and rebellion - ‘I’m bad, I’m really, really bad’, ‘I’m heading for the border’, the concept of a Smooth Criminal and nearly all of I Just Can’t Stop Loving You - which makes sense for someone so clearly in arrested development (the concept, not the rap group).

It’s been a lot of fun revisiting, remembering and realising what a great album this is, even with a big dollop of nostalgia. 5.
_Nakupenda pia Nakutaka pia_
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Playlist submission: Could be many, but today, for the it’s sense of joy, I’ll say The Way You Make Me Feel.