Reviews by ikejiri

No Sleep ‘till Hammersmith
I’m partial to a bit of Motorhead, especially compared to their peers. I say that, it’s more like I’m partial to a bit of Ace of Spades and not much else.

This version of Ace of Spades is very good, the whole thing crashes forward in a blur of bass drums and Lemmy. After that it is just live recordings of fast tempo heavy metal. It’s not terrible at all, I suppose Lemmy’s stuff prior to Motorhead means he can conjure up some decent hooks and melodies, even if it does feel like pretty much every song is a less successful attempt at writing Ace of Spades again. Iron Horse, Overkill and (We Are) The Roadcrew stand out as being more memorable than the rest.

As a live recording it’s decent, some tracks are definitely better recorded than others, but you do get a sense of their energy and on-stage tightness. If you are really into Motorhead I expect seeing them at this time would have been excellent, although I don’t think I’d be that keen to attend one of their gigs.

I know this is an early review, but it doesn’t take multiple listens to come to a conclusion. Ultimately it’s fine, it is exactly what it is, I wouldn’t expect to hear anything that interesting or different. While it's not terrible, I’m unlikely to listen again - what exactly would I get out of doing that? 2 does feel low, but 3 would indicate I might have a further listen so I’ll stick with 2.

Playlist submission: Ace of Spades
⭐⭐

Aftergeography
This is a little sweet spot of the Stones, along with Between the Buttons, that I’m very fond of, but I don’t listen to it as much as I should.

As much as I like Paint it Black I listened to the UK version of the album, which I think should be the definitive edition.

Although Out of our Heads is a good listen, this is clearly a step up, undoubtedly inspired by The Beatles, Beach Boys, Who, Kinks etc. Although you can still hear echoes of their blues and r&b sound in things like Doncha Bother Me and Flight 505, you can also also hear where they would end up a few years later with songs like Goin’ Home. High and Dry even points to the coming influence of country on their music.

But Mother’s Little Helper, Lady Jane, Under My Thumb, Out of Time, I Am Waiting, Take it or Leave it and Think are great examples of them landing between those two eras. Excellently catchy mid 60s pop songs with interesting things happening musically and instrumentally that keep them fresh no matter how many times you hear them. It’s Not Easy and What to Do aren’t qute at those standards and are pretty forgettable

The lyrics though. I’ve not really considered the lyrics of this period over the years, but listening today, there is a lot that is problematic to say the least. It’s tricky judging them against today’s standards, and it’s not necessarily fair, but I’d hazard that even for the time they were a bit misogynistic and borderline rapey. I don’t think it necessarily lessens my enjoyment of the album, but it’s definitely something I’m more aware of now than I have been previously. Although that probably is a great example of cakeism on my part. When they are not specifically singing about stupid and feckless women it’s much more interesting, there’s definitely a nihilistic and anti-sentimental tone, a bit at odds with the burgeoning peace and love scene, but probably necessary to move on from the prevailing I Love You, Let’s Hold Hands sensibility of 50s and early 60s pop songs.

Charlie’s drumming is always excellent, but it is particularly great on this. I love the soft toms on I Am Waiting and the fills in Out of Time. And Bill Wyman’s bass is excellent, not necessarily at Macca’s melodic level or John Entwhistle’s propulsive brashnees, but it has an excellent tone and place in the production, and enough little hooks and licks to give the songs some great texture.

It really is a great snapshot of them between eras, clearly inspired to compete with the Beatles and their contemporaries, and while they don’t quite have the melodic and thematic inventiveness of the Beatles, the variations in sounds and instrumentation is great. It's easy to overlook this and Between the Buttons, and although It doesn’t quite hit the peaks in the same way as their upcoming classic 4-5 albums, lyrics notwithstanding, it’s a great album and a great listen overall. Not quite at a 5, so an easy solid 4.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Vanishing Point
I fucking loved this when it came out. I remember buying it in Woolworths (don’t look for it, it’s not there anymore) in Totton on my lunch break from my part time job, in that sweet sweet summer between A-Levels and Uni. I likely bought a slice of Pizza from Baker’s Oven on the way back to work too.

It seems quite intertwined with Fat of the Land in my memory - just looked it up, Fat of the Land was released the week before this. What a time to be 17 years old.

I haven’t listened to it in a while but it still holds up for the most part. Burning Wheel is great, starting with that swirling melange of sounds before a psychedelic groove emerges with the bass, guitar and organ, before it the turns into a shuffling dance/rock tune. Get Duffy definitely feels like a piece of 60s/70s soundtrack music in a good way, which makes sense with Vanishing Point the film being a key influence on the album.

I bought the Kowalski single when it came out, and it still sounds great, Mani’s rumbling bass is superb at creating a sense of unease and paranoia, as does the fact that it is more a series of incantations and samples rather than a set of lyrics.

At the time I loved Star, and although I still like the essence of the words, the lyrics do sound clunky now. Musically it’s still great though, particularly the melodica hook and the horns.

I love the little guitar parts in If They Move Kill Em, again it feels quite soundtrack, with a load of sounds and textures jammed into it, but it works as it has a strong sense of momentum. There’s enough interesting stuff happening musically with Out of the Void to keep it going, and the groove/rhythm is good, but it feels a long, even if it’s only 4 minutes. Far too many 90s doorbell chimes in Stuka, but again I like the slippery, dubby spacey groove built around the bass.

I don’t think Medication or Motörhead work that well. The former harks back to the Stonesey stuff on Give Out But Don’t Give Up but it feels very leaden footed, there isn’t that sense of looseness and groove that the song needs and that is preset on the rest of the album. Motörhead probably just isn’t that great a song outside of the Motörhead bubble, but works slightly better than Medication, fitting the druggy/comedown vibe a bit better.

Trainspotting brings things back to the woozy soundtrack feel, this time with 90s telephone chimes, but it is way too long and the electric piano is a bit too 90s lounge pastiche, although the guitar right at the end is nice. It’s probably the weakest of the instrumental grooves.

Long Life is great, despite the dodgy vocal. It definitely has a Kraftwerk vibe to the synths and I like the swirling, echoey feel. A suitably spacey end to the album.

It’s definitely a very loose record, with all it’s instrumentals and the lack of concise and well defined songs, but I think that’s to it’s benefit, as it seems to be going for cinematically inspired feel, groove and sonic textures in varying styles, out of which songs and tunes emerge, rather than a coherent set of songs with one particular influence, like the previous album.

It also definitely sags towards the end, from Medication to Trainspotting, before picking back up with Long Life. It may not be a perfect album, but I do like it a lot, I admire the idea behind it and the overall woozy, loose, trippy sound. Way better than a 3, but not a 5, cogito ergo sum its a 4.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Scott 2
I have never listened to these Scott Walker albums, despite knowing how much of an influence and touch point they are for bands and singers I like.

I suppose liking this depends mainly on your capacity for musical cabaret slightly off beat baroque pop sung by a creepy uncle. There’s a fair bit of baroque pop I do like and while there is quite a lot to enjoy here, particularly the sense of oddness to it, musically it does get a bit much, and by the third listen I had to stop as it started getting on my tits. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was partially intended and would please Scott.

I won’t bother with the track by track, but a couple of things stood out. I’m pretty familiar with Jackie and I do like it, it probably is the best of his Jacques Brel songs, and is musically the best exemplar of the over the top instrumentation and oddness. The Bosnian strings on Best of Both Worlds are very nice. I love the song Black Sheep Boy, Bobby Darin’s versions might be my favourite, but this is a good version too. Plastic Palace People is nice, the shimmering strings suits the slightly off kilter imagery. The Girls and the Dogs is pretty woeful and unpleasant. The Bridge is very good, the pick of the 2nd side.

I did want to give it one more listen, but I couldn’t face it again today. I don’t think it’s bad and I would listen again, but I’d like to wait and while and not listen 3 times in a row again.
⭐⭐⭐

Brutal Youth
‘Cool, must be getting toward the end of the album’, _looks down_, ‘Fucking hell, track six!?’.

There are some decent songs, some great ideas, some very good lyrics and I like the production and playing, particularly the bass throughout, but I can’t shake a slight nagging sense of pointlessness.

While it’s by no means bad or unlistenable, it’s just feels very undynamic, if that’s a word. It’s not that it’s bland or half hearted, my ears definitely pricked up at certain parts, and I found my self tapping along from time to time, but each song tended to just come and go, and by the end of it I didn’t really feel anything, neither enriched or diminished.

I do actually like Elvis Costello - This Year’s Model, Armed Forces and Get Happy are great great records - but I do have this same reaction to a lot of his other stuff, maybe it’s how he constructs his melodies, or the tempos he works at but I find myself not minding it, but kind of zoning out into nothing.

I won’t go through song by song, as it seems a bit pointless, but things I did pick up on and like were Nick Lowe’s bass on the songs he played on, the exuberance of Pony St, Kinder Murder is good, the do do dos on Clown Strike, the intro to Sulky Girl, the organ on My Science Fiction Twin and the Neil Young-esque guitar on All the Rage.

With all that in mind it’s kind of hard to rate, it’s a perfectly fine album with good things about it. I’d not be averse to listening to it again, but I really can’t see me ever remembering it exists after today. 2 is too low(e), so I’ll reflect my ambivalence and go 3.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Led Zeppelin III
It wasn’t until I got a bit older that I started to appreciate Led Zeppelin, and over the last year or so I have really got into them, particularly Jan and Feb this year when I listened to them A LOT. Their first four albums are truly excellent.

LZIII is an interesting one though, a kind of a transition between first 2 more straight ahead rock albums and LZIV’s more mystical, hobbity and instrumentally diverse sound. Ramble On’s acoustic folkiness from LZII seems to be a stepping off point for a lot of what’s on here: Friends, and then the 2nd side, with Gallow’s Pole, Tangerine, That’s the Way, Bron-y-Aur Stomp and Hats Off to Roy Harper.

Outside of those, Immigrant Song is an absolute classic, and Celebration Day is just fantastic, the bass in particular is awesome, but I love the slide too. I’m a bit ambivalent on Since I’ve Been Loving You, on the one hand I like the general atmosphere and some of the guitar is great, but it does stray into plodding mindless blues rock a little too much for me. The drumming in Out on the Tiles is superb, which makes sense with the writing credits, it may not be a top tier LZ rocker, but it’s real grower for me.

I do love the slightly loose feel compared to I and II, even if there isn’t as much immediacy as those two albums, but in Immigrant Song, Celebration Day and Gallow’s Pole it has 3 of their best songs as well as some great songs like Bron-y-Aur Stomp. I like that they did try and move away from the sound they had established, even if the synthesis of heavy rock and mystical fairies and folk music is probably better realised on IV.

As good as it is it is probably a notch below I, II & IV, so in reality a very high 4, but definitely verging on 5. As they are such a great and influential band I’ll judge them to a higher standard and go 4
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Selected Ambient Works 85-92
When I saw Aphex Twin come up I immediately thought of Dan’s wisdom tooth and how Windowlicker era Apex Twin would probably be the worst thing you could listen to with toothache.

I was interested to hear this, I’m aware of bits and pieces of Aphex Twin but have never dived in.

I wasn’t necessarily expecting some relatively straightforward ambient techno though, but I liked it. Some of the housey synths sound quite dated, which would make sense as its its 30-40 years old, but overall I liked the tempos and percussion and some of the more textural layered synths behind the bass and the odd hook.

No one particular track stood out, apart perhaps from Ageispolis which had more than a hint of You’ll Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties, I just enjoyed it as one long piece of instrumental electronica. Obviously it wasn’t made as an album, but as music to work to or paint the shed to I found it very pleasant and relaxing. It doesn’t move me in the way some of Brian Enos albums do, but I found it a pleasant discovery that I will come back to, particularly for music to play while working or focusing.

Solidly midway between 3 and 4, I’ll land on a 3 - it’s something I’ll listen to for specific situations rather than for pure pleasure.
⭐⭐⭐

Rattlesnakes
I think I got Lloyd Cole wrong, I’d assumed he was kind of safely bluesy middle of the road bland, a right on the nose Jools Holland act. But, on this at least, he is more of jangly, folky, country-ish pop artist, adjacent to some the postcard records stuff.

There may not be a great deal of edge to it, but it has a very tasteful sensibility overall, and a winning earnest naivety and sweetness. Lots of literary, cultural and musical references that don’t always land, but they don’t feel affected, the sentiments seem genuine and heartfelt.

He doesn’t always have the strongest voice, although I quite like his occasional falsetto, but he does do slightly different voices on some of the song, sounding a bit like Morrissey in a few.

I really enjoyed this, it’s a very pleasant listen, maybe it doesn’t scale any crazy heights, but it’s never boring, the songs are all good and I like the sound, that early 80s big but intimate production. It’s probably on the cusp of 3 and 4, but I’ll go 4 as I’ll definitely listen again.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Next Day
I haven’t listened to this since it came out. I remember being quite into it, and it was quite a big deal, but I haven’t really thought about it since then.

It’s interesting to listen now, removed from that period. Is it actually good, or did we think it was good because it came out of nowhere with no expectations, and Bowie was at the age and stage of career and life where he was held in high esteem, regardless of the quality of the album?

The answer to that question comes about 30 seconds into the first track, this is genuinely good. I love the slightly off-kilter feel of The Next Day, definitely echoes of Beauty & The Beast. Great, great opener.

Dirty Boys is cool too, again a kind of throwback, but I like the horn/drum/guitar combo. The Stars are Out Tonight I’m not a huge fan of, although it definitely picks up in the 2nd half with the strings and synths, but it does have more than a whiff of basic old man doing tasteful mid tempo guitar rock, as does Love is Lost a little, although the lyrics on that one are great.

I really liked the downbeatness of Where Are We Now when it came out. First time re-listening now I wasn’t that keen, but 2nd and 3rd time reminded me what a great track it is.

I like the lyrical perspective of Valentine’s Day, and the riff is good, but as a song it’s not my favourite. If You Can See Me is great, love the slightly frantic rhythms and the bass is great. Excellent track. I’d Rather Be High I like a lot, the guitar riff is great, catchy but slightly creepy too. Boss of Me has its moments, but apart from the horn it is a little forgettable.

Love the weird little synth thing on Dancing Out in Space, really elevates the song. How Does the Grass Grow, lots of Wonderful Life by Black, but great guitar in the 2nd half. (You Will) Set the World on Fire is a bit of an oddity, the riff is decent but it sounds out of place production wise and for Bowie also, and the song seems pretty formulaic overall.

You Feel So Lonely You Could Die is great, a nice change of pace away from some of the riff heavy songs that precede it. And then Heat really is excellent, really evoking some of that creepy spookiness from around Station to Station and Low. Great, great closer.

Lyrically it is excellent throughout, despite looking back at the past, he manages to look into new corners and offer different perspectives, rather than just re-hashing things or just making fan service style easter egg references. Very clever how he manages to tread that line.

I have a slight issue with some of the production, particularly the drum sound. I’m not sure how to describe it, it’s that very modern ‘big’ sound, right in the middle of the mix. Kind of echoey, but not in an 80s way, I guess it might be a consequence of the extreme dynamic range compression on everything nowadays. The 2010 onwards Macca albums also have this sound, as does that Stones album from last year. That drum sound and the overall sound generally feel particularly jarring on this record - with it referencing so much from his past the modern sound just doesn’t compare favourably with his older stuff, either as a counterpoint, contrast or as an evocation.

It also feels like it could do with 2 or 3 fewer songs, it does feel wooly as you get towards the end and a sense that it’s slightly stretching things out.

Overall it is a very good album, and an excellent one in the canon of aging white rockstars making records about their mortality. It’s much better than you should reasonably expect from him at that age and stage of life and health. Even if sometimes the music is a bit staid and it is a bit long, lyrically and thematically it’s so sharp and interesting that’s it never feels like it’s not a worthwhile listen.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Little Deeper
Me and Dave once saw Ms Dynamite outside Streatham Megabowl.

First off Dy-Na-Mi-Tee is great, a super bit of r’n’/soul pop. Catchy hook, and a very nice bit of bass and guitar.

I do like the sound of the percussion, the snare has a nice r’n’b dryness to it. And there is some quite unusual for the genre instrumentation, the accordion on It Takes More for example, and there is also, again slightly unusually, a lot of guitar throughout.

Lyrically there are some good lines and moments, she certainly has a bit of edge to her, with some socially conscious lyrics, more than other British r’n’b singers at the time, but there are still a few too many standard cliches and platitudes, it feels like intentional smoothing out of any roughness and it definitely loses something because of that. Maybe if she was around now the musical landscape and attitude to this type of music would suit her better.

Beyond that there’s not many songs that are particularly memorable, especially in the back half. The 2nd bit of the last track, Get Up Stand Up is verging on really good, almost Erykah Badu/Lauryn Hill territory, but it makes you wish there was more like it with some slightly better rapping. A lot of the rest is pretty formulaic r’n’b melodies and singing/oohing etc with a fair few dollops of cheese, eg the Santana-lite icky guitar on Put Him Out. Her voice also has a slight nasal quality that becomes more evident the more you hear it.

Despite Dy-Na-Mi-Tee and some interesting and slightly unusual moments and instrumentation, it is an inconsistent listen - there just aren’t enough decent songs to sustain much interest over the course of an hour. I liked it more on the 2nd listen, but was a bit bored on the 3rd listen. I’m very unlikely to listen to it again which would put it around a 2, but because of Dy-Na-Mi-Tee and that among all the standard stuff there is that element of stepping outside the normal parameters of this sort of album, which might tip it over to 3. Very much stuck between those scores, but I think I’ll settle on 2.
⭐⭐

Something/Anything?
I’m aware of Todd Rundgren as a singer, songwriter and producer and I’m aware of this album, but I’ve never listened to it.

This how you fucking do power pop yacht rock though. Catchy, groovy, infectious, accessible, playful, middle of the road in the best way possible.

I love that the sides are all themed. Side 1 is great ‘ear catching melodies’ indeed, and in particular the first 3 songs are pop perfection, from the soft rock I Saw the Light, to the melancholic It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference to the soul pop of Wolfman Jack. Love Sweeter Memories too.

Breathless on Side 2 is really interesting, a kind of proto-electronic percussion. Saving Grace is very nice on this side too, and I Went to the Mirror is fantastic, a kind of 3am vibe mashed up with some heavier guitar, presaging the next side.

Black Maria is a great bit of psychedelic pop rock, I really like the slightly distant sounding vocals. Couldn’t I Tell You is just great, a superb bit of power pop, it sounds like the Cars or some of those 80s bands, love it.

Dust in the Wind is superb, and I like the fact that Side 4 is band performances, it definitely has a different feel to the other sides, although with the same soft rock feel. Hello it’s Me is great for that 70s feel. I like the blue eyed soul of Some Folks is Even Whiter Than Me and the easy feel of You Left Me Sore (even though I presume it’s about an STD). Slut is probably the only misstep on the album, with its slightly problematic lyrics.

Some tracks are definitely lightweight compared to others, but I think in a good way, not filler but little amuse bouche between the weightier songs.

He’s kind of like a cross between Macca and Harry Nilsson, with a nice amount of the latter’s offbeat wryness. There’s also lots of Macca-esque melodies and the same sense of musical facility, that he just naturally tosses out great melodies and songs with ease.

I loved this, even though its 90 minutes it never felt like a slog, there’s a deftness and lightness to it that helps it skip along and its really well sequenced. It sounds great too, that pre digital 70s warmth, depth and clarity. Feel like I’m going to listen to this a lot. Not always keen on giving 5 to albums I have heard for the first time, but this is a super bit of 70s pop.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Head Hunters
Jazz fusion. Eugh, two words to make you shiver.

However this is actually good, in a way that Jamiroquai and Brand New Heavies can only dream of. None of the 90s ironic kitchness, or lounge-lite vapidity, or infuriating blandness.

Chameleon - ‘squelchy’. I love the drum sound, very Talking Book Stevie. Banging.
Watermelon Man has a definite film soundtrack feel, a bit Curtis Mayfield. Love the synth refrain in the middle. The horns aren’t too jazzy either, which is nice.
Sly, I wasn’t as keen on this, a bit too frenetic, although I did like the groove.
Vein Melter, I liked this a lot the 2nd and 3rd time round. Again quite a film soundtrack feel, but a very nice chilled low key atmosphere.

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would - the jazziness exists in the approach to the synths, organ and musical flourishes, rather than in the whole form. The rhythms, drums, bass and guitars are much more funk/soul influenced, with great grooves. If you take it as a 40 minute piece of music rather than 4 very long tracks then it works really well. Will definitely listen again. A solid and enjoyable 4.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Here’s Little Richard
Little Richard is probably my favourite of the early rock’n’roll and R&B cohort. Even 67 years later and having heard them 100s of times there is still a visceral thrill to Tutti Frutti, Ready Teddy, Slippin’ and Slidin’, Long Tall Sally and Rip it Up - the voice and the pounding piano are still absolutely fantastic. More than his contemporaries there is a sense of imminent chaotic irreverence in his music. Jerry Lee may be a better pianist, but the combination of LRs voice and piano is uniquely fantastic.

This sounds, production wise, very good, again compared to his contemporaries. Despite the innovative nature of the Sun recordings they can sound slightly antiquated, where is this still has a bit of punch to it.

Outside of the songs above it is a little mixed though. True, Fine Mama, Can’t Believe You Wanna Leave, and Miss Ann have more than a hint of Fats Domino, which makes sense with the Cosimo Matassa connection and what a big influence Fats Domino was one everyone - Great vocals but not at the same level as some of the other tracks. Baby is good, I’m not really familiar with it but I enjoyed the not so subtle wink to his true sexuality on it. Oh Why is fine, although, again, not quite at the level of the other songs.

Jenny, Jenny is fantastic though. For some reason I’m not that familiar with it, despite it apparently being one of his bigger songs. Superb r’n’b/rock’n’roll - feels like Macca might have liked this one. She’s Got It is a great closer too.

Obviously this is American, but If you were a teenager living in a grey Britain in 1957, still recovering from the economic strain of WW2, imagine what this must have sounded like. No wonder everything that followed in rock and pop happened, when people like Little Richard, Elvis and Jerry Lee were pumping out stuff like this.

I suppose the tricky thing in rating this is, is this an album, or a collection of singles plus some other tracks? It looks like it was recorded in relatively coherent sessions over a year, so it’s probably more of a consistent collection than some of his contemporaries, but there’s no doubt it just doesn’t sound like an album in the modern sense we understand. But then you also need to factor in the influence and musical importance of it all. I’d say it’s in the 3 range as an ‘album’, but it’s a 5 for its influence, importance and for its top tier early rock’n’roll classics. I’ll split the difference and go 4.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Parachutes
Listened to this a fair amount when it came out.

I’m finding that this is actually quite tricky to think about and to rate. Is it good on its own merits, or is it good because it’s better than what they became, is it actually quite boring but because what they became is so boring it stands out? It’s probably a mix; some good stuff, better than what follows but also a fair bit of dull stuff.

I much much prefer his vocals on this to AROBTTH, they sound good, more rough edges but more weight and heft. There’s some great bass playing throughout as well. The guitar playing is interesting, it sounded quite different to the fag end of Britpop’s overdriven style, more textural and subtle, and there are some lovely moments but it feels very U2 in places. I can see why it gets compared to Bends era Radiohead, but Johnny Greenwood is in a different league.

Undoubtedly there are some excellent songs, Shiver, Spies, Yellow, Everything’ Not Lost, but the rest of it, while not offensively bad (apart from Sparks, which is the worst kind of Radio 2 sub Bridget Jones soundtrack beige pap), is pretty uninspiring middle of the road indie pop. I’ll go 3, if it came on I’d not turn it off, but I’m unlikely to seek it out deliberately.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bone Machine
I quite like Tom Waits, but he’s not really someone I ever think to listen to. I’ve listened to Swordfish Trombones and Rain Dogs but not much else.

His voice is definitely marmite, but I like it, it’s surprisingly tuneful and emotive once you get used to it, even if it can still sound silly from time to time, ie the opening verse of I Don’t Wanna Grow Up.

I enjoyed this, the spartan arrangements are very effective with his voice, and the little instrumental textures work really well, the muted horns on the first two tracks, the guitar on Such a Scream, Jesus Gonna Be Here Going Out West, the lap steel on A Little Rain, the Piano on Whistle Down the Wind. The double bass also does a lot of great work, tying everything together. Musically and atmospherically it has a similar feel to Oh Mercy and Time Out of Mind, a pared back but roomy sound.

Lyrically I like it, lots of earnest biblical allusions and death and decay and honest work, but with a slight knowing wink, or at least I think a knowing wink. It reminds me a lot of Nick Cave on that front, but maybe not as humorous.

Kept expecting Way Down in the Hole to turn up, but it seems that’s on an earlier album, but musically it wouldn’t sound out of place here.

The percussion is the sort of thing I normally hate, that kind of tool shed Stomp type stuff I absolutely hate, but it works really well here. Maybe it’s the skill or the fluidity of it, or that it suits his voice, but it’s great.

Highlights for me are Earth Died Screaming, Who Are You, A Little Rain, Going out West, Murder in the Red Barn, Black Wings, Whistle Down the Wind and That Feel.

It’s probably a few too many tracks and about 10 minutes too long, as it does start to drag and feel quite samey. I liked it though, somewhere between a 3 and a 4. I’ll be Percy-monious and go 3, but I’m definitely going to listen again and try some other albums from this period.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

3+3
Vaguely familiar with this album, mainly for the covers of Listen to the Music and Summer Breeze. For a period I was really into Givin’ it Back and Brother, Brother, Brother, the two albums before this. I particularly loved (and still love) the cover of Love the One You’re With on Givin’ it Back

That Lady is obviously pretty well known, but this version just about manages to stay the right side of cheesy, especially part 2, with the additional funkiness.

The cover of Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight is a real grower. Again it verges on cheesiness but Ronald’s lead vocal is superb and keeps it on the right track.

If You Were There is fine, if a bit 70s soul by numbers. You Walk Your Way is great though, I love the melody, harmonies and piano giving it a breezy summeriness. Lovely.

I really like their interpretation of Listen to the Music. I love the original but I really like how they put their own spin on it, keeping the acoustic guitar but adding the slipperiness of the clavinet. They have written some absolute classics but I think they are one of the best bands for covers, they always a manage to do something interesting and put their own interpretation on things in a cool way (see all of Givin’ it Back).

What it Comes Down to is ok, although similarly as rote as If You Were There.

Sunshine is fantastic, I don’t know the original at all but I love the funk/soul-ness of it, great drums, clavinet and organ combo. Summer Breeze is a great song and this is a great version, their harmonies and the guitar really adding texture and the piano giving a real drive to it. Always a classic summer playlist song. Great stuff.

The Highways of My Life is a surprisingly low key end to the album, although it is a real grower, I really started to like it on repeat listens. Lovely piano.

Despite a little bit of patchiness this is a great listen. I could listen to Ronald’s lead vocals and the brother’s harmonies all day. A very nice, solid, enjoyable 4
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dutch Rock
I know Buffalo Gals and Double Dutch but not much else on here. I always felt this was probably similar to Tom Tom Club and some of the Big Audio Dynamite albums from a year or so later.

It’s a bit of a curate’s egg, there’s lots to like, some great songs, lots of fun and experimentation and sense that it was ahead of it’s time, with early hip hop, pop, Afrobeat and a bit of Latin all mashed up. But it is definitely patchy and not everything fully works. The cultural appropriation thing is quite interesting too, I don’t really have a problem with people magpie-ing music and influences from wherever they hear them, but when they don’t give credit to people who play on the album and essentially co-write some of it, it feels a bit dodgy. Linked to that I also wonder what, apart from some rapping, what Malcom McLaren actually contributed musically. I get that he is more of a conceptual person, but it feels like Art of Noise plus various African and American musicians actually did this and he is just putting his name to it. Which is not uncommon for him, and I'm probably inclined to feel that is also dodgy.

There are quite a few standout tracks. Obatala really grew on me on repeat listens, a lovely little track. Buffalo Gals is a great bit of early 80s hip hop through a weird Englishman’s lens. Great hook.
I’ve always loved Double Dutch, a great bit of rapping with Afrobeat vibes. I don’t know what the words are in the hook but I like to sing ‘Airport, Airport M&S’, particularly if I’m buying some bottled water at an airport M&S. I liked the electro-soundtrack vibe of Legba.
Soweto is just fantastic, a great groove, really infectious.

Jive My Baby and Song for Chango I liked, even if they aren’t that strong. World Famous is fine, but feels dated. I wasn’t keen on Merengue and Punk it Up seemed to be an inferior version of Soweto. Duck for the Oyster is a bit annoying.

You can tell it’s from the early 80s because of the drum machine sound, but apart from World Famous it doesn’t sound to dated. I suppose that’s due to the genius of Trevor Horn. Very identifiably 80s but still sounds good.

Overall it’s definitely an enjoyable listen with some great highs, (Obatala, Buffalo Gals, Double Dutch, Soweto) but I don’t think it all quite adds up to a fully satisfying album. Sometimes these ramshackle eclectic albums are great, the sense of fun and experimentation is its own kind of unifying force, but sometimes, like this, it can feel a bit too scattergun and doesn’t hang together. There’s a decent amount of playslistable tracks but I think I’m more likely to turn to Tom Tom Club or Bing Audio Dynamite’s first 2 albums if I want a bit of 80s joyful eclecticism.
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PS, love the Keith Haring cover

Music in Exile
I don’t know much African music outside the big names Like Ali Farka Toure and Fela Kuti, but the bits of African guitar music I hear I always like, and this is no exception. From what I read it sounds like Ali Farka Toure was a big influence, which I can hear, and would make sense as they are both Malian.

I had this on repeat all morning and I really enjoyed it. There’s no doubt there is a similarity across all the songs, but I find the combination of African guitar grooves with western blues/rock touches most pleasurable to my ears.

I liked all of it but there were a few standouts:
Soubour, a great bluesy opener, I loved the guitars working with each other and I always love some handclaps.
Irganda, the Nile Rodgers/funk/angular rhythm guitars sound great.
Seiko Oumarou, taking things down a notch, love the repeating guitar figure and the little runs here and there.
Al Tchere Bele, I love the more polyrhythmic feel and some more funk style guitar
Petit Metier, the acoustic guitars are a nice point of difference on this one.
Desert Melodie, great mood and atmosphere on this one
Mali, a lovely, slightly haunting melody and a nicely subdued end to the album.

I enjoyed it so much I think I ended up listening to it about 5 times. I also tried their next album Résistance, which also sounded great on first listen and might be better than this.

I suppose it’s easy to fall into a slightly patronising trap with African music, a kind of ‘they’re a happy people’ type stereotype, but even though I don’t understand the lyrics there is definitely a sense of fun and excitement to it, especially when you read about the background of them leaving their hometown to escape civil conflict.

Along with Jorge Ben this has been the best of the non Western, non English language albums we’ve had, and I definitely enjoyed as a break from some of the rock/metal albums we’ve had recently, so an easy 4 for me, I will definitely put it on rotation and am looking forward to listening to Résistance more and trying Optimisme.
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Deloused in the Comatorium
I had this on repeat this morning and genuinely couldn’t distinguish anything, it just went round and round sounding the same, I had no idea what track was what or if the album had started again. Nothing was memorable in any way.

I liked it a bit more listening this afternoon after a break from it, but I still couldn’t really pick out any songs, apart from Cicatriz ESP, which I enjoyed, particularly the last 4 minutes or so. Some of the guitar and organ on Roulette Dares I also liked, as well as the drums and organs on Drunkship of Lanterns. Overall it felt like there are a lot of good moments but not so many great songs.

Obviously there is a huge amount of skill and technique on this, some excellent guitar and drumming, but I don’t find the overall result that interesting. I admire the bombast, the over the topness and all the ideas crammed into it, but it feels like it needs more space and subtlety to let it breathe a bit amongst all the chaos. I also don’t find his voice that great, which I think undercuts all the dramatic tension they are trying to build.

I also get the concept behind it and it is quite touching, but too often the song titles and lyrics more often fall over that fine line between clever and stupid, the earnestness of it renders it all a bit too daft too frequently.

A 2 is too low for the technical skill and overall ambition, so a 3 feels about right. I’m glad I gave it a good go, but it’s unlikely I’ll revisit it.
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Die Mensch-Maschine
I love this album, a bit more pop perhaps than Trans Europe Express, but more focused than Autobahn, but still meticulously constructed. The technical skill is amazing really when you consider the technologies they were woking with. On some tracks they are a pop band and then on others they sound more like modern classical composers

The Robots is a great bit of catchy synth pop. Almost feels like they were parodying their own image.
Spacelab is a favourite of mine, I love the cadence of synth melody against the pulsing percussion and rhythms.
Metropolis - 1950s Berlin, a private eye is watching a man through the rain, the shop signs dimly illuminating the side of his face. Cigarette smoke rises warily from the discarded cigarette on the ground. The man starts to walk toward Potsdamer Platz and the private eye slips out of the comforting doorway and follows the man into the solitude of the night.
The Model is a just a great pop song, excellent catchy vocal and synth melodies, the synth warm and soft against the matter of factness of the lyric.
Neon Lights is just a beautiful bit of music, one of their best songs. I love the contrast of the repeating and catchy hook with the ominousness of the ‘vocals’ and atmosphere.

Each song stands on its own, but as an album of 6 pieces of music this is great. I often think Kraftwerk are more like modernist classical composers than songwriters, in how they manage to evoke moods and atmospheres across multiple tracks. I love the theme of man and technology driving Robots, Spacelab and The Man Machine and the fascination with the man made environment in Metropolis and Neon Lights. And looking at a woman with The Model.

It’s a five for me, a step up from Autobahn and on a par with Trans Europe Express.
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