Reviews by ikejiri

Wild What is the Wind
Not listened to many of her albums, never know where to start. Obviously for a lot of US singers and bands of the 50s and 60s their albums were a chance for record companies to release whatever they could and make a quick buck, rather than a chance to make an artistic statement. I gather Nina falls into this boat too.

Pretty sure anything I could say about her has been said a thousand times before a thousand times more eloquently. Her voice and piano playing are so expressive that they elevate some of the more pedestrian jazz blues songs on here, but the good songs she can take it to a completely different place. Four Women, which I’ve never heard before, is absolutely superb. I love that descending piano and bass motif.

Veers into easy listening in places, not necessarily a bad thing, but she’s so incredible it feels a bit of a waste. More of the upbeat RnB of I Love Your Lovin’ Ways and jazzy folk of Black is the Colour of my True Love’s Hair would make for a great album. I get her background is more in the Jazz tradition but I think she’s at her best when she goes a bit beyond that.

What More Can I say is good too, didn’t like it much on first listen but it stood out more the second and third time. Lilac Wine (or Lilaaac Wine) is nice too.

Tricky one to rate. I’m not a fan of some of the songs, not that they are bad they just don’t speak to me, but it’s Nina Simone so even if the songs are horrendous it has a pretty high base level. And Four Women is just incredible. Ultimately it doesn’t feel like an album, more a collection of songs, so for that reason I’ll stick with a high end 3
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American Idiot
I don’t mind Green Day at all and I remember enjoying this when it came out, and they were good at Reading when we saw them that same year.

I think as a concept album it does hang together well and feels like a coherent piece of work. It’s also very linked to and evocative of it’s time, 9/11, Iraq, Columbine etc. Even if it doesn’t always work for me I get a real sense that they made the album they wanted to make and I think that’s a good thing.

Musically it’s a good blend of the pop punk sound they are very good at with some slightly more sounds and instrumentation outside their normal boundaries, pushing into classic rock territory. I definitely hear A LOT of The Who in it. Aside from that additional instrumentation I did also like the ‘big’ sound of massed electric and acoustic guitars.

As well as The Who there’s a lot that sounds like a lot of other songs, Bowie and Johnny Cash noticeably.

I also appreciate the ambition of the song cycles and mini suites. Obviously that’s not an innovation in itself but I think it’s pretty cool that a band known for 3 minute pop punk songs decided to push into something a bit more interesting.

Overall I found the whole thing enjoyable and although it probably won’t go on rotation or get many revisits, I like the idea of it. I appreciate they set out to do something different, and, I think, managed do that on their own terms.
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Ambient 1: Music For Airports
I love this album and after giving Another Green World 4 I can’t not give this 5. I listen to it a lot, sometimes when I’m working, sometimes commuting or driving.

The beauty of it for me is that I find it genuinely calming, and it works as background music or something I actively listen to. It’s slow and without distinctive melodies or structures, but it never feels slight or pointless. The more you listen the more you hear and connect and the better it gets.

Of the four tracks 1/1 has the closest thing to a recognisable melody, and I really think it is a beautiful piece of music. The piano is obviously very Satie influenced, but for such a simple arrangement of just synthesiser and pianos it does an incredible job of evoking a mood and a feeling, while musically holding your attention.

I like how 1/2 pulls together the piano elements from 1/1 and the vocal elements of 2/1 to create a kind of denouement or crescendo to the first two tracks before 2/2 is a kind of end credits piece, taking what’s come before and transposing the previous ideas and themes into synthesised horns.

I really do adore this album, it gets better each time I listen and it genuinely has a physical and emotional effect on me
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Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus
I’ve never listened to this before. I actually listened to the one after this, Dig Lazarus Dig a fair bit when it came out, and I like The Boatman’s Call, mainly on the basis of Into My Arms, which I love. I also really got into the soundtracks Nick Cave did with Warren Ellis, mainly The Proposition and The Assassination of Jesse James. The Wind River soundtrack too. And Red Right Hand of course.

Beyond that I’ve not really delved into anything to much else. I do like, or at the very least find his stuff interesting. Even if it’s not ‘enjoyable’ it has a singularity and sense of idiosyncratic flair I really appreciate.

It wasn’t until after the first listen that I learned that it is two separate albums rather than a standard double album. They do feel like two different records so it kind of makes sense to review them separately.

Abattoir Blues
The overall sound is cool, kind of big and spacey and rocking and loud, but without being too massive or bombastic or distant.

The band do have a real litheness, even on the relatively ‘straight ahead’ rock songs they create a real groove. The bass and drums are great in that regard - not necessarily thorough musical virtuosity but through feel. The piano playing and backing vocals also stood out particularly.

Hiding All Away is great - kind of broken rhythm with a nagging groove. Pretty funny lyrics.
There She Goes, My Beautiful World - they play this a lot on 6 Music, it’s a great tune.
Nature Boy is also excellent.

I liked the sense of drama (and humour) and raucousness, and I like the wryness of his voice and manner, at turns Morrison, Dylan and Jagger-esque. He also has that great knack for really interesting little melodies and hooks.

Lyre of Orpheus

Love love the title song
Breathless - lovely melody, give this to a safe MOR band and in the pre download days I can see it being a massive hit. Someone like the Corrs or Sixpence None the Richer. But the edge he has just tips it into really interesting territory that tension elevates it beyond just a nice melody

I like the numerous mentions of and allusions to birds, and the tension between melancholy and joy, lyrically and melodically on this one.

Both albums are a 4 for me, so a 4 overall. Both close to 5 but I can’t quite work out whether I’d prefer them as two distinct albums or as the double package. I think they work together but I would probably go back to them as two separate albums. Maybe a slight preference for Lyre of Orpheus but they are both great.
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Tom Tom Club
Wordy Rappinghood and Genius of Love are superb. Both are on a lot of my playlists (as well as the ODB remix of Mariah Carey’s Fantasy, which samples Genius of Love - ‘me and Mariah, go back like babies and pacifiers’)

Talking Heads are one of my top 10 bands and I love Tina Weymouth’s bass playing, but aside from the two big songs I don’t think I’ve ever given this album a proper go. I’ve listened to it before, but not with real intent.

L Elephant, As Above So Below, On On On On are great.

I suspected I would like this as it has many elements right up my street, part of Talking Heads doing angular new wave funk and early rap influenced pop music.

I really really enjoyed it and I think it’s great. I’m very tempted to go 5, but the only thing making me give it a 4 is that it does have a ‘side project’ slightness to it. Whether that’s because I know they are a side project or not I’m not sure.

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Out of the Blue
I do like ELO a lot, they have some absolutely superb songs in their catalogue. I’ve given most of their albums a listen over the past few years but I’ve never been able to really latch on to any of them, despite loving a lot of the songs.

This is no exception, there are some cracking tunes on here - Turn to Stone, Night in the City, Starlight, Jungle, Big Wheels, Summer and Lightning, Birmingham Blues, as well as the classics Sweet Talkin’ Woman and Mr Blue Sky - and in fact I don’t think any of the songs are particularly weak, but there is a similarity in tone, sound, structure, arrangement and production that it becomes hard to differentiate a lot of the songs. I am a fan of their signature style and I do like the mix of pop, rock, disco and, of course, the orchestral elements, but over the course of 70 minutes it feels like might be nice to disrupt that formula from time to time. I get there is a consistency and coherence but some variation would be welcome.

I did like it, some of the subtleties became clear on repeated listens, and there are some superb songs, but the whole thing doesn’t quite settle with me for some reason that I cant quite work out.
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Trio
I’ve never heard of this despite liking all 3 of them.

Such lovely vocals and harmonies. Each voice is distinctive yet the three combine beautifully. I think I could listen to those three voices in harmony indefinitely.

Great playing and arrangements. As it was made in 1987 I was half expecting it to sound very 80s with big echoey snares etc. There are some slight elements of that with the piano on Telling Me Lies and I’ve Had Enough (the two weakest songs), but overall I love the sound. It has nice, straightforward and simple country instrumentation with a lovely warm and sympathetic sound. Simple is not a criticism, but the shuffling drums with acoustic instruments augmented by fiddle, dulcimer, mandolin etc is just great - it’s easy to ‘over musician’ this sort of thing but the restrained number of instruments works really well.

This has been a very pleasant surprise. Not sure if this is overlooked just because I’d never heard of it, but it feels like an overlooked gem. Definitely going into rotation.

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Blunderbuss
It’s funny looking back at the White Blood Cells and Elephant era. I loved those albums and went back and bought their first two albums which I also enjoyed immensely. They all still hold up. But I lost interest from Get Behind Me Satan onwards and have never felt much inclination to listen to any of Jack Whites solo albums or other projects and I don’t really know why.

Some good songs and some good moments on a lot of songs. I like the fiddle and lap steel country blues touches throughout. Freedom 21, On and On and On and Take Me With You When You Go are the real standouts for me

A good solid listen but aside from those three songs I’m not sure if I’ll think to come back to it and listen through again.
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21
Rolling in the deep is a great song. Rumour has it is good too, it’s a decent start. Starts to drag after that.

I don’t think her voice is actually that great. It can be really good on certain songs but she is very pub singer in lots of ways. Her voice lacks shade and warmth and despite being powerful and mostly having a good tone, it’s always sounded a bit ersatz to me, an impression of the big soul singers rather than something more personal. Don’t You Remember is a good example, a pleasant song with some nice country and blues touches, but her vocals really don’t suit it and it’s sounds a bit of mess really (the arrangement is a bit annoying and doesn’t help either)

Set Fire to the Rain is a decent song. I’ll Be Waiting starts well, but it as it builds up it loses itself and becomes an overwrought motown pastiche.

Despite a couple of decent songs, this is pretty dull fare. The more up tempo songs work better than the slow ballads, but I don’t feel either enriched or diminished after listening to it. It probably doesn’t help that so much of it has been x-factored and reality tv montaged to death.

I do believe the sincerity of her feelings, but as a whole experience it feels inauthentic - a sense of making an album of songs and arrangements that sound like the kind of album that someone like Adele would make, rather than finding something ‘true’ (whatever the fuck that means).

I also found this album had the kind of bass playing and bass tone that I hate - supreme session playing that is tasteful and perfectly played but irritatingly dull. That goes for a lot of the playing actually, very skilled but just kind of soulless.

It’s a 2 for me. It’s not terrible but apart from a couple of songs it’s pretty boring.
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461 Ocean Boulevard
I’ve never quite been able to get into with Clapton despite liking Cream, Blind Faith and Derek & the Dominoes. Something about him and his music leaves me cold, not in a boring technically proficient way, or because of his Enoch Powell or Covid stuff, I just find it a bit empty. I read his autobiography from about 15 years ago and he comes across as pretty dull and devoid of personality and I think that is reflected in a lot of his music post Derek. Obviously its not necessary for someone to be a great person to make great music and there are plenty of artists I like who are questionable, but my sense of him is reflected in his music and I find it hard to shake that off.

I’m not quite sure what I was expecting with this - probably a selection of tastefully made but ultimately soulless blues rock that feels a bit pointless. Having said that I did try to go into this with an open mind and I actually did enjoy it for the most part.

Some of the slower ones do have that tasteful banality to them but things like Motherless Children and Willie and the Hand Jive have that rootsy, Delanie & Bonnie, JJ Cale feel. Let it Grow I enjoyed too.

I can see myself listening to this again while working, maybe doing spreadsheets on a Tuesday afternoon. I expect that’s what Eric had in mind when he made it.

A basic bitch
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Blue Lines
This album is 33 years old. 33 years before it was released the South Pacific soundtrack was the best selling album of 1958 and Elvis had only been around for 2 years.

I can’t have listened to this in about 15 years, but fuck it’s a great album.

I’ve heard it so many times but I really concentrated on listening to Unfinished Sympathy today. Obviously it’s a classic but it really is an absolutely fantastic bit of music. The melody and strings are genuinely affecting and moving, while the restless percussion and rhythm contrast beautifully with that tenderness.

Safe From Harm, Five Man Army, Lately are also excellent tracks and I absolutely adore Hymn of the Big Wheel.

Sometimes the ‘englishness’ of the rapping vocals can jar a bit and sound a bit Lonely Island - I guess this must have been a bit of an influence for them

I still listen to Mezzanine pretty frequently and that is probably my fav MA album, but this really is superb. Also when I first got it in the mid 90s it sounded so different to anything else I’d ever heard before.

I’m finding it surprisingly hard to rate, it’s between a 4 and 5 for me. Mezzanine would definitely be a 5 and I think this sits a little below that. However it is excellent in it own right, and factoring in its originality and groundbreaking’ness’ I think I have to give it
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Dirty
I’ve only ever listened to Goo, as I love Kool Thing, (which I only really ‘discovered’ recently,) but Sonic Youth are one of those bands that passed me by as a teenager. Probably too discordant and difficult for my tiny brain to cope with.

I really enjoyed this though - as an album of noisy art rock with loads of guitars I thought it was great. Loose (in a good way) musically but uptight atmospherically, it also combines a sense of directness with sense obfuscation. I really like those tensions.

First listen I was thinking 3, but the second listen moved it closer to a 4. It’s definitely an album I will listen to more, and makes me want to dip into more of their albums. I’ll go 3 for now
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Disintegration

I did a bit of a listen to the ‘classic’ cure albums not that long ago, but I do struggle a bit to differentiate their albums. I think they are a great band with some incredible songs, but I’ve never been able to really get into their catalogue. I like them when I listen but then I kind of forget about them. I think they may generally be growers though, this album
included.

Love the drum sound and the overall production. Kind of big and spacey but not too distant, with some great keyboard and guitar textures and layers.

The good songs are very good, the middling songs are by no means bad, but they do sound similar, and can feel a little flat.

Pictures of you - superb
Lovesong - great
Lullaby - superb
Fascination street - great
Untitled - great

Overall I really like the atmosphere and feel of the whole thing, but there are some undoubted dips. It’s quite long at 1hr 10, it could probably have done with a bit of editing down a bit.

It’s somewhere between a 3 and 4, I’ll go 3 for now but I will re listen and probably re-appraise
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Another Green World
I’m pretty familiar with this album, although for my Eno ambient needs I normally go to Ambient 1, Music for Films, Ambient 4 or Apollo, so know those a bit better. Generally though all his albums up to Apollo, whether ambient or not are all very good listens

This is very good though. In Dark Trees is my standout of the ambient focused tracks, while I’ll Come Running and Sky Saw are my favourites of the more ‘traditional’ songs.

Nice little hit of TV nostalgia with the title track, think it was the Arena title sequence with the bobbing bottle.

He really is very good at creating these ambient soundscapes - they manage to combine a sense of flow and movement with a sense of direction. He’s great at building little off centre melodies and hooks with interesting rhythms and structures that convey a particular emotion or feeling.

The constituent parts aren’t necessarily that crazy but he brings them together in such a great way. Obviously he’s doesn’t have the greatest voice but it adds to the atmosphere and feeling too.

Robert Fripps guitar is great throughout as well. Couple of years before Low and Heroes, you can see how Eno and Bowie took the ambient/instrumental further on those two albums. Sky Saw in particular seems to be a signpost.

It probably sits at a level below Ambient 1 for me. Despite it being very very good it does feel like a bit of a collection of tracks, whereas Ambient 1 feels conceptually very complete, so for that reason I’ll go for a nice ambient 4
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Guero
Im a bit behind and didn’t get to listen to this in one sitting yesterday. I’m not as familiar with this as the albums either side of it, Sea Change and The Information, and I would also generally default to listening to Odelay or Midnite Vultures when I think about Beck albums.

But I should listen to this more - I really did enjoy it. It’s got the diversity and eclecticism you might expect, with a great sound and some super songs

Probably not right in that top Beck bracket but a definite 4.
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In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
I don’t think Ive ever listened to the full 17 minute version of the title track, but I do like the song a lot - especially in that Simpsons episode - but I’ve never listened to anything else by them.

I enjoyed this though, despite it feeling very specifically of it’s time and not that distinct from a lot of other bands around then.

Having said that there are some lovely harmonies, particularly on Flowers and Beads, and the organ playing throughout is very nice.

Aside from Are You Happy and IAGDV I couldn’t quite discern the proto-metal, hard rock label it seems to get, the majority of the songs are more like typical late sixties psychedelic pop rock. IAGDV is fucking awesome though, both as a song and as signifier of a time and place.

An interesting listen but aside from IAGDV and possibly Are You Happy there’s not much I would return to, but IAGDV being such a stellar track I’ll give it a
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Heroes
I don’t think I’ve ever really given this a proper chance compared to the Bowie albums I listen to most. It probably suffers from being so closely linked to Low and with Low being one of my all time favourites I tend to just overlook it. I also really got in Lodger a while back so I think I have just skipped over it.

Heroes, like the songs you mentioned in the Thriller reviews, is over familiar but if I listen to it and really concentrate on it I remember what a fucking amazing song it is. The story behind it of the two lovers from East and West Berlin dreaming of a life of freedom together is still genuinely affecting.

The first side definitely has a more frantic and frenetic feel than Low, particularly on Joe the Lion, with a looser less structured feel as well. It’s more like capturing a band performance rather than building songs up bit by bit. Maybe the songs aren’t quite at the same level as side 1 of Low, but they are great nonetheless

The 2nd side is truly superb, each track seemingly able to hold two different moods and feeling’s simultaneously. Sense of Doubt is pleasantly sinister, while Moss Garden is uneasily serene. Neukoln is sad but possibly hopeful. V2 Schneider is excellent. And a great finish with the groove of Secret Life of Arabia.

Listening to the whole thing properly now I don’t think I can give it anything but 5. It’s never been in my top 5 Bowie albums, and still probably wouldn’t be, but it’s not an album to overlook, and although it is structured in the same way as Low, I should try to avoid comparing it too much. Which I have done throughout! Although it might be no 3 for me in the Berlin Trilogy it is just an excellent album in its own right.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thriller
Wanna be Starting Somethin’, Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean (what a three track run), PYT all stone cold, copper bottomed, all time, unbelievable classics. Human Nature is the best of rest but the other songs don’t really meet that same level. I always want to skip Baby Be Mine and The Girl is Mine to get to Thriller, Beat It and Billie Jean. The Lady in my Life is pretty forgettable too I think.

Those 5 truly exceptional songs make it hard to rate for me. They surely make it worthy of a 5 star album, but their superiority to the other songs, for me, makes the whole album lose a sense of cohesion and it becomes a bit of a frustrating listen. In comparison Off the Wall doesn’t not reach the highs of Thriller but is more of an overall enjoyable listen. It might be slightly contradictory and confused logic as there are plenty of albums that I love that have are inconsistent but I would give a 5 to, but this I’m not sure about.

Maybe I’m holding it to too high a standard, or overthinking it, but it’s emblematic of his his whole catalogue, songs and moments of the highest quality, far beyond what most people can dream of, but combined with a lot of frustration.

Also the ‘I don’t belieeeve you’ bit on the Girl is Mine is so excruciating, it taints the whole thing. If this was only 6 tracks, WBSS, Thriller, BI, BJ, PYT and HN it would a 5 for sure, but as it is

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Architecture & Morality
I was quite late in discovering how good OMD and their early albums are. The first 4 or 5 are excellent listens, but this is probably my favourite one.

The Bowie (Low quite obviously), Eno, Kraftwerk influences are clear, as they are for many of the late 70s/early 80s synthpop bands, but OMD take it in a slightly different direction, blending experimental sounds, textures & rhythms with more overtly pop melodies and hooks. They are one of the best of those bands at merging a cool/minimalist technological structure with a human and emotional connection.

There are no obvious bangers like Electricity or Enola Gay, but The New Stone Age, She’s Leaving (this is clearly a big inspiration for LCD Sound Systems last album), Souvenir, both Joan of Arcs are the stand outs for me. I don’t think there’s a weak moment though - it’s a full cohesive album that rewards repeated listens.

Great band, great album
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good kid, m.A.A.d city
Sherane, love the drum and bass sounds.
Backseat freestyle
Good Kid is superb

On the surface it’s easy to just hear guns’n’bitches, but there’s definitely a lot more to it than that. Has a similar lyrical feel to Illmatic, not glorifying or wallowing in gang and street life. Some good sweating too.

You know what else I like - his very clear diction. He should be applauded for that.

Great sound, particularly like the bass, drums and piano combos, and the variation of drum sound from song to song. Some great little earwormy hooks, not obvious necessarily, but found myself humming them after listening to it.

I’m not that up to speed on a lot of rap music of the last 10 or 15 years but I thought this was very good. It’s quite long but it didn’t drag too much.

It’s between a 3 & 4, and I’m really keen to listen again, so will probably plump for a 3 for now, but scope to go up to a 4
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