Reviews by j-bizzle

It's two for two for the Super Furries, and both within a week of each other.

Again, it's a really eclectic album. They chuck so much at this and go all out, which I really appreciate. It has a kind of 'fuck it let's do this' attitude. There's brass, whistles, synths, weird soundscapes and all sorts. It sounds so genuinely unusual at times (like on Frisbee and Bad Behaviour) but it's really fun and upbeat overall. The whole approach could have been fraught, but in my opinion it avoids the quirky or twee label.

I was quite surprised with the level of drum n bass in this, or definitely the more upbeat dancey tracks, only with mellow vocals put on top. It does work and it's quite nice. I never really checked these guys out back in the day beyond knowing the singles. It's the kind of thing I might be into, I just found it wasn't particularly engaging. The album seemed to pass me by somewhat, but it was a nice background listen.

I kind of half-heartedly tried to get into this album a few times in the past, but it never stuck beyond a few choice tracks. I was looking forward to the opportunity to re-appraise it through this project, and give it a proper run-out and fair go... and the results are good!

One of the issues before might have been that it starts off quite slow and isn't immediately accessible. It feels murky, dark, off-beat and dangerous. But then it opens up a bit and you find yourself tuned into the energy of the album a bit more.

What I really like about this album is that it doesn't really feel like anything else. It's its own beast. You're not quite sure what you're going to get from one track to the next, but at the least you know it's going to be interesting. There's good use of keys, synths, guitars, percussion, and it varies between slow and deliberate, and more upbeat. Overall I really like the production. I found that the longer it went on, the more I got into it.

The samples are really interesting. You can tell that he's taken inspiration from lots of different areas across quite a broad spectrum. Big shout out to him sampling the Pumpkins and their track 'Suffer'.

Some real standout tracks here. Black Steel, Hell is Round The Corner, Suffocated Love..

I like this, and I think I'll be revisiting it a reasonable amount. The whole thing is just such a mood.

4.5 rounded up.

Now on my third White Stripes album, I realise I'm just a fan of the singles... or most of the singles. This is put together well enough, in their kind of ramshackle, rough around the edges way. It also has enough skill. It's just that there's lots of filler and there's not nearly enough that stands out, or differentiates itself from the rest. And, sadly, a lot of this is actually boring. Disappointing.

I thought the last track was WAY better than the rest of the album, until I realised Spotify had segued into another album of theirs.

2.5 rounded up.

I'm quite impressed with this. It's a really varied, eclectic record, with lots of interesting approaches and bits of detail. I like the vocal harmonies, the variance in instruments and just the general mood. It's quite floaty in places, but dramatic and bombastic in others.

It's very dramatic - leaning quite a long way into the melodramatic. There's lots of musical swells and exaggerated crooning going on, which I do like sometimes, it's just that it's not always very exciting here. Some of the songs kind of merged into another and passed me by, but there were some nice ones in here too.

2.5 rounded up.

A slow, moody, sombre album. I like bits in here, but it's a bit much for me overall. I prefer more conventional compositions. I don't mind the spoken lyrics so much, as that definitely goes with the vibe and what they're doing. But it's quite draining, and discordant at times, and it just wore me down a bit.

2.5 rounded up.

This kind of Americana rock ‘n’ roll isn’t for me. It’s accomplished enough, it just feels so painfully generic.

2.5 rounded down.

The thing that strikes me the most about this album is how floaty and soft the vocals are. She has an incredible voice, but she’s not belting it out at a hundred decibels – it’s all kind of soft and breathy. Also, that she bloody loves a trill! Half of this album is “Oooo…oooOH…ooOOOooOOooOH!”

It’s quite pleasant as a general background listen for about half an hour. As a piece of art it feels boring and empty. I don’t feel like I’m getting anything at all out of this. It’s not doing anything exciting or saying anything interesting. There’s a time and place for it, sure, and no doubt many people love this kind of thing, but it’s not for me.

Once again, I’m generally up on this. His voice is pleasant and quite floaty, but I like it. The whole album is stripped back, but it has interesting guitar work and it’s quite evocative. It’s really nice.

3.5 rounded down.

I much prefer their later stuff, but I still enjoyed this album generally. This one is more rave-y and repetitive I’d say, where they developed songs with more substance and structure in their later albums. I thought this would be a nailed on 4, but sadly not.

I’m pretty impressed with this. It’s such a varied record with so much going for it, and lots of styles and genres. It says it’s psychedelic on here, but that’s only really one track among many. The rest has swells of brass, flutes and even an accordion. He has a great singing voice and it’s just generally solid throughout the whole thing.

I like this. It’s really strong throughout, with great songwriting and musicianship. He sings well, there’s nice melodies and the guitar work is on-point. I thought it might all be front and centre and showing off, but it’s not really. There is a reasonable amount of noodling, but it’s done well, and it’s mostly complimentary. Layla is obviously a monster of a tune. What a riff that is, honestly.

I was expecting this to be quite irritating, but it’s actually pretty pleasant throughout. It is what it is.. it’s not something I’d ever listen to again, but it’s quite nice pop-country-blues. She’s got a nice voice and it’s easy listening.

It’s very raw and rough around the edges but has plenty of energy to it. Touch Me I’m Sick is great. The rest if fine and a reasonable listen.

I'd seen this album cover crop up a lot, so I'm glad to have finally given it a listen. I think this is broadly pretty good. It's quite funky, with some driving beats and uplifting moments.

3.5 rounded down.

I can appreciate that people would like this, but it's not for me at all. It's not terrible, it's just kind of bland and uninspiring. At it's worst it's a bit annoying. I don't like her style at all, the construction of the songs, the delivery... Nothing works for me personally.

I like the quirky start to this on the intro, but jeez... going into Hot Dog makes me feel so embarrassed for them, it's absolutely terrible. I had this album back in the day as an angsty teenager, and even then I was cringing and making fun of that track.

That said, even though this album is completely juvenile, with utterly dreadful lyrics, there's still plenty that I like about it. A lot of the riffs go really hard and you best believe I'm head banging and rollin' along with Fred when that beat drops. Nostalgia plays a part of course, but I think there's still a bunch of songs on here I would enjoy fresh today.

Some of these tracks I would rock out to back in the day down the rock club. 'Take A Look Around' was just about the most aggressive mosh pit I ever saw, even more so than Slipknot. I do like those heavy guitars when they kick in across this album, it's just that there's a lot of juvenile, awful aspects to this too.

It's pleasant enough. I like the brass, and I like the little whistle / woodwind thing they're peppering in there. However, all reggae is the fucking same! It's the exact same beat on every song. It is so, so limited as a genre that I can't get excited about it.

2.5 rounded down.

I was quite hopeful coming into this, as I do like a bit of soul and funk. I knew the name 'Sly & The Family Stone', but didn't really know much of their stuff, so I was excited to finally learn more. On listening though, it's way slower and more stripped back than I was expecting. It's not really bringing much oomph. Some tracks are kind of not even there. It's just ok.

However I did leave it running after the fact, and Spotify served up an awesome selection of funk and soul for the next few hours, and that worked spectacularly for the rest of my work afternoon - so this album was a good gateway!

2.5 rounded up.