Reviews by londonhawkredux

An artist that I had never heard of until now. Would rate it as simultaneously bloody lovely and, equally, unlikely to feel the need to listen to again.

Hmmm. It's fine I guess (fun fact - I was once on the same flight as Doves from UK -> America. They were ......................... perfectly nice and polite)

If nothing else, this project has considerably widened my appreciation for hip-hop

Very much a part of my youth - "Something for the Weekend" was absolutely everywhere in 1996. I don't want a whole album of it, but that track in particular will always bring a nostalgic smile to my face

I bought this on CD - yes, CD kids - because a music magazine (Q if I were to guess) had wanked themselves into an absolute frenzy over it.

I remember feeling slightly underwhelmed at the time, and this remains my feeling having had another chance to give it a spin. Yes, there's some clever indie Beach Boys vibes here but it ends up feeling like a technical exercise. Which, yes, OF COURSE the music press absolutely loved.

I really should have listened to more Public Enemy in my youth. It's not for me (middle-class, white, male, UK) but I was way too quick to dismiss it as "angry black people just talking over beats".

Shame on me....... shame on me.

Do not recommend playing if you're trying to have a relaxing bath.

The opening track is nu-wave distilled into 4:49 isn't it? Mysterious vocals, echoing synths, relentless beat from the drum machine...............

Of course, if you can't stand nu-wave then this isn't going to do anything for you, but certainly one of the gateway albums to the explosion that happened a few years later.

Had to change my trousers twice during the playthrough

Ayah-ah, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Ayah-ah, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

All downhill from there of course, but that's a minimum 4 stars for the opening 18 seconds of the album

*YAAAAAAAAAAAAWNNN* - I know this dude is considered to be god of something or other, but what a snooze fest.

Much preferred KoL when (I think it was a Q magazine review) described Caleb's vocals as like "gargling" with rocks. Yes, this is of course, super polished, super popular and not a "bad" album. But the long-haired, double-denim clad era of Molly's Chambers was better

"Just what is it that you want to do?" "We wanna be free. We wanna be free to do what we wanna do. We wanna get loaded and we wanna have a good time"

Ooooof. I feel so conflicted. This is NOT good but by jolly "Fire and Rain" is catchy as hell isn't it.

"American Music Club? Why do I know that name?" *fires up Wiki*

Oh yes, Eitzel's band pre-solo-Eitzel. Well, we know what we're going to get here and it's very pleasant indeed. Was this radically different from any other AMC / Eitzel albums? Not really, so a slightly odd inclusion on the list, but enjoyed returning to it regardless.

"German experimental rock" - no, wait, come back a second.

Enjoyable background noodling. Didn't exactly get the blood pumping and the juices flowing, but I feel my music knowledge as expanded a little bit further, and that alone is enough.

Messy. Very messy. Probably needed to ease off the creme-de-methe just a touch. Simultaneously gives equal parts "trailblazing" and "incoherent nonsense" vibes. I didn't exactly hate it, but will it ever appear on rotation again............ no. No it won't.

One of those artists where I find the popularity UTTERLY AND TOTALLY baffling. I mean, if mediocre "white man sings soul" is your thing then great, you go for it, you'll probably not understand my appreciation for Rammstein either.

tldr : there's nothing close to "Young Guns" here

See, this is what I wanted the project to give me. I haven't heard of the album, the artist or even the genre before. The psy-rock / samba crossiver album I didn't know my life needed

Very different to anything else around that time, and the big hits are still stand-outs. Disappointingly feels like a lot of filler here though - like they just couldn't be bothered