Reviews by londonhawkredux

This feels like something I should love. Melancholy indie strings warbling. But it's missing something. My heartstrings remained untugged. This style of music should be "so beautiful it physically hurts" rather than "this dude has having a bad day"

More Sonic Youth. "Yay"

Lovely voice, it goes without saying. But nothing here to get the blood pumping (and I'm just going to say it here because I know it's a safe space "Preacher Man" is not a classic, it's dull).

Solid - needs more Pet Shop Boys

Where are the hits though? On the one hand, some gorgeous stuff here and a definite evolution of the sound that had powered them to stardom. On the other, that evolution means some of the magic is lost and it almost feels like they're trying too hard to leave their past behind.

Certainly not the first band to fall into that trap and won't be the last. Most importantly of course, fuck off Morrissey.

Music really shouldn't be hard work to listen to should it now?

Those Steelies were funky bastards weren't they?

OK, fine. It's genius.

Hmmmm. Had high hopes when I saw "power-pop" and yes, I kinda get that. *IF* this was the singularity for (especially) REM, They Might be Giants, Fountains of Wayne etc then I shall award 3 points, despite not loving it all that much.

This is good. Really really good. A mish-mash of genre's and styles, but somehow very evocative of the era. Can't say I remember much from 9 year old me beyond the video for "Buffalo Stance", but this is a great fusion of pop / hip-hop.

This really isn't very good is it? "Concept" albums rarely are, but the entire premise is just silly and most of the songs are, not to put too fine a point on it, crap.

Default is a cracking track, I remember loving that from first time around. All bleeps and jumps with a pounding rhythm driving it along.

The rest : broadly acceptable

That feels like a lot of Sonic Youth now. Maybe a 3 so I don't have to think too hard about if I like it or not.

Post-punk discombobulation that may well have had an influence on the rior-grrrls that came a bit later. My musical knowledge has been suitably expanded whilst unlikely to be one I'll be making a bee-line for again.

Surprised not to find this on "Yacht or Nyacht" to be honest, definitely felt like it would fit in that genre. The opening track is a delight, with echoes of the Beach Boys harmonies, with other gems sprinkled throughout.

Didn't quite sustain it over the full 16 tracks, but another one in the "genuinely delighted to have it brought to my attention" pile

I had this Joni album before no? What's that? It was a *different* Joni album? Oh my mistake, but it's hard to tell.

I mostly know these guys because of them being "REM-adjacent" without ever realllllllly listening to them.

And yes, as a fully paid-up member of the "power-pop appreciation society" there's enough here to remind me that I have to investigate them more. The reviews suggest that maybe this isn't the album to do that with, and I can equally see why - a little too long, a little too unstructured and the feeling that, with just a little more polish, they could have come up with 11 bangers.

Is it in my own "desert island" Top 10 list. No, not really. Does it deserve to be in the Top 10 ever - yeah, I think it does.

So good, I listened to it twice back-to-back. I can only imagine how much the world changed purely from 5:50 onwards in Stairway to Heaven.........

Time to strap myself back into the wildly low crotched jeans and flip that baseball cap into reverse. Incubus were never my favourites of the genre, and there's nothing obvious here to change my mind. "Drive" is still excellent, the rest still average nu-metal filler.

Enjoyed the nostalgia, but absolutely no reason for it to be here.

Had to listen to it again the following day because I couldn't remember a single thing about it.

Ah yes, pleasant but entirely unremarkable psych-rock. Some good howling on "When I Touch You" which is, presumably, exactly the kind of thing going on back in those days.

So pleased to have this thrown up. Despite being a big fan at the time, I barely ever listen to Elliott tracks really. I think it's because there's not an obvious "I should throw on some Elliott Smith" occasion. It's not driving music, it's not chores music, it's not "impress people at my dinner party" music.

It IS bloody good though.