Reviews by mibbiesaye

One of those albums I always meant to take time to listen to because plenty of musicians reference it. It's great and fits perfectly with my belated love of 67/68 English psychedelia. It is a clever synthesis of Sgt Pepper and Pet Sounds to create their own thing.

Such an old fart rock critic move to have both 'actually Rod Stewart's early albums are really good' on here. Bit redundant. It's OK. John Peel wasn't right about everything.

Maybe just give Daft Punk a second entry and be done with it? Nothing wrong with this but it doesn't really grab me either.

Non-Alignment Pact is so great. I had no idea they released singles off this album and it wasn't one of them -wild. If the feedback and extreme stereo panning on the Pere Ubu original are too much you could always go and check out Julian Cope's somewhat sanitised version. He does sing it really well.

It's been a while. The floaty, not sure what they're doing next bits are my favourites.

This is why we need six Elvis Costello albums. Counterweight 😝

I was going to give it two stars cos Love In An Elevator gives me the giggles but the Tyler Tax must be paid.

I think if you're wanging on about flow you are kind of missing the point with The Streets. Not that I love this album. Fit But You Know It - perish the thought a young woman have self esteem :D But the ordinariness of it all is kind of engaging and I like how basic the production is but sometimes with rhythms that aren't obvious.

Just as big an influence on Oasis as The Beatles. The review where someone typed "80s hair metal" underneath that sleeve and text that clearly says 1972 is amusing. A big unfortunate influence in the creation of that genre, though.

I'm also seeing Led Zeppelin references in a few reviews. Weird, such different beasts. Maybe it's the type of reverb on Noddy's vocals being a little similar to what was favoured for Robert Plant?

I hear this and I instantly feel like I'm wearing a knitted tank top and a wee pair of flares again. Is Top of the Pops on yet?

Those first three Velvets albums are so perfectly conceived in how each one presents its own particular mood or feeling, like different distinct shades of colour.

It feels a bit gimmicky like those breathily sung covers that adorn John Lewis Christmas adverts. Also seems obviously where Bobby D got the idea recently. I feel like the point of most of these songs is that they were made for big voices and big arrangements to match the big emotions.These versions make them feel too reduced to me.

One of the weird aspects of that comfortingly bland mid 70s rock sound is that despite having opposite images Shine On off this album could just have easily come from Kiss Alive II .

For me Tortoise always represented the labcoat end of post-rock and as such were not necessarily my favourites of that music critic cooked up genre. I prefer the loud/quiet angst of Slint, the beautiful smothering intensity of Labradford or the elegaic end-of-the-world-sadness of GYBE! I'm not sure any of these bands have that much in common other than a commitment in the 90s to not succumb to rock nostalgia which was everywhere at the time and remains rock's dominant mode up to today.

Tortoise probably sound most like they were trying to make prog for people with short hair and no interest in wizards. I can just about relate them to Soft Machine or Hatfield and the North. Nothing wrong in that. I like what they are doing but I feel kept at arms length emotionally. Maybe that's because out of all the big post-rock groups they seem closest to trying to meet the then current challenge of techno's impersonality in the way they use rhythm and texture.

I listened to this on streaming but I still had a nanosecond of "this CD is skipping" about two thirds of the way into Djed.

The self consciously PUNK ones like Ugly and London Lady aren't great and neither is the letting their roots show, "hello, fellow young people", blues number (lame blues always comes as a number) Princess of the Streets.

But I have a genuine soft spot for The Stranglers way with a smuggled Doors influence into the London punk scene. The extravagantly bracketed (Get A) Grip (On Yourself) is the real highlight. I'm also enjoying discovering the epic Down In The Sewer.

My favourite fact about The Stranglers is that Hugh Cornwell went to school with Richard Thompson of Fairport Convention and they were in a relatively successful covers band together.

You really get the sense of someone at play on this album. There's something life affirming about that.

I forget that some people can't listen to 80s production sounds until I read reviews on this site. I like how the 80s stands out on its own. Sometimes with certain genres it can feel like we have the 60s and 70s and then the 90s onwards looking back at those two decades. Most guitar music does that let's be honest. Prince took plenty from the 60s and 70s but made music in the 80s that was vital and utterly of its decade but also to my ears utterly timeless.

Hmm 2 for Christina 1 for Beyoncé. It's OK but it's way too long. Good singles tedious filler.

Generic 70s hippie mush. Future editions of the book need a reassessment of the ground it covers. As well as the two big groups he was in Stills gets two solo records but the representation of the whole of 70s Jamaican reggae is incredibly sparse. Or you could have a Betty Davis album. Or if you want to be more obvious a later James Brown album. Anything but this poor example of an already well represented genre.

I didn't expect to be so into the guitar playing.

I never thought before about how much The Kinks must have been an influence on a young Peter Gabriel. This is conceptual but less proggy than early Genesis but with a similar focus on Englishness. I like how the album sounds and Ray Davies' commitment to writing away from the usual lyrical concerns. But I mistrust anything that seems to wallow in this much nostalgia and an idealised version of England. The melodies mostly aren't that immediate but I like the variety of approaches and the different textures.

I was just right in the mood for this. Maybe I finally need a major Pere Ubu/David Thomas phase, especially because I've learned various Henry Cow people and Richard Thompson played with him in the 80s.

I'm enjoying the idea of a meeting of minds between Pere Ubu and Def Leopard as mentioned in the Wikipedia entry. How much did they horrify one another? Or did they have an unlikely workers in song camaraderie?