Reviews by richardwiggins

You can trust Sparks to play you a simple song in the most delightfully complex way possible. I’m amazed the frankly genius Thank God It’s Not Christmas has not made it onto any Christmas playlists I’ve ever encountered. The way they pronounce “Ch-rist-mas” is startling and exciting.

Despite some excellent songs peppered throughout, this album as a whole is just on the cusp of being brilliant. Close but not quite. I love the vibe, the ambition, the approach (and the amazing song titles!) But the songs aren’t always quite there for me. It is potentially a bit style of substance in some instances.

Guns N Roses - it’s all in the name really. These guys are not subtle and want you to feel every emotion at once while you sit on their thrill ride. It’s not to my taste but you can’t deny that they have countless hits under their studded belts. The singles are strong enough to transcend the naffness - they have star power. The album tracks do not benefit from this though and sometimes the lyrics are beyond tasteless, bordering on annoying.

I have always gravitated to the following Ziggy Stardust album, so despite being familiar with most of the track list this was my first active listen to Hunky Dory at the tender age of 32. How embarrassing, as its absolutely perfect!

Its surprisingly stripped back throughout. Even songs which you would imagine are more maximalist (e.g. Changes, Life on Mars) only see new elements only see new layers being added in very cautiously. Every ingredient has its carefully considered place.

Its got the hit singles but its well balanced out with finely crafted album tracks - and its not always easy to the difference between the two. The lyrics to Andy Warhol make this album track a favourite of mine "Andy walking, Andy tired, Andy take a little snooze."

Finley sets out a set of nice, chill, dubby, reggae grooves. So chilled in fact that he doesn’t feel the need to write any hooks into his songs, which float around cheerfully for the best part of an hour. Music for patient, kind hearted souls.

Of course I wasn’t there, but a great live album will make you feel like you were. It connects you to the artist at that snapshot in time in a way a studio album can’t quite. They are excellent musicians. They bring the hits. And the little comic asides from the band remind you of a certain type of sense of British humour which feels lost to history.

I have a bit of history with Nightmares on Wax. I saw him perform in 2016 and was blown away. I’d go as far as to say it was one of the best gigs I’d ever been to, certainly the best DJ set. A couple of years later I listened to his 2018 album and was surprised that it lacked any of the drive or pulse that I’d experienced that night - it’s just not what he’s going for. I thought his 1995 effort, his most popular work, might be the thing that makes my overall experience of his music make sense.

At its best, this is vibey, chilled out stoner music with a patchwork of different textures and fragments of melody. Its the excellent music that I remember from that gig. It is music that is about the journey, rather than the destination.

While there are definite highs across this release its mammoth 74 minutes sees diminishing returns, getting increasingly aimless and tedious. Some of the closing tracks simply should not have been featured.

This album is my first brush with Black Sabbath in the wake of Ozzy's departure from this planet; and its been an eye opening experience. I'd say this album leans more towards Hard Rock than Heavy Metal, but regardless its the first time I've found myself properly "getting" these genres. I realised that I have been missing a cornerstone of this form of expression. Black Sabbath make it make sense. Its a surprisingly tender album and has far more musical depth and detail than I was expecting. Damn me for dismissing this earlier!

It’s hard to imagine a label making the money available for a project like this today. Sending someone around the world to find talent for an international audience.

The idea for this recording came about by chance when Ry Cooder’s planned Mali-Cuban collaboration LP fell through due to visa issues on the Mali end. It’s a story that you could base a movie on (in fact Wim Wenders did!) A large group of Cuban musicians, some celebrated locally in their time, shot into international stardom thanks to this unexpected mainstream success.

You can split the album into two halves, both of which rely on the incredible musicianship which provides the record’s beating heart. The first half of the record is lively music to be listened to with large groups - there is a jubilant, celebratory vibe. The second half is a more intimate, romantic experience which you could get lost in, forgetting the rest of the world exists.

An album that you feel as much as you listen to, partly due to how often played and familiar it is. It's one of the pantheon of “very good albums” that sit solidly in public consciousness, its place earned thanks to big, bright, bold melodies being thwacked out in as distorted, a cathartic burst of energy as possible.

Even without the grungey set dressing, these are perfectly composed and produced songs. Come As You Are cycles seamlessly between its different sections, each having a hero moment of its own which catches the ear - and how good is that iconic bassline? Territorial Pissings has electrifying guitar overdubs which are my favourite elements of the song, you get the sense that these are the product of a very intense and involved set of recording sessions.

Lithium might encapsulate exactly what captured the public imagination. The choruses are so listenable that you could imagine the “yeeeaaaaah” on a toothpaste advert. Not because they’ve written by numbers commercial music, but because it's just very immediate, savvy writing which is alternative enough to be interesting to everyone but accessible enough to not alienate anybody.

Something in the Way into the unlisted and 10 minutes later (on CD) Endless, Nameless are a fantastic 1-2 to close out the album. The former being recorded without a click gives it an uncanny eerie quality with the band slipping in and out of time. Then the chaotic almost hardcore punk of the later sounds like the band at their least accommodating. What a ride!

I love 60s psychedelic folk rock, so this is right up my street. It is a very rich sound full of sunshine and charm.

The ridiculous fun of Rikki Don’t Lose That Number is the highlight of this LP for me. The rest is less of a genre match with my tastes and doesn’t give enough to overcome that - despite enjoyable instrumentation throughout. I enjoy when they stray into pop rock Bowie territory. They have a funny use of language as well, particularly the term “major dude.”

The amount of patience displayed on this record is staggering. Their willingness to let every idea ride out for as long as it can doesn’t dampen the urgency of the LP. For how long and awkward these songs are, they are oddly poppy and accessible. It would be easy for seven minute long, repetitive synth based tracks to alienate a broad listenership, but James Murphy and co seem to have no trouble in making this an album for everyone.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about Sound of Silver is how different this LP is from their debut. All the rock elements are gone and are replaced with a much better and more refined set of dance sensibilities (with the exception of the closing song). LCD Soundsystem seem to realise their remit on Sound Of Silver. They take this new, improved sound and manage to fill almost an hour with no duds.

Their unique blend of indie infused dance scratches an itch that music fans cannot find elsewhere. ‘Get Innocuous!’ is confident and brave opening track, it doesn’t show its hand immediately but slowly beckons the listener in before rewarding them with a belter of a dance track. We have to wait two minutes and ten seconds to get vocals on this record - which is a statement of intent on an indie album. When the vocals do hit, they are so weird, so bold, so perfect. It’s intoxicating. LCD Soundsystem do have clear influences directing their writing, but it’s their specific blend of these ideas which is inspired.

James Murphy is a highly talented and versatile lyricist. ‘North American Scum’ shows off his talent for humorous observation - “And for those who think we are from England. We’re not. No.” Just one track later he is bringing us to tears with ‘Someone Great’, a track which always floors me with its brutally honest sentimentality and kindheartedness. “I wake up and the phone is ringing, surprised as its early. And that should be a perfect warning that something’s a problem. To tell the truth I saw it coming, the way you were breathing. But nothing can prepare you for it: the voice on the other end.” Wow. Perhaps his most well observed moment sits on the title track. “Sound of silver talk to me. Makes you want to feel like a teenager. Until you remember the feelings of a real life emotional teenager. Then you think again.” A line good enough to be repeated a thousand times.

The repeating piano line on ‘All My Friends’ is superb and manages to pump through the entire song without getting tired. Also, the trademark DFA records cow bells* throughout this album are so much fun (*see The Rapture’s Echoes).

‘New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down’ is a great closer and acts as a reward for any listener for whom a dance album isn’t their usual bag. You could see this track fitting snugly amongst older songs like ‘Movement’ and ‘Tribulations’.

I think it takes a bit of time for some albums to settle into their “classic” status. People never want to believe that 10/10 albums are currently being released. Eleven years on from its creation it is clear now more than ever that this is an almost perfect album.

An interesting mix of traditional folk, blues and rock n roll. Taylor has a warm pleasant voice which makes for a very comfortable half hour but rarely tips over into electrifying brilliance. The highly arresting Fire and Rain is the exception to this which pairs a clarity of storytelling with extra oomph and drama in both the melody and production.

Chris and Tina from Talking Heads deliver some serious hits on the front and back ends of this album, taking the funkier elements from their sister band and ramping up the disco. It's a series of focused persistent grooves with surprising, sometimes funny and abstract vocals. It's nice to get a sense of the rest of the band’s personality without David Byrne who would otherwise take centre stage. The quality of Wordy Rappinghood, Genius of Love, On On On On… and Booming and Zooming seriously outweigh the rest of the album, which is otherwise a more patient affair.

I feel bad because The Choral are putting a lot into this album to add flavour, to titillate, to entertain, but because I’m not wowed by the core ingredients it ultimately adds up to a boring listening experience for me. There are gorgeous guitar licks here and there, but there’s tepid guitar chords too, paired with plodding bass lines. No amount of unexpected sea shanty harmonies can solve that for me.

There’s then Dreaming of You, gleaming from the middle of a beige tracklist, so obvious in its brilliance. It’s a finely crafted piece of pop which has earned every second of its airtime.

Play anyone this album and the descriptive word that's likely to come to their head first is "smooth." Damn this is a smooth record. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone with a pulse who finds it objectionable. Marvin Gaye sounds deeply in love and out of that made one of the all time most romantic LPs of all time. Its a shock when it ends after only 30 minutes but I admire Gaye not stretching beyond the hits.

A debut album which instantly establishes Siouxsie and the Banshees’ iconic sound. Once you’ve heard this, you’d recognise anything they’ve done. It also goes some way to defining what post-punk is and what differentiates it from its immediate predecessor. The gothic tinges and pure terror in Siouxsie’s voice at times has a spine tingling effect.

The band bettered this record several times as they moved into more melodic spaces, but there’s something to be said for the chaotic and rough catharsis of this album. Oddly enough it’s the final two tracks that come out on top for me.

I think of Stereolab’s output as music for stereotypically cool people. Think: micro fringe with long hair; drinks speciality loose leaf teas; used to live in New York and Paris, is now situated in East London; is in their 30s but has solely Victorian furniture; vegan; bilingual; good looking; works with an art gallery; doesn’t use cling film for environmental reasons.

This album in particular (very good, but not my favourite of their records) has a highly sophisticated, almost untouchable sound. Playful, distant, refined, beautiful, odd. It’s a real experience. I definitely feel more high status for having listened to it.

I think the trick with Muse is to not take the music too seriously. It’s supposed to be fun - a big rush of endorphins, rather than anything probing. At points they sound like a souped up, distorted Coldplay - and there’s a time and a place for that!

I love the textures, performances and general vibe of this album. I prefer the compositions when they wrap themselves around a more traditionally shaped song, some of the tracks are a little formless for my taste but make for an interesting listen. For this reason when the band points towards a pop song on the bouncy and life affirming Glittering Prize, this stands out as my favourite moment on the tracklist, even more impactful because of the overall album it sits on.