Reviews by richardwiggins

I’d say this is The Beach Boys in their platonic form. It doesn’t quite have the differentiating factors that make Pet Sounds or Surfs Up so special but there is the inspirational songwriting and performances that you would expect.

I particularly liked Do You Wanna Dance? which would uplift the spirits of even the most embittered troll. The album gets progressively less evocative as it goes on, especially the lyrics. For example, I'm So Young mourns how the protagonist is too young to get married, they wish they could get married, etc.

I thought I was partial to a soppy love song with comedic twist, I’ve certainly tried to write some myself, but I didn’t enjoy this album. The closest I got was the excellent If… which is the only one which nailed the balance between romance and comedy, with enough focus on the latter to sufficiently undercut and take the curse off of the former. Overall though just too many songs in a row about the same thing that aren’t that funny or entertaining.

This is an interesting album but I’m not sure it lives up to the hype. Perhaps others love the fact he sounds vulnerable and tired, mournful even at points. He is certainly eschewing his trademark pop sensibilities which gives this an interesting direction, but out of all the Bowie records, this is not one of the more memorable.

A wide eyed, whimsical hour of uplifting instrumental twists and turns that take you on several fully fledged journeys. When it hits, it really hits. When it doesn’t, it’s still musically interesting.

David Berman's vocals are absolutely gorgeous. This with combined with loose, extremely slow paced approach to country, makes for an enjoyably melancholy listen. I am a lover of sugary treats, so I must admit that the pop factor Berman later brings to Purple Mountains is more my speed, but I certainly have no regrets spinning this for half an hour.

Its wonderful how Tracy Chapman can turn her political anger into something so uplifting. Its a small shame that Fast Car, the most repeatable of all the songs here is the only one that lacks a political bent. Despite being emotional, her music is an unambiguously positive force.

The front end has the hits and they still feel as fresh as ever. The latter half is less of a rush, but eminently listenable.

Its a genius idea to create a concept album reflecting on life in the suburbs. I've always been drawn to music which explores the mundane reality of people's lives. I find "exceptional circumstances" are explored far more in art than the actual life that most people are living.

I prefer the vinyl tracklisting with Suburban War moved to the backend and the infinite loop after We Used To Wait. The record splits itself neatly into 4 EPs which all have their own energy and flavour, progressively getting less urgent and more introspective.

Overall I find this to be a mixed record because of the inconsistent writing, tone and occasional dodgy politics.

I'm sure I'm the one millionth person to point out that the Jamaican accented Coconut stands out like a sore thumb on the track list. Its hard to put myself in a mindset where I'd see this as a carefree bit of fun, even though I know this is how its intended. Comedy music is hard isn't it? Especially if you want something to never date.

I'm a big LCD Soundsystem fan so first heard Jump Into The Fire via their rather straightforward cover. I'm not sure I love either version but its got a good energy to it.

Listened to in a vacuum, Without You is a gorgeous number. I like the heightened emotions it delivers. But in the context of this "funny album" it sounds like a self conscious offering. Half a melodramatic joke, half a painful admission of heartbreak. Its would like to be taken seriously but failing that will accept a laugh.

Part jazz, part psychedelic rock, one hundred percent freewheeling and experimental.

Facelift takes a little while to get going, initially lost in its own whirs but it settles into some genuinely compelling jazz which is somehow both uplifting and disturbing. Slightly All the Time has a more straightforward appeal. This is the song you could pluck out and show a friend, with a slow, stately build throughout the 18 minutes

Moon in June brings in elements of English folk singing, or at least charming vocal wandering, courtesy of Robert Wyatt. It’s a less jazz-y more Hammond organ-y affair but no less densely textured. Out-Bloody-Ragious moves the band back to base a bit but messes with the production and gets into some nice saxophone loops.

Overall there are moments that I absolutely love, and others which I’m less sure about. It’s a phenomenon though. A must listen.

I struggle to summon a huge about of energy for ZZ Top, either positive or negative. Its bluesy, southern rock which is a genre mismatch for me, though I do find it perfectly listenable.

Dark Side of the Moon treats its audience with respect. It trusts that people are patient and are willing to wait for good things. Structure is everything to this record, imagine if they’d tried the CD era trick of kicking the album off with this LP’s big single ‘Money’? The track listing is intelligent and rewards people for listening to it as a whole.

Pink Floyd are not experimental in the sense that bands like Throbbing Gristle or Suicide are experimental, but they manage to take some relatively awkward ideas and make them palatable for a very broad audience. It is this element that makes Dark Side of the Moon one of the most exceptional albums of all time. The ability to make something pretty surprising translate it in a way that any human being could appreciate.

The triumphant wall of sound moments pressed up against the modest, gentle moments are perfection. The general mix and tone of every element of this album is unbeatable. The tension between the relatable down to Earth vocals and the cinematic out of this world instrumentation is phenomenal. Basically, this is a great album.

After a brilliant, and sadly underappreciated comeback album in The Next Day, David Bowie clearly felt he needed to deliver something more ambitious for what he understood would be his final album. The Next Day has a comparatively packed tracklist - 14 songs to Blackstar’s 7. What Blackstar loses in length it gains in the scope and scale of the songs themselves. This is not a straightforward pop album.

The title track is a multi-layered odyssey. I remember a friend of mine describing it as “weird” and not being sure about it when it was first released. Months later after Bowie's death they hailed it as “genius” and “very clever.” Well, I agree with their revised opinion. How the hell do you have a song like Blackstar in the tank while nearing end of life care? He had more energy and creativity at 69 than nearly anyone has in their prime of life.

For the bulk of this album (Lazarus, Dollar Days, I Can’t Give Anything Away), after a career of writing from the perspective of different characters and rarely autobiographically, Bowie talks from the first person, as someone who is either dead or dying. Given that no-one knew about his diagnosis for the first 2 days of this LP’s release, he essentially chose to present himself to the audience as one of his characters. It's a powerful and very considered choice. He sounds mournful, nostalgic and appreciative. More than that, each of these songs are beautifully melodic with a striking central performance. The jazz musicians working around Bowie enhance every move he makes.

Girl Loves Me stands out, not just as part of Blackstar, but across Bowie’s entire discography. It has an edgy, jumpy quality to it. Flirtatious and scary. He is almost rapping nonsense rhymes, which makes for a nice antidote to a lot of the more reflective and sombre songs elsewhere.

There are two tracks which, for me, pull Blackstar back from being a masterpiece. Sue and ‘Tis a Pity are a rerecorded single and b-side from two years prior, both in my mind feel like a significant step down from the album as a whole. But forget that and think about this. He lived to see rave reviews from critics. He will have predicted the compound public interest ultimately generated by his death. He knew that, unlike The Next Day, this album was one of his biggest hits.

It’s an extremely relaxed, funky record. Lots of zany keys and soulful ballads. It’s that dreaded thing though where, for me, it fades into the background and becomes just a nice “vibe.” It's definitely adding something to my day, but I won’t be rushing back for repeat listens.

Thin Lizzy are a tremendous amount of fun and bring tonnes of energy in this live setting. Even as a curmudgeonly hard rock hater who is turned off my needless displays of virtuoso guitar playing was completely swept up in it all. The thing that does it is the knock out singles. You can’t deny ‘Jailbreak’ or the iconic “The Boys are Back in Town.’ It lifts the spirits.

I loved this album the second I heard it. But I’ve had to play it ~5 times to understand what on earth I’m listening to. Is it a sort of early REM thing but with more of a freestyle jamming style? Or does it sound like a more laid back Pere Ubu? Or are they like a sort of slightly unhinged country band like The Colorblind James Experiment?

Comparing bands with other bands is boring but I just can’t yet properly catorgarise the gentle magic behind what fIRHOSE is doing. I’m going to have to do lots more listening.

They already sound great, and in brief glimpses you get to see the exceptional talent they later displayed in bucket loads. If they never went on to write another record, I think With The Beatles would be considered a strong, c-tier early 1960s record with excellent pop sensibilities and gorgeous harmonies. As a Beatles record it receives a far greater level of expectation than it can handle.

Tracks 1-4: The songs at the start of this album are kind of great and kind of terrible - they make me feel like my brain is broken. It’s as if Moby has 75% of the ingredients needed to be an amazing artist but just has something missing. Something is slightly off.

Tracks 5-7: There's suddenly a nauseating variety of genres introduced. Like you're eating ice cream and gravy. The closest artist I can think of is The Flight of the Conchords. He's trying out loads of different styles. But with no jokes. And the songs are suddenly just bad, but like, in a skillful way.

Track 8: Back on more even ground here. You’re starting to understand the formula of Moby’s better songs. He finds an amazing, niche sample, then puts some pretty impressive production over the top of it that almost matches, but doesn’t actually match.

Track 9: Moby as an Acid House hellscape New Order. He wants to show us how talented he is and how many genres he can master. He is a musical genius. A musical tyrant.

Tracks 10-13: We’ve reached the filler tracks baby! And you know what? It’s respite from all that damn flavour. Moby sedated and running out of ideas is my favourite kind of Moby. Quick - catch him while he's tired. Don’t let him loose!

Track 14: Who gave Moby an acoustic guitar?! Now I’m having to contemplate the sentence “epic downtempo folk rock music.” This is unnatural and wrong.

Tracks 15-16: Woah. Ambient Moby is really lovely. I feel like I’m in the hypnotist’s chair. “Your eyes feel heavy. You are feeling sleeeepy. The last hour of music has been the flawless product of a musical mastermind.”

Track 17: Okay. We’ve reached the tipping point and I’m finally prepared to say it: these songs are pretentious. Moby needs to stay as far away from that mic as possible. He is talking quietly and has the mic’s gain turned up to max. It’s an ASMR nightmare. I can hear the saliva in his mouth. Horrible wet mouth sounds. Why would he want me to hear that? He has intentionally chosen for me to hear that.

Track 18: Nothingness. Empty nothingness. There was life before Moby. There is life after Moby.

Very sweet, completely inoffensive lounge music that is unlikely to have a major impact on you, but might raise a smile.

When an album varies to this degree, spanning so many different styles, I find myself having to listen several times to arrive at a unified opinion. This undefinableness has to be a good thing. The thread that’s woven throughout its psychedelic nature, but it has in proggy, relaxed and avant-guarde forms.

When a band goes off on one with mad riffs and never ending jams, I sometimes crave a grounding human voice. The relative lightness of vocals across Larks makes it slightly less to my taste than the masterpiece In the Court of the Crimson King. But it’s got an awful lot going for it.

I feel like a bit of a villain rating this so lowly, but it doesn’t do much for me. It’s a vibey, smooth listen that’ll go down well with company round your house on a weekend. But it reach out of the speakers and grab me. There isn’t a particular element that I lean into and get obsessed with. It’s just totally fine.