A blog of albums ... old and new .... that are particular favourites of mine but that not everyone has heard. Yes ... there will be the odd popular album appearing on the blog but I am going to try and concentrate on some newer and rather more obscure albums for your listening pleasure
I love this album with a passion, and so will you if you like 60's and 70's era
pop music, expertly crafted songs, and great
melodies and hooks that have you singing the songs for the rest of the day.
One of the most refreshing things about this
album is its honesty and unapologetic optimism. There's no biting commentary or
cynicism or looking-down-your-nose at society here. Just a guy singing about
life, love and the ups and downs that come along with it. Brent Cash is a great
songwriter and he crafts these songs the old fashioned way - a way that doesn't
go out of style - creating something that will be enjoyed, cherished, loved and
listened to years to come. Give it a listen.
These days, The Undertones are probably best known for "Teenage Kicks" from their first album - John Peel's all-time favourite record - and their debut was, indeed, a gem. Their second album, however, is an absolute masterpiece. Their first album caught the tail-end of the punk explosion but "Hypnotised" showed them to be that generation's prime purveyor's of pop perfection. This is an album that deserves to be called a classic!
Every song on Hypnotised are magically in focus; short but sharp, they are like a shards of broken mirror catching a bright flash of the sunlight ... "He's got a fur-lined sheepskin jacket. My Ma said it cost a packet"
This album proves that the chemistry of youth works better than any drug!
The tale of Shack is really the story of the Head Brothers, Mick and John. Originally the founders of ace indie band The Pale Fountains (criminally ignored by just about everyone), they formed Shack when their original band called it a day due to a complete lack of commercial success.
Their first album as Shack was similarly ignored. They recorded a second album. The studio got burned down with the masters inside. There was a copy on DAT but the producer left that in a hire car in the States. By the time they found it, their record company had gone bust. The album eventually got released on a German label
Disillusioned, Shack disbanded and the Head brothers formed Michael Head and The Strands, recording the unknown classic "The Magical World of The Strands". By this time, the brothers were both in the grip of heroin addiction and, again, the album was ignored by all except those who realised what a brilliant album it was.
Then they reformed Shack ... and released "HMS Fable" ... THE best album of 1999
The four influences on the album are easy to spot; the pop structures of The Beatles (the Head brothers are Liverpudlians), the strings familiar to all fans of Nick Drake, the fragility of psychedelic heroes Love, and heroin. However, whereas The Strands album was about the negativity a drug problem brings, this album revealed a new found joi de vivre that were reflected in the songs.
The band went on to make a couple more albums, but none topped this and its influence can be heard today in the songs of bands like Mumford & Sons
Chicago are one of the biggest-selling bands of all time in the U.S.A. In the UK, they are known, if at all, for laid-back soft-rock, but their true
voice was in the way they started out, as a big-band rock outfit.
This is the debut album of Chicago. Originally they called themselves
"Chicago Transit Authority" but the real CTA, fearing possible confusion,
ordered them to change the name.
A very impressive debut it was too. It is music-making of high standard,
confident, brash and assertive.
At the time, they were lumped together with Blood Sweat and Tears as
"jazz-rock" but the band were playing a hybrid of rock and soul music, with musicians of extreme talent who could carry it off.
Back in 1970, this was one of the very first records I bought. I still think
it is one of the best I've ever bought. Catch Chicago when they were still an
innovative cutting-edge outfit.
Despite being unknown in the mainstream, The Chameleons gathered a large cult following and released a trio of albums that many of their fans considered all to be masterpieces and some of the best the 80's had to offer. The Chameleons' influence outweighs their popularity, especially with modern post-punk revival bands such as Interpol and Editors, who often accused of being Joy Division clones when actually owing more of their sound to The Chameleons.
Script of the Bridge, arguably their best album, also shares many similarities with Joy Division. However, the band never merely mimic Joy Division's sound, but instead add enough of their own style to keep their music sounding original and unique. Like Joy Division, The Chameleons used quite simple yet catchy riffs and hypnotic drumming to create a gripping dark atmosphere and add to this style though by bringing in mellow dream pop influences and calming melodies, which gives the album a lighter mood than their fellow mancunians
“His best material since Cupid? Indisputably. His best album, ever? Looking more likely with every listen.” —Simon Reynolds (author of the critically acclaimed post-punk history Rip It Up and Start Again)
“All that history is implicit as Gartside—simply ignoring the possibility of 1980s nostalgia—instead unveils a talent as unclassifiable and undimmed as ever.” —Nick Hasted, Independent (UK)
White Bread Black Beer, released in 2006, was the first new album by Green Gartside, the man who is Scritti Politti, since 1999. The album features tracks written and recorded solo by Gartside in a back room in his Hackney, London, home. He'd had hits in the 80s and was very popular in the States, but this is without any shadow of a doubt his best work. Filled with lush harmonies (with himself, multi-tracked) and the smoothest, silkiest, production, there is not one track even remotely imperfect
In fact, I'd go further ... this is one of the finest albums ever made!
