I didn’t really know what I was getting into here. I thought I knew what this band sounded like and I was kind of surprised they had existed as long as they did. And then “Call Me” started and I was like “Wait, what? They’re a (UK) post punk band???”
Category: Music
Oceanarium (2017) by Deluge Grander
Literally 4 years ago (seriously) the leader of this group sent me a message and asked if I would review this album based on a partial release. I suck and so it’s taken me 4 years to get to it. (In my limited defense, my podcast was still running so I basically listened to nothing …
Forever Breathes the Lonely World (1986) by Felt
Jangle pop with a post punk aesthetic. It made more sense to me when it was earlier in the 1980s. (I guess I mean that it made more sense when it was earlier in their career.)
The Way It Is (1986) by Bruce Hornsby and the Range
I know basically nothing about Bruce Hornsby. I remember seeing his name on a Mix 99.9 ad on the subway in high school. And I know he toured with the Dead. That’s all I got.
Duotones (1986) by Kenny G
Upon reflection it seems kind of cruel to assume that Kenny G isn’t actually a good saxophone player just because he doesn’t have taste. If I learned one thing from this preposterously popular record, it’s that Kenny G can indeed play. Now, that begs the question, what is worse, someone who has talent and uses …
Express (1986) by Love and Rockets
I spent way too much time in my review of Earth Sun Moon obsessing over how these guys weren’t Bauhaus. It’s a weird review that I find hard to read now. I wish I had focused on the music so I could try to compare the two records and understand why I appear to have …
Blood and Chocolate (1986) by Elvis Costello and the Attractions
At some point a career goes on long enough where it starts to divide the true fans from the people who just got into the artist because they were in the ether, but sometimes the critics will continue to care and sometimes they won’t. I don’t know where exactly that point is with Costello but …
Word Up! (1986) by Cameo
Like so much other music released in 1986, this sounds extremely “modern” or, perhaps more appropriately to us 21st century folks, “contemporary.” It’s aggressively of its era, which is a good thing for some people I suppose, though obviously not for me.
Mark of the Mole (1981) by The Residents
I read about The Residents as a teenager and thought their origin story was really cool and then later I fell in love with the cover of Third Reich ‘n’ Roll and so I thought I would get around to listening to a bunch of their records. Nearly two decades later this is the second …
Penthouse and Pavement (1981) by Heaven 17
This is on the funkier, more organic side of British synthpop in part because of the instrumentation but also because of the songwriting. As such, it almost feels somewhere on the spectrum between synthpop and post punk, even though the attitude of this band is very much not something you would associate with post punk …
Wanna Be a Star (1981) by Chilliwack
I came of age musically listening to Classic Rock Radio, specifically Q-107 in Toronto. And I came to loathe virtually all CanCon played. (Obvious exceptions: Neil Young and Joni Mitchell when they counted, Rush. No The Band doesn’t usually count.) And so I figured I loathed Chilliwack, though I couldn’t name a song. Another albums …
Happy Birthday (1981) by Altered Images
Post-punk was really evolving by 1981, and I think it’s safe to say that a number of bands were starting to realize they didn’t have to sound like Joy Division. Altered Images’ obvious influence is the Banshees but Grogan does not sound like Siouxsie Sioux (and she really isn’t on her level, as a singer, …
Private Eyes (1981) by Daryl Hall and John Oates
For years and years, I avoided Hall & Oates because I assumed they were yacht rock. I was only vaguely aware of their songs and sound – actually the only song of theirs I really knew was their cover of “Jingle Bell Rock.” I became vaguely interested in Daryl Hall once I knew about his …
Spirit (1976) by Earth, Wind and Fire
As usual, Earth Wind and Fire manage to combine a lot of different styles (relatively speaking) for what is essentially pretty soul with touches of disco, world music and jazz. Though they are always slightly too slick for me, I find their diversity extremely refreshing compared to their contemporaries. But something about this album isn’t …
Blackheart Man (1976) by Bunny Wailer
When I first heard Peter Tosh’s solo stuff, it was a revelation. I couldn’t believe how much more I liked it than the Wailers. And I sort of stupidly assumed that it was specifically Tosh I liked and the Wailers I didn’t like so much. I already knew I liked Tosh’s Wailers songs more than …
The Bob’s Burgers Music Album Vol. 2 (2021)
The second volume of music from Bob’s Burgers is another massive collection of original songs interspersed with some deliberately bad covers. Like the first volume it is full of catchy stuff performed extremely campily. It’s more evidence that this show has about the best use of music of any similar “sitcom” since The Simpsons. There …
It’s a Wonderful Life (2001) by Sparklehorse
Mark Linkous was one of the more reliable lo fi singer-songwriters of the 1990s, both for quality of songs – and relative paucity of song fragments – and for relative stylistic diversity with those songs. I’ve only heard the first two records before this one but I appreciated his diversity paired with song quality and …
Come Clean (2001) by Puddle of Mudd
This album sold 3 million copies in the US. And though it didn’t do as well anywhere else, it still went platinum in a few other English-speaking countries. And it produced multiple hit singles. Why?
No More Drama (2001) by Mary J. Blige
So, I basically only know Mary J. Blige from her hits and maybe some guest appearances. I thought I had listened to an album of hers at some point in the past but there are no reviews so I must have decided not to. I’m not really sure why, I guess I decided the combination …
All Is Dream (2001) by Mercury Rev
This record continues the chamber pop direction Mercury Rev had found in the late ’90s but it’s arguably a little bit closer to their original sound on some tracks, certainly as compared to the pervious album, Deserter’s Songs.
The Spirit Room (2001) by Michelle Branch
I know this much about Michelle Branch: I thought she was Vanessa Carlton.
8701 (2001) by Usher
I know very little about Usher beyond the hits that were so successful I couldn’t avoid them. I do remember I heard one of his songs once (something about “Confessions”) which startled me in how it was mostly just vocals, with barely other instruments. Other than that, I know nothing about him. And I wasn’t …
ATLiens (1996) by Outkast
Somehow I’ve actually managed to listen to a substantial portion of Outkast’s catalogue at this point. But I’m sorry to say I’m still not really in a position to evaluate this album (or any of them) in relation to the catalogue simply because it’s usually a year or so between listens. Unfortunately, I don’t remember …
Unquestionable Presence (1991) by Atheist
Oh my science, YES! Where has this been all my life?
The Comfort Zone (1991) by Vanessa Williams
Who is this for? Some of it feels like it’s for Janet Jackson fans (who have lower standards). But some of this is for your grandma. Well, maybe your parents. Either way, some of this is super cheesy adult contemporary. (Her “signature” song being the most obvious example.) And that leads you to wonder why …
Pocket Full of Kryptonite (1991) by Spin Doctors
What a bizarre story. A bit like Ten but with way fewer sales and hits. “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” hit #17 in December of 1992. “Two Princes” hit #7 in April of 1993. (The album came out in August 1991.) When this came out, the world was apparently not yet ready for it. I’m …
Cypress Hill (1991)
So I thought Cypress Hill were East Coast, which tells you everything you need to know about my knowledge about hip hop and Cypress Hill in particular.
Mental Vortex (1991) by Coroner
I know nothing about Coroner so I know nothing about how this is apparently an evolution of their earlier sound. So I can only go off how it compares to other “thrash” metal from the era.
Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience (1991) by P.M. Dawn
I don’t know what I would have thought about this if I hadn’t yet heard Dearest Christian already, but I have, and I can’t help but have that experience colour this one.
A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing (1991) by Black Sheep
I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard at a hip hop track as I did on my first listen to “U Mean I’m Not.” There aren’t that many songs from other genres I think I’ve laughed that hard at, actually. It’s basically exactly how I feel about gangsta rap and I’m glad someone in …