I have heard Fantasm described as ‘the Japanese Beck.’ It’s a comparison that sounds kind of ridiculous but is also kind of appropriate. It’s inappropriate inasmuch as Cornelius had been releasing music with Flipper’s Guitar well before Beck was known to most of us (is Beck, therefore, the American Cornelius?) but it is appropriate inasmuch …
Tag: Art Pop
The Dreaming (1982) by Kate Bush
Where has this been all my life?
Smiley Smile (1967) by The Beach Boys
If you read a lot of music criticism about the ’60s, like I used to, you have heard about Smile ad nauseum. If you read a lot of independent music criticism at the turn of the century, like I used to, you have also heard about Smile ad nauseum. You’ve heard about Smile to the …
Upstairs at Eric’s (1982) by Yazoo aka Yaz
As someone is absolutely not a fan of synthpop, this works better, as expected.
Pacific Ocean Blue (1977) by Dennis Wilson
Full disclosure: I did not want to listen to this. I don’t love The Beach Boys and have generally been annoyed by the Brian Wilson-worship that has bubbled to the surface over the last few decades. Of all the likely listeners of this record, one would expect me to be among the least fair.
A New World Record (1976) by Electric Light Orchestra
Despite deciding I was going to get into ELO when I was 16 or 17, I never actually did. So I have no idea how this to compares to any of their other records. I believe this is supposed to be their best, or at least their most popular. Anyway…
Face Value (1981) by Phil Collins
Phil Collins has had one of the weirder careers in pop rock, starting out as a prog rock / art rock drummer (who even played jazz fusion, at times) and then becoming a massive pop star. It’s an unusual arc to be sure, and this is the record that began the shift from the one …
Peter Gabriel [Melt] (1980)
On December 31, 2008, I wrote the following: This may sound stupid, but this sounds little too much like 1980. They had a good thing going, those Genesis guys… and while I know that version of the band could never have topped The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, neither Gabriel nor the rest of the …
Scratch My Back (2010) by Peter Gabriel
When I was young, I had a problem with interpretive music; for my idealistic self it suggested a lack of creativity, a lack of artistic will, or something like that. (I definitely had a bit of an obsession with the idea of The Artist as a True Individual or some shit.) Over the years my …