What We Find In Dusty Corners
One of the best parts of moving house, as I recently did, is packing up all your CD's and coming across a load that you simply haven't listened to in years. Even in my alphabetically and chronologically arranged collection (I know, I know...) these albums have somehow managed to disappear from my radar. Listening to them again now, it seems the reason for this is that many of them fall into the 'average albums with one standout track on them' category. These include:
1 - Radio K-A-O-S by Roger Waters - Not a terrible album by any means, but if I tell you that it's a concept album featuring a Californian DJ talking to a Welsh man who has a Stephen Hawking voicebox in the last 30 minutes before a nuclear war, all overlaid with heavy mid-80s production that makes it sound like Dire Straits, I think you'll appreciate why this one doesn't get played that often. Still, track one - Radio Waves - is jolly enough.
Roger Waters - Radio Waves
2 - Gone Again by Patti Smith - As I recall, this album was hailed at the time as a return to form, and indeed it is a very competent album, but my God it's hard work. It's just so damn miserable. Not miserable in an exciting Joy Division / Depeche Mode / The Cure way, just miserable in a kind of serious, adult way. That said, I really like Beneath The Southern Cross (which features impressive guests with John Cale on organ and Jeff Buckley on backing vocals).
Patti Smith – Beneath The Southern Cross
3 - Music Is Rotted One Note by Squarepusher - Like Aphex Twin, but with jazz. That, my friends, is a recipe for an unlistenable album - it's simply not something the world really needs. Except for My Sound which is just glorious; a long, dark, looping jazz riff that steps up subtly every now and then to wrap another layer around itself.
Squarepusher – My Sound
4 - Wild Mood Swings by The Cure - The Cure's 1996 album is not one of their best but even an average Cure album is never a bad thing; Want and Club America are both good tracks and Gone! - presented here - is a decent bit of jazzy whimsy in the horn-laden tradition of The Lovecats.
The Cure – Gone!
5 - Radar by Earthling - Released in 1995 at the height of trip-hop, this one defies the category in that it is actually an excellent album that is overshadowed by the first track 1st Transmission, which is so good the rest of the album seems average in comparison, even though it's really good. Mau's lyrics on this one are genius:
I know who I am -
I'm not who you think I am
Whistlin', hummin', thumbin' a ride
Driver won't you take me to the other side?
I'm a book, a poem - by Leonard Cohen
Son of the Dice Man and I won't stop throwin'
I'm Boris Karloff - the man they couldn't hang
I'm a ruffneck romantic talking that slang
I'm Jesus Christ superstar
Driving around in an old yellow car
Earthling – 1st Transmission
If you like Portishead, Tricky et al I strongly recommend you buy this album - here's one more track, Planet Of The Apes in case you should require further persuasion.
Earthling – Planet Of The Apes
Crisp Debris
As a cheeky footnote, if any of you fine fine people find themselves in the fine fine neighbourhood of New Cross tomorrow night, and you find yourself feeling particularly saucy, you could do worse than nip along to the Amersham Arms where The Gluerooms will be 'happening'. And what's more, Tiny Dancer will probably be playing some records in between the turns. Whether that's a good or a bad thing, only time will tell.
1 - Radio K-A-O-S by Roger Waters - Not a terrible album by any means, but if I tell you that it's a concept album featuring a Californian DJ talking to a Welsh man who has a Stephen Hawking voicebox in the last 30 minutes before a nuclear war, all overlaid with heavy mid-80s production that makes it sound like Dire Straits, I think you'll appreciate why this one doesn't get played that often. Still, track one - Radio Waves - is jolly enough.
2 - Gone Again by Patti Smith - As I recall, this album was hailed at the time as a return to form, and indeed it is a very competent album, but my God it's hard work. It's just so damn miserable. Not miserable in an exciting Joy Division / Depeche Mode / The Cure way, just miserable in a kind of serious, adult way. That said, I really like Beneath The Southern Cross (which features impressive guests with John Cale on organ and Jeff Buckley on backing vocals).
3 - Music Is Rotted One Note by Squarepusher - Like Aphex Twin, but with jazz. That, my friends, is a recipe for an unlistenable album - it's simply not something the world really needs. Except for My Sound which is just glorious; a long, dark, looping jazz riff that steps up subtly every now and then to wrap another layer around itself.
4 - Wild Mood Swings by The Cure - The Cure's 1996 album is not one of their best but even an average Cure album is never a bad thing; Want and Club America are both good tracks and Gone! - presented here - is a decent bit of jazzy whimsy in the horn-laden tradition of The Lovecats.
5 - Radar by Earthling - Released in 1995 at the height of trip-hop, this one defies the category in that it is actually an excellent album that is overshadowed by the first track 1st Transmission, which is so good the rest of the album seems average in comparison, even though it's really good. Mau's lyrics on this one are genius:
I know who I am -
I'm not who you think I am
Whistlin', hummin', thumbin' a ride
Driver won't you take me to the other side?
I'm a book, a poem - by Leonard Cohen
Son of the Dice Man and I won't stop throwin'
I'm Boris Karloff - the man they couldn't hang
I'm a ruffneck romantic talking that slang
I'm Jesus Christ superstar
Driving around in an old yellow car
If you like Portishead, Tricky et al I strongly recommend you buy this album - here's one more track, Planet Of The Apes in case you should require further persuasion.
Crisp Debris
As a cheeky footnote, if any of you fine fine people find themselves in the fine fine neighbourhood of New Cross tomorrow night, and you find yourself feeling particularly saucy, you could do worse than nip along to the Amersham Arms where The Gluerooms will be 'happening'. And what's more, Tiny Dancer will probably be playing some records in between the turns. Whether that's a good or a bad thing, only time will tell.
Labels: earthling, patti smith, roger waters, squarepusher, the cure
posted by Tiny Dancer at Tuesday, March 25, 2008
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3 Comments:
yeah, I'm a big geek and arrange my cds alphabetically and chronologically too, but when I move house I usually lose 3 cds, but don't realise until about 5 months later.
Hi Neil – I like to think of ourselves not as geeks, but more as people who are too busy being cool and making love to beautiful people to spend time searching for CDs. I quite like the idea that if I move house again in the future and find 3 CDs they might be yours… now that would be spooky.
Just to add Debris, you are so very wrong about Squarepusher. Next time I see you, remind me to do you a copy of Hello Everything. Rather special.
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