Saturday, January 31, 2009

803. Leftfield - Leftism (1995)


















Track Listing

1. Release The Pressure
2. Afro Left
3. Melt
4. Song Of Life
5. Original
6. Black Flute
7. Space Shanty
8. Inspection (Check One)
9. Storm 3000
10. Open Up
11. 21st Century Poem

Review


Leftfield brings us one of the more interesting dance albums of the mid-90s. Unfortunately it doesn't quite manage to escape the problems that mid-90s dance music has, now that we look at it with hindsight.

It is a dated, and now slightly tacky album which does not work tremendously well outside its intended venue (i.e. the club). Still it manages to raise itself above the average simply by having some very good vocal tracks.

Some of the tracks in the album are pretty good, and it does indeed start well, with two of the best tracks right up front. After a while however, it loses its sheen and the second half of the album is not nearly as good. So it is in the end a good album for what it is, but heh.

Track Highlights


1. Release The Pressure
2. Open Up
3. Afro Left
4. Original

Final Grade


8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

It was shortlisted for the 1995 Mercury Music Prize but lost-out to "Dummy" by Portishead . In a 1998 Q magazine poll, readers voted it the eightieth greatest album of all time, while in 2000 Q magazine placed it at number 34 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.

Release The Pressure:


Friday, January 30, 2009

802. Pulp - Different Class (1995)


















Track Listing

1. Mis-Shapes
2. Pencil Skirt
3. Common People
4. I Spy
5. Disco 2000
6. Live Bed Show
7. Something Changed
8. Sorted For E's & Wizz
9. F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.
10. Underwear
11. Monday Morning
12. Bar Italia

Review

We've already seen how much glam was influential on Britpop in people like Suede, but the ones who pull it off with the most aplomb are without a doubt Pulp. They do this by not relying solely on Glam influences like Bowie for their sound, curiosuly they go for Scott Walker just as much and add an element of synth-pop to the mix, often all in the same track.

It works, not only because of how smartly the songs use their influences, but because of Jarvis Cocker's superior song writing. He can be lascivious, sexy, mean or fragile in the space of 10 minutes of album and they are all convincing. His singing style is also pretty varied, even if Bowie is definitely the main influence, as in so many of his contemporaries.

I bought this album some 10 years ago, and I like it more now than when I heard it then. The historical context I am able to put it in now makes it stand heads over shoulders above the glam-pop competition. This is smart britpop music. So yay!

Track Highlights

1. Common People
2. Disco 2000
3. I Spy
4. F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.

Final Grade

10/10


Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The album was the winner of the 1996 Mercury Music Prize. In 1998 Q readers voted Different Class the 37th greatest album of all time; a repeat poll in 2006 put it at number 85. In 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 46 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2004 it was voted number 70 of Channel 4's 100 greatest albums.

Common People:



Thursday, January 29, 2009

For today's review scroll down to 799 for Femi Kuti.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

801. Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords (1995)

















Track Listing

1. Liquid Swords
2. Duel Of The Iron Mic
3. Living In The World Today
4. Gold
5. Cold World
6. Labels
7. 4th Chamber
8. Shadowboxin'
9. Hell's Wind Staff / Killah Hills 10304
10. Investigative Reports
11. Swordsman
12. I Gotcha Back
13. Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth

Review

This is the album that finally fulfils the promise of Wu-Tang's Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Genius/GZA mixes the cinematic quality of the sound and the use of samples, this time mainly from Shogun Assassin, with great lyrics and just some really good tunes.

Of all the solo albums by members of the Wu-Tang, like Method Man or Raekwon this is the one which is most balanced and most interesting. Every little track has something that makes you want to listen to it closer.

The beat here is very deliberately laid-back, the whole thing goes through in a narcotic haze. G-Funk this ain't. The sampling is almost hypnotic with the beats lulling you while still being very interesting. The production is equally excellent.

Track Highlights

1. I Gotcha Back
2. Liquid Swords
3. Living In The World Today
4. Swordsman

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia


From Wikipedia:

The album is also known for its distinctive cover, designed by DC-Milestone Comics chief artist Denys Cowan who was commissioned by GZA's personal manager Geoffrey L. Garfield, an avid comic book fan under the auspices of GZA Grafx, a subsidiary company of GZA Entertainment owned by Genius and Garfield. The concept of the chessboard with its sword-wielding warriors was conceived by Genius, an avid chess player. The Genius version of the Wu-Tang Clan logo, the "G" using the logo iconography, was rendered by Wu-Tang Clan DJ Mathematics.

Liquid Swords:


Monday, January 26, 2009

800. The Verve - A Northern Soul (1995)

















Track Listing

1. A New Decade
2. This Is Music
3. On Your Own
4. So It Goes
5. A Northern Soul
6. Brainstorm Interlude
7. Drive You Home
8. History
9. No Knock On My Door
10. Life's An Ocean
11. Stormy Clouds
12. (Reprise)

Review

This is another band that I was not predisposed to like. What I know of The Verve are a couple of singles off Urban Hymns which never really made me interested in them, although I would like to see how long Richard Ashcroft would last in real life if he kept bumping into people like that. How inconsiderate.

So I was pleasantly surprised with this album. I didn't love it, but it is really pretty good, and considerably better than I imagined. There are a few highlights in it, some really beautiful songs and some pretty good lyrics.

It is not as insular as Oasis for example, it shows some influences from more recent American bands like Pavement and the Lemonheads. From the evidence of this album they seem to be infinitely more talented than their more famous friends Oasis. And yes I enjoyed it, and I thought I would really hate it, so I learned something.

Track Highlights

1. On Your Own
2. History
3. Life's An Ocean
4. A New Decade

Final Grade


8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Nick McCabe has described the first three weeks of the sessions (which have become semi-famous for the band's enormous intake of ecstasy) to be the happiest of his life. Over time, however, friction started to develop between Richard Ashcroft and McCabe, and after the album failed to become a commercial success, Ashcroft disbanded The Verve (though he reformed it several weeks later). Despite its lack of critical success on its release, the album is now hailed as an underrated classic by the music press.

On Your Own:



799. Femi Kuti - Femi Kuti (1995)












Track Listing

1. Wonder Wonder
2. Survival
3. Frustrations
4. Nawa (Intro)
5. Nawa
6. Plenty Nonsense
7. Stubborn Problems
8. No Shame
9. Live for Today
10. Changes

Review

I really like this album. But the reasons I like it do not make it great or even very original. I like it because I love Fela Kuti, Fami Kuti's father. The truth is Femi Kuti sounds very much like his father, even if his songs are slightly shorter and not as chaotic, something which was interesting in Fela.

So it sounds like a bit of a re-run. Fortunately Femi Kuti keeps much of his father political and social interventionism intact in his songs. Also like his father he enjoys making very long introductions before the voice kicks in, this always pays off.

So I really enjoy it because I love Fela so much. I would probably be better served with more Fela albums, but at least Femi has the excuse of following in the musical tradition of his father, and he does this very competently. So really it the next best thing to Fela.

Track Highlights

1. Wonder Wonder
2. Plenty Nonsense
3. Survival
4. No Shame

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Femi Kuti's voice is featured in the videogame Grand Theft Auto IV, where he is the host of radio station IF 99 (International Funk 99, described as "playing a great selection of classics from West Africa, the US and elsewhere").

Survival:

798. Guided By Voices - Alien Lanes (1995)



















Track Listing


1. A Salty Salute
2. Evil Speakers
3. Watch Me Jumpstart
4. They're Not Witches
5. As We Go Up, We Go Down
6. (I Wanna Be A) Dumbcharger
7. Game of Pricks
8. The Ugly Vision
9. A Good Flying Bird
10. Cigarette Tricks
11. Pimple Zoo
12. Big Chief Chinese Restaurant
13. Closer You Are
14. Auditorium
15. Motor Away
16. Hit
17. My Valuable Hunting Knife
18. Gold Hick
19. King and Caroline
20. Striped White Jets
21. Ex-Supermodel
22. Blimps Go 90
23. Strawdogs
24. Chicken Blows
25. Little Whirl
26. My Son Cool
27. Always Crush Me
28. Alright

Review

Look at the size of that track list! And it's not a very long album, and it's not a hardcore album as well! It's just that there is an extreme economy of music in each song. And from the lo-finess of the whole thing an economy of budget as well.

In fact lo-fi works as an advantage here. If this was over produced it would not have half the charm it does now. Guided by Voices use everything, from psychedelia to jangly pop to rock is what is a smorgasbord of tiny but very well made tracks.

This is one of those albums that you need to listen to repeatedly in order to get, the songs go by so fast that you cannot form an opinion at a first listen. For example the great Cigarette Tricks lasts for 18 seconds. When you have given it the effort it needs and definitely deserves this becomes a very rewarding collection of tracks, with a great sense of harmony and melody as well as some great lyrics. Highly Recommended!

Track Highlights

1. Blimps Go 90
2. As We Go Up We Go Down
3. Auditorium
4. Closer You Are

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The album was GBV's first release with Matador Records. According to James Greer's book Guided by Voices: A Brief History: Twenty-One Years of Hunting Accidents in the Forests of Rock and Roll the advance for the record was close to a hundred thousand dollars, one of the more expensive deals in Matador's history. In contrast to the lucrative deal, Greer mentions that "The cost for recording Alien Lanes, if you leave out the beer, was about ten dollars."

Auditorium/Motor Away:


Sunday, January 25, 2009

797. Radiohead - The Bends (1995)



















Track Listing

1. Planet Telex
2. The Bends
3. High And Dry
4. Fake Plastic Trees
5. Bones
6. (Nice Dream)
7. Just
8. My Iron Lung
9. Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was
10. Black Star
11. Sulk
12. Street Spirit (Fade Out)

Review

We are in 1995 and you hear that Radiohead are putting out a new album. Then you are thinking, "oh yeah those guys from Creep". And you think you'll get a slightly above average album of post-grungy derivativeness. Then you get home and you put this on.

And you've never heard anything like it before. For one simple reason, there was nothing like it before. The layering, the lyrics, the vocal range, the inventiveness, the sheer emotional power of it. And you think... "hey these guys could go somewhere".

And then you listen to it again and again, and you realise that Pablo Honey was the fluke, not this. This is amazingly well thought out music, recreating arena-rock to the thinking public, this is new. In the context of the endlessly derivative mid-90s Britain nothing sounds like this. In the context of the US reeling from the end of Nirvana, nothing sounds like this, although Smashing Pumpkins would like to.

There is not one note wrong in this album, it bridges the gap between Pablo Honey and the possibly even more amazing OK Computer perfectly. It creates just the right balance between accessible and strange, in the same way the Pixies did before them, albeit in a very different style. An album which creates a new musical style all by itself, a pivotal album without which comparatively crappy bands like Coldplay or Muse would not exist. This is the best album of 1995, bar none. A perfect ten.

Track Highlights

1. Fake Plastic Trees
2. Just
3. Bullet Proof... I wish I was
4. Street Spirit (Fade Out)

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The album's title, which refers to decompression sickness, is one of many references to physical illness and brokenness on the album, but has also been seen to tie into the band's own career trajectory. According to one biography, "For their second album, Radiohead chose an extremely symbolic title... Radiohead rose too soon (due to the success of 'Creep', which they were hardly prepared for) and had to suffer the unpleasant consequences (critical backlash, record company pressure, general confusion and dismay about how to continue meaningfully)."

Fake Plastic Trees:


Saturday, January 24, 2009

By the way I just noticed that I'm missing Femi Kuti's self-titled release of 1995 for in three days time. Can't find it for download, for buying for less than £33 or anything. If any of you endlessly resorceful people can get it for me, I'd be thankful. Meanwhile when it shows up it will have a placeholder.

EDIT: Thanks, I've got it. 
796. Supergrass - I Should Coco (1995)

















Track Listing

1. I'd Like To Know
2. Caught By The Fuzz
3. Mansize Rooster
4. Alright
5. Lose It
6. Lenny
7. Strange Ones
8. Sitting Up Straight
9. She's So Loose
10. We're Not Supposed To
11. Time
12. Sofa Of My Lethargy
13. Time To Go

Review

Imagine a bunch of weird kids who sit around listening to really old records. You know those freaks at school, who actually grow up to be better and more successful than any of the cool kids? Well, if they were very talented and got together to make an album, this might be what it sounds like, if they are lucky.

This Supergrass album has a wide-eyed enthusiasm and actually a kind of innocence that makes it pretty great. They are not ashamed of jumbling endless influences into a distinctive sound, the Kinks, the Beach Boys, The Beatles, Buzzcocks, Madness, The Jam, Mott the Hopple, fucking Slade and Chipmunks all is an influence and it all works.

It sounds genuine, exciting, fun and pretty bloody good. It is actually a refreshing album next to so much self-conscious Brit-pop crap. So you should get this if you don't know it (i.e. are American or something). The kids are alright.

Track Highlights

1. Alright
2. Mansize Rooster
3. We're Not Supposed To
4. Sofa of My Lethargy

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Supergrass have stated that the album title has no particular meaning; however, in Cockney rhyming slang "I should coco" (or "I should cocoa!") can be interpreted to mean "I should say so", a sarcastic exclamation of disbelief or anger. There is also a café on Oxford's Cowley Road, an area the group used to frequent, called Café Coco, and this may also have influenced the album's title.

Alright:



Friday, January 23, 2009

795. Elastica - Elastica (1995)

















Track Listing

1. Line Up
2. Annie
3. Connection
4. Car Song
5. Smile
6. Hold Me Now
7. SOFT
8. Indian
9. Blue
10. All Nighter
11. Waking Up
12. Two To One
13. Vaseline
14. Never Here
15. Stutter

Review

Much of Brit-pop seems to be all about ripping off older bands and updating it for the nineties. Elastica is no exception, nowhere is this more obvious than in the big hit, Connection, which is really Three Girl Rhumba by Wire. Well Line Up is Girls and Boys by Blur, but I guess that as the vocalist was shtupping Damon Albarn she was allowed.

That being, said, it is still a pretty catchy album. In terms of attitude and singing style it gets much from the Pretenders, and the music is stolen well enough to still make it sound quite fresh.

Despite the fact that I like the album at quite a basic level, I can't keep myself from being annoyed at the blatant rip-offs, clearly the band can play and some songs seem to be original (at least I don't know where they get it from) so this would be quite unnecessary. That said it is clearly not as single minded as Oasis in its borrowing, it's influences are wider and better and music much more attractive and unpretentious. So a good album which annoys me.


Track Highlights

1. Connection
2. Car Song
3. Vaseline
4. Waking Up

Final Grade

7/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The band became subject to controversy when several bands sued them for plagiarism. Specifially, the post-punk band Wire (whom Elastica counted as one of their main influences) claimed that many of the band's melodies were taken from Wire compositions. Notably, Wire's "I Am the Fly" has a chorus similar to Elastica's "Line Up" and the intro synthesiser part in Elastica's "Connection" (later also repeated on guitar) is lifted from the guitar riff in Wire's "Three Girl Rhumba" and transposed a semitone (the judgment resulted in an out-of-court settlement for which Wire received no compensation). The Stranglers also passed comment that Elastica's "Waking Up" bore a marked resemblance to their song "No More Heroes".

three rip-offs compared:


Thursday, January 22, 2009

794. 2Pac - Me Against The World (1995)














Track Listing


1. Intro
2. If I Die 2nite
3. Me Against The World
4. So Many Tears
5. Temptations
6. Young Niggaz
7. Heavy In The Game
8. Lord Knows
9. Dear Mama
10. It Ain't Easy
11. Can U Get Away
12. Old School
13. Fuck The World
14. Death Around The Corner
15. Outlaw

Review

The album list is so uncool that despite the album cover having 2PAC written on it they choose to list it under Tupac. Boo hiss. That said this is quite a mellow album. It is strange to picture 2Pac as such a mellow artist, particularly taking into account his private life.

There is also an element of paranoia in the album that now seems justified taking into account the fact that he was shot dead, and that does add some poignancy to the album. However, I do like my hip-hop either harder (Public Enemy) or more artistic (Tribe Called Quest). This just sounds like G-Funk in a soulful mood. Which isn't particularly attractive.

This soulfulness comes from 2Pac's love of Stevie Wonder, which I love as well, but in the medium of hip-hop it does little for me. So it is a good album, but definitely not my cup of tea, the production is faultless and the lyrics are actually quite good.

Track Highlights

1. Old School
2. Dear Mama
3. So Many Tears
4. Death Around the Corner

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

This album has been credited as setting the "nothing to lose" persona adopted by many rappers since 2Pac's death. Me Against the World is generally regarded as a classic album by the hip hop community due to its soulful and emotional content, claiming that Pac could make you feel as if you were in his shoes throughout the album, thus making the album distinct from others. In one particular review it was said that 2Pac's uncovered and raw humanity created a flow of inspiration and vibes through all who heard the album, and that it is a remarkable and somewhat insightful musical achievement.


Dear Mama:





Wednesday, January 21, 2009

793. The Chemical Brothers - Exit Planet Dust (1995)

















Track Listing

1. Leave Home
2. In Dust We Trust
3. Song To The Siren
4. Three Little Birdies Down Beats
5. Fuck Up Beats
6. Chemical Beats
7. Chico's Groove
8. One Too Many Mornings
9. Life Is Sweet
10. Playground For A Wedgeless Firm
11. Alive Alone

Review

The Chemical Brothers bring us something quite new. Electronic music with a big beat supposed not to fill out only rave parties but arenas and stadiums. This album sound like what it is, the beginning of a new musical style. Not done to perfection yet but with the seeds all there.

The Chemical Brothers themselves will still do better as would people like Fat Boy Slim, but the seeds for the huge success of big beat are more than apparent here. The music is exciting, mixes rock and electronic sounds very well and therefore has broadened the appeal of the music beyond glowstick twirlers.

This is very energetic and quite fun music, but it is still a bit monotonous, this would be better and better as years go by, until the beginning of the 00s when it started to flag a bit. So good, but better to come... waiting for
Dig Your Own Hole.

Track Highlights

1. Leave Home
2. Song to the Siren
3. Chemical Beats
4. In Dust We Trust


Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The title is a reference to their departure from their earlier name "The Dust Brothers".

Leave Home:


Tuesday, January 20, 2009

792. Rocket From The Crypt - Scream Dracula Scream (1995)




















Track Listing

1. Middle
2. Born In '69
3. On a Rope
4. Young Livers
5. Drop Out
6. Used
7. Ball Lightning
8. Fat Lip
9. Suit City
10. Heater Hands
11. Misbeaten
12. Come See, Come Saw
13. Salt Future
14. Burnt Alive

Review

Well this is an interesting album, I must say because I had the gargantuan Mellon Collie to listen to just before this I probably did not listen to it as often as I should, but one thing is true, it has enough immediately hooky songs to have stuck on my mind.

A cool thing about this band is the use of brass in a punky context, this really gives an extra kick to such songs as Born in '69 or On a Rope. It also gets points because John Reis is the son of a Portuguese fisherman... and that's about as close as we'll ever get to Portuguese music on this list (with the exception of Brazilian music which is in the same language).

That said this album is a great complement to Smash by Offspring and Dookie by Green Day as a completely different kind of punk resurgence in the mid 90s. This is in fact considerably more original music, even if not as immediately attractive or consistently good. At times it sounds like a heavy Elvis Costello (Heater Hands) and at other times like British Glam with noise and that is perfectly OK with me. So, not great or amazing but good album.

Final Grade

8/10


Track Highlights

1. On A Rope
2. Misbeaten
3. Born in '69
4. Heater Hands

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Scream, Dracula, Scream! was Rocket from the Crypt's most ambitious recording to date. Using the extensive recording budget granted them by Interscope, the band employed numerous guest musicians, a string section, additional engineers and mixing sessions, and experimented with several instruments they had not used before. According to the album's liner notes the album was rehearsed and recorded over a 2-month period, with the basic tracks recorded live on a 4 track machine and overdubs of the backing vocals and orchestra recorded later. The album's title was taken from the lyrics of a Wesley Willis song.

The album's liner notes also state that the band intended Scream, Dracula, Scream! to consist of one cohesive body of music, with traditional silence between track separations replaced with string, woodwind, and brass passages. However, Interscope demanded a more standardized album so the master tapes were cut and edited into traditional-length tracks.

On A Rope:


Monday, January 19, 2009

791. The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)




















Track Listing

1. Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness
2. Tonight Tonight
3. Jellybelly
4. Zero
5. Here Is No Why
6. Bullet With Butterfly Wings
7. To Forgive
8. Fuck You (An Ode To No One)
9. Love
10. Cupid De Locke
11. Galapogos
12. Muzzle
13. Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans
14. Take Me Down
15. Where Boys Fear To Tread
16. Bodies
17. Thirty Three
18. In The Arms Of Sleep
19. 1979
20. Tales Of A Scorched Earth
21. Thru The Eyes Of Ruby
22. Stumbleine
23. XYU
24. We Only Come Out At Night
25. Beautiful
26. Lily (My One And Only)
27. By Starlight
28. Farewell And Goodnight

Review


I must say that I quite like this album. It's one of those that you love or hate and does have its very strong cons, but its pros are good enough to make it stick with you. I like that it is such a ludicrously ambitious album and that it is for the most part successful. I like that it is such a self-indulgent work, almost harking back to the days of those great prog albums that were too long and a bit silly.

The cons are side-effects of the pros, it is too damn long. It's longer than two hours, it comes in two CD's of unequal quality, the first being much better. It suffers from a clear lack of editing, it is too self-indulgent in parts. Billy Corgan is a whinny, miserable man.

Still, all the tracks of the first album with a couple of exceptions could have been great singles, they are just that good, and even if the second album lets down the side, it is still pretty good. Honestly, however, how many times is anyone going to listen to this thorugh from beginning to end for pleasure? You might put one or the other on but both do get trying.

Track Highlights


1. Bullet With Butterfly Wings
2. Tonight, Tonight
3. Take Me Down
4. Galapogos

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

When the recording sessions concluded, the band had 57 completed songs which were up for contention to be included on Mellon Collie. The album was going to have 32 songs, but this was cut back to 28 songs.


Tonight, Tonight:



Sunday, January 18, 2009

790. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx ... (1995)


















Track Listing

1. Striving For Perfection
2. Knuckleheadz
3. Knowledge God
4. Criminology
5. Incarcerated Scarfaces
6. Rainy Dayz
7. Guillotine (Swordz)
8. Can It Be All So Simple (Remix)
9. Shark Niggas (Biters)
10. Ice Water
11. Glaciers Of Ice
12. Verbal Intercourse
13. Wisdom Body
14. Spot Rusherz
15. Ice Cream
16. Wu-Gambinos
17. Heaven & Hell
18. North Star (Jewels)

Review

An interesting thing about the whole Wu-Tang project is how consistent all of it is, how each album by any of the members or the Clan itself is so interconnected with everything else. It is like nothing else in music.

That being said there are different levels of success to the different albums and the nature of the thing leads to a considerable amount of overlap. You keep recognising song after song and they all owe so much to
36 Chambers that none has the impact of that album.

Still, Raekwon produces a solo Wu-Tang album which is even better than Method Man's Tical, the sampling is in the same tradition with great snippets of martial arts films and great jazzy\experimental samples. What it brings of new is the association of Gangsta with Italian Mafia, something which would be imitated to an inch of its life. So if you really love the Wu-Tang this is a great solo album for you, if not
36 Chambers is still more essential.

Track Highlights

1. Knowledge God
2. Criminology
3. Verbal Intercourse
4. Heaven & Hell

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

A member of The Wu-Tang Clan, Raekwon released Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...—originally to be titled Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Niggaz — as his first solo album. It was a diverse, theatrical criminological epic that saw The RZA move away from the raw, stripped-down beats of the early albums and towards a richer, cinematic sound more reliant on strings and classic soul samples. Lavish living and the crime underworld are referenced throughout, with the mystique of the Wu-Tang Clan deepened by the adoption of crime boss aliases and the crew name Wu-Gambinos. This album is commonly referred to as The Purple Tape because the original cassette's plastic was entirely purple. Raekwon made this decision because he wanted to make sure people knew his album, in a way similar to how drug dealers may mark their goods.

Criminology:



Saturday, January 17, 2009

789. Tricky - Maxinquaye (1995)


















Track Listing


1. Overcome
2. Ponderosa
3. Black Steel
4. Hell Is Around The Corner
5. Pumpkin
6. Aftermath
7. Abbaon Fat Tracks
8. Brand New You're Retro
9. Suffocated Love
10. You Don't
11. Strugglin'
12. Feed Me

Review

Falling somewhere between Massive Attack, Nightmares on Wax and Public Enemy, this is a great album and undoubtedly the best Tricky album ever. There are some brilliant re-arrangements of songs we've heard before, Karmacoma from Protection by Massive Attack becomes Overcome, which is an even better track.

More surprising than anything is just how effective the cover of Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos by Public Enemy really is when transported to a trip-hop setting. Not something that you would imagine as working but it really does.

Tricky then delves into the dirtier recesses of the mind with some unforgettable lyrics in Abbaon Fat Tricks. Again the contribution by the ubiquitous Alison Goldfrapp is great here coming closer to her work in Felt Mountain much later on that her collaborations with Orbital for example. Great trip-hop album, which has comparatively dated very little.

Track Highlights

1. Black Steel
2. Ponderosa
3. Pumpkin
4. Abbaon Fat Tracks

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Expanding on the sonic template of fellow Bristolians Massive Attack, and featuring then-girlfriend Martina Topley-Bird on vocals, Maxinquaye is a dark, mysterious album featuring a combination of hip-hop, soul, dub, rock and electronica. The album is named after Tricky's late mother Maxine Quaye, who is allegedly reggae/soul singer Finley Quaye's half-sister.

Black Steel:


Friday, January 16, 2009

788. Nightmares on Wax - Smoker's Delight (1995)

















Track Listing

1. Nights Interlude
2. Dredd Overboard
3. Pipes Honour
4. Me + You
5. Stars
6. Wait A Minute
7. Prayin' (For A Jeepbeat)
8. Groove St
9. Time (To Listen)
10. Man Tha Journey
11. Bless My Soul
12. Cruise (Don't Stop)
13. Mission Venice
14. What I'm Feelin' (Good)
15. Rise
16. Rise
17. Gambia Via Vagator Beach


Review


This is one of those albums that is perfect for every occasion where you are not actually paying much attention to the music. Be it smoking weed, making sweet love to a beautiful lady, or guy, having a dinner party, as background to a bar, whatever.

So it is very good ambient music in the sense of wallpaper music. It does sound interesting at times, and you can see influences on everything from Nithin Sawhney in the UK to Moby in a more world-wide scene. The sampling is particularly reminiscent of
Play at times.

Still the album is varied enough for it never to be boring, even while it clocks up an hour and 15 minutes of music. For what it attempts to do it is a great album. It works perfectly if you are not paying attention to it, and it also rewards closer inspection, while remaining unintrusive.

Track Highlights


1. Mission Venice
2. Night's Introlude
3. Gambia via Vagator Beach
4. Pipes Honour

Final Grade


9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Nightmares on Wax is DJ and musician George Evelyn (born c. 1970), also known as DJ EASE (Experimental Sample Expert), from Leeds, UK. Nightmares on Wax's music is released on Warp Records.

Evelyn got his start in the music industry through an interest in hip hop and on joining a local breakdancing crew, he met Kevin Harper and together they released their first album in 1991, a techno-edged record entitled A Word Of Science: The First And Final Chapter.

Evelyn went on to run The Headz Club in Leeds, and started his own record label, Poverty records. The next Nightmares on Wax release was not until Smoker's Delight in 1995, by which time Harper had left to pursue a career in DJing, reducing the band to a solo project. Evelyn began to record more of his trademark chill-out tracks, and brought in a variety of musicians and vocalists, giving the music a greater variety as well as allowing him to take the band out on tour.

In 2000, Evelyn assisted in the comeback of hip hop pioneers De La Soul, when they appeared on the EP The Sound of N.O.W.. Although De La Soul have maintained a steady, loyal and strong fanbase since the beginning of their career some have argued that Evelyn's EP helped push them back into the public eye.

Night's Introlude:


Thursday, January 15, 2009

787. Garbage - Garbage (1995)



















Track Listing

1. Supervixen
2. Queer
3. Only Happy When It Rains
4. As Heaven Is Wide
5. Not My Idea
6. A Stroke Of Luck
7. Vow
8. Stupid Girl
9. Dog New Tricks
10. My Lover's Box
11. Fix Me Now
12. Milk

Review

Garbage... well they're not. Firstly Shirley Manson was really hot, and that is a plus point for any pop band. Secondly. the pop that they made was alternative and innovative enough to stand a head over the competition at the time. Thirdly the singles here are really pretty great.

The problem of this album as an album is precisely how good the singles are, this makes the rest of the tracks pale in comparison. So as a collection of singles, it is very good as an album it is not consistently good.

So yeah, you'd do better just getting the good tracks from this instead of the whole album. That said, it is never bad, just slightly uninteresting in parts. The music is good and interestingly aggressive and Shirley packs a punch with her mix of sexiness and psychosis. So yeah, great songs, ok album.

Track Highlights


1. Stupid Girl
2. Milk
3. Queer
4. Only Happy When It Rains

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Garbage began in rough demo form in January 1994 during sessions between band members Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker at their own Smart Studios located within the Wisconsin university town of Madison. Early recordings featured Vig singing distorted vocals over the top of their instrumental tracks. The band were set on having a woman front their band. They attempted to write many lyrics from a women's perspective, but Vig said some were "a little pretentious."

After seeing Shirley Manson's outfit Angelfish on 120 Minutes, the band invited Manson to Smart Studios to sing on a couple of tracks. After a dreadful audition, she returned to Angelfish. At the end of a tour supporting Live, the band imploded and Manson returned to Smart for a second try. She began to work on the then-skeletal origins of "Vow" (ad-libbing the line "I can't use what I can't abuse"), "Stupid Girl" (the vocals from that session making it all the way to the final album) and "Queer" (it became more mellow and trip-hop) and the band invited her to become a full-time member of the band and finish the album.

Milk: