39. Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man

Chosen By: Ben

Released: 2 February 1988

Comments -

Dean: In the same year Tracy Chapman brought out her first album which adds some perspective.

I really like Leonard Cohen. He has so many beautiful songs and writes such beautiful lyrics. This album does not show them off. The most successful are probably in the middle, Everybody Knows, I'm your Man, and Take this Waltz and I think they are the most sympathetic in terms of arrangement - they don't inhibit Cohen's intent quite so much but they also do not accentuate it. Then comes Jazz Police - what the f*** was going on there? I won't say more but wtf?

But it really isn't the songs I dislike so much as the arrangements, and yet, this album was a success and that saddens me more. I really don't get it. Probably my least favourite Cohen album but I didn't hear the one produced by Phil Spector. Thanks Ben because I did hear a load of great songs on the way Famous Blue Raincoat, Sisters of Mercy, Suzanne, So long, Marianne - Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye! I cry a little when I hear them - no lie.

Paul: I enjoyed the opening track, First We Take Manhattan, with Cohen’s deadpan delivery being an excellent foil to the synth-pop backing but the record never hits those heights again. Everybody Knows has an interesting lyric but I find the tracks too long and it's largely plodding and uninteresting.

While I wouldn’t listen to this again it has piqued my Leonard Cohen interest a bit so I wouldn’t baulk if anything else of his came my way.

Ben: No surprise that I love this album, I still listen to it every so often after all these years. To start with the songs are catchy and I agree with Paul about the interesting combo of the synths and Cohen’s voice - at this point he is a master of delivering the vocal with nuance to match the lyric and his voice is rich af. 

But the best bits for me are the lyrics - the pictures he paints and the dark humour. E.g.
‘I said to Hank Williams, how lonely does it get?

Hank Williams hasn't answered yet

But I hear him coughing all night long

Oh, a hundred floors above me in the Tower of Song’. 

There’s just a lovely mix of great stuff going on throughout the album and I love it - although I also agree with Dean that Jazz Police may be a bit of a duffer. Overall a star album for me though. ☆

Stu: A lot to unpack here, so here goes

I had COHEN pegged as a miserable bastard and until this selection he remained completely off my radar! BUT, thanks to Ben I have now spent 4 hours with him and I must say he is a fascinating man!!!

Stumbled in to music from writing poetry! Well travelled and well read! I like this man and I admire his stature within his genres! Having carved out a musical career without any massive fanfare! The man is well worthy of my ears! I listened to this record twice through and I kept hearing Neil Diamond! There are a few great songs and I do like his lyrical bent! I hadn’t considered Cohen to be electronic so I indulged myself with his early releases! 

Songs of Leonard Cohan and Songs of Love and Hate! I love these records and I prefer him naked with an acoustic and some strings!! I then had a quick flick through my records and I do have Love and Hate which made me very happy! The guy had a fascinating career and I’m super happy that I’ve had the chance to read up on him. If I had just taken him on this LP I would have dismissed him as a great writer but musically leaving me cold! But upon engaging his other work I can see his comparisons to Dylan (never really got him) Nick Cave, Nick Drake, Tim Buckley and later on Elliot Smith. I can see his poetry and writing skills piercing and punctuating his lyrical wit! 

Many folk pitch him as depressing as they did with the Smiths, BUT I find it to be the polar opposite, I like a certain bleakness presented in the right manner!! I’m a fan of Leonard Cohen as an artist and a gent ❤️❤️❤️❤️

38. Life Without Buildings: Any Other City

Chosen By: Dean

Released: 26 February 2001

Comments - 

Stu: AN ABSOLUTE STUNNER OF AN LP!

A cult classic! A bucket load of fine Scottish DNA in its construct!!! Tompkins staccato delivery put lots off initial and I get why! You might want the Sundays and a smoother delivery!! I love some Groganisms, some GANG OF FOUR, some TELEVISION, some ORANGE JUICE, some DELGADOS, some CAMERA OBSCURA!! I love the playfulness of the 3 guys and the way they keep it evenly paced while Tompkins jitters about!! It’s both tight and loose somehow! This is my 4th listen and it’s a bloody joy!! I must admit that I don’t own the LIVE LP, something I need to remedy. The cover art is perfect, the Glasgow Art School beginnings, the 1 LP, then gone! No reunions, just a treat left forever! Think the LA’s! This record bounces around my head like a pin ball clocking up a high score and hitting all the bonus spots!! Great call Dean. I have 2 copies it’s that good! ☆

Paul - When the first track kicked in I was almost excited. The sound reminded me of one of my earlier star choices in the shape of Lewsberg’s In Your Hands 

But oh, how I tired of her voice quickly. Any early gesprechsang charm soon wore off for me. I get Stu’s Clare Grogan comparison but she, at least, tried to sing. The tracks are, in most part, too long and the band are lost behind the distraction of her free-form jazz poetry vocal.

I’ll leave on a positive. 14 Days is a fantastic track. I wish more of the record were like it.

Dean - What a charming album. It never ceases to amaze me just how differently we interpret the music.

Without the childlike fractured mewling that dances on the guitar and drum rhythms I would remain unseduced. It is a voice vulnerable, hesitant, scorned, misunderstood, edgy and ultimately authentic.

Delightful. I'll give it some space now and with a little good fortune I'll enjoy it just as much when I hear it again🌟

Ben - I liked it. So rhythmic. It reminded me of the Fall a bit - repeating musical phrases with a singer using their voice not to add melody but punctuate the sound. I enjoyed New Town a lot. The back story is also very interesting, she really didnt get taken in by trying to make a success of the band which is admirable. It will deffo stay in my library and get the occasional listen. Thanks for this one Dean!

37. HOUSE Of ALL: Continuum

Chosen By: Paul

Released: 2 April 2024

Comments: 

Paul - Let's start at the end. If I was the sort of person who went around buying records I would buy this record and I wouldn't be disappointed. It's not perfect though. There's a bit of a split personality to it.

I'm less into the more upbeat, guitar-led numbers, Aim Higher excepted. They sound like perhaps The Nightingales or Half Man Half Biscuit. Not that there's anything wrong with that of course, it's just that we already have The Nightingales and Half Man Half Biscuit.

The slower, bass and drums forward numbers however - yes please! I could listen to Murmuration on a loop, Cuckoo in the Nest and Letter to a Young Poet are tremendous as well. It might also be that I prefer Martin Bramah's vocal delivery in these slower-paced songs too. All in all I don't think it's quite a ☆ but I could yet do a Dean and come back to you on this.

Dean - When I was unaware of it's origin, I was willing to believe that this 'young' (yes, that was my impression) group had something that could develope into something interesting. To know more about the musicians didn't inspire much hope.

The more I listened, the more it resembled a dirge. I found the slow rockabilly rifts lacking. It sounds like all are within their comfort zone but lacking irreverence and playfulness.

In the end I listened to Mountain Energei, Oh! Brother, and Iceland and it made me feel better. I wonder if, like me, they are still in mourning for MESmith and somebody's granny. The bongos never made an appearance. I'm not even sure that all concerned are enthused by this project. I'm not.

Stu - Given the cover art, the name of the band and the LP title I would never have given this a look in. So thank you for the introduction. Straight off the bat, HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT. I would say I’m a fan of theirs due to the lyrics and observations rather than the music!! The FALLISMS are all over it as well! Having seen 2 reviews already I can see validity in both camps!! I find myself liking bits of it, even just bits of songs rather than anything full! I like lots of the lyrics, the playful parts!! Peej likes the slower paced efforts, whereas I tend to like the more uptempo! ‘I must get clean’ is a groover though! I can totally see Deans observations in the music though, lots of time I think stodgy! There is a feeling of NOT cutting loose! So this record throws up lots of things I typically wouldn’t bother myself with!! BUT in the end if I like a record I tend to buy it! I will not be buying this record BUT I’m glad that I’ve listened to it! TACKLE THE MAN NOT THE BALL! Most importantly it’s tossed up 3 more bands listed by Dean as counters to its misgivings!!! A pleasant enough experience

Ben -  I liked the up-tempo tracks - for this be glory, gaudy pop scramble and aim higher all very enjoyable. I must get clean was quite catchy but I didn’t really enjoy the rest - when I didn’t connect with a melody I just heard muddy, noisy drums and bass. The whole album was a bit weird in that it felt like they were trying to reproduce a Fall-like sound, including vocals, but also at pains not to be the Fall (but maybe thats just my knowledge of the back-story kicking in). If they could stick to the catchier, up-beat, stuff I would be keeping this album in my library, but not this time.

36. OMD: Bauhaus Staircase

Chosen By: Stu

Released: 27 October 2023 

Comments - 

Dean - Meretricious flim flam. That's it! I realize that OMD have been highly influential but this album undermines a potentially positive legacy.

Paul - I'm not going in two-footed like Dean but then I didn't listen to this with any real expectations. It's been about 40 years since OMD were on my radar (the odd single aside) and I would have been more than surprised if they were back to their early-eighties heyday. What I mostly find is some fairly ordinary, forgettable synth-pop.

The title track might have made a better instrumental, I'm no great lover of vocoder and a couple of tracks annoy me - 'Kleptocracy' and 'Anthropocene'. If they were young and just starting out I could excuse the fifth-form poetry level of discourse. At least they're not as pedestrian as some of the tracks on here. 

On the other hand, 'Evolution of Species' is a lively update on 'Genetic Engineering', 'Don't Go' is worthy of being included in any OMD 'Best Of' and 'Healing' is a decent closer. If it is to be their last album it's an ok way to go out. No more, no less. One thing I will say, having seen them live recently, is that these songs sounded much better at gig volume. 

Ben -  I just dont like it. I find their use of synths limiting - to me they seem to try too hard to put bells and whistles on tracks to make them different from the others. I don't like his voice or his plaintive singing style. It all seems a bit juvenile and soulless. I don't mind the more upbeat tracks with a flavour of pet shop boys and new order but I’m reaching for something positive. Right, I’ve listened to it now, I won’t be doing that again.

Stu - There’s at lot to pack in here so be patient. As I recall way back in my early teens, I was a lover of 7” singles!! At 13 I retrieved mum and dad’s records from the loft and spent a year with them and the Dansette in my bedroom. 237 of them, cataloguing, fixing sleeves, reviewing, the full works! Favourites were LET’S DANCE, by CHRIS MONTEZ, RUBBER BALL by BOBBY VEE, SUMMERTIME BLUES by EDDIE COCHRAN, but top billing went to TELSTAR by THE TORNADOES ❤️❤️ an instrumental firecracker! These records set the pattern for my musical journey which still burns brightly today!!! Switching from listening to these records, I started to listen to the wireless!! Bizarrely I didn’t take much notice of the 70’s music! The very first records that did resonate were as follows; HEROES, REBEL REBEL, QUEEN BITCH, SUFFRAGETTE CITY, SORROW and lots more by BOWIE, DREAMING, SUNDAY GIRL, DENIS, ATOMIC, UNION CITY BLUE by BLONDIE, I WILL FOLLOW by U2 and ELECTRICITY by OMD!

Before too long it was all ELECTRICITY and MESSAGES! The debut LP, BUNKER SOLDIERS, RED FRAME WHITE LIGHT and plenty of crazy stuff. Then ORGANISATION dropped and I was hooked up for the long haul! Carpo and I spent hours and hours with there records!! Then ARCHITECTURE & MORALITY dropped and incredibly they were still getting better! SOUVENIR, JOAN OF ARC, MAID OF ORLEANS and the mighty SEALAND! They shared some DNA with NUMAN and KRAFTWERK and these were my favourite bands of the time! I liked the SYNTH music well before I got in to GUITAR music.

And then they dropped DAZZLE SHIPS which on reflection was GEDGE dropping SEAMONSTERS! It was the perfect misstep to what the record label and lots of fans expected! To me it was GENIUS  and BRAVE and cemented my love for the band!! After this record things changed shape dramatically, splits, line up changes, side projects etc; BUT they stuck to it and continued to release LPS. There’s been a few nuggets since BUT nothing that touches those first 4 records!! Unlike some folk, I’m sometimes happy to see a band I love continue to release records knowing that they are unlikely to be trying to reinvent the wheel or have that teenage optimism and swagger! I LOVE OMD! I met the guys at RESIDENT last year in Brighton, left a copy of NUTS with Paul Humphrey’s to read to his youngster!

BAUHAUS STAIRCASE, I can hear some classic OMD, a sprinkle of KRAFTWERK. 45 years on from ELECTRICITY I’m not expecting anything to better that but I’m hoping to hear OMD. Last month Carpo and I caught them in Wolverhampton and with a huge visual display and the volume cranked up it really did hit the spot! The new songs sounded great as did TESLA GIRLS and all the other hits!!

I STILL LOVE OMD ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

35. Bill Ryder-Jones: Iechyd Da

Chosen By: Ben

Released: 12 January 2024

Comments: 

Dean - It's like listening to Ian McCulloch singing from the depths of a bipolar disorder. I have now heard the bleakest aspects of the human existence transposed into musical form. Even at it's most optimistic (How Beautiful I Am), it manages to hang on to the misery with such tenacity that I fear nothing will help Mr Ryder-Jones so let's hope Jase really can sort him out!  I fear that nothing else can. Having said that I was so close to giving it a star and had it not been for the notion that 'Iechyd Da' should really carry a health warning, I might have just done the unconscionable. 

Oh f*** it 🌟

Paul - This isn't really my thing but whatever this thing is it's a thing done well. It's clearly from the heart and that carries it along. He means this. This Can't Go On is great, reminds me of something I haven't put my finger on yet. The Flaming Lips possibly. Christinha is another favourite. I've enjoyed this but the album is perhaps overlong, I can't really remember many of the songs after listening and the fact that I can generally live without children's choirs means it's just going to fall short of a star.

Ben -  this is a very interesting record. Although it is quite long and generally slow-paced it has great tunes and hooks throughout, including nice pace changes within songs. It also varies in approach from track to track - from Lennon Imagine piano songs to quiet acoustic guitar Velvet Underground styles and on to building, brooding epics. That said I did get a little tired of the school choir - I was half expecting There’s no-one quite like Grandma to pop up before the end. It’s too long for me though - sitting down and listening to the whole thing feels like an over indulgence, both in terms of time but also like jumping into a vat of self-pity. That said the album remains interesting throughout. It’s hard to know where this fits in my collection - in what circumstances will I listen to it again? Who knows but it’s undoubtedly a great piece of work.

Stu - GREAT LP as are his others!! Big fan! First up the VELVETS slacker lilt with a smart tempo change. I love the overall lilt and pace, the strings and the brushes. The hushed delivery adds to the overriding ache of feelings! I do love a fragile record which is delivered with heart and emotion! It’s captivating and keeps me interested throughout. Translating to ‘good health, and with a delightful cover image perfectly symbolising the style of the music. It strikes me that it may hit the spot with you Dean offering you a connection to your current domicile. At 13 songs and 48 minutes it’s a long player compared to many. We all know records that thrill for 30 mins and far fewer that do offering up near to an hour!! Thankfully this is one that stays strong. I like the use of the choir, another Welsh homage, it’s very subtle and adds heft. The advantage with going last is drawing on your thoughts! We all note the gloom, the length and the possible position in one’s collection. Here we differ greatly. I am indeed the only one purchasing the DINKED EDITION, the mark of a great record! Listened to, purchased, added to collection, may never be played again! 8 new LPS arrived this week!!! I guess to guys stream? I can’t see any of you 3 buying this on vinyl or cd? No ownership! Will you be saving it in your favourites or indeed your library? How do you catalogue your musical interactions? I read hell of a lot and check out online stores such as NORMAN, DRIFT, RESIDENT, PICCADILLY, ROUGH TRADE & SOUND KNOWLEDGE. I Spotify then purchase!! Back to Bill, I love it and it’s a beautiful looking record!

⭐️

34. Sons of Kemet: Your Queen is a Reptile

Chosen by: Dean

Released: 30 March 2018 

Comments

Stu - Oh boy the energy is infectious! I love the driving percussion, the pulsing brass and the lyrical weave!! Perfect interplay within the band! Some funk, some soul, some reggae, some ska!!! There’s a party in my head! It keeps the heat turned up and is frantic as hell in places! It matches the space in my head which you guys luckily don’t suffer!! My Queen is Angela is bouncing around my head 24 hours a day! It’s a mania and this is unbelievable soothing ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ the only instrument that I can play is the drums and this highlights why!!! It matches my body rhythm!! Great call Dean ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ a cracking start 😎😎🌟🌟🔥🔥

Ben - Sons of Kemet - I dont like it. Every track starts off like some American high school marching band, which is bad enough, but then saxamageddon kicks in. I just don’t hear anything pleasant or enjoyable. Maybe in a live environment I could connect but listening through headphones just leaves me cold. Genuinely glad Ive got the review done so I don’t have to listen to it again. Sorry for not liking your first suggestion Dean.

Dean - First time I heard the like was at last year's Glastonbury. The Comet is Coming with the same saxophonist playing. A wonderful energy, surprising, wild staccato sax rhythms like nothing I'd heard before and I've listened to a lot of jazz. It has a spirit both aggrieved and meditative. When I started to listen to Sons of Kemet I became more aware how social  frustrations gave voice to that musical aspiration and I was literally awed by it's authenticity of message. Amidst the pathos is beauty and amidst the anger is pragmatism. It's impressive to me and stands out amongst other contemporary jazz records I've been listening to. I think it does have that um pah pah exemplified by brass bands but it seems far more spiritual and inspired by that heart beat or pulse that is beating within. For me, it is amongst the most inspiring new music I've heard recently 😍🌟

Paul - I love the opening track My Queen is Ada Eastman. All the good things about this genre spill out and remind me of Ri[p, Rig and Panic and Pigbag. But there’s a reason why I only have one single by each of those bands… There is some good stuff on here but it all gets a bit too much quite quickly, The longer it goes on the more I feel a bit battered by it. If the tracks were shorter maybe I could be more on board. I appreciate that it sounds like they’re having a great time though. Even when they're angry.

33. Neu!: Neu '75

Chosen By: Paul

Release Date: 1975 

Comments - 

Dean - Loving the journey it took me on. From Brian Eno to Steve Reich. Important to look at the 1970s and look at the music being made at that time and I think it is still pertinent and has been influencial. Part of me runs for cover when I hear the Krautrock tag so I gave it a close inspection and I liked it. It's familiar and accessible.

What I didn't enjoy so much was the lack of ambition in the musical passages and the puerility of the lyrics. In the end I have to say that without NEU! and other exponents of that repetitive and deconstructive music we would be poorer. I'm aligning myself with President Carter over Chairman Mao.

Paul - The first couple of tracks Isl and Seeland chug along enjoyable and harmlessly, ideal background music for doing fantasy football spreadsheetery!  Leb’ wohl starts nicely enough but soon becomes so dull as to actually be almost annoying. The vocal doesn’t help.

I’m grateful for the change of pace in the second half. I think both The Fall and the Wedding Present have been influenced by some or all of it. I’d have Hero has my favourite track despite it being a couple of minutes too long. I can live without E-Musik but we do finish on a high with After Eight - a rocking bit of Stooges-like Proto-punk.

It’s a decent album without being anything to get excited about. It hasn’t put me off listening to more NEU! but neither will I be rushing to.

Stu - NEU!  My record collection now clocks in at 15,000 vinyl records!! As many as 500 of these are accredited to these guys!!! I’ve listened to this 3 times today and it’s magical to me!! As a member of the PSYCH LOVERS group on FB I’ve been given a world tour of KRAUTROCK and MOTORIK and KOSMICHE music! I have 100’s of LPS that are direct descendants of these 2 super talented guys, ROTHER & DINGER! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I hear KRAFTWERK, I hear OMD, I hear NUMAN, I hear JARRE! What is it I like the most? I like the repetition and the long drawn out tracks! You all know that my favourite WEDDOES tracks are the ones that go on forever, KENNEDY, TAKE ME, FLYING SAUCER, I AM NOT GOING TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU! Think Kraftwerk NEON LIGHTS, think SISTER RAY, think HEROIN! I happy with both tempos here, fast and slow! This is my HAPPY SPOT! I’m very very happy listening to NEU! Also check out HARMONIUM, more of the same! Also check out MOTORIK! An LP for anytime of the day!! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 10! I can’t fault it I’m afraid ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Ben - So, Neu! Isi sounds like it could have come off Autobahn, albeit with proper drums - a great energetic track with a mix of electronic and acoustic instruments. Then on to Seeland, very atmospheric. Common with both tracks so far is how the sound feels like it’s merging with your brain - maybe some of the ‘magical’ stuff Stu refers to. Headphones help emphasise this I guess. Leb Wohl didnt do much for me, I would probably have been happier listening to 8 mins of waves crashing without the music on top.  Hero pumps the energy levels up - very Iggy Pop and snarling lyrics, right at the birth of punk. E-musik has a long section in it which sounds just like the start of station to station which came out a year later - I wouldnt be surprised if Bowie copied it. After Eight is a rocky affair - it’s ok I guess. Overall I heard a load of interesting sounds on the record and the production was clever in the way the music gets into your head, but the songs themselves weren’t that appealing to me. I’m glad I heard it though as I’d never listened to Neu before.