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I hope you settlе down, I hope you marry rich - I hope you're scarеd of only ordinary shit

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Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts 01/05/26 : The Great Divide - Noah Kahan  Our second visit with Noah and this is one I think I've heard most of over the last week thanks to my youngest who is, it's fair to say, quite the fan. My first impressions are that it's all a bit samey, but let's see what a proper listen brings.  Hmmm - a bit samey feels a bit harsh, so I guess it's more than possible that my daughter was just playing the tracks she likes which all happen to be of a certain type. It is, however, generally more downbeat than Stick Season and not obviously graced with the instant hits of that album, but I do feel that multiple listens (like someone in the house has given it) could result in some tracks settling in there more than others. And it would, in my opinion, benefit from losing some tracks - the standard album is 17 tracks/77 minutes and the deluxe version (which is surprisingly already out) is 21 tracks/96 minutes.  My other...
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A change of course, a strange discord resolved

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Continuing my trip up  The Guardian's 50 best albums of 2017 . #20 :  Process - Sampha After years spent lending his vocals to tracks by Kanye, Drake and Frank Ocean, this year’s Mercury winner created a stunning debut. A collection of heart-rending ballads and sublime electronica, Process puts Sampha’s velvety voice front and centre, the beauty of its tone belying the album’s heavy themes, including the fallout from the death of his mother. Our second visit with Sampha and last time I liked his voice, but the whole thing didn't click with me, so here's hoping for better this time. I'm actually quite surprised I've not listened to it before because I used to always check out the Mercury Prize winners, but I'm pretty certain I somehow swerved this. Yeah, I liked this. It's got quite a bit of variety from piano soul to skittery EDM with Sampha's voice working well across all of it. I'm not entirely sure I got the "album's heavy themes" (...
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In life, you gotta find your feet

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Continuing my trip back through the 2017 album charts. 24/02/17 : Under Stars - Amy McDonald Our second proper visit with Amy, but I also skimmed one of her albums as a new entry and both times KT Tunstall was mentioned, so I can't see I'm going to have any problems with this. Yeah, we've not strayed far away from such territory. She's got a decent enough voice and they're decent enough songs with a decent enough amount of variety - but I'm not sure I'd describe any of it as stellar. It's all perfectly listenable though. We're at #2 with a new entry in the charts this week on the start of a decent enough nine week run. This was her second consecutive to just miss out on the top spot - fortunately, her debut album did make it there though. The rest of the top five were  Rag'n'Bone Man  (his second week at #1, which was then followed by 21 weeks in the top five), Ryan Adams (a new entry - his most successful and yet currently his last charting ...
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I remember when I first noticed that you liked me back

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Continuing my trip up  The Guardian's 50 best albums of 2017 . #23 :  Big Fish Theory - Vince Staples Big Fish, the almost-title track of Staples’ second record, seethes at injustice over amusingly bouncy synths that blend old-school rap with bleeding-edge electronica. Staples takes this kind of combination to great heights on the album, which climaxes with the staggeringly brilliant Yeah Right, on which tinny trap entwines with bizarre pop parody by producer Sophie (listen for a guest spot by Kendrick Lamar). Vince Staples sounds like he should be a school janitor or something rather than a young(-ish), trendy US rapper. I'm somewhat surprised to see this is only his second mention (after appearing as a guest artist on a Gorillaz album ) - I'm certainly aware of him, but couldn't tell you whether I've heard anything by him. And now I have - so all I need to do is describe it! It's certainly rap based, but there's all sorts of other stuff mixed in there. Did...
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I got that sunshine in my pocket - got that good soul in my feet

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Continuing my trip back through the 2017 album charts. 03/03/17 : Trolls: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Various Artists OK, so I knew I bent the rules last time to avoid something - so why on earth aren't I doing the same to avoid this? Tbh, I'm not entirely sure - I think curiosity has got the better of me. Oh yes, this is not good - with one notable exception. "Can't Stop The Feeling" is an absolute banger and sounds like it's existed forever - you can quite imagine someone like The Jackson 5 having recorded it in the 70s and it having been covered by multiple artists since. And if that had been the case, I'm pretty certain it still would have appeared on this album because most of the rest of the tracks are covers, sung in character (thankfully, I've never seen the film, so have no idea who the characters are) with some of the lyrics changed to make the references more troll-relevant. It's quite interesting that Anna Kendrick provides voc...
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Filling up the teacup with gin in your secret postcard life

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Continuing my trip up  The Guardian's 50 best albums of 2017 . #26 :  After Laughter -  Paramore The perpetually feuding emo band returned last spring with a surprisingly jovial collection of tropical house-tinted powerpop. Revelling in the funky guitars and frantic synths of the 80s, the trio channelled their emo roots into the lyrics, which retain the raw drama of their previous work and share stories of romantic tension and torturous experiences with depression. Finally, almost halfway through the chart, we get to the first album we've already met  - and I liked it and have no problem with its position on the list. #25 :  Sleep Well Beast -  The National Music designed to soundtrack a midlife crisis was injected with unexpected exuberance on the Ohio band’s seventh record. From Turtleneck’s gnarly guitar-shredding to the breakneck tapestry of beats backing I’ll Still Destroy You, Matt Berninger and co transformed the sorrows of middle age into something ...
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We came to you big city from our little country town

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Continuing my trip back through the 2017 album charts. 10/03/17 : Windy City - Alison Krauss Our first ever visit with Alison and we've had to somewhat bend the rules to do so - not because I desperately want to listen to Alison, but you'll completely understand why when I explain later. However, I am expecting to quite like her, but also find it all a bit too much from time to time. Hmmm - no. I like her voice, but I find the whole package too much all the time. There is country music out there that I like, but this is not it - sorry Alison. I'm also intrigued by how bad the album cover is in terms of lighting, but have to admit to a grudging respect for her hair.  We're all the way down at #6 with a new entry in the chart this week on the start of a very brief four week run (which I believe is the shortest of the year so far). The top five this week were the wildly varied  Ed , (a new entry starting a run of 377 weeks in the chart - it's currently at #44),  Rag...
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