If you build yourself a myth, you'd know just what to give
Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day...
20.06.18 : Pretty Together - Sloan (2001)
I'd never heard of Sloan and Wikipedia suggests this is a serious omission on my part - it seems as though they were making the kind of music I liked at the kind of time I was listening to a lot of music. So, I was interested to listen to this - and yeah, I liked it and it does indeed seem to be a serious omission, sounding very much like a lot of stuff I used to listen at the time - although maybe a bit more 60s/70s influenced than I usually go for, but those influences have been somewhat thin on this list so far (unlike the Rolling Stone exercise) so they were a pleasant surprise. I'd also have to say it sounds very, very Canadian!
The channel was told they'd never have heard of Sloan and responded by agreeing - and that was it for critical comment. Wikipedia doesn't have an awful lot to say about the album other than noting it's a bit more downbeat than their usual stuff. The band's entry is quite interesting on a couple of fronts - firstly noting that they all write their own songs for the band and they generally sing the songs they've written, which results in swapping instruments between songs, which must get super confusing. Secondly, it also notes that Twice Removed (their second album) has a strong following in Canada and has been voted Best Canadian Album Ever! a couple of times ahead of some pretty strong competition, so I checked if out. And meh, it's OK - they're a funny bunch them Canucks.
"Customers also listened to" a load of people I've never heard of, but I have a slight suspicion that they just possibly might be Canadian. Overall, I liked this and was glad to have been introduced to a new band that I suspect I could get into - whether I remember to do so is another matter entirely!
20.06.19 : Bloom - Beach House (2012)
Beach House have always struck me as the sort of band I'd like, but I listened to Bloom after the great reviews it got and it just didn't click with me, so I never went back to it - so was interested to do so again. And yeah, I really liked it - like I always felt I should. Possibly it was because I was listening to it over some decent headphones and the sound was very lush and expansive. Or possibly I was just in a bad mood last time (this does happen from time to time). But, either way I'm going to try and make the effort to remember that I actually do like this and listen to it again at some point - it's like a less dull Cocteau Twins sound and I was getting echoes of Julee Cruise from back in the Twin Peaks days as well. I love the album cover as well - simple but striking.
The channel were pretty positive on this calling it "jangly and ethereal" and who's not going to go for some of that? Wikipedia informs that me that the album was very well received critically (which I remembered, because that was why I listened to it in the first place) - but I didn't remember it doing as well commercially as it did - #15 in the UK charts and #7 in the US.
"Customers also listened to" a load of other people I've never heard of - I'm not doing very well so far in giving you musical cross-references, am I? So stick with "less dull Cocteau Twins" and you'll be fine - and I mean that as a compliment because I liked this and was glad I was made to listen to it again to understand the error of my ways.
20.06.22 : The Gereg - The Hu (2019)
The Who, you say? Well, I don't mind them but I've never heard this album from their Mongolian deathmetal phase. And yes, well it's certainly different from my usual fare - I didn't hate it, but unfortunately at some point it reminded me of Rolf Harris and his stupid didgeridoo stuff and that did somewhat ruin any (admittedly limited) enjoyment I might have felt up to that point. It falls squarely into the "educational" category for me, with absolutely no chance of me revisiting it.
The channel was pretty positive about this as well, although there was a gripe about the mainstream choices people were making :-). There were also a couple of people noting that Spotify was getting awfully confused in terms of the recommendations it was making based on recent listens - I think Amazon have given on trying to second guess what I'm going to listen to these days. Wikipedia informs that the album title refers to "the diplomatic passport carried by Mongolian nobles and officials during the 13th century" (admit it, you didn't know that). It also astounded me by telling me the album got to #21 in the UK charts - and #11 in Australia, where they obviously appreciated the Rolf Harris influences.
"Customers also listened to", it won't surprise you in the least to hear, a load of people I've never heard of (and no, Rolf Harris does not appear on the list). An interesting choice, but the only use I can see for this album is to annoy fans of The Who - "What, you haven't heard their latest release? I'll put it on now for you"
A tricky decision - two albums I liked, both of which I feel the need to revisit in order to better understand my feelings on them. So do I go for the one I'd never heard before or the one I had heard, but thought I didn't like? In full decisive mode, I'll declare a tie - Beach House get the title lyrics just because they were just a little bit more mysterious and who doesn't like a bit of mystery? But all in all, an enjoyable round.
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