Maybe they could dig up Richard Burton's corpse?
Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day...
20.07.01 : Ultra Ego - Feed Me Jack (2016)
After the 4 track, 16 minute offering we had last time, we've massively extended the listening effort required here to 5 tracks and 21 minutes - I'll have this list finished by tea-time at this rate. I'd never heard of the band but the album cover somewhat concerned me as to what I was going to get. And having to listened to it, I'm not entirely sure what I did get - "ambient jazz" maybe? Not terrible, but not really my sort of thing - fine on in the background though.
The channel had much muso talk on this that mostly went over my head, but overall I got the impression they liked it. As for the previous entry, Wikipedia has absolutely nothing on the group or the album - the internet tells me they split up pretty much immediately after this album, but there's not a lot out there about them (without looking a bit harder than I could be bothered to, anyway).
"Customers also listened to", unsurprisingly, a load of people I'd never even heard of. I don't feel this has been the most informative entry yet, but since there's no danger of me revisiting it, I'm sure I'll get over it.
20.07.02 : Pale Green Ghosts - John Grant (2013)
Another album I know and like - I think I got into it through the title track but, let's face it, GMF is far and away the best track on the album and seeing him play it on The Park Stage at Glasto in 2014 as the sun went down has to be up there as one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had there.
But I am the greatest motherfucker that you're ever gonna meet
From the top of my head down to the tips of the toes on my feet
So go ahead and love me while it's still a crime
And don't forget you could be laughing sixty-five percent more of the time
From the top of my head down to the tips of the toes on my feet
So go ahead and love me while it's still a crime
And don't forget you could be laughing sixty-five percent more of the time
So it's safe to say I'm a fan of this album (although I'm not entirely sure how I'd describe it - "ambient-orchestral-electro-singer-songwriter" seems to cover it) and it's got a cool album cover as well.
The channel contains a lot of praise from the album's nominator, but very little comment from anyone else - shame on the lot of you! It did attract one new joiner though. Wikipedia doesn't have an awful lot to say about the album but it did surprise me by telling me that Sinead O'Connor sings on a few of the tracks, which I never knew. I imagine a pint down the pub with her and John would be a right old laugh, I tell you - provided you're a fan of awkward silences. It also tells me that the album's title "refers to the Russian olive trees that stand along the I-25 highway near Grant's family home in the small town of Parker, Colorado". Obvious when you think about it really. Somewhat oddly, Wikipedia doesn't talk about the critical reception (which I know was good, because I remember it) or the commercial reception (#16 in the UK - so worthy of a mention, you'd think). His Wikipedia page is also interesting - apparently he is fluent in English, German, Spanish and Russian and conversational in French, Swedish and Icelandic. Which is slightly impressive, I guess.
"Customers also listened to" Kate Tempest, Anthony And The Johnsons, PJ Harvey and Rufus Wainwright - which is a slightly odd, if somewhat dramatic mix. And "slightly odd, if somewhat dramatic" is a fair description of Mr Grant and this album - but I like both a lot.
20.07.03 : Surrender - Chemical Brothers (1999)
I've been somewhat surprised there hasn't been more "proper" dance music on this list - but The Chemicals most definitely fall into this category, although there's some discussion on tinternet as to whether this is a "proper" dance album (or even one of their better albums). However, one look at the track list reminds me I like an awful lot of these tracks, so I was looking forward to revisiting it, whatever genre people might want to argue it lives in.
I like "Music Response", "Out Of Control" and "Hey Boy, Hey Girl" but I REALLY like "Let Forever Be" - I think the video pushes this into pole position in the "my favourite Chemicals track" category. I was surprised by how much of the album isn't really "proper" dance music, but I think it's still mostly a fine collection of tracks (I wasn't convinced by "Dream On") and it was nice to revisit them. I saw them live a few years after this album but they played quite a few of these tracks and it was a very enjoyable gig indeed, so it was nice to be reminded of that. It's an odd album cover though.
The channel quite liked this one, but got very confused with an alternative AOTD recommendation, which threw everyone (and ended up being "tomorrow's" selection, so we'll be checking it out soon). Wikipedia has a fair amount to say about the album, a lot of which has the definite subtext "this album is a bit of a mess, isn't it?". It also tells me that it "was the first Chemical Brothers album not to feature an appearance by Beth Orton" - who is someone else I've seen live and I can tell you the contrast between her gig and The Chemical Brothers couldn't be greater if they tried. Wikipedia makes no reference to the critical reception the album received (which is unusual) but it did well enough commercially - #1 in the UK and over 2 million sold globally.
"Customers also listened to" Underworld, The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim and Moloko - and there are some very fine tunes out there between that lot. And this album also has some very fine tracks on it - I can understand the argument that it doesn't necessarily hang well together as an album, but there's certainly enough quality there to keep me entertained.
Sorry, Feed Me Jack, but you're not getting a look-in here, but it's a close contest between the other two - John Grant just nicks it for me, particularly since the channel were so rudely unappreciative!
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