At the bottom of our rotten boat there is a lake
Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day...
20.09.21 : For All We Know - Nao (2016)
Not something I was aware of - and whilst it's not really my thing, it's done well enough and I can see there would be occasions it would be called for. No particular track really jumped out at me, but it was all perfectly pleasant. And it's very unlikely I'll ever listen to it again.
The channel was pretty quiet on this one - one ok hand, one thumbs up and one positive comment. Wikipedia has more on the album than you might expect, saying it was named after a 1934 jazz song partly with a nod to her roots but mostly just because she really liked the title (and you can't really argue with "liking it" as a reason). The album was well received critically, featuring on quite a few "best of 2016" and did OK commercially getting to #17 in the UK charts. I also particularly liked the fact that she describes her music style as "wonky funk" which suggests she is someone who doesn't take herself too seriously.
"Customers also listened to" a load of people I've never heard of, except for Solange who I can definitely see the link to. "Fine, but not for me" is my verdict on this one.
20.09.22 : Shallow Bed - Dry The River (2011)
No idea about the band or artist, but the "<verb> the <noun>" structure is making me think of both Foster The People and Run The Jewels who are, of course, wildly different. And Dry The River are definitely closer to FTP - I quite liked it, with a lot of it reminding me of First Aid Kit with some lovely guitar and vocal swoops (and his vocals aren't a million miles away either). I particularly liked "New Ceremony", but most of the tracks were pretty enjoyable.
The channel has mixed views on this (as did their girlfriends) but everyone agreed it was sad that they'd split up. Lots of people commented on his voice being annoying, but I didn't find it so (and I'm generally easily annoyed by such things!). Wikipedia lists the singles and notes that it was well received upon release (#28 in the UK charts) but has nothing else to say about it other than noting someone thought he sounded like Brandon Flowers, which I guess I can see a bit, but only a bit.
"Customers also listened to" Laura Marling, The Staves and Villagers - all of whom are in the same area without being all that similar either. I liked this though and will make an effort to check out some of the other stuff they managed to do before they split up.
20.09.23 : Disorganised Fun - Ronald Jenkees (2009)
And no idea on this one either for the clean sweep - all I'm getting in my head is Velma from Scooby Doo saying "Jinkies" (which I initially mistyped as "Kinkies" which would be a different prospect entirely). And having listened to it, I'm not entirely sure how I'd describe it - "electronic rock-ish"? I'm sure he had a lot of fun making it and there's definitely skill involved, but there's a lot of skilled people out there and I'd choose to listen to most of them before I listened to this again, I'm afraid - it's not hateful, but just a bit pointless for me.
The channel came up with the classic comment "oh my god, it's THAT guy" - how can you top that? Wikipedia doesn't have anything on the album but it does tell me he found fame on Youtube and he likes to wear hats. I was intrigued as to how old he is so did a quick Google on him (he's 33) and was somewhat intrigued by "people also searched for" showing Eric Clapton - there must be a link there somewhere, but it's not jumping out at me.
"Customers also listened to", it will not surprise you to hear, a load of people I've never heard of. I can see the odd YouTube video might be diverting, but I can't imagine why anyone would subject themselves to a whole album of this.
I wouldn't mind listening to Nao again (unlike Ronald) but it's a pretty easy win for Dry The River this time around.
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