From Clark’s Fork to Blackfoot Reservoir, more grist for the malady mill
Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day...
20.08.20 : Ten Stories - mewithoutyou (2012)
Never heard of the band or the artist, so was going in blind - and didn't even have any preconceived ideas from the name of the artists (I must be going soft in my old age). And I really didn't like the first track, but then I thought the second track sounded like early REM (which is right up my street), so I was somewhat conflicted. The Decemberists was another reference I got at various times - overall, I didn't mind it but I'd say it reminded me of stuff I liked rather than being instantly likeable, although I did like "All Circles" (the last track - grrr).
The channel had one "fantastic choice" comment and one "easy listening" comment (which is always hard to tell if it's a compliment or not). Wikipedia doesn't have a lot to say about the album, but it does tell me "The album focuses on ten stories that make up the larger story of the whole album of a traveling circus and the train crash it suffered in late 19th-century Montana" which I have to admit passed me by entirely. It also describes this as being in the "post hardcore" genre and I've got absolutely no idea what it's going on about there!
"Customers also listened to" Pedro The Lion, Further Seems Forever and As Cities Burn - none of which I can tell you anything about, but they're cool names. As for mewithoutyou, I suspect I'd like their stuff if I put a bit more effort into it - it feels like stuff that would grow on me.
20.08.21 : Jar - Superheaven (2013)
Another "no idea" choice - I was guessing some kind of indie-ish stuff from the band name. And it's kinda indie-rock with a hint of grunge and shoe-gaze - it reminded me of Bush. It's well enough done and I don't mind a track or two, but a whole album gets a bit samey for me.
The channel had 2 thumbs up, but no comments at all. Wikipedia has the following information - "Jar is the debut studio album by American rock band Superheaven, released on April 30, 2013. It was originally released under the band's prior name, Daylight, which has since been changed due to a legal dispute". Obviously, I followed up on the legal dispute and it was because there was already another band with the same name - boringly dull.
"Customers also listened to" - no idea, I'm afraid because this album doesn't appear to be on Amazon (under either of their names). It falls squarely into the "fine" category for me - I don't have any issues with it, but I also won't be rushing back to it.
20.08.24 : David Bowie - David Bowie (1969)
As part of the Rolling Stone exercise, I got to listen to a lot of David Bowie albums which I hadn't listened to before and I found his stuff often to be an annoying mix of very fine singles which I already knew and other stuff which was generally not quite immediate enough for me to click with - I can see that I might get into it with multiple listens, but I just don't have the time to invest. However, I'd not yet listened to this album - but I was expecting a similar reaction.
And yeah, that's pretty much where we are with this - "Space Oddity" is obviously the stand-out track and the rest are an odd bunch - some Dylanesque, some psychedelic, some just odd. Very little of it is hateful (unlike some of his "classic" albums imho) but I didn't particularly like it either.
The channel had 5 thumbs up and one link to a Flight Of The Conchords video (and there's no situation that can't be improved by some FOTC). No further comments though, which surprised me - Bowie seems like the sort of person the channel would have opinions on! As with all things Bowie, Wikipedia has a reasonable amount to say (291 milliPeppers) at varying levels of interest. It tells me this is actually the second self-titled album - the first one was released a couple of years earlier and features music-hall style tracks (can't say I'll be rushing to check that out). This one was released to mixed reviews (and. for no obvious reason, Wikipedia takes great pains to say that's it has also received mixed reviews retrospectively) but was a commercial failure at the time (despite "Space Oddity" getting to #5 in the UK charts). However it did manage to chart in 1972 because it was re-released after Ziggy Stardust (his 5th album) but was renamed "Space Oddity" just to con people that little bit more. There are also some pretty famous names involved with the album - Tony Visconti, Rick Wakeman, Herbie Flowers. And it also tells me this is the oldest album on the list so far - nearly as old as me!
"Customers also listened to" Lou Reed, John Lennon, Iggy Pop, The Rolling Stones - the names from that era just continue on and on. However, I didn't get the feeling this will be a Bowie album I'll be revisiting.
Not Bowie for the win and it's a toss-up between the other two - I'm going for mewithoutyou just because I feel I'd get into it more if I gave it a chance, but that could equally be true for Superheaven - sorry, guys!
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