I know I got nothin' on you
Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day...
20.10.15 : Djesse Vol 3 - Jacob Collier (2020)
I wasn't aware of young Jacob until I saw him interviewed on the telly and I was somewhat intrigued as to why Jools Holland was talking to a primary school kid - but then I saw this video and even a man of my hard-bitten cynicism couldn't really help but be impressed. So I was expecting more of the same - and it kinda is, but it also isn't. It's impressive, but all a bit clever-clever - I can imagine the musos love it but to my uncultured ear it feels like I need grade 8 in something to really understand what's going on. Yes, I'm a heathen - but if you don't know that by now then you REALLY haven't been paying attention. Having said that, I did quite like "Running Outta Love" - the female vocal from Tori Kelly worked well. It's a cool album cover though - particularly when contrasted with Djesse Vols 1 and 2.
The channel gave this three thumbs up and then got into a long discussion about micro-tonal key changes and bass lines - all of which made me think "yup, as i suspected". Wikipedia has a few sentences on the album but nothing of particular interest other than noting that his contribution to the album is merely "vocals, instruments, arrangements, engineering, producer, and mixing" - there are actually 26 other musicians listed, but only James Copus (flugelhorn & trumpet) and MonoNeon (electric bass) play any instrument other than young Jacob.
"Customers also listened to" a load of people I've never heard of before with a bizarre mix of names and album covers - the mind boggles. I feel like I should learn to like this and become a better person, but that's all sounding a bit too much old-dog-new-tricks for it to actually happen.
20.10.16 : Every Valley - Public Service Broadcasting (2017)
I know a lot of people love PSB but it never quite pushes my buttons - as with Jacob, it's always felt like I need a greater formal musical education in order to appreciate them. But I'd not heard this album, so maybe things were going to change (and no, I didn't really believe that as I typed it).
So? Well - I didn't mind it but I'd say I struggled to fully engaged with it. Whilst I realise it's making a lot of (probably quite valid) points about the mining industry in Wales, it did feel a bit like a history lecture delivered by Ivor The Engine a lot of the time. There are some interesting sounds on there though and it might be a grower given a chance, but that chance isn't feeling very likely at the minute.
The channel gave this nine thumbs up and a load of positive comments, which did not surprise me in the slightest - PSB definitely channel the channel (or should that be the other way round?). Wikipedia has a surprising amount (87 milliPeppers) on not the most well-known album, but most of it sounds like the script for a history lecture delivered by Ivor The Engine. It also tells me that PSBs lead writer goes by the name of J Wilgoose Esq, which does not endear himself to me one bit. I was however pleased to find out that Ivor The Engine has a sizeable Wikipedia entry documenting the useful work he did for The Merioneth and Llantisilly Railway Traction Company Limited with all his friends including Jones The Steam, Dai Station and Idris The Dragon. I may, however, have got somewhat off topic here.
"Customers also listened to" Mogwai, Working Mens Club and British Sea Power (who I've actually seen live a couple of times because one of my mates went to school with them) - all in the same kinda ballpark, This is another album I'd like to like to make me a better person, but it feels even less likely I'll come back to it than to Jacob's effort.
20.10.19 : Rumours - Fleetwood Mac (1977)
An album I've known very well from a reasonably young age (although not quite from the release date), one I've (unsurprisingly) written about before and one that would be VERY unlikely to lose the round no matter what the competition was. There are albums I like more than this, but I'd struggle to say that many of them are better albums that this - it's got a strong selection of tracks offering an impressive breadth of styles, skills and stories. And yeah, I know lots of people are like "meh, what's all the fuss about?" but ignore them - they're just showing off. It's also the highest placed (#7) album in the Rolling Stone chart we've met so far in this list - but it must be stressed that this alone is not an accurate measure of quality.
The channel gave this six thumbs up, a load of positive comments, a couple of "I've never listened to this - oh, it turns out i've heard most of it at some point though" comments and a couple of "my dad had this on vinyl" comments (Queen's A Night At The Opera is always my example for this, and The Beach Boys Greatest Hits on 8 track)
There's a lot to commend the first two albums (even if I don't fully understand exactly what) but they were never going to beat Fleetwood Mac for me.
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