scaryblog

Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day... 21.04.22  : Women In Music Pt III : HAIM (2020) One I've written about  previously  and really enjoyed - one of the best albums of last year for me which I think should have been more highly regarded (although I guess getting to #1 in the UK means it was pretty well regarded). The channel gave this five hands up, four hearts and a lot of positive comments.  And that's the very least it deserves imho. 21.04.23  : Rose Azura Njano: Cunninlynguists (2017) Well, they're not doing themselves any favours for me with that band name, I can tell you - 6th form indie anyone?  Or Benny Hill backing band?  But thankfully, "Yakety Sax" doesn't feature on the album - it's basically some more of that melodic hip-hop I don't know how to describe.  Wikipedia goes for "conscious hip hop" - but if you follow the link to get more information, it takes you to "alternative hip hop", which has a detailed entry wh

Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day... 21.04.19  : Lost Horizons : Lemon Jelly (2002) An album I own - and I'm more than happy to say I love it.  "Nice Weather For Ducks" has an amusing element to it, but "Elements" and "Ramblin' Man" are really fine tracks indeed. John you've been on the go ever since you were born And I imagine few people in the world today have travelled as much as you have Now why? So if you've not listened to it people - then just do so.  OK?!?  And yes, I'm well aware this is the sort of album I'd discard as too same-y in a lot of cases, but I guess it just got in there at the right time for me.  It's hard to imagine it's 19 years old though - where has that time gone?  It also has a cool album cover - but much cooler in the flesh (OK OK, cardboard - flesh would be too weird now) The channel gave this eleven hearts, one cool cat and quite a few comments along the lines of "Why have I only ever

Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day... 21.04.14  : Origin of Symmetry : Muse (2001) One I own, but can't say I revisit often - personally, I view it as a transitional album and I'm more likely to choose either Showbiz or Absolution .  It's perfectly listenable but I'm not convinced they really knew what they wanted to be on it - it's like they've found the buttons and knobs to make things go way over the top, but they're a bit scared to use them just yet.  However, that doesn't mean there aren't some great tracks on it.  "Plug In Baby" and "Feeling Good" are both very fine - but as a whole the album doesn't work as well as others for me.  I do like the album cover though - Muse can generally be trusted to put something good together on this front. Muse feel right up the channel's street and it gave this 3 hands up, 12 thumbs up and a lot of positive comments for both the album and Muse live.  Wikipedia explains that th

Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day... 21.04.09  : Cowboy Bebop (OST) : Seatbelts (1998) We've got a first here - not only have I not heard of the album or the artist, but I've also not heard of the film (sorry - I now know it's a series, but that just shows how much I didn't know I didn't know) that it's the soundtrack to.  And hmmm - it's an odd one.  It's well done jazz-funk (bebop, I assume!), but a lot of it just sounds like a Starsky & Hutch chase to me (and surely it's not that old, is it?).  However, whilst I can see that it must invoke feelings of nostalgia in those that experienced it the first time around, I can't for the life of me imagine a situation where I'd ever listen to this again.  Sorry! The channel gave this three hearts, one nice-jazz-club, two nice-jazz-club-2s and a lot of positive comments on both the album and the series.  I'm very interested to read what Wikipedia has to say all about this - I feel I'

Continuing my trip up The Guardian's  Top 50 Movies of 2020... #22 :  Dick Johnson Is Dead Film-maker Kirsten Johnson’s startlingly creative response to her former psychiatrist father’s dementia, in which she stages a string of hypothetical death scenes and afterlife fantasies. I've heard of this film and I've also heard that it's eye-wateringly bonkers - it hadn't quite made it on to my "I'll watch it at some point" list but I was intrigued to watch it nonetheless.  And you certainly get the feeling that things might go places you don't expect when the film starts off with a cute family scene and then has Dick walking along the street when a microwave comes out of nowhere and lands on his head... And well, it doesn't really make any attempts to get any more conventional from that point onwards.  It's basically a combination of family back story, scenes of everyday life, interviews with various random characters about aspects of death or de

Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day... 21.04.06  : Transa : Caetano Veloso (1972) A second album in a row that isn't on Amazon but my Spotify session was still logged in, so all was good and I didn't have to reset my password again (because obviously I've forgotten what I reset it to).  However, I can't say I was approaching the album with any kind of enthusiasm - my last visit with 1970s samba didn't end particularly well with me deciding it was best not to say anything.  And the same is true here. The channel gave this four thumbs up, but no comments which suggests that maybe I was not alone in my opinion.  Wikipedia doesn't have a lot to say about the album, but does mention it was recorded when your man was exiled in London - and who's not going to investigate more about that?  As far as I can tell though it simply comes down to being popular and not being prepared to say that the Brazilian dictatorship of the time were the best thing ever - all a b

Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day... 21.03.30  : Shotters Nation : Babyshambles (2007) Oh dear - this is REALLY gonna have to go some to convert me because I was "lucky" enough to experience Babyshambles at Glastonbury and let's just say I have not been left with fond memories of the experience.  But, having approached it with caution, I actually didn't overly mind the album - it reminded me of The Kinks (whilst they were in their bearable 60s phase - not this version).  And Pete's certainly been listening to his early Arctic Monkey albums as well, which is never a bad thing.  But I still can't forgive them for the Glasto experience though. The channel gave this three thumbs up and then had a bizarre conversation as to whether he was or wasn't Northern - concluding he wasn't.  Wikipedia confirms he was born in Northumberland, but lived all over because his dad was in the army - so I'm not sure who was right!  He did manage to entice two new j

Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day... 21.03.25  : American Water : Silver Jews (1998) Never heard of album or artist, but the name had them pegged as indie dudes to me.  Well firstly, whatever they are, I'd have to say that  " In 1984, I was hospitalised for approaching perfection " is quite some way to start an album.  The singer certainly exudes charisma, I was reminded a lot of Lou Reed at times, who was certainly a man who also exuded in his time.  Listening to it, I'm interested to know if they're indie dudes (like The National) or whether he's an indie dude (like Bright Eyes).  However, the tracks didn't quite click for me - although I generally liked the lyrics and the music, so I'm not quite sure what I'm missing here.  A further listen might change my mind and I'd be tempted if I didn't have a massive backlog of albums to work through.  I like the simple but effective album cover though. The channel gave this four thumbs up, o

Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day... 21.03.22  : Silent Alarm : Bloc Party (2005) Another album I own and think I like, but I have a sneaking suspicion I always listen to the first two tracks and then swap it for something else because the third track isn't as good as "Helicopter" (and it's quite some track to have to follow).  But, I made it to the end this time (well done me!) and whilst the rest of the album does suffer in comparison with "Helicopter", it still works pretty well for me.  Maybe some people would want a bit more variety, but I'm happy enough with its jangly guitars and rattling drumbeats - although I remember that a big part of their appeal back in the day was the charisma exuded by Kele Okereke (the lead singer) and I'd have to say that doesn't overly come across on the album. The channel gave this six raised hands, eight thumbs up, two hearts, a lot of fond reminiscing and some disappointment as to how it all went a bit