They say Spain is pretty though I've never been
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, one among-us-dance (which seems to be a jiggling green parrot for no obvious reason) and a lot of positive comments, several of which mentioned Pavement. But come on lads, it's not that bad (Pavement and I do not have a great history here). Wikipedia tells me that they were half way between indie dude and indie dudes (one guy being the constant presence with fluctuating other band members). It has a few paragraphs on the album, but nothing of particular interest - the critical reception section basically says that Pitchfork liked it.
"Customers also listened to" a lot of Stephen Malkmus related stuff - which I will most definitely not be checking out. An interesting listen - I feel I should like it but I'm not quite there yet.
21.03.26 : Livingstone : Jungle By Night (2018)
No idea what to expect for this one - that name's not giving me any clues. And having listened to it, I'm not entirely sure how to describe it - "up-beat electronic Indian restaurant lift music" anyone? That doesn't sound overly complimentary does it - it's not quite that bad, but it's not really all that good either. I've no idea what I'm supposed to do with this - so I think I'll just leave it there. I quite like the album cover though, even though I've no idea what it's on about.
The channel gave this seven thumbs up and one comment which said "I liked this but had to give up on it halfway through" which doesn't seem like the most whole-hearted recommendation ever. Wikipedia had nothing on either album or artist, which didn't overly surprise me. A quick Google tells me that "Jungle by Night is a 9 piece instrumental collective from Amsterdam. Their music is a mix of Afrobeat, Ethio-jazz, funk, dub and rock". So not "up-beat electronic Indian restaurant lift music" then.
"Customers also listened to" a load of people I've never heard of, to nobody's great surprise. Not for me, I'm afraid.
21.03.29 : Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player : Elton John (1972)
Unsurprisingly, I have heard of Elton John - I'm most familiar with 80s Elton, but I have a lot of fondness for 70s Elton because my dad had Goodbye Yellow Brick Road on vinyl and I also liked Honky Chateau when I was made to listen to it. And so I was pleased to see this and was hoping for more of the same. And I can't really fault how it starts, given that it opens with "Daniel". And I'd have to say it continues in a similarly quality vein - the only other song I knew was "Crocodile Rock" (which I always think I don't like and then sing happily along to) but I liked pretty much all of them, which is impressive for a first listen. It's got a very American feel to it, which wouldn't generally be something I'd go for but it works pretty well throughout for me.
The channel gave this six thumbs up, one smile and a lot of positive comments. It also pointed out that the channel had been going for a year and this was the first Elton album picked - so it's about time! Wikipedia tells me this was his second album released in 1972 - the other being GYBR, which isn't exactly shabby output for a year. It also tells me (twice) that the title came from an evening Elton spent at his mate Groucho Marx's place - they must have made an interesting pair, to say the least. The album was engineered by Ken Scott, who was a busy lad around this time and was very successful commercially getting to #1 in many countries, including both the UK and US.
"Customers also listened to" Billy Joel, George Michael, Don Mclean, John Lennon, Eagles - the list of talent just goes on and on. But this period Elton has come out of this exercise much better than a lot of others people and times and this is another fine contribution.
The Silver Jews contribution was interesting (as was my weird reaction to it), but it's an easy win for Elton this time around. And we managed to get to the end without mentioning Mr Mulhearn as well!
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