You can't see what I have to show
Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day...
Mogwai are one of those bands I always think I like but I can never quite remember why - but I remember liking this when I listened to it. My channel comment at the time was
Yeah, liked this as well. Definite echoes of yesterday's selection in places...
but actually having re-listened to it, I thought this was vastly superior to Tall Ships on a second listen - obviously more of a grower. It's not got a nice album cover though. The channel gave this (deep breath) six nices, four thumbs up, one heart eyes, one sweet, one cowboy hat, two saltires, one glasgow, a few positive comments and a new joiner. Wikipedia has a selection of random sentences vaguely relating to the album, with this being the obvious highlight "A computer animated video was released for the song "Hunted by a Freak", depicting a person throwing pets to their death". The entry gives no clue what the critics thought of it, but the public were decidedly "meh" - #47 in the UK and #182 in the US. But, as someone pointed out in the channel, they had a #1 album in the UK earlier this year, so they're hanging in there well.
"Customers also listened to" 65daysofstatic, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mono - one of these groups is easier to type than the other two. I liked this though and really feel I should listen to more Mogwai so I can actually decide if I like them or not - rather than merely thinking it.
21.10.04 : Last Man On Earth - Loudon Wainwright III (2001)
I remember quite liking this and thinking a couple of the tracks were ace. My channel comment also gave us a bit of back story
Yeah, I liked that – I’d call out “Homeless” for its poignant lyrics. I knew I had heard quite a bit of LW III, but was struggling to remember where – thankfully Wikipedia reminded me he had a stint on Carrott Confidential in the late 80s (and I would have never remembered that by myself). I was also somewhat surprised to hear him telling me “you’re 53 now” on “Living Alone” because I wondering how he knew…
The channel gave it one heart, two thumbs up, no comments, two joiners and one leaver. Wikipedia tells us this is his sixteenth studio album (out of 25 so far) and he wrote it in the wake of his mother's death and the collapse of a relationship - possibly explaining the lack of happy-clappy, sing-along tracks. But that's pretty much all it has to say on the matter.
"Customers also listened to" Richard Thompson (which I can totally see) and a load of people I've never even heard of. I thought this was OK though - he's got a nice turn of phrase even though he wasn't at his happiest here.
21.10.05 : Spiders - Space (1996)
OK songs, annoying vocals is my major memory of this, which is borne out by my channel comment
I quite like the songs, but I find the vocal delivery just too distracting over the course of an entire album - at first listen, anyway. However, I can imagine if I got to know it, I'd sing along in an equally distracting manner - and be very proud of myself!
The channel gave it two thumbs up, three spiders and one positive comment. Wikipedia has considerably more on the album than I was expecting (213 milliPeppers) - I can't say I bothered reading it, but the following sentence did somewhat jump out at me "some sound relationship advice which might not sit too well with any of Space's male fans who value their testicles". The album was very well received both critically and commercially - reaching #5 in the UK and spending a year in the charts.
"Customers also listened to" Catatonia (which is a good album that I haven't listened to in ages), Supergrass and Ocean Colour Scene - some mid-90s staples there. But the vocals are just too annoying on this one for me.
So not Space as winners then - how to decide between the other two? I think Mogwai have the more consistent of the albums and it's certainly happier as well, so they sneak it.
21.09.28 - Do we allow compilation albums?
21.10.06 - Three albums featuring women to some degree
Comments
Post a Comment