Tattva, acintya bheda abheda Tattva

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts

24/11/96 : K - Kula Shaker

I nearly bought this one several times, but I just had a sneaking suspicion that the although the single (which I totally can't remember now) was good, the rest of the album wouldn't be up to scratch.  So I guess we get to find out now how close I was - in a bit, before we discuss a very close shave indeed...

What - more Rod Stewart?  Is there no year in which this man hasn't released an album?  This year it was If We Fall In Love Tonight which sounded like I'd be forced to listen to it, but Wikipedia tells me it "includes mostly previously released songs".  It had two new songs as the first two tracks to catch out those dads who listened to a couple of tracks in the record shop, after which it was all slightly remixed or cover versions.  Which just smells like a rip-off to me, so let's move on to Kula.

Ah yes "Hey Dude" was the single - it's the opening track and still sounds pretty good.  Ah yes "Govinda" was a single too, wasn't it?  Ah no, maybe it's "Tattva" I was thinking of!  It's an interesting one musically - there's a common musical thread (think Lennon tracks from the later Beatles albums - or Harrison tracks for the sitars) but there's also a surprising amount of musical variety in there.  It's like an interesting Oasis album (and I mean this is as a compliment).  I was also reminded of Do It Yourself by The Seahorses and Mansun's Attack Of The Grey Lantern, which are both very fine albums indeed.  So yeah - this was a pleasant surprise.  It's even got one of those 90s staples hidden tracks after 13 minutes of silence - they really don't translate to streaming services well so I didn't bother listening to it.  And no, we've never owned it - 0/6.

We're at a new record low in the charts this week, having made it out of the top 10 to #11.  They were on their tenth week of a 50 week run, having spent their first two week at #1 - I know I said I liked it, but that feels like way more than I was expecting.  The top five this week were R&J, Spices (swapping places for the first time this year), Simply Red, The Beautiful South and East 17.  The highest new entry this week was, oh dear, Jimmy Nail with Crocodile Shoes II (and he's a man whose "singing" makes me feel like maybe Robson & Jerome deserved their success).  Just below it at #18 was another new entry listed as Emancipation by Artist which somewhat surprised because I didn't remember it at all - until Google explained that Artist was short for The Artist Formerly Known As Prince...

Wikipedia actually tells me something interesting - the album cover was done by Dave Gibbons (best known for his work with Alan Moore) and features images relating to the letter K.  There can't be too many other album covers which feature Lord Kitchener, Katharine Hepburn, Ken Dodd, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and King Kong (amongst many others).  I also enjoyed the fact that it got to #200 in the US Billboard 200 - I like the idea they can say they charted over there without having to give any further details.

"Customers also listened to" Suede, Reef and Mansun - fine 90s representation there.  I was glad I listened to this though - I really enjoyed it unlike most of the absolute dross I've had to experience this year so far (The Beautiful South excepted).

17/11/96 - Not their best, I'm afraid
01/12/96 - Oooh, my favourite