There are so many people living their lives perplexed

Continuing my trip up The Guardian's 50 best albums of 2017.

#38 : Prince Of Tears - Baxter Dury

Opening with a hilarious and obscene twist on Will Smith’s Miami, Baxter Dury’s fifth record is a self-assured series of wry stories and character studies. Dury half-sings/half-speaks in gruff Cockney tones, clearly unafraid of comparisons with his father, Ian – but his work more than stands on its own two feet.

I met a Baxter Dury album in passing once and didn't hate it, but didn't love it - from the description above, I'm expecting more of the same here.

And yeah, the apple really hasn't fallen far from the tree with Ian's influence being very much on display, but it's feels a bit more contemporary (which it probably should since New Boots And Panties!! is 47 years old now - and features a very young Baxter on the cover). It's not really my thing musically, but there's some obvious skill involved in the lyric creation - if maybe not so much in their delivery.

Wikipedia tells us this is fifth album, it features Jason Williamson (of Sleaford Mods) on "Almond Milk" and Rose Elinor Dougall on "Porcelain" and that's your lot. Critically, people were pretty nice about it without going overboard and commercially, we have some main chart action to report, with it having spent one week at #49 - somewhat unexpectedly, it also got to #65 in France.

discogs.com tells us you'll have to spend £15 to get a CD, but a vinyl version is going to set you back anything from £18-£50, with no obvious reason for the price difference. I can see this will have its fans, but unfortunately I'm not one of them.

#37 : Hippopotamus - Sparks

On album 23, the flashes of brilliance that run through Sparks’ madcap chamber pop burn brighter than they have for decades. Always funny, usually fascinating and occasionally touching, Hippopotamus is a relentlessly entertaining record – even the song titles (What The Hell Is It This Time?, I Wish You Were Fun) make for a rollicking read.

Somewhat surprisingly, this is our fourth visit with Sparks - I know this is one of their better received albums because we mentioned it in passing back when we were travelling through September. I'm expecting some quirky tunes with amusing lyrics - because that's pretty much what you get with Sparks!

Yup - there are no surprises here. And that's absolutely fine, because when Sparks do their thing (which I believe they often choose not to do, but I've yet to meet any of them), they do it well. And yes, there are some most amusing track titles - my favourite was "So Tell Me Mrs. Lincoln Aside From That How Was The Play?".

Wikipedia has quite a lot on the album telling us it's their 23rd and their first since '09's radio musical The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman - they'd also worked with Leos Carax on Annette (which is quite the thing) and on a collaboration with Franz Ferdinand in this period. Critically, it was very well received, with many considering it the best thing they'd done in ages and it made a load of year-end lists. Commercially, it did best here getting to #7 but also got to #38 in The Netherlands and #32 in Belgium. 

discogs.com tells us you can pick up a CD for £9, a double vinyl for £22, a double picture disc for £50 or a cassette for £70, which seems pricey until you see it's being signed by the brothers. You have to be in the mood for clever lyrics and quirky tunes for this, but I found it most enjoyable.

#36 : Freedom Highway - Rhiannon Giddens

Named after a protest song by Roebuck Staples, Freedom Highway views contemporary racism through the prism of historical horrors, including the bombing of an African American church. As the leader of old-time string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, Giddens has long drawn on the past, but here she also weaves rap and funk into traditional sounds.

An artist I've never heard of, but this doesn't sound like it's going to be a bundle of laughs.

Actually, it's considerably lighter than I was expecting (although I suspect I didn't listen to the lyrics quite as closely as Rhiannon would like) - it's traditional US folk with a lovely simplicity to it and Rhiannon has a beautiful clear voice. I was reminded of Gillian Welch (who I really like) but it's got less rough edges to it - I really liked this and would be interested to check out some of her other stuff.

Wikipedia has an entry for the album but it tells us remarkably little - it's her second album and that's about it, although amusingly it tells us that Rhiannon supplies vocals, banjo and handclapping on the album. Critically, it was well received and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2017 Americana Music Honors & Awards, which sounds like a pretty big deal. Commercially, we've got some main chart action to report with it having got to #39 - it also got to #52 in Ireland and #49 in Australia.

discogs.com tells us you'll only have to spend £6 to pick up a decent CD version but if you want a vinyl copy, then it's going to cost you £25. Which is obviously a bargain because this is one of the finds of the list so far for me - very enjoyable indeed.

Interestingly, we had three albums in this round which charted - Baxter wasn't my sort of thing whilst Sparks produced a very decent offering, but they're unlucky to come up against Rhiannon who produced something that was right up my street and I really enjoyed it. 

#41-39 - Another three very different albums