I remember when I first noticed that you liked me back
Continuing my trip up The Guardian's 50 best albums of 2017.
#23 : Big Fish Theory - Vince Staples
Big Fish, the almost-title track of Staples’ second record, seethes at injustice over amusingly bouncy synths that blend old-school rap with bleeding-edge electronica. Staples takes this kind of combination to great heights on the album, which climaxes with the staggeringly brilliant Yeah Right, on which tinny trap entwines with bizarre pop parody by producer Sophie (listen for a guest spot by Kendrick Lamar).
Vince Staples sounds like he should be a school janitor or something rather than a young(-ish), trendy US rapper. I'm somewhat surprised to see this is only his second mention (after appearing as a guest artist on a Gorillaz album) - I'm certainly aware of him, but couldn't tell you whether I've heard anything by him.
And now I have - so all I need to do is describe it! It's certainly rap based, but there's all sorts of other stuff mixed in there. Did I like it? Well, no - but I didn't hate it either and it was an ambitious and interesting enough listen. Is that enough for you? Well, it'll have to do...
Wikipedia tells us this is his second album and he has a load of guest producers and artists involved, including Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver, which feels like an odd fit), Ty Dolla Sign and Damon Albarn (who I really should have spotted), as well as the previously mentioned Sophie and Kendrick. Critically, it was very well received with everyone falling over themselves to say nice things about it and it made quite a few year-end lists whilst commercially, it made the main chart here, getting to #58 but it managed even better elsewhere, reaching #19 in Canada and #16 in the US.
discogs.com only has the double vinyl picture disc available (which features the fish and looks very odd) and you can spend anything from £25-£80 on it, with no obvious reason for the difference. This isn't aimed at me, but I can appreciate the skill involved and it feels like there's a whole load of musical knowledge behind its creation.
#22 : The Ooz - King Krule
Few contemporary artists sound as much like themselves as Archy Marshall, who seems to have bagsied a whole set of sadly chiming chords to go with his jarring baritone. His sonic sphere is so overwhelming that it often feels like another planet – the space-age desolation of Czech One and serotonin-depleted jazz of Lonely Blue float in a hinterland between this world and another, while the monochrome punk of Dum Surfer takes rock tropes to a parallel universe.
A first ever mention for Mr Krule and the description above gives me absolutely no idea what I'm to expect here.
Hmmm - not only would I give this the dreaded "post-punk" label, but I think I'd go as far as calling it "post-punk-jazz". It's quite varied across the album - in places, I was reminded of Protomartyr (with the added bonus of having the words and music aligning) but in other places it's a much more noodly style with a sludgy vocal drawl over it (I should be in marketing really). I can see that he's making the kind of sound he wanted to and it all feels quite mature for what was a 23 year old at the time - however, I'd have to say it's a sound that, at best, don't particularly like and in places REALLY don't like. Also, at 66 minutes, the whole thing is far too long.
Wikipedia tells us that, despite him being only 23, this was his third album and his first in two years (he put his debut out when he was 19). As with Vince's offering, the critics fell over themselves to say nice things about it, except for Alexis Petridis in The Guardian who also thought it was too long. It was also nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and featured on quite a few year-end and decade-end lists. I was quite surprised to see how well it did commercially though, getting to #23 here and the lower reaches of quite a few other charts including #51 in Australia and #60 in Ireland, and even #114 in the US (it feels a very un-US kind of album).
discogs.com tells us you can pick up a CD for £12 or the album for £25, but if you're interested in some patterned vinyl, then you're in luck - you can get an orange and blue or a tortoiseshell option for about £70. But if you want a signed (complete with a little picture) orange and blue vinyl, then you're very much out of luck because it's going to set you back £1000! (I feel someone may by trying their luck there). I can see people who take their music seriously being very impressed by this album (and I can understand why) but I also suspect that most normal people will find this basically unlistenable - I will leave you to decide whether that makes the album "good".
#21 : Cigarettes After Sex - Cigarettes After Sex
This Texas band was propelled into millions of living rooms across the world earlier this year when their spellbinding 2012 song Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby was used in the TV adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale. Their debut album, released in June, proved just as haunting and hypnotic. Backed by gently foreboding dreampop, frontman Greg Gonzales’s delicate voice is reminiscent of Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch.
A third ever mention for this lot, although I did check out their '24 album and was surprised how mellow it was - and the description above suggests we're in similar territory here.
Yeah, The Guardian has got this one pretty right - and I didn't mind it at all (although I could understand if people complained it was a bit wet). It feels more like a late night album than a summer spring afternoon kinda thing, but I guess I can't blame them for the time of day I choose to listen to it. I do feel they could have made a bit more effort on the album cover though.
Wikipedia tells us it's their debut and was mostly recorded live in front of a small audience - and that's your lot. Their entry tells me they've been going since '08 (so they really took their time getting this out) and they're known for their limerent musical style (and I know what limerence means thanks to Jacob Alon). The critics were generally pretty nice about and commercially, it's done better than I expected, getting to #27 here and making the top forty in quite a few European countries - however, we have to specifically talk about how this has gone down in Belgium. Not only did it get to #5 in the main chart, but it's appeared in the year-end chart EVERY YEAR SINCE, appearing at #44 last year - what on earth is going on there? It also managed #7 in Lithuania's year-end chart in '22 - all most peculiar!
discogs.com tells us you're going to have to shell out a relatively expensive £12 to get hold of a copy of this but once again we have some pricey coloured vinyl options if you're interested - £90 for a clear or a grey one or £180 for the picture disc. I really quite liked this though - it was nice and gentle, without being simplistic.
I'd say these are three accomplished albums, but I'm afraid the accomplishments on two of them are not to my liking - less is most definitely more for me, so Cigarettes After Sex take the round.
#26-24 - Two we'd previously met
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