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She's shopping for kicks, got the weekend to get through

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Was it really THIRTY years ago?!? I've definitely got a soft spot for female-lead 90s indie groups, so when I saw one of the (imho) best of them was touring to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of an iconic release, I felt I had to pop along to The Electric Ballroom in Camden to see if it would be a triumphant reminiscence of youthful vigour (and I used that phrase advisedly) or an ominous reminder of distant times past. Hey, hold on a goddam minute - haven't we been here before?!? Yup, by some quirk of coincidence I was at exactly the same location for very similar events on consecutive nights - this time it was to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Sleeper's breakthrough single "Inbetweener", which was then followed by their album The It Girl which I think was one of the finest Britpop albums and I still listen to it frequently (and it was unlucky not to get a visit when we did '96). But, before we get to Sleeper, we have (unlike the previous evening),...
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What's there to say - there's not much to talk about

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Continuing my trip back through the 1988 album charts. 28/02/88 : Give Me The Reason -  Luther Vandross Our second visit with Luther - I think we pretty much know what to expect here. Somewhat bizarrely, it's not available on Amazon but YouTube rode to the rescue. Yeah, this is very much what you'd expect - it's not my sort of thing, but I have to admit he does it well and he's got a lovely voice. I was surprised to actually remember the title track and "I Really Didn't Mean It" so he obviously stuck in there more than I was expecting.  I didn't like his version of "Anyone Who Had A Heart" though, even if I have to admit he does it well in a Luther stylee. And if you're in the market for such a thing, then there are far worse examples out there than this album - high praise from me indeed! We're at #3 in the charts this week on his FIFTH EIGHTH week of an EIGHTY EIGHT week run - and this was its second run! It was released in late ...
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So you're super-connected now - all the freaks gather 'round

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Was it really THIRTY years ago?!? I've definitely got a soft spot for female-lead 90s indie groups, so when I saw one of the (imho) best of them was touring to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of an iconic release, I felt I had to pop along to The Electric Ballroom in Camden to see if it would be a triumphant reminiscence of youthful vigour (and I used that phrase advisedly) or an ominous reminder of distant times past. Yes, it really is thirty years since Belly released their second album, King. Despite the Throwing Muses connection (Tanya is Kristin's step-sister and was originally in the group), I somehow didn't pick up on their stuff immediately until I was introduced to Sweet Ride, their '02 best-of. Which is a bit of a cheek given that they'd only released two albums, Star and King, at this point (and that was it until the '16 crowd-funded Dove) - but it's a very fine best-of, contrasting the rawness of the tracks on Star with the later polish of th...
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You raise me up when I'm on the floor

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Continuing my trip back through the 1988 album charts. 06/03/88 : Children -  The Mission Our second (and, in all probability. last) visit with The Mission and I don't mind a small serving of gothitude, so I'm happy to check this out but fear a whole album may be just too much. Yeah, coming in at 57:48, this is definitely not such a small serving of gothitude - and there are some lengthy tracks on there, with five of them being over five minutes long. So was it too much? I can see one track would be more than enough for some, but I got to the end without too much of a struggle - yes, it's all goth-rock but there was more variety there than I was expecting. It's also very well produced - it's got a lovely clear sound to it with some beautiful strings in places, which I wasn't really expecting. And having complained about the length of the tracks, I have to say that my favourite was the 8:03 of Tower Of Strength - it's a powerhouse of a track which just builds...
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Who's that lady coming down the road?

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Continuing my trip back through the 1988 album charts. 13/03/88 : Tear Down These Walls -  Billy Ocean Our second visit with Billy Ocean and although it's not really my sort of thing, I've always had a lot more time for Billy than I have for Luther or Alexander mostly because he's British(ish, at least) and he's always seemed like a bit of a dude (and still does - the man has grown old very gracefully). Yeah, it's really not my sort of thing, particularly the slower numbers - but I can see he's just giving the fans what they wanted. But he's got a lovely voice (him and Luther definitely shade Alexander in my expert opinion) and you can't fault "Get Outta My Dreams, Get In To My Car" now, can you? It does all feel a bit dated but this is mostly because, whilst I assume people are still making music like this, I can't for the life of me think of anyone who is. None of it was hateful, but there's no danger of me revisiting it.  We're a...
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The highways and cars were sacrificed for agriculture

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Continuing my trip back through the 1988 album charts. 20/03/88 : Naked -  Talking Heads Our fourth visit with Talking Heads and this is one I haven't heard, but I like the singles from it, so I have reasonable hopes for it. The tracks I previously knew and liked were "Blind", "Mr. Jones" and (particularly) "(Nothing But) Flowers" and it's fair to say the rest of the album doesn't stray too far from this formula, with lots of tricksy world rhythms blending well (imho) with more traditional poppy elements - but there's enough variety across the album to keep me happy. Overall, I liked it and found it more accessible than some of their more highly regarded albums - I'd almost be tempted to listen to it again! We're at #3 in the charts with a new entry this week on the start of a thirteen week run - somewhat surprisingly this is their highest ever charting position, although several albums have spent longer in the charts. The rest of t...
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With your hair in a mess, in your outdated dress

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The journey continues... Keep Your Courage (2023) A gap of nine years brings us up to her last (currently) album - I checked it out at the time and quite enjoyed it but never revisited it, so it will be interesting to see what I make of it after a gap of a couple of years 1. Big Girls She's sounding very wistful and beaten down by experience, but with some hints of positivity, She's joined by Abena Koomson-Davis (who's got a lovely voice) and a load of horns which work really well. 2. Come On, Aphrodite Abena and the horns are back again with a much more needy song, begging for an opportunity for love. It's OK, but the content/length ratio feels a bit off to me. 3. Sister Tilly This is the song I knew best from the album because it's covered in an interesting Song Exploder podcast  - it's about the activist generation of women from the 60s and 70s and I think it evokes some beautiful images. And it's a decent song as well.  4. Narcissus I'm quite surpris...
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