Stegzy's Music Project

A commentary on Stegzy's album collection

Jan 9

Welcome to Stegzy’s Music Project

by stegzy

 

Mba22

Hello there!

Hello! Thank you for coming along.

Over the years I have accrued over 182Gb of music. That’s loads. Some I have paid for, others I have obtained as gifts or nefariously.

A great deal of this music I have not listened to, mostly because of protests from people in the same room but also because it would take me about 92.7 solid 24 hour days to listen to the entire lot (figures accurate). So, towards the end of 2012, I thought I would listen to each album in its entirety and post a small review of what I have listened to.

So far I have listened to a variety of music from various ends of the music spectra. From pop to experimental via the twisty-turny pathways of prog, goth and heavy metal. This blog was set up in response to demands by long term readers of my Livejournal blog. Mostly “Stop”, “Please no more” and “My God! You call this music?!”. Curiously, the same demands that come from people who are unfortunate enough to travel as a passenger in my car.

Each day, using J River Media Centre and iTunes,  I will be listening to the albums alphabetically without the aid of headphones and posting comments, reviews and general thoughts on each album as I come across them. Some might be good, others, bloody awful.

You can follow my progress here or via my Last.FM profile.  So, sit back, tune in, drop out, buckle up and fetch your pipe and slippers. With over 1800 albums to listen to, it’s going to be a very long ride.

**Update** – I am now accepting contributors. If you would like to review an album from my collection, please contact me via comment, PM or email. You can request an album to be appointed at random or let me know which artist you like. I might just have an album or two for you to provide commentary on.

Music Project

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Jan 12

Leaving Backstage – Sylvan [#667]

by stegzy

Sylvan are a German progressive rock band with a sound akin to Porcupine Tree meets Glass Hammer. We last saw them on the Music Project in #486 where we established that in the time between #90 and #486 I’d started to like them a little bit.

Music, as we discuss here frequently, is fluid and stains us all culturally, often indelibly, whether we like it or not. Sometimes, like a litchen it grows on us, others it lingers like a canker in the background waiting for something to trigger our memories and once more raise the sound to prominance. Perhaps it’s a tribal thing or something inherent in our psyche or physiology. No doubt someone somewhere is musing on this problem and will have the answer no sooner as the Philosophy Factory opens for business.

Leaving Backstage is the band’s live album from their 10th Anniversary Tour, something pretentious prog bands tend to do – release fan pleasing milestone live albums – I suppose its a good way to discover a band’s music and capabilities much in the way I did in years gone past with Yes and their many many live album compilations, serving, if anything to show a cut off point in style and sound a la bands like Flowing Tears or Nightwish.

You can listen to the album on:

Amazon

Youtube Music

Apple Music

Spottyarse

2008 Progressive Rock sylvan

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Jan 11

Learn to Sing Like a Star – Kristin Hersh [#666]

by stegzy

We last saw Kristin Hersh on the Music Project back in #326 where we touched briefly on how 4AD’s Uncut cover disk compilation introduced me to her music.

Having had access to Hips and Makers via Mrs Gnomepants V1.0 actual copy of the album, I decided that it wasn’t really for me or at least that I wasn’t ready for the sound or the music. This was back in the early years of 1999-2003 and offers to see her play at various Liverpool venues were politely declined.

By 2007 the Great Internet Download Free-for-All was in full swing in the UK. I obtained a copy of Learn to Sing Like a Star for Mrs Gnomepants V1.0’s “evaluation” and, following a couple of determined listens, there I was – hooked. Here was an artist that could sing, play guitar AND talk to me – in such a way that only really David Galas had done so before or since. I immediately bought a digital version and then scoured the arts pages of the local presses to see where and when her next tour of the UK would bring her into my proximity. It wouldn’t be until 2022 that I’d finally get the chance to see here in “nearby-but-still-a-distance-from-Daventry” Oxford.

A unique vocal sound, a passionate guitar and a tone of “yeah, well what can ya do” . Awesome

You can listen to the album on:

Amazon

Youtube Music

Apple Music

Spottyarse

2007 4AD Indie Kristin Hersh

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Jan 10

Le Voyage Dans La Lune – Air [#665]

by stegzy
Cover art of Le Voyage dans La Lune by Air

It seems like an age since we last heard from nineties French trip-hopping electronauts Air on the Music Project. Indeed it feels like an age since we heard any new music output from the band.

A major player in my personal soundtrack to the nineties along with Portishead, Bent and Massive Attack, Air were pretty much in most 1990’s twentysomethings record collections somewhere. They broke ground with the extra special Moon Safari then, after a flurry of mostly ignored albums, flashed up in 2012 with this nod to Georges Méliès silent epic – A Trip To the Moon before disappearing in a puff of pretention and a best-of-compilation.

A great shame really as I was quite fond of the guys and I did go and actually buy their stuff rather than download and steal evaluate.

Moreover, I am also a fan of the whole “Mash an album over a classic film” thing, you know like syncing Floyd’s Dark Side with Wizard of Oz, Oldfield‘s Tubular Bells with the Exorcist and Belle & Sebastian‘s Boy With the Arab Strap and David Leland’s 1987 film Wish You Were Here 1

You can listen to the album on:

Amazon

Youtube Music

Apple Music

Spottyarse

1 – May be untrue

2012 Air Soundtracks

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Jan 9

Le Luci Di Hessdalen – Argine [#664]

by stegzy
Album art for Le Luci Di Hessdalen by Argine

Le Luci Di Hessdalen [The Hessdalen Lights]1 released in 2004 is the seventh(?) release of Argine (Queen) an Italian Neo-folk band formed in 1992.

I became aware of them after hearing them on the Looking For Europe Neofolk compendium where the track In Silenzio, which is on Le Luci Di Hessdalen, appears. It has that weird “I’ve heard this before somewhere” vibe, possibly it was on the radio in the UK once? I don’t know.

However on that vibe alone, I was convinced to “obtain” the album during the Great Internet Download Free-for-All of the early noughties. On further investigation though, I became more convinced that I’d heard a few other tracks too such as Lamento Funebre and Punti Invisibili – Absolutely no idea why, where or by what means. But the more I listen, the more I’m convinced I was subjected to the album some time in 2004.

Weird that – what do you think?

You can listen to the album on:

Amazon

Youtube Music

Apple Music

Spottyarse

1The Hessdalen Lights are a recurring aerial light thing in the Hessdalen Valley in Norway. Some attribute them to UFOs but most scientists attribute them to a reaction with a rare earth element with oxygen. For more info see Wikipedia

2004 Argine dark wave neofolk

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Jan 3

Later: Later Lounge & Serve Chilled 1 & 2[#660, 661, 662 & 663]

by stegzy

In the year 2000, the internet was fledgling and untrustworthy and magazines were still a thing. While wanting to attract the vast untapped market of the non-sex obsessed laid back single male twenty something professional demographic, some magazine publishers chucked buckets of cash at producing magazines aimed at them.

Yes, FHM was a thing but that was more laddish than most men felt comfortable with reading in public, with covers often boardering on the pornographic. Esquire was often too sophisticated – aimed at those confident in their presense and appearance. Empire was just about films and GQ had that metrosexual vibe that just didnt appeal to a lot of heteronormative types. Later bridged the gap – stylish, hip, with a cheeky undertone of implied sauce. It was the reading matter for gents who just wanted to stay in touch with what was cool in the world and how to portray that coolness without looking like a catalogue model or an overtly sculpted waxwork with clearly coded sexuality markers.

I loved Later. It appealed to me. I still have copies of every edition of the magazine mouldering in my loft along. It spoke to men like me and offered a guiding hand in the puzzling world of business, style and culture. It’s sad that the publication ended and more sad that nothing really replaced it. Sadly, it seems, people don’t read magazines the way they did preferring social media, websites, podcasts and Substacks instead

Perhaps the most prized possession from this time of my life along with the magazines themselves, are the free CDs that came with the publications. Two Serve Chilled volumes were released over the lifetime of the magazine, with two Later Lounge volumes.

The CDs were compilations of cool, hip music from across the ages, that would delight and provide the owner with that sense of “Hey I listen to cool hip quality music”. It was the kind of music you could pop on at a dinner party or perhaps after the night out at the club to impress that young lady you had brought back to the pad – stylishly decorated of course thanks to the guidance from the magazine .

Later: The Later Lounge Volume 1 [#660]

Track#Track NameArtist
1Blow Up A Go-GoJames Clarke
2This is SoulPaul Nero
3Bring Down the BirdsHerbie Hancock
4Secret Agent ManHugo Montenegro
5Theme from Mission ImpossibleBilly May & His Orchestra
6What a ManLinda Lyndell
7Whole Lotta LoveIke & Tina Turner
8Theme from BullitWilton Felder
9Down Here on the GroundGrant Green & Dianne Reeves
10TrampLowell Fulson
11Light My FireShirley Bassey
12Love Potion No. 9The Coasters
13I Can See For MilesLord Sitar
14James Bond ThemeLeroy Holmes
15The Look of LoveThree Sounds
16Moon RiverNancy Wilson
17Do You Know the Way to San JoseRichard “Groove” Holmes
18Party 7Big Boss Man
19Save MeNina Simone
20Spinning WheelPeggy Lee
Track listing for Later Lounge Volume 1

Later Lounge Volume 1 latched onto that late nineties/early noughties 60’s revival vibe heralded by the likes of Oceans Eleven, Austin Powers and the remastering of old Michael Caine films. Not a great hit with me, I was far too dirty old goth by this time, but there was some Herbie Hancock, who’s music had already passed my ears on yet another Compilation cassete/CD conversion, the erroneously named Seventies Shit.

If ever I wanted to out hipster Hipster Nick, I’d whack this on, put on a cravat and moan about “bloody beatniks” and now you too can pretend to be a lounge lizard by playing the entire playlist via the magic of Youtube below 🙂

Later: The Later Lounge Volume 2 [#661]

Later Lounge Volume 2 came some months later. I think possibly after Serve Chilled but definately after Later Lounge 1 and Serve Chilled 2. I think by this point Later, as a magazine, had become a little flaky. Not as stylish as it once was, perhaps the chaps in the office had been told there and then that the magazine’s days were numbered. Either way, I felt then that there wasn’t as much thought put into this particular compilation. However, with more mature ears, I can now appreciate fully what sort of vibe they were trying to create.

If you fancied pretending to be some 1970’s caberet club owner with your over priced cigars, chest hair and ladykiller white shoes – you know the kind of way you wouldn’t have dressed to impress in the year 2000 – driving through the rain soaked streets of a cosmopolitan and exotic city like say….Bradford (Detroit being too far away)…in your vinyl roof Ford Cortina Mk1 (1973 Oldsmobiles are too big for UK roads)….then this is the compilation for you.

Track#Track NameArtist
1The Hanged ManBullet
2Stiletto Chico Rey
3Here Comes the JudgeLarry & Tommy
4The OrganiserThe Organisers
5The Night Rider Alan Hawkshaw
6Brasilian BeatLos Brasileros
7ComeEddie Warner
8Love You WholeheartedlyJackie Dee
9Bass in LoveGuy Pedersen
10Son of a Preacher ManBobbie Gentry
11Blarney’s StonedAlan Hawkshaw
12NightingaleDee Felice Trio
13Vision-On Theme (Accroche-toi Caroline!)Claude Vasori
14Les Copains De La BasseGuy Pedersen
15Gimme ShelterCal Tjader
16SuperflySynthesonic Sounds
17The HeistBullet
18Sea GrooveBig Boss Man
19Marriage is a State of VibesDave Hamilton
20Soul FunkChico & Buddy
21Mach 1Ray Davies and His Funky Trumpet
Again, I’ve recreated it on Youtube because I love doing this kind of thing. I should really do a podcast but you know…it’s no good if it’s just me talking….

Later: Serve Chilled Volume 1 [#662]

Serve Chilled Volume 1 became the soundtrack to the early noughties for me. I had multiple copies made to play on my car stereo to accompany long car journeys to and from Yorkshire and I also had it ripped to MP3 when I got my Creative Jukebox 2. I cannot politely express how much I loved this compilation and still do.

A soundtrack to every summer trip to Wales, Brighton, Yorkshire and beyond with Mrs Gnomepants v1.0 who, I hope, reads this and remembers the music as well as I do.

Track #Track NameArtist
1EstelleA Man Called Adam
2DiabolusThe Cinematic Orchestra
3Cylons in LoveBent
4Happy HereDanmass
5Hammock IslandKinobe
6SolitudeNick Faber
7Brown SugarAkasha
8Bahian B-BoyDynamic Syncopation
9Dakota (Kidk Degiorgio Mix)Mainline
10I Want YouDusted
11Dismantling FrankBonobo
12Inside My Mind (Blue Skies) (Elephant Remix)Groove Armada

Later: Serve Chilled Volume 2 [#663]

Finally the December 2000 edition carried Volume 2 of the Serve Chilled compilations. Blissful audio earwashes to carry away the winter chills and return memories of warm summers in Ibiza. However I wasn’t an Ibiza kind of youth prefering more sedate trips to Wales over roudy lads weeks away getting STDs, drunk and regrettable tattoos so this just makes me think of driving through Snowdonia.

Track #Track NameArtist
1Sunshine of Your Love (Bigga Batucada Mix)Rockers Hifi Meet Ella Fitzgerald
2Fusions AlrightRoyksopp
3Recipe fro the Perfect AfroFeature Cast
4Harry the GuitarDr Rubber Funk
5Happiness (Ashley Beedles West Coast Beach Bossa Vocal Mix)Shawn Lee
6Sky Holds the SunThe Bees
7Dive into YouHefner
8Woman in BluePepe Deluxe
9One Night SambaTim Love Lee
10No More TearsBent
11Drunk CountryMidfield General
12AmoursRob
13Get a Move OnMr Scruff
14Nothing to be Afraid OfLazyboy

1999 2000 Chill out compilations Memories Sleazecore Various Artists

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Jan 2

The Ladder – Yes [#659]

by stegzy

The 18th Yes album arrived in 1999 and is massively different to the previous album, Open Your Eyes which isnt hard as Open Your Eyes is truly awful.

At this point, Rabin had left, Howe had rejoined, Wakeman was off being a grumpy old man and had been replaced by dodgy Russian keyboard player Igor Khoroshev who would later leave the group in shame following an assault on two female security officers.

I came to The Ladder quite late. I’d spent much of the 1990s checking the racks at HMV for new releases and looking for snippets of news in fashionable magazines of the time. Yes were not fashionable so news rarely made it beyond the pages of NME and I was too much of a protohipster to buy NME preferring to Uncut, but only when they did stuff on 4AD. At this time I’d moved on from the airy fairy floating castles of Prog and had lurched into the dark twisting forests of Goth via the bucket hat wearing pathways of indie. So its probably no surprise I’d missed this album and it wasn’t until 2001 when I discovered the album had been released.

Its ok. It’s not Big Generator, Going for the One or Drama . Its just – OK and not one of the albums that seemingly I play a great deal. Standout tracks on the album are probably Homeworld – from the computer game Homeworld – and It Will Be a Good Day (The River) and even then I prefer the live version from House of Blues.

The next “studio” album would be Keystudio in 2001 and then in the same year, Magnification followed by nearly ten years of live recordings and rereleases before Fly From Here in 2011 which marked the end of the traditional lineup and, some fans say, the end of the band. But more of that – later…..

1999 Chris Squire Eagle Records Jon Anderson Progressive Rock Steve Howe Yes

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Dec 30

The King is Dead – The Decemberists [#658]

by stegzy

I recently worked with a guy who bore an uncanny resembelance to Colin Meloy, the lead singer of The Decemberists. He had no idea who Colin Meloy was and, for a young chap, was surprisingly lacking in music knowledge. I’d like to think that me purposefully calling him Colin or Mr Meloy either drove him to hating me outright or that it encouraged him to look into his look-a-like and perhaps on a musical path of self discovery.

That was in 2020, the year of the virus, when the world turned on its head and stability seemed like a memory. Indeed, only a few years previous in 2018, I had gone to Leeds with Mrs Gnomepants to see the band, something I’d really looked forward to, only to come down with a really bad bout of flu on the day. Like “get me to bed now I’m not well at all” bad. I still went to the gig though. It was great fun. But before that I’d really no idea what the Decemberists looked like or sounded like live. But now I know and I’m bloody glad I did go. Their support, Hop-a-long were good too.

The King is Dead is the next album chronologically from Hazards of Love which, if you’ve forgotten or missed it, I talked about here some time back. Look I’m a busy guy you know? I’m fifty next year, I have to work and do actual grown up shit these days so if I fall behind in my various content outputs its not because I don’t care, its because I can never find the time ok? I’d even do this as a podcast if I had someone to do it with me! Anyway, The King is Dead isn’t as catchy as previous Decemberist albums in my opinion. Its odd but the Decemberists sub-reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/Decemberists/) did a Redditors vote for the best album and I seem to remember this one fareing quite well. Perhaps I’m just not a typical Decemberists fan?

Audibly, this album is very close in style to what Mike Scott’s The Waterboys were trying to achive in the Fisherman’s Blues days. Indeed, you can also detect influences of This is the Sea in previous Decemberist materials come to think of it. Happily though, the Decemberists dont go down the Room to Roam route and still churn out some good albums, which, hopefully we’ll see here when I get to them….

The album is available from

Apple Music

Amazon Music

Youtube Music

and probably Spotty-fi if you’re lasse faire with your data….

2011 Capitol Decemberists Folk Folk Rock Rough Trade

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Dec 29

King Con – Alex Winston [#657]

by stegzy

When I began this music project in 2013 I was in a different place. I had a little more time on my hands than now, and I posted regularly to Livejournal. My intitial stance was that unawtil the project was completed there would be an out right embargo on new purchases until the project was complete.

Well 10 years is a long time to go without new music and I was bound to slip up. So when I was able to grab this on Apple Music, I was swift to do so. That’s right, King Con is a recent addition to my library and so is most of Winston’s catalogue. I’d first heard her, like most people in the UK, on the television advert for Tacky Micks well I think it was Tacky Micks. It may have been Next or some other tat vendor. It was a jaunty tune that had you slapping your thigh and cheerfully whistling along and you’d often catch people singing it in the office or whistling it in the town centre. However, what amused me most of all was the fact that the song used was about oral sex. But hey ho, thats the way it goes in marketing.

This aside, the whole album is a good old pop album, a mostly undiscovered classic with some really good tracks and I’m often surprised Winston’s career didnt sky rocket on the back of it. But I guess with all careers, you can shine bright but if you are shrouded by life things and stumble over those hiccups that we’re sent along the way, you can fall off the ledge. Take it from one who knows. But do you know what? She’s still pushing out content, albeit an EP here and there and every one is a banging tune.

I highly recommend Alex Winston. She’s talented and has a very distinctive sound.

King Con is available on:

Amazon Music

Youtube Music

Apple Music

2012 Alex Winston Pop Rock

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Dec 28

King – Belly [#656]

by stegzy

So I heard Tanya Donelly play on some compilation CD I had, can’t remember what one it was, and thought to myself: “Hey, here’s a singer with a distinctive sound, I’d like to know more”.

I jumped on the next 86 bus into Liverpool City Centre, marched down Church Street and entered the palace of musical wonder that was HMV. I then flicked through the CD racks for D. No Donelly. Did the same for T incase some div had misfiled. No Tanya Donelly. Repeated this in Virgin and any other record store I could find. Nada.

During the Great Internet Download Free for All, I’d scour the listings on Usenet for Donelly and also come up with nothing. Then, a passing comment with someone, I forget who, asked if I had tried B for Belly. Belly? I asked. Yes Belly! What, Belly, the band from the early to mid 90s who did Feed the Tree and was somehow linked to 4AD records? Yes, they said, the very same.

I hadn’t. I had no idea that Tanya Donelly was part, if not lead singer with Belly. Punched Belly into my Usenet browser and Blam! There was Belly. I listened to a few tracks, decided I liked a few tracks, continued to listen to those few tracks and never beyond the album itself.

Sad that.

This is what stealing music did to my generation. We became super saturated with media and it stopped us absorbing the true sound. Moreover, streaming music and CDs killed the beating heart, the album. The ease of just playing the tracks we liked instead of sitting through the whole thing to get to the track we liked – that became the using a spoon to eat your roast potatoes of music.

Amazon

Apple Music

Youtube

1995 4AD Alternative Rock Belly Tanya Donelly

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Dec 27

Killing Fields (OST) – Mike Oldfield [#655]

by stegzy

Having first heard two tracks from this album on Complete Mike Oldfield and having a teaser clip for the 1984 film on an old video cassette, I was keen to see this film. However this was in a time when films rarely made their way to TV at an acceptable time and there was no internets or Nutflux and Jeff Bezos was still scrounging $1 from his pals to buy a pack of Twinkies. So it wasn’t until probably the mid-90s when I eventually caught this film tucked away late one night on Channel 4. By which time I was holed up in my stinky little bachelor pad trying to make £140 last a month.

The Bruce Robinson directed film The Killing Fields starred Julian Sands, John Malkovich and Haing S Ngor and is a harrowing account of journalists Sydney Schanburg and Dith Pran’s experiences in Cambodia during the rise of the Kamer Rouge in the 1970s. If you ever want to see how quickly things can go to shit in a country, especially in a part of the world where there is dodgy goings on conducted by Western forces and the impact these actions can have on a people, then The Killing Fields is your required viewing. It’s what made me want to do Journalism at University.

The soundtrack, however, is by Mike Oldfield and was specifically written for the film on his Fairlight CMI, it is almost as atmospheric and as chilling as the film itself.

Soundtrack available on

Amazon

Apple Music

Youtube

1984 Mike Oldfield Soundtracks

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Dec 26

Keystudio – Yes [#654]

by stegzy
Keystudio album art

In Happy Days fandom it is often agreed that the moment Fonz water skis over a shark the decline in the quality of the show began. Some argue that the appearance of a poundshop Bertie Basset like villan marks the end of “quality” in Doctor Who.

Me? I ascertain that 1997s Open Your Eyes is where the rot began to set in for Yes. Others say Union, or 90125. But Open Your Eyes is where its at. A terrible album, yet to make an appearance on the Music Project.

Fortunately the albums following the release of Open Your Eyes showed how much of a driving force Steve Howe could be in the band. Having lost Rabin to music production and realising that Sherwood was better as a producer than a performer, the albums that followed: The Ladder and House of Blues, showed that the band when it consisted of Wakeman, White, Anderson, Squire and Howe could bash out some amazing tunes. Think Tormato, Going for the One and Tales from Topographic Oceans.

However this 2001 release on the Castle label, described as a compilation of studio tracks from the Keys to Ascension albums, not only showed what the band was capable of when they weren’t trying to recapture the Lonely Heart era without Rabin or Horn as a guiding hand. But it also sowed the seeds for the albums to follow.

There are some really catchy tunes on this album and I am often surprised that I don’t listen to it more often. The track Mind Drive is a banging tune and Be the One has foreshadows of Magnification floating around it. The album also features Children of the Light which credits Vangelis as one of the writers. This truly is an album from Yes’ renaissance – capturing and blending all the bits and sounds that made the bands post-Bruford line up often referred to as the classic line up.

Sadly, in 2001, my ears were elsewhere. The Great Download was starting to begin and I was discovering new genres, new sounds and new aural pleasures. Music was becoming freely available and visits to Virgin and HMV were beginning to wane. It wouldn’t be until a chance visit to the fledgling Yes website that the realisation there were new albums available AND A TOUR on the horizon that I realised that there was new stuff for me out there.

Apple Music – Not available at time of posting

Buy the CD on Amazon –

Youtube Music – https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=OI2ETFvwzAY

Join the Substack –

2001 Chris Squire Jon Anderson Progressive Rock Rick Wakeman Steve Howe Yes

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Apr 22

Keys To Ascension – Yes [#653]

by stegzy

As a teen I really liked Yes, I had forcibly had them played at me by my elder brothers so it was only to be expected. As my disposable income grew, I was able to purchase pretty much all of the band’s back catalogue either on cassette, vinyl or CD. Of course, this was fairly easy to do as the band went on hiatus between 1985 and 1988 then again between 1988 and 1991 and once more until 1994 and the release of Talk.

During those downtimes, no new music was released, instead regular “Best of” or live compilations, but to me, it didn’t matter then. I just went and bought what I could. But then something happened. I began to realise I was paying for the same songs over and over again. Nothing new. Maybe an unusual flourish or a change in tempo but really nothing new. I already had Yessongs, Yes Shows, 9012Live and Classic Yes so when I saw Keys to Ascension in the racking at HMV, I looked at the track listing and thought – why bother?

Keys to Ascension is a two volume compilation album featuring two discs per volume and features recordings from their live shows in 1996 of songs from the Going for the One and Tormato era (Interesting to note as they had just lost Trevor Rabin and Tony Kaye and regained Steve Howe and (briefly once more) Rick Wakeman) and some new tracks which later appeared on Keystudio .

This period of Yes history sets off my prickly brain. I really don’t care much for this period and even though the line up is the classic line up (albeit briefly and accentuated by Billy Sherwood), I don’t fall back into fandom with the band until Magnification and then, as if to take the piss, they do the whole “best of – live” shit again this time with touring live concerts (of which I went to three) until Fly from Here.

Lazy fan fanning and cheesy nineties rock do not make great albums. Indeed, Queensryche, Ayreon and Porcupine Tree were doing much better stuff at this time while Yes were following the Camel route of keeping the fans happy and experimenting. Personally, my music tastes were also changing at this time. I was no longer focussed on bands from my childhood and teenage, I was no longer being fed music by siblings, instead from more knowledgable peers, and I was starting to explore darker musical pathways which would eventually lead to a more mature adult contemporary pantheon of musicians.

At time of writing, Keys to Ascension is not available digitally on either Apple Music or Amazon but is available to buy on Amazon. I couldn’t care less about Google Play and I value my privacy too much to use SpottyFi.

1998 Billy Sherwood Chris Squire Essential Jon Anderson Progressive Rock Rick Wakeman Steve Howe Yes

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Apr 21

Keynsham – Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band [#652]

by stegzy
Keynsham….Tell me more about Keynsham

Having had the band’s infamous I’m the Urban Spaceman as a 7″ single since I was a Frisco Disco owning child, the Best of and Cornology since CD days and being fortunate enough to see the surviving band members perform at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall in the noughties, in the it made sense to obtain the band’s re-released-re-mastered original albums which I did via Apple Music.

Keynsham was the band’s fourth album, arriving long after Gorrilla, Doughnut in Granny’s Greenhouse and Tadpoles, and stylistically it shows. While the humour and quirkiness of the earlier albums are still evident, there is a certain maturity and definate shift toward a more contemporary sound akin to the Beatles and similar acts in some songs.

The album contains a number of my favourite Bonzo songs and often has me singing along. Particular favourites include: Mr Slater’s Parrot, Busted and semi biographical The Bride Stripped Bare (by the Batchelors).

Listen on Apple Music

Listen on Amazon Music

Listen on Google Music if you must

Surrender your privacy and be damned via Spotify

1969 Alternative Rock Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band EMI

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Apr 17

Jute City OST – David A Stewart [#651]

by stegzy
Album cover
Jute City by David A Stewart

In the late eighties I knew a guy at school, Charles Hurt, who introduced me to alternate comedy, comic books and graffiti. He would often regale me with tales of his mother’s lodger, a certain Scottish actor/comedian that I had seen in the dramatisation of Porterhouse Blue and would encourage me to seek out his other works. John Sessions was the actor/comedian. Regularly I would scour TV listings and magazines for any mention of him. Quite often I would find him on Channel 4 doing odd stuff or on Radio 4 doing odd stuff. But time passed and I began to care less about John Sessions however, imagine my joy when the BBC announced that a three part Sunday night drama featuring said actor would be broadcast.

Jute City was a BBC drama set in the crumbling city of Dundee and focussed on environmental issues and corruption. An absolute joy of a drama. Sadly only really shown once (that I know of). It starred David O Hara, John Sessions, Fish and a number of other actors who I can’t remember. The soundtrack for the drama was composed and performed by David A Stewart, not Dave “I worked with Barbara Gaskin” Stewart, but David A (A is for differential) “Eurythmics” Stewart.

The soundtrack has elements of Local Hero, uilleann pipes and a haunting whistfulness that seems to be a recurring theme through the Stegzy Music Project Library. The soundtrack is difficult to obtain these days and I’m not letting go of my tightly gripped CD but you should be able to find the drama on Youtube or somewhere.

1991 Anxious dave stewart Soundtracks

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Apr 16

Journey to the Centre of the Earth – Rick Wakeman [#650]

by stegzy
Album cover

Rick Wakeman’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth is an album that has been in my library for many years. At a time when, most days, I would travel via bicycle wearing in-ear headphones and carrying a Sony Walkman in my pocket, a great deal of the music I owned would be transfered from CD or vinyl to cassette.

My regular trips to HMV, Our Price and Virgin Megastore often resulted in an internal debate on the pros and cons of buying the cassette format of an album or the CD format of an album. Quite often though, like in this case, I was unable to get the CD format because “it wasn’t popular but we could order it you in (for a premium)” and the cassette version was less than a fiver.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth is Wakeman’s attempt at creating a rock homage to Jules Verne’s novel of the same name. You might already be familiar with Verne’s literary masterpiece or you might be more familiar with Henry Levin’s 1959 cinematic version starring James Mason which was regularly shown on TV during school holidays until anything older than 30 years was banned by TV executives.

With narration by David “Barbarella” Hemmings, backing by the English Chamber Choir and London Symphony Orchestra, Wakeman really pulls off a great fusion of classical style music, modern rock and good old story telling. It’s really easy to see why it was panned by stuffy music critics on release but even easier to hear why it became a family favourite for many.

I really love this album. Say what you like about Rick Wakeman’s flamboyancy but Journey is a great album. I’m particularly fond of the first two movements especially how Wakeman managed to pop the words “Silurian epoch” into the lyrics without too much force. With a running time of just about 40 minutes, it makes a great accompaniment to a journey down the road…..

Listen on Amazon

Listen on Apple Music

Freely give away your right to privacy on Spotify

1974 A&M Progressive Rock Rick Wakeman

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Apr 15

John Barleycorn Reborn: Dark Britannica – Various Artists [#648] & John Barleycorn Reborn: Rebirth [#649]

by stegzy

In a Britain in an alternate universe where paganistic villagers performed fertility rites, sacrificed policemen in burning wicker effigies and sang folk songs with hidden paganistic undernotes you can imagine this compilation being enjoyed on PYE stereo systems or in-car Grundig cassette players.

Mental imagery of remote rural areas of the UK like the Pennine ridge of the Yorkshire dales and the Peak district with perhaps lots of woolen sweatered fishermen or farmer types (because why there would be fishermen in the Pennines I have no idea. Holiday perhaps?), busty lusty young Brit Eckland look-a-likes and manbeards worn for warmth rather than style. Burning log fires in remote rural public houses on the moors. Folk musicians holding their ears to keep in tune and the familiar pong of veganism. These are all brought to mind when listening to the British dark folk compilation John Barleycorn Reborn (JBR) (2007).

I had long lusted after JBR since Amazon first suggested it would sit nicely in my music library. Of course, not feeling confident that I would enjoy it because of the number of bands and songs I’d never heard of, I resisted, seeking only to try and obtain it during the great internet download free for all of the mid to late noughties. However, as recently as last year, I found the album on Apple Music together with its brother and followup compilation, John Barleycorn Reborn: Rebirth (2011).

As I took great interest in the neofolk movement that took alternative, mature and adult music to new levels across continental Europe the late noughties, I’m more aware that JBR is purely a British attempt to break into an already dying subculture. Yes we had the hauntology bit on our side (as the likes of Belbury Poly and similar bands from Ghostbox have shown) and we do hauntology well, but the dark/neo folk was becoming old hat and middleaged exgoth hipsters were already starting to reinvent themselves in other ways.

The compiler has put a lot of effort into these albums and, while they ooze hauntology, they stink of the imitation of the earlier neofolk compendium Looking for Europe (2007) which is much richer in diversity. Some strong acts feature especially the likes of Sieben, Sol Invicitus, Far Black Furlong and Martyn Bates while other groups linger, tempting the listener to delve into their own back catalogue while supping a nice warm frothing pint of Badgers Nipple and smoking a pipe.

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Track listing for John Barleycord Reborn: Dark Britannica

Listen on Amazon or Apple Music

John Barleycorn 3:56 The Horses Of The Gods
North, County Maid 2:40 The Owl Service
The Wicker Man 2:31 The Story
Spirit of Albion 4:16 Damh the Bard
Twa Corbies 5:14 Mary Jane
Dives and Lazarus 6:30 Andrew King
Three Crowns 5:38 The Triple Tree
To Kills All Kings 5:01 Sol Invictus
Ogham on the Hill 4:04 Sieben
Horn Dance 3:31 Sharron Kraus
Lay Bent To the Bonny Broom 7:55 Charlotte Greig and Johan Asherton
The Burning of Auchindoun 5:44 Pumajaw
The Scryer and the Shewstone 5:07 Peter Ulrich
Where the Hazel Grows 4:31 alphane moon
Hippomania 6:51 English Heretic
Icy Solstice Eye 3:28 Far Black Furlong
John Barleycorn Must Die 4:37 The Anvil
To Make You Stay 2:55 Tinkerscuss
Trial By Bread and Butter 3:37 The Straw Bear Band
The Sorrow of Rimmon 3:56 Electronic Voice Phenomina
Dragonfly 4:21 The Purple Minds of Lazeron
Stained Glass Morning 5:56 Sand Snowman
Summerhouse 5:11 The A Lords
The Guidman’s Ground 4:19 The Kitchen Cynics
PewPew 2:33 Quickthorn
Reed Sodger 4:20 Clive Powell
Child 102 Willie and Earl Richard’s Daughter 7:33 Venereum Arvum
Nottamun Town 6:55 Drohne
Gargoyle 6:16 Stormcrow
Pact 4:21 Doug Peters
Obsidian Blade 5:07 While Angels Watch
John Barleycorn: This Life, Death and Resurrection 4:51 Xenis Emputae Travelling Band
The Resurrection Apprentice 2:31 Martyn Bates

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Track listing for John Barleycorn Reborn: Rebirth

Listen on Amazon or Apple Music

The Rolling of the Stones 2:04 Magpiety
All Hallow’s Eve 5:05 Story, The
Wood 4:57 Telling the Bees John
Bonny Jaycock Turner 2:42 David A Jaycock
Oh My Boy, My Bonny Boy 2:30 Yealand Redmayne
The Bold Fisherman 4:36 Charlotte Greig & Johan Asherton
Tierceron 4:00 Steve Tyler
The Wendigo 6:24 Wendigo, The
Wake the Vaulted Echo (Tigon Mi 4:53 Owl Service,
The East Room V 3:33 Far Black Furlong
Brightening Dew 3:10 Xenis Emputae Travelling Band
Corvus Monedula 4:08 Sedayne
Bear Ghost 5:02 Straw Bear Band, The
Scythe To the Grass 3:06 Novemthree
Lavondyss 4:55 Paul Newman
Kingfisher Blue 5:16 James Reid
(Digging the) Midnight Silver 4:18 JefvTaon
Children’s Soul 1:48 Wooden Spoon
A Dream of Fires 3:21 Big Eyes Family Players, The
Improvisation At Kilpeck, June 4:18 Sundog
Ca the Horse, Me Marra 11:17 Clive Powell
Jack In the Green 2:41 Mac Henderson And Grand Union Morris
Seven Sleepers, Seven Sorrows 11:58 Cunnan
The Silkie 3:52 Orchis
Thistles 5:28 Twelve Thousand Days
Harvest Dance 2:31 Novemthree
Elder 3:45 James Reid
When I Was In My Prime 5:07 Mary Jane
Ognor Mi Trovo 3:18 Daughters of Elvin
De Poni Amor a Me 6:17 Misericordia
Child 102 (Lily Flower Mix) 7:54 Venereum Arvum
John Barleycorn Must Live 5:37 Anvil, The
The Old Way 0:45 Sunshine Coding

 

2007 2011 Cold Spring compilations dark wave Folk Folk Noir Hauntology neofolk Sieben

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Apr 14

Jardin D’Eden – Arom [#647]

by stegzy

Album Cover Back before the great internet download free for all of the early noughties and way before iTunes, Amazon Prime and Spotify, pioneers of the internet created diverse websites which fostered creativity instead of stifling it. One such groundbreaking website was called Peoplesound which encouraged and facilitated unsigned bands to release their music through the site who would curate and aggregate their works to potentially new fans.

For many bands this would be their first foothold into the world of music, indeed, a number of former Peoplesound artists went on to be hugely popular for example Sugarplum Fairies to name one. But more on Peoplesound in the future.

One of the Peoplesound artists I fell for was a french group called Arom. Now, if you’re ever thinking of starting a band, can I suggest that you use a word or phrase that is Googleable because Arom brings up all sorts of results, very few if any, relate to the band Arom. Or, for that matter, the band Arom I’m writing about, as it appears there have been several other bands with the same name.

The particular itteration of Arom we’re interested in today is one, possibly from France, maybe Canada or Belgium,  who have a bit of a “Bjork meets Portishead” sound. I actually have two versions of the album – the Peoplesound EP and the official album which is available on Apple Music.

The Peoplesound EP (2000ish) features 5 tracks, 3 of which, after much post-production, made their way to the official album (2007) which features 11 tracks – all of which have been heavily processed and, in my opinion, have lost the haunting focus of the EP.

Jardin d’Eden by Arom is available on Apple Music and Amazon

2007 Arom Etheral Wave Fairplay Peoplesound Trip Hop

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Apr 13

Jade – Flowing Tears [#646]

by stegzy

Album cover of Jade by Flowing Tears (2000)During the great internet download free for all of the mid to late noughties, I occasionally obtained rogue MP3s that I would review at my leisure then try to locate the artist. Often they would have been uploaded by some fan who hadn’t tagged the file correctly or they were really obscure acts that nobody seemed to know. Frequently I forgot to make a note of where I got the file from or find it again.

Two such files were ones which appeared to have had the artist tagged as Flowing Tears and Withered Flowers. They were dark.  Euro Goth with poorly pronounced English and a wistfully moribund tone. Sounded great. Sadly, in those days, the internet was relatively still in its infancy which meant that a lot of the knowledge out there today was still in people’s heads and not accessible via the likes of Wikipedia or Stegzy’s Music Project.

Of course, the reason I couldn’t find anything was partially because the files turned out to be unreleased songs by the band who later became Flowing Tears (dropping the Withered Flowers suffix). A further hurdle was that for some reason many music channels in the UK looked unfavourably on continental European bands and often searches on Spotify, Google Play, Apple Music (or iTunes as it was then) and the like resulted in nothing. Which is partially why many people turned to piracy.

Recently though, it has got better. Apple Music is a lot better than it was way back when, and even Google/Youtube has improved. As a result, and partially why the Music Project was put on its second hiatus, I was able to add two Flowing Tears albums, and many other new artists and albums, to my Apple Music library.

Jade is the first release for the band under the Flowing Tears name and was released in 2000. At this point the band had changed its line up to feature Stefanie Duchêne as its lead singer replacing guitarist Manfred Bersin’s lead vocals, assumidly so he could go back to playing his guitar.

The familiar sounds created by the band in their release, Swansongs (released under their original name) are evident in Jade if not more evolved. Indeed, Jade seems like a natural shift towards what sound the band became. Its still never going to be a mainstream sound in the UK and its likely that few people in the UK or US have even heard of the band, but if you like the sounds of bands like Scream Silence or Nightwish, I suggest you give Flowing Tears a go, if you haven’t done so already. You might be similarly enamoured.

 

 

More information see: Amazon or Apple Music

 

2000 Century Media Flowing Tears gothic Rock

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Aug 29

Jackie Brown OST – Various Artists [#645]

by stegzy

Jackie_Brown_album.jpgIn 1994, I went to the Liverpool ABC cinema in Lime Street to kill a couple of hours I had spare. As I took my seat in the empty theatre, little did I know that I was about to be subjected to an amazing rollercoaster of a film. Pulp Fiction hit me like a train. To me, this was a new style of film, a new director to follow and a soundtrack that would fill that period of my life with music. So when Tarantino’s followup was the 1997 film, Jackie Brown, I was hoping that it too would renew the tarnished soundscape of my life.

By this time I was working long hours in Bootle so trips to the cinema seemed like a luxury reserved for films that had to be seen on the big screen like Star Wars. All other films, especially those which we were uncertain about, were relegated to the cheaper hire from the video shop. Despite being a video rental, Jackie Brown didn’t disappoint.

Quite often with music, it’s easy to hope that the blow away of the previous success will continue to fill one’s sails with uplifting wind and it’s sometimes the case that we disregard those works that follow as “not as good as the previous”. Take Air’s Moon Safari or Portishead’s Dummy for example, both are much more successful than their later releases because perhaps, they were seen as groundbreaking.  I think the same is true of film and that a person’s personal perception and appreciation will change depending on their tastes.

That said, the soundtrack to Jackie Brown is as vastly different to Pulp Fiction as a cake is to bread but still holds its own. A lot more soul and country compared to Pulp Fiction‘s surf guitar filled selection but still a really good selection of tracks and, like the film, at a totally different pace.

1997 Soundtracks Various Artists

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Jun 26

It’ll End in Tears – This Mortal Coil [#644]

by stegzy

Gloomy collaborative music by Evo Watts’ music project This Mortal Coil.

Like Mike Oldfield’s Islands this was also part of a x for £xx deal at the Virgin Megastore in Liverpool (now Claus Ohlson). I mourn the passing of record shops and their x for £xx deals, this is not an offer the likes of Amazon, iTunes and their ilk seem to foster. I was drawn to This Mortal Coil and their 1984 album It’ll End in Tears via the 4AD Uncut Compilation CD and David Lynch’s Lost Highway in which the band’s cover of Tim Buckley’s Song of the Siren featured and marked the beginning of me being a little more adventurous with my music choices. However I only became aware of them following the rerelease of the album in the nineties.

Of course, this was in the nineties so music downloading hadn’t really taken off in the UK due to the crapness of internet connectivity but it quickly became a prized item in my music library. Especially as it made me feel that I appeared cultured and with it to my Guardian reading, coffee table book owning friends at the time.

Hipster? moi? Nah my trousers are not corduroy and I don’t own a penny farthing.

—

Apologies for the break in posts last week, I’m still rebuilding my music library following an IT issue with my iMac, and have just returned from a holiday in Dorset so posts will be a little sporadic for a few weeks. However, please do not feel I’ve abandoned this project or stopped writing, I haven’t. Keep an eye out on my other blog, the Compostual Existentialist over the next few weeks for details of my recent holiday.

1984 4AD Brendan Perry Cocteau Twins Collaborations Dead Can Dance Dream Pop Etheral Wave gothic Lisa Gerrard new age Post-Punk This Mortal Coil Tim Buckley

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Jun 13

Islands – Mike Oldfield [#643]

by stegzy

One lesson to learn when curating a large collection of music is to make regular backups. Last week I had to make an emergency restore of my Mac’s OS which meant having to resort to a backup from the iCloud. Unfortunately, this meant that only the files I’ve managed to upload via my very slow 21st Century rural broadband or those matched via iTunes are currently available for me to listen to. Indeed, today’s album, Islands, is not available on iTunes and my iCloud library does not have the files uploaded, which is a shame. Fortunately, I did manage to listen and pencil together a brief draft of observations for today’s entry but it means there may be a slight decline in posting regularity for the next couple of weeks. Please stay with me though!

Good old “x for £xx” deals. If it wasn’t for “x CDs for £xx” deals my music library would probably have been very sparse and I’d have a lot of money.  I first obtained Oldfield’s Islands on CD during a 3 for £20 deal at the Virgin Megastore in Liverpool (now Claus Ohlson) in the early nineties, I think I was still at school.

When Islands was released, computer graphics were, by today’s standards, a little bit shit. But that didn’t stop artists like Mike Oldfield from using visual media to add to their output. So when I came across the music video that accompanied this album, Wind Chimes, I was blown away. “WOW!” I would say, “Look at the detail on that vector graphic!” something I would struggle to recreate on my Commodore 64 even if I had the right programme to do something like that.

So a career in computer graphics passed me by because the technology I had to hand was insufficient to help tease me towards such an occupation. The self-realisation that already older people are often better at things than you is a big train not to miss.

The Wind Chimes is the long piece in this album and is riven with melodies, rhythms and motifs with a heavy eastern and international influences pretty much like most Avante Garde and artistic music of the time (see also the African influences in Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe). The other tracks are songs performed by the likes of Bonny “Total Eclipse” Tyler and Kevin “Nick Drake” Ayres. Also, curiously, Yes alumni Geoff Downes and Enigma’s Micheal Cretu also assisted with the production which just sends chills down my spine as trying to visualise the way my music tastes are connected is what inspired this whole project in the first place.

If you are enjoying this project, please share and tell your social media pals. Publicity is key to any successful blog or online project. I’m not asking for cash and I’m not asking for fame, just an appreciative readership.

1989 Electronica Mike Oldfield Pop Rock Progressive Rock Virgin

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Jun 6

Ipcress File – John Barry [#642]

by stegzy

If you’re one of those people who only engage with media that is no older than twenty years old, then not only are you deluding yourself, but you are missing out on a whole trove of cinema, music and literature. One such diamond in this trove is the 1965 film Ipcress File the soundtrack for which is today’s entry in the project.

The Ipcress File is pretty much how James Bond would be if he was real. Lots of form filling, shit salary and offices that have seen better days. The film follows the adventure of Michael Caine’s Harry Palmer character who is caught up in a bit of cold war era espionage involving the reprogramming of prominent scientists through sinister mind washing techniques employed by Soviet-era bad guys. There are more twists, turns and double-crosses in this film than a box of headphone cables.

The iconic music, also a diamond musically, has been sampled to death over the years by bands like Portishead and makes heavy and distinctive use of an instrument known as a Cimbalom.

The soundtrack was one of the first albums I bought through the new iTunes store back in the noughties. However, as I didn’t have a portable device capable of playing Apple’s proprietary music files, I could only listen when at my computer. This was, of course, in the time when computers where huge things that sat on your desk and not the candy bar sized multimedia devices of today. But when you see the film and the size of computers in 1965, you’ll be grateful you don’t have to cart one of those around if you want to make a phone call.

Apple Music logoAmazon music logo

1965 John Barry Soundtracks

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Jun 4

Introspective Raincoat Student Music – Sugarplum Fairies [#641]

by stegzy

The second album from Sugarplum Fairies, a band I discovered on Peoplesound back in the nineties. Following Flake was never going to be easy but Introspective Raincoat Student Music works so so well.

The usual mix of lovesick, cheated and disgruntled arts/English Literature/Philosophy student lyrics with a very distinctive low cost lo-fi sound before lo-fi was a thing. This is the kind of music that laughs at today’s hipster music because it was hipster before it was trendy not to be trendy before people knew it was trendy to be a trendy not be trendy hipster with vaping irony and a beard.

Of course, when you’re in love with something for a long time, like for example I was with their first album Flake, and something new comes along, the temptation to sneer and be tentative about the newcomer is natural. Eventually you get over this initial hostility and learn to love what comes next. IRSM became a favourite for me slowly. I think it was how I connected with the lyrics and the situations described within that did it for me. Life changes as must a bands music. Sometimes quickly, sometimes subtly.

Indeed, IRSM left me wanting more and it wasn’t as long to wait three years for the next Sugarplum Fairies album Country International Records   .

 

 

Available via:

And probably on Spotify if you’re desparate

2003 Folk Noir Starfish Records Sugarplum Fairies

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May 31

Into the Labyrinth – Dead Can Dance [#640]

by stegzy

Into_labyrinth_-_dead_can_danceThe sixth studio album from Dead Can Dance was the first to make me think that perhaps it was time to move on from this particular taste in weird music. A marked change from Dead Can Dance’s previous album Aion , Into the Labyrinth has a completely different, more world music feel to what came before.

It was my penultimate Dead Can Dance purchase before the long haitus and Anastatis and still I feel a little disappointed with it. Even after having not listened to it for some time before reasearching for today’s entry. I guess by this point Perry and Gerrard were busy doing their own thing and it was a contractual obligation that needed fulfilling. It sounds like it.

 

Available on Amazon and iTunes.  It might be on Spotify but I wouldn’t know.

1993 4AD dark wave Dead Can Dance

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May 29

Into the Gap – Thompson Twins [#639]

by stegzy

album cover for Into the gap by the thompson twins
No Eighties compilation can possibly be complete without Thompson Twins. Indeed, no music collection grown across the decade of the eighties can be considered complete without them either. Thompson Twins are a sound so the eighties they may as well have quiffy hairstyles, have a band member of undetermined gender and look moodily into the camera when not dancing freestyle in their music videos.

During one of my many visits to Virgin Megastore when I was a student in 90’s Sheffield, I was desperate to make up a 3 for £20 offer from the selection available, so it was Into the Gap that became the third. Sadly, in a desperate effort to make friends, I loaned the CD out to someone only for me to drop out of uni a few months later and lose contact with the borrower forever.

Fortunately for me, I kept a cassette recording of the CD to listen to on my Walkman and managed to rip the cassette recording nearly an entire decade later. The version I have now is kind of a third gen rip of the album but still really good crystal quality. A testament to the various recording devices I’ve had over the years.

Yet considering I wasn’t all that keen on the band to begin with, I really fell for this album. Perhaps it’s the waves of nostalgia that come with it or perhaps the power of the three hit songs from the band that appear on the album. I’m not entirely sure.

1984 Arista Pop Rock Thompson Twins

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