Stegzy's Music Project

A commentary on Stegzy's album collection

Aug 15

Animal Joy – Shearwater [#678]

by stegzy

In recent years I have been dependent on “the algorithm” to suggest bands and music I’d like. To be fair Youtube Music and Apple Music do a bloody good job of it. I’m not sure how the algorithm works but I suspect it looks at what you like, looks at what other people who like the music you like listen to, then shoves a whole list of stuff you’ve probably never heard of in your face. This is, of course, dependent on a few things: –

	- Having musical friends who stick to the same music streaming service

	- Liking songs

	- having ears

	- your friends, or your friend's friends liking the same or similar style or class of music as you

Happily I am not on Spotty Fie for…reasons <insert suspicous monkey gif>…but sadly I only have about 4 friends on Apple Music so sometimes it gets a bit too repetitive (one of my Apple Music friends is really into dark wave so it’s quite nice to get stuff suggested by the algorithm that I might never dare to listen to normally) if you want to add me you can here – https://music.apple.com/profile/stegzy

Anyway, Shearwater is one of the bands that were dangled in front of my ears a couple of years ago. At the time I was trying to be smooth in a typical childless middle aged GenXer way and trying my best to stay relevant to the scenes around me. Quite often the algorithm will throw up stuff based on style or genre and I guess my, at the time, penchant for downbeat psychedelic hipster music was at its peak and so Shearwater surfaced.

I’d originally downloaded their album Jet Plane and Oxbow (2016), after seeing the band play their song Backchannels on the KEXP Youtube channel. I loved their style; tight, percussive and lyrically intelligent. As a result of a few listens Apple Music then threw Dread Sovereign from Animal Joy (2012) at me. Why hadn’t I heard them before? I wondered. Probably because I’d not ticked the right algo boxes.

Tight, haunting and well…just like a sheet of paper with fountain pen written words being inserted into your head. Shearwater are one of those bands I really need to pay more attention to.

Available on Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/gb/album/animal-joy-bonus-track-version/497460455

2012 Indie Rock Shearwater Sub Pop

Leave a comment »
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

Comments Off on Le Voyage Dans La Lune – Air [#665]
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

Comments Off on King Con – Alex Winston [#657]
Mar 16

Gift for the End – Mariee Sioux [#523]

by stegzy

Unknown-7Psychedelic folk and New Weird America genres with elements of Joanna Newsom and Nick Drake combine once more as Mariee Sioux returns with her second album following the success of her first album Faces in the Rocks.

This is another album that I’ve had for some time without actually listening to it until I was preparing to write this entry. I suppose if I give it more time I’d come to enjoy it as much as I came to enjoy Faces in the Rocks and other New Weird America genre artists like Marissa Nadler.

 

2012 Folk Mariee Sioux new weird america

Comments Off on Gift for the End – Mariee Sioux [#523]
May 13

Cosmos – Vangelis [#312]

by stegzy

Cosmos - VangelisLook hard and long at Vangelis’ catalogue and you’ll struggle to find this album. Probably because it is an unofficial compilation.

If you were about in the 1980s you’ll probably recall a ground breaking documentary series called Cosmos presented by Carl Sagan. You’ll also probably remember the futuristic music that accompanied the series, most of which was extracted from albums by Vangelis. Indeed, if you are British, you might remember Johnny Ball’s informative television programmes covering numbers, science and the like. You know, from the time when television programmes weren’t vacuous? Well there are a few tracks on this album that will bring memories of those times rushing back.

This album is a collection of Vangelis’ most overused tunes from various science programmes throughout the eighties nicely tied under the title, Cosmos. 

Great stuff.

2012 Vangelis

Comments Off on Cosmos – Vangelis [#312]
Feb 25

Ceromonies: Ad Mortem Ad Vitam – Fields of the Nephilim [#257]

by stegzy

Ceromonies: Ad Mortem Ad Vitam - Fields of the NephilimCeromonies: Ad Mortem Ad Vitam – Fields of the Nephilim

Live music from our gothic dust beaten hat wearing chaps from Stevenage.

Perhaps it’s age, but to me it’s hard to take this album seriously. The guy you can hear growling away, Carl McCoy, was in his mid forties  when this album was recorded. Which is cool. If that’s what you can pass off. But all I can think of is some “dad” like figure dressing up like some forsaken cowboy growling. Not singing. Growling.

That’s not to say I don’t like it. It’s a good album. Nice mix of songs old and new showing progression and a nice introduction to the band for young newbies. But remember kids, the lead singer is old enough to be your dad. Or, in some cases, your granddad.

2012 Fields of the Nephilim Live

1 Comment »
Blog at WordPress.com.