Stegzy's Music Project

A commentary on Stegzy's album collection

Aug 8

Album #98: Astronaut – Duran Duran

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-07-20 at 14.52.50Astronaut – Duran Duran

Like a bad penny, Duran Duran resurface from the depths of music history every so often with a couple of good tunes slapped on an album.

Perhaps if I was Simon Le Bon, I would also realise that occasionally you need that little bit of extra cash for things like extensions, new cars or helicopter landing pad and getting together with your mates to chuck out an album now and then will get you that little bit of extra cash.

And good for him. I’m pleased for him. He’s good at what he does, old Mr Le Bon, and every time they’ve resurfaced they’ve brought with them tunes that say “DURAN DURAN” and introduced themselves to whole new audiences.

See. That is how you market and promote your music. Either give all your stuff away (Radiohead/Amanda Palmer) then start charging as you become more and more popular. Or strut about on the stage for a few years, go off radar living on royalties for a bit before resurfacing and capturing a whole new audience a la Duran Duran, Yes or even U2.

Astronaut contains typical Duran Duran fayre to introduce a new generation to their style. Whether it worked I have no idea. It’s certainly catchy but (Reach Up For The) Sunrise is the only hit from it.

 

Duran Duran

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Aug 7

Album #97 – Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music – Hawkwind

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-07-20 at 14.43.04Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music – Hawkwind

Hawkwind prog their way through 7 tracks of drug infused twiddle. How Hawkwind became as popular as they did I have no idea. Drugs in the 70s must have been some kind of mad shit.

Typical Hawkwind with only Reefer Madness, the title track, being of note. Twiddly keyboards and Gongesque overtones. One for the very stoned I think. How I ended up with it, I’ve got no idea.

Hawkwind

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Aug 6

Album #96 – Asleep on The Floodplain – Six Organs of Admittance

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-07-20 at 14.32.02Asleep on The Floodplain – Six Organs of Admittance

Throughout this project I have had some preconceptions. It is natural to have preconceptions. This particular preconception is that Six Organs of Admittance (SOA) are a one trick pony of gloomy music for use in horror films.

No.

That is wrong. That is an incorrect preconception. As I listen to Asleep on the Floodplain for the first time,  I now realise the true genius and talent that bely the group SOA. This is a completely different slant to Ascent. In fact in style it is so different it is like asking Elvis to perform Abba. A little more acoustic than Ascent but unmistakably SOA.  Tiny dribbles of Meddle era Floyd and occasional blips of Spirit’s Randy California.

Genius.

 

 

Six Organs of Admittance

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Aug 5

Album #95 – Asia – Asia

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-07-20 at 14.15.38Asia by Asia

It was, so John Wetton (ex-King Crimson), Steve Howe (Yes), Geoff Downes (also Yes and Buggles) and Carl Palmer (ex-Emerson, Lake, Palmer) sing, the heat of the moment.

Indeed it was, the heat of the moment when I got this album thinking “Hey! It must be ok if two fifths of Yes play in it“. It was a moment that quickly entered an ice age where all life ceased to exist. Because, this album, is actually an accurate description of the word bollocks.

And so, I leave this album review with a warning. Buying side project work can be harmful to your musical credibility.

 

Asia

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Aug 4

Album #94 – Ashes Are Burning – Renaissance

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-07-20 at 11.00.07Ashes Are Burning – Renaissance

Sometime in the 1970s people with hair would gather and make music. Lovely music. Happy music. Nothing about killing policemen or getting your body parts ogled so you can become famous. Nor was there anything about “fucking the system” or being worthless. Music was a different place. A different time. A different meaning.

Out of the flotsam and jetsam of the musical ocean, a band washed upon my aural shore in the early noughties. A band I had no idea even existed and yet every song I heard seemed to slot into the crevices left by the ice age of Yes, Pink Floyd and Triumvirat. A band whose output left me feeling cosy in my jumpers, sated aurally and at one with the world. That band was Renaissance.

I would ask people if they had heard of them and most people would go “No” and yet they were massive in their time.  Like giants. But then something happened and no trace was seemingly left.

Like I said in the preamble of Sieben’s As They Should Sound, the mass theft of musical property did only good for bands like Sieben and Renaissance, introducing their works to whole new audiences who would then show their appreciation by going out and buying the albums they had heard. If it wasn’t for illegal downloads, I would never have heard of Renaissance and I would never have that Renaissance shaped gap in my auralscape plugged and I wouldn’t have spent lots of money on their music.

As with A Song for All Seasons, this is a typical collection of long haired folky tunes. The kind of stuff you might expect to hear on A Handful of Songs in the 1970s. Close harmonies, lots of piano and nothing overwhelming the acoustic craftsmanship that they make. Though not necessarily a good introduction to the band, Ashes are Burning is certainly one of Renaissance’s better  albums and contains fan favourites Let it Grow, Ashes are Burning and Carpet of the Sun. You can also find out more about Renaissance on Facebook and on their website because, yes, they have reformed recently and are touring again….

 

Renaissance

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Aug 3

Album #93 – Ascent – Six Organs of Admittance

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-07-20 at 10.38.53Ascent by Six Organs of Admittance

Imagine, if you will, one of those really dodgy independent films of the 1960’s where people gather in some drug filled party hosted by some evil satanist or mind controlling megalomaniac, and dance away to unusual music which, it turns out, probably has hidden satanic mind controlling chants or codes to trick the unwary youth.

The room is white except for moulded plastic chairs, synthetic fur throws and lurid orange cushions. The people are young, mini skirted, beret wearing toss pots. The kind you would expect to extol the virtues of Jim Morrison’s poetry and how “deep and complex” the meanings. You have no sympathy for these people and you begin to carve them into bloody stumps with a manic grin on your face and, like some avant garde drama company, the people just flop on the floor without protest or struggle, arterial blood arching over the brilliant white walls.

This is the music that would be playing at such a party. Heavily Floyd influenced with flavours of Broadcast and hints of psychedelia, SOA are definitely something you want to have on your stereo when you drop that bad acid or begin on your Clockwork Orange inspired killing spree….

 

Six Organs of Admittance

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Aug 2

As They Should Sound – Sieben [#92]

by stegzy

R-1730301-1243429875As They Should Sound – Sieben

I used to think that the UK led the world in good music. In arrogance, I believed that the world revered our music and that all the performing artists met up regularly, performed and people got to know who they were and what they sounded like.

I was 14 then.

I now know the music industry in the UK is a cut throat, back stabbing, incestuous institution insidiously managed by suited Y List celebrities such as Cowell, Waterman and Walsh. Telling the easily led British public that they will only like “this” rather than “that” and denying the promotion of “that” because “This” is more likely to make money. Unfortunately, then came the internet and “illicit” downloads. Many artists will argue that illegal downloads destroyed their career. Bollocks it did. In many cases, illegal downloads propagated your reach and you probably made fans who would never have heard of you by other methods.

One such artist is Sheffield neo-folk violinist, Matt Howden. Mr Howden has two hats. Classical sensible arty farty soundtrack hat – Matt Howden. And then, there is dark, arty, creative Neofolk artist – Sieben. I first discovered Sieben on a compilation that I “Obtained” called “Looking for Europe” which acted as a catalogue for the little-known Neo-folk/Darkfolk subgenre popular in the mid to late noughties. On this catalogue was a little track called “Love’s Promise” performed by Sieben.

Intrigued I looked up the artist and discovered that he actually only lived down the road from where I lived at the time and yet I had not heard of him. No local posters advertising gigs, no mentions in the local press. Who was this guy? Turned out Mr Howden is hugely popular in Europe where he tours and plays various festivals such as Wave Gotik Treffen, Castlefest and the like. Much loved. Highly revered.  Virtually unknown in his home country.

I aim to stop this.  I then sought out all his work, and, because I am impressed with his work, I bought, yes, paid for, every album he made. THAT is how music should be.

Sieben’s, As they Should Sound is a kind of remix/ best of compilation where Howden has taken his favourite tracks and rejigged them to how they should sound. A good introduction to the darkfolk/neofolk genre and an even better introduction to Sieben as an artist.

Matt Howden Sieben

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Aug 1

Album # 91 – As Day Follows Night – Sarah Blasko

by stegzy

220px-AsdayfollowsnightAs Day Follows Night – Sarah Blasko

I first heard Sarah Blasko on that bastion of non-music radio, BBC Radio 4, while driving somewhere. I made a mental note and later that evening I was the obtainer of all Ms Blasko’s works. By the end of the week, I was smitten.

As an introduction to Sarah Blasko, As Day Follows Night is a good place to start. All the tracks are catchy and simple which, I think, is what makes a good musician. You knock together your lyrics (a bit like my crap poetry), get your instrument of choice out (kazoo, flute, sackbut) and then start strumming, tooting or bashing out a melody that fits with the emotion and message behind your lyrics. Something I think Sarah does very well.

Kind of folky, but not with unique, Antipodean melodies As Day Follows Night covers topics as diverse as broken hearts, confused parentage and neurosis. In fact, it did so well the album won a number of prestigious awards catapulting Blasko to the global stage. Except, of course, in the highly controlled music scene in the UK.

sarah blasko

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Jul 31

Album #90 – Artificial Paradise – Sylvan

by stegzy

Sylvan_-_Artificial_ParadiseArtificial Paradise – Sylvan

No idea where I got this album from. They sound like a cross between Knucklecock Nickleback and Scream Silence but not as offensive to the ears as you might think.

Sylvan are a German Progressive rock band. People that know me know I like prog. I am a semi-self styled “expert” on the genre. Which, if you know what the word “expert” means you’ll know that means I know absolutely nothing about the subject really.

As with all good prog rockers, Artificial Paradise is a concept album covering concepts such as the greed, deceitfulness and superficiality of society.

Another artist that grows on you like a fungal infection. But unfortunately they have all the stage presence of a group of roadies doing a soundcheck.

sylvan

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Jul 30

Album #89 – Artificial Heart – Jonathan Coulton

by stegzy

220px-Artificialheart-loresArtificial Heart – Jonathan Coulton

All the cool kids know Jonathan Coulton. If you know Jonathan Coulton, you’re cool. You’re hip. You need to wear a beret, smoke Lucky Strike, grow a soul patch and look aloof immediately.  Of course, I’m not a hipster. That makes me cooler than hipsters. Especially as I don’t think Coulton is all that special. So what do I know?

Artificial Heart is an ideal starting place for introductions to Coulton’s clever lyrics and interesting music. Of course, you, like me, may have already stumbled across Coulton after completing Portal. Unfortunately, perhaps because of my lack of American heritage, I think there are a lot of higher quality song writers out there with much snappier and clever lyrics doing a much better job than Coulton. Half Man Half Biscuit, Jay Foreman, Amanda Palmer and Jason Webbley come to mind. But that is not to say I dislike his work. There are some good songs and observations in his works, but there needs to be some consistency.

Of course, as I said, I’m not a hipster (which automatically makes me cooler than any hipster ever) so what do I know?

Johnathan Coulton

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Jul 29

Album #88 – Arthur (Or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire) – The Kinks

by stegzy

Arthur (Or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire) – The Kinks

Ray Davies. What a guy. One of the few people in music that can actually craft an album that has a flavour and sentiment of Britishness. If music is the world, The Kinks are the British Empire in all respects, with the Beatles being notaries in the background.

Arthur  is a concept album originally created as a soundtrack for a television programme that was never made. But who needs visualisations, apart from the youth of today? When the mind is the most creative and cheap television screen available! If it’s gritty quirk British drama you want, chuck this album on your media player of choice, whack on your ridiculous Beats by Dr Dre, close your eyes and, by listening the the lyrics, begin a imaginary feast of Britishness. It’s not until Return to Waterloo that you get anywhere close to anything like this.

Kinks (The)

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Jul 28

Album #87 – The Art of Being a Girl – Julee Cruise

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-06-23 at 15.20.32 The Art of Being a Girl – Julee Cruise

You’ll probably remember Julee Cruise as the creepy singer from Twin Peaks. The one who sang at the Roadhouse and made an appearance in Fire Walk With Me. Cruise had, until this album, mostly worked with Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch resulting in spooky haunting tunes with weird overtones. Arguably you could say that Cruise started the whole New Weird America genre or even the etherical genre which will feature heavily in this project.

So it is as no surprise that I have this album. I was transfixed by Cruise during most of the 90’s.  A time of my life where I was willing weirdness to come into my life and make it less mundane. It didn’t. I wasn’t visited by creepy women with logs or giant owls or mothmen. Instead I met aging hippies, hairy goths and floaty vagina women who wove yogurt.

This album comes several years after Cruise’s work with Lynch and Badalamenti and shows that her talents in singing are not lost, however without the creepy Lynch/Badalamenti music, it just doesn’t quite light your rocket. There’s an interesting remix of Falling on this album but it’s not the haunting original. It’s kind of like a cyber reimagining of the song by someone who hasn’t heard the original in its context.

Julee Cruise

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Jul 27

Album #86 – Arrival – Abba

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-06-23 at 15.22.30 Arrival – ABBA

Oh dear.

I grew up on a force fed diet of  ABBA to such an extent they are part of my genetics. Every song I hear is immediately recognised as ABBA, in fact, I often go as far to say that ABBA was more influential than the Beatles. Yes. That’s right. I said it. Me a scouser. ABBA are more influential on culture than the Beatles will ever be and they remain so.

Arrival was ABBA’s fourth studio album and was released in 1976. Cheesey cheery pop with often sinister lyrics. When I Kissed the Teacher is clearly unPC these days, Dancing Queen is also very suspicious when listened with modern ears and as for Money Money Money…well that’s just wrong on so many levels.

Arrival clearly makes the happy cheery smiley face of cheesey pop grin that little bit wider. However, when you look deep into the eyes of the beast, you notice pain, emotional earthquakes and  sinister sexual overtones. Moreover, on closer inspection you will cringe everytime Auntie Beryl sings away to Dancing Queen at the family disco.

Not a bad album once you see past the ribbons and fluff.

Abba

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Jul 26

Are you Experienced – Jimi Hendrix [#85]

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-06-23 at 15.22.24 Are you Experienced? – Jimi Hendrix

I am experienced. I am experienced in listening to music.

Short of jumping into your TARDIS and travelling back to Woodstock, you’re unlikely to see Jimi Hendrix perform in these parts. Though if you’re anything like me, you’ll probably end up in Woodstock in Oxfordshire.

Oh how we laugh.

Anyway, this is Jimi’s debut album. Had you been about in the 60’s you’d probably be listening to it on your portable gramophone while older stuffy types look on disapprovingly. It’s got all the overplayed Hendrix songs, Foxy Lady, Are you Experienced and Hey Joe and runs into about an hours worth of playtime.

Personally, with my futuristic ears (they have their own jet pack), I can’t hear what the fuss was all about. It’s some bloke with a guitar. Unremarkable. Run of the mill. Nothing exciting. Nor stimulating.

I suppose back in the time it was ground breaking but probably only because it was harder to get yourself heard in those pre-internet days. Modest musicians would probably say that their skills on guitar are nowhere near as good as Hendrix. But that’s like Mozart saying William Byrd was the better composer.

1967 Jimi Hendrix

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Jul 25

Album #84 – Arcana – Edenbridge

by stegzy

Edenbridge - Arcana (Front)Arcana – Edenbridge

Guess what?

More tight leather trousered European women with dark flowing hair singing along to twiddly keyboards and chuggachugga guitar riffs. Brilliant.

Austria’s Edenbridge were the last of my big boobed metal band discoveries. On the basis that Shine was quite enjoyable, I sourced the entire Edenbridge back catalogue and now wish I had better taste in music. Sabine Edelsbacher melodically shrieks fairy tale lyrics to boyfriend Lanvall’s speed metal guitar twiddling and Roland Navratil’s RSI inducing drum beats.

I quite like this album. It sneaks up on you like a bad cold in June. I’ve almost deleted it a number of times but I keep fetching it back out from the recycle bin so I must like it.

Nothing really of note memory wise to tell about this album. It’s typical Edenbridge fayre on the back of the metal bands lead by women movement of the noughties.

 

Edenbridge

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Jul 24

Album #83 – Aqualung – Jethro Tull

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 16.39.39Aqualung – Jethro Tull

Sitting on a park bench listening to Aqualung reminds me about history lessons at school.  Read the rest of this entry »

Jethro Tull

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Jul 23

Album #82 – Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks – Brian Eno

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 16.28.45 Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks – Brian Eno

Ah coffee table albums. Bit like coffee table books. The kind of music brought out at middle class dinner parties to wow and seem hip and in touch with culture.

It’s mostly bollocks.

Like me ,you’ve probably got several coffee table albums in your own personal collections. Such as David Grey, Buena Vista Social Club, War of the Worlds and anything by Adele. Brian Eno is the reigning emperor of coffee table music.

This album consists of music and soundscapes that wouldn’t be out of place in a chapel of eternal rest or that place they send off Edward G Robinson in Soylent Green. 

Not for me. It’s a little too hip for my liking and pigeon holes the listener into the 30+ bracket. Kind of like how your grandparents were probably listening to James Last around the gramophone.

Tired overplayed coffee table tosh.

 

Brian Eno

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Jul 22

Aphelia – Scream Silence [#81]

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 15.19.19 Aphelia – Scream Silence

German in origin, Scream Silence is another one of those bands that don’t seem to be well known in the UK. Can’t think why. They’re great.

Apart from the sometimes comical pronunciation of English, Scream Silence are just what you want from a post-Nickleback musicscape. With shades of Breaking Benjamin and European rockers Sonata Arctica, Scream Silence are an angry man’s musician of choice. Occasional death growls and loads of chugga-chugga, they have made some good albums.

This is not my favourite Scream Silence album, that honour going to Savourine. Aphelia, Scream Silence’s sixth release, is a good second base and recommended to those not wanting Rammstein’s German lyrics.

2007 Scream Silence

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Jul 21

Album #80 – Apartment Life – Ivy

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 14.43.39Apartment Life – Ivy

New Yorker lounge core artists smooth their way into your ears with strained yogurt tones and creamy caramel vocals. Ivy are like aurally sucking on a really strong mint with a eucalyptus coating while sexy ladies blow cold air into your ear.

I was introduced to Ivy by Last.fm who frequently made them pop up on my Last.fm recommended radio station. And it’s a good job because I really like them.

Another one of those bands that, in days before internet, would have been difficult to obtain in the UK.  However, a good deal of Ibizan DJs have mixed Ivy’s stuff into their own dreamy summer flavoured lounge mixes, which is probably because Ivy do a really good job of making you feel that it is summer.

A fairly good album for a first, but not my first taste of Ivy (that was Long Distance). I often wish somebody would ask me to travel to the USA to be part of a band or copy writing group like they did with the lead singer of Ivy.

Delicious.

Ivy

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Jul 20

Album #79 – Anywhere But Home – Evanescence

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 14.25.55

Anywhere But Home – Evanescence

Sometime in the noughties, big record companies identified a popular and growing genre with the young and spendy. It was taking Europe by storm. Metal and rock bands fronted by a female singer with dark hair and huge norks.

It was growing like a fungus on the toe of American and British youth culture but not as fast as it was in Europe. So when they found the American band Evanescence, they were everywhere. Soundtracks such as Daredevil and Elektra and numerous TV show links seemed to require a healthy dose of their music.

I only like three of their songs. To be fair, I find them a bit plastic and over-produced. This album features those three songs in a live setting with lots of screaming fans. Albums like that show how popular bands can become. Sadly, I can’t put up with their other stuff…

 

Evanescence

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Jul 19

Album #78 – Anthology Archive – Revue Noir

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 14.05.53 Anthology Archive – Revue Noir

This is another one of those music projects by bands I like but didn’t know they’d done.

Revue Noir is a collaboration between Sam Rosenthal and Nicki Jaine both former Black Tape for a Blue Girl.The Noir is rightly placed as this is as dark as 10 Neurotics. The album covers several familiar songs from a variety of artists such as David Bowie and The Doors taking them to a very dark place indeed.

Think Dresden Dolls, with the lights out, in a mine, painted black. With your eyes closed. Or maybe imagine a dark burlesque evening where everyone there is hedonistically miserable and the stage act sounds like they’re about to break into some weird real life S&M.

That’s Revue Noir. Dark and sinister.

Another hipster album I think. For those wanting to sound enchanting, hip and dark or fans of the sexually charged Dark Cabaret revival of the noughties.

I couldn’t find a video of anything from this album other than this one which, curiously, was filmed at a burlesque evening.

Black Tape for a Blue Girl Brian Viglione Revue Noir

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Jul 18

Album #77 – Another Kind of Love – Joe Bonamassa

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 13.51.45Another Kind of Love – Joe Bonamassa

I have a friend who is a guitarist. Jim is a very good guitarist. Jim knows how to play his guitar with feeling and passion. Much like Joe Bonamassa. Joe Bonamassa, unfortunately, is not my friend. If he was, I could imagine him and Jim doing something together. With lots of hair.

My first introduction to Bonamassa was a live cover of New Day Yesterday and this was the only album I was able to obtain before I lost the use of fast internet (I now live where a broad band is a group of potbellied musicians).

Blues rock guitar with plenty of chugga-chugga. Nice for one of those days when you’re working on an engine in your garage or doing some other manly thing wearing denim and cheese cloth shirts. Possibly in the blazing New Mexico heat while smoking roll ups and wearing a bandanna.

Another one of those musicians that lots of people have heard about but neglected to tell me.

Joe Bonamassa

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Jul 17

Annwyn, Beneath the Waves – Faith and the Muse [Album #76]

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 13.11.55Annwyn, Beneath the Waves – Faith and the Muse

Until the last decade I had shamefully only heard of Faith and the Muse in rumours and student bedroom wall posters. Faith and the Muse have a similar style to Ordo Equitum Solis. Much like OES, Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance, Faith and the Muse are popular amongst the dark clothe wearing goth fraternity. Dark in style with mediaeval tones, Faith and the Muse mix open atmospheric chords with wailing floaty dressed female vocals and, in some tracks, militaristic drumming.

I had only listened to Annwyn once before. I’m not sure I would choose them for a car mix tape or to accompany a dinner party. Unless I was trying to be some sort of hipster goth or impress some Twiglet (sic) obsessed teenagers on their first forays into the dark.

I don’t know why I find this kind of music enjoyable. Perhaps it is the mental images of  dark and wet rainy streets that it conjures. In all, if your folk is too cheery, this is what you want. In a room. With joss sticks and pentagrams.

 

1994 Faith and the Muse

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Jul 16

Album #75 – Animi Aegritudo – Ordo Equitum Solis

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 12.40.53Animi Aegritudo – Ordo Equitum Solis

Neo-folk? Goth? Both? Not entirely sure.

There seems to be a lot of dark wave European bands with latin names. Ordo Equitum Solis, or Empire of the Sun are one such example . OES have a similar sound to Dead Can Dance only without the wailing Lisa Gerrard or weird avante-gard revivalist instruments. There are no sackbuts or crumbhorns here.

Animi Aegritudo (or Mind Illness) gives you that haunting mediaeval feeling, like you should be in some sort of red candle lit cellar in Italy, just before red cassocked hooded monks come into the room and sacrifice you to some dark entity.

I really like them (OES that is, not weird demon summoning monks).  I could quite happily sit in a cellar somewhere and listen to their haunting songs while supping red wine from golden jewel encrusted goblets. Of course most of their stuff was released a long time ago although they have recently had a bit of a come back.

I was really lucky to discover OES whilst on a Usenet music harvesting excersise in the early noughties. Of course, at the time, none of their stuff was available to buy legitimately in the UK. Sure you could buy imports but the last time I did that I ended up with a large credit card bill for porn and internal flights in the USA, which, of course, I have no recollection of buying. Anyway, you can buy their stuff now through Amazon and CDBaby if you’re really interested. I suggest giving them ago. They grow on you . Like moss. On a red candle lit cellar wall.

 

 

 

Ordo Equitum Solis

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Jul 15

Album #74 – Animals – Pink Floyd

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 12.26.00Animals – Pink Floyd

The first time I heard this album back in 1991 I was told “You’ll not find this in HMV”. Curiously I did.

This is one of those defining life moment CDs. The ones where every track initialises memories of times past, people long gone and places you’ve not been to in a very long time.

As an introduction to Pink Floyd, Animals was a good place to begin. Political and observational lyrics define this as a Roger Waters masterpiece, a far flung difference to the earlier psychedelic shenanigans of Syd Barratt’s Floyd. It’s by no means the first but it’s one of the best. Clearly a pre-The Wall album and most definately Pink Floyd.

Listen especially to the Dr Whoesque Radiophonic Workshop like track Sheep.

I love this album. It is life affirming in a negative way. Shattering the illusions of the nuclear-age and dancing upon the tattered remains of the pre-Thatcherite British society. Dark, scathing and very well observed. Perfect.

ADDENDUM: I alsohave a “Limited Edition” Trance remix version of this album. It’s shocking. You’d have to be in a trance to like it.

1977 Pink Floyd

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