February is Music Writer Exercise Month #MWE • Page 65

I love that Gloria Record album. The opening tracks, Start Here leading into Good Morning Providence always puts me in a good mood.

I’m a day off already, so listened to Last Splash by The Breeders. I like Pixies a good deal, so not sure why I’d never listened to anything by The Breeders, but knew I’d probably love it.

It’s all very straightforward 3 minute pop rock songs, done in that distinctive 90s alternative production. The songwriting is really strong, and I love the guitar tones. Just really fun, throw it on at any point and have a good time, rock music.

Will definitely be back for more soon.

 

I have always wanted to like her but always inevitably find her a little....plastic? There's just something artificial in her version of the soul shouter to me.

 

There was “controversy” about her in the UK that despite being British she’d sing, and even speak, in an American accent, which rubbed people up the wrong way.

 

Today is Love Deluxe by Sade, and I really liked this. There’s some trip hop, Massive Attack / Portishead beats here, with Sade’s beautiful voice.

It’s all done at a low tempo, without any big singles or choruses, but cultivates such a great vibe throughout. Lovely stuff here.

 

Yeah, I don't disagree. I don't like to throw away the "industry plant" term, because that's usually bullshit, but something about this one definitely felt a little manufactured to me.

 

From a man known to be kind cynical and guarded in his music, “And So It Goes” is breathtakingly open-hearted.

I don’t doubt her sincere commitment to the genre. She seemed to stick with it. She just couldn’t deliver it in a way that convinced me

 

Did not dig the Labradford album. Realized I had listened to Oval before and really do like this.

 

Peter Murphy - Deep
Another one where I'm not sure how it wound up on my 2Listen playlist, but I really dug it. Never a huge Bauhaus guy (didn't even realize that he was the singer until I looked him up while listening). "Crystal Wrists" was probably the standout, but I enjoyed it all.

 

The Sam Cooke and Otis Redding versions of Tennessee Waltz are such a great example of how a singer can entirely change the emotion of a song.

Cooke’s version is swinging and wistful, a reminiscing of youth and young love, but it’s all about the glorious Tennessee Waltz, which he remembers.

Otis’ version is the exact opposite, mournful with a real sense of loss there, having his sweetheart stolen from him.

 

I’m sure I’ve typed this before on this site but the most beautiful thing with Sam is you can throw on Live at the Copa and hear one of the most charmingly smooth singers in the world at his best, and then throw on Live at the Harlem Square Club and hear the most gutbucket growl on vinyl. He really contained multitudes

 

The live albums that Chris recommended above are brilliant, but if you do fancy a studio album, Ain’t That Good News is a masterpiece.

 

Listened to Spiritualised - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space. Was reading a book about aliens at the time which paired well with it.

It’s an ornate collection of songs, lots of strings and very grandiose instrumentation. It also sounds a bit like a product of its times (in a good way!) here too, lots of mid 90s Brit Pop sounds on the fringes here, particularly something more psychedelic like Kula Shaker.

I bet the guys from Muse love this album.

 

i love that record haha

 

Yeah, so this album rules.

 

I went on a Zevon kick a couple weeks ago. Definitely prefer the S/T, and the accompanying Pitchfork piece is excellent as well

 

Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III

This album never takes its foot off the gas. Gets everything you’d want out of all the guests. Very impressive body of work I’m excited to spend more time with

 

The pitch black humor (the title track still elicits a “holy shit are you allowed to make that joke?” to this day) is rightly what he’s praised for, but what really makes it work is the balance with the big sentimental open heart like “Tenderness on the Block”

 

I couldn't believe where the lyrics went on "Excitable Boy." It's probably not surprising that I latched onto the "big sentimental open heart" a little bit more!

 

I’ve been a Zevon fan for probably 20 years so by now I couldn’t live without any of it. The dark, the silly, the love-lorn. It’s all so good together. It makes the heart of “Accidentally Like a Martyr” mean even more when you know this is the guy writing “Send lawyers, guns, and money…Dad, get me out of this”

 

Listened to Le Tigre - Le Tigre from 1999. This is the band that Kathleen Hanna formed after the breakup of Bikini Kill.

I can see it as a big influence on the various lo-fi mid '00s acts, with it's slightly childlike (not meant in a bad way necessarily) song structures and simple approaches to music, that I bet a lot of those sort of bedroom pop artists found influential.

I did find the vocals a little bit of a struggle though, very high and not particularly tuneful, which I feel you can get away with a bit more in a punk band. It doesn't quite become irritating, but it certainly threatens to become irritating.

 

Poor Righteous Teachers - Holy Intellect
Underrated gem. Not sure how I overlooked this when I initially got super into 90s hip hop. The Earth, Wind, and Fire sample in "Strictly Ghetto" is so dope