There are three types of album title: the first is the mundane, simply drawn from one of the songs on the album (such as Massive Attack’s Blue Lines); the second is slightly more interesting, being unrelated to song titles, eponymous or perhaps signifying the meaning behind the album (e.g. Tanya Donelly’s Lovesongs For Underdogs). That leaves us with album titles taken from lyrics, the best of the three, because until you’ve experienced the lyric, you may still be unsure as to why the album has been given its name.
Kristin Hersh’s acoustic album, Strange Angels is one such album. The way she deploys its title is effective because she rarely adheres to conventional song structures, which can make her work difficult to listen to. In particular the twisting of similar sounding words and phrases from one line to the next, but also due to the lack of obvious choruses. Listeners need to become familiar with the motion of each song to uncover its organisation, using repeating motifs, sounds or words as hooks on which to hang conclusions.
Shake is unexpectedly the centrepiece of Strange Angels because it concentrates ones attention on the use of those two words. Coming in the middle of the song, they arrive unheralded at the beginning of a line. Boom! What follows stretches through the remainder of the song and the rest of the album, lingering in the background of one’s thoughts. Furthermore, because Shake leads on seamlessly from its perky predecessor Stained, it’s eventual evolution into a separate entity makes it more remarkable. No wonder she uses the term Strange Angels for her musical benefactors.
It was always going to be interesting to discover how Metric would sound after the quiet success of lead singer Emily Haine’s 2006 album Knives Don’t Have Your Back. This lead single from their fourth album Fantasies indicates that Metric can no longer be considered a distinct entity. Instead they’re now an extension; a sonic elaboration of Haine’s solo work, which is no bad thing. Perhaps I should listen to Live it Out once more to discover if this has always been the case?
Both the intro and the chorus are more approachable versions of the languid gloom that lives throughout Knives.. and then there’s the title: the first thought of each new-born. The overall result is downbeat new-rave, which makes its point through repetition. One for those recently impressed by Yeah Yeah Yeah’s It’s Blitz! or, at a push, Client.
Even in 2000, it was rare for the UK music weeklies to make much of anything that wasn’t dance or indie. For other genres one really needed to read specialist magazines. So the appearance of Lil’ Kim’s second album The Notorious K.I.M. in their reviews surprised me, and I was even more startled to find it widely praised - most likely compensating for missing out on her debut Hard Core.
I therefore metaphorically rushed out to buy it (i.e. ordered in online) only to be completely underwhelmed by it. In fact I never made it through the album in one listen, and to date I never have. Part of this is due to its unremitting aggression - I strongly felt on my first listen that she should just have a cup of tea and a lie down. Her voice too lacks variety and has a pitch, which, when combined with the beats, makes 18 tracks tiresome to listen to. Incidentally, I have no problem with its explicit lyrics or how filthy she can get.
However, as I’ve discovered over the subsequent years, the majority of its songs are fine when listened to on their own. Having them appear at random amongst the relative tranquility of the rest of my music - when I have my music on shuffle - mixes and messes things up a bit.
This song is not particularly notable compared to the others on the album, except she does use the word “valedictorian.” Oh yes.
We’ve got used to the predictability of a single preceding its album. But sometimes musicians reach a certain level of maturity (with perhaps a corresponding fanbase) that mark themselves down as “album artists.” For them singles aren’t necessarily important, because their albums are guaranteed to sell, so the dual promotional effort isn’t worth it or required.
In such cases, radio singles are often the replacement: A forthcoming single which will (or might) be released after the album is distributed to radio stations in order to trail it. It’s a way of keeping casual fans notified.
Tori Amos’ Welcome to England is the trailing first single for her forthcoming album, the clunkily titled Abnormally Attracted to Sin, to be released on 19 May 2009. As I suspected from the photo shoots, and the interviews surrounding its concept (because every Tori album has gotta have one), this further indicates that the album may be a successor to Scarlet’s Walk - which is a revelation of sorts following the dismal American Doll Posse.
Tori still hasn’t learned to lay off the wanky guitar solos though - this isn’t 1973 anymore.
As someone who first heard Peaches via her collaboration with Gonzales for the song Red Leather, back when I actually used to listen to radio, I never understood or appreciated her subsequent duet with Iggy Pop on her Kick It single. Whilst its minimal, riff-rocking guitar and drums production suits her ranting vocals, Iggy’s contribution sounds curiously lackluster, despite being typically grunting and guttural. Their vocal performances clash and split the song between genres.
One line from that song has Peaches singing “Like you said ‘Search and Destroy.‘” I guess, therefore, if she was going to do a cover for War Child Heroes, it was bound to be this one.
It’s through this cover of Search and Destroy that one makes the connection between these two musicians, because Peaches’ bassline and synth lead treatment takes the original’s Vietnam War-inspired protopunk glam and turns into a sweet but lonely night time drive. A song of desperate isolation rather than the nihilism of Iggy and The Stooges, and yet it sounds like either of them could have written it. Perhaps that’s a clue for bands looking to create a good cover? Not so much to reinvent or replicate, but to wear a song and inhabit it, to make it fit their own style.
Peaches - Search and Destroy (Last.fm, full version) Peaches - official website
It is one of my life’s great ironies that during my time spent at university in Manchester, I was too busy being involved in the indie and goth music scenes to appreciate and value what was going on in the other reaches of Madchester. Whilst I spent much time weeping into my bottles of Newcastle Brown at The Banshee or bouncing off the walls at The Boardwalk, others were nearby at FAC 51 The Haçienda, dancing the night away - an oversight which has caused TheYank to yell at me about on more than one occasion.
It’s even more ironic that upon the cusp of leaving Manchester, a flatmate of mine began listening to 808 State’s Newbuild LP, and through that I entered the world of house, techno, trance etc. For almost 10 years thereafter it became my staple diet of music.
Mike Dunn was one of many DJs who became involved in the Chicago house scene in the mid-eighties, before it evolved into techno at The Warehouse nightclub (a sound and style that was later to migrate to Detroit.) So Let It Be House was released in 1988, and it bears the marks of that time: minimal crisp drum beats, acid squiggles and soulful vocals (and as such leads a path to what became known as deep house). It’s just made to make you move.
One of the great things I love about the internets is that you find great sources of archival material that you never would have thought would have been captured. Take, for example, the follow video of Hüsker Dü playing in 1981. I was nine when they recorded this (while TheBrit was in secondary school as he is, you know, OLD!), but I like how you can hear influential they would go on to become because you can hear where bands like The Killers, Nirvana, Pixies, Supechunk (and a gazillion others) would pull traces Hüsker Dü’s signature sound.
If you missed it, the song is internal monologue of a serial killer while he is stalking his prey. Nothing like a little rape and knife play to get all warm and fuzzy. Plus I’m greatly enjoying the headband action and pogo’ing of the audience.
Second single from Röyksopp’s forthcoming album Junior, features Swedish Goddess Robyn on vocals. It can therefore do no wrong. Despite its bouncing bass-heavy synth lines and pads which tend to mask her voice too much, it is a lonely heartbreaking post-eighties sci-fi triumph, even though it plays the Kleerup strings card as a main feature of its coda.
Junior is released on 23 March 2009, but available for listening on their website and on Spotify now. It also features guest vocals from Karin Dreijer Andersson and Lykke Li.
TheBrit and TheYank's theme posts are usually added every other Wednesday. Individual posts are added whenever we feel like. If you have an idea of a theme you would like for us to tackle, email us.
