RocKwiz

Guess who was on the SBS show RocKwiz which was filmed last night?

Bzzzzzzzzzzz! Try again.

Yes, I made it on to RocKwiz. It was filmed at the Espy Hotel in St. Kilda. ChrisQ (a guy from work) asked me in the last minute to replace someone who couldn't make it. I thought, what the heck, it will be fun watching the show. Didn't think I actually had much chance of making it on the show. Things weren't looking good when we arrived. Chris was under the impression that we had a table booked, but when we got there apparently we were in standing room only. Well, it wasn't really standing room, it was more of a "sitting on an unnumbered table" room. Well actually, it was the same room. Just our table didn't have a number on it. So it didn't look like any of us had a chance of getting on the show at this point. Here's how the contestant selection worked. Each numbered table gets a sheet of trivia questions which they have to answer as a group. In addition, there were several wildcard entries from the people in the standing room, and we were in this group. Everyone on the table contributes to the answers, and then each table had to nominate a person who they felt could best represent their table. I was chosen by our table. On to the next round...

Next, the selected contestants went up on stage (where the real show is filmed) and we did a mock show. The warm-up guy (good ol' Brian Nankervis) acted as the host for the mock show, asking the questions. We all took turns buzzing in and answering questions. Then some members of the crew chose 8 people to be contestants on the real show. I heard my name being mentioned by some crew members, and nervously waited the call out of contestant names. Right near the end, my name was mentioned! I was on the show.

For anyone unfamiliar with the show, each show has 2 teams of 3 contestants. 2 of the contestants on each team are audience members, and there is 1 celebrity contestant who sits in the middle. So of the 8 audience members selected, 4 were going to be in the first show filmed, and 4 in the second show. I was selected to be in the second show, and I was very glad about this as I hadn't actually seen the show and I wanted to see what the format of it was like before competing on it :-)

The first show commenced. The 2 celebrities were Lisa Miller and Robert Forster of the legendary Brisbane band The Go-Betweens. Being a big fan of the GB's, I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't on the first episode and in the same team as Robert, it would have been fun to chat to him. But ahhh well. When each celebrity comes out, they sing one of the songs they are famous for. I didn't recognise what Lisa Miller sung, but Robert Forster sung German Farmhouse from their 2000 reunion album The Friends of Rachel Worth. Great stuff!

At the end of the show, Lisa and Robert sung the classic Blondie smash hit Picture This as a duet. And that was the end of the show!

After a so-called 10 minute wait (more like 25 minutes), the 2nd group of contestants went up on stage, including me! I was put on a team with a guy who was wearing Elvis Costello-esque glasses, so in hindsight it would have looked pretty cool if I had worn mine as well, but I'd left them back at my table. The lovely host Julia Zemiro came up to all the constestants to introduce herself, and then told us that the first question she was going to ask us on the show was what our first album that we purchased was. I started thinking very hard here, should I be honest, or should I say something that is wittier? Technically, the first album I acquired (my Dad actually purchased it from overseas), was the Cocktail soundtrack. But I'm fairly sure that the first album I purchased was Even Worse by "Weird Al" Yankovic, and I thought that would get more laughs, so I said that instead.

Then the celebrities were brought out. Before they come out, Julia does a "Who am I?" by saying clues about the person who's about to come out, and constestants can buzz in if they know who it is. The first person to come out was Vanessa, but for the life of me I can't remember her surname. She was born in New Zealand, and moved to Australia when she was very young, and lived a gypsy lifestyle here with her family. I know she's fairly well known, she's very familiar looking, but I can't remember her name. Maybe after seeing the episode on TV, someone can fill me in on what her name is, and I can update this blog :-) The other team guessed who she was and she ended up on their team. The next celebrity was Ross Wilson of the legendary Aussie band Daddy Cool. The other guy on my team (who was quite a gun) guessed who he was from the clues. Ross was on our team!

And then the game started. Overall, it wasn't as nerve-wracking as I thought it would be. It was really laid back, kind've like a pub trivia night with cameras and lights pointing in your face. I stumbled on a few questions, but also contributed a bit (although nowhere near as much as my fellow audience team member, who was gunning it). A few questions I knew the answers to I missed out on answering because I didn't buzz in quick enough.

Vanessa and Ross Wilson ended the show with a duet of Al Green's classic song Take me to the river.

In the end, we won by 1 point (actually 5 points, but there was 5 points for each correct answer so it equated to 1 point). We didn't win anything (it's an SBS show, they don't have a very big budget). But I was definitely on a high after leaving the show. I asked Julia (the host) if Robert Forster was still around, because I had the CD of The Friends of Rachel Worth in my car and I wanted him to sign it for me. Brian Nankervis gave me directions to the dressing rooms, and I went up there but unfortunately he had left already. A disappointing end to a great night out.

If you want to see me on TV, I suspect it will be on Saturday 5th March, at 9:15pm on SBS. That's assuming that it's filmed a week in advance.

I hope this makes up for the Double Dare debacle of 1989!

2004: A Year in Music

Yes, it's already February 2005 and I still haven't published my summary of 2004. Allow me to explain. In the month of January, I purchased many albums from 2004, and I figured that it wouldn't be fair if I completed my "Top albums of 2004" list without giving them a fair listen. After all, I didn't want to obsolete my list straight away when I discovered that one of my recent purchases was a masterpiece and deserved to be in the top list!

First of all, let's talk a little bit about the year that was 2004. I'll admit that earlier in the year, I was getting a bit worried that 2004 was going to be a bit of a dud year for music. There had been a few disappointing releases earlier in the year, as well as one or two albums which didn't live up to the hype. I was really getting concerned: the last couple of years had been great for music, and I didn't want to see a downhill trend.

Luckily, when I now look back on the year that was 2004, I look back it on as a solid year for music. Not great like the few years preceding it, but there were still many impressive album releases. Let's start with my top 5 albums of the year.

Top 5 Albums of 2004


(1) Machine Translations - Venus Traps Fly



Who would have thought that my favourite album of the year would end up being by the legendary local indie outfit Machine Translations? But no album released in 2004 has moved me as much as this one. This is actually their 6th album, but only the 3rd album they have released which is widely available. Much less experimental than their previous efforts Happy and Bad shapes, this is a band becoming more accessible without sacrificing their originality. The band have subtlely evolved over the years and this is very close to being hailed a masterpiece.

This albums often finds its beauty in its simplicity. Songs like "Bee in a cup" and "Stray dog" have very simple structures and melodies, but they are so beautiful and melodic that you will be humming them after your first listen. There's a few more upbeat tracks in "Simple life" and "Scretch" which make you tap your feet a bit, there's the more epic ballads like "Flown" and "If the water runs dry". But 2 of my favourite songs of the year are smack-bang in the middle: there's the beautiful and breathtaking instrumental "Twilit" and then my favourite track "Not my fall". I challenge you to find a more beautiful song released this year than "Not my fall". Even dodgy lyrics about altar-boys cleaning up someone's mess (!?) doesn't detract from the beauty of this song.

Overall, a fantastic album by a fantastic band. After seeing how the Trannies have grown over the years, I am really looking forward to hearing their next one.


(2) The Polyphonic Spree - Together We're Heavy



The Polyphonic Spree are certainly unique. Looking more like a cult than a band, the 24 members dance arrange stage wearing colourful robes and singing about how glorious the world is. Which is certainly a sigh of relief in today's day and age. Why can't more bands be like this? We all know the world is a fucked up place, do we need to hear it in the music we listen to as well? Music is supposed to be an escape from the troubles of the world.

This album is infinitely better than their debut "The beginning stages of..." for so many reasons. Firstly, their lyrics have really evolved on this one. Rather than repeating the same lyrics over and over again like they did on their debut, they have crafted mini stories into their songs. A lot less repetition! I'll admit, I don't know what a lot of their songs are about, but the music is so uplifting that it doesn't really matter. They could sing about going to the doctor to get hemorrhoids removed and make it sound like it's the best thing that ever happened. As well as the lyrical improvements, this album doesn't have a 36 minute long self-indulgent piece of crap like the first album did with "A long day". Man that song shitted me. Yes, that's right, all the songs on this album are great! All killer, no filler. I can honestly say, that every time I listen to this album, it makes me happy. How many albums can you say that about?

If I had to describe this band to someone, I would describe them as a cross between Flaming Lips and The Brady Bunch. If someone doesn't get frightened away by this description and actually gives this band (and this album) a go, they may have a new favourite band. Easily one of the best albums of the year.




(3) Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill



When I heard that Elliott Smith had died in late 2003 (via an SMS from Matt), I was truly saddened. This was the first time in history when an artist who I was a fan of had died in their prime. I didn't get into Jeff Buckley until after he had died. I was never a huge fan of Nirvana, so Kurt Cobain's suicide didn't trouble me that much. I was only 1 when John Lennon was killed. And I wasn't one of those bandwagon fans who started calling Elliott Smith my favourite artist simply because he had died. He was already one of my favourite artists when he was alive. In my opinion, he never released a less than excellent album in his career. He didn't put a step wrong.

And luckily, this posthumous release of the songs he had recorded shortly before his death doesn't break that trend. There is a truly superb set of songs on this album. One could spend ages analysing the lyrics to these songs to try and find hidden suicide notes. Even some of the song titles ("A fond farewell", "Last hour") can be analysed ad nauseum. And what about the music? Well, this album is probably a good summary of his entire career. Mix some of the tin pan alley pop stylings of Figure 8 and XO, add a sprinkle of Either/or's intimacy, and a pinch of his first two albums' lo-fi melodic beauty.

A fond farewell to [someone who has always felt like] a friend.



(4) Elvis Costello - The Delivery Man



I'll admit, I started to get a bit worried that Elvis Costello was losing it before this album came out. When I was cruel from 2002 really disappointed me. It had some great songs on it (Episode of blonde in particular), but I thought there was way too much filler on the album. I picked up North from 2003, his extremely mellow love letter to Diana Krall. Unfortunately he forgot about the melody on that album, and within a week of purchasing it I returned it for a refund. Elvis' last great album was All this useless beauty and that was from 1996! So he was approaching 8 years without releasing a great album! What had happened to the guy who released a brilliant run of 6 albums from 1977 to 1982? [You may notice I omitted his 1998 collaboration with Burt Bacharch, Painted from memory. While I do really enjoy this album, I consider it a collaboration and hence don't classify it as a proper Elvis album per se.]

Luckily, good ol' Declan redeemed himself with this album. Truly his most brilliant set of songs in years, this album is like the love child of his countrified masterpiece King of America (from 1986) and his unpolished hard rock opus Blood and chocolate (from 1987). The album works excellent on a song level, but also works well as a whole. It was originally intended to be a concept album, but like many albums in history (Sgt Peppers) the concept never reached its full fruition.

And the songs? Well Monkey to man is one of his catchiest songs ever, Country darkness, Either side of the same town and Nothing clings like ivy are some of his most beautiful ballads, and Needle time, Bedlam and The name of this thing is not love are some of his best rockers. Even There's a story in your voice (a crazy duet with Lucinda Williams) works really well.

Most of all, this album has a heart and soul. Elvis was certainly back!



(5) Wilco - A Ghost is Born



After the brilliant Yankee Hotel Foxtrot from 2002, the expectations for this album were very high. Wilco even released it in a streaming format on their website, and while I skimmed across a few tracks, I resisted the temptation to listen to the whole album online.

Initial reviews were very mixed. Matt was the first person I knew who purchased it. While he said there were many brilliant tracks on the album (Hummingbird, Wishful thinking), there were also many moments of self-indulgence which ruined the album. He did an offsite backup of the album, and I'll admit that I certainly agreed with him after listening to the album a few times on MP3. In fact, it was enough to make me temporarily remove the album from my purchasing list.

But eventually I bought the album, justified using my wacky Ebay economics. That is, if I buy many albums at once, and sell some of them on Ebay, and the profit from those sales effectively covers the cost of the albums I purchased for myself, I write off those said albums as freebies. Yes, I never "paid" for them. Hey, it's my finances, I can make up my own rules. But after giving the album several more listens on CD, the self-indulgent stuff started to grow on me. What initially seemed like an overlong track with not much melody in Spiders (Kidsmoke) grew on me for the brilliance it is. The guitar solo at the end of the opening track At least that's what you said started to mesmerize me. And there are some stunningly beautiful tracks on this album: Hell is chrome, Muzzle of bees, the aforementioned Hummingbird and Wishful thinking.

The only misstep on this album is the 12 minute feedback drone at the end of Less than you think. Yes, I actually listened to it once. It's a self-indulgent load of dog's bollocks. Thesedays when I am listening to the album, I'll skip the feedback drone after the first 3 minutes of the song and go straight to the final cut The late greats. While I'm quite a musical purist and don't generally like skipping parts of albums that I don't like, I'm prepared to make an exception for this. I refuse to let Jeff Tweedy's pretensions get in the way of me enjoying what is essentially a fantastic album. So by skipping that section of the album, it takes pride of place in my top 5 albums of 2004.



Honourable mentions


Now we are going to move on to the albums which didn't make the cut of the top 5, but still deserve a mention as great albums of the year.


Brian Wilson - SMiLE



Can you think of the last time there was such anticipation for an album release like there was for this one? Actually, I guess when Alien Ant Farm were about to release their 2nd album, the stakes were pretty high. But it's nothing compared to this. This album was literally 37 years in the making.

Anyone who knows a little bit about the history of music knows the story of SMiLE, so I won't go into great detail here, but here's a quick summary. Basically, The Beach Boys released a classic album known as Pet Sounds in 1966, which many people consider to be one of the greatest albums of all time. There was a lot of pressure for the follow-up, and Brian Wilson literally went mad in the process of making it. Then Beatles released Sgt Pepper, and Brian Wilson figured he'd missed the boat, went mad and the rest is history.

Until now that is. Brian finally got off his ass, stopped pressing snooze on his PDA every time the "Finish SMiLE" reminder flashed on the screen, and actually finished SMiLE. None of the other original Beach Boys were involved in the making of them (well at least what's left of them). Instead he got help from backing band The Wondermints.

And the results? Well it's certainly an impressive album, but one can't help but feel that Brian should have left SMiLE where it was, an infamous unfinished album. Often with albums, it's the mythology behind them (yes...sometimes the hype) that makes them. And while the music on SMiLE is absolutely breathtaking and stunning in its composition, unfortunately it still feels like a bit of a cop out. Brian's voice is nowhere near as good as it was in the late 60's (although the music is practically identical), and they remade Good Vibrations -- why? You just shouldn't mess with a classic song like this.

Anyway, this album still deserves an honourable mention because it is still amazing. Maybe if he'd released in in 1967 it would be seen as one of the greatest albums of all time, and deservedly so. But does this kind of music have the same impact in 2004? Not really.






Air - Talkie Walkie



French duo Air have been pioneers of the chillout genre ever since they released their classic debut album Moon Safari in 1998. They released a difficult (and underrated) follow-up 10,000 Hz legend in 2001, and also created the soundtrack to Sofia Coppola's directorial debut The virgin suicides. And here they are with their 3rd album proper.

And the verdict? Well it's nothing groundbreaking, nothing particularly innovative. But it certainly sounds damn good. With Talkie Walkie, Air return to the sound they perfected on Moon safari. Is it as good as that album? Some may say yes, some may say it's better. While I will always consider Moon safari to be a classic album, I still find the chillout genre incredibly redundant (it's great background music, very relaxing, but how many of these sort of albums do you really need?). So why do I consider Moon safari to be a classic album? Well once again it's all about timing. Moon safari was one of the first albums of its kind that I had in my CD collection, and the memories contribute a lot to the enjoyment of music. I'll always remember how I first felt listening to that album, and while Talkie walkie is a beautiful sounding album, it's still in "been there done that" territory for me.




The Arcade Fire - Funeral
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand



Hype. Isn't that a terrible word? When it comes to music reviews, that word is pure evil. It's the kind of word that can turn you off talented bands. How many bands have come out in the past fews years who have been praised as 'the next big thing', 'saviours of rock', yadda yadda yadda, and they fall flat on their ass. Remembers when the Vines were all set to take over the world? They released a solid debut album, and then with a sophomore slump have fallen flat on their ass.

As much as I hate to admit it, very often I buy into the hype. I have bundled these 2 albums together because I bought both of them after reading overhyped reviews saying how good they were. And while they are both great albums on their own right, that evil H-word has probably destroyed my ability to consider them brilliant albums. When reviews set your expectations so high, even if they do live up to the hype, they will inevitably disappoint.

At the time of writing, Funeral is getting a local release in Australia. I bought in on import (from Ebay) amidst all the hype, and it certainly is an excellent album. It's a huge grower of an album, simultaneously dark and optimistic (a rare combination), with strange vocals (there are actually two vocalists in the band) and dense walls of sound. Overall a great album, only let down by a couple of tracks which don't do it for me, or at least haven't grown on me enough yet to consider it a masterpiece.

Franz Ferdinand is also a great album. This one was way hyped on release, with comparisons to everyone from The Kinks to Pulp. While they probably don't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as those bands, FF have certainly carved a distinct sound for themselves, and this is a very solid debut album of catchy tunes which you can actually dance to! Kind've like a more retro version of The Strokes. There are only a few sub-par tracks on this album in my opinion, which stop it from becoming an absolutely fantastic album. But when this album works, it really works -- Take me out, Matinee and Auf Asche are all classic foot-tapping numbers.


Nick Cave - Abattoir blues / The Lyre of Orpheus



Wow, Nick Cave is certainly an ambitious fellow releasing a double album worth of material at this stage of his career. While this is not one of my absolute favourites for the year, it still deserves an honourable mention because there are lots of great songs on this album.

Actually, I kinda lied in the first paragraph -- apparently this is not a double album, but two single albums that happened to be released at exactly the same time and in the same packaging. Which I guess is a double album, except that each disc sounds pretty different and has a different title. Abattoir blues is the rockier affair, while The Lyre of Orpheus is the mellower chillout stuff and my favourite of the 2 discs. There are a few tracks on Abattoir blues which don't do it for me, although others seem to love them. Hiding all away is one of them, I just find it gets a bit annoying after a while. With Lyre of Orpheus, I find the gospel choir gets a bit too much after a while on some of the tracks. Not that these tracks don't work well on their own, but after a while it all seems a bit overdone. But anyway, there are enough great tracks on both of these discs to warrant an honourable mention, even if the whole doesn't add up to a masterpiece.


Solid but nothing brilliant

Now we get to the albums which weren't bad (in fact most are actually quite decent), but weren't quite good enough to make it to the honourable mentions list.


Dallas Crane - Dallas Crane



Aussie rockers Dallas Crane have been around on the live circuit for a while now, and this was intended to be their breakthrough album. It's a solid album of good rock tunes, but I guess that's my main gripe with this album -- it's just simple rock music. It's not an envelope pushing affair (oh my, I can't believe I just said that). That's not to say there aren't some absolute classic tracks on this album. Dirty hearts sounds like a lost ACDC number (but less annoying than most ACDC numbers), Open to close is a quirky little pop number with nice Television-esque guitar lines throughout, and Come and go (my personal favourite) is a great toe-tapper singalong.


Eskimo Joe - A song is a city



Since we are discussing Aussie bands, I guess it's time to discuss the latest by Perth outfit Eskimo Joe. After their successful debut with Girl in 2001, The 'Joe have gone for a much more commercial polished sound this time round. Before you get scared and run away, I believe they have done it in a way where they have kept most of their indie credibility intact. I italicised most because there are some parts of the album that feel a bit too polished and commercial. But when that's all said and done, there are some great tunes on this album (Older than you is probably my personal favourite).



Manic Street Preachers - Lifeblood



The Manics releasing a pop album. I never thought I would have seen Manics and pop in the same sentence together, but here I am saying that. Kinda hard to believe that a band who released the tortured dark masterpiece that is The Holy Bible has released a pop album. But I guess stranger things have happened.

Allow me to elaborate: I don't mean pop in a Christina Aguilera kinda way. Nah, James Dean Bradfield is still singing about good stuff, he isn't singing about being a dirrrty girl or having a genie in a bottle. So lyrically, I guess they haven't really changed much. But the music is much more 80's sounding, very synthy, very smooth, very polished. And it all sounds really good, I'm just worried that I will tire of it very easily as it is such a lush sounding album. Only time will tell how this stands in the history of Manics' albums.



The Cure - The Cure



Another veteran band releasing a new album in 2004. Many have praised this album as a real return to form for the band, the best since Disintegration from 1989. While I definitely wouldn't agree with that (the incredibly underrated Wish from 1992 shits all over this), this is a solid album. But I wouldn't call it a great one.

The biggest problem for me is the way it opens. An album generally needs an excellent opening track to hook you in to the album, to give you a reason to put the disc in and press play. There's nothing worse than a bad opening track -- you don't want to play an album knowing that you'll have to get through the opening track before you can start enjoying it. And while Lost isn't a really bad track, it's completely inappropriate for an opening track. Very slow, very little melody, just Robert Smith yabbering on that he "can't find [him]self". Tell us all about this Bobby, just save it for later on in the album. The album definitely gets better on the 2nd half, with a nice run of poppy songs in the vein of Wish era Cure -- when (I don't know what's going) on and Taking off are playing, you can't help but tap your feet along to the music.


Disappointments

And with every list comes the disappointments of the year. And here they are.


Badly Drawn Boy - One Plus One Is One



It would be wrong of me to dis this album due to Damon Gough's apparent lack of basis arithmetic skills. So I won't go down that path. I actually remember my first listen of this album, and I was quite impressed, thinking it was a return to the old sound, the Bewilderbeast days. I couldn't help but bask in the beauty of the gentle strumming of Easy love. And the beauty of Another devil dies made me smile. My hopes were definitely high for subsequent spins.

But over time, the disappointment of this album has started to sink it. Exhibit A: there are clearly two duds on this album. Year of the rat and Holy grail simply don't work. Why, Damon, did you feel the need to include a children's choir on both of these tracks? They just end up sounding tacky and overdone. Ordinarily I could forgive him, but these songs alone take up 13 minutes of a 55 minute album. So they definitely detract from the listening experience (even more so considering that Holy grail is the closing track, the last memory of the album before you eject it). Exhibit B: a lot of the other tracks. Well, none of them are really bad per se, but there are a lot of tracks that are just boring. So boring that I really don't remember a lot of them. And that's not what I want from an album. Name a song from Bewilderbeast and I'll remember some little nuance or moment of genius about it. I can't remember anything about Takes the glory from 1+1=1. And there's your problem right there.

That's not to say there aren't some classic BDB moments on here. The title track is a great Lennon-esque number, the previously mentioned Easy love and Another devil dies have moments of beauty...and...well...that pretty much covers the memorable ones.



Interpol - Antics



This will probably be the most controversial "disappointment" on my list, as I know a few readers of this blog (and many others) are fans of this album. Allow me to set the record straight from the start -- I don't dislike this album, in fact I think it's a fairly decent effort.

I'm a huge fan of Interpol's debut album Turn on the bright lights, and pretty much anything they could have released as a follow up would have disappointed me. But I guess my biggest problem with this album is that the vibe that the first album had seems to have been lost. Almost every track on their debut had that thing, that intangible quality that made the album a classic. While this follow-up has changed the sound quite a bit, it's a lot more polished overall, the vocals seem to have been mixed differently (maybe they didn't use Dobly?), and the lyrics also seem a bit dodgier (although they were never known for their lyrics). And near the end a lot of the tracks sound a bit similar to each other, with the exception of the superb closer A time to be so small which has some amazing guitar lines throughout. Maybe one day my opinion of this album will change, but at the moment I have to put it on my disappointments list.


Tom Waits - Real gone



It hurts me to list this album here, as I am a HUGE Tom Waits fan. But I have to be realistic about it: this album is a disappointment compared to Tom's other work.

His biggest mistake was getting rid of the piano on this album. Even the brilliantly ugly Bone machine had a few piano ballads thrown in to relieve from the percussive attack of the other tracks, but this album doesn't have it. And I must admit I have a bit of a problem with the human beatbox thing. It works on some of the tracks, but it gets a bit annoying after a while. And Top of the hill is a poor choice for an opening track, it's way too inaccessible even by Tom's standards. Sins of my father also goes on way too long for the 3rd track of the album, he should have stopped it after 6 minutes instead of letting it run for over 10 minutes.

That's not to say that there aren't some moments of Tom Waits brilliance on this album. Hoist that rag is classic, bluesy Waits, Don't go into that barn sounds like it should have been on Bone machine (the "Yes sir" section is hilarious), Trampled rose is a beautiful ballad. But as a whole, the album disappoints (especially after the superb Alice).

New discoveries of 2004

These are the new artists/albums I discovered in 2004. If I purchased several albums by the newly discovered artist in 2004, I have included my favourite of the bunch.


Rodriguez - Cold Fact (1970)



My brother bought this CD after Aussie band The Fauves played a cover of Rich folks hoax from this album at one of their gigs. I listened to his CD and shortly after purchased it for myself. And I'm mighty glad I did, because it now takes pride of place in my top 10 favourite albums of all time. If you haven't heard of this guy, or this album, and you enjoy music from that era (including Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, Leonard Cohen, etc) -- get this album! If there's any album that deserves the title of "lost classic", this is the one. Rodriguez has one of the greatest voices I have ever heard -- it might not be technically proficient, but it works so well. There is a timeless quality to this album which is very ironic because lyrically it's very much of its time.




Bonnie "Prince" Billy - I See a Darkness (1999)

I bought this one after seeing it in Pitchfork's Top 100 Albums of the 1990s poll. And I'm mighty glad I did -- it's a slow burner of an album, taking many listens to fully appreciate, but when it hits you, it REALLY hits you. Bonnie "Prince" Billy is one of Will Oldham's many personas, and he's certainly a very unique singer/songwriter. One of his songs (not on this album) is called You have cum in your hair and your dick is hanging out. You gotta respect a guy who has a name like that for one of his songs. I'll admit this album is an acquired taste (his voice definitely takes a little while to get used to), but there's nothing better than the moment when it all starts clicking together.




Dream Theater - Scenes From a Memory (1999)



Progressive metal is never a genre I thought I would ever have in my CD collection -- but here it is. While some of their other albums can be a bit hit and miss, this is an absolutely sensational album. It's a concept album that tells the story of a murder, and as a whole it works superby. The musicianship throughout draws you on, the lyrics tell the story, and by the time you get to the end of the final track Finally free, this album has literally taken your breath away. The dated sounding vocals of James LaBrie may tragically put some people this marvellous album, but if you approach it with an open mind, you will be justly rewarded.


Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand (1994)

GBV are an institution of their own -- they have an incredibly loyal cult following. Robert Pollard and the boys have been releasing albums since the mid 80's, and while their later albums strayed from their lo-fi roots, this album (and its follow up Alien lanes) shows the band in all of its lo-fi brilliance.

I can understand first-time listeners being incredibly put off by this music the first time they hear it. The production (or lack thereof) is terrible. The album was literally recorded on 4-track in the band's basement. But after several listens, these tunes will get under your skin (in the best possible way). Like all great albums, there is an absolutely timeless nature to this stuff. This album sounds like a lost collection of rarities from the Beatles circa White Album. If that isn't enough to sell this album to you, I don't know what is.




The Streets - Original Pirate Material (2002)



I never thought I would have a CD like this in my collection. It's just not me. This album sounds like Jamie Oliver rapping in his time spent away from the kitchen. I'm not sure if it's the memories of Britpop which make me enjoy this music, but I absolutely love it. Mike Skinner can sure tell a story, the songs are energetic and make you feel happy. And The irony of it all is a masterpiece of modern songwriting. Mike Skinner plays 2 parts in the song: a pothead and a drunk. The whole song has them arguing with each other about who's more of a danger to society. Brilliant, brilliant stuff.


Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994)

I'd heard a lot about Pavement. Big influence to lots of bands, yadda yadda yadda. For a long time I didn't buy into it, but I eventually gave in and bought this album. While many praise their debut Slanted and enchanted, that album never really did it for me. A bit too lo-fi and rough for my liking.

This album, on the other hand, is a beautiful sloppy mess which kickstarted the slacker genre of the mid-90's. There are some amazing tunes on this album, including Elevate me later, Gold soundz and the brilliant Range life. All played with reckless abandon. A great album from the mid-90's, don't less this one pass you by.


And that's the end of this mammoth blog posting. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If this blog posting results in one person buying and enjoying an album I have recommended on this page, I will be very satisfied. Thanks for reading!

Top 10 Years For Album Releases - #3

It's been well over a month since my last post on this subject. I'd like to say that I have a really cool excuse why it's been so long since my last post, but it really just comes down to laziness. I started this list and I keep saying to myself that I need to finish it. Of course, if more people replied to my posts, I'd have more reason to keep posting *hint* *hint*.

So here goes, let's continue the list.

#3: 1996

1996 was Year 12, a pretty stressful year overall, but personally one of the better years I experienced in high school. Most of the dickheads had been weeded out, dropping out before the VCE started, or moving to other schools. I started hanging out with different people, many of whom I still keep in touch with today. So year 12 wasn't so bad, even if there was a lot of work and immense pressure to get great results so you could get into the university course you wanted.

And musically, it's number three in my list of all time favourite years. As I have mentioned many times in the past, enjoying music has almost as much to do with memories as it does to the quality of the music. For some reason, I just remembered sitting in the Year 12 house in my high school (McKinnon) playing a mix tape on the portable stereo during lunchtime. This was before the days where CD burners were available, or at least before they were cheap enough for consumers. So mix tapes were the way of life back then. I remember one of my mixtapes -- it had Rolling Stones' "Mothers little helper" on it, as well as Cat Stevens' "Father and son". There may have even been a bit of Neil Young's "Heart of gold" on it. These were all songs I had copied from my brother's CD collection. And I remember listening to a lot of this stuff on mix tapes during this time of my life. I hadn't even fully gotten into the Beatles yet -- this was a year before the infamous Beatles night at Brett's house where some of us silly boys consumed a slab of Melbourne Bitter, and then decided to raid his sister's liquor stash. If anyone ever tells you that beer, Kahlua and Southern Comfort are a good mix, slap them from me. Let's just say that we were halfway through the White Album (if I remember correctly) when a certain young man with the initials BM fertilized the vegetable garden. But what a great way to introduce yourself to the joy of the Beatles! They sounded absolutely amazing under the influence of so much alcohol.

Anyway, none of this has anything to do with the year in question, 1996. So let's start with some of the classic releases of the year:

• Oasis released their masterpiece, (What's the story) morning glory? Easily one of my favourite albums of all time, most bands can't even release a greatest hits compilation as consistently brilliant as this. It was all downhill for Oasis after this, but every time I give this album a spin I am blown away by how brilliant it is. This album brings back so many memories -- I still remember seeing the clip for Wonderwall on TV. I remember the advertisement for the album on TV, where they played a clip from Don't look back in anger. I remember the first time I heard Champagne supernova and thinking to myself that it was a classic closing cut. So many memories.
• You Am I released their masterpiece, Hourly, daily. This is Australia's answer to Blur's Parklife album of 1994, but it's so much better! Each song is a classic Australian suburban tale, and as a whole you can't help but smile while you are listening to this. In my opinion You Am I have never bettered this, even Tim Rogers' voice (never the best instrument in their band) is at its peak here.
• Manic Street Preachers released one of their masterpieces, Everything must go. Are you sensing a pattern here? Yes, lots of masterpieces were released in 1996. Many great bands who had been around for a few years really started to get brilliant in this time frame. This was the Manics' first album since the disappearance of founding member Richey Edwards. It's certainly much mellower than the previous album (the brilliant The holy bible), but the quality of the songwriting is superb and amazingly consistent. This also had one of their biggest hits on it, A design for life.
• Belle and Sebastian released their masterpiece, If you're feeling sinister. A fantastic album of melodic joys, they have never topped this, their 2nd album. The run of songs from Seeing other people to Get me away from here I'm dying -- does music get any better than this? So uplifting, joyful and probably the best melodies you will ever hear.
• Weezer released their masterpiece, Pinkerton. Most probably think of Weezer as a bit of a novelty band, and while many songs of theirs certainly fit into that category, this album as a whole is so much more. It's an incredibly dark album, the production is rough, sometimes the singer sounds like he is singing out of key, but it's also a tortured masterpiece and one of my favourite albums of all time. The song Across the sea is breathtaking in its honesty.

Well that's the masterpieces of the year covered. Now for some other great albums released in 1996:

• Elvis Costello released the brilliant All this useless beauty. This is one of my favourite Elvis albums, and it includes a heap of songs that he had originally written for other singers. A very diverse album which is easily the most consistent album he released in the 90's.
• Wilco released their 2nd album Being there. This is where Wilco started moving away from their country roots. It's a very eclectic double album covering a broad range of styles. Sure there's some filler as well, but isn't that part of the charm of double albums?
• Suede released their 3rd album (and first after the departure of guitarist Bernard Butler), entitled Coming up. This is where Suede Mk II began, for they truly became a different band after Bernard left. Much more pop, much less shelf life. But this album still has enough classic tunes to make it a good album, even if it wouldn't be my first choice of Suede album to put on.

There were many debuts by big bands released in 1996 (some good, some bad):

• Super Furry Animals released their debut album Fuzzy logic. They would reach their peak in 1997's Radiator, but Fuzzy Logic was still a great album by one of the most interesting and unique bands of our generation. The song If you don't want me to destroy you is one of my favourite SFA cuts.
• Belle and Sebastian released their debut album Tigermilk this year. Yes, they released 2 albums in the same year! Amazingly, their debut album was originally written and recorded as part of a college project. While it is definitely overshadowed by its successor, this is nevertheless a great introduction to these very talented Glaswegians.
• Placebo released their self-titled debut album. They were (and I guess still are) a pretty unique band -- there aren't many bands nowadays who have succesfully fused 70's glam with alternative music but Placebo managed to pull it off. There are lots of great songs on this one, including Nancy boy. Unfortunately, it seems like most of the albums they release nowadays are simply rehashes of the style they created on their first two albums.
• Ash released their debut album 1977. Here's a band who managed to fuse heavy riffs with great tunes. I wouldn't call this album one of my favourites, but there are certainly some great tracks on it, including Goldfinger (nothing to do with the James Bond movie or men's club) and Girl from Mars (nothing to do with the confectionary company).
  
• Longpigs released their debut album The sun is often out. Who? I hear you ask. Yeah, I hadn't heard of them either until someone mentioned them on the Suede J-Files, comparing them to Suede. I ordered their debut album off sanity.com.au when they were amazingly good value (!) and it's a great album, a nice slice of melodic Britpop with a lot of diversity among the cuts. Pity they had a major sophomore slump for their 2nd album Mobile home.
• Bluetones released their debut album Expecting to fly. The singer from this band is kind've like a cross between Ian Brown from The Stone Roses and Tim Freedman from The Whitlams. The music is kinda catchy Britpop. I only have 2 of their albums (the other is Science & Nature) and this is definitely the better of the two -- there are some really great cuts on this one including Bluetonic and Slight return.

Some other great albums which were released in '96:

• As I described in a previous post, I generally don't count soundtracks in this list, but I do make some exceptions (like I did for the Pulp Fiction soundtrack). A great soundtrack that was released this year was the Trainspotting soundtrack. While the movie has never been one of my absolute favourites (but I've only actually seen it once), the soundtrack is spectacular. There's a great mix of the old and the new. From the old we have Iggy Pop's Lust for life (great opener), Brian Eno's Deep blue day and Lou Reed's classic cut Perfect day. We have some cuts from the mid-90's including Sleeper's cover of the Blondie song Atomic, Pulp's Mile end and Elastica's 2:1. And of course this was the soundtrack which introduced Born slippy to the public consciousness. Classic song, classic soundtrack. There's something incredibly timeless about this collection of songs, which is very ironic as the soundtrack covers about 20 years amongst its songs.
• REM released their highly underrated album New adventures in hi-fi. This is a hidden gem in REM's catalogue -- there are so many brilliant cuts on this album, and it even holds together well as an album. Some notables: How the west was won and where it got us is a superb opener (and unlike anything REM had recorded before), E-Bow the letter is one of the best REM songs ever (together with backing vocals from Patti Smith), Leave is one of my personal favourite REM songs of all time (together with a siren sample throughout which surprisingly never gets annoying), Bittersweet me is a great catchy song and Electrolite is a poignant closer. There is a bit of filler on this album (after all it is the longest album in their catalogue at 65 minutes) but that doesn't stop it from easily being in my top 5 REM albums of all time.
• Pearl Jam released their highly unerrated album No code. I remember hearing this being played in full on JJJ just before it was released, and thought it sounded really mellow and quite different to anything Pearl Jam had released before. While many people dismiss this album as over-indulgent, of their albums that I have heard, this is probably my favourite.

And finally the others which I haven't mentioned:

• Guided By Voices released their album Under the bushes under the stars. This was their first "mid-fi" album, they had started to abandon their lo-fi roots (the production was definitely getting better) but they hadn't yet reached the full hi-fi production of their later albums like Isolation drills. It's certainly got a lot of great tracks on it (To remake the young flyer is one of my favourite GBV songs) but there's also quite a bit of filler on it in my opinion. I think they could have made a much better album with about 5 less tracks. But I still don't think they'll ever top their masterpiece Bee thousand from 1994.
• The Charlatans released their first album since the death of keyboardist Rob Collins, Tellin' stories. Yeah it's okay, but doesn't excite me that much. I don't think The Charlatans have aged very well compared to their fellow Britpop colleagues.
• Paul Weller released his solo album Stanley Road. Some good tracks on this album, some average. Haven't listened to it for ages.
• The Cure released their album Wild mood swings. Like Manic Street Preachers' Know your enemy, this is an album which both critics and fans love to hate. Personally, I think it doesn't deserve the negative press it gets. Purist fans dismissed it because they were straying further away from their gothic roots, critics simply dismissed it because it was such a schizophrenic album that couldn't stick to a style for longer than a song. But people, that's the name of the album -- Wild mood swings. What were you expecting?!?! Granted, it's not one of their best albums, but it's nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be.
• Jamiroquai released their album Travelling without moving. To me owning one Jamiroquai album is enough, I really don't need to own more than one. I'm not sure if this was the best one to get, but it does have some great hits on it including Virtual insanity, Cosmic girl and Alright. There's some weird experiments near the end of the album but overall this one doesn't excite me that much.
• Presidents of the United States of America released their 2nd album II. They were a novelty band to start with, why they felt the need to release a second album I don't know. Luckily they soon realised they were a novelty band and split up soon after this.
• Beck released his critically praised album Odelay. Critics cream their pants over this album. Fans seem to love it. I'm sorry, but I just can't figure out what's so good about it. There are some pretty good tracks (Devil's haircut, Lord only knows, Jackass, Where's it at) but there are so many songs on this album that I would classify as annoying: Derelict, Novacane, Minus, Readymade and High 5 (Rock the catskills). Can anyway say they honestly like those tracks? This is one of the few albums in my collection where I just can't understand what the fuss is all about.
• Sting released his 5th album Mercury falling. Yes, I have Sting in my collection. Very daggy. It's very cool to have a Police CD in one's collection, but Sting solo is a definite no-no. Well the main reason I bought this album was because I was going to his concert, and it was the Mercury falling tour and I wanted to know the songs he would be singing. The night of the concert has a lot of memories, because after the concert was the infamous Year 12 end of year rooftop party. I got very drunk. It's bad mmmkay. I remember wearing my Sting T-Shirt which I purchased at the gig while getting drunk at the party. It was a wild night.

And a last minute addition to this blog entry: I very recently picked up the 3rd album from US band Heatmiser entitled Mic city sons, which was released in 1996. This was the band that the late Elliott Smith was in. While I haven't given it enough listens to determine where it fits in the list of albums from 1996, the initial few spins are promising. Kind've a rockier version of Elliott Smith's solo albums, with a few songs from the other singer in the band thrown in for good measure. I'll have to keep you posted.

That's 1996 all wrapped up!

JJJ now has a podcast

Podcasting. Probably the next big thing. [1]

Triple JJJ, one of the few Melbourne radio stations worth listening to [2], has begun experimenting with this newish technology. Beat that drum, love ya work JJJ.

Incidently, we should all get on Jiggy's back about recording a podcast. With his music knowledge he's made for the format!



[1] What the hell is it? I started explaining but someone else has done so with more clarity than I could muster.

[2] Not that I have time to listen to radio these days - I'm too busy listening to podcasts!

Top 10 Years For Album Releases - #4

And so the countdown continues...I'm not sure how many people are actually reading this blog, but if you are out there reading this and I don't know you, please drop me a line. I know I am opening myself up to a world of spiced ham by linking to my email address on a webpage. That's why I gave my Hotmail address...the abused email address. Anyway, the reason why I ask you to email me is because without a counter or statistics on my page (which I should probably put in), I have no idea who is reading it. It would be good to know that I am reaching a wider audience, but why would anyone go to my blog? Just a humble blog discussing music and other meaningless crap. I need to entice more people in. Maybe I'll start spamming a wider audience about it?

Anyway on to the fourth best year for album releases...

#4: 2001

I'm sure that future generations will look back on this year as a very important year. The 911 attacks on the United States cast a shadow over the entire year, of course. 2002 saw the obligatory "musical responses" to this tragedy. But associating 2001 with the September 11 attacks is wrong, because there were at least 8 months of the year that had gone by before they even happened. So we can't pretend that world felt that way the the whole year, when it was really only after September 11 when fear really started to set in.

Just like many baby boomers know where they were when they found out Kennedy was assassinated, I still remember where I was when I found out about the September 11 attacks. I had actually gone out to a pub in Hawthorn with a few friends, and I came home close to 11:00pm. I remember my parents were watching TV in their room and I went in to say hi to them, and there was an image of the burning WTC tower on the news. I can't remember if it was the first or second plane, but I remember going to bed without really thinking about it much more. It was only when I woke up in the morning that it really hit me what had happened. It was obviously all over the news, people at work were discussing it...very scary times indeed. A few years later, obviously things have calmed down a bit, but the world definitely feels like it's changed.

Anyway, I didn't mean to bring the mood of this blog down, but it was an important world incident that needed to be mentioned. Now on to happier topics -- like the music from 2001! Here's a little bit of trivia that nobody except for me would be interested in -- 2001 is the year that I have the most CDs from. At the time of writing, 35 of my CDs are from the year 2001. So this may be a long post :-) But does having 35 CDs from that year make it the best year for music? Well...no. Obviously not. What a stupid question. It's #4. You see, quality is more important that quantity.

And of course there were many quality releases in 2001. Let's start with the creme of the crop:

• Art Of Fighting released their brilliant debut album Wires. Now if you haven't heard of these guys, and you like beautifully written mellow indie folk music, then I highly recommend this album. But don't see them live! For me, they don't work in a live setting. Their music is best heard in a relaxed mood, lying down and letting the beauty of the music envelope your soul (Doesn't that sound like a wank? Yeah it does). Anyway, it's one of the best albums of 2001.
• Bob Dylan released his most joyous and upbeat album since The Basement Tapes in 1975 -- Love and theft. This guy released his first album in 1962, and he's still going strong. Sure he's had his ups and downs, but you gotta respect a guy who is still keepin' it real after 40 years.
• The Soundtrack of our Lives released their excellent album Behind the music. This Swedish 7 piece band are relatively unknown downunder, and many can argue that their music is derivative (they is definitely a huge Pink Floyd influence here) -- but there are some amazing tunes on this album. My favourites are Nevermore and Sister surround.
• Ben Folds released his brilliant solo album Rockin' the suburbs. If the only song you've heard from this is the title track, and you don't like it, don't let that track put you off this album. In my opinion this is better than anything Ben Folds Five released. A superb collection of piano-driven indie pop tracks. And I even quite enjoy the title track now -- there's nothing like taking the piss out of bands like Limp Bizkit.
• Machine Translations released their breakthrough album Bad shapes. Pete gave me this for my birthday. Initially I'll admit that it didn't do a lot for me, but over time it has grown on me a heap. Many beautiful tracks on this album, and every time you listen to it a new track stands out. They would continue to evolve on their next 2 albums Happy and Venus traps fly.
• Muse released their best album Origin of symmetry. Yes, they are pretentious. Yes, the lead singer has an incredibly whiny voice. This is an excellent album and a huge improvement over their patchy debut Showbiz. Their newest album Absolution doesn't hit the heights of this album either. Give a listen to Micro-cuts, a crazy song and one of my favourites.
• Ed Harcourt released his debut Here be monsters. His first album, and the only one of his 3 which is not copy-controlled. It's a great album, similar in style to the late Jeff Buckley but not a complete ripoff. Ed sounds so much like Glenn Richards (the lead singer of Augie March) at the end of Wind through the trees that it's spooky! My personal favourite on this album is God protect your soul.
• Rock dinosaurs REM released Reveal to mixed reviews. Q magazine gave it 5 stars (!). Many other critics raved about it. Many panned it. Many old-skool REM fans disowned the band at this stage. Personally, while I prefer early REM, I quite enjoy this album. It's easily the most "beautiful" album they released. Just remember that they changed significantly after drummer Bill Berry left -- this was REM Mach II. Still a worthwhile band -- just a different one.
• Super Furry Animals released the excellent Rings around the world. SFA never disappoint and this album is no exception. They couldn't write an uninteresting song if they tried. And I believe this was the first album ever to be released simultaneously on DVD in Dolby 5.1 -- together will filmclips. Which makes it quite a milestone.
• Something For Kate released their best album Echolalia. Previous album Beautiful sharks was a giant leap from their debut Elsewhere for 8 minutes. This was another leap, albeit not as big as the last one. The production quality improved a lot on this album -- if there was going to be any album to make them huge this would have been it. Of course it didn't. But do they want to be huge? Probably not.
• Neil Finn released his excellent sophomore solo album One nil. While I don't seem to love this album as much as some of the readers of this blog, I'll have to admit it's an excellent album. It's just not something I find myself spinning that often. Or playing for that matter. But I'm sure the sheer volume of CDs that I own has something to do with that.
• You Am I released their 5th album Dress me slowly. This is a unique You Am I album in that it is the only one which Brett likes! For anyone who knows Brett well, this is an amazing achievement by Tim and the boys, because Brett isn't the biggest fan of Tim Rogers. Anyway, it's a very solid album with lots of great tunes -- but it still doesn't quite reach the peaks of their masterpiece Hourly, daily in my opinion.
  

And of course 2001 was also the year where the overhyped bands starting coming out in droves. I don't mean coming out in a Freddie Mercury way either.

• White Stripes released their 3rd (and breakthrough) album White blood cells. Many consider Elephant to be their best album. In my opinion White blood cells shits all over it. Sure, the style of music is very similar (in fact Elephant is probably more developed) -- but White blood cells has the better tunes. Hotel yorba, Fell in love with a girl, lots of superb tracks on this album. I do enjoy this album, but I still think they are incredibly overrated.
• The Strokes released their incredibly hyped debut album Is this it?. The press almost killed this band by overhype, but this is all in all a fantastic debut album. Sure, there's nothing particularly innovative here. But this is simply a fun album, nothing more, nothing less. There's an amazing array of tunes here - the classic anthem Last nite, the complex (by Strokes' standards anyway ;-) Hard to explain and the powerful New York City Cops, which was cut from the US release of the album after the 9/11 attacks in the US.

There were several albums released by established bands in 2001 which the critics (and many fans) panned:

• Manic Street Preachers released their sprawling 6th album Know your enemy. To this date I still don't know why this album was received so badly. I agree that a few songs could have been trimmed from this album (I could easily do without the Spinal Tap-esque Intravenous agnostic and the grating Wattsville blues sung by Nicky Wire) but there's an amazing array of great, heartfelt tunes on this album. Ocean spray is a beautiful song written by James Dean Bradfield for his dying mother. So why so sad is a Phil Spector wall of sound that would make Brian Wilson proud. Epicentre is an epic piano-driven ballad. There are many more great songs on this album.
• Air released their "difficult 2nd album" 10,000 Hz legend. Their debut album Moon safari had set the benchmark for chillout music. Rather than releasing Moon Safari Part II, this French duo released a much more experimental follow-up. While the single How does it make you feel really resembled their debut, elsewhere they toyed with everything from cheesy pop (Radio #1) to heavier techno tracks (Don't be light). Personally I don't mind this album, but I agree it isn't anywhere near as good as their debut.

Some other notable releases from 2001:

• Perth band Eskimo Joe released their debut album Girl. Claiming to boast "12 songs about girls", this is an enjoyable indie-pop album. There are many great songs on this album -- my personal favourite is Planet earth.
• British veterans Pulp released their 7th album We love life. This album was originally destined to be their self-titled one until the 9/11 attacks, after which it was quickly renamed. It's a solid album which finds a happy medium between the Britpop of Different class and the darkness of This is hardcore. Jarvis Cocker is as sleazy as always.
• The Shins released their debut album Oh, inverted world. Many prefer this album over its successor Chutes too narrow but not me. There's much more of a late 60's vibe on this album, with a lot of reverb and sound effects in contrast to the directless of Chutes. Unfortunately this detracts from the power of a lot of the songs for me.
• Zero 7 released their debut album Simple things. Mark and Matt (regular readers of this blog) are big fans of this album. Like most of my other chillout albums (Moon safari, Lost horizons) I enjoy it when I listen to it, but don't get the urge to listen to it a lot. There's something about chillout music that I still find incredibly redundant -- it's easy listening but my attitude is, why have 4 chillout albums when 1 will do the job? Controversial, but that's how I feel.
• Bjork released her 4th album Vespertine. This is probably her most beautiful sounding album, moving away from the dance beats of Debut, the industrial sound of Post and the techno aspects of Homogenic. I still haven't fully gotten into any Bjork album -- they are slow burners but they grow on me each time I listen to them.
• Britpop veterans The Charlatans released their "soul" album Wonderland. While not one of my all-time favourites, you have to respect a band who tries something different. Better than releasing the same album over and over again. And there are many great cuts on this album, including Judas and And if I fall.
• Aussie legend Paul Kelly released ...Nothing but a dream. Together with Eskimo Joe's Girl, this was another album I got for free for filling out the EMI music survey. It feels so good to know I got heaps of freebies from EMI prior to them destroying the CD format with the copy control disc.

Wow, I told you I have a lot of albums from 2001 in my collection. Now to some of the more obscure albums from 2001:

• I am Kloot (who????) released their debut album Natural history. The lead singer from this band kinda sounds like Tim Freedman from The Whitlams. The music was part of the "new acoustic" movement, coming out around the same time as the debut album by Kings of Convenience from Norway. While I can't remember the last time I listened to this album, it is a decent if forgettable effort. But I picked it up for $5.99 so can't really complain :-)
• Life without buildings released their debut (and only) album Any other city. They guys are pretty unique -- it's pretty intense music with a young cockney woman almost rapping over the top of it. Apparently she's a bit of a hottie as well. It's a decent album but nothing groundbreaking.
• Ex-Pavement lead singer Stephen Malkmus released his eponymous solo debut. Quite a quirky album with lots of great songs, but falls quite short of being brilliant. Still, this was another bargain at $5.99.
• Guided By Voices released their critically acclaimed Isolation drills. Even though I've only gotten into GBV recently, I much prefer their earlier lo-fi albums over their polished studio efforts like this one. Still, this album has more than its fair share of great tracks -- but they are simple indie power-pop songs while their early stuff had a lot more quirky charm.
• Ben Harper released his double live album Live from Mars. This double album contains a lot of his hits but it more notable for the brilliant cover versions including Sexual healing, Whole lotta love and The drugs don't work.

And finally, the disappointments for me in 2001:

• Travis released their follow-up to the brilliant The man who with The invisible band. There is nothing really wrong with this album other than the fact that they didn't evolve from their previous album and they didn't push themselves out of their comfort zone. Oh yeah, and the quality of the songwriting did drop a little from the previous album. So I guess there are things wrong with this album.
• Radiohead released Amnesiac. Many fans love this album. There are some wonderful tracks on this album -- Pyramid song, You and whose army, I might be wrong and the brilliant Knives out rank up there with some of Radiohead's best songs. Then there are the songs like Pulk/pull revolving doors (mainly electronic blips without much melody), Morning bell/Amnesiac (a completely redundant slower version of Morning bell from Kid A), Dollars and cents (just not very interesting) and Hunting bears (a pointless instrumental) which just feel like offcuts from Kid A. Disappointing.
• Ash released their 3rd album Free all angels to a set of brilliant reviews. Yes, there are some great songs on this album. Shining light, Burn baby burn and There's a star are all brilliant. But many of the songs just don't work -- I can sleep very well knowing I will never have to hear Nicole, World domination or Submission again.
• Elbow released their debut Asleep in the back. While there are some exquisite songs on this album (Red, Powder blue) -- it loses a lot of momentum by the end of the album. Their second album Cast of thousands improved upon this one.
• David Mead released his 2nd album Mine and yours. Many well-written songs let down by his voice which is way too polished. He needs to smoke and drink a bit to roughen it up a bit ;-)
• Spiritualized released their 4th album Let it come down. This album has heaps of potential, and there are some superb tracks on this album -- but unfortunately it is let down by overproduction. I'm not sure why Jason Pierce felt the need to drench every single song in huge string arrangements. Sometimes less is more.
• Semisonic released their album All about chemistry. I remember reading a review of this in Q magazine, and it was given 5 stars (!). I saw it at JB Hi Fi for $3.99 and decided it was worth the risk ;-) Very commercial album which does kinda tarnish the CD collection. Some decent songs, but generally not my cup of Dilmah. Can be found in bargain bins at most JB Hi-Fi stores now :-)

That's 2001 for you. Now you'll have to excuse me -- I'm tired and I need sleep!

The absolute peak of musical ecstasy

I see your eyes light up at the interesting title of this blog posting. Well allow me to elaborate.

It's pretty obvious that the level of enjoyment one experiences when listening to music depends on a wide variety of factors:

• The music :-)
• Your mood
• Where you are when listening to it
• State of mind (drunk, stoned, [insert state here])
• Lots of other factors

Over my many years of musical appreciation (and obsession), I have discovered that one of the best places and times to listen to music is driving alone late at night, when I am in a happy mood (i.e. not thinking about work or anything else which may put me in a lesser mood). Some albums which normally sound average when listened to in other circumstances take on a whole new meaning when listened to under these conditions. There's something incredibly peaceful about listening to some brilliantly composed music when driving alone at night.

Why not driving during the day? Well it's definitely not as peaceful. There's more other cars to deal with on the roads. More stopping at traffic lights. Avoiding the brightness and glare of the sun. Why not driving with someone else in the car? Well a lot of my music is an acquired taste, and I love to listen to my music LOUD. And if there's someone in the car with me, it would be very rude if I cranked the music up loud and didn't talk to the person with me :-)

Anyway, some of my most memorable "peaks of musical ecstasy" have been while listening to great music while driving late at night. I remember listening to Stevie Wonder's Innervisions, driving down the Eastern Freeway on the way back to Lorin's from the city. I remember hearing the brilliant songs -- there was Jesus children of America, All in love is fair, Don't you worry 'bout a thing, He's Misstra Know-It-All. All brilliant songs -- and all after each other. I knew from that listen, in the car, late at night, played loud -- that this was a brilliant album. Yet when I listen to it nowadays, while I still enjoy it immensely, I never reach the same peak of musical ecstasy.

Another time was driving to Lorin's house at night, listening to REM's Fables of the reconstruction. Green grow the rushes came on. Without the distraction of other people, without the distraction of other cars, without the distraction of ANYTHING really (ahem...except my concentration on driving), I started to notice things. I listened to Green grow the rushes, and was overtaken by its immense beauty. Right here, right now, in the car on the way to Lorin's -- Green grow the rushes suddenly became one of my favourite songs of all time. What beautiful jangly guitar! What a sensational vocal performance from Michael Stipe! What a melody! Then there was Kohoutek. Under any other circumstance this would probably be considered an ordinary song. But in the car, driving alone late at night -- this was another moment of exquisite musical beauty. What's this song Good advices? What's this crazy lyric about looking at a stranger's shoes when you greet them? In the immortal words of Tony Martin of the late show -- "What is [Michael Stipe] on about?". Who cares?

All these amazing songs were just waiting for me to discover them. They were waiting for that perfect opportunity for to come out and slap me ever-so-gently in the face and tell me "I am an amazing song! Listen to me! Discover me for my brilliance!". They were waiting for the late night drive alone.

Yet, as good as all of this is, if I was to go for another late night drive alone with either Innervisions or Fables of the reconstruction playing on the car stereo, they will never have the same effect on me again. Why? Well, in both of those moments of musical ecstasy, it was only my 3rd or 4th listen of the said album. And, here comes the next point of this blog posting. I'd like to argue that for most albums (note that I italicised most), the 3rd or 4th listen will undoubtedly by one of the most enjoyable listens of the album. For true grower albums, the first listen is a complete waste of time. My attitude is that if I really enjoy an album on the first listen, I'll get sick of it fairly quickly. Then there are the albums which take 10+ listens to really appreciate. A lot of albums by Tom Waits fit into this category as many of his later period albums are very surreal, avant-garde and difficult. But most albums take about 3-4 listens for the pieces to start to fit together. By the 5th or 6th listen, you can start to differentiate between tracks. But on the 3rd and 4th listen, there is still the element of surprise when a hidden gem can come out and bite you on the ass (in a good way) when you least expect it. And the spontaneity of these moments that is true musical ecstasy. So with the aforementioned albums, I may already be on my 20th-30th listen. The moment is unfortunately over for these albums. I'm out of the honeymoon period now. I'd never reach the same level of enjoyment for them again. Unless, of course, I shelve them for many years and pull them out again -- to emulate the feeling of my first love for them.

So next time you are about to give a new album its 3rd or 4th listen, go for a late night drive. Or alternatively, if you can foresee a late night drive, listen to an album that you have already listened to 2 or 3 times. I'd be interested to know about people's experiences with the late night driven phenomenon, so please reply if you have any stories. A final note -- Tom Waits' The heart of Saturday night is my definitive driving-late-at-night album. Even after many listens, this is how I try to listen to it. And it's even better when driving around on a Saturday night.

Audioscrobbler

Coolest new musical chunk o' software - Audioscrobbler!

So I bet you're asking "OK Matt, so what the hell is it?" Glad you asked! It's a system that monitors all the songs that you listen to.

[Then they send that list to the RIAA and perform a check to ensure that you've bought the music you're listening to. Yeah, that last sentence was baloney - but I hope it sent shivers up your spine because one day it'll happen...]

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, so it monitors the songs that you listen to and can recommend other songs that you may like based on what other people, who've listened to songs like yours, have listened to. It's like one big music-fan group hug.

Plugins are available for a whole swagger of applications (Winamp, WMP, iTunes, foobar2000 etc).

On top of recommending songs it displays the most popular artists (currently Radiohead - oh yeah! Masses with music taste!) and songs (U2's newie, Vertigo) and many other "charts" polled from what the entire community is listening to. Speaking of community, there's a number of features that allow you to mark users as friends, publish a list of recommendations, join a group of users and a whole swagger of other features designed to make you feel part of the Audioscrobbler movement.

Anyways, check it out it looks pretty cool.