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The Album Review Club - Week #122 - (page 1438) A Black Mile To The Surface – Manchester Orchestra
- Thread starter RobMCFC
- Start date
BimboBob
Well-Known Member
No, no, no, no and no.Really? I thought Radiohead was banned as it is accepted that they are crap
That's just the across the pond thoughts. This side of the vast lake is a Radiohead love in.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
As @Black&White&BlueMoon Town has pointed out, all of the details are on page #1.Will do and thanks. Is there a list of previous nominated albums? I'll have a look over thread to see how other's have done their nomination
The table also lists the page number that each album is announced on, so you can see what others have written in their nomination. The general idea is that you are telling us why you are nominating an album and what memories are associated with it for you.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
Just a quick note to say I'll be doing the round-up before lunch today as the next nominator wants to put up the next album at lunchtime.
journolud
Well-Known Member
The first minute of this album is dull and pointless. But it gets better...
Reach evolves into an almost perfectly constructed pop song, soundling fleetingly and teasingly like the Smiths and the gradual introducion of the horns which become more and more prominent makes for a great opener. Something on my Mind keeps the momentum going but then there's a slight dip with Unless...
And the album tends to ebb and flow a bit like that. As others have mentioned there's a bit of a kitchen sink element to the instrumental embellishments but these are more hit than miss and crucially they add to a strong set of songs rather than make up for weakness.
Faithful Pillow Pts 1 and 2 make for very pleasant interludes , You'll Start a War and Crazier are highlights. There are a few lesser moments and towards the end there was a risk of the sound slipping into pastiche but then a strong ending pulled it round.
This has had a fair few listens and is likely to stay in the collection. I've also played a bit of Shack and despite my earlier lukewarm comments about Michael Head's highly rated album of a couple of years ago has made me think that will be well worth another listen. Certainly heard enough to know there is a pretty good songwriterr in there but with that sense on this album of trying things out and finding his feet.
I said last time out I didn't do half points but I've changed my mind. This is somewhere between a 7 and 8 for me, I liked it and I suspect repeated plays would push it up but there are a few weaker moments which means it's a 7.5
Reach evolves into an almost perfectly constructed pop song, soundling fleetingly and teasingly like the Smiths and the gradual introducion of the horns which become more and more prominent makes for a great opener. Something on my Mind keeps the momentum going but then there's a slight dip with Unless...
And the album tends to ebb and flow a bit like that. As others have mentioned there's a bit of a kitchen sink element to the instrumental embellishments but these are more hit than miss and crucially they add to a strong set of songs rather than make up for weakness.
Faithful Pillow Pts 1 and 2 make for very pleasant interludes , You'll Start a War and Crazier are highlights. There are a few lesser moments and towards the end there was a risk of the sound slipping into pastiche but then a strong ending pulled it round.
This has had a fair few listens and is likely to stay in the collection. I've also played a bit of Shack and despite my earlier lukewarm comments about Michael Head's highly rated album of a couple of years ago has made me think that will be well worth another listen. Certainly heard enough to know there is a pretty good songwriterr in there but with that sense on this album of trying things out and finding his feet.
I said last time out I didn't do half points but I've changed my mind. This is somewhere between a 7 and 8 for me, I liked it and I suspect repeated plays would push it up but there are a few weaker moments which means it's a 7.5
At first listen, I thought its indulgance would be annoying. But it grew on me, and I ended up liking it and its richness. Made me wonder, if he/they sang The Smiths songs, whether I would like them a lot more than I do (not that I dislike them, as such), but found his voice reminiscent but more pleasant than morrisay's.
I felt I had something clever to say about this last night, bucompletely forgot now. Oh well.
Not a genre I have ever managed to get into, and while I 'appreciate' similar bands of the time, I don't actively listen to them, seek them out or necessarily 'like' them. In fact a couple albums on here maybe only reinforced that. So the fact I found this pleasant overall and quirky at times, is probably a level of praise. A good 7, for something that surprised me and intrigued me in moments. Probably an album where the sum of its parts is greater than the songs themselves, carries itself well and manages to have a mood without overdoing it or getting tedious.
I felt I had something clever to say about this last night, bucompletely forgot now. Oh well.
Not a genre I have ever managed to get into, and while I 'appreciate' similar bands of the time, I don't actively listen to them, seek them out or necessarily 'like' them. In fact a couple albums on here maybe only reinforced that. So the fact I found this pleasant overall and quirky at times, is probably a level of praise. A good 7, for something that surprised me and intrigued me in moments. Probably an album where the sum of its parts is greater than the songs themselves, carries itself well and manages to have a mood without overdoing it or getting tedious.
BlueHammer85
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 13 Oct 2010
- Messages
- 33,875
The Pale Fountains - Pacific Street
After initial first listen I thought this would be a struggle but like pretty much always, after a few listens I become accustomed and it started to click.
There is a Morrisey/Smith sound in the opening track and at parts throughout albeit plenty of Sax/Horns which distinguishes this band from a lot of other 80's indie.
'Unless' has a Depeche Mode sound and like the way this one builds.
'Something On My Mind' and 'You'll Start A War' are the Aztec Camera Pop sounding tracks.
There is a fair few songs that plod along and don't really go anywhere in the latter part of the Album.
Pick of the bunch : Unless
Bonus Point: 'Beyond Friday's Field' would fit nicely in a Kill Bill soundtrack, and a few other tracks on here.
6/10
After initial first listen I thought this would be a struggle but like pretty much always, after a few listens I become accustomed and it started to click.
There is a Morrisey/Smith sound in the opening track and at parts throughout albeit plenty of Sax/Horns which distinguishes this band from a lot of other 80's indie.
'Unless' has a Depeche Mode sound and like the way this one builds.
'Something On My Mind' and 'You'll Start A War' are the Aztec Camera Pop sounding tracks.
There is a fair few songs that plod along and don't really go anywhere in the latter part of the Album.
Pick of the bunch : Unless
Bonus Point: 'Beyond Friday's Field' would fit nicely in a Kill Bill soundtrack, and a few other tracks on here.
6/10
BlueHammer85
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 13 Oct 2010
- Messages
- 33,875
‘Unless’ & ‘You’ll Start A War’ make the cut
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
An interesting selection by @LGWIO that was received favourably, narrowly missing out on the hallowed '7' average but finishing in a respectable 26th position. Pacific Street by The Pale Fountains scored an identical record to Roxy Music - 14 votes at an average of 6.93.
What's more we saw a returning member award a magical '10' and even managed to add a new member to the list of nominators, so all's good!
With the round-up out of the way before lunchtime, the way is clear for @GoatersLeftShin to show us what he's got.
What's more we saw a returning member award a magical '10' and even managed to add a new member to the list of nominators, so all's good!
With the round-up out of the way before lunchtime, the way is clear for @GoatersLeftShin to show us what he's got.
GoatersLeftShin
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 3 Jan 2019
- Messages
- 1,525
- Team supported
- MCFC
I'm pretty busy with work at the minute so I can't do clues but in all honesty, I'd have been amazed if anyone would've got this as it's probably not a well known album or artist!
As I've said a few times now, my musical tastes change with the seasons. In winter, I prefer something a bit slower, bit more 'raw', folky or bluesy and when summer comes around I'm more into upbeat dancey/indie stuff again. It's something I've noticed I do for quite a while now and of course I have some albums that I can listen to anytime of the year, there's definitely some music that I prefer at certain times of the year. There are albums on here that I will have scored higher/lower just because of the season!
Anyway, this album is one of those that I discovered quite recently (2022 I think) on Spotify. It just came on after I'd finished listening to an album/playlist, but it really caught my ear and I went off to find the album. Of course, looking at an album on Spotify is very different to looking at vinyl or a CD but I loved the artwork, title of the album and the track names. I played it a few times and pretty soon it became a firm favourite and is a 'start of Spring or Summer' album I will go to again and again.
The album is People On Sunday by Domenique Dumont.
I'm not sure if I can describe this album as ambient (I don't think it is), electronica (it's hard to tell) or what really.
You might be thinking that ambient music is my favourite genre seeing as I've nominated Planetary Unfolding and Air before but it's not. This is very likely to be the last ambient album I nominate as most of my favourite albums are from the 60s/70s. However, I love ambient music and it's a genre that's really grown on me in recent years.
I love just being able to put it on and know that I can just dip in and out. It's .always subtle - you have to listen to find the beauty much of the time but when you find it, it's probably as good as any written word, if not more so. I think classical music is very similar in this respect but of course it's more 'obvious' for want of a better word. I've said before that words get in the way with some music and I sometimes like to have no words as you have to listen more to what is being said in the notes!
I love it that it can be nothing and everything at the same time. It can help you concentrate, provide a backing track to a dinner party, help you think, meditate, be still or just be something to listen to in a similar way you might do with classical music. As I have said many times before, the lack of words is something I love because it allows you to interpret the music and 'fill in the blanks' so to speak.
Anyway, it was a good few months after I discovered the album that I found out it was actually a soundtrack to a silent film of the same name. It was filmed on Sundays in Germany in 1929 and I've actually watched the film with the soundtrack and it's really quite poignant. I'm going to keep the album separate to the film, but the track 'Sunshine in 1929' does give you a hint of what it's about. It's that idea that in the summer of 1929, people were doing very ordinary things on Sundays just as we do - fall in love, go for a coffee, bicker, walk in the park etc. However, for me it's the context that they were unaware of what was coming - the Great Depression and ultimately World War II. I am not quite sure how many words you would need to convey that sense of portence.
What I love about this album is that it's joyful, playful and completely optimistic. It sounds like the first flowers of spring coming up. Spring is definitely in the air, the suns out, the trees are waking and young lovers are about in cafes, walking in parks and doing the things young lovers do.
This isn't an album really where you can pick out tracks as such, it's one to listen to from start to finish I think.
Each track is both similar but tells a different part of a story in my view.
'Arrival' feels like that first morning in May when you wake up and know it's going to be warm. After months of shit weather, summers coming and that feeling of warmth, the sound of animals and birds waking up and trees moving feels like this track to me.
'Gone for a wander' just makes me think of them lockdown days of just walking a couple of minutes to the fields near my house where you can walk for miles surrounded by trees, grasses and the like. Me, the wife and our son in nature and that feeling of love and togetherness we had.
'Sunshine in 1929' again just makes me think of the early days of romance with the wife, giggling, laughing and falling in love. It's playful, dainty and just catchy.
I could go on for each track, this is my taking from it and yours will almost certainly be very different simply because there's no words. It's about the 'mood' you make and take from it.
I really hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I do!
As I've said a few times now, my musical tastes change with the seasons. In winter, I prefer something a bit slower, bit more 'raw', folky or bluesy and when summer comes around I'm more into upbeat dancey/indie stuff again. It's something I've noticed I do for quite a while now and of course I have some albums that I can listen to anytime of the year, there's definitely some music that I prefer at certain times of the year. There are albums on here that I will have scored higher/lower just because of the season!
Anyway, this album is one of those that I discovered quite recently (2022 I think) on Spotify. It just came on after I'd finished listening to an album/playlist, but it really caught my ear and I went off to find the album. Of course, looking at an album on Spotify is very different to looking at vinyl or a CD but I loved the artwork, title of the album and the track names. I played it a few times and pretty soon it became a firm favourite and is a 'start of Spring or Summer' album I will go to again and again.
The album is People On Sunday by Domenique Dumont.
I'm not sure if I can describe this album as ambient (I don't think it is), electronica (it's hard to tell) or what really.
You might be thinking that ambient music is my favourite genre seeing as I've nominated Planetary Unfolding and Air before but it's not. This is very likely to be the last ambient album I nominate as most of my favourite albums are from the 60s/70s. However, I love ambient music and it's a genre that's really grown on me in recent years.
I love just being able to put it on and know that I can just dip in and out. It's .always subtle - you have to listen to find the beauty much of the time but when you find it, it's probably as good as any written word, if not more so. I think classical music is very similar in this respect but of course it's more 'obvious' for want of a better word. I've said before that words get in the way with some music and I sometimes like to have no words as you have to listen more to what is being said in the notes!
I love it that it can be nothing and everything at the same time. It can help you concentrate, provide a backing track to a dinner party, help you think, meditate, be still or just be something to listen to in a similar way you might do with classical music. As I have said many times before, the lack of words is something I love because it allows you to interpret the music and 'fill in the blanks' so to speak.
Anyway, it was a good few months after I discovered the album that I found out it was actually a soundtrack to a silent film of the same name. It was filmed on Sundays in Germany in 1929 and I've actually watched the film with the soundtrack and it's really quite poignant. I'm going to keep the album separate to the film, but the track 'Sunshine in 1929' does give you a hint of what it's about. It's that idea that in the summer of 1929, people were doing very ordinary things on Sundays just as we do - fall in love, go for a coffee, bicker, walk in the park etc. However, for me it's the context that they were unaware of what was coming - the Great Depression and ultimately World War II. I am not quite sure how many words you would need to convey that sense of portence.
What I love about this album is that it's joyful, playful and completely optimistic. It sounds like the first flowers of spring coming up. Spring is definitely in the air, the suns out, the trees are waking and young lovers are about in cafes, walking in parks and doing the things young lovers do.
This isn't an album really where you can pick out tracks as such, it's one to listen to from start to finish I think.
Each track is both similar but tells a different part of a story in my view.
'Arrival' feels like that first morning in May when you wake up and know it's going to be warm. After months of shit weather, summers coming and that feeling of warmth, the sound of animals and birds waking up and trees moving feels like this track to me.
'Gone for a wander' just makes me think of them lockdown days of just walking a couple of minutes to the fields near my house where you can walk for miles surrounded by trees, grasses and the like. Me, the wife and our son in nature and that feeling of love and togetherness we had.
'Sunshine in 1929' again just makes me think of the early days of romance with the wife, giggling, laughing and falling in love. It's playful, dainty and just catchy.
I could go on for each track, this is my taking from it and yours will almost certainly be very different simply because there's no words. It's about the 'mood' you make and take from it.
I really hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I do!