The Album Review Club - End of Round #9 Break (page 1904)

[RobMCFC]

Blimey, You timed that right!
They like to party the Spanish.
I’d be hiding in the hotel room, crying and listening to Blue Nile if I was you over there and we lose.

Whilst I'd obviously like to win, holidays trump football and I wouldn't lose too much sleep if we lost (again).

 

[BlueHammer85]

Whilst I'd obviously like to win, holidays trump football and I wouldn't lose too much sleep if we lost (again).

I’m feeling pessimistic, the Spanish are so strong but it’s a final and we’re finding a way in games this tournament. So who knows.
I’ll be gutted if/when we lose - but life goes on and back to Hammers smashing the PL will be the focus.

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

Yes it is. I shall endeavour to score more often

Not even Doves got you off the sidelines. ;-)

Great review and enjoying reading what you, Rob, and threespires have added. Seeing threespires original prior prediction about how this album might do here was another eye opener given how well it is doing thus far.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

I've owned this since it's release, and though I liked it, it didn't strike me as quite at the level of the rave reviews it received and arguably similar to Bimbo's comment I liked A Walk Across the Rooftops more. But within a year of two I'd shifted to a place that I thought this was just a truly fantastic piece of music.

I'll post again on it before the week is out but in the car on the way into work this morning I was musing on how I would try and best sum up how I felt about this album and that was what came to me.

Edit: I've just checked and we briefly discussed this album when Bimbo nominated Talk Talk's Colour of Spring.

View attachment 124992

Clearly I'd decided that it wouldn't go down well but I'm glad you had no such qualms. I still think they'll be some for whom it won't hit the spot but it's great to see it being appreciated by some already.

There's a couple of regulars whose view of this I'll be really interested in too so all in all a fantastic pick imo.

Talk Talk- Colour of Spring.
Now that brings me back. What an album.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

At some point our children stop wanting us to sing lullabies to them. I don’t remember when it was with mine, but I remember conflicting feelings about the fact they no longer felt the need for them. Great that they felt secure enough to do without them and to see them growing and developing before my eyes but sad that a particular time had passed.

But I never really gave a thought to the lullabies themselves. Like imaginary friends, stopped in their tracks, put aside never to grow and develop with the child they had once offered so much to.

But what if the lullaby wasn’t abandoned in infancy, what if lullabies did indeed adapt and grow with us even into adulthood?

What if instead of always taking us to our chosen destination, the lullaby could take a more nuanced tone, maybe even a darker noirish one, reflective of the fact that our dreamland doesn’t always turn out to be the destination we dreamt it to be?

What if the perspective changed from calming pastoral scenes to the rain splattered window of the cab with the orange sodium streetlights reflected in the droplets.

What if the narrative changed from sleepy heads on pillows, to heads lying on partially misted glass; as you both stare out of your side of the cab because, even as you still tightly clutch each other hands, you know it isn’t going to end well but you are not yet ready for it to end at all?

What if someone could make grown up lullabies and treat them a bit like classical movements within a single bigger 38 minute lullaby?

Well, it wouldn’t be a lullaby then, would it?

But what if, after all that mutation to account for our messier more complicated adult lives and all that increased sophistication to feed our more nuanced brains, what if it still sounded like a lullaby because it still cocooned you in warmth and humanity and it was, despite the accumulated scars, still about and stood above all else on the side of love.

Well, in that case you’d have created Hats by The Blue Nile.

9/10.

So you’re saying, you like it?

 

[mrbelfry]

A stark change of pace compared to the last two weeks with a very mature album. Last week was about falling in love with a supermodel in the LA sunshine. This week is about settling into love with a cardigan. Definitely a cult album if the price of the vinyl on ebay is any gauge. After being determined from the outset to hate last weeks offering I listen to this album so determined to demonstrate my tastes are sophisticated and nuanced I almost wrote the review in French.

The first 10 seconds of Over The Hillside sets the style of this album and perhaps indicates why its lovers affirm the timelessness of the sound. The drums and palm muted guitar instantly reminded me Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper and although there is lots of similarities it remains stubbornly understated refusing to evolve and build in the 80’s pop style. Every song is probably 20bpm too slow and as the drums are performed on a drum machine the repetition of the songs quickly becomes hypnotic and soothing. There are enough synth textures, muted brass and string pads drifting in and out to keep your ears engaged and occasionally the vocalist will wake up as well. It’s atmospheric and evocative with a staccato bass with a great tone.

The whole album sounds great and is engineered and produced in immaculately. Everything seems deliberate and thoughtful. It’s already been mentioned there is some kind of link to a high end hifi manufacturer and the band and you can definitely hear that this is designed to be played with the sound washing over you on quality equipment. Lots of people have already commented on the early evening late night atmosphere and this is definitely a vibes album.

The Downtown Lights starts off with a classic 80’s bass chugging 8th notes and it’s here where it sounds a little dated. I was left wondering if the album needed more drama and less rainy nights stood at bus stops. However listening to the Rod Stewart version with added dynamics and a more showy vocal demonstrates that actually restraint is where this album wins. To be fair it does get a little wild at the end and it is that excess that dates it a little to me.

The restraint returns with Let’s Go Out Tonight. The lyrics are full of longing - for what I’m not sure. Perhaps the relationship is dying and in a last throw of the dice he’s imploring his love to go out. It’s romantic but restrained because you’ll just be going down the pub. The muted brass and textures are back and it sounds flipping lovely. Paul Buchanan is not the greatest vocalist but you believe in whatever emotion he is singing. It’s a long song with not much happening but it retained my interest and is probably my favourite.

Headlights on the Parade has me reaching for my phone every time. I’m sure it’s on some ringtone makers mood board but no professional would play the piano as badly as it’s played in this song. At first I wanted more drama and energy from this album but every time things kick up and we approach song territory I just want the mood back.

From A Late Night Train brings it back spectacularly by doing very little. Piano, vocals, pads, muted trumpet, quiet pain and suffering. The less that happens the more I love it. It's probably my favourite.

Seven A.M. again sounds dated but slinks along. Anyone singing “Where is the Love?” is just going to remind me of the Black Eyed Peas and immediately put me in a spiteful mood then suddenly the song turns into Automatic by the Pointer Sisters. Did they just put that part in as a joke before realising they quite liked it? Literally no one cares.

Saturday Night ends the album and is the second most unromantic love song ever recorded (John Legends love song to himself about how great he is because he loves someone who isn’t as perfect as him wins that award but is so obnoxious I want to hold his head underwater to see if he can really breathe fine). Saturday Night is about loving an
ordinary girl who makes things alright (not all right). The world is full of of ordinary people doing ordinary things in the rain - not the Notting Hill romanticised rain but in the rain where you step on a loose paving slab and a squirt of dirty rain water floods your shoe - a romantic evening that is not spent coming home on in uber but on a bus with a mental guy telling you that Fred Dibnah was assassinated by big chimney and only he knows the truth.

This is close to a perfect album. The slower it goes and the less it does the more I love it. At first I thought the low energy was going to kill it but it doesn’t send me to sleep it makes more listen more intently. My only wish is that it was darker in texture - swap out the violins for a cello, add more dirt and grain, plug the guitar into a broken amp and soak it in reverb. I want it less hifi and more lofi. Get Portishead to do a covers album and it’s close to a 10 but as iti s and because some of the songs do too much it’s a high 8.

Spotify is now also suggesting some songs to me and bands I've heard of but never paid any attention too before so this is a great pick and makes me glad of the company in this thread. I promise to learn how to write less in honour of this

 

[threespires]

So you’re saying, you like it?

s'alright if you like that kind of thing...

Talk Talk- Colour of Spring.
Now that brings me back. What an album.

I scored that quite highly as well if I remember rightly! Though Hollis and Buchanan are in many ways quite different, they do share certain certain sensibilities and as vocalists have the ability to transcend any technical limitations with distinctive voices, in all senses of the word, that really cut through.

Both this album and Colour of Spring show that what is ostensibly pop music can absolutely hold it's own against any other genre.

 

[Saddleworth2]

s'alright if you like that kind of thing...




I scored that quite highly as well if I remember rightly! Though Hollis and Buchanan are in many ways quite different, they do share certain certain sensibilities and as vocalists have the ability to transcend any technical limitations with distinctive voices, in all senses of the word, that really cut through.

Both this album and Colour of Spring show that what is ostensibly pop music can absolutely hold it's own against any other genre.

But if the definition of pop is that it’s written to sell maximum records then this isn’t pop. :-)

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

A stark change of pace compared to the last two weeks with a very mature album. Last week was about falling in love with a supermodel in the LA sunshine. This week is about settling into love with a cardigan. Definitely a cult album if the price of the vinyl on ebay is any gauge. After being determined from the outset to hate last weeks offering I listen to this album so determined to demonstrate my tastes are sophisticated and nuanced I almost wrote the review in French.

The first 10 seconds of Over The Hillside sets the style of this album and perhaps indicates why its lovers affirm the timelessness of the sound. The drums and palm muted guitar instantly reminded me Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper and although there is lots of similarities it remains stubbornly understated refusing to evolve and build in the 80’s pop style. Every song is probably 20bpm too slow and as the drums are performed on a drum machine the repetition of the songs quickly becomes hypnotic and soothing. There are enough synth textures, muted brass and string pads drifting in and out to keep your ears engaged and occasionally the vocalist will wake up as well. It’s atmospheric and evocative with a staccato bass with a great tone.

The whole album sounds great and is engineered and produced in immaculately. Everything seems deliberate and thoughtful. It’s already been mentioned there is some kind of link to a high end hifi manufacturer and the band and you can definitely hear that this is designed to be played with the sound washing over you on quality equipment. Lots of people have already commented on the early evening late night atmosphere and this is definitely a vibes album.

The Downtown Lights starts off with a classic 80’s bass chugging 8th notes and it’s here where it sounds a little dated. I was left wondering if the album needed more drama and less rainy nights stood at bus stops. However listening to the Rod Stewart version with added dynamics and a more showy vocal demonstrates that actually restraint is where this album wins. To be fair it does get a little wild at the end and it is that excess that dates it a little to me.

The restraint returns with Let’s Go Out Tonight. The lyrics are full of longing - for what I’m not sure. Perhaps the relationship is dying and in a last throw of the dice he’s imploring his love to go out. It’s romantic but restrained because you’ll just be going down the pub. The muted brass and textures are back and it sounds flipping lovely. Paul Buchanan is not the greatest vocalist but you believe in whatever emotion he is singing. It’s a long song with not much happening but it retained my interest and is probably my favourite.

Headlights on the Parade has me reaching for my phone every time. I’m sure it’s on some ringtone makers mood board but no professional would play the piano as badly as it’s played in this song. At first I wanted more drama and energy from this album but every time things kick up and we approach song territory I just want the mood back.

From A Late Night Train brings it back spectacularly by doing very little. Piano, vocals, pads, muted trumpet, quiet pain and suffering. The less that happens the more I love it. It's probably my favourite.

Seven A.M. again sounds dated but slinks along. Anyone singing “Where is the Love?” is just going to remind me of the Black Eyed Peas and immediately put me in a spiteful mood then suddenly the song turns into Automatic by the Pointer Sisters. Did they just put that part in as a joke before realising they quite liked it? Literally no one cares.

Saturday Night ends the album and is the second most unromantic love song ever recorded (John Legends love song to himself about how great he is because he loves someone who isn’t as perfect as him wins that award but is so obnoxious I want to hold his head underwater to see if he can really breathe fine). Saturday Night is about loving an
ordinary girl who makes things alright (not all right). The world is full of of ordinary people doing ordinary things in the rain - not the Notting Hill romanticised rain but in the rain where you step on a loose paving slab and a squirt of dirty rain water floods your shoe - a romantic evening that is not spent coming home on in uber but on a bus with a mental guy telling you that Fred Dibnah was assassinated by big chimney and only he knows the truth.

This is close to a perfect album. The slower it goes and the less it does the more I love it. At first I thought the low energy was going to kill it but it doesn’t send me to sleep it makes more listen more intently. My only wish is that it was darker in texture - swap out the violins for a cello, add more dirt and grain, plug the guitar into a broken amp and soak it in reverb. I want it less hifi and more lofi. Get Portishead to do a covers album and it’s close to a 10 but as iti s and because some of the songs do too much it’s a high 8.

Spotify is now also suggesting some songs to me and bands I've heard of but never paid any attention too before so this is a great pick and makes me glad of the company in this thread. I promise to learn how to write less in honour of this

So you like it too but are more passively aggressive about it. A few backhanded compliments thrown in just in case Mr. Buchanan and the boys get too big headed about things.

You know I jest!

However between @mrbelfry and @threespires and maybe even @BimboBob Im starting to see where my own views on this album do lie or will ultimately lie.

I currently have this album on twice in a row, with my wife, through dinner and now relaxing in the garden room with the doors open and the sun shining and both of us are totally getting it.
The missus was the one who first got the comparison with Talk Talk. Once said though it’s undeniable. Mark Hollis has a much stronger voice but I disagree with this statement from mrbelfry;
“Paul Buchanan is not the greatest vocalist but you believe in whatever emotion he is singing.”….. in one way only.
I’d reword it;
‘Paul Buchanan is not the greatest SINGER, but his vocals are perfect for whatever emotion he is trying to convey. ‘

There are people like that in all genres of music. People who you would not necessarily call the perfect singers, but they can hold a note. But more importantly their vocals perfectly suit their message.

I get the Talk Talk reference although I think this album has a bit to go yet to convince me it’s in the same bracket as, Colour Of Spring.

This will upset a few in here but the missus also heard tones of Radiohead in some of the songs. I get where she’s coming from but will refrain from pressing this point until I’ve had a few more detailed examinations of this album.

Great pick Sadds. I’m having no trouble motivating myself to play this. It’s taking me back to a time that I’m pretty sure Blue Nile got a lot of love this side of the Irish Sea. I never gave them much attention but there are a couple of songs seem very familiar.
Definitely, The Downtown Lights got airtime over here.

I won’t score this yet. I have a feeling I’ll be playing this well into the weekend.
The acid test will be tomorrow and perhaps Saturday night, when the missus goes out with the girls and I have the house to myself, my music, and my wee dram, as they say in Scotland.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

s'alright if you like that kind of thing...




I scored that quite highly as well if I remember rightly! Though Hollis and Buchanan are in many ways quite different, they do share certain certain sensibilities and as vocalists have the ability to transcend any technical limitations with distinctive voices, in all senses of the word, that really cut through.

Both this album and Colour of Spring show that what is ostensibly pop music can absolutely hold it's own against any other genre.

Shit.
I had just written my last reply to mrbelfry and then read back on the thread updates.
You always put things far better than I do.