The Album Review Club - Week #144 - (page 1893) - XO - Elliot Smith

threespires said:
Bloodied but unbowed! I had presumed it was heading for the threes, so not that brutal in the end really. Not even a VAR review of whether Gornik's cousin's phantom score should count would have saved it from bottom spot.

More seriously I was going to demur from nominating it because I thought one or two would struggle to get beyond a single listen. Had I the prior knowledge that six would I think I would definitely have self-censored but I also think that would have been a mistake on my part.
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You've got to go with what you feel at the time.

There will always be some albums that we don't like, but I'm all for variety across the various nominators.
 
threespires said:
Bloodied but unbowed! I had presumed it was heading for the threes, so not that brutal in the end really. Not even a VAR review of whether Gornik's cousin's phantom score should count would have saved it from bottom spot.

More seriously I was going to demur from nominating it because I thought one or two would struggle to get beyond a single listen. Had I the prior knowledge that six would I think I would definitely have self-censored but I also think that would have been a mistake on my part.
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I listened twice!

And as I've said before, it's not about the score, it's about the music. Opening our ears to something different. Some you win, J J Cale springs to mind, and some you lose...
 
threespires said:
Bloodied but unbowed! I had presumed it was heading for the threes, so not that brutal in the end really. Not even a VAR review of whether Gornik's cousin's phantom score should count would have saved it from bottom spot.

More seriously I was going to demur from nominating it because I thought one or two would struggle to get beyond a single listen. Had I the prior knowledge that six would I think I would definitely have self-censored but I also think that would have been a mistake on my part.
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It' a really good pick bud. Let's not forget this was chart topping Album with a couple UK Number 1 singles back when charts meant something.

Outside of Bluemoon -

pitchfork.com

The Streets: A Grand Don't Come for Free

Whether it's a reaction against the MP3's pending usurpation of the album format or just simple coincidence,\n ...
pitchfork.com pitchfork.com

Critical response for the album, like for his previous album, was near universally positive. It currently scores 91/100 on Metacritic, slightly higher than his previous album, which scored 90/100

The Guardian said that the album "raises the stakes to such an extent that it sounds literally unprecedented: there isn't really any other album like this", and PopMatters stated that Skinner "is now in a class all his own; nobody else is making music like this."

Rolling Stone called A Grand Don't Come for Free "the best British hip-hop concept album ever" and stated that "it is both simpler – in sound and scope – than Pirate and more ambitious".
 
Coatigan said:
Which I'm secretly hoping sees more time for another one of @Black&White&BlueMoon Town 's changeover-day blast from the past post event reviews of a previous nomination he has belatedly revisited. It comes across on this thread how much looking back he has done, which I think is pretty incredible.

(obvious recognition of current pre-occupation events noted)
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I'm sadly going to unfortunately disappoint on that front this week. Your recognition is spot on - I'm either mostly flat on my back, going through initial PT with a right leg that cannot yet move on its own, and trying to occasionally keep up with work. Also, unlike the Verve song, the drugs do work. Oh, and since finding the BM Playlist club, I'm trying to keep up there too as best I can.

I can confirm I am looking forward to the upcoming holiday break on this thread to sample some of the prior albums here that I'm not familiar with (a good number I already am), so I can enjoy some new music coming up. Recommendations will be most welcome, or I'll start at the top of albums I don't know.

I'll sum up this past week's AGDCFF offering and say the most frustrating part was sorting through those few clues from @threespires taking me no where closer to guessing it. ;-)
 
On this topic of hip-hop by normies, I’ve enjoyed the below video for years. Though I am no kind of evangelical Christian (this was played as part of a church retreat) I’ve always thought this was both brilliant and very funny.



And the 2020 version — ten years later and twenty pounds heavier — is just as good.

 
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RobMCFC said:
Whilst we wait for the next album, I just wanted to check in with a few people.

@BimboBob - Hope you are feeling OK at the moment - A morning cleaning the bathroom suggests you are up to taking your place on 13th December - but as ever, just let me know what you want to do.

A couple of people not seen in here for a while, including next week's nominator, please let me know if you are OK to take your slot:-

06/12/2023 @Gareth Barry Conlon
10/01/2024 @denislawsbackheel

Everbody else - be prepared to move up a week or two if there are any dropouts.
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I’m in
 
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