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

First of all, what a great nomination by @threespires ! Whether you liked it or not, it provoked a lot of great debate and discussion. And after all, that's what makes this thread so good!

I don't think my nomination will provoke the same reaction though. After the feistiness of the last week and the plethora of 1's I'm hoping this relaxing album will calm everyone down ha ha!

Here we go...

I once heard an idea/theory says that after a mad decade that started with the "Second Summer Of Love" around 1988, the next decade or so is just one stop party. House, RnB, Rap, Grunge and Britpop soundtracked the decade. If you were a youngster in that era, life felt like a long party (it did to me anyway!).

When inevitably happens next is that after that decade of hedonism, people get married, settle down and have kids. They move to the suburbs and can't think of anything worse than going out to a club till 4am then waking up with a baby to deal with. Instead of a wild night at an Indie club going mental to Oasis, you prefer to have a few friends (also with kids) around for house-parties instead. Nothing wild, just a nice meal with a few glasses of wine and good company.

But what music do you put on at your dinner party? House music might be a bit too uptempo and maybe the bass will wake the kids! Oasis has been done and grunge is a bit too loud. You don't want music that intrudes on the conversation. You want 'background music' and maybe something that hints at quiet sophistication. By the mid-2000s there were quite a few bands doing this laid-back, 'relaxing' sound such as Dido, Zero7, Norah Jones, Moby, Goldfrapp and maybe even Coldplay to some extent. I do think there's something in this and I know this band are one of my 'go tos' when I want some background music.

So what does this anecdote/theory have to do with my nomination? Well, my nomination is given as an example of the type of music you might've played at these dinner parties. It's soft, relaxing, background music which hints at that 'quiet sophistication'. I've also heard them described as a band who make soundtracks for films that don't exist. It's "Pocket Symphony" by Air and I think it's a brilliant album, but absolutely no way would I describe it as background music.

I discovered Air by hearing "Sexy Boy" back in the mid-90s and for a while, I assumed they were a bit of a joke band who got lucky with a one-hit-wonder, but I absolutely LOVE that song. It just sounded so completely different to anything else at the time and eventually after hearing "Kelly Watch The Stars" I bought album and fell in love with it. It's one of my all time favourite albums. Their next album wasn't much cop really and I kind of left them behind for about 15 years or so. When Spotify came out, I found "Sexy Boy" and eventually discovered these other albums they made and that's how I found "Pocket Symphony". That album and also "Talkie Walkie" saw them get back to their brilliant best and also develop their sound.

What I love about this album is the low-key cleverness to it. On the one hand it's modern easy listening and perfect dinner-party music. However, making something this easy to listen to yet with lots of little hooks to make it interesting is difficult to do. I'm also unsure at times whether this is an electronic album, or is it natural instruments with synths? As you'll know, I am a bit fan of synthesizer music and especially when it sounds earthly and organic. Air are the absolute masters of making synth-based music sound natural and organic and that's not easy. When they sing, their French accents only add to this other-worldly yet innocent sound.

When the direction of the album changes on Mer du Japon, Left Bank and One Hell Of A Party (with Jarvis Cocker) it breaks it up a bit, but the tracks just fit together so well. The album seems to have lots of different tracks but they all work well together.

As I've said before, I find that my music choices change as the seasons change. My music choice in winter is pretty music completely different to that in summer. However, when Spring and Autumn come around, I tend to find that it's a bit unsettled. I find in Winter that as the nights draw in, the years about to end I sometimes reflect on the last year and what's coming in the next year. It's perfect music to reflect to - Space Maker, Mayfair Song, Redhead Girl, Lost Message, Night Sight and Crickets in particular. They are incredibly atmospheric. You can put them on and just think about something else, but you can also listen to the tracks and just find so much beauty in there.

I never thought I'd be the type of person who could 'get' background/ambient music. When I was younger, I wanted it plain and in your face but as I've got older (more tolerant?) I really enjoy music that enables you to think about things and Air are perfect for that.

I've listened to this album hundreds of times since I found it. I do think terms like 'background music', 'easy listening' are negative terms to describe this style of music. I think it's a bit like my first nomination (Planetary Unfolding) in that when the music doesn't focus on lyrics so much, you have to 'dive into it' a bit more. Personally, as I'm getting older, I sometimes feel that words get in the way. A synth can say a 1000 words in a couple of seconds!

I love the understatedness of this album. I really hope you do too!
 
threespires said:
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 papart.
Click to expand...
Definitely would have been a mistake!!
As much as I didn't like it, to say the least, I don't see this thread as trying or bothered about scores? If I wanted a high score, I'd probably nominate "Abbey Road" ?
For me, it's finding something I like, but would never have found without this thread! If one person has now "discovered" and likes The Streets, then your nomination was a great success! ;)
 
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