The Album Review Club - Week #196 (page 1316) - Aja - Steely Dan

[RobMCFC]

@Coatigan you've managed to get an 8 out of bimbo and fog in the same week. if I were you I'd take the plaudits, announce my retirement and move to Costa rica or somewhere nice like that. Your work here is done mate.

I don't like to focus on people's individual scores but now you've mentioned it, my thoughts on seeing Bimbo's score were: how the hell can you torpedo one great album after another and then give this week's pick an 8?

 

[threespires]

if I was drinking single malt at 2am The Streets may have sounded musical!!

A win's a win!

(Makes note for nomination of Insane Clown Posse - provide instruction for which alcohol/narcotics to consume before listening)

 

[Coatigan]

I don't like to focus on people's individual scores but now you've mentioned it, my thoughts on seeing Bimbo's score were: how the hell can you torpedo one great album after another and then give this week's pick an 8?

Music, right! The unpredictability of it all, I agree. It's the voltage I think, that gets folk.

 

[Coatigan]

@Coatigan you've managed to get an 8 out of bimbo and fog in the same week. if I were you I'd take the plaudits, announce my retirement and move to Costa rica or somewhere nice like that. Your work here is done mate.

Can I get a hallelujah! The ones from the back now..

 

[Saddleworth2]

Lol I couldn't cope with anything that hard core.

The straw that broke the camels back was when I asked the CIO of a large multi-national whether his lack of empathy towards the people he was unnecessarily laying off was because he was neuro diverse or because he was simply a sociopath; I suggested it would be helpful to know as we could use the answer as input into how we designed his new target operating model.

you are an Accenture consultant with a double barrelled name that wears a flamboyant hat and scarf.
I was that CIO.

 

[threespires]

There is hope for the younger generation after all.

Belfry might be my new favourite (though Ultra Mono is not their bestest album so I'm having to seriously reconsider this) but you Rob (and I say this absolutely with affection) will always be my favourite musical old reactionary !

In a sea of inconsistent irrational gibbering, mostly by me, you are an island of constancy. When I read your post, I immediately heard Kate Rusby's version of The Village Green Preservation Society (and that is a good thing).

 

[Saddleworth2]

At the moment this album is making me feel queasy but in a disturbingly nice way.

The queasy you get when another peaty single malt is sliding down and you are unsure whether it's a good idea. I mean, it's 2.20am, you really should be in bed but the lure of another is strong. I'll just finish this and be in bed by 2.30. Easy. Your tastebuds are relishing the shooting firework moments that are exploding all around so much that another wee one, and a later bed time, might be on the cards. Nothing going on in the morning anyway. And then it turns, as though that extra malt had pushed it all too far. Such a stupid idea. What was I thinking. I'm nearly 60. I have things wrong with me. I should have gone to bed hours ago. I'm going to feel like shit when daylight comes.
Awake, bleary, and in that mid semi conscious fug you glance at the time. 8.40. Six hours sleep give or take. Not enough, never enough. Bloody whisky. Always gets the blame for my weak willed night time splurges.

A weird album for sure. Listen to it with the right circumstances, see above, and it's a fantastic mood matcher. Middle of the afternoon, sun beating down, fan assistance hardly working, tea on the go and it's a completely different beast. But I like completely different beasts.

I'm also getting the delicious disjointedness of Faith No More at their peak. And that's a very good thing.


8/10

is the 8/10 for the album or the Bunnahabhain?

 

[Saddleworth2]

Along with our records by Bad//Dreems, Drive By Truckers and Lucinda Williams (whose album I already knew had received rave reviews from critics at-large), this is the best find on the thread — just a little better than Fatima Mansions (another very good one)

Just an idea, but one week when we are short of a proposer, we should identify our top ten 'finds' from this thread. It would be interesting how many were common and what came out on top for popularity. What do you think @RobMCFC ?

 

[threespires]

you are an Accenture consultant with a double barrelled name that wears a flamboyant hat and scarf.
I was that CIO.

I was once in a meeting with a client and an accenture principal where the fact that anyone not employed by one of their 2 biggest suppliers were being removed from the estate came up as an issue. The client suggested that to address this I joined accenture. There was a tense moment of silence and then me and the accenture guy both burst out laughing simultaneously. It was like the white-collar geek version of the Goodfellas club scene. In hindsight I was a bit offended that the Accenture laughed slightly harder than me, but then he wasn't wrong.

Btw did the Accenture guy wear a bow tie too? In which case I might know him!

 

[RobMCFC]

Just an idea, but one week when we are short of a proposer, we should identify our top ten 'finds' from this thread. It would be interesting how many were common and what came out on top for popularity. What do you think @RobMCFC ?

Not a bad idea. @threespires has all the data now so he could probably rustle up a list of everybody's top 10 based purely on points.

I know many like the inter-round guessing game but maybe this time around we could do something based on this instead?

 

[BimboBob]

I don't like to focus on people's individual scores but now you've mentioned it, my thoughts on seeing Bimbo's score were: how the hell can you torpedo one great album after another and then give this week's pick an 8?

Torpedo?

I like to think I was honest about my feelings. Feelings. Wooo ooo ooo feelings.

 

[RobMCFC]

Torpedo?

I like to think I was honest about my feelings. Feelings. Wooo ooo ooo feelings.

I don't doubt your feelings or that you post what you truly believe on any given week.

But it's just so hard to figure out what really moves you in any consistent way :)

 

[Saddleworth2]

Not a bad idea. @threespires has all the data now so he could probably rustle up a list of everybody's top 10 based purely on points.

I know many like the inter-round guessing game but maybe this time around we could do something based on this instead?

No, I meant rate them now. Opinions change hugely and I find myself constantly picking up these albums again and reassessing them. A top ten of 'best finds' would mean that albums that everyone knew like Revolver don't feature but that's ok. It would identify those albums that had added most value to folk rather than those that are scored most highly. As an example my top three 'add value' might be 1. John Cale 2. War on Drugs 3. Rodriguez (might not be either), whilst my top 3 scores would not have been for those albums - they would have been Revolver, Foxtrot, Rory live - all bands and albums that I know inside out, back to front. See what I mean?

 

[RobMCFC]

No, I meant rate them now. Opinions change hugely and I find myself constantly picking up these albums again and reassessing them. A top ten of 'best finds' would mean that albums that everyone knew like Revolver don't feature but that's ok. It would identify those albums that had added most value to folk rather than those that are scored most highly. As an example my top three 'add value' might be 1. John Cale 2. War on Drugs 3. Rodriguez (might not be either), whilst my top 3 scores would not have been for those albums - they would have been Revolver, Foxtrot, Rory live - all bands and albums that I know inside out, back to front. See what I mean?

Yes, makes sense.

 

[threespires]

I don't doubt your feelings or that you post what you truly believe on any given week.

But it's just so hard to figure out what really moves you in any consistent way :)

Senokot?

 

[Saddleworth2]

Yes, makes sense.

maybe see if the others think its a good or bad idea.

 

[Coatigan]

No, I meant rate them now. Opinions change hugely and I find myself constantly picking up these albums again and reassessing them. A top ten of 'best finds' would mean that albums that everyone knew like Revolver don't feature but that's ok. It would identify those albums that had added most value to folk rather than those that are scored most highly. As an example my top three 'add value' might be 1. John Cale 2. War on Drugs 3. Rodriguez (might not be either), whilst my top 3 scores would not have been for those albums - they would have been Revolver, Foxtrot, Rory live - all bands and albums that I know inside out, back to front. See what I mean?

I think it is a good idea. Could do it in bluehammer prescribed scoring metric, we all individually send our 1 to 10 (or 5) top finds that we havent heard before, and the scores 10 to 1 self working form the list. Perhaps at the end of the round.

Maybe, we even take it a step further, where that inter round playlist is made up of favourite songs from the top find. I.e each poster puts up a top find song, and that's the playlist. Sure they will be repeats (depending on when you joined) but might be interesting revisiting.

 

[Saddleworth2]

I was once in a meeting with a client and an accenture principal where the fact that anyone not employed by one of their 2 biggest suppliers were being removed from the estate came up as an issue. The client suggested that to address this I joined accenture. There was a tense moment of silence and then me and the accenture guy both burst out laughing simultaneously. It was like the white-collar geek version of the Goodfellas club scene. In hindsight I was a bit offended that the Accenture laughed slightly harder than me, but then he wasn't wrong.

Btw did the Accenture guy wear a bow tie too? In which case I might know him!

poetic licence actually. He was an IBM Consultant and he did wear a bow tie. We used Accenture extensively for our takeovers and mergers.
I hope you said 'you laughing at me?'
'Am I a Clown you?"
'Do I amuse you?'
Giving the best Joe Pesci psycho stare.

 

[Saddleworth2]

I think it is a good idea. Could do it in bluehammer prescribed scoring metric, we all individually send our 1 to 10 (or 5) top finds that we havent heard before, and the scores 10 to 1 self working form the list. Perhaps at the end of the round.

Maybe, we even take it a step further, where that inter round playlist is made up of favourite songs from the top find. I.e each poster puts up a top find song, and that's the playlist. Sure they will be repeats (depending on when you joined) but might be interesting revisiting.

I do. think it's a good idea to revisit. I know I panned one or two albums that I now, through repeated listens really like and albums I really liked initially that I now can't play (hello Lucinda). Top 5 Albums with favourite track from top 2/3 would be manageable and would allow for a playlist of 30-60 songs.

 

[Coatigan]

You know what this record isn’t? It isn’t shallow, candy-assed, lightweight or chickenshit. It’s like the walking dead — hard to kill, and every time you turn the corner after making it past one song, there’s a slightly different zombie there to take you out that attacks you from a different angle. After to listening to this three times, I found myself drained of energy after each sitting. And, not to put to find a point on it, somewhat exhilarated.

Along with our records by Bad//Dreems, Drive By Truckers and Lucinda Williams (whose album I already knew had received rave reviews from critics at-large), this is the best find on the thread — just a little better than Fatima Mansions (another very good one). The combination of influences from bands I like — Joy Division, Nine Inch Nails, even Gang of Four— and the darkly-drenched atmospherics is novel and intense. It’s as if Joe Talbot is conducting an orchestra in a coffin. And he’s not marshaling dirges. He’s working through pain and despair, but he’s also encouraging us to dance, to get up, to sing.

What makes the sound here is t the atmospherics — is the one-two punch of nearly all music I love: the bass and the drums. The bass is the nail gun and drums are short, but very sharp, tacks. Through nearly every song save the opener, which I still liked, and Beachland Ballroom (the only tune that didn’t appeal to me), they are relentless in structuring the melody and the beat. I guess that means they’re the pallbearers given my metaphor, but I found myself conflicted over and over — do I get up and move, or do I drown myself in a barrel of Night Train?

The contradiction is very, very winning. And I wish I had time to parse the lyrics, which I will, but I expect what I will find is a lot of defiance, a lot of dark observations but tinged with hope (because to move is to defy death, which is hope) and — I think — some constructive social commentary albeit steeped in Britannia (if not Bristolia).

Do I have an issue with the vocals? On The End I do, I guess, but elsewhere they don’t detract, they add pathos. I do wish there was a bit more actual singing — Talbot’s voice when he goes up an octave for a brief moment in the opener is rather winning.

Like one of my favo(u)rite all-time records Husker DU’s New Day Rising, it devolves some toward the end, but Wheel, Lights, Crash, Sensation and Stockholm is a great run of song-sounds. But the one I loved best was Meds — and that because it reminded me so much of the aforementioned Gang of Four, whose sound was truly their own.

I am looking forward to playing this many times more though I’m not sure what my mood should be going in. What kind of day is this music the soundtrack to? I’m not sure — but finding out will be a rich exercise. A solid 8/10 and very well done @Coatigan for taking a chance and pulling it off, at least for me.

I'm totally stealing your walking dead analogy. The orchestra in a coffin is a good line too.

Interesting mentions of influences, some of which I see, some that I'll now look for.

Re mood, I find it great house chore music. Apparently, juat dancing around to it in the house is weird, but doing sonwith a stick in your hand while mopping or sweeping floors, means you are in a good mood. As mentioned previously, the fance looks like an elvis and jim morroson love child doing an impression of ace ventura in a tutu. I find it good for focus mood, some of my best work, or at least most productive has been done to this album. But I like bimbo's late night description too, might try that some time.