Day 39 - The Good, the bad, and the downright awful

The Association - Birthday
1960s pop fare. These crazy recordings where half the instruments are in one ear, the vocals in the other, they do my head in. It's as if someone said "Hey! Look at this! St-e-r-eeee-ooo!", and went nuts with it. There's an element of Beatles in here, with a heavy dose of Beach Boys, to give you an idea of what it sounds like. Some of the guitar work is very nice, and vocally the guys are very good. I can see these being popular amongst the tripping, more conservative, youth of the 1960s, but it doesn't have much of a place in today's world I am afraid. Too glitzy, and popsy, and THAT STEREO! Belongs in the 60s and should stay there. I imagine this will be what its like listening to Britney Spears again in 30 years time - yeah it was okay at the time, should have stayed there. Some 60s music stands the test of time, but for me at least, not this record. Dull and boring. Very cool psychedelic album cover though!
Standout Tracks: Barefoot Gentleman, Time for Livin', Here in here, The Bus Song

The B-52s - The B-52s
Inspired choice of album name. I had to look up what "New Wave" was considered to be in the world of music, and it's apparently rooted into punk in the late 70s, early 80s. Now this would normally put me off, but I think this album owes more to surf style rock, with cool twanging riffs on the guitars throughout, which makes it more appealing. It's all a little off the wall, different, and is rather pleasant to listen to. Sounds like the band had a great time making this record, which shows in the energy and enthusiasm of the recording. The guitar playing here is really very good, rock and roll riffs on what sounds like a twanging telecaster, and when the synths are added, they are done so sparingly and tastefully. Overall a good record.Standout Tracks: Planet Claire, Rock Lobster

Babyface - Tender Lover
Well. I am only two songs in and I hate it already. This could not be further removed from the kind of music I like, drab, boring, overproduced, lovesick drivel. Sounds like a cross between Michael Jackson and a 1980s romantic comedy. Neither of which I like. Are you getting the impression by now? It's rubbish. Utter tosh. I could go on with the negative platitudes, but I won't bother - waste of energy, can't wait for it to finish.Standout Tracks: None of them, all crap.

Day 38 - Funk, post funk, and more funk!

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magic
The album that announced the arrival of the Chili's as one of the most important bands of our time. Heavily infused funk and rock mixed up in a perfect mash of screaming guitars, laid back clean sounds, and Flea's irrepressibly funky bass playing. All tied together by Chad Smith's rock solid beats. The vocals are awesome too! There is nothing bad to say about this album, and it sounds as fresh today as it did in 1991 when it came out all those years ago. This is one of the best albums in this list, and such standout tracks as Breaking the Girl, Under the Bridge, and the far too cool Mellowship Slinky in B Major .... just a perfect recording.
Standout Tracks: All of them. This is pure class

Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting FlameI've seen a fair bit of John Mclaughlin on YouTube when off on jazz guitarist rambles, but this will be the first of his full albums I have listened to. Rather pretentious sounding name and title, and the album certainly begins with plenty of ambition. Some of the guitar playing is really rather impressive as you might expect, 100mph in places. The music is dreamy and evocative in places and frantic in others, with key changes, time changes and wierd things abounding. Its what you might expect from a 1970s instrumental concept album - not entirely unlikeable, but then not all that interesting either. McLaughlin's guitar playing just about rescues the record from boredom. That said, the standout tracks are very good, I do have a problem enjoying the rest of them.
Standout tracks: The Noonward Race, Vital Transformation

Day 37 - All the women look like Zorba

Neil Ardley - Greek Variations
This is a strangely constructed album. One huge tune at 23:35 minutes long, then seven more of 4:00 or less. The opening opus is called Greek Variations, and is interesting. It's jazz (after a fashion) and through all the noodling you can hear snatches of standards (at least I think I can), that float past but like clouds can't quite be grasped. The album, or the first track at least is operatic in scope, and takes in all sorts of tune, dissonance, effect, it's like listening to an orchestra in places with a jazz sense to it. Not entirely unlikeable, though somewhat meandering. After the opening track, it settles down into more of what you might expect from a jazz album, and is rather mellow in nature for a couple of tracks before the tempo gets going again. Good stuff, with the exception of the wayward first track that lost me a bit in places.
Standout Tracks: Wine Dark Lullaby, Sirens Song

Day 36 - Phat synths and Punk

The Adverts - Crossing the Red Sea with the Adverts
This is punk from the 1970s. Not a genre I particularly enjoy, or respect, as I hold the belief that to get the impact of this music you had to be there. Still, this is not a bad album in places. The songs seem well crafted, and are a little more technically complex than your average punk rubbish. The songs are short enough to not get bored, but there's a lot of them! I'm not a huge fan, I will admit, but there are places in the album where I'm slightly impressed with the songwriting, if not the general tone and feel of the album. It's not a keeper, but I've heard worse. I do like the sinister nature of Gary Gilmore's eyes though - a story about someone who received a serial killers corneas as a transplant ... wierd and slightly disturbing.
Standout Tracks: Newboys, On the roof, Gary Gilmores Eyes, No Time to be 21

Ellen Allien - Thrills
Big fat synths abound on this German techno album. I've gained an appreciation of how difficult it is to create synthesised music since trying out some software synths on my iPad and trying to make a decent noise. A year ago this would have been utter bobbins, but today it's not bad. Atmospheric grooves, some truly phat sounds, and the odd haunting vocal colour this decent effort. And did I mention the PHAT synth sounds! It's hypnotic, and foot tapping, and ... oddly I like it. It's difficult to pick out a standout track or two though, as (and this is by no means a criticism, just an observation) the albums tunes all sound ... well, pretty much the same. I like the sound, so thats not a problem, just a reason a couldn't pick one track that stood out from the others.
Standout Tracks: See notes

AR Kane - Sixty Nine
After a rather wierd intro, we get going in the genre of what I might call "alternative pop". It's light and airy, the arrangements are sparse, if a little over-produced on the drums/bass. The guitar work more than makes up for it, lots of dirty feedback. Vocally, it's dreamy and set back in the mix, these guys really do like their reverb.. it's pretty dreary stuff, although I will admit that the noises they are getting out of their guitars are pretty impressive, well controlled feedback. Sounds like a few substances were harmed in the making of this record, and not one I am particularly enjoying, despite the cool guitar efforts, and then often tense dissonance. No doubting the bands ability, it's just dull.
Standout Tracks: It's all a bit dreary

Day 35 - Back, and in the mood for jazz

Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else
Ah some real jazz! With Miles Davis, Art Blakey and friends. This album kicks off with a rendition of Autumn Leaves that is different to the others out there, as Adderley and Davis trade solos. Where Adderley runs up and down the scales frenetically, Miles leans back and puts the chill back into the album, while the bass drives the performances forward relentlessly. I'm always struck by Miles Davis ... I know nothing about trumpet playing, but I instantly know its him, he has such a standout style of his own. A year ago, I might have dismissed this music as nothing more than self indulgent, albeit pleasant, twoddle. These days I listen to a lot more jazz than I ever used to and I am starting to understand it, making this record a joy to listen to. Quick mention for the pianist and drummer, they rock too!
Standout Tracks: All of them. This is quality music

Rabih Abou-Khalil - The Cactus of Knowledge
Jazz! But with a destinctive Middle Eastern tinge to it, both in the percussion and the scales these cats are playing through. It's pretty laid back stuff, nice tension building between the horns, with the use of more exotic style scales. It's an odd listen, in that it feels like jazz but it's jazz from somewhere .... else. Some lovely violin and cello stuff in there too. It's nice, I like it, but I think it'll take a few listens to fully understand and appreciate this mixture of jazz and eastern culture, which at times is rather soft and gentle, and at others a manic flurry of saxophone and dissonance to bring to mind a bustling market or street somewhere in the Middle East. On a side note (no pun intended!) I love the cover to the album, a sort of Islamic style simplistic cover that looks very cool.
Standout Tracks: Fraises et Creme Fraiche, Go to go home