Anniversary Albums: Edition Twelve - Radiohead 'Amnesiac' (2001)

This week on anniversary albums we take a look at Radiohead's 2001 release 'Amnesiac'. An album that continued where the band left off on 'Kid A' with more electronic, jazz, and Krautrock influences. 

Tracks Played 

'Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box' 

You and Whose Army' 

'I Might Be Wrong'

'Life in a Glasshouse' 

Radiohead - Amnesiac

- Sam 

Anniversary Albums: Edition Eight - Massive Attack "Blue Lines"

This weeks anniversary album is “Blue Lines” by pioneering trip hop group Massive Attack. In just three days this incredibly influential record will turn 25.

Released in April 1991, “Blue Lines” is considered the first ever trip hop album, a genre that took shape in the city of Bristol, despite the fact the term itself was not coined until a few years later.

Trip hop grew out of the local acid house and underground club scenes, and musically speaking was by and large an experimental fusion of hip hop and electronica, with strong soul, funk, and jazz influences thrown in. 

In terms of sound, aesthetically, trip hop usually combines bass-heavy drumbeats, and/or slowed breakbeat samples, tempos that move between 60 and 100 beats per minute, and melancholic R&B and jazz vocals. All of these aesthetics are on display on “Blue Lines”. 

One of the unique aspects of this record is how many of the tracks are not typical songs in that they do not have choruses or verses. Instead, most of the tracks on “Blue Lines” are based largely on atmospheric dynamics conveyed through experimental arrangements, loops, and digital editing.

The pace of the songs are also not typical of the dance and electronic music seen in the late-80s and early-90s, getting down to as low as 67 beats per minute.

It was this that helped contribute to music journalists labeling their sound as trip hop, something the band hated.

“Blue Lines” certainly made a big impression on its release, reaching number 13 on the UK album chart, while becoming a big record on the club circuit.

It also established Massive Attack as one of the mot innovative groups in Britain, paving the way for other trip hop artists such as Tricky and Portishead to follow suit.

“Blue Lines” lasting legacy and reputation has not died since its release simply because of the fact it pretty much single-handedly ushered in a new genre.

Many music publications have ranked it as one of the best albums of all time, including Q Magazine who voted it the 9th best British album of all time.

Without “Blue Lines”, who knows whether trip hop would have emerged from the underground and become a globally recognised and respected genre.

- Sam 

Sola Rosa - Get It Together (2009)

Summer’s coming in New Zealand, and I have found the perfect summer album. It is five years old, released in 2009, but as a music blogger things often come to my attention late, especially when you consider the vast amount of music there is floating around. But in the case of this seriously funky album by New Zealand collective Sola Rosa, the late coming has definitely been worth it.

Sola Rosa, led by Andrew Spraggon, as a collective has been around the music scene in New Zealand for over ten years exploring and creating a vast array of melodic and groove based sounds. Their music tends to follow a fusion pattern, mixing together more styles than you can count on two hands, including hip hop, jazz, reggae, soul and funk, something that features strongly on this album Get It Together. New Zealand seems to be a melting pot for these types of musical collectives, especially in the past ten years with bands such as Sola Rosa, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Trinity Roots and the Black Seeds pioneering an experimental fusion style of music, but also a no fear approach to composing music where anything is possible and any style can be mixed together. I guess this is also why many of these acts have had great success outside of New Zealand and why their music can often relate to many different types of music fan.

As for the songs on Get it Together, well the album kicks off with the very funky “The Ace Of Space”, a song which has an infectious bass groove, some pretty cool scratch work, as well as splattering’s of strings and horns. This is followed by “Turn Around” which features Iva Lamkum on vocals who does a nice job on this up-tempo R&B track. “Del Ray” is a sort of middle-eastern sounding track, especially in the horn riff which dominates the song, as well as the guitar part which has a slight Spanish flamenco feel to it also. “Humanised” which features Bajka on vocals is a soul-jazz track, with jazz-inspired horns and a raunchy vocal, while “Love Alone” featuring Spikey Tee is a fusion of dub, reggae and hip hop, although the results I find on this track are mixed. Thankfully, things get back on track with the brilliant six minute epic title track “Get It Together”. This instrumental has a Curtis Mayfield vibe to it, especially in the horns and percussion and represents an album highpoint with all the ingredients that make up a good fusion track in the form of jazz, funk, electronic and plenty of groove. I also love how out of nowhere the song transitions into a sort of samba for the last minute, showing that the band can also throw up plenty of surprises when you least expect it. “I’ve Tried Way’s” features Serocee and is a hip hop/electronic track which I thought failed to measure up to some of the other tracks, feeling a bit like a come down, especially after the previous epic. This mini-lul in proceedings unfortunately continues on next track “Lady Love”. However, things get back up and running on “All You Need”, which is another six minute track that has an experimental jazz funk vibe to it, while again showcasing the talent on display here when it comes to composition. I find that on listening to this album the instrumentals really stand out and the band do a great job in experimenting with different rhythms, textures, as well as moulding together different sounds, with this track being a prime example. Finally, the album closes with “Bond is Back”, the hint into what this one sounds like is in the title, and album closer “These Words, These Sounds, These Powers” which is probably the most reggae sounding track on the album.

All in all I found this a great album to listen to, and a perfect album to be played outdoors in the sun with a beer in hand and good food. The instrumentals on here really shine through and showcase just what you can do when you mix different styles of music together across one track. The results are quite simply stunning and in some cases quite mind blowing especially for musical nerds like myself. The rhythms of this album really stand out especially in the bass and percussion, rhythms which do a great job in driving the album along from track to track, just like the great experimental funk and R&B records of the early-70s. In conclusion, I may be five years late to the party but the wait was certainly worth, especially when the results are this good. 

A-

- Sam 

Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots (2014)

For a man who has been in the music industry for over twenty years, it is quite surprising to find that Everyday Robots is Damon Albarn’s first solo album. Up until now, Albarn has had quite a varied career, a career which has seen him have great success with Blur and virtual band Gorillaz, while has also seen him work on one off collaborations such as the Good, the Bad & the Queen and Dr Dee. Such as the musical variety Albarn has explored in his career, it makes this first solo album all the more intriguing to see how the solo Damon Albarn measure’s up to the rest of his work.  

The sound of Everyday Robots I would say is a mash-up of Good, the Bad & the Queen and Gorillaz, although there are moments where you can hear Blur, as well as Albarn’s work with African musicians. Already some music critics have been labelling the sound of Everyday Robots as “sad-hop”, which after listening to the album, I can kind of see where they are coming from. Overall, there is a trip hop feel throughout, especially with the drum machine backbeat that drives a lot of the songs, however most of the songs tend to have more of a mellow melancholic vibe going on, while Albarn’s piano playing has a classical jazz feel to it in the mould of someone like Keith Jarrett. I would say that Everybody Robots is quite an atmospheric album with a strong focus on mood rather than melody on most of the songs. The music and lyrics come across as quite personal and introspective and it’s as if Albarn is opening himself up in a way he has never done before, giving us an insight into his very person, a person whom he has kept guarded over the years. As for personal, well it is pretty much just Albarn on his own singing and playing piano and guitar, although, aside from a small array of session players, Brian Eno makes an appearance, while the Leystone City Mission Choir sing backing vocals on a couple of the tracks.

As for the tracks themselves, well the album begins with title track “Everyday Robots”, which has a Plastic Beach-Gorillaz sound to it with a gentle piano part, strings, sound effects and a trip hop backbeat. This is followed by “Hostiles”, which returns by in large to the Good, the Bad & the Queen’s reflective melancholia all be it with a strong trip hop injection. “Hostiles” is not a stand out track by any means, and actually comes across as quite laboured and somewhat boring. Then there is one of the album’s standouts “Lonely Press Play”, which could even be one of Albarn’s best tracks in recent years. This one certainly has a film soundtrack kind of vibe to it with a kind of casual beauty in its piano lines and string flourishes. “Mr Tembo” is the only real up-tempo song on the record, and interestingly enough is about a baby elephant which Albarn met in Tanzania, leading to what is quite a playful but throwaway lyric. The song features Albarn on ukulele, a pounding bass line, and some great gospel-infused backing vocals from the mission choir in what is a very bubbly track that offers a nice break from the downbeat stuff.

The middle of the album kicks off with “The Selfish Giant” which has a folktronica feel in which Albarn delivers quite a soulful vocal. It also showcases Albarn’s gentle piano playing with a nice classical-jazzy solo in the middle. “You and Me” is the longest track on the album and is quite a moody affair almost like a short story with quite vivid lyrics as Albarn appears more as a narrator rather than singer, while “Hollow Ponds” is a very melancholic reflective track which sounds quite Nick Drake-like in mood and Ray Davies in lyrics. There is not much going on musically on this track, but it represents another tender moment which also features some nice French horn playing. The final few songs on the album begins with “Photographs” which is a standard trip hop track with quite a Massive Attack feel to it. This is followed by “The History of a Cheating Heart”, which is another track which doesn’t really go anywhere and that the album could have really done without. Finally, the album closes with “Heavy Seas of Love” that features Brian Eno on vocals and has a stellar chorus which I can just imagine becoming a sing-a-long fan favourite at festivals. This track is one of the album highlights and is an example of how good a pop writer Albarn can be when he chooses to be. And although Eno is not known for his singing, he does a nice job here adding a different dimension to proceedings with his rather dark eccentric vocals.

Overall, I feel Albarn has done a solid job with Everyday Robots without being outstanding. There are some very nice melancholic moments on the record, while his musicianship is a standout feature in the form of his piano playing especially. A couple of the songs do end up being a bit of a bore, while the presence of two short instrumentals is a blot on the album’s landscape, however these lesser moments are countered by some of Albarn’s best work in recent years. I would say Everyday Robots compares well to his work with Gorillaz and has shown that Albarn can go it alone and be just as successful musically. 

B+

- Sam 

Paul McCartney - NEW (2013)

Paul McCartney’s new album “NEW” is his sixteenth solo studio release and his first album of new material in six years. This release sees McCartney trying different things and experimenting a lot more than he has done in recent years both in terms of the recording of the album, as well as the overall sound. What is different about this album is that McCartney used four different producers to help him produce this record, after he initially set out to trial his favourite producers before eventually deciding to use them all. Giles Martin (son of George), Mark Ronson, Ethan Johns, and Paul Epworth all appear on this record helping Paul behind the mixing desk, with their presence being highly noticeable and having a significant impact in the creation of the overall feel and sound of the album.

“NEW” musically speaking is very varied and probably represents McCartney’s most diverse release in years. Although many of the tracks retain a pop/rock feel to them, some of the recordings are not typical of the traditional pop/rock style that has served McCartney well as a solo artist over the years, a style which instead has largely been replaced with a noticeably strong electronic pop sound and some unusual arrangements as well. The presence of four of the best producers in the business has also ensured that all the material whatever the style has a contemporary slickness to it and a heavily produced feel.

As for the material itself, well the album begins with a full on pop-rocker called “Save Us" which contains some Queen-inspired backing vocals in the chorus in what is a highly charged ferocious start to the album. This is followed by the alternative pop of “Alligator” and “On My Way to Work”, both of which are largely in the traditional McCartney mould all be it with a bit of contemporary pop production to spice things up. “Queenie Eye” is another stomping pop-rocker with a very catchy chorus, while “Early Days” an acoustic folk number is one of Paul’s best songs in recent years and captures him in a tender reflective mood as he sings about the pre-Beatle days and in particular his friendship with John Lennon. This is followed by title track “New” which is probably the most Beatles-sounding song on the album, with its psychedelic pop feel resembling “Got to Get You into My Life” and “Penny Lane”. This is definitely one of the standout songs on the album and captures Paul having fun musically with a brilliant acapella doo wop vocal outro. At the latter end of the record Paul returns to the guitar pop/rock which he is most familiar with in the form of “Everybody Out There” and “I Can Bet”, before he really begins to experiment with a more electronic pop sound. Songs such as “Appreciate”, “Road”, and “Looking at Her” are very adventurous in terms of their arrangements and overly produced electronic sound, but unfortunately it is here where this album falls down and begins to lag. I am sure he had the right intent and I applaud him for experimenting and trying new things, but these songs to me represent a bit of a bore considering some of the quality that appears on the first half of the album.

In conclusion then, overall I would say that this album represents a pretty ambitious offering from Paul and I compliment him for mixing it up stylistically when other established acts of a similar ilk would be more likely to stick with a tried and tested formula at this stage of their career. Although the injection of electronic and contemporary pop influences offer mixed results, there are definitely a few songs on here that show Paul at his strongest musically and represent some of his best work in years. Considering he is still recording and touring at age 71, as well as the fact that his last record was an indifferent collection of old standards this album is a pretty good effort. Paul’s attempt on “NEW” to rework his sound to suit a more modern audience, while also his decision to experiment with some more modern influences shows he at least still has plenty of musical ideas to play with, not to mention the energy and desire to turn those ideas into a reality, something that I applaud and marvel at.

B

- Sam

 

 

 

 

The Knife - Shaking the Habitual (2013)

Following a seven-year hiatus of studio releases, Swedish electronic band The Knife (comprised of brother-sister duo Karin and Olaf Dreijer) made their comeback in April this year with their fourth release, Shaking the Habitual.

In their breakout album Deep Cuts, the band utilised 80s-inspired electro-based synth melodies that felt like a natural fit in your average club scene, whereas the proceeding Silent Shout was slower, morose, and embraced a more chilling, minimalist dark ambient style. The band progresses even further on Shaking the Habitual, where the duo fuses these styles from previous releases yet pushes them to extremes in a rougher, abrasive and experimental fashion. You only have to glance at the album’s length and the duration of some tracks to get a sense of this – as a double album, it borders on 100 minutes and contains individual tracks that last as long as 19 minutes.

However, the album does gently ease the listener into its experimental side with its first two tracks, “A Tooth For an Eye” and “Full of Fire”, which are probably the two most accessible songs. “A Tooth For an Eye” features instrumentation that is incredibly varied, with a tribal, afrobeat-inspired rhythm to it as well as pulsating synth beats. Karin Dreijer’s vocal style is reminiscent of her work on Deep Cuts, with not nearly as much distortion as there was on Silent Shout, and I love the way her voice stretches to its limit on parts like “I’m telling storie-ee-ee-ees” and “trust mee-eee-eee-aaa-hhh!” There’s also an occasional woodwind sound in this track that hangs around, and it’s a pleasant addition. “A Tooth For an Eye” is almost a near-perfect harmony of the styles from Deep Cuts & Silent Shout, but with far more complexity. And like in Deep Cuts, the opening track gives the listener a sense of the album’s general makeup, but in Shaking the Habitual, it’s only the Toothtip of the Eyeberg. (cue a chorus of groans, I know that was bad) The following “Full of Fire” is a cut that is definitely drawing on some of the synth-heavy elements from Deep Cuts, but as the upbeat synths ebb away, the track progresses into an erratic array of sounds with heavy and distorted electronic noise. But it’s only a taster of what is to come.

After the relative normality of the first two tracks, in “A Cherry on Top” the album descends into a spooky combination of sounds, and creates an atmospheric, dark ambient feel. The distorted synths that made brief appearances in “Full of Fire” dominate this track, along with various field recordings that sound chopped and reversed. After 5 minutes of noise, Karin Dreijer’s slow, haunting vocals enter, but soon fade away to more ambience and distortion. There’s a choral vocal track near the end which reminds me of the chanting heard from the monoliths in 2001: A Space Odyssey, albeit edited. “Without You My Life Would Be Boring” is a welcome return to the varied, organic sound featured on the opening track, featuring tribal drums, woodwinds and maracas accompanied by unobtrusive, thick synth lines. “Wrap Your Arms Around Me” uses thudding drums and even more electronic distortion which envelops the song as it progresses, and Karin Dreijer’s vocals only linger in the background.

And then the closer of the album’s first half, “Old Dreams Waiting To Be Realized”. At 19 minutes it seems excessive. But it’s an eerie and foreboding ambient track, and as you listen you can’t help but get this overwhelming sense of dread and darkness. It’s lifeless yet captivating, creepy as hell, and easily induces goose bumps. Apparently composed and cut down from hours of sounds recorded in a boiler room, but there’s little evidence of its origin in the track. I highly recommend against playing this when driving alone at night, unless you want to spend nigh on 20 minutes on the verge of paranoia.

“Raging Lung” continues where the first side’s closer left off, but with an ever so slight increase in tempo, and aided by more tribal drumming along with Karin Dreijer’s vocals, which are a relief after 19 minutes of dreary lifelessness. But it eventually descends back into a dark ambient vibe towards the end, but with light percussion and soft whispering by Dreijer. The calypso-style beats heard throughout Deep Cuts make an understated, brief cameo in this track as well.

“Networking” contains a bizarre mix of sounds, in combination with a jumpy electronic beat, along with Karin Dreijer’s vocals that are distorted and looped, and “Stay Out Here” is another tribal-infused vibe, but with synths, not drums. Dreijer’s vocals suddenly transform into panting as the track plays, but are warped and distorted through various stages. Dreijer is also joined on this track by Shannon Funchess of synth group Light Asylum, whose vocal work adds a dash of smooth soul, and is oddly suitable and refreshing.

The second half’s experimental ramble, “Fracking Fluid Injection”, is an eerie composition with cawing vocals by Karin Dreijer that seem to vary on several registers and are looped and distorted over a bizarre, scraping metallic sound. Dreijer’s vocals suddenly become a low moan, then a raspy wail as the track winds down, and a dull, cumbersome synth sound begins to wallow around. This is easily the weirdest track on here, and is bound to grate on a few listeners’ ears the first time around at least.

“Ready to Lose”, the album’s final track, begins with more tribal-infused synths, followed by artificial claps and Karin Dreijer’s vocals, which have returned to some semblance of coherence. Compared to what has come before it, the beat here is tame yet interesting, and actually serves as a welcome comedown for an album that has dived within your subconscious and taken you from extremity to extremity.

As its name would suggest, Shaking the Habitual challenges and reconstructs the sounds within in The Knife’s previous efforts. Gone are the groovy synths that dominated Deep Cuts, gone is the cohesiveness of Silent Shout, replaced with sounds that seem hell bent on treading musical ground that is harsh, haunting and unfortunately irritating at times. People that were fans of Deep Cuts should approach this album with a degree of caution, fans of Silent Shout will feel a bit more at home with some of the sounds here, but I doubt many Knife fans will be ready for tracks like “A Cherry on Top” or “Fracking Fluid Injection”. I have to admire their bravery in committing to an album like this though, in an age of popular music where single albums consisting of 3 or 4 minute tracks are the norm. With this album The Knife throw those restrictions to the wind, and in the process craft an album that is indisputably eccentric, yet unforgettable.

B

-Karl