Roxy Music – ”Stranded” (1973)

Roxy Music’s third album and the first without Brian Eno. This was one of 2013 Christmas presents for my mother, who had been hunting in the town’s stores for used LPs. This must surely have been a funnier Christmas gift hunting than the usual on Wal-Mart, H & M or the local book shop. I am happy to receive more Christmas gifts like this.

Despite Roxy Music's legendary status, the band is a relatively unexplored area for me. But it feels great that there is still unknown territory even within rockn’ roll’s more well-known areas. On the album cover you’ve got Bryan Ferry's then girlfriend Marilyn Cole, who was also the Playmate of the Year 1973. Ferry had a habit of putting his girlfriends on the band's album covers. Although it’s relatively daring it’s still innocent compared to the cover on the subsequent Country Life, which my wife doesn’t allow lying around when we get visitors at home.

 

There are many who believe that this is Roxy Music's best album, one of these is actually Brian Eno. Personally, I also think it's a very good album. You’ve got a mix between some fast paced numbers, such as the classic opening track Street Life, and quieter pieces like Psalmor the beautiful A Song For Europe. Many of the tracks must be described as almost epical, with its various twists and parts. Epic glam and art rock. The great Mother Of Pearl is an example of this, which after a loud and messy intro takes a completely different turn. Also Amazon takes a somewhat unexpected turn into a more dreamy path after some initial minutes with a completely different sound.

 

Rolling Stone magazine wrote at the time:

 

Roxy Music has been unable to cross the Atlantic so far, but that should change with this album. Stranded is one of the most exciting and entertaining British LPs of the Seventies.

A really great album without any real weak tracks, according to me. Bryan Ferry, the main songwriter, confirms his expertise and talent as a composer. Perhaps it’s the absence of Brian Eno that makes Stranded lacking a little of the previous album For Your Pleasure’s more strange and difficult pieces. If this is positive or negative is a matter of taste, personally I think both albums are great.

 

 

Tracklist

Side A

1. Street Life 3:27
2. Just Like You 3:34
3. Amazona 4:12
4. Psalm 8:04

Side B

1. Serenade 2:55
2. A Song For Europe 4:44
3. Mother Of Pearl 6:53
4. Sunset 6:00

Beatles – ”Beatles For Sale” (1964)

Another album on the theme "rescued from my parents' LP collection". Yes, even a classic like this was heading for an unknown destination - the trash or as a gift to some second hand store. I hope it likes it better in my home.

I have always said I like the Beatles from the album Revolver (1966) and onwards. It was then the Beatles began their serious experimenting, both with their music and their minds. The music they created earlier, I have always regarded as somewhat geeky and lightweight, songs like She Loves You comes flickering in my head, and I've never understood what people have raved about when they praised the Beatles’ early works. I am now prepared to ask for forgiveness.

I haven’t listened to Beatles For Sale since adolescence when I tried it out a few times at home. But since I didn’t think it was much to have, it sounded old and out-dated, it remained in my parent’s shelf and bided its time. When I listen to it today, I realize that it’s really, really great. Now I understand that the Beatles was actually a great band even before Revolver and the songs Lennon / McCartney created were something extraordinary. Yes, I know that countless people since the 60s have argued just this, but some people wake up late.

The album was recorded during an intense period of the Beatles career. It had only been a week after A Hard Days Night had been finished in the studio, when they started the new recordings. Moreover, it was recorded parallel with touring, television appearances, radio shows etc. But according to the contract they were under, the Beatles had to release two albums a year, so what can you do.

Since the pace was so high when it came to recording albums, the Beatles didn’t have time to write enough songs. So they did what they often did back then, they filled out with the album with a number of cover songs. The album includes eight original songs and six covers. In my world, some rockabilly numbers can be done without, but apart from those it’s an extremely strong collection of songs. Most known is perhaps Eight Days A Week, but there are other songs that are even better - No Reply, Baby 's In Black, Words Of Love, Every Little Thing, etc. Especially the cover Words Of Love surprised me as it sounds a bit different than other Beatles creations, it’s more the Byrds than the Beatles.

We are still far from Tomorrow Never Knows or Sgt Pepper, and it's sometimes hard to imagine that it’s only a few years before the Beatles created these psychedelic institutions. At the same time, several of the songs from Beatles For Sale could make it on Revolver or any of their subsequent albums. Everything the Beatles did from 1966 wasn’t fuzzy psychedelia, there were still lots of "normal" songs on the albums. It was also room for some experimentation on Beatles For Sale, in Mr. Moonlight we hear a solo with a Hammond organ, and on Every Little Thing Ringo contributes with punches on a timpani.

 

 

It's a surprisingly dark touch on many of the songs, and the music pros on allmusic.com say that the fatigue as a consequence of the Beatles extremely intense years now was shining through. Obviously I recommend Beatles For Sale, I 'm glad I finally have understood the greatness of the early Beatles.

The cover photo was taken in Hyde Park in London.

Tracklist

Side A
1. No Reply 2:15
2. I’m A Loser 2:31
3. Baby’s In Black 2:02
4. Rock And Roll Music 2:30
5. I’ll Follow The Sun 1:46
6. Kansas City 2:33
 
Side B
1. Eight Days A Week 2:43
2. Words Of Love 2:12
3. Honey Don’t 2:55
4. Every Little Thing 2:01
5. I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party 2:33
6. What You’re Doing 2:30
7. Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby 2:23

 

Bruce Springsteen – ”Born In The U.S.A.” (1984)

I was 12 years old when this album was released, and just like many others, I thought the title song was about how proud Springsteen was to be born in the USA. A patriotic song in true American spirit. I was fascinated by Bruce's voice, which was the roughest voice I had ever heard, it felt more like screaming or bawling. This was new to me, at the age of 12 I had no idea who Springsteen was. Honestly, I didn’t really like what I heard, there was better stuff being played on the radio. But Springsteen undeniable made an impression on me, I thought his voice was totally crazy.

This is a record I saved from my parents' LP collection a few years ago, where it rested in the attic headed for the trash. Although I am not a big Springsteen fan I couldn’t let the album be thrown away.

Born In The USA was Springsteen's seventh album, but fact is most of the album was recorded already a few years earlier, at the time of the recording of the more dark and acoustic Nebraska. On Born In The USA Springsteen's music takes a more commercial road and it became 1985's best-selling album in the U.S., and Springsteen's best-selling album ever. Springsteen also managed to get seven singles from the album on to America's top 10 list, an almost unique achievement (only Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson makes him company in this). During his career Springsteen's had twelve top 10 singles altogether, more than half of them from Born In The USA. And if you like statistics it can be mentioned that its 84 weeks in a row on the top 10 list is the world record, and that it is 3rd in the contest concerning the total number of weeks in the top -10.

 

Despite all these confirmations of the album’s greatness, it’s not entirely to my taste. I can’t deny that it's pretty good songs, accessible and with their own characters. But straightforward rock n' roll of this kind is simply not my thing. Personal favorite on the album is undoubtedly the calmer and darker Fire. However, I’m happy to have saved the album from death in the trsh, I'd rather see the record in my collection than burned up and recycled as energy in my radiators.

It may be added that the title song is not the patriotic song I thought as a child, supposedly it’s about the Vietnam War’s impact on the United States and the country's lack of ability to take care of the veterans of this war. Although the Reagan administration misunderstood the song at first, and wanted to use it in their election campaign.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Born in the U.S.A. – 4:39
2. Cover Me – 3:27
3. Darlington County – 4:48
4. Working on the Highway – 3:11
5. Downbound Train – 3:35
6. I'm on Fire – 2:37

Side B

1. No Surrender – 4:00
2. Bobby Jean – 3:46
3. I'm Goin' Down – 3:29
4. Glory Days – 4:15
5. Dancing in the Dark – 4:00
6. My Hometown – 4:34

Sufjan Stevens – ”Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lake State” (2003)

This was Sufjan Stevens’ third album and his first in the supposed serie about all the U.S. states (a claim he later admitted was only a promotional gimmick). And the state in focus is of course Michigan, which also happens to be Sufjan’s birth state.

The first time I heard this album was at my neighbour’s place in Quebec, the musician on top, Marc Vallée. He liked the album and thought that I too would find it interesting, and he was right. On Michigan Sufjan offers beautiful, often relatively calm and melancholy, songs with banjo, piano, horns, and other oddities. Sufjan plays most of the instruments himself and the album is recorded on, in this context, rather simple equipment. The vinyl version is a double album, which is nice. However, being a father to a couple of small children makes it difficult to play a full double album since the kids, when the stereo is turned on, suddenly demand to hear Sean Banan or other equally good artists.

Michigan contains mostly quite beautiful and delicate songs and sometimes I actually get some Simon & Garfunkel vibes, while a more druggy and floaty song like Oh God Were Are You Know makes me think of Spiritualized and their über druggy tunes. There are relatively sparse arrangements and Sufjans voice is far ahead in production, he's not hiding behind his instruments.

But sometimes the calm and melancholy is broken of by more fast paced numbers. In these, it’s often rather odd rhythms, never ending loops and a different song structure, giving you more of a progressive feel. And the institution allmusic.com has indeed progressive folk as one of several definitions of the album, and has allmusic.com said that it’s progressive, that’s the way it is.

 

Overall, a really good album, fun to listen to, easily accessible yet challenging. Maybe not a record for the violent pre-party, rather for the thoughtful after-party. Or a day when the kids are gone somewhere and you have the stereo to yourself for an hour or two.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Flint (For The Unemployed And Underpaid
2. All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!
3. For The Widows Of Paradise, For The Fatherless In Ypsilanti
4. Say Yes! To M!ch!gan!
5. The Upper Peninsula

Side B

1. Tahquamenon Falls
2. Holland
3. Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!)
4. Romulus
5. Alanson, Crooked River

Side C

1. Sleeping Bear, Sault Saint Marie
2. They Also Mourn Who Do Not Wear Black (For The Homeless In Muskegon)
3. Oh God, Where Are You Now? (In Pickeral Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?)
4. Redford (For Yia-Yia & Pappou)
5. Vito's Ordination Song
 
Side D
1. Marching Band
2. Pickerel Lake
3. Niagara Falls
4. Presidents & Magistrates
5. Wolverine

Prince – ”Parade” (1986)

During the period of my life when I listened quite regularly to Prince I thought this album was a bit difficult. Maybe it was the black and white cover? Album’s covers have often affected my experience of the music. Or maybe it was because the music is a soundtrack to a movie I hadn’t seen (and still haven’t seen)? The knowledge of unseen scenes that belonged to the songs maybe created a feeling that something was missing?

Today I don’t really know why I felt Parade was difficult. When I listen to it now I think it's a pretty groovy album, to be Prince at least. I have always had somewhat of a hard time with Prince’s funky and sometimes bare, dry sound. Just as on the previous album Around the World in a Day you get a lot of funk, sometimes with a psychedelic touch, mixed with some slender sparkling ballads. The psychedelic elements make the music more fun to listen to, I think anyway. Especially in the 80's such a touch in the music wasn’t especially common. Now and then Prince leaves the relatively dry and bare sound and goes to the other side, such as the B-side’s bombastic opening number Mountains.

Parade was Prince’s eighth album and he was 28 years old when it was released. As usual, Prince plays most of the instruments himself. The first four tracks can be seen as a suite, Prince first recorded the drum track to all four songs in a single take, then he recorded the bass, the guitar etc. in the same way. These first four songs flow nicely into each other. The album ends with the sad ballad Sometimes It Snows In April, that I somewhere read was about a dog Prince had, that died. I therefore thought it was a fitting song to listen to when my family's cat died, when I was still in my teens. Skuggan (The shadow) was her name. Parade also contains the hit Kiss, which I have never really liked.

This was the last album Prince released with the backing band The Revolution. The film the album is a soundtrack to is called Under The Cherry Moon, and Prince have a role in it.

Overall, I must say that this album is great craftsmanship, there are good songs with interesting twists, Prince is undeniably a musician and a composer of rank. That I have a hard time with his sound is another matter. Prince belongs to a past part of my life, and I think I'm done with him. But one should never say never.

Prince has some sort of hook-up considering the Internet and that his music is freely offered to mankind, Kiss was the therefore the only video I found on Yuutube (with sound). But there are better songs on the album.

 

 

Tracklist

Side A

1. Christopher Tracy’s Parade 2:11
2. New Position 2:21
3. I Wonder U 1:40
4. Under The Cherry Moon 2:57
5 .Girls & Boys 5:30
6. Life Can Be So Nice 3:12
7. Venus De Milo 1:54

Side B

1. Mountains 3:58
2. Do U Lie? 2:43
3. Kiss 3:38
4. Anotherloverholenyohead 3:58
5 .Sometimes It Snows In April 6:50

Anna von Hausswolff – ”Ceremony” (2012)

 

Anna with the German sounding surname was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, and is the daughter to the sound artist Carl Michael von Hausswolff. Ceremony is her second album after the debut Singing From the Grave. The church organ is in focus on the album, and since I've always been quite fond of this massive instrument, I like the music.

Anna has often been compared to Kate Bush, and of course some similarities exist - they are both two female singers with the courage to venture outside the box. But I absolutely think Anna has her own expression and her own profile. She moves along her own path and doesn’t blindly follow someone else. If you absolutely want to find similarities with other artists, which for some reason can be fun sometimes, my first spontaneous association was Chemical Brothers and their beautiful song Asleep From Day (1999). And maybe you can hear a hint of Pink Floyd, I think mainly of the guitar playing, and possibly a drop of Mike Oldfield à la Ommadawn in some places. But as said, Anna walks her own path. I guess hearing similarities to other artists' music is inevitable, doesn’t matter what artist you listen to. And in Anna’s case it even takes some good will and imagination.

 

The church organ, appearing in 9 out of 13 songs, has a tendency to give the music a rather dark twist. When I listen to the album I feel like I'm in a church, and would consider playing some of the songs at my funeral. Song titles like Epitaph of Theodor, Deathbed or Funeral for My Future Children hint that death is a theme that pops up regularly on the album. But it’s not a depressing record, the songs are often so beautiful that the beauty of them dominates the experience. The church organ's presence is not a requirement for a fine experience, though, the songs without the organ are just as beautiful.

Sometimes the tempo increases on the album, as in the song Sova, but most songs are quite peaceful and tranquil. Here and there you are treated to atmospheric experiences as the closing number, Sun Rise. A couple of instrumental songs also appear, including the sound experiment No Body, and through out the album it’s a pretty big soundscape. There are beautiful melodies through out the album, and the stroke of genius to let the church organ take the center spot at least works on me.

Tracklist

Side A
1. Epitaph Of Theodor 5:25
2. Deathbed 8:38
3. Mountain Crave 3:35

Side B

1. Goodbye 6:16
2. Red Sun 3:17
3. Epitaph Of Daniel 3:10

Side C

1. No Body 2:33
2. Liturgy Of Light 5:01
3. Harmonica 4:22

Side D

1. Ocean 5:44
2. Sova 3:24
3. Funeral For My Future Children 4:42
4. Sun Rise 4:52

Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros - "Here" (2012)

  

Sometimes you just want to be taken care of, wrapped up in cotton and let all worries float away into the distance. At least I feel that way in moments when I feel really sorry for myself and nobody, absolutely nobody, cares for me. Then I can let Here spin the turntable and it immediately feels better.

Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zero is a collectivistic band formed in 2007 in Los Angeles, consists of a dozen people and is led by singer Alex Elbert. Alex is a former member of the band Ima Robot. Here is their second album of three so far. The band's music has a distinct touch of the 60's and 70's hippie music, with a slightly more modern sound. Hippie music may here be defined as psychedelic folk with elements of gospel and other cool stuff. I discovered the band through their first album Up From Below which I have on CD. Some of you have probably heard the song Home from that album.

Here is equal to their debut album and a logical continuation. Both albums have the quality to contain some really beautiful creations mixed with some a little more dull. Favorites on Here is the opening track Burning Man and side A’s closing number Mayla, also the whole album’s highlight. If you listen to that song one can’t feel depressed, wrapped in cotton as you get. Jade Castrinos also contributes with vocals on some songs which make them duets. The B-side is really good all the way through and with a higher lowest level but without side A’s clear peaks.

Edward Sharpe ... seems to be a relaxed bunch of people who are surely nice to hang out with. I have "liked" their Facebook page and therefore regularly receive beautiful and positive messages from them. This is reflected in the music. Sure, you recognize some stuff in the music from past decades, but which band doesn’t re-use ideas from earlier and/or other artists? A visit with to the band and this album is recommended.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Man On Fire 4:19

2. That's What's Up 3:52

3. I Don't Wanna Pray 3:27

4. Mayla 5:43

Side B

1. Dear Believer 4:47

2. Child 3:10

3. One Love To Another 3:32

4. Fiya Wata 4:13

5. All Wash Out 4:41