50 Albums you must hear before you buy a house 4.0 (4)

One morning, I woke up, riding the Gravy Train. Let’s go:

GvZ:

35. (*) John Cale – Fear (1974)
34.
(28) The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
33. (*) The Kingsbury Manx – The Kingsbury Manx (2000)
32. (27) XTC – Skylarking (1986)

31. (11)  Pink Floyd – A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
“Perfect album to enitrely talk through while having an easy ride in the Welsh countryside.”

RKH:

35. (*) Bruce Springsteen – Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)
34.
(40) Eagles – Hotel California (1976)
33. (*) Weezer – Weezer (‘Blue Album’) (1994)
32. (10) The Band – The Band (1969)

31. (33) Santana – Abraxas (1970)
“The multilayered tropical cocktail that…”

50 Albums you must hear before you buy a house 4.0 (3)

And the heat goes on, if you only wouldn’t clap so hard:

GvZ:

40. (44) The Mountain Goats – The Sunset Tree (2005)
39.
(*) Buffalo Springfield – Buffalo Springfield Again (1967)
38. (21) The Band – The Band (1969)
37. (29) Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother (1970)

36. (26) The Byrds – The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968)
“My brothers for a horse!”

RKH:

40. (42) Lambchop – How I Quit Smoking (1996)
39.
(*) XTC – Skylarking (1986)
38. (23) Love – Forever Changes (1967)
37. (24) David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust… (1972)

36. (35) Pixies – Doolittle (1989)
“Musical colon cleansing.”

50 Albums you must hear before you buy a house 3.0 (3)

Continuing our lists of relics, with #30-21:

GVZ:

30. (24) Neil Young – Harvest (1972)
“I am not a preacher, but just real lucky.”

29. (16) Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother (1970)
“Switch your gears while I drop the needle: this bed is our kingdom.”

28. (25) The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
“Who doesn’t remember his first time in Pepperland?”

27. (*) XTC – Skylarking (1986)
“Summer afternoon underneath a lone tree, praising yourself the luckiest man on earth with that hot beer you brought along.”

26. (11) Brian Wilson – SMiLE (2004)
“The sun starts to tease my eyes while flowers are growing out of my ass: the album winter can’t beat.”

25. (31) The Byrds – The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968)
“If angels had balls, they would have been called Byrds.”

24. (20) Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)
“This album is even better than our last one, will somebody finally save us please?”

23. (36) Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
“Like a proud mother among her 49 sublime children.”

22. (*) The Kinks – Face to Face (1966)
“One of my best dreams from the past year must have been the one in which I had written this album.”

21. (15) The Band – The Band (1969)
“Yes we can (tell you where your country lies). “

RKH:

30. (28) Neil Young – After the Gold Rush (1970)
“The meaning of life, narrated by a 25 year old.”

29. (13) Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue (1977)
“Could have been the best album ever, if only it wouldn’t have been a double album.”

28. (15) The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
“Better than Pet Sounds.”

28. (27) Beach Boys – Pet Sounds (1966)
“Better than Sgt. Pepper’s.”

26. (6) The Moody Blues – In Search of the Lost Chord (1968)
“Talent + drugs + mysticism = the definitive psychedelic experience.”

25. (23) Bob Dylan – Desire (1976)
“Cocaine fueled cowboys and indians fever dream.”

24. (*) David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
“When the apocalypse finally comes, you can find me in my car blasting this fitting soundtrack.”

23. (*) Love – Forever Changes (1967)
“Confrontational. Uneasy listening. Nerve wrecking. Cracked mirror for a hippie generation.”

22. (*) Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II (1969)
“Led Zep doesn’t care for intellectual ramblings about their music. The Sex Album.”

21. (46) The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
“Velvet Underground stroke its guitars and for the first time music knew the true meaning of ‘freedom’.”

GF:

30. David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
“Ik kende hem al van ‘little fat man’ tijdens Extras, maar hier slaat hij toch een geheel andere weg in.”

29. Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti (1975)
“Bepaalde nummers op deze cd halen telkens een religieus gevoel in mij naar boven.”

28. Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998)
“Tot ik dit voor de eerste keer hoorde, wist ik niet dat je op deze manier muziek kon maken en uitbrengen.”

27. Pink Floyd – Meddle (1971)
“Angstaanjagend begin, zomers deuntje ertussenin, zingende Liverpool – supporters en een geniale afsluiter.”

26. Neil Young – Harvest Moon (1992)
“Mijn favoriete wandelingen, zijn nachtwandelingen: strompelend of onder een volle maan, dit is in beide gevallen mijn favoriete album daarbij.”

25. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (2011)
“Yeah I’m tongue-tied and dizzy and I can’t keep it to myself”

24. Elliott Smith – Either/Or (1997)
“Een zachte stem, je zou hem niet horen als hij je roept, maar als hij zingt blijven zijn woorden heel lang hangen. “

23. Radiohead – Amnesiac (2001)
“De eerste keer onmiddellijk in de beste omstandigheden en op de meest geschikte plaats gehoord: in bed met zware koorts.”

22. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – I See a Darkness (1999)
“Toen men hem zocht om in een film een eenzaat te spelen had hij zijn darkness, onbereikbaar was hij maandenlang alleen op een roadtrip.”

21. The Beatles – Rubber Soul (1965)
Norwegian Wood, is het boek of het nummer beter, dit is in ieder geval de beste plaat van The Beatles.”

Shuffle of the week #44

1. The Velvet Underground – What Goes On (The Velvet Underground, 1969) [singlepic id=274 w=80 h=50 float=left]

One of my favorite Velvet-songs, this second track from their (post-Cale) third album. Pretty straight forward, with that awesome pushing Velvet guitar sound. The instrumental combo with the rhythm guitars and Doug Yule’s (replacing Cale) organ could easily be called one of rock’s greatest song climaxes ever.

2. The Cure – The Figurehead (Pornography, 1982) [singlepic id=358 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Just like Faith from 1981, this fourth album continues the bands practice from its break-through album Seventeen Seconds (1980): explicit melancholy written by the classic line-up Smith-Tolhurst-Gallup. This song in particular resembles The Smiths’ sound, especially the surprisingly melodic guitar riff and of course the desperate lament, but is fortified with that typical repeating drum and bass rhythm. The instrumental parts laid the groundwork for post rock, while Smith himself would rather concentrate on writing some solid pop songs later on.

3. XTC – 1000 Umbrellas (Skylarking, 1986) [singlepic id=360 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Andy Partridge signed the end of XTC’s touring history in 1982, as he started to suffer from stage fright. Just like The Beatles did earlier, XTC concentrated on working in the studio from then on and also picked up the idea of making a concept album. Skylarking was supposed to be about growing up, getting older and dying, all in one day. The result was an incredible album filled with orchestration, like the numerous string sections in this song, completely in line with the Paul McCartney Academy of Pop Music.

4. Afghan Whigs – Now You Know (Gentlemen, 1993) [singlepic id=125 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Typical guitar sound from the nineties, resembling that of their lumberjacket wearing peers from Washington. However, not only did their wardrobe differ, also the lyrics from this Cincinatti band sound much more mature and devoted, even reminding of Dylan sometimes. This is of course their best (and fourth) album, released one year after break-through album Congregation (great cover) and recorded in Memphis.

5. The Beatles – Not a Second Time (With the Beatles, 1963) [singlepic id=357 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Iconic pop album, released in the US as Meet The Beatles. It’s actually a mix of some of the bands’ live covers like ‘You Really Got A Hold On Me’, ‘Please Mister Postman’ and ‘Money’, together with the Fab Four’s first songwriting gems, like McCartney’s ‘All My Loving’. This one is a Lennon song without electric guitar, so no Harrison.

6. Smashing Pumpkins – To Forgive (Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness, 1995) [singlepic id=332 w=80 h=50 float=left]

For me personally one of the biggest rediscoveries last year. Billy Corgan already dominated the Pumpkins on their second album (Siamese Dream (1993), on which he frequently overdubbed the bass and guitar parts with his own stuff), and on this magnificent third (ultimate cocktail of riff & melody) he shined like never before, and never afterwards. The threatening, modest sound of this song would dominate the next album and also returned on Radiohead’s OK Computer .

7. Pavement – Conduit For Sale! (Slanted and Enchanted, 1992) [singlepic id=356 w=80 h=50 float=left]

More nineties, and not complaining. Californian trio that formed in 1989, played till 1999 and saw their status grow each year since. Great record that offers a lot, except pretention.

8. The Raconteurs – Top Yourself (Consolers of the Lonely, 2008) [singlepic id=359 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Second and (for now?) last album of The Raconteurs, written by Brendan Brenson and Jack White, the man who secured the heritage of all preliminary guitar music in the new century. Whatever band this guy played in, it never took long before I liked it.

9. David Bowie – Right (Young Americans, 1975) [singlepic id=355 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Bowie leaves his androgen identity behind and freely throws Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder into the blender in a way that makes all other attempts at white soul pale into insignificance. Featuring Carlos Alomar for the first time.

10. The Eagles – Life in the Fast Lane (Hotel California, 1976) [singlepic id=8 w=80 h=50 float=left]

A dash of funk blew over from the previous song into the guitar playing of Joe Walsh. Classic.

“Just like a mad dog you’re chasing your tail in a circle”: Apple Venus Volume 1 (XTC)

[singlepic id=220 w=320 h=240 float=left]

 

Year: 1999

Genre: Pop Rock, Baroque Pop

Preceded by: Nonsuch (1992)

Followed by: Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2) (2000)

Related to: not available yet

 

 

 

We’re only making plans for Nigel, we only want what’s best for him. We’re only making plans for Nigel, Nigel just needs this helping hand. You know the song, I knew the song. But only after some months of enjoying XTC’s Apple Venus Vol. 1 I discovered that that song came from a band with the same name. Of course I guessed that it must have been another obscure end seventies new wave band, as I was convinced that I had been listening to the official announcement of Brian Wilson’s Smile during my hot summer.

Swindon, South-West England, has a typical maritime climate, alternating mild winters with cool summers. So Colin Moulding and Andy Partridge, who were both raised there, must have been developing a thorough appreciation  for those rare hot summer days that come around a year. The explosive peak of this process might maybe be heard on XTC’s 1986 album Skylarking. An album they could not even have imagined (I guess) 14 years earlier (at the age of 17 and 19 respectively), when they formed The Helium Kidz.

After Terry Chambers (1973) and Barry Andrews (1976) joined the band on drums and keyboard, they released their debut album White Music in 1978 as XTC. Later on that year Andrews left the band and was replaced by keyboardist/guitarist Dave Gregory, whose sixties oriented guitar playing resulted in a classic rock sound that can be heard on the third album, Drums and Wires, which contains the hit single mentioned above. While Nigel must have been happy in his life,  Partridge wasn’t during the support tour of their fifth album in 1982. As he suffered from stage fright, he personally signed the end of the band’s touring history. But as four dudes from Liverpool had proven earlier, this doesn’t necessarily goes at the expense of the band’s sound.

This new studio band consisted of three members, after Chambers left one year later due to his migration to Australia and missing incomes from touring (not being a song writer). Somewhere in 1986 then, the band ran into the legendary Todd Rundgren, probably because he had produced The Band’s Stage Fright earlier. So not very surprisingly Rundgren (who was hired to launch a commercial comeback) and Partridge would clash frequently during the recording of Skylarking, an absolute pop gem. Although worth a review of its own, we travel on to 1999. XTC had released their last album in 1992, after which the band went on strike till 1998 as a result of a dispute with their record label. Again: this doesn’t necessarily goes at the expense of the band’s sound. With their own home-studios and on their own label, they started the Apple Venus project: bringing together the songs they had written during their break…

It must have been immediately clear for them that ‘River of Orchids’ had to kick off this ambitious project. Push your car from the road, walk into a forest and put on the album. What follows is a small pop opera about this beautiful world that would come to light if all roads were overgrown with flowers. A little dull and passé you might think, but even the greatest victims of today’s society might prefer walking into London on their hands instead of playing a consciousness killing game on the IPad after hearing the mind blowing, multi layered bird call from Partridge. This outstanding vocal performance is supported by some plucked cello’s at first, but when the orchids start growing and the concrete slowly disappears, all kinds of orchestral instruments are thrown in.

On ‘I’d Like That’ we run into somebody we would like to share this new world with. Less orchestration this time, but simply Partridge’s voice and an acoustic guitar, with a nice effort to introduce Paul McCartney in this idyllic scene. Talking about the Fab Four, on ‘Easter Theatre’ it even sounds like the entire Sgt. Peppers’ orchestra is with us now. Performing together with Partridge, whose vocals are again peaking here, it looks like they even deviate from the song during the chorus and start playing fragments of ‘She’s Leaving Home’. It’s alternated again with a very calm song, ‘Knights in Shining Karma’. It’s a slow ballad and in my opinion one of the least tracks on the album.

After four songs from Partridge it’s time for one of Moulding’s two songs (‘Frivolous Tonight’). Musically not as strong as the previous songs, especially because of the fact that Moulding’s voice doesn’t reach the same level as that of Partridge. However, a very recognizable song for guys who like to hang out in a pub now and then: talking about nonsense, drinking beer and telling jokes while they reveal their childlike nature. It is followed by the absolute highlight of the album: ‘Greenman’. For me it’s representative for and the midpoint of the whole album: the lyrics that describe a purist adoration for nature, the sophisticated vocals (Partridge), the richly orchestrated parts with a different instrument in every part of your ear,… But above all it’s the way the song develops during the song itself as well as the way it keeps developing while listening it over and over. Every time you hear it you’ll discover another interesting sound, another effect, another place to imagine.

‘Your Dictionary’ gives the album some variation again, as it’s another vocals + acoustic guitar song. However, it’s by far the most poppy one on the album, although it contains the most cynical lyrics  of them all. This song about relational troubles is without many doubts based on Partridge’s own personal life and contains a beautiful piano part in the middle. ‘Fruit Nut’ is the other song that Moulding contributed to the album, which indicates more or less that he had a less creative seven years than his bandmate. But again, this one is kind of comical. It lyrically reminded me somehow of Brian Wilson’s ‘Vega-Tables’ but also musically, Smile (and its predecessors) is not far away.

We’re nearing the end of the album with the ninth track, ‘I Can’t Own Her’. Another intro with string arrangements here, with piano and harp joining subsequently. Good song (entirely dominated by the bombastic orchestrated parts), but no highlight. The last song that really stands out musically, is the penultimate track ‘Harvest Festival’. It’s built around (again) Partridge’s magnificent vocals (especially during the chorus) and Dave Gregory’s keys. Gregory by the way left the band during the recording of the album as he favored more guitar playing instead of all the orchestral instruments on the album. This of course made XTC in fact a two men project at that point. For us it’s  also about time to leave, as ‘The Last Balloon’ is leaving. Although lyrically not bad at all, Partridge is looking one more time at this sad and materialistic world and decides to leave, it’s musically a little too elaborate in my opinion but you might disagree on that one.

So if there’s a Vol.1, there must have been a sequel, right?  Although this is not always the case, there indeed was. Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2) was released one year later (the original plan was to release them as one double album), and contained more (electric) guitar songs. Dependent on your taste you might prefer that one but in my view it doesn’t have the magic of Vol. 1, about which I once read in a review: ‘Apple Venus is unlikely to win XTC many new fans’. Well, this certainly wasn’t true for me and somehow I’m happy that this was my first acquaintance with the band. If only for the fact that I could not have been affected by the syndrome of thinking that an artists’ early work is pro definition better. Enjoy and dream away.

Top Tracks:

1. Greenman
2. River of Orchids
3. Easter Theatre