It is an odd week when there are more Forgetables than Best; in fact, I usually have no Forgetables. It was just one of those weeks. One of the Forgetables, Billy Joe Armstrong’s cover tunes, wasn't bad to listen to at all.
Other than that, the world continues to turn while the political atmosphere tries to normalize after the elections but manages to still be a roaring caldron of molten puke. We now know Musk bought Twitter to become a right wing megaphone. Oh, well.
This week will be busied by converting tunes marked for addition to my player into files. Then the Christmas preparations will become dominant and the post season getting ready to travel in January and February. Content will be sporadic.
Best of the Week
Metric - Formentera
2022 9 tracks (47:47)
Above average synth pop band from Canada reminded me of the synth-punk bands of the 80’s, like Aimee Mann’s Til Tuesday. They come out firing off a 10:29 slobberknocker called “Doomscroller” that shows how a synth pop band can be so much more than a four-minute catchy tune. Building on the minimal prospects of the masses at the behest of the few, the band pounds synthesized keyboards while singer Emily Haines cries out for humanity. The remaining eight tracks don’t miss either.
Interesting Finds
Laura Veirs - Found Light
2022 14 tracks (46:13)
With cold dreary days of winter upon us, Laura Veirs newest album is as welcome as a hot steaming cup of coffee. Her angelic little girl voice and simple but warm acoustic guitar spewing out folk based songs are perfect for a quiet day. There are a few accompaniments, an occasional woodwind, gentle bottom end bass notes, and the barest of percussion that gives some depth to what would otherwise be a little too dry sonically. All in all, it's nice to find a folk artist with a subtle knack at adding atmosphere to simpler music. B
Preoccupations - Arrangements
2022 7 tracks (38:09)
I had an immediate flashback to the 80's when the first track "Fix Bayonets" started playing, reminding me of a Minneapolis group called The Suburbs. The wall of thrashing guitars and alto vocals by Matt Flegel could have been a time warp version of them. Preoccupations (at one time called Viet Cong prior to the current name) might be described as industrial art rock, using twisted keyings and irregular melodies more associated with Brit Pop by the likes of Joy Division and other 4AD bands. The recording is intentionally compressed as a way to give it a colder feel, but I would have welcomed some more dynamics. Still, it's a captivating work. B-
Gaz Coombes - World’s Strongest Man
2018 11 tracks (42:18)
Coombes has made a very approachable album with a number of good songs featuring his easy vocals and a range of tempos from spirited rockers to softer melodic pieces. In many ways, he reminds me of Hayden Thorpe, another distinctive voice and multi-instrumentalist who pushes pop boundaries. The only problem with pushing boundaries is that sometimes you can go over the edge and that shows up on a few tracks.It’s definitely a mixed bag. C+
Jon Hopkins - Music For Psychedelic Therapy
2021 9 tracks (1:03:31)
More “environmental” music for this week (see Nils Frahm below). Again, this is good music to play while you are doing something else, like working with your taxes or ironing laundry. During the time I was playing it the first time, I dozed off and woke up wondering how much was played during dozing. Where Frahm is more from the Tangerine Dream vein, Hopkins would be better compared to Deuter. The song structures are dreamy with varying degrees of different interludes placed within each song. There is a time and a place for this kind of music, but it must be chosen wisely. C-
Paolo Nutini - Last Night in the Bittersweet
2022 16 tracks (1:12:13)
This one is a hard one to figure out. At times it seems like a retro rocker album, other times a straight up pop album. Check out “Petrified In Love” that is true to form with the retro feel complete with Hammond organ noodling. Follow that up with “Everywhere”, a blues based ballad. It’s all decently performed and recorded with a number of interesting songs. But as a whole, it comes up a little short. I really prefer the straight up rock tracks like “Children of the Stars” and put up with songs like “Abigail” so it’s a matter of picking and choosing. C
Secret Shine - There Is Only Now
2017 10 tracks (44:24)
Despite some of the sameness of the songs throughout the album, I found some of it interesting and enjoyable. The strumming guitars, washed-out echoed vocals, and keyboards with chordal patterns are a shoe-gazers delight. Their label, Saint Marie Records, offers a full line of dream pop for the fans of this style. Not bad, but sttill, average at best. C
Forgettable
Nils Frahm - Music For Animals
2022 10 tracks (3:06:40)
These long languishing tracks of simplistic electronic music spanning over three hours will put your patience to work. Only one track clocks in at less than ten minutes. You’d think there would be variety within each work, but typically it is one idea spread over the entire track. It could be called esoteric, ethereal, and austere, or you could call it boring. I listened to the first four tracks while doing something else and it isn’t that great for background music. Two generations prior to this German was the groundbreaking Tangerine Dream album which had a similar vision but executed much better. Phaedra was an outstanding work that was equally austere and plain, but it did flow much better and didn’t last as long. It’s not that it isn’t listenable, just devoid of life. I didn’t test this on any animals, just myself. D
Billie Joe Armstrong - No Fun Mondays
2020 14 tracks (40:44)
I picked this album without realizing these are just a bunch of cover tunes by other artists. Several of these are familiar enough which means we all know what the original sounds like and BJA doesn’t add a damn thing to them, just rocking out Green Day style. Look, I get it, 2020 was tough on performing artists and they found ways to keep busy. But, if you redo known tunes, bring something to the table that respects the original without copying it. This is nothing a competent local bar band can’t do. F (for Fucking Waste of Time)
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