What does it sound like?:

Matt Berry is a bit like that kid at school where everything he turns his hand to is a success. But his charisma prevents you from disliking the annoying over-achiever. And so it is with his music career. He’s been releasing albums for a decade and a bit, and with this one he really has gone full polymath – playing all instruments (except the drums), writing, producing, arranging, even supplying the painting for the cover.

‘The Blue Elephant’ is a journey through summer sounds against a backdrop of 60s Garage-Psych, The Doors meets Deep Purple, Proggy moments, and even a near David Bowie vocal impression. But it’s not a retro exercise – this is as much a product of 2021 as the debt it owes to the past. Breezily familiar yet brand new. Relaxing yet occasionally jarring. An exercise in audience pleasing as much as pleasing the artist himself. Berry’s sometimes over enunciated tones fit the musical styles, although the album is sometimes let down by weak lyrics. Actually, those lyrics might be weak on purpose – maybe Matt Berry can’t help himself returning to Comedy-type.

“It’s a drag to be set on fire, » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Paul Weller has been in the game for nigh on 45 years, and his catalogue boasts 26 studio albums. Those of his sol career have often been an exploration of his latest musical passion – each album has enough difference about it to make it unique from it’s predecessor. And in all those switches of style, he’s remained relatively clunker-free. Now into his seventh decade (he’s 63 at the end of May), one would think he might start slowing down a bit, revel in his elder statesman position, make the odd guest appearance on mates albums and live shows. No chance – he’s maintained his lifetimes work rate of an album every couple of years. In fact ‘Fat Pop’ comes just 10 months after ‘On Sunset’. When you hear that a new album is due, the initial excitement is often tempered by “OK, how much experimentation, will he be doing this time?” or that unfortunate thought that there may be a couple of diamonds amongst the tracks, but probably not enough to pull from the shelves again at a later date. The opening track – “Cosmic Fringes” – sets the ground for what’s coming. » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

The Coral’s first album came out 20 years ago. And a fine album it is. After this, and over the next 8 albums, The Coral went about their business with quiet consistency, and whilst perhaps not receiving untold riches or high profile interviews in the music press, there really is very much to like in their catalogue. Phase 1 of their career was closed out by 2008’s ‘Singles Collection’. 1 more album came before a 4 / 5 year hiatus which was broken in 2016.

And now they’re back again with a double concept album titled “Coral Island”. Except … it isn’t really a double album (done and dusted in under an hour!) more two companion albums telling 2 sides of a story. And it isn’t really a concept album – there is a theme and outline narrative (best explained in the accompanying book), but no underlying story, main characters, or narrative conclusion.

Coral Island is an imagined seaside resort, and the album is split into 2 parts telling the story Summer point of view when the place is buzzing with incomers (Part 1: Welcome To Coral Island) and then looks at the town » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

The Who’s 1967 album is given the Super Deluxe enormobox treatment. And there is a lot to get through. If you are new to this album, this 80 quid box is unlikely to be your starting point, so the assumption is that buyers of this will already be familiar with the album content. It’s been suggested that Sell Out was an early concept album. Not convinced – there is no narrative, no story thread linking the songs, and no conclusion. What it is is a collection of great songs linked by jingles and adverts. It is more an attempt to celebrate (or perhaps re-create) the experience of listening to Pirate Radio. The original plan was to sell the space between tracks for real adverts – when this idea didn’t fly, the band created and recorded their own (many of them created by John Entwhistle and Keith Moon in the Pub round the corner from the Studio). The 13 tracks that make up the original album are a mix of psychedelia, tough-egded pop, and with “I Can See For Miles” a rock edge that would become The Who’s trademark. Like previous outing ‘A Quick One » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

With the best will in the world, I’m not sure anyone would cite Alice Cooper’s first two albums – ‘Pretties For You and ‘Easy Action’ – as essential. They have their moments, but not the energy, commitment or even at times a clear focus. In the main they are a mix of Psychedelia, Freak Rock, Frank Zappa knock-offs, and Alice sounding close to Captain Beefheart. But California was not a natural fit for the band, and they upped sticks and moved towards Detroit – a scene and sound perhaps closer to their liking.

And like it they did with confidence showing on third album ‘Love It To Death’ – OK not an unadulterated classic, but more than enough to warrant repeat playing. And they were off … next album ‘Killer’ would by my choice as the pick of their back catalogue, and this was closely followed by ‘Schools Out and ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ – probably the bands last truly great album.

Alice Cooper is 74, his band mates of a similar vintage, but they have come together again for a couple of tracks on the new album and deliver the goods once again. ‘Detroit » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

After the demise of Husker Du, Bob Mould released a couple of solo albums in a similar style and, erm, mould. He then formed Sugar whose debut album – ‘Copper Blue’ – took Husker Du’s melodic moments and added some shine. ‘Copper Blue’ is, to my ears, a better album than Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ yet Sugar remained a peg below their Grunge counterparts in a voracious genre chasing media. Thought For The Day: Is Bob Mould to Grunge what Paul Weller is to Britpop? Bob Mould’s solo career continued releasing a number a critically acclaimed, but largely commercially ignored albums. Last years ‘Sunshine Rock’ seemed to be showing Bob in a more optimistic light – there were genuine moments of lightness and happiness there. His current release – and maybe it is a reflection of the times – is as simmering and angry as ever. The opening track is titled “Heart On My Sleeve” and that is exactly what he does, and he’s not the happiest bunny in the hutch. Although don’t be fooled by the acoustic Neil Young-esque nature of the track – there is a definite undercurrent going on in the lyric. It » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Getting a Radio 1 Session (preferably a Peel Session) is something of a rite of passage for many bands. It was one of the first steps along the path of “making it” (or nearly making it, as some bands who never progressed from the BBC Studios found it). And established bands had a habit of returning when asked – there is usually something from a Radio 1 Session that marks a difference to the studio version, whether it is an early sketch for a song, a changed lyric, or a new bridge that was later dumped and then resurrected for an entirely different song. The Pogues did their fair share of Sessions – not just John Peel, but also Kid Jensen, Janice Long and Phil Kennedy (who? Me neither), and this set collects those Sessions from 1984 to 1986 and covering their earliest songs through to (maybe) the first recorded attempts at If I Should Fall From Grace With God material. It’s an expansion of an earlier Record Store Day release adding 7 additional tracks. and including 13 tracks available for the first time on CD that have not been heard since initial broadcast. » Continue Reading.