Albums

Fatima’s 2023 in 77 Fragments

06/01/2024 by fatima Xberg 15 Comments

Seven is the magic number – to round up the favourites from 2023 I’ve put them in groups of seven. Think of each one as a playlist for a long train journey or a day at the office. Every Magnificent Seven has ist own atmosphere, mood or approach, and although they seem wildly different, they complement each other perfectly. Random play sometimes is a good option. The one in bold from each pack currently stands out as the most enjoyed and, sometimes, most played. But these things change, of course…

N E W M U S I C

||||||||||||| »Somewhere in the distance, as if at the end of a long tunnel, monks are chanting. A bell rings, but it’s barely audible. It might not even be there at all.« |||||||||||||

Tinariwen • Amatssou Lana Del Rey • Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd? Altin Gün • Ask Steven Wilson • The Harmony Codex Dhani Harrison • Innerstanding Yo La Tengo • This Stupid World Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids • Afro Futuristic Dreams

||||||||||||| »A disembodied, echoing voice intones an introduction: »So, shall we practise a little meditation together?« To which the only answer is, » Continue Reading.

Album Covers – What the hell were they thinking?

30/04/2021 by PaulVincent 67 Comments

OK, there are lots of album covers that are crap for various reasons: lazy, stock photos; awkward-looking “family album” photos of the artiste in question; scruffy scrawled “minimalist” typography… all the usual reasons. But what about those covers which are just so spectacularly inappropriate that your dropped jaw can only articulate the words “what … the … hell … were they thinking?”

I was prompted to write this post by my recent rediscovery of the back-catalogue of the wonderful and not-long-departed Chick Corea. And … this! Smurfs? What the…? (etc.)

So – any more favourite (if that’s the right word) examples of this sub-sub-category?

View post on imgur.com

1990 or 1980 to the present The Afterword Favourite Albums – I volunteer

23/05/2020 by craig42blue 46 Comments

Following the great efforts of @Dai and his and the suggestion from @Feedback_File – I would be delighted to compile an alternative list (don’t we all love lists) of our favourite albums from either 1980 or 1990 up to the present day. This should be a far more interesting list than one full of the Beatles, Dylan and Joni.

So can any of us think of our favourites from a time AFTER we were born or in some cases AFTER leaving education – I was only 4 when the Beatles (white album) was released.

#1 – Do we start from 1980 or 1990 – VOTE NOW! #2 – Once it is clear what preference we have, can we think, think again and… #3 – Can we then use Dai’s rulebook for presenting our Top Ten of the last 30 or 40 years?

The A to Z of Album Openers

08/05/2020 by Sewer Robot 8 Comments

Silly one for Friday night, but humour me. There are as many different ways to kick off an LP as there are ways to sink a cat. I’ve had a go at listing a few. Didn’t think too long about examples (which, I think explains the bias to the 1990s). Maybe you can think of some more, or better examples of the categories I’ve suggested. By all means junk the A to Z element – it’s just a way to get the ball rolling. I will put the larger part in the comments ->

Albums that leave you prune-like

24/10/2018 by minibreakfast 56 Comments

Every day in the tub I like to listen to music, usually a CD via the player on the landing, and less often from a USB stick plugged into the front of it. With some albums I can be in and out in a few minutes, but there are some that I can’t bear to cut short, so will wallow for the entire duration. The big fave this year has been Janelle Monae’s Dirty Computer; flawless from the opening strains of the title track to the closing “Please sign your name on the dotted line” of Americans, it’s an album I have to listen to in full, no skipping, editing or rearranging required.

What album do you just *have* to listen to in full, soup to nuts? What’s the record that currently leaves you prune-like from the tub? Do tell.

What are you going to listen to?

20/11/2017 by seekenee 23 Comments

Tonight after the kids are in bed I’m going to walk the dog and listen to Morrissey’s new album on my ipod shuffle. I may have to skip tracks, I may not, we’ll see.

Then when I get home, prompted by an article I read about Chuck D’s new book, I’m going to sit down and listen to Fear of a Black Planet. I bought the LP second hand 25 years ago and I don’t think I’ve ever listened to the whole thing. I’m going to use the magnifying glass on my phone to read the lyrics on the inner sleeve.

That’s the plan anyway. and yourself?

New series of Johnnie Walker’s Long Players

01/03/2017 by minibreakfast 5 Comments

I only realised this week that Series 7 of this has already started. On Monday night Johnnie and his great mate David Hepworth discussed The Lexicon Of Love and Welcome To The Pleasuredome, and it seems I’ve missed two more, including one on ELO and the Traveling Wilburys. To The iPlayer! (Next week it’s Suzanne Vega and Joni.)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08cq9j4

The Trump Album Report please

20/10/2016 by moseleymoles 8 Comments

The Trump Book Report is trending all over the shop which describes various works of literature in the style of the Donald. You know where this is going, #trumpalbumreport please – loosely around 140 characters.

Lovely Rita. In 10 years I’m gonna be dating her – and not when she’s 64 know what I’m saying. I made it with only #alittlehelpfrommydad. Hillary had 30 years to fix those holes. #letsmakeBlackburngreatagain.

Best Albums Of 2016 So Far

31/05/2016 by Tiggerlion 343 Comments

It’s been a strange year, musicwise. It started brilliantly with the release of Blackstar but that euphoria didn’t last long. I spent a whole month listening to nothing but Bowie and the best part of the next. It took a while to summon up the enthusiasm to listen to anything else. As a consequence, I am well behind on ‘new’ 2016 releases. My expenditure is down by close to 75%. I have a playlist on my iPod where I put all my new purchases. Compared to last June, it is puny.

Now, more than ever, I am genuinely interested to explore Afterword recommendations.

Here are my top ten of the year so far:

1. Blackstar – David Bowie 2. Lemonade – Beyoncé 3. A Moon Shaped Pool – Radiohead (I regard it as a single suite with ebbs and flows, the key combination being between piano, voice and strings. Utterly beautiful) 4. Man Made Object – GoGo Penguin 5. HITNRUN Phase Two – Prince (The 2015 Tidal release doesn’t count) 6. Into The Silence – Avishai Cohen 7. Hollowed – iTAL tEK (It may just be me, but electronica is having a poor year. This is an exception. Hollowed » Continue Reading.

Best New-To-You Albums 2015

07/01/2016 by minibreakfast 99 Comments

I didn’t have much to contribute to the Best Album Poll 2015 thread, since the vast majority of my purchases last year weren’t new releases. I get the feeling this was also the case for several Afternerds and Afterbirds, so let’s have another listy thread of your fave new-to-you records of 2015; those back catalogue, second hand and re-issued albums that you discovered through the year. Do an ordered top ten if you like, or list as many or few as you want.

My faves follow in the comments, in no particular order after no.1. Most were boot sale LPs costing a quid.

Your top album of 2014. Yes, 2014.

28/11/2015 by DrJ 29 Comments

As we all get excited about “best of 2015” I wondered about if you are still enthralled with your favourite albums of 2014. Would you change your vote? Has something turned up that you missed at the time? I know I had St Vincent down as my favourite thing this time last year. However, The War on Drugs seems to have stayed the course more. Anyone..?

https://theafterword.co.uk/top-albums-of-2014-list/

Johnny Concheroo’s Amazing Album-Spotting Thread

15/09/2015 by minibreakfast 151 Comments

Johnny Concheroo’s gift for identifying albums by just their spines is pretty impressive, and he’s not the only nerd, I mean talented album-spotter here I’m sure (I’m looking at you, JQW). So, with no cheating by enlarging on one of those fancy iPad things, here’s a shelf for Johnny and whoever else wants to have a stab at some spine-squinting. Go nuts!

http://i1350.photobucket.com/albums/p773/minibreakfast/shelf_zpswem81nwk.jpg

All Killer No Filler – Really? Play the Game Now

27/04/2015 by moseleymoles 184 Comments

There are few more abused phrases than ‘all killer no filler’. Too often it means four great singles, a couple of album tracks that aren’t too bad, and…well. So your nominations for albums without a single duff track. Not one. Here’s the rules: Post the album title and track listing. Post the weakest track on the album (so no posting Love Spreads from the Second Coming). Discuss. Here’s mine: Exodus by Bob Marley. Tracks: “Natural Mystic” 3:28 “So Much Things to Say” 3:08 “Guiltiness” “The Heathen” 2:32 “Exodus” 7:40 “Jamming” 3:31 “Waiting in Vain” 4:16 “Turn Your Lights Down Low” 3:39 “Three Little Birds” 3:00 “One Love/People Get Ready

Weakest track: hit single and ear-worm botherer Three Little Birds which only has a nice ska shuffle-groove and a fat organ hook. Hardly Territorial Pissings is it? The first four are all great rastafarian-themed tracks, and I’m guessing you know the listing from 5 onwards.

1001 Albums – the story so far

18/02/2015 by Mike_H 7 Comments

I trawled through my previously-unheard “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die” Facebook posts, copied and pasted and edited them into this synopsis:

So I got this book “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die” for Chrimbo from my nephew and his missus. They really should have removed the “Half Price” sticker before wrapping it but never mind that. Although I have no plans to die in the immediate future, I’ve decided to give all the ones I’ve never heard a listen, just in case I’ve missed something amazing (and, of course, to confirm my prejudices when these prove correct).

Taking the unheard listed albums in alphabetical order by title, my first was “Ace Of Spades” by Motorhead. I’d heard most of it over the years but never the complete thing in album order. The otherwise loathsome Gary Bushell was probably correct in saying “Motorhead are Heavy Metal in the only meaningful sense of the term – everyone else is just pretending” in his 5-star review of this album in Sounds, all those years ago. I shall be buying this for playing loud in the car.

The next in my list was U2’s “Achtung Baby”. I was not » Continue Reading.

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