Being Alive: Loose Wheels and Latchkeys 2000-2005 - Grand Drive

Track list:

1. Shake My Tree
2. Something to Believe In
3. I Know There's a Place
4. I Want You (And I'm Right)
5. I'll Be There for You
6. When a Champ Hangs Up His Gloves
7. Being Alive
8. The Fair Goes Slow
9. Holding On
10. Rolling Over
11. She Loves the Jerk
12. The First Time Again
13. Wing in the Wind
14. Hearts of Stone
15. The Premise

Running time: 77 minutes
Released: 2005

I first got into Grand Drive through Danny and the Champions of the World (what lead singer Danny George Wilson did next), I think. LastFM featured somewhere in there too, as their strains of Americana cropped up on more than one station I found myself listening to. There was something evocative about their best work, some ramshackle charm and simple pleasure. It was only after I bought everything I have and he saw them on my shelf that that I found out that my brother had worked a little with them on one of their albums (I forget which now), and that I crossed the road from which they took the name on the way to his last house. Or something.

This is the "best of the rest" type of offering - you know, the "we've been around X years now lets put out the unreleased material" jobbie. At least, I guess so - the title kind of implies it. There are some things on here that light my memory strongly and positively and others that I just do not recognise or cannot recall. I think this will be a fun one to listen to, but for the length - my staying power isn't great at the moment!

Shake My Tree is an odd choice to open with. Its very unlike the rest of their oevre and starts slowly. Once the vocal comes in it is more recognisable but the pacing and rhythm is still rather odd, more reminiscent of ska, or at least more claustrophobic in character than most Grand Drive tracks - like the one that follows. Higher tempo and a floaty melody to open puts me back on more familiar ground. I have always liked Something to Believe In, the constant of the guitar, the harmonies in the vocal, the expanse of the track as a whole.

"Americana" is an odd genre; I couldn't describe the genre to anyone concisely but I feel like I would be happy to assign it on hearing things. That said the list of artists under the genre on Wikipedia is rather wide-ranging with plenty of people that are not at all familiar to me. I have also seen Grand Drive tagged as alt-country, which I think is utter tripe as a catigorisation. Americana seems to fit though - certainly the larger, open sounds are characteristic - and hey, that Wiki list contains swedes, so I guess London-based Australians can qualify too.

I Want You returns a little to the slightly darker tones and less established rhythm of the opening track. I find myself not really recognising the verses, and the chorus is strident than I remember. The song is really not what I recalled at all. That is no bad thing per se, but it is a bit jauntier and less purposeful for it and I think I like the misremembered version in my head a bit more. It's like the musical equivalent of sportspeople looking like better players when they're not in the team.

Stretching the sporting analogy past credibility (I'm sorry; I've been watching rugby - still am, in fact as the women are currently losing to France - all day and am working off the disappointment of England coming up just short on points difference) this album is like the subs bench. A couple of really good players ready to come on and shake things up but mostly stocked with those not quite good enough to have made the first team. That is to say the songs are solid enough representations of Grand Drive's work but not many of them are real favourites. There are exceptions - Something to Believe in was already mentioned, and She Loves the Jerk is upcoming.  However the majority of these songs are unspectacular, inoffensive easy listens. Honestly the biggest take away from many thus far is the general atmosphere of the album. That may sound negative, damning with faint praise but I assure you it is not meant like that because I find the soft edge and open sound to these pieces a very pleasant and relaxing one.

Danny's voice is not the strongest, but it has character that serves him very well. Character is not quite enough to carry a song like Being Alive off without a hitch - it is too quiet, leaves too much to the slightly frail, quavering nature of his sound - an edge that works in more bombastically delivered songs or with more in terms of support from the arrangement, but that lets him down when left to stand along. In some respects I find the vocal a little reminiscent of King Creosote, whose singing voice I once described as "brilliant and broken in equal measure" (or something along those lines). The middle of this album exhibits the broken side of that dichotomy too much and, in a show of nominative determinism (I love that, by the by), The Fair Goes Slow is far too slow to be of any interest at all.

The chorus of Holding On, by contrast, plays on that broken edge and frailty in the voice by being both a slightly more sombre song (the title phrase is almost plaintive in nature and forms a major part of the chorus) and by offering the right kind of support from the instruments to create the appropriate crucible for it to shine. That said, I am a little glad when Rolling Over has a little bit more tempo to it.

She Loves the Jerk is apparently a cover (yes, I just looked that up). I loved it the first time I heard it, mostly for the narrative imagery and the capture of a feeling of frustration of being on the outside. We then get treated to a much more richly arranged number, brass and all sorts appearing. I generally prefer Grand Drive when they have a bigger sound... or at least, I think I do but I am sure that does not always hold true.

Just a few to go now, and I know the last track well, but not the two preceding it. Wing in the Wind is stripped back again, back to soft, pleasantly relaxing. There is a nice sway to the verse, a decent enough arrangement. It works without ever standing out. Oh, turns out I do recognise Hearts of Stone - the chorus at least rings a bell. Its a little too slow for me really, at least at this time of night on a day of disappointment (England Women have indeed just succumbed to defeat to go with not quite taking the men's title earlier).

The Premise is our closer, it is almost like one long outro really... an 8 minute instrumental number with a catchy, clappy, rhythm a hooky guitar melody. I have heard it a number of times on shuffle, and the first few I had to look up who it was by as I could never place it as it really does not sit obviously alongside the very song-centric output of Grand Drive's other work. I kept thinking that it must be from some soundtrack album or other because it feels like title credits music more than anything else. The repetitive nature of the track plays into this pretty hard - its like a one-trick pony, relying on its trick so long and hard that you think in its original form there must have been something else to back it up somehow. Thankfully its a pretty pleasant trick and it plays into the overall atmosphere of the album.

So as it closes, I will be getting rid of one track - in addition to being too slow, The Fair Goes Slow is also too long. The rest... everything has a place. Largely in Grand Drive's case that place is in a playlist of similar material for me - but that is a playlist I can see myself returning to in future.

The Beginning and the End - Clifford Brown

Track list:

1. I Come from Jamaica
2. Ida Red
3. Walkin'
4. Night in Tunisia
5. Donna Lee

Running time: 34 minutes
Released: 1973

This came in a big box of jazz albums that I picked up as a collection relatively recently - the same box that saw me acquire 8:30 by Weather Report. I am not at all familiar with his work as I go into this one.

The disc is made up of two short pieces and two epics with the closing track somewhere in between. The two shorties up first. I come from Jamaica surprises my by being a song; I was expecting instrumental jazz going by the cover. Despite Armstrong, I do not associate trumpeters with singing. It is a raucous number, short and not overly sweet. The second track is also a song, but I was ready for it this time. It has a pleasantly familiar cadence (a word I might start over-using, it's been in my head so much of late). I think I realise why its familiar... Dr John's medley including My Indian Red on Trippin' Live. Clearly this is just a rewording or alternate lyric - probably more PC, though I doubt that was an issue in nineteen seventy-three.

Now for the two long tracks. The first is more what I was expecting to hear. Fairly traditional jazz sounds with an emphasis on the trumpet. It is fairly high tempo, not racing along but not a sedentary number. A couple of solos come and go. There is a bustle in the background of the track... whether that is a recording artefact from the good old days or, no - the applause confirms it is a live audience. You can hear the hubbub of folks chatting. This is interesting because you might think it would detract from the tune and I guess in a way it does seeing as I am straining to listen to it. However it works for the recording, giving it a sense of atmosphere akin to actually being out and about. The tune itself meanders back and forth, keeping up the pace, giving everyone a turn - have I mentioned before that I dislike the "mandatory solo"? I think I have, but I really do - in a very stereotypical way. It never elevates to the point of being arresting, but neither does it sink to disappointing.

However it does get a bit stale; 11 minutes is a long time to keep one piece going without any pause or slow down. I think it is the uniform pace that gets to me most, and I am glad when it finally comes to a close. The next track is only a shade shorter and picks up a very similar rhythm. The initial impression is of a more interesting composition this time but I am afraid that I find that sitting like this concentrating on the music is not a good fit for this type of jazz. Sure, I pick up things like the nicely dirty squeeze that underlies the main melody in places, a real sleaze about it, which I would miss in a busier situation, but I find that I want a drink, darkness and bustle, a conversation to concentrate on, and to just pick out the best refrains out of the mix. Night in Tunisia gives the impression of some of that until the piano solo which kills the mood; the track has lived on the brass and dropping both trumpet and sax to give space to the keys completely changes the complexion of the track. After Walkin' I thought I would be all for any type of change, but in fact it rips the heart out of things, and even when the horns come back... the energy, the sense of presence have been lost a little and the tune is poorer for it.

The final number races into things at a million miles an hour. Tempo is definitely up here, and it was not slow on the previous pieces. I can imagine this was an energetic performance to witness. The leading trumpet is slightly squeaky - as if notes are being pinched off because the track rocks onwards so fast. I do not get the impression of Brown as being virtuoso, but more of him being a showman, someone who lived for the stage. Of course that could all be guff; can't really tell anything like that, but it is funny how our minds give us ideas beyond those we could reasonably expect to get.

I am not that taken with Donna Lee - too fast, too garbled for it; more about sheer weight of notes rather than the quality of those notes. As such it is a little overwhelming and so underwhelming. It feels like a mess on record, but was probably amazing to see performed. As it comes to an end - rather catching me by surprise, the pace having made seven minutes fly past in what seemed like seconds I don't know what to make of this disc. Donna can go for sure, Night in Tunisia is a keeper even with the drop off at the tail. The other three follow Donna Lee out the door too. Walkin' had its moments, but 11 minutes of the same moments repeated is too much, and as for the two songs, I was lukewarm on the first, and have a more preferred version of the second. Disappointed, but not too much so. You are bound to get a dud or two in a big box of varieties.

Begin to Hope - Regina Spektor

Track list:

1. Fidelity   
2. Better   
3. Samson   
4. On The Radio   
5. Field Below   
6. Hotel Song   
7. Après Moi   
8. 20 Years Of Snow   
9. That Time   
10. Edit   
11. Lady   
12. Summer In The City

Running time: 47 minutes
Released 2006

I got into Regina Spektor late - Far too late - and it wasn't until Live in London that I really fell for her work. Picking up her other albums I found her maddeningly inconsistent. When she is good she is wonderful, but I find there is a tendency there to go weird and awful too often. 

Some of my favourite tracks originate on this album but I am only really familiar with the live versions. I am looking forward to this, but with a certain trepidation. How many hits? How many duds?

I often think of Regina Spektor as a female counterpart Ben Folds - and as such someone I really should have got into sooner: a slightly nerdy piano-driven genius. They should collaborate more (I am aware of one track which will come up when I start mainlining Folds in a few discs' time); my nerdgasm would be massive. Anyhow, Fidelity is one of those tracks that I love from Live in London, and I find this recording quite hard to listen to as a result. The balance between voice and instrument seems to be wrong and there is not quite the impact in the singing. The song is the kind of number that sends my mind racing all over the place to my detriment, but it is such a beautiful sentiment that I would forgive it much more.

My impression is that this album may be her most consistently good work but I am basic that off the 5 I know well. There are 7 other tracks here that I have not paid much - indeed enough - attention to in the past. Better is the first of those. It is likeable enough here but it leaves me with the feeling I need to hear it a few more times if it is going to grow on me. This project and the culling of tracks that are not up to standard is good for getting me to pay attention to the vast array of tunes that I have accumulated, but it is not really very good for making informed decisions. These days I find that new material needs time to bed in and build an impression, being better with each listen until I am familiar enough to make more informed judgements. Still, there has to be something there to warrant returning more than once.

I digress about that because Samson and On the Radio are both also on Live... and second nature to me now as that disc is a regular when I am driving. On the Radio in particular offers a very simple pleasure, plinky in places it has a childlike nature to it that is really appealing. In both cases I prefer the live version, though I guess that is only to be expected given the level of familiarity I have with them. Field Below is new to me (though I have apparently scrobbled it a few times before), unrecognised. I rather like the soft singing, but the jingly nature of the piano in places is off-putting. In all honesty I find the track too slow for my current mood, sapping the energy I had to start this piece. I think, though, that in other circumstances I would really appreciate it.

OK, so that recording I like. Hotel Song is nicely put together and the differences from the live version are interesting this time rather than slightly flat. A punchier rhythm/percussion is a nice touch but it is the muted backing to Spektor's voice that adds depth which I really like, it sounds like a choir but could be any number of other things. It is a little too soft for me to find it distinct but I don't mind that. Après Moi is a song that I don't overly like most of, but it has always had magic to it when she starts singing in Russian - I believe I saw somewhere that it is quoting a Russian author or poet, but I don't recall... I find it fascinating and incredible to listen to despite not understanding a thing. Her inflections and voice help, but largely it is, I suspect, the musicality of what is, to me, an impenetrable language shining through.

I thought initially that was the last track here that I recognised but now I notice That Time is on here, too, making it a 50/50 split between those I know well and those I do not.That song is not a favourite and I certainly do not need both versions. I don't need 20 Years of Snow - playing now - either. These two tracks are definitely Spektor veering into the weird and not so wonderful, indulging herself. Trading on quirky is one thing, but for it to be worth trading on quirky needs to be backed up by more. Thankfully for us, it is, just not - generally speaking - on the same tracks that the quirks come out in force. Edit may change that... using percussive staccato forms and an almost spoken vocal this track blends her strengths with the sometime weaknesses and forms a pretty, compelling track that feels like it has purpose (and that is a trait that quirky can often ride roughshod over). The song does get a little repetitive by the time it draws closed but I like it.

Last couple now, neither of which I am overly familiar with. Lady, like Field Below earlier, feels a little slow for what I want just now but it has a lovely lilt to it, the composition feeling semi-classical in places, the delivery evoking crooners, old time singers in smokey bars - an effect that is magnified by the saxophone notes that come drifting in over it in. When the vocal gives over to the brass for the denouement the track loses much of its atmosphere - I don't think the piano plus sax works as a primary pairing. The final track is also a slow number, very simple notation with the singing carrying most of the interest; I don't mind that at all.

All told, this was a nice 45 minutes or so. Given the choice, I probably wouldn't listen to the album versions over the versions of any of the 6 tracks from Live in London, except Hotel Song, so I think to trim down is acceptable there, and 20 Years of Snow will go too. The other tracks though I need to listen again at some point to really appreciate.

Becoming X - Sneaker Pimps

Track list:

1. Low Place Like Home
2. Tesko Suicide
3. 6 Underground
4. Becoming X
5. Spin Spin Sugar
6. Post-Modern Sleaze
7. Waterbaby
8. Roll On
9. Wasted Early Sunday Morning
10. Walking Zero
11. How Do

Running time: 46 minutes
Released: 1996

Going back 20 years again now. I remember when 6 Underground and Spin Spin Sugar were released as singles and not liking either. We change with time I guess, because I got into them later. This album, although it is the one with the songs everyone remembers, is probably the weakest of the three I have (Splinter and Bloodsport are the others). A grubby overtone to this permeates the later efforts, too, but here there the female vocal dilutes it a little compared with Chris Corner's later on. And to be clear I think that grubbiness is welcome here.

It starts right on the money with Low Place Like Home where the loop sets the tone with a ramshackle edge to it, the percussion sounding almost improvised, dulled. The choruses, when they come, inject an edgy guitar and the effect is atmospheric. It is background music, really - better experienced as the soundtrack to some other activity as the loops and hooks lull you into a head nod that feels like it should be in a dark and murky club. This sets the tone for the whole album really - on edge somewhat, seedy, rhythmic.

Friday night and I am doing this; too old now for the "going out" - not that I was ever much of one for that. Relevance? Well I never really hear music like this in the context it was created for - but that's fine; it has a life outside of that context. 6 Underground is a little more melodic, with a softer backing. The loops are there but there are more expansive themes there - an effect of space outside the walls created by the hook. I don't really know why I didn't like this originally... there's nothing to dislike. It is not a masterwork though, actually hearing it back now it sounds a little bland, a bit too radio friendly. The song lacks the grit and grime and it removes the most effective ingredient from the composition. This makes it accessible and pleasant - inoffensive.

Not that the dirtier, darker tracks are offensive at all, but its that slightly seedy atmosphere that makes this music tick, drawing you in and wrapping its tendrils around you. There is an urgency, a desperation, to Spin Spin Sugar. This song stands out from the others to date for that... it is the first time where the vocal really sets off the track behind it and sparks a synergy, the sort of seductive mix that sparks a purchase. I think the tracks generally stand up OK, even when it goes more expansive and away from the inglorious undertones that make the biggest impact.

Waterbaby starts to drift a bit - it has the right tone, but the more ethereal vocal and simple instrumentation over the loops are a bit too empty to have much punch and my attention wavers. Suffice to say that Mastermind is not very interesting on mute! My attention strays further with Roll On - I have a problem with songs like this that use adult imagery (IYKWIMAITYD) in lyrics in that I find it impossible to take seriously and dismiss the entire composition as a bit of a joke as a result. Its a shame because actually here the lyrics actually work with the theme of the album, encapsulating that seediness I keep banging on about, but to be honest the track then loses me totally in its outro as it builds a bigger sound which is a little bit of a mess.

Into the climb-down now and I have to admit that I cannot bring Walking Zero to mind at all before it starts. Every other tune here I have had some kind of aural imprint confirmed (or dismissed) by the play, but that one I am staring at blankly as the singer whitters on about Sunday morning drop outs. This album really is the poor relation to its follow-ups - less of a complete end-to-end album than Splinter (which I would flag as my favourite), and not as many stand out tracks as Bloodsport, which may have the best songs. Actually, the holding up is more marginal after the second half - which suffers from coming after the apogee and not doing well in direct comparison. Fair to say that drifting away is quite commonplace over these last few tracks.

How Do is an interesting closer, though. It ditches all the dirt, climbs up and takes flight - a much more melodic, floaty song. It could have come from an entirely different record but it stands out and works for that reason. There is a nice build and the rise and fall of the melody work really well with the lighter touch in the singing to create an open soundscape. To the point where the electronic loops and hooks that were making the atmosphere earlier on in the album are really out of place here, and actually detract. I don't ever recall being so overwhelmed by them before to the point of them spoiling the song for me but this time, perhaps as I am actually paying attention, they are just a little distracting.

So what to do then? Part of me wants to strip these right back and keep just the highlights - part of me says keep the whole lot because whilst I tuned out a little in the middle there it has always been a tone I come back to this for not the specific tracks. On balance, I don't need chaff, and I have the tone elsewhere so time to wield the scythe.

The Beauty and the Sea - Mor Karbasi

Track list:

1. Roza
2. Shecharhoret
3. Fuego
4. La Pluma
5. Mansevo del dor
6. En la kaye de mi chikez
7. La Galana i la Mar
8. Komo el Pasharo ke Bola
9. Nuestros Amores
10. Adios estrella brillante
11. Puncha Puncha
12. Be'enaim tsohakot
13. Judia

Running time: 58 minutes
Released: 2008

Where to start with this? An Israeli singing in Hebrew must be pretty close to the most unlikely thing that I have in my music library - and, to be fair, I have a reasonable number of oddities. I first heard Mor Karbasi through LastFM I think, on a station populated by several similarly non-mainstream material. I loved the emotion in the performance, but never really listened to it once I owned it - I am not surprised, and even if I reaffirm a love of these tracks I am unlikely to want to listen to them often.

If I remember correctly this is a matter of a fantastic voice and abundant raw emotion, the tremulous effect of her notes packing a punch like any hay-maker. The opening track is less melancholic than that though, carrying a balkan/Romany edge to it, and a jaunty rhythm. It is perfectly fine for it, but lacks any real impact on me, but when the second song starts the emotion is very present. The compositions are suitably sparse because it is the voice that is the star here. Too much accompaniment would risk drowning out the qualities exhibited by the style and execution. It is remarkable. That said, a solid hour of it is probably more than I would want short of a live performance. Over its length the song does indeed build up more of an arrangement and it does, I think, lose some of its power.

I am feeling compelled to do this now rather than really actively wanting to. I did not want to leave it a full week again but I have been fighting a general lethargy and constant tiredness which makes long periods of real concentration difficult. It would have been tempting to skip it for something shorter and more accessible - something at least in English - but this is what is in front of me. Not all in Hebrew, mind - there's some Spanish here too (I think - neither are languages that I know, despite working with 2 Spaniards). Looking it up, it is in fact Ladino or Judeo-Spanish. Learn something every day, though I have an inkling I knew that. Fuego is a word I recognise though. Again we are distinctly lacking the raw melancholia that I had been anticipating, the tempo is up and the arrangement is strong. The wailing, wavering voice is there too but so far I am definitely not rating my recollection of this disc. I was expecting fado-like levels of anguish and instead I am hearing light-ish songs with a certain grace and beauty but without the sheer stopping power.

OK, that is the first time it has really made me sit up and take note, and not in a good way. Mansevo del Dor has a blunt aspect to it, repetitive and rhythmic rather than musical. It is short, thankfully, as I find it atonal and undesirable. Thankfully the follow up is back on track, and this does have the mournful base to it, lending it an authority and appeal that had been lacking in part until now. There is a touch of the medieval about some of these tracks - it's the plucked strings that do it, I think, though some of the pipes/whistles add to the feeling. I do like that it harks back like that - in the modern world big brash sounds and overproduction seem to rule more often than not and the sense of times past works as an antidote to today's electronic jungle. Even though I have not done many of these posts of late I feel like I spend an inordinate amount of my time in front of this screen typing something  up. Committing to actual play of the Albion game doesn't help there, for sure, and I would be lying if I said that had not contributed to the paucity of postings here. I am in a position now to consider what I do with these tracks as I listen. There are similarities running through the album - simple strings, occasional pipes, a great voice and - to my surprise - more upbeat songs than I remembered. I have not loved any of them, but have only disliked the one. Whereas other material I have been lukewarm on has been cut, here I am tempted to keep everything except that one track simply because I have nothing else like it and as a change up it is really rather nice.

There is some real musicality here too, Adios Estrella Brillante is definitely the pick of the bunch as it carries a gentle melody and a beauty in the piece, though it is spoiled by over a minute of lead out which is atmospheric but out of place on the end of such a lovely song.

Truth be told, I am slightly disappointed that my memory was so off; I think I put more stock in the final track - Judia - than anything else... watch me prove myself wrong again when we get there! Snippets and slivers of that heartfelt pain are sprinkled here and there but the overall mood is much more positive and the playing is very reminiscent of Spanish guitar. I am probably under-selling it because there is nothing wrong with a more uplifting, positive tone and yet I am doing it down for not being able to hear the pain...

I can now though, Judia living up to my recollection from the first word, I can feel the hairs on my arms standing up with the edge, the plaintive cries of the song's title. Slow, stately, and sung to the beams in the roof from a lonely spotlight - or so I picture it. This is the take-home track, fitting that it should be the closer for it really is the most striking by far, possibly the most personal I guess, it feels as though she finds another level of commitment in delivering it.

Overall then, a somewhat surprising album, tonally off from what I recalled but despite that a good listen - one song excepted. I cannot say I am likely to sit down and choose to hear them together all at once again but that is not everything, and variety is a good thing.

The Beautiful Lie - Ed Harcourt

Track list:

1. Whirlwind In D Minor
2. Visit From The Dead Dog
3. You Only Call Me When You're Drunk
4. The Last Cigarette
5. Shadowboxing
6. Late Night Partner
7. Revolution In The Heart
8. Until Tomorrow Then
9. Scatterbraine
10. Rain On The Pretty Ones
11. The Pristine Claw
12. I Am The Drug
13. Braille
14. Good Friends Are Hard To Find

Running time: 54 minutes
Released: 2006

It has been a week since I posted - not a case of not having the time, more not having the right frame of mind. Time enough to need to force this one or risk losing the drive.

Ed Harcourt. For a time he was a real favourite and I am still very keen on the odd song here and there, but in general I found the quality of his output to deteriorate album by album. This is not the last of his albums that I have but it probably should have been. Looking at the track list, it starts strong and then drops off markedly into the sort of nothing songs he became prone to. Or so my impression is to begin with.

I love the hook in the opening track, and whilst I am less keen on what goes on around it until we hit the chorus it is enough to engage. The more audible vocal on the chorus makes it work in a way the ethereal nature of the signing in the verses does not quite match. The outro loses the plot a bit, subsuming what was good about the song to a noisy presence that, for me, adds nothing. Visit From the Dead Dog is the one song from the listing that I recognised immediately as a favourite. It's a strange title and a strange tale but the vocal performance harks back to the Ed Harcourt I first got interested in, the melody is accessible and the arrangement comes together nicely - its a lazily lovely song: never demanding, just supplying. It harks back in another way too - the trumpet; I went through a period in the late 90s, early 2000s of really liking the use of a trumpet in "pop" music and Harcourt's work with (I think) Hadrian Garrard was one of the drivers for that.

The tone turns maudlin now, slower and more orchestral initially, I recall this song as having a horrid end - chanting the title over and over. I wonder if I am conflating it with something else as what I hear now does not at all match my recollection of You Only Call Me When You're Drunk. In fact it puts me in mind of a TV show, orchestral, slightly sad. Oh, no... I was right. It goes harebrained and scattershot, a sonic mess that is really not pleasant. At least on the bright side my memory (so often exposed as fraud in these pages) is proved correct for one, and thus not wholly useless! The maudlin returns and this is the abiding emotional association I hold with The Beautiful Lie. As someone who has never smoked it takes a lot to make me care about cigarettes and this song does not manage it either, especially when Harcourt's voice goes all strained in places - like the perfect embodiment of my disillusionment with his later works.

My thoughts turn away from Ed Harcourt and to Fiona Apple because I cannot see the title "Shadowboxing" without thinking of Shadowboxer, which is a vastly more compelling track. This one is jingly percussion and muted melodies. The delivery of the chorus is pretty good and saves the song from being a complete waste, but all it has really served to do is make me wish I was listening to Tidal instead. That won't be for several years though - not in this context anyway.  So why have I not been able todo any more posting this week? Honestly I am not sure; going back to work after a week off was not particularly stressful, but I did end last weekend feeling that I had not done enough with my time. Being busy Monday through Wednesday evenings did not help, and the drive to come here to write and listen simply did not appeal on Thursday, when I was writing up game notes instead, or Friday when I deigned to shoot digital tanks. I have decided to ditch the Bloodbowl league for the time being though; stresses of scheduling are better avoided now I am GMing again, and a terrible final game left me cursing the overly dicey nature of it. That happens every now and again and the tanking has a similar problem. Both together is a recipe for stupid frustration and misplaced anger so only one persists.

Another song drifted by whilst I was whittering on there, the sort of nothing tune that Harcourt seems to have drifted toward over his career, but there is something more palatable playing now as we hit half way through. Unfortunately I dislike the chorus and bridge that follow - the composition and arrangement toward the start of Revolution in the Heart is great, but the harmonies in the singing and the devolution into "shanananana" that follows is a terrible progression. Time for an execution of the track, I feel. Spooky black and white movie music: that is what Until Tomorrow Then feels like - but somehow it works. A fuzzy not-quite jazzy arrangement and a pained but controlled vocal which is charged in the chorus to the point of desperation... its really well done. Maudlin but not depressing, hard to listen to but not unpleasant and above all pretty darn evocative. I can just see those 1930s cityscapes and old cars, downbeat bars and femmes fatales.

Unfortunately the jumpy and inconsistent nature of this album which allows for such interesting little tracks is the same nature which produces awful songs like Scatterbraine. It is, I think, Harcourt's career in microcosm; capable of genius but pulled in so many directions that the output suffers for it. This was true even on Here Be Monsters and Maplewood, but less so. Thankfully Scatterbraine is sandwiched by two of the better examples as Rain on the Pretty Ones is also nicely crafted, tugging at the heartstrings in a way that some of the earlier tracks tried to do unsuccessfully.

Hmm The Pristine Claw was not a name I associated with anything, but when the song starts it is immediately recognisable and it is one I rather like. It is a very simple string melody and a very softly sung lyric but unlike some such songs it trades on its simplicity for good effect. Tonally speaking Harcourt is all over the place on this disc. It is not a new sort of inconsistency but it is a source of frustration both from the standpoint of wanting something more cohesive to write about and tie together but also from the perspective of jumping from mood to mood along with the changes of tempo and life when consuming it. He can, however, be beautifully eloquent at times, very effective at pulling you around emotionally. Braille is a fine example of this, and again trades off the aural equivalent of soft focus in the voice recording. It belies my preconception that the album drifted out to nothing but providing a track that leaves you feeling like you have nothing. It is crafted to make you feel empty, lost, bereft... well, probably not, but such is the skill with which the song has been put together that it really had an impact on me hearing it now. It is a glorious track that I had never appreciated before. The final song plays on similar emotions but not nearly so well - the playing, the singing, the arrangement... the same triggers are present but they just will not pull. This does end up the nothing song I expected and even the trumpet cannot save it.

So I now have to pick over the track list and spit out the casualties. I thought I would be removing more that I will delete in actual fact, but actually it comes out to just over half the tracks being jettisoned even so. Many of them not bad (only 2 were actually unpleasant), but simply not good enough for me to want to listen to again given the wide array of other things I could be hearing.

I will try not to make it a week before the next post; if I got into that habit, I would never finish.

Beautiful Freak - Eels

Track list:

1. Novocaine for the Soul
2. Susan's House
3. Rags to Rags
4. Beautiful Freak
5. Not Ready Yet
6. My Beloved Monster
7. Flower
8. Guest List
9. Mental
10. Spunky
11. Your Lucky Day in Hell
12. Manchild

Running time: 43 minutes
Released: 1996

Going back a bit now... hard to imagine that this is almost 20 years old and harks back to when I first started to buy music in any volume. I had two of the singles from this album after hearing them on the radio and then got the album eventually. I did not, however, buy any more from Eels so they were never really a favourite. I have fond memories for some of these songs, but no clue about many more.

We start with Novocaine for the Soul, which was a single here but not one of the two I picked up. For me this song was a bit of a grower, not one that I was taken with from the off. I like the mix of the dark and the ornamental - a contrast of style and substance that characterises a few of my favourite songs, as well as ones like this that I just rather like. Its the expansiveness of the arrangement that gives the open effect, but the darkness of the lyrics and tight confines of the verses that set you up for the majesty. That is a theme that carries on with Susan's House - which was the first single I bought. Verse tense, spoken, dark. Chorus plinky - and very dated - but much more melodic and relatable.

The conversational tone of the narrative is engaging in a voyeuristic kind of way. It's a little like watching something like The Wire and getting a view into a world that is nothing like the one I know. I listen to these now, two decades on, and I wonder why I never picked up more Eels records... and even as I do, and enjoy this one, I do not feel compelled to get more.

Interesting; the songs overlap here. The start point of Rags to Rags is before the backing of Susan's House has completely faded. I know that was more common back then, but I had not noticed it before. I cannot say I really recognise this tune but it definitely carries on the common theme. The chorus and bridge are still more expansive, the verses confined and tight. There is less melody here, just more darkness - but in a decent way, not gratuitous or unwelcome. I am at the end of a week off, just Sunday to go. I have achieved less than I would have liked but have at least managed to get the shelves battened and caused a lot of little red casualty symbols to appear in Blood Bowl. Yeah, the latter is not an achievement really but it speaks to how I have wanted to be spending my time - mindlessly punching digital opponents into oblivion. I do not really feel any better for it, but I suspect I am in a slightly better place for the switching off. Still have a bit to do tomorrow, not least finding time to watch England (hopefully) play well in Dublin. The Six Nations is a dream for getting through these late winter weekends.

Not Ready Yet is more familiar by sound than by name but once it starts is very recognisible; this and the title track that preceded it are more in the same vein: dark and slightly grubby with moments of tenderness or light occasionally chucked in - whether in the form of a lighter lyric, or a particularly sweet chord/hook/backing that is there then gone. So far this album stands up pretty well. The songs are less familiar in this mid-scection; does that mean weaker as they haven't sunk into my subconscious over the years? My Beloved Monster is certainly the oddest and poorest effort yet - it feels more like an interlude, and is certainly for the chop. It's almost like the commentator's curse with sports: say something nice about someone then they disappoint immediately!

The balance appears to have shifted - I want more darkness back as the brighter sound is less engaging. I think it is temporary though as Mental and Your Lucky Day in Hell certainly bring the grubbiness back in later. The other thing I did this week is restart playing World of Tanks. Hopefully not to the level I did before and hopefully in a more laissez-faire fashion. Yesterday evening ended on a hilarious note when my (empty) artillery piece successfully completed a yakety-sax escape from a heavy 1 tier higher than me to complete a capture and win as last man standing. Epic. Why do I digress? Flower and Guest List are filler, that's why.

I have fond aural memories of Mental, despite the name, and when the song kicks in they come flooding back.... this is a little like the reverse of earlier. The lightness is in the verse - a sparse staccato touch - and the grime appears in the chorus with a much harder rockier edge bringing angst and emotion to bear. It loses the plot a little in the bridge but then falls back into its pattern which is a really strong basis... only to disappoint by going a full minute with the only lyrics being a repeated utterance of "not at all" - the edge is still in the composition though, and whilst it wanders a little in the outro the first 2 minutes of the song are really impactful. Spunky comes and goes in the way of dross and then we hit the second of the two singles I bought back in the day.

I love the spooky theme of Your Lucky Day in Hell. Mumbled lyrics over a darkly persistent tune, and that light touch that comes in for the chorus again. Contrast, it's a good idea people. Also, it's a videogame I really should get around to playing - I have it sat in my Steam list but never got around to it yet. This track is, weirdly a bit of a relaxing one, despite the haunting base - the light orchestral touch on the chorus really lifts it and reminds me of downtempo artists like Zero 7 and the like with the relaxing tunes they created some 5 years later (oh jeez, Simple Things being 15 years old makes me feel much older than this being 20...).

We are coming to the end now. Overall the album starts strong, thematic and interesting but that dwindles over time. There are good points to the later tracks, but they are not so consistently good as the front five and my attention has certainly wandered more as the tracks have gone on. Part of that may be finishing up the dregs of yesterday's wine but I do think that the quality of output has dipped since the end of Not Ready Yet - meaning that I was probably right with my comment on the lack of subconscious familiarity, and right not to run out and buy any more Eels music. Still, some cracking songs here too so I cannot really complain.

The Beast - Nathan Michel

Track list:

1. Dust

Running time: 3 minutes
Released: 2005

Singletons are in vogue, don't you know? One follows another here. Again I am not certain where this came from, but I think I know why I have this one at least. Michel popped up in some of the free music efforts earlier in the piece and I think appeared on a sampler somewhere too. That said, I have no clue what these 3 minutes will bring.

I am pretty certain from the opening notes that it will be a one-off listen though. Brassy electronic sounds that make me think Soap Opera titles with slightly odd repeat patterns. The vocal sections are pretty neat but the instrumental parts are not, and frankly it grates a bit after a while - so bright and loud are the sounds. A "not for me" then, so whilst singletons might be in vogue (hah! As if) I am no follower of fashion.

Beacons of Ancestorship - Tortoise

Track list:

2. Prepare Your Coffin

Running time: 3 minutes
Released: 2009

An odd singleton now. I have no idea where this came from, how I came across it or what to expect from it.

The start is rocky but despite a death-threatening name, the tone seems to be more cheesy movie or TV  show theme tune than anything else. Quite reminiscent of the early days of synth in some respect, or bad side-scrolling videogames. I am not finding anything much here worthy of note. Like a lot of stuff, it is not bad but it offers nothing to suggest I should keep it, so that's an entry I can scrub.

Beachcomber's Windowsill - Stornoway

Track list:

1. Zorbing
2. I Saw You Blink
3. Fuel Up
4. The Coldharbour Road
5. Boats and Trains
6. We Are the Battery Human
7. Here Comes the Blackout...!
8. Watching Birds
9. On the Rocks
10. The End of the Movie
11. Long Distance Lullaby

Running time: 43 minutes
Released: 2010

A local band. Stornoway formed in Oxford. I remember there being a buzz about them at the time. I remember picking the album up on a punt a short while later. I remember not liking it much. How much of that is true and how much is dodgy recollection is now to be tested.

What I can say before it kicks off is that I really like the album title - it conjures up pictures of recovered flotsam, curiosities from another life. It would be a shame if that is the best thing about it. The first track - Zorbing, after the hobby with the giant hamster balls - starts very non-committally. It reminds me a lot of something else - I think it may be Standard Fare, even though their vocalist is female. It has generic indie-pop all over it; fun but not too fun, light but not too light, easy to listen to, hard to like in any active perception. This sense persists as we move forward... there is none of the instant charm of Allo Darlin' here, just some very repetitive bases and lazy head-nodding structures.

It really isn't that bad, but it isn't good either. The only thing standing out is the fact it does not stand out.

There is a slight change in tone for Fuel Up - more morose, less twee - but still equally uninteresting. It is notable that there is a distance in the recording; everything seems quite soft as if it were drifting across a field rather than being experienced up close. It is not just the volume, but there is a muffled edge to some of the sounds that increases that. I think this is deliberate, it would tie in with the choice of a faraway coastal town on a windswept coast as a band name. If so, then this is the second thing to like after the album title. The Coldharbour Road makes me think back to my university years in Bristol despite being a part of town I never spent any time in - it is the best song yet and a probable keeper but I am afraid that does not say much.

It really is the vocal that gives me the indie-pop vibe more than anything else. The composition infringes on that patch now and again but the cadence of the singing is the stamp of genre in a way that I cannot quite explain. The album does seem to be getting better though even if there is still that propensity for uninteresting repeated rhythms and hooks. I find it interesting that the first two tracks - which really were utterly bland - were the singles and that I am more engaged with the disc as we leave them behind. I say that, but I have just disengaged with a Mumford moment. Unfortunately I do have Mumford & Sons to come, but I cannot stand them (another buy based on popularity which is clearly a bad thing!) and there is something about the song that just started which brings them to mind and there is nothing positive about that. The timing fits for them to have been a significant influence too, so I hope it does not go beyond this one track.

I seem to be leaving flaky skin all over my keyboard. Ew. I have noticed that my skin and lips have really suffered this winter and I hope that they recover as warmth returns to the country. Warmth may just have flashed back in the music too - bit more of a driving pace, same distance on the recording... Watching Birds is a decent start and feels like it is building - if it can continue without falling back into the same hook that it started with it might be another keeper. Alas, it drops back into the same form which worked for about 30 seconds before it got dull. There is some interest over the top of it but it has lost the urgency that it started with and the way it is presented feels like something that has been cobbled together from random bits and bobs rather than crafted with any plan and cohesion. It is nice to be listening to a shorter work though - even if I am not entirely enjoying it.

Into the run in, and there is no energy in the playing. I am listening in procrastination; I should be sorting out car insurance, credit card bills and battening for some shelves but the cold windy day is not inspiring me. That and I woke up knackered which never sets the day off on a good foot. I think a bowl of soup and Game of Thrones (Tyrion's second trial by combat) are next up and maybe this afternoon I will be better placed for productivity. This post is good for a clear-out though - the retention rate is low. I do not know how much difference it will make to get rid of this stuff - for all the chaff that I am cutting my library will still be huge and I will still end up skipping stuff freely if I shuffle it all. I suspect after I am done I will have achieved very little but having this as an outlet is a positive in itself. I have been going 6 months already at a rate of slightly below 1 album/2 days and at that rate it could be a decade's endeavour. How much new material will I buy in that time frame to invalidate my clearout?! The pile of 2015 purchases is in front of me, and it amounts to approximately one a week. That is a lot of additions but I am just about listening faster than I am buying and to be fair I have just found a couple of really good artists that prompted specific action.

Meanwhile Stornoway are concluding their effort whilst I waffle on. The run in has been nondescript and unremarkable. Nice enough, not objectionable but not anything that I feel I need to listen to ever again either. I do not feel any loyalty to local bands really, certainly not enough to overcome indifference of output. The last tune has receded and my finger hovers over delete as I plunge 9 of the 11 tracks here into the Room 101 of my recycle bin.