The Collection - Runrig

Track list:

1. The Greatest Flame
2. Wonderful
3. Dance Called America (Live)
4. Skye (Live)
5. Only The Brave
6. Small Town
7. The Cutter
8. Pride Of The Summer
9. Harvest Moon (Live)
10. Alba (Live)
11. Meadhan Oldhche Air An Acairseid
12. Lighthouse

Running time: 57 minutes
Released: 2009

This was an ill-conceived purchase insofar as it was blind, and I don't think I've ever sat down and listened to it. I bought it at a time when I was picking up Celtic music, having just discovered and fallen in love with Julie Fowlis' songs. I cannot recall what drew me to this specific disc - not why Runrig, not why The Collection (which doesn't seem to be listed in their Wikipedia discography). This isn't meant as a pre-emptive strike against the album, so much as against my purchasing habits, and resulting lack of enthusiasm for a post.

I have it, so I'll hear it.

An odd artefact as I start, the first song came in at the 2 minute mark, in mid flow. After a reset, the same structure actually fires up from a base. It gives me an 80s chart rock vibe more than a folksy (or even folk-rock) one. Oh so forgettable, like it is going out of its way to be bland in order to not be actively disliked by anyone. It just is, there in the background, with no real appeal but no real repulsion. The voices aside, I would have pegged this as American radio fare, perhaps with even less edge. Not a strong start, then.

Wonderful has a bit more life to it, whilst still having the same overall sense of characterlessness - like a cheap knockoff U2. Two tracks in and I can honestly say that not only was this purchase blind, it was off target by several genres; yes, I am regretting it... I have better things to do with an hour of a day off, really I do. Having said that, I did catch myself involuntarily tapping my toe with the rhythm here.

It somewhat beggars belief for me that on the first of four live tracks on the album you can hear a throng of an audience singing along with gusto. Not because there is an audience for this, but because there is an enthusiastic audience for it. I can just about, if I squint, make out the appeal of inoffensive and characterless music. Pleasant enough sound to fill a hole in the background of a busy life and all that. What I find harder to pin down is what would get people excited, rather than, say, comfortable.

There is a brighter sound on Skye that actually in places makes me think more charitable and positive thoughts. Little intricacies in the guitar that remind me of indie-pop; that can be a bit Marmite, something that risks being disliked to deliver.

This has turned into both a blow-by-blow and a rag-fest. Neither of which is a positive direction for the post, so I will digress a bit for a moment. Last week was an odd one, finalising plans for some business travel, an unexpected request and some potentially exciting news on the job front. It was a bit of a whirlwind week all told, and it feels odd to go from that into a week's vacation, booked well before hand. I have a long list of tasks that I want to achieve in this time off - including posting some more here - and whilst I crossed through a number of them yesterday the problem with having that list is that it doesn't really feel like having a week off. The other side of that coin is that if I hadn't listed them out, I wouldn't get anything done and whilst I would end the week rested, I'd feel annoyed with myself for not being productive. #LifesLittleFrustrations or something.

In the meantime Runrig have got through one more number. These tracks average out at just under 5 minutes each, which feels too long to me. But then as we've established above, I am not really falling for this sound, and the extra runtime on each track simply hammers that home.

Here and there the Celtic roots are shown. I can't help but think if the balance between that and the generic rock sound was re-calibrated then these tunes would have more personality and more appeal. In places it feels like they are consciously mimicking traditional instruments and arrangements with their rock band tools. For me, I would much rather they just used those traditions straight up, but at least songs like Pride of Summer have more personality about them.

My chain of thought has pretty much come to a halt with regards to this disc; I cannot come up with interesting ways to rephrase and repeat the same points that stand between me and enjoyment of this music. I feel bad for that in a couple of ways. First, I am not so sure that Runrig really deserve the scorn. Their output here is not for me but it isn't tacky or crass or even bad, really. They sound earnest - particularly on the live tracks - but ultimately they are peddling a style that is a little too flat and open to all for me to get excited about. This isn't a case where I hate the sound, tone or direction so much that I could happily spew indictments and not feel bad about it. I just have to leave it as not my bag.

The penultimate track is Gaelic lyrics and theme crossed with the orient in terms of certain sounds in the arrangement. I cannot accuse this of not having some personality. I'm not a fan of the guitar work on the track, which becomes more prominent as it goes, but up to that point it has been by far the most interesting number on the disc. Not enough at this point to salvage anything but a nice note of difference and of positivity that was unexpected.

When it comes, the end is sudden. No long lead out here, just a final trill. I will not miss this.

Art in the Age of Automation - Portico Quartet

Track list:

1. Endless
2. Objects to Place in a Tomb
3. Rushing
4. Art in the Age of Automation
5. S/20005S
6. A Luminous Beam
7. Beyond Dialogue
8. RGB
9. Current History
10. Mercury Eyes
11. Lines Glow

Running time: 50 minutes
Released: 2017

A new purchase now. I was idly casting an eye over what had come out recently when I spotted this I bought Portico Quartet's Mercury nominated debut, Knee Deep in the North Sea at the time of its nomination, thought it interesting but not outstanding and barely thought of it since. That was about 10 years back I think. I spotted this, recognised the name and then got surprised by the write up in a way that made me want to buy this. How good or bad was my decision? Time to find out.

The opening reminds me of LCD Soundsystem (I have that one album, y'know... Sound of Silver, but tired of it fast). That sense quickly dissipates though as the jazzier elements come in. The resonant sounds I remember from my other Portico album are here, but supported by a lusher construction. Layers of percussion, a solid wall of background swell and strings above. I'm quite taken with Endless as an opening track. Today was originally planned for gardening, but a wet week and uninspiring skies put paid to that early. I fill my afternoon with this instead, wimping out of biking in the cold. If the rest of the disc follows this lead, it will be a worthwhile choice.

There is a soundtrack-like quality to the early sounds... TV more than film perhaps, an instrumental where the top end could be suppressed to give a swirling background suitable for many a scene. It feels a tiny bit soulless, actually in places. Cold, lonely and distant despite that constant movement. Cold may be appropriate for grave goods though, so there is that. I am reminded a little of the Cinematic Orchestra, but without the genius use of space and emptiness to give tracks more warmth. As that track ends and we rush forwards to the next the repeated piano chords that gave me the LCD vibe are back, and left to go on longer. Too long, really.

The track gets better when that pattern is broken - or at least harnessed better, less obviously - but it is flat. Again it has the air of a soundtrack - music to accompany something else, not music to drag you in. A little over half way through there is a major shift in direction; I like that, and yet it does not really address my issues with the track. It remains at arms' length, nice enough background but no centre, no heart, no soul. The trumpet which provides the main narrative is decent, but it provides a melancholic lead not really supported by the fast tempo of the drums... and this sort of sad horn against a background of electronics is done better by others. I hope that there are tracks here which expose more warmth and draw. The first impression was bad, that was reformed quickly, but as it settles down into its stride, so far I am finding it a little empty.

The title track has more to it. Deeper, rounder sounds. And a less obvious percussion. They can do it, but it seems they don't always manage to.

I can't quite shake the feeling that I have heard this before... the best moments are reminiscent of the Cinematics, or Molvær, etc. It's a feeling that keeps me from really engaging with the album, even whilst quietly appreciating certain elements. The best tracks seem to be the ones where they employ the deep resonant tones... I can't for the life of me remember the name of the instrument, but I seem to recall that it was one of their gimmicks. This works well for me, perhaps because it harks back to their debut and matches expectation, but I think mostly because that timbre of sound appeals strongly on what is a very autumnal day. It is fair to say I am not relishing the onset of fall and winter, inevitable though they are, I prefer the lighter and warmer months.

There are moments here, though. For all that negativity above, I find the opening 90 seconds or so of RGB a joy. The track goes a little off the rails thereafter - a little bit flighty, all trills in the top end - but after a solid opening that had me nodding appreciably. This tune - those high notes aside - seems to fall just on the right side of background soundtrack vs. engagement. Those around it fall on the other side of that imaginary fence. Pleasant enough sounds but with a blandness to them. I am hearing nice rhythms, I rather like the background soundscapes but those things alone don't necessarily make something good to listen to. The main themes are just a little too absent, lines are there but end up subservient to structural elements rather than being supported by them.

One to go now and it opens brightly, its electronics painting a different, livelier tone. They are soon faded down - not out - and moved behind the percussion as the main element of the piece. The melody doesn't arrive for over a minute, and when it does the horn is a little lost in the forest of beats. Oh, you can hear it cleanly enough, but again it is not the star, not framed and promoted in the way that more practiced hands manage. That may be a deliberate choice on the part of the group (who am I to say?) but it does not really work for me. The rhythm dominates too much. It isn't that wonderful, but it is sharp and punches firmly through the other sounds.

Overall then... an album with a few high points, but primarily a sea of serviceable background tracks. It's a real shame that they don't manage to do just a little more, focus just a little bit differently on one or two of these tunes and they could become really nice pieces. My final impression though is of a largely empty shell or a house without furnishings. The structure was all in place, but the key elements that would make the house a home were absent.

All Hail West Texas (Remastered) - The Mountain Goats

Track List:

1. The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton
2. Fall Of The Star High School Running Back
3. Color In Your Cheeks
4. Jenny
5. Fault Lines
6. Balance
7. Pink And Blue
8. Riches And Wonders
9. The Mess Inside
10. Jeff Davis County Blues
11. Distant Stations
12. Blues In Dallas
13. Source Decay
14. Absolute Lithops Effect
15. Hardpan Song
16. Answering the Phone
17. Indonesia
18. Midland
19. Jenny (alt. take)
20. Tape Travel is Lonely
21. Waco

Running time: 61 minutes
Released: 2002

OK, we have an unexpected repeat now. I somehow missed that a remastered version of this favourite was available, complete with a bunch of bonus tracks and new liner notes by Mr Darnielle. I kinda had to pick it up once I saw it existed. I toyed with the idea of just listening to the new stuff, but... nah. I don't think I'll be able to make comparisons with the prior release because I'd have to listen to each track twice back to back. Just previewing it whilst ripping it sounds clearer in places but that could be kidology. 

This may have been available at the point when I bought All Hail West Texas for the first time; I don't really recall how long I have had, and loved, this material. Still, here I am, with something to listen to...

There is still a crackle at the opening of The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton, and Darnielle's voice sounds properly scratchy. Actually I catch myself thinking that the remaster may have more scratch and interference on it than the original issue. This feels rawer, fuzzier and harder to like, but I suspect a lot of that is rose tinting from the time since I last played the record. The fuzziness is unavoidable in a way that perhaps a flatter mastering tempered. What do I know? Nothing, that's what.

Colour In Your Cheeks is peppy, the riff is a little blurred by the recording but the punchy, separated blocks as it cycles through the keynotes are genius in terms of pacing and framing the track. On this track the vocal fares better - clearer for sure - and this carries over into Jenny, though the clarity here comes from proximity and volume, with the voice blocking out the general fuzz on the track. There is a really nice snap in the post-chorus guitar. Whilst the buzz on the line (as it were) is ever present, the vitality and essence of these songs is immense and immediate. I recently picked up the Goats' latest issue, Goths, and despite the more modern releases having more sophistication in terms of production the songs have but a little of the compel that I feel from these. Maybe that is the younger, angrier nature of things shining through and bringing energy, maybe it is that the creative well ran deeper, maybe I'm just so not a goth that an album of that name couldn't inspire... who knows.

Balance is a fucking awesome track. One of my all time faves. The guitar work guts me, the vocal punches the scar. It rips through me and leaves me happier for it.

Somehow that tune also seems to avoid the interference from the artefacts of recording, but I suspect that's my mind screening it out because of what the song does for me. In any case, I notice the buzz back hard on the follow up, which has a softer tone - what with dealing with new parenthood and all. At times it feels like the tape hum is being employed as a bassline, at others the frequency is subsumed by the lower thrum of Darnielle's guitar.

In truth I am not sure what the remastering adds (or removes) - no surprise there - but I am really looking forward to the new tracks. This is a first listen, albeit one where the first 66% is familiar. There is a nice clarity to the strumming on The Mess Inside, a rougher edge to the emotional, almost shouted vocal. The melody supports that emotion well, the lyrics demand it, and the track is powerful as a result.

Summer is gone; travel schedules have been messed up, it's raining heavily (or was until recently), and I've been feeling lonely of late. Making space for this listen is a good enforced stop and take stock. The songs on this disc are ones where paying some attention yields rewards, but they are also familiar friends by now. Walking the line between giving my ear, relaxing into the familiar structures, and actually commenting on things is a tricky one. I realise that I didn't really comment too much on things with the original listen - there is a bit more here already than on that post - but I don't necessarily feel a strong need to say much about these tunes. Yes, this album is a strong favourite, and one that I could evangelise about to someone I thought might appreciate it, but I have long since backed off from spreading the word into a soundless void, and on the off-chance any human being stumbles over this post then the only ones who read it will be familiar with the work anyway.

Ugh - that last sentence is my mind in a microcosm right now. Wrapped up in self admonishment and self pity. That's what I started the listening to push back against. Funny how bringing it up worked as a sort of focusing device, and not in a helpful way.

For what it's worth, I haven't really got any more fond of Blues in Dallas than I was originally.

The plus point of that observation is that we are almost onto the bonus tracks, the things I haven't heard yet. There is a little bit of trepidation there - I might be building them up too much, putting too much wait on their being contemporaries of the original set. They will be of interest, at least - even if they disappoint.

There is a lovely road trip image associated with Source Decay, partially from the lyrics, partially from memories of driving to it - even if that driving was on my regular commute. They are nice images, those memories - fields between villages, few cars on the road. They're probably not reflective of the actual journeys. I find myself drifting a little, then refocus my thoughts. I suspect that the remaster concentrated on cleaning up the guitar parts, because this is always pretty clear. The hums, thrums, and fuzzes from the recording are ever present, but they generally affect the voice more. In all - I don't find any significant differences in the fourteen original tracks.

There is some dead air before the bonuses begin - silence on the end of Absolute Lithops Effect. Then some oddities. Then Hardpan Song. First impressions are that it is sort of bland. Darnielle speaks his way through his lyrics as much as anything, and whilst there is clearly some urgency in the guitar work the riffs  don't have the immediate pull that they might have. That, though, is remedied on Answering the Phone - which harks strongly back to The Mess Inside, but veers into darker sounds rather than raw emotional ones, with lyrics to match. The sound here is raw, much more so than the previous tracks, but that doesn't seem to be universal to the bonuses as the next song doesn't have that same feel.

This track is busier, faster guitar work - fitting more notes in, rather than genuinely maintaining a faster pace. Its a nicer song for it. The strumming has a depth and melody to it that is often lacking on this album, and provides a welcome change. These bonuses are short numbers on the whole, racing by before I can really coalesce any worthwhile thoughts. I'll settle for a nod that they do, generally, fit with the tone of the core. That is helped, I guess, by one of the new ones being a re-recording of Jenny with a few variations in guitar and different pacing in the vocal in a couple of spots, but it definitely applied before that tune hit.

It still applies to Tape Travel is Lonely, though only just. There are definitely common elements here, but this song feels different in vocal style and lyrical focus. Less personal somehow - meaning less about people more than anything else; the track also ends abruptly, a little oddly. Then I am on the final stretch.

Last track Waco ends abruptly too, and the room falls silent. Run out of tape, John? Overall I am glad I bought this, and whilst I could probably cut the original album at this point I don't feel inclined to as having both gives more chance for those songs to come up! I might make a gift of the original hardcopy though, try to find someone to induct into the world of The Mountain Goats.

Collected - Massive Attack

Track list:

14. Live With Me

Running time: 5 minutes
Released: 2006

This is a singleton, because I bought this just for Live With Me, having all the other tracks from the compilation on their original discs. This one track made a huge impression on me when I first heard it, combining Massive Attack's core sound with the wonderful vocals of Terry Callier.

The strings have a mournfulness to them, and the beat is ominous. Callier's light but soulful voice offers a counterpart, but the lyrics are possessive, obsessive. It's a creepy track in a certain light - though probably meant from a protective, loving standpoint the atmosphere is darker than that.

I didn't but the single track back in 2006; I bought the whole 20+ track greatest hits for this one song; I scrubbed the rest from my library as duplicates long ago. I don't regret the purchase one bit. Callier's voice sets things off perfectly for me and I rather like the dark moodiness of it all despite the creepier interpretations. I do think it has dated some in the last decade, but it's still a darn fine tune.

Interlude: eagleowl and thoughts they inspired

Sometimes I have a strong need to share beauty. Most of those times I have no-one to share it with, not anyone likely to appreciate it, anyway. Right now I am sloughing away my evening listening to eagleowl and musing on:

1. I rather wish that they would release more (but I suspect this is unlikely)
2. They strike a chord with me so completely that it is hard to put into words
3. I wish that I could explore that with someone
4. If I could only save songs from one artist in my collection it would be these 22
5. Space and time to myself is great, but sometimes I'd like to have something else

I have been leaning toward elegiac sounds of late. Damien Rice the other night, Eagleowl tonight... strains of loss, of yearning for something other than what one has. How is it that I can find all this music that resonates with me, but not know anyone else who would appreciate it? 

This leads me to another, more depressing, thought. The death of my going to gigs. I have hardly been to anything for a long time... yearly trips to see Bellowhead and/or Spiers & Boden (and later this year Boden on his own, now they have split) but basically nothing else. It's a hole, a big one. Not only am I somewhere that sees little through traffic, but when I do hear about interesting events further away I have none to travel with. Gig-going alone is not so bad, but when you have the hassle of it not being nearby, the negatives are amplified.

To depress myself further, my tastes have been ossifying. I have hit that time in life, I guess when I am exposed to less new stuff and very rarely find new artists of interest. I am still acquiring a lot (more than I am posting of late, but that's not saying much) but it's all from artists and groups that I have followed for a time. That's not entirely true, on reflection. I have taken a couple of punts in "safe" genres where doing so nets you something vaguely reliable - like folk.

Anyhow, enough self-indulgent projecting for now. Time to wrap this up and get ready to wind down the weekend.

The Cold Vein - Cannibal Ox

Track list:

1. Iron Galaxy
2. Ox Out the Cage
3. Atom
4. A B-Boy’s Alpha
5. Raspberry Fields
6. Straight Off the D.I.C.
7. Vein
8. The F-Word
9. Stress Rap
10. Battle for Asgard
11. Real Earth
12. Ridiculoid
13. Painkillers
14. Pigeon
15. Scream Phoenix

Running time: 73 minutes
Released: 2001

Complete change of pace now. Hip-hop. I received this as a gift at some point and held onto it because I seem to recall it having a really distinct voice, and a powerful presence... one that made an impression. I listened to some hip-hop when I was younger, then drifted completely away from it as it slid into glorification of violence and toxic masculinity more than because the beat, voice and backing combinations no longer worked for me.

That first sentence belies good intentions to get some momentum behind these listens again, yet another couple of weeks have slid by since I managed to make the time. In truth time is not the problem, energy and the right mood is. I think I need to just fight through that though... hence doing this post now when I would rather be listening to elegiac dirges than punchy pointed verse.

There is a darkness, but a nice musicality with it, in the backing track to opener Iron Galaxy, an almost DJ Shadow-like pulse and groove to it. Getting it out there early - this format won't do this album justice because of the difficulty focusing on two sets of words at the same time, like keeping track of two conversations in a crowded bar. What strikes me though is the immediacy and accessibility of the composition as a whole. Whilst we go straight into the deep end of really heavy verse and it's all low, slow and threat, the tunes are completely supportive of that and yet at the same time interesting and approachable. There's no barrier to entry, no wall of crass commercialism to bounce off, no over-sexualised, women-as-property video image appearing in my head. The lyrics may contain these things somewhere, but it is not the fist impression or immediately obvious. This feels darker, more serious but, paradoxically, becomes more immediate, appreciable and enjoyable for that seriousness. It is hard core not lowest common denominator, but easier to get than the shallower trashy offerings of others.

There are some nice horns in the background, giving the sound of a more relaxed view of a city at night. The tension that of a pot boiler... a noir film. It fits - those same tensions are explored in the explicit lyrics. The delivery is interesting, but its the compositions that keep me hooked. Who says you can't rap over interesting music rather than transparent beats? Not these guys, for sure.

There is definitely a danger here... violence implicit and explicit throughout. Threats and nastiness. It jars a little but it doesn't come across as glamourised or trivial, not used idly. The tracks that make that the focus feel weaker somehow, but still not the turn off that I might have expected. Mostly this comes down to the fantastic arrangements, vital beats and tension-strewn top ends. Snappy electronica. I could almost see myself listening to this as an instrumental album in places. I think if the lyric was removed you might notice the empty spaces in there, but you might also end up with a smooth if grungy electronica; a little overlong, I suspect, but serviceable.

A couple of distractions pulled me out of the zone created by those grooves and I find myself on the outside bouncing off Vein. It just goes to show how fickle or fragile our relationship with music can be in the moment. I have been skipping past several tracks I love in recent days, searching for things more suited to mood. Yet if you give the tracks a chance to start they can suck you in... the ambience of The F-Word drag me back in forcefully, the backing here is amazing and synergises with the accents of the MCs in a perfect storm. I am less enamoured of the actual lyrics but the sounds - the sounds are great.

My mind has blanked. Words failing me. Thoughts not establishing themselves. 73 minutes of this is a lot of album, constantly switched on. I am, what... two thirds through now? No, less. I feel a little like I have been bludgeoned. The easy access I spoke about earlier? That seems to have shut down and we are into deeper, darker water now. There is less going on in the arrangements, more focus on really punchy, incessant rap. It's not fast per se, it doesn't stop to breathe - only giving space in the brief changes between tracks - and the voices are hard, edgy and grounded.

I find myself tuning in and out more, my ears pricking up for moments rather than tracks. The opening of Ridiculoid provides an interesting contrast to what came before it, but once the pattern for the number is set, the interest wanes a little and I let the (here genuinely quick) vocal delivery wash over me, my head a blur of... something? It's all too muddled to describe, so I blank it. I should note I don't count this against the quality of the offering. If anything the relentlessness that has forced that shut down is a mark in its favour. It doesn't pull punches, and I am starting to feel punch-drunk.

It is midday on a Sunday in early September, I've done nothing strenuous for 2 days and I feel beaten up.

Painkillers ends in an odd way. Beeps like a countdown timer, then an instrumental outro, long after the MCs have stopped. Its nice enough but it feels out of place on this album, a window and some space in what has been a very tight, full on experience. The opening to the following track, Pigeon, carries that sense to it too, and even after the vocal begins there is more air here. Apt. The voices have softened, the tone of the piece more optimistic, as characterised by some longer horn notes and the time between verses. Even my beat up ears are able to actually enjoy this. In places it is stripped right back - bass, drums and voice, in others you get the top end that gives that airiness and openness. I am not sure I would classify it as best in show, but Pigeon feels like exactly the right thing at the right time, an antidote of sorts to what came before. It kinda feels like it should be the closer, but there is one more to go.

Spacey.

What's that? Well, there is a Vangelis-like tinge to the electronic, space-like sounds that begin out final track (how's that for a random tag combo). That sense doesn't survive the opening of the lyric but it does fill me with a little mirth and give the track a lightness that means that whilst it is definitely tenser, more compact than Pigeon, it doesn't destroy that sense of openness created by its predecessor. I'm not so keen on the repetition of the track title, Scream Phoenix, in the vocal, and it feels like it should shut down after 3 minutes rather than run the extra 2 of instrumental that we have tacked on here.

Closing thoughts on this one are that it is probably the best hip-hop album I have ever heard, not that that is saying much. It is engaging, it is brutal, it is interesting. I prefer, though, to engage in smaller doses. An hour and 13 with no break is too much for me. I suspect the impact is lost a bit as a change up in a shuffle, but the impact here was too big to be truly enjoyable by the end.

Brilliant Light - Danny and the Champions of the World

Track list:

1. Waiting for the Right Time
2. Bring Me to My Knees
3. It Hit Me
4. You'll Remember Me
5. Swift Street
6. Consider Me
7. Coley Point
8. It's Just a Game (That We Were Playing)
9. Never in the Moment
10. Gotta Get Things Right in My Life
11. Waiting for the Wheels to Come Off
12. Don't Walk Away
13. Hey Don't Lose Your Nerve
14. Everything We Need
15. Let the Water Wash over You (Don't You Know)
16. Long Distance Tears
17. The Circus Made the Town
18. Flying by the Seat of Our Pants

Running time: 78 minutes
Released: 2017

I have a love-hate relationship with Danny and the Champions of the World. Well, more like love-ambivalent really. Love, because I found their eponymous first record to be the best of its year, ambivalence because everything that has followed has not made that level. More than that it veered in a different direction, one that gelled less with me. I vacillated a little over whether to pick this one up, then, but I was in a spend to feel better mood and ended up adding it to another order (one which brought me the excellent Every Valley by Public Service Broadcasting), so here I am. Not heard this yet, so first impressions ahoy.

The opening guitar riffs are the latter-day Champs, rather than the iteration I fell in love with a decade or so ago. It's safe indie rock. Not bad, but not an exciting start from my viewpoint. I like the vocal - Danny's gravelly voice, and the interplay with the backing both work quite nicely, even if the song itself becomes repetitive, the title incanted again and again.

Insert usual excuse here for lack of posts. Formulae need to be stuck to!

I think my "problem" with the evolution of Danny and the Champions of the World is that the sound has become less distinct, it has less of a unique selling point than that debut. That was rough and ready, folksy and raw... it played directly to my tastes and sounded different, engaging. This rockier sound... it could be any number of bands. It doesn't have the big sky Americana feel of Grand Drive, not that back to basics sound of the first Champions disc. Both of those sounds resonated more with me. There are hints of Danny George Wilson's musical roots here, but they feel marginalised, made small elements in a less distinctive overall sound.

Having just said that, more individuality has been injected in It Hit Me. Weird comparison of the day, but this has a tinge of Madness in the horns, a frisson of lounge in the keys, and a more open sound. This is less rock song and more crooner ballad, but with an arrangement that does more than make you lazy. Maybe I am just calibrating myself to this... it seems to be growing on me. I have been putting this post off for length, dodging it by way of excuses about tiredness, poor sleep and work stress. When I started this project - 3 years ago now! - I had no responsibilities worth the name and more free evenings and weekends to give over to it. I look at the rate I managed that first 4 months now and my mind boggles. A post a week is beyond me at the moment, let alone 3 or 4. In the last couple of months I have probably bought more than I have heard - this album included - and that is not a recipe for finishing, well, ever.

There is an Americana of sorts about Swift Street, it's the high guitar line that is redolent of country primarily, but when the chorus kicks in the whole sound of the song embraces that slightly corny commercial country sound unashamedly. The next track has a poky little riff in it, though it drops out for the chorus. An interesting sound that I can't quite find the words to describe. There is a better pace to this, though I find myself thinking a smoother voice would be a better fit with the song in place around it. The livelier number is welcome though. I could see this song becoming an earworm - it has that sort of "grower" feel to it... y'know a song that is just OK the first time you hear it but which with continued exposure builds into a favourite. I think, though, the runtime probably knocks that on the head. It sounds like the song should be ending around the 4 minute mark but there is another 90 seconds plus of extended lead out to put up with. That might work in a live gig, but not so well on .mp3.

This is definitely eyes-west though. The guitars continue to hum lines that have an American tinge to them, the pacing is slow, rural... It isn't the same Americana as Grand Drive were, and I maintain that it is more bland (or perhaps familiar?) than that big sky sound but it is slower pace, rural and small town in a way that doesn't feel quite right coming from a British band somehow.

If I didn't know this was from 2017, I wouldn't have a clue where I would place it. It sounds out of its time somehow. The opening track was pretty nondescript 00s rock, the heart of the album I am buried in now has an older feel to it... 80s maybe, with flashes of even earlier. I associate sounds like this with (mostly bad) films watched when I was a teen. I couldn't name one if pushed, but that's the direction my thoughts float on It's Just a Game. When that track ends they launch into another which could have been a continuation in some respects.

At this point I think Wilson's voice is starting to grate. He sounds older, more worn out, on this record and whilst that can really work for some performers the longer I am exposed to him here the more I find that roughness annoying. It probably doesn't help that his style leaves a lot of words open... long sounds that seem not to finish before the lyric moves on. This gives me a scratchy kind of feeling, rather than a cultured one... more "I've been singing too long" than "years of booze and fags to shape it". Not that the latter is better or should be aspired to! The music has receded back into a generic ameri-rock pattern for now, very 80s guitars making my ears glaze over some (who knew ears could do that too?).

I am half way through. It is worth mentioning that the physical copy of this album is 2 discs.

This second half has a couple of really long tracks, the first of which is unfortunately forgettable, It seems to have set a musical theme that I am less than engaged with and there is an awful lot of title chanting in the lyrics right about now. The first half had its moments of difference though so I am hopeful there will be more, and my hope is rewarded almost immediately with a slow number. Don't Walk Away is the stand out of the album so far. I love the female voice added here, I like the muted horns under everything and the space the arrangement gives the voices. It's a little unexpected gem.

To underscore how unexpected it is, the next track adopts more tried (almost typed tired, which might be true, but a little harsh) and tested structures. It is another slower number and brings to mind a whole genre of country tracks that populate radio stations in TV shows. This is the second 7 minute track (rounding up) and it goes on, and on, and on... sucking joy from me as it does. Endings, people, endings are a good thing!

Oh geez. I typed that at 5 minutes. There's no pace, no interest, just hold and sway - this is not a dance hall and I am alone so it is filed under delete. I don't normally like to cut things on first listens because music really can grow on you, but I have limits there.

I will say this... the use of the sax gives things an odd tone in that it is not entirely in tune with the Americana theme, a little bit of incongruity that freshens up what might otherwise be stale.

I like the riff for a change! Let the Water Wash Over You has a hum to it. Very generic light rock hum, but it is still pleasing. I think I am running out of things to say though - fighting the urge for single sentence paragraphs and dismissiveness.  A long day boardgaming half-fried my brain and now words are far from my grasp. 3 hour round trip driving tomorrow too... busy weekend. Of course - the weekends I am busy are the weekends that the weather would have supported being outside doing useful stuff. Such is life.

Oh dear, the end of the song is a weird old let down. Thankfully the following sound is brighter, and we're on the final stretch now. Overall I don't really know what to make of it. Probably I shouldn't have bought this one, but then again there is an obvious high point in there and another couple or more that could be growers. Others are formulaic in construction, repetitive and overly reliant on a small number of lines lyrically. There are grand moments of Americana, and petty faux-pas of Americana. What there isn't is a consistent feel to that theme - it darts about from dull to impactful and back.

Oh that was horrible sentence construction. Nevermind... a less gravelly Wilson and very country guitars are sliding me along to the end of the album. Flying By the Seat of Our Pants is onto a loser though, because the title is so close to I'll Fly By the Seat of My Pants by King Creosote and it puts that other tune - one of my all time favourites - into my head instead. So I end the record thinking of something else rather than paying attention to this one, which is a little unfortunate, because I think this might be one of the better songs on this album.

The summation would be thus: alright, might grow on me if I gave it a chance.

Cold Shoulder - Bdy_Prts

Singleton time. This is not so much an album as a tack released on its own. Bdy_Prts are two  female performers from other Scottish acts come together to do something... and with an album due later in the year. One of those is Jenny Reeve (Strike the Colours) - which is what brought them to my attention when I thought to look into what she may have done more recently.  It turns out I also have music from the other Prt(ner), who was in Sparrow and the Workshop.

That said, I don't think I actually listened to this, or the other track I grabbed (I.D.L.U. - which is categorised as another singleton for some years in the future) after downloading them from whichever outlet I got them from. I honestly don't remember if they were free samples or if I bought them. And that was earlier this year... I suck!

Rather than post a bogus cover image and stuff, I'll link to a YouTube of a live performance:

So what do I make of the song?

Bold single strikes to start, that's good. Reeve's voice, always welcome; her American companion brings a different tone, the composition gives both voices space, doesn't over-complicate things.  I am less fond of the chorus. The track is perhaps not what I was expecting, yet it is enjoyable all the same, without being stellar. I would say it heralds promise and an interesting change of direction for the performers

Coconut - Archie Bronson Outfit

Track List:

1. Magnetic Warrior
2. Shark's Tooth
3. Hoola
4. Wild Strawberries
5. Chunk
6. You Have a Right to a Mountain Life / One Up on Yourself
7. Bite It & Believe It
8. Hunt You Down
9. Harness (Bliss)
10. Run Gospel Singer

Running time: 40 minutes
Released: 2010

Oh dear lord. I remember not getting on with this at all, after buying based on their cover of a James Yorkston song on the collectors edition of When the Haar Rolls In. The covers disc there led me to some beautiful things - not least Cathal Coughlan and on to Microdisney but I recall the sounds I heard as I was ripping Coconut made me sure I would never play it. Perhaps it was one bad track, perhaps there is something here... now is my time to find out.

The first strains aren't exactly encouraging. There is a nice menace to the riff but the edge into the performance is a little too fuzzy for my liking, and the drowned vocal is not really my cup of tea either, though the riff dominates to such an extent its easy to overlook the vocal almost entirely. Well, this will certainly keep me awake. In now customary fashion I remark about how few posts I make here, or rather the length of time between them. I ran out of excuses, even to myself, hence I am defying droopy eyes to listen to something I have been putting off. Magnetic Warrior's cacophony is a million miles away from the cover of Would You Have Me Born With Wooden Eyes (weird song title alert!) that led me to take a punt on Coconut. The incessant noise is pulsating... I can imagine it creating a good gig atmosphere even as I struggle with it.

The second track tones things down a little to begin with, but the echoey effects around the edge of all elements of the track is really off-putting. It is clearly a deliberate aesthetic choice rather than poor recording, but it makes me feel like the songs are rattling around my skull, concussing me rather than opening spaces for me to enjoy. For all that, I will praise them for having personality. I may not like the effect they have chosen to style the opening tracks on but it gives the album identity.

Archie Bronson Outfit seem to build songs on riffs, and filling them with sound. There is a nice solid drive to Hoola and here, the echo absent except on the vocal, their strong guitar lines are better defined, better employed. A good energy sweeps the song along, and without the brain-battering fuzziness and with a few more open holes in the wall of sound I find I rather like the song that is left. Of course, it then fills in those holes no sooner have I typed that, but it remains a marked improvement.

It has been an odd week. Many board games played, many days worked from home. Today was my first day in the office for a week and I am remote again tomorrow; it's all rather thrown me some and I need to try to establish a better pattern to life again. Clear evenings, some energy and drive at weekends... these things would be nice and conducive to building a healthier lifestyle. So far my intent to get out on the bike more have been frustrated, and I can only blame myself. After another noisome number, we hit on something that reminds me a little of Devo - quirky rock, with high pitch sounds. This lacks the offense of the louder tracks, but also the personality. Whilst there are riffs here, they are less compelling even for being clearer. It ends up being a bit of a nothing track as a result, which is a disappointment as when I first heard the change in sound I thought there might be something there for me. The track drags on a little too long, just to rub that in.

This must read as a hate on. Whilst it is true that I will be culling most of the disc when it concludes, there are elements here I appreciate. The decision to build the songs around strong central riffs is a good one, and the riffs in some cases are bold ones - statement making ones - that have real power to them. Employed with more careful support I think I could have really enjoyed some of them. It's the buzzy, fuzzy constancy of the sound that wears me down rather than the core concepts. Sometimes that sheer volume and layered sound can work, drawing me into a bubble that (stupidly) makes the ringing in the ears when it subsides feel good. Mogwai do that well, I find - building noisy but demanding crucibles. Here the edge is wrong, and it sets everything out of place. It is not a million miles from something I could really like, but the couple of postcodes are far enough in the majority of cases. Bite it & Believe it steps back the right side of whichever imaginary line in the sound I am talking about. Like Hoola before this track drops some of the overwhelming elements in the arrangement. The sound and noise is still constant, but it is constrained, kept manageable by a smaller scope.

I think it is unfortunate that when the songs are most accessible, they are probably also most dull. Hunt You Down is a good example of this phenomenon as nothing here is too loud or too challenging. It slips into a nice little rhythm early. It's nice. Then it just stays there, rinses and repeats, being nice for 4:22 without once becoming engaging. I can see more to like in tracks like the opener which I actively disliked than in ones like this which are simply "alright".

Oh, now that is more application, Harnessed (one might say).

This track has the strong riff, the driving pace, the same affected vocal as Magnetic Warrior, but a sleeker construction, less noise but more sound - refining the formula into something still powerful but more pleasing. The drive, in particular, is really nice - and whilst it does rather become a loop (and no track over 5 minutes should devolve that far) the energy is indeed Blissful, relatively speaking.

OK, that is two horrible puns on the track title in two paragraphs. I should stop. I blame the YouTube video on punning that I saw earlier, and the reminder of how good the wordplay in Arrested Development is.

It approaches time to sum up, and well... Coconut is not for me. I am less hostile to it than I thought I would be, but there are too many tracks where the sheer volume gets to me. I see nice threads running through it but ultimately too many of the songs didn't work, either noisome and violent or lacking enough beyond a riff. My ears are ringing a bit despite the fact I turned the volume way down for this one; that ain't so clever. I will however hold on to a few tracks - not really undiscovered gems, but better examples of a fine idea that didn't quite hit the mark.

The Beautiful & the Actual - Rosie Hood

Track list:

1. Lover's Ghost
2. A Furlong of Flight
3. William's Sweetheart
4. Lord Lovel
5. Dorothy Lawrence
6. Baker's Oven
7. The Little Blind Girl
8. The Red Herring
9. Adrift, Adrift
10. The Hills of Kandahar
11. The Cruel Mother
12. Undaunted Female

Running time: 44 minutes
Released: 2017

This is a bit of an unknown, a new release I picked up sound unheard because folk singer with good reviews. An old fashioned punt in the dark in an era when that really isn't necessary. This is a first listen, to boot so this listen is unlikely to be definitive.

The opening sound is a low reverberating thrum, a dark contrast to Hood's light, bright voice that chimes over it. It is a good test of the new speaker I have attached for this one - less practical as it has no independent volume dial (and adjusting the PC volume isn't as "one-touch") - since my previous one was gunked up and wouldn't clean up nicely. The song is all here; underneath the vocal are an array of low key background sounds rather than a clear tune. The effect is nice, and I find the vocal style a bit reminiscent of the more interesting side of Lucy Ward. A decent beginning.

I had hoped to complete more listens in June, whilst on holiday, but issues with getting reliable power in meant my downtime was spent reading instead. Since I have been back I have been a little too pulled in multiple directions to get to this until now. As blind punts go, this one feels like it might pay out, as the second track - a more recognisable tune here - continues to exhibit a very engaging voice. There is a nice simplicity to it. We are firmly in quintessential folk sounds now, as a squeezebox takes up the lead on William's Sweetheart. Here the delivery of the lyric is tighter, clipped a bit, less floating.

There is, then, a versatility on display here; I find I rather like it. This applies to the music as well as the voice as the arrangements to the first 3 or 4 tracks are distinct and use different instruments and forms. Of this first third of the album, Lord Lovel is the least enjoyable by far; here there is something about the voices that doesn't quite gel with me. Hard to put my finger on what and why though. Happily it seems to be a brief misstep as a staccato string base hums under a more impressive vocal on the next track. There is a vibrancy to this that is really impressive - yet I find myself wondering at the same time how much I would really want to listen to it. I hear, and I appreciate, but I wonder about how repeatable that appreciation is. I think that is because some of these are quite stark, raw and open and so the songs can appear challenging.

Rosie Hood can really sing though. Really, really sing. More than just holding the tune, the timing and the expression in her delivery is gorgeous on The Little Blind Girl where (for I think the third time on the disc) she is really carrying everything on her as the accompaniment is almost an afterthought. The difference in accent aside, I also hear echoes of Eliza Carthy here, which is no bad thing, though I think Hood's voice is a little smaller and less forthright than Carthy's they share some rhythmic approaches. I would also call Hood a more musical singer - so not as good in some ways, better in others.

The variation in arrangements and styles seem to have normalised over the course of the disc, it feels slightly more consistent as it goes on, converging on more traditional folk structures, even as it goes off piste subject wise with a song about soldiers in Afghanistan. Of course, I spoke too soon; the very next track returns to a cappella, two voices alone. Nicely executed, but not at all an easy song to listen to. We then close with a return to voice over staccato bass. This form is probably my take home from the album, a nice stripped back way to present the songs - albeit one that I think you have to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate. I am not quite there by the end of this listen, not as much as I was at the start of it anyway. That might be the time, the oppressive humidity as even with the house opened up all day the thermostat reads 26 plus and the air is muggy and close.

Silence has fallen as that final track concluded. I found this a striking collection, one I am very glad to have heard but which I wonder about how often I would want to hear it again.