What Are You Listening To?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

FRANZ FERDINAND   "tonight"  cd 2009

a revisit
Scottish alt-rock band 
their fourth album of six of which i own the first four
not sure why i never purchased the latest two as they are decent albums when i streamed them
anyway
this, like all the others, has their distinct retro-80s pop sounds
some bands are good at what they do and dont stray too far from their niche sound and these guys are one such band who i know what im buying before i buy it.
a decent album and would rank a respectable 2.1 which means
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

lead off single actually has a Blur vibe going on

[CRAZY-HORSE]

INXS  "inxs"  vinyl,  1980

from Lynne's vinyl collection
she owns the first ten on vinyl (disregarding the two made after Hutchence's death with other vocalists)
im not a fan of the band (i know three albums, two of which i dislike) but i do love the "listen like thieves" album 
so i thought i should give them a decent thorough listen by starting at the beginning
this album is full of the typical New Wave sounds of that time with hints of Ska thrown in the mix
yes the songs are quite simplistic and a long way from what would be their 'signature sounds' later on but i really like this one
it has a certain quirkiness to it, i little kitsch for want of a better word
i must admit that after a couple of listens that i really like this album and it would score 2.5 for me which means
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

favourite from a bunch of songs i had never heard happens to be the single:





tracks:

side 1:

1:  on a bus  ***
2:  doctor  ***
3:  just keep walking  ***
4:  learning to smile  ***
5:  jumping  **

side 2:

1:  in vain  **
2:  roller skating  **
3:  newsreel babies  ***
4:  body language  **
5:  wishy-washy  **

3s - 5
2s - 5
1s - 0

rating:  2.5

[CRAZY-HORSE]

GRINDERMAN  "grinderman"  cd, 2007

a revisit
a side project for Nick Cave
its heavy, its grungy its chaotic, frantic and a grimy dirty mess
but it is Nick Cave and somehow it works
feels like his Birthday Party band only on steroids
album is not one i would generally 'go to' for Nick Cave but i hadnt heard it for a while so the time had come....
album would rank around 1.9-ish so not great by his standards
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

fav:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

GRINDERMAN  "grinderman 2"  cd 2010

a revist
the second and final Grinderman side project album from Nick Cave
less of the grungy chaotic mess of the previous one and back to something that resembles Nick Cave 
its still a guitar driven album just more melodic than the first one
and the album contains quite possibly my favourite line of all time and who could get away with singing a love song to his wife and including this line:  
"the spinal chord of JFK wrapped in Marilyn Monroe's negligee i give to you" from my fav on here.
album ranks a decent 2.1-ish which means
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

fav:






Psychedelic invocations of Mata Hari at the station
I give to you
A Java princess of Hindu birth
A woman of flesh, a child of the Earth
I give to you.


Well, the hanging gardens of Babylon
Miles Davis, the black unicorn
I give to you
The Palaces of Montezuma and the Gardens of Akbar's tomb
I give to you.

The spider goddess and the needle boy
The slave-dwarves they employ
I give to you
A custard-coloured super dream of Ali McGraw and Steve McQueen
I give to you.

C'mon, baby, let's get out of the cold
And give me, give me, give me your precious love for me to hold.

The epic of Gilgamesh
A pretty little black A-line dress
I give to you
The spinal cord of JFK
Wrapped in Marilyn Monroe's negligee
I give to you

I want nothing in return
Just the softest little breathless word
I ask of you
A word contained in a grain of sand
That can barely walk, can't even stand
I ask for you

[CRAZY-HORSE]

INXS  "the swing"  vinyl 1984

i actually own this one but i played Lynne's copy as it was at hand
it was actually refreshing hearing some of these tracks after a long time of not hearing them
always thought of INXS as a great little singles band but a band whose albums consisted of a lot of filler and this showcases that for me.
either way, despite not liking half of the album it was an enjoyable experience on this occasion
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

fav:





side 1:
1:  original sin  ***
2:  melting in the sun  *
3:  i send a message  ***
4:  dancing on the jetty  ***
5:  the swing  ***

side 2:
1:  johnson's aeroplane  *
2:  love is (what i say)  *
3:  face the change  *
4:  burn for you  ***
5:  all the voices  *

3s - 5
2s - 0
1s - 5

rating:  2.0

[CRAZY-HORSE]

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS  "the best of"  cd,  1998

a revisit
their first compilation
as much as i love just about every track on here being a compilation does not work (well not for a fan anyway)
his albums generally have a recurring theme throughout and this sounds patchy musically because the flow is uneven.
sort of like the Jethro Tull andPink Floyd compilations which (as two examples) are made to be played as one piece of work.
all that aside, it is a solid collection of songs/singles
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

no favourite but this one is sheer brilliance IMO:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

WHITE STRIPES  "elephant"  cd,  2003

a revisit
their fourth of six, i own them all
solid alt rock album but definitely some 'iffy' moments
Lynne hates their version of David/Bacharach's "i just dont know what to do with myself" but i like it
overall, Lynne is not a fan of Jack White and generally likes the odd track or two from his albums and this is no different.
two stand out tracks off this one were the hit singles, "the hardest button to button" and "seven nation army"
me, im a big fan as you all know and i really like this album which would rank a comfortably decent 2.1
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

pretty hard to go past this track

[CRAZY-HORSE]

INXS   "welcome to wherever you are"  vinyl, 1992


from Lynne's vinyl collection
well this was a real surprise...
was only familiar with a couple of the minor hits from the album so no real idea about it
so the album opens up with two tracks that sound nothing like INXS,
first up, a sitar laden track which sounds more like something Oasis would do
secondly a bonifide alt rocker that would sound more at home on a U2 album
and on those first two tracks you'd never have guessed it was Hutchence and Co...
after that the songs are more familiar, theres rock, dance-rock/funk and the obligatory ballad/slow song or two
overall, an excellent album, no filler and several songs that sound nothing like INXS which is unexpectedly strange 
also, the songs i simply like will almost certainly grow on me more with repeat listens, this could well be my favourite album of theirs but theres still two more to listen to yet,
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

fave:





side 1:
1:  questions  ***
2:  heaven sent  **
3:  communication  **
4:  taste it  **
5:  not enough time  ***
6:  all around  **

side 2:
1:  baby dont cry  ***
2:  beautiful girl  ***
3:  wishing well  ***
4:  back on line  **
5:  strange desire  ***
6:  men and women  **

3s - 6
2s - 6

rating:  2.5

[CRAZY-HORSE]

THE MODERN LOVERS  "the modern lovers"

recommendation from MH
American garage rock, proto-punk band
debut album 
released in 1976
slight Lou Reed vibe for me
from one listen
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

favourite:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS   "dig!!! lazarus, dig!!!"    cd/vinyl 2008

a revisit
their fourteenth studio album
their 'commercial' radio friendly pop/rock album ('pop' is probably a misleading description but it is as mainstream as Cave could get)
solid album, love half of this, like the remainder and its still not his best album even though it would rank 2.5
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

fav on this occasion:





^^
first time i have ever watched the video for the song and it seems so weird seeing Nick Cave wear a tee-shirt as he usually wears suits
great poetic lyrics on here too:

I walk into the corner of my room
See my friends in high places
I don't know which is which or who is whom
They've stolen each other's faces
Janet is there with her high head and hair
Full of bedroom feathers
Janet is known to make dead men groan
In any kind of weather
I crawl over to her
I say hey baby
I say hey Janet
You are the one, you are the sun
And I'm your dutiful planet
But she ain't down with any of that
'Cause she's heard that shit before
And I say uh huh, oh yeah you're right
'cause I see Betty X standing by the door.

With more news from nowhere
Yeah more news from nowhere
And it's getting strange in here
Yeah it's getting stranger every year
More news from nowhere
Yeah more news from nowhere
Alright now

Now Betty X is like Betty Y minus that fatal chromosome
Her hair is like the wine dark sea in which sailors come home
I say hey baby I say hey Betty X
I lean close up to her throat
This light you are carrying is like a lamp
Hanging from a distant boat
It is my light says Betty
Betty x says this light ain't yours
And so much wind blew through her words
That I went rolling down the hall
For more news from nowhere.......

I turn another corner
I go down a corridor
And I see this guy
He must be about one hundred foot tall
And he only has one eye
He asks me for my autograph
I write nobody and then
I wrap myself up in my woolly coat
And I blind him with my pen
'Cause someone must have stuck something in my drink
Everything's getting strange lookin'
Half the people have turned into squealing pigs
The other half are cooking
Well let me out of here I cried
And I went pushing past
And I saw Miss Polly singing with some girls
I cried struck me to the mast
For more news from nowhere....

Well then a black girl with no clothes on
She danced across the room
We charted the progress of the planets
Around that boogie woogie moon
I called her my nubian princess
Gave her some sweet back fatass jive
Spent the next seven years between her legs
A-pining for my wife
But then by and by it all went wrong
I fell washed up on a shore
She stared down at me from up in the storm
And I sopped up on the floor
For more news from nowhere....

Well here comes Elena with two black eyes
She's given herself a transfusion
She's filled herself with panda blood
To avoid all the confusion
I say the sun rises and falls with you
And various things about love
But a rising violence in me cuts all my circuits off
Well Elena she starts screaming
Her cheeks are full of psychotropic leaves
Her extinction was nearly absolute
When she turned her back on me
For more news from nowhere....

I bump and crash into Deanna
hanging pretty in the door frame
All the horrors that have befallen me
Well Deanna is to blame
Every time I see you baby
you make me feel so unalone
And I wipe my face into her dress
Long after she'd gone home
With more news from nowhere....

And don't it make you feel so sad
Don't the blood rush to your feet
To think that everything you do today
Tomorrow is obsolete
Technology and women
And little children too
Don't it make you feel blue
Don't it make you feel blue
With more news from nowhere....