Review: Arctic Monkeys Discography

Arctic Monkeys have never made a perfect album and they are not a particularly great band. They are a good band and have made some good albums, though. In another time of British music (though I find when people make these kind of links, they rarely hold any kind of weight) Arctic Monkeys would perhaps be that band that would have a few hits and a record you'd maybe quite like - this may be now the very case, but Arctic Monkeys success seems to go further and wider than that. A consistent string of number one albums almost tells the story about Arctic Monkeys but denies some of the truth beyond the surface. Generally speaking, Arctic Monkeys are well-liked mainstream rock band and people seem to like to see them do well because their humbly working class origins. The attention waned on 2009's Humbug slightly, I should know, I was there to see it - but Arctic Monkeys, post-Glastonbury and all, are arguably the most popular they have ever been now since their initial 2006-2007 ascendancy. 

Review: Reflektor - Arcade Fire (Single)

The returning of some of indie rocks finest in 2013 has been something of a mixed bag. There was the reformation of cult legends My Bloody Valentine in February, met with a quietly rapturous reception for their album mbv. At another end of the spectrum, Vampire Weekend produced arguably their best work with Modern Vampires of the City and The National followed up the a string of highly-acclaimed with the seemingly solid Trouble Will Find Me. Elsewhere bands such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs and supergroup Atoms For Peace returned with output that wasn’t bad, but hardly consistently to the standard that you know both band’s could produce.

Review: Here Come the Warm Jets - Brian Eno

The record takes my own coveted title of greatest début album ever - behind Roxy Music's own debut (of course which Eno was a member). But while that album is nominated by a foray of artists taking the limelight at several times, Eno here is sans Ferry (but with almost every other member) and is the main entertainer on the enigmatic, gorgeously captivating and almost any other positive adjectived Here Come the Warm Jets.

Review: Scott 4 - Scott Walker

Review: The Charm of The Highway Strip / Holiday - The Magnetic Fields

Before the beautiful behemoth '69 Love Songs' a Magnetic Fields did actually exist. Beginning with a brand of slender synth-pop in the early 90s with vocalist Susan Anway, the group released 'Distant Plastic Trees' and 'The Wayward Bus'. Stephin Merritt had always provided the synthesized instrumentation and lyrics before firmly taking the vocal reins from 'The House of Tomorrow EP' in 1992. Although other vocalists emerge on '69 Love Songs', 'The Charm of the Highway Strip' and 'Holiday' are sung solely by Merritt, and probably make the best case for The Magnetic Fields being the vehicle for Merritt's output, rather than being a standardized band.

Review: The Smiths / Meat Is Murder / The Queen Is Dead / Strangeways, Here We Come - The Smiths

The Smiths continue to influence, engage and intrigue. Morrissey continues to enrage and surprise well into the 21st century, leading off a trail of solo albums in his wake, as Johnny Marr flits from band to band, whilst Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke seemingly retract from any form of limelight. The Smiths have been no more since 1988, and they also haven't given in to the trend of reforming or performing, either. Despite their being (what we believe to be) no love lost between any of the members in recent light of court cases and lack of communication, the four men from Manchester still hold one thing in common; they were once part of one of the best British bands of all time. With that glowing appraisal, it is only fair to present the case with evidence.

Review: The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan

Dylan's second album lives on to be his purest and funniest folk work. Before the electric guitars led Dylan on a different, more esteemed rock path, Bob Dylan had four albums before 1965's Bringing It All Back Home, the 2nd, this effort, turned out to be the best.

Review: Something Else by The Kinks

Insert your metaphorical coin into a metaphorical 'Sixties Classics' machine and sooner or later a Kinks song will fall out. The choice cut this time around is the rousing, melancholic Waterloo Sunset which ends an album that otherwise explores in at least some detail a large variety of the mini-musical transformations the band made throughout the decade; songs which have attributed to the band's legacy as one of Britain's finest of all-time.

Review: BIG TV - White Lies

White Lies’ third album ‘Big TV’ arrives a bit like a small raindrop in a huge ocean; an adage the critics have been all too keen to point out, frequently referencing how ‘unmemorable’ and generally how unforgettable White Lies as a band seem to be. The 100,000 play count of the band’s first single from the album, ‘There Goes Our Love Again’, would seem to imply differently, and although with album number three White Lies may not have been offered an NME cover or much hype at all following the mixed-to-negative Ritual, anything that has an audience deserves a listener – so I’ll skip the cheap disses and get down to the music...

Review: Songs of Leonard Cohen / Songs From A Room / Songs of Love & Hate / New Skin for The Old Ceremony

Leonard Cohen is a particularly interesting musician. Starting out in music when he was already 33-years old yet still becoming one of the most renowned folk singer-songwriters of all time. This would perhaps not be too surprising if his contemporaries such as Paul Simon and Bob Dylan weren't making waves in the industry by their tender 20s.

Review: Slow Focus - Fuck Buttons

[REPRODUCED FROM MY REVIEW FOR HOOTING AND HOWLING MAGAZINE]

Championed for their use of drone techniques with electronics and experimentalism, most agreed that Fuck Buttons seemed only to be going from strength to strength after two exceptionally satisfying albums, especially on their last outing, ‘Tarot Sport‘. ‘Slow Focus‘ serves as the third, and it is a mixed affair.

Review: Either/Or - Elliot Smith

1997. Either/Or is an album by the late Elliott Smith. Generally considered to be his crowning achievement, the 12 cuts range from intimate, lo-fi arrangements to jaunty alt-pop (though the latter type is less prevalent than the former.) The album is perhaps united by Elliott’s observational technique and anger, confusion or disdain that usually follows.

Review: Swordfishtrombones - Tom Waits

1983. Second to only Rain Dogs in Tom Waits legend, Swordfishtrombones is usually considered the first in Waits’ departure from the more typical, classical piano-ballads of his earlier works (though this change had been implied on 1980′s Heartattack and Vine.) Swordfishtrombones is effectively a masterpiece – Waits curates a range of styles; jazz, blues, hard rock – lots of horns and cymbals – and harnesses these styles to create an album of 15 songs that is as much an ‘experience’ as many other experimental classics.

Review: Goodbye and Hello - Tim Buckley

1967. Goodbye and Hello seems to be the most well-known release of Tim Buckley’s canon, the point where his folk and rock reached it zenith and he began to incorporate jazz and psychedelic grooves. The result is one of the most emphatic albums in memory, equally audacious and spectacular.

Review: Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan

1966. Bob Dylan is the musical enigma that rightfully heralds the attention of anyone and everyone who considers themselves a serious music listener. It is almost unavoidable to miss the acclaim of Highway 61 Revisited or escape the allure of Bringing It All Back Home. Blonde on Blonde is perhaps the album that unites most of the styles Dylan that had shown over his earlier albums. The contents of Blonde on Blonde are grand but range from heart-on-sleeve tales to blues rockers and slightly bashful numbers. Visions Of Johanna, I Want You and Stuck Inside a Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again are particular early highlights while the longing Absolutely Sweet Marie and the sincere balladry of Temporary Like Achilles make up the best of the later sections. I Want You and Most Likely You Go Your Way also mark Dylan’s newer ability to create just as much with a song in a shorter runtime. It isn’t Dylan’s best album in that all 14 tracks are by no means all classics; Obviously 5 Believers is a kind of throwaway blues number and Pledging My Time is a little too harmonica-heavy and of B-side quality to make much real effect. Mostly, though, the album maintains the classic status it associates. Must-have.

8.7/10

Tracklist (picks in bold, duds in italics)
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Pledging My Time
Visions Of Johanna
One Of Must Know (Sooner or Later)
I Want You
Stuck Inside a Mobile with The Memphis Blues Again
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
Just Like A Woman
Most Likely You’ll Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)
Temporary Like Achilles
Absolutely Sweet Marie
4th Time Around
Obviously 5 Believers
Sad Eyed Lady of The Lowlands