Next Album Club

No date yet, but the chosen albums are:

The Guillemots, Through the Windowpane (2006)



R.L. Burnside, Come On In (1998)



More info to follow.

Next Album Club

The next album club will be in January, and will features selections by Gerry and new member Kate. Possibilities being discussed at the moment included, The Streets, A Grand Don't Come for Free; Sigur Ros, With A Buzz in Out Ears We Sing Endlessly; The Guillemots, Through the Window Pane; and Midnight Well by Midnight Well. Watch this space!

Next Album Club

Date: Friday 25th November
Time: 8.00pm
Venue: Fiona's House

Choices:
Screamadelica (1991) by Primal Scream (chosen by Fiona)



I Am A Bird Now (2004) by Antony and the Johnsons (chosen by Jo)

Album Club - 7

The turn of Fiona and Jo to choose albums, and we're all expecting something pithy, seminal, elemental, essential.

Album Club - 6

Date:               Friday 14th October 2011 

Albums:          Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, Rattlesnakes

                        Alabama 3, Exile on Coldharbour Lane       

Chosen By:     Gavin and Tom

Hosted By:      Gavin

Present:            Corina, Fiona, Gavin, Gerry, Ian, Jim, Jo,

                            Joe, Tom, Wyn.

Mostly thumbs-up for both albums, although - shock and awe - some people liked them more than other people!! Tom's impression of A3 on stage was something to behold. Comment of the evening from Corina: 'Well, I'm from the Osmonds generation ...'  

Album Club - 5

Date:               16 July 2011

Albums:           Muse, The Resistance

                                   Carole King, The Colour of Your Dreams

Chosen By:     Ian and Corina

Hosted By:      Corina and Ian

Present:           Corina, Fiona, Gavin, Gerry, Ian, Jim, Jo, Joe, Tom, Wyn (Stacey)

Muse's humour and ambition noted, but their 'bigness' was a problem for some. Despite its 1990s release date, Carole's album sounded like a collection of out-takes from Tapestry twenty years earlier.

Album Club - 4

Date:               20 May 2011

Albums:          Roy Bailey, Never Leave a Story Unsung

                                 Whipping Boy, Heartworm

Chosen By:     Jim and Wyn

Hosted By:      Wyn and Gavin

Present:           Fiona, Gavin, Gerry, Ian, Jim, Jo, Joe, Tom, Wyn

Roy's worthiness left a few people cold; Heartworm a more or less unanimous 'hit' despite its darkness.

Album Club - 3

Date:               1 April 2011

Album:            Kate Bush, Never For Ever

Chosen By:     Joe

Hosted By:      Gerry

Present:           Corina, Fiona, Gavin, Gerry, Ian, Jim, Jo, Joe, Mick, Richard, Tom, Wyn

Good turn out for this one. Mixed responses. The voice was again an issue, although most people recognised that it was some achievement by a 21-year-old. At this stage it was decided to feature two albums per session in future. Fair enough.

Album Club - 2

Date:               10 (?) December 2010

Albums:          Sixteen Horsepower, Folklore

Sparklehorse, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot

Chosen By:     Mick

Hosted By:      Mick and Lisa

Present:           Jim, Jo, Lisa, Mick, Richard, Robbie

I was absent in Vienna for this one, so am not sure how it went. Here's a message I sent through for the attendees: 

Greetings from Vienna!

Rumours of my imminent demise have proved to be no more than wishful thinking. I am in fact alive and well, and ready to tell everybody what’s right and wrong in the world of popular music.

First of all, let me say that I’m very pleased that the Album Club has finally got around to holding a second meeting. I see there are two albums up for discussion; I’m not sure if that is permissible under the Club’s constitution, but given my absence (and the absence of said constitution) I suppose there’s not much that I can do about it.

I’m not at all familiar with Folklore by Sixteen Horsepower, and given that I only found out about this meeting last Monday and am not in possession of that album, I don’t have time to find out about it. Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must shut the fuck up! I hope you all enjoy it and have something interesting to say about it.

I do know Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot, however. I first came across Sparklehorse in about 2002 when I was researching an Irish band called Rubyhorse who had moved to the US in search of fame, and whose biggest hit was a song called called ‘Sparkle’. It’s pretty good, actually; you’ll find various versions on Youtube. Anyway, Google threw up this alternative called ‘Sparklehorse’ and they looked interesting so I got hold of this album (I liked the cover). My response to the album has remained fairly consistent ever since my first hearing, inasmuch as I still quite like it without identifying with the adoration that some people seem to feel for it; neither do I subscribe to the hagiography that Mark Linkous’s death earlier this year seems to have inspired.

I like the simplicity of the arrangements, and I like the relatively straightforward structures of the songs. There’s a ‘live’ feel to many of the tracks which is a relief after so much studio-honed drivel. The voice can be a bit cloying at times; in fact, the vocals are pretty one-dimensional throughout; there’s not much variation or dynamics. Harmonies - a standby of country-inspired rock ever since the Byrds – are signally absent. This is interesting in the light of the criticism that Elvis Costello's voice attracted at the previous meeting.

The country / psychedelic elements (for example feedback, detuned guitar, filtered voice) obviously hark back to the 1960s. There’s a kind of retro feel informing the album as a whole, I think, and as always in such contexts the question arises as to whether this wasn’t all done a bit better the first time around (Grams Parsons, Grateful Dead, Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young).

‘Someday I Will Treat You Good’ and ‘Hammering the Cramps’ are okay, but still a bit lacking in energy or direction for me. Tracks like ‘Homecoming Queen’, ‘Saturday’, 'Heart of Darkness' and ‘Sad and Beautiful World’ are just downers. (All the angst of tour-buddies Radiohead, but without the musical ambition or inventiveness?) I don’t think I ever needed reminding how shit the world is or how fundamentally unworthy the human species is; I certainly don’t know need it now with Ireland just about to fall over the edge of the map.

Favourite tracks would probably have to be ‘Rainmaker’, probably because it  reminds me of something the Beatles might have produced around the time of Revolver (1966); and ‘Cow’ which is a bit lighter and a bit less of a throwaway than the other stuff.

Linkous was obviously a talented and thoughtful musician; the internal world into which he invites you is not a particularly hopeful or salubrious place, however. Musically and temperamentally, he reminds me of Gram Parsons – another self-destructive ‘genius’. I’m very wary of the stereotype of the ‘tortured’ genius; I feel sorry for the individuals, but I resent the capital made out of such unfortunates both by the industry and by ‘fans’ who seem to admire the pain underpinning the music.

Anyway, that was the vote of the Austrian jury. I hope you have a fantastic evening, and I look forward to seeing everybody around Xmas.

Lots of love.

Gerry

Album Club - 1

Date:               11 September 2010

Album:            Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Imperial Bedroom

Chosen By:     Gerry

Hosted By:      Gerry

Present:           Gavin, Gerry, Jim, Jo, Joe, Mick, Tom, Wyn

Quite a lot of resistance to Elvis's voice, although the lyrical and musical strengths of the band were widely acknowledged.

Album Club - Genesis and Rationale

For a number of years, I’ve been noticing that that I rarely get to listen to albums in their entirety any more – certainly not in that relentless, obsessive way I used to during the first three decades of my life.

One reason for this concerns the time constraints of getting old(er); when there are other things to be done, I simply don’t have the time or the will to give an hour or however long over to listening to an album with the proper attention.

My fading relation with the album is also down to wider changes in the music industry. It’s no secret that the album as a coherent musical statement has been seriously compromised by the onset of digital technology. My kids listen mostly to songs; the idea of engaging at length with a collection of songs that are linked by various musical, lyrical and / or other factors is, by and large, absent from their imaginations.

Of course, the long-playing album was the product of a particular period and specific technological developments; it’s only right and proper that it will be superseded as newer technology comes on line.

It’s also true to say, however, that the album format coincided – and in some important ways precipitated – an incredibly creative period in the history of popular music. I feel lucky to have been around during that period; and I don’t want to give up on the pleasures of the album format just yet.

Album Club is an attempt to create a space for the celebration of the format, and for the discussion of individual examples.

The model is loosely based on that of the Book Club. A group of friends meet every six to eight weeks to discuss an album chosen in turn by one of the members. No compilations, no ‘Best of …’; apart from that the only criterion for inclusion is that the choice should have some kind of interest or investment for the host. The chooser begins by talking about their choice, after which people take it in turns to offer an opinion on the record. This all works better after a second glass of wine.

So, once again I have a reason to listen to an album from beginning to end – including the songs I don’t like; once again I’m listening to stuff that I never would have come across otherwise; and once again I have to describe and defend my tastes in a public forum.

Welcome

Welcome Fellow Hoylake Album Clubbers!

Latest album choice is Rattlesnakes (1984) by Lloyd Cole (pictured above) and the Commotions, chosen by Gavin. Here's a link to a live version of 'Perfect Skin' from 1987. More to follow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4Geen42Fpo&feature=related