Old and new albums of the month: January 2017

I'm starting a new feature in which I share mini-reviews of the albums I heard during the month.


Oczy Mlody by The Flaming Lips (2017)
I’ve listened to the majority of their LPs and this is among The Flaming Lips’ least memorable. Wants to be atmospheric, but too many dull moments. The vocal is uninspired and the only zeal I noticed was on the track The Castle. The first half of the album is weak. The opening two songs are too similar. Sunrise is ok yet sounds like rehash. One Night While Hunting surprised me and is when the album finally kicks into gear. The second half of the album is stronger for production choices and atmosphere and lifts my rating up to a five.
5/10

2013 by Meilyr Jones (2016)
Thanks to The Swede for the recommendation. Jones is a Welsh singer, and formerly of the band Race Horses. 2013 is his award winning debut album, which is in the vein of Neil Hannon’s chamber pop.
Especially impressed by Passionate Friend, Strange Emotional, and Olivia. Some of the other material on this left me cold. The orchestral arrangements are well done. The melody on opener How to Recognise a Work of Art was too similar to Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting.
6/10


This Girl's in Love (A Bacharach & David Songbook) by Rumer (2016)
A likeable retro listen, her voice is easy on the ear. Not all of these songs justify the remake treatment, because sometimes they are too close to the originals. Other times, they add a new interpretation.
6/10

Future Snowbird Charlotte Cornfield (2016)
Alt-Country. A talented, underrated lyricist. Aslan and Mercury are the stand outs.
6/10

Sailin' Shoes by Little Feat (1972)
Southern Rock. Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant named Little Feat as one of their favorite bands. The album has a couple of strong moments, especially Easy to Slip and Tripe Face Boogie. But I can't help feeling there's some Rolling Stones imitation. I wouldn't describe this sophomore album as a classic, but it certainly is better written and with more energy than their dull debut.
6/10

Little Feat by Little Feat (1970)
4/10


Songs From a Room by Leonard Cohen (1969)
Cohen’s second album continues the template of his classic 1967 debut. Melancholy lyrics and acoustic guitar. The instrumentation is a bit more varied and produced, with Cohen's words still as the driving force. The poetic lyrics have a mystery about them and have aged remarkably well. His vocal as a young man is very different to his vocal as an old man. Stand outs include Bird on the Wire, The Partisan, & Seems so long ago Nancy.
8/10

Songs of Love and Hate by Leonard Cohen (1971)
Cohen's best album of the 1970s. A timeless desert island disc, which can reveal new truths in all stages of your adult life. The poetic and meaningful lyrics, the varied melodies, the emotional weight, an almost perfect album. It may be too dark and melancholy for some, but for those who are willing to go to those places it's rewarding.
10/10

New Skin for the Old Ceremony by Leonard Cohen (1974)
Is This What You Wanted and Lover Lover Lover venture into pop, I had mixed feelings about the repetitiveness of those songs. As with his song Diamonds in The Mine from Songs of Love and Hate (1971), he's experimenting with a louder vocal which is admirable but ultimately I wasn't a fan of. I connected less with New Skin for the Old Ceremony than his previous three albums. Stand out is Who by Fire. An album I need to listen to a few more times so the rating is tentative.
6/10

Death of a Ladies' Man by Leonard Cohen (1977)
Phil Spector's 'wall of sound' production is too domineering and drowns out Leonard Cohen's vocal and words.
Cohen has since said “My reputation as a ladies' man was a joke that caused me to laugh bitterly through the ten thousand nights I spent alone”
5/10

Recent Songs by Leonard Cohen (1979)
A pleasant listen and quite a romantic album. The melodies are not especially memorable and there are no signature hits, so I wouldn't call Recent Songs Cohen's best. But I like the lyrics, instrumentation and slowness. The album is different to his previous and might be a grower.
On the track The Lost Canadian (Un Canadien Errant) he surprisingly sings in French. The middle section of the record (The Traitor, Our Lady of Solitude) is especially beautiful.
7/10

Various Positions by Leonard Cohen (1984)
You can tell there’s an attempt to make the album have a stronger commercial appeal than his 1979 album. The 1980s was the decade of the big chorus and on Various Positions Leonard Cohen gives us some of his most memorable. Hallelujah is haunting but overrated. My favorites are Dance Me to the End of Love & The Law. Hunter's Lullaby sounds like a track that could have been on Recent Songs. The closer If It Be Your Will is another of his signature tunes, although to me the cover done by Antony is more powerful.
8/10

I'm Your Man by Leonard Cohen (1988)
10/10

The Future by Leonard Cohen (1992)
8/10

Ten New Songs by Leonard Cohen (2001)
Starts out well. In My Secret Life and A Thousand Kisses Deep are two of my favorite Cohen songs of his post 2000s material. I love the lyric "then you slip into the masterpiece"
Unfortunately the album can't sustain that early promise, the rest is bland, minor Cohen. His weakest since 1977's Death of a Ladies' Man.
4/10



What do you think? As always, comments are welcome

Best albums of 2016 (#11 - #20)

This Unruly Mess I've Made by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis 

Pop Rap. It's become cool to hate on these guys because they probably shouldn't have won the Grammy for their debut which many thought Kendrick Lamar ought to have won for Good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012) . Their sophomore effort This Unruly Mess I've Made received mixed reviews and not every song is good. The writing is often self-indulgent(Light Tunnels, Buckshot, Bolo Tie), and not as catchy as their debut.
So why am I still including the album in my top 20? Mainly because I admire the introspection, honesty, and also the variety of topics explored. I rate tracks such as White Privilege II(racial issues from various perspectives), Growing Up(about parenthood), St Ides (about family and the non-commercial life) very highly.  The Train(about detachment and departure) and Kevin(about the loss of a friend to drugs) may grow on me.

E·MO·TION: Side B by Carly Rae Jepsen
Synthpop. Throughout the process of her last album, it was revealed that 250 songs were composed and now we get a bunch of the unreleased tracks. Side B is arguably among the best EPs of 2016 and some of the material is equally as good, if not better, than her album E•MO•TION.
I especially enjoyed Fever and The One, both very retro 80s, as is most of the 8-track EP. It's front-loaded, yet so were many of the byegone albums she was influenced by.

Hella Personal Film Festival by Open Mike Eagle + Paul White
Hip hop. Wouldn't go so far as to label it a comedy album. Written in a non-serious manner, so the delivery and opinions don't become overly self-righteous.
The album title is a bit misleading though, as it isn't specifically about a film festival.
They confront contemporary issues such as cursing(the song Insecurity), how we are slaves to technology and daily responsibilities(the song Check To Check), news coverage and political involvement(the song Leave People Alone), gun violence(the song A Short About A Guy That Dies Every Night), and racism(the song Smiling).
Favorite lyric:
"But maybe everlasting life is a curse though
Eternity is drama making life the commercial"

Freetown Sound by Blood Orange
Alternative R&B. Consistently good, with pop hooks and political awareness, but too much computerized instrumentation. Highlights include E.V.P., Augustine, and Better Than Me

Lemonade by Beyoncé
R&B. An interesting, ambitious concept album concerned with, among other things, infidelity and black lives matter, accompanied by a film aired on HBO. You could say it's self-indulgent, but if you have experienced any kind of injustice in your life you could feel empowered by her ability to soldier on.
If I'm honest, the cd as stand-alone wasn’t as captivating. The music needed the visuals to work its wonders on me. Although it has been argued there are longer versions of Freedom and Love Drought on the cd. I particularly like the tracks Daddy Lessons and Hold Up.

A Seat at the Table by Solange
R&B./neo-soul. Beyoncé's sister Solange Knowles also put out an album this year. Pleasant, easy-listening music, yet not memorable enough to be a classic. The single Cranes in the Sky is great and feels timeless. Junie is another stand out and the most fun and upbeat track. If I'm honest, the interludes are more compelling to me than the majority of the songs.

You Want It Darker Leonard Cohen 
Sing-Songwriter. Third leg of a trilogy, along with Old Ideas (2012) and Popular Problems (2014). He turned 82 this year and his vocal performance is simply not as powerful as it used to be. His delivery is lacking in variety.
The good thing is he still has a way with words and the poetic lyrics tell you where he is at, coming to terms with god, love and death. While it isn't a requirement to be elderly and frail to identify, the material does seem geared towards the experienced adult. He also mused about similar themes on his previous two albums, so You Want It Darker could feel slightly redundant if you listen to the trilogy back-to-back-to-back.
I would label it a minor Cohen album. The first two tracks You Want It Darker and Treaty are memorable with best of the year potential, but unfortunately the record loses steam after that early promise with too many dull moments. I'm a longtime fan, so I hate to give a middling review. RIP Leonard Cohen. We lost a legend.

Woman by Justice

Nu-Disco. The groups third album. An undemanding, easy listen, which is sometimes all we need. You could argue the tracks are too long, and on first listen I didn't care for the album, but give it time and may grow on you. Highlights: Safe & Sound, Randy, Fire, and the live YouTube version of Alakazam! Justice could easily have used a super model to feature in Fire music video. Kudos to them for the choice of 70-year-old Susan Sarandon.

Braver Than We Are by Meat Loaf
Rock Opera. What the album has going for it is the epic production which sounds like nothing else in contemporary music. Meat Loaf's vocal is not what it once was (which he openly admits in the opener) and that is the albums weakness, but the guest singers do a fine job of supporting.
There's quite a bit of variety. More and Godz have elements of hard rock. Souvenirs has an enjoyable saxophone solo. Who Needs the Young is a blend of country and cabaret. Most memorable is Going All the Way Is Just the Start (A Song in 6 movements). The worst is Skull of Your Country, which annoyingly reuses parts of the 80s classic Total Eclipse of the Heart.

Basses Loaded by Melvins
Sludge Metal. Kindly recommended by Aussie film blogger Epileptic Moondancer. Melvins are new to me. The album could be described as metal riffs with jazz thrown in. Considered a return to form by the band. Has more replay potential than the new Metallica. Highlights include The Decay of Lying, Choco Plumbing, Hideous Woman, Planet Distructo and War Pussy.
The bizarre mid-album track Shaving Cream felt out of place. Apparently the band have a goofy side, so I suppose it's normal for them. Maybe I'm Amused is probably a pun on Paul McCartney's Maybe I'm Amazed. I Want to Tell You is a Beatles cover.

Albums #21 - #25:
Untitled unmastered. by Kendrick Lamar (Jazz Rap)
Junk by M83 (Synthpop)
Honest Life by Courtney Marie Andrews (Country)
2013 by Meilyr Jones (Chamber Pop)
Nothing More to Say by The Frightnrs (Rocksteady/Reggae)




Agree or disagree? What do you think about these albums/artists? I'll share my top 10 albums of 2016 soon.

Album review: Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas (2012)

Usually I wait a few weeks or months before sharing new music, I like to let it sink in, and listen to it a few times, to find out what for me are the most memorable tracks on a particular album.

First of all, I love the album cover artwork! The use of shadows and colours, really work well together. Apparently, it's supposed to be his back garden, so we feel we are seeing him as he really is at home, at work.

Unsurprisingly, Cohen’s new album is thematically about becoming old (he is 77). The man is one of my favorite singer-songwriters, and a legend, not just in his native Canada. Leonard Cohen is a poet, not just a musician. Each new album is an event, and a rarity, the long gap between releases brings expectations with it. We know he’s spent years working on the lyrics.

Hearing his new material is, as described in the NPR roundtable discussion:

“like getting a phone call from a friend you haven’t heard from in a long time, and getting his perspective, and what he’s been up to. An intimacy you can’t get from anywhere else.”

For me, a few of the songs are best suited for those listeners who are my grandparent’s age, although I’m sure some will argue all Cohen’s work is about mortality, and is universal. Other themes are love, suffering and forgiveness.

Does Leonard Cohen learn anything from writing songs? Does he work out ideas that way? Leonard Cohen as quoted in the guardian.co.uk interview:

"I think you work out something. I wouldn't call them ideas. I think ideas are what you want to get rid of. I don't really like songs with ideas. They tend to become slogans. They tend to be on the right side of things: ecology or vegetarianism or antiwar. All these are wonderful ideas but I like to work on a song until those slogans, as wonderful as they are and as wholesome as the ideas they promote are, dissolve into deeper convictions of the heart. I never set out to write a didactic song. It's just my experience. All I've got to put in a song is my own experience."

To balance the melancholy confessions, there’s a little bit of self-referential humor sprinkled into the lyrics of the song Going Home, which is not something I had heard him attempt before, and which took a bit of getting used to:

Lyric: “I love to speak with Leonard. He's a sportsman and a shepherd. He's a lazy bastard. Living in a suit”

As Will Oldham (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy) wrote in a recent article in Mojo, that I agree with:

“Somehow he (L. Cohen ) has the ability to shine a light on our finer qualities as people in a way that you feel that you have an alley: even if you’re looking at the beautiful and the ugly in the world, you can value it. I can look around at the good and the bad and say, well, this is humanity and I’m going to keep on dealing with it because I have this man who is doing that too”

His 12th studio album I don’t think is as haunting as Leonard’s best work, but still a hell of a lot better than a lot of other music currently being released, particularly in terms of lyrics. If I had to criticize Old Ideas, it’s that I feel like I’ve already heard the things he confesses on previous albums, maybe he is just feeling the same way? I’m not disappointed, but I’m not feeling he’s reinvented himself either, apart from the feeling of being close to death. So as I was saying before, a mature, elderly audience would probably identify the most with Old Ideas in my opinion. His debut album from 1967 when he was a 33-year-old on the other hand is more relatable for this reviewer. Having said that, I’ve always sensed Leonard was a wise old man, even when he was young, maybe that is why I felt he hadn’t changed much on the new album.

The production on a couple of tracks felt cheap and similar to his last studio album Dear Heather, which is a pity, and which somehow made a few songs sound less powerful, and less profound. Still, was a lot better than 2004‘s Dear Heather, which Cohen admitted to releasing unfinished a few years back due to pressure from the record company.

I liked about half the album tracks on Old Ideas. My favorite tunes are acoustic, this style for me has always worked well with his soft spoken voice, and reminded me of his earliest stripped down acoustic work from the 1960s.

Favorite lyric:

"I used to love the rainbow. And I used to love the view. Another early morning, I'd pretend that it was new."

According to the recent interview in Mojo, Leonard Cohen wants to complete a follow-up before it’s too late.

Old Ideas is a return to form, and in my opinion the best new material L Cohen has put out since 2001's Ten New Songs.

My rating 7.5/10

from Chris, movies and songs 365

Have you heard the new album? What did you think of the tracks I shared below?




Favorite songs from Old Ideas (2012):

Show me the place - Leonard Cohen

Show Me The Place by leonardcohen

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Darkness - Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen - Darkness by leonardcohen

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Going Home - Leonard Cohen



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Crazy to love you - Leonard Cohen