Classic Album of The Week (Part 4)

So far, to the best of my knowledge at least my selection's for classic album of the week have been best described as safe (Fleetwood Mac Rumours, Neil Young After the Goldrush, Bruce Springsteen Nebraska) and would make most recommended must listen before you die type lists. Today's selection is slightly more left field but does have that personal impact that allows it to be placed within the same classic container.

1997 and the first band that I could say I truly found (I'm trying to figure out how but for some reason I think it had to do with Atlantic 252 radio station but I always thought that station just played Simply Red over and over). The Stereophonic's debut album Word Gets Around captures what small town life means to all who grew up.

The opening track the attention is caught with Thousand Trees which is a disturbing take on when illusions are shattered in an insular community. From there the album takes a look at the joys of working in the local supermarket with More Life In A Tramps Vest with the line "Last Minute Shoppers Picking Cauliflower, The Fuss They Make You Swear They Were Buying A Car" which somehow rang true for a young fella working in the fruit and veg section of Super Valu earning somewhere in the region of ninety pence an hour if memory serves me correctly.

Local Boy In The Photograph and Billy Davies Daughter deal with the unexpected loss and really do highlight Jones' ability as a songwriter with the latter highlighting a tender side while the former proving to be a rock belter. In between one is treated to the classic Traffic with accompanying small town paranoia and the bass drum drive Not Up To You.

All in all this is an under-rated album that deserves more attention and also highlights the golden era of mid-nineties music although that may be just nostalgia on my part. Slightly controversial choice but in my mind at least classic all the way!

Exploring

As promised, a photo of all things holiday.

It's in the middle of a mountain and ice age related supposedly!

Recent music purchases, yes I am old skool enough to continue to buy cds thank you very much.


1. Bell X1, Blue Lights on The Runway. Not great, was expecting a little bit more.
2. Doves, Kingdom of Rust. Don't understand the hype, solid album but nothing special either.
3. Peter, Bjorn and John, Living Thing. Go out and buy it immediately, pure quality.

Finally, relaxing song of the weekend. Interpol and Leif Erikson, what a song.

Bukowski Quote of The Day

To keep up the pretence of being cultured, I bring a Bukowski quote for the day (I haven't figured out yet if I'm being sarcastic/ironic or pretentious)

"There is nothing
so
boring
as
immortality"

Makes you think doesn't it. Answers on a postcard or at least the comments section.

Vacation: I Hate The Return

It's been a while as that pretty poor American band Staind once said and its over a week since my last post, a week which has seen the delights of Munich airport (everything bloody verbotten, make a smoking area god damn it) to the spaghetti junction that is Dublin airport (where everyone stares at the baggage carriers hoping that somehow this will speed the whole process up). In between times a lot of shit has gone down, my hatred of all things Chelsea related has increased, pirates are back in vogue, government like taking more money off us in the name of equality, Munster have kicked Osprey ass in rugby, MGMT will be at that most electric of picnics (they prices are pretty much in line with what utilities charge as well i.e. lots) and finally the good people at pirate bay have been put behind Swedish steel bars (make sure none of those dubiously acquired mp3's are existing on the old i-tunes).

Anyways my music listening in the past week has pretty much been confined to Frightened Rabbit and the crap thats played on the radio (Lady GaGa you have a LOT to answer for) due to the fact the different newer versions of software aren't bloody backwards compatible (or screw you programming as it should be referred to). This has increased my overall crankiness level and Ryanair haven't helped with the fact that for bizarre reasons my flight is about sixty euro more expensive than advertised (currently shaking fists at jet planes in the sky and hoping they are Ryanairs). As a result today's song is from the album Robbers and Cowards by the Cold War Kids and the aptly titled (for Irish at least) We Used to Vacation!

Bogen!

Update, in Germany!! Weather is all good. Getting a suntan. No music, pictures to follow.

Heat Of The Moment (Shakes Head)

Hectic day today, although while on the good old beeb website I found this. Interesting reading and as good as reason as any not to have a expense account. People actually check up on what your buying, god who would have thought working in the public service would make you so accountable.

Today's post besides the above takes in that brilliant age of the eighties and this weeks shame is Asia and The Heat of The Moment. I think I heard it once on a night out in a bar called the Idle Hour, a lawless place I tells ya, a lawless place. Anyways its starts with "I never meant to be so bad to you" and progresses steadily downhill.

Gold Lion

A nice relaxing weekend in the land of the Gaelic Footballers. Plenty sun ensured my budding career as a photographer continued apace, now to buy a bloody memory card to stop having to delete photos every five minutes to allow me to take more photos. My penny pinching has finally caught up with me. Anyways I was thinking of a good Kerry band and I'm still at a loss. The 4th Dimension were from Tralee I think but that isn't even close to what I like in terms of music. So I say fuck it, and just pick a song that I want to listen to! Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Gold Lion, I just like the video...

That It Is, Is The Mystical

Darwin's Angel by John Cornwell is a riposte to Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion where Cornwell attempts to show up some of the inconsistencies of Dawkin's central thesis by way of a guardian angel. Now after writing that opening summary, I'm trying to figure out why anyone should read the book, its sounds about as grounded as a kestrel on speed. But if you give it a chance it actually works and begins to break down some of the certainty associated with the God Delusion by cleverly using the work of people ranging from Wittgenstein to the spiritually tortured philosopher/mathematician Pascal.

The book however isn't blatantly religious if one is going on the narrower definition of the word and is far less dogmatic and stringent that the Dawkin's atheist vibe. Anyways my head seriously hurts after all that profound thinking, and I thought first mover only ever referred to commerce and was just reference in a Michael Porter paper from the eighties and bob's your uncle. How wrong I was!!!

So after getting that book off the shelf I was tempted to play If God Was One of Us or the SouthPark Faith +1 Christian Rock Band, but I resisted, instead I went for Placebo and Running Up That Hill, mainly because I just couldn't inflict Kate Bush generally prancing around the place on anyone.

Also a band called Placebo singing about god, the irony is delicious.

In The Headlights

It's early on a Friday morning as type I this out. Just back from the Frightened Rabbit gig which was on in Cyprus Avenue. A middling to decent crowd was at and I made three non-expectant buddies tag along for the gig. First off I can confirm I am not in anyway close to being able to write a gig review. I couldn't tell you what song was played from first to last but the performance was excellent. A cracking version of Keep Yourself Warm was played to finish and I was the business. Merchandise shopping and various chats with the band followed and it was all good. Well worth checking out and an excellent nights entertainment. Damn, damn good!! This was quality too, Floating in the Forth.

Join The Stampede

U2 playing on top of a shopping centre in Cork, Stephen Ireland returning to the Irish soccer squad, and thinking a conference can save the world. It has to be April 1st, it just has to be.... And the song choice is so obvious its not funny.