Bush- Glycerine

Glycerine is the second single from Bush's highly successful debut album, Sixteen Stone, which was released in 1994.

This song is all about the vocals, gently supported by "light touch" instruments. And what incredibly powerful lyrics they are. It really feels like an outpouring of the soul, with a dash of obscurity to add to the intrigue. Although the guitar part is very subtle, somehow the chord progression is timeless and very memorable.

Not that it's without its flaws: Firstly, the bridge probably tops the all-time list of "great songs with strange and inappropriate bridges". Secondly, the ending... well, I have no idea what possessed them to tack on the awkward violin outro. But, warts and all, I wouldn't have it any other way.

The B-sides of the album, Solomon's Bones and Alien, prove that Glycerine is nothing like a representation of Bush's usual style, and that more typical Bush offerings are not my cup of tea. I guess that makes my one "oh, I love that single" guys whom the proper fans of the band can't stand. Sorry!

Favourite songs

Glycerine

Worthwhile?

Yes

Kujo Kings- Kujo Kuddles

This is the second EP from the Kujo Kings. It was released 2011, one year after Regal Riot.

I was quite surprised to find this CD in my collection, since I have no recollection of buying it. Perhaps I was drunk at the time! Actually... that is quite a plausible explanation...

Wolfman Johnny continues in the whimsical, eclectic style established in their previous EP. The song is a bit ragged around the edges, abruptly jumping around at times. But it does well to support the humorous lyrics, so I guess it does its job.

Katastrophy Wife shines both musically and lyrically. Small gripes about the tuning of the horns aside (who cares... it's a ska band!), the song flows nicely between bouncy verses and a heavier style for the chorus. To top it off, the lyrics are silly yet engaging; somehow creating a vocal version of a comic.

Things get pretty loose for More Beer. Even by their carefree standards, it's pretty loosely stitched together. However, all the elements are catchy and the lyrics give it great appeal as a novelty song. Also, the Simpsons reference is brilliant!

Ska's For Nerds is another example of comedy being a key component to ska. Like Reel Big Fish's The Kids Don't Like It, self-deprecating ska has a special appeal. This song also shows some nice musical range from the band, since the smooth reggae style is wonderfully executed. However, that all goes out the window for the completely immature ending. Which is great!

I've said it before, I'll say it again: the flute is a great addition to a ska horn section. It cuts through the brass instruments brilliantly, and adds a unique element. Phasmaphoria is a fantastic example of this. The music and lyrics are in perfect harmony of whimsical excellence. It's not rocket science, but damn it's fun.

However, Women With Guns takes the instrumental cheesiness a bit too far, especially for the main horn line. On the plus side, the chorus is super catchy and the bridge's call-and-response lyrics are hilarious.

Favourite songs

Katastrophy Wife, More Beer, Ska's For Nerds

Worthwhile?

Yep. It has instantly rocketed from hiding in a far corner of my CD rack to being one of my favourite ska CDs.

The Porkers- Hot Dog Daiquiri

This is the second album from The Pork Hunts Porkers. Although it was released 12 years after they formed, in the meantime there were also many EPs.

The album kicks off with a baroque choir; what's going on?! I thought this was meant to be thrill-a-minute rock-ska. But then Enter Porkman properly starts the frenetic onslaught, exaggerated by the brilliant absurdity of the opening. With a sufficiently silly story, great horn lines and a huge chorus, it's wall to wall fun.

Designated Drinker continues the headbanging ska fun. Also, the serious reflection woven into this silly ode to binge drinking is a nice touch. Skankin' Carpark Blues is more of the same. Although it follows the same strict recipe, it still manages to be unique enough to keep things fun.

Harder Than It Looks adds some new elements to complement the old favourites (ie bouncy ska with headbanging choruses). The bittersweet story works really well, and find the pre-chorus breakdown is highly enjoyable and works a treat to mix things up. Asleep At The Wheel also uses a slightly sorrowful narrative to great effect, and its horn lines are fantastic.

The "plastic reggae" style of Perfect Teeth works well to inject some variety into the album. As a bonus, the song itself is totally infectious.

Often, The Porkers remind me of German third wave ska (eg The Busters, Bluekilla). The style is ridiculous and immature, but with a feeling of "zis, you see Fritz, is ze proper way to make fun"!! Chemical Imbalance's style is a great example, and an all-time favourite song of mine.

Granny is so stupid. So hilariously stupid!

Housewives Choice is another one out of the box. However, maintaining the whimsical fun for an extended period is a tough ask, so perhaps fatigue partly explains why I'm not really into Buyer-logical.

Thankfully, the heavy opening and chorus of Deep Breath shakes things up nicely. The huge chorus is a fantastic highlight, and contrasts nicely with the traditional ska verses. Similarly, Schooners Of The Black has a brilliant tongue-in-cheek headbanging chorus, although the ska sections are merely an adequate way of filling in the time between between choruses.

The best thing about Smoke On The Porker is the name. Comedic genius! As for the song itself, ummm I guess you had to be there to appreciate the in-joke...

Favourite songs

Enter Porkman, Designated Drinker, Harder Than It Looks, Asleep At The Wheel, Perfect Teeth, Chemical Imbalance, Housewives Choice, Deep Breath, Schooners Of The Black

Worthwhile?

100%! Wow, I forgot how good this is.

No Doubt- Return Of Saturn

This is No Doubt's fourth album. It was released in 2000, five years after Tragic Kingdom.

I bought this album entirely based on one song: Ex-girlfriend. More specifically, I bought this album based on the bridge section of the song. Looking back all these years later, Ex-girlfriend is a passably catchy song, but it's pretty much throwaway pop fare. There's plenty of great hooks, but they just don't gel together very well. On the bright side, for some strange reason, I still really dig the piercing synth sound of the bridge.

Unfortunately, the feeling that the song has been awkwardly shoehorned together is quite common on this album. Simple Kind Of Life also has plenty of nice ideas, but it also somehow doesn't gel. And by the time we get to the ending, it's well and truly flogging a dead horse. Another poor effort is Artificial Sweetener, despite the fantastic power-pop chorus. Unfortunately, the verses are bland at best, and awkward at worst.

The unusual single Bathwater is a much better effort. I'm a big fan of the unusual - yet catchy - groove of the verses. For the first few appearances, the chorus appears as simple, bouncy fun. But then the chorus gets rolled out again and again, revealing itself as really not that special, so it soon grows stale. However, the rest of the song remains left-field pop fun.

Marry Me is perhaps a preview of the... ummm... rocksteady style of the following album, Rock Steady. It's not a particularly memorable song, but at least it is consistent and features mature composition. A minor quibble is that I find the narrative to be quite whiney.

Vintage No Doubt goodness makes a welcome appearance for New. Specifically, the energetic drive and subtle build-up, leading to a catchy crescendo. However, the pre-chorus goes a bit too "vintage". By that, I mean it channels the mish-mash composition of Beacon Street Collective. But, overall, a thoroughly enjoyable song with nice ebbs and flows.

Staring Problem's opening shows a lot of promise, but unfortunately the awfully amateur-hour chorus lets it down. Normally I'm a sucker for organ, but not even that can save this abomination! Sit Feet Under also feels like immature songwriting, however it the driving energy does work well.

On the other hand, Home Now is pretty rough at the start, but thankfully soon finds its feet. The highlight for me is the subtly menacing groove, which somehow reminds me of The Cure.

Favourite songs

Ex-girlfriend, Bathwater, New, Home Now

Worthwhile?

Overall, this album is a strange one. I'm not claiming the band "sold out", because I appreciate that a band needs to evolve stylistically; they can't be re-hashing Tragic Kingdom for the rest of their lives. And it's not for a lack of musical ideas, they're just not convincingly blended together into songs. The composition lacks the maturity, and is actually a backwards step compared with Tragic Kingdom. Also, the lyrical subjects lack variety and are often mundane.

Enough of my ranting... There's a few highlights, but overall it's a resounding "no". In fact, I have the sudden urge to grab Tragic Kingdom to wash the bad taste out of my mouth...

Various- All Our Loving

This compilation from 1999 features the same song twelve times! It's a variety of "indie" bands covering The Beatles' All My Loving.

To its credit, the album covers a huge variety of styles. The downside is that a lot of them are not to my taste! So I'll just focus on the songs that perked my interest.

Muzzy Pep's lounge-jazz style works quite well. And the pop-rock chorus is also pretty solid, if a little generic. The problem is when the two shoehorned together into a song, they completely undermine each other.

If Ramones were still around and somehow got a slot on this compilation album, Nitocris' version is pretty much what it would sound like. In other words, it is pop-punk perfection.

The Porkers brand of frenetic ska-rock is something I'm quite fond of. So the Richard Cheese-esque (ie tongue-in-cheek lounge-jazz) verses are a nice surprise and work very well. Unfortunately, the other sections of the song jump all over the place, so the songs ends up as a bit of a dogs breakfast.

I wish I could say this album has also opened up my eyes to new bands. But unfortunately, there wasn't anything new here that really appealed to me.

Favourite songs

Nitocris, The Porkers

Worthwhile?

Normally, the answer would be "no". But the Nitocris version is a crucial part of my favourite mix-tape, so I have a moral obligation to purchase this album...

Butterfingers- Everytime

This is the debut single by the band, which was released in 2002.

Jumping straight in, Everytime is simply hilarious. And it gets more and more purile as it continues. Fantastic! The accompanying groove is nicely catchy, with the perfect amount of cheesiness to suit the humour.

Females (Do Your Belt Up) sees them ripping out another infectious groove. Unfortunately it is all undermined by the victim-blaming message of the lyrics.

Bringing some variety to the CD, Let It Burn is a solid effort at a minimal dub style. It's not my cup of tea, but it works well to mix things up a bit.

Speaking of mixing things up, the bonus track is wonderfully oddball! Without spoiling the surprise if you haven't heard it, I'll just say that the Michael Jackson reference is a great highlight.

Favourite songs

Everytime

Worthwhile?

Yep, for the LOLs.

Eels- Daisies Of The Galaxy

Daisies Of The Galaxy is Eels' third album. It was released in 2000, two years after Electro-Shock Blues.

And it starts out very strangely indeed. The marching band interludes in Grace Kelly Blues are completely out of place! However, once it settles into its groove, the combination of husky voice and gentle xylophone and ukulele works a treat. The vivid storytelling is also a highlight.

Packing Blankets is a similar success story, with special mention to the subtle organ in the background

Mixing things up a bit is The Sound Of Fear, where the rock/funk groove is used to great effect. I also really enjoy the time-freezing interlude that is the chorus.

I Like Birds is a bit of a simplistic ditty, but the narrative makes it work. Also, the grandiose chorus (relatively speaking) makes for a wonderfully obscure contrast to the whimsical lyrics. Like much of the album, it's quite oddball, but I really dig it. The genius of The Eels is how they stylistically wander through various pop genres, while the core attributes - catchy melodies, comforting lyrics and syrup-smooth instrumentals contrasted by gravelling vocals - continue to shine through.

And the audio quality perfectly matches this style; light and airy, while sitting on a solid foundation of bass.

While the song Daisies Of The Galaxy injects some variety with its melancholy style, personally I find it a bit of a killjoy. Also, it tends to lumber along. It's A Motherf#&!@r follows a similar recipe, but manages to hit the nail on the head and form a nice interlude for the album.

The indie-rock groove of Flyswatter works a treat. Especially the catchy and headbanging chorus. A minor whinge is that I wish it had a snappy ending, instead dragging out into an experimental jam session.

Tiger In My Tank is another solid pop song and the lyrics are a particular highlight. On the other hand, the music is a bit too stop-start for my liking. Similarly, the abrupt transition into the chorus on A Daisy Through Concrete isn't to my liking. However, the stars all align perfectly for Mr E's Beautiful Blues. It makes for an infectiously bouncy pop song. And to think that the band didn't even want to include the song on the album!

Wooden Nickels makes for a great lullabye, thanks to the wonderfully vivid imagery of the lyrics. The music also plays its part perfectly, to create a nice moody, sparse scene.

Favourite songs

Grace Kelly Blues, Packing Blankets, The Sound Of Fear, I Like Birds, Flyswatter, Wooden Nickels, Mr E's Beautiful Blues

Worthwhile?

This album gives me great happiness whenever I listen to it... a wonderfully naive and simple happiness. Can't ask for anything more than that!

Daniel Barenboim- Beethoven Piano Sonatas

I'll be the first to admit that I know next to nothing about classical piano sonatas! All I know is that I like Moonlight Sonata No. I, so I bought this album...

In this review, I'll try to resist the temptation to use fancy words (which I don't really understand anyway!) and sound like a proper classical music reviewer. So this album will be reviewed in the same manner I've applied to the works of Metallica, Robby Williams, The Vaginals, etc...

The opening song, Pathetique No. I, is undermined for me by the jumping between moods. It is probably due to this, that I find the lighter, bouncy sections sound twee. Pathetique No. II and No. III are far more consistent in, and the results are nicely solemn and upbeat respectively.

Moonlight No. I is simply perfect. The piano melody is timelessly beautiful. I'm not sure whether mood is reflective, melancholy or hopeful? Or perhaps all of the above? Either way, it is intensely powerful experience.

To me, Moonlight No. II somehow evokes images for fairies and garden tea parties. Which is far too delicate for me taste, so I think it is just twee.

Making amends is Moonlight No. III, which has that brilliant mad-scientist vibe to it! It is ridiculously over-the-top, and I totally dig it. Appassionata No. I is another great explosion of madness.

By this point, my attention span had faded out, reinforcing the fact that I'd never really want to sit down and carefully listen to any of this album. But it does work well as mood music in the background.

Favourite songs

Moonlight Sonata No. I, Moonlight Sonata No. III

Worthwhile?

Yes, Moonlight Sonata No. I single-handedly makes this a must-have album. As a bonus, the rest of the album does provide some variety for my collection.

Louis Jordan- The Essential Collection

As one of the fathers of swing music, Louis Jordan was hugely popular in the 1940s. This "best of" was released in 2001.

Although I have great respect for Louis Jordan's legacy in helping create one of my favourite genres, it was a bit of a struggle at first to enjoy this album. Initially it felt quite dixieland and homely compared to later swing artists. And while we can't blame him for the 1940s recording technology, the thin sound isn't helping the cause.

However, after a few listens, you get into the head-space of the era. At this point, the energy and catchy melodies can be appreciated (much like taking a time-warp back to the Ramones after a diet of polished modern punk-rock). Choo Choo Ch'Boogie, Saturday Night Fish Fry and Caldonia are prime examples of this, and wonderful songs (although I must admit I prefer to listen to more recent versions of these songs with their more developed boogie-woogie styles).

Speaking of 1940s, it is quite shocking how sexist songs like Beware Brother Beware and Three Handed Woman are.

Blue Light Boogie is also a favourite, which might sound strange because it's not his usual style. But sultry jazz is timeless, and this is fine example. Also, Come And Get It is a cracking big-band swing instrumental, with fantastic energy.

Favourite songs

Choo Choo Ch'Boogie, Saturday Night Fish Fry, Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens, Blue Light Boogie, Three Handed Woman, Come And Get It, Caldonia

Worthwhile?

This is a tough one. Do I prefer more recent versions of each of these songs? Yes. However, is there some kind of joy in learning to appreciate the origins of the genre? Undoubtedly. So I will say it is "worthwhile" as a learning experience (perhaps both about music and self-awareness!)

Romeo + Juliet- Music From The Motion Picture

This is the soundtrack to the 1996 blockbuster film.

And it starts off with a bang. #1 Crush has a great driving backbone and a tortured mood. This both suits the movie perfectly and makes for an interesting listen in isolation.

Competely unsuited to the movie is Local God, which is pretty much mindless bro-rock. I enjoyed it at the start, but expected that the novelty would wear off pretty quickly. But somehow it has enough interesting stuff going on, to hold its appeal until the head. The mindless headbanging fun reminds me of The Refreshments, which is always a good thing.

Lovefool is also good fun at the start, with a great whimsical feel. But it is a bit of a one trick pony, and soon wears out its welcome. This is especially true of the chorus, which I liked at first but was thoroughly sick of by the end of the song.

Young Hearts Run Free was a massive song at the time. Deservedly so, the verses are pure genius in their combination of latin energy with a powerful soul narrative. However, I do think that the chorus isn't quite the highlight it should be.

To end on a happy note, Talk Show Host is beautifully sparse and obscure, yet paints an incredibly vivid picture. It might be a remix, but it is also Radiohead at their best.

Favourite songs

#1 Crush, Local God, Talk Show How

Wortwhile?

Statistically speaking, the list of "favourite songs" above is pretty sparse. However, I really appreciate how experimental and varied this album is, so in the end I think it makes a good addition to the collection.