Elliott Smith - Pitseleh

I'll tell you why I don't
Want to know where you are
I got a joke I been dying to tell you
A silent kid is looking down the barrel
To make the noise that I kept so quiet
I kept it from you, Pitseleh

I'm not what's missing from your life now
I could never be the puzzle pieces
They say that God makes problems
Just to see what you can stand
Before you do as the devil pleases
And give up the thing you love

But no one deserves it

The first time I saw you
I knew it would never last
I'm not half what I wish I was
I'm so angry, I don't think it'll ever pass
And I was bad news for you, just because
I never meant to hurt you

Beauty and the beast

Been listening to Timbaland's 'Shock Value' and also, surprisingly, discovered that Suzanne Vega had a new (2007) album, called 'Beauty and Crime'. Will be reviewing both soon.

the quagmire...

Stay away from Last.fm! Its the power of the web the way it was always meant to be, linking artists based on 'similarity' (which it does quite accurately) and then playing these multifarious tracks back to you as a radio station. It's a quagmire, sucking you in, stealing your time, and soon you're listening to all sorts of obscure artists you didn't know you loved.....

Playlist 2007 Number 3

If you click on playlists under 'sort posts by label' (see right hand panel) you can pull all the playlists together - to see the songs that span the year.

Making this third playlist made me revise all three for the year. Not surprisingly, there are several tracks on the recent playlist from the albums I have reviewed recently. Darkpop's raw demo is a glimpse of the abiding presence M still brings in the post-Fetish era. Garbage's Betcha was a B-side, released in a typical rushed, low-key manner, which is why it's so good.

Kingdom	-	Dave Gahan
She's Too Much	-	Duran Duran
Funnyman	-	KT Tunstall
Betcha	-	Garbage
Aerial	-	Kate Bush
The Devil	-	PJ Harvey
Saw something	-	Dave Gahan
Paper Aeroplane	-	KT Tunstall
The Get Go	-	New Young Pony Club
Silence	-	PJ Harvey
Pretty Mary K (other version)	-	Elliott Smith
Hey There Delilah	-	Plain White T's
Back To Black	-	Amy Winehouse
40 hours	-	Darkpop

Funnyman - KT Tunstall

Locked inside your head
Do you realize the things you said
Never made sense?

Duran album review

Duran Duran - Red Carpet Massacre
An interesting diversion from previous albums, this isn't going to win new DD fans, but it blends bravely into hip hop, camouflaged by Timbaland's involvement. The omnipresent producer features on Skin Divers and elsewhere as does Justin Timberlake who produces several tracks, including the single 'Falling Down', where he co-writes. There are notable returns to DD's traditional melodic form with moments such as 'She's too much' which make the album overall worthwhile pursuing.

Red carpet massacre

Bought the new Duran album, Red Carpet Massacre as well as Nerina Pallot's first album. At this stage, this blog appears to me sometimes like a retro 'what happened to them' shrine, and I wonder if anyone would have noticed that DD, DG and DO'R all brought out albums this year.

See the review of Nerina Pallot's first album (See below)

Fetish - Mind in two

Mind into mind in two
Free yourself from yourself
You are the only one from which you hide
Free yourself from yourself
No need to keep it all inside
Because I've come undone....Apparently
'Cause I think too much
I Breathe too much
I feel too much
Am I alone in this silence?
Am I alone in my own violence?
Beat the incredible mind into submission
No submission

The Devil - PJ Harvey

As soon as I'm left alone
The devil wanders into my soul

And I pretend to myself
And I pretend to myself

I go out
To the old milestone
Insanely expecting
You to come there
Knowing that I wait for you there
That I wait for you there

Come!
Come!
Come here at once
Come!
Come
On a night with no moon

Because all of my being is now in pining
All of my being is now in pining

What formerly had cheered me
Now seems
Insignificant
Insignificant

Jules Holland

PJ Harvey did White Chalk and Silence on Jules Holland on Friday night (16th), which I luckily recorded, since they were both brilliantly done. She played piano alone, demurely, yet with an ominous threat that could explode irrationally at any moment. Excellent.

And her updated website looks pretty cool, so have a look (links on right).

Fetish - Leah

Persisting relentlessly in minor keys, it's Fetish's lyrics that swim in that joylessness, as she pleads from So Many Prophets....

Leah
Did you make me weak so I could lean on you?
Did you feed me addictions so I'd need you?
Did you tie my hands behind my back so you could untie me?
Untie me, please

Playlist 2007 Number 2

Revised retrospectively....

Hunting for Witches	-	Bloc Party
City Of Delusion	-	Muse
Try Again	-	Keane
Say It Right	-	Nelly Furtado
King of America	-	Fetish
King Of The World	-	Angelfish
Say That Again	-	Crowded House
Revelator	-	Gillian Welch
Soul to Feet	-	Kathryn Williams
Heart Attack	-	Nerina Pallot
One Step Ahead	-	Amiel
With steel part I	-	Fetish

David Gahan album review

Dave Gahan - Hourglass
The surprise with Gahan's solo work is how accomplished he is as a musician, writing and performing on all tracks. It is also comparatively better than Gore or Wilder's obscure meanderings and more uplifting than his previous solo album. Hourglass demonstrates why he is the soul of Depeche Mode and the first two tracks could easily have been off a good new DM album. With so few good albums this year, this simply appeared from nowhere.
Overall review ****

PJ Harvey - Silence

A beautiful treatise of loneliness and desperate hope in the face of unrequited, unresolved or (possibly) lost love.

Silence
All those places
Where I recall the memories
that grip me,
and pin me down.

I go to these places
intending to think,
And think of nothing,
But anticipate.

And somehow,
expect you’ll find me there,
That, by some miracle,
You’d be aware.

I’d risen this morning
Intending to break the spell
my longing not to think

I freed myself from my family
I freed myself from work
I freed myself
Freed myself
And remained alone

And in my thinking
I’d steal you away
though you never wanted me anyway

Silence
Silence
Silence
Silence

PJ Harvey album review

PJ Harvey - White Chalk
Sublime brilliance against the backdrop of the previous two albums, which were gems. Stand out tracks are 'The Devil' and 'Silence'. This was her guitar-free album, which, at first consideration, was a worrying concept. But this sees her delving deep. Very deep. For some it may appear to be her 'Kid A', but she's always had the tendency to slip quietly under your skin.
Overall rating ****

Great songs - September 2007

2007 and these were some of the fantastic songs out that I was enjoying!  The Fetish track, Lipstick, has them doing what they always did best and flows from the Remains album. The Nelly Furtado track is worth a listen, quite melodic in an acoustic way.

Starlight	-	Muse
Nothing In My Way	-	Keane
Forbiden love	-	Madonna
All Good Things	-	Nelly Furtado
Lipstick	-	Fetish
Don't Dream It's Over	-	Sarah Blasko
We Dug a Hole	-	Kathryn Williams
Walked Her Way Down	-	Crowded House
With steel part II	-	Fetish
Christine	-	The House Of Love
The End	-	Angelfish
Smile	-	Lily Allen
Change	-	KT Tunstall
Fall At Your Feet	-	Clare Bowditch

KT Tunstall album review

KT Tunstall - Drastic Fantastic
She refers to this as her second proper album - apparently we're supposed to disregard last year's Acoustic Extravaganda as mere experimentation, which will only reveal itself as craziness or virtue (or arrogance) over time. Nevertheless, this is a solid, varied, yet coherent album. Tunstall's song writing is astonishing and one gets the impression it's effortless release, with some solid tracks such as Funny Man, Someday Soon, Paper Aeroplane and the poppy Hold On.
Overall review ****

Crowded House - Time on Earth

Neil Finn has done so much work in recent years that it seemed strange to revive the band, especially with only one original member remaining and then without his brother. "Say that again" is quite good, as are several other tracks, but there's nothing brilliant here. Indeed, compared to his solo work, there is not very much of a point to this album. Nevertheless, it is pleasant enough and there is nothing to grate the senses. One for true fans only.

Review Apple iPod

You have to have one of these, you really do. A superb modern necessity. However, you do need to know the following before making it the hub of your audophile world:

Rule 1: Encode everything at a bit rate of 192.

Rule 2: Don't buy anything from the iTunes website unless its iTunes plus - anything that kills freedom and responsibility is beyond me and Digital Rights Management is vile. And stick to MP3 as a format.....don't get locked into Apple's proprietary format or the DRM version of MP3.

Rule 3: You need to buy something to normalise the volume of tracks across your collection. The best free software to do this is MP3Gain. Tip: stick with the default volume settings on MP3Gain and adjust volumes per album, not per track. Get MP3Gain.

Rule 4. You need something to boost the volume of the iPod (for those frustrated with the default volume restrictions). euPOD Pro 1.6 is free and excellent software to do this. Get euPodty)

Playlist 2007 Number 1

Revised retrospectively. The Fetish track, Lipstick, has them doing what they always did best and flows from the Remains album. The Nelly Furtado track is worth a listen, quite melodic in an acoustic way.

Starlight	-	Muse
Nothing In My Way	-	Keane
Forbiden love	-	Madonna
All Good Things	-	Nelly Furtado
Lipstick	-	Fetish
Don't Dream It's Over	-	Sarah Blasko
We Dug a Hole	-	Kathryn Williams
Walked Her Way Down	-	Crowded House
With steel part II	-	Fetish
Christine	-	The House Of Love
The End	-	Angelfish
Smile	-	Lily Allen
Change	-	KT Tunstall
Fall At Your Feet	-	Clare Bowditch

Elliot Smith album review

Elliot Smith - New Moon
Discovering Smith late in my musical world was a travesty averted. I began consuming all his albums together, which meant by the time I encountered the posthumous From a basement on the hill I found it too much to handle. But some time has passed.... New Moon is his second posthumous release, containing tracks written before the depression that would see him take his own life. These songs could easily have been on any of the previous albums, yet unlike the previous posthumous album, this collection doesn't bereave your soul of everything that is safe and sound (er, but remember, this is a relative comment: it's still Elliot after all).
Overall review ****

Review - Sony Walkman NW-E003

I bought one of these without the usual saddo competitive analysis - so mesmerised was I. It's beautiful, really beautiful. In this space its competing with the iPod Nano, not as a primary portable device (due to disk size), but as something so small and perfectly crafted that you can always have it with you, a portable tribute to your most recent music....

So, what can be said about it. Menu navigation. Hmm, not great - if you've had an iPod you'll not be happy. But you may still forgive it.... Sound quality - superb. Supports Atrac and MP3 - important to mention since Sony took a while to understand they needed to support MP3.

But (and here it all crumbles). Volume! European Sony Network Walkmans have the volume limitation set in accordance to the European Standard EN50332-1 (2000) making them impossibly quiet. So quiet, in fact, that they are pointless.

Angelfish album review

Angelfish - Angelfish
Been listening to Angelfish's ('93) album, which, despite being a massive Garbage fan, I had never come across and hadn't expected much from. After hearing Suffocate Me on YouTube I wonder why more wasn't made about this. Alternative and quite good. Shirley is more sublime and never completely unleashes her presence, but the songs are quite good in an Echo and the Bunnyman sort of way. Because I only came across this this year, I've rated it as such.
Overall rating: ***½