Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness- An fittingly overblown title for a double album boasting 28 tracks. This album is the soundtrack to my teenage years, awkwardly chasing after girls and not quite catching them. The songs are mostly heartfelt love songs, that alternate between heavy distortion at home in arenas to delicate acoustic melodies designed to be played to small audiences. This album feels like a precursor to 'emo' music - which I guess is not a good thing. Around April this year when the band came through on their reunion tour I donned the loose black t-shirt and became my teenage self again for the duration of the almost 3 hour concert - confirming that they are as gloriously overblown as they were 12 years ago.
Neil Young - After the Gold Rush- A couple of years ago I found a battered old 12" copy of After the Gold Rush in a market stall for $2. It's probably the most I've gotten out of $2 - I have listened to it so much that the scratches and pops have become part of the songs and it sounds strange when I hear a clean CD recording of the album. I found myself relating unexpectedly to the lyrics in a lot of these songs - who knew I had something in common with a hippy with an acoustic guitar in the 70's? Anyway, I don't think I would ever want to part with this album and I'll be happily seeing him live in just over a month amongst a sea of older codgers.
Holly Throsby - On Night- An album from a young lass who at the time of recording was working in a video-store in Sydney. On Night was recorded in a house in the Blue Mountains, which is evident in the birds calls that are audible in the background of some of the songs. The production is very sparse with many of the songs being only acoustic guitar and Holly's low whispery vocals. The lyrics are based around relationships gone wrong and lonely nights - which I think would be a comfort to me living alone on a deserted island! I personally think this is one of the most underrated
Australian album debuts of the past few years.
Yann Tiersen - Amelie soundtrack- A soundtrack to a Sunday day out. The instrumental music score to the film is as joyous as the main character of the movie. The main instrument you will hear on the recording is accordian, but there are flashes of piano, strings and even the sound of the keys of a typewriter. This album is a bit of a counterpoint to the 4 others in
the list which tend to be a bit on the depressing side. It's a shame that McDonalds used one of the songs in an advertisement.
eels - Daisies of the Galaxy- I read that lyrics from this album were posted on George Bush's 2000 campaign website as an example of inappropriate lyrical content. Which is a unfortunate, because if George actually listened to this album I think he would have liked it. The cover of 'Daisies' is in the style of an old children's book drawing - which does have it's own sweetness to it and a touch of darkness. The album sounds much like the cover looks - the music is pretty joyous but the lyrics can be pretty dark at times. This is another album that I relate to a lot lyrically and I end up putting it in for a spin every few weeks subconciously!
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