Yet More RateYourMusic Reviews

To keep the momentum of posting to this blog going a little bit longer, here's a few more short reviews I've written for RateYourMusic over the last couple of years. They're perhaps not as detailed as the previous ones, but IMO they warrant a mention.

Chumbawamba - Uneasy Listening (1998)

 

Although Tubthumper is the big famous album from Chumbawamba's time on EMI, they actually got the chance to release 3 albums on the label before being dropped in 2001 (as well as a few singles and promo releases). This is the second one, and is basically a collection of the group's best early indie songs before their proverbial rise to stardom.

Seeing as finding copies of their albums on Agit-Pop and One Little Indian couldn't have been super easy even in '98, Uneasy Listening is a good way to get an overview of this period of the band's history. A good chunk of their most notable early songs are here, like Timebomb, Behave, UGH! Your Ugly Houses! and many others. There's also some deep cuts, non-album tracks and unreleased rarities thrown in for good measure.

That being said, there are a few omissions that are slightly glaring. The singles "Never Gave Up" and "Homophobia" are not included, which is a shame as I consider both to be some of the band's best work, and their inclusion over something like "On Being Pushed" would have elevated the collection further.

Even so, this is still a fine compilation of the band's work (as well as the ONLY such compilation they ever came out with). It's not especially easy to come by, but alongside the other two entries in what I call their "EMI Trilogy", this is worth picking up, especially if you're trying to get into the band.

Jamie Lenman - Muscle Memory (2013)

 

A curious double album, and not like many others i've ever seen before. Disc 1 is comprised of a hardcore thrash sound, not too dissimilar to Jamie Lenman's prior work with Reuben, but much more ferocious, especially with the vocals. It's a very angry 40 minute selection of music, but it's varied enough that it's not a slog to get through, and much recommended for fans of the album. Fizzy Blood and A Terrible Feeling especially are highlights.

Disc 2 is a complete departure, pivoting to folk and big band infused music alongside a more melodic songwriting theme. Surprisingly the whiplash doesn't work against it, and it comes together for a genuinely interesting listening experience in its own right. Highlights from this disc include I Ain't Your Boy, If You Have to Ask You'll Never Know and the lead single Pretty Please.

If you grab this album, make sure it's the 2023 vinyl reissue. The whole album got remixed to improve the sound and help it all sound more cohesive as a single unit. Plus, it comes with a bonus disc of outtakes and live tracks from both the hardcore and folk sides, perfect for those looking for more of the same.

Oasis - Gas Panic! (2000)

 

This is Oasis' best song.

I know, with the previous three albums worth of material to consider, that's a big claim, but I'm dead serious.

Largely a biographical piece about Noel's struggles with substance abuse, Gas Panic! is a very slow burning track, steadily building itself until exploding into life on the second verse. The moody atmosphere compliments the lyrics perfectly, and the longer song length is more than earned in comparison to a track like All Around The World, as it really does need that extra room to breathe. No filler to be found here.

Plus, this is a song where basically every circulating version is great in its own way. The album version has a great vocal take from Liam, as well as some stellar guitar solos. A demo that appeared on some promo CDs around the time has Noel sing on it, and his presence has its own charms that add to the slightly stripped back arrangement. And the live version on Familiar To Millions has to be heard to be believed, boasting a ferocious performance and an extended jam-based outro that should have made the song a regular to their setlist just on its own. "It's a good fuckin' tune this, cmon!" indeed.

This should have been a single. Check it out.

Oasis - Falling Down (2009)

Call it a controversial opinion, but I feel Oasis' experiments with psychedelic rock is some of their most interesting material, if only because if proved they could f*ck with the formula once in a while. Who Feels Love and Gas Panic! off Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants are some of their most unique songs as a result, but a general public rejection of that direction led to the band trying to rehash their old "rockier" style to diminishing returns.

Falling Down feels like an attempt to rekindle that experimental side of the band, especially as Dig Out Your Soul as an album stands out much more than their other 2000s records. It has an almost ethereal quality to it, and Noel's vocals only add to that in a way that Liam's certainly would have spoiled had he sung on it. Prior single The Shock Of The Lightning is also really good, and I like it almost as much, but this edges it out on account of there being almost no other Oasis song quite like it.

As far as final singles go, this is probably one of the best ways for a band to dissolve, by releasing a song that's widely considered on par with their prime material, and it's one that I hope gets more appreciation over time. The appearance as the title theme in Eden Of The East is an added bonus.

Scatman John - Scatman's World (1995)

 

The vast majority of 90s eurodance was made up of faceless studio creations designed without an identity and usually under some zany pseudonym. As such, the scene is almost completely devoid of any real recognisable figures, one of the few of which people could name from memory most likely being John Larkin, AKA Scatman John.

Larkin began his career as a jazz pianist, appearing on a Sam Phillips record in the 80s and even getting an album of such music released under his own name, which is genuinely good in it's own right. Having suffered from a lifelong stutter, he eventually used it to his advantage through Scat singing, which became a part of his performance. A European producer around 1994 got the idea to build a dance track around it, and the rest is history.

Going off the singles from this record, such as the titular "Scatman" track that made him famous, or the slightly later title track, one might write off Larkin's stab at the dance scene as a tacky novelty, but he manages to make it work both with solid songwriting and palpable enthusiasm. This isn't a record done for money or contractual obligation, this is a record by a man who sounds overjoyed to be there and wants everyone to know it. It's not just a case of the singles being noteworthy either, as there are numerous album tracks that also rise to the same standards, such as "Only You" or my favourite "Take Your Time". The subject matter is no slouch either, discussing his vision of a world without strife, and how he wants us to reach such a world. Cheesy as hell? Sure, but the songs are still good enough that they manage to shine through regardless.

And it paid off big time. After a career or relative obscurity Larkin's new direction was an immense success, most of all in Japan where he ranks as one of the best selling foreign artists. Sadly he didn't get to enjoy it for very long, only releasing two more albums of more moderate success before passing away of cancer in December 1999.

In short, this is one of the few albums of the 90s Eurodance craze that feels like it still stands on its own today, and hasn't collapsed under the obnoxiousness and poorly aged production so often prevalent to the genre (see Eiffel 65 or Aqua for such examples). The enthusiasm is as genuine as it gets, not feeling synthetic like its peers, and its impossible to hate how Larkin was able to turn a lifelong struggle into his greatest gift.

Recommended.

The Velvet Underground - Squeeze (1973)

 

Alright, I'm gonna level with you. This album to me really isn't that bad. With slightly better production and credited to Doug Yule directly which was quite likely intended during recording, it'd probably be recieved more amicably, if nothing more than as an interesting curio.

The songs themselves are admittedly hit and miss, with some definitely falling into the pit of mediocre 1970s power pop that was big in 73 (tracks like Mean Old Man and Jack & Jane, although not terrible, are mostly uninteresting affairs, and I've never liked Crash all that much). Others are much better, and deserve better than the perception often sent their way. In particular are the opening and closing tracks "Little Jack" and "Louise", which I genuinely think would fit well in Loaded era VU. The latter especially is probably the best track here.

I also don't buy the notion that Doug Yule had no buisness being in this position. Sure, he wasn't a founding member, but he featured on a full half of the band's "canon" albums, and proved himself to be a capable singer-songwriter, so he certainly had a right to be in the band if nothing else.

The loss of Lou Reed is sorely felt for sure, but Yule nonetheless showed bother here and elsewhere that he could deliver a fine track or two on his own. If he'd been able to have his 1971 live lineup backing him (which included Maureen Tucker), then I genuinely think things would've come out better. Alas, their manager dismissed them all in hopes just having to deal with Yule would mean an easier cash cow. It was apparently him who pulled strings and had the record credited to the Velvet Underground to boost sales.

Squeeze is by no means a record to stand up to the heights of their previous albums, but there are bits and pieces here to suggest that all was not necessrily lost, and it's genuinely better than its reputation suggests. I reckon it deserves a proper reissue and remaster, maybe with that 1971 Amsterdam soundboard as a bonus disc, so it can finally add extra context to the final days of this legendary group.

The Pogues - A Pair of Brown Eyes / Whiskey You're the Devil (1985)

 

When I was growing up I was exposed to a lot of music that my parents listened to, whether stuff they themselves had been shown growing up, or stuff that they discovered as adults. This is likely what was instrumental in developing my deep rooted love for music.

Of course, there was a lot of music that they played. Graceland by Paul Simon, Vampire Weekend, Nirvana, among many others. And one of them that I do remember is The Pogues.

Although I've very likely heard more, there are two Pogues songs that I can remember off the top of my head: Fairytale of New York / The Battle March Medley, quite a jaunty number I must admit, and this song, A Pair Of Brown Eyes, which has stuck with me much longer for reasons I couldn't begin to guess. When I hear this song, I am reminded of home.

The song, as I understand it, is about a man who is drowning himself in booze at a pub after the love of his life left him, and an older man comes up to him going on about how he doesn't know nuthin' about hardship. He then weaves a tale about how in the horrors of the wars he served, and lying among the dead and injured, he saw the brown eyes of a fellow soldier. And when he returned home after the war, there were no brown eyes waiting for him. The younger man brushes him off as a drunk annoyance, but as he wanders home it seems as though he recognises parallels between their two experiences, as his own lover had brown eyes.

The song is great at weaving a scenario for the listener to put together in their head, and the scene put forward is great, but when I was younger I interpreted a slightly different meaning, which I would like to put down here.

In my interpretation, the story again takes place in a pub, but both the narrator and the other patrons have gotten so drunk that it's devolved into them basically collapsing into a giant pile of intoxicated drunks on the floor of the bar. And from this mass of barely-alive patrons, the main character sees a pair of brown eyes staring back at him. I always imagined the eyes belonging to that of a man.

But when the drunks are finally shoved out of the pub around closing time and everyone tries to head home, the protagonist cannot find whoever the brown eyes belonged too, and so resolves to set out on what in his mind is an epic quest, to find this person, for they felt a deep connection being made in those brief moments.

Of course, this is just my interpretation, but it's one I feel a sort of comfort with, though I couldn't tell you why as I do not drink myself. In any case, the song has always stood out to me as I've grown into the man I am now, and I hope that it shall remain there as I continue going through life.