July - Wrapup

YOURZ

We're really getting down to some interesting choices to review.  In the past month, we've hit on some absolute gems and a few shockers as well.  Like it or not, we have to review all with equal(ish) respect.  This being said, July revealed UNKLE's superb War Stories, after it had been relegated to its own little space due to the oversized, ridiculous packaging that didn't fit our storage system (which admittedly is a CD-sized chest of drawers).  It was purely by fluke that I spotted it and it was added to the reviewing roster otherwise it might still be sitting there, forgotten and begging to be played.

One of the delights of being involved in this blog, besides those we've listed before, are the wonderful comments and reactions we get to our reviews.  I can't comment on the traffic to our site (I leave the number-crunching to Mine - ex-accountant that she is) but every time I check the blog out and there's a new comment, I get a little tingle of pleasure because someone, somewhere has not only read this little blog that could, but has taken time out of their day to lets us know they have.  These are the moments that make all the hard work worth while.

We're now sliding into the home stretch, folks, so fasten your headphones, put the seat into its reclining position and ready your ears for some truly wonderful treasures...

MINE

Each time we get the blindfold and pointy stick out these days to do another random selection from the collection, I'm wondering exactly who it'll reveal.  Each month we manage to have something old, something new, and often something blue.  And now we've passed the half way mark, I'm wondering who'll be left in the box, unreviewed, unremarked on, when we're done.  Will some of our favourites never see the light of blog?

This month I've mostly been... cold.  We've had a particularly chilly start to the southern hemisphere winter Down Under, necessitating use of the blankie while watching TV, and of the hot water bottle in bed.  And I won't make any comments about having some hot tunes to keep me warm, because they only do that if you dance to them.  Which I do, sometimes, but not enough to warrant the comment.

We're also working our way around to an election, which will be all done and dusted by the time we write next month's wrap-up, but which is causing me great pain at the moment sorting the real from the spin in my day job.  So roll on August 21!

Still having fun doing this, and loving the responses from our readers.  So this month we've decided to give our friend Braeden, a discerning ear and regular commentor, who, with his equally discerning brother, write Eschewing The Plain (check it out here) our pick of the month from Gelbison.

Free CDs - July Throwouts

Goodshirt - Good
KC & The Sunshine Band - Greatest Hits
Natalie Merchant - Tigerlily
Shamen - Boss Drum
Nikka Costa - Pebble to a Pearl
Enigma - MCMXC AD

Still going begging from previous months:

Brassy - Got It Made
A Gun Called Tension - A Gun Called Tension
P-Money - Magic City
Pink Floyd - Echoes
New Radicals - Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too
Gyroscope - Breed Obsession
Audioslave - Audioslave
George Michael - Ladies & Gentlemen The Best Of George Michael
Roots Manuva - Awfully Deep, Run Come Save Me and Slime and Reason
Queen - Greatest Hits II, Greatest Hits III, Made in Heaven (we're keeping the others)
Come - Near Life Experience, Eleven : Eleven and Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Ben Harper - The Will To Live and Diamonds On the Inside
Sugar Ray - Floored

These CDs are available free to anyone who wants them. We even pay for postage - so if you'd like to see an Australian stamp just e-mail us at yourzenmine at gmail dot com.

This Is Big Beat

MINE

When I discovered the kind of dance music I loved had a name, I was impressed.  And went out immediately and bought this compilation.  Which has its moments, but still isn't really the definitive distillation of the best of Big Beat.

There are some great songs on it - including the Prodigy's Poison and Magic Carpet Ride by Mighty Dub Katz.  A lot of the tracks are instrumentals and while Howie B's Switch is an excellent example of this, many get a bit boring after a while.

But I have fun just listening to the ones I love and skipping along when I get bored.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ

Sometimes, the distance between Mine and YourZ (truly) seems positively universal.  And sometimes our nearness seems microscopic.  I see this as one of the benefits of social dichotomies such as ours.  We're very individual but meet up at the most surprising junctures too.

I think our collective love (if two can be a collective) of Big Beat is more of a surprise to Mine because I'm not much of a dancer, at least not these days (the reasons are many and varied but not worth going into here).  In fact, my love of this music has more to do with its structure and production than anything else as I'm a frustrated drummer from way back.

This Is Big Beat moves through the genre playing some absolutely killer beats.  While generally it's an excellent collection of brilliant tunes, like Mine says, skipping over the few boring ones is an absolute necessity.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_beat

James Brown - In The Jungle Groove

YOURZ

From sample kings The Avalanches to a sampler's choice artist, James Brown.  But what to say about him?

He's the undisputed Godfather of Soul and quite possibly the funkiest of the funkiest. He lived for music, for entertaining and never slowed down, earning himself the title of 'the hardest working man in show business' and, despite numerous health problems, continued a heavy touring regime right up until his death on Christmas Day, 2006.

In The Jungle Groove features two versions of the heavily sampled Funky Drummer. Used by everyone from Public Enemy to Sinead O'Connor, it's perhaps telling that in certain circles, a sample from it is now considered a cliché.  But there's no doubting the track, and the rest of the album, are classics of the genre and quite literally one of the best party starters around.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

F to the U to the N-K-Y this album just shows how great a musician he was, and how he surrounded himself with the best of the best.  I got to see the late Mr Brown sometime I think in the late 80s.  (Viv, Bill, do you remember when it was?)  And I must admit I was less than impressed by him.  By him, that is, not by his band which produced the tightest, funkiest, sharpest, most amazing sound I had heard to date - and probably the best I've ever heard.

The problem with James Brown was that his band played several songs before he came on, and in between each one, some poor bugger in his band had the job of exciting the audience about the proximity of his arrival.  The audience was definitely left with the feeling that if we didn't scream loud enough, applaud hard enough, he just wouldn't bother gracing us with his presence.

When he made it onstage he was magnificent.  But as I recall, he didn't stay that long.  Maybe I'm maligning him, maybe he was feeling under the weather that day but made it onstage anyway, in the best show-must-go-on tradition.  Whatever it was, it was a bit of a sour note for one of the best in the business.  Can I get a witness?

VERDICT: TURN IT UP get on down

For more information: http://www.jamesbrown.com/

The Avalanches - Since I Left You

MINE

YourZ was absolutely gobsmacked earlier this year when we were sitting up late one night and the video for Frontier Psychiatrist came on, and I was thrilled because I'd never seen it.  The video is truly amazing (as you'd expect) but I didn't need to see it before buying this album practically as soon as it came out.

It's a work of art, and if you don't own it, I'd want to ask you why.  And re-listening to it in the car recently, I discovered it's a perfect driving album.  Each song slips seamlessly into the next, and all you want to do is listen to the whole thing with the windows wide open, enjoying the scenery slipping past.

I also had fun trying to identify some of the samples, but of course with some 3,500 on the album this is like trying to identify individual pieces of 3,500 jigsaw puzzles in one box.  It'll still put a smile on your face, though.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ


There is no doubting this is one of the best examples of sampling there is and, as Mine says, a work of art. Overwhelming in concept and genius in its execution, it posed one of the biggest musical questions of the last decade - where do The Avalanches go from here?  Now ten years old (fuck, can you believe it?), this epic hasn't aged in the slightest and probably never will.

If you've never heard this and have any inclination, don't doubt yourself - you will love it.  Sure, you can try and train-spot if you like, but my recommendation is sit back and listen and prepare to be amazed.  Either that or get up off your couch and dance.  Either way, it will be good for you.

Now, where is the next album, fellas?

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information: http://www.theavalanches.com/

Violent Femmes - Add It Up (1981 - 1993)

YOURZ

The Violent Femmes were a big part of my life around their first album.  I can't tell you how many times I've sung Blister In The Sun.  For a time, I was regularly playing solo sets at a local restaurant/nightclub in the aforementioned big country town and Blister... was a regular house favourite.  I've had chorus' of very drunk football players accompanying me, I've had a roaming trumpeter jump up and play an unforgettable solo accompaniment and I've had just about all the bar and wait staff on the stage one night, backing me up.  It's a true classic and one I never tire of hearing.  I still have the single of their version of Children Of The Revolution.

Listening to this collection takes me back to the start of the 90s, when, over a period of a few weeks, I saw The Violent Femmes, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Nirvana, all at the same venue in the big country town known as the Capital of Australia, Canberra.  It was crazy, it was wild and it burnt away more brain cells than I care to think about (not that I can tell, anyway).

My Violent Femmes story starts when, as a music journalist for a street-press publication, I was given the task of interviewing the bass player, Brian Ritchie, before the show.  Ever the consummate professional, my nerves got the better of me and I asked the most inane question of him right off the bat - why he had cut his well-known long hair.  His response was basically "its just fucking hair, who cares?"  Suffice to say, the interview didn't go too well after this horrendous start, despite my fawning.  At least I still got my free tickets.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE:

Huh.  Odd, after yesterday's Teenage Fanclub fiasco, I can now tell you about a band I successfully saw at Selinas.  And the only mosh pit I've ever been in (for any time, that is, I did try and mosh to The Cult but that crowd was BIG and MEAN and we ran away quickly.)

So this would have been in about 89 or 90, right in the middle of this compilation, which as far as I'm concerned gives you all the best Femmes songs.  Gone Daddy Gone, Blister, Add It Up, 36-24-36, Gimme The Car - I can go on, but hey, if you like the Femmes, but don't want to buy all the albums, this is the CD for you.  It has some great live versions too.

So there I am, about three rows of heaving humanity from the stage at the Femmes and this guy falls down in the mosh pit in front of me.  I'm doing my best not to fall over or stand on him, and he reaches back to grab me to help him up.  And this other guy, moshing next to me, who sees that I am about 50 kilos wringing wet (those were the days) reaches out, grabs his hand and helps him up.  A polite mosh pit, but then wouldn't you expect that at the Femmes?

Unlike the Pogues, who I saw later that year and where I counted about 10 to 15 people emerging from the pit bleeding from varous parts of their bodies.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information: http://www.vfemmes.com/

Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix

MINE

I knew this story would have to come out some day.  It's one of those moments I'll remember for ever, and to this day it elicits a wince and a blush when I think about that night.

I can't remember what year it was (91? 92?) but I think it was the Bandwagonesque tour, well before Grand Prix came out.  While I didn't own the album (hey, why not?  It's even better than Grand Prix as I recall) I did love the songs and was determined to see them play.  As luck would have it, they were performing at my local pub (I've seen many international acts there but Selinas doesn't operate as a band venue any more, more's the pity.)  I couldn't get anyone else to come with me, as that was my heyday of dance dance dance and all my friends at the time thought jangly Kinks-evoking guitar-based pop was so several years ago, so I bought myself a solo ticket.  No biggie, I'd done that plenty of times.

I was a single girl then, and prone to party hard.  As I had done that week. When the evening rolled around I was feeling a little weary, so I thought I'd have myself a disco nap, set the alarm and left the light on (my sure-fire way of ensuring I'd wake up).  And woke up at 3 am, when I'm sure the band were into their fourth or fifth post-gig drink.

I can laugh about it now, but I've never seen them live.  DAMN IT ALL...

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ

It wasn't until I started doing a little bit of research for this review that I realised I've actually seen Teenage Fanclub at the 1994 Big Day Out, when it was still at Sydney Showgrounds (a much more intimate location).  On the same day, I also saw Soundgarden, The Breeders, Smashing Pumpkins and The Ramones, so hopefully you can understand why the poor old Fannies slipped back into the forgotten recesses of my memory.

The thing that gets me about listening to Grand Prix (and, in fact, just about anything by Teenage Fanclub) is the fact this is a band from Glasgow.  The harmonies, sound and production are pure West Coast, reminiscent of everything from The Beach Boys and The Byrds to contemporaries The Posies and Urge Overkill (who were also on the bill at that magical BDO all those years ago).  These are one of the bands I heard much of over the years but never actually owned anything by them.  Bandwagonesque was probably the most discussed among my peers at the time, but this comes a close second.  I mean, how can you go past the pure bliss that is Sparky's Dream, for instance.  There is so much to like about this, I can't help but smile when I listen to it.  It probably means we have to add yet another few discs to that growing list, Mine.

Now, if only I could actually remember that show all those years ago...

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information: http://www.teenagefanclub.com/

Space Invadas - Soul-Fi

YOURZ

I bought this out of some small loyalty I felt to one of our favourite DJs, Katalyst (real name Ashley Anderson).  Aside from his day job, he also runs Invada Records with Portishead Geoff Barlow.  With all this on his plate, the last thing you think he'd do would be start a side project. 

But with his friend, Steve Spacek, who has been one of his go-to vocalists in the past, they put together Space Invadas, with Soul-Fi being their first release.  While it isn't far removed from Anderson's previous output, what really differentiates this is Spacek's voice.

Recognised by such luminaries as Mos Def and Common as having one of the best modern soul voices, overlayed with the dynamic funk and soul beats Anderson is well known for, elevates Soul-Fi above the standard.  The astute, sharp beats and soul-filled vocals are a match made in music heaven.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

This Katalyst side project has some great moments - and some really ordinary ones. 

Bits I like: most of the songs are Funky (yes, we need the capital F) and as you'd expect from a producer of this calibre, they show extremely high production values.

Bits I don't like: Introductions to songs (why?) and the occasional move across into MOR R&B.  But it's mostly OK and mostly stuff I like.  So maybe I'll just delete the bits I don't like off the iPod.

VERDICT: TURN IT (MOSTLY) UP

For more information: http://www.spaceinvadas.com/

Frank Sinatra - New York, New York

MINE

Well, it's Frank.  I mean, what can you say about the man?  He's the guy who does for singing what Fred Astaire does for dancing - makes it look effortless and natural.  Until you try doing it, that is.  Which is why I ended up with a sore throat when I tried to sing along with Strangers In The Night. 

I bought this CD because I felt the lack of Frank in my collection.  And just because I don't play it that often, doesn't mean I don't love it - mostly.  OK, I'm not partial to the fact that he cuts the reference to cocaine out of I Get A Kick Out Of You.  His version of Yesterday is less than inspiring, and let's just draw a veil over Mrs Robinson, shall we?  But I love, love, love his duet with daughter Nancy in Something Stupid.

I have to share with you my thought process in listening to Summer Wind.  You see, I was on my way home from work to a meal which is cooked for me by YourZ.  My shift ends at 6.30 pm  and with a drive of anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour I'm usually pretty ready for dinner by the time I walk in.  And that night, with Frank in the background, I got to feeling all Mad Men about it.  I felt like calling him up and asking him to mix us a pitcher of martinis, and stopping off for some flowers to  show the little man how much I appreciate him. (YourZ sez: hmmm... careful now.)  Fortunately, I resisted the temptation, because Don Draper I ain't.  Much more Peggy Olson, actually, without the whole getting-pregnant-but-ignoring-it schtick she managed in Season One.

Um, I was writing a review, wasn't I?  Oh well, that's Frank for you. 

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ

As Mine says, it's Frank Sinatra.  There are very few artists, either living or dead, who still inspire such passionate outpourings of devotion (Elvis, Miles Davis, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and John Lennon immediately spring to mind).  The sheer length of his career eclipses these, to say nothing for his multi-faceted talents as an singer, producer, actor and businessman.  And just talk to my mother if you want an opinion on his looks.  She will get a faraway look in her eyes and resorts to using words like 'dreamy'.  It is positively scary.

When listening back to this album of standards (and, in a few cases, substandards, as Mine also mentions), I can't help be transported back to a time when I was a pre-teen and my mother, who played piano and organ, would spend hours playing variations of many of these.  My parents were big Mancini fans and while I heard a lot of these tracks many times, none were ever sang as effortlessly as Frank seemed to do.  I doubt very much if there will be a voice like his again. 

The other thing about Frank is he didn't work with crap musicians.  Every note played, even on the dodgy covers, is played with absolute perfection.  A faultless band for a peerless voice.  It doesn't get any better than ol blue eyes himself.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information: http://www.sinatra.com/

Pivot - O Soundtrack My Heart

YOURZ

I don't know what possessed me to buy O Soundtrack My Heart but I'm pleased I did.  It has been languishing in the collection for some time but not for long.  The band formerly known as Pivot but now as PVT (after a legal claim from an American band of the same name) are quite possibly one of the most refreshingly interesting instrumental bands I've ever heard.

Formed in Sydney by brothers Richard and Laurence Pike, with the later addition of Perth eletronic musician Dave Miller, PVT have slowly built a dedicated following in both the general public and within the music industry itself, so much so they were invited by curator Brian Eno to perform at the Luminous Festival, held at the Sydney Opera House in 2009. 

I would love to spend hours trying to adequately describe the PVT sound but don't really have the time.  Succinctly, they straddle territory I can only describe as a electronia/rock version of Morricone.  Deservedly, I expect PVT to be featured on any number of soundtracks in the near future. 

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

Instrumental.  A bit clever-clever.  Not really my thing, but I can see why he bought it.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN

For more information: http://pvtpvt.net/window

Morcheeba - Fragments Of Freedom (Special Edition)

MINE

Erchhh, this CD has problems for me.  I mean, there's the fact that it's unremittingly cheerful, for one.  And for me that clashes with some pretty deep subtext, because I bought this to remain close with a friend of mine, who'd moved to another city.  A friend I've had a falling-out with recently.  And so listening to Rome Wasn't Built In A Day remains bittersweet for me.

On the one hand, it's exactly the sort of song I like, sweet and positive, with a great beat and a danceable rhythm.  On the other hand, I find myself wondering yet again if I've done the right thing by being so didactic about why I can't just shove the issue under the carpet and try and pick up the threads of friendship again.  I mean, we've been pals for 14 years.  Through relationships and marriage - she was my bridesmaid when YourZ and I tied the knot.

I don't know if I can really listen to this CD again, but I also don't know if I can just throw it away.  Much like the friendship, I guess.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN

YOURZ

There is nothing wrong with Fragments Of Freedom.  It is just so nice (and anyone who has read this blog knows I don't do nice).  It's everything from the sharp, crystalline production to the instrumentation and vocals of Skye Edwards.  For fuck's sake, there's a song featuring kettle drums and it wasn't even vaguely calypso-like.

The problem with this is everything is so diluted and clean, it loses any real value.  If anything, it sounds like a Christian hip hop release.  And not a good one either.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

For more information: http://www.morcheeba.co.uk/

Damian 'Jnr Gong' Marley - Welcome To Jamrock

YOURZ

Barely two years old when his father died, Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley grew up in the shadow of his Bob's reputation and the fanatical following he inspired around the world.  His youngest son could well have turned out to be another spoilt underachiever living on the reputation of his parents (like so many).  But if anything is true, it's the opposite.

A musical force in his own right, Damian turned the collateral of having a famous father into a spectacular Grammy-winning career.  Performing since the age of 13, he's a reflection of the Marley clan's many talents, his speciality being a toaster (and not the baddies from Battlestar Galactica either - how's that for a geek-fact). 

On Welcome To Jamrock, he continues updating the traditional Jamaican template to include samples, beats and sounds more associated with hip hop than with reggae but with such great effect it won him two Grammys on the same night, something no reggae artist has ever previously done. 

Now, if you like reggae and hip hop, this is absolutely a must have.  Every track, from the opener political manifesto of Confrontation to the more personal Beautiful (for the ladeez) and the genre blurring tracks Pimpas Paradise (featuring The Roots Black Thought) and Road To Zion (featuring Nas) are just brilliant.  In fact, there is not a dud track on this record, as far as I'm concerned. 

I like this album so much, I'd love to call it a Forgotten Gem.  Problem is I play it too much so I'm not likely to forget it.  For me, it is truly one of the greatest albums of this genre and well in line to be one of THE albums of the decade. (Mine says: And there's a great example of how different our tastes can be sometimes.)

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

I have a confession to make.  I don't like reggae music.  Oh sure, I'll sing along to some old Bob Marley or Peter Tosh, but generally it's not really my thing.  You know the quote about golf being a good walk spoiled?  I think reggae's some good music spoiled.  (YourZ sez: and yet you love ska - what gives?)

Notwithstanding Damian's stellar lineage, this album just annoyed me.  There's too much shouting at me from the toasters, some of the nominal melody lines are horrifically repetetive, and then there's the matter of being able to understand what's being said or sung or shouted, which is intermittant.  And that's not because Damian doesn't know how to enunciate, it's that he chooses not to.  Or chooses to stir in that thick, gluey Jamaican accent.  Now, all power to him, Jah be with him and keep him and all that good stuff, and I'm not criticising the music or the playing or the production.  But I just can't imagine ever wanting to listen to this ever again.  Not even if you paid me.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

For more information: http://www.myspace.com/damianmarley

Lush - Lovelife

MINE

Here we go, hanging out in Camden/ Drinking with my girlfriends on a Saturday night

Every time I think of this CD, the opening words to Ladykillers just run through my head on repeat.  I. Love. This. Album.  I used to have the chorus from Ladykillers as my email signoff.  Ciao! has gotten me through many a dark day.  Single Girl was me many a time.  If ever I'm feeling blue, Lovelife is certain to cheer me up.

Of course, the band came to an early end after this album, when their drummer committed suicide.  A point a recent commenter on an article in the Guardian about the death of former Stereophonics band member Stuart Cable chose to call "the curse of the 90's indie drummer" also mentioning Space and the Wonderstuff.  Kind of gruesome, but it makes you think...

VERDICT: TURN IT UP (I know the score I've heard it all before)

YOURZ

While Mine clearly has a great love for this album, I must confess that *gasp* I don't know it that well.  In the very early 90s, I had friends who were huge fans of just about everything 4AD (hi Nadine and Tim) but by the time this album came out, they'd moved away and I'd was more interested in lo-fi and slacker rock than the Brit-pop stylings of Lush.

But there was a time when shoegazer was a big thing with my friends and I and Lush, along with bands like Ride, Curve, Pale Saints, Charlatans, My Bloody Valentine and, particularly for me, Swervedriver (see our review of Mezcal Head here) were played and discussed with much fervour.  In fact, friendships were made and lost depending on which shoegazer band you liked or hated.  Such was our completely irrational, unfounded belief in the power of such bands.  (I'm feeling a little smug as the only survivors of that period were my favourite - Swervedriver.  Who's the cool one now, huh?)

For the most part, Lovelife lives up to its reputation for being one of the classic mid-90s British albums, with those gorgeous soaring harmonies and jangly-pop stylings.  I particularly like the opener, Ladykiller, Single Girl and the vaguely trip hoppy Last Night.  But the big surprise and the track of the album for me, is Ciao!, a duo between lead Lushette, Miki, and Pulp's Jarvis cocker.  Worth the price of the album, this one.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP particularly track 7

For more information: http://www.4ad.com/lush

Fatboy Slim - Better Living Through Chemistry

YOURZ

Ah, there's just no mistaking the sound.  I think I could recognise a Fatboy Slim song in 30 seconds.  I might not be able to tell you the name of the song but really, when it comes down to it, who cares?  He's the ultimate Big Beat musician/composer/producer and also the last of one of the great party kings.

His music has inspired many late nights cavorting with mind-altering substances while dancing around like I just don't care.  And I seriously didn't.  The best thing about Fatboy Slim is he brings out the best at any party and the essence of a great party is its carefree-ness. 

Unfortunately, my love of Norman's work starts with and pretty much ends with the followup album to this - You've Come A Long Way, Baby.  In fact, apart from a few cursory listens prior to having to review Better Living Through Chemistry, I've pretty much ignored this album.  It certainly has Fatboy Slim's trademark big beat sound but it also lacks the inclusion of hooky vocals.  He obviously learnt his lesson for the next one.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN

MINE

Stormin' Norman!  My relationship with Mr Cook goes right back to his time with The Housemartins (loved Caravan of Love) and then to Beats International.  I only have an EP of theirs, which features a great dub version of Madonna's Crazy For You.

But of course it's his work as Fatboy Slim that's garnered him the most acclaim and I am a firm fan.  This album, however, isn't what I'd call the pinnacle of his career.  Largely instrumental, I'm fond of Michael Jackson and Going Out Of My Head, but the rest of it isn't as good.  He really came into his own with the next two albums, You've Come A Long Way, Baby and Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars.

I've seen him DJ once, at The Dome in Sydney's Moore Park.  My friend Sharon and I went on a very hot summer night, where Sydney did one of its famous 10 minute tropical cloudbursts so it was sticky, too.  The DJs who were the support acts were frankly pretty dreary, but it was worth the wait for him.  I recall it was so hot, condensation was dripping off the roof onto the dancers.  A great night.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN the next two albums are better

For more information: http://fatboyslim.net/

In our collection, we also have: You've Come A Long Way, Baby and Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars

Enigma - MCMXC AD

MINE

OK, in my defence this is a "moment in time" CD.  It was on high rotation on a long weekend holiday I had with some friends (hi, Viv and Andy!) north of Sydney in the early 90s.  We drove for hours and ended up at a place where some friends were hoping to open a gay-friendly holiday experience.  It was warm, and we swam in the river, lazed in hammocks, and bent our minds with various substances.

At one stage, very late at night, I found myself completely alone in a large room, dancing to this album which was turned up very loud.  It's a moment I won't ever forget.  One of my best dancing moments, but of course surpassed by the Kangaroo Valley Michael Jackson/Billie Jean moment (hi, David!) when everybody in the room unexpectedly swayed to the song in a small knot, in silence.

Listening to Enigma today though, I realised I'm not likely to ever want to hear this CD again.  And I don't need to look at the album to remember that weekend.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

YOURZ

Oh, this is boring...

While there are many things I do like about electronic music, Enigma are everything I don't.  Washy pads and twee sounds coupled with disposable melodies and the sort of atmospherics you'd expect to find playing in a World Vision shop (not putting down the World Vision organisation, who do a lot of good work, mind you).

This is not offensive, nor is it inoffensive.  Its simply not anything.

Did I mention it was boring?  Oh, I did!  Good...

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

For more information: http://www.enigmamusic.com/

NIkka Costa - Pebble To A Pearl

YOURZ

This is the kind of album that gets made over and over again - white soul records without a trace of real soul to them.  While the production is flawless and the musicianship high end, it is, as Mine points out below, Costa's voice that ultimately lets it down.  Honestly, she has a screechy top end that's thinner than toilet paper.

If you don't know anything about good soul music, this might appeal to you.  Thankfully I do and it doesn't.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

MINE

Lesson learned.  I picked this album up because it came recommended from one of my favourite bloggers - Carol Blymire of Alinea at Home.  Because I hadn't ever heard of Ms Costa, I tried out her song Stuck To You at YouTube.  And I thought it was damn catchy, and sought out the album - which I picked up second-hand for not that much money.

I only ever played it once, and today I figured out why.  It doesn't show on the YouTube version, but she has a voice that I just don't cotton to.  Some singers are like that.  I mean, I love the jazz divas but I can't stand Cleo Laine - she sounds to me like she's keeping a marble under her tongue while she sings.  And poor Nikka falls in to the Tina category.  Both Tina Turner and the lesser-known Aussie Tina Arena have what I call "thin" voices.  I'm kind of kinaesthetic when it comes to audio, and I see their voices as being sharp and narrow, kind of angular.  I prefer voices that are rounder, more full.  Geddit?  Probably not, but  there you are.

And quite apart from that, while Stuck To You is pretty good musically, the rest of the album's a bit ordinary.  Lesson learned, as I said.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

For more information: http://www.nikkacosta.com/

Clinton - Disco & The Halfway To Discontent

MINE

A side project of Cornershop, whose Brimful of Asha (Fatboy Slim Remix) remains one of my favourite songs ever, Clinton's album has some great moments - especailly the opening number, People Power in the Disco Hour.  But some of the rest of it is patchy, and GT Road is downright disturbing, reminding me of the soundtrack to a Bollywood porno.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN

YOURZ

Wow, this is ten years old now and I probably haven't heard Clinton for at least half of those.  As Mine mentioned, this is a side-project of Cornershop and nowhere near as good.

Some of the songs honestly sounded like they'd been cobbled together really late at night while definitely doing illicit substances.  The problem with most music made like this is it sounds really good to those recording it at the time but in the harsh daylight of sobriety, usually sounds shit.

The reality of Disco & The Halfway To Discontent is it probably wasn't recorded this way.  It was most probably recorded in a proper studio over time, which kind of makes all that much sadder.  The only songs that had anything remotely appealing about them are the one Mine mentioned and the last track, the oddly-titles Welcome To Tokyo, Otis Clay.  The rest is pretty much filler.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

For more information: http://www.cornershop.com/

The Breeders - Pod

YOURZ

There was a time when Pod was never filed away because it was always the next choice to be played.  It was one of THE must have CDs if you wanted your collection to have any sort of indie credibility.  Mind you, this was 20 years ago when things like 'indie credibility' meant a lot more to me than it probably should have.  But then, acceptance from my peers was also very high on my list of 'must haves'.  The older we get, the less we give a shit about small stuff like this.

I'm really glad Pod has stayed in my collection for all those years, though.  Listening back to it reminds me of some fantastic days, particularly of making music and hanging out with a great bunch of creative, talented and generally awesome people.  The Steve Albini-produced track list includes quite possibly the best Beatles cover ever in 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun'.  And while the production could only be described as minimal, at best, it also served as a no-nonsense template for the great swathe of bands who took this ideal and ran with it.  Of the 12 tracks, 9 come in under the 3 minute mark and a third of these under the 2 minutes.

It was head Breeder Kim Deal's links to her day job as The Pixies bass player that got this side-project noticed.  This could have been a bit of a disaster if Deal's song writing hadn't stood up.  But thankfully it did and still does.  And while history will record their more commercial followup, the mega-selling Last Splash, as the best this band has to offer.  But for me, it will always be Pod.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

I wonder how Steve Albini feels about having this on his CV now?  When I read those words - "Engineered by Steve Albini" - before listening to Pod I thought, well, it'll have to sound good at least.  How wrong I was.

Let me paint you a picture.  YourZ and I live in a small apartment building (four apartments, two up, two down) on a dual-carriageway road in a beachside suburb of Sydney.  We live on a hill, and therefore the garages are underneath the apartments - a good way underneath, in fact, dug into the hill.  The buildings on either side of us are the same, and that means a proliferation of garage bands.  YourZ has rocked the suburbs on many an occasion, there's a sort of heavy-metalish band next door and I think in the mansion a few doors down there's a bit of a vanity band (I've heard them do Roxanne by the Police and Madonna's Like A Virgin and both really not that well so you get my drift).

The sound produced by the Breeders on Pod reminds me of listening to a garage band through the doors.  The vocals are unintelligible, there's always someone off-key because there's no fold-back, and what you can mostly hear is the drums, which sound strangely flat.  I've read they recorded it in a week, and had money left over to do other stuff.  And it sounds like it, with the exception of their version of Happiness Is A Warm Gun which I don't think would have upset John Lennon too much.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

For more information: http://www.myspace.com/thebreeders

The B52s - Cosmic Thing

MINE

So when did that happen?  Sometime post 1995ish Fred Schneider's voice went from amusingly quirky to oh-my-god-shut-him-up-please.  Perhaps it's due to my spending some years working for commercial radio, where Love Shack remains a staple to this day.  Ruined it for me, along with Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street as I've previously mentioned, which just gives me the horrors now.

Back when this album came out (1989) I was very fond of it.  And playing it today, I can still remember vaguely how good Cosmic Thing sounded then.  I remember how disappointed I was when I realised an overseas trip would coincide with the band visiting Sydney - so I've never seen them live.

There's no denying the music's good, and I'll never get tired of hearing Kate Pierson sing - Roam is still clappy, happy and just plain gorgeous to listen to.  I felt the same about Deadbeat Club and Channel Z - but the rest was a bit awful.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN

YOURZ

The band who started their career with a song about crustaceans, The B52's have never been far enough away from the 'novelty act' zone for me to appreciate them as anything else.  Cosmic Thing, and particularly the vapidly annoying Love Shack, didn't help much either. 

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

For more information:

Voice Of The Beehive - Honey Lingers

YOURZ

Okay, I was prepared for something completely different and possibly even rubbish (sorry Mine, but I was).  The fact is this is just about as good as pop music gets - great melodies and lyrics with beautiful harmonies and huge choruses (chorusi?)

The production and the drums sound dated (typically that big reverby snare sound so prevalent in the 80s), but I can completely understand why Mine loves this so much.  While it might not be my cup of tea (I generally drink coffee) it certainly deserves to remain in our collection. 

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN

MINE

VOTB got some critical acclaim for this album and some commercial success with their cover of the Partridge Family tune I Think I Love You, but I'd already fallen in love with them with their first album, Let It Bee.  A rare Brit/US band featuring the drummer from Madness, I got to see them once, long ago.  And I'm still annoyed that the replacement copy of Let It Bee I have (the first one was stolen) has a rude word bleeped out in my favourite song on the album.  Why bleep?  Why not a "Parental Advisory" sticker?

But anyway, Honey Lingers (gotta love a double entendre) is pure pop magic.  From the jangly guitars of Monsters and Angels to the tear-jerking Perfect Place (not kidding, was glad I wore waterproof eyeliner this morning) this album has a permanent place in my heart.  And to YourZ, who I'm guessing won't get it the way I do - just listen to Beauty To My Eyes.  I'm dedicating it to you.  (YourZ sez: awww *blush*)

VERDICT: TURN IT UP this could be a perfect place

For more information: http://www.voiceofthebeehive.com/

In our collection, we also have Let It Bee and Sex & Misery

Unkle - War Stories

MINE

When I got to the end of this CD, the first thing I wanted to do was to listen to it again.  Which has got to be a recommendation, doesn't it?  At times I could understand why YourZ bought it, because there's an amount of clever-clever musicianship to it.  But generally it's both well-played and eclectic in its genre-shifting.  There's some lovely guitar-based dance which had me bopping in my seat, and moments of plain pop-rock that reminded me of U2.

A British band with help on this album from members of one of my favourite bands - Massive Attack - they've managed to fold some damn fine lyrics into this mix - which makes me wonder why I've never really listened to this CD before.  That'd be my husband, hiding music from me again.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ

War Stories is, without a doubt, contender number two for Forgotten Gem of the Year.

If I were, oh let's say 20 years younger, UNKLE is exactly the kind of band I would do my fuckin' damndest to put together.  I would utilise my love of rock AND electronica and make massive, beat-laden music for people to dance, fight or get fucked-up to, depending on their bent.

I would then gather some of my favourite singers and musicians to sing and play on my albums.  I'd make brilliant, provocative videos that not only made people think but introduced the world to great directors and actors.  I'd use emerging artists and photographers to create original, interesting pieces of art and help establish their careers.  And I'd do all this while avoiding the bullshit trapping of 'fame' and 'celebrity'.  I'd do it for the love of music, of art and of creativity. 

Yeah, if only...

(NB: the only thing I wouldn't do is package my work in ridiculously large packaging that doesn't fit any normal storage space so that the buyer puts it somewhere else and promptly forgets about it - are you listening James?)

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information: http://unkle.com/

Spinnerette - Spinnerette

YOURZ

Okay, Ms Brody Dalle has rock credentials oozing out her skin like her many and varied tattoos, starting with Sourpuss in Australia when she was 14.  By the time she was 18, she had married Tim Armstrong from Rancid, moved to LA and formed The Distillers.  Four albums later, both band and Armstrong were no longer.  Enter Josh Homme, more marriage, a sprog and domestic bliss, of a sort.

While not owing anything to the QOTSA sound, access to the growing collective of musicians associated with the Queens meant all she had to do was write the songs and let them be recorded.  Unfortunately, what we end up with here, for a major part of this album, is fairly derivative sounding, with a number of tracks that would most certainly not have made the cut for her husband's various projects.

But this self-titled effort is not without its moments.  Openers Ghetto Love, All Babes Are Wolves and Cupid set the bench mark high before the cracks start showing.  It isn't until 6 tracks later she partly redeems herself with the quite splendid Driving Song followed closely by Impaler and the closer A Prescription For Mankind.


This should have been an EP is all I'm saying.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN


MINE

OK, the gremlins got in and deleted my comment.  How did that happen?  Grrrrrr, I can't even remember clearly what I said!  Apart from, it's not really my thing.  Well-done and all that but generally just - ordinary.  Notwithstanding the babeliciousness of Ms Dalle....

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN

For more information:  http://www.spinnerettemusic.com/

Shamen - Boss Drum

MINE

Oh, urgh.  I really only bought this because I liked LSI (Love Sex Intelligence) which is still a kickin' choon to this day.  I really didn't like the tongue-in-cheek drug references in Ebeneezer Goode because frankly?  If you want to say you like taking ecstasy, then just say it.  Pulp managed to with Sorted for E's and Wizz a few years later.  The rest of album's just dreck.  And I paid a horrible import-CD price for it, too! (YourZ sez: that'll learn ya!)

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT


YOURZ

Excuse me... 

blaaaaahahgggghhhggghh... 

Sorry about that, much better now... 

No wait...

blaaaaggggghhhhaaaggghhh...

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT


For more information: http://www.myspace.com/shamen1

Linda Ronstadt - The Very Best of Linda Ronstadt

YOURZ

Oh boy, does hearing some of the tracks on this take me back.  I wish I could say it's with fond memories but it plain isn't.  In fact, I have distinct memories of my brother and I groaning when, for what seemed like the millionth week in a row, Blue Bayou ended our Sunday night Countdown session as the number one song for the week.  Just hearing it now makes me twitch like an epileptic at a strobe convention - we wanted rock, damn it!

As Mine is such a big fan and I value my testicles highly (though for some reason, no insurance company will value them as highly as I do) I won't say another word in case it's disparaging.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN

MINE

Linda and I go way, way back.  Simple Dreams was one of the first albums I ever bought with my own money, because I loved Blue Bayou.  Not that I knew what a bayou was at age 15, but I played that album to death, for years.  It features two songs written by Warren Zevon (whom I hope we'll review one day) and harmonies from one Dolly Parton, of all people.

The year afterwards I sang one of her earlier songs - You're No Good, the first on this album - in the school play.  And in a strange coincidence, one of my friends recently posted a shot of herself in costume for that play on Facebook (hi, Kathy!)

I think the best thing about Linda, for me, is that she generally sings in a register I can reach.  I can sing, kind of, but my range is less than an octave, so folky-country music generally suits me the best.  This album's now destined for the kitchen, so I can sing along to my heart's content.  But I'll be skipping those mushy love-song duets she also did, because they set my teeth on edge.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP gonna take away that hurtin' inside

For more information: http://ronstadt-linda.com/

The Police - Greatest Hits

MINE

Listening to the Police just brings me back to one summer in my youth, when Outlandos D'Amour and Regatta de Blanc formed the soundtrack of one very large, boozy, freewheeling trip by a bunch of friends I largely still see to this day.  It was the holidays in between high school and - whatever came next - for the group of 18, and we camped on the South Coast of NSW for what seemed like weeks.  Some of us (hi, Richard!) in two-man tents while others dossed down in the communal large tent where we'd gather for drinking games in the evenings.

And while that trip is still memorable for the very rude version of Hotel California we created (Hotel Aphrodisiac, very puerile) the musical soundtrack of that summer remains, for me, the Police's first two albums.  Oddly not Zenyatta Mondatta, even though it was released that year.

And it's the weird tracks, not the singles, that still resonate with me today. So while this collection's great, and features many of their stand out songs, the mere thought of listening to Be My Girl - Sally, It's Alright For You and Peanuts makes me resolve - we need the WHOLE COLLECTION (YourZ sez: yes, we do)  so we can play it for the 50th birthday reunion in a couple... of... years... *shudder* When did I get to be so old, anyway?

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ

I was the eldest of 5 children and, as a teenager, my brother and I shared a detached studio in my parents' back yard (okay, for real, it was a large, insulated garden shed, but it was ours).  The necessity of this came about because my father, who was in the Armed Forces, was only a junior rank and could only get a three bedroom house.  How we survived with one bathroom, I still don't know.

Anyway, the point I was trying to make was that my brother and I would spend a lot of time in The Shed listening to music and trying to decide which rock star we most wanted to be.  One of the bands that was always on our list was The Police and, in particular, their album Reggatta de Blanc.  I recall seeing Walking On The Moon on the Australian music television institution, Countdown, numerous times before finally getting the album.  From then on, every thing they released, I owned.  I still have most of it too, on flat black plastic. (Mine says: I've got Ghost in the Machine on FBP but my cassette(!) of Outlandos & Regatta one album per side died years ago)

As a Greatest Hits compilation, this one is fair.  The big hits certainly are here, including the most inanely-chorused song in the world, De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da (what were they thinking) as well as some great album favourites.  But as Mine points out, it's subjective.  Personally, I would have plumped for Bring On The Night, On Any Other Day and Driven To Tears.  What would you have picked?

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information: http://www.thepolice.com/

Models - The Pleasure Of Your Company

YOURZ

In the early 80s, I was lead singer in a covers band, playing mostly Australian songs with sets designed for pub crowds more interested in drinking than anything else.  But we took ourselves seriously enough to want to make our shows interesting and updated our set regularly.  We tried to add a few Models songs to our set but gave these away for less stylistic numbers (another way of saying we made them sound shit).

The Pleasure Of Your Company, for me, was the pinnacle album of Model's career.  After this one came the much more accessible and popular Out Of Mind Out Of Sight, which saw a big change in both songs and sound for the band.  Out the door were the more avant garde tracks to be replaced by fairly straight new wave rock.  I wasn't devastated but I was very disappointed.

I still have the 12" vinyl version of I Hear Motion somewhere, with the dub recording on the B side but hearing it on this is probably more than enough.  For me, it was more about the album tracks anyway - songs like No Shoulders No Head, Watch Your Mouth and God Bless America - great songs made vital by the times. And while the sound might be dated (the snare sound particularly), it is also arguably one of the best recording of the time too.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

While it's not the longest distance I've ever travelled to see a band, the Models are right up there in the long-distance stakes.  Your see, in 1985 I was living in Bendigo, inland Victoria and about 100 years away from civilization.  In reality it was about 150 kilometres from Melbourne and yes, occasionally we would go to Melbourne for the evening and then drive home.  Ah, youth.

Not that I saw the Models in Melbourne.  No, the road trip to Shepparton is about 100 ks from Bendigo and I went there with my friend Jacquie (who was a serial fantasist who convinced me she'd been married to a wife-beater who managed to kill himself drink-driving but then this turned out to be all in her head, but that's another story).  This was on the Out of Mind, Out of Sight tour, which was post-Pleasure of Your Company.  I don't remember much about the gig, apart from us hanging around afterwards and seeing lead singer James Freud getting something to eat in the pub bistro, accompanied by his then-girlfriend (I guess) who was possibly the most attractive Asian girl I've ever seen.

Anyhow, listening to this album certainly brought that back to me, but while I know YourZ has a soft spot for this album, it's just so - 80s!  In fact, listening to the guitar/drum/synth sound I thought - hey, that's INXS only not as good - and of course producer Nick Launay went on the produce The Swing for INXS the following year.  While the first song, I Hear Motion, is still pretty good, the rest of it just sounds dated to me.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN

For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Models_(band)

Natalie Merchant - Tigerlily

MINE

I bought this album because I loved, loved, loved 10,000 Maniacs.  In My Tribe and  Blind Man's Zoo were both on high roation on my turntables in the late 80s, and that was largely due to Ms Merchant's voice.  But re-listening to Tigerlily, I realise this didn't translate, for me, to her solo career.  The single Carnival is good, but the rest is just a bit - meh.  Well done and all, but it doesn't resonate the way those other, earlier, Maniacs albums did.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

YOURZ

I've never been a fan of 10,000 Maniacs.  In fact, I never really understood the fuss.  It always sounded pretty light-on and nothing special.  Merchant's voice is pretty enough in that preppy indie kinda way but this is pretty much it, as far as I'm concerned.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

For more information: http://www.nataliemerchant.com/

Kyuss - And The Circus Leaves Town

YOURZ

Oh, wait until Mine gets a load of this.  I think her head is gonna explode all over the windscreen hahahahahahaha... (not that her head exploding is a funny thing, mind you).  Anyway...

If it weren't for Kyuss, we might not have Queens Of The Stoneage, Mondo Generator, Eagles Of Death Metal, Fu Manchu and Them Crooked Vultures, to name of the biggies.  Hailing from Palm Desert in southern California, Kyuss made a name for themselves playing heavy, distorted and groove-laden songs, and featured future QOTSA members Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri.

Throughout their short-lived career, the band seemed to be in a constant state of change, before finally calling it quits shortly after releasing And The Circus Leaves Town.  Of all their albums, this is most certainly my personal favourite and the only one currently residing in our collection (mainly because Blues For The Red Sun and Welcome To Sky Valley both walked out of my house at some stage).  The rest, as they (whoever they are) say, is future history.

If you're a fan, you'll know all about this album.  If you're not but want to be, then this is as good a place to start as any (in fact, it probably is the best place to start, as far as I'm concerned).

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

What, another Led Zeppelin tribute album?  (YourZ sez: I beg to differ - this is stoner rock at its finest!  Led Zep were never as sludgy as this)  How do these bands get record deals, anyway?  Oh, that's right, the recording industry is full of never-grew-up testosterone. *sigh*

VERDICT:THROW IT OUT

For more information: http://www.myspace.com/kyussmyspace

KC & The Sunshine Band - Greatest Hits

MINE

There wa a moment on an episode of Glee recently when one of the cast members referred to KC & The Sunshine Band as "Funk for white people" (YourZ sez: and cod-funk at that).  And you know, they could be right.  While I can sing all the words (no biggie really, there aren't many) this CD's been in my collection way, waaay too long.  It was a freebie anyway so...

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

YOURZ

Oh the memories this music evokes...  Not a pretty picture, no, not at all. 

This reminds me of atrocious school dances where the girls would stand on one side and dance to bands like these while the boys stood on the other side of the room and waited for the few AC/DC or such tracks to come on so they could fug and pose for the girls.  The space in between was rarely, if ever, crossed. 

Besides, we have so much good funk in our collection, playing this would be an insult.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT, please!

For more information:  http://www.kcsbonline.com/

Headless Chickens - Body Blow

YOURZ

From an ordinary to an extraordinary New Zealand band, Headless Chickens were the antithesis to the normal Flying Nun sound of the time, that of bands such as Straightjacket Fits, The Verlaines and The Chills.  Eschewing conventional instrumentation in favour of samples, beats and electronic instruments, the Chickens added the voice of Fiona McDonald to their sound and went from obscurity to having hits in both NZ and Australia and influencing bands around the world (most notably Garbage).

Body Blow contains some of their biggest hits with both Juice and Cruise Control and while these are both great tracks, it is album tracks like Gaskraninstation, Choppers and Railway Surfing that defined their sound.  Sadly, they didn't last much beyond this album, releasing a follow up which included their only number one hit, George, before breaking up soon after its release. 

The world could definitely do with some more Headless Chickens.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP, ooohhhh yeeeeaaaahhh!

MINE

Oh, definitely a Forgotten Gem.  Donde Esta la Pollo!  Meaning "there is the chicken,"  I'm sure it confused no end of Spanish-speaking fans.  But it's the line I'm prompted to yell whenever I think about this album, which is just awe-inspiringly beautiful pop.  My favourite song on the album is Mr Moon, which contains the memorable line "you walk upon the water/you shine like oil on machinery".

The only Chickens story I have is that when I was visiting a childhood friend in New Zealand, who'd then recently had her first baby, her husband and I stayed up late into the night enthusing about the album, drinking too much and eventually turning the music up so loud she stormed out of the bedroom, turned it down, and harangued us both.  So I'd just like to say - sorry, Sarah.  (YourZ sez: doesn't sound like you at all, noooo...)

VERDICT: TURN IT UP (I've got my TV tuned to channel you)

For more information: http://www.myspace.com/headlesschickensband

Goodshirt - Good

MINE

When I first started listening to this album I couldn't figure out if they wanted to be The Cure or The Cars.  That was until track 7 - Sophie - which is damn good.  But one good song (which I've since discovered earned them a number one on the New Zealand charts) does not a good album make.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

YOURZ

We saw this New Zealand four piece supporting Butterfingers and Grinspoon years ago.  Live the band provided a energetic show and we liked what we saw.  As a consequence, we bought Good.  Initial listens had me thinking it reminds me of an updated version of The Cars or maybe a bit like Custard, both of whom we've reviewed here in the past.

But Good doesn't do anything new.  In fact, given some of the other acts I've recently listened to, this pales into the ordinary.  Maybe it was late in the day and I was tired, but I actually found myself yawning while I listened to this.  Not a good sign, no, not good at all. 

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

For more information: http://www.myspace.com/goodshirtnz