166 posts tagged with album.
Displaying 1 through 50 of 166. Subscribe:
The Cast Rolls Merrily Along Discussing Their Cast Album
So this is unexpectedly delightful! Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, Lindsey Mendez, Katie Rose Clark, Krystal Joy Brown, and Reg Rogers sit down with Seth Rudetsky to discuss the release of the Broadway Cast Album for Merrily We Roll Along [YT Playlist] in SiriusXM Cast Album Town Hall | Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway [52m]. Campy, joyous and full of laughter and some delightful theater stories! Merrily We Roll Along previously.
Erma Bombeck, stand-up comedian
I don't know if the name Erma Bombeck means anything these days. For decades she epitomized a middle America observational kind of humor that was present in a lot of magazines about suburban life. While most of her material was written, she did put out one comedy album: The Family That Plays Together (Gets On Each Other's Nerves) [YT playlist, 1977]. I don't know if we have any equivalent voice in America today and maybe not all the humor works today, but this is a historical document that I got on vinyl from the Columbia House Record Club, and I'm happy to share it here today.
We're coming to a bend now, skidding 'round the hairpin
A week after its debut, The Smile (featuring Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood alongside drummer Tom Skinner and the London Contemporary Orchestra) has released their acclaimed sophomore album Wall of Eyes for free on YouTube, backing the record's subtle, languid, slow-burn melodies and towering crescendos with eclectic [music videos] and colorful collages: 1) Thom enjoys an unsettling night out with his selves on ["Wall of Eyes"] [lyrics] - 2) the undulating soundscapes of "Teleharmonic" [lyrics] - 3) jangling psychedelia contrasts with pockets of honey-sweetness on "Read the Room" [lyrics] - 4) silent ghosts usher in "Under Our Pillows" [lyrics] - 5) the lads perform a song about lockdowns and corruption to an unfiltered gaggle of artless children in ["Friend of a Friend"] [lyrics] - 6) the glitchy drifting landscapes of "I Quit" [lyrics] - 7) the gorgeously existential "to be or not to be" of "Bending Hectic" [lyrics] (or see the [fan video] based on the enigmatic animation of Vladimir Tarasov) - 8) ethereally beautiful closing ballad "You Know Me!" [lyrics]. More: lyrics and analysis - BBC interview with the band and Jonny - behind-the-scenes video - photos from the special edition [more inside]
Duran Duran's Holiday Album!
It's not a Christmas album, but Duran Duran's sudden, surprise, entirely fun album release this year Danse Macabre came out just in time for Halloween. Inspired by an Oct 31 concert they held in 2022, they churned this out out in under a year, with three new songs, several covers, and some reworking of their own songs. The recordings included working with every member of the band official or otherwise, including Andy, Nile, and Warren. The opening track is a remake of a track from their 1981 debut, NIGHTBOAT, which fittingly includes Andy Taylor on guitar. [more inside]
Say, Thom... "Wall of Eyes" closer today?
The Smile (the surprise pandemic side project of Radiohead's Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and drummer Tom Skinner) have announced a new album to follow last year's auspicious debut. The title: Wall of Eyes -- a name that echoes a mysterious chapter in Radiohead lore and with an album cover that features imagery straight out of Kid A-era "blips". While the album isn't due until January (with a tour in March), enjoy a sneak peek with the Paul Thomas Anderson-directed video for the eponymous lead single, along with the achingly beautiful track "Bending Hectic" that was released last year (lyrics, live version). See also: "Teleharmonic", "Read the Room", "Under Our Pillows", "Friend of a Friend"
You Got to Hold On
Since their earliest days playing record store gigs, the Alabama Shakes have been an absolutely holy-shit powerhouse of rock'n'roll soul.
But for all their collective skill, the true genius of the band was always frontwoman Brittany Howard -- a former cashier and postal worker-turned-generational talent whose electrifying voice, lyrical verve, eclectic tastes, and directorial eye drove the band's rapid musical evolution, from the anthemic southern roots rock of 2012's Boys & Girls to the cinematic groove, kaleidoscopic funk and eerie psychedelia (bordering on spiritual experience) that was 2015's Sound & Color.
And beyond: after a hiatus, Howard went solo to work on her debut effort Jaime (2019), a heartbreaking and deeply personal record inspired by her late sister and her own experience growing up as a queer, mixed-race woman in the Deep South.
Now, after brief forays into multiple side projects, jamming with Prince [audio] and Paul McCartney, an immaculate piano duet with Herbie Hancock at the Kennedy Center, and a delightful music video (starring pal Terry Crews, her dad, and a whole swath of her hometown), Howard has surprised fans with a second solo album, starting with the lead single: "What Now." Haven't heard enough about these fantastic albums? Well, bless your heart, there's [more inside]
Nothing Is Better Than This
Nothing Is Better Than This: The Oral History of ‘Stop Making Sense’
This stuff does make you scratch your head. Why choose this? And it’s just sort of like, “Well, it doesn’t matter, does it? It’s just part of the entertainment factor.”[more inside]
What is God in ethly guise? One or mampus giant eyes?
PJ Harvey comes to each album more or less a different person, playing different instruments, pondering different subjects in her elliptical lyrics. If you thrilled to the strident, triumphant To Bring You My Love, you might not be prepared for the explosive joy of Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea. If you loved that one, you’d still have to make an adjustment for the politically barbed Let England Shake or the ghostly White Chalk. Harvey’s tenth album, I Inside the Old Year Dying, is much the same in that it is not the same as any of the artist’s previous work. [more inside]
Experts Agree That Memories Of Rare Music Can Persist For Many Years
Lost Ones: Decades later, Ben Ratliff, former pop music critic at The New York Times, can recall the details of a song he heard once, but that it is impossible for you to listen to. I’m sorry to report that it cannot be streamed. It cannot be purchased on a compact disc or a cassette, used or new. There’s no rare vinyl pressing listed on Discogs. Ratliff’s bit of recollected music criticism, shared over email, is a kind of ghost story.
yeah i got a pentium: a lot of pentium up stress
Defrag your brain and pipeline the instruction set of your soul with Personal Computer, the most recent heavy-as-balls chiptune metal album from the always-excellent (and MeFi's Own) Master Boot Record. [more inside]
Nothing is Serious, & Yet Every Chord Change is Deeply Felt
10,000 Gecs, by 100 Gecs - 26min (Soundcloud, Youtube) Pitchfork review - it has furthered their interest in thrash guitars, ska revival, and pop-punk that generally sounds quantum-leaped in from a turn-of-the-century Hot Topic. You thought you loved computer glitch but, my friends, have you met slap bass? [more inside]
20 years of As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2!
As the landmark 2manydjs mix compilation arrives on streaming platforms to mark its 20th anniversary, David and Stephen Dewaele of Soulwax are interviewed in Dazed and the Guardian. Previously and previouslier (2002!)
Makes all her previous albums look like a pair of khaki shorts
A List of Things Less Gay Than Beyoncé’s Renaissance.
4. The Drag Race All Stars 7 Finale
7. Rainbow Streets and Crosswalks
9. The City of San Francisco as It Exists Today
[more inside]
4. The Drag Race All Stars 7 Finale
7. Rainbow Streets and Crosswalks
9. The City of San Francisco as It Exists Today
[more inside]
I don’t want no other baby but you; Paul after Linda
Glastonbury reminded the world of the power of Paul McCartney, but in 1999 Paul McCartney had to remind himself. And he used Rock 'n' Roll. Following the death of Linda McCartney in early 1998 saw Paul McCartney take time away from music to grieve. His return was the late 1999 release “Run Devil Run”, a quickly recorded collection of covers from the 50s with a few friends… Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, Johnny Kidd & the Pirates’ Mick Green. and Deep Purple’s Ian Paice on drums. McCartney mostly stuck to bass, just as in the early Beatles days. [more inside]
When we get together, well then, who knows?
A year after their surprise reveal at Glastonbury, Radiohead pandemic spinoff project The Smile have finally dropped their much-anticipated debut album: A Light for Attracting Attention [full album on YouTube].
Featuring Yorke, Greenwood, Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, longtime RH producer Nigel Godrich, and an assist from the London Contemporary Orchestra, the album's heady mixture of funk, post-punk, math rock, soaring ballads, and themes of passion, alienation, and melancholy make it (perhaps) a worthy successor to 2016's elegant A Moon Shaped Pool.
Music videos:
angry #MeToo rocker "You Will Never Work in Television Again" [lyrics] -
abstract animation for orchestral odyssey "Pana-Vision" [lyrics] -
subliminal lyrics for swanky groove "The Smoke" [lyrics] -
trippy stop-motion nightmare "Thin Thing" [lyrics] -
an occult ritual framed by hopeful elegy "Free in the Knowledge" [lyrics] -
Thom ventures into a coal mine for the beautifully ethereal "Skrting on the Surface" [lyrics], a fan favorite 20+ years in the making. Full tracklist (including a complete live set list!) inside. [more inside]
The Beatles - Love
It began as the soundtrack to a Cirque du Soliel Vegas show, but became something much more. With George Martin and son Giles Martin at the helm, The Beatles 2006 album Love became much more than just a rehash of familiar material. It became a massive mashup project covering the entire Beatles career. [George & Giles Martin: Remixing The Beatles Sound On Sound, medium read] Here's the full album on Vimeo [1h20m,], probably the preferred listening experience. But also a YouTube playlist with each track separated. Oh, and here are the original liner notes to the album. [more inside]
An Evening With Silk Sonic
Silk Sonic Are Here to Save Us With Seventies Soul: Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s love letter to Seventies soul is more than just a retro good time [Rolling Stone Review] [more inside]
The most popular Canadian compilation of all time
An oral history of Big Shiny Tunes, a series of alt rock compilation albums (example) released by MuchMusic.
A Swedish pop band releases some new material
ABBA, a band who have previously charted several times, will release a new album, Voyage, in November. Two tracks are available now: I Still Have Faith In You, and Don't Shut Me Down. There will also [knitwear] be a virtual concert next year. The quartet, comprising Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad (better known as Frida), Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus, won a singing contest in 1974.
OV ER LO AD
After 2 years and 9 months, Eric Kleptone's tetraptych is finally available in full. Clocking in at 8 hours, 18 minutes the combined OV ER LO AD is a mashup magnum opus that will be difficult to beat. [more inside]
50 Years of Blue
On the fiftieth anniversary of the release of Joni Mitchell's Blue, the NYT talks to 25 musicians about the work countless critics have pointed to as a definitive masterpiece of the confessional singer-songwriter album. [more inside]
It's named after its ATCO catalog number
Take the still smoldering remains of a defunct prog rock band, mix in an opinionated and talented South African, blend with a cutting edge music producer who has Brand New Toys to play with, and you end up with the most unlikely outcome: Yes' 11th studio album, 90125, which rose to chart dominance and likely kickstarted the entire "old bands get pop hits" string of the 80s. Listen for the first time, or listen again with new ears because it's been a while: this is a strong piece of music making! Side A: Owner Of A Lonely Heart [video], Hold On, It Can Happen [video], Changes [more inside]
I think she sings standing still because her voice is doing so much
I saw Celeste perform on Graham Norton this past weekend [9m14s, includes interview], BUT WOW! I guess she'd been there previously, and is known within the UK. I had never noticed her before, and I bought her debut album which just came out. You might also enjoy it: Ideal Woman, Strange [BRIT Awards performance, video, , Tonight Tonight, Stop This Flame[video], Tell Me Something I Don't Know, Not Your Muse, Beloved, Love Is Back [video], A Kiss, The Promise, A Little Love [cw: holiday advertising], Some Goodbyes Come With Hellos
"I'm thinking about doing those things I shouldn't be doing"
Kind of perfect for Halloween, Pokey LaFarge's Fuck Me Up off his new album Rock Bottom Rhapsody is wicked good (but the video is a wee bit intense, so if you're feeling like everything is too much, you may want to wait until a time you just need something to eff you up, ... because hell, eventually everyone feels like it). [more inside]
“You are a bold and courageous person — afraid of nothing…”
So begins Disneyland Records' Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House. Narrated by Laura Olsher (IMDB), side one of the certified gold 1964 sound effects record consists of ten "frightening" tracks sure to entertain children who were alive 40 years before YouTube was a thing. Track listing and more inside. [more inside]
at last, something NIMBy that i can get behind
No-Instrument Mixing Board is a full-length album of manipulated feedback by Japanese musician Toshimaru Nakamura, whose instrument is a mixing board with its output plugged into its input. (Track 4 has some very high frequency tones; you may want to skip to 25:20 when those show up if you still have your hearing up there.)
It's not entirely show tunes, but nearly....
However it was that you first learned about Mandy Patinkin, you might not know that he recorded a really great album in the late 80s. Appropriately titled "Mandy Patinkin", it was released in 1989. The YouTube playlist unfortunately does not preserve the nature of the medleys on the album, but it's still an amazing listen. [more inside]
Is it gonna me you and me together, or are you just having fun?
Tap dancing, cartoon cats, strict formation moves, and really catchy tunes. Paula Abdul's debut album Forever Your Girl from June 13, 1988 was a huge juggernaut. A so-called "six-pack" album [YT playlist] for having 6 Top 45 hits, it is perhaps the most successful first album ever so far. Side A: The Way That You Love Me [video], Knocked Out [video, alternate (original) video] , Opposites Attract (with The Wild Pair) [video with MC Scat Cat], State Of Attraction, I Need You [more inside]
The world was groovin'
1985 was a ridiculously strong year for music releases. June 10, 1985 saw the release of Talking Heads' Little Creatures. Their best selling album [YouTube playlist], it was on many end of year best lists, and it spawned two hit singles. Side A: And She Was [video], Give Me Back My Name, Creatures Of Love, The Lady Don't Mind [video], Perfect World [more inside]
Sorrow and Joy are not oil and water
A little new listening for your weekend: Indigo Girls have a new album out, Look Long. It's full of collaborators old and new. Here's the official YouTube playlist. Here are the lyrics at lifeblood.net. [more inside]
Share The Light, Won't Hold Us Down
Pearl Jam has released their 11th album, the first new album in 7 years, Gigaton. Variety article, track by track with the producer. Lyrics (more or less, not on the PJ website yet) for reference while listening. Videos may also have closed captions. Side A: Whoever Said, Superblood Wolfmoon (Tiny Concert Animated Video), Dance Of The Clairvoyants (Mach III), Quick Escape [more inside]
Exhibit C had us trying to find the meaning of life in the Corona
I woke up to a new Jay Electronica album and was shocked to see it hadn't already been posted to the Blue. Nor did a search turn up any FPP on this mysterious hip hop artist back from the future. I then spent an hour marveling at the number of top-tier tracks and collaborations dropped over the last 11 years. This is not a man who is wasting his talent, but it is a man who has no thought for "personal brand" or commodifying his art. I tried to make this comprehensive, but my searches continue to uncover things I wasn't previously aware of. I give up. Go walkabout and find out more when you get through these. [more inside]
"Are you telling me that computers can save this unlistenable disaster?"
Before he was considered a noted podcaster or something of a raconteur, before he made a Christmas album with Jonathan Coulton, before he said that punk rock was bullshit, before his music opened every episode of My Brother, My Brother, and Me, and before he was the frontman of The Long Winters, John Roderick led the short-lived Seattle buzz-band the Western State Hurricanes. The missing link between the Grunge scene and Seattle's late 90s indie rock explosion (led by tour mates and frequent collaborators Death Cab For Cutie), their debut LP Through With Love, recorded 20 years ago and long-thought unsalvageable, is finally available to listen to now. YouTube. Apple Music. Spotify. You can purchase the limited edition vinyl LP here. [more inside]
Feb 10, 1971 - Carole King - Tapestry
It's hard to describe how huge the impact of Carole King's second album, Tapestry, released 49 years ago today. She was the Billie Eilish of her day, winning the top four Grammys and selling billions of streams millions of albums with her strong presence and her personal style. Every song written by her, keyboards/piano by her, this is her. Listen for the first time, or listen again; it's truly great. Side A: I Feel The Earth Move, So Far Away, It's Too Late, Home Again, Beautiful, Way Over Yonder [more inside]
Don't be scared for only the dark can show you the stars
Pet Shop Boys are back with their 14th album, Hotspot. This brings to a close their trilogy of albums with producer Stuart Price, who helmed the previous albums Electric and Super. Side A: Will-O-The-Wisp, You Are The One, Happy People, Dreamland (Featuring Years & Years) [official lyric video], Hoping For A Miracle [more inside]
This is your father's electronica
French soundtrack composer Jean-Michel Jarre burst into the public mind in 1976 with the release of his synthesizer album Oxygène. Presented here in two sides, as originally released. Side A: Oxygène (Part I), Oxygène (Part II), Oxygène (Part III) [18m45s] [more inside]
“Land of 1,000 Dances” is reduced to a more punk-rock “all 16 dances.”
"Fred Schneider’s sing-shout poetry, Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson’s alien girl-group harmonies, Ricky Wilson’s tricky guitar riffs and Keith Strickland’s art-funky drums. Even demographically they were nothing like the new world of new wave being built by Talking Heads and Devo: 40 percent female, 60 percent Southern, 80 percent queer, 100 percent fun." Before & After
‘The B-52’s’, a track by track guide.
Stop,
The scattered pages of a book by the sea
1972's Genesis was, well, it was Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Steve Hacket, and Phil Collins. It was deeply prog. Every track was an adventure. And thus we were given Foxtrot (discogs). Perhaps it's a love you've forgotten about. Perhaps you've never heard it. It's worth a listen either way. It's... well, it's 1972 Genesis. Side A: Watcher Of The Skies, Time Table, Get 'Em Out By Friday, Can-Utility And The Coastliners [more inside]
An ambulance can only go so fast: Neil Young's On the Beach at 45
An Ode to ‘On the Beach,’ Neil Young’s Most Beautiful (and Most Depressing) Album Forty-five years after its release, Young's melancholic search for meaning in a chaotic world feels more relatable than ever. [more inside]
Gonna Make You Fall in Love With Spines
Today is the 15th anniversary of the release of the band They Might Be Giants' 10th studio album, The Spine, which was released alongside the EP The Spine Surfs Alone. The first track off The Spine, Experimental Film, had a music video featuring Homestar Runner.
I just invented the Tom Collins
Celebrate the history of the United States with The Firesign Theatre (here spelled Theater) on their first album Waiting For The Electrician Or Someone Like Him [42m]. Presented in two sides from the perspective of 1968, the first side contains Temporarily Humboldt County (in which the American Natives confront outsiders for the first time), W.C. Fields Forever (in which the American Natives encounter the then-rising Counter Culture), and Le Trente-Huit Cunegonde (in which the American Natives face the possibilities of the future of the US). [more inside]
As long as you hold me more than you hold that guitar.
Amy Grant's astonishing 1988 album Lead Me On was not what anyone was expecting. After the pop of Unguarded, she retreated into a more acoustic Nashville-flavored rock style. And revealed some of the most mature, questioning, striving-toward-perfection-while-failing lyrics ever recorded by a CCM artist. It's truly an album worth giving a full listen. CD track listing: 1974 (We Were Young), Lead Me On [video], Shadows, Saved By Love, Faithless Heart, What About The Love, If These Walls Could Speak, All Right, Wait For The Healing, Sure Enough, If You Have To Go Away, Say Once More
Um, corrosive?
"I got tired of waiting for Weezer to release another good album so I made one myself." That'd be Zerwee, a 4-song EP by not-actually-Weezer musical person Billy Cobb.
A True Story, A Part Of Noise, and Phil Collins: The Final Chapter!
After the success of Phil Collins' songs in 1984 with Against All Odds and in 1985 with White Nights, plus his 1986 Miami Vice appearance as Phil The Shill [DailyMotion link, 50m, presented in mirror vision], the next logical step was the 1988 film Buster. Featuring Collins as the star of the movie and also writing retro-style songs (for both himself and The Four Tops) plus a selection of oldies, and also featuring a score by Anne Dudley of Art Of Noise fame. The song Two Hearts won Collins multiple awards. The movie didn't. Side A: Two Hearts [not the music video, music video] [Phil Collins], Gardening By The Book (Incidental Music), Just One Look [The Hollies], ...And I Love Her (Incidental Music), Big Noise [Phil Collins], The Robbery [Anne Dudley], I Got You Babe [Sonny + Cher] [more inside]
Cold War, Ballet, Tap Dance, and more Phil Collins
The 1985 film White Nights had the same director as Against All Odds. Not surprisingly it also had a stellar soundtrack album, including two songs nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song. Side A: Separate Lives (Love Theme From White Nights) [not the music video, music video] [Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin], Prove Me Wrong [David Pack], Far Post [Robert Plant], People On A String [Roberta Flack], This Is Your Day [Sandy Stewart and Nile Rodgers] [more inside]
3/5 of Genesis, a portion of Fleetwood Mac, Big Country & Kid Creole
The 1984 movie Against All Odds [trailer, 1m33s] featured a stand-out, Grammy-winning (for best score) soundtrack album with a Grammy-winning song and a lot of other great material. Side A [the song side, 24m51s]: Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) [Phil Collins] [MTV video, movie summary video (Ed. note: dear god Jeff Bridges was gorgeous!)], Violet And Blue [Stevie Nicks], Walk Through The Fire [Peter Gabriel], Balcony [Big Country], Making A Big Mistake [Mike Rutherford], My Male Curiosity [Kid Creole & The Coconuts] [video] [more inside]
Music For Activities Freaks
You may know True Stories as a 1986 movie by Talking Heads with an accompanying album. What isn't widely known is there is a second album, released on vinyl and cassette only -- Sounds From True Stories: Music For Activities Freaks, a score album from the movie [41m]. It's worth a listen! Side A: Cocktail Desperado (Terry Allen And The Panhandle Mystery Band), Road Song (Meredith Monk), Freeway Son (David Byrne), Brownie's Theme (David Byrne), Mall Muzak: Building A Highway / Puppy Polka / Party Girls (Carl Finch), Dinner Music (Kronos Quartet) [more inside]
A final Holiday album post for 2018
December [40m] is the fourth album by pianist George Winston, released in 1982. Perfect for atmospheric reflection as we enter [Northern Hemisphere] Winter and our season of Celebrations. Perhaps the most famous Holiday album you've not yet heard. Happy Solstice! Side A: Thanksgiving; Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head; Joy; Prelude/Carol Of The Bells; Night -- Part One: Snow, Part Two: Midnight, Part Three: Minstrels [more inside]
My parents own this, I own it, if I had kids, they'd probably own it too
1962 saw the release of a truly classic Holiday album -- The Glorious Sound of Christmas, from the Philadelphia Orchestra [44m]. Lush playing under Eugene Ormandy and creative arrangements by Arthur Harris lift the familiar carols well above most holiday fare that has come before or since. With the Temple University Concert Choir. Side A: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, O Little Town Of Bethlehem, Joy To The World, Oh Holy Night, O Come O Come Emanuel, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Ave Maria [more inside]