979. Seldom Seen Kid - Elbow

Elbow were the almost forgotten British indie band of the early 2000s. Overshadowed by the behemoth that was Coldplay, not as cool as the Arctic Monkeys, and still not with the cachet of the dying embers of Blur, Oasis, et al, it was via their Mercury Music success in 2008 that they received a second wind. This event was refreshingly referred to as "the best thing that ever happened to us" by Garvey. Since then, he has become something of a national treasure, with a radio show on BBC 6 Music.

The album's title comes from the nickname given to a friend of Guy Garvey, Bryan Glancy, by Guy's father. He passed away in 2006, and the final song on the album is dedicated to him. Seldom Seen Kid received critical acclaim and commercial success that trumped the band's previous three albums. It was rated in the top twenty albums of the year by Q, NME and the Fly, and went on to also win Brit and Ivor Novello Awards. 

The opener, Starlings, is the archetypal Elbow song - full orchestration, poetic lyrics, and a slightly meandering approach to this profession of love. The Bones of You is slightly edgier (emphasis on the slightly there), and certainly more purposeful, but with more opaque lyrics. I often find that I can skip over the words of the song without worrying too much as to what they mean, as I'm too busy enjoying that great bass-driven bridge section, for example. The words of Mirrorball are excellent, however - touching without being overly mawkish; "We kissed like we invented it" was a favourite of Chloe's. The imagery of the moon as a mirrorball, and the streets as an empty stage, are very evocative over the top of that delicate piano-guitar combo. Grounds for Divorce is an excellent song - a track I sort of knew, but have enjoyed getting under the skin of. It's drunken-sing-along good with a twanging acoustic guitar riff in the background that has to be sampled by a rapper somewhere, and that chorus is just classic distorted chords perfection. This is definitely a track that will end up on my mixtapes in the future (I haven't made a mixtape in years, but my intentions are good). An Audience with the Pope has a lovely sentiment in one sense, although with a slightly obssessive undertone. The Fix is a great narrative song about a horse-racing scam, and Guy Garvey's voice is at its best in this song, with a much greater variety of tone. I also enjoy the creepy bit after each verse that is straight out of The Specials' Ghost Town. One Day like this was a single off the album, and has been used in countless adverts and TV shorts (see also Blur's Universal), and should work better than it does for me. I sometimes enjoy it, and sometimes just find it a bit too 'by numbers'. Some songs don't quite hit the mark, such as Weather to Fly and Some Riot, that have all the components of being a decent song, but just don't really go anywhere, in my opinion.

This is a very good album that I thought would be a great album a couple of days in. It has all the ingredients for being a real grower, but I think it just lacks a bit of variety. I'm sure Elbow fans would be up in arms about that claim (sorry, I couldn't resist), but when you've heard one guitar and piano verse-choruse-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus with lush strings and gospel-like backing voices, it loses its power a bit. So, I enjoyed it, but it didn't really redefine my musical boundaries.

Chloe's rating: 7

Chloes's favourite track: 1. Starlings

Olly's rating: 7

Olly's favourite track: 4. Grounds for Divorce

Next week's album is 821. Fuzzy Logic by the Super Furry Animals. I know it pretty well, but I'm more than happy to devote another few hours to it.

341. Red Headed Stranger - Willie Nelson

There were many things I was expecting from a country album; Harmonica, check. Acoustic guitar, check. Honky-tonk piano, check. Mentioning of a horse, check. However, I was not anticipating a concept album, which shows that judging a book by its cover only accounts for most of your expectations. It's a very sparsely recorded album, with Columbia Records initially believing that it was a demo, but they were unable to add any instrumentation to it as Willie Nelson had secured full creative control in his contract. 

Willie Nelson is one of the biggest names in Country and Western music. I know this because I've heard of him, so he must be a big deal. Whilst still hugely popular in the US, this is a genre that has struggled to cross the Atlantic or Pacific oceans. Or Mexican or Canadian borders for that matter. This album is an example of the Outlaw Country scene, the internet informs me, with artists asserting more authority over what and how the music is recorded, and moving against lush, fuller orchestration.

The opener, Time of the Preacher, works as the recurring theme, appearing several times as a leitmotif (thanks Chloe) throughout the album. It works as an effective backdrop over which the story can be played out, and certainly shows the heritage of this style of music. I couldn't Believe it was True starts the narrative of a man who has lost his woman, and is struggling to comes to term with this. Indeed, he struggles so much to be at peace with this loss that he ends up murdering her and her new man, which is recounted in Blue Rock Montana in a fairly nonchalant manner. Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain is a cover of a Fred Rose song, and was the breakthrough track off this collection, remaining a live staple for Nelson for decades. The title track tells the story of the man killing another woman, this time one who is trying to steal his horse, the bay pony that his former wife used to ride. Hands on the Wheel is a mournful song that paints a picture of a broken man, and works well as the effective album closer.

There was a fairly low bar for this album, but I can certainly say that it has surpassed this. The stripped back nature of the recording and the strength of Nelson's voice are two positives, but it is the quality of the delivery of the narrative that really sets this album apart. It is definitely greater than the sum of its parts, with no song particularly rising above the others, but when listened to together, it paints a compelling picture of a simpler, more complicated time.

Chloe's rating: 6

Chloe's favourite track: 6. Red Headed Stranger

Olly's rating: 7

Olly's favourite track: 14. Hands on the Wheel

Next week's album is the most recent we've had yet - 979. Elbow with Seldom Seen Kid, an album I sort of know, but I'm looking forward to getting my ears into more.

877. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill

This album was the first that Lauryn Hill released as a solo artist following the Fugees descent (ascent?) into individual acts. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was hugely well received at the time, with the album eventually going multi-platinum, with over eight million record sales in the US alone. The album won five Grammy awards, having been nominated for ten, and this helped catapult Hill into the spotlight even further.

The title comes from Carter G Wilson's "The mis-education of the Negro." The album was recorded at Tuff Gong Studios in Kingston, which was the studio set up by Bob Marley. The album features a series of skits involving a school teacher discussing ideas about love with his class, which is slightly cheesy, but just about gets away with it.

Lost ones has a great harmonizing chorus, and Hill is very confident on her rhymes. Whilst it appears to be a song about a conventional man losing his woman, it is hard to ignore the subtext of the somewhat acrimonious Fugees move from group to artists, and the references to the ending of her relationship with Wyclef Jean. Ex-factor follows this up with one of the album's instantly recognizable tracks, featuring the obscenely good line "tell me who I have to be, to get some reciprocity." The overt frustration with the moebian nature of the relationship is palpable, and features a great vocal bridge, which show off the quality of the voices used throughout the album. To Zion is a touching ode about a mother's love for her son, but the relentless religious imagery frustrates me somewhat, but then the intention is that it was a gospel song, so that makes sense. Doo Wop (That Thing) is another great song, with probably the best chorus on the album, although with possibly questionable lyrical content, with a slightly regressive view of the gender divide. I believe the album goes downhill from there however, with only a few diamonds remaining. Superstar's chorus just doesn't work for me at all, Nothing even matters is just too saccharine, and the title track is overblown. Everything is Everything, however, has the best sample on the album, and Every Ghetto, Every City is basically a template for a lot of Beyonce's best work.

This is clearly a very good album, and I understand it's popularity, but it just didn't resonate with me. Whilst I'm glad that I know this seminal work better, I think that knowledge is now considered acquired, and I won't be spending more time trying to deepen it. This was one of Chloe's favourite albums as a teenager, and so whilst she didn't enjoy it as much as then, she felt she couldn't reward it anything less than an 8 because of its resonance for her.

Chloe's rating: 8

Chloe's favourite track: 4. To Zion

Olly's rating: 6

Olly's favourite track: 13. Everything is Everything

Next week we have 341. Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger. Our first country record - I'd be lying if I said I was excited.

482. Juju - Siouxsie and the Banshees

I always thought of Siouxsie and the Banshees as a straightforward punk band, and so I was surprised at the post-punk nature of this album. The ability to change your musical style is always pretty impressive, and to make that sound arguably more convincing than the earlier work is even more worthy of praise. 

The album was released in 1981, following the band having spent a long time playing around with different effects, whilst simultaneously moving back to a guitar-based sound. Having never really heard John McGeoch's guitar work before, I can hear how influential this must have been, as it clearly foreshadows Johnny Marr and Robert Smith, who would closely work with the Banshees, as well as later artists like the Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead. Many songs remind me of Joy Division, such as Halloween and Sin in my Heart, but whilst the sound is not dissimilar, it is presented in a more accessible way.

Spellbound is the opening track, and it sets the stall out for the album, with lots of jangly guitars and a powerful, hypnotic vocal performance. Siouxsie Sioux demands attention, and sets a high benchmark for post punk lead singers. Into the light has an even more distinctive guitar sound, almost forming a duet with the lead vocals. The lyrics aren't particularly powerful when read, but the give the impression of needing to be released, which more than makes up for anything else. Monitor has a sound that could be straight from a 2000s indie album, and I mean that in a good way. The spiteful delivery of the "that's entertainment" line makes even The Jam seem a bit soft in the middle.  The dark, foreboding intro to Night Shift would be a high point in the Cure's back catalogue. Sin in my Heart has a pounding, driving rhythm section, and a chorus that just eats away at you, but in a good way.

Overall I really enjoyed this album, as I felt it was very ahead of its time and so it sounds great when listened to alongside more modern alt-rock. Alternatively, this may demonstrate how little progress rock music has made in thirty or so years. The songs are catchy, and whilst Chloe felt that it was Monitor that was far superior to the other songs, I thought that was remarkably little in the way of filler in the album as a whole. It will definitely be an album that I revisit.

Chloe's rating: 7

Chloe's favourite track: 5. Monitor

Olly's rating: 8

Olly's favourite track: 5. Monitor

Next week's album is 877. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill; Chloe is beyond excited about this.