Emily's Albums A to Z

Listened: Friday January 14

I’ve realized I made an error in my entry for Love & Distortion, Stratford 4’s followup to The Revolt Against Tired Noises. It was Revolt that was sitting around forever in my “listen to this” pile, not Love & Distortion. I bought Love & Distortion later, after I had fallen in love with Revolt.

I guess I got confused because Love & Distortion is such a good followup. The two albums flow together like one big awesome shoegaze party. Lyrics like “Everytime I see your face, I start to hydroplane” and “Gonna put it in autopilot, close my eyes and just let you drive it” are really fun to sing. I also like the female backing vocals on a lot of the songs.

Anybody who likes a good shoegaze now and then should check them out! Both of their albums can be found for $.01 on Amazon.

Listened: Friday January 14

The Remote Part is my favorite Idlewild album. The REM part of their personality is starting to really overtake the Green Day side here, but then that happened to Green Day later in their career too.

It’s hard to put Idlewild in a box – they can really rock out on songs like “You Held The World In Your Arms” and “(I Am) What I Am Not” but can legitimately carry ballads like “American English” and “Live In A Hiding Place”. They’re sort of like the younger Scottish cousins of 90s Britpop bands like Blur.

I wish they had a bigger name in indie circles. I rarely see them name-checked anywhere.

Listened: Friday January 14

Basement Jaxx and Underworld were my gateway drugs to dance music in college. The first time I heard Remedy I could easily hear the appeal. It’s got both lyrics and bouncy beats, as opposed to much of dance music without many lyrics and very repetitive thumpy beats. The vaguely reggae sounds are also fun. I can’t listen to Same Old Song at work though – too many orgasm-simulation sounds.

I’ve seen the Jaxx at least once; they played the Fillmore with a massive subwoofer running the length of the stage. It was in front of the stage on the floor, so I thought it was a security pit or barrier when I first saw it. But no, it was just a huge subwoofer. I recall their shows also having awesome and beautiful dancers and singers, who were pretty much all black girls (which is an unexpected juxtaposition, since the Jaxx are both pasty white English boys), in flamboyant costumes with pheasant and peacock feathers and such. It was definitely a sexy dance party.

Listened: Thursday January 13

Talking Heads is another older band that was nevertheless still a part of my teenage years. Several of their songs were played regularly on Live 105 in the 90s. In college I decided I should dive into their work, so I bought what seems to be their most famous album, as far as number of Rolling Stone mentions – Remain in Light.

These days I don’t think Remain in Light can be appreciated for how  bizarre and groundbreaking it must have been back in 1980. It could be released today and I think it would still find a place and would sound modern. Once in a Lifetime has been used in a movie at least once in the last couple of years, if that’s any indication of its relevance.

I can also hear the Velvet Underground influence as plain as day in songs like Houses in Motion. I love it when that happens.