(Catching up on music posts after my blogging break)
Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott
– WHAT HAVE WE BECOME
The best Beautiful South
album never made. In fact, it’s better than the last South album. Really
energetic and inspired (electric guitar and drums more front and center)and
it’s nice to hear Heaton and Abbott together again. Stand out tracks? – well
all of them, seriously! Every song is
excellent with the best perhaps being the last tune When I Get Back to Blighty
which ends with a singalong of the phrase “Phil Collins Must Die” – An admirable sentiment! I think I would go as far as to say this is
the best album released in 2014 that I’ve heard.
Morrissey – WORLD PEACE IS
NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS
Overall a triumph. Definitely
better than his last record YEARS OF REFUSAL (which I consider his worst solo
album). Morrissey is my favorite vocalist in all of music and his voice is in
good form here. No signs of age. He is also one of my favorite lyricists of all
time and the lyrics here are mostly witty, clever, insightful. Joe Chicarelli’s production is varied,
detailed, and sympathetic. He tries a lot of things one doesn’t normally hear
on a Moz record (handclaps, a whistle, synthesizers, all manner of weird
sounding guitars). The “deep” album cuts (Neil Cassidy Drop Dead, Kick the
Bride Down the Aisle, Staircase at the University ) are better than the singles
and pre-released tracks ( Title track, Bullfighter Dies, Earth is the Loneliest
Planet).
Bear in Heaven – TIME IS OVER
ONE DAY OLD
Bear in Heaven's last record
I LOVE YOU IT'S COOL was my favorite record of 2012. Their new record is a more relaxed, mellow set, less propulsive and urgent with
more groove but still superb - very enjoyable.
Best tracks – You Don’t Need the World, Demon, Memory Heart, Time Between
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