P - pablo honey, radiohead (1993)

it's been a bleak couple of days in new zealand. as i wrote the other day, this sad mood drove me to mel parsons, and i just couldn't move on from there. i realised this morning that i was slipping into my old habits, listening to mel parsons and anna coddington almost non-stop - it just hasn't felt right to listen to anything too upbeat, and instead i've relied on warm, enveloping comfort music.

i decided this morning that i was losing the spirit of this exercise, so forced myself to move on. i intended to listen to "parallel lines", best of blondie, but like i say, the upbeat thing didn't work for me. radiohead seemed like an apt choice. i haven't listened to radiohead in years because i have it in my head that they're "depressing". silly me! radiohead are great. this is probably my favourite radiohead album, and i found it strangely and remarkably comforting today. along with the well-known 'creep', i was heartened to be reminded of the gorgeous accoustic ballad 'thinking about you' a song i have long adored. but mostly, i was thrilled to reconnect with 'anyone can play guitar' a staple of my teenage years, but a song that i had actually forgotten existed. and it's really excellent.




on another note, (and i'm probably losing myself a few readers here) (not that i had them to spare) i'm not sure how i feel about the utterly sanctimonious bono "sharing our grief" in auckland last night. i suppose it'd be impossible not to make mention of the circumstances our country finds itself in, but i find his righteousness unbearable, and it's hard to find anything he says or does sincere anymore.

O - over my shoulder, mel parsons (2009)

there's a tragedy unfolding on the west coast of the south island, and it seemed somehow appropriate to listen to heartfelt west coast native mel parsons this morning. her website describes "over my shoulder" as a
"wee gem for the optimist in us all". optimism isn't enough for us anymore, but this morning it was all the west coast had. this album is an earnest offering, straighforward folk that tells an honest story - and i admit that 'far fetched idea', a sweet ditty clearly influenced by the simple coast life, took on a new meaning this morning. i dare anyone to listen to it now with dry eyes.

i wrote a lot about the musical quality of this album, but having just watched the news that feels hollow. suffice it to say this album is unpretentious, it's raw, it's honest, and what you see is what you get. not unlike the coast really. kia kaha.

N - nothing's shocking, jane's addiction (1988)

nothing's shocking. except for the fact that i haven't listened to this album in literally about four years. and oh my god what an album it is. it's. just. so. good. like all good children of the 80s, this was a teenage staple for me, and for many many years jane's addiction were, like, my favourite band everrrrrr.

i am so glad to've rediscovered this album. it's an unconventional classic; a little bit grunge-y, a little bit funk-y, a little bit ballad-y, and a little bit rock n roll. classic 80s stuff. as the name would imply, it's flamboyant and impertinent and reeks of perry farrell just sticking it to the man - one look at the cover (featuring naked siamese twins with their heads on fire) would indicate that the album was exactly out to shock. but at the same time it's full of cleverly written songs and an abundance of musical talent. 'summertime rolls' has always been one of my favourites - a slightly hypnotic, sublime understated love song. 'standing in the shower... thinking' is an excellent catchy tune contrasting the daily grind with some kind of deeper philosophical thoughts; kind of a weird combination but it's bang on the money lyrically, and totally underrated in my opinion. 'been caught stealing', 'mountain song', 'had a dad' ... all up there amongst my favorites. and for all its gritty junkie imagery, 'jane says' is a beautifully written guitar-driven ballad, poignant in all of its 2-chord-simplicity.



seeing jane's addiction live in 2003 was another of those life defining moments. i was young and hardcore. i remember anchoring myself against a rail in the front row, holding on for dear life, and refusing twice to be pulled out by the security guard, before finally acquiesing only after the show had finished. i'm pretty sure i cracked a rib. it was awesome. and i have dave navarro's pick as my battle souvenir.

it came as no surprise to me to learn that this album was produced by the same guy who produced a lot of david byrne and brian eno work, dave jerden. it's got that same slightly irreverent, off the wall feel to it. it's unmistakably farrell-driven - and trust me he is quite the showman - but it's an album that showcases the individual talents of all four band members. much as i love perry, back in the day jane's addiction for me was (and kind of still is) all about dave navarro. apart from being a bit of a babe, this guy is one seriously talented guitarist. for all of its musical complexity, this is a guitar-driven album, full of some outrageous solos and catchy riffs, and navarro was an absolute joy to watch live. flawless.

dave navarro: what's not to love?

ranging from dark to tender, this is a sometimes challenging album that can require the right mood. it strikes me that nothing about this band, or indeed the creation of this album, came particularly easily or naturally. in some respects, that flows on into the album - it's not always an easy listen. but it was one of my favourites for a very long time, and i can see why. it's clever, it's musically diverse, and it's driven by four extremely talented individuals. i still can't believe i left it sitting dormant in my ipod for as long as i did. shame on me.

M - midnight juggernauts, midnight juggernauts (2005)

an ethnomusicologist recommendation. a bit rocky, a bit poppy, and sporadically ever-so-slightly bowie-esque. interesting riffs, occasionally funn synth, solid vocals. risk lapsing into sounding a bit samey, but mostly manage to avoid that fate. they don't set me on fire, but for the most part quite a good listen -- worth checking out.

i found this intersting video of them live:

L - let it die, feist (2004)

i've always felt torn as to which is the superior feist album: 'let it die' or 'the reminder'. suffice it to say i adore them both, for quite different reasons.

this album has moments of pure gold, and one of the things i love about it is that it practises what it preaches. one of the standout tracks for me is the delicately jaunty french cover 'tout doucement' - a song about living life slowly and gently. take the almost lazy prettiness of the lyrics: "n'allez jamais trop vite / en aimant simplement / pour avoir de la reussite / soyez tres tres prudent / l'amour alors viendra / se blottir dans vos bras" (which sort of means never go too fast, love simply, to be successful be careful, then love will come and snuggle up in your arms... english is a bit clumsy, but it's a lovely image). i know it's a cover so feist can't take credit for the lyrics, but she does a lovely rendition of the song and was responsible for introducing me to it, so there.

the whole album has a delightful feeling of restrained gentleness about it, and i love it for that. the opener 'gatekeeper' is a pretty cataloguing of the passing of the seasons, and 'mushaboom' is an excellent upbeat song about home that invokes both a feeling of nostalgia and hope ("we'll collect the moments one by one / i guess that's how the future's done"). the title track is a perfectly written love song that balances - but never crosses - that delicate line between meaning and cheese. i can live without the loungey-ness of 'leisure suite', and have to be in the right mood to love the final track, 'now at last'. beyond 'tout doucement' if i only had time for one track on this album, it'd be 'secret heart' - like so much of feist's work, the lyrics of this song are completely genuine, relateable, and beautifully constructed.

feist is one of my all time favourites. apart from her stuning voice, she is frankly a lyrical genius. she writes clever, pretty songs that above everything else are real. this album is superb and i recommend it to everyone, ever.

K - konk, the kooks (2008)

i feel like a bit of a lightweight admitting this, but i still like this album. the kooks are classic cookie-cutter britpop, without an awful lot of depth; this album is all bubblegum and rainbows but y'know what? that's ok. this album will always sound like sunshine to me - i thrashed it to within an inch of its life (and my sanity) in the summer of 08/09, the year the kooks played rhythm and vines - and the cotton candy tracks make for a pretty summery vibe. so it was a good selection for my first morning back in perfect, sunnny wellington after a long trip away.

 

that said, i will admit that the kooks kind of irritate me. (i realise that's contrary, but i'm ok with that. a woman's prerogative and all.) their live set was ok, but i saw them immediately before the eternally brilliant, polished and professional franz ferdinand (oh joy and love!) so they will always kind of pale in comparison. you couldn't help but get the feeling the kooks were trying to be just a little bit too cool -- and again, in comparison with the seemingly effortlessly tight franz, they came off as kind of contrived. and don't even get me started on their screaming grommet fans. maybe i am just getting old, but it seemed to me that if you're gonna be wankily scene, you should probably back it up with some seriously talented music.... and here i return to words like "lightweight". konk is a light, fun album, but there's not much about it that i find wildly technically or musically impressive. you might find my comparison with franz ferdinand just ever-so-slightly unfair, and i wouldn't blame you for that, but for the fact that the kooks totally asked for it. take their song "do you wanna", just for example.... a fairly ballsy theiving of a franz ferdinand title from 2005's 'you could have it so much better'....

 

i realise i'm being a bit unpredictable with my warm-hearted enjoyment of happy-go-lucky tunes, combined with my scornful disdain of lightweight music. so i guess i'll just come back to my original premise, which is that i still like this album. there's a time and a place for everything, 'konk' included.

J - juno soundtrack, various (2008)

juno is one of my very favourite films. i can watch it over and over again, and always feel slightly heartwarmed at its unorthodox optimism. the title character herself reminds me of one of my dear friends, with her sharp wit, cool sarcasm, and ultimately affectionate edge.

the soundtrack manages to encompass these quirky, slightly offbeat characteristics while maintaining musical direction, integrity, and a delightfully unified sound. despite featuring a vast range of artists, it speaks with one voice: that mature-beyond-my-years-but-not-quite-ready-to-admit-it thing that juno does so well. it's totally and completely believable, and every time i listen to it, i feel an empathy with the character. one of the coolest things about this soundtrack is that the actress herself suggested that the soundtrack feature the moldy peaches (a band that the soundtrack inspired me to independently investigate, and who are great.) this basically makes me think ellen page is one rad girl.

my affection for belle and sebastian, and this album's influence thereon, has been catalogued previously. but this album is full of so many other little surprises, and has inspired my musical taste in a lot of ways. the opening track, barry louis polisar's "all i want is you" typifies that idiosyncratic but totally warm feel of the soundtrack - i adore the song, and the lyrics encapsulate something that just feels genuine.



i love the sonic youth cover of the carpenters, and i'm always going to enjoy anything that features buddy holly (who i swear is a musical genius). the album manages to span the well-known to the obscure; often chosing clightly eclectic songs from prominent artists, but also featuring some lesser-known musicians. it spans generations and musical tastes, but above all it adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the film - surely the ultimate objective of any soundtrack.

folksy, cutesy, and slightly edgy. beautiful.