indie rewind
Not Forgotten: The Magnetic Fields – Realism
The level of self-imposed pressure that Stephin Merritt must have put on himself following the release of The Magnetic Fields’ four hour masterpiece, 1999’s 69 Love Songs, must have been immense. He smartly sidestepped the issue with the next album, 2004’s i, with its beautifully simple concept and alphabetical sequencing, however, where to go after that? I …
Classic Compilation: Talkings Heads – The Best of
Rhino have always had a reputation for putting together some damn fine compilations which work as ideal introductions to the bands in question. The Best of Faces – Good Boys … When They’re Asleep and Permanent Record: The Very Best of Violent Femmes have been much-needed single disc introductions to two bands that may otherwise have remained permanently …
Not Forgotten: Sparks – Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins
Sparks were in a weird position in the mid 90s. Once one of the most subversively inspirational acts, by the time Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins was released, The Mael Brothers has been overtaken both commercially and artistically by some of the very acts that they had inspired, most obviously Pet Shop Boys. From it’s sphincter tighteningly bad …
Not Forgotten: The Wonder Stuff – Hup
While 1987’s The Eight Legged Groove Machine was The Wonder Stuff’s statement of intent, ultimately it was little more than thrillingly scruffy post-punk guitar thrash aimed squarely at the pop charts. It was utterly brilliant for what it was, but ultimately it was the type of album that a band could only release once, with any attempt …
Not Forgotten: Super Furry Animals – Guerrilla
For years I felt that Guerrilla was Super Furry Animals‘ untidiest album by some distance, never quite really holding it as close to my heart as I have their other albums, despite SFA being one of one of my favourite bands. Regardless of my how much Guerrilla has baffled me down the years, the opening five numbers of the album have …
Not Forgotten: Flight of the Conchords – I Told You I Was Freaky
Follow ups to successful albums where the primary ingredient was humour are few and far between. Humour is a transient thing and can fall out of fashion even quicker than music (just look at how arse-clenchingly unfunny a big-at-the-time Little Britain looks these days), so there are very few acts that maintain a consistent level of humour …
Classic Compilation: Barenaked Ladies – Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991-2001)
Barenaked Ladies continue to get a bad rap, particularly here in the UK, where they are primarily known for their one hit wonder status courtesy of “One Week”, and the theme to love it / hate it mainstream comedy The Big Bang Theory. While admittedly knowing, arch, and just a bit too smart-arse, Barenaked Ladies …
Not Forgotten: Suede – Dog Man Star
For all the hype around the band, in retrospect Suede’s self titled debut album was pretty damn ordinary, with only a few decent singles to mark the band out as anything above average. Despite this, in Brett Anderson they had a fine vocalist, and in Bernard Butler they had one of the UK’s hottest young guitar …
Not Forgotten: The Beautiful South – Welcome to the Beautiful South
There are some songs from your childhood that you clearly remember hearing on the radio for the first time. It was summer 1989, and it was a period of change in my life which my ten year old self was feeling pretty optimistic about. My family were about to move house, I was about to …
Not Forgotten: R.E.M. – Monster
The late 80s and early 90s had seen U2 get big. Too big. They seemed to have reached critical mass with the live / studio hybrid Rattle and Hum, but a creative reset on 1991’s Achtung Baby had seen them find a touch more equilibrium and sound considerably less like a band who created a …