26×26 – The ‘Hidden Track’

You remember a few years ago there was a craze for adding a ‘hidden’ track at the end of albums, you got about 20 minutes of silence at the end of the album, then it kicked in?

Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ had this. I remember one of the first times I played that album – I was playing it pretty loud, then it ended and I went about my business. The hidden track kicked in and I almost jumped out of my skin! I guess that was the point of it.

Anyway, this is the hidden post at the end of the 26×26 project!

Just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who took the time to read this, and leave comments. I’ve had a really great time writing it, and it’s made me revisit some albums I haven’t listened to in a long time. In total it got around 900 hits, which I’m really very pleased with!

I probably wouldn’t have finished it if I hadn’t had my buddies Talcy and The Riverboat Captain doing the same thing, so thanks to them. Check out their 26×26’s – they are nearly as good as mine!

There will be more 26×26-type projects coming soon, so watch this space…

26×26 – Z is for The Zutons

Today’s album is Who Killed… The Zutons? by The Zutons

The final album of my 26×26 project is Who Killed The Zutons, the Liverpool four-piece’s 2004 debut album.

Fronted by Dave McCabe, The Zutons are one of a number of great British bands we’ve seen in recent years. For me, the thing that makes The Zutons stand out from the others is the prominence of saxophonist Abi Harding. The sax is always present in their music, whether it be riffing and vamping in the background, or right up the front playing solos, it gives the band a real sound of their own.

I could have chosen any of The Zutons albums to write about, I like them all. But this being the debut album, and therefore around the longest, it’s just about my favourite.

The album begins with ‘Zuton Fever’, with that sax right in your face!

There were a few singles taken from the album, including ‘Pressure Point’, ‘Confusion’, ‘You Will You Won’t’ and a few others. All great singles, although they went on to have greater chart success with their second album ‘Tired Of Hanging Around’, which gave us the single ‘Valerie’ (later covered by Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse).

The Zutons are a lot of fun to listen to – really well-crafted English pop music, with that twist provided by the sax which takes the standard pop-rock form to slightly different and interesting places.

Great album, great band – you’ll like it!

Standout track: Confusion (not a ‘typical’ Zutons track, but I really like it).

Other ‘Z’s who didn’t quite make it: The Zutons are my only ‘Z’, but I could have chosen any of their albums.

26×26 – Y is for Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Today’s album is It’s Blitz by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Here we have the third album from New York three-piece Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the follow-up to their highly successful album ‘Show Your Bones’.

Fronted by the stunning Karen O, the band are a mix of synth-led pop and riot grrrrl rock. Karen O is female lead singer in the mould of all the greats – Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hyde etc.

It would be easy to dismiss this band as all hype – Karen O is something of a media darling, known for her outrageous dress style amongst other things. She was offered a large sum to do Playboy, which she declined.

None of this should detract from the music – it’s really rather good. Great, catchy tunes well performed. There’s bits of Blondie, Madonna, Siouxsie and a few others in there.

Good album, well worth a listen..

Standout track: Zero

Other ‘Y’s who didn’t quite make it: uh-uhhh (Family Fortunes noise)

26×26 – X is for The Jimi Hendrix Experience*

Today’s album is Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience

* as I said at the start of this project, I don’t have any music by artists beginning with X! So I decided to write about one of my favourite artists, who has an X in his name!

When thinking about an artist containing the letter X, it was easy to choose Hendrix, then I just had to choose the album.

I decided upon Electric Ladyland, the final Jimi Hendrix Experience album.

This album can only really be described as ‘experimental’. It’s clear that a lot of it is ‘jammed’, the form is very loose at times.

It was said to have been a very difficult album to record, Hendrix was becoming more erratic, and would miss studio sessions etc. This led to tensions within the band – although the album features many guest musicians.

There is a wide-range of material on this double album – from the well-known tracks such as ‘Crosstown Traffic’ and ‘Voodoo Child (Slight Return)’ – probably the most famous use of the Wah-wah pedal ever, used again on such tracks as ‘Burning Of The Midnight Lamp’.

There are ‘far-out’ jams, including the 15-minute marathon ‘Voodoo Chile’, psychedelic ‘jazz’ (Rainy Day, Dream Away), and just plain trippy (Moon, Turn The Tides..).

Add to all this a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘All Along The Watchtower’, and you have a massively eclectic mix. Not always easy to listen to, it can get a bit ‘far out’ at times, but certainly a great album. Standout track: Voodoo Child (Slight Return). Other ‘X’s who didn’t quite make it: yeah, right.

26×26 – W is for The White Stripes

Today’s album is White Blood Cells by The White Stripes

I love The White Stripes, I always have since I first heard them. The noises that these guys make with basically just a drum kit and a guitar is quite staggering. Meg’s very simple but effective drumming plus Jack’s outstanding guitar skills and unique vocal style deliver the songs with amazing skill and panache.

I could have chosen any of their albums for this article, but I chose this one simply because it’s my favourite!

The opening bars of the opening track ‘Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground’ are Jack White’s guitar playing in a nutshell – a hooky, melodic riff, played on a (possibly out of tune) cheapo guitar , fully fuzzed-up. There’s straight-up Jimmy Page- style rock riffing, down n dirty delta blues and more on this album. Great stuff.

The quality of the playing, recording and production on this record give it a very ‘live’ feel, you really feel you are in the room with the band.

Highlights of the album include ‘Fell In Love With A Girl’ (later covered by Joss Stone), ‘The Union Forever’, ‘I Think I Smell A Rat’, and the kooky ‘Hotel Yorba’ and ‘We’re Going To Be Friends’.

A stonking good album. No messing about – straight-up rock and roll. Great fun from start to finish.

Standout track: Fell In Love With A Girl

Other ‘W’s who didn’t quite make it: The Who

26×26 – V is for The Velvet Underground

Today’s album is The Velvet Underground & Nico by The Velvet Underground

I didn’t need to think twice when choosing a ‘V’ artist to write about – it had to be the mighty Velvet Underground!

I’ve chosen the band’s 1967 debut album ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’, featuring the original line-up (Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Mo Tucker) plus German model\singer\actress and Andy Warhol muse Nico supplying vocals on a number of tracks (‘Femme Fatale’, ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’ and ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’).

The iconic ‘Banana’ album cover (of course designed by Warhol), features the slogan ‘Peel slowly and see’, inviting the viewer to peel off the banana sticker to reveal the alternative banana below!

Upon it’s release, the album went largely unnoticed by the masses, although of course it is now regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time. Ahead of it’s time I think.

We’re treated to a wide range of  music here, from  the almost ‘twee’ pop of ‘Sunday Morning’ through to the highly experimental  ‘Black Angel’s Death Song’ and ‘European Son’. In the middle of all this you can find songs about going to score drugs (‘I’m Wating For The Man’), sado-machochistic sex (‘Venus In Furs’) and the explicitly described  experience of drug-taking (‘Heroin’).

Nico’s haunting vocals are the perfect counterpoint to Reed’s New York drawl-like style, and gives the listener some light against some of the brutal sounds to be found elsewhere.

The Velvet Underground have inspired countless bands over the years, and continue to do so to this day.

If you’ve never experienced The Velvet Underground, go and do so. Now.

Standout track: ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’

Other ‘V’s who didn’t quite make it: Vic Godard, The View, and Various Artists (I have loads of their albums!)

26×26 – U is for UB40

Today’s album is Present Arms by UB40

If you weren’t around in the early 80’s, you may not be aware that UB40 were once a cutting edge band – a British reggae band fronted by two white brothers from Birmingham, with an overtly political agenda.

The band was formed by a multi-cultural group of friends from working class Birmingham, using instruments purchased with money from a compensation payout after one of the band was injured in a bar brawl. The band were undoubtedly influenced by the ‘blues party’ scene, i.e. Reggae.

Alas they are no longer quite so cutting edge, I think they lost that after their sixth album. It would have been nice if they had split up around that time 🙂

But, I still like to play their old material, it’s really very good, and often overlooked in my opinion.

I’ve chosen the band’s second album, 1981’s ‘Present Arms’ for you today. In my early teens, me and my pals were into UB40 in a big way. This was reggae music played primarily by white kids, but still managing to stay authentic (I should add that half the band are black, so obviously this played a part in the authenticity). It spoke to us, as working class inner-city kids.

This is a collection of reggae tunes with a social\political message. Thatcherism and mass unemployment were prevelant at the time, giving rise to the hit single ‘One In Ten’. The stark political anti-war message of the album’s title track is as relevant today as it was then. Other issues that are covered include the legalisation of cannabis (well, this is reggae!).

The band released a dub version of this album, ‘Present Arms In Dub’, which was typical of ‘genuine’ Jamaican reggae artists – an instrumental version of a tune, heavy on bass and drums, used at blues parties for freestyling lyricists to ‘toast’ over.

It’s worth exploring early UB40 material (anything up till Labour Of Love), there’s some really good stuff in there .

Standout track: Present Arms

Other ‘U’s who didn’t quite make it: Err.. nope, nothing.

26×26 – T is for Travis

Today’s album is The Man Who by Travis

Another trip north of the border today. This time it’s something altogether more mainstream – Travis.

This 1999 album was a very big hit, with widespread appeal to a broad range of punters. There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking or innovative here, just really good pop songs performed by a really good band. In Fran Healy they have a great songwriter and frontman, and he seems to be the nicest guy in the world!

Quite a few very big hit singles came from this album, I’m sure you know them (‘Writing To Reach You’, ‘Driftwood’, ‘Why Does It Always Rain On Me’ etc..).

As well as some fine pop tunes, there are a few deeper moments on the album – the ‘hidden track’,  ‘Blue Flashing Light’ is a far cry from the pop hits, with a very dark subject matter.

If you’ve never heard it, do check out the band’s cover of Britney Spears’ Baby One More Time (there are clips on youtube). Far better than Britney ever did it!!

A very good album, but I’m sure you probably know that already!

Standout track: As You Are

Other ‘T’s who didn’t quite make it: Hmm, as you may be able to tell by the brevity of this article, I had very few choices for T. I realise I’ve shamed myself by not having bands such as Talking Heads, Television and many other great T’s in my library, I promise to correct this! The whole point was to feature bands that are on my iPod, so I didn’t want to cheat.

Besides, I really like Travis!

26×26 – S is for Stevie Wonder

Today’s album is Hotter Than July by Stevie Wonder

No, no, no – surely you meant to do ‘Songs In The Key Of Life’?

Well, no. Despite public opinion, I don’t think Songs In The Key Of Life was Stevie’s best album. It might have been if they’d cut some of it and made it a single album, but as a double, there’s too many fillers for my liking (I know some people say the same about The Beatles White Album).

I had a pretty large selection of S’s to choose from for this. I browsed over Suede, The Strokes, The Stone Roses, The Specials and many more, but I settled on Stevie Wonder, because I’ve always hugely admired his music, and I had the pleasure of seeing him perform live a couple of times.

I had to choose from the ‘golden era’ Wonder albums in my collection. I could have chosen ‘Talking Book’, ‘Innervisions’ or ‘Songs In The Key Of Life’ – but I chose ‘Hotter Then July’. Why? Well although  they are all considered classics (which they are), Hotter Than July is the only one that I love every second of! It’s more ‘commercial’ than the others, but hey – I’m writing about albums I love, not the critic’s choice!

This is the last great Stevie Wonder album (I suppose I should say ‘so far’).

We have Soul, Funk, Latin, Calypso and Reggae on here. Some of the tracks were big hits (Happy Birthday, Master Blaster(Jammin’), Lately), but I think any track on this album could have a been a hit single. I have memories of being in my early teens around the time Thriller came out, and it sat alongside Hotter Than July in our house – I think there are similarities between the two albums. They just go from one great track to the next, each one bringing a smile to your face as it starts.

Summer’s coming, and there’s no better album to play in the sunshine than this. Perfect soul-pop! Give it a try..

Standout track: ‘I Ain’t Gonna Stand For It‘

Other ‘S’s who didn’t quite make it: Strokes, Supergrass, Stone Roses, Specials, Smiths, Small Faces, Saint Etienne, Suede. Strong Category!

26×26 – R is for Roddy Frame

Today’s album is Surf by Roddy Frame

After yesterday’s very poor show with Queen, I’m pleased to say I’ve got a very good one for you today!

This is without a doubt one of my favourite albums ever, in fact it might even be my number one.

For those who don’t know, Roddy Frame was the frontman of 80’s indie band Aztec Camera.

Aztec Camera released six albums, with varying levels of success. The band was really just Roddy Frame, with a succession of backing musicians over the years, so the jump to ‘solo artist’ came as no surprise.

1998 saw the release of ‘The North Star’, Roddy’s first album as a solo artist. A real return to form, in a production and songwriting sense – the last Aztec Camera album gave the impression that Roddy had somewhat lost his way.

The follow-up album to The North Star was Surf. An album recorded at home, just a man, an acoustic guitar, and a stunning collection of songs.

I’m not going to go through the tracks on this album in any great detail. I’ll just tell you that this is Roddy Frame at his brilliant best. The guitar playing and vocals are outstanding, and I’ve yet to find an album of songs so ‘complete’, beautiful songs, performed and captured perfectly.

If you admire the whole ‘acoustic singer\songwriter’ thing, it really doesn’t get any better than this.

Go and buy it immediately (and make sure you get the one with the two bonus tracks, they are two of the best – I don’t know why they were not on the original release).

Standout track: Over You

Other ‘R’s who didn’t quite make it: Razorlight, Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Rakes, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Rolling Stones