Written by 365AAY on September 3rd, 2010
by Kevin
This is where things started getting sketchy. By ‘sketchy’, of course, I mean absolutely brilliant and inventive. Though he would revisit his jazzbo motif one more time for the soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola’s Las Vegas-based box office bomb ‘One From The Heart’, ‘Heartattack and Vine’ represents Tom Waits’ final crossover into the insanity that would make up the ‘Frank Trilogy’ (1983′s ‘Swordfishtrombones’, 1985′s ‘Raindogs’, and 1987′s ‘Frank’s Wild Years). With ‘Heartattack’, Waits gave the final push from a schtick that he had been stuck on for the entirety of the previous decade.
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Written by 365AAY on September 2nd, 2010
by Emil
Despite the leading crew’s upcoming dissolving, Breakfast In America proved to be Supertramp’s best selling album to date. The split between the leading force in the band, the duo consisting of Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson, resulted in an album with songwriting clearly divided between the two front men. Luckily, this unrest didn’t change the final product, a swelling album filled with musical goodies and lyrical insight.
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Written by 365AAY on September 1st, 2010
by Phil
As any record collector knows, there are quite a few albums you can count on spotting several copies of no matter where you are. These records are of course the most popular of their time – the favorite albums of grandparents that have collected dust in their basement for decades. The reason for these albums (which typically include Barbra Streisand’s discography, II by Barry Manilow, Boston Pops albums, ect.) being so popular seems to be, generally, extraordinarily bad tastes by older generations. They are not worth being picked up even if they are being given away. There is one overwhelming exception to this standard, however. An album available in every thrift store, dollar bin and at every flea market that is actually worth buying, Steely Dan’s” Aja,” one of the few albums whose millions of copies sold are actually justified, and that is extremely popular because it is, in fact, extremely good.
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Written by 365AAY on August 31st, 2010
by Dareen
Following the distinctive course of past shoegazers, Asobi Seksu (meaning “playful sex” in Japanese) bring to us “Citrus,” a noisy, textured, and shamelessly pop driven piece. Although artists like My Blood Valentine and Slowdive essentially brought shoegaze music to its peak more than a decade ago, Asobi Seksu are able to foster the elements that made up shoegaze music, and also give birth to new sounds and techniques of their own. “Citrus” brings a variety of sounds, the albums base is evidently more of a dreamy pop; the vocals remain distinct, finding its way through the noisy walls of swirling guitars- much of which the cover art in itself depicts. Yuki Chikudate’s genial vocals (sung in both English and Japanese), matched with the layered, hazy, and washed tones of feedback give it a fruitful flavor of reminiscence to the past.
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Written by 365AAY on August 30th, 2010
by Arika
Poor Jimmy Eat World. They’re a band that will forever be remembered, both fondly and not-so-fondly, for their 2001 pop-punk, teen-friendly hit, “The Middle,” which is now the soundtrack for shopping malls and kids’ birthday parties. Just two years prior to “The Middle,” the band had released Clarity, a musically mature meditation on all things youthful, and it became one of the most critically-adored albums of the ‘90s. Clarity is one of those defining, life-changing records—not in the sense that it makes you want to give up your life for a music career, but in the sense that it’s epic enough to earn the privilege of being present during your most vital, introspective moments, especially during the bittersweet pangs of adolescence.
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Written by 365AAY on August 29th, 2010
by Michael
Here I present an album which I feel like my entire stint at 365albumsayear has been inevitably building to, such is its importance in my life. Yet, why attempt to properly review this?
Why attempt to review an album which by way of me first hearing it on Christmas Day 2008 made that Christmas the best of my life so far?
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Written by 365AAY on August 28th, 2010
by Abid
The fiery and brooding nature of Nina Simone’s performance is perhaps what kept her from truly crossing over, but it is also what gave her a unique edge in comparison to the prominent voices of her time. Look back and ahead as far as you want, there isn’t and won’t ever be anything quite like Simone’s vocal prowess. Unless someone manages to capture the soul of a volatile beast in a voice box and let it percolate at high temperatures, the chances are unlikely. Like Billie Holiday and Nat King Cole before her, she manages to remain in a classification all by herself, for having a lightning rod of a voice and dramatic interpretations of the music. But enough hyperbolic statements, let’s take a look at what makes “…Sings The Blues” a hallmark recording.
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Written by 365AAY on August 27th, 2010
by Kevin
When I first heard about Art Brut in passing about five years ago, I decided merely hearing about them was about as far into them as I would go. My five-years ago brain decided that they sounded like one of those high-end, avant-garde bands that is popular about as long as the time between blog posts. Eventually I realized that no matter how supposedly ‘avant-garde’ a band is, they would never name their debut album ‘Bang Bang Rock & Roll’. After the first listen of the album was through, I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out the only humanly way possible to kick oneself.
Posted in 6. Kevin's Fridays | View Comments
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