Mid-eighties Fall were, as ever, a strange proposition, fast becoming a cult band; yet always wilfully on the sidelines, casting caustic barbs at the more banal elements of pop culture. So it was with the ninth album, the brilliant Bend Sinister. It was named after the Nabokov novel. Even the cover points to the kindContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: The Fall- Bend Sinister”
Tag Archives: Overlooked albums
Overlooked Classics: Amiina- Puzzle (2011)
Puzzle from 2011 saw the genre blurring Icelandic band Amiina experiment and expand even more, having started out as an all -female string quartet in Reykjavik. They looked like some kind of mad fin de siecle inventors catapulted into the twenty first century on the front cover, which seems entirely apposite: vintage and contemporary coexisting.Continue reading “Overlooked Classics: Amiina- Puzzle (2011)”
Overlooked Classics: Betty Davis – They Say I’m Different
In her spacesuit collars, hot pants and big boots,prowling around the stage, Betty Davis made Tina Turner look something of a shrinking violet. With her wild, hard -living reputation and unrestrained presence, Davis was allegedly too much for husband Miles, from whom she divorced after just one tempestuous year in 1969. This second studio album,Continue reading “Overlooked Classics: Betty Davis – They Say I’m Different”
Overlooked Classics: The Cure- Disintegration
People often forget this album, and I don’t know why. Possibly it’s the ubiquity of curated playlists, or the attention span of the 21st century- so many people don’t have time to listen to whole albums anymore. It’s a masterpiece, either way. The eighth studio album saw the band losing Lol Tolhurst and Robert SmithContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: The Cure- Disintegration”
Overlooked Classics: Rachel’s – Music For Egon Schiele
I’ve always hated that apostrophe in the chamber music band – it’s as though the band were running a diner or something.I suspect it was due to the band being the brainchild of pianist and composer Rachel Grimes. Regardless of dubious punctuation marks, though, the Kentucky band were always makers of exquisite music, drawing asContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Rachel’s – Music For Egon Schiele”
Overlooked Classics: The Cure – Faith
Pornography is often referred to in The Cure’s early eighties trilogy (which also includes Seventeen Seconds) as a classic, but I think their third album, Faith, is absolutely divine, and overlooked. Far from being as miserable as painted, it’s actually pretty diverse in scope. There’s the anthemic ‘Primary ‘, shimmering majesty of ‘The Funeral Party’Continue reading “Overlooked Classics: The Cure – Faith”
Overlooked Classics: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – From Her To Eternity
Debut albums rarely feel as raw as From Her To Eternity. The Birthday Party had dissolved pretty messily, amid drug abuse and ego problems, so Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds could have toned things down a little in order to hit that commercial paydirt. Ha, as if. Cave was far too independent, too contrarianContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – From Her To Eternity”
Overlooked Classics: Marc Almond With The Willing Sinners- Mother Fist
Much more than just beautifully crafted filth, Marc Almond’s third studio album from April 1987, created with backing band The Willing Sinners, is a doozie. Taking inspiration from Jean Genet, Judy Garland and the Weimar republic, Almond ‘s musical palette was ever widening, full of left turns and his trademark bon mots- he’s always hadContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Marc Almond With The Willing Sinners- Mother Fist”
Overlooked Classics: Nick Drake- Pink Moon
Everyone seems to like the other two Nick Drake studio albums- Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter– but as much as I like them, for me it’s all about the quiet, sad, low-key gem from 1972, Pink Moon. Drake’s music, for me, reveals the kind of torpor of country life. It’s a paradox, a senseContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Nick Drake- Pink Moon”
Overlooked Classics: Common Holly- Playing House
There are some artists who make albums that should have been huge. Better known by her stage name Common Holly, Brigitte Naggar is a Canadian musician from Montreal.As Common Holly, Naggar has released two full-length albums, but her debut is so underrated it beggars belief. It’s so fully formed, it’s astonishing. Naggar’s first album, Playing House, was releasedContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Common Holly- Playing House”
Hit The North 