THE SOFT BOYS - Underwater Moonlight (1980)

Review by: A. A.
Album assigned by: Jaime Vargas Sánchez

The Soft Boys' Underwater Moonlight is a jangly post-punk record inspired in equal parts by The Byrds-style folk rock and whimsical psychedelia. Before listening to this album, I had the most passing familiarity with Robyn Hitchcock's solo work, whom I consider, succinctly put, a character.

The album, considered today an influence on the neo-psychedelia movement, has poppish stylings but the punk attitude is certainly not lost. The lyrics are drenched in surreal, sardonic imagery and mostly a biting take on the concept of love from the point of view of misfits who can't get any. Like on "Insanely Jealous", where Hitchcock sings:

The night is black and thick

I wander past your window

And I catch a cigarette thrown from a jewel encrusted hand

It comes on pretty quick

Exactly like a crocodile

In search of a mirage across the undulating sand

But I'm insanely jealous of you

Yeah, I'm insanely jealous of you

I don't know why the people want to meet

When all they know is that they'll breed like rabbits in the end

Cause ordinary people on the street

They never know

But if they can't be rabbits they'll be friends

Other tracks of interest are the ebullient "Positive Vibrations" (which throws in sitars for an interesting effect), the garage-rocky "Old Pervert", and the title track "Underwater Moonlight" with a jamming coda that in parts reminds me of The Cure's "Killing An Arab".

It is a relatively short album and, for the verdict, one I do not find awe-inspiringly meritorious, but certainly interesting, and maybe one to put occasionally on when I'm reading The Chants of Maldoror and need an extra dose of caustic surrealism.

Roland and Nina's DECADES IN MUSIC - 1966 - RISING SONS - Rising Sons featuring Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder (released 1992)

Review by: Nina A.
Album assigned by: Roland Bruynesteyn

You can let the good times roll with this record, and all night long at that. In fact yes, it would probably suffice for an entire night of rocking as it contains a rocking number of 22 rocking bluesy tracks. Featuring the combined talents of legendary roots musician Ry Cooder and legendary bluesman Taj Mahal, this record was apparently recorded but not released way back in 1966 and surfaced as late as 1992 as a kind of an archival release. Despite that, this album is not purely interesting from a historical point of view, and in fact the energetic playing and heart of it ensure that it will never get metaphorically moth-eaten and covered in dust.

There is plenty to enjoy here, and everything sounds just right, whether it is blues standards, other covers or original pieces, and highlights are too many to list - in fact, you'd better look at the track list yourself. So if you are feeling up for an hour and a minute stay in rootsy blues land - this record is a great way to do it.

THE YOUNG GODS - L'Eau Rouge (1989)

Review by: Mark Maria Ahsmann
Album assigned by: A. A.

The Young Gods are an industrial rock band from Switzerland that was formed in 1987. In 1989 they released “L’Eau Rouge”. Which is a delicious album. A rock album. 'Rock' as in 'Adrenaline Music for the Young, Courageous and Romantic’. And it kicks ass, as the saying goes.

Though not revolutionary in any sense it offers it’s very own and well balanced mixture of elements already known in industrial music.

The album is stitched together from samples. Sampled metal guitars (Motörhead meets Killing Joke meets Anthrax), Front 242 style pulsating beats, samples of various styles of classical music and, most uniquely, samples of fairground organs and accordeons as used in musette, middle European cabaret music and french chansons.

The album is extremely tastefully produced by fellow switzer Roli Mosimann, collaborator with Foetus in his cockrock-parody Wiseblood project and former drummer of the Swans. Both influences are quite obvious in their music. From Foetus they borrowed the samples of classical music, - in the vein of Stravinsky and Wagner & horror movie soundtracks strings. From the Swans the extremely heavy drum sound and sonic clarity. Traces of vintage NDW acts like Grauzone (also from Switzerland) and Palais Schaumburg can be heard too. And Laibach, by the way, a band that has the use of classical samples in common with Foetus. Also a band that never eschewed a martial drum beat when one was called for.

But The Young Gods didn't inherit the brutality and atonality that made the industrial predecessors mentioned at times so harsh and to some ears unlistenable. L'Eau Rouge is a very accessible album in which the various elements come together in a logical and organic manner. It is true that none of the elements mentioned are unique. The Beatles sampled fairground organs on “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” and Foetus did the same on “Finely Honed Machine”. Pig also used that sound on Hildelinde. Ah, and not to mention Tom Waits. Samples from classical music and horror movie soundtracks were, by the 1980's, all over the place of course. What sets the Young Gods apart though is the effectivity with which the band uses these elements in a heavy rock context. Without sounding overwrought or willfully experimental. And pretty much sounding like a missing link between Laibach and Rammstein, come to think of it.

Without sounding morbid too. Though I can't comment on the lyrics. My french is not good enough for that. I read somewhere that the title “L'Eau Rouge” refers to menstruation and I think that the track “Charlotte” is about female masturbation. But that's as far is my interpretation of the lyrics goes. However, “L'Eau Rouge” does not sound like it was created by a bunch of sickos. It just sounds too light, too accessible for that (but not quite Right Said Fred yet).

The album is consistent all the way. But there are some favorite tracks: the first track; the title song “L'Eau Rouge” opens in waltz time signature with the fairground organs and chansonesque vocals in place. Then it gets sprinkled with drops of classical sounding strings and just when you think it'll explode in a relentless 4/4 beat something completely different happens. That's a perfect opener. The second song, “Rue des Tempêtes” is a breakneck speed metal song, the best Ministry song the Ministry never did. “Charlotte” too uses the fairground organs in 2/4 time signature and with bits of accordeon actually develops into a very pretty song. And on “Les Enfants” the band uses the classical samples in an oragstic manner and to such a great effect that it has Laibach flat on it's back.

I have one complaint. The singer, Franz Treichler, is trying very hard to bellow and growl in the customary Foetus/Michael Gira/Nick Cave-in-his-Birthday-Suit manner and his voice is just not forceful and expressive enough to pull it off. So he relies on layers of echo but still doesn't really convince me that he's not a nice college-educated boy. Roli Mosimann should have advised him to develop his own style.

But all in all it was a pleasure to meet “L'Eau Rouge”.

Roland and Nina's DECADES IN MUSIC: 1965 - NINA SIMONE - Wild is the Wind

Review by: Nina A.
Album assigned by: Roland Bruynesteyn

Nina Simone is known for many other things besides her beautiful deep voice and her complete mastery in utilising it in performance but this is the quality that stands out most on this and I am sure every other one of her records. Wild is the Wind, you may be surprised to learn, was compiled out of earlier records left-over tracks and yet the amount of iconic tracks on it make that hard to believe. 

The title track, so evocative in its lyrics, and even more so in Nina Simone's expert hand, is of course a stand out but I think I will give the honour of most important track to Four Women - a touching composition on the fates and struggles of four women of colour and by extension all women of colour, written in such vivid detail, and of course immense and tender sympathy. "A sister to all women" is a title I have often seen been given to Stevie Nicks and it is this title that comes to my mind when I listen to this song. In fact, I want to be these four women's sister. And every woman's sister. But um... moving on.

Most of the rest of the tracks are soulful numbers about love and Nina Simone stands out especially on the more emotional ones (not that there is anything wrong with the opener "I Love Your Lovin' Ways). A surprise on the track list is a traditional standard "Black is The Color of My True Love's Hair", which beautiful subdued rendition does not sound out of place on the record at all.

The album closes on a strong note with the bluesy number "Either Way I Lose", which may well be my personal favourite on here - but don't worry, it faces a rigid competition, so definitely check this album out, especially if you are a fan of Nina Simone's enigmatic presence and inspired delivery.

BJÖRK GUÐMUNDSDÓTTIR & TRÍÓ GUÐMUNDAR INGÓLFSSONAR - Gling-Gló (1990)

Review by: Andreas Georgi
Album assigned by: Dinar Khayrutdinov

This is Björk’s “jazz album”, released in 1990, when she was still in the Sugarcubes. On this album she is accompanied by an Icelandic jazz trio. All the songs, but one, “Ruby Baby” (on the version I heard) are sung in Icelandic, making this the best jazz album sung in Icelandic (but also the worst) I have ever heard. 

Unfortunately this album has a number of weak points. First of all, while the trio is certainly quite competent and plays the music well enough, the music is honestly pretty much generic lounge music. There is not a lot to keep my interest. As far as Björk’s singing goes, she doesn’t vary much from her usual singing style, and fans of hers will certainly like it. There are a couple of songs which sound like children’s songs, like the title track (“gling-gló” evidently is “ding-dong” in Icelandic), and these are the ones i like the best, actually. To my ears, unfortunately, she is not really in her element here. Björk is a really unique singer and highly creative artist. On this album, by trying to fit into this lounge jazz setting, I find that she dampens the very things that make her singing interesting, both in the Sugarcubes and on her subsequent solo career. Subsequent to this she would embark on a solo career & would make a number of daring & experimental albums, which I personally find much more interesting than this one. Now if she were to do a project with more experimental jazz musicians, that might be a better opportunity to showcase her talents. 

So in a nutshell, I think serious Björk fans will appreciate this album, but for me it’s not more than a curiosity. It’s certainly not a bad album in any way, but it just doesn’t really grab my attention.

Roland and Nina's DECADES IN MUSIC: 1964 - FRANÇOISE HARDY - Mon amie la rose

Review by: Nina A.

Album assigned by: Roland Bruynesteyn

Beat music did come to latin Europe under the tag yé-yé (quite logically, from the English "yeah! yeah!") and as far as I am aware, the predominant cliche on the French musical scene was that of the young wide-eyed ingenue singing bubble-gum double entendres. Françoise Hardy does, of course, stand out here not only because of her famous shyness but that may be a key to the generally introverted nature of this album that deals with love and mostly loss.

The album opens on a cover version of a song first performed by The Vernons Girls - Only You Can Do It, which was originally a happy poppy anthem about first love, but is here, I feel, improved by a different set of lyrics. And while the joy of having someone to make you want to be kissed and so on does indeed go well with the catchy intro and upbeat tone, Françoise Hardy's version about wanting your lover to come back to you gives the upbeat tone an altogether different meaning.

In fact, maybe he will return and not have a word to say, and therefore not say anything because everything seems to have changed, leading Ms. Hardy to decide to not wait for anyone anymore as the following tracks will inform you.

But these tracks are beautiful to listen to, anyway, beautiful in their subtlety and in Françoise Hardy's subdued plaintive vocal delivery, and in the somewhat traditional beautiful imagery associated with the various pains of love and love lost - talking and not talking, the night over the city, forgetting, going away, returning, and, of course, roses.

Do not be led to believe that this is a boring one-note mopey album for people who have been dumped, though - there is a variety of moods on display here, and I'd go as far as to say that the poetic qualities of the French language are also given their proper place under the limelight, so if that is a point of interest to you, definitely check out this album. I know that now that I've become acquaintant with it, I'll probably pick it over a Carpenters record anytime I am in the mood for some dreamy pop music about... you know, love.

EELS - Eels: Royal Albert Hall (2015)

Review by: Jaime Vargas Sánchez
Album assigned by: Roland Bruynesteyn

Oh, great, a piano intro. And then a version of “When you wish upon a star”.  And a piano ballad. I’m already regretting putting the album on, since I had a bad night yesterday and I’m about to fall asleep. Why do alt-rock ensembles have this tendency to do boring sets when they want to seem important? I still remember a Smashing Pumpkins show I attended in 2001 – well I digress and I’d like to suppress that memory. Besides, Eels switched gears already. From piano ballad to country rock ballad. Yeah, not going to get whiplash any time soon.

Mr. Everett is addressing the audience. He’s focusing on how a lot of legends have played in the RAH. And about how he’s not allowed to play the pipe organ, so you know he will, besides, for all the talk about how only experienced people should play it, it seems everybody and his mother has played it. His speech took longer than any of the songs, of which he just started another. Look, Mr. E, are you trying to lull me to sleep or what? At this point I’d rather listen to a version of the Macarena rather than to another heartfelt ballad (well, I suppose it’s heartfelt, since your deadpan delivery doesn’t allow me to discern it). Great, another one, and called “My timing’s off” – you don’t say. Somebody should teach this guy something about pacing. Because “A line in the dirt”, while boring and clichéd, has a nice chorus melody, but after the onslaught of ballads this one feels as “oh Christ please not one more”.  

There are more.

He says “It’s over”. Thank God. Not that the pace picks up a lot, but at least the songs have a bit of a lilt now. Well, the last song from the first CD, “Fresh Feeling”, is a dance number. Nice.

Let’s change CDs.

Hey, uptempo! I had forgotten what that was. “I like birds” has a bit of a late 50s / early 60s vibe, which is always welcome. More ballads. Mr. E could have a nice career in Broadway. More classic pop vibe. And some very well crafted melodies along the way – more in the instrumental parts than in the vocal melodies.

There is one song called “I like the way this is going”. I don’t. Especially since two songs later comes “Last stop: this town” which is basically the same song or at least the same guitar arpeggio. BTW, Mr. E, stop reminding me every 15 minutes that you are in the Royal Albert Hall. The RAH has been used for pop concerts for quite a long time now. In these days, that you play at the RAH just means that you are not big enough to fill the O2 or Wembley.

And he just butchered “Can’t Help Falling In Love”.

See? He’s at the organ.

Doing nothing of importance.

Roland, you owe me two hours of my life back.