Tag: James

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Albums

Best albums of 2024: Greetings & honourable mentions

Well, hello and happy hump day!

It’s been a while. Three months since my last post, to be exact.

I didn’t intend to be away so long and definitely wasn’t expecting the piece on Beck to be my last post. However, life… well… it happened.

Without getting into all the gory details, let’s just say I had some unexpected health issues, some of them quite scary, involving an extended gig in the hospital. I have had to make a number of lifestyle changes, including slowing things down quite a bit. And though not all yet resolved, things have been improving and I am slowly on the mend, hopefully on track to a full recovery. I am grateful for the love of my life and partner in all things, close friends, and professional support, all of which have kept me going.

Of late, I’ve been slowly trying to get back to doing some of the things I used to enjoy and, of course, one of the first things that helped bring some solace was listening to music. Limited reading followed, and I’m just now returning to some writing, intending to slowly get back to this regular blogging fun.

While in the hospital, I had lots of time to think about the greats of 2024. So let’s begin with a sampling of great albums from last year worthy of honourable mention, followed by my next post, the first handful of those ten favourite albums for the year. Enjoy.

Camera Obscura “Look to the east, look to the west”:  The Scottish indie pop band’s sixth studio album and first since the death of keyboardist, Carey Lander in 2015, shows the group in fine form and chock full of that twee magic.
Check out: “Big love”

The Decemberists “As it ever was, so it will be again”:  The Portland-based quintet keeps on doing things in their own particular way – esoteric subject matter dressed up in indie folk, informed by a myriad of world musical styles – on their 9th studio album and we continue to love them for it.
Check out: “Burial ground”

Desperate Journalist “No hero”:  To my ears, these post punk revivalists from London, England have firmly grasped the torch let drop by Canada’s The Organ when that band split after only one great album back in the early 2000s.
Check out: “Unsympathetic parts 1 & 2”

Elephant Stone “Back into the dream”: The sixth album by the Montreal-based psych-rock quartet fronted by bass and sitar player Rishi Dhir, is more Beatlesque, jangle pop that is as equally relevant on a Saturday night, as it is on a Sunday morning.
Check out: “Going underground”

James “Yummy”: One of my favourite all-time bands celebrated their 40th anniversary year in 2023 with a compilation of orchestral reworkings of many of their much-loved classics and followed it up in 2024 with their 18th (!) studio album – future classics that feature the Manchester group’s signature “big”
sound and frontman Tim Booth’s inimitable lyric work and vocal style.
Check out: “Is this love”

Linn Koch-Emmery “Borderline iconic”: Unlike her 2021 debut, “Borderline iconic“, the Sweden born and bred singer-songwriter didn’t quite crack my top ten with her sophomore effort… but it was darned close – just over 30 more minutes of spiky and catchy, power pop attitude.
Check out: “Ebay armour”

The Vaccines “Pick-up full of pink carnations”: London, England’s The Vaccines are sadly one of those bands that I tend to forget about* – until of course, they release a new album, like this, their 6th LP offering, and I am immediately caught back up in the wave of their angular, fun, and anthemic indie-pop.
Check out: “Heartbreak kid”

*Not because they deserve to be forgotten- they just fall victim to my too much music, too little time” syndrome.

I’ll be back very soon with albums #10 through #6 for my Best albums of 2024 list. In the meantime, you can check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

Categories
Tunes

Best tunes of 1993: #1 James “Sometimes (Lester Piggott)”

<< #2

“There’s a storm outside, and the gap between crack and thunder
Crack and thunder, is closing in, is closing in”

Monday, September 22nd, 2008. My wife Victoria and I took the afternoon off work and drove down to Montreal together from Ottawa to see one of our favourite bands live in concert*. The venue was an old movie theatre turned club in the quartier des spectacles called Club Soda. I remember us being quite excited, in particular because we had thought we’d never see James live after they had broken up in 2001. Also, because after reuniting in 2007, they released a new album called “Hey ma” the following year, which turned out to be my favourite by the group since 1993’s “Laid”.

The show in question lives on in our collective memory as our favourite ever concert, even after seeing them again a decade later at our local music festival. The set that night was varied, performing many of our favourite tracks. The band was big and bold, and all seven members were palpably amazed at the reception they received in a town they were told wouldn’t come see them. In fact, near the end of their show, their performance of the very song we are talking about today, “Sometimes (Lester Piggott)”, went on for well over seven minutes because the crowd refused to let drop the singalong refrain started up by frontman Tim Booth. It was an incredible moment, perhaps as much for the band, as it was for those of us in the audience.

“Sometimes, when I look deep in your eyes
I swear I can see your soul”

“Sometimes (Lester Piggott)” was the first single released off of “Laid”, what is surely James’s biggest album. Much like the title track, which was also released as a single, “Sometimes” climbed into the top thirty of the UK singles charts, and is still obviously one of the band’s best loved songs. It certainly is one of my own personal faves.

It is a driving and racing number**, acoustic guitar strumming at a frantic pace and a drum beat that leaves you just as breathless, and with the typical big James sound reflecting in a steamed up mirror the raging storm portrayed in the lyrics. And it’s these words that elevate an already fantastic song into the pantheon of greatness of greatness. Booth creates for us an image of a tempest, a storm in a seaside town, expounding the naturalistic themes of man vs nature, perhaps an extended metaphor for the random and daunting elements of life. In it the protagonist laughs in the face of death and that passion in how Booth sings it and the images he creates has us all enthralled.

“He says listen, takes my head and puts my ear to his
And I swear I can hear the sea”

This is a song I could listen to over and over again and in it, find more beauty than the million times before. It is art and I just can’t get enough of it. This and all the memories over the years of listening to it and singing along with it is why it tops my best tunes chart for 1993.

*It would turn out to be the first and last time we would ever drive to Montreal and back on the same day to see a concert. Obviously, it was worth it but on the drive home, we were both exhausted and had to keep spelling each other behind the wheel lest one fall asleep.

**In fact, the high speed pace of the rhythm is the reason behind the name in parentheses in the title, being that of a well-known horse racing jockey.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 1993 list, click here.

Categories
Tunes

Best tunes of 1993: #8 James “Laid”

<< #9    |    #7 >>

“This bed is on fire with passionate love, the neighbours complain about the noises above, but she only comes when she’s on top”

If there’s one song by Manchester-based alternative rock band, James, that you’re bound to know, it’s “Laid”. The title track off their 1993 album is their biggest hit outside of England, especially here in North America where it gained popularity when it was used for the trailers for the first two “American pie” films. Before that, though, it was featured on the first “Frosh” compilation, wildly popular here in Canada in the late 90s, so pretty much anyone of a certain age who was in university or college here around that time knows these first couple of lines quite well. And for sure, they shouted along with them on a packed dance floor or three.

For myself, I’ve been a huge fan of the band since the early 90s and still follow them closely today, as you might already have guessed if you’ve been around these parts before. “Laid” was actually the first album I owned by the band. I picked it up on CD from BMG* after seeing the video for an early single called “Sit down” on MuchMusic’s “CityLimits” and deciding to check them out further. That the album title was provocative didn’t even occur to me until I received my order and I noticed the band photo on the cover and its members’ various states of cross-dress. “Laid”, both the album and the song, became quick favourites of mine, with repeat listens and repeat listens, and remain favourites and see a lot of repeat listens, still, to this day.

“Dressed me up in women’s clothes
Messed around with gender roles
Line my eyes and call me pretty”

The only problem I really have with “Laid” (the song) is that it leaves you wanting more. It is way too short, coming in at just over two and a half minutes. Other than that, it’s pure pop perfection. Staccato and popping drumming, a wooly wall of sound instrumentation care of the massive band and Brian Eno’s intricate production, and, of course, the inimitable vocals of frontman Tim Booth. The words are a fun and hilarious companion to the dance-ready tune, a real floor filler, and creator of good times and good memories.

Go ahead now. Press play, turn it up, and I dare you to not to stomp your feet wildly to that rhythm, wave your arms above your head with abandon, and howl the title “Laid” loudly along with Booth at each chorus break.

*Those who know, know.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 1993 list, click here.