High Violet by The National

I have something of an aversion to listening to bands if the first thing I hear of them is that they’ve been nominated for a Brit award or a Grammy or whatever. Chances are high that they’ll be some johnny-come-lately trendy band that have caught the zeitgeist because one of their tracks was on an advert or a movie soundtrack. 

I think in the case of The National, I might have been unfair. They had been going for 12 years or so before hitting the big time and seem to have had a solid track record of albums up to that point. The music is very much in the indie vein, with droning guitars and solid, repeating drum patterns with a bit of piano thrown in on some tracks for variety. 

I wasn’t immediately hooked on first listening, but I think I’m intrigued enough to give it another listen, which is always a positive sign. 

https://album.link/gb/i/401440905

Melting, Pie

Slice of apple pie
Ice cream melting on the side
A perfect pudding

Horse Tails

We see the hero
Riding into the sunset
Another horse tail

Tellin' Stories by The Charlatans

This album falls somewhere between Madchester and Britpop, with some solid guitar work and an oddly affected vocal style from lead singer Tim Burgess evidently heavily influenced by Bob Dylan. The recording was overshadowed by the death of keyboard player Rob Collins in a car crash when he was driving back from the pub with twice the legal limit of alcohol in his bloodstream and not wearing a seat belt. 

Reading the wiki article about this gives the impression that Collins wasn’t getting on with the rest of the band up to this point, but somehow they pulled together after his death and salvaged this record by patching together things that already been recorded with help from Martin Duffy from Primal Scream to cover the rest. The final track is supposed to be a tribute to Collins featuring a recording of his voice as a child, but it sort of meanders and fades out.

The end result is mostly OK - three stars I guess, but not one I’d bother revisiting.

https://album.link/gb/i/1450115206

Late snow

Snowdrops under snow
Melting in the spring sunshine
Winter’s last cruel bite

Jack Takes the Floor by Ramblin' Jack Elliott

Jack Elliott was born into a well-to-do Jewish family in New York in 1931 and ran away to join a rodeo at the age of 15. He taught himself guitar and took up busking as a singing cowboy, embellishing his performances with rambling, folksy introductions and earning his nickname. He was a contemporary of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, with an extensive career and much to my surprise is still recording and performing at the age of 94. 

This is engaging and enjoyable folk music, but to be honest I’d swap this record’s place in the 1001 albums list for anything by Connie Converse who was trying to break into the New York folk scene at around this time in 1958, but was shamefully overlooked by the male dominated music industry. 

https://album.link/gb/i/520394049

Tadpole

From a wriggling dot
To a fully formed froglet
Metamorphosis