Chilly, Bee

Single chilly bee
Lifted to a sunny spot
Sipping some sugar

Sheer Heart Attack by Queen

I remember the first time that I saw Freddie Mercury on Top of the Pops, with long hair, a fur jacket and half a microphone singing Killer Queen. It was thrilling and transgressive in a way that I couldn’t articulate at that age, but it felt like the future. I didn’t listen to the rest of the album until I was much older, but it still brings back the same feelings.

This was the album where Queen perfected their sound, particularly Brian May’s unique guitar, but all of them were firing on all cylinders. There’s a lot going on here, with a mischievous sense of humour in the opening of Brighton Rock and the jaunty Leroy Brown, combined with some of the hardest rock that Queen ever produced.

It’s sometimes overlooked in the Queen discography, falling between Queen II and Night at The Opera, but I think it’s one of my favorites that never grows old. Listening to Now I'm Here on headphones this morning was still a spine tingling experience to hear Freddie’s voice coming from different directions of the soundscape, and as with all of the studio tricks on this album was one they managed to pull off in live gigs too.

Dynamite with a laser beam-tastic!

Night, Walnut

Night time by the fire
Carefully cracking walnut shells
Feasting on the fruits

Heavy Weather by Weather Report

Classic jazz funk fusion and the opening track Birdland is a genuine banger. After that, it’s very much a case of diminishing returns and a lot will depend on your tolerance for generic mid 70s synth sounds and fretless bass noodling. There is one oddly out of place live track for vocals and drums that sounds like it’s about to get interesting and is cut off - I would have liked more of that.

Cloudy with a chance of showers-tastic!

Dragonfly, Gusts

Gossamer wings beat
Caught up in a sudden gust
Swooping and soaring

Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear

A perfectly amiable folk pop record that sums up how it feels to be on an uninhabited island of the coast of Massachusetts. I imagine. Oddly enough, the track I enjoyed the most was the bonus piano only demo version of “All I Ask” on the end.

Sunbeam, Wind

Dad's Chrysler Sunbeam
Fast as the wind, till he got
A speeding ticket