Useless info alert

This is the album I own:



...but I have no recollection of how I ended up with it, or even if I liked it really.  

Just looking up the definition(s) of Katzenjammer (cat's wail, discordant sound, confusion; uproar, a severe hangover headache) .  Great band name.  I'm going in.

They're good.  Lady Grey is probably my favourite of those, but I'd be wanting a bit of A Bar in Amersdam at a show.  The ramshackle Gogol Bordello (on less acid) approach is perfect for gig goodtimes.  Definitely hearing the Dresden Dolls too, good shout, but the soundalike seems to shift from track to track.  Did Le Pop this morning too, so I'll chuck this in as it got the toes tapping:



This one sounds like Anais Mitchell (on acid).

ghah, 2 out of 3 vids not working, but the first was good enough to have me listening to a full album now.

So my go again.

Proving tough to come up with names that aren't obvious and/or that I heard of through here, so redundant.

With all of that in mind, I thought I'd go with Sananda Maitreya.

Who, you say? Well, it's not that obscure, because in true poor man's prince styles, it's actually just Terence Trent D'Arby.

The gist of his story should be well known. Massive first album, ego the size of earth. Second album was weird, with no singles. Dodge production, dodge songs, and inaccessable. 

Minor comeback with third album - his best, on balance, IMO. And then his last major label jobbie didn't do so well, even though it was pretty great.

Anyhoo, dude has basically one of my absolute favourite voices ever. Whatever list thread about vocalists you want to throw at me, I have him in top tier. (Freddie probably number one, but wow it's close, and there's some stuff TTD does that continues to blow me away that no one else comes close to.)

And talking about the voice is what you have to do, because the songs and lyrics are WILDLY erratic in quality. 

He's continued to churn out stuff, and continues to do so. Releasing it all himself online etc, and these days, its all just up on youtube etc.

He's been prolific in a very Prince kinda way, and like prince there's some massive filler in there. Blues based blah, with dodge production in true 90s artists style. 

However, there's an absolute bunch of amazing tracks in there, and he's continued to pump out live vids as well, and his voice is still IMPECCABLE.

When the songs and lyrics even rise to pretty good, then his voice will take it over the edge. And when the song/lyrics are top notch, it's over.

Will add 3 tracks from different eras, all live. 



(Beatles cover)



(Holding on to you, Live. From 4th album.)

great example of his pretentious but somehow it works lyrics. Plenty of examples of it not working. When he rides in the soul lane, oh my.



Change of plan. Not live. From 5th album, first self pub. 

Also, wow, name change is pretty special. Out Deepak Chopra's Deepak Chopra, it seems.

Anyone else getting a playback error on those videos?

@moot, third and first.

It's quite varied though.  He sounds like a cross between John Cougar Mellencamp and Bob Seger on this track, which isn't how it started off at all.

g.man wrote:

Had a tinker. Should be working now.

Nice one, G.

Moot_Geeza wrote:

It's quite varied though.  He sounds like a cross between John Cougar Mellencamp and Bob Seger on this track, which isn't how it started off at all.

It's aged badly in a lot of respects.

A lot of the choices in programmed drums and keys sounds are of the time and probably won't come around again (although who knows).

Do you love me like you say you do is much better live.

The variety is definitely a strength though.

Being raised on Queen I always like genre jumping.

Agree re soul/ballad. See my choice of 3. However, I do like full gravel as well.

I've been trying to think of the voice it reminds me of, and it's Anthony Hamilton's. They don't sound that similar, but they've got a mostly buttery delivery with something going on behind the curtain. I'm really concentrating on typing properly but I may be too drunk to explain what I mean properly.

Heyo. Give me a little bit.

Up next we move onto where I first met the band. One of the last things I saw before I moved to America was the opening of the Scottish Parliament, which they played at. I didn't know anything about them, and was not particularly enamoured with them. They recorded with Dave Eringa (hello, fellow Manics fans) following that and this gave birth to a slightly more tight production than their previous output. This was "100 Broken Windows".

I need to preface this by saying that "Windows" is in my top 5 albums of all time and is an album that I will listen to from start to finish at any opportunity. Indeed, as I right this, I am on 'Roseability' - but I digress. 

Following that Parliament Gig, It was Christmas 2000 and I was living in Salt Lake City. It was cold, it was snowy, it was shoveling a foot of snow every morning to get to school. It was, probably a 4 Yorkshiremen sketch. 
My best friend in Scotland send me a Christmas present that didn't arrive until January, and it contained "100 Broken Windows". I still have the note he sent with it inside the CD case. It says "Cheer up ya wank here's some good tunes, love XXXXX"
So, "100 Broken Windows" is an album tied to 15 year old Reg, and that's a powerful link. What follows could have been a track by track, but I'm going to try and limit it to as few as I can. 
There was a connection made in the music press with this album to R.E.M. another band I do enjoy a lot - I can't quite see it myself, explicitly, but I'd be interested if anyone else does. 
I sometimes think of this album as a Winter album due to the time of year I received it, and the warmth of some of the later tracks, but it also works well blasting out of your car in the Summer. 

So, let's go.

I'm going to skip the opener and move on to "I Don't Have The Map" because it's a good bridge between first and second albums. "Map" is a noise track by them, but there's a couple of important things to notice - the lyrics and the singing have both become more Scottish focused - more about 'islanders' and Woomble's twang is clearly apparent.



I adore this song, because it's one of the few times Woomble fucking goes for it at the end, and it's a banging second track, especially with the sudden switch off at the end. 

The next track, 'These Wooden Ideas' is one of my first real loves. It was hearing the organ in the pre-chorus that did it for me, which then carries into the chorus, with a huge guitar swell. It's fantastic. I also don't understand the lyrics 'This Wooden Idea is a method of repetition / This Wooden Idea is how you sell reduction' - so that's cool too.



YOU'RE POST MODERN!

I can't not mention 'Roseability' which I would credit with my push into English Literature studies (no fucking joke) as I had to look up who Gertrude Stein was after this, then fully impressed my Sophomore year High School teacher with knowledge of her work. At this point in their Idlewild, it's easy to see the push into pop music that would preface their work with Stephen Street on the next album.



I still appreciate the suitably vague lyrics in the era of Malkus at el, however.


So I'm gonna be scummy and put two together here. Let's start with 'Let Me Sleep Next To The Mirror'


The chorus of this, with the descending notes, is incredible. Again, it's about writing and literature, and this all fed into a young H brain. 

For some reason I put it with 'Actually It's Darkness', which is a heavier track, but they have the same sound in my head.


I do prefer the chorus of Darkness far more than 'Mirror', but again, both are really starting to push into a pop sound. At this time, Idlewild were touring with the Manic Street Preachers (on their This is My Truth tour) and then Ash (on their Free All Angels tour) so that sort of fits with the sound. What's good about 'Darkness' is the middle 8 where the piano kicks in, and that sort of hints about where they go next. 

Leading to... Fuck. I'm going to pick only one of the last two tracks, but listen to both. 

So I have chosen 'Bronze Medal' as it fits with the journey of where we go next, but ALSO listen to 'Quiet Crown'!



A huge direction from the rest of the album, bringing in piano, and really setting the tone for where they were going to go next. Perhaps too far, but this is a really nice middle point. Also, the lyrics, again. Throw the television on the fire. 


On to "The Remote Part"

So, above mentioned 'You Held' was released. The band had moved up further into the Highlands, and this was more and more apparent in their lyrics, and, importantly the final track of their album, which may still be their magnus opus. 

Following 'You Held', Radio 1 put it on constant spin - I remember this as I was over in the UK visiting my sister, who was at university in St Andrews, and my mum kept complaining as we drove that it was either Idlewild or Oasis ('The Hindu Times') on the radio. 

So, given their new status, and with the resurgance of U2 around this time ('Elevation', 'Beautiful Day'), Idlewild joined the cohort of bands who did a huge old epic. Thus, 'American English'



Call me a big old softy, but this song still sits in my heart, and as person living in America who was not American (but also not English!!!) as a foolish 17 year old, I thought it was about me. Fucking tit. Anyway, the song still holds up and the chorus is a good un. The shift from "100 Broken Windows" is clear here, but there's some places in "Remote Part" where it's closer. 

They got away with 'A Modern Way of Letting Go' getting released, which would probably have fit in with the Kerrang-isation of the charts (Hello QOTSA) at the same time. It's definitely a holdover from a previous album that's been given a sheen up. I like it.


Two more tracks I want to flag up are not singles. 'Stay The Same' to me, is the closest to an "100 Broken Windows" song, and was on constant repeat with me at the time. Again, it has the Stephen Street sheen, but the chorus again is huge, and their pre-chorus is a little playful. 



It's pretty great, and would have happily sat on "100"

Finally, I want to flag up the final track, and the one that definitely signals the shift to "Warnings/Promises" - 'In Remote Part/Scottish Fiction' - aka my wife's favourite song of all time. 

This really is an incredibly song that signalled a shift in their direction, and their focus in terms of music. The hints of something more folky are there in the initial chorus, and the lyrics become even more Scottish focused. Then there's the bridge

 

Getting poet Edwin Morgan to not only write, but narrate the bridge of the song is fucking audacious - making it the loudest part of your song, more so. It's incredible, and gives me goosebumps every time. 

This, however, definitely signalled the shift into their mid 00s work, much more folky, and involving Woomble solo work.

Nowadays

Hand on heart I was going to guess Idlewild when we did the guessing game. Haven't listened for years and used to love their earlier stuff. Plus my favourite of theirs is in there. Looking forward to this.

poprock wrote:

You’re supposed to pick three songs ya daftie.

But carry on, it’s a fun ride.

Didn't realise. Am gonna see it out