I’ve come to the Bee Gees very late in life. What a mistake this was. I used to hate anything disco related. I think it was a fashion thing but this soundtrack is far, far more than disco. Even the disco bits are pretty special. You can’t listen to them without imagining yourself strutting down the street and looking the dog’s bollocks.

At the heart of it all is the songwriting. No matter what style they flirt with, the Bee Gees are exceptional in this regard. This is an amazing soundtrack and one I could listen to with repeat plays all weekend long.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

A Mediterranean Imagined Village companion piece - which in itself is no bad thing. Genres and styles don’t seem to matter. It’s all one big melting pot, innit? I love the mix of raucous celebratory songs, then tempered with some lighter moments. This feels like the soundtrack to some village dance in rural Catalan, with plenty of dancing as well as some more romantic moments.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐

I’m not sure what this album was doing on the list. I’d be hard pushed to call it a classic album. It’s not exactly up there with Dark Side of the Moon, Abbey Road, etc. That said, it is quite a nice distraction and proved particularly useful during a morning of work where I needed to focus. The focus was on the work and not on the music. This just drifted by.

⭐ ⭐

A stone cold lovers rock classic. It even has the cover to match. Don’t judge a book etc, but that classic iconic photo of Carroll sitting on top of some wheels in South London defines the genre. The music itself is just lush, absolutely sweet from start to finish. The emotion and hurt come across in the songs, yet somehow the lovers rock keeps it all positive and uplifting. It’s a mighty fine South London tradition. It’s one I’m happy to return to again and again and again.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

I hate rock. Bailed after one track.

⭐

It’s surprising how much you think you know about Bob Marley when, actually, there’s still more to explore. The obvious tracks leap out here: Get Up, Stand Up, I Shot the Sheriff. but beyond this there’s a lot more of a soulful side to Marley that I’ve not heard before. I’ve never understood why Small Axe isn’t held up as an absolute Marley classic. It has everything: the music, the message, and a masterful delivery. This feels like an album rather than an individual collection of songs. It somehow just all holds together.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

I think you know where you stand when you see a song title of Prison Sex. Christ, this did my fucking nut in. I bailed after 30 seconds. Unlistenable shit.

⭐

A real mixed bag here.

Let’s first start off with the Triffids and their the 1986 album In the Pines. I’ve taken a punt on this purely on the strength of what followed, with Calenture a year later.

I went through a very obsessive phase with Calenture last year after it appeared on the Album of the Day list. I recognised the Bury Me Deep track from radio play back in the day, but somehow the rest of the album passed me by.

I’ve also fast forwarded slightly and bought The Black Swan that followed in 1989. By then I think the band were on the decline.

I love buying random albums that I know I’ve got perhaps half an interest in. I can take a gamble with £3 or £4 or so, and I’m often rewarded with some absolute listening gold.

And then we come to Bruce.

Oh dear.

Only the Strong Survive got absolutely slated by critics and many fans a couple of years ago. It’s basically Bruce’s blue-eyed soul effort.

But Bruce doesn’t really do blue-eyed soul. He’s more of a screw up your eyes, clench your fist, and shout out blue collar anthems.

GRUNT GRUNT GRUNT.

But it’s all good, apart from Only the Strong Survive…

There are some interesting covers on there, such as Frank Wilson’s Northern Soul classic Do I Love You, The Commodores' Night Shift, and even a take on What Becomes The Broken Hearted.

It’s not a poor album but obviously it’s not the first Springsteen album you’re going to turn to whenever you feel in the mood for Bruce. Like many artists of his age, his past is behind him in terms of the recorded output.

I’m nothing if not a Bruce completist. This was picked up for £3 and it will sit quite happily at the end of my Springsteen section, with possible plays if I want a bit of a late night bop with the Boss.

I’m playing catch up here, severe catch up. R pinged this Spotify link through early this morning. It’s the album Anika by Anika from 2010.

Who says we’re behind the times?

He knew I’d love it. I knew he would bloody love it. We’re both suckers for some cold, dry electro-pop with not much pop and a Germanic female voice.

It’s what the Velvets might have sounded like in 2010, right?

Possibly…

I don’t know how this one completely passed me by. Anika is a trio which includes Jeff Barrett of Portishead. The pace of the album is a lot faster than his usual Portishead slowed own beats. It’s all the better for it.

But of course the killer vocals are what define this album. Gosh they are so harsh, so cold, so unforgiving.

The choice of covers is interesting. There’s the classic motorbike ballad, Terry, as well as The End of the World.

The album’s all over after 36 minutes, as all good albums should be.

I wonder what else I missed during my fallow music listening period?

Eye Measure, Why do people vomit? (Rian Treanor Remix)

aka welcome to my world…

via the always excellent Late Junction.