Tony

The new Divine Comedy album is gorgeous. In case you were wondering…

Sinners - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2025)

Ordered this immediately after seeing the film and it was worth the wait.

The songs from the film have an immediacy that the modern inserts don’t & the full takes allow appreciation of nuances that were missed in the film.

#nowspinning #vinyl

Never for Ever - Kate Bush (1980)

Kate Bush managed to be completely out-there when it came to experimentation but still make songs that are easy on the ear. I don’t think it’s just because it’s familiar now as this album was #1 in the UK; were audiences more adventurous then?

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The Game - Echo & The Bunnymen (1987)

The lead single from their self-titled fifth album, it’s not their most iconic release. More commercial definitely but also less unique. They’re starting to sound like other bands.

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Songs to Learn & Sing - Echo & the Bunnymen (1985)

Gathers their key singles, from Crocodiles (1980) through Ocean Rain (1984), and closes with a new track, “Bring On the Dancing Horses”. Unusually for a greatest-hits compilation, it actually plays like a coherent album.

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I don’t know the actual law but I’ve always thought there should be a distinction between taking someone else’s musical idea and tweaking it to make a slightly different version and taking hundreds of samples, each a few seconds long, and making something completely new a la “Frontier Psychiatrist”.

Kamakura - Southern All Stars (1985)

Their most ambitious album, reportedly taking over 1,800 hours to make. Like most double albums, it’s not flawless; several gems (“Kamakura Monogatari”, “Minna no Uta”, and “Wasurerareta Big Wave”) but a lot of forgettable tracks as well.

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Ys - Joanna Newsom (2006)

Reminds me of Mary Margaret O’Hara’s “Miss America”, bending notes, swooping delivery.

It also feels like homework disguised as music: clearly technically brilliant, but too dense to relax into.

This is going to take multiple listens to get into.

#nowspinning #vinyl

It’s the hope that kills you. #PorIrl #COYBIG

Love Zombies - The Monochrome Set (1980)

Pop music with a whimsical eyebrow permanently raised. Imagine a surf band playing songs written by Oscar Wilde. Love, death, cinema and religion all get sent up.

“Adeste Fideles” is my stand out. You can almost smell the incense.

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I LOVE SHEILA HANCOCK 😂🤩

#HIGNFY

A Love Supreme - John Contrane (1965)

In modal jazz the musician limits themselves to a single mode, exploring phrasing and tone within those constraints.

Reminds me of Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime”, multiple rhythms within a single repeating bass line.

New Wave=Jazz?

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Yes, of the three albums I’ve listened to, this is the most coherent. That said, one great debut album and “Somewhere in my Heart” is not too shabby by way of a legacy.

Workers Playtime - Billy Bragg (1988)

Less shouty than earlier albums. It’s still political but, instead of rallying cries, he’s singing about how ideals fit into adult life. Tender, thoughtful, and politically sharp without preaching. Our Billy’s grown up but not given up.

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High Land, Hard Rain - Aztec Camera (1983)

Roddy Frame was a teenager when he wrote this, which is both hard-to-believe, given the sophistication of the songs, and obvious, given the mix of optimism and self-doubt that runs through them.

Production can be a bit dated though.

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I’d say the opposite - most of the books are funny on the surface, thoughtful underneath and you need to have some life experience to appreciate his point.

Dad’s books are full of empathy, common sense, and a healthy suspicion of the powerful. But at its heart his work is also about how systems keep people poor while pretending it’s their own fault. So I hope Kemi’s taking notes as well as reading the jokes.

Love - Aztec Camera (1987)

More polished synth-pop with a hint of R&B that was probably aimed at the U.S. and maybe helped make Love their most successful album.

“Somewhere in My Heart” is the standout, simple but infectious, but other songs are derivative & tip into cliché.

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Rainy Sunday Afternoon - The Divine Comedy (2025)

The most inward looking album since “Absent Friends”, reflecting on aging, mortality & memory. His trademark lyrical storytelling & lush orchestration is unironic here, instead giving weight to themes of vulnerability & loss.

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a man in captain america 's uniform says i understood that reference ALT: a man in captain america 's uniform says i understood that reference

Thanks for the early morning smile. I needed that.

Days of Future Passed - The Moody Blues (1967)

The concept of a symphonic suite mapping the course of a single day from dawn to night works even if it’s hard to not compare the orchestral interludes to Fantasia. Band songs are stronger and Nights in White Satin is a classic.

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For Your Pleasure - Roxy Music (1973)

Eno (not Brian in the credit notes) was responsible for Synthesizer and Tapes & he pushed their second album into avant-garde territory with some strange and unsettling mixes, but Brian Ferry’s detached vocal delivery grounds things nicely.

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Country Life - Roxy Music (1974)

Not what I expected from Brian Ferry’s band. It’s got the crooning, the jazzy feel but also an edge that I didn’t expect. Glamorous but laced with weirdness and menace.

This is the boring cover which was sold in the puritanical USA from 1975.

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Yoshitomo Nara

Although, to be fair to me, it’s spelled incorrectly on the sleeve as well.

Kimi Ga Suki - Matthew Sweet (2003)

After visiting the Yoshinori Nara exhibit at Aomori Museum of Art, came across this in Tokyo so bought it for the cover.

Turns out it’s dense guitars, big hooks, early-90s power pop. Very happy.

And they say not to judge by the cover?

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The Long Acre - In Tua Nua (1990)

This folk-rock blend is passionate, rooted in Trad, and melodic, with Leslie Dowdall’s voice carrying it into timeless territory. Not as globally recognised as it should be, but well worth revisiting.

This is the US pressing.

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Explicit Material - Blue in Heaven (1986)

More of a live feel than the heavily stylized production on their debut. Guitars forward, vocals clearer, it’s more a rock album than hazy post-punk.

This is a Japanese pressing, very quiet.

The Blue Hearts – The Blue Hearts (1987)

Raw, fast & unpretentious punk from the Japanese version of the Clash, this is a landmark album that brought punk to the masses. It closes with “Linda Linda”, one of the most famous Japanese rock songs of all time (and a karaoke staple.)

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Tin Drum - Japan (1981)

Generally regarded as their masterpiece, art-pop aesthetic inspired by East Asian music.

Interesting on an intellectual level but maybe too cerebral and some songs slip from minimalist to monotonous. Cannot see myself listening to it again.

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Knife - Aztec Camera (1984)

Aztec Camera moved from jangle to mainstream pop with more ambitious arrangements overseen by Mark Knopfler behind the production desk. 

I should be a fan but, after the first couple of songs, it degenerates into heavy handed ballads and loses me.

#nowspinning #knife