Hilbert_Cheesecake is obsessed with the following albums....

...as of Monday, the eleventh of June, two thousand and seven!

(A non-negotiable list of eight unrelated albums perfect to cure your music slump! Available at your friendly local independent music dealer.)




Brian Eno/John Cale - "Wrong Way Up" (1990) This is the first of a few albums on this last that I've already reviewed in depth on the site; I'd still like to discuss it here as well. Eno and Cale come together for the most flamboyantly mainstream record of either of their careers, but with such a rich quality. The drum machines are distinctly late 80s - early 90s, but the music goes so far beyond those textures. Listening to the harmonies and strings on "Spinning Away", you'll swear it's coming from a higher power. The entire album is smothered with a quality that only improves with age; I've owned it for six months and have only become more and more addicted. Don't neglect this forgotten masterpice.

LCD Soundsystem - "Sound of Silver" (2007) I'll go ahead and say it - 2007 is half over, and this is the record of the year so far. Straight out of left field. More than any other artist in the ball-sweat soaked indie world today, James Murphy seems so happy and conscious of the way the music sounds. He's clever as a pin, but never overly pretentious or *growl* ironic. He's creative, but never at the expense of groove. He just gets it, ya know? Why do my balls itch so much?

Menomena - "Friend and Foe" (2007) ..which would make this my second favorite of the year, also sure to pop up on my year end list. A new "experimental" group from Oregon, yet the only thing "experimental" about their biz is the computer software (Digital Looping Recorder, Deeler for short) they invented to rule the songwriting process. Drummer says:

"First, we set the tempo of the click, which is played through a pair of headphones. We then take turns passing a single mic around the room. One of us will hold the mic in front of an instrument, while another one of us will lay down a short improvised riff over the click track. We usually start with the drums. Once the drums begin looping, we throw on some bass, piano, guitar, bells, sax, or whatever other sort of noisemaker happens to be in the room. Deeler keeps the process democratic, which is the only way we can operate."

The result is colorful, to say the least. Multiple vocalists, saxophones, just pulsing with musical ideas that come and go, making me grin like a goon. At times, the raw drum sound evokes "Clouds Taste Metallic"-era Flaming Lips, with a ton of atmospheric keyboards thrown in for good measure. A heavy dose of melody, too. My favorite track is "My, My", in which the clown-voiced singer wonders, "What if all my enemies were dead? And I could forget everything they said?" over a gorgeous organ drone. Music for the sake of music, and it's wonderful. Don't pass up this underappreciated pop meal in favor of Of Montreal newest plastic-poppin` garbage or MIKA's neauseating neutured offering.

Thelonious Monk - "Brilliant Corners" (1956) You know, "Kind of Blue" still gets the position as the quintessential fities dinner jazz choice. I suppose I shouldn't argue - it is pleasant, it is generally appealing, lovely, clean and diverse overall.

And yet, I can't help but feel that "Brilliant Corners" has so much more goddamn character. A vague fifties swing feel, poly-rhythms galore. Difficult and melodic. Masterful and raw. You can have your Kenny G and eat him, too, but "Brilliant Corners" is filled with the type of jagged musical ...er, corners straight outta Compton. Highly recommended to cure that music slump of your's. Call me in the morning.

The Pogues - "Rum, Sodomy & Lash" (1985) There's something about "Rum, Sodomy & Lash" that didn't make sense to me at first. I'll confess - it's my first Pogues record, my knowledge is limited. Perhaps the accents pissed me off. Perhaps the Irish storytelling held no meaning for me. Perhaps I'm just fucking sick of the Dropkick Murphies to the point that I had no interest of figuring out who they ripped off.

I was wrong.

The punk-meets-Irish folk of "The Sickbed of Cuchulainn" is a fine (if not quite subtle) way to become initiated, though it's the slower tracks that seem the most wonderful for me. "The Old Main Drag" is a waltz, melodic and vivid with a story of one's first experience with England. With the he-males and shemales. You know. "A Pair of Brown Eyes" and "Dirty Old Town" are both similarly effective. The album closes with a drawn out rendition of "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda", which Tom Waits previously covered on the "Small Change" album; he returned the favor by placing "Rum, Sodomy and Lash" among his favorite albums and writing the liner notes.

Sinatra/Jobim - "Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim" (1967) My interest in 99.999% of old Frank's music is non-existent at best (thought it works as a soundtrack to every Baby Boomer's conception), and yet this collaboration is just sublime. Indeed, it's perfect for falling asleep, and, mind you, that's no insult. Somehow, Jobim's gorgeous world-music backdrop and Tropican....I mean, Bossanova influences provide a perfect canvas for Frank's tales of loneliness and...more loneliness.

"What can you say when a love affair is over?"

You can say, "Start the album over again." The jazzy textures are endlessly entertaining. The whole affair (no pun intended) is disturbingly quiet and restraine. However, the best tracks are when a wee bit of swing and a pinch of pop shine through - "The Girl from Ipanema" being the obvious highlight (see: great songs blog), "Baubles, Bangles and Beads" is the "Sloop John B" of the album, and it's irresistable. Or "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars" and "I Concentrate On You", both melodically enhanced by Jobim's silly, silly background touches. "Change Partners" is another instant classic.

Souled American - "Around the Horn" (1990) Ah, Souled American. That forgotten treasure in the dark, dark annals of alt-country history. They're from Chicago and that's all we know. The tunes are lethargic, claustrophobic and rich. I'd like to do a full-length feature on this site on Souled American when I collect some more of their hard-to-find records, so for now, I'll just discuss "Around the Horn".

The guitar is warbly and strange. Vocals are high and haunting. Bass is slippery and awkward. "I Keep Holding Back the Tears" was written by a band member's mother. The end.

P.S.
The first line of the album is "Watches know their time is right, beaches know they're more than sure/shore." It's a special song, with a brilliant octave-jumping melody, followed by "Second of All", which employs rather similar ideas, to a slower, moodier effect. How about "Old, Old House", which is utterly miserable in its pace and mood.

"Rise Above It" is even more plodding and exhausted. "My sweethearts gone left me...and my little sister, too." When that singer's voice cracks, it's such a perfect soundtrack for that 3:am bottom of the barrel siesta. The song drags on with the moaning and awkward guitar picking. Some perserverance song this is! I love it.

Three strangely upbeat instrumentals, but still a tad bit awkward and twisted. A touching reinvention of Little Feat's "Six Feet of Snow", with a great vocal performance from some other dude who I don't think sings on the other songs. Fuck it, I can't capture this album, but it's a subtly addictive moan. For fans of Neil Young's so-called "Ditch Trilogy". For fans of desparate, primal alt-country. For fans of music.

Tindersticks - "Tindersticks [II]" (1995) Eh, I've already attempted and failed to explain why I love it so much. The weight of the world lingers (no, trembles) on Stuart Staples voice, yet a sliver of light shines through the string arrangements. It is a dark and rewarding journey indeed. It's a dark, samey, dreary experience but, once again, I can't get enough. "My Sister", specifally, is a wonderful piece of art. Stick these tindersticks in your pipe and smoke it! For fans of British baritones and 3/4 time signatures.

"I swear she could read your mind, your life, the depths of your soul at one glance. Maybe she was stripping herself away, saying :

Here I am, this is me.

I am yours and everything about me, everything you see...

If only you look hard enough.

I never could."



I had a muffin for breakfast.

"Tindersticks II" by Tindersticks, 1995

I can see little twinkly stars, like Christmas tree lights in faraway windows.
Rings of brightly coloured rocks floating around orange and mustard planets.
I can see huge tiger striped fishes chasing tiny blue and yellow dashes, all tails and fins and bubbles. - "My Sister"

I continue to find that the music that I gravitate to the most is that which contains a contradiction of sorts. The type of music that remains dark and claustrophobic, yet with just the right bright bright twinkles. The type of music that manages to sing about giraffes atop a backdrop of ear-bleeidng guitar noise, or the type of artists who write about the Black Plague and turn it into a children's game. Or perhaps a satan-voiced englishman describing a fifteen year old beaten by a gym-teaching husband by a bullworker, all the while grooving to a tapestry of strings, vibes and horn farts light enough for a dinner party?

Tindersticks' second (self-titled) album is characterized by Stuart Staples haunting baritone floating amid a plethora of diverse, orchestrated instrumental templates created by multi-instrumental guru Dickon Hinchliffe, grooving upon the hazy 3/4 rhythms atop a bed of iceberg lettuce and mesclun greens, lightly sprinkled Gorgonzola and a drizzle of raspberry vinaigrette. Served lightly chilled.

Of course, I could continue with such mundane descriptions of what one hears when tapping one's foot to this rich tapestry, but would it really get across what one feels?? For example, could I possibly describe the tone of Stuart Staples' voice when he breathes, "Do you ever want to take that knife and discover?" in "Snowy in F# Minor", before leading into a haunting instrumental refrain of dark strings, moaning guitars and descending horn notes?

The answer is no. Somewhere between Love and Nick Cave lies this delicate musical balance. Contradiction, as I've previously discussed.

Hey, Allmusic.com! How would you describe such brilliance?

"While Stuart Staples' songs remain as obsessive and haunted as before, he wards off his demons with fits of pitch-black humor and a more tender perspective."

Wow, good description, Allmusic! How do you feel about global warming?

"It is true that Aaron Carter's second album is slightly less creepy than his first, simply because his voice has broken and he no longer sounds as much like a child singing about things far beyond his years. Still, the basic approach hasn't really changed, and he's still singing songs that are clearly directed at kids but written with distinctly adolescent, even adult, overtones. Even songs that are meant to be light, frothy love songs are too knowing about sexuality, always hinting at things that young Aaron just shouldn't know about."

Right on, Allmusic.com!

The album starts as a whisper - "El Diablo En El Ojo" fades in with gentle guitar strums and strings so light they're barely there. "I wouldn't turn the lights down yet. `cause they're things you gotta see," mumbles Stuart as the song builds up to a dreadful cacophony of squealing strings and incoherent speaking. But then it stops. Completely.

The strangely titled "A Night In" is another highlight, characterized by a trip-hop drum beat and more trembly singing about "shoes full of hope", callouses and cots.
The best song here by miles? The aforementioned "My Sister", which is an utterly haunting, spoken word ode to a cursed sister; Staples' British monotone almost fits like merely another instrument, yet remaining the only constant among that constantly evolving elevator music.

"We buried her when she was 32. Me and my aunt, the vicar, and the man who dug the hole. She said she didn't want to be cremated and wanted a cheap coffin so the worms could get to her quickly. She said she liked the idea of it, though I thought it was because of what happened to the cat, and our mum."

The last song worth mentioning in detail is "Travelling Light", an emotional duet with Carla Torgerson of The Walkabouts (the who?), an odd sliver of pop fitting between the pitch-black side two of the record.

That's not to say it's a perfect album. Seventy minutes is indeed an ambitious length for a musicalbum of this style, causing many of the slightly less memorable tracks to fade together as one slow-as-sin, dreary death ballad ("Sleepy Song", "Seaweed" and "She's Gone" are among the innocent victims here). Three instrumentals, albeit short ones, is also midly excessive, espially when one considers that:
a) "Vertrauen II" and "Vertrauen III" are nearly identical.
b) Both are disgustingly difficult to spell.
c) "Singing" is a ridiculous title for an instrumental
d) Roger killed Piggy with a boulder.

But still, Tindersticks has got to have rules and obey them! After all, they're not savages!