ohtani's jacket
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Posts posted by ohtani's jacket
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It's crazy how Alcarez was able to win Queens and Wimbledon having played only two tournaments on grass, but at the same time that's a damning indictment on the rest o the tour. It annoys me when people throw out that old line about Federer winning Grand Slams during a weak era for tennis yet here we are with so few grass court specialists.
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Shriekback's Care... Shriekback was a post-punk/new wave band formed by ex-members of Gang of Four and XTC. Pretty good pedigree there. Decent record with a minor club hit in the song Lined Up.
Divinyls' Desperate... if the name Divinyls sounds familiar to you, you may be thinking of that song about touching yourself. Like many one hit wonders, this Aussie pub rock act had a couple of solid albums under their belt before their hit. This is a solid fusion of pop rock, new wave and power pop.
The Comsat Angels' Land... 1983 is littered with albums that are considered the beginning of the end of a lot of late 70s acts. This Comsat Angels record is a perfect example. They had three successful albums under their belt prior to this record and a lot of people point to this as the record where they started to drop off. But I say bollocks to that. If you're listening to this in the context of a hundred or more other albums from '83, it's a perfectly good record. A bit poppier, perhaps, but get over yourself and dance a bit.
Freur's Doot-Doot... Massively underrated Welsh band that doesn't get enough love. You may be familiar with the title track as it gets used in soundtracks every now and again. The band should have been at the forefront of the New Romantic movement but didn't sell enough. They eventually morphed into the electronic music group Underworld, who were prominent in my era. This is the type of LP that the cool kids rediscover.
Sonic Youth's Confusion Is Sex... early Sonic Youth record. Noisy. They didn't quite have the melody and structure of their later records. It's amazing to think that within a few short years they'd become one of the most important groups of the alt-rock movement.
Heaven 17's The Luxury Gap... Ooh, listen to those synthesizers and drum machines! Heaven 17 was started by two guys who broke away from The Human League. They struggled to make an impact at the first, but the singles on this LP did well with two UK top 10 hits. Their objective here was to mix soul music with electronic music, which may sound like an affront to soul music, but most r&b acts had been doing the same thing in the States since the end of disco. I was down with this LP.
A Flock of Seagulls' Listen... I really liked this record. I really like A Flock of Seagulls. Yes, it's not as good as their first record, but it's more Flock of Seagulls, so go ahead and inject it directly into my veins.
Adam Ant's Strip... Here's another record people hate. I get it if you were an Adam and the Ants fan, or if you liked his first solo LP, but to me it was goofy fun. Some bizarre songs, but quirky and enjoyable. He sure does wanna get naked, though.
Thompson Twins' Quick Step & Side Kick... now here's a record that time forgot. This was a top 5 record in the UK but barely cracked the top 40 in the US, which I guess accounts for the fact that it's largely slept on these days despite being a major synthpop/new romantic LP. Very good record. A lot of people find the musicianship in synthpop questionable. The cream of the crop speaks against that.
Gene Loves Jezebel's Promise... Post-punk/Gothic Rock that grew on me with repeat listens. There's a bit of glam rock in there too. This was a keeper.
China Crisis' Working With Fire and Steel: Possible Pop Songs Volume Two... this is one of those records that gets criticized for sounding "so 80s" like there's something wrong with that. My only criticism is that the record label were desperately trying to cash in on similar acts' success. The music video for Tragedy and Mystery swipes liberally from Depeche Mode. Other than that, it's pleasant stuff.-
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I'm back with a new computer.
Xmal Deutschland's Fetisch... Xmal Deutschland were a German post-punk band that leaned heavily into gothic rock. Not dazzlingly original, but not half band either. The female vocalist reminded me of someone but I couldn't quite pin down who I was thinking of. It was a very 80s sounding vocal at any rate.
The Lords of the New Church's Is Nothing Sacred? This was another post-punk act that veered into gothic rock. One of the most fascinating aspects of 1983 music is the different forms that punk is splintering into. The Lords of the New Church formed out of the ashes of the punk band, The Dead Boys, and there style morphed to the point where you have synths on this record and strong new wave leanings. Punk wasn't dead in 1983, but it was barely recognizable from its 70s heyday.
Wang Chung's Points on the Curve... Not sure how a London new wave band ends up calling itself Wang Chung, but needless to say, this is not a Chinese pop record. It's a fairly decent new wave album, to be honest. Lost in the shuffle of '83, but rock solid.
Wire Train's In a Chamber... Now this was a pleasant surprise. I had been complaining that the jangle pop I was listening to didn't live up to the likes of The Smiths, The Go-Betweens, or early R.E.M, but this was the best jangle pop record I've listened to thus far. If I had a third thumb, it would be three thumbs up.
Gary Numan's Warriors... Man, people hate this album. I don't care enough about early Numan to muster that sort of reaction. For my money, it was perfectly listenable. It didn't distinguish itself from a ton of the other music being released in '83, but you would think it was a crime against humanity the way some people go on about it. You try remaining commercially viable in 1983 buckaroo.
The Golden Palominos' The Golden Palominos... this was a no wave record. It doesn't take a genius to understand why the no wave movement started, but beneath all the experimental shit, there's actually some pretty decent funk rock and jazz rock on this record, which my ears naturally gravitated to over the more art enthused stuff.
10,000 Maniacs' Secrets of the I Ching... this was an honest to goodness indie pop effort in 1983. It had a little bit of everything in terms of stylistic attributes, but it was mostly engaging pop music led by Natalie Merchant, who went on to have a distinguished solo career in the 90s.
Altered Images' Bite... another female driven band with the extra wrinkle of a Glasgow band putting a bit of synth polish on their sound. Bit of a forgotten band it seems. Worth rediscovering, if you ask me, as they have some nice tracks and the vocalist knocks it out of the park.-
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Just out of curiosity, I read Fantastic Four #102, which was the last issue Kirby handed in before he quit, and Fantastic Four #103-104, which were penciled by John Romita. According to interviews, the Marvel Bullpen went through the entire gamut of emotions when Kirby quit with some Bullpenners convinced that they couldn't continue the Fantastic Four without Jack. Those emotions eventually turned into defiance and a batten down the hatches approach to continuing with the title. Romita has openly said that he tried to draw in the style of Kirby to make the transition appear seamless. That proved impossible, as you can no doubt imagine. It's difficult to compare the issues story-wise as Kirby handed in the first chapter of a three part story, but you can clearly see a difference in the layouts. Kirby uses far less panels and even draws a awesome looking Namor splash page/pin up, whereas Romita uses far more panels and his two issues are tightly plotted and feature far more dialogue than the Kirby issue. The impression I received was that Stan was far more hands on with the Romita issues given the circumstances. I didn't notice a discernable drop off in quality. If I'd been reading the book as a kid in 1970, I would have kept reading the Romita issues. According to the artist, it was an incredibly stressful experience, but I think he did the best he could under the circumstances. The story pales in comparison to the prime Kirby/Lee years, but Jack had been mailing it for a while before he quit. It's not bad, it's just kind of generic. It's always weird for me to see Magneto as a one dimensional villain, and Namor often comes across as pompous in the Silver Age. It's worth noting that the story ends with a classic Stan-ism about how humans have landed on the moon but still can't achieve peace on Earth. Interesting to see Nixon make an appearance as well, and immediately clash with Reed.
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1983 will never end.
Basa Basa's Homowo: High Music Life... this was originally released in Nigeria in 1979 and re-released in the Netherlands in 1983. It mixes traditional African music and electronic dance music, and it's a bit of a gem really. I'm biased (as in if it comes from Nigeria, it must be good), but this was really good.
Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) and Touch... now we're getting into the territory of music my parents listened to all of the time when I was a kid. My mother was besotted with Annie Lenox (I'm sure someone told her she looked like Annie Lenox or some shit. I think she even tried to have the same haircut at one point.) Did you know the Eurythmics released two albums in 1983? I did not know that. Even as a kid, I realized Sweet Dreams, the song, sounded different from everything else on the radio. It's overplayed at this point, but you've got to appreciate the experimentation. Here Comes the Rain Again is also a great song, perhaps even better than Sweet Dreams. If they'd merged these records into a single album they might have had a classic New Wave record, but musically the records are fairly cutting edge for pop music, and Lenox has a strong presence.
Yazoo's You and Me Both... this is the type of record where if you haven't got a sympathetic ear towards synth-pop you'd probably dismiss as generic 80s music, and let's face it, this type of music is easy to parody along with the hair, makeup and fashion from the era. Fortunately, I love me some synthesizers. This didn't reach great heights, but it was catchy and fun. And it reminded me that Alison Moyet existed. Now there's someone I haven't thought about since the 80s ended.
The Glove's Blue Sunshine... okay, so this is a side project by Robert Smith of The Cure and Steve Severin of Siouxsie and The Banshees. You may have heard of those groups. Naturally, there a lot of people who cream their pants at the idea of these guys working together, which inevitably leads to disappointment when it's not the greatest record of all-time. I'm here to tell you that it's perfectly listenable. Just don't expect greatness and you won't be disappointed.
Men at Work's Cargo... y'know, I've never listened to a Men at Work record before. Now that I've righted that wrong, I can honestly say this was a lot of fun. It's hard to make quirky, humorous records and not wear out your welcome, but these guys were talented and excellent musicians, so that helps.
XTC's Mummer... this was kind of a weird, in-between, transitional album for XTC. It's the kind of record that people will either view as not as good as XTC's other records or massively underrated. I liked it a lot. It doesn't have a lot of standout tracks, but it was steady throughout.
Ministry's With Sympathy... If you didn't know that Ministry started off as synthpop new wave band in the early 80s, you're in for a shock. It's almost like finding out that Dre was in a boy band. I'm sure this gets down voted by people because it's not remotely the same as future Ministry records, but they were a decent New Wave band all things considered and it's not a bad record. I don't think you could sell many Ministry fans on that argument, though.-
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I don't get the Chris Paul trade at all. Doesn't fir their style of play at all, injury prone, doesn't make them bigger. Baffling.
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1983!
The Flesh Eaters' A Hard Act to Follow... The Flesh Eaters were an LA punk band that added an element of Hollywood to their music. The Hollywood fringes, that is. Totally up my alley.
Nick Lowe's The Abominable Showman... not a highly regarded Nick Lowe album, and a questionable album title, but the songs were pleasant. This is the type of album I would have ignored in the past because it's not rated highly enough, but this little project of mine has forced me rethink things a bit and try to appreciate where various artists were at at the time.
Pistones' Persecución... Spanish mix of new wave and power pop. Very pleasant and enjoyable.
Pagans' Pagans... The Pagans were an on again, off again punk rock band from Cleveland that released this raw, lo-fi garage punk gem in '83 and not much else. They're the kind of bands that bands you like cover. If you're into punk, especially from this era, I would add this to your collection.
Loudon Wainwright III's Fame and Wealth... this was the album where Wainwright transitioned from more of a rock sound to a stripped back, wiry singer-songwriter folksinger (with a little help from Richard Thompson along the way.) Not all of the songs worked for me, but the ones that did were excellent, and there is no way that this is the 830-something best album of 1983 like rym is trying to tell me.
Freeez' Gonna Get You... I.O.U. is such a banger of a track. I could easily convince myself that it's the best song of 1983. The rest of the album's not bad, either, if you can tolerate a bunch of whiny Englishmen trying to record a funk album. There was a genre coined called BritFunk, which just sounds wrong.
Gwen Guthrie's Portrait... the post-disco landscape of 1983 wasn't a great time for black female recording artists, which is one of the many travesties of the disco backlash, but they were still working and occasionally getting a Larry Levan remix that was popular in the clubs. This is a perfectly solid example of a working artist's record from '83. Gets the thumbs up from me.
Toxoplasma's Toxoplasma... German street punk. Worth a listen to hear what an angry group of German kids sounds like in 1983.
The Milkshakes' After School Session and In Germany... The Milkshakes is such an innocent sounding name for a band until you hear them make a racket. At first, I was surprised that there was a garage rock band trying to play a Merseybeat style, but considering there were a ton of rockabilly acts at the time I guess it's no surprise that there would be a Merseybeat group too. Fun stuff, more so if you like early Beatles.
Hunters & Collectors' The Fireman's Curse... Hunters & Collectors were a great Australian band. One of the first bands that come to mind when I think of Australian music, actually. This was their second album, and like a lot of the film and music from Australian in the late 70s and early 80s, it is surprising dark. Must be all that isolation from the rest of the world.
Rick James' Cold Blooded... If you're expecting this to be Street Songs, you'll be disappointed, but if you're expecting anything to be Street Songs, you'll be disappointed. This is a perfectly OK Rick James album with some okay songs and a couple of really good ones. U Bring the Freak Out is a good 'un.
Mary Jane Girls' Mary Jane Girls... speaking of Rick James, it's his protegees. James wrote and produced the entire thing, and it's probably the closest he came to being a Prince level producer. The singles are excellent, especially All Night Long, and the rest of the album is fun as well.
Yumi Matsutoya's Voyager and Reincarnation... Yumi Matsutoya is an incredibly talented and prolific Japanese singer-songwriter with a highly idiosyntric voice. Many of you will be familiar with her songs from Kiki's Delivery Service, which used her 70s work for the opening and closing themes. She is mistakenly referred to as a city pop artist by some enthusiastic Western fans, but she was much more than that and an incredibly successful artist in Japan. Voyager is close to pure city pop, which is perhaps where the misunderstanding comes from, but it's a phase she was going through, perhaps tapping into the zeitgeist a bit. Reincarnation is closer to her older style will still trying to push the boundaries.
Yutaka Ozaki's Seventeen's Map... A friend introduced me to Yutaka Ozaki many years ago and his dramatic, soul-wrenching live performances turned my world upside down for a bit. He never came close to capturing that on record, which is hardly surprising since the record company was looking to cash in on his good looks, but the songwriting is there and all of the material he used for those extraordinary live performances.-
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This series feels like the 1999 Spurs/Knicks redux.
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The Rain Parade's Emergency Third Rail Power Trip... okay, so I've finally found a Paisley Underground album that I think is amazing. This was a fantastic record, and could have easily been an indie release in any decade since. Unfortunately, The Rain Parade doesn't have a huge catalogue of work, so I may have to settle for this gem alone, but definitely the best of its genre in '83.
The Cure's Japanese Whispers... I've never been a huge Cure fan. I mean, I like them enough to listen to their records, but they strike me as the kind of band that attract fanatics and I don't find them that appealing. If I'm being honest, Robert Smith annoys me a bit. I used to have a co-worker from the UK who'd give me endless shit for liking Morrisey and the daffodil in his back pocket, and Smith is kind of like that for me. This record did nothing to change my opinion on any of that. Some decent tunes, though.
Big Boys' Lullabies Help the Brain Grow... This sounded more like punk rock/funk than hardcore to me, but not a bad record.
Peter Tosh's Mamma Africa... fairly standard Peter Tosh album. Nothing remarkable about it. An easy listen if that counts for anything.
Billy Idol's Rebel Yell... Rebel Yell is a great song. Nothing else on this LP compares to Rebel Yell, however the rest of the tracks are extremely interesting considering Billy Idol was being positioned as a guy with high commercial appeal. I imagine that if you bought this record in '83 and listened to it until you wore it out that you would love the other tracks on this LP in the way that only a true fan of any album does.
Yello's You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess... LOVE the album name, love the painting of the gorilla on the LP cover, and that's about it... European synthpop. Probably sounded good in the clubs, who knows.
Ramones' Subterranean Jungle... I really wanted to come out all guns blazing about what an underrated record this, but the truth is it's not very good. A couple of catchy tunes but highly mediocre by Ramones standards.
The S.O.S Band's On the Rise... I'm a big S.O.S Band fan, and think Take Your Time (Do it Right) is just about the best song ever, but this LP has one great song on it (Just Be Good to Me) and a bunch of filler.
Hellhammer's Death Fiend... I felt like this was the weakest of the Hellhammer demos. Rough production and the songs didn't feel shaped yet.
Sparks' In Outer Space... So, because it's the early 80s, there are a lot of great 70s acts producing lesser works, not only because creativity has a short shelf life, but because the music business had changed so dramatically in such a short span of time. This could easily be written off as an inferior Sparks record, but I thought it was a perfectly enjoyable slice of new wave synthpop. Certainly not worth getting your knickers in a twist over.
Black Uhuru's The Dub Factor... Black Uhuru released two LPs in 1983, a roots reggae album, Anthem, and this dub record. I'll give you two guesses as to which I liked better. You got it.
The Dickies' Stukas Over Disneyland... this was something of a comeback record for The Dickies and a very good LP. I particularly liked the song about having a hunchback girlfriend.
G.I.S.M.'s Detestation... now here's a record I haven't listened to in a while. I was surprised by how metal this sounded. It almost sounded like a thrashcore record at times. Very few things are as cool as Japanese hardcore even if G.I.S.M are a bit immature at times.
Teena Marie's Robbery... Teena Marie hanging in there with her version of contemporary r&b. A nice record but nothing earth shaking.
The Comes' No Side... Japanese hardcore record with a screeching female vocalist. How can this not rule?
The F.U.'s My America... Now this is what I call a hardcore record... About 15 minutes long and punchy as heck. Excellent.
Depeche Mode's Construction Time Again... this almost comes across as a concept album. I love Everything Counts in Small Amounts (one of my favorite songs of '83), but a grew a little tired of Dave Gahan singing about saving the earth.
The Triffids' Treeless Plain... I'm not sure if people overseas realize how strong the Australian and New Zealand music scenes were during this era. That said, there's always a tinge of cultural cringe when you hear an Australasian band trying to sound like they're The Fall. I know I shouldn't feel that way but it's hard to shrug that feeling, especially when the band is from Perth of all places. BUT, this is an excellent record and David McComb seems like a fine songwriter, so cultural cringe be damned. Check this out if you're curious.-
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I finished Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise (and amazingly managed to do spoiler free.) Despite the fact that I hated a lot of the prose text and song lyrics, completely skipped the Molly and Poo stuff, disliked many of the plot turns, and even some of the characters, and wasn't 100% satisfied with the final issue, it was still a hell of a journey with two incredible central characters. There was one issue during the final stretch that was so amazingly well told that it had me in tears. Moore poured 14 years of his life into SIP, which is impressive given how so many creator owned series wind up abandoned and left to collect dust. Thanks for the ride, Terry!
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1983...
Gary Moore's Victims of the Future... man, this was 80s sounding. There were a number of tracks that could have easily been in a movie soundtrack. I much prefer the grittier, less commercial Japan release from this year.
Crass' Yes Sir, I Will. -- noisy anarcho-punk. Lots of bitching about Thatcher's England. I've had my fill of bitching about Thatcher over the years, and to be honest, this was completely over the top.
Mariah's Utakata no Hibi... Mariah were a group of well-known Japanese studio musicians who formed a jazz-fusion group that dabbled in progressive rock and other genres. Here they go totally art-pop with an avantgarde mix of Japanese synth pop and Armenian folk songs. This is the kind of thing you'll either appreciate as an interesting LP or disregard as hipster crap. I can't see much middle ground myself.
Subhumans' The Day the Country Died... more anarcho-punk. I liked this better than the Crass album. It was recorded in 5 days and mostly plays off George Orwell's 1984. I'm not an anarchist, so the message here doesn't mean a lot to me. I'm in it for the music, and personally this wasn't hardcore enough to really excite me.
Randy Newman's Trouble in Paradise... this was a solid Randy Newman album. It was pretty much what you'd expect from him -- strong songs, clever song-writing, and witty lyrics.
African Head Charge's Drastic Season... dub fans think this is amazing. I found it monotonous. Not my favorite genre of music.
The Barracudas' Mean Time... Now we're talking... garage rock with a mix of power pop and jangle pop... how could I not love this? Looking at the music landscape as a whole in '83, there was definitely room for revival acts to have a little fun with their music and The Barracudas are tops.
Los Abuelos de la Nada's Vasos y besos... Argentinian new wave, pop rock, yes please! I'm totally aware that I have an unfair bias towards this because it's Spanish and from another country, but I love it anyway. Lyrically it could be the shits, but musically it pricked up my ears.
Tracey Ullman's You Broke My Heart in 17 Places... I'm old enough that i remember when Tracey Ullman was popular. I read a neat quote from Ullman about how she likes visiting record stores and finding her old LPs mixed in with far more famous records. She was going for a retro Girl Group vibe here, but she does a comedy bit on the version I listened to where she does different accents, which was a specialty of hers, and I swear she would have made a better punk rock vocalist than a Ronette.
Malcolm McLaren's Duck Rock... this basically alternates between hip hop and African music. It was an important LP at the time of its release, as it helped spread both forms of music to a wider audience. I liked it, but I'd argue it's more famous than good.
Herbie Hancock's Future Shock... this album doesn't have a great rep. I don't know if that's because jazz fans hate it. It's not as bad as its rep suggests, although there's nothing on the record that matches the brilliance of Rockit. If it had been entirely scratch based and more of a turntablism LP, I probably would have liked it more, but Hancock was also embracing the emerging electro and synth funk scenes, and those tracks don't work as well.
Willie Nelson's Tougher Than Leather... Willie Nelson is a National Treasure and one of the greatest living American songwriters. He wrote this while he was in hospital with a collapsed lung and meditating on reincarnation. It's a followup album in a way to Red-Headed Stranger, just not as good. Basically, it's Willie Nelson, and if you can't find something to enjoy here, I don't know what to tell you.
Was (Was Not)'s Born to Laugh at Tornadoes... this didn't sound like any Was (Was Not) that I've heard. So weird. I listened to this a few times, and I began to appreciate how clever it was lyrically and dig some of the songs, like "Knocked Down, Made Small (Treated Like a Rubber Ball)" with its brilliant low budget music video, and "Zaz Turned Blue," an awesome cocktail jazz blues song that they get Mel Torme to sing. I think it's the guest vocalists that threw me off on the first listen, as they get a ton of people to sing on this, including Ozzy Osbourne, Marshall Crenshaw, and the Knacks' Doug Fieger. It's not really the art funk from their first LP, but art pop. Commercially unsuccessful, but I'm glad I gave this another shot because it gets more rewarding with each listen.
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Nah, that was on an EP they released called The Last of the Mohicans.
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More from '83...
Hellhammer's Triumph of Death.. another demo tape from the Swiss band, Hellhammer. There wasn't a lot of extreme metal being recorded in '83, so kids like Hellhammer had to turn to hardcore punk for inspiration. Poorly received at the time, their demos were later recognized as some of the earliest examples of black metal and became highly influential. Two of their members went on to form Celtic Frost. Pretty cool in retrospect.
Nile Rodgers' Adventures in the Land of the Good Groove... Nile Rodgers was in a tough spot in '83. The backlash against disco had crippled his career, and he was still transitioning into his role as a writer-producer. He disowned this album later on, claiming he was doped up and unsure about what he wanted to do musically, but Bowie liked it enough to have Rodgers produce Let's Dance. More interesting than good, but not a bad LP.
Johnny Thunders' In Cold Blood... they sure were putting out a lot of Johnny Thunder records in '83, including this cobbled together double album (a mix of studio and live recordings), but that's okay because I freakin' love Johnny Thunders and spent a couple of days with You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory stuck in my head. Quintessential rock and roller, died young and left behind a brilliant catalogue of music. Love all of his stuff.
Cybotron's Enter... important electro album. Bit of a mixed bag. I've never been a huge techno fan, so take my words with a grain of salt. Could be a classic LP for all I know.
Change's This is Your Time.. Change were kind of middle of the road as far as funk bands go, but they always produced highly quality boogie/synth funk records and this was no exception. Like many of the better r&b acts from this era, they were able to mix it up with male and female vocalists, and the songs get better with every spin.
Pulp's It... it's crazy to think that Pulp were around in '83. This has its fans, but I found it to be largely forgettable. I don't know if Cocker was aping Morrisey, but it sounded that way to me and I found it annoying.
Social Distortion's Mommy's Little Monster... this did nothing for me. I dunno why. It's been a long time since I've been on a punk kick, but I did love that Dicks album. I guess I don't really care about the things bands like Social Distortion are rallying against.
Toy Dolls' Dig That Groove Baby... humor based punk is the worst punk if you ask me.
Bow Wow Wow's When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going... I was not expecting to like this as much as I did. The opening track, Aphrodisiac, is such a great song and sets the tone for the rest of the LP. I love Annabella Lwin's vocals. Hard to believe she was 16 or 17 at the time and wrote all of the lyrics.
Husker Du's Everything Falls Apart... I absolutely love Husker Du's debut record. I don't know why this doesn't get more love. It kicks so much ass.
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The Celtics are the latest victims of that old adage, "You never know if you'll get back again."
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Sound President Odion Iruoje's Down to Earth... Nigerian Afro-funk. Won't change your life or anything, but pretty dang cool.
The Raincoats' Kitchen Tapes... The Raincoats were an all-girl post punk band that Kurt Cobain made famous. Their first LP, in particular, is fantastic. This is a live album that's mostly acoustic. It's a bit of a mixed bag. Some songs work, and some are a bit weird. I don't think it adds a ton to The Raincoats experience, but ymmv.
Maanam's Night Patrol... I've always loved the Polish new wave band, Maanam, but I found this fairly unremarkable. Nothing to really sink my teeth (ears?) into.
King Kurt's Ooh Wallah Wallah… This was a UK psychobilly act that dabbled in a lot of different genres and covered a wide variety of songs. It was hard to tell at times whether they were taking the piss, but I'm gonna assume that there was genuine affection for the styles they were drawing from. Definitely a fun record.
Neats' Neats.. This was a mix of psychedelic, Paisley Underground and post-punk, which on the surface sounds vaguely interesting, but this was decidedly mid-tempo and... average? Cool cover, though.
The System's Sweat... The System were Prince wannabes, but there are far worse things to be than a Prince wannabe. You're in My System is one of the great dance tracks of 1983, I can tell you that much.
Alien Sex Fiend's Who's Been Sleeping in My Brain??? -- this doesn't live up to the name of the band, or the name of the LP. Disappointing.
Tom Tom Club's Close to the Bone... Man, I love Tom Tom Club. People claim this doesn't live up to their first record, but they're ungrateful so and sos. Pleasure of Love is such an amazing song. This needs to be re-released instead of existing as a crappy vinyl rip.-
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Still in 1983...
Kano's Another Life... this is Italian disco with a touch of synth funk and synth pop. It's cheesy, and awesome. Don't tell me you expected anything less.
V8's Luchando por el metal.. I love listening to metal from different countries, but I couldn't get into this Argentinian group. They weren't really heavy enough for my liking, and definitely not fast enough. More hard rock than metal (to my ears.)
The Creatures's Feast... I kept thinking this sounded like Siouxsie and the Banshees, and lo and behold, it was Siouxsie. The Creatures were a side project she did with her bandmate, Budgie. They almost had something with this record, but it wasn't as good as their Banshees output. They got close enough that I could see people championing the LP if they particularly like post-punk music, but personally, I'll chalk it up as an ambitious record that doesn't quite work.
Red Rider's Neruda... this was supposed to be new wave but it sounded more like heartland rock to me. Definitely didn't sound anything like the new wave that was coming out of the UK, New Zealand and Australia, or the New York club scene. It wasn't bad, but there was way too much guitarwork in it be new wave.
The Replacements' Hootenanny... The Replacements were about to become a much bigger deal over the next few years. In fact, I wouldn't disagree with anyone who argued they were the best band of the 80s. I can see that. But don't sleep on this early EP. It has all the energy and excitement of a great band that's on the cusp of breaking out. Great record.
Makoto Matsushita's Quiet Skies... this is such a beautiful record. Proof positive that city pop could be equal parts smooth pop and progressive rock. Highly recommended.
Mtume's Juicy Fruit... The Biggie sampled Juicy Fruit dominates this record, but I thought this was a really tight LP with a unified theme, and an excellent funk/soul album from an era where that type of music was dwindling.
Shonen Knife's Burning Farm... early Shonen Knife record. They hadn't quite mastered their Ramones-style bubblegum pop yet, but Shonen Knife are a pure joy. I could lock myself in a roomful of Jonathan Richman and Shonen Knife records and be happy for the rest of my life.
P-Funk All Stars' Urban Dancefloor Guerillas... cut and paste what I said about the George Clinton album. Same deal here, but I'm happy that this album exists. A lot of the time, I quit listening to an artist's discography because I reach the stage where their albums are no longer highly rated, but you miss out on a lot of good things when you do that, and in particular, you can hear here how this LP may not be groundbreaking but is a positive addition to the soul/funk catalogue from 1983.
Midnight Star's No Parking on the Dance Floor... the main track from this album is a really great synth funk song (one of my favorites from 1983.) The rest of the album was excellent as well. I have a soft spot for this era of funk -- Midnight Star, Lakeside, Dazz Band, Zapp, the S.O.S Band, etc. Some folks may not like the fact that they traded real instruments for synthesizers, but the real question is, does it make you wanna dance? And it does.
J.J. Cale's #8... this is J.J. Cale doing his thing. It doesn't sound like he gives a shit about what's happening in the charts, and you've got to respect that. A little bit of blues, a little country, some folk... A musician's record.
The Nomads' Where the Wolf Bane Blooms... Good Lord, this is awesome. Swedish garage punk! I absolutely loved this. This is why you go digging in the crates (metamorphically speaking -- doing it online is a shitty substitute.) Now I need to listen to everything these guys have ever done.-
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83.
Mike Oldfield's Crises... so, Moonlight Shadow starts, and I'm like, "Hey, I know that song! That was Mike Oldfield!?" That song's a banger! Love the guitar solo. The rest of the album is great as well. It's a mix of art pop and prog but super accessible. I imagine there were fans of Oldfield's older stuff who hated this shit, but I'm down with radio friendly Mike Oldfield.
The Durutti Column's Another Setting... this was okay. It was dreamy, ambient post-punk art pop (I really enjoyed stringing those words together!) Most of these records are first listens. I'm kinda listening for a song or two I like that makes me want to hear more from the artist. Plenty of the records deserve a second listen, but it's all about first impressions for now.
Johnny Thunders's Hurt Me... this was excellent. Acoustic folk punk from the New York Dolls and Heartbreakers' Johnny Thunder. I'm a big fan acoustic singer-songwriter types, and the fact that this is folk punk makes it all the better since punk and acoustic guitar don't immediately match. This could easily be an indy pop record from the 00s.
The Nits' Omsk... The Nits are an art pop band from the Netherlands. I like a lot of their singles, but this didn't really come together as a unifying whole.
George Clinton's You Shouldn't-Nuf Bit Fish... there's always something to enjoy on a George Clinton record, even a minor one like this. We're getting further and further away from the heyday of Parliament and Funkadelic, but Clinton is still experimenting and producing interesting music. Half the appeal of P-funk, for me, is the clever word play, and I dug the lyrics on this.
High Power's High Power... French metal! This was awesome! Now I'll be honest, this could have had the worst lyrics in the history of metal and I'd be none the wiser, and there is an element of me that likes this because it's French, but screw it, it rocked and it was cool that it was in French.
The Fleshtones' Hexbreaker! -- garage rock with a touch of power pop and new wave, just to keep with the times. Highly enjoyable.
Joan Jett and The Blackhearts' Album... this wasn't as highly regarded as some of the earlier stuff that Joan Jett had done, but that probably doesn't mean as much in 2023 as it did in 1983. If you like Joan Jett, this is more of the same and a record you should listen to.
Mink DeVille's Where Angels Fear to Tread... I love Mink DeVille, just like I love every band that came out of the CBGB scene, but I never got this far in their discography. This was, I wanna say, pretty close to the end stretch for those bands in terms of their peak, but a really good album from an awesome band.
DeBarge's In a Special Way... this was one of the better contemporary soul/funk/r&b/boogie records of '83. The production sounds a bit dated at times, but they were trying to sell records. Trippy moment when the sample from I Ain't Mad at Cha drops.
Alan Vega's Saturn Strip... I didn't know that Alan Vega from Suicide had a solo career. I also didn't know that he recorded idiosyntric synth punk. He looks like Prince on the cover. This was cool.
Martha and The Muffins · M+M's Danseparc... I'm not gonna lie, I totally listened to this because of the band's name. Didn't disappoint. Quirky post-punk new wave. I dug it a lot.
Gary Moore's Dirty Fingers... I liked this a lot. This was an older recording from Thin Lizzy's Gary Moore that was shelved in favor of something more radio friendly and released in Japan (back when Japan did that sort of thing.) Thank you, Japan! There's some cheesy, of-the-moment songs wailing about imminent nuclear war, but hey, people were legit scared. Mostly it's Moore playing the crap out of his instrument. Very cool.
Stray Cats' Rant n' Rave With the Stray Cats... rockabilly is a fun genre, and the Stray Cats are a fun band. i believe they're still playing (they recorded something for their 40th anniversary a few years back.) I guarantee that if you like this, you'll delve into their back catalogue. Super, super fun.-
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Yep, 1983.
Marc & the Mambas's Torment and Toreros... this was a style of music called Dark Cabaret, which was almost like spoken word over the top of new wave, art pop. Some interesting songs, especially the up tempo tracks, but a wee bit difficult for yours truly.
The Three O'Clock's Sixteen Tambourines... this is a Paisley Underground record. I keep saying how much I love jangle pop yet I'm so picky about it. I was never that big on the 60s psychedelic sound,so I've never gotten too deep into Paisley stuff. In fact, I always mistake it for a Prince side project. The album was okay.
Black Flag's Everything Went Black... this was just okay? It felt like a comp tape of early pre-Rollins Black Fag material, including a shit ton of radio ads for Black Flag gigs. Cool vibe, but as a record it felt disjointed.
Cabaret Voltaire's The Crackdown... nice record! I struggle immensely with industrial, but add a little electronics to it and hey presto, you've got one of the more distinct sounding of the era. For a borderline synthpop, new wave act, this was very anti-pop. I dug it.
Dicks' Kill From the Heart... I love music, but I don't really know dick about it. What I do know is that one barometer for how much I enjoyed an album is whether I instantly want to hear more by that artist, and I definitely want more Dicks.
Ritual's Widow... part of the fun of being an early 80s metal band had to be choosing the band name, then deciding on the album name and the cover art. I can only imagine these guys being a bunch of pimply-faced, greasy UK teenagers, getting high and spit balling the most metal ideas they. A lot of early metal & NWOBH blends together after a while, but this guys were going the whole occult route, which not that many UK bands did (from memory) and there tinges of doom metal here and there. Decent stuff.
Severed Heads' Since the Accident... industrial record. Huge struggle for me, but that's more on me as I should have known better than to listen to this. Sounded like something stuck in the dishing washing machine.
Asmus Tietchens' Litia... I'm not a big electronic guy, and was never that comfortable on the dance floor with that type of music, or on any kind of dance floor really, but this German electronic album was decent background music (is that a sin?)
The Fixx's Reach the Beach... Very good new wave album. This was solid the whole way through. The kind of album where if you get into the top new wave releases from this year and you're looking for more, this is the perfect tonic.
Takanaka's Can I Sing? -- this album is a perfect example of why people enjoy city pop, as Takanaka blends jazz fusion into his pop tapestry and produces another hidden gem for western ears.
Verbal Abuse's Just an American Band... this either sounds like a bunch of snotty-nosed American teenagers or an awesome hardcore LP. I vote for the latter.
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8 hours ago, supremebve said:
You expected this to suck? Tears for Fears is fucking awesome. Songs From the Big Chair is one of the best albums of the 80s, and they were always taking risks and trying new shit. Of all the 1983 albums you have reviewed, this is the album I would have assumed was the best just based on the band.
I don't think I'd ever listened to a Tears for Fears record before. If someone had mentioned Tears for Fears,I would immediately sang "Shout, shout, let it all out."
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1983...
X's More Fun in the New World... technically, X are a punk band, but they cross over into any sorts of genres like power pop and rockabilly, and frankly, they're fun, they rock, and make me happy. Big tick for this record.
Ilegales's Ilegales... one of the best rock albums of 1983. Rock was in a tight spot in '83 with hard rock and AOR losing a ton of ground to punk and metal. Bands like Illegales were clever enough to embrace punk, post-punk, new wave, art punk, and still rock.
The Ex's Tumult... straight out of the Netherlands, we have one of the best post-punk records of '83. Post-punk is one of those genres where you're really listening for something clever and brilliant to distinguish it from the multitude of other post-punk albums out there, and this delivered in spades. They released another record in '83 that paled in comparison. Probably not a great idea to release two albums in the same year unless you're a jazz musician.
Krokus' Headhunter.. straight heavy metal, but gotta respect OGs that came up from their 70s hard rock roots and were part of the first wave of metal. Enjoyable record.
Loquillo y Trogloditas' El ritmo del garage... Another fun Spanish rock album. This one had more of a garage rock sound. Kudos to Spain for keeping good old fashioned rock alive in the early 80s.
Bauhaus' Burning From the Inside... I was expecting this to be heavier than it was, but it was a lot peppier than you'd expect from a goth record. Almost like new wave goth music. Not bad!
The Robert Cray Band's Bad Influence... Super fun. Maybe I spoke too soon about those Spaniards. This was super enjoyable blues rock.
Cleaners From Venus's In the Golden Autumn.. this was okayish. I love jangle pop so much that I have super high expectations for it, which leads to a ton of disappointment when those expectations aren't met.
ESG's Come Away With ESG... speaking of expectations, this completely blew mine away. I knew it was a dance punk album, but I didn't realize it would be quite so danceable. They were clearly influenced by James Brown and other funk acts, and the punk element really came from being part of the New York punk scene. This was a bit of a find for me, personally. Strong influence on hip hop and dance.
Toshiki Kadomatsu's On the City Shore... soooo 80s. City pop meets yacht rock meets smooth jazz. Japan was still in the midst of its economic bubble and this was every yuppie's dream of a beach vacation somewhere in Okinawa or Guam. Nice record.-
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There is ZERO chance Jimmy stays on that Rockets team. Jimmy, Chris Paul and James Harden co-existing? Forget about it.
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RIP, Andy.
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More from 1983...
António Variações' Anjo da guarda... this was fantastic. A sublime mix of art pop, synthpop and new wave from Portuguese singer-songwriter, António Variações. Sadly, Varjacoes only released two records before his untimely death at the age of 39, but what incredible records, mixing contemporary pop with traditional Portuguese rhythms and melodies.
Acid's Maniac... Belgian speed metal band. Metal was still in its infancy at this time, but it was an incredibly exciting time for the genre with bands popping up in every corner of the globe. I like speed metal A LOT, so I was down with this. They released an earlier self-titled album in '83 that wasn't as good (didn't really care for the female vocals, tbh.) Stick with this record.
Soft Cell's The Art of Falling Apart... this was so fucking weird. Soft Cell are one of those bands where you know they were famous for covering Tainted Love, then you listen to one of their LPs and realize they are nothing like you expected... So much weird shit like a Jim Hendrix medley and a bizarre, psychedelic song about a boy named Martin where they keep chanting "Martin! Martin! Martin!" endlessly. Memorable, if nothing else.
Big Country's The Crossing... perfectly acceptable mashup of early 80s styles. An easier sell than a lot of post punk records mentioned, and even some new wave LPs, too.
The Fun Boy Three's Waiting... didn't leave any real impact one me, which is possibly why I've never heard of this new wave group.
Tomoko Aran's Fuyū-kūkan... a few years ago, the internet discovered Japanese city pop, largely through YouTube, I believe, which I guess is a thing now, and not surprising since Japan is absolutely useless at exporting its music to the world. So, nowadays, you get a lot of city pop album recognition when the genre had been all but forgotten in Japan. I love city pop, but it was basically yuppie music. This album, however, is a lot more sophisticated than I was expecting and almost reminded me of a Japanese Sade.
Normil Hawaiians' More Wealth Than Money... one of those albums that washes over you, then goes back out like the tide. It came and it went.
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It's a miracle the Celtics won in 2008.
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Fantastic Four #105-106 concludes Romita's caretaker stint on the book. According to Romita, he sweat through the four issues he penciled, desperately trying to emulate Jack's style. He must have been relieved when Buscema took over. Romita gets flak for his pencils not being Kirby-esque, but he's not the type of artist who can draw crazy machinery, and there's no way that anyone could emulate the panel layouts that sprang from Jack's imagination. Romita's pencils are tight and heavily focused on storytelling. The script is detailed, but there aren't a lot of dynamic looking panels. The "villain" in the second story isn't a heavy hitter, and Romita doesn't get a lot to work with in terms of producing a story worthy of the World's Greatest Comic Magazine. The women look good, though. Crystal gets written out of the series quick as a flash. I wonder whose decision that was. Reed is constantly shouting at everyone. I can't understand how such an incredible genius as Reed can have these sudden emotional outbursts. It makes it seem like he's frustrated by how stupid his wife, brother-in-law, and best friend are. He even tears strips off a fellow scientist in issue #106. World's biggest asshole? Stan chucks in an obligatory anti-war message without exploring the theme too much beyond a couple of lines about powerful weapons not being the solution to ending wars. So, where are we at? The book hasn't nose-dived since Jack left, but the artist is under immense pressure and there's no evidence that Stan can come up with new characters going forward. It will be very interesting to see how Lee handles the book the rest of the way.