So, I have decided to start something new for 2014. I am going to listen to a new album every day for the entire year and review it. This will help me to accomplish 3 things:
1. I will be doing something with music and expressing my opinion on music, something that I like to do all the time.
2. I will be exposing myself to 365 new albums, some will undoubtedly come from artists that I would never have listened to otherwise.
3. I will make it much easier to keep track of the things I like and to go through the albums that came out in 2014, next December, when I am compiling my list of best albums.
My hope is to only review albums that have come out in 2014. However, since finding 365 proper releases from this year will be a difficult task, I am going to include reissues of previous albums, provided they are albums I have never heard before. And obviously since nothing has come out yet, I am going to have to start the year with a few albums from late in 2013 until the first new release day.
I don't know if anyone is actually going to read this or if I am just going to ultimately be doing this for my third reason.
So, to get things going, here is the first review:
Artist: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Album: Higgs Boson Blues Live KCRW
Source: Spotify
Pre-listening Notes: I am a big fan of Nick Cave's work. Not just his output with The Bad Seeds, but also the two Grinderman records, and even his soundtrack work. This was a recording done at a radio station and was a 10 song set.
Initial Reaction: Man, Nick Cave has such a distinctive voice. Oh, and I thought this was an EP, at first, but it is actually a full LP. This is real stripped down. I really don't think I gave Push the Sky Away enough of a listen when it came out, because I really like the way this first song (Higgs Boson Blues) sounds.
Random Thoughts: Nice mix of songs here from throughout the catalog of albums. Stranger Than Kindness sounds great! Two more songs from the new album (Mermaids and Push The Sky Away) both sound awesome. I am definitely going to revisit the album in the near future.
Final Reaction: I'm not usually a big fan of live albums, but since this was done in a small studio setting, the sound is outstanding. This, along with the mix of songs from throughout the years, and the different sound to them makes this a pretty great release. It also has me rethinking how much I enjoyed the new album. Overall, this is a pretty great live album and it'll get some more listens from me.
Final Grade: 8.5/10
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment