So yesterday I forged on through two more albums, only 240 to go, Ben Folds Five’s 1997 album Whatever and Ever Amen and PJ Harvey’s 2000 million seller Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea.
Both are new to me, PJ Harvey in terms of never having bothered to see what the fuss was all about before and BFF (as I shall not moniker them) out of complete ignorance. After a little struggle to find Whatever and Ever Amen, Spotify lists it as being by Ben Folds, I pressed play without looking into what kind of music I was about to listen to.
Not too sure how I can put my reaction, other than the fact that it made me grin. I love this record. It’s a beautifully woven piece of pop music set over a jazz piano background. It’s incredibly upbeat from the start, the hooks immediately sit nicely in the ear, never annoyingly catchy, just nice to listen to. It’s the upbeat songs that leave their mark, the ballads aren’t up to the same standard, other than the magnificent single Brick. 20 songs slipped by faster than anything so far on the list, I was hooked.
I loved it, the only way I can get across to you what it is is to tell you to go and listen to it. Now, no your work is less important than this, go listen.
As for PJ Harvey I’m sure if I give the album a few more tries it’ll worm its way into my brain, but after about 7 tracks I found myself wondering when it would end. I won’t rush back to have another listen I don’t really know how to describe it other than to say that in a one listen review it didn’t do enough to instantly grab me.
(couldn’t be bothered to write more)
Friday 4 February 2011
Thursday 3 February 2011
Racing to the road.
How can a multi-million pound fire snorting F1 car have any relevance to the Focus I step into every day? I doubt you’ve ever really asked yourself that, but it is the question that is plaguing those who run the sport at the moment.
It’s a question that could hold the key to the very future of the sport. Without relevance to road technology there is no benefit to the manufacturers in taking part other than publicity, they could get more PR for a lot less money.
Today’s tight rules have restricted the development of new technologies in F1. Previously it was the proving ground for all sorts of new technologies that are in the road cars of today. Traction control had its infancy in the early 90s, developed as a major part of Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost’s championship winning Williams cars. Carbon brakes, paddle shift gearboxes, ABS, power steering and a multitude of things you take for granted began in F1.
In 2013 the sport will have a new set of rules complete with a raft of ‘green’ technologies. On the surface they may seem to be merely a bow to the environmentalist lobby, but in reality it provides an important lure for the manufacturers that have run from F1 in recent years. Not just that, it could provide a fast development race for the technologies the car industry needs over the next decade.
In future you can expect these technologies to filter into every day cars. Energy recovery systems from Williams are already appearing in Porsches, Mercedes has its own. These and the new efficiencies needed to get 700bhp from a 1.6 litre engine will provide the ordinary motorist with cleaner, more efficient cars in the future. It may not seem so, but the new rule changes in a billionaire’s playground may be some of the most important in motoring history.
It’s a question that could hold the key to the very future of the sport. Without relevance to road technology there is no benefit to the manufacturers in taking part other than publicity, they could get more PR for a lot less money.
Today’s tight rules have restricted the development of new technologies in F1. Previously it was the proving ground for all sorts of new technologies that are in the road cars of today. Traction control had its infancy in the early 90s, developed as a major part of Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost’s championship winning Williams cars. Carbon brakes, paddle shift gearboxes, ABS, power steering and a multitude of things you take for granted began in F1.
In 2013 the sport will have a new set of rules complete with a raft of ‘green’ technologies. On the surface they may seem to be merely a bow to the environmentalist lobby, but in reality it provides an important lure for the manufacturers that have run from F1 in recent years. Not just that, it could provide a fast development race for the technologies the car industry needs over the next decade.
In future you can expect these technologies to filter into every day cars. Energy recovery systems from Williams are already appearing in Porsches, Mercedes has its own. These and the new efficiencies needed to get 700bhp from a 1.6 litre engine will provide the ordinary motorist with cleaner, more efficient cars in the future. It may not seem so, but the new rule changes in a billionaire’s playground may be some of the most important in motoring history.
Tuesday 1 February 2011
Part four: insert subtitle here
I must be nuts, don’t worry, I haven’t just realised this, I realised it when I first set out on this quest to listen to 250 albums. But hey, it’s actually kinda fun. So let’s move on to album 245 on our list: Norwegian duo Röyksopp’s début album from 2001 Melody AM.
I actually remember a few of Röyksopp’s songs fondly, which is almost a novelty so far in this list. The electronic pop they produce has been widely found on various BBC, Channel 4 and T-Mobile adverts as well as on the playlist of Radio 1. So I was interested to hear what they put out in album form.
It starts out in a very familiar way, the two singles So Easy and Eple. It’s spooky, ethereal music, ideal for the background to whatever else you have to do. Much of the album will prick up the ears as familiar, you know you’ve heard it somewhere before but can’t place it. Sometimes that can be a bad, frustrating thing, but in the case of Melody AM it just reminds you of some beautifully crafted bit of TV, designed to be nice on the eye. The album is a thing of beauty, never crashing into your consciousness, it’s there, just playing along, soothing your mind.
The calm is shattered slightly by the closing track 40 YearsBack/Come not because it suddenly goes all loud and in your face, but because it’s just plain eerie. It’s a chilling way to leave an album, but a very good song. The majority of the album seems a world away from having that many specific influences other than contemporaries like Goldfrapp. But at the end an 80s version of what you’ve been listening to enters your mind.
I like it, it’s intriguing, willing you to listen again, be relaxed all over again and let it just wash over you. Give it a go.
Next we move onto Anthony and the Johnsons’ 2005 Mercury Award winning I Am a Bird Now.
And to be honest, I said I’d say something for every album, so for this my review is: No. Just no, it’s all lovely and high pitched and gentle but just bored me. Sorry Anthony.
The album to grace my ears is KT Tunstall’s Eye To The Telescope. I’ve always liked what I’ve heard from the Scottish singer-songwriter, but, a bit like Röyksopp’s effort earlier it’s an album I’ve meant to listen to, but never gotten around to.
She’s exactly what she says on the tin, a girl with a guitar. Never a style I go for normally, but I find there’s something about her music that gets me. I think it’s because it’s more up-tempo than most. Her voice isn’t the whiny annoyance that the likes of Katy Melua sell records on the back of.
While some of the lyrics scream ‘oh why oh why did it happen to me’ the possible descent into Nora Jones territory is offset by the electric sounds that dominate the background. Vocals come from a voice you’d be happy to hear at any time while the tap along records are partnered by more acoustic sounds like the single Other Side of the World. On release The Guardian said: “Throughout, KT has enough rasp in her warm voice to give it character, and that alone provides an edge over the Joneses of the world.” I can’t help but agree.
I actually remember a few of Röyksopp’s songs fondly, which is almost a novelty so far in this list. The electronic pop they produce has been widely found on various BBC, Channel 4 and T-Mobile adverts as well as on the playlist of Radio 1. So I was interested to hear what they put out in album form.
It starts out in a very familiar way, the two singles So Easy and Eple. It’s spooky, ethereal music, ideal for the background to whatever else you have to do. Much of the album will prick up the ears as familiar, you know you’ve heard it somewhere before but can’t place it. Sometimes that can be a bad, frustrating thing, but in the case of Melody AM it just reminds you of some beautifully crafted bit of TV, designed to be nice on the eye. The album is a thing of beauty, never crashing into your consciousness, it’s there, just playing along, soothing your mind.
The calm is shattered slightly by the closing track 40 YearsBack/Come not because it suddenly goes all loud and in your face, but because it’s just plain eerie. It’s a chilling way to leave an album, but a very good song. The majority of the album seems a world away from having that many specific influences other than contemporaries like Goldfrapp. But at the end an 80s version of what you’ve been listening to enters your mind.
I like it, it’s intriguing, willing you to listen again, be relaxed all over again and let it just wash over you. Give it a go.
Next we move onto Anthony and the Johnsons’ 2005 Mercury Award winning I Am a Bird Now.
And to be honest, I said I’d say something for every album, so for this my review is: No. Just no, it’s all lovely and high pitched and gentle but just bored me. Sorry Anthony.
The album to grace my ears is KT Tunstall’s Eye To The Telescope. I’ve always liked what I’ve heard from the Scottish singer-songwriter, but, a bit like Röyksopp’s effort earlier it’s an album I’ve meant to listen to, but never gotten around to.
She’s exactly what she says on the tin, a girl with a guitar. Never a style I go for normally, but I find there’s something about her music that gets me. I think it’s because it’s more up-tempo than most. Her voice isn’t the whiny annoyance that the likes of Katy Melua sell records on the back of.
While some of the lyrics scream ‘oh why oh why did it happen to me’ the possible descent into Nora Jones territory is offset by the electric sounds that dominate the background. Vocals come from a voice you’d be happy to hear at any time while the tap along records are partnered by more acoustic sounds like the single Other Side of the World. On release The Guardian said: “Throughout, KT has enough rasp in her warm voice to give it character, and that alone provides an edge over the Joneses of the world.” I can’t help but agree.
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