What's a Listening Log? Well, the idea is quite simple. It's a weekly segment that consolidates all the mini-reviews Dozens Of Donuts has given on RateYourMusic over the past week, split between the Past and Present. A straightforward grading scale has been put in place, ranging from A+ to F-, with C acting as the baseline average. There is no set amount of reviews per week, just however many I get around to reviewing. And don't expect week-of reviews. I wait one month - with at least three listens under my belt - before I rate and review an album. Enjoy!
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1967 | Psychedelic Pop | Listen
AROUSING THE CORNUCOPIA OF ALTERNATE REALITIES
Boy am I glad to have persisted through The Beatles' sluggish, downright bland first leg. The payoff came later than most, as A Hard Day's Night failed to deliver expectations, meagerly ousting their first two outings, Help! succumbed to Paul McCartney and John Lennon's trivial, often regurgitated lyrical content, and Rubber Soul - while good, and the first Beatles album I hold in positive regard - was held on flimsy planks by a few excellent standout performances. Revolver and now Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band are, therefore, the first compositional works The Beatles entertained, advancing the format of the album further than just a collection of songs. Here they fully embrace their psychedelic leaning, leading to another revolutionary album that, while not as good as Revolver, still holds up immensely well generation after generation.
The striking album cover mimes the music's kaleidoscopic inhibition, with a vast array of color and panache. Right from the get-go, with the Big Band orchestral rendition of 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' that incorporates the slight Sound Collage chatter we witnessed on 'Yellow Submarine' and 'Tomorrow Never Knows,' my two favorite's from Revolver, we see The Beatles submerging themselves in a cacophony of iridescence. The seamless blend into 'With A Little Help From My Friends,' and onwards, is another moment of music progression Sgt. Pepper helped kickstart, along with the title track reprise which is pretty shocking given the 1967 release date. There's still a few prosaic Pop Rock ballads that sneak in, like 'She's Leaving Home' and 'Lovely Rita,' but the number is shrinking in favor of artistic expression, something Sgt. Pepper has in abundance.
Ringo Starr steals the show on 'With A Little Help From My Friends,' with an understated charismatic sneer that I love. 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds' entwines absurdism and surrealism with kooky and constant transformations. 'Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!' delves headfirst, almost irritatingly so, into carnival inanity with unfettered regalia best suited for a clown car and mirror maze. But none travel so far into the unknown as 'A Day In The Life,' breaking barriers just as remarkably as 'Tomorrow Never Knows.' The unnatural structuring, evocative lyrics, lack of a hook, piercing orchestral crescendos, use of silence, and prophetic Sound College loop all find their influence dotted across the next 50 year of music's landscape. It is a boundary-pushing song for the sake of boundary-pushing, all while having an ear to the ground of 1967 topicality in a way that imprints 'A Day In The Life' akin to a time capsule for a particularly dire moment.
B
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1990 | Neo-Medieval Folk | Listen
RELIGIOUS ZEALOTS BOWING TO THE SISTINE CHAPEL
Somehow I stumbled upon Dead Can Dance's Aion without knowing the extent, and popularity, of their discography. Truthfully, Aion struck me as an album without many followers, an outlier in the early 90's, borrowing only from the receding Darkwave movement with its cold aesthetic and rigid exterior. To know of their popularity, however cultish, was quite surprising. Dead Can Dance's pious dedication to Neoclassical Darkwave on Aion presents one of the most committed, integral, and sincere depictions of medieval music I've ever heard. Remove 'Fortune Presents Gifts Not According To The Book,' 'As The Bell Rings The Maypole Spins,' and 'Black Sun' from the recording and Renaissance dwellers, whether plush or bumpkin, wouldn't bat an eye to the passing grifters frolicking about playing this. Aion is extremely regressive in that sense, reviving something so far removed from societal norms that fascination grows once more.
However, without those aforementioned songs, the LP falls flat without much resilience to stand on. They're easily the three best, and thankfully the three longest, as Brendan Perry's enriched vocals gasconade across 'Fortune Presents Gifts' and 'Black Sun,' while Lisa Gerrard incorporates Catalonian music rife with woodwinds, bagpipes, and impoverished drums on 'As The Bell Rings.' All three thrives with their respective styles, using modern forms of music composition tastefully, something that's amiss on the litany of songs that feel like little more than fleeting ideas. Examples include 'End Of Words,' 'Wilderness,' and 'The Promised Womb.' Atmospherically-rich? Absolutely. Particularly inviting and engaging to listen to? Hardly. Aion's an album of impressive heights, enveloping style, and finite depth.
C
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Where does the distinction lie between my appreciation of Low-Life in respect to Power, Corruption, & Lies? Mostly, quality. Evolution, New Order dared not endure, especially after the success of 'Blue Monday' yanked them out from under Joy Division's shadow. Given Movement's rather tepid transformation period, Power, Corruption, & Lies hit me harder than a textbook follow-up ever could. On Low-Life, Bernard Sumner's wispy vocals and melancholy lyrics pour out of the same New Romantic vein, while New Order's overall production - uptempo, meddlesome, and rococo - abides by the same rites and rituals set forth on their previous LP. There are moments of splendor, mainly the intro ('Love Vigilantes') and outro ('Face Up'), along with the irreversible cheesiness 80's chivalry awarded us. Aka a rather standard New Order album.
Why am I partial to 'Love Vigilantes' and 'Face Up?' Well, they're the two that incorporate a slight touch of hopefulness, something that drew my attention towards Power, Corruption, & Lies' best works. In fact, 'Love Vigilantes' bears aesthetic similarities to 'Leave Me Alone,' while 'Face Up' does the same with 'The Village.' They're all lovely compositions weaving tales of heartache and comfort, expectation and reality. Where Low-Life falters lies in the doldrums of 80's Pop, overwrought with grief and desperation, as seen on 'The Perfect Kiss' and 'Sooner Than You Think.' 'Elegia,' a glorified interlude clocking in at five minutes, doesn't help the flow of the album either, especially as it fails to build to something relevant like '5-8-6' from Power, Corruption, & Lies. Overall, an inconsistent, awfully predictable record that manages to contain intrinsic beauty amidst a rubble of sappy tears.
C
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The Books undoubtedly have a style all their own. That I can respect. Much like their debut LP Thought For Food, Lemon Of Pink delicately weaves disparate samples through pastoral Folktronica textures that aim to heighten all the senses. The distinction between the two albums can be read as such: Thought For Food handles the Folk element better - with the ingratiated, agrarian romance of 'All Our Base Are Belong To Them' and 'Motherless Bastard' - while Lemon Of Pink improves upon the Sound Collage aspect. There aren't many beautiful moments that linger here, as The Books are content mismanaging (purposely so) the varying elements they concoct. Tracks like 'The Lemon Of Pink I,' 'S Is For Evrysing,' and 'Take Time' frantically rumble through asymmetrical passages, amounting to a sound that - while chaotic and cluttered - still manages a great deal of soothing intrigue. Like a rainbow, variegated by nature, but wonderfully composed and ornate.
While each LP is admirable, I tend to favor Thought For Food, if only for those aforementioned songs which signal distinct highs, and the fact that Lemon Of Pink doesn't distinguish itself aesthetically enough to warrant praise in that regard. 'Take Time' is likely my favorite track here, but it would rate fourth on their debut (taking into account 'Getting The Job Done,' amongst the others). However, 'Take Time' is easily The Books' best single piece of Sound Collage, a composite example of their craftsmanship where each twang, clank, quip, snap, and echo is manufactured, auditory brilliance. While it's the best example here, much of Lemon Of Pink is just as pleasing to the ear. It's like a visualizer for the ear, an unseen stimulant that sparks imagination through tactility and sensation alone. I'd argue it's also the more consistent of the two records, as the final six cuts (excluding the dull, largely lifeless 'Don't Even Sing About It') aspire to The Books' goal of tantalizing. Could've done without the unavoidable interludes though; I'm looking at you 'Explanation Mark' and 'PS.'
C
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