April 2012 archives
Archive
April 29, 2012 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1513
Steely Dan, Pretzel Logic (1974) A key album this – for both the band and me. It was the first Steely Dan LP I heard – the first album away from all the singles I knew and a couple of Greatest Hits-type compilations. It’s also the bridging album for the band between being an actual [...]Archive
April 28, 2012 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1514
Jeff Beck, Flash (1985) It’s the worst Jeff Beck album – I’m pretty sure of it – but I had probably the opposite reaction to it when compared with another album from the same year by a guitar hero struggling to be relevant in the 1980s – that being Eric Clapton’s Behind The Sun, which [...]Archive
April 28, 2012 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1515
Eric Clapton, Behind The Sun (1985) So many of the big stars of the 1960s and 1970s really struggled to get to grips with where things were at in the 1980s. It’s as if they tried the same old tricks while being talked into the technology/recording techniques of the day – resulting, almost always, in [...]Archive
April 26, 2012 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1516
Parliament, Greatest Hits (1984) I’ll buy more Parliament on vinyl – but this is a handy thing to have in the collection. I’ve got plenty of George Clinton-fronted material on my iPod, in my CD collection but this has already been handy during DJ sets – and it’s a good starter-kit/sampler. My nearly six-month-old son [...]Archive
April 25, 2012 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1517
Dr. John, In The Right Place (1973) I guess the new Dr. John album has me re-enthused. It’s great when that happens. The new album is good – as good as a Dr. John album in 2012 could/should be – but the best by-product has been going back through his early work. I checked out [...]Archive
April 25, 2012 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1518
Tricky, Maxinquaye (1995) It was $50. And so I left it in the shop for a week to consider it. I figured that if it was gone when I went back it was not to be. If it was still there I’d think about it. But that’s bullshit – if it was gone I woulda [...]Archive
April 24, 2012 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1519
The The, Soul Mining (1983) Only recently I decided to work through the catalogue from The The. I got turned onto the band by its obvious hit – The Beat(en) Generation. And I still like that. Remember it from when it was released. It didn’t sound like much else that was happening around my ears [...]Archive
April 23, 2012 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1520
David Bowie, Diamond Dogs (1974) “This ain’t rock’n’roll…this is GENOCIDE!” One of my favourite David Bowie albums – in as much as I have half a dozen of them. The post-Ziggy Orwellian concept-album/rock-opera with Bowie’s own shitty guitar (which I love). I’ve been loving, lately, seeing the straight line with Bowie albums (not the same [...]Archive
April 23, 2012 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1521
Joe Walsh, “But Seriously, Folks…” (1978) “Yes, I’d like to remind you, I’m running for president. Appreciate your vote – and here is an industrial love song” Sample Track: Life’s Been Good The Vinyl Countdown is a document of every LP I listen to, brand new discoveries and old-old favourites; extremely pre-loved, previously abandoned or [...]Archive
April 23, 2012 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 1522
Eurythmics, Revenge (1986) What a great run on side one, first three songs: Missionary Man, Thorn In My Side, When Tomorrow Comes – this is an album I know well from my childhood. Another of the albums that the whole family loved; that mum used to play very loud (and very often), accompanying vacuuming and [...]Archive
April 22, 2012 by Simon Sweetman