Album
Noah’s Barks pages relating to music albums.
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Tindersticks – “The Waiting Room” (2016)
The Waiting Room sounds like a different band trying to rip off Tindersticks’s sound but failing at it because they aren’t Tindersticks. However, this is Tindersticks, so that’s concerning. Doubly so, because their previous album, The Something Rain, is one of the best they’ve ever done, reinvigorating their noir-pop songwriting with its longtime close cousins of chanson, sophisti-pop, and… (read more)
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PJ Harvey – “The Hope Six Demolition Project”
Oh man, The Hope Six Demolition Project might be PJ Harvey’s worst album. Maybe excuse the “might,” possibly, (probably). It might as well be definite considering her prior record of consistently always delivering something of interest with her eclectic tastes and many ways of posturing herself. To begin with, the lyrics here are particularly bad.… (read more)
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The Brian Jonestown Massacre – “Take It From the Man!”
Were The Brian Jonestown Massacre the kind of band to take risks? With a terrible name like that, I’d assume so. They began their career as promising shoegaze tag-alongs. When it was evident shoegaze had no immediate future, they coincidentally reinvented themselves with the sound of ’60s British garage rock in Take it From the… (read more)
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Primal Scream – “Chaosmosis”
On Chaosmosis, Primal Scream go retro with an archaic array of flat, thumping synth beats that recall new wave bands from when the term actually meant something for a moment: those once-bohemian brits who mixed burgeoning synth pop with rock such as The Human League and Duran Duran. Bobby Gillespie even tries on his lower register occasionally so… (read more)
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Jeff Lynne’s ELO – “Alone in the Universe” (2015)
Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) were a band primarily popular in the ’70s due to their unique combination of elaborate, classical instrument arrangements over combinations of light pop rock and progressive mini-suites. There’s no band quite like Electric Light Orchestra in the perpetual boiling pot of ’70s music, a band both conservative and kitsch. They were… (read more)
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Deep Purple – “Stormbringer”
I want to like Stormbringer more than I actually do. Well, that describes my feelings towards Deep Purple in general. But this one’s kind of an underdog: it marks uncharted territory for the band with the funk addition which actually works since Coverdale doesn’t opt the vocal mannerisms of funk like a lot of lame… (read more)
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The Monkees – “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.”
The fourth album by The Monkees is among the greatest rock records of the ’60s, exceeding all expectations. (read more)
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The Dresden Dolls – “The Dresden Dolls”
Much, much better than expected. The main thing here is that despite The Dresden Dolls founding their own sort of punk cabaret rock they don’t rely on it for the songwriting, which is the main problem with most dark cabaret albums. The amount of variety in tempo and rhythm between songs is a fantastically pleasant… (read more)
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Belle and Sebastian – “Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance”
Ah, fuck. On Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance, Belle and Sebastian were just a minute too late. Everyone made a big deal about Reflektor, but Arcade Fire couldn’t groove their way out of a paper bag. Turns out Belle and Sebastian totally can, but if you were to upgrade to plastic, they’d probably be… (read more)
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Belle and Sebastian – “Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant”
Yo, get out of here slow-tempo Belle and Sebastian haters, ‘Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant’ has some of their most immaculate arrangements. (read more)