AZ: The Complete Guide to Insufficiency by David Thomas Broughton

36 weeks late...

C: The Complete Guide to Insufficiency by David Thomas Broughton
As suggested by Chris Sparrow

This is not your normal album. This album was not recorded in a studio with thousands of pounds of equipment. This album was not mixed, adding layers of instruments over each other, compressed, mastered. This album was recorded in a church. This album was recorded in one take. This album is what it is and what it is is simplicity.

This album has a very slightly out of tune guitar.

When Chris offered up this album to the failed fortnightly (not biweekly) A-Z project, he described this album as “mostly just eccentric mumblings over looped acoustic guitar”. And to be honest I cannot add much more to that description.

There isn't much to this review. Then again there isn't much to this album. Sometimes you don't need much for perfection (... the album’s alright too).

6/10
Serving suggestion:
Do not listen to this album if you are yearning for intricate lyrics painting grand vistas or odysseys but more if you are looking for some beautiful music as bed to your evening, before you go to bed or as you stay up into the wee hours of the evening.

AZ: Bows + Arrows by The Walkmen

B: Bows + Arrows by The Walkmen
As suggested by Beth Ward

I find this album a little hit and miss. The first track, What's in it for me is a perfect example; first it's a miss - there's not a lot going on musically and it's just a bit dull, hit - the lyrics are great, they're an orginal telling of the standard lyrical theme, break-ups.
Second song - hit, third - miss, fourth - hit, you get the picture.

So what are you looking forward to when listening to this album? Well if you like the musical stylings of Bob Dylan, Pavement or The Smiths then I urge you to give it a try. Imagine a smush of all of the above with the overdrive turned up high and the temperature turned down low.

So all in all, the lyrics and general feel of Bows + Arrows is really enjoyable but at times the drones and lack of much musical diversity can cause a bit of tedium, which is probably why it's taken me four months to write this piece. Or maybe the reason is that I've just been waiting for the right weather to suit the album.


5/10
Serving suggestion:
Stick it on on a sunny summer's day whilst sipping on that cool beer and lie back and drift into that pre-sun-stroke daze.

I bought a suit the other day

This post is done in a Richard Herring, Me1 vs. Me2, style. I've never actually listened to his multiple personality podcast, however, he tweets enough about it...


Me 1: So David, back in January you made a commitment didn't you? Could you please comment on that a little?
Me 2: Ah yes. Back in January, I made the claim that I would write 26 album reviews corresponding to every fortnight in the year and every letter of the alphabet.
1: ...and what happened to that?
2: Well my first post was a little late, "no matter," I thought; it was easy enough to write and a fair bit of fun. The second album, however, I ran into some difficulty - the words just weren't coming. So I put it off a little. And then a little more. In the mean time, I moved home, which took up a bit of time, and started working more, which took up even more time.
1: So you just kept putting it off?
2: That's right, and now I'm ten albums behind schedule.
1: Will you ever do it?
2: Honestly, I don't know. I can try catching up, but the fact is that I may not ever get round to it.
1: So that's it then, no more blogs?
2: Not at all! The purpose of the A-Z project was to give myself practice writing as apparently it's a useful skill. I'm going to try keep doing some writing on things that more interest me at the time. Not such a long term commitment but maybe it will make the A-Z project come easier in the future.
1: The title of this post is "I bought a suit the other day", care to expand on that?
2: Well with my friend Sam's wedding coming up and a meeting in Italy at the start of next month, it was time for a new one.
1: Can we see it?
2:

Waistcoat FTW  

AZ: After Murder Park by The Auteurs

So here it, albeit at least two weeks late: the first A to Z review. I must have sat down at my laptop half a dozen times with the aim of writing this; putting on Spotify and queuing up the album, writing a couple of sentences and then getting distracted and promptly doing something easier. I guess I've just not been in the mood for this whole writing thing, WHICH COMPLETELY NEGATES THE POINT OF THIS EXERCISE! The idea was to force myself into writing regularly and I scuppered my own chances before I even started. In theory I should have A and B written by now and here I am just ranting about not having written anything!
Best get started then as I have some catching up to do:



A: After Murder Park by The Auteurs
As suggested by Alex Spencer

My first impression was to comment on how fresh sounding this album is. But then I checked on Wikipedia and it turns out it After Murder Park was released in 1996! Well that just goes to show what kind of musical rock I've been under for the past eight years. So if it is not fresh, then I'll say it has aged extremely well - songs such as Unsolved Child Murder and the title track at close of the album are very musically relevant today, with the use of light distortion and strings sections which I feel has become more popular the past few years (see Arcade Fire, I Am Kloot, et al.). Having said that, I do think child-murders have gone slightly out of fashion.

There are a few musical inspirations I picked out on this album; whether these were intentional, real inspirations or just a happy connection made by my mind is a moot point. The first track in particular, Light Aircraft On Fire, has elements of Pearl Jam-esque grunge. I particularly enjoy the extremely well placed atonal moments that keep you on edge, longing for tonality to return. It's strange that this was the track that initially sparked my 'this album has a new feel to it' theory and now here I am comparing it to an even older band!
Buddah seems to me to ape late 70s Pink Floyd a little and every now and then I get a small taste of a PF drum-riff. I'm probably just going mad and hearing what I want to though.
Finally there is some good old-fashioned rocking out to enjoy on most tracks, which could be attributed to a whole wealth of tributes. I'll let you decide on these for yourself. Listening to the album, I caught myself experiencing involuntary head-banging a fair few times. Notable bangover inducers being Land Lovers and Married to a Lazy Lover.


Overall I have to say an interesting album and well worth a listen to. Not the up-to-date album I first thought, but one of those albums which survives the test of time, perhaps because it has elements of some giants before it which still linger on in our music collections. It may not end up on my most-played list but I think it will pop up it's head every now and then. I look forward to introducing myself to some more of The Auteurs music, I just need to make sure I don't end up wanting to see them live as I have a habit to do with dead bands.

6/10
Serving suggestion:
One of those albums which should be played on the walk home after the pub, when your way is lit by the dull-orange glow of the town and you can take your time to tipsily enjoy the music.