The Superficial View: A time for some records… 0
Happy 2011 everyone! or should I say bloody hell it’s almost May. It has been pretty crazy the first four months of the year and at the rate things are going, I don’t think it’s going to get any easier.
Poor Bunny Ears was ill the last long weekend(not to worry, nothing serious, just a case of bunny flu) and it looks like this lil’ bunny is going to miss Uncle Will and Kate’s wedding too(boo hoo). But the good news is, this unforeseen diversion from the quest to conquer the world has given me time to dig out some records that I’ve found a while back, but has never actually had the time nor the right frame of mind to play them.
Verdict, it was fantastic- not all the records, but the exercise. It’s funny how some songs you thought you knew so well in your head could sound so different, and how something that’s bad back then, remained bad now. But having said that- I should add- on the contrary, how something that was really good back then, could still be very very good now. In fact, it is so good, it totally deserves the honour of being a classic or perhaps seminal to some(it’s a matter of opinion really).
Ladies and Gentleman, I’ll like to share with you(drumrolls…) the records that kept me company last weekend.
First stop, the fearless Sonic Youth – Goo. But first, I have to admit- this is not one of my finds. It got played simply because it was already on the player. Verdict- for some very strange reason, two things came to my mind when I played this; Kurt Cobain(Nirvana) and Velvet Underground. Doesn’t make sense does it? The timeline is all wrong! Well, perhaps it does make sense in some strange twisted parallel universe, or perhaps in a dream within a dream within dream within another dream?? Let’s move on…
Grace, Grace, Grace. O how I love thee. This, for me Island Life is one of the most iconic album covers of all time and is definitely my favourite album art. Falling into the genre of art-pop, it is definitely a marmite. But to me, it is so inoffensive(at least musically), most people would just listen to it and not really have a bother about it. Hence why, I think many would actually recognize most of the songs in the album. But do I like it? well, what’s not to like about our sweet Ms. Jones.
Deborah Harry- Def, Dum and Blonde; I was indifferent when I found this and I felt the same after listening this. Need I say more? Sorry Debs…
Next up, Prince & the Revolution- Purple Rain. O what a gem!! This I guess is what they call a real classic album. To be honest, I never quite understood Prince, and his genre is not really my thing- too funky and too much soul- two elements this bunny severely lacks. But this is a fantastic album and it deserves all the accolades and praises that it gets. Beautifully crafted, Purple Rain remained fresh and exciting in 2011. What I love best about this album is that it dwells on things just long enough for you not to lose your interest, and then move on. O and the picture next to the cover is the inner sleeve : )
My last two.
Dear o dear, if it isn’t Mr. Irresistible himself: Robert Palmer- Heavy Nova. The man with one of the most iconic music video unfortunately do not have a record to match. It sounded like how it sounded and more or less same-y, same-y. I actually appreciated it a bit better when he took it now a notch on side-2. Well at least it was easy listening that way.
And my finale- Deee-Lite- World Clique. I think it’s always hard to appreciate a dance-y record and in many ways a lot of very good dance record are under-appreciated. And it’s actually not hard to see(or hear) why, just try listening to the current dance chart and you can feel your brain melting away. Dee-Lite, I’m happy to say belongs to the former, the under-appreciated child. They were in fact pioneer in their genre. If you can forget “Groove is in the heart” for one moment and just listen to the album, I think you will find how clever their sound is and how much influence they had on music that came after them. Failing that, it’s still a bloody good record to put on at your next party. So,”how do you say Deee-Lite?”
And, this brings us to the end of this post. Have a great long weekend. And Will, Kate, if you are reading this, ” Sorry I couldn’t be there and Congratulations!”
B.E.
The views of Bunny Ears is not necessarily that of TEA London’s; or that of anyone else’s for that matter.