An Album a Day: Week 5

I’ve completed a fifth week of my little experiment of listening to more complete albums instead of shuffling endlessly through “content”.

If you’d like to catch up on the journey so far, you can check out the posts for the previous weeks:

29/366: Vegas

Week 5 started with day 29’s selection, Vegas by The Crystal Method, inspired by our upcoming trip to Las Vegas. I’m really conflicted about this one, because it’s got some great tracks, like “High Roller” (I’m a sucker for NASA samples), “Keep Hope Alive” (a very groovy affirmation), and “Trip Like I Do” (I’m a sucker for Dark Crystal stuff), but I don’t feel like it’s a great album. It just doesn’t feel cohesive in the way I want it to, with no moment of catharsis, and a frankly weak ending. Your mileage, as they say, may vary. For more info, check out the Wikipedia entry.

30/366: Random Access Memories (Drumless Edition)

I really enjoyed day 30’s selection, Random Access Memories (Drumless Edition) by Daft Punk. To be totally honest, I never really got into the original version upon release, and neglected it for a long time. I was going to pick the original version, but saw there was a new “drumless” edition and decided to explored that instead. I totally dig this, as it showcases how solid the songwriting is by stripping out an entire category of instrumentation, and it really lets the synths and guitars shine. Speaking of guitars, I got some serious Mike Oldfield vibes from the endings of “Giorgio by Moroder”, and “Beyond” (with almost a touch of Gilmour?), and if you like funky wah pedals, this is the album for you. Another highlight for me was “Motherboard”, which evokes Philip Glass. And while “Contact” makes a great closer (again, I’m a sucker for NASA samples), “Touch” really makes this album for me with its refrain:

Hold on
If love is the answer
You’re home
Hold on

This one has a lengthy Wikipedia entry.

31/366: Tabula Rasa

Day 31’s selection, Tabula Rasa by Einstürzende Neubauten, frustrated me since it’s a long-time favorite but it doesn’t seem readily available on any of the major streaming services. Apple Music doesn’t list it at all, and while Spotify lists it, none of the tracks are playable in the US. It looks like YouTube has us covered this time, but in general this is a great reminder that if you like something weird, you’d better have your own copy (whether digital or physical) lest it disappear when you need it.

Anyway, this is weird stuff but I love it. Tabula Rasa was my introduction to Einstürzende Neubauten way back when, a glorious, alien artifact of strange industrial sounds and entirely German lyrics, which my high school German studies at least let me vibe to even if I couldn’t make out all the lyrics.

The opener, “Die Interimsliebenden”, is a can’t-miss track, easily a “greatest hits” entry for Neubauten. “Zebulon” and “Chrysanthemum” are pure poetry. “12305(te Nacht)” speaks to the toil of days following days. “Sie” moves through a day with furious, haunting momentum. “Wüste” features whispered lyrics over dramatic orchestral sounds. The album concludes with the epic “Headcleaner”, a work of four parts split over two tracks, a noisy industrial storm that eventually breaks, revealing a calming conclusion. (I also enjoy it borrowing lyrics from “All You Need is Love”.)

The Wikipedia entry here is unfortunately sparse; I was really hoping to learn some details about the production of this one since it’s been so foundational to my enjoyment of industrial music.

32/366: Sunday 8PM

For day 32, I listened to Sunday 8PM by Faithless, an album my father purchased for me because the album cover features Denver’s Bluebird Theater, which he’d lived near once upon a time. The album is overall good; the opener “The Garden” and “She’s My Baby” remind me of post-Cross of Changes Enigma, and “Hour of Need” and “Hem of His Garment” wouldn’t be out of place on a Moby album, but as always with Faithless, the most fun tracks are the ones that feature the inimitable voice of Maxi Jazz: “Bring My Family Back”, “Postcards”, “Killer’s Lullaby”, “Take the Long Way Home”, and the absolute highest high point of “God is a DJ” (Is there a more perfect Faithless track? I don’t think so.) The Wikipedia entry is sorely lacking for an album that’s such a touchstone.

33/366: The Oculus Occult

Day 33’s selection, The Oculus Occult by Ghost Data, is brand new to me, suggested listening from a coworker. They recommended starting with “Celestial Bodies”, and I liked it enough to dive into the whole album. I’m not sure what specific sub-genre I’d tag this with – it’s sort of a poppier synthwave? Dreamwave might be a thing? I dunno, I’m old too old for labeling things. Whatever you want to call it, it was great to unwind with on a Friday night.

34/366: The Chronicle of the Black Sword

Day 34’s selection was The Chronicle of the Black Sword, a concept album from the space rock legend Hawkwind about Michael Moorcock’s tragic hero Elric, sorcerer-king, avatar of the eternal champion, wielder of Stormbringer, the black blade that fuels Elric’s life by drinking the souls of its victims.

What can I say? It was D&D night. I kinda had to.

The Wikipedia entry has a little extra context. I was surprised to discover that each release has featured a different set of bonus tracks, so I got to listen to some new-to-me songs on an album that I thought I knew pretty well.

35/366: Into the Storm

To round out my Sunday night, I chose Into the Storm by Inon Zur for day 35. Zur has been highly prolific in scoring video games – I discovered him through Dragon Age: Origins – as well as movie trailers, but Into the Storm is its own thing, unattached to any specific title (though it’s said to be inspired by the Dragon Age world). It’s clearly grounded in the fantasy score world, and a bit “new age”-y, but with a few slightly orchestral-pop tracks like “One More Day”, “Far Far Away”, and “Sun is Shining”, and the album features a number of his Dragon Age collaborators. It’s thoroughly pleasant, a fitting conclusion to the weekend, echoing yesterday’s D&D vibes (with more chill), and I like it a lot.

Weirdly, despite having an otherwise-thorough discography, Inon Zur’s Wikipedia entry makes no mention of this album, nor of his other works that aren’t tied to a specific game or film.

36-42/366: ???

Since you’re an astute reader, you’ve noticed that I’ve switched from alphabetical-by-album-title to alphabetical-by-artist, so the next week will feature J through P. Stay tuned here, or follow along day-by-day on Mastodon, for my next selections.