Entry #100: Macha - See it Another Way

This final entry is also one of the most recent additions to my all-time favourite album list.

Before 2013, I wasn't even aware Macha had ever existed.  I discovered them one day by way of Youtube's recommended videos, which linked me to a song called 'No Surprise Party', taken from what I would later learn was their third and final album, 'Forget Tomorrow'.  The song that crept from my speakers was a sprawling, post-rock slow burner that blended eastern sounds with traditional indie-rock, and I instantly knew I wanted more.

Assuming the rest of the album to be similar, I picked up 'Forget Tomorrow' but was disappointed to learn it didn't really sound much like the song I'd first heard and, in my opinion wasn't actually very good.  However, instead of writing the band off, I gave them another chance and picked up this album, and I'm glad I did: SIAW is a much better record that has more in common with the song that turned me on to this band in the first place.  I later decided to gave their eponymous debut a chance as well and enjoyed that too.

Once again, the draw for me is the combination of eastern and western sounds; a heady concoction of post-rock, shoegaze, post-punk and traditional Far East Asian instruments that afford the music a fascinating sense of exoticism.  'The album is also impeccably produced, which is always a big plus for me: everything is clearly defined and well spaced within the mix, particularly important given the proliferation of unusual eastern instruments used throughout.

Above all, I love this album because it is both familiar and alien, curiously melding music I already know well with far eastern flavourings.  A unique record that appeals in a very big way.

                                                    Macha : Between Stranded Sonars

Entry #99: Thurston Moore - Psychic Hearts

So, from looking at the sidebar, you'll notice that there are already two Sonic Youth entries in this round-up, and with this entry, a solo album from one of its members, it now means there are three albums in this list affiliated with Sonic Youth alone. That should illustrate just how much this band has affected me.

When I first heard this album, I'd already been into SY for a good while and felt it was time to check out some of their solo outings and outlier releases.  'Psychic Hearts' was one of the first solo records from 'Youth members that I picked up and its wonderfully bizarre, off-kilter pop struck an immediate chord.

I've heard some people say that 'Psychic Hearts' sounds like a Sonic Youth record, but I have to disagree.  Other than 'Female Cop' and closer 'Elegy for all the Dead Rock Stars', this doesn't really sound like Sonic Youth, though it does lend a more focused ear to what Moore brings to the band.  With this album, his unique guitar playing has a different context; the music is considerably less dense, more repetitive, spacious and minimal than a typical Sonic Youth record.

Descriptions of the music aside, this album endeared itself to me for a number of reasons: I liked its streamlined simplicity, the quirky yet sincere lyrics and the beautiful artwork, which introduced me to the world of Rita Ackermann.  Finally, I especially love how this album is essentially a love letter to the oft-understated and undervalued feminine aspect of rock n' roll.  It is a sentiment that informs the entire album from beginning to end and is one I also share, which perhaps explains why this 'Psychic Hearts' is so special to me as well.

                                                      Thurston Moore : Psychic Hearts

Entry #98: Dinosaur Jr - Bug

Along with REM and Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr were one of the first "alternative" bands I got into as a teenager.  I bought 'Where You Been' on a whim as a Christmas present to myself in 1993 having previously only heard the band's name being mentioned elsewhere, and I loved what I heard.  The appeal lay in J Mascis' laid back, stoner drawl and his expressive guitar solos, and it was enough to make a fan of me.

Shortly after that, I started getting into metal and stopped listening to most of the alternative bands I'd been into, but even as I transitioned to heavier music, Dinosaur Jr continued to be a mainstay regardless.  By this point, I'd amassed a few of their albums, but then, some time into my first year at uni, a then-friend played me 'Bug' for the first time.

Up until then, the Dinosaur Jr stuff I owned followed 'Bug' (in other words, their EastWest era) and whilst enjoyable, none were quite like this.  'Bug' was rawer, noisier and had more teeth than anything I'd heard from them before, and before long, it became my favourite album from them.

Some years later, my metal fixation behind me, I picked up 'You're Living All Over Me' and their eponymous debut.  I wasn't too keen on the latter (too under-developed), but I came to enjoy the former almost nearly as much as this album.  However, I prefer 'Bug', partly I think because I heard it first and also because I just think it sounds better overall, (due in part to the superior production).

I read somewhere that 'Bug' is Mascis' least favourite Dinosaur Jr, record, mostly due to the well-documented tensions between him and Lou Barlow during its development.  I can certainly understand that, but for me, 'Bug' is a cherished album that has stayed with me consistently through my years and shifting musical seasons, making it a worthy entry here.

                                                              Dinosaur Jr : No Bones

Entry #97: Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it in People

Between 2005-2008, I was a resident DJ in a pub I regularly frequented.  And no, I wasn't a "proper" DJ; I didn't mix, beat-match or any of that fancy stuff, I simply played music I liked.  My sets were quite eclectic, going from indie to electronic to hip-hop to rock to anything in between and back again.  I just enjoyed playing the music I loved to people and introducing them to stuff they probably hadn't heard before.  Being told that someone had discovered new artists and bands through my sets was a great feeling since I enjoy sharing music with others.  Sadly, it all came to a head early 2008 when a new landlord took over and replaced all the resident DJs with people he knew, but it was fun whilst it lasted.

That said, it was during one of my sets, one evening in 2007 that somebody made a recommendation to me: a guy came to the DJ booth and asked me if I'd heard of Broken Social Scene,  I told him that I had, but wasn't familiar with their music (which was the case).  He recommended that I check them out as he thought I'd like them.  He wasn't wrong.

The following week, I took a trip to HMV and looked to see what they had available.  There was a lot to choose from, but this is the one that stood out the most to me.  I hadn't heard anything by this point, so what drove me to choose this album in particular, was something between intuition and chance.  In an earlier entry, I mentioned the inherent risk of buying an unknown CD, and fortunately, this was another case where such a gamble paid off.

Playing this album now reminds me of what I was doing when I first heard it.  I'd not long moved into my new flat and was enjoying my independence again.  Summer was just around the corner, the place I worked was only 10 minutes away from where I lived and, as mentioned above, I spent a lot of my weekends either DJ-ing or doing live gigs performing my own music.  It was a really carefree and mostly happy time that I remember with great fondness, and every time I play this album, I am back there again.  For me, YFIIP is best played when the sun is shining, in the spring/summer months.  All the songs have that "sunshine" feel to them, and the album is one that genuinely makes me feel happy.

I never did see the guy who recommended BSS to me again, but I did start to include their tracks in my set after that whilst also moving on to some of their other albums (including the eponymous record which is quite similar to this one, but less refined overall).  The song I include below was one of my many favourites, and also the one I played the most in my sets.  And when I close my eyes, it's 2007 again, and there I am, alive with possibilities.

                                                   Broken Social Scene : Cause=Time

Entry #96: Regina - Puutarhatrilogia

In 2008, my old friend last.fm introduced me to Regina, a group I discovered whilst tumbling down another of its rabbit holes.

The first songs I heard from them came from their second album 'Oi Miten Suuria Voimia!'.  I fell in love instantly and set about picking up a copy.  Being totally in Finnish, I couldn't understand any of the lyrics, but I didn't care.  I just loved their warm electropop sound and gorgeous melodies.  With nowhere else to go, I worked backwards and picked up their debut 'Katso Maisemaa', which I also liked.  Then, sometime around 2009 I heard they had a new album in the pipeline, and grabbed it as soon as it was released.

'Puutarhatrilogia' was an earnest continuation of the band's melodic, whimsical pop stylings, but moving further towards melding their electronics with "live" and acoustic instruments, which started with 'Oi Miten'.  Puutarhatrilogia' is a truly beautiful record, dripping with sunshine and wonderful tunes - and sometimes, that's all you need.

I played the album a lot during the summer of 2009, which was particularly memorable as it was the same year I met my fiance, so 'Puutarhatrilogia' also reminds me of that summer and also her.  In turn, my attachment to this album is partly sentimental.

Whilst I don't speak any Finnish (though I do like the way it sounds), I have, for the most part, avoided translations of their lyrics.  I prefer not knowing as it makes the music more mysterious and interesting and the few lyrics I have thrown into Google Translate have belied my imaginings.  Despite coming from a notoriously cold climate, Regina's music is unexpectedly sunny to my ears, yet the lyrics I've seen don't really reflect that.  So, to preserve my own perceptions, I prefer not to know.  Ignorance being bliss, after all.

                                                               Regina : Totuus Minusta