taxied out of a storm to watch you perform
Top 10 Albums Of The Decade
2. Damien Rice - O (2003) (bedshaped)
One thing that gets to me every time, is a singer songwriter that can pour out their feelings and emotions in a song. Not just in the way they sing it, it needs to be in the words too. The words have to give enough of the story, but leave a little to the imagination. And sandwiched in between all that has to be a voice that can deliver with conviction.
Alanis can do it. So can Tori. Tina Dico shows much promise. Ray LaMontagne is on board. Jewel used to be there. Paolo Nutini is almost there. Hell, even James Blunt has his moments.
But along came a guy from Ireland who stood out above all the others for me. His musical talents were certainly there, but his stories.... His stories are so brutal, so honest, so true, so....open. This is a guy who isn't afraid to lay his bones out for everybody to gaze upon. It's totally admirable, completely fulfilling and so totally heart-breaking, at times.
Damien Rice.
O contains song after song of pure beauty, capturing almost every possible emotion when it comes to relationships. And that's pretty much what this album is all about. Broken hearts, affairs, cheating, breaking up, love, lust, sex, falling in love, lies, truth, touching, stroking, kissing, holding, hugging, fighting, spitting....
Anybody could listen to this album and find at least one song that they can truly relate to. And that's where a lot of it's beauty lies, in the fact that anybody and everybody can find a lot in themselves contained within the stories.
Damien's voice is lovely. Raw, stripped, honest.... with just a hint of the Irish accent slipping out, and there's a wide array of instruments that kiss the ear as they play beautifully alongside each other, and then there's the jewel in the crown....Her name is Lisa Hannigan.
Lisa provides not only backing vocals, but also dual vocal duties on many of the songs here, and there's such an amazing beauty, such an amazing connection and flow between her and Damien's voice. I can't think of two more complimentary voices. Her sultry tones add a fair bit of depth to the songs, and I honestly believe that without her contributions to this album, it wouldn't have been half as good.
This album can make your feel sad, when you're happy, and happy when you're sad. It can remind you of old, lost loves....
Damien's wonderful lyrics can be fairly cryptic, leaving the listener to find their own story. But when he feels the need to spell it out, he doesn't hold back. It's very refreshing to find somebody willing to open up so much. It's raw. Half the fun in listening to this album, is trying to figure out what he meant when he wrote those lines. Was he talking about a girl or being an alcoholic? Is this an affair or rekindled romance? Has she killed herself or just left him?
Acoustic guitar dominates this album, with occasional appearances from strings, piano and wind sections, amongst other things. It's quiet, mellow and makes for perfect late night evening listening. This album is an all round winner, in my opinion. Could he ever possibly top this album?
Favourite track: I Remember. Lisa sings the first half of this song, accompanied by an acoustic guitar, picking away. Her breathy voice telling her side of the story of their relationship. Then halfway through, the guitar switches up a gear and strums as Damien begins to tell his side of the story. And this is where the song gets more passionate, Damien's voice impressing into the forefront, strings and allsorts backing him up like an army. It climaxes with an almighty mish-mash of all manner of instruments, all fighting to be heard. Just like in argument, right? Interesting, huh? And what about that solitary bassline at the very end?
Listen to: I Remember
2. Keane - Hopes and Fears (2004) (LB)
The best selling British album of 2004, the Brit award for 'best album' and rated #13 in Q Magazine's 'Best British Album Of All Time' poll. Hopes and Fears is, as far as I am concerned, pretty much the perfect record.
It's got everything that I love. I adore Tim Rice-Oxley's downbeat lyrics, his piano led melodies and the various tempos he employs on this album. From the driving anthemic piano of Somewhere Only We Know right through to the final note of live favourite Bedshaped it's a stunning record of beautifully crafted pop records.
Whilst the songs make this a brilliant record, this album would be nothing without Tom Chaplin's vocals. Whether you like him or not (and clearly he can be a bit of an idiot) he adds something magical to Rice-Oxley's compositions, particularly on ballads such as She Has No Time and the superb We Might As Well Be Strangers.
Indeed, there's not a weak point on this record. I love the lyrics and meaning behind This Is The Last Time, the perfect popness of Somewhere Only We Know and the energy of Bend and Break and Can't Stop Now. And, of course, it benefits from containing my #1 favourite song of all time - the untouchable Everybody's Changing which is the absolute perfect mixture of upbeat melody and melancholy lyrics.
Songs on subsequent releases have occasionally reached the heights of Hopes and Fears, but nothing is as consistent and more perfectly suited to my own musical taste than this great, great record.
Listen to: Everybody's Changing
2. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (2005) (Swisslet)
Let’s be honest, Sufjan Stevens sounds like a bit of a dick. Clearly precociously talented, pretty early in his career, Stevens came out with the ridiculous assertion that he was going to record an album for each of the fifty states in the USA. Well, perhaps he was serious, perhaps he was not, but even if he never makes it any further (and he’s already done Michigan and an album dedicated to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway), then his tribute to "The Prairie State" makes the whole damn stupid idea worth the pursuit.
Illinois is stupidly ambitious: it is an absurd mish-mash of ideas and songs, 22 tracks long and with a running time stretching to well over an hour. It is richly orchestrated, but also features the humble banjo. It is all loosely themed around the State of Illinois, but with such a big topic, Stevens is at his best when he goes for the intimate: Casimir Pulaski Day is named after an Illinois public holiday, but tells the gut-wrenching story of a friend dying of bone cancer. It is delicate, and it is beautiful.
Far more bombastic is Chicago, a song name-checked by Snow Patrol on Arms Open and featuring a huge, joyful refrain about escape…. An upbeat song that somehow also manages to be sad at the same time. Perhaps most powerful of all is John Wayne Gacy Jr, the story of Illinois’ most infamous murderer. It is a song packed with detail, from the clown costumes that Gacy wore, the way he chloroformed his victims, even some details from his childhood. Most staggering of all is when Stevens sings the lines:
“And in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floorboards
For the secrets I have hid”
He asks us to compare him with a man who murdered over 30 young men, and the emotional impact of those lines is enormous. This album is a lasting monument to one man’s towering musical vision. The fact that he’s pulled it all off is nothing less than incredible. A brilliant album. I’ve never heard anything like it before and I can’t get it out of my head.
Listen to: Casimir Pulaski Day
2. Damien Rice - O (2003) (bedshaped)
One thing that gets to me every time, is a singer songwriter that can pour out their feelings and emotions in a song. Not just in the way they sing it, it needs to be in the words too. The words have to give enough of the story, but leave a little to the imagination. And sandwiched in between all that has to be a voice that can deliver with conviction.Alanis can do it. So can Tori. Tina Dico shows much promise. Ray LaMontagne is on board. Jewel used to be there. Paolo Nutini is almost there. Hell, even James Blunt has his moments.
But along came a guy from Ireland who stood out above all the others for me. His musical talents were certainly there, but his stories.... His stories are so brutal, so honest, so true, so....open. This is a guy who isn't afraid to lay his bones out for everybody to gaze upon. It's totally admirable, completely fulfilling and so totally heart-breaking, at times.
Damien Rice.
O contains song after song of pure beauty, capturing almost every possible emotion when it comes to relationships. And that's pretty much what this album is all about. Broken hearts, affairs, cheating, breaking up, love, lust, sex, falling in love, lies, truth, touching, stroking, kissing, holding, hugging, fighting, spitting....
Anybody could listen to this album and find at least one song that they can truly relate to. And that's where a lot of it's beauty lies, in the fact that anybody and everybody can find a lot in themselves contained within the stories.
Damien's voice is lovely. Raw, stripped, honest.... with just a hint of the Irish accent slipping out, and there's a wide array of instruments that kiss the ear as they play beautifully alongside each other, and then there's the jewel in the crown....Her name is Lisa Hannigan.
Lisa provides not only backing vocals, but also dual vocal duties on many of the songs here, and there's such an amazing beauty, such an amazing connection and flow between her and Damien's voice. I can't think of two more complimentary voices. Her sultry tones add a fair bit of depth to the songs, and I honestly believe that without her contributions to this album, it wouldn't have been half as good.
This album can make your feel sad, when you're happy, and happy when you're sad. It can remind you of old, lost loves....
Damien's wonderful lyrics can be fairly cryptic, leaving the listener to find their own story. But when he feels the need to spell it out, he doesn't hold back. It's very refreshing to find somebody willing to open up so much. It's raw. Half the fun in listening to this album, is trying to figure out what he meant when he wrote those lines. Was he talking about a girl or being an alcoholic? Is this an affair or rekindled romance? Has she killed herself or just left him?
Acoustic guitar dominates this album, with occasional appearances from strings, piano and wind sections, amongst other things. It's quiet, mellow and makes for perfect late night evening listening. This album is an all round winner, in my opinion. Could he ever possibly top this album?
Favourite track: I Remember. Lisa sings the first half of this song, accompanied by an acoustic guitar, picking away. Her breathy voice telling her side of the story of their relationship. Then halfway through, the guitar switches up a gear and strums as Damien begins to tell his side of the story. And this is where the song gets more passionate, Damien's voice impressing into the forefront, strings and allsorts backing him up like an army. It climaxes with an almighty mish-mash of all manner of instruments, all fighting to be heard. Just like in argument, right? Interesting, huh? And what about that solitary bassline at the very end?
Listen to: I Remember
2. Keane - Hopes and Fears (2004) (LB)
The best selling British album of 2004, the Brit award for 'best album' and rated #13 in Q Magazine's 'Best British Album Of All Time' poll. Hopes and Fears is, as far as I am concerned, pretty much the perfect record.It's got everything that I love. I adore Tim Rice-Oxley's downbeat lyrics, his piano led melodies and the various tempos he employs on this album. From the driving anthemic piano of Somewhere Only We Know right through to the final note of live favourite Bedshaped it's a stunning record of beautifully crafted pop records.
Whilst the songs make this a brilliant record, this album would be nothing without Tom Chaplin's vocals. Whether you like him or not (and clearly he can be a bit of an idiot) he adds something magical to Rice-Oxley's compositions, particularly on ballads such as She Has No Time and the superb We Might As Well Be Strangers.
Indeed, there's not a weak point on this record. I love the lyrics and meaning behind This Is The Last Time, the perfect popness of Somewhere Only We Know and the energy of Bend and Break and Can't Stop Now. And, of course, it benefits from containing my #1 favourite song of all time - the untouchable Everybody's Changing which is the absolute perfect mixture of upbeat melody and melancholy lyrics.
Songs on subsequent releases have occasionally reached the heights of Hopes and Fears, but nothing is as consistent and more perfectly suited to my own musical taste than this great, great record.
Listen to: Everybody's Changing
2. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (2005) (Swisslet)
Let’s be honest, Sufjan Stevens sounds like a bit of a dick. Clearly precociously talented, pretty early in his career, Stevens came out with the ridiculous assertion that he was going to record an album for each of the fifty states in the USA. Well, perhaps he was serious, perhaps he was not, but even if he never makes it any further (and he’s already done Michigan and an album dedicated to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway), then his tribute to "The Prairie State" makes the whole damn stupid idea worth the pursuit.Illinois is stupidly ambitious: it is an absurd mish-mash of ideas and songs, 22 tracks long and with a running time stretching to well over an hour. It is richly orchestrated, but also features the humble banjo. It is all loosely themed around the State of Illinois, but with such a big topic, Stevens is at his best when he goes for the intimate: Casimir Pulaski Day is named after an Illinois public holiday, but tells the gut-wrenching story of a friend dying of bone cancer. It is delicate, and it is beautiful.
Far more bombastic is Chicago, a song name-checked by Snow Patrol on Arms Open and featuring a huge, joyful refrain about escape…. An upbeat song that somehow also manages to be sad at the same time. Perhaps most powerful of all is John Wayne Gacy Jr, the story of Illinois’ most infamous murderer. It is a song packed with detail, from the clown costumes that Gacy wore, the way he chloroformed his victims, even some details from his childhood. Most staggering of all is when Stevens sings the lines:
“And in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floorboards
For the secrets I have hid”
He asks us to compare him with a man who murdered over 30 young men, and the emotional impact of those lines is enormous. This album is a lasting monument to one man’s towering musical vision. The fact that he’s pulled it all off is nothing less than incredible. A brilliant album. I’ve never heard anything like it before and I can’t get it out of my head.
Listen to: Casimir Pulaski Day
delivered by LB at 8:11 PM
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