Six more first-time listens, from May, ranging from 1971 up to this year, and all artists are new to this series! Click on the artist’s name to take you to either their Bandcamp page or their website.
I think I first became aware of comedian and musician Jazz Emu (real name Archie Henderson) on Twitter around lockdown. He was amongst many comedians who pivoted to a more online presence for obvious reasons. Recently, an Australian reactor I follow on YouTube has discovered Emu and I’d realised I’d not had a listen of the man’s work. Sings: The Inimitable Sound of Archie Henderson was released back in March, and I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of hooky songs. By all accounts this is a slightly more serious direction for Jazz/Archie, and it looks like I’ll need to delve into his previous work going by how much I enjoyed this album.
Highlights: Limbo – Matrcisland – Beyond the Weather – Shapes – Canyons – Dead>Serious >Life – The Camera
Of course I’m well aware of Joni Mitchell. But it’s only now that I’ve got round to listening to one of her albums. An old flatmate had Blue on CD but I was never curious enough to give it a listen. I’m not hugely into folk music, though it depends on the individual song, I suppose, (and I’m aware Mitchell has covered multiple genres in her lengthy career). I first heard River via a cover by Scottish band, Travis. I’m glad to have listened to Blue finally, but it’s one that didn’t particularly grab me on first listen. Perhaps it will on subsequent plays.
Highlights: All I Want – Carey – California – River
Back during my stint as radio host for Noisebox Radio, I’d heard and really enjoyed Demon Days, the second album from Ayrshire’s BrownBear. Recently, the band has been playing a few orchestra-backed gigs here in Scotland. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to go but what I could do was finally listen to What is Home?, the debut album.Just as with the second album, this one is another collection of toe-tapping, singalong songs. I really should try to see them live, someday.
Highlights: Covers – Wandering Eyes – Truth Without Consequence – Wrong Team – Stop the World – Only For You – Living Memories – What is Home?
The Charlatans
1997
Tellin’ Stories
No, you spent time listening to almost half an album from The Charlatans before you realised it was a Greatest Hits package. Not being able to name more than one of their songs previously (despite having followed Tim Burgess on social media, and enjoyed his Listening Parties of old, for a while), I didn’t have a clue it wasn’t an actual studio album until I went to search for some album details. So, I stopped listening to the GH album (very good it was, too) and pressed Play on Tellin’ Stories from 1997. The one Charlatans song I knew already was North Country Boy from this very album. Enjoyed Tellin’ Stories more than I thought I would – which is always a nice thing.
Highlights: North Country Boy – Tellin’ Stories – One to Another – You’re a Big Girl Now – Get On It
Whatever your views on Eurovision, no one can deny that it was held back in May. Iceland’s Dadi Freyr, of course, came to prominence when he and his band were unable to perform their banger Think About Things in 2020, for covid reasons. But he has continued to release music, as is the case with his latest album, Too Much Not Enough. I caught the surreal, quirky music video for the single, and then sought out the album. Quite a synth-heavy album, unsurprisingly, with a few bangers I enjoyed. Tempted to check out his earlier works.
Highlights: Hot Damn – With You – Flying Fuck – I’m Out and I Wanna Go Home – Feel It
I’m old enough to remember when artist, White Town (a.k.a. Jyoti Mishra), seemingly came out of nowhere to secure a no. 1 hit with Your Woman, in 1997. This was a time before streaming messed up the charts and, equally, it was harder to hit the charts. White Town was unable to replicate the success of the debut single, with their follow-up (and final) single, Undressed, which was taken from Women in Technology, the only album from the artist. While Your Woman is the standout from the album, most of the tracks were pretty good.
Highlights: A Week Next June – Thursday at The Blue Note – Your Woman – White Town – Theme for an Early Evening American Sitcom – The Death of My Desire
I love to hear from folk about their thoughts when it comes to the albums mentioned in these posts, or if they’re going to have a listen to one or two for the first time themselves. So don’t be shy, and comment below!
In Other News… It took nine years (on and off) to write so it’d be remiss of me not to mention my darkly comic vampire novel, Jockula, which is out now as an eBook (the paperback version is on the cusp of being available)! You can buy it directly from Ko-fi or, as part of Independent Bookshop Week (13th-20th June), why not snap up a copy from Bookshop.org and you could win a £250 gift voucher!
