860 Tindersticks - Tindersticks(1993)

 860 Tindersticks - Tindersticks(1993)


Studio Album - Chamber Pop




About the Act:

Tindersticks are a band from Nottingham, England, they have existed since 1992 and have issued 13 studio albums in that time, and some soundtracks too.


About the Album:

This was their first album, and a double one. Confusingly, their second album was also called "Tindersticks". Hmmm.


My History with this Album:

None, except I feel like I have heard it before. I wonder if it is one I listened to by accident sometime while I was reviewing.


Review:

The singer, Stuart A. Staples, mutters most of the time. The musical backing is simplistic and textured, sometimes using non-usually-rock orchestral instruments as backing, and things are not always in tune. The mixing is curious at times. You would think it doesn't work.

Granted, I think it may not be to everyone's taste, but I enjoyed it. I'm not sure why. I started sceptical, but it won me over. The singing reminds me of Nick Cave, or maybe Leonard Cohen.  Maybe also Bill Callahan. Maybe The National. Maybe it is one of those that makes me think I have heard it before. 

It's not rock, it's not really pop either, it's kind of mellow and dreary, and nods a head in a classical direction, well chamber music (hence the category Chamber Pop). It's definitely not keeping-you-awake music. It would be good music for sitting on the roof and drinking whisky on a summer night. It's about textures rather than tunes, and the textures are nicely varied.

The words - well to a large extent they are hard to make out. In fact on one track I am reasonably sure that the singer has stuffed some cloth in his mouth and tried to sing. When I can make out words I am somewhat reminded of Morrisey, it's kind of Urban Poetry. There's one spoken-word track that is easier to make out - and curious with it.

It's odd and dark with an air of melancholy. If you like odd and dark with an air of melancholy. you might love it. 


7.5/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3uRmNtMwZTaG2FtrXapm9K

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiN-7mukU_RHrpbci9yEsECtFCSmh4bAY

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tindersticks_(1993_album)



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

840 Various Artists - The Best of Girl Groups Volumes 1 and 2 (1990)

Image
 840 Various Artists - The Best of Girl Groups Volumes 1 and 2 (1990) Compilation (double) - Girl Group (Soul/Bobby Soxer/Do-Wop) About the Album: This is a highly acclaimed compilation in 2CDs by Rhino Records. It's the sort of thing that in this country you might expect to see at 3.99 in a Garden Centre. My History with this Album: None Review: There are not many multi-artist compilations in this series for reviewing. There is not information about it on Wikipedia, but the reception seems to have been positive. It is choc-full of hits with a smattering of lesser-known songs, and it's hard not to imagine Grease or similar situations - girls with cardigans and white socks, listening to the juke box while sipping milkshakes in the drug store. On one level it's a fun collection of songs that you could use to feel nostalgic, or as the music for a themed party. On another level it's kind of like a cultural artefact. I feel honour-bound to describe it, even though if I drop
Read more

944 Manu Chao - Próxima Estación Esperanza (2001)

Image
 944 Manu Chao - Próxima Estación Esperanza (2001) Studio Album - World Music About the Act: Manu Chao is a French-Spanish musician of Spanish descent who grew up on the outskirts of Paris. In the mid-80s he was in a Spanish/English rockabilly group called Hot Pants. In 1987, with his brother and cousin he founded the band Mano Negra, combining punk and world music influences and playing on the Paris Metro. This band took off and had 4 studio albums. In 1995 Manu "went solo", forming the band Radio Bemba Sound System to be his backing band. The punk elements were less prominent, but he started to make music that "replicates the sound of street music and bar scenes from a variety of cultures". He has been really popular in parts of Europe.  About the Album: This album was Manu Chao's second studio album as a "solo" artist. In Spanish, the name means "Next Station: Hope", after a real station on the Madrid Metro. The album reached top 10 slots
Read more

591 Harry Smith, Ed. - Anthology of American Folk Music (1952)

Image
 591 Harry Smith, Ed. - Anthology of American Folk Music (1952) Compilation Album - Americana About the Act: Harry Smith is not the performer here, he is the collector. He was a film-maker, occultist, and eccentric. About the Album: Harry Smith had a collection of early 78rpm records of various "folk" styles dated from 1927 when such things first started to be commercially available to 1932 when the Great Depression put a stop to the sales of folk records. In 1947 he approached a label, Folkway Records, about releasing a collection of them transferred onto LPs. This they did in 1952, without seeking copyright permission, making this technically a bootleg. It was released as three double-LP boxed sets, and sold very poorly. In the first year it sold 50 copies, 47 to libraries and colleges. It was reissued later, and gained traction and sold better. It now has a reputation for being one of the most influential compilations in the history of Americana, and is cited as being a ma
Read more