28022014 - Neneh Cherry "Blank Project"

The title says it all. I like this, but I am not really sure what to write. See, the concept is to give my first impression, and my first impression of "Blank Project" is that I need to listen a dozen times to this album before I can form a proper opinion. There's plenty going on between layers of... well not a lot, actually. It would be safe to call these songs minimalist, but even so you can tell that all the open spaces in the music contain secrets that will unfold after getting to know the album. Yes, it is spartan, understated and stripped down to the bare bones, but there's also a warmth seeping out from the folds of air, like blood pumping through invisible veins and creating the heartbeat of the music. Getting all artsy, am I? Sure, but why not? Art in music can be good if it's there for a reason other than for its own sake, and in this case it's as if music was made and art turned up as a result of the songs. This record exists in a world where "Maxinquaye" and "Balloon Mood" are still played as much as they deserve, and is neither outdated nor extremely current. Just timeless and universally relevant. Huh - looks like I found something to write after all...

27022014 - Kari Rueslåtten "Time to Tell"

The time is sometimes just right for an album, and this is one of those occasions. I have always been a fan of Kari Rueslåtten's voice and songs, and now, more than seven years since her last release, I all of a sudden realize how much I have missed both. The title track of her previous record, the unfairly overlooked "Other People's Stories", is one of this century's most beautiful songs, but as a whole "Time to Tell" exceeds its predecessor in every way! I want to bury myself in these songs and stay there forever and I want to create new words, because my vocabulary, as highly as I sometimes might regard it, just doesn't cover the way these songs make me feel. In the past Kari has made magic with album tracks like "Make Me a Stone", "Trollferd" and "Paint My Wings", but 20 years into her career this might just be her most magical and complete album!

26022014 - Robert Palmer "Clues"

So I was listening to the new album by a Norwegian DJ who looks to real be Mr. Flavor of the Year, and who has a version of "Johnny & Mary" with none other than Mr. Bryan Ferry on the vocals. That led me to wanting to hear the original, and thinking that I have not listened enough to Robert Palmer's albums. As in not at all. And yes, I  did indeed listen to a whole album before deciding to listen to another one for this thing. Anyway, this is an album with a lot of cool stuff going on, from the opener, "Looking for Clues", a tune that could have been lifted from one of Prince's first couple of albums to a bunch of pretty suave rockers and some slick disco synth. Fun fact - this was Palmer's only #1 album in Sweden!

25022014 - Beck "Morning Phase"

For the record - I like Beck, and there was a time when I used to regard him as a genius. "Odelay" is a giant upper, and remains a classic album for the shaking of the booty. "Sea Change" remains my favorite Beck album though. I loved the melancholy beauty of that record when it was released, and I love it now. After my first listen to "Morning Phase" it seems like he is going for the same ethereal sadness this time, but he's lacking the songs. I know a lot of Beckheads (is that a thing?) will defend this album to death, just as I am certain that a lot of reviewers and general know-it-alls will not admit that this is just plain boring. At one point I thought that I had to be on the last song, but I was just halfway through, and on several songs I got associations to Sting. Neither are good signs. This might be a grower, but I shall be quite content to let it grow somewhere else, far away from my speakers. To me this is just a pile of beautifully packaged nothing.

24022014 - Phone Joan "Turning Pages"

I already knew that Phone Joan are a brilliant band, and their 2010 debut, "The Early Sounds of Joan", is a superb piece of filthy and fuzzy psych rock with hints of heavily acid laden blues. For some reason I pretty much missed out on their second album, last year's "+47 91799466" (note to self: must check it out asap!), but here's their third effort and here I am too. And I am here to stay, because DAMN, this is good! The groove, the tunes, the production that somehow is equal parts primitive rawness and sophisticated sweetness... The performance! Carina Moen's vocals have an authority few other Norwegian singers can match, and find their way to the heart, the soul and the spine simultaneously, while Richard Haugen's guitars provide a droning mountain of sound that demands your attention! There are too many great tunes here to pick a favourite, but the title track, "Feathers", "Hear Me Out" and "Flintlock Court" are good examples of songs that showcase something both inspired and unique. A truly great rock album!

23022014 - Alien "Alien"

I have always been a bit of an AOR buff, but still some brilliant releases have passed me by. That includes this lovely album by Swedish band Alien, although I have enjoyed the lovely singles "Tears Don't Put Out the Fire" and "Only One Woman". The Swedes released a new version of their debut album in 1989, with two extra tracks added, sung by their new vocalist. The original record from 1988, which is the one I have listened to, is simply stunning, and Jim Jidhed's vocals are just as pompous and full of pathos as these songs require, and more or less all the songs here could have been singles! This album will get plenty more spins in the future!

22022014 - Bulldog "Bulldog"

Hello random YouTube recommendations based on previous surfing - what have you got for me today? Bulldog, you say? OK, let's go! The opening track is a scorching version of "Rockin' Robin", and the rest of the album contains some really good rock'n'roll bordering on pub rock! The band's core members, drummer Dino Danelli and guitarist/vocalist Gene Cornish were previously in The Rascals, and Danelli went on to play in Little Steven's Disciples of Soul. This album is great fun, if not exactly ground breaking or completely mind-blowing, and a great way to spend half an hour on a Saturday night!