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Feature: Classics Collected

Hi everyone, and welcome to another edition of Classics Collected, where we at Spotisfaction grab our musical scuba gear and go skin diving through the deeps of the Spotify oceans searching for hidden treasure. This weeks hefty booty that we’ve managed to haul to the surface is below, and we hope you enjoy each shining, jewel encrusted example…. can I get a “yarrrrrrr?”

Portishead ”“ Dummy ”“ At the time trip-hop was at it’s peak, this album was an absolute blockbuster. A fantastic mix of trip hop beats, haunting vocals and musical craftsmanship. It was an album that was almost too great for its own good, and it caused the group tremendous strain trying to follow it up and produce something as successful, or that would be received in the same vein. Whilst follow up albums have also been fantastic, Dummy has never quite been beaten. Its sufficiently accessible that even if you weren’t the biggest fan of the genre you could still appreciate it.

The Specials ”“ The Specials ”“ Unknown to some, revered by others The Specials managed to produce some of the most innovative music of their age. Deftly weaving punk sensibilities with ska beats and twotone styles, they single handled restarted a ska revival in the late 70’s which kept going into the 80’s. This album is a shining example of what started the movement and what made them such a powerful force of their age.

Placebo ”“ Without You I’m Nothing – Not their first album (which is also excellent), but certainly I think the album with the most impact which they have released to date. It certainly moved them as a band with a certain hype to serious contenders in terms of mainstream appeal. A little dark and melancholy in places, but musically a fantastic collection of songs.

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Feature: Classics Collected

Hello and welcome to another edition of Classics Collected, where we at Spotisfaction Towers go all Time Team on you and dig up some classic record relics (and Dave would make a good Tony Robinson).

Presented to the experts for valuation this week (purely for insurance purposes, naturally) are a nice mix of styles from Rock through Hip-Hop and Dance to the Tarzan and Jane of Jungle. I’m sure each one will come back from auction as a bobby dazzler and we hope you enjoy them too. As always, make good use of our comments system, let us know our hits and misses and if you have any suggestions for future editions, be they albums, artists or themes, then let us know!

Stereophonics ”“ Word Gets Around – Deluxe Edition – Our first choice this week is an album I’ve long known that I would be including at some stage, but my hand has been forced by its recent re-issue (or at least re-inclusion to Spotify) as a deluxe edition. With many of our choices, the albums represent a great deal to those of us, and indeed to those of you who were of a certain age at a certain time. This album in itself represents a great piece of songwriting, let alone as a debut, with each song expertly spinning its own tale of life. Its impact to my social scene at the time was huge and, as a result, this album and its follow-up will always have a special place in my heart.

Ocean Colour Scene ”“ Moseley Shoals – This album was chosen as it had a similar impact to the above at the time of its release. Helped a little by heavy use on the popular show TFI Friday I’m sure, and spawing a large number of songs, this was a massive commercial breakthrough for the group. It started a miniature mod revolution on the back of it and, for a few summers, you didn’t have to go far to find coverage of Ocean Colour Scene.

DJ Shadow ”“ Endtroducing… – This artist has a massive heritage in the hip-hop production scene and has worked with more artists over his career than I’ve had pointless arguments on internet forums. This was an important breakthrough album for DJ Shadow and as a piece of musical work created almost entirely on samples and loops, it inspired a massive number of bedroom breakbeat Beethovens.

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Feature: Classics Collected

Hi everyone and welcome to another edition of Classics Collected, where we at Spotisfaction have a little dig around the archives and bring out some classic records you may not have listened to for a little while. Whilst we always like to hail in the new, sometimes it’s good to blow the dust off an old record and enjoy the wonderful sounds you may have forgotten.

This week’s edition is an all-female edition with four great female artists to tempt your musical palette. In each case I’ve picked what I believe to be their breakthrough record, but for each example, to be frank, there is such an excellent catalogue of work you could pick any one of them and just enjoy their back catalogue for the day!

Tori Amos ”“ Under the Pink – Not her first album but in my mind the best of her early work, classic pianist and songwriter Tori has a lot in common with one of our later choices today, Joni Mitchell. Her sheer volume of work means you could probably spend the rest of the week enjoying her sound alone, she has kept up an unbelievable standard in the work. Whilst not as adaptive as, say, Madonna in changing sounds and trends,  as the core dynamic remains there still is plenty of growth in her work. This album is relatively stripped down compared to some of her later work and focuses on her technical talent on the piano and her simply gorgeous voice.

Björk ”“ Debut ”“ The album that started it all, before the increasingly eccentric costumes, the airport bust-ups and the media battles. This album demonstrated her talent so well it became an instant hit and was a clear disconnect from her previous work with the Sugarcubes. Whilst a musician from a young age, this work has some real human qualities and subtleties that come across as an honest, driven debut from someone out to show her talent. It spawned a number of popular singles and shows a surprising complexity in places with a simple heart in others. It’s not hard to see why it was popular at the time and despite some of the oddness that followed, it remains a timeless work today.

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Feature: Classics Collected

Hi everyone and welcome to another edition of Classics Collected, where we at Spotisfaction continue our work as Music Time Lords going backwards this time instead of forwards. The SpoTardis this week has stopped on the year 1994 and all our albums (with 1 cheeky exception) were released in what turned out to be a very succesful year for those of you who love to rock, and love the sound of good guitar music!

Apologies to those looking for our usual mix of musical diversity – I’m afraid this list stems from a recent jump through old albums and a conversation with some colleagues. Originally this list was going to include the excellent Ten by Pearl Jam and following a chat with some friends (and some divided opinion on its greatness) I wanted to make a classic list that started with Ten and then had some other albums to compare it to in order to seal the deal once and for all. In searching for good albums of the age it quickly appeared that a number of truly great albums of the genre(s) were released in 1994 and in fact 1994 was a real golden age.

Weezer ”“ Weezer – aka The Blue Album. As debuts go this record really ticks all the boxes. At the time it was pretty original in terms of sound, and there certainly weren’t many similar acts. It spawned a couple of hit singles to get it into the mainstream consciousness, and in this writers opinion is still their finest work despite the many great albums which have followed it. If nothing else, this release should be remembered for the Happy Day’s inspired video for Buddy Holly and the Guitar Hero mainstay, My Name Is Jonas.

Green Day ”“ Dookie – Whilst not their first album, it was certainly the first album that gained them any serious attention and made them MTV darlings of the age thanks to the anthemic Basket Case (which also happened to have a great video). At the time I was very into the “extreme sports” scene and this record seemed to be on constant play at parks, tracks and events across the land. In many ways this was their peak, more refined than its excellent predecessor (Kerplunk) and the next couple of follow ups were strong but never quite as complete.

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Feature: Classics Collected

Hello everyone and welcome to another Classic’s Collected where we at Spotisfaction delve into the archives and blow the dust off some records we think deserve a replay. With the sheer volume of music available to us at our fingertips it is easy for some really great material to get lost under the pile, so we have made it our mission to bring that goodness back into the light!

Each pick we feel was a classic of its age, genre, or if nothing else just a damned good record. We’ve fed a little background into each selection but most importantly we’d like you to give each one a little attention and a real listen. Like everyone these days, I’m sure, I seem to permanently have music on while I’m working and it has occurred to me a few times: how much do I really genuinely listen to a lot of it? Music has so much power to influence, move and warm your soul so with this being a weekly affair, try and take some time out, pick an album a day and let yourself go. I promise you will not be sorry! Now on with the choices:

The Chemical Brothers ”“ Dig Your Own Hole – It’s Monday morning and if you are anything like me, you’ll still be wishing it was Sunday afternoon. Around 3pm maybe, post roast, with a glass of wine and that inevitable digestion-fuelled, snoozy, relaxed, satisfied feeling. Unfortunately the fields must be toiled in and the rent paid, so here we are at work. If there is one record out there to snap you to your senses and get that energy flowing, it is this one. The Chemical Brothers have always been sound engineers of the highest calibre but their 2nd commercial release broke new boundaries, spawned a number of hit singles and tuned many people into a new style of music.

As I have mentioned before, classic albums often standup for me on their ability to be played without shuffle. I am a self confessed shuffle junkie and have whole archives on shuffle but if you can listen to the first few bars of track 1 and be hooked till the end of the final track, that to me is a sign of great things! Pure energy, great beats and hooks and a thrillride of an album.

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Feature: Classics Collected

Hi Everyone and welcome to another edition of Classics Collected. This week we have 5 albums from the past we’d like you to dust off, replay and join us in remembering what made them great the first time around. We’re spanning a real mix of dates and genres in this week’s choices, and we hope you’ll find something you like to help you get through the cold slog that is a Monday!

Beastie Boys ”“ Ill Communication – We start with a classic piece of 90’s hip hop and the most important work by the Beasties in terms of mainstream acceptance. Whilst some would argue the earlier Paul’s Boutique is perhaps their greatest album, it was largely ignored at the time. Without Ill Communication the group may not have had the exposure that lifted them to true greatness and lead many to re-appraise their earlier work. This was an important milestone for the band as well, shedding much of the previous production style and taking to almost every instrument themselves, ensuring true musicality in every track. It was also their debut album on the newly formed Grand Royal empire. Once Ill Communication had cemented itself in the collective musical consciousness there was no turning back for the Beastie Boys, and everything that followed was the solid gold we know an love.

Queen ”“ A Night At The Opera – I wanted a Queen album to appear at some stage in this classics process as I feel they have never fully had their due. Whilst peoples personal feeling on the music varies, I genuinely think it is hard to escape the influence the band had not only at the time but going forward in how rock music and rock opera are generated. Any one of their albums could have been chosen for different reasons so I felt why not start with the LP that started it all. If nothing else, it contains Bohemian Rhapsody (and thanks to Waynes World, I’ll always rock extra hard to that song).

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Feature: Classics Collected

Hi everyone and welcome to Classics Collected, sister piece to the Tomorrow’s Sounds Today article. With this piece what we’d like to do is highlight some classic albums available on Spotify and list a few each fortnight which we feel are worth dusting off and giving a listen if you haven’t for a while.

With all this good music available on tap it is easier than ever to indulge musical tastes, and with only so many hours in the day we know it’s only too easy to let great albums sit unplayed. We aim to rectify that!

This week we have 4 suggestions for you; 4 great albums that all made their impact in the day or went on to become classics but you may not have listened to for a little while.

Massive Attack ”“ Mezzanine

Many people might ask why include this album rather than, say, “Blue Lines”, which arguably had the bigger social impact even if it had less commercial impact. My main reason for including this album in preference is for me it was the stronger overall. One of the major things about this album is that it plays so well as a complete experience, which is rare. It also marked an important point both for the group and the genre. Returning from a period out of focus with a relative explosion of other groups borrowing from their early work, this album showed that the band still had so much to give.

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