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Least and Most: The Ghost of Tom Joad | Mumbling About…
Three years, an Academy Award, an awkward E Street Band reunion, a Greatest Hits with a cluster of 'new' songs, and at least one scrapped album sit between Springsteen's first albums of the the '90s and The Ghost of Tom Joad's release in November 1995. I love this album. It's only grown on me over…
Least and Most: Lucky Town | Mumbling About…
In theory I should have released this post on the same day as that for Human Touch, right? If only this weren't a massively busy month for me professionally and personally I may well have done. However, that does lead me nicely to my thoughts on this album that have changed somewhat in the years…
Least and Most: Human Touch | Mumbling About…
You know how it is with quotes and soundbites - sometimes their origin gets lost even when the quote itself remains pure and valid. I've got a sneaky feeling it was Hall of Fame related - possibly while inducting someone else - but Springsteen is on record and oft-cited as saying "I tried it [writing…
Least and Most: Tunnel of Love | Mumbling About…
While he's never pulled a Landing On Water style curveball, it's not as though Springsteen has ever really repeated an album formula since he broke through. From the success of Born To Run he dialled the production down for the leaner, meaner Darkness... while Nebraska's stark, acoustic desperation was an equally far cry from the…
Tuesday afternoon, I’m just beginning to see… Tuesday tunes | Mumbling About…
Another temporary interruption in Springsteen posting bought to you by the urge to share other things that have been worming into my ears lately. Kim Deal - Nobody Loves You More http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osOWmt5YYuw Kim Deal's debut solo album - which is a pretty weird thing to be typing given the length of her career - continues…
Least and Most: Born In The USA | Mumbling About…
"Sometimes records dictate their own personalities and you just have to let them be.... I finally stopped doing my hesitation shuffle, took the best of what I had and signed off on what would be the biggest album of my career" Work on what would become Born In The USA began in early 1982. The…
Least and Most: Nebraska | Mumbling About…
How many artists can manage to create a five-star album when they weren't actively trying to make an album in the first place? I'm not going to reiterate the story behind Springsteen's Nebraska. Aside from the fact that there's already a film of the period in the works - honestly though; 'man makes austere collection…
Least and Most: The River | Mumbling About…
In theory this is where it gets easier. For while Springsteen was still churning work of unyielding quality some of those tracks, in retrospect, probably should have been left in the vault. Doesn't necessarily mean that choosing a 'most' is going to be easier but singling those 'meh' tracks out gets simpler The River, released…
Least and Most: Darkness on the Edge of Town | Mumbling About…
Have I mentioned that some of these are gonna be harder than others? That few artists have as impressive a streak of great albums as Springsteen? Good. Because I've now reached my favourite Springsteen album. One of my favourite albums of all time: Darkness on the Edge of Town. This is the first of many…
Wednesday morning papers didn’t come…. Mid-week Spins | Mumbling About…
This temporary interruption in Springsteen-focused posts is bought to you by a smattering of tunes that I've been enjoying recently in one form or another and feel fitting for a mid-week posting. The Cure - And Nothing Is Forever http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEBO_xKfwN4 It had only been sixteen years since their last studio album but The Cure dropped…
Least and Most: Born to Run | Mumbling About…
All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood... I want to know if love is wild, girl I want to know if love is real... Man there’s an opera out on the Turnpike, there’s a ballet being fought out in the alley... It's chapter three. In which our hero gives the…
Least and Most: The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle | Mumbling About…
Might as well tackle the bull by the horns, as they say. Though who in their right mind would want to tackle a bull at all, let alone by the pointy end. Probably the same person who's trying to find a 'least' track on a pretty-much faultless album. I reckon this is more one for…
Least and Most: Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J | Mumbling About…
Am I really kicking off a new series? Is it another Springsteen-focused run? You betcha. This shouldn't be as time consuming to write or read as previous though. The idea is a pretty simple one: Bruce has twenty studio albums - discounting archival boxsets and karaoke soul cover albums - and having recently spent time…
Catch-up spins | Mumbling About…
It's been a while since I was 'here' having pretty much taken most of summer off. It feels like a fitting way to get back up to speed with a review of what's been going on in my ears over the past few months. Air - Radio # 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nidGe7x01w I spent a good chunk…
Post-rock Monday: new shit has come to light, man | Mumbling About…
Time keeps on slippin', slippin'.... Before even attempting to catch up here I thought it a good hit of post-rock would be a suitable way to try and blow the cobwebs off just as I employ the genre on a Monday morning to ease the kick in the jewels that the start of the week…
More midweek spinnage | Mumbling About…
Here we are once again at the midway point of the week with the scale starting to tip toward the weekend and, for me, the beginning of holiday season. With that in mind, here's what's been going in the ears this week. Smashing Pumpkins - Goeth The Fall http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0ZhSXKQ7I I don't think I've enjoyed a…
It always gets so hard to see, right before the moon – Five from The War On Drugs | Mumbling About…
I know I've dropped a few tunes from The War on Drugs over the years here yet as I sit here with them in my ears through the day I figured it was time to drop a few more in one place in a more organised manner. Originally formed when Kurt Vile and Adam Granduciel…
Another midweek spinnage | Mumbling About…
Slipping seamlessly into the middle of another week with an eye firmly on the approaching weekend like a desert oasis.... here's another selection of those tunes that have been gaining traction this week. Pixies - Chicken http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gyja723a5o As the Pixies prepare to drop album ten (with bass player number four) The Night The Zombies Came,…
Midweek Spinnage | Mumbling About…
Been a while... again. Without further mumbling, it feels like a good 'get over the mid-week slump' exercise to share half a dozen of those things that've been getting into my ears this last week or so. Wilco - Either Way http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otz5V3RnG1Q I've been slowly but shortly putting together and whittling down a list of…
You better, you better take cover: Post-Rock (Mondays) from Down Under | Mumbling About…
Despite all our fervent entreaties to various fictional deities, Monday is upon us. For me that always means working to a post-rock soundtrack. I've recently added one of the genre's high points to my collection with We Lost The Sea's Departure Songs. As it winged its way to my record shelves via Australia Post (BandCamp…
Swallowed up by the sound: current spins | Mumbling About…
As the last few posts have had a somewhat singular artist / track focus and while I'm still in a posting stage of mind, I figured it was fitting to share what's been on heavy rotation of late. Pearl Jam - Waiting For Stevie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x2D7UXR2EM I haven't talked about Dark Matter here in any real…
Tracks: Telegraph Road | Mumbling About…
YouTube and its algorithm are pretty confident that I want to see seemingly every 'The Late Show' guest's answers to that show's Colbert Questionert. While puzzling over why an audience seems to whoop and applaud someone's take on the 'best sandwich' is one way to pass the minutes that make up a dull day, the…
I fear that I’m ordinary, just like everyone – Five From The Smashing Pumpkins | Mumbling About…
I've been spending a lot of time with The Smashing Pumpkins' music recently. To be more specific, that of their first 'run'. You know, that glorious period captured on Rotten Apples from 1991 thru 2000. My wife - in true enabler fashion - got a bit trigger happy in Rough Trade last year when she…
We watch the world from the padded cell: Dead Man’s Pop and The Replacements’ revision of history | Mumbling About…
You know I get the feeling that Paul Westerberg has quietly retired from music. It would be a real shame if that's the case, he's a massively over-looked songwriter of particular skill both across his extensive solo catalogue and, most famously, with The Replacements. Despite Westerberg's songwriting chops and the band's impact on their fans,…
Twelve Things for Twelve Years | Mumbling About…
I receive a notification here a few days back (not quite a dozen) that I registered this blog twelve years ago. That's quite a while ago though my current lapsed-blogger status means that there isn't quite the multitude of posts that duration would normally indicate. With both these facts in mind and that I didn't…
New things from old friends | Mumbling About…
In the interest of fairness, after my recent clump of new music from new bands, it's probably about time to highlight such offerings from acts more familiar to the collective ear. Pearl Jam - Dark Matter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fx8LprPMIU I couldn't be considered a Pearl Jam fan if I a) hadn't listened to this a good few…
Talking Tracks – I’m going to scream…. | Mumbling About…
Believe it or not, I love talking about music. I recently had the genuine pleasure of sitting down with Geoff to do just that for his The 1002nd Album podcast to talk about a track that's very close to my heart. I follow only a few podcasts but I've been enjoying Geoff's for some time…
Tracks: Beaux Dimanches | Mumbling About…
Blowing the dust off the cartridge to plug the 'Tracks' format wherein I spotlight a particular song that stands out in my mental jukebox and sits amongst my favourites back into action. Are these favourite songs? I suppose so. If one of those folks in Hollywood could finally settle on a suitable compensation package for me,…
A New Music Fix | Mumbling About…
"Why do you need new bands? Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974." In my determination, as I march toward the middle of my fourth decade, not to become stuck in any kind of rut, especially musical, I try and keep my ear out for good new music as much as I can. As much as…
Post-rock Mondays: Post-rock français avec samples | Mumbling About…
Bonjour mes amis et bon retour! As I stumble blindly forward with posting here I find myself once again starting off the week working from home and enjoying a post-rock soundtrack thinking "hey, it's time for another one of those Post-rock Monday' posts I used to try and do frequently". Given my affinity for our…
We should have kept it every Thursday, Thursday Thursday in the afternoon…. for a couple of spins | Mumbling About…
Never fear, readers of the blog world! I am here to put your mind at rest on multiple fronts: yes, I'm still about; yes, I'm going to answer that burning question 'what the fuck has he been listening to?'; yes, you've made it to the 'good' list and Santa shall be dropping gifts beneath your…
And here’s a man with a lust for life, he lives for now on the edge of a knife – Five From Thurston Moore | Mumbling About…
Thurston Moore - erstwhile founder and guitar wrangler, singer etc of Sonic Youth - has been popping up a fair bit on my news feed of late. He's got a memoir out (which I look forward to reading) and as a health issue has limited his physical wandering to promote it, there's no shortage of…
The Fascination by Essie Fox | Mumbling About…
From the PR: "Victorian England. A world of rural fairgrounds and glamorous London theatres. A world of dark secrets and deadly obsessions… Twin sisters Keziah and Tilly Lovell are identical in every way, except that Tilly hasn’t grown a single inch since she was five. Coerced into promoting their father’s quack elixir as they tour…
There’s a piece of Maria in every song that I sing – Five From Counting Crows | Mumbling About…
The Counting Crows are one of those bands that seemingly achieved mainstream success overnight on the back of their hit single 'Mr Jones' - they managed to pull of a neat trick of combining complex and wrenching lyrics with a roots inflected take on alternative rock with a sumptuous production (thanks to T Bone Burnett)…
Wooo! You got a date Wednesday, baby! Midweek spins | Mumbling About…
The will is there, the time isn't always there for getting back into this after a summer lay-off... but lobbing up a quick 'I've been listening to this sort of thing' list isn't a bad way to get into it, I guess. It's been a surprisingly music-heavy time lately helped by needing (thanks to throwing…
Is Thumbelina size ten…. on a Wednesday: mid-week listens | Mumbling About…
It's been a while again but welcome back, my friends, to the show that stumble and mumbles along in fits and starts. After a couple of weeks without being able to really access music of my choosing or new music this month I've spent the last week or so making up for lost time, positively…
Post-rock Mondays: Que viva España | Mumbling About…
Another Monday only this time to sit alongside the buzz kill of work I've got an emergency date with the dentist to add insult to injury. However, post-rock is once again providing a comforting tonic and as I prepare to set sail for summer in less than a week I'm enjoying a volley of offerings…
Mirror Image by Gunnar Staalesen | Mumbling About…
From the PR: "Bergen Private Investigator Varg Veum is perplexed when two wildly different cases cross his desk at the same time. A lawyer, anxious to protect her privacy, asks Varg to find her sister, who has disappeared with her husband, seemingly without trace, while a ship carrying unknown cargo is heading towards the Norwegian…
Spinning Newer Things | Mumbling About…
It's been a while... but I thought it about time to throw up / down / about some of those new sounds I've been loving lately in between binging on classic Springsteen (I mean The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle has got to have finest Side B out there). Explosions In The…
Post-Rock Mondays: At The Movies | Mumbling About…
It's Monday again and I'm working from home and using a post-rock salve on the punch in the plums that first alarm beep of the week brings. I've also got another take on defining a genre that - having grown so wide and varied - is as full of contradictions of such attempts as is…