2024 Album-A-Day: Week 45

Nearing the end of this series, as we are nearing the end of democracy as we know it. Feel free to recommend albums for the remaining seven weeks of this series (I find it unlikely that you will, but I'm not offended by that. Five people have read these.)

November 4th: The Raven That Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) by Steven Wilson

I was surprised to like this more than I liked Fear of a Blank Planet. This album, while no less morbid, is far more diverse in sound. You have crazy guitar shredding and slap bass solos, but you also have lovely piano passages and lush Pink Floyd-esque harmonies. The lyrics are, as the title implies, these tragic parables with a gothic, magical-realist bent to them, like the drink-off with the devil on "The Holy Drinker" and the title track's sad tale of a dying man believing a raven is his sister reincarnate, and the only thing in this world he wants is to hear it sing, but it just won't. This is an achievement in modern prog, and "Drive Home" was my favorite track.

November 5th (AAAAAA): It Was Written by Nas

Like everyone on earth, I love Illmatic. Therefore, I listened to Nas' followup to that album, and it's pretty solid. It's not as airtight and unstoppable as Illmatic, but that's the pitfall of the sophomore album: you have all the time in the world to work on your debut, rewrite, re-record, fiddle with the production, but on the second album, you have a deadline. Still, Nas' boom-bap beats have that crisp production, and his flows are as sharp as ever. It also has features from the likes of Dr. Dre, Mobb Deep, and Lauryn Hill, all of which are just as delightful as ever. Overall, I think this avoids the dreaded sophomore slump, and "I Gave You Power" is my favorite cut.

November 6th: (AAAAAAAA): Love Has Come For You by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell

I first became aware of this unlikely team-up because of their Broadway musical Bright Star, which contains altered versions of two songs on this album, those being "When You Get to Asheville" and "Sun's Gonna Shine." Apparently, Steve Martin went to one of Edie Brickell's concerts, and met her after the show and played her a melody he'd been trying to find the words to. That melody would become "Sun's Gonna Shine," and the album followed from there. This is a really fun listen, because Steve Martin, comedy genius, is also a very talented banjo player, and Edie Brickell, as discussed previously, has quite a voice on her. I chose "Sarah Jane and the Iron Mountain Baby" as my favorite because I already knew "Sun's Gonna Shine."

November 7th: Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? by of Montreal

I'm kicking myself for not getting into this band sooner. I knew almost nothing about this band for a long time, and since various internet algorithms seemed to think I'd like them, I decided to dive in head-first. I am so glad I did. The first thing that stuck out to me about this album is the cohesion, the way the songs flow together, seamlessly. The thing that hit me was the production, with that Elephant 6 flair and those HARMONIES! From laid back songs like "Gronlandic Edit" to epics like "The Past is a Grotesque Animal," it's jams on top of jams. I should also mention that this is a concept album about lead singer Kevin Barnes morphing into flamboyant black person who has undergone several sex changes, which.....um.... I don't really know what to say about that, but it's.... certainly novel? Kevin Barnes later came out as non-binary, which is cool. My favorite track was "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse." (These song titles, man.)

November 8th: Nianda LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt by John Frusciante

This is the kind of album that's hard to review. John Frusciante had to leave the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the height of their fame because of his heroin addiction. He had a tape recorder and a lot of free time on his hands, but this doesn't have the same "I'm just kinda screwing around" feel as previous one-man time killing projects like McCartney and McCartney II, rather being steeped in Frusciante's anguish over the problems in his life, and how they're at least somewhat his fault. Both halves of this album have Frusciante's signature style of guitar layered over each other with the roughest possible production, and he sings in a pained wail of graphic imagery. I don't know how often I'm going to return to this album, but this is certainly unique. "Mascara" was my favorite.

November 9th: The Doubble Donkey Disc by Ozma

Apparently this band toured with Weezer and other Weezer-y bands, which makes all the sense in the world. I mean, I didn't necessarily get it from the first track, "The Flight of Yuri Gagarin," but from the SECOND song onward, I got it. This band has those big Weezer-y guitars, with additional Casio melodies, and the first half of this album contains repeated motifs inspired by Russian folk music, with the most obvious example being the rendition of the folk tune "Korobeiniki," better known as the Tetris theme. The second half of the album is less thematic, but still kicks ass. "You Know the Story" was my favorite.

November 10th: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back by Public Enemy

I knew a few PE songs, but I also knew about Chuck D's admiration for Louis Farrakhan, a man who I'm aware has done great things for the black community, but also virulently hates Jews. I don't think PE are antisemitic, but I think it's a little bit of an issue that they're willing to overlook that. Anyway, ignoring that (and the many times they shout out Farrakhan on this album), this is good golden-age hip-hop. Chuck D can rhyme like the best of them, clearly taking cues from other artists on Def Jam records such as the Beastie Boys and Run-DMC, and Flava Flav acts as the lighthearted foil to Chuck D's steadfast militant attitude. It should be noted that Rick Rubin produced this, and it's definitely got that feel to it. "Terminator X to the Edge of Panic" is my favorite track.

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