oops

Haven't had much to post here lately, but I do have a lot of new music for future posting here.

But I haven't Listened to any of it. I drug out dad's old LP collection and have been checking that out. So right now its some quick reviews of wax older than I am.

1)

The Songs of Leonard Cohen- Leonard Cohen, 1967

This is Cohen's first album. While the front cover is pretty non descript, the back(which I could not actually find, but pictured is a tribute album using the same image), as you can see is pretty out there. Which is a pretty good illustration of what the album is like.

One second, Leonard is presenting a very beautiful ballad, but the lyrics have a dark and sinister twist.

"Suzanne", the lead off track, is easily the crown jewel of this album. The rest of album seems to build off the cadence Cohen presents in this first song. "That's No Way to Say Goodbye" is probably my second pick on this one.

Cohen isn't just a one trick pony on this one though. He delves into some pretty odd sounds in the final cuts of the album, and "Sisters of Mercy" is almost incongruent with the rest.

These are dark songs. I think if you know any of Cohen's work, you probably know that with out being told. Gorgeous music though. The songs on the B-side have some choruses of female backing vocals... I can do with out those.

Heart Attack and Vine-Tom Waits 1980

Tom's last Asylum release, this album ranges from visceral blues tunes about the underbelly of American city life, and visceral jazzy piano ballads, and one song later covered by the Boss. Waits is in fine form here, and often fluctuates from a baritone voice to his iconic slurring growl within the same verse.

I find there is a bit of a lull at the end of the title track, an instrumental blues composition that just doesn't do much for me. Other than that, this album is perfect. Its almost two EPs shuffled together at times. The slower ballads are all the heartfelt kind about how much love hurts, which, if you read my other blog, is how i've felt. There's a slimy feeling to this one and it's not to be missed.