Today’s Yesterday Album

TODAY’S YESTERDAY ALBUM – ‘The Perfect Prescription’ – Dope LP By SPACEMEN 3

Posted on by JL

Remarkable albums from the past…

‘The Perfect Prescription‘
by SPACEMEN 3
Released: September 1987
Second longplayer

ALL MUSIC wrote: “Drawing together some earlier material and a slew of new songs, Spacemen 3 tied everything together on the brilliant Perfect Prescription, the clear point
of departure from tribute to psych inspirations and finding its own unique voice. Planned
as a concept album, this LP works where so many other similar efforts failed due to the
strength of the individual songs, as well as the smart focus of the concept in question,
a vision of a drug trip from inception to its blasted conclusion, highs and lows fully intact.”
Score: 4.5/5 – Full review here.

TURN UP THE VOLUME says: Psychedelic gloominess at its mind-pleasing best.
The British Velvet Underground. Addictive classic.

Album in full…

SPACEMEN 3: Biography – Discography

TODAY’S YESTERDAY ALBUM – ‘Things Fall Apart’ – Fourth LP By… THE ROOTS

Posted on by JL

Remarkable albums from the past…

‘Things Fall Apart’
THE ROOTS
Released: 23 February 1999
Fourth longplayer

PITCHFORK wrote: ” ‘Things Fall Apart’ was a turning point for the Roots, the record
where they figured out what kind of band they could be. Both its themes and its eclectic
mix of sounds resonate in the current moment. As the Roots teetered between fame and purgatory, virtue and failure, the album captured the intensity of a group with everything
to lose and the world to gain. The band was pushing the limits of their sound. By building a musical community and mastering the art of collaboration, they figured out how to cross over and keep their soul intact. ‘Things Fall Apart’ was The Roots’ most successful record, and after years in the shadows, they were finally getting radio airplay and touring as headliners.”
Score: 9.4/10 – Full review here

TURN UP THE VOLUME says: “Unfortunately this album is highly relevant again today, as so many things falling apart again – most of all the equality among humans, regardless race, religion and sexual orientation – the past few years with macho world leaders dividing the people for their greedy benefit.

TOP TRACK: The Next Movement

Album in full…

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THE ROOTS: Facebook – Twitter – All Albums

TODAY’S YESTERDAY ALBUM – ‘Cut’ – Punk Reggae Party Debut By… THE SLITS

Posted on by JL

Remarkable albums from the past…

‘Cut’
THE SLITS
Released: 7 Sept 1979
Debut longplayer

PITCHFORK wrote: “When the group first formed, they couldn’t play their instruments for shit. The songs on the album offer an amalgam of punk’s abrasive DIY WTF-ness and the spacious relaxed rhythms of dub reggae. This album is a keystone for any and all punk-based grrrl movements. And– though it goes without saying, it’s often said anyway– this album is terribly, terribly important in the history of the rock music and the grand scheme of canonical flippity floo flap.” Score: 9.3/10 – Full review here.

TURN UP THE VOLUME says: “experimental vision, wicked sing-along songs,
turbulent live presence, glorious DIY yourself punk reggae party.”

THREE TOP TRACKS‘: Typical Girls / Instant Hit / I Heard To The Grapevine

* TYPICAL GIRLS

* INSTANT HIT

* I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE (cover Marvin Gaye)

Album in full…

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THE SLITS: Fan Facebook – Biography
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DIY icons – R.I.P. Ari Up…

TODAY’S YESTERDAY ALBUM – ‘Imperial Bedroom’ – 7th ELVIS COSTELLO LP…

Posted on by JL

Remarkable albums from the past…

‘Imperial Bedroom’
ELVIS COSTELLO
Released: 2 July 1982
7th longplayer

ALL MUSIC wrote: “Having gotten country out of his system with Almost Blue, Elvis
Costello returned to pop music with Imperial Bedroom — and it was pop in the classic,
‘Tin Pan Alley’ sense. Costello chose to hire Geoff Emerick, who engineered all of the Beatles’ most ambitious records, to produce Imperial Bedroom, which indicates what it sounds
like — it’s traditional pop with a post-Sgt. Pepper production. Essentially, the songs on
‘Imperial Bedroom’ are an extension of Costello’s jazz and pop infatuations on Trust.”
 Score: 5/5 – Full review here.

TURN UP THE VOLUME says: Another high-quality album by
a high-quality singer/songwriter…

TOP TRACK: Man Out Of Time…

TODAY’S YESTERDAY ALBUM – ‘Y’ – Willful And Eccentric Debut By THE POP GROUP…

Posted on by JL

Remarkable albums from the past

‘Y’
The Pop Group
Released: 20 April 1979
Debut longplayer

PITCHFORK wrote: “Unlike most of the late-’70s no-wave types (and perennial imitators),
The Pop Group were less concerned with eschewing convention than with vehemently eviscerating it. Listen to how they tear apart a boxy, reverb-laden surf riff on “We Are Time”
with Dadaist malice and contempt. It’s impossible to ignore Mark Stewart’s incessant Thatcher-bashing, but ‘Y’ is so convincing in its hectoring that one can easily imagine it arising from even more amicable circumstances. This is a record of dire necessity, armed for combat against a long litany of ills—none more than typicality.” Ranked at number 35 on Picthfork’s greatest albums of the 1970s

TURN UP THE VOLUME says: To my ears, ‘Y’ sounded at first, both confusing and fascinating, like cricket, an intriguing sports game of which I still don’t know the rules,
until I found out that this band/album had no rules at all. While the ‘famous’ punk bands became greedy money sharks The Pop Group made the most brain-cracking, the most willful and most cutting middle-finger LP of that tremendous era.

TWO TOP TRACKS: She’s Beyond Good and Evil / We Are Time

* She’s Beyond Good And Evil

* We Are Time

Y in full…

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THE POP GROUP Website – Facebook – Twitter – Discography

TODAY’S YESTERDAY ALBUM -‘A Different Kind Of Tension’ – Third LP By BUZZCOCKS

Posted on by JL

Remarkable albums from the past

‘A Different Kind of Tension’
BUZZCOCKS
Released: 15 Sept 1979
Third longplayer

ROLLING STONE wrote: ” ‘A Different Kind of Tension’ is the Buzzcocks’ most formidable record yet. Chief songwriter Shelley has finally arrived at something approaching a hard-bitten and reasonable world view. Technically the band’s fourth LP, is bursting with many of the same laudable features that graced the ‘Singles Going Steady’ set: bold and big-bottomed rhythms, combustible buzz-blur guitars and leader Pete Shelley’s rushed,
iambic vocals.” Score: 5/5 – Full, review here.

TURN UP THE VOLUME: “Underrated album. Their best non-stop avalanche of riffs loaded, barbed wire pop knockouts. From start to finish’

TOP TRACK: ‘You Say Don’t Love Me’

Album in full…

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BUZZCOCKS: Website – Facebook –  Twitter


Going sky-high…

TODAY’S YESTERDAY ALBUM – ‘Now I Got Worry’ – By… THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION

Posted on by JL

Remarkable albums from the past

‘Now I Got Worry’
THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION
Released: 15 October 1996
Fifth longplayer

PITCHFORK wrote: “What’s most remarkable about ‘Now I Got Worry’ is that the Blues Explosion’s grimiest record was also their most sonically ambitious. Recorded in the wake
of the band’s 1996 collaboration with R.L. Burnside (A Ass Pocket of Whiskey), ‘Now I Got
‘ sees the trio adapting to the bluesman’s brand of hypnotic, in-the-pocket electric blues,
but filtering it through the cut-and-paste funk aesthetic favored by contemporaries like
Beck, the Beastie Boys, and Cibo Matto. Spencer, of course, had been flirting with hip-hop
since his Pussy Galore days, but here the abrupt breakbeat edits and dubby textures feel
less like tentative dabbles and more like strategic devices used to better convey the songs’ anxious energy.” – Score: 8.5/10 – Full review here.

TURN UP THE VOLUME‘s favorite tracks: steamy beastsWail and Chicken Dog

* WAIL

* CHICKEN DOG

Album in full…
(original tracklist: #1 – #16)

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JSBX: Website – Facebook – All Albums on Bandcamp
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TODAY’S YESTERDAY ALBUM – ‘From Heroes To Zeros’ – Third And Final LP By THE BETA BAND…

Posted on by JL

Remarkable albums from the past

‘From Heroes To Zeros’
THE BETA BAND
Released: 26 April 2004
Third and final LP

BBC MUSIC wrote: “The Beta Band are far too oblique and tricksy to stick to any kind of dull 4/4 format. Vocals trip over each other in counterpoint and within the mix there’s always enough bleeps and burbles to remind you that this is a very 21st century hybrid. ”Space” explores both the inner and outer variety with a krautrock clatter. Elsewhere, they demonstrate their uncanny knack for low-key beauty on ”Wonderful”. It’s left to tracks like ”Space Beatle” and ”Rhodedendron” to represent the off-kilter grooves of their previous work, albeit with a sweeter sense of melody.” Full review here.

TURN UP THE VOLUME‘s Top Track: Out-Side

Album in full…

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THE BETA BAND: Facebook – All Albums


Fascinating zeros…

TODAY’S YESTERDAY ALBUM – Entertainment! – Debut LP By GANG OF FOUR

Posted on by JL

Remarkable albums from the past

Entertainment!
GANG OF FOUR
Released: 25 Sept 1979
Debut longplayer

PITCHFORK wrote: “Gang of Four were a pop band. Their funk was no less stark or forbidding than, say, the more astringent Timbaland productions. They certainly weren’t as twitchy, speedy, or noisy as James Brown at his most energized. Their great innovation– Andy Gill’s morse code guitar, as if playing a riff for more than a few bars caused him physical pain– is post-punk’s most ripped-off idea after badly played disco drums. They had attitude, energy, the big beat, skilled players funneling their virtuosity into the necessary notes, a handy way with a catchphrase, and sweaty live performances. Sounds like pop to me.”
Score: 9.5/10 – Full review here

TURN UP THE VOLUME says: Entertainment! = classic post-punk LP…

TOP TRACK: still as haunting today as back then… DAMAGED GOODS

Album in full…

GANG OF FOUR: Facebook – Website – All Albums

TODAY’S YESTERDAY ALBUM – ‘New Adventures In Hi-Fi’ – 10th Album By R.E.M

Posted on by JL

Remarkable albums from the past

‘New Adventures in Hi-Fi’
R.E.M.
Released: 9 Sept 1996
10th longplayer

ROLLING STONE wrote: “R.E.M.’s most ambitious album to date, the band attempts to stitch together all the disparate mood swings that have characterized its fight to maintain its integrity in the face of both disaster and superstardom. This could be R.E.M.’s swan song — or the first day of the rest of their lives. The sequence of songs and the range of emotions on New Adventures convey a narrative that has all the dynamics and contradictions of life itself.”
Score: 4.5/5 – Full review here.

TWO TOP TRACKS: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us / The Wake-Up Bomb

* How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us – magnificent ballad

* The Wake-Up Bomb – explosive smack …

Album in full…

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R.E.M.: Website – Facebook – All Albums