GF music review club

[Lee909]

Listening now

Really not sure how i'll be able to review this as i am seriously struggling just to finish this.

Really not my thing at all, i can get why some might like it but fuck it is not for me at all. 

[Lee909]

Nope can't do it

Nearly 20 mins in and its doing my head in. 

 

Pretty sure mine will do the same to others 

[TheHowieLama]

I think I am on the other side -- have enjoyed listening to this while agreeing that it is not really my thing. There is some really interesting stuff here 

[Lee909]

Someone neg me

How the fuck has i repped my own bloody post

[TheHowieLama]

Heh

[Guest]

Someone neg me

How the fuck has i repped my own bloody post

That isn't normally possible. The site was down the other day, perhaps new features (bugs) have been installed.

[Carvalho Diablo]

That isn't normally possible. The site was down the other day, perhaps new features (bugs) have been installed.

Don't tell Code.

[ZonkoVille77]

Can just imagine you doing the garden to this and the neighboours thinking, "What the fuck's he listening to now ?!"

You've given me my plan for the weekend. The neighbours are gobshites who listen to generic pop chart bollocks.

[Guest]

Don't tell Code.

Probably him who took the site down and installed the features. Mwahahahaha.

[Jose Jones]

I’ve been listening to this one a bit. Don’t know how I wasn’t aware of it before having been a longtime listener to the Handsome Boy Modelling School albums.

Mike Patton is on the White People record, which is a bit more eclectic and hip hoppy than this but you should check out if you like Music to Make Love to your Old Lady by.

 

Anyway, Lovage, love it. Another triumph for the GF music review club.

[TheHowieLama]

This is the good stuff here. At first listen I had no idea who/what this was. But I liked it as soon as it kicked off -- sounds are fat and tight throughout. Then - huh- that's Prince Paul -- ok I get it. As a fan of the first wave of rap - Stetsasonic, and then especially the 3rd Bass singles and the brilliant first De La Soul stuff - the musicality of this compared to the other couple of hip hop records trotted out in this thread (which to be blunt sucked and bordered on unlistenable) is night and day. Old school sampled stew here -- thick, slow and funky. Dan is an OG - and you can tell. The drum tracks hit - hard - even though it is a down record.

Pit Stop - great - Captain Beefheart over a trip track -- great melodic scratching that follows the vocal -- great hook.

Bambaataa on the Socks jam - good.

Never really had alot of love for Mike Patton - my favorite part of Faith No More was always Jim Martin - but here he is in character, and low key -- good. Lifeboat especially.

The girl is great -- obviously killing the cover stuff.

I would put this on at a party and will listen again.

 

Great pick.

[Guest]

So many cameos on one album and really good funky licks and grooves. 'Music to make love to your old lady by' is a paradox of good quality musicianship and tongue-in-cheek humour. Really good choice as an album to make people aware of. I'm just not sure I would listen to this album again and again simply because it does such a good job of falling in-between two stools. Saying that, it's an album I would listen to with breaks between listens for the exact same reason.

 

Great musicianship and great humour. 8.5/10.

[setreal]

Love the love Lovage gets on here. I have been a huge Dan the Automator fanboy for ages and bought this the day it came out (my pressing goes for a bit of money these days: https://www.discogs.com/Nathaniel-Merriweather-Presents-Lovage-Music-To-Make-Love-To-Your-Old-Lady-By/release/2875156

 

Prince Pauls cameo on this is no surprise - and Howie is absolutely correct: Paul has been ace with Stetsa, De La and also his concept solo masterpiece Prince among Thieves btw - given Dan and him have released two records as Handsome Boy Modeling School (HBMS). In some of the HBMS tracks off the first album from 1999 you can even hear early signs of the Lovage style, for example on this track with Sean Lennon:

 

 

Love Patton on this and as people said, Jennifer Charles is just perfect. Like Zonks, my favorite track would also be Book of the Month I reckon. 

I discovered Dan through his collaborations with Kool Keith. For anyone interested in these, Dr. Octagon from 1996 would be a good start:

 

 

And of course, Dan was also (and still is?) part of the original Gorillaz, who actually have their origins in a project/album called Deltron 3030. Which features flawless beats by Dan, raps by Del and has Albarn on one track. Full album:

 

 

A more recent project was called Got a Girl, with the lovely Mary Liz Winstead. Highly recommended.

 

[Skidfingers McGonical]

I got into Deltron through Juniper sticking one of their tunes on a Secret Santa CD for me.

[Skidfingers McGonical]

Loving the love for Lovage by the way.

[Carvalho Diablo]

Any sight of Moof or Boss recently lads? Who's left to review the current AOW ?

 

Boss is next up with his AOW around Thurs or Friday.

[Guest]

moof hasn't posted on this thread in a while, not sure about Boss.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Apologies for the massive fucking wall of text, incoming in 3... 2... 1

 

AOW: Lovage - Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady By
 
Consider me well out of my comfort zone here, having never heard or Dan the Automator, but I jumped in with both feet and gave it a week’s worth of listens.
 
Ladies Love Chest Rockwell - Dunno why, but the spoken word intro immediately puts me in mind of the track No Sex, from Chris Rock’s Bigger & Blacker album, offering a friendly word as the relaxed beats get you mellow. Solid mood setter.
 
Pit Stop - Take Me Home
The jangly piano immediately bounces in my head like something from a Wu Tang track (I think there's something similar, a touch slower in tempo, on Shame On A N*gga?). The use of it really settles beneath the track well, as the layers build up. Jennifer Charles' trippy vocals don’t prepare you for the gravelly dirtiness of Patton's; I particularly like the line “In your greasy spoon."
 
Anger Management
Really starting to fall into the vibe of the album now, it’s straddling something that I both find amusing and can get into in a genuine way. Fuck irony, this is great, “Can’t you see we could have had it all.” I’m also a real sucker for faux LP crackle in the background.
 
Everyone Has A Summer
Dragging me straight back to modernity is this mish-mash, that would’ve died without the light tones of the plucked guitar underpinning it. Ordinarily I’d not care for too much overlaid together, but this works, even if it does seem a bit like filler to break up the tracks either side.
 
To Catch A Thief
Jennifer Charles breathy vocals, straining every last drop of sexuality from each exhale. Not sure if I’ve ever cracked one off to music before, but this could probably suffice for material.
 
Lies and Alibis
Filler. Some nice little moments, but it feels like some ideas that never developed into things that could be transitioned to other tracks. Instead used as understated album punctuation.
 
Herbs, Good Hygiene and Socks
Some humorous advice. Obviously the least musical track, but I found it funny. Not entirely sure if that’s a good thing, as it slightly changes the feel of the following track, lending the sense of it all being a joke, rather than merely highlighting funk and soul tropes and knowingly playing with them.

 

Book of the Month
Charles is back in full-on breathy mode. The best example of the use of similes in lyrics too, particularly the “read the fine print later” caveat. Some very smart writing that goes under the radar a little due to the catchy hooks.
 
Lifeboat
The back and forth male / female conversational repartee to the vocals, coupled with the more relaxed style really makes it feel smoky jazz club with a twist. You can just imagine the pair of them leaning into a single chromed mic on a stand, haze billowing from ashtrays, lingering in the air.
 
Strangers On A Train
Didn’t think Charles could get any breathier, but she’s got to have the mic in her throat when she delivers the line “A stiff one is my speciality.” Not a big fan of the loop, and the high piano note that punctuates the backing is a bit too grating in pitch for my ears, jarring with the vocals, turning it into a “meh” track.
 
Lovage - Love The Lovage, Baby
Back to overt comedy. Unfortunately the sibilance of the English narrator’s pronunciation makes me think of Stewart Lee saying “crisps.”
 
Sex - I’m A
An interesting mix, like a conceptual hip-hop version of Birkin’s Je T’aime moans juxtaposed against spoken word advice. I’d have preferred it without the latter, but it brings it back each time Patton sings “I’m a man.” 
 
Koala’s Lament
Now, if I’m honest, the intro of acoustic guitar is more what I expected from the album cover, the cigarette after sex. I don’t, however, care for some of the punchy “One, one”, deliberately gatecrashing the mellifluous notes and mellow vibe. A nice afterglow of a track without that minor fly in the ointment. I'm spent here, you putting the kettle on love?
 
Tea Time With Maseo
Straight away I’m thinking “What’s this dialogue lifted from”, before the talking continues and you realise it’s just shooting the breeze as far as filler tracks go. 
 
Stroker Ace
The intro is a thing of pure beauty, love to hear some wind instruments punching over the top of a guitar; very period, kicked back and letting you know the album is unwinding now. 
 
Archie and Veronica
Going out with something more modern feeling. Sounds like an alternative murder ballad channeled through a British band like Portishead, until Patton sings that is. Some dark imagery (“Jealous of the flies and the worms inside me”), completely at odds with what you think you’ve heard beforehand, but kinda puts the rest of the album in a different context, highlighting the obsessive undertones that’ve preceded this final revealing lament. I do love a death / murder ballad me.
 
-------------------------
 
Not sure what I expected, but it certainly wasn’t this. First listen left me feeling like I’d happened upon an experimental oddity, full of ideas but little cohesion. On second listen though it started to draw me into its rhythm, particularly the often excellent intros that set the mood. After a few more spins I’ve been won around, mainly because it feels like a proper concept album, and I fucking love those. 
 
The filler tracks that push the comedic elements are good, but still out of keeping to my mind, and slightly distract from the narrative that’s been created; there’s a real beginning, middle and end to the album. What started with Chest Rockwell’s bulge, the hint of getting some, goes through desire, breathy sex, lovers’ impassioned vocals and finally ends with flowers on a grave. Some of the ideas don't gel, but the high points of the album are very high indeed, and that more than makes up for the occasional misstep. 7/10

[Carvalho Diablo]

Got to say that you lot have really outdone yourselves with some truly epic and wonderful reviews of Skids' latest AOW by Lovage, BBN's most recent review there surely worthy of a discrete cocktail with Ms Charles herself, in a secluded dining car of a cross country rattler.

 

Bravo gentlemen, bravo.

[Carvalho Diablo]

Once again, I really hope that both Boss and Moof have both just been a bit busy and haven't jibbed the club altogether. They've both been brilliant club members afaiac, giving us some great albums to review and some excellent reviews.

[Lee909]

Looks like im the only one that couldn't stand it. Be boring i guess if we all had the same tastes but i got about a third of the way through and had to stop. A bit pointless leaving a review as it did nothing at all for me and there be little i could write

[setreal]

Once again, I really hope that both Boss and Moof have both just been a bit busy and haven't jibbed the club altogether. They've both been brilliant club members afaiac, giving us some great albums to review and some excellent reviews.

 

I believe Boss hasn't been posting since skirtgate, which is a bit of a shame because 9 times out of 10 he is a sound poster.

[Guest]

I believe Boss hasn't been posting since skirtgate, which is a bit of a shame because 9 times out of 10 he is a sound poster.

I missed this.

[Carvalho Diablo]

I believe Boss hasn't been posting since skirtgate, which is a bit of a shame because 9 times out of 10 he is a sound poster.

???

 

He's a great poster imo, been a great member of the club. Always welcome here afaiac.

[TheHowieLama]

Afaiac??  Racist.