Day 175: You could say things get pretty tranquil with me...

Album 579/1031

Jean-Michelle Jarre - Oxygene (1976)

All tracks composed by Jean-Michel Jarre.

Side one

1. Oxygène (Part I) – 7:39
2. Oxygène (Part II) – 7:46
3. Oxygène (Part III) – 3:16

Side two

1. Oxygène (Part IV) – 4:14
2. Oxygène (Part V) – 10:23
3. Oxygène (Part VI) – 6:20

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxyg%C3%A8ne

Golf's verdict: Really rather lovely. Timeless but also evocative of the 70s and 80s (perhaps because of its similarity to all those great Vangelis and Tangerine Dream movie soundtracks from that era?)

Maire's verdict: Jean-Michel Jarre always reminds me of my mate James - I seem to remember one of our first chats at uni was about his music. Anyway, not my usual fare but I did enjoy it.


Album 580/1031

MIA - Kala (2007)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Bamboo Banga"	M.I.A. Switch Jonathan Richman Ilaiyaraaja	M.I.A. Switch	4:58
2.	"Bird Flu"	M.I.A. Switch R. P. Patnaik	M.I.A. Switch[a]	3:24
3.	"Boyz"	M.I.A. Switch	M.I.A. Switch	3:27
4.	"Jimmy"	M.I.A. Switch Bappi Lahiri	M.I.A. Switch	3:29
5.	"Hussel" (featuring Afrikan Boy)	M.I.A. Switch Diplo	M.I.A. Switch Diplo	4:25
6.	"Mango Pickle Down River" (with The Wilcannia Mob)	M.I.A. Keith Dutton Lendal King Colin Roy Johnson Walter Ebsworth Buddy Blair Morgan Lewis Brendan Adams Daniel Wright Will Jarrett	M.I.A. Morganics	3:53
7.	"20 Dollar"	M.I.A. Switch Charles Thompson	Switch	4:34
8.	"World Town"	M.I.A. Switch Blaqstarr	M.I.A. Switch	3:52
9.	"The Turn"	M.I.A. Blaqstarr	M.I.A. Blaqstarr	3:52
10.	"XR2"	M.I.A. Diplo Switch	Diplo Switch[a]	4:20
11.	"Paper Planes"	M.I.A. Diplo Joe Strummer Mick Jones Paul Simonon Topper Headon	Diplo Switch[a]	3:24
12.	"Come Around" (featuring Timbaland)	Timothy Mosley Timothy Clayton M.I.A.	Timbaland	3:5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kala_(album)

Golf's verdict: Hmmm. No. Came at this with a open mind, but even Paper Planes is heavily reliant on its Clash origins and gimmick 'gunshot' percussion. One track ('20 Dollar') also bizarrely features her speaking the lyrics to 'Where is my Mind?' by Pixies over a rather drab backing track. Not for me.

Maire's verdict: Rubbish.

Album 581/1031


Talking Heads - Fear of Music (1979)

All tracks written by David Byrne, except where noted.

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"I Zimbra" (writers: Byrne, Brian Eno, Hugo Ball)	3:09
2.	"Mind"	4:13
3.	"Paper"	2:39
4.	"Cities"	4:10
5.	"Life During Wartime" (writers: Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth)	3:41
6.	"Memories Can't Wait" (writers: Byrne, Harrison)	3:30

Side two
No.	Title	Length
7.	"Air"	3:34
8.	"Heaven" (writers: Byrne, Harrison)	4:01
9.	"Animals"	3:30
10.	"Electric Guitar"	3:03
11.	"Drugs" (writers: Byrne, Eno)	5:10

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_Music

Golf's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! Everyone should own Talking Heads first 4 albums. 


Maire's verdict: Love his voice but prefer '77.

Album 582/1031

The Mekons - Fear & Whiskey (1985)

All tracks written by Mekons, except as noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Chivalry"		4:03
2.	"Trouble Down South"		4:15
3.	"Hard to Be Human Again"		3:58
4.	"Darkness and Doubt"		5:15
5.	"Psycho Cupid (Danceband on the Edge of Time)"		2:52
6.	"Flitcraft"		3:23
7.	"Country"		2:54
8.	"Abernant 1984/5"		2:21
9.	"Last Dance"		3:13
10.	"Lost Highway"	Leon Payne	2:59

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Whiskey

Golf's verdict: A really pleasant surprise. Assumed a punk band from their name, but this was kind of alt-country/folk and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Must seek out more from them (they've done 22 albums!)


Maire's verdict: Never heard of them before and started off wondering what the hell was going on. By the end of the third track I was rather enjoying the album.

Album 583/1031

The Cure - Pornography (1982)

All songs written by The Cure (Robert Smith, Simon Gallup and Lol Tolhurst)

Side A

1. "One Hundred Years" – 6:40
2. "A Short Term Effect" – 4:22
3. "The Hanging Garden" – 4:33
4. "Siamese Twins" – 5:29

Side B

1. "The Figurehead" – 6:15
2. "A Strange Day" – 5:04
3. "Cold" – 4:26
4. "Pornography" – 6:27

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography_(album)

Golf's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! Like a rip in space/time continuum, this had me back to 1988 in a jiffy. A gloriously miserable and yet - counterintuitively - hugely uplifting work of genius.

Maire's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! I adore this album. It's another so-called 'miserable' album that cheers me up every time I hear it, which was exactly what was needed today. Pretty damned perfect.

Album 584/1031

The Only Ones - The Only Ones (1978)

All tracks written by Peter Perrett.

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Whole of the Law"	2:38
2.	"Another Girl, Another Planet"	3:02
3.	"Breaking Down"	4:52
4.	"City of Fun"	3:32
5.	"The Beast"	5:47

Side two
No.	Title	Length
6.	"Creature of Doom"	2:35
7.	"It's the Truth"	2:07
8.	"Language Problem"	2:28
9.	"No Peace for the Wicked"	2:51
10.	"The Immortal Story"	3:57
Total length:		33:49

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Only_Ones_(album)

Golf's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! I just absolutely adore The Only Ones and believe them to be criminally under-rated. Their lack of success may have been largely self-inflicted (Peter Perrett makes Peter Doherty look like an amateur when it comes to screwing up a promising music career), but that is still a tragedy nonetheless. From the moment I first heard 'Another Girl, Another Planet' (circa 1989, it was on the pub jukebox at The George, Wedmore) I have been well and truly hooked. And I will leave it to Maire to tell you about 'The Whole of the Law'. One of my favourite records of all time.

Maire's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! 'The Whole of the Law' holds a special place in my heart: Golf  wrote the lyrics in the first letter he ever sent to me close to 25 years ago (yeap, hand-written letters which I still have!) and it was our first dance at our wedding. The rest of the tracks hold their own too. All in all a classic.