The end of the month is near and Autumn is upon us. Let’s see what some of our team members chose as their album of the month.
Lotty: The Picturebooks – The Major Minor Collective
I first came across THE PICTUREBOOKS when I reviewed their album Home Is A Heartache, due their unique approach and huge sounds I had been on the look out for them since. It’s records like their latest album The Major Minor Collective that make choosing album of the year an impossible task. This solid record contains a smorgasbord of top quality tracks that you can either chill out to, headbang to or both. It makes that commute to work a much more pleasant experience, even when stuck in that rush hour traffic.
For this record, THE PICTUREBOOKS bring in array of remarkable talent in the form of guest musicians. Neil Fallon (CLUTCH), Chris Robertson (BLACK STONE CHERRY), HJELVIK, Elin Larsson (BLUES PILLS) and Lzzy Hale (HALESTORM) are just some of the names on this album. Each of them offers some unique to each track and every song sounds as huge as the last. My personal favourites can be found in the chilled out sounds of Corrina Corrina, the southern vibes from Catch Me If You Can, the anarchic energy of Too Soft To Live And Too Hard To Die, the quirkiness in Riders And Farmers and the powerful, uplifting Rebel.
Due to the reasons above and the fact I have had this album on loop since it’s release earlier this month, this is my choice for album of the month.
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Steph: Ludo – You’re Awful, I Love You
This is one of the best albums I have listened to for a while. It manages to collect together a group of songs that sound happy and upbeat love songs (in fact they are happy and upbeat). However, when you listen to the lyrics they twist, and squirm and you find yourself listening the warped songs of a weird mind. The main song on this album is Love Me Dead, what seems like a deep love song, until you realise that whilst the singer is admitting to his love, he is also acknowledging that this love is a toxic downward spiral and that they are bad for each other.
The song that I love most on this album is Go Getter Greg. A song celebrating the obsessive and stalker like behaviour women can encounter. The true beauty of this album is its ability to show the weird side of love and the male psyche. But it manages to do this with catchy rhythms and lyrics that keep you dancing along.
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Jacob: Iron Butterfly – In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
Prog-laden proto doom metal on a drink fuelled trip. The organ runs and holds before that iconic riff plays. The singer sings words, or rather, the singer sings something that sounds like words. Seventeen minutes.
“Oh won’t you come with me, and take my hand?”
I am of course talking about the tactile insanity of Iron Butterfly’s In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.
I went back and listened to the whole album recently, and I’d strongly recommend it. At a little over thirty six minutes it contains some really interesting examples of that early prog sound that has seemingly disappeared in the last couple of decades.
Interestingly the fifth track on this album is Are You Happy? and by the time the next track plays you’ll certainly have a smile if nothing else.
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What would you have chosen for your album of the month? Let us know below.
