Category: 30/30
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lucinda williams – car wheels on a gravel road (1998)
With not a component out of place, CWOAGR unveiled the Southern world in which its singer loved and lived. The record was not made through the seamless beauty with which it arrived: it was hard-fought, re-thought, and endured. With a spiky purr, Lucinda spoke of life plainly and perfectly, while the colourful imagery she planted […]
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steely dan – aja (1977)
It is a dialogic movie trope to have two middle-aged men arguing light-heartedly over dinner about Steely Dan’s credentials: one claims musical mastery, the other claims soulless boredom. I fear people who do not like Steely Dan and who would not like this record. Their world bewilders me. On ‘Aja’, the duo of Walter Becker […]
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sylford walker – lamb’s bread (1988)
‘Lamb’s Bread’ was recorded through the mid-to-late 70s, but had to wait ten years before being released due to promotion and cash flow issues. When the record arrived on the reggae market in 1988, it was received as a grainy snapshot of 70s roots—fossilised from a sombre, fundamentalist past. To the buyer, this was far […]
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felt – forever breathes the lonely word (1986)
Felt’s career was guided by lead singer Lawrence’s grand ideas of artistic endeavour. He wanted the band to produce 10 albums and 10 singles in 10 years and then dissolve. They did. On their sixth LP, Felt carried sensitivity through bold melodies to assemble a masterpiece of organ-pop. FBTLW is a deeply intricate attempt to […]