Albums of the Decade - 32. Spiritualized - And Then Nothing Hurt (2018)

 32. SPIRITUALIZED - AND THEN NOTHING HURT (2018) 

I'd like to sit around and dream you up a perfect miracle
I'd part the clouds and have the sun proudly shining on you
I'd take the stars as well and line them up to spell "Darling, I love you"
And little by little watch it all come true

"And little by little let it all come down" is how my reedit goes to the the opener "A Perfect Miracle" - which Jason Pierce does what Pitchfork claimed:

...simply distills and gathers the essence of what has often made Spiritualized so powerful—hypnotic hymns of self-doubt, charging rock ...

It is that distillation that makes this album a hark-back to his wondersome catalogue of Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space, Let It Come Down and Lazer Guided Melodies to name but three. Even when the lyrics go drivetime - he literally has a song about driving a car down a hill - all the components of a true rock & roller still remain, and that was all our gain.

Albums of the Decade - 51. Mark McGuire - Living With Yourself (2010)

51. MARK MCGUIRE - LIVING WITH YOURSELF (2010)

Mark McGuire probably didn't mean in the same vein as Freddie Mercury did with living on your own and not having any time for monkey business. The way I interpret the album title is by coming to terms with oneself, one can go on a diet of asparagus more comfortably for example.

Lavendar used to be a smell I didn't like so much, but last year I bought a bar of lavendar soap by mistake from the store, having not smelled it correctly, and at first I was a bit mortified. However, after some thorough application and perseverence, I managed to get aquainted to acquire the appreciation for this nice smell - and felt fortified.

This album and the strumming of acoustic guitars in an electronic coating feels like hushed layers of zzzzzs from another dimension, especialiy the mesmeric "Brain Storm (For Erin)" which strokes your hair, holds your earlobe and whispers  "Soak me up" after drenching itself in mouthwash, lavendar soap and other parfum. Though not a household name by any means, McGuire created a lost classic here that is an enveloping, frosty beauty. I do like.

Albums of the Decade - 69. Cavern of Anti-Matter - Void Beats / Invocation Trex (2016)

69. CAVERN OF ANTI-MATTER - VOID BEATS / INVOCATION TREX  (2016)

Motor
Stereo
Cog
Whir
Rev
Spin
Clutch
Aibag
Dirt Machine
Plug
Spark
Free
Boost
Conscrict
Screech
Halt
Go
Speed
Deck
Emergence
Juice
Over and clear

Albums of the Decade - 80. David Bowie - Black Star

80. DAVID BOWIE - BLACK STAR

The cultural significance of this one propaply deserves to place this one higher up the listathon. I was sitting in Lee's Sandwiches in Taipei talking about his new LP on the day it came out and the fact that he was in bad condition, and then hey two days later he gone :(

It has to be one of the biggest exits in art history, never mind things like Nevermind, the sheer proximity of hello new record and goodbye world made me twitch and talk. I'll leave this one at that. No more to say. He's a black star.

Records of 2014 - 26. Strand Of Oaks - Heal

26. STRAND OF OAKS - HEAL
This band's previous 3 albums were folky and lead singer Tim Sholwater felt the natural urge to step up and make a rock record because he cannot write when he is on the road. When he returned to Indiana in 2013 after two years of constant touring, he went home and wrote over thirty songs in a fortnight. Some of them were executed as seven minute epics, of course some were discarded, but the ones that remained made up this mix-tape esque beauty.It's the most honest, forthright and personal thing that Sholwater has ever put out and it's soaked in summertime ginger beer, played by ginger beards.

Albums of 2012. 25 - Spiritualized - Sweet Heart Sweet Light

25. SPIRITUALIZED - SWEET HEART, SWEET LIGHT

Excerpts from my review in April for the Halifax Collect blog.

"This is the seventh Spiritualized album and while Pierce hasn't exactly let us down or required a “return to form” tag - this is not a football team – the timelessness is back that maybe lacked on 2008's Songs in A&E...

...“Too Late” brought me to tears when I first listened, which is no mean feat. I am considering doing some push-ups soon and I had a burger for breakfast too; I'm not a pussy. The lyrics of making ones mind up about love, despite the danger really does conquer all...

...Pierce twice uses his 11 year old daughter to sing on the album and amidst all the swirls of the the drug-induced “Headin...” - it's extremely arresting, vivid and somehow warm despite the bleak subject matter

...THIS MAN IS NOT RELIGIOUS- but what's wrong with “Jesus be my automobile / Drive me to heaven...? ”Well, it is highly melodramatic but so is the final ditty where daughter Poppy duets with Jason “Take the long way home / past the scary Jesus” - it's bold, incredulous and amazing and even brings the banjo along. Who'd have thought it?

...No one is invincible, especially not Spiritualized. It matters noteth. Maybe this is a little rich, a little corny, a little sentimental, a little unabashed. It matters noteth. It has heart, personality and is made of all the right stuff.."

BEST PLAYED: When you want something uplifting.