Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#694 in the series) is The Smiths, The Queen is Dead.  By the time this album was released The Smiths were slap bang in the middle of one of the greatest creative rolls that any band or artist has EVER managed , four studio albums and nine stand alone singles in little over four years . And yes, you did read that correctly , they released nine singles in this time period that weren’t on any album!  And, just for good measure, the majority of those singles contained brand new , and for the most part ,superb, tracks on the flipside. Can you imagine anyone even coming close to that sort of...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#558 in the Series) is Radiohead, Ok Computer (Parlophone (UK), Capitol (US)) At many points of this record a listener might get the idea the band was trying not to put out a breakthrough record that would make them popular, but the final product in total is one of the records I will bring with me to the moon. There is a lot more guitar and quite a bit more rock on 1997’s, OK Computer, but the production in the end is satisfying for many reasons. Though the lyrics are nearly impossible to decipher, the vocals of Thom Yorke, whether singing or talking are musical. From the notes of the very first...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#549 in the Series) is Sugar, Copper Blue Bob Mould is getting a lot of press these days. His autobiography, See A Little Light: Tales of Rage and Melody is one of the best of its genre I’ve ever read, and I highly recommend it. Usually I start these books, get my interested piqued for a while, then the minutia of the “road stories” gets old and I’m fighting to keep plundering through. Not so much the case with this one, as it’s a story of a man with a remarkable life that centers around music but also openly and shamelessly describes the demons and drive that have made him successful.  The...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#547 in the Series) is Robert Ellis, Photographs. (New West Records) The name Robert Ellis is new to me and all I know about him is that he’s 22 years old, hails from Houston Texas and made quite a reputation for himself at “Whiskey Wednesdays” in a place called Fitzgerald’s. Oh, and he’s just made a totally brilliant album! Now some albums have you hooked from the first few listens whereas others take time to grow on you, working their charms at a nice sedate pace. This one manages to pull off the unique trick of doing both. He’s done that by making a record that has the feel of a defiantly...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#498 in the Series) is Todd Rundgren, (Re)Production Todd’s (Re)Production is going to get a ton of bad reviews. Why you say? Well, this album just doesn’t come across that well on first listen. Unfortunately, that’s all most reviewers will give to a new disc. Not here, no no no.  I try to give a new release at least three spins before I take out my crayon and loose leaf paper, ok my laptop actually. One thing that we’ve discussed before is how albums that take a little longer to get into are usually the ones that stay with you longer. I feel that way.  That’s the case here. (Re)Production is all covers,...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (# 443 in the Series) is Art Brut, Bang Bang Rock & Roll. Sometimes an album that makes perfect sense comes out of nowhere. My friend Fred sent me Art Brut’s 2005 debut years ago. Art Brut writes simple and quick pop songs (the longest tune is 3:45 long). These guys have put the fun back into rock and roll. The absolute star of Art Brut is “singer” and sarcastic front man Eddie Argos. Eddie narrates his songs as much as he sings them. His greatest talent is his bombastic wit and strong sense of cynicism. “Yes, this is my real singing voice” Eddie proclaims. Bang Bang Rock and Roll jumps to a...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#436 in the Series) is Tears For Fears, The Hurting.  Tears For Fears hit big in 1985 with Songs From The Big Chair. Why? Well, a few reasons. One reason was the single “Everybody Wants to Rule The World.” Another reason was this album, The Hurting. The Hurtingestablished a fine strong base for the band. When the time came to start promoting the next album the promotional departments were definitely not starting from point zero.  It’s so much easier to walk into a music director’s office and discuss a band that has some history.  This album hardly made a dent on top 40 hit top stations, but it did very well with the...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#408 in the Series) is The Nails, Mood Swing. One of the niceties of getting up “early” on Saturday is listening to WXRT here in Chicago and listening to four hours of their long running segment called “Saturday Morning Flashback.”  Each Saturday they pick a year and play nothing but great music released during that time.  They also give a little rundown of top movies, TV shows, who left us etc., etc. It really is a fun way to kill a morning. Today was 1984.  What tunes we were treated too. “Working With Fire & Steel” –China Crisis; “Whisper to a Scream” – Icicle Works; “This is the Day” – The The; “A...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#401 in the Series) is American Music Club, California The Ones That Got Away. It’s a list that surely every music fan has got: the great unsung heroes, the bands or artists that you consider to be utterly brilliant but who simply do not, for whatever reasons, get the credit and recognition they so deserve. I’ve certainly got such a list and you can be damn sure that very near the top of it is this band, American Music Club. Formed in San Francisco in 1983, A.M.C. were roughly contemporary with bands such as R.E.M. and The Replacements and like both those fine bands they went on to create some of the very...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#400 in the Series and #36 in the Live, Saturday Night Series) is Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense Yes, you read it correctly. Today marks the 400th entry to “Cool Album of the Day.” Wow, already.  I’d get schmaltzy but I’ll save that for #500. I try to find something a little special for all the milestone numbers. I think I’ve done a pretty decent job finding one for #400.  I remember Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense being a huge, huge deal when it was released in 1984. The concert form which this was taken was from December 1983. The main reason that this was hugely talked about was that it accompanied a...