Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#720 in the Series) is Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Big Moon Ritual A couple of weeks ago, on one of the few sunny days we’ve had so far this year, I was sitting out in the back garden enjoying a beer and browsing online. I came across a phrase I’d never heard before: Cosmic California. Hmmm, I thought, wonder what the hell that can be about. I sipped my beer. I read on……… Like most people who listen to a lot of music, I sometimes get a little jaded. I look at the shelves of CD and vinyl and I think that I can’t be bothered listening to any of it, heard...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#711 in the Series) is Dexys, One Day I’m Going To Soar Nothing’s changed, not really. Despite all the personnel, stylistic and sartorial revamps over the years, Dexys have remained at heart a Soul band. The first album was fuelled by the passion of Northern Soul, the second infused by emotive Celtic Soul, and in 1985, the band’s masterful “Don’t Stand Me Down” settled into a slightly more sedate groove. That one is a real lost treasure and remains Kevin Rowland’s masterpiece. It was a total flop at the time but has gained in reputation over the years and been re-released at least twice, that I know of. Kevin Rowland is famous...

  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 (#651 in the Series) is Bruce Springsteen, Wrecking Ball The Boss is back and he’s an angry man! I’ll be honest, I never thought I’d fully enjoy a new Springsteen album again. Much as I love the man and his music, recent efforts have left me fairly underwhelmed. But come on, it’s Bruce! He’s never going to entirely let me down and both Magic and Working on a Dream certainly have their moments. Some fine songs between them but in terms of putting out an album that was a great listen all the way through, well, I thought it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Which just shows how much I know…………..this...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#649 in the Series) is Sinéad O’Connor, How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? Simple question: Why should anyone, in 2012, care about a new Sinéad O’Connor album? And the answer is, of course, because she’s still so damn good at making the things! You could, of course, be forgiven for thinking otherwise though because when this lady makes the news pages these days it tends to be for non-musical reasons, the latest escapade being well documented. First she got married (for the fourth time) then announced her intention to file for a divorce mere days later, amid lurid tales of going out searching for drugs in Las Vegas. Or something....

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#636 in the Series) is Craig Finn – Clear Heart, Full Eyes Craig Finn is better known as the singer and main songwriter in The Hold Steady, an excellent band who seem to exist somewhat out of time. What I mean by that is that despite some great music, notably the album Boys & Girls In America, they just aren’t as well-known as they really should be and that, I feel, if they’d been around in the 80’s they would be hailed by now as a Classic American Band. On a par with the likes of The Replacements, Green On Red and BoDeans maybe. Hopefully that will all change soon but for...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#631 in the Series) is Harold  Budd / Brian  Eno, Ambient  2 :The Plateaux  Of Mirror It was a beautiful day today, sunny in the morning, and you could easily have been fooled into thinking spring was arriving early. There’s a row of old-fashioned houses that I can see from a window at work and all morning long, as the slow rising sun crept up, the houses were changing colour, pink, orange, red. It was a lovely sight and it brought this album to my mind,  it’s an old favourite which I hadn’t played in such a long time. Up until 7 years ago I worked in a paper mill and worked...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#627 in the Series) is The Undertones. This is an album that claimed a place in my heart 30 years ago and retains it to this day. And that’s not just because of its musical merits, of which there are indeed many. It’s also due to the time, the place and the circumstances during which I first really got into it, and the company I was keeping at the time, all of which invoke nothing but good, happy memories. I’d like to take you back now, way way back to the long, hot, glorious (in my recall at least!) summer of 1982. Back when I still had my youth, my good looks...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#614 in the Series) is Talk Talk, Spirit Of Eden Most music lovers, even if they know nothing else about the band, will recognize at least one of Talk Talk’s trio of superb early/mid-80’s singles. “Talk Talk,” “It’s My Life” and “Life’s What You Make It” were certainly memorable and they helped pave the way for main men Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Green’s shift into distinctly muddier musical waters. The music they crafted later in the decade was a whole new thing and, arguably, much more of an acquired taste. The Colour Of Spring (1986) had been a real leap forward, a fantastic and cohesive release which garnered much praise, all of...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#610 in the Series) is The Felice Brothers – “The Felice Brothers” The first time I saw a photo of The Felice Brothers (before I’d even heard them) they looked and dressed almost exactly like The Band famously did on the cover of their classic second album. Straight away I knew…..this lot are gonna be good! And I was right. It wasn’t until about 2 weeks later, when the album came out, that I finally got to hear them and they certainly didn’t let me down. Mining a seam of that “old, weird” American music which Bob Dylan and The Band explored on The Basement Tapes, they also threw in a distinct...