Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#479 in the Series) is Roddy Frame, Surf I think it would be fair to say that Aztec Camera were one of the very best bands to ever come out of Scotland. Their first two singles were released on the tiny (and now legendary/very influential) independent label Postcard, swiftly followed by a move to Rough Trade. Debut album High Land , Hard Rain (1983)was an utter classic and possibly even the best debut album by a Scots act. That particular gem has already been featured on this site, so its merits need not detain us here. Suffice to say its well worth anyone’s time and attention. The second effort (1984’s “Knife”, produced by...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#457 in the Series) is Tony Bennett and Bill Evans, The Tony Bennett /Bill Evans Album I think it’s fair to say that Tony Bennett has had a damn fine career, what with the estimated 50 million (!) records sold, the thousands of stellar concert performances and the small matter of 15 Grammy awards. And that’s just scratching the surface , there’s Emmys, humanitarian awards, you name it, Tony’s done it. He also happens to be a damn fine painter in his spare time. It’s enough to make you sick ! Even with all of this however, there’s one thing in his career that stands as an artistic high point, indeed a defining...

  LIVE: The Jayhawks, ABC Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland. It gives me great pleasure to report that The Jayhawks are in fine fettle. On a horribly muggy and humid evening the band finally made it back to Glasgow, a city which has long been home to a warm welcome for these fellas (and Karen!). Once again they took the place by storm and left a delighted fan-base in their wake. It was, to be fair, a bit of a shaky start. “Wichita” had slight sound problems and Gary Louris seemed a little disinterested at first. No such worries about Mark Olson however, he was on the ball from the off, no doubt warmed up nicely by the short support set...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#447 in the Series) is The Blue Nile, Hats Walk into your local record store (a crazy, outdated notion, I know), search for a Blue Nile album and you’ll be directed to the Rock/Pop section which seems just wrong somehow. It’s a category that simply doesn’t feel right when applied to this band. They really should be filed under………well, I don’t know. Nothing seems right. What’s really needed for this album is a whole new category. “Emotional Beauty” maybe? Alongside “Astral Weeks” and the Nick Drake albums? What I do know is this: Hats is one of the most utterly gorgeous, late-night, heart stopping albums ever made. For many it had come from...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#426 in the Series) is Chip Taylor, Chip Taylor’s Last Chance Every single person that I’ve mentioned this album to has invariable replied: “Chip Taylor? Never heard of him ” Of course you have, you just don’t know it yet! That’s because: Chip Taylor wrote a little song that became a big hit in the 60’s – “Wild Thing” as recorded by The Troggs. He then had another top effort with “Angel Of The Morning”, a smash for Merrilee Rush. Plus many more, he’s been a busy fella over the years, “Try (just a little bit harder) by Janis Joplin? Chip again. And I suppose i really should mention that his real name is...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#419 in the Series) is Aretha Franklin, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You When Columbia Records signed the 18 year old Aretha Franklin in 1960 they must have been absolutely delighted. There was no doubt that the kid had tremendous talent and years of singing and playing gospel music along with her father and sisters had given her the confidence and experience to go with it. There was surely no doubt that she would go on, very soon, to be one of the biggest stars the label had ever had. Leaving her home in Detroit for New York to work with some of the finest musicians in the country as...

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 (#382 in the Series) is Band of Horses, Infinite Arms Band Of Horses have come a long way in the last seven years or so. Formed circa 2004 in Seattle by South Carolina native Ben Bridwell and his friend Mat Brooke, early promise saw them land a deal with that fine city’s most famous label Sub Pop. Two albums, Everything All The Time and Cease To Begin followed fairly quickly (Brooke left after the former and formed his own band Grand Archives) and some amazing live shows helped cement their reputation. Along the way they also found time to gather up a pretty fanatical group of followers. I well remember my first introduction...

Today’s  Cool Album of the Day (#376 in the Series) is Frank Black and the Catholics, Dog In The Sand Who the heck actually knows how many solo album’s Frank Black has put out by now? Jeez, probably even Frank himself has lost count! But it’s a lot. By my reckoning we’re talking, as of May 2011, 15 albums. Roughly. He’s a prolific guy. There’s been a remarkable output over the last 18 years and what’s even more remarkable is the consistency and high standard of the material , they’ve all been pretty good albums. Which is why there’s so much debate amongst his fans about which one is actually the best. That’s a question i wouldn’t even attempt to...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#369 in the Series) is Chris Isaak, Baja Sessions OK, let’s cut straight to the chase here. This album was never going to be a ground-breaking, innovative classic. It was never going to change the face of modern music and it was never going to be sitting atop any “Greatest Album Of The Decade” polls. Heck , it’s probably not even Isaak’s best album. It was never about that. What it IS about though, undoubtedly, is a whole lot of laid-back, easy-going summertime fun ! Pure and simple. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that now is there ? Sometime in the early 90’s, Chris Isaak and his band found themselves down in...