The Official Needles and Grooves 1001 Album Generator Project (aka Preachin’ about the Preachers if today’s selection sucks)

Need to get @Yer Ol' Uncle D @TCell @Tj. @dhodo @waruv and @ranbalam in here for Songhoy Blues love.
Love Songhoy Blues! Definitely carrying on the Malian desert blues tradition. I prefer their more recent Optimisme to this first one, but streaming Music in Exile now in my engineering class as my students build marble roller coasters, and it's a catchy with a good groove and, as other's have said, a lot of joy.

Now sure where it's streaming at this point - our school Social Justice club streamed it a while back - but they're featured in the outstanding documentary They Will Have to Kill Us First.
 
2/7/23
578db65f8bc40b62874668ccf15720c594c0a3c5

Fiona Apple - Tidal



Allmusic Review:
 
Tidal was what got me to sign up for VMP. (Wait, is it almost six years ago? Time flies huh?) And therefore probably also the reason I'm on these boards, so there's that. It's a great album, but I haven't listened to it in quite a while, so looking forward to it!
 
2/7/23
578db65f8bc40b62874668ccf15720c594c0a3c5

Fiona Apple - Tidal



Allmusic Review:


5/5. I'm gonna listen again tomorrow but I already know the answer now.
One of the finest most fully-formed debut albums of all time.
Fiona has managed to maintain a near-perfect catalogue through the years and it's still astonishing that she was just 18 when this came out, given the richness and complexity here. Always happy to have an excuse or reason to play it!
 
Tidal was what got me to sign up for VMP. (Wait, is it almost six years ago? Time flies huh?) And therefore probably also the reason I'm on these boards, so there's that. It's a great album, but I haven't listened to it in quite a while, so looking forward to it!

I referred so many people to VMP (mostly via reddit) that between Fiona, Fugees and Gorillaz I made over $1000 in referral money.
 
Listened on my commute to work, and it holds up fine. As someone said above, one of the most impressive debuts ever.

One interesting thing struck me while listening though. When it came out, a lot of the reviews and press focused on her young age, and here in Sweden some reviewers actually compared her to Robyn, who had debuted the year before at the age of 16, which may seem weird today. But what is interesting about this comparison is that Robyn was sucked into the whole corporate machinery and shaped by her label to be a pop star, which in the end led to exhaustion and depression and almost finished her as an artist. It was only when she formed her own label almost a decade later that Robyn found her own voice and sound, as well as an outlet for her remarkable talents. With Fiona there was a similar hype about her being the next big thing, but she seemed to refuse the whole pop star thing from the get go and just went where her inspiration took her, although she had a similar breakdown and pause in her career after her second album. It's also interesting to compare this to young artists like Phoebe Bridges and Billie Eilish today, that seem to carve out a unique niche in the mainstream similar to what Fiona Apple did in the 90s, although perhaps on a different level of popularity at least in the case of Eilish. Time will tell how their careers turns out, I guess.

Anyhow, Tidal holds up fine and is great in so many ways, but I still think I rate "When the pawn" and "Boltcutters" as superior albums all in all. Score: 4,5/5 (great!)
 
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Listened on my commute to work, and it holds up fine. As someone said above, one of the most impressive debuts ever.

One interesting thing struck me while listening though. When it came out, a lot of the reviews and press focused on her young age, and here in Sweden some reviewers actually compared her to Robyn, who had debuted the year before at the age of 16, which may seem weird today. But what is interesting about this comparison is that Robyn was sucked into the whole corporate machinery and shaped by her label to be a pop star, which in the end led to exhaustion and depression and almost finished her as an artist. It was only when she formed her own label almost a decade later that Robyn found her own voice and sound, as well as an outlet for her remarkable talents. With Fiona there was a similar hype about her being the next big thing, but she seemed to refuse the whole pop star thing from the get go and just went where her inspiration took her, although she had a similar breakdown and pause in her career after her second album. It's also interesting to compare this to young artists like Phoebe Bridges and Billie Eilish today, that seem to carve out a unique niche in the mainstream similar to what Fiona Apple did in the 90s, although perhaps on a different level of popularity at least in the case of Eilish. Time will tell how their careers turns out, I guess.

Anyhow, Tidal holds up fine and is great in so many ways, but I still think I rate "When the pawn" and "Boltcutters" as superior albums all in all. Score: 4,5/5 (great!)
Yeah, that's one of the things I'm contemplating here... Pawn and Boltcutters are 5s. This album is not quite as impressive as those are.
 
2/7/23
578db65f8bc40b62874668ccf15720c594c0a3c5

Fiona Apple - Tidal



Allmusic Review:

This one didn't click for me as a full album when it first came out. That's way more about me and where my head was at the time. But it grew on me over time. I'd agree with others that the next couple were better. Very solid debut though. 4/5
 
Listened on my commute to work, and it holds up fine. As someone said above, one of the most impressive debuts ever.

One interesting thing struck me while listening though. When it came out, a lot of the reviews and press focused on her young age, and here in Sweden some reviewers actually compared her to Robyn, who had debuted the year before at the age of 16, which may seem weird today. But what is interesting about this comparison is that Robyn was sucked into the whole corporate machinery and shaped by her label to be a pop star, which in the end led to exhaustion and depression and almost finished her as an artist. It was only when she formed her own label almost a decade later that Robyn found her own voice and sound, as well as an outlet for her remarkable talents. With Fiona there was a similar hype about her being the next big thing, but she seemed to refuse the whole pop star thing from the get go and just went where her inspiration took her, although she had a similar breakdown and pause in her career after her second album. It's also interesting to compare this to young artists like Phoebe Bridges and Billie Eilish today, that seem to carve out a unique niche in the mainstream similar to what Fiona Apple did in the 90s, although perhaps on a different level of popularity at least in the case of Eilish. Time will tell how their careers turns out, I guess.

Anyhow, Tidal holds up fine and is great in so many ways, but I still think I rate "When the pawn" and "Boltcutters" as superior albums all in all. Score: 4,5/5 (great!)

Boltcutters was my favorite album of that year but it hasn't aged well for me, for some reason. Her first three albums are easily 5's for me, with Extraordinary Machine possibly being my favorite. The Idler Wheel and Boltcutters are probably 4's.
 
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