Roxy Music - Avalon (1982)

 

(Art Rock, New Wave)

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I bought myself a copy of Roxy Music's Avalon the other day on vinyl, in the city.  It's a classic example of New Wave at it's prime, being released in mid-1982.  It's considered in Rolling Stone magazine's top 500 albums of all time, which is an unbelievable honor.  After buying this gem, I took a gander at their Wikipedia page and found that this was actually their eighth and final studio album.  It's unusual for a band to end on a classic LP, and this was certainly their magnum opus (great piece).  The artwork is great to look at on vinyl, also, with an almost viking-esque figure looking over the clouds, holding a hawk on his arm.  This picture set the mood for the listen remarkably, because it put you into that fictional "Avalon."

Each song, standing alone, is a sweet listen and trip back into the 80s.  You feel the love that goes into each piece and all those eighties synths and textures, blended with the jazz ensemble leave you feeling... happy.  The title song, More Than This, was very popular upon it's original release and is always featured on movie soundtracks and such.  After your first listen, you'll be belting this tune out so hard... It's funny.  Beautiful album in general. 9.5/10.  You NEED this.

More Than This - Roxy Music

 Buy CD: Avalon

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra - Kollaps Tradixionales

(Progressive Rock, Art Rock, Post-Rock)

Kollaps Tradixionales is the sixth studio album by the Canadian art-rock band, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra. It's aboot an hour of long over-lapping instrumentals that, at first, don't sound all that great. To be honest, on my first listen to this thing I wasn't impressed. But as every album goes, playing it a second time gives you a better perspective on how much you'll like it or not.

On my second run through the album I noticed much more than I encountered on the first listen. The orchestrations seemed to fit better and it all made a lot more sense to me. It's like that painting that at first you can't possibly comprehend how any thought went into it at all, but soon realize it was no simple task to accomplish. There is a LOT going on in this album. In the forefront are the lead vocals that cannot possibly be mistaken for good singing, but it works well, and they can go anywhere from being soothing to yelling in your face. Then there is the prog-rock ensemble of the main band. Drums, heavy guitar, plenty of bass, and distortions (yet it's not driven by guitar, surprisingly). And in the back of it all is the actual orchestral arangements, including string and brass instruments, setting the overall mood as depressing yet insightful. Alas, I give this record a 7/10.

There Is A Light - Thee Silver...