Closing out the round of Soul selections, the Sonic Collective team shares their thoughts on Van Morrison’s album Saint Dominic’s Preview.
Continue readingReview of Saint Dominic’s Preview: Van Morrison
Saint Dominic’s Preview by Van Morrison
We’ve gone pretty far afield starting with a taste of neo soul, sliding into a lounge/chillhop and rounding out with a modern throwback to the roots of the genre. Scott is going to take us back and give us a taste of blue eyed soul with Van Morrison’s 1972 album Saint Dominic’s Review.
Continue readingReview of Garbage: Garbage
Here’s our review of our pick for December, 2021. Dig into the discussion of Butch Vig’s production and Shirley Manson’s lyrics. There’s a good chance if you were listening to music in the 90s, you’ll recognize the mashup of styles and sounds Garbage blends together.
Continue readingGarbage: Garbage
Garbage is Garbage’s debut album, featuring Shirley Manson on vocals and Butch Vig in the band. With a strong history producing for other bands, it will be interesting to see what happens when Butch returns to the other side of the window.
Continue readingFour Bands People Love to Hate: The Reviews
For August 2021, we’ll take a closer look at four bands who find themselves in that category. The bands? In no particular order, Creed, Limp Bizkit, Dave Matthews Band, and of course, Nickelback.
Continue readingBjork: Homogenic
Bjork’s 1997 album Homogenic was nominated for a grammy for Best Alternative Rock Performance, losing to Radiohead’s OK Computer. I guess if you have to lose to another album, that’s high on the list of ones to lose to. Homogenic certified gold in the US and Canada and Platinum in Europe, which are pretty solid numbers for such an eclectic-sounding artist.
Continue readingReview of Dwight Yoakam: Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. Etc.
For February 2021, member Alain Dupuis chose this album, not only because it had a major impact on the shape of country music in the 1980s, but because it seemed like a good pick for us to better explore evolution of the genre through the decades. Listen along and enjoy.
Continue readingLady Antebellum: Need You Now
The Sonic Collective has decided to pick a round of influential country music artists. Member Scott Gregory explains why he chose the Lady Antebellum: Need You Now album. Listen to this selection and then join us back on April 1, 2021 to hear our review of this classic Lady Antebellum album.
Continue readingM83: Hurry up, we’re dreaming
Hi all you people out there in Collective land. It’s me, Scott G, here to present our pick for November 2020, which is also the last of the double album round. As you know, Alain picked our last band, Frankie Goes to Hollywood. This was right up my alley because I’ve spent a lot of time with 80s and 90s Brit synth and pop.
I was really torn on what to pick for this round. Looking through a bunch of top-10 lists there were a lot of great options. I was leaning heavily towards Bruce Springsteen’s The River, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd…lots of solid, safe picks.
But stretching out into top 50 lists, the band M83 caught my eye. First, because the name was unusual, and as far as I could tell I’d never even heard of them before. Their double album’s from 2011 and is called Hurry up, we’re dreaming.
Coming off a Brit synth pop from the 80s, I thought it’d be cool to pair it with some more synth from 30 years later and across the channel. Will there be cultural differences we can detect in the album? Will there be an evolution we can trace back? How will it feel coming off an overtly sexually charged album into something more atmospheric?
Their sixth studio album, coming in at a tight 73 minutes, I’m really hoping for a polished and deeply immersive double record. I don’t usually listen to a lot of ambient music, and I hope this is as new and interesting for you all as it will be for me.
So with that, let’s start our journey together with the Sonic Collective’s November, 2020 pick: M83’s 2011 double album, Hurry up, we’re dreaming. See you at the end month.
Links
Other albums considered
The River – Bruce Springsteen
Generation Terrorists – Manic Street Preachers
Daydream Nation – Sonic Youth
Review of Bob Dylan: Blonde on Blonde
Please read Darren Scott’s pick for Bob Dylan: Blonde on Blonde before reading and listening to our reviews below.
-
Would we recommend?
-
Influence us and our tastes?
-
Overall?
2
Review of Bob Dylan: Blonde on Blonde
The group weren’t big fans of this album. We couldn’t get into Dylan’s vocals and the harmonica was a little too shrill for our likings. While there were some moments of greatness to be savored, we felt like this album left us wanting more from such an incredibly hyped and appreciated artist. We all felt music fans should listen to at least one Dylan album in their life, and now that’s done.
Overall Scores
Overall opinion: 2.3
Would we recommend?: 1.9
Influenced our tastes: 1.6
Our Individual Review Scores
Scott Gregory
Overall opinion: 3
Would I recommend?: 2
Influenced my tastes: 2
Alain DuPuis
Overall opinion: 1
Would I recommend?: 1
Influenced my tastes: 1.5
Scott Coates
Overall opinion: 1
Would I recommend?: 3
Influenced my tastes: 1
Darren Scott
Overall opinion: 4
Would I recommend?: 3.5
Influenced my tastes: 2