Headphone Commute

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Headphone Commute

I've been writing about instrumental, experimental, and electronic music for over a decade. In 2017 I decided to chronologically go through the "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" list, taking individual notes on each one, whether I liked it or not. So besides my regular recommendations of the modern marvels, you may see a few cringe words on some albums that I wish I'd never heard. Follow the journey along!

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Headphone Commute's Album Reviews

Playing through Fairport Convention's 40-minute is a breeze, even if some of the songs are absolute cringe-worthy, like the totally awful British drunk pub kick in the throat with a French accent to top it off, titled "Si Tu Dois Partir" - what a piece of total garbage that is, folks! Oh look, it was written by Bob Dylan! According to the band's guitarist Simon Nicol, "I think the boredom factor was one of the reasons we came up with this wacky idea. Three or four punters joined us in the dressing room; they were either French visitors or students of French working in London, and happened to be there that night." And you know what, Simon? That song sounds exactly like it was born from the boredom factor written by a few French punters! What were you thinking? How anyone can call Fairport Convention "the British Jefferson Airplane" is beyond my comprehension. The "rock version" of a traditional English folk song, "A Sailor's Life" is about as exciting as a "drum'n'bass version" of a traditional English folk song. Clocking at over 11-minutes, this never-ending piece turns into a psychedelic jam session over a single monotonic harmony, fiddle and all. The album art features Sandy Denny's parents standing outside of their family home in Wimbledon, south London, and I would definitely not pick this up in the record shop from the cover alone. If this is the peak of the band's "musical creativity" then we have a very different understanding of what we call "music" and what a bunch of wedding singers can scratch out from the same three chords. But then again, this is about as "musical" as Bob Dylan.
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