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The Hum
James Ellis Ford
Electronic - Released May 12, 2023 | Warp Records
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Qobuzissime
He may have been making music for more than 20 years, but James Ellis Ford is only now revealing his face for the first time. With The Hum, the Briton known for being half of the electro duo Simian Mobile Disco, but above all as the sought-after producer of albums by Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz, Klaxons, Florence + The Machine, Haim, Peaches, Last Shadow Puppets (of which he was also the drummer), Foals, Jessie Ware, Depeche Mode, Shame and a few dozens of others, is finally going solo. Wrapped in Warp’s reputation for quality and madness, it has made for quite an attractive departure. Gentle madness as far as he is concerned, but madness nonetheless. With this project, conceived in his home studio, Ford builds unexpected bridges between Brian Eno of the Another Green World period (Squeaky Wheel), Robert Wyatt (Closing Time) and the whole Canterbury school, the mythical English progressive and psychedelic rock scene of the late sixties and early seventies, Can's krautrock (The Yips) and a few other oddities that need to be listened to attentively... James Ellis Ford has been smart enough not to use his impressive address book to bloat the project with prestigious features. On the contrary, The Hum is 100% his and nobody else's! Guitars, bass, piano and drums of course, but also a Wurlitzer, Clavinet, bass clarinet, flute, tenor sax, ARP 2600, Maxikorg, Oberheim, dulcimer, cello, organ and vibraphone; Ford plays it all! Above all, he has worked in artisanal fashion, refusing to be digital, to fiddle around behind his laptop, welcoming errors and bugs with open arms instead, to the point of declaring: "With the nightmare of artificial intelligence approaching, humanity is the most important quality you can add to a record." As we listen to the record, snuggled up in an armchair, eyes closed, it dawns on us that The Hum has the arches of a long fascinating dream. An ovarian dream crossed with melodies of a rare finesse, as touching as they can be worrying. And as in all dreams, you have to let go to savour each moment. Without a doubt, a Qobuzissime from another planet. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz
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Ash & Ice
The Kills
Alternative & Indie - Released June 3, 2016 | Domino Recording Co
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Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince are back in town and they are still the sexiest Rock’n’Roll duo on the planet! With Ash & Ice, The Kills are most certainly back to their familiar best, with fragmented guitar lines and vintage drum machines featuring front and centre. This fifth album was particularly special for Hince, who suffered from a terrible infection of the tendons in his hand and, as a result, had to learn to play the guitar all over again after no less than 6 different surgeries! It is a wonderful album on which the habitually dark universe of The Kills offers up some serious bright spots. ©MD/Qobuz
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Psychedelic Shack
The Temptations
Soul - Released January 1, 1970 | Motown
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With everything the Temptations released pretty much guaranteed to turn to gold, not to mention platinum, even their tripped-out forays into sweet '60s psychedelic experimentation were sure to fire a string of hits. 1970's Norman Whitfield-produced Psychedelic Shack -- while perhaps a system shock to those fans who grooved to the band's lame-suited, Motown dance-routined R&B classics -- was a magnificent stretch into an epic that ultimately emerged as another in a long line of enduring sets. Deviating from form across the first songs, it was with the whimsical and willful title track (and a big thanks to the band from Georgia retro-ists the B-52's, who took their own homage, "Love Shack," to the top of the charts in 1989) that the Temptations broke their own mold with the acid-drenched party chant: "Psychedelic shack/That's where it's at." Opening that door and venturing outside the nonstop celebration, the band retains that vibe while returning to a slightly more staid stance on "Hum Along and Dance," leaving both the oddly paced "You Make Your Own Heaven and Hell Right Here on Earth" and the totally tripped-out "Take a Stroll Thru Your Mind" out on their own plane entirely. With such a strong collection of songs, it couldn't get much better than that. But, of course, it does, as the Temptations blister through the groovers "It's Summer" and "Friendship Train." And that, of course, just leaves the Whitfield-penned classic "War" to round out the mix. While fellow Motown-er Edwin Starr has etched what is now considered to be the definitive version of the song into the history tablets, the Temptations certainly took their own inspiration and added a unique spin as well. Not much else can be said, except that this is an absolutely outstanding album -- one which has stood the test of time, sounding as fresh as it did upon initial release.
© Amy Hanson /TiVo
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You'd Prefer An Astronaut
Hum
Pop/Rock - Released April 11, 1995 | RCA Records Label
Having partially created what many felt was a template for the Smashing Pumpkins to become successful, Hum found itself in an unenviable spot when the lead single from its major-label debut, "Stars," became a hit precisely because of that sound. There's certainly a similar connection at points, what with some fierce, chopping feedback and crisp drum slams, but the lyrical portrait is less solipsistic and somehow the whole song feels more inspirational and dreamy for it. Like the song itself, then, You'd Prefer an Astronaut is, for all the similar love of psychedelic volume in service of emotion, its own beast, most specifically because of the singing. Talbott's lead vocals are much more restrained than Billy Corgan's aggro screams, bearing more immediate comparison with, say, Mark Kozelek of the Red House Painters or Stephen Immerwahr of Codeine. Sounding crushed and regretful amid the surge and flow of the music, his singing generally feels very approachable, reflective rather than declarative. When he does let loose with screaming here and there, it's nowhere near as strained as Corgan, something which a lot of people might be terribly happy about. As for the music, the quartet can work up a thick head of steam without cloning Corgan or James Iha's metallic rampage, just that little more dreamier and muted around the corners. Songs like "The Pod" and "I'd Like Your Hair Long" certainly recall the chunkier punch of such Pumpkins numbers as "I Am One" and "Cherub Rock," but, again, they easily stand on their own. Elsewhere, the slow building shimmer and then release of "Why I Like the Robins" is very much the band's own individual creations, as is the soft, hurt drawl on "The Very Old Man" and the downbeat start of "I Hate It Too," for all things fire up towards the end.© Ned Raggett /TiVo
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Relatives In Descent
Protomartyr
Alternative & Indie - Released September 29, 2017 | Domino Recording Co
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Rattle And Hum
U2
Rock - Released January 1, 1988 | Universal-Island Records Ltd.
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Functioning as both the soundtrack to the group's disastrous feature-film documentary and as a tentative follow-up to their career-making blockbuster, Rattle and Hum is all over the place. The live cuts lack the revelatory power of Under a Blood Red Sky and are undercut by heavy-handed performances and Bono's embarrassing stage patter; prefacing a leaden cover of "Helter Skelter" with "This is a song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles, and now we're stealing it back" is bad enough, but it pales next to Bono's exhortation "OK, Edge, play the blues!" on the worthy, decidedly unbluesy "Silver and Gold." Both comments reveal more than they intend -- throughout the album, U2 sound paralyzed by their new status as "rock's most important band." They react by attempting to boost their classic rock credibility. They embrace American roots rock, something they ignored before. Occasionally, these experiments work: "Desire" has an intoxicating Bo Diddley beat, "Angel of Harlem" is a punchy, sunny Stax-soul tribute, "When Loves Come to Town" is an endearingly awkward blues duet with B.B. King, and the Dylan collaboration "Love Rescue Me" is an overlooked minor bluesy gem. However, these get swallowed up in the bluster of the live tracks, the misguided gospel interpretation of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and the shameful answer to John Lennon's searing confession "God," "God, Pt. 2." A couple of affecting laments -- the cascading "All I Want Is You" and "Heartland," which sounds like a Joshua Tree outtake -- do slip out underneath the posturing, but Rattle and Hum is by far the least-focused record U2 ever made, and it's little wonder that they retreated for three years after its release to rethink their whole approach.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
Functioning as both the soundtrack to the group's disastrous feature-film documentary and as a tentative follow-up to their career-making blockbuster, Rattle and Hum is all over the place. The live cuts lack the revelatory power of Under a Blood Red Sky and are undercut by heavy-handed performances and Bono's embarrassing stage patter; prefacing a leaden cover of "Helter Skelter" with "This is a song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles, and now we're stealing it back" is bad enough, but it pales next to Bono's exhortation "OK, Edge, play the blues!" on the worthy, decidedly unbluesy "Silver and Gold." Both comments reveal more than they intend -- throughout the album, U2 sound paralyzed by their new status as "rock's most important band." They react by attempting to boost their classic rock credibility. They embrace American roots rock, something they ignored before. Occasionally, these experiments work: "Desire" has an intoxicating Bo Diddley beat, "Angel of Harlem" is a punchy, sunny Stax-soul tribute, "When Loves Come to Town" is an endearingly awkward blues duet with B.B. King, and the Dylan collaboration "Love Rescue Me" is an overlooked minor bluesy gem. However, these get swallowed up in the bluster of the live tracks, the misguided gospel interpretation of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and the shameful answer to John Lennon's searing confession "God," "God, Pt. 2." A couple of affecting laments -- the cascading "All I Want Is You" and "Heartland," which sounds like a Joshua Tree outtake -- do slip out underneath the posturing, but Rattle and Hum is by far the least-focused record U2 ever made, and it's little wonder that they retreated for three years after its release to rethink their whole approach.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
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Black Tape EP
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Rock - Released January 26, 2024 | BRMC Records
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Hiss Spun
Chelsea Wolfe
Alternative & Indie - Released September 22, 2017 | Sargent House
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Psychedelic Soul
The Temptations
Soul - Released January 1, 2003 | Motown
Two big changes happened for the Temptations in 1968. First, they parted ways with David Ruffin and brought in former Contour Dennis Edwards as lead vocalist. Edwards brought a rougher-edged soul sound to the group with his raw vocals. Secondly, they decided that the world of music was changing and they were standing still. The group went to producer Norman Whitfield and asked for a song that was more in tune with the volatile and psychedelic times. Whitfield came back with the incredible, layered, dense, and still funky "Cloud Nine," the song was a smash, and a new, more progressive era of the Temptations began. The double-disc Psychedelic Soul chronicles the best moments of the incredible union between Whitfield's forward-looking and innovative writing and production and the Temptations' incredible voices. The record picks up the big hits like "Cloud Nine," "I Can't Get Next to You," "Psychedelic Shack" (here in a previously unreleased extended version), "Ball of Confusion" (also here in a previously unreleased extended version), "Masterpiece," and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone." It also fills in the gaps with a lot of album tracks from records the Temptations made between 1968 and 1973. Some of the highlights are the gripping "Slave," the funky "Hum Along and Dance," the very long and dramatic version of the Undisputed Truth's hit "Smiling Faces Sometimes," the hard-rocking "Ungema Za Ulimengu (Unite the World)," and the dubby, freewheeling "Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On." By the end of disc two, the group slides toward Philly soul, albeit with an angry, political outlook especially on the heartbroken "Ain't No Justice" or the vitriolic "1990" from 1973. This is a well-selected disc that is a fitting testament to the talents of Whitfield and a stunning example of a band reinventing itself. Of course, it is also great funky dance music -- supercharged, psychedelic funky dance music, some of the best music Motown (or anyone) produced in the late '60s/early '70s.© Tim Sendra /TiVo
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Portrait Of Sheila
Sheila Jordan
Jazz - Released January 1, 1963 | Blue Note Records
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Sheila Jordan's debut recording was one of the very few vocal records made for Blue Note during Alfred Lion's reign. Accompanied by the subtle guitarist Barry Galbraith, bassist Steve Swallow, and drummer Denzil Best, Jordan sounds quite distinctive, cool-toned, and adventurous during her classic date. Her interpretations of Oscar Brown, Jr.'s "Hum Drum Blues" and 11 standards (including "Falling in Love With Love," "Dat Dere," "Baltimore Oriole," and "I'm a Fool to Want You") are both swinging and haunting. Possibly because of her originality, Sheila Jordan would not record again for over a dozen years, making this highly recommended set quite historic.© Scott Yanow /TiVo
![The Dramatics Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get [Stax Remasters]](https://static.qobuz.com/images/covers/76/31/0088807233176_100.jpg)
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Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get [Stax Remasters]
The Dramatics
R&B - Released January 1, 1971 | Stax
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The Qobuz Ideal Discography
The Dramatics had been around in one form or another for nine years before the members got to release their first LP, and the result was a pair of breakthrough hits over the spring and summer of 1971, beginning with the title track, a Top Ten single that boasted not only extraordinary singing from bass to falsetto, but a soaring, punchy horn arrangement and some of the best fuzztone guitar heard on a hit record since the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction." The Afro-Cuban-flavored "Get up and Get Down" followed it into the R&B Top 20, and the Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get album followed them both. It was the third hit off of the album, "In the Rain," a delicate ballad that was issued separately as a single in early 1972, topping the R&B charts and reaching number five on the pop charts, that solidified the group's reputation and elevated them to the front rank of '70s soul acts. The album showcased the group equally well doing up-tempo dance numbers ("Mary Don't Cha Wanna") and ballads ("Thank You for Your Love," "Fall in Love, Lady Love"), melding very attractive vocals to arrangements that instantly grabbed the listener, all of it pulled together by songwriter/producer Tony Hester. Even the lesser material, such as "Gimme Some (Good Soul Music)" -- on which Hester knew that one minute and 34 seconds was all that was needed to make its point -- were so attractive and rousing that they easily carried their portion of the album, whose short running time was its only flaw. All of the members, from Willie Ford's powerful bass to Ron Banks' airy falsetto, were presented to best advantage, but none more so than William "Wee Gee" Howard's lead vocals; ironically, this would be Howard's only completed album with the group, and their only album for two years to come because of the accompanying personnel problems. Still, it's a match for any soul album of its era. In 2002, ZYX Records of Germany issued a new CD edition of Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get with its original cover art re-created and remastered in 24-bit digital audio, which is so crisp that it has to be heard to be believed.© Bruce Eder /TiVo
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The Hum Goes on Forever
The Wonder Years
Rock - Released September 23, 2022 | Loneliest Place On Earth - Hopeless Records
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From The Depths Of My Soul
Marlena Shaw
Jazz - Released January 1, 1973 | Blue Note Records
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3 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t sees Shaw put her inimitable stamp on pop-soul, show tunes and torch songs."© TiVo
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Cabaret De La Guillotine
Angelus Apatrida
Metal - Released May 4, 2018 | Century Media
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The Golden Hum
Remy Zero
Rock - Released September 18, 2001 | Elektra Records
Kicking things off with the building title track, Remy Zero makes quite the first impression on The Golden Hum. The momentum keeps up through "Glorious #1," the fast and furious second track, then slows down into a catchy U2-style rocker, "Out/In." That is probably the best point of reference for this band, as many of their songs are similar to Achtung Baby-era U2. It is that brand of moody pop/rock that carries the fivesome through the album, but it is also what keeps the album from truly being spectacular. The resemblance to the Irish foursome is amazing; the ghost of Bono haunts these tracks like a specter, always reminding you that what you are listening to is pretty good, but not the real thing. To be fair to the band, the music is nothing to be ashamed of; it is all performed very well and it is even catchy. But there is nothing here that has not been done before, and as competent as they might be, that still does not make the album any more listenable. Fans of the band will probably enjoy this very much, but casual listeners may have a hard time looking past the averageness of the whole affair.© Bradley Torreano /TiVo
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Portrait I
The Howl & The Hum
Alternative & Indie - Released January 12, 2018 | The Howl & The Hum
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Suppose you have a more precise idea of what you want. If you are searching for the album "Bad" by Michael Jackson, type michael jackson bad. The album in question will be displayed at the top, as it is the most relevant.
By default, search results are sorted in order of relevance. The drop-down menu to the right of "Sort by" allows you to display the results in the desired order.