So far I’ve been looking back at older albums and creating ‘links” between them. The initial plan was to find new music from a core group of influences. I’ve not really done that yet (I think I need to find a stronger core group of band first). But I’ve not just been buying and listening to older albums. I’ve still been buying the newer releases.

I’ve cast an eye (excuse the pun) over The White Lies and Liam Gallgher’s new group, with one post becoming more of a review and the other leading me to one of the best albums I’ve ever heard (and it came from the 70′s), This has led me to a ‘multiple strand approach’ to the music project, creating a spider’s-web of links that the linear approach I was threatening to follow.

With that in minds it’s time to move onto another newly released album – Elbow’s Build A Rocket Boys!

I’ve got most of Elbow’s older stuff but I’ve not really listened to it. I like a few tracks on Seldom Seen Kid, but I’m still guilty of skipping too many of thier tracks.

And I’ve got to be honest, I was really fighting the urge to do the same on this album. The Birds is the opening track and at 8 or so minutes long, I just wanted to press the ‘next’ button and get onto the next track. It took me a a number of album plays to get over that urge. Particularly as the next song is an absolute belter.

Lippy Kids is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard in ages. It’s a really honest remembrance of a man’s all to short teenager years and really takes you back.  The voice is so haunting and is perfect for this album. This song has actually found itself in a rare group of songs, those slow emotional songs that when get played in my car, get turned up and I sing as loud as I dare. So far only Fix You and Bed Of Roses get that treatment.

I mentioned that The Birds, got me wanting to skip through at first, not all the songs had this effect. Neat Little Rows and High Ideals are instantly captivating and move the album away from being ‘potential background music’.   and With Love are two other songs that need singling out for praise. The great thing about this album is that no two songs sound the same. Each song has been created with its own feel and with some of the song lengths – the feel like they could be ‘mini-albums’.

This isn’t an album that will instantly win people over, but if you’re open to letting an album win you over, this is one for you. It’s brilliant for listening to as background music or if you just want to kick back and relax. Again it’s not an album I’d be telling people to buy right now as they need it in their lives, but it’s an album if mentioned in conversation, I’d strongly advise someone to get it.

This is a strange album. All of it’s songs would be rated very highly, but very few would appear in a list of the greatest songs of all time. I know I used the phrase alot but this album is solid. It draws you in and keeps you hooked and life is just that little more pleasant for just listening to it.

All I know is that next time an Elbow album comes on through my MP3 player, I need to stop skipping tracks and put it on repeat. It will reward.

Key Track: Lippy Kids

I’ve also noticed that Closer was my 10th album and I’ve been looking at how best to continue. I’ve made a few changes to the way I look at albums. Firstly I’ve noticed that I’m not really getting the lyrics of some of the albums – which is a great shame given the power of the lyrics used by these bands (Smiths and Joy Division come to mind!). I’ve decided to start each blog now with my favorite lyrics from the album just to get me looking and listening to them.

I’ve also realised I’m not rating any songs in Windows Media Player or Media Monkey. Given how much I searched for an Android media player that had this functionality, I’d best start rating the songs I hear (not on the blog) so they start popping up on my auto play lists!

Finally, I read Q’s 250 best albums of the last 25 years and I liked the idea of noting the ‘key track’ so I’m going to start making decisions on what I think is the key track for each album.

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