[ATO : 2005] Saturday morning arrives under gusts of off-shore wind that makes the trees whistle outside the apartment window like a frothing crowd at the heavyweight boxing title. Gotta get in the car and get the hell off the coast...
Z is an album that should be listened to from start to finish, like taking a sonic roadtrip out of the city, past the scrub and into the beautiful colours of the desert landscape. My Morning Jacket from Louisville Kentucky established their atmospheric country rock sound with 'It Still Moves' (2003) but 'Z' is the one that'll stay on your playlist forever. From the quiet pulsing of opening track "Wordless Chorus" to the southern rock-out "What A Wonderful Man" and killer licks of "Off The Record", Z isn't just a collection of singles - it's a perfectly put together, dynamic rock album. Epic, dusty, atmospheric, cool.
Get in the car and disappear for a while and take Z with you - the perfect roadtrippin' journal.
[Wall of Sound : 1998]
It seems weird that this album isn’t more widely recognized as a modern classic. Sure, it was only released in 1998, but don’t forget Daft Punk’s seminal – and massively influential - dance record ‘Homework’ was out just one year earlier.
With this album Propellerheads took 90s techno to the next level via alchemic experimenting across a heap of different musical genres: jazz, hip hop, trip hop, funk, swing and rock n roll (hence the album name).
Decksandrumsandrockandroll is an insanely cool party album geared specifically toward a dance floor that leaves absolutely no asses on seats – like the soundtrack to an awesome movie full of slick, well-dressed characters who move better than John Travolta in Grease. The track "Velvet Pants", for example, melds a stack of jazz samples with sexy vocals and scratches making one of the best – and most recognisbale cuts on the record. Then there’s a heap of amazing guest appearances that bring the best out of the Propellerheads’ tunes: “360 Degrees (Oh Yeah?)" by De La Soul, the tongue twisting rhymes of The Jungle Brothers ("You Want It Back") and most famously Shirley Bassey on “History Repeating”.
It’s been a while since we spun it, but Decksandrumsandrockandroll is playing at our next party. Maybe part of its charm is the fact that since this brilliant release Propellerheads haven’t been on the radar since; but if this is it from them we can safely say they peaked early.
