Every year Lifeline throws two very large bookfairs in Canberra, and I cannot do anything but recommend everyone looking to spend a large amount of money for a good cause to go down there before the end of the weekend.
This is not just a plug for a community event though. I bought a few too many albums at this event, and I feel like doing a basic overview of the best.
Let's start at the beginning. The first fantastic album I found was Gnarls Barkley's second album, "The Odd Couple". I've looked at a Gnarls Barkley album before (if anyone asks, I put a link here instead of being incredibly lazy), and although I believe I'd heard all the songs off of the album, I was very interested in listening to the album as a single entity. To begin with, the album is by no means bad, or anything that can be construed as bad. This album maintained the life, vibrancy and fantastic beat which had made "St. Elsewhere" such a masterpiece. This album, however, is much weaker in comparison to it's predecessor. All the same, I certainly recommend it, especially if you can get it at just $3.
Standout Song: Who's Gonna Save My Soul
To be perfectly honest, this song really stuck with me because of the mood I was in upon hearing it, but it is still a fantastic song on it's own.
Second, "Eye to the Telescope" by KT Tunstall. When I first heard "Suddenly I See" back in 2005, I fell in love with it instantly. The magic of the song led me to believe that Tunstall wouldn't just be a one hit wonder, and I waited to hear what would come next. I don't remember hearing anything for quite a while. My next interaction with Tunstall's music was in 2011, when I did something less embarrassing than buying Band Hero for the PS2. You come up with how I heard "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" in a less embarrassing way. Go on. Anyway, this song was good, but no "Suddenly I See", but the purpose of knowing that Tunstall had at least produced more than a single song was achieved. Now, as I suspected, "Eye to the Telescope" is a fantastic album, but nothing like I expected. I was expecting up-tempo, loud and intelligent pop music (intelligent pop music is not actually an oxymoron, although you'd be excused for thinking otherwise) but instead I had much slower and much more sentimental music, which was delivered with as much skill as "Suddenly I See". I do recommend this album.
Standout Song: "Suddenly I See" is a perfect demonstration of how a single female pop singer can be both accessible (unlike Regina Spektor) without being annoying (like Gabriella Cilmi. Yeah, "Sweet About Me" was good, but I was way too overexposed to it during the period when I might have gained affection for it).
Third and finally, "Urban Hymns" by The Verve. Everyone has heard "Bittersweet Symphony". That's not open to debate, unless you are deaf, and I feel that the song was certainly a good one. A few months ago, I bought "Forth" by The Verve, only to find out that "Bittersweet Symphony" was not that representative of the groups style, although "Forth" was good on it's own merits, if not a little preachy. "Urban Hymns" is exactly what I wanted to hear from the group behind the hit. I loved this album, and was fascinated to learn that The Verve was behind "The Drugs Don't Work", which completely removes them from any allegations of one hit wonderism (it's a word now. Enjoy) in my mind. Definitely worth a listen, no matter how you feel about the groups big hit.
Standout: A tie between the two mentioned songs. Listen to either to understand why.
There are more albums, but none are overly exciting and I haven't listened to them yet. I recommend all three discussed albums, but if you just want a single Gnarls Barkley album, go for their debut rather than this one.
Feedback allowed by me, because I'm nice like that.
H. Rourke
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