Album Of The Week

This is one the defining records of the Britpop era. An album that spawned four top ten singles, established the group that made it as a premier league force and has ever since remained firmly among the all-time British pop classics. Track listing: 1. Mis-shapes 2. Pencil Skirt 3. Common People 4. I Spy 5. Do You Remember The First Time 6. She’s a Lady 7. Disco 2000 8. Live Bed Show 9. Something Changed 10. Sorted For E’s and Wizz 11. F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E. 12. Underwear 13. Monday Morning 14. Bar Italia Tracks 5 and 6 are taken from His’n’Hers, all other tracks are from Different Class. Send your comments to: alex.kocic@gmail.com

Shriekback are not an easy band to classify. They borrowed heavily from funk but their music was more suited for contemplation than for parties. They combined synthesizers and drum machines with throbbing bass lines and unorthodox vocals to evoke a primordial world where the line between human and animal was blurred. Though often haunting, Shriekback’s music included many elements of pop and dance that rose to the surface from time to time. However accessible they became, Shriekback always retained an air of mystery that made them hard to pin down. After one EP, two albums and several member changes, in 1985 Shriekback released Oil and Gold, an album that would spawn several hit singles, gain critical acclaim and bring Shriekback on the verge of major league success. Tracklisting: 1. Malaria 2. Everthing That Rises Must Converge 3. Fish Below the Ice 4. This Big Hush 5. Faded Flowers 6. Nemesis 7. Only Thing That Shines 8. Intoxication 9. Sharkwalk 10. Go Bang 11. Night Town 12. Health and Knowledge and Wealth and Power 13. Hammerheads 14. Coelocanth Tracks 8-11 taken from Go Bang

Vienna is an album that turned an alternative post-punk band from the UK into a global new wave, synth pop sensation. It is the first Ultravox album with Midge Ure. Tracklisting 1. Astradyne 2. New Europeans 3. Private Lives 4. Passing Strangers 5. Sleepwalk 6. Mr X 7. Western Promise 8. Vienna 9. All Stood Still 10. Waiting 11. Passionate Reply 12. Alles Klar 13. All Stood Still (12” version) All tracks taken from Vienna – Remastered Definitive Edition Send your comments to: alex.kocic@gmail.com

Remain in Light is the fourth album by the New York band Talking Heads. It is considered the artistic pinnacle of Talking Heads and one of the most influential albums of the New York new wave scene of the late 1970’s. Tracklisting: 1. Born Under Punches 2. Crosseyed and Painless 3. Great Curve 4. Once in a Lifetime 5. Houses in Motion 6. Seen and Not Seen 7. Listening Wind 8. Overload 9. Crosseyed and Painless 10. Houses in Motion 11. Great Curve Tracks 9-11 taken from The Name of This Band is Talking Heads Send your comments to: alex.kocic@gmail.com

ALBUM OF THE WEEK is your chance to discover some of the best and most influential albums in the history of rock music. Listen and find out more about records that changed rock music forever. Presented by Alex Kocic. This week I bring you the debut album of an avant-garde New York band joined by a German model and put together and managed by a famous painter. The painter was Andy Warhol, the model was Nico and the band were The Velvet Underground. Send your comments to: alex.kocic@gmail.com Tracklisting 1. Sunday Morning 2. I’m Waiting For The Man 3. Femme Fatale 4. Venus In Furs 5. Run Run Run 6. All Tomorrow’s Parties 7. Heroin 8. There She Goes Again 9. I’ll Be Your Mirror 10. The Black Angel’s Death Song 11. European Son 12. Lou Reed – Heroin Taken from Rock’n’Roll Animal

With their second album, Bizarro, The Wedding Present from Leeds gained something of a legendary status in England and inspired numerous other bands to start playing fast and loud guitars. 1. Brassneck 2. Crushed 3. No 4. Thanks 5. Kennedy 6. What Have I Said Now 7. Granadaland 8. Bewitched 9. Take Me 10. Be Honest 11. Brassneck 12. Kennedy 13. Crushed Tracks 11-13 Taken from Live 1989 Send your comments to alex.kocic@gmail.com

Young Marble Giants were formed in Cardiff in 1978. The trio was comprised of brothers Phillip and Stuart Moxham and singer Alison Statton. Although they were only together for a couple of years, they made a mark on the Welsh music scene, and influenced a number of musicians. Their deceptively simple-sounding songs, written mainly by Stuart Moxham, were quite unique. They sounded fragile and haunting, yet quite powerful. Send your comments to: alex.kocic@gmail.com

Rain Dogs is the ninth album by Tom Waits. It received very positive reviews; British NME made it the Album of the Year, while the Rolling Stone put it at No. 21 in its list of 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. Tracklisting: 1. Singapore 2. Clap Hands 3. Cemetery Polka 4. Jockey Full of Bourbon 5. Tango Till They’re Sore 6. Big Black Mariah 7. Diamonds and Gold 8. Hang Down Your Head 9. Time 10. Rain Dogs 11. Midtown 12. 9th and Hennepin 13. Gun Street Girl 14. Union Square 15. Blind Love 16. Walking Spanish 17. Downtown Train 18. Bride of Rain Dog 19. Anwhere I Lay My Head

ALBUM OF THE WEEK is your chance to discover some of the best and most influential albums in the history of rock music. Listen and find out more about records that changed rock music forever. Presented by Alex Kocic.