Tag Archives: NME

The White Stripes: Elephant

Elephant

On April 1, 2003, “V2 Records” released “Elephant”, the fourth White Stripes album. It was recorded November 2001 and April 2002, at “Toe Rag Studios” and “BBC Maida Vale Studios” in London, and was produced by Jack White.The album won “Grammy Awards” for “Best Alternative  Album” and “Best Rock Song” for “Seven Nation Army”. In 2003, “Rolling Stone” magazine ranked the album at number 390, on its list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”. “Channel 4” ranked “Elephant”  at number 39, on its list of the “100 Greatest Albums of All Time”. In December 2003, “NME” magazine made it their “Album of the Year”.

Personnel:

  • Jack White– lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, mixing
  • Meg White – lead, co-lead and backing vocals, drums
  • Mort Crim– speech
  • Holly Golightly– co-lead vocals
  • Liam Watson– engineer, mixing
  • Noel Summerville – mastering
  • “The Third Man” – artwork
  • Bruce Brand – layout
  • Patrick Pantano – photography

Track listing:

All tracks by Jack White, except where noted.

  1. Seven Nation Army
  2. Black Math
  3. There’s No Home for You Here
  4. I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself – Burt Bacharach, Hal David
  5. In the Cold, Cold Night
  6. I Want to Be the Boy to Warm Your Mother’s Heart
  7. You’ve Got Her in Your Pocket
  8. Ball and Biscuit
  9. The Hardest Button to Button
  10. Little Acorns – Mort Crim, White
  11. Hypnotize
  12. The Air Near My Fingers
  13. Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine
  14. Well It’s True That We Love One Another

Pulp: This Is Hardcore

Pulp-This_Is_Hardcore

On March 30, 1998, “Island” label released “This Is Hardcore”,the sixth Pulp album. It was recorded in 1997, at “CTS Studios”, and “Olympic Studios” in London, and was produced by Chris Thomas.  In 2013, magazine “NME” ranked “This Is Hardcore” at number 166 in its list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.

Personnel:

  • Jarvis Cocker – vocals, guitar, keyboards, arranger
  • Russell Senior – guitar, violin, arranger
  • Mark Webber – guitar, keyboards, arranger
  • Steve Mackey – bass, arranger
  • Nick Banks – drums, percussion
  • Anne Dudley – piano, string arrangements
  • Chris Thomas – piano
  • Neneh Cherry – vocals
  • Mandy Bell, Carol Kenyon, Jackie Rawe – backing vocals
  • Nicholas Dodd– orchestration
  • Magnus Fiennes, Mark Hayley, Matthew Vaughan, Olle Romo – programming
  • Pete Lewis – engineer
  • John Currin- artwork
  • Peter Saville – art direction, artwork
  • Howard Wakefield, Paul Hetherington – artwork, design, Smart blur ‘painterly effect
  • Horst Diekgerdes – photography

Track listing:

All lyrics by Jarvis Cocker, all music by Nick Banks, Candida Doyle, Steve Mackey and Mark Webber, except where noted.

  1. The Fear
  2. Dishes
  3. Party Hard
  4. Help the Aged
  5. This Is Hardcore – Nick Banks, Jarvis Cocker, Candida Doyle, Mark Webber, Peter Thomas, Steve Mackey
  6. TV Movie
  7. A Little Soul
  8. I’m a Man
  9. Seductive Barry
  10. Sylvia

Laura Marling: I Speak Because I Can

I speak because I can

On March 22, 2010, “Virgin” label released “I Speak Because I Can”, the second Laura Marling studio album. It was recorded in 2009, and was produced by Ethan Johns. The album was ranked at number 8 on “The Guardian’s” list of “Best albums of 2010”. In 2011, Marling won the “Best British solo artist” at the “Brit Awards” for “I Speak Because I Can”. In 2013, magazine “NME” ranked the album at number 263 in its list of the “500 greatest albums of all time.

Personnel:

  • Laura Marling- voice, guitar
  • Winston Marshall– banjo
  • Pete Roe- keyboards
  • Ted Dwane- double bass
  • Marcus Mumford– drums
  • Tom Hobden– fiddle
  • Ruth De Turberville– cello

Track listing:

All tracks by Laura Marling.

  1. Devil’s Spoke
  2. Made by Maid
  3. Rambling Man
  4. Blackberry Stone
  5. Alpha Shallows
  6. Goodbye England (Covered in Snow)
  7. Hope in the Air
  8. What He Wrote
  9. Darkness Descends
  10. I Speak Because I Can

 

Arcade Fire: Neon Bible

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

On March 5, 2007, “Merge” label released”Neon Bible”, the second Arcade Fire studio album. It was recorded in 2006 in Farnham, New York, Budapest, and London, and was produced by Markus Dravs, Will Butler, Win Butler, Regine Chassagne, Jeremy Gara and Tim Kingsbury. “Neon Bible” was ranked at number four in the“NME” albums of the year list, fourth in magazine “Rolling Stone’s” list of albums of the year and album of the year of magazine “Q” for 2007. The album won the 2008 “Juno Award” for “Alternative Album of the Year”.

Personnel:

  • Will Butler- vocals, keyboards, guitar, glockenspiel, bass, omnichord
  • Win Butler- vocals, bass, mandolin, acoustic guitar, keyboards, electric guitar
  • Régine Chassagne – vocals, accordion, hurdy gurdy, drums, keyboards, glockenspiel, orchetral arrangements
  • Tim Kingsbury – vocals, bass, keyboards, guitar, celesta
  • Jeremy Gara – drums, percussion, keyboards
  • Sarah Neufeld – vocals, violin
  • Richard Reed Parry – vocals, guitar, double bass, keyboards, celesta
  • Mélanie Auclair – cello
  • Hadji Bakara – effects
  • Owen Pallett– violin, orchestral arrangements
  • Liza Rey – harp
  • Marika Anthony Shaw– viola
  • Pietro Amato, Edith Gruber, Margaret Gundara, Jake Henry, Laurent Ménard, Geoffrey Shoesmith, Colin Stetson, Andreas Stoltzfus, Jacob Valenzuela, Martin Wenk – brass
  • Shauna Callender, Joanne Degand, Chantel Gero, Tasha Gero, Jean Sherwood – vocals
  • Peter F. Drucker – choir conductor
  • István Silló – orchestra conductor
  • Tracy Maurice – director, artwork, package design
  • François Miron– photography director
  • Christophe Collette – photography
  • Renata Morales – costume design

Track listing:

All tracks by Will Butler, Win Butler, Regine Chassagne, Jeremy Gara and Tim Kingsbury.

  1. Black Mirror
  2. Keep the Car Running
  3. Neon Bible
  4. Intervention
  5. Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
  6. Ocean of Noise\
  7. The Well and the Lighthouse
  8. Antichrist Television Blues
  9. Windowsill
  10. No Cars Go
  11. My Body Is a Cage

Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon

Dark_Side_of_the_Moon

On March 1, 1973, “Harvest” label released “The Dark Side of the Moon”, the eighth Pink Floyd studio album. It was recorded June 1972 – January 1973, at “Abbey Road Studios” in London,  engineered by Alan Parsons and produced by David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Richard Wright and Roger Waters. The album topped the “Billboard  Top LPs & Tapes” chart for one week and remained in the charts for 741 weeks from 1973 to 1988. With an estimated of more than 50 million copies sold, it is Pink Floyd’s most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums in the history of modern music. In 2012, magazine “Rolling Stone” ranked “The Dark Side of the Moon” at number 43 on its list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”. In 2006,NME” magazine readers ranked the album at number 8 in their “Best Album of All Time” online poll. “The Dark Side of the Moon” was rated at number 29 in “The Observer’s” 2006 list of “The 50 Albums That Changed Music” and 37th in “The Guardian’s” 1997 list of the “100 Best Albums Ever”.

Personnel

  • David Gilmour– vocals, guitars, VCS 3
  • Richard Wright– vocals, keyboards, VCS 3
  • Roger Waters– vocals, bass guitar, VCS 3, tape effects
  • Nick Mason– percussion, tape effects
  • Dick Parry– saxophone
  • Clare Torry– vocals
  • Doris Troy– backing vocals
  • Lesley Duncan– backing vocals
  • Liza Strike – backing vocals
  • Barry St. John – backing vocals
  • Storm Thorgerson – design

Track listing

  1. Speak to Me – Nick Mason, Roger Waters
  2. Breathe – Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Richard Wright
  3. On the Run – David Gilmour and Roger Waters
  4. Time – Nick Mason, Roger Waters, Richard Wright, David Gilmour
  5. The Great Gig in the Sky – Richard Wright, Clare Torry
  6. Money – Roger Waters
  7. Us and Them – Roger Waters, Richard Wright
  8. Any Colour you Like – David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Richard Wight
  9. Brain Damage – Roger Waters
  10. Eclipse – Roger Waters

Tricky: Maxinquaye

Tricky_-_Maxinquaye

On February 20, 1995, “4th & B’way Records” label released “Maxinquaye”, the debut Tricky album. It was recorded at Tricky’s home studio and was produced by Tricky and co-produced by Mark Saunders. In 2013 “NME” magazine ranked “Maxinquaye” at number 202 at its list of “Best Albums of All Time”.

Personnel:

  • Tricky – vocals
  • James Stevenson– guitar
  • Mark Saunders– keyboards, guitar
  • Pete Briquette– bass
  • FTV – guitar, drums
  • Tony Wrafter – flute
  • Alison Goldfrapp– vocals
  • Martina Topley-Bird– vocals
  • Ragga (Ragnhildur Gísladóttir) – vocals
  • Mark Stewart– vocals
  • Ali Staton – mixing
  • David Alvarez – art direction, design
  • Cally Callomon – art direction, design
  • Richard Baker – artwork
  • Rob Crane – artwork
  • Andy Earl, Paul Rider, Valerie Philips – photography

Track listing:

All tracks by Tricky, except where noted.

  1. Overcome
  2. Ponderosa – Tricky, Howie B.
  3. Black Steel – Carlton Ridenhour, Eric Sadler, Hank Shocklee
  4. Hell Is Round the Corner
  5. Pumpkin
  6. Aftermath
  7. Abbaon Fat Tracks
  8. Brand New You’re Retro
  9. Suffocated Love
  10. You Don’t
  11. Struggin
  12. Feed Me

Steely Dan: Pretzel Logic

Pretzel_Logic

On February 20, 1974, “ABC” label released “Pretzel Logic”, the third Steely Dan studio album. It was recorded October 1973 – January 1974 at the “Village Recorder” in Los Angeles, and was produced by Gary Katz.  The cover photo of the New York pretzel seller was by Raeanne Rubenstein. On September 7, 1993, “Pretzel Logic” was certified Platinum in US by the “RIAA”. Magazine “NME” named “Pretzel Logic” best album of 1974. Magazine “Rolling Stone” ranked “Pretzel Logic” at number 385 on its list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.

Personnel:

  • Donald Fagen- lead vocals, keyboards, saxophone
  • Walter Becker- bass, guitar, backing vocals
  • Jeff “Skunk” Baxter- lead guitar
  • Denny Dias- guitar
  • Ben Benay – guitar
  • Dean Parks- guitar, banjo
  • Michael Omartian- keyboards
  • David Paich- keyboards
  • Timothy B. Schmit- bass, backing vocals
  • Wilton Felder- bass
  • Chuck Rainey- bass
  • Jim Gordon- drums
  • Jeff Porcaro– drums
  • Victor Feldman– percussion
  • Plas Johnson- saxophone
  • Jerome Richardson- saxophone
  • Ernie Watts- saxophone
  • Lew McCreary – horn
  • Ollie Mitchell- trumpet
  • Jimmie Haskell – orchestration
  • Jim Hodder- backing vocals
  • David Larkham – design
  • Ed Caraeff – art direction, photography

Track listing:

All tracks by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, except where noted.

  1. Rikki Don’t Lose That Number
  2. Night by Night
  3. Any Major Dude Will Tell You
  4. Barrytown
  5. East St. Louis Toodle – Duke Ellington, Bubber Miley
  6. Parker’s Band
  7. Through with Buzz
  8. Pretzel Logic
  9. With a Gun
  10. Charlie Freak
  11. Monkey in Your Soul

Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

In_the_aeroplane_over_the_sea_album

On February 10, 1998, “Merge Records” label released “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea”, the second and final Neutral Milk Hotel studio album. It was recorded from July to September 1997, at “Pet Sounds Studio” in Denver, and was produced by Robert Schneider. ”NME” magazine ranked it at number 98th on its list of the “Greatest Albums of All Time”.

Personnel:

  • Jeff Mangum– vocals, guitar, bass guitar, organ, floor tom, tape, shortwave radio, art direction
  • Julian Koster– Wandering Genie organ, singing saw, bowed banjo, accordion, white noise
  • Jeremy Barnes– drums, organ
  • Scott Spillane– trumpet, trombone, flugelhorn, euphonium, horn arrangements
  • Robert Schneider– piano, home organ, air organ, bass, backing vocals, horn arrangements
  • Laura Carter– zanzithophone
  • Rick Benjamin – trombone
  • Marisa Bissinger – saxophone, flugelhorn
  • Robert Schneider, Scott Spillane – horn arrangements
  • James Guyatt – percussion
  • Michelle Anderson – Uilleann pipes
  • Chris Bilheimer – art direction
  • Brian Dewan– illustrations

Track listing:

All tracks by Jeff Mangum, except where noted.

  1. The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. One
  2. The King of Carrot Flowers Pts. Two & Three – Jeremy Barnes, Julian Koster, Jeff Mangum, Scott Spillane
  3. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
  4. Two-Headed Boy
  5. The Fool – Scott Spillane, Robert Schneider
  6. Holland, 1945
  7. Communist Daughter
  8. Oh Comely
  9. Ghost
  10. Untitled
  11. Two-Headed Boy Pt. Two

Blur: Same

Blur_Blur

On February 10, 1997, “Food Records” label released the self titled, fifth Blur studio album. It was recorded July to November 1996, at “Stúdíó Grettisgat” in Reykjavík, “Maison Rouge Studio” in Fulham, “Studio 13 Mayfair Studios” in London, and was produced by Stephen Street, Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree.  In 2013, “NME” magazine ranked the album at number 137 in its list of “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Personnel:

  • Damon Albarn– lead vocals, piano, keyboards, Hammond organ, acoustic guitar
  • Graham Coxon– lead and backing vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, Theremin,  drums
  • Alex James– bass guitar, lead and rhythm basses
  • Dave Rowntree– drums, percussion

Track listing:

All tracks by Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree, except where noted.

  1. Beetlebum
  2. Song 2
  3. Country Sad Ballad Man
  4. M.O.R. – David Albarn, David Bowie, Graham Coxon, Brian Eno, Alex James, Dave Rowntree
  5. On Your Own
  6. Theme from Retro
  7. You’re So Great – Graham Coxon
  8. Death of a Party
  9. Chinese Bombs
  10. I’m Just a Killer for Your Love
  11. Look Inside America
  12. Strange News from Another Star
  13. Movin On
  14. Essex Dogs” (includes hidden track Interlude)

 

Big Black: Atomizer

Big_Black_-_Atomizer

On February 1, 1986, “Homestead” released “Atomizer”, the debut Big Black album.  It was recorded in 1985, and was produced by Steve Albini, Santiago Durango and Dave Riley. The album was ranked at number 11 in “Alternative Press” magazine list of “Top Albums of ’85 to ‘95”; magazine “Spin” ranked “Atomizer” at number 83 in its list of “100 Alternative Albums” and at number 92 in its list of “Top 100 (+5) Albums of the Last 20 Years” and “NME” ranked the album at number 372 in its list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.

Personnel:

  • Steve Albini – vocals, guitar, drum machine programming
  • Santiago Durango – guitar
  • Dave Riley – bass guitar

Track listing:

All tracks by Steve Albini, Santiago Durango and Dave Riley.

  1. Jordan, Minnesota
  2. Passing Complexion
  3. Big Money
  4. Kerosene
  5. Bad Houses
  6. Fists of Love
  7. Stinking Drunk
  8. Bazooka Joe
  9. Strange Things
  10. Cables (live)