Category c) Eighties [1980 – 1989]
SANDY
A light plane flies down the West Australian coast, heading south from Perth. Over the Indian Ocean but looking towards the great dry continent stretching endlessly east, a photographer focusses and shoots a few frames of an estuary; a patchwork of sand, water and wheat-brown earth, tiny clusters of buildings huddling together as if fearful […]
10 CURIOUS CARTOGRAPHIC COVERS
Jane Siberry — No Borders Here [Open Air Records, 1984] A Canadian singer-songwriter of great imagination and enormous range, Jane Siberry emerged from Toronto’s indie scene. Influenced by—but never beholden to—Laurie Anderson, her music (and unique voice) span art pop, folk, rock and subtly experimental sound worlds. No Borders Here is an early statement of […]
SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND EXPERIENCE
To understand Spirit of Eden, you need to understand what Talk Talk walked away from. By 1986 they were a commercially successful synth-pop act, lazily bracketed with Duran Duran and the New Romantic crowd. Then came The Colour of Spring, a transitional record that replaced most of the synths with organic instrumentation. It generated a […]
ALBUM COVER SPECIAL | P.I.L. 1986
So, the new album… Yeah? It’s called..? Album. Yes, the album. What’s it called? Album. You have a new record out, right? Yeah. Does it have a title? Yeah. And that is? Album. That’s what is printed on the record’s spine. Yeah. There’s a single lifted off the LP. ‘Course. What is it? Single. Yes, […]
Justice?
One of the most popular and successful metal bands of all time, Metallica had a decidedly mixed year in 1986. On the plus side, their third album—Master Of Puppets—was a huge commercial success, spending over seventy weeks on the US charts despite limited radio airplay. The subsequent tour was received extremely well, but led to […]
CHILLIN’ WITH J.J.
What is Americana? According to the Americana Music Association, it is “contemporary music that incorporates elements of various American roots music styles—including country, roots-rock, folk, bluegrass, R&B and blues—resulting in a distinctive roots-oriented sound that lives in a world apart from the pure forms of the genres upon which it may draw.” All clear? Good. […]
ALBUM COVERS | PG+
Peter Gabriel. PG. Left Genesis after The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, telling his bandmates of his decision during the extensive tour for that album. Spent a couple of years largely out of the spotlight, before releasing his first solo album, Peter Gabriel, in 1977. The album cover was created by Hipgnosis. Just over a […]
LISTENING ROOM
I’ve been dabbling in Bluesky (as mentioned previously). Thought it would be fun to share a selection of recent posts as they give an insight into what my ears have been seduced by in the listening room. As always, love to hear responses to any of these. * When some Matthew Sweet vinyl re-issues appeared […]
MOMENTARY PINK
After The Final Cut (1983), Pink Floyd were no more. So decreed Roger Waters, key lyricist and driving creative force in the band. But guitarist David Gilmour had other ideas and in 1986 he began working with drummer Nick Mason in the floating studio he had created on the magnificent houseboat Astoria, moored along the […]
ALBUM COVER SPECIAL | ABACAB
The 1981 Genesis album abacab was released with four variants of the same basic cover design. GYMC – Grey/Yellow/Magenta/Cyan Cover CORG – Cyan/Orange/Red/Green Cover YRGG – Yellow/Red/Grey/Green Cover RBYG – Red/Blue/Yellow/Grey Cover Original design by Bill Smith. Feature image: 7″ single of “abacab”. abacab was a #1 album in the UK and France, top ten […]
ALBUM COVERS | AMBIENT 1—4
Influenced by minimalist composition and his own explorations of less-is-more on 1975’s Discreet Music, Eno produced the hypnotic and hugely influential Ambient 1: Music For Airports in 1978. It was the beginning of a series of four ‘ambient’ albums linked visually by their cover art, and musically by the reflective, spacious atmospheres evoked by their […]
BROUGHT THEIR ZZ GAME
Through the 1970s, Texan trio ZZ Top played music blending the boogie of Canned Heat with elements of Southern rock to produce an infectious style of blues rock. With hits like the irresistible “La Grange” they became a popular live attraction as well as selling plenty of albums. But that was nothing compared to the […]
vinylconnection.com.au 