Features Disc of the day
Morrissey
Years Of Refusal
(Polydor, 2009)
Indie rock's Mr Bridger, still in possession of 'it'.
He knows all about refusing for years; after 1997's Maladjusted and before 2004's You Are The Quarry, Morrissey simply withdrew to Los Angeles, retaining a regal silence bar the odd tour and curiosities with cool sleevenotes like this. Years Of Refusal, an album full of powerful, pulse-stimulating tunes sung by a charismatic provocateur in full control of his instrument, is also full of people hanging in stasis, from the chemically-coshed protagonist of Something Is Squeezing My Skull to the paralysed, isolated narrator of Black Cloud. There is also doubt, and intimations of mortality that seem more than the ghoulish chain pulling of yore. Is pained valediction You Were Good In Your Time addressed to David Bowie, Morrissey's one time tourmate, or is he talking to a future version of himself? And do its final two minutes of spectral underwater atmospheres and muted voices speaking French attempt to capture the sound of dying itself? Certainly, One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell, with its declaration, "And when I die I want to go to hell!" draws attention to the extinction that awaits us all. Best not to dwell on it too much. But as All You Need Is Me points out, we'll miss him when he's gone.
Clive Prior
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 24/04/2009
Further Listening
Morrissey – Ringleader Of The Tormentors (Attack, 2006)
Edwyn Collins – Hope And Despair (Demon, 1989)
Suede – Dog Man Star (Nude, 1994)
Previous Disc of the day
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Boo Hooray - Haunted
Rumpled velvet pop from weary Scots romantics. Out on Monday!
6:00 AM GMT 04/02/2010
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The Pernice Brothers - Overcome By Happiness
"Prince Valium" leavens the badness with Bacharach/Fanclub tune gold.
6:00 AM GMT 03/02/2010
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The Walker Brothers - Nite Flights
Former pin-ups' last-gasp reinvention as art rock phantasms.
6:00 AM GMT 02/02/2010
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Chet Baker - Deep In A Dream
"The ultimate Chet Baker collection", they called it.
6:00 AM GMT 01/02/2010
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