jack's soul & rock corner

Primal Scream
Screamadelica (1991)
192

A modern psych classic, capturing the vibrant, mind-blowing experience of Ecstacy in a joyful hybrid. Successfully balancing the jangly "Beggar's Banquet"-era Stones rock with the thick, trippy soundscapes of rave culture, this was the soundtrack of countless raves in the British colony circa the early 90's. If course it's easy to see why it is so acclaimed: switching between uplifting gospel-techno anthems like "Movin' On Up" and "Come Together" to sinister, dark beats like "Slip Inside This House", there's never a dull moment in the Primals' euphoric vision for a united world order. Although it is sometimes hard to see why an album made such a big impact during a particular time, it's easy to see this album's universal appeal: we just wanna get loaded.

1. Movin' On Up
2. Slip Inside This House
3. Don't Fight It, Feel It
4. Higher Than The Sun
5. Inner Flight
6. Come Together
7. Loaded
8. Damaged
9. I'm Comin' Down
10. Higher Than The Sun (A Dub Symphony In Two Parts)
11. Shine Like Stars


Black Grape
It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah (1995)
320

'Its great...' is a stupendously good album that swaggers jauntily out of your stereo and infests your house with a sleazy, addled vibe. Like all things nasty, you know its not really good for you but you just can't help reaching for the volume control. Number eleven is the setting of choice. Its as if the Happy Mondays had never split up only the music is slicker and more precise and provides a marvellous backdrop for the wailing, pestering rhyming of Shaun Ryder's nonsense lyrics, undercut with a velvety delivery provided by Kermit. The album fuses heavy beats with a large dollop of funk, wailing guitars and throbbing baselines and, there is no other way of putting this, positively oozes out of your speakers. The closest reference point is Pills, Thrills & Bellyaches by the Happy Mondays but 'Its great...' takes the next step with a crafted and polished version of the Mondays mayhem that is all the more amazing for Ryder's long absence from any recording studio.

1. Reverend Black Grape
2. In The Name Of The Father
3. Tramazi Parti
4. Kelly's Heroes
5. Yeah Yeah Brother
6. A Big Day In The North
7. Shake Well Before Opening
8. Submarine
9. Shake Your Money
10. Little Bob

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