JemJams 22 #4

#4 [13 January to 12 February 2016]

Throughout 2022, Jemtunes is revisiting JemJams – a simple post on social media featuring a new ‘jam’ once every 6 days, something I’ve been doing since September 2015 when ‘Thisismyjam.com’ (from whom the inspiration derived) was mothballed.

Since then, JemJams on FaceBook has posted a new jam faithfully every six days, and continues to do so now. As of today, it’s between jams #345 (posted yesterday) and #346 (due on 24 January).

JemJams 22 charts every posted jam from the beginning and, every 6 days throughout the year, is posting details of six tracks from #001 through #342. Today it’s JJ#019 through JJ#024.

1. Florence & the Machine – Ship to Wreck (13 January 2016)
2. The VirginMarys – Into Dust (19 January 2016)
3. Steve Miller Band – Rock n me (25 January 2016)
4. Dave Fields – That’s alright (31 January 2016)
5. The Temperance Movement – Modern Massacre (6 February 2016), and
6. David Bowie – Lazarus (12 February 2016)

JemJams 22 #5 is due on Tuesday 25 January.

The XX – On hold (Starters for Ten #227) 7.10.23

Starters for Ten 2019 – #227: Top Ten 2017 tracks: 190815

The XX – On Hold (2017)

Throughout 2019 Jem of Jemtunes is taking you through 36 top tens and one top five. Tunes for a whole gamut of reasons including genre, mood, time of year or simply time itself. Sometimes there’s be words but mostly it’ll simply be the music. Because music always speaks for itself.

Continuing the 23rd – running between 9 and 18 August and featuring my top ten tracks from 2017 – here’s On Hold from the third studio album by The XX –  I See You –  released on 13 January 2017 on the Young Turks record label. It was the band’s first release in more than four years, following their 2012 album Coexist.

The xx began recording I See You in 2014 at Marfa Recording Co. in Marfa, Texas, and were assisted by producer Rodaidh McDonald. They had a more progressive, wide-ranging musical concept in mind, compared to their previous two albums. Jamie xx, the band’s multi-instrumentalist and producer, said the album’s sound and aesthetic were influenced by his 2015 club-influenced solo recording, ‘In Colour’.

‘I See You’ was released to widespread critical acclaim, with many reviewers finding its music less insular than the xx’s previous recordings. It became the band’s second number-one album in the United Kingdom and an international top-ten chart success. To promote the album, four songs were released as singles, including “On Hold”, while the xx embarked on the European I See You Tour and subsequent concerts in the Americas.

Florence & the Machine – How big, how blue, how beautiful (The ’59) #351

The 59 2018 #351: 181217

Florence & the Machine – How big, how blue, how beautiful (2015)

Jem of Jemtunes, born in 1959, has now turned 59. So ‘The ’59’ celebrates 59 years of cracking tunes with a few albums from each year – 1959 through 2018. Currently we’re at year 57 – 2015.

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful was the third studio album by Florence and the Machine, released on 29 May 2015 by Island Records.

After returning from a year-long hiatus from music, front woman Florence Welch returned to configure songs that dealt with personal conflicts and struggles. In comparison to albums one and two, this was much more refined and stripped-down instrumentally, and incorporated a mixture of musical influences including folk, blues and gospel.

The album debuted at No.1 on the UK Albums Chart with 68,788 copies sold in its first week, becoming the band’s third consecutive album to hit the top spot.

Four singles were released from it—”What Kind of Man”, “Ship to Wreck”, “Queen of Peace” and “Delilah”. The album earned the band five Grammy Award nominations, in addition to being shortlisted for the 2015 Mercury Prize.

Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History (The ’59) #322

The ’59 2018 322: 181118

Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History (2010)

Jem of Jemtunes, born in 1959, has now turned 59. So ‘The ’59’ celebrates 59 years of cracking tunes with a few albums from each year – 1959 through 2018. Currently we’re at year 52 – 2010

Tourist History was the debut studio album form Northern Irish indie rockers Two Door Cinema Club, released on 17 February 2010 by Kitsuné.

It won the Choice Music Prize for the 2010 Irish Album of the Year and the band, after saying it was the first award they had ever won, promptly donated the €10,000 prize money to charity.

Vampire Weekend – Contra (The ’59) #321

The ’59 2018 #321: 181117

Vampire Weekend – Contra (2010)

Jem of Jemtunes, born in 1959, has now turned 59. So ‘The ’59’ celebrates 59 years of cracking tunes with a few albums from each year – 1959 through 2018. Currently we’re at year 52 – 2010

Contra was the second studio album from Vampire Weekend, released in January 2010 on XL Recordings.

It went straight to No.1 on the US Billboard 200 and got to No.3 on the UK albums chart.

The album’s title is a thematic allegory and  complex reference to the Nicaraguan counter-revolutionaries, the 1980 album ‘Sandinista!’ by The Clash, and the video game Contra.

Pitchfork rated it as one of The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far in August 2014

The National – High Violet (The ’59) #319

The ’59 2018 #319: 181115

The National – High Violet (2010)

Jem of Jemtunes, born in 1959, has now turned 59. So ‘The ’59’ celebrates 59 years of cracking tunes with a few albums from each year – 1959 through 2018. Currently we’re at year 52 – 2010.

High Violet was the fifth studio album from The National, released on May 10, 2010 via 4AD.

The band produced the album themselves assisted by Peter Katis with whom they worked on their previous albums Alligator and Boxer at their own studio in Brooklyn, New York, and at Katis’ Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The sculpture on the album cover was created by artist Mark Fox, and is called The Binding Force.

An expanded edition of the album was released through 4AD on November 22, 2010. The reissue includes the standard 11-track album along with a new bonus disc, featuring the unreleased tracks “You Were a Kindness” and “Wake Up Your Saints” as well as alternate versions, B-sides, and live recordings.

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (The ’59) #318

The ’59 2018 #318: 181114

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (2010)

Jem of Jemtunes, born in 1959, has now turned 59. So ‘The ’59’ celebrates 59 years of cracking tunes with a few albums from each year – 1959 through 2018. Currently we’re at year 52 – 2010.

The Suburbs was the third studio album from Arcade Fire, released on August 2, 2010.

Coinciding with its announcement, the band released a limited edition 12-inch single containing the title track and “Month of May”. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Irish Albums Chart, the UK Albums Chart, the US Billboard 200 chart, and the Canadian Albums Chart.

It won Album of the Year at the 2011 Grammy Awards, Best International Album at the 2011 BRIT Awards, Album of the Year at the 2011 Juno Awards, and the 2011 Polaris Music Prize for best Canadian album.

The Gossip – Music for men (The ’59) #316

The ’59 2018 #316: 181112

The Gossip – Music for men (2009)

Jem of Jemtunes, born in 1959, has now turned 59. So ‘The ’59’ celebrates 59 years of cracking tunes with a few albums from each year – 1959 through 2018. Today we’ve reached the last entry of the last year of the decade -year 51 – 2009.

The Gossip were a three-piece American indie rock band formed in 1999 in Olympia, Washington and folding in 2016.

For most of their career, The Gossip comprised singer Beth Ditto, multi-instrumentalist Brace Paine and drummer Hannah Blilie.

After releasing several recordings, the band broke through with their 2006 studio album, ‘Standing in the Way of Control’. Music for Men was the 2009 follow-up to this.

 

 

Bombay Bicycle Club – I had the blue and I shook them loose (The ’59) #313

The ’59 2018 #313: 181109

Bombay Bicycle Club – I had the blues and I shook them loose (2009)

Jem of Jemtunes, born in 1959, has now turned 59. So ‘The ’59’ celebrates 59 years of cracking tunes with a few albums from each year – 1959 through 2018. Currently we’re at year 51 – 2009.

I had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose was the first album by the London based indie rock band, Bombay Bicycle Club released on 3 July 2009.

The band announced the title through MySpace and their official website in March that year having recorded it during October and November 2008, with the long-term producer Jim Abbiss.

The title comes from a line in the song “After Hours” by ‘A Tribe Called Quest’, from their 1990 album “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.”

Vampire Weekend (The ’59) #306

The ’59 2018 #306: 181102

Vampire Weekend (2008)

Jem of Jemtunes, born in 1959, has now turned 59. So ‘The ’59’ celebrates 59 years of cracking tunes with a few albums from each year – 1959 through 2018. Currently we’re at year 50 – 2008.

Vampire Weekend released their self-titled debut in January 2008 on XL Recordings. The album was produced by band member Rostam Batmanglij, with mixing assistance from Jeff Curtin and Shane Stoneback. Its cover photo is a Polaroid picture from one of their early shows in Columbia University.

It peaked at No.17 on the US Billboard 200 and, by the 11th week of its release, had climbed to No.15 in the UK album charts

It was ranked as the 5th-best album of 2008 by Time, the 56th-best album of the decade by Rolling Stone and was 51st on Pitchfork’s list of the Top 200 Albums of the 2000s.