One record at a time: 5. Air - Talkie Walkie

I have to be clear from the start that AIR "Talkie Walkie" has always been one of my favorite albums. I quite liked "Moon Safari" (but I have always hated "Sexy Boy") and 10,000hz Legend was a load of garbage; so why did I buy this album? I think it must have been after seeing "Lost in Translation" - but more on that in a minute.

Anyway, I own a couple of copies of the original CD and this 2015 180g (try buying anything else nowadays) vinyl pressing is being played today. Discogs says my copy is a US release which tells you all you need to know about the accuracy of the peer review process (if Wikipedia hadn't told you this already).

As I drop the needle on this record I am instantly transported to planet AIR. Things kick off with "Venus" which is both catchy and displays a quirky sense of humour. "Cherry Blossom Girl" is achingly beautiful; and one of the highlights of the album for me. "Run" is a hypnotic journey that couldn't sound any more Gallic if it tried. "Universal Traveler" and "Mike Mills" throw some acoustic guitar into the heady mix of heavily accented vocals and ethereal chords to great effect. Don't misunderstand me when I refer to Jean-Benoît's vocal delivery - it is as unique and endearing as any of any vocalist I have heard.

The single "Surfing on a Rocket" is OK but not a stand out for me. "Another Day" is a composition that plods along a bit but thankfully never labours the point. "Alpha Beta Gaga" has become a some sort of advertising jingle that lots of people will recognise without fully appreciating. "Biological" allows us to catch our breath with its retro bass guitar, banjo and theremin, but it is just last too long. If it was cut in half I could live with it a bit better. Some of this feeling may be because I'm just in a hurry to reach the exquisite "Alone in Kyoto" which follows. This track is mesmerising and I find it achingly beautiful. I hear new things in this track almost every time I play it and, unlike its predecessor, it just doesn't last long enough. On this play through I realise this album isn't as faultless as my memory tells me it is, but few albums come so close to perfection. 5/5

One record at a time: 4. Air - Music for Museum

This is an odd record. Back in 2014 I was idly flicking through the Vinyl Factory website and came across, what I assumed to be, the new album by AIR. I realised this was a limited pressing of 1000 copies, but supposed it was being made available alongside the wider release (much like Massive Attack did with "Heligoland"). As it transpired, this is the soundtrack to an open museum project and the clear vinyl pressing is the ONLY version of this album to be made available. Unsurprisingly it has become a collectors item. 

However, for some reason I have never played this record. I always meant to digitise it, but never got round to it. So this is the first time I have heard this music despite owning it for seven years. 

As soon as you pick this record up you can tell it is a high quality pressing. There are sumptuous picture inner sleeves and inside the gate-fold there is a poster. The first side has 2 tracks "Land Me" and "Reverse Bubble" which roll along pleasingly enough as I type this. "The Dream of Yi" develops a drone that began to drive me insane and for the first time in these reviews, I had to skip a bit of the music. "Angel Palace" is calming but is overly long as a piece to sit and listen to. 

That is the trouble here: this music is being taken out of context. As background music for a museum, I can see it working very well. As a listening experience it isn't very engaging. Things get a bit more lively with "Art Tattoo" but it is nothing more than 15 minutes of an arpeggiator running the same patch. "Kiss Volcano" is a short burst of noise that left me a bit bemused. "Integration Desintegration" is more of a return to ambient soundscape concept but with a horn playing a melody. "Octogum" is a more overtly 'electronic' sounding piece that reminded me of Jean Michel Jarre with its phased strings. "North Cloud" rounds things off. 

In summary, I'd say this record would make great background music for a museum, but as an isolated listening experience, it isn't to my taste. I don't feel like I have missed out in not playing this record. In fact, if someone came along and offered me £200, I would probably let it go. 1/5

One record at a time: 3. a-ha - Minor Earth Major Sky

The third LP from the shelf is the last a-ha album in my collection (plenty of CDs to come later in this review process) and one of my favorites by the band. I'm playing the only vinyl version of this album from 2019 and it sounds brilliant. Unlike re-pressings of their earlier albums, this double LP package has been mastered and pressed very well.

The album kicks off in great style with a title track that is quirky and catchy. "Little Black Heart" continues to employ the surprisingly electronic sound the band found in 2000. "Velvet" would be a mundane ballad if it were not for the ethereal female vocals of Simone Larsen that help lift it to another plane. The original Savoy version of the song is a bit too 'rock' for my taste and Paul's vocals aren't a patch on Morten's. When we flip the vinyl over we are treated to the excellent "Summer Moved On" which somehow manages to sound electronic despite the orchestral arrangement, live drums and swathes of acoustic guitar. 

Track 5 is the first of the weaker songs on the album, "The Sun Never Shone That Day". There's nothing offensive here and the Mellotron strings fit the faint Beatles pastiche - I just don't like it much. "To Let You Win" tries not to be a mid-tempo crawl, but you're kind of glad when it's over. Having gone a bit saggy in the middle, the album begins its recovery with "The Company Man". This track trots out the tired "privileged and rich rock star complains about their record company" story in the vein of "Have a Cigar". And much like "Have a Cigar" I have no sympathy, but the track has a good tune.

Things really pick up with "Thought That It Was You" and "I Wish I Cared" which verge on the anthemic. Morten's vocals are strong here and the production accomplished. These two tracks are the zenith of the album for me as things turn more rock with the next track "Barely Hanging On". On the final side we find "You'll Never Get Over Me" which sounds like a 'band' recording that, whilst being initially entertaining, out stays its welcome. We get treated to another electronic pop track with "I Won't Forget Her" which sounds a bit like an Ace of Base reject (is that a bad thing? Not sure). The album fizzles out with "Mary Ellen Makes The Moment Count" and the strong American accent Paul employs when singing backing vocals. I like this album very much, but to align it with my tastes more closely I would have to cut out 3 or 4 of the weaker 'rock' tracks. 4/5

One record at a time: 2. a-ha - Scoundrel Days

The second LP on the shelf is a-ha "Scoundrel Days". Like their first album, I own the 2015 180g remastered version but unlike "Hunting High and Low", this pressing sounds pretty good. The title track "Scoundrel Days" heralds the arrival a less 'synth' sound for the band and hints at a happy middle ground between pop and rock. "The Swing of Things" is impressive both lyrically and musically but sounds a little under produced to my ears. We hear some 'real' drums on "I've Been Losing You" and you can definitely hear the band moving more to their natural 'rock' tendencies. The synths and drum machines soon return with the twee oom-pah oom-pah of "October" - not unpleasant but hardly epic. The epic tag has to be reserved for "Manhattan Skyline" which follows next. The guitars come to the front of the mix here but there is more than enough DX7 Koto and string sounds to keep synth pop fans interested. A fantastic track.

Side two delivers another single in the form of "Cry Wolf". I remember when this track came out and I wasn't too impressed; it sounded like the band were catering to a record company request for a radio hit. To me it sounds forced. Next up is "We're Looking For Whales" which is lyrically a bit weird and sounds like an Emulator had just landed in the studio. "The Weight of the Wind" has an impressive chorus but is otherwise nondescript. The album feels like it is petering out with the sugary "Maybe Maybe" which features some vocal trills that almost made me laugh out loud. The coup-de-gras is delivered by "Soft Rains of April" which ambles along for 3 minutes without really doing anything and then ends abruptly. All in all, a-ha's second album isn't bad, but I can understand why I have only played this record once before. 3/5

One record at a time: 1. a-ha - Hunting High and Low

I bought my first record in 1985 and in the intervening years I have amassed (or hoarded) quite a lot of vinyl, CDs, tapes and other recorded media. But it has recently occurred to me that I haven't actually listened to all of the items I own. So here I will begin to dig through my music collection and add some notes as I go. I'm starting with vinyl albums.

The first LP in my rack is "Hunting High and Low" by a-ha (my collection is in alphabetical order you understand). This pressing is the 180g version from 2015 and I think I have only played it once over the last six years. Whilst unmarked and scratch free, the vinyl seems to have a lot of sibilance that detracts from the sound quality. Very depressing - I can't help but think an original eighties pressing would have been far cheaper and probably sounded better.

The album is a 'classic' of eighties pop and kicks off with the ubiquitous "Take On Me". As the second track "Train of Thought" starts I am stuck by how different it is from the single version. Today I can hear Yamaha DX7 presets all over these tracks, but the 12 year old me back in 85 didn't have a clue how this music was created. "Hunting High and Low" is inoffensive without being too engaging. Personally I prefer the next track "The Blue Sky" as it has a quirky tune and some nice lyrics. I love this track and it just flies by - well it's only two and a half minutes long anyway - but you get my point. Side one ends with "Living a boy's adventure tale" which is a bit odd and sounds like it was mixed by someone who was deaf. It's a mushy mess of a track that I can't concentrate on.

Side two sees us back in pop classic territory with "The Sun Always Shines On TV" - definitely one of my a-ha favourites (if not THE favourite come to think of it). There are some great synth sounds on this track and its complexity is satisfying. "And You Tell Me" provides contrast to its driving predecessor with a laid back nursery rhyme style. Now NOTHING sounds more 80s than "Love is Reason" - if you followed a blueprint for the 80s sound you would come up with something like this. Octave synth bass, DX7 tubular bells, DX7 brass stabs and a twee tune about love are all present: it hasn't aged well. The next track is "Dream Yourself Alive" and whilst it is definitely not the best track on the album, it does benefit from a distinctive Fairlight backing track. The album closes with the moody "Here I Stand and Face the Rain" which point to the more mature sound a-aha would develop with their next album. 3/5