A tale of two CDs

I bought two albums this week. No wonder I've never got any money.


The first was a bit of a Valentine's present for Mrs Schönberg, Lana del Rey's debut offering "Born to Die". What can I say about the album, after two or three listens on the way up to the Lake District this weekend? Well, somehow I was expecting a brooding, ghostly album in a similar vein to 'Video Games'. Instead, there are a few listenable tracks (expect 'Summertime Sadness' to be the next single), but mainly it's like listening to Gwen Stefani in slow-motion. Mrs S seems to quite like it though, so brownie points awarded all round.

The second album was waiting for me on the doorstep following said trip to the Lake District, "Plumb" is the fourth album by Field Music, and I managed to give it quite a few spins on my way to work the following morning. The album is characterised by the first (and second, and third) songs. When Queen wrote Bohemian Rhapsody, it is said that they shoe-horned three separate songs into the one track, with the new Field Music album it seems like the first track has been expanded to three separate songs. The sudden changes in rhythms, tempos and styles throughout the album are quite reminiscent of Bohemian Rhapsody, the music is very well played, is rich in production and is probably best-described by the term 'avant garde'. Following the lengthy intro, the album just gets better. Next up is current single (and free download below) 'A New Town', which goes to show that when they want to, Field Music can write a pretty good indie single. The album is probably best listened to in it's entirety, and probably sounds great live. I'll let you know when I go see them next Monday...

As I write this, the midweek album chart has Lana del Rey at number one, and Field Music new in at number 39. Thank heavens for supermarkets. What's wrong with the mainstream?