JACKSON C. FRANK / Jackson C. Frank (1965)

It's heartbreaking to think that Jackson made just one album, and astonishing to learn that he reportedly recorded the entire thing in less than three hours. It's his masterpiece by default, but fully deserving of the accolade.
His talent is undeniable and every bit the equal of his more well-known folk music peers. His tragic life story (schizophrenia and depression, homeless and destitute, dead at 56 of pneumonia) adds a tearful footnote to the prodigious emotional current that characterises his works. Listening to the soft melancholy that he coaxes from his guitar strings breaks my heart every time, and also, somehow, consoles an unseen part of me that remembers what it was like to be lost.

Songs of Note: My Name is Carnival; Just Like Anything

5 tender skies out of 5

JEFF WAYNE / Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds (1978)

While I don't personally regard every song on Jeff Wayne's début concept album to be perfect, when considered as a whole it's a masterpiece of adaptation, design (inc. artwork) and aural joy that I never tire of experiencing.
Richard Burton narrates the story, based on H. G. Wells' famous 1898 novel, the actor's euphonious baritones perfectly suited to the work. Completing the magic, a string and prog rock accompaniment create a sweeping aura that carries the listener on a stirring, emotional journey. The changes in tone and dramatic intensity move it seamlessly from ominous to propitious, from elation to woe, all the while able to satisfy people in search of storytelling just as much as people in search of music. It's a work of art that's rich in imagery, content and style.

Songs of Note: Forever Autumn; Thunder Child

5 plans against us out of 5

JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON / Sicario: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [2015]

Icelandic composer  Jóhann Jóhannsson earned himself a great deal of respect amongst the film score community with his beautifully realized lush music in The Theory of Everything.
Naturally being the type of artist that he is, Jóhannsson took a complete opposite turn with the nerve-wrenching soundscapes in Denis Villeneuve's heart-pounding Mexican cartel thriller Sicario.  It's a anxiety throbbing percussive score filled with low-end ominous strings and a vast horn section that perfectly encapsulates the gritty subject matter on screen.  There's a beautiful mournful string theme buried within the brutality of the score but it offers no reassurance of safety or hope.  It's not often music makes my stomach-turn with nervousness like this but Sicario does so with such force it's clearly not a listen that sets out to be enjoyed.  Heavily armed with technical and creative brilliance, it certainly is a challenge to listen to but definitely rewarding should you take on the overly intense task.

4 heartbeats beneath the ground out of 5

Songs of Note: The Beast; Alejandro's Song

JIM BOB / Day Job EP (2013)

One half of the original Carter USM line up (the other half can be found HERE), Jim Bob sticks close to what he knows, which, happily, is also what he does best. It has the same kind of pissed-off Pop melodies that characterised a lot of Carter songs, and the same kind of winding-down feelings that speak to the common man.
If it had been released under the Carter name, I don't think many people would've known the difference.

Songs of Note: The Tesco Riots; The Ghost of Christmas Boring

3 bits of that out of 5

VARIOUS ARTISTS / Josie and the Pussycats: Music from the Motion Picture (2001)

It’s unfathomable how the stars aligned to make this possible. Kenneth ‘Babyface’ Edmonds was executive producer, Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne produced and wrote, and even the goddamn Duritz himself got a writing credit. Kay Hanley of Letters to Cleo brings Josie to effervescent life on tracks that offer empowerment without being self-righteous or needlessly heavy-handed. There’s an exquisite ballad but most of this is nothing more than unashamed power-pop. The covers make sense in context and the Du Jour tracks are priceless. Just as the movie itself was unafraid to dabble in intentional pussy humor, the fictional boy band brilliantly deliver a blatant ode to anal-penetration. 

A success on every level, even those exclusive to perverts like me.

Songs of Note: 3 Small Words; You Don’t See Me

5 STS-Worthy Ladies out of 5

THE JUSTIFIED ANCIENTS OF MU MU / 1987, What the Fuck is Going On? (1987)

The début album by The JAMs (later the KLF) will be hard to find in its original incarnation because every unsold copy was ordered destroyed by the MCPS; the reason being that the work is constructed from unauthorised samples from a large number of sources. THAT was the point. It was pushing "plagiarism to its absurd conclusion" in the best way possible, through musical and social juxtaposition.
It’s a collage of everything that was supposed to be good and everything that was genuinely bad about the era, and its existence brought that same focus to the fore in everyone that heard it and how they reacted to it.
The JAMs didn't care about profit, they cared about the JAMs, and in all probability they'd give you the album free if they could. But for now, YouTube it instead.

Songs of Note: Links are periodically obliterated. Do a YT search.

3 applecarts out of 5

BILLIE JOE + NORAH / foreverly [2013]

Most folks wouldn't think the idea of Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong and jazz-popster Norah Jones would sound good covering harmonizing country rockers The Everly Brothers' 2nd album Songs Our Daddy Taught Us, which in turn is already a collection of cover songs.
Yet, 2013's duet album foreverly works in every way you wouldn't think it would seeing as it's ever so faithful to the original record by never steering off into a rough pop-rockiness or Starbuck's friendly soft jazz.  The duo's voices work so very well together as one gives the other edge whereas that other gives the first one a graceful smoothness creating a vocal sound not normally heard from either.
It's not particularly clever, inventive or astonishingly good but simply delightful for a ride down a country road on a rainy day and sometimes that's exactly what one needs.

4 girls named Rose Connelly out of 5

Songs Of Note: Silver Haird Daddy Of Mine; Put My Little Shoes Away

JESU / Silver E.P. (2006)

With each subsequent Jesu release the sound changes but stays the same. If that makes any kind of rational sense to you, then you're probably already a fan of the project and know exactly what I mean. If so, then you'll be right at home with the Silver E.P. For everyone else, it's as good a place to start as any.
There's synth; real and programmed drums; a distorted bass that buzzes like some kind of blunt, vibrating knife edge; and subtle vocal treatments that elevate everything to cloud level. So do yourself a favour: hit the play button, turn the volume up, sit back and be submerged in Broadrick's radiant candour.

Songs of Note: Silver; Star

4 kinds of gold out of 5

JARBOE | TELECOGNAC ‎/ Over (2000)

Telecognac (Chris Rosenau and Jon Mueller) took a single Jarboe track and made a lazy release from it. It's classed as an album, but has just three tracks totalling 35 mins. They chopped most of Jarboe's vocals into small, unintelligible chunks and then dropped them into a toolbox of experimental awkwardness that relies heavily on juxtaposition and percussion to fill out the running time.
It only gels into something engaging about fifty percent of the time. The other fifty percent is mostly cold, listless and irritating.

Songs of Note: Over 1; Over 2

2 gold idols out of 5

JESU / Jesu (2005)

The eponymous release was the first full length album from Jesu, released a year after the début E.P., Heart Ache. It took the crushing industrial drone that Broadrick is known for and hollowed it out. It's a slow process, but once achieved he was free to fill the gap with something new. Over the course of the album he changed the nature of what industrial music had to offer, opening it up to the beginnings of something that—dare I say it—resembles a kind of uplifting optimism.
It's well known that there’s beauty in darkness; Jesu fans know also that there's beauty in distortion, in minimalism and in purposeful drone.

Songs of Note: Tired of Me; We All Faulter

4 paths to divinity out of 5

JELLYFISH / Spilt Milk (1993)

The sound on Jellyfish's second album is a lot fuller than on their previous release. The band filled the spaces in their songs with so much dreamy, melodic Pop that it threatens to turn your ears to candy. It's one of the reasons I prefer the début album. I liked the spaces. There's almost too much going on here. The regular shift from Pop assault to saccharine lullabies is a jarring experience on first listen, but after a while it becomes easier to pick out the good bits, which is about 90% of it. If the Beach Boys joined a circus band, they might sound something like Spilt Milk.

Songs of Note: The Ghost at Number One; All is Forgiven

4 hand shandies out of 5

JOE HISAISHI / Kikujiro (1999)

Hisaishi's main tool is his piano, and his greatest strength is his ability to convey emotion via simplicity. Kikujiro is possibly the finest example of his working method to date. He can make you happy and sad at the same time; but the sad is a happy kind of sad. Trust me.
It might not sound like a lot, but there's only really three themes throughout, played with a slightly different arrangement each time, or accompanied by the violin. Each one is as beautiful as the one preceding it and the one following it.
If you haven't already, go watch the film, too. It's equally magnificent.

Songs of Note: Summer; Mother

5 roads travelled out of 5

JJ DOOM / Key To The Kuffs [2012]

Alternative hip-hop artists MF DOOM and Jneiro Jarel colloborate under the moniker JJ DOOM on 2012's Key To The Kuffs. 

Like a love letter to Britain, DOOM and Jarel deliver lines making references to British culture using genuine cockney slang over creepy beats & rhythms that creak back & forth between sludgy dancehall crashers to abstract chillout vibes.  Enlisting the aid of Damon Albarn and Portishead's Beth Gibbons, I think I was expecting a bit more, considering the strength of DOOM's previous projects.  Instead I found it a bit of a disappointment with it's repetitive nature and lack of bringing anything new to the table.  Not to say it's bad, it's just considering it's DOOM, my expectations were raised a bit too high.

3 J. Jonah Jamesons out of 5

Songs Of Note: 'Bout The Shoes; Winter Blues

JESU / Heart Ache E.P. (2004)

The first Jesu release is an E.P. that contains just two tracks, but it's no lazy money spinner. The two tracks combined clock in at almost 40 mins; that's longer than some bands manage to put on a full album.
I had no idea prior to hearing Heart Ache that Justin K Broadrick's voice was so well-suited to the kind of melodies offered herein. Some unexpected piano punctuates and then supports the down-tuned guitars with lush softness, helping it achieve the near impossible: atmospheric, ambient drone that's typically hypnotic but also really quite beautiful.

Songs of Note: Heart Ache; Ruined

4 (empty) pots of gold out of 5

JESUS JONES / Perverse (1993)

Early 90s friendly Techno/Pop/Rock crossover that was regularly heard at parties held by indie kids, skaters and edgy sociology students. If not already on the stereo by the time you arrive (with bottle in hand), then you'd often find it placed next to Ned's Atomic Dustbin on the shelf. True story.

Songs of Note: Zeroes and Ones; The Right Decision

2½ things what they are out of 5

NORAH JONES / Little Broken Hearts [2012]

Norah Jones strays from her usual jazzy sound by working with producer Danger Mouse on her 5th record, 2012's moody break-up album, Little Broken Hearts. 

Normally Jones & DM wouldn't sound like a good mix but here they create a hauntingly beautiful cinematic sound both organic & spacey at the same time.  Normally, "break-up" albums get annoyingly mournful filled but Jones reamains hazily grounded and upbeat to prevent things from getting stale. 

The album isn't edgy enough for the indie-schmuck crowd nor is it friendly enough for the soccer mom crowd but will fit nicely on anyone's shelf that doesn't have a specific taste in good music.

4½ Russ Meyer posters out of 5

Songs Of Note: Little Broken Hearts; Miriam

JENNIE TEBLER / Silverwing (2005)

Silverwing is the last known recording by Quorthon (Bathory) before he died. The vocals are performed by Jennie, who may or may not be his sister. It was a taste of what was to come from the pair; a melodic gothic style that I'm sure would've found an audience outside of Quorthon's usual fan base, if it had continued.
In a fitting tribute to her brother’s(?) memory, Jennie does a version of Song to Hall Up High, from Bathory's own Hammerheart (1990) album. The music is unchanged but the female vocals imbue it with a very different emotional feeling.

Songs of Note: Song to Hall Up High; Silverwing

3 gulls out of 5

JOY DIVISION / Substance (1988)

Substance is a compilation album but it's not a lazy Best of… it's much more important than that. It's a collection of singles, B-sides and sampler tracks, almost all of which don't feature on either of the band's two studio albums. It contains some of their most famous tracks, which are arguably the finest they ever recorded. It's a perfect representation of three years of musical progression, and an essential purchase for fans of Manchester's finest. It's also the perfect starting point for people not familiar with Joy Division's distinctive sound.

Songs of Note: Love Will Tear Us Apart; Atmosphere

5 shadows by the side of the road out of 5

JOY DIVISION / Closer (1990)

The second and last Joy Division studio album carries on the monumental post-punk sound of their previous one. It once more invites you into a world of cold beauty laid bare, and doesn't let go until the very end.
The music is a metronome of human emotion, filtered through the minds of four individuals that together achieved what they never could individually.

Songs of Note: Isolation; Twenty Four Hours

5 steps inside out of 5

THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN / Honey's Dead (1992)

Finding just the right balance between their trademark feedback and some passionately delivered droning but catchy melodies helped the Mary Chain deliver an almost perfect album. The addition of live drums gives it a more organic sound than they ever had before. The only criticism you can throw at is the amount of repetition present. You can argue that it keeps the album firmly on track and the energy level high, but it's just as easy to call it lazy. Still, a great song is a great song, even if it does sound too much like another great song.

Songs of Note: Reverence; Almost Gold

4½ it's good for the soul out of 5