Album Club, January 2016: Jackie Leven - 'Creatures of Light and Darkness'

[Bazil]

Very good album , it loses its edge a few songs in and becomes a bit smooth for me , never the less 8/10.

[RichB]

It didn't inspire nor repulse. So a 6 from me

I do feel I should give it another listen so it's saved as a playlist.

[high.spirits]

I've listened to it 3 times now and really cannot make my mind up regarding the whole album.
Some tracks I like, some I am indifferent to.
Some strange phasing (reverb / echo / or some effect) on a couple of tracks which was strange. 7/10.

[Jason P]

I've listened to it 3 times now and really cannot make my mind up regarding the whole album.
Some tracks I like, some I am indifferent to.
Some strange phasing (reverb / echo / or some effect) on a couple of tracks which was strange. 7/10.

Odd - what tracks did you hear the reverb/phasing on? Be interested to know...

[high.spirits]

Odd - what tracks did you hear the reverb/phasing on? Be interested to know...

It may be the way I have heard his voice, but track 3 The Sexual Loneliness of Jesus Christ was most noticeable and some on track 4.

[Jason P]

It may be the way I have heard his voice, but track 3 The Sexual Loneliness of Jesus Christ was most noticeable and some on track 4.

Ahh no, that's just the way he's singing on that. Quite a vocal technique - he's done it on a few tracks of his on other albums too.

[Clothears]

I've long been a Jackie Leven fan since I first heard a track on a Cooking Vinyl sampler in the 90's. Since then I bought a good few of his albums including this one, which I'm giving a strong 8/10.

My personal favourite is The Mystery Of Love Is Greater Than The Mystery Of Death . Unfortunately the fates conspired on several occasions and I never did manage to get to see him live, but I did buy a live CD of his called The Wanderer which gives you a good taste of the Jackie Leven experience, jokes and bad language included.

[Barry]

This is what I love about the Album Club, not only are you reminded of artist(e)s you already know, but are introduced to new ones.

I hadn't heard of Jackie Leven before, but on listening I will be investigating more of his material. Some of it is a little 'dark' for my taste but thank you for suggesting it as an Album Club choice.

8/10 from me.

Good one Jason!

[Jason P]

Glad you liked it Barry. I agree he does veer in to some dark territory, but that in a funny way is what I love about him - unafraid to document all the human condition, warts and all. Then he'll pull out something staggeringly beautiful, like this:

[Qwin]

I was introduced to this artist recently and wondered why I hadn't heard of him, as he is very prolific.
Some of his lyrics are very amusing, like him a lot.