Flicker is an 18 song, 76 minute magnum opus, a proper double album. Personally, I don't think there's a duff track on Flicker, the variety of lyrical content and genre hopping keeping it fresh but also a coherent listen throughout, not a given with many albums of this breadth and length.
To be honest, I could easily have just focused today's selection on Flicker alone and it still would have sounded great. However, I have attempted to draw in a handful of songs from debut album The View From Halfway Down and previous EPs, helpfully collected on the Another View compilation. The latter includes a couple of stunning remixes by Pye Corner Audio aka Martin Jenkins.
Lifeline was released as the third single from Flicker on 1st July, having previously featured here as the closing song on the selection for my Dad's 80th birthday. The press release describes Lifeline (and Side 3 of Flicker) as representing Andy Bell's "folkier side...inspired by brilliant ’60s and ’70s artists like Pentangle, Nick Drake, Davey Graham and Fairport Convention". The B-side of Lifeline (if there is such a thing with a digital single) is a cover of Pentangle’s 1969 song Light Flight. I've included it here with another cover, the B-side of previous single World Of Echo. Our Last Night Together was an unreleased Arthur Russell song that appeared on an expanded edition of his 1986 album World Of Echo...which inspired Andy Bell's song of the same name.
The selection closes with Jenny Holzer B. Goode, the final track of Side 1 of Flicker, a standout of a uniformly brilliant album and the source of today's post title. Sit back and enjoy the glide.
1) Love Comes In Waves (Acoustic Version) (2021)
2) Something Like Love (2022)
3) I Was Alone (Album Version) (2020)
4) The Commune (Single Version) (2019)
5) We All Fall Down (2022)
6) Ghost Tones (2020)
7) Light Flight (Cover of Pentangle) (2022)
8) Love Is The Frequency (2022)
9) Indica (Pye Corner Audio Remix) (2021)
10) Cherry Cola (Pye Corner Audio Remix) (2020)
11) Our Last Night Together (Cover of Arthur Russell) (2022)
12) Jenny Holzer B. Goode (2022)
2019: Plastic Bag: 4
2020: Cherry Cola EP: 10
2020: The View From Halfway Down: 3, 6
2021: All On You EP: 1
2021: Another View: 1, 4, 9, 10
2021: The Indica Gallery EP: 9, 10
2022: Flicker: 2, 5, 8, 12
2022: Lifeline EP: 7
2022: World Of Echo EP: 11
Excellent stuff. His releases have been the real highlights of the last few years. I'd been thinking of doing something similar for.my Sunday mix series, will see if I can find a different angle.
ReplyDeleteIt was Bagging Area that switched me on to Andy Bell's recent work, both solo and as GLOK (and Pye Corner Audio, whilst we're at it) so thanks to you. Your forthcoming Sunday mix will undoubtedly be brilliant.
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