Jennifer Warnes - Jennifer (1972)

Third and easily best solo album by American singer/songwriter Jennifer Warnes, whose career trajectory is weird enough to briefly summarize here. She started out in the late 60s as a folk-rocker singing slightly overwrought covers. Sometimes in the early 70s, she caught the attention of some pretty cool people: her third album (this one) was produced by John Cale, and she joined up with Leonard Cohen, playing in his band and contributing to a bunch of his records over the course of the next five decades. Her ensuing solo records, on the other hand, while moderately commercially successful, were as middle-of-the-road as it gets. In the 80s, she briefly carved out a niche for herself singing the female part on massive hit duets written for movies. First, it was the dreadful "Up Where We Belong", then it was "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", both of which went to #1. Like I said, weird career. [EDIT: Thanks to a commenter, I now know that she also sings on Arthur Russell's "That's Us/Wild Combination", literally one of the best, most beautiful songs ever recorded.]

Anyway, the album. Her best solo record by a wide margin, it consists of the kind of folky pop-rock that dominated the charts in the early 70s, but there's stylistic range beneath the surface -- over the course of three tracks, she jumps from sunny country rock to an ethereal take on Donovan's "Sand and Foam" to a  smoldering, soulful rendition of Free's "Be My Friend" without missing a beat. This can probably partially be attributed to Cale's pitch-perfect production; Warnes' pristine vocals, which are far more subtle and expressive than on her previous efforts; and great songs, which include a Cale original ("Empty Bottles") and Warnes' own take on the now-iconic "These Days". It's not gonna change your life, but it's a really nice listen.

Track listing:

1. In the Morning

2. P.F. Sloan

3. Empty Bottles

4. Sand and Foam

5. Be My Friend

6. Needle and Thread

7. Last Song

8. All My Love's Laughter

9. These Days

10. Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone)

The simple act of an oar's stroke put diamonds in the sea

Also listen to:

Christine Perfect - Christine Perfect (1974)

Dion - Born to Be with You (1974)

Wally Badarou - Back to Scales To-Night (1980)

Related:

M - The Official Secrets Act (1980)

Debut solo record from synth/keyboard session man Wally Badarou; I'm not even going to try to start naming all the great artists he's played with. Laid-back, synth-fueled, reggae-tinged lite funk/pop-rock/R&B that's positively perfect for summer nights. Yes, his second album, Echoes, is his masterpiece, but DO NOT sleep on this record.

Track listing:

1. Back to Scales Tonight

2. Sing Me Your Song

3. One Day, Won't Give It Away

4. Dream on the Sand

5. London Town (Instrumental)

6. He Was a Rasta in London Town

7. She Turns Me On

8. Lady Finger Blue (Instrumental)

9. Preachin'

Leaving this place

If you like this, listen to:

Wayne Henderson - Emphasized (1979)

Kimiko Kasai - Kimiko (1982)

Daryl Hall - Sacred Songs (1980)

As Hall & Oates enjoyed their first string of hits, Hall sidestepped and made an art rock record, colored by the woozily beautiful guitars of Robert Fripp. And it's not just a curio -- it's fucking topnotch stuff. The first song and a half lull you into a false sense of accessibility, then, midway through "Something in 4/4 Time", the wall of Fripp guitars hits, and you realize this is not just another pop/rock record. This back-and-forth continues throughout the record. Recorded in 1977 but -- as is tradition for any great experimental record by a mainstream artist -- shelved by those damn money-blinded record company fat-cats.

Track listing:
1. Sacred Songs
2. Something in 4/4 Time
3. Babs and Babs
4. Urban Landscape
5. NYCNY
6. The Farther Away I Am
7. Why Was It So Easy
8. Don't Leave Me Alone with Her
9. Survive
10. Without Tears

They're all sacred songs
They're not easily won

You would probably also enjoy:

Mick Ronson -
Slaughter on 10th Avenue (1974)

Dwight Twilley -
Twilley (1979)

Planet P Project - Pink World (1984)

The second and best album from Planet P Project, a pseudonym used by American musician Tony Carey for his weirder musical output. Over warm guitars, pillowy synths, and gated drums, Carey spins a two-disc-spanning yarn about a boy whose psychic powers protect a small area of the planet from nuclear annihilation. I don't care how nerdy/wussy it is: Pink World is a fucking masterpiece. Just don't play it in mixed company unless you want to end up with an atomic wedgie.

Track listing:
1. In the Woods
2. To Live Forever
3. Pink World
4. What I See
5. To Live Forever (Part 2)
6. Power
7. In the Forest
8. A Boy Who Can't Talk
9. The Stranger
10. What I See (Part 2)
11. The Sheperd
12. Behind the Barrier
13. Pink World Coming Down
14. Breath
15. This Perfect Place
16. What Artie Knows
17. In the Zone
18. Behind the Barrier (Part 2)
19. March of the Artemites
20. This Perfect Place (Part 2)
21. A Letter from the Shelter
22. What Artie Knows (Part 2)
23. One Star Falling
24. Baby's at the Door
25. Requiem
26. A Boy Who Can't Talk (Part 2)

You drank the water?
There's nothing we can do.
There's no one we can call.

Also of interest:

David Sancious and Tone -
Dance of the Age of Enlightenment (1977)

Pendragon -
Fly High Fall Far (1985)

Mariah - Yen Tricks (1980)

Weird-ass, all-over-the-place Japanese prog. Mariah is the kind of band that moves from sharp, dissonant modern classical to anthemic hard rock to laid-back fusion to a bunch of other styles like it's no big deal. Like, to the point where I'm reminded of early Mr. Bungle.

Track listing:
1. Yen Tricks
2. Key of Gold
3. Distant Rainbow
4. Black Mariah
5. Let It Blow
6. We Are the Same
7. Burning P.M.
8. Fate

None of them knew they were robots

If you like this, you might like:

Don Muro -
It's Time (1977)

Un Festín Sagital ‎-
Sic Deus Dilexit Mundum (2012)

Tatsuro Yamashita - Spacy (1977)

Lush, breezy, jazzy soft rock from Japanese guitarist/singer Tatsuro Yamashita. Smooth bass-lines, sax solos, string rushes, twinkling pianos, and much more make for an infinitely pleasant record.

Track listing:
1. Love Space
2. 翼に乗せて
3. 素敵な午後は
4. Candy
5. Dancer
6. アンブレラ
7. 言えなかった言葉を
8. 朝の様な夕暮れ
9. きぬずれ
10. Solid Slider

Can't let you go

If you like this, check out:

Shakatak -
Night Birds (1982)

Akira Inoue -
Splash (1983)

Godley & Creme - The History Mix Volume 1 (1985)

Kevin Godley and Lol Crème were founding members of 10cc who left the band in 1976, shortly after the band's commercial breakthrough, to form a duo. The History Mix Volume 1 serves as a perfect introduction to the world of Godley & Creme, and not just because it's their best album and it contains one of my absolute favorite songs -- much of the record consists of songs and musical elements from throughout their career (including with 10cc), completely remixed and presented as parts of epic, mind-melting megamixes.

Track listing:
1. Wet Rubber Soup / Cry
2. Expanding the Business / The 'Dare You' Man / Hum Drum Boys in Paris / Mountain Tension
3. Light Me Up
4. An Englishman in New York
5. Save a Mountain for Me
6. Golden Boy
7. Cry (Extended Remix) [Bonus track]
8. Snack Attack (Extended Remix) [Bonus track]

You don't know how to ease my pain

You might also like:

Jane Siberry -
The Walking (1987)

Eg and Alice -
24 Years of Hunger (1991)

Boatz - Boatz (1979)

Here's a lost gem of 70s soft rock that popped up at my work the other day. Boatz is the only thing that this completely unknown band ever put out, and if you're into easy-breezy, unabashedly commercial, probably cocaine-saturated pop rock à la Toto, you and your beard/moustache are gonna love this record.

Track listing:
1. In the Middle of the Night
2. It Was Only the Radio
3. Big Deal
4. Straight to My Head
5. Out of This World
6. Boomerang Logic
7. The Ice Age Is Coming
8. Gone So Long
9. Sun Come Down
10. Blame It on the Future

I just wanna go out of this world

If you like this, check out:

Adrian Gurvitz -
Sweet Vendetta (1979)

Gerry Rafferty -
Sleepwalking (1982)

Kimiko Kasai - Kimiko (1982)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Kimiko Kasai - Butterfly (1979)

Shimmering, smooth-as-butter disco/soft rock from Japanese singer Kimiko Kasai. Known best as a jazz singer, Kimiko probably represents an attempt to garner a broader American audience. However, regardless of the album's immaculate arrangements and deft pop songwriting, her complex, idiosyncratic voice just wasn't meant for a pop audience, so here it is, three and a half decades later, on a nerdy music blog.

Track listing:
1. The Right Place
2. Looking for Love
3. Steppin' Outside Tonight
4. I'm So Much in Love
5. I Felt You Glancin'
6. Love Is All We Need
7. I Wish That Love Would Last
8. Over You

I felt you glancing

Give these a spin, too:

Adrian Gurvitz -
Sweet Vendetta (1979)

Teena Marie -
Starchild (1984)

Teena Marie - Starchild (1984)

Slick 80s pop that takes equally from airy disco, electro-funk, slow-burning R&B, and twinkly soft rock. Teena Marie certainly got an initial boost from her friendship and collaborative relationship with Rick motherfucking James, but her best albums (Starchild, for instance) came when Teena took the creative reins.

Track listing:
1. Lovergirl
2. Help Youngblood Get to the Freaky Party
3. Out on a Limb
4. Alibi
5. Jammin'
6. Starchild
7. We've Got to Stop (Meeting Like This)
8. My Dear Mr. Gaye
9. Light

White lines on the dresser

More, more, more!:

Adrian Gurvitz -
Il Assassino (1980)

Mazarti -
Mazarti (1987)

Adrian Gurvitz - Sweet Vendetta (1979)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Adrian Gurvitz - Il Assassino (1980)

More soft, airy disco from Adrian Gurvitz. It's like ELO dancing under a mirrorball with Toto.

Track listing:
1. Untouchable and Free
2. The Wonder of It All
3. Put a Little Love (In Life's Heart)
4. Love Space
5. The Way I Feel
6. Time Is Endless
7. I Just Wanna Get Inside Your Head
8. Free Ride
9. One More Time
10. Drifting Star [bonus]

Life's still waiting for you

These are pretty great, too:

Colin Blunstone - One Year (1971) + 3 more

Wayne Henderson - Emphasized (1979)

Adrian Gurvitz - Il Assassino (1980)

You might know Adrian Gurvitz from one or more of his early bands -- The Gun, Three Man Army, or Baker Gurvitz Army (all proto-metal/hard rock greats) -- or his work with the Graeme Edge Band. What you might not know is that he released a series of phenomenal, disco-flavored soft rock solo records in the late 70s and early 80s, of which Il Assassino is the second, and my personal favorite.

Though it's all pretty much perfect, from the immaculate production to the breezy melodies to the casually diverse instrumentation (his rock chops shine through in the form of a few crucial twin guitar leads), what really sets this LP apart is Gurvitz's somewhat bleak lyrical approach, which compliments the often minor-key arrangements and provides a depth that you don't often get on records that sound like this.

Track listing:
1. Borrowed Beauty
2. Seventeen
3. Movie Picture
4. Hit Man
5. Movie Picture Theme
6. She's in Command
7. New World
8. Crying to the Night
9. Heat

Out of dreams

You might also dig:

Niteflyte - Niteflyte (1979)

Oliver Cheatham - The Boss (1982)

Sean Nicholas Savage - Flamingo (2011)

Lo-fi, lounge-y acoustic indie pop with a distinctly outsider feel. Savage's voice is high-pitched and thin, and trembles in way that sounds more like struggling to stay on pitch than an affectation. Add a bit of tape warp, a cheap-sounding drum machine and keyboard, and bizarre, at times surreal, but earnest lyrics, and you've got a singular, idiosyncratic vision that most people will not get.

Track listing:
1. Days Go By
2. Come Back to Me
3. Chin Chin
4. You Changed Me
5. My Chances
6. Catch the Quick Fish
7. Spotted Brown
8. Only the Wind
9. Goodbye Rainbow
10. Wasted in Snowstorm
11. Common Ground
12. She Was the One
13. Pupil of the Night

That's the way it's always been
The only way to swim is into the current

Nightlands - Oak Island (2013)

Retro-futuristic, widescreen, soft electro-rock from the bassist of your current favorite indie band, The War on Drugs. Richly harmonized vocals that sound like robotic Beach Boys, hints of tropicalia, and a sense of commitment to a state of euphoria attained through disconnection with the here and now.

Track listing:
1. Time and Place
2. So Far So Long
3. You're My Baby
4. Nico
5. So It Goes
6. Born to Love
7. I Fell in Love with Feeling
8. Rolling Down the Hill
9. Other People's Pockets
10. Looking for Rain

I'd like to invite you
For just a little while
To a place I used to go
When I was only 17
Back to the place
The place that I once knew

Colin Blunstone - One Year (1971), Ennismore (1972), Journey (1974), + Planes (1976)

First four solo albums from this silken-voiced ex-Zombies frontman. For the uninitiated, it's probably best to listen to them in the order in which they were released. The first two are absolutely essential albums of untouchable, baroque-tinged pop rock. Journey is a bit more AM rock, and marks an ever so slight step down in the songwriting department. Still great stuff, though. But by the time he got around to releasing Planes, he was clearly running out of ideas, and while some brilliance shines through, there's a whole lot of shlock.

For track listings, just go to Discogs. I'm not trying to type up forty plus song names.

One Year
Ennismore
Journey
Planes

The Kaplan Brothers - Nightbird (1978)

This one made the rounds a few years ago, it's probably time to revisit it. Dark, lo-fi, low-key psychedelic rock from the almost completely unknown Kaplan Brothers. Think of it as the outsider's Forever Changes. Albums like this are why music blogs exist.

Track listing:
1. Ode to Life
2. Vodka and Caviare
3. Epitaph
4. Listen to Falling Rain
5. Life and Me
6. Love Is Life
7. Nightbird
8. Happy
9. He

Confusion will be my epitaph