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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 |
|---|
| 1. Advice |
| 2. City Hall |
| 3. What'll It Take? |
| 4. Meet And Drink And Pollinate |
| 5. The Truth |
| 6. Seven Naked Valleys |
| 7. Running For Your Life |
| 8. Bah Singer |
| 9. Knife In The Cast |
| 10. Ooh, Yeh Yeh |
| Disc: 2 |
| 1. Track by Track interview |
| 2. Short Film |
| 3. Behind the Scenes Photoshoot |
| 4. What'll It Take (Live from the Cockpit, Leeds) |
| 5. City Hall (Live from the Cockpit, Leeds) |
| 6. Ooh, Yeh Yeh (Live from the Cockpit, Leeds) |
| 7. Advice (Live from the Cockpit, Leeds) |
| 8. Running For Your Life (Live from the Cockpit, Leeds) |
| 9. Seven Naked Valleys (Live from the Cockpit, Leeds) |
Product Description
Review
He may be best known for years of exemplary service to Britpop, but it’s Graham Coxon’s art-rock solo efforts that find him pushing himself in the most interesting directions. And A+E is by far his finest work to date; a brilliantly inventive and majestically sprawling album which sees the multi-skilled musician take on a wry, Philip Larkin-esque role of the eccentric outsider, casting a cheeky eye over a very British kind of hedonism.
Meet+Drink+Pollinate is a reflection on the humdrum habit of weekend boozing; the distorted vocal repetition, dirge-y guttural riffs and motorik beat reflecting the rather depressing drink, shag, sleep and repeat pattern that it’s almost heresy to question. If anything says Modern Life Is Rubbish it’s this. Running for Your Life is an anti-anthem for anyone that’s ever been lambasted for looking a bit freaky – "We don’t like your haircut or your attitude," he sings, aping his laddish tormentors, over punky, vicious guitars – and on What’ll It Take, the record’s most pop moment, skittering electronics dance around rumbling drums and chirruping feedback as Coxon asks, "What’ll it take to make you people dance?" before closing the track screeching, "What’s wrong with me?" All three tracks differ wildly in tone but all display a charmingly playful side to his oddball outlook on life.
This subtle wit is a theme throughout, with Coxon even making a sly dig at his younger self’s inability to enjoy Blur’s success on clattering opener Advice: "I’d write a new song when I was touring, man it was no fun, totally boring," he sings as the scratchy track judders and builds to a frantic close. And musically A+E is the most sonically experimental and diverse record of the guitarist’s career. He plays all of the instruments, including a mean blustering sax, and dabbles in krautrock (the thrum, throb and growl of City Hall), thrash pop (Seven Naked Valleys’ rhythmic attack), psychedelia (during the spiralling wig out of Bah Singer) and sweet acoustic ballads (Ooh, Yeh Yeh) – which, of course, he can’t help but heavily layer with strange bits and discordant squall, like a lost song from 13.
Now there’s nothing sweeter for a Blur fan than seeing Graham Coxon reunited with Damon Albarn, and together they make a pretty unbeatable musical pairing. But does he need his best buddy and former bandmate to deliver spectacularly creative pop? Absolutely not.
--Camilla Pia
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Product Description
DISC 11. ADVICE2. CITY HALL3. WHATand#039;LL IT TAKE4. MEET and#38; DRINK and#38; POLLINATE5. THE TRUTH6. SEVEN NAKED VALLEYS7. RUNNING FOR YOUR LIFE8. BAH SINGER9. KNIFE IN THE CAST10. OOH, YEH YEHDISC 21. TRACK BY TRACK-INTERVIEW2. SHORT FILM3. PHOTOSHOOT BEHIND THE SCENES4. WHAT Iand#039;LL TAKE5. CITY HALL6. OHH, YEH YEH7. ADVICE8. RUNNING FOR YOUR LIFE9. SEVEN NAKED VALLEYS
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
It sounds trite but... I simply love this album!!! it is smooth, diverse and stylish; there are no (obvious) lingering doubts, remorse or poison-penned prose of times gone by.... this album is a delight from beginning to end and Coxon makes full use of his own abilities as a very skilful guitarist.
Don't get me wrong, I love the dark ballads of "Crow Sit On Blood Tree", the "Sky Is Too High" and "The Kiss Of Morning", but A+E is just so dynamic, so vital and so much fun to listen to. It is a bizarre blend of styles and influences that makes every song unique, every song has it's own texture, it's own presence... Very similar in tempo to "Happiness In Magazines", this album is a very big deal indeed.
Off to listen to it again!!!
Don't get me wrong, I love the dark ballads of "Crow Sit On Blood Tree", the "Sky Is Too High" and "The Kiss Of Morning", but A+E is just so dynamic, so vital and so much fun to listen to. It is a bizarre blend of styles and influences that makes every song unique, every song has it's own texture, it's own presence... Very similar in tempo to "Happiness In Magazines", this album is a very big deal indeed.
Off to listen to it again!!!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Graham Coxon is in a fairly unique position. He's the guitarist for one of the biggest bands of the last twenty years at the same time as being something of an indie-rock, cult hero. A situation not unlike one of Coxons heros, Syd Barrett. I'm a big fan of all of his solo albums and would reccommend any of them if you're new to his stuff (check out the 'Goldan D' for Coxon in full-on punk mode, 'Crow Sit on Blood Tree' for a mix of dark folk and the occational 100mph rock song and 'The Kiss of Morning' for some beautiful heartbreakers)....
His last album, 'The Spinning Top' saw Graham dive head-first into his love of all things Nick Drake and John Martyn; this time couldn't be more different. The acoustic shades of 'The Spinning Top' have been replaced with Grahams trademark electric-guitar wizardry; some tracks definately cover new ground though. 'City Hall' embraces a krautrock influence and feeds it through Grahams punk-pop know-how while 'Running for your Life' is Coxon at his off-the-wall best. The dance-inducing 'What'll it Take' uses repitition to its advatage as Graham repeatedly asks, "what'll it take to make you people dance!?" while 'Knife in the Cast' could be a beautifully strange and lethargic Blur b-side cira the self-titled album. Most of the album is incredibly energetic though; just listen to the aforementioned 'Running for your Life'.
Overall A+E is a noisy, exciting, ridiculous and throughly entertaining listen. His most popular album so far, 'Happiness in Magazines' while undeniably great at times sounded more like a Blur album than a Graham Coxon one but 'A + E' is pure Coxon; eccentric, awkward, kinda angry and kinda cheeky. And that's a very good thing indeed!... Read more ›
His last album, 'The Spinning Top' saw Graham dive head-first into his love of all things Nick Drake and John Martyn; this time couldn't be more different. The acoustic shades of 'The Spinning Top' have been replaced with Grahams trademark electric-guitar wizardry; some tracks definately cover new ground though. 'City Hall' embraces a krautrock influence and feeds it through Grahams punk-pop know-how while 'Running for your Life' is Coxon at his off-the-wall best. The dance-inducing 'What'll it Take' uses repitition to its advatage as Graham repeatedly asks, "what'll it take to make you people dance!?" while 'Knife in the Cast' could be a beautifully strange and lethargic Blur b-side cira the self-titled album. Most of the album is incredibly energetic though; just listen to the aforementioned 'Running for your Life'.
Overall A+E is a noisy, exciting, ridiculous and throughly entertaining listen. His most popular album so far, 'Happiness in Magazines' while undeniably great at times sounded more like a Blur album than a Graham Coxon one but 'A + E' is pure Coxon; eccentric, awkward, kinda angry and kinda cheeky. And that's a very good thing indeed!... Read more ›
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
By any standards known to man or beast Graham Coxon's new album 'A+E'
is a fine album. These ten songs have a snarling vitality which confirm
their author's position as one of the most inventive and distinctive
musicians to have emerged from English soil in the past two decades
(and this is quintessentially English stuff to the core!) Mr Coxton's
abrasive guitar style and deadpan voice demonstrate a lineage stretching
back to the likes of The Kinks and beyond. It is a joyously energetic affair.
The integration of electonic elements in the compositions occasionally gives
a nod and a wink to our Teutonic cousins and eighties Berlin-Bowie in their
dense, layered structures (Paul Weller's recent dabblings in not dissimilar
territory also comes to mind) but the influences are worn lightly and the album
has a marvelous sense of contemporary validity and coherence from top to tail.
There really isn't a bad egg in the box but if I were forced to choose then
tracks such as 'City Hall', with its infectious pounding backbeat; 'What'll
It Take', a song saturated with juicy bubbling synth lines and a dance-friendly
boots and braces chorus; the darker, grinding industrial beats of 'The Truth'
and the hilarious bluesy post-punk shenanigans of 'Running For Your Life' are
all worthy of special mentions. A mature project from a true master of his craft.
Highly Recommended.
is a fine album. These ten songs have a snarling vitality which confirm
their author's position as one of the most inventive and distinctive
musicians to have emerged from English soil in the past two decades
(and this is quintessentially English stuff to the core!) Mr Coxton's
abrasive guitar style and deadpan voice demonstrate a lineage stretching
back to the likes of The Kinks and beyond. It is a joyously energetic affair.
The integration of electonic elements in the compositions occasionally gives
a nod and a wink to our Teutonic cousins and eighties Berlin-Bowie in their
dense, layered structures (Paul Weller's recent dabblings in not dissimilar
territory also comes to mind) but the influences are worn lightly and the album
has a marvelous sense of contemporary validity and coherence from top to tail.
There really isn't a bad egg in the box but if I were forced to choose then
tracks such as 'City Hall', with its infectious pounding backbeat; 'What'll
It Take', a song saturated with juicy bubbling synth lines and a dance-friendly
boots and braces chorus; the darker, grinding industrial beats of 'The Truth'
and the hilarious bluesy post-punk shenanigans of 'Running For Your Life' are
all worthy of special mentions. A mature project from a true master of his craft.
Highly Recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A. J. Gilpin
Format:Audio CD
The first thing to say is that A&E is quite different to anything he's done before. The experimentalism Coxon shows here is something one would expect more from his former Blur band mate, Damon Albarn, and it is to Coxon's credit that he just about carries it off. You wouldn't know it from listening to the first track, though, that things were that different from the classic era Coxon of 2004-06. Indeed, the last track is also fairly conventional but these two tracks bookend 8 songs of experimental rock where, whilst his guitar is still prominent, the sounds Coxon produces led me to wondering whether Brian Eno was at the helm for this album (he wasn't). There is a lot synthesizer flourishes, electronic drum beats and on some tracks, Coxon's vocal is back in the mix as if to accentuate the experimentalism which drives the album. Coxon's trademark melodies and slower songs may be missing but that's not to say it's a bad thing as there is a musicality on nearly every track. It may turn some Coxon fans off but it may just attract some new ones, too.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Ø. Hjartnes
Format:Vinyl|Amazon Verified Purchase
A+E is very different from Coxon's previous albums and is way more rock and roll-oriented. The closest comparison I can think of in recent memory is Paul Weller, but without the softer sides of rock and with more noise and art-rock influences. The brilliant melodies and guitar work that Coxon has displayed on his previous albums is however still very much visible here.
I bought this album on vinyl and the mastering/sound is excellent, well worth the price.
I bought this album on vinyl and the mastering/sound is excellent, well worth the price.
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4.7 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A+E
A+E is fairly intense listening. At times lively and bonkers at times dark and intense. A great album from a great artist.
Published 3 months ago by Nadi
1.0 out of 5 stars
So bad...
If I create a work like this one not a single company will produce it and will probably sell some copies to my family. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ignacio
5.0 out of 5 stars
KNOCKED KNEES
I recently watched Blur Live in Hyde Park from 2009 on dvd.....what a gig,i wish i were there,frothing at the mouth pogoing like an imbecile to Girls And Boys. Read more
Published 5 months ago by mister joe
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice legs
Mr Coxon's moving on in his record collection. If earlier albums such as 'Happiness in Magazines' and 'Love Travels at Illegal Speeds' referenced punk and new wave guitar bands,... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. A. P. Jennings
4.0 out of 5 stars
Adventurous and inventive, lots to love, but maybe not all of it...
2012 was a very good year for Blur. Performing the headline concert of the Olympics, releasing a wonderful single, Under The Westway, re-releasing all of their albums in a... Read more
Published 5 months ago by A. Sweeney
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hard on the ears
Melodies and catchy riffs compete with dirge like and repetitive beats on the 47 minutes of music. I struggle to listen to the whole album in one sitting but there is enough in it... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Nick Toll
1.0 out of 5 stars
Heavy rubbish!
Sorry Graham loved all your other stuff, but this is just head banging material. Go back to your Blurish past for me. Read more
Published 13 months ago by thorpy305!
5.0 out of 5 stars
simply a great album
This is raw guitar music at its best ! not a bad track on the album i really cant praise it highly enough! Read more
Published 13 months ago by Steve P
4.0 out of 5 stars
Graham Coxon Review-Revised for Mr Gilpin
I first gave this Album a really negative review and in the process was deluged by loads of Graham Coxon and Blur Fans who felt it was a bit over the top. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Andrew Goodman
3.0 out of 5 stars
Graham's new album
Well, after waiting 2 1/2 years for this album to come out, I have to say that on my first few listens, I am quite disheartened by this, there are parts that are quite exquisite,... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Matthew
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