Altitude - ALT (1995)

 

ALT was a shortlived group of three singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalits: Kiwi Tim Finn (from Split Enz: vocals, drums, acoustic guitar, piano, percussion) Irishman Liam Ó Máonlai (from Hothouse Flowers) (vocals: keyboards, guitar, percussion) and Northern Irish singer/songwriter Andy White (vocals: bass guitar, lead guitar, acoustic guitar, percussion.) Andy, Liam and Tim: thus ALT. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to pronounce this as "alt" or as "Ayeltee". 

The trio first  recorded in the early 90s in Dublin when Tim Finn was recording some songs for his fourth solo album Before And After with Hothouse Flowers, and they contributed one stellar song to the album, the pleasant folk song "Many's The Time." . The trio hit it off and in 1994, the Irishmen flew to Melbourne to record this quirky alternative folk pop album at Tim's  home studio, Periscope, which was a full-fledged top-notch studio that doubled as Tim's home. 

Altitude was engineered by a couple of Australian hot shots (who did, not however, get production credit) and just sounds great. In fact, it's the last great-sounding album any Finn was ever involved with.

These thirteen songs are tuneful, deliberately unpolished and seemingly even unfinished (don't believe it though)  and reflect the loose, fun atmosphere the trio found with each other. Not everysong is a winner -- Altitude could stand a couple of songs cut, to be sure and in my opinion it's oddly sequenced: the first third of it  kind of sags. But it's a happy, pleasant album that I recommend to fans of any of these singers. 

3.7/5

It's hard for me to choose a song to showcase from this because there are several that I love, but this is my favorite from the album so I'll showcase this one: "Mandala"



I have bought this album four times! The first was the North American CD released on the indie label Cooking Vinyl back in America circa 2000,; and later I bought the original UK Parlophone CD and the 1998 Japanese reissue, which has three bonus tracks. 

The album was again reissued in 2022 (on CD and, for the first time ever, vinyl), again with three bonus tracks, although one of them is different. All versions of the CD sound good. I tend to listen to the original Parlophone the most, and both the Japanese and the 2022 versions for their bonus tracks.

Note: I'll be skipping American Idiot by Green Day because I've only recently acquired it: it will be some months before it's fully digested.

Coming Up:

A.M. Wilco

A.T.O.M. - Carbon Silicon

ABBA - ABBA 

ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits

Abbey Road - The Beatles

Achtung, Baby! U2

Actually - Pet Shop Boys

Adult/Child- The Beach Boys

Aerosmith's Greatest Hits

After The Gold Rush - Neil Young

Afterglow - Crowded House

Aftermath (UK Version) - The Rolling Stones

Against The Odds: 1974-1982 Blondie (three disc version)

Aimee Mann Live at St. Ann's Warehouse

Aiming For Your Head - Betchadupa

The Album -- ABBA

The Album That Never Was - The Kinks

All Four One - The Motels

All Over the Place - The Bangles

All Summer Long -- The Beach Boys

All the Great Hits -- Diana Ross

All Things Must Pass -- George Harrison

All This Useless Beauty -- Elvis Costello & the Attractions

All-Time Greatest Hits - Neil Diamond

Alluvium -- Eddie Rayner

Almost Blue -- Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Almost Summer - Celebration

Alpha Mike Foxtrot -- Wilco*

The Alphabetchadupa - Betchadupa

Altitude - ALT

American Idiot Green Day*

American Prayer -- The Doors

Amnesiac Radiohead*

And I Feel Fine...The Best of the IRS years (1982-1987) - R.E.M.

Animals - Pink Floyd

Anodyne - Uncle Tupelo

Another Life - Another Life

Another Music in Another Kitchen: The Buzzcocks

Another Side of Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan

Anthology: Diana Ross & The Supremes

Anthology: Smokey Robinson & The Beatles

Anthology 1: The Beatles

Anthology 2: The Beatles

Anthology 3 The Beatles

Anthology: North South, East West - Tim Finn

Apple Venus: Volume One -- XTC

Apollo 18 - They Might Be Giants

The ArchAndroid: Janelle Monae

Are the Village Green Preservation Society -- The Kinks

Are Well-Respected Men - The Kinks

Armed Forces -Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Around the World in a Day - Prince

Arthur (or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) - The Kinks

At My Piano - Brian Wilson

Autoamerican - Blondie

Automatic for the People - R.E.M.

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