Sparks, Angst in My Pants (side A)

1982's Angst in My Pants falls chronologically between No. 1 in Heaven and In Outer Space, but it's more rock-oriented and bombastic than either.  Sparks remained modern after No. 1 in Heaven, with regimented rhythms (though it sounds like a drummer playing to a click and not a drum machine) and even dynamics with little range.  The renewed emphasis on guitars, when coupled with these tendencies, created a big-sounding album that's probably the duo's most emphatic.  While this approach de-emphasizes Russell Mael's amazing songwriting, Angst in My Pants still features some memorable classics.  Some songs, like "Sherlock Holmes",  retain the subtlety of Mael's early songwriting, while others, like "I Predict", entwine the compositional style closely with this new production approach.  Ron Mael's voice has been thinned and compressed to fit into this modern style, but his takes remain expressive and emotive.  The exaggerated cover image nicely ties Angst in My Pants to earlier Sparks albums, with the Mael brothers once again creating a narrative through one picture.

Colin Newman, A-Z (side A)

With 1980's A-Z, Colin Newman refined the more accessible elements of Wire's then-final studio album 154 to fit his coherent vision.  The songs, while still far from anything commercial, follow more consistent verse-chorus structures than was common for Wire.  Robert Gotobed's drumming remains recognizable here, though it's sonically more uniform and polished than on any Wire album, and the snappy snare is especially prominent.  Mike Thorne retained some familiar studio tricks, like the heavily-chorused bass guitar and the occasional use of looped backing vocals.  Newman's vocal moves a bit further to the foreground here, with a present sound that references commercial records of the time.  While the guitars often play simple, repeating patterns, their distorted timbres introduce A-Z's grittiest sonic element.  They also never provide the rhythmic drive that was common for guitar parts on Wire albums.  Desmond Simmons's involvement here is interesting, as his solo album Alone on Penguin Island featured the other half of Wire, Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis — apparently the members or Wire retained a close social circle even after their collaboration stopped.  The tiny, detailed images on the cover fit the album nicely — they're engaging but not overly friendly, with a pretty subdued palette.

Loudon Wainwright III, Album II (side A)

The first two Loudon Wainwright III albums are grouped together, perhaps because they predate his comedic hits like "Dead Skunk", or maybe even because they're on the same record label.  The first album, which is self-titled but often referred to as "Album I", is the one that I've grown particularly attached to, so I always think of 1971's Album II in comparison.  Sonically, Album II feels a bit brighter and more purposely modern, without the rich mid-range that makes the debut sound so timeless.  The songs here are also often structurally simplified past standard folk conventions, into a style that more resembles punk or indie bands for their sheer primitivism.  For example, the opener "Me and My Friend the Cat" rests on the same chord for the verses and a different single chord for the choruses.  While the sarcasm on the first album was complex and literate, the lyrics here just drip with tangible darkness.  Album II features "Motel Blues", which has come to be one on Wainwright's best-known and most-covered songs.  The portrait photo hints that this is a singer-songwriter album, while the quirkiness of the photo, coupled with the overtly '70s font at the top, indicate how arty and creative the contents are.

Jefferson Airplane, Bless its Pointed Little Head (side A)

Jefferson Airplane had several modes as a band that they navigate between and combine.  They're best remembered for their simple, radio-friendly hits, which are mostly missing from Bless its Pointed Little Head.  The version of "Somebody to Love" that's included here has Grace Slick drifting away from the signature vocal melody, and the instrumental interaction emphasized instead.  My favorite part of the band is their abstract and strangely-constructed psychedelic side, which often combined with pop songs on After Bathing at Baxter's, the album which directly preceded this one.  Here, the extended 11-minute exploration called "Bear Melt", with improvised vocals against a very loose structure, captures perhaps the most extreme example of the band's cerebral, open-ended explorations.  Most of Bless its Pointed Little Head emphasizes Airplane's blues-rock tendencies, which rarely turned up on their studio albums.  Kaukonen, Dryden, and Casady were all incredible players in the genre, who obviously had fun performing together live, and sharing a love of the style.  While this aspect of Airplane feels somewhat dated to me, the talent and enthusiasm always shine through.  The mix of Bless its Pointed Little Head is a bit bass-heavy — as great a player as Casady is, I'd like to hear a bit more of Spencer Dryden's drums.  The amazing textured paper cover changes subtly as ink is applied more in some parts than others, though the punch line of the image is unrelated to the excellent music here.