Friday, April 30, 2010
Butterglory - Crumble (1994)
Dün - Eros (1981)
A: Outside of Christian Vander and his band Magma, here's the best one I've ever heard, Dün's Eros.
A true hidden gem in the avant-prog school of Zeuhl; incorporating elements of jazz fusion, odd time signatures, a penchant for all things Zappa, this is a can't miss for progressive rock fans...
Donny Hathaway - Live (1972)
This record, however; is one of the best live albums of all-time, judging from the crowd's response. Donny Hathaway was like a man possessed these two nights back in '72 (side one is from The Troubador in Hollywood and side two is from The Bitter End in Greenwich Village). The cover versions of John Lennon's Jealous Guy and Carole King's You've Got A Friend are as good (if not better) than the originals, Hathaway's soulful voice gives them a warmth that they're missing.
I gotta give a shot-out to J.D. for introducing me to this album a long time ago; we used to listen to his parents' vinyl copy on the good stereo in his living room. Download it now, people...
121.7 mb, ripped at 320 kbps
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Silver Jews - American Water (1998)
I'd say that's David Berman's mission statement. I was trying to think of the most American music possible; (Will Oldham's various projects and monikers come to mind) but Berman is way smarter and what's more American than rampant intellectualism? I swear half of these songs could be little snippets of college thesis statements...
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Silver Jews - American Water (1998; Drag City Records)
45.2 mb, ripped at 128 kbps in lossless .m4a format
This Heat - Deceit (1981)
I listened to it again years later, totally stone sober; I finally understood what it was This Heat was trying to do- completely deconstruct the layers of what can be considered a "song" and break it down to its basest, most common denominator: noise. Pure, awesome unadulterated noise (and its relative constituent parts). It's probably the most avant-garde and experimental of the whole early-'80s "post-punk" scene; that's probably why I love it so.
I hope you give it a chance to terrify the shit out of you too...
Wanda Jackson - Rockin' With Wanda (1960)
I was hooked; got this album from Miss Jackson. The tunes range from straight rockabilly to honky tonk to country to rock & roll- if ever Elvis had a female counterpart, it'd be Wanda (she briefly dated Presley in 1955, so there you go).
Download this record if you wanna hear an early influence on rock music, from a woman's point of view (this is the 2002 re-mastered issue with bonus tracks)...
Kings Of Convenience - Riot On An Empty Street (2004)
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Kings Of Convenience - Riot On An Empty Street (2004; Astralwerks Records)
73.2 mb, VBR ~ avg 224 kbps
Gravediggaz - 6 Feet Deep (1994)
This album...
I'mma send a personal shout-out to Weady D for this one; I can remember driving around his old whip smoking blunts and noddin' our heads to this one, way back in the days of '95. I think Scotty Del and Haji Casale know what's up, too. This album is for all you cats (suicide, it's a suicide, widda bop-bop...)
107.1 mb, ripped @ 320 kbps
13th Floor Elevators - Easter Everywhere (1967)
Started by University of Texas student (and jug player) Tommy Hall and guitarist Stacy Sutherland, the Elevators' most recognizable figure would be singer/guitarist Roky Erickson; his well-documented struggles with severe mental illness over the years add to the band's mystique but eventually caused its downfall (Erickson spent 3 years in an institution and was never the same man after).
So sit back and enjoy a psych rock classic that's equal parts period piece and a study in unraveling madness...
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (1985)
76 mb, ripped @ 192 kbps
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Worn Copy (2003)
Give this one a try if you're the type that likes to make bedroom recordings on the ol' Tascam 4-track.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Can - The Classic Years
Probably for several reasons; one (the biggest) was that they weren't American (or even British), so they didn't have the luxury of over-exposure (they called Cologne, Germany their home-base). Had they been an American (or British) band, they'd have been as big as The Grateful Dead or Pink Floyd; as improvisers they were just as talented, and as far as locking into a groove; they were un-matched (stickman Jaki Leibezeit was like a human drum machine). They could be as funky as George Clinton's bands or as free as Sun Ra's Arkestra.
Before you shoot flames at me for not acknowledging original lead singer Malcolm Mooney's contributions (ironically he is from the United States), I'm choosing to focus on their three best albums, the ones with Japanese-born Damo Suzuki as their lead singer. He was a street poet that basically scat-sang, usually an unintelligible mix of English, Japanese and screaming.
Another reason they were so under-rated; they were so ahead of their time. Light years ahead. Just like their influences, The Velvet Underground, Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention, electronic music pioneer Karlheinz Stockhausen; they were more or less misunderstood, another fact that hinders their recognition because again (god-dammit!) even those bands aren't as appreciated as they should be.
In terms of who they influenced, let's start with the entire Krautrock scene; Brian Eno's forays into ambient dream-scapes; all those post-punk bands (especially Mark E. Smith, penning the homage I Am Damo Suzuki on The Fall's This Nation's Saving Grace), P.I.L. (who collaborated with bassist Jah Wobble in the '80s), even Joy Division and Siouxsie Sioux have named Can as a primary influence. Other groundbreaking artists that kneel at the altar: Radiohead, David Bowie and Talking Heads.
If any of the aforementioned artists are on your list of favorites, and you've still never listened to Can, skip the rest of the reading and start downloading these records!
Here's some neatly arranged bullet points to further assert my position in this essay:
- They were incorporating rock instrumentation into "World Music" before the term even existed, experimenting with tribal drum patterns, dub basslines and primal screaming.
- They spent hours in the studio recording then later going back and editing said sessions into "songs", the track Yoo Doo Right from the album Monster Movie was edited down from a 24-hour jam into a 20-minute song. This was all done by hand, called micro-editing; meticulously done with razor blades and splicing tape- I can only imagine the frustration (and the time involved) to cut down 24 hours of reel-to-reel to a twenty-minute edit.
- Bass player/engineer Holger Czukay studied under Stockhausen for three years, as well as keyboardist Irmin Schmidt- who was a well-established concert pianist/composer with the Vienna Symphony.
- Guitarist Michael Karoli was a classically trained cellist and violinist before picking up the six-string, even playing violin on a few albums (although uncredited).
- They more or less anticipated and influenced entire movements of music (see above).
96.8 MB, VBR ~ avg 174 kbps
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Ege Bamyasi (1972; United Artists)
65.4 MB, ripped @ 224 kbps
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Future Days (1973; United Artists)
62.4 MB, VBR ~ avg 205 kbps
The Legendary Pink Dots - The Maria Dimension (1991)
These guys moved from London to Amsterdam in the mid-'80s, way before it was the cool thing to do. I'm just saying...
Wanna Buy A Bridge? - a Rough Trade Records compilation (1980)
Never made available on CD, this is one of those "vinyl-only releases"; so the rip is from the actual record. There's some copies of the LP floating around on eBay and Discogs.com, so it's a pretty rare find.
Tracklist:
2. Mind Your Own Business Delta 5
3. Man Next Door The Slits
4. Aerosol Burns Essential Logic
5. Part Time Punks Television Personalities
6. Read About Seymour Swell Maps
7. We Are All Prostitutes The Pop Group
8. Soldier Soldier Spizz Energi
9. Ain't You Kleenex
10. Nag Nag Nag Cabaret Voltaire
11. In Love The Raincoats
12. Final Day Young Marble Giants
13. Skank Bloc Bologna Scritti Politti
14. At Last I Am Free Robert Wyatt
Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity (1964)
The tone of Albert Ayler's saxophone has that Gumby-esque texture, it squeaks and squonks and blurts its way into your brain. If you dig free jazz, then this may be one of the crowning achievements of the genre.
...and to answer your question; yes- I used to do a lot of LSD.
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Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity (1964; ESP-Disk)
67.5 mb, VBR (~average 318 kbps)
Death Cab For Cutie - We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes (2000)
But hey, maybe you like the radio-friendly hits they're churning out, maybe you've put them on a mixtape for some chick your were trying to get with, I don't know...
I'll take their first five records (everything up to and including 2003's Transatlanticism) and make pretend they all died in a plane crash before they had a chance to make Plans and Narrow Stairs. Sorry.
Bert Jansch - L.A. Turnaround (1974)
I can understand why, here on L.A. Turnaround he abandoned his traditional British folk leanings and went to Los Angeles to record an album steeped in California-esque country folk-rock, not to mention ex-Monkee Mike Nesmith played on and produced this album.
If you dig the singer/songwriter country/folk thing, then this one's for you...
Bud Powell - The Amazing Bud Powell (1951)
This record was the result of two separate sessions; the first is notable because it featured a young Sonny Rollins on tenor sax and Fats Navarro on trumpet (also included were Tommy Potter on bass and Roy Haynes on the drum kit; he also recorded tunes with these two gentleman as a trio here; dated August 9th, 1949) and another trio session; May 1st, 1951 with bassist Curley Russell and the one and only Max Roach manning the skins.
This album has some historical significance in that it was one of the first records to fully synthesize African and Cuban rhythms successfully; before this the two genres were sort of dabbled in and poked around by Dizzy Gillespie, but Powell's interest in these funkier art forms are explored more deeply here.
This is the Rudy Van Gelder 2001 re-master (with bonus tracks and alternate takes- there are re-issued versions of this from 1955 titled The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 1); a must-have for any fans of jazz piano...
Smog - Red Apple Falls (1997)
Wilco wrote a song years ago called I Am Trying To Break Your Heart. Bill never had to try to break your heart, he crushes it with this record...
Greyboy - Mastered The Art (2001)
Andreas Stevens (aka Greyboy) first emerged as a DJ at the end of the 1980s. After christening Michael McFadin's Ubiquity imprint with his Greyboy 12 #1, he provided the label with one of its first full-lengths, 1994's Freestylin'. On his third outing, Mastered the Art, the DJ's dusty, hip-hop beats are found mingling with the retro sounds of his extensive 8-track tape collection. Late '90s rare-groove may still be the best description but Mastered the Art's flavors include the sounds of Italian cinema, 70s easy listening and tropicalia as well. Supplying the exotica, are Greyboy All-Star multi-instrumentalist Elgin Park (guitar, piano, omnichord, sitar), and veteran jazz vibe player Dave Pike. It's plainly obvious that Stevens' genre-warping concept couldn't have worked without them.-from Allmusic.com
Saturday, April 24, 2010
David Bowie - Low (1977)
This album is the start of the Berlin trilogy (Low, "Heroes" and Lodger) when David up and shipped himself off to Germany to rent a flat with Iggy Pop and get straight from the piles of coke he'd been snorting for most of the 1970s. It was a great idea, Bowie would not only put out two of his best records, he worked with Iggy on The Idiot and Lust For Life.
Enter Brian Eno as well, he worked alongside Bowie with the second half of the record on the more ambient-based tracks (here as a musician and consultant to his friend, the actual producer role fell to Tony Visconti); this album is the synthesis of the whole Krautrock movement, listen to Tangerine Dream's Phaedra or Klaus Schulze's Timewind to get Bowie's inspiration.
So here's David Bowie's Low from 1977, an album totally ahead of its time...
Pink Floyd - Ummagumma (1969)
This is as concept-driven as the idea of a "concept album" would allow; the first disc is four tracks from two live performances in late April and early May of '69, and the second disc has four "solo" albums that were recorded the following week. These solo records are interesting in that each member of the Floyd took on the role of band-leader (after Syd's departure, there was no clear "leader" of the Floyd camp, hence the following decade would be a bit of a creative push-and-shove between band members, tensions were instigated by Roger Waters and David Gilmour's insistence on being their leader) so it's interesting to see exactly where Pink Floyd was as a band here, and where they'd be going. Experimentally-inclined as always, it's a nice primer to the casual fan to see and hear what they were doing in the years leading up to Dark Side of the Moon.
This album was requested by my friend Martin, so here's Ummagumma in all of its glory, folks...
Friday, April 23, 2010
Sarah Vaughan - Sarah Vaughan (1955)
This is one of those rare albums that I can click play on (that sounds antithetical to the listening process, it should read, "drop the needle on...") anytime of day or any mood, because of the timelessness of not only Vaughan's voice but Clifford Brown's trumpeting, (this album is also known as Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown) it somehow manages to soothe my mind.
I read somewhere that Vaughan said this was her favorite album of hers, and it's my favorite of hers, too.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Dungen - Ta Det Lugnt (2004)
Well, I was wrong; Ta Det Lugnt ("take it easy") was recorded in 2003 on vintage instruments; almost entirely by Ejstes himself, (ironically using computer software like Cubase for the recording and mastering).
It's a psych-pop-rock masterpiece of the early millennium.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Andrew Hill - Point Of Departure (1965)
But I don't need to rattle off a bunch of names here; just one: Eric Dolphy.
He totally steals the show. Yes, it's an Andrew Hill record, but it could be under Dolphy's name just the same because the brother shines. Completely awesome. After Out To Lunch and the stuff he did with Mingus, this is one of Dolphy's finest moments. Apologies to Hill, he's a pretty awesome pianist, too- his compositions are wonderful; but they exist so Dolphy can stretch out his unique voice and imaginative soloing. Listen closely during the track Spectrum, when the bass solo ends and Dolphy takes over- that's as sublime a moment on record you'll ever find. I'd be remiss to not mention Tony Williams' amazing drumming, but you'll just have to listen to understand this...
This is the 1999 Rudy Van Gelder re-issue with alternate takes of three tracks. Download this now!
Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream Of Trains (1984)
Maybe that's what Hitchcock imagined this record was; an homage of sorts to the crazy diamond himself.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Univers Zéro - Heresie (1979)
Univers Zéro are an instrumental Belgian band known for playing dark music heavily influenced by 20th century chamber music. The band was formed in 1974 by drummer Daniel Denis. For a time they were part of a musical movement called Rock in Opposition (RIO) which strove to create dense challenging music, a direct contrast to the disco and punk rock being produced in the late 1970s. Obvious early influences were Bartók and Stravinsky however the band also cited less well known composers such as Albert Huybrechts, who was also Belgian.
Their early albums were almost entirely acoustic but with later releases their sound became more electric. In 1977 they released their first album 1313 on which the members played with a heavy rock and roll approach despite the fact that the instrumentation was largely acoustic. This is mostly due to the use of drums. Two years later the album Heresie proved to be even darker. Several reviews have cited it as the darkest album ever recorded.
- from Wikipedia
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Slowdive - Souvlaki (1993)
This is what I think of when someone mentions the word "album", as in; the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. This isn't a record with a single on it, it has to be played end-to-end. That being said, this is a re-issue with three bonus tracks at the end of the record.
So, in short: dreamy downtempo rock music that plays best during a snowstorm.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Terry Riley - A Rainbow In Curved Air (1969)
Fucking sign me up.
And while you're at it, sign up The Who (for the inspiration Pete Townsend got to do the intro to Baba O'Riley), better sign up Rick Wakeman too.
Keith Emerson, you hear this shit? I know you did, stop hiding behind that monstrosity of an organ.
Tangerine Dream, you're on this list. Ja, ja sind sie hier eingeschaltet.
Steve Reich, where'd you get the idea for your "pulses" and all that stuff on Music For 18 Musicians?
Philip Glass- you're so on the list (you're probably the only one to admit it...)
These are all the people that directly benefited from Terry Riley's work. Now you can benefit from it, too. Click the link below the album cover...
Brian Eno & David Byrne - My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts (1981)
"No, there was already a history of it. People such as (Can's) Holger Czukay had made experiments using IBM Dictaphones and short-wave radios and so on. The difference was, I suppose, that I decided to make it the lead vocal on the album My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts..." (Q Magazine, July 2001)So there you go, an album that's both funky and ground-breaking. This is the 1990 re-issue, and missing from it is the track "Qu'ran" which was considered offensive to Muslims because it used real samples of recitations of the Islamic holy book, recorded in an Algerian mosque. In its place is the B-side to single The Jezebel Spirit, titled Very, Very Hungry.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Destroyer - Thief (2000)
Destroyer (Dan Bejar) is the most talented of all his New Pornographer band-mates; that's right (I'm looking at you both, Neko and A.C.), and if you doubt this assertion, why are they covering a bunch of his older solo songs and playing them now? Because Bejar's tunes from 10 years ago are better then theirs now. Fact.
Anyway, Destroyer has three records from the last ten years that I consider my favorite of the decade, and I'll post them in the coming weeks. Just to let you know, they just re-issued this record as a 2xLP with 1998's City Of Daughters; buy it!
Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel (1974)
This is my favorite of his two solo albums, it really should be labeled "Gram Parson featuring Emmylou Harris" because she absolutely shines on every song; between Gram's heartbreaking pitch and shaky phrasing, Harris' steady and confident vocals sit high up in the mix on top of everything- it's really a beautiful record.
Surrender To The Air - Surrender To The Air (1996)
Though never explicitly stated on the record or its notes, the album was a sort of tribute to jazz composer and bandleader Sun Ra, an Anastasio favorite (several of the performers on Surrender to the Air - Allen, Choice and Ray - had performed with Sun Ra).
The album has been out of print since 2000. (from Wikipedia)
The Players:
Marshall Allen, sax
Trey Anastasio, guitar
Kofi Burbridge, flute
Oteil Burbridge, bass
Damon R. Choice, vibes
John Fishman, drums
Bob Gullotti, drums
James Harvey, trombone
John Medeski, organ
Michael Ray, trumpet
Marc Ribot, guitar
The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? (2003)
This record is what the Flaming Lips would sound like if they had no money (or ProTools. Or massive egos. Or that stupid fucking bubble Wayne Coyne lives inside of.) This record sounds as if it’s about to become a humongous fucking mess every song but manages to not only completely keep it together, it’s as coherent a mesh of 13 songs anywhere on this best-of list.
It’s fun, it’s pop, it’s accessible and inclusive- it takes absolutely all the seriousness and pomp out of “indie elitism”.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Perrey-Kingsley - The In Sound From Way Out! (1966)
While working for folk company Vanguard Records, Perrey had accumulated hundreds of hours of animal noises and began experimenting with tape loops (before multi-tracking technology you had to do everything by hand, so literally it took days to compose short musical passages with this anti-technology; just scissors and scotch tape!). He was masterful at splicing the magnetic tape to create the desired loop effect; and by speeding up or slowing down the playback he created a synthesized feel to the music. Enter Kingsley; with his composer background and his knowledge of Moog synthesizers (he was the first to play one in a live setting) they created the earliest form of listenable, electronic "pop" music.
So I'm happy to bring to you the very first electro-pop record...
The Dickies - Great Dictations: The Definitive Dickies Collection (1989)
Anyway, props to Willis. Here's his request, The Dickies and their singles collection from 1989.
The Dickies were one of the earliest punk bands from L.A., forming in 1977. Sprinkled among their own songs were an array of cover songs, some of which are hilariously irreverent and totally WTF-inducing; Barry McGuire's Eve Of Destruction, Simon & Garfunkel's Sounds Of Silence, Black Sabbath's Paranoid, Moody Blues' Nights In White Satin and their best, The Banana Splits' TV-show theme song.
Stay tuned for another trivia contest, winner gets to choose an album they would like to see uploaded. For now, download The Dickies!
Lord Finesse & DJ Mike Smooth - Funky Technician (1990)
Lord Finesse was the leader of the Diggin' In The Crates crew, these guys had records upon records in their repertoire- the samples on which they built their tracks are from thousands of old soul, funk, R&B and jazz records from the '60s and '70s. Back in the day before ProTools, they used to use those Akai MPC samplers. This is a classic from that era, and also one of my faves. Also heralded for its beats, samples and production, this album features Showbiz, Diamond D and DJ Premier. A lot of James Brown is sampled on here, so you know it's got to be funky.
Grab this shit...
Bobby Hutcherson - Dialogue (1965)
You might find a Bobby Hutcherson record, or a record he played on every now and again. Buy it. Even this record, his under-rated debut solo outing. It features no numbers written by Hutch, but just take a look at that line-up! Andrew Hill (composed four of these pieces) on piano, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Sam Rivers on sax, Joe Chambers on drums and Richard Davis on bass.
I wish more people listened to jazz...
Songs: Ohia - Magnolia Electric Co (2003)
Either way, Molina is channeling the kindred spirits of Springsteen, Neil Young and John Cougar- blue collar country rock with an attitude; a shot and a beer with Jason and his road crew while Hank Williams plays on the jukebox at some hole in the wall in Skokie or Wabash. Guest vocalists Lawrence Peters (doing his best Merle Haggard impression) and Scout Niblett appear on two tracks right in the middle of the record; meshing with the material perfectly.
Oh, and it’s produced by Steve Albini himself, so…
João Gilberto - João Gilberto (1973)
The album has only two originals (Undiú and Valsa) and features tracks from his friends, fellow Brazilians Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Antonio Carlos Jobim. If the only thing you've ever associated with this man is his album with Stan Getz (Getz/Gilberto; 1964) then get this; missing is Getz's saxophone and string arrangements- all that's left behind is the bones.
And it's entirely in Portuguese!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
The Cure - Seventeen Seconds (1980)
At times this record can be both dark and sinister in its downtempo grooves, other times it's propulsive and aggressive. One thing that can be said about this record above all other Cure records is its cohesiveness; all these songs fit with one another like lock and key.
Be careful, this record might just make you miserable- it definitely scared the shit out of me when I was a kid...
King Crimson - Larks' Tongues In Aspic (1973)
This is exactly what I think of when I think of '70s prog rock; the over-the-top production, the start-stop drumming, the strange and hard to name instruments (gamelan and mbira, courtesy of percussionist Jamie Muir), the odd time signatures (drummer Bill Bruford quit Yes to join Fripp and his jazzier explorations), the classical flourishes (this album has a lot of viola, violin and flute on it from David Cross) and deep, satisfying bass work from John Wetton.
The main focal point of this record is the title track(s), split into two parts that bookend the album. There are some parts to this record that are insanely heavy and there are others that are ridiculously light and airy. Running throughout the whole thing is a jazz-fusion feel, creating a cohesive quality to the entire work.
John Scofield - A Go Go (1998)
A must-have for any fans of fusion and/or funk...
Friday, April 9, 2010
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock (1991)
I still haven't figured out what post-rock means, but I think this is it. It's actually closer to jazz than anything else. Laughing Stock, if anything- was one of the albums that metaphorically killed the '80s by smashing all barriers associated with what can be considered pop by deconstructing it by its constituent parts and re-assembling it into this sprawling and massive masterpiece.