Originally posted by musicfanatic: God, I love the Microphones.
I've heard almost all of Phil Elvrum's stuff now. I haven't stopped listening to them since I bought The Glow. They are in my top 3 bands of all time now. I love them a lot.
Did you like Mt. Eerie, Joji? I didn't get into it nearly as much as IWHWSITW and The Glow Pt 2.
I didn't like it quite as much either. It's interesting, and I still think it's really good, but I have a problem with sitting through a 17 minute song. I think I'd listen to it more if it was put together differently. I'm liking Don't Wake Me Up and Song Islands a lot now, too.
Posts: 1115 | Location: new york | Registered: 10 October 2005
'I See A Darkness' by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy is great. I got it a few weeks ago and I am listening to it constantly. It seems like the type of album that would get mentioned a lot here, but I've never seen ayone talk about it. Any opinions from people who've heard it?
Posts: 1115 | Location: new york | Registered: 10 October 2005
Originally posted by joji: 'I See A Darkness' by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy is great. I got it a few weeks ago and I am listening to it constantly. It seems like the type of album that would get mentioned a lot here, but I've never seen ayone talk about it. Any opinions from people who've heard it?
It might be because it came out in 1999 I believe. It's a classic. It's Will Oldham's best. Pitchforkmedia gave it a 10.0 and so it should it be. It's Oldham's Exile On Main Street or Revolver or Tonights The Night. It's gotta be in the Top 100 albums of all time. Hell, even Johnny Cash covered 'I See A Darkness' on one of his American recordings.
Sort of a reach to call it 'new to me,' but I'm so happy that I finally own the Billie Holiday box set Lady Day: complete columbia recordings, that I have to talk about it here. Definately the best thing I've purchased in 2006, and I highly doubt that will change. 10 discs of amazing stuff, and really great packaging, make this one of the best box sets I've ever owned.
One question, since there are at least 3 different versions of Billie's Columbia recordings that I know of. How does this set compare in quality to the other collections of these recordings?
It's not completely "new to me," but I've just rediscovered Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly" soundtrack, and I'm enjoying it tremendously. The lyrics stay away from preachy moralizing, but songs like "Pusherman" and "Freedie's Dead" bring the struggles of inner-city life chillingly alive.(n.1) And the deep grooves, the wah-wah guitars, and the touches of strings and brass instruments that dot the songs make "Superfly" the most compelling funk album I've heard from the 70s (and there were a lot of great funk albums in the 70s, especially if you count things like Herbie Hancock’s jazz-fusion albums, e.g., Head Hunters and Thrust).
Anyone else here like “Superfly”?
______________________________ (n.1) Indeed, you can hear echoes of "Pusherman" and "Freddie's Dead" in the (admittedly, even more stark and frightening) lyrics of "Ghostface Killah's "Shakey Dog."
Since there's been something of a lull for quality new releases lately -- a dry period we're now coming out of, I think -- I've been discovering some old albums that I've always meant to listen to. They include:
Fela Kuti -- Confession/Gentlemen: Kuti is, apparently, the father of Afro Beat music. It sounds more to me like a combination of free jazz and really tight funk. He has a great band, let by the fantastic drummer, Tony Allen. And the albums are really a bargain. I bought these two albums -- combined into a single disc -- on iTunes for $3.94. It's well worth it, since Kuti is amazing.
Jimmy Cliff -- Struggling Man: I think this record has been unfairly criticized for years as subpart, especially compared to the soundtrack for "The Harder They Come." But there's something so powerful about the album, so . . . sad, somehow. Like Cliff is trying to put on a brave face, but a gripping sadness seeps out of every song. I like it a lot.
The Smiths -- Strangeways, Here We Come: Another unfairly criticized album. I guess it's one of the weakest records in The Smiths discography, but that's only because they never released a bad album. It's a little overproduced, I guess, with synthesized sax and string arrangements and drum machines, and Side One is much better than Side Two, and "Death At One's Elbow" is a bad song. But "Girlfriend in a Coma," "A Rush and A Push . . .," "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before," "Death Of A Disco Dancer" (which apparently influenced Radiohead), "Unhappy Birthday," "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me," "Paint A Vulgar Picture," "I Won't Share You" (which is Morrissey's farewell to Johnny Marr) are monster songs.
Linda Ronstadt -- Mad Love: Okay, it's not a very good album. But three songs on it -- "How Do I Make You," "I Can't Let Go," and "Hurts So Bad" -- are outstanding.
Syreeta -- Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta: A great album. I read a customer review on iTunes that said the record reflects the hopes and fears of the urban black community of the mid 1970s (after the assassination of several critical civil rights leaders, after widespread disillusionment set in, and amid growing confusion over the proper role of women in the community). I don't know if any of that is true, but I can certainly understand where someone listening to the record could hear all that in it. The songs are perfect pop/soul gems written by Stevie Wonder, and on a par with his best albums. It was apparently out of print for many, many years, but it was recently re-released. It's worth seeking out.
Alejandra and Aeron -- Bousha Blue Blazes: This is a delicate, intimate electronic record. You hear soft glitches, the sound of people walking around on streets in Spain, the sound of a family eating dinner, all stitched together by electronic patterns. It is pleasantly nostalgic, but somehow sounds like life passing someone by. And, in that regard, the key to the album is Bousha, the grandmother of one of the artists, who was a singer when she was younger. On the one straightforward song on the album, "I Don't Know," her experience, age, loneliness, fears and joy all come rushing out: "People ask me how/How I've lived 'till now/I tell them/I don't know/I guess they understand/How lonely life has been/But life began again/The day you took my hand/And yes, I know/How lonely life can be/The shadows follow me/And the night won't set me free/But I don't let the evening get me down/Now that you're around . . . me." Her delivery of the song never fails to move me. It's also well worth seeking out.
Although I feel a little embarrassed to admit it, I'd never listened to anything by Television until this year. Finally listened to Marquee Moon back in February or March. Like I was hoping, it's pretty great record. Glad I finally got around to checking the band out.
Posts: 1376 | Location: Valparaiso, IN | Registered: 01 July 2006
Fela Kuti -- Confession/Gentlemen: Kuti is, apparently, the father of Afro Beat music.
Fela Kuti is awesome. You also might want to check out: expensive shit, zombie, monkey banana, the list goes on and on...
Captain Beefheart: I didn't really listen to trout mask replica all the way through until a month or so ago. YEAH.
Polvo: I'm amazed at how few people have heard of these guys. They remind me of the best parts of modest mouse spliced with sonic youth only if sonic youth would ever start messing with their phrases instead of going for the straight 4 bar kind all the time. On the whole, polvo is related to unwound. Exploded Drawing is one of the greatest rock albums of all time. And Today's Active Lifestyles kicks a lot of ass as well.
Silver Apples - prehistoric synths and drums. Minimal yet moving.
Holy Modal Rounders - acid hillbilly country. Caution: May induce excessive amounts of whooping and hollering.
Jacques Brel - Penned many songs that Scott Walker would do english versions of on his earlier albums. Scott Walker even compiled all of the covers on an album "Scott Walker Sings Jacques Brel and Others." So what does he sound like? Well, he was a French speaking Belgian for starters. And he sings a variety of orchestral pop songs replete with huge arrangements. Hard to beat.
Originally posted by vitunkrapula: Fela Kuti is awesome. You also might want to check out: expensive shit, zombie, monkey banana, the list goes on and on....
I just bought Expensive S--t, which is packaged as a double-disc with "He Miss Road." It's remarkably strong all the way through the album.
Originally posted by RavingLunatic: I've never listened to anything by Television before. I'm not embarassed.
Marquee Moon is good. A very angular guitar sound slithers through -- and occassionally stabs out of -- the songs. I don't think it's as good as some people make it out to be, but it's good.
Originally posted by Everyoneanindividual: I love Marquee Moon that has to be one of my favorite albums of all time!
Yeah, please don't misunderstand. I like the album, too. But when I see, say, Pitchfork, list it as the No. 3 album of the 1970s -- ahead of Bitches Brew, Loaded, Who's Next, Unknown Pleasures, Blood On The Tracks, Led Zepplin IV, There's A Riot Goin' On, Fear of Music, Third/Sister Lovers, Superfly, and so forth -- I am puzzled. But maybe it's better than all those albums. I'm no expert, music taste is subjective, and I do like Marquee Moon.
Originally posted by vitunkrapula: Fela Kuti is awesome. You also might want to check out: expensive shit, zombie, monkey banana, the list goes on and on....
I just bought Expensive S--t, which is packaged as a double-disc with "He Miss Road." It's remarkably strong all the way through the album.
I love Fela Kuti. Check out Antibalas Afrobeat if you like him. "Who is this America" is one of my favorite afrobeat albums.
Posts: 294 | Location: AVA | Registered: 24 June 2006
