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07-27-2008, 10:30 PM | #23 (permalink) |
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72. The KLF - Chill Out (1990) I am not a very big ambient music listener. Strike that... I don't listen to much electronic music at all. This makes it all the more odd that The KLF could slip this little bastard into my life. The first listen, I was intrigued... I didn't know what to make of the album, of course I'd heard electronica/ambient music before but it was always so rushed, so isolated... never really listened to a whole album. Chill Out is beautiful. Listen to it from start to finish and you get to experience the fully fleshed out environments - and some great concept songs. "Rock Radio into the Nineties and Beyond" seems to be an auditory collage of the guitars that made up rock music through the decades... you hear a little bit of everything - from the twangy sputterings of early 50's rockers, to the Hendrix psychedelic wailings - Heavy metal of the 70s to New Wave rockers in the 80s and finally the grunge/shoegaze of the 90s. This is music made from random keyboards, goat sounds, airplane engines and Elvis Presley. Put this on before you go to sleep. Check out: Rock Radio into the Nineties and Beyond, Elvis on the Radio Steel Guitar in my Soul, Wichita Lineman Was a Song I Once Heard 71. Suicidal Tendencies - S/T (1983) Really one of the only hardcore bands I could ever listen to for more than 20 minutes, Suicidal Tendencies was more or less lost to me after my teen angst/rebellion phase... until Guitar Hero II came out. When I came to the level of GH2 where you had to play this song, I chuckled... oh Suicidal Tendencies, what a nostalgic song... and I listened to it and realized that, "holy cow there was a reason I loved this band as a 14 year old..." I quickly dug through my burned CDs and found Lights, Camera, Action and their S/T. I went and downloaded the entire discography -- and found that their debut album held sway over my ears. What can you say about the music? I mean you have Mike Muir straight up shouting his lungs out backed up by guitars which you COULD hear better but your ears are bleeding. But more importantly, in my mind, is the lyrical content of this album. Luckily for listeners, Muir can be understood when he "sings" - unlike a lot of Thrash/hxc bands. If you really wanna piss off Mom, play I Saw Your Mother(and your mother's dead). While I don't listen to this album anymore - it most certainly was one of my milestone albums when it comes to life changes. Check out: Institutionalized, I Saw Your Mother (And Your Mother's Dead), Human Guinea Pig 70. Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope (2006) While this album contains none of my top 10 favorite songs from her, as an album it is my favorite. I'd be lying if I didn't say that the connection I make with it emotionally doesn't have an effect on my choice, but that's the point of this "Introspective 100" isn't it? I'd heard of Regina through my uber-trendy arts college roommates and it took me about a year to give her a listen. This was only after I saw the music video for "Fidelity". I saw this cute little lady playing with colored sand. Not to mention the song is beautiful pop. I quickly snagged the album - then discography - and found that I was absolutely in love with this anti-folk, Russian girl playing piano. Her use of diaphragmatic-centric vocal stylings with her lyrics that are cute as well as really clever. This album was the soundtrack to my winter of 2007 when I was standing on the L in the -15 degree weather... dying. I encourage you to listen to all of her albums though. Check out: Samson, Apres Moi, That Time 69. Fats Domino - Rock and Rollin' With Fats Domino (1956) Fats Domino. Really enough said. Elvis mentioned Fats in particular when he disagreed with the claim that he invented Rock and Roll. "You know I could never sing like Fats Domino, come on." The King said. Aint It A Shame is one of my favorite songs of all time. If I ever make a top 100 songs list... expect to see that in the top 10. Fats was my gateway artist when I decided to go back and visit the roots of this thing called Rock and Roll. Give it up for his second (of MANY) albums. Try and NOT dance, I dare you. Check out: The Fat Man, Aint It a Shame, My Girl Josephine Last edited by Crowe; 07-27-2008 at 11:58 PM. |
07-28-2008, 12:14 AM | #24 (permalink) |
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Fats Domino is outstanding, it's too bad most folks never even get to hear it.
Because there was no emphasis on it at the time he never released a real "great" album but any collection of his hits is very much recommended, even his best albums have filler because he was release so many so fast due to demand of the record company.
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07-28-2008, 09:32 PM | #25 (permalink) | |
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07-28-2008, 11:06 PM | #26 (permalink) |
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Nice picks. Never heard of the KLF, will have to check them out. I forgot about Suicidal Tendencies. Didn't they practically invent the hardcore genre? Great list so far.
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08-16-2008, 11:07 AM | #28 (permalink) |
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68. Carissa's Wierd - Songs About Leaving (2002) This is another band I got from Crowquill that I fell in love with, naturally, the first album he suggested to me was Songs About Leaving - and of course it is my favorite. If you're looking for mopey indie-rock, this is your band. If gorgeous, warbling female vocalists, whispering male vocals and sad, introspective lyrics are your thing... this is your band. Another wonderful thing about this album is the actual music (of course) - CW's instrumental work is haunting and stunning... a nightmare made out of pictures of children smiling. Unfortunately, Songs About Leaving is a pretty apt phrase to describe their career after this album which is a travesty - because their growth from You Should Be Home Here to this album is exponential. They did release one more album after SAL, called "I before E" (a comment on the misspelling of Wierd) which some fans say is better than SAL, but... I am a bit biased since this was my introduction. Check out: So You Wanna Be a Superhero, Sofisticated **** Princess Leave me Alone, The Piano Song 67. Talk Talk - Laughing Stock (1991) Boring. Boring. Boring. Oh my lucky stars this is gorgeous. That is how my reaction went over a period of about 5 years. Some cat who worked at a little record shop in Memphis sold this album to me and raved about how it was so important to post-rock, he called it the first post-rock album. I immediately regretted buying this album. I kept it around for awhile, because I had read online about its importance from various fans... could never get into it... that is until about 2 years ago. Another blustery Chicago winter day and I put this on as I was trudging through the snow and suddenly it made sense. It clicked. This album would be a lot higher if it applied to more situations in my life. So what is it? Laughing Stock is post-rock made before people really knew what post-rock was. Its lush sounds and jazz influenced ambiance is accentuated by lead singer, Mark Hollis' voice - he sings barely above a whisper - and has a pleasant tenor's timbre. If you decide to take a chance on this album, please remember it will probably not hit with you for the first few listens... it just isn't that type of thing (unless it is for you, then all I can say is - you're blessed). Check out: Taphead. Taphead. Taphead., After the Flood 66. Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell (1977) Ok, so I know I'm going to lose some of you with this one. I promised classic rock and it starts here. Now, I know some of you are just cringing, so far it's been pretty tame with some bands you may not have heard of, some interesting placement of some classics... and you find yourself almost halfway through my list and... ****ing Meat Loaf pops up. Sorry! I love this album. I don't feel like it needs any explanation, Bat out of Hell is one of the top 20 best selling albums of all time. It includes classics like Paradise By the Dashboard lights, a steamy - appalling song about Meat Loaf tapping some chick in the back of his car to the soundtrack of a baseball game (haha). Then when this chick who just gave Meat Loaf a home run asks Meat if he loves her, he gets all freaked out and asks her to let him, "Sleep on it, baby baby, let me sleep on it... and I'll tell you in the morning". Hysterical and pretty close to the truth for a lot of guys. If you can't enjoy the music, or find yourself holding back stomach bile because it's Meat Loaf... at least read the lyrics and you'll find that an album that could've been one giant cliche (at the time, no doubt it is now) turned out to be a fantastic epic. Written in 77, this set the standard for 80's rock ballads (which may or may not be a good thing). Allow yourself to like this album. Check out: The standards, 2 Outta 3 Ain't Bad, Paradise By the Dashboard Lights, Bat out of Hell 65. The New Pornographers - Electric Version (2003) Power Pop masterpiece from a relatively new band from Canada! I'll be straight with you, I had very little to do with The Porns before this last year when the Rock Band playlist came out and I saw the New Pornographers "Electric Version". I've had this album on my iPod for awhile but never got around to giving her a listen. Preparing myself for Rock Band (my roomies and I play frequently) I gave that single a listen and then couldn't help but getting into the rest of the album. This is catchy-hooks, stand out drumming, fun and loopy male/female harmonics and clever lyrics rolled into a ball of lightly distorted electric guitar goo. This will brighten your day. This will be soundtrack to your day if you let it be. Then, after you listen to this... pleeease go check out Twin Cinemas, and Mass Romantic - two of their other albums I'm fond of - and probably would have been in the high 100s if I got to have more than one album per artist on my list. This would be higher on my list if the back half of the album matched the intensity of the first half. It's good, but not AS good. Check out: Electric Version, The Laws Have Changed, Miss Teen Wordpower Last edited by Crowe; 08-16-2008 at 11:56 AM. |
08-16-2008, 01:58 PM | #29 (permalink) |
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I absolutely DETEST Meatloaf but good call on the other three. Talk Talk are one of my favourite bands and the Carissas Wierd album is gorgeous. Have you heard Talk Talk's main man's solo album (Mark Hollis)? It was in gestation for ten years and is a little unfocused but if you are in the right frame of mind, it's lo fi mealancholic drawl is hypnotic.
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