Oar

When this started I almost felt like I was in a frontier town. The type of place that people who are searching go to but never end up leaving. Almost a hole for ambition when they get too tired. As it kept going I couldn't help but think of playing older cassette tapes that are perfect but the more you play them the more the magnetic coating wastes away and eventually there's nothing left. Not a masterpiece, probably shouldn't be here, but what this felt like it didn't have made me reflect.

There doesn't seem to be anything special here. There is almost a desperation that comes through, which is kond of interesting. Just doesn't seem lole required listening.

There is a reason this has the fewest records sold by Columbia. It shouldn't be called OAR, it should be titled "Too much Acid rots your brain."

Ah good, another "musician dissociating from reality" product. This one's pretty good, though - well, good when it's good. It's too long at over an hour and there's such a wide variety of sounds here that it's hard to call it a complete whole. There are great turns of phrase, downturns in the vocals, some real experimentation with sounds, and then some pretty prosaic folk stuff for good measure. The gap between, say, Little Hands and Grey/Afro might be six albums of someone else's development, but I suppose if you can take an axe to your bandmate, you can do anything. Good listen, if uneven, but probably won't return. I'll take it over Syd Barrett any day, though.

Who? 1969 and I'm just hearing his name today? This is gonna suck. People would walk out of a bar on free beer night if he were singing. Listen to "Diana", he's dying I believe, but you can't stop him from singing about his lady friend. The man can't sing and the music is about as boring as it could be ("Broken Heart"). "Margaret Tiger Rug" was a rough draft that was horribly recorded. I hear the Syd Barrett reference in "War In Peace" but at least Syd had catchy hooks, no hooks in sight on this album. Let me challenge the author... Why is this a must hear Top 1001 album? What sets this apart from any other album you find in the $1 bin? It's so dreary. One more "Do Not Play This Artist" added to my Spotify preferences. 1 star, it was that bad.

2.5 Crazy story behind this one. You can tell this was unedited demos and I get what they were going for releasing it that way but also feel it holds it back. You can tell theres the start of some good songs but they're very rough. And towards the end it tails off completely

First Listen; 3; Interesting listen - reverb and acid drenched guitars and vocals. Sporadic drumming. I enjoyed listening to this, and as an exercise in laid-back, zoned-out, psychedelic rock. I don't know enough about it, but feels like this is a progenitor to slacker, drawly indie music like Kurt Vile and Mac Demarco. Seems like there's more inspiration here than there are tight songs that are worth relistening to. Favorite Track: War in Peace

nothing special here at all

He wrote all of this on the spot after he started recording, right? Because this sounds like a twelve year old Nick Drake having fun at Guitar Center.

Never heard of this album or that matter old skippy. But reading his wiki page and seeing who he has been involved with I should have. So once again this list has filled a gap in my musical knowledge but I’m not sure if this will be of benefit going forward. It’s a very different album which you don’t get very often. Many have compared it to Syd’s Madcap Laughs and whilst I can see where they are coming from in terms of Skippy and Syd’s mental health, Syd’s undoubted superior musical ability shines through. Whilst on this album some good enjoyable moments are spoilt by random changes of direction and unwanted noise. 2/5 11/9/26

Is this the first grunge album. I felt like I was listening to Nirvana at times. Sparse arrangements, intimate, DIY, nonchalant crooning. It’s all there. I cool album for sure.

Not the standard weirdo '60s psychedelic album that comes up in this project that I was expecting. If you told me this was a 90s indie guy I'd be on board. If he hasn't already, Nick Cave needs to cover "Weighted Down".

Oh Man - - there is a lot of everyone on this - Nick Drake, Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, Eddie Vedder - - but even with all of that "talent" the album is weak.

i shockingly really liked this. probably had more to do with the atmosphere in which i listened to this (background music while cooking on a rainy night), but would 100% listen again

4/10 The circumstances around this record are pretty sad. Alexander “Skip” Spence was the drummer on Jefferson Airplane’s debut album, before co-founding Moby Grape and playing guitar with them for three years until 1969. During that year he descended into a spiral of drug addiction and mental health problems, culminating in an attempt to break into bandmate Don Stevenson’s hotel room with an axe in order to murder him, believing himself to be the anti-christ and wanting to “save Stevenson from himself”. As a result, he was admitted to a psychiatric facility for six months, during which time he wrote the songs for this, his only solo record. He recorded most of the material on a three track recorder, intending for them to be demos that would be later fleshed out, but the label just released the tracks, and refused to do any promotion, deleting the record from their catalogue within a year of release. But is it any good? Well in all honesty, as you might expect from an album that was compiled from what the artists thought of as demos, it’s pretty raw and inconsistent. There are parts that are decidedly lo-fi, others that are well recorded and clear. In some tracks, Skip sings fairly coherently and in others he mumbles his way through, sounding like a man who had not really made it out of that psych ward. You can definitely feel the weight of tragedy through some of the songs, but in others, he almost seems to just be away with the fairies, plonking his way through fairly benign but upbeat songs like Margaret - Tiger Rug. The thing is, the slightly less coherent and off-the-wall stuff is kind of where the magic lies. Skip is clearly a talented musician (though not a great singer), and you can kind of hear the pain and derangement of his situation through the moments in which he pulls songs into weird shapes and textures. But those moments do flicker in and out of focus ass the album progresses, and there are as many moments in which he dishes out far more straight bluesy country stuff that ends up sounding limited in scope and weakly performed. It’s a conundrum really, and ultimately ends up being an album that doesn’t really fit into any one box. It’s not quite the documentation of a man pulling himself out of the depths of insanity, but it also isn’t the coherent work of a talented singer-songwriter. To me, it feels like this album probably got a resurgence more due to the story that surrounds it than the actual quality of the music. It’s a sad tale, not least because Skip was reported to never really be himself again in the 30 years that followed his breakdown. And maybe if he’s been allowed to finish this, it would have felt like a more coherent work. But as it is, it just ends up coming across as an interesting document of a struggling mind, rather than something of particularly high quality. Little Hands - It’s a quite nice 60s folk song to ease us in. It’s a bit mumbly on the vocal front, but I actually quite like the blend of lo-fi elements with more defined ones. The groove has a nice swung feel to it and it feels like it starts to ramp up the pace towards the end. The melodic choices are good and it’s an all round engaging piece of work. Not spectacular, necessarily, but intriguing and enjoyable. Cripple Creek - A bluesy little number now that definitely feels more like a sketch of a song rather than a finalised mix in some regards, particularly vocally. The guitar parts are more refined and complete, but the vocals make it feel quite rambling and lacking in coherence. Again, texturally, I quite like what it does, but it doesn’t really feel complete. Diana - There are some nice motifs in here and also moments in which Skip appears to be only loosely clinging on to his faculties and the thread of the work. Some of the guitar work feels like it’s losing that battle, to be honest, but it does manage to gather things together enough to give it a consistent, yet unsettling vibe. This is a strange album so far, and I really can’t tell what I think of it. Margaret - Tiger Rug - Again, hard to pin this down. It’s either an example of a dry wit mucking about, or it’s the nursery-rhyme coded ramblings of a man struggling to grip on to reality. I think I’m falling down on the latter side of the ledger here. There’s no complexity, and it feels incredibly freeform, but it’s certainly an intriguing listen. Weighted Down (The Prison Song) - Now we get something that’s way more coherent as a song. As a result, it’s actually less interesting, not least because it drags on for six and a half minutes. It’s a fairly straightforward composition, but there is something about the maudlin, slurred vocal delivery that gives it a bit of extra weight and power, which I did enjoy. War In Peace - There’s a pretty cool vibe to this one, and again, it feels like old Skip is teetering. He does pull things back towards coherence, particularly during the guitar solo section which has both a decent groove and an interesting approach to sound design and melody. It’s certainly wacky and he adds more tempo variation to go with the loose and roaming approach to structure and then fairly inexplicably ends by playing the riff from Sunshine Of Your Love. Broken Heart - A country blues number now that has some very nice moments of guitar playing, but the prominence of the loosely tuned and rambling vocal line really detracts from it. It’s quite a basic and boring song, unfortunately, and if you’re going to do something like this, I feel like it has to be more coherent and skilfully executed than this. Meh. All Come To Meet Her - This leans more into the psychedelic side of things and there’s a bunch of stuff that is pretty subtle and delicate within the arrangement. The vocals kind of sound like he’s just lying on the sofa testing out ideas, rather than being fully committed to them, and towards the end, things start to lose coherence and feel more cluttered. A very weird song in which there was a lot to like, but somehow it also felt quite confusing to listen to. Books Of Moses - The vibe and atmospheric work on this track is pretty cool, but musically it’s quite repetitive and again feels like a demo or concept, rather than a fully realised song. There are moments to enjoy, but the overall feeling was again, slight confusion and a real lack of any sticking power of the composition. Dixie Peach Promenade (Yin For Yang) - Another country blues number in which Skip rambles around over the top of a basic progression. It doesn’t even have the edge of weirdness about it to sell it in that direction either, so it just ends up feeling like an unoriginal and bland song that’s been shoddily recorded. Lawrence Of Euphoria - Now this one sounds like the kind of thing you’d hear at a poorly attended open mic night from the guy who turns up every week and sits too close to the newest person there, who is forced to spend their evening subtly and politely breathing through their mouth. It’s shit. Grey / Afro - Well this is weird, psychedelic and menacing. There’s a cool, brooding pulse to it, and the ebb and flow of the drums is a cool device that helps to enhance the texture of creeping insanity that underpins the work. The tempo variations are pretty interesting too. But did this need to be this long? No. I enjoyed aspects of it, but after a while, it lost its lustre and I just started to feel a bit bored by it.

Wasn't sure what to expect, but this was a suprisingly easy listen.

Almost feels like he's falling asleep while singing sometimes. Unsettling and weird.

i (skip)ped do sorry

Very sparse, haunting at times. Muddy vocals so they might be very profound but just can't tell. Not something I will come back to but I have no issue with it being on the list. Probably went on a bit long. With a fully produced album could have cut a few tracks, the last 6 tracks all being very short and really just ideas, indeed one is titled "Doodle".

2 - TERRIBLE

A common refrain in my reviews is my questioning the standards albums are judged on to make it onto the list. This is another one, but not because I think its bad. Its poignant, and remarkably filled with pain. This is psychedelic rock tinged folk, and the psychedelia is stemming from Spence's own inner demons. The songwriting and instrumentation are nothing groundbreaking, but they mark the journey of someone exploring the depths of their own mind, for better or poorer. This is an album that has a specific, niche audience. So again I wonder how this album is labeled required hearing for a larger audience.

Knowing the backstory helped me understand Oar, but it did not help me enjoy it. It starts out very Summer of Love, then veers into fragile psychedelic rambling, poor-man’s Johnny Cash, and whatever poor Diana did to deserve that song. 1.5 stars, rounding down in solidarity with Diana.

The songs scud past out of mist and squall, and on first pass are indistinct, impressionistic passes at modish shapes: cowboy ballad, didactic song, psychedelic drone, goofy nursery rhyme, Biblical fable, romantic lullaby, all off-centre and spellbinding if you’ve an ear for the uncanny. A close listen is needed to pick out crafty structures, swooning melodies and idiosyncratic craft. The guitar work is sublime, the rhythm parts chunk and spike, the rationed-out leads vivid like woodcuts. It’s John Ruskin-style gothic, hewn by lamplight, confident in its grotesqueries. This is the murkier big brother to Gene Clark’s “No Other”, the one that got expelled. Every track has a confident schema, an idea that spools out at speed. It took me until now to realise how intricate “Diana” is, three guitars playing together while leaving most of the song to space. “All Come to Meet Her” flirts past in two minutes with the air of a medieval hymn where only on return apparent repetition turns out to be unbroken iteration, a writhing chimera. Even the slightly, jokier songs - “Margaret-Tiger Rug”, “Dixie Peach Promenade” - distinguish themselves with their uneasiness. Cream’s killer “Sunshine of your love” riff reigned at the end of the sixties, but as far as I’ve heard “War and Peace” is the only homage that makes it terrifying, a coda spat out by Satan. “Weighted Down (The Prison Song)” perfects in a take the minimalist gloom that Souled American took three increasingly superb albums to derive. First time through, “Grey/Afro” bewitched me with its flanged drone. Second time, I was taken aback by how little went into it - was that it? Third time, it continued in my head for a long while after it finished. His drumming’s demented. What lyrics I’ve caught are clever, not always pleasant, cruelly humorous and fond of wordplay: “ An Olympic super swimmer/Whose belly doesn't flop/ A super racecar driver/ Who’s pitted can't be stopped/ A honey dripping hipster/Whose be- cannot be bopped Better to be rolled in oats Than from the roll be dropped“ Discourse around the circumstances of recording are an drag and do the album a disservice by framing it as an outsider art document of mental illness, romanticising suffering and trivialising music. Spence made this despite being ill.

Taken at face value, there are some interesting tunes buried in the simple production; taken as a memento of post-psychedelia psychosis, it's more fun to listen to than "The Madcap Laughs" (if closer maybe to "Opel"). More than one song sounded like a "John Wesley Harding" out-take, so there's some backhanded praise for you, Mark!

Not for me.

Seems like a deep cut and for good reason.

Harrowing and strange, but with some very interesting moments. I probably didn't give this one the effort it warrants.

Not bad enough to be a 1, not good enough to be a 3

It was fine, don’t need to revisit

Backstory more interesting than the album. Trauma does not equal art.

A somewhat unique wailing vocal over more-or-less traditional rock instrumentation. Not very pleasing to hear out of context.

Weird, but enjoyable. Reading about the album was more intense than the album itself. Still for this era, really great mixture of demo level songs turned into a cohesive album. Some of the avant garde stuff here was surely influential

2-

Music is supposed to be fun. But I also like when my music is taking seriously. I'm not saying that my favorite artists are super buttoned up but when they put out something it sounds like it was handled with care. That's what makes the imperfections so cool! This does not sound that way. Highlight: War In Peace

Never heard of Skip before. Its quite a rambling and varied mess - but very interesting for its time (1969). When it works (War In Peace and All Comes to Meet) its very interesting - other times its a little bit mumbly and meh. Much preferred this to the Syd Barret album. Will certainly listen some more.

Oar I’d never heard of this, or him before. Obviously I’ve now read he was in Moby Grape, and looking back I liked their debut, it being a little bit apart in its psychedelic folkishness, eschewing their contemporaries' acid blues aimlessness. This seems to carry some of that folk-bluesiness, and Little Hands is a superb opener, and I like the stentorian vocalism of Cripple Creek or Broken Heart, evoking Leonard Cohen and more obviously Scott Walker. Occasionally it trips a bit close to that David Ackles album, as on Margarest-Tiger Rug or Dixies Peach Promenade, but it then skips to something forlornly excellent like Weighted Down, or the Sunshine of Your Love referencing War in Peace. It also has a bit of Donovan to things like All Come To Meet Her or Lawrence of Euphoria and some early Dylan to Books of Moses. The highlight for me though is the spooky and mesmeric Grey/Afro, a song that feels slightly ahead of its time in its Velvet Underground droning groove. This has all the elements of an influential, re-discovered cult album, which obviously it has been over the last 10 or 15 years, and I really enjoyed it. It’s certainly a bit uneven, and you can easily infer his mental state from some of the more obtuse melodic and vocal moments (and his hair on the cover), but it's hypnotic and beguiling in its idiosyncrasy, and musically it’s a great combination of off kilter folk, psych and blues, making it a 4 and a nice discovery for me. 🚣🚣🚣🚣 Playlist submission: Grey/Afro

In a great foreshadowing of Alan Partridge, upon release from the mental ward, Spence drove straight to Nashville in his pyjamas to record this album. The songs generally hold together well considering they were never intended to be the finished article. The obvious comparison is Syd Barret's 'Madcap Laughs'; but instead of English whimsy, Spence is rooted in country. Like Barret was prone to do, now and again Spence goes a little novelty, particularly 'Lawrence of Euphoria', and the cabaret style 'Margaret Tiger-Rug' (which sounds like a Tom Waits demo). There’s enough strange, affecting music here to understand why Oar developed a cult following, particularly when its lo-fi sound came into vogue later on. But it's an Emperor's New Clothes of an album, with the backstory being more interesting than the music.

We had stereo mixes figured out long before this album, so I'm not sure why this is so notably bad. Difficult to listen to, mix-wise. And in all other respects, also pretty difficult to listen to as well. This sounds like of Nick Drake didn't have any talent, nor did he have anyone who knew how to record an album. I'm nonplussed. This album isn't exceptional in any direction; just unworthy of more of my time. ⭐⭐.49

Rock, 1969 -> 2

This sounds like a collection of b-sides and outtakes that an artist might release to give true fans something more to ponder. It sounds and feels incomplete. It sounds like there's something bubbling under the surface that could have maybe used more focus. This sounds longer than its length. It just doesn't end. I want to like this. I want to support an artist who struggled with demons. But, no.

I'd never even heard of him until this popped up yesterday! I then read the reviews before listening... something I haven't done previously. I was expecting something awful so I was surprised, in that it wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. After about 5-6 songs I think it was heading for 3 stars but it dipped in the second half.

I thought this was a very interesting album, and I do think it has value and some good songs. Unfortunately, it feels unfinished, like demo tapes, instead of a full production. I think there are songs that could be much greater with different delivery and production, however. I also think that if it felt a bit more delicately handled, it would feel more substantial, but it almost feels "heavy-handed" for something that is presented as home tapes. For example, if this felt like Springsteen's "Nebraska" in delivery, it would feel more impressive, but, again, it feels like it should be something different, and these are just demo tapes that would have been given to a full band and then created greater versions.

At first it seems quite revolutionary for it's time but then (especially after "The Time Has Come") it becomes sloppier. Nothing in particular caught my attention but nice to hear at least one time.

So if I go get myself a reel-to-reel tape recorder and a sometimes-out-of-tune guitar and record some songs I'd made up when in the nut-house, maybe Columbia will release it? I suppose with Dylan, Springsteen, Cash, Pink Floyd and Beyoncé on their books they can afford to throw some shit at the wall. p.s. In hindsight, like a schizophrenic, sometimes this was ok, sometimes it wasn't. p.p.s. If I was Cream I'd definitely be after a writing credit for 'War In Peace'.

This HAS to win the prize for the strangest background story of any album on the list. That Wikipedia entry is WILD. The album itself is a bit spacey. Can’t say the lyrics made a ton of sense to me, but I really liked some of the guitar work and the overall psychedelic feel of it. More interesting than many albums on this list that probably sold more copies. I doubt I’ll come back to this one i’m happy to have listened to it.

I'm fairly sure Margaret-Tiger Rug was played at 50% lower volume than every other song. 22 songs and the first four are extremely boring.

Wow, this guy is a terrible singer.

I too can fart around on my guitar and moan the first melody that comes to my mind like I had just woken up. It's not deep, it's not complicated, it's not pleasant to the ears. Reasons this album needs to be on this list according to the Wikipedia blurb: 1. It was recorded under a week 2. The producer wasn't in the studio 3. It was only supposed to be a demo 4. "lowest-selling album in Columbia Records history and was deleted from the Columbia catalogue within a year of its release" Wow, this truly is an influential and successful album, I'm so glad I was able to listen to it before I died! If you too want a successful music career, just follow these easy steps. This is really close to a 1, but I am feeling generous. Low 2.

the story behind this album made me feel really sad and i can't quite listen to it.

Good album. Felt slightly disjointed between songs, but he had a good voice.

Not a big fan of his voice. The more I listened, the less I liked

dreariest album ever. love the vocal layering, feel like don't hear a lot of that in folk music, really good stuff.

Wanted weirder, but still enjoyed. Tge Wikipedia page was a little more entertaining. 3.5

This would have been a decent 40 minute album, had absolutely no reason to be 65.

Nothing burger

Wasn't feeling it all that much, maybe the lyrics are good but it faded into the background.

zat interessant verhaal. maar niet echt om naar te luisteren

like nick drake i like it

Album ultimately feels unfinished, like it's a sketch of an album, it's not fully fleshed out yet but the underlying ideas are there. I guess that's called a demo in music. It's a good and interesting sketch though. 3.5/5

Did nothing for me, not an offensive, but I don’t think I can listen to the whole hour.

I guess it’s okay by the standards of axe murder

Alexander Skip Spence. Spells out exactly what this album is. ASS. hOARible/5

*insert joke about his nickname being accurate* It's a high 2, I only liked 3 songs and the rest wasn't good

Maybe because it's just because I got done with another one-man show, Steve Winwood's "Arc of a Diver", which I did not like at all, but I was pleasantly surprised at this. The story: Spence tried to break into his Moby Grape bandmates' room with a fire axe, earning himself a six-month stint at Bellevue Psychotic Ward, where he wrote much of the material for this album. When he got out, producer Dave Rubinson had him record at Columbia's Nashville studio, and he laid down the music on a three-track recorder. Spence only intended these tracks to be demos to be fleshed out later, but Columbia released them as is and did no promotion for the album, which makes me wonder what the point was. But even from these inauspicious origins, I think this honestly sounds pretty good as is. Sure, it's unpolished, but there's a raggedy nature of it lends to the vibe of the songs, which are dark, plaintive and unsettling, and Spence's voice matches the material perfectly. I didn't expect to enjoy this, but glad I was able to experience it.

They really give any man a mic and a record deal.

As sad as story that Skip Spence had, going through mental health issues, this is just not a good record. Some artists dealt with their traumas really well (Nick Drake for example), but Spence chose the music here poorly. It doesn’t work with his voice. The instrumental work was okay but not great. And it was depressing, and not in a good way. Credit where it’s due, he helped found Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape, so there is something redeemable here. I might try to listen again someday, but I didn’t like this at all. 1.5 stars

This guy could really have used some production help

562/1089 - Somehow I expected axe-weilding schizo music to sound different than this. At the end of the day it's pretty messy, weezy, and crappy. Why steal a Cream riff of all things? At the end of the day this shows that just because something is obscure doesn't mean it's a hidden gem.

Pretty uninspiring album, at times monotonous but with a couple of good songs - Broken Heart was a stand out for me that was quite pretty but the rest seemed to blend into one.

Like a lukewarm corpse of Radiohead... but I'm still comparing it to Radiohead, so it's gotta be at least 3 stars.

getting quite a bit of psychedelic

This creeps me out

ass

Sounded like a guy having a mental breakdown who was trapped in a recording studio. And looking at the story behind the album, that’s pretty much exactly what it is. I don’t wanna hear that, and it doesn’t need to be on the list.

I read this wrong and was surprised that an O.A.R. album made this list. I don't love O.A.R., but I'm mildly familiar. This is not that. This is buddy just quietly playing and mumbling. He's not bad and doesn't have a bad voice, but he's dull, for sure.

It isn't terrible, but you need a bottle of whiskey to appreciate it.

Never heard a recording of a mental breakdown before. It is half a cohesive folk album and half I don’t know what happened. It is hard to explain this one but it is somehow appropriate that it ends with him asking if he has run out of tape. An interesting capsule from the end of the 60’s but it is too incoherent for me.

The back story (again) made it a more interesting listen. I have clearly played too much Dark Souls, as when it said he attacked his bandmates with a « fire axe » I immediately thought it was an axe that was on fire, rather than a fireman’s axe. Considering the nature of the recording and the mental trauma he was going through at that time, it is quite tame, but it was a decent listen, and I appreciate him just being left too it and just getting it done.

For an album that was likely a little off the wall at the time, this was surprisingly tame but is likely with the hindsight of what has come since. Not all of it was good, but most of it was reasonable enough to not be offensive. It didn’t grab me particularly though and not something that piqued my interest so doubtful I’d go back and re-listen.

If mental illness is near genius, this is the other thing.

6/10

it was ok, kind of interesting.

Sounds like a psych break alright

Instantly forgettable. Why can't people just enunciate when they sing?

I like 60s psychedelic

I really dug the first track. That's a really fun 60s psychedelic number. Even listened to it on repeat a few times. Unfortunately that was it for me. Didn't like any of the rest. I appreciate a good backstory and I know this album has one but this is a complete mess.

Little Hands reminds me of Beck. His voice sounds like Beck... The songs are getting more rambling as it goes. War in Peace seems overly long.

As it turns out, the brink of insanity sounds like worse Bob Dylan

Oh my!! What a headache. The music didn't flow, and the drums sound out of place.

"Weighted down" is the perfect description for how I feel about this album. I actually can't even bring myself to care about it enough to hate it.

Was not expecting much from this album after reading its history. Basically a demo record that was released and then dropped from Columbia’s catalog after a year with the lowest sales ever. The album somehow made it on to the list. It does sound like a demo record. Some high points from both his voice and instrumental work. 2 stars plus one for the recognition.

This album felt like a puddle of bleak indecipherability.

Another album where I didn't really like it, but I'm glad I heard it. Or more accurately, glad I learned about it. Wild back story.

This was a difficult listen. It’s be interesting to maybe really sit down and hone in on the lyrics sometime, but the surrounding music and instrumentation makes it hard to get through. Interesting story though

This album exists but isn’t too offensive.

Did not care for this album. I thought it was another one of the author's biased British artists, but alas, it was not. Instead, mediocre melancholy, whiny, singer/songwriter stuff. DNF (2)

3-/5

Nah.

Syd Barrett with a bad cold

I don't know what to think about this. I mean, there's some good music in here, but in general it's very disorganized. it sounds like they let a guy with a mental health issues loose in the studio. It's giving me bad flashbacks to Tom Waits. I'm going to go with a 2.4 on this, some of the music was good, but it's so chaotic and all over the place, I can't get into it.

No. Just no.

hmmp. Kinda interesting.

There were glimpses of some decent stuff here. It definitely comes off as the demos it was supposed to be. Add that it is way too long. 2/5

A musically incoherent, mumbly mess 2/5

Not for me. I gave it a shot based on the interesting backstory, but just didn't click.

Nothing special here for me

5 star Album Summary, 1 star Album.

The background story of this album is interesting, but the album itself, not so much. I don't and won't ask this often, but does this really belong on the list? Books of Moses for my playlist pick.

Skip, I know you had a hard life, but this bored me to tears, I’m sorry. Maybe I’ll try again some other day.

Two songs in and I am liking it. Lou Reed loves this album. Margaret-Tiger Rug is like his Maxwell's Silver Hammer...parallel thinking since Abbey road was recorded the same year. Leonard Cohen also has to be a fan of this album. Psychedelic Folk>Psychedelic Rock. Actually, Donovan was probably a big fan too, War In Peace has a similar vibe to Season of the Witch. I like the songs that lean into the really heavy psychedelic vocal effects less. The sound effects on Books of Moses are a nuisance. The songs get worse as the album goes on. Closing with an almost-10-minute song with vocals so manipulated they are almost incomprehensible. Opened stronger than it closed.

Man he really sounds like when I do an old man voice. 4/10

Cripple Creek

Often considered the North American Syd Barrett, Skip Spence was a founding member of Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape, but those 2 bands would only prove themselves to be influential psychedelic pioneers after he had left them. Disappearing into obscurity for decades after his wild drug abuse took his mental state as collateral, Spence only managed to release a single album of his own work. This is the result. Listening to it, one would be forgiven for thinking these are unfinished, half-formed approximates for tunes. After all, these were demo tapes that Spence's label decided to put out before his train derailed even further - Spence would apparently refuse to record anything if he even caught sight of a producer in the same studio as him. The songs included on here are sparse to say the least, with Spence having recorded basically the entire thing himself to serve as a framework for a full band later on, though that ultimately never materialized. I see some complaining about it being 90 minutes in length, but the original album is much shorter, closing with the 9 and 1/2 minute "Grey/Afro." Skip's performance on these is serviceable enough though one can evidently hear just how frazzled he was as a person, and just how badly the drugs had vaporized his mind. It shouldn't come as a surprise that, much like Syd Barrett before him, Skip Spence never truly recovered or became fully functional once their time in the sun was over. The acid-charred renditions of these songs belie an incredible songwriting talent that, much like Spence's own performances, barely manage to hang on to competency but pull through with what's left. It leaves a huge cloud of sadness on it, especially if you look into the lyrics, which, admittedly, are actually quite sharp in places: "how many friends can you call your own?" he warbles in the opener "Little Hands." Spence's voice itself drifts between a wistful, reedy upper register and a shockingly heavy baritone that gives everything a very leaden feel, as though the songs are dragging themselves to the end of their runtime. It's clear that, despite being an evidently incomplete piece of music, Oar is an absolutely essential look into the darker side of the 60s as evidence by one of its prime exhibits of the acid craze's collateral damage. Spence's resilience, his willingness to create something, anything, is palpable, and I think its primacy is the main reason so many celebrated artists, from Robert Plant to Mark Lanegan to Tom Waits, banded together to create the 1999 tribute More Oar, which offers a more complete rendition of the songs included here. Spence would unfortunately never see his work celebrated as it was, as his own health issues claimed him in 1992, leaving him a near-forgotten relic of the psychedelic years. Key Tracks: Little Hands, War in Peace, Books of Moses, Grey/Afro

C'est un album C'est tout ce que j'ai à dire

Chaque jour est une aventure où la boussole s'affole, un pèlerinage bizarre à travers les décennies et les obsessions sonores compilées dans l'épais volume du fameux bouquin 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Parfois, le voyage se passe sans encombre, les transitions sont douces, presque logiques. Et puis, il y a des jours comme aujourd’hui, des jours où la playlist s'apparente à un véritable saut dans le vide sans élastique. Ce projet est un grand écart quotidien car passer des papes de l'expérimental rock, les bien nommés Sonic Youth, à Alexander « Skip » Spence est une expérience... déstabilisante. C'est le genre de virage à épingle qui vous laisse avec un sérieux coup du lapin musical et les oreilles qui sifflent. Hier encore, j'étais plongé dans la fureur moderniste, les larsens divins, les guitares torturées et la dissonance magnifiquement orchestrée par la bande de Thurston Moore et Kim Gordon. J'étais dans le bruit blanc, l'asphalte new-yorkais, l'avant-garde pure et dure. Et aujourd'hui, je me retrouve catapulté en arrière, en plein cœur de l'année 1969, face à un homme seul avec ses démons. C'est un choc thermique, un anachronisme brutal qui force à recalibrer instantanément ses attentes. On quitte l'art brut et la fureur électrique pour s'enfoncer dans les brumes d'une conscience isolée, et je dois bien avouer que le voyage laisse une sensation étrange, un arrière-goût de perplexité. Pour apprécier ou du moins comprendre ce que l'on écoute ici, il faut impérativement détacher l'œuvre de sa propre légende, même si c'est presque impossible tant l'histoire de cet album est entrée dans le folklore du rock tragique. En 1968, la stabilité mentale d'Alexander « Skip » Spence est plus que vacillante, elle s'effondre totalement. Le point de non-retour est atteint lorsqu'il tente de fracasser la porte de la chambre d'hôtel de ses propres camarades de Moby Grape, Don Stevenson et Jerry Miller, armé d'une hache. Ce geste d'une violence inouïe lui vaut d'être interné d'office à l'hôpital psychiatrique de Bellevue pour une durée de six mois. C'est là, entre les murs blancs de l'asile, qu'il écrit les morceaux qui composeront son unique manifeste solo. À sa sortie de l'infirmerie psychiatrique, Spence ne disparaît pas dans la nature. Contre toute attente, il récupère une avance de 1 000 dollars de la part de Columbia Records, s'achète une moto et fonce directement à Nashville pour enregistrer ses complaintes. Quand on connaît ce passif, quand on sait qu'on écoute les élucubrations d'un homme à peine sorti de l'asile, on s'attend logiquement à un disque de pure folie furieuse, à un assaut sonore terrifiant, à quelque chose de radicalement inclassable. Le mythe du génie fou est une marchandise qui fait toujours recette dans l'histoire du rock, et Oar se traîne cette réputation de disque maudit depuis des décennies. Sur le plan purement technique et formel, Oar est pourtant une curiosité indéniable pour l'époque. Spence débarque à Nashville, la Mecque de la country proprette et des productions ultra-léchées, avec une approche totalement lo-fi avant l'heure. Il refuse toute aide extérieure et décide d'enregistrer l'intégralité de l'album en solitaire, jouant lui-même de chaque instrument présent sur la bande magnétique. Guitare, basse, batterie, percussions minimalistes, il construit son propre squelette sonore sans aucun filet de sécurité, face à un ingénieur du son probablement perplexe. De plus, l'album est enregistré à un volume extrêmement bas, ce qui lui confère une atmosphère d'une intimité rare, presque étouffante. On a la sensation d'être assis dans un coin de la pièce, dans le noir, à écouter un homme murmurer à ses propres fantômes. Le chant de Spence, un baryton lourd, traînant et profondément somnolent, renforce cette impression de torpeur et de dérive psychologique. Les imperfections techniques sont partout : des accords de guitare qui hésitent, des tempos qui flottent, une voix qui semble parfois s'éteindre avant la fin de la phrase. C'est brut, c'est spectral, mais est-ce que cela suffit pour en faire un chef-d'œuvre ? L'album s'ouvre sur "Little Hands", un titre qui avance avec une étrange énergie portée par des roulements de tambour qui rappellent l'ambiance d'un cirque un peu triste. C'est presque trompeur, car cela laisse espérer une suite dynamique et sur ce point la réalité est beaucoup plus léthargique. Le disque s'enfonce rapidement dans une country-folk squelettique avec "Cripple Creek", "Weighted Down (The Prison Song)" ou "Broken Heart", des morceaux où Spence traîne son spleen et sa carcasse avec une monotonie qui finit par peser. Le seul véritable sursaut de tension survient avec "Books of Moses", sans doute le moment le plus marquant et le plus sombre de l'album. Une guitare bluesy, lourde et résonnante se mêle à des grondements de tonnerre et un martèlement métallique persistant qui évoque une sorte de rituel vaudou improvisé. Ici, on touche du doigt la détresse et l'instabilité de l'artiste car le reste du temps, la musique dérive doucement vers des textures plus éthérées, comme sur "Diana" ou "War in Peace", où le chant se dissout dans des murmures presque sans paroles au-dessus de cymbales discrètes. L'album s'achève sur "Grey/Afro", un long morceau percussif totalement anarchique et instable qui semble se déconstruire sous nos yeux, preuve finale d'un projet qui refuse toute structure logique. Au final, une fois le casque retiré et la fumée de la légende dissipée, que reste-t-il de Oar ? Eh bien, il reste un album de folk rock, voire de psychedelic folk, qui s'avère bien trop classique. C'est un disque en plein dans l'air du temps, celui de 1969. Malgré l'aura de folie et d'avant-garde qu'on s'évertue à lui coller sur le dos, Spence ne révolutionne pas les structures de la folk de la fin des années soixante. Il livre simplement une version ralentie, dépolie et fatiguée des ballades que tout le monde écrivait à cette époque en Californie ou ailleurs. Je pourrais dire qu'Oar est touchant, c'est un document historique fascinant sur la déchéance d'un artiste, mais musicalement, le classicisme des compositions empêche le disque de s'envoler vers des sommets d'originalité. C'est pourquoi cet album s'en sort avec un 3 sur 5, soit la moyenne exacte. Je ne peux décemment pas lui donner plus : les longueurs sont réelles, la monotonie s'installe au fil des pistes et le voyage s'avère parfois plus laborieux que véritablement transcendant. Mais je ne peux pas non plus lui mettre moins car la démarche de Spence, ce témoignage brut d'un homme qui met ses dernières forces dans un magnétophone après avoir frôlé le gouffre, mérite le respect. Un album honnête, profondément ancré dans son année 1969, à écouter au moins une fois pour la culture, mais qui n'a pas la force de bousculer durablement les lignes du genre.

The generator knew I was crying to folk music all day. This just hit, it really clicked with me. It starts out like a country or folk album, then takes a psychedelic dip, then comes back out into a more contemporary singer/songwriter sound. Spence's voice reminds me of Nick Drake and something else I can't quite place. Many of his lyrics about women are creepy. Listening to this album is so intimate, it's like reading someone's diary. I thought the instrumentation was interesting and beautiful as well.

Strangely compelling. Not what I would have expected. I don't think it's good, and maybe not worth listening to again, or even for the entire length? It feels like it should have some kind of cult status, and yet it's more just an obscure and forgotten curiosity. Running it back - the first couple of tracks actually hold appeal, but it quickly breaks down into demo-level chaos. A really tough listen.

Thoughts - is this guy purposely trying to be the clown of 60s music? The album oscillates from "shitty Beatles-inspired song" and "shitty Cohen sounding song" Ok, I learned that he recorded this as a demo. His producer had Columbia release it without his consent, which was the labels lowest selling release. Who the fuck put this on this list? This album represents my least favorite approach to this list: the "retroactively significant" release, obviously sensationalized by Skip's turbulent mental health experiences. The album is one of the early examples of what would become a widespread phenomenon: young white men making shitty music that sounds like it comes from a basement. Just because that may be significant in and of itself (STRONG emphasis on may) - why do we need to pretend like an album like this has ANY PLACE alongside the other artists? It's an insult to great albums that did not make this list, pure ridiculous extents our post-modern minds go in the search for meaning in art. Dude was not talented, and suffered a lot. Get him the fuck off this list

Typical late ‘69s, early 70’s songwriter.

2.67

Really interesting and definitely worth a listen and a deep dive, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it good

This was great!

First album I couldn't finish because it made me physically sick. Every song felt like suffering psychic damage. I had to go lie down and I wasn't even halfway through this monstrosity. I think this album's on the list because you really do die after managing to get through it. Won't put it under 'did not listen', because I unfortunately did. And wish I could, but can't give it anything lower than 1.

This is by far the most fascinating story behind an album we’ve had on this list to date. If Spence only intended these recordings as demos, there is definitely potential to work some of these songs on the first half into a decent album. The second half is a hard no. Seems like the record producer is just trying to take advantage and push something out for money, which is shameful. Giving it a 3 because it’s an interesting listen to someone’s creation at a rock bottom point in their life and I think this could have been something better.

I wish we had “skipped” this album and just moved on with our lives. Unlike a bottle of wine, this music did not age well and is mid at best. To top it off, I don’t think Skippy has a very good voice. This collection would have been better as an instrumental only album. I can’t say I enjoyed this.

Upon the debut in 1969 … “ It was the lowest-selling album in Columbia Records history and was deleted from the Columbia catalogue within a year of its release.” The photo of Garth from Wayne’s World on the cover pretty much answers any questions that might remain. There’s no doubt this guy is nuttier than squirrel shit, but I think it’s cruel to take a guy who just got out of Bellevue after serving six months for trying to kill his bandmates with a fire axe and go out of your way not to give any help or guidance to him, lie, and then release the unedited version of what happened. Sounds like exploitation to me.

How crazy is this? The music wasn't great, very raw and a bit bizarre. The story behind the album and the story of skip Spence is super interesting. This dude overdosed, was put on a gurney in the morgue only to suddenly wake up and simply ask for a cup of water. His biographer described him as a man who "neither died young nor had a chance to find his way out." Appeaerently he was either out and about doing heroin and coke, or confined to mental institutions most of his life. He was out of his mind. This gets a 3 only because i enjoyed the story of Skip Spence so much. The music isn't good, but it's a hell of a trip.

between hippie and psychedlic

How? Why? Some boring and sad stuff here.

Baffled by the legacy of this album. Definitely a lot of lore in the story but this is unlistenable.

“Described as "one of the most harrowing documents of pain and confusion ever made"“. Yes this is how I was made to feel.

coulda skipped this one, eh?

5/10

After listening for a bit, I started to wonder what sort of mind produces this kind of music. I then read his bio. It's still good. I actually enjoyed listening to the wild variations.

Sort of odd not incredibly interesting

This is a vibe. There were songs I was into and songs I wasn’t.

2 - not great

Album is a bit long with a lot of different styles. I would not say that I don't like it but its not something I will remember. 2.5

Interesting backstory and a pretty dark vibe throughout. Some cool songs, though not mind-blowing

This album picks up slightly at the end. The majority is just a kind of acoustic guitar singer songwriter style (which is not my favorite genre) that is often unintelligible and hard to hear

The closest thing I can compare this to is Syd Barrett, unhinged, weird and a bit of a delight. It definitely starts off stronger than it ends, but the simplicity and sparseness is doing something for me. This motherfucker is full of emotion.

felt really sad listening to this. was also surprised that i didn't hate it and that it was kind of interesting in places.

So so.

A lot of nothing

1.5

I don't think the person who compiled this list knows what they're talking about

1.7 This was not a crazy game of poker. I think I am going to have to go back through this one again. My initial go through, I thought this was a total piece of shit. There was one song at the end that kinda caught my attention enough to give it another try

Schlecht

I was hoping this album would be interesting after learning of the backstory, but it really does just sound like the rambling and plonking of an insane person. Not worth a listen.

Wiki says these are demos released by his producer, and that's kind of a shame cuz the bones of some good tunes are here. Margaret Tiger Rug has that kind of McCartney music hall feel that's so polarizing. Diana and Weighted Down (moreso the former) are mumbly and unsure musically, but somehow the emotion conveyed is clear as a bell. Not all are winners, War in Peace is a little to psych for my tastes. Lawrence of Euphoria and Dixie Peach are sort of hokey in a bad way. Regardless of what I think though, it's hard to deny that without proper production, the album is basically the 1969 equivalent to quick, rough musical ideas that you have and record into your phone's voice recorder app to complete later. I mean I'd be a liar if I said that this guy and album's story didn't speak to me in some way. I'm not sure why, I've never been committed for mental issues before. Maybe some of the dread and sadness that's front and center on this thing are hitting me. I've been sad, I feel dread. Maybe it's that. The whole thing is a sound representation of someone with some painful issues, and the hopeless feeling those issues cause is kind of what the album thrives on. It's far from a genius masterpiece brimming with virtuosic skill, but I'm glad I got to hear it and feel something.

Listened to the first half, skipped the second. I almost always force myself to listen to the whole album, but I realised it has no point if it's just a chore I hate. Without merits.

In the "Diary of an Artist Losing His Mind" category, I like this better than Piper at the Gates of Dawn, but just by a smidgen.

I really enjoyed this. Quirky, folky, mellow. Cross between Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan.

This was a disjointed mess. Another one of those joke albums that are on here. Painful! Sounds a bit like Johnny Cash/Nick Cave but not as good.

Boring at points but overall quite a nice listen

cacaotq

That was clearly a joke right? What a turd.

Rather calm and sleepy album.

Messy, unkempt, rough-around-the-edges... however you want to describe it, Oar is clearly not the finest output of the 60s. Generally, the textures are pretty thin – an attribute that's fine by itself, but less so when it perseveres for 64 minutes. This sort of music is what I call "coverable". Other artists would certainly perform it to a higher standard, but I'm thankful the songs exist so that they can even be covered at all. Spotify calls this guy "a rough, more obscure counterpart to Syd Barrett." Mmm. I think not. The hairstyle and tired, out-of-it expression remain the same, but Spence lacks that creative, psychedelic, whimsical-fantasy spark that makes Barrett so compelling. All Come to Meet Her maybe sounds the most Floydian, but even then it's more reminiscent of Rick Wright's stuff than Barrett's. I hear more of Leonard Cohen if anything, but Cohen has markedly better, more memorable songwriting, so the comparison ends there. The opener, Little Hands, has to be the strongest song here by a wide margin. Satisfying melody that happens to be delivered with a bizarre, unattractive vocal. Cripple Creek is also decent, melody- and harmony-wise. Really the performance, the enthusiasm (or lack thereof), acts as the main factor holding these songs back from superstardom. But then Diana... oh, Diana. You poor soul. I wouldn't be surprised if the woman this was named after spiralled into a deep depression after hearing how Spencer chose to emulate her in musical form. Limply and drunkenly repeating the song title doesn't make it a classy joint. Margaret-Tiger Rug (huh?) is also lacklustre and difficult to really groove with. Weighted Down (The Prison Song) is fine – completely inoffensive and uninteresting – and avoids being "bad" mostly because the guitar part excels compared to any other instrument in any of the preceding songs. As long as they don't do that same weak, meandering folk again... Well, shoot. Broken Heart is exactly that. Bleh. Books of Moses, despite being pretty much one chord, still has a pretty compelling acoustic guitar part. And importantly, it sounds different to that of other songs! (I like my albums diverse, yo!) Dixie Peach Promenade is also pretty good. Grey/Afro mainly acts as 9 minutes of wasted time, and I tuned out after the first couple minutes. As another reviewer wrote: "What if every single folk album from the 60s except maybe slightly more dull? ...It seems like Skip was just noodling around, thinking about maybe writing a few songs, and someone accidentally recorded it." Skip. 2/5 Key tracks: Little Hands, Cripple Creek, All Come to Meet Her

first time listening ..not bad

RATING: 7.5/10 HIGHLIGHT: A Broken Heart LOWLIGHT: Diana

Almost unlistenable 60s psychedelic folk. No idea how it made the list but at 64 minutes it was a slog

So meh!

honestly pretty good. i liked war in peace, broken heart, all come to meet her.

Odd album. Thought it was something I'd like going in, but it was a bit too experimental for me.

Dont really get the hype - just kinda normal for this era. But not bad or anything

"Weighted down by possessions, weighted down by the gun, waited down by the river for you to come." An interesting texture - languid, wounded psychedelic folk. A one-man show evidently, and sort of a precursor to lo-fi (unintentionally, it would seem - Wikipedia says Spence only intended this to be a demo but then his producer just released it as-is). Not going to say it's my favorite thing ever, but I think there's something to be said for its unsettling minimalism.

too slow and of no interest

American Syd Barrett

No sé por qué tenía que escuchar esta wea antes de morir

I'm going to steal someone else's review - now we know why he's called Skip !!! I'm certain it was taped like this that made Andy Kershaw decide he didn't want to be John Peel . Endless , awful knob twiddling mixing in a bedroom . No wonder he only did one album .

Interesting background and clearly very influential, doesn't actually make it good though. The sort of thing you'd hear one track from on John Peel.

3 or 4 tracks where he was trying to be a Dylan clone (not a good thing). And the rest were not worthy of note of.

Surely takes the award for the weirdest album on this list. Awful vocalist and talentless musician, can only be included because he was bat shit crazy. I’m not trying to be judgemental, but I’m going off the Wiki notes. Reading about him was more enjoyable than listening to him.

This will need another play for it to be really appreciated properly. But on first listen I was very impressed with its lo fi sound, strange song structures and its general air of bizzareness. It could be a classic for the ages or a load of crap. But it is sufficient to say I haven't made my mind up yet.

The singing is bad and so bland. The instrumentals aren't good either. The only decent track was "Books of Moses".

I hate this so much.

So bland and dull it's incredibly sad. There is nothing I found of virtue here, it's like this man has decide to do the same poor man's Cohen impersonation in a song a 100 times over. It is desperate to have an editor cause most of them are not worth anyone's time.

Far too meandery

This was pretty good. It's a bit all over the place and doesn't need to be as long as it is, but I enjoyed it nonetheless with Little Hands being a particular favourite.

Weird. This guy's story is sad. Mental healthcare is important, folks. Making trippy music can help, but it's not a silver bullet.

Never heard of this before. Interesting mix. Especially liked “Grey/Afro”

Walmart Gordon Lightfoot (WHO DID NOT GET A SINGLE ENTRY ON THIS LIST????????????????????????????) I quit. I need some serious time off from this, or may never come back. This whole compendium is such a bullshit mockery of quality music. Like 80/20 split of garbage vs. legitimate material. Fuck this, fuck that, fuck you, I'm out. Alexander Spence, you broke me on Robert Dimery's behalf. Eat shit, bitch.

Unhinged, maar toch niet echt? Prima album met een wilde backstory

Een plaat met goede lore. Jammer dat de plaat niet zo goed is. De vocals varieren van dronken kroegmuzikant tot grating en ik werd halverwege al helemaal gek van de hard panning van de instrumenten. Er zitten ergens wel goede ideeën verstopt in individuele liedjes, maar die zijn door omstandigheden goed verstopt gebleven ook.

algunas canciones están bien, igual un poco largo y se hacía repetitivo, igual su voz de ultratumba no ayuda, pero tiene alguna canción que juega mucho con los instrumentos y la voz que están bien como little hands o i think you and i

Cover-art reminiscent of Harry Nilsson schlubbing around in his bathrobe (“Nilsson Shmilsson”). Does not have the talent to match, though. The longer you listen to it, the more apparent that becomes. Like somebody gave me a demo tape thinking I was Harry Nilsson and would appreciate this. I’m not, and I don’t.

Sounds a lot like a demo.

Couldn't do it. There's so little coherence to it both musically and lyrically.

Wieso ist das in dieser Liste? Interessant von der Aufnahmetechnik her, er hat alle Instrumente selbst gespielt. Die Musik geht so.

*I tried to keep an open mind as this album went on, and I have come to appreciate folk music more than in the past. However this just bored me at too many times to appreciate.

Very cool folk/psychedelic stuff! Interesting bio, too bad he wasn't able to do more.

I wasn’t paying attention to this enough when I listen to it. I’d love to put it on and get immersed in it, get lost in it. I didn’t do it justice by listening to it while working

2 - Acid must be a hell of a drug, that just dragged onnnnnnnn

This was okay! Not a bad listen at all and there are some interesting tunes and melodies on here. It's a cool psychedelic record. My issue is that is was very long and it needed to be cut down a bit. It got boring and sluggish in the middle and the end.

C'était assez original. Il faut avoir le contexte autour de l'album pour comprendre, je pense. J'ai bien fait de lire l'article Wikipédia, aujourd'hui. C'était donc un un album écrit en hôpital psychiatrique par Alexander 'Skip' Spence après un épisode psychotique où il a tenté d'attaquer les membres de son groupe avec une hache. Je n'aime pas la romantisation des problèmes mentaux, mais ce contexte est important pour comprendre cet album. Il a été écrit par son auteur alors qu'il était traité pour ses problèmes de santé mentale, ayant conscience de la gravité de ce qu'il a fait alors qu'il n'était pas lui-même. La façon dont cet album a été enregistré est également fort intéressant. Tous les instruments ont été enregistrés par Alexander Spence lui-même et ces pistes n'étaient censées être que des démos, mais elles ont finalement été utilisées pour faire l'album lui-même. Et si j'ai bien compris, c'est le dernier album de ce personnage, avant son retrait plus ou moins complet du milieu de la musique. Bref, c'est un album qui a de l'histoire, plutôt du genre tragique. Je n'ai pas fait attention outre-mesure aux paroles, mais l'atmosphère est plutôt triste et psychédélique, comme on peut s'y attendre. Il se passe pas mal de choses, c'est parfois un peu glauque et j'apprécie énormément ce que j'entends. Il s'est passé plus d'une demi-journée depuis mon écoute donc c'est plus tout frais dans ma tête, mais il m'a fait forte impression et je pense que je reviendrai dessus un jour. En tout cas, le dernier morceau est dans ma wishlist.

I liked some of the songs but a lot of them just sounded like the worst parts of Bob Dylan songs and they just droned on and on. This album was far too long as well. Not a fan.

A new artist for me and unfortunately I think this might be the last I listen to him as well. While the music isn't bad at all its just very depressing and that isn't what I am looking for when listening to music. Having sadness and using music in a way to handle and get through that is something I love and use myself as does many other people and artists. But this makes me feel even worse than before listening through it so as a way of processing sadness this isn't for me one bit.

4.5/10

Proof that an album isn't a masterpiece just because it was made with the influence of serious mental crisis

This was an okay album. Not great, but not terrible either.

Yeh it did have a certain reason for the guy to quit. And this only album is the proof.

reminds me alot of "The Madcap Laughs," key difference being that this one has a country twang. the freaked out rumbling psych rock closer is cool

Man I was relieved when that was over. Realised I'd been listening to a whole song with the radio also playing and had no idea. Shares very little of the melody or good vocal hooks that their later music has. Alive Alone a decent example of things to come for them though.

Meh

Seriously?

I feel sad now having read this guy's story, but it didn't really increase my enjoyment of the album either.

Thank you for trying

Some of the worst drug-induced dabbling I’ve heard that tries to sell itself for an “album.”

Fragmented psychedelic folk shaped from fragile acoustic guitars, skeletal percussion, warped blues passages, and ghostlike vocals feels like walking alone through the ruins of someone else’s fever dream—unsteady, intimate, and unsettling. The album drifts between coherence and collapse givibg IT a haunting power that lingers and I have Impulse go banish it back to hell.

The Good: Guess we don’t need a paddle! The Bad: We are still up shit creek.. The Ugly: This gentleman’s mental health… no joke… This is the first time that I have, on purpose, activated the lyrics option on Apple Music, just to see exactly what Mr Spence is singing about… Still don’t get it. What is true about this album is the sheer musicianship of all the session players who helped out. Boy oh boy, that is some tight playing. Will have to listen to this album a couple more times to really have a good idea what I think… for now, I will give it a 3*

Solid

I can see why this album has less than a million streams on Spotify. It is not good. Definitely one of those albums from the past that deserves to be forgotten.

This is all over the shop. Like a bat shit mental Nick Drake

Described as "one of the most harrowing documents of pain and confusion ever made" Nou, dat klinkt alsof dit een gezellig albumpje gaat worden!! De wiki voor dit album is echt WILD. Man word opgesloten in recording studio nadat hij geprobeerd heeft zn voormalig bandgenoot met een bijl aan te vallen. Kan niet zeggen dat ik eerder zo benieuwd ben geweest naar een album. En het is prima I guess? Vind het wel funny dat er veel afwisseling in zit. Beste voorbeeld is het duo 'War in Peace' en 'Broken Heart', waar de eerste een super psychedelisch nummer is. Super trippy en vreemd en daarna Broken Heart het meest standaard country nummer is. War in Peace klinkt wel echt unhinged, meer nummers die wel een beetje zo klinken. Ik had denk ik iets meer gehoopt op nog vreemdere muziek. Of dat ie gewoon een uur loopt te krijsen ofzo. Had me funny geleken. Grey/Afro laat dan wel weer iets vreemds zien, is weer nauwelijks een nummer te noemen. Dikke Flanger effectje op de muziek. Pff, ik denk dat hier best een interessant album in zit van 40 minuten. Maar momenteel is het gewoon uitgebracht, niet echt gemixed of gemastered of enige quality control. Weet je, als de artiest zegt "Dit is shit, breng het niet uit", het label zegt "Dit is een demo we brengen het niet uit" Misschien moet je het dan niet uit brengen... Ja nee, hoe langer ik luister, hoe meer ik ook gewoon denk dat de gene die dit heeft uitgebracht echt een lul is. Deze man heeft duidelijk hulp nodig. En dit was ook duidelijk nooit bedoeld als album. Om dit dan toch uit te brengen... Tsja, ik word er bijna een beetje naar van. Alsof je die ene vriend ziet die veeeeeel te lam is uitdaagt om nu een salto te doen terwijl ie een beetje dronken op een balkon staat. Ja het zorgt vast voor een grappig moment, maar zou je hem niet beter naar beneden helpen? FAVO:

somewhere between Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash. I like folk rock but this doesn't feel like good folk rock to me

I was looking to see if this was really an hour plus, and thankfully it is not, but i got a lot of background info while I did. Haunted and shambolic? That's certainly something that could be great or awful! I sort of lean toward the former? It's all very sparse, very rough, but it's ultimately kinda nice mostly? Spence's voice can be a very rich deep instrument, or a very stressed airy higher register. It's not really psychedelic, but it isn't -not-. It has some early western vibes in places, but is definitely not a classic western album. It's not as obviously the product of a mental breakdown as many reviews suggest, but that knowledge certainly informs how disconnected the album often feels. There are a lot of nice gems throughout… with a little polish, Diana would be iconic, and War in Peace feels like it should be anyway. I think the droning Grey/Afro feels like the definer here. It's intriguing and propulsive but also give the hint that there might be something more going on here than meets the ear. I'm leaning to a light 3.5*, with the expectation i'll relisten to this to get deeper in. I don't know if this is something i will love, but i am surprisingly happy to have experienced it. And Whatever the case, i'll certainly sign off on this being the better song about Cripple Creek. You know the other one.

Just couldn’t listen to the whole thing

Some albums really shouldn't be made. I had never heard of it before, but in reading the background it seems exploitative at best. As an album it is disjointed and weak. Not sure how it even made it to such a list, but... here we are.

Wow- so this is my bag. I went in totally cold, had no idea about the album or the artist. But I am a HUGE fan of Daniel Johnson, Sparklehorse, Jason Molina, Elliot Smith, so you know, troubled men singing about their pain, their trouble, and the beauty that yet is the world in which we live. So I guess this album was in the pocket. And why I’m here for this 1001 album exercise, btw. I guess it’s the thing I have to add is that this material WOULD have benefited from a bit of editing, some production, but maybe not. I tend to like Molina’s demos better than his “finished product.” Gosh, I think I am giving it a 5. You can’t stop me! Ha! Take that power pop! Boolean: Hell yeah

Not a bad album by any means but it wasn’t a stand out listen. I would brobably listen to it again.

It sounds nice, but I don't like the songs much.

This was so dull it could make a coked up toddler fall asleep

Dirge city. But with acoustic guitar.

Can you make an album? Sure. Should you make an album? Not this time. There is some solid guitar work here but the singing is fucking atrocious, both tonally and lyrically. I can see how it made the list from an oddity perspective.

2- Stars (4/15)

Thoroughly beguiling. But if you find the album feels a little long post Grey/Afro, then you're streaming the bonus material. I was completely charmed by Alexander Spence such that I kept going though. Oar sits somewhere between cult classic and outstanding outsider gem; I'm intentionally invoking a substance that has many facets and shines differently as you spin it. Seems appropriate for a work both fragile and enduring from a multi-instrumentalist working through the trauma of a breakdown.

Little Hands - 2.5/5 Cripple Creek - 3.5/5 Diana - 2/5 Margaret-Tiger Rug - 2.5/5 Weighted Down (The Prison Song) - 2.5/5 War In Peace - 2.5/5 Broken Heart - 2.5/5 All Come to Meet Her - 2.5/5 Books of Moses - 2/5 Dixie Peach Promenade (Yin for Yang) - 3/5 Lawrence of Euphoria - 2/5 Grey/Afro - 2/5 This Time He Has Come - 1/5 It's The Best Thing for You - 2/5 Keep Everything Under Your Heart - 2/5 Furry Heroine (Halo of Gold) - 2/5 Givin' Up Things - 2/5 If I'm Good - 2/5 You Know - 2/5 Doodle - 2/5 Fountain - 2/5 I Think You and I - 2/5

It certainly has its moments. I think it's place here owes a lot to it's story as a lost classic of the sixties, with a good story and Rolling Stone loved a good story and defined "the classic rock" cannon. It helps that the singer was already well-known and from California. The book, this list is based on seems to have lifted that cannon wholesale around 2000 and used that as it's list of 60's lps you must here - then not revised the list of albums before the 90s. I can see someone into the 60's psyche would want to hear this and track it down. But there's loads of rediscovered gems in recent years and many are better than this. So yes this is a album to hear before you die. but only if you live a long, long life.

Tja. Er denne kun interessant pga historien rundt?

Veldig interessant men aldri noe særlig mer en det.

Konteksten trekker opp

Discovery weekly har pusha han her på mæ gjennom tida. Like det. Morsom bakgrunnshistorie! Dem har truffet klart best på folk og countryrock hittill.

Hørt på solseng på Granka

Lovende åpning, de to første låtene føles interessante og ekte, spesielt i lys av fyrens nylige erfaringer. Men dessverre glir det fort over til å bli et soloprosjekt som det burde ha blitt jobbet mer med. Det er ikke alltid det er så lurt å bare å gi ut demoene og ta tidlig helg.

Did not like

He poured his soul out for this, but I’m not buying. Boring enough to make me mentally ill.

Meh. Just like every other 60s album that wishes it was written by The Kinks or The Beatles.

На фоні деяких фолк-альбомів в цьому списку його було досить цікаво слухати через сильний психоделік вплив. Проте я не можу сказати, що ця музика подобається.

Не сподобалось. Якийсь такий психоделічний фолк, але нецікаво було абсолютно. Ставлю 2.5

Soft, sad folk ballads don’t do much for me. I can certainly see where the artistic and emotional side are impressive to people. But this feels and sounds like a demo tape that never got finished, which is pretty much what it was intended as. There’s some brilliant and very personal lyrics but the production and style need refinement.

Len tak prešumí... Myslím, že tu nemá čo robiť...

Sogar Wiki hät gmeint, dass es nöd mal es fertigs Album isch

It was pretty interesting to read about but not to listen to. Rating: 1.7

incrivelmente, é menos pior do que eu achei que fosse ser n sei se quero elaborar tanto nesse mas é sujo, soturno e claramente o camarada tava a ponto de compor o elenco do vasco n tem uma sonoridade fácil, e normalmente eh o que eu busco nesse site os momentos q ele cai pro folk realmente são cansativos, mas os que não tá são interessantes

pior que eh bem menos pior do que parecia ser memo. bem triste, né. mto paia o mano ter "perdido" a carreira por conta de drogas simplesmente pq tomou um LSD e tentou assassinar um amigo da banda com uma machadinha. esse disco eh bem o resultado de 6 meses de internação por "esquizofrenia". baixo astral e criativo, até onde os remédios deixaram.

Ok, I wasn't wowed by it. A little boring.

Nope

And I quote: “I am in pain.” What a slog. Took me 3 sittings to get through this and I don't think I enjoyed a second of it.

You can go ahead and ‘Skip’ this one.

Good

I didn't know him. I can see, well actually hear why. Poor vocals. Poor album

psychedelic townes van zandt and guy clark vibes

Not even sure how to start this one. The album is a scattershot of the sounds of the time in a way. At least thats how I see the first 2/3rds or so. Its all listenable and even good at times. But I wouldn't say its all that unique. The last third is where I started to really vibe with it. When the only things that are left are the bass, drums, and vocals. Thats stuff was genuinely good. The first parts though I wasn't crazy about. Not bad just nothing to stick in my mind. The real thing about this record is the story behind it. Thats the interesting part. With addiction and mental collapses and just a lost man. I feel like thats the actual appeal. The what ifs and the imagined potential. I feel like this guy could have made some crazy good stuff but no one will ever know. Im interested in his band which I also knew nothing about either. At least the early stuff where the guy was at least present. Could be neat. But in the end I liked some of what's here and I was OK with almost all of it. Just doesnt add up to too much for me. Worth a listen but I probably won't come back to this often if at all. Cool story though

Okay

Чёрт, это было... тяжело. С самого начала чувствовалось что-то не то. Песни звучали как-то странно, параноидально и тревожно, что-ли. Казалось бы, фолковые мотивы смешивались с психоделическими минималистичными мотивами и порой беспорядочной хаотичной барабанной партией, а потом, когда я прочитал биографию - всё встало на свои места. Что-ж, Александр Скип Спенс - человек не совсем здоровый душевно и судьба с этим первым и единственным альбомом обошлась не сильно хорошо, ибо тот продавался настолько плохо что вскоре после этого его сняли с продажи. Только потом к нему пришло признание и даже трибьют-альбом в его честь, но... "Старик" таки помер в 1999 году едва перевалив за 50 лет в доме престарелых. Незавидная судьба, но музыка.. Есть в ней что-то искреннее, настоящее, несмотря на психическое состояние Спенса. Что-ж, могу только фигурально пожать руку в знак уважения и поставить 5.

I need to buy the book and figure out the justification for some of these albums being on this list. This one just didn't do anything for me.

I just listened to Oar by Alexander “Skip” Spence. Had I heard of it before? No. Did I know that my life was missing psychedelic cowboy country/folk rock? Also no. This album comes on slow, a little unusual but by the time you realise how trippy it’s getting you’re already fully committed to the journey until it peaks at the end in a pink Floyd-esque blur of drums, bass, swirling colours and sound. Will definitely listen again

Labai nuobodu

In my opinion, not great. It’s super minimal but just comes across like a practice session, especially on the back half. The vocal delivery is kinda mumbling. 1.1/5.0

Not the best album but strikes a chord (pun intended) when going for a morning walk.

Yes, ok!

It was a very interesting album, but longer then it needed to be. I wasn't bored though. Some songs were incredibly well put together while others felt very unfinished. Which I guess makes sense because the artist just meant this to be a demo.

Much better than the reviews made it out to seem. Though I do think it was a tad bit longer than necessary, I still think this album is quite good, especially considering the backstory of this man. I hope he's at peace now.

Weird for this to make any sort of best-of list. It's certainly obscure! I like the sound though.

I should've seen 'skip' as a warning

Listening to this it feels like a bruce Springsteen prototype but without the tunes, lyrics or good voice.

Two boring folk albums from 1969 two days in a row? Thanks RNG gods! This guy sounds like the stereotypical senile old man voice. He was also mubble-singing before it was cool in 2020s pop. It was literally impossible to know what he was saying most of the time. The instruments on their own were fine, but for some reason they became simply annoying noise once combined with each other. Favorite Track: Dixie Peach Promenade (Yin for Yang)

Oof…what was going on, Skip?

Quite boring, and over an hour is much too long a runtime. Not great, 2/5

Very strange at times. Mellow psychedelic would be the only way to describe it. Original drummer of Jefferson Airplane who was a guitar player not a drummer. Spent time in a mental hospital and on his released recorded his only solo album playing all the instruments. Highlights: War in Peace, Little Hands and All Come to Meet Her. 2.0

Don't judge this one by its cover...it's truly a hidden gem of a record. Too bad it's the only solo work we got.

Good sound. Good variety. Need to listen again with the lyrics in front of me.

Quite a hard listen

6/10 There's a great album in here somewhere, but this isn't great in itself. Starts stronger, with some more realised songs, but it begins to drift and ramble the longer it goes on. Maybe with some proper production and healthy hacking away of the nonsense, it could have been a contender.

Not for me

It’s ACTUALLY one of the worst records ever recorded. For real.

Huh. That was an album alright. I did not particularly care for this one. This album was apparently a massive failure initially, but has seen something of a critical reappraisal over the years since its release. Here's the thing. I can see why people care about this, but I also get why it flopped. This is not an album for everyone. It's very sparse and honestly a little haunting, but in a way that just kinda makes you feel bad for the guy behind it. Now, this actually isn't my first album involving Mr. Spence here, as I got the Moby Grape album just under a month ago. I thought his work there was alright. Nothing spectacular, but not ruining the album. Apparently this guy was a bit of a troubled artist, with this album being made not long after a stay in a mental hospital. See, I feel for the guy, but I'm also not really invested enough in the music for this to evoke strong emotions from me. Compare this to an album from someone like Nick Drake and this just feels a little... dull in comparison. There are some parts here that I respect. Despite me not really caring for the end result, I have to respect the gall that Spence had to end the album on the 9-minute "Grey/Afro." The production is rather empty, but it makes sense given the context. The writing is pretty vague though, and I'm not huge on Spence's singing. I guess I'm happy that some people have found enough value in this album to warrant it not being a total failure, but I just don't really vibe with an album like this right now. Something about it just feels... incomplete. I guess one could say that that makes this is a more accurate look into a fractured mind, but I myself can't help but see this as a bunch of demos. Some decent demos, but still demos. Decent 3/5. I respect it, but I'm not huge on it myself.

This is just some guy with a guitar mumbling incoherently. I did not need to hear this. There's almost something there but in the end, there isn't.

no.

Mid at best instrumentals accompanied by a voice only a mother could love. Just because an album has a different sound does not mean it’s influential and belongs on this list…

This was okay. There were spots of interesting material and spots that were a little dull. Definitely a creative dude!

this is so bad i couldn't finish it i was about to fall asleep

ban male singer songwriters

First of all, just one album on his spotify page. This is so exciting, this is big for me. And I now know the reason this is such an interesting piece of media what the hell! Such a rabbit hole omg ever so interesting.... Now, what I am getting from this guy and his album is that this is psychedelic rock. Yet again, I love that for me. Also, love the album name, its so not like other girls. So, is the music good? Meh not really, BUT he is so delirious it makes sense.

much like those 99 in 1 game discs this 22 track album mostly blows 2/5

So this was a listen. It was not until I went and read this notes about it that I found out that it was a demo and dude was in Bellevue before. I still kind of liked it though. This is the kind of shit that makes record collectors cream their pants too. I record that was released and deemed to be so bad of a sales that Columbia deleted it from their catalog. Looking at discogs the most expensive listening for the original one is $1,111.49 with the least expensive that is not a reissue coming it at $300. If Columbia reissued it then someone somewhere must have decided that it was worth it.

boring

60s for sure. I learned so much about this artist. So much more than just an album.

There's an interesting parallel to the recording of this album and the recording of Yung Lean's "Stranger". Both records were made at the end of hospital admissions a drug-related psychosis. The difference is that the last two songs alone on "Stranger" clear most of what "Oar" has to offer. While there's a bit of charm in how barren and direct Skip Spence is in his deliveries, there's no charm in how long and meandering this project is. If you told me this was a jam album full of recordings made up on the spot, I'd have to believe you. Whether it's the haphazard guitar playing on "Diana", or the lyrics of "It's The Best Thing For You", this doesn't seem like a fully-realized effort. I guess I didnt mind "Broken Heart" if I had to pick a song on here. But I don't see how this is described as "one of the most harrowing documents of pain and confusion ever made". How? Are we listening to the same album??? Almost a 1/5

Lowkey disjointed.

no mi tipo de musica

Honestly just sounds like some dude jamming in his bedroom and not anything fully fleshed out

Mental health issues suck. We should be thankful none of us have our worst days plastered on the cover of tabloids or webpages. The Oar album is nothing spectacular but his 1960’s Nana hairstyle was certainly on point.

I'm not the biggest fan of his voice all the time. I can hear that it's the same voice in every song but it feels like a totally different style of singing in a lot of these songs. "war in peace" does sound like Radiohead.

dont reccommend. It is true what is says o the description and i can tell.

This was a weird one, if you only do the tracks on the original release it’s not that long of an album and I thought I’d just be able to power through and it wasn’t the most groundbreaking thing in the world but it was ok, heading for 3 stars. But that stupid 9 minute closing song was the most dull boring thing ever, there are so many folk songs that are long but they keep you engaged at least. I’m not knocking it down to 1 but I think 2 stars for what is an ok album ruined by an ending track is a fair score

The fuck was that?

Pretty decent. never heard any of this.

Interesting story about this dude. Album was some decent light folk - I didn't mind it.