30 Oct/22: I know next to nothing about Afrobeats as a genre and wow, this album is quite the introduction! Absolutely loved it, this is live music at its best. Standouts after listening to the whole thing once: Black Man’s Cry and the Baker/Allen drum solo. Something that surprised me right from the start is how much the trumpets remind me of the Salsa and Latin sounds of my youth; but of course they’re similar! Cuban salsa especially has a ton of influence from African sounds, so that was a component I held onto while listening to the record and it really enhanced the experience.

31/Oct/22: This is one of the albums I can’t be objective about; is one of my top 2 Unplugged records (the other being Soda Stereo’s “Comfort y Música Para Volar”) and just a fantastic live album in general. I never really appreciated the choice to leave out their biggest hits and instead go for lesser known songs and a selection of covers, but today it really hit me: some of these covers are among my favorite Nirvana songs in general, namely “Where Did You Sleep Last Night”, “Lake of Fire” and “The Man Who Sold the World”. Listening to Nirvana today also made me feel… nostalgic for what could have been, the evolution we never got to hear both from Nirvana and specifically from Cobain. I would give an organ to hear a solo project, or collaborations with artist outside of the grunge sphere… but alas, here we are. Very thankful to get the chance to revisit this old favorite for sure.

Listening to this album transported me to the 90’s: Trapper Keepers, colorful bomber jackets, triangle patterns everywhere. The music in 3 Years is so joyful it made me wanna get up and dance around the house, definitely put me in the mood to discover more of this type of hip hop. The lyrics unfortunately were too… earnest for me? There’s too much religion in these tracks, some songs are just too preachy in general. I 100% see why it belongs on the list, super happy I got to spend the morning learning more about Arrested Development and their place in music history, but I probably won’t be revisiting this particular album soon.

Fatboy Slim is part of the soundtrack of my high school life, particularly “Praise You” and “Rockefeller Skank”. But as much love as I have for those songs (and later hits like “Weapon of Choice”) it never occurred to me to listen to the whole album? Bless streaming sites. On the topic of YCALWB, I loved every minute of it. The repetitiveness of the whole thing makes it super easy to have on the background while working, but then I pay attention and it makes me smile. Gotta take a look at all the other FBS albums I missed.

Coming in all I knew about this album is that it has the theme for the Exorcist, which in hindsight created certain expectations that made the listening experience less… satisfying than it might’ve been otherwise. There is a lot of innovation and I have a ton of respect for what this 17-year old musician put together, but personally I found the album meandering and inconsistent. There are brilliant bits, but also parts that made me thing “oh yes, there is a teenager behind it”. Inconsistency aside, the first 4 minutes alone made me curious enough to want to check out more of Mike Oldfield’a catalogue and if the internet is right, I should not be disappointed.

Ok how is Winter in America not on Spotify? It’s fantastic!! I can see how Gil Scott is considered a precursor to hip hop and rap, there’s wonderful poetry here as well as just… good music. Loved The Bottle and H2Ogate Blues, but overall the experience was inspiring. After listening I went straight to Pieces of a Man, which opens with a wonderful poem based on the slogan “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”. The rest of the album doesn’t get that political but it’s still a fantastic sou l record. 5/5 for both albums, will revisit a lot.

What a way to start a weekt and continue my lessons on hip hop (Also thank you to the ppl that put this album on YouTube); from the opening skit I was smiling and the vibe never went away. It was a joy through and through, and learning more about how innovating it was and the impact it had on the culture just made it all the more enjoyable. 5/5, recommending it to everyone.

Not as memorable as I remembered it to be, but still a solid debut. I never noticed that the whole record goes just for about 35 minutes!!! Back in the day it felt longer. Although I personally much prefer Room On Fire, Is This It will always have a soft spot in my heart for being one of the records that introduced me to garage rock.

I hoped I would enjoy it more, but I found the history behind the duo far more interesting than the album itself. The songs blend together after a while, with a few surprises (like In The Pines, an early version of Nirvana’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night”). There’s a lot of Jesus here, and some of the lyrics can be surprisingly heavy, but besides the historical appreciation I don’t see much to revisit in the future.

A 1-star review of this record said it sounded like the soundtrack to their anxiety and… yeah! But that’s what made me like it so much; this record feels weird, atmospheric, and the perfect companion to long walks in these increasingly dark fall afternoons. I read a little bit about the album’s influences (including John Carpenter film soundtracks) and you can totally get how they came together to form something like this. “Third” gave me what I was hoping from Tubular Bells without becoming predictable or redundant.

Another good debut from a fantastic band! It doesn’t yet feel 100% like the QUOTSA I would come to know and love, but the record still has a ton of good rock tracks (my favorite being “Walkin on the Sidewalks”) and leaves you wanting to see where they’d go next.

Ok Roxy Music has no right to be this enjoyable. Knowing nothing about it except for the album cover I was expecting dated tracks I could appreciate but not be invested in; next thing I knew I had listened to the whole thing like 3 times 😅. I wish I had the technical or historical knowledge to explain why this record sounds the way it does: it reminds me of 50’s music but also of a lot of stuff that came after, even of music outside the U.S. like Sui Generis. I’m really looking forward to tackling “For Your Pleasure” and delving deeper into Brian Eno’s other musical projects.

Oh Eminem. When “The Marshall Matters LP” came out I was 14 and it blew me away; I spoke very little English at the time but knew enough to be both scandalized and fascinated by this skinny dude rapping about not being like everyone else and killing his wife 😬. I loved the album but didn’t go looking for his previous work, so I’m coming to this only knowing “My Name Is”, which still makes me laugh. This album is so… over the top, so committed to be both funny and horrific, that is impossible for me to take offense at the worst parts (it feels like listening to the music version of Scream, or Rob Zombie’s horror movies). But there is real anger underneath, a very real sense of desperation and a weird vulnerability, and that I think sets it apart from other stuff of the late 90’s. Eminem doesn’t brag about being handsome or rich or a badass, instead he raps about how pathetic his life is, how he was bullied into an almost coma, how much working a low-wage job sucks and how much this is pretty much is only chance at making it. The urgency is compelling, present everywhere but specially in tracks like “Rock Bottom”; it really reminds me of why growing up Eminem felt so relatable despite the. misogyny. This was truly an end-of-century anthem.

Another artist I know by reputation and basically just 1 song, the one that gives the title to today’s album. I’m not American and wasn’t expecting to connect or be interested in patriotic rock, but Born in the USA is not that at all!!! Instead, Springsteen sings about disillusion, the lie of the American Dream, and what it feels like to grow up knowing there’s no future, no way out. The music’s made to fill stadiums; no wonder so many ppl ignored the more critical parts and focused on the catchy lines. Personally it’s not the type of rock I’m drawn to (not enough variation, sounds to… clean?) but I definitely see why it deserves a place on the list, and I leave with a big dose of respect for The Boss.

I listened to the whole album about 3 hours ago, and I can’t remember any of the songs except for Scooby Snacks. It wasn’t unenjoyable or hard to listen to! Just a little bit… samey. I would’ve loved it if I’d listen to it in the 90’s (especially the chill beats and overall relaxed vibe on most of the songs) but right now I don’t find anything in it to hook me in or make me want to check out more of their stuff. Definitely will revisit this weekend with a fresh set of ears and maybe more patience for 90’s hip-hop/rock fusion projects.

Ah this was good funk rock to end the week with. One of my favorite things about the record is the emergence of political commentary in some of the lyrics and also the surprisingly… cynical? Dark? tone in super mellow songs like “Somebody’s Watching You”; it definitely added a layer of enjoyment to the experience and gave me ever more reason to revisit the album afterwards. Other highlights: “Everyday People” (one of those I knew about but never listened in full), “I Want to Take you Higher” and the fantastic, you-gotta-dance-to-this-and-pretend-you’re-in-Woodstock “Sex Machine”.

I was 100% predisposed to love everything about this album just by knowing “Like A Prayer” and “Express Yourself” are here. And… yeah! It took me a little bit to process but by the 2nd time “Oh Father” came around I was sold. The religious tone of the album threw me off, not gonna lie, and at this point in my life I’m not necessarily searching for the kind of sound “Like a Prayer” offers, but I was ultimately won over by how personal Madonna gets in these songs. Instead of evoking her more (sexually) provocative side, Madonna reflects on bittersweet, violent relationships in “Till Death Do Us Part”, sings to an abusive dad in “Oh Father”, asks us to not settle in “Express Yourself” and makes her best case to get into heaven in “Act of Contrition”. This is the Madonna I want to remember, one who was brilliant at combining sound with substance to create memorable performances.

Liked this one more than I thought I would! “All I Wanna Do” still sounds as fresh as it did in the 90’s and “Run, Baby, Run” makes me wanna sing in front of the mirror, but the 2nd half of the album loses steam and didn’t leave me with a super memorable impression. Not a fan of her ballads and I hope I never have to listen to “The Na Na Song” ever again.

I don’t remember having ever watched Shaft but the theme song is epic; it really makes you feel like you’re 8-feet tall and the coolest person around. The rest of the album doesn’t quite reach those heights but there’s some fantastic stuff here, particularly the 2nd half with “No Name Bar” and “Do Your Thing”. Didn’t love the overall record enough just now to give it more than 3 🌟, but will definitely revisit it later, as well as more of Isaac Hayes’ work.

I don’t really know why this album made the cut when the first list was compiled, and it doesn’t surprise me to see it removed from the latest edition of the book. “Our Aim is To Satisfy” starts on a promising note with “Keeping Things Together”, but it didn’t manage to keep my attention for long, not even with the super explicit “The Rough and The Quick”. Maybe I just haven’t had enough exposure to trip hop beyond Portishead and Massive Attack? Will revisit on the weekend to see if it improves with familiarity.

Imagine being in the audience, slowly warming up to Water’s charismatic performance until you’re out on the dance floor having the time of your life. As a jazz & blues newbie I can’t say whether this is a good intro point to Muddy Water’s music or to blues in general, but I enjoyed it so much that it’s on regular rotation since I got it last Friday.

Might be the season, or the Christmas-decked malls full of rosy-cheeked families and shiny wrapping paper everywhere, but I found Frank Sinatra in this album impossibly charming. As much as I love how much music has evolved and the weird places it’s gone, there’s something timeless about one person singing love songs in front of an orchestra. Kinda see why so many people swooned to Sinatra; there’s something about his voice and the arrangement that makes you feel like you’re the only two people falling in love in the world. The book’s bit for SFSL ends with “Truly, the art of the three-minute pop song begins and ends here”, and it’s hard to argue with that statement. SFSL was meant to be a hit in its day and I’m surprised to say that it holds up as a classic.

Wtf. Today I learned what Tropicalia is; I knew a little of Caetano Veloso but never knew the genre could get so weird 😅. Os Mutantes sounds like The Beatles meeting Bossa Nova with a dash of The Velvet Underground and samba thrown in. No wonder the whole Tropicalia movement was at odds with both sides of the political spectrum; its rejection of media mass appeal feels ahead of its time when looking at where we were in the 60’s in Latin America and the power of military dictatorships at the times. A new addition to my regular music rotation.

Another one for my “glad-I-listened-but probably-won’t-try-again” list. It is a very inventive record for sure, but it sounds dated and it didn’t give me anything solid enough to hold onto. Didn’t love his voice either, much preferred the instrumental parts.

Serj Tankian has such a memorable, weirdly melodic voice for rap metal. Really enjoyed their debut (although “Toxicity” was my trusty high school companion and will always have a special place in my brain), my favorite parts are where they add other cultural influences to come up with demented, brilliant songs (like in “Sugar” and “Suggestions”) and things you still don’t hear anywhere less. Extra honorable mention to “Spiders”, still one of my favorite SOAD songs.