Jun 05 2025
Nixon
Lambchop
"The Old Gold Shoe" -- sounds like low-volume YLT ("Our Way to Fall" maybe?). Syrupy in a not-too-bad way
Production, engineering sounds great. This dude's voice is not my bag (which is why I avoided listening to it when it came out). Strangely felt a little like David Bowie's Blackstar at points -- maybe it's the clean production. But without jazz influence.
3
Jun 06 2025
To Pimp A Butterfly
Kendrick Lamar
4
Jun 09 2025
Kid A
Radiohead
I mean. It’s Kid A
5
Jun 10 2025
Maggot Brain
Funkadelic
Title track sounds closer to Pink Floyd than any PFunk album I’ve heard before. The other songs are a sprawling eclectic mix of soul / funk / rock and experimental music that is infectious. A great listen!
5
Jun 11 2025
The Slim Shady LP
Eminem
A really unpleasant listen. I bought this album in high school when it came out and remember being impressed with the cleverness of some of his rhymes. But even those lyrics are elementary compared to the subsequent albums. So many of the songs fall back on pure shock value. “Just Don’t Give A Fuck” is probably a favorite because it seems to have the closest thing to a genuine message. If I could give half stars this would get a 1.5 just for the humongous impact this album had and for its impressive use of repeated multi-syllable internal rhyme spurts.
1
Jun 12 2025
The Man Machine
Kraftwerk
The feat of achieving the level of atmosphere at such an early time in electronic music is astounding. Some of the songs sound a little cheesy or cliche now, but probably just because they were so influential.
4
Jun 13 2025
Surf's Up
The Beach Boys
3
Jun 17 2025
Pretzel Logic
Steely Dan
2
Jun 18 2025
Aftermath
The Rolling Stones
A few good ones (Paint it Boack, I am Waiting, High and Dry), otherwise pretty mediocre. The second half is better than the first. Note: I listened to the American version.
3
Jun 19 2025
Dub Housing
Pere Ubu
3
Jun 20 2025
Post Orgasmic Chill
Skunk Anansie
Couldn’t finish. REALLY not my cup of tea
1
Jun 23 2025
Dirt
Alice In Chains
3
Jun 25 2025
Paris 1919
John Cale
4
Jun 26 2025
Siembra
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
3
Jun 27 2025
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
4
Jun 30 2025
Strangeways, Here We Come
The Smiths
2
Jul 01 2025
Crime Of The Century
Supertramp
2
Jul 02 2025
Good Old Boys
Randy Newman
Some good instrumentation and lyrics. Hard R n-word loses a star.
2
Jul 03 2025
In Utero
Nirvana
The recording preserves the rawness of the songs while also feeling immaculate. The image in my mind of this era of Nirvana is the Unplugged performance and to hear these songs again in their album form brings back that they weren’t that far removed from many of the other grunge /alt rocks acts of the time. I think without the unplugged performance Nirvana wouldn’t have reached the legend status that they have attained in the past 30 years. But, I think this is their best studio release.
5
Jul 04 2025
Gold
Ryan Adams
“New York, New York” being hyped up in the wake of 9/11 is what turned me off of Ryan Adams. And then him skipping NC on tour for subsequent 5(? 10?) years. But listening to that song now reminds me of the Jason Isbell song “Relatively Easy”, except unlike Isbell’s heartfelt and gut wrenching lyrics, Adams’ song makes me feel nothing.
Just dreck. Makes me want to listen to the superior artists he’s imitating (current candidate Van Morrison on “Answering Bell”, later, The Faces on “The Rescue Blues”)
The fact that David Rawlings and Gillian Welch’s genius get smeared by the association with this is too bad.
1
Jul 07 2025
Definitely Maybe
Oasis
3
Jul 08 2025
Bookends
Simon & Garfunkel
A couple of really good ones. Interesting to hear what I know as a Bangles riff in its original (acoustic!) form. Not all the songs were great. 3.5/5
3
Jul 09 2025
Cheap Thrills
Big Brother & The Holding Company
Joplin’s voice is occasionally great, but the band never is. The band either sounds like a really bad jam band or a mediocre blues band.
2
Jul 10 2025
KIWANUKA
Michael Kiwanuka
3
Jul 11 2025
Deja Vu
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Lays a foundation for southern rock and alt country. But a lot of it is schlocky and lame. A couple of bangers though
3
Jul 14 2025
On The Beach
Neil Young
Pretty, pretty good. Complete blindspot for me.
4
Jul 15 2025
The Atomic Mr Basie
Count Basie & His Orchestra
4
Jul 16 2025
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
Mudhoney
Somewhere in the nexus of punk and the emerging alternative /grunge wave.
3
Jul 22 2025
Pornography
The Cure
3
Jul 23 2025
Vulnicura
Björk
This was a Bjork album. Homogenic was a favorite in high school and I still put it on every once in while and it feels raw and fresh nearly 30 years on. On one listen (maybe not enough), Vulnicura feels like a retread. Lush and beautiful, but no real new territory explored sonically.
Postscript: Joanna Newsom's "Baby Birch" auto-played after this album. And with Bjork and Newsom sharing a similar space (unique voice with lush orchestration), I'm struck with how incredible "Baby Birch", compared to anything on the Bjork album I just listened to.
My rating: 3/5
3
Jul 24 2025
Paranoid
Black Sabbath
There was a kid on my bus in middle school who I didn't particularly like. Did I hang out with him sometimes? Yeah. But something about him rubbed me the wrong way. I think he was going through some shit and I guess I wasn't very empathetic at the time. Anyway, he loved Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath and that kinda put me off of both for years and years. I've come around on both here and there since. I already basically knew that I was missing out on great stuff with Black Sabbath.
War Pigs into Paranoid: What a 1-2 punch!
Many classics here and the sound is a little more varied than I was anticipating.
Not all the songs hit like the classics, but most are great. Not exactly my normal cup of tea, but will definitely be listening again.
My rating: 4.5/5
5
Jul 25 2025
Music From The Penguin Cafe
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
4