This feels like a good baseline album and rating to start off this project with. Had never actually really listened to this outside of "You Can Call Me Al" and the title track. Paul Simon's songwriting strengths meld really well with the South African instrumentalists that he brought into the room, although I imagine his songwriting strengths meld really well with most musicianship out there, the instincts are just so incredible. Outside of the aforementioned great songs that still hold up, the two highlights (which will make pleasant new additions to my rotation) were "The Boy in the Bubble" and especially "Under African Skies". Wow Linda Ronstadt's voice huh. Very funny to love that song and then read about how that one was especially critiqued in the scope of the anti-apartheid boycotts. Beautiful song though.
Maybe I just find Eddie Van Halen influential for a guitar style I find super annoying lol and I'm holding that against this perfectly passable album. Not my jam but well performed and produced. "Drop Dead Legs" is the one new song I enjoyed hearing.
Stays afloat the whole time -- the one song that I didn't know before that grabbed me was "Sweetest Devotion", but the banger here is "Send My Love to Your New Lover", I think the clear achievement of this album that otherwise I find lesser to all of her other albums (this weirdly was the only one I had never checked out). Good but not especially great ya know
Two tracks in and i'm alr smiling SO wide.
From "Monkey Man" on it's just relentless bangers. Really really great stuff. The standout track to me is "Too Much Too Young" but I'm also huge on "Nite Klub". Definitely will return to this one a bunch. Never really delved much into ska but found this irresistible. Chat am I cooked etc etc
one of my major blindspots. Only knew the title track. That's still the standout as far as I'm concerned but what a well fleshed out, expansive and far reaching album. I think the import of it will hit me on further listening but honestly spent most of this wanting to relisten to The Specials lol
Very fun, but at a certain point more interesting as a (sorta) transitional missing link between more propulsive or catchy movements of punk. When this thing is 45 minutes long and not particularly varied it sorta lands more in scientifically curious rather than enjoyable. Drop Out is my cut of choice.
I had heard this before, but only really remembered half the songs. Kind of overlooked in the MJ canon and it sorta feels like there's reason for that. The floor is very good but even though there's some real standout stuff it pales next to some of the greatest top to bottom albums ever made in this discography. Still an MJ album though.
Just sort of a masterful object, the exact kind of hip-hop curio I adore. "Blue Flowers" is the only song I knew going in and it's still my favorite of the tracklist but goodness gracious is this whole thing wonderful. By which I mean Dan the Automator is firing on all cylinders and Kool Keith is meeting the moment with inspired crudeness and off-kilter rhymes. The incipience of a movement that would go on to foster some of my favorite music ever but jeez unlike some other proto-genre highly influential albums this one really holds my attention and lingers like the best of what follows. Cool! Insane! Incredibly produced! Love it! Favorite new discoveries were "3000", "No Awareness", "Real Raw", "Technical Difficulties", "Bear Witness", "Halfsharkalligatorhalfman", and "Waiting List (DJ Shadow/Automator remix)".
This is really something. Only have been sorta passingly familiar with Sinéad, and been meaning to check this out forever really. Turns out, it's brilliant! So special. I think it was the moment, after the haunting opening track, that "I Am Stretched On Your Grave" kicks off with the Funky Drummer break that I knew this would be a great ride. I think "The Emperor's New Clothes" is the best in show but shoutout to "Last Days of Our Acquaintance" and the aforementioned "I Am Stretched On Your Grave". Overall an incredible listen.
recorded gorgeously (that brush kit sound is the stuff of dreams), beautiful arrangements melodies and musicianship, Lyle Lovett on the cover, what's not to love? The last minute of "Banks Of the Pontchartrain" has me on da verge of tears
It is clear how important Billy Joel is to the great american songwriter tapestry. However, I've always sorta found him a bit of a "the bones are their money" type lyricist. It sounds good but i think i'm not persuaded that it's something i'll return to often with particular focus. And to be clear i'm not sure i have ever heard anyone else be nearly as good at this songwriting mode where the lyrics are so transparent and heart-on-sleeve. The musicianship is quite fun throughout. "Vienna" is a song that I find much more well observed than the other tracks here. A good hang of an album.
Tied to a moment in alt rock and not one i find particularly interesting. It's fine but not insightful or grabbing really at all which in the context of this exercise probably means i have to penalize it.
Pretty fun, if it was tighter I think it could be a genuinely great album. I like "Wilson" and "Girl VII", and "London Belongs To Me" is the standout for me. Good sugar.
Total delight! Bliss! I think one of the great achievements in human existence is vocal harmony and this is some of the finest documentation of that in the western world. My cut of choice is "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)", but i mean this whole thing is a 37 min heater run. I adore "Keep the Customer Satisfied" as well.
This feels like the kind of object I'll only unlock further and further with each progressive listen. Found myself humming along a lot to these songs I was hearing for the first time. Bill Callahan seems to be one of those songwriters who accesses melodies that feel so obvious and immediate but new. "My Friend" is one of the best songs we've gotten so far in this project.
Lovely stuff. Pretty perfect bossa.
Not my favorite stuff by them but even still just so so so singular.
Before I even press play on this: as far as I'm concerned Mitch Mitchell is the holy grail of rock drumming. The sound he achieved is everything I hope for whenever I drum.
The solo on "The Wind Cries Mary" after the first chorus is more or less my favorite guitar moment of all time. I spent weeks in high school trying to perfect those licks but never getting it to sound as immaculately laidback as Jimi. Same goes for the solo after the first chorus of "Foxey Lady". There are so many infectious guitar moments in here, it's a whole emotional language. I'm being cringe but I don't care.
I will give the slightest of concessions -- and it's not even a real one -- this is the Jimi album that sags the most for me and with more awareness of the fact that the tracklist I know was cobbled together from a UK and US release with different cuts, that totally scans. But even with that being said, this music is so much part of my musical root (especially my foundation for American music) that I couldn't possibly rate it lower.
Now that I've actually finished my listen. Holy hell Mitch Mitchell. The greatest to ever do it. Effortless fury, what a talent. Also will not sleep on Noel Redding! This is one of those bands a la The Who where I will hear out the case that every member is the best musician to ever pick up that instrument.
every track has a moment that i can just disappear into. this was never my favorite SY album but it is part of a dazzling run of albums (much of which it looks like we'll be able to visit). where they just are always inches away from disappearing into something amazing, like the end of "Catholic Block" (a song that somehow I previously dismissed but on this listen very much stood out). I still think it's not in my upper echelon of rock albums like the best of Sonic Youth, but my oh my is this such an experience.
if this didn't overstay its welcome so hard i would probably be more into it. highlight of the listening experience was identifying a sample in "Airwave Hysteria" so i guess that was my favorite. fun experimentation but the kind of thing i've heard done with more competency and coherence elsewhere. "The Animist" really makes clear the valuable distinction between stream-of-consciousness rap and spoken word. I like that there's some urgency in the ending track but then it sort of loses the plot lol.
such a great time. the voice behind Kinks lyrics is so impressive and elegant to me always. evocative in exactly the way you dream of. I already know and love the song "Picture Book", but the new highlights for me were the opener, "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains", and "Village Green". Just filled top to bottom with jammers. What more can you ask for! If the other albums are even better as several say, then this might be an all timer band for me.
Some really wonderful highs but kinda too much time away from the good stuff. After Wild Honey you can more or less turn it off.
not really a mark against it but just immediately sort of stopped paying attention to this. it wasn't like unengaging or anything but just immediately became so comfortable that i hardly checked what song i was on or anything. look forward to spending more time with it! really good!
i don't mind the places this goes but i think i would have much more tolerance for it if it didn't take forever getting there
I forget how much i actually really like Blur lol.
a really enjoyable listen. my trip hop phase cannot come soon enough
Just musicians in sync, great trio work. Pretty much as good as possible.
Nile Rodgers is a groove monster i have no idea how to even put into words how smooth he is with it! Tony Thompson is crazy tight. Mostly a band creating atmospheres and letting them ride and I can't complain about it! had a great time
i knew i liked the beach boys but really still shocked by how into this i am. probably my favorite discovery yet. felt a crazy sort of ecstasy on hearing River Song. this thing sounds fantastic top to bottom!
what's really wonderful about this is how it is all rooted in really well structured, well-written songs and then often veers into ideas that i can't believe i'm hearing. the shit that happens 45 seconds into Pelo Amor de Deus my god!
As always happens whenever I remember Pixies exist, I'm now deep in the throes of listening to all of their first three albums. Surfer Rosa feels like this great introductory statement to their thesis that being angular and noisy and dissonant is so adjacent to great, great pop songwriting. The original 4 is so obviously one of the great rock lineups, everyone grooving with a specific and unique approach. "River Euphrates" is still my fave from this album, on some days my favorite ever Pixies track. RIP Steve Albini.
I'm always listening to this album. it's seismic. every piece of it is etched so hard into my brain. When we listened to Surfer Rosa literally yesterday I talked about how much it establishes that great pop songwriting can always be inches away from plunging into more anguished, "ugly" (for lack of a better word, since this is one of the most beautiful albums ever) wells of human expression.
I think about how "No. 13 Baby" kicks off with this discordant construction where every element of the song seems to be fighting each other with explosive energy and how it just floats off into the most gorgeous ride off into the sunset. I think about how the delicacy of Frank's vocals on "Wave of Mutilation" are underlined by these sludgy clouds of guitar chords. I think about one of my all time favorite drum parts on "I Bleed", with a tight rhythm section as Kim + Frank fall in and out of sync with each other. The modulation of "Mr. Grieves" from this weird ska skeleton into a jumpy sing-songy jaunt into a swinging barn burner. I simultaneously have these songs burned into my memory and I'm constantly discovering new angles to them.
Everything is this insane product of the alchemy between these four musicians. There are many albums out there that I've had the luck of falling in love with, but year on year Doolittle separates more and more from the pack as something increasingly singular and significant. The most annoying thing I've ever done is watch Un Chien Andalou synced with this and be cosmically moved. Gouge Away is the name of one of my favorite bands of these days, just one of the many pieces of shrapnel from this explosive masterpiece.
pretty nice sounding! in the right setting (up for 20 hours in a club) i could see this taking me to heaven
Honestly not super my jam. Very impressed by its production and how legible the instrumentation is but could have done with more manipulation a la "Desired Constellation" or "Mouths Cradle" -- the acapella timbre just kept me at a distance.
Every song here starts out with this combination of sounds that hits my ear harshly, but as they continue and Bjork starts singing, a logic coalesces within them? What the heck. This is surely the first time anyone has had such a reaction to the Icelandic singer Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Not really anything mindblowing, but some well crafted songs in here! "Perfect Way" got a verse melody that's sticking in my head!
an interesting insight into this band in a more stripped down timbre and approach. i like it but definitely an early effort from a group that would later reach much greater heights. "No Compassion" is the standout for me.
I have "never heard this before". In quotes because within the first two minutes my ears perked up hearing the sample from Six Inch by Beyoncé. Hayes's perfection is the kind of stuff you hear and immediately can feel the universe that unfolds out from these ideas. Clearly something important and magnificent, sounds phenomenal. Had a great time.
sounds fantastic. love the energy.
Some really excellent jams in here but by the end I couldn't really sit with whatever story was being told. I took a pee break and didn't bother to pause when I left the room.
somewhat sterile in a Mercury Prize sort of way (lol). but undeniably very well produced and engineered. maybe a bit too pristine for me to really have a visceral reaction to it.
Really fantastic stuff. Quite staggering. "Djed" feels like a drive through a factory town.
honestly pretty consistently enjoyable when there's music. impressive musicianship. but just such a long album that i end up a little worn out by the end. i should have spent the entire album length to drive over to nashville and tell them to stop yapping
pretty good Prince pastiche. well produced!
boss. i hadn't listened to this one before but it's really excellent. great album, so well formed it sounds easy. "Darlington County" was the standout that I hadn't heard before.
pretty decent but never quite grabbed me. not sure i'll ever really be pressed to revisit but i wouldn't turn it off if it was playing.
Just part of that miracle Joni run where all she's doing is churning out perfection like only she can. This isn't even one of my favorite albums of that stretch but it would be extremely stupid of me to like this album as much as I do and rate it lower than 5.
Neat in its rawness and directness. Will Oldham cool guy
i must admit the sonics and aesthetics of Rush aren't super my bag, but so often this album leaned into a jammy quality that I just found irresistible.
this is sorta the corner of classic rock that i don't mind but have trouble really getting that much out of. White Rabbit is so leaps and bounds above. the rest... inoffensive, which i mean both complimentary and derogatory. if i feel strongly later on that i've underrated this i'll go back and boost it
short n sweet. this studio sound is so simple and fantastic.
it's cool, not my fave really. not my favorite version of The Police by any stretch.
Fantastic. One of the best we've listened to yet. The chorus for "Prove My Love" is irresistible
quite enjoyable. nothing mindblowing but i had a nice time. prob won't return to it anytime soon
I do genuinely find something interesting in these sorts of failed sonic syntheses. Not even really giving credit to Travis, but it's like clearly intentioned and crafted in a way to strive for some sort of combination of influences that I just do not care about. Tries to do The Bends + OK Computer and ends up as 2000s U2 but much worse.
Immediately grabs you by the throat and doesn't move an inch. Corin Tucker is one of the greatest vocalists ever. What this album achieves with 3 musicians is so potent and electrifying to the point that it defies all conventional studio wisdom. Who needs a bass player! Janet Weiss is the greatest. The way Tucker and Brownstein weave in and out of each other's playing and singing is also so singular, maybe my favorite dual guitar attack in all of rock history. It's hard for me to make an argument against this being the best Sleater-Kinney album. Some days I prefer listening to No Cities to Love but this is just such a lightning bolt.
If anything, even better than I remembered on this relisten.
much better than i expected! quite samey but still generally solid enough for me to enjoy spending time with it
A plane of existence that's very fun to ride out for the runtime. Great time
The chinese restaurant skit is pretty dumb and then it leads into the greatest song ever made, "Fu Gee La". I sorta think this is a high highs album where the whole thing doesn't quite live up to its peaks (How Many Mics, Fu Gee La, The Mask) but those are suuuuch high peaks.
This time I checked out the Shy and Robbie remix of Fu Gee La, amazing stuff.
Easily my least favorite Radiohead album besides Pablo Honey and i'm generally surprised that's not consensus. First four tracks are great, cool new version of Morning Bell, aside from that I mostly skip this.
Easy 5. Where has this been all my life? (The answer: right under my nose!)
Not just dynamic and fun but also well written and tosses out fantastic musical ideas left and right and never lets them overstay their welcome.
Perhaps it suffers from overexposure and its outsized influence in the following decade but I really didn't like this despite me sticking up for Taylor. It feels vapid and not in enough of a knowing or particularly instinctive way. Like a calculated reverse engineering of recession pop that shows all of its work and thus loses its immediacy. "Style" is a banger though. I like the instrumental of "Welcome to New York" but talk about lyrics that show the weaknesses of Taylor Swift. I think "Bad Blood" is sorta the head empty bubblegum song that gets the balance right.
