Discussion: The board does the 1970s

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Seriously, how was this band so good? Not content with producing the finest album of the punk era, they turn around and - nine months later - release one of the seminal records of what would come to be termed "post-punk." The hallmarks are all here: AnGuLaR gUiTaRs, big, looming basslines ("Practice Makes Perfect," "Being Sucked in Again," "Mercy"), noisy soundscapes ("Practice Makes Perfect," "Mercy"), vocals that yelp above the din ("Mercy"). If you can't tell, I fucking love the song "Mercy". And for as much bass-y heaviness, we still have loads of short, airy revelations. An angular proto-new-wave track (Another the Letter). A hushed YMG-styled mood piece (Heartbeat). A catchy bite-sized banger (Outdoor Miner). Everything about the metallic chattering of "I Am The Fly." These guys were always a step ahead of their countrymen - consummate musical chameleons - and they didn't even have to change their names from Johnny Rotten or whatever to emphasize their metamorphosis.

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I am, unfortunately, addicted to Twitter. I've tried very hard to leave the site, but I just have so much downtime on my commutes / some work days, that it's been difficult for me to stop the scroll. The site is largely a time-suck that makes me feel bad about the world, but every so often I find something wonderful through it. This album - Ahmad Jamal Trio's The Awakening - is one of those things. A few months ago my feed was full of people praising this record. Idk if there was a recent reissue, or just one person inspired another, inspired another to listen/post about it, but it came to my attention either way. And I was totally sucked into the record after just one listen. Ahmad's piano sound is one of the purest, most gorgeous tones I've ever heard on the instrument. He's not typically one for flourishes, his playing is more measured, stately, in a word: pretty. It's much for a good mood. It'll brighten your day. Honestly, the closest comp I can think of for the magnificent title track is Vince Guaraldi's Peanuts work. It's playful stuff, but also very heady. Fun but with an edge. It's a lovely record. It's also a shame that Ahmad Jamal passed away just a few days after I came across this album. RIP to one of the best.

[monasterymonochrome]

One of my favorite free jazz records largely because there's so much weird, cool stuff going on around it. Anthony Braxton was a member of the AACM, part of scenes pushing the experimental boundaries in both Chicago and New York. He was/is known as a professor type - which you can probably tell from his glasses and pipe on this LP cover. But also, all of his compositions have wildly unorthodox titles. Each title is typically a diagram of sorts, involving symbols, inscrutable acronyms, and lines in various directions. His compositions themselves are similarly complex, full of weaving lines, erratic melodies, and carefully constructed chaos. I've sampled around his catalogue, and this record has been my favorite. Largely because it sounds super cool. The first track is just killer jazz, even swings a bit, then dives deep into exploratory territory. Shout-out to Dave Holland on bass (whose Conference of the Birds record narrowly missed my list). The biggest highlight tho, is the fourth track, where Braxton's clarinet is accompanied by early Moog synthesizer work by Richard Teitelbaum. It's unlike really anything from this era of jazz, save for some of Herbie's more out-there stuff on Sextant? Braxton then follows that up with a piece for saxophone quartet. Dudes rock.

[monasterymonochrome]

Sun Ra made some of the coolest, boundary-pushing, fearless music in jazz history - shit, in music history, period. You could take all his records from the 50s and 60s alone and he would still be a legend. What's crazy is that, in my opinion, the 1970s were by far his best decade. Here you get at least four killer records. Space is the Place, Languidity, Strange Celestial Road, and Sleeping Beauty. I'd rank those last three in his top 4 or 5 records, with Space is the Place not far behind. This period wasn't his most challenging. I still have trouble penetrating his free jazz epics of the mid-60s like Herliocentric World. Instead, this was when he turned his eye toward contemporary sounds like funk, RnB, and fusion. But it's still Sun fuckin' Ra, ya know? Even if he's got one eye on his peers, he's still keeping the other firmly agaze in the cosmos. Languidity was his first foray into a hard-funk jazz record, and maaan this thing grooves. Check out "Twin Stars of Thence" for some of the gnarliest funk this side of Parliament. But he's not playing it straight. There's all sorts of weird-ass chords, skronking solos, and tractor beam keyboard solos throughout. Sun Ra may have been making more accessible music, but he was absolutely not going to sacrifice his vision or his mission. And that combination makes this record - and the others of this era - some of the most exhilarating and compelling music in his catalogue.

[monasterymonochrome]

Sleeping Beauty is the Sun Ra record I would recommend to anyone new to his discography.  It's my favorite - and it's only 3 tracks, just a hair under 30 minutes total. Each song is wonderful, a trio of sweeping statements of cosmic fusion and cyclical, unending earthly beauty. It's joyous big band music. But it's also more lithe and graceful than the hard avant-funk sounds of Languidity. That said, this approachability does not sacrifice complexity - each of these songs is dense and layered, with new sounds and solos and harmonies to discover from the 2nd to 22nd listen. John Gilmore's solo on the title track is a revelation. Shades of Coltrane from the guy who Coltrane himself took as an influence. And "Springtime Again" is my favorite Sun Ra track. Essential listening for me every April and May, and one of the most beautiful jazz tracks put to wax. Give this record a try if you've never heard any Sun Ra - or if the mammoth scale of his catalogue has been intimidating. Sometimes the best route to interplanetary music starts here on Earth.

[monasterymonochrome]

Jul 3, 2023 13:04:12 GMT -6 monasterymonochrome said:

Sleeping Beauty is the Sun Ra record I would recommend to anyone new to his discography.  It's my favorite - and it's only 3 tracks, just a hair under 30 minutes total. Each song is wonderful, a trio of sweeping statements of cosmic fusion and cyclical, unending earthly beauty. It's joyous big band music. But it's also more lithe and graceful than the hard avant-funk sounds of Languidity. That said, this approachability does not sacrifice complexity - each of these songs is dense and layered, with new sounds and solos and harmonies to discover from the 2nd to 22nd listen. John Gilmore's solo on the title track is a revelation. Shades of Coltrane from the guy who Coltrane himself took as an influence. And "Springtime Again" is my favorite Sun Ra track. Essential listening for me every April and May, and one of the most beautiful jazz tracks put to wax. Give this record a try if you've never heard any Sun Ra - or if the mammoth scale of his catalogue has been intimidating. Sometimes the best route to interplanetary music starts here on Earth.

Edit: this was also, by my count, my 100th review for this 70s series.  Still have another 70-80 in the docket.  So much for not writing as much this time around.

[monasterymonochrome]

Such a fascinating record and conclusion to the Velvet's golden run. Their only in-earnest attempt to make a Hit Record (even the relaxed, largely acoustic The Velvet Underground^{(their best album)} had "The Murder Mystery."  And honestly they aced the assignment with Loaded. "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll" are classic singles and perhaps the easiest entry-points to the Lou Reed oeuvre. But each track here comes packed with its own killer melody. The chorus to "Cool it Down" or especially the "Dawning of a New Age" section of the next track. Without Cale around, Lou doesn't really let himself get too dissonant, "Train Round the Bend" is the closest they get to the buzz-saw stomp of their debut, and the former sounds neutered in comparison. Instead, I want to speak in praise of Doug Yule, without whom this album simply does not work. His wide-eyed, sweet voice is featured on both of my favorite Loaded tracks, "Who Loves the Sun" and the incomparable "Oh! Sweet Nuthin". And thanks to Lou functionally quitting the band (and Moe Tucker being out on maternity leave), Doug is practically a one-man-band here (all due respect to Mr. Sterling Morrison, of course). Here are Doug's personnel credits: bass guitar, piano, organ, lead guitar, acoustic guitar, drums, percussion, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Who Loves the Sun", "New Age", "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'", and "Ride Into The Sun (Session Outtake)." These may be Lou's songs, but this is Doug's record. And I'll be damned if that combo didn't produce an indelibly catchy record, a celebration and, ultimately, a eulogy for one of the Great American Bands.

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Speaking of John Cale - dude was a busy man since his 1969 split from the Velvets. Producing for Iggy Pop and the Modern Lovers. Appearing on record with Nick Drake. And releasing this masterpiece of a chamber pop record. 9 perfectly crafted songs, polished up by Lowell George of Little Feat fame, telling liltingly terrifying tales of life going on after unimaginable horror. Ya know, Paris circa 1919.

But don't take my word for it - listen along while reading a track-by-track breakdown by Elizabeth Nelson, aka The Paranoid Style, aka probs the best working music critic at the moment:
www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2023/07/nothing-frightens-me-more-than-religion-at-my-door-john-cales-paris-1919-turns-50

[monasterymonochrome]

Todd Rundgren - A Wizard / A True Star: A true weirdos classic, a record that sometimes feels like a mood board or an impeccably sounding, hastily assembled collage. The A-side alone has 6 consecutive sub-2 minute songs. Some of which rule (the intro-drop into "Tic Tic Tic") and some of which are titled "Rock & Roll Pussy." It's a record that has a theme song! The bombastic glammy ballad "International Feel" - an earworm of a track that earns its right to bookend Side 1. But for a record so obviously sequenced with great intentionality, my god does this thing drag for loooong sections. Like, sorry Todd, but I am not interested in your 10+ minute medley of mid-tempo soul classics. His arrangements + band work well when he's writing fuzzy, glam-meets-power pop, but they suck all the life out of these more conventionally structured covers. But just when I think he's lost me, he closes the record with one of my favorite songs of the entire 1970s: "Just One Victory," a goddamn perfect pop song that also scores nostalgia-points thanks to the Cleveland Baseball Club playing it at Jacob's Field after every win in the mid-late 2000s. This record is far from perfect, but the highs are infectiously high enough that it'll at least make my Top 150... probabaly.

[monasterymonochrome]

The debut record from Richard Hell, the CBGB scene's resident poet and connective tissue. He started off as Tom Verlaine's best friend and partner in Television. His spiky hair and safety-pin adorned clothing was the inspiration for the nascent punk movement's outfits - after Malcolm McLaren ripped off Hell's look back in London. Hell split from Television in 1974-75, forming the Heartbreakers with former New York Doll, Johnny Thunders. Unfortunately, nearly everyone involved was addicted to heroin (see: "Chinese Rock"), and Hell left to form the Voidoids in 1976. On guitar for their debut record were Bob Quine and Ivan Julian, the coolest duo this side of Verlaine / Lloyd. Unsurprisingly, there's a punch and a clarity to Hell's twitchy histrionics that elevates this record above most of their scene comrades. Look no further than the weaving lines punctuating perfectly yelped "Oh NooOOoo"s on "Love Comes in Spurts." Of course the title track, Blank Generation, is effectively the scene's anthem, and would later be used as the title of a film starring Hell. My favorite tho is "Betrayal Takes Two," featuring Hell alternating between dolefully dour lines and some of zaniest, inspired delivery choices possible. Then Quine and Julian unleash screeching, searing solos that would make Quine's future collaborator, John Zorn, raise his eyebrows. It's a high point of one of the most storied periods in rock history. The only shame is that Hell basically retired from music not long after.

[nanatod]

Hell did poetry / spoken word at lower links basement in the late 1980's, and I was there to see him up close. His opener, poet Lorri Jackson, later on overdosed on heroin, which her friend, Chicago writer Tony Fitzpatrick, has alleged came from a party at Al of Ministry's residence.

[monasterymonochrome]

Jul 5, 2023 11:27:30 GMT -6 nanatod said:

Hell did poetry / spoken word at lower links basement in the late 1980's, and I was there to see him up close. His opener, poet Lorri Jackson, later on overdosed on heroin, which her friend, Chicago writer Tony Fitzpatrick, has alleged came from a party at Al of Ministry's residence.

Damn, just read her obit from 1990 in the Tribune - a tough read, with some kinda shockingly morose detail.  Sad stuff.

[monasterymonochrome]

The Raincoats 1979 debut album is one of the most perfect, shambolic, deeply alive post-punk albums ever recorded. It's like the greatest kept secret that ever let slip. Chaotic and joyful and utterly sincere. And it has my absolute favorite group vocals and a beautifully falling-apart-at-the-seams cover of "Lola" that once had my Dad confused wtf he was listening to on my radio show. But then he said he kinda liked it? But don't just take his word for it - check out what noted Raincoats superfan, Kurt Cobain, had to say:

"I don't really know anything about the Raincoats except that they recorded some music that has affected me so much that, whenever I hear it I'm reminded of a particular time in my life when I was (shall we say) extremely unhappy, lonely, and bored. If it weren't for the luxury of putting that scratchy copy of the Raincoats' first record, I would have had very few moments of peace. I suppose I could have researched a bit of history about the band but I feel it's more important to delineated the way I feel and how they sound. When I listen to the Raincoats I feel as if I'm a stowaway in an attic, violating and in the dark. Rather than listening to them I feel like I'm listening in on them. We're together in the same old house and I have to be completely still or they will hear me spying from above and, if I get caught – everything will be ruined because it's their thing."

RIYL: Ought, Hinds, Mekons

[monasterymonochrome]

Pere Ubu - Dub Housing: The Pride of Cleveland! Probably the best / most acclaimed band to hail from my sort of home city (I'm from Youngstown). But Dave Thomas & Co. are local legends, boldly leading the avant-garde punk scene at a time when Northeast Ohio was a hotbed of talent (see: DEVO, The Waitresses, The Numbers Band, electric eels, Rocket from the Tombs / Peter Laughner). They have two post-punk classics, this record and Modern Dance, both from 1978. And maaan this thing is wild. Like transmissions from an industrial park, there's just something in their burnt out chaos, their propulsive energy, and their metallic howling vocals that seems so familiar. These are not pretty songs, yet there's beauty here, there's dancing, even a little fun. But there's also quite a fair bit of foreboding, aimlessness, and collapse. Look no further than centerpiece track "Caligari's Mirror" to find evidence of all the above descriptors. Their keys player Allen Ravenstine gives a solid mission statement for the band in Simon Reynold's invaluable Rip It Up And Start Again: “Things are rough, things are weird, there’s no sense in ignoring that - which is why Ubu’s music isn’t all sweetness and light. But you gotta confront the problem.”

Ravenstine was an interesting guy. One story that stuck with me from that book is how he inherited a bunch of money from a trust when he turned 21, and according to Reynolds, "bought an entire apartment building called the Plaza in downtown Cleveland, and rented its thirty-six rooms out cheaply to artistically minded friends, including every member of Ubu." I've read elsewhere that nearly every member of Cleveland's punk scene lived in that building (featured on the cover of Dub Housing, IIRC) at one time or another for little to no rent. Pretty much made that scene possible - a cool dude.

[Tweet]

Jun 26, 2023 12:31:06 GMT -6 chvrchbarrel said:

Pink Floyd might be my toughest artist to handle list-wise.

Atom Heart Mother
Meddle
Animals
Dark Side
Wish You Were Here
The Wall

could all easily be in contention for my list of 100 albums

Those 3 for me for sure. Meddle might still sneak in there tbh

[monasterymonochrome]

It's like 90 degrees today and I have a bunch of errands to run - for some reason hot summer days in the city scream Curtis Mayfield weather to me. Threw on his self-titled and it was perfect. Dude has got to have the smoothest voice of all time. Yes, even more so than Sam Cooke or Marvin Gaye. He just glides through each track - sounding like, idk, a buttery cherub even when reporting on the dark state of life in the city. He's never didactic, his tone infuses so much empathy into his calls to action. And the arrangements are impeccable - I mean, it's a classic for a reason, but "Move On Up" is simply one of the GOAT horn charts. The whole record feels like symphonic funk, it can be lighter than air or terrifyingly real. Sometimes in the same song (see: "We the People..."). A perfect album. Fuck Eric Adams.

[monasterymonochrome]

Was busy listening to Phish and dancehall and The Smile yesterday so no new posts, but today I want to big up this beautiful hidden gem: Relatively Clean Rivers' self-titled. A gorgeous, sun-drenched slice of psychedelic Americana. Basically the blueprint for Rose City Band, Pacific Range, loads of Aquarium Drunkard-core groups. If these guys existed today, they'd be playing the 4:00pm slot at Woodsist. Unsurprisingly, they hailed for SoCal, and put out their sole LP in 1976. Loooads of Dead influence here, loads of brighter Laurel Canyon vibes, but it never gets cloying like a full Eagles LP. Ya know, this is another heady reference, but it reminds me a lot of that Thunderclap Newman album / the Easy Rider soundtrack. And it isn't afraid to get genuinely weird at times, dipping into some weird proto bleep bloops at times. I mean, it's basically the spirit of a 1974 Eyes > Seastones > The Wheel distilled into a single LP!

Bad news tho, this album isn't available on Spotify. Everything but the first track is on Tidal. But I recommend throwing on the Youtube rip and letting it loop into infinity for yr fine Saturday afternoon.

[monasterymonochrome]

One of three (or four??) Bowie albums that will appear on my list. Bought this one at a used store in Paris like 9 years ago and it's probably one of my most played LPs in my collection. That said - gotta be one of the more frontloaded Great albums, right? Like, Side A is classic after classic after classic. Two of his absolutely biggest smashes (Changes, Life on Mars), one of the best mission statement songs ever (Oh, You Pretty Things), plus one of his best slower ballads (Quicksand) and his delightful extremely British romp (Kooks). Side B is good - don't get me wrong! But nothing comes close to touching any of the A-side songs. Queen Bitch probably comes the closest on that count. I like the weirdness of Belway Brothers at the end too.

But, like, it's still a monster of an album and an eminently replayable record. Incredible to follow him chronologically and hear him truly come into his own with this record.

[monasterymonochrome]

Listened to this one today because I'm going to see Ron Carter at the Blue Note tonight! Honestly, this is one of the most stacked ensembles of all time. Take a look: 1/2 of the classic Coltrane Quartet (McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones), Alice Coltrane herself on the harp, Wayne Shorter on tenor, Gary Bartz on alto, and Ron Carter on bass. Absolutely insane lineup where Gary Bartz - a longtime veteran of Miles Davis' band, is the least notable member. This is another spiritual jazz classic, with McCoy pushing the ensemble further and further into trance-like spaces, especially on the opening track, "Message from the Nile". The closing section with Alice's harp and the two saxes harmonizing is simply perfect. Survival Blues is the other extended track - love that trick you often hear in this era of the bass sticking on one note and suspending the song in a sort of timeless space. Idk what this is called - I hated my HS band teacher and never learned any theory. But it sounds cool as hell - def give it a listen.

[monasterymonochrome]

Here's a record I had in steady rotation during my big bluegrass kick earlier this year. New Grass Revival - Fly Through the Country, from the first iteration of the band (feat. Sam Bush, John Cowan, Courtney Johnson) - and well before Bela Fleck joined up in 1981-82. It's just a nice, good-time album. Check out the joyous harmonies on "This Heart of Mine," or the honest-to-goodness proto BMFS guitar jamming on the title track. Sam Bush and his mandolin are magnificent throughout, not to mention the constant presence of Courtney Johnson's banjo. But the group vocals seal the deal for me. It feels like the connective tissue between laurel canyon / LA country-fried melodies and the bluegrass world. Like, if New Riders was a California band playacting as a bluegrass group - this was a bluegrass group dressing as a bunch of SoCal songwriters. Fittingly, then, the record closes with an extended, gorgeous cover of Jackson Browne's "These Days."

Edit: Oh! And I forgot to mention, my favorite version of old bluegrass standard “Doin’ My Time” - some of the best instrumentals you’ll hear - they even jam it out! Like, as much as you really hear from the mid-70s. It’s super cool, check it out.

[monasterymonochrome]

Had myself a John Prine double-feature this afternoon, trying to decide a tiebreaker to make my list. Ended up leaning toward 1978's Bruised Orange, tho both these records are damn near perfect. Sweet Revenge is Prine at his absolute wryest. Sweet Revenge, Please Don't Bury Me, and Dear Abby are all delivered with an audible grin, like he's personally letting you in on the joke. Each of these three are supremely catchy too - I think "Please Don't Bury Me" pops into my head more than any other Prine song, these days. And - on the other side of the coin - they're interspersed by "Christmas in Prison" and "Blue Umbrella," two of his gut-punching-est songs that also feature killer tunes. The rest of the album, IMO tho, suffers from comparison to this remarkable 5-song run. Everything else is good (tho I'm not big on "The Accident"), clever, and tightly-written. A couple tracks are fuckin' great too ("A Good Time"!!) - but they don't stick in my mind as strongly as the lesser songs on his self-titled.

Or - for that matter - Bruised Orange. This record is beautiful. Prine's songwriting has softened a bit. He's not trying to make you keel over laughing, his humor is more subtle, more about what he leaves out than pure punchlines. Here, his barbs are still largely pointed at himself - see: "There She Goes," but he's so good at slipping in little lines that hit you over the head and knock you out (see: "Well, there must be something somewhere / That makes me want to hurt myself inside." There's a lot of heartache in this record, but the production also lends these tracks an equal amount of warmth, like the strings on "If You Don't Want My Love," the group chorus closing "The Hobo Song," or the organ on "Bruised Orange," a top 5 undisputed John Prine track, btw. He even brings back the character studies of his first record with the lonesome, wistful "Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone." A truly remarkable set of songs.

[monasterymonochrome]

And unsurprisingly, I followed up those Prine records with the self-title from his friend and collaborator, Steve Goodman. I've talked about this record a bunch on this forum before - I really love it. He's got a big of a fuller voice, than Prine's nasally drawl. His inflection is intimate - sometimes almost hushed. Please please listen to "Yellow Coat," it's one of my absolute favorite songs. Heartache and longing and melancholy distilled into four perfect minutes. It's the spiritual predecessor to Croce's "Operator," except this time our narrator's writing - instead of speaking - into the void. My heart drops every time he gets to the "Have you heard a single thing I've said" line.

This album has some hits too! Steve's signature songs, "You Never Even Call Me By My Name" (made famous by David Allan Coe) and "City of New Orleans" (one of the great train songs, made famous by Arlo Guthrie), are both on this record, as well as maximally arranged knockout ballads like "Rainbow Road" and "Eight Ball Blues," plus his version of Prine's "Donald and Lydia" and the best John Prine song that's not actually a John Prine song - "Turnpike Tom". The record kind of peters out by the end, "Jazzman" is the last track that I really love, but the album is exceedingly worthy of your time. Plus, c'mon, he's a Chicago legend! It made me super happy to see the street named after him in Ravenswood last year - dude was a treasure. <3

[monasterymonochrome]

Fuck it, it's Chicago Day! Here's Terry Callier's What Color Is Love, the masterful 1972 collaboration with local production mastermind Charles Stepney. Terry's voice should have been a wonder of the world. It's so fucking good. He has the phrasing and range of someone like Tim Buckley, but feels significantly more present and warm on record. His songs feel pretty firmly rooted in soul and folk traditions, in fact, the best song "You Goin' Miss Your Candyman" is basically an interpolation of "I Know You Rider." But he twists and pulls at the melodies of his best songs until they've spun in six different tempos and moods. It's near impossible to keep up with Callier at his best - he's totally in control. And he's flanked by some of the coolest, most fluid arrangements courtesy of Stepney, most known for his work with Rotary Connection, Minnie Ripperton, and Earth, Wind & Fire (International Anthem put out a terrific comp of his solo demos last year, check it out!). There's an orchestra's worth of players on this record, and Terry & Charles utilize them to their fullest potential, from the quiet moodiness of "Dancing Girl" to the bombastics of "Just As Long As We're in Love." Get hip if ur not already - this record will take yr breath away.

[nanatod]

Jul 10, 2023 12:25:06 GMT -6 monasterymonochrome said:

 

Sweet Revenge is Prine at his absolute wryest. 

my favorite prine song by a mile is :"often is a word I seldom use."  This could be covered by a hard rock / metal band with no loss of meaning.

[nanatod]

Jul 10, 2023 13:46:38 GMT -6 monasterymonochrome said:

Steve Goodman

the 2 framed posters I have at home are the bootleg 2011 lolla chile one sold outside the fest by street vendors, and the 1979 Steve Goodman playing Graham Chapel at Wash U poster, which says Goodman is "Fresh, Funny and Alive."  The Student Union which put on the Goodman show didn't want people swiping the posters, so they used a razor blade to slash the bottom of the poster to keep it from becoming a collectors edition.   My poster, which I got from the Student Union office, may be the only one which they did not slash.

[monasterymonochrome]

It's now officially a Joni Mitchell afternoon - starting out with Joni's first release of the decade, 1970's Ladies of the Canyon. Her first major record, in my eyes, as I like Clouds but don't love it. This one is pretty great through and through. Starts off with one of the best stretches in her entire discography: Morning Morgantown > For Free > Conversation (!!!) > Ladies of the Canyon. I absolutely love love love Conversation, and this whole run just floats by. The middle third is a little less notable, but I want to highlight "The Priest" as one of my favorite Joni deep cuts - beautiful guitar work and the subtle mono-tone drumming in the background fits the mood perfectly. But my hot-ish take on this record is I'm only a mild fan of the last three songs? They're all massive, important songs - and, don't get me wrong, they're all good. But I've never really loved Woodstock and Big Yellow Taxi has lost its oomph for me thru overexposure. The Circle Game is a masterpiece tho. Buuut I honestly prefer Tom Rush's version from his excellent 1968 album of the same name.

All said - damn, what an album! Still may make my top 150, but there will be at least 3, maybe 4, Joni albums ahead of it. This would have been a magnum opus for 99.9% of artists, but Joni was just getting started.

[monasterymonochrome]

I mean, it's Blue. What more do I need to say? I feel about this record the way I feel about Led Zeppelin IV. Like, it's a monolith for a reason, and it earns every last shred and speck of praise ever afforded it. These songs are so good it's fuckin' intoxicating. If the entire album was just the first verse of "A Case of You" repeated for 40 minutes ... it would still crack the top 50 of my list. Seriously, her phrasing and melodies on that song are heaven-sent. Not to mention all the little knock-out moments peppering literally every song here. To list a few: The juxtaposition of "All I want our love to do..." with the "Do you see, do you see, do you see how you hurt me, baby?" on "All I Want" ; the way she phrases "Will you take me as I am?" on "California" ; the little radio snipped feat. Sneaky Pete in "This Flight Tonight" ; the entirety of "The Last Time I Saw Richard." Every song can catch you off guard and give you chills. It's honestly a blessing we get to listen to this whenever we want. Ya know, as long as you have Tidal.

Anyways, Blue has become a consensus Top 10 album OAT, and thank god. Don't overthink it, The Board Dot. #VoteBlueNoMatterWho

[krentist]

I went to spin some Joni after your first post and then remembered she joined Neil Young's moron crusade against Spotify. Oh well.

[monasterymonochrome]

Jul 11, 2023 14:32:53 GMT -6 krentist said:

I went to spin some Joni after your first post and then remembered she joined Neil Young's moron crusade against Spotify. Oh well.

I'm currently rocking a 60-day Tidal trial because I'm working my way thru Neil's 700-page bio, Shakey.  It's great having them (+Joanna Newsom!) on streaming, but I kinda haaate the UI.  Feels kinda clunky.

[krentist]

I've dabbled in all of them. Spotify has the best UI and it isn't even close.