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Post by neader on Jul 11, 2023 14:43:46 GMT -6
Be cool if Spotify stopped automatically shuffling albums by default when I click to play one.
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Post by chvrchbarrel on Jul 11, 2023 14:48:44 GMT -6
Be cool if Spotify stopped automatically shuffling albums by default when I click to play one. I'm a fucking blink away from cancelling this and going to Apple Music. Simply listening to music has become a goddamn fucking chore on their app. It makes me irate. |
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Post by teekoh on Jul 11, 2023 14:50:19 GMT -6
I dig Tidal.
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Post by krentist on Jul 11, 2023 14:51:16 GMT -6
my personal favorite app? Nugs.net, brother.
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Jul 11, 2023 14:55:22 GMT -6
 Skipping ahead to Court and Spark, since For the Roses isn't gonna make my list. Plus thebosma promised a write-up for it. Maybe once he's done hanging out with Bjork in Reykjavik. I honestly don't know what the "narrative" is around this record, but it always felt like the lighter, little cousin to Blue. Like the comedown from all that heaviness. But because it's Joni, she couldn't help but make it another perfect album in spite of itself. And for that - I love it. These songs aren't afraid to let loose. The multi-tracked saccharine plea of "Help Me" ; the frenetic funk of "Raised on Robbery". The intimacy of Blue's arrangements are scrapped for lushness, just listen to the last three minutes of "Down to You," it basically sounds like a Broadway soundtrack. But - surprise! There's a darkness lurking here amongst all these major-key songs.* The social anxiety undercutting "People's Parties" basically invents the concept of Andy Shauf. The Fame-Burnout tales famously spun in "Free Man in Paris" (poor, pitiful, David Geffen) or - at least to my ear - hiding in the merry-go-round of "The Same Situation." It stands in the shadow of its predecessors, but it thrives in that shade - digging further into your psyche with every listen until you end up going, "Huh, Court and Spark is just as good as Blue!" And, it's not. But still, only a killer album could even come that close. *These songs are probs not all in major keys, I don't actually know much/any theory |
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Jul 11, 2023 14:57:02 GMT -6
my personal favorite app? Nugs.net, brother. This but, unfortunately, LivePhish. |
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Jul 11, 2023 14:59:50 GMT -6
Be cool if Spotify stopped automatically shuffling albums by default when I click to play one. I'm a fucking blink away from cancelling this and going to Apple Music. Simply listening to music has become a goddamn fucking chore on their app. It makes me irate. One thing I've learned about myself in the last few months, is that I'm pretty hopelessly addicted to the platforms I already use. Like, I know that actually quitting Twitter and Spotify would be the ethical decision / make me happier / make better use of my time. But I just can't fuckin' do it. Ahhhhhhhhh |
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Post by thebosma on Jul 11, 2023 16:13:22 GMT -6
Admittedly I don’t think For the Roses will make my list but there’s so much good stuff on it still. Will def post some thoughts on Blue and Hejira though, eventually
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Jul 12, 2023 10:06:06 GMT -6
 Now moving onto 1975's Hissing of the Summer Lawns. Coming on the heels of Court and Spark's tremendous critical and commercial success, this record was Joni's biggest artistic risk to date. The songs here pivot hard into more abstract structures and jazz-inflected instrumentation. These are not pop songs, they would not play on the radio - not on the AM at least. It was Joni's Serious Artist record, and - no surprise here - she nailed it. Opening track "In France They Kiss On Main Street" is the closest to her classic sound she gets - bouncy melodies, multi-track harmony, a Dan-esque guitar solo (fittingly played by longtime Dan collaborator Jeff "Skunk" Baxter). But then the sampled Burundi drums introduce "The Jungle Line," and it's clear we're in for something different. No real chorus, heavy emphasis on mood and rhythm, stabs of Moog experimentation. It's pretty fuckin' cool. These descriptors apply to much of the rest of the album, finding Mitchell chasing her muse and eschewing traditional structures. "Don't Interrupt The Sorrow" is my highlight, one of a handful of tracks here that take shots against patriarchal systems (see also: Boho Dance, Harry's House, and the title track). Now, this record isn't Metal Machine Music or something. It's not Trans for that matter either. It's still got Joni's voice, her familiar cadence, and the cadre of LA session wizards who flanked her on her last several albums. But Hissing makes you work for the payoff a little more. Give it a shot tho - I promise it's worth it. |
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Jul 12, 2023 11:59:20 GMT -6
Surprised at no Hejira if you’re listing Joni albums. Also Rush’s 70s output is pretty much unparalleled  Welp - that was quite the oversight on my part. Idk - I think its been like 5 years since the last time I heard this record, and for some reason my memory was that I only kind of liked it. Listened to it today and, like, wtf. Listened to it again immediately afterwards and am still floored. What was I thinking? This record feels just as monumental as Blue, just favoring more winding, roving structures than the 3-4 minute missives of the latter. Leaning more and more into her jazz bag, to the point of even having Jaco Pastorious on bass for several of the record's best cuts (especially his work on the title track). And speaking of "Hejira," I'll be damned if that's not her most poignant self-reflection yet. Like... "Well, I looked at the granite markers /Those tributes to finality, to eternity / And then I looked at myself here / Chicken scratching for my immortality." Coyote is the other big track here, one of two that she performed at The Last Waltz - its caricature of the bloated rock stars around her is killer. Not to mention the strangely touching send-up of "A Strange Boy." Joni also drops a trio of knockout tracks exploring the rough-hewn roads and catharsis of heartbreak that rival anything she or anyone else had writ on the subject yet (Amelia, Song for Sharon, and Hejira). "Amelia" in particular has been fucking my shit up all afternoon. Such a gorgeous melody and haunting metaphor. So yeah, Bosma was right - this album is incredible. Happy to correct that oversight - it's def gonna place on my list, and - if it keeps its hooks in me - it'll place very highly. |
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Jul 12, 2023 12:41:31 GMT -6
 Speaking of Jaco... fuck it, I revisited this one today after Hejira and I'm adding it to my list. This shit is awesome. Some folks malign his bouncy, frantic, fretless bass, but that shit sounds sublime here. And the range on this thing is superb. We start with a be-bop staple "Donna Lee," then jump into a fusion funk workout feat. Sam & Dave. later we get "Kuru / Speak Like A Child," basically a showpiece for Herbie to go crazy on piano and trade licks with Jaco. Then the gorgeous solo piece "Portrait of Tracy," before the (somehow not cheesy) steel drum laden "Opus Pocus" and "Okonkole y Trompa" a hypnotizing piece feat. french horn that wouldn't sound out of place on a Steve Reich record. Jaco was in his bag here, and I probably prefer this record to any of the Weather Report releases he's on? A super fun summer afternoon listen. |
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Post by scoots on Jul 12, 2023 13:15:16 GMT -6
Be cool if Spotify stopped automatically shuffling albums by default when I click to play one. Just go to preferences and turn off "autoplay" |
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Jul 12, 2023 13:35:21 GMT -6
 Here's another batshit cool late-70s album from an eccentric bassist. Henri Texier was a French free-jazz player who often performed with Don Cherry during his 60s stay in Europe. This album is pretty hard to describe. A few sources on google call it a jazz and world music fusion, and that sort of rings true? The Celtic influences on "L'ultime danse" are unlike anything I've ever heard in the jazz idiom. And his sustained tones and wordless chant-like vocals are definitely more than a little raga influenced. He's also attacking his bass as a lead instrument throughout in such a captivating manner. This is no Jaco fretless fusion. Texier is beating the shit out of this thing - honestly, the signature sound of this record is the resounding THUMP of his fingers plucking the strings. Check out the overtly Indian-inspired "L'elephant" to hear some of that. But the hookiest track here is the opener "Les 'La-bas'," which I first heard a few years ago on an Aquarium Drunkard radio show. Texier's chants are stupid catchy here, as his fluid, funky bass melody. Then comes the bridge and things start to feel a little Mediterranean? Idk, this record is all over the place. But it's a delightful listen and one that I've steadily returned to over the last two years. Give it a shot - just know you're gonna be humming that opening melody for the rest of your day. |
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Jul 12, 2023 14:12:37 GMT -6
 Too much pleasantness in these parts - let's talk James Chance & the Contortion's sneering punk jazz record Buy. I heard this for the first time lime 5-6 years ago, and it was like nothing I'd heard before. I didn't have any grounding in jazz, and was just starting to investigate the seedy underground of the CBGB / Mudd Club scene. James Chance was an iconoclast around those parts. Known for his extremely confrontational performance style (I've read anecdotes in a couple books about him physically fighting with audience members who weren't dancing to his band) and set on track by his girlfriend and manager, the late Anya Phillips, Chance was at the foreground of what would be called No Wave. In theory, it dispensed with the blues foundation of rock - in practice, it was replaced by a schizophrenically paced, ultra-streamlined brand of funk. Sort of like the "mutant disco" bands that would rise up next (ESG, Liquid Liquid). But there was a raw aggression in these groups. For Lydia Lunch / Teenage Jesus and the Jerks - that came via streams of spit-laced poetry. For Chance, that meant dipping into the city's free / loft jazz scene. Chance studied with David Murray in the late 70s, and the wailing, squealing sax lines on the latter's Flowers for Albert can be heard at times here - punctuating these funk-punk tracks with fiery exclamation points. It's a very rough and ready mixture, but Chance channels enough charisma through his yelping voice and sax that it totally works. Honestly, it's the closest predecessor to John Zorn that I've ever heard. I also want to shout-out the bassist, keeping these skittering tracks from flying off the rails and providing some really cool moments of counterpoint (see: "Designed to Kill"). Turns out the bassist was David Hofstra, founding member of The Waitresses. Good shit. Check it out! |
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Post by venom on Jul 14, 2023 8:05:34 GMT -6
Too much pleasantness in these parts - let's talk James Chance & the Contortion's sneering punk jazz record Buy. I heard this for the first time lime 5-6 years ago, and it was like nothing I'd heard before. I didn't have any grounding in jazz, and was just starting to investigate the seedy underground of the CBGB / Mudd Club scene. James Chance was an iconoclast around those parts. Known for his extremely confrontational performance style (I've read anecdotes in a couple books about him physically fighting with audience members who weren't dancing to his band) and set on track by his girlfriend and manager, the late Anya Phillips, Chance was at the foreground of what would be called No Wave. In theory, it dispensed with the blues foundation of rock - in practice, it was replaced by a schizophrenically paced, ultra-streamlined brand of funk. Sort of like the "mutant disco" bands that would rise up next (ESG, Liquid Liquid). But there was a raw aggression in these groups. For Lydia Lunch / Teenage Jesus and the Jerks - that came via streams of spit-laced poetry. For Chance, that meant dipping into the city's free / loft jazz scene. Chance studied with David Murray in the late 70s, and the wailing, squealing sax lines on the latter's Flowers for Albert can be heard at times here - punctuating these funk-punk tracks with fiery exclamation points. It's a very rough and ready mixture, but Chance channels enough charisma through his yelping voice and sax that it totally works. Honestly, it's the closest predecessor to John Zorn that I've ever heard. I also want to shout-out the bassist, keeping these skittering tracks from flying off the rails and providing some really cool moments of counterpoint (see: "Designed to Kill"). Turns out the bassist was David Hofstra, founding member of The Waitresses. Good shit. Check it out! in summer 2004, i tagged along with a friend for apartment hunting across brooklyn. at one place, i noticed a large record collection and fingered through it while my friend roamed the apartment. the guy who lived there said he needed to sell some, so i was welcome to make offers. we didn't spend much time, as my friend was not wild about the place. but i did pick out several records. this was one of them. another was roxy music's For Your Pleasure. i can't recall the others. anyway, when i showed him Buy he made a face and i just knew he wasn't going to part with it. something about how he looked and then how he explained that he couldn't sell it made me think he had some serious history with this album. and each time i've seen it or heard it since, i think about that guy in that messy apartment. |
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Post by nanatod on Jul 16, 2023 18:25:18 GMT -6
Tweet, I've got my list about 1/2 posted today, but I don't know how I'll ever know the correct name for the Graham Parker import album. It's really tough to find online, but I'll know it when I see it.
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Post by Tweet on Jul 16, 2023 18:29:17 GMT -6
Well you need to see it between now and August 25 for it to count. I appreciate you being first to post an official list in the official list thread.
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Post by Tweet on Jul 16, 2023 18:31:46 GMT -6
Putting it up now was just my way to hold myself accountable to make sure this gets done before labor day. My original idea for this rollout can't happen cause one of my RLF has the audacity to be getting married and shit this year. Where are his priorities!
I still haven't settled on a clear #1 and I can't make a list until that's figured out. I don't know if my internet little brother has written about any of my candidates yet
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Post by nanatod on Jul 17, 2023 11:23:02 GMT -6
I know we're not supposed to post greatest hits collections, and I won't. But in the 1970's, a lot of people first learned to appreciate certain acts via the greatest hits sets. Tweet, just be aware that Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits, Rocks Off, Made in the Shade, and MU the Best of Jethro Tull would be top 20 on my list, easy.
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Jul 17, 2023 11:30:19 GMT -6
Putting it up now was just my way to hold myself accountable to make sure this gets done before labor day. My original idea for this rollout can't happen cause one of my RLF has the audacity to be getting married and shit this year. Where are his priorities! I still haven't settled on a clear #1 and I can't make a list until that's figured out. I don't know if my internet little brother has written about any of my candidates yet Damn, can't believe Jaco Pastorious isn't gonna be at #1 |
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Post by nanatod on Jul 17, 2023 18:17:31 GMT -6
Tweet, I'd like a ruling on whether Joan Baez's "The First 10 Years" counts as a greatest hits collection, because some of these were hits, some were not, and the whole package was mainly to introduce folks to the breadth of Baez's work.
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Post by Tweet on Jul 17, 2023 18:21:49 GMT -6
Tweet, I'd like a ruling on whether Joan Baez's "The First 10 Years" counts as a greatest hits collection, because some of these were hits, some were not, and the whole package was mainly to introduce folks to the breadth of Baez's work. Wikipedia says it's a compilation and I agree. Gonna say no on this one |
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Post by Tweet on Jul 17, 2023 18:22:26 GMT -6
Also goodson what are we doin here bud |
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Post by goodson on Jul 18, 2023 5:47:32 GMT -6
what
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Post by Tweet on Jul 18, 2023 8:48:31 GMT -6
Just format your list correctly sometime between now and August 25 is all
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Jul 18, 2023 9:07:25 GMT -6
 This fuckin' album. I keep wanting to drop it from my final list, but then I remember another great song on it, and here it stays. Like, for every massive hit you've heard a million times (Band on the Run, Jet), there's another one ready to burrow its way into your brain (Mrs. Vanderbilt, Let Me Roll It, 1985). Even deeper cuts like "Mamunia" are worth obsessing over. This album doesn't hook me in with its themes / sonic palette the way that Ram does, but it's quintessential Peak Macca - flexing his songwriting and arranging skills while playing damn near every track on the album (the record's personnel is just Paul, Linda, and Denny Laine). Also - did you know Count Dooku is on the album cover?! Paul invited six British celebrities to pose for the shot, one of whom was Christopher "Saruman the White" Lee. He's the guy standing with his hand on the wall, third from the right. That alone might be enough to earn a spot on my list. |
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Jul 18, 2023 9:19:14 GMT -6
This fuckin' album. I keep wanting to drop it from my final list, but then I remember another great song on it, and here it stays. Like, for every massive hit you've heard a million times (Band on the Run, Jet), there's another one ready to burrow its way into your brain (Mrs. Vanderbilt, Let Me Roll It, 1985). Even deeper cuts like "Mamunia" are worth obsessing over. This album doesn't hook me in with its themes / sonic palette the way that Ram does, but it's quintessential Peak Macca - flexing his songwriting and arranging skills while playing damn near every track on the album (the record's personnel is just Paul, Linda, and Denny Laine). Also - did you know Count Dooku is on the album cover?! Paul invited six British celebrities to pose for the shot, one of whom was Christopher "Saruman the White" Lee. He's the guy standing with his hand on the wall, third from the right. That alone might be enough to earn a spot on my list. Man, the wikipedia of this album is a goldmine of great anecdotes: "McCartney says he was on vacation in Montego Bay, Jamaica where he "snuck" onto the set of the film Papillon where he met Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen. After a dinner with Hoffman, with McCartney playing around on guitar, Hoffman did not believe that McCartney could write a song "about anything", so Hoffman pulled out a magazine where they saw the story of the death of Pablo Picasso and his famous last words, "Drink to me, drink to my health. You know I can't drink anymore." McCartney created a demo of the song and lyrics on the spot, prompting Hoffman to exclaim to his wife: 'look, he's doing it … he's doing it!'" This one cracks me up too - for reference, most of the album was recorded in Lagos, Nigeria: "Another incident was the confrontation with local Afrobeat pioneer and political activist Fela Kuti, who publicly accused the band of being in Africa to exploit and steal African music after their visit to his club. Kuti went to the studio to confront McCartney, who played their songs for him to show that they contained no local influence." |
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Post by ten15 on Jul 18, 2023 10:08:50 GMT -6
Band on the Run was the first album that young ten15 ever purchased. So there's that.
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Post by nanatod on Jul 18, 2023 10:09:15 GMT -6
even tho I got another 30 or so albums to go, monastery, my distate for macca is enough that I ain't putting band on the run or ram in the empty slots. nor venus and mars.
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Post by dij22 on Jul 18, 2023 10:25:46 GMT -6
"Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" is probably the best song of all time tbh
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