Discussion: The board does the 1970s

[monasterymonochrome]

Aug 4, 2023 12:29:05 GMT -6 nanatod said:

Aug 4, 2023 9:38:04 GMT -6 monasterymonochrome said:

It's his best album.  

no.

bringing it all back home

That's top tier Dylan for sure - probably my third favorite?  Blonde on Blonde might slightly edge it out.

[monasterymonochrome]

Sparks - Kimono My House: Another big thank you to Big Ears for rekindling my love for Sparks, their 2022 headlining set was a joy - one of the best of that weekend. I first heard them in college while looking for more examples of glam rock outside of the Bowie/Bolan sphere. Enter Kimono My House, one of the most irreverent, sharp, and low-key shredding albums of the 70s. I listened to it a bunch in college but then went like 4 years without revisiting the duo. I'd honestly recommend listening to this alongside the lyrics. Like, it's easy to miss at first blush how funny and layered these songs are. We have songs about Albert Einstein's childhood ("Talent is an Asset"), a unrequited crush on a tour guide ("Hasta Mañana Monsieur"), and - my favorite - a report from heaven by Romeo, upon learning Juliet had second thoughts about double-suicide ("Here in Heaven"). All replete with soaring guitar leads, delightfully bouncy chorus, and operatic vocals. And usually all at once! I mean, just check out "Amateur Hour" or "Thank God It's Not Christmas". I don't any band was ever both as fun and excellent as Sparks in 1974.

[monasterymonochrome]

Neil Young - After the Gold Rush: Aww yeah it's time for some more Neil. I'm thinking this is my third favorite Neil of the 70s? A gorgeous record that finds him straddling the line between his folkie days and the ramshackle choogle of Crazy Horse. The tension between those poles really pays off here, I love when he tosses a burner into the middle of this one. Like "Southern Man" blowing up the first side, or "When You Dance" on the second.

Neil also has some of his most straight-forward, polemic songs here. The aforementioned "Southern Man" and the hugely important "After the Gold Rush". Probably the best song ever written about climate change? Either that or John Prine's "Paradise". His singing is largely gentle, his warble sounding particularly vulnerable. A huge example being his slow, anguished cover of Don Gibson's "Oh, Lonesome Me". But, for me, the album's biggest highlight is its opening track. "Is it hard to make arrangements for yourself, when you're old enough to repay, but young enough to sell." Reading his biography rn, Neil seemed like a confused, scared, but remarkably astute and self-assured kid. Lines like that? Yeah, he fuckin' got it.

[monasterymonochrome]

Neil Young - On the Beach: Welcome to The Ditch. One of the great reckoning with fame albums. Neil pours his heart out here, seeming to wonder whether there's anything left there at all. The meat of this record is the final three tracks, but I love the front half just as much, if not more. Walk On is such a great lite Crazy Horse track, See the Sky About to Rain is one of his best countrified songs, as is the pared back "For the Turnstiles". "Ambulance Blues" is the major opus here though. 9-minutes of Neil looking around and saying "what the fuck going on and how did I get here?" This album - and this song especially - feel like a funeral for an old version of Neil. And, depending on your mood, that can either be a dour or an enlivening proposition. The world is turning. Hope it don't turn away.

[monasterymonochrome]

Modern Lovers - Modern Lovers: Probably the last write-up for the day. I'm apparently going tomorrow to that Hannah Gadsby / Picasso show at the Brooklyn Museum that the NYT haaard panned, so I figured this album would be an appropriate listen today. What a crazy record! Jonathan Richman, straight up a Velvet Underground fanboy, forms his own teenage band with a bunch of local Boston misfits. They get courted by Warner Brothers. It's 1971. Richman & Co. record some high-tempo, organ-droney, jittery proto-punk rock tunes, including Roadrunner, Old World, and - yes - Pablo Picasso. The producer? None other than John Cale. These tracks sit for a year. Finally, they actually sign with Warner, and head back to the studio with Cale. But - friction! Weirdo frontman Richman refuses to sing his old songs. He wants the band to go in a quieter, gentler direction! Cale quits the project. Only two new tracks are recorded after the session is scrapped due to the death of one of Richman's friends. Turns out he and Gram Parsons played mini-golf the day before his disappearance.

So the album is aborted. Richman starts up a new band and begins recording another debut record. His old bandmates went on to other projects - you may have heard of them, The Cars (David Robinson) and the Talking Heads (Jerry Harrison). The record is shelved, but the legend of the Modern Lovers starts to grow in the underground scene. Idk, maybe some demos got loose or people caught their live shows. Finally, it sees the light of day and is released in 1976, a full four years after it was largely recorded. The songs are instant classics, foreshadowing trends in indie rock ranging from The Feelies to Beat Happening to Parquet Courts. It's not my favorite album - there're def some weak spots in it / Richman's writing can get tiring at times. But maaan does this thing crackle of energy and the good songs are fuckin' great. Hard to deny it a spot on my list.

And the story's really fuckin' great too.

[monasterymonochrome]

Phil Lynott was Ireland's greatest writer since James Joyce. When I finally get to Dublin, the first place I'm visiting is his statue. Or maybe I'll pick up some flowers beforehand. This album is just hit after hit after hit. You could drop "The Boys Are Back" from the album and it would still deserve a spot on the list. Like, Angel from the Coast > Runningback > Romeo... GodDAMN! Hard to argue with that. And guess what? You don't have to indulge in this hypothetical - you can still listen to the greatest song of all time! Everyone wins!

[monasterymonochrome]

Devo: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We are Devo! - More people need to have this on their list. S/o to irv for dropping it into the Top 10 - you can take the Boarder out of Ohio, but you can never take the Ohio out of the Boarder. Devo are so wonderful. A true weirdo's icon. Like, they were basically a bit devised by a bunch of art students that managed to break big on the largest scale possible. I love reading about peak 70s-era DEVO. People were obsessed with them - the costumes, the choreography, a level of kayfabe only previously seen in wrestling.

And - unlike, say The Residents (who, no disrespect, I also love) - they actually wrote great songs! The jittery punk anthem of Uncontrollable Urge. The cosmic jangly riffage of Gut Feeling and Praying Hands. The busted but somehow catchy rhythms of Jocko Homo. And that doesn't even get to their cover of Satisfaction, which I'd honestly put in the pantheon of All-Time Great covers. They drop the classic riff, turn the rhythms completely inside out, and deliver a vocal performance nearly the opposite of Mick's. It does not swagger. It is not sexy. It completely subverts the original song, and turns it into something both more polished and sinister, reflecting in a nutshell the differences in teenage disaffection from 1965 vs. 1977. Put all this together, and it's no surprise they've maintained a huge influence on contemporary indie/punk scenes. DEVO are awesome. DEVO are forever.

[monasterymonochrome]

Kraftwerk - Autobahn: Speaking of bands legendary for their commitment to the bit - it's Kraftwerk! The Kings of Kosmische. Another group who managed, through weirdness and killer songwriting, to penetrate America's pop-consciousness. I have a book about German music in the 70s sitting on my shelf, and I can't wait to get to it. Like, what a fuckin' heady era of music. How the hell were Kraftwerk getting these sounds in 1974! Early synth experiments can be super cool to listen to (Morton Subotnick, Wendy Carlos, the Seastones interludes with Ned Lagin and the Dead), but they tend to be more like soundscapes than fully fleshed-out songs. Here, Kraftwerk put the pieces together into an indelible, addictively catchy and cool-ass sounding record. "Autobahn" is a masterwork. It's almost 50 years old and it still sounds like The Future. Like everything good about mankind's technological progress. Like on some Epcot shit. And, like much of their other music, they manage to slip in a hint of darkness into it. The distorted vocals, the hyperactive closing section. It doesn't lean alll the way into that feeling as their later work would, but it's there, lurking. Much like Devo's "Satisfaction" cover - there's something sinister lurking here. Only. instead of hiding it inside a popular song, here it's disguised by sweeping synth swells, atmospheric guitars, and a feeling of limitlessness. Not to say we have to read that far into it. It's also a killer sounding tune. Perfect driving music, as intended. Really, it's perfect "anything" music.

[monasterymonochrome]

Kate Bush - The Kick Inside: Kate Bush's debut record - recorded when she was like 19-20 with some songs that dated like 4 years before that. Absolutely crazy how great she was from the get-go. Killer melodies, jaw-dropping vocals, and arrangements that are super complimentary. Wuthering Heights is the big Classic here, but I actually prefer the two tracks with faux-reggae rhythm - "Kite" and "Them Heavy People," the latter being one of my absolute favorite KB tracks. The chorus is so bouncy and fun, and she throws in her idiosyncratic inflections during the verses that she would have down to a science in the 80s. Plus there's a dude on backing vocals just going "HEAVY HEAVY" in baritone. Can't go wrong here - probably my 3rd favorite of her records, and one that absolutely deserves a spot on this list.

[monasterymonochrome]

Jerry Jeff Walker - Viva Terlingua: Another perfect mid-70s country album, this is my favorite from Jerry Jeff, tho I do love his debut (and wish it would get added to streaming so I could hear the studio version of "Hill Country Rain" without ads). This is *perfect* outlaw country. Personifies the drunken, stoned strand of hippie-country even moreso than Willie's records. I've seen JJW described as "gonzo country" and you can absolutely hear that in songs like "Gettin By" and "Sangria Wine". Staggering - in both senses of the word - tunes that warble around the drain. Would fit right in inside of one of HST's hazy stories. Plus Walker's band is so damn good. I love the little pick-up they do at the end of Guy Clark's "Desperados Waiting..." and especially their barroom stomp that brings "London Homesick Blues" to its bombastic conclusion. It's a big, sensitive, goofy, and razor-sharp record. You can equally see how Jerry Jeff's sound appealed to folks like Guy Clark and Todd Snider. His name may be fake, but this album is real as hell.

[monasterymonochrome]

Television - Marquee Moon: An all-timer. A record that will easily land in my Top 5 and has a shot at #1 based on my mood whatever day I rank these. Only knock on it is the second side being weaker than the first, but that's what happens when you put 4 of the best songs ever 1-4 on your debut record. And the second half is still great! I love the sweet chorus of "Guiding Light," the way Tom Verlaine stutters the titular lyrics of "Prove It," and the more patient, building guitar fireworks of album closer "Torn Curtain". If those were dropped onto a different band's record, I would be contemplating a place for them in my Top 100. But when you add them to end of See No Evil > Venus > Friction > Marquee Moon??? Well, that's how you end up with one of the greatest albums of all time.

I've listened to this record so much that every guitar lick, even the soaring peaks and valleys of the title track's solos, is burned into my memory. I play this and I remember bouncing around the radio booth, driving along Lake Shore, walking along the Bowery. This record's been in my life for sooo many years and it hasn't dimmed at all. It only gets better and better. RIP to Tom Verlaine - you fucking King. The dude who moved to NYC without a dime in his pocket. Who immediately changed his name to honor his favorite poet. Who brought Garcia and Hendrix's sensibilities to CBGBs. Who inspired legions of devotees with only his stuttered monosyllabic inflections. (Did you feel low? ... ~NaaAahH~) They never really broke big like so many of their contemporaries, but Television & Verlaine will be legends forever.

[monasterymonochrome]

David Murray - Flowers for Albert: Recorded live in 1976 when Murray was just 21 years-old, this is a beautiful free-jazz tribute to iconoclastic saxophone legend Albert Ayler, one of the young Murray's foremost influences. This record probably won't crack my final list, but I wanted to include it here because I think it's really cool. Ayler burst onto the scene in the mid-60s with his LOUD, skronking sax sound. His tunes felt haunted, and not just because his most famous - and frequently re-worked - track was titled "Ghosts". No, Ayler's tunes borrowed from long-gone jazz idioms - 1920s New Orleans, Army marches, and the like. Usually he'd play a simple melody or theme, then - like a circle drawing further and further from its center - would tease the song into outer space, blasting pure emotion from his horn. A lot of commentators described his sound as angry. But Ayler always insisted it was a sound of joy - of boundless freedom. Ayler passed on in November 1970 and his acolytes carried his message into the loft jazz spaces of the mid-70s. Enter now, David Murray. Then a young unknown, Murray & his band (feat. Fred Hopkins and Olu Dara) emulate the sounds of Ayler's classic quartets (often featuring Don Cherry on trumpet). There's loooads of space here in the rhythms, little melody to speak of, not a ton of swing. But there is a ton of feeling, of harmony, of discord, and of emotive beauty. Murray can't outdo Ayler at his own game, but he can move his sound into a new decade while carving out a space of his own in a nascent scene. The 80s would see Murray's star on the rise, and he remains a pillar of the contemporary jazz scene. Similarly, Ayler - somewhat derided in his time - has joined the pantheon of the jazz greats. Albert, thanks in part to a 21-year old David Murray, did finally get his flowers.

[monasterymonochrome]

The Clash - London Calling: Earlier in this thread, I called Ziggy Stardust my most formative album, but really it should be a 1a / 1b situation with London Calling. I fell fast and hard for this album, listening to it over and over and over again. When I was in 9th grade I started writing a heist "novel" with each chapter corresponding to the tracklist. I stopped after I noticed some glaring similarities to The Town. Later, my friends and I listened to it so much that tracks became inside jokes of sorts. Like, my band and I always listened to "Jimmy Jazz" before shows as pump-up music. We tried covering like half the album too - the only one that really stuck was "Spanish Bombs". Nowadays it's almost a comfort album for me. Something Emma and I listen to on road trips. Something I put on when I'm tired or bored. Or just whenever a random line or melody pops in my head.

And that happens a lot. These songs feel so lived in, so perfectly rough and ready. It ranges every which direction. Joyful (Revolution Rock), forebodingly angry (Guns of Brixton), wistfully reflective (Lost in the Supermarket), or righteously heartbroken (Train in Vain). There are raging rave-ups (Brand New Cadillac). There are cheekily dark jingles (Koka Kola). There are numerous odes to card sharks, cracked actors, and tragic heroes - delivered with a vim belonging to a theatre stage (The Right Profile, Death or Glory, The Card Cheat). There's even some actually good reggae-inflected tracks (Rudie Can't Fail, Wrong Em Boyo). And that doesn't even touch the mega-hit title track with its booming bass signaling the emerging post-punk era.

I've listened to this more times than I can count. I've probably listed at least half the songs as my Favorite Track at one point or another (currently, it's either "Hateful" or "Wrong Em Boyo"). It'll 1000% be in my Top 5, and may have the best chance of any record of being #1.

[monasterymonochrome]

Here's what I said about Nina Simone's Emergency Ward back in January, and I stand by it all the way. theboarddot.proboards.com/post/278072

It really is a perfect album. An album I'd point people towards to get into Nina. It's unbelievable. Recorded live with a full choir, Nina is enthralling, heartbreaking, beautiful here from start to finish. It's half George Harrison covers, and she absolutely OWNS these songs. Like, I talked up Devo's "Satisfaction" yesterday, but I actually think Nina doing "Isn't it a Pity" is the best cover song I've ever heard. Never heard someone so thoroughly rework a song and wring every last possible drop of emotion from it. For as much music as I listen to, it doesn't make me cry very often. But this song has. Give it a listen and hear it for yourself.

[monasterymonochrome]

My current favorite Neil Young record. I say that because, like songs on London Calling, my favorites seem to change with the seasons. Right now, the rawness and looseness of Tonight's the Night is really resonating with me. On the Beach tackled his some of his grief over the death of founding Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten, but it took a more aerial view of success's wreckage. Here, Neil isn't trying to reckon with his career or profession or Music in general. He's just feeling like shit and letting loose before the weight of tragedy swallows him whole. I mean, "Borrowed Tune," "Mellow My Mind" god-DAMN. (tho the former does tackle his fame, it's much more direct and striking to me than On the Beach). And the songs are all killers. You won't find better 70s examples of Crazy Horse's rough rambling than shit like Albuquerque, Lookout Joe, or Speakin' Out. Not to mention the choice to have the title track bookend the record - one of my favorite album construction gambits ever. Look. This isn't a good times record. It's heavy shit. But there's more beauty in this heaviness, more lightness to be found here than 99.9% of other artists can ever muster. IMO, it's Neil's best.

[monasterymonochrome]

Guy Clark - Old No. 1: The mid-70s were such a blessed time for songwriters. Like, what was in the water? Gorgeous records were dropping every year with melodies and stories that stop you in your tracks. Old No. 1 is Guy Clark's debut record and it has 10 songs on it. Each and every one of those has a stop-you-in-your-tracks moment. It's uncanny. An album full of longing, missed connections, desperation, and endless, lonely highways. In other words, a perfect country record. How do you write a song as great as "Texas 1947" and have it be... maybe the fourth or fifth best song on your record? LA Freeway, Desperadoes Waiting for a Train, Let Him Roll, That Old Time Feeling... my god. Guy was the hub of the 70s Texas scene, someone folks like Townes Van Zandt, Lucinda Williams, Blaze Foley, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Steve Earle gathered around. He couldn't have been that much older than them, but he was the old master. Just take a listen to these songs and you'll hear why.

[monasterymonochrome]

Aug 8, 2023 12:40:23 GMT -6 monasterymonochrome said:

Guy Clark - Old No. 1: The mid-70s were such a blessed time for songwriters. Like, what was in the water? Gorgeous records were dropping every year with melodies and stories that stop you in your tracks. Old No. 1 is Guy Clark's debut record and it has 10 songs on it. Each and every one of those has a stop-you-in-your-tracks moment. It's uncanny. An album full of longing, missed connections, desperation, and endless, lonely highways. In other words, a perfect country record. How do you write a song as great as "Texas 1947" and have it be... maybe the fourth or fifth best song on your record? LA Freeway, Desperadoes Waiting for a Train, Let Him Roll, That Old Time Feeling... my god. Guy was the hub of the 70s Texas scene, someone folks like Townes Van Zandt, Lucinda Williams, Blaze Foley, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Steve Earle gathered around. He couldn't have been that much older than them, but he was the old master. Just take a listen to these songs and you'll hear why.

And that's it!  My last album write-up for the 70s series.  I primarily stuck to albums that I already knew, since there's such a high volume this decade.  But all together, I wrote 192 mini-reviews.  Hope it's been somewhat-fun to follow, it's been a ton of fun to write.  And I promise to no longer clog up the recent posts page with fawning text-walls!

[Tweet]

Uhhhhh did y'all do your lists yet

[nanatod]

if I had to do it again, I might rearrange some of the albums in the 75-100 part of my list, but the top 75 would probably remain as they are.

in reply to tweet.

[doso]

Aug 17, 2023 19:57:51 GMT -6 Tweet said:

Uhhhhh did y'all do your lists yet

Real talk: I’ve been on-site at work all week for the first time in 3-1/2 years and I dont have COVID but it could be a mid grade sinus infection plus I have six fantasy drafts coming up beginning next Saturday and I’m very unprepared and while j do have a partial list I’ve been toying with over the summer it is not in order and there are many other records I want to consider but I’m almost assuredly not gonna have something ready by next Friday so tell me if you don’t mind what the absolute latest drop dead date is please.

[Tweet]

Aug 17, 2023 20:31:56 GMT -6 doso said:

Aug 17, 2023 19:57:51 GMT -6 Tweet said:

Uhhhhh did y'all do your lists yet

Real talk: I’ve been on-site at work all week for the first time in 3-1/2 years and I dont have COVID but it could be a mid grade sinus infection plus I have six fantasy drafts coming up beginning next Saturday and I’m very unprepared and while j do have a partial list I’ve been toying with over the summer it is not in order and there are many other records I want to consider but I’m almost assuredly not gonna have something ready by next Friday so tell me if you don’t mind what the absolute latest drop dead date is please.

I am reasonably confident looking at my schedule I won't start working on this until the evening of Monday, August 28. So lets say by end of business hours then as a deadline extension.

Rollout wise I'm not gonna do some big fancy thing (sorry 5i I meant to confirm that with you) so it'll just be rolled out fairly standardly afternoon of Friday of Labor Day weekend

[nanatod]

it's interesting that power in the darkness is kind of low on both my and venom's lists, but at least it's on the lists.

[chvrchbarrel]

[venom]

Aug 22, 2023 9:27:44 GMT -6 nanatod said:

it's interesting that power in the darkness is kind of low on both my and venom's lists, but at least it's on the lists.

i initially miscounted and had 101 albums on my list. that one just edged out the other one that i had to drop.

[nanatod]

Aug 22, 2023 10:09:46 GMT -6 venom said:

Aug 22, 2023 9:27:44 GMT -6 nanatod said:

it's interesting that power in the darkness is kind of low on both my and venom's lists, but at least it's on the lists.

i initially miscounted and had 101 albums on my list. that one just edged out the other one that i had to drop.

Even tho I ranked Second Helping and Tapestry above Gorilla, one of them (probably Tapestry) would have been dropped before the, imo, only good album Taylor ever put out.

[chvrchbarrel]

Jul 31, 2023 12:40:50 GMT -6 monasterymonochrome said:

Jul 31, 2023 12:26:18 GMT -6 chvrchbarrel said:

They're in New York on 8/4 and 9/9, time to put your money where your mouth is

Damn these guys are on the grind.  This show would rip at the Ramada in Nebraska.

Closed to me is prob that West Lake, PA show.   I'll be in Jersey with my parents that weekend, let's see if my Dad wants to swing up to Philly for a show lmaooo

just a reminder to you that this is next weekend

really chaps my ass that i cant get to the ramada inn on saturday

[cosmo]

I thought about seeing Meet Loaf in KC, but it was a little expensive and I just wasn't that interested in the show (and neither was my wife).

[Tweet]

I am basically holding this project until DoSo gets his list in as an FYI

[monasterymonochrome]

Congratulations to postfontaine for listing the 2 best albums of the 70s in the objectively correct order

[postfontaine]

Aug 28, 2023 13:20:17 GMT -6 monasterymonochrome said:

Congratulations to postfontaine for listing the 2 best albums of the 70s in the objectively correct order

Haha, I definitely didn't put that together when I was looking at your list