current favorite albums

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:19 pm

Neon wrote: But Electrelane has an accordion player. How cool is that, one of those things you wish you'd have thought of first

But I hate the accordion. It's like the go to comedy instrument or brings to mind the Decemberists. If they haven't done it already they wish they thought of it first.

Acid King · Post by **Acid King** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:35 pm

Helmet - strap it on

I just listened to a bit of the newest Helmet album... good god, make it stop. I remember being excited when I heard there was going to be a reunion a few years back... turns out the "reunion" included only one original member. and is pretty bad.

Michaelm · Post by **Michaelm** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:40 pm

And Also The Trees - A Retrospective 1983-1986

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 2:08 pm

Has anyone heard the new Shellac album?

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:20 pm

I have, thought it was unexceptional with a few promising moments that never materialize into anything. Basically like every album after AAP.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:32 pm

Mahler - Symphony no. 9
John Field - 15 Nocturnes

PaCrappa · Post by **PaCrappa** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 7:17 pm

I've been listening to big piles of latin jazz. I'll make a list of the good stuff one of these days.

Pa

MadSteelDarkness · Post by **MadSteelDarkness** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 4:34 pm

Crunt - s/t
Thelonious Monk - Live at the It Club - Complete
Boris - Pink
Warsaw - s/t
Shellac - The Futurist

Has anyone heard the new Shellac album?

I have it, but I haven't got around to listening to it yet. Damn my short attention span!

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 5:26 pm

Converge - Jane Doe
Portishead - Dummy

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 6:16 pm

I was listening to Peel sessions today and this popped into my head for some reason, wish I had 1337 MS Paint skillz:

Usually I don't listen to bands that use the same gimmick over and over, like Anal Cunt, but Melt have a sort of intensity to their music. I like it.

If I didn't like Big Black much, will I like Shellac?

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 9:23 pm

I listened to Melt-Banana all weekend. Scratch to Teeny.

Shellac has a cleaner, sharper sound. I think BB have a few good songs, At Action Park is thoroughly great. If you can't stand Albini's vocals it'll still be a problem.

junkeR · Post by **junkeR** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:54 am

Just bought and am jammin' to:

Bob Seger's Greatest Hits
Bob Seger's Greatest Hits 2

Pure Awesome-ness. Just the music to help w/ my mood.

Who wants to go to Fire Lake? Anyone?

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 2:54 am

This is the anti-best album (or something like that)

Went back and listened to Kramer's The Guilt Trip (hadn't heard it in something like 10 years or so.) I remembered having mixed feelings about it then, feeling like it needed heavy editing--but who knows, maybe time treats an album well.

Not in this case however. The highs here didn't seem so high as they did in the 90's, and the lows felt pretty dreadful. For those who need their post-bongwater Kramer for anything other than the tremendous Dogbowl & Kramer album, Secret of Comedy is definitely the way to go. This one was definitely a hodge-podge of an album back then and it still is today. The only thing that's changed is that I don't feel like its worth editing, rather just not listening to at all.

Another bit of non-redeeming nostalgia. Went back (ill-advisably) and listened to the Flying Saucer Attack album on Corpus Hermeticum hoping there was something here I'd missed (or with the band in general.) The answer remains no. I love HCorp, but sometimes I feel they were too quick to release anything noisy, ruining their exceptionally solid opening set of releases with an album by FSA (although, I have to admit I've never cared for much of anything by them.)

Maybe in Rob's grand new tradition I ought to start revisiting all the albums in my collection I don't remember enjoying very much (but still haven't sold...)

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 2:05 pm

I had sort of delayed checking out Husker Du, because they're classified by most as a hardcore band (and a good 90% of hardcore is stupid macho bullshit). They're not hardcore though really, Flip Your Wig is a great fucking powerpop/trippy record, sort of an early Nevermind. It's not Never Mind the Bollocks (or Nevermind) zomg-every-single-song-is-good but it has a better ratio of good/ok than most Pastels records. I'm gonna get Zen Arcade next.

PaCrappa · Post by **PaCrappa** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 4:42 pm

People attach some weird labels. Husker Du? Hardcore? It's Bob Mould fercryinoutloud! Anyway, Hardcore. That was a waste. Black Flag had a half a dozen songs, Minor Threat three or four and Fang had one. Even worse than the actual early 80s hardcore is the repercussions. Without hardcore we'd never have had to suffer with shite acts like Bad Religion, NOFX, Pennywise and one billion other post-hardcore turds.

Anyway. I've been doing what CMoon said: "Maybe in Rob's grand new tradition I ought to start revisiting all the albums in my collection...". And it's been all Latin stuff, jazz mostly. Here's what I decided was worth keeping:

v/a "Brazil's Super Hits" Nice comp from 1968 with all of Brazil's players big enough to have a name in the USA.
Herbie Mann w/ Buddy Collette "Hi Flutin" One of Herbie's first American records. Old school.
Herbie Mann "My Kinda Groove" My kinda record. His best IMO.
Cal Tjader "Solar Heat" Cal is a little soft for my taste but this is a great record when a chick is contemplating a sleepover.
Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra "Your National Guard Musical Variety Show #70 & #71" This music has been 'cleared for broadcast'. I hope the guardsmen liked it because I sure do.
Xavier Cugat "Cugat's Golden Goodies" more big band latin jazz from the king
Sergio Mendes Trio "So Nice" If you've never heard Wanda de Sah sing, you really owe it to yourself. I have no words to describe how lovely she is. The song "So Nice" is an unparalleled masterpiece.
Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra "The Best of Cugat"
Flip Nunez "My Own Time and Space" It's like he was thinking of me when he wrote 'Mr Cool'
Banda Corrida of Mexico City "Torero! Music of the Bull Ring" not jazz but latin and awesome
Oscar Peterson "Soul Espanol" One of my favorite pianists. Mas Que Nada is my favorite tune of his.
Al DiMeola, John Mclaughlin and Paco DeLucia "Friday Night in San Francisco" The two nerdy yankees are holding Paco back, but it's still a decent record.
Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra "Viva Cugat" Yes. I like Xavier Cugat.
Herbie Mann "At the Village Gate"
Herbie Mann "Returns to the Village Gate" Two more of my biggest faves from Herbie.
Herbie Mann "Sugarloaf: Jazz Impressions of Brazil" Just above middle of the road. Hebie was absurdly prolific.
Carlos Montoya s/t The king of all guitar. He will shred your best guy into the ground. And he was hella old when he made most of his recordings.
Antonio Carlos Jobim "StoneFlower" How can you go wrong with a Brazilian jazz album titled with an obvious ganja reference?
Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto "Getz/Gilberto" pretty much just Brazilian classics, 'Girl from Ipanema' and such
Sergio Mendes "The Beat of Brazil" I'm not so big on Sergio but I like this one pretty well

I'm getting rid of three times that much because 25 cent thrift store records have such a way of piling up. Herbie Mann was so goddamn prolific. I'm probably getting rid of fifteen of his records alone.

I don't know why but I went to a record store the other day and came out with five CDs:

Andre Williams "Movin On... With Andre Williams" Heard the song 'Jailbait' at random and this dude was instantly my hero. If you would like to hear Jailbait as well you can click the "D-Day" link in me sig.
Johnny Guitar Watson "3 Hours Past Midnight" You'd think I'd have listened to this guy before. Nope. He's bold and amazing.
v/a "Studio One Classics" These comps from Soul Jazz usually treat me way right. Not the case with this one. It's pretty boring.
Tone Loc "Loc'd After Dark" A true timeless classic. Most people only know the hits which are the worst songs on the record. It would also be hard for most people to realize the ridiculous amount of work the Dust Brothers (OG Dust Bros not English house/techno nancy boys) put into this particular album. Probably not quite as involving as Paul's Boutique was for them, but still an incredible piece of work.
Public Enemy "Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black" Poor outing from PE but it does have 'By the Time I Get to Arizona' which makes amazing use of a sample from my favorite Mandrill song 'Two Sisters of Mystery' which you can listen to here: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu ... =100901040

Pa

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 5:41 pm

PaCrappa wrote: And it's been all Latin stuff, jazz mostly.

I desperately need to get into more latin jazz. Oscar Peterson did a latin album??? SCORE!

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 5:59 pm

PaCrappa wrote: Andre Williams "Movin On... With Andre Williams" Heard the song 'Jailbait' at random and this dude was instantly my hero. If you would like to hear Jailbait as well you can click the "D-Day" link in me sig.

Pa

he's great.

i'm listening

mummies "never been caught" - love it
misfits "static age" - fantastic. i always found it fascinating how danzig could sing such depraved lyrics with such sensitivity. ^_^
"classic rockabilly" - compilation from a british label (proper records), 4 discs of dynamite (mostly)
acid bath "demos" - great stuff
celtic frost "morbid tales" - warming up to it
parliament "flash light" - can't get enough of this song, it makes me want to play it so loud that i go deaf

much more

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 6:06 pm

Super double-post discount days!!!

Picked up the John Dowland collected works off of Amazon for half price ($50 for 12 cds). I have a collection of his lute music (that I'll probably now give to a friend or sell), and can say that while they are superb, the extra 7 discs of material I'd never heard before are as good are better. What I was really missing were the songs!

I tend to shirk away from all the little songs from the renaissance and baroque periods finding them a bit too fruity for my taste, but these (though short) share the same beauty of Tallis' Spem in Allium (which is to say they are utterly gorgeous, fragile and still.)

While a lot of the music I've been re-listening to has essentially been a disappointment, this set is an absolute treasure and highly recommended to all you folks doing the whole ancient music trip.

PaCrappa · Post by **PaCrappa** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 5:11 pm

captain ahar wrote:i'm listening

mummies "never been caught" - love it

Now THAT is what I'm talking about. Neon probably already thinks you're a little too macho.

CMoon wrote:Oscar Peterson did a latin album??? SCORE!

LOL, yeah. It was the first one I got (on the strength of the cover alone) and at the time I thought he was just some latin dude with the last name Peterson. It's a great record, especially if you enjoy piano.

I left some stuff out of my last post:

Willie Bobo "Spanish blues Band" Not necessarily Willie's best album but the song 'Soul Cookin' is outta control.

JVC Force "Doin Damage" Obscure 80s rappers with more lyrics than money. Unlike today's rappers. Why does rap suck now?

Pa

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 1:48 am

Captain Ahar downgraded to 'Macho'

PaCrappa demoted from 'Macho' to 'the Next Hitler'

I'll make a note of it in my shmups.com users coolness ranking notebook. I fear for your very souls if you listen to anything other than the Dixie Chicks for the next week

I am listening to the Skatalites mother fuckers

PS: Pa, I saw this on your myspace and nearly shat myself laughing:

You know it's summer when the girls start showing their belly buttons.

DJ Incompetent · Post by **DJ Incompetent** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 4:21 pm

scrilla4rella wrote:2ManyDJs- as heard on radio Soulwax Pt.2

*shakes your hand*

Rob wrote:
DJ Incompetent wrote:But this may be only because I've forgotten why the Pumpkins were cool in the first place.
Here you go. Could not ask for a better opening track than that. And Siamese Dream is more of a full scale rock album with a guitar sound seriously missed in everything that came after. Much less cringe-worthy lyrics, softer/less nasally.

...And Billy had the coolest shirts pre-Zero.

Yeah, I could agree with a lot of that.

What I didn't expect out of Smashing Cash-ins is this shit.

iiiiiiiii liiiike responses ^_^

Ayanami · Post by **Ayanami** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 4:50 pm

White Stripes - Icky Thump

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:38 pm

Neon wrote:
PS: Pa, I saw this on your myspace and nearly shat myself laughing:

You know it's summer when the girls start showing their belly buttons.

Everone in my office now has the dry heaves thanks to this pick, thanks for that Neon.

Currently listening to: Born Against - the Rebel Sound of Shit and Failure

DJ Incompetent · Post by **DJ Incompetent** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:48 pm

This thread has like.....almost doubled in the past 6 months. Frightening.

1.

2.

3.

4.

1. This is Remixed Hits!: Mashups & Rare 12" Remixes
Since we're stuck in the same public playlists since 1997, it's good to hear something else, anything else that slightly goes in another direction. Ya got "Rock Around The Clock" done with bass, "I Want Candy" done in goth, "Round & Round" done in rap, "Sun is Shining" done in trance, sheeeeit, even the new "Another Brick in The Wall Part II" isn't bad....'actually remembered there was a "I" and a "III". Good for them! 3 disks make this thing adequate for road trips

2. Umphrey's McGee: Local Band Does O.K.
Nothing Too Fancy. 'Song is just an ebb of a sliver for how phenomenal these guys perform live. The rest is a chillin' hippie-esq setting.

3. Dropkick Murphys: Sing Loud, Sing Proud!
And why not. Rock, bagpipes, irish-ness-ness, what-have-you..

4. Tokyo Police Club: A Lesson In Crime
(Strokes + Franz Ferdinand + Flaming Lips + Interpol) / 4

5.

6.

7.

8.

5. DJ Shadow: The Private Press
There was a time when unique sample-artists didn't sell out. And it was good.

6. Andrew W.K.: The Wolf
Erm....if I have to defend this....I get to use like....a cheat code....or something.

7. Underworld: 1992-2002
Because somebody was asking, "why don't they put Rez and Cowgirl on different disks?" Every other track dispelled my frustrations.

8. South Normal: No More Songs About Girls
What if Sponge were even less known, more deserving, yet less popular than they are now. That would be these guys. Cementing their credit is this song and album title. There is a 10x cooler disk called Book of Matches, but apparently the net-ar-tubes has not heard of it.

9.

10.

11.

12.

9. Queensryche: Operation Mindcrime
Go to your collection. Dust it off. It is that time.

10. ATB: Movin' Melodies
I think this is the only album title that delivers exactly what is promised.

11. The Lashes: Get It
I like New Best Friend. The disk can end and I don't notice sometimes. Apparently, success depends on the number of belts you wear.

12. Kevin Yost: KY Funk 'N Stuff (B Sides and Session Tapes)
Pretty chill...I can have sex to it....I wanna "F"-"F"-"U"-"F"-"U"-"N"-"K"...and so on-...

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 8:43 am

DJ Incompetent wrote:This thread has like.....almost doubled in the past 6 months. Frightening.

Hah, yes, this thread encourages compulsive posting.

This week I finally got a 4 month old order from Amazon that consisted of:

Coroner - Mental Vortex -- I think this is basically the most metal album ever.
Drive Like Jehu - s/t -- Better than I remembered. Would be competition for Yank Crime if Reis didn't sing.

Been listening to those all week.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 12:18 pm

On the continued nostalgia/self-abuse theme:

Eno/Cale - Wrong Way Up

There's something to be said for two artists who both have left a considerable footprint on popular music to both mutually disown a collaborative album--witty comments should abound here, but 'wrong way up' is hardly worth bothering. A cute, disposable pop album that actually has 3-4 enjoyable numbers. Seemingly instead a collection of the weakest material by both artists. I still enjoy a song or two here, but sometimes things are out of print for a good reason.

PaCrappa · Post by **PaCrappa** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 4:54 pm

Neon wrote:PS: Pa, I saw this on your myspace and nearly shat myself laughing:

It's the caption that gets it over. I'd seen that pic before but was only disgusted. When homegirl posted it on my page with the caption I blew root beer out my nose

Johnny Guitar Watson was the best of those CD scores from the other day.

I'm now on to the soul/funk portion of my records downsizing project and will be posting a long list of the good stuff soon.

Pa

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 6:22 pm

Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost (10 CD box*)

I'll prefix this negative review by saying that 1) my set is not for sale and 2) there are people (maybe even people on this board) that need this set. What we have here is a giant plastic box made to resemble some sort of jewelry box or something (the significance is lost on me, though you can bet there are spiritual or religious connotations to this thing.) The first problem is the box is huge and doesn't properly fit ANYWHERE. You can't stack things on it because it opens from the top, nor is it vinyl sized so you can slide it in with your records. It might work OK filed with your tall books, but that's about it. Plainly said, the packaging is at the extreme of obnoxiousness while trying to look really nice. Sorry, my collection is too big for a huge vanity item!

The box itself comes bound with a little strip of paper which may seem like a giant obi card or something, but it is the most critical item of the packaging containing the only track listing for the box. Folks, this is just bad design! Track listing on each disc sleeve might have been possible, but the choice to put it on a strip that could easily be lost or accidentally discarded is a pretty critical error.

Once you open the box you are confronted with a fair amount of swag (though in no way justifying the voluminous box. For the most part these are replications of flyers, program notes etc. There's a picture of Albert as a child, a pressed flower, stuff that might be great for someone well beyond my obsession with albert ayler, but is useless to me.. Then we have a bound 200 page book, but don't think your actually getting a 200 page book about ayler, the height is only about 6", so if it was normal sized there might be 100 pages of interviews, discographies, show dates, etc.

Now let's get to what's really important: the music! The box says 9 CDs but there are really 10. The bonus 10th disc is of absolutely no value whatsoever--a recording of Ayler while in the army doing army marches. Enjoy!

Of the remaining 9 discs, 2 are interviews, and once again, these are more or less worthless unless you are a huger ayler fan than me!

That leaves 7 discs, of which five should be in the hands of any serious Ayler fan, and sound no less essential than the official canon from ESP and Impulse. The remaining two are of some interest but are in one case marred by virtually unlistenable sound quality and in the other, mostly of historical interest (though a few highlights.)

So here we have a $100 set with 5 prime discs of material and a bunch of excessive packaging/swag/interviews/questionable recordings. True, the box is clearly a labor of love, but love resulting in an item far too expensive to reach most of the listeners who need the set.

Far better for them to have either issued a more modest box (the sets for Coltrane come to mind) and kept the price around $40 or so. As things stand I push new Ayler fans toward the complete greenwich village set on impulse (greatly improved on CD for those who own the vinyl) along with Love Cry, Spiritual Unity, Bells as a core sampling of his work (and probably enough for most people)

6/10 (now that ratings are hip! 10/10 for the 5 discs, -4 for everything else)

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 8:46 am

Mahler - Symphony no. 6 (Boulez)
Leopold Godowsky - Original Works and Transcriptions (Hamelin)
Aram Khachaturian - Piano Music (Maclaughlin)

MadSteelDarkness · Post by **MadSteelDarkness** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:02 am

The Adverts - The Wonders Don't Care - The Complete Radio Recordings (Just the first record)
Scientist - ...Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampires
Speedy J - G Spot
Brownstars - s/t EP
Isis- The Mosquito Control EP
The Crack Pipes - Every Night Saturday Night
DJ Food, remixed by V/A - Refried Food Parts 1 & 2 12"s
John Coltrane - Ole Coltrane