50 Albums you must hear before you buy a house 4.0 (3)

And the heat goes on, if you only wouldn’t clap so hard:

GvZ:

40. (44) The Mountain Goats – The Sunset Tree (2005)
39.
(*) Buffalo Springfield – Buffalo Springfield Again (1967)
38. (21) The Band – The Band (1969)
37. (29) Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother (1970)

36. (26) The Byrds – The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968)
“My brothers for a horse!”

RKH:

40. (42) Lambchop – How I Quit Smoking (1996)
39.
(*) XTC – Skylarking (1986)
38. (23) Love – Forever Changes (1967)
37. (24) David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust… (1972)

36. (35) Pixies – Doolittle (1989)
“Musical colon cleansing.”

50 Albums you must hear before you buy a house 3.0 (6)

Happy New House Year:

GVZ:

5. (23) Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde (1966)
“Here we are: the melancholic romanticist, some morally omniscient cynics and the one that just tells me to get stoned. Unfortunately I don’t have a basement, my friends.”

4. (5) Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)
“The completion of that download, the uncompromising support tour: for the first time in my life I consciously witnessed rock history being written.”

3. (8) Love – Forever Changes (1967)
“Who gives a shit about forever? The Now Album.”

2. (2) The Beatles – Revolver (1966)
“If they would have replaced ‘Yellow Submarine’ by ‘Paperback Writer/Rain’, this list would have been a dictatorship.”

1. (1) The Velvet Underground and Nico – The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
“What has become of democracy anyway?”

RKH:

5. (20) DJ Shadow – Endtroducing… (1996)
“Technological deconstruction leading into organical reconstruction. The first true musical collage that actually sounds great.”

4. (4) The Beatles – Revolver (1966)
“The Big Bang. The start of an ever expanding revolution that’s still being felt today. But tomorrow? It’ll never know.”

3. (2) Van Morrison – Astral Weeks (1968)
“Ying. Mysticism, conjured by a 23 year old seer. The musical definition of The Divine Touch.”

2. (1) Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
“We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity. We shouldn’t flee from this revelation, but embrace it with every fiber of our being. Let this album be your guide.”

1. (9) Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (1971)
“Sitdown and listen, really listen. Take it all in. Poignant lyrics, passionate singing and subtle yet overwhelming melodies. A sum greater than it’s parts, which 43 years later still makes me wonder why the most relevant questions are often times the least asked ones.”

GF:

5. The Who – Who’s Next (1971)
“Een oerkracht van protest en  schreeuwen in de verre wildernis.”

4. The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers (1971)
“Verslavend, strak en geil, van de platenhoes tot de nummers.”

3. Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)
“Zang, teksten en instrumenten verweven tot een magisch geheel, zoals het samenkomen van zon en regen.”

2. Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969)
“Zware gitaren, fluisterende stemmen, pakkende melodieën en teksten over gevoelens die ieder kent maar nog nooit zo mooi gehoord heeft.”

1. Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks (1975)
“And every one of them songs rang true and glowed like buning coal.”

50 Albums you must hear before you buy a house 3.0 (3)

Continuing our lists of relics, with #30-21:

GVZ:

30. (24) Neil Young – Harvest (1972)
“I am not a preacher, but just real lucky.”

29. (16) Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother (1970)
“Switch your gears while I drop the needle: this bed is our kingdom.”

28. (25) The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
“Who doesn’t remember his first time in Pepperland?”

27. (*) XTC – Skylarking (1986)
“Summer afternoon underneath a lone tree, praising yourself the luckiest man on earth with that hot beer you brought along.”

26. (11) Brian Wilson – SMiLE (2004)
“The sun starts to tease my eyes while flowers are growing out of my ass: the album winter can’t beat.”

25. (31) The Byrds – The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968)
“If angels had balls, they would have been called Byrds.”

24. (20) Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)
“This album is even better than our last one, will somebody finally save us please?”

23. (36) Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
“Like a proud mother among her 49 sublime children.”

22. (*) The Kinks – Face to Face (1966)
“One of my best dreams from the past year must have been the one in which I had written this album.”

21. (15) The Band – The Band (1969)
“Yes we can (tell you where your country lies). “

RKH:

30. (28) Neil Young – After the Gold Rush (1970)
“The meaning of life, narrated by a 25 year old.”

29. (13) Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue (1977)
“Could have been the best album ever, if only it wouldn’t have been a double album.”

28. (15) The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
“Better than Pet Sounds.”

28. (27) Beach Boys – Pet Sounds (1966)
“Better than Sgt. Pepper’s.”

26. (6) The Moody Blues – In Search of the Lost Chord (1968)
“Talent + drugs + mysticism = the definitive psychedelic experience.”

25. (23) Bob Dylan – Desire (1976)
“Cocaine fueled cowboys and indians fever dream.”

24. (*) David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
“When the apocalypse finally comes, you can find me in my car blasting this fitting soundtrack.”

23. (*) Love – Forever Changes (1967)
“Confrontational. Uneasy listening. Nerve wrecking. Cracked mirror for a hippie generation.”

22. (*) Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II (1969)
“Led Zep doesn’t care for intellectual ramblings about their music. The Sex Album.”

21. (46) The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
“Velvet Underground stroke its guitars and for the first time music knew the true meaning of ‘freedom’.”

GF:

30. David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
“Ik kende hem al van ‘little fat man’ tijdens Extras, maar hier slaat hij toch een geheel andere weg in.”

29. Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti (1975)
“Bepaalde nummers op deze cd halen telkens een religieus gevoel in mij naar boven.”

28. Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998)
“Tot ik dit voor de eerste keer hoorde, wist ik niet dat je op deze manier muziek kon maken en uitbrengen.”

27. Pink Floyd – Meddle (1971)
“Angstaanjagend begin, zomers deuntje ertussenin, zingende Liverpool – supporters en een geniale afsluiter.”

26. Neil Young – Harvest Moon (1992)
“Mijn favoriete wandelingen, zijn nachtwandelingen: strompelend of onder een volle maan, dit is in beide gevallen mijn favoriete album daarbij.”

25. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (2011)
“Yeah I’m tongue-tied and dizzy and I can’t keep it to myself”

24. Elliott Smith – Either/Or (1997)
“Een zachte stem, je zou hem niet horen als hij je roept, maar als hij zingt blijven zijn woorden heel lang hangen. “

23. Radiohead – Amnesiac (2001)
“De eerste keer onmiddellijk in de beste omstandigheden en op de meest geschikte plaats gehoord: in bed met zware koorts.”

22. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – I See a Darkness (1999)
“Toen men hem zocht om in een film een eenzaat te spelen had hij zijn darkness, onbereikbaar was hij maandenlang alleen op een roadtrip.”

21. The Beatles – Rubber Soul (1965)
Norwegian Wood, is het boek of het nummer beter, dit is in ieder geval de beste plaat van The Beatles.”

50 Albums you must hear before you buy a house 2.0 (9): 10-6

Red Alert for those who are about to buy a house in 2014, as it’s time for the top 10. Already bought a house and not having a clue about some of those classics below? Best wishes for the new year.

DOK:

6.   Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)
7.   Genesis – Selling England by the Pound (1973)
8.   Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue (1977)
9.   The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
10. Brian Wilson – SMiLE (2004)

GvZ:

6. (6)    Paul Simon – Graceland (1986)
7. (15)  Genesis – The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974)
8. (*)    Love – Forever Changes (1967)
9. (8)    Panda Bear – Person Pitch (2007)
10. (11)The Beatles – Abbey Road (1969)

RKH:

6. (17)  The Moody Blues – In Search of the Lost Chord (1968)
7. (*)    Fleetwood Mac – Bare Trees (1972)
8. (13)  Talking Heads – Remain in Light (1980)
9. (12)  Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (1971)
10. (3)  The Band – The Band (1969)

First of all hail to this year’s last new entrances in both GvZ and RKH’s lists. Bare Trees makes a spectacular entry at #7 (pushing Rumours aside from the list) while Forever Changes debuts at #8 and won’t probably be the last 1967 album near the top. DOK throws in his fourth Radiohead-album at #6, and it’s the first time we run into artists like Genesis, Paul Simon and Marvin Gaye. It will probably not be the last time for some of them, we’ll see on December 31st.

Shuffle of the week #19

This is an ode to the shuffle. How better to get a good insight in your digitized album collection than by a classic shuffle? Finally discover the albums you never got into, finally throw the ones away you will never get into and worship those classics that never grow old again. The Shuffle of this week:

1. …And You Will Know Us By Thee Trail Of Dead – How Near How Far (Source Tags & Codes, 2002) [singlepic id=199 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Track from the third album of Austin’s alternative rock band, led by Jason Reece and Conrad Keely.  Got the album after seeing them perform on a festival, during which the stage suffered a rough time. The album dated from some years before and was widely praised. Couldn’t convince me as a whole, although there are some good tracks on it.

2. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Cross-Tie Walker (Green River, 1969) [singlepic id=14 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Over to California then, where some loner is following the railroad tracks to nowhere. One of the least tracks on probably the best CCR album. It was released just before their performance on Woodstock which, unfortunately, never made the official record or movie.

3. Nirvana – The Man Who Sold the World (Unplugged in New York, 1994) [singlepic id=197 w=80 h=50 float=left]

One of rock’s most famous live performances, with Nirvana performing this David Bowie song. The original Bowie song was on his third album with the same name and was covered by many other bands during the nineties rock revival (e.g. Meat Puppets and Nine Inch Nails). Cobain’s version made Bowie conscious of his musical importance not only in the UK, but also in the States.

4. Tool – Schism (Lateralus, 2001) [singlepic id=200 w=80 h=50 float=left]

One of my favorite bands of today (?) then, with perhaps one of their best known songs. Played the life out of all their albums some years ago and since that moment I’m still waiting for that long-expected new album.  Before  that (early 2014?), I’m going to enjoy Lateralus once more.

5. Lemonheads – It’s a Shame About Ray (It’s a Shame About Ray, 1992) [singlepic id=105 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Already ran into this one when shuffling the digital record cabinet at an earlier occasion. Listened it for a couple of weeks, but the same goes in fact for this one as for Source Tags and Codes.

6. Pearl Jam – Aye Davanita (Vitalogy, 1994) [singlepic id=198 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Staying in the nineties this week and Pearl Jam can’t of course be absent in the anthology of bands from that era. Strange track  on this considerably strong third album.

7. Love – The Red Telephone (Forever Changes, 1967) [singlepic id=196 w=80 h=50 float=left]

To the magical year then, with one of the highlights of the summer of love. I had been waiting a long time already for  this one to come by in the shuffle and its timing was perfect: this album (initially intended to be produced by Neil Young) has really coloured my summer. I feel real phony when my name is… Phil!

8. The Beatles – Blackbird (White Album, 1968) [singlepic id=137 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Moving up one year with The Beatles’ double album. One of McCartney’s most praised songs of course, although I guess I can name 40 better songs of his signature.

9. Led Zeppelin – Heartbreaker  (How the West was Won, 1972) [singlepic id=195 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Ooooooh Yeah! Pounding live version of this riff dominated classic by Led Zep. This triple live album was only released in 2003 (!), although the gig was already recorded in 1972. As Jimmy Page said himself: pretty much a testament of how good they were. Page has a great improvisational moment in the middle of the song where he plays a part from Bachs’s ‘Bouree’, which was already  brought to the rock scene by Jethro Tull earlier, a band Led Zep used to tour with.

10. Tortoise – Benway (Standards, 2001) [singlepic id=40 w=80 h=50 float=left]

A little nostalgia to close with, as this album also featured the first shuffle of the week. Not many other things to say about it since.