Posted on

50 Albums you must hear before you buy a house 2.0

According to an annual tradition (this being the second edition), yours truly and fellow music professor R.K. Hofmeijer locked themselves up for a few weeks during the first rainy autumn weeks to contemplate about the 50 essential albums you must hear before you buy a house. Of course because the end of the year is characterized by listening to, making, criticizing and listing lists, but especially because more and more rumours are spread about people being disappointed by the purchase of their house. That strange smell that wasn’t there when you bought it, the noisy kid next door who just won’t grow up, naked computer guy without curtains from the other side, the estranged person you once bought the whole thing with: aspects they didn’t think through while listening to the  50 best albums of all-time first.

Because last year’s edition apparently failed according to the facts mentioned above, we called upon senior student musicology Donald Oude-Kamphuis to add an extra list this year. Let’s kick off today with our #50-46 (RKH’s & GvZ’s last year’s ranking between brackets):

DOK:

46. The Jimi Hendrix Experience –  Electric Ladyland (1968)
47. Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)
48. Kyuss – Blues for the Red Sun (1992)
49. DJ Shadow – Endtroducing… (1996)
50. Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998)

GvZ:

(*)     46. Jefferson Airplane – After Bathing at  Baxter’s (1967)
(*)     47. Simon & Garfunkel – Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme (1966)
(44)   48. John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band (1970)
(*)     49. Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)
(23)   50. Cat Stevens – Mona Bone Jakon (1970)

RKH:

(*)     46. The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
(*)     47. Radiohead – King of Limbs (2011)
(46)   48. dEUS –  The Ideal Crash (1999)
(*)     49. Teenage Fanclub – Bandwagonesque (1991)
(*)     50. Lambchop – How I Quit Smoking (1996)

So the nineties are ruling the lower regions of the list (6/14) and a lot of new albums are introduced compared to last year. Arcade Fire’s Funeral even debuts twice, conquering the title ‘classic’ after ten years. However, all three lists are topped by albums from the Golden Age, an omen of what will follow later on?

Posted on

Shuffle of the week #23

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. Devendra Banhart – Electric Hart (Niño Rojo, 2004) [singlepic id=225 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Born in Texas, Devendra Banhart was raised in Venezuela after moving back to the US (Los Angeles) at the age of 14. Nine years later this fourth album was released, full of short, strange but most of the times colorful folk songs. This one (being one of my favorites) is the last and by far the longest track on the album.

2. Cat Stevens – Time (Mona Bone Jakon, 1970) [singlepic id=223 w=80 h=50 float=left]

We ‘re flying back 34 years in time (Time rise, time fall…), but the acoustic guitar, the singer-songwriter and the beards are still there.  Only difference: this one is the shortest track on the album, which probably is one of the best ever made.

3. Gong – Flying Teapot (Flying Teapot, 1973) [singlepic id=183 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Let’s use the flying teapot to move three years forwards. After leaving the planet during a mystical intro, we start drinking tea up high on this centerpiece of the first part of the Radio Gnome trilogy. Listening these albums gives the band some esteem again, which they completely lost from me after an embarrassing live performance, that proved that some music (or better: band)  is stuck to a particular era.

4. American Music Club – Laughingstock (California, 1988) [singlepic id=222 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Waited a long time for this one to be picked up by the shuffle, as this album was laying there pretty much untouched for a long time. However, not everything that comes from California can be a winner. Didn’t exactly meet my expectations.

5. Radiohead – The Bends (The Bends, 1995) [singlepic id=227 w=80 h=50 float=left]

A band that doesn’t need an extra word. Second song from their second album, an album that in fact was already pretty good, but one that would be overshadowed by later works. A nice classic guitar rock song, this one.

6. Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb (The Wall, 1979) [singlepic id=69 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Absolute classic. Written by Waters (obviously) and Gilmour, but clearly dominated by the latter’s tremendous guitar solo. One of the most heard songs during the end of the year and also covered by Van Morrison a couple of times during more recent live performances.

7. Led Zeppelin – The Rover (Physical Graffiti, 1975) [singlepic id=226 w=80 h=50 float=left]

The guitars smoothly blend over into the intro of this song, although tuned heavier and chased by the driving drums of mister Bonham. One of Zep’s best songs on a terrific album, ultimate rock band. I missed this album.

8. Country Joe & The Fish – Colors for Susan (I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die, 1967) [singlepic id=224 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Closing track of Country Joe’s second album with his Fish. As a very sober song and standing on one of those many psychedelic rock albums that were released in the fall of ’67, it sounds like a farewell song to the Summer of Love.

9. The Clash – Brand New Cadillac (London Calling, 1979) [singlepic id=228 w=80 h=50 float=left]

While the lyrics still remind of the band’s punk background, the music can not even be called post-punk anymore, thanks to its enormous variety. In this way the album can only be classified as ‘historic’, in every sense of this word.

10. Genesis – Firth of fifth (Selling England by the Pound, 1973) [singlepic id=73 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Closing with the sixth song from the seventies this week, from the album that is one of the favorite records of all time for Robert Pollard as well as Pollards greatest fan. The path is clear.

Posted on

50 Albums you must hear before you buy a house (6): 25-21

Although not everybody seems to get the cryptical goal of our list, to be sure that you have listened to a certain 50 albums before you buy a house, we continue today with the upper half of the list. Remarkably, the first part of this half is totally dominated by the year 1970, scoring not less than 5/10. Even more remarkable is that Cat Stevens is represented by two different albums from that same year, Tea for the Tillerman (RKH #25) and Mona Bone Jakon (GvZ #23). Also Radiohead is represented by two different albums, both being the second album from the band in each list till now, after OK Computer:

RKH:

21. The Beatles – Rubber Soul(1965)
22. Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)
23. CSNY – Déjà Vu (1970)
24. John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band (1970)
25. Cat Stevens – Tea for the Tillerman (1970)

GvZ:

21. Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
22. Fleetwood Mac – Bare Trees (1972)
23. Cat Stevens – Mona Bone Jakon (1970)
24. Santana – Abraxas (1970)
25. Cream – Disraeli Gears (1967)

RKH also delivers his second Beatles album with the magnificent Rubber Soul, the reincarnation of the Fab Four. Déjà-Vu and Plastic Ono Band are both albums we found earlier in GvZ’s list at #39 and #44 respectively. In that list Abraxas was earlier found at RKH on #34, and together with Disraeli Gears (added to the 1967 poll), they form an excellent couple of albums to cross the Greek mountains, whether or not you’re thinking about buying a house. More epic vinyl next time.