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50 Albums you must hear before you buy a house 4.0

Citizens of hope and glory, we can already see the end of another year looming in the distance. The streets are empty, there’s darkness on the edge of town, and music professors flee into their shabby sheds to debate the most vital question of their lives: “Which is the best rock album of all time?”. We’re heading into the fourth edition since 2012, looking for successors of Selling England by the Pound, Kid A, The Velvet Underground & Nico, Band on the Run and Blood on the Tracks.

Well, tell me how your head feels under something like that, cause it’s no one less than Donald ‘Ramblin’ Oude Kamphuis rejoining the armed forces this year. With last year’s senior student Guus Fog officially graduated now and the long lasting experience of RKH and yours truly, 2015 is about to have a promising musical end game. We wanna get loaded, and we wanna have a good time, so let’s go to the results of the first autumn contemplations (previous year’s ranking between brackets):

DOK:

50. (*) Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (2008)
49. (47) Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)
48. (50) Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane over the Sea (1998)
47. (25) George Harrison – All Things Must Pass (1970)

46. (32) Radiohead – OK Computer (1997)
“When the 90’s gave birth to the millennium.”

GvZ:

50. (37) The Band – Music from Big Pink (1968)
49. (42) Creedence Clearwater Revival – Green River (1969)
48. (*) Tom Waits – Rain Dogs (1985)
47. (49) Simon & Garfunkel – Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme (1966)

46. (34) 13th Floor Elevators – Easter Everywhere (1967)
“Can’t catch your soul while sitting on your arms, man.”

RKH:

50. (*) Talk Talk – Laughing Stock (1991)
49. (30) Neil Young – After the Gold Rush (1970)
48. (50) Radiohead – The King of Limbs (2011)
47. (49) Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

46. (*) Frazey Ford – Indian Ocean (2014)
“Al Green + Canadian fertility symbol = Soul²”

GF:

50. (*) Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – No More Shall We Part (2001)
49. (*) Broken Social Scene – Broken Social Scene (2005)
48. (*) Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures (1979)
47. (19) The Zombies – Odessey and Oracle (1968)

46. (39) Eddie Vedder – Into the Wild (2007)
“En nu met de nachtbus naar fucking Londen.”

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Shuffle of the week #47

1. Fatboy Slim – Soul Surfing (You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby, 1998) [singlepic id=371 w=80 h=50 float=left]

One of the less known tracks from the Hotel California of the nineties, freely dropping four singles in the top of the charts and personally bringing the big beat genre to the attention of the great audience thanks to all the hooks and well-chosen samples. Fair enough, but I’ll pick my druggy Hotel.

2. Ray Price – There’s No Fool Like A Young Fool (Night Life, 1963) [singlepic id=373 w=80 h=50 float=left]

I couldn’t have imagined a greater contrast to start this shuffle with, as we move over to mister Ray Price, born and died in Texas at the blessed age of 87. Price moved to Nashville during the early fifties, where he became the great ambassador of honky tonk. Just when Bakersfield was about to launch country music to prominence during the early sixties, Price released his best album about the real Night Life: not the preceding joyful expectations, not the ecstatic moments of drunkenness, but the disappointing conclusions right before closing time.

3. Pink Floyd – Pigs on the Wing 1 (Animals, 1977) [singlepic id=372 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Lighthearted, acoustic bookend about Waters’ girlfriend at that time, on Pink Floyd’s tenth album, that was itself bookended by Wish You Were Here and The Wall. On WYWH, Waters was primary aiming at the music industry of which Floyd had inevitably become part of. On Animals, he broadens his critical sight to late seventies Britain as a whole, drawing capitalist parallels with Orwell’s Animal Farm and presenting a decent successor to Selling England… from prog pals Genesis. Its promotion tour In the Flesh, with massive arena gigs culminating in Waters spitting at a fan, directly led to Water’s next project: The Wall.

4. The Beatles – When I’m Sixty Four (Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967) [singlepic id=267 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Small step to another guy who loves the bass, himself and the idea of a good concept album. And of course, McCartney (who wrote the song when he was 16, to record it only eight years later when his father turned 64) wouldn’t be McCartney if he didn’t add a clarinet trio to this composition.

5. The Mountain Goats – Song for Dennis Brown (The Sunset Tree, 2005) [singlepic id=375 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Indi folk band from California, that originally consisted mainly of singer John Darnielle. He led a lo-fi life with an overwhelming need to write songs throughout the nineties, before recording well-thought through albums in the new century. After discussing his meth years on the third one, this album treats his not so enviable childhood. This album breathes revenge.

6. Echo & The Bunnymen – Rescue (Crocodiles, 1980) [singlepic id=35 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Jim Morrison meets The Smiths, literally, on this lead single from The Bunnymen’s (Liverpool) debut album. Nothing to laugh about here, that way setting the tone for a series of four strong albums. And those covers, those beautiful covers…

7. Blind Faith – Presence of the Lord (Blind Faith, 1969) [singlepic id=369 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Probably the strongest track on this muscular album, with Clapton on guitar and vocals from Steve Winwood. Talking about album covers, this must be one of the weirdest in rock history. The portrayed 11-years old girl asked for a horse as compensation for the use of her image, but had to settle with 40 pounds…

8. The Move – The Last Thing on My Mind (Shazam, 1970) [singlepic id=205 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Clapton and Winwood fantastically fade into one of my absolute favorite cover songs of all time. It was originally written by Tom Paxton and covered numerous times afterwards. But this version absolutely tops them all: top class vocals complemented by delicious guitar solos towards the end.

9. Sonic Youth – Rain King (Daydream Nation, 1988) [singlepic id=374 w=80 h=50 float=left]

A jump in time, but the guitars are still there on this electric powertrip. They took their time, but with this album, Sonic Youth brought the guitar back home. Not in any specific nation, but at the forefront of the music scene.

10. Broken Social Scene – Shampoo Suicide (You Forgot It in People, 2002) [singlepic id=370 w=80 h=50 float=left]

A pleasant surprise after my recent addiction to Apostle of Hustle’s Folkloric Feel, although this track rather sounds like Tortoise or something like that. Didn’t like BSS’s debut album, but this one is a young and modest classic.

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Shuffle of the week #30

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. The Yardbirds – The Nazz Are Blue (Roger The Engineer, 1966) [singlepic id=236 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Blues rock that sounds like something in between of Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac and later projects that originated in mysterious ways  from this group, like Cream and Blind Faith. The name of the album refers to audio engineer Roger Cameron, who is drawn on the album cover by rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja. According to certain rumors, Dreja would have refused an offer by Jimmy Page to become Led Zeppelin’s bass player because he wanted to pursue a career as a photographer.

2. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Keep On Chooglin’ (Bayou Country, 1969) [singlepic id=277 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Closing song from the first album of Creedence’s 1969-trilogy. Including several guitar solos by John Fogerty, this southern rock does in fact not differ much from the previous song. This song, together with opening track ‘Born on the Bayou’, is one of the album’s highlights. Not as strong as a whole compared to its successors though.

3. Marvin Gaye – What’s Happening Brother (What’s Going On, 1971) [singlepic id=141 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Staying in the same period with the velvet soul from Marvin Gaye. Second song of this great album, about a returned Vietnam veteran (based on Gaye’s brother Frankie). While he asks himself whether his baseball team would win or not, I ask myself why this is still Marvin’s only album in my collection.

4. Broken Social Scene – Cranley’s Gonna Make It (Feel Good Lost, 2001) [singlepic id=276 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Debut album from this Canadian indie band. Got it áfter having discovered them through the second and better known album You Forgot It in People, and therefore I was of course surprised by its almost completely instrumental /ambient sound. Time to give it another shot.

5. Kyuss – Caterpillar March (Blues for the Red Sun, 1992) [singlepic id=278 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Another instrumental, with the music written by the band’s drummer Brant Bjork. A rather short song, this one, while Bjork’s other songs ‘Green Machine’ and ’50 Million Year Trip (Downside Up)’ are two of this albums’ highlights.

6. Velvet Underground – Some Kinda Love (The Velvet Underground, 1969) [singlepic id=274 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Perhaps the least song from a genius album. Put on your red pyjama’s and find out all other things about this album. Don’t forget to put jelly on your shoulder.

                  7. The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band – Sisters! Brothers! Small Boats of Fire Are Falling from the Sky! (Born into Trouble as the Sparks Fly Upward, 2001) [singlepic id=280 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Title says it all, I guess. Music For Walking Through The Woods On An Autumn Day.

 

8. Queen – Radio Ga Ga (Live at Wembley ’86, 1992) [singlepic id=279 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Roger Taylor’s most famous composition, from Queen’s eleventh album The Works. Together with John Deacon’s ‘I Want to Break Free’, it was one of the two huge hits on this album. However, today we are reliving a legendary concert in the history of live music, during the summer of 1986. Nobody could have imagined at that time what kind of monsters the title of this song would spit out many years later.

9. Beach Boys – We Got Love (The Beach Boys in Concert, 1973) [singlepic id=136 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Another portion of live music, proving that even a shuffle offers you the necessary continuity now and then while exploring rock music’s archives. The previous time I ran into this live album, it concerned its opening track. That song was added to their studio album Holland, because it would otherwise lack a potential hit. Other songs suffered from this adjustment… among others this one. That way this was the first album the song would ever appear on.

10. 13th Floor Elevators – Dust (Easter Everywhere, 1967) [singlepic id=275 w=80 h=50 float=left]

A familiar song, from a great album I just listened for weeks. A serene song when compared to some others on the album, written by singer Rocky Erickson and Tommy Hall, whose electric jug defines this album.