Part II "If you could turn your fellow Forum members on to just ONE disc" thread

For my 3,000th post I wanted to do something cool and I decided to re-visit one of my threads that I really liked a lot. About ten months or so ago I started this thread where I asked members what they would play if a fellow Forum member came by and only had time to listen to ONE disc.

My thinking at the time was that folks would select something they really dug that they felt most other members had probably never heard. In most cases that's exactly what happened. Some members though, selected something they felt best demonstrated their sound systems. Maybe even the disc that they carried around when they sampled speakers or CD players.

Either way I read about a lot of music on that thread that I was either completely unfamiliar with or that I had heard of but never actually heard. Many of the entries made it into my shopping cart and eventually onto my shelves.

Anyway I know that we have picked up a lot of new members since that thread ran. Also, a lot of new music has come out and a lot of older stuff has been discovered and re-discovered in that time. Therefore I want to do it again. In keeping with the spirit of the original thread let's please keep it to just one disc that, for whatever reason, you would really like us to hear.

Finally, I just want to say thanks to all the Members who read along and contribute and who generally make this the wonderful place that it is. I have made a lot of friends here and they are relationships that I cherish. I have met some of you cats in person and hope to meet many more of you.

Special thanks go to Steve for hosting this party and for footing the bill. None of us has ever paid a single penny in dues and that's certainly not something that I take for granted.

To the Gorts: you keep it going on and we all owe you a debt of gratitude

I love you guys man...
Peace-
Norm

 

Well said...I second that.


and on another note...CONGRATS on the big 3-0-0-0!

I can't think of a special disc right now...I'll get back to this thread at a later time when I think of something good.

 

The Flaming Lips: The Soft Bulletin

 

I would love for everyone to be able to hear this hillarious local political parody songs.

"No more speed my wallets bare.
Gotta save up for my bus fare.

Photo radar wrecked my life.
That girl with me was not my wife!"

Track list:
Photo Radar Sucks
Brown Water
Smokin' In The Dining Room
Premier Mike's Last Dance
His Gut/Her Butt
Life In The Slow Lane
Listen To The B.S.
We Won't Get Food Again
Mr. Car Driver
Won't Pay A Tax For The CBC
Surrey Man
It's Fallin' Down
I Can't Fit One Over My Head
Both Hands In My Pockets
This Soap's For You
Christmas In Vancouver

 

I was thinking of a similar thread, something like 'best band never mentioned in the Forum.' I had searched on my favorite album from last year, Exploding Hearts, "Guitar Romantic" and found no mention.

It's timeless power pop with spirit of '77 snarl. Brilliant and funny lyrics, and a fuzzy and crunchy sound that is infectious. It's so perfect and seemingly simple that it makes me want to run to my garage with a guitar.

Sadly 3 of the 4 band members died last year in a tour van crash... but I think this band will be like the Velvets and Big Star, too perfect for its time but getting a posthumous cult following and the respect they deserve.

 

A danish rockband named Gasolin` and their album Gas 5, produced by Roy Thomas Baker of Queen fame.
A fabelous album.

 

I heard a band called Anathema, from Liverpool. They used to be a death metal band but mellowed and are more of a brooding Floyd-ish band now. Heard some tracks from an album called Judgment. Great stuff!!!!

 

I'd say Norm with all The Beatles fans, I'd have to play them one of my Bootleg CD's that I seem to always find interesting. Like the ones I have on the Cranberry Sauce label.

"Love You To 2002" has got some awesome rearrangements and remixes of some of my favorite songs that are just killer upon first hearing them! I believe it has about 24 or 25 tracks on it. including the title cut in remembrance of George's recent passing.

 

It's a toss-up between two brilliant LPs that most have never heard of.

Richard Wagner: S/T (1977)
Ursa Major: S/T (1972)

 

Finally, a mention of this great band!! All their albums are wonderful. Are any of 'em on CD someplace a North American can get 'em???

 

terence boylan - self-titled

 

Hi Sharedon
Nice to see a North American liking "our" heroes.
Some months ago they issued "The black box" including all 7 studio albums and 1 live album Plus 1 disc containing Singles and rarities.
It sold out within 2 months....70.000 copies in a small country as Denmark is.
So Im not sure you can buy it online..Ive seen it in some shops though.
so if youre really interested, maybe we can figure something out
it usually sells for 399,- danish kroner (i think you divide that with 6,5, to get the dollar price)

 

I'd have to choose my favorite album of 2003, The Magnolia Electric Co. by Songs:Ohia.

The band is really Jason Molina, whose past music has been very sparse (often solo) with very oblique lyrics. There's still a lot of that going on, but this time it's fueled by his touring band in full Neil Young mode.

Many reviews will site Molina's working class background... but this record comes off as more "intellectual working class" than your traditional working-class rockers like Springsteen or Segar. No, this is more "On the Beach" meets "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot."

The record was recorded by Steve Albini at his Electrical Audio in Chicago. It's a far cry from his work with Nirvana or PJ Harvey. Instead of big huge drums in a big huge room, they are dry and intimate. The record was recorded on a 24-track Studer tape deck, and I think it was mixed to 1/2" tape too.

 

Waylon Live: The Expanded Edition - Waylon Jennings.

Great sound. Great performances. Amazing double CD set. (Mastered by Vic Anesini! ;-))

 

Congrats on 3,000 Norm.

Let's go with Bobby McFerrin- Paper Music. Bobby is conducting the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Beautiful versions of Faure's Pavane and Tchaikovsky's Andante Cantabile. We're talking goose bumps.

 

In the spirit of Norm's original thread, I'm sticking to my original reply. This is one artist and cd I can never listen to enough of...
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=255512&highlight=willy+deville#post255512

 

The King Of Instruments.

His Master's Voice LP. Incredible versions of both Boellman and Widor Toccatas, not to mention a glorious rambling track of Buxtehude with a suspended 4th chord midway that goes right through you.

Somedays the pedal harpsichord is my favourite instrument, other days it is the cathedral organ, and The King Of Instruments is a glorious LP of organ music. Play it loud.

 

OutKast - The Love Below

 

From 1994 Redd Kross - Phaseshifter
It blurs the lines of power pop and hard rock. It's usually available at the used stores for $5-$7

 

Nick Heyward's North of a Miracle.Heyward's first solo album after Haircut 100 imploded...he created a pop masterpiece.Produced by Geoff Emerick of Beatles fame,it is an interesting amalgam of pop,jazz,Haircut 100 on crack,and to a lesser and almost subtle degree the Beatles.Also heads up to bass fans out there,Pino Palladino arguably plays some of the best bass lines in history.All in all,it is a hidden gem and I hope that all of you investigate this little known,but superb album.

 

The Posies - "Dear 23"

IMO, one of the best power pop releases of the '90's. A huge cutout, this CD can usually be found for around $5.00 or less. Highly recommended for Big Star and Hollies fans.




Ed Hurdle
HeavyDistortion

 

The Lp I would like to share is one that is historically interesting:

The Mugwumps--Cass Elliot, Denny Doherty, Zal Yanovsky, James Hendricks Group formed: 1964 in New York, New York The Mugwumps Warner Bros. Records LP: WS - 1697 Stereo LP: W - 1697 Mono 1967

I had heard about them in the Mama's & the Papa's song Creeque Alley, and so you can imagine my surprise when I spotted the disc (an original, BTW) in the cut-out bin in 1983 at of all places K-Mart! It's pretty good, and you have one Mama and one Papa and one of the Lovin' Spoonful.

 

I bought that LP when it came out, and listen to it regularly. Great stuff.

Here's one: Nic Jones, "Penguin Eggs." I picked this up on LP from Music Direct a year or so ago since it was in the "$10 bin." Apart from it being a very nice recording/pressing, it is a very distinctive brand of folk music, using only a few acoustic instruments playing old tunes that Jones sourced from many different places. The tunes harken back to an era of the last century, and are very haunting. His guitar style is also distinctive, but unfortunately his career was sidetracked many years ago by injuries sustained in a car wreck.

John K.

 

For my first post here, how about the one I've got playing right now? Built To Spill. Perfect From Now On. One of my all time favorites, not just of the 90s, but all time.

We probably all have a handful of these "goto" type albums, the ones you can pull out just about anytime and never get tired of hearing. Always sound fresh, but at the same time like an old friend. This is one of those for me. It was my introduction to Built To Spill, back sometime in 1997 when it came out on Warner Bros. Records. Indie rock on a big label. This was their first album for the WB. I picked up the double vinyl on the Up label, I think partly because I thought the cover was pretty cool. But I had probably read something about it too, can't remember exactly now. I was buying quite a bit of indie rock type vinyl back then, much of it unknown to me. This one took awhile to turn into a favorite though. I knew from the first listen that it was something special, but it's not the type of music that slaps you into submission. More like a slow acting but habit forming drug...you don't quite know how you feel about it but can't stop taking it. And after about ten times you're totally, hopelessly addicted.

Band leader Doug Martsch is something of a modern day guitar hero for those of you not in the know, and this was his band's epic. All long songs, only 8 of them, ranging from about 5 minutes to almost 9. No filler, all very solid, especially the opening block of three songs, each 6+ minutes in length with nary a wasted note. And with multi-layered guitar solos interwoven so thoughtfully you may not even notice that you've been sitting mesmerized until it's over. My understanding is they wound up recording it twice to get the sound they wanted, but never quite got there according to Doug Martsch in an interview that appeared in Pulse! magazine....

"That was one time when I thought I was in way over my head. [But] it worked out fine. And I love that record; I think it's the best thing that we've done. It was supposed to be kinda epic-sounding, but I was never able to get it where I wanted it and that was really disappointing to me, but in retrospect I think that's what makes it a cool record ... If it'd sounded the way I wanted it to sound like a Blur record or Radiohead or something; I imagined it being massive and I'm glad that it's not; I'm glad that it's still sort of like a guy in his room but kind of epic."


Think maybe the Abbey Road suite type Beatles crossed with Down By The River type Neil Young and Crazy Horse (in fact they have a live album with an outstanding 20 minute version of Cortez the Killer ) and maybe some occasional Electric Ladyland type Hendrix. Martsch has kind of a whiney voice that's a bit like Neil Young, but most of the songs are written around that sound and work well with it. Lots of texture and spaciness, kind of like Pink Floyd even at times, but not really. Beautiful feedback and trance-inducing melodies. Cellos, melotrons and moog synths add even more texture and the lyrics bring color and depth to the images. Really a brilliant album, easily one of the best of the 90s. Highly recommended if you haven't heard it, but remember, it takes a while to really get down under your skin. Maybe if you can borrow a copy to give it a try before you buy? Or download some songs like "I Would Hurt A Fly", or just about anything on the album to be honest.

I did pick up a used copy of the CD later and it's a little disappointing sound-wise compared to the LP which gives it more of an epic sound and they also have much better guitar tone. But I still love it regardless of the format.

 

Not to get off topic (I will), but I saw this band open for HOT TUNA at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ in the late 70's. A very strange opening band for Hot Tuna to say the least.