'Birdland' takes me back to my earliest introductions to jazz when I joined the high school "jazz" band as a reluctant bass player. We managed to perform a simplified score of 'Birdland' that I remember fondly. Nearly twenty years later, I've since become an active performer, regularly gigging out on most weekends. And most of the time, bass is the instrument I'm hired to play. I wonder how my life would be different if it weren't for ... read more

What is the appeal, here?

The deeper Mitchell's music, the denser its sound. I've always found her mid-to-late 70s records difficult to dig into it. While I admire her brave artistry, her willingness to develop her style, her utterly original blend of jazz-folk, and her vivid lyrics relentless in their images, the resultant sound too often stays within the same lane and becomes bland. A few exceptions submit themselves in 'Centerpiece' and 'Shadows and Light', but I can never remember much ... read more

Roxy Music proves its weirdness right away. But like some other special artists (Bob Dylan, King Crimson, etc), the weirdness works in an ineffable way. Ferry's vibrato and soft, dry vocal takes can be hard to handle. Eno's effects sometimes disconnect any instrument from the rest of the band. The saxophone often hits notes that spike out and resonate with really harsh harmonics. But still, I find myself entranced with the whole show. Sure, it might require repeated listens to uncover ... read more

Absolutely tragic. A favorite of mine. Big Star's little trilogy of albums, culminating in "Third", plots a downward slope into crestfallen depression. This record, a shambling mess of melancholic music, was plagued with plenty of production problems and released as an afterthought several years after its recording. The songs are sad in and of themselves, but they take on a greater degree of gloominess when considering the context of the once bright and optimistic band that put ... read more

One of the most under-appreciated and unknown "ambient" albums out there. This floored me years ago when I first found it by accident while searching for something by the great artist of a similar name, Peter Hammill. The composition takes its time to unfold through a series of themes, some calming, some cacophonous. 'Organum' best exhibits the power of a pipe organ and its vast palette of sound. I treasure this record.

Piano fanfare and an excitable slide guitar crack open John Cale’s 1973 masterpiece Paris 1919. ‘A Child’s Christmas In Wales’ comes across as a surreal nursery rhyme with lyrics like “ten murdered oranges bled on board ship” set to a most sunny sort of music. The atmosphere is active and enormous. Organ overtones overwhelm and run together with the relishable Welsh accent of the singing. Syncopated drum-stuff keeps the beat flush with rhythmic richness. The ... read more

"The Seldom Heard Record" - I enjoyed this, but it's a record I'll probably never revisit.

Lovely drones.

I've long admired the music and mission of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra and am always happy to hear it.

I'm not big on the blues, but this band can play rather well. Joplin screams a little too much for my liking, but she also shows she can really sing (especially at the end of the first track 'Combination of the Two').

Utterly unique and probably a big inspiration for Queen. I’ll never forget when I first heard this record and I thought “this sounds a lot like Weird Al’s ‘Virus Alert’”. Sure enough, Weird Al honored Sparks with a stylistic parody of the band's idiosyncratic sound. Even if their music isn't my favorite thing to hear, the Mael brothers are cool dudes whom I'll always admire.

I don't think I'm a fan of Damon Albarn. I liked what I heard here a lot more than any Blur record I've heard, and Gorillaz remains to be explored, but I haven't yet discovered what qualities make Albarn so adored.

I mistakenly listened to this thinking it was "Hysteria" (which is included on the 1001 list), so now I have to slog through yet another Def Leppard record. I'm not a fan of the sound or sentiment, but I find it interesting that two of the bigger hits I had already heard ('Photograph' and 'Foolin') incorporate key changes in their choruses. Maybe the Leppards should have invested in interesting harmony more often?

I bought this record on the strength of Keith Tippett's crazy expressive piano playing on early King Crimson records. Alas, Keith Tippett is rather absent from his own group. Where the heck is Keith? Too often, the horns emit a big cloud of apocalyptical dissonance, and then the song ends. I'm disappointed.

What can I say about Can? While I prefer Future Days or Ege Bamyasi as more consistent records, Tago Mago well represents the band’s jammy propensities. Who else can keep my attention without changing chords? Who else puts two challenging nearly twenty-minute tunes back to back on an album? They are a tight band trapped in a can, hermetic preservers of odd harmony, and I’ll always be a fan even though ‘Aumgn’ and ‘Peking O’ were included on the album…

Bowie has so many great, groundbreaking albums, but this is not one of them. Beyond the hits, nothing sits and sticks around.

Waits does the spooky Americana thing so well. Despite its gruffness, his voice is actually rather delicate and is quite convincing in all of its various inflections. And even when these many grim voices begin to grate on the ears, his lyrics and his soundscapes save the day. Bone Machine is among his best.

Assuming this isn’t straight up in praise of pedophilia (a suspect assumption), I still struggle to see much value in the music which to my ears sounds like a formulaic recipe of “seductive” French whispering on top of repetitive riffs that go nowhere. As for the creepy concept, I’d prefer the sleeze to be a bit more satirical and spicy.

If anything, Gainsbourg is good at getting in and out. The 28 minute run time is the best thing about this. And to be fair, the ... read more

This is too big and unwieldy to hold itself up, but I enjoyed many of its moments of chaotic noise and peaceful reflection.