The mixing on 'Just a Gigolo' threw me for a loop, but I came around to really enjoy the madcap style of this music throughout the entire album. "The Wildest" is an appropriate title for some of the most memorable swing music I've ever heard.

Jon Hassell makes the most of his instrument by using it unlike any other trumpeter. This record takes you places you've never been. Check it out!

"Jesus, help me find my proper place" might be a bit baffling coming from the lips of Lou Reed, but it reflects his search for something new. With John Cale gone from the group, the Velvets feel free to pursue a new direction. And as much as I love John Cale (whose solo work is so inspiring), the first album made after his absence from The Velvet Underground makes for the band's best album. This record is rather unlike its two predecessors, but its calm and casual atmosphere ... read more

Leonard Cohen and the Crickets! I’ll never forget the first time I heard this (being the first record I ever heard by an artist who quickly became one of my favorites of all time). The Jews’ harp features prominently throughout the album and makes it sound like the songs were recorded in a field full of crickets, and something about that natural and simple soundscape really captured my attention. Of course, the understated vocals and the lyrics crept into my consciousness and found ... read more

I will return to this.

I had somehow missed any mention of this band in my many years of listening to music of the 60s. I'm happy to have found an intriguing group that seems to me mostly reminiscent of Love, another West-Coast band.

Apart from the song 'Sludgefeast', I did not really enjoy this album while I did the dishes.

Bastards should have called this "Eleven"

I need to revisit and possibly revise my rating, because this album was not at all unpleasant. Nevertheless, I don't remember anything about it.

Who doesn’t love funky idiophonic music from France!?

Pierre Moerlen took Gong in a totally different direction to transport the band from its hermetic world of hippy commune rock to the less druggy domain of a jazz fusion rooted in percussion instruments. It’s a huge move, but I prefer the latter location.

I rate this record highly due to my admiration for mallet instruments and fretless bass, but really, this record is an underrated hidden gem with some radiant playing from the ... read more

I prefer The Orb.

As usual, it seems like Radiohead recycles avant-garde music ideas of the past to put together really discombobulating records with not so many memorable moments. Nevertheless, I must highlight the melancholy 'Pyramid Song' for praise—this song has the grand air of a great jazz ballad, and its intriguing time-signature shifts always tickle my interest.

Grateful to have discovered this artist (with a voice that reminds me of someone else so strongly, yet I can't place the name). These songs have a certain grip to them, and I'm eager to revisit the record soon.

1969 was a weird year for the Beatles. After mucking around with some aimless "back to basics" music-making in the early part of the year (all the 'Get Back' / 'Let It Be' crap), the band got down to business during the spring and summer and managed to make an awesome album in the midst of a break-up. As if conscious of crafting a swansong, The Beatles hold nothing back on Abbey Road: the sizable tracklist features a diverse lot of songs all gorgeously produced ... read more

These guys never calm down for a single second. Every song comes across as a huge frenetic mess. It's most certainly not the worst thing I've ever heard, but I really loathed the time I spent listening to this.

You all need to hear Andrew Hughes' music. General American describes modern society through fifteen intelligent tunes. Every song was played and produced with great expression and taste by a talented one-man-band who's a particularly skilled guitarist. Virtually unknown, Hughes makes music from his bedroom. Nevertheless, you won't hear any of the typical quirks and burps associated with underground DIY artists. The pristine audio quality of General American perfectly complements ... read more

Robert Wyatt is a man who didn't let debilitating physical paralysis stop his art. While I prefer his early Soft Machine stuff and his music with Matching Mole, I admire most his fearless embrace of artistic expression, even if it's "weird". This record sends relentless waves of weirdness! Nevertheless, the more you listen to it, the more you can withstand the waves and start to recognize the beauty at the bottom of it all.

In my opinion, Fairport Convention's other notable album "Unhalfbricking" is much more engaging. Richard Thompson is a true talent, but he doesn't show up so much on Liege & Lief, and that's my biggest problem with this record.

Kings of Sleeze! They praise the wrong things lyrically, but the music and voice combine to create a winning (if incomprehensible) picture of "modern" rock (I realize this album is twenty years old).

While I found myself comfortably numbed and engrossed in the gloom of a few standout tracks ('A Quick One...', 'Hunter'), I remained mostly unmoved by the murky atmosphere of this album. If I had understood a single word of the lyrics, I would have had a little more to work with in assigning a score. To me, the record runs long and has motives and meanings that are as incomprehensible as the darkest abyss. Perhaps it's supposed to sound like a great big hymn from Hell. ... read more