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The Meters’ “Look-Ka Py Py” was a solid funk album, one that excelled thanks to seemingly effortless creation. Yet despite being a strong album, “Look-Ka Py Py” was never quite as good as that opening track, which just so happened to be the only song on the album with actual lyrics. Thankfully, The Meters would introduce lyrics into this wonderfully charming sound, which makes “Rejuvenation” even better than “Look-Ka Py Py.”

To be fair, the ... read more

“Look-Ka Py Py” doesn’t just work because it’s a charming funk album that gets the listener stuck in its groove and never lets go. No, “Look-Ka Py Py” works because The Meters know how to make this sound effortless. While the album can’t ever quite reach the heights of the opening title track, the infectious “Funky Miracle” and “Oh, Calcutta!,” which was sampled so perfectly in Amerie’s “1 Thing,” certainly come ... read more

I had always heard that The Cars’ self-titled debut album was basically a greatest hits album, packed with fantastic songs that the band could never quite live up to after. Maybe it was going into "The Cars" with those high expectations that left me sort of cold on this album. Like so many classic albums I've listened to lately, I find myself enjoying the album for what it is, but not quite adoring it the way the rest of the world has over the years.

“The Cars” ... read more

Janis Joplin has always been a blindspot for me. Maybe it’s because her voice is a bit brash and rough, or maybe it’s because I for some reason seem to avoid musicians who died at a young age (Hendrix, Cobain, and Morrison are also artists whose work I’m only vaguely familiar with). Yet after really enjoying Big Brother and the Holding Company’s “Cheap Thrills,” I was excited to hear Joplin’s iconic solo album “Pearl,” which always seemed ... read more