haha funny to see the thread i started about that album all those years ago quoted there. i haven't listened much to Big Science since then but I still found room for it on my ballot, pretty neat record.
― burr so icey to me (some dude), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 15:10 (fourteen years ago) link
I love how this album slows synth pop down to a contemplative mode, which makes you appreciate those sounds in a different way than with more upbeat stuff. And despite the artsiness it never really sounds indulgent.
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 15:12 (fourteen years ago) link
Would have voted for the amazing _Home of the Brave_ if it had been nominated. I had no idea anything like this existed until I saw this movie and I was shaken for a month afterward.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 15:14 (fourteen years ago) link
as someone who contributed to that upsurge i gotta rep for this record here - albeit that 'from the air' and 'o superman' are the standouts...the last two tracks are a REALLY strong closing pair and cement this as a totally sweet record, rather than a decent art-pop album with two massive hits
― GET THAT BABY JESUS RIGHT UP YE (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 15:17 (fourteen years ago) link
Oh man "It Tango"
― Herman G. Neuname is the first European president (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 15:18 (fourteen years ago) link
Another awesome album cover too, I think.
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 15:18 (fourteen years ago) link
^^^yes
― GET THAT BABY JESUS RIGHT UP YE (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 15:25 (fourteen years ago) link
Another one of mine, too - although actually I've always felt it patchy, but it gained a high placing on my ballot because the tracks that are great are truly awesomely astounding (and other superlatives). Not been on heavy rotation for a couple of years, so maybe I should give the other ones more of a try again.
I'm also still surprised that On Fire is so low - I'm assuming that's because others are coming up higher, but maybe I'm wrong about that?
― emil.y, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 15:31 (fourteen years ago) link
69. Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85 [1985] (100 points, 7 votes)
http://www.lpcd.de/10/F1616_01.jpg
I just realized like a bolt: Scritti Politti (well, C&P 85, all I've heard) invoke in me the very same, very strange, very difficult-to-articulate sense of strangeness and wonder that Steely Dan do! I want to explore this a little further when I have more time and mental energy, but what do you all think of this comparison?
― Clarke B., 13. marraskuuta 2002 10:43
"Cupid & Psyche" is one of the greatest albums ever recorded. I second (or third) the qualitative comparison with Steely Dan - there's a similar "sheen" to the music and an almost obsessive workmanship they share. Indescribable, really. I never warmed up to "Provision", though. (I think Miles is an over-rated prick so maybe that had something to do with it.) I'll have to gove it another listen. I still haven't heard any of the the early Scritti stuff or "Songs to Remember".
― Larry Tremblay, 11. marraskuuta 2003 23:02
cupid and psyche is one of my favorite albums ever. it's so bright and shiny and capitalist sounding. it reminds me of nyc for some reason. every once in awhile i'll pull it out and it turns into a brief obsession of superlatives in my head. i haven't heard any other scritti albums though.
― basquiat (disco stu), 28. helmikuuta 2005 1:40
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 15:33 (fourteen years ago) link
I missed lyrics like I'm in love with a Jacques Derrida / Read a page and know what I need to / Take apart my baby's heart / I'm in love
― Biodegradable (Derelict), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 15:45 (fourteen years ago) link
Much as I love Songs to Remember, love it the most in lots of ways, Cupid & Psyche 85 is so far ahead of it. Green didn't have to sing about Derrida once he'd found a way of making his records deconstruct themselves even as they dazzle and shine.
― Herman G. Neuname is the first European president (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 15:50 (fourteen years ago) link
I don't know anything about Scritti Politti. Records deconstructing themselves sounds interesting but also sounds like work to listen to (I'm sorta joking but only sorta). Is this album a jam?
― Yah Kid A (Euler), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 15:54 (fourteen years ago) link
It's a total jam.
I am never sure how seriously you should read Green's interest in post-structuralism into his music, but he definitely uses the playful aspects of it to take the piss out of himself and the listener even at the same time as he's making you groove/cry.
― Herman G. Neuname is the first European president (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 15:58 (fourteen years ago) link
I'll pick it up, then!
― Yah Kid A (Euler), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:00 (fourteen years ago) link
Would have voted for the amazing _Home of the Brave_ if it had been nominated.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Same. Big Science has never felt to me like a standalone and I had trouble voting for the Reader's Digest version. But I'm glad 11 of you could look past that. I might actually have voted for Mister Heartbreak too if it had made the list.
― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:02 (fourteen years ago) link
glad to see Nail placing, anyone who is interested in the studio side of Foetus would be well off seeking out Thaw, and if the more brutal heavy side is what appeals to you, the live official "bootleg" Rife (which is basically Foetus backed by the Swans) is AMAZING. Foetus live (back in the day, not so much now) was a scary intense thing.
― NAKES HAVE THE STAPLES IN THEM (jjjusten), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:10 (fourteen years ago) link
Big Science is totally sequenced as its own thing and tbh I prefer those songs in that context.
― Herman G. Neuname is the first European president (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:11 (fourteen years ago) link
official version of Rife = double cd MALE.easier to pick up i suspect.intense stuff indeed (story re blood & crowd bashing @ london gig buried on another thread)
― mark e, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:17 (fourteen years ago) link
ive had a running argument w/ former ilxor fluffy bear about whether MALE or RIFE is better. I prefer RIFE, and he is wrong.
― NAKES HAVE THE STAPLES IN THEM (jjjusten), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:21 (fourteen years ago) link
totally listened to Damp the other day and yes that ShrunkenMan cover is IMMENSE along with pretty much everything else there but that is late-era foetus so JJ and I are gonna probably fall out ;_;
mind you the early stuff gets better with every listen
― GET THAT BABY JESUS RIGHT UP YE (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:26 (fourteen years ago) link
the new stuff is fine, i just prefer the direction hes taken with steroid maximus to any of the foetus branded stuff - the newer foetus always sounds a bit forced to me, although yeah there are some gems in there no question
― NAKES HAVE THE STAPLES IN THEM (jjjusten), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:29 (fourteen years ago) link
i forgot to mention this yesterday but this
I was dismissive of Pretty Hate Machine at the time because I felt it ripped off The The. NIN did put on some good live shows, but I still prefer The The.― Fastnbulbous, Tuesday, November 24, 2009 4:43 PM (Yesterday)
― Fastnbulbous, Tuesday, November 24, 2009 4:43 PM (Yesterday)
totally baffles me. am i missing the comparison here, because i dont hear it at all
― NAKES HAVE THE STAPLES IN THEM (jjjusten), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:34 (fourteen years ago) link
meaning the first sentence obv
― NAKES HAVE THE STAPLES IN THEM (jjjusten), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:35 (fourteen years ago) link
al jourgensen's The The
― I wanna take a ride on your disco duck (Curt1s Stephens), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:37 (fourteen years ago) link
can't believe I forgot to vote in this
― I wanna take a ride on your disco duck (Curt1s Stephens), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:38 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah can me and curtis just make some votes in the thread or what
― ice cr?m, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:39 (fourteen years ago) link
sure!
― NAKES HAVE THE STAPLES IN THEM (jjjusten), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:40 (fourteen years ago) link
actually i would be v v curious as to what you guys would have voted for
sign of the times and double nickels on the dime
― ice cr?m, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:42 (fourteen years ago) link
guessing those will both be top ten, maybe top five? worried that ilx will snub the minutemen into the top twenty tho
― NAKES HAVE THE STAPLES IN THEM (jjjusten), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:47 (fourteen years ago) link
68. New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies [1983] (100 points, 16 votes)
http://www.worldinmotion.net/neworder/discography/albums/1983/PCL.jpg
It was the first album I ever heard by them and is still my favorite by far. In many ways it's their most unique album because they don't sound shackled by their JD roots anymore but at the same time they haven't developed NO pop blueprint yet either. I'd really like for them to make another record like this, where they're basically just fucking around. 'S.T.R.E.E.T.D.A.D.' by Out Hud gives me a bit of a PCL fix.
― Scott Warner (thream), 12. lokakuuta 2006 17:34
I love the record. Why? Because of the way the sloppy playing humanizes the programmed stuff. Because of the way the perfect melodies mesh so well with the loose fiddling with the nascent technology. Because of the hint of optimism that shows up, esp. in light of its predecessor. Because of Steve's frenetic but slightly less tribal drums. Because of the way, to this day, I'm still not sure how it was made, or how these songs came from the same band that made "Movement." Similarly, because the band caught near-death crapping through that live NYC performance recently released on DVD more or less went right back into the studio and came up with something as vibrant and beautiful as "P, C L."
Etc.
― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), 12. lokakuuta 2006 18:32
another odd memory of that record -- when i got it, it must've been 1986; i would have been 15. i had discovered new order from "low-life," which was their current album at the time. (i heard "the perfect kiss" somewhere, god knows where, and bought the album.) but when i got "power corruption and lies," somehow it felt like i was reaching back into the distant past; somehow i was very aware that i was hearing the document of a band that didn't exist (like that) any more. why was that? it was only three years since "power, corruption and lies" had come out, and if anything i suspect the pop world moved more slowly then. somehow, in my mind i was listening to a document that seemed beamed into the future from some faraway point in new wave history, when in reality it was a pretty contemporary record. as i sunk deeper into goth/new wave stuff, 1981-83 was generally my favorite period, and somehow it seemed so far away, like i was terribly inauthentic to be this kid from portland, oregon who only discovered the music through, like, "head on the door" in 1985.
do kids like this feel this way? will some 15-year old buy M.I.A.'s next album, and then go back and, discovering "arular," consider it some kind of benjaminian angel of history?
(oddly, in much the same way, i still can't help but think of "brotherhood" as "that new new order album," since that's how i thought of it when it came out -- the first of their records i knew about in advance of its release. i was now IN THE KNOW and boy, did i cherish that status.)
― philip sherburne (philip sherburne), 12. lokakuuta 2006 19:32
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:57 (fourteen years ago) link
wow, that is way lower than i thought it would be
― liverpolol da don (a hoy hoy), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 17:03 (fourteen years ago) link
the empire is crumbing
― ice cr?m, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 17:05 (fourteen years ago) link
since I didn't vote and my list will have no bearing on the results I'm just gonna post it here:
(unordered)Bauhaus - Mask Bauhaus - In the Flat FieldThe Chameleons - Strange TimesThe Chameleons - Script of the Bridge The Chameleons - What Does Anything Mean? Basically The Cure - DisintegrationThe Cure - FaithDepeche Mode - Construction Time AgainDepeche Mode - Black Celebration Echo & the Bunnymen - Ocean Rain Echo & the Bunnymen - Crocodiles Brian Eno - Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks Brian Eno / David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full Michael Jackson - ThrillerThe Jesus and Mary Chain - PsychocandyJoy Division - CloserKilling Joke - What's THIS For...!Kraftwerk - Computer WorldThe Legendary Pink Dots - AsylumN.W.A - Straight Outta Compton Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Architecture & MoralityThe Passions - Thirty Thousand Feet Over ChinaPublic Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) The Sisters of Mercy - First and Last and AlwaysThe Smiths - The Queen Is DeadSpacemen 3 - Sound of ConfusionThomas Dolby - The Golden Age of WirelessTones on Tail - Pop
― I wanna take a ride on your disco duck (Curt1s Stephens), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 17:09 (fourteen years ago) link
I probably would have bothered to order it if I voted
― I wanna take a ride on your disco duck (Curt1s Stephens), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 17:11 (fourteen years ago) link
People who did vote, please don't start posting your ballots yet, as that might give off the results. You can post them once the list is finished.
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 17:12 (fourteen years ago) link
Every 80s New Order album was nominated, so Power, Corruption and Lies's position suffered from serious vote splitting. I still expect a top-15 placement for Substance.
― Biodegradable (Derelict), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 17:19 (fourteen years ago) link
The Chills are great btw, thanks ILX.
― liverpolol da don (a hoy hoy), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 17:20 (fourteen years ago) link
― NAKES HAVE THE STAPLES IN THEM (jjjusten), Wednesday, November 25, 2009 4:34 PM (34 minutes ago)
It's true that Ministry is a far more obvious influence on NIN, but listen to Infected again. It's a less obvious, minority opinion for sure.
― Fastnbulbous, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 17:23 (fourteen years ago) link
Crutis, what is your opinion on Double Nickels, y/n/never heard/etc?
― Bob Saget's "Night Moves": C or D (WmC), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 17:28 (fourteen years ago) link
67. Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes [1983] (101 points, 12 votes)
http://www.bentclouds.com/violentfemmes.jpg
"Blister in the Sun" has gone down a very, very unfortunate path w/r/t cultural connotations.
That said, I'm willing to go on record as believing that that first record is both a classic and a landmark, the most accurate and eloquent expression of geeked-out pissed-off awkward maladjusted unpopular teenaged-boy-dom in the history of recorded music. What will forever boggle my mind is how, over the years, the band was adopted as a novelty act for precisely the sorts of people who should have had the least experience of that phenomenon; no cultural juxtaposition is quite as criminal as hearing "Kiss Off" coming through the window of a frat house rather than a weedy teenager's rusted-out compact car. It's also worth noting, in rockist terms, how utterly on that record was, from the tight, blazing performances to the thoroughgoingly perfect honesty and realness and this is what we're saying and that's just it-ness of it. It's pathetic and it's snotty and defiant about being pathetic. It is basically hip-hop for frustrated, socially irritable suburban kids.
The rest of the catalog wavers steadily downward -- the older they get, the more you're forced to read them as a novelty -- but I'd submit that records like Why Do Birds Sing are worth taking seriously.
― [nabisco], 8. tammikuuta 2002 3:00
"...the band was adopted as a novelty act for precisely the sorts of people who should have had the least experience of that phenomenon; no cultural juxtaposition is quite as criminal as hearing "Kiss Off" coming through the window of a frat house rather than a weedy teenager's rusted-out compact car."
This is very deeply wrong. The point is that the most splendid and muscular king of the prom has felt, thought, and said the same things as do the people on this record. It is everybody's property.
Very good case for at least 5 songs here but I will go with "Prove my Love" for the "AWWWWWW" right before the title is sung.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), 5. marraskuuta 2007 5:22
Great album to have sent to you in the summer of 1983 by your friend who taped them on cassette over the taped Gerald Ford speech he received from going to Boys Nation (I was the alternate and didn't go). This was backed with Fleshtones; other cassette had dB's hits and a selection of songs from Murmur and Reckoning.
Freshman year of college, punk girlz were hanging out in line singing the intro to "Blister in the Sun," I came in with the handclaps, immediately was in with whole punk set for four years.
― Dimension 5ive, 13. marraskuuta 2007 4:21
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 17:48 (fourteen years ago) link
I have never heard the Minutemen iirc
― I wanna take a ride on your disco duck (Curt1s Stephens), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 17:51 (fourteen years ago) link
I think Violent Femmes must be mostly an American thing...? Wikipedia says that album sold platinum in the US, but the only place I ever remember hearing them is The Crow soundtrack.
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 17:51 (fourteen years ago) link
i'm American and they're awesome. and "Blister in the Sun" gets played on my local alt-rock radio station as much as like Stone Temple Pilots
― een, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 17:57 (fourteen years ago) link
i'm American and they're like kryptonite for the ears.
― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 25 November 2009 18:00 (fourteen years ago) link
Cool. Violent Femmes is only the second off of my ballot to show up (along with Run-DMC). I voted for a ton of canonical stuff, tho, so it's going to be interesting to see if any of them don't make it.
As far as hearing them, Violent Femmes was a pretty formative album when I was in high school--and that was 94/95. I think that they go through waves of popularity. I'd stumbled onto the album after seeing how many of their songs showed up on KROQ's top 500 list--I think "Blister in the Sun" might have even been #1.
A couple years ago, at Lollapalooza 2006, the Femmes were playing opposite one of Sleater-Kinney's last shows. I'd felt obligated to watch Sleater-Kinney, but the show was boring as hell, so 20 minutes in I ran all the way across Grant Park to catch the last bit of the Femmes' set. One of the best decisions I ever made. They were rockin it, with a full horn section, enthused to be playing for their home town. People were dancing their asses off. It was great.
― Parenthetical Grillz, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 18:05 (fourteen years ago) link
Album came out in '82, though, according to the band's website: http://www.vfemmes.com/discography.html
― Parenthetical Grillz, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 18:08 (fourteen years ago) link
thought they were from wisconsin.xp
― mizzell, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 18:08 (fourteen years ago) link
Oh, that's weird. AMG, Wikipedia, and discogs.com all say it came out in 1983.
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 18:10 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah. The only reason I know that is 'cause I did a Best of '83 thing a couple of years ago and ended up excluding it. At that time, I think wikipedia had it as '82 too. So, who knows. Release dates are so slippery. Acclaimed music has it as '82 as well.
― Parenthetical Grillz, Wednesday, 25 November 2009 18:15 (fourteen years ago) link