what was the last 'classic album' you got and were knocked out by?

yeah singing, who ever thought that was a good idea

whaaat? It's Norma Winstone!

The Clientele - The Violet Hour

― Kangol In The Light (Craig D.), Thursday, April 29, 2021 8:51 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Some of the greatest music ever. So much atmosphere.

matthew! that's it! such a classic clip. right up there with lou reed's "i don't do drugs" interview.

another one for me today and another reminder of the collective i've underrated so much through the years:
paul kantner's blows against the empire. just the scope of that stuff is wild enough, but it's like a british psych folk album in its execution. maybe not good for every day listening, but it's way better than i expected. is it considered a classic album?

it should be! That is one rad kinda fucked up album, glad to hear you’re digging it.

best part was: i went into barnes + noble to get the newly reissued / remixed plastic ono band (not the big boy version tho) and they had blows against the empire in the $4.99 bin! it's the legacy edition too, with the bonus tracks!

is it considered a classic album?

I figured maybe it had to be older than 20 years or so to be a classic, but someone listed jessie ware's "what's your pleasure?".
A lot of these are also pretty obscure (Yonin Bayashi? Amancio da Silva?), so we're not exactly sticking to 33 1/3 canon.

But then again, I think you kinda answered your own question:

maybe not good for every day listening, but it's way better than i expected.

yeah, makes sense. i worked in a used record store for several years and i just recall seeing it all the time; very common record. so, i always just assumed it was at least considered a classic of the period.

don’t know if it’s considered a classic or not - I had never heard of it, a casual mention by Marcello Carlin on his revived Then Play Long blog caught my attention - but No Nos Pararan by La Charanga 76 (from 1980) is fantastic.

slightly raggedy, somewhat dubby en-español reworks of then-recent disco hits (mostly of the Chic kind, their “Good Times” is spectacular), plus “C-U-B-A Is Cuba”, which is *not* a raggedy, dubby en-español reworking of the Gibson Brothers hit, but an original (afaict).

(I see that this was a bit of a diversion from them, as they were actually a salsa band)

a diversion from for them

love their cover of “ain’t no stopping us now”

yep, that’s the title track (and the one Carlin referred to), but their “Good Times” is even better imo

I'd heard Aretha's Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) in the past, but it's been a very long time, and I've never owned it. Right now I can't even express how much it's knocking me out. It's going to take a few more listens.

70s aretha in general is some of the best shit ever.

also let us not forget the un-classic review of that album on allmusic:

Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) was just about Franklin's last gasp before succumbing to disco. This odd album, with its cheesy, junky artwork, contains some gems -- notable are a poignant cover of Bernstein's "Somewhere," and a sparkling "Moody's Mood," and the beautiful Carolyn Franklin composition "Angel."

(three stars)

yeah, when one succumbs to disco that's when you know it's over.

(angry eyeroll)

I haven't heard anyone say anything good about Aretha's disco albums, though.

Although "Until You Come Back to Me" was on her next record, and that's not disco but is great, so that's two inaccuracies in that review.

Listened to "Foxbase Alpha" for the first time today. I've actually started following Bob Stanley as a curator of compilations before I ever got into his band, and the contrast between the 60's pop idols in the record sleeve and the modern dance music on the grooves confuses me some, even though there is one track that feels like it splits the difference, with a strong Bacharach feel. Anyway album is great, need to read more about how the band were perceived at the time.

Foxbase Alpha was a revelation at the time, one of my favorite albums from one of my favorite musical periods, i.e. when rock and dance music really got down with each other. Bob's critic's sensibility really drove both the music and aesthetics of St. Etienne, collages of cherished musical memories with a dance beat. They also did one of the first dance remakes of a classic rock warhorse ("Only Love Can Break Your Heart") which became a pretty commonplace move in the early 90's.

'Return of the Giant Slits' is the best thing ever, I have no idea why I resisted its charm for such a long time.

I should give it yet another listen. Love Cut but I've never warmed to Return.

You guys gotta hear Foxbase Beta the fantastic album of remixes and re-recordings by Richard X. Some of the tracks actually do improve on the originals;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfPyAJfsy1g

Also the commentary that went along with it (featuring Richard X and Bob and Pete); where they talk about the recording of Alpha (and Beta)..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryr8oCoIfgM

Feelies - Only Life
only heard the first album before, this one is really doing it for me
reminds me of 80s Flying Nun bands but with an actual recording budget

Can’t ever go wrong with the Feelies

The Good Earth is my fave Feelies, it's like a whole album of "Dear Prudence."

Have always wanted to get a physical copy of Beta, but it sold out on the St. Et website way too fast.

Yeah Discogs has copies but it's always like thrice the original price.

aww yeah foxbase alpha is legit a top 5 album for me. every note is perfect, the vibe is immense

I loved Foxbase Alpha for decades, then I got Foxbase Beta and loved it all over again anew... Richard X and the band really did a fantastic job reimagining it.

Dr John, "Gris-Gris"

I had (possibly inaccurately) only ever associated the late Doctor with the kind-of boogie-woogie jamming Jools Holland music which is not my thing at all.

But this album is clearly something else, truly bewitching and weird.

Some of the best music ever made feels like it has the power of a spell over you, and this definitely fills that criteria for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD8npKskEdo

his nenoir under a Hoodoo Moon was a good read.
I've heard that the band he was playing with live inb th eaftermath of Gris gris was quite stunning. But not been able to get hold of anything auydio or video from then. THough there is something on the Kralingen festival footage which I think may be a later lineup.

But yeah awesome record I've loved since the late 80s after only having previously heard Walk on Guilded Splinters. Psychedelia without the influence of the Beatles or the Stones though i think he later played with members of both.

memoir is spelt with an m

Babylon and Remedies are both pretty psychedelic but don't quite have the same atmosphere. May be less drifty cos of lack of mandolin or marimba or something. I thought the Atco box was all pretty good though but he does go back to trying to represent the sound of New orleans in a somewhat straighter way a few lps in.

Great tips, thank-you. Yeah, I've looked for footage of the Gris-Gris era band and it's disappointingly scarce, the closest I've got is this clip from Beat Club:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3vI-K4pIgg

I was apparently so impressed with Gris Gris that I wound up telling my brother to check it out multiple times over. So now a running joke in my family is 'hey, have you heard the first Dr. John album?'

And then because I'm slow it took me years to get around to listening to Babylon recently, which I also liked a lot. Which has now prompted a second repetitive line of questioning as you'd imagine.

Ive given up evangelizing for Gris Gris to my friends. Because I also like the later cornball boogie-woogie style Dr John stuff, I think when they hear me say "that first Dr John album is deeply psychedelic and druggy and weird!" they think I mean it just has a Beatles cover or something, lol.

None of the early run matches Gris Gris for me but for weirdness, I'm also a fan of the Remedies LP for the sidelong chain gang freakout suite "Angola Anthem"

Lloyd Cole & the Commotions - Rattlesnakes

xxpost--did not know Foxbase Beta existed! Thanks!

I was aware it existed, but only ever heard the Neil Young cover until this thread corrected that oversight. Not sure how I missed it all these years.

That Neil Young cover though. So transcendent.

today - "jesus' blood never failed me yet" by gavin bryars. i knew sinking of the titanic but nothing else by him. this could so easily feel overwrought but somehow it doesn't. so beautiful.

also this thread inspired me to listen to "the good earth" by the feelies, which i think i had listened to once a long time ago but dismissed bc of its rep for not being as frenetic as the debut. first of all, it's still fairly frenetic, secondly it's an amazing album. i love how far down in the mix the vocals are.

today - "jesus' blood never failed me yet" by gavin bryars. i knew sinking of the titanic but nothing else by him. this could so easily feel overwrought but somehow it doesn't. so beautiful.

Which version? Apparently there's an early version, and then a later version with Tom Waits tacked on at the end, and I remember reading a review that suggested that Waits' presence was overwrought and intrusive. (I've never heard either.)

yeah this is the original recording. i think there are two later versions - an hour-long version and then the 74-minute version with waits

"The original 25-minute version of the piece was first performed by the Music Now Ensemble, conducted by Bryars, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in December 1972, and recorded for Brian Eno's Obscure label in 1975. In 1990 the Gavin Bryars ensemble recorded a 60-minute version, in a restored water-tower in Bourges, France, for Les Disques du Crepuscule. A 74-minute version was recorded in 1993 for the Point label with Tom Waits singing along with the original recording of the man who was homeless during the later sections. In 2019 Gavin Bryars released a live 25-minute version with his ensemble, which included all four of his children, on GB Records"
per wikipedia

spotify (i know) appears to only have the original version and the waits version. i'm skimming the waits version and yeah it is annoying

they played it all in the Virgin megastore the one time i was in there but i had no idea what it was. several years later i found a copy in the 'cds without boxes' bin in whsmiths and recognised the title from the lyrics

I first heard about it when Robert Smith picked it as one of his favourite tracks of all time. Derek Bailey plays guitar on it! I've never liked Tom Waits but the abomination of the later version made me actively hate him.

my copy has about 6 versions on it, waits on the last two, the worst two.

Yeah, I had that.

Tbqh, it’s a once through (with interval) play, the Tom bits are not good but I’ll allow it as it doesn’t delete the first version.

Oh, and the Flaming Lips’ takeoff “White Christmas” is fine too.

I've been playing Titanic/Jesus' Blood pretty constantly for the last month or so. I can appreciate the later expansions, but the original 30 minute versions are great as is. Music for 18 Musicians has been on constant rotation as well.

also this thread inspired me to listen to "the good earth" by the feelies, which i think i had listened to once a long time ago but dismissed bc of its rep for not being as frenetic as the debut. first of all, it's still fairly frenetic, secondly it's an amazing album. i love how far down in the mix the vocals are.

― na (NA), Thursday, May 27, 2021 12:58 PM

nothing to add, just pleased to see more good earth love. it's easily my favorite feelies album.