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Post by EdoBosnar on Apr 6, 2024 14:17:54 GMT -5
It's all good. I'm just thinking that we are pretty close in age and grew up in small town Pacific Northwest. Though, to be fair, my tastes in music are pretty divergent from most of the folks I grew up with. Ha! I hear that. I was probably the only guy in my (admittedly rather small) high school who liked prog. And there were, I think, only two or three of us who listened to Bob Marley. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Apr 6, 2024 14:22:17 GMT -5
(...) #10 - Legend by Clannad(...) Initially I had one of their albums in the early 1990s, Anam, during a time when I also liked Enya, but I kind of got tired of it after awhile. Then much later I picked up one of their compilations, An Díolaim, which collects a bunch of their material from the 1970s; I really like that one and still listen to it occasionally. |
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Post by berkley on Apr 6, 2024 16:47:42 GMT -5
Randy Newman: I know him more by reputation than by his music but I plan to check out his stuff at some point
Clannad: I had one album by them in the 1980s, can't recall the title but I'm pretty sure not this one, Legend
George Strait: cannot stand him at all or country singers of his type in general
Al Stewart: I have this album on cd so I must have heard somewhere that it was good because I never was a huge fan of Year of the Cat - didn't mind it but didn't love it. Have never got around to listening to this one yet.
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Post by berkley on Apr 6, 2024 16:57:25 GMT -5
moving along, still in 1974:
Fear by John Cale
I'm a pretty big fan of the Velvet Underground and of Lou Reed's solo records, especially through the 70s and early 80s, but John Cale's solo work was easily a match for Reed's and showed how under-utilised Cale was in the VU. This is one of his best, though I might rate Vintage Violence and Paris 1919 ahead of it. I think the track below, Buffalo Ballet, is a good example of the sound on this album:
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Apr 6, 2024 18:04:11 GMT -5
moving along, still in 1974: Fear by John CaleI'm a big Velvet Underground, Lou Reed and Nico fan too. And of course I love Cale's stuff with the VU. One of my best friends has a signed copy of Fear from when he got to meet Cale after a gig a year or so back. Post Velvets, Cale's solo output is the ex-member's catalogue I know least well. That said, I have been played various albums on occasion and heard odd tracks. I'm pretty sure I've heard this. I like that "Buffalo Ballet" quite a bit. |
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Post by commond on Apr 6, 2024 18:23:17 GMT -5
So many odds and ends...
Slime's Alle gegen Alle... this delivers exactly what it promises -- angry, rebellious German punk. No reinventing the wheel.
Fehlfarben's Glut und Asche... these guys are usually described as a German Gang of Four. Funky German post-punk with an upbeat new wave groove. I had fun.
Pictures' Pictures... this album is so weird. It's a side project of two members of Freeez. Now I love Freeez, and I think I.O.U is one of the best singles of 1983, but this shit is weird. It's an art pop collection of children's songs and some of them are downright creepy. Mostly, I think they're messing around with the new technology at the time, but it sounds like a nightmare at times.
Axe's Nemesis... this album is amusing. The cover looks like a heavy metal record, but it's actually a Southern hard rock album. I wonder how many kids blew their allowance on this.
Von Zamla's No Make Up! This was some sort of super group formed by members of the Swedish prog band, Samla Mammas Mana. It was part of the Rock in Opposition movement of the late 70s where a group of prog bands hit back against the music industry which they claimed refused to recognize their music and instead was solely interested in profit and commercialism. I don't have a dog in that fight, but fwiw, it's a decent prog album.
Michael Franks' Passionfruit... how did I end up listening to this? This is sophisticated jazz pop. Straight easy-listening. There is no way I would gravitate towards this in a record store, but it's interesting to me that it has its fans. I guess people discovered this kind of stuff on the radio.
Builders' Beatin Hearts... Wait, these guys are from New Zealand? All right then. I still don't need spoken word post-punk in my life even if it's an accent I immediately recognize.
Binder Quintet's Binder Quintet Featuring John Tchicai... Hungarian avant-garde jazz, y'know, for when you're in the mood for some. Actually, it's pretty good.
M·B=Maurizio Bianchi's The Plain Truth... Noisy, droning dark ambient music. Not my thing.
The Boomerang Jazz Ensemble's The Boomerang Jazz Ensemble... Soviet jazz from Kazakhstan. Interesting. It's a mix of jazz fusion, free jazz and spiritual jazz. If you're like me, you were probably unaware that there were musicians playing this kind of jazz in the Soviet Union at the time, which makes this quite the gem.
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Post by berkley on Apr 6, 2024 19:47:41 GMT -5
moving along, still in 1974: Fear by John CaleI'm a big Velvet Underground, Lou Reed and Nico fan too. And of course I love Cale's stuff with the VU. One of my best friends has a signed copy of Fear from when he got to meet Cale after a gig a year or so back. Post Velvets, Cale's solo output is the ex-member's catalogue I know least well. That said, I have been played various albums on occasion and heard odd tracks. I'm pretty sure I've heard this. I like that "Buffalo Ballet" quite a bit.
I like Nico's solo albums too, the ones I've heard. I considered her album The End for this list. Maybe we should do our "near misses" too, or a few of them.
I even found a Maureen Tucker solo cd once in a used record store - but when I got it home it turned out to be damaged in some fashion and unplayable so I never did get to hear what it sounded like.
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Post by berkley on Apr 6, 2024 21:41:18 GMT -5
It's Only Rock and Roll by the Rolling Stones
Their last album with Mick Taylor and the end of their peak era, for me. They made some very good records after this one (e.g. Black and Blue, Some Girls) but none with the consistency they had in their best years. If I have one criticism, maybe the production isn't as much to my taste as on their previous records, the overall sound feeling a little slick and processed to me. But that's a minor quibble: otherwise this record, a little underrated IMO can stand with their classics. Favourite tracks, probably Time Waits for No One, Till the Next Time, If You really Want to Be My friend, Fingerprint File.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Apr 6, 2024 22:31:39 GMT -5
I like Nico's solo albums too, the ones I've heard. I considered her album The End for this list. Maybe we should do our "near misses" too, or a few of them. I even found a Maureen Tucker solo cd once in a used record store - but when I got it home it turned out to be damaged in some fashion and unplayable so I never did get to hear what it sounded like.
With Nico, I only know Chelsea Girl and The Marble Index, but I love those. I know that my friend with the signed copy of Fear has some Maureen Tucker albums; he reckons they're better than you might expect! I'm dubious though.  It's Only Rock and Roll by the Rolling StonesTheir last album with Mick Taylor and the end of their peak era, for me. They made some very good records after this one (e.g. Black and Blue, Some Girls) but none with the consistency they had in their best years. If I have one criticism, maybe the production isn't as much to my taste as on their previous records, the overall sound feeling a little slick and processed to me. But that's a minor quibble: otherwise this record, a little underrated IMO can stand with their classics. Favourite tracks, probably Time Waits for No One, Till the Next Time, If You really Want to Be My friend, Fingerprint File. I would agree with you that this was the end of the Stones peak era, but for me the last two albums of that era ( Goats Head Soup and It's Only Rock and Roll) were a step down from the glory of the four album run between Beggar's Banquet and Exile on Main Street. There are stand out tracks and classic singles on those last two Mick Taylor era albums for sure, but they're not quite as consistent all the way through as the earlier albums from his tenure in the band IMO. |
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Post by tartanphantom on Apr 6, 2024 23:23:12 GMT -5
Confessor, I agree, Exile is probably my favorite Stones album, followed by Beggars Banquet. After that, I am also partial to Sticky Fingers and oddly enough, Some Girls, which has some pretty great tracks too.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Apr 7, 2024 2:25:04 GMT -5
Confessor , I agree, Exile is probably my favorite Stones album, followed by Beggars Banquet. After that, I am also partial to Sticky Fingers and oddly enough, Some Girls, which has some pretty great tracks too. Oddly? For me, Some Girls is tied with Exile as their best album. Not a dud on it. |
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Post by Confessor on Apr 7, 2024 3:14:24 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1984 #9 - George Strait – Does Fort Worth Every Cross Your Mind
Never heard of George Strait, but that's some very traditional sounding country & western for the 1980s. Those songs wouldn't have sounded out of place in the '60s (and I mean that as a good thing). |
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Post by Confessor on Apr 7, 2024 4:00:41 GMT -5
Another favourite album of 1984... #9 - Rattlesnakes by Lloyd Cole And The Commotions  Rattlesnakes is the debut album by Glaswegian rock band Lloyd Cole and the Commotions and includes the British hit single "Perfect Skin". I didn't pick this album up at the time; I found a second-hand copy at a Car Boot Sale in the early '90s. Still, I liked the single "Perfect Skin" enough in 1984 to have taped it off the radio (on my ghetto blaster, Slam ). These days, I have all three of the band's albums, but Rattlesnakes is by far the best. The Commotions came out of the same Scottish indie scene as Aztec Camera, Orange Juice, and the Bluebells, but the difference was they were signed to Polydor, a major label. This meant that their records received a much bigger promotional push than their contemporaries and had a layer of studio gloss that was missing from those other bands' recordings. Cole is a skilled singer-songwriter, with a nice line in literate and unashamedly romantic lyrics, all sung in his cracked baritone. The songs on Rattlesnakes are either jangling guitar pop, with catchy melodies, or darker, more meditative tracks. Standout songs on the album for me would be "Perfect Skin", "2cv", "Down on Mission Street" and the title-track. That said, not everything on this album works; two or three of the songs are decidedly mediocre, in fact. But when they hit the mark, Cole and the boys create something rather special. Check out the video for the album's hit single, "Perfect Skin"… |
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Post by berkley on Apr 7, 2024 22:19:02 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1984 #9 - George Strait – Does Fort Worth Every Cross Your Mind
Never heard of George Strait, but that's some very traditional sounding country & western for the 1980s. Those songs wouldn't have sounded out of place in the '60s (and I mean that as a good thing).
Really? I wonder if I'm mixing him up with someone else because that's not what I was thinking of at all when I saw his name - more the opposite.
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Post by berkley on Apr 7, 2024 22:29:00 GMT -5
Never heard of George Strait, but that's some very traditional sounding country & western for the 1980s. Those songs wouldn't have sounded out of place in the '60s (and I mean that as a good thing).
Really? I wonder if I'm mixing him up with someone else because that's not what I was thinking of at all when I saw his name - more the opposite.
OK, I listened to the Fort Worth song and read a bit of his wiki page. I admit I've had the wrong idea about him all this time, thinking he was one of these slick "modern country" guys, or whatever the term is when apparently he was known for the opposite, returning to a ore traditional sound. I could probably listen to some of this, based on the one song, though I'm not sure I'd ever become an enthusiast.
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