“Yeah AQUALUNG,” quoth Ron Burgundy during his epic flute solo, a nod to the group’s place in rock history as “that metal band with the flute dude.” Which is a little reductive, especially considering that the flute is prominently featured exactly ZERO times in the title track. Also because Jethro Tull isn’t exactly metal.
Record #279: Jesus Christ Superstar (1970)
To be completely honest, this record is the reason I’ve been procrastinating on this project. After all, I feel like I JUST did Godspell. And that’s pretty much the same thing, right?
Record #278: Jesus and Mary Chain – Psychocandy (1985)
The Jesus and Mary Chain were not the first band to turn their guitars into an onslaught of feedback and sing surprisingly sweet pop songs without affect (see also: The Velvet Underground, The Ramones, Sonic Youth).
But something about JMC’s debut pricked a hole in the swelling bubble of likeminded artists that became the shoegaze scene. Continue reading
Record #277: Jeremy Enigk – Vale Oso (2009)
I should be forthcoming: Sunny Day Real Estate is one of my favorite bands ever. I mean ever. And it’s been that way eleven years. The first time I heard Radiohead (who now bears the same distinction) I thought “his voice sounds a bit like Jeremy.” When mewithoutYou (another all time favorite) released a song with Jeremy on guest vocals, I wept real tears. I spent more than is reasonable for vinyl copies of How it Feels to be Something On and The Rising Tide (which my dog ate the day I got it). I have been pushing hard for vinyl reissues of World Waits and The Fire Theft.
So why did it take me five years to listen to his third proper solo record? Well, I really don’t know.
Record #276: Hundred Waters – The Moon Rang Like a Bell
Every once in a while I’ll hear a song by a band I know nothing about that will absolutely capture me. Earlier this year, that song was Murmurs by Hundred Waters, a long-burn, glistening, hypnotic piece of electronic atmospheres meticulously crafted by aural architects.
Record #275: Fleetwood Mac – Bare Trees (1972)
Fleetwood Mac’s most famous incarnation by far is the form it took in the mid seventies led by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. But the group put out NINE albums before those two joined. Bare Trees is one of them, and is notable for having a better album cover than the performances contained within.
Record #274: The Human League – Dare! (1981)
My first brush with The Human League came from my old music-guru roommate who said, “I love the Human League, but that’s only because I have a soft spot for crappy 80s pop.” And sure, the Human League lived in the same sort of post-punk/new-wave synthpop that the 80s loved, and true, Don’t You Want Me (the anthem of creepy exes everywhere) is a favorite on my local “inoffensive hits of yesterday and today” station. But Dare! is far from a straightforward pop record. There’s enough synthesized dissonance to make the most avant-garde music fan (see: my former roommate) happy.
Record #273: Chicago – Chicago VII (1974)
To the uninitiated (me), Chicago VII can seem like one of the group’s most impenetrable work. While Chicago has always seemed like two separate bands, one given to funky jazz fusion, the other firmly planted in radio-friendly soft rock, those two groups have always cooperated with eachother, trading off tracks. Here, the two camps are at odds.
Record #272: Chicago – Chicago XI (1977)
Strange as it sounds, Chicago evades comprehension. Just when you think they’re a group that splits their time evenly between prog-tinged fusion and radio-friendly soft rock, they release Chicago XI, an album mostly entrenched in the middle of those two camps (and sadly, their last with guitarist Terry Kath before his death).
Record #271: Chicago – Chicago VI (1973)
Like I mentioned in my last Chicago record, I’m a newbie to Chicago’s immense discography. It is my basic understanding that Chicago started out as an ambitious prog/fusion rock group and moved more towards the middle of the road as time went on, making millions on record sales at the expense of critical credibility. However, the more time I spend with the group, the more I realize that that dichotomy is not so neatly divided.