I’ve never really given Chicago too much of a chance. Maybe because I’ve always considered Electric Light Orchestra to be superior in terms of lushly orchestrated pop groups. Or maybe because I’ve always thought jazz-rock fusion was a lot better when it came from the jazz side. But, I’ve been trying to be a better poptimist, and seventies soft rock has been getting the better of me. And, I recently found four Chicago albums for a buck, so you can’t beat that.
Record #269: The Beach Boys – Endless Summer (1974)
The way the stories are told, it’s almost like there were two separate bands in the 1960s called the Beach Boys. One was a lush psychedelic chamber pop group that created some of the most ambitious and beautifully orchestrated pop music ever recorded led by a genius named Brian Wilson. The other was a chart-topping surf group that played easy pop tunes that almost guaranteed commercial success, and they were led by a master of showmanship named Mike Love.
Record #268: Body Futures – Brand New Silhouettes (2014)
I hadn’t heard Milwaukee’s art punk acolytes Body Futures until last night when my band played with them and were blown away. Taking the best lessons punk and new wave can teach them, they create a fusion of the two that is bursting with power and fury. Their live show was a whirlwind of guitars and autoharp and “HEY” bgvs, and the record is just as good. See you around, Body Futures.
Record #267: Daft Punk – Random Access Memories (2013)
For years, Daft Punk has shown the world glimpses of pop music’s future. Tracks like “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” or “Human After All” broke through the surface of pop consciousness like an elusive White Whale before diving back down into the depths.
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Record #266: The Drift – Memory Drawings (2008)
Here’s the thing about post rock. As much as the term brings up images of heavily delayed guitars playing glacially paced riffs until they explode into bombast, that hardly accounts for every group under the term’s large umbrella. Continue reading
Record #265: Chuck Berry – Chuck Berry’s Golden Hits (1967)
I don’t care what Back to the Future says: rock n roll was not invented by Marty McFly. It was invented by Mr. Charles Berry, who here offers newly recorded versions of his previous hits.
Record #264: Isis – Panopticon (2004)
Lately, it has occurred to me that I really, really, really like metal. But not just any metal. Not the dirty, long haired, macho, thrashy metal the baggy-black-shirted kids in high school listen to, or the moshy, blast-beating, breakdowning metal the tight-pantsed kids with eyeliner listen to.
It’s not enough for metal to be pissed. No, metal needs to be powerful. Enter Isis, who offer here one of the best metal albums of all time without a single masturbatory, finger tapped solo or palm muted “chug-chug-chug. Chiggity chug-chug-chug.”
Instead, Panopticon achieves its metalicness with sustained chords played through layers of distortion in between post-rock level handling of dynamic shifts. Most of this album is instrumental, which makes it a closer contemporary to Pelican than Pantera, which suits me just fine, even if I can’t believe I missed it for ten years.
Instead, Panopticon achieves its metalicness with sustained chords played through layers of distortion in between post-rock level handling of dynamic shifts. Most of this album is instrumental, which makes it a closer contemporary to Pelican than Pantera, which suits me just fine, even if I can’t believe I missed it for ten years.
Record #263: American Football – American Football (1999)
Time for another confession: I never listened to American Football until this year.
Record #262: Imperiet – Blå Himlen Blues (1985)
In Stockholm, there is a record store called Pet Sounds which is listed on numerous “best record shops in the world” lists. It was at this shop that I asked the man working there for something distinctly Swedish. He told me of a Stockholm based punk band called Ebba Grön who broke up and became a post punk band called Imperiet, and suggested this record, translated as Blue Heaven Blues. I took him at his word, and did not return void. Were their lyrics in English, it’s doubtless that Imperiet would have been canonized among New Order, Psychedelic Furs, Duran Duran, and other post punk/new wave patron saints.
Record #261: ABBA – Super Trouper (1980)
Sorry for the lack of updates: my wife and I were in Sweden visiting family. Luckily, Sweden isn’t as saccharine sweet as their primary musical export. But can anyone real hate ABBA? All the reasons to hate them—the melodramatic cheesiness of their delivery, the Swedish simplicity of their songcraft, the squareness of the whole thing—are the same reasons they are adored so widely. So whatever. Thanks, Sweden, for the discocheese.