Across the history of pop music, there are certain years that feel more momentous than others. Moments in time where the social conversation, artistic trends, and brightest minds converge to create a hotspot of musical innovation that stands out among the arbitrary dividers of time.
One of those years is 1967, a year of psychedelic mastery that continues to unfold new masterpieces to me.
After the perfect one-two punch of De-Loused in the Comatorium and Frances the Mute, the Mars Volta faltered a bit. Amputechture and The Bedlam in Goliath tried to recapture much of the free-form wildness that made the first two records so great, but they were a little bit too untethered from the earth (vinyl copies are north of a hundred dollars, so that might be the sour grapes talking).
In the dust of the bloated, over-ambitious Bedlam, the group shifted gears and made Octahedron, which they described as an “unplugged” record—and in my opinion, the best record since Frances.
The Besnard Lakes claim to be a dark horse. And while the cooing harmonies that open the album might seem to suggest otherwise, they quickly prove themselves to be a few shades more menacing than most of their indie rock counterparts.
Before there was Daft Punk, there was Kraftwerk. The storied German electronica pioneers were playing with vocoders and pretending to be robots decades before the French duo picked up their LED-infused helmets.
But Kraftwerk wasn’t always the inorganic collective they’re remembered for. And while Autobahn is the first album to feature their signature robotic sound, it doesn’t stay there forever.
Generally, I’m not much of a fan of greatest hits compilations. I see little value in stripping songs from the context of their albums.
But when you’re dealing with a catalogue as varied and inconsistent as The Doors’, a bird’s eye view can be a valuable thing. Continue reading
Psych-rock pioneers though they may be, The Doors are largely maligned in music snob circles.
And none of their albums are more maligned than 1969’s The Soft Parade.
Even as a Doors fan, I have passed up every copy of this record I have ever seen. But Monday morning, a friend of mine handed me a stack of records, with this among them.
Perhaps no one in pop music history has been treated as unkindly as the Kinks. But despite being blacklisted by American venues and losing the interest of record companies stateside, they continued to create absolutely beautiful music.
