4 - Plastic Box \ Public Image Ltd.
3.5 - People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm \ A Tribe Called Quest
2.5 - Live MCMXCIII \ Velvet Underground
Recent Favorite Songs:
1. Death Disco (PIL - 12'' Remix)
2. Another (PIL - Plastic Box)
3. Do it Clean (EATB)
4. Ride Into the Sun (Rare Lou Reed Vocal version)
5. Midnight (ATCQ)
6. Electric Relaxation (ATCQ)
7. Helplessly Hoping (CSN)
8. Epitaph (KC)
9. The Gift (VU - Live MCMXCIII)
10. Blindness (Fall - Live BBC)
11. Hardest Walk (JMC - Some Kind of Wonderful)
Last edited by Shareefruck: 11-26-2012 at 03:35 AM.
Stumbled into some of Basinski's pieces on youtube when I was scouting around for another more rocky-ish ambiance band--southpacific (not to be confused with the moronic Broadway musical), and I spent the better part of an hour listening to Basinski's stuff. Minimalist and moody but haunting and mesmerizing, too.
Face to Face - 5/5
Sticky Fingers - 5/5
Electric Warrior - 5/5
Zuckerzeit - 5/5
Another Green World - 4.5/5
All Things Must Pass - 4.5/5
Surrealistic Pillow - 4.5/5
Before and After Science - 4/5
Heroes - 3.5/5
Strange Times \ The Chameleons - 3/5
MBV - 2.5/5
Lodger - 2.5/5
New Favorite Songs:
1. Segnung (Popol Vuh)
2. Any Colour You Like (Floyd)
3. Can't You Hear Me Knocking (Stones)
4. The Little Blue Frog (Davis)
5. Cherry Came Too (JAMC)
6. Planet Queen Accoustic (T.Rex)
7. Here There and Everywhere Take 4 (Beatles)
8. Light: Look at Your Sun (Ash Ra Tempel)
9. Stray Cat Blues (Stones)
10. Fancy (Kinks)
11. Tomorrow Never Knows (Chameleons)
12. Raw Ramp (T.Rex)
13. Optimistic (Radiohead)
14. Ride Into the Sun (Luna)
15. Cold (The Cure)
16. Great Expectations (Davis)
17. Some Candy Talking (JAMC)
18. By This River (Eno)
19. My Best Friend (Jefferson Airplane)
20. Wah Wah (Harrison)
Last edited by Shareefruck: 04-14-2013 at 01:17 PM.
Forgive the huge post-- this is two months worth of stuff.
Been having a demos/bootlegs/studio sessions/rarities phase. If anyone has anything in mind, I'd love recommendations. Only bothered listing the stuff I actually got something out of.
Normal stuff first:
King of the Delta Blues \ Robert Johnson - 5/5 Blonde on Blonde \ Bob Dylan - 4.5/5 (Grew on me) Help! \ The Beatles - 4.5/5 (Grew on me-- Love "Ticket to Ride") Stop Making Sense - 4.5/5 (Grew on me) Howlin in the Moonlight \ Howlin Wolf - 4/5 Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust \ David Bowie - 4/5 (not nearly as good as Low) Flaming Pie \ Paul McCartney - 3.5/5 (dropped back down a bit) Kinks \ The Kinks - 3.5/5 In The Wee Small Hours \ Frank Sinatra - 3/5 (I like Mood Indigo) Elegant Gyspy \ Al Di Meola - 3/5 Rumble! \ Link Wray - 3/5 The Doors \ The Doors - 3/5 Dusty in Memphis \ Dusty Springfield - 2.5/5 Highway 61 Revisited \ Bob Dylan - 2.5/5 (did not grow on me)
Alternates/Bootlegs/Sessions/Rarities/Demos:
(don't know how to rate alot of them, but I only listed the ones that I got something out of)
Beatles in Mono \ The Beatles - 5/5
Excellent. I think I prefer all/most of the actual mixes to Stereo, although the quality isn't quite as good. Want to buy this, but it's so damn expensive ($260!!!). Biggest difference is definitely White Album, Sgt. Peppers (This pushed it back up to one of my favorite albums again, after losing interest in it for a while), and Magical Mystery Tour.
What's the deal with not offering each individual album in mono? I only want to buy a few.
Raw Power (Iggy Mix) \ Stooges - 5/5
Raw Power (Bowie Mix \ Stooges - 3.5/5
The Iggy Mix is one of my favorite albums ever. So damn raunchy, weighty, and gritty. Prefer it to the original.
Pet Sounds Sessions \ Beach Boys - 5/5
I always liked Pet Sounds but it didn't blow my mind. I listened to the 3rd disc of this, which is the Vocals Only version of the album, and I'm thoroughly in love with the album now-- Don't know if anyone else feels this way, but I love it stripped down because the harmonies, their greatest strength, are front and center, whereas the overpolished music in the studio album drowns them out to a degree. Vocals Only version of Pet Sounds is now one of my favorite albums.
Peel Slowly and See \ Velvet Underground - 5/5
I totally prefer and love the Closet Mix of the album, "The Velvet Underground". Lot of great stuff here.
Blood on the Tracks: New York Recordings - 4.5/5
Really good versions
Complete Peel Sessions \ Jesus and Mary Chain - 4 or 4.5/5
I really like the feel of ultra-echo-y, accoustic, less distortion JAMC. Favorites are Some Candy Talking, Cut Dead, and In the Rain. Alot of their songs remind me of Heroin by the Velvets, for some reason (which I love).
Revolver Sessions/White Sessions/Soul Sessions - The Beatles - N/A
Annoying how all the versions of Revolution 1 have this artsy nonsensical Ono dialogue over it. I prefer the dirty demo versions of "Yer Blues" alot more than the studio version. LOVED the alternate take 7 version of Here There and Everywhere and the different stripped down sections of Tomorrow Never Knows. My Favorite moment was listening to She Said She Said develop from nothing (or at least something that sounded really awkward) to something, just from playing around with the notes/tone of the intro.
Smile Sessions \ Beach Boys - N/A
Not something that gives you a full experience of any sort, because the album was really incomplete, but it definitely gives me the impression that the album would have been better had it been done back then. The vocals in Heroes and Villains and so much more smooth and beautiful. Wish someone could have combined this vocal track with the Brian Wilson production somehow.
Accoustic Masterpieces - Esher Demos \ The Beatles - N/A
Really cool. Even though the versions are obviously rough, I honestly prefer some of the feel/sequencing of this to the produced result. Really laid back and makes you appreciate how brilliant these guys are at coming up with songs. Favorite moment was the George Harrison section in the middle with a pre-anthology version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps and a great sounding Sour Milk Sea (I love that song-- how the hell did it not make the album!?)
Martin Hannet's Personal Mixes \ Joy Division - N/A
Awesome, although I'm not too sure what the differences were in each version. Something feels extra cool about them though, which may just be my mind playing tricks on me. I've heard that alot of people feel the opposite, but I personally love what Martin Hannet did for Joy Division. He added a really fine layer of cool over everything.
Antrabata Studio Sessions \ Led Zeppelin - N/A
Dark Side of the Moon Immersion Box/Rehearsals \ Pink Floyd - N/A
The Complete Raw Mixes \ The Stooges - N/A
Fully Loaded \ Velvet Underground - N/A
Bowie At the Beeb \ David Bowie - N/A
Complete Peel Sessions \ The Fall - N/A
Early Takes Volume 1 \ George Harison - N/A
Axis Outtakes \ Jimi Hendrix - N/A (anything to get more versions of Little Wing) BBC Sessions \ Led Zeppelin - N/A
BBC Archives \ Pink Floyd - N/A
Scepter Studio Sessions \ Velvet Underground - N/A
Lost Demos \ The Stone Roses - N/A
Highlights:
Wouldn't It Be Nice/God Only Knows Vocals Only, Our Prayers/Heroes and Villains/Wonderful Sessions (Beach Boys)
Revolution/Rain/I'm Only Sleeping/Within You Without You/Sgt Peppers Reprise Mono (Beatles)
Because/Something/Sour Milk Sea/Here There and Everywhere, Strawberry Fields Early Takes (Beatles)
Get Back Lennon Version, One After 909 old completed version (Beatles)
Isn't it a Pity/Wah Wah Demo (Harrison)
One of Us Must Know, You're a Big Girl Now NY Version (Dylan)
Fall in Love with Me (Iggy Pop)
Some Candy Talking/Cut Dead/In the Rain Peel Sessions, Taste of Cindy Accoustic (JAMC)
Heart and Soul/Passover/Eternal/Decades Martin Hannett Mix (Joy Division)
Fancy Alternate Mix, Bald Headed Woman, Strangers (Kinks)
Eclipse Early Take, Any Colour You Like Live (Pink Floyd)
Lucky/Motion Picture Soundtrack Unplugged (Radiohead)
Bye Bye Badman Demo (Stone Roses)
Search and Destroy/Death Trip Iggy Mix, Real Cool Time Alternate Mix (Stooges)
Ocean Outtake, Candy Says/Some Kinda Love/That's the Story of My Life Closet Mix (VU)
Updated Favorite Albums:
1. Revolver (Mono) 2. White Light White Heat
3. *****es Brew
4. Neu!
5. Tago Mago 6. Raw Power (Iggy Mix) 7. Unknown Pleasures
8. Face to Face
9. Second Edition/Metal Box
10. Velvet Underground and Nico
11. Hosianna Mantra
12. Stone Roses 13. Velvet Underground (Closet Mix) 14. Ambient 4
15. Black Saint and Sinner Lady
16. Dark Side of the Moon
17. Houses of Holy
18. Rubber Soul (Stereo) 19. Pet Sounds (Vocals Only) 20. Ege Bamyasi
21. Loveless
22. Psychocandy
23. Music Has the Right to Children
24. Sticky Fingers
25. In Rainbows
26. Midnight Marauders 27. King of the Delta Blues 28. Blood On the Tracks
29. Fun House
30. Thursday Afternoon
31. Endtroducing 32. Sgt. Pepper's (Mono) 33. Marquee Moon
34. Wish You Were Here
35. Geogaddi 36. Surrealistic Pillow 37. Heaven Up Here
38. Kind of Blue
39. Low
40. Electric Warrior
41. Ambient 1
42. Blues and Roots
43. Treasure
44. Darklands
45. Closer
46. Surfer Rosa
47. Meddle
48. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
49. Hex Enduction Hour
50. The Modern Lovers
HM1. Illmatic
HM2. 1969 Live
Last edited by Shareefruck: 04-14-2013 at 04:41 PM.
J&MC definitely spent a lot of time listening to the Velvet Underground. You can hear it for sure.
I'm kind surprised that Face to Face is so high up on your list. It's great album but I guess I'm just used to see Village Green Preservation Society above it.
J&MC definitely spent a lot of time listening to the Velvet Underground. You can hear it for sure.
I'm kind surprised that Face to Face is so high up on your list. It's great album but I guess I'm just used to see Village Green Preservation Society above it.
Surprisingly, I had a ton of trouble getting into most of the other Kinks albums (outside of liking songs here and there). I like their early stuff better. I think Face to Face is brilliant. I initially struggled with it when TheJickler and Kihei were pushing it (songs like Party Line and Session Man sounded really cheesy and put me off at first for some reason), but I like it more and more everytime I listen to it. Now I think it's perfect.
The fact that VGPS is considered their magnum opous over their other albums is still a complete headscratcher to me. What stands out about it? Which are the better songs?
Last edited by Shareefruck: 04-14-2013 at 05:49 PM.
Surprisingly, I had a ton of trouble getting into most of the other Kinks albums (outside of liking songs here and there). I like their early stuff better. I think Face to Face is brilliant. I initially struggled with it when TheJickler and Kihei were pushing it (songs like Party Line and Session Man sounded really cheesy and put me off at first for some reason), but I like it more and more everytime I listen to it. Now I think it's perfect.
The fact that VGPS is considered their magnum opous over their other albums is still a complete headscratcher to me. What stands out about it? Which are the better songs?
I'm not sure which Kinks album I like better. VGPS seems like a bit of a concept album, which is what I think helps elevate it in some rankings.
I think every song on it is great or near great except a couple near the end. I think the best songs are
Picture Book, Animal Farm, Johnny Thunder...
But my favorite Kinks song is Rosie Won't You Please Come Home from Face to Face.
I like Face to Face, but my favourite album of the '60s, including Beatles albums, is The Kink Kontroversy, so I recommend that strongly. It has only one semi-hit on it, Til the End of the Day, which is the umpteenth reiteration of You Really Got Me, but every other cut is extremely tasty. To me this is as close as an album gets to being perfect until Loveless by My Bloody Valentine came around a couple of decades plus later.
And actually at the moment I'm listening to Eric Clapton's From the Cradle, a collection of blues straight from the canon. Just felt the urge.
I like Face to Face, but my favourite album of the '60s, including Beatles albums, is The Kink Kontroversy, so I recommend that strongly. It has only one semi-hit on it, Til the End of the Day, which is the umpteenth reiteration of You Really Got Me, but every other cut is extremely tasty. To me this is as close as an album gets to being perfect until Loveless by My Bloody Valentine came around a couple of decades plus later.
And actually at the moment I'm listening to Eric Clapton's From the Cradle, a collection of blues straight from the canon. Just felt the urge.
I really love that one too (more than the non-Face-to-Face ones) and can see it growing on me alot, but there are still parts of it that I've had trouble getting into. I think the "feel" of the parts that I like is absolutely perfect. More than any other band, when I think of classic old-fashioned infectious rock and roll, for whatever reason, that era of the Kinks is what I think of above all other bands. (the ones that I like more don't feel like they completely belong to that era, and the ones who feel like they do I don't like nearly as much)
I generally don't like the different iterations of You Really Got Me (I don't like All Day and All of the Night very much at all), but Till the End of the Day really works for me.
I always like to grab songs here and there from the later Kinks albums, but I never have the urge/interest to play through them from start to finish for whatever reason.
Last edited by Shareefruck: 04-15-2013 at 10:23 PM.
Been listening to this album a lot lately and brings back so much nostalgia. Recommended tracks: Sic Transit Gloria, I Will Play My Game Beneath The Spin Light, Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don't, The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot
