| Captain Beefheart | Doc at the Radar Station | ANOTHER great album from Cap'n Beefheart. "Sue Egypt", the mellow instrumental "A Carrot Is As Close As A Rabbit Get To A Diamond". The track "Dirty Blue Gene" is one of my new favorite Beefheart songs. "She's not bad... she's just.... genetically mean!" |
| Jean Jacques Perrey |
Moog Indigo
____ The Amazing New Electronic Pop Sound of Jean Jacques Perrey |
More Moog fun from Frenchman Perrey. My personal favorite is "Gossipo Perpetuo". Good roller skating music (if you're into that kind of thing). |
| Lambchop | Nixon | The latest from Lambchop. Another great album, in my opinion. They move a little bit further from country, and a little bit closer to Curtis Mayfield. "Up With People" is one of their best pop songs yet. |
| Antonio Carlos Jobim | Jobim | An absolutely great album, bookended by one of his best songs, first in Portuguese ("Aguas De Março") then in English ("Waters of March"). Take a chance and pick this up. |
| Iggy Pop | New Values | Classic Iggy album recently reissued on Buddha with a couple of extra tracks. "I'm bored", "Don't look down", "Five foot one", a strong record. |
| The Hollies | Best Of | I picked this up used just 'cause. Some of the songs are crappy, or just aren't my bag ("Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress"), but a couple tracks are great ("Pay You Back In Interest", and especially "Carrie-Anne"). |
| Soundtrack | Mr. Jealousy | This is the soundtrack to a movie I have never seen (starring Eric Stoltz, icky poo!). I got it for cheap, bought it because Luna does a couple songs. They do a very good cover of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy." I think my favorite song on this is by French pop singer Francoise Hardy, "Je Ne Suis Là Pour Personne". This, along with her song with Air on the collection Pop Romantique have convinced me to get a couple of her albums. I'll let you know how they are. |
| Tom Verlaine |
Tom Verlaine
____ Dreamtime ____ Cover ____ The Wonder ____ Warm and Cool |
What the hell I have done? I went Verlaine-freaky! These albums are of varying quality, though they all have some good tracks. If I had to have one, it'd prolly be the first, Tom Verlaine (The two-CD greatest hits collection I reviewed previously might even be a better choice if you want stuff from his entire solo career). |
| Velvet Underground | 1969 - Volumes 1 and 2 | A really great live album with wonderful performances of all yer favorite VU tunes. The slowed-down version of "Sweet Jane" that the Cowboy Junkies later covered is here, as is a fantastic laid-back, kinda funky rendition of "Waiting For My Man". |
| Kahimi Karie | Kahimi Karie | This album preceded K.K.K.K.K., coming out on the US Minty Fresh label. I think it was basically intended as an introduction of her stuff to American audiences. Some very catchy songs, the best being the dance-inducing "Good Morning World." Kahimi's voice is still obnoxiously breathy, however. |
| Mission of Burma | The Horrible Truth About Burma | These guys were never on my radar when they were around. I picked up this live album for six bucks just out of curiousity. It's pretty catchy punk music, kind of along the lines of Hüsker Dü (though not as good). One of the members' names is Roger Miller, though I am guessing he's not the Roger Miller that did "King of the Road". |
| modest mouse | the lonesome crowded west | This is a pretty catchy album, despite the whiny nasal voice of the lead singer. His voice is pretty damned obnoxious though (imagine d. boon of the Minutemen trying to sing in the most annoying way possible). |
| Gang of Four | Solid Gold | I got this for two bucks used! And people on eBay are paying twenty bucks, the suckers! Bwahahaha! Well, this isn't as exciting as Entertainment, but is still a good album, and definitely worth the two bucks I paid for it (Bwahahahaha!). |
| Fifty Foot Hose | Cauldron | Some very nice 60's psychedelia. I believe this is one of the first rock albums/bands to use synthesizers (these particular synths invented by a guy in the band, Cork Marcheschi). This album is surprisingly well-produced (also by the Corkster). This album kind of reminds me of the 13th Floor Elevators -- good guitar-driven pop with some interesting spacey sounds over the top. |
| Mekons | The Mekons Rock 'N' Roll | This is the best Mekons CD I have encountered thus far. Very catchy, especially the opening track "Memphis, Egypt". |
| Magnetic Fields | Holiday | Synthy-pop from Stephen Merritt and company. Some catchy songs with very clever lyrics. "Strange Powers", "Desert Island", "The Trouble I've Been Looking For" are standouts. |
| Longmont Potion Castle | The Best of... | Not a music album, but a collection of very stupid/funny prank phone calls. The best bit is a very long (over ten minutes!) track in which a telemarketer is tormented by his telemarketee. "Are you on any medication?" |
| Nick Drake | Fruit Tree (box set) | Some great sensitive-guy pop from a guy I haveta admit I never heard about until that crappy VW commercial. Damn you, Volkswagen! Damn you to hell! The box set has his three albums, along with a rarities disc. I probably listen to Bryter Layter the most. |
| Momus | The Little Red Songbook | There are some very good songs on this here record -- some funny, some catchy, some funny and catchy. "Harry K-tel","Everyone I Have Ever Slept With", "Born To Be Adored." Extra points to Momus for getting sued by Moog virtuoso Wendy Carlos for the track "Walter Carlos". |
| Ramones | Hey Ho Let's Go | Occasionally I'll get into the mood of listening to this. All the songs you wanna hear are on this two CD greatest hits collection, "Blitzkrieg Bop", "I Wanna Be Sedated", "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue". I dunno, I have to be in the right mind, otherwise it all is a bit boring and repetitive (is it blasphemy to say this?). |
Stay tuned for more irrelevant peeks into my spending habits!