tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79133679175267425722024-03-13T14:46:14.059-05:00Why Are There So Many Records In My Life?Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04723155952577592310noreply@blogger.comBlogger1064125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-77722568289882540272022-02-11T14:14:00.006-06:002022-02-11T14:14:50.547-06:001001 Albums: #49 - The Sonics - Here are the Sonics<p>The Sonics - <i>Here are the Sonics</i><br />Etiquette, 1965<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKa__49a-E_Wcv2DGbEDpQM2bQAF3QOWCDfmik9BkYXaQRgCzH_H9joxzrBw40wgUup7nI36kFzAS-7RJSW-V0gmyreaR6Z58ybo42xK_XltdEctzMpN5d8E4RwJqO1MSGGalfaF_duGApRcX5n4EHjUXtELUkdMpcAM-nA6qeE-pSgtLMMaLbemnF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKa__49a-E_Wcv2DGbEDpQM2bQAF3QOWCDfmik9BkYXaQRgCzH_H9joxzrBw40wgUup7nI36kFzAS-7RJSW-V0gmyreaR6Z58ybo42xK_XltdEctzMpN5d8E4RwJqO1MSGGalfaF_duGApRcX5n4EHjUXtELUkdMpcAM-nA6qeE-pSgtLMMaLbemnF=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div>Listening to this is like looking at the packet of seeds that says PUNK ROCK at the hardware store. You can tell these hastily recorded tunes and covers crawled out of a Seattle garage and the raw energy is something you can't teach. This is pure sonic chaos, and that's the best compliment I can give it. The covers--like their dirtied up "Do You Love Me"--are fun but the originals are where this record really signs. "The Witch" is unlike anything else I have heard from the time. "Strychnine" and "Psycho" are also excellent, but "The Witch" is where it's at. It sounds like it wants to hurt you with its lurching guitars, sore-throat vocals, and clumsy rapid-fire vocals. <br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7_HiQomh_Zo" width="320" youtube-src-id="7_HiQomh_Zo"></iframe></div><br />Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-19767053411498183962022-02-10T21:56:00.001-06:002022-02-10T21:56:14.048-06:001001 Albums: #48 - Jerry Lee Lewis - Live at the Star Club, Hamburg<p>Jerry Lee Lewis - <i>Live at the Star Club, Hamburg</i><br />Phillips, 1965<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg2jpLZDlyBNRpeJjUeOmNqeOKZxJyUCJ6K2HTlsWWlzxixf5dp_3EDbqZkH_plaAYxFBPkk5Mb1pPYjvyD14xMDfttTdyIOiwsSMzw_uq3Lr47bGJ8RV3cJhS6eS9YRxodJACU_3PgvRgcrDNg00z2D9xLgGHEwxIUTfhDeOacmOXkRkftyfuwyFiC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1262" data-original-width="1280" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg2jpLZDlyBNRpeJjUeOmNqeOKZxJyUCJ6K2HTlsWWlzxixf5dp_3EDbqZkH_plaAYxFBPkk5Mb1pPYjvyD14xMDfttTdyIOiwsSMzw_uq3Lr47bGJ8RV3cJhS6eS9YRxodJACU_3PgvRgcrDNg00z2D9xLgGHEwxIUTfhDeOacmOXkRkftyfuwyFiC=w400-h395" width="400" /></a><br />I'm starting to feel like the 1960s just got the live album. Listening to <i>another </i>live album that feels like the most exemplary offering from an artist (see previously: Sam Cooke, James Brown), it took me back to my high school days listening to Blink-182's Live album <i>The Mark, Tom, and Travis Tour</i>. I only bring up Blink-182 because Jerry Lee Lewis' rawness here feels on par with the dick and fart jokes of the Blink boys (I attended the KC show on that tour and it remains one of the defining moments of my life). The book rightly points out how the band can barely keep up with Jerry here, and there's a lightning-in-a-bottle energy here that you can't deny (despite being able to deny Jerry Lee Lewis in the "marrying his 13 year old cousin" part of his life, Jesus). Weirdly, he sells "Your Cheating Heart" better than Buck Owens probably could. <br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-G_iZh6hCV4" width="320" youtube-src-id="-G_iZh6hCV4"></iframe></div><br /><br /><br /><p></p>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-33216035877779229142022-02-10T21:41:00.004-06:002022-02-10T21:48:19.107-06:001001 Albums: #47 - Buck Owens and His Buckaroos - I've Got the Tiger by the Tail<p>Buck Owens and His Buckaroos - <i>I've Got the Tiger by the Tail</i><br />Capitol, 1965</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://benjyevans.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/tiger-by-the-tail.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="796" height="400" src="https://benjyevans.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/tiger-by-the-tail.jpg" width="398" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div><div>Ah yes, the Bakersfield Sound. My immediate reaction was revulsion, but once that Telecaster really kicks in on "Let the Sad Times Roll On" I'm coming around. Just a kiss of the Telecaster there, but it really opens up going forward. As a lifelong Fender player (first out of necessity, second out of principle), I dig. I've always wanted a Telecaster, but that's beside the point. The thing is, Buck Owens comes across as a little too slick for country and western (I mean, listen to any other version of "Streets of Laredo" from Marty Robbins to Johnny Cash to Joan freakin' Baez, they just sell it better). That said, when Owens isn't trying to play a cowboy, the results are a helluva lot better. The lovelorn "Cryin' Time" was my favorite of the lot. I guess for me Buck's heart just isn't in it the way I want it to be for this vintage country music. The music itself is crisp and better recorded than anything else in the genre, and maybe I just need a little more stank on my country music. Who knows! I'm the first to admit when I'm wrong, and maybe I'm wrong on this one.</div><div><br /></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xRkVtMCu9TI" width="320" youtube-src-id="xRkVtMCu9TI"></iframe></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-2050852203163893122022-02-09T17:10:00.006-06:002022-02-09T17:10:57.027-06:001001 Albums: #46 - The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones<p>The Rolling Stones - <i>The Rolling Stones</i><br />Decca, 1964<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEy3b3XyFfMHQUCRacGUGuPHAC8VkicYVYK3KEJs_CLHCQCyLzexweaEAmqaJ_Ljx1CF0FEzZixWJc3k8APDqhPPtrb1WABnp_8vVIY3k5FQjbWYuNUE8dhW9TgqAEEfq68GdYTx-rIgml6axz9RVzBVLbZ5VyrI6DHzMj4YXPmHW7Xp81ntlYlM1N" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="980" data-original-width="980" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEy3b3XyFfMHQUCRacGUGuPHAC8VkicYVYK3KEJs_CLHCQCyLzexweaEAmqaJ_Ljx1CF0FEzZixWJc3k8APDqhPPtrb1WABnp_8vVIY3k5FQjbWYuNUE8dhW9TgqAEEfq68GdYTx-rIgml6axz9RVzBVLbZ5VyrI6DHzMj4YXPmHW7Xp81ntlYlM1N=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div>The first song that comes up when you open the Rolling Stones' discography on Spotify is the 2021 reissue of <i>Tattoo You</i>. I inadvertently started playing that album, the pure stadium rock of "Start Me Up" coming through the speakers. I scrolled alllllllll the way down to the bottom and put on their eponymous debut and man alive, the cover of "Route 66" that starts things off sounds fully tepid in comparison. Which is to say, like the Beatles, the Stones had to figure some things out and this early in their career, it's better to just get something down on tape and keep on moving. There are a couple originals here, and the rest are blues tunes with a little stank on them (a stank that would soon define the band). <br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jd6ReC55O9M" width="320" youtube-src-id="Jd6ReC55O9M"></iframe><p></p><br />Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-27331811237325393852022-02-09T16:19:00.004-06:002022-02-09T16:19:56.325-06:001001 Albums: #45 - Dusty Springfield - A Girl Called Dusty<p>Dusty Springfield - <i>A Girl Called Dusty</i><br />Philips, 1964<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKiRySPM9fa1rjGzHPCsLMhrKoxPXDCEkaHqu5mrpLdmGdzNk3YZejsxjGP0XMnl9TfIQjDXoclWmNAq6lv25J4jhlX7_MJxWnr1hSUY30nsRfYWLpiTGfmK3oTnkU-pLbIIzP2h9iKRb1RsTUm8AtaTmPD1rExqALqj-HXUCdht3dzcDhpY18PMbK" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1189" data-original-width="1200" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKiRySPM9fa1rjGzHPCsLMhrKoxPXDCEkaHqu5mrpLdmGdzNk3YZejsxjGP0XMnl9TfIQjDXoclWmNAq6lv25J4jhlX7_MJxWnr1hSUY30nsRfYWLpiTGfmK3oTnkU-pLbIIzP2h9iKRb1RsTUm8AtaTmPD1rExqALqj-HXUCdht3dzcDhpY18PMbK=w400-h397" width="400" /></a><br />You'd think going from the pure soul of Solomon Burke to the blue-eyed soul of Dusty Springfield would produce a sort of audio whiplash, but the thing is, Dusty can hang. The songs are all over the place but Dusty is at her best when she's covering the Supremes and the Shirelles (though her version of Gene Pitney's "Twenty-Four Hours From Tulsa" was my favorite here). Growing up on Oldies, I'd be shocked if I hadn't heard Dusty Springfield before, but I couldn't name a single song. Fixed! </div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2yLrSVD6380" width="320" youtube-src-id="2yLrSVD6380"></iframe></div><br />Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-71950526851920337422022-02-09T16:00:00.002-06:002022-02-09T16:00:23.944-06:001001 Albums: #44 - Solomon Burke - Rock n' Soul<p>Solomon Burke - <i>Rock n' Soul</i><br />Atlantic, 1964<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh77mdbpraC9oRB-v_wd0PERyNZKSYbXGxymTPTOXSWSLxnhqbeWU-QXFjOelcBegS3yeGOJWrFFiMoZTWhK3OtxGoq6L4QHB_slTn_AMSdwhaIQFM2mqE_ysG6HgvES7Co_IAEuIvZklGueTGwXjNgWepdhfjTWbU30lW3pnDloWiKwgppm0L4oBO3" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh77mdbpraC9oRB-v_wd0PERyNZKSYbXGxymTPTOXSWSLxnhqbeWU-QXFjOelcBegS3yeGOJWrFFiMoZTWhK3OtxGoq6L4QHB_slTn_AMSdwhaIQFM2mqE_ysG6HgvES7Co_IAEuIvZklGueTGwXjNgWepdhfjTWbU30lW3pnDloWiKwgppm0L4oBO3=w400-h400" width="400" /></a><br />"Cry to Me" is my wife's favorite song, and for that reason the incredibly ratty and scratched Solomon Burke greatest hits album in my record collection is on the DO NOT PURGE list. That said, I'd only purge it due to the poor quality of the physical media, because the record itself is can't miss. It just doesn't get much better than Solomon Burke on this record. It's what you think of when you think about soul, and if Aretha is the queen, maybe Solomon is the king (I'm sure that reads as shots fired in some circles, but Burke does namedrop Sam Cooke and Ray Charles on "Can't Nobody Love You" so maybe it's more like, what, a panel of Kings? A committe?). <br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Now listen</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Sam bought you cake and ice cream</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>And he called you cherry pie</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Ray Charles called you his sunshine</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>But you never mind</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I love it. I could listen to this all day and will certainly be adding this to the dinnertime rotation. <br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mEu8DrO9PbY" width="320" youtube-src-id="mEu8DrO9PbY"></iframe></div><br /></div><p><br /><br /></p>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-8094609175825288012022-02-09T11:34:00.003-06:002022-02-09T11:35:42.516-06:001001 Albums: #43 - Jacques Brel - Olympia 64<p>Jacques Brel - <i>Olympia 64</i><br />Barclay, 1964<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixqvnKmGxCtJXY_ecfDgCilDgjtttM3Bq_6KJibhTNpN8rtpr3opek6_1rUCpowp5llLT3jvL1tH5QObl434K1lrZRY9o6ISnCEMBkyVKo93UDLJ706JZYuwacQt2cnpWlEZUIWbsWm8gG8qDKRmGCdzHJsX54ueBdMnSilrIiMBJMYJBS91OLzIm9" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="600" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixqvnKmGxCtJXY_ecfDgCilDgjtttM3Bq_6KJibhTNpN8rtpr3opek6_1rUCpowp5llLT3jvL1tH5QObl434K1lrZRY9o6ISnCEMBkyVKo93UDLJ706JZYuwacQt2cnpWlEZUIWbsWm8gG8qDKRmGCdzHJsX54ueBdMnSilrIiMBJMYJBS91OLzIm9=w400-h393" width="400" /></a></div>For years I had a Jacques Brel live record in my collection, and I can't remember for the life of me why I bought it. I think maybe Zach Condon from Beirut mentioned him in an interview when I was big into <i>Gulag Orkestar </i>(hard to say, but the influence is there annnnd, <a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/1571865/beiruts-zach-condon-discusses-his-love-letter-to-france-with-john-norris/">boom goes the dynamite</a>). What I love about Brel is the way he throws himself entirely into each song. His energy is borderline psychotic, and despite the anachronism of this mid-century French pop music, that energy is undeniable. <br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9p7RNVhHGbY" width="320" youtube-src-id="9p7RNVhHGbY"></iframe></div><br />Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-79572586563434743532022-02-08T17:01:00.003-06:002022-02-08T17:01:41.282-06:001001 Albums: #42 - The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night<p>The Beatles - <i>A Hard Day's Night</i><br />Parlophone, 1964<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIg1EGh_Fyo5wS15jmrLgvhiBkbitJPZTcQouwk_0kv0YEaGSI_0YLRmhtvv6yp1oOG2PXTiB_p2ik5MdSDrT1wfeyJILVpL-2l_7xRUeEb8DL1OdRVkr91CGwnciFVdoht83g-CzPr7W2SlOvgI-MYgIfFA3djfg42tDthUPFhKXQOfycZtVdGhgR" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIg1EGh_Fyo5wS15jmrLgvhiBkbitJPZTcQouwk_0kv0YEaGSI_0YLRmhtvv6yp1oOG2PXTiB_p2ik5MdSDrT1wfeyJILVpL-2l_7xRUeEb8DL1OdRVkr91CGwnciFVdoht83g-CzPr7W2SlOvgI-MYgIfFA3djfg42tDthUPFhKXQOfycZtVdGhgR=w400-h400" width="400" /></a><br /><br />Oh look, the Beatles. This is a marked improvement on the cover-heavy <i>With the Beatles</i>, but that makes sense considering the Beatles' career lasted a whopping seven years. I mean I guess that's why the Beatles are the Beatles, the amount of ground they were able to cover in such a microscopic amount of time. I mean I've had favorite bands who release an album once every seven years. Jesus. Now, are all the songs here no doubters as they are on the later albums? Well, no. But, you can hear the band tightening up in real time. This is like watching one of those animations of human evolution from the primordial stew to the atomic age. <br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9_c2XZd9mMo" width="320" youtube-src-id="9_c2XZd9mMo"></iframe></div><br /><br /><br /><p></p>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-50613450835674012092022-02-08T16:40:00.003-06:002022-02-08T16:40:38.287-06:001001 Albums: #41 - Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto - Getz/Gilberty<p>Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto<br />Verve, 1963<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXPD3p-BcsSS1-cvWfHY8JBGG3OcFaCaj-MU6R-PZY7pmCS8suwJJ8Kb9cCoihC5odjEcuPBngdq_yXnnDlOvVKHLZRY_7iazyK1MPChM78TfMu_Q5JDsY-NwgMBA-aswg25mP_AZijhV84LegpuGESr3DAvcUp1MCQyqtF4MqGuSQX3mALDC8v-PP" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1408" data-original-width="1418" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXPD3p-BcsSS1-cvWfHY8JBGG3OcFaCaj-MU6R-PZY7pmCS8suwJJ8Kb9cCoihC5odjEcuPBngdq_yXnnDlOvVKHLZRY_7iazyK1MPChM78TfMu_Q5JDsY-NwgMBA-aswg25mP_AZijhV84LegpuGESr3DAvcUp1MCQyqtF4MqGuSQX3mALDC8v-PP=w400-h397" width="400" /></a><br />I know this is a (dated) classic, but the story of Astrud Gilberto being thrust into vocal duties on the inescapable "The Girl from Ipanema" because the producer wanted one of the verses on that track sung in english and Joao couldn't speak English deserves its spot in music lore. You can trace those low-key, borderline <i>mysterious</i> vocals all the way up to present day (not to mention launching her own solo career). One of those happy accidents born of necessity (or a producer's whim for the US market). Either way, that track only feels hack now because it's so frequently used as a punchline. Outside of that unfortunate overuse, this album is a lovely blend of Latin American rhythms and American jazz.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j8VPmtyLqSY" width="320" youtube-src-id="j8VPmtyLqSY"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-34592799739300087782022-02-08T16:12:00.001-06:002022-02-08T16:12:06.406-06:001001 Albums: #40 - James Brown - Live at the Apollo<p>James Brown - <i>Live at the Apollo</i><br />King, 1963<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgS6qXhi2gAVNym1SL98oO8NHWhYt6zh-iqURG3iY_SGEvfjdY26LZZ_4B0HZ997Pl3f_O8Z8e4tPtrc8SfjlWNXgKE3yQfC34cgGuF3JxNbugpgmxWUttPukh1c0r06cBTumoh08Ivh-uTtM1BQSbOfqWyYiXDZ6dWcViFwPtSIl8Y6UD79RHsbUyq" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="612" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgS6qXhi2gAVNym1SL98oO8NHWhYt6zh-iqURG3iY_SGEvfjdY26LZZ_4B0HZ997Pl3f_O8Z8e4tPtrc8SfjlWNXgKE3yQfC34cgGuF3JxNbugpgmxWUttPukh1c0r06cBTumoh08Ivh-uTtM1BQSbOfqWyYiXDZ6dWcViFwPtSIl8Y6UD79RHsbUyq=w320-h320" width="320" /></a><br />It's always nice to hear the wife ask what it is I'm listening to, but given that 1960s soul is in her wheelhouse, I wasn't surprised (more on that when we cover Solomon Burke in a few). The result? I got to keep this one on during dinner. It's hard to think of a record that is more of a crowd pleaser than this one. As we saw with Sam Cooke's <i>Live at the Harlem Square Club, </i>there really isn't a better genre suited to the live treatment than soul. Hence, <i>Live at the Apollo</i> isn't just one of the greatest live albums of all time, but one of the most iconic records in any genre, anywhere. This is pure, uncut joy poured over you by the Hardest Working Man in Show Business. There's something about the women screaming in the album's quiet moments that perfectly captures what music can do to an otherwise sane and rational person. Great music can drive you absolutely insane, and if you <i>haven't </i>felt that before, I suggest you keep going to shows until you find it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MXH-sdWHvHw" width="320" youtube-src-id="MXH-sdWHvHw"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-44019489153230230162022-02-08T15:55:00.004-06:002022-02-08T15:55:33.299-06:001001 Albums: #39 - Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady<p>Charles Mingus - <i>The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady</i><br />Impulse!, 1963<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiq2jCHf87wCEB2xqQB8lQgRtfW3PewiOm-kLKi8aQ2Z5ZhyVRcT0hHAfrOLHXlj4qypE2Q8JAaSkmt_hqZuW4RJEU2YZCsX0TerdqIcPL4tKrx97LOUFI-XMWUibqN-sxubO14s_ox0j7sj9MBQw6zNj5RFEs2hB7iaR03TV-33RJrcId9ANmAs5vB" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiq2jCHf87wCEB2xqQB8lQgRtfW3PewiOm-kLKi8aQ2Z5ZhyVRcT0hHAfrOLHXlj4qypE2Q8JAaSkmt_hqZuW4RJEU2YZCsX0TerdqIcPL4tKrx97LOUFI-XMWUibqN-sxubO14s_ox0j7sj9MBQw6zNj5RFEs2hB7iaR03TV-33RJrcId9ANmAs5vB=w320-h320" width="320" /></a></div><br />Welcome to the latest installment of "Jazz is None of My Business," I'm your host, Ian, a sheltered indie rock kid who approaches these wild jazz records with a real sense of awe and wonder but zero context. The write-up in the book has a great opening line: "Start with the liner notes, which were penned by Charles Mingus' psychologist, and it is clear that this is no typical modern jazz album." I threw this on at top volume while cooking dinner and subsequently doing the dishes to avoid a particularly scream-happy pair of children and simply replaced one cacophony for another (though Mingus' had a bit more order to the 3 and 7 year old arguing over which Netflix show to watch...). This is my first real run through the jazz greats outside of Coltrane, and while it is entirely out of my comfort zone as a music listener, I get pumped every time I see Mingus or Monk or Miles pop up in the book. <br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zFA0FYQo0Gg" width="320" youtube-src-id="zFA0FYQo0Gg"></iframe></div><br />Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-13108099773906927542022-01-01T10:05:00.007-06:002022-01-01T10:17:20.310-06:00My Favorite Albums of 2021<div><u><b>Albums</b></u></div><div>In the intervening years since my college radio station days, I've done my best to keep up with new music despite the fact that my listening habits get more and more insular. This year, the dam finally broke and most of the new stuff I listened too was just to fill out the discographies of bands I already love. That is, when I wasn't with my wife and daughters, in which case we listened to a ton of Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Kacey Musgraves, and Lorde (which, sure it's part Stockholm Syndrome, but I'm old enough to quit lying to myself about the forlorn concept of "guilty pleasures" and that stuff needs representation here. Well, that and I wouldn't be able to cobble together a Top 10 Albums list without it). </div><div><br /></div><div><b>10. Kacey Musgraves - <i>star-crossed </i></b></div><div><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhghoIO5y3cRTuLk5nHufZezxp5r6NUIXY9oRNkZivhbffzF5rAP28jwS7nSV7f7ynB8JxnNg3PkvvmRgYQv2rTrYn5I0gV0q3EAx-R0bf1tSx3gaQDu4MdPe6NICTnFMFqhyphenhyphencFH1YimGE/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhghoIO5y3cRTuLk5nHufZezxp5r6NUIXY9oRNkZivhbffzF5rAP28jwS7nSV7f7ynB8JxnNg3PkvvmRgYQv2rTrYn5I0gV0q3EAx-R0bf1tSx3gaQDu4MdPe6NICTnFMFqhyphenhyphencFH1YimGE/w400-h400/image.png" width="400" /></a></div></i></div><div>I was a late comer to <i>Golden Hour</i>, but the year after it was released I can't think of an album we listened to more as a family on car trips. It felt like it was always playing, and mercifully that's one of those albums you can't really play out. Like its predecessor, Musgraves' <i>Blood on the Tracks </i>has too many B-sides on the album proper but the songs that work ("Justified," "Camera Roll," "Good Wife," "Breadwinner") are outstanding. It never quite hits the highs of <i>Golden Hour</i> but there is an unrefined rawness to this album that you don't really get from the album art and promotional material. There are flaws, sure, but this feels like an artist making an album they <i>had </i>to make as quickly as possible to capture the moment, and I can get behind that.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>9. Billie Eilish - <i>Happier Than Ever</i></b></div><div><b><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrE2cyiE-d3G-YkFQK4ZRLUv7Cj2nlsFgM6JPbUKZPkfryY3AkBcqtXwQYNL-8LNYwEKV3sX4ejzEt-S943IFEL0dS69_-25PPrjr-vDf6ajBLg7Bezv7LvFz5Ffy-e5jI9BCGUy1bHus/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrE2cyiE-d3G-YkFQK4ZRLUv7Cj2nlsFgM6JPbUKZPkfryY3AkBcqtXwQYNL-8LNYwEKV3sX4ejzEt-S943IFEL0dS69_-25PPrjr-vDf6ajBLg7Bezv7LvFz5Ffy-e5jI9BCGUy1bHus/w400-h400/image.png" width="400" /></a></div></i></b>This one is way too overstuffed but I appreciate that Billie and Finneas skyrocketed to success and rather than turning into the fame skid and making a soulless pop record dug further into the off-kilter pop that made them their nut. It's a good sign, and the way the title track breaks down and shifts gears and explodes into teenage anger and resentment is one of my favorite things I heard all year. </div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>8. Guided by Voices - <i>It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It is Them!</i></b></div><div><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihGqHMoCm3nxxjtI7oRi88ufeQ5Y_TDYASNGiT6I3Dm57XvIR_uA03ADygQERTnU6wCQnzAQICa0ZjZe9iE5Mg7mexxHdDMYHBOdTAuRr_eNLdz1yrAX_okS4O8XZaPc3HFLar4YLfaaw/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihGqHMoCm3nxxjtI7oRi88ufeQ5Y_TDYASNGiT6I3Dm57XvIR_uA03ADygQERTnU6wCQnzAQICa0ZjZe9iE5Mg7mexxHdDMYHBOdTAuRr_eNLdz1yrAX_okS4O8XZaPc3HFLar4YLfaaw/w400-h400/image.png" width="400" /></a></div></i>When GBV reunited in 2010, well, that feeling of elation is something I've only ever felt at the birth of my children, marrying my sweetheart, and winning fantasy football championships. Jenny and I drove up to Minneapolis to see them at First Avenue on that reunion tour (I still have the Classic Lineup in the Coca-Cola font T-Shirt from that show, two (let's face it, three) sizes too small now, but I keep it around because I want to be buried in it). Their first reunion album--2012's <i>Let's Go Eat the Factory--</i>felt like wish-fulfillment at first, but as the years wore on and GBV released more albums than they did in their original run, it started to feel like GBV had just morphed into Bob Pollard's solo stuff. Which, to be fair, I love in spurts, but there's just way too much of it for me to keep up with (see: the fact that I had to pad my year end list with mainstream pop records). That said, the second GBV release from 2021 feels like a proper GBV record, and while I'm still gonna spend more time listening to <i>Alien Lanes </i>and the like, it's nice to know Bobby P can still bust out the good weirdness when he wants to. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>7. Laura Stevenson - <i>Laura Stevenson</i></b></div><div><b><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7mK0iY0ngnoq4faAbxJLq8PHYP7NTkRe_SQIO-L3hgJo-WdRwpOh39dOpx2432R-F0vsb6ngj7Z95kk98HsvZV2R529bR2jU55y_BsQEmPm-E-I8jlOMqqwbPh3NlRhwjc_e9luSf-tw/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7mK0iY0ngnoq4faAbxJLq8PHYP7NTkRe_SQIO-L3hgJo-WdRwpOh39dOpx2432R-F0vsb6ngj7Z95kk98HsvZV2R529bR2jU55y_BsQEmPm-E-I8jlOMqqwbPh3NlRhwjc_e9luSf-tw/w400-h400/image.png" width="400" /></a></div></i></b></div><div>I feel like this one should be higher, I just didn't spend enough time with it. Used to be I had the jump on any album coming from one of my favorite artists, but now I have to stumble upon them. Stevenson's songwriting just gets more and more intense as her career rolls on and I won't be surprised if this one slots in high on my Best of the Decade list with a few dozen more listens. </div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>6. The Mountain Goats - <i>Dark in Here</i></b></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbYWRj-lSanZaIXeyGiJUs-5CMeWGPcHYz4K2KzU0sUWYPwwLIVfBDQ8yElHN4F5eGksesLGE6BJES6fKx9Y0Fi8agoiFHaqct3wLo1hMMcjAPX2ak2IZjswlm8y86xVcsv8lgW0BW890/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbYWRj-lSanZaIXeyGiJUs-5CMeWGPcHYz4K2KzU0sUWYPwwLIVfBDQ8yElHN4F5eGksesLGE6BJES6fKx9Y0Fi8agoiFHaqct3wLo1hMMcjAPX2ak2IZjswlm8y86xVcsv8lgW0BW890/w400-h400/image.png" width="400" /></a></div>At the beginning of each year I start a Google Doc for this list. I usually start a sub-list of albums I'm looking forward to just so they don't fall of my radar. I also make a 10-1 list in descending order and pop "The Mountain Goats" in at #5 whether or not John Darnielle has announced a new record or not. If they've got one, it's going to end up on the list. Sometimes at the top--as was the case with 2015's <i>Beat the Champ</i>--but usually in the middle somewhere. Always a solid role player. <i>Dark in Here </i>is another one of those. A few incredible tunes to pop into my Best of the Mountain Goats playlist ("The Slow Parts of Death Metal Albums," "Mobile," "Dark in Here," "Arguing With the Ghost of Peter Laughner About His Coney Island Baby Review") and generally just fine listening. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>5. Matthew Milia - <i>Keego Harbor</i></b></div><div><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdNYvhiwEvD4SG4zPxUfb4RPK7ynBXBPFTxqfT2bkovIp2xGDE8F1_4mX1x4InW8o-pyhyaNZDXPih5zIP3s3oZgB_BcL4jQps3el68lgDQippeRK6qdnh7G5FIzYXhv49wZVkdB48MIs/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdNYvhiwEvD4SG4zPxUfb4RPK7ynBXBPFTxqfT2bkovIp2xGDE8F1_4mX1x4InW8o-pyhyaNZDXPih5zIP3s3oZgB_BcL4jQps3el68lgDQippeRK6qdnh7G5FIzYXhv49wZVkdB48MIs/w400-h400/image.png" width="400" /></a></div></i></div><div>As Frontier Ruckus' thematically broaden from the 90s upbringing opus <i>Eternity of Dimming </i>(still one of my favorite records of all time), frontman Matthew Milia's solo records are digging deeper into the that nostalgia that is on my precise wavelength (i.e. The longing for the smell of a Blockbuster Video on a Friday night, or whatever). </div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>4. Courtney Barnett - <i>Things Take Time, Take Time</i></b></div><div><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUWKZgIHE6F_A7sDX_Adx25N9MJ9w8fdt35iznOTO4pNpblZhvWS8DieHPpFbC2_lZC1bvs_z9TEx-wzHY9TS9jsNyvTBpvzCav4APTsqZQk-Mt_LUSaQWCZvHj9iAe85qxfcy40-aBMU/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUWKZgIHE6F_A7sDX_Adx25N9MJ9w8fdt35iznOTO4pNpblZhvWS8DieHPpFbC2_lZC1bvs_z9TEx-wzHY9TS9jsNyvTBpvzCav4APTsqZQk-Mt_LUSaQWCZvHj9iAe85qxfcy40-aBMU/w400-h400/image.png" width="400" /></a></div></i></div><div>While I didn't love Barnett's collaboration with Kurt Vile--2017's <i>Lotta Sea Lice</i>--his influence has clearly rubbed off on her and while the general consensus on this record has been ho-hum, I love it. Especially when it's at its most exhausted, like the standout single "Rae Street," in which Barnett sits in pandemic-induced isolation staring out her window and commenting on the mundane happenings down on the street. Feels like 2021 in a nutshell. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>3. The Hold Steady - <i>Open Door Policy</i></b></div><div><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigFqffZpABEWc1laldgijzv7Tl06rI8gTjZ9kfAtVPgJddBQC848zr4MMfOEcaHNRZvWIx_ccM4mapaOrNPg3NwhJr9ut_kOpoB8UI97xUBc-j-jtblRqB8OevdvrS0N907GZIfdVUd6w/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigFqffZpABEWc1laldgijzv7Tl06rI8gTjZ9kfAtVPgJddBQC848zr4MMfOEcaHNRZvWIx_ccM4mapaOrNPg3NwhJr9ut_kOpoB8UI97xUBc-j-jtblRqB8OevdvrS0N907GZIfdVUd6w/w400-h400/image.png" width="400" /></a></div></i></div><div>After spending the 2010s moving away from the bar band aesthetic that made them their nut, it finally feels like the Hold Steady are getting back to basics. That's not to say they're reverting to the brashness of <i>Separation Sunday</i>, but it feels like they're growing. <i>Open Door Policy</i> feels like a new phase of the Hold Steady that incorporates everything they've done up til now, aided especially by Craig Finn's growth as a songwriter on his solo albums, each one better than the last. Things still occasionally get druggy and desperate, but things don't get as ugly as they used to for THS characters. In my favorite song on the album--"Heavy Covenant"--a weary traveler details the etiquette for scoring drugs on a business trip ("I palmed him almost 40 bucks/Then I asked about the other stuff"). Despite the shady business, there's almost something...sweet about the whole thing. A lonely person making a connection in our disconnected world. That's a key theme for The Hold Steady at this juncture in their career, and I'm here for it. </div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>2. Low - <i>HEY WHAT</i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxaRDPeXhvfIJudjwMu0pF-PShN_tYA3lRvV37U9_l5Fm81JIVbzAqdinz7CPlWiB6uxtXul7s5T__joP1DydBBx1QJjLRj4VbebHPO-TS2-7uWB5-Ix3oeT7awfIz7fo4-lYKLP95I8s/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxaRDPeXhvfIJudjwMu0pF-PShN_tYA3lRvV37U9_l5Fm81JIVbzAqdinz7CPlWiB6uxtXul7s5T__joP1DydBBx1QJjLRj4VbebHPO-TS2-7uWB5-Ix3oeT7awfIz7fo4-lYKLP95I8s/w400-h400/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><div>In an effort to hear more albums from 2021 in the 11th hour, I made a sprawling Spotify playlist full of songs from albums I missed. The process involves me putting the thing on shuffle whenever I can and seeing what grabs me. The first song that came up was "Days Like These" and it stopped me in my tracks. I've been a Low fan since college, but haven't been keeping up on their evolution since 2007's <i>Drums and Guns </i>(still one of my all time favorites). I knew things got weird, incorporating more electronic, drone, and experimental elements, but the thing that makes Low Low is still at the beating heart of their music. The window dressing is different--and in the case of <i>HEY WHAT</i>, fascinating and infinitely compelling--but the through line is as clear as ever. There's something hymnal about this record that makes every track feel like a little rapture. </div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>1. Bo Burnham - <i>Inside</i></b></div><div><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdOLxnI-x2XQOAgoxZJwJMq78XP46x1J36tQkNkXThDWq5oTjb2bHYh5i6qvy2s_AHpfwNhsgcX_alKxMy0fWnAT_3Fzt1nlWF4Hcm1OEt3DbdejN5ctH8zjEyYJTNnTgWHMoPSA6bgc/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdOLxnI-x2XQOAgoxZJwJMq78XP46x1J36tQkNkXThDWq5oTjb2bHYh5i6qvy2s_AHpfwNhsgcX_alKxMy0fWnAT_3Fzt1nlWF4Hcm1OEt3DbdejN5ctH8zjEyYJTNnTgWHMoPSA6bgc/w400-h400/image.png" width="400" /></a></div></i></div><div>I always thought Bo Burnham was a hack. I didn't get his brand of musical comedy. The shtick just wasn't my thing. But then I listened to one of his episodes of Pete Holmes' "You Made it Weird" podcast and was like, "Oh." And I saw his directorial debut <i>Eighth Grade</i> and was like, "OH!" And then I saw his turn as the pseudo love interest in <i>Promising Young Woman </i>where he's pitch perfectly cast as the "Nice Guy (who is actually not so nice)" and was like, "Oh, I love this guy." So I was primed for <i>Inside</i>. And yet I was not primed for it to takeover my headspace in 2021. There are going to be college classes about "Pandemic Art" in 20 years, and <i>Inside</i> will be on the syllabus. This "comedy special" is just Burnham locked in his guest house with a bunch of instruments and film equipment. The initial impression is that he's going to create something out of nothing. It's going to be a movie about The Process. There are funny bits up front: a song about the stereotypical Instagram accounts of white women, the struggles of sexting, Jeff Bezos, etc. But when Burnham's character has a full on meltdown halfway through it casts the whole performance in a new light. What started as a comedy special has morphed into a dissection of art, comedy, and reckoning with one's career. It captures the hopeless exhaustion of living in lockdown and being forced to do that aforementioned reckoning. Wondering if the random shit he is throwing together in this room is any good and soldiering on regardless. The end result is a neurotic movie musical whose soundtrack I listened to ad nauseum because it made me feel better about everything. The songs are catchy as hell and frequently hilarious, but you get to the stripped down acoustic number "That Funny Feeling" with its gentle depiction of our current apocalypse and it's just like, goddamn. Ya got me. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>Songs</u></b></div><div><br /></div><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/2rX5fvODLg11J8UELctJUZ?utm_source=generator" width="100%"></iframe>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-59040614589502420732021-05-25T15:50:00.005-05:002021-05-25T15:57:30.904-05:001001 Albums: #38 - Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square Club<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Sam Cooke - <i>Live at the Harlem Square Club</i><br />RCA, 1963<br /><br /><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/417CCWV47VL.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="301" height="319" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/417CCWV47VL.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><br />Man alive. I was always a Sam Cooke fan, but hearing him here at his rawest, putting it all out there on stage, well that's something special. The overall vibe of this thing is just awesome. It puts you right in the heart of Miami's Harlem Square Club. The recording isn't crisp, but Cooke's charisma cuts through the quality like a razor. The version of "Bring it on Home to Me" with an extended lead in and its shaggy delivery absolutely blew my mind. That's one of my favorite songs of all time, and hearing him sell it here is absolute magic. There's a reason the best of I have on vinyl is on the untouchable list when I cull. It feels like a cheat that this album--which was released 22 years after the fact in 1985--is slotted in at 1963, but it captures the period so well it's hard to argue. That Cooke was killed a year later at the age of 33 makes this album, which is brimming with life, so absolutely vital.<div><br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jkLZ_pVwU3k" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-66499759474476828732021-05-24T15:12:00.005-05:002021-05-24T15:12:38.713-05:001001 Albums: #37 - Phil Spector - A Christmas Gift for You<p>Phil Spector - <i>A Christmas Gift for You </i><br />Philles, 1963</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81XXQf7343L._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="800" height="318" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81XXQf7343L._SL1500_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Welcome to our first installment of "Albums You Should Remove From This List and Put a Guided by Voices Album in its Place." Did you know there is only ONE GBV record in this so-called 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die? Only <i>Alien Lanes </i>made the cut, and while I'm sure you could <i>argue</i> that <i>Bee Thousand </i>and <i>Alien Lanes </i>achieve a similar "Peak GBV-Ness," you gotta be joking me when you've got Phil Spector's Christmas Album and Limp Bizkit's <i>Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water</i> on your list. Is this one of the greatest Christmas albums of all time despite the taint of Phil Spector being a psychopathic murderer? Yes, absolutely. Should you have a Christmas album on this list though? Hell no. This album has about a month and a half of utility, otherwise you should be listening to the Crystals and the Ronettes discography proper.<br /><br />Seriously, <i>CHOCOLATE STARFISH AND THE HOT DOG FLAVORED WATER </i>made the cut. I totally get trying to capture the zeitgeist of a given year, but <i>CHOCOLATE STARFISH AND THE HOT DOG FLAVORED WATER</i>?! At least go for <i>Significant Other</i>. The thing is, you don't need to hear that album before you die. You can go your whole life without ever hearing Limp Bizkit and be totally fine. No audiophiles will give you any crap for not being a <i>Chocolate Starfish</i> head. The indignity. Jesus. Anyway, this is a great Christmas record. Phil Spector was a lifelong sociopath, and it is tragic that he was always on a collision course with murder, but you can't really deny his work as a producer. This is Christmas Magic by way of foreboding terror knowing what you know in hindsight, and it is only amplified by the Spector narrated "Silent Night." But I mean, it's got Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" so what're you gonna do?<br /></p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UV8x7H3DD8Y" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-61574763923572691982021-05-21T09:37:00.000-05:002021-05-21T09:37:05.288-05:001001 Albums: #36 - Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan<p>Bob Dylan - <i>The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan</i><br />Columbia, 1963<br /><br /><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81bANXfbb0L._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81bANXfbb0L._SL1500_.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><br />I'm going through my Beatles phase now, but I went through my Dylan phase maybe ten years ago. I picked up this <i>Rough Guide to Bob Dylan</i> from the clearance section of Half Price Books and proceeded to spend the next six months working through his discography and acquiring his albums on vinyl as they came across the buy counter. My copy of <i>Freewheelin</i>' however is a super nice 180 Gram reissue and I vividly remember ordering it after listening to it all the way through for the first time during my Bob Dylan Year. "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" was the first ringtone I bought when buying ringtones was a thing, and it remained my ringtone for at least two full years even though that song makes for a terrible ringtone. It's hard to think of a more perfect kiss-off song. In these latter days I've been listening to the back half of the album more. It's more of its time than the A-Side, but "Talking World War III Blues" is one that feels as potent now as it ever did. </p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1iHhWh9FtsQ" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-74605801341192000332021-05-21T09:26:00.002-05:002021-05-21T09:26:07.835-05:001001 Albums: #35 - The Beatles - With the Beatles<p>The Beatles - <i>With the Beatles</i><br />Parlophone, 1963</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41DjG69tLrL._SY450_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41DjG69tLrL._SY450_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />I'm currently going through my Beatles phase. The Beatles have been ever-present in my life forever, like anyone else who grew up listening to Oldies, but until this year the only albums of theirs I had listened to all the way through were <i>Rubber Soul </i>and <i>Sgt. Pepper</i>. It was purely a greatest hits kind of fandom. It has been a lot of fun working through their discography, mostly because it's incredible how much they evolved over the course of a single decade. The group's second album is half covers, and the only Beatles classic in the tracklist is "All My Loving." You could make an argument for "Don't Bother Me" if George is your favorite Beatle, so I'll make the argument for "Don't Bother Me" (that Scorsese doc about him is currently on HBO Max and it's excellent). Also, the Lennon/Harrison duet of Smokey Robinson's "You Really Got a Hold on Me" is fantastic. Also, when I was a kid my siblings and I were at the bowling alley with my dad eating corn dogs and my dad instructed me to play "Roll Over Beethoven" on the jukebox in at our little diner booth and my finger slipped and I accidentally played "Heart of Glass" by Blondie and that is my earliest memory of shame. <p></p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9rokS8Ao4nQ" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-20144692293798924802021-05-21T09:08:00.006-05:002021-05-21T09:09:20.381-05:001001 Albums: #34 - Ray Price - Night Life<p>Ray Price - <i>Night Life</i><br />Koch, 1962<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP750jrn4s26LGzsJxYgVRAwIPB_pBIIQjA9Gx90e37lni3hk9viRvth_GYQ7imJJtiB_GEespQewONgRErEzfLFCG4lDnsM3hwFBTariNFk1jfFo9kZ-M90dy-VGiWjOoqJSgqGJir0E/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="355" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP750jrn4s26LGzsJxYgVRAwIPB_pBIIQjA9Gx90e37lni3hk9viRvth_GYQ7imJJtiB_GEespQewONgRErEzfLFCG4lDnsM3hwFBTariNFk1jfFo9kZ-M90dy-VGiWjOoqJSgqGJir0E/w320-h320/image.png" width="320" /></a><br /><br /></div>I don't know if you're going to find a <i>weirder</i> Track 1 that "Introduction and Theme" in which Ray Price gives a rambling introduction to the album over the title track. But once the album gets going in earnest, man, that title track is a perfect capsule of country and western misery. I'm almost surprised David Lynch hasn't used it to soundtrack some sort of weird depravity. And look, it was written by Willie Nelson. That explains a lot. The book explains that Price and Nelson had a falling out when, "Nelson shot one of Price's roosters." Makes sense. <br /><p></p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZjvV37t5UIU" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-38594194629005917752021-05-21T09:02:00.001-05:002022-02-08T16:13:51.766-06:001001 Albums: #33 - Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd - Jazz Samba<p>Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd - <i>Jazz Samba</i><br />Verve, 1962<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4s8yJaUC1ydjqkPZet0kc_rPB88bdRbTCbpaxw-Lj_cO4NNy-2jY9bGafSxZMG0mTwOAYfbCp7yTa8J_hPZabmGazQpFINYA1abPjQgzoBsaTpdkMYleqJ-8hARJwoS6L-Y_iZ6qdjfU/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="300" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4s8yJaUC1ydjqkPZet0kc_rPB88bdRbTCbpaxw-Lj_cO4NNy-2jY9bGafSxZMG0mTwOAYfbCp7yTa8J_hPZabmGazQpFINYA1abPjQgzoBsaTpdkMYleqJ-8hARJwoS6L-Y_iZ6qdjfU/w320-h319/image.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />It's hard to think of a genre more dated than bossa nova, but you can't deny the technical proficiency at play here. It's the platonic ideal of white man's appropriation. I personally don't care for this but it wouldn't be out of place at, say, a throwback cocktail party where everyone dresses like characters from <i>Mad Men</i>. In that circumstance it's required listening. <br /><br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/npKGdsiQz9Q" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-9825343970394165712021-05-21T08:56:00.000-05:002021-05-21T08:56:11.911-05:001001 Albums: #32 - Booker T & the M.G.s - Green Onions<p>Booker T & the M.G.s - <i>Green Onions</i><br />Stax, 1962<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaffyVC4iaqgdliVfGPeZBaTxHAxoA-9qFgUP9xew5pbGK2FzWlpHjZc3Jmsy3o5kHgbvv1ONm2NhxNOgn3yJSYquNZv8qZiyMojmmPvHl0ZSIw9Yx_cknq4XVBKzueEkiitHbh_-xB3Y/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaffyVC4iaqgdliVfGPeZBaTxHAxoA-9qFgUP9xew5pbGK2FzWlpHjZc3Jmsy3o5kHgbvv1ONm2NhxNOgn3yJSYquNZv8qZiyMojmmPvHl0ZSIw9Yx_cknq4XVBKzueEkiitHbh_-xB3Y/w320-h320/image.png" width="320" /></a></div>It says a lot about the magic of music that one of the most ubiquitous songs of the 20th century--"Green Onions"--was essentially a jam recorded while the band was waiting for the session to start. Pull up Booker T. Jones' IMDB page and do a search for "Green Onions" and watch the whole page fill up with yellow highlights. I vividly remember it from <i>The Sandlot, </i>but you probably know it from something else. Either way that Hammond Organ line is one of the most instantly recognizable pieces of music on earth, even if no one knows who's playing it. The rest of the songs are alright, but feel more like something to be played between innings at a baseball game than anything else (Save for "Behave Yourself," "Lonely Avenue," and the ones with the pep removed from their step). "Green Onions" though, "Green Onions" is still magic. <br /><br /><p></p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_bpS-cOBK6Q" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-43965231549717321602021-05-07T15:00:00.000-05:002021-05-07T15:00:06.077-05:001001 Albums: #31 - Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music<p>Ray Charles - <i>Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music</i><br />ABC-Paramount, 1962<br /><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71pZygWEJCL._SL1200_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="800" height="316" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71pZygWEJCL._SL1200_.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><br />Ray Charles doing country classics. It's as weird as it sounds, and while it's a bit overproduced (and overstuffed) for my taste, but if you had to record definitive versions of Hank Williams classics, well, you could do a hell of a lot worse than Ray Charles. This one is at its best when the weepy strings are out of sight.</p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/osH3d_XJrHU" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-33674992471572040302021-05-07T14:53:00.000-05:002021-05-07T14:53:00.652-05:001001 Albums: #30 - Bill Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard<p>Bill Evans - <i>Sunday at the Village Vanguard</i><br />Riverside, 1961<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51aWxHiVaNL._SY355_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="355" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51aWxHiVaNL._SY355_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Evans' playing on Miles Davis' <i>Kind of Blue</i> gave him some immediate cred in my mind, so I came into this one with fewer White Boy Jazz suspiciousness than I did with someone like, say, Dave Brubeck (note: Jazz is none of my business). Hell of a piano player. It's another one of those great midcentury live albums that I was just talking about (see: <i>Muddy Waters at Newport</i>). You can practically feel the smoke-filled room and see the audience sipping cocktails. A smoke-filled room is both a nuisance and something I weirdly miss. The ambience it lends cannot be matched by a mere smoke machine either: You need to know you're going to have to wash your clothes twice before you can wear them again. I remember seeing Feist opening for the Kings of Convenience at the Bottleneck in early 2005 pre-Apple commercial and pre-indoor smoking ordinance in Lawrence and that set is one of my favorites I ever saw in the hundreds of concerts I went to in my college and post-college years. <i>Sunday at the Village Vanguard </i>is music built for smoke-filled rooms and a glass of scotch. I hate the bass solos but what're you gonna do (Note: Jazz is none of my business, take that with a grain of salt). Evans' piano playing is marvelous.<div><br /></div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OVEOf7VCNgs" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-52971124529724103872021-05-07T14:38:00.002-05:002021-05-07T14:38:10.370-05:001001 Albums: #29 - Muddy Waters - Muddy Waters at Newport<p>Muddy Waters - <i>Muddy Waters at Newport</i><br />Chess, 1960</p><p><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/714jy2HO4iL._SL1200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/714jy2HO4iL._SL1200_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of this book's big shortcomings is that by starting at the end of the 1950s it pretty much skirts blues music. As a result there are a few blues records and they tend to be these career retrospective types like <i>Muddy Waters at Newport</i>. Considering how influential blues was to the formation of American Rock and Roll music, it seems odd that you have a late career John Lee Hooker (save his 1989 album <i>The Healer), </i>a BB King live album, no Howlin' Wolf, no Robert Johnson, no Lead Belly. I get starting this book at a definitive point--the point where the idea of The Album really starts taking hold--but I feel like this thing at <i>least </i>needs a prologue, especially considering how many times Eric Clapton shows up in it. </div><p>Alas, at least this Muddy Waters record was included. These live albums from the 50s and 60s have been some of my favorites to listen to over the course of this project. This one is particularly good because these songs benefit from being roughed up. You get a lot more life out of them than if they'd been pristinely recorded in a studio. </p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IEUrVqImq6k" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-78955177416957459502021-05-07T11:52:00.002-05:002021-05-07T11:52:31.727-05:001001 Albums: #28 - Jimmy Smith - Back at the Chicken Shack<p>Jimmy Smith - <i>Back at the Chicken Shack</i><br />Blue Note, 1960<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/38/Chickenshack.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="316" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/38/Chickenshack.jpg" /></a></div><br />While I absolutely love this album's groundbreaking use of the Hammond organ, the album's cover has instantly slotted in to my all time Top Whatever. I love how straight forward it is! I love that bright red shirt. I love the literal chicken shack. I love that good boi sitting there for pets. Smith sets himself apart from a crowded field of jazzmen (remember, Jazz is none of my business) and creates a sound with a surprising amount of swagger. Dude made the organ <i>cool</i>. That's a feat on its own, but this was one of the most pleasant surprises I've come across in the book so far. An album I've put on a couple times already when I needed something to cook dinner to.<div><div><br /></div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SuMd8ldLqxo" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-53175397781443900902021-05-07T11:43:00.004-05:002021-05-07T11:43:46.251-05:001001 Albums: #27 - The Everly Brothers - A Date with the Everly Brothers<p>The Everly Brothers - <i>A Date with the Everly Brothers</i><br />Warner Bros, 1960<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://img.discogs.com/MeILVGdtjvZ7iyAu6SgC_sd2_SM=/fit-in/598x557/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-5097434-1384408904-7328.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="557" data-original-width="598" height="298" src="https://img.discogs.com/MeILVGdtjvZ7iyAu6SgC_sd2_SM=/fit-in/598x557/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-5097434-1384408904-7328.jpeg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>When I first listened to this album, I thought, man, this would never fly today. But then I remembered there's a Kidz Bop version of Pitbull's "Timber" which boasts the line "Let's make a night you won't remember/ I'll be the one you won't forget." It's amazing how many date rapey lines are littered throughout the Kidz Bop canon. And so, the Everly Brothers version of Pure Patriarchal Romance is kind of quaint. That is, unless you adjust for romantic inflation. Check out the second verse:<br /><br /><div><i>One day soon you'll have a date</i></div><div><i>And you'll take her home that night</i></div><div><i>You'll wonder as you look at her</i></div><div><i>Would a kiss be right</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>The more you look, the more you'll find</i></div><div><i>Those doubts will fill your head</i></div><div><i>But think real hard and you might recall</i></div><div><i>The things your old dad said</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Girls, girls, girls were made to love</i></div><div><i>Girls, girls, girls were made to love</i></div></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>Maybe dear old dad should have taught these brothers a thing or two about consent! I'd say you adjust for inflation, that's as bad or worse than Pitbull. Girls weren't made to have their own fulfilling lives with their own dreams and goals, they were MADE TO LOVE, DAMNIT! Another problem with this song is that it's damn catchy. This album also has the first recorded version of "Love Hurts," which I love not because of the hair metal cover by Nazareth, but Bob Pollard and Kim Deal's rendition. It also has "Cathy's Clown," which is one of my all time favorite oldies. Sonically you can hear the influence they're going to have on countless pop-rock bands going forward into the 60s, but lyrically you can...also hear the influence they are going to have on countless pop-rock bands going forward (particularly the early Beatles which I sense are coming soon).<br /><br /></div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ySmCe2pPwDQ" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913367917526742572.post-1349552138671960172021-05-07T10:33:00.002-05:002021-05-07T10:33:52.588-05:001001 Albums: #26 - Miriam Makeba - Miriam Makeba<p>Miriam Makeba - <i>Miriam Makeba</i><br />RCA Victor, 1960</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91pEmj2gwZL._SL1500_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="792" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91pEmj2gwZL._SL1500_.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><p>The second Miriam Makeba started singing, I realized precisely where tUnE-YaRdS copped her sound from. Makeba's vocals go right for your soul without hesitation. Goddamn can this woman sing. Now imagine hearing that in 1960 with some of the post-war whitewashing starting to erode. Gorgeous stuff.</p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8RwhPqsfPS4" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Ian Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337170684309986957noreply@blogger.com0