Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

The Best Album You’ve Never Heard WITH POLL

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Yeah yeah, politics politics politics.  This ain’t that.  This is about music, and it’s a simple request:

Reply to the thread, and post the best album that we’ve never heard.  This means no Lada Gaga, no Beatles, no Dolly Parton, no Led Zep, no Diana Ross, no Little Richard, no Jay-Z.  It doesn’t have to be obscure, but we shouldn’t hear it on the radio either.

Simple instructions I know, but maybe fun?  For bonus, tell us a little about the album — genre, year, what you like about it, etc.

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Comments

    • How can we possibly create jobs when we have technical cloning going on. Very cool.

    • Ligeti: Piano works played by Aimard
      Berio: Sinfonia
      Scriabin: Piano works played by Bernd Glemser (Naxos, cheep)
      The Muffs: Blonder and Blonder (1995: girl-group songs meet punker-than-@##@)
      Pinback: Summer in Abbadon
      Animal Collective: Fall Be Kind EP
      Archers of Loaf: All the Nation’s Airports
      Scarce: Red EP
      Come: Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
      Komeda: The Genius of Komeda
      Ted Leo and the Pharmacists: Hearts of Oak

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      p>(oh man, all this early 90’s indie … totally dating myself)

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      p>etc.

  2. Since sometimes diaries languish without posts, I’ll go ahead and post one.

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    p>Artist: Slaid Cleaves
    Album: Everything You Love Will be Taken Away
    Genre: Country
    Year: 2009

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    p>

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    p>Yeah, I listen to country.  Not a lot, but some.  This is not twangy country songs about romance or guns or America.  It’s also not so-called new country — songs about badonkadonks or loving this bar or by anyone who’s performed on American Idol.  Slaid Cleaves is from Maine, and it turns out that Steven King is a big fan of his.  The lyrics have a stronger folk feel to them, words about everyday pain and struggle, ballads about bad choices, songs about the beautiful landscape of New England, all sung in a clear, smooth voice with an occasional distinctive accent from up north.  11 songs, each with a distinct composition, lyrical cadence, and overall feel.  He’s certainly not formulaic.

    <

    p>I only heard this album because I won it (and a stack of others) from a radio station at the Newport Folk Festival almost a year ago.  Of the 764 albums my wife and I own, this is my favorite one that you’ve never heard of.

    • I listened to a few of Cleaves songs on youtube.  Not bad, but some are excruciatingly heartbreaking.  Especially on a day that you just get the news that your nephew, married with two daughters, just lost his job, and my sister-in-law just lost hers as well.  Uggh.

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      p>This one is good.  Sums it up pretty well.  It’s a beautiful thing. Yup.

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      p>

      • “It’s hard to believe”.  After setting the scene of a run down town near Milwaukee, he sings about prostitutes stuck in a bad place, the shut down factory, and his girl leaving.  Then, the lyrics after the bridge:

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        p>Here comes another blown up kid from over there
        Making the whole world safe for the millionaires
        The same old swindle hides
        Behind a fresh new coat of lies
        This is no time to be naive
        It’s hard to believe

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        p>

        <

        p>It’s a low quality recording, so it can be tough to hear him clearly unfortunately.  The recording on the CD is a little faster paced, has the backing of a band, and of course is quite a bit clearer.

      • Best of luck to your family.  Hopefully they can ride out the tough time for a while, then get back in the game.

        • Especially for my nephew, who carried most of the weight of the household budget.  

  4. It’s from 1999 but I still break it out every now and again.

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    p>Title: original soundtrack to my nightmare

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    p>Blues

  6. … are not popular, but I’m partial to the soundtrack to Star Trek II (James Horner).  Also check out Bruch violin concerto.  It might be played on the radio though.

  7. The new Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings album, “I Learned the Hard Way”, is a tight compilation of authentic soul played by thoroughly professional musicians.

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    p>The new Gil Scott Heron joint, “I’m New Here” is intriguing. It’s largely a covers album and I don’t know what to make of it yet.

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    p>One of the best hip hop albums overlooked by the mainstream is Ghostface’s “Fishscale” from ’06. (Also, given the today’s passing of the MC from Roxbury, Guru, I will mention Gangstarr’s “Daily Operation”.)

    <

    p>I want to mention here Arcade Fire’s “Funeral” as one of the best complete albums of the previous decade; I feel they are just known enough to not qualify for this type of thread, but I’m betting that the majority of BMG has not plugged into this rich and densely textured record.

    <

    p>And they need to play more deeper cuts from The Clash on the radio. What a deep and diverse catalogue of great music! Yet audiences are only exposed to like 4 regular songs. Yeah, you all heard of The Clash, but people my generation and younger are not listening to them enough.  

    • … I’d check out  Arvo Pärt (Fratres in particular):

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      p>

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      p>There is also the more famous version for Cello and Piano.  If you listen to the one above first, it’s easier to see what he’s doing in the second one below:

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      p>

      <

      p>Also, I found this one tune in the soundtrack to Akira to be excellent minimalist composition IMHO:

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      p>

      • I do listen to some Pärt every now and again. I was very fond of Tabula rasa for a period.

        • … I’m not that into minimalism much at all actually.  I find that there are too many minimalists who’s approach are too much like abstract expressionist in visual media.  Most of it I find pretty dismissible, but when it’s done well, it can be very effective.

  10. Mudcrutch is a Tom Petty project from 2008.  Actually it is a reunion with his first band and it is very American Roots in style.  His rendition of “Shady Grove” is excellent.

    <

    p>I know you said no Dolly Parton in the rules but anyone who is not familiar with Dolly’s bluegrass stuff needs to check out “Little Sparrow” and “The Grass is Blue” I mean, if you like that kind of thing of course.

  12. The album was released in 1977.   I saw them at the Paradise a couple of times – those were the days! Funny you posted this poll today – I just pulled the album off my shelf on Sunday morning for a listen.

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    p>Here’s a link to their “hit” Mixed up, Shook Up Girl  

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    p>http://www.ilike.com/artist/Mi…

  14. …especially since hundreds of albums are released daily in foreign languages.  L’Autre and Point de Suture by Mylene Farmer comes to mind at first glance…

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