After months of pleading and whining, I broke down and drove a mile down the road to the Mall at Short Hills with my mother. She’s been hell-bent on buying me something to wear to my cousin Andy’s wedding at the end of the month, and after convincing her that my recently purchased suit & t-shirt combo would suffice, she insisted I buy a nicer shirt to wear underneath. Fine, whatever, as long as it’s not a shirt and tie.
So we found this shirt that’s like, 65% cotton, 30% silk and 5% cashmere. It cost like thirty bucks and it got her off my back. Then we went to Joe’s for dinner and I had a pretty bad chicken and broccoli and ziti dish. Now I think I’m going to go to Ilya’s for the night.
THE TOP TEN ALBUMS I HAVE BEEN ENJOYING OF LATE!
10) The Bitter Tears – The Grinning Corpse Who Went to Town: What’s not to love about a literary pop band with alternative approaches to instrumentation? “Murdered at the Bar” has quickly become a favorite of anyone I play this album for. You can hear it on their website. If The Decemberists was a band, they would sound like this.
9) John Coltrane – Transition: I also own A Love Supreme and Impressions, but I think this one is the best of the three. Usually when I listen to jazz albums they’re just there as ambient sounds operating in the background of whatever I’m doing at the time. Once I dropped the needle on this sucker I was blown away, like a poorly trained soldier happening upon an IED.
8) Leonard Cohen – Songs of Leonard Cohen: Without a doubt, Songs of Love and Hate is my favorite album of his. And I’m pretty sure that early in his recording career–when he was releasing an album every year or two–that one was his least favorite. Lately I’ve been rediscovering the first album (which happened to be one of my first vinyl purchases ever, back in the day). It starts off incredibly strong with “Suzanne” and “Master Song.” I think the highlight is “The Stranger Song,” with the flamenco picking pattern that would be utilized later on tunes like “Avalanche.” It’s just a brilliant effort.
7) Can – Future Days: It was the first album of theirs I purchased (at Amoeba in LA) and for a long time I was transfixed on the ethereal Tago Mago. Now I’ve been listening to this LP a few times a week. That first tune, “Bel Air” is a total mindfuck. I recently read Can’s sound described as “death-disco” and I’ve never heard it summed up better. What an immense rhythm section…What trippy Damo Suzuki-isms!
6) Boris – Akuma No Uta: Anxiously awaiting the wide(r)spread release of Pink, I am left to get the most I can out of this record. It’s a far cry from the drone albums that highlighted their discography until this foray into the world of psychedelic, stoner rock. I heard a wicked rumor Boris is going to be touring with Sunn O))) this summer, and I’d be ecstatic about that being the first “metal” show I’ve ever attended.
5) Ennio Morricone – Once Upon a Time in the West [Expanded]: There’s something like forty-four tracks of Morricone’s compositions for the film, and it’s beautiful for late night listening. I think the music on this soundtrack is actually better than The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, which runs a close second when it comes to his life’s work. You can easily hear the influence he has had on [experimental] rock music with the unique guitar tones and dynamic structures.
4) June of 44 – Anatomy of Sharks EP: It’s not as innovative as their In the Fishtank sessions but it’s by far one of their coolest releases. From the beautiful packaging to the 45 itself, I’m constantly doing double takes because I can’t believe what I’m hearing from a June of 44 album.
3) Sun Ra – Pathways to Unknown Worlds: I found this one used and relatively cheap for a Sun Ra LP, so I bought it on a whim expecting it to be way more insane than it actually is. Sometimes I find this kind of jazz to be annoying, but I was pleasantly surprised by the music and have since listened to it with greater frequency.
2) Tom Waits – Closing Time: Gosh, he almost sounded like a real human being before it suddenly sounded like he smoked eleventy-billion cigarettes between the recording of this and his next album. As far as opening tracks go, Ol’ 55 is about as good as they come.
1) Frank Zappa – Hot Rats: You can’t go wrong with an album that includes a track called “Willy the Pimp” (which features a guest appearance by Captain Beefheart himself, Don Vliet). It’s a great fusion of jazz and rock, and–for a Zappa record–it’s got a lot of really good melodies. Which, you know, is always a good thing.
