So back in April my car got totalled. It was an old car, so it didn’t take much for the Insurance company to say “sorry, we’re just gonna cut you a check for the market value.” But that meant a new car, and a new stereo, and the market has moved passed what I am used to in that regard.
But, I was able to find a recent-model car that still has a CD player in it. Which means that, once I bought a visor-holder, and then bought another one that wasn’t terrible, I was able to restock my car with pieces of my old collection. And here we are now…
Black Flag – Live ’84
I have acquired a good few Black Flag albums over the years, in a variety of formats: Damaged on vinyl, Slip it In on iTunes, and some CD’s. This one has the virtue of length, which makes it perfect driving music. On top of that, the energy of the band, close to their peak, can’t be understated. Rollins & Co. keep bringing it for 19 tracks, tunes that roll and unfold and windup and release like a giant Slinky rolling down the Grand Canyon. Which means I listen to this one a lot, and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. That means something.
Wes Montgomery – Talkin’ Verve: The Roots of Acid Jazz
Musicians have two kinds of draw: technique or mystique. Wes Mongomery is the first kind: a popular 60’s jazz guitarist who made music to infuse jazz into pop standards. It makes for very pleasant, intriguing, if not stirring, listening. I don’t know why it’s called “The Roots of Acid Jazz”, as Acid Jazz is a blend of EDM, soul, funk, and hip-hop that was popular in London in the 80’s. But no one ever said marketing had to make sense.
Black Sabbath – Paranoid
I have the first four Sabbath albums on CD, and every now and again I am in the mood to listen to them straight through. I got the first album in earlier this month, so it’s Paranoid‘s turn. What’s interesting about it – aside from the three classic tracks on the first side – is the way the album is almost structurally identical to Led Zeppelin IV. Lots of people say that Zep IV is the “perfect album” due in part to the way the songs interlock to create a holistic listening experience – but Sabbath did it the year before.
Egypt – Endless Flight
Speaking of Doom/Stoner Metal, this is one of my Bandcamp discoveries, and possibly one of my favorites. These boys are a band from Fargo, North Dakota, and I have their follow-up, Cracks and Lines, on vinyl. It’s a nice bourbon shot of an album, sharp where it should be, smooth going down. I’ve started listening to sludgier stuff since I got into them, but it still hits. The opening track alone is worth the price.
The Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat
Critical consensus has it that this is the “none more punk” of this proto-indie act’s discography. It’s an abrasive record, to be sure, and the 17-minutes of “Sister Ray” at the end definitely speaks to a “fuck it” attitude. However, it’s not like the rest of their discography isn’t loaded with similar tracks. There’s a through line running from “Run Run Run” and “European Son” through “Sister Ray” to “What Goes On” on the Grey Album. Anyway, my favorite track is “The Letter”, which is Lou Reed reading a short story he’d written accompanied by the band on a looping psych bar. It’s great every time.
Beck – Mutations
This is Beck’s sixth album, but most folk regard it as his third, after Mellow Gold and Odelay, because no one cares about Stereopathic Soulmanure or One Foot in the Grave and no one knows about Golden Feelings. If they did, they’d know the truth, which is that Beck Hansen is a blues musician who happened to strike a rich ore of white-boy slack-hop with “Loser” and has been trying to reconcile the disparate sides of his oeuvre ever since. This album leans to the bluesier side, but in a polished kind of way that acknowledges everything that went down on Odelay. I used to think it was depressing as hell, but now I kind of dig it.
Content Blues 