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- Cows "Peacetika" 1991 (USA)
Too hick for punk, too dumb for indie, too sloppy for grunge, hence they called this group "noise rock." And so politically incorrect in a smartass way! (Peep that cover art, Peacetika, get it? Or as our old pal Michael from Killdozer always likes to say "Fuck you hippie!") More ruminations on this record later! |
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- Led Zeppelin "III" 1970 (UK)
Spring
has sprung, so here's a classic acoustic folky record from the hippy
era, but also it's kinda metal. Led Zep is the type of band that
defines "iconic": all four members were among the best in the biz in
their respective roles, and they bowed out with a set of precisely ten
classic albums (including the live one and outtakes compilation, and
you must include them because ICONS!) By this point, I think the idea
that Zep III
is their most underrated gem is a cliche - yeah, they broadened the palette
after the first two albums. Although the second side is arguably the
crucial part, in that it is mostly folky acoustic music (but Bonham
still makes it metal), side one is where I find the biggest buzz. Check
out this immortal sequence from the golden age of seamless album
sequencing: "Immigrant Song" kicks it off with a literal Viking
war cry, then "Friends" is led by slide guitars playing something
"Indian" until overtaken by orchestra and synthesizer, immediately into
"Celebration Day" which is a truly rousing song that shoulda been one
of their "hits", AND THEN "Since I've Been Loving You" is one of their
finest heavy blues songs, AND THEN "Out On The Tiles" is a prog-metal
riff orgy that points the way to Rush. |
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- Traffic "On The Road" 1973 (UK)
Traffic
was one of Britain's finest jazz-rock-prog combos, featuring the famous
Steve Winwood of Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith, countless guest
appearances all over the seventies albumscape, and "Back In The High
Life Again" in the 1980's. Perhaps their most underappreciated album is
this classic recorded on tour in Germany, with future Can
member Rebop Kwaku Baah on board. Original other-singer-songwriter Dave
Mason was long gone by this point, and the group's original jazzers
(Chris Wood on reeds and Jim Capaldi the drummer) led their sound in
the direction of epic songs of moods and solos, anchored by the classic
Winwood voice and some trendy seventies prog rock concepts. For
example, check that 15 minute version of "The Low Spark Of High-Heeled
Boys" with the farout lyrics, sax honk-outs, spacy organ reveries, and
groovin' bits (were they influenced by the krautrock of the country
they were on tour in? They do sound like Can at points . . . and not just
cuz Rebop). |
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- Debris "Static Disposal" 1976 (USA)
This one-off, outsider proto-punk album from Oklahoma is legendary because it was on the NWW list. But you know what else? WORT has PLEDGE DRIVES
where we ask for financial support, and we are one of the few radio
stations that will play music anything like this! (That PLEDGE link
works for donations anytime of the year - tell 'em Dave 3000 sent ya!)
So anyway, Debris is a totally obscure band and I've already told you
all the facts I know about them. So what does the record sound like?
Well, artsy punk rock with angular riffs, frenzied rockouts, weird
breakdowns, ranting and screaming, poetry recitations - i.e., when I
say "punk" I don't mean mohawked Sex Pistols, I mean TRULY antisocial noisemakers like Chrome, Suicide and the mystery metal of VON LMO. But all of the weird stuff on Static Disposal
has been done many times by many underground freaks over the postpunk
decades, so it doesn't sound that groundbreaking in 2018 BUT >>it
was recorded in 1976<< - We tend to think of the past as having
been simpler, unsophisticated times but what this album teaches me is
that there have been outsiders and weirdos making fascinating,
uncompromising music with an original vision in the shadows for a lot
longer than "indie rock" has been a concept. |
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- Love "Out Here" 1969 (USA)
Valentine's Day is a day of Love
- the band that is! Arthur Lee basically fired the rest of the band
(those that hadn't already quit or gone to jail) after their third
album, the acclaimed baroque pop masterpiece Forever Changes. Love recorded one more album to complete their contract with Elektra records, a more electric and rocking album called Four Sail
(as in "love for sale" get it?) Elektra promptly dropped the band after
that record flopped, and they immediately released our COATW, a double
LP on the peculiar hippie label Blue Thumb. Apparently this album
merely consisted of everything else they had recorded with the new
lineup while at Elektra. It is certainly not a very focused album,
containing scraps of short throw-away tunes, and another song extended
to 12 minutes courtesy of a boring 8-minute drum solo (the group's main
brain even credits himself as "Arthurly" for added flakiness). But the
highlights of this record are excellent examples of Lee's unique
songwriting style and the psychedelic rock sounds of the time; in
particular lead guitarist Jay Donnellan rips it up like Hendrix if
he never got past the garage band stage. |
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- Scott Walker & Sunn O))) "Soused" 2014 (USA/UK)
Since
we were focusing on new releases on the show last time, I figured we
might as well induct another 21st century recording into the hall of
classics. My favorite artist of the 21st century is probably Scott
Walker, who just turned 75 years old this month. Formerly an incredibly strange crooner of easy listening music, but more recently the creator of indescribable avant-garde "uneasy listening"
music, he has also been the governor of Wisconsion since 2010! His most
recent album of songs (as opposed to orchestra music) was a
collaboration with the heavy guitar drone duo Sunn O))) (which is
simply pronounced "sun"), and it was my pick for the #2 best album of
that year. This album is absolutely monumental, but was released
the same year as the heaviest triple-LP of the 21st century to date,
by Swans. |
