Posted: 05/02/07
Albums you should own
Mike Morris | managing editor
mmorris2@smcvt.edu
We’re mixing it up a bit this week here at AYSO. Since this is the last Naked Opinion issue of the semester (and of my Echo career), I’ve decided to list a whole bunch of albums you should own and write a brief explanation as to why you should do so. The choices are arranged in no particular order except that in which they came into my mind, and this list is by no means exhaustive. That being said, dissecting these albums should take you at least a summer, at which point someone new may have taken my place at AYSO.
Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Nonesuch, 2002.
s this the album that saved modern rock and roll? I don’t know, but Wilco’s fourth album that almost wasn’t (its original record label dropped the band and found this album unsalable) managed, almost majestically, after a year or so in limbo, to become the band’s best-selling record to date. And for good reason—there’s little, if any, to find fault with in YHF. From the noisy and plaintive opener “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” to the uneasy optimism of the closing “Reservations” (I’ve got reservations/ about so many things/ but not about you”), this album is worthy of (nearly) all superlatives thrown its way. I could go on for hours about it, but pretty much all been said—a concept album for modern times and imagined communities, a nod to 1970s pop, an exploration of interpersonal communication, almost overwhelming optimism and nostalgia and maybe even regret. Yes, to all. Just buy this one.
Josh Ritter, The Animal Years, V2 2006.
Ritter started as a folkie who expanded his horizons more than usual on this album. Enlisting the help of producer Brian Deck, Ritter brings new layers to his strengthened songwriting, adding electric guitar for the first time, along with many other mood-shaping instruments. People usually talk about “Thin Blue Flame” from this one, an epic nine-minute “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” for today, as its lyrics stand with its predecessor’s, but I’d look to “Monster Ballads,” instead. It’s jaunty feel and easy-going Americana sum up Ritter’s vision nicely, and its Mark Twain reference is a telling insight into his psyche. Catch him live if you can, because his personality shines thorough even more on stage—he never stops smiling—and his musicianship is better showcased. You’ll leave happy.
Traffic, The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys, Island , 1971.
Steve Winwood was something of a wunderkind on the British Blues scene. You know that song “Gimme Some Lovin”? Winwood co-wrote it for the Spencer Davis Group, which he joined at age 15. He also played organ, at age 21, on Joe Cocker’s version of The Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends,” which most know as the theme song to The Wonder Years. Winwood was also the major member of Traffic, a band that explored rock music’s funkier, jazzier side, especially on the lengthy title track of this album, which is more developed than its predecessor, John Barleycorn Must Die, named after a traditional folk song. Like Low Spark’s title may suggest, this one eschews many of the band’s earlier traditional approaches.
Beulah, The Coast is Never Clear, Velocette, 2001.
Beulah managed, for such a sprawling band, to keep its sound tight, especially on The Coast is Never Clear, its third and best album. Horns, keys and other difficult to identify instruments peacefully coexist here, furthering the music to a place where few indie bands venture. Standout tracks are “A Good Man Is Easy To Kill,” with its sweet flute riff and “Hey Brother,” with a chorus that contains the cheeriest retelling of a break-up that I can think of. Sadly, the peace of this album didn’t last, with Beulah recording only one more album before disbanding. Apparently, the coast is never clear.
Elvis Presley, Elvis Presley, RCA 1956.
Lots of people know lots of Elvis songs. And for good reason--he helped shaped modern American music. The problem with most Elvis experiences is that they come in the form of greatest hits discs or oldies radio, not from his album. This record, Elvis’ first, with its punk rock cover (inspired The Clash’s London Calling, an AYSO that goes without saying) signaled a sea change in pop culture that culminated a decade later with The Beatles. Some of Elvis’ best tracks are here, like “Blue Suede Shoes,” as well as some of his better but less-known ones like “I Got A Woman,” which has more fire behind it than most so-called punk bands around now.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Yanqui U.X.O., Constellation 2002.
This one’s hard to describe. I hear lots of hipsters call it “post-rock” which, like most hipster-speak, means nothing. I’d call it “pre-apocalyptic,” because some of the orchestral crescendos sound like the end of the world. If you need more to buy this album, I’d get your head checked.
Grateful Dead, Europe ‘72, Warner Bros., 1972.
Some people (hippies) like the Dead because of their trippy jams, like those found in their early concerts and at Ken Kesey’s Acid Tests. Others (regular people), like the Dead because in 1970 they released not one but two of the best albums ever (and AYSOs): American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead, both of which left the drug-jams (not necessarily the drugs) behind in favor of solid roots music. On Europe ‘72, the listener gets a taste of both, with some tracks stretching to several times their original length (“Truckin’”) and others (“Cumberland Blues”) remaining as tight as ever. This one is also the last we heard from Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, the harmonica player/organist that gave American Beauty its mood.
Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels On a Gravel Road, Mercury/Polygram, 1998.
A friend once told me that the only difference between country and alt-country was the audience (hipsters like alt-country, rednecks country, but the music is the same). Williams’ album makes me think he might be wrong. Here, she is inspired by things other than patriotism and down-home cookin’, and we’re better because of it. More artistically curious than a “regular” country musician, Car Wheels is lyrically and musically solid, and Williams' gravelly voice carries it all, through explorations of love found and lost (mostly lost) and life in general. Too bad it was 10 years before her next album; the genius of this one has yet to be recreated. Still, she proves it takes more balls to sing “Don’t want to see you again” than it does “We’ll put a boot in your ass, it’s the American way.”
Old Crow Medicine Show, O.C.M.S., Nettwerk, 2004.
This is a country album, without the alt-. These guys play old time bluegrass with enough energy to seemingly not need amplification. Their song topics are from the same period as their music, singing about cocaine (not crack) addictions and catfish. The harmonica solo in their take on the traditional “C.C. Rider” and the final track “Wagon Wheel” are worth the cost of the disc, the former showing breath control that would make Jay-Z jealous and the latter telling a timeless story of distant love in a timeless medium.
Beastie Boys, Paul’s Boutique, Capitol,1989.
The Beasties made their name with their debut album License To Ill, which was white boy party music updated for a new era. Hell, they even sampled Zeppelin, white boy party music from the previous era. Here, they teamed up with producers the Dust Brothers, who, aided by lax sampling laws of the time, created an artful pastiche for the Beastie Boys to rhyme over. As much fun as License To Ill, Paul’s Boutique also gave the Boys credibility for their later years when they made their missteps (“Remote Control” anyone?).
I know there’s more (I didn’t even touch on jazz or blues and most of these entries are recent releases), and part of me doesn’t want to stop, but it’s late and we’re told in journalism to assume that our readers have short attention spans. If you’re still with me than thanks. I hope you find something of use here. Enjoy the above and make your own lists of albums you should own. It’s a worthwhile process—it can be fun to listen to your favorite albums critically, and usually you’ll only end up appreciating them more, which is what this column has strived to be about.
