February 8, 2007
From the desk of Jane Galt:Just one thing
So as a result of your holiday generosity, I have a little money to play with on Amazon. And the most pressing current need is the rehabilitation of my music collection, which was tragically destroyed during the move between grad school and New York.
The question of the evening, then, is: if you could put just one album in my music collection, what would it be? Any album, any genre . . . okay, not R&B. Or polka music. But anything else. What should I be listening to?
Posted by Jane Galt at February 8, 2007 11:06 PM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound linksOoh it's a tough call between:
Return to Cookie Mountain by TV on the Radio
or
Friend Opportunity by Deerhoof
I Wanna See You Bellydance by the Red Elvises. Love the Russkie Rockabilly Elvis impersonators
Songs for Swingin' Lovers, Frank Sinatra.
Men and Angels Say, Ashley Cleveland.
Soundtrack for "Master and Commander: Far Side of the World"
Something European maybe?
I would choose either
Noir Désir - Des visages, des figures (French rock)
or
dEUS - Pocket Revolution (Belgian rock).
Here's one you've maybe never heard of: Keiko Matsui. Mild jazz/blues piano with backup instrumentation, original composition, no vocals. She's got something like a dozen releases floating around, I would recommend "Deep Blue." If you can enjoy that kind of music, it's a great album to have when you're working into the evening hours.
If you like that type of sound with more agression, try Vanessa-Mae (violin; original and re-interpreted classical, some contemporary) or Sarah Brightman (vocals; original and reinterpreted contemporary, classical, and opera). Yes, that Sarah Brightman -- slightly different than what you heard in ALW's work, though.
Loveless, by My Bloody Valentine.
It's quintessentially British, suitably inaccessible to those who don't "get it", and perfect music for making out with someone of whom your parents would not approve.
1) How about "Songs from the Big Chair" by Tears for Fears? Absolutely sublime, highly polished, highly listenable, very nearly perfect mid 80s Britpop with all kinds of lush jazz overtones. It's quite timeless.
2) Also, I haven't listened to much of it, but Don Imus was obsessing about the newest stuff from Lucinda Williams the other day, and the cuts he played did sound pretty awesome.
3) Oh, and Jane, if you're even a tad interested in jazz I might recommend a couple of highly accessible, totally classic albums: Giant Steps by John Coltrane and Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. Every person living n a Western country should have those two.
4) Ok, two more: pick up a Debussy collection and a Willie Nelson greatest hits.
Ocassional lurker here...
- Strauss: Four Last Songs, 12 Orchestral Songs
Elizabeth Schwartzkopf, George Szell
Stormin' Norman's Aunt - really - is in heartbreakingly beautiful form here, but almost overshadowed by achingly gorgeous playing under Szell's baton. Prepare to weep.
- Anything by Mahler - except for Symphony #5 - it's overrated and overplayed. I don't know where to start, but a nice little gem I recently acquired is the Mahler 4 by Fritz Reiner/Chicago Symphony/Lisa Della Casa. The third movement is achingly beautiful...mostly. The last movement will bring tears for a few seriously out-of-tune notes from the soprano soloist, but overall it's a very special performance. For a more modern recording with stunning sound and playing, though very different, try Michael Tilson Thomas and San Francisco in their recent Mahler 4. Or Mahler 6 if you want some heavy metal classical, also stunningly played and recorded.
- I'll second Kind of Blue, as well as anything by Debussy, preferrably played by French or English orchestras. Or the Concertgebouw.
PS: thanks for the opportunity to think about something other than the Edwards bloggers, Millstone and Albatross.
Carrie Akre - Invitation
Although if it were me I'd buy a subscription music compatible phone like the Samsung Sync and just subscribe to Yahoo Music. All the music you can download for $12 a month.
"Bat Out of Hell" - it's a real conversation piece. A great addition to any music collection.
Hmmm...
Lot's of good suggestions up there.
I can't think of one.
Ok. How about BT's Ima?
Here are some others I've been liking lately:
Kings of Leon, Aha Shake Heartbreak
Nickel Creek, This Side
Old Crow Medicine Show, OCMS
Digible Planets, Reachin'
U2, Zooropa
Blues Traveler, Four
De La Soul, 3 Feet High and Rising
Cannon Ball Aderly, Something Else
You've got suggestions for Sinatra, Davis, Coltrane, Mozart, Debussy, Mahler. All necessary.
But don't forget the Beatles.
Some others listed by mood:
Comfort:
Armstrong/Fitzgerald
A Little Night Music London cast
Morrison: Moondance
Mitchell: Blue
Reflective:
Wilson: New Moon Daughter
Jarrett: Koln Concert
Beethoven Symphonies: 5,6, 7, 9 von Karajan
Horowitz in Moscow
Monk/Coltrane @ Carnegie:
Happy:
Wilson: Smile
Inter-coastal:
Kottke: 6&12 string
Dylan: Basement Tapes
Band: Band
Nelson: Stardust
Cooder: Paradise and Lunch
O Brother Where Art Thou Soundtrack
Buena Vista Social Club
Loud:
Talking Heads: Speaking in Tongues, Remain in Light
B52s: Cosmic Thing
Marley: Live
so many more
Bach's Mass in B Minor conducted by George Enescu. Yes, historical recording, but one of the greatest recording of anything. Ever.
Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill. It's her first mainstream album, and it's full of great lyrics. The right combination of frustration and hope.
Glenn Gould's 1982 recording of J.S. Bach's Goldberg variations. Or, if you're in a more jazzy mood right now, "John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman".
1. Mozart, Complete Piano Concerti -- Murray Perahia and the English CHamber Orchestra. (Uchida and Tate version is good too.)
2. Bach, Cello Suites. I prefer Yo Yo Ma, but Rostropovitch has his adherents.
We can argue about the versions, but the music is essential. Some of the greatest music ever written.
My current obsession is a band called "Gogol Bordello." They are "gypsy punk." Very fun, very upbeat. The lead singer also was in a great film which I highly recommend "Everything is Illuminated." He played a comical Russian translator.
Anything by Bruce Springsteen between 1975 and 1984.
If you are rehabilitating a music collection and not just replacing it, don't buy anything other than the latest albums from active bands. Anything else is just nostalgia.
In that vein, the new Decemberists is amazing. And the new Shins album is sure to be good. Or if you absolutely must go down a literally dead-end street, the last Johnny Cash.
Don't get Kind of Blue. Get Sketches of Spain instead. (Better yet, get them both, but since you asked for a rec for just one album...)
Better yet, get an Emusic subscription and join the 21st century...
Frank Sinatra's "In the Wee Small Hours"
Miles Davis "Sketches of Spain"
Joe Williams "Nothing but the Blues"
Count Basie "The Best of Count Basie"
The Ramones "Ramones Mania"
Allman Brother Band "Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas"
Del McCoury "High Lonesome and Blue"
Cat Empire - "Two Shoes"
Damien Rice - "O"
Fleetwood Mac - "Rumours"
Flagging Molly - "Swagger"
Jamie Cullum - "Twentysomething"
Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation - "Mighty Rearranger"
Well, someone already put the Ramones on the list so I'll go for the following:
Pre-1970:
Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald -- The Best of Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong.
1970s:
Aretha Franklin -- Aretha Live at the Filmore West. (I know you said no R&B, but c'mon!)
1980s:
Pat Benatar - Greatest Hits (great crap)
The Police - Synchronicity (sp?)
1990s:
Nirvana - Nevermind
Current:
Ok Go -- Oh No (not just catchy dance numbers, I actually love the music).
That's all off the top of my head.
Anything by Judy Carmichael. (Plays "stride piano" music, a type of jazz that is similar but different from ragtime. Fats Waller is an example of stride piano music.)
I've gotten so used to my iPod, I rarely listen to full albums anymore. But when I only had a Discman, I regularly picked these for my walks:
Dave Matthews Band, Under the Table and Dreaming
Indigo Girls, All That We Let In
U2, Achtung Baby
The Sundays, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic
And if you have any interest in Irish traditional music, try the Best of Altan. The second disk has live recordings, and both are great.
Best live album of all time:
Paul Simon - Concert in the Park 1991
Don't get this confused with the Simon & Garfunkel concert in the park; that one is good, but this is on another level.
This is an interesting juxtaposition. I just read your post commenting on unchangeability of beliefs, whether religious or not. And in the very next post you want me to tell you what music you should listen to. Of all the things that are resistant to change, musical taste would be right up there I would think.
Anyway, you should get yourself a recording of Symphonic Dances by Rachmaninoff, if you don't have one. Listen to it at least ten times before you decide whether or not you like it.
Since I haven't commented here before, let me say that I have been a fan for some time. You have unique views, and they are often hard to understand. I like that.
Kodo: The Best of Kodo
Though only if your neighbors don't mind bass. This is not intended to be a headset album. (Taiko is visceral.)
Stevie Ray Vaughn - Couldn't Stand the Weather
For when you've got or need the blues.
Tom Waits - Franks Wild Years
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Bemac:
"Take Five
Dave Brubeck Quartet"
The album is actually 'Time Out'. Good choice, though since we're limited to one album I'd go for something by Paul Desmond. Maybe Paul Desmond Quartet Live?
Kind of Blue works for me, too.
As does Night Train.
Sonny Rollins, Live at the Village Vanguard
Charles Mingus, Blues and Roots (or anything else)
Thelonious Monk, Monk's Music, or Solo Monk, or anything else
Instead of Gogol Bordello above, find an album by Vopli Vidoplyassova, a Ukrainian band (should be easy to find in NYC - go to Brighton Beach)
And of course, you need James Brown.
Id recommend any of the four volumes of Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures CDs, released on Ace Records subsidiary Kent. They are absolutely wonderful, and will introduce you to some incredible music.
Also Motown's Big Hits, any of the first four compilations. Timeless songwriting, sterling performances.
And from way out of left-field, Tago Mago by German band CAN, from 1971.
The greatest living musician is Wayne Shorter, but you might not dig him. Nice stuff you might not have heard -- how 'bout some Bill Frisell? Dave Douglas? Tom Waits?
Miles Davis: Kind Of Blue
Dvorak: 9th Symphony (From the New World)
Beatles: Abbey Road
Schubert: Death and the Maiden
Dylan: Blood on the Tracks
Oops, you said one... oh well.
emusic (pay), moistworks, 3hive, and thinner.cc (free) for new music. Anner Bylsma's Bach Cello suites, Schnabel's Beethoven piano concertos, Buddy Guy's Chess recordings are nice for older stuff.
I like last.fm to find new artists similar to bands
I know.
Four suggestions, from recent additions to my MP3 player:
Beck - Guero
Old 97's - Fight Songs
Ween - Quebec
Frank Zappa - You Are What You Is
If you only want one album, I'd go with Johnny Cash's Live at Folsom Prison. Justly classic.
But if you want one song you absolutely should have, I'll go with Joey Ramone's cover of What a Wonderful World. (I have it on the Gilmore Girls soundtrack, which has some other excellent stuff but also some weak tracks.)
Other albums I'd list (and I second the Gillian Welch & Neko Case suggestions above):
Kelly Willis, What I Deserve
Kirsty MacColl, Tropical Brainstorm
Lucinda Williams, Sweet Old World
Claire Lynch, Love Light
Alison Moorer, Miss Fortune
Real Time - Tim O'Brien and Darrell Scott
"Small Change" ~ Tom Waits (It was very hard for me to pick but one Waits album, especially over several possible jazz albums that I might have suggested)
Seems like a lot of people don't understand the phrase "just one album". ;)
I'm going to suggest something that's way different from the other picks so far (not to imply that many of these aren't excellent):
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
Mind-bending electronic music from a far-off galaxy (actually...Berlin, 1974). Here's a review:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:zx1m96bodep1
You've already got a ton of great recommendations. Since someone already recommended My Bloody Valentine (Loveless would've been my first suggestion) I'll add Mermaid Avenue by Billy Bragg & Wilco.
upon reflection, i should mention that who's next was performed by the who.
Wolfsheim: Spectators.
It's Euro synthpop with goth undertones.
And one of the few full albums I listen to anymore.
Check out the DC-based Thievery Corporation (my favorite album is "Mirror Conspiracy"), the world's best in international chillout electronica.
The Clash - London Calling by . But just one album is a b^&*). If you asked for three I would include Paolo Conte - Elegia and Eric Bogle - By Request. I would second most of the above choices.
How can you lose music in a move? I still have the first record I got. (The Sound of Music movie soundtrack... not that I listen to it anymore)
Aside from old classics, try From the Hazel Tree, or any of the other CD's with which Echo's Children have graced the world.
Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra
"Concert in the Garden" or "Allegresse"
Paper Wings & Halo - Lori Mckenna
If you enjoy Depressing Female Singers. Her Kitchen Tapes also sounds worth owning based on the 30 second iTunes clips that i've heard.
Mahler's reorchestration of Beethoven's 9th.
Beethoven's 9th is great, but limited by then current technology. During the 1800's, instruments got better. Mahler touched up the 9th with higher highs etc.
Brontosaurus by Da Vinci's Notebook. Very amusing barbershop quartet.
It's all a bit white and AOR, so far. If you want some great soul, funk or Afrobeat, try some of these:
Hugh Masekela - The Chisa Years
Candi Staton - Candi Staton (Honest Jon's record label)
Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators - GREAT soul from Sweden of all places
If you pick one of these, go for Candi Staton. I cannot overstate how good this is, makes Aretha shy.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Candi-Staton/dp/B0000DG5N0/sr=8-2/qid=1171224789/ref=pd_ka_2/026-5616286-2918015?ie=UTF8&s=music
Andrea Marcovicci: I'll Be Seeing You. Loves songs of WWII. Everyone to whom I have given this, even those too young by decades to remember the originals, admits s/he can't get it out of mind.
The Album to get is "Monk Plays Ellington".
(That's assuming you have some albums of Thelonious Monk playing his own compositions, and would like to hear him tear into some standards.)
Jason & The Scorchers. Either Midnight Roads and Stages Seen, their 2-CD live set, or Crossfires and Misfires, a best-of CD with some interesting outtakes. Largely forgotten now, they paved the way for alt-country bands like Lone Justice, BR5-49, and the like; the effect is something like the Ramones storming the Grand Old Opry.
Moxy Fruvous, "Live Noise"
Fruvous made their name as folk rockers who were a bit too mellow in-studio to cut great albums. (Canadian, doncha know.) Live, they went to eleven, and worked a nice range of styles beyond the usual folky stuff. Can't fully recommend their other albums, but "Live Noise" is my favorite all-around CD.
Hip-Hop is quite under-represented among your commenters, but that's hardly surprising given its reputation as non-music among older folks.
I will assume, given that your hometown is NYC, that you do like Hip-Hop, even in small doses. Since you probably are well aware of the local stars, here's an (old) album by a Los Angeles-based group: Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde by The Pharcyde. Released during the heydey of gangsta rap, Bizarre Ride is a funky, funny, self-deprecating and guiltless counterpoint. If you like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest, then you'll enjoy this album.
Its so hard to pick just one album when you don't even limit it to genre!
If it were for me I'd pick Tool - 10,000 Days.
Tool, though pigeon holed into the "metal" category is probably the smartest, most musically complex rock in this decade from any genre.
But then again, you can never go wrong with Dark Side of the Moon.
Shostakovich. Start with the middle
symphonies (say the famous 7th or the 8th)
or the earlier quartets (don't miss the 8th).
"Peter VE" got it right. LONDON CALLING by the Clash. Not a single bad song on there, and a bunch of great ones. Hard to say that about many records.
Pretty close, though would be BORN TO RUN by Springsteen. First time I heard that I was dumbstruck.
Or possibly BUDDY HOLLY'S GREATEST HITS. That guy was a freakin' genius.
Or whatever album has the most Roy Orbison songs on it, especially if one of them is the duet of CRYING with K.D. Lang.
Is there a box set with all of the output of the TALKING HEADS?
This is too hard.
Sophie B. Hawkins, 'Whaler'
Sixpence None The Richer, 'Sixpence None The Richer'
Borrow from the library -- don't buy until you have listened once or twice -- 'Trapped In The Body Of A White Girl', Jule Brown, or one of the Dr. Demento collections.
Soundtracks -- 'Grosse Pointe Blank', 'Working Girl', 'Secret of My Success'.
For working late, the highest energy tracks -- 'The Unforgettable Glenn Miller'. Seriously. There was a reason our grandparents liked this stuff.
I'd second or third or whatever the recommendations for Neko Case's "Blacklisted" and Christy McColl's "Tropical Brainstorm". To add just one album:
Cowboy Junkies "Trinity Session"
Timeless, beautiful, and a little introspective. You can drive to it or stay up all night with it and find a little something new to appreciate every time you listen to it.
mdmnm
SOmeone listed Take Five by Dave Brubeck. I would counter with "Bossa Nova USA" by Dave Brubeck. Phenomenal! In a different vein, The Jam "Compact Snap" is a greatest hits album that is superb. And for something completely different, The Sound Gallery "The Sound Gallery Vol. 2" is upbeat 60s.
Chester White: Yes. There Talking Heads brick has all of their albums in a fat plastic case. They are all double sided discs with CD on one side and 5.1 Surround DVD on the other and everything is remastered by Jerry Harrison. There are many extra tracks thrown in with each album too. The only thing that isn't perfect is the box - it is hard to get each CD case in and out.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000B5XSK8/davidbyrnecom-20
That said, this is not the one album that you should get. Get The Push Kings - The Push Kings.
Sufjan Stevens -- Come On Feel the Illinoise
Ambulance Ltd (self titled)
Bob Schneider -- I'm good now
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