- DJ Harken
- San Francisco, ambient drum and bass DJ, member: Ambient Mafia
- PgnLvGod
- His own devices and throat , professional genius, lifetime member: Rotary Club, 4H
- Kman
- San Diego County, computer, music, bass guru, authentic batman, member: Overworked Mothers Anonymous
- CraxyDog
- Rez in New Mexico, Expert beard grower, music teacher to Native America, Member: We Love Mario Lemieux Superfan Club
- KevthePedestrian
- Original imposter, TR aficionado, all-around water farmer, member: Glue Factor International
KMan
Radiohead - "OK Computer", "Amnesiac"
An amazing band that is constantly redefining their sound and challenging the listener to journey with them into the weird and beautiful. Each Radiohead album holds a special place in my heart, but I picked these two albums due to their listenability from start to finish. These two are more than just a collection of great songs, they really try to tell a story. OK Computer is the easier of the two to get into and tells the story of fighting against the static and overwhelming things that threaten to swallow us whole and make us a clone of everything we hate. Favorites include Let Down and Paranoid Android. Amnesiac is a very tough record and it took me many tries to finally understand what was going on. From the scattered and muted Packt like sardines in a crushd tin box to the jazzing and heartfelt ending of "Life in a glass house" this album is truly amazing. Highlights for me include Pyramid Song, You and Whose Army? and Like Spinning Plates - a song recorded backwards with the exception of the final chorus.
Belly - "Star"
Probably Tanya Donelly's most successful album, this one scored big on the college music scene. A veteran of Throwing Muses, The Breeders (who she formed with Kim Deal from the Pixies) and then Belly before going solo, Tanya has an hauntingly beautiful voice that you either love or hate. She isn't afraid to hit the super high registers or the sexy low altos. Listening to Star you'll recognize Gepetto and Feed the Tree from their all too brief radio success, but the other songs on the album give you a better feel for how truly strange and wonderful this lady is.
Coldplay - "A Rush of Blood to the Head"
The powerful follow up to Parachutes, this whole record from start to finish is amazing to listen to. Every single track is good enough to be a hit radio single. Listen to it, love it, buy the live concert DVD and be amazed. Even their B-sides like "I'll see you soon" and "Careful where you stand" are better then 90% of the A-sides other mainstream bands put out.
Peter Gabriel - "Secret World Live"
Ol' Gabe is a genius when it comes to writing, but this album and the live DVD that accompanies it show he is just as good live as a performer. The best part is how he added the insanely talented Paula Cole for the live interpretation of this album. Watch the concert DVD for this and you'll be blown away.
The Beatles - "Abbey Road"
So many great albums, it was hard to just pick one. I grew up with this band. My earliest memories are of sitting in the living room with my family and singing along to my father's Beatles collection. The second half of this album is a suite of mini songs crafted together in wonderful fashion, climaxing with Golden Slumbers, a song that to this day still gets to me.
Bjork - "Post"
A truly unique voice and talent. You either love her or hate her, there doesn't seem to be much in between ground with Bjork. For me the scream does it. Check out the track "It's Oh So Quiet" and you'll be hooked on her for life.
The White Stripes - "White Blood Cells"
I don't think that they're quite the "Saviors of Rock and Roll", but they do know how to strip things down to their basics and kick a lot of ass. This band puts out so much more sound then a 2 piece band should be able to. As good as Jack's guitars are and Meg's drums may be, their songwriting and lyrics really take the cake. Bob Dylan lists them as one of his favorite bands in recent years, and that's saying something. These two have taken garage rock to the next level.
Tanya Donelly - "Lovesongs for Underdogs"
Tanya's first solo album. This one is really interesting when taken in the context of her former musical projects. With Muses, Breeders and Belly she was all about the rock. But now we find a much more mellowed and mature artist with some truly beautiful things to say. If you only check out one track from this, listen to "Acrobat". You'll thank me latter.
David Gray - "A New Day at Midnight"
Duncan Sheik - "Daylight"
Sixpence None the Richer - self titled
Dandy Warhols - "Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia"
The Donnas - "Spend the Night"
A very strange mix, to be sure.
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CraxyDog
RUSH "Moving Pictures"
Tom Sawyer is by a mile the weakest song on the record, and side two is the best side of a record ever. Unbelievable.
Sting "Soul Cages"
Just listen to it, you freaks.
Police
I haven't picked a record yet, but they've got to be in there somewhere.
Edie Brickel and New Bohemians
"Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars"
Yes--"Fragile"
Peter Gabriel--"So"
If you take Sledgehammer and Big Time, the hits, off of this record it get's WAY better, but it's good even with them.
U2--"The Joshua Tree"
Rich Mullins -"Liturgy, Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band"
Liz Story--"Solid Colors"
A wonderful "new age" piano collection. Nothing weak on the record, and some REALLY well written melodies.
REM--"Document"
Dang....there's only about 50 I'm leaving out. I'm sure I'll think of some that would be in front of these later.
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DJ Harken
Verve - "A Storm in Heaven" Antarctica - "83:01"
Eltro - "Information changer"
Pink Floyd - "Dark Side of the Moon"
My Bloody Valentine - " Loveless"
PgnLvGod
David Bowie - "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars"
perhaps the finest analog recording around... david b's sax solo on "Soul Love" sounds as though a mic were set up in the middle of an empty room, and he played it from outside the window, allowing the breeze to blow it gently through. Just an amazing rock and roll record, and from the artist that made me start buying those hypnotizing little circles of melted petroleum by-product that make me feel so good.
Roxy Music - "The Second Roxy Music LP"
Bryan Ferry, before someone told him to be a crooner, and quit singing with that delightful "chicken voice". Eno is smashing on this record as well... "In Every Dream Home, a Heartache" as well as "The Bogus Man" still give me the willies, every time.
Velvet Underground - "eponymous"
yes, i know, there were a couple that were self titled, but i mean the '69 release, containing "What Goes On", Pale Blue Eyes", "Jesus", oh man. the whole album is just amazing. Maureen Tucker is the only of them left that i still respect as a musician, but at the moment they recorded this, all of the forces/muses/influences/and drugs were on their side.
Tom Waits - "Rain Dogs"
hehehehehe - wow. took me several years to catch onto what he was trying to do. i was very resistant, at first. it hit me, about 10 years ago, and now, i think he's something more than special. This is the one i'd pick right now, but it would change (as mentioned) with the puff of a breeze.
Wire - "154"
Seminal punk... and isn't it fun, just saying "seminal"? the skronky 3-piece punk blast, now grown into an amazing sound... introspective, and finally, not afraid to let their art-school beginnings show through... tender, tough - and still a kick in the eye. they pretty much quit after this record, and waited nearly ten years for the world to catch up with what they were doing.
Olivia Tremor Control - "Dusk at Cubist Castle"
subtitled as "music from an as-yet unrealized film script". blasts of late 60's brit-psych, mixed with California melody a'la Beach Boys/Byrds, tossed in a blender with John Cage and other noisy manifestos... Insane home recording, complete with backyard crickets, odd horns, percussion, disassembled speak n' spells, this is a difficult record, but extraordinarily pleasing. i'm hard pressed to think of the last time a band made me smile so hard the first time i listened to it, with the sole exception of the next on my list, labelmate and high school chums...
Neutral Milk Hotel - "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea"
Oh holy cow. Jeff Mangum, who IS NMH, is truly the Syd Barrett of our times, without the drug damage, though you wouldn't know from listening to this. songs so painfully honest and self aware seldom make it to market... and for good reason. the pain, despair and love on this record are so incredibly intense, that you walk away from it saying "whew". the band is an amalgam of Elephant Six Recording Company bandmates, from Olivia Tremor Control, Apples in Stereo, Of Montreal and others. odd instrumentation abounds here as well, sousaphone, singing saw... and mr. Mangum's truly, TRULY haunting vocals. Try it, you'll like it.
Brian Eno - "Here Come the Warm Jets"
A mind at the end of it's tether, or so it would seem, but i doubt it. Just for the madness of "Baby's On Fire" this record is a must... a shredder of frontal lobes. i listen to this record at least once a month, and am still amazed that it was released in 1973 - it STILL sounds like a new thing, almost every time. lyrically obscure, and one of the reasons mr. Eno decided to stop making vocal records. he was using language as instrument, and tired of people asking him "what does it mean?" don't try to figure it out, just be blown away by it. over, and over again.
Spacemen 3 - "The Perfect Prescription"
music, used for re-wiring the brain. masters of the drone... some very long songs here... but on purpose. Drones build on drones build on drones, nearly imperceptibly changing over the course of the songs, create a sort of aural mantra, the same sort of thing religious chanters practice... finding a center, and exploring it. they DO have a big tip of the hat to V.U. and Lou Reed here, but not a pandering one. the 17 minute "Rollercoaster" may be a tad long for some, but not Roky Erickson fans, and "Call the Doctor" is enough to send chills down anyone's spine.
ok... that's 10 - i sure would have liked to include Rolling Stones' "Exile on Main Street" and as a tie, Beatles' "Rubber Soul and Revolver... but, 10 is 10.
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Kevthepedestrian
The Dandy Warhols - "Thirteen Tales of Urban Bohemia"
By picking one Dandys album, I leave some of their best off, but I think this is the strongest from beginning to end.
Todd Rundgren - "Liars"
One of Todd's most complete albums ever, all on the theme of truth (and lack thereof.)
Vertical Horizon - "Everything You Want"
One of the best pop albums through and through
Gin Blossoms - "New Miserable Experience"
Soundtrack to my college years
Todd Rundgren - "A Cappella"
The album that got me hooked on TR (special thanks to DJ Harken.) One of the most amazing recordings ever.
The Verve - "Urban Hymns"
Beck - "Sea Change"
Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach - "Painted From Memory"
+Live+ - "The Distance to Here"
Queen - "A Night at the Opera"
It was hard to leave off favorites like Oasis, Radiohead and Beta Band, but there you have it. Honorable mention to Kevin Max's "Stereotype Be" a great record by one of my vocal idols. List subject to change without notice. UPDATE: Holy Crap! bought Olivia Tremor Control - LOVE IT! Will need to scrape up all of Pgn's picks!
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