Help me a buy a record that is a Work Of Genius

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I'm sick of all the shitty music that everyone loves. Today I listened to The Essex Green, Stars, Camping, the Books, Low, the Bloc Party, LCD Soundsystem, J-Zone, Mouse on Mars, Ada, and Nellie McKay. I realized that there are only four records I've bought in the last like eight months that I actually think are good:

Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Vol. 1
Arcade Fire - Funeral

Now, **setting aside the fourth one,** which is not as good as the other three (and which some people hate), the first three seem pretty unimpeachable. What are other records that are as good as these? I was about to go out and buy the Trax Records box set and the Radio Dept., then I realized, wtf?? Those records suck. 100 years from now, no one will care about them, but people will still listen to What's Going On because it is amazing and makes you feel like you've had your guts ripped out. That's what I want: records that make me feel like if I feel anything more strongly, I will die, or like I am listening to the work of someone who is a total genius. I felt this today listening to the Strauss opera of "Salomé," but I don't want to listen to opera, I want to listen to pop music.

What are other records of this quality? Like they make you realize that pop music is the most amazing thing ever? Probably you won't agree with my top three of the last eight months or whatever, but I assume there must be records that do for you what What's Going On does for me.

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Thursday, 17 February 2005 03:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I am desperate. I tried to think of amazing classic genius records that I don't already own and there weren't any. But obviously that's dumb, there are way more genius records than I know.

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Thursday, 17 February 2005 03:54 (twenty-one years ago)

do you own any talk talk?

― mark p (Mark P), Thursday, 17 February 2005 03:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Yep, I have Laughing Stock and Spirit of Eden--they are awesome.

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Thursday, 17 February 2005 03:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Wire - 154 ?
Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo or Notorious Byrd Brothers ?
Parliament - Mothership Connection ?

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Thursday, 17 February 2005 03:58 (twenty-one years ago)

AS GOOD IF NOT BETTER

Brian Eno--Another Green World
Brian Eno--Apollo Soundtracks
The Magnetic Fields--The Charm of the Highway Strip
Can--Tago Mago
Love--Forever Changes
Yes--Close to the Edge
Royal Trux--Accelerator
Joni Mitchell--Blue
David Bowie--The Man Who Sold the World
The Clientele--The Violet Hour
Harmonia--Deluxe
The Velvet Underground & Nico
Neil Young--Tonight's the Night
REM--Life's Rich Pageant
The Stooges--Fun House
The Who--The Who Sell Out
Philip Glass--Glassworks
The Peace Orchestra
Boredoms--Vision Creation Newsun
Faust IV
Guided by Voices--Alien Lanes
Sun Kil Moon--Ghosts of the American Highway
Bob Dylan--Self-Portrait
Big Star--#1 Record
Belle & Sebastian--If You're Feeling Sinister
Bark Psychosis--Hex

― dusked by the melancholy mood, Thursday, 17 February 2005 03:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I was about to go out and buy the Trax Records box set and the Radio Dept., then I realized, wtf?? Those records suck.

huh!?

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Thursday, 17 February 2005 03:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Got 'em

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:00 (twenty-one years ago)

huh!?

They do. The Trax set is boring (to me), and the Radio Dept. are a slowdive cover band, except for the second song on the record, which is good.

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:00 (twenty-one years ago)

The Way of the Vaselines
Meat Puppets II

― Aaron A., Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:01 (twenty-one years ago)

not like i'm trying to start an argument about which records are bad, this thread should be all like positive and about records we think are amazing. xpost

I don't own Meat Puppets or Vaselines.

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I've listened to that trax set pretty much non-stop since i bought it in early summer. I still listen to it pretty much weekly. And I've danced to it, with other people by myself whatever. I'd rather listen to it than "What's Going On" most of the time (exception: "Inner City Blues" is hella fire.)

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Bob Dylan--Self-Portrait

well now I like it, but really - a work of genius?

― Bumfluff, Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, but "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and the rest of What's Going On is about God and death and birth and faith and justice and injustice, etc., while the Trax box set, while it is good (you are right, I overdid it when I said it sucked) is not about stuff like that, if you know what I mean.

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:05 (twenty-one years ago)

I Want You, dude

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Unparalled genius. It is the master deciding for once not to keep a straight face. The cover of "The Boxer" and the live trashing of "Like a Rolling Stone" are two of the most exhilarating pop performances on record. The man don't give a fuck. Simply inspirational.

― dusked by the melancholy mood, Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:07 (twenty-one years ago)

How's your reggae collection? Do you have Culture's Two Sevens Clash or Heart of the Congos? Both of those should fry your brain for a bit.

― Keith C (kcraw916), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:08 (twenty-one years ago)

haha listing the Self-Portrait was funny. I love that record though! I dunno who 'dusked by melancholy mood' is, but take out the B&S and the Sun Kil Moon (who I've never heard) and we have a very similar group of favorite records. Yes and Royal Trux and the Boredoms and Harmonia's deluxe (as opposed to the first one!), that's awesome. It's a pretty white list though. You'd have to throw in an Otis Rush comp or the Clifford Brown / Max Roach band or, you know, James Brown's Star Time to really seal the deal.

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Must I be too obvious?
Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom!

― Øystein (Øystein), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:11 (twenty-one years ago)

trax records box set? this isn't that 3-disc 20th anniversary thing?

― joseph (joseph), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Sun Kil Moon is the latest Mark Kozelek project. It's one of the best rock records of the past few years. Some songs can produce tears. "Duk Koo Kim" is the prettiest rock epic of the 00s.

― dusked by the saturnine mood, Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:14 (twenty-one years ago)

That is a great list. I love Lifes Rich Pageant, it's my favorite record.

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:14 (twenty-one years ago)

also, this:

records that make me feel like if I feel anything more strongly, I will die, or like I am listening to the work of someone who is a total genius

is how i feel about "your love," incidentally

― joseph (joseph), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:15 (twenty-one years ago)

trax records box set? this isn't that 3-disc 20th anniversary thing?

yes

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:16 (twenty-one years ago)

If Life's Rich Pageant's your favorite ever, then I hope you have Murmur, Reckoning, and Fables, too. If not, add to your list!

― dusked by the saturnine mood, Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:16 (twenty-one years ago)

exile on mainstreet, daydream nation, ready to die ... I assume you probably own these. the heart of the congos? only built 4 cuban linx? fiestas + fiascos is a pretty special record, I think. shoot out the lights. i want to see the bright lights tonight. al green - call me. i don't know.

― pm (p-m), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:16 (twenty-one years ago)

I will czech it out, dusked, because it seems we are on the same wavelength.

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, I have all of R.E.M., I love all of it before the recent stuff. . . . Shoot Out the Lights is a good idea, that's one I've always wanted to own.

Thanks guys, this is great.

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:19 (twenty-one years ago)

but anyway, um, you should hear aphex's SAW vol. II, also. lots more to wade through, but i listen to it a lot more than the first (keep in mind they're decidedly different in tone - these are more soundscape-y than the tracks on SAW I) and track 3 on disc 1 is like amazingly fucking beautiful.

xpost - oh, it is, okay. god that set is great.

― joseph (joseph), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:20 (twenty-one years ago)

I second the Richard Thompson rec. I actually prefer I Want To See the Bright Lights Tonight over Shoot out the Lights but both are kick-ass.

― Keith C (kcraw916), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:23 (twenty-one years ago)

you are all gay

― Fat Anarchy on Airtube (ex machina), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:25 (twenty-one years ago)

or, really, all the Fairport records, especially Liege and Lief. Is Odessey and Oracle too obvious?

or, oooh, Oscar Brown Jr.s Sin and Soul .. that's a great, fun, somewhat unheralded record, not exactly 'pop', more jazz/pop, but totally awesome. fits your "about stuff like that, if you know what I mean" clause.

Fleetwood Mac??

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:26 (twenty-one years ago)

unimpeachably the work of genius:

genius/gza, liquid swords
genius/gza, beneath the surface
genius/gza, legend of the liquid sword

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Strumming Music and Harry Pussy

― The Argunaut (sexyDancer), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:33 (twenty-one years ago)

this is a mrjosh/instant messenger xpost, but keith fullerton whitman's playthroughs?!

― Nick Sylvester, Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:34 (twenty-one years ago)

MILES DAVIS - TRIBUTE TO JACK JOHNSON
MILES DAVIS - IN A SILENT WAY

Al Green - Call Me (Gaye)
Built to Spill - Perfect From Now On (Arcade Fire)
Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians (Aphex)
Fennesz - Endless Summer (Aphex)

Those are all pretty unassailably brilliant, although some people might take issue with the BTS. But if you love Arcade Fire like I do, then you gotsta love it.

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:43 (twenty-one years ago)

i was gonna give a list of my favorite albums (ie. works of genius) but i'm drunk

― Tito JaXoN (JasonD), Thursday, 17 February 2005 04:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Jim O'Rourke - Halfway to a Threeway EP
Thelonious Monk Orchestra - At Town Hall

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Thursday, 17 February 2005 05:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Cocteau Twins - Victorialand (if you like SAW that much I think this is also worthy)

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 17 February 2005 05:05 (twenty-one years ago)

big star - third
steve reich - music for 18 musicians
pharoah sanders - karma
scott walker - scott 4 or anything else.
wu-tang clan - enter the 36 chambers
public image limited - public image or second edition
rem - monster
andrew wk - i get wet
green day - dookie
charles mingus - the black saint and the sinner lady
roberta flack - first take
amon duul - psychedelic underground
hawkwind - space ritual or in search of space
robert wyatt - rock bottom
dave holland quintet - conference of the birds
sonny sharrock - ask the ages
prince - sign o' the times
prince - dirty mind
prince - purple rain
prince - 1999 (its really grown on me)
prince - s/t

― peter smith (plsmith), Thursday, 17 February 2005 05:07 (twenty-one years ago)

http://wizardishungry.com/no/gygax-hippicks.jpg

― Fat Anarchy on Airtube (ex machina), Thursday, 17 February 2005 05:25 (twenty-one years ago)

curtis mayfield 'curtis'
eno 'taking tiger mountain (by strategy)'
black sabbath 'vol. 4'
neil young 'harvest' and 'after the goldrush'
sly & the family stone 'there's a riot goin on'
pink floyd 'piper at the gates of dawn' and 'atom heart mother'
pearls before swine 'one nation underground'
blue cheer 'outside inside' and 'vincebus eruptum'
grateful dead 'anthem of the sun'
isley broters '3+3'
jane's addiction 'nothing's shocking'
the birthday party 'junkyard'
the fall 'hex enduction hour' 'dragnet' 'the wonderful & frightening world' 'this nation's saving grace' etc.
jandek 'lost cause'
six finger satellite 'law of ruins'
olivia tremor control 'black foliage'
henry flynt 'c tune'
fleetwood mac 'rumors'
john fahey 'transfiguration of blind joe death'

― Ian John50n (orion), Thursday, 17 February 2005 05:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Wait, what? Of course it is. Exultation, salvation, rising above, etc.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 17 February 2005 05:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Magazine - The Correct Use of Soap
Roxy Music - Siren
Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids
Curtis Mayfield - Curtis / There's No Place Like America Today
Gary Numan - Pleasure Principle / Telekon
Peter Gabriel - III
Lou Reed - The Blue Mask
YMO - Naughty Boys

As for excellent (and maybe important) albums of the last 5 years, I'll say:

Momus - Oskar Tennis Champion (2003)
David Byrne - Grown Backwards (2004)
Blonde Redhead - Misery is a Butterfly (2004)
Jeans Team - Musik von Oben (2005)

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Thursday, 17 February 2005 05:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Dude, Momus sucks! The rest is OTMish!

― Fat Anarchy on Airtube (ex machina), Thursday, 17 February 2005 06:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Nico "Chelsea Girls"
Coil "Love's Secret Domain"
Nurse With Wound "Rock and Roll Station"
Herbie Hancock "Sextant"
Tubeway Army "Replicas"
Throbbing Gristle "20 Jazz Funk Greats"
Art Ensemble of Chicago "Third Decade"
Stereolab "Peng"
Incredible String Band "5000 Spirits"
The Kinks "Are the Village Green Preservation Society"
Porter Ricks "Biokinetics"
Robbie Basho "Seal of the Blue Lotus"
People Like Us "Thermos Explorer"
John Renbourne "Sir John A Lot of"
the Misfits "Legacy of Brutality"

― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), Thursday, 17 February 2005 06:03 (twenty-one years ago)

oh, and the fucking MINUTEMEN 'Double Nickles On The Dime'

― Ian John50n (orion), Thursday, 17 February 2005 06:11 (twenty-one years ago)

steely dan 'katy lied'
leonard cohen 'songs of love and hate'
jesus lizard 'goat'
lungfish 'rainbows from atoms'
neu! 75
unwound 'leaves turn inside you'
codeine 'the white birch'
bad brains 'rock for light'

― Ian John50n (orion), Thursday, 17 February 2005 06:16 (twenty-one years ago)

les rallizes denudes 'live 77'
stevie wonder 'innervisions' 'talking book' 'music of my mind' 'songs in the key of life'
ghost 'hypnotic underworld'
13th floor elevators 'easter everywhere'

― Ian John50n (orion), Thursday, 17 February 2005 06:18 (twenty-one years ago)

The Gist "Embrace the Herd"
Melvins "Bullhead"
Germs "MIA"
Sinead O'Connor "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got"

― The Argunaut (sexyDancer), Thursday, 17 February 2005 06:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Skipping 23 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

this thread is empirical proof that the infallible 'genius album' probably doesn't exist outside of the eye (ear?) of the beholder. there are, i think, three maybe four albums listed on this page that i would regard as classics, and these are in amongst reams and reams of average records.

i am surprised that it took so long for someone to mention 'Loveless'. maybe that was too obvious. looking, say, at the last 10 years, i would add 'In The Aeroplane Over The Sea' and 'Source Tags and Codes', but i know that these are uselessly personal choices even as i nominate them.

― fsharp (fsharp), Thursday, 17 February 2005 09:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm on an ambient tip at the moment so:

Keith Fullerton Whitman - Playthroughs
William Basinski - Disintigration Loops
Loscil - First Narrows

― actionjackson, Thursday, 17 February 2005 12:00 (twenty-one years ago)

My main problem is this thread being partly built on the premise of specific records being unworthy because they'll be forgotten about in 100 years. Seriously, who FUCKING cares?

(Apart from anything, I'd wager that Trax Records won't even fit this category a century on)

― DJ Mencap0))), Thursday, 17 February 2005 12:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Arcade Fire Vs Trax...

uh, i think i know what i'd listen to in 100 years. And it isn't the Arcade Fires.

― Hari A$hur$t (Toaster), Thursday, 17 February 2005 12:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Haven't got time to read the entire thred so far right now, but suffice it say that if no-one's mentioned any of the following so far then they bloody well should have done:

Aztec Camera, Bauhaus, Big Youth, Can, Nick Cave / The Birthday Party, James Chance, Manu Chao / Mano Negra, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, dEUS, DJ Shadow, Bob Dylan, Einsturzende Neubauten, The Fall, Faust, Flaming Lips, Joe Gibbs, Half Japanese, PJ Harvey, I-Roy, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Joy Division, Killing Joke, King Crimson, King Tubby, The Kinks, Lydia Lunch, Magazine, MC5, Charles Mingus, The Minutemen, Neu!, Pere Ubu, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Pink Floyd, Prefab Sprout, Public Image Ltd, Ramones, The Residents, Roxy Music, Silver Apples, Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Slits, Small Faces, The Smiths, Sonic Youth, The Stooges, Suicide, Sun Ra, Talking Heads, Television, Errol Thompson, U-Roy, Velvet Underground, Tom Waits, Scott Walker, Wire, Frank Zappa, John Zorn and most of all Captain Beefheart.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 17 February 2005 13:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I recommend CHOCOLATE AND CHEESE by Ween.

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Thursday, 17 February 2005 13:12 (twenty-one years ago)

susuma yokota - 'sakura'
biosphere - 'substrata'
dmx - 'and then there was x...'
sparklehorse - 'vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot'
ghostface killah - 'supreme clientele'
black box recorder - 'the facts of life'
lil wayne - 'tha carter'
ginuwine - '100% ginuwine'
future sound of london - 'lifeforms'
autechre - 'incunabula'
bone thugs 'n' harmony - e1999 eternal
geto boys - 'we can't be stopped' and 'geto boys'
tricky - 'maxinequaye'
suede - 'dog man star'
my bloody valentine - 'loveless'
the lemonheads - 'its a shame about ray'

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Thursday, 17 February 2005 13:40 (twenty-one years ago)

in the aeroplane over the sea counts, for sure.

― peter smith (plsmith), Thursday, 17 February 2005 14:14 (twenty-one years ago)

De La Soul - The Singles
Public Image Ltd - Second Edition
Kylie Minogue - Kylie

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 17 February 2005 14:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 17 February 2005 15:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm surprised by the consistency here, and how much I like a lot of the albums named (if I've heard 'em).

Here are a few obscurish artists working currently (or sort of) who give me that genius thing:

Rachid Taha (Tekitoi? or Made in Medina) - rock'n'rai
Jaguar Wright (Delusions Denials & Decisions)- neo-soul
Cheri Knight (The Northeast Kingdom) - alt.country->rock
El Gran Silencio (Chuntaros Radio Poder)- Mexican eclectic
Juana Molina (Segundo)- Argentinian folk/electronica
Emm Gryner (Girl Versions)- like Tori Amos if she were still good
Elizabeth Elmore (The Reputation)- like Liz Phair if she were still good
Stretch Princess (Fun With Humans)- pure adult pop

― Vornado (Vornado), Thursday, 17 February 2005 15:11 (twenty-one years ago)

the only albums that i would deem "genius":

Talk Talk, Spirit of Eden
Talk Talk, Laughing Stock
(are those first two even disputable?)
REM, Murmur
Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
MBV, Loveless
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Live 1975-85

― PB, Thursday, 17 February 2005 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

only 6 genius albums, and two are by talk talk. yeah, that seems right. zing!

― peter smith (plsmith), Thursday, 17 February 2005 15:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Murcof "Martes"
Bill Withers "Live at the Carnegie Hall"
Scott Walker "Tilt"

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 17 February 2005 16:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Vornado will you marry me? (NB I am a straight man and already married. Still for your EGS and JW and RT recommendations I love you much.)

― The Obligatory Sourpuss (Begs2Differ), Thursday, 17 February 2005 16:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Richard and Linda Thompson - I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight

― 57 7th (calstars), Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:15 (twenty-one years ago)

skaters 'palm shaper'

― Ian John50n (orion), Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I think daniel johnston "1990" belongs here.

also: guided by voices "bee thousand"

― sculley mulder (ilkshake), Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Art Ensemble of Chicago - "Les Stances A Sophie"

http://www.tigersushi.com/site/frameset.jsp?page=Rcd.jsp&RcdId=553

― Mattiepoo, Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Right, here's my kick at the cat, no more or less arbitrary than the rest:

Eric Dolphy, Out To Lunch!
Debris', Static Disposal
Tim Buckley, Starsailor
Butthole Surfers, Psychic...Powerless...Another Man's Sac
Parliament, Osmium
Yoko Ono, Fly

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:43 (twenty-one years ago)

michael hurley 'armchair boogie'

― Ian John50n (orion), Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear
Scott Walker - Two
Mercury Rev - Yourself Is Steam
Afghan Whigs - Gentleman
Faust - The Faust Tapes
Bert Jansch - Bert Jansch
Caetano Veloso - s/t (69)
Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand
Six Organs Of Admittance - School Of The Flower
Luna - Penthouse
Jack Rose - Two Originals Of..
Phil Ochs - Pleasures Of The Harbor
Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen
Tom Ze - Estudando O Samba
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Boredoms - Vision, Creation, Newsun
Jim O'Rourke - Bad Timing
David Sylvian - Secrets Of The Beehive

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:52 (twenty-one years ago)

awesome list, MvB!! I love Static Disposal. Now I am singing "One Way Spit".

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:53 (twenty-one years ago)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000002H6A.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

― latebloomer: HE WHOM DUELS THE DRAFGON IN ENDLESS DANCE (latebloomer), Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Not to be a party pooper, but I actually disagree about In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. I find it a little hokey and the songwriting good at points, mediocre at others.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 17 February 2005 20:24 (twenty-one years ago)

A world where Legacy of Brutality and All Things Must Pass co-exist as works of genius. Lucifer and Krishna! What more do you need?

― lovebug starski (lovebug starski), Thursday, 17 February 2005 20:29 (twenty-one years ago)

arthur russel, calling out of context

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 17 February 2005 20:46 (twenty-one years ago)

OK, I'm serious about these six:

Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
The Incredible String Band - The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
Tyrannosaurus Rex - Unicorn
The Outsiders - CQ
VON LMO - Future Language
Ghost - Hypnotic Underworld

And I'd second Easter Everywhere

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 17 February 2005 20:55 (twenty-one years ago)

There are very few albums that strike me as "genius".

Scott Walker - Tilt
Radiohead - Kid A

Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden, Laughing Stock
Radiohead - Amnesiac
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Disco Inferno - D.I. Go Pop
Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin

And the ones that do aren't necessarily my favorites. I don't think I even really like Tilt. I do like the rest of those though.

― sleep (sleep), Thursday, 17 February 2005 21:32 (twenty-one years ago)

"genius" is not exactly equal to "seriousness", dudes!

― peter smith (plsmith), Thursday, 17 February 2005 21:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Don't know if that's referring to me, but I meant that I was serious about them being works of genius.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 17 February 2005 22:04 (twenty-one years ago)

no - not anyone in particular, i just notice how many of these albums we're naming (mine included, definitely) are dramatic or dour or ambitious. now, clearly, i have no specific beef with those attributes (except maybe dour), but i feel like the albums we're all naming are slanted towards the serious auteur artist album. nothing too cogent in my thought process.

― peter smith (plsmith), Thursday, 17 February 2005 22:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Perhaps this thread may be of help?

― Ken L (Ken L), Thursday, 17 February 2005 22:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Don't know if that's referring to me, but...

Obviously they're not equal, and I didn't just pick those because they are serious (for the most part)... but I won't disregard the possibility that they might be somehow linked in my mind.

Anyway, some other possibilities:

XTC - Apple Venus, Pt. 1
Olivia Tremor Control - Dusk at Cubist Castle

oh xpost

― sleep (sleep), Thursday, 17 February 2005 22:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Err, meant to include Boredoms there too. Not sure which though.

― sleep (sleep), Thursday, 17 February 2005 22:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, but Peter, mrjosh sorta explicitly said that that was the vibe he wanted to go for. So...

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Thursday, 17 February 2005 22:30 (twenty-one years ago)

L. Voag - The Way Out

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 18 February 2005 00:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Why has no one mentioned any fucking Ned Ragget albums?

― Star Cauliflower (Star Cauliflower), Friday, 18 February 2005 01:11 (twenty-one years ago)

FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI FELA KUTI

― fauxhemian (fauxhemian), Friday, 18 February 2005 01:32 (twenty-one years ago)

So I see he has a few albums. Are there one or two that you'd recommend as highlights or starting points?

― sleep (sleep), Friday, 18 February 2005 02:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Do you mean Fela Kuti, sleep?

If so, without question check out Expensive Shit. I think it's generally considered his masterpiece. If not, it should be.

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Friday, 18 February 2005 03:12 (twenty-one years ago)

The Modern Lovers - S/T

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Friday, 18 February 2005 03:13 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't think yoo should help this guy buy genius records. let him figure it out for himself. next, he'll be asking you to burp him.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 18 February 2005 03:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Fela's Confusion is totally insane, you must buy it immediately. The first five minutes with that drum/keys interplay between Tony Allen and Fela, building up into the main vamp is unsurpassed.

― Keith C (kcraw916), Friday, 18 February 2005 03:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, yeah I meant Fela Kuti. Thanks poortheatre and Keith.

― sleep (sleep), Friday, 18 February 2005 03:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh man, I love that Fela record. I don't know if I like it as much as Expensive Shit/He Miss Road or Open and Close/Afrodisiac, but it's at least a close third.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 18 February 2005 05:42 (twenty-one years ago)

How could I forget these?

Fairfield Parlour - White-Faced Lady
The Bee Gees - Odessa

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 18 February 2005 06:16 (twenty-one years ago)

'Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus'
Mingus, 'Oh Yeah'
Miles Davis, 'Miles Smiles,' 'Miles in the Sky,' 'On the Corner,' etc.
Marc Ribot y los Cubanos Postizos, 'Muy Divertido!'
'Let It Bleed'
'Never Mind the Bollocks'
'Crooked Rain Crooked Rain'
James Blood Ulmer, 'Odyssey'
That Hank Williams Jr. record with "I'd Love to Knock the Hell Out of You" on it

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Friday, 18 February 2005 10:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm partial to Fela Kuti's "Zombie" album.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Friday, 18 February 2005 18:30 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

Damn, I am so old school.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Thursday, 30 March 2006 01:06 (nineteen years ago)

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