Best Ever Albums

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

Jameth — Fri, 31 May 2019 14:06:29 GMT

Author: Jameth

Posted: 05/31/2019 18:06

iTunes called them noise rock, but Thriller came across as Kyuss-esque desert rock or stoner rock for me. I really dug “Dirty Sun” and the shoegaziness of “Starpiss”. This is my 18th listen from this chart, I really dig it. It’s been up, down, and through the middle, but there’s lots of good music to be culled from here. Thanks for the tunes!

Oh, and as cool as that cover art is, the cover for I Am Come is just as cool. Some guy using sorcery to ward off unwanted advances from a determined giant lizard. Huh.

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

Fischman — Fri, 31 May 2019 11:48:29 GMT

Author: Fischman

Posted: 05/31/2019 15:48

Tha1ChiefRocka wrote:

Hey, why not one more before times up for me?

This will really rock your socks off.

Thriller by Part Chimp

What a badass album cover. Some jetpack-equipped, lazer gu-wielding dude is shooting what looks like the undead in some hellscape. It reminds me of Doom.

Well, I like this Thriller more than it's much more famous namesake.

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

Tha1ChiefRocka — Thu, 30 May 2019 23:58:53 GMT

Author: Tha1ChiefRocka

Posted: 05/31/2019 03:58

Hey, why not one more before times up for me?

This will really rock your socks off.

Thriller by Part Chimp

What a badass album cover. Some jetpack-equipped, lazer gu-wielding dude is shooting what looks like the undead in some hellscape. It reminds me of Doom.

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

Jameth — Sun, 26 May 2019 14:58:26 GMT

Author: Jameth

Posted: 05/26/2019 18:58

This guy goes to 11, so I checked out one more:

Out Of The Background by Francy Boland

My natural impulse was to compare this to The October Suite, and they are stylistically tangential while only coming a year apart. I’m also not familiar with as much jazz as I’d like to be, so my frame of reference isn’t great. I did think this was a better record than October Suite, though. To me, Boland seemed to blow Kuhn out of the water on piano, and the album was a lot livelier with a lot of interesting textures. The samba-esque percussion was a nice touch. Great record for certain parties or gatherings. “Childhood Dreams” remains my top track from either, however.

I also played the first two and last two tracks from that Lyn Christopher record. “Take Me With You” far exceeded my expectations for it. “Billy Come Down” was solid, but not great. I’ll get to the other tracks and some point to see what else I can cull.

Blues For The Viet Cong and The Devil Is Loose also both looked interesting and are now in the queue.

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

Tha1ChiefRocka — Fri, 24 May 2019 14:00:20 GMT

Author: Tha1ChiefRocka

Posted: 05/24/2019 18:00

baystateoftheart wrote:

You might want to check out Tap's thread, and to a lesser extent, SquishypuffDave's or Luigii's.

Agreed.

Hey, here's another one while I'm still on the clock.

Lyn Christopher by Lyn Christopher

This album is decent, but it has one all-time funk/soul track that everyone should know, "Take Me With You".

Link

Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley pre-Kiss fame also provide some backing vocals on some tracks for an added value.

Link

Link

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

baystateoftheart — Fri, 24 May 2019 13:34:34 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 05/24/2019 17:34

Jameth wrote:

Great chart, man. I was a bit wary at first...I thought the list looked daunting and I wasn’t sure I’d like anything. I found three, plus some others to explore. It looks like the previous lists weren’t so challenging, but I think now I’ll be better prepared for an obscure list. I’m kind of hoping for more lists like this.

You might want to check out Tap's thread, and to a lesser extent, SquishypuffDave's or Luigii's.

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

Jameth — Fri, 24 May 2019 13:00:34 GMT

Author: Jameth

Posted: 05/24/2019 17:00

Glide - This was the best of the new age material. The music was varied, and the instrumentation used created a few nice textures and moods. This may not be something I revisit, but it was still a pleasant listen.

Exploded View - This was exceptional. Calling the first track Fripp-inspired makes a lot of sense - I instantly thought of “Triad” by Tool, another King Crimson follower. The percussion by Marc Anderson was fantastic. Not surprising that he’s recorded/played with an impressive list of musicians: Don Cherry, Max Roach, Taj Mahal, and Robert Fripp (there he is, again). This album opened a nice little rabbit hole of music for me to explore. Hopefully, Tibbett’s other albums are this good.

————

1. Exploded View
2. Per Nørgård’s Symphony
3. Mistérios Da Amazônia

4. The October Suite
5. Queen Hygiene II

6. Glide
7. Continente Nero
8. UV

9. Beguiled
10. Le Monde Fabuleaux

Great chart, man. I was a bit wary at first...I thought the list looked daunting and I wasn’t sure I’d like anything. I found three, plus some others to explore. It looks like the previous lists weren’t so challenging, but I think now I’ll be better prepared for an obscure list. I’m kind of hoping for more lists like this.

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

guzguzgarbit — Wed, 22 May 2019 12:54:22 GMT

Author: guzguzgarbit

Posted: 05/22/2019 16:54

My ranking would go:

1. Beguiled
2. Glide
3. Exploded View

4. UV
5. Continente Nero
6. The October Suite
7. Mistérios Da Amazônia
8. Symphony No. 6 'At The End Of The Day' / Terrains Vagues

9. Queen Hygiene II / Rough Day At The Orifice
10. Le Monde Fabuleux Des Yamasuki

The tree at the top are really great and the two at the bottom are really poor. I couldn't relate much to Nørgård's symphony, but I never really liked this kind of stuff.

That was another cool chart, even if some albums were quite random (that's also what makes it good).

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

Tha1ChiefRocka — Wed, 22 May 2019 00:18:21 GMT

Author: Tha1ChiefRocka

Posted: 05/22/2019 04:18

Cool, cool, glad to see these random albums have been some good listens for some. I'll have to put up my other chart of additions for another time! 😁

I'll still be mentioning some other albums on this chart for the remainder of the month. Give them a listen if you want to. 😉

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

baystateoftheart — Tue, 21 May 2019 23:54:43 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 05/22/2019 03:54

Here's my ranking. First, it's very rough and could easily change quite a bit with another run through the list. Second, the differences in my preference between my top three in particular are minuscule. All three are great records that have expanded my horizons with regard to new age. Not sure if its recency bias or if each really did surpass the one before. Third, it's pretty remarkable how this list ended up having at least one release in each of my rating categories from 1.5/5 to 4/5. I guess you were right that there would be stuff to love and hate. Fourth, #9 would have been in the top five if it existed in a vacuum.

Great:

1. Exploded View - Steve Tibbetts
2. Glide - Peter Davison
3. Beguiled - Tim Story
4. The October Suite - Steve Kuhn

Quite Good:

5. Mistérios Da Amazônia - Carioca & Devas
6. Per Nørgård: Symphony No. 6 'At The End Of The Day' / Terrains Vagues - Thomas Dausgaard / Danish National Symphony Orchestra

Pretty Good:

7. Continente Nero - Piero Umiliani

Okay:

8. UV - Frankenstein

Pretty Bad:

9. Le Monde Fabuleux Des Yamasuki - Yamasuki Singers

Quite Bad:

10. Queen Hygiene II / Rough Day At The Orifice - Arab On Radar

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

baystateoftheart — Tue, 21 May 2019 23:42:14 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 05/22/2019 03:42

Tha1ChiefRocka wrote:

Exploded View by Steve Tibbetts

Dynamic and varied guitar playing and pulsing percussion make this a really great album. I don't have much else to say about it, I find this guy's stuff to be pretty unique. The guitar playing on the first track is definitely Fripp-inspired, and it's amazing.

This is great! Really genre-bending, sitting in a unique sonic space throughout. RYM says it's jazz fusion + new age, and I can't say I've ever heard that combo before. The composition and execution are both top shelf. The list went out with a bang and now I am having a hard time choosing a favorite, but I think this might take the title.

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

Jameth — Tue, 21 May 2019 21:27:33 GMT

Author: Jameth

Posted: 05/22/2019 01:27

UV - I don’t care much for hip hop. It has to be exceptional, otherwise I get bored. The average sounding material on this album didn’t reach the threshold.

Queen Hygiene II/Rough Day At The Orifice - I was 17 or 18 when this came out. I’ve never heard it, but it sounds just like something that I would have heard playing live in a local club or on vinyl at a coffeehouse. So, it was a nostalgic listen for me, in a way, and a fun one. I’ve mostly moved on from this kind of music, but I might playlist “99c Lipstick”. Catchy riff.

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

baystateoftheart — Tue, 21 May 2019 17:17:52 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 05/21/2019 21:17

Fischman wrote:

Arab on Radar, with it's twisted indie-industrial-punk hybrid and jarring lyrics kind of gave me a vibe like the annoying side of Primus but not nearly as clever and minus the wicked cool bass lines.

Just heard this and yeah it's easily my least favorite so far. Juvenile gross-out lyrics, whiny vocals, and instrumentals that aren't nearly good enough to compensate.

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

dihansse — Tue, 21 May 2019 16:14:14 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 05/21/2019 20:14

I finally listened to all the album and I can't say that I liked them all but I would like to highlight three of them though:

number 3: Symphonie no 6 by Per Norgard: as far as modern classical music goes this is one of the best I heard yet (but I have to admit I haven't heard many). It somehow reminded my of the great olds while still adding modern elements.

number 2: The Arab On Radar album: not a bad album but too many songs just hit the same strings (and in this case these strings can strangle you) which makes this album a bit too uniform and with only half of the tracks there would be less chance to get a headache.

number 1: Exploded View by Steve Tibbetts: this album was a discovery: both the electric and accoustic guitars mixed with world music and jazz elements produce a blend which makes this album very listenable and interesting. Indeed a lead to discover more of the man's albums. This is also the only album of the ten which makes it to my final top chart and a clear winner here.

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

Fischman — Tue, 21 May 2019 10:18:47 GMT

Author: Fischman

Posted: 05/21/2019 14:18

So in the end, I settled on October Suite, but really by the most infinitesimal of whiskers. I could just as easily have gone for At the End of the Day, and I really hated not voting for Exploded View. I would be quite pleased to add anything above the first line to my collection.

Really, a great list and much fun to explore. Thanks, Chief!

1a. October Suite
1b. At the End of the Day
1c. Exploded view

4a. Continente Nero
4b. Misterios da Amazonia

6a. Beguiled
6b. Glide

---------------------------------------

8. Le Monde Fabuleux Des Yamasiki

----------------------------------------

10y. UV
10z. Queen Hygiene II / Rough Day At The Orifice by Arab On Radar

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

Fischman — Tue, 21 May 2019 10:05:14 GMT

Author: Fischman

Posted: 05/21/2019 14:05

So the Steve Tibbets is a disc i can really sink my musical teeth into.

He gets the wailing, distortion guitar to mesh perfectly with the strong world music undercurrents. A most excellent musical hybrid. Works for me quite brilliantly.

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

Purplepash — Tue, 21 May 2019 05:28:56 GMT

Author: Purplepash

Posted: 05/21/2019 09:28

A lot of interesting listens here, and all ten artists were new to me.

Arab On Radar with it's "twisted indie-industrial-punk hybrid and jarring lyrics" as Fischman nicely describes it was easily my favourite and got my vote. I am looking forward to hearing it again, and more of them.

Steve Tibbets was a close second. Really enjoyed the mix of experimental guitar work, and what sounded like a variety of percussion instruments and sounds.

And although I do have reservations about the possible cultural appropriation of Yamasuki Singers, putting that aside I still enjoyed the actual music, and they round out my top 3.

Here is how I ranked them all.

1. Queen Hygiene II / Rough Day At The Orifice by Arab On Radar
2. Exploded View by Steve Tibbetts
3. Le Monde Fabuleux Des Yamasuki by Yamasuki Singers
4. Continente Nero by Piero Umiliani
5. UV by Frankenstein
6. Mistérios Da Amazônia by Carioca & Devas
7. Per Nørgård: Symphony No. 6 'At The End Of The Day' / Terrains Vagues by Thomas Dausgaard / Danish National Symphony Orchestra
8. Beguiled by Tim Story
9. Glide by Peter Davison
10. The October Suite by Steve Kuhn

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

Fischman — Mon, 20 May 2019 22:48:57 GMT

Author: Fischman

Posted: 05/21/2019 02:48

After five consecutive fantastic selections, two in a row weren't for me.

Arab on Radar, with it's twisted indie-industrial-punk hybrid and jarring lyrics kind of gave me a vibe like the annoying side of Primus but not nearly as clever and minus the wicked cool bass lines.

After that and Frankenstein, Peter Davison was a most refreshing change of pace, and an album I'll likely take the time to return to.

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

Tha1ChiefRocka — Mon, 20 May 2019 17:49:43 GMT

Author: Tha1ChiefRocka

Posted: 05/20/2019 21:49

Biotop by Asmus Tietchens

Tietchens is like the evil cousin of Roedelius and Moebius. I definitely would recommend his albums to anyone who likes some dark-synthy stuff.

Re: Get To Know A Top 10: May 2019 Thread - Tha1ChiefRocka

Jameth — Mon, 20 May 2019 01:37:31 GMT

Author: Jameth

Posted: 05/20/2019 05:37

baystateoftheart wrote:

Just listened to this one and I mostly agree, minus the crossed out sentence.

Umiliani is very talented and I discovered some of his great music while on my library music kick last summer. Like this:

To-Day's Sound by Piero Umiliani

In contrast with To-Day's Sound, Continente Nero lacks a feeling of vibrance. With the title using the classic European phrase to indicate Africa as a shadowy, amorphous concept, it is no surprise that the music interacts with its influences at arm's length, absent much of the spark they contain. However, this is enjoyable background music and is clearly competently made, even if it's missing a secret sauce.

Thanks for the recommendation, I’ve added it to my list. I’ll give Mr. Umiliani another chance. It’s a genre that I’m unfamiliar with, so I’m sure that my evaluations are misguided. I only have my own limited listening history to inform me, but that’s why I’ve come to this thread - to step out a little.

—————

I finally got a chance to listen to a couple more.

Beguiled - This was another that I struggled to get through. I’ll just leave it at that.

Per Nørgård/Thomas Dausgaard - I’ve been meaning to delve into classical for ages, but I just never seem to get around to it. So, I’m happy this was here, especially since it was a contemporary piece, as well as a fascinating listen. I briefly read about Nørgård’s approach to serialism, using an infinity series he discovered and applied to the melody, harmony, and rhythm of his symphonies. It’s quite the reminder of the rigorous academia you find in classical, and the endless ways you can approach composition. This album may have sent me down a path towards learning something new about making music, and that counts a great deal to me. This one has definitely stolen my vote from Mistérios Da Amazônia, but there’s still four to go.