You must listen to the album below you: canon edition

[EyeKanFly]

1)

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Goat by The Jesus Lizard
and

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Liar by The Jesus Lizard
Both very similar, I probably slightly preferred Goat. I listened to this fully expecting grunge, I've never even heard of the band before. They were not grunge, more post-hardcore which I enjoy immensely more. So I did some digging because they sound fairly similar to DC punk bands of the late 80s/early 90s and thought they might have some connection. Not so, in fact they were signed to Capitol Records (which is not based in DC despite its name), and had much more of a connection to grunge artists of the time, even having a split release with Nirvana! Which now surprises me even more that I've never heard of the band.

Well right from the get-go, I really enjoyed Goat. Listening to both albums at once was probably a bit much and stunted the experience, but I came back to Goat a few days later and really enjoyed it again. Liar was more of the same but not as fresh. "Mouth Breather" was my favorite song. It reminded me so much of some of the DC punk I've really enjoyed, and seemed like something Ian MacKaye would have written earlier in his career. "The Art of Self-Defense" was my favorite off Liar, similar fuck the system vibe.

High 3.5 for Goat, low 3.5 for Liar, both very enjoyable for me and Goat will probably enter my 90s chart.

2)
KOAN Sound, doesn't seem to be in BEA's database, I'm curious what "neurohop" even is.

3)
Mercury's Top Albums of the 1990s
The albums I'm most looking forward to are in bold, but I'm open to all of them!
15. Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses by Brutal Truth
31. Souls at Zero by Neurosis
40. Long Hair in Three Stages by U.S. Maple
45. Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell by Social Distortion
47. Resurrection of the Bayou Maharajah by James Booker
48. And She Closed Her Eyes by Stina Nordenstam
49. Love Deluxe by Sade
50. City by Strapping Young Lad
56. March 16-20, 1992 by Uncle Tupelo
57. His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection) by Little Walter
_________________
51 Washington, D.C. albums!

[Purplepash]

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Construção by Chico Buarque

Right from the first ominous track I was into this. It was a bit darker than I was expecting from my limited experience of MPB and that worked for me. I could really feel some tension at times. Great rhythms, cool sound, and well constructed songs. The album flew by, and I was surprised it was over already when it ended. I'm really glad I got to listen to this. I'm giving it a high 8/10, 20/39 for 1971, and 97/100 in my decade chart.




Love Deluxe is an album I like in a genre I often don't.

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Love Deluxe by Sade



BEA Best Albums of 1971 (last pick)

14. Aqualung by Jethro Tull
15. Electric Warrior by T. Rex
18. At Fillmore East by The Allman Brothers Band
21. Songs Of Love And Hate by Leonard Cohen
22. The Yes Album by Yes
24. Pearl by Janis Joplin
25. Nursery Cryme by Genesis
26. Surf's Up by The Beach Boys
28. Madman Across The Water by Elton John
30. Faust by Faust

[kokkinos]

1.

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KOAN Sound - Polychrome
I also had no idea what neurohop is, so I'll go ahead and copy-paste the RYM definition for anyone else wondering:
"Surfacing in the early 2010s, neurohop combines the swung, mid-tempo breakbeats of Glitch Hop [EDM] with the complex, energetic basslines of Neurofunk. The genre is heavily built around frenetic rhythms and mechanical sound design, while maintaining relaxed Hip Hop tempos of approximately 80-120 BPM, as well as sampling of Funk and Jazz. A key neurohop feature is the reese bass which, together with the syncopated drum patterns and audio manipulation, gives the genre its rough and rugged sound. Some of neurohop’s other notable features are foley percussion, granular synthesis, glitchy sound design, intricate drum programming and heavily processed mid-range bass."
Judging by that, I expected a fairly alienating record. Luckily, this wasn’t the case. First of all, fantastic production – and albums of this kind simply can’t work without the appropriate production. The biggest surprise, however, wasn’t its sound, it was its mood. This could have easily been the soundtrack of waking up in the middle of nowhere, starting to explore land and sea and discovering how amazing nature is, the seven wonders unfold in front of you. How something so “artificial” manages to be so warm and natural, that is quite an achievement. I haven’t listened to a lot of electronic music, but, based on my limited exposure to the genre, I haven’t encountered many albums that successfully present this combination, the most obvious and well-known example I can think of would probably be Moon Safari. Coming back to this, the jazz touches aren’t as apparent as I’d like. On the other hand, tracks like Chalk It Out are super funky and hard to resist. Not an album to play on repeat, but it was a welcome change of pace nonetheless.

2.
I happen to be familiar with all of them, so it's a rather easy choice. Faust and Leonard Cohen might have come up with equally good and arguably more consistent albums, but this one has a few untouchable songs that shouldn't be missed.

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The Beach Boys - Surf's Up

3.So, new concept, I picked 10 random genres, all of them way outside my comfort zone, 1 album per genre.

(Putting an asterisk next to the genres that have already been picked once)

1. (Tribal Ambient) Steve Roach - Dreamtime Return
2. (Piedmont Blues) Blind Willie McTell - Last Session
3. (Dance Punk) Tus Amigos Nuevos - Triunfo Moral
4. (Trip Hop) Joe Henry - Tiny Voices
5. (Neurohop*) Tipper - Jettison Mind Hatch
6. (Neue Deutsche Härte) ASP - Weltunter
7. (Philly Soul) The Stylistics - The Stylistics
8. (UK Street Soul) Innocence - Belief
9. (Glam Rock) Cockney Rebel - The Human Menagerie
10. (Zeuhl) Eskaton - 4 Visions
_________________
Bob Dylan
Charles Mingus

[Skinny]

[Purplepash]

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Surf's Up by The Beach Boys

Sometimes I don't have much to say about an album. This is the sort of Beach Boys I like. A little bit weird, a little bit psychedelic, a little bit pop, a little bit arty, trying out some new things while still sounding like The Beach Boys. A literally interesting listen where in every song I found something interesting to listen to. I enjoyed the creativity of it. Obviously it doesn't have the highs of Pet Sounds but it's probably the Beach Boys album I've liked the most so far (5 now) apart from The Smile Sessions, although I feel like I need to listen to it again to really know how much I like it. For now a low 8/10, and 22/40 for 1971.




I haven't heard any of these so let's go with some glam rock and an album I've wanted to hear.

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The Human Menagerie by Cockney Rebel




So onto the next 1971 chart now. There was still a few on the last one I wanted to hear but I'll get some more chances again, and some new ones I also want to hear with EyeKanFly's 1971 chart.

Top 33 Music Albums of 1971 by EyeKanFly (5 picks left)

5. Pieces Of A Man by Gil Scott-Heron
6. Teaser And The Firecat by Cat Stevens
13. Faust by Faust
17. Songs Of Love And Hate by Leonard Cohen
19. Just As I Am by Bill Withers
20. Nursery Cryme by Genesis
21. The Yes Album by Yes
22. Pearl by Janis Joplin
25. At Fillmore East by The Allman Brothers Band
27. Electric Warrior by T. Rex

[baystateoftheart]

1.

Back To Basics by Christina Aguilera

This being a double album was a bit intimidating at first, but it turns out it can fit on one disc. I suspect she went with two because it would have been a double album on vinyl, and as you can see from the cover, this is channeling a retro vibe. That's reflected in the music too, as Aguilera pays tribute to her biggest musical heroes: soul and jazz singers. She definitely has the vocal chops to pull off the material, and my only criticism in that regard is that she sometimes veers into oversinging. I guess I'm not alone in thinking this, based on who comes up in a Google image search for "oversing." When it comes to the lyrics and songwriting, Back To Basics is a bit uneven, but the quality songs outnumber the awkward ones by a solid margin. And while there are common threads, stylistically Back To Basics is fairly diverse, which keeps the keeps the album feeling fresh and well-paced despite the length. Some tracks have hip-hop production (DJ Premier contributes several beats), and there's also contemporary r&b, throwback soul, vocal jazz, swing revival, straight-up pop, and even a blues song. I'm down for pretty much all of it except the swing portion, which is corny but yielded a platinum hit single anyway. Overall, the production is a strength. Back To Basics has its flaws, but I like this a lot more than I was expecting to. It's quite a fine effort by Aguilera, and proves she's capable of making high-quality music. 3.5/5.

~~~~~

2. Listen to one of my all-time favorites:

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Pieces Of A Man by Gil Scott-Heron

~~~~~

3. Pop Genre Grab Bag: Power Pop

12. Everything Will Be Alright In The End - Weezer
19. We Cool? - Jeff Rosenstock
23. Paramore - Paramore
27. I Should Coco - Supergrass
31. Beyond The Fleeting Gales - Crying
33. Celebrity Skin - Hole
34. Copper Blue - Sugar
35. It's A Shame About Ray - The Lemonheads
36. Look Sharp! - Joe Jackson
40. At Budokan - Cheap Trick
_________________
Add me on RYM

[LedZep]

(1)

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Henki by Richard Dawson & Circle
This was loads of fun. Progressive folk, sometimes more poppy and psychedelic like on the opening track, but mostly more in the rock vein. I'm always expecting good things from Richard Dawson, he's yet to disappoint me in these several years I've been following him. Still haven't dug deeper in his pre-Peasant days though. Have no idea who or what Circle are. Henki wasn't an instant click, but I did warm up to this new spin on his style by the 2nd or 3rd song. Hopefully it'll continue to grow on me, it's really an album which I think is worth hearing several times. Long, intricate compositions, there's a lot of things going on here. 7.5/10

(2)
Weezer for you, even though I've not heard this particular album

(3)
2021

Plebeian Grandstand - Rien ne suffit
Courtney Barnett - Things Take Time, Take Time
Blanck Mass - In Ferneaux
Portico Quartet - Monument
Adele - 30
Trhä - Endlhëtonëg
R.A.P. Ferreira - The Light Emitting Diamond Cutter Scriptures
Sunn O))) - Metta, Benevolence BBC 6Live: On the Invitation of Mary Anne Hobbs
Tirzah - Colourgrade
Amyl & the Sniffers - Comfort to Me
_________________
Finally updated the overall chart

2020s
90s

[EyeKanFly]

1)

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Love Deluxe by Sade
This sounds like the music that plays in the lobby of a mid-budget hotel that's trying a bit too hard to be swanky. I'm not a huge fan of Sade, although I acknowledge that her sound is probably imitated by that "swanky" style that I don't particularly care for, rather than the other way around. I liked this more than Diamond Life, and I could see this growing on me if I were to continue listening. Sorry for the short review, this album was just a little meh to me. Low 3/5 if only because there were some lovely moments amidst all the dull smooth jazz.

2)
Sun O)))
I imagine they're good live in this format

3)
Mercury's Top Albums of the 1990s
The albums I'm most looking forward to are in bold, but I'm open to all of them!
15. Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses by Brutal Truth
31. Souls at Zero by Neurosis
40. Long Hair in Three Stages by U.S. Maple
45. Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell by Social Distortion
47. Resurrection of the Bayou Maharajah by James Booker
48. And She Closed Her Eyes by Stina Nordenstam
50. City by Strapping Young Lad
56. March 16-20, 1992 by Uncle Tupelo
57. His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection) by Little Walter
58. Ocean Machine: Biomech by Devin Townsend
_________________
51 Washington, D.C. albums!

[Mercury]

1.

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Dopesick by Eyehategod

Sludge. Perhaps no word better explains this guitar sound. Really everything about this screams sludge. And in most times I would adore this sound. Now it hits me as good for what it is, but not quite my tempo atm.

But again, the sound here is sickeningly heavy. it’s clear these dudes who made this worshipped Master of Reality, early Melvins and My War- era Black Flag. They add to this thick, molasses-like sound a distinct southern touch of dirty and biting lead guitar riffs. This albums helps me put together and understand what made Down’s debut sound so good and heavy. The heaviness in Down’s heaviest NOLA riffs can be linked right back to the guitarist of this group, Jimmy Bower.

As with most good sludge, there is a lot of Hardcore punk in this band’s DNA. Even at their heaviest and slooowest there are those vocals and that utter rage and hatred that gives away that side of the sound. Which is glorious.

Actually as I write this and listen a second time, I am warming more to this album as a whole. It’s certainly a downer of an album - wouldn’t expect a sunshiney vibe to emit from an album called Dopesick by sludge metal band Eyehategod. Lol. But yeah, I will be sure to return to this when next I want some music to match my mood when it’s in a particularly misanthropic state.

-------------------------
@EyeKanFly, sorry to ignore your bolder titles again, but I’m not sure how long you’ll grace my chart so, thus I want you to experience this recently discover (by me) Deathgrind classic. It’s a little less loungy than Sade lol. It’s also heavy and fast and has some truly amazing vocals and guitar riffing.

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Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Respo...utal Truth


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3.

CHANGE!

Half Grab bag of albums of interest within Death Metal, Grindcore, Powerviolence, Hardcore Punk, Crust Punk, D-Beat, Screamo, Sludge Metal, and other genres that are part of the punk/hardcore punk tradition in one way or another. And Half the highest ranked album's from The1ChiefRocka's Overall all time chart. I picked his because its a unique one and somehow only 12 votes! Everyone, go feast your eyes on that chart.


5 from my grab bag:

1. Sonic Excess In Its Purest Form by Crowbar/2001 (Been meaning to listen to this closely for, LITERALLY, 18 years! I remember the first time hearing NOLA by Down and seeing that 1 or 2 of the members of that supergroup were members of Crowbar and I thought "I should check that out"... never did. Its really thick, heavy, nasty SLUDGE as far as I understand. Looking forward to this one.)

2. Sadness Will Prevail by Today is the Day/2002 (Up there with any swans album in terms of darkness and oppressive hopeless atmosphere. This is a massive 2 hour and 15 minute mix of sludge/noise rock/avant garde metal and found sounds and like all kinds of stuff stuffed together into a daunting listen. I started this a bit back and tbh it kind of unsettled me despite checking a ridiculous amount of boxes in what I am into musically lately. Before picking this, Pray for me.)

3. Godflesh EP by Godflesh/1988 classic debut ep released in 1988. Will be getting this soon I think but picking it will speed that along. Early industrial sludge metal)

4. Monuments to Thieves by His Hero Is Gone/1996 (crust punk from a memphis band that lasted 4 years and was gone. Super alluring stuff.)

5. 01010101 by Portraits of Past/1996 (90s screamo. interesting.)

Now 5 from Tha1ChiefRocka's overall chart:

#5. The Power and the Glory by Gentle Giant/1974 (Familiar I am with Gentle Giant but not this album.)

#6. Temple IV by Roy Montgomery/1996 (I am either blanking on who R. Montgomery is or I really have no clue. Interested to see what this be.)

#7. Quebec by Ween/2003 (This and The Mollusk have always managed to stay riiiight outside of reach for these games. Somehow I never heard either and only heard Chocolate and Cheese and liked it... probably the album art lets face it. Well I am ready to finally listened to this and THESE acclaimed albums by these weirdos.)

#8. Silver Apples by Silver Apples/1968 (this is one I have been interested in for awhile.)

#9. Romanworld by Romanthony/1997 (Had never even heard of this album or artist as far as I know before seeing Rocka's chart. I think its electronic music, maybe dance music? Idk)
_________________
-Ryan

ONLY 4% of people can understand this chart! Come try!

My Fave Metal - you won't believe #5!!!

[Purplepash]

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Pieces Of A Man by Gil Scott-Heron

A really good soul album. Passionate vocals and great lyrics with a lot of pain coming through both. Four powerful songs (The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Home Is Where the Hatred Is, Pieces of a Man, & The Prisoner) stand out to make this an album to to remember, but the rest of the songs are good to, with it's sometimes jazzy, sometimes funky, sometimes both, music capturing my attention when ever the vocals and lyrics weren't dominating it. I usually love to hear a flute in songs every now and again, and they were great here. A solid 8/10, 17/41 for 1971, and #71 for the decade.




Silver Apples is great, and in my decade chart.

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Silver Apples by Silver Apples




Top 33 Music Albums of 1971 by EyeKanFly (4 picks left)

6. Teaser And The Firecat by Cat Stevens
13. Faust by Faust
17. Songs Of Love And Hate by Leonard Cohen
19. Just As I Am by Bill Withers
20. Nursery Cryme by Genesis
21. The Yes Album by Yes
22. Pearl by Janis Joplin
25. At Fillmore East by The Allman Brothers Band
27. Electric Warrior by T. Rex
29. Every Picture Tells A Story by Rod Stewart