Visionary Albums (a vague definition, yes i know)

[RocDoc]

'I'm Not Like Everybody Else' is a Kinks song, innit?

O-o-oh, then no-one else likes it, that's all. Cool.

_{...shit I thought it was by someone else fer a sec there......I'm better now...}

[Rit]

the visionary rockers from the 1960s are few in number, but some of the best. They include, imo, Bob Dylan, Captain Beefheart, The Velvet Underground, the 'Syd' Floyd, the Beach Boys until about 1966, Jimi Hendrix until about 1968, Iggy and the Stooges, & maybe just possibly maybe Jim Morrison and his wretched Doors from about 1965 about 1967 before fame went straight to his head.

.. and 'Brian Jones' era Stones.

[Rit]

from the 1970s, i'd say David Bowie, Brian Eno (and Roxy Music as far as it was associated with Eno), Neu!, Can, Pere Ubu, Talking Heads, the Ramones, and Joy Division.

[Rit]

the 1980s? i'm weak on this decade and succeeding decades.. i'd guess Husker Du, Sonic Youth, the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Smiths, My Bloody Valentine, & the Pixies.

the 1990s - Beck? Bjork? Radiohead?

[zorndeslammes]

This WHOLE thread and only one hip hop album? Return Of The Boom Bap, 36 Chambers, DJ Screw's various mixtapes, and Paid in Full are PISSED.

[Rit]

do it up then, Zorn. i'm waiting for people to fill in the hip hop side of things.

[zorndeslammes]

Hmmm...thinking outside the basic indie/commercial rock boundaries....

Wu-Tang Clan - 36 Chambers: Gritty, raw, poorly produced, but the ultimate street album.

Public Enemy - Fear Of A Black Planet: Art schoolers made good.

KRS-One - Criminal Minded/Return Of The Boom Bap: Criminal Minded is only the second greatest thing ever, and Return of The Boom Bap is fucking kingsized. The greatest thing ever?

Eric B And Rakim - Paid In Full: Rakim is the original and permanent king of hip hop. Everyone, no matter how commercially successful, bows to Rakim.

DJ Screw - 3 'n The Mornin' Pt.1: He released around 200 of his infamous "screwtapes" and a few "official" releases, DJ Screw made Houston singlehandedly.

Boredoms - Pop Tatari: Probably the key cornerstone to the Boredoms' expansive catalog. Utterly tremendous. Shitting on all the post-rock that's littered the landscape in the last 5 years.

Lightning Bolt - S/T: Not their best, but the most influential, by far. Created a army of clones, from Death From Above 1979 to Hella.

Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum: The original heavy metal album.

Napalm Death - Scum: The blueprint for all true grind. Perhaps still the most violent and jarring guitar based album ever.

Merzbow - Rainbow Electronics Vol.2: Even members of Napalm Death admit; this is the most violent and extreme album ever made. Enforced Akita's place in experimental music and made him a often copied man.

Conlon Nancarrow; Study For The Player Piano #1, An Archform Study/Morton Feldman; String Quartet II/Glenn Branca, Symphony #1/John Cage, 4'33''(yes, that) : All of these three pushed the boundaries of compositional music and what could be done with it to new heights in the 20th Century.

[Rit]

now you're talking. that's an excellent rundown. and i like the mini-writeups.

of the Boredoms i've only heard Super Ae.. and that was great. Lightning Bolt's newest one was fun too.

Merzbow? heard a lot about him, never listened to it.

Blue Cheer?! i'm not entirely convinced. a case for heaviness you say? How about replacing them with the Yardbirds. I'd say the Yardbirds are the other misplaced link in visionary Sixties bands.

[Rit]

Glenn Branca's first symphony was also tremendous. I used to love listening to that. the first movement especially. The link between that and Spacemen 3 and Sonic Youth is self-evident. Branca's symphony is pretty shite if thought of as classical music, but as an NY avantgarde rock music pioneer, he takes his place.

[Ayinger]

ritalinpants said:

Blue Cheer?! i'm not entirely convinced. a case for heaviness you say? How about replacing them with the Yardbirds. I'd say the Yardbirds are the other misplaced link in visionary Sixties bands.

Not sure tho' you'd want to call The Yardbirds 'heavy' though the term 'visionary' I think would certainly apply, esp. once Jeff Beck got in with them. NOT knocking the Clapton years but I think the more experimenting years came after he left.

[dolly]

kenholzman said:

FYI, the all time best cover of a Kinks song is the Jam's terrific rendition of David Watts. With a hearty "Oi!" to put an exclamation mark on every chorus, it completely transcends the original in every way.

Noooooo! I am familiar with this particular cover and it most certainly does NOT transcend the original. Nice try though Ken - your Weller fanaticism is known to me

Actually been finding some Kinks covers on soulseek - there's a woeful but funny live version of the Cure doing You Really Got ME that won't be topping anyone's Kinks covers list anytime soon. Also interested to see Elliott Smith has done a few - though I've yet to listen to them.

Pcook (is it Paul?) - I'm still working on my Kinks list - but I'm on a listening ban for this morning - I think I've kinked the better half to death this weekend....

[dolly]

Maybe I'll start a Kinks thread for that though

Um, other than that - Lightning Bolt gave me a headache and the only hip-hop I own is 36 Chambers, The Chronic, and a whole loada Snoop Dogg. My homegirl phase was thankfully shortlived.

[Rit]

who is Jandek?

i'm totally intruiged now.

[Rit]

oh shit.
you guys have no idea what's been released as of today (for.. oh.. the next couple of weeks, i'd say)

the mysterious figure named Jandek has now officially crossed over into my patented fast-flame obsession territory.

i'm busy d/ling as much of his albums as i can tonight.

let the games begin.

-------------------------------------------
his wikipedia entry:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jandek

[rockysigman]

The mysterious figure of Jandek is seriously too complicated to get into in any sort of detail on a message board, but for the curious, I refer you to this site:

tisue.net/jandek/


Should answer most of your questions. Or at least the ones that are answerable. More than the wikipedia entry anyway. I only have two of his albums, and really, I don't know how many I need, but he's certainly one of the more interesting figures in the history of rock and roll.