Thanks Trouty. Sad that it has come to this, as this was going to be the greatest draft yet.
I will get to work on mine shortly.
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
Alright, for our 15th round pick, team Twist/Shout picks Maxinquaye by Tricky in the 1994-1996 category.
This album is listed among other things as one of the "100 Greatest British Albums" by Q Magazine), "Essential Recordings of the 90's" by Rolling Stone magazine, "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s" by Spin Magazine (at #14), "100 Modern Classics" by Mojo, and of course did very well among the numerous "album of the year" votings in 1995.
Tricky himself was extremely uncomfortable with all the fame his massive hit debut album brought him, which contributed to reports of some bizarre behaviour, some of which might actually be true despite being covered by Brit media.
However, this is one great album, and basicly my first introduction to music outside rock and punk genres. Here's a few cuts from the album.
Its lyrics are the same as Karmacoma, a song by trip-hop collective Massive Attack, as he gave the group lyrics from Maxinquaye for their album Protection.
The tough part with this and the literature draft were maybe that there were too many categories. Nonetheless, I've enjoyed it very much. I'll get my picks in for both in the next few days.
I select in the Wildcard category, DESTROYER'S RUBIES by DESTROYER (2006):
Vancouver's Dan Bejar band (New Pornographers). His voice is an acquired taste for many, but I like it. The lyrics are non-sensical, but the word-play is fantastic. The guitar playing is great. The verses are nearly spoken, and the choruses are la la la. One of my favorite records.
The 6th highest rated record of 2006 at metacritic.
Bejar's imagery is as impenetrable and volatile as ever — "Dueling cyclones jackknife/They got eyes for your wife and the blood that lives in her heart" — but musically, he's forged a solid enough foundation to ground it. Part of Bejar's charm comes from his innate ability to balance sadistic verse, music geek grandstanding, and bawdy refrains with enough major seventh chords to score a full season of Brady Bunch segues — "A Dangerous Woman Up to a Point"'s pre-chorus crescendo declares "Those who love Zeppelin will eventually betray Floyd/I cast off those couplets in honor of the void" before exploding into "I pictured heaven on earth made of clay, as your form dictated." Rubies is heavy on pop craft, with standout cuts like "European Oils," "3000 Flowers," and the manic title track echoing 2005's "Broken Breads" and "Streets of Fire," but it's more than just the art-house theater to the Pornographers' Twin Cinema, it's the absinthe-drunk projectionist reveling in the sheer hedonism of it all.
The first print in the series is a lyrical and statistical undressing of Destroyer's 2006 album Destroyer's Rubies: an epic, swaggering triumph of drunken mystery-pop, masterminded by Dan Bejar (also of The New Pornographers and Swan Lake).
I select in the Hard/Metal category, MOVING PICTURES by RUSH (1981):
A cliche choice, but the best hard rock record ever made IMO. Perfect from start to finish. Not one false step. Side One (remember sides?) are all rock radio classics, and there is no dip in quality on Side Two. Every band playing in their basement cuts their teeth on these songs.
I first heard Limelight on the radio, and I thought what a freaky, spooky voice. I was hooked. First concert I ever went to was the Signals tour at the Corral.
Moving Pictures became the band's biggest selling album in the U.S., hitting #3, and remains the band's most popular and commercially successful studio recording to date. The album was certified quadruple-platinum with four million copies sold on January 27, 1995.
Not only is 1981's Moving Pictures Rush's best album, it is undeniably one of the greatest hard rock albums of all time. The new wave meets hard rock approach of Permanent Waves is honed to perfection — all seven of the tracks are classics (four are still featured regularly in concert and on classic rock radio). While other hard rock bands at the time experimented unsuccessfully with other musical styles, Rush were one of the few to successfully cross over. The whole entire first side is perfect — their most renowned song, "Tom Sawyer," kicks things off, and is soon followed by the racing "Red Barchetta," the instrumental "YYZ," and a song that examines the pros and cons of stardom, "Limelight." And while the second side isn't as instantly striking as the first, it is ultimately rewarding. The long and winding "The Camera Eye" begins with a synth-driven piece before transforming into one of the band's more straight-ahead epics, while "Witch Hunt" and "Vital Signs" remain two of the trio's more underrated rock compositions. Rush proved with Moving Pictures that there was still uncharted territory to explore within the hard rock format, and were rewarded with their most enduring and popular album.
Limelight
Vital Signs
Camera Eye
Last edited by troutman; 04-23-2009 at 09:46 AM.
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I select in the 1994-1996 Category, WHIP-SMART by LIZ PHAIR (1994):
Her debut (Exile In Guyville) was more impactful because it was so uniquely sexually frank, but I think the second record is more interesting musically. More hooks - she sings well.
Expectations ran extremely high for Liz Phair's follow-up to Exile in Guyville, one of the most critically acclaimed debut albums of all time. If there are flaws in this generally first-rate follow-up, they mostly arise in comparison with Guyville, a record of such unexpected impact that most anything Phair could have done may have been found lacking. She continues to explore sex and relationships with exhilarating frankness and celebration, employing her much-touted profanity to a conversational rather than a sensational effect. The sound is somewhat more produced, though still pretty basic, and the compositions are by and large tuneful and lyrically intriguing. It's not, after all is said and done, quite as striking as Guyville; like many sophomore efforts, it mines similar territory without making huge strides forward. Several songs are reprised from her widely circulated Girlysound demo tapes, and in some instances the more heavily produced, self-consciously ingenious arrangements here suffer in comparison to their blueprints. The title track, one of the highlights of those tapes, comes off as particularly gimmicky in its new incarnation, with the addition of all manner of superfluous animal noises. There's no question that Phair is a major songwriter and artist, but this album is more a solidification of her talents than a breakthrough statement.
Whip-Smart:
Supernova:
Nashville:
This is another record I could have put in this spot, KING by BELLY (1995):
With drummer Christopher Gorman's wicked, lightning-quick drum fills ("Lil' Ennio" might be the tightest pop/rock track ever), brother Thomas Gorman's crunchy guitars, and Donelly's left-of-center lyrics and distinctive voice, the album should have been a huge success. With the help of classic rock producer Glyn Johns, tracks like "Seal My Fate" and "Red" proved Belly could cram three-and-a-half minutes with as many sugary melodies as possible, but without selling out. The lead single, "Now They'll Sleep," was a quirky number reminiscent of The Doors, while the gothic "Silverfish" features a classic rock-style guitar snaking beneath Donelly and bassist Gail Greenwood's honey-glazed harmonies: "I don't want to hear about your poorly timed rock career."
Often obscure but never disposable, Donelly's prickly situations and infectious pop hooks read like poetry: "Are there heartstrings connected/To the wings you've got slapped on your back?" she begs on the high-energy "Super-Connected." "The Bees," a lovely ballad about dying love, finds the singer a bit self-deprecated ("So come at me with mouth open wide/And I, like a jerk, I crawl inside"), while on the album's haunting final track, "Judas My Heart" (in which Judas is a verb and the moon hangs low so that deception can be fully and painfully witnessed), Donelly is the bearer of an impossibly heavy torch. Compromise may have shrunk the band's fanbase at the time, but it left behind a thought-provoking, near-perfect pop album.
Last edited by troutman; 04-23-2009 at 11:18 AM.
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In the Folk/Country category, I'll take Viva Last Blues by Palace (or Palace Brothers or Palace Music or whatever the hell he called them on that one).
I still think this is the best Will Oldham record. The Bonnie Prince Billie stuff isn't quite as scruffy and its the scruffiness that I like. There are some absolute gems of songs on here - gorgeous, wrenching stuff. My fave 'alt country' record.
Last edited by rogermexico; 04-23-2009 at 12:42 PM.
From Soundtracks, I'll take the OST from Spike Lee's Crooklyn.
This soundtrack is an awesome collection of late sixties/early seventies R&B. You've got some hits - Everyday People, ABC - and some real rare gems, like The Time Has Come Today by The Chamber's Brothers (It's an edited version though - for the real classic 11 minute version you need to track down the original album, which is awesome top to bottom.
I left a show at Pat's Pub in Vancouver one time - about two blocks up from Hastings and Main. Got stuck in traffic, as happens when you're down there, must have been two in the morning, and 'Ooh Child' came on the stereo. Man, talk about your fitting moments...
