5 great lost albums
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:03 pm
5 great-lost albums.
I know I don’t visit the board frequently enough, but in an attempt to get some communication going, I am asking people to give information on 5 albums they consider being great-lost albums. The theme is open to interpretation, so you can pick seriously underground records or just records that you think
Other people may not have heard but would love and that deserve to be discovered/rediscovered.
If you like you can simply list the albums, or give a little info as to why you listed them, or if you are lazy like me, just crib a review from the Internet (although I checked all the cribbed reviews to see that their opinions matched mine.)
1. Even as we speak -Feral Pop Frenzy
“Even As We Speak alternates sugary, dizzying pop songs with sinister mock-bluegrass banjo laments, bubble-gum New Wave, noisy semi-industrial grooves, surreal instructional-filmstrip narration, Mazzy Star-ish ambience and squeaky retro-funk. “Falling Down the Stairs” is one of the pop moments, a bouncy, ringing gem from their wonderfully titled studio album Feral Pop Frenzy, sprays of multi-tap guitar echo and gauzily angelic female harmonies weaving over a sturdy drum thump and, for several unsettling seconds in the middle, a writhing mock-Indian jam, like the idiosyncratic original of which the Bangles’ “Manic Monday” was a glossy reduction to stereotype.”
Not my words.
2. The Belltower - Popdropper
If you like the sound of similar bands like: Slowdive, Pale Saints, Cocteau Twins, Lush, My Bloody Valentine, and the Sundays, then this album would definately be a welcome addition. You can't go wrong, since you can probably find this CD new or used on amazon for around 3 dollars.
The first half of Popdropper takes you into a dark, trippy depressed world, but it is so enjoyable with its swirling electric and acoustic guitars overlapping each other combined with some awesome bass lines and powerful drums. The second half is more upbeat dream pop with some great guitar solos and unique song structures.
Similar to slowdive, the vocals on this album are male on some songs and female on the others. Britta Phillips sings on most of the songs either lead or backing. She has a fine voice similar to the singer from The Sundays. Jody Porter sings on a few songs. His voice, on the other hand, is a little bland, but he harmonizes quite well with Britta when they sing together.
Not my words
3.The Drop Nineteens – Delaware
Back in 91-92 I was infatuated with the shoegazer movement. I was totally lost in the gorgeous walls of sound of My Bloody Valentine, the soothing harmonies of Slowdive, the fragile beauty of the Boo Radleys, and the distortion feedback of Medicine. This album, from an unknown Boston band, soon became one of my absolute favorites of the era. Delaware, Winona and Kick the Tragedy are literally three of the best songs ive heard in my entire life (and I'm a music freak with well over a 1,000 CD's so I've heard it all and then some). Kick the Tragedy holds a special place in my heart. Its hard to describe but completely captures what was best about the shoegazer movement. The song is mostly instrumental but has a dreamy surreal quality about it. Mid-song a girl starts to ramble. It may sound incoherent at first but if you really listen it actually starts to make a lot of sense. The subject deals with growing up and loss of innocence, as well as disillusionment. I'd say its a fair candidate for best song to ever come out of the period. Check this album out. You will not be disappointed
4.Mary Margaret O’Hara – Miss America
At times bewildering, at others bewitching, Miss America remains stunning nearly 15 years on from its initial release. There's nothing else quite like it, so perhaps it's appropriate (if frustrating and mysterious) that MMoH never recorded another album (unless you count the soundtrack to 2002 Canadian movie Apartment Hunting). Trying to describe this record is almost impossible, words like 'singing' and 'vocals' don't come anywhere near capturing the effect of Mary's soaring impressionistic voice, floating and swooping from a whisper to croak and demanding to be listened to. Come on... buy it. And then buy the best stereo in the world and a faultless pair of headphones, switch off the lights, lie back and know, forever, that you will be loved again.
Not my words
5. The Throwing Muses – The Real Ramona
Just nudges out The Pixies "Doolittle" as my all-time fave. Poppy, edgy, beautiful and dark all at the same time, it's the perfect soundtrack for a hot summer night--or a dreary winter day. The various facets of the disk (starts off poppy, builds up tension, releases in equisite beauty) make it that flexible.
As a Muses fanatic, this album holds a dear place in my heart because it's the one that reeled me in and allowed me to discover a band that would literally change my musical life. After countless listens, it still holds up. If anything, it's taken on new meaning to me over time.
Some consider it overproduced, but I disagree. The production complements the songs and performance perfectly. And the fact that it is Tanya Donelly's swan song as a member of the band only adds to its depth, with tension--personally and musically--captured brilliantly throughout.
If I was stranded on a desert island with just this disk, I'd be perfectly happy, as long as I had an unlimited supply of batteries for my CD player.
Not my words
I know I don’t visit the board frequently enough, but in an attempt to get some communication going, I am asking people to give information on 5 albums they consider being great-lost albums. The theme is open to interpretation, so you can pick seriously underground records or just records that you think
Other people may not have heard but would love and that deserve to be discovered/rediscovered.
If you like you can simply list the albums, or give a little info as to why you listed them, or if you are lazy like me, just crib a review from the Internet (although I checked all the cribbed reviews to see that their opinions matched mine.)
1. Even as we speak -Feral Pop Frenzy
“Even As We Speak alternates sugary, dizzying pop songs with sinister mock-bluegrass banjo laments, bubble-gum New Wave, noisy semi-industrial grooves, surreal instructional-filmstrip narration, Mazzy Star-ish ambience and squeaky retro-funk. “Falling Down the Stairs” is one of the pop moments, a bouncy, ringing gem from their wonderfully titled studio album Feral Pop Frenzy, sprays of multi-tap guitar echo and gauzily angelic female harmonies weaving over a sturdy drum thump and, for several unsettling seconds in the middle, a writhing mock-Indian jam, like the idiosyncratic original of which the Bangles’ “Manic Monday” was a glossy reduction to stereotype.”
Not my words.
2. The Belltower - Popdropper
If you like the sound of similar bands like: Slowdive, Pale Saints, Cocteau Twins, Lush, My Bloody Valentine, and the Sundays, then this album would definately be a welcome addition. You can't go wrong, since you can probably find this CD new or used on amazon for around 3 dollars.
The first half of Popdropper takes you into a dark, trippy depressed world, but it is so enjoyable with its swirling electric and acoustic guitars overlapping each other combined with some awesome bass lines and powerful drums. The second half is more upbeat dream pop with some great guitar solos and unique song structures.
Similar to slowdive, the vocals on this album are male on some songs and female on the others. Britta Phillips sings on most of the songs either lead or backing. She has a fine voice similar to the singer from The Sundays. Jody Porter sings on a few songs. His voice, on the other hand, is a little bland, but he harmonizes quite well with Britta when they sing together.
Not my words
3.The Drop Nineteens – Delaware
Back in 91-92 I was infatuated with the shoegazer movement. I was totally lost in the gorgeous walls of sound of My Bloody Valentine, the soothing harmonies of Slowdive, the fragile beauty of the Boo Radleys, and the distortion feedback of Medicine. This album, from an unknown Boston band, soon became one of my absolute favorites of the era. Delaware, Winona and Kick the Tragedy are literally three of the best songs ive heard in my entire life (and I'm a music freak with well over a 1,000 CD's so I've heard it all and then some). Kick the Tragedy holds a special place in my heart. Its hard to describe but completely captures what was best about the shoegazer movement. The song is mostly instrumental but has a dreamy surreal quality about it. Mid-song a girl starts to ramble. It may sound incoherent at first but if you really listen it actually starts to make a lot of sense. The subject deals with growing up and loss of innocence, as well as disillusionment. I'd say its a fair candidate for best song to ever come out of the period. Check this album out. You will not be disappointed
4.Mary Margaret O’Hara – Miss America
At times bewildering, at others bewitching, Miss America remains stunning nearly 15 years on from its initial release. There's nothing else quite like it, so perhaps it's appropriate (if frustrating and mysterious) that MMoH never recorded another album (unless you count the soundtrack to 2002 Canadian movie Apartment Hunting). Trying to describe this record is almost impossible, words like 'singing' and 'vocals' don't come anywhere near capturing the effect of Mary's soaring impressionistic voice, floating and swooping from a whisper to croak and demanding to be listened to. Come on... buy it. And then buy the best stereo in the world and a faultless pair of headphones, switch off the lights, lie back and know, forever, that you will be loved again.
Not my words
5. The Throwing Muses – The Real Ramona
Just nudges out The Pixies "Doolittle" as my all-time fave. Poppy, edgy, beautiful and dark all at the same time, it's the perfect soundtrack for a hot summer night--or a dreary winter day. The various facets of the disk (starts off poppy, builds up tension, releases in equisite beauty) make it that flexible.
As a Muses fanatic, this album holds a dear place in my heart because it's the one that reeled me in and allowed me to discover a band that would literally change my musical life. After countless listens, it still holds up. If anything, it's taken on new meaning to me over time.
Some consider it overproduced, but I disagree. The production complements the songs and performance perfectly. And the fact that it is Tanya Donelly's swan song as a member of the band only adds to its depth, with tension--personally and musically--captured brilliantly throughout.
If I was stranded on a desert island with just this disk, I'd be perfectly happy, as long as I had an unlimited supply of batteries for my CD player.
Not my words
Operation is my personal favorite.