| 27 ALBUMS WE'RE THANKFUL FOR
Because Thanksgiving is this week, and we're suckers for a seasonal topic (or for anything else that gets us out of thinking creatively), we polled the staff to come up with this batch of records. That's right -- this is music that we consider ourselves downright fortunate to have discovered. We'll even go so far as to say that you'll be thankful if you take the time to discover it, too.
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Tom Waits / The Early Years, Volume 2 / Manifesto: If you've ever thought that your heart was broken, well, his was broken
worse! Beautiful, slow, sad songs that I'm always glad I didn't write. (ib)
Robert Ashley / Automatic Writing / Lovely Music: Late night in a cheap french hotel with the neighbors groaning and
somebody's broken Casio playing an alien bass loop all night long. I'm
thankful that Ashley managed to take the wonderfully strange sonic
environment that was in his head and get it down on tape. (ib)
Larry Polansky / The Theory of Impossible Melody / Artifact Recordings: I think I've listened to "B'rey'sheet" more than any other piece of
music that's not a 3-minute pop song. It's hard to say specifically why
I'm thankful for this piece...when I'm listening to it I am happy.
That's reason enough. (ib)
Sloan / Navy Blues / Murderecords: Because with out it keeping me singing at the top of my lungs, I'd be
another late-night driving casualty who fell asleep behind the wheel. (am)
Rahsaan Roland Kirk / Rip, Rig & Panic / EmArcy: A hearty introduction into Kirk's world of free-spirited, slight insane
jazz that can unite both free-jazzers and be-boppers alike. (am)
The Mummies / Fuck CD's, It's the Mummies! / Hangman: Made me rediscover vinyl and the wonderful world of garage-rock that wasn't
(and still isn't) available on CDs. (am)
The Chills / Submarine Bells / Slash/WB: Any of the Chills' albums could be listed here. This, however, is the one I remember most fondly -- and the one that never fails to surprise me when I dig it out and listen to it. Yeah, I remember it being good -- but it's way, way beyond good. (gz)
Television Personalities / Camping in France / Overground: At once the best and worst live album ever recorded -- a disorganized, poorly recorded mess of a live performance that somehow manages to be completely and utterly fascinating. Once heard, it's hard to forget. (gz)
Spacetime Continuum / Alien Dreamtime / Astralwerks: Back when Astralwerks was just a teeny little indie label, they released stuff like this -- the confluence of Jonah Sharp's music, Stephen Kent's superlative didgeridoo and the spoken stylings/ramblings of the much-missed Terence McKenna. This is the album that added the phrase "Self-transforming machine elves" to my vocabulary, and is still one of my favorite ways to test a subwoofer. (gz)
Prince and the Revolution / Parade / Paisley Park/Warner Brothers: When I was younger, I wanted to be Prince's drummer. This was the album I would air drum to. (jb)
Kostars / Klassics with a K / Grand Royal: I picked this album up on a whim not long after my wife and I had started dating. It is forever associated with that time for my wife and I. (jb)
Jessamine / Don't Stay Too Long / Kranky: Damn band has to break up after making the funkiest, most consise album of their careers. I'm happy they got this out the door before they went under. (jb)
Eric B and Rakim / Follow the Leader / Uni Records: One of the first albums to start me on my long road into record collecting oblivion. (jb)
Zoot Sims / Zoot Sims and the Gershwin Brothers / Pablo: Zoot Sims leads an all star band through part of the Gershwin song book. Did I mention that it rocks? (jb)
Nick Drake / Pink Moon / Hannibal: Simply one of the most gorgeous albums
you will ever hear. A 28 minute sermon from an artist who left this
world just as we were getting to know him. (jj)
Sunny Day Real Estate / Diary / Sub Pop: Their raw and visceral debut
actually made emo sound like a good idea. How were they to know what
would follow? (jj)
John Coltrane / Ascension / Impulse: Who would have thought that an album
that simultaneously sounds like angels crying and a flock of geese
caught in a cuisinart could be so moving and spiritual. An utterly
joyful noise. (jj)
Cheap Trick / In Color / Epic: My introduction to the wonderful world of
Cheap Trick. As bold, bright and catchy an album as you are likely to
ever hear. (jj)
Clutch / "Jam Room" / River Road: The perfect mix of mythology, poetry and big fat guitar riffs, this disc
meets all my needs. Minimal swearing also makes it excellent for
family-style holiday gatherings. Watching Grandma pump her fist to "Raised
by Horses" makes the trip over the river and through the woods worth every
second. (rd)
Terry Allen / Lubbock (on Everything) / Sugar Hill: The most clever album ever released
by a country star, playwright, sculptor from Lubbock. (rg)
David Byrne / Music for the Knee Plays / Warner: A salve that heals the sore of
driving long distances. (rg)
1910 Fruitgum Company / Goody Goody Gumdrops / Collectables: twenty years before
twee-core, these goofballs were tearing it up, bubblegum-style. (rg)
New Order / Lowlife / Factory/Qwest: During my phase as a military guy who liked daydreams about war-inflicted
death, the song "Love Vigilantes" fulfilled my strange emotional wants. (td)
Field Mice / Where'd You Learn to Kiss that Way? / Shinkansen: The song
"Willow" is great therapy for anybody who feels they loved, but were not
adequately loved back, in a relationship. Pretend Annemari Davis is singing
directly to you, and it's quite comforting. (td)
Randy Newman / Land of Dreams / Reprise: I'm thankful for
all honest songs. If you were or are of the sort who wants your pain shared
or felt by others, "I Want You To Hurt Like I Do" becomes perhaps the most
honest song ever written. (td)
David Wilcox / Big Horizon / A&M: The album is spotty,
but "Show the Way" is a beautiful song that always makes me happy. (td)
Husker Du / Flip Your Wig / SST: The lyrics in "Makes No
Sense At All" (Running around with your head on the ground/Makes no sense at
all) needs to be drilled into kids of every generation. This and "Games"
helped make Bob Mould, and this album, among the most influential in my
life. (td)
| | -- The Splendid Staff
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Think you're some sort of clever boots? Why not send us your damn list? Come up with a creative topic and make certain to include artist, title, and label information. If we use your list, we'll send you some sort of prize...most likely a Splendid t-shirt. Or not, if you'd rather we don't.
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