talk about a great record you hadn't listened to in ages

[clewsr]

does that extremely long title explain it? You know, one of those albums that your eye's normally glaze over when scanning the racks, but when you finally do play it you realise it is your own unique 'lost classic'

my starter:

Black Box recorder. Facts of life.

it really has been years since I listened to this, which is a shame. It sounds like a less cheery st ettiene. Luke Haines' dark lyrics giving adding gristle to the mainly pleasant electro pop music. I was an occasional Auteurs fan, but aside from the lyrics there aren't any obvious similarities. 'The facts of life' and the beautifully titled 'the English motorway system' are probably my favourite songs. The lyrics could also remind you of pulp, the music maybe of Air.

Perhaps the only good thing about forgetting an album for so long, it that when you finally do revisit, it takes you right back to the time when you used to listen to it, like the time capsules they used to bury in blue peter.

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more music, less tv

[davey]

Yep. In the car the other day my mate played Screamadelica off his Ipod. Haven't listened to it in about 2 years. Brilliant to revisit it again.

[sunray]

The House of Love's debut album. Hadn't listened to it in years then saw them play it recently so dug it out the next day. Lovely record. It has just been re-released with bonus tracks & fancy packaging if anyone's interested.

[runcible]

Yep. In the car the other day my mate played Screamadelica off his Ipod. Haven't listened to it in about 2 years. Brilliant to revisit it again.

Coincidentally I played that the other day. It's still a great album. 'Don't Fight It, Feel It' sounded fantastic - very easy to get lost in!

I also played The Black Crowes 'Southern Harmony and Musical Companion' which I think is a cracking listen. The second side is really outstanding - quality songs and lots of excellent guitar work.

[SpaceLine]

i love that crowes record. no speak no slave and my morning song are outstanding and hotel illness has a great groove. i don't care for the marley cover though.
marc ford is such a great guitarist and it's a shame he can't get along with the robinson bros. then again, they can't get along with themselves...

[runcible]

i love that crowes record. no speak no slave and my morning song are outstanding and hotel illness has a great groove. i don't care for the marley cover though.
marc ford is such a great guitarist and it's a shame he can't get along with the robinson bros. then again, they can't get along with themselves...

Absolutely. I didn't realise it was a Marley cover actually but it's the weakest track on the album certainly. There are some great versions of these tracks on live Crowes releases - a 10+ minute version of My Morning Song on 'Freak N Roll Into The Fog' that's really awesome.

[noisette]

i've always been tempted to buy one of their records, is this one a great place to start? are they worth checking into?

thanks for any info



me.

[clewsr]

sadly i lost my black crowes record disappeared years ago, so they firmly fit here. i think I might have to buy something. I think I had the first one, shake your money maker, but it sounds to me like the 2nd, The Southern Harmony and musical companion that Runcible and Spaceline mention is a good bet.

[runcible]

Yup - Amorica is also brilliant. That and Southern Harmony and Musical Companion are the best albums. The rest have good moments but are patchier.

[noisette]

thanks i'll check them out in the weeks to come.

do you know they released them on vinyl as well?? i've been forcing myself to not buy anymore cd's unless absolutely necessary.


thanks again.


me.

[runcible]

Yeah, there's definitely vinyl of those albums.

[SpaceLine]

i have them on vinyl but i think southern harmony is pretty hard to find in this format. don't quote me on that though, i really haven't looked in ages.

amorica is for sure. i like that record as well, but not as much. descending is a gorgeous song.

[runcible]

Wiser Time is also glorious...

Descending was only on the CD as a bonus on my UK CD. It's not on the Sho Nuff box set. Curiously enough I once heard some of it's closing section in the background on a documentary on kangaroos! It fitted very well!

[ash]

The first three Crowes albums are pure class - they take a bit of a dive after that, although Lions was something of a return to form. I remember a while ago reading a great quote about the Black Crowes, something along the lines of "The Rolling Stones being a whitebred group trying to sound like they're from the deep south and not quite making it, whereas the Black Crowes are actually from the deep south trying to sound like the Rolling Stones, and succeeding at both". Or something like that.

I have an Aus first-run digipack of Amorica, and it has Descending as an album track - thankfully, as it's one of their best songs. Eddie Harsch's piano outro never fails to send a shiver down the spine. Lovely stuff.

I've lately been getting very much back into Mazzy Star's "Among My Swan" - imho, the best of their three records, and usually overlooked in favour of the first two.

[purespace]

John Denver - Greatest Hits Volume #1 and Back Home Again, both on vinyl.

Low's version of Back Home Again is subversively touching. I weep each time.

God bless John Denver. And Tom T. Hall's "I Love . . ."

[spzretent]

Chameleons Strange Times. i just listened to it tonight for the first time in a decade.

[runcible]

The first three Crowes albums are pure class - they take a bit of a dive after that, although Lions was something of a return to form. I remember a while ago reading a great quote about the Black Crowes, something along the lines of "The Rolling Stones being a whitebred group trying to sound like they're from the deep south and not quite making it, whereas the Black Crowes are actually from the deep south trying to sound like the Rolling Stones, and succeeding at both". Or something like that.

I have an Aus first-run digipack of Amorica, and it has Descending as an album track - thankfully, as it's one of their best songs. Eddie Harsch's piano outro never fails to send a shiver down the spine. Lovely stuff.

Great quote! First time I saw the Crowes they played 'Torn and Frayed' which was sublime. I'll give a somewhat positive thumbs up for Three Snakes And One Charm - not as good as the albums discussed here but with some brilliant songs on it. I didn't get into Lions much but on your recommendation I'll give it another whirl.

Couldn't agree more about Eddie Harsch's piano on Desecnding - it's absolutely perfect. Same on 'Nonfiction'. Mind you I've always though him one of the best keyboard players I've ever heard - straight into the Ian Stewart vibe. Sad thing is I'm told he isn't part of the current Crowes crew who are touring at the moment. Every time I saw them live they were brilliant, even during the later times, and his playing was a real highlight.

[SpaceLine]

in a sense the crowes remind me of oasis. they have a derivative sound but when they did it right they did it damn well. both bands put out 3 solid records(i like be here now, sue me!) and then they both hit pretty big lulls. both have brothers that fight all the time. chris married a blonde actress and had a kid and got divorced. liam did the same. although liam gets huge negative points for penning little james, quite possibly the worst song of all time.

back to the original question...
jim croce's photographs and memories is a great, great record that i recently stumbled upon again. probably not what most spz fans care for but i love it dearly.

[Stuart X.Hunter]

in a sense the crowes remind me of oasis. they have a derivative sound but when they did it right they did it damn well. both bands put out 3 solid records(i like be here now, sue me!) and then they both hit pretty big lulls. both have brothers that fight all the time. chris married a blonde actress and had a kid and got divorced. liam did the same.

clever

although liam gets huge negative points for penning little james, quite possibly the worst song of all time.

try those lyrics again; i find the themes of "child-like wonder", mistakes, responsibility, enriching(ness), warmth, humility, security and love appealing. If my ol' man had felt the urge to pen something like that for me, i'd be chuffed.

As for the thread, i went back to mobile safari a bit recently; still fresh.

[noisette]

ohh the pastels are wonderful. the last time i spoke with stephen he had said that they had just finished up time in the studio. so here's to a new album next year.

as for the topic, i listened to The Cramps "flamejob". i still think that the track "naked girl falling down the stairs" might be one of the funniest tracks i have forgotten about.



me.

[SpacemanRob]

Hey Sunray - Really like the first House Of Love album. Like the Peel Session from that time as well. Said on the board before i think Destroy The Heart is one of the greatest songs ever. Didn't know they had reformed? Where did you see them and do you have any other details of the tour? Thanks

[LUFC_SPACEMAN]

just listening to the wall as i write. i used to listen to every day but haven't heard it for about a year at least. its wordlessly amazing.

[clewsr]

Richard Hawley - late night final. It didn't click when I first got it, but tonight its quite sublime.

[sunray]

Hey Sunray - Really like the first House Of Love album. Like the Peel Session from that time as well. Said on the board before i think Destroy The Heart is one of the greatest songs ever. Didn't know they had reformed? Where did you see them and do you have any other details of the tour? Thanks

Hey there Rob,saw them in Dublin & just assumed they'd be carrying on into Britian. That's all i can tell you tourwise im afraid.Took them a couple of tunes to get going but when they did... Never could understand why they weren't huge, they were certainly commercial enough.

[Hans Lucas]

Grant Hart - Intolerance, Flipper - Generic, and Medicine - Shot Forth Self Living

[Gruff]

Rainer-Nocturnes. Hadn't listened to it for years, literally. Must have been 5 or 6. I used to NEED it everyday. It's wonderful, truely wonderful. Takes you away places you want to go. I've written myself a new prescription.

Mingus-Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. I'm generally preoccupied with some of his other releases and have neglected this from time to time, but when I find it again... heaven!

[twentysixdollars]

Mingus-Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. I'm generally preoccupied with some of his other releases and have neglected this from time to time, but when I find it again... heaven!

Yes. It pains me a little to admit as this is also the conventional wisdom, but it seems to me that Black Saint is almost certainly his finest work, and when I'm in a particularly cranky mood it's my position that it's his finest work by quite a margin. But it is a wild, sui generis masterpiece.

As far as this thread is concerned, and while we're still talking about Mingus, Money Jungle. Really should play that. Probably my favorite piano-centered record besides Inventions & Dimensions, which I suppose also qualifies for this thread.

[Gruff]

Yes, people do generally say it's Mingus' best. I'm not to sure whether it's my favourite though-I love Oh Yeah more I think... which is why I don't often play Black Saint, but I'm always startled when I do.

Am I right in thinking Mingus' personal favourite album was Tijuana Moods? or is that a misunderstanding?

[charles w]

The Icicle Works debut album.

[twentysixdollars]

Am I right in thinking Mingus' personal favourite album was Tijuana Moods? or is that a misunderstanding?

Not sure - as far as I know, Mingus hated everything, and everyone! There may very well be a source in which Mingus is quoted as such, but context and date is important. It's often said that Blue Train was Coltrane's favorite release of his, but the interview in which he said so was conducted in 1960, by which point he'd only released four others. And in referring to Blue Train as his favorite, he listed two of the others (Soultrane and Giant Steps) as close runners-up. So all we know for certain is that, as of 1960, Coltrane didn't consider Traneing In or Coltrane '57 among his most important work, hardly an epochal statement.

[MUFCSPACEMAN]

...

[twentysixdollars]

That raises a pretty interesting question. If a record is able to become so familiar that it no longer moves you, was it ever "great"? Or, perhaps more pertinently, can you really consider it a "favorite"?

[alan_cohaul]

Yup - Amorica is also brilliant. That and Southern Harmony and Musical Companion are the best albums. The rest have good moments but are patchier.

Yeah, Amorica is really good. Speaking of which, I haven't listened to that in years, so that would fit into this category--but I remember all of it being top notch (with louder production....they drove the tape harder, it sounds more saturated) "Gone", "Wiser Time" and "She Gives Good Sunflower" being some highlights. Haven't listened to that in a good goddamn near decade though....that's in the cassette collection, it be.

[alan_cohaul]

That raises a pretty interesting question. If a record is able to become so familiar that it no longer moves you, was it ever "great"? Or, perhaps more pertinently, can you really consider it a "favorite"?

Good question. I think that we've all had those records or songs--or bands--where we've wore out the vinyl, cassette/ cd. There's a certain magic that gets lost after that initial rush wears off and it becomes inbedded in one's memory--that's the tradeoff for memorable music, it's usually something that we can't get enough of. It was like that with the Sloan album last year (their best in years, probably, IMHO, their best ever), and it was 30 songs, 76 minutes. I knew that if I overplayed it--which I did--that it would lose it's magic, trading memorizing the songs for it remaining a lesser played, but admired recording. But at the time, it's kinda hard to resist--great music has that effect, that magnetism where you can't do without it. And at times, i've thought that a band's new release has been their best ever (like "Amazing Grace") only to play it to death and realize that it doesn't stand up as well as the band's other work (in my case, LAGWAFIS).

I have tons of favorite recordings that I haven't listened to in years, and sometimes when I revisit them, they never seem quite as special as when they were in my top rotation. But I think music serves a certain purpose in our lives, sort of a reminder of a specific period, and it gets us through those times. I never forget the impact that they've had on me, even if they're not as rotated anymore.

My $.02.

[twentysixdollars]

Well put.

[Gruff]

I find sometimes those albums that are 'embedded' into your pysche need a much more selective and measured approach, e.g. sometimes only listen to one song in isolation