#213: Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club (1997)

Zack: I have been subconsciously trying to get Emily to pick a World album that doesn’t have some Latin flair for a while now. As you’ve probably guessed from the title of this entry, I’ve failed miserably. I’m sorry, but I’m getting tired of every 20 albums or so listening to something that’s supposed to be way different than what we’ve been doing, except it ends up being the same thing every time. Luckily, this is not one of those albums. Cuban music clearly is very distinct from any salsa or tango influences, and I really appreciated that. This album was inspired by a Cuban music club that ruled the land in the '40s and '50s, which I thought really showed. This album kind of reminded me a little bit of the Sinatra and Jobim album, which is sort of racist since Antonio Jobim was Brazilian and that album came out in 1967. But I know what I heard, and you can’t take that away from me. Anyway, this album was a nice change of pace thing to relax to. I wish it wasn’t the full hour because I thought it really died down in the middle but it certainly wasn’t a repeat of Tito Puente like I feared.

Favorite Tracks: Chan Chan; Candela; Buena Vista Social Club

Emily: I originally selected this album because I thought it was the album with the Macarena, and I was all prepared to tell a childhood story about doing the Macarena with my family in the living room to a cassette tape that we probably still have somewhere. Alas, my one-hit wonder knowledge escaped me at the time, and it turns out that this album does not possess the Macarena (that's Los Del Rio, as I now remember) nor anything even close. Buena Vista Social Club is a compilation of multiple Cuban musicians bringing back a style of music that was popular in Cuban clubs of the '40s and '50s. The sound is kind of a combo of Latin and jazz, but it wasn't Latin jazz. My roommate summed it up best when she popped her head into my room and said the music sounded like what you'd hear while relaxing on a Caribbean beach with a tropical drink in hand. Well, perhaps we can't go to Cuba, but we definitely can turn up Buena Vista Social Club and pretend.

Favorite Tracks: El Carretero; Candela; El Cuarto de Tula

#212: The Doors - LA Woman (1971)

Zack: I’ve been meaning to get into The Doors forever, but never really had enough motivation. That feels weird to say, being such a huge Hendrix and Pink Floyd fan, as well as a moderate Joplin and Jefferson Airplane enthusiast. I feel like this should have happened a lot sooner, but here we are. L.A. Woman is the first Doors album I’ve ever listened to, and I was really impressed. It had that bluesy feel that I love so much but was also just pretty heavy and psychedelic. I was enamored by this album and can already guarantee multiple listens. What I’m also pretty excited for is to delve into the rest of their discography. That’s been a minor subplot to this whole adventure. If I like a band from listening to a list-worthy album, I’m usually quick to obtain and devour the rest of their discography, or at least what’s not on the list. I went right through The Flaming Lips (except Soft Bulletin, which I’ve heard almost every song off of because of Pandora at this point) and Joy Division from way back when and have dipped my toes into extra Bowie, Neil Young and Pixies. I’m now an avid Johnny Cash fan and can’t wait to listen to San Quentin. It’s always a gamble because the albums that didn’t make the list usually fell short for a reason, but I have a good feeling about Strange Days, Soft Parade and Waiting for the Sun. So when either Morrison Hotel or The Doors rolls around, you can bet I’ll be a much more informed Doors fan.

Favorite Tracks: Changeling; Crawling King Snake; Cars Hiss by My Window

Emily: The Doors are a legendary classic rock band, but if you had asked me what I thought of them before about an hour ago, I would probably hum in a perplexed fashion and ultimately admit that all I really knew about them was that when America's Next Top Model was in Paris two of the girls went to visit Jim Morrison's grave and dramz ensued because the other two girls wanted to go shopping or something. Luckily, I am substantially more informed now that I have listened to LA Woman. This is the last album that Morrison recorded with the band before his death and consequent membership in the "27 Club." So I'm working backwards here, but as a later album I'll conjecture that LA Woman showcases the developed Doors sound. It's bluesy and rock and psychedelic, but put together in a unique way with Morrison's vocal prowess. As we continue through the list and come across The Doors again, I hope we continue to move backwards in the band's discography. I'm curious to see how this evolution of heavy blues psychedelia came to be.

Favorite Tracks: L'America; LA Woman; Been Down So Long

#211: The Lemonheads - It's a Shame About Ray (1992)

Emily: Last week's episode of Girls aired early on HBO Go, so Zack and I watched it on Thursday night instead of the typical Sunday. The episode, oddly enough, was titled "It's a Shame About Ray." It's fitting, considering we found out that Ray (a recurring character, and now Shoshanna's boyfriend) is essentially homeless. A shame, indeed. The very next day, Zack emailed me a list of prospective albums for our next blog excursions. The very first one listed was The Lemonheads' It's a Shame About Ray. I immediately made the connection between the album and the episode title and selected it to be #211 precisely for that reason. The band name seemed vaguely familiar, but I wasn't exactly sure why. Were they featured in a Girls episode? Probs not, but even if they were that wouldn't explain the name recognition. As I listened to the album, I didn't recognize a single song, but I could tell that this was my kind of music. I'm always drawn to early-'90s alternative, college-radio kind of stuff, and this album fits the bill exactly. There's some pop, some guitar, some angry drums, and a good helping of early-adulthood angst. I was a fan all the way through, and upon hearing the last track I finally realized where I knew The Lemonheads from. The last track (actually a bonus not included on the original pressing) is a cover of Mrs. Robinson that plays relatively frequently on Radio 104.5. Aha! Mystery solved, and another awesome album has been added to my personal listening library.

Favorite Tracks: Alison's Starting to Happen; Rudderless; It's a Shame About Ray

Zack: Listening to various pieces of foundational alternative rock is kind of fascinating. You can see where certain bands branch off of and all the various influences. If you blur in punk and grunge and a few other notable subgenres, the web becomes almost infinitely expanding. There wouldn’t be a Coldplay without a U2. TV on the Radio, with all of their looping, wouldn’t have existed if not for Radiohead. Pixies and R.E.M. single-handedly created like a billion bands. Weezer made emo music. The list goes on. Now I don’t know the entirety of early '90s rock, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the Lemonheads spawned Fountains of Wayne, Death Cab for Cutie, Franz Ferdinand and a hell of a lot more than that. Internet capabilities are down across campus currently, so I can’t fact check that. Hell, I probably wouldn’t even if I could. But you listen to this album and you just hear that semi-poppy, still a bit melancholy tone. They switch up that formula by incorporating other genres into it – there’s even a country-esque jam – but the overall idea stays the same. And that idea would later be remodeled by like several boatloads of bands. So here’s to Lemonheads, one of the most influential alternative bands I’d never heard of.

Favorite Tracks: Rudderless; Alison’s Starting to Happen; It’s a Shame About Ray

#210: The Grateful Dead - American Beauty (1970)

Emily: I have been exposed to the Grateful Dead since I was a very small child. My aunt was and is a major Deadhead. She was too young to be a fan their first time around, during their Woodstock heyday and also when this album came out, but she was a neo-hippie in college during the early '80s. She loves tie-dye and folk festivals, has posters in her house of old concerts and dancing bear bumper stickers on her car, followed the Grateful Dead around for a few summers back in the day, and will still go see the (no-longer-Grateful) Dead with her college friends when they come through the area. She even danced onstage with Jerry Garcia, and told me that she has other stories from that time that she wouldn't tell me in front of my mom and grandma - can't wait to hear those. Yep, she's definitely the cool aunt. Her kids have absolutely rejected the Grateful Dead, after having it infused throughout all of their early childhoods - framed dancing bear pictures in their bedrooms and all. However, I have never really listened to them until today. I knew Truckin, but only because that was their family's candlelighting song at my bat mitzvah (and the only Grateful Dead song my mom could think of). So, I was glad to finally be exposed to the band my aunt has absolutely loved for more than half of her life. American Beauty is hippie music incarnate. It's folky, but also a little country and definitely made for epically long, drug-induced on-stage jams. This is the kind of music that inspires summers spent following a tour bus throughout the country, and now I (kinda) get why my aunt did it.
Favorite Tracks: Friend of the Devil; Truckin; Ripple

Zack: My first Grateful Dead exposure was due to two of my cross country teammates who were huge Dead Heads. I distinctly remember them going to a Grateful Dead tribute band concert, if that’s any indication. They caught my interest, so I snatched my dad’s copy of Terrapin Station one day and gave it a listen. Unimpressed. I like jam bands and all – HUGE Allman Brothers fan – but it just seemed to drone on and on. Perhaps that will happen with Live/Dead, but this studio album had that signature Dead sound while also being really tight sonically. The songs are all about standard length, but they compressed a lot into those few short minutes. You can see how it would work if certain sections were expanded into freestyling solos, especially the guitar work because Jerry Garcia seems to have kept it quite understated here. Overall, I thought this album was a great example of a band understanding that sometimes trying to capture the live experience in the studio isn’t the best way to go about it, and instead seeking to record the best studio album they could. The Dead hit the nail on the head with that goal and the product is one amazing album here. Sidenote: I’ve always thought the Grateful Dead was the greatest band name ever. That has to count for something.

Favorite Tracks: Candyman; Box of Rain; Truckin’

#209: Massive Attack - Protection (1994)

Zack: The electronic genre is probably the most hit-or-miss, narrowly edging out country. Some albums are just screechy and repetitive. Others are able to incorporate interesting sounds and rhythms in a way that moves past some of the limitations that prevent traditional rock listeners from embracing the genre. If there was ever an example, this would be it. Protection threw everything in the mix. There was hip-hop, R&B, a cover of Light My Fire, just about everything you could ask. But it was still undeniably an electronic album. It had a bit of that chillout vibe that I loved so much from Air a while back, but it was not as relaxed. Instead, it relied on its diverse sounds to power it through. It was a really solid album overall, and one that definitely helps get the taste of the more forgettable ones off the palette.

Favorite Tracks: Shy; Protection; Three

Emily: We've had a streak of a few subdued albums, all of which I may or may not remember come next month or so. However, while they're all fresh in my mind, I've noticed that they all take on the subdued, quiet sound in different ways - ambient post-punk, heartfelt folk, and here we have chillout, laid-back electronic. On the scale of electronic music from ambient to screech, Massive Attack fell more on the former side. Surprising, too, considering their punk-sounding name. There's a lot going on, but in an interesting way that can both stand out or blend into the background depending on the song - or even the moment. One song I couldn't ignore was the cover of Light My Fire. It was an unexpected, unique, and well-executed take on a classic song that is difficult to replicate or renew. I know we have more Massive Attack coming up, and I'm curious to see where they draw from next time.

Favorite Tracks: Light My Fire; Weather Storm; Spying Glass

#208: David Gray - White Ladder (1998)

Zack: The fact that this album is connected with Dave Matthews, even if it was just rereleased on his label, hurts me so deeply. It is just so fantastic. It’s definitely folksy, but there are just enough hints of rock and pop influences that it stands out as something special. That special something may just be because I recognized one of the songs from an episode of Scrubs, but I think there is something deeper going on. The rest of the album is equally awe inspiring. It’s the kind of music that works for almost any occasion. I could drive to this. I could write to this (I’m actually relistening to it while I write this, so I can verify that it does work). I could cook a delicious feast to this. I could cut open a tauntaun to this. I could work in a hospital and get into whacky hijinks to this. It can enhance anything, regardless of your mood or activity.

Favorite Tracks: Please Forgive Me; Sail Away; My Oh My

Emily: My progress of listening to this album was a journey. Once again, I was on a bus, but this time heading home. I had woken up to catch said bus at 5:30, drifted in and out of sleep for about 2 hours, and eventually sat up groggy and thought that it was a great time to work on blogging. Fun fact: it wasn't. In my hungry, half-asleep, stuck-in-a-bus-seat state, I was unprepared for an understated folk album. For the first few songs, I could not get into it. I thought it was slow, uncreative, and just mediocre. Once I made it about halfway through, though, I really started to enjoy White Ladder. Maybe it was because I had eaten some pretzels, maybe the caffeine from my rest-stop coffee had started to kick in, or maybe the second half was simply better than the first. What seemed boring in the early tracks became simple and sweet, allowing the vocals to shine through with a bit of rock edge. Whatever it was that changed my perspective, I need to give the modern folk sounds of David Gray another chance - perhaps the whole album really is as good as the second half alone.

Favorite Tracks: Nightblindness; Sail Away; White Ladder

#207: Cocteau Twins - Treasure (1984)

Emily: This album really fit with the surroundings in which I listened to it, a phenomenon that doesn't always happen. I was on a bus driving down the PA Turnpike with its seemingly endless parade of trees. Treasure's calm ambiance fit the environment outside my windows quite nicely - and suitably drowned out the muted dubstep seeping out of my seatmate's headphones. At its best points, this album seemed like the music of a dark ballet. It's beautiful, but with some sinister undertones that set it apart. Each track is named after a person, which leads me to wonder if the sinisterness is directed at them. Alas, I had no Wikipedia on the bus, so I remained content with the black ballet of these lovers/friends/enemies/strangers dancing in my head.
Favorite Tracks: Beatrix; Persephone; Cicely

Zack: Seriously this is bullshit. Another album by a band known for their “signature ethereality,” but at least this time there was like 4 days in between when I made that playlist and when I listened to it. Anyway, this album is kind of hilariously dated. It may not have synths, but everything else about it is perfectly in line with 1984. The production values alone sound almost 30 years old, which isn’t always a bad thing but in this instance was pretty distracting. The music itself was alright. Pretty ambient, a hint of all those bands that we listen to that sound exactly the same but different enough that I didn’t really mind it. I’m even vaguely looking forward to listening to the next Cocteau Twins album.

Favorite Tracks: Persephone; Beatrix; Donimo