Low was such a fantastic band. Ideal Friday night music. I cried when Mimi Parker passed away 3 1/2 yrs ago. They never stopped exploring. Double Negative (esp. the song Fly) helped me when my dad nearly died. Hey What was my fav LP of 2021. But Things We Lost in the Fire remains their masterpiece.
Listening to Stevie Ray is a bit like listening to Hendrix for me. Can't really explain it in words. Kind of a transcending experience. Even if this album is prob not his best work (Texas Flood + In Step are his masterworks, IMO) there's plenty of good stuff, incl his version of Jimi's Voodoo Chile.
Rainy weekends make me want to listen to Billie Holiday (yeah, possibly because of the song Gloomy Sunday). Especially, the final album she released during her lifetime, the poignant Lady in Satin. Her voice is frayed, deeply weathered, ravaged by years of addiction. An unsettling but rewarding LP.
I must admit, that, like Radiohead's Kid A, at 1st, I didn't like Portishead's Third. It was so different. More Can than Massive Attack. It's complex and the more you listen to it, the more it reveals itself. Now it's my fav LP of the band. The Silver Apples-inspired We Carry On amazes me ev. time.
While I firmly believe that Mezzanine is Massive Attack's overall best work, Blue Lines remains a groundbreaking masterpiece. It always brings me back to my graphic design class in 1999. The girl sitting in front of me was listening to it. Nonstop. So I knew it by heart. An electronic music classic.
Crossroads was the perfect follow-up to Tracy's stunning debut. While it didn't sell as many copies, it's quite impressive and retains many of the same musical ingredients w/ a more ambitious, reflective, darker tone. Freedom Now, Material World + especially Subcity are more relevant now than ever.
In a little less than 3 months I'm going to see Rush live. Or, shall I say, Rush 2.0. To remind me of the good old days. Peter Collins knew what to do to make the band sound good on record. Power Windows may have keyboards but the prod's top-notch. Marathon, Middletown Dreams are tunes I really dig.
Surf's Up. A few yrs ago, I got my hands on the Boys' Feel Flows box set and totally rediscovered my 2nd fav era of the band (right after the Pet Sounds/Smile era). The early 70s were a very creative period for the Boys. 'Til I Die. Title track. I mean, not quite as iconic as PS but a delightful LP.
Yesterday, I listened to On the Beach... on the beach. Fabulous experience. Some people I know dismiss this album but IMO, it's the peak of Young's "Ditch" Trilogy. 3 out of the 8 tunes have the word "blues" in their titles but it's not a blues record. It's a harrowing, personal rock tour-de-force.
Between the "classic lineup" Mac LPs Rumours and the 1975 "White Album With The Weird Cover", I've always preferred the latter. It's less polished and formulaic. A lot fresher and overall exciting, IMHO. Rhiannon. Landslide. Monday Morning. Over My Head. I'm So Afraid. Can't go wrong with that.
