Lots of guitar and art rock below, though lots of good uses of electronics, too. Lots of comfort music (in these times).
And RIP Art Neville. The Meters are one of THE bands for me.
The Muppet Movie Soundtrack, the first record I remember turns 40. Still love it.
Black Sabbath (1970)
Paranoid (1970)
Master of Reality (1971)
Vol. 4 (1972)
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)
Sabotage (1975)
Technical Ecstasy (1976)
Never Say Die! (1978)
I’m just getting to that last one, but I never realized that Sabbath put out that much material, much of it iconic, in the first five years. I like learning the bass and guitar riffs–it’s always been about the riffs–but what’s struck me listening to the material this time is Bill Ward’s drumming and the kind of feel he gets on songs like “Snowblind.”
Camel: The Snow Goose (1975)
Gentlemanly prog. Sometimes reminds me of Popol Vuh. I find them at times weirdly unhip, but enchanting. “La Princesse Perdue“–a well-behaved epic.
Devo: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978)
One of the first bands I cared about. Debut album. Still great, and I like their version of “Satisfaction” better than the original. Always have.
U.S. Maple: Acre Thrills (2001)
Unpredictable rock-n-roll. Post-rock in the sense that the band removes a lot of the cliches of the genre and what most people probably love about it. No middle ground on this one. I’ve had “Open a Rose” in my head for weeks.
Julia Holter: Aviary (2018)
This may be one of my favorite records ever. It’s gorgeous, but dense, in a good way–there’s a lot to process. I don’t know. It took me about six months just to listen to it the first time all the way through. I’m hoping to write a larger piece on it soon. Right now the only way I can describe some of it is as having sensibilities of Robert Wyatt or Velvet Underground, but that’s not right either. I love this video, and I hope that Don’t Look Now (1973) was a partial inspiration.
Palm: Rock Island (2018)
Currently writing a longer piece on this album. Post-rock pop? Whatever–I like it.
Flying Lotus: “More” (featuring Anderson .Paak)
I only came to Flying Lotus after seeing his movie Kuso (2017), a wonderful apocalyptic gross-out. I haven’t been able to finish listening to his new album Flamagra (2019), but I love the linked track and video (the rhythm section/programming kills) directed by Shinichirō Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop fame.
Stephen McClurg 