Funeral to Finish

  I was wrong. Somehow, years and years ago, I decided that Sleater-Kinney was not my thing and were overrated and I decided not to like them.  I'm not sure whether this was just a knee-jerk reaction to hearing a few songs and not giving them a chance or just being the kind of oppositional asshole I can be sometimes, but I am here today to say I was wrong, I'm sorry, and I hope Sleater-Kinney can forgive me because this album absolutely fucking rocks . This is S-K's second record and their first with drummer Janet Weiss, who I already knew from Quasi (a great and largely forgotten band that is worth a listen , but I digress), and whose drumming is absolutely essential to the sound of this album.  (This is not to diminsh the roles played by Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein, more on which later.)  Just check out "Things You Say," for example - it's not like it's super-flashy (although it is super-flashy sometimes on this album) - it's more like she kno

  There are really two different kinds of "concept albums:" one that's generally built around a theme and explores ideas within that theme, like Sgt. Pepper's and Pet Sounds (two albums about which I have thoughts, and are, I'm sure, in the top 20, so check back in a year or so), and one that actually tells a cohesive story with a plot and characters, like this one, maybe the most famous of the latter type in history. The story, which wasn't included in narrative written form anywhere with the album, goes something like this: a boy's father kills his mother's lover, after which the mother hypnotizes him, causing him to lost his sight, hearing, and speech; he retreats to an inner world and is tortured and molested by relatives; he then becomes a pinball prodigy, then regains his senses, starts a cult, which eventually fails, and again retreates to some kind of inner world.  This album came out in 1969, can you tell? Leaving the story, such as it was,

  Would I willingly select this album to put on to listen to?  Probably not.  Was it enjoyable on its own terms nevertheless?  Yes, it was.  Released in 1960, this early soul/R&B album featured a number of jazz and pop standards, along with some straight blues (like Willie Dixon's "I Just Want to Make Love to You") sprinkled in. This album brought two thoughts to mind for me: (1) music that plays under establishing shots in movies set in the early 60's; and (2) music that has been the first dance at an infinite number of weddings.  Here's an example of James's music in a movie set in the 50's (which I guess would have been impossible? But hey, so is time travel): As far as wedding dances go, there is, of course, the title track, which you've probably actually seen used at a wedding (it's #1 on this list , and is so ubiquitous that those contrarians at the New York Times did a piece called " 36 First Dance Songs That Aren't 'At Last

  Sometimes there is a great confluence of album and day of the week and it is fucking FRIDAY and the album is this, a blast of snarling New York whiteboy rap.  It is not a "smart" or "sophisticated" or "very good" album but it certainly made a statement.  Rick Rubin deserves a lot of credit for taking a hardcore band from Brooklyn and turning it into this.  This note from Wikipedia cracked me up: "It is the only album by a Jewish hip-hop act to receive 5 mics from The Source ."  Yes I suppose so! As the Beastie Boys got older and matured and turned into activists and whatnot, God bless 'em, they felt the need to repeatedly apologize for this album, which they originally wanted to title Don't Be a Faggot .  You can see why!  It's crass and crude and gleefully misogynistic.   Coolin' by the lockers getting kind of funky Me and the crew we're drinking Brass Monkey This girl walked by she gave me the eye I reached in the locker g

  In a two-year burst from 1969 to 1970 that has rarely or never been equalled in modern-day music, Creedence Clearwater Revival put out five albums, all of which yielded multiple hit songs, some of which became so elemental to the canon that they are now part of the American fabric.  This album fell about in the middle of that stretch.  Released in November 1969, three months after Green River and eight months before Cosmo's Factory , it has iconic songs like "Down on the Corner" (from whence the title comes), "Midnight Special" (by that old favorite, "Trad.," arranged by John Fogerty here) and "Fortunate Son."   "Son" is, of course, an antiwar anthem that went to #3 in December 1969, at the height of the Vietnam War, and is IMO one of the greatest songs in rock history.  Fogerty's lyrics still resonate today: Yeah, some folks inherit star-spangled eyes They send you down to war And when you ask 'em, "How much should

  After yesterday's somnambulant stroll through the morose stylings of Leonard Cohen, at least it was a breath of fresh air to get this blast of high energy dance-pop.  If you are a human who existed in the world between 1987 and, say, 1998, you are familiar with at least three to five songs on this album, which, as the follow-up to Thriller , one of the biggest albums in the history of music, was as highly anticipated as Halley's Comet.  It sold something like 25 million copies.  Not bad, Michael! As you would expect from a Jackson/Quincy Jones album, it is as slickly and tightly produced as it gets.  There is not a single breath or beat or synth bump out of place.  Right off the bat, the title track lets you know you are not in Thriller territory any more - Jackson's going for something harder-edged, to the extent that was possible for him.  Quick digression - since 1987 I have wondered why Jackson sings what sounds like "chum on" instead of "come on"

  You know why older white male music critics absolutely love Leonard Cohen?  Because they think "I could do that!  I could write some stream-of-consciousness lyrics and then croak them out without really singing to a barely-audible guitar track!"  Leonard Cohen is a dreamcatcher for old white dudes. As you may have divined, I have never understood Cohen's appeal.  I mean, I can appreciate a song like "Suzanne," the album's opener, for what it is.  It has a pleasant enough melody, if a little monotonous, and a good, sad vibe.  I also could learn to like "So Long, Marianne," which has some momentum and some verve.  Both of these songs feature female backing vocals, which might be part of why I like them because, for whatever Cohen is, a gifted and magnetic singer he is not.  Just listen to "The Stranger Song," in which he's not really singing at all, but more just like intoning. I know I'm an outlier here and Cohen is now revered a