Moondog - Moondog (1969)
While I think that this is a fantastic album, I thought that it was kind of a poor choice for the club because of how ubiquitous I consider Moondog on this type of forum, which makes discussion more difficult than talking about an album that you've heard for the first time. Plus it adds to the "club" element when we discuss something that's new to all of us except for the recommender. No offense to ISB, that's just a part of my philosophy when it comes to this kind of thing.
The album is a wonky collection of classical music with African and jazzy heartbeats. There's something about the music that's incredibly familiar (which may be because of his influence) yet very singular and foreign. I've heard it theorized that Moondog's unique approach to melody is a product of his use of brail notation, which allowed (or forced, maybe) him to look at music from a non-traditional perspective. One thing that makes this album stand out is that it's experimental despite being very optimistic music, which is unique to me at least since it seems like so many experimental artists point their focus towards darkness.
The percussion is something that should be noted, as it is made up of instruments like the Trimba, which Mr. Dog invented and played himself.
Bottom line is that this is an album that I think every serious music listener should hear and it's earned its place as a musical landmark. Even artists that directly rip Moondog off don't match up to his sound, and that's something really special. 10/10