ORANGE
LOW DAVID BOWIE

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David Bowie is a music lover’s musician. The man has more diversity in his discography than a Toronto neighbourhood, and the best part is that nothing in it is terrible. The down side to this fact is that it’s almost impossible to recommend one Bowie album to someone who has not heard a full Bowie album before. There are the obvious ones: Let’s Dance, Station to Station, The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust, Hunky Dory - but for some reason, main stream media usually ignores the Berlin Trilogy, of which Low is part of. And that’s too bad, because if one is truly a music lover it is Low that they should start with.

It’s not just that Low is arguably Bowie’s most influential album, it’s that it’s his most influenced. Taking cues from German krautrock and marrying it with the glam rock he was defined by at the time, Low is a funky, sometimes disorienting, always thrilling roller coaster ride. The album’s influence is defined by the pitch enhanced drumming that to this day is regarded as one of the most important innovations in rock music. You can hear its influence all over the “80s rock sound.” Then there are the vocals. Bowie’s own are reinforced and harmonized by Iggy Pop, whose own definitive album The Idiot was recorded during the production of Low. And that’s just Side A. Side B is a completely different beast. It’s important to note that though Brian Eno did not produce the album he did co-write Warzsawa, the first song of Side B, and one can tell. It’s immediately apparent that he had something to do with the track once the dense, creepy ambiance kicks in and sets it for the remaining four tracks. For many, Side B is the best of the two sides, for it creates an unavoidably moody atmosphere that’s perfect when you’re inebriated. But arguing which of the two sides is better is literally like choosing between a pair of scissors and a garbage bin: you’ll need them both at one point.

And that’s Low, an transcendent masterpiece by a mastermind. If you have not heard it yet now’s the time.



9.6

YELLOW
SKA-MOTION IN SKA-LIP-SO THE HILTONAIRES

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I’d be surprised if anybody outside grown men and women in and from Jamaica have heard of The Hiltonaires. I’d be even more surprised if anybody outside the above camp have listened to Ska-Motion in Ska-Lip-So, an unarguably ethnic Jamaican album released in the 60s when Stereo was a big deal and production equipment outside more developed nations was barely passable.

First thing’s first: though the word Ska is all over the album’s title, this is not the saxophone heavy, frantically Sublime Ska most kids in the west have come to know and love. This is Mento music, sometimes considered Jamaican Country. No matter the genre, It may not even resonate with the youth of Jamaica anymore, and it has all to do with the production. The album is surprisingly low fidelity, with vocals often smothering beats resulting in an album that feels slightly anemic and flat. That said, Ska-Motion in Ska-Lip-So does have its moments. It’s pretty catchy at times, and the inclusion of beloved lullabies as lyrics (“London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down”) can be endearing.

Overall, Ska-Motion in Ska-Lip-So is a forgettable experience, marred first by disappointment. It’s worth a curious listen, and with the ride crowd it could work, but for all intents and purposes do stick to something more modern.


4.8

GREEN
CLOSE TO THE EDGE YES


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Yes will forever be marred by their massive hit Owner Of a Lonely Heart, which catapulted them as high on the charts as their dignity fell to the fan conjured sell-out bottom. But before that artistic disaster was Close To The Edge, an album that at first seems like an unforgiveably progressive album, judging by the impersonal album cover and 8 to 18 minute epics, but then you open the album sleeve - a colourful, avant-garde painting of waterfalls on a hill; and then you listen to the songs and realize that you do have the patience for another half-hour-or-so of this immaculately produced record.

This fact is in no small part due to Yes’s amazing ability to bring rhythms and sounds back, often enough to be familiar but not so often that one gets bored. This is key in a progressive album, for it gives an otherwise disparate track a necessary foundation. We’ve all heard bad prog before; albums with tracks so self possessed they drone without creating an immersive atmosphere, or rock with no felt end in sight, or are too psychedelic - inaccessible. Sure, prog is defined by its general inaccessibility, but bands like Pink Floyd, Genesis, King Crimson and Jethro Tull have proved that it is a vital and essential genre capable of mainstream acceptance. Yes carefully balance between both worlds (inaccessibility and listenability) during the entirety of Close To The Edge, catering to both die-hard prog fans and newcomers. This is the reason why Close To The Edge is considered a masterpiece by most.

Expect to listen to Close To The Edge from beginning to end. It’s alive with funky rhythms, powerful guitars, sometimes sobering sometimes inebriating vocals, and expect it all to create one unforgettable musical experience.



9.4

Originally Posted by music_phantom13 (Post 659369) I've got a rather good red album for you: Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped. I'm pretty sure that's red enough to qualify. I'm not really sure what type of music you're interested in but this is really a great album and I'd be interested to see you're review. Sadly, I don't have enough posts with this account to put up pictures yet :(

BLUE
NOWHERE RIDE

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Nowhere constantly makes it into any Top Shoegaze Albums list, and with good reason. In what is arguably a very limited genre wherein bands have no choice but to copy each other, Nowhere’s just a solid album that set the standard for a few of its peers, namely Chapterhouse. It’s a powerful, hook filled record that admitedly has not aged extremely well, but perhaps that’s best. By now it’s a relic of a beloved sound - it doesn’t matter if it’s not the most technically awe-inspiring shoegaze album. We already have Loveless for that.

Nowhere is gripping from the very beginning. Opener “Seagull” is so powerful it’s transcendent, so much so that no other song on the album comes close to its power. I don’t mean that other songs are not powerful, but that no song is as frantic, as thundering, or as smothering. Most of the songs that follow have emotional power, granted by pop-worthy deliveries and rhythms. The highlights are: “In A Different Place,” “Polar Bear,” “Vapour Trail,” and “Taste” - essentially the longer the track the better you can expect it to be. If there’s any criticism I can think of it’s directed at the album’s relative forgettability. If you aren’t already a shoegaze fan, or if you aren’t paying attention to it as you listen, then its sound, its subtle vocal delivery, will melt and blend into itself and shy away into the background. After “Seagull,” there isn’t a song that really pushes itself. This grants Nowhere the title of a shoegaze lover’s album, traded for its ability to be a newbie’s first beloved album.

But who are we kidding? Everyone who listens to Nowhere is already a shoegaze fan.

VAPOUR TRAIL


8.7