Our Favorite Albums (271 – 280)
271. Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud [2020]
Nominated by DJ Livor Mortis of Word on the Street.
Waxahatchee frontwoman Katie Crutchfield described the album’s main themes as “addiction and codependency”. Much of Saint Cloud was inspired by her struggles with alcoholism, which came to a fore during the promotional tour for Waxahatchee’s Out in the Storm (2017), and subsequent decision to get sober. (wikipedia.org)
272. mewithoutYou – It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright [2009]
Nominated by DJ Cheshire Cat of Wonderland who says: After 11 years of constant listening, this record still gives me goosebumps. The lyrics combine Aesop-esque fables, praise of the divine, and distillations of the teachings of Sufi mystic Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. The music is so well paired with the lyrics; take for example the muffled horns on “The Fox, the Crow and the Cookie” which bubble with a rising intensity until the titular Crow explodes into self-aggrandizement. A moment later, you can marvel at the arrangement of “The Angel of Death Came to David’s Room” – the gentle strings that open with King David’s plea for an abeyance are replaced with menacing percussion and a guitar riff suggesting the inevitable tidal wave of fate that follows in the Angel’s wake. If you were to listen to any album that I’ve suggested for this list, please make it this one.
273. Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas [1965]
Nominated by DJ MTSPEN of Storytime/Motivation Nation who says: So much sentimental energy attached to this album.
274. Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam [2007]
Nominated by DJ TJ of Punkadelic.
The name Strawberry Jam came from singer and drummer Panda Bear as he and the band were on a plane headed to Greece for a show. Upon receiving his complimentary tray of food, he opened up the packet of strawberry jam that had been provided for the bread. As he removed the cover of the packet, he was drawn to the look of the glistening jam, and he expressed his desire for the production of their new album to sound like the jam looked, “that is to say, something that’s really synthetic and sharp and futuristic looking,” but also “tangy and sweet, almost in a kind of aggressive way in terms of the way it tastes”. (wikipedia.org)
275. Tedeschi Trucks Band – Everybody’s Talkin’ [2012]
Nominated by Karen Stein of Imagine who says: Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a groupie of this band. I’ve seen them at least 20 times. Derek Trucks, genius scion of the Allman Brothers, paired up with Susan Tedeschi, a powerful blues singer from Boston, and in 2010 created an unstoppable band. Great songwriting, brilliant covers, a live show you will never forget. Horns, wind, keyboard, backup singers, killer bass and drums, and then, we’ll, you’ve got Derek, a prodigy who is as modest as he is talented. Susan has one of the best sets of pipes in the business. Go see them! But if you can’t, this double album is a great substitute.
276. Leonard Cohen – Songs From A Room [1969]
Nominated by DJ Jagged Little Thrill of What the Funk & Word on the Street.
Unlike his augmented debut, Cohen’s sophomore effort is austere by comparison, with considerably less drums, and featuring a stripped-down approach that emphasize the words rather than the musical arrangements. In 2001, Cohen admitted to Sylvie Simmons of Mojo, “It’s very stark. A lot of my friends who were musical purists had castigated me for the lushness and over-production of my first record and I was determined to do a very simple album.” The sessions in Nashville began in the fall of 1968 at Columbia’s Studio A on 16th Avenue in Nashville. [Album producer] Johnston enlisted a smaller coterie of musicians than had backed Cohen on his debut album, including Ron Cornelius playing acoustic and electric guitar, Charlie Daniels playing bass, fiddle and acoustic guitar, Elkin “Bubba” Fowler contributing banjo, bass and acoustic guitar, while Johnston himself played keyboards. The album also features some prominent (if strictly ornamental) Jew’s harp. (wikipedia.org)
277. Black Sabbath – Sabotage [1975]
Nominated by Psychedelic Rick of The Psychedelicatessen.
Black Sabbath began work on their sixth album in February 1975, again in England at Morgan Studios in Willesden, London. The title Sabotage was chosen because the band were at the time being sued by their former management and felt they were being “sabotaged all the way along the line and getting punched from all sides”, according to Iommi. “It was probably the only album ever made with lawyers in the studio,” said drummer Bill Ward. Iommi credits those legal troubles for the album’s angry, heavier sound. (wikipedia.org)
278. Prince – 1999 [1982]
Nominated by DJ Lukey G of The Guest List.
1999 was Prince’s first top 10 album on the Billboard 200, peaking at number nine, and was fifth in the Billboard Year-End Albums of 1983. “1999”, a protest against nuclear proliferation, was a Billboard Hot 100 top 20 hit, peaking at number 12. It has since become one of Prince’s most recognizable compositions. (wikipedia.org)
279. David Bowie – Blackstar ★ [2016]
Nominated by Rob of Chocolate Cake who says: Bowie’s final statement. As bold as anything in an already stunning career.
280. Radiohead – The Bends [1995]
Nominated by DJ Cheshire Cat of Wonderland who says: I fell in love with Radiohead through the dystopian lens of their classic ’97 release OK Computer. Once I had devoured that, I went back to their ’95 sophomore release, The Bends. For me, time has elevated The Bends to the forefront of Radiohead’s work. The album is free of the self-imposed stylistic or conceptual restraints of the band’s later work, features solid song-writing, powerful hooks, and just the right amount of mid nineties agnst.
