Jefferson Airplane, After Bathing at Baxter's (side A)

I somehow found this quote on AllMusic.com: "this is not the album by which one should start listening to this band," and I couldn't disagree more.  1967's After Bathing at Baxter's, Airplane's third album, makes complete sense alongside anything from The United States of America to the Golden Dawn's Power Plant.  Like the Grateful Dead's Anthem of the Sun, it makes a very compelling argument that, at that time, even the most commercially viable bands could make genuinely inventive and damaged albums.  The band's excellent musicianship is manifest, though Spencer Dryden sometimes foregoes his precise drumming for subtler textures, and the guitar sound is blown out to extremes.  The compositions incorporate the blues riffs associated with Airplane, and sometimes even have recognizable choruses, but the majority of the album flows in a more linear and narrative fashion.  The sound is unimpressive for a commercial album of the late-60s—it seems that effort was focused on allowing freedom over any notion of technical mastery.  After Bathing at Baxter's is easy to overlook in the context of Airplane's less daring and inventive work, but it stands up as a genuinely original and powerful example of psychedelia's beautiful excesses.

Art Ensemble of Chicago, Live at Mandel Hall (side C)

Across its four sides, Live at Mandel Hall captures the diversity of an Art Ensemble of Chicago concert.  Parts are frenetic and resemble 60s New York energy jazz, while other sections are quiet and introspective.  Moments reminiscent of Dixieland Jazz coexist with long sections of ensemble hand-drumming that sound like a field recording.  Everything is executed with technical skill and sincere passion for what is happening, and the members' creative personalities always come through.  Live at Mandel Hall is a competent, if unspectacular, recording of a 1972 concert, though it was not released until 1974.  The side breaks in the middle of the performance, which had few pauses, can be slightly jarring.  Unfortunately, the CD, which omits the jarring side breaks, also replaces the classic and timeless needlepoint cover art with a design that lacks personality.

Ken Lauber, Contemplation (view) (side A)

1969's Contemplation (view) features a cast of amazing Nashville players who had worked with legends like Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison.  Familiar names like Wayne Moss, Kenneth Buttrey, Charlie McCoy, and Weldon Myrick contribute beautiful backing tracks to Lauber's understated songs.  When the songs grow too understated, they sometimes don't attract much attention, in part because Lauber's vocal style has limited character and emotional range.  When this understatement combines with a subtle majesty, on songs like "Undertow" and "Far Will I Travel", the results are haunting and beautiful.  While I'm  happy that Contemplation (view) was reissued on vinyl, I wish the label had invested more in mastering (the treble is a bit harsh, and the mids are too thin) rather than 180 gram vinyl.  I also don't understand the glossy finish on the cover, which was obviously not part of the original (the photos of Lauber still look great).

David Thomas & the Pedestrians, The Sound of the Sand & Other Songs of the Pedestrian (side A)

The Sound of the Sand dates from 1981, after Pere Ubu's The Art of Walking.  The strangest thing about it is its large cast.  In addition to both Pere Ubu drummers (it was made during the transition), the album involves Philip Moxham (Young Marble Giants), Richard Thompson, 2 members of Henry Cow, and the guy who played trumpet on "Got to Get You into My Life" (Eddie Thornton).  The rotating cast somehow ended up even making a song without Thomas on it for this album—an Anton Fier instrumental titled "The Crickets in the Flats".  The songs with Thomas have an almost circus-like quality—they're bouncy with energy and subtly angular melodies.  The sound is typically bright for the new wave era of the early 80s, but the bass does come through.  The cover image and design are fairly perplexing.

Eleventh Dream Day, Riot Now (side A)

I like Eleventh Dream Day most when they emphasize their more aggressive side, both through more raw mixes/production and through relying more on their faster songs.  I'm thus thrilled with Riot Now!, and not just because of the excellent painting of Matt Rizzo grocery shopping on the cover.  Where some of their albums have very pristine mixes, Riot Now! reminds me more of early '80s albums like the Gun Club's Fire of Love or the first Green on Red 12".  If anything, I wish it were a bit more polished, which works well for EDD (I do wish the vocals were a bit quieter most of the time).  Where records like Eighth rely more on mid-tempo songs, Riot Now! features a lot of faster tempos with drive and energy.

Emitt Rhodes, Emitt Rhodes (side A)

Emitt Rhodes, from 1970, is impressively consistent.  The songs, singing, and performances (all by Rhodes) are all impressive—the mundane pop-song lyrics may be the closest thing to a weakness.  Rhodes recorded this at home, though he did mix it in a studio, and the sound is generally good.  The drum hits (especially the toms) have a bit of a "splat" that might reflect an inexperienced engineer.  Also, the tambourine overdubs, presumably because of some technical limitation in the recording or transfer of basics, preserved a lot more treble than any of the basic tracks, and this was not rolled back on mix.  The front and back cover photos of Rhodes in a run-down old building are impressive—they provide a portrait of the artist which is beautiful but not overly sentimental.

The Shadow Ring, Live in U.S.A. (side A)

Live in U.S.A. is a 1997 release of a 1995 concert recording.  This tour predates Tim Goss's synthesizer work in the Shadow Ring, so Graham and Darren were backed by American musicians for this tour.  The concerts were a bit more organic and performed than the studio albums, where the 1997 tour with Tim Goss was more overtly electronic.  Live in U.S.A. features excellent performances of songs from Put the Music in its Coffin and Wax-Work Echoes (which was not completed until after this tour), along with some tracks not on any studio album.  The live recording sounds rough in a different way than the group's lo-fi studio albums sound rough—the sounds are combined more organically, even as there is not much low-end.  The simple, pasted-on cover features an image that was obviously taken after this tour happened.

Sun City Girls, Kaliflower (side A)

1994's Kaliflower includes a cross-section of many of Sun City Girls' approaches.  Frenetic guitar playing that borders on punk rock energy and volume is juxtaposed with tracks that include field recordings from Southeast Asia.  Long-winded rants set to music collide with intricate and detailed songs that seem to have grown in a non-existent culture.  Of course the sound quality is inconsistent and the mastering can be unimpressive, but Kaliflower captures the diversity and magic of three massively talented musicians.  I'm not sure which is more off-putting, the horribly clashing color scheme of the front cover or the genuinely unpleasant image.

This Kind of Punishment, A Beard of Bees (side A)

By 1984, the notion of post-punk had fragmented in many directions.  As far as these records deviated from the original impulses of punk rock, they tended to keep at least some of its extroversion and propulsion.  While A Beard of Bees reflects the influence of so many records of the early '80s, it couples them with pure notions of understatement and introversion.  The resulting album feels far less shocking in 2011, when notions of "lo-fi" feel commonplace, than it must have new, or even in 1993 when my reissue copy was made.  The songs on A Beard of Bees combine a diverse array of ideas, many of which had some association with post-punk: analog synthesizers and drum machines, vocals that cross speech with singing, and falling apart chaos all make appearances alongside electric guitars and pianos.  The simple cover design is both stark and beautiful.  The remastering and pressing job from 1993 at least preserves the distinctiveness of this primitive creation.

The Seeds, The Seeds (side A)

The Seeds are remembered as one of the heavier bands of the garage era, but by today's standards they seem a bit modest.  The tempos on 1966's The Seeds never reach a high pace (maybe in part because of the group's technical limitations as musicians) and the dynamics and timbres always remain contained.  Their ability to produce any drive is impressive given how weak some of the drum takes are.  Strangely, when the drumming actually picks up a bit in "Evil Hoodoo", they're buried by a gratuitous tambourine overdub—this droning and repetitive song, the longest on the album, hints at the Stooges' "We Will Fall" and the Swell Maps' "Harmony in Your Bathroom".  The music, while limited in propulsion, is notable for its darkness, especially in Sky Saxon's vocal delivery, and the guitar playing that occasionally falls out of line into chaos.  And I'm amused that the cover bothers to note, in a large box, the inclusion of "Pushin' Too Hard".

Gram Parsons, GP (side A)

The most prominent feature of 1973's GP is Parsons's voice.  It's mixed far out in front of the instruments, and as a result, no effort is made to fit it into the mix—his rich and thick voice is preserved and emphasized.  He's a great singer, and it sounds fabulous.  The music is well played by a set of talented sidemen, the most surprising being Barry Tashian from Boston garage rock legends the Remains.  The songwriting, which includes both originals and covers, is strong but not entirely consistent.  The front cover looks great with appropriate use of subtlety in its design.

The Beach Boys, Holland (side A)

1973's Holland reflects the chaos and diversity of the Beach Boys from this era.  "Sail On Sailor", which was a big radio hit at the time, kicks off the album with a great Blondie Chaplin vocal over an incredibly well-crafted song.  5 different songwriters are credited with contributions to this song alone.  The rest of the album sounds like radio music from its era, with an overly bright, present mix.  Instead of conventionally structured songs, however, the tracks themselves flow in a through-composed manner that seems more happened than intended.  Holland is definitely a strange record that resembles little else.  The front covers of both the album and bonus single are beautiful and confusing.

Martial Solal, Bluesine (side A)

Solal's distinctive voice in his piano playing stayed surprisingly constant between his earliest releases and 1983's solo album Bluesine.  At times, his piano is purely lyrical and beautiful.  In other places, though, without losing the beauty or pace, he breaks up time into fragments, often by using his left hand to create a counter-rhythm.  I'm less fond of the recording, which sounds too much like close-mic'ed piano strings and too little like instrument in a room—Solal's playing is about a big picture, not the microscopic sound of strings.  The front cover photo of Solal is subtle and beautiful, but the font selection makes no sense.

NRBQ, All Hopped Up (side A)

1977's All Hopped Up is a typical NRBQ album.  It combines mostly originals with a few obscure old standards, and they're a bit inconsistent overall.  Notable among the standards, Jimmy Logsdon's "I Got a Rocket in My Pocket" became a staple of NRBQ's concerts.  Al Anderson's "Ridin' in My Car', while not prominent in the group's touring repertoire, found a new life as a power-pop favorite, and was recently covered by She & Him.  I'm also fond of "Doctor's Wind", a lighter instrumental from Joey Spampinato that's atypical of the group's work.  Like so many NRBQ albums, the production of All Hopped Up has aged poorly—it tries to sound syntactically modern for 1977, rather than capturing the magic of their live performances.  Though the Q stands for quartet, the front and back cover images include members of the horn section.

dälek, from filthy tongue of gods and griots (side A)

In the early oughts, Anti-Pop Consortium may have received the most recognition for incorporating indie-rock aesthetics into hip-hop.  Where Anti-Pop focused on minimalist simplicity, dälek began to stretch hip-hop through a maximalist approach.  The densely layered rhythms of Public Enemy and the Bomb Squad were coupled with drones out of My Bloody Valentine or the Jesus and Mary Chain.  2002's from filthy tongue of gods and griots sounds neither primitive nor polished, and it definitely lacks the sterile clarity that has long been fashionable in hip-hop.  My disclaimer here is that I'm working with Chang/Still, who joined the group during the making of this album, on his new material.

Music of the Sea Ensemble, We Move Together (side A)

Perhaps from Donald Rafael Garrett's involvement with major jazz players like John Coltrane, 1971's We Move Together is often remembered as a jazz album.  In a way, it makes sense—the Sea Ensemble sometimes resemble Don Cherry's ethnic explorations, Pharoah Sanders's introspection, Sun Ra's cosmic chaos, and perhaps the Art Ensemble's work with "little instruments".  We Move Together, though, frequently lacks any pulse or hint of harmonic development.  Despite the obvious talent and experience of the players, it seems sincerely naïve and awkward, as reflected by the simple illustration on the cover.  This record is sometimes tied to the abstract folk-psych movement that sprung up in the mid-90s, and groups like Tower Recordings and even the Shadow Ring (who paid obvious homage to the "Music of the" moniker) owe a clear debt to the Sea Ensemble.

Massacre, Killing Time (side A)

The power of this high-energy group is slightly dulled by the weird sound of 1981's Killing Time, but not enough to lose the trio's impressive playing.  Frith, Laswell, and Maher weave easily in and out of each other's rhythms, without ever losing their force and drive.  The tracks are short, with ideas developing and completing quickly, before the next is unveiled in the next piece.  From the gated drums to the midrangy bass guitar, the sound is recognizably 80s and unflattering—at least the pressing quality is good.  The front cover image and back cover band photos are excellent, and they capture the group's intensity nicely.  There may be a vague political bent to the front cover, which makes sense given Frith's involvement with Henry Cow—it's hard to tell in instrumental music.

Tom Waits, Rain Dogs (side A)

In addition to being an obvious "classic", 1985's Rain Dogs feels like the definitive Tom Waits album.  It features many of his regular collaborators, including Keith Richards, and perhaps his best known song in "Downtown Train" (which was popularized by Rod Stewart).  It also covers a remarkably broad stylistic range while somehow maintaining a coherent sound and style.  The sound is interesting, coupling an obvious influence of then-popular production techniques with Waits's acoustic emphasis.  The strangest sounds are the clanging percussion splats, which are badly-compressed to sound completely unnatural even as they're obviously made by conventional collisions.  The mastering impressively captures good sound quality on very long LP sides, and the front cover image and design are iconic and classic.

DNA, DNA on DNA (side C)

The importance of DNA's fragmented art-damaged guitar rock in late-70s New York has been (appropriately) well documented, and founders Arto Lindsay and Ikue Mori remain musically active and relevant.  The 2008 reissue DNA on DNA enthusiastically collects the band's output, including many previously unreleased (and generally very strong) songs from live cassettes.  It's nice having everything in one place on vinyl, including all of the unearthed material.  The gatefold package with lots of concert flyers (including a show in Indiana with the Dancing Cigarettes) also reflects the care paid to this anthology.  The only unfortunate compromise on this reissue is the mastering job—everything sounds a bit overly present and weak in mid-range.

Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of Life (side C)

Famous and canonical records always leave the challenge of contributing anything meaningful about them.  On listening to 1976's Songs in the Key of Life, two things stand out to me.  One is how little impact the drums and bass have for a record in the soul genre.  It isn't just small sounding (if beautiful) by modern standards—it's even small sounding for 1976.  I also notice how many abstract and extended structures there are throughout the double album.  While it's remembered for hits like "Isn't She Lovely" and "Sir Duke", Songs in the Key of Life is a long and complex whole.  Finally, the packaging is really impressive, with a nice booklet (more thank you's than most hardcore records), gatefold, and bonus 7".

Insayngel, Insayngel (side A)

Calder Martin and Caitlin Cook were part of Excepter for a short time which may have been that group's strangest period.  For 2008's Insayngel, they teamed up with the Sightings' rhythm section.  The resulting collaboration is as heavy as Sightings, but less aggro and more confusing.  At times it reminds me a bit of the Scissor Girls, but Insayngel is thick and dense, where the Scissor Girls relied more on open space.  There are songs structures here, but they're unconventional and provide no hints to the listener about their flow.  The murky sound fits the music perfectly, and retains enough clarity for the performances to come through.  The simple cover design is interesting and reveals very little.

Dead Moon, Nervous Sooner Changes (side A)

Dead Moon were one of the most powerful live rock bands of their era, and their records capture that raw energy.  By recording at home, they achieved far from pristine fidelity (Nervous Sooner Changes would have really benefited from a better mastering job), but the comfort obviously brought out great performances in both instruments and vocals.  Their records were always a bit inconsistent, and they emphasized the same "hits" in live shows throughout their career.  1995's Nervous Sooner Changes might be their most consistent album, especially on side A.  The front cover photo captures the sweat-drenched magic of their live concerts.

Jon Hassell, Dream Theory in Malaya: Fourth World Volume Two (side A)

It's amazing how far Hassell's work was stretching the vague genre "ambient" in 1981.  Dream Theory in Malaya employs sounds that seem to have been cut-up and looped.  While an early AMS effect was credited on the back (and its owner was explicity thanked), it's hard to imagine how some of this palette was created without technology that is taken for granted 30 years later.  Hassell creates an incredible sense of space by relying on abstract sounds and repetition—this strategy seems obvious today, but resembles nothing else of its time.  The pressing is not great, but the record still sounds quite good thanks to an obvious attention to detail during its creation.  The cover, however, neither flatters the music nor looks appealing.

Big Flame, Two Kan Guru (10" EP)

Big Flame stretched Gang of Four/Nightingales style heavy-guitar post-punk to an even more fractured extreme.  The guitar sounds even more brittle (despite a surprisingly competent recording), the vocals are even more buried, and the lyrics are even more aggressively political.  The Two Kan Guru 10" captures the amazing performances of a band who clearly felt a strong emotional attachment to their music and lyrics, even as they made little effort to push this message to an audience—they seemed to perceive any effort to so as betraying their values.  The bright colors and strong image on the cover are perfectly attention grabbing.

Don Cherry, "mu" first part/"mu" second part (side C)

This strange Japanese double-LP combines the two more common French "mu" LPs from 1969 into a gatefold.  As is typical of Japanese jazz releases, the mastering and pressing quality is fantastic—it even masks some of the limitations of these recordings.  Over four sides, Cherry and Blackwell display the range of their playing, nearly all of it fantastic (though piano may not have been Cherry's greatest strength).  It ranges from full-blare energy jazz, similar to their work with Ornette, to more introspective and percussion-heavy pieces that remind me of Pharoah Sanders.  Blackwell can powerfully drive forward or provide a sense of texture and space where Cherry fills in colors and sustained flute.  The front and back covers of this reissue both feature images of Cherry, though Blackwell is clearly an equal partner in this duo.

The Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra, Chariots of the Gods? Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (side A)

Released in Germany in 1970 and the US in 1974, the Chariots of the Gods? soundtrack manages to combine bits of seemingly everything without sounding incongruous.  Some parts sound a bit like instrumental rock music, with guitars and a drum kit.  Others draw from a more traditional soundtrack palette, with strings and sparse percussion.  While they're a bit overly bright, the recordings are impressively consistent—it really helps to unite all of the disparate ideas.  The music is generally upbeat and engaging, and since it was made for a soundtrack, the pieces state their ideas in a concise and efficient manner.  The packaging emphasizes the contents of the film—apart from the obvious associations with its era, there is little regard for the music contained on the album.

Bee Gees, 1st (side A)

I find it easy to forget just how much 1967's Bee Gees' 1st impresses me.  The group went through a lot of stylistic changes, the debt to the Beatles is obvious, and the album is similar to the group's late-60s output.  Where albums like Horizontal and Idea are good, Bee Gees' 1st is particularly special.  The arrangements vary a lot between songs, with each one distinctive and well thought out.  The vocals and instruments are impressively recorded and mixed, with both body and space.  Even song titles reflect a lot of thought: "Criase Finton Kirk Royal Academy of the Arts" and "New York Mining Disaster 1941" are among the memorable examples.  Klaus Voormann's cover design looks great too.

U.S. Saucer, Tender Places Come from Nothing (side A)

U.S. Saucer might be best remembered for featuring Brian Hageman of Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 "fame".  1994's Tender Places Come from Nothing, their second album, reflects their uniquely reverent but still eccentric approach to country music.  The drum-less arrangements and careful vocal harmonies owe an obvious debt to classic country.  At the same time, the vocal performances and recording style are raw and purposely natural, with an obvious debt to the band's involvement with indie rock.  The playing is also both proficient and slightly awkwardly arranged.  Tender Places Come from Nothing includes both originals and creative covers, including "Silent Night" and the Beach Boys' "Hold on Dear Brother" (from Carl & the Passions/So Tough).  The recording style suits the material perfectly, and the cover design is simple and tasteful.

Mal Waldron, Moods (side C)

1978's Moods is a double-LP, evenly divided between a sextet and Waldron solo.  The sextet features regular Waldron collaborators in Steve Lacy and Cameron Brown.  The surprising part is that a third of the ensemble is Japanese, with Terumasa Hino on trumpet and Makaya Ntshoko on drums.  This half of the album combines Waldron's suspended and floating compositional style with propulsion and drive.  The sound of these tracks is overly bright.  The second half, on solo piano, provides context for the album title, as pieces include "Anxiety" and "Happiness".  Here, Waldron's suspended, slowly-evolving pieces have a lot more room to breathe.  He also brings in turns of stride piano, with a more classic rhythmic sense than is typical of his compositions.  The cover photograph and design, while beautiful and classy, have little relationship to Waldron's music.

Nine // Underground (side A)

1987's Nine // Underground collects the work of Atlanta bands between 1982 and 1985.  Other than Jarboe, none of the bands is remembered today, though they have great names like PVC Precinct, Young Schizophrenics, and Pillowtexans.  The music draws heavily from early Cabaret Voltaire, SPK, and the beginnings of the industrial genre, although the liner notes somehow reference AMM.  Analog synthesizers and delays are prominent, along with early drum machines.  Appropriated recordings of speech occasionally appear over the music.  The sound quality and packaging are both appropriately primitive.  While Nine // Underground is an obscure and forgotten regional compilation, the music stands up alongside better-remembered work in the genre.

DJ Marcelle/Another Nice Mess, Meets More Soulmates at Faust Studio Deejay Laboratory (side C)

2010's Meets More Soulmates reflects DJ Marcelle's idiosyncratic vision of a dance DJ.  There are beats here, and they morph and flow seamlessly.  The overlying music, however, is cacophonous and confusing.  She credits her samples, and the strangest might be avant-sound experimentalist Giuseppe Ielasi—any obvious techno or soul samples are consistently avoided.  The sound is a bit uneven, with occasional sub bass rumbles providing far more impact than any kick drum, and with highs that can be unnecessarily harsh.  The funny, appropriated front cover images give no hint of the contents inside.

Shrimp Boat, Speckly (side A)

Speckly reminded me how much the loosely-defined genre of indie rock has evolved since 1989.  Shambling performances and primitive recordings seem to have been common on both coasts, starting with then-prominent bands like the Thinking Felllers Union Local 282 and Uncle Wiggly.  In Chicago, though, Shrimp Boat must have stood out for following this style.  Speckly has a bit more of a rootsy, Americana influence, as they also drew from their midwestern home.  While not as diverse and jarring as early Thinking Fellers records, Speckly juxtaposes diverse styles, from driving rock songs with overly loud drums to a relatively faithful rendition of the old time standard "Shady Grove".  The cover design, which is obviously low-budget but also does not reference any punk rock antecedents, matches the music quite nicely.  And the mastering job with badly-managed high frequencies is typical of indie releases in 1989.

The Dead C, Future Aritsts (side C)

Despite the first tracking having the hilarious title "The AMM of Punk Rock", 2007's Future Artists reflects the breadth of the Dead C's work over its 4 sides.  The most prominent mode is long, slowly-evolving pieces with prominent drones.  Robbie Yeats's heavy and propulsive drumming is downplayed more often than not, with sparse percussion being common.  There are moments, though, that recall the more rock-informed period of "Sky" or "Helen Said This".  There are also moments where the drums are processed to sound more syntactically modern—these remind me more of Michael Morley's solo work than a typical Dead C track.  The recording, while still rough, achieves a higher fidelity than is associated with the classic era of the Dead C.  And the packaging, with a pattern of flowers (there's something behind the pattern, but it's hard to see) is hilarious—it lacks any text, even on the spine.

Gram Parsons, Grievous Angel (side A)

1974's Grievous Angel was Parsons's second solo album, after his time in the Byrds and Flying Burritos—it was released after his death.  The singing is of course what stands out about this album—Parsons, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt have their voices far out in front, and they all sound beautiful.  The playing is great too, from noted session players like James Burton, Bernie Leadon, and Byron Berline.  The album is beautifully recorded, though the low-end might benefit from a bit more impact.  Along with the vocals, the songwriting needs to carry an album like this, and it is consistently good, both Parsons's originals and the covers.  The truly special songs, like "Return of the Grievous Angel", do stand out from the rest of the album.  The simple cover photo of Parsons's face makes sense in light of his passing shortly before the album's release.

Joan of Arc, presents Oh Brother (side C)

Joan of Arc at this point defines a floating collection of musicians who surround leader Tim Kinsella.  After a series of relatively coherent and focused records under the name, Oh Brother is the first record to break this pattern in awhile.  In concept, it more closely resembles 2005's Guitar Duets.  Here Kinsella appears throughout, improvising with a series of changing line-ups tidily edited together.  One line-up features a large ensemble of regular JoA collaborators.  These sections appear alongside two duets (one with Robert Lowe of Lichens on electronics, the other with jazz percussionist Frank Rosaly) and a small ensemble featuring Jeff Bradbury from Need New Body.  The performances are generally recorded in primitive, lo-fi fashion.  The music emphasizes Kinsella's abstract and angular approach to guitar playing as it travels through a series of changing contexts.  The editing is both technically transparent and creatively well-executed, so it helps to unite the morphing styles.  The simple, abstract black-and-white drawings on the cover are tasteful and appropriate.