The #1001OtherAlbums index is finished!!! It only took me 3 months, lol. :blobcatsipsweat:
My question is: was no one pressing records in 1966? There's only one album in our list from that year (Alton Ellis) and it's not even a full album, it's a compilation that includes some singles released in '66.
We’re still on a break from posting spotlights on albums from our 1001 Other Albums list, but I’m stressed and sad, and therefore I need a little list-making therapy. And so, in honor of the late great Steve Albini who suddenly left us this week, here is a (possibly incomplete) list of the albums from The List that he had a part in, in one way or another:
I think those make a nice little tribute playlist to keep us going for a bit. And, if you want to look up more, here is a (likely very incomplete) list of other bands/artists on The List that Albini worked with, on albums of theirs not on The List: Ben Frost, Cheap Trick, Don Caballero, Esben and the Witch, Fugazi, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Gogol Bordello, Jim O’Rourke, Jimmy Page, Joanna Newsom, Low, Manic Street Preachers, Mogwai, Nine Inch Nails, Pussy Galore, Richard Youngs, Robert Plant, Songs: Ohia, The Ex, The Stooges, and Yonatan Gat.
Feel free to share your favorite Albini-ed album below (and, if it’s not already in The List, let me know if you want me to add it).
Our 1001 Other Albums project is now 3 months old! I’ll be taking a break for the rest of May, but, in the meantime, here’s a recap of all the nerdy stuff that’s happened:
The List has over 1030 albums from over 115 countries/places/peoples, submitted by ~115 contributors! Since around 10% of The List is also on the “official” list (indicated with *), submissions are still being excepted…until we actually hit 1001 other albums.
An alphabetical and numbered version of The List now lives on the blog (because, yes, Discogs’ list function is still broken.) The numbered version includes which Mastodonian submitted the album, as well as genre tags, notes, and links.
An Index is being worked on, is just over half done. It is organized by artist, country/place/peoples, contributor, year, and decade.
A Links page has been added that points to some really cool blogs, websites, and other online places that are dedicated to excellent music, with Mastodon handles included where available.
On the main page of the blog, we’ve posted spotlights on 35 albums from The List so far, written/provided by a group of 10 contributors. The idea is to have a spotlight on every album in The List! Guest posts of any sort (regular review, art, or something else creative) are always welcome (just email to johnmastodon@1001otheralbums.com).
The blog can be followed directly on Mastodon (at @1001otheralbums.com@1001otheralbums.com)! It’s not perfect as it’s not a normal Mastodon account that can follow people back or reply to comments, and alt-text for images doesn’t carry over (boo!), but blog posts get automatically cross-posted there (and the hashtags work!). So far we have over 90 lovely Mastodonians following (in addition to nearly 600[!] visitors to the blog).
My work schedule for the rest of May means I’ll have to take a break from writing and posting new spotlights for a bit. If you want to send in a guest post during the break, please do (just email to johnmastodon@1001otheralbums.com)! Otherwise, I’ll resume posting in June.
Like many other music and vinyl nerds, one of my favorite novels is Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity, one of my favorite movies is High Fidelity, and one of my favorite TV series is – that’s right – High Fidelity. I feel like most of us nerds (and our 1001 Other Albums project as a whole) would identify somewhere on the spectrum between HF characters Rob, Dick, and Barry:
Rob: Mostly keeps their musical tastes to themselves, recommendations are more references or internal/autobiographical monologues, essentially shared out loud only with those they are (or want to get) close to (or, you know, co-workers).
Dick: Politely makes recommendations (and copies on tape), but only if they think the other person is cool enough to also get it.
Barry: Loudly shares their very strong opinions about the music they think everyone should like, with everyone they meet.
If you’ve followed all three iterations of HF,* perhaps you have already caught this, but (in this essay I will argue that) the HF franchise channels the entire Rob-Dick-Barry spectrum in its slow but steady campaign over the last 30 years to get us all to listen to one particular album: I Can’t Stand The Rain by Ann Peebles, number 772 on The List (submitted by @puffer).
Exhibit A, High Fidelity (1995)
The first instance of HF‘s Peebles campaign is in this description of Barry, working the Saturday crowd at the record store:
“Barry…simply bulldozes customers into submission. He rubbishes them because they don’t own the first Jesus and Mary Chain album, and they buy it, and he laughs at them because they don’t own Blonde on Blonde, so they buy that, and he explodes in disbelief when they tell him that they have never heard of Ann Peebles, and then they buy something of hers, too.”
pg. 97
I will be the first to say you should never automatically equate a fictional character or any particular element of that character with the author (indeed, in my former life, my entire academic output focused on that point). So, since there isn’t a narrator named Nick Hornby breaking the fourth wall or anything in the book, we cannot say that Barry’s musical tastes in HF are necessarily Hornby’s, and we cannot say that Barry’s musical tastes are a key message of HF as a whole. To this extent, with the first iteration of HF, Hornby/HF is channelling the Rob side of the spectrum with the reference. Is Hornby/HF personally recommending Ann Peebles? Maybe, but you’d probably have to be in a relationship with them first to find out.
Exhibit B,High Fidelity(2000)
Cut to the same Saturday scene, in the movie adaptation. Jack Black as Barry doesn’t include Ann Peebles in his tirade on the poor customer, leaving us to wonder if poor Ann has been downgraded for the American audience (the customer is left holding a giant stack of records the Barry throws at him so perhaps we could image she is in there somewhere, but she isn’t mentioned in the script either):
Barry: “[The Jesus and Mary Chain] always seemed what? They always seemed really great is what they always seemed. They picked up where your precious Echo left off and you’re sitting around complaining about no more Echo albums. I can’t believe you don’t own this fucking record, that’s insane! Jesus!…
…You don’t have it? That is perverse! Don’t tell anybody you don’t own fucking Blonde on Blonde. It’s gonna be okay.”
…BUT! Previous to this scene in the movie, playing in the store when Barry is making fun of the customer who wants to buy his daughter a copy of “I Just Called To Say I Love You”, is none other than the title track of I Can’t Stand The Rain. In my mind at least, this bumps up the Ann Peebles nod from a general recommendation coming just from a character to a specific recommendation coming from the movie as a whole, especially when juxtaposed to a song deemed “sentimental tacky crap” that they don’t bother keeping in stock. Even the fact that “I Can’t Stand The Rain” isn’t in the official released soundtrack, “just in the background somewhere”, seems like a very Dick move – if you’re cool enough to have caught it, HF the movie is politely recommending you listen to Ann Peebles.
Exhibit C, High Fidelity (2020)
And THEN, we get to the TV adaptation. First of all, if you’re a fan of the book and/or movie and haven’t yet seen the show, you MUST. It’s absolutely fantastic, and an absolute crime that it was cancelled after one season. For me, the show may even eventually supersede the other two versions, we’ll see.
Anyway, in the show, the character of Barry becomes Cherise, brilliantly played by the comedic genius that is Da’Vine Joy Randolph. And in her version of the Saturday scene (which appears in episode 6), we again don’t get Ann Peebles:
Cherise: “You’re fuckin’ killing me. Like, like, no disrespect but where have you been your entire life. How do you not own Stop Making Sense? That’s crazy! That’s like not owning Blonde or fucking Blonde on Blonde, you know what I’m sayin’?”
Customer: “Uh…”
Cherise: “Damn, man, let me get you right. You got some Fleetwood Mac – one of those. Let’s see what else…let’s see…Ohhhhh, shit! Paul’s Boutique, motherfucker! All right. Now I have taken you on this journey, and I think you done some fine-ass work. No, no, no, thank me later.”
So, where’s Ann at? Well, in fact, in the very first episode. In particular, the episode’s last scene, the scene that really made me fall in love with Zoë Kravitz as Rob and made me certain the rest of the show was going to be awesome. It’s simply Rob, at home, being Rob, listening to music because she was miserable (or, was she miserable because she was listening to music?). She takes a record from a tall stack, says “Thank you, Ann Peebles,” and puts the record on. The first track then plays out the final two minutes of the episode, the camera on Rob as she sits and enjoys the music, credits roll. Perfection.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE, for in the show’s https://www.discogs.com/master/2034367-Various-High-Fidelity-A-Hulu-Original, Ann Peebles is right there front and center: side one, track one. HF the show, essentially channelling the Barry end of the spectrum, couldn’t make the recommendation more obvious than that (other than, of course, outright saying “I can’t believe you don’t own this fucking record, that’s insane! Jesus!”). If you missed the quick reference in the book and then also missed the cool background music in the movie, HF the show makes damn sure you don’t miss the Ann Peebles recommendation this time around.
So, y’all, I have taken you on this journey, and I think you done some fine-ass work. Make sure you listen to this record, then thank puffer later. (And, after you do, let us know your top five records to play on a wet Monday morning.)
[Alt text for accompanying image: The album cover artwork is a photo of the artist in profile, with her left hand against the side of her face. The artist’s name and album name are in white font along the top, and the background is dark/black.]
All right, y’all know the drill by now. Continuing our (kinda sorta) Prince-themed 6 Degrees series, connecting albums from The List and carrying on from where we left off last time. This is essentially a guest post as avi_miller provided the connections for the last four albums in this set, so a big thank you to them!
Robert Fripp – (971)
…this album by Robert Fripp, who was in…
King Crimson – (568)
…King Crimson. The line-up at the time of this album included Bill Bruford on drums/percussion, who had previously been the drummer for…
Yes – (527)
…Yes. This album was recorded at Advision Studios, where part of…
Kate Bush – (576)
…this album by Kate Bush was also recorded. This album features Jimmy Bain on bass guitar, who also played bass on…
Some fun connections between this group of artists and The Purple One. Let me know in the comments if you know of any others!
In 1990, Prince invited Kate Bush to meet him after a show, and they decided to collaborate. The two couldn’t again get in the same room, so “Why Should I Love You?” (released on Bush’s 1993 album The Red Shoes) took 2 years to create (or, rather, construct, then deconstruct, then reconstruct…) by sending tapes back and forth.
Kate Bush does backing vocals on Prince’s “My Computer“, from his 1996 album, Emancipation.
The soundtrack to the 1995 film Showgirls features two Prince songs (The Gold Experience‘s “319” and Crystal Ball‘s “Ripopgodezippa”) as well as David Bowie’s “I’m Afraid of Americans”, which was co-written by Brian Eno.
Both Prince’s Purple Rain and Brian Eno’s Another Green World have inspired custom perfumes made by dublab that are supposedly meant to, umm, smell like them (like the albums, not the musicians).
Both Prince and Ritchie Blackmore, guitarist and leader of the band Rainbow, are known as two of the greatest guitarists of all time, and both loved to break out lengthy but spectacular solos. On Rolling Stone‘s 2023 list of the top 250 guitarists, Prince ranked at number 14, and Blackmore at 75. (There are actually a ton of artists from The List on Rolling Stone‘s list, because we have great taste.)
Prince and Ronnie James Dio (the singer for Rainbow at the time of the Rainbow Rising album) both packed an enormous amount of talent in a smaller frame – the two were nearly the same height (with or without their fabulous high heels). (And speaking of fashion, some of Dio’s stage outfits wouldn’t look too out of place on Prince, and vice versa.)
Tune in on Friday for Part 6, to see how we get from Rainbow to Madhouse!
Our next spotlight is on number 2 from The List, submitted by MetalheadDana.
Tanya Tagaq is a woman of immense talent. She’s the bestselling author of Split Tooth, a stunning piece of fiction/memoir set in 1970s Nunavut, written in both poetry and prose. Her English/Inuktitut picture book for children, It Bears Repeating, is set to come out in August this year. She’s an activist and overall exceptional human being, not afraid to speak her mind and call people, corporations, and governments out for the crimes they have committed against her people, others, and the environment. She co-directed and -wrote the documentary Ever Deadly, about her own life and career. And, more recently, she’s an actor, appearing in season 4 of True Detective, which she also provided the soundtrack for.
Which brings us to what she’s most known for, and why we’re here. Tanya Tagaq – often performing under the name “Tagaq” – is an award-winning experimental musician and composer, combining Inuit throat singing with improvisational vocals and various backdrops such as avant-garde classical violin, jazz, electronic beats, or nothing else at all. She’s collaborated with artists such as the Kronos Quartet, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Björk. While she often performs at folk festivals, Tagaq’s music is truly the most metal thing you could possibly hear.
The first I heard Tagaq’s voice was on the first track of Björk’s 2004 vocal album and utter masterpiece, Medúlla. From day 1, Medúlla was instantly my favorite Björk album, not in small part due to Tagaq’s incredible guest vocals (especially on the track “Ancestors”, which reappears on Tagaq’s first LP, the 2005 Sinaa, co-produced by Björk). It would be nearly 10 years before we (myself and MetalheadDana) finally got to see Tagaq live, in an old movie theatre, improvising a soundtrack to the 1922 silent film Nanook of the North with the film playing on the screen behind. There we picked up copies of Sinaa and the 2008 Aux / Blood (or ᐊᐅᒃ, in Inuktitut syllabics). We got to chat with her for a few minutes while she signed our CDs, and she was giddy to mention that she was thinking about doing some covers for future albums, Pixies’ “Caribou” and possibly also some Iron Maiden. Soon after that performance, she released the 2014 Animism (which we’ll come back to another day since it also appears on The List).
While I typically listen to Tagaq’s later work, going back to Aux / Blood, I think this is perhaps her most accessible album in her discography. If you’re not familiar with Tagaq’s gripping music and/or Inuit throat singing in general, this is a great introduction. Fans of Faith No More will be happy to pick out Mike Patton’s guest vocals on the album. And, for Canadian folks from Edmonton/Calgary/Vancouver, make sure you check out “Force”, “Burst”, and “Construction”, which feature the brilliant beat-boxer Shamik (also of Too Attached, Shamik’s duo with his sister – another woman of immense talent – Vivek Shraya; the duo has also performed alongside Tagaq).
A call to anyone who's been participating in our #1001OtherAlbums project, whether you've added to the list or are finding albums via the list:
The plan is to have a blog post featuring each album on the list. If anyone wants to guest write a post on any of the albums - whether you submitted it or are hearing it for the first time - please let me know! Otherwise I'll start picking random albums to feature (and I might not personally have much to say about some). :idle:
For the first album spotlight, I had every intention of going with our very first submission. However, as we learned this morning that the brilliant Damo Suzuki has left us, we’re going to take a look at number 245 on The List, CAN’s 1972 masterpiece, Ege Bamyasi, submitted by myself (Mastodon handle: buffyleigh).
CAN, an experimental German band that is considered a pioneer of the “Krautrock” (or kosmische Musik) scene, had a number of different vocalists over its 20 (or 30?)+ year run. Suzuki was perhaps the band’s most well-known vocalist, if not their most beloved. While the previous album and first to feature Suzuki, Tago Mago, is heralded by many to be CAN’s best, Ege Bamyasi was my personal introduction to the band.
In particular, the first time I knowingly ever heard CAN was via the incredibly catchy song “Vitamin C”, featured in Baz Luhrmann’s short-lived Netflix musical drama, The Get Down (2016-7). The funky beat and Suzuki’s arresting way of singing made the song stick in my head for days, until I finally tracked it down. I immediately ordered a copy of Ege Bamyasi on vinyl, and it’s since been one of my most played albums.
In honor of Damo Suzuki, give Ege Bamyasi – or Tago Mago and/or Future Days (his final album with CAN) – a spin. A live album that features one of the last shows Suzuki played with the band is also set to come out later this month, so keep an ear open for that one.
Calling all #music fans! 📢 (Un)inspired by the non-comprehensiveness of the #1001Albums You Must Hear Before You Die list, we're making a Mastodonian 1001 Albums list! 📝
Tell me THE album(s) you think everyone should hear, any genre/language/year, and I'll add to the list (reply here or DM; let me know if you want the submission to be anonymous). And even if you don't add an album, check out the list - maybe you'll find your next fave. :ablobjam:
Hey all, for our Mastodonian 1001 must-hear albums list, I've added a note in the description with the number of albums currently in the queue, which I'll keep updated for a sense of where we're at.
Once I've cleared the current backlog, we'll be getting pretty close to 500 albums!!! :amariokartyoshi:
Thanks to all who have already sent in submissions, boosted, liked, and checked out the list! You're all wonderful. :blobaww:
Once I get the albums in the queue added, our Mastodonian 1001 must-hear albums list will officially be over the 500 mark. That’s 500 submissions in a week. Amazing.
Have a rec? Leave a rec.
Need a rec? Take a rec. :ablobjam:
Alright, I have ALL the submissions that have been sent in so far for our Mastodonian 1001 must-hear albums list added (except for a couple of symphonies), for a total of 535 albums!
Lots of room, so if you've been waiting to see what hasn't been included yet, or you've thought of more, or this is the first you're hearing of this project, send those recs in! :ablobjam:
Question for those who have submitted to our Mastodonian #1001OtherAlbums list:
Is everyone okay if I remove the instance part of the Mastodon handles in the attributions? I don't want to take the credit myself and I think some people may want to check out all the recs from a single person if they find they like their taste, BUT we do want to avoid any trolls or whatnot, since the list is public. :oops:
I'll wait until this survey is done to remove them, in case y'all don't like the idea.
LB If you do NOT want your instance removed from the #1001OtherAlbums list, please let me know, I'm more than happy to keep yours! For reference, here's what the attribution would look like with and without the instance:
With: Best Band Ever - Best Album Ever
Via @ buffyleigh @ mas.to
Without: Best Band Ever - Best Album Ever
Via buffyleigh
I'm planning on adding an index to the #1001OtherAlbums blog, for another way of scanning/searching the giant list, with the Discog list numbers that goes with each tag noted for each.
I think doing by genre would be quite difficult, but by artist, country of origin/peoples, and contributor would be easy enough. Any thoughts on which categories to include in an index? (Comment if there's a category you want that I'm missing, or if any/all of these are bad ideas.) 📑
We still have 43 spots before hitting 1001 album recs! Here are the countries/places/peoples we have so far in the list (multiple toots needed to fit all), would love if those other spots bring some others in!
I just finished adding all the 1966 albums y'all sent in (turns out, ALL the albums came out in 1966, lol), and then did some math. :calculator:
The List now has 1066 albums BUT 113 are on the "official" list. That means we still have 48 spots left to fill before we technically hit 1001 "other" albums. So, yeah, still accepting submissions. :mariobrosdance: