Dizzy Gillespie (tp, voc); Charlie Parker (as); Al Haig (p); Curly Russell; Sidney Catlett (d); Sarah Vaughan (voc -3)
1. Salt Peanuts
2. Shaw ‘Nuff
3. Lover Man
4. Hot House
Gillespie and Parker paired up again in the recording studio on May 11, 1945, producing four new recordings, including the standard "Lover Man", beautifully sung by the young Sarah Vaughan. As with the previous Gillespie/Parker session, all four of these tracks are available on The Complete Savoy and Dial Studio Recordings 1944-1948, but for some reason are missing on the three-disc Master Takes collection, a most egregious omission indeed! In even worse news, the Dizzy Gillespie collection Groovin’ High only has two of these recordings from these sessions. "Shaw ‘Nuff", along with "Salt Peanuts" and "Hot House" can be found on an excellent Gillespie 3-disc collection entitled Odyssey 1945-52. While I’d call this collection pretty essential, presenting pretty much all of Diz’s most important work from this period in one package, the tune can also be found on the single-disc collection, The Best of Odyssey: 1945-52. (Of course, if you’re just downloading these tunes, you can get them from any of these collections. Still, this should be easier!)
Notice, except for Bird and Diz, we have a completely different band here. Who are these guys? Well, first of all, there were more solidly bebop musicians here, such as Al Haig on piano, who was one of the earliest (and best) keyboard proponents of the new music. The guy is good - he has been described as "a forgotten giant." Plus, on bass, we have what is probably the definitive bebop bassist in Curly Russell. Sidney "Big Sid" Catlett was a bit older, and he was definitely a "swing" player on drums, though a damned good one, and he delivers a lot of momentum on these sides. Still, we haven’t yet seen a recording session that features exclusively "modernists" - and we won’t until Parker lays down his first session as a leader later in the year.
Still, this is a tremendous combo (just put together for the session, of course) and there are fireworks a-plenty from the two big guns, with superior backing support here.
"Salt Peanuts"
Gillespie was known as "Dizzy" for a reason, one of which is the near-slapstick humor he sometimes puts into his music. "Salt Peanuts" is a fast AABA structure with a quick repeating figure that jumps back and forth from octave to octave. The second time the theme is played through, Diz sings the lyrics rather than plays. The lyrics: "Salt peanuts, salt peanuts." That’s it. Four times. In the context of such brilliant mercurial playing as we have on this track, the silly vocals joyously enhance the thrill of musicians being able to to whip out such virtuosic brilliance and keep such a great sense of humor at the same time. The overall effect is a hilarious, braggadocio routine that still delivers the goods, producing great art.
The structure of the recording is this:
Intro: 16 bars (8 bars drums, 8 bars ensemble)
Theme (statement 1): 32 bars, ensemble (AABA)
Transition section: 8 bars, ensemble
Theme (statement 2): 32 bars, Parker, answered by Gillespie on vocals on the A sections, Parker on the Bridge (AABA)
Transition section 1: 8 bars, bass, with drums & piano
Here we get another of Gillespie’s "wild" arrangements to match the audacity of the playing, but now he’s leaving plenty of room for the three main soloists to have a full chorus each.
We start out with a high-hat introduction that turns into a solid drum figure by Catlett. Then come the horns, playing a little stop-and-start figure, jumping back and forth on a tritone, before tumbling chromatically down at the end. The effect is something akin to two clowns falling down a set of stairs.
It’s an appropriate entrance, as the main theme itself is ridiculously silly: a twisting little 2-bar riff, followed by a pause and a couple of octave-leap hops, each repeated twice on every A section. Two downward bridge passages come fast and straight, giving the piece a little more structure (and sanity). Suddenly, after the entire 32-bar theme has been stated, the horns launch into a little 8-bar transitions section that features simultaneous hard bebop playing. This is a compositional strategy by Gillespie that is quite cagey, actually, as it opens the piece up and forces the listener to take the whole confection more seriously as music than they might otherwise do, given all the wackiness.
Still, it just gets wackier. We return to the theme, only this time, the first section is played by Parker only, then everyone slams quiet as Gillespie "sings" the double-octave jump up to falsetto: "Salt peanuts, salt peanuts." These are the only words to the song, but Gillespie dutifully repeats them over and over throughout the entire 32 bars, as serious as anything. No wonder they called him "Dizzy"! This is one of the silliest things you’ll ever hear, but it’s tremendously fun, and it serves as a tremendous launching pad into some of the greatest jazz soloing ever recorded.
We get a little preview as Charles Parker stretches out and plays fire over the bridge before returning to Dizzy’s last "statement". Two more 8-bar transition sections follow, the first being a "mini-bass-solo" by Curly Russell, along with the rest of the rhythm section. They second is another arranged horn part that acts like an on-ramp to take you to the solos proper.
The first one is taken by Al Haig on piano, and it is an impressive display of high-speed runs that shows off the virtuostic dexterity of this new breed of musicians. Charlie Parker plays next, though and that’s what we’re here for.
What can I say? Everything Bird plays during these 32 bars is extraordinary, beautiful and unexpected - yet it all fits together. Charlie Parker is an acrobat, seemingly turning the tune upside down and inside out, while somehow keeping it all melodically engaging and sweet. Bird’s sense of rhythm is as impeccable as his mind-boggling choice of notes. Sometimes he’ll play even phrases, then he’ll do summersaults over multiple bars that leave you breathless. No wonder he caused a sensation. There is simply no explanation for this rapid-fire level of unprecedented creative ideas. This is simply genius. And once again - as he almost always will - Parker performs these impossible feats with such a lovely restrained tone, a relaxed cockiness and a knowing wink that to call him a show-off is simply foolish. The man is just that good.
At the end of his solo, seemingly a part of it, Parker plays a little 2-bar phrase that is immediately picked up and imitated by Gillespie on his trumpet. Parker plays it one more time, the band stops, and Dizzy launches into a 4-bar intro that will take him soaring right into his own chorus. Talk about showmanship!
Dizzy Gillespie may not have been the authentic genius that Parker was, but he’s one of the greatest trumpet players of all time. The fact that he can keep up the standards that Bird has set in his playing is simply amazing - his ability to increase the dramatic momentum is simply unbelievable. Diz plays so high and so fast, and God, does he know how to turn a phrase! There is no wonder that these recordings set off a revolution!
After his chorus, Catlett begins an excited drum solo, but after four bars, he switches back to the opening rhythm, and we have a repeat of the same wacky intro. Only this time, right before the end, everyone stops playing and chants, "Salt peanuts, salt peanuts!" as if it’s some kind of manifesto, and the final chord drops down. All great art should be so ridiculously fun - 70 years later, and it’s still a mind-blower!
"Shaw ‘Nuff"
Go ahead and find this one as I described above. I will take another little moment to complain about the fact that these extraordinary, seminal tracks aren’t all easily collectable and ubiquitous, as they damned well deserve to be. Now, on to the tune!
"Shaw ‘Nuff" is co-credited to both Gillespie and Parker, and it is sounds like a straight bebop contrafact: that is, the use of a new melody over an already established harmonic structure, usually of a popular tune. One of the most widely used songs used for bebop contrafacts was George Gershwin’s famous tune, "I Got Rhythm" (1930). The chords from this song were used so often, in fact, that they are simply referred to in jazz circles as "Rhythm Changes." I’m not certain, but that’s what "Shaw ‘Nuff" sounds like to me - at least it’s not very far off from that.
The structure of the piece is so simple that it has become practically the backbone of modern jazz structure. "I Got Rhythm" is itself composed in what is called the 32-Bar AABA American song structure." So much modern jazz - especially as established by Parker, Gillespie and others - is built upon this format (along with the traditional 12-bar blues ABA structure), that virtually anything that deviates from it is considered "experimental" to some degree.
I’ve been mentioning the AABA structure, but I haven’t really explained it yet, so I really should. Knowing this structure (and its variations) makes it much easier to listen to jazz and tell precisely what is going on. The structure is actually very simple.
First, there is an "A" section of melody that is played in eight bars of four. This A section can generally be thought of a being divisible by two, so that you tend to get a two-bar "statement" followed by a two-bar "answer."
The first A section is then immediately repeated, usually verbatim, although occasionally there will be some variations: in that case, we will usually use the designations A1 and A2. ("Shaw ‘Nuff" repeats the A section without variation at all.)
After playing the first two A sections, we have traversed 16 bars, and we are halfway through the "composition", properly speaking. We now have another 8-bar section, and it is labelled "B". Why? Because it’s completely different - different melody, different chords. In a song format (which this is), this section is known as the "bridge", and its purpose is to throw in some harmonic variety, to deviate from the established melody before "coming home" or returning to play the final 8-bar A section one last time.
The "bridge" is always the most notable section of the piece, since it is the only part of the structure that significantly deviates from the rest of the structure. A lot of these B sections can get quite complicated, and it’s always interesting to hear what musicians come up for these "tricky" little 8 bars.
So, once the entire thing has been played: AABA - you’ve got the whole song structure (basically the entire composition) stated. So what happens next?
Well, basically, the group plays the harmonic structure of the entire 32-bar AABA pattern over and over again. That is, it plays the same chords each time. Jazz usually doesn’t develop its compositional shape the way classical music does. Its interest, rather, comes from the improvisations of the soloists. The musicians take turn playing over the same chord changes, but inventing their own (usually highly complex) melodies right there on the spot. This improvisation, is, of course, the very essence of what jazz is all about. And Charlie Parker was simply one of the greatest and most inventive improvisers in the history of the music. Not only was he incredibly creative with his improvised melodies (which he could spin out endlessly at an extraordinarily high speed), but he devised a way to mathematically extend the number of notes that could be played over any given chord. The fact that he could take all of these exponential choices and endlessly recombine them in real time to create fascinating, dazzling melodic statements was seriously something that no one had come close to doing before.
In creating his style of playing, Charlie Parker essentially invented a new language for jazz music. And since all of the musicians of the time - and most of them since him - have been imitating what he created, it’s pretty much safe to say that the language of modern jazz in general is the language of Charlie Parker. Great musicians like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, etc. would all develop their own styles - but like all "modern" jazz musicians, they were building on what Charlie Parker first created.
It is this, fundamentally, that makes Charlie Parker one of the greatest and most important musicians of all time, and makes many music historians place him in the same class as say, Beethoven, who radically opened up new musical forms that other composers then followed. Charlie Parker was a truly radical, original musical artist - someone who completely changed the was music was thought about and played.
But Parker wasn’t just a revolutionary - he was a genius, and very, very great musician. The idea that he could conceive so much beautiful and complex relationships is extraordinary. But the fact that he could play it on his horn - at that speed - and make sound that good is simply mind-blowing.
When I listen to a Charlie Parker recording, I like to play it all the way through, then play it back again several more times, one after the other. Parker was recording in the 78 rpm shellac era, and those old records would only hold 3 minutes a side, so everybody has to get out what they’re going to say really quickly. Charlie Parker puts so much into one of his solos that it’s really difficult to grasp what he’s saying the first time through. That’s why it’s so wonderful with a CD or a computer recording, where you can sit and just listen to his solos over and over until they finally start to sink in. I can’t recommend this method enough. Short of learning music theory and copying down his notes, there’s no better way to appreciate and enjoy what he’s doing.
Well, back to "Shaw ‘Nuff". Like I said, it is a 32-bar AABA structure, but someone - probably Dizzy - has added a little introductory and ending material that wraps around it like an extra outer layer on a cake.
Anyway, the structure of the piece, as recorded, is this:
Drum & piano intro: 8 bars
Introductory theme: 16 bars, ensemble (AB)
Main theme: 32 bars, ensemble (AABA)
Parker solo: 1 chorus, 32 bars (AABA)
Gillespie solo: 1 chorus, 32 bars (AABA)
Haig solo: 1 chorus, 32 bars (AABA)
Main theme repeat: 32 bars, ensemble (AABA)
Drum & piano intro: 8 bars
Introductory theme repeat: 16 bars, ensemble (AB)
"Shaw ‘Nuff" starts out with Sid Catlett playing an asymmetrical little pattern on his drums for 8 bars of four, with Al Haig quietly doubling the rhythm on the lower keys of his piano. It’s a kind of start-and-stop thing that’s designed to throw you off guard a bit in a typically bebop way.
Immediately following this "intro" the horns come in and play what we will at first believe to be the main theme of the piece. (I have to believe that this part of the piece was Gillespie’s contribution.) Gillespie and Parker pop off a quick 8-note series in minor-key harmony, then play a figure that tails up and stops. They repeat the 8 notes, then tail back down. Suddenly, everybody stops (with the exception of Catlett, who keeps lightly drumming). The horn re-enter, in unison now, and play a confused little figure, then stop in mid air. (This is Diz fooling with us again.)
A quick piano run takes us directly to the beginning of the real theme, which is wild and crazy enough. The theme is probably from Parker, who will be using these sorts of twisted contrafact that’s usually based on one of his own solo lines layered over a simple and familiar chord pattern. The theme is incredibly fast, and Bird and Diz play it together in unison at breakneck speed, never breaking a sweat, though. In 1945, this "tune" would have been enough to knock most listeners (and especially musicians) out of their chairs, but it’s the solos that we’re hear for, and we get three great ones.
Parker and Gillespie are the stars of this show, though - and they don’t disappoint. Parker takes the first solo - a full 32-bar chorus that defies gravity and description. He jump-starts himself with a quick little 6-note phrase that he uses as a launching pad to take him across the rest of the first eight bars. After a pause, he lights into another phrase that will cover the entire second bar without any set-up. On the bridge, he goes into this ridiculously complex little rhythmic motif and rides it down the scale, expanding and contracting it until it straightens out and plays all the way halfway through the eight bars of the final A section. One more phrase rounds everything off.
Where Parker is cool, Gillespie is hot, and he announces his presence with a typical upward scream on his trumpet. He pauses until four full bars have passed - Diz always has a great sense for the dramatic - and then jumps in, matching Parker note for note. At the beginning of the bridge, Gillespie announces an enormously powerful phrase that hangs in the air. Then he jumps back on and rides the full 12 remaining bars out to the end of his solo.
Why didn’t Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie play together more? I really don’t know the answer to that question, but it seems strange that they didn’t. When you picture them from this time, you invariably picture them together, and lord knows they are the only two of the "modernists" who could really stand toe-to-toe together. While it seems obvious to us today that they should have formed a working band together, they did not, and each man went his own separate way (though they would continue coming back together occasionally over the years). Perhaps Parker and his erratic life habits were simply too much for Gillespie to deal with. Maybe there were ego clashes. Who knows? But history happened as it did, and at least we have these priceless recordings to display all the mind-boggling sparks that each one set off in the playing of the other.
Al Haig follows Dizzy with a thoroughly modern solo of lightning-fast runs on the high keys of the piano. He’s excellent, but he can’t help but be something of a let-down after Parker and Gillespie (who woldn’t be besides Bud Powell or Thelonious Monk?).
It doesn’t matter as the crazy-fast reckless theme returns and is fully restated, followed by the complete minor-key intro. The group leaves the last chord an unanswered question, hanging in space. Once again, these two visitors from mars have landed, bedazzled, and taken off again.
"Lover Man"
Sarah Vaughan was born in 1924, and grew up in Newark, New Jersey. In 1942, at the age of 18, Vaughan (whose nickname was "Sassy") began regularly crossing the river to listen to the big bands and participating in amateur nights at Harlem theaters. A victory for singing "Body and Soul" at the famous Apollo got her $10 and the chance as an opening act for Ella Fitzgerald. By 1943 to 1944, Vaughan was singing regularly with Billy Eckstine’s band - which also featured Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Just exactly how and why she wound up at this Gillespie recording session is unknown, but probably Dizzy suggested it himself. At any rate, her classic performance of "Lover Man" was released as the A-side of the 78 record that featured "Shaw ‘Nuff" on the other, thus launching her long solo career.
Once again, "Lover Man" appears on Parker’s Complete Savoy and Dial Studio Recordings 1944-1948 and Gillespie’s Odyssey 1945-52, but not on Groovin’ High or any of the shorter compilations. Nor can it easily be found on any of Vaughan’s collections, though later versions are ubiquitous. Plus, the divine Billie Holiday would have a hit with this classic song later the same year.
You can decide for yourself, but I think the young, but seasoned 21-year-old’s performance her is definitive. Her silky voice and sensuous intonation is absolutely intoxicating, and her (very) unobtrusive musical support is top-notch. Personally, I rank this recording as one of the greatest vocal records I’ve ever heard. So listen to it, already.
There’s not much in the arrangement, but the structure is this:
God, that’s seductive! Vaughan has found the perfect vehicle here for her silky-smooth voice at an age that combines youthful beauty with a budding sensuality. Dizzy’s short solo is respectfully sedate. And when you’ve got Charlie Parker quietly playing little glissandos next to you, how can you go wrong? A classic!
"Hot House"
The last number to be recorded that day was written by a young man named Tadd Dameron (1917-1965):
Dameron was a fine pianist, but he is best known as a composer and an arranger of extraordinary delicacy and taste. He was (and still is) considered the foremost arranger of the bebop period, who later wrote the scores for Gillespie’s big band, and is the composer of dozens of modern jazz standards. "Hot House" was one of his first to be recorded, and it has an interesting structure and feel.
The chords are based on a Cole Porter song called "What Is This Thing Called Love?", but Dameron changes the melody around to give it a spooky, "mysterious" feel. The structure is a little different as well. Although the tune has the usual 32-bar structure, the sections vary from the norm, coming up with a pattern that I would designate as:
AB1B2A
The first and last eight bars are identical, but the middle sixteen are different, though they are designed to mirror each other to a large degree. While melodically similar, the harmony is different (and the melody more ornate) in the second 8-bar B section, resolving what was stated in the first. The resultant effect is that we get the feel of a long 16-bar bridge separating two bookended statements that stand apart like towers on either side of a river.
The rhythm, as Dameron conceives it is a snakey, little piece of what might even be called "funk", even at so early a date. All in all, it’s a compelling vehicle that invites Parker and Gillespie to explore with interesting harmonic excursions without breaking into wild antics. In short, "Hot House," despite its title, demonstrated that bebop could be "cool."
I see the structure as this:
Intro - 4 bars, drums
Main theme: 32 bars, ensemble (AB1B2A)
Parker solo: 1 chorus, 32 bars (AB1B2A)
Gillespie solo: 1 chorus, 32 bars (AB1B2A)
Main theme: 16 bars, ensembe (AB1)
Haig solo: 8 bars (B2)
Main theme conclusion: 8 bars, ensemble (A)
Listen to the statement of the theme closely and you can hear how Dameron carefully uses the bebop flourishes as carefully delineated elements in the harmonic construction, keeping them clean and separate and balancing them off each other. It’s truly a skillful, tasteful feat. Notice also in the second B section how Bird’s and Diz’s horns separate just at the right place for a harmony to hit a maximum effect before blending back together just before returning to the final A section.
Parker takes a very clever strategy on this (relatively) unusual structure. He plays straight, pure bebop on the opening A section, in two phrases: a short one, which he immediately answers by a longer one. During the first four bars of the first B section, however, he plays the beginning of a completely different and straight, slower melody. He does nor immediately complete this phrase, however, but instead answers himself with a four-bar flurry of lightning-fast notes that seem to fly in every direction simultaneously. At the beginning of the second B, he returns to his little theme and repeats it at a different pitch, as it now falls naturally on a different chord structure. The effect is perfect - and knowing Bird, he no doubt conceived the entire structure just before he played it. He finishes the second half of the section with more fast notes, but a tad more restrained. For the final A section, he returns to the bebop mode he began with, playing two even phrases of four bars each - the last one being a winking little structure that rounds everything out, as if to say (laughingly) to his listeners, "Yeah, I’m bad!"
Most mortals would be daunted at following this little performance, but Gillespie is fearless. He begins with his own jaunty melodic line over the first four bars, pauses then explodes with a rapid-fire series of notes in answer. Then he shows off those incredible chops, jumping way up in the high register where he can just soar, which he does - on one descending passage that goes a full four bars. He then outdoes himself, playing the entire eight bars of the second B section in one phrase composed of quick and complex rhythms. He stretches out for the final A and takes that all in one gulp as well, but almost with a shrug.
These guys! I mean, there are few greater musicians in history, I know. But the way they push each other to new heights is just astounding.
The horns return to play the main theme again, but they drop out after the firs B section to give Al Haig eight bars to solo. This is a better construction, given the fact that there’s no way Haig can compete on this level, and he wisely chooses to play lightly and elegantly, adding a touch of class rather than attempt any acrobatics. The horns join back in for the final A, and bam! - "Hot House" is history. It’s slapped on the B-side of "Salt Peanuts," and I do believe the record turned some more heads.
All in all, I have to say that this session is superior to the first one that Gillespie and Parker put down back in February. For whatever reason, these two giants would not record as a duet in a studio together again for five more years - each musician would follow his own distinct path. But luckily for us, they got back to play together live in June of this same year (1945), and somebody was smart enough to have a tape recorder going. That tape went undiscovered for some sixty years, but somebody finally found it, cleaned in up and released in on CD in 2005. Oh, yeah, we’re gonna listen to it!
One of my favorite web sites is called They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?, a magnificently obsessive listing of the finest motion pictures of all time, as compiled from over 6,100 lists by film magazines, individual critics, and film-makers. (Please check it out at theyshoopictures.com).
Whereas, personally, there’s no way that I could actually begin to rank the greatest films ever made (as long as Citizen Kane is at No. 1, I won’t argue), this place is a virtual goldmine for discovering what the "experts" consider the finest motion pictures ever made, from all corners of the globe, from the earliest days of cinema all the way up to last year.
This is a fabulous resource, whatever your opinion, to discover great movies to watch. And as I look over the list of the grand 1,000 (which is updated every year), I certainly tend to agree with virtually every choice that I recognize. Perhaps more importantly, however, it’s a great way to discover films that perhaps you’ve never even heard of that you should probably investigate.
Can anything like a true consensus exist when it comes to a kind of hierarchical ranking of any types of works of art? I certainly don’t know, but I find such efforts to be illuminating and fascinating. Moreover, this method of transforming the subjective world of evaluation into a more objective realm of (perhaps imaginary) reference, I think is an exciting and worthwhile endeavor that, while if it can never really claim to be truly authoritative, is at the very least a valuable point of reference for discussion.
Rankings aside, the simple attempt to gather together in one place what amounts to the world’s canon of great cinema has to be applauded as a worthwhile endeavor. For those of us who have assiduously watched movies all our lives in a valiant attempt to see virtually everything worth seeing, in every genre, from every time and place, this is absolutely a godsend.
I intend to use this extraordinary resource simply as a way to organize a method (or rather a group of methods) to write about cinema. I find myself vacillating between different approaches and methods, so when something so handily contrived simply presents itself to me, I’m more than happy to just reach out and use it as a tool to hang my own thoughts on. (Perhaps some would disagree with this method, but I would argue back that it simply doesn’t matter, and I’ll do what I feel like.)
My original intention when I started this blog was to write long essays on the top-rated films, analyzing them, more or less shot by shot. (Hence the publication of my interpretation of the first "act" or third of Citizen Kane.) I have since been rethinking this strategy, and while I do not rule out the idea of such longer analyses in the future, I think it would be initially more profitable and enjoyable to give "short" overviews and analyses of as many of these films as possible.
1. Citizen Kane
1941, USA D: Orson Welles
I have often said that Citizen Kane is, "by definition," the greatest film ever made, and probably the greatest film that can ever be made. Part of my reason for this extreme judgment lies in the cultural mythology of the film, of course. There is nothing quite like the phenomenon of Citizen Kane elsewhere in film history: a single movie that has simultaneously summed up the history of its medium while at the same time taking it on a quantum leap into the future, establishing a broad and lasting new standard. And not only is Kane so dramatically revolutionary in every sense of the word, but it is astonishingly so. I have never witnessed any other movie that even closely matched it in sheer bravura, nor have I ever seen a film that so effectively utilizes virtually every fundamental device of cinematic theory. On top of that, I find the emotional impact of the film, both in its form and content (which I contend cannot be separated) to be so powerfully overwhelming that it is, for me at least, one of the defining experiences of my lifetime. Lastly and simply, Citizen Kane is simply my favorite movie and the one I have watched the most times (easily over a hundred viewings), and it never ceases to amaze me. I know every line, every camera move, every music cue by heart, yet I could put it on right now and be utterly lost in wonder.
Orson Welles was an established "boy-genius" at 24 on Broadway and radio when he was offered his unprecedented contract by RKO Studios to make a film over which he had complete control. Along with screenwriter Herbert J. Mankiewicz, Welles conceived a labyrinthine method of telling the story of the rise and fall of a great American newspaper tycoon. The movie is possibly the most elaborate and ostentatious to ever come out of Hollywood, using wide-angle lenses to create extraordinary "depth of field" shots that hold even extraordinarily deep and complex compositions in equal focus, and there are countless special effects and camera "tricks". Welles constantly draws attention to the position and motion of the camera, forcing audiences to deal with stylistic details that simultaneously insist that this is a unique plastic form of media at play, while at the same time manipulating them into becoming snooping voyeurs, hot on the trail to find out every nook and cranny of the lead character’s life and psyche.
Citizen Kane uses a magnificent flashback technique to tell the story of Charles Foster Kane from the perspectives of several different people, all of whom had distinctly different relationships with the man. What ultimately emerges is what appears to be a consistent narrative that on closer inspection reveals itself to be a half-truth at best, leaving the essence of the real man to forever hide behind walls of his own making, marked by "No Trespassing" signs.
The movie embraces every conceivable technique of cinematic trickery to its absolute peak in an attempt to push and claw its way into the essence of its subject, only to demonstrate, again and again, the irony that reality is elusive and that the medium ultimately delivers only images of its own distortion. The film begins with a hyper-surreal style that pulls the viewer in, only to completely whisk it away by replacing it with the banal reality of newsreel footage. Once this is fully established as reality, it is just as suddenly halted and replaced by a new level of narrative that will prove just as faulty and deceptive. This movie is an endless bag of tricks and discoveries that has deep philosophical implications, both for its medium and for the very nature of communication, meaning and the objective nature of reality itself.
Stravinsky! That's right, everybody loves Stravinsky. But how many of you only know Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring), or perhaps The Firebird or Petrushka? If so, then you were just like I was up until about a month ago. I knew old Igor was a crack composer when it came to those wild Russian ballets, and anyone who can write something that causes a riot at an opera house is okay in my book.
But I knew that Stravinsky had lived a long time and written a lot of music. But I never heard any of it. I mean, he's never gotten radio play, and on the rare instances when he does show up (on one of those real oldies stations), they just play one of his three hits - you know, how if they play three songs by The Who, one of them's got to be "Baba O'Reilly."
So I was looking on Amazon for some good deals (they're really selling CD's cheaply these days), and I came across this box set:
22 discs of Stravinsky. Only 34 bucks! Holy crap! That's enough to last a lifetime! Or at least enough to get started.
Okay, I've finally made it through all 22 discs, and I've got to say that this guy really deserves to be heard more. There are all kinds of things in here: operas, symphonies, oratorios, concertos, songs, chamber music. You name it, Iggy wrote it. And he wrote for a long time, too. And his collaborators? Well, how would you like to do a musical comedy with Picasso designing the sets? Need a librettist? Call up W.H. Auden. I mean, this guy had some serious friends.
But that's nothing compared to the variety of styles and approaches he employed in his compositions through the decades. Yeah, we all know about the great, rule-breaking "Russian period", where Igor simply tore down all the fences about what "classical music" is or ought to be, opening up form completely, playing volleyball with tonality, dragging in all those crazy rhythms. Yeah, that's probably my favorite time period, too.
But Iggy wasn't satisfied with tearing the place up. He got to feeling that he needed to put a few guideposts back so music would make sense to people, so he entered what he referred to as his "neoclassical period," in which he made use of established forms while retaining a lot of the breakthrough innovations he had knocked everyone out with back in the 'teens. How did they turn out? Well, there are all kinds of examples, since he wrote this way for like 30 years. Some are more sedate, some are more "out there", but it seems to me that they're all at least pretty interesting and deserve to be heard more.
Then, finally, in the 1950s (when Ig was in his sixties), he finally started experimenting with serial forms: you know, 12-tone scales, tone rows, all that. I'll be honest - these are some of my favorites. But I'm a sucker for atonality.
I think the most impressive thing about the man's career is that no matter what kind of method of composition he adopted or what form he attempted, he always sounds like Stravinsky. (You know like you always know its Coltrane, no matter what he's playing.) And man, Stravinsky is cool. He's a wild man even when he's trying to be all formal and sedate. Guess he just couldn't help himself, the crazy Russian.
But was he a genius? Was he one of the all-time greats, up there with Bach, Beethoven and Charlie Parker? I don't know. I just know I like it. And I like it so much that I've decided I'm even going to share it with you! Yeah, why be stingy? I've got so much Stravinsky now, I can't just horde it all to myself. That just wouldn't be right.
So I've decided to go back through the box set again, and this time I'll share it with all my friends and even write a little something about it, steal some photos, and we can all have a good time!
I know, summer's almost over - but that doesn't mean the fun has to stop. I think I can keep this Stravinsky thing going all the way to next spring. And don't worry about running out of material - we can always listen to some Bach!
Keep cool everybody - I'll try to get it going this week with the Ig-Man's first big hit: The Firebird! (Yeah, that's right. It's the one Yes used to start all their concerts with.) See ya soon!
Alright, I said I was going to write about the best 10,000 albums of all time, and I didn't want to keep you in too much suspense. So I went to besteveralbums.com and made a handy little list of the top 1000 to get us started. I have listed them by year, displaying the highest-rated title for each. I think it's a pretty good start to a music collection, in the sense that it provides a kind of "core group" to get people started. (Naturally, we'll have to expand and get more specific from here.) See how many you have! And there's no point in arguing - these albums are all essential for a happy, normal life . . . don't you agree?
1955
Frank Sinatra: In the Wee Small Hours
1956
Elvis Presley: Elvis Presley Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus Frank Sinatra: Songs for Swingin’ Lovers!
1957
John Coltrane: Blue Train Little Richard: Here’s Little Richard Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool Thelonious Monk: Brilliant Corners
1958
Billie Holiday: Lady in Satin
1959
MilesDavis: Kind of Blue Charles Mingus: Mingus Ah Um The Dave Brubeck Quintet: Time Out Ornette Coleman: The Shape of Jazz to Come
1960
Miles Davis: Sketches of Spain
John Coltrane: Giant Steps
1961
Robert Johnson: King of the Delta Blues Singers John Coltrane: My Favorite Things
1962
none
1963
Bob Dylan: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan Charles Mingus: The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
The Beatles: Please Please Me
James Brown: Live at the Apollo
The Beatles: With the Beatles
1964
The Beatles: A Hard Day’s Night
Bob Dylan: The Times They Are a-Changin’
Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto: Getz/Gilberto
The Beatles: Beatles for Sale
Eric Dolphy: Out to Lunch!
Bob Dylan: Another Side of Bob Dylan
1965
Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited The Beatles: Rubber Soul Bob Dylan: Bringing It All Back Home John Coltrane: A Love Supreme The Beatles: Help! Otis Redding: Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul The Who: My Generation The Beach Boys: Today!
1966
The Beatles: Revolver
The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds
Bob Dylan: Blonde on Blonde
The Rolling Stones: Aftermath
The Mothers of Invention: Freak Out!
Simon & Garfunkel: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
Simon & Garfunkel: Sounds of Silence
Monks: Black Monk Time
13th Floor Elevators: The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
The Kinks: Face to Face
1967
The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground and Nico
The Doors: The Doors
The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced
Love: Forever Changes
The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour
Pink Floyd: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Leonard Cohen: Songs of Leonard Cohen
The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Axis: Bold as Love
Cream: Disraeli Gears
The Doors: Strange Days
Jefferson Airplane: Surrealistic Pillow
The Who: The Who Sell Out
The Kinks: Something Else by the Kinks
Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band: Safe as Milk
The Moody Blues: Days of Future Passed
Aretha Franklin: I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
Nico: Chelsea Girl
Bob Dylan: John Wesley Harding
Tim Buckley: Goodbye and Hello
1968
The Beatles: The Beatles Van Morrison: Astral Weeks
The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland
The Zombies: Odessey and Oracle
The Rolling Stones: Beggars Banquet
The Velvet Underground: White Light/White Heat
The Kinks: The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
Johnny Cash: At Folsom Prison
The Band: Music from Big Pink
Simon & Garfunkel: Bookends
The Mothers of Invention: We’re Only in It for the Money
Pink Floyd: A Saucerful of Secrets
The Doors: Waiting for the Sun
The Byrds: The Notorious Byrd Brothers
The Byrds: Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Aretha Franklin: Lady Soul
The United States of America: The United States of America
Big Brother and the Holding Company: Cheap Thrills
Nico: The Marble Index
Cream: Wheels of Fire
1969
The Beatles: Abbey Road
Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin II
The Rolling Stones: Let It Bleed
King Crimson: In the Court of the Crimson King
Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin
The Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground
The Who: Tommy
Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band: Trout Mask Replica
The Band: The Band
Nick Drake: Five Leaves Left
Neil Young and Crazy Horse: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Frank Zappa: Hot Rats
The Kinks: Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
Crosby, Stills & Nash: Crosby, Stills & Nash
Miles Davis: In a Silent Way
The Stooges: The Stooges
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Green River
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Willy and the Poor Boys
Dusty Springfield: Dusty in Memphis
Sly and the Family Stone: Stand!
David Bowie: Space Oddity
Blind Faith: Blind Faith
Bob Dylan: Nashville Skyline
Pharoah Sanders: Karma
Isaac Hayes: Hot Buttered Soul
Fairport Convention: Liege and Lief
Leonard Cohen: Songs from a Room
MC5: Kick Out the Jams
1970
Neil Young: After the Gold Rush Black Sabbath: Paranoid John Lennon: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band Simon & Garfunkel: Bridge over Troubled Water
Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin III
Van Morrison: Moondance
George Harrison: All Things Must Pass
The Stooges: Fun House
The Beatles: Let It Be
The Velvet Underground: Loaded
Derek & the Dominos: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Miles Davis: Bitches Brew
Grateful Dead: American Beauty
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: Deja Vu
Nick Drake: Bryter Layter
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Cosmo’s Factory
Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath
Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman
Deep Purple: Deep Purple in Rock
The Who: Live at Leeds
Santana: Abraxas
Pink Floyd: Atom Heart Mother
The Doors: Morrison Hotel
The Kinks: Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One
Grateful Dead: Workingman’s Dead
Syd Barrett: The Madcap Laughs
Curtis Mayfield: Curtis
David Bowie: The Man Who Sold the World
Soft Machine: Third
Jimi Hendrix: Band of Gypsys
Nico: Desertshore
The Beach Boys: Sunflower
Vashti Bunyon: Just Another Day
Tim Buckley: Starsailor
Elton John: Tumbleweed Connection
1971
Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin IV The Who: Who’s Next
Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On
David Bowie: Hunky Dory
The Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers
Joni Mitchell: Blue
Pink Floyd: Meddle
The Doors: L.A. Woman
Can: Tago Mago
John Lennon: Imagine
The Allman Brothers Band: At Fillmore East
Carole King: Tapestry
Yes: Fragile
Jethro Tull: Aqualung
T. Rex: Electric Warrior
Sly and the Family Stone: There’s a Riot Goin’ On
Black Sabbath: Master of Reality
Paul & Linda McCartney: Ram
Leonard Cohen: Songs of Love and Hate
Funkadelic: Maggot Brain
Serge Gainsbourg: Histoire de Melody Nelson
Yes: The Yes Album
Janis Joplin: Pearl
Faust: Faust
Rod Stewart: Every Picture Tells a Story
Genesis: Nursery Cryme
1972
David Bowie: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars The Rolling Stones: Exile on Main St. Nick Drake: Pink Moon Neil Young: Harvest Lou Reed: Transformer Yes: Close to the Edge
Deep Purple: Machine Head
Genesis: Foxtrot
Jethro Tull: Thick as a Brick
Can: Ege Bamyasi
Big Star: #1 Record
Stevie Wonder: Talking Book
Curtis Mayfield: Superfly
Deep Purple: Made in Japan
Steely Dan: Can’t Buy a Thrill
Roxy Music: Roxy Music
Neu!: Neu!
The Allman Brothers Band: Eat a Peach
Popol Vuh: Hosianna Mantra
T. Rex: The Slider
Various Artists: The Harder They Come
1973
Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon
Led Zeppelin: Houses of the Holy
The Who: Quadrophenia
Stevie Wonder: Innervisions
Genesis: Selling England by the Pound
Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
The Stooges: Raw Power
Paul McCartney & Wings: Band on the Run
David Bowie: Aladdin Sane
Lynyrd Skynyrd: (pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd)
Lou Reed: Berlin
Bruce Springsteen: The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure
Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells
Can: Future Days
Black Sabbath: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Tom Waits: Closing Time
Herbie Hancock: Head Hunters
The Wailers: Catch a Fire
John Cale: Paris 1919
Pescado Rabioso: Artaud
Marvin Gaye: Let’s Get It On
Faust: Faust IV
Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Brain Salad Surgery
Yes: Tales from Topographic Oceans
King Crimson: Larks’ Tongues in Aspic
New York Dolls: New York Dolls
Bruce Springsteen: Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
Steely Dan: Countdown to Ecstasy
1974
Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Neil Young: On the Beach
Supertramp: Crime of the Century
King Crimson: Red
Robert Wyatt: Rock Bottom
Queen: Sheer Heart Attack
David Bowie: Diamond Dogs
Joni Mitchell: Court and Spark
Queen: Queen II
Brian Eno: Here Come the Warm Jets
Big Star: Radio City
Yes: Relayer
Steely Dan: Pretzel Logic
Tom Waits: The Heart of Saturday Night
Van Morrison: Veedon Fleece
Camel: Mirage
Richard and Linda Thompson: I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
Kraftwerk: Autobahn
1975
Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here
Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks
Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run
Queen: A Night at the Opera
Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti
Patti Smith: Horses
Brian Eno: Another Green World
Neil Young: Tonight’s the Night
Aerosmith: Toys in the Attic
Bob Dylan and the Band: The Basement Tapes
Elton John: Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
Parliament: Mothership Connection
Keith Jarrett: The Koln Concert
Steely Dan: Katy Lied
1976
Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life
Ramones: Ramones
Eagles: Hotel California
David Bowie: Station to Station
Boston: Boston
Rush: 2112
Bob Dylan: Desire
The Modern Lovers: The Modern Lovers
Aerosmith: Rocks
Genesis: A Trick of the Tail
Queen: A Day at the Races
Joni Mitchell: Hijera
Rainbow: Rising
Kiss: Destroyer
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Chronicle - The 20 Greatest Hits
Thin Lizzy: Jailbreak
Electric Light Orchestra: A New World Record
1977
Fleetwood Mac: Rumours Television: Marquee Moon
Pink Floyd: Animals
Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols
David Bowie: Low
The Clash: The Clash
Steely Dan: Aja
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Exodus
Wire: Pink Flag
Kraftwerk: Trans-Europe Express
Billy Joel: The Stranger
Elvis Costello: My Aim Is True
David Bowie: "Heroes"
Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell
Ramones: Rocket to Russia
Suicide: Suicide
Iggy Pop: Lust for Life
Talking Heads: Talking Heads: 77
Electric Light Orchestra: Out of the Blue
Iggy Pop: The Idiot
Queen: News of the World
Brian Eno: Before and After Science
Rush: A Farewell to Kings
The Congos: Heart of the Congos
1978
Bruce Springsteen: Darkness on the Edge of Town
Van Halen: Van Halen
Elvis Costello & the Attractions: This Year’s Model
Blondie: Parallel Lines
The Cars: The Cars
The Rolling Stones: Some Girls
Kraftwerk: The Man-Machine
Big Star: 3rd
The Jam: All Mod Cons
Rush: Hemispheres
Dire Straits: Dire Straits
Talking Heads: More Songs about Buildings and Food
Pere Ubu: The Modern Dance
Kate Bush: The Kick Inside
The Police: Outlandos d’Amour
Wire: Chairs Missing
Brian Eno: Ambient 1: Music for Airports
Warren Zevon: Excitable Boy
Devo: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians
1979
The Clash: London Calling
Pink Floyd: The Wall
Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures
Gang of Four: Entertainment!
Talking Heads: Fear of Music
AC/DC: Highway to Hell
Michael Jackson: Off the Wall
Neil Young and Crazy Horse: Rust Never Sleeps
Supertramp: Breakfast in America
The Specials: Specials
Fleetwood Mac: Tusk
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Damn the Torpedoes
Public Image: Metal Box (aka Second Edition)
Buzzcocks: Singles Going Steady
The Pop Group: Y
The Police: Reggatta de Blanc
Elvis Costello & the Attractions: Armed Forces
The Jam: Setting Sons
The B-52’s: The B-52’s
1980
Talking Heads: Remain in Light Joy Division: Closer AC/DC: Back in Black Dead Kennedys: Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables David Bowie: Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) Bruce Springsteen: The River Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel III (Melt cover) The Pretenders: Pretenders The Clash: Sandinista! Dire Straits: Making Movies The Cure: Seventeen Seconds The Feelies: Crazy Rhythms Black Sabbath: Heaven and Hell Rush: Permanent Waves U2: Boy Elvis Costello & the Attractions: Get Happy!! Young Marble Giants: Colossal Youth The Police: Zenyatta Mondatta Motorhead: Ace of Spades The Jam: Sound Effects X: Los Angeles Ozzy Osbourne: Blizzard of Oz Prince: Dirty Mind
1981
Rush: Moving Pictures Black Flag: Damaged Brian Eno and David Byrne: My Life in the Bush of Ghosts The Cure: Faith
The Police: Ghost in the Machine
Kraftwerk: Computer World
Siouxsie & the Banshees: Juju
King Crimson: Discipline
Echo & the Bunneymen: Heaven Up Here
The Human League: Dare
The Gun Club: Fire of Love
Electric Light Orchestra: Time
Queen: Greatest Hits
1982
Michael Jackson: Thriller
Iron Maiden: The Number of the Beast
Bruce Springsteen: Nebraska
Kate Bush: The Dreaming
The Cure: Pornography
Roxy Music: Avalon
Prince: 1999
Dire Staits: Love Over Gold
Duran Duran: Rio
Donald Fagen: The Nightfly
Chuck Berry: The Great Twenty-Eight
The Clash: Combat Rock
The Fall: Hex Enduction Hour
Judas Priest: Screaming for Vengeance
Simple Minds: New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
Elvis Costello & the Attractions: Imperial Bedroom
Bad Brains: Bad Brains 1983
R.E.M.: Murmur
Violent Femmes: Violent Femmes
The Police: Synchronicity
U2: War
New Order: Power, Corruption and Lies
Tom Waits: Swordfishtrombones
Metallica: Kill ‘em All
Def Leppard: Pyromania
Pink Floyd: The Final Cut
Talking Heads: Speaking in Tongues
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble: Texas Flood
The Chameleons: Script of the Bridge
Marillion: Script for a Jester’s Tear
1984
Prince & the Revolution: Purple Rain The Smiths: The Smiths Metallica: Ride the Lightning Bruce Springsteen: Born in the U.S.A.
The Replacements: Let It Be
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Legend
Minutemen: Double Nickels on the Dime
The Smiths: Hatful of Hollow
Cocteau Twins: Treasure
U2: The Unforgettable Fire
Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense
Echo & the Bunneymen: Ocean Rain
Husker Du: Zen Arcade
Iron Maiden: Powerslave
R.E.M.: Reckoning
Van Halen: 1984
Meat Puppets: Meat Puppets II
1985
Tom Waits: Rain Dogs
Kate Bush: Hounds of Love
Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms
The Jesus and Mary Chain: Psychocandy
The Smiths: Meat Is Murder
The Replacements: Tim
The Cure: The Head on the Door
The Fall: This Nation’s Saving Grace
Tears for Fears: Songs from the Big Chair
Marillion: Misplaced Childhood
The Pogues: Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash
Prefab Sprout: Steve McQueen
New Order: Low Life The Waterboys: This Is the Sea
1986
The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead Metallica: Master of Puppets Paul Simon: Graceland Peter Gabriel: So
Beastie Boys: Licensed to Ill
XTC: Skylarking
R.E.M.: Lifes Rich Pageant
Slayer: Reign in Blood
Talk Talk: The Colour of Spring
Sonic Youth: EVOL
Depeche Mode: Black Celebration
Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet
Prince & the Revolution: Parade
Run-D.M.C.: Raising Hell
1987
U2: The Joshua Tree
Guns N’ Roses: Appetite for Destruction
Prince: Sign ‘O’ the Times
The Smiths: Strangeways, Here We Come
Dinosaur Jr.: You’re Living All Over Me
R.E.M: Document
Michael Jackson: Bad
Def Leppard: Hysteria
New Order: Substance
The Smiths: Louder Than Bombs
Depeche Mode: Music for the Masses
The Cure: Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
Sonic Youth: Sister
INXS: Kick
Eric B. & Rakim: Paid in Full
Bruce Springsteen: Tunnel of Love
The Jesus and Mary Chain: Darklands
The Replacements: Pleased to Meet Me
1988
Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation Pixies: Surfer Rosa
Public Enemy: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Talk Talk: Spirit of Eden
Metallica: . . . And Justice for All
My Bloody Valentine: Isn’t Anything
N.W.A.: Straight Outta Compton
R.E.M.: Green
Jane’s Addiction: Nothing’s Shocking
Tracy Chapman: Tracy Chapman
Queensryche: Operation: Mindcrime
Iron Maiden: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
The Pogues: If I Should Fall from Grace with God
The Traveling Wilburys: The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1
Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man
U2: Rattle and Hum
Pixies: Surfer Rosa & Come on Pilgrim
Joy Division: Substance
1989
Pixies: Doolittle The Stone Roses: The Stone Roses The Cure: Disintegration Beastie Boys: Paul’s Boutique Galaxie 500: On Fire Nirvana: Bleach Nine Inch Nails: Pretty Hate Machine De La Soul: 3 Feet High and Rising Tom Petty: Full Moon Fever Lou Reed: New York Madonna: Like a Prayer New Order: Technique Faith No More: The Real Thing Kate Bush: The Sensual World Aerosmith: Pump
1990
Depeche Mode: Violator Pixies: Bossanova Ride: Nowhere Cocteau Twins: Heaven or Las Vegas
Megadeth: Rust in Peace
Jane’s Addiction: Ritual de lo Habitual
Sonic Youth: Goo
The La’s: The La’s
Public Enemy: Fear of a Black Planet
Happy Mondays: Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches
Fugazi: Repeater
They Might Be Giants: Flood
Soda Stereo: Cancion Animal
Sinead O’Connor: I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got
1991
Nirvana: Nevermind My Bloody Valentine: Bloodless Pearl Jam: Ten U2: Achtung Baby Red Hot Chili Peppers: Blood Sugar Sex Magik Metallica: Metallica Slint: Spiderland Primal Scream: Screamadelica Talk Talk: Laughing Stock A Tribe Called Quest: The Low End Theory Massive Attack: Blue Lines R.E.M.: Out of Time Soundgarden: Badmotorfinger
Guns N’ Roses: Use Your Illusion II
Pixies: Trompe le Monde
Guns N’ Roses: Use Your Illusion I
The Smashing Pumpkins: Gish
Mercury Rev: Yerself Is Steam
Temple of the Dog: Temple of the Dog
Queen: Innuendo
Michael Jackson: Dangerous
Crowded House: Woodface
1992
R.E.M.: Automatic for the People Rage Against the Machine: Rage Against the Machine
Pavement: Slanted & Enchanted
Alice in Chains: Dirt
Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works 85-92
Dr. Dre: The Chronic
Faith No More: Angel Dust
Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes
Dream Theater: Images and Words
Sonic Youth: Dirty
Beastie Boys: Check Your Head
Red House Painters: Down Colorful Hill
Sublime: 40 oz. to Freedom
Stone Temple Pilots: Core
Eric Clapton: Unplugged
Tom Waits: Bone Machine
Peter Gabriel: Us
The Black Crowes: The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion
The Cure: Wish
1993
Nirvana: In Utero
The Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream
Wu-Tang Clang: Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Pearl Jam: Vs.
Slowdive: Souvlaki
Counting Crows: August and Everything After
Bjork: Debut
A Tribe Called Quest: Midnight Marauders
Suede: Suede
Red House Painters: Red House Painters (Rollercoaster)
Liz Phair: Exile in Guyville
Snoop Dog: Doggystyle
Radiohead: Pablo Honey
P.J. Harvey: Rid of Me
The Afghan Wigs: Gentlemen
Depeche Mode: Songs of Faith and Devotion
U2: Zooropa
Mazzy Star: So Tonight That I Might See
Tool: Undertow
Yo La Tengo: Painful
1994
Jeff Buckley: Grace
Oasis: Definitely Maybe
Portishead: Dummy
Weezer: Weezer (The Blue Album)
Nas: Illmatic
Nirvana: MTV Unplugged in New York
Blur: Parklife
Green Day: Dookie
Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Nine Inch Nails: The Downward Spiral
Soundgarden: Superunknown
The Notorious B.I.G.: Ready to Die
Manic Street Preachers: The Holy Bible
Guided by Voices: Bee Thousand
Suede: Dog Man Star
Pearl Jam: Vitalogy
Live: Throwing Copper
Hole: Live Through This
Pink Floyd: The Division Bell
Alice in Chains: Jar of Flies
Stone Temple Pilots: Purple
Beastie Boys: Ill Communication
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Let Love In
The Offspring: Smash
Morrissey: Vauxhaull & I
The Prodigy: Music for the Jilted Generation
Low: I Could Live in Hope
Massive Attack: Protection
Beck: Mellow Gold
Built to Spill: There’s Nothing Wrong with Love
Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works Volume II
R.E.M.: Monster
Dave Matthews Band: Under the Table and Dreaming
Sunny Day Real Estate: Diary
1995
Radiohead: The Bends
Oasis: (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
The Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Pulp: Different Class
Alanis Morissette: Jagged Little Pill
Bjork: Post
GZA: Liquid Swords
Elliott Smith: Elliott Smith
Pavement: Wowee Zowee
P.J. Harvey: To Bring You My Love
Tricky: Maxinquaye
Raekwon: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx . . .
Mobb Depp: The Infamous
Foo Fighters: Foo Fighters
The Flaming Lips: Clouds Taste Metallic
Blur: The Great Escape
No Doubt: Tragic Kingdom
Garbage: Garbage
Leftfield: Leftism
Guided by Voices: Alien Lanes
1996
Weezer: Pinkerton Belle & Sebastian: If You’re Feeling Sinister DJ Shadow: Endtroducing . . . . . Beck: Odelay Tool: AEnima Sublime: Sublime Manic Street Preachers: Everything Must Go Belle & Sebastian: Tigermilk Jay-Z: Reasonable Doubt Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Murder Ballads 2Pac: All Eyes on Me R.E.M.: New Adventures in Hi-Fi Eels: Beautiful Freak Dave Matthews Band: Crash Pearl Jam: No Code Rage Against the Machine: Evil Empire Aphex Twin: Richard D. James Album Modest Mouse: This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About Neutral Milk Hotel: On Avery Island Fugees: The Score Tori Amos: Boys for Pele Cake: Fashion Nugget Swans: Soundtracks for the Blind
1997
Radiohead: OK Computer Bjork: Homogenic The Verve: Urban Hymns Elliott Smith: Either/Or Spiritualized: Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space Modest Mouse: The Lonesome Crowded West Foo Fighters: The Colour and the Shape Godspeed You! Black Emperor: F#A# Built to Spill: Perfect from Now On The Prodigy: The Fat of the Land Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: The Boatman’s Call Yo La Tengo: I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One Blur: Blur Mogwai: Mogwai Young Team Third Eye Blind: Third Eye Blind Daft Punk: Homework Portishead: Portishead Ween: The Mollusk Bob Dylan: Time Out of Mind Buena Vista Social Club: Buena Vista Social Club Ben Folds Five: Whatever and Ever Amen Oasis: Be Here Now
1998
Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane over the Sea Massive Attack: Mezzanine
Air: Moon Safari
Boards of Canada: Music Has the Right to Children
OutKast: Aquemini
Elliott Smith: XO
Eels: Electro-Shock Blues
Lauryn Hill: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Madonna: Ray of Light
Mercury Rev: Deserter’s Songs
Refused: The Shape of Punk to Come
The Smashing Pumpkins: Adore
Pulp: This Is Hardcore
Placebo: Without You I’m Nothing
Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Belle & Sebastian: The Boy with the Arab Strap
Pearl Jam: Yield
The Beta Band: The Three EPs
Dave Matthews Band: Before These Crowded Streets
Beck: Mutations
System of a Down: System of a Down
Tortoise: TNT
David Gray: White Ladder
Garbage: Version 2.0
Queens of the Stone Age: Queens of the Stone Age Black Star: Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star
1999
Sigur Ros: Agaetis Byrjun The Flaming Lips: The Soft Bulletin Red Hot Chili Peppers: Californication The Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs
Blur: 13
Moby: Play
Rage Against the Machine: The Battle of Los Angeles
Muse: Showbiz
Dream Theater: Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory
Built to Spill: Keep It Like a Secret
Nine Inch Nails: The Fragile
Wilco: Summerteeth
The Dismemberment Plan: Emergency & I
Eminem: The Slim Shady LP
Bonny ‘Prince’ Billy: I See a Darkness
Blink-182: Enema of the State
Dr. Dre: 2001
Tom Waits: The Mule Variations
Fiona Apple: When the Pawn . . .
American Football: American Football
Beck: Midnite Vultures
Mos Def: Black on Both Sides
Jimmy Eat World: Clarity
Incubus: Make Yourself
Mr. Bungle: California
Travis: The Man Who
2000
Radiohead: Kid A Modest Mouse: The Moon & Antarctica
Coldplay: Parachutes
Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP
The Avalanches: Since I Left You
OutKast: Stankonia
P.J. Harvey: Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
Queens of the Stone Age: Rated R
U2: All That You Can’t Leave Behind
At the Drive-In: Relationship of Command
Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory
The White Stripes: The Stijl
Ryan Adams: Heartbreaker
Deftones: White Pony
Elliott Smith: Figure 8
Grandaddy: The Software Slump
Primal Scream: XTRMNTR
D’Angelo: Voodoo
Electric Wizard: Dopethrone
Goldfrapp: Felt Mountain
Deltron 3030: Deltron 3030
2001
The Strokes: Is This It
Radiohead: Amnesiac
Muse: Origin of Symmetry
Daft Punk: Discovery
The White Stripes: White Blood Cells
Tool: Lateralus
System of a Down: Toxicity
Bjork: Vespertine
The Microphones: The Glow Pt. 2
Jay-Z: The Blueprint
The Shins: Oh, Inverted World
Gorillaz: Gorillaz
Opeth: Blackwater Park
Jimmy Eat World: Bleed American
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: No More Shall We Part
Incubus: Morning View
Bob Dylan: "Love and Theft"
Ryan Adams: Gold
2002
Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Coldplay: A Rush of a Blood to the Head The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Interpol: Turn on the Bright Lights Queens of the Stone Age: Songs for the Deaf Beck: Sea Change The Libertines: Up the Bracket Red Hot Chili Peppers: By the Way Sigur Ros: (_) Broken Social Scene: You Forgot It in People Eminem: The Eminem Show Porcupine Tree: In Absentia Damien Rice: O Johnny Cash: American IV: The Man Comes Around Boards of Canada: Geogaddi The Streets: Original Pirate Material Audioslave: Audioslave Bruce Springsteen: The Rising Bright Eyes: Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground The Notwist: Neon Golden Norah Jones: Come Away with Me
2003
The White Stripes: Elephant Muse: Absolution Radiohead: Hail to the Thief The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow The Strokes: Room on Fire The Mars Volta: De-Loused in the Comatorium The Postal Service: Give Up Death Cab for Cutie: Transatlanticism Explosions in the Sky: The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Fever to Tell Kings of Leon: Youth & Young Manhood Blur: Think Tank Jay-Z: The Black Album Brand New: Deja Entendu OutKast: Speakerboxx/The Love Below Blink-182: Blink-182 The Wrens: The Meadowland Sufjan Stevens: Michigan The Unicorns: Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone? Linkin Park: Meteora Evanescence: Fallen Sun Kil Moon: Ghosts of the Great Highway
2004
Arcade Fire: Funeral Green Day: American Idiot The Killers: Hot Fuss Madvillain: Madvillainy Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand Modest Mouse: Good News for People Who Love Bad News Kanye West: The College Dropout Interpol: Antics Brian Wilson: Smile The Libertines: The Libertines Kings of Leon: Aha Shake Heartbreak Keane: Hopes and Fears Joanna Newsom: The Milk-Eyed Mender U2: How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus Wilco: A Ghost Is Born Sufjan Stevens: Seven Swans Animal Collective: Sung Tongs Kasabian: Kasabian Iron and Wine: Our Endless Numbered Days Death from Above 1979: You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine The Black Keys: Rubber Factory The Streets: A Grand Don’t Come for Free
2005
Sufjan Stevens: Illinoise Gorillaz: Demon Days
Bloc Party: Silent Alarm
Sigur Ros: Takk . . .
Bright Eyes: I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
The National: Alligator
Coldplay: X&Y
Kanye West: Late Registration
Animal Collective: Feels
Death Cab for Cutie: Plans
Antony and the Johnsons: I Am a Bird Now
The Mars Volta: Frances the Mute
Porcupine Tree: Deadwing
System of a Down: Mezmerize
My Morning Jacket: Z
Kate Bush: Aerial
The White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan
Wolfmother: Wolfmother
The Decemberists: Picaresque
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Jack Johnson: In Between Dreams
Queens of the Stone Age: Lullabies to Paralyze
LCD Soundsystem: LCD Soundsystem
2006
Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not Muse: Black Holes and Revelations Joanna Newsom: Ys Amy Winehouse: Back to Black The Killers: Sam’s Town Brand New: The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me
My Chemical Romance: The Black Parade
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Stadium Arcadium
The Knife: Silent Shout
Thom York: The Eraser
Tool: 10,000 Days
The Decemberists: The Crane Wife
J Dilla: Donuts
TV On the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain
John Mayer: Continuum
The Strokes: First Impressions of Earth
Grizzly Bear: Yellow House
Snow Patrol: Eyes Open
2007
Radiohead: In Rainbows Arcade Fire: Neon Bible Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago The National: Boxer LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver Arctic Monkeys: Favourite Worst Nightmares MGMT: Oracular Spectacular Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam Panda Bear: Person Pitch Burial: Untrue Porcupine Tree: Fear of a Blank Planet of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? Kanye West: Graduation The Shins: Wincing the Night Away Kings of Leon: Because of the Time Eddie Vedder: Into the Wild M.I.A. (UK): Kala The White Stripes: Icky Thump Modest Mouse: We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Justice: Cross Interpol: Our Love to Admire Foo Fighters: Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace Bloc Party: A Weekend in the City Wilco: Sky Blue Sky Feist: The Reminder
2008
Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend Coldplay: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends Portishead: Third Elbow: The Seldom Seen Kid TV On the Radio: Dear Science, Kings of Leon: Only By the Night Sigur Ros: Meo Seo i Eyrum Vio Spilum Endalaust Deerhunter: Microcastle The Raconteurs: Consolers of the Lonely Have a Nice Life: Deathconsciousness Foals: Antidotes
2009
Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavillion
The Antlers: Hospice
The xx: xx
Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest
Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Mumford & Sons: Sigh No More
Muse: The Resistance
Florence and the Machine: Lungs
Arctic Monkeys: Humbug
Kasabian: West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
The Horrors: Primary Colors
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It’s Blitz!
Mastodon: Crack the Skye
Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca
Fever Ray: Fever Ray
Them Crooked Vultures: Them Crooked Vultures
The Decemberists: The Hazards of Love
U2: No Line on the Horizon
2010
Arcade Fire: The Suburbs Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy The National: High Violet Beach House: Teen Dream The Black Keys: Brothers LCD Soundsystem: This Is Happening Deerhunter: Halcyon Digest Vampire Weekend: Contra Gorillaz: Plastic Beach Tame Impala: Innerspeaker Sufjan Stevens: The Age of Adz Joanna Newsom: Have One on Me The Tallest Man on Earth: The Wild Hunt Janelle Monae: The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III) MGMT: Congratulations Foals: Total Life Forever Flying Lotus: Cosmogramma Titus Andonicus: The Monitor
2011
Bon Iver: Bon Iver, Bon Iver Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues The Black Keys: El Camino The Beach Boys: The Smile Sessions Radiohead: The King of Limbs P.J. Harvey: Let England Shake Foo Fighters: Wasting Light Destroyer: Kaputt Adele: 21 M83: Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming Arctic Monkeys: Suck It and See St. Vincent: Strange Mercy Florence and the Machine: Ceremonials James Blake: James Blake The Antlers: Burst Apart Girls: Father, Son, Holy Ghost Foster the People: Torches Yuck: Yuck The Strokes: Angles The Decemberists: The King Is Dead
2012
Kendrick Lamar: Good Kid, M.A.D.D. City Tame Impala: Lonerism Frank Ocean: Channel ORANGE (alt-j): An Awesome Wave Beach House: Bloom
Fiona Apple: The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do
Swans: The Seer
Jack White: Blunderbuss
Death Grips: The Money Store
Grimes: Visions
Grizzly Bear: Shields
Cloud Nothings: Attack on Memory
Japandroids: Celebration Rock
Muse: The 2nd Law
Lana Del Rey: Born to Die
2013
Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City Arcade Fire: Reflektor Arctic Monkeys: AM Queens of the Stone Age: . . . Like Clockwork Daft Punk: Random Access Memories The National: Trouble Will Find Me Kanye West: Yeezus My Bloody Valentine: m b v Darkside: Psychic Foxygen: We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic Deafheaven: Sunbather
2014
The War on Drugs: Lost in the Dream
Sun Kil Moon: Benji
Swans: To Be Kind
Run the Jewels: Run the Jewels 2
St. Vincent: St. Vincent
Mac DeMarco: Salad Days
