#494: MGMT - Oracular Spectacular (2008)

Aaah, something "modern." Contrasting this with the guitar- and saxophone-heavy older albums, it's  very clear the electronic turn our music has taken. However, with Bozz Scaggs back there, you can see how this is progression of psychedelic rock, except instead of laying on the organ, we have some heavy-handed synth effects.

I suppose if I took issue with the whiny aspect of Jack White's voice I should have a problem with Andrew VanWyngarden's voice, but, hey, I'm biased towards MGMT, having already liked their MGMT album. Ah, that's how it goes.

I did get a little tired of the "singing in a cavernous hall sound" like on song such as "Pieces of What." I don't know if this was a purposeful decision or one more to cover up some voice issues.

Rating: 7/10

Would listen to: If I wanted to hear specific songs or wanted some "hip" background music.

Favorite Songs: "Time To Pretend" (already a favorite), "Electric Feel," "Kids"

Notes:

• We're all in agreement that the video for "Kids" is kind of creepy, right? That kid is not acting, that's for sure!
• This was one of the newer albums Rolling Stone added to their revised top 500 list.
• Despite all the familiar hits on this album, I like their second one better. It's like they eased off their electric dependence and really started making music.

#495: Bonnie Raitt - Give It Up (1972)

Well, this is a bluesy start to the list.

I let this one play through twice as I was taking care of address changes and surfing Pinterest to sigh at the food (no kitchen means I weep a bit at pictures of creamy soups and drippy crockpot BBQs). At first I wasn't terribly impressed, but by the second listen I was hooked to Raitt's lovely voice. This was a record that seemed to have a more appealing second half than first, as well. It started with a surprising New Orleans-style big band sound but mellowed out. I liked the more soulful, less twangy/bluesy songs like "Been Too Long at the Fair," the ones that made her seems bit like a country Carole King.

Rating: 6.5/10

Will listen to: On quiet nights or lazy summer afternoons.

Favorite Songs: "Been Too Long at the Fair," "You Got To Know How," "Love Has No Pride"

Notes

• I will always be biased in favor of redheads. Well, except for Carrot Top (shudder). Bonnie Raitt still looks fabulous.
• "Nothing Seems to Matter" has some strange melodic parallels with Rod Stewart's "Maggie May." (Listen to the lines, " A time to think you said that night/And I lied and said all right" and then " All you did was wreck my bed/And in the morning kick me in the head") It also would have been much better without the saxophone (sorry Reid).

#496: Boz Scaggs – Boz Scaggs (1969)

I ran into trouble finding this album on Spotify, but managed to recreate it via YouTube. Ah, how music access has changed.

This was a strange record to place. It's sort of blues, sort of folk, sort of psychedelic. It would be hard to place it if you didn't know the year the album came out. There's a fair amount of once-loved musical devices like organs, saxophones, and gospel-ish background singers that makes it somewhat sixties, but it still stands along.

I listened to this while working on other things, so I didn't give it my fullest attention and found that it was halfway though again before I noticed it was repeating. I found it soulful and got more into it as the record wore on. All in all, it wasn't necessarily memorable, but it was enjoyable.

Favorite songs: "Finding Her," "Sweet Release," "I'll Be Long Gone."

Would listen to: If I wanted to listen again to actually remember any songs!

Notes:

• The slightly nerd, sideburns-y guy on the cover doesn't quite match the music.
• The YouTube video for "Waiting for a Train" has just one comment: "Damned good yodeling, Boz."

#497: The White Stripes – White Blood Cells (2001)

Somewhere in the early 2000s there was a breakthrough of "The" bands: The Hives, The Strokes, The White Strips, The Vines. They all seemed to have skinny ties and a driving drumbeat. These, along with Modest Mouse and Franz Ferdinand, with a cameo by The Gorillaz, will all forever remind me of high school since they were just starting to get radio play when I was starting to drive. These also marked the first time that I remember witnessing a change in music styles within a genre. We were tired of the ska punk and alternative sound, I guess, and this was the new big thing.

The White Stripes will forever fall into that era for me, but never as a favorite. I never picked up an album of theirs because I always guessed that I would get tired of them quickly. Listening to White Blood Cells, I found I was right.

Jack White's voice isn't exactly appealing but he falls just short of being grating...for most songs. Sometimes I feel like this band tips into the "hip, so it's ok" realm, where we forgive some offenses because, well, look at how neat-o they are. I suppose this can be argued for many bands and singer, though, especially in pop music.

At first the record sounded fresh and cool. "Fell in Love With a Girl" was familiar, as did "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground." But just over halfway through the record, I was kind of tired of it all. They started to sound like a neighbor's garage band, jammin' out but not necessarily hitting the right notes (both figuratively and literally). I'm sure I'm missing some artistic or groundbreaking element, but by "Aluminum" and its "aaaaahs" I was ready to be done. I like their songs with a country twang, such as "Now Mary," a lot better than those with a driving beat.

Rating: 5/10

Would listen to if: I felt like I needed to be consciously cool while rocking out.

Favorite Tracks: "We Are Going to be Friends," "Hotel Yorba," "Now Mary"

Notes: 

• I like the move of putting the gentle "We Are Going to be Friends" second on the album while most would make a song like that one of the last tracks.
• Does anyone remember the whole "are they married or are they brother and sister" rumors? Ick. Their divorce party invite probably put that all to rest.
• Is Meg White considered a great drummer? To me it just sounded like rhythmic pounding but perhaps drummers can set me straight on that?

#498: The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses (1989)

I pride myself on having a decent knowledge of rock music history, if not having actually listened to all of it (thus this project). So I'm ashamed that by just the third album in I haven't heard of the band at all. Rolling Stone doesn't inspire much confidence either with their helpful note that this album is, "highlighted by the ecstatic eight-minute-long "'I Am the Resurrection.'" Goody, I thought.

Surprise, surprise, I loved this album. It's smooth and unexpected and plays on my (sometimes embarrassing) love of jam bands. I wanted to listen to it again on something other than my tinny laptop speakers to give it justice. It's a strange mix of bands much more famous. There's a taste of the soon-to-arrive Nirvana and Pearl Jam ere from the first song, "I Want to Be Adored." A little bit of the 80s sound of the Smiths, the poppiness of The Rembrants, and even, dare I say it, The Proclaimers (listen to "Waterfall" and you'll understand). The slightly slurred singing and driving guitars are a hint at an area to come. Plus, the audible accents are dreamy.

These guys are ripe to be discovered by the next indie movie soundtrack creator. "She Bangs the Drums" just begs to be played over opening credits showing establishing shots of, say, Milwaukee or Portland. In the meantime, I'm glad I discovered them too.

Rating: 8.5/10

Favorite songs: "She Bang the Drums," "Waterfall"

Notes:

• "I Am the Resurrection" isn't even the longest song on the album. The final cut, "Fools Gold" clock in at 9:54. 
• Wikipedia claims that these guys are recording a new album (as of June 2012), which would only be their third. We'll see. Can they really capture the magic more than 20 years later?
• Liam Gallagher was said to have been inspired to start a band after seeing The Stone Roses in concert. You can hear a little bit of Oasis in these songs as well.

#499: B.B. King – Live in Cook Country Jail (1970)

Another backhanded tip to Chicago in this album, as Cook County Jail, the largest in the US, is situated southwest of the city in one of the roughest parts of town. Someone in Google has helpfully reviewed it: "Best sleep I ever had, gotta come and visit soon."

The album opens with an introduction, but not of King. Instead a female announcer points out the sheriff and a chief justice of the state courts. Unsurprisingly these names are met mostly with boos, setting up a strange and awkward start to there album. But within moments, King is jamming away and only every once in a while, as cheers rise up from the audience, do you think about the fact that the fans are all prisoners.

Admittedly, B.B. King mostly conjures up "The Thrill Is Gone." And blues is always a genre that I think about exploring but never seem to do. It always seems to be a PBS concert special that you flip by. I know, I know, some music fans are reaching for their smelling salts. But I do love jazz and so I found a lot to love in this album. I was struck by how jazz-like this album is, with its wandering jams, trilling piano, and lazy drums. I'm not a huge fan of live albums but King's interactions with the crowd, like calling out the ladies and the fellas in the middle of "Worry, Worry," are appealing... at least until he starts telling the guys not to beat their ladies. Good advice? I'm not sure I'd want to listen to the banter every time but it's better than most.
Short, sweet and fit my mood for a sunny-but-under-the-weather Saturday afternoon.

Rating: 7.5/10

Would listen to if: Need a some jammin' background music or some moody road trip music.

Favorite tracks: "Please Accept My Love," "How Blue Can You Get," "The Thrill Is Gone"

Notes:

• If, like me, you're most familiar with B.B. King's later work (namely, the ever-present versions of "The Thrill is Gone," you'll be struck by how young he sounds here. I'm always intrigued by the development of singer's voices over their careers (see Joni Mitchell for a prime example).
• Track #3, "How Blue Can You Get" was sampled in Primitive Radio Gods' "Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth" which I originally thought was a Moby song. Here the original here and the sample here.

#500: OutKast – Aquemini (1998)

So it begins with OutKast. I wonder if this was a conscious decision on Rolling Stone’s part, to not come across as fuddy duddies or to present something more unexpected than a slightly-now-obscure 70s band.

I actually own OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, which is good (and will probably appear on this list), but admittedly I sometimes end up listening to the poppy stuff (“The Way You Move,” and of course, “Hey Ya!”) So to sit down and listen to a true rap album is newish to me.

I have conflicting feelings about rap. It populates a lot of my iPod playlists, but I get acutely aware of being a suburban white girl listening to songs often about problems pretty far removed from my life. Also, having just moved to Chicago and knowing about the gang violence that is plaguing the far south and west sides, it can be hard to listen to songs that, to borrow the academic pearl-clutching language, glorify that lifestyle. But, done right rap is hard to resist and, let’s be totally honest here, makes you feel kind of cool. And OutKast does it so well, and thoughtfully, ruminating on what, as Wikipedia nicely summarizes, "topics such as emancipation, drug addiction and problematic relationships, while exploring the bleakest aspects of humanity.”

I put them in the unscientific category of “fast rap,” where the rhymes go by, well quickly. I found that even if I zoned out and stopped listening, the rhythmic bumps of the songs was still enjoyable. However, I was getting kind of bored midway through the album. This is already putting the “no skipping” rule to the test. I’m less of lyrics girl and more about the tune, and after a while it all started to sound the same. I’m not a fan of vocal interludes and a few populate this record. They interrupt the flow and I feel like it’s the equivalent of people who post conversations with their friends on Facebook. They also have “skits” which also drive me crazy. Give me music. That’s all.

Rating: 4/10

Would listen to: If I wanted to feel tough, or if I wanted a reminder of how to pronounce "spottieottiedopaliscious"

Favorite songs: “Rosa Parks” (already a favorite), "Synthesizer" featuring George Clinton, “Mamacita,” and “SpottieOttieDopaliscious,” mostly because it makes you want to be compared to yams.

Notes:

• Rosa Parks is reportedly not a fan of “Rosa Parks.”
• I’m more a fan of the more playful Andre 3000
• “Mamacita” features female rappers in a way that's much better than most are featured lately.
• I can't find a good article that breaks down the differences between east coast, west coast, and southern rap. Just Yahoo! questions. Not a good source.
• The happy commercials for Wal-Mart and such that pop in on Spotify really don't fit when followed by an angry song about society's ills.
• I want to be able to use “go on and marinate on that for a second” someday after making a perfect point.