Reviews by benc

A psychotically great album. Yes, it's sexy. But it's also brutal, funky, scary, weird, funny, angry, and so much more. Every song is long, but the grooves are so good I wish they were longer. And I'm excited to hear whatever the next song brings. I love the crazy synths, I love how Prince could get soul out of a drum machine, I love how the different voices work together. I love this album.

A great listen and a special document of a time and place. I can understand why hip hop fans hear this as undeveloped (or just plain uncool), these were artists at the cutting edge still figuring out what a "hip hop album" would sound like. But I kinda love its rawness. It's nice to hear how hip hop grew out of, and overlapped with, funk, r&b, disco, rock, electro, and other styles. Also, much respect to the musicians who made this record (people like Reggie Griffin) who are the behind-the-scenes pioneers of hip hop music.

A great performance, if a bit of an odd pick for the ONLY record on the list from 1961. The interplay between the 3 musicians is immaculate. There's a lot of interesting stuff to hold your attention within this relatively simple texture -- this is only "background" music if you let it be.

This is fine. Beth Orton's music never really does what I want or hope -- the "folktronica" tag kinda oversells what is relatively safe, anodyne singer-songwriter music. I like some moments, and the overall vibe is nice, but I'm generally underwhelmed and left wanting something edgier or more experimental.

A magical gift to the world. Crazed rock music straight from the gut.

Two tracks in, I thought I might like this album. Perfectly acceptable glam pop. After that, it takes a nosedive. Mostly corny "tough guy" showtunes. Also, the singer seems like an aggressive sex pest. Pass.

I like the Police, but even their best albums give me mixed feelings. This is not one of their best albums. It's baffling to me how this one has become their critically acclaimed magnum opus. There is *so much* filler here, including basically the entire A side. And the hits on the B side are fine but very slick and commercial sounding. Also, these guys have serious masculinity issues and it shows on basically every track.

Damn, I loved listening to this. I've been a fan of Neu 1+2 for a long time, I don't know why I never gave this album much attention. It's heartfelt, guttural, and cerebral without being schmaltzy, overwrought, or pretentious. I can hear why it bridged psychedelia and punk. Immaculate record.

Exactly the kind of moody, stylish punk I like. Great record.

The first Elliott Smith album I got into. I kinda surprised myself by how much I enjoyed this when I first heard it -- I don't love a lot of singer-songwriter types, and most "indie pop" is a major turn off for me. But this is an album full of perfect songs, and ES majorly flexes his ability as an arranger. The dude is cut from a different cloth, he's like a KRS version of Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, or Kate Bush -- he has such a complete understanding of what makes a good pop record. I could listen to this for the rest of my life and probably will.

Yet another banger from REM. Completely ahead of their time, this album sounds like 90s rock radio but earlier (and better).

In Fall 2005, about a week into my freshman year of college, I went to go see Of Montreal, a band I knew little about -- I was just looking for an excuse to see some live music. The opening band was "The Management" (before they became MGMT). They performed, as a duo, in neon orange zip up hoodies with no shirt underneath. There was no band, just push button backing tracks. The songs sounded goofy, dripping with irony, and the 2 singers carried themselves in a very unserious way. Which is why I was shocked to see this album blow up 2 years later, and even more surprised by the critical praise they've sustained for a couple decades -- some people talk about MGMT like they're the goddamn Beach Boys. 20ish laters, this album still sounds somewhere between "joke music" and the firehose of generic indie pop that dominated my classmates' iTunes libraries back in college. I can see why some of these songs, especially the singles, make people nostalgic for the 2000s "hipster" era, but I find them mostly irritating.

A decently indecent pastiche of 70s and 80s pop rock. Gotta respect the Scissor Sisters for breaking through the deep homophobia of the mainstream media in 2004 with some deeply gay aesthetic choices. One problem with drawing on such a wide set of musical styles is you're unlikely to hold most peoples' interest across a full album. For me, I loved the disco songs; the glam / arena rock songs did not scratch the itch.

the Goop of music

I first heard this when Pitchfork released their list of "Best albums of the 1970s" and put this at #1. I was surprised to see it at the top. But, after giving it a close listen, Low really changed my understanding of pop music. This is, still, my favorite Bowie album. He successfully synthesized all of his best abilities and made something truly weird, heartfelt, and funky. Low feels like a minor miracle.

This is really not my thing, but I mopped the floors and washed the windows while I listened to this and it made me feel like a teenager who's mad about doing chores. I appreciate it.

One of my favorite albums ever. I bought this in a dollar bin when I was 27 because I knew I liked Curtis Mayfield, but I didn't expect it to be a daily listen for the next 5 years of my life. Everything on this album is perfect, but especially the orchestration and arrangement. Curtis Mayfield discovered a whole new kind of ghetto chic language with this album and you can still hear its resonance today. Also, I have a fond memory of getting very stoned and watching Superfly (the movie), which is not really a great film but it nonetheless feels totally immersive because the soundtrack is so incredible.

I couldn't stand listening to this. It's so rigid, clunky, and contrived. The constantly shifting asymmetrical meter feels more like an academic exercise than a genuinely experimental approach to composition. And on top of all the horribly pompous prog rock noodling, the singer's voice has that white gospel / Christian rock vibe I can't stand. I understand why people call this psychedelic -- because it has a loose connection to the jam band tradition -- but this record seems like it would be a nightmare to trip to.

This is Hendrix at his most hippie dippie and, honestly, I love it.

This does everything I want in a Peter Gabriel album, but with the "commercial" fader pushed into the red