1. Tom Waits – Swordfishtrombone. Not completely out of nowhere. Several of these songs – Johnsville, Illinois, Soldier’s Things, Town With No Cheer – would not have been too out of place on his earlier albums. But his earlier albums all sound the same. This is such an extraordinary and unexpected departure from the previous that he had to shift labels. Lots of trombone and other brass—in some places, especially on what remains one of my favorite videos of all time, In the Neighborhood, it sounds like a New Orleans brass band parading down the street, a bit disjointed but every note perfect. He’s been listening to a lot of Partch; you can hear it in the exotic percussion and treated banjos and guitars. Although he’s not yet working with young downtown musicians like Marc Ribot or Greg Cohen, the musicianship is stellar throughout. The lyrics too are beginning to get more abstract, but still, poetry.
2. Fairport Convention – What We Did On Our Holidays. Their first release had slight hints of British Folk, but was mostly west-coast inspired psychedelic. Still I’d take the Fairport album over anything by the Airplane. This second album begins a string of the greatest folk rock ever recorded. Here we have the first Sandy Denny Fairport appearance and a very young band (Richard Thompson was still 18!) creating a new music that is as old as the hills. Try Meet on the Ledge or Fotheringay.
3. King Crimson – Discipline. While heavily influenced by Talking Heads Remain in Light and probably early Arthur Russell, this album, released after a 7 year hiatus for the band, still sounds like nothing else that had ever been heard. It is funk, African, world music, but also very much still Crimson in technical, prog, metallic glory. Elephant Talk; Indiscipline; Discipline
4. Waylon Jennings – Honky Tonk Heroes. Until the late fifities there wasn’t much to distinguish rock from country. Elvis, Chuck, Hank, Jerry Lee, Johnny, George and their ilk were just making music. Listen again to White Lightning and tell me what makes it country and not rock ‘n roll. Many called the country of the 50s honky tonk, and it almost completely disappeared for more than a decade as the Nashville/Chet Atkins-produced string-laden sound began to dominate. No more pedal steel guitar or hillbilly fiddle allowed. With this album, Waylon led the resurgence of honk tonk music that is as American as anything that’s ever been recorded. Honky Tonk Heroes is written by Billy Joe Shaver who, when asked about his lyrics, once said in a Goldmine interview I read years ago, something along the lines of: “You don’t have to read between the lines to figure out what a song I write means”. And, “there are no alternative meanings to my songs”. So, if you’re looking for bad poetry or the pretentious lyrics that appear on 90% of the music we list elsewhere on this blog, don’t look here: Old Five and Dimers (Like Me); Willie the Wandering Gypsy and Me.
5. Willie Nelson – Shotgun Willie. Willie was right there with Waylon, literally (they each play on the other’s albums) and figuratively. Willie moved to Austin, Texas from Nashville and became a laid-back, outlaw hippy. This is the first of a stellar string of albums that he would never again approach. Although renowned for his song-writing, and why not, he’s written some of the greats (Crazy, Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground), Willie wasn’t terribly prolific in this period (the great Red Headed Stranger only included three of his own songs). Some of his best ballads are here: So Much To Do (one of his first great guitar solos here, had he even been allowed to do that on any previous records?), Sad Songs and Waltzes, She’s Not for You. But Willie is an incomparable interpreter. Here he covers a couple Bob Wills and Leon Russell cuts, evidence that this is a different kind of record. She’s Not For You,Shotgun Willie
6. John Zorn – Bar Kokhba. Zorn had begun considering his Jewish roots on Kristallnacht and in the Masada band a few years before. Still, this release came as a huge shock to long-time fans. Gentle, sad and gorgeously melodic Jewish chamber music. Gevurah, Tannaim
7. Brian Eno – Another Green World. From the first notes of Sky Saw, you know this is going to be different. As great as his first two albums are, so much so that I can’t imagine that this string of records won’t appear again next month, this still deserves recognition here. Many describe the album’s tone using one if its song titles – becalmed. While it is that in spots, pointing to his future ambient work, that certainly doesn’t describe Sky Saw. If you’re not leaping about the house every time you hear this then you’re not alive. Or St. Elmo’s Fire where Fripp’s solo enters midway and then just never departs. It should end naturally at one point, but then after a 6 second pause it’s back again, unrelentingly beautiful, all the way to the end. There’s never been anything like it. It’s one of life’s great shames that Fripp has only rarely contributed as a guest. He elevates everything he contributes to.
The album represents one of those times of historic import, and this is in evidence on many of the above records, where the right people are brought/put together at the right time in their careers, resulting in transcendent music. Also: Golden Hours
8. Material – Memory Serves. Another example of a confluence of the right time and genius. Before this record, Material put out the the pretty tepid R&B album One Down and a pretty great, weird new wave album with Daevid Allen as New York Gong. Here they brought along Henry Threadgill, Sonny Sharrock, Fred Frith, George Lewis, Olu Dara and Billy Bang, some of my very favorite artists of all time; and, as with Crimson and ‘Discipline’, created a timeless album, music of a kind that has still not been fully explored. I can’t find the words to describe it. When I bought this album in high school I didn’t know about any of these guys. I’ve never looked back. Mine was signed by Billy Bang a year before he died. When I handed him this album for his signature, he took a long look at the credits on the back, smiled and shook his head. I might treasure it more than anything else in my collection. Memory Serves, Silent Land
9. Nick Drake – Pink Moon. Just Nick, his terrifyingly solitary lyrics and perfectly executed acoustic finger picking on guitar, finally bereft of the terrible Joe Boyd production of his first two albums. Probably a suicide note. Pink Moon
10. Joni Mitchell – Travelogue. I don’t expect anyone who isn’t a committed Joni Mitchell fan to sit through this. You either love this album or hate it. And you’ll know almost immediately. I believe she meant this to be her last album, a career epitaph of sorts, as the songs span her entire career, including unfortunately neglected songs from the early 80’s. For me, this is the apotheosis of one of the singular artists of the last 50 years. Borderlines/For the Roses
Just missed the cut:
Kyuss – Blues for the Red Sun, Byrds – Sweetheart of the Rodeo, Talking Heads – Remain in Light, Joe Henderson – Multiple, Miles Davis – Bitches Brew, Fred Frith – Gravity, Charles Mingus – Pithecanthropus Erectus
I could have included from others lists: Radiohead – Bends or OK Computer, Fleetwood Mac – Tusk!, Stranglers – Feline, Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Inflated Tear (maybe my favorite song of all time), Prince – Purple Rain, Kate Bush – The Dreaming, Love – Forever Changes, Coltrane – Live at the Village Vanguard, Beck – Sea Change, Beach Boys – Surf’s Up (song)
Music Corner w/ Archive 