EPT
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Made it to day 20! That means in the last three weeks I have recommended exactly 100 albums by 100 different artists My next goal is 50 days, or 250 albums by (possibly) 250 artists. Hopefully I can keep you entertained that long!
I'm really happy with how this is going so far. It's great to see people listening to stuff they don't normally listen to and comment on what they like and dislike about it. Also, I'm getting some nice recommendations which is pretty sweet.
Anyway, to celebrate Day 20 I'll be listing some of my favourite albums ever, and writing a bit more about why I like them. However, feel free to ignore my babbling if you want to. As always, let me know what you like and what you don't!
1. Dark Tranquillity - Haven
What? Melodic death metal
When? 2000
Why? Many people see Haven as one of Dark Tranquillity's weaker albums. It's right in between the second and third phase of their music. In the beginning there was The Gallery and The Mind's I, more symphonic death metal. Then came Projector, a foray into the more synth/keyboard driven metal. Finally, the third phase started with Damage Done, the slightly louder more straightforward melodic death. Haven falls in between straightforward and slightly goth inspired melodic death.
What I've always liked about this album is how well it merges the two sounds. Haven is as heavy and melodic as damage done, but it has the same beautiful gothy clear-vocals that made Projector amazing. It's as polished as Damage Done, while at the same time being as creative and original as Projector. There is not song on this album that hasn't been my favourite at some point in the last 10 years.
Show me! + Show Spoiler +
2. Jay-Z - Black Album
What? Hip Hop
When? 2003
Why? I could easily have chosen Reasonable Doubt or Blueprint. In fact, if this was any day other than Day 20 I would almost certainly have chosen Reasonable Doubt. But today I'm allowing myself some guilty pleasures.
The Black Album, to me, is the pinnacle of Jay-Z's skills as a rapper. At this point in his career, he had established himself, he knew it, and he was ready to retire at the top. His lyrics are more concise on The Black Album that its ever been, before or since. For the production, he called in every contact he had: Just Blaze, Kanye West, The Neptunes, Timbaland, 9th Wonder, even Rick Rubin. The only producer really missing from that line-up is DJ Premier. The music that we end with is emotional, its powerfully self-conscious, and yet its as self-confident and settled as anything done in hip hop to date.
Show me! + Show Spoiler +
3. The Strokes - Is This It
What? Indie
When? 2001
Why? If there is one album that made me respect indie, it was this album. 2001 was a bad year for popular music: boy bands and pop groups were at the peak of their popularity; and more importantly, rock music was starting to crawl up its own arse again. Linkin Park's fabulous Hybrid Theory led to a ton of copy-cat rock groups that might as well have been boy bands. All in all, rock music was losing the last semblances of creativity and authenticity, as rock targeted the same teenagers that Twilight is targeting today.
Enter Is This It, an album that's only sentimentality is its reminisces of parties and one-night stands. Just like punk brought rock back from the pretensions of glam and prog rock in the late 70s, indie grounded rock at the start of this millennium, and nothing symbolises that better than Is This It. It is unapologetic, it is brash, it is childish, but most of all, it is music that perfectly described the people making it.
Show me! + Show Spoiler +
4. Venetian Snares - Higgins Ultra Low Track Glue Funk Hits 1972-2006
What? Electronic
When? 2002
Why? Once again, not the album I would normally prescribe, that would be Rossz csillag alatt született. However, if I could choose an album that describes what made me like electronic music in the first place, then it's this album. Erratic, fast-paced, unpredictable, but with sweeping melodies and incredible moments of beauty. Higgins is not an album that you put on for some light listening. Higgins makes you work for your enjoyment, but when it comes... when there's a break in the drums, or when the operatic voice cuts across the noise, then it is just awesome every time.
That doesn't mean this album is without flaws. Just like the music itself, some tracks are breathtaking while others make you claw at your ears for a bit. But just like the music, waiting for the amazing tracks are worth it every time.
Show me! + Show Spoiler +
5. Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman
What? Singer-Songwriter
When? 1970
Why? I grew up listening to this album, my dad had it on a cassette, and I remember so many holidays driving through South Africa while he played this. By the time I was five, I could sing all the songs without speaking a word of English.
During my teenage years I purposefully ignored Tea for the Tillerman. I had found metal, I had found underground electronica, and there was very little that a quaint singer-songwriter from the 70s could offer me. That was until somewhere in Grade 10 or 11, when I was hopelessly in love with some girl, and in my insecurity I decided that a bit of happy nostalgia would do me well. The lyrics on Tea for the Tillerman are absolutely unbelievable! The songs are romantic, sad, inspirational, brave... everything a young guy feels growing up. At 22, Cat Stevens perfectly captured everything he felt, and everything that every guy is likely to feel for the next 200 years.
Show me! + Show Spoiler +
That's it for my Day 20! The music today isn't necessarily better than anything I've posted in the past or will continue to post. Instead, it's music that I have some personal attachment to. Tomorrow we return to the normal format again! Hope you found it interesting, or if you only listened to the music, that you enjoyed it!
Disclaimer: The title says that it is Daigomi's guide to good listening. That means its my opinion. Feel free to disagree as long as you provide reasons; I enjoy a good discussion as much as the next person. Also, I just like listening to music, I don't give a shit for the political implications of any music.
+ Show Spoiler [E-Cookie winners to date] +
Day 4 - Eti307 - Wale sampling Yann Tiersen
Day 8 - - Name a song that samples Rodriguez's Sugar Man.
Day 9 - - Which arcade game's music is sampled in Percee P's 2 Brothers From The Gutter?
Day 14 - ZZangDreamjOy - Cake's Long Skirt/Short Jacket as Chuck's theme song.
Day 17 - ZZangDreamjOy - Max Cavalera in Ill Bill's War is my Destiny.
Day 8 - - Name a song that samples Rodriguez's Sugar Man.
Day 9 - - Which arcade game's music is sampled in Percee P's 2 Brothers From The Gutter?
Day 14 - ZZangDreamjOy - Cake's Long Skirt/Short Jacket as Chuck's theme song.
Day 17 - ZZangDreamjOy - Max Cavalera in Ill Bill's War is my Destiny.
