Suggest An Album Game

[Stephan]

Since these forums have been a little void of discussion these past weeks, I thought this might be interesting to stir things up a little. The premise of the game is this: you suggest an album for the poster above you to listen to, preferably based on his (or her) personal taste. To add a little twist and get some discussion going, I think it would be interesting if the person who has to listen to that album writes a little review on it. It doesn't have to be 6 pages (although, of course, it can be), just a sentence or two would suffice. It's of course best not to select one of the more mainstream albums, because most of the music buffs on these boards are likely to have already heard them. A link to your RYM profile will also help prevent the selection of an album that you already heard, and serve as a reminder of your tastes.

I like to think we know each other, and particularly each other's tastes, pretty well on these boards, so I think we can make this work. In any case, let's find out. Here's my RYM profile.

If this works out and we get off to steam, you shouldn't suggest an album to the person who writes a review or responds to one, but only to the first person above you who suggests an album.

[Moonbeam]

Sounds fun. Stephan, I'll recommend Kate Bush's Never for Ever.

Here's my RYM profile.

[Dan]

Nice idea.

Moonbeam, have you heard Propaganda's A Secret Wish?

Here's my RYM profile.

[Nassim]

So Dan, I wanted to go with some Puppetmastaz stuff since you're one of the few likely to enjoy it, but since you follow closely the AM Follow World Cup, I would go with a French band with influence coming from raï, latin and circus music : you will have to listen to Les Négresses Vertes - Mlah

Here is my last.fm profile, I did not scrobble much on the past 3 years so it's not really up to date, but my RYM profile is even worse.

[Dan]

I would go with a French band with influence coming from raï, latin and circus music : you will have to listen to Les Négresses Vertes - Mlah

That sounds very much like my cup of tea. Thanks for the recommendation, I'll give it a spin tomorrow.

[cartoken]

nice game !

your profile dan says that you into Singer/Songwriter, so i suggest the latest sharon's van Etten album: Tramp.

here's my RYM profile: http://rateyourmusic.com/~cartoken

[Dan]

Thanks cartoken, I'll check out that Sharon van Etten album. But I think I confused things by replying to Nassim's post. I've already been recommended an album, and if I understand the "rules" of the game correctly then you should recommend an album to the last poster who has not received a recommendation yet (which is Nassim).

[Dan]

Nassim, thanks again for recommending Les Négresses Vertes’ Mlah. I really enjoyed listening to it.

First of all, any album that opens with a French waltz played on the accordian gets bonus points from me (sometimes I think I might have been French in a previous life). What follows after that short waltz is an album with a great variety of styles, including (as you have already mentioned) raï, Latin, circus music and folk. With such a variety of sounds, the music could easily have gone off in all sorts of directions, but somehow the album as a whole has a clear sense of focused direction.

I like it how energetic and danceable most of the album is. It’s lively, cheerful and exciting music with a real sense of personality. Nice recommendation. Here are my two favourite songs from the album for anyone interested:

C'est pas la mer à boire

Voilà l'été

[Stephan]

Never For Ever is my fifth Kate Bush album and I think it instantly shot up to a #2 position among those albums, edged out only by Hounds of Love. It has that real Kate Bush feel about it, and particularly Babooshka is awesome, making it just a bit better than The Dreaming. There are a few songs that seem like filler to me, which keeps the album from being truly great, but an excellent nomination nonetheless. Thanks Moonbeam!

Nassim, given your love for Elliott Smith and Nick Drake, I reckon John Martin's Solid Air may be right up your alley. However, since this is top 500 AM material you may have already heard it, so I'll go with the additional suggestion of Agnes Obel's Philharmonics.

[Jirin]

How do you recommend for somebody who has heard twice as many albums as you and has done his exploration from pretty much exactly the same sources?

I'll go with Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here

I don't have an RYM profile, but here's my current top 100: (Ignore the numbers, these were generated by my program).

1) Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced? 100.00 100.00
2) Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde 96.65 100.00
3) Tim Buckley - Starsailor 96.59 100.00
4) Radiohead - OK Computer 96.59 100.00
5) Portishead - Third 93.52 100.00
6) Radiohead - Kid A 93.31 96.65
7) Tom Waits - Rain Dogs 93.24 96.59
8) Patti Smith - Horses 91.33 96.59
9) Neil Young - After The Gold Rush 90.99 100.00
10) Pixies - Surfer Rosa 90.63 91.33
11) Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited 90.29 91.33
12) Pere Ubu - Dub Housing 90.17 93.52
13) Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True 89.96 93.24
14) Stevie Wonder - Innervisions 89.96 90.29
15) The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers 88.01 93.24
16) The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead 87.65 90.99
17) The Doors - The Doors 87.62 100.00
18) Tom Waits - Bone Machine 87.28 90.63
19) Neil Young - On The Beach 87.26 87.65
20) Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation 87.26 89.96
21) Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells 86.97 90.29
22) The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main St 86.94 90.63
23) Primal Scream - Screamadelica 86.93 90.29
24) Outkast - Aquemini 86.91 100.00
25) Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland 86.64 90.29
26) Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home 86.62 86.64
27) Led Zeppelin - IV 86.62 89.96
28) Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure 86.62 89.96
29) The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses 86.34 86.94
30) The Watersons - Bright Phoebus 86.28 87.26
31) The White Stripes - White Blood Cells 86.03 87.26
32) The Knife - Silent Shout 85.24 86.62
33) Nirvana - Nevermind 85.14 86.62
34) The Beatles - Revolver 84.66 86.64
35) Tim Buckley - Happy Sad 84.28 87.62
36) Buffalo Springfield - Again 84.15 100.00
37) Liz Phair - Exile In Guyville 83.91 84.66
38) The Replacements - Let It Be 83.85 83.91
39) Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance 83.63 86.03
40) The White Stripes - Elephant 83.58 85.14
41) Outkast - Speakerboxx/The Love Below 83.56 86.03
42) Bridgitte Fontaine - Comme A La Radio 83.28 84.28
43) The Flaming Lips - Yoshime Battles The Pink Robots 83.26 86.62
44) Jeff Buckley - Grace 82.94 83.58
45) Sleater-Kinney - One Beat 81.49 83.56
46) Pixies - Doolittle 80.93 83.58
47) Tom Waits - Frank's Wild Years 80.93 83.28
48) Suicide - Suicide 80.80 83.56
49) Guns N Roses - Appetite For Destruction 80.70 80.93
50) Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral 80.58 80.70
51) Lou Reed - Transformer 80.57 83.91
52) The Clash - London Calling 80.50 80.93
53) The Beatles - Abbey Road 80.25 83.58
54) Bert Jansch - Bert Jansch 80.24 83.58
55) Massive Attack - Blue Lines 80.09 100.00
56) Tim Buckley - Tim Buckley 79.84 83.26
57) The Slits - Cut 79.75 80.93
58) The Stooges - Raw Power 79.59 82.94
59) Robert Johnson - King Of The Delta Blues 79.46 80.09
60) Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones 78.63 83.58
61) Bjork - Debut 78.60 96.59
62) Velvet Underground - White Light White Heat 78.31 80.24
63) The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed 78.15 78.63
64) Talking Heads - Remain In Light 77.81 78.15
65) The Who - Who's Next 77.53 83.63
66) Prince - Sign O The Times 77.50 80.50
67) LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem 77.44 100.00
68) Sufjan Stevens - Illinois 77.35 80.70
69) Marvin Gaye - What's Going On? 77.24 77.81
70) TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain 77.23 80.93
71) Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs 76.92 78.31
72) Neil Young - Time Fades Away 76.78 79.75
73) Fairport Convention - Unhalfbricking 76.49 79.84
74) The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico 76.40 76.78
75) Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose 76.25 79.59
76) Kevin Coyne - Marjory Razorblade 75.77 77.44
77) Radiohead - In Rainbows 75.28 76.92
78) The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet 74.80 77.81
79) White Denim - Fits 74.80 76.92
80) The Beatles - Rubber Soul 74.77 88.01
81) Elvis Costello - Armed Forces 74.26 78.15
82) Jethro Tull - Aqualung 74.24 86.62
83) R.E.M. - New Adventures In Hifi 74.24 77.53
84) Bjork - Homogenic 74.21 76.49
85) Minutemen - Double Nickels On The Dime 74.20 77.35
86) Prince - Purple Rain 74.19 77.35
87) Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom 74.18 76.49
88) My Morning Jacket - Z 74.12 76.92
89) Jorge Ben - Africa Brasil 74.10 75.77
90) My Bloody Valentine - Loveless 73.98 77.53
91) Public Enemy - Fear Of A Black Planet 73.98 80.70
92) Pere Ubu - Worlds In Collision 73.97 80.93
93) Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life 73.92 77.24
94) Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps 73.89 77.23
95) Joy Division - Closer 73.59 80.58
96) The National - High Violet 73.14 74.18
97) Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes 73.14 77.24
98) Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue 73.10 85.24
99) Neil Young - Tonight's The Night 73.06 74.18
100) LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver 72.08 73.06

[VanillaFire1000]

Then you go with something a little more off the beaten path. Looking at your list, I'm going with something a little older. Seeing your Dylan love, how about Phil Ochs - I Ain't Marching Anymore (1965)?

[Jirin]

Phil Ochs - I Ain't Marching Anymore 9/10

Purely a product of the 60s folk movement, Ochs comes out with dryly humorous political and antiwar songs that melodically get the genre right.

[John]

Didn't see this game until now- I'll just give Jirin another recommendation since he was the last one to post.

Bill Fay- Time of the Last Persecution


My RYM profile

[Stephan]

Vanillafire was the last to recommend, so the next recommendation should technically be for him.

[VanillaFire1000]

Didn't see this game until now- I'll just give Jirin another recommendation since he was the last one to post.

Bill Fay- Time of the Last Persecution


My RYM profile

And this album is from 1971? He sounds kind of out of time to me. Very different than what I was expecting. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I wouldn't call it a bad album.
7.5/10

[Stephan]

I really liked Bill Fay as well.

The Emeralds album is nicely upbeat for an ambient album, particularly the first half. Unfortunately the second half takes a bit of a nosedive into 7ish territory.

Since Vanillafire went with John's nomination: the next nomination should be for John!