List #4: And in This Corner to Asia Born

DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince: And In This Corner...
This rap record is very indicative of the year it was released...1989. I was nine when this Homebasething came out. I don't recall hearing any Fresh Prince until their' 1991 album . The lyrics are very simple, fun, clean and the arrangements are classic old skool (what I understand to be) hip hop/rap. But I have to admit, the story telling style of Smith's raps get a little old after a while...I listened to it while I cleaned the kitchen.

Metallica- And Justice For All....
okay, so I thought I was a Metallica fan but listening to this with headphones was soooo boring. My cousin would shoot me for saying this but almost all the songs on this record sounded the same...the only things that I liked were the singles...the rest of the album not so great.

Faith No More- Angel Dust
Okay...so I tried really really really hard to listen to this record and I just flat out could not get into it. I did not like it at all. It sucked.Chris....what tracks were you going for on this one? I listend to eight and just...ended up skipping the rest because I couldn't deal with it's major suckage.

Bonobo- Animal Magic
Okay, so funny story: Mr. Heller tried to give me this record in mp3 format and I didn't even know that I already had it. It fucking rules. It is sooooo good. Five stars and a keeper from me. It's a great downtempo trip-hop jazz combo and I simply adore it. It's really indicative of the kind of music I like right now.

Various Artists- Bob Dylan Anniversary Concert Special Discs 1 & 2
If you like Bob Dylan and you haven't heard this record...you totally should. There were so many good covers and the jam vibe of it being a live album just enhanced the listening experience. I started giggling uncontrollably when Neil Young Started singing because I was reminded of this Dana Carvey bit (it's towards the end).

Paul Oakenfold- Anthems

Okay, so I know it's not cool to like trance let alone circa 1999 trance BUT I like it okay. I'm a sucker for it. It takes me back to when I first started partying. Electric Daisy Carnival 1999 and partying all summer, all fall and well into the winter and the trance CD's we used to listen to that summer...then it turned to breaks, and jungle (Aphrodite Urban Junglist will always have a special place in my heart...) so...I like it. And it made me want to eat MDMA and dance like a retard in front of speakers just f*cked up out of my skull, in my own world...yeah...I had a lot of fun doing that. And it also reminds me of Dance Parties at Kresge K Candice played an Oakenfold hit from last year and...I thought of her.

Ego Plum- Anthology of Infection Vol 1

This SCREAMS 8-bit animation stories....it is soooo fucking good. I had such a blast listening to it and imagning old school nintendo style animation robots fcuking shit up. listen to it and Imagine. Yes you can hear a Danny Elfman influence...but I swear it's like Mario Brothers and Legend of Zelda soundtracks on LSD.
Primus- Antipop
I saw Primus about ten years ago at the X-96 Big Ass Show here in Salt Lake. Funny story people (for whatever reason) started throwing their shows up onto stage at the band. After the performance of My Name Is Mud, Les Claypool stopped and picked up a shoe and said "uh...why are you guys throwing shoes up here? We're rich rock stars. We don't need any more shoes. If you guys keep throwing them up here we're going to stop playing." I think someone threw a shoe up and Les picked it up and chucked it back...kind of hard. But this album was pretty dark and edgy but I like most everything Primus does and this is no exception but it's not my favorite Primus album

Richard Cheese- Aperitif For Destruction
Richard Cheese is simply HILarious. I LOVE every track on this record. If you haven't heard Richard Cheese...stop reading this, go to his myspace page or projectplaylist.com or something and just listen...if you're disappointed then you suck

Aphrodite- Aphrodite
Wonderful, wonderful and yet again wonderful record. Hooray Aphrodite.

Janis Joplin & Various Artists- April 1, 1969 Live Concert
I freakin' love Janis Joplin. She is nothing short of amazing and...the eight tracks I have are no exception. I love the live versions of Ball and Chain, Summertime, Take a Piece of My Heart and her appearance with Snookie Flowers on his tune Turn You Loose reminded me of the good Captain Morgan...whom I should hit up when i get home and see how he is doing.

Master Shake- Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon The Movie for Theaters Colon The Soundtrack, (one track)
HILarious. yes Shake, someone already paid money for the record and yes we can skip it and it wouldn't matter because the production company certainly did get theirs. hahahahaha

Aqua- Aquarium (one track)
Barbie girl is a fun track. It makes me giggle mostly because of it's tongue in cheek references on heterosexual relationships and programming and all that plastic...soooo funny. And I will admit to liking Aqua's second album Aquarius a lot.

Daft Punk- Around The World (super single- four tracks)
Who doesn't love Around The World? and I will say that I was grateful that I wasn't sick of the song like I thought I would have been after hearing the various versions of it. I LOVE Daft Punk.

ABBA- Arrival
I LOVE ABBA! Except for the Hawaii songs. This whole record reminded me of Muriel's Wedding which is a film I really enjoy watching. And because it's ABBA how can you be sad when you listen to it? It would be damned near impossible. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how. If I'm in a genuinely foul mood and ABBA comes on and it doesn't cheer me up...I turn it off.

A.F.I. The Art of Drowing
Loud. Fun. An album I'd like to commit to memory and listen to selected tracks while on a roadtrip....or on the way to a concert or something I am really pumped up and psyched for (a good mood match for that) I listened to it very casually while I was cleaning and will probably spend some time listening to it on my headphones because you can gain a better appreciation for something when listening to it in a fairly isolated manner (via headphones).

DJ Shadow- Asian Born
Good. Old. Skool funks and breaks and rap. Very cool BUT it turns out this was a single so half of the eight tracks were actually repeats. ...yeah...

Okay...so I'm not at home so I can't tell you what is going to be played next but I have decided that I will only load 7 hours of music on my mp3 player at a time. Otherwise it takes a few days to go through it and...I'd like to be updating this more often. (Plus it will give Uth something to read every day ;-) I love you grrl)

List #3: The All Together to Amsterdam in Flammen

Okay, so I've decided that I will start updating more often because I cannot remember a lot of my inital feelings and thoughts about the albums and waiting until I get to the END of the playlist is a bit of a drag....and it makes for crap reviews like the ones below.

Orbital: The Altogether Discs 1 & 2 (The U.S. version)
a good way to make time zip by and groove in my chair whilst doing data entry. This album specifically was a nice dirty old skool breaks record and I was able to be incredibly focused and productive while listening to it at work. A really good album for anyone who likes breaks. 

Green Day: American Idiot
I remember when this album came out a few years ago and being totally smitten with it. It is still very much a great album and I am hoping that it will be listened to twenty years from now with the backdrop of the political climate in which it was released. As we stand on the brink of a shift in powers....and policies it, for me, doesn't reflect the angst that the nation posessed but a few years ago.

Johnny Cash: American III: The Solitary Man; American IV: The Man Comes Around; American Outtakes (which I'm assuming is a bootleg...)
Okay, can I just gush at how great Johnny Cash is? I LOVE these records. I own American V: A Hundred Highways (released posthumously) on CD and I thought I gave it to Chris to rip but it's not in the iTunes library. No matter...these albums are so great....they have very well done covers and his voice, the production and arrangement on each creates a who different quality to the tracks on the album. I remember hearing an interview with Trent Reznor once who, when he heard that Johnny Cash wanted to cover 'Hurt' had the attitude that 'Hurt' was perfect on it's own and how dare Johnny Cash try to cover it and blah blah blah Trent Reznor is a vain asshole. But after hearing the cover he was very impressed with Cash's work. I remember when the track came out and I was floored. Cash's cover is sooooo much better than the original and I would say that with about 94% of all the covers he does on these albums (I replayed won't back down and U2's One....seriously check them out. One of my personal favorites is his rendition of Gordon Lightfoot's If you Could Read My Mind (which is on American V) it makes me cry a little bit everytime I hear it.


Don McClean: American Pie
Another record from my childhood. I often got Don McClean confused with Jim Croce when I was growing up because they were in the same CD magazine when I was a child. This is a really good album and while I know a few reasons behind the songs, the rock of this era seem to have far more political implications that I would love to have a better understanding of. I'm certain someone out there has written something on the correlation between history and this music.

Veruca Salt: American Thighs
When the song Seether came out when I was fourteen I had no idea what the fuck that song was about...now at twenty-eight...I'm still not entirely certain..a lesbian relationship? a friendship? okay...I still have no fucking clue.  Seether is easliy one of the most rocking tracks on the record and the rest of it was really, really, really good. A good time for getting high and listening to...because I really love to do that. Just get high and listen to music with no talking...*wigh* good memories. Christyn I miss you grrl.

The Offspring: Americana
Chris was right when he said that this record was good to listen to really loud. It had some fun tracks and for some unknown reason the lead vocalist reminds me of Greg Kelly.
It was a fun record and there are definately tracks of nostaligia on it.

Radiohead: Amnesiac (two tracks)
I just have one question regarding this album: "Chris...where the f*ck are the rest of the tracks for it!?" I'm only butthurt because I really like Radiohead. And these two tracks were freakin' phenomonal...as usual and I wish I could have heard the whole damned thing but...uh...no...

THe Black Crowes: Amorica
This is the first time I've ever sat down and listened to a Black Crowes album and I must say I really really really liked them. The vocals and arrangements sort of reminded me of Iron and Wine...I listened to the album twice to make sure that I really did like it...and yeah I dug it. I don't know if there are more Black Crowes albums in the library but I'm rating this one 4 stars...for future reference.

Rammstein: Amsterdam in Flammen... (bootleg...?)
Okay, when I was like seventeen I think, my brother brought home Rammstein's self titled studio album and I really liked it (I wasn't an angry teenager or anything *rolls eeys*) and listening to their live album I still really like them. I think they'd be a great band to run/workout to. So I added some tracks to my workout muzak playlist. I will say that the live album was VERY well produced and I very much enjoyed listening to them live. It sounds like they would be awesome live. A good record for any Rammstein fan.

List #4 is as follow:

Dj Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince- And In This Corner.... (mp4 so I get to sit at my computer and listen to it)
Metallica- And Justice For All
Faith No More- Angel Dust
Bonobo- Animal Magic
Various Artists- Bob Dylan Anniversary Concert (Anniversary for what I don't know...)
Paul Oakenfold- Anthems
Ego Plum- Anthology of Infection Vol. 1
Primus- Antipop
Richard Cheese- Apertif For Destruction
Aphrodite- Aphrodite
Janis Joplin & the Kozmic Blues Band- April 1, 1969 Amsterdam Netherlands
Master Shake- Aqua Teen HungerForce Colon Movie Film For Theaters Colon The Soundtrack (one track....why Chris!? WHY only one!?)
Aqua- Aquarium (one track)
Daft Punk- Around The World
ABBA- Arrival
A.F.I.- The Art of Drowning (mp4)

List #2 Alan Parsons Project Live to All World: Greatest Hits

Alan Parson's Project- The Best of The Alan Parsons Project
Aside from a few tracks on this album listening to it was a bit of a challenge. I have to admit I still have a soft spot for the track Eye in the Sky but I think that's because it reminds me to listening to soft rock/mushy love stations when I was like 11 and the movie Arthur (I have no idea why) I don't know if I just wasn't in the mood for it it or what but...I just could NOT dig it.

Alanis Morissette- Alanis Unplugged
Okay, so anyone who knows me knows I am a HUGE Alanis Morissette fan. I own this album on vinyl (along with two other Alanis Albums) and this is one of my favorite albums of hers it sports one of the best covers of The Police's King of Pain and the arrangement of You Oughta Know I think is the most accurate representation to Alanis' emotion when she wrote the song. Contrary to popular opinion that the song is bourne out of rage, according to interviews with Alanis, it was birthed from a place of sadness and the piano in the song is beautifully haunting.

Faith No More- Album of the Year
I really dug this album. It was a bit grating at times BUT I could imagine taking a road trip with this music. The arrangement, produciton, vocals and lyrics were very well put together.

Of Montreal- Alchilis Arboretum (one track)
Okay, the one track that I had was Pancakes For One which immediately reminded me of Mr. Heller. And regardless of he agrees to it or not I will, until further notice, associate that track with our friendship. It's an adorable track and I recommend you check it out. Also, check out the cover art for this album, as it is exceedingly beautiful.

Arlo Guthrie- Alice's Resturaunt
I seem to recall at one point Chris trying to make me listen to this album in the car and I have to say that at the time I was less than impressed. In fact I thought it was downright boring, mostly because I couldn't really hear it. However, after listening to this album, specifically the title track, on headphones I am officially an Arlo Guthrie fan. Listen to this album or at the very least devote eighteen minutes to listen to the title track (yes, it is eighteen minutes and if you ask Chris he'll tell you a story about radio DJ's putting this record on and leaving the studio to go do something...and while I just told you- ask him anyways as I probably missed some detail).

Alien Ant Farm- Alien Ant Farm Anthology
This album was the epitome of hit and miss as far as this list goes....all I have to say is Happy Death Day are you fucking kidding me!? "Daddy's got a brand new body bag for you!?" *rolls eyes* the lyrics sounded like some seventeen year old upper middle class white boy who thinks they know a thing or two about angst and...ugh...it made me want to barf...but instead I just giggled at the stupidity of the lyrics. The cover of Micheal Jackson's Smooth Criminal was the only thing this record had going for it.

Flogging Molly- Alive Behind The Green Door
A collection of live and studio recorded tracks I really, really dug this record. It reminded me of a story my friend Mimi told me about how she and Josh went down to Cannes in San Diego (I can't for the life of me remember what beach- P.B., M.B., O.B., etc.,) and how they were having a drink and heard a band warming up and turns out it was Flogging Molly so they hung out and caught the concert. And all I could think was "I would have loved to have seen them live and I wonder how/if I would rock out to this without involving myself in a mosh pit."

Steely Dan- Alive in America (LIve)
Try as I might I could not get into this album. I haven't written it off completly though because I image that if my first exposure to Dave Matthew's Band was one of their live albums I probably would not be too big of a fan of them either. So, that said, I think the reason was that this was my first exposure to Steely Dan (that I'm aware of at least) and it being a live album I'm going to listen to it again after hearing their studio albums.

Roy Orbison- The All-Time Greatest Hits
As a child my parents didn't allow us to listen to mainstream radio or watch MTV until we were quite a bit older so these songs remind me of cruising around in my parent's blue VW bus and dancing around and lip synching to these tracks in my living room in the house on Dunes St. Good times.

Bad Religion- All Ages
I am a Bad Religion fan. As of my second exposure to their work, I really, really, really, really love them. And this album appears to be a compliation of hits or whatever, I heard quite a few of these tracks on the last Bad Religion album and their stuff just keeps getting better.

Bjork- All is Full of Bjork
I'm assuming this is a bootleg album. And it has a BEAUTIFUL remix of Alarm Call and a fantastic live version of Human Behavior. I LOVE Bjork and her voice is just a powerhouse of awesome, even more so because she's so tiny.

Plain White T's- All That We Needed (one track)
The one track I have is Hey There Delilah and I all I ever think about EVERY time I hear this track is my beautiful sister Uth. I have a very distinct memory of her singing it in her car as we were driving somewhere, and she just makes everything look adorable.

U2- All That You Can't Leave Behind
HEY BONO...YEAH....NEW YORK IS SHIT! GET OVER YOURSELF. YOU HAVE A PLACE IN NEW YORK, AND YOU HATE IT AND LIFE SUCKS BOO-FUCKING-HOO. ugh *rolls eyes* aside from that track the rest of the album kicked major ass and Beautiful Day will forever be associated with McCampbell...luvs u stickman.

L.L. Cool J- All World: Greatest Hits
Nothing says junior high like L.L. Cool J. A really fun album that had more than one track that reminded me of Z-Trip and by extension Steve-O. *sigh* a good time that made me want to learn to breakdance like they did in the 1980's when it was all new.

And now for List #3: The Altogether to Amsterdam in Flemmin
Orbital- The Altogether
Green Day- American Idiot
Johnny Cash- American III: Solitary Man
Johnny Cash- American IV: The Man Comes Around
Johnny Cash- American Outakes
Don McLean- American Pie
Veruca Salt- American Thighs
The Offspring- Americana
Radiohead- Amnesiac (two tracks)
The Black Crowes- Amorica
Rammstein- Amsterdam in Flammen...

Friday June 27- wading through the mp3's

a part of me feels slightly compelled to start a whole seperate blog concerning this musical endeavor(that would be taking a cue from Greg)....and maybe I will (obviously I did)....but I haven't quite decided. okay.

So I had left my mp3 player at work for a few days after finishing listening to all the albums so I finally brought it home today to change out the albums Former playlist & thoughts:
The Beatles-Abbey Road
Maxwell's Silver Hammer...who knew serial killings could sound so damned chipper. This album is known for that famous pic of the Beatles walking across the album's namesake and it has several well known tracks off it but...it's not my favorite Beatles record. Nit I will say that I chuckled when I heard "Octopus' Garden" because of that scene in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

Santana-Abraxas
I can't wait to get stoned and listen to this album...it begs for it (or maybe that's just me).

U2-Achtung Baby
This is one of my favorite U2 albums of all time. I do have to admit (and I've said this before) that I am so vain as to like the idea of someone, at some point in my life associating me with Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses and (this is both vain and cheesy) Mysterious Ways

Violent Femmes- Add It Up 1981-1993
This album makes me think of two things:
1) High School, specifically Cottonwood High Drama Department 2) My sister Ruth

Smashing Pumpkins- Adore
The single off of this record wasn't nearly as good as some of the other tracks. I was a jerk and didn't make notes as they came up so I can't make recommendations...so disregard this shit review.

Tool-Aenmia
I don't know why it took me years to listen to this album with headphones, and if you never have listened to it with headphones I strongly recommend doing it. Forty-Six just became one of my favorite songs of all time.

Aphrodite- Aftershock
I LOVE everything Aphrodite does and this album kicks ass. So...this is more or less a no brainer for me.

Bad Religion- Against the Grain
OKay, so for whatever reason I thought Bad Religion was some heavy metal band in the vein of AC/DC. Turns out they're this kick ass punk rockish band that I've heard for years on the radio, loved but never learned the name of the band. ...how embarassing... That aside, they are incredible and I now know why Chris rocks what appears to be their entire catalog.

Geino Yamashirogumi- Akira: Symphonic Suite/ Original Soundtrack

One of the better soundtracks I've heard. The only problem was that I really, really, really, really, really wanted to watch Akira after listening to it. That film is such a trip and I dig it. I remember seeing it when I was fifteen and being very confused by it, and have watched it several times over in the time since then and have found it imensely intriguing. It's been years since I've seen.

Hey Zen Ninja, you want to watch it together when I get back to S.C? I seem to recall you having that super sweet box set...please? OKay. So, now for round two.

Here's what I've got. And...I might just start a new blog (yeah I totally did)....
The list:
Alan Parson's Project- The Best of The Alan Parsons Project
Alanis Morissette- Alanis Unplugged
Faith No More- Album of the Year
Of Montreal- Alchilis Arboretum (one track)
Arlo Guthrie- Alice's Resturaunt
Alien Ant Farm- Alien Ant Farm Anthology
Flogging Molly- Alive Behind The Green Door
Steely Dan- Alive in America (LIve)
Roy Orbison- The All-Time Greatest Hits
Bad Religion- All Ages
Bjork- All is Full of Bjork
Plain White T's- All That We Needed (one track)
U2- All That You Can't Leave Behind
LL Cool J- All World: Greatest Hits

Taking a que from Mr. Heller

Cruising through my iTunes I have reached the conclusion that I haven't heard/listened to (in recent history-read the last six months or longer) about 80% of my library.

Sooooo I decided to start schlepping music onto my mp3 player in alpha order according to album name. I did consider going forward from Z to A but after reviewing the ass end of the list I thought it would be better to go forward from A.

It's a good way for me to expose myself to new (read: forgotten/never before heard but none the less dated) music.Clarifying fact: the library was primarily built by Chris in accordance to his taste and I'm down to find music not previously exposed to in a big way.

Also, because I can't stream music at work, exposure to new (and fairly contemporary) artists is entirely limited to when I'm at home and able to groove to Pandora...and that's limited by the reality that my computer is in the dining room, allowing for little privacy/freedom to hear out artist that may be labeled as objectionable.\

So...anyways list of what to listen to until I'm done is as follows:
The Beatles-Abbey Road
Santana-Abraxis
U2-Achtung Baby
Violent Femmes- Add It Up 1981-1993
Smashing Pumpkins- Adore
Tool-Anemia
Aphrodite- Aftershock
Bad Religion- Against the Grain
Geino Yamashirogumi- Akira: Symphonic Suite/ Original Soundtrack

I can say with absolute sincerity that the only album on that list that I have never listened to in it's entirety (although I have heard tracks from it) is the Bad Religion Against The Grain. And with the exception of Add it Up and Aftershock I haven't listened to the other albums for several months....so it should be interesting.