Tuesday, August 14, 2001

I'm noticing Little Oscar's postings include people's favorite albums AND THEIR REASONS for inclusion.

Jeff Lewis’s “Indie Fortune Cookie” because of its wide variety of pop folk styles. It is purely performance, since it originated on cassette tape, and that's the format in which I heard it. The only thing done to produce it was to play it. It includes Jackson's hilarious "Man With the Golden Arm," it has Second Avenue, the Chelsea Hotel, The song about the little reptiles, this is just off the top of my head. It's incredibly engaging. By the way, another miracle album of this simple pure performance recording calaber is Major Matt Mason's Me Me Me.

By the way, these are favorite albums. There are tracks or moments on albums that far surpass, however, the entire albums listed are favorites. For example, Jeff Lewis' album can be listened to in its entirety.

Espinola/Wolf’s “Lifeaphobia” This has quite a bit more work done to create the sonic experience. Every song is great and the spoken word elements are great. It's entirely musical and shows how good Beck's albums could be (The only "Beck" album I know, and love, is Mellow Gold, and it reminds me of this one). Lifeaphobia contains an interesting balance between the two writers. Steve Espinola has a talent one might find out of control. He does a big bopper performance that shows how entertaining such a style of singing can be. All his songs are unbelievably good, and they are tempered by the introspective Mr. Wolf, whose memorable line is, I'm an old man now in this town.

Zappa’s Mother’s “Only in it for the Money” See, this is an example of an entertaining album from beginning to end. Zappa's moments on other albums are unsurpassable musical breakthroughs. Waka Jawaka, Uncle Meat, 200 Motels, even the hilarious Live at the Fillmore.
"Only in It" has Billy the Mountain and Magdalena and other stuff I can't remember. The packaging was very appealing. Billy the Mountain is a compendium of pop music of the moment.

Bowie’s “Man Who Sold the World” Again, many moments in Bowie's albums far surpass this one, but in its entirety it is quite outrageous and direct. The spoken wod opening to the Diamand Dogs album, with the Rogers and Hart riff, is an incredible favorite. In fact, that album has beautiful sounds through and through.
Man Who Sold the World has Shook Me Cold and Width of a Circle and the one that's becoming a standard cover. By the way, the album cover went through phases, with Bowie lounging ala Hunky Dory, the one that remains, but I like the cartoon one of the Texan that tried to take a shot at him.

Stones’ “Beggar’s Banquet” also has a great substitute cover to the silly toilet scrawls.

Chubby Checker’s “Let’s Limbo Some More” (the album with “Birdland”)
Gina Bacchauer’s “Scriabin Prelude’s/Brahm’s Waltzes”
Mostel’s “Fiddler on the Roof” (first soundtrack of Bock/Harnick Score)
Genesis’ “Selling England by the Pound”
Dylan’s “Desire”