We seem to be stuck in a dystopian science fiction film. Sports, movies, tv shows, dining and so many other forms of entertainment are unavailable for the time being, but records are still spinning, tubes are still glowing, and services are still streaming. Most of us with stereos at home are now for perhaps the first time realizing how important a home stereo is. So while your stuck at home working from laptops and booked up zoom meetings, I have a few suggestions to check out.
I wanted to change up the format that I usually apply to an album review because it’s boring. Instead of a breakdown of the album, I’m gonna geek out about a few albums of current and past. I find myself digging into the past as much as I pay attention to current music, and which ever era I’m listening to I find some cool stuff.
I wanted to share a 60’s and 70’s artist Mort Garson who did a bunch of cool stuff but specifically a 1976 album called ‘Plantasia: Warm earth music for plants and people who love them’ This album isn’t audiophile and it’s not for everyone, but it’s unique and beautiful and it’s a ton of fun. Garson used early moog modular synth equipment to achieve the sounds on Plantasia. It reminds me a bit of the A Clockwork Orange soundtrack. There is an air of classical with the synth of the future. Check it out it’s streaming wherever you get your streams, and available on vinyl.
So far this year a few 2020 albums have tickled my fancy, seemingly a harder task than it was this time last year.
I must preface with a story about a a well respected, yet rather harsh online music publication Called Pitchfork. Launched in 1995 and gained a reputation by its extensive coverage of indie music, I personally didn’t come across Pitchfork until around 2008, while thirsty for something other than my Rock-n-roll repertoire. I began to use it as a resource to find fresh new stuff. Even still Pitchfork and I had a rocky relationship as it constantly ripped apart music that I was into, and tipped the scale of aggregate websites I followed like Metacritic, and BestAlbumsEver. Yet I continued to follow them as a resource for discovering new music, all the while growing to appreciate their love or hate for an album. While reviewing 1000’s of albums since it’s inception, pitchfork has only awarded 12 10/10 scores upon release. I don’t want to downplay the other high ranking albums but for this purpose I want to note three of those albums. Radiohead - Kid A, Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy(MBDTF) and to my main point Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters, Released in 2000, 2010, and 2020 respectively. Kid A, and (MBDTF) both turned out to be telling and extremely influential to their respective decade ahead. The 2000’s ushered in a new era of rock, a shift to alternative and independent, while the 2010’s shifted the popularity of music towards Hip-Hop and rap. Pitchfork isn’t the end all say all about music, however when the award a 10/10, people like me geek out.
Fiona Apple: Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Fetch The Bolt Cutters is a stripped down homemade masterpiece mainly made on Apple’s(the tech company) GarageBand, and recorded in her house. I would wager that this album like the other 2 this album is a sign on what’s to come this decade, perhaps not in genre but in how albums are made. While recording studios and venues were closed, musicians across the globe have been taking their shot at self production and home recordings. Fiona was ahead of this rush, she has been social distancing since the mid 2000’s see social anxiety. Fetch The Bolt Cutters(I’ve been here too long) explores themes of isolation and self understanding. The album sounds very raw and captures so much of that from Fiona, she even features her dog friends on some of the tracks. This album is definitely worth a listen, it’s available on streaming and vinyl.
The full list of pitchfork 10/10 albums:
(1996) 12 Rods - Gay?
(1996) Walt Mink - El Producto
(1997) Amon Tobin - Bricolage
(1997) Radiohead - Ok Computer
(1998) Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert
(1999) Bonnie Prince Billy - I See Darkness
(1999) The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
(2000) Radiohead - Kid A
(2002) ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Source Tags & Codes
(2002) Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
(2010) Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
(2020) Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters