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Post by Kapitan on Jul 3, 2021 14:35:57 GMT
With a few generations of posters here, and yet with some similar tastes, I was wondering what are people's most recent classic album? To maybe add a little more structure so that people are playing the same game, let's say you make an all-time top ten list: what's the newest album on that list?
For me, I'd first have to think up a new top ten. It's been a while since I've even tried, knowing how difficult and how transient it is.
(I have an idea for a kind of Part II to this thread, too, but let's hold off for a bit in case this first part has any legs.)
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Post by kds on Jul 3, 2021 15:05:53 GMT
I'm going with Ghost's 2013 album - Infestissumam. I'm not sure where it ranks among my all time favorites, but its the only album I've heard released in this century that I would consider a classic. I love how, unlike many other retro rockers, Ghost takes their influences like BOC, Sabbath, Genesis, and even The Beach Boys, to create their own sound.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2021 15:09:22 GMT
Great thread idea! This is going to be quite a challenge, though (and nothing wrong with that as that should spark some serious discussion.) First I guess we need to determine what constitutes a "classic album". We'll probably all come up with different interpretations there. I'll have to give it some serious thought before I give a solid answer. I can think of tons of classic albums from the 1960s, 70s, and even 80s, but after that it gets rather lean. My more recent listening tends toward greatest hit comps. I'll come back to this!
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 3, 2021 15:53:53 GMT
First I guess we need to determine what constitutes a "classic album". We'll probably all come up with different interpretations there. That's why as a starting point I thought we could go with "among your top 10." But certainly if people want to chime in with some other offerings, that's fine too. (I mean, I know I'd say there are far more "classic albums" than just my top 10.)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2021 16:39:49 GMT
Ok, I have decided on my entry: The Raconteurs--HELP US STRANGER from 2019.
Jack White can be hit or miss, at least in my book, but this album fires on all cylinders. I also like JW's LAZERETTO, but that one isn't as even or consistent as this latest Raconteurs outing. HELP US STRANGER has a lineup of tunes that are unique to one another, yet they belong together as a set. They do throw in a few musical gimmicks here and there, but I don't feel like it's forced in any way. There's a lot of raw power and straight ahead rock and soul throughout.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 3, 2021 17:00:29 GMT
Interesting. I was never a big White Stripes fan, though on occasion I enjoyed something. White's solo career has been hit and miss with me, too. (I also liked parts of Lazaretto, as well as Blunderbuss.) But I never even really listened to the Raconteurs albums! I'll have to do that.
As for me, I think I'm at least starting with the two albums that come to mind that I could probably rate as 10s (as opposed to within my Top 10, since it would all be 10s and thus hard to distinguish between them, not to mention which 10s make the Top 10 in the first place). I would bet this ends up more, then, in the range of among my Top 25 or so, even though I am not ranking them, as I would guess there are about 25 tens in my mind. They are:
Cotton Mather, Kontiki, 1997. Everyone here must know by now how much I love songwriter/frontman Robert Harrison, and this album was just magical as a modernized Beatles-meets-Dylan kind of thing. Echoes aside, it's not pastiche, and Harrison has taken Cotton Mather, other bands, and his solo music elsewhere since (and before), but for what it was, my gosh, this was a great album. I hear half a dozen hits on this album that not only didn't have hits, but barely made a mark at all before going out of print for years. Though it has always popped up on "underrated" lists, especially among power pop fans. (This is one I really do recommend everyone on the board listen to.) www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEvr99j7ruPx0dA1pDQXdB9OzJarVIICo
Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, 1998. Another cliche for people my age, probably. Its reputation grew steadily for a decade or more after its similarly unnoticed release, and I can't claim I was in on it in '98, not having heard it until '00 or so. Sloppy, noisy, bizarre, and yet again, full of tunes I think are just classics. It is from another time and place, like a fairy tale. A sick fairy tale.
I'm thinking hard whether anything from this century has a shot, and I'm not sure. There are a LOT of albums I really like from the past 21 1/2 years, but 10s? I'm just not sure.
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Post by Moon Dawg on Jul 3, 2021 22:14:24 GMT
Maybe YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT or A GHOST IS BORN by Wilco. Grizzly Bear made several excellent LPs but not sure of "classic" status.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 3, 2021 22:47:57 GMT
Maybe YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT or A GHOST IS BORN by Wilco. Grizzly Bear made several excellent LPs but not sure of "classic" status. YHF is a good choice! I was thinking about that among my "'00s and after" favorites. (Never did like A Ghost is Born ... though I LOVE Sky Blue Sky!)
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Post by jk on Jul 4, 2021 7:36:40 GMT
Great idea! I used your 'albums I consider tens/albums in my top 10' way to come up with my first mention, that is Tame Impala's Lonerism (2012), probably the only release I've heard of the last 25 years or so I think of as a 10/10 album. Is 9 years enough to call it a classic though? I'm not sure. But if not, I believe this album will be considered one in years to come, especially by young people of today like me. Great production, mixing, full of interesting sounds, and great songwriting. Oh, and one of the best album covers of the past years as well. If anyone is interested, this is Lonerism's last track. That's the reason this song has such a long outro by the way I'll come up with other stuff I think of later. That's the latest one I can think of as well (four months later than TWGMTR). Thanks for jogging my memory! In fact I'm listening to it now. I'm thinking of the term "instant classic", so I'm sure nine years is fine!
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 4, 2021 15:47:16 GMT
Without feeling confident about calling them classics, here are some of the most recent albums I think at least warrant serious consideration for the title. Or at least a listen. In reverse chronological order by year, going back about two decades (which hilariously feels somewhat recent to me, but obviously for some of you may be the bulk of your lives).
2019 - Vampire Weekend, Father of the Bride 2016 - Beyonce, Lemonade 2016 - David Bowie, Blackstar 2015 - Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit and Think... 2015 - The Mountain Goats, Beat the Champ 2013 - Kacey Musgraves, Same Trailer, Different Park 2012 - Fiona Apple, The Idler the Wheel... 2010 - Jeremy Messersmith, The Reluctant Graveyard 2009 - God Help the Girl, God Help the Girl 2007 - Okkervil River, The Stage Names 2007 - Iron & Wine, The Shepherd's Dog 2006 - Of Montreal, Heimdalsgate... 2006 - Joanna Newsom, Ys 2006 - The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America 2006 - Herman Dune, Giant
2005 - Puerto Muerto, See You in Hell 2005 - Bill Ricchini, Tonight I Burn Brightly 2004 - Of Montreal, Satanic Panic in the Attic 2004 - Brian Wilson, BW Presents Smile 2004 - The Fiery Furnaces, Blueberry Boat 2003 - The Shins, Chutes Too Narrow 2003 - Belle & Sebastian, Dear Catastrophe Waitress 2002 - Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 2002 - The Streets, Original Pirate Material 2002 - The Mountain Goats, Tallahassee 2001 - Bob Dylan, Love & Theft 2001 - Beulah, The Coast is Never Clear 2000 - Lou Reed, Ecstasy 2000 - Eels, Daisies of the Galaxy 2000 - The Delgados, The Great Eastern
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Post by jk on Jul 6, 2021 14:36:08 GMT
@robesimo : It must have been about five years ago when I was all over the Smiley Smile MB that poster undercover-m brought to my attention the wonderful sonic world of Kevin Parker, Tame Impala and Pond. Lonerism was one of the albums I was recommended (another was Hobo Rocket, which I also remember enjoying). I liked what I heard then and I still do! I can't pick out individual tracks -- it’s one big blissfest from start to finish. Well, maybe not to finish: the closer, "Sun's Coming Up", breaks the mood and brings the listener down to earth. That may have been the intention all along. Of course, album closers like final movements of symphonies are a tricky business at the best of times. That aside, I still go for Lonerism as the last classic album. The only other contenders that came to mind today are very recent: Sophie's Oil Of Every Pearl's Un-Insides (2018) and Billie Eilish's When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019), both of which I was most impressed with when I listened to them all the way through. But maybe they have to age a little first.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 6, 2021 14:41:39 GMT
Billie Eilish's When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019) I'd love to hear you explain what you find so good about this, as I haven't understood the praise.
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Post by jk on Jul 6, 2021 14:59:33 GMT
Billie Eilish's When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019) I'd love to hear you explain what you find so good about this, as I haven't understood the praise. I don't know!! Or rather I can't remember. I think among other things I considered the last trio of tracks to be on a par with the last three tracks on TWGMTR (he said, strapping on his hard hat). Tell you what, Cap'n, I'll give it another listen over the next couple of days. Band on the Run is just going to have to wait!
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 6, 2021 15:07:36 GMT
I think among other things I considered the last trio of tracks to be on a par with the last three tracks on TWGMTR (he said, strapping on his hard hat). Heh, I don't think you'll need a hard hat. Whether I agree--which, from what I've heard of Eilish, I feel pretty safe saying I don't--isn't important. It's not a fun time for me to rake others over the coals on their taste. Even if I thought there were some kind of objective measure of quality (which I really don't, especially on music as a whole as opposed to specific aspects like "hitting that note"), I would have no reason to think my taste aligns with it.
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Post by jk on Jul 11, 2021 10:14:58 GMT
Without feeling confident about calling them classics, here are some of the most recent albums I think at least warrant serious consideration for the title. Or at least a listen. In reverse chronological order by year, going back about two decades (which hilariously feels somewhat recent to me, but obviously for some of you may be the bulk of your lives).
2007 - Okkervil River, The Stage Names 2007 - Iron & Wine, The Shepherd's Dog
Odd not to see Hissing Fauna... on your list. "The Past Is A Grotesque Animal" is now one of my all-time favourite album tracks thanks to you, sir. As for When We All Fall Asleep..., I gave it another listen a few days ago and I still think it holds up wonderfully well, even to someone several generations removed from Ms Eilish. I like the stripped down approach, real less-is-more stuff. I'm sure it will be remembered when most other albums of 2019 have long slipped into obscurity.
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