Keep it funky

This time I mean it. Quick and dirty. I got behind. Let's clear the cache. I'm sorry there isn't a whole lot of quality content here but...

327 - Liz Phair, Exile in Guyville: I give it 50-50. She's angry and tired of the drama of dating or trying to find love or something like that. Early 90s, dyed in the wool.

326 - The Cure, Disintegration: Having only been a Cure fan on a "greatest hits" level and having felt that I was justified in that thought, this album proved me wrong. There is more to them I need to explore. The Cure captures an era in music and its esthetic...perfectly? I look forward to listening to Disintegration again.

325 - Eric Clapton, Slowhand: Yeah, I need to give this one another few spins. It's got a few hits which will bring me back but feels a little flat on the whole.

324 - David Bowie, Station to Station: It's hard to tell when Bowie was kind of on drugs or was really just on the drugs. More funky and jam band at times then his other stuff. Which I loved on some level and didn't on another. Won't be my favorite Bowie but I loved the funkier side and Golden Years will bring me back to this one.

323 - The Police, Ghost In the Machine: I really have begun to love The Police along this journey and this is probably my favorite so far...the title of this album might have something to do with that too...Too Much Information.

322 - Randy Newman, Sail Away: I could pretty much say for Randy Newman what I just said for The Police. But I'm more surprised by Randy Newman. Straight out of 1972, before Newman became, or was made to seem, like a caricature of himself. This album is simple and soft (mostly) and sad at times...the three S's of success in my book. (I just wrote this book.) Sail Away

321 - Nick Drake, Pink Moon: Nick Drake has long been the sound of English folk music for me. He makes me long to be in time and place that maybe never existed. It's a sound of hope and desperation, a poet's bread and butter. As a musician all I have ever tried to do is capture that same quality. (I've failed horribly at it but I've strived for it.) If you haven't ever listened to Nick Drake, do so now and start with Pink Moon. From the Morning, Place to Be

320 - Radiohead, Amnesiac: For how willing I was to accept Kid A (the sister album of Amnesiac) Amnesiac was a struggle for me. But with all the albums I love most, they have had to grow on me. I think good music has to challenge you as a listener. If you don't have to sit with it at first you won't sit with it in the long run. Dollars & Cents

319 - The Wailers, Burin': I suppose one of these days I'll really get into reggae on the whole but in the meantime The Wailer (Bob Marley) will have to do. If you like anything about Bob Marley then you'll love this album.

318 - The O'Jays, Back Stabbers: At this point 70s soul like the O'Jays will always be coupled for me with trying to buy used polyester pants at Savers. It's nostalgic for me but not for the 70s, as I never lived a day in them. With that said, this album has it's highlights but on the whole was far too...moody and dark for me. I like my Soul...well not that.

317 - Pixies, Surfer Rosa: Pixies is a band I have only been aware of circumferential...ly, having only ever listened to "Where Is My Mind?" and "Here Comes Your Man", but have always felt I should give them a good sailors effort. They are always listed as a huge influence of most of the bands I loved growing up. With that said, Surfer Rosa didn't let me down, it's unpolished but inventive in all the right ways, but I need to give it a few more spins before I know what it means to me. It was hard to listen to it without listening to it through the filter of the bands I love...you know. But in the meantime give Bone Machine a sailors effort.

316 - The Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground: I am a sucker for Lou Reed. As such I really enjoyed this album and will be back for some more. Full of wispy guitars and a sound of a band full of guys not trying to get anywhere quickly. Pale Blue Eyes 

315 -  Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Damn the Torpedoes: YES! It's Tom Petty man. It's got Refugee, Here Comes My Girl, Even the Losers, and Don't Do Me Like That. The hits man. If you hate Tom Petty you're just a hater all around. And sad. Very very sad. He's a great songwriter and this album is a testament to that.

314 - Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill: Kanye West rapped"Lauryn Hill said her heart was in Zion. I wish her heart still was in rhyming cause who the kids gon' listen to, huh? I guess me if it isn't you." She combines soul with hip-hop in a way far more intimate and authentic than Nicki Minaj currently could hope for. However, I'm really no more inclined to listen to this album again then I would a Nicki Minaj album. It's not that it's not a good record, it's just not my tea. Or cup there of. In it's genre I'm sure it's tea worthiest. I'll take the singles from it though.


313 - Nirvana, Unplugged: If Nirvana were only ever a cover band. Not bad at all. I think most people would agree this live album belongs wholly within the canon of their studio albums. Few albums can remind me of when I first fell in love with music as this album does. The Man Who Sold the World 

312 - Jane's Addiction, Nothing's Shocking: I was plenty surprised with this album. Not that I  expecting to hate it but...really I don't know what I was expecting but I did enjoy it. If you have an affection for Tripping Daisy (which I do) or early Chili Peppers (which I do, sometimes) then you'll probably have an affection for this album. Mountain Song 

311 - Various Artists, The Sun Records Collection: Not an "album" just a collection of singles recorded at the birth place of rock'n'roll. Elvis, Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and the like and a lot of others I have never heard of. Though I did listen to it and enjoy it, I have a hard time with compilation albums like this being on the list. (Semantics?) Probably so. Rock didn't record "albums" like the rest of the albums on this list back then and this is an incredible collection of the work of artists that laid the foundation for the whole genre of rock. So how about this? If you are looking to explore the roots of rock and roll more, start here. No better place.

310 - Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magik: A whole lot of magic and even more sex. This is the Chili Peppers magnum opus. It's a group at its most defined and original. On Blood Sugar they lost all the spastic elements of previous albums and the songs are far more organized and directed.  The Power of Equality, Funky Monks

Keep it funky.