Top ten al***s

quote:

Originally posted by Philw307:

Quite a varied selection

Varied?

No jazz?

No classical?

No folk?

No country?

No R&B?

Just wondering.

Fred

Oh man what a task !!
These are going to be quite boring and off the top of my head. My top ten albums are (in no particular order and for today only) :

1. Kind of Blue by Miles Davis
2. A love Supreme by Jon Coltrane
3. Blue by Joni Mitchell
4. The Nightfly by Donald Fagan
5. Skylarking by XTC
6. Led Zeppelin IV by Led Zeppelin
7. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road by Lucinda Williams
8. Blue Valentine by Tom Waits
9. Ricki Lee Jones by Ricki Lee Jones
10. The Sensual World by Kate Bush

As I say, this is today's list. Tomorrows may well be different.

Alan

quote:

Originally posted by fred simon:

quote:

Originally posted by Philw307:

Quite a varied selection

Varied?
No jazz?
No classical?
No folk?
No country?
No R&B?

Just wondering.

Fred

OK Fred, let's see yours

Here's mine, same disclaimer as AlanM:

a) 1; the Beatles
b) My Funny Valentine; Chet Baker
c) The Kink Kronikles; the Kinks
d) The Magic Of Twilight; Irshad Khan
e) Brandenburg Concertos; J.S. Bach
f) The Floating World; Jade Warrior
g) Getz/Gilberto; Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto
h) December's Children; the Rolling Stones
i) Grand Hotel; Procol Harum
j) Having A Rave Up With; the Yardbirds

I took Freds' pointed query to heart, actually!

This morning it would be:

Jethro Tull: Stand Up (the remaster really sizzles)
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Musst Musst
Geoffrey Oryema: Songs For The Poor Man
Willard Grant Conspiracy: Regard The End
Kate Bush: Aerial (Disc 2)
LeonardCohen: Ten New Songs
Arvo Part: Te Deum
Yo La Tengo: And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
Billy Bragg: Don't Try This At Home
Lambchop: Is A Woman

Tomorrow it will be different, althoug it will never have jazz, techno, R+B etc etc. Interestingly I only own 2 of the 30 albums listed so far. Need to expand my horizons obviously.

Bruce

Led Zep I
Led Zep II
Led Zep III
Led Zep IV
...............what?

Seriously though, I would love to say that my favorite album is the Coltrane album A Love Supreme, but I'm damned if I get it - Yet. I'll get there eventually though.

For what it's worth this is mine for today:
1. Prince Far-I and the Arabs – Cry Tuff Dub |Encounter Chapter III
2. Singers and Players – Vacuum Pumping
3. Robotiks (Mad Professor) – My computer’s acting strange
4. Miles Davis – On the Corner
5. Pete Namlook and Bill Laswell – Psychonavigation 5
6. Bill Laswell – City of Lights/Hashisheen
7. Pete Namlook and Klaus Schulze – Dark side of the moog VII
8. Sly and Robbie – Language Barrier
9. Buckethead – Giant Robot
10. Bill Laswell and Style Scott – Bill Laswell meets Style Scott Inna dub meltdown

Lots of dub, bit of ambient/electronic, bit of drum and bass

1. Trouble Over Bridgwater - Half Man, Half Biscuit
2. 5000 Spirits or the Layer of the Onion - Incredible String Band
3. Folk Roots, New Roots - Shirley Collins and Davey Graham
4. Back in the DHHS Half Man, Half Biscuit
5. SF Sorrow - The Pretty Things
6. Voyage To The Bottom Of The Road Half Man, Half Biscuit
7. Anthems in Eden Shirley and Dolly Collins
8. Piper at the Gates of Dawn Syd Barrett and the Pink Floyd
9. Abbey Road - Beatles
10. McIntyre, Treadmore And Davitt - Half Man, Half Biscuit

My favourite box set is Rubble (Vols 1-20) - Wimple Winch, The Action, Rupert's People, Kaleidoscope, Dantalion's Chariot, Jason Crest, Soft Machine, Tintern Abbey and many more.

My favourite non-HMHB singles are: 1. Ascension Day (Third World War), 2. See Emily Play (Pink Floyd), 3. Defecting Grey (Pretty Things), 4. Save My Soul (Wimple Winch), 5. Bordeaux Rose (Kaleidoscope - though I think released under the name Fairfield Palour), 6. Hello Goodbye (Beatles), 7. Waterloo Sunset (Kinks), 8. Lazy Sunday (Small Faces), 9. Echo Beach (Martha & the Muffins) and 10. Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes (Kevin Ayres) - oh and Louie, Louie by the Kingsmen is pretty special.

Sorry mine is not very varied - I do like classical, reggae, country as well as folk, psychedelia and Half Man, Half Biscuit - and yes, I should have included at least one Amon Dull II album - but there was only room for 10 in the top ten.

In no particular order and subject to change at short notice:

1. The Kick Inside - Kate Bush
2. Disraeli Gears - Cream
3. Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin
4. Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix
5. Bad Influence - Robert Cray
6. Soul to Soul - Stevie Ray Vaughan
7. I Just Can't Stop It- The Beat
8. The Lonely Lover - Gregory Isaacs
9. Tres Hombres - ZZ Top
10. Dark Side of The Moon - Pink Floyd

Mark

ROTF
you speak my kind of music!

quote:

Originally posted by bhazen:

OK Fred, let's see yours

Fair enough.

However, the only way I can offer only ten is flying blind, completely off the top of my head with little thought. A more accurate description would be "ten of my all-time favorite albums, of which there are hundreds."

That said, here goes:

Personal Mountains - Keith Jarrett

For the Roses - Joni Mitchell

Ravel and Debussy String Quartets - Ysaÿe Quartet

Rubber Soul - The Beatles

Native Dancer - Wayne Shorter with Milton Nascimento

Lyle Mays - Lyle Mays

Music Of My Mind - Stevie Wonder

Java: Court Gamelan - K.R.T. Wasitodipuro

Forget About It - Alison Krauss

Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix


But this is preposterous, virtually meaningless as a "top ten" ... here are just a few of the omitted artists, let alone albums:

Annie Lennox
Aretha Franklin
Arvo Part
Art Lande
Bach
Bjork
Bill Evans
Bill Frisell
Bob Dylan
Brad Mehldau
Brahms
Burt Bacharach
Cesaria Evora
Charles Lloyd
Charles Mingus
Chopin
Copland
CSN&Y
Donny Hathaway
Eberhard Weber
Eva Cassidy
Fred Hersch
Herbie Hancock
Ivan Lins
James Brown
James Taylor
Jan Garbarek
Jefferson Airplane
John Coltrane
Jonatha Brooke/The Story
Larry Goldings
Leonard Cohen
Marvin Gaye
Miles Davis
Mompou
Nickel Creek
Oregon
Paul Bley
Paul McCandless
Pat Metheny
Pete Seeger/Weavers
Peter Gabriel
Police/Sting
Ralph Towner
Rickie Lee Jones
Shawn Colvin
Shostakovich
Simon & Garfunkel
Stravinsky
Stockhausen
Weather Report
Woody Guthrie
Zappa

... and music from Bulgaria, India (North and South), various African cultures, Cuba, Argentina, Japan ...

... and music of the French Baroque, and of the Renaissance, and plainsong ...

I have to admit I've always found the "top ten," "all-time favorite," "the best" type of lists fairly futile. It just seems to me that as incredibly complex as a human life is, no one album (no ten albums, for that matter) no matter how comprehensive the range of its emotions and ideas, could ever suffice. I can't even imagine having a single favorite (or even ten favorite) artist or composer; the great ones are all equally meaningful to me.

Fred

quote:

Java: Court Gamelan - K.R.T. Wasitodipuro

I once heard Leo Kottke say he liked all kinds of music EXCEPT Javanese gong music! Oh well, that's his problem I guess, I happen to find gamelan music very hypnotic.

Steve

I have several albums of gamelan music, largely from Bali and Java, and enjoy it all but Javanese gamelan is slower, less frenetic, more hypnotic than that of Bali. Some say it's all the night blooming jasmine in the Javanese air ... a natural mild narcotic.

Fred

quote:

Originally posted by fred simon:
I have to admit I've always found the "top ten," "all-time favorite," "the best" type of lists fairly futile. It just seems to me that as incredibly complex as a human life is, no one album (no ten albums, for that matter) no matter how comprehensive the range of its emotions and ideas, could ever suffice. I can't even imagine having a single favorite (or even ten favorite) artist or composer; the great ones are all equally meaningful to me.

Fred

Absolute truth. My list could be different every day, and a top hundred would be difficult to compile. One constant would be the Beatles, though; their music is the great romance/soundtrack of my life. One thing that's changing for me, now that I'm 50+, is rock no longer dominates the music I listen to. I do, however, jump around occasionally windmilling to the Who. Don't rent the flat below mine!

My top 10:

1. Cat Power What would the community think?
2. Neko Case Canadian Amp
3. Cold Sassy Tree Carlisle Floyd/Houston Opera
4. Sigur Ros Takk
5. Roy Orbison All time greatest hits
6. Gil Evans Orch. Out of the cool
7. Kylie Minogue Light Years
8. Beethoven 6 Sir Adrian Boult
9. Kirsty McColl Kite
10 Shawn Colvin Live '88


Sadly, no room in the 10 for Kate Bush, Dreadzone, Prince, Bobby Darin, Dolly Parton, Carter Family, Johnny Cash, Fritz Reiner, Eric Kleiber, Thomas Beecham, Aaron Copeland, Benjamin Britten, Bernstein, Stanley Clarke, Bill Laswell, Townes Van Zandt, Anne Briggs, Boards of Canada, Goldfrapp, Gomez, Belle and Sebastian etc etc

Fred

I agree top 10s are not meaningful, just a bit of fun really (I've always liked lists). A top 10 assumes some kind of linear scale, so we can rabk A as higher than B, and such a scale doesn't exist. I believe with any record you just have to listen and decided 'Yes, I like it' or 'No, I don't'.

I used to buy Record Collector every month, I liked the reviews because they were always written by enthusiasts about the artist they were reviewing. Now, there's no point me reviewing me reviewing an album of Indian music because I'm not an enthusiast and don't really understand it, but when I read a review by somebody who really loves Indian music then I do get an insight in to why he or she enjoys it and that makes me curious to investigate it and learn more. So posts like your own, which help to highlight music I would not have thought about otherwise are very welcome.

There is a lot of music that must have great merit because so many people sing its praises, but I just can't find that magic in it. Miles Davis, for example, many people like it, but I just can't figure it out. I guess that's my loss really. Now, my initial explanation is I don't like jazz, but then I've listened to and bought one of your own albums Remember the River and I think it is superb both it terms of composition and musicianship; my assertion that I don't like jazz is just wrong (Fred, would you classify Remember the River as jazz?) also Soft Machine drifted into jazz and I enjoyed that when they did. All this really means is I prefer Remember the River to Kind of Blue and I'd probably express that by saying that Remember the River is better than Kind of Blue.

Of course, I don't like soul music at all - except for Aretha Franklin and odd songs by Sam and Dave, 4 Tops, Temptations and ... oh well that "I don't like (insert musical classification)" statement doesn't work either.

And as others say when listing on this thread, my list varies daily .... which is probably a good thing.

So thanks for the long list of artists, which I found very interesting.

Best regards, Rotf

Hi Phil!
I don't like lists.
And don't like artists to be closed into a certain range.
I think that radios lists are a fake and people who buy records following those lists don't like music but follow the market.
So i don't have a list of favourites but i do like all the records i have.
Most of all i like all the records that i don't have!

One of these days I'm gonna just list my entire collection of albums

I won't.

Shame Gianluigi, as you have a fascinating collection and some really great music.

Hi ROTF!
Fredrik made a good job about the matter.
I don't have his knoledge and i didn't follow a line making my "collection".
I say that music, as literature, must be kept away from "lists".
So i'm not gonna make a list, because i like all the music i have and all that i could eventually meet durind my life as a concept.
So i've not something special to list, but i say i'm going free with my purchases.
That keeps my hunger alive!

ROTF,

Out of interest, have you tried much Miles Davis (his catalogue is diverse)? I know that if I posted a list here kind of blue (and possibly something like Jack Johnson) would be on it. That said, I don't know if I could narrow down just ten discs in my collection, and I certainly wouldn't like to try and rank them.

Jeremy - personally I can never much get on with Beethoven's 6th and often find it a bit wallpapery. However, Erich Kleiber's readings (one with the Concertgebouw, I forget which orchestra the other is) are outstanding and I would urge you to check them out.

regards, Tam

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
Fred

I agree top 10s are not meaningful, just a bit of fun really (I've always liked lists).

I find them truly excruciating ... all I can think about is all the great stuff I'm arbitrarily leaving out.

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
Now, my initial explanation is I don't like jazz, but then I've listened to and bought one of your own albums Remember the River and I think it is superb both it terms of composition and musicianship; my assertion that I don't like jazz is just wrong (Fred, would you classify Remember the River as jazz?)

I always answer this question in two seemingly contradictory ways. On the one hand, I view the umbrella as being very broad, including everything from Louis Armstrong, Ellington, Bird, and Coltrane, to the ECM school of European classicism woven into jazz, Miles Davis' coat of many colors, to Bill Frisell's tapestry of folk/country/bluegrass jazz, and myriad variations in between and beyond. In this sense, Remember the River is certainly jazz. Further, one could rightfully say "it's jazz because I say it's jazz."

On the other hand, there is a more restrictive perception of what is jazz and what isn't, and anyone subscribing to that view would not consider Remember the River to be jazz. And I don't care one whit ... I have no investment whatsoever in labeling my music jazz. To me, it's music, period, of which there are only two kinds: good and bad. And I'm grateful for your opinion that it's the former.

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
All this really means is I prefer Remember the River to Kind of Blue and I'd probably express that by saying that Remember the River is better than Kind of Blue.

No, it's not better than Kind of Blue. You like it better, a crucially different assessment; the influence of one's taste should never extend outside one's immediate reach.

Thanks again for the very kind words.

Fred

MY TOP TEN AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME ARE

1.DEEP PURPLE - BURN
2.PINK FLOYD - WISH YOU WERE HERE
3.VAN HALEN - WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
4.BLACK SABBATH - MOB RULES
5.SLAYER - REIGN IN BLOOD
6.DIO - HOLY DIVER
7.TOMMY BOLIN - PRIVATE EYES
8.METALLICA - MASTER OF PUPPETS
9.TRIVIUM - ASCENDANCY
10.AC/DC - DIRTY DEEDS DONE DIRT CHEAP

LETS ROCK !!

quote:

Originally posted by fred simon:


I have several albums of gamelan music, largely from Bali and Java, and enjoy it all but Javanese gamelan is slower, less frenetic, more hypnotic than that of Bali. Some say it's all the night blooming jasmine in the Javanese air ... a natural mild narcotic.

Fred

Not often has a post in the music room sounded like talk of capicotors resistance and impedence in the HiFi one.

Fred,
I konw nowt about gamelan music, and would be interested if you could illucidate a litle please. (Your recommendations for Weather Report were spot on)

As mentioned by ROFT when a enthusiast recommends an album outside of the what is cool to say I like this week sort of reviewing, the advice is usually excellent.

This week's top 10

Three Imaginary Boys - The Cure
17 Seconds - The Cure
Faith - The Cure
Pornography - The Cure
Head on The Door - The Cure
Wish - The Cure
Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me - The Cure
Disintegration - The Cure
Bloodflowers - The Cure
The Cure - The Cure

Well, I'm off to the RAH tonight to see them...



Real top 10

Godbluff - VdGG
Still Life - VdGG
Script of the Bridge - The Chameleons
Disintegration - The Cure
Pornography - The Cure
Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division
Heaven Up Here - Echo and the Bunnymen
Signify - Porcupine Tree
New Gold Dream, 81, 82, 83, 84 - Simple Minds
Correct Use of Soap - Magazine

Not much variety there I'm afraid Fred, and most date back to my student daze