Before They Were Stars

Elinor Blake was the front-woman of The Shitbirds before becoming the April March we all know and love today. The Shitbirds started in 1991 when Blake moved to LA to animate for the Ren and Stimpy show. This album was released in 1995, after the bands breakup, and is a collection of all 15 Shitbirds recordings.

Famous Recording Artists

This is Cat Power's first full-length album, also released in 1995. While Chan Marshall's style has been characterized as unpolished, listening to this, you begin to see where that all started, and appreciate her roots in punk, blues, and folk.

Dear Sir

Creepy, Yet Fun

Rasputina, contrary to popular thought, began in Brooklyn circa 1992, and signed to Columbia records in 1996 with this album. As you will hear, the band is centered around the cello, as Melora Creager, founding member of the band, has been playing since she was 9, appearing with the likes of Nirvana and the Pixies. Read the wikipedia entry to see just how many members this act has been through.

Thanks for the Ether

This album is a bit reminiscent of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, although was out in the world way before - 1982 to be exact. Nina is from Berlin, Germany, which you probably won't find surprising when you take a listen. Nina is still around making music and being politically active, but is now in the states. Take a listen to the Nina Hagen band, her first solo gig.

Nunsexmonkrock

Punk vs. Post-Punk

As with so many musical genres, boundaries are blurry, definitions unclear. The Dance is a group that was formed in 1979, and the album featured here was released in 1982, and is considered part of the post-punk genre and part of the electropunkfunk/No Wave scene of New York City. As described on their MySpace page, you will find influences from Hip Hop, funk, punk, reggae and so on, culminating in what is truly a great album start to finish, and is truly danceable. But how can you listen to this album without, by track 2, thinking...

Soul Force

How is this so different than Blondie who is part of the "punk" genre? In my humble opinion, Blondie is the more radio-friendly of the two, and therefore more easily classified in a genre whose boundaries seem limitless, and has become more about attitude and an in-your-face aesthetic rather than a particular sound. Here is Blondie's 1976 debut, nearly as danceable as the above.

Blondie

Music to Build Buildings By

Fear of modernization characterized the late 70s and early 80s. It is written all over ever sort of western-based cultural output from the time period. 28 years later, these albums are a still musically-relevant window into how we arrived where we did, and therefore a great opportunity for some cultural introspection. Therefore....

Stop with the bullshit about this album being for the post-9/11 world. Laurie Anderson is not Nostradamus (although she is the first musician in residence at NASA). This album was released in 1982, and epitomizes exactly what is described above, and it is damn good. Perhaps folks wanted to revive the album circa 2001 exactly because we were questioning the true benefit of modernization. Listen to the album, and be real.

Big Science

Flex represents much of the same fears - buildings shielding us from the sun, the destruction of the human race via atomic energy, but in a fun way! Lene Lovich was born in Detroit, but grew up in England, and therefore got the best of both modern worlds. Lovich is much more influenced by funk, and in some ways, you may hear a resemblance to Lora Logic's vocal style. Check out the album, and note the rising tensions of 1979.

Flex

What It Is!

The album title, and featured song, is indeed a Nina Simone original. When the album was released in 1972, Aretha was criticized as not having anything "left of her old Memphis-Muscle Shoals soul sound." Of course now, this album is praised as one of her greatest, and probably for the very reason which was cited upon it's release. Aretha's contributions to other genres, including funk (Rock Steady), are obvious.

Young, Gifted and Black

For those of you who don't know, Erma is indeed the sister of Aretha. The two have distinct soulful styles, Erma being the bit more rocking of the two (Listen to Hold on I'm Coming, probably the most powerful track on here that makes you want to sing at the top of your lungs). Erma's recording career was brief, and so in terms of available material, there is certainly not enough. Here is one of a few recordings.

Super Soul Sister

New York Electropunkfunk - No Wave

The Bush Tetras were popular in the New York club scene in the early 1980s. As you will gather, their music is part of a very small niche which was almost entirely based in New York City during this time period, and which included bands like ESG (below), Konk, Liquid Liquid, and perhaps a few others. With increased interest in the band, they reformed in 2005 and began doing tours once again. Check out their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/bushtetras.

Boom In The Night (Original studio recordings 1980 - 1983)

ESG, another band from this small scene, actually is an acronym for Emerald, Sapphire, and Gold. The group was initially made up of sisters Maria Scroggins (congas, vocals), Renee Scroggins (guitar, vocals), and Valerie Scroggins (drums), and friend Leroy Glover (bass). A resurgence in the interest of this band has been aided by hip-hop artists who have sampled their works, including Wu-Tang, Beastie Boys, and J Dilla. If you like the album, buy it! Valerie Scroggins is in some hot water with her employer, the MTA, and could probably use the kickbacks, however small they may be.

A South Bronx Story

Best of Unplugged

I've been searching and searching for the reason or reasons why this was never a wide release, but have yet to find out - if you know, fill me in. Most true Hole fans out there feel their collection is incomplete without this recording from Valentine's Day 1995, but could do without Celebrity Skin or anything thereafter. Truthfully, it is not "unplugged" in the traditional sense at all, but Courtney is best when she is able to make full use of discord. Despite all of Courtney's contrived bad press, she is still a quintessential figure in the rock and roll, and her music from this time period is now defined as classic.

Hole - MTV Unplugged

We all knew Lauryn Hill was a great artist, but did we really know the depth of her artistry until we heard this double disc unplugged? For myself, that answer is no. I knew of her convictions, but only vaguely understood through the press , which seemed to want to demonize her as anti-white. Eventually, Hill retreated from the public gaze and reemerged with this 2002 release. I wait for more of Lauryn's dose of reality.

Lauryn Hill - Unplugged