180. Sigur Rós

January 20, 2019April 27, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(September 2018) I have completed episode 180 of my “opus project.” This edition: SIGUR RÓS. I was in Iceland last month. I already did Björk so I started Sigur Rós while there despite having zero familiarity. I was pleasantly surprised with their alt rock/dream pop/ambient music, which provided a perfect accompaniment for the stunning Icelandic landscape. At times, though, it sounds like they’re trying too hard to get licensed for TV and movie soundtracks.

Favorite album: Ágætis byrjun

Favorite song: Svefn-g-englar

Favorite ambient recording: Route One

Compared to expectations: same

ÁgætisByrjunCover.jpg

178. The Raspberries

January 20, 2019April 27, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(September 2018) I have completed episode 178 of my “opus project.” This edition: THE RASPBERRIES. One of the Power Pop Trinity (along with Big Star and Badfinger). Theirs had more of a 70s-licious soft rock sound, but still with plenty of power pop hooks and melodies.

Favorite album: Fresh

Favorite song: Go All The Way

Compared to expectations: ↓

177. Parliament/Funkadelic

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(August 2018) I have completed episode 177 of my “opus project.” This edition: PARLIAMENT and FUNKADELIC. Of course I did the P-Funk together as two halves of George Clinton’s cosmic brain. Ironically, Parliament is funkier, but aptly, Funkadelic is more psychedelic. The copious output is rather eclectic – rock, soul, psychedelic, R&B, rap, and even a country song and a heavy metal song – but at its core, it’s classic funk. With his versatility, irreverence, raunchiness, prolific-ness, orchestration of rotations of talented musicians, and insistence on doing it his way, George Clinton reminds me of Frank Zappa.

Favorite Parliament album: Standing on the Verge of Getting It On

Favorite Funkadelic album: Mothership Connection

Favorite Parliament song: Red Hot Momma

Favorite Funkadelic song: Up for the Down Stroke

Best album title (perhaps of all-time): Free Your Mind … And Your Ass Will Follow

Best album cover (among the greats): Maggot Brain

Secret Sauce: Eddie Hazel (just listen to his work on the song Maggot Brain)

Compared to expectations: same

176. Red Hot Chili Peppers

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(July 2018) I have completed episode 176 of my “opus project.” This edition: RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS. Many excellent songs. But overall, the sum does not equal the (funk + rock + punk + jazz) parts. Their early stuff was ground-breaking (esp. Get Up and Jump). Everything after Californication is boring. In the 1980s, you’d put on their latest album to show how punk you were. In the 1990s, you’d put on their latest album to show you were edgier than your friends who listened to Gin Blossoms and Dave Matthews. In the 2000s, you put on their latest album to show that you once thought of yourself as punk and edgy.

Favorite album: One Hot Minute

Favorite song: Give It Away

Special sauce: Flea

Compared to expectations: same

175. Fiona Apple

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(July 2018) I have completed episode 175 of my “opus project.” This edition: FIONA APPLE. Of the many female singer-songwriters to come out of the 1990s, she is perhaps the most enigmatic and interesting.

Favorite album: The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do

Favorite song: Criminal

Compared to expectations: ↑

174. Len Price 3

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(July 2018) I have completed episode 174 of my “opus project.” This edition: The LEN PRICE 3. If you like early The Who, early Kinks, or garage rock in general, you should check out this contemporary revivalist group. It’s like listening through a kick-ass time machine.

Favorite album: Pictures

Favorite song: Mr. Grey

Compared to expectations: same

173. Roxy Music

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(July 2018) I have completed episode 173 of my “opus project.” This edition: ROXY MUSIC. The review confirmed my impression that much of Roxy’s music is unremarkable. But it did introduce me to their first two superbly glam-tastic albums — the ones with Brian Eno (because everything Eno touches turns to gold).

Favorite album: For Your Pleasure

Favorite song: The Bogus Man

Least favorite album: Flesh + Blood

Nostalgic album: Avalon

Compared to expectations: ↓

169. Badfinger

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(June 2018) I have completed episode 169 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: BADFINGER. One of the three Pillars of Power Pop (along with Big Star and the Raspberries). No one excelled at the power ballad quite like Badfinger.

Favorite album: Straight Up

Favorite song: No Matter What

Hidden Gem: the first album (Maybe Tomorrow, issued as The Iveys), with period-apt psychedelics and baroque pop

Compared to expectations: same

167. Mazzy Star

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(May 2018) I have completed episode 167 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: MAZZY STAR. An underrated band from the 1990s IMHO. A distinct sound — hazy, echo-y, spare, not quite alt-country, with subtle bits of psychedelia — that I might label “sultry shoegazing.”

Favorite album: So Tonight That I Might See

Favorite song: Halah

Compared to expectations: same

164. Devo

January 19, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(April 2018) I have completed episode 164 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: DEVO. As my interest in late-70s New Wave has grown, so has my appreciation of Devo’s first few albums. They’re more than a one-hit wonder, but their sound never really “evolved” (pun intended) from its one-dimensionality. If repetitiveness is proof of concept, they succeeded.