Press Play and Sit Your Ass Down 3
It’s the age of the ipod, shuffle and playlists. But for some artists, albums matter. Some musicians don’t just write and perform songs, they create whole albums to be a start to finish listening experience. Here’s another great list of albums where you just have to press play. Want more? Press Play Vol 1 and Press Play Vol 2.
So just press play. Sit your ass down. And listen.
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Laura Nyro, Eli and the Thirteenth Confession
Laura Nyro was one of our country’s great songwriters, and you may not even know her name. So many great artists recorded her music, and an even longer list of great artists were inspired by her music. If you’re over 40 you’ve heard many of these songs but most likely, not the way Laura envisioned them. This “record” is a snapshot of New York City life through the lens of a teenage girl circa 1967. It was Laura’s second album, and it is all at once joyous, introspective, smoky, and broadway, and all in the space of 45 minutes. It’s an amazing listening experience on a quiet moody day.
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Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Airplane Over the Sea
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Neutral Milk Hotel’s second and final album, was released in 1998 on a small indie label and is still selling today. From its initial two tracks, King of Carrot Flowers Parts 1-3 to Holland, 1945 to Two Headed Boy Part 2, this is music that will always stay with you. It’s been classified as low-fi 90’s alt rock and the rumor is Jeff Mangum read the Diary of Anne Frank for the first time and ended up writing the music to this album. Even though this was the bands greatest, longest lasting success, they broke up in 1999 due to their touring schedule; Mangum then reportedly had a nervous breakdown and didn’t resurface as a performer until 2011. This is a piece of art you need to experience the entire way through. Jeff Mangum’s unique voice portrays such pain, sorrow and even at times hope and joy that you wonder how he was able to emote them all at once.
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Van Morrison, Astral Weeks
In 1968, an early twenties Van Morrison assembled a group of jazz musicians and recorded this album with no rehearsal. No sheet music either, Van just played the songs on guitar for the musicians then told them to play what they felt. This record is like being a fly on the wall, witnessing magic. It was his second studio album and it is a masterpiece. It’s considered by many to be one of the greatest albums of all time. To truly appreciate all that was put in to creating this work of art, it truly needs to be experienced as a whole.
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Tom Waits, Rain Dogs
Sandwiched between Waits’ Swordfishtrombones and Frank’s Wild Years, Rain Dogs is simply one of the funnest albums you can listen to. It’s right in the middle of Tom Waits decent into weirdness and musical experimentation. Throughout the album there’s no one genre you can pin down to any one song, besides maybe calling Singapore pirate circus music, or the spoken word of 9th & Hennepin. Yet each track flows perfectly into the next, maybe the dark tone Tom Waits sets in the album helps. This was an ode to New York City of the 1980’s, written in a basement room in downtown Manhattan, and not a synthesizer is to be heard. Keith Richards shows up on multiple tracks, most notably Union Square. If you want to listen to something completely 100% unique and brilliant, something you’re not used to listening to, this is it.
