Press Play and Sit Your Ass Down: Volume 6
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 , Press Play Vol 2. , Press Play Vol. 3, Press Play Vol 4 and Press Play Vol 5.
So just press play. Sit your ass down. And listen.
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David Bowie, Hunky Dory
Well don’t you just fucking love David Bowie though? So in fact, you could reach for any of his masterpieces at any point and be off in an excellent, interesting direction, but Hunky Dory is its own special genius of a record. In this, his fourth album, Bowie really shows what brilliant stuff he’s made of as a singer/songwriter. The album is full of imagery-rich, indispensable classic after classic. Solid. Track listings include Changes, Oh! You Pretty Things, Life on Mars, Queen Bitch, and The Belway Brothers. Incredible songs, to name plenty, and vital favorites of any Bowie fan. Adding to them, one should not forget about the introspective Quicksand, or sweet, sweet Kooks, which happens to be one of the most adorable songs about family life ever as penned to his newborn son. The whole album- It’s all too good and weird and beautiful. Hunky Dory is a vivid and varied pastiche of sound: folk, rock, pop, and all bound cohesively by Bowie’s perception. The record is like a showcase of his musical direction and range all together, as of 1971. It’s a synthesis so reflective of his early enigmatic and evolving style. Hunky Dory is a portal into the mind of Bowie at that time- and it’s outstanding start to finish.
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The New York Dolls, New York Dolls
Read somewhere that the New York Dolls’ eponymous album, produced by Todd Rundgren, was done in six days flat. It was supposed to be a pretty wild time, too. That energy had to be captured in the music- frantic energy, raw, urgent, and action packed. Glam rock insolent punks, total originals, absolute rock and roll, there is no band like The New York Dolls. This album of classic Dolls songs displays that fact quite nicely. Hurls them out one after the next, listen it in total but doubtful that you’ll stay sitting it’s a great album of instant energy and was hugely influential. O.G.
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The Stone Roses- The Stone Roses
I Wanna Be Adored, She Bangs The Drums, Elephant Stone, Waterfall, and Made Of Stone… Made of Stone, especially! These songs are some of the most devastatingly great pop songs of all time. What makes The Stone Roses start to finish a dream and a half, is listening to the sounds of John Squire’s shimmering, echoey guitar matched to the lulling, softly-sung vocals of Ian Brown. It’s hypnotic. It’s atmospheric. This influential paragon of how dope Brit Pop can be. This collections of songs has the power to completely transport a person to nostalgia for the times of the “Madchester,” scene in the early 90’s whether they were ever around for it or not. Super sensory stuff. The songwriting, the catchy choruses, their perfect blend of psychedelic ’60s pop with ’90s club beats and some funk in there too; it’s all pretty perfect. This album is pretty perfect.
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A Tribe Called Quest, The Low End Theory
At a time when gangsta rap was on the rise, A Tribe Called Quest created music that was markedly very different. Their lyrical blend of thoughtful rhymes, jazz-infused sounds, bass-y rhythms, and eclectic sampling, transformed rap music. Considered to be true pioneers- innovators of hip-hop, A Tribe Called Quest crucially defined the vibe of the early-’90s New York hip-hop scene and beyond (Check the Rhime, Jazz and Scenario EVERYWHERE!). It’s genius stuff. Low End, high water mark.
