47. Double Bummer -- Bongwater

Mojo Says: "Sprawling 2-LP debut from New York art couple who made Kim and Thurston look like Margot and Jerry Leadbetter."

Album: Double Bummer
Artist: Bongwater
Year: 1988
Length: 83'20"

Track Listing:

1. Lesbians Of Russia
2. Frank
3. We Did It Again
4. Homer
5. Joy Ride
6. Decadent Iranian Country Club
7. David Bowie Wants Ideas
8. Rock & Roll Part 2
9. Just May Be The One
10. There You Go
11. Shark
12. Jimmy
13. Crime
14. Pornography
15. P.F.W.
16. Dazed & Chinese
17. Bullaby
18. So Help Me God
19. His Old Look
20. Stone
21. Number
22. Love You To
23. Reaganation
24. Double Birth
25. Bruce
26. Pool
27. Rain

Favorite Tracks:

1. Decadent Iranian Country Club
2. Stone
3. Dazed & Chinese
4. We Did It Again

Worst Tracks:
Pornography is cool, but it's kind of uneventful and uninteresting.

Is it weird?
Without a doubt. It probably needs to be much higher.

Review:

A debut album? I don't think I've heard a more unwelcoming and alienating introduction record in my life. But oh, am I fascinated with this one. From the bizzare, unresolved poetry of Decadent Iranian Country Club to the totally insane covers (including Led Zeppelin's 1969 classic Dazed & Confused sung in Cantonese), and having all of it spliced with radio, TV, and movie footage it's just a total sonic barrage, in a good way. As much as I adore Kim and Thurston Moore's work in Sonic Youth, in terms of weirdness, Mojo is right; they can't hold a candle to Ann Magnuson and Mark Kramer. However, this doesn't mean that they're better, they're just weirder.

This is not to say that this is a perfect album. Many of the pure noise pieces go nowhere, and there usually isn't any sort of immediate melody to latch onto. I know that that's basically the point, but that doesn't mean it was executed perfectly. With all due respect for Bongwater, I think it ways something about their compositional skills that apart from my top two track picks, the covers on this album are the most interesting tracks by far.

Still, there is something oddly compelling about this. It's got such a variety of sounds and moods that you'd think it sounds like it has no idea what it's doing, but the intentions are very clear.

Grade:

7/10 


Listen:

48. Spring Song -- Ottilie Patterson

Mojo Says: "Insane/inspired romp through period poetry and more."

Album: Spring Song
Artist: Ottilie Patterson
Year: 1969
Length: Unknown

Track Listing:

1. Spring Song
2. Sonnet No. 8
3. It Was A Lover And His Lass
4. The Bitterness Of Death
5. Latin Drinking Song
6. Hey, Ho The Wind And The Rain
7. Please Accept My Appologies Mr. Pankhurst
8. Why So Pale And Wan, Fond Lover?
9. The Orphan
10. Song Of Soloman
11. Ad Uxorem
12. The Sound Of The Door As It Closes
13. Helen Of Kirkconell

Favorite Tracks:

1. Spring Song

Worst Tracks:
This can't apply here for reasons stated below.

Is it weird?
I have no idea. The title track isn't very weird at all, but it is pretty good.

Review:

I tried. I really tried. But I can't find any way to listen to this album anywhere.  In fact, apart from the Mojo list, Wikipedia, and discography & list sites like Discogs and Rateyourmusic, I can't even find a mention of this album, apart from the title track. I enjoyed it, but I've only been able to listen to less than half of the tracks here, which isn't remotely sufficient to make a judgement on an album. So, if anyone knows of any way that I can hear this, please leave a comment.

Great. Three albums in and I've already hit a snag.

Grade:

?/10 


Listen:

49. Quantum -- Basil Kirchin

Mojo Says: "Music and sound manipulated into something entirely other."

Album: Quantum
Artist: Basil Kirchin
Year: 2003 (recorded circa 1973)
Length: 48'18"

Track Listing:

1. Once Upon A Time
2. Special Relativity

Favorite Tracks:

1. Special Relativity

Worst Tracks:
They're both good tracks. I just prefer Special Relativity.

Is it weird?
Uhh, yes. Yes it is definitely weird.

Review:

Oh, boy. Did the weirdness levels really skyrocket with this one. I can appreciate an interesting noise piece, and I was ready to call this one as just that and nothing more. Until, I found out that it was recorded in 1973, which frankly blew my mind. There had been experimental electronic pieces and sound collages before (like the Beatles' infamous Revolution 9, though I've always had a strange fondness for that one), but this is one of the most radically innovative and uncompromising albums I've heard in awhile.

From the keyboards and electronics to the brass and stringed instruments, this album is about 10% melody and 90% cacophonous noise. However Basil Kirchin manages to make noise beautiful and compelling in a way that only My Bloody Valentine can, and even they've never gone this far off the deep end. The moods created by seemingly random notes, electronic textures, and vocal samples is really something you have to hear to believe.

That being said, this is an almost impenetrable album. I can't really see myself coming back to this too often, but I do admire the quality and how ahead of its time it is. This album is a truly impressive listen, albeit not an entirely pleasurable one.

Grade:

7/10


Listen:

50. I Trawl the Megahertz -- Paddy McAloon

Mojo Says: "Steve McQueen, we hardly knew you."

Album: I Trawl the Megahertz
Artist: Paddy McAloon
Year: 2003
Length: 52'29"

Track Listing:

1. I Trawl the Megahertz
2. Esprit de Corps
3. Fall from Grace
4. We Were Poor...
5. Orchid 7
6. I'm 49
7. Sleeping Rough
8. Ineffable
9. ...But We Were Happy

Favorite Tracks:

1. We Were Poor...
2. I Trawl the Megahertz
3. Sleeping Rough

Worst Tracks:
I could say that Ineffable is boring, but I think I would be missing the point.

Is it weird?
As an album? Not particularly.
Compared to everything else Paddy McAloon has recorded? Absolutely.

Review:

It is probably relevant for me to mention that I am a huge fan of Prefab Sprout, of which Paddy McAloon was the frontman and primary songwriter. Their album Steve McQueen (which is what Mojo is refering to in the Mojo Says blurb) is in my top 5 favorite albums ever, and other albums of theirs' like Swoon or From Langley Park to Memphis are also great. But, considering this album wound up on a list of the weirdest albums of all time, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. And I certainly didn't expect this.

The music here isn't particularly experimental, but it is still challenging. The entire album basically plays as one long 52-odd minute piece of music, which is about as far away from Prefab Sprout as you can get while still staying inside the pop universe. This is the closest I can imagine chamber pop will ever need to be analyzed.

I recommend this album, but only after you've dug deep into Prefab Sprout's catalog first.

Grade:

8/10 


Listen:

Introduction

As much as I would like to, I don't have the time or resources available to plow through a list like the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die or Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. So, instead, I'll see what I can discover by exploring a much more digestible and manageable list: Mojo's 50 Weirdest Albums Ever. I'm going to review each album and rate it on its own, as well as how much it deserves to be considered one of the weirdest albums in music history.

My rating system:

0 - The worst, basically without redeeming qualities
1 - Barely tolerable
2 - No longer able to understand how the album could possibly be enjoyed
3 - A few not bad spots, but deeply disliked it overall
4 - Can be either actively bad or offensively inoffensive
5 - Boring along with some other quality, like annoying or unambitious
6 - Boring, but competent and occasionally enjoyable
7 - Either noticeably flawed, but still entertaining either because of or in spite of this, or simply just not my kind of album, but still good.
8 - Consistently good, and the effort put into it is apparent, though I'm not absolutely in love with it
9 - Thoroughly enjoyable and consistently great album that I can see myself returning to often
10 - The best, basically perfect


http://www.mojo4music.com/14320/50-weirdest-albums/