34. Barbra Streisand...And Other Musical Instruments -- Barbra Streisand

Mojo Says: Not your usual Barbra LP. Oh no.

Album: Barbra Streisand...And Other Musical Instruments
Artist: Barbra Streisand
Year: 1973
Length: 34:37


Track Listing:

1. Piano Practicing - 2:28
2. I Got Rhythm - 1:24
3. Medley: Johnny One Note/One Note Samba - 3:40
4. Glad to Be Unhappy - 2:43
5. People - 1:52
6. Second Hand Rose - 0:16
7. Don't Rain on My Parade - 3:41
8. Don't Ever Leave Me - 0:42
9. Monologue (Dialogue) - 0:46
10. By Myself - 1:55
11. Come Back to Me - 1:39
12. I Never Has Seen Snow - 5:05
13. Lied: Auf Dem Wasser Zu Singen - 1:30
14. The World is a Concerto/Make Your Own Kind of Music - 4:00
15. The Sweetest Sounds - 1:55

Favorite Tracks:

1. Don't Rain on My Parade
2. Medley: Johnny One Note/One Note Samba
3. By Myself
4. Piano Practicing (if only because the idea of Rite of Spring showing up on a Barbra Streisand album is as amusing as it is unexpected.)

Worst Tracks:
I Never Has Seen Snow is too "normal" and breaks up the mood after the album's most experimental streak of tracks.

Is it weird?:
In the context of Barbra Streisand's career, absolutely.

Review:

This record stands in stark contrast to literally every other album Barbra Streisand has recorded .I mean, she does have 35 of them so I admittedly haven't heard them all, but I think that's a pretty safe assumption. And Other Musical Instruments is a collection of standards and show tunes that feature experimentation so intense that some of these could easily pass as bootlegged cuts from The Mothers Of Invention the Musical (and you would not believe how much I want to travel to the alternate universe where that exists).

The album was intended to soundtrack a live 1973 TV special where most of these songs were performed, and I can only imagine the rude awakening that the average Barbs fan got when tuning into that for the first time. The wholehearted embrace of world music leads to these very familiar songs suddenly sounding radically different. Granted, some tracks are far more normal and unchanged than others (I Never Has Seen Snow, for instance), but on the whole, these songs are almost unrecognizable apart from their vocals and lyrics. Instrumentals here draw from the music of the Middle East, India, Native Americans, and on The World is a Concerto, the average American kitchen, naturally. The incredible variety of the approach to the songwriting on this album is truly impressive, however, the fact that it's a Barbra Streisand album does kind of make the whole thing feel like it's trying a little too hard to be "out there" for the sake of it. And Other Musical Instruments is a fine album, but one that works better as a novelty project than a serious work.

Grade:

7/10

Listen:

https://open.spotify.com/album/7A5Lqje4kuq0Tg6vDMaxwt

35. Trip Thru Hell -- C.A. Quintet

Mojo Says: "A tribal re-enactment of the apocalypse by the ghosts of The Count Five"

Album: Trip Thru Hell
Artist: C.A. Quintet
Year: 1969
Length: 29'11"

Track Listing:

1. Trip Thru Hell, Pt. 1 - 9:11
2. Colorado Mourning - 2:31
3. Cold Spider - 4:41
4. Underground Music - 4:43
5. Sleepy Hollow Lane - 2:04
6. Smooth As Silk - 2:12
7. Trip Thru Hell, Pt. 2 - 3:40

Favorite Tracks:

1. Smooth as Silk
2. Underground Music

Worst Tracks:
The way the vocals are mixed on Colorado Mourning kind of bother me.

Is it weird?:
Nah.

Review:

Oh my, it's been awhile. A lot has happened over 2 and a half years since I've updated this blog (I became very busy and once I had free time again, I had pretty much forgotten about it) but once I stumbled across it again while clearing out old bookmarks, I remembered how much I enjoyed reviewing all these records. So, with all that out of the way, on with this review.

I did like this album, but it is most certainly not one of the weirdest albums ever made. On the whole, it's pretty conventional for the 60s, maybe barring the massive drum solo that takes up most of the first track.

That being said, most of the album is pretty great. The vocal harmonies and organ playing make it feel like a lost Kinks record, which is definitely something I can get behind. This is clearly a very talented group with a lot of good ideas, and they end up congealing into an album with an impressive variety of moods.

Grade:

7.5/10

Listen:

https://open.spotify.com/album/13S4y1iJkLrDnhJu5VWv35

36. Cyber Ghetto -- Cybotron

Mojo Says: "Grim vision of technoid future ruled 'by the dark overlords of conformity'".

Album: Cyber Ghetto
Artist: Cybotron
Year: 1995
Length: 47'19"

Track Listing:

1. Fragment 17 Phase 1 (Proximian Mythos Cycle)
2. Archaeoptryx
3. Cyber Jesus (Tales Of The Dtrexian Mytros)
4. Fragment 17 Phase 3 (Proximian Mythos Cycle)
5. Nazca
6. Final Fantasy
7. Chakra 9 (Ghandhava Descending)

Favorite Tracks:

1. Fragment 17 Phase 3 (only because it makes me laugh)

Worst Tracks:
Nazca takes itself too seriously and just hurts.

Is it weird?:
Nope. Just cheesy.

Review:

This one just confuses me.

I'm confused because at first glance, this album seems like just another album of its time, except that it's from the mid-90s instead of 1982. I'm confused because I can't tell if it wants to be relaxing or creepy. But most importantly, I'm confused as to why anyone is still taking this record seriously 20 years later.

What ever Cybotron was going for on this album, he ("he" being Richard Davis, originally one of three members of Cybotron but working alone here) completely failed, provided he wasn't trying to be funny, which I doubt he was.

Overall, this album is nothing but a collection of bizarre electronic noises and silly voices that completely fails to create any atmosphere. I'll pass.

Grade:

5/10

Listen:

https://play.spotify.com/album/27fp0MwlVEyeKJ6pDBhj02?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open

37. Auralgraphic Entertainment -- Dreamies

Mojo Says: "52 minute psychedelic odyssey: the '60s aren't over yet."

Album: Auralgraphic Entertainment
Artist: Dreamies
Year: 1973
Length: 52'25"

Track Listing:

1. Program Ten
2. Program Eleven

Favorite Tracks:

1. Program Ten
2. Program Eleven

Worst Tracks:
I guess Program Eleven, if we wanna be technical. But I don't wanna be technical.

Is it weird?:
Nah.

Review:

There seems to be a concept that the writers and assemblers of this list don't seem to have a particular grasp on. Putting a bunch of noises and audio clips over your music doesn't automatically make it weird. It just makes it dense.

That doesn't mean that an album is bad, however. This album, for example, I quite liked. The very somber and hypnotizing music, along with the quintessentially-60s voice of Bill Holt is pretty good in and of itself, but what makes this album unique is the total lack of sunshine and optimism that permeated the psychedelic music of the previous decade. This album could only have been made by someone looking back on the 60s from a distance.

So, it doesn't really belong on a list like this, since Bill Holt does commit one of the cardinal sins of weird album-making by assuming he can get away with being "experimental" by adding random noises to his songs (much like Faust try to do on Faust IV), but it's still an enjoyable and pretty trippy listen. Try it.

Grade:

8/10

Listen:

38. Starsailor -- Tim Buckley

Mojo Says: "Folk singer as screaming mood instrument. Starsailor fans need not apply."

Album: Starsailor
Artist: Tim Buckley
Year: 1970
Length: 35'54"

Track Listing:

1. Come Here Woman
2. I Woke Up
3. Monterey
4. Moulin Rouge
5. Song To The Siren
6. Jungle Fire
7. Star Sailor
8. Healing Festival
9. Down By The Borderline

Favorite Tracks:

1. Monterey
2. Moulin Rouge

Worst Tracks:
Buckley's voice ruins basically every other song, though Jungle Fire and Star Sailor are especially grating.

Is it weird?:
Yes, but not in a good way.

Review:

I am tolerant of bad singers.
Captain Beefheart. Johnny Rotten. Les Claypool. Frank Zappa. 60's Bob Dylan. David Thomas. I love all of them, either despite or because of their bad voices.
But, even I, apparently, have a limit.

Tim Buckley, father of golden-throated music legend Jeff, is past my limit.
From the yodeling, to the shrieks, the whining, and the "impassioned" singing, it's all truly unbearable.

This album would've been mildly interesting if it were instrumental, but nothing is really worthy of praise. Innovative, maybe, but beyond being slightly challenging, there is little to enjoy about the music on any level. It's too weird for its own sake and doesn't manage to make anything legitimately entertaining.

And let me reiterate, these vocals are probably the worst I've ever heard. I was going to give this a 5, but I figured I couldn't really give it higher than a 4 when an album is actually physically painful to listen to. Maybe I'll give some of Tim Buckley's less experimental works a try at some point, but this was just really, really bad.

Grade:

4/10

Listen:

39. Boces -- Mercury Rev

Mojo Says: "Kosmic Katskills kombo unlearn the rules of rock music. Flutes are involved."

Album: Boces
Artist: Mercury Rev
Year: 1993
Length: 53'55"

Track Listing:

1. Meth Of A Rockette's Kick
2. Trickle Down
3. Bronx Cheer
4. Boys Peel Out
5. Downs Are Feminine Balloons
6. Something For Joey
7. Snorry Mouth
8. Hi-Speed Boats
9. Continuous Drunks And Blunders
10. Girlfren

Favorite Tracks:

1. Snorry Mouth
2. Boys Peel Out
3. Meth Of A Rockette's Kick
4. Hi-Speed Boats

Worst Tracks:
I'll cheat and say Continuous Drunks And Blunders.

Is it weird?:
Maybe it's the shock of this being the same band that recorded Deserter's Songs, but it's still pretty out-there.

Review:

6 years before Mercury Rev released the sublime pop perfection of Deserter's Songs, they put out this. I'm still trying to figure out how that's even possible. This somehow manages to be both noisy and beautiful (though it is not as good at this as, say, Loveless).

Many of these songs start out as sort of weird before ever-so-gradually sinking into the deep end. The best way I can describe this album is that it sounds like a more psychedelic and even denser version of Jesus & Mary Chain, especially Psychocandy.

This really is the perfect balance of music and noise, and it creates something that's challenging but that can also be catchy. In fact, the only major problem I have with the album is that the production leaves several songs sounding the same.

So yeah. Boces is cool.

Grade:

8/10

Listen:

40. The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn -- Pink Floyd

Mojo Says: "Underground goes overground in womb-spaceship to the stars."

Album: The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
Artist: Pink Floyd
Year: 1967
Length: 41'52"

Track Listing:

1. Astronomy Domine
2. Lucifer Sam
3. Matilda Mother
4. Flaming
5. Pow R. Toc H.
6. Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk
7. Interstellar Overdrive
8. The Gnome
9. Chapter 24
10. Scarecrow
11. Bike

Favorite Tracks:

1. Bike
2. Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk
3. The Gnome
4. Interstellar Overdrive

Worst Tracks:
Chapter 24 is mediocre.

Is it weird?:
Yep.

Review:

It's easy to forget how weird of a band Pink Floyd were. They had 14 albums, and they didn't have their breakthrough moment until Dark Side Of The Moon, album #8. Their first seven unjustly forgotten albums (though this one is probably an exception) range from almost satisfactory (More) to great (Atom Heart Mother, Meddle, and this record). While I would say that Ummagumma was much more experimental, this album ends up being much weirder.

Syd Barrett's personality shines through in all aspects of this record. He flips a switch from childlike whimsical songs about gnomes and scarecrows and sitting on unicorns to perhaps one of the most influential and iconic guitar freak outs in rock history so abrasive and abstract that it becomes numbing. This is not only the true birth of space rock, but the dense layers of sound on even the lighter tracks make this almost a precursor to the busy and dizzying mood changes found on new age and prog-rock.

So, if you only know Pink Floyd for their excellent later albums, definitely give a listen to Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. It may not be quite as excellent as Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, or The Wall (though that's basically comparing diamonds), none of those records really have the ability to alter minds quite like this one does.

Grade:

9/10

Listen: