February 2012
2 posts
3 tags
3 tags
November 2011
2 posts
3 tags
Album Club #19: Hounds of Love
Members present: William A. Rawls, Swedish Oxers, Cuban Pete, Plan B, Charlie Face, Ms Mistoffeles
Members absent: ILoveDisco, Consigliere
Favorite song: “Cloudbusting”
Discussed: Huge success of Kate Bush in UK (commercially and critically) while only minor recognition in US; album as more of an art piece than music; music that moves your head not your heart or feet (nerd...
3 tags
Album Club #18: Learning to Crawl
Members present: Swedish Oxers, Cuban Pete, Plan B, Charlie Face, Consigliere, MMM
Members absent: ILoveDisco, William A. Rawls
Favorite song: “Back on the Chain Gang”
Discussed: Unanimous AC love for Chrissie Hynde; album’s accessible, straightforward, traditional American sound; Hynde as one of the few musically talented members (and few women) of the McLaren/Westwood...
August 2011
1 post
3 tags
Album Club #17: Remain in Light
Members present: William A. Rawls, Ms. Mistoffeles, Swedish Oxers, Consigliere, Plan B, Charlie Face, Cuban Pete
Favorite song: ”Seen Unseen”
Notable: By 6-1 vote, hip-hop music was approved for future AC selections
Discussed: Episode of “Webster” where home burned down; Fela Kuti’s influence; David Byrne’s Maryland roots; band’s constant tension, chiefly between Byrne and...
June 2011
1 post
3 tags
Album Club #16: Night Owl
Members present: William A. Rawls, Cuban Pete, Plan B, Charlie Face, Consigliere
Members absent: ILoveDisco, Swedish Oxers, Ms. Mistoffeles
Favorite song: “Why Won’t You Talk to Me?”
Discussed: Strong nostalgia feeling evoked by album; Rafferty’s perfect pitch; well-arranged music to build larger themes upon; presence of top Brit and Scot musicians on album...
April 2011
2 posts
3 tags
Album Club #15: Paranoid
Members present: Swedish Oxers, William A. Rawls, Cuban Pete, Plan B, Charlie Face
Members absent: ILoveDisco, Ms. Mistoffeles, Consigliere
Favorite song: “Planet Caravan”
Discussed: Noting of one-year anniversary of Album Club; Plan B’s taking the baton from Swedish Oxers with PowerPoint prowess; dark sound, inspired by horror (Boris Karloff movie “Black Sabbath”) and...
Good Read: n+1's The iPod Era, Wall of Sound
A dense but delightful essay about the ubiquity of music and how we experience it less as social appreciation of high art and more as currency for self-identification and class distinction.
You can see this in the violent intra-genre squabbling that animates indie rock circles…Meanwhile the proliferation of genre names represents an even finer process of social differentiation, each...
March 2011
2 posts
2 tags
Album Club #14: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's...
Upon first glance, our own Consigliere seems like any other suburban Dad and upstanding member of his quiet, leafy neighborhood. But inside, there’s a party going on. And if the soundtrack to that party wasn’t the Stones or a southern rock anthem we think it might be something sour and spry from the Sex Pistols. Below, please find notes from Consigliere’s choice for the...
Beach Boys' Lost 'Smile' Album to See Release in... →
An opportunity to look back to the Pet Sounds days of the Album Club.
February 2011
1 post
2 tags
Album Club #13: Low
Bowie: Too immense a topic for PowerPoint, surely. But how does one summarize one of his most influential, important releases; a relative obscurity that looms large against the backdrop of artistic endeavors of the late 70’s and early 80’s avant garde? Indeed, contexting this album and summarizing Bowie between the more familiar lines (haha) of Ziggy and “China Girl” and...
January 2011
1 post
1 tag
Announcement: New Member of the Album Club
This Sunday, when the Album Club convenes to discuss the Sex Pistols solitary studio effort, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, we will welcome a new member, Charlie with the Face On, or Charlie Face for short.
Shortly after a special guest appearance during our discussion of David Bowie’s Low, Charlie Face submitted a formal application letter for the Club’s...
December 2010
1 post
3 tags
Album Club #12: Nightbirds
Clearly ILoveDico shook things up with this pick. But once we erased Patti’s mid-80’s hairpieces from our mind, we found some enjoyment and appreciation of her girl-group glamour and frontiers-woman spirit. And what’s not to love about the “hey sister” chant backstory? Notes follow.
Members present: Swedish Oxers, William A. Rawls, Cuban Pete, Ms. Mistoffeles,...
November 2010
3 posts
2 tags
Album Club #11: This Year's Model
The Album Club weathered strong differences of opinion the likes of which it hadn’t yet seen — including Swedish Oxers’ impatience with Hot Buttered Soul and Rawls’ and Consigliere’s disdain for the theatricality of For Your Pleasure. The forceful wind of dislike directed at Elvis Costello & The Attractions’ second long player from 1978, This Year’s Model, blew through the pipes...
2 tags
Album Club #10: Dark Side of the Moon
Members present: Swedish Oxers, William A. Rawls, Cuban Pete, Ms. Mistoffeles, ILoveDisco, Consigliere, Plan B
Members absent: Cheeks McGee, Roger Sterling Jr.
Members ousted: Cheeks McGee, Roger Sterline Jr.
Favorite song: While some argued that individual songs must be understood in context of entire album, “Time” had a plurality of votes for any one specific song
Discussed: ...
3 tags
Album Club #9: Off the Wall
Members present: William A. Rawls, Cuban Pete, Ms. Mistoffeles
Members absent: Cheeks McGee, Swedish Oxers, Roger Sterling Jr., ILoveDisco, Consigliere
Members ousted: Roger Sterling Jr.
Favorite song: “Rock With You”
Discussed: Hyper-familiarity of the songs, everybody knows them (even younger generations); building off of disco, but going further, focusing more on the vocals;...
August 2010
2 posts
3 tags
Album Club #8: For Your Pleasure
Harkening back to the Album Club’s discussion of Isaac Hayes’ Hot Buttered Soul, the club’s opinion was again divided about the listenability and likability of Roxy Music’s For Your Pleasure (1973). ILoveDisco and Swedish Oxers loved it. The rest did not, citing superfluous theatricality and drama, among other reasons. Ms. Mistoffeles, with a nod to her middle school...
3 tags
Album Club #5: Pet Sounds
The Album Club met in early April to discuss one of the most important albums of the 1960’s: The Beach Boys’ chef d’oeuvre Pet Sounds (1966).
It’s been many weeks since our meeting, so we regret to inform you that our recap is lacking detail, and perhaps accuracy. Alas, here goes:
Members Present: Can’t remember
Members Absent: Can’t remember
Favorite...
June 2010
2 posts
1 tag
Announcement: New Member of the Album Club
The Album Club was founded upon strong organizing principles drafted by William A. Rawls. No friend to frivolity nor half-assed-ness, Rawls keeps close watch on the Club - swiftly pointing out transgressions such as premature e-mail discussion of albums, tardiness, bossiness or conversation hogging, etc.
As such, we are no strangers to attrition. A mere two weeks after our charter meeting we lost...
1 tag
Album Club #7: Hot Buttered Soul
Ms. Mistoffeles’ selection, Isaac Hayes’ Hot Buttered Soul, closed out the Album Club’s exploration of the 1960’s with a lively discussion of topics ranging from whether or not Hot Buttered Soul qualifies as “an album” to pondering the future of non-Jazz “black music.”
Members present: Swedish Oxers, William A. Rawls, Cuban Pete, Ms. Mistoffeles...
May 2010
1 post
2 tags
Album Club #6: Songs of Leonard Cohen
Yes, the Album Club is still exploring the 1960’s, this time scaling the lyrical mastermind and cult personality that is Mr. Leonard Cohen.
We will cover up our lack of note-taking and timely posting by diverting your attention to a more informed and eloquent writer’s point of view on one of the album’s standout songs, Suzanne. “Boyhowdy,” a media & society...
April 2010
1 post
2 tags
Album Club #4: Nashville Skyline
Over a delightful and delicious spread of Hasidic Jewish bagels, lox, and capers procured and prepared by former Album Club Secretary Anna J the Album Club met to discuss one of the sunnier parts of Bob Dylan’s oeuvre. We also inducted two new members:
Cuban Pete, a well-prepared, vegetarian attorney whose thoughtful commentary hinted at music knowledge that will not only ground but...
March 2010
1 post
1 tag
Album Club #3: At Last!
A few Sundays back The Album Club met to discuss Etta James’ debut album on Chess Records, At Last! (1961). Our secretary, Anna J, has resigned from her role (did she ever actually accept?) for reasons of feminism which all members of the Album Club support, ex-Rawls, who we often find trapped in antiquity.
Members present: Swedish Oxers, Consigliere, William A. Rawls, Pan Tostado
...
February 2010
2 posts
3 tags
The Album Club #2: The Stooges
Last Sunday The Album Club met to discuss our second selection for the 1960’s, The Stooges (1969). Our secretary, Anna J, was absent so meeting minutes are sparse.
Members present: Swedish Oxers, Consigliere, William A. Rawls, Cheeks McGee
Members absent: Pan Tostado (-1), SamG (-2)
Favorite songs: I Wanna Be Your Dog, 1969, No Fun (hand claps always “a party” per...
2 tags
Album Club #1: The Velvet Underground and Nico
Today was our first meeting of The Album Club. As my brother, the founder, puts it:
“The Album Club is like a book club, except that we discuss full-length music albums instead of books. The Album Club is devoted to the appreciation of the dying art of the full-length album.”
We meet not to record music (like Beck and friends) nor to buy new albums (like Rough Trade offers) -...