Thursday, June 30, 2022

Rowan Recommends: 5 Great Albums From 5 Underrated Genres

The title should be self-explanatory, but I will be recommending 5 great albums from 5 genres I think are criminally underrated. I've been listening to a lot of new music (at least to me) in sonic spaces unjustly excluded from people's listening. The genres in question are Blues, Soul, Funk, Reggae, and Krautrock. Two quick points about my selection.

First, I tried to avoid classics of the genre that people who do not really listen to the genre might already know. For example, I don't put either Bob Marley or Peter Tosh in the reggae section, even though they are correctly taken to be some of the best of the genre. Same for Otis Redding in soul, Can for Krautrock and so on. However, I do not omit some of the more well-known artists in other genres. For example, I include John Lee Hooker in the blues section, even though most blues fans will be familiar with him and I include James Brown in the funk section, with who everyone is likely familiar. In such cases, and in other cases where I break this rule, I often provide a reason for doing so. It might be because the genre itself is listened to little enough that even the classics will be new to most (funk is like this), because they are essential to the genre, or because a particular album deserves special interest (my John Lee Hooker pick is like this). To counter this, I have also tried to include some stuff that will hopefully be new, even to fans of a given genre. 

Second, there is significant genre overlap when it comes to funk, soul, and some blues. There is not always a particularly clear dividing line between the genres, nor are they particularly well defined. They are very much coming out of the same sonic tradition, especially soul and funk. For example, I put Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul in the funk section, but they could just as easily be soul too. In such cases, I simply choose at my discretion, so there will be some arbitrariness to my taxonomy. However, each genre does have a distinctive sound, and I am pretty confident I have done no album any injustice in this regard.

Anyway, for each genre, I have ordered the albums chronologically and linked two songs from each of them that I think you should listen to if you wanted a sample. I was hoping to include a section on African music, which I have been listening to a lot of. But I could not do it justice by restricting everything to one genre, or merely 5 albums, so I scrapped it. Thus, I might put together a list for that at some future time. Oh and lastly, forgive my digressions. It's not often I write about music, and it turns out I have reckons about it.



Blues

1. Mississippi John Hurt - The Complete Studio Recordings (1966 - 1972)

A genius. Armed with solo acoustic guitar and vocals only, Mississippi John Hurt spins such enchanting and hypnotic tunes, seemingly with so little. I could sit on a porch listening to him play all day. Sometimes sad, sometimes quietly joyous and contended, sometimes whimsical, his music is beautiful and deeply, deeply, sincere. I chose this album as it combines his three 'Vanguard albums': Today!, The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt, and Last Sessions. They are his best recorded material in my opinion. Each album is as great as the next and worth listening to. (And this album meant I could include all of them without taking up three spots!)

Recommended songs: I'm Satisfied, Trouble, I've Had It All My Days.




2. John Lee Hooker - It Serve You Right to Suffer (1966)

I am not ordinarily a huge fan of John Leee Hooker but this album, in particular, I really love. There is something powerful and deeply affecting about his voice and guitar playing here that I do not otherwise get from him. A big part of this is that on many of these songs, he eschews a sound more typical of this era of blues for a kind of simmering, driving, primal sound with minimal arrangements and melodic progression. It almost reminds me of late Swans in its energy (think The Seer, To Be Kind, and The Glowing Man). It really works here. Try cranking up Country Boy really loud (this is crucial) and not get all wound up listening to the tension build relentlessly over 5 minutes, only for it never to be released. Try listening to Decoration Day and not getting utterly drawn into his anguish.

Recommend songs: Country Boy, Decoration Day.




3. Junior Well's Chicago Blues Band with Buddy Guy - Hoodoo Man Blues (1966)

Fantastic electric blues romp, great accordion and guitar playing, what more could you want. Nice write-up of it here if you want to know more.

Recommend songs: Snatch It Back and Hold It, Early in the Morning.




4. Mississippi Fred McDowell - I Do Not Play No Rock 'n' Roll (1969)

McDowell lays down some of the coolest and most raw-sounding blues I've ever heard, coupled with absolutely delicious slide guitar playing (see especially Good Morning Little Schoolgirl). This thing is a must-listen. I can't stop tapping my feet and bobbing my head up and down as I'm writing this very sentence. It is especially nice as, littered throughout the album, McDowell provides charming spoken introductions to his songs. In the opener, he talks about how he plays the guitar, and in another, about what the blues are. They have this incredibly pleasant effect of making it feel like you are there with him in the room, listening to him play. While I think the last couple of songs on here are a little weak, the rest are solid gold.





5. Freddie King - Getting Ready... (1971)

What's great about this album, qua blues album, is its seamless fusion with a more soulful sound. No doubt this album is blues, through and through. But Freddie King's voice is much less like the husky and weathered blues vocalists making up the previous entries of this list and much more like the soulful vocals of an Otis Redding. This can be seen most clearly on the opener, Same Old Blues. The combination of raw-edged blues shredding with clean soulful vocals is a delight. (Credit to Freddie's versatility, he put out what is basically a blues-funk album, Burglar, 3 years later, 13 years after his first great blues-soul album, Freddie King Sings.)  Also a favourite album cover of mine. Very cool.

Recommend songs: Five Long Years, Living on The Highway.




Soul

1. Solomon Burke - Rock 'n Soul (1964)

Solomon Burke has a magnificent and commanding voice for soul. I don't have much to say about this album other than that it embodies the (somewhat restricted) sound of early 60's soul incredibly well and that it is absolutely stacked with short but sharp catchy and passionate soul tunes. Like many albums of its era and genre, most songs are about loving or losing, and it's all the better for it. Highlights include Can't Nobody Love You, a passionate and heartfelt appeal to a possible lover, and If You Need Me, a passionate and heartfelt appeal to a former lover. My favourite album of his. Highly recommend.

Recommended songs: If You Need Me, Can't Nobody Love You.




2. James Carr - You Got My Mind Messed Up (1966)

James Carr has a deep, soulful, and resounding voice that just drips with passion. That being said, I've never found alot of his material that compelling. He's kind of in the same boat as Townes van Zandt for me. I absolutely adore one of his albums, so much that it is one of my all-time favourites, but his other stuff never quite clicks with me. The same thing is true for James Carr, and this is that album. Virtually every song is fantastic and you would have to be soulless not to be carried away in the melodrama of each new cut, whether he is suffering a romantic ailment on Love Attack or begging the pain to go away on I Don't Want to Be Hurt Anymore. Probably the greatest break-up album ever made and easily one of my favourite soul albums.

Recommended songs: I could honestly recommend them all, but check out These Aint Raindrops and Lovable Girl.




3. Lee Moses - Time and Place (1971)

Lee Moses made exactly one album, and this is it. What makes this a pick worth listening to is first, like the previous two entries, the deep, passionate, and soulful vocals. Moses' voice may not be the most beautiful or clean in the soul canon, but his raw and strained delivery has real charm. Second, Moses blends funk and even psychedelic rock into his southern soul sound, which makes for a really compelling mix. Just listen to Got That Will, or his version of Hey Joe, which owes a lot more to Hendrix's version (who actually gets a shout-out, by name, in Got That Will) than anyone else's. However, my favourite thing about this album is the song What You Don't Want Me To Be. In no other song (soul or otherwise) have I heard such passionate despair. Moses wails over and over, "why don't you love me?" in a positively tortured refrain. Truly one of the most wretched performances I'm aware of, in the very best way.





4. Terry Callier - What Color Is Love (1972)

This is a kind of weird-sounding album. If I had to describe it, I would say that it sounds like soul meets Scott Walker (or sometimes even Nick Drake), owing to its strange mix of soul, lush orchestral instrumentation, and Terry's baroque voice ringing over the whole thing. Admittedly I don't think it works the whole way through. See, for example, I'd Rather Be With You and You Don't Care, where it comes off as overly sentimental or a little too ponderous. However, sometimes it really works. See especially the first song, Dancing Girl, which is a hauntingly beautiful and unconventional track. Ditto to You Goin' To Miss Your Candyman, which is a cool blues rambler in his own styling, and Ho Tsing Mee (A Song of the Sun) a more typical but anthemic soul song. If you liked suffering Scott Walker until you began to understand what is going on, this might be the one for you.





5. Charles Bradley - No Time For Dreaming (2011)

This album was released when Charles Bradley was 61 years old. Yes, you read that right, 61 years old. Bradley spent years as a struggling musician (a lot of that time impersonating James Brown!) before he was ever able to write and record an album for the first time. It's hard not to get emotional listening to songs like Why Is It So Hard? and Heartaches and Pain, knowing even a little about his background. (You can read a nice write-up of his life here.) While I wish he could have had his break earlier, it was worth the wait. This album sounds like it was fished straight out of 1968, perfectly preserved, but polished. However, it's filled with poignant reflections on his age, his struggle, and his family, rather than, like most soul of that era, the girl you love, or the girl you love that left you. In fact, before he died in 2017, he released three other great albums that are worth checking out Victim of Love, Changes, and Black Velvet.

Recommended songs: Lovin' You, Baby, No Time For Dreaming.




Funk

1. The Meters - The Meters (1969)

12 tightly orchestrated snappy instrumental funk jams. No vocals, no elaborate instrumentation, just grooves. 

I've always thought that what makes a great opening song on an album is that it is (1) assertive and (2) sets the tone for the album. By assertive and tone-setting I mean a couple things. Namely, it has to be upbeat or at least upfront about itself and what the album will offer, musically and/or lyrically, compared to the rest of the album. This does not necessarily mean it will be upbeat emotionally, if its a sad album, an upfront sad song will still do. For example, 24 from Red House Painters's Down Colorful Hill. It also ought to be shorter than the longest songs—its tone-setting, not tone-defining. In other words, a good opener comes out swinging. It seems like a mistake to open with the odyssey or slow-burner—you gotta get my attention first.

For example, I've always thought Vicious is a great opening on Loud Reed's Transformer. It's punchy, assertive, catchy, and lets you know what you are in for for the rest of the album. Other examples that come to mind are So What on Miles Davis' Kind of Blue,  Break on Through (To the Other Side) on The Door's The Doors, The Payback on James Brown's The Payback, Let's Get It On on Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On (obviously), A Place to Go on Emryo's Rocksession, See No Evil on Television's Marquee Moon, Liquid Swords on GZA's Liquid Swords (with that sweet scene-setting sample), Rabblerouse on Milo's So the Flies Don't Come, and Downward Spiral on Danny Brown's Atrocity Exhibition. 

(Maybe Station to Station would be better later in the album? Maybe I'm just wrong? Maybe there's another kind of great opener that is also the odyssey track, like Metronomic Underground on Stereolab's Emperor Tomato Ketchup? Actually no, hold on, Station to Station is long but still comes out swinging in the right way. Whatever, no general statement is exceptionless, or even true. They can only be useful—and I am trying to be useful!) 

Anyway, Cissy Strut is one of those songs. Such confidence. Give it a listen.

Recommended songs: Cissy Strut, Cardova.




2. Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul - Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul (1973)

This is another album filled front to back with really infectious, snappy, funk grooves. This time with great vocals on top. I think this album is best listened to while doing something else that requires most of your attention and for you to move around a little. Something like cooking, or walking somewhere. It's a great album to strut around to (like many other picks from this 5). While it looks like Sir Joe's children made the album cover, it does not sound like children made the music!

Recommended Songs: (I Got) So Much Trouble In My Mind, The Trouble With Trouble.




3. James Brown - The Payback (1973)

In the other lists, in many cases, I intentionally leave out the giants of the genre. Here I cannot leave out James Brown. Nor can I leave out this album—it really slaps. While James Brown is probably more well know for his shorter songs, his longer funky, repetitive, cuts are my favourite of his. For the funky masochists that love the same, I would recommend the compilation Funk Power 1970: Brand New Thang which is a bunch of super-long cuts of his songs, being about 80 minutes long with a mere 9 tracks. For those that want a little less than that, this is the place to start. This album is packed with super funky, super cool, long jams. While I think the album suffers a little from its length as the second half falls off a bit (you can basically skip Time is Running Out and sometimes Stone to the Bone), the rest of the album is a masterpiece. Mixed in with a couple of slower funk-soul songs to balance the palate a little (Doing The Best I Can and Forever Suffering), this thing is a great experience. And my god the title track and opener...talk about coming out swinging.

Recommended songs: The Payback, Take Some...Leave Some.




4. Betty Davis - They Say I'm Different (1974)

This album has a quality little seen in music leading up to the era of its conception, and arguably even little seen now. It's sexy. It's a tight, sexy, swaggering, funky package, and it's very, very cool. (Though it is arguably less sexy than her self-titled debut, it is funkier!) The whole album has a funky attitude that barely lets up for its entire runtime. And it's infectious. Plus, I like to imagine Betty is singing He Was A Big Freak about Miles Davis, which makes the song very funny, imagining the 70s-era trumpet maestro in his gigantic sunglasses, "on the floor...beginning [her] for more."





5. Marijita - This is Marijita (1976)

This album differs from the last in that its sound is not strictly funk like the other albums on this list, which I have tried to keep pretty pure. Rather, it might be called afro-funk. Now obviously my actual first pick here for afro-funk would be Fela Kuti, but I figured he was too obvious for a list like this. However, I would argue that this album lives up to some of his best work and is just as good. What it's missing in those clean and drawn-out Fela grooves, it makes up for in raw explosiveness. Clocking in at a mere 27 minutes, these guys lay down a blistering medley of four tracks. Whether it's the simmering momentum of I Walk Alone or the explosive and raw funky outbursts of No Condition Is Permanent this whole thing rocks.





Reggae

1. The Paragons - On The Beach With The Paragons (1967)

This album is technically best considered 'rocksteady' rather than reggae. However, rocksteady immediately preceded what we now consider reggae as the dominant genre of Jamaican music in the 60s, if only for a brief period of time. And it has much of its characteristic sound. Think of this album as a combination of Elvis and reggae, or The Beach Boys and reggae. It's catchy and sunny pop tunes with that infectious reggae bounce. Just look at those sharp-looking guys on the album cover, irresistible! Worth noting also that they wrote the song Tide is High, which Blondie famously covered with much success. The original is here on this album, and, for my money, it's better too. Make sure its sunny when you listen to this one.





2. Jackie Mittoo - Keep On Dancing (1969)

This is another pick that does not have all the ingredients of the reggae you know and love, but is another formative pick for the genre, and another absolute banger. This album is a completely instrumental collection of short and catchy lo-fi reggae jams. However, incorporating elements of soul, funk, and even jazz, Jackie spins a number of tunes to chill out to and a number you could even easily dance to. A tropical delight and excellent background music. I'm actually really surprised I haven't heard more of these songs being sampled (at least that I am aware of). The run from Juice Box to Can I Change My Mind is undefeated, if you want somewhere to start. (There is even a fantastic cover of the (great) theme from the (terrible) western Hang 'Em High!) I recommend a compilation album of his stuff called The Keyboard King at Studio One and his album Now if you like this and want more.

Recommended songs: Juice Box, Mellow Yellow.




3. Dadawah - Peace and Love (1974)

What's cool about this album, and what makes it great reggae, is the ways in which it differs from rather than adheres to the traditional sound. There are only four songs on this album, but they all clock in at over 7 minutes, 3 of them being about 10 minutes. Each song has a clean, spacious, even expansive sound that is constantly being driven forward by the alternating contribution of each instrument, making each song a kind of hypnotic spiritual odyssey accompanying Ras Michael's soulful preaching.

Recommend songs: Run Come Rally, Zion Land.




4. The Gladiators - Trenchtown Mix Up (1976)

Nothing particularly unique or innovative going on in this album, just a damn good record. Unlike the last few picks, it's the album that comes closest to scratching the conventional reggae itch that isn't Bob Marley. It's just as accessible too, it's probably where you should start if that is all you have heard. Not to discredit Marcus Garvey by Burning Spear and War Ina Babylon by Max Romeo & The Upsetters, two other titles that I could say the same of. I just got into this one first and there are only so many spots on the list! (Take my disclaimer here as a further recommendation and listen to those too!)

Recommended Songs: Bellyfull, Hearsay.




5. The Congos - Heart of the Congos (1977)

This album is probably one of my favourite reggae albums. Its sound is both traditional and otherworldly. Traditional in that it very much stands squarely in the tradition of reggae, drawing on all the typical sounds you might expect of the genre, coupled with those yearning vocals. But it is otherworldly owing to its atmospheric and spacey production which blends a cacophony of interesting sounds and voices that are constantly providing the songs with texture. The tracks are all quite drawn out and repetitive but in a way that is hypnotic rather than grating (like all good reggae). If you are familiar with The Upsetters and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's sound nothing here will surprise you too much as Perry also produced it. If nothing else, the song Fisherman is absolutely essential listening. Probably my favourite reggae song full stop.

Recommended songs: Fisherman, Congoman.





Krautrock

1. Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel (1971)

I feel like I should preface the first recommendation of the krautrock section by confessing my feelings about the genre. Ultimately, the best stuff is the most popular stuff. Say what you will, but there is no doubt in my mind that Can, Neu!, and Faust are the gold, silver, and bronze medal winners of krautrock, respectively. And it's not even close (at least in the case of Can and Neu!, for me). So basically, before recommending anything else in the genre, I recommend you go and listen to all of their entire discographies first. No, but seriously, start with Future Days (not Tago Mago!), followed by Ege Bamyasi, Neu!, Faust IV, and then check out this list. These will only be footnotes. They will be very good footnotes, but footnotes nonetheless. 

Anyway, this first pick is a scorcher, and perhaps an exception to the above passage. Two extra-long spacey jams clocking in at 20 and 25 minutes respectively. The first is an intense and driving tune that sounds like you are barreling through space at high velocities. Incredibly interesting guitar work with great drumming constantly driving the thing forward. The next sounds like you were knocked off of course to an almost complete stop and you are now drifting off into nothing...but at the same time slowly speeding up again. Whatever. I don't know how to describe this stuff. It's good. Give it a listen.

Recommended songs: There only are two, Amboss and Traummaschine.




2. Agitation Free - 2nd (1972)

While I very much like their earlier effort, Malesch, I think their following album 2nd is my favourite of theirs. While the former makes it sound like you are trekking through a desert (and is very good for that), this one is a lot prettier. It sounds more like a stroll through deep snow on a sunny day by a stream (except for maybe Haunted Island). Of course, it helps that you actually hear sound effects that suggest exactly this in the mix. Anyway, it has all the familiar features of krautrock, the extended psychedelic guitar tracks followed by the short experimental interludes where you are not exactly sure what is going on. And, as a bonus, a Moonchild-like quiet section called A Quiet Walk—what fun!

Recommended songs: First Communication, Laila, Pt. 2.




3. Embryo - Rocksession (1973)

These guys have to be in the running for the tightest pound-for-pound connection between awful album art and good music. And it's not a one-off or anything. Between this album, Steig aus (my favourites of theirs that I have heard), and others, the connection looks pretty tight! Anyway, this album has alot less of the weird interludes familiar to krautrock, but in exchange for a lot of eclectic instrumentation weaved into unconventional and sprawling rock songs. While this album is a lot less eclectic than their other stuff in its range of instruments, it is the most accessible and satisfying in terms of songwriting, making it the best pick for this list. Highlights include the opener, A Place to Go, which is one of those openers I described earlier, and Warm Canto which is a fantastic winter tune. (They also happen to be Madlib's favourite rock band, who happens to be my favourite producer. They even jammed together—look at those pictures!)

Recommended songs: A Place to Go, Warm Canto.




4. Manuel Göttsching - Inventions For Electric Guitar (1975)

This might be cheating as Manuel Göttsching is also the main guy behind Ash Ra Tempel, but this album is different enough (and interesting enough) to warrant its own entry. Its about 46 minutes long, only contains 3 songs, and is written and performed entirely by Göttsching playing the guitar. I'm not sure about the technical details of how he did it, but using only his guitar and many effects, he managed to put together an album of 2 long but genuinely compelling compositions, probably pulled from long improvisation sessions, with an ambient interlude in between. 

The longer of the two main pieces, Pluralis plunges you into a very spacey and pretty sounding atmosphere that is constantly evolving into a new sound, never coming to rest over its entire duration. It's great. However, the other piece, Echo Waves is, I think, where this album shines. Almost the whole song is this kind of shimmering repetition of sound that slowly builds tension over the first 14 minutes, at some points sounding almost like techno or even house music (in 1975!) rather than krautrock. At the 14-minute mark, the sounds begin to boil over as the rhythm reaches a fever pitch and Göttsching begins to solo, barely letting up until the final few seconds. Very unique album. He made another one a few years later called E2-E4 which is just a single hour-long song, that pursues more of the dancey sound he begins to develop here. It's also very good.

Recommended songs: Echo Waves, Pluralis.




5. Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996)

I wanted to include something more contemporary on this list, but krautrock, alongside basically every other genre on this list, has not really had a satisfying revival or even a consistent few bands properly carrying its torch (probably with the exception of blues, which did have blues-rock). This is a real shame because it feels as though basically every genre here had its heyday for a few years in and around the 70s without being completely tapped of interesting sounds and ideas. Contrary to what some people might say when some contemporary act attempts a revival sound, some of these genres are not even consistently very good, especially those on this list, even when pursuing some of the most interesting musical ideas. I very much welcome revivals of any of these sounds. For example, we had some neo-soul in the 90s with artists like D'Angelo and Erykah Badu, who put out Voodoo and Baduizm, their respective masterpieces. These albums both mimic sounds of old and contribute new ones. Even contemporary projects like Silk Sonic (Anderson Paak. & Bruno Mars), are good as they are inevitably not merely revival, but continuance.

A partial exception to this neglect, at least in the current genre, is Stereolab. What genre they are officially is not exactly clear, and their elusive sound is both welcome and fitting for the 90s, which harboured many other elusive bands (like Mercury Rev and Ween). However, there is no doubt a couple of their early albums are heavily influenced by the kraut sound. My favourite of these early albums, and one particularly fitting for this list, is Emperor Tomato Ketchup. The opening song Metronomic Underground is the album's crowning achievement and is easily my favourite song here. It captures that fantastic repetitive and pulsating drive first perfected by Neu. But that is not to discredit the rest of the album which is a consistently great collection of songs that follow the initial high, including especially the thumping title track. And boy what a cover.





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