CDs Nutz (Episode I: Hoard of Wax)

    This was too, too, TOO long a wait. 'Member this site? I'm the author of Album Heart Mother ‒ an author who's been a very, very, VERY horrid man for leaving the blog inactive. The only bustle that took place between A.H.M's hiatus notice and today was a change to a slicker-looking theme and... that's it. On top of the makeover, A.H.M has a favicon (Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd. Don't know how to make the reference any more transparent). 

    I'm here to remind everybody I'm back in business! And heeeeeere's a spanking new add-on called Hoard of Wax!

    Featuring more "episodes" in the future, no ifs ands or buts, I'll be doing little capsulizations on my vinyl collection in order of when they entered our none-too-humble abode. 10~15 LPs per player ‒ some have already received thorough analysis. Don't be surprised to see a couple of them get the review treatment. Without further interruption, let's celebrate and suck d-- whoopsie doodles!!

1: Sign O' the Times

    Not only an essential Prince release, it's a cardinal experience, full stop. When tackling His Royal Badness' much-desiderated Funk Bible, I spoke about this 1987 glam slam (thank you ma'am). Be it as himself or a distinct personality (e.g. Camille), Sign O' the Times is a Purplish rosy album in scope, production, sequential flow and replayability. 

2: Plastic Beach

    Virtual giants Gorillaz' third full-length showed an incontestable pathos ‒ one which hasn't lost its poignancy a decade later. As it happens, Plastic Beach is turning 12 next month! Not the steadiest outing in the band's oeuvre, though it's still their most gripping audiovisual pursuit. Can we get an F in the chat for Point Nemo?

3: There Is a Hell...

    Want to know the full title of this effort? ...You serious? There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. YEESH! Then again, when factoring in its super personal thematics, the name's apt. Sheffield quintet Bring Me the Horizon here performed in the vein of melodic metalcore, allowing room for clear symphonic embroidery, exemplified by Crucify Me, It Never Ends (top shelf track, that) and Don't Go. Can be histrionic to a fault, but easily the best demonstration of where BMTH were at pre-Sempiternal.

4: Atrocity Exhibition

    Its namesake derived from both a novel by J.G. Ballard and a song from post-punk architects Joy Division, Daniel Sewell (aka Danny Brown) would quickly became one of my favorite emcees after immersing in Atrocity Exhibition front to back. Detailing the scars drug dependence can leave behind, the album boasts appropriately murky, beyond screwed beats which don't match Brown's animated flow at intervals. A nightmarish, quirky, ruminative and eclectic elite in modern hop hop. 

5: Year of the Snitch

    Memery aside, Death Grips stays an attention-grabbing, transgressive group on studio album #6. Year of the Snitch is a prismatic hip hop freakshow gutsy enough to kick punk into maximum overdrive. It's packed with WTF-isms, like Andrew Adamson (yes, THAT Andrew Adamson. Not joking) handling the spoken word intro to Dilemma. It isn't the easiest iteration of DG to get into ‒ much less for those who don't already vibe with their principles ‒ but once you manage, it's a uniquely fun 37 minutes.

6: "Heroes"

    To calm the degenerative cocaine addiction he weathered in the mid-70s, revered English artist/actor David Bowie relocated to Europe. Alongside producer Tony Visconti and Roxy Music alum Brian Eno, he'd birth the "Berlin Trilogy" ‒ containing Low, "Heroes" and Lodger. The second part of the trinity would be the sole chapter wholly recorded in Germany. Also starring prog magus Robert Fripp, "Heroes" proved a swank offering fit to deliver glitzy, yet whip-smart rockers AND an ambient-driven Side B (except Secret Life of Arabia). 

7: Peter Gabriel [Melt]

    Former Genesis vocalist Peter Gabriel's third eponymous album is arguably doozier than a lot of what warranted doozy status back in 1980. The record lays it on thick with abrasive percussion, philanthropic lyrical sentiments that have grown stronger with age (Biko is a shining example of what I'm on about) and an opaque artistic direction. If not for Melt and Talking Heads' Remain in Light, Westerners would've persisted in ignoring what good could come out of borrowing influence amid foreign lands. 

8: Disco volante

    If 1991's Mr. Bungle got away with putting together samples, funk, ska, circus capers and metal, Disco volante takes the notion of fusion and turns that up to 1,100. Ever so irreverent, no release in Mr. Bungle's discography is as much an acquired taste as their 1995 steamroller. Hooks are limited, Mike Patton is at his craziest vocalwise and the compositions are indebted to an "everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" MO. The ideal Bungle adventure, despite (or because of) its impenetrable mayhem.

9: Post

    Björk employed an urbane, liberal crucible of electronic, dance and pop stylings for Post. Most of its material was written after migrating over to London ‒ the city's musical environment, culture and stride molding this amazing successor to Debut. It's a monumental cache carrying both zeal and intrepidity in abundance, and readied the foundation for later affairs. No matter the eon, no one Björks quite like... um, Björk herself.

10: S.C.I.E.N.C.E.

    Nu metal was prone to drawing out... maddening responses, so to speak. However, even a sound vilified by mostly boomers, Gen Xers and the odd millennial has its winners ‒ Incubus' S.C.I.E.N.C.E. is one such top dog. By virtue of its gleeful approach to genre-busting and science fiction-leaning libretto, the album ceases to be tiring. Incubus is recognized more for the (off and on artsier) alt rock template they'd operate Make Yourself onward, though this record stands head and shoulders above all else the band issued. 

11: Donuts

    On the day he hit 32, James Yancey (aka J Dilla) launched Donuts, which wound up being the producer's last hurrah. It offers a bittersweet and broad array of samples that don't merely pull from the hip hop sphere, executed by means of a SUPER organic touch. The record's complete with a thought-provoking tracklist structure; the closer segues seamlessly into the opening number, alluding to circles ‒ now what shape does that pastry assume? I've got to thank Dilla for getting me into some marvelous classic ditties, and a BIG thank you to this stellar exercise in turntablism. R.I.P

12: Innervisions

    A majestic soul ride, Innervisions lends credence to multi-instrumentalist Stevie Wonder's prestige and the mark he's made on R&B. Dewy-eyed without coming off nauseating, while conscious without going down the moralizing path. It's the kind of LP free to cut across the period in which it was created, seeing how the numerous topics Wonder discusses over the course of its length resonant plenty with recent audiences (for instance, prejudice and substance abuse). Oh, and the synth work exhibited is right SEXY! 

13: City

    Canadian humorist Devin Townsend was diagnosed with bipolar disorder sometime around 1998 ‒ for City to turn out the way it did retroactively scans. On the record, Strapping Young Lad provides unparalleled extremity and unites industrial, thrash, prog and a touch of death metal in superb fashion. A tough pill to swallow at the outset, but the longer you choose to bear with its Wall of Sound nature and uncompromising character, the likelier it'll stick. SYL has well and truly rocked my hairy anus.

14: Paul's Boutique

    Think back to the article on Odelay. Production duo the Dust Brothers played a particularly huge role in developing said Beck disc, and in that same review, I brought up Paul's Boutique. Comprised of Mike D, the late MCA and Ad-Rock, Beastie Boys' 1989 paradigm is A1. A far cry from the trio's satirical party guy image circa Licensed to Ill, this is a (relatively) mature endeavor sporting a greater volley of bars, sonic diversity and courage ‒ a creation unthinkable had the Boys continued with Rick Rubin; not to discredit his feats. It didn't reach the commercial heights of its forerunner, but Paul's Boutique is a East Coast sampledelia masterstroke.

    

    And this concludes the first HoW episode! Once again, the resurgence feels so choice. "Tune in" for subsequent installments. Bye for now!