Great Music: My List of Near Perfect Albums

Here, as promised, is a list of albums that have have changed my life forever. Their strengths are varied, as are their styles. But they are all amazing for one reason or another. If you like anything you see talk to me about getting it, or piss off the RIAA and steal it. Either one's cool with me.

Here's the format -

Artist - Album

My Spiel

"Name of Song" Youtube link of song of album

Here we go (in no particular order);

Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein

Wow, this is probably my all time favorite Hip-Hop album (well, one of them). El-P's production is amazing and Vordul Mega and Vast Aire's lyrics are as close to poetic perfection as one can see or hear. The songs flow together in a way that you can see the almost cinematic-esque quality of the whole. This album is probably the purest form of "night music," ie. cold, dark, enveloping, a bit paranoid, but always cognizant of what is going on around it. Also, "The F-word" (It stands for friends, just in case you were wondering) is one of the best songs ever written about love. It's not a love song, it's about the cold and brutal truth of one-sided love.

"Scream Phoenix" http://youtube.com/watch?v=NT5mbaYhdbs&feature=related

Hiromi Uehara - Time Control

This was probably the hardest artist to nail to one album. Hiromi Uehara is a tremendously talented Japanese jazz pianist with one of the best bands in the genre, period. Tony Grey (bass), Martin Valihora (Drums), and Dave "Fuze" Fiuczynski (Guitar) are all hyper capable, and together, they lend their lyrical brand of fusion the best kind of support. The talent on their respective instruments alone make the music worth checking into, but their interplay, broad delivery, and musical interplay take it beyond just being good.

"Deep Into The Night" http://youtube.com/watch?v=9XoFZHzvEoQ&feature=related

Isis - In The Absence Of Truth

Post-Metal's low tuning heroes, Isis, are probably heavy music's most touchy-feely artists. These guys can create albums that not only evoke raw emotion, but are (production-wise and conceptually) twenty times deeper than most of their compatriots. I actually use this band to make fun of lots of others. I've taken to calling them Explosions In The Sky, but with balls. They also have the amazing talent of seeming vaguely familiar, but incredibly exotic at the same time.

"Dulcinea" http://youtube.com/watch?v=_ZfspVFUBAo

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

The crowning culmination of all soul music, this 1971 album proves that being wholly in a genre (or the soul of that genre) is no reason to fall prey to it's cliches and pitfalls. Originality is what makes this recording sound just as good and fresh now as it ever has. Also, super bonus points for picking some social themes that ARE JUST AS RELEVANT TODAY AS THEY WERE IN THE 70's!! (The enviroment, unjust war, politics that are against the populace, and poverty chief among them.)

"Inner City Blues" http://youtube.com/watch?v=vPH3xNkHFhE


That's all for now, even though I've only scratched the surface. I'll probably do some more tomorrow.