woebot's 100 greatest records ever

[Landfill Elektronikz]

I own 25 of Matts 100 (not including the Led Zeppelin one, which I think I have somewhere, but never ever listen to, and don't really consider a part of my collection at all), plus some of the single tracks on compilations.

I had it - bought it cus everyone said it was like THE classic rock album. but eventually, after various attempts to enjoy it, I sold it. never ever understood the appeal of fuckin Zeppelin*, or 'heavy rock' in general. too much hair, testosterone and the FUCKING BLUES.

*apart from the drum sound on 'Levy Breaks' of course

 

[bassnation]

I had it - bought it cus everyone said it was like THE classic rock album. but eventually, after various attempts to enjoy it, I sold it. never ever understood the appeal of fuckin Zeppelin*, or 'heavy rock' in general. too much hair, testosterone and the FUCKING BLUES.

*apart from the drum sound on 'Levy Breaks' of course

i'm not ashamed to admit i used to love heavy rock back in my teenage years. i've always liked the power thing in music. all the best dance music has that too, probably why hardcore resonated so deeply with me.

led zepplin on the other hand... i suppose its like the law that it has to be on these lists but personally i'd nominate motorheads debut album in its place. as lean, stripped back and as ugly as heavy rock gets. any band named after amphetamine abusers is good as far as i'm concerned.

 

[Logos]

Suprised not to see more Goldie/Nasty Habits/Enforcers type stuff on there, though the angel picture disc is a good choice and probably the culminating moment of the whole reinforced sound.

But its a subjective thing.

 

[Grievous Angel]

Musta been a well popular post -- your site has a bandwidth exceeded error now!

 

[Woebot]

zep

well you're the synth guy aren't you nik! in defense of IV, stairway to heaven is a bit annoying, but the rest of it (as far as i'm concerned is splendid) "black dog" is just amazing isnt it, and its not just the drum-break on wtlb, the way it builds up, the compression of energy....sighs.

also with zep there is a whole dimension of it that appeals to sonic fetishist. its an awesomely crafted sonic mirage. whats more i do believe that there is little more psychedelic music than the zep, it really reaches one in that lsd-sodden, twinkling third-eye zone. that has to be by design too, the crowlien aspect of what they were doing, page's occult leanings were really extremely serious.

always struck me as a reason why marshall jefferson would be the prominent zep fan that he is.

Musta been a well popular post -- your site has a bandwidth exceeded error now!

hmmm. any downloads i don't even host at woebot, they're at hollowearth where there are no bandwidth calculations.. i pay for 20gig a month, and i suppose seeing as how we're at the 31st of the month i've just tipped over the edge. had to pay for more. bit of a nuisance really.

 

[labrat]

bit of a nuisance really.

bugger....
i'm dying to read this now!

 

[soundslike1981]

Can't say I've ever read much of Woebot's writing before, and I don't think I read about music in general a tenth as much as the folk around here--but while I could quibble with order and particular selection, I've never seen a list that as perfectly reflected my own priorities in listening. Well done, in my opinion.

 

[mms]

you've put blue afternoon instead of happy sad u know -
i prefer blue afternoon personally love that record

who are implog ?
they look like use the same graphic designer as 'crash course in science' by the looks of it, so therefore i am interested

 

[nunc]

two people from the contortions apparently
that fucking holland tunnel track is catchy as....

 

[michael]

you've put blue afternoon instead of happy sad u know -
i prefer blue afternoon personally love that record

Yeah, spotted that too... I reckon 'Happy Sad' is the bestestest.. songs like 'Buzzin Fly' are just so good.

 

[subvert47]

Yeah, spotted that too... I reckon 'Happy Sad' is the bestestest.. songs like 'Buzzin Fly' are just so good.

Blue Afternoon is an interesting choice
personally I'd go with Lorca or Starsailor

 

[mms]

Blue Afternoon is an interesting choice
personally I'd go with Lorca or Starsailor

yeah it's not especially full of any of the things he is known and celbrated for, i like the songs and the exotica element to it, the romance, rather than the machismo and the introspectivness of it, plus his singing isn't too ott.

 

[joeschmo]

hits and misses for me so far...

Oar--50/50, some of its truly cracked soul, some of it just sounds like a draggy mess
Neu 75--I love Can so much, I always want to get behind Neu, but somehow I can't quite... where's the funk? Feels like time has passed this by
Pere Ubu--yes! finally they hit for me with Modern Dance
Brigitte Fontaine--pretty great once you get past the endless first track, which is so bloody... French
Just Ice--I like it, but this is one of the top 5 or so hip-hop releases ever? Really?
Scott Walker--finally the impetus to check him out... I can see where the legend comes from but it's a little too camp for me
Roy Harper--very nice, I see why Zep loved him
Jam Pie--like it but feel like there's a lot of similar grime tracks, why this one
Tortoise--again, made me finally check them out, i like it, heavy dub vibes
Vivien Goldman--hadn't heard past Laundrette before, excellent stuff
Bernard Parmegiani--superb, amazingly composed and structured really, almost like songs
Thomas Leer--sorry, don't see it yet, especially not two tracks!
Mandjou--nice
Implog--nope, sorry, feels very marginal
Allen Touissant--good stuff, but hard to see why it beats out a lot of boringly obvious soul. Two instrumentals is at least one too many.
Cheb Khaled---hmm, those synths <i>are</i> great
Renegade Legion--got bored after the intro, which is admittedly fabulous; seems fairly generic
Edu Lobo--very good until it gets into the second half suite, which I'm not sure about--that Kyrie track is a bit dodgy
Clube de Esquina--yes lovely
Tom Jobim--absolutely fantastic, love it, should have been higher

In sum, wonderful list, but I have to say I think you did veer on the side of obscurity for obscurity's sake... and I could just see the White Album coming at number 6... and mixing 12 inches with albums is kind of weird... but thanks for all the discoveries... listening to the stuff I didn't know back to back did communicate some kind of Woebot aesthetic... let's just say it puts the accent on the woe...

 

[redcrescent]

obscurity for obscurity's sake

Sorry but I don't agree with this at all. The original vinyl may be hard to get in some cases (12"s and that tasty Studio 1 dubplate mainly) but finding most of this stuff on CD or as vinyl reissues should not be too hard! If anything, I'd have thought there'd be moans of the stuff being too available i.e. inclusive.
Personally I'm thankful WB didn't include some of that incredibly patronising 'cassette/home-burnt CD-R release only' business you find in certain magazine best of's just to show most of us around here don't really have a fucking clue, as he certainly could have.

Don't know if it is enlightening to rate WBs choices after listening to a whole bunch of these albums back to back, especially if you have never heard them before. Just MHO.

 

[DigitalDjigit]

With most obscure stuff there's a reason it is so. I can't think of any record with less than 1000 copies about that I would place into a top 100. A lot of it is nice for fans but to be truly great the record has to be known and heard. The list didn't strike me as full of obscurities. I haven't heard many of the records there but I've heard of them.

 

[joeschmo]

<i>finding most of this stuff on CD or as vinyl reissues should not be too hard! </i>

It's not finding them. You can find anything these days. In that sense, nothing is obscure. It's passing over stone cold classics in favor of less well-known choices. Only a hardcore music geek would describe this list as "too available/inclusive." In fact, I laughed when I got to the bit in the intro that said obscurantism had deliberately been forsaken.

For instance, I bought Songs in the Key of Life the other day. Totally cliched pick for this kind of thing. And yet, even though I know Stevie Wonder very well, I hadn't heard this album before and it just blew me away. Brilliant song after brilliant song, and literally on each one you can hear where someone else's career came from.

Now, you're telling me Allen Touissant's little-known first solo album is better than Songs in the Key of Life? No way, no how. Definitely a more interesting and original pick to fill a soul slot. But doesn't sound like more than solid second division stuff to these ears.

<i>Don't know if it is enlightening to rate WBs choices after listening to a whole bunch of these albums back to back, especially if you have never heard them before</i>

I'd say it's more interesting than 10 one-line variations on "Nice one mate, great stuff, you da man, I have 17 of these, but why'd you have to put Led Zep in there?"

 

[mms]

<i>finding most of this stuff on CD or as vinyl reissues should not be too hard! </i>

It's not finding them. You can find anything these days. In that sense, nothing is obscure. It's passing over stone cold classics in favor of less well-known choices. Only a hardcore music geek would describe this list as "too available/inclusive." In fact, I laughed when I got to the bit in the intro that said obscurantism had deliberately been forsaken.

For instance, I bought Songs in the Key of Life the other day. Totally cliched pick for this kind of thing. And yet, even though I know Stevie Wonder very well, I hadn't heard this album before and it just blew me away. Brilliant song after brilliant song, and literally on each one you can hear where someone else's career came from.

Now, you're telling me Allen Touissant's little-known first solo album is better than Songs in the Key of Life? No way, no how. Definitely a more interesting and original pick to fill a soul slot. But doesn't sound like more than solid second division stuff to these ears.

<i>Don't know if it is enlightening to rate WBs choices after listening to a whole bunch of these albums back to back, especially if you have never heard them before</i>

I'd say it's more interesting than 10 one-line variations on "Nice one mate, great stuff, you da man, I have 17 of these, but why'd you have to put Led Zep in there?"

i think this is simply a personal list of faves rather than an ultimate list of the best records ever, which is ultimatley very stupid, there are lesser known records i'd rather listen to over songs in the key of life anyday - even though that recor ticks all the important boxes with medals to prove it .

 

[joeschmo]

<i>i think this is simply a personal list of faves rather than an ultimate list of the best records ever</i>

What's the difference? Woebot explictly says he believes these records beat out the kind of records that "tick all the important boxes with medals to prove it," as you not very wittily put it. And more power to him: that's the way it should be done.

 

[mms]

<i>i think this is simply a personal list of faves rather than an ultimate list of the best records ever</i>

What's the difference? Woebot explictly says he believes these records beat out the kind of records that "tick all the important boxes with medals to prove it," as you not very wittily put it. And more power to him: that's the way it should be done.

what is your point then since you say allen touissant could never be better than songs in the key of life?

and enough of the rudeness

personally i'm not sure about pressings of 1000 records means they'll be less enjoyable than other records vibe which is present from some of this thread, i don't think thats a really good way to measure the kind of things you get out of music. But then again i'd never really try and do a top 100 cos i haven't heard all the music i want and things slip and slide out of appreciation etc. of course there are cornerstones but i wonder if matts list will be the same in 6 months, a year, 2 years time or whether it will be a different one.

 

[Lichen]

<i>.

Now, you're telling me Allen Touissant's little-known first solo album is better than Songs in the Key of Life? No way, no how. Definitely a more interesting and original pick to fill a soul slot. But doesn't sound like more than solid second division stuff to these ears.

I'm not sure Touissant is there to "fill a soul slot". The mood of list seems, without wishing to toady to WB, to transcend genre-led box ticking.