Thursday, January 17, 2008

Writers Block: Favorite Albums

Well, this is going to be a Thursday Thirteen too. But I recently saw the question If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be? Since I have a lot of opinions on music, I thought I'd tackle the question. But first, a count down!


13. Dire Straights--Brothers in Arms

12. The Beatles--Anthology: Volume 2: Disc 1

11. John Lennon--The John Lennon Collection

10. Paul McCartney--Ram

9. David Bowie--Changes (Yeah, I know it's a Greatest Hits album. I'm comfortable with that.

8. Uncle Tupelo--89/93: An Anthology

7. The Black Keys--Rubber Factory

6. Billy Bragg & Wilco--Mermaid Ave Vol 1

5. The Magnetic Fields--69 Love Songs Vol 1

4. The Frames--Burning the Maps

3. Wilco--Sky Blue Sky

2. The Beatles--Abbey Road

1. Wilco--A Ghost is Born


The one album I would listen to for the rest of my life is A Ghost is Born. I have thought about this a lot. Especially since, among Wilco fans, is not a favorite. In fact, it's pretty divisive. That's because it's a huge departure from their previous sound, which is alt-country or alt-rock. A Ghost is Born won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album, and it's classified as Rock, but I don't like either of those labels, lol. I was first introduced to it because the streamed the album online for free, and I became addicted. I bought the album as soon as I could, and it's been in constant rotation in my life for the past 3 years.

The lyrics are extremely abstract, and most of them don't make any kind of literal sense. Take Spiders (Kidsmoke):
Spiders are singing in the salty breeze
Spiders are filling out tax returns
Spinning out webs of deductions and melodies
On a private beach in Michigan


But I love abstract lyrics. I think it's a combination of the words and music that really hits me in the gut every time I listen to the album. There are mysteries to unravel and worlds to find in this album. There's a narrative to follow, too, though it's certainly not a theme or concept album. If I were a music critic, I would go on for pages and pages about influences and chords and everything else that they talk about. All I can say is that every time I listen to this album, I think to myself "Holy shit, this is an excellent album." Every. Single. Time.

Half of it's you
Half is me
.

2 comments:

Cathy M said...

Hey, I love checking out new music, and about half your list are totally new to me, or at least I didn't recognize them. If I had to pick one albulm, it would be Joshua Tree by U2.

Caffey said...

Pepper/Vivian, bear with me, I'm deaf so I haven't posted to the music ones only because I don't know any. (I have looked up lyrics of some). I'm still looking at cowboys and they do alot of inspiration for anything, LOL (no i'm not a writer, I want to read all the books, LOL)

PS Vivian, I know you from your single titles! and too Pepper, I have read one of yours as well! I do have lots to catch up on. I was away a few months with my health)