Every week five Disc Makers employees talk about an album they’ve been listening to. We’d also love to hear what you’re listening to, so leave a comment with your album pick for the week!
Passion Pit Manners (2009)
I often go through phases when it comes to music. Like many, my tastes are wide-ranging. Recently, I have stumbled across a band that does a great job at blending an awful lot together, both old and new. Hip Hop, Soul, Electro, Rock & Roll… all smashed into something I believe the 80′s strived for, but never quite achieved.
Manners is the first studio album by newcomer Passion Pit and it does not disappoint. It has over-the-top sentimentality but hard edges and stutters abound throughout this album. Each song leaves its own kind of mark and yet is tied together perfectly by the falsetto of lead vocals/keyboardist, Michael Angelakos.
This whole album makes me feel young again. While I could put “Sleepyhead” on repeat and and enjoy my whole day a mellow attitude, the chorus of “Little Secretes” is something that has me yelling out the window at the top of my lungs while hitting 80 on the highway.
–Marisa R., Electronic Prepress Specialist
Laurie Anderson Mister Heartbreak (1984)
Considered more mainstream than its predecessor Big Science, the album’s lead track, “Sharkey’s Day” sets the scene culminating with author William S. Burroughs reading the lyrics of the closing track, “Sharkey’s Night.” Peter Gabriel provided backing vocals on “Excellent Birds,” an alternate version of which, titled “This is the Picture (Excellent Birds),” also appeared on his album. The song “Gravity’s Angel” borrows imagery from Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow.
Laurie Anderson is often considered avant-garde or experimental. While this album does contain many of those styles it is also musically compelling and full of intricate details that make it ideal for headphones. Haunting melodic lines are counterpointed by screaming guitars courtesy of Adrian Belew and natural sounds such as crickets and frogs adding a textural backdrop.
Favorite tracks include the opening song “Sharkey’s Day” and the closing song “Sharkey’s Night.”
Gravities Angel and Kokoku show Anderson’s broad influences and highlight her ability to be experimental and traditional at the same time.
This album is a transcendental work that is as perfect while driving as it is sitting 10 miles into the middle of the woods where the sounds of traffic or natural sounds of the woods become part of the larger picture and seem to be a perfect compliment to the organic and electronic balance found in this collection.
This album should be listened to from start to finish and in order.
–Max K., Electronic Prepress Manager
Afghan Whigs Gentlemen (1993)
I discovered this album back in college when I had a gift certificate to a local music shop and no real desire to purchase anything. I had heard the title track a couple of times and figured I’d give it shot. I’m glad I did because this album has become a staple in my rotation of music.
The subject matter is extremely dark and makes me wonder, “What’s up with this guy?” – “That guy” being Greg Dulli, the lead vocalist & writer who seems to lead a tortured and self-loathing existence. But the soulful delivery of passionate vocals allows me to identify with him. Maybe it was just kismet…at the time I happened to be in a not-so-stable relationship that seemed to parallel some of the lyrics on the album. One might think that would make me dislike it, but I let the water pass under the bridge without much more thought to those dodging-things-she-is-throwing-at-my-head days. Good times.
Dulli’s I-smoked-way-too-many-cigarettes voice works well with the smooth and soulful guitar riffs. At times the guitars sound almost hopeful which contradicts the lyrics and distress in Dulli’s voice, but it’s a great mix. In my experience when sharing this music with friends, it’s the type of music that you either love or hate. I love it. And at the very least, when I listen to this album I can say to myself, “At least I’m not as messed up as this guy.”
–Ben P., Project Manager
Dead Weather Horehound (2009)
Jack White is a fellow that certainly likes to stay busy. During some down time between fronting White Stripes and playing guitar in The Raconteurs, he began jamming with some friends in his Nashville studio. These friends included Allison Mosshart of The Kills, Dan Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age and Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs. What started off as some jamming amongst friends led to a full-on band and a debut album. This album features Jack behind the drums, which bear some resemblance to later Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham drum recordings (not in playing ability, just in recording).
The album has a unique dark, sludgy blues groove very different from each of the members’ other bands. The production on this record sounds intentionally gritty as if it just crawled out of a swamp. Impressive playing by everyone, and while it is difficult not to focus on Jack White due to his star power, this record is all about Allison Mosshart and her snarl. While some of the songs could have been fleshed out a bit more, this is a fantastic debut for this band. Highlight tracks include “Treat Me Like Your Mother” and “60 Feet Tall.”
–Fernando M., Short Run Production Coordinator
Something Corporate Leaving Through The Window (2002)
I found this album, or maybe it found me, at a transitional point in my life. Leaving Through The Window was released on a very, very pop punk label and even though there were many 5th chords to be had on it, this album also provided something I never heard in the genre before: a piano as a focal instrument. I don’t know what it is about the dynamical blend of a classical piano set to angst-driven rock guitars, but Leaving Through The Window always puts me in a very exceptional place.
Dealing with common topics like high school popularity “If You C Jordan”, to the off-center contemplations of why villains always get the girl even in dream sequences, “Strawdog,” this album is a must have for any record collection. My only complaint is that the one b-side they left off of the album, “Konstantine,” which is found on a few imports, is just as good of a song as the tracks that did made the record. I guess that is a good problem to have for an album that is a must own.
–Jeremy R., Customer Service Representative
