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[jefflewis]

I've been wanting to hear this record for a long time and I finally got a copy on ebay!

Anybody else into WMF stuff? I have one other record of his and I read a comic book about him that came out a few years ago.

[dazman]

I guess that's a no...

There was a documentary about him on UK TV a few years back. Worth seeking out. It's quite a sad tale. I expect its on youtube.

In the pre-internet age, my future listening tastes were influenced by my decision to listen to as many albums as I could in the "Guinness All-Time 1000 Top Albums". Thats how I first came across WMF (and Loves' Forever Changes)...

Selections from the chapter "Unlistenable Classics" -

(1) Capt. Beefheart - Trout mask Replica. Has it moments. Fast and Bulbous.
(2) WMF. An Evening With...
(3) Tim Tim. God Bless Tim Tim. Charming. I think TT needs a seperate discussion thread. A unique NY legend.
(6) Lennon/Ono. 2 Virgins. A mellower "Revolution 9" with the good bits taken out.
(7) George Harrison. Wonderwall. Undeserved inclusion IMO. Some nice textures & sounds.
(10) David Peel. Have a marijuana. Incidentally DP also played with both JL and TT.
(13) Lou Reed. Metal Machine Music. Meditation music for industrial robots.
(20) Velvets Underground. Live at Max's. Well I like it. I'll have another pernod..

[jefflewis]

Ha, "unlistenable classics," that's a great category!!

As it turns out, I really don't like that Wildman Fischer album very much (although maybe it will eventually grow on me).

For your list of "unlistenable classics," here's my personal thoughts!


(1) Capt. Beefheart - Trout mask Replica.

This is obviously a classic and brilliant album, although I never fully appreciated it until I A) read a biography of Captian Beefheart and B) got the album on vinyl, which is a much better way to listen to it... each of the album's 4 sides really make better mini-epics than listening to it on CD or tape all the way thru in one long stream.


(2) WMF. An Evening With...
See above... kind of over rated... but I do like some of his recordings.

(3) Tim Tim. God Bless Tim Tim.

Absolute great album. Nothing "unlistenable" about it, very sweet songs, wonderful production, lots of variety, really a classic record. I also really love other Tiny Tim stuff too.

(6) Lennon/Ono. 2 Virgins.

I've never heard this album, but I have the "sequel" album "Life With the Lions" which is DEFINITELY an unlistenable classic if there ever was one! The track that takes up side 1 is kind of jaw-dropping, really amazing, insane, just basically Yoko screaming in a weird voice while John makes a bit of guitar feedback, it is actually rather moving and powerful if you're in the mood for that sort of thing. The experiments on side 2 are pretty charming too, in their own ways.


(7) George Harrison. Wonderwall.

Never heard this album. Curious about it...


(10) David Peel. Have a marijuana.

What's so "unlistenable" about this one? You'd have to have a pretty delicate constitution to really be shocked by this, it is just a folk album, although very boisterous and humorously outrageous. I love this record, and his second album too!


(13) Lou Reed. Metal Machine Music.

Obviously it's not a record I put on very often, but when i first got it I was a bit surprised that it was a little more listenable than I had expected - i thought it would just be undifferentiated white noise, but in fact it is interesting layered swirls of feedback, so there's actually sort of stuff to listen to, stuff happening, not just a wall of solid noise. There's very little reason to listen to the entire album all the way through, especially if you have it on vinyl there's not much need to listen to all 4 sides! Sometimes you might want a dose of this one, if you're in that kind of mood.

(20) Velvets Underground. Live at Max's.

I don't know this one, but I know that it is supposedly their last 60s concert... I can't imagine it is unlistenable since they were quite a nice rock band in their late 60s tours, but maybe the sound quality is a bit rough since it's probably an audience tape recordings or something like that. I guess I should hear this since I love the Velvet Underground, but I have live versions of most of their songs so I don't know what would be more interesting about this particular performance.

[jack fe]

Funny, there are some wonderful records in there, and not even particularly "difficult" (I hate using that word about music, but it seems like the only thing).
God Bless Tiny Tim is a beautiful record however you feel about the novelty factor. Great songs, and the arrangements are wonderful. It really inspired me to dig into older songwriting from the start of the twentieth century.

VU Live at Max's is one of my favourites. The version of Sweet Jane on the first disc is shocking. It's one of the best live recordings of the Velvet Underground, fidelity-wise. Also, I'm fairly sure it was the last show with Lou Reed, but I could be wrong.
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