MP Cavalier
- My Music 🎼
- https://mpcav.bandcamp.com/album/gps
- My Hobbies
- Comics, Home Recording
- I play 🎸
- Bass and Guitar
Husband. Father. Music Addict. Co-Host of the "Let's Play Ten" podcast.
"What are you listening to today?"
https://help.counter.social/en/latest/index.html
Joined Apr 2022
🎧 Cheap Trick, "Out To Get You! Live 1977". Recorded at CT's 4-night stand at the Whiskey in LA while Epic Records was wringing its hands over the debut album's failure to catch on and how to market "In Color", which was released a few months after. This set pulls from a few of those shows, and the band is fearless, heavy, and ready for their moment. Better than Budokan? Yes, even without "I Want You To Want Me". The version of "Oh Caroline" is fire.
🎧 Blondie, "Plastic Letters". I will never ever understand rock critics. This album got panned, I think it's great, and actually better than their debut. There's more rock and roll on it, and they were out of songs that mined the 60's girl group sound, which suits me just fine. Considering I liked Blondie more as a new-wave/punk band than as a hit making pop machine, this album and "Eat to the Beat" were always my go to records.
🎧 Von Strantz, "Through the Looking Glass". Disclaimer: Jess (nee) Strantz is like a daughter to me. Jess and her collaborator Kelsey created some fantastic music in their years together. With Jess' piano and glass-smooth vocals leading the charge, backed by Kels' cello and violin, drums, and whatever worked, the songs are smart and mature art pop. They never made a bad record. Timeless.
🎧 Veseria, "Voyager". This was the band that brought me into the INDPLS music scene, and enthusiastically promoted what I was trying to do here. They were "the city's band", and were deeply entrenched in the political and cultural machinations of Indy. A lot of us thought Veseria would be the "band that got out" and they came so close. Voyager is a folk-rock-punk masterpiece, a love letter and a warning to their generation.
🎧 Goliathon, "Pretend Its Not Happening". Most likely you haven't heard of this band. They never made it out of Indianapolis. But this record very literally changed the trajectory of my life (no really it did). A little Zep, a little Rush, a little bombast, lots of guitars, and literate vocals. Goliathon was precise but frenetic, controlled chaos if you will. I cried at their last show. If you like prog on the heavier rock side, seek out this record.
🎧 Talking Heads, "77". The jerky and stiff art punk era of Heads gets lost in the bands ensuing experiments in world music. Here they are figuring it all out. "Psycho Killer", "Don't Worry About the Government" and the rest of the embryonic gems that set the stage for Brian Eno and the increasing emphasis on rhythm. The Lou Reed back story of the Heads first album is about the most Lou Reed thing ever.
🎧 Margo Price, "Strays". Simmering psychedelic country rock. Price and her husband/collaborator quit drinking and then dropped mushrooms for 6 days and wrote this album. Her autobiographical lyrics tell her literal rags to not-so-riches story (she sold her wedding ring to pay for her first LP). There's more rock and roll on this than one would expect. It's a slow burn of awesomeness.
🎧 Liela Moss, "Internal Working Model". New LP from The Duke Spirit vocalist. A treatise for the electronic information age. Great for a late night dance floor or a chill in the living room. Let's call it modern art-pop. Nothing you haven't heard before, but much better that what you've heard before. Gary Numan shows up on "Vanishing Shadows".
🎧 Karmakanic, "In A Perfect World". Neo-prog project from Jonas Reingold (The Flower Kings). Swedish prog has a certain...optimism to it. Even when addressing negative events or emotions, the music seems uniformly positive. If you like 80's YES and Spock's Beard, and of course Flower Kings, you would dig this.
🎧 Jeff Beck, "You Had It Coming". One more JB album for the day. I never heard this one before, not a note of it. I love the way electronica elements were incorporated into Jeff's signature boogie. And damn, Imogen Heap singing "Rollin and Tumblin". And double damn - Jennifer Batten. Today I learned that this album is great.
🎧 Jeff Beck, "...With The Jan Hammer Group Live". Another JB spin in honor of his immeasurable legacy.
https://songwhip.com/jeff-beck/jeff-beck-with-the-jan-hammer-group-live
🎧 Yardbirds, "Roger The Engineer".
Rest in Peace, Jeff Beck.
🎧 Maserati, "Inventions for the New Season". If you're unfamiliar with this Athens GA band, think Pink Floyd's early-era instrumental stuff meets Tangerine Dream. Pulsating rhythms and big guitar/bass hooks in outer space. Try NOT bobbing your head.
🎧 Steely Dan, "Aja". My SO wanted a "vinyl corner" in our living room. I abandoned vinyl 20 yrs ago but my son has accumulated quite a collection, and we had a decent Stanton turntable in storage. She wanted to go minimalist so we ordered a pair of bookshelf speakers (surprisingly good bass!) and while everyone is out I got everything set up. The console in the pic is circa 1950's and needs serious re-wiring, but looks real nice in the space. Aja is a great test record.
🎧 Mahalia Jackson, "Bless this House". The ORIGINAL "MJ". Her 1956 return to form features Mildred Falls (piano) and Ralph Jones (organ). Even if you aren't particularly moved by gospel music, this album finds ways to touch your soul.
🎧 Slint, "Spiderland". I could listen to this post-rock masterpiece all day. The band's second official release, you can hear why they didn't last. The tension on this record is disorienting for the listener, I can't imagine having to be in the room actually creating it, and it apparently drove singer Brian Macmahan's depression to the breaking point. There is no "right time" to listen to Spiderland, which means it's always the right time.
🎧 Flaming Lips, "In A Priest Driven Ambulance". In the Lips documentary, Steve Drozd tells a story about how became aware of the band. He says "My girlfriend at the time said 'drink this, smoke this, and listen to Priest Driven Ambulance." It's the album where FL stumbled into musical territory they would remain for years. The loops, the higher register vocals, and Dave Fridmann in the booth. It's the album that got them signed to WB.
https://songwhip.com/the-flaming-lips/in-a-priest-driven-ambulance
🎧 Midnight Oil, "Redneck Wonderland". Starting with two ferocious, gizmo-enhanced rockers, MO's 1998 reunion with producer Warne Livesey is a little messy in the mix, but the band's political and environmental concerns come off as no less urgent than they were on previous records. Probably their angriest album since "Head Injuries".
🎧 Bleach Lab, "If You Only Feel It Once". Channeling some serious dream pop vibes, London's Bleach Lab doesn't just sit in the comfort of the middle tempos. I'm picking up The Cure and Mazzy. Jenna Kyle's vocals are airy and melodic. Good stuff.
🎧 Lime Garden, "Bitter". Is it too early to nominate the band of the year?
MP Cavalier
- My Music 🎼
- https://mpcav.bandcamp.com/album/gps
- My Hobbies
- Comics, Home Recording
- I play 🎸
- Bass and Guitar
Husband. Father. Music Addict. Co-Host of the "Let's Play Ten" podcast.
"What are you listening to today?"
https://help.counter.social/en/latest/index.html
Joined Apr 2022