Most bizarre album of you've heard? [any genre] - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacedonianHero 


I like Lou Reed, but I'm not a big fan. I have heard that Neil Young (I am a big fan of Neil), but I don't own that one. It didn't make me cringe like Lulu.

I'm also a big fan of Neil Young, if we keep it in the big fan department :-) but this one didn't impress me or it was just to weird and I can't recommend you to own it either :-)

I didn't like the Lulu either. The Metallica/Lou Reed combo just didn't work out very well. Neil Young once released a combo album with Pearl Jam, not great IMO, but certainly much better..

I know it is all getting confusing... but it is a thread about bizarre albums/combo's..

Definitely the soundtrack to Akira

Basically anything my the band Múm. Weird but at the same time, really enjoyable.

The first thing I thought of when  saw this thread's title (and before I looked inside) was John Zorn's The Classic Guide to Strategy.  It should come with a disclaimer 'No animals were harmed in the making of this album' because through most of it, it sounds suspiciously like he's torturing and killing a duck.  I'm surprised PETA isn't on his case over that one.  The other album of his that's pretty over the top is the original Locus Solus.

However, I wouldn't hesitate to go see any of Zorn's projects live.  Every time I've seen him, the level of musicianship of the people he has with them is off the charts.  It's kind of better when he himself doesn't play too too much. 

Funny to hear people bring up Autechre and Múm.  Both I like a lot, and neither I'd consider bizarre, which is obviously in the eye of the beholder I guess. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by s m @ 

However, I wouldn't hesitate to go see any of Zorn's projects live.  Every time I've seen him, the level of musicianship of the people he has with them is off the charts.  It's kind of better when he himself doesn't play too too much.

Agreed. I've seen him over 40 times with a bunch of different ensembles, and not a single one was a bad concert. He really knows how to bring out something special in the people he works with.

I was actually just talking on another music forum with a friend of mine who just bought some of his albums, his weirdest stuff would be impossible to do live because he does those index-card cut-up audio recordings that can't really be recreated in real life... so his live shows are bound to be a little less difficult     (He did used to perform those duck-call compositions back in the day, though.)

The Residents: Third Reich and Roll

Yes, that's Dick Clark on the cover.

Quote:

Originally Posted by darwinvsjesus 

 I love john zorn. As far as the duck thing, are you referring to his hilarious saxophone shenanigans?

He has done performances and recordings using actual duck calls. They are little wooden whistle-type things that, when used correctly, make a sound like a duck. Hunters use them to lure ducks or something. You can imagine what someone who makes a saxophone sound like a goose could do with an instrument that's actually supposed to sound like a duck!

He also would use just the mouthpiece of the saxophone and blow it into a bucket of water (or something like that, I've never seen this in person - only read about it) 

An Empty Bliss Beyond This World by The Caretaker

"On An Empty Bliss Beyond This World, Kirby takes his unique approach even further, by guiding discarded material into endless loops, subtle effects, and suppressed memories. Using sampled layers from his secret collection of old 78″ records, including the vinyl surface noise, The Caretaker reconstructs nostalgia, flashbacks, and déjà vu. Inspired by the 2010 study on Alzheimer’s disease, that has shown patients remembering new information with the aid of music, the fifteen small “memories” fade in and out of focus, sometimes ending abruptly, sometimes appearing twice on the album!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by darwinvsjesus 

 As far as the duck thing, are you referring to his hilarious saxophone shenanigans?

I guess yes, and he does actually use the duck call thing as well on that disc.  It's a bit hard to tell when the sax ends and the duck call thing begins.  I should listen to it again, I haven't pulled it out in years.  But as far as it being hilarious goes, the music itself isn't supposed to be funny.  What is funny, though, is the liner notes, because they're so serious.  Unless that's supposed to be funny, too, in which case it might call Zorn's entire output/career into question.  Speaking of funny liner notes, nothing beats the aforementioned Locus Solus  for that.  It's something to the effect "When I was composing this album, I was absolutely sure it would go straight to the top of the charts.  When I listen back to it now, I think 'Where, on Mars?'"

Definitely some of Zorn's music would lead many people to think that he's a total sham.  However, as has been stated, if you've heard much of his stuff, it's more than obvious how gifted he is, and how his greatest strength is probably in composing totally legit.  So yeah, interesting musician.  The variety of stuff he's put out is staggering.  The Filmworks series alone has enough quality and variety in it that it's just shocking that it was all composed by one person.  Those things have some hilarious liner notes as well.  One is like 'For film scores with X type of band, I always call in <this musician> or <this other musician> to play <instrument>.  But they were both busy.  So I called this other guy.  It turned out OK.'

PS: That hamburger song sounds absolutely wretched.  I look forward to never hearing it. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by walkmanrocks13 

Well, there is always Captain Beefheart, with Trout Mask Replica, or Lick My Decals Off Baby, or even Clear Spot. Take your pick.

I was wondering when those were going to come up in the conversation. 

Japanese Torture Comedy Hour. This band belongs to the Power Electronics Genre, pure of glitches distortions, microphone and guitar feedbacks, really hard to digest and to keep listening for more than an hour.