Tag: Neutral Milk Hotel

Radiohead – The Bends

Posted on by Finest Worksongs

You couldn’t get away from Radiohead’s radio hit “Creep” when it was released on the world in 1992-93. Not even the band could escape the clutches of such a megahit. So they did what any self-respecting band – a band inspired by the DIY ethos the likes of R.E.M. – would do with their next album, which was released in 1995. “The Bends,” the follow-up to “Pablo Honey,” is a tour de force album that 25 years later holds up as perhaps one of the most complete and wonderful albums of all time. The guitar virtuosity of Jonny Greenwood is complemented by the paranoid vocals of Thom Yorke. Oh, and the rest of the band is pretty freaking incredible, too. If people came listening for the next “Creep,” they were sorely mistaken. And thank God for that.

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You can buy or stream The Bends by Radiohead online at iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon. 

 

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The Beatles – Rubber Soul

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When The Beatles returned to Abbey Road to record their sixth album, they were exhausted from constant touring and releasing at a pace of two albums a year. They also had virtually no songs prepared. But when it was completed, their sixth album was Rubber Soul, arguably the first actual album, not just a collection of songs. This was the turning point; it’s the album that bridges the British Invasion Beatles to Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. It’s the album that turned the music world on its rear, forcing the band’s rivals and contemporaries like the Beach Boys and Rolling Stones to step up their games.  In essence, with Rubber Soul, the Beatles were just getting started.

References in this Epipod:

You can buy or stream Rubber Soul by the Beatles online at iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon. 

 

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The Cure – Disintegration

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Thirty years after it was released, “Disintegration” by The Cure remains a Goth masterpiece. It was Robert Smith’s answer to critics that his band (and, let’s be clear: it was HIS band) could still do moody, dark epics as well or better than anyone. No one was a bigger critic of Robert Smith than himself. So he brought it. It’s all there in its “Cure-iness.” Simon Gallup’s bass is the omnipresent driving low-end of the album. But it’s Smith’s lyrics about creepy lullabies, red-light districts, spidermen and, yes, even love that make “Disintegration” the masterpiece it remains today.

References in this Epipod:

The 80s music chart by Taylor Roberts and Matt Stevens

You can buy or stream Disintegration by The Cure online at iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon. 

 

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Neutral Milk Hotel – In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

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It’s a tale as old as time: Man reads Ann Frank’s “The Diary is a Young Girl.” Man weeps for three days straight. Man dreams of building a time machine to go back and save her. Man writes arguably one of the greatest Indy rock albums of all time. Can you say “cliche?”

References in this Epipod:

You can buy or stream In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel online at Spotify, iTunes,  YouTube, and Amazon .

 

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