NA: Epic Warner drop!

Photo courtesy of beneffervescent

Hey, look, it’s Thursday and about 6 million classic records dropped on the site! Holy shit! Surprises abound in this collection of Warner odds and ends — there are way too many records to do justice here, so let’s not waste time, shall we?

Love, Forever Changes – Immortally classic paranoid-hippie prophecy orchestral rock record! If you’ve never heard this, I am a jealous man — this is an essential “missing piece of the puzzle” record from the 1960s, one that puts a lot of better-known music in its wake in its proper perspective. Arthur Lee’s gorgeously aching folk tenor belies just how much distrust and paranoia and misanthropy and bitter and sarcasm was coursing through his veins – a lot of 1960s hippie-rock records had songs defying conformity, but few of them were as acrid as “The Red Telephone.” And yet, there’s a yearning core to the album: “And More Again” is a pleading, disarmingly straightforward love song, and “Alone Again More” turns on the soaring declaration “I think people are the greatest fun.” Really, enough from me — this is a classic.

MC5, Kick Out the Jams – Roaring, apocalyptic proto-punk, or the very first punk band, depending on who you ask. Here’s the inimitable Lenny Kaye with his take:

Kick Out The Jams makes a divine noise, a frontal assault that takes no prisoners. From Brother J.C. Crawford’s opening exhortation to the Five’s falsetto launch into Ted Taylor’s “Rambling Rose,” a deep you-are-there reading of John Lee Hooker’s “Motor City Is Burning,” group sing-a-longs like “Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa” and “Borderline” (originally the b-side of their debut single) and their light-year’s improvisation on a Sun Ra lyric, “Starship,” the pulsating high-energy level is relentless … Kick Out The Jams remains the essential throwdown “testimonial,” when the band harnessed the power of loud and proud, and rock ‘n’ roll was readying to change the world, one decibel at a time.

Television, Marquee Moon and Adventure — More proto-punk classics! Marquee Moon, if you don’t already know, is one of the greatest guitar albums of all time.

Billy Bragg and Wilco, Mermaid Ave: Vol I and Vol. II – Billy Bragg and Wilco’s by-now classic re-imaginings of Woody Guthrie’s poems and unwritten songs. Vol. I is the more essential of the two, but really, if you have any love for Wilco, Billy, OR Woody Guthrie, you need both.

Afghan Whigs, Gentlemen – Psychosexually pitch-black, confessional, howling ball of self-loathing from Greg Dulli and friends! This record isn’t fun, but it is essential. Maura Johnston has this to say in her incredible review:

Gentlemen is, by turns, astonishing and harrowing, putting to tape depictions of people falling out of love from what seem like hundredth-story windows … Like engaging in a fight with an ex-lover that just keeps going without any rhyme, reason or end in sight, listening to Gentlemen can feel like being punched in the gut repeatedly for its duration. The only difference is that the Whigs’ expert musicianship and Dulli’s unflinching willingness to play the cad allow for genuine catharsis as a result.

Stereolab, Emperor Tomato Ketchup and Margerine Eclipse – Two essential Stereolab records; one, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, is considered by pretty much everyone to be their defining statement, and the other, Margerine Eclipse, an underrated later-period record.

Handsome Boy Modeling School, So How’s Your Girl – Quirky indie-rap classic from Prince Paul and Dan the Automator! Essential, essential jams on here. We also got the White People.

Luna, Pup Tent, Luna Park, Penthouse, Bewitched, and Slide – Almost every Luna record ever! I might let Joe chime in on this one, as I’m not knowledgeable on Luna, but I do know that Penthouse has a glorious cover of Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot’s “Bonnie and Clyde,” as sung by Dean Wareham and Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadler.

They Might Be Giants, Flood – “Birdhouse in Your Soul.” “Istanbul.” “Particle Man.” “We Want A Rock.” If you were ever a nerd in eighth grade, you probably know at least one of these songs word for fucking word. Me? Well, let’s just say that summer I went away to nerd camp was a big one for me, and “Birdhouse in Your Soul” is forever embedded in the very base of my lizard brain.

10,000 Maniacs, The Wishing Well and Blind Man’s Zoo – Oh man, it just go SO LATE-80S LIBERAL ARTS GRAD in here! Natalie Merchant and her band of Maniacs chiming and twirling on two of their beloved studio albums.

Nada Surf, High Low – Hey, look Nada Surf fans! WE GOT THE ONE WITH “POPULAR” ON IT!

Phish, Junta, Lawn Boy, Hoist, Slip, Stitch, Pass, Rift – I can’t honestly claim to have any personal affection for these dudes, but I know plenty of people who do. In fact, I’m willing to bet that there’s at least one person in our department who can rep for Phish. The question is: WHO WILL THAT PERSON BE?? (Note: we also got Trey Anastasio’s Plasma today.)

There’s so much more — Sister of Mercy, Kraftwerk, Harry Chapin, Everything But the Girl — but I am running out of steam. And so I pass the baton to you, dear subscribers: what did YOU find??