@pasdebonsens @musicturnsintothinair, @howling--fantods, @ancexx (and many other people) tagged me ages ago to list my all time favourite albums. Thank you lovely peeps!
Now, I have never been any good at making lists, and especially when it comes to music, I always feel for some reason, as if I am betraying/forgetting an artist that I cherish. Yet, I thought I'd give it a go anyways.
It’s so tough to only pick 9 albums. What all these albums have in common is that they all opened my eyes to a whole new world and stuck with me over the years. I am going to try to be brief (or at least not too detailed) and not all over the place.
Mezzanine by Massive Attack :
I had been exposed to Massive attack for as long as I can remember, thanks to my older brother, and since I've always been close to him, I was always within earshot. But I only got into them in 2008 when Third by Portishead came out, and made me want to know more about trip-hop. The first album I had listened to was Blue lines, that I loved! It made me curious about the band, so I decided to listen to their complete discography. Mezzanine happens to be one of the most prodigious albums I have ever heard. The sampling, the mixing, the bass, the guitar, the vocals, everything is riveting. Whenever I try to write down how I feel about this album, it always ends up being contradictory, it's so cold and so warm to me, it feels so gloomy and dazzling, disorienting yet reassuring. It's aggressive but so gentle.
It's a full-on artistic endeavour, no filler songs, it's audacious and sophisticated, it's multilayered and lyrically rich.
Plastic beach by Gorillaz :
Another band I had been exposed to by my brother. I remember very vivdly when my brother bought Demon Days and I would constantly ask him to play Dirty Harry, but at that point I was still not much into Western music, but by the time Plastic beach came out, I had become an avid listener of western music.
The year that album came out was probably one of the most memorable years of my life, so many good albums were released. Since I was going through some tough time, my mom's health worsening, what’s more healing than music?. Like many albums the hobo guy Sir Damon Albarn had been involoved in, this is a masterpiece! It features an opulent blend of everything I love : world music (particularly arabic music), hip-hop, electronic beats, the typical Damon Albarnesque melancholy feel. Bunch of artists, that are brilliant together, to add up to that it's a political record, without shoving political messages down our throats.
Third by Portishead
Arguably, all 3 Portishead's materials are masterpieces! I had to pick this one considering all the great music I discovered following it's release. Geoff barrow is one of my favourite musicians, I discovered countless of movies and musicians thanks to his sampling!
In 2008, when this album came out, I had only been listening to western music for a year, and that album was a shock, I couldn't understand what it did to me, I had been questioning religion (which made me kind of a hermit) my thoughts were scattered, I felt incredibly alone and I had no one I could talk to, and THAT album, saved my soul!
It's dissonant, if not painful to listen to at times, it's violent, and so fragile, claustrophobic, haunting, it has Beth's melodic vocals over the pummeling intensity of Geoff and Adrian's machinery, maybe to kind of humanize it a bit. But it reaches out to you in the weirdest ways. Third is simply unburdening and soul-piercing!
Ivresses, Le Sacre de Khayyam by Alireza Ghobrani and Dorsaf Hamdani :
This is basically a dialogue between the Irani Alireza Ghorbani (he sings in persian) and the Tunisian Dorsaf Hamdani, (she sings in arabic)
“Ivresses” is a french word, it's english equivalent would be drunkness. They are singing extracts from Khayyam's (Persian poet and astronomer from the 11th century) post mortem collection of poetry, entitled The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. It praises wine and it's benefits and its also an ode to love, life and elation The reason why the titles of the songs, and even the album are in french is because it was done in France and partially funded by french production companies. This is one of these albums that I had witnessed when it came out but sadly didn't get to see them perform it live, it's one of the finest albums I have ever heard, it's an elusive and ecstatic experience. Not only are the vocals enchanting but so is the instrumentation, the persian Kamanche, which is an instrument that dates back to the middle ages and the Oud an arabic instrument.
It’s hard to find it on the internet, unless you have a Deezer account, but here is a live version of it!
The Joshua Tree by U2:
I can't not mention this album, because thanks to U2, I decided to give a shot to Salman Rushdie, my younger self being a devout religious, I hated him because I had been told he criticized Islam.That's besides the point but I had to mention it.
I think the particularity of this album to me, is that it has become like a companion, I've come to the point where all of the songs included on it have become dear friends of mine. Some songs on this album make me want to run and laugh and scream at the top of my lungs, and fall in love and hug people. It's so intense and mystical. The guitar effects give a dream-like effect, Bono's vocals are so dark and sexy even on songs with political theme like Bullet the blue sky (that song is so sexy!!)
It’s an album that makes you feel colours! It's really an album that's like a person, you have to be introduced to the background of it's making to it’s story, to truly appreciate it's value!
The Eminem Show by Eminem :
As @musicturnsintothinair would say “HOLY WACK, UNLYRICAL LYRICS ANDRE!!”
Eminem was the very first western musician I ever got into, I was 11, and for some unholy reasons I moved from classical arabic music to Hip-hop. I have no idea what about his nasal-voice seemed appealing to my younger self... I would have considered this album perfect and my favourite Eminem album if it wasn't for the song Superman, I wish it was never released, or at least I wish I could unhear it. When I first came across to this album, I LOVED IT! Even though I had no idea what he was on about considering I didn't understand a word of English, but I had access to a computer and I would read translations of his songs, that kept my brain busy for a while. I have been an Eminem fan since, and his music helped me through so much, I had anger issues that I couldn't manage and couldn't express anything. Through his music I was able to purge all the negative feelings I had!
An excellent album, with incredible beats, with a lot of humor and wit!
Asfar by Le trio Joubran :
The trio Joubran are a palestinian trio of oud players , they are brothers and come from a family of Oud makers and players since four generations.
Asfar is another album I had witnessed when it came out, but I never thought I'd get to seem them live, and I did yesterday! They were so charming and funny and they had a new percussionist, who happens to be Irani and he sang a song in persian! A truly mesmerising live experience! Samir Joubran (the oldest brother) said at the end of the concert, “Hope to see you again in free Palestine and free Jerusalem!”
Their music is so evocative, heart-wrenching, sincere and soaring! It gives me hope for humanity. It moves me from a very deep place in my humanity and gives me perspective on life and gives me hope.
Madvillainy by Madvilain :
Is this album even real ? It's perfect, an undisputed classic!
Madlib, is a musician that has influenced my tastes A LOT! Like Geoff Barrow, I discovered him when I was very young, I’ve always been awe-inspired by how they’re able to incorporate elements of all sorts of music and movies and I soaked up their influences.
It's dark, funky, minimalistic and SO REFRESHING! One of the reasons why it stuck with me is that over the years my english has improved, I used to mainly appreciate the flow and the beats, but had no idea what DOOM was saying and it doesn't translate very well. It’s still so relevant , it’s such a challenging listen, I recommend it to everyone not only Hip-Hop enthusiasts even though it’s not a very accessible record, it’s worth listening.
Stop Making sense by the Talking Heads :
When I first heard the Talking heads, I hated them! It took me a while to give them a second chance and to watch Stop Making sense ( it was mentioned by Damon Albarn in an interview in 2010) I fell in love with every single one of the musicians involved! I love how the backing vocalists are not behind David byrne on the live shows but standing next to him. Every single song on that album is perfect, it's far fetched, funny, intriguing. David Byrne's music is like a shot in the arm, his approach to music is a whole new thing, blend of art and science. Actually he made me see art as a sience, how it can teach us about the human condition and about our psyche. It’s life changing!
I think so many of you have done it already, so I am going to tagg those who I believe haven’t done it yet, (if you did, I would appreciate it if you could link me to it) :
@heligoravs, @crhysanthemes, @barrywake, @edwardsscissorpants, @karoldanvers, @thisislilasblog, @minotaurtears
Of course, feel free to ignore this.