Christina Aguilera - Stripped

As anyone who reads my other blog knows, I have a little bit of a crush on my local librarian. So, it was just a bit embarrassing to check out this album from the library (not as embarrassed as I was when I checked out Mariah Carey, but still). He comes off as some kind of erudite outsider - definitely not the type to listen to Christina Aguilera. I think that this may have been the day that I told him all about my little project just so he wouldn't think I was actually listening to Christina Aguilera because I enjoyed her music. Hell no would I be enjoying listening to this album...

Which, of course, I totally did because that is what my smugness was going to invite. Let's face it - the girl can sing. And her songs are pretty damn fun and they make me dance around my house in my underwear.

So, I loved this album, but I am still not going to be admitting it to my librarian boyfriend. I don't want him to think I'm not cool.

Favorite tracks: "Dirrty", "Underappreciated"
Favorite Lyric: "Bodies packed, front to back, move your ass, I like that"

Kid Rock - Devil Without A Cause

Actual conversation between Shannon and I:

Me: Why does Kid Rock have a child talking about having a 10 foot dick on this song? That's really disturbing.
Shannon: That's not a child, that's a dwarf (pause) and he's dead.

Sorry, Joe C, wherever you are.

Favorite track: "Bawitdaba"
Favorite lyric: "It's been a couple of months in this smokey room eatin shrooms, drinking Boone's, writin tunes and hoping to get one of these motherfucking songs to hit"

The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen

Angsty white boys make me feel bloated and gassy, so this album was actually physically painful to listen to. Shannon had to leave the room while I was listening to it - he couldn't take it. Call me old fashioned, but shouldn't rock'n'roll be at least somewhat fun? A little angst sprinkled here and there is to be expected, of course, but an entire album of monotonous misanthropy, just leaves me reaching for my AC/DC....

Favorite track: "Brother Woodrow/Closing Prayer" - because it is instrumental, so I could stand it.

Favorite lyric: "Ladies, let me tell you about myself I got a dick for a brain."

Astor Piazzolla And Gary Burton - The New Tango

If I made a movie about a young woman (played by Audrey Hepburn) travelling through Argentina 50 years ago, this would be the soundtrack.


Favorite Track: "Vibraphonissimo" - because I like to say the name

Arrested Development - 3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of Arrested Development

This album inspired me to spend a good 10 minutes pondering whether or not it was weird to want to shake your ass to a song about a homeless guy. Weird or not, I had a hard time getting through this album, mainly because I kept skipping the CD back to "Mr. Wendel". Man, I love a good nostalgia-fest.

Favorite track: "Mr. Wendel"

Arcade Fire - Funeral

I go through these phases when I pretty much only listen to one album. I had one of those phases with this album. It lasted for something like 6 months. I kept waiting to get sick of it and it never really happened. There is not a single song on the album I don't like - and I am a picky bitch - that is how good it is.

We saw Arcade Fire play at the Austin City Limits Festival in 2005. The temperature that day was something like 118 degrees. We were hot and dirty and kind of miserable. I think that may have been the day that we all vowed never to go to another music festival. While we stood there watching Arcade Fire, sweat was literally dripping off of us. I have never felt so dehydrated. Just standing up seemed like enormous effort. Yet Arcade Fire were up there on stage wearing suits and fancy dresses - heavy, heavy clothes - they must have been incredibly hot. And they were completely amazing. How they had so much energy that day, I will never know. You wouldn't catch me being that bouncy on a 72 degree day after 8 shots of espresso. Maybe all the singing about snow was helping them feel cool. Or maybe they were on drugs.

Favorite tracks: Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels), Rebellion (Lies), Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)

Ali Farka Toure with Ry Cooder - Talking Timbuktu

I listened to this album twice and I couldn't shake the expectation that Paul Simon was going to start singing any second.

Favorite track: "Soukora"

Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill

Man, I really hated this album when it came out. This had something to do with a deep irritation I had with every critic who acted as though Alanis had invented the whole "angry-woman-who-rocks" thing. And, hell, she wasn't even really all that angry. At least not compared to the riot grrrl punk I was listening to at the time. Additionally, Alanis and I were both 21 when this album came out. It was really popular, and I was, because I thought I was so much cooler than the rest of the planet, deeply suspicious of anything that so many people were listening to. Truth be told, I don't remember ever really listening to anything other than the radio hits before Shannon and I met over 5 years after the album was released. Shannon was a big fan of Alanis at the time and it became a standard in our home for a while.

Giving it a fresh listen, I still think it kind of sucks. And Alanis still doesn't sound that angry.

Favorite track: "Your House" - the totally dramatic bonus track.

AC/DC - Back In Black

When we were kids, my cousins Brian and Brandon were deemed "totally weird" by my sister and I. We were quite certain that there was no way we were really blood relatives of these two. They were overweight and pimply and had shaggy greasy hair. They wore big baggy t-shirts with holes in them and cut-offs. They played role-playing games and mouth-breathed. They walked around saying things like "heavy metal rules". One of their favorite bands was AC/DC.

It has never ceased to amaze me that a man in our culture can sing in such a high-pitched falsetto and no one questions his manhood. It seems so unlike us. Maybe it helps that he is singing songs with titles like "Let Me Put My Love Into You" and "What Will You Do For Money Honey". Charming.

I am pretty ashamed to admit that I kind of liked this album. Liking this album makes me feel like a bad feminist. I am even more ashamed to admit that I liked listening to this album with the volume turned way up on my stereo while nodding my head repeatedly. Maybe I do share a few genes with Brian and Brandon afterall.

Favorite Tracks: "Back In Black", "You Shook Me All Night Long"

50 Cent - Get Rich Or Die Tryin'

I'll be honest. For a week or so after I listened to this album, I found myself shrilly singing the phrase "What Up Gangsta" at random intervals and with little cause. Since I am an uptight white woman in my thirties who's personal hero is Martha Stewart, I haven't spent a lot of time listening to rap in my life. I'm not entirely ashamed to admit that. I think that me listening to rap would seem like a lame attempt to be cool (see above admission). I don't even pretend that I can keep it real. As for 50 Cent, I will say this - the man has a way of saying the word "bitch" that makes me grit my teeth.

Favorite tracks: "What Up Gangsta", "P.I.M.P"

The project

One night, several months ago I wandered into a Barnes and Noble to use the bathroom. On my way out, a book that was displayed on one of the endcaps caught my eye. It was called 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Now, those who know me know that I love a good list, so I did what I always do when I find a book in a bookstore that I am interested in and went home and put in on hold at the library. Like all lists, this one was far from exhaustive, but what I liked about it is that it wasn't necessarily a list of the most critically acclaimed albums, the albums seemed to be selected as much because they were culturally relevant as because they were liked by the critics. Plus, the book is really thick and heavy. It reminds me of the Norton Anthologies I used to have to read when I was an English Major in college, so I guess there was a certain comfort in that. So, long story short, I got a bug up my butt and decided that I would actually try and listen to all the albums listed in the book. You know, because I have nothing better to do. Though the book lists the albums in chronological order, my original thought was that I would try and listen to them in alphabetical order. Since I am trying to get my hands on all of these albums without actually paying for all of them, however, some of the albums have proved more elusive than others. I still haven't managed to get my hands on the two Abba albums that would come first alphabetically. So, I have decided to just listen to them as I acquire them, whatever order that happens in. The idea that I would write about the whole project didn't actually occur to me until recently, but since I blog about the minutiae of my life anyway, why not? So, here goes.....