Since earlier this year when I was turned onto the Grateful Dead, I keep going back and looking at American rock from the 60s that I had not listened to before.
I discovered Moby Grape some time ago. They were a great band, but I had not really dug into them beyond their debut that is fantastic. Through digging into their music, I learned that they had a member of their band similar to Syd Barrett and Peter Green who suffered a drug inducted mental breakdown. Their acid casualty was Skip Spence; a key part of the band's three guitar lineup. Skip wrote some amazing beautiful melodies and rhythm in Moby Grape.
From reading about Skip Spence, I came across the solo album he made called Oar. This album is quite infamous as being one of the earliest examples of an album where one musician did all the instruments and production alone. It is also well known for being something of a musical documentation of his complete mental decline. The album almost sounds like a mad genius at work. Legend has it that the day Skip was released from an institution, he hopped on a motorcycle in his pajamas and took it straight to Nashville to record this album.
This album isn't for everybody. It is so unpolished and sounds raw. This is the real stuff. It takes a few listens to get into, but after the third listen I think I got it and now I can't put the album down. I have found the emotions to push in many directions. Much of the album is frightening and sounds scary at times. The music can be dark and haunting and has certainly left an impression with me. It's the raw stuff like this that is often unforgettable. I see how this album left an impression on many people and was so influential.
Topic: What are you listening to right now? (Read 242968 times)