No. 357: Queens of the Stone Age - "Queens of the Stone Age" (1998)

After the grunge explosion of the early 90's there were a heap of copycat bands trying to cash in on the phenomena, and after a while everything started to sound the same. To me, rock music seemed to have lost its balls, so to speak, and I became disillusioned. That is until I got a hold of this album.
Desert rock, stoner rock, robot rock - it's been called all these things in an attempt to "give it a label", but essentially this album earmarked the revival of riff-based rock. Queens of the Stone Age signaled a return to those classic days when rock had real power and you could jam on the same chord for nearly 5 minutes. Opener "Regular John" and "Walkin' On The Sidewalks" are the best examples of this, and the rest of the album delivers with the same full-on intensity.
This is a guys album, best enjoyed at a BBQ with mates and a few bourbons. There's no Van Halen-styled overplaying on this album - just honest rock the way it was intended. Guitar, bass, drums & voice (and maybe the occasional piano riff). That's all folks.
Criminally, the album has been out of print for the last 6 or 7 years, however yesterday it was re-released on CD with three bonus tracks and I was first in-line to pick it up (again) at my local record store. Coincidentally the band are also in Perth this weekend to play the Soundwave festival, but being a father of two young children on a long-weekend holiday prohibits my attendance - the first performance of theirs in Perth I have missed since 2003.
This album is a timely reminder of the power of rock music in this age of seemingly endless electro-pop and Gaga-esque over-indulgences. As Molly Meldrum would say, "Do yourself a favour..."

No. 358: The Orb featuring David Gilmour - "Metallic Spheres" (2010)

Every now and again you just need an album to put on in the background while you're busy at work, or something to zone out to on your headset in the early hours of the morning after a big night out. And for me, this is my current favourite album to accompany both of those scenarios.
Ambient techno outfit The Orb have teamed up with "the voice and guitar" of Pink Floyd, David Gilmour, to create this spacey chill-out album full of cosmic sound effects and interesting electronic soundscapes. David Gilmour's tasty lead guitar breaks weave in and out of the mix across the album's two 20-plus minute halves, making this album seem like a 21st-century updated version of Pink Floyd's "Echoes".
The Orb are well-known fans of art/prog-rock, and their teaming up with David Gilmour seems to be a perfect match as they successfully graft that famous guitar sound with a range of grooving rhythms and extraterrestrial moods.
If you have a trampoline in the backyard, my recommendation is to sneak out there on a warm summer's night, hop on, lie flat on your back and gaze up at the stars as this one plays on your iPod - a suitably trippy soundtrack for a night spent quietly pondering the universe. Total mind blow dudes!

No. 359: Frank Zappa - "Hot Rats" (1969)

Frank Zappa is one of the most polarizing entities in the history of popular music: there is no middle ground - you either love him or loathe him.
He's known for his meticulous compositions and professional arranging skills - and also his odd sense of humour, which more often than not gravitates toward the juvenile.
The man released over 60 albums in his lifetime, but if your looking for a good place to start with Zappa this album seems to be one of the best choices. I first picked it up back in my university days (way back in 1996) and was impressed by the innovative and complex nature of the music - especially considering it was made in 1969. It was one of the first rock albums to be recorded with 16-track technology, and the best example of what could be done with this technology is found on the opening track "Peaches en Regalia" - a fusion of jazz rock that features layers of guitar, flute, saxophone, clarinet and octave-bass that has gone on to be one of Zappa's best known compositions.
The entire album is instrumental with the exception of one track, "Willie The Pimp", which features guest vocals from friend/rival/fellow musical partner-in-crime Captain Beefheart. The combination of his voice and Zappa's guitar soloing on this track is my own personal album highlight. The bluesy intro riff is also played on a violin, which only Zappa could get away with.
There are no cliches on this album - listen to it with an open mind and a few beers within reach.

No. 360: Mr. Bungle - "Disco Volante" (1995)

I seem to pull this album out for a listen once every 4 or 5 years and today happened to be one of those days.

Disco Volante is a tough listen - definitely the toughest listen of the three albums Mr. Bungle have released - but it seems to improve with age. Featuring vocals from master front man Mike Patton [this being his main band before he joined Faith No More] this album is an aural assault that covers a range of musical styles, from speed metal to avant-garde jazz, interspersed with occasional snippets of creepy carnival music, random maniacal laughing and death screams. So not really one for the family then...

The highlight is the 12 minute track "The Bends" - a 10-part aquatic journey which explores the terrors of the deep and successfully manages to drag the listener down into the abyss as well. "Everyone I Went To High School With Is Dead" is death metal doom with cult-like chanting, while "Desert Search For Techno Allah" made hardcore arabian techno cool again - at least for a few minutes. The weirdest moment comes in "Carry Stress In The Jaw", with vocals in the second half of the song from someone who sounds exactly like Grandpa Simpson! I kid you not.

Disco Volante it's like a disturbing nightmare: some will spend hours trying to analyze what they just went through, however most will try and banish it from their memory as soon as possible.

No. 361: Julian Casablancas - "Phrazes For The Young" (2009)

I was at a poker night a few months ago with "The Boys" and was chatting with a mate about what we'd been listening to lately. He said to me, "Have you heard Julian Casablancas's solo album"?
"No", I replied.  "What's it like?"
"Well it's ..... interesting".
He's a man of few words, but that was enough to pique my curiosity.
For those unfamiliar, Casablancas is the lead singer of The Strokes - the kings of New York Garage/Indie rock. I was expecting a re-hash of Strokes-styled rockers, and I'm glad to say I was way off the mark.
This is a great futuristic-sounding pop album full of drum machines & synths. There's only 8 tracks and it doesn't even last 40 minutes, but its has so many ideas woven into each song that it never gets the chance to become boring or predictable. Heck, there's even a waltz on here, in the form of "Ludlow Street" - possibly the album's highlight, delivered in that trademark deadpan vocal style.
Hats off to Casablancas: he could have churned out a quick Strokes rip-off, but he's seized the opportunity to do something different and do it better than a lot of people probably expected. 
He also drops one of the best lines on record in recent memory:

"And yes I know I'm going to hell in a leather jacket,

At least I'll be in another world while you're pissing on my casket"

I hear you man. Preach it!

No. 362: Curtis Mayfield - "Super Fly" (1972)

This has to be one of the greatest soundtrack albums ever released - and an album that apparently made more money than the movie that inspired it.
"Super Fly" is a gritty, low-budget blaxploitation flick about an inner city drug dealer, and Curtis Mayfield's soundtrack is the perfect backdrop: a high watermark in the funk/soul genre, full of cautionary tales about the perils of dealing and life on the street, all sung in Mayfield's distinctively soothing high falsetto.
Like Marvin Gaye at around the same time, Mayfield was a socially-conscious voice for Afro-America, and despite the themes in the movie there is a strong "don't glorify the ghetto" message on this album, particularly in the album highlights "Pusherman" and "Freddie's Dead".
The arrangements and musicianship on this album are second to none, and if you're not in the mood after listening to these funky wah-wah guitars then you don't have a pulse. A seriously good album from one of the most talented & influential singer/songwriters of 20th century.
Bonus fact: In 1990 Curtis Mayfield was paralyzed from his neck down after a lighting rig fell on him while performing live in concert. Why can't that sort of thing happen to the Justin Bieber's of the world instead??

No. 363: MGMT - "Congratulations" (2010)

Don't be fooled by the naff cover art: this is one of the finest psychedelic rock records to be released in the last 20 years.
I got a hold of this when it came out back in April 2010 as it was the highly anticipated follow-up to their synth-pop breakthrough album, Oracular Spectacular (2007) - and I was floored by the quality of the melodies and the deceptive simplicity of the songs. Compared to the last, there are more guitars and a more experimental feel on this album and - even though they are American - the band seem to channel a 60's English psychedelic sound reminiscent of Syd Barrett and early-era Pink Floyd. The lead single "Flash Delirium" is quite possibly the best 4-minute pop song released in 2010, while "Siberian Breaks" feels like a modern-day Abbey Road-medley: a series of shorter musical ideas grouped together as a 12-minute suite executed to perfection.
In a musical climate full of manufactured "idols", and divas specializing in "faux-soul", it's refreshing to hear something as inventive and adventurous as this. It's endearing and clever, but not up itself.
Plus any album that has a track called "Brian Eno" is well worth checking out anyway, in my opinion.