Friday, April 2, 2010

C is for...

Friday again - already? - so more list trivia. Here they are, my Top 20 Groups and Solo Artists beginning with C...

- Cabaret Voltaire
- Camel
- John Cale
- Can
- Captain Beefheart
- The Carpenters
- China Crisis
- Cinematic Orchestra
- Cluster
- Cocteau Twins
- Codona
- Colourbox
- Julian Cope
- Cornelius
- Laurence Crane
- The Creatures
- The Cure
- David Cunningham
- Ivor Cutler
- Holger Czukay

I’m going to get a grilling from a few friends so in anticipation…
Q: But how could you possibly omit Ry Cooder, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave!?
A: I know, absolute respect, but it just isn’t the kind of music I listen to much. Shame, shame on me.
Q: Or Eric Clapton and Cream – or Alice Cooper, Chicago, Joe Cocker?
A: Give us a break!
Q: The Clash?
A: Overrated.
Q: OK, so what about oddballs Coil, Current 93, Chris & Cosey, Chrome, Crass?
A: Sorry, don’t quite make the 20 I’m afraid.
Q: Electronica: Chemical Brothers, Cosmic Baby, Christ., Coldcut?
A: Nope.
Q: So Camel are in there but not Caravan?
A: I know, close one that. For their 70s output only of course.
Q: China Crisis?!
A: I love China Crisis.
Q: One-album-wonders Colourbox?
A: But what an album, along with five fabulous 12 inchers.
Q: Laurence Who?
A: Ah, Mr Crane. Fine British ‘minimalist’ composer with great sense of humour.
Q: What about John Cage and, come to think of it, Tony Conrad or Wendy Carlos?
A: Respect for JC but to be honest I only really like about two pieces of his.
Q: Surely there’s room for Elvis Costello?
A: I like his early stuff and full of respect etc, but nope.
Q: Coldplay, Culture Club, Sheryl Crow, Cranberries, Chic?
A: Not even close.
Q: The Carpenters?!
A: Some of the most sublime, melancholic pop ever, complete with tragic ending.
Q: Any iffy ones who made it in there?
A: I wasn’t sure about including Captain Beefheart. And I suppose David Cunningham is a strange choice but I’d defend it on the basis of Money, his production work and recent guitar-systems work. And The Creatures? Nothing special now, but Wild Things EP, Miss The Girl, Right Now and Feast were fantastic.
Q: Any last regrets?
A: Hmm, Sheila Chandra and Andrew Cox deserve to be in there.

9 comments:

  1. I's have to have Creedence Clearwater Revival on my list. The best rock n roll band. When all the albums were recently released, I was pleased to see that Philip Jeck liked them as much, if not more

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  2. wendy carlos after all perhaps?
    just played "Rediscovering Lost Scores" volume one and two...
    great!

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  3. ....just found out yesterday you're keeping such a busy blog and feel so tempted to to comment on so many things -but hundreds of posts to keep up with... odd to start with a comment to your "C" entry (and will have to re-consult my own alphabetical list for more)...

    Favorite artists' lists - not an easy thing, there are artists I loved in the 70s/80s/90s/00s but can't stand anymore, some I still appreciate with guilty nostalgia and some I never got into but appreciate now...in the end it really comes down to "what do I still listen to NOW with excitement and pleasure?"....

    So C-wise....Wendy Carlos for sure, "Sonic Seasonings" is one of the most amazing ambient blueprints, "Timesteps" (intended for Clockwork Orange" is way ahead of its time, "The Shining" original score (or whatever is left from his/her contribution) is one of my favorite fitting scores of all time (together with Blade Runner and a few others), plus "Beauty in the Beast" is another great effort I listen to repeatedly. (His Bach versions and Tron I'm not specially excited about). But all in all, there would be a big gap in my musical favorites without Wendy Carlos in it.

    Chris & Cosey - I was never into TG, but remember loved Chris Carter starting with "the space between" and "Trance", got lost with the numerous bland CTI releases in the 80s and early 90s, but got thrilled again when the "Library of Sound" series started, and listen to those a lot. Still lots of ups and downs, never really figured out Cosey's involvement in all, but somehow a 20CD+ section must be in my collection for a reason...

    For me definitely in the top 20…C CAT TRANCE, and love re-listening A LOT, "she keeps me dangling on a string", "hypnotized"…a really unique contribution to pop music and much missed. (oh, somehow I just remembered the industrial funksters Chakk…)

    Cosmic Baby….for me definite yes, despite his dive into mediocrity and pretentiousness (right word?), but just listened to his 2 first albums, amazingly timeless, and after all, his music was the earliest smart electronica that got me into the whole trance/techno thing…plus his collaboration with Schiller as "Bluechel/Van Deylen - Bi Polar" is, together with Ulrich Schnauss "far away passing trains" one of my most played records ever!

    Sheila Chandra - Yes, liked her then, liked her 20 years later, still like listening to her although it IS mainly nostalgia

    Nick Cave - Yup, he deserves the top 20…Really a lot of truly memorable and touching songs, "the weeping song", "red right hand" or the Kylie Minogue duet
    "where the wild roses grow"…."The Good Son" would maybe in my top 100 of favorite pop albums -if someone forces me to dare such a desert-island-list.

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  4. About your entries:
    For sure Cabaret Voltaire, Camel (was never really into them but always enjoyed it, mainly due to Pete Bardens and Mel Collins…re-bought some stuff, but it's still only on the OK level….), Can (funnily, NEVER got into them, neither "then", nor "now" where I bought most of their albums for the first time…..and it's still too "hippie" for me….my only favorite is still "soon over babaluma"…odd odd odd), China Crisis (but mainly early stuff for me), Cluster (of course), Cocteau Twins (funnily, I can only say I respect them, but was never "moved", and somehow "sugar hiccups" is my all-time favorite…maybe I should do some catch-up…), Colorbox (indeed a significant one-album plus 12-inches marvel), Julian Cope (only caught up with him later, not too sure about his, um, later output though), Laurence (unfortunately only have the "Great Big Penis", so can't put his work into perspective, lol), The Creatures (fully agree that I preferred them over Siouxsie, even more on one of the Creatures tour I heard the Creatures renditions of Siouxsie stuff…plus seeing Budgie live in this more percussive than rock context makes you aware he IS one of the best drummers in "rock music" (what do you think?), The Cure (love/hate relationship. Still love the vivid memory of excitement with the development from "let's go to bed" to "the walk" to "lovecats" and "caterpillar"….but then the thrill was gone for me, and they now remain pretty unlistenable to me. The opposite applies to Echo & The Bunnymen which passed by me at the time they were big, but came to love their music just in the past 5 years). Holger Czukay (still haven't figured out his significance, and up to now I only have "Canaxis 5" only and "the photograph song" as 7" from him, and that's all (plus the Sylvian collaboration…).

    Interestingly, "Codona" is something I even haven't HEARD about…must be a big gap!! Need to do some research!

    Big names like Ry Cooder, Eric Clapton…..same here, no relevance to my musical preferences except of the urge to ignore.
    Clash: No impact on me either, my collection is still Clash-less.
    Coil: So uneven, a bit overrated cult, but I do go back to "horse rotorvator" and "Gold is the Metal" occasionally, plus some more from time to time…
    John Cage: same thoughts, more theory than enjoyable music (but admitting to be a bit ignorant on big names, so need to know a bit more)
    Elvis Costello: can live without
    Coldplay, Culture Club: Hm, impartial too
    Carpenters: big blank only side….
    Captain Beefheart: ditto (I think I even never listened to ANYTHING of him…can you believe?

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  5. For "CONSIDERATION" (just counted I had 41 personal entries for favorite musical artists with C): Chemical Brothers? The Chills (New Zealand deserves a spot somewhere…), Camouflage (despite Depeche Mode-relatedness, I appreciate each single album plus even more the latest ones…but agree, it's not the biggest name in pop…), Curve (excited me then and now more than any of their more successful followers as Garbage etc), Controlled Bleeding (a vast non-compromise output which I love and respect on the same level as Heldon, not much significance to me know, and maybe the most "non-pleasant-listenable albums" (together with Asmus Tietchens' output I have….), Clock DVA (not so much their beginning but their all-electronic comeback, quite defining for the early 90s somehow), Clearlight (still appreciate all Clearlight albums so much more than anything Gong, and got "Les Contes Du Singes Fou" for the very first time one year ago!), Cleaners from Venus (they might never escape the XTC comparison, and maybe better honored under "N" for Martin Newell, but a band/artist where I still buy anything new blindly and without hesitation must mean something…
    Cindytalk? Clair/Obscure? The Clinic?(just popped into my mind)…Carmel (remember?)
    For me, I had to put Taiwanese Jay Chou in it, as he sparked my interest in asian mainstream pop music with originality and personality….
    "The Cranes" are close contenders, sure in the top 40….
    Oh, unfortunately virtually forgotten, Neneh Cherry was pretty good in retrospect. And her version of "I've got you under my skin" is a superb single!

    I see it's a lot of incoherent meandering here….partly due that my records are placed all over and NOT purely in alphabetical order….that's why some names just pop in my mind randomly.

    I take it that classical/classical temporary is somehow omitted despite popular crossovers like Steve Reich/Riley….tough decision, so I through my favorite "classical" composers in there too….(they're all 20th century anyways), which are under C Charles Camilleri (Malta), Henry Cowell (for sure!), Carlos Chavez, and Aaron Copland.

    Ok, I think I'm done for the time being. Not good at cutting myself short (although I tried) when music is concerned….. now can you imagine me making comments to all music entries…? Will try, if it's not too annoying - plus other comments as well.
    (Yes, I prefer Asterix and Franquin-Spirou over Tintin, lol).

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  6. (you can see, your lists keep me busy...as Top 40 contenders, I would include the Comsat Angels (for some monents of greatness) and (as I'm a bit impartial to Coldplay too) The Charlatans for some great songs ("Then" and "Weirdo" which I play a lot) and their first 2 albums in general....for electronic nostalgia, somehow I still enjoy the 3 late 70 albums by australians "Cybotron" which I even brought over to the US in vinyl version...

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  7. Comment torrent! In reply...

    I didn't like Walter/Wendy Carlos first time round. I think I had "Switched on Bach" and a cassette copy of "The Well-Tempered Synthesizer" briefly but neither did anything for me. Time to re-evaluate.
    Chris & Cosey: totally agree with you (I recently got "The Space Between" CD re-issue) but they don't make the top 20.
    C Cat Trance: yes, I had their albums and 12"s from the mid-80s and even did a CD compilation of the best stuff... before selling them in Tokyo (sorry!)
    Chakk: occasionally great, but never really lived up to their promise.
    Chemical Brothers: somehow I seem to have 3 or 4 of their albums. I certainly didn't buy them. Good live or loud in a car.
    The Chills, Camouflage: don't know.
    Curve: yes, I have one EP I think. OK. Ditto The Cranes.
    Clock DVA, Controlled Bleeding: hmmm, only of historical interest to me now.
    Cleaners From Venus: moments of excellence.
    Clearlight: I have 2 albums but can't remember the last time I played them. Ditto Cybotron.
    Neneh Cherry: yeah, "Raw Like Sushi" was a strong release at the time and deserves digging out again.

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