Category: 30/30
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glenn branca – the ascension (1981)
“The only reason why I ever even bother to pay the slightest attention to this fucking world is because I love music.” – G.B Few records will ever ask as many questions about rock or life as Glenn Branca’s The Ascension. In Branco’s 1981, the art world had fossilised and underground ideas were at risk […]
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elliott smith – either/or (1997)
Elliott Smith packed more melody into a double-tracked whisper than would be expected in a Glee cover of Mariah Carey. He can also say ‘fuck’ with more power than any outlandish, testosterone-steaming ‘rockstar’. Either/Or is like the shadow of a pop hit—Brian Wilson might have written it if he spent the 1960s leaning musically into […]
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billie holiday – all or nothing at all (1958)
“Why people tear the seam of anyone’s dream is over my head.” Billie Holiday’s life was shaken by clandestine, anti-jazz government officials who sought to disgrace the African American public image. The opening line on All or Nothing At All, sung acapella, creates the image of a single spotlight on her face—everything else silent and […]
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le mystère des voix bulgares – le mystère des voix bulgares: volume 1 (1975)
It’s a miraculous thing when a piece of art is as substantial as it is infinite. Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares: Volume 1 is a compilation of Bulgarian folk songs, arranged with an avant-garde temper. These sublime tracks signal that while raw materials possess quantitative limits, they are boundless in essence. The voices are simply […]
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fausto – por este rio acima (1982)
On his back, Fausto carries the full weight of history, expanding beyond the palpable connections between the immediate past and present. The task of this master is to act as the diaphragm of Portugal—to exhale while overlooking the instruments. Por Este Rio Acima tells stories of spices, travel, and love between instruments that jangle in […]
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