Yer Litmus Test Albums
 

I consider these my "coolest" albums. They're like a standard for "cool" for me. I don't mean to sound snobby. But maybe I am anyway.

The Modern Lovers (s/t)

Yoko Ono - Plastic Ono Band

PiL - Metal Box

Trout Mask Replica

White Light/White Heat

no.

No?

most of the time, i play, say, the stooges or sonic youth or velvet underground and people stare at me like a wild freak.

so no, i don't have records to judge if people are cool or not.

basically, i have litmus test t-shirts. ("what's that, a band? what are they? heavy metal? punk? are they like blink 182?")

Good thread!

Yoko Ono - The Plastic Ono band
Sun 0))) - Black One
Wolf Eyes - Burning Mind
Fela Kuti
Laibach
and probably some Smoke Judo and Aki Onda

Ah, YO/POB. That is an amazing album. I see we both agree.

These are what I consider to be my coolest vinyl:

The Associates - Fourth Drawer Down.

Amongst some of the early pioneers of electro/industrial music. But what set them apart was Billy McKenzie's operatic vocals. No one else around like them when this was released in 1982. They later morphed into a more pop based sound but this album was an influential work in its genre.

The Jesus And Mary Chain - Psycho Candy.

This 1984 classic should need no explanation. Essential vinyl.

The Kinks - Well Respected.

I own this original 1966 vinyl in near mint condition. A treasure of mine.

The Velvet Underground & Nico.

I own this VU vinyl pressing in a rare 2nd edition gatefold sleeve featuring the Andy Warhol banana on the cover and also the double lp gatefold edition with Warhol's rendition of the coca cola bottle cover.

The Velvet Underground - Loaded.

Again, original pressing in excellent condition. Another treasured possession.


Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures.

Original 1980 pressing with the faux-leather cover.

I have a whole host of SY and related project rarities that I consider to be my essential stuff, including:

The Velvet Monkeys - Rake 'original motion picture score'

Ciccone Youth - Whitey Album.

SY - Goo, Evol, Sister, Daydream Nation.

But I just love vinyl.

I don't have any litmus test albums. I judge people by their character, not by their music taste.

I agree that character is important.

But you can tell a lot about a person's character by their record collection.

Show me someone who's whole record collection is made up of Take That, New Kids On The Block, BoyZone, Spice Girls, All Saints and countless other lightweight, manufactured pop acts and nine times out of ten I'll show you a person of detestable spiritual qualities and character.

I have records by all but Boyzone. I also have a lot of other records by other people. I don't really like NKOTB or Spice Girls. I stand by Take That, and All Saints had some blinding singles.

The best litmus test for me isn't looking for 'cool' records (by this point everyone and their dog are aware of the Velvets - my copy of s/t has been in my mum's collection for months now, and she's not particularly hip). The secret is asking people what their most 'embarassing' record is. I discovered this almost by accident. I was at a party where there were a lot of 'cool' records being played by the host - your Moby's, Fatboy Slim's, that sort of deal - I asked the host what her most embarassing record was (the one she enjoyed but was afraid to play). She puts on this Huun Huur Tu record, followed by some Finnish yodelling. Much, much cooler.

I know so many people with 'hip' records like Velvets and Joy Division and PiL and that sort of thing. How many people really listen to them? How many people only listen to them because they're 'classics'? How many people realise that Mis-Teeq, S Club 7 and Take That produced some of the greatest pop of the 90s?

Blathering, blathering post. The important thing is - reject classics kids.

So true.

Mr. Glice,

That's why I said "whole record collection"

You may have some of those records, but your whole record collection isn't made up of them.

Good point. However, I would rather spend time with someone who has Abba's greatest hits than someone who has all the Velvets albums. I generally find people with limited, and predominantly pop, taste tend to actually enjoy the music rather than fetishise it, or fetishise something you're 'meant' to like rather than actually like.

I spent years trying to figure out what the fuss was about Joy Division, and then one day it occured to me: I don't actually like them, or many of the so-called 'classics'. Le contrarian, c'est moi.

Yes but Abba were great!

And I think we essentially agree. Someone with a collection of "classics" simply because they think they are so would be just as abhorrant as the aforementioned people I was talking about.

It's a question of having a bit of everything and being able to enjoy it.

I don't consider any of my records that I enjoy "embarrassing" though.

That includes my collection of Adam & The Ants records.

I don't mean that. I mean that I have friends who are not entirely fond of Diamond Dogs and White Light/White Heat that are really cool people and I've had girlfriends that liked that sort of stuff that turned out to be complete bitches.

I can't think of any specific album which you have to like for me to consider someone cool.

Well, I just mean "cool" as in cool with music. People can be cool in other ways even if they're not cool music people.

You can tell a lot about someone by looking at their records and books. And then of course there's always sifting through their trash...

Well, in that respect, I can tell how cool musically people are by talking about eras of music.

If I start talking about the 70's and people talk about Queen, Zeppelin, Floyd, Neil Young, T. Rex and that sort of stuff or if they talk about Kraut Rock or Punk, I can tell they are pretty cool. If they start talking about Boston and Chicago, there is something wrong.

BTW: My most embarrasing records:

All of my Prince albums
My Corey Hart album
and last but not least
my Eddie Murphy album

Now wait a minute. Some Prince stuff is all right. I really like Dirty Mind, fer instance.

Yeah, somebody could come in and pull a bunch of albums off my shelves and decide that I'm definitely uncool. For example: Firefall (anybody from the 70s remember them?), early Fleetwood Mac, Bob Seger, Indigo Girls.

Speaking of Fleetwood Mac, do you have "The End Of The Game" by Peter Green, gmku? That is one cracked piece of underrated weirdness.

I hates me some Fleetwood Mac though; even the "good" early stuff is not really to my taste.