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Re: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band

For the record, Trout Mask is about #50 or so in my personal all-time list. Yet it’s definitely one of those albums I don’t just pop in and listen to all the time. It’s not even that nice as background listening while you’re doing stuff around the house. It demands attention and challenges you to appreciate it, and those kind of albums mix in very well with more albums that are listenable on a regular basis. It’s a sprawling work and gallery of boundary-pushing music expression that you really only have to listen to all the way once. However, if you hate the album as a whole, I would at least suggest putting Ella Guru, Moonlight on Vermont, and Veteran’s Day Poppy on your playlists. They are great stand alone songs that represent Trout Mask well, and if you only listened to those songs and nothing else, I wouldn’t hold it against you.

I think what intrigued me about Trout was, first and foremost, the Frank Zappa connection. In a very thick book analyzing Zappa’s works called the Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play by Ben Watson, there was a little bit of a sidetrack discussion of Trout, which Frank Zappa produced. I don’t have the book handy, but the author said something along the lines that Trout was so incredible because there was no previous context of musical style to compare it to. The author even said that not even Beefheart’s previous work serves as a precedent to approach Trout Mask Replica. That’s a very music-critic type thing to say, but I’m sure that’s why its acclaimed and why a lot of critics love it while some regular music listeners might find it horrid. It think it challenges what my perception of music is and is one of those albums in my collection that represent more of art as musical expression than the timeless melodies, emotional power, and unique instrumentation that are part of a good amount of my other favorite records.

Re: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band

i'm putting back the subject on the carpet (like we say in French) because I'm listening to Trout Mask Replica for the first time.
What makes it so hard to hear through is that it's 28 tracks long.
28 experimental tracks is a bit too long.
But there are good things in this album.
- The guy seems really funny and totally crazy
- The way he uses (very well) traditional material (blues, folk, jazz, rock) to make something radically new is amazing
- it's a big influence on Tom Waits (the Island albums)and I love Tom Waits (i'm not sure the majority here does too, though)
this use of dissonant horns comes from jazz and was beautifully used by Robert Wyatt
I think this guy really brought new things
But listening to his album is like eating a plate of peppers.
Peppers are good when added in small quantity to some food
But you wouldn't eat the whole jar
Even Tom Waits in his weirdest moments is Bryan Adams compared to Captain Beefheart
This said there are really good moments : I love China Pig blues, I think this is one of the best attempts at playing John Lee Hooker style
I love the funny spoken parts

Re: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band

"Trout mask replica" is according to me the second worst album of all time after Yoko Ono's "Plastic ono band".
Here's what I wrote about these two pieces of crap on RYM :
- Captain Bullshit & his shitty band : "Definitely the most overrated album of all-time.
It's easy to make some shit and call it "Art".
Sorry, it's not music. Just noise.
Rock critics should stop mistaking people for blockheads with this."
- Yoko the ugly witch : "Three years ago, I bought this album by mistake, confusing it with the John Lennon album _Plastic Ono Band_.
This incident has made me realize that what I held in my hand was nothing else but the worst album I've ever heard, the biggest shit ever composed.
Thank you Yoko for this."

You'll understand easily that experimental shits (I can hardly say the word "music") is not my cup of tea.

Re: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band

I'm not sure why that ended up in between all the other posts, but here it is again, this time at the bottom:

It's been a while since I posted this topic, and after some insightful posts I decided in September to embark on my so-called 'project Cappy B'. It basically involved listening to a lot of different kinds of jazz and music I considered "noise" before. I do think quite a few of them are still noise, and I dislike a few of them even more, but yesterday I felt I had arrived at the end of project Cappy B. Mainly because venturing further into the realm of noise would have driven me crazy and because it's all been a huge (but fun) waste of time. So anyway, it was time to listen to "Trout Mask Replica". And to my considerable surprise, I actually completed the entire album and I think I can now see it's acclaim. The man completely disregarded anything 'normal', didn't go for any fame, any money (surely this record won't sell a whole lot), but just set out to create a peace of art that would stand the test of time. And I think, as a whole, he has succeeded. Although there's still a few songs I consider "noise", there are a few really good tracks on this album, so I think I'll be listening to "Safe As Milk" next.

A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast 'n bulbous. Got me?

Re: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band

So, have you gotten to Safe as Milk yet? Now, that's a good album!

Re: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band

No, not yet. Just wondering, how is it compared to "Trout Mask Replica"? Because the fact that I can see its acclaim doesn't mean I really like that album. Not yet anyway.

Re: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band

safe as milk is awesome

and i can't stand trout mask pooplica

Re: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band

Same here. Safe is pretty safe.

Re: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band

My father just walked in while I was listening to "Safe As Milk" and sarcastically said "Interesting music..". Wonder what he'll think of "Trout Mask Replica". I really like it so far though.

Re: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band

I'll have to download their 'Big Eyed Beans From Venus' - it seemed to be revered by John Peel and his listeners - the highest praise of all...