Bizarro Jerry's Memphis rap faves

If you like all the rare Memphis rap stuff I post here, you should check this list out:

Bizarro Jerry's Memphis Rap Faves

I made it for the RateYourMusic website, and if you're deep into this shit like I am, it's got some obscurities you might not have heard of. Alternately, if you're just getting into Memphis rap, I think it's a pretty good starting point, since there are also some of the classics.

Bizarro Jerry rates your music...

For those interested, I started doing lists and shit on Rate Your Music.

The one I just did is a 'listener's journey' through hip hop/rap....from my very first rap cassette (Kris Kross' 'Da Bomb') to Lil Ugly Mane and other shit I'm into now.

CHECK IT.

No rules - punk rock

So, I made a Rate Your Music account, and started putting together some lists. I figured since I've got all this crazy music, I might as well share it with others.

This particular list is exactly the same as the one I created on Rate Your Music.

To preface, these are some of (what I think are) the most forward-thinking albums of the original punk rock era. Real experimentation, real dudes, really new ideas. These also happen to be some of my favorite albums...not just in the punk-rock spectrum of music.

Minutemen - 'Double Nickels on the Dime' - punk + avant-funk-Creedence-worship

Husker Du - 'Zen Arcade' - punk + psych-pop

The Secret Syde - 'Hidden Secrets' - punk + surf-psych

Operation Ivy - 'Energy' - punk + ska

Dead Milkmen - 'Big Lizard in My Backyard' - punk + stoner comedy

Rudimentary Peni - 'Death Church' - punk + crazy

Meat Puppets - 'II' - punk + country-psych

Sun City Girls - 'S/T' - punk + middle-eastern

Pere Ubu - 'The Modern Dance' - punk + avant-garde

Wire - 'Pink Flag' - punk + art

Black Flag - 'My War' - punk + sludge-art

NoMeansNo - 'Wrong' - punk + jazz-fusion

Dead Kennedys - 'Frankenchrist' - punk + evil surf

Flipper - 'Album: Generic Flipper' - punk + mean

Dicks - 'Kill From the Heart' - punk + blues

Rudimentary Peni - 'Cacophony' - punk + Lovecraft

Wipers - 'Youth of America' - punk + psych

Big Boys - 'Skinny Elvis' - punk + funk

The Homosexuals - 'The Homosexuals' Record' - punk + art-lo-fi

Kortatu - 'S/T' - punk + ska

Suicidal Tendencies - 'S/T' - punk + skate-metal

Cardiacs - 'The Seaside' - punk + Zappa

The Cure - 'Three Imaginary Boys' - punk + minimal-sad

Butthole Surfers - 'Psychic...Powerless...Another Man's Sac' - punk + noise-experimental-crazy-drugs

The Flesh Eaters - 'A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die' - punk + goth-billy

Bad Brains - 'Rock for Light' - punk + reggae

Fall music II.

Since blogspot now allows me to see how many people view each post, I can tell which ones are most popular...apparently the one on 'fall music' a couple weeks ago was well-liked, so I'm doing a second installment since fall is basically upon us...

Wipers - 'Over the Edge'

Most definitely my favorite Wipers release. The first three albums are unquestionably some of the greatest punk music ever released. This'un saw main fella Greg Sage basically cutting all the lows out of his recordings in order to make a creepy, tinny sounding album. Don't go into this thinking it's gonna be some fast three-chord bullshit since I called it 'punk....' it's punk in the way that Mission of Burma is 'punk.'

Type O Negative - 'October Rust'

Some people think this band is laughable, but they're fucking stupid. That's not to say they weren't hilarious when they wanted to be. Although this is a pretty serious album (and one of their most depressing), it was conceived as a 'pop-goth metal' project...basically a 'sell-out' album, according to band members. Whatever the case, 'Love You to Death' is one of the all-time highest points (and most melodic) of the doom metal genre.

Circle of Ouroborus - 'Eleven Fingers'

I put these guys on my Incredibly Strange Metal compilation...this album is on a totally different trip. It's not quite black metal, it's not quite post-punk...it kinda sounds like a post-punk band playing black metal, but not in the boring hipster way...The whole thing is lo-fi in a really odd way that's like being sucked into a rainstorm.

Mission of Burma - 'Vs.'

...speaking of post-punk, this classic is a definite 'fall weather' album. Loud, dissonant, melodic and challenging all at once. These guys had the advantage of being in a proto-punk band (the Ann Arbor-based Sproton Layer) so they'd already figured out what they wanted to do by the time independent rock took off. Still rocking out to this day, and putting out decent music.

Deftones - 'White Pony'

If you don't know much about these guys aside from their affiliation with the 'nu-metal' scene, definitely check this one out. More like an amped-up Cure than Korn, the Deftones are one of the only popular metal groups in recent years that really tried something different. I can't say a bad thing about them...even the new album 'Diamond Eyes' is rockin', and 'Adrenaline' is the best so-called 'rap metal' thing out there.

Butthole Surfers - 'Rembrandt Pussyhorse'

Okay, not ALL of this album is great for fall, but it's definitely the Surfers' most 'post-punk' release, and also one of their more melodic. Tracks like 'Whirling Hall of Knives' are hypnotizing without being boring. Modern day 'noise rock' bands could take a cue from classics like this.

Iron Maiden - 'Killers'

Without a doubt my favorite Iron Maiden release. In fact, I can't stand much of their stuff outside of this and the debut LP. Paul Di'Anno was the shit and Bruce Dickinson can suck it. Maybe I only associate this with fall because of Halloween (like Sabbath) but who cares.

Fall music.

I don't like winter or summer, I pretty much tolerate spring because it's not winter, so the only time of the year I really like is fall. Also, the music that I associate with fall seems to be some of my favorite...to me, that means stuff that's often depressing, but in an 'elegant' and abstract kind of way.

These are the albums I rock pretty hard all season long:

Burzum - 'Filosofem'

Basically the best black metal album of all time, but one that really transcends the genre. The three opening tracks are all it should take to become totally obsessed with black metal like I was. From the lo-fi production to the artful throat-shredding vocals, this album IS a forest losing its leaves.

 The Cure - anything, but specifically 'Faith,' 'Disintegration' and 'Seventeen Seconds.'

There are very few things I don't like about The Cure, but these three albums define autumn to me. Some of their work is only good if I'm in a really bad mood ('Pornography,' 'The Top') and other things I only really play if I'm in a Cure-kinda mood ('Kiss Me x3') but I can listen to these three records all season long.

Funeral - 'Tragedies'

Just look at that goddamn album cover. Slow, long and moody pieces that feature really great (although totally out-of-place) female vocals. Somehow the simple vocal patterns and melodies make these songs feel like they stepped out of the 19th century, even though it's a doom metal album...

Slint - 'Spiderland'

Best listened to at night by yourself. Creepy, abstract, weird, and emotionally muted. I guess these songs are depressing, but it's like a confusing, dream-state depression...cliche I guess, but it's like a David Lynch film. A word that comes to mind is 'secretive.' This is what I would listen to if I was an undercover detective.

Codeine - 'Frigid Stars'

Like 'Spiderland' with everything sucked out of it except the melancholy. This is less artful and more just straight up depressing. Not recommended unless you're feelin' real bad. I always listen to this while driving in the autumn dark with the windows down even if it's cold as fuck.

Echo and the Bunnymen - 'Ocean Rain'

I never got past this album...as soon as I realized none of their other releases really had the full orchestra like this one, I didn't pay too much attention. I'm sure they're good 'n all...just not 'Ocean Rain.' Sure, it's sissy English-guy music, but it's way better than any Oasis or Ride or whatever.

Guided by Voices - 'Bee Thousand'

Okay, this record is pretty good for any season...and I rocked it all summer long, but 'Smothered in Hugs' and 'Tractor Rape Chain' have this vibe that sits best with being way too stoned on a rainy fall morning. Maybe you're too 'grown up' to be in that situation, but I'm not.

Creedence Clearwater Revival - 'Chronicle, Vol. 1'

I also tend to listen to a lot of 'classic' rock in the early days of fall...Creedence is such an earthy, forest-y kinda thing. I always get the feeling these guys wanted to blow up every city and just live in the fuckin' woods. Try listening to their version of 'I Put a Spell on You' and not feel cool.

Black Sabbath - 'Black Sabbath

Maybe it's because of Halloween, but Black Sabbath IS October.

Big Star - '#1 Record'

The ultimate 'back to school' album....it IS 1972 and I AM trying to score a date to the homecoming dance when I hear this record. Usually I listen to side one of this, followed by Chris Bell's solo work. I love Alex Chilton and all he did, but the stuff with Bell has that chilly seasonal vibe...'specially 'Better Save Yourself' and 'I Am the Cosmos.'