Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band – Trout Mask Replica (1969)
Trout Mask Replica is the definition of sound as art. It combines free jazz, delta blues, african chant rhymes, avant-garde, and Ginsberg like maniacal (raving hobo) beat-poetry that anticipates rap into this experimental thing called genius. I’m not kidding, Trout Mask Replica is the definition of sound as art.
It’s the definition of hard listening, passively listening to all the intentional off-notes, abrupt stops, collisions, screams, and howls won’t do them justice. And when you’ve completed the strenuous process of paying attention to everything (because you have to), listening to any other album feels like getting off the highway. It’s a very self-aware deconstruction and reconstruction of sound as art. (I dare any musician to try and cover/ replicate any part of the album.)
Amazon reviews for this album are polarized, and hilarious; one review titled ‘Can’t listen to it enough’ says it all for me:
Yes yes yes. It’s cacophonous, it’s gritty, it’s unpleasant. Put it on at a party and watch people Continue Reading →