A strong though loving world

As if I'ma let Cat have the top post for more than like a second. If she wanna be on top she better be prepared to match my prodigious no-life-having. I mean output. Now let's get to business.

YOU! YOU THERE! READING YONDER BLOG! YES, YOU! You have probably heard of a band called the Velvet Underground. In fact I can almost picture you scoffing at the very thought that there might be, amongst the elite, resplendent ranks of robot cake readers (I steadfastly believe they exist, y'all can't tell me no ways diff'urnt), one who has not. I can see it now. You, scoffing at the computer screen. What foolishness! It will not change the text! I wrote it and it stays unless I find a typo, in which case I will edit it accordingly. Fuck, I'm off track again. Let me take a moment to reorient myself.

SO AS I WAS SAYING BEFORE YOUR COMPLETELY UNCALLED-FOR SCOFFING TOTALLY BEWILDERED ME: You have probably heard of the Velvet Underground. You all likely have differing opinions of the band's quality but you likely have heard their music and realize their importance in the evolution of rock and roll as an art form. If you are not a moron you will further know that their first two records, The Velvet Underground and Nico and White Light/White Heat are way better than their last two records. Why is this? Could it be Lou Reed just used up all of his good songs on those albums and had to use scraps to fill up the latter two? Of course not: the answer is the lump o' sex you see below, the incomparable Mr. John Cale.

Okay, maybe he's not a lump o' sex, but he's certainly a lump of something. 

Now I can imagine your formerly complacent self blubbering at the computer screen "B-b-but Mister Thomas, I thought Lou Reed was the famous genius!" I can only imagine why someone would both scoff and blubber at mere words on a screen but I don't pretend to be able to read your minds. While Lou Reed surely played a large part in the quality of The Velvet Underground, I find his solo career to be extremely lacking. Transformer, perhaps his most celebrated record, is an unconvincing stab at "glam" packed with shrill, shallow songs that irritate more than titillate. Although punctuated by some truly great tracks (Perfect Day, Walk on the Wild Side) it is, as one might say, totally crappy. Berlin was fairly good but overproduced. His only album I actually enjoy is New York, which is a solid rock and roll album. Overall I think Lou is capable of greatness (evidenced by VU and several great solo songs) but so much of his catalog is just bland. He just doesn't have very much range. All of his albums are just straight rock or straight pop rock (I'm not counting Metal Machine Music because he just did that to get out of a contract). I'm probably grossly misrepresenting him since I haven't heard all his records, but when I heard Magic and Loss I couldn't help but forsake him (subtext: Magic and Loss is really shitty).

ON! THE! OTHER! HAND! John Cale is extra hot great. I won't lie, he has had some really bad albums as well. I won't pass him off as a wonderman who can do no wrong. He can do wrong and he has. However, what separates him from Lou Reed is that John Cale changes. Rarely do Cale albums sound like each other. His first solo album, Vintage Violence (which, incidentally, is only decent), is light country pop. Consider that, and also consider the last song Cale released before Vintage Violence was a 17-minute noise freakout where he bashed on an organ like a man possessed. John Cale is an innovator, an experimenter. His experimentation with noise and drone made the Velvet Underground great. His need for innovation assured that he would not dwell on noise and drone for his entire career, but reinvent his sound constantly. EXAMPLE: Cale's most famous and highly rated album, Paris 1919, heavily features beautifully arranged strings, and beautiful, delicate, almost chamber-pop songs (IT'S ALSO NOT HIS BEST ONLY ONE OF THE BEST DON'T ONLY DOWNLOAD THIS ONE). None of his other records sound remotely like that. Like, at all. Ever. It takes a truly courageous man to step away from a formula that produced such marvelous success. 

Cale has released pop songs, love songs, rock songs, extremely minimalist avant-garde anti-songs (I made that term up, it means nothing), hyper-aggressive punk songs, ballads, and classical. Also his voice: maybe the best? Not technically, of course, but I have heard no voice in music that can match his in terms of convincingly conveying such a broad range of emotion. When he breaks down into insane yelping, he sounds like an unstable, coked-up maniac (which he was for a while). His vocals on "Cable Hogue" affect me like none other ever have. His anger and self-hatred on "Guts" are startlingly authentic (probably because it is authentic. His friend Kevin Ayers had sex with Cale's wife. Guts is not affected in any way, it is Cale's mind). What can I say? John Cale is one of modern music's greatest treasures. Genius is wasted if it doesn't strive to go beyond complacency. Cale has never been complacent. He has always gone above and beyond to create something amazing. He hasn't always succeeded, but at least he aspires to do something different. The same can't be said for certain other members of a certain band.

Now comes the real treat: after metaphorically jizzing repeatedly on John Cale, I can't leave you with one mere album, especially after playing up his prodigious range. YOU good sir are left with EIGHT JOHN CALE ALBUMS I AM SO GENEROUS CAN YOU EVEN STAND IT

Vintage Violence (his solo debut. Country pop, nothing too special, it's good enough)

hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?zzmfnzs7xlb

Fear, Slow Dazzle, and Helen of Troy (the "Island Trilogy," these sound the most alike of any of his records. Contains some of his best work, e.g. Fear, Heartbreak Hotel, Gun, Guts, Helen of Troy, Ship of Fools, Cable Hogue, Leaving it Up to You, etc)
hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?q92qtfoylhk
hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?1d3vurjijcv
hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?e1m88rfh08h

Paris 1919 (classic)

hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?ebtioefwiop

Music for a New Society (extremely minimalistic, bleak, poetic, avant garde. Great but not an easy listen. Also extremely hard to get a hold of. You're welcome.)

hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?vlwcdl7biaw

Sabotage/Live (a live set at CBGB's with Cale at his loudest and most aggressive.)

hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?ncvndom4pfv

Fragments of a Rainy Season (live album of all of Cale's best. Every song only feature Cale on one instrument, either piano or acoustic guitar. The incredibly stripped-down style exposes the strength of the compositions)

hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?klz8cdb49vm

Other recommended records include Hobosapiens (bought on iTunes so I can't upload) and Circus Live (too large a file to upload)