Live! Live! Live!

Pitchfork announced yesterday that, as part of their upcoming festival they are adding a third day which will feature 'important bands playing there most important albums.' Even though an announcement such as this can only really dissapoint, it does pose an interesting question to think about. What albums would you give deem worthy of live treatment 25+ later? Out of boredom I've compiled my own list. For the most part it's somewhat predictable, but still enjoyable to think about. Some albums that I totally adore wouldn't necessarily translate well into the live setting (ie. The Queen is Dead, Entertainment!*, Loveless, Bowie's Low, etc ...), while other albums would maybe even sound better live. Anyways, enjoy, and feel free to add your own! (for what it's worth, I've put a * by the albums I bet are going to be performed at Pitchfork)

Velvet Underground - White Light, White Heat
Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica
Talking Heads - Fear of Music
- Remain in Light
The Fall - Hex Enduction Hour
B 52's - S/T
Devo - Are We Not Men? We are Devo!
Pere Ubu - Dub Housing
- The Modern Dance
PiL - Metal Box
Wire - Chairs Missing
The Raincoats - S/T
Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
Dave Holland Quartet - Conference of Birds
Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come
-The Complete Science Fiction Sessions
Miles Davis - Seven Steps to Heaven
John Coltrane - Ascension
Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians
Neil Young - Tonights the Night
Bob Dylan - Another Side of Bob Dylan
- Highway 61 Revisited
Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Sings Newman
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On?
Serge Gainsbourg - Comic Strip
Brownie McGhee - Traditional Blues Sung By Brownie McGhee
Sonic Youth - Evol
- Daydream Nation *
- Goo
Dinosaur Jr - You're Living All Over Me*
Pixies - Doolittle* (Doesn't everyone in their right mind want to see this one live?)

If I were to have to limit this list to three I would have to go with The B 52's, Dave Holland, and Sonic Youth's Evol. For some reason, the idea of going to an album based concert where everyone dresses up like their favorite song on that album and has a wild dance party, sounds so appealling. This only intesifies if it's the B 52's self-titled album. Who wouldn't want to dress up like some alien named after the planet she came from (Planet Claire), a Lobster (Rock Lobster), some volcanoe (Lava) or a screwed up telephone number (6060-842)?

I saw Dave Holland live five years ago and it's still one of my best live music experiences. The guy can play the crap out of his bass. His album Conference of Birds, from the early 70s, is easily his best, and would be absolutely stunning to see performed live. The whole thing sounds like one long trip to a bird sanctuary!


I don't think I need to say much about Evol. It's one of the U.S' finest bands at their most impressive moment. From start to finish Evol is Sonic Youth's most interesting release, as they leave tons of room for improvisation to occur. Room that is noticeably missing in albums like Dirty, Experiemental Jet Set Trash and No Star, or even last years Rather Ripped (which I still really enjoyed). And room that would allow for even more experiementation in a live setting


Anyways, that's enough for now. I'll be back tomorrow with a review of Low's new album Drums and Guns, which is surprisingly good.