1. Gospel Train
Before rock and roll even had a name, before soul found its stride, there was the raw power of the spiritual. This isn't just hymnal; it's the guttural cry, the ecstatic release, the call-and-response that laid down the rhythmic and vocal blueprints for everything from early rhythm and blues to the fervent shouts of James Brown. You hear the foundational wail here, the true deep roots.
2. The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, vols. 1-3
Sun Ra wasn't just playing jazz; he was detonating it. These volumes, recorded mid-sixties, jettisoned bebop's structures for a free-form cosmic exploration that felt like a journey beyond Earth. His Arkestra brought an otherworldly chaos, a blend of ancient rhythms and nascent electronic squalls, pushing the very boundaries of what music could be, paving the way for further sonic rebellion.
3. First Album
This wasn't just a record; it was a manifesto wrapped in a banana peel. Issued when psychedelia was in full bloom, it offered something far more dangerous: drone, dissonance, and lyrics that stared into the urban abyss. It’s the blueprint for punk's sneer and post-punk's intellectual chill, a raw, uncompromising beauty that still cuts deep.
4. Safe As Milk
Captain Beefheart took the blues, chopped it up, and served it back to us as something utterly alien, yet strangely familiar. Released in '67, it's a deconstructionist's dream, with Zoot Horn Rollo's guitar squalls and the Captain's gravel-throated pronouncements. It’s avant-garde rock that still has a palpable groove, albeit one twisted out of shape, a true precursor to much weirdness.
5. The Last Poets
When this dropped in 1970, it wasn't just poetry; it was rhythmic truth-telling, a street-corner sermon backed by sparse, insistent percussion. This is where the political fury of the Black Arts Movement met a nascent musical form, directly paving the way for hip-hop's lyrical attack and urgent social commentary. It’s raw, unflinching, and utterly essential.
6. Tago Mago (2011 Remastered)
This 2011 remaster lets you hear the sprawling, hypnotic genius of Can with new clarity. Originally from '71, it’s the definitive statement of krautrock's motorik pulse, stretching out into vast, psychedelic soundscapes. Its repetitive grooves and free-form improvisation built a new kind of rock music, one that felt more like a ritual than a performance.
7. Faust IV (Deluxe Edition)
Faust, in '73, were taking the playful chaos of krautrock and injecting it with a proto-industrial sensibility. This Deluxe Edition brings out the intricate layers of their sonic experiments. It's challenging, often absurd, but always pushing. You hear the nascent clang and hum that would influence industrial music, all wrapped in a uniquely German, avant-garde rock package.
8. Sowiesoso
Cluster's 1976 offering was a whisper in a world of shouts. This record distilled krautrock's expansive tendencies into something exquisitely minimal and electronic. It's early ambient music, yes, but with a quiet, undeniable depth, proving that sonic exploration didn't always need bombast. A foundational text for electronic minimalism, it still floats, serene and profound.
9. Blank Generation (40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)
Richard Hell's '77 declaration is the sound of New York punk with a poet's sneer. This 40th-anniversary edition reinforces its raw, intellectual power. It’s got the street-level aggression of punk, but also a self-awareness that foreshadowed post-punk's angular complexity. A true anthem for the disaffected, still sharp enough to cut.
10. 20 Jazz Funk Greats (Remastered)
Throbbing Gristle's 1979 statement was less "jazz-funk" and more "anti-music as provocation." This remaster only amplifies its unsettling clarity. It’s the sound of industrial music finding its voice, a cold, mechanical, and often disturbing exploration of noise and texture. A deliberate affront to convention, it tore down polite musical structures with brutal efficiency.
11. Entertainment!
Gang of Four, 1979. This was post-punk as polemic, a sharp, angular assault of guitar and rhythm section that made you think and dance, often uncomfortably. They took the funk groove, stripped it bare, and reassembled it with a political edge, creating something fiercely intellectual yet undeniably physical. It’s a masterclass in tension and release.
12. The Raincoats
In '79, The Raincoats offered a DIY antidote to punk's male-dominated swagger. Their debut is raw, unconventional, and unapologetically themselves. They didn't conform to slick production or traditional song structures, instead crafting a unique, almost childlike yet deeply intelligent sound that resonated with a nascent feminist punk sensibility. Still vital, still inspiring.
