50 albums: 1996 - Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request by The Brian Jonestown Massacre

I was a latecomer to The Brian Jonestown Massacre, I was certainly aware of them before, but it was probably whenever Anton Newcombe decided to give away all his music for free on the Internet (I think it was in 2004) that I really got interested. That makes me sound cheap, I only got interested when the music cost nothing, but I think my interest was more likely stimulated by any band who was willing to try and understand how the Internet was changing music and music distribution.

When you spend time maturing with a band, getting fed an album every year or so, and understanding that they're changing, just like you're changing, it's easy to get a handle on them. However, when suddenly exposed to seven or eight albums, without any real knowledge of how they came about, what order they arrived in, or what changed, for the band, between each album, it's not so simple.

I knew I liked a lot of what I heard, but I found it hard to understand. I bought the albums that followed, My Bloody Underground and Who Killed Sgt. Pepper, and occasionally dipped backwards. I'd pick an album from the past based on random criteria. I listened to ... And This Is Our Music quite a lot because of the Galaxie 500 connection, although I'm not sure the connection went too far beyond the title. I listened to Methodrone because someone compared it to Spaceman 3. I probably don't listen to Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request as much as those albums, but I know I really should.

I find Anton a little scary, but that's because, despite my love of rock and roll, I find any real suggestion of rock and roll decadence a bit terrifying. I'm uptight, it's what I am.

(play on YouTube)

50 films and 50 albums