Feels Like the First Time

Some people do great things right out of the gate and then disappear forever (Harper Lee, Christian Laettner, Tag Team). And then there are those who despite not looking very promising in the beginning, go on to do great things (Jimmy Carter). Today, an ode to some of modern musics' greatest innovators and music-makers whose first albums were, well, not that great.


The National - The National
This is a band searching for its sound. Clearly, they didn't find it here. While The National might be indie rock's current kings, the trip to the throne was full of murky and kind of boring alt-country. Fitting then that the band best known for making albums that take time to grow on you, took their own sweet time growing into being a great band.

Radiohead - Pablo Honey
Sure it was awesome but let's be honest, "Creep" was a total ripoff of mid-nineties angst ala "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Beck's "Loser," and the Smashing Pumpkins, "Zero." Most of Pablo Honey is sappy and kind of embarrassing (and the band wouldn't argue this). Radiohead's rise from just another nineties grunge rock outfit to making a handful of the best albums known to mankind is comparable only to the Beatles metamorphosis from boy band to inventors of modern music.

Nirvana - Bleach
While some purists (read: fun hating, annoying contrarians) may claim Bleach was truly Nirvana's best record, the truth is, most of it is downright unlistenable. While moments like "About a Girl" show the amazing songwriter Cobain hid under all those blown out amplifiers, songs like "Floyd the Barber" are the musical equivalent of water boarding.



Bright Eyes - A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997

Whiny doesn't even begin to describe the upper-middle class complaints of a young Connor Oberst. However the singer/songwriter was able to finally channel all that teen angst into a pretentiously-titled emo-folk epic, Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground and has since seemed to settle on an easy going country-rock sound with songs about fortune tellers and long road trips. Though his latter albums have lacked the emotional depth of the early stuff, the feeling is more genuine and mature.



Neutral Milk Hotel - Everything Is...

The first official EP of Neutral Milk Hotel, Everything Is..., is a messy collage of headache-inducing noise. Apart from the title track (a fun fuzzy psyche-pop tune) this album is just pure throwaway. The next album out of these guys however, was one of the most moving and amazing pieces of art of the 20th century.

Under The Influence

Each month we pick an influential band or musician that you might not know so well and tell you how they have influenced those you do. This month we are looking at the crazy-ass, Casper-the-Ghost loving, singer/songwriter, Daniel Johnston. Johnston, a diagnosed schizophrenic, has often led a life that has overshadowed his music. That life was brought to focus a few years ago in the terrific documentary, The Devil and Daniel Johnston, where we learned about his long list of inappropriate (to say the least) behavior. We learned, for instance, that Johnston once tried to crash a plane his father was flying on purpose because he thought he was already a ghost and also how Johnston once scared an elderly woman so much (believing that she was Satan) that she jumped out of an apartment window (a few stories up) to escape (she lived). But all that would be relatively uninteresting if it wasn't for the other thing that Johnston does - make heartbreakingly sad and sincere pop tunes. Although Johnston is far from a talented musician technically speaking, he has an uncanny knack for melody and the type of touching lyrics that only a self absorbed, clinically insane person could get away with. Much like the late Vic Chestnutt, it's Johnston's limits as a musician that emphasize how much he needs it in his life to express himself, elevating what could be written off as sloppy musicianship to a rare form of high-art. But don't just take my word for it. Here, a list of music-makers who cite Johnston as a major influence.

Kurt Cobain
Often seen wearing a t-shirt that depicted the front cover of Johnston's album, Hi How Are You? Cobain was both a huge fan and deeply influenced by Johnston's work, which can be heard in a song like "Pennyroyal Tea."

Sparklehorse
Mark Linkous, the brains behind Sparklehorse, is basically what Daniel Johnston would be if he were a fully functioning human being that didn't go around trying to kill devils all the time. Linkous has gone on to produce a tribute album for Johnston and his music is heavily influenced by the troubled singer in the best possible way. The two artists' parents have even become friends over the years!

Beck
While you might not hear it in a spazzed-out, electro-funk anthem like "Where It's At," take a listen to Mutations or even Sea Change to hear the super honest, lost-in-the-world-without-you tunes that Johnston does so well. Not sold? Beck also appeared on the tribute album, The Late Great Daniel Johnston and when you hear him do the song, you hear how easily it could have been one of his own.

Bright Eyes
Daniel Johnston has had such an impact on Conor Oberst that it's really hard to imagine Bright Eyes existing if there were no DJ. Oberst has, in fact, taken Johnston's song, "Devil Town" and made it into a crowd-favorite staple of his own live shows.

Sonic Youth
Though they cite him as an influence, frankly I don't hear it (unless you count the sheer dissonance in their music that for them is experimentation and for Johnston is, well, just how he plays). But there is no denying that they have great affection for him (and incredible patience) as is on display in the movie The Devil and Daniel Johnston.