I've heard it several times before, but I've just been hit, hard: Sly & the Family Stone's There's a Riot Goin' On is an awesome album. And not just because there's a song on the second side ("Spaced Cowboy") that features both yodeling and Young Marble Giants drumming before there was Young Marble Giants drumming. And not just because of "Family Affair", although that's a big part of it. It's a collection of incredible songs, sleazy and disturbing and fun as all hell and politically conscious all at once, and the story behind the name of the album is wicked cool. I guess originally it was going to be called Africa Talks to You, as if that weren't cool enough, but five months before the album was scheduled to come out, Marvin Gaye released What's Going On, and Sly decided to answer him--there's a fucking riot goin' on is what's going on. Admittedly, the original title would have aged better, because it's awesome free of context, but coming so soon after Marvin Gaye's overrated mess it must have been mind-blowing.
In my benevolence I make this fantastic album available for download.
More Barock-Plastik to come, I swear.
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