Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band – Clear Spot
I guess this one is a companion piece to Uncle Meat: Zappa and Beefheart are so intertwined, true brethren. Beefheart came a little later for me and this record was a comparatively new discovery – I wore the shit out of Trout Mask Replica and Safe As Milk. I adore John French's drumming on those two records; it was like seeing a negative image of a photo and immediately preferring the way it looks. Every decision he made was so counterintuitive, warped and mind-blowing to me. So it feels very weird to choose a record that features any other drummer. I have such a soft spot for this record though; it's a truly avant-garde artist going pop, but his weird still spills out of every pore. There are some pretty classic bluesy moments, 'Nowadays A Woman's Gotta Hit A Man', offset by some familiar, frantic Beefheart, like 'Sun Zoom Spark'. The title track is a masterpiece, the production is danky and dark – maybe the most satisfying song he's ever recorded. It's impossible to choose a favourite record of his, but this one feels relevant at the moment.