ASUNM Student Special Event’s Executive Director Marshall Broyles has been producing and recording for half a decade, but appreciating the art and intricacies of music his entire life.
Between organizing the annual UNM Fiestas event to engineering audio for KUNM, Broyles finds the time to practice with his band Ugly Robot and simultaneously pursue his major in Music Theory. The Daily Lobo sat down with Broyles to discuss his favorite albums.
1.The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
“It’s a powerful album. There are a lot of members in Arcade Fire and they’re all doing different things, it gives each track a lot of power. The song ‘Month of May’ exemplifies that perfectly, it sounds like a train busting through for four minutes. There’s this whole theme going on too, I interpret it as nostalgia for a childhood. It’s important to me because it’s a throwback to where I grew up, in that neighborhood and stuff. With their whole style and formula, each song is still completely different.”
2. Tommy - The Who
“Such a massive concept album, with a huge story and through line. It starts with this amazing overture that highlights Pete Townshend’s musicianship. He’s more than a guitarist, he’s a composer, and he condenses all the themes and ideas of the record into the intro. Varied instrumentation, big time, which was crazy for a rock album when it came out in ‘69. Lots of French horn, lots of strings. The story is about a boy, Tommy, and his life growing up. In it, he loses his dad and goes deaf and blind, at some point becoming a “Pinball Wizard,” hence that song of the same name. And then you have Keith Moon saucing over the whole album.
3. Lonerism - Tame Impala
“A novel, sonic experience soaked in vivid psychedelic-pop. It’s all just one musician too, Kevin Parker. Such a solid record, in that every track flows together and follows an explicit theme. ‘Lonerism’ is a rabbit hole, the album goes as deep as you want it to. The lyrics have a lot to do with that; it’s all about social detachment, but you wouldn’t get that impression solely from the instrumentation. It’s poppy, but it’s something fresh. So many bands have listened to this album to go on, in some way, sounding like Tame Impala. Elephant is my favorite track, like it’s obviously a pop song, but so unique. It literally sounds like a stomping elephant. Who can do that?”
4. The Best of Taj Mahal - Taj Mahal
“The man, the myth, the legend. It’s a compilation of his tracks throughout the years. He’s a blues man, been around since the ‘70s. He’s got some really well-known songs, ‘Statesboro Blues’ specifically has become standard in blues music. There was a lot of heart and emotion that went into these songs, and he sings with soul, it’s easy to tell. Also some great acoustic stuff on here, his finger-picking guitar style is personally something I admire. Used to listen to it a lot with my dad, back in the day.”
5. In Rainbows - Radiohead
“What even is there to say, everyone deserves to listen to this record. There’s not a bad track on here, it’s Radiohead’s Magnum Opus I think. Usually rock bands jam, and then record a song similar to that jam. Radiohead though, they’re thinking before they go into the studio, they know their sound and they find the best way to express it. Even when there’s nothing happening in the album, even when it’s just silent, you feel something.
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Audrin Baghaie is a culture reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
