| Author | Message | ||
     kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 655 Registered: 05-2005 |
Junior Boys - Last Exit. - cant get enough of electro stuff at the moment. Hot Chip - The Warning. Maybe just edges Junior Boys in the electro stakes, mostly because they have more hooks. The JBs are darker though, which I also like. REM - Fables of The Reconstruction. - Side 1 of this is flawless. Hardin, was it yourself who said the other day that you "even like Wendell Gee". What did you mean by this? I'm just curious because I love Wendell Gee. Bonnie Prince Billy - Then The Letting Go- Pretty folky in places, with a prominent female backing singer attempting the Emmylou role. Only one listen so far, but could be a slow burner this one. Lambchop - Damaged - Was playing this at work last night. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the guy I was working with thinking to himself" what the F*** is this, that singers from another planet" I know, I know, I should have asked the guy what he thought of Lambchop, but to be honest I would be surprised if he even cared, he has never, ever to my knowledge ever spoke about music and I have known him 10 years! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 551 Registered: 03-2006 |
Wasn't me, but I believe I liked that song - I only vaguely remember it. Isn't there a banjo in there somewhere? Liked the album a lot when it came out. Really, not to go against all you Murmurheads, though it was a staggering achievement and really sounded sooo fresh and different at the time, I'm not sure it's my favorite (aarrggh! heresy)...I remember there was that period where people were just stunned by each successive record - each seemed better than the last and evinced solid growth...I remember just being gobsmacked by Reckoning.And when "Fables" came out, it was like, "damn, they've hit another one out of the park".. Honestly, my favorite is probably "Out of Time", that is minus the excrescence that was "Shiny Happy People". I liked "Monster" and a lot of "Automatic" (aaaarghh),particularly Nightswimming and Find the River. Not so much Everybody Hurts and I do see how Stipe's behavior and general going over to the dark side put people off. "Green" I didn't get much out of...I'm sure we all can agree that "Reveal", "Up with People" (or whatever the hell it was called) and, most of all, "Around the Sun" were largely without worth. Any Desert Island comp of their best for me would have to include songs like "Rockville", "So.Central Rain", "Fall on Me", "Nightswimming", "Flowers of Guatemala", and "Country Feedback", along with of course chestnuts like "Radio Free Europe" and "Talk About the Passion"... It was annoying, being in on them from the ground floor, when all the young punks and dweebs came along at different stages in their career. Hard not to get indignant: "Hey, that's MY band, junior! I saw them play at the Bayou in 1985 for $2. I even pissed alongside Bill Berry!" Is that a new Bonnie Prince Billy? You, as usual, are really up on things.. I tried a sample of Junior Boys and gotta be honest - I don't get it. It might be that Yank culture gap, but it just kinda sounded like a bunch of blippity blippity disco music, without a particularly compelling beat. Which is not to say I don't like synth based music at all, because I really enjoy New Order. I guess, though, "electro" as a genre isn't my thing...I think it was called "In the Morning". Was that representative of the record as a whole? | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 553 Registered: 03-2006 |
ps - Kev, I meant to point out that you could have a lot of fun with that dude you work with: play some really crazy shit: I dunno, Norwegian Death Metal, Tiny Tim, the Vienna Boy's Choir, Metal Machine Music. Keep a straight face and see if you get a reaction...in your shoes, I couldn't resist... | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 657 Registered: 05-2005 |
Lots of good points about REM LK. The BPB is new ,no doubt it should it hit the States by 2007  Junior Boys are not very immediate to my ears, but I like that, it usually means that you are hearing new things after 20,30 ,40 listens. Your cunning plan regarding the guy I work with has 2 major flaws. 1) I dont have any of that stuff (MMM long since binned) 2) I would have to endure it too !! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 554 Registered: 03-2006 |
Ah, you're right. A flaw in my fiendish scheme...it probably reflects poorly on my character that I would put up with horrible music to get a rise out of a co-worker... Stuff undeniably comes out later here and it really pisses me off...I guess they figure Yanks have such bad taste they won't sell as much. (I, of course, am not talking about us cool 'Mericans that frequent this board) I'll see what else I can find by the Jr. Boys - it's gotten some great reviews, so I'm curious. Maybe I can get over my Yank anti-synth prejudice. I did learn to like spinach! I'm listening to Midlake as I write this. Damn, that's a great record! Maybe the mojo is in them beards...or maybe it just comes down to great tunes, singing and playing. Do you know anything about their other records? | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 658 Registered: 05-2005 |
I have Bamnan and Silvercork by Midlake Hardin. I got this retrospectively after being bowled over by Van Occupanther and must admit I only played it twice and it kinda got swamped by all the other stuff. Christ, not enough hours in the day to play all this stuff. Any reviews I read say its their lo-fi record. I'll need to dig it out and put it in the pile with Culture, Hot Chip, Lifes Rich Pageant(yes, I'm rediscovering just how great REM were), Junior Boys, Bonnie Prince Billy, Lambchop, Scritti, Sparklehorse, New Pornos, TV on The Radio and the new Dylan album. Just as well its the weekend eh. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 659 Registered: 05-2005 |
Ok, I lied about the new Dylan album Hardin, but I couldnt resist the thought of you spluttering with rage at us Limeys getting it first Just over a week to go, can you contain yourself? | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 585 Registered: 05-2005 |
Kev, Bonnie Prince Billy, what an amazing writer, and what a singer too. His stuff is so honest, he sings about sex so real but without a trace of uncouthness? (is that a a word?) Sometimes he sings stuff about murder, and you think, shiiiiiiit!!!!!!! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 661 Registered: 05-2005 |
Guess that comes from him being a trained actor Spence. If he isnt acting the parts in some of these songs then he's one f-ed up kind of guy about the sex being real hows about "and i lick you dry until you're laughing my finger is in your behind" crikey!! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 556 Registered: 03-2006 |
That Bonnie Prince - he's such a romantic! He said "behind" instead of "arse", which I think is the mark of a real gentleman. Kev, I can contain myself, but just barely! Though I have my reservations - I read some quotes of some bizarre references he makes to Alicia Keys (!) in a song. Also, that bizarre pencil-thin mustache. I just don't know, man. It makes him look like Vincent Price. Talking about new releases - it's either feast or famine. There is (finally) a bunch of choice items coming out this week, including Lambchop, Eric Bachmann, the Mountain Goats and M. Ward. I think I'm most excited about "Rogue's Gallery" a collection of sea shanties and whatnot, done by people like Loudon Wainwright, Nick Cave and Bryan Ferry and Richard Thompson, et al...it was somehow brought together under the aegis of Johnny Depp and his silly pirate movie. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 662 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hardin, M Ward I dont know what to make of that guy. I bought one of his albums which had a Bowie cover on it, it just kinda passed me by. Do you rate him then? Bryan Ferry is tbe anti christ At this moment in time, 6 beers down, Skull by Sebadoh (from Bakesale) and Big Night by American Music Club (from Engine) sound like two of the best songs ever written. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 663 Registered: 05-2005 |
The 3rd best song ever written circa 0335am on 20th August 2006 is Thirteen by Big Star. Just listened to the definitive version, and then a live version by Big Star and a version by Kathleen Williams. I remember there was a bootleg by Evan Dando where he did a fantastic version, there is also a grainy video of Elliott Smith performing it. Makes you think, could anybody screw up such a great song as this, I think not because its just a 100%, stonewall, unmessupable classic | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 557 Registered: 03-2006 |
Jesus Kevin - I hope you're up at 3:40 am cuz you're working and not a raging insomniac/music obsessive...I always suspected that, to know as much about music as you do, you must be up listening, reading reviews and shit, while other people are sleeping! I would more or less agree about 13...if not 3rd best, it's certainly up there in the top 5. Easy to play on the guitar, too, which is always cool. No reason classic songs should have eight zillion chords... I wouldn't say I "rate" M. Ward yet - he intrigues me though and is more what Robert Christgau would call a "subject for further research. That boy can definitely pick a geetar, too! I'm REALLY looking forward to the new Mountain Goats though and I DO rate them. That guy's songwriting is just unlike anything I've ever heard. That and the little pirate/ sea shanty thingie will probably get snatched right up this week... Can't be arsed to make a special pleading for Bryan Ferry, though certainly there are worse anti-Christs out there: Bluntie, the dude from Five for Fighting, K-Fed, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, Tom Cruise, Paris Hilton, and George Dubya...oh, and that guy, Judd Hirsch (don't know why, but he really bugs me...) My personal favorite song by AMC is "I've Been a Mess Since You've Been Gone"...hard to believe that master's level bit of songwriting came from the same guy who brought us "Candy Ass"! Now, get some rest you have a lot to do tomorrow. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 492 Registered: 03-2005 |
listening to some of my Amoeba haul: Johnny Cash--American V right now. An existential masterpiece. If I weren't so narcissistic I'd stop writing my own stuff. Jackie DeShannon-Songs. Much better than I was expecting since this was a relatively weak period for her own writing. I hadn't factored in her gifts as an interpreter. A brilliant stripped cover of "Lay Lady Lay" (retitled "Lay Baby Lay") and some other good things on the original release augmented by a jaw-dropping set of shelved tracks produced by Chips Moman in 1970 using songs by the likes of Emmit Rhodes, Arlo Guthrie, Van Morrison, some of Moman's staff writers including a humid sexy version of "Sweet Inspiration" and just one original. I don't want 'em running my government but the Southerners can sure as hell make all my music. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 665 Registered: 05-2005 |
LK, wasnt working at 3.40am. the reason i was still up was because for the previous 5 days I was indeed working at 3.40am and was therefore still in "nightshift mode". i have not yet taken to drinking 6 beers on nightshift yet, you must have missed me mentioning that Hope you enjoy Mountain Goats. By the way, whats the deal with you guys not getting records released till a Tuesday, the rest of the civilsed world can buy them on a Monday? | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 561 Registered: 03-2006 |
I did notice the 6 beers, but thought that either: a) you had a REALLY loose workplace, or b) things wuz different in Scotland...it seems like all of youse overseas drink lager like it's water anyways, for all I knew it was a common thing in Scotland to pound down a few beers on your break... I appreciate your including us in the civilized world though I sometimes have my doubts...the Tuesday release date is intended to keep stores who get their stuff earlier for whatever reason from having an unfair advantage over those who don't. By Tuesday, at least in theory, everybody's shipments should've arrived. I think big chains actually have had an advantage in that regard in the past...probably a vestige from the days when people actually bought CDs, instead of just downloading them...now, it's hard to imagine anyone caring that much about a hard copy CD in a store... I usually don't notice the time on posts, but your pointing out how late it was there brought that home...Wild huh? You're probably winding down for the evening (or at least will in another six hrs.) and it's high afternoon here, sunny as hell, in fact, and I am heading to the beach...if only I could consume a few brewskis on the beach, but that's not possible - they're total Nazis about that here. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 482 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Beat's Platinum Collection on the way into work. Great compilation. No frills, no filler, just 12 of their best songs. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 151 Registered: 01-2005 |
Kevin, That was me who said "I even like Wendel Gee". I seem to remember Stipe blasting it back in the press in the mid 80's saying they would never play it live, etc. It's one of my favorite songs from Fables actually. Or maybe that was Harborcoat from Reckoning now that I think about it! I love them both. I still only have my orignal Fables cd and vinyl from 1985 or so. Does the re-issue that came out sometime back have better sound? | ||
| jerry hann Member Username: Jerry_h Post Number: 202 Registered: 07-2005 |
Getting round to listening to Sonic Youth in roation with the Midlake, Lambchop and Costello/Toussaint from that I can't stop playing Alain Toussaints:Freedom for the Stallion-staggeringly good song. Also in the car with the wife over the past weekend,Rufus Wainwrights-Poses which is good and excellent at times but not as good as he thinks he is and just a little too camp for my tastes to be bowled over by it. Also the Springteen Seeger Sessions have been enjoyed by all the family including my 3 year old daughter-she'll end up a folkie like my wife. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 578 Registered: 03-2006 |
That IS a great song, Jerry. Apparently Touissaint wrote it a long time ago, but it has great relevance today, as well.. Here's something for you and Kev. This blog has a link to a Midlake B-side, called "Marion". It sounds a little like Billy Joel, if he wrote good songs: http://therichgirlsareweeping.blogspot.com/ Scroll about 1/4 of the way down... | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 498 Registered: 03-2005 |
Finally listening to "Rather Ripped." My first listen. Is that photo vintage? How can they have all that hair? | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 607 Registered: 05-2005 |
Guys. I am lovin Midlake. Shadow to fall - Billy Mackenzie and Paul Haig Played Before Hollywood today, magical! | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 131 Registered: 04-2006 |
i am fascinated by woven hand's latest album mosaic. i am obliged to listen to that album over and over again. today i gave spiritualized's 'let it come down' a listen. and maximo parks 'a certain trigger' which is still a fine one. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 583 Registered: 03-2006 |
Midlake, Gnarls and Rather Ripped, still... Also, the N.Y. Dolls' "Someday it will please us to remember even this", still... Got the new Outkast which, though extremely pleasant and funky as a mf, hasn't really insinuated itself on my memory yet... King Curtis - "Live at the Fillmore"...genius genius stuff. The uber-hipness of this record would've been completely lost on me at whatever age I was when it originally came out. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 609 Registered: 05-2005 |
Though tonight as Momus quite rightly blogs...I've been so desperately bored by music recently. I mean pop music and bands and all that. Nothing moves or interests me. There doesn't seem to be subculture any more, everything's conservative aging songwriters, ringtones, formula guitar crap. Where's "gay" David Bowie with no eyebrows singing Brel songs about death, where's the massive arty primal nihilist dub of PiL's Metal Box? | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 455 Registered: 04-2005 |
You're so right about that, Spence. The "underground" has been totally co-opted by mainstream media, advertising, the Internet, etc. Formerly "scary" metal icons Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons have reality shows (for godsake, John Lydon is a TV personality now too!), every other ad on TV features hip-hop or emo music, gay culture is safe and cute because of things like "Queer Eye" and "Will & Grace," etc.--where's the danger? And the great songs sold to commercials...it's one thing to hear Beatles songs from the sixties in an ad, but when I heard "What Do I Get?" by the Buzzcocks in a Toyota ad and "Search and Destroy" by the Stooges in a Nike ad, I realized that the battle had been lost. Everything has its price. You think Lydon wouldn't sell every song on "Metal Box" to advertisers if they asked him?And they just might: "For your new cell phone ring, try 'Poptones' from Cingular!" It all comes down to money, of course. Once the ad/media world figured out how to make money on what used to be "forbidden," it was all over. These days, I hear music I like, but I can't remember the last time I heard a new band that really startled me, and I can't think of any young bands or artists that I'm totally taken with. Who do we blame for this? Warhol? MTV? Nirvana? People our age, our former peers, who went into advertising and marketing? Or is this there no blame to be had, it's just an inevitable process of humanity? As the Clash once sang, "he who fucks nuns will later join the church." | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 677 Registered: 05-2005 |
Great post Kurt. I remember when I heard The Fall song Touch Sensitive soundtracking a car advert for the first time. Initially I thought, fantastic The Fall on TV, but this swiftly turned in to the same feelings Kurt had with The Buzzcocks and The Stooges ads. I'm generalising, but I think people are no longer shocked or disgusted by hardly anything now - we're all shocked out!! | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 456 Registered: 04-2005 |
See, we don't get Fall songs on TV ads here in the States (yet)...now that would be a shock! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 679 Registered: 05-2005 |
Has anybody heard this Comets On Fire lot? Their new album Avatar has been getting rave reviews. they are on sub pop, which is a fairly good label, so i was intrigued. from the samples I have heard its just hairy, heavy metal, guitar wig out nonsense. am I missing something here? | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 585 Registered: 03-2006 |
You would know, Little Keith likes 'em...I wouldn't say they have changed my life or nothin', and your description of them as heavy metal guitar wig out nonsense is pretty accurate, but for some reason, their particular brand of nonsense holds some appeal for me...I have Avatar and like it. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 610 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Beat best of has been in my car too Padraig. Ranking Roger lives near me and we saw him in a Birmingham Park teaching Rollerblading! I said hello and he did a "Bbbbbbbrrrrrrrraaaaaaahh!" to my two daughters in their pushchair. They laughed at him and pointed!! Funny to think I used to mime to his records as an 11 year old!!! | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 611 Registered: 05-2005 |
Kurt. Nicely put. You articulate as good as anyone on this board. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 680 Registered: 05-2005 |
You know Hardin, I lived a pretty sheltered life as a teenager when it came to the evil beasts that are MOR and Heavy Metal/Rock. I guess I am lucky that myself and the people I hung around with all loved Bowie, Lou Reed (which led to The Velvets), The Faces, Eno/Roxy, T Rex, hell some even liked things like Cockney Rebel, Sparks and Sensational Alex Harvey Band, all of whom I grudgingly admired. I dont really remember us having an anti MOR or Heavy Metal agenda, its just that it wasnt for us because we didnt like bland, and we didnt like guitar histrionics. As I have grown older, and therefore unfortunatlely more cynical, I hate both these genres with a passion which verges on obsession at times (God, I think I might need help, its only f'in music )- anyway I'm rambling a bit. What I was meaning to say at the start of all this was that if I had even managed to like Heavy Rock a teensy bit as a teenager, I may have been better equipped to listen to, maybe even enjoy Comets On Fire. I think too much water has passed under the bridge for that though. Dont know if its the same in the States, but in my experience here in the UK there are many people who have started off as fans of Heavy Rock (or whatever it is called at any particular era) and they reach their late teens and early 20s and seem to have a "Damascus" moment and discover the world of (for want of a better phrase) Alternative Music. From there on in its like an ex smoker who turns their back on cigarettes, its like Heavy Rock is a period of their life that they look back on with embarrassment. In my experience nobody switches from alt rock to heavy rock, or those that do probably wouldnt admit it . Once more I guess I am generalising a bit here, but I think there is more than a grain of truth in what I say here. | ||
| Paul Swinford Member Username: Prema Post Number: 16 Registered: 11-2005 |
Kevin, you asked why Americans get their new releases on Tuesday instead of Monday. Some might point to Mondays as slow retail days. And you can get some added press on Monday when people are tuning back into the news from their weekends off. There might also be the reason that Americans are more prone to heart attacks at 9 AM on Mondays, and entertainment executives may even be more susceptible. If first-day sales tanked on a Monday it might deplete the management ranks too quickly. On the positive side, if you know that Dylan's new CD is releasing on Tuesday, it would give you reason to survive Monday morning! And after five or six days of immersion in Modern Times, you may feel inspired to survive the following Monday morning. So the whole Tueday New Release Paradigm may be an evolutionary advancement... This, however, is not much help to me because I suffer from OFS (Old Fogey Syndrome-see related thread). If it's new, I'm probably not interested. I've been listening to dusty gems of late: The Anthology (1968-1990) - David Edmunds Basher - Nick Lowe Time Trials - Honeybunch. Jeff Underhill's project before he helped found Velvet Crush). I befriended Jeff back in college in Madison, Wisconsin. A first-rate fellow and a lover of the Go-Betweens, Roddy Frame and all the Postcard stuff. I caught Honeybunch a few times in Rhode Island when I first moved to New England. Was happy to find Time Trials at a very reasonable price a few weeks ago. Sweetheart of the Rodeo - The Byrds "Good Enough" by Idgy Vaughn. Found this as Song of the Day on National Public Radio's web site: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5636052 Whew! Not a happy song but poignant (see related post under 'Most Exciting GB's Track'). "Good Enough" is about as honest a daugther-to-mother confession as has probably ever been put to music. Well worth a listen if you like the Bakersfield sound. More songs on her MySpace site. Her CD is currently getting re-pressed. Atom Drum Bop and World by Storm - The Three Johns Third and Long - Appliances SFB. Music from the gentlest mosh pits on the eastern side of the Mississippi. Imagine Big Black meeting the Three Johns at the La Brea Tar Pits, and you'll have some idea of the joyful, inventive, chunky sound they created. If that description is just too compelling for you, go to CDbaby.com for a sample. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 501 Registered: 03-2005 |
"Rather Ripped" again. A nice solid album. It will be a while before I'll be able to say much more. Yesterday: Blue Aeroplanes' "Beatsongs." I think I bought on the wrong side of their career, i.e., too late a release. It's not a bad record but a lot of it sounded kind of "by the numbers." Like Spence, right now I'm not really running into anything to get the passions going but it will happen again so I don't worry. I'm still very enthused about Neko Case' "Fox Confessor" and I'm finding the subtle charms of Keren Ann to wear quite well. It's too early to say this tastefully but I'm looking forward to the next Robert Forster album. I think it will be a monster. Kevin, the only person I know who listens to any variant of the heavy metal stuff is my 17 year old nephew. It's inspired him to switch from playing baseball to playing guitar which I think is great. I hope he has a musical epiphany one of these days. The heavy metal/hair band stuff is inherently kid-oriented. No person beyond a certain age can take it seriously because it is totally lacking in the very adult characteristic of nuance. Or maybe the persons beyond a certain age who DO still take it seriously are just folks I'd never know. On the subject of commoditizing music, I seem to be as passionately offended by the incomprehension of the casual music "consumer" as I ever was. Non-musical friends and acquaintances of mine know that I do some of my own stuff and want to hear it but they have no possibility of grasping what I am trying to achieve. Most people want trivial entertainment. I want to share neither my own music nor my most passionately loved music by others, such as the Go Bees, with any of them. So the idea of any of my favorites ending up in TV commercials is pretty unpleasant. The use of the Fall in an ad just seems incredibly arch. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 591 Registered: 03-2006 |
Paul, I love Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe - their stuff is wonderful, and when the two were together, in Rockpile, it was almost too much... Randy, have you heard about the album by "Lady & Bird"?...it's Keren Ann, in tandem with some other woman...don't know much more about it, but it's gotten good reviews...nothing like those breathy French chanteuses... | ||
| jerry hann Member Username: Jerry_h Post Number: 206 Registered: 07-2005 |
been exploring myspace over last few days and downloaded 4 by Caroline Trettine which are lovely,and also 2 by Shitdisco which are OK in dancepunk sort of way. The Caroline Trettine I'll buy at some point | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 616 Registered: 05-2005 |
I'm thinking of buying 3 cd's by classic metal bands, just for the thrill of it ACDC, Cheap Trick and Rainbow, what should I buy? Any ideas guys? Nice one jerry. | ||
| Cichli Suite Member Username: Cichli_suite Post Number: 141 Registered: 08-2004 |
AC/DC - Back in Black. It's a classic, Spence, and funny too, as is the best AC/DC. I still involuntarily strum air guitar when I put it on, just as I did when I was 14. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 461 Registered: 04-2005 |
Rainbow?????? I don't know. Some others here hate 'em, but give me Led Zep if I have to listen to '70s Brit metal. Probably best to stick with the first three (pre-stardom) Cheap Trick albums, whatever they were called. Like most bands, they lost the plot after the live album became a huge hit. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 682 Registered: 05-2005 |
Spence , dont go over to the dark side, you might never come back !! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 499 Registered: 05-2005 |
Modern Times right now. Track 4, When The Deal Goes Down, has just ended and is definitely the best so far - the only one to really grab me so far in fact. The overall feel is Love And Theft crossed with Under The Red Sky. Yes, not so good a mix. I'm sure it will grow on me. Listening on the computer speakers is probably not a great idea for the first listen. The good news, for those of you in the vicinity of a JB Hi-fi shop, is that they're selling it for a bargain $18.99. That's $14.40 US, 11.28 euro or 7.62 pounds sterling (thank you internet currency convertor!). Track 6, Workingman's Blues #2, is on now and I like it very much. Great lyrics. Reminds me of Oh Mercy (which is my favourite Dylan album by far). | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 501 Registered: 05-2005 |
Modern Times is growing on me. I've put on the Wanderly Wagon DVD for my just-woken-up-from-afternoon-nap daughter so I can keep listening! Track 8, Nettie Moore, was great. Track 9, The Levee's Gonna Break, is on now and sounds very good. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 502 Registered: 05-2005 |
Later on I will be listening to an iTunes playlist of the 13 most exciting Go-Betweens as listed elsewhere on this board. Another playlist I've made up for listening to later is 10 classic Beatles b-sides (take that Kevin and all you other Beatles hating philistines!). That list is: 1 Rain 2 Yes It Is 3 You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) 4 I'm Down 5 I'll Get You 6 The Inner Light 7 Old Brown Shoe 8 Revolution 9 This Boy 10 Don´t Let Me Down iTunes playlists are the new mix tape! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 503 Registered: 05-2005 |
The 10th and last track on Modern Times, Ain't Talkin', is on now and it's beautiful. Color me impressed. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 592 Registered: 03-2006 |
Alternative shmalternative... Kevinator - boy do we see things different. Of course I don't like bland music - who does? Who would admit to such a thing anyway, even if they did? What are you suggesting? What we don't agree on is what is bland or MOR. I don't even know what your definition of MOR is, and still insist that MOR is in the eye of the beholder. With regard to my taste in music - I have no stylistic straitjackets, no heartfelt feeling that any one genre of music is morally superior to another. And the whole thing about "alternative" who cares? It is, to me, completely preposterous to act as though it's some evolved form of music and everything else is clueless or lagging behind. And to suppose that it's some sort of advanced level that people graduate to is offensive and completely, wrong-headedly elitist.. I don't understand these strict categories and labels and it just doesn't interest me to adhere to them. In Little Keith's world, the playground is completely unsegregated...the heavy metal kids can jump the fence and play with the Goths, or the punks or the tortured, sensitive folkies...it's the only way he'd have it. I have no strong feelings about heavy metal. I think you can find all kinds of examples that are expertly and beautifully played and that come completely from the heart (the only thing that matters in the final analysis)...what I object to often is the attitude it's based in - all that ridiculous cock-rock, dumbshit macho swagger... As for Comets on Fire - I jokingly acceded to your description of them as "heavy metallish"...but in fact that description is neither accurate or fair. Though they have, in the most simplistic terms, instrumental elements in common with heavy metal, that is not the correct ballpark. It is much more a kind of acid-jazz, psychedelic workout kind of deal. Sort of like what would happen if Robert Fripp took a bunch of acid and played a Neil Young solo...which idea has relentless fascination for me. I do dabble in guitar and hearing creative examples of its use always intrigues me...maybe it's the psychedelic aspect that grabs LK, too - he was probably doing mushrooms while you were listening to all those clever groups. As has been said before, there are only two types of music: good and bad. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 504 Registered: 05-2005 |
Well said LK! Kevin, I graduated from metal to indie but I'm not embarrassed about my metal teen years. I just wish I hadn't spent money on records by Cinderella, for example, when I could have bought Husker Du records if I'd known who they were. My first musical loves were The Jam and Steely Dan though, not metal. And I still adore The Jam and The Dan. Listening to Midlake right now. Sounds really great. | ||
| TROU Member Username: Trou Post Number: 42 Registered: 05-2005 |
TV on the radio - new LP : I think I don't like. Anna Domino : all - I still have to find the Snakefarm cd. Elliott Smith : Miss Misery. The 3 video-versions from his website. Wonderfull. Grant Mc Lennan : In your bright Ray - Never heard. And it was a mistake. As if I'd discovered a new Go-betweens record! And Horsebreaker will come next week.. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 617 Registered: 05-2005 |
I have just received Western Skies by Roddy Frame. On first listen its very nice, somewhat relaxed, a good Saturday morning record. I don'tthink it will bowl me over forever, but I like it. Oceans Apart is onnow, God, funny to think I could not listen to this album right after G's departure from this world, but now its ok to. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 503 Registered: 03-2005 |
Every time my iPod shuffle throws me a Grant song, I still get blue. It still feels poignant. Padraig, I have to try the iTunes playlist option. Did you enjoy "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)?" Hardin, mushrooms sound as good a means of dealing with Louisiana as weed and acid was for Fresno, CA. I kinda wish I had the brain cells back though. And you are right to upbraid us for our snobbery, although I must admit to my lifelong elitism. So I'll feel guilty about it for a moment in your honor. We all have our guilty pleasures musically. For me it's not metal, it's pop. It's the Hollies (who actually transcended the level of pop from time to time during their best years), the Monkees, Joe Meek productions, the pre-disco Bee Gees, the early and mid-60s British dolly bird records and when I'm really feeling outrageous, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. I suppose I should stick this on the GBs chat part of the board, but my impression is that it was Robert who was the big pop guy and not really Grant. Grant was listening to the likes of Boz Scaggs--I'll probably never get old enough to like his particular brand of ersatz soul. It's the combination of pop musicality with the more "serious" elements of folk and arty punk that hooks me to this band. And, yeah, dammit, I feel it's morally superior to all the codpiece enhanced guitar jock screechy voice shit! Kidding . . . . sort of. TROU, I envy you having your first experience hearing the Grant solo albums now. In my not-so-humble opinion, Grant's two later solo albums were his best. I've been a fan of the solo albums since I first scooped them up (only a few years ago) and feel that the reunion of the GBs may have clipped Grant's musical wings a bit whereas I think the reunion was very beneficial to Robert's productivity and motivation. This morning Amazon sent me an email about Radio Birdman's "Zeno Beach." What is this? Any comments? | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 593 Registered: 03-2006 |
Sorry Randy - didn't mean to be upbraiding (good word, btw - this board probably has the best vocab of all music message bds.)anybody. How pompous and boring of me. Nothing wrong with being a little snobby, long as you know you're doin' it. What I was (equally boringly) trying to do was explain that the way music grabs me, the process in general, tends to be more holistic - I don't have labels or internal rules about what's okay to like. I don't ask myself, "Is this too heavy metal? Is it alternative enough?"... I didn't mean to set myself up as a defender or apologist for all that awful "codpiece enhanced" ca ca...(that's a great way of describing it and an extremely funny image - very Spinal Tap). Why DO all those guys sound like a Moray eel has their balls in a death grip?)...There are actually worse offenders, in my book. All those clenched-teeth school headbangers, in the genre that I call "date rape" metal...your Limp Bizkit, your Staind (teach them to spell), etc., that's so popular in OC...Some of my alltime favorite groups, like the Pixies and Nirvana, do incorporate a lot of metallish elements, though. Planet of Sound and Heart-Shaped Box come immediately to mind, but there are many others. Cobain was, in fact, an open Black Sabbath fan, and you can hear that in his music. My inner 13 yr. old will always respond to loud, raucous guitars... Agree heartily about Bright Ray (his single best work, in my view) and HS (almost as good, but perhaps a little longish)...Ray is probably as good as the best GBs albums - it is a staggering, masterful piece of work. And Monsieur Collins, I too, love the Jam...they are unique and, I think, incredibly important. I've listened to the Snap! comp too many times to count. Apart from the monster hits, my favorite tune by them is Away From the Numbers. Didn't the Pistols pretty brazenly cop the riff from "In the City" for "Holidays in the Sun"... Weller's solo output has been patchier, but has had its moments as well... | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 684 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hardin, glad to see I provoked an impassioned response from you, I would have been disappointed otherwise. But... I stand by everything I said about my youth and what we listened to, and as I hinted at that age it was not cynacism or snobbery that prevented us enjoying MOR or Heavy Rock, I prefer to think it was just good taste To cut me some slack on the turning from Heavy to Alt point, I did qualify what I was saying by pointing out that I was "generalising", and was being a bit tongue in cheek about the embarrasment thing, as Padraig says he isnt, and quite right too. If Hardin will allow me to be pedantic for a bit, I find it hard to believe your "playground is completely unsegregated", there must be some music you dont like? Otherwise I reserve the right to say that my playground is also completely unsegregated, it just shuts the gates to Heavy Rock and MOR. I'm sorry if this sounds narrow minded, but if we apply the same rules to comedy my playground would be open to Larry David, The Pythons, Ricky Gervaise and people like that, but would have no room for racist, sexist comedians. Only 2 kinds of music, good and bad? If only it was that simple. Still, great debating with you as always, and as we have both stated in the past there is a hell of a lot we dont see eye to eye with musically, eqaully there is a hell of a lot that we do. A few other things. TROU - stick with TV on the Radio, trust me. Hardin, can you and I write to Midlakes management and ask for a cut of the royalties, looks like the word is spreading! Padraig, how do you pronounce your name? Is it Porric, or is it just as it looks, or maybe neither? Finally, Padraig saying he had the Dylan album already had me thinking. Being the fine upsatnding guy he is, I cannot see him downloading it from an illegal site. So that leaves 2 options. 1) He got it as a promo, 2) Itunes and Napster have got it early. Checked Napster - result!! So, I am now going to listen to it in conjunction with reading the review in Mojo which popped through my letter box this morning. Come on Bob, dont let me down. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 374 Registered: 08-2004 |
Kevin, you have built this up beyond reason, only Uncle Bob could survive such scrutiny. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 375 Registered: 08-2004 |
Btw, Bob wouldn't mind if Padraig had ripped it off. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5277574.stm What's more all music is shit. If there's been nothing worth listening to for 20 years he must have heard Liberty Belle & anything else pales into insignificance. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 689 Registered: 05-2005 |
"You listen to these modern records, they're atrocious, they have sound all over them" That is just genius - well I think I know what he means!! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 596 Registered: 03-2006 |
Kevin - the much discussed of late Bobby D. said it best: "we always did feel it the same, we just saw it from a different point of view". I completely stand by what I said, but I think that, perhaps, I might've stated it too impassionedly. Randy's upbraiding me for upbraiding people for snobbery has me feeling that may be the case...My basic point was, and still is, I just process music differently and don't adhere to all the labels or indulge in all the categorizing...I truly do like all genres of music and if you could come to my house this instant you would find examples of them in my CD collection...if I don't like an artist it's probably not going to be the fault of the genre, but rather the crummy execution of the artist. And even if my playground was segregated, it wouldn't make any diffence because the vast world of music isn't - there's too much cross-pollination. And, this may be a radical notion, but good taste is completely subjective. I'd debate your comedy analogy with you, or at least comment, but truth is, I don't understand it (probably the three martinis I just had)...if you're saying that you're against hard rock because it espouses racism, that's a completely different issue, and of course I'd completely reject any music that did. Unless of course it was prejudiced against people from Ohio - I really hate them (kidding).... Yes, Midlake owes us a buttload of money... It's a little unkind of all of you who already have it to tantalize those who don't with tales of how great the new Dylan stuff is...have a heart! | ||
| jerry hann Member Username: Jerry_h Post Number: 208 Registered: 07-2005 |
Spence I went through a brief period a few months ago whne I thought I'd missed out on the Zep everyone was name checking them, so I burnt the first 4 LP from my brother in law and bought the 3 disc live " How the west was won" which pitchfork etc really raved about. but after only playing the first of the 3 cds I realised that It is not my cuppa tea Metal I just don't really relate to anymore,and left me cold.I don't think it is the dark side but it's a bit like "on the road" by Kerouac when you've been there once you can't return. For me it heavy rock I've just out grown. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 691 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hardin, no I wasnt implying Heavy Rock music is racist. My interpretation of your playground analogy was that you seemed to be claiming you liked every strand of music (dunno if that is indeed what you meant)so I was countering that by saying I couldnt do that and exclude MOR and HM from my playground on grounds of taste, the same way I exclude certain comedians. Clear as mud | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 598 Registered: 03-2006 |
Oh, that totally f-ing clears it up... Just kidding - I think I understand, Kev...Btw, there's absolutely, in my worldview, nothing wrong with saying something isn't to your taste or not your cuppa tea - it presupposes no value judgments... So, if I get you right, you're saying that hard rock is offensive to you in the same way a racist comedian would be? Wow, you do feel strongly about it.That analogy doesn't work for me - I just don't think you can equate the two. I think I really do like all genres of music I can think of...there are exceptions, but for the most part they're things that don't really meet my criteria for music, like "grindcore", or MMM, in which there's no melody, no thematic center, etc...I could just be atypically eclectic...(say that three times fast)... | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 624 Registered: 05-2005 |
Sorry guys for stiring this one up! I love the Zep already. But there are some great recomms here to help me. I'd always wanted an ACDC album! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 693 Registered: 05-2005 |
We're getting closer Hardin, but not quite there yet. Hard Rock is not offensive to me in the same way a racist comedian is because I just dont feel that strongly about it as a musical genre. I think it is worthless, but not offensive. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 509 Registered: 03-2005 |
While I don't think I have as catholic tastes as Hardin I can relate to his comments because my own collection careens from symphonic to reggae to 60s garage punk to Coltrane to Bright Eyes. And he's obviously right about the fact that music will mysteriously work or not work for different people. In fact I just posted a couple of confessions of music much esteemed here that just hasn't found a niche in my heart. But you know what music really offends me every bit as much as unapologetic racism? BTW I cut space for folks' honest self-examining struggles with their racist programming--I live in the US after all and I sure as hell don't escape that thicket myself. The crap consumer music played on the mainstream radio offends me totally. I cannot believe much or any of it is created with any passion whatsoever except for a passion for money or, worse yet, a passion for "fame." It is usually exploitive of and cynical toward its audience. That goes not only for the crossover pop or phony rap but also for that pseudo-country dreck that is being pumped out to all the white Republicans on the pseudo-country stations. Anything that is blatantly aimed at a "target audience" or a "focus group," is blasphemy as far as I am concerned. And my perception is that there's a lot of it. Yeah I'm on my honesty kick again. Sorry. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 601 Registered: 03-2006 |
No worries, mate, we're just havin' fun...I'm deeply conflicted about Zep - they are, by all accounts, truly horrible people, just thugs. They would frequently have their goons beat people up almost for just lookin' at 'em wrong, Jimmy Page was a big ole devil worshiper, and psychotically drunk Bonzo once did actually punch a female journalist who smiled at him in a bar...Robert Plant (how old is he now? A hundred?) was an almost unbearable douche and a lot of his lyrics, about golden, gelded unicorns and such made you wanna puke...But still, ya gotta give it up for their music. There's something about that is just completely badass and that completely rocks my world...Stuff like "When the Levee Breaks"..just incredibly epic and cool. Nobody has ever done that type of music better, though I have to say I didn't like what I heard of that "How the West was Won" thing..I have no records by AC/DC, but hey, they have their place too...Unbelievably my 14 year old niece is into 'em and was playing them for me and they really do have some great songs...As for Angus Young's wardrobe: I dunno what the age limit for wearing a schoolboy's uniform is, but he's by God going to find it, isn't he? | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 602 Registered: 03-2006 |
Rand, you go, man...be honest - you could start a trend and it's something that's completely absent in our country isn't it? I am pretty much in agreeance (as a woman I used to work with would say - I think she also coined the word, "analyzation") with you...all that shit just reeks of dishonesty (speaking of), is so obviously product and so obviously not from the heart that it is pretty f-ing offensive...and amazingly its audience laps it up, though it seems almost openly contemptuous of the credulous schmoes that actually buy it. No one could ever say the Go-Bees weren't completely in it for the music. By all accounts, they sure didn't make any money at it. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 603 Registered: 03-2006 |
Kev, you've hit on exactly why the analogy doesn't work for me. All reasonable, right-thinking people that aren't morons or thugs are against racism. It is more or less a moral absolute. On the other hand, reasonable people can differ on the subject of heavy metal (or bossa nova, or klezmer, or hip hop). I'm sure, in fact, that there are many metalheads who pay their taxes, are good parents and citizens, and don't pull the wings off flies or take candy from babies. The reason you don't feel as strongly about metal as you do about racist comedians is that it isn't a moral absolute - it's basically a matter of preference, albeit a strong one. While you think it is worthless, I'm certain you'd agree that that is your opinion, based on your own subjective values. Other people have different opinions, just as worthy, based on their own set of subjective values... I think I do understand where you're coming from, though. The "alternative" thing is definitely a core value for you and I appreciate that. See, man? We're in complete "agreeance"! | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 627 Registered: 05-2005 |
This has gotten awfully deep gentlemen!! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 694 Registered: 05-2005 |
LK, second paragraph of your last post. That is of course 100% bang on. While "alternative" may be a core value for me, my record collections has loads of reggae,country,blues,hip hop,electronic,jazz and americana. The closest thing to metal is The Stooges. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 604 Registered: 03-2006 |
Sorry, Spence...you're right! at the end of the day, "it's only rock n roll"... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 606 Registered: 03-2006 |
Kevin, you sound pretty eclectic your own self. Never knew you liked jazz. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 507 Registered: 05-2005 |
Randy, You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) is very good but could have been so much better. Three-quarters of it is a fantastic soul song and the other quarter is them making a joke of it, probably because they did not have the courage to just do it as pure soul. Do you like it? Kevin, I bought Modern Times. It came out in Australia on Saturday. I mentioned the price and shop in a post above, thought I did not make it clear that I had actually bought it there! My name is pronounced Paw-drig. Accept no substitutes. BTW Kevin, what has been the reaction to Boruc being cautioned for blessing himself in front of the Rangers fans? I could not believe it when I read it. It's like saying that sectarianism is perfectly alright. What kind of fucked-up 19th century bollox is that? He didn't bless himself to taunt the disingenuous Rangers fans feigning outrage, he did it because he's a Polish Catholic and that's what Polish Catholics do at important/stressful times! I know this is the wrong board for a football/religion discussion, but I know I would not be able to bear the response on dedicated Scottish football boards. | ||
| jerry hann Member Username: Jerry_h Post Number: 210 Registered: 07-2005 |
Went out last night to a work colleague of my wifes.Now they have very few CDs and no books-nice people but very strange to me.I think the woman felt a bit embarrassed about having so few CDs andended up putting on a compilation one of those Acoustic ones with a mixture of classics e.g. Costellos Alison. People are strange they are well educated but have no real culture. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 378 Registered: 08-2004 |
Paul Gascoigne didn't need any official warning after he did "the sash". Every Celtic supporter let him know the next day. Poor old Gazza had no idea what he was doing. Jerry, people are indeed strange. One man's CD collection is another man's train set. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 695 Registered: 05-2005 |
Jerry, dont kid yourself that Gascoigne didnt know what he was doing, it wasnt like he had just arrived at Rangers. Although to be fair, I dont think he has a bigoted bone in his body. Padraig, to be honest I think there is more to the Boruc situation than meets the eye. The guy is a bit of self confessed nutter and its slowly coming out that as well as blessing himself he also allegedlymade some hand gestures. I think the goalposts (see what I did there )are also changing with this one as far as the authorities are concerned, after initially "warning" him for blessing himself, now they are saying it is for "a combination of events". It has to be said that he goes through a strange ritual at the start of each game, and then again before the start of the 2nd half. He psyches himself up by staring into the nets he is defending, and then at each post. This may take up to 15secs depending on the intensity of the stare, he then blesses himself. Now, far be it from me to defend those poor Rangers fans who were, and I kid you not, placed in "a state of alarm and confusion" but I could imagine how they maybe thought Boruc was doing this to wind them up. However, he does the same ritual before each and every game for Celtic and Poland and no other set of fans has complained yet so I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions. Our English, German, American and Australian friends on this forum will no doubt shake their heads and say "God,I thought Scotland was a civilised country, maybe not!!" | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 517 Registered: 03-2005 |
I don't see what the fuss is about. Isn't "blessing" yourself just making the sign of the cross? Did this happen in Ulster? I confess I think the Soviets and the Chinese had it right on this issue. It's just a troublesome atavism. Padraig, somehow I thought your name was pronounced "Padraw." I must have mixed up your instructions for your name and those for Cathal Coughlan. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 696 Registered: 05-2005 |
Padraig, isnt there an Irish golfer called Padraig Harrison who pronounces it as Porric? Or at least thats how the commentators pronounce it im sure. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 698 Registered: 05-2005 |
Just playing Built To Spills album You in Reverse from Napster. Its been out for a few months now but they finally got it. I had been keen to hear it based on very good reviews I had read of it. Its my first listen to them although I see they have 4 or 5 albums. First listen, sounds ok - quite riffy guitars, band sounds quite tight. Any fans of Built To Spill here? Sorry Hardin, but still playing the Dylan and after 3 listens its slowly seeping in. To my ears it is very similar to Love And Theft but somehow I much prefer it. Oh well, you are put out of your misery tomorrow, although just to confound things you are 8 hours behind the rest of us (well those of us in the UK) I need to play Outkasts new album again but cant muster up the enthusiasm - hows it sound to you Hardin? | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 614 Registered: 03-2006 |
Aahh...my torture will be over soon. It does finally come out tomorrow. Glad to hear it's growing on you, Kev - I do trust your taste, even if I can't convert you on Love & Theft. Enough people on this board have said enough positive things, plus, as you know, the reviews have just been extraordinary, that I'm champing at the bit to get it...I'm almost wondering myself - can it be all THAT good. Say, has anyone gotten the deluxe version, with the accompanying DVD? I'll probably get that - sad, I know... Not really diggin' the new Outkast that much - it seems real disjointed and I don't think I've heard a single track that's really grabbed me. Though, overall it sounds quite pleasant. Probably destined to be one of those middling quality albums from them. Curious that they stay together when they apparently record everything solo... The new Ray Lamontagne comes out tomorrow too, Kevin. I trust you'll be waiting in line at midnight for it to come out at your record shop? | ||
| jerry hann Member Username: Jerry_h Post Number: 211 Registered: 07-2005 |
Don't worry LK, my plans to get the bob and some other CDs have back fired as it is a bank holiday here in the UK. So I'll have to nip out at lunchtime and get the Bob cd, it'll also give me the opportunity of getting a few others I might get the resissue of Talking Heads: More Songs as my LP is a bit worn, Ialso might get an Allen Toussaint compilation (if there are any in Prestons music stores) | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 699 Registered: 05-2005 |
jerry, have you tried the supermarkets for buying the Bob album. they should have it today and it will probably cost you less than a tenner. they are also still open, what you waiting for!! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 618 Registered: 03-2006 |
Jerry, I've been listening to snippets of Modern Times on AOL - they're streaming the whole thing - and I gotta tell ya: it's sounding pretty good! "Ain't Talkin'" is a dark, brooding masterpiece...There is apparently a lotta life in that old rooster! As for Talking Heads, you may not be the complete, raving nut I am for them, so this may not interest you. But, you can get all of their discs in one box set (at least here)...they're designed to compose this very cool, arty white brick and each has a flip side with a DVD surround sound mix, plus videos. I personally like all of their records to varying degrees except True Stories, so it was a great and cost effective way for me to pick 'em all up in one fell swoop... Kevin: groups to ask you about - what do you think of Crooked Fingers? I loved their last record, "Dignity & Shame". Just picked up the solo record by Eric Bachmann, but haven't listened to it yet. And, what do you think of the Hold Steady? I downloaded a song from their upcoming disc (you probably already have it) called "Chips Ahoy" that sounded spectacular. | ||
| Cichli Suite Member Username: Cichli_suite Post Number: 144 Registered: 08-2004 |
Currently listening to: Laura Cantrell: When the Roses Bloom Again. I really like Laura Cantrell, especially "Not The Tremblin' Kind". However, a friend of mine recently described her as sounding 'quite conventional' which sent me scurrying on a mission of reappraisal. There's no musical breakthroughs here but her voice is so damn honest and she picks some great songs. Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans. This is just a brilliant record. Much sparer than Illinois or Michigan. Easy Star All-Stars - RadioDread. Any one dig reggae/dub versions of Radiohead classics? Horace Andy and Toots and the Maytalls are on board. I like it a lot. John Cale/Brian Eno: Wrong Way Up - Sometimes I think this is the best solo record either Cale or Eno has done. Thin Lizzy: Live and Dangerous. I had to dig this out after the recent discussion. It's a great 'live' record, though probably massively over dubbed. Reminds me of being 14 again (like AC/DC's Back in Black). | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 635 Registered: 05-2005 |
Watching rather than listening to some great Youtube stuff, like interviews/clips of Scott Walker, Eno and William S Burroughs. Scott Walker possesses a magic that I have alwas loved albeit in its more song structured form since was a yung lad. So I dug Boy Child best of out today and that was great.... Then I stumbled acorss Microdiney's 39 Minutes, what pop! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 700 Registered: 05-2005 |
LK - Never heard Crooked Fingers. I have The Hold Steadys last album, Separation Sunday which I played a lot on its release but thanks to the wonder of this forum will now dig out and play again - thanks for reminding me of it. Their vocalist Craig Finn reminds me of an American version of Gerard Langley of The Blue Aeroplanes (bet that woke Spence up!), he has that half sing/half speak style of delivery. I think it was All Music Guide who summed them up best musically - something along the lines of Guided By Voices if they worshipped Springsteen instead of The Who. There is some truth in that. No I dont have the new album, but I noticed the other day that Pitchfork seem to building up a head of steam for it by raving about them, I think its out in a few months time. Cichli - thanks also for reminding me to listen again to that Cale/Eno album. Its in the pile for listening to, which is bigger than it should be thanks to people like yourself reminding me on an almost daily basis to dig out stuff I havent listened to in ages . | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 622 Registered: 03-2006 |
The Hold Steady also remind me of the things I like about Thin Lizzy... Were you ever into the Archers of Loaf? Eric Bachmann, who now under performs under the Crooked Fingers banner, was the lead singer... | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 703 Registered: 05-2005 |
Never heard AOL either LK. Any comparisons? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 510 Registered: 05-2005 |
I'm pretty sure Padraig Harrington pronounces his name as I do. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 623 Registered: 03-2006 |
Yeah Kevin - they were like a rowdier, more raucous version of Pavement with attitude...they were the toast of the alternative crowd in the states in the 90's...here's a sample amusing lyric: "They caught and drowned the front man/Of the world's worst rock and roll band/He was out of luck/Because nobody gave a fuck/The jury gathered all around the aqueduct/Drinking and laughing and lighting up/Reminiscing just how bad he sucked/Singin' throw him in the river/Throw him in the river/Throw him in the river/Throw the bastard in the river." Then the front man Eric Bachmann quit to do Springsteen-esque records under the name "Crooked Fingers"...that's where his muse took him - guess you can only go the artsy route so long.... Ah well, LK and his obscure bands... | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 139 Registered: 04-2006 |
in the morning on the way to work: cuckooland from the wonderful mr. robert wyatt. this music is fragile and beautiful. serious, political and at the same time melancholy and gently. in the evening on the way back home: in your bright ray from wonderful mr. grant mc lennan. his best? i think so even when i really don't like the electric guitar on it and even when horsebreaker star has the better songs, but is just a bit too long and those r'n'b-like songs aren#t my favours. | ||
| jerry hann Member Username: Jerry_h Post Number: 217 Registered: 07-2005 |
Had A listen to OA last night it does reward regular listening, This morning listening to a Billy Bragg live CD from Phoenix festival about 10 years ago.So good specially the last 6 songs, with Bill's usual between songs banter and great adlibbing, Sexuality Price I Pay Great Leap Forwards ( is this the greatest sing a long song) Levi Stubbs' Tears St Swithins Day Greetings to The New Brunette can hardly focus at work now. In a way Billy just cuts throught the crap of modern life with great lyrics about mundane things in a abrasive poetic way-I feel a Billy revivial coming on (in our house anyway) | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 522 Registered: 03-2005 |
Jerry, you remind me that I still need to listen to my copy of the Billy Bragg antho that I bought a couple weeks ago. It's always bad when I buy too many things at once and one of the discs needed a little fettling to play on my machine. What I've been listening to most recently are discs 1 and 2 to the Townes Van Zandt "Texas Troubadour" set. Many many many thanks to the folks who tipped me off to this. The songs are magnificent and the simple arrangements timeless. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 82 Registered: 01-2006 |
Excellent article by BB in the English Guardian today... 1861351%2C00.html,http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1861351,00.html | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 165 Registered: 01-2005 |
I have been buying and listening to a couple of the Donovan reissues that came out last year. I picked up both "Hurdy,Gurdy Man" and "Mellow Yellow". "I'll probably get "Sunshine Superman" next. Cichli, Have you picked up Laura's "Humming By The Flowered Vine"? It's very good indeed, but not quiet up to the heights of NTTK. Laura is good friends with Kate Rusby, another favorite of mine. Randy, I'll have to check out TVZ's "Texas Troubadour" I bought "Live At The Old Quarter" earlier this year and it has been in my office rotation for a couple of months now. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 645 Registered: 03-2006 |
C&M - I am aboard that Laura Cantrell train. I think she's sublime and excellent. I don't get the conventional tag...what do they want? Her to sing like Yma Sumac? Silly. She's probably too subtle and sublime for some people. She was, btw, good enough for John Peel, who was a big fan... Anyway, let me quit ranting long enough to pass along this link, to some excellent MP3s or rarities, live cuts, etc. There are enough here to make up a whole disc actually: http://www.lauracantrell.com/downloads.asp God, I love downloading. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Nemo Post Number: 66 Registered: 07-2005 |
Woodsmoke And Oranges & Jack-Knife Gypsy by Paul Siebel. Recorded for the Elektra Label in 1970 and 1971 respectively. Siebel disappeared from the music scene soon after and barring a live album released in 1981 has never been heard of since. Currently available as a 2 albums on 1 cd from Elektra/Warner, this is something which might appeal to fans of Townes Van Zandt. | ||
| Cichli Suite Member Username: Cichli_suite Post Number: 147 Registered: 08-2004 |
Michael, yes, I like "Humming By The Flowered Vine" alot. It's not as good as "Trembling kind", but it does have greater variety. I guess the only drawback is that the arrangement on some songs veers dangerously to 'nice adult country pop' territory, ala Nancy Griffith. I'm thinking of the first song '14th street', for instance. But for me, her voice redeems it all. I'm seduced by it, particularly on songs like 'Khaki and corduroy' and 'Bees'. Anybody else like her? | ||
| Cichli Suite Member Username: Cichli_suite Post Number: 148 Registered: 08-2004 |
Little Keith - I should have guessed you would like her. Thanks a lot for that link too. Yeah, I was flabbergasted when my friend said she sounded conventional. I had just played him a bunch of Neko Case, so maybe he meant 'She sounds like she hasn't any reverb applied to her voice'. No slight meant to Ms Case, by the way. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 143 Registered: 04-2006 |
townes van zandt is the greatest. not only steve earle says that. but tvz wasn't on my listening list today. early in the morning: echo and the bunnymen - heaven up here their masterwork, i think. and spence, in the case of the guitarplaying i would prefer the bunnymen, too (remember our little game around five weeks ago. in that case (joy div./bunnymen) spence preferred echo and the bunnymen). late in the evening: john fahey - the transfiguration of blind joe death in the meantime it is well known that i am addicted by fahey. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 166 Registered: 01-2005 |
Cichli - Yeah, the first song on "Humming" is a little "Nanci Griffith - nice adult country pop" in it's arrangement. However, I still like it! "Bees" is my favorite song on HBTFV. Cudos to Nanci and Arlo Guthrie for a nice cover of Townes Van Zandt's sad, sad song "Tecumseh Valley" on Nanci's Other Voices, Other Rooms album from 1993. It's was pretty much downhill for Nanci after that album though. NP Gene Clark - No Other | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 723 Registered: 05-2005 |
Bob Dylan - Modern Times - cant believe how much I am enjoying this. I was really apprehensive given that I (probably wrongly!!) dont like Love and Theft too much, and all the early indicaters were that this was Love and Theft mark 2 Built To Spill - You In Reverse - This lot had previously passed me by although I did note that they had always got good press. Anybody else rate them? The Roots - The Game Theory - another band who had never made it into my "playground" (copyright Hardin) but this is great. hip hop with real drums and great vocal style. | ||
| Cichli Suite Member Username: Cichli_suite Post Number: 149 Registered: 08-2004 |
Living in Ireland in the late 80's and early 90's, you couldn't escape Nanci Griffith's song "From a distance". I loathed it. It was RTE Radio 1 afternoon music and smacked of a vapid, sentimental wholesomeness I wanted no part of. It's unfair to associate her with that one song, I know, but I just can't forgive her for it! Kevin, my copy of Modern Times hasn't shipped yet even though I pre-ordered it a month ago from cd-wow. Given how many reservations you had, your comments and the comments on the other thread are driving me to (near) despair! If it doesn't arrive in the next few days, I'm buying another copy in the supermarket. Curses on you, cd-wow. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 651 Registered: 03-2006 |
To torture you in the same way Kevin tortured me, Cichli, it is great. You will be well-chuffed indeed, my friend. Who cares where it fits in in the pantheon? Modern Times will be discussed and debated, but most of all, treasured, for many years. Yes, the seal of approval from Kev, particularly for late-period Dylan, is hard to come by... Like the Roots a lot, Kev, as well as Built to Spill...Thought you'd already be into the Roots - you seem like you keep up on all the hip hop. They have a coupla good comp discs if you feel like you need more of them. But see? You surprise me with Built to Spill. I think they're top notch, but would've guessed that there'd be too much guitar wig out for you. Not that they're heavy metal in any way.... | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 506 Registered: 04-2005 |
So you rate Built to Spill, then? I wasn't impressed by the album I heard years ago (can't remember the title) and I once saw them live on some TV program and found them frankly...a heavy metalish guitar (self-stimulation)fest. But to be fair, maybe they were just a few insulated songs featured on TV from a much longer, more balanced concert. And I have to give them props for poaching drummer Scott Plouf from the Spinanes. Which album do you recommend the neophyte start with, Hardin? They are like gods in Seattle, by the way...their name is spoken in hushed tones and the gigs sell out immediately. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 507 Registered: 04-2005 |
Er, isolated, not insulated. This is why we want an editing feature! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 652 Registered: 03-2006 |
Didn't mean to set myself up as an expert, though I like them...I'm confused about our UK lingo - if you rate somebody are you necessarily a hardcore fan? But yeah, they are fairly masturbatory, self-indulgent guitar noodling types at times ("beardy", too), but that kind of thing has its place. They're also capable of writing some first-rate, avant-garde-y pop tunes...Why are they so big in the Emerald City? Aren't they from Idaho, of all places...Now that I have the disclaimers out of the way, the new one Kev mentions is good, and there's one I have with a blue cover that's good too...Izzat helpful Actually, I think it's called "Keep It Like a Secret"... | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 724 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hardin, Kurt, only on my second listen of Built To Spill but I do detect the guitar wig out. However, is it not more in a Marquee Moon kinda way, rather than lumpen stodgy metal? The Roots, I always meant to check them out, but for some reason just never got round to it. glad i did now | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 654 Registered: 03-2006 |
You are correct sir, it is more cerebral, more Television-y, maybe a little Neil Youngish (if Neil could really play)...it is not lumpen stodgy, go up and down the scales heavy metal, which, believe it or not, I don't care for either...I think the first thing they do after they fit them for a codpiece is teach them some rudimentary scales, that pass for soloing in some quarters...some guitarists never progress beyond that...I am not, for the record, a fan of mindless soloing, endless noodling, in general...it's just that some people have a certain mojo - plus, with Built to Spill it's all in the context of some really great, intriguing songs... I had a friend in La. who drummed in a hardcore band, who consequently, was quite narrow-minded and self-righteous in his tastes...but he loved the Roots, thought their drummer could really play...or maybe it was that they had a drummer at all...Don't have it but that new one's getting rave reviews from all quarters...it's almost as overwhelming as the Dylan reviews. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 655 Registered: 03-2006 |
Kurt's "barely legal" downloading site has a handful of MP3s by them, including their take on "Freebird" (? Gotta be irony-laden) and "Twin Falls Idaho", one of their real classics. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 508 Registered: 04-2005 |
Thanks for mentioning that, Hardin--I should have thought to look there. Will download "Twin Falls Idaho" right away. No clue why they're so big in Seattle...funny how different West Coast cities feel about bands. Yo La Tengo and Sleater-Kinney were huge in San Francisco--very difficult tickets to get. Both seemed to get ho-hum responses at best here, though. They drew crowds, but not like they did in SF. How do these bands do in the LA area? The Neil Young of comparison for BTS is probably apt; don't they do a really long cover of "Cortez the Killer"? The lead singer kind of sings like Neil too, as I recall. I have to admit most of the pseudo-Neil singers out there don't do much for me, such as Wayne Coyne, the guys in Grandaddy and My Morning Jacket, etc. One whiny, miserable wet cat of a singer--Neil--may be enough. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 656 Registered: 03-2006 |
Just listened to Twin Falls - it has no real lead guitar in it, go figure... EVERYTHING here seems to do well - if there's the least bit of popularity for a band nationwide, you can bet that there's a sizable coterie of fans in So Cal, all of them way more on the ball about getting tickets than LK...you practically have to know about the concerts before the band does. I really do need to pay more attention - Paul Kelly played in San Juan Capistrano a coupla weeks ago, as warm up for somebody vastly his inferior (don't remember who - that's how good they were)... BTS do indeed cover Cortez, and quite ably, though truth be told, it's hard to beat Neil's version. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 524 Registered: 05-2005 |
Randy Newman's soundtrack to Awakenings; which I bought second hand on cassette in Lee Records, MacCurtain Street Cork in 1991. I just came across the tape again the other day. Such beautiful music, so evocative of that great movie. That album has given me much pleasure over the years. I looked on the internet to see if it's available on CD, but sadly it is long deleted. It's not even on iTunes. The cassette will have to do. The Waterboys' Fisherman's Blues two disc re-release. I played the second disc on the iPod on the way to work this morning. This was my fourth time buying this album. I bought it on vinyl the week it came out in 1988, then the cassette version when I was going travelling, then CD and now the 2 CD version. So it's up there with Lovers Lane as my most often bought album! | ||
| Cichli Suite Member Username: Cichli_suite Post Number: 150 Registered: 08-2004 |
I bought the The Fisherman's Blues double release a few months ago. It is definitely worth the reinvestment. I also have the Awakenings record on cassette. It is lovely. It is available used from Amazon.com market place sellers, by the way, for about 21 US dollars. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000008D24/ With all the hysteria whipped up by the music industry about lost revenues due to illegal downloading, I don't know why ALL recorded music cannot be available on-line. The idea of a piece of music being deleted at this stage is mad. It's just forcing people to turn to file sharing. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 149 Registered: 04-2006 |
fisherman's blues is a wonderful album. i listened today to another gem. beautiful, magnificent, overlooked: paul quinn and the independent group - will i ever be inside of here. he, does anyone know what mr. quinn have done in the meantime. i lost 'touch'. | ||
| Cichli Suite Member Username: Cichli_suite Post Number: 151 Registered: 08-2004 |
Andreas, I have been curious about Paul Quinn and the Independent Group. I've heard good things about 'Will I Ever Be Inside Of You' but have never been brave enough to buy it. Thanks for the recommendation. I know nothing else about him, however. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 150 Registered: 04-2006 |
cichli suite, if you like scott walker you done nothing wrong with paul quinn's lp. theatralic, 'herz-schmerz' songs. great. in the eighties he was a member of the group 'bourgie bourgie'(josef k + orange juice circle). | ||
| Cichli Suite Member Username: Cichli_suite Post Number: 152 Registered: 08-2004 |
Thanks - that has decided me. I like Scott Walker, Josef k and Orange Juice. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 659 Registered: 05-2005 |
Paul has not been well, not quite sure exactly waht but I know people have seen him with a walking stick. Really sad. He was such a great singer and brilliant looking frontman. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 83 Registered: 01-2006 |
Dead Man soundtrack - Neil Young Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot - Sparklehorse Rather Ripped - Sonic Youth |