| Author | Message | ||
     Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 526 Registered: 05-2005 |
Time for a new one to benefit all those of you on dial ups. Right now this very second The Cult's Sonic Temple. Track 2 Firewoman to be precise. Love that album. Something reminded me of it earlier (can't recall what though) so I'm about to iPod it. Earlier I was listening to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra playing Beethoven CD that came with today's Sydney Morning Herald. Well, it did not come with my home delivered copy so I wen't to the newsagent's shop and got it! And BTW, if you stick it into your computer and it automatically names the album and tracks in iTunes that is thanks to me! I'm the one who typed in the names 90 minutes ago and submitted them! I did that for the last SMH classical CD too. Better go, I think I hear my daughter waking from her Saturday afternoon nap. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 659 Registered: 03-2006 |
Holy crap - you get free CDs with your NEWSPAPER?! I knew Oz was a cool place, but that's awesome...I saw an amusing small news item about how brothels in Sydney are cutting customers a small break to compensate for high gas (petrol) prices...now, even though I live in California, I have to admit THAT'S really progressive.... Another Oz related matter: what's the story on Radio Birdman? They have a new disc out, right? Are they worthy of further research? I might have to cancel all my music downloading subscriptions...at least with record stores, I can avoid temptation by just not going into them, now with the click of a button I can buy music. This may be too much for my extremely weak willpower... Two I downloaded out of curiousity from Emusic: My Brightest Diamond - Bring Me the Workhorse: This has been getting rave reviews in the states and the artist is closely affiliated w/ Sufie Stevens...It's good, but it scores a little high on the pretension-o-meter...I have nothing against swooping, operatic style vocals, just not sure I like 'em in my pop music.... Easy Star All-Stars - Radiodread: This is a reggae-ized version of OK Computer, and go figure, it's really good. Quite amusing, too. Don't know if it'll have legs or if it's just a novelty thing, but I'm diggin' it today. And, of course, the Dylan is high up there on the charts, but I'm trying to ration my listens, so I don't get quickly burned out on it. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 154 Registered: 04-2006 |
listened not much today, but at breakfast i turned my radio on and they played the mighty wah! with their 'sing all the saddest song'. god, pete wylie made fantatsic songs in the eighties. the one they played is a good one too. so my day starts very good. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 155 Registered: 04-2006 |
LK, the birdman album should be sounding as if they were never away. i didn't listened to it until now, but i will check it out. they play in berlin in a few weeks. think about of going to watch this show. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 662 Registered: 03-2006 |
Andreas, let me know if it's any good. Kevin, this page has a whole downloadable Roots show (scroll down)...one of the few rap groups you'd wanna hear a live show of - they actually play instruments! http://earfarm.blogspot.com/ | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 728 Registered: 05-2005 |
cheers lk - they also have a live album which i think i will download from napster. i have also downloaded The Dears new album from Napster. Didnt like their last album too much, strangely the singer sounds like a hybrid of Bowie, Morrissey and Damon Alburn!! Anyway I have copied it to my MP3 player which will be blasting it out at work tonight (Saturday nightshift on my own!), along with I am The Greatest by A House, The Roots, Dylan, Built To Spill, Outkast (really need to give this a proper listen), the new Sparklehorse, Junior Boys and the Cale and Eno that somebody spoke of during last week. Enjoy your Saturday night all of you who are lucky enough not to be working, except Padraig who is probably having Sunday breakfast! also looking forward to hearing the new album by The Rapture later on tonight which has been acquired from an old friend | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 669 Registered: 05-2005 |
An MP3 of Malcolm Ross' son Stan singing Itchycoo Park on XFM Scotland, hilarious, he's only 4 and he sang it all the right way too! I am planning to have a day of Trojan Records tomorrow. Dub and Ska, and I might have just a general Reggae Black music type day. Steel Pulse, George Clinton, Sly and Robbie and some Marvin. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 732 Registered: 05-2005 |
Lambchop - Damaged - possibly the album I have played most in the last month. Muddy Waters - The Anthology - sublime stuff Drive By Truckers - compilation of the last 3 albums that has been in constant rotation in the CD player in my car for a week. Why are this band not massive, surely not because they arent the most goodlooking band ever? | ||
| abigail law Member Username: Abigail Post Number: 83 Registered: 06-2005 |
the girls are at it again - an anthology of english girl singers of the sixties the complete a and b Sides 1963-1970 - Dusty Springfield first two Sundays’ albums nuggets single cd compilation after the goldrush | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 667 Registered: 03-2006 |
Mountain Goats - Get Lonely Dirty Pretty Things - Waterloo to Anywhere Devotchka - Curse Your Little Heart Pete Townshend - All the Best Cowboys (reissue) John Coltrane & Miles Davis - Complete Recordings and, of course, the new Dylan! | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 675 Registered: 05-2005 |
Liberty Belle. Today the album reminds me of soundtracks from the 70's by English film director Michael Winner. Very English. "Do it English like" | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 531 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hardin, I love All The Best Cowboys. A Townshend solo album every bit as good as most of The Who's records. Must dig it out again. Oh, BTW, the first six albums have been re-released by EMI in Australia. (I said on another thread that I found it strange they were mentioned in a Sydney newspaper article when the re-releases had been out for years. This is the first domestic re-release for them in Australia.) I saw them in HMV on Pitt St, Sydney for $22. For once they are cheaper than even JB Hi-fi, who have them at $27. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 680 Registered: 05-2005 |
Anything different about the rereleases Padraig? | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 671 Registered: 03-2006 |
It's an amazing record, Padraig, and one that has really stuck with me. Somehow, it strikes a deep emotional chord, though many of the cultural references are lost on me (Stardom in Acton, etc.) and I've never had some of the experiences the songs are about. For instance, I've never used heroin...though I have, come to think of it, been exquisitely bored in California. I guess chalk it up to the power of music and great singing, because it is definitely in my top 10 fave albums, along with things like 16 LL and Blood on the Tracks. And, Imperial Bedroom, which came out that same summer in '83. The re-issue, in case you're interested, has three unreleased tracks. One is called "Vivienne" which got my interest, because I'm a big fan of "girl name" songs (Veronica, Sara, Carol, et al.), and I couldn't recall there ever being one by that particular name. If I'm being honest though, I have to tell you that the unreleased songs were, as is so often the case, unreleased for a reason. Still a great record and a very nice remastering job. I'm racking my brains trying to think of what else they could put on the EMI re-issues. Is there really anything left in the can? | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 737 Registered: 05-2005 |
Ok big guy, spill the beans, whats the rest of your top 10, I'm intrigued! So far, none of your would be in mine  Feel free to make this a new thread, have we did this already, I cant remember? | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 673 Registered: 03-2006 |
Somehow, I'm guessing 16 LL wouldn't be in yours, Kev... Oh man, you always ask the hard questions. I think we did it before, but I'm happy to do it again, gonna take some time though. I'm gonna have to think about it - they've probably changed since last time... I have a question for you - are your favorite albums the ones that are like old friends, the ones that you relate to - when you listen to them do you think, "this guy knows exactly what it feels like to be Kevin"?...if you listen to them in an unguarded moment can they make you a little choked up, etc?.... Or, on the other hand, are they ones that you intellectually admire, great examples of the musical turf they stake out, if you know what I mean? I guess boiling down my question to its essence - are your favorites chosen by heart or head? I'm curious as to how you and everybody else on the board chooses their faves.... | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 738 Registered: 05-2005 |
I think a bit of both Hardin. For a heart example, during the 80s while listening to Husker Du, The Replacements and American Music Club I felt I could connect with these bands even though they lived on a different continent. If I had a hedonistic phase of my life this was it, every spare hour at the weekend that wasnt taken up by sleeping or eating was spent in a pub or club and gigs with a close circle of about 6 friends getting pretty messed up! Similarly when getting into the Clash and Joy Division I just felt I wasnt the only one feeling the way I did. Although hopefully I wasnt as f**ked up as Mark Eitzel and Ian Curtis! Head wise I admired Bowie, Lou Reed, Talking Heads. If we are talking Top 10s, I could easily do a top 10 for head and a top 10 for heart. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 739 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hardin, had a very brief trawl through the archived posts to see if we had done the top 10 thread. couldnt see it, although maybe it started off within another thread, as a group we do tend to go off at tangents on occasion! I did see a few interesting threads, including one from a girl pleading with The Go Betweens to play her 40th birthday party at a place called Kin Kin in 2007! Sadly that is now not going to happen. There was also another thread for "Favourite albums of 2005 so far" - sounds like a prompt for me to post a new one for Favourite albums of 2006 so far | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 674 Registered: 03-2006 |
Huh, I vaguely remember us doing one, but maybe I dreamed it... Well, let's have your TWO top 10s mate... Here are my top 10, chosen more or less from the heart - just the way the process works for me, though there is intellectual admiration mixed in too, since these all represent fairly stunning artistic achievements. I warn you some of these you'll probaby find pretty wimpy, but I think my bias toward the singer-songwriter thing is pretty obvious by now...and yes, it is corny, but I do think of these records as old friends: Kinks - Kronikles E.C. - King of America (I lied - I like this a little better than "Bedroom") Tom Waits - Rain Dogs Joni Mitchell - Blue (first mention of her on this board? A true songwriting landmark that influenced a lot of artists who came after - even if they were of the awful Lilith Fair variety...Joni,however's the real deal) Van Morrison - Astral Weeks (I know this board has its share of Van haters, but I think he's a complete, absolute genius) Jackson Browne - Late For the Sky (eeuuww, gross - sensitive So Cal singer-songwriter stuff...Everybody should hear the song "For a Dancer" at least once...a beautiful, heartrending life lesson. What can I say? The guy writes some gorgeous melodies though he kind of eventually got a little too sappy and self-congratulatory) Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels On a Gravel Road Randy Newman - Good Ole Boys Pete Townshend - All the Best Cowboys GBs - 16 LL | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 741 Registered: 05-2005 |
ok Hardin, I'll have a think and post them up. I do love KOA, especially Little Palaces, EC fairly spits out the words with pure venom in his voice. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 742 Registered: 05-2005 |
These are my "head" and "heart" top 10s "heart", which helped me through various stages in my teens and 20s Joy Division - Closer The Clash - The Clash American Music Club - Everclear Husker Du - Warehouse.... REM - Murmer The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow The Replacements - Pleased to Meet Me T Rex - Electric Warrior Neil Young - After The Goldrush Bowie - Hunky Dory "head", music by artists I really admired for groundbreaking, innovative work Bowie - Low/Heroes Velvet Undergound - ... and Nico Wire - Chairs Missing PIL - Metal Box Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures New Order- Lowlife Kraftwerk - Man Machine Iggy - Lust for Life/Raw Power Lou Reed - New York Pixies - Surfer Rosa | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 676 Registered: 03-2006 |
I knew you'd have no trouble crankin those out...interesting lists... I, in fact, happen to own most of the records on them...I like your division of them, too, and would agree with their placement in the head/heart scheme of things... | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 686 Registered: 05-2005 |
Kev & others, you may be interested in this: http://www.mdmarchive.co.uk/ | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 160 Registered: 04-2006 |
hardin, it is unbelievable that joni mitchell isn't mentioned on the board earlier. i suddendly checked my postings on that favourite album thread which we done a few month ago (and were my introducing here on the board) and i am astonished that i didn't mentioned her. mrs. mitchell and her albums ladies of the canyon, hejira, the hissing of summer lawns are three of my favourite all-time lp's. especially ladies of the canyon is a 'heart'-favourite of mine. in the seventies i liked a lot of prog-rock but on the other hand that westcoast music, too. jackson brownes first albums (all till' running on empty) were always spinning on my record player. but then anything changed -post-punk- and i started the first wave of selling records en bloc. jackson brownes albums gone somewhere. but i know that i could not listening to all that stuff with much pleasure once again even though i still like several songs of him. could it be that randy newman isn't mentioned here on the board for the first time, too? randy newman's first album is fantastic.this was special music made by a whole bunch of warner artists like van dyke parks and harper's bizarre for example. i love that stuff. weird music in a period were the most music was psychedelic. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 519 Registered: 04-2005 |
Your lists are very different, Kev and Hardin, but they're both choice. Gotta say, though, that Townshend's "All the Best Cowboys" is an unexpected choice from you, Hardin! Haven't heard that in at least two decades, though I remember "Slit Skirts"--great song. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 743 Registered: 05-2005 |
MDMA - what a great name that is, and very Manchester!! See Ian Curtis daughter Natalie is a board member. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 678 Registered: 03-2006 |
Cowboys really hits me where I live, Mr. Kurt...maybe I was a heroin addict in another lifetime! Although I guess we've all had our polluted, self-hating hungover days when we've yearned to be "cleansed"...(I'm referring to "Sea Refuses No River")...Some of the shit on it is fairly pretentious, like "Stop Hurting People" but I love it anyway. It has at least one very bad song, "Communication", some middling ones, like "Face Dances" but the "big" songs on it, like "Sea", "Somebody Saved Me" and "Slit Skirts" are just impossibly great - really as good as music gets, at least in terms of what I expect out of it. Andreas, I went down a similar path. Rejecting a lot of music of that ilk, then coming back to it years later, sneaking back to re-buy the same shit you got rid of... Quality is quality...Jackson Browne at his best was a thing to behold and you when you consider the profound sadness a lot of his stuff from that era contemplates, it's far from wimpy, really... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 679 Registered: 03-2006 |
One more (fairly) obvious observation about Cowboys - clearly, at that point Townshend was keeping all of his best material for himself, to the detriment of the Who and, I'm sure, the chagrin of that coat-tail rider (but decent bloke) Mr. Daltrey...Maybe this was due to the markedly "adult" turn Townshend's stuff was taking. Maybe Pete found it hard to tap into that adolescent angst that was really what propelled the Who's greatest music... | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 520 Registered: 04-2005 |
Poor Roger. Seems like a good guy, but somewhere along the line, his bombastic singing style and stage moves and the songs Pete was writing went in different directions, resulting in three minor-at-best, embarrassing-at-worst albums to wrap up the band's career. Though now Pete and Rog are back using the Who name. Haven't heard any of the new stuff--I'm a little afraid to. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 521 Registered: 04-2005 |
I don't know, Hardin and Andreas--I have trouble forgiving Jackson Browne for his dopey later-period radio hits and even more so, for being accused of smacking Darryl Hannah around! post edited by admin | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 681 Registered: 03-2006 |
Yup, some of his latter period songs sucked baby cow turds...and he probably did smack Darryl, but hey, trust the art, not the artist, as they say... Funnily enough, Rog was supposedly a real nasty piece of work back in the day - they were all afraid of him...which is kinda humorous since he's what? 5'2"? Now he seems like the nicest of guys... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 536 Registered: 05-2005 |
Spence, Hardin, no, nothing more extra on the EMI reissues. There must be more in the closet somewhere though. The Botany Sessions will have to get an official release at some point surely? We did have a Top 20 albums thread somewhere. Well, I did 20 to show off. I think others did 10. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 523 Registered: 04-2005 |
I don't know about you, Padraig, but my top 10, 20, etc., lists change from day to day depending on what I'm listening to at the moment. I bet if I made a new list now it would have no more than half the albums I listed the first time. And yeah, Roger was a tough guy. But he evidently had to be to keep the others in line, since he was relatively straight edge (long before that term was coined) while the other three were drug/booze-crazed maniacs. Rog does seem to have mellowed into a thoughtful guy, though. Pete's still probably a prat, though. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 537 Registered: 05-2005 |
My top 20 would be fairly steady Kurt. I just wish I could find that thread to confirm that though! Any helpers? | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 747 Registered: 05-2005 |
found it padraig - from January this year http://go-betweens.org.uk/chatroom/messages/1462/1277.html In my post I rather cheekily scrutinised your top 20 and suggested that some of these artists had made better albums. Scarily, Hardins is almost identical to the one he posted tonight, including the Pete Townshend one Mines was fairly close to some of the choices I posted tonight, which I am quite surprised by because I am of the opinion that these lists can fluctuate wildly depending on mood. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 538 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks Kevin. Yes, that was cheeky of you! I don't think my list has changed since then. I can't think of any I would add ot take away at the moment anyway. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 684 Registered: 03-2006 |
Just to torture all of you, though, I think we should make you narrow it down to 10. That's the hard part! Well Padraig, though I'm completely easy when it comes to the Go-Betweens, they have to at least throw me a bone! Slap at least one unreleased track on each of those re-issues, or I ain't buying 'em. Why spend all that $ just to get a slightly newer version of the disc? Maybe if they put some cool new pictures on them (particularly of Amanda) or have some fancy packaging, like I dunno, a 3-D picture, a al Outkast! | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 693 Registered: 05-2005 |
U2 - Unforgettable Fire Magazine box set - Maybe its right to be nervous now. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 763 Registered: 05-2005 |
M Ward - Post War. This is a real grower, definately benefits from having a full band sound Clinic - Visitations. If you like Clinics other albums you will like this, if you dont you wont. Sparklehorse - Dreamt For Light Years... Mark Linkous and Danger Mouse - thats a great combination. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 384 Registered: 08-2004 |
LLoyd Cole - Antidepressant R.E.M. - Murmur U2 - October Talking Heads - Talking Heads:77 The Who - Back Back Arcade Fire - Funeral Editors - The Back Room Go-B's - 16LL New Order - Live The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs Pulp - Different Class Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan ABC - Lexicon Of Love | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 703 Registered: 05-2005 |
Jerry what's the Cole album like? I see there'sa great REM retro just oout, great sleeve. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foixtrot is getting a spin at the moment. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 166 Registered: 04-2006 |
grizzly bear - yellow house if anyone like high llamas around their van dyke parks/brian wilson phase this could be a nice one. listened two times. until now it didn't catched me. maybe to much instruments and ideas instead of harmonies. but i can imagine that it grows after intensive listening. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 770 Registered: 05-2005 |
its a bit like animal collective andreas, have you heard them? | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 715 Registered: 03-2006 |
I downloaded a buncha songs by Grizzly Bear and I gotta say, I'm not feeling it...should I stick with it, Andreas? They are, apparently, the group of the moment...the folks on the blogs praise 'em to the skies.... | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 386 Registered: 08-2004 |
Lloyd Cole is the same as ever Spence. Quite wordy, not very challenging sonically. A bit like Morrissey these days. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 87 Registered: 01-2006 |
Kevin, what is the new Sparklehorse album like? | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 771 Registered: 05-2005 |
Sparklehorse is pretty much more of the same XY, which if you are a fan is fantastic. Apparently it was recorded by himself, much like the first 2 albums in his home studio. I dont know whether he got people in to flesh it out, because it sounds pretty impressive for just one guy. There is the ususal mix of crackly, statiticy, wheezy slow keyboard tracks, a couple of acoustic tracks and 3 or 4 guitar bruisers. Sprinkled with fairydust by Dangermouse and you have a winner. Initially I was disappointed, not by the qulity of songs, but just by the fact it was more of the same. But after a dozen or so listens it all hangs together great and there have been lots of positive reviews, could be a minor breakthrough for Mr Linkous. I say minor, because it is still way to weird for the mainstream. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 88 Registered: 01-2006 |
Thanks for that Kevin, sounds a bit more like Vivadixie and Good Morning Spider than Wonderful Life. I Prefer the first two albums, think there's more staying power in them. Unfortunately I don't have the same access you do and will have to wait till Sep 25 to get my mits on it. He's playing here in Dublin in a small venue too in October which should be great... | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 773 Registered: 05-2005 |
XY, Sparklehorse are playing both Glasgow and Edinburgh and I cant go to either due to work commitments. The last time they played Glasgow about 2 or 3 years ago I was very disappointed. I say "they", it was actually just Mark Linkous. It was billed as a Sparklehorse gig, but on walked Mr Linkous with just an electric guitar and some gadgets(effects pedals etc) for company. Now if this had been billed as a Mark Linkous solo gig I probably wouldnt have bought tickets because I prefer to see a band playing live. I make exceptions for people like Mark Eitzel who can be spellbinding solo. It was doubly gutting because Sparklehorse as a band were fanatastic when I saw them about 10 years ago and was really looking forward to the gig. I suppose it was okay in parts, things like Spirit Ditch and Hammering The Cramps, but overall a let down. Anybody else been burned this way? | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 89 Registered: 01-2006 |
Kevin I saw him last about 2 or 3 years ago too in Dublin and it was just him and a standing drummer. Thought it worked just very short, about 1 hour. Played a good bit from vivadixie which I was very pleased about. He isn't the most talkative at his gigs, comes across as taking himself very seriously... | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 775 Registered: 05-2005 |
XY, yeah know what you mean. The first time I saw them he was a big bear of a man who almost had to crouch down to stop his head hitting the stage ceiling, he was also pretty drunk swigging from a whisky bottle during the gig. didnt say a word. then the solo gig I talked about, he had lost a lot of weight and was relatively talkative and very at ease. That thread I posted here about unique albums that nobody else could imitate, well Vivadixie is certainly worthy of inclusion. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 168 Registered: 04-2006 |
third listening of grizzly bear's yellow house. hardin, still the same feelings. a bit of high llamas, stereolab, here and there a bit of beatles and beach boys, but overall it sounds like it is to over-ambitious. on the other hand one or two songs have find the way to my head - and i find myself singing those songs over and over again. i am sorry, hardin, but i am stil not sure if it is a good one or a waste of time. kevin, i heard animal collective. but their music didn't catched me really. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 552 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Wall... For the first time in 18 years... I'll get me coat. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 557 Registered: 05-2005 |
Disc two of the new R.E.M. compilation right now. Great stuff. Lots of unreleased and very rare stuff on the second disc, making it worthh the purchase. The first disc is great too, but it's four songs each from the five IRS albums and one from Chronic Town. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 7 Registered: 09-2006 |
Am I to surmise from the above conversation that the rest of the world isn't enjoying the GB reissues of the first six albums that we got a couple of years ago, with an entire extra 10-to-12 song disc of extras and the original album remastered? If that's true, it really is a shame, and I'll take it upon myself to personally throttle whoever was responsible for that decision. Recent listening: Al Green's far and away my favorite singer and record-maker in the world, and I'm in the middle of one of my periodic binges where I play everything in random order. "The Essential Jim Reeves": my parents were big fans of this fella when I was a kid, and I recently got this to see how it sounded to me over 35 years later. In the mid-to-late 50s he (along with his producer Chet Atkins) were instrumental in creating the "Nashville Sound," which means that if you wanted to you could lay the blame for a lot of lousy records at their feet, and there are indeed times where things get so slick they really grate. But for the most part there's this lovely, almost unearthly calm ambience, and Reeves carries things through with his voice, an amazingly warm, velvety thing that regularly sets off tingles in my lower spine when he heads for a climax. Uh, yes, well, enough on that... Lastly, I have an online music service at the house where I'm staying, and right now I'm catching up with an album I stupidly dismissed as merely OK after a couple of plays at the time: RF's "Warm Nights." | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 536 Registered: 03-2005 |
Welcome aboard, Allen. You seem to have tastes as far-ranging as Hardin's (Little Keith). I don't think I've ever heard any Jim Reeves although I've run across enough covers of his songs. I grew up in Fresno, CA so it was the Bakersfield sound that we got. I've just never gotten Al Green. From that label (Hi) the one who worked for me was Ann Peebles. Well, there are still plenty of years left for an epiphany. Everybody around the world got the GBs reissues with the extra discs. What is now being discussed is the possible reissue, yet again, of these albums with (hopefully) even more unreleased things. Believe it or not, there are still unexcavated (on CD) items such as the official b-side version of "King in Mirrors." Personally, I'd really like to hear the Botany sessions if that's not what we already have on the bonus disc for SMAL. Plus, there are the various odds and ends dating from the reunion years. My own recent listens continue to be whatever my iPod throws up on shuffle plus these totally awesome Townes Van Zandt albums. Dare I say it? He seems more disciplined than Dylan in a good way: while I'm convinced Dylan occasionally indulged in just stringing together words because they sounded cool, Van Zandt seems to have rigorously required his lyrics to actually say something. I haven't decided whether to overcome my lifelong aversion to hype and pick up a copy of "Modern Times." I'll wait to see what everybody is saying on here after the bloom has faded. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 172 Registered: 04-2006 |
first, a warm welcome allen. randy, i am sure that you can buy modern times without any reservations. it is a good one. a really good one. and i had a long lastin dylan aversion... but once again i have to say that townes van zandt is one of my heroes, ever. and as steve earle said: ''townes van zandt is the BEST SONGWRITER in the whole world and i'll stand on bob dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that''. and i recommend a heartbreaking townes van zandt-dvd released this year: be here to love me. buy, watch,listen, cry. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 173 Registered: 04-2006 |
i started listening to THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND AT FILLMORE EAST i really love the allman brothers band. duane allman and dickey betts played guitar like the devil. ( | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 708 Registered: 05-2005 |
A great American band: Nada Surf - The weight is a gift | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 731 Registered: 03-2006 |
Welcome, Allen. I must have fairly Catholic tastes, because I love most of the artists mentioned above. I'm trying to convince my board pals that that's not necessarily a bad thing. I (insert ridiculously worshipful and absurdly disproportionate verb here) Al Green...he's just phenomenal. I've seen him live a few times, and needless to say, he rocks the house...he makes you want to testify, hollah, and writhe on the ground in quasi-religious ecstasy...A friend of mine who lives in Memphis has to been to his church, where he's said to put on some transcendent Gospel services...Al, who had been on a less than righteous path (women, drugs and booze, etc.) had a literal come-to-Jesus moment when a jealous woman threw scalding hot grits (Southern breakfast food)in his face and became an ordained minister. Love Jim Reeves, too, though I don't have any records by him. His "He'll Have to Go" is a country music chestnut and, oddly enough, Prefab Sprout do a sublime cover of it. However, it's not a dichotomy for me, because I love Ann Peebles, too, Randy..."I Can't Stand the Rain": how can begin to describe the soul and majesty of a song like that? Everything else I've ever heard by her is great, too, though I just have stuff on comps, no proper albums... I'm interested in TVZ, admire his songwriting, just don't have any records by him. Any quick and easy primers you can suggest, Randy and Andreas? He actually contributes a very tasty moment to one of my favorite movies, "The Big Lebowski" (I'd be embarrassed to say how many times I've watched it). The closing credits roll to his take on the Stones' "Dead Flowers", to which he lends an air of pathos I didn't think was present in the song... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 558 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hardin, I'm sure you meant to write 'catholic' taste there didn't you? A 'Catholic' taste would be an entirely different thing. The hymns I learnt at school might have been holy and Catholic but they sure weren't catholic. Ain't no Reverend Al making the Lord's words funky in the Catholic church! Randy, the Botany Sessions date from 1990 and none of the songs have featured on any of the re-release discs. Right now I'm listening to the CD that came with today's Sun Herald paper. It's Aussie rock and it's OK. I wouldn't have paid for it. The utterly rubbish John Butler is on it. The Choirboys' Boys Will Be Boys is on right now though. It's a good 70s Aussie pub rock song. | ||
| Cichli Suite Member Username: Cichli_suite Post Number: 158 Registered: 08-2004 |
Randy, you must be referring to the Very Quick on the Eye tracks, much of which feature on the bonus disc with SMAL. I've heard the Botany Sessions, but find the reverb on the acoustic guitars almost unbearable to listen to. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Nemo Post Number: 70 Registered: 07-2005 |
Hardin, regarding Townes Van Zandt, I would jump right in and go for the Texas Troubadour Boxset which contains the seven albums he recorded for the Poppy/Tomato Labels between 1968 and 1978 together with a selection of live tracks taken from the Live At The Old Quarter, Houston, Texas album, recorded in 1973. It can be picked up quite cheaply and is great value for money. It reallly should have been a five disc set to allow for the inclusion of all the tracks from Live At The Old Quarter but I don't think it will disappoint you. Currently listening to lots of Swedish indie pop:- El Perro Del Mar - Look Montt Mardie - Drama Andreas Mattsson - The Lawlessness Of The Ruling Classes | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 732 Registered: 03-2006 |
My bad, Padraig...at least I spelled it correctly (I think)...I'm not Catholic (not really anything - my Dad refused to make us go to church of any kind, so religion never "took"), but have been to a few masses in my time, and I gotta agree: there sho nuff wasn't nuthin' funky goin' on! If only... Thanks for the recommendation, Hugh...it certainly doesn't hurt that it, in addition to being a great comp, is a bargain! I'm off to Amazon to check it out... | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 174 Registered: 04-2006 |
hardin, hugh said (nearly) all about townes van zandt and the texas troubadour set (and hugh, el perro del mar is great, isn't it?). it is surely worth the price. it shall include a nice booklet with comments to all the songs. but i read that the cd's are not remastered, so it could be that the sound quality is not todays standard. and -as mentioned above- i highly recommend that 'be here to love me- dvd. this could be a good introduction to his music and life. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Nemo Post Number: 71 Registered: 07-2005 |
Hardin, the Texas Troubadour Set can be picked up in the U.K. and certain European Countries for Ł13.99 ( US$26.09 ) including handling/postage but unfortunately the company concerned ( Play ) do not appear to ship to the U.S.A. Amazon.co.uk have it listed at Ł16.99 ( US$31.70 ) plus shipping. I was not aware of the fact when I recommended it on this board recently, but it looks like the set has been re-issued at some stage as the earlier version ( different packaging? ) retails for Ł28.99 ( US$54.08 ) on Amazon.co.uk | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 175 Registered: 04-2006 |
last night i listened to new espers cd just called espers II. it sounds like british folk of the fairport convention or pentangle era with a little bit drone, acid and fuzz. magical to listen to it in the dark. and at midnight john fahey said with his incredible the legend of blind joe death goodnight to me. john fahey is surely my discovery of the year. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Nemo Post Number: 72 Registered: 07-2005 |
Andreas, El Perro Del Mar are indeed superb and get a big thumbs up from me. Anyone who wants to know what they sound like can head on over to MySpace and check them/her out. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=345897 98 Punky's Dilemma are another very good Swedish band. To date they have only released a five track e.p. called Echelon but they are well worthing checking out if you have not already heard of them. I think the Texas Troubadour Boxset has been re-issued fairly recently. I have the original book style digipack which I picked up several years ago but it looks as though it now comes as a c.d. size box set. I have no idea if the albums were remastered but I have no problem with the sound quality on the set and I can be fussy about such things. I'm just glad the albums are available and cannot see them getting a remaster anytime soon, if ever. I plan on picking up the dvd in the very near future. Go far it Hardin. You will love it. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 177 Registered: 04-2006 |
hugh, many weeks ago i have talked about el perro del mar here on the board and you recommended punky's dilemma. i immediately searched for punky's dilemma but didn't found anything about them. then i forgot them. can you post some links or do you know where i can listen to them (snippets or similar)? greets andreas | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 9 Registered: 09-2006 |
Thanks to all for the warm welcomes, and to Hardin for the Al Green testifying...I saw him at the annual Bumbershoot music festival here. He only played for about 40 minutes, but it was one of my favorite shows ever. It was at the time where, after many years he was starting to play his old stuff again, so he'd finish a gospel number and then suddenly the opening horn riff for, say, "Here I Am" would begin and his eyes would widen in surprize at the audience, as if to say, "How'd that get in here?" A bit of business, to be sure, but a very effective one. The dichotomy also led to wonderful moments like when, in the midst of a song exhorting everyone to get down on their knees and pray he and all his back up singers began chanting "Do it, do it, do it..." in unison, while Reverend Al began thrusting his hips in a distinctly secular way... I've started getting into John Fahey over the last year or two as well...don't know if it's available worldwide, but in the US there's an exemplary two-disc compilation of his stuff called "Return of the Repressed." Haven't checked out half as much TVZ as I should, but all this talk has broken me down: I just checked my local library's website, they have the box set, and I just put it on request. Any thoughts on the albums "A Far Cry From Dead," or "The Highway Kind," which they also have? Since we're in the Tex-Mex realm at the moment, any Doug Sahm/Sir Douglas Quintet fans out there? | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 178 Registered: 04-2006 |
nice to have another one on my side who likes john fahey... return of the repressed is still available, but i decided to buy his original albums. i started a thread about him here at this board (in off-topic, if you want to read it). after the death of they put out a lot of albums. go and buy the box set and live at the old quarter. that's the essential stuff. al green is a soul highlight, for sure. but i didn't bought any of his new albums (despite that they are not bad). and doug sahm? in 1969 i listened often to mendocino. it was my first 'favourite' song of my life to which i danced around and sang into an imaginary microphone. great times that was!. but as i am from germany you could imagine that it wasn't doug sahm original. a german guy called micahel holm sang this song. and he does it very good. mayn, many years later i discovered that the song was not a michael holm song and that the original is from doug sahm. i tried to check doug sahm's work out, liked a few songs, but not all and that was it until today - no doug sahm can be found in my record collection. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 734 Registered: 03-2006 |
Bumbershoot, eh, Allen? Mr. Kurt is your homeboy - he lives in Seattle, too....you guys should go for a beer. I remember reading Al's complicated reasoning behind why he was playing secular songs again, but alas don't remember it...but what the hell does it matter, anyways? God's gotta love good music, right? He (Al, that is) is an incredible showman and really knows how to work a crowd, even a huge one...there's no warm-up period with him either, is there? He's "on" from the get go...I have his box set and love just about everything he's ever wrapped his golden vocal cords around...having said that, my two faves are probably "Look What You've Done For Me" and "You Ought to Be With Me"... I think Doug Sahm, in the words of Hank Hill, is a dang ole genius, though I just have a couple of comps by him, that I think cover both major eras of his career...I also have the Texas Tornadoes live DVD, from the Austin City Limits show, and it's pure enjoyment...There's one in the same series featuring Sir Doug on his own that I want to get...that series, by the way, is beautifully executed - crisp, clear photography and pristine sound. I have a comp of Fahey that's wonderful, too - another maestro, as far as I'm concerned. He and Sir Doug are subjects for further research... I will check out Amazon.uk for the TVZ, Hugh...sounds like an unbeatable deal...it's going for something like a mere $134 on the American site - not exactly giving it away...Andreas, seemed to like it (apart from it making him wail and gnash his teeth - which I fear will be my reaction)- what's your opinion of the doc, Hugh? | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 554 Registered: 04-2005 |
So, Allen, you're in Seattle now? That's make two of us--I've been the board's lone rep here for awhile. Did you see the Go-Betweens at the Triple Door last year? | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Nemo Post Number: 73 Registered: 07-2005 |
Andreas, here are some links for Punky's Dilemma. http://www.punkysdilemma.com/pd_download.php http://www.last.fm/music/Punky's+Dilemma http://www.last.fm/music/Punky's+Dilemma/Echelon Hardin, I have yet to see the documentary as I have still to purchase the dvd. I have however read some very favourable reviews ( Uncut Magazine? ) and plan to pick up a copy very soon. If you do decide to go for the boxset and have any problems with Amazon.co.uk then let me know and I will pick up a copy from Play and send it to you at cost ( US$26 plus shipping.) Allen, with the exception of 'At My Window' and 'No Deeper Blue' most of the albums released by Townes Van Zandt after 1978 were either compilations or live albums. Most of his best songs were written and recorded between 1968 and 1978 and I would certainly start with the stuff from that era. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Nemo Post Number: 74 Registered: 07-2005 |
Andreas, not sure what happened with the last.fm links as the above just take you to the main website. Try the following. http://www.last.fm/music/Punky%27s+Dilemma/echelon Currently listening to 'Hotel Morgen' by To Rococo Rot ( German Electronica.) | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 10 Registered: 09-2006 |
Hiya Kurt...yes I did see that show. Thought they were amazing, and am of course now infinitely more glad I got to see them when I did. The venue was a little odd, though...almost schizophrenic. An upscale yuppie bar and grill with a stage but nothing resembling a dance floor. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 11 Registered: 09-2006 |
And thanks for the tips, Hugh. Looking forward to that set. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 560 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hardin, inspired by your 'Catholic' taste I listened to Pete Townshend's All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes last night for the first time in years. What a fine album it is. I've loved that album since I first bought it on vinyl almost a quarter century ago! In 1990 I worked for a few days in Acton, west London moving stuff from one side of a warehouse to another side. What made the job great though was I was so thrilled to be working in Acton - a living, breathing part of The Who's story. I kept singing Stardom In Acton to myself while I was sweeping and lifting and whatever else I did in that warehouse. I also remember it as being really sunny and reasonably warm, which seems unlikely though as it was London and it was February! I read somewhere that Townshend was furious when the then Who drummer Kenny Jones accused him of keeping the best songs for his solo album. Listening to the album last night I thought a few songs would not have worked as Who songs, but most would. At the time though I thought none would work as Who songs and Jones was being an ingrate fool (Townshend did tell him to write his own songs if that was how he felt) as Face Dances (which immediately preceded ... Chinese Eyes) was an awesome album. I still love Face Dances too and think they are excellent companion albums. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 739 Registered: 03-2006 |
Glad to hear you're in the fold, my brotha! Inspired by my own "Catholic" (can I get an "Amen"!) taste, I picked up another Townshend re-issue, "Rough Mix". Heard it? It's fairly great, as well. It's the album he made with Ronnie Lane. It includes, amongst others, that horrific & great song, "My Baby Gives It Away", about the amazement the protagonist feels that his woman has sex with him for free. It's one of those Dual Disc things that has a DVD on the flip side, which on this one includes a 5.1 Surround Sound mix, which sounds pretty phenomenal, and a brief doc on the making of... Apparently Lane spent much of the sessions soused and doing one thing or another to piss Townshend off....Lane's manager recalls walking into the studio and seeing Townshend kicking Lane, who was curled up in a ball on the floor. After separating them and shooing off Townshend, the mgr. asked the still drunk Lane what it was he had said to piss Townshend off. Lane had no clue, but said, "it must have been pretty bad!". Though I'm simpatico with your fandom, I don't think I liked Face Dances quite as much, though it has a lot of great moments. The version I have has the band's demo of "Somebody Saved Me", which is interesting but doesn't really measure up to Townshend's solo version, which is, out of the vast mountain of music I possess, a real favorite... | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 537 Registered: 03-2005 |
Padraig, yes, I was laboring under the misimpression that the "Botany Sessions" were the early recordings from the SMAL period. Is the reverb on the 1990 material worse than on "You Won't Find It Again?" Hardin, I haven't managed any better than you on Ann Peebles. She hasn't been well-served by the CD era. I have a few vinyl albums and a great single-disc UK CD antho. One of the things that favorably impressed me with the TVZ box is the relative restraint of the arrangements on most of the records. The first album has the silly 1969 vintage arrangement touches (harpsichord, Moms & Dads vocal backings) but few of the others do. The low budget imposed by being on an indie label really served the music though there is eventually one Chips Moman-produced album and that works too. I don't know if it's been remastered but the discs have perfectly acceptable sound. I don't hear a bunch of tape hiss. There's only so much you can expect from 8 and 16 track recordings which is what I assume all of these are. Aside from the novelty humor numbers which I don't personally have any use for, you can randomly select just about any song on this whole damn box and be amazed. Hardin, a cover of "Dead Flowers" sounds really funny. I've never gotten the Doug Sahm thing but I confess I haven't really explored him. I was always more of a Roky Erickson/13th Floor Elevators type when it comes to Texas rock. There's a group I wish would get a properly mastered reissue program instead of all the half-baked exploitation reissues I've learned to stop buying. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 740 Registered: 03-2006 |
Randy, does this mean you haven't seen "Big Lebowski"? You must go out and rent it! You seem too sophisticated and normal to have my skewed (putting it nicely) sense of humor, but still - I think you'd find it pretty funny, and it has a lot of great L.A. locales (okay, what doesn't, since most movies are made there, but still...). It even has a bit about In N Out burgers... It doesn't help w/ the 13th Floor Elevators, but I think there is a set of fairly deluxe RE reissues that came out recently... Guess I'm gonna have to purchase this TVZ box. Thanks for your extremely kind offer, Hugh. Don't think I'll need to take you up on it (or if I could be that shameless), since I've had good luck with Amazon UK... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 741 Registered: 03-2006 |
Randy, does this mean you haven't seen "Big Lebowski"? You must go out and rent it! You seem too sophisticated and normal to have my skewed (putting it nicely) sense of humor, but still - I think you'd find it pretty funny, and it has a lot of great L.A. locales (okay, what doesn't, since most movies are made there, but still...). It even has a bit about In N Out burgers... It doesn't help w/ the 13th Floor Elevators, but I think there is a set of fairly deluxe RE reissues that came out recently... Guess I'm gonna have to purchase this TVZ box. Thanks for your extremely kind offer, Hugh. Don't think I'll need to take you up on it (or if I could be that shameless), since I've had good luck with Amazon UK... | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 559 Registered: 04-2005 |
Hardin and Padraig, what do you think of Townshend's mid-'80s album/film "White City"? It seems like it didn't get a whole lot of attention, but I kind of liked it and found it to be one of the most musically satisfying things he did in the eighties. I rented the video of the short film of the album and don't recall it being anything special, but it wasn't as embarrassing as, say, "Greendale." And "Rough Mix"--that brings back memories. I still have it on vinyl but haven't played it in, what, 25 years? I'll have to dig it out. Pete had some great songs on there. I have to admit that back then I didn't have much use for the Ronnie Lane tracks, but I'd probably appreciate them more now. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 744 Registered: 03-2006 |
Never saw the film, but liked the album quite a bit. Some of it is a little iffy, but it has at least two stone-brilliant songs, "Give Blood" and "Face"...never understood the concept it was meant to invoke...I guess the "White City" was what we'd call a housing project here... I'll probably succumb and buy more of these re-issues, dang it. They all have unreleased tracks included. "Empty Glass" is probably next on the list - liked that one a lot, too... | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 179 Registered: 04-2006 |
i gave 'espers ii' a daylight listening and it is as good as it was at saturday night. 'hippie-stuff'! recommendation! but i am a little bit astonished that it seems that nobody of you fellows listened to the new yo la tengo album. i got my copy and immediately listened. what an album. absolutely brilliant. it is framed from two 10/11 minute tracks which blow you away. and in between you can hear one beautiful song after the other. this album is a condensate of their now twenty year long 'career'which i followed from the beginning until today(but not buying all their stuff). i think it is their second masterpiece! the other is 'and then nothing turned itself inside-out'from 2000. maybe my highlight of this year!!! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 745 Registered: 03-2006 |
I'm getting the impression you like that new Yo La Tengo, Andreas ...that's one that's definitely on my list - I can't wait. It definitely gets the award for best title of the year! Lotsa stuff coming out tomorrow - I'll have to budget my pennies wisely. There's YLT, Los Lobos (I'm a big fan - it helps to live in So Cal and have a Latina girlfriend to appreciate them), TV on the Radio and Kasey Chambers...seems like there were 4 or 5 other tasty things...what are they, Kev? | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 561 Registered: 04-2005 |
Thanks for the notice on the YLT album, Andreas. You know, there was hardly a bigger fan of the band than me during the '90s. But now I've cooled on them considerably--I actually left early the last time I saw them live because they seemed to be going through the motions--and haven't been optimistic about the album after downloading a couple of preview tracks (including the 10-minute opening track of guitar squall). But I guess I will be there at the store tomorrow, clamoring for the new album anyway. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 181 Registered: 04-2006 |
oh kurt, i hope you like it. i don't want to be the one who misleads you. but -for my taste- it is a really perfect one. i wasn't a big fan of them in the nineties , too. there were a lot of reasons. one was a certain tiredness of all that guitar stuff listened to through the whole eighties. i retired from the gob's, too (that means i listened to their first solo albums and decided that they weren't very good - and that was it until their glorious return with FORW). in the beginning of the nineties i loved hip hop. the sounds. the djs. gang starr, ATCQ, jungle brothers , brand nubian. all that stuff. then came all that electronicas which ended in my love with drum and bass. but the first love is always the truest love, so that i returned to the guitar sound (in reality i never stopped really listening guitar stuff, but it stood in the second row). | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 784 Registered: 05-2005 |
Andreas, I thought I had already raved about the YLT album? If I havent, I meant too I agree with you that And then nothing turned itself inside-out is a good album, but for me its not in the same league as I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One. On the new album, Pass The Hatchet I Think I'm Goodkind is my favourite, and Mr Tough could be a hit single, although maybe in a parallel universe! | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 562 Registered: 04-2005 |
I thought their best albums were "Painful" and "Electr-o-Pura"--how would you guys rate the new one compared to those? I guess I need to give "Pass the Hatchet" (one of the preview MP3s I heard) another chance. It sounded quite irritating on my work computer speakers, but maybe it comes to life on a decent system. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 786 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hardin, heres what Metacritic say gets released this week. The only ones that interest me are Junior Boys ( I bought a promo of this 3 weeks ago and its excellent), The Rapture and Yo La Tengo. Looks like you guys finally get TV on The Radio, seems like we've had it for months, one of the contenders for album of the year methinks. The Black Keys Magic Potion Richard Buckner Meadow Shawn Colvin These Four Walls DJ Shadow The Outsider Electric Six Switzerland Everclear Welcome To The Drama Club Junior Boys So This Is Goodbye Los Lobos The Town And The City Magnolia Electric Co. Fading Trails The Mars Volta Amputechture Mastodon Blood Mountain John Mayer Continuum Mouse On Mars Varcharz Now It's Overhead Dark Light Daybreak OOIOO Taiga The Rapture Pieces Of The People We Love Bob Seger Face The Promise Starflyer 59 My Island Sandi Thom Smile... It Confuses People US release; already out in UK Justin Timberlake FutureSex/LoveSounds TV On The Radio Return To Cookie Mountain US release; already out in UK Xiu Xiu The Air Force Yo La Tengo I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 563 Registered: 04-2005 |
The new DJ Shadow album might just be the star of that list, actually, if it's as good as his previous releases. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 562 Registered: 05-2005 |
Kurt, I liked White City the album, but I never saw the film. Hardin, I just came across Rough Mix (on cassette) the other day. Didn't play it, but will get round to it. I'm playing a lot of old cassettes lately, having finally (four years on) opened the last box from my move from Dublin to Sydney! Randy, yeah, lots of reverb on Botany sessions. I don't know that I'd compare it to You Won't Find It Again though. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 12 Registered: 09-2006 |
My favorite off Rough Mix was always "Heart to Hang Onto" (I think that's right) - a sentimental heart-tugger, but a good 'un. Currently just began listening to the new Yo La on Rhapsody. The return to guitar squall on the first track is nice...I loved the all-pastoral "Summer Sun" (my second favorite, after ICHTHBAO, and the one that I've used to make the most converts) but I'm also glad to see they're back to mix-and-matching a bit more. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 747 Registered: 03-2006 |
To me, everything on Rough Mix is great...I think the Lane songs are all of real high quality. I probably do like the Townshend material best,though. What can I say? I'm a big fan...I really like "Keep Me Turning" a lot, too. I must stand up for the Yo La, too...I pretty much love everything they do and think they're cool as shit. I'm usually immune to other people's ideas of cool, but something about them really pushes all the right buttons: the name (taken from a famous baseball story), the attitude, the fierce eclecticism. I like 'em all, but "I Can Hear the Heart" is my fave. I thought "Summer Sun" was terrific, too. One isolated piece of music by them that really knocks me out is "I Heard You Looking" (from "Painful", I believe?): it's one of my favorite instrumentals of all time. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 564 Registered: 04-2005 |
"I Heard You Looking" is great--I saw them do an amazing live version in 2000 that took the intensity of the recorded version and tripled it. I thought Ira was going to kill his guitar during the most frantic parts--and then somehow he brought it back to the melody seamlessly. A major "goosebumps" moment. I relistened to "Pass the Hatchet" last night on good headphones and it's pretty exciting. OK, I'm eager about the album now. It's in stores in the States today. I know where I'm going after work. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 788 Registered: 05-2005 |
Kurt, you wont be disappointed, this album ticks all the YoLa boxes. There is the Velvets style tracks, the motorik riffy tracks, the contrasting vocal styles, the instrumentals, the perfect pop songs - its almost like a compilation you might make up to convert somebody to the YoLa cause. Encouraging to see some really positive reviews too. Another one to add to the (growing)list for album of the year. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/5289/yo-la-tengo-i-am-not-afraid-of-y ou-and-i-will-beat-your-ass/ http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/38430/Yo_La_Tengo_I_Am_Not_A fraid_of_You_and_I_Will_Beat_Your_Ass http://www.shakingthrough.net/music/reviews/2006/ylt_i_am_not_afraid_of_you_2006 .html | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 566 Registered: 04-2005 |
I read the Pitchfork review yesterday, and that was encouraging because I shared the reviewer's qualms with "Summer Sun"--that the band was settling into a complacent final phase of mellower, less challenging music. While "And Then Nothing..." and "Setting Sun" were very different in lyrical focus, musically I found them too similar, and the band had never previously locked into the same musical groove for two albums in a row. It's funny that people are trying to convince me about the new YLT. The group had no stauncher defender than me for years! | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 567 Registered: 04-2005 |
Oh, and to add a boring YLT story to the mix: Does anybody remember the online music mag Addicted to Noise (ATN)? It was fairly noteworthy back in '95/96, but then the site was bought out, it floundered for awhile, and later disappeared. I knew a guy who wrote reviews and features for ATN, and I kind was kind of responsible for turning him on to Yo La Tengo by talking up the band, making mix tapes, and such. Later, he did a combined feature article on Yo La Tengo and Luna that was called "The Anxiety of Influence," which was hooked on the premise that both were heavily Velvet Underground-influenced bands negotiating parallel careers. He found the members of Luna to be very cooperative and agreeable when he interviewed them, and they were not shy about admitting their VU/Reed infatuation. On the other hand, he had a phone interview with Ira Kaplan where Ira was totally rude, and alternately bored/combative throughout. Ira also took a great deal of exception at the VU comparison. I felt bad, because I had met Ira before a gig a year earlier and he was very nice, so I'd told the ATN friend that he would have a great time interviewing Ira. He didn't. Naturally, Ira came off as a bit of a dick in the resulting article. Not that it mattered; YLT is still around and ATN is pretty much forgotten. He'd deny it, but Ira learned well from his hero Lou Reed. Be nasty to reporters and critics! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 749 Registered: 03-2006 |
If they don't wanna cop to the VU influence, they shouldn't play them in a movie...that's one tip I can offer them. But actually, though there's some superficial resemblances, I think YLT's music is much more wide-ranging, more all over the map stylistically...taking nothing away from VU. Luna, on the other hand...pretty much a (a very high quality) knock-off, though they have their own virtues and imbue a lot of originality (paradoxically) into that format...funny thing about Luna is, though I like 'em a lot, there's nothing very exciting about them, if you know what I mean...I was relieved when they finally put out a best of, so I could get jettison all their other records that always bored me half way through. I read an article someplace by somebody - it might have been that same journalist - that described the same kind of behavior you mention, Kurt. They were pretty much threatening to beat his ass every five minutes...they seem like good eggs apart from that small detail! | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 571 Registered: 04-2005 |
YLT are very self-conscious about what wimps they are. That's often been to the benefit of their music, because they (along with My Bloody Valentine) are probably the best ever at combining sweet, gentle vocals with music that could peel the paint off of walls. At least they're nice to fans, from what I've seen. It's funny that Ira can be such a jerk to writers, considering he used to be one. It wasn't that long ago that he interviewed Neil Young (another prickly interview subject) for Spin. The CD label of "Painful" is a picture he took of the fries Neil was eating during the interview! Luna, I agree, is more stylized than YLT and a lot less experimental. More consistent too, but that's not always a compliment. You're right that a greatest hits is the way to go--their albums are fairly interchangeable. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 565 Registered: 05-2005 |
At a YLT club show in Dublin about 6/7 years ago someone shouted out "SHUT UP" really loudly and angrily to someone annoying them at the end of a song. For a brief moment there was complete silence in the club, then Ira said: "Cool. Somebody fought when we played that song in Manchester last night too. Hey, maybe it can be like our "Sympathy For The Devil"; every time we play it something happens." Then everyone laughed and the tension was gone. It was hilarious. I wish I could remember what song they were playing at the time. Any helpers from the Dublin contingent? The show was at Vicar St. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 90 Registered: 01-2006 |
Sounds like 'I'm not afraid of you' is worth pickin up so... Can Luna and YLT really be compared? I would be more of a Luna fan than Yo La Tengo and understand how they don't rock everyone's boat. Surley though 'Bewithched' would keep you interested to the end Kurt & Hardin/Little Keith?? I don't understand how they never took off after 13/14 years, especially after 'Romantica'. Gonna pick up the Best of even though I have all the tracks on albums cos there's an extra disc of all their cover versions with it. On another note, Sonic Boom was once asked could he ever play again with Jason Pierce to re-from Spacemen 3 and he said anything was possible fater touring with Yo La Tengo. He called Ira 'Irate Kaplan'. Wasn't at that YLT gig in Vicar St Padraig. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 720 Registered: 05-2005 |
Grat name Yo La Tengo, I was going to form a Magazine tribute band with a ring to it, "You say tomato, I say Devoto"! | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 189 Registered: 01-2005 |
Kevin wrote: >Shawn Colvin These Four Walls How's that? I was a big fan of hers in the 90's and saw her live when she was touring Cover Girl. I didn't care for her last one from 5 years ago. >The Rapture Pieces Of The People We Love I loved Echoes from 3 years ago. I am going to see them next month. >Bob Seger Face The Promise Seger's studio is 2 miles from my house, where this was recorded. I was at the Friday night Live Bullitt concert at Cobo Hall in Detroit, September of 1975 where the bulk of Live Bullitt was recorded. So, I guess you could say I made it on a gold record, albeit as one of the cheering audience. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 574 Registered: 04-2005 |
I bow before the superior taste of Andreas and Kevin--I picked up "I Am Not Afraid of You..." last night, and it is clearly YLT's best in nearly a decade. The poppy stuff doesn't sound like it was recorded on autopilot, unlike "Summer Sun." They've pretty much ditched the drum machines and synths, thank god. Some tracks sound like nothing they've ever done before. They sound like they really worked on this one. And "Pass the Hatchet" is as hypnotic an epic as "Blue Line Swinger." Yo La Tengo is back and I feel like a fool for writing them off. Sorry, Mr. Zimmerman, I think this one is going to bump you out of the CD tray for awhile. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 753 Registered: 03-2006 |
XY, didn't mean to unduly diss Luna...I likes 'em a lot...I think they're really great - it's just that a certain saminess can creep in with them...YLT's raging eclecticism more suits my own tastes (or what some might call my multiple-personality disorder)... My fave Luna disc is "Penthouse" and I think "Sideshow by the Seashore" is the single best thing they've ever done. I got the best of, but I didn't see a version here that had a covers disc with it. In fact, I believe you can only download the covers from ITunes...bet it's fascinating - they've made some interesting choices when it comes to covers... Btw, did you see their concert/farewell tour doc? It's pretty interesting... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 756 Registered: 03-2006 |
David Cross (very funny comedian and star of TV's Arrested Development) apparently likes the new YLT, although he hasn't actually listened to it (details). Here's his review:http://www.stereogum.com/archives/003361.html | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 91 Registered: 01-2006 |
Little Keith, just got delivery of the DVD and watched it, it's good. I went over to London to catch them on their farewell tour, they were a great live band. Their live album is well worth getting too. I agree that Penthouse is a cracker but my personal favourite would be Bewitched, it was my intro to them and I just love the sound of that album, maybe Sterling Morrisson's playing on it has something to do with that. They did have some dud records like Pup Tent and Days of our Nights but they always had some standout tracks on every album, I'll miss them a lot. I'll have to do with Dean Wareham & Britta Phillips now, they have a new album out in early 2007. Yeah the US 'best of' had the covers available by download only from ITunes but there is a European release scheduled for early October with the an extra disc containing all the covers. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 763 Registered: 03-2006 |
XY, you Europeans get all the best stuff! Britta Phillips: she should've been on our "purtiest female" list. Dean Wareham is a lucky, lucky man. I didn't do this when I rented it, but supposedly there's an alternate track on the DVD with commentary from Wareham and the other guitar player that features them openly sniping at each other and that affords insight into why they broke up! | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 95 Registered: 01-2006 |
Hardin/Little Keith, Haven't had a full look at the commentary, thought there was enough of that sniping already in the documentary. I'm sure Wareham is quite prickly though I'd say Sean Eden could be a real pain too, especially after a few drinks!! Anyway they made some great rock'n'roll together. Yeah Britta Phillips is gorgeous and looking very well in the DVD, especially at the start heh heh.. The European 'Best of' is different to the US one too, a few more tracks on this one and not bad value for 35 songs, less than €20 from www.play.com. Speaking of their covers, I can't wait to hear their version of Suicide's Dream Baby Dream... | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 17 Registered: 09-2006 |
After far too long a time I pulled out my old vinyl copy of the Housemartins' "The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death." My, what a great one. Like their forbears Steely Dan, Heaton & co. are zen masters at blending bitter pills with sheer aural beauty so that they not only complement each other but remind one of how inseparable they really are in life. Plus, it makes me dance around the room like a fool. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 202 Registered: 04-2006 |
hardin, i listened to the new birdman album. it sounds like all the birdman or new christs albums. i left it in the rack. |