| Author | Message | ||
     kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 740 Registered: 05-2005 |
The thread for "Favourite albums of 2005 so far" was started by a guy called PD(wonder whatever happened to him?)in June last year, so I guess we're late this year. BTW, his nomination was for Alligator by The National. For this year, mine so far are Lambchop - Damaged Hot Chip - The Warning Thom Yorke - The Eraser Dylan - Modern Times Twilight Singers - Powder Burns Drive By Truckers - A Blessing and a Curse | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 684 Registered: 05-2005 |
Shack - the corner of miles and gil Tom Verlaine - Songs and other things and Around Rockingham - Lessismore (to be released) My reissues will be The Jam - All Mod Cons and I have yet to buy it! and Blue Aeroplanes - Swagger. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 518 Registered: 04-2005 |
Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped There are other good ones this year, but those two stand out for me. I'm not sure whether the Dylan album will challenge those or not. We'll see how much of a grower it is. | ||
| abigail law Member Username: Abigail Post Number: 84 Registered: 06-2005 |
im currently in love with the dusty sprigfield a and b sides collection though it isn't really new im also finding too much of the new dylan album hard work, too many of the tracks seem to drift along going nowhere Savane - Ali Farka Toure Charlotte Gainsbourg - 5:55 | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 675 Registered: 03-2006 |
For me, the Dylan has almost immediately jumped to the top of the list... Other things that have really blown up my skirt in '06: SY - Rather Ripped Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere Midlake - Van Occupanther Mountain Goats - Get Lonely T-Bone Burnett - The True False Identity Howe Gelb - 'Sno Angel Like You | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 161 Registered: 04-2006 |
that reminds me that we should go ouit and buy christmas gifts before it is too late... faves of 2006 until today: jenny wilson - love and youth woven hand - mosaic tv on the radio - return to cookie mountain the handsome family - last days of wonder | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 744 Registered: 05-2005 |
Damn, forgot Midlake  | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 162 Registered: 04-2006 |
me too, kevin. | ||
| Cichli Suite Member Username: Cichli_suite Post Number: 153 Registered: 08-2004 |
Gulag Orkestar by the band Beirut. I don't know anything about them but I keep playing it. Also, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood by Neko Case. My damn copy of Modern Times still hasn't arrived but when it does I suspect it will become my favourite for this year. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 680 Registered: 03-2006 |
Meester Cichli - I am on the Beirut train, bigtime...it's great isn't it? I am, in fact, on a bit of a Balkan/Gypsy music kick. Other cool groups in the genre you might possibly like are Devotchka and Gogol Bordello... The mastermind behind Beirut is, believe it or not, a 20 yr. old guy. And, they're somehow connected with the famed Elephant 6 Collective that Neutral Milk Hotel came out of... I think that company you bought MT from owes you damages for mental suffering. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 746 Registered: 05-2005 |
Christ, Hardin that "playground" of yours is the biggest in the whole damn universe | ||
| Cichli Suite Member Username: Cichli_suite Post Number: 154 Registered: 08-2004 |
Hardin, thanks for the info and the suggestions. I love their brass arrangements which sound like they belong to a raucous Italian funeral. I didn't know about the connection with Neutral Milk Hotel, but I think they are great too. 20 years of age, you say? Aren't there any 40 year old masterminds out there producing work for the first time. Give me some hope! The mental suffering will ease once I hear a few songs from MT, I'm sure , but I won't be pre-ordering from cd-wow again. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 683 Registered: 03-2006 |
Kev, it's too big for me to even wrap my own mind around ...actually, I think the reason I have such "ecka-lectic" (as I heard our Pres pronounce it) taste is cuz all I really listen to most of the time is nerdy white guys strumming guitars, singing lovelorn songs in 4/4 time, i.e. the Go-Betweens....so, sometimes I have to mix it up, throw in a little flava, with some reggae, hip-hop or even ethnic music, just for variety... So it's either that or maybe I have a Russian in the woodpile somewhere back in the family tree! God knows I love vodka enough! Though it gets embarrassing buying those 1.5 liter bottles every few days..."Hello Mista Keith, will it be the usual?" I have to keep changing liquor stores... I know, Cichli - it took a supreme act of will to get over that fact and still enjoy the music. Most 20 year olds I know still have training wheels on their bikes...NMH are great - that record w/ King of Carrot Flowers on it (can't conjure up the album title) is a stone classic. Here's a brief article on Beirut, that also mentions some other recommendations in the same vein (I haven't been courageous enough to try them. They might be too authentic for me - I might need my Balkan sounds slightly Westernized):http://www.slate.com/id/2148561/ | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 526 Registered: 03-2005 |
Hardin, you'd be amazed how many times I've offended people by telling them I like geeky white-boy guitar music. Well, maybe you wouldn't. Incidentally, I thought of you the other night when I was in a little two-car garage sized place in Los Feliz called Tiki Tee which consisted of nothing but a bar serving Polynesian drinks. It's been going since 1961 and is still run by the same family, two generations of which were represented by the bartenders. Cichli, be that 40 year old doing work for the first time. I'm trying it at nearly 50. There's nothing like the combination of almost youthfully crappy playing and wizened lyrical outlook. I seldom make the effort to buy releases while they are new. So far the only thing I can cite for this year's greats is "Fox Confessor." I really believe Ms. Case has successfully dug a canal out of the Dead Sea of country music. Her nuanced combination of pop and country and folk is the most seamless I've ever heard. She banishes alt-country firmly to the clumsy closet. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 686 Registered: 03-2006 |
Well Randy, to use that current popular expression, the music we like "is what it is"... That sounds like a cool place. I'll have to put it on the list. It meets at least two of my criteria: a) it has a lot of history attached, and b) sounds like a "hole in the wall". My girlfriend keeps wanting to go over to Hollywood and check out some of the new places. According to her, parts of it have really been revamped and are quite chi chi...Do you know anything about that? Any recommendations for restaurants, bars, etc.? Or, is everything just kind of overpriced and plastic? | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 170 Registered: 01-2005 |
Hardin, it's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. I bought it a couple of years ago when I got into The Decemberists. A lot of my fellow fegmaniax on Robyn Hitchcock's fegmainia mailing list are into NMH's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea as well as The Decemberists. I am totally in agreement with you and Cichli on ITAOTS's greatness! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 748 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hardin, I have tried to like Neutral Milk Hotels album In An Aeroplane Over The Sea but I just dont seem to be able to "get" it. I remember I saw them supporting Sparklehorse in Glasgow about maybe 10 years ago at a great little club called King Tuts Wah Wah Hut (which is famous for being the place where Alan McGee first saw Oasis, and signed them up on the spot). It is a tiny stage and there were about 8 of them crammed on the stage, if I remember correctly as well as guit,bass,drums there were tubas,trombones etc. they lokked like a bunch of fishermen with big thick polo necks and bushy beards. I will dig out the album and play later on tonight. Randy, I was playing Fox Confessor last night for about only the 2nd time since it came out, it just seems to wash over me which is strange because I love her stuff with New Pornos. Another I need to persevere with I guess | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 749 Registered: 05-2005 |
Michael, thats spooky. We were both writing our replies about Neutral Milk Hotel at the same time, and I am listening to the new album by The Decemberists called The Crane Wife. I'm not really that familiar with them but it sounds pretty good. Kinda jaunty guitarry, keyboardy folk pop. The track playing just now is called Yankee Bayonet and has a great female vocalist singing a duet with the lead singer. What other albums by them would you recommend? | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 172 Registered: 01-2005 |
Kevin, Spooky indeed! Castaways and Cutouts from 2003 is by far my favorite! The follow-up, Her Majesty, The Decemberists, is excellant, but just not as good as C&C as it lacks the great pop song "July, July" that is in C&C. I'll have to pick up the new one. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 529 Registered: 03-2005 |
Hardin, I haven't checked out that many of the new Hollywood places. They DO seem to be chi-chi and that's not usually my thing, especially nouveau chi-chi. But one very wonderful relatively new (several years now) tenant on Cahuenga is the Hotel Cafe. It's a small bar/performance space very much geared toward musicians. Check out their website. Thanks for reminding me of that idiot expression "it is what it is." I used to date someone who used it all the time. Kevin, I don't really see any connection between Neko Case' solo work and the New Pornographers' stuff. She's just a voice there. I've probably played "Twin Cinema" as many times as you've played "Fox Confessor." The multiple accolades given to Midlake on this board over the past month or so suggest that I should be looking them over. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 689 Registered: 03-2006 |
NMH have a Louisiana connection. I think they lived in say, Shreveport, for a while, and one of their records is called, "From Avery Island", which is in New Iberia, where they make Tabasco sauce (great stuff, though I've had to make do with Tapatio in CA)...so no wonder they looked like fishermen! They probably took their fashion cues from shrimpboat captains... I like Robyn Hitchcock a lot, ,Michael but quit buying his albums after a while as they started seeming too samey...which isn't the same thing as saying they suffered in quality (like say, the Church, who to me just got bad and insufferably boring, but that's another thread)...I still admire what he does tremendously and'll probably shell out for his new record, since it's been awhile... Like the Decembrists a lot, too...A friend has an advance copy of their new one, and agreeing with Kev, it's a real humdinger...this could be "the one"! Very poppy, more song-y and less talk-y, if that makes sense... | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 751 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hardin, after listening to the Decemberists all the way through you are right, this could be the "one" to break them by building on the good press they have accrued thus far. some people might be put off by one track clocking in at 12mins 42secs, and another at 11mins 26secs though! Randy, you are right of course, there is no connection between New Pornos and Nekos solo work apart from the voice. what I was trying to say was that I do like her stuff with New Pornos, so that was not hampering my judgement of not particularly liking her solo stuff. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 693 Registered: 03-2006 |
Randy, Rumsfeld has used that expression a lot to describe the war - I guess that says it all... Thanks for another recommendation - I'll have to check it out, along with the tiki joint...Only in California could they have "nouveau chi-chi" places - you gotta love it. Re: your Neko love, do you have her disc, "Blacklisted"? It's really great, too. Very strong, dark songwriting... | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 530 Registered: 04-2005 |
To jump in late, Neko's singing with the New Pornos is very different--she almost affects an English (or at least Canadian) accent, as opposed to her rootsy solo sound. I like both styles and am glad she's versatile. "Blacklisted" is great--more tight than "Fox Confessor," and its predecessor "Furnace Room Lullaby" is a grower that I think I might like best of her solo albums. It's a bit less abstract in the songwriting and melodies than the more recent stuff. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 697 Registered: 03-2006 |
I get the impression Neko is primarily on the NP's albums to add flava...she doesn't really participate in the songwriting much does she? | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 532 Registered: 04-2005 |
Not at all--it's mostly Carl (AC) Newman's show, with two or three songs per album by Dan Bejar. I think we'll hear even less of Neko with the NPs in the future, given how her solo career has taken off. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 753 Registered: 05-2005 |
AC Newmans album is ace too | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 533 Registered: 03-2005 |
Understood, Kevin. I was just commenting on the perfect complementariness [is that a word?] of our taste on this particular subject. Hardin, I do have "Blacklisted." This is another of our "Car Wheels" v. "World Without Tears" divergences. While I think "I Wish I Was the Moon" is jaw-droppingly beautiful and effective, I see the earlier record as more caught in the confines of its genre. That's what I meant by "the Dead Sea of country music." It's Neko's adventurous tinkering with the idiom on "Fox Confessor" that knocks me out. But I like them all, "Lullaby" as well. Rumsfeld . . . . time for me to drive off and get a margarita. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 537 Registered: 04-2005 |
Kev, you're right--I actually like "The Slow Wonder" as much as any of the NPs albums. Ever heard Newman's first group, Zumpano? | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 757 Registered: 05-2005 |
No Kurt cant say I have heard Zumpano. Do you recommend them? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 540 Registered: 05-2005 |
Kevin, I love King Tut's... What a great venue. I saw Jimmy Webb's sons' band (can't remember their name) there in January 2001. I just googled them and they are called, of course, The Webb Brothers! Supporting them were I Am Kloot, who were also great, and a local Glasgow band called Kirby (all girls bar the drummer) who were superb. I thought Kirby would be huge but I never heard of them again. Do you know anything about them Kevin? That whole night was amazing. It was a bad time for me (girl trouble!) but that concert shone a lot of light into my life. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 541 Registered: 05-2005 |
I have the two Zumpano albums. It's good power pop. Some great tracks, but some average tracks too. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 538 Registered: 04-2005 |
I've only heard one Zumpano album, but it had most of the Newman qualities (pop hooks, energy, quirky lyrics, dense arrangements)--not quite as good as what came later, but still worthy. You might want to try this: http://www.subpop.com/bands/zumpano/website/discs.html | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 759 Registered: 05-2005 |
Cheers Kurt, I'll listen to the song samples when I get home from work, the web gestapo dont allow it. Padraig, sorry never heard of The Kirbys. I am Kloots debut album is great, the second was very disappointing. King Tuts is my favourite venue, just pipping The Queen Margaret Union and The Liquid Rooms in Edinburgh. We have the same ritual at every King Tuts gig - a few drinks in the bar where its not unusual to see the acts hanging around, then upstairs to the gig where we always stand at the same vantage point which is the sound board, this is approx 50 yards from the stage. I stood next to Joe Pernice a few years back while he had a pre gig pint. I should have talked to him but didnt want to bother him, which was stupid because I detect from interviews that he would be extremely approachable. Bands I have saw at King Tuts include American Music Club, Afghan Whigs, Sparklehorse, Pernice Brothers, Twilight Singers, Grant Hart and Nova Mob, Matthew Sweet and Grant McLennan. Grants gig was a disaster, there were only about 20 people there and that included 4 of us. This was maybe 10 years ago and Grant cut a lonely figure when I saw him making his way to the toilet before the gig. He was really porky and dressed pretty shabbily in a lumberjack shirt. It may well have been the worst gig I ever saw there. | ||
| kuba a Member Username: Kuba Post Number: 49 Registered: 05-2005 |
Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 566 Registered: 05-2005 |
Modern Times is the first that has really stood out for me. | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 70 Registered: 05-2005 |
Agree with you Pádraig. I can't get enough of Modern Times. Better than Time Out of Mind and Love and Theft in my opinion. Rollin' and Tumblin' and Thunder on the Mountain are the best two rockers he's recorded since From a Buick 6. Love the way this band rock and swing in equal measure. Album of the year without a doubt... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 752 Registered: 03-2006 |
I must jump on that bandwagon. There've been albums I've liked a lot this year, but I dunno...when I listen to MT everything else seems pale, insipid, irrevelant..."Gnarls who? Sonic what?"....Dylan here seems like Muhammad Ali (in his prime) in a field of Don Knotts clones.. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 188 Registered: 04-2006 |
yes, that new dylan one isn't bad. i was very euphoric. but yo la tengo's album throwed bob dylan from the current throne. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 754 Registered: 03-2006 |
I must confess though I picked up the new YLT yesterday, I haven't listened to it yet. I had to watch my "stories" last night. Maybe today.... | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 208 Registered: 04-2006 |
forgot to mention yeah yeah yeah's show your bones. most often played record this year. a catchy one. |