| Author | Message | ||
     kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1396 Registered: 05-2005 |
Dunno what took them so long but its here at last. I rate all of the top 10 bar one album, regular readers will be able to guess  http://www.villagevoice.com/pazzandjop06 /winners.php?type=album | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1397 Registered: 05-2005 |
Nice to see they still let Christgau contribute his vote, pity it was mostly dreck! http://www.villagevoice.com/pazzandjop06 /ballots.php?cid=89 | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1227 Registered: 04-2005 |
It just ain't the same without the long, hard-to-understand essay from the Dean. Interesting that Christgau seems to be one of the few who rates last year's album by the "NY Dolls" (but how can it be, really, without Johnny Thunders, Arthur Kane, or Jerry Nolan?). | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1535 Registered: 03-2006 |
I guess it's still the Dolls the way the GBs are still the GBs without Amanda, Lindy and Vickers. In other words, it's not the Dolls of yore exactly, whatever that was, but it's still something pretty good. Whether or not it's as good as the "classic sound" people have in their minds when they think of them can be debated, if one is interested in that sort of thing. I actually have that record and it's excellent. I also like and agree with Christgau's list - I have a lot, or have heard a lot of, what's on it. The Todd Snider, for instance, I only just heard recently, but Xgau is right - it's fantastic. I think it's cool that he dares venture outside of the lockstep that seems to be in place for everybody else's lists...no signs of the usual suspects, with the exception of the Zimminator. I do miss the Dean's usual, wacky and incomprehensible essay and I wonder what happened to that alternate poll that he was spearheading, the Jackin' Pop Poll, or something along those lines... | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 341 Registered: 08-2006 |
What you said, LK. I love that Dolls record and the Snider. The Klezmatics thing is a hoot, too. Played it all through my pagan-esque Christmas. The Jackin' Pop thing has already appeared, although I don't think Xgau was anything more than a contributor to it. Interestingly, its results appeared to be pretty different from Pazz and Jop's. I'll have to compare the two at some point, like when I'm gettin' my geek on. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1231 Registered: 04-2005 |
OK, OK...I'll back off on the New York Dolls. It sounds like the spirit of the original group is there. I guess it was cynical to me to write it off as a David Johansen album with Syl on guitar, but it seems at very least that the original band was defined as much by Johnny Thunders as it was Johansen. To me, it was like thinking about the Stones without Keith--would it still be the Stones? | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1539 Registered: 03-2006 |
Naw, that's alright. Don't back off...I guess I'm not all that big a protector of the Dolls' legacy. I loved that first record by them and apparently by all accounts Johnny Thunders had this great rock n roll mystique, but it seems clear that he wasn't all that intrinsic to their sound. They've managed to come up with quite a compelling racket and have made a great record without those other members, so I guess the presence of the other members wasn't so critical, at the end of the day. It seems the newer players on the record are as able to recycle Stones and Chuck Berry riffs as ably as the next guy. And, it's all bound up in what you think the meaning of a group is, where their greatness lies...I happen to think Keef is (or was) critical to the meaning and sound of the Stones and it wouldn't be the same without him Mick's solo records are a pretty good indicator of what it would be like. Of course, that doesn't factor in the Watts element, which I think is pretty critical, too. It wouldn't be the Stones, I don't think, without Charlie. Maybe it would be helpful just to consider records without all the baggage of the group moniker it's released under. I thought it was ridiculous that Evan Dando released his last record as the Lemonheads, when none of the other original members were present on it. But it was actually a pretty good record, and when I realized I didn't particularly give a shit about the Lemonheads, or their legacy, I was able to enjoy it for the simple, fun poppy rock record it was... | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 343 Registered: 08-2006 |
Did I mention this on this board already? The Dolls were featured on a PBS live-in-the-studio show produced here in Chicago called Soundstage. I turned it on by accident the other night and my jaw hit the floor. Usually, Soundstage books acts like Tom Petty, Lucinda Williams and Lindsay Buckingham - stuff that's more PBS friendly. Seeing the Dolls in that forum made my day. Quite unexpected. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1541 Registered: 03-2006 |
Cool. I've loved them ever since I saw them in the 70's on a triple bill with Blue Oyster Cult and Kiss...to be honest it seems as cool a lineup today as it did then. I tagged along with my best friend, who was a major Kiss freak. He thought the Dolls song, "Trash", summed them up perfectly. I, though I honestly dug all three artists a lot, enjoyed the Dolls most of all. I never told my friend - the clueless dick wouldna understood... | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 344 Registered: 08-2006 |
You saw them in the 70s? I'm impressed, LK. And yeah, the lineup I saw on PBS looked about as kick-ass as you could hope for a reconstituted band almost 40 years old. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 350 Registered: 08-2006 |
Hey, Kev, you might want to put this one on the refrigerator: Joanna Newsome gets a "Dud of the Month," and the associated dressing down in prose, from the Dean in his latest Consumer Guide. Have at it: http://music.msn.com/music/consumerguide 2 | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 461 Registered: 01-2005 |
I thought Ys by Joanna Newsome was okay, but not as good as her pervious one, Milk Eyed Mender. Looking at the Top 20, I only have eight on them. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat and Cat Power - The Greatest will probably be my next ones to get. Any comments on those? | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1233 Registered: 04-2005 |
Thanks for posting the link to the Consumer Guide, Rob. I'm not used to looking for it on MSN yet. The Newsome thing doesn't surprise me, but I didn't expect him to put "Return to Cookie Mountain" on the A-list. Of course, it was #2 in the VV poll. I guess it's just me who has a problem with it... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1542 Registered: 03-2006 |
Not just you...bout half of it works for me...the other half, not so much...Clever, but just not that listenable. I don't find myself reaching it for it on the shelf, let's put it that way. Michael, the Jenny Lewis disc is wonderful. Not unlike Rilo Kiley, but more folky and countrified, with perhaps even sharper lyric than is typical for her. The Watson Twins provide great harmonies and a certain peckerwood ambience. The Cat Power is pretty great, too (no pun intended). You have to like her voice, which I do. The settings her songs are placed in are very bluesy, R&B-ish. She is, in fact, backed on the record by a crew of R&B journeyman and I think it adds a lot. Easily the most accomplished musicians backing her she's ever had. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1543 Registered: 03-2006 |
Rob, thanks for the Christgau link, but dang! more stuff to buy...I think I really need that record by the McKay Bros. Looks like it was made expressly for LK! | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 351 Registered: 08-2006 |
I hear you, man. If I ever stopped to think how much money Xgau's CG has cost me over the years, my wallet would burst into flames. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 352 Registered: 08-2006 |
Kurt, I was actually a little bit surprised by the Newsom dis (not that I loved the record personally). Christgau liked her last album a lot, as I remember. I guess that's one reason I read the guy. He hasn't an ounce of senimentality. Most critics "root" for certain bands and it ends up perverting their judgement. Not ol' Bob. He'll hand you a bouquet of roses one album and a letter bomb the next. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1544 Registered: 03-2006 |
Though he's indeed one smart f-er and a tough, incisive reviewer, to read Christgau is to get frequently pissed off... Though he raves about "Horsebreaker", he doesn't even give "Bright Ray" the courtesy of a written review - he just gives it a little frowny-face symbol... And, his diss of Son Volt's "Trace" is one of the most brutal (and hilarious) I've ever read. And the bitch of it is, I love that record, but still get a huge kick out of the review. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 353 Registered: 08-2006 |
That "Bright Ray" thing was odd, indeed. I couldn't quite see how, if he liked "Horsebreaker," he wouldn't at least sort of like "Bright Ray," maybe give it a B+ or something. I know everybody here has different opinions about which is the better record, but it's a matter of small degrees in most cases. And when he doesn't even give it a written review, it's hard to take issue with his logic. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1234 Registered: 04-2005 |
You're right, Rob. It's strange to see him go from an A+ to a bomb on consecutive albums by a particular artist, but I think he did that with Freedy Johnston and maybe Moby too. That is, I suppose, very honest criticism. But he does have his pets who can do no wrong, especially Amy Rigby. She deserves it, though. But my beef with him on the approach of giving a bomb and, as LK calls it, the little frowny-face symbol is that it's lazy. Christgau is an insightful listener and writer and when an artist he likes rates a bomb or "frowny," I'd be interested in knowing why he thinks that. I too fail to understand how "Horsebreaker Star" and "Watershed" are A minuses to him, but "IYBR" gets the symbol that is one step above a bomb. I think he gets tired of artists who work within fairly narrow, consistent styles and ends up writing them off at some point. But that's just a guess in GM's case. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 354 Registered: 08-2006 |
True, Kurt. I was disappointed when those little symbols showed up in the 90s collection. I understand he can't keep up with the flood of music coming through the doors and, ultimately, I'd rather know why he likes something than why he hates it, because I'm more interested in knowing what's good out there, not why the latest Van Halen record sucks. Still, though, someone like GM, who he's given good grades to, deserves a written dis, at least. |