Some recent buys

[Mike]

Things seem eerily quiet around here so I thought I would post a few comments about some recent acquisitions,

The Killers – Hot Fuss, a debut album from a Las Vegas band, pure indie pop, bass driven in the style of The Stills/Strokes/New Order which has a definite British feel to it.

Wheat – Per Second, a bit late on the boat for this one but finally picked it up. It’s a lot lot more commercial than I expected, but that doesn’t detract from it being an excellent album. It’s just full of great hooks; I think I’ll be playing this a lot over the Summer.

Faithless – No Roots, don’t expect anything new from them but they do what they do best IMO. The last review I read slated it but I think it’s pretty good.

Ash – Meltdown, Ash seem to have been around for ages and never really made it big but this is one rockin’ album, heavy on the guitar. A friend of mine not being too complimentary likens them to a school band and I can’t deny I sort of know what he means, maybe it’s in the vocals, still it’s pretty good nonetheless..

Pixies – Wave of Mutilation, now I don’t know why I’ve never been a big fan of the Pixies maybe because I’ve never owned any albums just an odd track on compilations although I do like Frank Black’s solo album Teenage Of The Year. I’m not sure if this is a fair representation of their work but this comp has changed my perception completely, it’s just great. Fantastic sound too I guess they must have remastered it cos the bass pumps out.

Gordon Goodwins Phat Band – XXL, saw this cheap and bought it on impulse. It’s modern big band jazz and real demo quality stuff, but overall just a lot of fun. It’s just nice to listen to something different every now and then.

N.E.R.D – Fly Or Die, talking about something different how about this. NERD is really the Neptunes with a soul rock band. Kind of like Zappa meets Prince to these ears. I’m not a rap fan so thankfully there’s only a bit of rapping but right now this is good and just right for those Summer barbecues.

Kathleen Edwards – Failer, a Canadian singer songwriter in the alt country field. I read somewhere if Ryan Adams and Gillian Welch got together and had a daughter she’d be it which was enough for me. But kindly sent me a Lost Highway sampler which had a track from the album on it and after that I was hooked. Although the sampler featured a live version of the album track which IMO is better than the album cut. Still it’s a pretty solid album for a debut.

Cheers
Mike

[Davey]

Nice post, Mike. I like these type of posts. Doesn't matter what albums or what type of music, just fun to read what you say about them. The more the better. Especially when you find some colorful way to ravage one you don't like, ala Troy or chrisnz or one of the other eloquent phrasemakers around here. Maybe it's time for one of those fun "this album is a piece of $#%*" type threads :)

I was listening to that Pixies comp the other day at the store and it is a nice collection. I have a couple of the CDs so decided against it. I figured they probably have the original CDs all ready to reissue, hopefully with some kind of deluxe treatment and improved sound. They're gonna be playing at the amphitheater just a couple blocks from me, but unfortunately not until a few weeks after I move. Always in the right place at the wrong time. Or is it the wrong place at the right time? Or maybe just lost.....but since you mentioned it in the Moonbabies appreciation thread, yes I'm moving soon but it won't be for a few weeks so don't worry about the package.

[Stone]

Pixies – Wave of Mutilation, now I don’t know why I’ve never been a big fan of the Pixies maybe because I’ve never owned any albums just an odd track on compilations although I do like Frank Black’s solo album Teenage Of The Year. I’m not sure if this is a fair representation of their work but this comp has changed my perception completely, it’s just great. Fantastic sound too I guess they must have remastered it cos the bass pumps out.

Take this for what it's worth because it is seriously biased as the Pixies are one of my favorite bands ever. I looked at the tracklist and it looks like a decent intro to the band, but IMO no compilation like this can do them justice because their albums and the Come On Pilgrim EP are all outstanding (although the last two aren't quite as stellar as the earlier work). If you like this comp, and it sounds like you do, I'd highly recommend picking up Doolittle next. That comp has 7 songs (if I'm counting correctly) from that album, but the other 8 songs are definitely worth having.

[newtrix1]

I played the Sun Kil Moon album last night, but it wasn't in a focussed setting, so I didn't get a good feel. One thing I did pick up on was a resemblance to Neil Young.

Right now (at work) I'm spinning "Morning Songs" and it's really great. I would love to do a song-by-song review of this comp (as well as Slosh's latest), but time won't permit that right now. My fav so far is the I Monster track, very cool!

As far as my explainaition for not participating much, I've been working crazy hours lately and will be for the next few weeks. I only get a few minutes here and there to check in on RR each day. :(

Thanks for the tunes, one of these days I'll try and post some better comments.

Rick