The Official Tunesday Spin Cycle [Archive]

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Davey

08-24-2004, 08:46 AM

Any music really get up and grab you this last week? Haven't been listening to much myself, but wound up in a store with a good indie selection a few days ago and picked up three of the wannabes that were sitting near the top of my wishlist....and I'm here to report they are all some of the best music I've heard this year.

The first one is by a band named Old Canes and the CD is Early Morning Hymns. It's actually a side-project of the lead guy from the Appleseed Cast, Chris Crisci. But instead of the indie-prog soundscapes that band excels at, this is acoustic folk-rock. And very good folk-rock that comes out sounding a bit more like something from Neutral Milk Hotel's classic In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, except with the warmer and less abrasive voice of Crisci telling the stories. I've only listened a couple times but I'm almost positive this one will occupy a place in my year-end top 10, and probably pretty high too since it's been making me happy so far.

The new one from the Court & Spark is finally out and it also sounds very good. Titled Witch Season and sporting one of my favorite album covers of the year to go with the cool, twangy and moody music. Nice warm analog sound recorded on fat 2" tape in a bunch of real studios.

http://www.dreamchimney.com/theCourtandSpark/images/wscoverbig.gif

I found the new one from Richmond Fontaine filed under 'F' after almost giving up. Easy mistake unless you know the band. It's called Post To Wire and is incredibly good. I think Uncut magazine gave it 5 stars and so did the http://www.americana-uk.com/html/april_2004.html site in their April review section (I'll post the review below). Classic alt-country of the highest caliber. Been enjoying it a lot. If you like this kind of stuff, don't miss it.

Richmond Fontaine “Post to Wire” (El Cortez Records 2004) Available: Now   <IMG ID="Picture1147" HEIGHT=12 WIDTH=64 SRC="http://www.americana-uk.com/assets/images/5stars.gif" VSPACE=0 HSPACE=0 ALIGN="MIDDLE" BORDER=0 ALT="">

<IMG ID="Picture1139" HEIGHT=50 WIDTH=50 SRC="http://www.americana-uk.com/assets/images/rfont.jpg" VSPACE=6 HSPACE=3 ALIGN="LEFT" BORDER=0 ALT="">Dear Fact Fans......... Post to Wire is a Gamblers term used to describe a horse that leads a race from start finish. Secondly, 'Richmond Fontaine' is the name of a band, not a person ( file under R not F... didn't you learn from Pink Floyd, Lou Ford and Ben Folds!!). The real Fontaine was a down & out that bass player Dave Harding met while hitch- hiking through Mexico. So, those are the facts you can live without. But can you live without this record….. It is a kind of Americana concept album (hold it, don't log off just yet). The concept is loose, held together by small spoken word vignettes called Postcards, but it is there just the same. Walt is travelling round the vast American mid west having ripped off his best friend Pete of his money & his parents wedding rings. Post to Wire chronicles the characters Walt meets on his travels.. most of them no good, or up to no good, but all interesting none the less. The small interludes tracking Walt's own less than impressive progress in repaying his fiscal & emotional debts back home. I am not the first, nor will I be the last reviewer to draw the literary comparisons with song writer Willy Vlautin's work. If Ed Hammill is roots music's answer to Paul Auster, then Vlautin is our Denis Johnson, Richard Yates or Dan Fante. The depth of character within each song & his sense of place really is quite astounding…. And these are three minute pop songs remember, a much more limiting format than a whole novel. Having created the salubrious cast to this piece, 'Richmond Fontaine' then score their own movie with all the touchstones we hold dear to Americana; It can be full on Cow- punk, as in Montgomery Park, 'Two Broken Hearts' sounds like it was left off Strangers Almanac & 'Barely Losing' could be Silver Jews. The whole production has that organic, demo feel that really puts you in the room with them. If this is a novel, it was written on a type- writer, not one of them new fangled word processors. Post to Wire truly benefits from listening to in one sitting, with minimum distractions. If it has taken them ten years to deliver this record then it was worth the wait. They are booked to open up for Caitlin Cary at the Borderline on 5th May... See you there if you know what is good for you. The best piece of music I have heard this year, so far. -- Peter Gow

P.S. - Just found out the new Twilight Singers covers album is out today and it should be a great one. More info at their site http://www.thetwilightsingers.com/heavenly/ but it's now near the top of my list. Damn -- seems no matter how much I buy there's always something new to take its place. I bet none of you guys have that problem, eh :confused:

nobody

08-24-2004, 09:03 AM

I already mentioned some Jazz and Reggae stuff I listened to Sunday on the Sunday Spins thread, but I also went through a bit of 80s stuff as well?

The Cure: Happily Ever After
A two record set containing Seventeen Seconds and Faith. These are probably my most listened to Cure records. They?re more atmospheric and layered than their later work. I?d be hard pressed to pick a favorite of the two, but I?d probably have to come down with Seventeen Seconds. Contrary to much of their stuff, both records sound best listened to as a whole rather than grabbing singles out.

REM: Chronic Town
This early EP gives a hint of what was to come on Murmur. I hadn?t pulled it out for a long time, but quickly was reminded just how good this is. If you like Murmur, this will not disappoint.

I also listened to Aphex Twin Selected Ambient Works vol. 2. This one is actually ambient, unlike Selected Ambient Works vol. 1. Well done soundscapes if you like that sort of thing.

Only newer thing I listened to was The Roots: Tipping Point. Nice record, just not as adventurous as their other recent work. Nothing really wrong with this one, it just doesn?t grab me as much as most of their stuff. Still, a good listen that I could see growing on me.

Also gave spins to Husker Du: Songs and Stories, Stiv Bators: Have Love Will Travel, Best of John Prine, and some other stuff?

Dave_G

08-24-2004, 09:08 AM

Well, I've been playing the new Flower Kings album Adam and Eve recently, really starting to understand this release, it's quite good.

Also listened to The Doors and L.A. Woman on DCC gold discs, yummy. I never knew that that first Doors album was recorded in 1966! Damn! I was 6 years old!

I also listened to the Cure's "Boys Don't Cry" disc, pretty good, very primitive stuff.

Also Kansas - Leftoverture. Just an incredible recording, I remember the day it came out.

Plus some old school U2 - Boy and War. I like that old stuff pretty good.

Also listened to Rush's "Power Windows" remaster.

And Jethro Tull "Songs from the Wood" remaster. It sounds a little different versus the MFSL issue. What a great album, huh.

Plus Return to Forever - No Mystery. Good. They were excellent live, saw 'em once.

And a Jean Luc Ponty cdr someone made me - good background stuff.

Dave

tentoze

08-24-2004, 09:56 AM

Those sound pretty interesting............still nothing really NEW here. I tried a second listen to Pedro The Lion's latest release, whatever it's called- just doesn't get it done for me. It isn't BAD, it just doesn't grab me and make me want to listen. O, and I didn't hear anything in it that made me think "Christian Emo", as someone here described PTL a while back. One to sit on the shelf, methinks.

Been slipping deeper and deeper into twangville and folkie-dokie stuff lately- falling back on Bob Neuwirth, Norman Blake, etc. vinyl. Spun a double Vanguard issue called "Greatest Folk Singers of The 60's over the week-end that is excellent, with the likes of Odetta, Phil Ochs, Country Joe, Dylan, Seeger, Theo Bikel/Baez, Buffy St. Marie, Eric Anderson, Richard & Mimi Farina, etc................just plain good. And then there's the Clancy Bros.....

I am expecting to get one today that I've looked for over the last coupla months- Born Heller's S/T release- some more of that revivalist psych-folk stuff that catches me ear.

Davey

08-24-2004, 10:19 AM

Those sound pretty interesting......
Yeah, that Old Canes album is really nice. I just did a search and it turns out that if you've got decent bandwidth, you can listen to the whole album right now at http://www.earlymorninghymns.com/. Also a nice review of it at http://www.adequacy.net/review.php?reviewid=4564 and a not-so-nice review at http://www.stylusmagazine.com/review.php?ID=2240 so take your pick. I'll hitch my pony to the first one since he's a big time fan of both Appleseed Cast and Black Heart Procession....just like me :)

DarrenH

08-24-2004, 11:05 AM

Well, I've been playing the new Flower Kings album Adam and Eve recently, really starting to understand this release, it's quite good.
I have it on order. Hope to get it by Friday.

Also listened to The Doors and L.A. Woman on DCC gold discs, yummy. I never knew that that first Doors album was recorded in 1966! Damn! I was 6 years old!
Both of those DCC recordings are excellent. In fact, every DCC disc I have sounds great.

Plus some old school U2 - Boy and War. I like that old stuff pretty good.
War is my favorite U2 release. The mofi is pretty good. I'm pretty burnt out on music from the Joshua Tree. Some of their latter period stuff isn't bad either.

Plus Return to Forever - No Mystery. Good. They were excellent live, saw 'em once.
You like that jazz rock fusion stuff Dave? I got lots of it. Chick Corea and Return To Forever were one of the top fusion bands during the 70's. The first two releases (w/ vocalist Flora Purim) are pretty wimpy but once they added guitarist Al DiMeola to the line-up they started to rock. Al DiMeola has some pretty killer solo albums as well.

Been listening to Finch's Primus Sucks comp. This is by far the most accurately titled comp I've ever received from him. ;)

Wife and I took a little road trip over the weekend so I brought some CD's to help pass the time.

The Killers - Hot Fuss
Badly Drawn Boy - Have You Fed The Fish?
Calexico - Feast Of Wire
Midnight Oil - Blue Sky Mining (this is so good)
The Simple Minds - The Best Of

And some comps that I made.

Darren

MindGoneHaywire

08-24-2004, 11:19 AM

As posted previously, the Mooney Suzuki hit a home run with me & still sounds as great as it did when I first heard it over the weekend. I'm not sure what the Matrix has done besides work with Avril Lavigne, so I can't comment specifically on all the derision the name inspires when it comes up for a lot of people. I think they did some dance pop or something? Who cares. If their presence can coax a record this great out of garage bands they should work with every last one on the planet. As I said before, not terribly original, a little Stones here, a little MC5 there, and there are moments that sound a bit like Lenny Kravitz--if he could write a decent r'n'r song, that is.

I've gotten to the Hives record only a couple of times as it's paled by comparison. It's good, certainly comparable to their first couple of albums (if a trifle more restrained, velocity-wise), but when it was over I didn't feel as though I'd heard the best rock'n'roll record of the year like the MS did. I'll come to like this more in time, I think.

A pleasant surprise was a blues release on Blind Pig records--Nick Curran & the Nitelifes--Player! Plenty of real uptempo jumpin', trashy r&b, a little Little Richard here, a Stooges cover, some real gusto. Great stuff.

Another pleasant surprise was a new release from this Italian guy named Daniele Luppi. A big fan, apparently, of soundtracks for spaghetti westerns & spy movies from the 60s & 70s, he tracked down some musicians that played on many of those records, a group that I've seen described as having been along the lines of, an Italian version of, the Wrecking Crew, or the Funk Brothers, or Muscle Shoals, you get the idea. The record is "An Italian Story," and it's very, very good. If you have an ear for Troy's 'Musical Mayhem' discs, then I recommend this highly.

Heard a couple of electronica albums I liked--Mocean Worker's Enter The Mowo! Not great, but good. Better than that was a jazzy downtempo sort of album by an act called Positive Flow--Can U Feel It? Also heard the Morcheeba collection from last year, Parts Of The Process. It was okay, but I expected to like it more somehow. Oh, well.

Anyone hear of Spiderbait? I guess they call a lot of melodic hardcore, emo these days? I don't know. All I know is I thought it was pretty decent, not great, but pretty good. Also heard an indie band called Gaze that I enjoyed. Shake The Pounce is the name of the album, and I hear some good melodies & chord changes over fairly typical indie low-fi production. My first impression, which is probably ridiculous, was that it sounded like Guided By Voices backing up the singer for the Cardigans. Good record. And I liked the Polyphonic Spree record, too--Together We're Heavy.

But the Mooney Suzuki towers over all. It's out today; get it. I think there's not a bad tune on it, but check out the title cut, Alive & Amplified, which should give you some idea. This rec should be big, which of course means it probably won't be. We shall see.

Troy

08-24-2004, 11:42 AM

Looking forward to hearing the Luppi disc, J. Thanks for the e-mail.

Spun Finch's "Dada" comp this week. Some great tracks on there. Playboy in Outter Space and Pretty Girls Make Graves are my favorites, I think. Clever and melodic.

Barry L dropped by my house yesterday with his wife. What nice people. I hope to see Barry again in SF on thursday and go to the Amoeba record store.

Other than that, same old, same old.

Jim Clark

08-24-2004, 12:11 PM

Really not much of anything. Guess I did listen to a Hell Car CD that the Finchmeister sent me a ways back. Only listened to that in the car though.

Can't really seem to get too motivated to listen to toons when the "lympics" are on. I love summer Olympics and when my kids don't have their own sports going on I'm glued to the TV. Mangaged to avoid most news reports so everything seems pretty fresh by the time I get to it. As usual there are some amazing moments and I feel cheated if I miss something halfway big. I'm in no hurry for them to end since it will be four long years to see the next installment.

jc

DarrenH

08-24-2004, 12:14 PM

Pat D

08-24-2004, 01:23 PM

We've started on a Reader's Digest LP set called "The Swing Years" that we purchased from the ongoing sale at the library. Seems to be in very good shape except for a little hair and dust which I can easily clean off. It's all mono and the recordings are probably from the 30's and 40's. The first LP was quite pleasant.

The next three are recordings of works by 20th century American composers. I will have to listen more to get used to these!

Paul Creston, Symphony No. 5, Toccata, Partitia. Schwarz, Seattle Symphony. Naxos 8.559153

David Diamond, Symphony No. 1, Violin Concerto No. 2, The Enormous Room. Ikka Talvi, violin; Schwarz, Seattle SO. Naxos 8.559157.

David Diamond, Symphony No. 3, Psalm, Kaddish. Janos Starker, cello; Schwarz, Seattle SO. Naxos 8.559155.

I have also been listening to some CDs of Symphony Nova Scotia under Georg Tintner, trying to figure out why some people don't like them. I haven't figured that out yet! The performances seem to me to be quite good, and so are the recordings.

Mozart, Les petits riens, German Dances, Marches, Minuets. Naxos 8.557243.

Mozart, Symphonies Nos. 31, 35, and 40. Naxos 8.557233.

Brahms, Symphony No. 3, Serenade No. 2. Naxos 8.557237.

Beethoven, Symphony No. 1. Leibowitz, Royal Philharmonic. Chesky CD74

KEXPMF

08-24-2004, 02:11 PM

As I happen to be in Seattle at the moment and raiding my friends HUGE electronica cd collection today.... (some of these were new to me)

Federico Aubele - GranHotelBuenosAires
Chicane - Behind the Sun
William Orbit - Pieces in a Modern Style
Buddha Bar - 5

some songs in constant rotation so far on this trip to West Coast:
Cut Copy - "Future"
Athlete - "El Salvador"
The Von Bondies - "C'mon C'mon"
Snow Patrol - "Spitting Games"
Toots and the Maytals "Reggae Got Soul"

ForeverAutumn

08-24-2004, 02:37 PM

Barry L dropped by my house yesterday with his wife. What nice people.

If you think they're nice people, you should meet Barry's sister! ;) Teeheehee.

I hit Best Buy on the way up to cottage last week and got me some new records.

The Tea Party - Seven Circles - this is their newest. I purchased it on Tuesday morning which was the Canadian release date. I'll bet that I was the first person to purchase it from this particular Best Buy. Got a special bonus of their "best of" disk called, Tangent for only $5 too. I've only given Seven Circles one spin and, so, haven't formed an opinion yet. On first spin it's not as interesting as Splendor Solis or Transmission (the only other Tea Party that I own). I will take back my earlier comment about sounding "Nickelbackish". There is one song that has that poppier sound and will have good commercial radio appeal, but other than that it's pure Tea Party. I'll have to give it a few spins before I'm ready to comment any further.

Hoobastank - The Reason - I bought this based on a rec from a friend. Again only one listen. But a good first impression. This band rocks nicely. Some growling vocals that I could live without but, if I remember correctly, they were few and far between. Finch, if you're reading this...you would like this one. To everyone else...don't hold that against them. :D

Modest Mouse - Good News... - Surprised? This isn't usually my genre of music, but it was getting such good reviews around here, I had to give it a try. Besides, Swish sent me some really cool tunes that were outside of my musical comfort zone and convinced me that it's time to broaden my musical horizons some more. I've listened to this two and half times. There's some stuff on here that I really like and some stuff that I really hate. I may end up copying it, less a few tracks, for a more consistant listening experience.

On top of those...

A few Rush disks... Moving Pictures; Permanent Waves; Hemispheres.

A few Blue Rodeo disks to prepare for their upcoming concert on Thursday night... The Days In Between; Palace of Gold; Casino.

Some prog...Pallas, The Cross and the Crucible; IZZ, I Move; IQ, Dark Matter.

Gee. See how much music I can fit in when I'm on vacation? I need to quit my job. It's getting in the way of my listening time!

On a different note, while in Best Buy I impulse bought a new Game Boy. Since I'm doing a lot of business travel, I figured it would help keep me amused in the hotel rooms. Well, it took only a few hours of playing this thing to aggravate the tendonitis in my hand. These things should come with a bottomless prescription for anti-inflamatories!

Edit: Hey, I just noticed that I crossed the 500 post mark. I'm a veteran!

Davey

08-24-2004, 03:27 PM

A few Blue Rodeo disks to prepare for their upcoming concert on Thursday night... The Days In Between; Palace of Gold; Casino.
Doesn't look like you probably need any suggestions for new music, but for any other Blue Rodeo fans out there you might wanna check out the latest Court & Spark CD that I mentioned called Witch Season. It does have that same lush alt-country sound as Blue Rodeo, but maybe just a tad bit more eclectic. Pretty good singer too. The very nice opening track is available for download from the Absolutely Kosher site at http://www.absolutelykosher.com/musicfiles/Suffolk%20Down%20Upon%20The%20Night.mp3, although some of that really nice sound that adds to its charm is lost when compressed to mp3.

Congrats on your newfound veteran status....but it's all downhill from here. Best to change your name and start over like moi. Rust never sleeps ;)

Troy

08-24-2004, 03:45 PM

If you think they're nice people, you should meet Barry's sister! ;) Teeheehee.

Come on by!

Slosh

08-24-2004, 04:00 PM

plume bloom bloom blaby bloom
cheep cheep beep bee bee beep

ForeverAutumn

08-24-2004, 04:15 PM

Doesn't look like you probably need any suggestions for new music

Davey! Bite your tongue! I always need suggestions for new music. It's what keeps me from getting rusty (I like my sleep). :p

MindGoneHaywire

08-24-2004, 04:15 PM

Saw that review, Darren. Wow! What a hatchet job. AMG's a weird place sometimes.

Their functionality improved after the first week on the new site, which out of fairness I should've posted about but neglected to...but I still will never understand the compunction to fix that which is not broken. Especially when it involves spending money, which they obviously did, and it's a site that's free to users.

For as long as I've been going there--and using it in something resembling a professional manner, for research purposes (which I actually don't do anymore since the revamp), I've felt that I agree with their editorial stance something about 85% of the time, or thereabouts. A funny number, I know. It just sounded right. So I've usually been comfortable reading their reviews. I've heard professionals denigrate their site as 'amateurish,' and it's true to an extent; I think a lot of their writing is fine, but they do have so-called 'amateurs' submitting reviews, and while I like the idea of that, to an extent, there is something that bothers me.

It's not like reading reviews on Amazon, mind you, but every once in awhile I come across one that strains to get across an extreme emotion that it reeks of desperation. I get that with this one; I remember getting the same feeling in a wildly positive review of MeShell NdeGeocello's Comfort Woman. Now, that's a fine record, but I think it's a few notches short of the classic the reviewer seemed to feel it was. Language was used that suggested that there's something wrong with you if you don't like this. Similarly, I got the feeling that this guy hated this rec so much that he needed to make it known that he thinks there's something wrong with anyone who likes it. Fair enough, but I say he's nuts & dead wrong about the rec. Great lyrics? Perhaps not, but it's garage rock, not a Dylan record, for Pete's sakes. He said something like, for anyone who's never heard an MC5 rec...this is coming from a guy who lists among his Desert Island Discs the first Boston album, Journey's Escape, REO Speedwagon's Hi Infidelity...tongue-in-cheek? I wonder. He also professes a strong dislike for Miles Davis. All of which has nothing to do with much of anything, I suppose. He's the writer, not me. And while I'm not going to say this rec is a classic, I think it's the best thing I've heard in years, & this guy has his head up his butt.

Chip_B

08-24-2004, 05:12 PM

Been listening to a typically odd mixture of thisnthat.

Loose Screw - Pretenders. I found this in Target for $2.99 and figured what the hell. It's a mixed bag, but despite some of the weakest lyrics Ms. Hynde has ever written (she collaborates with guitarist Adam Seymour on nearly every cut), she's in absolutely excellent voice--especially on 'Kinda Nice, I Like It'...more than worth the price.

Above the Wing is Heaven - Rob Lamothe. Very, very cool CD... atmospheric folky stuff that features a really nice cover of Robin Trower's 'Roads to Freedom' and an utterly amazing remake of Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid' which he turns completely inside out and recreates as a soulful folk song. His originals are also quite good, especially 'Water' and 'I Ride the Waves'...definitely a keeper.

Retrofutura - Hadden Sayers Band. Solid Blues-Rocker. Best cut is 'Paper Moon'.

Roots and Branches - Damon Fowler Group. Didn't like this much until about the third or fourth listen and now I'm hooked. Fowler is a local guy that definitely has skills.

The Mean Eighteen - Monti Amundson. The Banished One sent me a disc a coupla years ago with several Amundson tunes and I liked it much. It's hard to track down his stuff, but worth the effort. The Mean 18 is perfect for road trippin'...great rocknroll/rockabilly/hard Blues from start to finish.

Mojave - Concrete Blonde. The jury is still out, but there's definitely good stuff here among the strangeness: a killer cover of 'Ghost Riders in the Sky' and the title cut, a brilliant story-song.

Blame It On Me - Alana Davis. I guess I should fess up and say I really only listen to one song from this CD: 'Murder'. LOVE that tune and especially the way she sings it...don't care much for the rest of the album.

Comps (my own)

Pop Synthabilities 7. 80s stuff; Cars, Split Enz, Planet P, Psych Furs, Modern English, Silencers, Fountainhead, Thomas Dolby, Level 42, etc.

Blues Deluxe 22. I've been test driving this one for a couple of weeks now and I like it as well as anything I've comp'd. I haven't shared this one with any of the usual suspects yet, but I will...promise.

There was other stuff, but I'm old and forget easily. I think.

tentoze

08-24-2004, 06:56 PM

Chipper,

Thanks for a mention of the Mojave 3 disk- I'm still thinking about pulling the trigger on that one.........

tentoze

08-24-2004, 07:00 PM

I'm looking forward to a rare concert outing on Sat nite- an outside show at the Clark County Amphitheater with The Subdudes for $8. Now, I know DLD (remember THAT guy?) wasn't impressed at N. O. earlier this year, but it's enough to get me outta the house.........

Mike

08-25-2004, 06:11 AM

Just got back from a 2 week holiday so took a few sounds with me such as
Modest Mouse – Good News…
Razorlight – Up All Night
Snow Patrol – Final Straw
The Killers – Hot Fuss
The Stills – Logic Will Break Your Heart
Lali Puna – like this a lot Dave, thanks
Maroon 5 and Wheat – can’t think of the albums but good poppy stuff for in the car.
Plus loads of comps of my own and some I’ve picked up recently Les Savy/Mclusky, Piano One and Daves best of 2004 which inspired me to do a version of my own, tracklist as follows..

1. Ash - Orpheus (4:13)
2. Gomez - Nothing Is Wrong (5:35)
3. Jesse Sykes - Tell The Boys (3:50)
4. Jesse Malin - Arrested (3:59)
5. The Stands - The Love You Give (3:07)
6. Mojave 3 - Bill Oddity (4:13)
7. The Killers - Mr Brightside (3:41)
8. Morrissey - I Like You (4:08)
9. Modest Mouse - One Chance (2:54)
10. Snow Patrol - Spitting Games (3:45)
11. Razorlight - Up All Night (3:59)
12. Scissor Sisters - Return To Oz (4:36)
13. The Ordinary Boys - Robots And Monkeys (3:27)
14. N.E.R.D - She Wants To Move (3:32)
15. Wilco - Handshake Drugs (5:55)
16. Keane - Bedshaped (4:30)
17. Air - Alone In Kyoto (4:49)
18. Filler mystery artist - Filler mystery track (5:50)

But right now I’m getting geared up for the big local Carling festival on on Friday. It’s a 3 day fest about 12 miles from home which means no camping overnight, I get to go home to a proper bed - too old for the mullarkey! Bands kick off at 12 mid day and run until 12 at night and there are lots of mainstream/indie bands/artists appearing who get mentions around here, in no particular order they are

Friday
Devandra Banhart, Soundtrack of Our Lives, Secret Machines, Green Day, Placebo, lost Prophets, The Streets, Supergrass, Von Bondies, British Sea Power, The Stills,

Saturday
The Shins, McLusky, The Darkness, Ash, The Hives, Super Furry Animals, Modest Mouse,

Sunday
Mark Lanegan, The White Stripes, Morrissey, The Libertines, Franz Ferdinand, Razorlight, Stereolab, Funeral For A Friend,

Ps Finchy if you are out there I just discovered that Ryan Adams comp I never got around to sending to you, it’s in the post now. As for the delay I’m just a slack arse.
Cheers
Mike

tentoze

08-25-2004, 06:57 AM

Whoa, Mike! Looks like one helluva show!

Davey

08-25-2004, 11:11 AM

Saw that review, Darren. Wow! What a hatchet job. AMG's a weird place sometimes.
Hehehe, don't imagine it means a pile of dirt to you or most any other thinking person, but you'll probably wanna stay away from the illustrious recent review at http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/m/mooney-suzuki/alive-and-amplified.shtml too ;)

Sometimes the critics just don't like the direction a band has taken and this seems to be one of those times. It's got a very low score at the metacritic site. Haven't heard anything from it myself but they were pretty savage on the last Liz Phair album as well, even though the general public seemed to like it. You could take some solace in the relatively high score from Spin ;)

JFG (just for grins)........

Overall METASCOREÂ®: 56 out of 100
This is a weighted, normalized average of scores given by critics. Individual critic scores (converted to a 0-100 scale) are displayed below.

83 Spin:
The sweetest, cleanest grunge ambrosia since Urge Overkill's 1993 major-label bid, Saturation. [Aug 2004, p.105]

80 Alternative Press:
Gone is the rock'n'roll grit reminiscent of '70s Detroit rock, and in its place is a stylishly tailored sound more akin to '60s California pop. [Sep 2004, p.136]

58 Entertainment Weekly:
Unfortunately, the Mooneys' concept of mass appeal... includes embarrassing homages to the glory of rock (and groupies) and a Bic-lighter ballad that's pure Hootie. [20/27 Aug 2004, p.126]

54 Filter:
Some kind of Californian 5th Dimension/Phil Spector hybrid. All apologies, guys, but it comes off about as genuine as Phil Spector's current legal defense. [#11, p.94]

50 Pitchfork:
To say that the album is over-produced is an understatement; you could bounce a quarter off of most of these songs.

40 Blender:
This is rock theater of the most uninspired kind. [Aug 2004, p.136]

40 Uncut:
The Mooney Suzuki are NYC's retro-homage to America's spandex pop-metal scene. [Sep 2004, p.98]

30 Billboard:
If you dug the sweaty rowdiness of Mooney's last records, you'll find that the Matrix scrub-job has removed most of their traces of grit, grime and rock.

Davey

08-25-2004, 01:53 PM

plume bloom bloom blaby bloom
cheep cheep beep bee bee beep
You're so gay. Why doncha stick another load of blueberries up your fiery furnace ;)

I'm the little bird through your chimney.......I'm the little bird at your back door.......Fasten your seatbelt and take hold of my arm.......:)

Slosh

08-25-2004, 02:17 PM

You're so gay. Why doncha stick another load of blueberries up your fiery furnace ;)

Oh yeah? Well you're blah blah this this that now sh'up! :p

I was just busying balls. Does that sound gay? ;)

Yeah, this is by far the best album I've heard all year and it is difficult to imagine anything else coming along to take away its top-dog place, but I've got my fingers crossed anyhow. :) It's amazing how many other bands they remind me of. At times I hear Prince, The Who, The BeAtles, SFA, Grandaddy, Spoon, etc, etc. . . yet they still have
a sound distinctly their own. The only facet keeping me from facetiously recommending it to everyone I know is its quirkiness might be too much for some. Me, I like quirky.

By the by, I had the chance to spin the Heartbreaker SACD and I'm pleased to report it sounds every bit as good as the LP (less the surface noise, of course). Makes me wish all decently recorded albums were SACDs.

NP: Clinic - Winchester Cathedral (it does sound just like it was recorded during the Walking With Thee sessions but that's fine by me)

Slosh

08-25-2004, 02:35 PM

Saturday
The Shins, McLusky, <s>The Darkness</s>, Ash, The Hives, Super Furry Animals, Modest Mouse

Wow! Don't mind me, that's just drool :)

Davey

08-25-2004, 02:57 PM

Yeah, this is by far the best album I've heard all year and it is difficult to imagine anything else coming along to take away its top-dog place, but.......its quirkiness might be too much for some. Me, I like quirky.
Yeah, I agree. Too bad that so many are writing it off as unlistenable. I can listen to it over and over and love the feeling of not knowing what's coming next even after so many listens. And as previously <s>threatened</s> promised, here's the next Fiery Furnaces review for your pleasure, this one from the good folks at http://erasingclouds.com......

The Fiery Furnaces, Blueberry Boat
reviewed by erin hucke

<IMG SRC="http://erasingclouds.com/0804fiery.jpg" ALIGN=left HSPACE=5>Blueberry Boat, the epic sophomore album by brother/sister duo The Fiery Furnaces, opens with the cold, squishy beats of "Quay Cur." But midway through, the song changes into a shakin' guitar-based segment that recalls the general style of their raw and endearing debut, the critically-lauded Gallowsbird's Bark. But that familiar sound is fleeting; there's been a surprising and favorable progression in the band's musicmaking.

Other than the distinct shift in instrumentation, the most obvious change in the overall sound of the band is in the vocals. Where Gallowsbird's Bark primarily featured sister Eleanor Friedberger's singing, Blueberry Boat has her evenly splitting vocal duties with brother Matthew Friedberger, many times trading verses within a single song and sometimes layering their voices for increased dimension.

The erratic structure of Blueberry Boat mimics the band's energetic style of playing live: flip flopping from one song to another, sometimes without even finishing the whole song, returning later to repeat a couple of the segments and finish what was left unfinished - all without stops, pauses, song introductions or banter. My initial reaction to Blueberry Boat, like the performance, left me completely dumbfounded and captivated.

Blueberry Boat disorients with its weirdo electronic noises, optimistic gumdroppy happy notes and even danceable beats (really!). But a underlying base of piano, guitar and drums brings it all together. The album sails through 13 disparate (but seamless), confusing (but pleasing) tracks. Though with so many abrupt changes in genre and tempo, it's difficult to know when a song officially ends and another begins. The transitions between pieces aren't even really transitions, but entities themselves. It's a 76-minute collection of miniature songs strung together medley-style, slowing any attempts to become intimately familiar with this album tremendously.

It's in the indefinite "I've listened to this album ten times already and I still don't know what song comes next" phase that the Friedbergers' clever and colorful lyrics float to the surface piece by piece. Like the band's debut, much of the lyrical content is recalled in first person, where they turn small and ordinary stories into some of the most intriguing accounts. See the tension-rich conversation between brothers in "Chief Inspector Blancheflower":

"Michael is there something that you need to say to me?
Well I don't know how to tell you.
You can tell me anything that you want 'cept 'I started seeing Jenny.'
I started seeing Jenny.
My Jenny?
And he looked down at the floor.
You know damn well she ain't your Jenny no more."

They revel in the tiniest of details and spout vibrantly worded (and many times funny) rhymes.

"At dawn, I had a scotch / And made them switch off the porn / Cause there's nothing that's dirty / About the ocean in the morn." ("Blueberry Boat")

This is art rock without pretentiousness; The Fiery Furnaces are not afraid to be silly - and not simply silly to project a sense of indie-flavored irony, but really flat-out dopey silly.

"My baby's got a stick stuck out her beak / My baby takes a drink out of the leak / My baby's got a blue-green sweater / And a nest down by the creek / Plume bloom bloom blaby bloom / Cheep cheep beep bee-bee beep" ("Chris Michaels")

Though definitely not for the masses (even many open-minded listeners may be turned off by the album's complexity), the Friedberger siblings' unparalleled imagination makes Blueberry Boat one of the most challenging and innovative albums in recent memory.

Dusty Chalk

08-27-2004, 05:19 PM

Bunch of stuff y'all've never heard of:

Desar, Kgink, Chronic Genius, Matthew Parmenter, Null Object, Portal, Zenen, Biastfear, Anathema Device, Sarah Azzara, Inner, Shimmer3, Dreamscape Unlimited, Critikill. Critikill is a standout -- rappy femme vox, industrial synthesizers, ambient guitar, just a bizarre mixture of elements, yet it works.

I a happy boy.

DarrenH

08-27-2004, 06:14 PM

Swish

08-28-2004, 07:28 AM

I found the new one from Richmond Fontaine filed under 'F' after almost giving up. Easy mistake unless you know the band. It's called Post To Wire and is incredibly good. I think Uncut magazine gave it 5 stars and so did the http://www.americana-uk.com/html/april_2004.html site in their April review section (I'll post the review below). Classic alt-country of the highest caliber. Been enjoying it a lot. If you like this kind of stuff, don't miss it.

You probably don't recall my mentioning it back in June when I ordered that new release from The Standard (you "challenged" someone to buy it, and I took the bait) which is titled Wire Post to Wire at the same time I ordered the Richmond Fontaine cd titled Post to Wire, both from DeepDiscountCD.com. When they send an e-mail to confirm an order, they only show the cd title and not the name of the artist, so I thought I ordered the same one twice since the titles were near the same, something I didn't realize because I didn't order them on the same day. Anyone, I really don't care much for The Standard's cd, but I think the Richmond Fontaine cd is very good. I wouldn't give it 5 stars, but 4 or 4.5 would be no problem.

Swish

Davey

08-28-2004, 09:46 AM

You probably don't recall my mentioning it back in June when I ordered that new release from The Standard (you "challenged" someone to buy it, and I took the bait) which is titled Wire Post to Wire at the same time I ordered the Richmond Fontaine cd titled Post to Wire, both from DeepDiscountCD.com. When they send an e-mail to confirm an order, they only show the cd title and not the name of the artist, so I thought I ordered the same one twice since the titles were near the same, something I didn't realize because I didn't order them on the same day. Anyone, I really don't care much for The Standard's cd, but I think the Richmond Fontaine cd is very good. I wouldn't give it 5 stars, but 4 or 4.5 would be no problem.

Swish
Hehehe, you know we don't read your posts, Swish Baby! ;)

You need to make yourself a little more obnoxious like me and then people will remember more. Those British reviewers do tend to get carried away at times. Uncut gives way too many 5 star reviews. Too much hype, but they do love that alt-country Americana stuff, especially if it's from our west coast. Really enjoying it myself. Lots of Replacements vibe in their songs. The Old Canes and the Court & Spark CDs that I talked about have gotten lots of spins too. Might even like both of them more than the RF.

Thanks for the reminder and sorry about that Standard CD. It sure sounded like it had the makings of a winner. Better your bucks than mine, eh? You work so much you probably don't get a chance to spend most of em! :)

Swish

08-29-2004, 05:41 AM

Hehehe, you know we don't read your posts, Swish Baby! ;)

You need to make yourself a little more obnoxious like me and then people will remember more. Those British reviewers do tend to get carried away at times. Uncut gives way too many 5 star reviews. Too much hype, but they do love that alt-country Americana stuff, especially if it's from our west coast. Really enjoying it myself. Lots of Replacements vibe in their songs. The Old Canes and the Court & Spark CDs that I talked about have gotten lots of spins too. Might even like both of them more than the RF.

Thanks for the reminder and sorry about that Standard CD. It sure sounded like it had the makings of a winner. Better your bucks than mine, eh? You work so much you probably don't get a chance to spend most of em! :)

that I listed Post to Wire among my YTD favorites in July in this thread; http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=5396&highlight=fontaine. :D

As for my disappointment with The Standard, I've spent so much money on ceedees, some of them a true waste, that one more won't hurt me. In fact, I just ordered that Fiery Furnaces that you Three Amigos keep yapping about. According to you guys it can't miss, and I would have to admit that you haven't streered me wrong very often. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Sung Tongs cd by Animal Collective. I ordered it from DeepDiscountcd and it took like forever to arrive. In fact, they told me it was shipped but after waiting nearly 3 weeks, I notified them of the problem and they sent me another right away. I got in within a few days, and about a week later, you guessed it, the original shipment arrived. Did I send it back? No sir! I gave it to a friend who, like me, thinks it's pretty weird. :D

As for being busy, words can't describe it. My daughter is getting married on October, we had all kinds of upgrades being done to our house, finishing most in time for the bridal shower that took place here with about 40 women (lots and lots of relatives and friends), my job had been crazy busy this summer, and with golf, racquetball, guitars, social events and so forth, I just don't have a life. ;) But seriously, it's been tough keeping track of the goings-on at Rave Recordings and I almost feel like an outsider. I do check in nearly every day, but just for a brief visit and to check on anything that really catches my eye.

Anyway, I better get me arse in gear. I have plenty to do today and then off to a birthday party for a sister-in-law. The fun never stops.

Swish

Davey

08-30-2004, 03:17 PM

In fact, I just ordered that Fiery Furnaces that you Three Amigos keep yapping about. According to you guys it can't miss, and I would have to admit that you haven't streered me wrong very often.
Uh oh, the Fiery Furnaces might be kinda close to the edge for you. Just remember, I never recommended it specifically for you (unless, of course, it turns out you love it). I only recommended it to audiobill. Blame the other Two Amigos if it misfires! And remember, Sloshy said it's kinda gay sounding. But come to think of it, he's also the one that used to call himself Ms. Nomer :)

I've been playing that Old Canes an awful lot lately. Really like it. I see they have a nice http://www.allmusic.com/i/pages/site/stars/st_r7.gif review up at <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:lqjm7i44g74r~T1">AMG</a> now too. Cool. Destined to be one of my yearly favorites, for sure.