Tunesday (Aug 31) Musical Confessions of the Week [Archive]

nobody

08-31-2004, 08:17 AM

Still grooving to the reggae...

Favorite of the week would have to be the Mighty Diamonds: Right Time, just a fine, fine record with great rythms and some of the sweetest vocals you'll ever hear.

Also doing a bit of hip-hop...

Favorite of the week there would be OutKast: ATLiens, a really cohesive record with some great, languid funk beats in the background. It's more traditional than some of their more recent stuff, but still stands out from the pack.

Grabbed a couple punk records...

Favorite here is Black Flag: Damaged. I hadn't listened to this one in a while and had almost forgotten how brutal and wonderful it is. It took about 2 seconds of the opening track, Rise Above, for me to remember.

Some electronic stuff as well...

Mostly, the recent Daedelus: Of Snowdonia, a mellow yet interesting affair with liots of old scratchy samples contrasted with bright electronics. Very nice.

And, don't forget the oldies...

Played Gene Vincent: Blue Jean Bop & Gene Vincent and the Blue Notes. Fantastic old time rockabilly. If you think Be Bop A Lula was all this guy did worth hearing, think again. And, vinyl fans, Norton has released his first four records with original artwork and such for around 10 bucks a pop.

Lots more, but I figured I'd just list some highlights for now.

Dave_G

08-31-2004, 08:23 AM

Visage

A Flock of Seagulls - Light at the end of the Tunnel

New Order - BBC live

Aerosmith - Aerosmith

Uriah Heep - Live in Europe 1979

Dave

tentoze

08-31-2004, 08:45 AM

Born Heller, S/T- this one has gotten some buzz in the experimental/psych-folk world since its release a few months ago. I had my eye out for it locally, but never ran across it. The copy I snagged last week was courtesy of Unklebob. Not too sure about this one- it's almost too medieval sounding for even me. Mebbe it will be a grower, mebbe not.

Stan Ridgway, Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads & Fugitive Songs- amazing as it is, this is the first full Ridgway disk I've ever bought or heard all the way through. Damn fine songs. And a coupla photos by some dood named Troy.........:rolleyes:

Unbunny, Snow Tires- goofy name for a band. Nice tunes in the vein of Vetiver and Iron & Wine.

The Walkmen, Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone- I have no idea why I bought this. I played about the 1st 3 cuts and took it off. I'll try it again when I'm in a different mood, maybe, before I toss it.

subdudes in concert on Saturday were EXCELLENTO. Swampy blues and R&B-based tunes with some great harmonizing by Malone and Magnie.
-

DarrenH

08-31-2004, 08:55 AM

The Mooney Suzuki - Alive & Amplified. Really, really enjoying this. I'm gonna place this in my top five for the year so far.
The Flower Kings - Adam & Eve. I don't know. Can't make up my mind whether this is good, well crafted music or just some long winded drivel. Maybe I'm getting burnt out on prog. I'll give it more time.
The Polyphonic Spree - Together We're Heavy. If you liked the first release this one is more of the same. Beatlesque choir practice. I like it. Included a concert DVD of sorts which I haven't viewed yet.
Al DiMeola - Casino and Splendido Hotel. I really dig DiMeola's music and his guitar playing. Splendido Hotel has more of a Spanish flair to it. It's all very good jazz fusion if you're into that sort of thing.
DiMeola-McLaughlin-DeLucia - Friday Night In San Francisco Recorded in 1980 this is an all acoustic guitar showdown between three of best guitar players of the time. Phenomenal jazz guitar playing. The opening track, "Mediterranean Sundance", was just amazing.
Billy Cobham - Crosswinds. Not nearly as good as Spectrum but enjoyable enough. Spectrum had Tommy Bolin wailing on his guitar and was more rock influenced obviously. Crosswinds was much more laid back and more in keeping with traditional jazz styles. Still a classic fusion album.
John Mclaughlin - Devotion. Recorded just after he left Miles Davis' group and just before he formed The Mahivishnu Orchestra. Lots of thick sounding, fuzzy guitar. Buddy Miles on drums. Billy Rich on bass. Larry Young on organ. Jimi Hendrix's influences are all over this. A classic.
Frank Zappa - The Grand Wazoo. Another very good jazzy type outing from the late Mr. Zappa. I really like Frank's music that featured this style of playing. While Hot Rats is still the best of the trilogy in my opinion (Hot Rats-Waka Jawaka-Grand Wazoo) this was very enjoyable.
Ozric Tentacles - Waterfall Cities. Been listening to a bunch of Ozric CD's lately. Great, great music. I haven't heard a bad album yet.
Mike Oldfield - Hergest Ridge. Tubular Bells will always be his masterpiece but this wasn't bad. More of the same production. Mike plays all the instruments. I do prefer Ommadawn over Hergest Ridge though. And when are they gonna remaster Tubular Bells?
Bob Marley and the Wailers - Burnin'. I'm starting to really like reggae. Went out and bought Peter Tosh's Legalize It as well. How come these guys died so young? Too much ganja?
Miles Davis - Dark Magus. Another smokin' 2 CD live concert recorded at Carnegie Hall in 1974.

Darren

Edit: Added another to the list.

Stoiven

08-31-2004, 09:00 AM

I am probably in the wrong place to be even mentioning things like this...but I love heavy metal..and here is what I have been enjoying:

Tool - Lateralus
Mercyful Fate - Dangerous Meeting
Sonata Arctica - Winterhearts Guild
Limbomaniacs - Stinky Grooves
Iced Earth - Lots of different ones(Days of Purgatory Nearly knocked my head off on my car stereo with the Bass drum kicking my two 12" woofs)

Troy

08-31-2004, 09:12 AM

Barry L came back to SF last Thursday and I ran into town to meet him and his wife at the gigantic Amoeba records store int he Haight. He loooooved it. Spent 2 hours wandering around and he almost filled a shopping cart. Too bad he put some back. His wife has the patience of a saint, I tell ya. We wandered across the street for some Thai food and a beer afterwards. Great people, great time.

Anyway, I bought some stuff too:

Flower Kings- "Adam and Eve"
I think it's boring too. It seems that Stolt has lost his ability to write a catchy hook or melody. Impeccable production and sound, but there'sd just not much there to latch on to.

Marillion- "Marbles"
Only one spin so far, but this is pretty dull like the Flower Kings disc. Nothing grabbed me at all.

Broadcast "Haha Sound"
A few interesting moments, but some outright rubbish too. How any band could release a song like "Black Umbrellas" is beyond me. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Air- "10,0000 Hz Legend"
Only one spin and I get the impression that it's not as good as "Talkie Walkie". Still, fantastic spacerock / electronc soundscapes. I may come around to this one

Steely Dan- "Countdown to Ecstasy"
I'm kind embarassed to admit I've never owned this and for $5, why not. Jeez, it almost plays like a greatest hits album, eh? Some great old classics and a few new surprises, Great stuff. I guess I need to buy Pretzle Logic too . . .

:: best buy of the week ::
Mike Keneally + Metropole- "The Universe Will Provide".
After being disappointed by the last Mike Keneally album "Dog", I kinda decided not to jump on this when it came out at just around the same time (now THAT'S planning). When it turned up in the used Zappa section I just had to snarf it up.

I'm really glad I did. THIS is the MK I wanna buy albums from. It's MK on guitars and pianos recorded with an avant garde Dutch orchestra and some of it is blindingly dissonant and metallic, other parts have a mysterious, but pastoral quality and other parts are pure Zappa style orchestral rock. The 12 minute "Four Slices of Toast" covers all those bases. the album uses a full time fast-footed (but uncredited) rock drummer which carries the day for me. Really dynamite percussion throughout. The vibes / banjo interplay in "Worrywart Spoonguy" is worth the price of the album.

I expected a staid all orchestral album and what I got was a playful all-instrumental rock album with cinematic and very adventurous orchestrations by a real orchestra. It sounds fantastic.

If you are a fan of Isildurs Bane or the original Group 87 or orchestral style Zappa, check this out.

J sent me a Danny Luppi disc too. Thanks holmes, I love it. Yeah, it's kinda spag western (especially the whistling) crossed with 60s loungecore and Booker T and the MGs. You like this disc J? You gotts getcha some "Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited" for sure.

I listened to some other old stuff like:

Randdom Hold
Porcupine Tree
Gary Numan

too

Stone

08-31-2004, 09:18 AM

I am probably in the wrong place to be even mentioning things like this...but I love heavy metal..

No, not necessarily. There are a few metal lovers around this place. I'm not a huge fan but I did listen to Old Man Gloom - Christmas this past week, and I'll be buying the new Mastodon.

Other listens:

Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat

Razorlight - Up All Night
I really like this. Nothing groundbreaking and often times reminds me of the Strokes, but very enjoyable.

Beatles - Please Please Me

Elliott Smith - XO

Boyracer - Absence Makes the Heart Grow Harder EP

Dead Kennedys - Life at the Deaf Club

Bill Withers - Still Bill

Beep Beep - Business Casual

Spiritualized - Lazer Guided Melodies
Not my cup of tea. The songs are too long and spacy for me to really care much at all about it.

Destroyer - Your Blues
One of my favorites of the year. Mr. Bejar relies on synths on this one, and it works. His play with lyrics from other songs is fun too.

That's all I can remember now, but I'm sure there was more.

Davey

08-31-2004, 09:20 AM

Unbunny, Snow Tires- goofy name for a band. Nice tunes in the vein of Vetiver and Iron & Wine.
Funny coincidence as I've been listening to a stream of that album this morning. Read a rave at the americana-uk site just recently so wanted to give it a listen and found that you can hear the whole thing at http://www.parasol.com/labels/hiddenagenda/aha067.asp. Lots to like but it does move at a pretty slow pace, kind of like the last Sparklehorse album. But sounding a little more like Grandaddy I guess. Have you listened to it much and what's your take? The stream is only about 28 minutes...is the CD that short too? That "Pink Lemonade" song sounds like vintage Neil Young fronting The Band in their cover of Dylan's "I Shall Be Released". Very nice. That whole middle section is stellar. Short, short, short, though.

tentoze

08-31-2004, 09:33 AM

Funny coincidence as I've been listening to a stream of that album this morning. Read a rave at the americana-uk site just recently so wanted to give it a listen and found that you can hear the whole thing at http://www.parasol.com/labels/hiddenagenda/aha067.asp. Lots to like but it does move at a pretty slow pace, kind of like the last Sparklehorse album. But sounding a little more like Grandaddy I guess. Have you listened to it much and what's your take? The stream is only about 28 minutes...is the CD that short too? That "Pink Lemonade" song sounds like vintage Neil Young fronting The Band in their cover of Dylan's "I Shall Be Released". Very nice. That whole middle section is stellar. Short, short, short, though.
It's actually a little shy of 28 minutes! After I noted that, was glad it was only $10, and not $16 or something. Only spun it twice so far, once in the car on Sunday, and once last nite, so I can't really speak very knowledgeably about it yet, but I do like what I'm hearing. You are correct about the slow pace, but the songs are all very pretty. If you think Unbunny's pace is slow, you'd be going in reverse listening to Born Heller.

:rolleyes: :p

Javier

08-31-2004, 09:36 AM

Opeth blackwaterpark after being put off by the first track ( that ugly monster voice and feroucios metal attack and so much that give the album away to a friend) read a review and decided to give another listen so took it back and glad that i did it amazing stuff in there, so much that i have already ordered damnation and their latest effort.
Mary Fhal easy listening stuff but grat singing.
Alison krause and the union station live just being curious about bluegrass.

Davey

08-31-2004, 09:52 AM

<img src="http://forums.audioreview.com/image.php?u=218891&dateline=1093715078">
So what album is this latest avatar from? Story behind it? Most likely something I'll lose IndieHipsterElitistSnob cred for not recognizing, huh? Massive Attack used that flame logo on their early albums.

<img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000000WHX.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg">

Have you heard any other Spiritualized albums? I like that one but can understand how it would tax a non-proglodyte like you. Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space has a more customary pop song structure and is my favorite, although the closing feedback drenched "Cop Shoot Cop" with Dr. John is very long. Love it :)

Stone

08-31-2004, 10:56 AM

So what album is this latest avatar from? Story behind it? Most likely something I'll lose IndieHipsterElitistSnob cred for not recognizing, huh?

Have you heard any other Spiritualized albums? I like that one but can understand how it would tax a non-proglodyte like you. Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space has a more customary pop song structure and is my favorite, although the closing feedback drenched "Cop Shoot Cop" with Dr. John is very long. Love it :)

The avatar is from Stiff Little Fingers' Inflammable Material. Yup, your IHES cred just went down the toilet. I just wanted one flame from it and wanted it to basically be the size of the full avatar, but obviously it didn't come out that way and I haven't had time to try to fix it.

As far as Spiritualized goes, I do have Ladies and Gentlemen . . ., but that's the only other one. I like it, but it's not knock-me-down-great to me. One of my clients is trying to push Spiritualized on me, and told me that Ladies and Gentlemen . . . is more enjoyable when listened to if viewed as a concept album. I have no real idea what that's about and haven't pulled it out yet to give it another listen.

Davey

08-31-2004, 10:56 AM

And here's a few things that made the rounds with me...

Felt the urge for a taste of Bjork with all the talk going around about her new album, but unfortunately don't have any with me right now in my travelling case so pulled out the Hector Zazou Songs from the Cold Seas, which does feature Bjork singing in Icelandic on the beautiful "Visur Vatnsenda-Rosu", and Varttina and Suzanne Vega and Jane Siberry and Siouxie and Vimme Saari and a bunch of other mainly female vocals on the other songs. An old favorite from 1994 that I never tire of. Also inspired me to pull out the excellent Sahara Blue disc from 1992 and featuring just as, if not moreso of, an eclectic cast of performers.

And as last week, the new one from the Court & Spark is sounding very good. Titled Witch Season and sporting one of my favorite album covers of the year to go with the cool, twangy, atmospheric, haunting and moody music. Nice warm analog sound recorded on fat 2" tape in a bunch of real studios. Blue Rodeo fans out there might wanna check it out as it does have that same lush alt-country sound as those Canadian favorites, but maybe just a tad bit more eclectic. Very good singer too, kind of like a mix of Richard Buckner and maybe someone like Jerry Garcia, but the star attraction is really the instrumental interplay from what is billed in the liner notes as the Witch Season Players, a group of 20 musicians used to augment the 5 core band members. The great opening track is available for download from the Absolutely Kosher site <a href="http://www.absolutelykosher.com/musicfiles/Suffolk Down Upon The Night.mp3">here</a>, although some of that really nice sound that adds to its charm is lost when compressed to mp3. Definitely one of my favorite Americana type albums of the year. A little on the slow side of the tracks but you definitely won't hear anything as interesting as this on your local country station.

Also playing the new Old Canes album a lot. One of my recent favorites from Chris Crisci of Appleseed Cast "fame". As I mentioned last week (and at the risk of sounding shill-like ;)), you can listen to a stream of the whole album at http://www.earlymorninghymns.com/. I don't know about you guys, but I think it's great to be able to stream an album before buying, or at least a few of the songs, and a lot of the lo-fi albums I listen to don't suffer severely from the heavy data compression used :)

Listened a couple times to the Honeydogs 10,000 Years last week. Continues to be one of my top albums of the year. Really seems like an epic work that should be recognized for years to come, except that it's hardly even recognized now. Too bad. I've tried to do my part and have definitely turned a few people on to it but maybe it's just a case of the right album at the wrong time? I'd recommend it to all music fans since it really doesn't occupy any specific genre. Maybe that's the problem? But that's one of the things that I like so much about it too. It brings to mind Beatles and Wilco and Aimee Mann and Ry Cooder and Harry Nilsson and many other types of music. I've seen a few good ones, but one of the nicest writeups is at <a href="http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article?article_id=583">Paste Magazine</a> in case you missed one of my previous propaganda posts. They also had a slobberfest over it at <a href="http://www.nudeasthenews.com/reviews/1131">Nude As The News</a> last year, which I think is where I first heard about it. But that's all I'm gonna say - I'm done talking about it until the end of the year :)

Laika - Silver Apples of the Moon
The Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat
Arto Lindsay - Noon Chill

Jim Clark

08-31-2004, 11:01 AM

Haven't spent much time to listening to music the past couple of weeks. As I noted the Olympics took up a great deal of my leisure time but that's all done now. In the car I've spent a lot of time listening to the AM all comedy radio station. Been getting a kick out of that.

Recently however I've been getting back into the swing of things with some new purchases, which is really tough to do in KC. Finally found a local copy of that Ridgway album only to show up to Borders and discover it somewhere in the store but nobody has any idea where. Time for an online order I guess.

Anyway I picked up the new Trashcan Sinatras release-Weightlifting. Listened to it just once, at the gym no less. I really like the really jangly up tempo tracks but they seem to be fairly scarce. I enjoyed my first listen although at times it seems almost a bit alt. country. Includes a DVD and the first 5000 copies have a signed lyric sheet. Those 4999 copies may still be available based on how hard it was for me to find a local copy today. None at BB, CC, Borders, Barnes & Noble or at my trusty local used store which is generally pretty good at ordering in new releases too.

Gambled and bought the Headset release titled Spacesettings which is a side project for Jimmy Tamborello( Dntel, Postal Service) and Thomas Fehlmann (The Orb) and a slew of others for what was described to me as "a seriously freaky mind bending album-a classic in the making". Uh, I doubt it. Cool electronics as could be expected but it's basically a hip hop album, and a weak one at that. One major exception is the contribution of Lady Dragon, a Japanese rapper who's track I really enjoyed. Reminds me of the Japanese garage band singers from the Blade movie. Very cool. Sadly, there's the rest of the album.

Also got The Mooney Suzuki based on J's rec. Haven't listened to all of it yet so it's unfair to part with my initial reaction. I'll just say that I hope it sounds better on my stereo than the car and that it grows on me quickly. You just never know.

The oddessey continues...

jc

Davey

08-31-2004, 11:34 AM

The avatar is from Stiff Little Fingers' Inflammable Material. Yup, your IHES cred just went down the toilet.
Hehehe, yeah, I'm not nearly the punk afficianado as some of you but I have heard SLF. Just never thought they were quite that great, but admittedly haven't heard any for a very long time. Guess a lot of folks tag that one as a classic. Hmmmmm......might have to scrounge up a copy from somewhere......

http://members.mailaka.net/davey/slf.bmp

Stone

08-31-2004, 12:03 PM

Anyway I picked up the new Trashcan Sinatras release-Weightlifting. Listened to it just once, at the gym no less. I really like the really jangly up tempo tracks but they seem to be fairly scarce. I enjoyed my first listen although at times it seems almost a bit alt. country. Includes a DVD and the first 5000 copies have a signed lyric sheet. Those 4999 copies may still be available based on how hard it was for me to find a local copy today. None at BB, CC, Borders, Barnes & Noble or at my trusty local used store which is generally pretty good at ordering in new releases too.

jc

Do you have Cake? If you do, how does the new one compare?

I've always liked that album. It's nice Brit-pop/indie pop.

DariusNYC

08-31-2004, 12:54 PM

I'm writing of highlights from more than the last week in this post, because I haven't responded to one of these in a while, and haven't frankly been listening to a huge volume of music either.

Has anyone heard the new R.E.M. single "Leaving New York"? It's gorgeous. It sounds like some gentle utopian pop song from the late Sixties from some perfect band that never existed. They have always had high-quality singles but this is their best in a looong time, IMO. I purchased through iTunes.

Other single songs purchased that I've been loving are Brandy's "Talk About Our Love" (with Kanye West), Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out", D12's "How Come" (featuring Eminem), The Walkmen's "The Rat", Mirah's "Jerusalem", McCluskey's "She Will Only Bring You Happiness", The Von Bondies' "C'mon C'mon", and there's a bunch of others.

Speaking of singles, I've been actually hearing Morrissey's "First of the Gang to Die" on the radio. Positive development in my book, that's a damn catchy song and should be a huge hit. Been listening a lot to that album and am hoping to see Morrissey in NYC in October.

Also have October 5 tickets to Wilco. I still enjoy their new album a lot. Actually, a few of the "songs" themselves (using "songs" in the narrowest sense of the term and ingnoring the arrangement and performance and recording) I find to be kinda unexciting, but the music that ends up on the cd I find quite engaging. The playing and arrangements are excellent and intriguing. The production is stellar, with a nice warm analog-organic feel. The recording sounds fantastic (if anything, there's too much dynamic range between the low key parts where Tweedy does his mumble singing and the louder instrumental parts, but too much dynamic range is quite a refreshing problem to have on a contemporary recording). "Handshake Drugs", "Muzzle of Bees", "Hummingbird", "Company in my Back" and the guitar playing on "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" are highlights for me.

I've been playing a lot of Jay-Z and am contemplating putting together a career retrospective compilation of his stuff, since he announced his retirement. I don't know what sort of audience I'd have for that on this board, though. I've been listening a lot to The Black Album and its probably my favorite current album of his. (Also been listening to some of the wordier early stuff, which is cool too.)

I have no complaints at all about the new Sonic Youth album; it leaves me quite satisfied. Is it just me, or is this album really pretty?

I keep finding pleasure in new nooks and crannies of Modest Mouse's Good News for People Who Love Bad News. Isaac Brock's voice has developed into such a versatile and fun instrument. Current favorite song on this one is "Bukowski".

Jim Clark

08-31-2004, 12:55 PM

Do you have Cake? If you do, how does the new one compare?

I've always liked that album. It's nice Brit-pop/indie pop.

Funny, since I heard of this release I've been frantically searching for my cassette of Cake which is nowhere to be found. There is absolutely no question that this isn't really the same. Not to cop out but like I said, this one is a whole lot less jangly. Couple that with the fact that the overall tempo is so much slower and it adds up to an album that overall isn't as enjoyable but it still has some great moments and would probably appeal to a larger segment here. I guess you could say that there are more tracks in the same vein as "You Made Me Feel" as opposed to "Maybe I should Drive". Does that make any sense?

The simple fact of the matter is that this is currently going to make my top 10 list. Not so much due to it's greatness but more to the point that my selections and discoveries to date have been underwhelming me overall. Luckily, still 5 months to go!

jc

Slosh

08-31-2004, 12:57 PM

Mastodon - Leviathan

Wow! A stunning follow-up to what is IMO the best metal debut album ever! :) It's a bit more melodic and tuneful than the brutal Remission, with early Iron Maiden-ish guitar fills at times and, get this, actual singing here and there. ;) There are also guest vocals on two songs by Neil Fallon (Clutch) and Scott Kelly (Neurosis). Way recommended if you like thrash metal. Whatever it is, Mastodon definitely has.

As I expected the bonus "DVD Audio" disc that comes with the CD is really merely a DVD without video, but for $12.98 I'm not complaining. All eight of the songs are mixed in Dolby Digital 5.1. I think DD discards too much information to be a decent music carrier and wish they would have used DTS instead but hey, whatcha gonna do? Three of the songs are album tracks and the rest are live (this band sounds great live, BTW). Two of the live tracks are from Remission. The other three I never heard of before but they rawk!

See, some of us listen to metal here.

Jim Clark

08-31-2004, 12:59 PM

Speaking of singles, I've been actually hearing Morrissey's "First of the Gang to Die" on the radio. Positive development in my book, that's a damn catchy song and should be a huge hit. Been listening a lot to that album and am hoping to see Morrissey in NYC in October.

Man, this site is slow today...can you read me now???

Anyway, that's too bad about the Morrissey toon. It's my fave from the CD and one that I was hoping to put on a comp but if it's going to be a radio hit then I guess I'm going to have to look for the next best song. I hate it when that happens.

Good to hear from you.

jc-metal free with plans to stay that way!

nobody

08-31-2004, 01:14 PM

[QUOTE=DariusNYC]

I've been playing a lot of Jay-Z and am contemplating putting together a career retrospective compilation of his stuff, since he announced his retirement. I don't know what sort of audience I'd have for that on this board, though. I've been listening a lot to The Black Album and its probably my favorite current album of his. (Also been listening to some of the wordier early stuff, which is cool too.)

QUOTE]

You'd at least have an audience of one...I'd be interested. I've never been much into Jay-Z, but maybe a comp of his best work would change my mind, and you know I'm not afraid of mainstream hip hop.

Oh..and that Morrisey track is indeed a great song. I'll be putting it on my year end comp regardless of how much it gets played on the radio. I have no fear of filling up a comp with crap everyone already knows.

Jim Clark

08-31-2004, 01:32 PM

I have no fear of filling up a comp with crap everyone already knows.

lol

jc

audiobill

08-31-2004, 01:54 PM

Hey, Slosh.

Good to hear that the Mastodon follow-up is that good. You, after-all turned me completely onto this band. Can't wait to hear it!

Cheers,
Bill

audiobill

08-31-2004, 02:17 PM

I've trie to listen to tons more drum'n'bass, since getting back. A footnote I made to myself this summer.

Old School vs. New School
Bass Headz
Dj Dan -- Beats 4 Freaks
Ultar-obscene
And various Euro-mixes I picked up in Zurich.

Also,
Davey's "Half-gone 2004" -- thanks-a-ton dave. Highlights for me are Blonde Redhead, Modest Mouse, Lali Puna and Devendra Banhard. Elecrelane and Animal Collective did not strike a chord with me. Nevertheless, I have a growing list of music I'd like to get:

The Fiery Furnaces, Of Montreal, Modest Mouse, The Golden Dogs, Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter, Mooney Suzuki, Bjork and Comets on Fire (all recent releases).

-Jar-

08-31-2004, 03:26 PM

Mainly FREE MARS by the one-off indie supa-group Lusk. I thought the cd lost, for at least 2 years now.. so I go through my cds looking for other lost thingies (I swear our house is the Bermuda Triangle).. and lo and behold inside Pat Metheney's FIRST CIRCLE case resides FREE MARS. I'm thinking, It hasn't been that long since I listened to FIRST CIRCLE, then I remember that I had FIRST CIRCLE ridin' free in my cd holder-magazine for a long time.. so it was probably then that things got all mixed up.. actually I found FIRST CIRCLE inside Medeski Martin & Wood's SHACK MAN. Go figure!

Anyway, it's been fun listening to FREE MARS again. You got Paul D'Amour, who was a former Tool bassist, and Chris Pitman mainly.. then there's Greg Edwards (Ken Andrew's other half in Failure) and Brad Laner (main man of Medicine, Electric Company and other bands..) adding their stuff. Lots of cool sounds here.. guitars of various sorts, horns, harps, keys.. they evoke a weird mix of 70's pop-psychedelia crossed with the big wall-of-distortion sound of the early 90's shoegazers. Always been one of my favorite albums of the 90's (1997 to be exact). They were supposedly working on a 2nd album but it never came together. *shrug* it's fun to find lost treasure. Now, I'm also missing two of my recent comps that I deleted off my hard drive. THAT pisses me off. :mad:
(Slosh.. you may be getting an email from me soon regarding this situation :cool: )

Also been listening to my special edition version of Mercury Rev's DESERTER'S SONGS (comes in a cool cardboard envelope kind of thing (postmarked even) with 2 Mercury Rev post cards inside) No. 1488.... :eek: ooooooooo!

-jar

Pat D

08-31-2004, 04:03 PM

Or maybe that should read "Musical Confessions of the Weak".

:)

Don't be shy. Step right up and tell us what music you've been enjoying the last week or so. Or what's next on your list to buy. Or what you'd like to buy if you could find it for a reasonable price. Or something you heard that really stunk. Or something you've picked up and really like (or hate :p) based on a post at Rave Recs. Or whatever..........
Schumann, Manfred. Text by Lord Byron. Sir Thomas Beecham, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC Chorus. 2 LP set. Columbia M2L-245. This includes spoken voices, singers, chorus, and orchestra. Hah! How many of you have ever heard this one! I'm not sure what I think of it. Byron's poetry is very highly charged with existential Angst and Romanticism. I'm not sure yet quite what I think of it.

Mozart, Les petits riens, German Dances, Marches, Minuets. Georg Tintner, Symphony Nova Scotia. Tintner Memorial Edition Vol. 11. Naxos 8.557243. Really delightful little works and an excellent recording.

Delius, Orchestral Works. David Lloyd-Jones, English Northern Philharmonia. Naxos 8.553535.

Sir Arthur Sullivan, The Gilbert and Sullivan Overtures. Andrew Penny, Royal Ballet Sinfonia. Naxos 8.554165.
Mozart, Les petits riens, German Dances, Marches, Minuets. Georg Tintner, Symphony Nova Scotia. Tintner Memorial Edition Vol. 11. Naxos 8.557243. Really delightful little works and an excellent recording.

Beethoven, Violin Sonatas Nos. 5 (Spring) and 9 (Kreutzer). Takako Nishizaki, violin; Jeno Jando, piano. Naxos 8.550283.

Syncopated Clock and other favorites by Leroy Anderson. Erich Kunzel, Rochester Pops. Pro Arte CD 264.

I got out some LPs of operatic selections by two bassos, Ezio Pinza, a basso profondo, and Cesare Siepi, a basso cantante (not as low a voice), mostly with Mozart arias. Two wonderful artists with fabulous techniques and great interpretative skills.

Dusty Chalk

08-31-2004, 06:35 PM

Einstürzende Neubauten, Silence is Sexy -- don't ask, the answer is 'yes'. I really need to find my copy of Ende Neu.

Some Middle Pillar stuff -- Hexentanz, Mephisto Waltz (sounds delightfully like Curve) -- GitS:SAC soundtrack, Bark Psychosis...alright, get this, the correct name of this album is ///Codename: Dustsucker. It's weird -- there's femme vox all over it. It caught me off guard, but I'm okay now. It's a "deep" record (going to take a few listens to "get"), and that's a good thing.

Oh, and Natalie MacMaster (mentioned in another thread, "...new crush").

Oh, and Soul Whirling Somewhere. Do you remember me reviewing that 2CD set as LOTW a couple of years ago, the one that was so ultimately depressing (the guy was obviously not getting over a chick very well)? Well, he re-released that as a single CD. Didn't know that when I bought it, but it does have one new track on it. He also made my favourite track on it the opener, "The Last Time I Left". Excellent choice, if I may say so, but I think it would also make an awesome closer. It works quite well as a single CD, too. And I think he remixed it, too.

One more: Fish, Field of Crows -- not his best, yeah, but tolerable. I thought Raingods With Zippos™ was much better.

Whooptee

08-31-2004, 06:56 PM

This is how the past week shaped up for me. A mix of old and new with lots and lots of really great music. Just for kicks, I'm including a descriptive blurb from the first review that happened to come up in a Google search for some of the newer ones:

Audio Karate - Lady Melody

http://www.aversion.com/bands/reviews.cfm?f_id=1583
Taking pop punk and layering it with two very distinct guitar riffs, a flowing bass line, a vocal track full of emotion and a mighty backbeat to boot, Audio Karate delivers a style of music caught halfway between pop punk and emo. To put it more simply, Audio Karate picks up right where the late great Jawbreaker left off with their groundbreaking album 24 Hour Revenge Therapy (1993, Tupelo).

KVLR - Self-Titled

http://www.splendidezine.com/review.html?reviewid=108850417330329
KVLR erupts with a rollicking melodic dissonance reminiscent of Mission Of Burma, Sonic Youth and Swervedriver, immediately betraying the band's '80s/'90s American indie-rock influences. Layered guitars screech and wail, and distorted basslines rumble, all anchored by Magnus Oberg's steadily upbeat drumming. It's not unusual to see Scandinavian artists reinventing the American rock canon, but it's rare to see their work extend beyond mere homage. Thus, even though KVLR's intentions are far from innovative, their Absolut-fueled melodic noise explosions are genuinely inspired.

The Ed Kemper Trio - How To Win A Sword Fight

http://www.adequacy.net/review.php?reviewid=1197
In sound and style, The Ed Kemper Trio have seemingly embraced the noisy post-punk canon of Chicago's Touch and Go label, particularly edgier acts like Tar and Shellac. Their writhing, winding riffs and manic energy also suggest an affinity with similarly minded outfits like Unwound and At the Drive-In. Kenny Johnson's loud buzz saw guitars are placed front and center as are his impassioned vocals that lurk somewhere between spoken word poetics and screamo fury. Bassist Vonda McLeod's thick, groove-oriented bass riffs are bouncy and buoyant, providing the perfect antithesis to Johnson's scathing pyrotechnics. Not to be outdone, drummer Glenn Grant assaults every beat and fill with terrific chops and a focused intensity. The musicianship here is strong and the songwriting is unique and inventive.

Red Animal War - Black Phantom Crusades

http://www.adequacy.net/review.php?reviewid=2883
Their music is aggressive and mathy, powerful and sometimes jarring. At those moments, you get the sense of how strongly this band can rock, with stellar guitars, forceful vocals, and powerful rhythm. But the band's best moments are when they pull back from that sound, allowing their music to flow a bit more, keeping it intense while not as all-out. It's then that their strongly written lyrics are more clear and the impeccable production of Ed Rose (Appleseed Cast, Get Up Kids, etc) shines through.

The rest of these probably don't need any description for most of you:

Rye Coalition - The Lipstick Game
Unwound - Repetition
Drive Like Jehu - Yank Crime
Rocket From the Crypt - Scream, Dracula, Scream! and RFTC
Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart
Shellac - At Action Park
Burning Airlines - Mission: Control!
Chavez - Ride the Fader
Hot Snakes - Suicide Invoice

John

Mike

09-01-2004, 05:00 AM

Only a bit of new music for me including The Earlies, Ella Guru and Jesse Sykes.

But lots of live music in the shape of the 3 day Carling Festival. Me and the missus and a bunch of friends had an excellent time and saw some great bands. Basically it was a main stage and 2 smaller stages which were like huge circus tents and a case of a short walk to each. Simply far too many bands to mention but here are some:-
Morrissey – The old fart still has it
White Stripes – Intense stuff
Super Furry Animals – Absolutely bloody brilliant
Ash – Great
Razorlight – Outstanding
Franz Ferdinand - I’m not a huge fan but they were very good and had the crowd with them all the way
Modest Mouse – Sounded a bit shaky at first but soon warmed up
Graham Coxon (ex Blur) – might have to check his album out
The Stills – Exceptional
The Darkness – No doubt about it they are good live and a fantastic firework show too
New York Dolls – I was a little sceptical at first but they blew quite a few acts off the stage. They looked knackered but sounded great.

Also saw The Wildhearts, Libertines, 5678’s, The Ordinary Boys, The Roots, Reel Big Fish (ska still lives!) The Hives (barking mad) Soulwax,

All in all a pretty outstanding weekend,

Cheers
Mike

audiobill

09-01-2004, 05:23 AM

Wow, Mike!! Sounds like quite the show. I can only dream that some day a show like yours will come to Toronto. At best 2 of these bands might be featured together on the same billing at a concert festival, here -- the rest, unfortunately would be filler.

Is this Carling Festival an annual thing??
Bill

But lots of live music in the shape of the 3 day Carling Festival. Me and the missus and a bunch of friends had an excellent time and saw some great bands. Basically it was a main stage and 2 smaller stages which were like huge circus tents and a case of a short walk to each. Simply far too many bands to mention but here are some:-
Morrissey – The old fart still has it
White Stripes – Intense stuff
Super Furry Animals – Absolutely bloody brilliant
Ash – Great
Razorlight – Outstanding
Franz Ferdinand - I’m not a huge fan but they were very good and had the crowd with them all the way
Modest Mouse – Sounded a bit shaky at first but soon warmed up
Graham Coxon (ex Blur) – might have to check his album out
The Stills – Exceptional
The Darkness – No doubt about it they are good live and a fantastic firework show too
New York Dolls – I was a little sceptical at first but they blew quite a few acts off the stage. They looked knackered but sounded great.

Also saw The Wildhearts, Libertines, 5678’s, The Ordinary Boys, The Roots, Reel Big Fish (ska still lives!) The Hives (barking mad) Soulwax,

All in all a pretty outstanding weekend,

Cheers
Mike[/QUOTE]

audiobill

09-01-2004, 05:31 AM

Schumann, Manfred. Text by Lord Byron. Sir Thomas Beecham, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC Chorus. 2 LP set. Columbia M2L-245. This includes spoken voices, singers, chorus, and orchestra. Hah! How many of you have ever heard this one! I'm not sure what I think of it. Byron's poetry is very highly charged with existential Angst and Romanticism. I'm not sure yet quite what I think of it.

Mozart, Les petits riens, German Dances, Marches, Minuets. Georg Tintner, Symphony Nova Scotia. Tintner Memorial Edition Vol. 11. Naxos 8.557243. Really delightful little works and an excellent recording.

Delius, Orchestral Works. David Lloyd-Jones, English Northern Philharmonia. Naxos 8.553535.

Sir Arthur Sullivan, The Gilbert and Sullivan Overtures. Andrew Penny, Royal Ballet Sinfonia. Naxos 8.554165.
Mozart, Les petits riens, German Dances, Marches, Minuets. Georg Tintner, Symphony Nova Scotia. Tintner Memorial Edition Vol. 11. Naxos 8.557243. Really delightful little works and an excellent recording.

Beethoven, Violin Sonatas Nos. 5 (Spring) and 9 (Kreutzer). Takako Nishizaki, violin; Jeno Jando, piano. Naxos 8.550283.

Syncopated Clock and other favorites by Leroy Anderson. Erich Kunzel, Rochester Pops. Pro Arte CD 264.

I got out some LPs of operatic selections by two bassos, Ezio Pinza, a basso profondo, and Cesare Siepi, a basso cantante (not as low a voice), mostly with Mozart arias. Two wonderful artists with fabulous techniques and great interpretative skills.

Hey, Pat. Thanks to you, my classical music collection is getting larger and larger.
Do you have 2 or 3 other "basso" or "very low male" voices singing opera that you would highly recd.. I'm very picky about "clean" recordings, when it comes to voices.

Any suggestions, are greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Bill

audiobill

09-01-2004, 05:36 AM

Raingods With Zipposâ„¢ -- too cool a name -- absolutely love it (nt)

Is it any good, Peter?? What's it like?? audiobill

Mike

09-01-2004, 07:26 AM

Is this Carling Festival an annual thing??

Yeah Bill it's an annual event over the bank holiday weekend in about its 4th year, it used to be held about 20 miles from where I live but they had a bit of trouble one year so now it's found a new venue even better about 12 miles from home.

It's a hassle free, friendly family type atmosphere from what I can tell, and being so close to home means I get a proper bed for the night.

Cheers
Mike

Pat D

09-01-2004, 08:22 AM

Hey, Pat. Thanks to you, my classical music collection is getting larger and larger.
Do you have 2 or 3 other "basso" or "very low male" voices singing opera that you would highly recd.. I'm very picky about "clean" recordings, when it comes to voices.

Any suggestions, are greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Bill
You're welcome! It's always nice to share good music. I am not an opera expert by any means but I can suggest some names. Older recordings often are fairly clear for voices, even though not hi-fi, and I am not so particular about the sound. Old Gigli is one of favorite tenors and most of his recordings are monos.

Most Ezio Pinza recordings are pretty old--he died in 1957, while Cesare Siepi was about 30 years younger (born 1923) and may well still be alive as far as I know. Most Pinza recordings are quite old, but I know Siepi made some in the stereo age.

George London (1920-1985) was a great bass baritone, and he did Wotan in Solti's recording of Wagner's "Das Rheingold" in his Ring Cycle. Unfortunately, he suffered paralysis of his vocal chords and stopped performing in 1965.

Jerome Hines was a wonderful basso. The only recording of his I have is Handel's Messiah with Klemperer. Others that come to mind are Nikolai Ghiaurov, Boris Christoff, Theo Adam, and Donald McIntyre.

mad rhetorik

09-01-2004, 08:46 AM

I am probably in the wrong place to be even mentioning things like this...but I love heavy metal..

Absolutely nothing wrong with loving metal--granted that you're not talking about the spandex-and-hairspray glam s<a>hit, and judging by your list you don't seem to be into that. Metal is one of my favorite genres. It also seems to be one of the last remaining genres where innovative music is still being produced. A few more metal bands recommended for your headbanging pleasure are Meshuggah, Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge, Botch, Burnt By The Sun, In Flames, Opeth, Death, and (if you want something that will give the bass on your sound system a workout and totally bludgeon you in the process--I mean this is REALLY, REALLY HEAVY) Cryptopsy. A lot more stuff than that out there, of course--just wanted to throw a few names at ya.

A few people here (aside from myself) enjoy metal--Jar, Toady (where's that guy at?), Slosh, and Dusty being a handful. You won't find as many metalheads as proggers here, though. Don't be disappointed if somebody's Jethro Tull thread gets twice the number of hits a metal thread does.

Oh, and welcome! ; )

Mastodon - Leviathan

Wow! A stunning follow-up to what is IMO the best metal debut album ever! :) It's a bit more melodic and tuneful than the brutal Remission, with early Iron Maiden-ish guitar fills at times and, get this, actual singing here and there. ;) There are also guest vocals on two songs by Neil Fallon (Clutch) and Scott Kelly (Neurosis). Way recommended if you like thrash metal. Whatever it is, Mastodon definitely has.

As I expected the bonus "DVD Audio" disc that comes with the CD is really merely a DVD without video, but for $12.98 I'm not complaining. All eight of the songs are mixed in Dolby Digital 5.1. I think DD discards too much information to be a decent music carrier and wish they would have used DTS instead but hey, whatcha gonna do? Three of the songs are album tracks and the rest are live (this band sounds great live, BTW). Two of the live tracks are from Remission. The other three I never heard of before but they rawk!

I still don't own Remission yet (hangs head in shame). It's been on my critical purchases list for a long time. Have heard a few tracks from it--"Crusher Destroyer," "Old Nessie," and "March Of The Fire Ants" (Jar comped it). Would you say Leviathon is better than Remission? I mean, should I buy Leviathon first? Oh, and just to be nitpicky, Mastodon actually had a debut EP out before Remission called Lifesblood. Supposedly sounds very similar to Remission.

Lately I've been listening to the new D.E.P. Miss Machine back-to-back with Calculating Infinity to see how the new one stacks up. I'll post my findings after some more listens.

Also bought Big Star's #1 Record/Radio City due to Jay's recommendation. Overall I think it's great "power pop." Some really brilliant songs ("Ballad Of El Goodo," "Feel," "When My Baby's Beside Me"). Of the two albums bundled I prefer #1 Record more so far, though Radio City is no slouch by any means (and also rocks more). I really need to give this more listens before I can draw a firm conclusion over which album I think is better, but overall this was a brilliant purchase. Thanks Jay!

Also been listening to:
Sonic Youth: Dirty
Black Flag: Damaged
White Stripes Elephant
A Tribe Called Quest: The Low-End Theory

The avatar is from Stiff Little Fingers' Inflammable Material.

Funny, that was my first guess. Looks like my indie cred has remained intact. ; )

KEXPMF

09-01-2004, 11:07 AM

hello from Seattle..

I've been hearing West Indian Girl on the radio here and liking it.
Also heard on the radio here in Seattle: Mountain Con "I Woke Up and the Morning was Grey" from an album called Dusty Zeros Dusty Ones. I think it's not out yet but WOW it's great.

Still loving Von Bondies "Cmon Cmon". I can't seem to get tired of that one.

I'll be seeing the Pixies and MUCH, MUCH more at the Bumbershoot Festival this weekend! This one ranks HIGH among the better music festivals!
www.bumbershoot.org

Davey

09-01-2004, 11:18 AM

Looks like my indie cred has remained intact. ; )
Sorry, but anyone who's only just now finding out about Big Star hardly had any indie cred to lose ;)

Dusty Chalk

09-01-2004, 12:46 PM

Raingods With Zippos™ -- too cool a name -- absolutely love it (nt)

Is it any good, Peter?? What's it like?? audiobillI like it. Fish used to be the lead singer with Marillion, a prog group from the 80's that sounded a certain amount like Genesis. He has since gone solo, and his solo work has drifted into crooner/AOR territory. His lyrics are always excellent -- very introspective -- although nothing of late matches his heavy drinking period (peaking at Clutching at Straws, I think). I see analogies to the careers of Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters, David Bowie, Ian Anderson -- not as cool as their heyday, but still cool (PG notwithstanding -- he just gets cooler).

Oh, and he manages to sing the title track with a straight face -- I have no idea if that means he takes himself too seriously, or if he's just very good at keeping a straight face (Ian Anderson comes to mind).

Slosh

09-01-2004, 12:52 PM

I still don't own Remission yet (hangs head in shame). It's been on my critical purchases list for a long time. Have heard a few tracks from it--"Crusher Destroyer," "Old Nessie," and "March Of The Fire Ants" (Jar comped it). Would you say Leviathon is better than Remission? I mean, should I buy Leviathon first? Oh, and just to be nitpicky, Mastodon actually had a debut EP out before Remission called Lifesblood. Supposedly sounds very similar to Remission.

Flip a coin.

They're both essential IMO. Of want I know of your tastes I'd guess you'd like Leviathan a bit more but you can't go wrong with either. In fact, just get both. :) You won't regret it.

I haven't heard (or was aware of) Lifesblood but I suspect a couple of the tracks on the bonus DVD are culled from it and they're very good.

NP: Oxes - Oxxxes

Dusty Chalk

09-01-2004, 12:54 PM

I am probably in the wrong place to be even mentioning things like this...but I love heavy metal..Not at all. As a matter of fact...
Sonata Arctica - Winterhearts Guild...could you expound a little bit more on this one? I have to admit to being intrigued by the information on the sticker, but I've been burned before by that, so wanted to learn more before I pursued them further.

PS Just got the new Lamb Of God today. Would have gotten The Crown, but they didn't have it.

audiobill

09-02-2004, 08:02 PM

You're welcome! It's always nice to share good music. I am not an opera expert by any means but I can suggest some names. Older recordings often are fairly clear for voices, even though not hi-fi, and I am not so particular about the sound. Old Gigli is one of favorite tenors and most of his recordings are monos.

Most Ezio Pinza recordings are pretty old--he died in 1957, while Cesare Siepi was about 30 years younger (born 1923) and may well still be alive as far as I know. Most Pinza recordings are quite old, but I know Siepi made some in the stereo age.

George London (1920-1985) was a great bass baritone, and he did Wotan in Solti's recording of Wagner's "Das Rheingold" in his Ring Cycle. Unfortunately, he suffered paralysis of his vocal chords and stopped performing in 1965.

Jerome Hines was a wonderful basso. The only recording of his I have is Handel's Messiah with Klemperer. Others that come to mind are Nikolai Ghiaurov, Boris Christoff, Theo Adam, and Donald McIntyre.

I'll have to check some of these out. It's very interesting what you say about older recordings i.e., that they have clearer voices. Pinza and Siepi look like starting points for me.

Cheers,
audiobill