Recent purchases

[PeruvianSkies]

Tonight I am putting Bright Eyes latest album on repeat for the next few hours....we shall see how things go.

[Slosh]

Clinic - Visitations

What do you think of this? I really like their first two albums but Winchester Cathedral left me cold, although it still has a few decent songs. Anyway, I still haven't found a place to preview this after all this time.

Andrew Bird - I got that preview copy and it didn't really grab me too much. After sitting in the visor holder for a month I pulled it out again and now it's one of my faves of the year and will be tough to knock out of the top ten. I always skip track five and skipping a track is never a good sign for a potential album of the year but top 10 is doable.

The leaked version has a different track order than the real thing. Track 5 on the legit album is "Armchairs" and is probably my favorite song on this album and maybe of his entire career. I can see you not liking it

Most recent purchase for me isn't really new and actually I believe it was you who sent me a preview a few years ago. Better late than never

[ForeverAutumn]

Thinking about getting that new BRMC disc, based on what I've heard so far...how you liking that one, Autumn?

It's the only BRMC that I own so I can't compare it to other CDs of their's. But for a first listen, I like it. I need to spend more time with it, but I can see this drawing me in to wanting to explore this band more. As for how it stands up in their catalogue, you may want to poll people who are more experienced with this band than I am.

[Jim Clark]

What do you think of this? I really like their first two albums but Winchester Cathedral left me cold, although it still has a few decent songs. Anyway, I still haven't found a place to preview this after all this time.The leaked version has a different track order than the real thing. Track 5 on the legit album is "Armchairs" and is probably my favorite song on this album and maybe of his entire career. I can see you not liking it

Most recent purchase for me isn't really new and actually I believe it was you who sent me a preview a few years ago. Better late than never

Yeah, I ended up liking the preview so much that I bought a legit copy as I usually do. "Armchairs" has a lot in common with unnatural acts with hippo balls.

As for the Clinic, you are owed. I'm on it.

jc

[Monkey Bones]

Track 5 on the legit album is "Armchairs" and is probably my favorite song on this album and maybe of his entire career.

What a beautiful song. Like some epic classic from Lennon-McCartney, when they moved in that direction. Or Harry Nilsson. I think he's singing better than ever on this song, sounds almost like Roy Orbison toward the end. Brilliant lyrics, really wraps up that whole "armchair for the apocalyse" imagery that has swept through the last few albums. Crisis? What crisis? Reminds me of that great short story that I often mention by Sam Delany, Time considered as a helix of semi-precious stones. OK, so he doesn't quite rise to those very lofty literary levels, where almost every line seems like it was written in your own thoughts, but good golly miss molly, Bird is gem. Man out of time....

The awkward pause
The fatal flaw
Time, it's a crooked bow
Time is a crooked bow
....

Fifty-five and three-eighths years later
at the bottom of this gigantic crater
an armchair calls to you
now this armchair calls to you
and it says that someday
we'll get back at them all
with epoxy and a pair of pliers
as ancient sea slugs begin to crawl
through the ragweed and barbed wire

[Jim Clark]

What a beautiful song. Like some epic classic from Lennon-McCartney, when they moved in that direction. Or Harry Nilsson. I think he's singing better than ever on this song, sounds almost like Roy Orbison toward the end. Brilliant lyrics, really wraps up that whole "armchair for the apocalyse" imagery that has swept through the last few albums. Crisis? What crisis? Reminds me of that great short story that I often mention by Sam Delany, Time considered as a helix of semi-precious stones. OK, so he doesn't quite rise to those very lofty literary levels, where almost every line seems like it was written in your own thoughts, but good golly miss molly, Bird is gem. Man out of time....

The awkward pause
The fatal flaw
Time, it's a crooked bow
Time is a crooked bow
....

Fifty-five and three-eighths years later
at the bottom of this gigantic crater
an armchair calls to you
now this armchair calls to you
and it says that someday
we'll get back at them all
with epoxy and a pair of pliers
as ancient sea slugs begin to crawl
through the ragweed and barbed wire

You and Sloshy can have that one. I'll stick by # 10, Scythian Empires. Now that's a toon.

jc

[Monkey Bones]

You and Sloshy can have that one. I'll stick by # 10, Scythian Empires. Now that's a toon.

Yea, love that one too. Probably my favorite. But kind of hard to understand why you like one and not the other. Oh well, doesn't matter to me, just glad I don't suffer from the same occasional lapses in good taste

Hey, Blonde Redhead! Waddaya think of that one so far? Many skippers on it? None for me, love it all, but maybe I'm too easy?

[likeitloud]

The Saxon album I have is Strong Arm of the Law. I checked out some samples and it's amazing how they kept their same sound over the years.

I have it also, also check out Solid Ball Of Rock, good stuff. It's cool that "Real" metal
bands are still out there shredd'in, there's new Priest on the horizon, new Ozzy on
5/25, so there's always hope.

[Jim Clark]

Yea, love that one too. Probably my favorite. But kind of hard to understand why you like one and not the other. Oh well, doesn't matter to me, just glad I don't suffer from the same occasional lapses in good taste

Hey, Blonde Redhead! Waddaya think of that one so far? Many skippers on it? None for me, love it all, but maybe I'm too easy?

Hey yeah, I'm enjoying parts of 23, heretofore referred to as Blonde Radiohead : )

Kidding aside, it's another one of those, "what were they thinking" packaging screw ups.

I really dig the opener and wish the balance had some of the same energy instead relying on undercurrents. If they did that they would have ended up with a Garbage (the band!) album though.

Track three, The Dress is a favorite too.

I"m going to give it some more time and see if more than the first three tracks appeal to me. As always, I remain hopeful.

jc

[Monkey Bones]

Hey yeah, I'm enjoying parts of 23, heretofore referred to as Blonde Radiohead : )

Kidding aside, it's another one of those, "what were they thinking" packaging screw ups.

I really dig the opener and wish the balance had some of the same energy instead relying on undercurrents. If they did that they would have ended up with a Garbage (the band!) album though.

Track three, The Dress is a favorite too.

I"m going to give it some more time and see if more than the first three tracks appeal to me. As always, I remain hopeful.

jc

I tend to like the Blonde Radiohead tracks the best, "Publisher" being my current favorite. The sound that reminds me most of Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons. But "Dress" is probably the song that best harkens back to the dark side of the last album, Misery is a Butterfly, and probably my favorite from the first half. I think alot of people are echoing your sentiment about front loading, but for me, some of the best songs flow through the second half, when the sound opens up more, not quite as layered in the production, and more diverse. And "My Impure Hair" is a near perfect closer, very stripped down by comparison.

[3-LockBox]

I been on a real classical music bender lately. I have mostly samplers in the past, you know, the kind they give away free, just for auditioning the Bose Wave Radio experience, anyway...I have a few actual full length symphonies, but I guess I'm not a true afficienado of classical cuz I enjoy the comps too much. For example, I like a mix of modern and classic symphonies, so what better way to hear this than the Telarc series, Time Warp and Star Tracks I & II, comprised mostly of exerps and main themes, these discs sound great. I find so much of what I hear in classical symphonies to be a bore, yeah yeah I know, I'm not an afficienado. I even enjoy the edited versions of some classical pieces I hear on the Fantasia 2000 CD; again, excellent sound quality. I do enjoy some full length symphonies, like the Four Seasons, Stravinski's Firebird Suite and Rite Of Spring, Motzart's Three Divertimenti for Strings concerto, and R.Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra in its entirety is pretty good, even though I'm pretty much numb to the intro by now.

Also Sparch Zarathustra as well as Holst:The Planets are recent purchases along with the new one from Blackfield.

[Rae]

Is this the official recent purchases thread?

Electric Fetus was having a 20% storewide sale today. Would've been nice to avoid any consumption on this fabricated holiday but my impulsive side trumped my ideological one. $40 got me (all on vinyl):

- Caetano Veloso - Estrangeiro
- Dion & the Belmonts - The Dion Years (2 LPs-- finally the Dion collection I've been looking for)
- Billie Holliday - The Lady Sings the Blues
- Van Morrison - Astral Weeks (near mint!)
- The Modern Jazz Quartet - Blues at Carnegie Hall
- Miles Davis - In a Silent Way (great looking copy)
- John Fahey - Popular Songs of Christmas and New Year's (y'know, the season)
- David Lindley & El Rayo-X - Win This Record! (just heard Davey mention these guys from time to time... better be good)
- Yaz - Upstairs at Eric's (ran across this in the dollar bin and couldn't remember if I had it already. I did. Now I realize that must mean I don't listen to it anyway. Anyone want 2 copies?)

~Rae

[Davey]

- David Lindley & El Rayo-X - Win This Record! (just heard Davey mention these guys from time to time... better be good)

Well, I only have the one before that, the one pictured below, and it is a ton of fun. Great sounding record too. Everybody here probably has a few records with Lindley playing some instrument(s).



The original vinyl is really the only way to hear Astral Weeks, it just has so much vibrancy and delicacy that doesn't seem conveyed nearly as well on the CD. Hopefully someday someone like Steve Hoffman will get a crack at it, and capture that sound on the CD too. Very unlikely, but maybe. Is yours the original green label issue? The later ones with the palm trees sound pretty good too, that's what I started out with, but that original is pretty highly sought after, and it does sound better.

[audio amateur]

Since a few weeks ago:
Big Sur- Big Sur
Portishead- Dummy
Sasha- Xpander EP
Sasha live in Ibiza- Global underground 13
Medal of Honor OST (this one is simply glorious)
Medal of Honor- Underground OST
Medal of Honor- Frontline OST
Esthero- Breath from another
50 Cent- The massacre
Fragma- Toca
Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks
Kanye West- The college dropout

That's most of what I can remember

[Bernd]

After a very enjoyable session with the Sigur Ros box set I thought I would explore something similar musically.
This is what arrived:

Mono - You are there

Yndi Halda - Enjoy eternal bliss

Laura - Radio swan is down

Blueneck - Scars of the midwest

I am enjoying all of these and if Sigur Ros does it for you, check these out. Any recommendations of this genre?

Peace

[Mr Peabody]

Just what would you call that genre? I bought one Sigor Ros album, the name escapes me now, it was like nothing I've heard before. I play it occasionally when in the mood but not my normal flavor. I'll have to check out those other groups you mentioned. I always like to check samples of music I haven't heard of before.

When you are in the mood to Rock have you ever listened to bands like Epica, Nightwish or Tristania?

[Bernd]

Just what would you call that genre? I bought one Sigor Ros album, the name escapes me now, it was like nothing I've heard before. I play it occasionally when in the mood but not my normal flavor. I'll have to check out those other groups you mentioned. I always like to check samples of music I haven't heard of before.

When you are in the mood to Rock have you ever listened to bands like Epica, Nightwish or Tristania?

I would call that genre "post-rock", but don't like that term. I have not heard the bands you mentioned and I shall check them out. Even though I am not an out and out rock fan, but it's always good to find something new. Thanks.

Peace

[Ex Lion Tamer]

Is this the official recent purchases thread?

Electric Fetus was having a 20% storewide sale today. Would've been nice to avoid any consumption on this fabricated holiday but my impulsive side trumped my ideological one. $40 got me (all on vinyl):

- Caetano Veloso - Estrangeiro
- Dion & the Belmonts - The Dion Years (2 LPs-- finally the Dion collection I've been looking for)
- Billie Holliday - The Lady Sings the Blues
- Van Morrison - Astral Weeks (near mint!)
- The Modern Jazz Quartet - Blues at Carnegie Hall
- Miles Davis - In a Silent Way (great looking copy)
- John Fahey - Popular Songs of Christmas and New Year's (y'know, the season)
- David Lindley & El Rayo-X - Win This Record! (just heard Davey mention these guys from time to time... better be good)
- Yaz - Upstairs at Eric's (ran across this in the dollar bin and couldn't remember if I had it already. I did. Now I realize that must mean I don't listen to it anyway. Anyone want 2 copies?)

~Rae

That's a very nice little haul Rae, certainly worth comprimising your values for, I'd say. Especially theBillie, the Van, the Miles and the MJQ. I think I'm about due for some vinyl mining myself.

Here are my most recent finds...

Morphine - Cure for Pain, another one to blame dbi for, I've only had Yes up to nw, which is great - Cure for Pain just might be greater

The White Stripes - Icky Thump; I like it, definitely dirtier and greasier than Elephant.

The National - Boxer; very good too, I like it better than Cherry Tree

Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend, this one gets all the pub, but so far I prefer 100% fun.

The Olivia Tremor Control - Dusk at Cubist Castle; it's actually a much longer title, which I can't remember here, first impressions are good, but I need to spend a whole lot more time to figure this one out.

The Catherine Wheel - Chrome, About time I picked up this reveered album - turns out it's just my cup-a-tea.

Dinosaur Jr. - You're living all over Me Another overlooked (by me) classic - sounds like a killer at first listen.

Mercury Rev Boces; one listen - not sure I'll be taking to this one.

Wilco - Summerteeth; can you believe how many classic albums I don't have?

Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquestes of... Everything that Sloshy says about this one seems about right.

Babyshambles - Shotter's Nation Along the lines of other Brits like The Libertines, Futureheads - not my favorite style these days, but this 'ain't half bad.

Interpol - Our Love to Admire - more of the same from Interpol, not really a bad thing, but is's getting a little redundant/boring

Patrick Watson - Close to Paradise - Canadian Singer/songwriter recommended to me by a co-worker, just a first impression so far - bit of a jeff Buckley wannabe. We'll see if my impression inproves from here.

Radiohead - In Rainbows; Is it me or is this not being talked about at all? I like it well enough, probably more-so than Hail to the Thief, but less so than the big three.

Super Furry Animals - In Venus This is my first SFA album, It is good. Will look for more

Pinback - Some Voices/Off Cell Lucked into this EP twofer; after really enjoying Summer in Abbadon, these come as a nice little suprise.

Idlewild - The Remote Part; 100 Broken Windows is a real favorite of mine - hard to explain why it took so long for me to get another Idlewild album. This one doesn't seem to have anything as great as Roseability or Mistake Pageant or Little Discourage, but seems like a solid album.

So you can see I have a lot of listening to do.

[Rae]

The original vinyl is really the only way to hear Astral Weeks, it just has so much vibrancy and delicacy that doesn't seem conveyed nearly as well on the CD. Hopefully someday someone like Steve Hoffman will get a crack at it, and capture that sound on the CD too. Very unlikely, but maybe. Is yours the original green label issue? The later ones with the palm trees sound pretty good too, that's what I started out with, but that original is pretty highly sought after, and it does sound better.

Yeah, I looked at it and it is actually a solid green label. Sounds real nice.

Here are my most recent finds...

Morphine - Cure for Pain, another one to blame dbi for, I've only had Yes up to nw, which is great - Cure for Pain just might be greater

Definitely my favorite Morphine by some distance. This is my all-time hangover record.

Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend, this one gets all the pub, but so far I prefer 100% fun.

Not me!

Dinosaur Jr. - You're living all over Me Another overlooked (by me) classic - sounds like a killer at first listen.

Yeah, another favorite! Get Bug, too-- they're of a piece.

Radiohead - In Rainbows; Is it me or is this not being talked about at all? I like it well enough, probably more-so than Hail to the Thief, but less so than the big three.

I'm really curious to hear yr impressions of this. I heard one single on the radio and was pretty underwhelmed.

Idlewild - The Remote Part; 100 Broken Windows is a real favorite of mine - hard to explain why it took so long for me to get another Idlewild album. This one doesn't seem to have anything as great as Roseability or Mistake Pageant or Little Discourage, but seems like a solid album.

Puke. This one is so overproduced that I can't listen to it. Only worthwhile track was their cover of "I Found That Essence Rare" on the bonus EP. These songs sounded so great live, too; I saw them in the tiny 250-person capacity 7th St Entry on the Remote Part tour and they absolutely rocked. Guess someone just wanted to give 'em that MTV/radio sheen. If you don't have it already, go backwards and pick up Hope is Important... that one is almost as good as 100 Broken Windows (and sometimes I like it even better just due to its scruffiness).

Great haul overall, though!

~Rae