Toosday Toons

[tentoze]

So what you been listening to??

Cheers
Mike

Pretty good week for me:

Elf Power, Walking With The Beggar Boys- Took a chnace on this one. Never heard of 'em, but apparently they've been around a while. Good indie-pop, but may be a bit too far to the pop side of that equation for a long-term treasure for me. Vic Chesnutt sings harmony one tune, so it couldn't be a bad thing, IMO.

Loretta Lynn, Van Lear Rose- OK, so I succumbed to the hype surrounding this one and bought it. Verdict- absolutely wonderful. I really am unfamiliar with Jack White and his Stripes, but gained a lot of respect for him based on what is going on with this cd.

Magnetic Fields, i- I think I read somewhere that Merritt socred a couple of movies in the interim since 69 Love songs. This one sounds like he forgot he wasn't still writing movie songs. Glossy toons, a couple are almost embarrassing to listen to, IMO. Not a favorite of mine, but okay.


Devendra Banhart, Rejoicing In The Hands- Yes, it is that good and more. My favorite 2004 release to date. Strange, innocent folky songs that don't necessarily sound like they're from another time so much as from another dimension. Banhart's highly mannered vocal style may be an acquired taste for some. Somewhere down the road of a hybrid Nick Drake/trippy-era Donovan with an occasional dash of Tiny Tim. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Still heavily rotating Damien Rice, Jolie Holland, Mountain Goats. And a bunch of vinyl on the wk-end.

[Toady]

i nearly forgot. i picked up this really interesting record late last week based on the pitchfork review i read.

William Basinski - The Disintegration Loops II

Apparently there are 4 discs in total. #2 is the only one i've seen for as long as i've looked. there are 2 tracks on it, the first is 30 minutes, the second is 40 or so.

i think the review does a great job of describing the sound...

In essence, Basinski is improvising using nothing so much as the passage of time as his instrument, and the result is the most amazing piece of process music I've ever heard, an encompassing soundworld as lulling as it is apocalyptic. A piece may begin bold, a striking, slow-motion slur of ecstatic drone, and in the first minute, you will notice no change. But as the tape winds on over the capstans, fragments are lost or dulled, and the music becomes a ghost of itself, tiny gasps of full-bodied chords groaning to life amid pits of near-silence.

see if this interests you as much as it did me: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record...on-loops.shtml

[mad rhetorik]

i nearly forgot. i picked up this really interesting record late last week based on the pitchfork review i read.

William Basinski - The Disintegration Loops II

Apparently there are 4 discs in total. #2 is the only one i've seen for as long as i've looked. there are 2 tracks on it, the first is 30 minutes, the second is 40 or so.

i think the review does a great job of describing the sound...

see if this interests you as much as it did me: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record...on-loops.shtml

Indeed, this album sounds really interesting. The concept is novel if nothing else. It seems like it would fit with the current "post-rock" (read: nu-prog) scene. What is the instrumentation on that particular disc?

[Toady]

Indeed, this album sounds really interesting. The concept is novel if nothing else. It seems like it would fit with the current "post-rock" (read: nu-prog) scene. What is the instrumentation on that particular disc?

that's the thing... there really isn't any particular instrumentation. you can think of it as processed samples of music, but really he isn't actively processing them. he's letting them fall apart and decay. so you're actually hearing looped samples that are falling apart.

that's my take on it at least. i can't really say it any better than the review does.

i don't think it goes along any post-rock path really. it's more of a sound/noise experiment than anything else.

[mad rhetorik]

Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
I've heard most of this album beforehand, but I didn't buy this until last week. What the hell was I waiting for, anyway? This is brilliant, better than Summerteeth or Being There in my opinion. Best songs for me are "Pot Kettle Black," "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart," "War On War"...well, the whole thing actually. BTW, anybody know the significance of the album's title? I've been told this is a concept album.

Bob Dylan: Blonde On Blonde SACD remaster
It's futile to debate the merits of this one. I've heard my dad's copy of this album on vinyl so many times. I bought the SACD's to see if it would be any better. Well, the clarity is unmatched, but the mixes just aren't as good as the originals. They pushed Al Kooper's organ deeper into the mix and put Dylan and his harmonica way forward, resulting in a harsher sound. Still a fabulous work, but why did they have to fuck with the original mix?

Cynic: Focus
Whoa, this is one helluva weird metal album. It's like some bizarre combo of jazz fusion, prog, and thrash. Of special note are the vocals--they alternate between a weird robot-sounding processed voice and a raspy, semi-comprehensible growl. The rhythm work is ace, with Sean Malone (bass) and Sean Reinert (drums) on deck. The guitarwork is also pretty interesting--technical, but not hyper-wanky like Spiral Architect or viciously amelodic like Meshuggah. This one is taking a while to warm up to me, but it's pretty unique stuff if nothing else.

Some other stuff:

Meshuggah: Nothing
Death: Human
David Bowie: Low
Frank Zappa: One Size Fits All
My Bloody Valentine: Loveless
Sigur Ros: ( )