• 10-10-2005, 11:54 PM
    3-LockBox
    Whatcha been lis'nen Tuesday
    I've been listening the usual...

    <b>Tool</b><i>Lateralus</i> - Very proggy, yet heavy. Made me want to check out their previous release...<i>AENIMA</i> - not as proggy; angrier; I only like like about half of this album, maybe it'll grow on me.

    <b>A Perfect Circle</b><i>Mer de Noms</i> - this one one is becoming better with each listen, though it is very different from <b>Tool</b>.

    <b>Porky Tree</b><i>Insignificance</i> I wonder if the other 'extras' albums are this good.

    <b>Opeth</b><i>Ghost Reveries</i> - This woulda been an incredible album (it might be my favorite of the year) if it weren't for those Cookie Monster vox. I must stress however that this album has some incredible moments. The performances are top-notch all around. This is their first album with a full time keyboard player; that is not to say they've gone DT. The keyboard playing is limited to a supporting role here, but it is still inspired in places, giving the album a true 'prog' feel. This band is all over the place as far as the influences portrayed in this CD, but it never feels contrived (except for the growling), and they seem so adept at any genre they delve into, whether it prog metal, thrash metal, folk, AOR, you name it. Just listen to lead singer Akerfeldt channel Robin Trower on the song, 'Hours Of Wealth'. The dude can sing, when he wants to; as much as I wish for the death growls to go away, it is amazing that the same guy who can sound so hellish one second can have such an angelic normal singing voice the next. And no, I don't mean he sounds good compared to other prog singers...he may be the best new rock vocalist to come along in a while. Still, there are those damn cookie monster vox...at least its a bout a 70/30 split in favor of 'clean' vox. Hard to recommend this one...but its a keeper for me. I think I'll have to check out <i>Blackwater Park</i>. Demonic vox aside, this is the best prog album I've heard this year (musically speaking); better than <i>Deadwing</i> or <b>RPWL</b> or <b>DT</b>.
  • 10-11-2005, 03:23 AM
    MindGoneHaywire
    Ronnie Dawson--Monkey Beat!
    Big Star--In Space
    Thelonius Monk w/John Coltrane--live at Carnegie Hall 1957
    Bill Kirchen--Tied To The Wheel
    Junior Brown--Down Home Chrome
    Martin Bisi with El Cochino--Milkyway Of Love
    Rolling Stones--A Bigger Bang
    Cello Trio--Tango Brasiliero
    Bob Mould--Body Of Song
    Basquiat Salutes Jazz
    The Skatalites--From Paris With Love
    Galt MacDermot--Unreleased Tracks Vols. 1 & 2 (better than Woman Is Sweeter/Shapes Of Rhythm)
    Sigur Ros--Takk
    Joe Perry--new album (not terrible, much better than an Aerosmith rec, actually)
    The Go! Team--Thunder, Lightning, Strike (has this been discussed around here? good stuff...)
  • 10-11-2005, 05:37 AM
    ToddL
    Stars-Set yourself on fire (has been in player since last Tuesday)
    Ben Lee- Awake is the new sleep (Please check this guy out if you like anything on my list)
    Broken Social Scene-You forgot it in people
    Radiohead-Amnesiac
    The Rentals- Seven more minutes
  • 10-11-2005, 06:49 AM
    ForeverAutumn
    Les Miserables - Original Broadway Cast - Saw this play for the fourth time on Saturday night...it remains one of my favourites.

    Opeth - Ghost Reveries - 3LBs description pretty much sums it up for me too.

    Death Cab for Cutie - Plans - Hasn't come out of the player since I bought it.

    Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs - It's everything Davey said it was.

    Colin James - Limelight - New one from this Canadian chameleon who appears to have returned to his blues/rock roots. A little mellower than his last one. Closes out with a very nice cover of Into The Mystic. JDaniel, if you're around and reading this, it's a must have for your collection. I'm happy to purchase and forward a copy to you like we did with the last one if it's an expensive import. I can pick it up for about $15 Cdn. Let me know. I'll post more about it after a few more spins.
  • 10-11-2005, 07:02 AM
    Monkey Bones
    Listened to some Hector Zazou with Laurie Anderson and Melanie Gabriel and Lori Carson and Bjork and Varttina and ...

    And lots of Laika, from Sounds of the Satellites and Silver Apples of the Moon. Ahhh, love=Laika.

    And some cooking with Giant Sand, and some working with Graham Parker, and some steaming with Califone, and some relaxing with Harold Budd from that nice final album of his I got earlier this year called Avalon Sutra. And kind of blue that there was no Miles to fit in there, but let me fake it and add Somethin Else :)

    And some of that new post punk dance thing from Suburban Sprawl Music by the Javelins called "No Plants, Just Animals" had my ass shaking.

    And I can hear the heart beating as one after my whirl with Yo La Tengo.

    And as usual this year, eggs were mysteriously in production with Andrew Bird.

    And a coupla partial listens to a coupla recent comps from Mike, Bittersweet Bundle being especially nice. Covers a lot of ground, but always with style.
  • 10-11-2005, 07:11 AM
    Monkey Bones
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn
    Death Cab for Cutie - Plans - Hasn't come out of the player since I bought it.

    But if that's true that it hasn't left the player, then how could you say ...
    Quote:

    Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs - It's everything Davey said it was.
    D'oh, guess that's why we have two players! :)

    Oooh, forgot that I got to hear some of that most hyped of the new Canadian bands this past week, Wolf Parade, and I pretty much dug it all over the place. If ya get a chance, go to Sup Pop and give a listen to their "Shine A Light" mp3. Fun stuff, even if kinda recycled sounding. Not sure I need to buy the CD, but still fun.

    http://www.subpop.com/scripts/main/m...ue=Wolf+Parade
  • 10-11-2005, 08:51 AM
    ForeverAutumn
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn
    Death Cab for Cutie - Plans - Hasn't come out of the player since I bought it.
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Monkey Bones
    But if that's true that it hasn't left the player, then how could you say ...
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn
    Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs - It's everything Davey said it was.
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Monkey Bones
    D'oh, guess that's why we have two players!




    Not only do I have more CD players than fingers, but two of said CD players are multi-disk players!

    :D
  • 10-11-2005, 08:56 AM
    nobody
    notin' really new here...just some of the same ol' same ol'...

    some mellow jazz...
    getz/gilberto
    coltrane: ballads

    some electronic stuff...
    sigur ros ()
    david bowie: low (side 2 is amazing)

    some rock...
    x: under the big black sun (i was shocked that my wife hadn't listened tro this one before...she loves it now)
    pil: plastic box (for my money, pil may well be a better band than the sex pistols)

    a few 2005 realeses...
    common: be (produced by kanye west and in my estimation far better than his own release this year)
    mia: arular (i've started hearing this everywhere lately, and that's a nice thing)
    22-20s (kinda disappointing as the first song kicks serious ass, but then the rest of the album is pretty downhill from there...a couple decent tracks though and the opener is really good)

    havng my first listen to the new black eyed peas right now...
  • 10-11-2005, 08:59 AM
    -Jar-
    Fudge Tunnel - THE COMPICATED FUTILITY OF IGNORNACE (their best, heaviest album)

    Melvins - LYSOL (the opening "song" - "Hung Bunny" - the finest 18 minutes of pure feedback drenched, drum pounding, earth shaking bass rawk ever recorded..)

    Iron Maiden - KILLERS (It's pretty amazing to listen to this one, thinking of where they went after (# OF THE BEAST, etc..), but they were really freaking decent players when they recorded this one, the songs aren't as memorable, but they could certainly play their asses off)

    Buzzoven - WELCOME TO VIOLENCE (early ep's and demos - just freaking scary stuff.. a godsend for fans of the band, released by Jello Biafra on Alternative Tentacles.. just what the doctor ordered.. besides the Methadone and straight jackets..)

    Ghost - HYPNOTIC UNDERWORLD (liking it a little more, but not 100% convinced yet)

    Engine Kid - ANGEL WINGS (this band got lost somewhere in the mid-90's between the dynamic post-rock of Slint and Rodan, the math rock of bands like Dazzling Killmen and the tense emo-rock of bands like Texas Is the Reason.. this is a great album that really tries to be a genre defining epic, but there really wasn't a genre for them at the time.. soft/spoken strummed guitars alternate with towering, crashing guitar riffs and soaring, shredding vocals.. it wasn't really hardcore, it wasn't really emo, it was close to post-rock, esp. due to some of the jazzy elements in the few of the instrumentals on here, but probably more along the lines of math rock like Drive Like Jehu, but not as athletic... all I know is that I really dig this album, and there's nothing else really like it out there)

    ps funny story about Engine Kid, we went to see them at this club in Cleveland called Speak In Tongues, it was sort of a speak easy where bands played and you brought your own drinks.. very casual, but cool too. I saw Crash Worship there one time and they nearly burned the building down, yes, a huge bonfire INSIDE. I'm amazed I'm still alive. Anyway, Engine Kid was all set to play, and only maybe 20 people showed up, so they refused to go on. So yea, they were kind of dicks, and most of my friends refused to play their stuff on the air after that, but I guess I didn't hold it against them as far as their music goes... Wagner was an a-hole too..


    Oh yea, I saw NIN, Queens of the Stone Age and Autolux on Sunday night. All 3 bands were great. I'll post something more substantial soon.


    -jar
  • 10-11-2005, 09:10 AM
    Jim Clark
    Well, let's see now, most was recycled from the previous week but there's bound to be a couple of different ones popping up.

    Stan Ridway - Black Diamond
    Stan Ridgway Boot - This may have been the show Troy was at - Stan Ridgway-Drywall Project, Cafe du Nord San Francisco, CA September 14, 2005 very good audience recording featuring some butchered updates of classics : (
    13 And God that you know who hooked me up with. Too much underground rap in it to allow it to chart high in my year end rankings but when it's good it's pretty darned good.
    Kraftwerk-Tour De France Soundtrack
    Kraftwerk- Bootleg - 2 discs from 2005 that completely rool.
    Busted out the Notwist Neon Golden and it remains strong.
    Radiohead-Amnesiac (i like)
    Radiohead- OK Computer (i don't)

    I think everything else was pretty much recycled.

    jc
  • 10-11-2005, 09:14 AM
    tentoze
    Only one new one this week:

    James Blunt/ Back To Bedlam- don't know where I read about this one, but I hear it's making noise across the pond. Big soundscapes in the vein of Damien Rice, and vaguely reminscent of (the horror!) very early Elton John. I like it, but the outro to track 7 is a shameless, note-for-note rip-off of the electric piano opening of Riders On The Storm.
  • 10-11-2005, 10:46 AM
    noddin0ff
    Raffi--Singable Song for the Very Young: Great with a Peanut-butter Sandwich

    Been doing a lot of driving with my two year old. 'Old McDonald had a Band' is a persistent favourite (hers) and I have to admit that I too look forward to the 'La la' when the singers kick in. 'Five little frogs' and 'Mr. Sun' are probably my faves for singing along. I actually really look forward to 'Mr. Sun'. Its the track (18) just before 'Old McDonald' (19) and we always start on 'Old Mc' and loop around. We seldom get to 'Mr. Sun's infectious optimism and strong melody. That's a shame.

    I don't really connect with 'My Dreydel' and I find the minor chord leanings of 'Must Be Santa' kind of creepy. I feel like I'm at Santa's wake whenever that one plays. 'Baa baa Black Sheep' is nice too. It has a second verse with a WHITE sheep for the little GIRL down the lane. My daughter appreciates the gender equity on that and usually sings this alternative verse.
  • 10-11-2005, 11:11 AM
    -Jar-
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by noddin0ff
    Raffi--Singable Song for the Very Young: Great with a Peanut-butter Sandwich

    Been doing a lot of driving with my two year old. 'Old McDonald had a Band' is a persistent favourite (hers) and I have to admit that I too look forward to the 'La la' when the singers kick in. 'Five little frogs' and 'Mr. Sun' are probably my faves for singing along. I actually really look forward to 'Mr. Sun'. Its the track (18) just before 'Old McDonald' (19) and we always start on 'Old Mc' and loop around. We seldom get to 'Mr. Sun's infectious optimism and strong melody. That's a shame.

    I don't really connect with 'My Dreydel' and I find the minor chord leanings of 'Must Be Santa' kind of creepy. I feel like I'm at Santa's wake whenever that one plays. 'Baa baa Black Sheep' is nice too. It has a second verse with a WHITE sheep for the little GIRL down the lane. My daughter appreciates the gender equity on that and usually sings this alternative verse.

    I'm with ya.. I have young girls too (2 and 6) so Raffi has been part of our driving experience for about a year now. He also has a pretty nice live album that is worth seeking out.. he does a great "Day-O (Banana Boat)" :)

    I have to wonder how he came up with "Down by the Bay where the Watermelon Grows" - it's completely nonsensical, yet strikingly odd.

    And I have to take issue with the line in "There's a Spider on my Leg" - "I wish that I were dead, there's a spider on my head" - that's just not a nice thing for kids to be singing is it? We skip that one normally.

    We've also been listening to some kids folk music compilations.. great stuff, esp. a recording of Jerry Garcia performing "There Ain't No Bugs On Me" - of course, the irony of that is completely lost on the kids, to me it's friggin' hilarious. "Why are you laffing daddy??"

    -jar
  • 10-11-2005, 11:41 AM
    Javier
    lots of classical
    Bought a bunch SACD'S those from RCA living stereo reissues, they sound amazing, listening to Tchaikovsky violin concerto ( heifetz) Gershwin rapsody in blue concerto in F(Arthur Fiedler and boston pops). Scherezade ( Reiner and the chicago shimpony), Saint Saenz organ simphony, Mussorksgy pictures of an exhibition, Stravinsky's firebird suite.
    LA guitar quartet guitar heroes another sacd from telarc amazing in MC you're seated between four guitarist playing a tribute to guitarist as diverse as Steve Howe, Jhon Maclaughlin, hendrix, Segovia, Django ect awesome.
    Listening also a lot to Porcupine tree deadwing ( now i wn both the DVD audio and the cd) great music in there.
    Opeth ghost reveries also agreed with most of 3lock this is a great album in spite of the growling and i found them( or like'm) a lot more than DT just because of the incredible transitions they make from full metal to soft acoustic and melodic in their songs.
    Still in queue sigour ros trakk ( a couple of spins but it still doesn't grab my attention) probably because i bought it along the Opeth and porcupine tree ;-)
  • 10-11-2005, 02:24 PM
    Slosh
    you're sick
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Monkey Bones
    And some of that new post punk dance thing had my ass shaking.

    Eww, that's one mental image I never want in my head again! :p

    Wolf Parade - not too impressed but only a couple of spins so far.
    The new AAS - sounds just like Know By Heart which means it's a good album but brings nothing new to the table.
    Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - okay, so it's kinda growing on me but it'll never be a favorite.
    Tool - Lateralus - all these recent Tool threads made me break this out and I still like the previous three albums a lot better. Not bad, just kinda dull compared to their others.
    !!! - speaking of a<a>ss shaking :rolleyes:
    13 & God
    Calexico/Iron & Wine - In The Reins
    Grandaddy - Sumday
    Ryan Adams - Live In Jamaica (DVD)
    SFA - Love Kraft
    Stephen Malkmus - s/t
    tentoze's Poll This
    Mike's Shadow Of A Man
    McLusky - Do Dallas (a classic! :) )
    a really good John Lennon comp that my friend made for me a long time back

    and

    this & that

    NP: Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
  • 10-11-2005, 02:41 PM
    MomurdA
    Laika, I only have one of theirs but it is good. Lost in Space i think its a best of.
    The Decemberists- Picaresque - awesome songwriting, my fav is The Mariners Revenge Song
    Federico Aubele - Gran Hotel Buenos Aires - Brazilian Downtempo Trip Hop - really good
    Certainly, Sir- For Claire- A side project of the guy from Postal Service, dare i say better than Postal Service?? Too bad its only 3 songs.
    DJ Food - Refried Food - I love downtempo/trip hop, and this is some of the best out there.
    Skalpel - Skalpel - If you only listen to one of these in my list, make it this one. EPIC goodness.
  • 10-11-2005, 02:57 PM
    Monkey Bones
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Slosh the Perv
    http://forums.audioreview.com/images/icons/icon13.gif you're sick
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Monkey Bones
    And some of that new post punk dance thing had my ass shaking.

    Eww, that's one mental image I never want in my head again! :p

    I'm sick? Who asked you to put my naked monkey ass in your head in the first place? Not me!

    So you're not ready to call that Wolf Parade the best album of they year, eh? It almost is at metacritic, just one little bitty point ahead of your other Clap Hands favorite ;)

    1 Sufjan Stevens
    Illinois 90
    2 My Morning Jacket
    Z 89
    3 Antony And The Johnsons
    I Am A Bird Now 88
    4 Wolf Parade
    Apologies To The Queen Mary 87

    5 Fiona Apple
    Extraordinary Machine 87
    6 Sleater-Kinney
    The Woods 87
    7 M.I.A.
    Arular 87
    8 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
    Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 86
    9 Kraftwerk
    Minimum-Maximum [Live] 85
    10 Okkervil River
    Black Sheep Boy 85
  • 10-11-2005, 03:13 PM
    Troy
    iPod freakout!

    Had this thing for a while now, never did anything with it. Breakthru about a week ago when I started using it around the house and yard.

    Shuffle man, shuffle. I noticed it with about 50 songs in it. Lots of fun, instant tracking, insanely random.

    Started loading some music into it every day. Just under 300 songs from, I dunno, maybe 30-40 albums. 23+ hours worth. Just a few tracks from some albums, almost the whole disc from others. Loading some Wondermints as I type this. It's not even 1/4 full yet . . . and my wife has 110 songs in it too. Looks like I have a lot to do . . .

    It's excellent for playing in the office, thru iTunes and into the mid-70s Kenwood and the big bookshelfs in a 10x10 room. Seems like the 192k mp3s are fine when the fi is only this high. You can go for days without repeating a song and all I have to do is hit play. Skip is instant. I'm totally blissed out jumping from King Crimson's "Red" to XTC's "Rocket From a Bottle" to the Tony Levin Band's "Phobos" to Rupert Hine's "Make a Wish" to Laika and the Cosmonaut's "Liposuction" to Secret Cheifs 3 "Exodus" and on and on . . .

    Some albums I've loaded this week:
    10CC- How Dare You
    Air- 10,000 Hz Legend
    Bill Nelson's Orchestra Arcana- Optimism
    Echolyn- The End is Beautiful
    Flower Kings- My 2 old comps with all the edited songs.
    Zappa's Joes Garage
    Eno- Tiger Mountain
    Gak Omek
    Kino- Picture
    Lika and the Cosmonauts- Local Warming
    Keneally- Dancing and Sluggo
    Mr Bungle

    Just a ton more in the other half of the alphabet, dumping in another pile of discs every day.

    This would kill in the car. Found one of those broadcast radio doodads, broadcasts the player between 88-89 FM. Find it sounds like crap. Lots of radio-style static and dropout (CD's sound great). It's an old deck with no plug in jack. Any suggestions?
  • 10-11-2005, 05:00 PM
    -Jar-
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Troy
    This would kill in the car. Found one of those broadcast radio doodads, broadcasts the player between 88-89 FM. Find it sounds like crap. Lots of radio-style static and dropout (CD's sound great). It's an old deck with no plug in jack. Any suggestions?

    My Scion has a jack down between the seats, but I haven't used it yet, don't really have a need to since the thing already has a cd player that also plays MP3's. Don't have an IPOD.

    I use one of those broadcasters in my crap van.. HATE IT but at least it's better than the radio, most of the time. Can't wait to get a cheap cd player, any cd player to put in the dash. I just know that the day after I put any effort into putting a sound system into that thing the van is donna die. So I leave it alone and use that stoopid radio adapter. At least I use rechargable batteries. The thing would go through 2 batteries a week. That gets 'spensive.

    -jar
  • 10-11-2005, 06:32 PM
    3-LockBox
    Hey Jim
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Jim Clark
    .Radiohead-Amnesiac (i like)
    Radiohead- OK Computer (i don't)jc

    What is it about these two that you like or don't like? Just wondering, since I've been somewhat ambivelant about delving into Radiohead

    Also...have you heard the new <b><i>newOrder</i></b>?
  • 10-11-2005, 09:07 PM
    Dusty Chalk
    Katatonia, Black Sessions -- love this stuff.
    Carina Round -- whoo boy, this is great stuff. A little bit of PJ, a little bit of (early) Sinead, a little bit of Tori, a lot of herself. You nailed it with this one, monkey boy/giant slayer. I (heart).
    Brakes -- meh
    A.R.E. Weapons -- a bit wild, but fun
    Lots of Keith Jarrett at work.
    The new-ish JMJ -- lots of old stuff reworked. Not necessarily a bad thing, based on the strength of the old material.
    Chris Rea -- why don't people like him? I digs.
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Troy
    This would kill in the car. Found one of those broadcast radio doodads, broadcasts the player between 88-89 FM. Find it sounds like crap. Lots of radio-style static and dropout (CD's sound great). It's an old deck with no plug in jack. Any suggestions?

    Do you have a cassette player in your car? There's a doodad that will convert to one of those, too.
  • 10-12-2005, 05:10 AM
    ForeverAutumn
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Troy
    This would kill in the car. Found one of those broadcast radio doodads, broadcasts the player between 88-89 FM. Find it sounds like crap. Lots of radio-style static and dropout (CD's sound great). It's an old deck with no plug in jack. Any suggestions?

    Hey Troy. If you live in a large city with a lot of radio stations, the FM thingy will never work for you. But it will be great for your roadtrips! If there are empty frequencies higher up the dial then you may just need a different transmitter that will allow you more freedom in choosing a frequency. I have a Giffin iTrip and it covers the whole range from about 87.1 to 108.9. Unless I'm right downtown, I can usually find something that'll work reasonably well. But really, I don't use my iPod unless i'm a good 50km outside the city.

    If you're really serious about using the iPod in the car, for about $200 you can purchase a system that will hardwire an iPod connection right into your car stereo.
  • 10-12-2005, 10:46 AM
    ForeverAutumn
    Bump
    Troy...another thought. Can you remove the antenna from your car? That might help.

    My old Focus had an antenna that could be unscrewed and removed. A feature that came in very handy when going through car washes. :)
  • 10-12-2005, 11:02 AM
    Mr MidFi
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Troy
    iPod freakout!

    Had this thing for a while now, never did anything with it. Breakthru about a week ago when I started using it around the house and yard.

    Shuffle man, shuffle. I noticed it with about 50 songs in it. Lots of fun, instant tracking, insanely random.
    ...

    This would kill in the car. Found one of those broadcast radio doodads, broadcasts the player between 88-89 FM. Find it sounds like crap. Lots of radio-style static and dropout (CD's sound great). It's an old deck with no plug in jack. Any suggestions?

    First of all, congratulations on finding the Shuffle God...may He bestow His blessings freely upon you! I now have about 2700 songs on my player. Now that is insanely random!

    Secondly, about the FM thingy...back when they were new, they were great. But lately I've been noticing a lot more interference on the road. I'm attributing the difference to more of these units out there in the world, working on the same frequencies. Whatever. Mine sounds better when I'm touching it, for some reason. Insert your perverted joke here.

    I bought a cassette adaptor, but it totally didn't work in my car player. Don't know why. It does, however, play surprisingly well on my home deck. So who knows? Give it a try. For $15-$20, it's a small risk.
  • 10-12-2005, 02:56 PM
    Slosh
    Monkey Bones takes on the RIAA!
    Is October 12th American-be-kind-to-idiots-day? Well, I got my presents anyway :)

    NP: Eleventh National Richmond Mountain Dream Goat