It's Tuesday time...Stand and deliver!

[Mr MidFi]

Plenty of new (to me) spinnage this week…

Wilco – Kicking Television: Live In Chicago
I’ve already posted a mini-review of this one. I like it a lot, mostly because it breathes new life into the songs from their last album.

The Bravery
Finally got around to picking this up. I think I like this as much if not more than all the other 80s-redux bands.

The New Pornographers – Twin Cinema
Quirky alt-rock runs smack into lush pop harmonies and lives to tell the tale. I dig it, but not as much as I thought I was going to (but I’ve only spun twice so far). Curiously, the best tracks are all divisible by 4.

Green Day – Bullet In a Bible
CD & DVD live package from their recent tour. I’ve played the DVD once, while working out. Solid performance is marred by docu footage between songs. Fortunately, the docu footage is at the END of each track, so the skip button works beautifully. Still annoying, tho.

Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
I didn’t have any, so I got their best one. And I’m still not a fan, although there are some terrific moments here (most notably Teenage Riot, of course). This one isn’t really a “listen” for me, so much as a life soundtrack for when I want to feel like Mr. Hipster From Days Gone By. Miles Davis does that for me, too.

U2 – Live In Chicago
Concert DVD. My wife and I were at this show, so we had to get this one. Worth getting if you’re a fan. If you don’t already have one of their shows on DVD, don’t start here.

Chemical Brothers – Push the Button
I picked this up on a lark, as my collection lacks the block-rockin’ techno beat (in general). On my first listen, I nearly gave up after the first 3 tracks. Then track 4 really got my attention…and the rest of it kept my groove going (with the exception of the laughable faux-militancy on track 7).

Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run 30th Anniversary Set
Oh, how I love this album. It comes with a DVD documentary on the making of the album that is excruciatingly informative…making this album was, apparently, an exercise in frustration for everyone involved. And there is a concert DVD from 1975, recorded at London’s famed Hammersmith Odeon, shot to 35mm with an excellent audio mix from original 24-track tapes…showing the future superstar as a young artiste with a lot to prove. I can’t review the remastered CD yet because I haven’t played it on my main system yet. And I won’t until I have the opportunity to play it the way it was meant to be played: in its entirety and very, very loudly.


All of that, plus about 40 hours of iPod shuffling. As usual.


Here's to a happy Thanksgiving for all my American homies. I'll see you next week!

[tentoze]

I be wanting that Springsteen! Lots of listening, but only a couple of new-to-me things this week:

Great Big Sea~ The Hard & The Easy: Don't know why I never had any of these guys' stuff before now. Traditinal New Breton/Celtic music from these Newfies- love it. Very well-recorded, too.

Marissa Nadler~ The Saga Of Mayflower May- this one fell out of the sky on my head a few days ago. Damn. Heartbreakingly beautiful psych-folk- sparse production, mostly her and a guitar. I see this one heading into my Top Ten already.

[Mike]

Kate Bush - Aerial, not sure why this is on 2 discs cos the total clocks in at under 80 mins. It's a grower though, very new ageish in parts and a little new worldy Peter Gabriel sounding too.

Kings of Convenience - Riot On An Empty Street, Simon and Garfunkel are alive and well and living in Norway by the sound of it, uncannily like them in parts.

Decemberists - Her Majesty
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Kaiserchiefs - Employment

Gave a quick listen to the Marissa Nadler too but early days yet

Cheers
Mike

[MindGoneHaywire]

Son Volt--Okemah & the Melody of Riot. First spin since I first heard it awhile back. Damn good album. Way better to me than their performance from Austin City Limits.

Lucinda Williams--Live on Austin City Limits. Much better to me than the Live At The Filmore set. But what do I know.

George Harrison, Bob Dylan, et al--The Concert For Bangla Desh. Very good, but probably more intresting and/or historic, at least to me, than it is great great great. Haven't played this in probably 15-20 years, so it's fascinating especially to hear the Dylan stuff. Overall, I probably prefer a live rec from the same era like Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out, but anything that has Dylan doing some of those tunes on it from around that time is essential so far as I'm concerned.

John Coltrane--Ballads.

Neil Diamond--12 Songs. I've never much cared for this guy, except some other performers' renderings of a tune or two of his, but of course the Rick Rubin thing is intriguing. Very reminiscent of the first Johnny Cash CD on American, and I mean that in the best possible way. Great, great album. How nice of Sony to have killed it with their irresponsibility. Same for all the recalled CDs, though of course there aren't many of those I have much interest in. Being a fan of Jane Monheit, I liked quite a bit of her Christmas CD. She's got to deal with Sony's nonsense too...a recall of a Xmas album...if there's been a stupider move in the history of commerce, I can't think of it right now.

Anyone want a G3 or Bette Midler CD?

[Davey]

Kate Bush - Aerial, not sure why this is on 2 discs cos the total clocks in at under 80 mins.

I read in an interview that initially it was gonna be one disc, but when she heard the CD-R it was just too much so she decided to break it up into two discs. Quite a few have done that in recent times and I think it's often a good decision if the artist doesn't want to cut the play time down to a more reasonable 40-50 minutes.

[Mike]

I read in an interview that initially it was gonna be one disc, but when she heard the CD-R it was just too much so she decided to break it up into two discs. Quite a few have done that in recent times and I think it's often a good decision if the artist doesn't want to cut the play time down to a more reasonable 40-50 minutes.

That explains it, if it came out as a single disc I'd probably be saying not bad in patches but lots of fillers.

Thinking about it now we expect an album to be 50 mins as standard, where as before with vinyl because of the groove limitations the standard album would be less than 40 mins. I think this point has been raised before but the classic albums of the 60s, 70s probably all clocked in at way under 40 mins and were better for it.

Cheers
Mike

[-Jar-]

a few things:

Sometime in the past week or so I spun HEX by Bark Psychosis and EXCUSES FOR TRAVELERS by Mojave 3.

Also:

Dead Can Dance - SPLEEN AND IDEAL This one is a dark, foggy affair, very different from their later albums. You can just about imagine sitting in some huge church somewhere in a hill in some forgotten valley in eastern europe while this is playing. Also has a much more new-wave goth feel to some of the songs, which is understandable, considering it was recorded in 1985. Oh those early daze of 4ad. Every release you could get your hands on back then was like a treasure. Heh, the Cocteau Twins even called one of their albums TREASURE.

Sunny Day Real Esatate - HOW IT FEELS TO BE SOMETHING ON. This is one of my slowest growers, I still find new things to like each time I listen to it.

Pale Saints - IN RIBBONS. Still one of my favorite albums of all time. Great peak shoegaze album, though they rocked a bit more than most of the other gazers. Immaculate arrangements with their songs, more than just tons of feedback.

Shostokovich, Symphony 11 - Rostropovich, National Symphony, Teldec.
I haven't listened to this one in years. I had forgotten how well I knew it. This will stay in my rotation for the next month, awesome recording.

My Opeth Comp:

Demons of the Fall - An Opeth Excursion

01 Under the Weeping Moon (Orchid 9:48)
02 Godhead's Lament (Still Life 9:44)
03 Requiem (Orchid 1:07)
04 Harvest (Blackwater Park 6:00)
05 Deliverance (Deliverance 13:35)
06 Demon of the Fall (My Arms, Your Hearse 6:13)
07 Credence (My Arms, Your Hearse 5:23)
08 Nectar (Morningrise 10:05)
09 For Forgotten Friends (Deliverance 2:16)
10 The Drapery Falls (Blackwater Park 10:43)
11 Hope Leaves (Damnation 4:25)

-jar

[ForeverAutumn]

Great Big Sea~ The Hard & The Easy: Don't know why I never had any of these guys' stuff before now. Traditinal New Breton/Celtic music from these Newfies- love it. Very well-recorded, too.

Nice to see someone outside of Canada listening to these guys. I gave this CD to my Sister-in-Law for her birthday a few weeks ago and we played it right away. Good clean fun. If you get the chance to see them live, it's a great party. If there's one thing that Newfie's know, it's how to party!!! If you'd like to hear their less traditional, more Rock/Pop side, pick up a copy of their 1997 disk, Play. On it you'll find a nice mix of traditional and modern tunes including an excellent cover of REM's It's The End of the World As We Know It.

[Davey]

Listened a lot to the Living Things Ahead of the Lions CD that I picked up used and barely abused a little over a week ago. Only been out for a real short while but this was a promo. It's a Steve Albini recording which is what initially peaked my interest since I love some of those dynamic rock records he's worked on, but this one is on Sony and mastered by Bernie Grundman's place so lost most of the dynamics to make it sound loud. Too bad, but still a very good album and on its way to being a favorite this year. These guys rock pretty hard. Talked about it more in the Broken Social Scene thread.

Also picked up the latest from the Radar Bros. and the new Silver Jews Tanglewood Numbers and like both of those a lot too, although neither is really anything new. And of course listened a bunch to Andrew Bird's egg production CD, and still can't get over how damn fine it is. Brilliant!

[newtrix1]

My sons birthday is this week. He's been asking for an iPod for about 6 months now. First it was a Nano, then it went to a "photo" and ultimately (of course) I ended up getting the latest "video" model . So I guess I'll be paying more attention to the ipod threads from now on.

this weeks listening for me:
Porcupine Tree - in Absentia
Tears For Fears - Tears Roll Down
Soul Coughing - Irresistible Bliss
Dr. Dre - The Chronic
Yes - The Yes Album
Kansas - Lefoverture
Goody Mob - One Monkey Don't Stop No Show
U2 - Achtung Baby
Ray Charles - Genius Loves Company

[3-LockBox]

One new thing (even though I said I'd put aside new purchases)

OSI - I heard about this a year or so ago and tried to order it but it was backordered, so I changed my order...I saw this at CC of all places AND JUMPED ON IT. Its as good as everyone says it is, but different from what you'd expect. Very similar to FatesWarning (yeah, I know). Bonus disc is cool, too. Both discs are short enough to accomodate on CD-R, so I don't know why the dual-disc thing (which was the first thing I did). You'd think that the rate this stuff disappears from their shelves (soon after they stock it), that CC and BB would rethink their inventory strategies.

Beyond that, its been all 'old' stuff:

Symphony X:Divine Wings of Tragedy - Love this, want more (stoopid album name though)

Lacuna Coil - comp I made. I will look forward to their next release.

Iced Earth comp I made fer meself (no use listing tracks here)

Opeth:Ghost Reveries- I usually skip the first two tracks, from there, the monster vox are at a minimum; great music though.

Iron Maiden Essential - These guys were awesome live, their studio stuff was always hit and miss for me. That's why I can settle for a 'hits' comp.

Coheed & Cambria:IV - I like this one; very layered and textured; its like a complex and ambitious version of Zebra (which is not a slam in my book). Do you guys remember Zebra? Lead singer Randy Jackson (no, not that one) could peel the paint off the walls with his high-pitched wailing. Anyhoo, I like C&C's lead singer's vocalization and inflection; 'tis fun.

Tears For Fears:Everybody Love a Happy Ending - hit and miss, but still a decent listen.

HotHotHeat:Elevator - a grower; I'll bet their next one is better. I root for these guys.

[Jim Clark]

did listen to that BSS that I've had for about a month. My opinion is that it's a very ambitious overly orchestrated/produced affair that hits the mark intermittingly . Layers upon layers upon layers, all scream "listen to me" at the same time. Not exactly a soothing listen but one that has grown over time. I still haven't "gotten it" but I think I'm 'getting it". It's not Stars album - that's for sure! Wish I had time to go into it more, but I've got to get ready to go out for the evening.

I grabbed the Constantines 2005 Tournament Of Hearts. I'm not good at describing but to me it's like GSYBE would sound if they wrote songs instead of epic instrumental pieces. Very garagey, heavy on the Rock but fairly dark. I really like and don't recall reading any mentions of this disc. Only 4.5 stars at AMG but a well deserved 4.5.

Also some Furs bootlegs that were a ton of fun along with a 91 Siouxsie show that was tremendous.

London Calling -Clash
Blonder and Blonder -The Muffs
Too Tough To Die-Ramones
Seeds Of Love-T4F's
B-52's - Whammy!
Wall of Voodoo-EP
I Robot -AP Project
Steel Pulse-Earth Crisis
The Power Station-Whatever that thing was titled
The newest Am An Set
Alphaville-Salvation
Scissor Sistors-S/T
Desperate Youth and Blood Thirsty Babes-TV On The Radio
Tour De France Soundtrack-Kraftwerk
A Troggs Comp that rules!
Moonbabies -Mini LP
Lord only knows what else.

jc

[Dusty Chalk]

LOTW: Delia Gonzalez and Gavin Russom, Days of Mars -- trippy electronica, harkens back to the days of yore, when all they had were a couple monophonic synths and a sequencer that could play different notes and not much more.

Lots of Carina Round, I just can't seem to get enough of her.

Masters of Horror comp -- a lot of crap on here, but some nuggets, too (of the non-crappy variety).

Picked up that Pilotdrift that I mentioned. Kind of reminds me of Starlight Mints a little bit, except better, maybe; crossed with Izz and Jellyfish, perhaps. Not unlistenably overbright like SM, though.

[dean_martin]

Plenty of new (to me) spinnage this week…


Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
I didn’t have any, so I got their best one. And I’m still not a fan, although there are some terrific moments here (most notably Teenage Riot, of course). This one isn’t really a “listen” for me, so much as a life soundtrack for when I want to feel like Mr. Hipster From Days Gone By. Miles Davis does that for me, too.

Mr. Mid - If you decide to try some more Sonic Youth, may I suggest EVOL and Sister? They are closely related and I think Sister follows EVOL perfectly.

Green Light
Star Power
Secret Girl
Tom Violence
Shadow of a Doubt
Marilyn Moore
Madonna, Sean and Me (a/k/a Expressway to Your Skull)
Bubblegum

lead in perfectly to-
Schizophrenia
Beauty Lies in the Eye
Stereo Sanctity
Pipeline/Kill Time
Tuff Gnarl
Pacific Coast Highway
Cotton Crown
White Cross

16 tracks of solid SY between the 2 albums.

[audiobill]

Pressed for time this week, so I'll make this a quickie (list only):

The Flaiming Lilps - Transmissions...
Fear Factory - Demanufacture
Akron/Family - Akron/Family
Ash - 1977
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run 30th Anniv
Deerhoof - The Runners Four
Hem - Rabbit Songs
Madonna - Confessions on a Dance Floor
Martha Wainwright - Martha Wainwright
My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge
Patrick Wolf - Wind in the Wires

Plus a ton of iPod mixes,

audiobill