Anyone a fan of The Microphones?

[tentoze]

I searched and found a passing reference to them by Daveynodot. Based on a glowing review I read somewhere this week of a new release, "February 19, 21, & 22, 2003 Kyoto, Nagoya, & Tokyo", I picked this disk up this afternoon on the way home from work. I managed to slog through the 1st 7 of 12 "songs" before tearing it out of the player. Observations:

1) Of the 7 "players" identified in the "credits", no 2 of them ever play in the same key. Ever.
2) The front man couldn't carry a tune in the bucket of a D-10 Caterpillar, and seems to work hard at singing in a different key than all the disparate other keys being hammered on by the rest of the band.
3) Painfully amateurish song lyrics, reminiscent of the worst poetry a 14 yr-old could produce.

This is a DREADFUL record. I was embarrassed for the perpetrators while listening to it. Luckily, I also picked up a new Willard Grant Conspiracy release, "Regard The End" to balance out the dreck, and it does so admirably.

[chrisnz]

Hey I've found a fellow sufferer :-) I imported a copy of It Was Hot We Stayed In The Water and went to the extent of paying for it to be shipped to Canada to be rid of it! So I guess the dreadfulness of their catalogue doesn't merely have width but depth as well. Or maybe we're just not Indie Hip enough?

Chris.

[tentoze]

Hey I've found a fellow sufferer :-) I imported a copy of It Was Hot We Stayed In The Water and went to the extent of paying for it to be shipped to Canada to be rid of it! So I guess the dreadfulness of their catalogue doesn't merely have width but depth as well. Or maybe we're just not Indie Hip enough?

Chris.

Yah, Chris- guess my hipness factor is plummeting. This pig of a record is on the chopping block.

[Stone]

Or maybe we're just not Indie Hip enough?

Apparently not. The Microphones rule.

[Davey]

Maybe next time you'll ask before you buy!

I really like the CD that Chris mentioned, especially it's centerpiece song, the epic 11 minute The Glow. Real nice analog sound with fat, liquidy bass. But some of it is kinda far out there. I didn't appreciate the followup nearly as much, a little too muted for my taste. Never heard them live, but I can imagine that it's kind of improvisational and not too well organized since the albums are pulled off mostly by the one guy.

Anyway, I probably would've warned you away from the Microphones knowing what I do about your tastes, but it's worth taking a chance now and then just to get the feel for different reviewers. I'm a little more careful than I used to be, though, and depend a lot more on the people around here

BTW, speaking of the people around here, hey Jimbo, I got the new Moonbabies Orange Billboard and I think I'm really going to like this one. First listen was kind of like you described, some very good songs but can't remember the rest. Unlike you though, my second listen is already starting to fill in the "can't remember the rest" part. Maybe just less distractions for me. Some very novel production on this one. These guys are really turning into studio wizards from the sound of it. And maintaining good fidelity at the same time. Some nice low bass. Dig it so far. At their site under Fun Facts they say....

Fun Facts - The top five reference albums that was listened to in the studio was: ELO / Out of the Blue, Wilco / Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, The Beatles / Revolver, Ween / The Mollusk, Elton John / Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Nice collection of standards. Interesting in that it does have kind of a Mollusk sound in the production, fat and clean in a 90s hi-fi sense, but with a real fleshed-out background giving it a lot of depth. Also on the funny side, I just did a Google to see if there were many reviews (not too many in English) and my post from this forum turned up from when I mentioned it last month (by the Intruder guy). Gotta be careful what we say around here

Also got my copy of 2003 Motel. Thanks nobody!

EDIT: Now listened to the Moonbabies new one a couple more times and I'm really quite impressed. Pretty solid all the way through. The 7 minute title track is very nice with a long buildup sounding kind of like something from Elbow or Coldplay, but with sweet girl/boy vocals giving it a more pop feel. And a big, noisy A Day In The Life ending. Cool. And it's even sequenced at the right spot - track 10 on an 11 track album with only a relatively short and sweet closer (but definitely not a throwaway) to follow that emotional buildup. Very nice job. Can't really point to any songs on it that I don't like right now but quite a few that are very good. The second track is a blast, real cheerful Bangles meets ELO rockin' pop cheese. I think it's the single. Followed by Over My Head which opens with a rather dramatic piano solo sounding more like something from Sparklehorse. Oh well, I could go on and on but I wonder if anyone will even read this - I did kind of intentionally hide it down here, so if no one reads it whose fault is it but mine

I bet this would be great candidate for the the group review treatment if that thing had worked past the first time. Maybe Jim and I could do one together. Yeah, I know this is bordering on an advertisement already so call me shill, but the band has a whole page of info about the album and sound clips and reviews and etc at http://www.moonbabies.nu/orange/main.htm

[Stone]

After reading this thread, I put in Mount Eerie yesterday. Wow, what a sonic landscape that record paints. Using all kinds of different noises and effects, the near-20-minute opener alone goes through all kinds of metamorphoses. Quite an interesting listen, but admittedly not one I would want to listen to every day.

[tentoze]

After reading this thread, I put in Mount Eerie yesterday. Wow, what a sonic landscape that record paints. Using all kinds of different noises and effects, the near-20-minute opener alone goes through all kinds of metamorphoses. Quite an interesting listen, but admittedly not one I would want to listen to every day.

Hang on for a few days, and you'll be able to put the new one in.

[Davey]

Alright Stone and tentoze! Saved me from having to instigate a shameless Moonbabies bump - but I'll take this opportunity to do just that

  N O W   P L A Y I N G

[Stone]

Alright Stone and tentoze! Saved me from having to instigate a shameless Moonbabies bump - but I'll take this opportunity to do just that

  N O W   P L A Y I N G

Hmmm, I have that one sitting at home, waiting to be listened to. Maybe tomorrow night I'll find some time to pop it in. I'm very intrigued since you and Jim both seem to like the Moonbabies quite a bit.

[Davey]

Hmmm, I have that one sitting at home, waiting to be listened to. Maybe tomorrow night I'll find some time to pop it in. I'm very intrigued since you and Jim both seem to like the Moonbabies quite a bit.

Yeah, but remember that Jimbo is a little bit lukewarm on this one. I absolutely love it, though. I kinda think you might not be able to give it enough attention, unless your listening time is starting to open up. It really took about 4 or 5 listens before it completely got to me. A little like Notwist's Neon Golden in that respect. Or Yo La Tengo's Electr-o-pura. Similarities in the music to both as well. Lots of Beatlesy goodness too, which is part of Jim's admitted problem with it. Right now I'm declaring it to be the Best album of 2004! Of course, it's the only one I've heard so far, but I won't let that little shortcoming hold me back