Today's CDs (6/16/03)
 

The Thorns
MC Honky: I Am the Messiah
Fountains of Wayne: Welcome Interstate Managers
Bran Van 3000: Discosis
Uncle Tupelo: Anodyne (Remastered and expanded)

QOTD: I really liked the "comment on what you're listening to" idea, particularly because people talk about a lot of less-than-mainstream music in this thread, so I'll stick with that idea...

The Thorns: Not great, but very good. Beautiful harmonies. The reviews were right...very reminiscent of CSN, etc.

MC Honky: Side-project by E (from the eels). Basically a beat collage, though a few tracks have vocals. It's good. I think I like it better than Shootenany.

Fountains of Wayne: Brilliant power pop album by the world's greatest pop group. The first three tracks ("Mexican Wine," "Bright Future in Sales" and "Stacy's Mom") provide the strongest 1-2-3 punch I've heard on a record in a long, long time. The rest of the disc is great as well.

BV3: I've been a fan for years but have no idea if they're even still a band. The genre mixes in their first album (Glee) were much more noticeable...on this one, they're practically seamless. Good album, and it should have received much more attention when it was released.

Uncle Tupelo: Their masterpiece in my opinion. "New Madrid" is one of my favorite songs, and the rest of the disc is equally amazing.

Bouncing Souls - Anchors Aweigh
Brand New - Deju Entendu
Common Rider - This Is Unity Music
Superdrag - Regretfully Yours

Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
Christopher O'Riley - True Loves Waits (Solo Piano renditions of Radiohead songs)
Radiohead - Looking Back At...

Pretty much been listening to mostly Radiohead material all week.

Hail to the Thief: Another Amnesiac album, IMO. Some good songs, some OK songs. Since they plan on moving on elsewhere, this might be a farewell to classic Radiohead material.

True Love Waits: INteresting classical piano reneditions of Radiohead songs. Some of my friends have enjoyed it, and were surprised when I played the source song after one of the tracks.

Looking Back AT...: Friend of mine lent me a rare Australian compliation. Some of the older singles and those tracks are on it.

Steely Dan - Everything Must Go
Kim Richey - s/t
Whiskeytown - Faithless Street
Dixie Chicks - Home
Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One

Steely Dan: A co-worker lent me this. It's not bad -- apocalypse never sounded this laid-back and jazzy. Not really my cup of tea, though -- listening to "Decade" once every three months is enough for me.

Kim Richey: Wonderful country debut with pop sensibilities by one of Nashville's great female singer-songwriters. Not quite as sublime as her follow-up, "Bitter Sweet," but quite good. Didn't like her third, "Glimmer," too much (Hugh Padgham produced, leading to one too many '80s Genesis flashbacks). Still haven't heard her latest, "Rise."

Whiskeytown: Uneven, and with the bonus tracks, it gets a bit repetitive, but there are too many gems not too enjoy.

Dixie Chicks: Borrowed from library, so I've listened to this more often than I might have otherwise. I really like it. I own their first two albums, so take this praise accordingly, but I really think that anybody who remotely likes "country" music would like this, or at least find some songs on here to like.

Yo La Tengo: Again, borrowed from library, and I'm probably tiring of it from overuse. It's probably one of those albums that I'll keep telling myself to pick up for myself at the used record store, and probably never will.

Gdrlv -- so it sounds like the Thorns is worth getting? Or is it just good? Reminds me of the talk about the Rhett Miller solo CD, which got lots of "not-bad-nothing-special" reviews. Of course, the Rhett Miller CD is one of my favorite "late purchases" of the past year or so...

Jesse Harris and the Ferdinandos - Secret Sun -- I just picked this one up at the store. I really like how laid back and unassuming the songs are. The musicians on it are pretty good. Jesse's voice isn't the best in the world but it suffices. I'll give it a few more spins and see if it comes out to be a good purchase or just an alright disc. It isn't bad though.

I'd say the Thorns is definitely worth buying. It is good. I say it's not great, but I've been listening to it consistently since I purchased it. Also, it's really cheap...definitely worth the $8 that I paid for it.

Rhett's cd is one of my favorites of the past year as well.

Enon - High Society
Fugazi - In On the Kill Taker
The Make-Up - Sound Verite
The Make-Up - Destination: Love; Live! at Cold Rice

Read and comment in my Retrospective Thread to see what I think of Enon.

This Fugazi record is still one of my favorites (insert flames from Repeater/13 Songs stalwarts), if only for the greatness that is "Cassavettes", "Smallpox Champion", and "Walken's Syndrome."

These Make-Up discs are also great; they owe James Brown just as much as they owe Gang of Four. They swagger as much as they spit with a hip-jerking bass underneath almost every song and Ian Svevonious squealing violently. How do those lungs not collapse???

Has anyone heard Ian Svevonious's newest project - The Scene Creamers? Is their debut disc worth picking up?

Scene Creamers record is very dull. Avoid at all costs. Then again, I've always found the Make Up tiring. You've listened to Nation of Ulysses, right fallow? That's the only thing that kept me from punching Ian back when I used to hang around DC.

Today I'm listening to:

Skating Club - Skating Club and Bugs & Flowers (not my thing by a longshot, but it sounds like Low and Scud Mountain Boys, so I'm guessing some of you might like it)
The Bug - Pressure (glitch meets dancehall... it has its moments)
Dizzee Rascal - I Luv U single (amazing UK garage track. sposedly it's getting some MTV play here now, but I haven't seen it yet)
VA - Branches and Routes (FatCat Records anniversary comp. Not bad)
Chevelle - Wonder What's Next ("Send the Pain Below" is pretty high on my list of 2k3 singles. It's a great approximation of Shudder to Think, and the rest of the record follows that pretty closely. A good record)
VA - Idol Tryouts (Great Ghostly comp of microhouse/industrial/whathaveyou)

My CDs:

Radiohead - "Hail..."
Julie Doiron and Okkervil River - Split
Nina Nastasia - "Run to Ruin"
Pernice Brothers - "Yours, Mine & Ours"
Postal Service - "Give Up"
Prefuse 73 - "One Word Extinguisher"
Havanarama (David Pajo, Will Oldham, Speed to Roam, and 2 Cuban bands playing in Cuba)


Comments:

Radiohead - What everyone else says. I like it a bunch. My favorite of theirs since OK Computer.
Doiron/Okkervil - I still don't like JD; I still love OR.
Nina Nastasia - "Superstar" is a great track.
Pernice Brothers - Not, I repeat, not liking this.
Postal Service - My exact kind of thing, and I, appropriately, like it a lot.
Prefuse 73 - Undecided on this.
Havanarama - Good songs, good energy, good idea, terrible (capital T) recording. Was I spoiled by Buena Vista? Wasn't everyone?

Heh heh, I guess I'll just have to see if I can borrow it from someone. Did you ever do a review of it? And yeah, I love Nation of Ulysses; I have a friend up at school that is the guru on everything DC and gave me a proper introduction.

In other news that I think you may appreciate, Yancey, I surfed around Trouser Press awhile ago and stumbled across your ...Trail of Dead and Spoon articles. I liked them both a lot. Also, I was thumbing through the local record store's Gs to see if they got an album I requested, but I found a ten dollar copy of Gang of Four - Entertainment! instead. Being the only copy they had, and at a great price, buying it was a knee-jerk reaction. GoF is your favorite isn't it?

Hmm...Steve, I figured that you would be all over that new Pernice Brothers album. I'm diggin' it.

Also:
Echo and the Bunnymen - "Crystal Days"
Arab Strap - "Monday at the Hug and Pint"
Brian Jonestown Massacre - "Spacegirl and Other Favorites"

In non-music news, I have started to really hate my job. Monster.com is my next stop.

I'll keep trying to listen to it. Not terrible, just below average for the Pernices.


I'm going to be in Chicago next week Monday thru Thursday. Any good shows happening? Tractor Kings on Monday is pretty much the only thing on my radar. Let me know if you want to go.

Glad to see you know NoU. Next DC bands you have to hear, if you haven't already: Kerosene 454, Pitchblende, Jawbox and Vehicle Birth (VB's one record is among my fave discs of all time).

Yeah, I've done a lot of stuff for TP (Ira's one of my best friends), but nothing in a while. I like my Spoon piece, but ToD, though. And yeah, that Gang of Four album is my favorite single record of all time. No question.

Pearl Jam Live Bootleg- Buffalo 05/02/03
Pearl Jam Live Bootleg- Pittsburgh 04/26/03
Pearl Jam Live Bootleg-Cleveland 04/25/03

I am going to see Pearl Jam in Cincy and Indy and 2 Detroit shows in the next week or so.

Mogwai - Happy Songs for Happy People
Swans - Swans Are Dead
uZiq - Bilious Paths
Glifted - Glifted
Nurse With Wound - Salt Marie Celeste
Johnny Cash - American IV: The Man Comes Around

No comments yet, just purchased them and listening for the first time while at work.

Gdrlv-- surprised you like the MCHonky so much. I love the first four tracks, but don't know what to think about most of the rest of it. I found it.... odd for E. "Three turntables and four microphones" is just.... weird!

For me, it's

Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
Ed Harcourt - From Every Sphere
Iron and Wine - Creek Drank the Cradle
Eels - Shootenanny!
MC Honky - I Am the Messiah

Radiohead - I liked this one from the start, but there's such different terrain throughout that I'm having to listen to it again and again to get it. I like that.

Ed Harcourt - this guy is a twisted Ben Folds decorated with much more than piano music. A friend of mine made a mixtape of his favorites from this guy's two cds, and I immediately went out and bought them. He's one of those I liked right off without having to adjust to a new sound.

Iron and Wine - Nice low-fi from Sam Beam; beautiful, simple melodies reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel. Not good to listen to when you're sleepy, though!

Eels - I really like this CD, so far more than Souljacker and Beautiful Freak, but less than Daisies of the Galaxies and way, way less than Electro-Shock Blues. It's less dark than some of the other stuff, but I don't think they can leave their caustic nature behind completely.

MC Honky - As I said above, I'm not sure I understand what E's intention was with this project. Most of the techno songs are irritating (even more so that normal techno), and even the funniest songs on it are not THAT funny. I really hate the song about the crazy girlfriend trying to get off Zoloft. But strangely enough, I can't stop listening to it.

Hey, fill us in on the new Mogwai when you've had a chance to listen to it. I thought about buying it, but there's so much other stuff to buy!

Big Audio Dynamite - F-Punk

I don't know why this CD was trashed so bad. I guess it is because the music is not really dance and not really rock. Some of the tracks are pretty catchy though.

I guess I'll be the first in this thread to declare their utter boredom for the Radiohead record. I like the new Jewel more.

I don't think Shootenanny's as good as Beautiful Freak...I do like it more than Souljacker though. Not sure if they'll ever make something as good as Electro-Shock Blues again, but that's alright. Very few bands ever make an album that good.

Shootenanny's got some of the best songs E's ever done. I love "Love of the Loveless," "Dirty Girls" and "Wrong About Bobby." Unfortunately, much of the disc is really conventional. It's not that it's happier than any other eels album...it's that it's a little boring. "Saturday Morning" is probably the worst offender, and "Restraining Order Blues" isn't far behind.

MC Honky is a bit weird, but it doesn't bore me. Plus, I don't mind techno/dance music. I really like what he's done on this project.

Radiohead- HTTT (tired of people saying this album is lame just for the sake of trashing radiohead, its trite and obvious. this is one of their best records)

My Morning Jacket - At Dawn (liking this a lot so far, it reminds me of a more southern rock based neutral milk hotel)

Beck- Midnite Vultures (basically a funky comedy record)

!!!- Me and Guiliani Down by the Schoolyard (pretty useless and embarassing Gang of Four soundalike)

The !!! single is great! The best thing they've done yet.

Awesome album! I love these guys...though it's weird how they are the opening act for the Foo Fighters tour, no?

That's the good thing about these threads. Most of the people in here, you can rest assured, don't say things for the fun of it. We typically state our honest opinions about music. That is why it's such a cool place to post what we've been listening to and what we think about new music. The people who have agendas are sniffed out pretty quickly. :)

I think that the Radiohead cd is good. However, for them, it was pretty mediocre. They are capable of much better, imho.

Those are my favorites from it, too. And I know what you mean about it being conventional. I just like E's style, I guess.