Briefly review something you heard recently (or are listening to now)

Talking Heads - Naked. I'm going to try to give this more listens to see if it sinks in more. As it stands, I do at least like it better than I thought it would given the reviews/general fan reaction... But for the most part I like the "vibe" more than the actual songs: This is maybe their most "organic" sounding album since the debut (that is, it sounds like musicians playing in the same room without much in the way of obvious overdubs or studio effects) and the Latin influences they've added are pretty interesting. I also like that they kind of divide the two sides mood-wise in a way that reminds me of Remain In Light: Side A is the dancier, more frenetic one, Side B is the slower, somewhat darker/more experimental one. However, a lot of the time I find the melodies either grating or nonexistent (though "Mr. Jones" and "(Nothing But) Flowers" are obvious exceptions). I'd also call the closing track "Cool Water" a highlight for it's eerie quality - I'd sort of call it the "Overload" of this album, although I also think there's a certain "spaghetti western" feel to it.

The B-52s - Self-Titled and Wild Planet. I got a cheap box set of all the albums up to Cosmic Thing, so I'll be gradually listening through ^note  This does not include the Mesopotamia EP, but I do have that on vinyl, so maybe I'll listen to that before Whammy! anyway. The self-titled album is still great, and it's probably what I'd play for someone who didn't know anything other than "Love Shack". Wild Planet I actually hadn't heard before - It's very much the same campy New Wave Post-Punk surf beast as the first album, but that's a good thing since there's no real drop-off in quality.

edited 24th Apr '14 7:55:05 PM by MikeK

The Velvet Underground - White Light / White Heat: The title track always makes me think that this is the time I will begin to love this album, that track is great. Then The Gift begins and I can hardly hear the story over the guitars. The middle 3 tracks all kind of blend together for me and are nothing exceptional, and then it's time for Sister Ray. I spent the last 10 minutes tuning it out because I just wanted it to end already. Overall, probably a 3/10 for me.

M.I.A. - Matangi / I was really impressed with this one when it came out, having never heard any M.I.A. record before (not in its entirety at least), I thought it was really creative, I loved the lyrics and the general "I do what the f**k I want" kind of attitude that oozed from everything, and the political overtones of a lot of the songs I thought was really welcome in a modern pop landscape that couldn't be more utterly devoid of any politics.

So I hadn't listened to it in a while (since january probably) and wanted to see how it held up, and I still think it's fantastic. The crazy produced, dance-like-a-maniac type of tracks bordering on noise, with everything wrapped in a thick layer of fun and witty lyrics. I'm not in the mood for that type of thing all the time but when I'm in the mood for it it just feels perfect.

Just one thing about "The Gift", it was mixed with the kind of equipment a music-listener in the late '60s would likely have in mind, a turntable hooked up to a stereo setup. The story and music are entirely hard panned into either the left channel or the right (I'm forgetting which is in which at the moment), and the idea was that if you wanted to hear the story, you'd listen entirely only to that speaker/channel, whereas if you just wanted to zone out to the music, you'd listen to that speaker/channel. It's a kind of clever idea, but it's one that doesn't really hold up to a modern music-listener. If you want to hear the story without the music distracting you, try doing that, just listening to the one channel rather than the entire track as one. I highly encourage it, even.

(I should note, "The Gift" is among my absolute favorite Velvet Underground tracks.)

I feel you on "Sister Ray", though—as interesting as it is, it doesn't quite bear repeated listens (or, at least, drug-free repeated listens). Again, interesting in concept, but not quite something that you wanna hear again. It's outright a one-take experiment, and that's all it really set out to be.

I'm rather fond of the album myself, though I don't feel as though it's one of their best efforts. And as much as I do enjoy the title track, I'd say it's hardly one of their stronger songs. Being completely honest, I'm one of those weird people that enjoys both The Velvet Underground and Nico and Loaded about equally, with both of them being my favorite VU albums for the sheer amount of great music each of them contain. Even despite Loaded's executive-enforced more commercial bent, it manages to prove just how great of a songcrafter Lou Reed really is—he's entirely capable of crafting both the out-there experimentation for which he's known and pop perfection as well (though he had proven this on the band's rougher releases as well—"Sunday Morning" might be the prime gem in the band's oeuvre, alongside "Who Loves the Sun").

edited 28th Apr '14 12:52:10 AM by Odd1

Well, I like "Sister Ray". Because of its importance in terms of Noise Rock and its primal rock spirit (in terms of sheer agressiveness of the sound).

edited 28th Apr '14 9:06:24 AM by Quag15

I don't doubt its importance, and i don't mind aggressive, in-your-face music like that, but "Sister Ray" tests my patience a bit. I get the gist of it, I feel, and I've also read enough about it and listened to it enough that I don't really feel the need to listen to it further. I think part of it might be its length—there's only so much of something I can listen to something that generally doesn't change much before it fatigues me. I can listen to, say "In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida" just fine, and I love "The Most Unwanted Song" (23 minutes of amazing incoherence, yo!) but "Sister Ray" I can't quite handle so well.

I think Loaded might actually be my favorite Velvet Underground album. Who Loves the Sun and Head Held High are both insanely catchy, and then bits and pieces of the other songs occasionally float through my mind.

Robert J. - Boys Town. Completely impulsive thrift store record purchase - I'd never heard of him, but the cover looked interesting, and when looking at the liner notes it turned out to feature Butch Vig as both a Record Producer and drummer. From that, I was expecting something at least vaguely Alternative Rock-leaning ^note This was 1986, so definitely pre-Nevermind, but even at the time he was producing bands like Crucifucks and Killdozer - if you haven't heard those groups, they sound pretty much exactly like what you were imagining from their names, which is not at all what I got. Instead it's kind of typical late 80's singer-songwriter stuff, with Bruce Springsteen being the most obvious point of comparison. It's a listenable, well-crafted album, but nothing really stands out to me, and I don't know if it'll get a lot of listens from me - it's mainly going to stay in the collection as a curio I guess.

Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues Singers. I've read about him and watched a documentary for a class, but this is the first I've listened to him extensively. I have limited exposure to the blues, and sometimes it's hard for me to look past the Seinfeld Is Unfunny aspect... But Robert Johnson I find I like because there's this unique, eerie vibe to his voice and the performances. I'm glad I found it on record, because somehow having Robert Johnson playing out of my ipod or computer just wouldn't feel right.

The B-52s - Mesopotamia EP, Whammy. Mesopotamia kind of gets a bad rap, but it's actually pretty decent - the title track is the only real standout to me, but David Byrne adds just the slightest bit more "atmosphere" to their synthiest material. Whammy! got me thinking about the parallels between the B-52's and Devo - This is sort of their Oh, No! It's Devo I guess - very dated-sounding and full of their goofier side both musically and lyrically, but if you're a fan you'll probably find at least a few things to like.

The B-52s - Bouncing Off The Satellites. Probably their least consistent full-length album up to this point, but that's not surprising given it's status as a Troubled Production - guitarist Ricky Wilson died partway through the recording. The "wackier" songs generally feel kinda forced, and on the whole there's kind of a cold, lifeless feel to everything... But there are highlights: "Summer Of Love" is pretty catchy and the closest thing the album has to a "hit", and semi-ballads "Ain't It A Shame" and "She Brakes For Rainbows" are surprisingly affecting.

The B-52s - Cosmic Thing. I can definitely tell why this was the "comeback record" - aside from having two of their best-known songs ("Roam" and of course "Love Shack"), they just seem re-energized here. Ricky Wilson's distinctive guitar playing is missed a bit (though there were fewer and fewer prominent lead guitar parts in B-52's songs up to this point anyway), but Keith Strickland is a fine replacement. My favorite song is probably "Topaz". Thus ends my B-52's binge, though I feel like I may as well spotify up Good Stuff and Funplex later on, since I'm now so close to having listened to every studio album anyway.

Goddamn Draculas Don't Be Afraid (promo). A local band who recently won a battle of the bands I attended. This is not really a proper album, but a sampler they give out at shows, consisting of all three songs they've commercially released so far. These recordings do a pretty good job of capturing what makes them an energizing live act, particularly when it comes to the vocal harmonies. I'd describe their style as a mix of Glam Rock and Punk Rock. If I were doing the X Meets Y thing, I'd say maybe... Andrew WK meets Rocket From The Crypt? When I saw them, they closed their set with a slightly heavier but otherwise very faithful cover of "Fat Bottomed Girls", and that should also give you some inkling of what they're like.

Tattle Tale - Sew True. This band is probably best known for "Glass Vase Cello Case", which was prominently featured in But Im A Cheerleader, and that song is pretty representative of their overall style: really sparse arrangements centered around acoustic guitar, cello, and harmony vocals sung in Perishing Alt-Rock Voice. That's not true all the time though - there are a few more uptempo tracks that add barely audible drums to the mix, and in those songs they tend to make me think of what a Sleater-Kinney unplugged album might be like. This is not for every mood, but it's probably a keeper because at best it does have the haunting qualities that made me like "Glass Vase Cello Case".

edited 5th May '14 11:46:50 AM by MikeK

Dave Brubeck - Quiet As The Moon (the Charlie Brown soundtrack). It's an album that's quite daring at times with unusual arrangements (at least for those who only know his more popular stuff). It has good grooves and also quiet piano pieces which are great without causing mood dissonance.

Rainbow Arabia - The Basta and Kabukimono. Years ago, a friend gave me a big archive of music he thought I might find interesting - the same one that inspired my music liveblog stint. I've now decided once a week or so, I'm going to pick an artist I know nothing about from that archive, listen to an album or two, and post here about it . Today, it was Rainbow Arabia, who are on the more danceable end of Post-Punk, but are also known for incorporating "elements of Arabic, North African, and Asian musical styles", to quote the other wiki. These two EPs are kinda of a piece ^note And in fact the last 3 tracks of Kabukimono are all versions of songs from The Basta - one is a re-recording / slight rearrangement by the band themselves, the other two are remixes by other artists, but I'd say The Basta is more ominous, and Kabukimono is just the slightest bit lighter and more playful thanks to the more African-flavored tracks "Holiday In Congo" and "Harlem Sunrise". I like this band's style, and would sort of like to see this material performed live - I'd anticipate a lot of silly-looking dancing on the part of the audience.

This one is about a You Tube upload of The Velvet Underground And Nico (the pitch has been slightly raised). I think this was my first exposure to the Velvet Underground, and in some ways, I think it explains why I wasn't crazy about the album at first. In my opinion, Sunday Morning, Venus in Furs and all of Nico's songs sound better while Heroin, There She Goes Again and the Black Angel's Death Song sound mostly the same, though I'm Waiting For The Man, Run Run Run and European Son are worse. I think the major difference from the raised pitch is that Lou Reed sounds more vulnerable and Nico sounds less emotionally distant (also everything sounds faster). It's an interesting one to listen to, but I certainly prefer it at the proper pitch. However, it's good enough to get an 8/10.

For those who want to hear it, you can find it here.

Lindsey Stirling - Shatter Me. I enjoy this, but I have just the slightest, mildest form of It's the Same, So It Sucks between this and the self-titled album - the songs are just as good, but more than a few of them seem to hit the same moods as songs from her other album. Not that there's no change whatsoever: "We Are Giants" (with Dia Frampton of Meg & Dia) and the title track (with Lzzy Hale of Halestorm) are her first original songs with lead vocals ^note not counting Lindsey's own occasional wordless vocals on otherwise instrumental songs and lyrics - to me, the latter stands out more because Lzzy's dramatic vocals mesh pretty well with Lindsey's violin. And "Roundtable Rival" adds the slightest bit of metal (or at least hard rock) flavor to her already Neoclassical Punk Zydeco Rockabilly genre mix. Oh, and I appreciate that it's mixed a little differently than the debut - on the first album, the electronics could sometimes overshadow the violin, but here the violin is generally more prominent in the mix.

Ramones - Halfway To Sanity. This is one of their most panned albums, but it's really not that bad. Admittedly, at this point in their career, they sounded a bit more like slightly-more-stripped-down-than-usual 80's Hard Rock than Punk Rock, and it's not very impressive if you compare it to the first four albums. But there's nothing particularly embarrassing, and there are a few minor classics that make it worth hearing if you're already a fan ("I Wanna Live" and "Gonna Have A Real Good Time" are standouts for me). There are a few minor left-turns in style that are kind of interesting too: "Garden Of Serenity" seems like an attempt to add a slight Goth Rock mood to an otherwise typical Ramones rocker (mainly due to the guitar tone and use of Ominous Latin Chanting-esque backing vocals) - it actually works better than you'd expect, though Joey's accent kind of hilariously cuts through the mood ("In da gah-DEN of suh-ren-uh-TAY!"). Meanwhile, "Bye Bye Baby" is the "Be My Baby" homage you kind of knew they would have gotten to sooner or later, "I'm Not Jesus" could be their heaviest song, and "Worm Man" kind of sounds like early Grunge (and I'm specifically thinking of something like Mudhoney).

edited 31st May '14 12:34:58 PM by MikeK

Pesniary - Guslar (original name: Husliar / Gusliar).

Basically, it's a very popular (it was very popular, at least) Belarusian folk-rock band from the 70's/80's who made a concept album. I have no idea what it is about (since I don't understand Belarusian), but, judging from the sound, it's a carefully structured album, in a coda-like sort of way, with a general use of choirs, organ and guitar (with drumming which seems fairly traditional) and the odd electronic effect here and there. It's an interesting album, though you have to be in the right state of mind to truly appreciate it.

As a trivia note: they were probably the first Soviet band to tour the US. And they toured the South, which seems nuts.

The Bangles - Greatest Hits. It's always sort of interesting to listen to a Greatest Hits Album when the artist's best-known songs are all Black Sheep Hits - what's particularly weird is that not only do the three songs I was most familiar with not sound like the rest of their material, they also don't sound like each other: You've got a Prince-penned Suspiciously Similar Song to "1999" ("Manic Monday"), a New Wave novelty song ("Walk Like An Egyptian") and an adult contemporary ballad ("Eternal Flame"). None of which would indicate that the rest of the album is mainly guitar-based Power Pop. I got this album for all of the above songs, but I came away liking the tracks that represent their "true" sound better, and now I'm kind of interested in checking out their early albums.

Robert Plant - Now & Zen. Better than I thought it would be, but I'm still not sure how much I'll be listening to the whole thing. It seems like he was trying to do three pretty different things at once: 1) make a "contemporary" sounding (by late-80's standards) album with state of the art synthesizers, professional backing vocalists, and the then-popular gated reverb drum sound, 2) express some of his progressive and World Music influences, and 3) have just enough hard rock elements to please fans of his old band. It's less of a mess than it could have been, but some pretty good songs are ruined by very dated production. My favorite tracks are probably "Ship Of Fools" and "Tall Cool One"; ironically, despite my complaints, those are among the most "eighties" sounding songs on the album, but on those particular tracks that sound works: "Ship Of Fools" is a dramatic ballad that kind of needs that slick, grandiose sound to take off, and "Tall Cool One" is already a bit goofy and deliberately tongue-in-cheek, so the eightiesness just makes it a little more fun.

edited 14th Jun '14 11:21:41 AM by MikeK

Florenceandthe Machine - Ceremonials. I knew some of the singles, but this is the first time I've listened to a full album. I quite like the signature style, which tends to revolve around loads and loads of Self-Backing Vocalist overdubs, though I think it can get a little overwhelming over the course of a full album.

The Clash - The Story Of The Clash, Vol. 1 ^note There was never a Volume 2, though I've heard there was supposed to be one and it was going to be a compilation of live performances. What I like about this compilation is that the two discs sort of present them as two different bands: Disc 1 is entirely songs from 1979 onward and therefor mainly presents their poppier and Genre Roulette-ier side. Disc 2 is mainly pre-1979, and therefor emphasizes the Three Chords and the Truth thing.

Masked Intruder - Masked Intruder. A Pop Punk Kayfabe Band whose scthick is that their members are anonymous burglars (and/or stalkers) who conceal their identities with different colored ski masks at all times. Thus their subject matter generally sticks to 1) Obsession Songs played for humor (ex: "Why don't you love me in real life? / is it because of my mask? / Is it because I'm brandishing a knife?") and 2) armed robbery (ex: "I'll take your money on a shopping spree / first the liquor store, then QVC"). It works because they back up the gimmick with some seriously earwormy tunes, and because lead vocalist Blue is just so earnest and naive-sounding that it helps eliminate some of the uncomfortableness of playing that type of subject matter for laughs.

Dethklok - Dethalbum. I've only seen a little of the show, so I suspect some of these songs would be funnier if I heard them in that context... But the riffs are good enough that even when I don't find a song all that funny I can still headbang to it. "Dethharmonic" might be my favorite song - I love that a song so epic sounding is actually about filing tax returns. Oh, and the clean vocal bits of "Hatredcopter" (which seem to be done as affectionate parody of James Hetfield) are also really catchy.

Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me. Unlike some people, I wholeheartedly love Joanna Newsom, but I consider this her weakest album, at least to me. For one thing, it's a triple album, which makes it run into the problem that most double/triple albums have. That is, while I have nothing but the highest respect for Newsom's songwriting abilities, I can only say I totally adore, like, three songs on it, as opposed to most of the ones on The Milk Eyed Mender and all of them on Ys. The title track, "Good Intentions Paving Company", and "Soft as Chalk" are all wonderful, but the rest feels somewhat weaker.

The Free Design - Kites Are Fun. What a sweet, sweet album. It's basically the sunshine/psych pop that ended up inspiring groups like Stereolab or Pizzicato Five. The title track is a joyous affair, and their cover of "Michelle" sounds tender and smooth enough. There's also the occasional weird bit in a couple of songs that contribute to this album being distinctive on its own.

edited 15th Jul '14 12:18:09 PM by Quag15

Ooh, I've loved the title song for a while, but I haven't actually listened to the album. Been meaning to check it out for a while, though. That song's the most innocent sunshine pop song I've ever heard.

Moss, Cthonic Rites—Never thought that a doom record with endless blast beats could be so weirdly static. I might have to re-listen to see if I was simply not in the right mood or paying enough attention, but this really didn't feel like it went anywhere at all. The long stretch of silence didn't help: I was expecting forty minutes of pummel or at least eerie ambience on the second track, but After about twenty minutes... nope! The tag at the end was cool, but couldn't they have put another track in there, or maybe just hacked all that dead air off?

Panda Bear - Person Pitch. A very odd, but not unpleasant experience. I find myself very much enjoying some aspects of the first track, "Comfy In Nautica" (such as the looped sample of a choir that provides as the beat), but sometimes Panda Bear's normally very pleasant voice sounds a little bit too overwhelming. I really, really like the next track, "Take Pills", as well as the much-loved third track, "Bro's" (not as much as everyone else seems to love it, though). Panda Bear uses samples here quite often, and these work very well for it. However, he has still not outgrown his habit of throwing in random and occasionally irritating noises into his songs.

Stone Temple Pilots - Tiny Music... Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop. Part of my project of listening to one album from 1996 a day, which will be wrapping up this weekend. I've come to the conclusion that there's something about 1996 and Grunge or Post-Grunge artists putting out something a bit more "arty" or "left of center" than usual - I point to Soundgarden's Down On The Upside and Pearl Jam's No Code ^note  Although No Code was sort of just a further step in the same direction as Vitalogy as further examples.

Various - A Girl In Love Forgives. Not a proper album at all, but a mix made by someone on an online community. It's a compilation of different songs by sixties Girl Groups, but more than that, the theme is that one half is supposed to be abusive relationships, and one half is supposed to be straightforwardly "lovey-dovey" material. The first half is more interesting to me because of the sheer Unfortunate Implications of the lyrics - Nothing is quite as blatantly disturbing as The Crystals' "He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)", but there's a definite running theme that, as a girl, you're supposed to accept emotional abuse from your partner because deep down he really loves you - Though, "Stop Shoving Me Around" (Delicates) and "Tender Loving Romance" (McKinleys) at least have narrators that seem less willing to put up with it. Dodie Stevens' "Pink Shoelaces" (from the "lovey dovey" half) is notable for it's sheer earworminess, but the track that stood out the most stylistically was The McKinley's "Sweet And Tender Romance", which basically combines Girl Group style vocals with early Garage Rock music - there's even a wild guitar solo courtesy of Jimmy Page.

edited 8th Aug '14 5:04:25 PM by MikeK

Talking Heads - Remain in Light: WHERE HAS THIS ALBUM BEEN MY ENTIRE LIFE

edited 9th Aug '14 7:27:00 PM by ILoveDogs