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Post by ratherdashing on Feb 25, 2011 11:08:43 GMT -5
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Post by ratherdashing on Mar 4, 2011 14:13:19 GMT -5
To the double post with the most The second group of cds I ordered that day arrived the other day. I tend to order my cds online, it saves money, and there is way better selection. When I do order online, I tend to do so in binges. One last thing, I've only just started to listen to them, so I won't have to much to say about any of them. I will say this, I'm in the process of listening to them, alphabetically by artist, and I've listened all the way through Eldorado, and I'm just almost finished Time. So far, they are all pretty great. Anyways, here they are: First row: Annie - Anniemal, Atom & his Package - Attention! Blah Blah Blah, Bird and the Bee - Please Clap Your Hands Second row: Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado, Time, Secret Messages Third row: Frank Black - Frank Black, Go! Team - Thunder Lightning Strike, Husker Du - Warehouse: Songs & Stories Fourth Row: Pixies - Doolittle, Robert Pollard - From a Compound Eye, Robyn Hithcock & the Egyptians - Fegmania!
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Post by Captain Hygiene on Mar 4, 2011 14:47:24 GMT -5
Their two best albums IMO, Eldorado being in my top few of all time. Not a fan of Secret Messages though. Fun fact: these are the only albums in both posts that I've heard.
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Post by ratherdashing on Mar 4, 2011 16:43:15 GMT -5
I already had New World Record and Out of the Blue, and was reasonably familiar with them. I love those two albums. Asides from a song here and a song there, I wasnt familiar with any other actual albums by ELO. These three impressed me quite a bit.
You shoould check out some of the other stuff I posted. I don't know what you're into, so I wouldn't know what to tell you to check out first. Check out Atom & his Package last.
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Post by Captain Hygiene on Mar 31, 2011 13:10:16 GMT -5
The Shaggs' Philosophy of the WorldOne of my most interesting finds thanks to Pandora radio, the library oddly had this album available (so I didn't technically buy it, but this is the best place for it so whatever). In an odd 1960s parallel to Rebecca Black, this was a sort of album-length vanity project funded by a father for his four daughters, with (I believe) much of the instrumentation recorded by them as well. What's interesting about this album is just how freaking terrible it is. From the very start, it sounds like the vocal track was miscued something like half a beat off of everything else. It only goes downhill from there. The singing is flat and tentative, the guitars are very noticeably out of tune, and the instruments sort of wind in and out of sync with one another with an amazing display of recorded marginal (at best) competence. It's entirely fascinating, and completely aggravating to hear. Apparently, the album is now regarded in some circles as being some sort of astonishing display of innocence, or some type of outsider art as an early indie commentary on the conventional music scene. No: listening to the album, it's just poorly-written songs, poorly performed by people who don't have any real skills. If not for the Flaming Lips' cover of Dark Side of the Moon, it would be the most astonishingly bad album I've heard this year.
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Post by Blue Raja on Apr 9, 2011 14:30:39 GMT -5
Keane - "Perfect Symmetry" (2008)Not sure why so many Keane fans (the vocal ones who post online, anyway) seemed to reject this album, but I enjoyed the heck out of this one. I've got no problem with a band trying new (for them) sounds, just as long as they do that new sound well, and retain SOMETHING to let you know that the old band is still existing. Both of which I feel they succeeded admirably at. And maybe it's because I'm a sucker for well-written/performed 80's-ish pop stuff, but enjoyment is enjoyment, and that's what happened here. Not every song is perfect or anything, but the majority of them are very enjoyable. So this is one album I recommend to those who like their music fun and slick, with a little heart thrown in. Favorite songs: Spiralling The Lovers Are Losing Better Than This You Don't See Me Again and Again Black Burning Heart Love Is The End Youtube: I'd give it a solid 4 out of 5 stars, pretty much because I recommend about 80% of the songs here, which is pretty darn good. ****************** Pendragon - "Passion" (2011)My first 2011 album purchase. It seems that Mr. Nick Barrett, the vocalist/guitarist/songwriter of the group, has officially embraced heavy rock/non-screaming metal as his preferred performing style now. Before, there would be sprinkles of it here or there, but mostly smooth, bright melody-focused symphonic rock with a British flair was to be found and expected. While Keane changed their sound to something equally as agreeable to me as their past material, I'm not so sure I'm enjoying the direction Pendragon is taking. Heavy metal, by its very nature, only leaves so much room for fun/memorable melodies. I'm just a bit underwhelmed in instances where double bass drum flourishes and repetitive power chords make up significant chunks of the music. They have their place, don't get me wrong - but the overuse of this plus the significantly somber mood that pervades every single song didn't make for a very enjoyable overall experience for me. Thankfully there are a couple of songs here that blend the best of both new and old worlds and save the album from total disappointment for me. I don't think it's a coincidence that these same songs are the only ones in which you actually NOTICE the very talented keyboardist Clive Nolan exists. Favorite songs: This Green And Pleasant Land Skara Brae Your Black Heart Youtube: I give this one 2.5 out of 5 stars, rounded up from 2 stars for musicianship and willingness to try different sounds regardless of what some snobby MSTie thinks.
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Post by davidbeegah on May 4, 2011 19:26:30 GMT -5
Since I just turned 50 not that long ago, I remember albums or LP's from back in the day. So I was looking around some used record websites the other day and decided to search for "Soundtrack" and look what I found... I must say I did not purchase this since $24.99 is a bit steep. Maybe someday but not today
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Post by Skyroniter on Aug 3, 2011 20:09:18 GMT -5
www.mergerecords.com/store/store_detail.php?catalog_id=802Superchunk remaster package. These are available via Amazon for just $5 per mp3 download. I chose the cd route directly from Merge Record's site. It cost more but includes a download of a Clambakes album and some demo tracks. Plus I like to support my all-time favorite band. I've checked out two of the remasters so far. Listened first to most of No Pocky for Kitty. Crystal clear guitar (courtesy new guitarist, Jim)with amps turned up to 11, supported by chugging bass and steady drums. All driven by Mac's distinct yelp. Three cord pop punk that never falters or sounded so good. Great stuff. Next up was On the Mouth. The band benefited by changing drummers. More powerful, more tight, amazing discordant guitar driven punk pop. The vocals are a bit more tuneful, sounds like Mac has took a few vocal lessons. Reminds me of Sonic Youth (another band I like) at twice the speed and minus the noodling breaks. Another great release. The band's lineup hasn't changed since. The remasters really clean the sound up from the original releases. I'm really happy with these and have preordered the next remaster, Foolish.
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Post by Father Mannix on Aug 6, 2011 10:24:39 GMT -5
I've been eyeing those remasters myself. It's good to hear that they're worth it.
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Post by ratherdashing on Aug 22, 2011 15:59:58 GMT -5
- Archers of Loaf: Icky Mettle - Avalanches: Since I Left You - Electric Light Orchestra: Discovery - Jenny Owen Youngs - Transmitter Failure - Oh Land: Oh Land - Shugo Tokumaru: Port Entropy - They Might Be Giants: Join Us - Yelle: Pop Up & Safari Disco Club * Archers of Loaf - Icky Mettle: I had this album on my computer for a long time now, and asides from Web in Front, I was never able to get into it. I have Vee Vee, liked it enough, but I still had trouble getting into it. However, after spending the last year listening to more Replacements and Paul Westerberg than anything else combined, it was a lot easier to get into this time around. And to my surprise, it came with a bonus disc comprised of bsides and stuff, woo. Web in Front is one of the best songs ever. * Avalanches - Since I Left You: Just a solid and fun album through and through. One of the main guys in this band is married to Sally Seltmann, aka New Buffalo, which makes me very jealous. * Electric Light Orchestra - Discovery: I love Electric Light Orchestra, I really do. I hadn’t heard any of the songs on this album asides from Don’t Bring Me Down. I was talking to one of my friend’s dad a month or two ago, and he was saying he made a really bad music video to that song, when he was in high school. I don’t know much of anybody my age who is also an ELO fan. To be fair, I really only know about them, because Ozma listed them as an influence on their myspace back in the day. * Jenny Owen Youngs: I found her through Jukebox the Ghost, they released a 7-inch together. I was really impressed with her contribution to that, which led me to getting this. With this album, she has continued to impress me. Sort of an Folksy, indie-alternative sound to her music. sigh, those were three very non-descriptive adjectives I used for her sound. Moving on... * Oh Land - Oh Land: Some indie dance pop gal from Denmark. Over the last year or so, I seem to have found a decent amount of Scandinavian bands that I like. Anyways, it’s a fun well made album, and she is ridiculously attractive. I seem have an affinity for Scandinavia, in general. * Shugo Tokumaru - Port Entropy: I’ve been putting off getting this album for awhile, and that was a mistake. I love Shugo Tokumaru, his last album, Exit, was great. Sadly, at only 35 minutes long, I would run through it pretty fast. This one is on par with Exit, but I need a few more listens. I had started to forget how much I enjoyed Shugo Tokumaru, but thankfully this album has reminded me. * They Might Be Giants - Join Us: It’s a wonderful album, I’m really enjoying it. It fits in with the They Might Be Giants of about 20 years ago. A fair departure from the Else, I would say. Not that TMBG ever stay the same for too long. More songs, shorter songs, than the Else, which were fewer and longer. * Yelle - Pop-Up: The singer from Yelle has been my celebrity crush as of late, pretty much since I saw my first Yelle video that wasn’t by Nathan Barnatt. Yelle is an electronic synthdancepop band from France. The album opens with Ce Jeu, which is my favorite song on either of their albums. I’ve been all about this band since I found them, but part of me is wondering if this is merely a fad of mine. Also, I’m surprised with both how much I like them, and that she’s been my celebrity crush. You would think that after being in french immersion for k-12, that my resentment for french things would prevent this. Maybe it would, if they were from Quebec. * Yelle - Safari Disco Club: Not much to say that I haven't with the first one. Que Veux-tu is my favorite off of this album. I would say that this album is more balanced and better overall, but I haven't listened to Pop Up very much yet, so it is hard to say.
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Post by pablo on Sept 1, 2011 21:02:14 GMT -5
I've been wanting to listen to my Notorious Byrd Brothers cd, but I can't find it, so, I pulled out my Fifth Dimension cd which has made me realize how much I like these early Byrds. So, I'm in B&N tonight and I say to myself, let's see what Byrds they have. They had both these-'Younger....' and 'Mr. T....' , both for only $4.99 apiece, for a grand total of $10 and change.
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Post by TheNewMads on Sept 3, 2011 6:40:31 GMT -5
therisingstorm.net/poe-up-through-the-spiral/funny how the cover art is so evocative of a hybrid between 007 and austin powers. this edgar cayce guy had a sorta flaky visionary thing going on, so i suppose such prescience is no surprise. Anyway this is sorta a Strawberry-Alarm-Clock-meets-Cream early 70s Texas psych band, that had recently changed their name from "Playboys of Edinburgh." I got it based solely on the great tune "Automatic Writing," but the whole thing is pretty great until it loses itself in folk acoustic stuff, I didn't quite get through it last night. it must have originally been a double LP because it's about an hour long. If you don't dig this song, you have no soul. though the drummer is a bit sloppy with the open high hat and slips it out of the pocket a couple of times in the verses.
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Post by TheNewMads on Sept 3, 2011 6:45:43 GMT -5
The Flaming Lips, Stardeath, and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches doing The Dark Side of the MoonRarely have I listened to an album that has literally made me gouge out my own eardrums with a screwdriver. My only regret is that I'll no longer be able to hear good music, although that may not be a problem for long as listening to this album has also removed my will to live. I should have known what was going on when I saw the pretentious title, but I thought surely the Flaming Lips couldn't completely ruin a classic album. I was wrong. This album is not merely an affront to good music, it's an affront to human decency. Almost any vestiges of subtlety or restraint in the original Pink Floyd version are gone, and any that remain seem to have been left in by mistake. I wish Roger Waters and David Gilmour would reunite, so they could kick Wayne Coyne in the crotch...together. This album contains every single thing that I dislike about the Flaming Lips, without containing any of the things that I do like. The very few listenable moments are apparently there to taunt me. The instrumental opening to "Great Gig in the Sky" was actually pretty good, before the vocals started, possibly the worst part of the entire album. The rest of that song is kind of hazy for me, as I drove my car into oncoming traffic at that point. "Us and Them" isn't too bad, because the drum machine was apparently not working that day, and they must have run out of ideas to use except for "agressively bland." "Any Colour You Like" was probably the best point of the album, but that's like saying that the best part of my horrific car accident was that I only lost three limbs. In summary, this album is like a parody of good music. My hatred for it is palpable and has become a living thing. I'm considering investing my life's savings into buying up more copies to incinerate. Please don't listen to it. but other than that it was OK, right? i have no interest in listening to this, though the savagery of your hatred for it was fun to read, but i've just got to say... that's got to be the most hideous album cover i've ever set eyes on. it's not even funny enough to rate as a "worst album cover," it just makes me wish i was looking at a dog's anus instead of it.
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Post by Father Mannix on Sept 3, 2011 8:29:38 GMT -5
A few reviews I had read mentioned that this was the most Pavement-like record Malkmus had done since his first solo album. That would make sense, since he's just coming off of the Pavement reunion tour, but other than a few bits and pieces, I didn't really notice it as much as the reviewers. That's fine by me, since I've been enjoying his solo output just fine. I've only had a few chances to listen to this record so far, but I am really enjoying it. Less fuzzed-out than his last record, but there are still those almost psychedelic touches on many of the songs. So far, No One Is (As I Are Be), Spazz, and Forever 28 stand out as favorites.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Sept 15, 2011 4:33:39 GMT -5
Just bought and downloaded Alice Cooper's new album "Welcome 2 my Nightmare" (a sequel) - I like what I'm hearing so far. It's like an old reuinion. 3 of his old bandmates play and write on 3 songs, Bob Ezrins back. Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner from the original Nightmare play (and Dick writes) on the release.
BUT - Coop needs to get back together with the old crew - tour, record and write with them and Ezrin full time. They still sound great.
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