What Are You Listening To?

[Tiggi]

As ever, I'm well behind the curve. Whilst everyone else is checking out High Violet, I've just got round to buying this 2005 release, which has been on the Buy List for 3 or 4 years. Originally recommended by Dogbreath on MD Mk 1.

A good album of classy Alt-Rock. IIRC there have been some negative comments about Matt Berninger's vocals, but I quite like them. Reminiscent of Richard Butler of The Psychedelic Furs.

Allmusic 4 / 5 stars.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

CAKE "fashion nugget" 1996. #11Aust, #36US,#53UK

debut album from this California band, still not sure if i can say i like it or not as ive got to be in the mood for its humorous lyrics about middle-class white america,maybe the humour is too 'american' for non-americans to relate to.
the music is good healthy stuff,as are the vocals, theres hints of rock,country,funk and pop here which is what i like about it.
i find the album starts off slow and hard to 'get into' but gets easier as the tracks play, which is probably my fault having to adjust to the lyrics.
theres two stand out tracks here: a cover of Gloria Gaynor's 1970s disco hit "i will survive" and the final track on the album, a country tinged number called "sad songs and waltzes",the rest i can take or leave.

I LIKE THIS ALBUM...just!

worst track: frank sinatra
best track: sad songs and waltzes

tracks:

1. frank sinatra* #92Aust
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSypnaxAlP4 video
2. the distance** #21Aust, #22UK, #38US
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKax7euEM5Q live
3. friend is a four letter word**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm70afsCO7k video
4. open book*
5. daria*
6. race car ya-ya's*
7. i will survive*** #21Aust, #29UK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvsI3jc4pPA live
8. stickshifts and safetybelts*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkgXArxRxy8 live
9. perhaps,perhaps,perhaps**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XytLtdAZcUE video
10.it's coming down**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdaFv_jMZLY audio
11.nugget**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd85uKfZVxg live
12.she'll come back to me**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6CeVF2emog video
13.italian leather sofa**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vISu3qmssRU audio
14.sad songs and waltzes***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqI7kWP3ziQ live

3s=2
2s=7
1s=5

rating 1.7

[Tiggi]

Another gap-plugging Xmas prezzie. A lot of these tracks I already have from comps, but it's good to get the whole thing.

Early REM is a wonder to behold !! This is one of those rare albums where a band sound like they're playing out of their skins. A fine album by a fine band.

Allmusic 5/5 stars.

[Music Head]

from my library (cd)



Another artist who could fit in multiple genres. When in doubt I go here. Canadian guy who has had a very long career with 29 albums. This would be around the 20th. Not his best but pretty decent. Numerous awards up in the Great White North including an induction into the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame. A couple of instrumentals on here drag it down here, along with a cover of Fats Dominos Blueberry Hill which doesn't work for me, but there are two great tracks. Special guest appearances by Margo Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) and Lucinda Williams doing some nice back up.

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

Worst Track - Deep Lake

Best Track - When You Give It Away

Slid out of my dreams like a baby out of the nurse's hands
onto the hard floor of day
I'd been wearing OJ's gloves and I couldn't get them off
It was too early but I couldn't sleep
showered, dressed, stepped out into the heat
the parrot things on the porch next door
announced my arrival on Chartres Street
with their finest rendition of squealing brakes
Down in Kaldi's caf� the newspaper headlines promised new revelations
about Prince Charles' Amex account
A morose youth in old-time Austrian drag stares past his moustache at the ground
and last night's punks and fetish kids all tattoos and metal bits
and in the other corner (wearing the white trunks)
today's tourists already sweating

Deep in the city of the saints and fools
Pearls before pigs and dung become jewels
I sit down with tigers and sit down with lambs
None of them know who exactly I am

I've got this thing in my heart
I must give it today
It only lives when you give it away

Languid mandala of the ceiling fan
teases the air like a slow stroking hand
Study the faces, study the cards
Study the shadow creeping over the yard

I've got this thing in my heart
I must give it today
It only lives when you give it away

Trouble with nations, trouble with relations
Where you gonna go for some illumination?
Too much to carry too much to let go
Time goes fast learning goes slow

I've got this thing in my heart
I must give it today
It only lives when you give it away

1) When You Give It Away - ***
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3y1FZ3gQvc
2) Mango - **
3) Last Night Of The World - ***
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc1x37VAw2k
4) Isn't That What Friends Are For - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFGO4iKh-aM
5) Down To The Delta - *
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9Uj4CTiHQI
6) Embers Of Eden - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abf6RayB77A
7) Blueberry Hill - *
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T13kTaUe_8Q
8) Let The Bad Air Out - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4xf2G6g0wM
9) Look How Far - **
10) Deep Lake - *
11) Use Me While You Can - **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TD2ft4KPno

3's - 2
2's - 6
1's - 3

Grade - 1.9

[Thraak]

Just came across this German singer-songwriter on Last.FM. He has all of his tracks up for a free download on Last FM. Nice chilled out acoustic stuff, suitable for 10pm on a lazy Sunday!

http://www.last.fm/music/Christian+Troitzsch

[Music Head]

from my library (cd)



Another of my recent x-mas purchases. Bought this one sound-unheard (as opposed to sight-unseen), as I have loved their previous albums. Can't say that about this one yet, but I think it will, given time. This is the third full length. Guess you could say the Canadian group has reached the mainstream now. Although current sales have not reached the leverl of the first two, this one has topped the charts in multiple countries and is still riding high. It has received two grammy nominations for the upcoming awards show next month. This album should age well, as multiple listens will reveal something new each time. The fullness of this bands work takes Spectors wall of sound to a new level. Love the energy in the bands live performance clips, thus the inclusion of them when available.

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

Worst Track - The Suburbs (continued)

Best Track - The Suburbs

In the suburbs I
I learned to drive
And you told me we'd never survive
Grab your mother's keys we're leavin'

You always seemed so sure
That one day we'd be fighting
A suburban war
your part of town against mine
I saw you standing on the opposite shore

But by the time the first bombs fell
We were already bored
We were already, already bored

Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm movin' past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm movin' past the feeling again

Kids wanna be so hard
But in my dreams we're still screamin' and runnin' through the yard
And all of the walls that they built in the seventies finally fall
And all of the houses they built in the seventies finally fall
Meant nothin' at all
Meant nothin' at all
It meant nothin

Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm movin' past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm movin' past the feeling and into the night

So can you understand?
Why I want a daughter while I'm still young
I wanna hold her hand
And show her some beauty
Before this damage is done

But if it's too much to ask, it's too much to ask
Then send me a son

Under the overpass
In the parking lot we're still waiting
It's already passed
So move your feet from hot pavement and into the grass
Cause it's already passed
It's already, already passed!

Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm movin' past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm movin' past the feeling again

I'm movin' past the feeling
I'm movin' past the feeling

In my dreams we're still screamin'
We're still screamin'
We're still screamin'

1) The Suburbs - ***
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtbrY6QrgPw
2) Ready To Start - ***
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pp3olGyku0
3) Modern Man - **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0DD22XDGjo
4) Rococo - **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSykB-j_2UQ&ob=av2nm
5) Empty Room - **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdYyYFymH-Y&ob=av2nm
6) City With No Children - ***
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unwL8TaG8LA
7) Half Light I - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwcdN1Iivac
8) Half Light II (No Celebration) - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tczHA3fLbkI
9) Suburban War - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNdqoQWz34E
10) Month Of May - ***
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUMyfPY1TRQ
11) Wasted Hours - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbezkxyOy2c
12) Deep Blue - *
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDIRT_NEMxo
13) We Used To Wait - **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLjrQ3cwzJ4&ob=av2nm
14) Sprawl I (Flatland) - *
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul_H67dPooY
15) Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - ***
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L6ZFhZVOx0&ob=av2nm
16) The Suburbs (continued) - *
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2nIsWM3Bs0

3's - 5
2's - 8
1's - 3

Grade - 2.1

[Tiggi]

^ I have this waiting in my "Awaiting First Play" pile.

[Music Head]

from my library (vinyl)



EGADS! YIKES! Instrumental albums out of the box for two days in a row. Now I have nothing to sing in my head all day long except for some x-mas song that is my wifes ring tone that I'll hear all day. I'm not the big Oldfield fan that some on this site are. Got that out of the way. Although the music here is pleasant enough, it's just elevator music for me. This is the follow up to the monster Tubular Bells and was over shadowed by that albums still lengthy chart success. Mike never reached the popularity in the states that he did in the isles. While the album went to the top of those charts, the best it could manage here was #87. I have included a short excerpt from each side of the lp here. For me, this would be nice to listen to if I am ever in a coma.

I DO NOT LIKE THIS ALBUM

1) side 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MObw1XScjZ4
2) side 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_L4OxiQx88

Grade - 1.0

[Tiggi]

As mentioned above by the Prof...

The wind was a bit taken out of my sails by Music Head's cautious review, but reading it again it isn't a negative summation.

The album was more of an immediate hit for me, and there's very little that didn't impress mightily.

If Arcade Fire keep this standard up, I reckon they'll be massive within 5 years...

Allmusic 4/5 stars.

[Music Head]

from my library (vinyl)



Don't think any studio album came out this well, but this compilation puts enough great ones together to reach the love mark. The songs come from the bands first four albums, but it did include one new single of Bring On The Dancing Horses which may be my all time favorite. That song reached #21 on the U.K. charts but stupid americans failed to go for it. The album, #6 there, #158 here.

I LOVE THIS ALBUM

Worst Track - Silver

Best Track - Bring On The Dancing Horses

Jimmy Brown
Made of stone
Charlie Clown
No way home
Bring on the dancing horses
Headless and all alone

Shiver and say the words
Of every lie you've heard

First I'm gonna make it
Then I'm gonna break it
Till it falls apart
Hating all the faking
And shaking while I'm breaking
Your brittle heart

Billy stands
All alone
Sinking sand
Skin and bone
Bring on the dancing horses
Wherever they may roam

Shiver and say the words
Of every lie you've heard

First I'm gonna make it
Then I'm gonna break it
Till it falls apart
Hating all the faking
And shaking while I'm breaking
Your brittle heart

Brittle heart
Brittle heart
Brittle heart
And my little heart
Goes

Jimmy Brown
Made of stone
Charlie Clown
No way home

Bring on the headless horses
Wherever they may roam
Shiver and say the words
Of every lie you've heard

First I'm gonna make it
Then I'm gonna break it
Till it falls apart
Hating all the faking
And shaking while you're breaking
My brittle heart
Brittle heart
Brittle heart
And our little heart
Goes

Bring on the new messiah
Wherever he may roam
Bring on the new messiah
Wherever he may roam
Bring on the new messiah
Wherever he may roam
Bring on the new messiah
Wherever he may roam

1) Rescue - ***
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oozHfqtSXAU
2) The Puppet - **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1mHVZ_kosY
3) Do It Clean - **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWLV0COJhns
4) A Promise - ***
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_bvO3mL0Lc
5) The Back Of Love - *
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlvVQZ9Rw3k
6) The Cutter - ***
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ7foQyNJT4
7) Never Stop - **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAP7B8ltO5M
8) The Killing Moon - ***
video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX1PwkgwsG0
9) Silver - *
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HKVeT7vulU
10) Seven Seas - ***
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBXYJoH20mo
11) Bring On The Dancing Horses - ***
video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24EmAzNpAMQ

3's - 6
2's - 3
1's - 2

Grade - 2.4