The Man in Blak

Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks It's one of the "classic" Dylan albums, maybe a little too "classic" for most, too easy for Dylan to retreat back into the sound and fury that defined him earlier in his career. But it's necessary for Dylan to return there, to find some foundation for one of the most emotional of his many, many albums, contemplating and demonstrating the many facets and angles of love gone wrong. Maybe it seems like Dylan can cut a timeless song like "Tangled Up In Blue" too effortlessly, but perhaps it's that sense of ease that serves as his greatest tribute.

48 hours pass for Vitamin X, so Banky is back on the clock.

That was a complete "loyalty" pick, as it's one of the few albums from my formative years that is as important to me today as it was back then (and for completely different reasons, no less). The overall impression of the Beatles among the community is completely irrelevant to me, as far as Revolver is concerned.

Okay, I've taken multiple passes on Third and I'm starting to come around on it a little bit. Track by track commentary, periodically edited into the post in REEEEAL TIME "Silence" - Idiotic foreign movie sample rides into action sequence! drums for a little bit, before introducing guitar and strings on a weird temporal figure...which they proceed to drive into the damn ground for two minutes or so. Then we break down and Beth enters, offering some self-titled-esque anti-tonal gloom before we jump back into the previous loop, weirdo vocals intact. Doesn't exactly mesh. Guitars and strings swell up to the end, then everything just abruptly ends, mid-phrase, like somebody was doing a chicken dance from Arrested Development and tripped over a critical studio cable. What an awkward way to end things. Well, anyway, this is kind of a suspicious opener, but it's interesting in spots. "Hunter" - Are they pressing straight to vinyl again? Slow, brooding pace at the start, occasionally punctuated by some overdriven guitar bending upward. Oh, then they alternate that with some synth-y arpeggios to try and bring the tempo up a little bit...because we're just dragging on here. Three minutes in, the drum sample wakes up a bit, just in time for the song to peter out. Ugh. Not bad, but it would have been right at home on the previous album. (Not exactly a compliment.) "Nylon Smile" - Nice little groove at the start, with the background kinda oscillating in and out throughout. And, for the first time thus far, we have a clear and understandable vocal line. We bridge into an exchange of guitar licks, echoing back and forth, before returning back...and then the song's over pretty quick. Seems restrained, compared to the hyper-produced tracks that preceded it, but the simplicity actually works because all of the elements mix together well. Nice contrast, not just to the album thus far, but to their usual tendencies at large. "The Rip" - Transitions from a White Chalk acoustic number into up-tempo Kraftwerk. As useless as it sounds. "Plastic" - Probably the best consolidation of the smoky trip-hop from Dummy with the horror movie soundtrack of their self-titled disc. Drum rolls phasing in and out, weird "flying bat" percussive sounds, all thundering into a grinding synthesizer halt at the end. Great track, even if it doesn't reach the same emotional climax as the other highlights in their catalogue. "We Carry On" - See Also: Clinic. Might be more shameless than the callback to Stereolab in Yo La Tengo's "The Room Got Heavy", but it works well enough. In case you haven't had a formal introduction to Beth Gibbons, enjoy the vocal over the "chorus" of voices and syncopated bass punches: "Oh can't you see / Holding on to my heart / I bleed" "Deep Water" - Far worse than "Faust Arp", but the analogy still works. Considering all of the other tracks that they've wrapped in worship of crap analog production, they leave this one, the song that wouldn't sound out of place snoring out of your old AM radio next to "Big Rock Candy Mountain", entirely clean and untreated? Whaaaaat? "Machine Gun" - Giant, industrial drum machines, rolling over any possible musical accompaniment (bass, chords, whatever, squish), leaving only Beth Gibbons to abstract upon the terrible destruction with self-reflective visions of savior and sinner, helpless alike. ("For I am guilty / for the voice that I obey") Then it turns into John Carpenter rewriting the Terminator theme song for the homestretch, like some final leap of desperation towards tonality before something cuts the cord. About as oppressive as you can get, musically, but it rides a very fine line between intrigue and outright boredom; for a lot of people, I suspect the ability to enjoy this song multiple times will be determined upon the ability to lock into that drum loop. I like it, but it's a very bold choice for the first single. "Small" - So, if today is judgment day, what is tomorrow? There's no choice to come down from something like "Machine Gun", sure, but that doesn't mean you get to just punt the whole damn thing. And yeah, the end points are nice - the quiet start provides a decent contrast to the previous track and the eventual wall of noise makes for a great ending - but the fact that it takes six minutes to go between them makes the whole trip ultimately regrettable. Fo sheez. "Magic Doors" - BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP oh hey, more cowbell. As off-putting as the carnival accompaniment may be, the song still holds a solid pulse, driving the song forward beneath the musings of Sad Beth until somebody decides that pounding out power chords on a piano might elicit an emotional response. Which is a nice thought, except that it seems like, rather than enjoying the conversation, Portishead is stepping outside for a smoke. And then, after reluctantly coming back in, they make up some bizarre excuse to leave again, like "dude, it sounds like an axe murderer is chasing after the saxophonist with a trumpet." It's just too much of a departure. "Threads" - Very reminiscent of the previous album. Slow, methodical exploration crests into fuzzy guitar, then back again (and again and again and again). Not bad, but not great either, and it seems a little anti-climactic when positioned as the final track in the album. Also, presented without comment, an excerpt from the Pitchfork review of the album:

The OP in the thread mentioned that it was "arguably" the first survival horror game, which is like saying that Zelda was arguably the first RPG, personally. Splatterhouse has always been something of a curiosity for me. The gameplay isn't exactly arresting, but it still manages to capture your attention with the other stuff, character design, setting, gore, etc. I'm very curious to see how it does in an action realm that already seems saturated with the same kind of stuff from God of War, Devil May Cry, etc.

The Beatles - Abbey Road Writeup later, but I feel fortunate just to have this come back to me, after watching it prompt the ridiculous discussion from earlier in the thread. Blabby motherfuckers, all of you.

Taking my first listen through it now and, just like the self-titled, it's kind of a drag. Maybe it's just me, but Portishead seemed a lot more palatable when every single song wasn't structured as a big ol' cathedral dirge for Beth Gibbons' misery to reverberate around in. There was a time when these guys were actually dance-able or even head-bob-able, at the very least. Now, their best song with some semblance of a beat ("Machine Gun") is probably destined to serve as soundtrack for one of those over-directed lab analysis scenes in CSI: Miami. I don't want to render complete judgment and say that I don't like it because, at times, I do. But, on my way through the first pass, it just doesn't come together quite as well as Dummy and, given the tone of the last record, that unfortunately seems to be Portishead's ultimate intent.

Yeah, I edited that into my post right before you dropped in, apparently. Obviously, the trade was abysmal, but you might also keep in mind that Huntington didn't make the trade in the first place.

Actually, it can be the most efficient solution to a bad situation, provided you operate under the premise that Matt Morris is completely done as a major league pitcher, which certainly seems like a well-founded position, considering his recent history in Pittsburgh and the fact that opponents have already dropped 30+ runs on him in his five starts this season. Sunk cost is the operative term here, and if you think that you're not going to get any positive return for the whole season from Morris, then it makes perfect sense to cut your losses and try to see what you can get from your young arms in the minors, like JVB or Sean Burnett; even if Morris's younger replacement isn't better, you gain value by adding more data to your assessment of JVM/Burnett, as well as aiding their development with additional experience in the majors. The Morris contract itself was a terrible idea, don't get me wrong, but taking the club to task for not continuing to take on water for that mistake is a little unfair, isn't it? Comments like these are easy to dish out as snark, but have much greater consequences in the actual working world. Considering the various and sundry grievances that players had against Dave Littlefield and the previous administration, Huntington already has an uphill battle to re-establish positive working relationships with players and potential free agents - dancin' like Soulja Boy after turfing a classy guy like Morris doesn't really help the situation.

Okay, 24 more, so now it's Cowboy Numbers who's up.

24 hours have come and gone, so The Coat Is My Father is on the clock. The Sperm can pick at any time.

I'm very curious to see how his reviews progress into the future, now that he's a contributing editor for a major gaming magazine (PC Gamer). He's been able to proceed with scathing (and startlingly accurate) commentary in Zero Punctuation because he hasn't had to worry about maintaining any professional relationships with game studios...he hasn't had to worry about any repercussions from pissing anybody off before now.

Incidentally, I think we've gone past 24 hours for RHR's turn, so Ravenbomb is up.

I know, I know, it seems silly and annoying, but I really think it's ultimately necessary, especially with a large community that has a number of notable posters airing concerns surrounding possible management bias. Writing up formal rules will save you a lot of time and frustration down the line by circumventing any claims of selective enforcement.

It was a really long sentence, so I was looking for a way to shave it down a little bit. I've used it before, so I didn't really have to go dig for it or anything.

I thought he was asking about the little pop-up over part of my post, since he asked about "that tag", so I posted the code that showed how I did it.

[acronym=(exception: the peerless "Gold", replete with ominous, tonality-bending strings and horns)]even beyond RZA's dystopian street dirge[/acronym] You can pick it up off of the BB Code Help button on the post form; it's in the lower right corner, above the "Manage Current Attachments" drop-down.

Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords While Aquemini seemed content to sidestep hip-hop's obsession with thuggery, Liquid Swords willingly contemplates the violent obligations of the culture, offering a sinister refinement of the Wu-Tang aesthetic that (thankfully) presents itself without requiring eight minutes per track so that everybody in the Clan can take a turn. Of course, that's not to say that there aren't highlights for other members here; RZA leaves the console to carve up "4th Chamber" with Ghostface, while Method Man steps in with a timely dose of irreverence for "Shadowboxin'." But it's GZA's mature lyricism that stands at the forefront, even beyond RZA's dystopian street dirge, casually dispensing verse after memorable verse on every single track to create (for once) a rap album that's strong from start to finish. "I'm on a mission that niggaz say is impossible / but when I swing my sword, they all choppable", indeed.

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless Write-up forthcoming, as soon as I can figure out something more creative to say than "OMG GUITARS".

That Yeasayer album is really, really, really busy. Reverbed bongos, quadruple-tracked vocals, and synth-sitars flying everywhere like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. "Sunrise" has a nice pulse to it, but the rest of the album is too much of a sonic mishmash for me, personally. (And it came out last year too, didn't it?)

Yep, it was your turn. Cowboy 13012 is on the clock.

24 hours have passed for Steviekick's selection, so I guess this means that the Sperm is up.

1. What have we done that you like? I don't go in there, so this is nothing but perception, but I think the increased moderator contributions in the WWE folder is a step in the right direction. Moderators can really help out the board in three ways; creating discussion, controlling discussion, and adding to discussion where needed. In the past, I think there was a very strong emphasis on the control aspect of that value - the fact that the new guys were initially considered the "janitorial staff" speaks to that, in my opinion - but you can improve discussion in ways that don't involve yelling at people all of the time. The new staff appears to be more balanced in that regard. Even though I'll never use it, the name change capability is a nice tip of the cap to the community. The new stance on PBPs and banning in general (i.e. The Gulag) is very welcome. 2. What have we done that you wish we hadn't? The Taigastar incident wasn't anybody's finest moment here, but I think it's commendable that the administration actually apologized. I can't say I would have expected an apology from Mole or Dames there, frankly. It's been winding down over the last few days, but there still seems to be some confusion around the changes and, to point out a specific example, the ying-yanging of moderator status among certain folks isn't helping matters. A formal revision of the board rules and perhaps even a formal re-declaration of the new folks in charge (and what, exactly, their new responsibilities entail) could be very helpful in resolving some of the confusion here. 3. Is there anything you'd like us to do? I've mentioned this elsewhere, but I think it would be very beneficial to all parties involved if you offered some clear guidelines surrounding the new approach towards banning/suspending, specifically the Gulag. As previously mentioned, a rewrite of the forum rules could go a long way here. Good ideas aren't enough by themselves; you need to keep people informed and aware for them to be able to buy in. 4. Would you invite people here to expand the community? Not for the first few months, no; there's still a lot of administrative shakeout yet to be done, even beyond all of the "controversies" that have come up, and that kind of environment doesn't lend itself well to new membership. Down the line, though, I think the community could certainly be in the position to re-open the doors, so to speak. 5. Are you optimistic that we're not going to be fucking terrible at this? Cautious optimism. Many of the new people in charge have added a lot of value to discussions in the past, but I'm not sure that necessarily translates into Tremendous Leadership Potential; Kobayashi can eat a hot dog better than almost anybody else on the planet, but that doesn't mean I want him cooking hot dogs for me when dinner time comes around. If you can find the right way to balance the "fun" contributions that you've made in the past with new responsibilities, then I think the community may actually have a bright future ahead of it. There is a renewed interest in actually improving stuff, which is always a plus. And, having "worked" with Danny and Josh in the past, I can say that you have people that actually know what they're doing when it comes to board stuff. But, given that I've previously ran three communities into the ground, I think I'm fully qualified in saying that dealing with the loud minority on issues can get tiresome and, if you don't compartmentalize the "fun" part with the "administrative" part appropriately, it will take the fun out of everything for you. It can be very easy to let this completely thankless job feel like an obligation, like you have to post topics or respond to feedback, etc. And you've got to be careful when it comes to joking around with administrative changes too. Making everybody into a "moderator" was a cute little meta-contextual smirk, but I think you've already seen what can happen if people don't get the joke. Cheech's comment from earlier (which was also followed by an apology - well done) falls under this category as well. The major hurdle that the administration needs to clear, at this point, seems to be a perception of clique-driven bias. I'm not sure that the concerns around this are entirely fair - do you really expect the staff not to be friends and/or communicate with each other? - but it is out there. If you guys can balance responsibility with that quirky meta-contextual bullshit that we all know and love, I think you can get past that and start taking the community in The Right Direction.

I think we're on RHR's second turn (as he already has one bypassed turn sitting out there from the last round).