Comments which don't warrant a thread.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

I was standing about five feet away from him during the entire show. I think the only time he ever opened his eyes was when he changed instruments. He was Feeling It.

[snuffbox 0]

I was lucky to be in the front row of folks when I saw them as well (it was a sidestage at the Sasquatch fest) though probably a little bit more than 5 feet away. He seems like the type of performer that wouldn't feel like it was a good show unless he was dripping sweat like a summertime farmhand.

[CBright7831 0]

This disturbed and upset me so much, I had to share it with you all:

 

http://ebaumsworld.com/2007/01/bjork-stalker.html

 

Damn.

[Mik 0]

I just head a song on an iTunes commercial that I totally loved and found the band. I like all of their songs so far...

 

They are called The Fratellis. Not really here in the States yet, but apparently out in the UK.

 

Check/avoid based on your tastes relations to mine.

[snuffbox 0]

Sadly, Pearl Jam wont be at Bonnaroo after all.

[Murmuring Beast 0]

Fratellis are shit.

[Mik 0]

What's the opinion on them, in general, over there?

 

I see they are headlining the NME summer tour this year.

 

I love the CD and the two other songs on the EP.

[JN News 0]

Pardon me if this was already posted before, but has anyone heard how or why Disco D died, this year?

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

Suicide.

[cbacon 0]

New Arcade Fire leaked today. Upon first listen, I don't think it's as good as Funeral, but it's still an amazing album. The new version of No Cars Go is fucking epic.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

A NEW VERSION OF "NO CARS GO"? I'm there. And even more epic than the s/t version? I love the yelling at the end, with those resolving sus4 chords. To Soulseek!

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

I'm listening to the newest Of Montreal album, Hissing Fauna, are You the Destryoer?. Every other year or so, I try getting into these guys, hoping it'll finally click. It isn't this time, but this one song on here, "The Past is a Grotesque Animal"—a mammoth motorik of despair—is spine-tingling. That it sounds absolutely like nothing else they've ever done doesn't necessarily mean it's also the best, but it helps. Outstanding song. In a few months, I might go see them just to hear it played live.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

Two songs later, and the Prince-copping "Faberge Falls for Shuggie" makes me recant my intention to see them live.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

 

Dude's got a real Springsteen thing going on in the first track. Is this a sign of Killers to come?

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

Inc, can you make Neon Bible available for me, please?

 

I never understood the hype for Of Montreal. They're just kinda there to me.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

Yeah, I can get it for you. Turns out the track list on mine is messed up; what I thought was the first song is actually the fourth.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

I never properly thanked you for And I Feel Fine. Really helped me get what was so good about 1980s R.E.M., so thanks for that.

[Mik 0]

Where are you guys finding the new Arcade Fire? It's not on the torrent sites I normally use.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

As for Of Montreal, they have enough songs I like to make me wish I actually liked more of the band itself. They're too slight and just so gosh golly whimsical most of the time.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

I'm upping Neon Bible to sendspace right now. As for not finding it on torrents, it's a rather poor 160k rip, culled from different sources—track five sounds like it's wrapped in gauze—so it's probably too shoddy for most sites's standards.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

notes i took. stream of consciousness

 

"Black Mirror" - Kind of dull and leaden, and the drumming is just as monotonous and bad as it was on Funeral. At least there are some moments of dynamic contrast, but this isn't as ornate and baroque as I'd expect from them. This is just dull and plodding. By and large, I don't like it as an opening track in the least, and don't care for it as an Arcade Fire song.

 

"Keep The Car Running" - There, that sounds much better, right from the intro. Of course, that's not saying much, because it's still kind of uncompelling. Win Butler isn't enunciating well, and seems buried in the mix to boot. Welp. There's the sustained wailing I expect from Win & Regine around the 2-minute mark. I don't feel like this is going anywhere. It's not building up to a climax. There's no increased layering of instruments. It just goes. Average again.

 

"Neon Bible" - This reminds me of "Une Annee Sans Lumiere" a little bit. Pleasant short little interlude after the first two duds, but it was inconsequential.

 

"Intervention" - There! Finally! Church organ, glockenspiel, string section, some rich instrumentation. It makes me want to pump my fist. The lyrics are at last clear, and this sounds like what I had expected from this all along. Still, there's some sort of intangible missing. Awesome cathartic feel around 3.25 or so, and it makes me think of "Neighborhood 1" a little. I really liked this, but I had to slog through some mud to get it.

 

"Black Waves/Bad Vibrations" - Crap. Regine lead track. Strange complaint to have when she's singing, but she doesn't sound like she mixed too well, but Inc warned me about this track's sound quality. I actually like the song, it's fairly memorable, but still a little meandering. Nice break. There's Win. Now it sounds muddy again. Vocalizations in the background are haunting, but the dull distorted guitar under everything is worthless. It was okay.

 

"Ocean of Noise" - A drum machine, new age tape loop, and dark post-punk guitar. Hmm. Lower-register piano and Win. I think I heard something cool that sounded like an organ. I'm not caught up in this like I was with Funeral yet, but there's some cool stuff happening that might grow on me. This is reminding me of "Crown of Love," where at first I find the singing to be laughably overwrought, but it grows on me later. Time will tell. I like the upper-register piano chords being played, very percussive. And brass! It's building! Just like I wanted! Excellent! Then it all drops out and the orchestra choir hangs around. Nice. This is how it's done. I felt like I was in a highrise ballroom overlooking the ocean, all purple and black, and then it became a beautiful party, all whites and soft golds.

 

"The Well And The Lighthouse" - This is urgent. Fastest Arcade Fire song that I can remember. Too much guitar. I want new things. There're some strings, right on cue. Okay, now the sense of urgency is gone and I feel overwhelmed. Slow down. WHICH IT DID RIGHT ON CUE. WOW. Now we're into a nice little 12/8 waltz. There's some cute glockenspiel. Nice imagery in the lyrics, but I'm sick of the song again. Change...NOW. (no luck) NOW. Okay, now it's fading out quite gracefully and delicately. Well, that went well.

 

"Antichrist Television Blues" - Nice chime to open it, but I don't like acoustic guitar songs from these guys, and this is fast as well. I don't mind it as much, and the lyrics are clear and nice. 1.35 and I'm worn out. I'd skip, but I learned my lesson. See? Got quiet and some nice high ringing piano was added. I can't give up. I think I heard handclaps. Okay, now I know I did. Three seconds passed, or so. I keep thinking this is going to follow a blues progression, but it doesn't, which is probably for the better. Drums are out, piano is back in. The background vox is bugging me now. Stop oooooooohhing. It's too much. Good crescendo around 3.30. REALLY ANNOYING VOCALIZATIONS. Song overstays its welcome at 4.20. Penalties for going over now. 4.55. STOP. We're done here. Abrupt ending at 5.05. The engineer must have felt the same way.

 

"Windowsill" - a reprise of "Neighborhood 4," if you ask me. Like that song, I'm not particularly excited by it. No buildup. "I don't wanna live in America no more." I didn't know you did. 2.20, halfway home, and I'm already bored. Little string thing was nice, but brief and now we're back to normal. This part after the strings makes me think of Bono. YES. There's the brass. "Nice song, but I think it needs a hook," which I mean in the "Idiot Control Now" way. He does not want to see me at his windowsill. Eh. it was fair.

 

"No Cars Go" - Wall of sound. It's much faster! Accordion is backed with strings this time. THe HEY! is still there, thank heavens. Inc was right. This sounds more Born to Run than ever. WOW COOL HARMONY AROUND 1.28 HOLY FUCK. Again at 2.06. I like the warbling under the bass. More cool harmonies, but those were there on the s/t. US KIDS KNOW! Yes. WHERE WE KNOOOOOOW is different. I think the bridge is punctuated with something. Pizzicato strings? Wow, great dropout for "between the click of the light and the start of the dream." Just great dropout. Nice clarinet there. Accordion and that pizzicato-or-something come back in, and I feel it accelerating. Where's Mr. "we're doing this in an orderly manner"? Win is yelling. I'm AHHHHing along through the home stretch. Great ending. That was exhausting. High point of the band's career.

 

"My Body Is a Cage" - This sounds kind of creepy. Sounds like Tom Waits circa Bone Machine, without the voice. There's that organ again, which really makes things sound sinister. Choir in the back adds a lot. This is dark, lots of greys and greens. It feels like an abandoned Catholic church. There used to be one by my HOLY SHIT BIG THING JUST CAME IN. This is our Big Finish; I knew they'd go out this way. What a march of death! So haunting. I can feel something Montrealic (word?) about this. Very French and old. Gargoyles are watching the band play. "Set my body free. Set my spirit free." He wants to die! I get it. It's getting plodding at 4.30. We're done here. Right on cue! Down to the pipe organ. aaand we're done.

 

---

 

Well, I don't know, you guys. Mixed bag. There were some songs I absolutely loved here, but they were scattered amidst forgettable crap. The best song is just a re-recording, which makes me wonder if the songwriting well is drying up a bit. This isn't as cathartic and anthemic as Funeral was, but maybe it's just a sophomore slump. I mean, that's a tough debut to follow. At first, I was like "well, shit. the magic is gone with these guys," but there are definite flashes of brilliance here. I hope the sequencing is all wrong, because while the penultimate and final tracks are perfect, the opening 1-2-3 punch doesn't really captivate me.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

I really can't be bothered to care about the Arcade Fire.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

I'm no Arcade Fire fan, but I thought the first album had a couple of good songs. This one? Eh...I like that organ on "Intervention."

 

And you can say the inclusion of a previously recorded song may indicate a paucity of ideas, but there's nothing wrong with revisiting an old song. Jazz musicians do it enough—Herbie Hancock's done about four different versions of "Watermelon Man" in as many decades—so why not rock bands?

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

It's acceptable within jazz, less so within rock, because of the improvisation aspect. It's hard to explain, but you just don't see it happen all that much. I'm a fan of the remake here, and I think the reason it's been remade is because it didn't get its due exposure on the s/t EP, but you just don't see it happen often in rock. Zappa did it a lot, though. I have like six versions of "The Torture Never Stops."

[Henry Spencer 0]

Funeral has grown on me like none other, but it really didn't strike me as something that the band was that capable of building upon.

 

The new Of Montreal album is, at the very least, a vast improvement over the Sunlandic Twins.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

It's acceptable within jazz, less so within rock, because of the improvisation aspect. It's hard to explain, but you just don't see it happen all that much.

I understand, but it's not like you cannot find different ways to approach a familiar song over the years. Improvisation doesn't necessarily have to be involved; perhaps a band just wasn't satisfied with the performance of the original and want to give what they feel is a superior reading of the material.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

I think it works if you're with a new band whose instrumentation is dynamically different and can give a new angle to the song, which Zappa did often, or if its initial release was wasted on some self-released or independent label and now you want to make it available to a larger audience, which these guys, Regina Spektor, and a whole bunch of people do, but I'm just rewording what I already said and adding nothing, so let's move on. I think what worried me wasn't its mere inclusion, but rather that it was so head-and-shoulders above most of the stuff they've recently written.

 

What kind of a rating does this get from Pitchfork? I don't really know if they have an objective system or if they just pull a number between 0 and 100 out of their ass (and this is precisely why I hate numerical ratings for albums), but I'd say maybe a 4.6 to 5.3?

[snuffbox 0]

And yet you hate the Grateful Dead.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

I hate the accompanying social construct of jam bands more than the music. The music is anywhere from somewhat interesting to tedious. But usually tedious.

[snuffbox 0]

The Grateful Dead were/are completely different than the current bands that fit into the 'jamband' label. Most of them are a cheap insomnia cure. The Dead toured for decades, playing a unique setlist every night, changing the arrangements for songs (covers & originals) nearly every time played...from the salad days of the 60s/70s thru the 80s/early 90s when Bobby Weir had to take the lead most every night due to Jerry Garcia being in a heroin induced coma on stage and up to the most recent tour with Warren Haynes filling in brilliantly for Jerry Garcia. Some very talented & passionate musicians making each and every show, and often every song, a unique experience; and the added dimension of a backup leader to step up whenever Jerry drifted off to the Afghani poppy fields of his mind.

 

Phish & Dave Matthews were/are overhyped boredom. Alot of the fans tend to be burned out assholes who follow whatever trend they're told to. The Grateful Dead deserve better than to be lumped in with others just because they inspired them or were followed by them.