is a bit overrated. I sold my copy on discogs the other day,it's not a bad album but I don't have space for 'not bad' albums.
I was so wrong about Battles' "Mirrored". I can't for the life of me discover what it was that turned me off to one the the most brilliant prog rock albums of all time?
Aren't there some cheesy, awful BOYZ 2 MEN type vocals on there? Something hideous, surely? I am hard pressed to see what it was now?
"Mirrored" is a top album of the Decade.
This is a bit disturbing cause I pretty much wrote Battles off a couple years ago and now I am really looking forward to the new one.
This obvious misjudgement has opened my eyes (A MINISCULE AMOUNT) to the chilling fact that even I, Saint_Cronin can fuck up once in a great while.
But I still feel strongly that I've been correct 99 percent of the time regarding those who are talented and clever but a bit airfilled, transient pop balloon, media darlings and not true, timeless geniuses:
M83
The XX
Bright Eyes
Sufjan Stevens
Jay-Z
Foals
Wild Beasts
yeah yeah yeahs
Why?
Arcade Fire
The Decemberists
Kanye West
TVOTR
Vampire Weekend
My Morning Jacket
Grizzly Bear
Animal Collective
Of Montreal
Bon Iver
LCD Soundsystem
Wilco
Fleet Foxes
Death Cab For Cutie
Shins
Belle & Sebastian
Cat Power
Ryan Adams
Mountain Goats
Fiery Furnaces
Phoenix
Lady Gaga
Panda Bear
and about 50 others who get way too much attention from the media. The really good, mind bending, life affirming genius stuff continues to be ignored while the fluff goes right to the top for about two minutes till the next bit of fluff comes along and the cycle false gods and the elevation of regurgitated, mediocre slop continues. Meet the new boss: Same as the old boss.
I am a genius, therefore I am a genius.
is a bit overrated. I sold my copy on discogs the other day,it's not a bad album but I don't have space for 'not bad' albums.
Yeah, I thought the best part of it was the little poster that came with the cd but it is really an amazing, speedy little bit of brilliance.
even lcd soundsystem sho i really like.
but their composed works don't hold up well for me
I think they tend to try and tell little stories that don't interest me in the least. In fact I get offended at what they think might be worthy of exploration.
LCD Soundsystem , Belle & Sebastian, TVOTR, Yeah Yeah Yeahs,
not gonna stick up for any others in a hurry (either through ignorance, agreeance, or just meh).
yeah yeah yeahs are just grr-oss
of a list of people who are very good at taking past influences and doing them in a modern way that makes it feel like it's new and exciting and yours, but really just a clever retreading of previous themes.
But then I realise that this applies to 98.7% of everything EVER since 1982 and my head implodes.
I don't disagree with much of that particular list though, except maybe a bit Jay-Z in the early days, TVOTR (who were a breath of beautiful, pure fresh air the time I saw them on their debut LP tour) and Fiery Furnaces 9who still have the ability to surprise and delight).
And James Murphy is always referencing older stuff and acknowledging that he makes music he likes, very much borne out of his past. And I like a great deal of it, even if 1/2 of 'SOS' is, in slight hindsight, not THAT great.
Anyway, congratulations for being you and all. It must feel super special.
Of course I am but being me feels more like the crazy old dude carrying around a homemade sign which reads "REPENT!"
I am just scheming on ways to turn my talent into a viable career before I die. I have purchased a web domain called "MUSICNAZI.COM" and I hope to have something "SUPER SPECIAL" up on the web by late 2010 - Mid 2011.
X X
was just listening to Mirrored as I opened this thread. Its fantastic, the vocals took me many listens to get over, but now I like it.
I have been on a quest to find great sounding drums on record for a few months now. And for me, its ALL about the drums on this one.
Great listen, worthy of praise, glad you came around.
And for the record, Jay-Z has sustained a pretty credible career, granted a little up and down. As for the others, probably too early to tell, but you could be right on a bunch of em. Fleet Foxes... how was that so highly regarded last year?
but some of the names on that list are indeed truly awesome bands...
LCD, Fiery Furnaces, Wilco, Animal Collective, Of Montreal, TVOTR. There are some bands there that have yet to put a foot wrong. Others you are completely right about tho. In conclusion: you're probably right yeah
Holy Fuck
Secret Machines
Interpol
DFA 1979
Chrome Hoof
HEALTH
Torche
Godflesh
Minutemen
Painkiller
ZU
Fantomas
Dead Kennedys
!!!
Melvins
DEVO
Urge Overkill
take this song for instance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2DBcbZc3ck
great fucking song but when was the last time anyone mentioned Shocking Blue on DiS or anywhere else?
Jesus that chick has the most fucked up wig ever!
I feel like I can tell when an album is a flash in the pan and something more than that.
But I'm often wrong so just keep quiet about it...
And most of that list is 100% spot on here-today-gone-tomorrow in terms of longevity IMHO. But that obviously doesn't mean people can't like the bands or the record. I like plenty of throwaway records too.
So... yeah. In summary. I get what you mean.
m83, tv on the radio, animal collective, of montreal, and belle & sebastian are all truly great bands. the rest can fuck right off. battles is indeed great, congrats on finally figuring it out. oh, and i still think interpol sucks balls.
to you lumping the Mountain Goats in with that lot. Not only are they not 'flash in the pan' at all (they've put out more albums than I can count and still going strong) they aren't really media darlings either.
John Darnielle is one of the most talented and original lyric writers out there, and the live show of just him and bassist Peter Hughes is stunning: you definitely should give this lot another try before writing them off
Chrome Hoof
Godflesh
Minutemen
Painkiller
Fantomas
!!!
Melvins
DEVO
Urge Overkill
I am familiar with all the others, but this gives me a weekend of work, thanks.
I should make notes about first time listening experiences in real time so I can isolate the indicators. Diversely, more often than not, I don't recognize genius immediately either. It takes a few times and somethings much more. Weird- I've never really tried to breakdown the recognition process before.
As far as the list goes; I have visited all those artists many times to make sure. Many of them I actually own their cds and many of them come awful close to making it into my heart (to stay) but for some reason they just fall away like so much chaff.
Of the bands you mentioned; Of Montreal comes closest to being a giant artist. That singer/front man is amazing but it's all been done before (and done better) by David Bowie and Bryan Ferry so what else can I say about Of Montreal? Belle and Sebastian, TVOTR, M83 and AC I have nothing against personally or critically; I like them fine but I resent them for not living up to the hype.
this is an entirely bizarre thread
Darnielle's tunes are hack and his lyrics are too reckless, feckless and jaded to have any meaning or worth let alone be held up as some of the best of this decade. Shit, he's going to write a song about folding laundry- MARK MY WORDS.
three nondescript guys writing ditties about odball topics but that should be OK cause they aren't trying to be sexy or political or high minded so they should get a pass- fuck the mountain goats, we all read got Half Man Half Biscuit, Dead Milkmen and They Might Be Giants and a half dozen funny geezer bands- that's plenty.
Bizarre though it might be; it does have a prpose. I just wanted to blow out the chairs before I start dancing.
I'll be listening mostly to stuff I've heard before. Uh, yeah, looking at that list, I'd say just jump in anywhere and start listening. On the Melvins: listen to Senile Animal and Nude w/ Boots first cause Dale's got a "helper drummer" on those: Cody from Big Business.
About most of those. Battles are excellent though.
I'm tired of your negativity. I'd rather see you list the bands who are/will be timeless geniuses.
gunna hav'ta take you down a rung or six
And it's proof that you probably haven't listened to a lot of those bands. Why are these bands "balls of fluff?" Because the stuff you like isn't popular? Just because a band isn't at the extreme end of the avant garde doesn't mean they're a "ball of fluff." It's not quite so black and white as that. Some of those, maybe, but you usually seem unable to appreciate great art unless it slaps you in the face with something abrasive. What you prefer is up to you, but you act like your judgment is somehow objective, it's far from it.
I'd say Arcade Fire, M83 and Yeah Yeah Yeahs have done some really good, mind bending, life affirming genius stuff.
here's a few, well ten (in specific order)
I like the DiS model w/ 50 albums and that's what I will end up with but the top ten will like this:
Monoliths & Dimensions- Sunn O)))
The Bee's Made Honey In The Lion's Skull - EARTH
Flood - BORIS
TOtBL - Interpol
LIARS - DND
October Language- Belong
Black Sea or Endless Summer - Fennesz (still deciding)
Cryptograms - Deerhunter
Altar- Sunn O))) & Boris
The Sky's Run Into The Sea - Growing
There may be changes 4-10 but I love these albums so much I can't hardly stand it
11-50 will contain more stuff from those above and from:
Bohren & Der Club Of Gore
Grails
Alva Noto
Fuck Buttons
Coil
Stars Of The Lid
Crystal Castles
DFA 1979
Holy Fuck
Torche
Secret Machines
Queens Of The Stoneage
Gorillaz
Onieda
Editors (Edith Bowman be fucking damned)
Modest Mouse
Dungen
Einstürzende Neubauten
Clinic
William Basinski
and others
sorry dude
If they bend your mind that's cool but believe me the human brain NEEDS more than M83. I do like Saturdays=Youth fine but I like Tears For Fears a little more- not much. Wasn't a big fan of Tears For Fears, thought they too were mediocre pop music and M83 seeks to emulate that.
I wouldn't do that; be elitist for the sake of elitism. How is that done precisely?
down you go, one rung, two rung, three
Reckless, feckless and jaded? Funny geezer band? Either you're listening to an entirely different band or your ears are failing you. Lyrically Darnielle writes well drawn characters pieces: its not just oddball topics, it’s aural literature, as high minded as you like. From kitchen sink stuff (if he did write a song about folding laundry you can mark *my* words it'd be fucking heartbreaking) to grandious end of the world stuff from one track to the next. And sometimes he gives his characters throwaway lines that can sometimes be funny. Why should a touch of comedy be out bounds when youre writing about the whole human experience? Seriously, those three bands you mentioned are of a quirky oddball comedy realm The Mountain Goats have maybe dipped a toe into at best.
Musically it may be simple and unremarkable, I’ll grant you. If that puts you off then that’s fine, I can understand where you’re coming from. But to write off their words and the end product as being that of some geeky try hards who get away with being lazy by being uncool misses the mark by so much you’re on a different planet.
Lady Gaga
Panda Bear
Phoenix
bought and paid for cause I'm a dope
I can't believe how regaled Darnielle's lyrics are. I am scratching my head. I am totally going to send him a link to this and beg him to write a laundry song that will rip my guts out.
major lol
I look forward to the laundry song: there'll be a bit where the middle aged woman folds a pair of jeans that belonged to her late husband that'll have you on your knees, tears pouring down your face, begging Darnielle for fogiveness.
Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration.
If he won't write it for us I WILL- promise.
now that's the song (the laundry song) that's kept The Mountain Goats from penetrating me in a proper, slightly rough, very unprotected way.
I really do need to lay off the crack
and that was the same as the one before really - some excellent moments and some saccharine balls. Dead Cities... is, however, a terrific album if you've not heard it.
i'd say TVOTR have been consistently very good but still haven't quite produced a great, GREAT album. i know what you mean about the YYYs, they've always been carried along by a fair bit of hype and art punk/fashionista whatnot, that their music doesn't really live up to. they're still good though.
have done some great, great work.
Although none of them for a little while now... the latest wilco and why albums were pretty lame.
I pretty much agree with the rest of your list though. Oh: and Battles are great, you're right about that. Excellent live too.
You really nailed the yyy experience for me. I never knew what to call it before but punk fashionista seems to really fit. Plus they all seem delusional about how sexy they are- fuck, they ain't, they just ain't but that's OK, cause they're pop stars- I forgive them but I gotta be honest about their work.
You are so right about M83 and no I haven't heard Dead Cities even though I have seen it rec'd and DiS'd many times hear but you're right, if Sean hadn't gone off and made Saturdays=Youth the album of the year last year I'd have been fine with M83- decent artist, no skin off my nose but BAM "album of the year"? gimme a fuckin' break
:(
but I think wilco are kind of a son volt, pavement lite and they don't do much at all for me. I love that cover picture on YHF, it's Marina City, a 1960's, upscale, Jetsons-ish apartment complex on the shore of the Chicago River right between the Gold Coast and The Loop and it brings back memories of my time in that wonderful city and I like that they are Chicago boys but I need more than that..much more.
definitely the kinda stuff Im looking for. Thanks for all the new music to sheck out.
Im always playing catch up.
but David Ferry and David Bowie totally already did that show- about 10 times better too. Plus about half of his music is Sesame Street material. I like when he does whacky vocals. Skeletal Lamping is pretty awesome. I really love the packaging on that cd- that's why I bought it.
They pretty much cemented their place in twee indie pop history before this decade even began!
with the exception of TVOTR who I still think are brilliant. Definitely where I turn to for my pitchfork approved indie kicks.
And yeah, Battles are possibly the most consistent live act I've seen. Brilliant.
you bastard
You're right, they aren't part of this fight. They probably didn't even make it onto the P4K 200 did they? Poor Belle and Sebastian- I'm sorry.
But, Nah, wait a minute, Belle and Sebastian now, isn't that the band responsible for "funny little frog"? Oh, god, just fuck it.
Die Belle!!! Die Sebastian!!! I don't care if you are from under appreciated Scotland- just fuck off and die.
M83 and yeah yeah yeahs.
You almost had me thinking I'm a moron, but then I saw Editors and Fuck Buttons in your list.
C'mon, Fuck Buttons? Some hipster hype and songs done in 10 minutes gets your genius status?
Can't even start with Editors.
but you are going to need some help with that website.
I would never have worked out that hyped up pop-based music is more shit than music I actually like. Thanks for the enlightenment oh wise one ;)
Most of the stuff I "discover" has been under my nose for months and years already. It's such an ocean of music these days; so hard to notice every wave that crashes on the beach. You have to be a beachcomber and look under the odd bit of kelp or drift wood to find the treasure. DiS has turned out to be the best source of information I've ever known- it's like the beachcomber's club house.
We are now considering a move back to the city for the express purpose of finding "help". Namely, a team of web designers that work for free or on "spec" to help me build the site and launch and maintain for a year or so.
X
the trick is to make the music you like as popular as the pop-based stuff. That's what's eluding me. The goal isn't to steal the 13 yr. olds away from Jonas Brothers that is impossible. The goal is to make the media be more responsible to "important artists". You know, the artists that rely on t-shirt money to buy the gas necessary to get to the next sparsely populated gig and the next pizza while twats like Yeah Yeah Yeahs are filling stadiums and buying cheesy wardrobes. Does that sound socialist? Probably, but ask anyone I know and they'll tell you I am a fiend for JUSTICE.
But you know, I'm not getting my shackles up over it because FB and Editors are getting harder and harder for me to defend. I do seem to be running out of ammunition for those battles. Oh god, I guess I can add two more "fuck ups" to my credit.
I loved Editors live and "Open Your Arms" is one of the greatest songs of the decade but I just don't seem to be able get around the Edith Bowman argument- why the fuck that is baffles me. Every time I mention Editors here some one will lurch out of the shadows with a knife in their hand screaming "EDITH BOWMAN!!!'.
It's going to be hard for me to deny "Street Horrrsing" a place in my top 50 but I will consider it- probably not though. It is an exciting album and despite the sterility of the second album; Fuck Buttons are an interesting pair of do it yourselfers who I expect will present us with some more good surprises in the years to come.
Opinions eh. I was bored shitless by Battles live and the album sucks. Boris are right at the top of the overrated bilge pile along with Drums Not Dead. There's nowt to separate most of the bands on your good and bad lists chief. And does it matter whether bands flash in the old pan and then disappear? Ner, it does not!
I don't really have a problem with flash in the pan, really, other than how it feeds the machinery of crass commercialism and little else. Pitchfork sells ads, dickheads sell records, and a whole industry of leeches sell a manufactured dream. Ever tried listening to top 40 radio for an extended period of time? It is very hollow despite nostalgic feeling which may arise. Ten years from now, the only place you're gone to hear bands like Arcade Fire and YYY's is on some indie classic station and believe me; you're not going to get any more out of that music when it's on the radio. There is something to separate most of the bands on my good and bads- there's my word on it for one.
Look, it's like this: I love Bruce Willis and John Travolta but a steady and exclusive diet their movies is lame. I love those guys but a body needs a Daniel Day Lewis movie every once in awhile or you're just a nowhere, dolt of a potato head hardly worth talking to.
It's not your fault though. I really shouldn't blame or judge you to a damning degree but you do spend enough time around here to no there is differences between the bands on my lists. If you aren't aware of them at all and feel it's not important to have music that sticks to your ribs, that totally melts on your hands, making a huge mess and not neatly in your mouth, music that doesn't go in one ear and out yer ass- then I can't help you.
up to this point, albeit with bile, disgust, and reproach,
but... you rate dfa1979 over lcd soundsystem? really? it can't be true. in fact it isn't true. this is all actually one big joke isn't it?
i haven't been on this forum for a while, and this is the first post i read, and... oh, it's too good to be true. and when i say good i mean bad.
whereas LCD Soundsystem pretty much BLOWS (it doesn't get any limper than LCD Ss)- If there's a worse song than "all my friends" this decade- I ain't heard it yet.
Please, allow yourself to cheerfully continue. You may learn something.
I think the problem is you seem to care where these bands all go on the 'worthy' scale and I don't. And everything moves so fast these days what with the internet - it must be very difficult to predict who out of any of these bands will be forgotten in ten or twenty years anyway. I mean it's nice that you care in a way but I don't give a monkeys about what people are listening to or watching or reading or whatever. I mean i'm interested in what some people on here are enjoying but they can do what they like. Bands that are 'sticking to your ribs' might as well be muzak to others but unfortunately that cannot be explained by you having superior taste, soz!
Anyway the comparison between no-brainer action movies (I _think_ that's what you're getting at) and those bands is a cack one. Those bands aren't all like AC/DC making simple music merely to entertain people are they? You suggest I can't hear the differences and then you make that comparison. FOR SHAME!!1
I find your posts/enthusiasm really entertaining but i'm never going to take the huge lists and recommendations of a self-proclaimed genius very seriously at all. I dare say you can't help me or any of the people who like the 'fluff' bands but it's not like they actually require any guidance anyway.
anyway the media are out to make money and the easiest way is to go with the safe bet of hyped up pop music that has widespread appeal, too much of a risk to go out on a limb and promote fennesz instead of the latest lady gaga/x factor clone etc.
Do you think the mass public would be able to appreciate a band like stars of the lid? While I love them, most people I know find them boring and slow and would rather listen to hyped up pop crap like the editors (who you seem to have put on the wrong list by the way)
"Justice" as in "fairness". As in the opposite of "unjust". As in not fair that genius continues to be ignored while mediocrity is hyped, elevated and rewarded.
I think a lot more people would be sitting around listening to Stars On The Lid and being enlightened if the media would fucking encourage them to. People are sheep- they need to be shepherded. Don't recall a lot of hype for Editors around here. I just picked up "In The Back Room" at a local record store in Montana and listened to them cold. They struck me as a welcome revisiting of early U2 "October" U2 and a bit 80's post punk- I liked them and I thought they actually turned that whole 80's feeling around to the point where it sounded fresh again. They were great live- left guts all over the stage. Nah, Editors are misunderstood and much maligned and wrongly poopooed over someone named Edith Bowman- what the fuck does Edith Bowman have to do with Editors' music- again UNJUST.
BTW- JUSTICE the ambiguously Christian Dance Duo- fucking rules.
I am here for you if you decide to take me seriously.
Just for laughs, I'll point out some of the differences between the bands on my 2 lists. Mind, I am comparing apples to oranges music wise. I will be purposely focussing on the general artistic attributes or lack there of and personality and dynamical detractors that have landed the artists on one or the other lists.
Crystal Castles>Yeah Yeah Yeahs
alice glass is a born fashionista: she shops for clothes in stores that charge "by the bag" and looks like she stepped out of VOGUE (or crawled out of VOGUE). Her singing is otherworldly and largely a complete enigma, can't understand a thing she says but she makes more sense than Karen O's self serving diva droppings. Crystal Castles' "music" is mostly stolen and atonal but they make everything they do seem very original and interesting. YYY's can't decide if they're Jesus and Mary Chain or The Pretenders, they are too busy posing to be original or important.
that's the difference
Secret Machines>LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem are studio monkeys that have deluded themselves into believing they can actually write music- well they have deluded themselves about writing music to the point that they rewrite DEVO and Depeche Mode songs, all the while thinking they've written something when all they've done rip off others- it's just a joke really. Secret Machines are very interesting. They have (or had) a unique dynamic in that they are rhythm-centric (all instruments follow the drums and how could they not whit Mr. Garza sitting at the kit) and the do it in a very tricky and challenging way by weaving in fill as they follow Garza. They have/had the sibling intuitiveness which makes all the vocal harmonies haunting and beautiful. Secret Machines are very simple but the sound huge, titanic even and they are vastly charming. Secret Machines are a guy band but girls love them too. They have a cool aesthetic on stage- very cool. A staggeringly intelligent and naturally brilliant band.
I could do this all fucking day: Tell you why the fluff has been perceived as such and why the genius is sooooooo obvious but I am working on an article about important music that I really should finish.
: )
Justification is cool, stuff isn't often explained on here which makes the discussion bit difficult. The attitude the band projects is quite important I reckon. Some bands just seem like they're faking it to me and I can't really explain why. The way you see the YYYs is similar to the way I see Boris though, weird eh. That's just the vibe I got from them live and on record. everything they do seems like a barely disguised inferior version of something else with expensive amps in place of interesting music. I look forward to reading about how they are important!
but you're just so strange. i've never read a single one of your posts & understood what you're trying to get across.
its like youre pretty in touch with modern "alternative" stuff, but completely out of touch with the way people think about/discuss music. its hard to explain.
Might I ask why Belle & Sebastian are deemed as fluff perchance?
Unless it's because they sound like fluff, which would be an odd conclusion to draw if you're listening to the deeper meaning, wouldn't it?
that your love for secret machines surprises me somewhat. And that second album of theirs bar the first track (which is passable) is fucking abysmal!!!
I guess I've been called strange before and understand why you would think that but I'm pretty sure all my posts aren't complete gibberish. Do you understand this post? I think I do and I think others in the seventy odd replies have gotten the gist of it. If you COULD explain: what would you say?
Try
omnganoldguytoo
need xtrasplainin sometimes
PS: I am in touch with a lot more than you think.
If I were to propose that every song that Belle & Sebastian have ever done could be the theme music for any and every stupid TV sitcom ever made; would that explain it a bit?
Belle and Sebastian are an ongoing omnibus of fluff- can't put it any simpler and I can't bear dissecting them for you- there's absolutely no point to it. You are being obtuse to even ask me that about B&S of all bands. I think Teletubbies blow Belle and Sebastian out of the water as far as art with practical sense and meaning goes.
I do feel like they shouldn't have been on "The List" because they are harmless and really don't garner an inordinate amount of press that I can see and I understand that a lot of people's lives are "enriched" by their insipid & cheesy tunage and too that lives are indeed "enriched" by any means of airheaded, musical divertissement - i suppose. I am just a long suffering saint who's stood by and watched great art virtually ignored as long as I am willing to without saying something.
Unfortunately, I have been forced to draw attention to the shortcomings of these bands because it no longer seems enough to simply give the effusive testimony about the music I love and call it good (and god knows I have done plenty of that here). It's a bit of a crusade now. I am aware that music taste is subjective and opinions are not truths but I don't care, I am still left with a sense of injustice over the music press. Just as I am about radio- the press and major media outlets seem to work in cahoots somehow. I grew up wondering why there was never anything good on the radio? I told myself "Well, you live in Montana. If you lived in L.A. there'd be something good on the radio." WRONG, shit there isn't good radio anywhere and I'll bet right now, right this minute, there isn't one radio station anywhere in America playing Belle & Sebastian. I would fall over dead if they played fucking Radiohead here. But I, digress.
I just want a media outlet that gets it right- just once. Is that too much to ask?
That band was indeed a secret machine
Daddy's In The Doldrums RRROCKS you fool as duz "Faded Lines". Uncork your ears son. You can hear the singers nostrils whistle over the drums on Faded Lines- It's lush.
LLLLLOVE IT
BUT
They do capture something very convincly and very well. On 'If you're feeling sinister' say, they say as much about modern loneliness and 20-something existential angst as Growing or the such-like.
Different people have different 'truths' and different ways of expressing things, but Belle & Sebastian are a sometimes dark, moving and intensely peculiar summation of a particular world-view, which within the folds of gentle music (some people are gentle) tells nice little stories, that say things about what it is like to be a person. And I think that is good. And I don't even like them.
BUT my point is, there is difference between the sheen (floppy pop for Belle...) that music is cased in and it's inner, more subtle thingimeejig. And if you don't realise that then you are in danger of more Battles slipping under your long toenails. (although actually, their early eps were better, and atlas gets annoying after a while.)
I've just started a student radio show. You might like it, it was loads of jazz and it featured Fuck Buttons at 3.30 on a Saturday afternoon, but I'm not going to link to it, cause my first show was a MASSIVE mess.
Oh, and Editors get FUCK-LOADS of press in Britain.
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000FGFY6Y.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V51398909_.jpg
"Flood" is Boris' 3rd album (2000) and my pick for 3rd Best Album Of the Twenty Oughts
Boris were initially exciting to me because they like, Sunn O))), were finding new, unadulterated and dare I say "noble" and "novel" uses for "guitar power". Guitar not used to simply jangle lyrics along in a hackneyed song form and perform the obligatory climactic solo at precisely 2' 35' into said song form but rather Guitar Power as a celebration of not male dominance and as the sonic end of a grotesque penis extender but rather to simply extol the majesty and the glory that is guitar power- pure and simple and who better to carry it off but a 4'11" Japanese woman? Man, this is fucking rich.
I should explain the "expensive amps". They are not just for show. They are hand picked for their specific tone and flap. The heads are Vintage Matamp, Orange, Ampeg and Sunn. It's no accident Wata plays exclusively a 70's Les Paul Custom. A versatile axe that compliments the amps with it's tone and sustain- very similar approach with guitarists like Roger "Buzz" Osborne of Melvins and Adam Jones of Tool: Tone, Sustain and POWER. Takeshi plays an Ibanez double neck because he has double guitar duties and he also uses big, warm amps- Ampeg and a Sunn Model T which is a handy, all-round amp, good for both guitar and bass (usually a guitar amp) Stephen O'Malley's main amp. Atsuo (the leader and drummer) is also multi talented. He uses gongs, he's a great rock screamer and his drumming is forceful yet mercurial and emotional, he does some of the band's most notable album art- He's a great accenter. He also adds an element of classic Rock flare with his hairstyles, tight fitting and loose fitting garb. He often wears all white and is a notorious stage diver. When you see him stand on his kick drum; you know he's about to come flying your way.
I can't say enough about the genius of FLOOD. It is a methodical, plodding masterpiece on the level of Wagner and Beethoven. Flood is all about pacing. I am guessing that it is purposely entitled "flood" , has water graphics on the cover and a brilliant metallic sea foam blue disc for a distinct purpose. It's so ironic that the first time I heard this cd I was standing up to mid thigh in the Oregon surf, with my earbuds on, the day after having seen Boris play an amazing show in Portland that brought me to tears. There I was, as the waves heaved and rolled into the shore, looking west out over the vast Pacific Ocean toward Japan.
To me FLOOD represents the rhythm and immensity of the unstoppable sea. There were many moment that day a Cannon Beach that I could not differentiate the actual ocean audio leakage in my headphones from Boris' music- it was very trippy, very, very cool.
FlOOD is four parts (Flood 1-4) and each part is an amazing tone poem to the majesty of the ocean but the album is actually bigger than the ocean, it is like a controlled ocean, an ocean of possibility and artificial abyss that allows you to stay on top, sailing across, free and easy or be enveloped and folded within crashing waves of sound then as FLOOD reaches it's highest point it immediately begins to deconstruct it's final riff by subtracting ever so slowly, one note at a time as the riff repeats with less and less notes till it is utterly gone. Then it is about 15 minutes of gong washes becoming less and less audible as if the album were slowly receding like the tides going back out to sea- fucking flabbergasting.
There is a person here who saw them do FLOOD in it's entirety (Boris usually performs whole albums when they headline) in some little pub in Scotland- fuck oh dear, lucky bastard. He also claims to having listened to FLOOD when he was sick with the flu and found it rehabilitating.
I saw them perform Smile- another fabulous record from Boris this decade.
Boris is a crushingly awesome group of amazing artists.
Your experience of them is shallow, superficial; thinking they are trying to impress you with fancy gear. It's so ironic because BORIS are unfathomable- ha.
Dig Deep Dude, you are missing out.
our weak moments i suppose. ;)
but I have owned this cd and watched them play the entire album live and both sucked wang. It is exactly like you would expect it to sound. It could have been made by a computer.
They just caught me at a weak, floundering moment. I will probably give them the axe and admit the error of my ways before I resolve my decade. But you know, I am wavering a bit on fuck buttons too. Alas, I am not perfect. As close as humanly possible though, still proud of my record. I'd love to hear the show. I've been toying with the idea of a Saint_Cronin podcast/musical enima.
I respect all of these artists though. All of the ones I claimed to be fluff- I totally respect them. Not everybody can form bands, write music and get it out there- that in and of itself is massively impressive to me. You must know and believe that it is the media that I have issues with? I hope.
but I must say: a glorious specimen
.........love secret macheens
not kidding, this video makes me cry:
live at glasto, 2005
raaaaaaaaaaargh!
just wanted to see if you could be fooled but.....you really can't. Good goin'.
I love love love them!
Anyway if you lived in the UK I'm sure you would have heard enough hype about the Editors. I really don't feel they lack in publicity especially compared to how good I think they are, which is not very good at all. As for Edith Bowman she's an annoying radio presenter and goes out with the guy from Editors (thank you wikipedia for that), and of course that's irrelevant to how shit the Editors are.
I agree people are sheep and yeah in an ideal world Stars of the Lid would be loved by the masses, but those who make up the mass media and ultimately decide what we listen to are sheep too, and like you say just keep hyping up the same candy floss shit, probably because they feel they have to and don;t want to rock the boat. I don't have an answer to how to change this, I was hoping at some point you would. Perhaps you're not such a genius after all;)
There have not been seventy odd replies by others in this thread because half of them are from you :)
yeah, I not a stonewaller like fucking Diver or KiK. When I post a topic i wanna fucking talk about it.
and yeah I respect the way you carry on the conversation. It's been a good thread even if I disagree with some of your observations, however that is most likely because you live in the states where bands like the Editors don't seem to be hyped much and the Mountain Goats are (really is that true) which is the opposite of over here.
On the whole I agree with point about why does the shit rise to the top.
I don't think it does of it's own will and accord. It is through some kind of pact with the devil- that crossroads thing.
are we getting the top 50 then? Am dying to see it. :)
: )
I'll hurry just for you
lAUNCH: 1-2 YEARS
subscriber based artist/fan consortium/web community
music history & news, forum, store, port of entry for new artists (audition only), quarterly hard copy, year end box set, chain of record shops, radio, film and tv dept, venues.
Wont have all that at launh but I plan on spending my remaining years working on it.
Then I'll know that you really mean it.
All three albums will be in Saint_Cronin's 50 Best Of the 20-Oughts
totbl
a
olta
Sorry, but I don't like him or his music- he's a phoney baloney from the get go.
he was kind of on to something in the beginning but he turned into such a freaking poser. Of late, kind of a quasi nashville producer guru with a spazzy trophy wife. He's lick and poetry don't offset his general lameness. Someone like Elvis Costello- maybe but Ryan Adams? get outta here.
evidence of shitbirdness:
X X
unfortunately yes, i have knocked a few dead, but luckily i've been able to resuscitate most of em.
wow, man, don't hold back on mr adams! well, idk, i think he writes some quality tunes and my tolerance levels for douche-baggery in musicians are pretty high.
i'll leave this as a peace offering:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNwHb6e8QuE
looking forward to the top 50, as well, chief
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvIRk8wvC_A&feature=related
just seems so utterly affected
Wilco created Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, which to my ears is the finest album of the decade, even above Kid A, but only barely. To me it always had the same emotional impact, but lacked the distancing soundscapes. Which, soundscapes are by no means bad, but I find it adds a little bit of distance. All of YHF was very, very close to me.
As for Sufjan... I am embarrassed that I have never gotten around to Michigan. I think it's because Illinois and Seven Swans have sort of taken me in too much, and I don't feel that I've yet gotten all that I need to out of them. There's too much intimacy in his work to just glance over and move on to the next album.
That's the only word applicable for Battles live. Easily the most stunning performance I've seen this side of Explosions in the Sky.
I suppose you could argue that Captain Beefheart is pretentious and affected and maybe he is/was but he was also supremely original whereas Adams is pretentious, affected and unoriginal.
Peace offering NOT need but totally appreciated. If anyone owes a peace offering; I do:
here's a couple, 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThscvXJBs2g&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_sgy4sI4P8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36H2kgsgPGk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=567YtKvFupQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAun0WoPNDU&feature=related
and i've seen them many times. However OLTA is the single biggest let down since puberty. Granted the first two tracks rank with anything they've done but after that...dear oh dear!!!
someday you'll love that album
TVOTR, XX and B and S primarily