Comments

For whatever reason, it seems that most publications tend to think the Pixies only had two notable albums in "Surfer Rosa" (1988) and "Doolittle" (1989), so I was not that surprised by their omission. Personally, I love both of their 1990's albums ("Bossanova" and "Tromple Le Monde") and think they deserve the same level of respect as Surfer/Doolittle, but the hive-mind conclusion tends to be that the later albums lacked too much of their early manic-energy and became too much of a Black Francis solo project (again, I disagree).
Nice, I love this. I'm still dreaming of the strings returning for another Islands' album, but I appreciate the variety of sounds he's taken on. Each album is definitely it's own entity.
The subtle build-up and harmony in the middle portion of the song are beautiful. Great stuff.
This one time when I had a lot on my mind, I started running up and down the stairs at my town's local football stadium. Well, I was a little distracted and probably pushing it a little too hard, but I noticed another guy running the stairs pretty darn fast. Needless to say, I ended up falling and hurting my ankle while trying to match the speed of this stranger. The other guy noticed me fall and came over to help me. We had a nice chat and I enjoyed his Scottish accent. He also said goodbye in a mysterious way that I really liked: "See you in another life, brother." Intriguing. Anyway, to make a long story short, a couple of years later I eventually realized that this guy was the singer for the Twilight Sad. Small world, huh? http://primetime.unrealitytv.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/desmond_hume-lost.jpg
The behind the scenes leader of the World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation was directing this performance from the catwalk above the studio. None other than the nefarious... Dr. Claw. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PzEyJtVCaTM/SprUdmitvPI/AAAAAAAAArk/dqU6qvmN6t8/s400/05+Dr+Claw.jpg
"...and the guitar tone sucks." Don't ever watch Friday Night Lights (or listen to Explosions in the Sky). It's basically that guitar tone played over shaky-cam shots of high school football and family turmoil. I love FNL & WU LYF, for the record. I thought they pulled off a great performance here.
No, I agree that they put on an exciting live show (lots of energy), but his ratio of hit-notes to missed-notes while singing live is extraordinarily high. When he's yelling and running around the stage, the missed notes are something that you accept as a fair trade-off. But on videos like this, where his voice takes center-stage, it's more difficult to be forgiving. His voice reminds me a lot of Desaparecidos-era Conor Oberst. I'm not much of a Bright Eyes fan, but Conor eventually found his quiet voice after years of shaky singing, so I'm hoping for a similar evolution here.
I give him points for trying, but the voice is too much for me. I love singers with unique voices who may not hit the traditional notes, but it sounds like he has not found his voice yet, particularly live. The yell-singing-talking type thing works okay for them in the studio, though. The cover of They Might Be Giants that they did was just as grating because of the vox: http://www.avclub.com/articles/titus-andronicus-covers-they-might-be-giants,53051/
The intent of the comment was regarding how well Adore would fit right into the current Pitchfork-approved indie rock world, but thank you for the link, I had never read that. ...And wow, I can see why they took that review down. Calling "Perfect' a "dead-ringer for the Icicle Works' 'Birds Fly'" is the perfect reminder that reviewers (and founders of taste-creating websites) do not necessarily have functioning ears.
Perhaps it's just me, but this is a band that I associate with the vibes of a college party, thus the drinking metaphor. It's fun for a bit, then you're all set with it and look for more sustainable pleasures in life. Maybe it's just because I'm an old man now and have little interest in this type of stuff. Matthew James Simerly, yes, Kafka is my favorite author, but now I'm mortified. Matthew, help me become a deeper person and internet-commenter. Franz Kafka mislead me down this dark path of feigned-depth.
The very definition of disposable music. Pump it a couple of times, preferably while enjoying some drinks, then throw it away and never think about it again. I cringe when I hear some of the stuff on their first album now. It's like when you're young, drink too much of some specific alcohol, throw-up like a dying rock star, then never want to smell or taste that drink again.
Alright, I tried to resist this in my initial post, but the tangent needed to come out. M83's double-album, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, which I do love, is the same length as Smashing Pumpkins' single-disc albums, Adore and Machina. (If you count that downloadable bonus track, M83 is five minutes longer.) Billy fills discs, whereas M83 used the double-album as a marketing tool. Those four albums I listed above are equal to 8.23 indie rock albums (scale: indie rock album = 40 mins). The quantity of stuff he released is insane and almost every second of those four albums is of excellent quality. You could probably shed 10 minutes off Adore and maybe 15 off of Machina, but everything else is essential.
Yeah, but since when are Smashing Pumpkins' fans looking for brevity? Siamese Dream - 62 minutes Mellon Collie - 121 minutes Adore - 73 minutes Machina - 73 minutes We want every last sprawling piece of it!
Now that is an interview - excellent job. I've been on a huge Smashing Pumpkins kick recently as I'm sure many others are after the re-releases of Gish / Siamese Dream. I was really into them as a teenager, but Mellon Collie was the last album that I had listened to until my recent obsession. Adore and Machina are much better albums than I expected them to be. There is some classic material on both. I sincerely think that if some new band were to come on the scene tomorrow and release Adore as their debut, Pitchfork would slobber all over them and give it a 9. The dark-tone and electronic elements would fit right in with a lot of the modern "laptop rock" bands, as Billy calls them in the interview.
How could I forget to mention that Andrew WK has already completely proven he knows how to handle Fox News? http://www.collegehumor.com/video/5279867/andrew-wk-takes-fox-news-question-seriously
I'd vote for Andrew WK, but he may get America a little too ready for some football. That's just too much testosterone in one place. "Yes, you better believe I'm f***ing READY!" *smashes brick on nose*
Very nice. Strange Mercy is my favorite album of the year, but after hearing her rock out on "Kerosene" (and now this cover), I can't help but fantasize about what a pure rock St. Vincent album would sound like. I'm hearing a modern Doolittle in my head and it's amazing.
Yeah, but Elliot Smith would win *mad* bonus points for performing a miracle by rising from the dead to make it to the audition. That's Jesus-level talent. (Cue "Jesus Was So Cool" by King Missile... NOW.)
Team Swan Lake definitely would be a good Wouldn't choice. Although, if Bejar performed like he reportedly sang on Kaputt, he'd win points for style: "I did most of the vocals while fixing myself a sandwich... I found that I could get the relaxed quality I wanted for this record while I was, like, lying down on the couch." (via P4K interview)
Wait, Dan Boeckner would do well and Spencer wouldn't? I feel like Spencer could sing traditionally better than Dan if he tried. He belts it out sometimes ("You Go On Ahead" is a good example), whereas Dan kind-of alternates between talky, barky, and shouty. Anyway, I think both would be good examples for the Wouldn't list, though. Their voices on "Apologies to the Queen Mary" are so spectacularly weird and awesome. They've kind of evened their voices out in recent years.
Yeah, Joanna Newsom is not on Mog or Rhapsody either, so there must be some licensing issue there.
I love the subscription music model and I am happy that Spotify is bringing it more into the public eye, but I wish they had the same depth in their catalogue (in the US) that Rhapsody and Mog have. Here's a sample of albums/artists that I have noticed that Spotify is missing (and Mog & Rhapsody have): - Arcade Fire: (zero albums) - Chad VanGaalen: "Diaper Island" - Mister Heavenly: "Out of Love" - Grandaddy: everything but "Sophtware Slump" - Human Highway: "Moody Motorcycle" - Modest Mouse: "The Lonesome Crowded West" Sure, it's just a random sample of stuff that I was looking for, but I hope they beef up their US catalogue soon.
All these bands keep covering "Since U Been Gone" and the sad part is that the coolest, most rocking version of the song is still far and away Kelly Clarkson's. (Take my cred away, I don't care - it's true.)
I prefer my pretentious Nirvana covers by actors to include full-on Kurt Cobain costumes. Jared Leto knows what I'm talking about. I look forward to the inevitable Keanu Reeves cover of "Dumb."
Absolutely one of my favorite records. It's a band coming together perfectly with a unifying theme and creating a masterpiece. It's at a different level from all of the other Grandaddy stuff. My wife practically cries whenever she hears me listening to either of the Jed the Humanoid songs. Poor robot.
Ha- oh, man. My comment got dominated. That hurts, folks. That hurts bad. Sorry, Matt & Kim, the people have spoken, so you are still allowed to sing. I will take my ears elsewhere.
Can Converse get a do-over on this one? Step 1. Scrap Matt & Kim and Soulja Boy. Step 1a. Ask Matt & Kim to not sing ever again. Step 2. Get Andrew W.K. to write the song. Step 3. Get the Handsome Furs and Nick Diamonds to collaborate. Step 4. We all win.
Haha, same here. I was confused for a second on the "Hey Cole!" - I thought he was actually referencing Gordon. I think all of the explanation points in the transcript make him sound like a shouting Gordon Cole.
Well done, Stereogum. The interview was a great read. David Lynch is a fascinating talent. I can't wait to hear the record. Twin Peaks is still one of my favorite pieces of entertainment in any medium.
INTERNET RAGE! Come on, it's just a fun list of decent covers by a band that used to be very good and is currently a mediocre pop-rock cash cow. Why get worked up over the order of something so inconsequential? I think the list is pretty good as is, and I also enjoy the cover of "Tomorrow." It's just a way to gather in one place the majority of interesting covers that Weezer has done. If this was a list of Weezer's best albums and Blue & Pinkerton were not #1a and #1b, then there may be a reason for some of your intensity. Maybe save some of that angry criticism for the year-end lists? You don't want to get burned out on complaining about subjective lists so early.
Yeah, that's Me First & the Gimme Gimme's, I believe. Sloppy punk cover songs was their whole schtick. Fun to hear a couple of them, but pretty annoying over the course of an album.
Mrs. Robinson is a good cover song, but it's the Lemonheads. Evan Dando and Rivers don't sound anything alike, I'm surprised that this misconception has lasted this long (I remember seeing it on Napster back in the day when every powerpop cover got attributed to Weezer and every pop-punk cover to Blink 182).
Finally got a chance to give this a listen - it's pretty good stuff. Glad he released it; I like getting to hear artists in different capacities. It's one part Human Highway's quiet melancholy, one part Vapours' electronic drums and keys, and one part early Unicorns' bedroom pop.
I'm going to go ahead and say it: Nick Diamonds is the most underrated man in indie rock. Obviously the Unicorns were beloved by many, but I think their quick demise has been held against him ever since. "Arm's Way" is a masterpiece to me. "Return to Sea" is a good, diverse record (I'll admit this is Islands' album I revisit the least), and "Vapours" is fun as hell. After the Unicorns, I feel as if a lot of the critics have kind of written him off. "Arm's Way" deserved so much more praise. The Pitchfork review of it is in my top 3 most unfairly underrated reviews along with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "Some Loud Thunder" and of Montreal - "Skeletal Lamping." (As an aside, Stereogum, those three are prime pickings for your Double-Take feature, IMHO.) Really looking forward to listening to this when I get home. I enjoyed "Gone Bananas" and "Used to Be Funny" when I heard them previously. The man is prolific. If he can release Islands LP4 this year, then that makes for a great trio of releases (the third being Mister Heavenly).
It takes me so long to figure out what albums are really ones that will stick with me for a while. I think I'm just getting to the point now where I could make an accurate list of what I liked in 2010. This list looked pretty solid. This is all obviously subjective, but my list would have to be like this so far: (1.) Chad VanGaalen: "Diaper Island" (2.) Cults: "Cults" (3.) Panda Bear: "Tomboy" (4.) Smith Westerns: "Dye it Blonde" I'm getting into the Unknown Mortal Orchestra a little bit now. Destroyer's "Kaputt" was fun for a little while, but I kind of just stopped listening to it pretty quickly. Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver were a bit boring for me. Man Man and Toro y Moi were pleasant diversions for a couple of days each. I actually could probably make a list of favorite tracks easier than albums at this point in the year, with Cults - "You Know What I Mean", Panda Bear - "Alsatian Darn", and Chad VanGaalen - "Replace Me" near the top.
It's interesting that Dan and Spencer released songs on the same day. The paths they've gone down the last few years are pretty different. Dan is really pretty deep into this "write songs that could play at the end of a John Hughes movie" mode, while Spencer has been all over the place (and sounds like he's only going to get more varied with Moonface). I love both of them and enjoy pretty much all of their output, but, man, "Apologies to the Queen Mary" cannot be beat.
This reminds me of the screens I used to get as a kid when I played Nintendo too long. It's time to take it out and blow on the cartridge, maybe? Anyway, this is my favorite track on Tomboy. It's hypnotic enough without the kaleidoscope video, together they are quite possibly dangerous to my equilibrium.
Ha, that is an apt comparison. (And for seanjean: It is a reference to some particularly creepy characters on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.)
Their self-titled is the easiest to get into. Their follow-up "Some Loud Thunder" is a lot stranger, but I've come to like it a lot more. You also may enjoy the Alec Ounsworth solo album, "Mo Beauty" which is definitely easy to get into. There are obvious stand-out tracks on that one, such as "What Fun," "Holy Moses," and "Obscene Queen Bee #2," which I would recommend checking out to see if you may like that album.
Wow, cannot wait for this album. "Some Loud Thunder" is an absolutely amazing album. The first time around, I did not give it a chance because of mediocre reviews and I was not into "Satan Said Dance" as a single. But here I am in 2011 and I have played the crap out of that album in recent months. My favorite album of the year is one that was released in 2007 and I ignored. I definitely recommend people going back to that one and giving it a fair chance. I still love the self-titled album, but "Some Loud Thunder" is at a different level. You can get lost in the album. The sound is perfect really. The harmonies feel so familiar and odd at the same time. I'll stop gushing now. Anyway, love the sound of the trailer. It reminds me of "Some Loud Thunder" meets Flashy Python's "Skin and Bones."