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There's plenty of blame to go around and literally everyone looks bad in this situation, but Chuck is right in that 80% of the blame for this goes to LiveNation and these festival organizations for seeming to always be unprepared for how to handle massive groups of people, despite the fact they've done them hundreds to thousands of times. I haven't been to a rock/rap festival since 1997 because they seem like horribly dehumanizing experiences where people are denied access to affordable basic needs (water and food), a lack of sanitation, and a lack of security to protect people from physical harm and sexual assault. In turn, it encourages a level of abandon and hedonism that results in things like crowds rushing a stage completely ignoring the pain or harm they might be doing to someone else. And frankly, they seem like a terrible way to enjoy music.
I had heard the name, but never knew anything about the band or their sound. So far, they sound pretty freaking cool. I'll have to dive into this. Just wish I wasn't so late to the party on it.
I think it's time for this to finally happen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B8oxikK2og
i just want to know what this "back story" is. Did they want Marr involved and he blew them off?
I barely use Facebook and Twitter, because that's were the dumbest and insane content is found, but waste far too much time on Instagram. Mostly because there are a lot of funny comedians and sketches being posted there that I wouldn't know about otherwise. That said, i hate supporting social media companies with my activity and I think about deleting them all the time. I'd probably be way more productive.
I totally agree. I don't think I've really listen to any of her work since the earlier 2000's, but this is a great song. It sounds like a Tori Amos/Doves collaboration, with the sound of the drums and the warble of the vibro-vocal under it.
Good write up! But can you please never use the phrase "creamiest delivery" ever again! Thanks!
....says the guy sharing an opinion that didn't need to be shared
I went with "Be Sweet" by Japanese Breakfast, but I almost went with Wet Leg's "Chaise Longue", one of the most fun (and legitimately funny) songs I've heard in a long while. Can't wait for more from them!
Good for her for grinding and for developing a 30 plus year career in music. She deserves any attention thrown her way. I wish i could say the same about the new music. "Closer to Love" sounds like it was recorded in a booth at a theme park. Totally generic sounding dance pop song. The musical accompaniment sounds like a keyboard demo version of house music and the vocal melody is nothing memorable.
"The Weather" is one of the best songs BTS ever did and some days my favorite. It's a great record by a great band that more people should know about.
I'm with you here: As much as I'd love to go to all the amazing concerts this summer, I still have a 3 year old a home who can't get vaccinated and just can't take the risk, unfortunately.
My only experience with Sheeran's music was at a miniature golf course at the beach where the people running it decided they were just going to play his music on a loop and it was the worst stuff I ever heard. It's been a few years know so I can't totally remember, but I feel like there was a song that had real white guy reggae vibes that particularly tempted me to throw the speakers in the water hazard.
I've been waiting to read his book since he announced it nearly two years ago. Can not wait to get my copy. There are few creators that have meant more to me over the years than Tom. Turned me on to some of my all time favorite comedians and musicians and is somehow still as funny, if not funnier, than his was at the beginning of the show. To steal a line from the Replacements, "I never travel far/without a little (Big Shar?)"...nevermind
Just curious, are you the "manga/comic artist/creator of Akkiko" Mark Crilley? If so, it is incredibly cool you are on these boards. You're a brilliant artist.
This is the best. Thank you!
It's bonkers to think of these two things occurring at the same time.
The self titled album from the 90's easily has 2 of their top 5 best songs on it (Come Undone and Ordinary World).
Crowded House is great! I haven't really dug their later stuff as much, but I will try to give this record a try. If nothing else, he seems like he's really enjoying himself. Bob Mould would be my guy. The guy is 60 years old and still putting out some of the most visceral and tuneful punk rock records you can hear. I think "Silver Age" might be my favorite of the late career records, but they have all been solid to great.
Gish is definitely the more consistent record, but I generally find Machina to be the one I go to more often. I don't know if the it's the production or what, but I find my self getting bored with Gish during the last half. Machina, while having it's duds, it just a bigger, catchier album to me and has my favorite SP song on it "Stand Inside Your Love"
The lack of edge on Hysteria drops it in my rankings of Def Leppard records, but everything works well on "Love Bites" which is better than I remembered. A solid 8 for me. Bennie is a all-time, undeniable classic. 10 all the way. Hooked on a feeling sucks so bad. I hate it with a passion, especially the stupid "Ooga Chaka's" at the beginning. A grating cartoon song for children that is a 2 in my book.
Hey, I mean this with absolute kindness, are you doing ok? In the last week or so I've seen you just blowing up in rage in these comment sections. Yeah, I don't always see eye to eye with people on here and there's a lot of stuff to be angry at in the world, but there's an intensity to your posts lately that just feels extreme. If that's the case, I hope things get better. If I'm off-base, maybe you just communicate your feelings differently than I do.
I got really into REM in late high school-early 20's thanks to a friend's wedding. The whole bridal party (myself included) had a group dance to "You Are the Everything" that lit a fire in my heart for a band I previously just thought had a few good singles. I ended up buying "Automatic", assuming that was the record that had the song on it. It was not, obviously, but I fell in love with it anyway. I was the record I learned when I was first playing guitar, which was great to practice with because a lot of the guitar is pretty simple since Buck had been moving away from a lot of open chords and arpeggios at this point. All this is to say, I was just coming into REM as "Up" was coming out. I was primed to like it. It certainly has more in common with the type of songwriting they were doing with "Automatic" rather than the earlier records, which I now lean more heavily on. I liked certain songs, but like some posters above have said, it's a bit overlong and can be a slog. Still, this was a time before streaming was possible in the car and when you bought a record, you were invested. "The Great Beyond" single was great and when they followed with "Imitation of Life" as their next single, I was sure REM next big pop record was upon us. Turns out I was right and wrong? There's definitely a strong Brian Wilson vibe on this record. I personally don't can for the Beach Boys, but I can appreciate the craft. There are some career standouts on this record: the aforementioned "Imitation of Life", "I'll Take the Rain", "All the Way to Reno". It actually caught me off guard that there are only twelve songs on this record, because it feels much longer. I think that it's due to the fact that, while some of the bands most beautiful chorus' are on this record, they sure take a long time to get to some of them and a lot of the verses really drag. "Disappear" an "Beat A Drum" are perfect examples of this. From a vocal standpoint, though, this might be Stipe's best album. The chorus' stick because his vocal melodies are so strong. He's always been one rock's best singers in my eyes, but he outdoes himself here. This analogy seems to fit with me, REM is a Albert Pujols of bands. They were unstoppable in their early years, one of the bests of all time. Then they signed a big contract, had some very good early years, even some great highlights, but there's no doubt that Warner paid for a band operating at a more league average level, in some cases being barely playable. Ranking the Warners Output, I'm going: 1. Green 2. Automatic 3. Out of Time 4. Collapse into Now 5. Accelerate 6. Reveal 7. Monster 8. Up 9. New Adventures in Hi-fi (I must be an outlier in REM fandom, because I think this record sucks outside of "electrolite" 10. Around the Sun
That's absolutely how I feel about it. I almost wonder if it came out during the LP era if it would have been more enjoyable if you had to listen to it as 2 separate records and they structured the track list that way. There's a lot of good on this record, but it can start to feel same-y and feels like it's 2 hrs long.
Greetings to you, sir!
I remember going to my local record store, "Record and Tape Traders" in Towson, MD (which has sadly bit the dust like most record stores) for a midnight sale and buying the Green Album and Tool's "Lateralus" (which was also just reviewed, funny enough). I remember my first thoughts as I popped it into my car CD player, "Huh, this is really short considering how long we've waited." Then about two or three songs in, "This is fine, but it's really missing something. It feels so empty." Which is basically how I've felt about every Weezer Album since. Losing Matt Sharp killed this band. I mean, listen to the Blue Album and the Green back to back and tell me this is not a fundamentally different band sonically, even though all the other same pieces are in place. I personally think that Rivers might be the kind of guy that needs a strong, creative personality to work off of and I don't get the impression the other guys in this band have that. I do truly feel for Rivers as a creator, though. Some artists are just so sensitive to fan feedback that they can't find their way back. As dark as the post Pinkerton period was, I do wonder whether social media would have made it worse or better? Personally, I had really liked Pinkerton when it came out. It was definitely darker and rougher around the edges than Blue and fortunately I was young enough (or ignorant enough) to not appreciate how uncomfortable and cringey the lyrics were. I wonder if it was more that the critics hated it than the fans? I honestly can't remember the reception at the time.
The lyrics are beyond stupid, but I don't hate this. It's a pretty satisfying chorus.
I don't understand what's not coming through in translation. I'm not saying he deserved to die for flaunting his wealth. I'm saying that this story is a reminder for all of us to use common sense when it comes to advertising how much we have in money and valuables all the time. This is common sense 101 in so many aspects of our life from not leaving valuables visible in our cars, flashing wads of cash on the street, or, yes, flaunting a diamond encrusted Rolex on Instagram. The robber literally said that's why they robbed him! I'm truly confused by your apparent disgust. Are you just an idealist who believes that there are no potential consequences for risky behavior? Making excuses for the behavior would be if I went on some rant about poverty as the result of institutional racism driving young men to life of crime, ect... (though I'm not saying that argument doesn't have merit in a lot of facets of society)
It's the same reason the tell you not to post when you go on vacation on Facebook or things like that. He's right that criminals go through social media looking for targets. He's not saying that he deserved to be killed for having nice things. It's that advertising all the valuable things you have on the internet can make you a target. It's the same reason I don't post a sign on my lawn that says: "Guy with a nice collection of guitars with no security system!"
His Mom would have been the better guest host. Her comedic timing was pretty good.
"Bob Vylan frontman Bobby Vylan" might be the funniest thing I've ever read on this site. "Bob? Hey man, no need to be formal. When I'm off stage, it's just Bobby, bro!"
“Making a podcast isn’t the obvious next move for me, but it’s the right one."- Uh, Dave, at this point I think there are only 4 comedians in the world that don't have a podcast. It is most certainly the most obvious move you could make.
I just thought it was important to add that, when my wife was a kid, she believed the lyrics to this song were, "Get out of my briefs/And into my car." On a related note of mishearing lyrics, she also believed the lyrics to the original Ducktales cartoon was, "Ducktales...Woo Oooo....Everybody has a duck, Ducktales!" She might be a Best Show/Jon Wurster character come to life.
I'd really like to hear that Beck album he was working on right before Sea Change. I remember reading that all the demos for the songs were in a suitcase that was stolen and he either couldn't remember the songs or couldn't replicate what was there, so started fresh and recorded Sea Change. I've always found that record kind of boring, so I would be really interested to hear what could have been, but unfortunately, that's near impossible unless the mutant who stole the tapes returns them.
How have I had no idea they were together? My first thought is what a bizarre pairing considering Bikini Kill's politics and the way women were talked about in the early Beasties records, but congratulations to them for making it working for 25 years!
Both that bit and the L'Eggs sketch were the kind of special weirdness SNL can do when it's at it's best. I enjoyed the "Study Buddy" sketch as well. It was fun and cute. Weird Little Flute wasn't particularly funny, but I actually kind of dug it as a song. One of the better episodes this year.
The fascinating thing is, Isolation Drills is FULL of radio friendly singles. "Chasing Heather Crazy", "Glad Girls", "Brides have hit the Glass", and "Skills Like This" all sound like sounds that could have and should been big singles. Bob forgets more perfect pop songs in a few months then most groups could write in their lifetimes. I honestly cannot understand why they aren't bigger outside of the fact that their catalog is so enormous people don't know where to start or that the records are usually 35-45% filler, but they barely feel like crimes big enough to relegate one of their best records to selling less than 100,000. I try not to make sweeping generalizations, but GBV just feels like a case most people being too dumb to get it.
"Speak Kindly..." is such a good record and, like a lot of GBV/Pollard solo work, I think it's just become buried under the volume of the catalog and few know about it. Doug Gillard has always been my favorite musical partner for Pollard.
This is definitely a record that deserves revisiting. Everything Ryan says about it is spot on. "Rifles" is my favorite track, it would have been prefect on the Crow soundtrack had it come out a few years earlier. There was a swagger and songcraft to this record that they never quite reached again, though "Baby 81" has an incredible first half. And, just to be hysterical (because that's what the internet is for), this record is better than any Strokes or Jesus and Mary Chain record, whom they were unfairly compared to.
Also, talk about iconic videos: The True Faith video was so bonkers as was on MTV all the time when I was a kid.