Well, the modern pop machine is built around collaboration. Pop is not the place for auteurs. I'm sure she could write and produce an album on her own, but are the people with the money going to let her? Clearly not.
I have to say, I completely agree with Steve Albini here. My attitude toward The Pixies has always been "they're fine, but unremarkable." Which of course is sacrilege amongst pretty much everyone I know, but hey, they just don't do it for me.
Bananas are one of the most nutritious foods out there! And they come already wrapped! I feel sorry for anyone who can't take advantage of one of nature's most perfect gifts.
That's a good analogy. Everything since 2002 has been Skim Weezer.
Many consider everything after Pinkerton to be crap, but I actually love the Green Album, and I like Maladroit ok. Those two albums may not have been Whole Weezer--more like 2% Weezer. Whereas Pinkerton was Heavy Whipping Weezer.
I agree, most 90s "alt rock" sounds pretty dated now. SP being a prime example. Although, I will say that Nevermind and In Utero both still sound great, both being much more sharply produced than their peers' albums of the time.
I'm a full-time recording engineer, and I work with a lot of touring bands and their crew. I can count on one hand how many female sound people I've worked with in my few years of doing this. It is indeed very sad. It is a profession that suffers from being a "boys' club." Lots of alpha male assholes in this business, unfortunately. I could go on for hours.
Well, sometimes less is more, and simpler is better. MORE is not always more, and this is a problem I run into with a lot of classical, jazz, avante-garde, etc. Just because you CAN play 100 notes a second, doesn't mean it's GOOD. And in Joanna Newsom's case, just because you CAN fit in all sorts of motifs and literary references into a 3 minute song, doesn't mean you should. But having said that, what I've heard of this new record so far is pretty good, so I should probably just shut up.
It's so hard to rank R.E.M.'s albums for me, but I do know that their best is Automatic for the People. Perfect baroque-pop. Basically what they tried to do with Out of Time, but flawless. It's also my favorite album ever.
This was huge in my 8th/9th grade years. Everyone's first girlfriend was super into this album and Jagged Little Pill. What are tweens' first girlfriends into now? LDR?
I'm fine with Hozier. "Take Me To Church" is overplayed, but it has a different kind of feel that most HUGE songs don't have. His other singles are pleasant enough too. Definitely has that "Starbucks circa 2007" sound though. And I met him once; he was a nice guy, so that always helps.
I used to be an Eagles hater, but they really do have some jams. It's all about Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh though; "Hotel California" can go get stuffed.
A friend of mine served him brunch when he was in town with Shellac a couple months ago and said he was the nicest dude. And at least we know he has no problem with brunch.
I have to say, I don't get the universal love for these guys on here. I listened to both Sunbather and New Bermuda, and they are sonically interesting, but I can't get a sense of the songs there. I'm not a metal guy by any means (though I love 80s Metallica)--I need more melody. It kind of just sounds like screamo to me. I'll give them a few more listens to see if something clicks, but I don't see how they're transcending their genre niche in any way. But this was a very interesting writeup to read!
As someone who loathes the Taylor Swift version, I am kind of blown away. This is really good! I'm only a fair weather Ryan Adams fan too (loved his self-titled album last year). "Welcome to New York," for example, is fantastic, and I find the Taylor Swift version absolutely cringe-worthy.
In a "progress report" interview a while back, Kurt Vile mentioned a there was a new song that he thought was his best ever. Anyone know which song that turned out to be?
Comments