The Beatles - Stereo Remasters. An XMas present from dear, sweet, Mrs Cleek. This is 15 CDs worth of stuff, and I've been going through them in chronological order - haven't made it through all of them yet. But, what I have heard sounds awesome. The earlier albums, especially, really pop compared to previous version - voices are clearer, drums have more punch, bass is more defined, etc.. Very nice.
Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream Of Trains, In New York. Last year, Robyn jumped aboard the play-a-classic-album-live train, and played 1984's "I Often Dream Of Trains". It's most of that album (but skips a few tracks, ex. "Mellow Together", "The Bones In The Ground", "Furry Green Atom Bowl"), with a couple of newer things thrown in. The songs are fairly faithful renderings of the originals, just a couple of minor changes here and there; but since the original is not one of my favorite R.H. records, straight versions of those songs don't really thrill me. YepRoc, his record label, likes to do special promo editions of everything he puts out (and knows they have at least one person who is happy to buy them!), so my copy came with a R.H. Christmas ornament, the DVD of the show, and all the parts necessary to make an old fashioned rotating "moving picture machine" - if I wanted to dismantle the CD case - which I don't.
Flaming Lips - Embryonic. This is a much darker-sounding record than their last few. With a few exceptions, it's heavy and grinding, with fuzzed bass and hyper-compressed drums. And many of the heaviest songs sound a lot alike - thankfully, those are my favorites. But when every fifth song sounds a lot like the first song, and there are 22 songs, it feels like just too much to listen to at once - like it keeps starting over, forever. I would've been happy with half the number of songs. Still, not bad.
Spiral Stairs - The Real Feel. Spiral Stairs is Scott Kannberg, former guitar player and sometimes singer from Pavement (ex. "Date With Ikea", "Kennel District", "Passat Dream"). So, as you might expect, this sounds a bit like Pavement. What you might not expect is that it doesn't really sound all that different from the solo stuff from Pavement's other former guitar player, and lead singer, Stephen Malkmus. Malkmus has been putting out albums for almost a decade now, solo or with The Jicks. And based on what they've sounded like, it seemed pretty clear that Malkmus' songwriting was the sound of the last few Pavement records: when they kinda mellowed-out and pushed a lot of the really edgy stuff to the side. You listen to Pavement's last two records and then you listen to Malkmus' stuff and well.. not much of a difference. So when I heard this Spiral Stairs record was coming out, but before I actually heard it, I expected that this would be the off-kilter, playful-freak-out stuff that was dominant on the earlier Pavement records, and the stuff that turned Malkmus' pop songs into Pavement songs: guitar abuse, screaming, 30-second freak-outs - the stuff that gradually faded-away in Pavement and was apparently replaced by more and more of what Malkmus wanted to do. Nope. Really, the Spiral Staircase record may be even more straightforward than Malkmus' solo/post-Pavement stuff - there's a bit more of a California country/western feel, and some of the songs aren't quite as strong, and none are as polished, as Malkmus' recent stuff. But it's the same kind of stuff (sounds like late-era Pavement) and it's mostly pretty good. And after hearing this a few times, I can better hear Kannberg's what contribution to Pavement really was. Which is cool. It just wasn't what I was expecting it to be.
I haven’t watched the IODOT DVD, I liked the show a whole lot though — my impressions of it here — is the DVD a straight concert tape or edited song, song, song? There was great banter, e.g. “These songs are basically subtitles; they flash underneath while life is going on.” I really liked “Sounds Great When You’re Dead” and “I Used To Say I Loved You”, and “Goodnight I Say” was an excellent closing number. I think the encores were the first time I ever heard “I’m Falling”.
is the DVD a straight concert tape or edited song, song, song?
it’s edited a bit. there are bits of an interview on a train interspersed here and there. there’s a lot of the banter, too.
video-wise, it’s no Storefront. it’s got that sterile videotapey kind of feel. and there aren’t any candles :)
but it’s better than some of the other video’s i have from him. for sure.
Did they in fact edit out that bit about the technical difficulties at the end of “I Used To Say I Loved You”?
where his guitar cable falls out? yeah, that’s in there.
you were at that show? wow. awesome! i mean, i know i sound down on it, but that’s just because IODOT isn’t my fav. but i’d have loved to have been there for it.
I think actually there were two shows in NYC, the DVD is probably a mix of takes between the two I guess. Yeah, there was some banter after the end of the song about how they should edit out the bit where his guitar comes unplugged, I’m glad they left that in because watching him handle it semi-gracefully was delightful. Storefront is probably as much Demme as Hitchcock, it makes sense that you need a great director to make a great film.
Rob Caldecott
I finally got around to buying some new music. Haven’t listened to much of yet though but I’ll be sure to post reviews when I have!
Jarvis Cocker – Further Complications.
Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More.
Passion Pit – Manners.
Spoon – Got Nuffin’ EP.
The Temper Trap – Conditions.
Wild Beasts – Two Dancers.
Check out this live Mumford & Sons track – it’s really quite special.
I haven’t watched the IODOT DVD, I liked the show a whole lot though — my impressions of it here — is the DVD a straight concert tape or edited song, song, song? There was great banter, e.g. “These songs are basically subtitles; they flash underneath while life is going on.” I really liked “Sounds Great When You’re Dead” and “I Used To Say I Loved You”, and “Goodnight I Say” was an excellent closing number. I think the encores were the first time I ever heard “I’m Falling”.
(Did they in fact edit out that bit about the technical difficulties at the end of “I Used To Say I Loved You”? That would be a damn shame.)
is the DVD a straight concert tape or edited song, song, song?
it’s edited a bit. there are bits of an interview on a train interspersed here and there. there’s a lot of the banter, too.
video-wise, it’s no Storefront. it’s got that sterile videotapey kind of feel. and there aren’t any candles :)
but it’s better than some of the other video’s i have from him. for sure.
Did they in fact edit out that bit about the technical difficulties at the end of “I Used To Say I Loved You”?
where his guitar cable falls out? yeah, that’s in there.
you were at that show? wow. awesome! i mean, i know i sound down on it, but that’s just because IODOT isn’t my fav. but i’d have loved to have been there for it.
I think actually there were two shows in NYC, the DVD is probably a mix of takes between the two I guess. Yeah, there was some banter after the end of the song about how they should edit out the bit where his guitar comes unplugged, I’m glad they left that in because watching him handle it semi-gracefully was delightful. Storefront is probably as much Demme as Hitchcock, it makes sense that you need a great director to make a great film.
I finally got around to buying some new music. Haven’t listened to much of yet though but I’ll be sure to post reviews when I have!
Jarvis Cocker – Further Complications.
Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More.
Passion Pit – Manners.
Spoon – Got Nuffin’ EP.
The Temper Trap – Conditions.
Wild Beasts – Two Dancers.
Check out this live Mumford & Sons track – it’s really quite special.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbaL2bnQcSo
Banjotastic.
Nice looking Etsy store!
And . . . I suppose you’ve seen regretsy?
http://www.regretsy.com/