quote:

White Trash nice'n'gritty rock, side project from the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion folks. Recommended if ya like Southern Culture on the Skids.

Uh...isn't that Heavy Trash?

quote:

Originally posted by SmokyMorgan:

quote:

White Trash nice'n'gritty rock, side project from the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion folks. Recommended if ya like Southern Culture on the Skids.

Uh...isn't that Heavy Trash?

uh, yeah, what made me write White Trash? Was i thinkin bout Britney Spears? Hmmm...

I've read where Weezer's "Make Believe" is getting some terrible reviews, though Rolling Stoned & AMG like it. I liked it. Ok, so it ain't "Pinkerton" but i like fun pop songs.

Brazilian Girls They aren't Brazilian, only one of them is a girl, but it's highly digable. It's like a multi-lingual Portishead. (electronica) There are two songs in french, one in german, one in spanish, and the rest in english. I especially like the songs, "Lazy Lover", "Pussy", and "Me Gustas Cuando Callas" which means, "I like you when you stop talking."

Also enjoying the Gardenstate soundtrack. I like Zach Braff's taste in music!

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
I've read where Weezer's "Make Believe" is getting some terrible reviews, though Rolling Stoned & AMG like it. I liked it. Ok, so it ain't "Pinkerton" but i like fun pop songs.

Keri brought this CD and we listened to it. It was okay, it didn't pass the 85% rule I have. I liked some of the songs but eh, to be honest, I didn't think it had too many fun pop songs. "Beverly Hills" was fun, but mostly it was River's "Oh I suck but I wuv you" train of thought throughout.

Don't get me wrong, I liked it, just not enough to warrant my purchasing my own copy. I still love Weezer, they are the best band ever, but meh.

What I AM diggin' on, is the new System of a Down. Mezmerize is the shit! SOAD is the shit. These guys don't miss a step. They played here not too long ago, a Guerrilla Club tour, small venues, you were close enough to get sweated on. I had to work. Sucks. Hopefully they'll do a big tour soon.

Blue-eyed soul:

Van Morrison's "Magic Time" is soooooooo damn good! I like anything Van the Man releases but this one is exceptional. The playing is tight with nice dabs of soul, jazz & blues (check out "Gypsy In My Soul" & "Evening Train"). The outstanding track here is "The Lion This Time", great acoustic ballad with many meanings (a la Van's classic "Linden Arden Stole the Highlights" from the "Veedon Fleece" album). Anyhoo, the dude most def still has it.

Memphis soul-

V/A "Big Moe- Live At R.C.'s Place" It's not a live cd, there's no song track anywhere on the cd or the booklet (!) and i'm guessing "Big Moe" chose the songs here and "R.C.'s Place" maybe is a juke joint down Memphis way. But i do know this is a collection of sizzlin hot, forgotten soul songs, funk instrumentals & deep fried southern bluesy ballads that shouldn't be overlooked. Can't understand why they'd package this without giving credit to the artists & songs cuz they sure deserve the notice & probably the mullah.

Finally got to hear Spoon's "Gimme Fiction" cd today and it's grrrrrreat. If the first 3 songs seem kinda light weight, the album gets much better as it goes on. Check out "I Summon You" for a gorgeous should-be radio hit. "Sister Jack" has some kinda Wilco magic to it and "Was It You" is bound to be welcome earworm. Get a copy with the bonus tracks as "Carryout Kids" is most excellent.

On a scale of 0-10:

The Waifs "A Brief History" 7.2
concert cd

Dave Matthews Band "Stand Up" 6.2
lo-fi but mumbling singing

Ryan Adams "Cold Roses" 9.1
Pure Praire League with an alternative attitude

Stereotypes "3" 7.7
fun indie rock

Supersuckers "Devil's Food" 8
worth it for cover of "Eastbound & Down", yep,
the Smokey & the Bandit tune

Weird War "Illuminated By the Light" 8
bluesy garage stuffage

the killers - hot fuss.

everyone buy it. but it now. buy two copies for when you wear out the first one.

go now.

Always liked Aimee Mann. Her new one, "The Forgotten Arm", is a step up from her last cd, which was also a concept album. This one is also a concept record but the songs hold on their own as well as part of a theme. Check out "King of the Jailhouse" as a key to the theme here, as well as "Going Through the Motions" and "Beautiful" which oughta be no. 1 hits in a better world.

White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan


Okay, best album title of the year--maybe the decade.

I've listened to it a couple of times. Variety is the watchword on this latest offering. Stand-outs for me, are "Denial Twist" & "Take, Take, Take".
"Passive Manipulation" is just a little too breathless and rushed--does nothing for me. I can't decide if Meg is singing back-up on "Little Ghost" or not, but it's got that Hotel Yorba spirit (no pun intended, but it was a happy accident no?). I didn't really react to "White Moon" the first time, I heard it, but the second time I started to hear some good things in it.

New Foo Fighters In Your Honor is okay but nothing special. It's a 2 cd set, the 2nd cd is all acoustic & probably the better of the two cd's.

Still waiting to find the new Michelle Shocked cd's & the new Ry Cooder.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: xenacrazed,

The Dirtbombs best-of, "If You Don't Already, Have A Look" is excellent fun punk. 2 cd set, the first cd is the best of their stuff (my faves are "Cedar Point '76" and "High Octane Salvation") and the 2nd cd is all covers. Nice variety of cover sources, too, from The Romantics "Mystified" to Flipper's "Ha Ha Ha".

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings are a great new soul & funk group and their "Naturally" cd is a must-have. Check out the duet with funk boss Lee Fields "Stranded in Your Love" as well as Sharon's reworking of "This Land is Your Land" into something much more contemporary.

"A Retrospective 1995-2000" is the plain title to the excellent Son Volt anthology. All good tunes here. Gonna have to mix me a cd of Son Volt, Wilco, Uncle Tupelo and any other offspring bands. Yay!

Jack Johnson has addictive chemicals in his voice. I didn't mean to buy this CD, In Between Dreams. I sampled it willy nilly and ended up falling in the love. It's mellow and reminds me of, "Rain drops keep falling on my head..." in a good way. It's hard not to love a song called, "Banana Pancakes". I'd list favorite songs but they all flow so well together that I'd feel like I was separating siamese twins.

Also got, Jem. Yes, she's finally broken up with the Hollograms. Just kidding, it's not that Jem. This Jem is kinda like a cross between Beth Orton and Dido. I like the whole thing, but standouts are; "They," "Finally Woken," and "Save Me."

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:

New Foo Fighters In Your Honor is okay but nothing special.

Yeah, I'd totally agree with that.

I found their earlier albums more interesting. There are a few songs here and there which caught my attention, but nothing that smacks of instant classic.

A blue-eyed soul album I'd recommend xc checking out is Tonight by Renee Geyer.

Some might find her a bit nasally, but to me she uses her voice as an instrument of fun to get across the energy of the songs she performs.

hay thanks for the recommendation, Argy, i've added Renee's cd to my want-list. i love the stuff from her i have on lp & cd, her voice just gets better with time.

She's one hell of a live performer, too.

Some recent finds-

The Soviettes- "LP III" fun femme punk-pop

Langhorne Slim- "When the Sun's Gone Down" sounded like Ryan Adams meets Wilco

Michelle Shocked- "Threesome" She released 3 cd's at the same time, this is a cheaper boxed set with all three. One cd is like Latin pop, the 2nd cd is rock & R&B and the 3rd is covers of Disney tunes. I liked the 2nd & 3rd cd's best. Nice covers of "Bare Necessities" & "Spoonful of Sugar".

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah- s/t Sounds like Arcade Fire meets Talking Heads, pertty cool.

Bill Fay- "Time of the Last Persecution" Crazed folk-rock in the style of Nick Drake & Tim and Jeff Buckley.

The Go-Betweens- "Oceans Apart" excellent new cd plus awesome live album included.

The Orange Peels- "Circling the Sun" Beatlesque power pop, really way out fun pop

The Dreadful Yawns- s/t An alt-country cd on...Bomp Records!?!? Sounds like Uncle Tupleo kinda stuff.

xc recommends

The Quarter After s/t

Tracy Bonham "Blink the Brightest" *

Jamie Lidell "Multiply" *

Erin Mckeown "We Will Become Like Birds" *

A Band of Bees "Free the Bees"

John Hiatt "Master of Disaster" *

Laura Cantrell "Humming by the Flowered Vine"

Ry Cooder "Chavez Ravine"

Magnolia Electric Co. "What Comes After the Blues" *

*these will probabably be in my year end best cd's list

xc so-so recommendations

Coldplay "X & Y"
It has it's moments, better as a whole than it's parts.

Sufjan Stevens "Illinois"
Some songs are too long & the backing vocalists spoil what should be Stevens by himself. This should be similiar to Iron & Wine not the Polyphonic Spree.

bought & like Frank Black's new cd, "Honeycomb". It's a country-soul thing, covers of Dan Penn and Monkees(!) tunes, really fun. i liked it even more when i read Pitchford's bad review of it, though many critics love it.

more stuff-

Franz Ferdinand- "You Could Have It So Much Better"- Not as an immediate like as their debut cd but definately growing on me. i most liked the mid album songs, such as "Eleanor Put Your Boots On", "Well That Was Easy" and "I'm Your Villain". Can't wait to hear this album again.

Fiona Apple- "Extraordinary Machine"- Some nice songs, though a bit too wordy. Some artists can't do songs correctly when the songs are over 3 and a half minutes or so. So the shorter the better and to the point. "Oh Well" and "Please Please Please" are my faves here. This is another needs-more-spins-to-appreciate kinda album.

Iron & Wine and Calexico- "In the Reins"- Iron & Wine can do no wrong. Southern gothic meets Southwest desert here. Fave tunes are "16 Maybe Less", "A History of Lovers" and "Burn That Broken Bed".

Patty Loveless- "Dreamin My Dreams"- The only mainstream country singer that matters to me. "Old Soul" is a classic and i just love her duet with Dwight Yoakum on "Never Ending Song of Love" but my most fave here is "Big Chance".

Ryan Adams- "Jacksonville City Nights"- Adams returns more to his alt-country roots. This dude is prolific this year. Good stuff.

Wolf Parade- "Apologies to the Queen Mary "- Darlings of the indie scene. Songstyle like Arcade Fire, vocals like a mix of Arcade Fire & Bowie. Their long songs are tedious but i liked the shorter songs best. Ppl learn- long songs are tedious 'less you really really good at it.

Detroit Cobras- "Baby" Hell yeah! Garagey rock stuff. One of the best cds of the year.

The Hexxers- "Freaks with the Savage Beat"- Rip snortin' rockabilly with a garage/punk kick. Lotta fun.

Black Rebel Motorcylce Club- "Howl" They changed their style from Velvet Undergroundish to indie folk/rock. Much better songwriting. Big improvement all around.

le sigh

xc beats me to the new FF. *s*

I like "The Fallen" alot actually.

V/A Suicide Girls: Black Heart Retrospective -Gothy or gothy-like tunes. Love & Rockets, Joy Divison, Bauhaus, Gene Loves Jezebel- you know the stuff. Good bands, they could've picked more recent bands or better songs of those they chose.

Neil Young "Prairie Wind" Similiar to his "Harvest" or "Harvest Moon". More of the same, not bad, just nothing really different.

Broadcast "Tender Buttons" Electronica band now just a duo. Music suffers without the others. I traded my cd in.

Big Star "In Space" First new studio album in 30 years. The first couple songs are power popish, kinda like the old stuff. The rest of the cd is more like funky indie rock, which is great music to me. Humbug on the critics who want the old Big Star. Chris Bell died many moons ago, let Alex Chilton have his way & be grateful he's still alive to give us this!

Deerhoof "The Runners Four" Ya either love 'em or hate 'em. Really strange femme vocals but i like strange so i like this cd. Can't compare to anything else. This is expieremental indie rock at it's best (imo). Ok, imagine a more user-friendly Yoko Ono heading up the Breeders with Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips as her singing partner.

The Green Pajamas "21st Century Seance" Here we go! New genre- spooky indie folk rock. These folks been around since mid-1980s and keep getting better. Moody, melancholy, autumnal and yet hopeful songs. If the Go-Betweens were the Beatles, the Green Pajamas would be the Byrds.

Apollo Sunshine s/t Here we go! Contender for top 5 cd's of '05. Neo-psychedelic/indie rock/power pop. Grest music, fun lyrics. Cheap Trick meets The Polyphonic Spree.

The Go! Team- "Thunder, Lightning, Strike" Most of this is upbeat instrumentals, not surf nor rock instrols, but like indie upbeat power instrumentals. The rest of it is a new genre- cheerleader rock. Check "We Just Won't Be Defeated" for a fun time.

Broken Social Scene- s/t This is the opposite of the cd above. Downbeat instrumentals with buried vocals that make ya wanna stay in bed and not go nowhere. Not as interesting as their last cd, this will taken repeated listens to grow on me. These folks could use some caffeine or uppers or lift the shades and let some sunshine in. A few downer songs is ok but not a whole freakin album!

My Morning Jacket- "Z" Top 20 cd of '05 or better. Shorter leaner songs that pack their indie Neil Youngish punch and captivate me. Hats off to the band for tweaking their style. Even the longer songs are more impressive, especially "Lay Low".