Yesterday, I got around to buying the new Wilco and Dinosaur Jr. CDs.

Wilco has cut out some of the Alt Rock excess that weighed down their last few efforts. Somehow, amazingly, only one of the tracks on the album breaks into five-minute-plus territory. What's retained from the last few albums is the somber mood. The fun atmosphere of the jangly, immediately post Uncle Tupelo days is all but gone.

The new Dinosaur Jr. album (Beyond) sounds like a Dinosaur Jr. album (meaning it sounds a lot like "good" era Sonic Youth), which means it sounds pretty great. It's a good effort for a band whose original lineup hasn't released an album since 1988.

I also bought a bootlegged Chiffons CD--because I was curious to hear their version of "My Sweet Lord." It should have been titled, "Our People Sued George Harrison's People, and All We Got Was This Lousy Cover."

Michel Polnareff, Le Bal des Laze

If you ever wondered how Nilsson might have sounded if he had been raised in France and backed by the late-sixties Kinks, this is the album to which you simply must listen.

It's lyrically sparse to good effect. (It's also in French, so it's quite helpful to me that it is lyrically sparse.) It is in equal measures somber and cheery. It is musically playful even when it is being serious, and it is as stylistically diverse as a post-LSD Beatles album.

I had been looking for this album for some time, and was finally lucky enough to find it without having to order it.

I should also mention that there isn't a weak track on it. I have my favorites, but I usually find myself starting at the beginning and playing all the way through to the end.

* * *

Scott Walker, Scott

I was curious to hear this just to see how far of a departure it was from the Walker Brothers' albums. (They aren't real brothers. Look them up on Wikipedia if you are unfamiliar with them. They're a trio of American ex-pats who made their names in Britain. Their most recognizable single is probably their cover of Frankie Valli's "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine ([Anymore].")

It sounds more like an extension than anything else, with even more emphasis on the orchestration. The background music often sounds like a mightly clash between a Spectorized Wall of Sound and a full orchestra performing a James Bond theme. The vocals are typical Scott, wavering uncomfortably between Tony Bennett-like Big Band smarm and Leonard Cohen/Fred Neil-like gravel.

Not bad.

* * *

Paul McCartney, Memory Almost Full

Album almost worth listening to. Again.

Damn you, Paul McCartney!

I strongly suspect most of the songs on the album are the songs Nigel Godrich refused to let Paul record (because, as Nigel put it, they were "crap").

It's listenable, I guess. It's just frustrating to have to have to bear Paul McCartney Wing-ing his way through yet another album.

How is this album compared to Chaos & Creation?

I just picked up a copy of Boxer by The National. I'm still trying to figure out who they sound like and all I'm coming up with is U2 and Tindersticks.

I plan on taking advantage of BMG's latest offer, all cds $5.99 (except certain restricted selections), free shipping if you order 5 or more. I've seen a lot of deals come through from BMG, and this is the best one they offer, except for the very first deal you get for becoming a member (12 for the price of 1). I'll let you know what I get (unless I mess up and miss the deadline )

Kinoshawk wrote:How is this album compared to Chaos & Creation?

Not as good. It's not even as good as Flaming Pie. I guess it's on par with Driving Rain. Thankfully, though, it's about twenty-five minutes shorter than Driving Rain.

It's not a *bad* album. There are some good tracks.

It's just . . .

Damn you, Paul McCartney!

Crowded House, Time on Earth

I've always liked Crowded House, but I've always preferred Split Enz. When Neil Finn Started taking the Enz reins from Tim Finn, Split Enz started sounding less like Split Enz (and more like Crowded House would eventually sound).

Somehow, Neil's presence completely dominates the sound whenever he and Tim are together (evidence of this can be heard in the Crowded House albums to which Tim contributed, as well as in their work as the "Finn Brothers"). When there's no Tim at all (as is the case with Time on Earth), I'm not even sure what point there is to calling it Crowded House. The house isn't crowded, at all. It might as well be a Neil Finn solo album. Actually, it might as well be that when Tim is there. Tim writes like Neil when Neil is there (which is odd, considering he is the elder). Compare some Crowded House albums to some Neil Finn solo albums and some Finn Brothers albums.

Again, I really like Neil, so I'm cool with it. It's just that I miss my pre-Neil, 70s Split Enz-era Tim.

Tim released a solo album of his own in 2006. It's called Imaginary Kingdom, and it's a fresher, more fun listening experience than Time on Earth. Flashes of Old School Tim are apparent, but it's still more mellow than I would have hoped for from a solo Tim outing.

* * *

The Bonzo Dog Band, Let's Make Up and Be Friendly

It's good stuff. If you like Zappa, the Beatles and Captain Beefheart, chances are you will like The Bonzo Dog Band.

This is their last outing, made after the band had already split up and their label had informed them that they still owed an album.

Innes lays some of the ground work here that will go into the Rutles' sound.

* * *

Lucky Soul, The Great Unwanted

If you listen to this album, you will like it. I'm not even sure if you will have a choice.

Took advantage of Century Media's sometime annual October sale. Here's what I got:

AINA - Days of Rising Doom
Alien - Dark Eyes
Allen / Lande - The Revenge
Angra - Temple of Shadows
Axxis - Paradise in Flames
Robin Beck - Do You Miss Me
Bonfire - Double X
Crystal Ball - Virtual Empire
Crystal Ball - Time Walker
Edguy - King of Fools (single)
Edguy - Hellfire Club
Edguy - Superheroes (EP)
HammerFall - Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken
House of Lords - World Upside Down
Terra Nova - Escape
Tiamat - Prey

After seeing them live, I bought both Fiction Plane albums off of ITunes.

They are a rocking little trio, almost a modern day Police without the smug of Sting.

Joe Sumner even sounds a bit like his ol' dad at times...

Wire, Pink Flag
Gary Wilson, You Think You Really Know Me
The Zombies, Odessey and Oracle

Three O'Clock, Sixteen Tambourines
The Dream Syndicate, Seeing is Believing
Dennis Wilson, Pacific Ocean Blue
Human Expression, Love at Psychedelic Velocity
Adverts, Crossing the Red Sea with the Adverts

* * *

I'll see if I can't grab a spare second to say something in a near-future post about the above.

Picked me up Daughtry over the weekend at Best Buy for $7.99. Su-weet.

Some recent purchases, "purchases" and rediscoveries from the past couple months:

Steve Wynn, What I did After My Band Broke Up (2005)
Adverts, Cast of Thousands (1979)
Small Faces, Ogden's Nut Gone Flake (1968)
Brian Eno & John Cale, Wrong Way Up (1990)
Hoodoo Gurus, Mars Needs Guitars! (1985)
Visitors, Visitors (1979)
Neu!, Neu! (1972)
The Hitmen, It Is What It Is (1982)
The Pandoras, Stop Pretending (1986)
The Beatles, The Beatles' Christmas Album (1963-69)
Bar-Kays, Flying High on Your Love (1977)
Foals, Antidotes (2008)
Black Francis, Svn Fngrs (2008)

Quasar, how about a review of the Daughtry album? My wife wants to pick it up, but I'm not sure I'm sold on it.

Sure, I can do that. I'm way behind on listening to my purchases, but I'd already downloaded the songs beforehand, so I know what it sounds like. I'll try to write up something tonight.

I really like the 3 songs Home, Over You, and What About Now. Those all get radio play, so you should already know what those sound like. It's Not Over and Crashed are really good too. The other songs are all of a good level of quality too. This was a no-brainer purchase for me. There's bonus tracks available (on import, I'd imagine), acoustic versions of both Home and Crashed, but as I prefered the regular versions of those songs, I didn't bother trying to track them down.

As much as I hate the schlock pumped out by American Idol and its ilk, "It's Not Over" is undeniable. I hum that shit in my sleep.

I've listened to that Daughtry fellow and his band. Their music is not for me.

I'm a big fan of Daughtry, but not of all his music. Way too coporate, packaged, and ... "lazy"! LOL, I mean "pop".

Gotta cut him some slack, though. It's his first ablum ever, coming off losing American Idol. And it was the number 1 record of the year! Most sales! Can't deny the guy is a good old fashion Americana story.

However, I hope he has more creative control on his next CD, now that the fan base is secured. I hope Clive Davis lets him "rock" a little more, as I think that is Daughtry's true colors.

Quasar wrote:I really like the 3 songs Home, Over You, and What About Now. Those all get radio play, so you should already know what those sound like. It's Not Over and Crashed are really good too. The other songs are all of a good level of quality too. This was a no-brainer purchase for me. There's bonus tracks available (on import, I'd imagine), acoustic versions of both Home and Crashed, but as I prefered the regular versions of those songs, I didn't bother trying to track them down.

Thanks for the review! I have definitely heard Home, Over You, and It's Not Over. I'm not sure about What About Now, but I probably have.

I guess that means I'm buying it. It passes my "must know more than one song" rule. I was screwed too many times buying an album after hearing one song and the rest of it sucks.

Drakemd wrote:I was screwed too many times buying an album after hearing one song and the rest of it sucks.

Smash Mouth.
Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
Blindside.
Shinedown.

So much money wasted...

The "one song" should have been enough to tip you off in those albums' regards, Ipsy.

I was young and naieve-- what can I say? Hard lessons to learn, but learn 'em, I did.

Would one also find Everlast and Everclear in your collection? Fastball? Sugar Ray?

Something tells me one would.

Something tells me your life is a series of hard lessons, musically.

Some day, decades and decades from now, you will whittle away all these hard lessons, leaving yourself with nothing but the eponymous Fat Boys debut and Fleetwood Mac's Rumours.

I am sensing a lot of hostility from you, these days, Thursty. Should we be hashing something out?

There was a time where my path crossed with the artists you mention. I will argue, though, that Everclear should not be included in that list. They are awesome and anyone who thinks otherwise is a terrorist.

I like to think that I graduated from Top 40 hell a long time ago. Since we're doing this, I'm going to list my favorites. I really don't care what you think, but for the sake of sharing something about me:

BUTCH WALKER
Everclear
Chevelle
Breaking Benjamin
Cake

These are my very favorites now.

Hostility? Really? Anything but. (And here's where it probably gets tricky and you are made to wonder if there is any irony underlining what I just said, since text is typically toneless. I assure you that I do not mean there to be such a tone.) I'm just doing my usual playful ribbing. Sorry if it has been coming across as hostile. I'm not sure what I have been doing differently. Maybe it's just that the current environment is more hostile, and it is casting a different kind of light on my posts. Maybe the current environment has affected me without me realizing it.

The thing about music--and I have been saying this for a while, now--is that you shouldn't have to apologize for liking what you like. Knowing obscure bands doesn't make you hip, and listening to Top 40 radio doesn't make you un-hip. Music is music, and most of it is made pretty much the same way using pretty much the same instruments. Is it "bad" just because it is polished and made to reach a wide audience? Is it "good" just because it seems raw, inventive, lo-fi, et cetera?

It's only music, after all.