Arctic Monkeys = nothing all that special

The Flaming Lips = amazing. 2nd favorite album of the year so far.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
I'm actually excited that an album I gushed only has a 68 metascore. Maybe it'll help shut up the people who think I just like all the stuff the critics like!

it'll go up, it already has some, i'm surprised that pitchfork hasn't reviewed it yet, but i'm expecting a good review from them, it's really just those bottom two reviews that just completely miss the point that are bringing it down, the one review complaining about 2g's not being ironic, wtf, they just don't get it.

I don't "get" the new Two Gallants either, I was well disposed to like it as I really liked The Throes and enjoyed seeing them live last year. Maybe it will be like my experience with the Sleater-Kinney last year, it took around 6 months for that one to finally sink in.

OK, The Subways : Young For Eternity is the first new album that I've thoroughly enjoyed this year. Good music for driving in the city on a Saturday night - energetic, youthful and fun. I don't think the trendy and wannabe trendsetting reviewers liked it too much, perhaps because of its lack of pretentions - it's not likely to start any major new "movements".
I had to laugh at the Pitchfork review:

quote:

Forget hipsters downloading eight different remixes of the track on their iPod Nanos, this single aims for high school football warmup mixes and keg-stand background music. Not that there's anything wrong with Jock Jams, but sheesh, who wants a poor man's Libertines album with one foot in the locker room door?

These are English teenagers he's talking about - the only high school football warmups they could ever have seen would have been on telly, the same goes for keg-stands, Jock Jams, locker room doors and other purely American high school sport cliches. How insightful, how perceptive is our Pitchfork reviewer. Note well - a pitchfork is often used to spread manure.

I'm enjoying The Knife - Silent Shout.

I have absolutely no idea how it's going to sit with me in the long run, though. Sometimes I'm wrong about how much an album will last with me, but usually I think I have some idea. Silent Shout..I can see it finishing in my top ten, and I can see myself getting totally sick of it and selling it.

It's got a sort of trip-hop vibe, and it's got that 'hollowness' a lot of electronica is often guilty of. It also sounds awesome and totally blows away other Scandanavian trip-hop bands like Royskopp. But, it does lack those 'Finishing touches' that most really good albums need to have.

So it's going to take a whole lot longer to sink in before I have any idea what I think about it.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
I'm enjoying The Knife - Silent Shout.

Where would I find it Bob?

quote:

Originally posted by gomad361:

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
I'm enjoying The Knife - Silent Shout.

Where would I find it Bob?

Well...I found it for $28 at Tower. Other than hoping your local record store is good with imports...Sweden? I think it's out in the UK too.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit:

quote:

Originally posted by gomad361:

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
I'm enjoying The Knife - Silent Shout.

Where would I find it Bob?

Well...I found it for $28 at Tower. Other than hoping your local record store is good with imports...Sweden? I think it's out in the UK too.

It's at the Greatescape online shop for $18 before s&h. I've picked up a lot of used imports from them, they've been very reliable for getting items in stock pretty quick. Will be searching there tonight for a few albums.

Thanks Bob, but I think I'll wait - there's a lot of buzz about this album so i'm sure it will turn up cheap in the SF bay area soon

Somewhere in between 1 and 2 glasses of chianti tonight Destroyer's Rubies finally started to make sense, after 3 glasses and the 5th listen it was starting to sound pretty good

Ohhh... I'm liking alot of stuff right now....

Arctic Monkeys kicks like the Libertines on a Clash meth ride... fun and class-driven in a way that Americans dismiss

Belle & Sebastian "The Life Pursuit" - The best B&S album I've ever had the pleasure to hear

Mylo "Destroy Rock & Roll" - Mission accomplished in America 2 years after the fact.

Jenny Lewis "Rabbit Fur Coat" - uhhh... Shelby Lynn (Johnny's mom from the movie) made a much better album 3 years ago.

quote:

Originally posted by juanboy:
Arctic Monkeys kicks like the Libertines on a Clash meth ride... fun and class-driven in a way that Americans dismiss

Hi juanboy, I'm working class from the North of England - hopefully class is really not important with regard to appreciation of the Arctic Monkeys (but they do seem to know their place ).

Have you heard B&S's If You're Feeling Sinister?

quote:

Originally posted by nathanielkt:
Arctic Monkeys = nothing all that special

The Flaming Lips = amazing. 2nd favorite album of the year so far.

okay...where and how can I get a copy of the New Lips CD??????

Also....Is new Mogwai out yet????

Mogwai comes out tomorrow.

I was originally planning on getting it, but now the track I heard that didn't impress me is being called one of the better tracks on the album...

I personally like the new Mogwai but so far the critics don't really. But I'm not really the source when it comes to post-rock.

The new Lips can only be stolen on Soulseek. Or you could wait 29 more days. I think it's pretty swell too.

Re: Arctic Monkeys. I don't think it's that we Americans 'dismiss' music for being class-driven (whatever that means musically, here it must mean a bunch of teenage songs about going out and drinking) and/or fun. I don't really know what it means culturally to be from northern England. But since they're British, it's easy to classify them with all the British bands that they sound similar to. I think they're way better than the Libertines personally.

What, if anything, have you heard about Midlake? They've got an album coming out this year. The two singles I've heard from it -- most recently a song called "Roscoe" -- have an appealing, Fleetwood Mac/70s sound.

Does anyone know if this album is worth buying?

Damn, there are a lot of votes for Cat Power. I still maintain that her last album was the better of the two.

Mogwai's Mr. Beast is up there too. Not on the top though. The leak of Flaming Lips is very promising too.

Well, you can add Knife's Silent Shout to the list of good records to come out this year, bringing my yearly total up to....one.

Better things are yet to come methinks.

Anyhow, Silent Shout sounds pretty dang good. I also get the feeling that it's a record that will only get better upon repeat listens. The processed vocals deterred me at first, but they aren't really too grating or annoying, just different. As I get used to them the album's beauty is slowly crystallizing. Definitely a winner.

These are my ratings so far...

Arctic Monkeys (Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not) 92/100
Belle & Sebastian (The Life Pursuit) 64/100
Dresden Dolls (Yes, Virginia) 96/100
KT Tunstall (Eye to the Telescope) 87/100
Placebo (Meds) 73/100
She Wants Revenge (She Wants Revenge) 78/100
Strokes (First Impressions of Earth) 81/100
Test Icicles (For Screening Purposes Only) 75/100
We Are Scientists (With Love and Squalor) 84/100

Anything in the 80-100 range is worth a look. (Make sure to buy the new Dresden Dolls album when it comes out in April, it's absolutely amazing)

I love me some Dresden Dolls.

Can't wait!