quote:

Originally posted by FragileKidA:

quote:

Originally posted by The Rabbi:
On Tom Waits (OGL) - Tell me what to listen to and I'm all ears. I'm willing to be a convert!

To be honest, almost anything you pick up will cause you to "convert."

I think I only half agree with that statement. I think if you've never heard Waits before, and you have an open mind about music, you'll be a convert, but I think Waits probably won't appeal to everyone. If Rabbi's seen him live and still doesn't get it, I don't think you're going to sell him on Tom Waits.

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:
I think I only half agree with that statement. I think if you've never heard Waits before, and you have an open mind about music, you'll be a convert, but I think Waits probably won't appeal to everyone. If Rabbi's seen him live and still doesn't get it, I don't think you're going to sell him on Tom Waits.

Very good point.

But Rabbi should still check out some of his studio albums, maybe he/she will like them a lot--as opposed to a live performance.

Good, but not up to expectations:

Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll
Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist
Mars Volta - Amputechture
TV On The Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain

More problematic:

The Thermals - The Body The Blood The Machine
The Game - The Doctor's Advocate
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
Outkast - Idlewild
Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor
Soul Position - Things Go Better w/ RJ & Al
Peeping Tom - S/T

Embarrassing:

Ima Robot - Monument to the Masses
Regurgitate - Sickening Bliss
Head Automatica - Popaganda
Common - "Peace, Love, The Gap"

It could be that I was cranky at the live show where I saw Waits. It was a benefit for Katrina at Radio City Music Hall in September of 2005 and the show just ran on WAYYYYYYY too long. And there were smokers driving me nuts in the row behind me. And we had lousy seats.

On a different note, though, what hangs me up is mostly the voice. I don't know why. I actually have come to think that Bob Dylan, Dan Bejar, and Elvis Costello are all great singers even though many people can't stand their voices. Let us call them "an acquired taste," at the very least.

So what is it about Waits' voice that turns me off? Sometimes I can't stop thinking of a dog barking. The closest analogy is Captain Beefheart. I'm one of those folks who still doesn't "get" _Trout_Mask_Replica_ even though I put it on from time to time. It's more like barking at times.

While disappointed by the Flaming Lips album, I heard that it wasn't that good before I heard it which lessened the blow.
Having liked the Thermal's previous release, and with the high rating, I was really disappointed by The Body The Blood The Machine.

Let's go!

1. Ghostface Killah - Fishscale

I can't find a track that I need other than Underwater. His lyrics are fine, but the beats weren't anything great for me. Why did this get so much critical acclaim?

2. Aceyalone - Magnificent City (Produced by RJD2)
Yes, that part in parentheses is really part of the album title. And yes, it is the WORST album I bought all year. As he ventures to become a pop star, RJD2's plummet just keeps on going.

3. Girl Talk - Night Ripper
It's competent, but it seems more of a "it's in" type record, than a, musically great record. There are flashes of brilliance, but then dude ruins it by quickly changing pace into more mundane mixing while you wait to hear the "ooh ooh I know that song!" moment.

4. Joseph Arthur - Nuclear Daydream
Just like Aceyalone, I should've overlooked all the other reviews and taken Pitchforks advice, but my democratic ways made me purchase it. Comepletely meh-ful.

5. Ratatat - Classics
No, they aren't. They aren't even as good as your first album. So shutup.

6. Grandaddy - ...Fambly Cats
Worst album from Grandaddy, and at an unfortunate time too. Not coherent, cohesive, or coordinated. You concur?

7. Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
I expected this to suck, but the hype kept my hopes up...Trust your gut.

8. The Blow - Paper Television
I liked almost all of the electronica groups this year (Junior Boys, Hot Chip, The Knife), but this left a sour taste in my mouth. Sounded a bit too much like it came out of someones basement, which isn't a sound you want in electronica.

9. Arctic Monkeys...but really, they've become a punchline all their own.

Till next time...

quote:

Originally posted by Troy:

quote:

Originally posted by The Rabbi:
How could I have left off Paul Simon's SURPRISE from most disappointing of the year? Because it was! "Another Galaxy" was very nice, but Paul, please come back to our galaxy!

I rather liked Surprise. I thought some of the highlights were "How can you live in the northeast?" "Wartime prayers" and "Outrageous" along with "Another galaxy".

I especially thought that it was nice that, while other artists from the 60's and 70's were trying to reconnect with their fan base by tapping into their roots (Bob Dylan and Elton John come to mind immediately), Simon was trying something new by combining folk rock and electronica.

Hmmmmmm... Not sure how "Modern Times" is a real reconnection with Bob's "roots" - there's really nothing in it like it in his back pages. It's based in very old blues, to be sure, but that's not really where Bob got his start.

As for Surprise -- I'm with you; there are a few nice songs. But taken as a whole the album just falls flat, for me. Listen again to "The Rhythm of the Saints" which is one of the best in the last 20 years, hands down, and see how the last three (Capeman, You're the One, Surprise) pale in comparison.

quote:

Originally posted by The Rabbi:

As for Surprise -- I'm with you; there are a few nice songs. But taken as a whole the album just falls flat, for me. Listen again to "The Rhythm of the Saints" which is one of the best in the last 20 years, hands down, and see how the last three (Capeman, You're the One, Surprise) pale in comparison.

I agree about Capeman and You're the One. Particularly You're the One. If you look at Simon's albums over the last 20 or so years, each one made some kind of statement, or at least was something new. You're the One made no statement. It showed the African and Brazilian influences he had obtained from Graceland and Rhythm, but there was nothing new. At least he tried something new on Surprise, mostly with great results.

1. sonic youth - rather ripped
thier saving grace was never in thier lyrics but thier textures and wall of sound jams. A pop album that tidys up the jams is as graceful as a bellyflop.

2. pearl jam -
I almost got nostalgic on the pre-release hype.

3. cat power -
Chan is now accepting donations in the form of interesting chord changes.

quote:

Originally posted by kelly 1l1:
3. cat power -
Chan is now accepting donations in the form of interesting chord changes.

Nice line. Pretty funny.

I'm sure it'll piss some Cat Power fan off, but I liked it.

Flaming Lips - Mogwai - Pretty Girls Make Graves -

I'll throw another disappointment into the mix. Elvis Costello and Allen Tousaint's "The River in Reverse" did not do it for me. I'm a die-hard Costello fan (warts and all) but I doubt I'll be spinning this disc often. Three reasons why:
1) Charity theme discs are usually bad news. Katrina might prompt a good song or two... but a whole album? Even Springsteen's critically lauded "The Rising" -- does anyone really choose to listen to it over anything else in his catalog?
2) The disc didn't do anything for Elvis, though I hope it brings Toussaint more listeners. His songs were so much more alive.
3) The two artists don't cohere well. It's not like the majestic Bacharach-Costello collaboration "Painted from Memory," which is one of my favorites. That worked largely because it was Burt's musical craft with Elvis' lyrics, and only one singer. "River" sounds like a tug-of-war.

So... add that to my growing list of the year's disappointments.

In other news: Could someone give an honest appraisal of Los Lobos' "The Town & The City?"

Badly Drawn Boy needs to stop making records! He is the opposite of a fine wine.

Jay-Z should of stayed retired.

The Killers should invest in a thesaurus and grow some balls.

Just forgot one, which is fitting actually.

The Raconteurs sound like a cover band of a cover band of grunge rockers from the mid 90's.

quote:

Originally posted by The Dude:
Badly Drawn Boy needs to stop making records! He is the opposite of a fine wine..

I was also very disappointed in Born in the U.K. He should never have scrapped the album he was working on in favor of this.

all the wistful rustic ruminations i heard about grizzly bear amounted to one big yawn when i finally listened to it.

as far as what i was expecting. i dunno, i tend to get inside a bands music so much that supposed curve-balls never really faze me unless its for the better, but i guess after the flaming lips' yoshimi album i was pretty excited about what would come next, and was bored with it instead.

I don't understand how you could possibly be disappointed in a *debut* album.
Does buzz really control what some of you listen to?

quote:

Originally posted by theelfpat:

I don't understand how you could possibly be disappointed in a *debut* album.
Does buzz really control what some of you listen to?

Are you refering to TRUC's comment about Grizzly Bear? That wasn't their debut album - it's their second LP.

I did make a similiar comment earlier about people listing debuts as disappointing. I saw some people list Band of Horses. Unless you were a Carissa's Wierd fan (unlikely), then I don't understand having expectations in the first place.

I think The Flaming Lips album this year was a horrible letdown. After releasing two of the best albums of the past ten years, I expected a tail-off to some degree, but this was an incredible clunker. I could only bring myself to listen to it twice, and only somewhat enjoyed one song (The W.A.N.D.)

Here's hoping Wayne and co. have something better in store for us in the future.

less_success: I was referring to a number of posts, specifically people talking about the Arctic Monkeys.
I also saw a post disappointed with CYHSY, whose debut didn't even come out this year.