quote:

Originally posted by Shadrach:
Good grief man, no more B-word.

You're really offended by the word "Balls"?

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:

quote:

Originally posted by Shadrach:
Good grief man, no more B-word.

You're really offended by the word "Balls"?

Well. Not really. But it does make me squeemish when he sings about having them removed in the song. I'm not sure why though.. Maybe it has to do with that one time when I was a little kid and I was playing outside with my brother and that guy in the woods tried to remove my balls.

Hokey smoke, Batman! You get a free pass.

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:

quote:

Originally posted by Hophead:
You think Britt Daniel, James Mercer, Phil Elvrum, Isaac Brock, and Colin Meloy all live on the same street and sit around and kick back beers and bitch about the Trailblazers on weekends?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Hutch Harris and Carrie Brownstein hang out too.

Mr. Malkmus is always the most insightful though. And the Menomena guys have their opinions.

I like Stage Names quite a bit. So much good music this year though, so it's tough to place it yet.

Welcome to the board, oh he of the best username I've seen on here in a long, long while.

Thank you for your kind words.

This is a good place for a musichound to be.

This is rapidly becoming one of my solid contenders for the year. It's not as beguiling as Boxer but it rocks harder, and while familiar, seems to occupy its own unique place in the '07 field. It could've maybe been more epic with a little reverb or something on the vocals, because Sheff's tenor is bit too honest here.

This is in my top 5 right now. Such a great album, and great live band too. Just saw them on Labor Day and it was a damn fine show.

This might be making its way into my top ten. I know I'm not as in love with this as some of you guys, but I do know a good album when I hear it.

Brilliant....and just like BSB appendix has so much more going on than first listenings suggest.

For me, just about the best music being produced at the moment, I can see BSB (& appendix) and this being in my top 20 for the decade.

Fell out of love with it again. It can't really keep my interest too well.

Did anyone else catch the NPR interview with Will Sheff? In it he claims (when prompted by the interviewer who says she derived it from the lyrics) that "Savannah Smiles" is about a porn star that commits suicide after she gets in an accident and can't "do her job anymore". Does anyone get anything like that from this song? Because, after hearing him talk about it in the interview, the song really bothers me now.

I thought the song was just about a father that really was sortof a failure and had messed up his daughter's life. If it had been any interview forum of a lesser reputation I would assume he was completely pulling the ladies leg. But this was NPR, and he sounded extremely sincere.

quote:

Originally posted by Shadrach:
Did anyone else catch the NPR interview with Will Sheff? In it he claims (when prompted by the interviewer who says she derived it from the lyrics) that "Savannah Smiles" is about a porn star that commits suicide after she gets in an accident and can't "do her job anymore". Does anyone get anything like that from this song? Because, after hearing him talk about it in the interview, the song really bothers me now.

I don't have the lyrics in front of me, but there was a porn star named Savannah who committed suicide a decade or so ago. There was even a E! True Holywood Story about it. Come to think of it, I remember there was an accident involved. (Not that I have any of her movies...well, ok, just one, though.)

quote:

Originally posted by Shadrach:
Did anyone else catch the NPR interview with Will Sheff? In it he claims (when prompted by the interviewer who says she derived it from the lyrics) that "Savannah Smiles" is about a porn star that commits suicide after she gets in an accident and can't "do her job anymore". Does anyone get anything like that from this song? Because, after hearing him talk about it in the interview, the song really bothers me now.

I thought the song was just about a father that really was sortof a failure and had messed up his daughter's life. If it had been any interview forum of a lesser reputation I would assume he was completely pulling the ladies leg. But this was NPR, and he sounded extremely sincere.

Being the father of a young girl, this song has always effected me. There is a tremendous amount of sadness to it. You can tell the father does not like what his daughter has become and blames himself for it. There is also a very cryptic reference to a death "Then one day she's gone." I always assumed it was a suicide.

The song has always made me think about parents of children that do something awful - like murder or rape someone. The world vilifies that person. But, as a parent, I guess you always see your child as they were. That's why the line "All I'm seeing is that girl, age 8," always makes my heart go to my throat.

I don't think the song should bother you, Shad. It's a testament to Sheff's songwriting talents that he can evoke such strong emotions without being macabre about his subject matter.

I didn’t catch the interview but I did know what the song was about. They had said it a while back—when the album came out—what it was about. In that sense, it doesn’t really bother me because I think you can always go back and make your connections of what the song means to you. You can make it personal and you don’t have to just follow what the band is saying it is about.

By the way, this is still my number one album of the year—I think.

There's an interview and some good recordings of some unreleased covers over at Daytrotters. I'll put the link below.

There are three songs:
1. April Anne (John Philips cover)
2. No Easy Way Down (Carole King cover)
3. Do What you Gotta Do (Jimmy Webb cover)
4. You Can't Hold the Hand of a Rock and Roll Man (Skiffle Version)

They are good quality. I thought some of you might be interested, and it's a good reminder of how excellent this band is.

Okkervil River on Daytrotter

Thanks, Shadrach! I had heard they'd be doing a Daytrotter Session, but I'd forgotten about it.

Okkervil River is offering a free, mostly live covers EP available for download on their web site. There's some interesting cover choices there, including Jimmy Webb, Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, and one of my favorite John Cale songs, "Antarctica Starts Here".

http://www.okkervilriver.com/

I’ll be checking that out when I get home, thanks bro.

Listening to it right now...Not as good as Black Sheep Boy...that is their masterpiece...But still, The Stage Names prooves why Okkervil River is one of the most poetic bands out there...this is a real piece of art