I just got done listening to Millions Now Living Will Never Die, which I think is generally considered Tortoise's best album. What the heck? People actually like this? Who? I could not find a single moment during the entire album where I thought, "Huh, this isn't too bad." It seemed like there was nothing there at all. I don't get it.
-------------------------------------------------- Anatomy to me is a homesick stomach and a broken heart
Do you shy away from instrumental music, RL? I get tired of TNT pretty quickly, but I appreciate the Spaghetti Western-tinged "I Set My Face to the Hillside." Standards was all right as well, if a bit louder, noisier, and jerkier.
Most of the stuff I listen to has vocals, m.leland, but I like quite a bit of instrumental stuff like Explosions in the Sky, Four Tet, Mum, M83, and various electronic acts. I don't have anything against instrumental music. Some music, I think, is better without vocals (I really wish Out Hud would stick to being instrumental, for instance). It's just that usually when I listen to something that is acclaimed and I don't like it, I figure it's just not my cup of tea, and I can see how others might enjoy it. I just couldn't see how anyone could like that Tortoise album though. I felt like the first track went absolutely nowhere and spent over 20 minutes doing it. Oh well, I guess I'll never "get" Tortoise, just like pE will probably never get Neutral Milk Hotel. I guess it wasn't met to be. I'll move on.
-------------------------------------------------- Anatomy to me is a homesick stomach and a broken heart
Most of the stuff I listen to has vocals, m.leland, but I like quite a bit of instrumental stuff like Explosions in the Sky, Four Tet, Mum, M83, and various electronic acts. I don't have anything against instrumental music.
If you couldn't get into it for that reason I could relate. Instrumental stuff doesn't pique my interest nowadays, but I've gotten some miles out of Four Tet and M83, too. I don't own Millions, so I can't speak to it, but I'd recommend a quick scan through Standards before you write them off absolutely. (I'm not a Tortoise fan, but I feel their signifigance to the post-rock movement is undeniable.)
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Oh well, I guess I'll never "get" Tortoise, just like pE will probably never get Neutral Milk Hotel. I guess it wasn't met to be. I'll move on.
Hey, some of my favorite artists were in my "eh, whatever" category for years before I returned to them. You never know...
This is a ver simple thread for me because I have never got Radiohead. Although I can sort of get into The Bends, everything since just does nothing for me. I really don't know what they do for others, but nor me, nada.
Arcade Fire Gorillaz CocoRosie Lightning Bolt (there is a place for this music, but I prefer System Of A Down for hard stuff) Antony And The Johnsons Mars Volta Xiu Xiu Bjork (after Homogenic, but I even have to be in a certain mood for Homogenic.)
Craigster, I agree with you regarding Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot- It's a good album, but nowhere does it touch greatness. I don't find myself reaching for it as much as I would like. I think for an album to be deemed great, it has to shock the listener, offend him or her in some way. These sounds and arrangements have all been done before. Like I said, a good album, for sure, but not great.
I totally agree with the Radiohead choice. I've always felt I had to like them because everyone loves them, but the only album I really liked was OK Computer. I've never heard of any other band getting such a free pass for self-indulgence. Every now and then I listen to Kid A to see if I get it and I just don't.
Sorry. No, wait a minute, I'm not sorry. I have just never gotten into Radiohead. And before you say any more, one of my close friends is a Radiohead freak, so I have heard everything. It's not that I hate them, there are a few songs I like, but as a whole they just don't evoke anything in me.
Originally posted by dubs: I totally agree with the Radiohead choice. I've always felt I had to like them because everyone loves them, but the only album I really liked was OK Computer. I've never heard of any other band getting such a free pass for self-indulgence. Every now and then I listen to Kid A to see if I get it and I just don't.
I don't understand this criticism. Isn't all art kind of self-indulgent? Do you think they'd get more acclaim if they kept making the same album over and over just to please fans?
----- We were wasps with new wings, now we're bugs in the jar.
Do you think they'd get more acclaim if they kept making the same album over and over just to please fans?
Hail to the Thief did pretty well.
(Art is inherently self-indulgent as a method of expression, so I agree with you. But I really don't want to get into an art versus entertainment debate and have to start in on the aesthetic theory discourse. I'd much rather remind everyone how inferior Hail is. Done and DONE.)
