"No Direction Home" -- u know who.

Kanye West - Late Registration
Postal Service - Give Up
Avalanches - Since I Left You

I picked up Kanye West: Late Registration.

It certainly has its good moments (Touch the Sky, Gold Digger, Drive Slow, Gone) but it sounds extremely over-produced on some tracks (Bring Me Down, Roses, Hey Mama) and is about 4 songs and 5 useless skits too long. Its exhausting listening to the album all the way through. His beats and production are dope and his rapping is average. Its a lot to absorb and by the time you get to the Diamonds remix you wish it was over.

Kanye went to art school, he should think Bauhaus..."less is more".

Just bought Andrew Bird's Mysterious Production Of Eggs. Haven't listened to it yet.

I hope you enjoy it junio. It's in my top three of 2005. Andy Bird is a really good instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and whistler! My favorite of his albums is Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire The Swimming Hour.

Nickel Creek - Why Should The Fire Die?

Supergrass, In It for the Money
The Delgados, Hate (on someone's reco here)
Thelonius Monk, The Complete Blue Note Recordings [box]
Miles Davis, In a Silent Way

Picked up a couple of nice additions tonight.

Aaron Copland - Leonard Bernstein conducting Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, Billy the Kid, and Fanfare for the common man. Much better recordings than my old budget cd copies.

Charles Ives - Symphony #1.

Super Numeri - Great Aviaries

I've had some vague interest in picking this up for a while, but could never find it anywhere. Saw it for $10 Aus today and thought it was too good an oppurtunity to pass up.

Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

"Year of Meteors" -- Laura Veirs

Snagged quite a few things over the last few weeks, including:

Marjorie Fair: Self Help Serenade
The Cloud Room: S/T
The Duke Spirit: Cuts Across the Land
Grand Drive: Being Alive (Rarities comp)
Gen X: Kiss Me Deadly
Greenhornes: East Grand Blues
The Coral: INvisible Invasion
Death Cab for Cutie: Plans
Holopaw: Quit+/-Fight
OK GO: Oh No
REM: Green, Monsters, New Adventures, Around the Sun (free copies of the 2-disc versions...score!)
Duncan Shiek: The White Limousine EP
Pyramidiacs: Stuff n' Junk (2-disc best of)
Richard Hawley: Cole's Corner

On the way, from various online sources, are a 2-disc Dom Mariani set, the new Tim Rogers double, a solo record from Charles Jenkins (Ice Cream Hands), the double Not Waving, Drowning best-of, the new one from the Stands, the last one from the Electric Soft Parade, and the Suede singles collection.

Needless to say, the cash from my new job is nice, as is the renewed connection to free discs and shows garnered by moving back to the ATL...

Rolling Stones - Bigger Bang

Some critics are saying it's their best since Some Girls, so I thought I'd check it out.

I'm really liking Nickel Creek. I think their version of a Rod Stewart song whose name I can't think of right now is better than Stewart's version. It's probably in the running for my top five from 3rd quarter 2005.

pE: How are the OK Go and the Marjorie Fair albums?

Yesterday I picked up Richard Hawley's "Cole's Corner".

quote:

Originally posted by Peewee:
pE: How are the OK Go and the Marjorie Fair albums?

Yesterday I picked up Richard Hawley's "Cole's Corner".

The OK GO is much like the first...glammy power pop with some great hooks and dopey lyrics. I like it, but it's nothing that I'll consider essential by the end of the year. Good for running, tho.

Marjorie Fair was a pass-on from a buddy at Capitol, but it's quite pretty. It's a sad record in tone (akin to Beck's Sea Change tone-wise) and has a kind of Grandaddy-esque vibe to it. I'm still getting my head around it, but I'm really liking it as a mellow record right.

Cole's Corner is fantastic. I can't stop playing it. It's such a classic pop record, in the spirit of Bacharach or Jimmy Webb, that I'm sure that nobody will give a shit.

Another one you should check out, Peewee, is the latest from I Am Kloot, Gods and Monsters. It will easily crack my top 10 if I ever get around to remaking that list...

pE -- thanks. I have I Am Kloot's second album, the s/t one, and quite like it, but wasn't sure whether to get the new one. Based on your recommendation, I think I will.

I really like the Richard Hawley too. As you say, it is classic pop for adults -- not kids -- and while it doesn't break any boundaries, it works astoundingly well within existing pop sounds and structures. Reminds me of the lush, melodic melancholy of The Blue Nile at their best.

p.s. I did pick up the new OK Go yesterday, so I am glad you ended up liking it. I played about 3 songs from their debut (Return, 1000 Miles Per Hour, Get Over It) about a million times and that made it well worth the price, as far as I am concerned. So if the new one has just a few great tracks, that's fine by me.

Last Friday's purchases...

"Oh No" - by OK Go
"Set Yourself on Fire" - by The Stars

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quote:

Originally posted by Peewee:
"Year of Meteors" -- Laura Veirs

Ms. Veirs is scheduled to open for the Sufjan Stevens concert tour stop here on Monday.

Haven't heard any of her music yet, but the press buzz seems to be pretty good.

I'll probably pick up "Year of Meteors" at the merch table.

.

quote:

Originally posted by Peewee:
I played about 3 songs from their debut (Return, 1000 Miles Per Hour, Get Over It) about a million times and that made it well worth the price, as far as I am concerned.

Love the new album, but "We Dug a Hole" from their 2000 "Brown" EP is still my favorite OK Go tune.


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I don't have that EP, but now I am intrigued...

I've already bought too many things this week, but certain purchases are mandatory. Today I bought:

"Cripple Crow" -- Devendra Banhart

"Love Kraft" -- Super Furry Animals!!!!!!!!!!!!!