Nine Black Alps - "Cosmopolitan" Once upon a time, way back in the late '90s, an indie band named Camus surfaced. My friend Dennis and I laughed derisively and disgustedly at the retarded, college-freshman pretension of the name. We never listened to it. Then we forgot them. That's how I feel about a band that's named itself after a fragment of a Sylvia Plath poem. And yes, the song is as trite as you might expect. 2/10
Radiohead - "Just" Less experimental, more poppy. Thom Yorke's voice is particularly lovely here. 8/10
Maximo Park - "Graffiti" Love the accent, the sexy and competent lead vocal. Vaguely punkish, romantic. Reverby, garage-esque. Nothing to write home about, but listenable. 5/10
Morrissey - "First Of The Gang To Die" Oh, fer fuck's sake. Just stop it. Retire already, you old bitch. And no, I won't wear your fucking T-shirt. 5/10
Grandaddy - "Pull The Curtains" I have a soft spot for these guys, despite the dime-a-dozen weak, breathy vocals and the trend-spotting. IMHO, they make honest stabs at innovativeness -- an "A-" for effort, and a gold star. BTW, is it just me, or do a lot of their lyrics lately have this creepy "I'm singing about my distant, meth-snorting girlfriend" vibe? 7/10
Primal Scream - "Loaded" Props for the reminiscent-of-Bongwater opening clip vocals. The rest would have sounded really forward-thinking in 1991. 4/10
Fiona Apple - "O' Sailor" Lovely atmospherics, an accompaniment that hews close to previous releases. I cannot help but judge her lyrics against those of her earliest work, and as such, I have to rate her highly for improvement. In her first album, she sounded like a teenager trying to be deep, but not actually cognizent of what she was trying to say -- she made no sense to anyone else, either. In "O' Sailor," she's more lyrically taut, the occasional bloated metaphor notwithstanding. 6.5/10
World Leader Pretend - "Bang Theory" The two largest factions in Indieboy Vocalistland seem to be a) boyish, breathy-milky, hesitant cuteness, and b) the frantic, unhinged, coked-out caterwaul that I believe is supposed to pass for "sexy." WLP works the latter competently, but the actual appeal of this style can best be likened to the addictive nature of scratching mosquito bites, or crunching on ice cubes. It grates after a while. 5/10
The Shins - "So Says I" This is fun. Me likey. Just the littlest bit rough around the edges, still sticking to formula, but at its core, as pretty as anything doled out by Pete Doherty et alia. 7.5/10
My Morning Jacket - "Off The Record" Good music to bone to, but drifting a bit too far into No Doubt territory. These guys really want to play MTV's Spring Break, don't they? 6/10
The Dandy Warhols - "Smoke It" I hate myself for liking this mad-stoopid song. It's just so transparently calculated to appeal to the worst instincts in pop-music consumers. I console myself with the fact that I find 75% or so of what they put out utterly unlistenable. 6/10
So what are we to conclude from all this, class? That's right, kids, Arcade Fire is the hottest band alive today!
Ah. Alas, The New Pornographer's "Use It," just came on, but you little bitches have already extracted one more than your due. So suck it, C0b4gz!!1!! [/pinkopunko]
Half-Assed Random Sirius 26 Blogging
10.07.2005
Ore : 1:27 PM
Ore : 1:27 PM
[ back home ]
Comments for Half-Assed Random Sirius 26 Blogging
I've heard great things about Fiona's new stuff. I loved her stuff where she was a teenager trying to be deep because, at the time, I was a teenager trying to be deep. But I want to hear for myself how she's matured . . .
- Posted at 3:24 PM | By
Cassie Schoon
You should check it out. Other celebrity endorsements: Duncan ("Atrios") really, really liked it. Give the "Extraordinary Machine" a whirl!
I feel about the same with Maximo Park and Morrissey.
I'm still not quite sure why everybody thinks Grandaddy is honest...but I seem to fall for it too.
I'm still not quite sure why everybody thinks Grandaddy is honest...but I seem to fall for it too.
Well, as for Grandaddy, let me put it another way: I've downloaded three of their songs, and I'm happy with that.
For reasons I don't fully understand, I really, really like Maximo Park. There's nothing particularly original or different about them, by any means, and I know why others are "eh" about them. But "The Coast is Always Changing", to name one, is a song I can listen to over and over again.
Maximo Park is solidly good pop music, actually done with standards in mind. Period
Freedom Camp | Blogger Templates by layoutstudios.com and Gecko & Fly.
No part of the content or the blog may be reproduced without prior written permission.
Learn how to Make Money Online at GeckoandFly
