Ben Folds - Ben Folds Live

Ben Folds - Ben Folds Live

Published 2002

Wikipedia

Wait a second, I hear you say, that isn't the new Queens of the Stone Age!  You're right, I lied.  I am going to do it, but I want to make sure to do it justice, and I think that I can just write this one without editing.  So, fuck you, delete key on my mac, let me pick an album at random from my gigantic playlist of things that I have on my computer.

Ben Folds! That's a great idea, alphabetically listed by Artist's name column on my iTunes!  Hey, we'll even get to do a live album for this one! Fluffed notes! Audience Applause! Jackholes screaming to get on the album!

Maybe this is the wrong one to talk about those three problems.  Ben Folds' audience is way too nice to not listen appreciatively to his beautiful songs.  It's like listening to a Canadian rock album (Quick, I have done Rush before this right?  I haven't!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!????!?!?!??!??!?!?! WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?  Jesus, Moving Pictures is on the list.  I'm coming for you, Today's Tom Sawyer. [By the way, taking time off from doing these write ups has really showed me how much I intended to do, and haven't.])

This album is interesting to me, because I feel like someone said to Ben Folds, "just play the hits" listening to it now, but it may be because these recordings of his songs are so popular.  Is it a selective feedback that these songs have lodged themselves in my conscious because they are some of my favorite versions of his songs or am I remembering correctly that these are the most popular in general, and therefore became some of my favorites?

Fred Jones Part 2.  This song is just amazingly beautiful.  You should know it completely forwards and backwards.  It's a lovely, melancholy, haunting, and sad song.  This performance is just beautiful.  The duet is well done, and the piano is incredibly expressive.  I love this song. Also, his cover of Tiny Dancer is just awesome.

I have to recommend this album.  If you're a Ben Folds Fan (I'm looking at you, Jake), you already know how good this album is, and probably are shunning me for not getting on it earlier.  If you're not, you owe yourself to check him out.  I'd probably, very generously, because my opinion matters like crazy, favorably compare him to Elton John and (Old, awesome) Weezer style songwriting.  Or something, whatever.  I'm just writing this to keep you people off my back.

Moving Pictures and ...Like Clockwork are coming soon.  Feeling inspired to write.  This bodes well for the next like month.  Who knows after that.

"I'm not crazy!"
"Said the man to the dog."

Matt

Turn The Radio Off - Reel Big Fish

2011.

20-fucking-11?!

Are you kidding me?

It's been nearly two years since I wrote an Album Project?

This is a shame, a sham, a terrible travesty.  I mean, it's not like music stopped being made, right?  Did it?  Because I really haven't been listening to any.  I mean, other than that hot new Queens of the Stone Age album, and the Original Production Recordings of West Side Story, and you know, all the music.  I mean, Gangnam Style came and went, Robyn Thicke and Justin Timberlake both released music videos full of tits, and I haven't written shit about music in a long time.  Jay Z has retired and come back at least 30 times since then, right?

Yeah, I know, I left you. I did you wrong. I went away, but I came back, baby, and you know I loves you, it's just producing some 2000 words for no pay about an album that people don't care about hurts so bad, but missing you hurts too, so fuck it, we'll do it live.  We're here, we're album projecting, get used to it.

Let's get this out of the way.  This shit will not be regular, but I cannot stop myself from coming back.  I'll probably do it in fits and starts.  But your job is the same.  Your job is to give me suggestions, and give me albums that you love.  I promise to write swear words interspersed with incisive-esque commentary about them.  Drop me a line, or throw something in the comments. QOTSA is probably next.

Turn The Radio Off - Reel Big Fish

Published in 1996

Wikipedia

This was a middle school miracle.

I was in middle school when these guys got onto the radio in a big way, and they were super inspiring.

You see, I was a saxophone player in middle school, and I loved rock music.  Ska was the natural progression that I didn't know about.  For a brief moment, Ska became cool while I was a kid, and that was pretty awesome.  And then, in an instant, it was gone from the radio.  

You know what, I know why.  The songs are interesting, but it doesn't have quite the appeal that it did back then for me.  I've grown up, grown older, and kind of grown out of the worship that I had for ska. However, this album still kicks ass, and I'll tell you why.

Nostalgia.  It's a super important factor for what music stirs your heartstrings, as we have discussed in this space before. Reel Big Fish is great for nostalgia for three reasons.

1. Reel Big Fish sounds like whatever age you were when you discovered them.  At least for me, they remind me of being in middle school and high school, and that cusp of maturity.

2. Reel Big Fish has very distinctive runs in the horns that allow you to remember them with clarity, giving you the same kind of nostalgia as a really good guitar solo.  (Aside: why the fuck haven't I done a Satriani album or [duh] a Hendrix album? [Have I done a Hendrix album? {It's been so long, I had to look through the archives to make sure I hadn't done this one. -(How sad is that?)-}])
3. Reel Big Fish is able to write timeless lyrics.  They may not be great, but they are timeless.

Let's talk more about that third one.  The lyrics are not super complicated.  They are not poetry of the first order.  But they are and always will be, about real shit.  Girls, complicated relationships, wanting to be famous, trying to make a band, all of these are neither new or old.  They're just wheelhouse topics that nearly everyone can relate to.  The band has a really relatable tone about the whole thing too.  They seem to be winking with the audience, knowing that some of what they say is ridiculous, but it's okay, because everyone is having fun.

And it is fucking fun.  Not everything is going to be 808's and Heartbreak, or The Cure.  Sometimes, you just want to hear a guy sing ridiculous lyrics about his vegetarian girlfriend.  That is okay.  We're only human.

Look, do I think this is not optional? No. It's great, fun, and enjoyable for me.  That's the key.  For me, this is great stuff that I enjoy coming back to, but your mileage may vary.  However, if it varies a lot from mine, this blog might be a trudge.

Anyway, TAP is back.  Get excited.  Or don't, you know, whatever. (This line brought to you from 1996.)

Paul F. Tompkins - Freak Wharf

Paul F. Tompkins - Freak Wharf

Published in 2009

Wikipedia

So,  who is Paul F. Tompkins?  Why is he on The Album Project?  Is Matt crazy?

Let's be clear.  Album means Album.  Comedy Albums are just as much of an album as a music album, and having things to say about them is something that I will be able to do, because I love comedy.

You see, I love comedy.  I listen to the Comedy Death Ray podcast, the Pod F. Tompcast, and Sklar Bro Country.  I watch tons of comedy on TV, the [adult swim] being a group of personal favorites.  I constantly quote comedy things, and I love laughing.  So, reviewing or whatever the fuck I do a comedy album is perfectly okay.

Paul F. Tompkins is one of the comedians that I have only been introduced to through podcasts, and have become a huge fan of since.  He is an incredible performer, making insane characters, and his stand up is pretty awesome too.  I cannot wait to go back to the states so I can see him live.  He's very quick, comes up with interesting premises, and his written stuff is very funny.

This album is a great showcase of the two sides of Paul F. Tompkins.  The first side, the improviser and performer is on display during three tracks, called the Riff Suite.  They are really good examples of a performer developing jokes in front of an audience.  Most of the time, he is obviously coming up with new things, and he totally gets involved with them.  He cracks himself up at times, but usually because what he is thinking about is very funny.

The second part is his written material.  Some of this stuff is just golden stuff.  Particularly amazing are The Sink and the Mirror and Cake V. Pie.  Go Ask Alice is off the chains as well, but on a totally different level.

I quite enjoy the way he comes up with new ideas, and uses the basic idea to continue the joke through it.  I find some of the stuff he says just amazingly funny.  It's hard not to just throw quotes at you here, but I would rather you listen to it and enjoy it than for me to tell you all the funny lines.  He cannot get popular enough in my opinion.

Anyway, weird short album project right?  Thanks!

"YOU ARE THE WORST MONSTER EVER!"
Matt

PS. Give Phil Five, pleeeeeeeease!

The Cure - Disintegration

The Cure - Disintegration

Published in 1989

Wikipedia

Dear Mr. Lumsdon,

Due to your lobbying, and the thing which I will not talk about that occurred yesterday, I have acceded to your request to do The Cure.  Do not believe that this incessant lobbying will work every time, but in this case, you have won out.  Also, I will attempt to not make any jokes about how this album must reflect the state of your soul after that which must not be talked about, nor about how the title reflects what happened to your team in said event, nor how, if you were trying to throw me, this album would have depressed me enough to play like shit, but I played like shit anyway.  I'm just the kind of classy bastard to not hide behind these easily alluded to jokes.  I merely point you to Mr. Crabbs' reference to Matthew 20:16, and move along.

Onto The Cure:

Look, you either like them or you don't.  Actually, that's not true, let me start over.

Look, either you're depressed or you're not.  If you are, or have ever been, The Cure is going to sound a lot like what was going on in the deeper recesses of the cesspool that presumably is your mind.  If you're not, and have never been, you're going to need to stop lying to yourself, and think back a bit.

Depressing music, for what it is worth, is something about which I am of two minds. Sometimes, when you are feeling the emotions, or merely want to invoke a response from that part of your brain, it can be the most liberating and beautiful music.  Sometimes, when you are feeling good about life, and the world is not as shitty as it usually is, it can sound like a bunch of pretentious whining.  This is actually where The Cure succeeds, more than most "sad bands".  They make it really enjoyable to listen.  You want to hear more, because the feeling and the sound mesh so well together that you can't stop them, you can only participate.

I mean, I love The Cure, but seriously, I am just sitting here at work getting depressed.  It's some really low sounding music, and while that can be a great addition to a mood, sometimes it's just oppressive   Also, the singles, which are considerably more "upbeat" (it's a relative term in this case) are usually the least sprawling and the tightest of the album.  They are designed to get in and out, which is nice in a pop song.  The sprawl is in the emotional songs.  There is maybe one song on this album that is under 4 minutes.  That's an insane amount of time for some of these songs.

Oh, something weird that I hadn't noticed about The Cure.  At least on this album, a quarter of the song is dedicated to an intro, that slowly introduces all of the background parts, even before the lead guitar kicks in.  That guitar, by the way, plays very simple lines, that are picked up immediately by the vocals.  It's a strange way to do a song, because the lead in makes you really desire the vocals to kick in, then the guitar makes you think the vocals are kicking in, then the vocals kick in, which makes a ton of anticipation part of the beginning of every song.

The album sounds deep.  There is not much space in the songs, mainly due to the effects.  Reverb is The Cure's friend, and echo boxes must have been used a bunch on this album.  It's actually interesting to listen for the times when there isn't a sound on display.

I started out this essay of sorts with a sentence, and I'd like to go back to it.  Either you like it or you don't.  It's one of those divisive bands that either ignites the passions of fandom in you or you go, "What a bunch of emo crap" and I can't say that you're wrong.  There is a part of me that wants to tell the second group that true emo crap doesn't make you feel the way that this does, with it's peaks and valleys, emotional resonance and it's ability to make you feel feelings that are not part of your current state of being, but then I'd be called some sort of derogatory term for saying that.  So, I'll say it this way.  The next time you are feeling low, put on this album, and you might find something that resonates with you.  If you do, you're already a Cure fan, you just didn't know it yet.  But, if you are one of those people, like me, who feels emotions very deeply, do not put this album on if you are depressed.  Because this shit is like heroin.  You'll start feeling super depressed, and completely down, and you'll be dragged into the infinite spaces, as Pascal would say.

So Scott, on this, the day of your epic heartbreak for reasons not to be mentioned, when you have fallen so low from being so high, I would advise you not to listen to this album.  It will not console you, it will only deepen your depression over the terrible events that occurred yesterday.  It was lovely playing with you sir, and I hope we meet in the same situation again, and the result is exactly the same, bitch.

:heart:

"Disintegration is the best album ever!"

Matt

For those of you don't know:

What happened is this.  I'm playing hockey this spring season, and the playoffs started on Sunday.  My team, The Travellers was the number 8 seed going against the number one seeded Black Shaft Revelations.  In a shocking upset, the Travellers took the playoff series and moved on, eliminating the Black Shaft, which is Scott's team.  Afterwards, he told me that it was necessary for the Cure to come out soon.

Muse - Resistance

Muse - Resistance

Published in 2009

Wikipedia

iPod, so there.

First off, thanks to Lena for suggesting this album.

I don't know how to feel about Muse, but this might be my fault. You see, I am of two minds when it comes to them. One side, the sober side thinks that they play some really technical and clean rock, that is obviously appealing, but never really lights my fire. It's fun to sing to, fun to listen to, but I will get overwhelmed after a couple of tracks and have to esacpe from it. The songs I really like I enjoy throughly, but I have trouble paying attention.

The drunken me has two reactions to Muse. One is that this shitis tons of fun to sing, the lyrics are enjoyable and they encourage you to get involved and sing along. The second is to ascribe a certain deepness to their lyrics that the sober me would laugh at.   It's a disappointing dichotomy, but I must live with it.

That might be the real problem. This record sounds like the band really, really, really wants to be liked, and whatever you like, they'll try to do it for you. Like electronic music? Here you go! Like ballads? Here, sample this. Like classic rock? Here you are! It's such a buffet that I don't really know what I like about Muse.

Which sucks, actually. I like them, but I can't tell why, and if this blog indicates anything, I'll devote hundreds of words to why I like something, and figuring out why, but when a band tries to make me like them, I get gun-shy?

Muse seems like a good example of this eternal problem of taste. Why do we like some things and hate others? What is it that make our brains love one thing and hate another? Why are we subject to these whims?

The drunk me, in objection to what I wrote above would slur something like the following:

If you like something, but you can't understand why you like it, you must like it for surface reasons, the sound, the feel of the music is more important to your primitive brain than the deeper signifiers. Knowing that you like it has given you insight, but to understand that insight is what your brain has been programmed to do, and it is in that confusion that comes with justifying your taste that you lose the enigmatic part that you liked in the first place.

Sober me, then retorts:

But as this blog proves, breaking things down into peices and trying to understand them is something that my brain does with everything. While it does not always lead to full satisfactory understanding, the joy that I take in writing these is partly related to the act of breaking things down to figure them out. As we've seen, the ones that confuse me most run the gamut from most loved to most hated, so I disagree.

Drunk me:

And yet, you agreed that you like this album at some level. The difficulty only comes with the breaking down of the album, so just talk about what you like in general and hope that clarifies it for you.

Sober me:

Okay, I'll try that.

I think the song writin on display is some of the more clever that I've heard on an anthemy rock album like this. I find the lyrics to ironically wink at the source material, while still treating it gravely enough that it isn't annoying.

I think the performances are spectacular, however I don't enjoy some of the more electronic style choices, because I feel it detracts from the image presented. But, of course, the musicians are all spectacularly competent and the music is produced with flair, vim and even vigor.

I think United States of Eurasia is one of the most fun to sing along songs with in history, behind 1. Seal - Kiss from a Rose 2. The Eagles - Hotel California and 3. Weezer  - Say It Ain't So.  Obviously, it is in good company.  I also think that Resistance and Uprising are good, if not great, and Breaking Through is pretty damn okay too.  The rest of the album, I am not as entranced with.

I want to like them so bad.  Maybe this problem would be solved if I listened to a non-concept album by Muse, but I have no idea.  I just have this one to write about, Jeez, get off my back.

But of course, if you love Muse, and want to tell me why I am a jackass, and why drunk me is right, please do so in the comments, and get us ever closer to the goal of Bequeathing Phillip Half of a Hamilton.

"Five Four Three Nose One"
Matt

PS.  More albums please, I'm devouring these!

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Let's Face It

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Let's Face It

Published in 1997

Wikipedia

Hi, and welcome to third wave ska month at... No, I'm just kidding.  We're going to get away from the theme stuff for a while, and just write about albums because we want to, damn your eyes.  So, here is the filtered understanding that I have of the Bosstones, through years of nostalgia and enjoyment.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones play awesome music, and I may only be saying that because this was one of the first albums I ever owned, and may be directly responsible for me having this compulsion to listen to full albums.  Let me explain.  I didn't own a lot of music back in the day, when it was expensive and hard to know what to listen to.  I listened to that ever present mythical radio station known at 99.1 HFS at every opportunity.

Like Proust's tea cookies,  WHFS brings the memories of youth flooding back to me.  Riding in the car too and from places, listening in my room, hating DC 101.  Bob Wah, the Weasel, all the rest of the great DJ's and actually pretty strange music.  This was one of the last bastions of the alternative alternative rock station, at least in my area, and it kept that funk up until I was at least in late elementary school.  Since it turned into El Zol in high school, that's not a bad run.

I get these memories coming back from listening to this album.  It's astonishingly good, but back when I got the album, I was a big single kid.  I loved singles, because they were what I would listen to over and over, and I knew all the words to most of them, and they were fun.  However, in owning CDs, I came to realize something pretty incredible.  The singles were rarely the best song on the album.

Now, I know I am a card carrying member of the hipster militia for even uttering that sentence, but I think it is true for anyone who routinely listens to albums.  Think about your favorite album with a mega smash single on it.  Now think about your favorite track on that album.  Chances are, they are two different tracks.

The Bosstones are just incredible, straight across the board.  The horns are tight, the message is good, and the songs are well done.  They are just an excellent band, with excellent vocals.  Looking back, I'm glad that I found their album better than The Impression That I Get.  Let's talk about The Impression That I Get for a second.

It's a solid song.  Well written, sounds interesting, and the horns are awesome.  However, compared to songs like Another Drinking song and the Rascal King and a couple of others, it seems a bit simple and less interesting.  However, the fact that they were ubiquitous on the radio for that amount of time is a great thing, and I am sure that the catchyness is still being played on alt stations today.

Every song on here has a message, and that can get a little heavy handed, but I think the music more than makes up for that.  It takes a lot to write a good song about something real to people, and they dodge the hokey hole pretty well.  Also, who would be on the other side of these arguments but exactly the people you'd expect.

Another thing to know about the album is that it moves.  The longest song clocks in at 3:49, and that is because it has a long intro.  If you don't enjoy one song, the album gets over it pretty quickly, and the quick clip between songs gives you a big palette to find one that you enjoy.

I don't have much more to say about this album, because I enjoy it so much.  If you like ska at all, you've probably heard this album, and if you haven't you should.  If you haven't heard this album, you should, goes for everyone too.  It's a great album.

"The Furher does not say this, 'Achtung, baby.'"

Matt

PS. Write more comments, lose me some money, and some weight.  Give Phil Five.  Suggest albums!

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

Published in 2007

Wikipedia

AVClub - Best of 2007 #1 

Timely!

Yeah, I am writing this in the week after Arcade Fire won Best Album at the Grammy's, thus lending it a tiny sliver of legitimacy.  Also, the fact that the Beibs got shut out is apparently big news in the more annoying misspelled rants segments of the population, so there is that.  Threatening a young jazz artist for beating your teen heartthrob: smart!  (Also, this is much the same population that got so upset at the Taylor Swift thing, but now, since it is the white kid who got cheated out of best new artist, it's fine for them to go after the black girl.  Awesome.)  I think Mr. Bieber handled himself with poise and grace, and his fans are going through that awkward period before they grow shame.  Also, I didn't watch any of this shit, and I don't give a shit about it. So there is that.

Anyway, you know what is a great band?  Arcade Fire.  You know how I know?  Because once you put on one of their records, you'll find it hard to turn it off.  It has a sound all of it's own, and it just works. The songs are unique, interesting, and well done.

I actually hadn't listened to Neon Bible that much before this week, because I am pretty sure Funeral is one of my favorite albums of all time, which isn't saying much, since everyone ever loves that album.  You could prove that people don't, and I won't believe you, to paraphrase Ford Prefect.

This album is a perfect continuation of that legacy.  It's exactly what I enjoyed about Funeral, put back into another group of songs, which are spectacularly beautiful and incredibly well made.  The sounds are clear, the vocals are amazing, and it's got an interesting lyrical grasp.

The theme of the album is some sort of manipulative religious groups theme, but it isn't so overt that you can't just listen to the music, and isn't incredibly wrong.  The album, though, should be judged on the musical merits, of which there are many.

Remember last week, when I complained that TVOTR was flat?  There is no problem with that here.  The wash of sound is given a place and it is highly defined.  Your ear can seek out individual lines inside the whole with no problem, and you can even hear the major movements without any real direction.  The music is deep and the individual parts are awesome.

This is a band that I would love to just see recording, because I have a feeling that it is an incredible process.  I imagine beautiful music coming from a gothic monstrosity, new from old and this is going off the rails, I need to stop this.

It's actually somewhat hard to talk about this album because it is too good.  I know I say that a lot, but you people keep suggesting awesome albums that I don't have a lot to say about, because they are too good to talk shit about.  So I have to look for some way in, and that always seems like a contrivance and a dumb thing to do.

Neon Bible is, as with all Arcade Fire albums, not optional.  Get them, listen to them, enjoy them.  Be happy you did.  Thank me.  Name your firstborns for me. 

"God said to Abraham, give me a son."

Matt

Want to see some words about whatever you like?  Suggest something in the comments or on facebook or email me or whatever.  Also, the more comments we get, the more you will deprive me of beer money, thus depriving me of more beer gut, thus making me lose more money!  Give Phil Five!

PS. My album of 2007 is In Rainbows, by Radiohead, because.

TV On The Radio - Dear Science

TV On The Radio - Dear Science

Published in 2008

Wikipedia 

AVClub - Best of 2008 #1 

First off, "Hey Jerk, where is 2009?"

The Best of 2009 #1 album was Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, which I wrote about already.  I could use this opportunity to do an actual album project about it, but that would be 1. too easy, and 2. I'm not going to.  Shut up, you.

I actually am somewhat excited to see if out there in my fans there is someone who can explain why they like this album to me.  I have some interesting (for me) ideas to share (at you) and I'd love to hear some others about this.

TV On The Radio is one of the bands that I have never really listened to, but I know a bunch about because of the AVClub.  I use the AVClub to pass time at work, and to get my pop culture fix, so the things that they like, I know lots about, but the things that they are ambivalent towards, I am a bit hazier on.  TV On The Radio is strictly in the former category.

It's somewhat hard for me to see why this was picked as the album of the year.  Well, that's not strictly true.  I totally understand that they love these guys over there, and with their way of picking winners, it is more likely to be something that they love than someone completely insane (except Kanye).  So, I don't know if they collectively agreed that this was the best, or if they collectively enjoyed it, and it squeaked by.

This album is perfectly pleasant to listen to.  It's actually a delight in how enjoyable it is, and how easy it is to get into.  I've been listening to it for about an hour and a half now, and I am not tired of their sound.  It's well made, well produced, and it just is solid in every place that it should be.

The vocals are incredible, the band is great, the songs are well written, and it's just fun to listen to.  So why don't I like it more?

First off, I think that it is missing that hook that I need to get into it.  Remember when Gnarles Barkley came out with Crazy, and everyone knew that song was amazing?  I just do not hear that kind of song in this album.  I can't put my finger on why that is, because they obviously are killing it in every other department, but there is just no song that I am unable to turn off.

Secondly, it's a little too easy for me to just drop in and drop out of listening.  Over the course of this hour and a half, I have consciously found myself listening to it about 20 times, which is pretty damn low.  I'm talking about those moments where you recognize that your focus is entirely on the music playing and not on anything else.  Now, I am writing a blog while I am listening, which decreases my focus on the pure music, but usually, I hover somewhere near 45-60 for a good album and I have trouble writing when it is a great album.

Thirdly, it sounds a little ... flat?  I guess.  It sounds like there isn't a huge variation in the sound of the album, and without that depth, it is hard for me to get totally into it.  I hear all of the individual parts somewhat washing together, which is unfortunate, because whenever I separate the parts out, it sounds amazing, but it takes a great deal of focus to separate them.  The songs are amazing, but I can't hear the range of it, because it seems that the whole of the album is squished together behind the vocals.

Now, to be  clear, I think you should hear this album, because I think it is very good.  I just think it might not be my cup of tea.  Also, I think there might be the Dreamtheater effect here, where not knowing where the band comes from and what kinds of songs they are striving for is getting in the way of my enjoyment.  I just don't think this is anything other than an optional album.

Anyway, if there is anyone out there who would like to tell me why I am wrong, you can help Phil earn 5 bucks of my hard earned Korean Won, and if you have any album suggestions, you can throw them down in the comments.

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."

Matt

PS. Give Phil Five! Give Phil Five! Give Phil Five! Give Phil Five! Give Phil Five! Give Phil Five! Give Phil Five! Give Phil Five! Give Phil Five! USA! USA! USA! USA! LET'S GO TEAM! LET'S GO TEAM!

Daft Punk - Tron Legacy Soundtrack

Daft Punk - Tron Legacy Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Published in 2010

Wikipedia

One - iPod

So, yeah, this is going to be a weird one. I was going to do a different soundtrack for this one, but a bus ride with my limited iPod has somewhat forced me to choose this one, because I had it and couldn't sleep.

Let's talk about soundtracks for a second. Soundtracks exist in a strange place between music and movies. Some movies are enhanced by their soundtracks, while others are completely dated by them. Dirty Work, dates itself completely by featuring two of the ninetiesist nineties songs to ever ninties ever in it's first couple of minutes. However, there are the iconic ones that will never leave your head. The End, by the Doors, playing over the end of Apocolypse Now (that whole soundtrack captures something ineffable about the time and place of the movie.) the Pixies at the end of Fight Club. Steeler's Wheel in Reservoir Dogs. These are songs that have been repurpsed to fit a particular moment, making it have a heightened resonence.

The other side of this is the orchestral score, or the music composed for the film. Imagine Star Wars without the music by John Williams. Or for that matter Jurassic Park, ET, Jaws, Indiana Jones. How would all those French horn players make any money? Or The Social Network without the bizarrely intense Trent Reznor score. Or a musical like Nightmare Before Christmas.

The distinction that I am making is that movie soundtracks generally fall into an either or proposiion. Either it is used by the movie because it is a pop culture song, or it is made for the movie. In general, the latter fit better than the former. Mainly because when you are hearing the song of last summer for the thirtieth time in a movie that year, it has a certain distracting quality to it that our friend Mr. Bale knows quite well. (Two year old pop culture ephemera joke? Sign me up!)

Tron: Legacy dealt with the soundtrack issue very well. They brought in two of the most talented digital associated artists and seemingly gave them carte blanche to do whatever they wanted to. What you get is actually a quite impressive mixture of the two kinds of music that normally accompany movies.

Daft Punk is an enigmatic group, performing sampled and created music from behind a dj booth. Their albums in general are consistantly good. They have super dance party music. They make thinking people's electronic music.

However, on this album, I think it is their more orchestral prices that stand out for me. They have a different flavor than just the pure electronic ones, and I think that gives them a texture that your average daft punk song lacks, or at least isn't striving for.

This is a fucking cool album. It's maybe not particularly repeat listenable, but it has some really moving and amazing parts. The highlight is of course the scenes from the bar in the movie, just because that plays to their strengths so much, but the rest of the soundtrack sounds good. It also fits well with the tone of the franchise, for better or worse.

Now, because I have to, let's talk about the movie. I appreciated what they did with it, and I actually quite enjoyed it, but I can see the flaws. I just took those flaws as hearkening back to the insanity that was the first movie. Also, any movie with Jeff Bridges acting in two roles is somewhat cool, although CLU was a monster deep in the uncanny valley if you looked at him.

However, give me the moment where Renzler slams into CLU saying "I fight for the users" any day of any given period of time, and I will be completely psyched. I don't care how silly it sounds, it was spectacular just to see that little bit.

Never mind the fact that they threw a bunch of mythology away to make this, it was quite fun.

A good soundtrack doesn't get in the way of the images on screen. A great soundtrack adds feeling and depth to those images, creating pathos and feeling behind the images. By this standard, Tron succeeds incredibly. If you have an ear for music, you can pick out whose music cues are whose, and you can hear the movies universe going by. And who wouldn't want to spend more time in a universe where lightcyfles exist and programs are made to fight?

Thanks for bearing with me through this one. I hope you could give a couple of tracks a spin. I particularly like End of Line.

Next week - KANYE

There is only one way to end this one.
"I fight for the users!"
Matt

PS. Hey Kids! Give Phil Five! OR BURN! IN HELL! FOREVER! Also, comment below, and I'll Give Phil Five for you, cause I am buying my way to heaven five dollars at a time.

PPS. We're done with May at this point, so suggest some more damn albums so I can stop doing ones that I love.  It's really hard to be critical of shit that I suggest myself.

Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not

Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not

Published 2006

Wikipedia

Weird one today, and also iPod-riffic, so blame it for anything super strange.

... And the time and place album. 

Or a tribute to Dr William Hollingsworth. 

Imagine that you were told a day before that you were going on a road trip. That you would take it with two of your good friends and a guy who you thought was cool, friendly and interesting that you didn't know so well. Imagine that the purpose of this trip was to go to an alien landscape and get very, very ,very drunk with a bunch of other college kids who you have never met and anticipate never meeting again. Imagine that you had a couple hours on the road with an iPod and three other guys. 

This is a recipie for one of two things. Thing one: a ton of awkward picking of weird music to try to out indie each other, or thing two: a group of guys picking awesome music screaming at the top of their lungs about tire fires and how crazy they were going to get. 

This is the situation in which I was introduced to the arctic monkeys. And what an introduction. I probably never would have given this band a shot if it had not been for that introduction.

For a first album, it's suprisingly well put together and obviously well done. This is one of those bands that everyone you know will claim to have known about them first and that you are late to the party. Because all your friends are pricks. Or something. Wait where was this going. 

Oh right. There are albums that exist to be heard in a certain time and place. They must be heard there or they might not flourish into the album that you understand. For an obscure comparison, it's like that flower that mr Wilson cultivates In the Dennis the menace movie, which only blooms every forty years or something. 

This is an album that needs to be heard in the company of people who want to enjoy a good solid rock album. This is not an album to be listened to alone. Which I am violating just by writing this solo, but fuck it right. You need to have some Streets to build on, you need to have some Man Man to follow up with and of course some Death from Above to finish it off. 

These are not the greatest artist ever, but they fucking try to be. They obviously attended the Liam and Noel Gallagher school of becoming brother pop stars, but in this case it is not to be begrudged. They make some really solid songs along the way and want to make some people fucking move. So fucking hats off to the fucking monkeys and don't listen to any of their other albums because they are mediocre as shit. 

Anyway, thank you Will. I still consider you one of the coolest people I know, and I wish that we had more time together. But I guess that is what the next roadtrip is for.    

jj - jj n° 2

jj - jj n° 2

Published in 2009

Wikipedia

First off, thanks to doomsday for suggesting this album.

This album landed with a resounding thud on my iPod. I was listening to it going what the fuck is this. Weird etherial electronic rap lady singing insanity? What on earth am I listening to?

I'm writing this without the internets but i'd bet, were I to look up jj on the Internet, they would be some sort of Scandinavian collective of electropop artists based on what I am hearing. It's so ecclectic that it could only be made by white people who were cold and bored.

Look, I don't know if I like this album or not. I literally cannot tell. Some of it is very cool and interesting and makes me want to be a huge fan. But some makes me want to punch someone in the face for sheer pretentiousness. I just want to know why they are trying so hard all the time.

To get a little psychological, I have a feeling that the prophet doomsday suggested this album because it reminded him of theivery corperation. He knows how much I like them, so he gave me this. I think I really like TC because of the wide influences and because it is perfect chill music. Every song takes it's time, allowing the listener to really get involved in the permutations of the sound. This doesn't allow me to do that, perhaps because they are trying to be too upbeat for it.

I come not to bury albums but I cannot say that this is anything but optional for me. The vocals are quite nice, and some of the tracks are good. Nothing seems to just jump put at me, and that means something. It ether means that I just don't have the chops to get on board and I am missing an essential piece of the puzzle, or it means that it just doesn't work for my pallet. I can recognize moments of real beauty and grace, but it seems to be weighed down too much with strange shit.

Patrick, I understand this album, and I can see why you like it, but it just never hooked me, which is trouble. I was looking for something else in there that just wasn't. Maybe this one will grow on me eventually, but it's not working for me right now.  But thanks again for the suggestion man, and keep more coming.

"What do you do man?" "I kill people, professionally."
Matt

PS - Next Week The Ink Spots - The Very Best of the Ink Spots

Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory

Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory

Published in October 1995

Wikipedia

First off, iPod so there is that. Also, thanks to Sarah who asked me when I was going to do this album, unwittingly telling me to get off my ass and get back to work.

(What's the story) Morning Glory is a lot like getting into a time machine and setting it within your own life. Every part of it is familiar and yet you don't really know why but t all feels just a little wrong. Listening to this album reminded me or my childhood, but at 24 I feel like being nosolgic is a little strange. 

The reason that this album makes me pine for days gone by is because there was a time in my lifetime when Oasis was the new shit. I remember kids being excited about them coming to the patriot center and them being in the news. 

In fact, one of the few concerts I attended with my friend Zach was an Oasis and Black Crows concert that we attended because we got free tickets and also for a much more cynical reason. 

I wanted Noel and Liam Gallegher to beat the shit ot of each other on stage in a glorious bottle smashing fist flying melée. What can I say, I was a seventeen year old boy. I'm not proud of wishing that the two of them go all Cain and Abel on each other, but since they were probably going to do it anyway, I was happy to go see the concert and hope.

I'm not sure if I was alone in my desire to see these two fight, and I am pretty sure I wasn't, but I had forgotten how much of a pleasure it had been to see them until I started listenig to this album. They were tight in performance, and if they just could have laid off the sauce and the brotherly love, they could have been one of the formative bands of my youth. Jnfortunately, plagued by the kind of press that slowly destroys your musical cred, they ended up with assholes like me combing to their converts to watch them get biblical on each others asses. 

It's a shame. I really enjoyed this album, and I know the 12 year old me would have really liked it. It's nice and pop rocky, great hooks and super fun and enjoyable. The singles are still resonent and the other songs are tight, well produced and skillful. 

Let's talk about singles for a second. I have some friends who really like to get their favorite single tracks and play a mash of songs. It's not my strategy, but I understand it more and more. This group of songs are singleriffic. I am tempted to skip through and just listen to the songs I remember, because they are so good.

As a collection of singles, this album is the tits. As an album, it's good. It doesn't present a full picture of the band and it is a little to all sounds the same for me. 

I guess what I am saying is if you liked Oasis the first time around, you'll probably enjoy it this time. Don't look back in anger and wonderwall held up extremely nicely. If you were ambivilent or turned off by te image that was presented of them, give it a shot. If you can't stand Oasis, this album isn't for you, and you know that. 

Thanks to Sarah for suggesting this album. It was lovely to listen to and it's been lovely seeing you once or twice a year. 

I like my women like I like my coffee, covered in bees

Matt

PS. Next week jj - jj n*2 (a dooooooooomsday production.)

Nas - Illmatic

Nas - Illmatic

Published in 1994

Wikipedia

iPod warning. Written on an iPod so any mistakes are its fault and not mine. I am absolved!

I hate New York.

Really, I do. I'm jealous of their popularty, I think the city is rightfully the center of the world, and I think their culture is amazing.  I'm sure that at some point I'm going to have to live there at some point just because t is the center ofthe world, but I will always hate New York.

There are several reasons for this. One, New York is the quintessential place that knows exactly how fucking cool it is, and takes a lot of pride in that fact. Two, New yorkers treat the world as if the east coast consists of NYC and other.  But of course, there is an even better reason.

Three, New York is the home of the New York Yankees. While this should be an obvious reason to hate New York and their stupid smug faces, I will explain. I'm from a small town directly between Baltimore and Washington if you know one thing about this area, it is that our sportsteams glory days have been out of style since the late 80's. Actually, I've always maintained several team loyalties because that was the only way to survive.  Here is a list of my local teams and their alternates.
1. The Washington Capitals (who are finally good, but have had no success in the playoffs) - The Detroit Red Wings (family is from Michigan and they are the greatest sports team in history)

2. The Washington Bullets (wizards) - No real alternate, I'd rather watch college ball, but I am currently loving he evil that is the Miami Sith.

3. The Washigton Redskins (to know this teams MO, all you need to know is that their general managers nickname is "chainsaw" Dan Snyder. They are going to the playoffs at the beginning of the season, and by week three, they are back to a rebuilding year.) - once again, college is an option which is why I love Michigan but they have been sucking too. If the skins get Favre, I might defect to the raiders who have always treated me right and are one of my best friends teams.

4. The Baltimore Orioles

And here we come to the true worst. The lowest of the low. I am not the biggest baseball fan in the world, but I must be a masochist because I love the Orioles. They are the pinnicle of teams that you wish you could quit.   They are consistantly having a bad year, aren't doing anything big and try to remind you of the good old days.

I'm twenty four. I can reasonably expect to live another fifty years or so. I don't smoke, I don't drink to excess anymore, and yet, I have a feeling that Peter Angelos will outlive me and the orioles will never go to the playoffs again. There is one good reason for this. That reason is that we are in the most consistantly brutal division in the league. We play against the Red Sox, the Rays and the Fucking New York Yankees.

(I know that this is a music blog and a lot or you don't care about this biut I think it gives a good context for my feelings about Nas.)

I was a younger man once. I had no television in my house except for huge sports events. Thinking about it now it is really strange that we even watched those, because other than my grandfather, we weren't big sports fans. However we watched the olympics over the antenna, we saw Ripkin's 2131, watched Jordan's bulls go buckwild on people, and watched baseball playoff games, but only the O's and the world series. So, one of my most vivid sports memories is when that little yankees fan shit deflected the ball over the wall to turn a 3-2 win for the o's into a 4-3 loss for them. I remember that moment as the moment that I knew the O's were screwed because god hated them and by extetion loved the living avatars of Satan that are the New York Yankees.

Obviously, this shit is emotional for me still. It's one of those ments that can only happen in sports, where your heart is ripped out over something that only matters in your heart. But, if sports has taught me anything, if you want a community to band together and to become something connected and real, give them a sports team, let them make a run for greatness and then either let them win, or rip their hearts out. Steal their team in the night, then make them do it to another city. Give them a taste of collective greatness and you will bind them together.

This is why this album is hard for me. It is deservedly a classic rap album, and it is a totally incredible album. But, it wears it's New York credibility on it's sleeve. And as a hater of New York this is tantamount to worshipping at the temple of Ba'al to Moses.

I love this album. Nas is rightfully called a game changer, and his ability to create flow and wordplay is incredible. Everything he says is in the service of driving the action and his words are quick moving and selected. He rhymes well, powers through when power is needed and hacks off the mic when appropriate.

His beats are as strong as his words are too. In the grand scheme of beats, I would say that his are in general well sampled and are good about getting out of the way of the action. However, they give a great flavor to the words and work wonders with their simplicity.

If I were to talk to Nas, I'd probably be star struck and be unable to talk,  but if I summoned the courage, I'd ask him what he loves about New York. I have a feeling that the reasons I love Baltimore and Washington are in many respects the same and that he is just showing appreciation to the place that was important to him in his youth. But, of course, that doesn't make him right about NYC, because as any decent human being knows, that town Is evil.

Kind of a weird album project, I know, but when I heard this one, I knew exactly what I needed to talk about.  No thanks this week except maybe to the AV club, who's suggestions make me expand my horizions. So keep it up, you guys.

April is the cruellest month
Matt


PS. Next week - Oasis - (what's the story) Morning Glory                      

Andrew Bird - Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs

Andrew Bird - Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs 

Published 2005

Wikipedia

First up, thanks to Alex Claxton for suggesting this album. I've been looking to do this one almost since the beginning of the project and I'm glad I finally got to it. 

Second, this was originally written on my iPod because my school decided that they needed me to go on a school trip. This was a mistake on their part. If there is anything in the world that I am not good at, it is sightseeing in Korea. Any major mistakes can and will be used against the iPod at the appropriate time in it's trial on it's warcrimes against humanity.   

Anyway, to the album. I think I'll start out by saying something that is going to sound like the beginning of

a back handed compliment, but I honestly mean it. Andrew Bird would best be described in my mind as technically proficient. I mean this in the nicest way possible. He sincerely plays some of the most technically proficent music that I have listened to on the project thus far. The fact that this is also a performer's album makes it even better. 

What do I mean by a performer's album? Well, I'm glad you asked, person from my brain who asks me to clarify things that I wrote. It's an album type I usually associate with singer songwriter types who to for that stripped down sound. I'm talking the early stuff for these artists, who then go on to do what Andrea Bird does so well. The album is truly a showcase of the artists talent and ideas about music. It's usually a solo and guests only type of deal. 

And this is why I appreciate what Mr. Bird did here. This is a performer's album which sounds and feels like a big band effort. It is exclusively performed by him, but there are a ton of instruments used beautifully and proficiently.

See, I have a multi instrumentalist cousin ( if were being honest, I also have another cousin, two uncles, a grandmother who are multi instrumentalists, and everyone in my family has played instruments and sang), I somewhat understand how much work he has done on his instruments to just be technically proficent.  

So when I say technically proficent, I mean it as a high compliment. He plays beautifully on all of the instruments. The little flourishes are wonderful and the whole album is genuinely well played. The only real problem that I have with it is that I just don't feel enraptured. Not to say that it isn't moving or beautiful, it is, it's just not the kind of thong that I get deeply into.

Musically, it's kind of an indie jazz album. It's good but nothing super special to my ears. The production makes a huge difference.  And knowing that Bird did all of the playing makes a huge difference.   

If you are the kind of completionist who needs to hear this whole album, it's a good one for daytime driving and newspaper reading. I will say sovay is one of my favorite songs off of this album so perhaps you should give that a spin. 

Once again, thanks Alex, I hope that I didn't desparage the name and hope you'll throw more suggestions my way. 

Ooh a big blinking lighty machiney thing. Big blinking lighty machiney things have my name all over it. Well not yet, but give me some time . . . And a crayon. 

Matt

PS. Up next Nas - Illmatic

PPS. Happy New Year

Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

Published - October 2009

Wikipedia

So, I'm back.

I'll let that sink in here for a minute before we get to the music.

I'm back, and I realized how much this got me through the first couple of months here in Korea, and how much I enjoyed the fits and starts in which I wrote a bunch of these.  Actually, a respected blogger friend of mine (I mean a friend who I respect and writes a blog, not that his blog is widely respected, although it should be, like go read some of it now) asked me when it was going to return, after my enigmatic last post.  So here I am, back at the computer, slamming out words about music again.  I hope you're back too.

Here is the plan.  52 weeks in the year.  52 album projects.  That is the bare minimum I will allow to happen.  One a week is a pretty low number, to be sure.  So if I can get more, I will.  What does this mean for you?  Every seven days, I'll come up with a new one.  These will all be suggestions from other people.  This makes my job easier, because that leaves time open for everything else I want to write just for myself, and allows me to go back and do classics and stuff on my own terms.  So,  I've got my list started, and of course, if you have more suggestions, send them to me.  I'll try to keep everyone updated with what is coming up soon, and what I think I'll be writing about next.  Hopefully, we'll end up with something more like 100 album projects, but of course, that depends on one thing.  Me.  The unreliable as far person.  I'm working on this though.  So, hopefully for the next year, until next Christmas at least, some album will be talked about, at great length, by me.

Speaking of which, let's get to this weeks album.  Sigh No More was suggested to me by two different people.  So, I'd like to thank Mr. Grant Hamming and Ms. Rachel Nusbaum, for the suggestion.

I don't know if I have a lot to say about this album.  This is not for any other reason than it appeals to me on a visceral level, where I really enjoyed every part of it separately, and I loved the whole, but it didn't really make me have a strong opinion about it.  It was consistently good, enjoyable, and made me really fall for the depth of it.

The wikipedia would lead you to believe that this is a "freak folk" album.  I don't understand what that means. This actually just sounds like a modern folk album to me.  If Bob Dylan had been born in the early 80's and had nearly the same life, I think this is what his music would sound like, with a bit different vocals, and more incomprehensible lyrics.

Talking about the lyrics, they are beautiful.  It's an incredibly moving album, you feel the things that they are singing, and the depth of the vocals is very impressive.  The lead singer is frequently backed up by what sounds like a half a dozen singers.  The lyrics are clear, defined, and sound like hooks to me.  This is folk at it's best, where it conjures up a small, dusty, packed room, with the group singing to a group of people, ready to seize the song and sing back to them.  Their music is incredibly close to you.  You feel as if it is surrounding you and permeating you.  It's darkly toned, and soars when it should.

I think that is why I reject the "freak folk" label, it's just too good as genuine folk.  They aren't commenting on it, they aren't satirizing it, and they aren't using it in any way other than as a the formula from which the music comes.  The modernity could be lost if it were recorded on ancient equipment, and if they cut out some of the layering, but to do that would be to lose the thought and what seems to be important to the band.  They seem to be inspired by the ideas of folk, and they took them to the logical next step, a place with soaring vocals and more instruments than just a banjo, guitar and bass.  To make them out to be avant guard is to reject Bob Dylan once he went electric.  It's not against the grain of the music that was being performed, it is to constantly be trying to update, to become a better musician, and express the thoughts that 'are' to that group, at that time is the next step for this particular group.

Now, this is another album that will completely turn people off, because it is niche in the extreme.  If you don't like mountain folky sounding music, you probably won't get enamored of this album.  If you are looking for something uplifting, I'd listen to particular tracks, but overall, you won't be uplifted by this.

However, if you are down, and want to hear moments of brightness against a background of melecholy, or if you want to hear something beautiful, and yes, a little hipsteresque, you should pick this up.  If you wanted to just look at a couple of the songs, to see if you would like it, I'd suggest you listen to Dustbowl Dance, which is just an incredible song.  The album sounds very similar from song to song, which is not a criticism, but more that it paints a portrait of the band in its time.  It sounds like a complete album.

Anyway, let me say thanks again to Rachel and Grant, two incredibly cool people on opposite sides of the world.  I hope that each of you are doing well in your respective positions.  I'd like to hear more from you two about what this album did for you, because I'm still working on it, but I really enjoyed it.

I am the very model of a modern major general,
Matt

Oh hey, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all that stuff too.

PPS. Next week, Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs - Andrew Bird

Dethklok - Dethalbum II

Dethklok -  Dethalbum II

Published in 2009

Wikipedia

What do you do when your joke band actually starts making some pretty awesome music?  If you're Brendon Small, apparently you just keep on rolling.  I think that metalocolypse is one of the most original and funny shows on tv but if you hate cartoons or something stupid like that, you need to listen to their album. Actually I'd suggest this album for one specific reason.

Comedy albums, as a rule have this tendency to include these things called skits. These are usually cute little asides that acknowledge tha their music is actually a joke and that they are meant to be funny. ( presumably they don't want to get confused with real bands like the guys who wrote 'bush was right'. Look it up. If it were a comedy, it would be the best parody ever. ). However, my favorite comedy albums never have this shit. It's something to add a little flavor, but a great comedy or anything album should be filled to the brim.

The Dethalbum I had these asides and they just didn't add anything to the procedings. They were just too jokey, which is weird for a comedy band. But, the fat has been trimmed, and the reward is awesome.

Metal music is inherently a bit of a joke. Anyone who takes themselves that seriously needs to have he amount of introspection to recognize that they are flawed and vulnerable human beings before they implode themselves. Metallica at the beginning had this then lost it. Dethklok was concieved as the band that exists both inside and outside of that bubble. This is what makes them so interesting to me.

Let it be officIal. Dethklok rules. They play some amazing fucking music. They exist to rock and the music that they make stands up to some of the best albums on here. There are incredible guitar parts. Great drumming. Awesome vocals and just all around proficency. They aim amazingly high and reach those heights well. They play some really melodic death metal and they really do shred.

It's a very simple album in many respects. Sometimes the songs sound similar but you don't even give a shit. You want them to keep going and going, because they are trying to not be just a joke band.  The desire to really invest themselves into the band is what is the most impressive part to me. It could have just been a little joke, but they committed to it and in seeing it through they made something amazing. The lyrics are joking sometimes and the music is as overmetaled metal as you will ever hear, but you wouldn't want it any other way.

Anyway, I'm currently trapped on a metal tube that is burning dead plant matter to throw itself through the air at something like five hundred miles an hour, and the acompaniment could not be more awesome. I have to thank everyone involved in making this album, and want to thank Peter for alerting me to it's presence when it came out.

Croooooooooooow!
Matt

Coheed and Cambria - Second Stage Turbine Blade

Coheed and Cambria - Second Stage Turbine Blade

Published in 2002

Wikipedia

First off, I want to thank Zach's friend Luke, who probably doesn't even remember suggesting this album or who the fuck I am.  As the first person who I don't know personally to suggest an album, I want to say thank you and hope that you will leave a comment or something.

This was written on my iPod just so you know, so if there are any crazily innappropriate mistakes, that is why.  Well, not the ideas, if those are bad, that is all me.

Coheed and Cambria is a difficult band for me to get into and an even harder one for me to write about.  It is a study in contrasts. They play some awesome rock and roll. They obviously know how to make a catchy song. They really like playing their instruments. And they remind me of the best parts of Rush (and if you hate Rush, you've got a severe mental block against awesomely cheesey rock).

Then there is the other side of them. The side that chooses to do the looney tunes interlude, just like Dream Theater, but actually more out of place than in that album.  They have the 'whispery breathy deep voices talking over our songs is awesome and not stupid' weirdness that just doesn't turn me on at all. And then there is the Cousin Jerry effect.

I feel like a prick for doing this, but I feel like I have to.  This is what I picture in my head. Coheed and Cambria are sitting in the garage that they practice in, between epic d and d sessions and listening to progressive rock. Then momma C&C comes out into the garage and tells them that they need to include their Cousin Jerry in the band, because he is not having fun, and she won't take no for an answer.  Cousin Jerry doesn't have any musical ability per se, but he really really likes screamcore and really really is being forced into the band by mom. So Cousin Jerry becomes the guy who screams in the background, behind the choruses and shit and drives me up the goddamn wall.

Just when I am getting into a song, just when I really am enjoying it, fucking Jerry comes in and pops a blood vessel in his brain by screaming. The fucking song is so good and enjoyable and that prick comes in and ruins it. It sounds like someone is just attempting to piss me off. Through my ear. It sounds how I must imagine syphilis must feel when you are just trying to take a nice long satisfying piss.

I'm listening to it right now, and it just stresses me out. Fucking every other part of the band, I am a hundred percent behind. But that prick makes me wish that I had a time machine so I could go back to the studio and fucking cut his mic and slap him around a bit for inflicting that scream-y shit on me.

The amount of vitriol in this post is probably a little overboard but I really want to enjoy this album. I just want the whole to be more like 33 where they attempted to use harmony instead of just fucking yelling. This is a really good album and the band has a ton of talent. If they could just dump Cousin Jerry, this album would definately be not optional, but that is the price you pay when you make my ears bleed with stupid decisions. And yes, I realize that this is probably someone's favorite part of the band, and that this is just like, my opinion, man, but it really did drive me up the wall that much.

Anyway, thanks again to Luke and I hope he'll suggest more albums that I'll he a complete and utter prick about and spew a bunch more words about.  Once again, I want to say I liked everything else about this album, so if c&c got rot of that guy, give me that album, and I'll sing it's praises.

It's two hundred miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack or cigarettes, it's dark out and we're wearing sunglasses,
Matt