Boorishly listens to your young people's music

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:03 pm

I think I would prefer it even if it went more like this:

first verse
chorus
instrumental banjo breakdown
chorus
end

Or even:

first verse
chorus
just some scatting
chorus
end

It's just when they do the same verse twice it's like they are saying, "We only have enough material for a ninety-second song but we are POSITIVE you would want to listen to it twice in a row so you're welcome!" They just seem so proud that they were able to write half of a good song. And that's nice, but I am not going to applaud them for it when so many other bands can write a whole good song.

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:07 pm

I understand what you're saying but I think what I don't necessarily concede is that a "good song" is characterized by having different lyrics in each half of the song.

Anyway my favorite song on the album so far is M79 so I agree with you on that one!

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:08 pm

Also how is scatting better than repeating the same lyrics as far as sending a message that they ran out of lyrical material?

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:18 pm

I just want them to be a little embarrassed about not having more lyrics and the scatting is like "Doobie doobie doobie hopefully you won't notice these aren't actually words scoobie doobie shoobie za!"

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:37 pm

The "za" is a bit show-offy, I think.

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:41 pm

Overcompensating for the lack of a second verse obviously.

Joined: 19 Feb 2006 Posts: 2619

guys mastodon is pretty excellent it's sets the atmosphere that fantasy metal really needs although the lyrics are not really understandable most of the time.

you can tell the dude is singing about fantasy that's really it, leviathin is not that great but check out blood mountain it is v. good

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 9:23 pm

Boorishly if you're still interested in music even if hardly anyone listens to it I think you might like Havalina (aka Havalina Rail Co.). I thought of them because you mentioned that you like songs with fiddles, and they had a violin player on two albums (then their drummer left so the violinist had to fill in for him, darn shame).

You can download one of those albums, Russian Lullabies, completely free from their website.

Christmas came early Joined: 16 Feb 2005 Posts: 9225

wait oxford comma isn't the same verse over and over
it's just some of the same lines repeated.

even the chorus isn't the same over and over.
not that it's a great song just that if that is boorishly's argument it is not entirely valid

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:13 pm

Who said I was talking about "Oxford Comma"? I'm talking about Vampire Weekend generally.

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:17 pm

Anyway the point is that even though their songs sound nice and are pretty enjoyable, they also seem half-baked and repetitive to me. They remind me a lot of America in that respect.

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:19 pm

the band or the country

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:22 pm

I was just listening to the album again and at one point I was like, "Hey this is a pretty great song, this one." And it turned out it was "M79" so yeah I still like that one a lot. I wish they put more of their songs back in the oven until they sounded more like that.

Grade: B-

EDIT: Also America the band. Not making political statements here, just poorly informed musical criticism.

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:52 pm

I guess I don't really disagree with a B-ish grade for the album, but that's because I simply don't like it enough for it to get an A. There aren't reasons.

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:53 pm

I guess I sort of have a problem with music criticism in general, really.

Christmas came early Joined: 16 Feb 2005 Posts: 9225

Miles your problems are a C+ at best
maybe in general you are a B

Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:53 pm

I guess I don't really know what that means.

But anyway I was listening to Random Spirit Lover (by Sunset Rubdown) again today and holy cow it's so good but what I was thinking is, it's pretty much the opposite of Vampire Weekend as far as repetitive and running out of material goes. Like all the songs are pretty varied but they have just enough repetition to feel cohesive. So anyway Boorishly if you're still thinking about picking up young people music, you might check that album out!

If you do though, you may want to give it a number of listens before passing judgment, because it bored me at first but now I love it a lot.

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 5:29 pm

I'm back for a limited engagement (don't get too attached) but I figured I ought to let you guys know I am still listening to some of your young people's music. I have five albums right now that I have been listening to for a while, and am still waiting for the Hold Steady to come from Amazon. (Not sure what the hold up is.) Also there are a few more I think I will buy in the next month or so, so you can look forward to that!

I am probably going to stick with writing shorter things about the albums but have decided after some internal debate not to get rid of the grades because otherwise it is too easy to be wishy-washy.

Artist: Ladytron
Album: Velocifero

What the what: A lot of band names are pretty misleading these days (anybody remember Bare Naked Ladies?) so it was kind of a pleasant surprise to find out that this band really does have a lady singer and also is pretty computerized. For some reason, I was really actually expecting it to be a band of ironic European dudes.

Anyway, I really like most of the music. It's dark and creepy in a Peter Gabriel/Pet Shop Boys kind of way, and I usually like anything that sounds like it's the product of a computerized dystopia. But boy you want to talk about repetitive lyrics? Well here are you repetitive lyrics! It doesn't annoy me as much here though since I do think that the repitition kind of fits the computerized nature of the music. And the repetition is so heavy-handed that the songs become almost mantra-like. A lot of the lyrics (few though they are) are good enough to stand up under such sustained scrutiny, but there are other songs that just don't need to be as long as they are.

I think this is a good album despite the girly band name, but it's also a pretty simple and undemanding album. If you don't like it right away, I can't really imagine it growing on you because it's not like there are secret levels to it.

Final grade: B

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 3:49 pm

Boorishly keep it up OK

Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 1:39 pm

Artist: Goldfrapp
Album: Seventh Tree

What the what: Mostly I buy albums because I have heard something by the band and I liked it, or because people keep telling me it is a good album, or (rarely) because I read a really convincing review. This album was unusual because probably 50% - 75% of my motivation for buying it was because I liked the picture on the cover. It reminds me a lot of the cover of Richard Harris's A Tramp Shining, except with less Richard Harris and with more pretty girls and tri-cornered hats. I guess I just looked at the picture and said, "I bet I would like a band that likes a picture like that." Though I may have also said, "Boy that girl is pretty."

Anyway, it turns out that Goldfrapp is pretty good in a soothing gentle kind of way. This is not a hard rocking band at all -- they remind me a bit of George Michael at times and bit of those generic folk singers who show up on the soundtracks to horrible 70s movies at others. (Incidentally, listening to this album made me wonder whether I am at a point in my life where I can appreciate George Michael, and I think the answer is "Yes, probably.") A lot of the lyrics are impossible to figure out, so they don't get a lot of points on that front. But the ones that I can understand are pretty decent -- though I am kind of assuming that some of them are sarcastic, which may or may not actually be the case. They have at least one lady singer -- maybe two, it's hard to tell -- and sometimes her voice is not my favorite voice. But overall I like this album a lot more than I figured I would like something like this. It is just pretty solidly put together, and manages to be mellow without ever getting really dull.

Final grade: C+

Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:39 pm

I really like the song "A&E" from that album, despite the fact that the song, as far as I can tell, is not about the cable television network (I think it is actually about the dual pleasures of promiscuousness and drug use, but I'm not entirely sure).

Joined: 18 Jun 2008 Posts: 1597

I'm about half way through this thread and I don't know why I haven't read it before.

anyway, I want to say thanks for bringing the black keys to my attention

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:47 am

I'm purposely avoiding the Black Keys because they are from Akron.

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 12:03 pm

racist

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 3:37 pm

Are you also purposely avoiding Devo, The Pretenders, The Waitresses, LeBron James and Goodyear tires?

Christmas came early Joined: 16 Feb 2005 Posts: 9225

i purposely avoid bands from dayton and it has turned out to be very easy

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 6:00 pm

Artist: Hot Buttered Rum
Album: Live in the Northeast

What the what: I keep looking for the country band that will really blow me away with their quiet confidence, their easy wit, and their musical prowess. Admittedly, I'm not looking all that hard, but every now and then I do think maybe somebody will come along who will answer the description. Spoiler: Hot Buttered Rum is not really it.

There are a lot of things I like about Hot Buttered Rum though. I wouldn't ordinarily buy a live album from a band I don't know anything about -- often live albums need a little more context to be fully appreciated. But I heard the song "California Snow and Rain" on the radio and thought it was great, and this is apparently the only album it's on. I still think it's great -- it's got a hip laidback 1970s west coast vibe that I dig. And there's fiddles and banjos all over the album (and the occasional flute), which we all know I am in favor of. I'm also a big sucker for songs that are about specific places, and these guys cover a lot of geography in a few different songs.

But being a live album, I think things just don't sound as good as they ought. And there's a few silly diversions they do that are probably fun in person, but not so much at home with my headphones on. They also have a tendency to get a bit jam bandy, and consequently half the songs are over six minutes long. They do have a bit of an Al Stewart feel on their best songs -- and there's a few others I really like including "Desert Rat" and "Return Someday" -- but things also just kind of drag in places. Ultimately I guess this is really a few great songs, a bunch of okay ones, and a couple I could definitely do without.

Final grade: C+

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 6:06 pm

Don't lie. I know all you young people are like, "Hot Buttered Rum is the best band ever. They pop and lock the crunk in the hizzy!"

Joined: 27 Dec 2005 Posts: 9989 Location: Personal Space

their name is A+++++++++++

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 6:20 pm

Boorishly P. Foundry wrote:

Hot Buttered Rum is the best band ever. They pop and lock the crunk in the hizzy!

it's like you're in my head