OT: New Music?

[Pete]

Wondered if anyone has listened to The Black Keys new CD. I was surprised with this at Xmas and have enjoyed listening to it. Kind of a White Stripes/Kings of Leon feel.

I have never owned a Black Keys CD and wondered how it compared to previous stuff. I may check out their earlier work.

[fsquid]

no clue how it compares, but I also like it.

[pk500]

Wondered if anyone has listened to The Black Keys new CD. I was surprised with this at Xmas and have enjoyed listening to it. Kind of a White Stripes/Kings of Leon feel.

I have never owned a Black Keys CD and wondered how it compared to previous stuff. I may check out their earlier work.

I think "El Camino" is not quite as sludgy and a bit more poppy than "Brothers," The Black Keys' previous record. But I still like it.

And please don't compare The Black Keys to Kings of Leon. That insults the Keys.

[ScoopBrady]

I haven't heard the new one but as with most bands the earlier stuff is better. The Black Keys are a very good band, definitely check out the rest of their material.

[Spooky]

And please don't compare The Black Keys to Kings of Leon. That insults the Keys.

Apparently you haven't heard Kings first 2 (maybe even up through 3) albums. Sone of the best modern day rock albums, period. Unfortunately they got big and the last 2 albums were sh*t.

[pk500]

And please don't compare The Black Keys to Kings of Leon. That insults the Keys.

Apparently you haven't heard Kings first 2 (maybe even up through 3) albums. Sone of the best modern day rock albums, period. Unfortunately they got big and the last 2 albums were sh*t.

Kings of Leon must be this generation's Journey for me. A very popular rock band that never put a note or riff to tape that I liked.

[greggsand]

Apparently you haven't heard Kings first 2 (maybe even up through 3) albums. Sone of the best modern day rock albums, period. Unfortunately they got big and the last 2 albums were sh*t.

Kings of Leon must be this generation's Journey for me. A very popular rock band that never put a note or riff to tape that I liked.

I'd actually put their careers arc in-line with the Goo-Goo Dolls. A couple of promising 'rock albums' (no seriously, the GG Dolls really did, look it up, really), but the whole time they had this underlying 'd-bag gene' you knew was just dying to break-free. By the time they got around to really making money & getting hot tail, the 'b-bag gene' took over. As the money got better, the "ballads" got d*****-ier, the albums got worse. Next thing you know, the only people going to their shows are chicks dragging their boyfriends along so they can make out to their fav ballad. The haters felt vindicated and the fans try to forget the used to sing 'sex on fire' with the windows rolled down. Next up:rehab & reality tv.

[Spooky]

Apparently you haven't heard Kings first 2 (maybe even up through 3) albums. Sone of the best modern day rock albums, period. Unfortunately they got big and the last 2 albums were sh*t.

Kings of Leon must be this generation's Journey for me. A very popular rock band that never put a note or riff to tape that I liked.

I'd actually put their careers arc in-line with the Goo-Goo Dolls. A couple of promising 'rock albums' (no seriously, the GG Dolls really did, look it up, really), but the whole time they had this underlying 'd-bag gene' you knew was just dying to break-free. By the time they got around to really making money & getting hot tail, the 'b-bag gene' took over. As the money got better, the "ballads" got d*****-ier, the albums got worse. Next thing you know, the only people going to their shows are chicks dragging their boyfriends along so they can make out to their fav ballad. The haters felt vindicated and the fans try to forget the used to sing 'sex on fire' with the windows rolled down. Next up:rehab & reality tv.

Well said, but it makes me cringe that you had to use the Goo-Goo Dolls as the example. Ouch. I'll have to take your word for it.

Aha Shake Heartbreak is such a raw, melodic, dirty, gritty and fun album. And man, opening the next album with 'Knocked Up' floored me. Great, great tune.

[greggsand]

Agreed Spooky. Such great potential & the first few albums are worth checking out (Tranni!). I def had my first 'eyebrow-raising moment' when they were all bearded & moustache'd-out on the first album & by the next album they were in skinny jeans, wallet chains, and $100 haircuts. I actually had to google them to make sure they were same guys.

[Brando70]

My 18 favorite songs of the year, including an appearance by one of DSP's own:

"Video Games" Lana Del Rey
"The Thanksgiving Filter" Drive-By Truckers
"You Can't Say Kingston Doesn't Love You" Title Fight
"Shake It Out" Florence + the Machine
"Down by the Water" Decemberists
"Weekend" Smith Westerns
"Livin' in the Jungle" Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears
"Helplessness Blues" Fleet Foxes
"Marked" EMA
"Birthday Cake" Lucky Ghost
"Holocene" Bon Iver
"Barton Hollow" Civil Wars
"Pumped Up Kicks" Foster the People
"Heart in Your Heartbreak" Pains of Being Pure at Heart
"Get Away" Yuck
"Midnight City" M83
"Rope" Foo Fighters
"Whirring" Joy Formidable

Various reasoning and assorted jokes at my blog:
http://cjsd.blogspot.com/2012/01/friday ... of-11.html

[Brando70]

Also, among recent purchases, I highly recommend EMA's Past Life Martyred Saints. Very haunted and confessional, with the music and sounds really augmenting her lyrics. "Marked" and "California" in particular are great songs.

[GB_Simo]

My 18 favorite songs of the year, including an appearance by one of DSP's own:

Off the top of my head, I think I've bought two new albums all year (efforts by Foo Fighters, which I liked very much, and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, which is occasionally very good but struggles to rise above "pleasant enough" for the most part), so I'm not in much of a position to stick any kind of list together. I feel I should mention, though, that Sex Griddle hasn't left my playlist since the day I downloaded it.

Same Sad Story was and remains the song I fell a little bit in love with, the one I felt compelled to sing along to on the drive back from work and learn the bass part for when I got home, but the whole album is that rarest of beasts, a record without a single track that makes me think "yeah, I'll skip this one." Love it.

[EZSnappin]

The new Van Halen song, "Tattoo", is a stinker.

That is all.

[pk500]

The new Van Halen song, "Tattoo", is a stinker.

That is all.

Agreed. Overproduced and underwhelming.

VH jumped the shark about 25 years ago, so no surprise.

[EZSnappin]

I had hopes, but alas, it was not to be.

However, I did just hear a record I completely slept on last year, Willie Nelson's Remember Me, Vol. 1. Willie went to Nashville and cut thirty of his favorite country songs from his long lifetime, with one disc coming out last fall and the second I believe this spring. Amazing production, with Willie in both fine vocal form and with his usual sublime guitar playing supplemented by Nashville's finest studio musicians. The collaborations of the past several years (the two with Wynton Marsalis and the one with Asleep At The Wheel) seem to have opened him up to a broader palette than he's used in quite some time. Highly recommended.

[Spooky]

Previewed the VH tune on iTunes. Was actually digging it but realized that most won't because of different expectations. Gonna download the whole track and give it a couple spins before I make my final verdict. There is a snippet of a live version of a different new tune floating around YouTube and it sounds rippin!

[Brando70]

Holy guacamole, "Tattoo" sounds too bad for even Chickenfoot. Awful chorus.

I think VH is one of the most overrated bands in history. They have some classic songs, but there is so much filler on their albums. They should have taken a cue from Kiss and just reformed for touring purposes instead of trying to shovel a fresh load of crap on their fans.

[ScoopBrady]

Holy guacamole, "Tattoo" sounds too bad for even Chickenfoot. Awful chorus.

I think VH is one of the most overrated bands in history. They have some classic songs, but there is so much filler on their albums. They should have taken a cue from Kiss and just reformed for touring purposes instead of trying to shovel a fresh load of crap on their fans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_Boom_(Kiss_album)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_(Kiss_album)

[greggsand]

The new Van Halen song, "Tattoo", is a stinker.

That is all.

Agreed. Overproduced and underwhelming.

VH jumped the shark about 25 years ago, so no surprise.

Ooof, that was rough. After reading Hagar's book, I can't look at these guys without laughing & wondering what kind of chaos/batsh*t insanity is going on behind the scenes to pull another reunion together.

[Brando70]

Ha, I overlooked those Scoop. I was thinking about the mid-90s when Kiss put the makeup back on and played only their classic material. Of course, I think they recorded Pyscho Circus shortly after that.

[Slumberland]

My heart is warmed!

I had a week-long stretch where I listened to Lana Del Rey's "Video Games" over and over and over again. Beautiful.

[pk500]

My heart is warmed!

I had a week-long stretch where I listened to Lana Del Rey's "Video Games" over and over and over again. Beautiful.

Lana's collagen-stuffed lips or the song?

[greggsand]

Not sure what to make of Lana Del Rey yet. It's interesting the indie-community has latched on to her (only Tyler the Creator's embrace by the the indie community is more head-scratching in 2011), but she is also getting hit with whole "manufactured star" tag. I imagine the indie crowd will bail on her sooner than later (probably right around the time she lands a SNL performance).

The "Born to Die" video was both cool and completely ridiculous. 'Video Games' is good song, too, but I'm not sure I really want to know what is going on behind the curtain.

[pk500]

I think Lana Del Rey could be the Madonna/Lady Gaga of the indie scene. She's talented, but she's also a master marketer of herself and knows how to manipulate both sound and sight to promote herself.

She's already morphed from folkie Lizzy Grant (her real name) to seductive siren Lana Del Rey in the last couple of years. Wonder what her next chameleon act will be.

Lana scores with me, though, for a vapid, superficial reason: She's a native of one of my favorite places on Earth, Lake Placid, N.Y. Plus those lips probably could jump-start a leaf blower.

[Brando70]

Not sure what to make of Lana Del Rey yet. It's interesting the indie-community has latched on to her (only Tyler the Creator's embrace by the the indie community is more head-scratching in 2011), but she is also getting hit with whole "manufactured star" tag. I imagine the indie crowd will bail on her sooner than later (probably right around the time she lands a SNL performance).

The "Born to Die" video was both cool and completely ridiculous. 'Video Games' is good song, too, but I'm not sure I really want to know what is going on behind the curtain.

I liked "Blue Jeans" too. She's got a great voice and both of those songs were quite good.