OT: New Music?

grtwhtsk · Post by **grtwhtsk** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 4:31 pm

How long before she does some pathetic commercial on how bad pirating is? That would be the record companies possibly throwing her a bone, as they humiliate her for being so dumb.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 3:01 pm

Well, it took 10 months, but I finally heard an album this year that FLOORED me with its brilliance and beauty from the very first listen: "Lady's Bridge" by Richard Hawley.

I had no clue about this guy until I heard a cut earlier this week on the superb NPR podcast, "All Songs Considered." The tune was amazing, so I grabbed the record right away. The rest of the album is just as good, if not better.

How do I describe Hawley, former Longpigs leader and touring guitarist for Pulp? Man, that's hard. Equal parts Roy Orbison, Scott Walker and Chris Isaak but with an elegant baritone and very smooth, sophisticated arrangements without sounding even a bit overproduced or pretentious. Hawley also is a rockabilly fan, so you hear that influence in some tunes, too. Superb lyrics, too.

This review of "Lady's Bridge" at allmusic.com, which I read after I listened to this album about five times, describes Hawley and this record better than I can:

http://wc04.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=a ... zwgldde~T1

Talk about slamming me over the head from left field. This album is KILLER -- not a bad track on it. It's not straightahead rock and roll or even indie rock. I'm sure how to categorize it, but that's one of the reasons why it has grabbed me so.

No question this will be one of the best albums I hear this year.

Take care,
PK

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 4:11 pm

Kinda Glen Campbell-esque (I mean that in a good way). I'll give it a shot I suppose.

Now for something completely different:

Anyone hear the new Ween (La Cucaracha) yet? It's Ween (so u know what you're getting into), but the song, Blue Balloon, is a classic.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 4:14 pm

Gregg:

Glen Campbell? Hawley doesn't have any of the cheese or gloss of Campbell.

Hey, Pitchfork LOVES Hawley, so he must be good!

I'll check out the new Ween stuff. Thanks for the reminder. I like Ween.

Take care,
PK

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 4:21 pm

I loved his last record, Coles Corner, so I'm glad to hear this one is strong as well.

I can see the Glen Campbell thing. Just that hint of gloss.

EZSnappin · Post by **EZSnappin** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:58 pm

Remember that Campbell rose to fame playing and singing with the Beach Boys. In Hawley I hear more than just a hint of the gloss (and though PK doesn't hear it, a touch of the schmaltz) of Campbell's early work. The Scott Walker thing leaps out as the big influence to my ears. Elephant in the room, as it were.

Not my thing, but nicely done. I'm not a Scott Walker fan though I can appreciate him. I think that's where Hawley lies for me.

I'm surprised I'm liking the new Scout Niblett album. There's something off about it; it sometimes strikes me like the first couple of PJ Harvey LPs, sometimes gets a little precious and is like a demented cross of Björk and Tori Amos. I haven't listened to it enough to come to a conclusion.

There is a new album from Witchcraft out at the end of the month - they're a Swedish band who think it's 1973, mixing vintage Sabbath with some Deep Purple, Blue Cheer and other hard rocking power blues bands. Best thing they've done so far.

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:28 pm

If ya want some real schmaltz (and who doesn't really?). Check out Jens Lekman's 'Night Falls'. It's truly a guilty pleasure album. I LOVED his singles collection, but this is waaaay over the top.

Def not one to blast with the windows down while rolling through Compton...

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:41 pm

greggsand wrote:If ya want some real schmaltz (and who doesn't really?). Check out Jens Lekman's 'Night Falls'. It's truly a guilty pleasure album. I LOVED his singles collection, but this is waaaay over the top.

First choice keeper for Arsenal AND he has time to record an album? That's German efficieny

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:08 pm

greggsand wrote:Kinda Glen Campbell-esque (I mean that in a good way). I'll give it a shot I suppose.

Now for something completely different:

Anyone hear the new Ween (La Cucaracha) yet? It's Ween (so u know what you're getting into), but the song, Blue Balloon, is a classic.

Going to see Ween on the 20th in Chi-Town. So the new album is out on the net or something?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:13 pm

Spooky wrote:
greggsand wrote:Kinda Glen Campbell-esque (I mean that in a good way). I'll give it a shot I suppose.

Now for something completely different:

Anyone hear the new Ween (La Cucaracha) yet? It's Ween (so u know what you're getting into), but the song, Blue Balloon, is a classic.
Going to see Ween on the 20th in Chi-Town. So the new album is out on the net or something?

Yep. The torrent is flowing.

Take care,
PK

EZSnappin · Post by **EZSnappin** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:40 pm

greggsand wrote:If ya want some real schmaltz (and who doesn't really?). Check out Jens Lekman's 'Night Falls'. It's truly a guilty pleasure album. I LOVED his singles collection, but this is waaaay over the top.

Def not one to blast with the windows down while rolling through Compton...

I liked the singles comp but the new one is too much for me. All I could think was, "Did the world really need to know what a mashup of Peter, Bjorn & John and Rufus Wainwright would sound like?" I've decided "bedroom orchestral pop" is not a genre I need.

Badger_Fan · Post by **Badger_Fan** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 5:26 pm

Has anyone had a chance to see Wilco on the Sky Blue Sky tour? Good lord does this lineup sound tight. The just killed it in Minneapolis last week. Kline is such a good addition to the band that it's scary. If they're coming and you're a fan, absolutely do what you have to do to get in the door.

p.s. - I've got the Hold Steady coming in two weeks. Wooooo.

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:42 pm

Badger_Fan wrote:Has anyone had a chance to see Wilco on the Sky Blue Sky tour? Good lord does this lineup sound tight. The just killed it in Minneapolis last week. Kline is such a good addition to the band that it's scary. If they're coming and you're a fan, absolutely do what you have to do to get in the door.

p.s. - I've got the Hold Steady coming in two weeks. Wooooo.

Yes, saw them at the greek in L.A. a month or so ago. it's the best 'live' version of Wilco ever IMO (and I've seen them since their first show in 94). Just awesome.

Nels used to be a solo artist around LA, and I could not stand him. But in wilco setting, he's the MAN.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 3:10 pm

Badger_Fan wrote:p.s. - I've got the Hold Steady coming in two weeks. Wooooo.

I am green with envy. They are so f***in good live.

Badger_Fan · Post by **Badger_Fan** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 10:18 am

Brando70 wrote:
Badger_Fan wrote:p.s. - I've got the Hold Steady coming in two weeks. Wooooo.
I am green with envy. They are so f***in good live.

Yeah. I'm pretty excited (as you can see). I'm wondering if the venue is going to hurt them though. I've seen them twice at 1st Ave, the best rock club that I've ever been to, and now they're playing at the State Theater (a 2000 seat theater). It will be interesting to see if the dynamic of the show changes. I'm not too worried, though, because Craig Finn and Tad Kubler always get excited about shows in their hometown (and home to about 90% of the geographical references in the songs).

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 10:08 pm

A great Aussie band (and friends of mine) Dappled Cities are on tour w/ Figurines. Their album "Granddance" is worth a listen if you're into flaming lips, pavement, & such... It's funny cuz they're really popular in Australia, but are now doing the small club thing here.

Oct 17 2007 8:00P
Club Congress w/ Figurines Tucson, Arizona
Oct 19 2007 8:00P
Emos w/ Figurines Austin, Texas
Oct 20 2007 8:00P
Cavern Club w/ Figurines Dallas, Texas
Oct 23 2007 8:00P
7th St Entry w/ Figurines Minneapolis, Minnesota
Oct 24 2007 8:00P
Schubas w/ Figurines Chicago, Illinois
Oct 26 2007 8:00P
El Mocambo w/ Figurines Toronto, Ontario
Oct 27 2007 8:00P
Club Lambi w/ Figurines Montreal, Quebec
Oct 28 2007 8:00P
Middle East w/ Figurines Boston, Massachusetts
Oct 29 2007 8:00P
Johnny Brendas w/ Figurines Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 31 2007 8:00P
Mercury Lounge w/ Figurines New York, New York
Nov 1 2007 8:00P
Mercury Lounge w/ Figurines New York, New York

If you happen to see them, tell them Gregg from L.A. says hello. It's good stuff.
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/r ... granddance

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 11:43 am

Has anyone seen Van Halen yet this tour? I'm going tonight and would love to know how they've been. It sucks that Michael Anthony isn't part of the tour but from all accounts they're sticking with the DLR stuff. I've never seen them live before but it's better late than never.

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 4:09 pm

Hey PK, pitchfork put the wood to your guy today:

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/r ... dys-bridge

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 4:17 pm

greggsand wrote:Hey PK, pitchfork put the wood to your guy today:

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/r ... dys-bridge

I expect nothing more from Pitchfork. After all, no one has hailed Radiohead's new record as revolutionary, yet Pitchfork fawns all over it like it's the bastard offspring of "Sgt. Pepper," "Highway 61 Revisited" and "London Calling."

Thom Yorke could issue an album of wailing seals, and Pitchfork would be right there with an 8.6 rating. Or maybe an oh, so hip ?.? rating.

Yawn. I always take Pitchfork reviews with a healthy grain of Morton, as it's become a parody of itself, bobbing along to the very musical whims and trends it tries to deconstruct and disassociate itself with its copy.

Pitchfork has become so "cool" that it's really not anymore. Its writers consider themselves to be as important as the music and musicians -- at least it comes off that way on the page, even in positive reviews. Reminds me a lot of Rolling Stone back in the late 70s and 80s back when the Stone still carried weight.

I know what I like, and it's irrelevant if Pitchfork or any other review site puts the stamp of tonal imprimatur on my tastes.

Take care,
PK

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 9:43 pm

ScoopBrady wrote:Has anyone seen Van Halen yet this tour? I'm going tonight and would love to know how they've been. It sucks that Michael Anthony isn't part of the tour but from all accounts they're sticking with the DLR stuff. I've never seen them live before but it's better late than never.

Saw them on Tuesday at Allstate arena and it was awesome! I thought they sounded great. Eddie is very obviously sober and played terrific. I also thought they were all very genuine. I was over the Michael Anthony thing fairly quickly and it was actually really neat to see Eddie and his son on stage together.

I'd give the show an 8.5 out of 10, easily. Sound kind of sucked though...

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 9:44 am

Spooky wrote:
ScoopBrady wrote:Has anyone seen Van Halen yet this tour? I'm going tonight and would love to know how they've been. It sucks that Michael Anthony isn't part of the tour but from all accounts they're sticking with the DLR stuff. I've never seen them live before but it's better late than never.
Saw them on Tuesday at Allstate arena and it was awesome! I thought they sounded great. Eddie is very obviously sober and played terrific. I also thought they were all very genuine. I was over the Michael Anthony thing fairly quickly and it was actually really neat to see Eddie and his son on stage together.

I'd give the show an 8.5 out of 10, easily. Sound kind of sucked though...

Yeah, great show. The difference between rockstars and athletes is the fact that athletes' skills decline as they get older. Eddie and Dave both looked great considering the last time I saw pictures of them they looked horrible (especially Eddie). I got over the Michael Anthony thing quickly as well. Not only was it cool to see Eddie and his son playing together, Wolfgang was good on bass and surprisingly nailed the high parts on the background vocals. I agree on the sound though. Whoever was in charge of the sound should be fired. There were times when you could barely hear Dave and then there were times when Wolfgang's bass was way too loud. That wasn't Van Halen's fault though, they rocked.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 9:54 am

Appears that Radiohead's "pay us what you want" marketing ploy with its new album has done little to deter illegal P2P downloads of the new record:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20 ... break.html

Take care,
PK

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 12:35 pm

pk500 wrote:Appears that Radiohead's "pay us what you want" marketing ploy with its new album has done little to deter illegal P2P downloads of the new record:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20 ... break.html

Take care,
PK

well yeah, it's the first 'guilt free' p2p - considering the band is giving it away for free anyway. Same thing when wilco put Yankee Hotel up for free, people were still swapping it like crazy when all they had to do was go to wilcoweb.net. old habits die hard.

This is more disturbing:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071019/ap_ ... rpIdkE1vAI

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 12:41 pm

greggsand wrote:This is more disturbing:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071019/ap_ ... rpIdkE1vAI

No question, especially because BitTorrent is being used for legitimate reasons more by the day.

The beauty of the Internet was that it was the last Wild West, the last frontier. Now Big Brother is sinking his hooks into it, and that SUCKS.

This story also was the lead on msnbc.com this morning. Maybe it will alert the public to this bad practice, but I bet that a VAST majority of Internet users don't give a sh*t. As long as they can get their crossword puzzles, e-mail, IM, Facebook, MySpace, Google, Yahoo, CNN.com, ESPN.com and 15-second porn clips, they're happy.

As the story said, a very small minority of BitTorrent users are creating a disproportionate amount of Internet traffic. So it's easy for Comcast to clamp down on that minority without affecting the overwhelming bulk of its customer base.

What scares me is that I'm part of that minority. At least I'm not a Comcast subscriber, but if ISP's are like any other business, TimeWarner (my provider) and other providers soon will march in lockstep.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 1:19 pm

This is a bummer -- Lucky Dube shot dead:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7052050.stm

I have enjoyed Dube's stuff, especially his "Taxman" album.

RIP.

Take care,
PK