Random Music CXXV: Least necessary thread edition

[LuckyNumber7]

Anyone gotten on some VHS Collection?

Something I’ve been really digging for a while now.

 

[bono_212]

Ok, here's something that's really grinding my gears the last couple days since I gave Automatic for the People another listen:

People can't give Bono shit for "Tor-Toyce" and not complain about "Speed Met-er" in "Find the River". That is one of the worst pronunciations I've ever heard in a song.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

I get what you're saying. I listen to REM's Drive, and some of the lyrics are just so stupid. It's not just Bono out here writing nonsense.

 

[U2inUtah]

Didn't Bono get a bunch of shit on here for the "ATM Machine" lyric on MOS?

I chuckled when I heard Ariana Grande use the same lyric on her latest single.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

I definitely remember him getting shit for “ATM machine,” and he sure as hell deserves it.

 

[lazarus]

Ok, here's something that's really grinding my gears the last couple days since I gave Automatic for the People another listen:

People can't give Bono shit for "Tor-Toyce" and not complain about "Speed Met-er" in "Find the River". That is one of the worst pronunciations I've ever heard in a song.

I guess the defense would be that Stipe has always had odd affectations like this, and wasn’t twisting the pronunciation to make a rhyme, as Bono was in that case.

I get what you're saying. I listen to REM's Drive, and some of the lyrics are just so stupid. It's not just Bono out here writing nonsense.

Was never a big fan of that song’s lyrics in general, and think it’s a dumb opener for that reason. My custom playlist starts with New Orleans Instrumental fading into Sweetness Follows.

 

[lazarus]

Nice to see this get the Sunday retro review this week. Such a great album, and one of my Desert Island playlists featured a track from it:

Everything But the Girl - Walking Wounded

 

[bono_212]

My intent was not to suggest I dislike R.E.M., Automatic for the People or the nearly perfect "Find the River". But I will respectfully disagree with the excuse you gave, Laz, since Speed Meter, for one thing, isn't really a phrase, unless someone from Georgia wants to correct me, so he definitely changed the word to make it fit the line and then also changed the pronunciation to sound better in the line.

That being said, there still isn't really any excuse for Tor-toyce, mind you.

 

[bono_212]

Didn't Bono get a bunch of shit on here for the "ATM Machine" lyric on MOS?

With all due respect to LN7, I have always found that anyone who complains about this (in general, not just in the U2-verse) is being a little too "I am very smart" about the thing. Once an acronym becomes a word on its own, I don't think it's unreasonable for people to sort of forget what it stands for. Clearly ATM machine has become common parlance at this point.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Oh I know exactly what you’re saying. But I’m wagering that Bono is too smart to not know this. I’m not bothered by the term and I’m not coming at this with my nose up. I’m just saying... it’s super lazy of Bono. I mean, I can’t speak for Ireland directly, nor can I speak for the 1970s and 80s, but I’ve only ever heard of folks over there calling them cash points. And I genuinely don’t think Bono, since moving to this country, has approached an ATM.

So the way I see it is he was well aware of this common parlance, likely not part of his vocabulary, aware that it was incorrect, and used it anyways just because it fit.

Of course, half of that is a stretch, but yes. I think it’s just lazy.

 

[lazarus]

My intent was not to suggest I dislike R.E.M., Automatic for the People or the nearly perfect "Find the River". But I will respectfully disagree with the excuse you gave, Laz, since Speed Meter, for one thing, isn't really a phrase, unless someone from Georgia wants to correct me, so he definitely changed the word to make it fit the line and then also changed the pronunciation to sound better in the line.

That being said, there still isn't really any excuse for Tor-toyce, mind you.

I assumed your issue was with him pronouncing "meter" as "metter", not him using it in general instead of "speedometer".

But as I said, he has a lot of odd phrasing over his career, and that's on the lyrics we can actually understand; god knows what he was doing on Murmur.

Bono tends to be more direct and "normal", which makes his misuse more egregious imo.

 

[cobl04]

Of all the stupid debates that have recurred on this forum over the years, "ATM machine" is perhaps the most dumb. Everyone says ATM machine, just like they say PIN number. Who. fucking. cares.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

[emoji849]

 

[Axver]

Stipe gets a pass from me for basically anything because I'm usually just pleased to have figured out what on earth the dude's trying to sing. There are a number of pronunciations in REM songs that absolutely baffle me, but it wouldn't be Stipe otherwise.

"ATM machine" and "PIN number" are both bad and anyone defending them should feel bad.

 

[namkcuR]

So, you know how sometimes there's an album that people talk about forever but that for some reason or another you just never get around to listening to, and then you finally do?

For me, last night, it was Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. That it's taken me this long to listen to it probably a 'friggin' moment for me, but oh well.

Going in, I knew pretty much only two things about it - that it was a beloved cult-favorite indie lo-fi album from the 90s, and that it was lyrically at least partially inspired by Anne Frank. Even so, it wasn't really what I expected. I though it was going to be like, loud, aggressive, noisy lo-fi. I don't know why I thought that, but I did. Turns out it's mostly acoustic ballads.

I gather that it's a polarizing album due to the vocals, among other things, but after two listens - the first one last night, the second one this afternoon(reading the lyrics this time) - I can say that I am rather taken with it.

A lot of these songs are just beautiful. They're going straight to my heart. The title track, Two Headed Boy(Part 1), Ghost are among my favorites. And the two instrumentals, The Fool and [untitled] are amazing.

Yeah, his vocals are abrasive at some points, and there could have been some volume equalization going on some points, but whatever, it worked really well with the music for the most part.

I think the trumpet/horn/bagpipe arrangements are freaking gorgeous. The combination of them and the acoustic guitars create such a mournful but soulful sound. In some ways, this is what makes the album for me.

It's interesting to me how the album sounds simultaneously so original and yet completely of a kind with other indie stuff that was going on at the time.

The whole thing is just clicking with me right away. I think this one will stay with me.

I know I'm decades late to the party here, but better late than never.

Curious about your thoughts(I already know - because I did a cursory search of past threads last night while I was listening the first time - that Cobbler and El-Mel aren't fans, but those threads were years ago and most of the people that posted in them are not here anymore).

 

[namkcuR]

Of all the stupid debates that have recurred on this forum over the years, "ATM machine" is perhaps the most dumb. Everyone says ATM machine, just like they say PIN number. Who. fucking. cares.

On this we fully agree.

 

[cobl04]

I haven't listened to Aeroplane Over Sea since then and I have no desire to revisit it. I absolutely loathed it.

 

[U2inUtah]

Ok, here's something that's really grinding my gears the last couple days since I gave Automatic for the People another listen:

People can't give Bono shit for "Tor-Toyce" and not complain about "Speed Met-er" in "Find the River". That is one of the worst pronunciations I've ever heard in a song.

Now that I think about it, I remember reading that Stipe has a hard time pronouncing some words, he couldn't say Dr. Seuss (hence his laugh on the album cut) saying it like "Zeus" but more relevant, he couldn't say Monster, which you can hear on Circus Envy, he says "Mun"-ster. I wonder if it was the same with speed-"om"-eter which is basically the same sound you have to make to say "Mon"-ster.

 

[DaveC]

"intellectual tor-toise" is the second stupidest u2 lyric after "stop helping god across the road like a little old lady".

 

[Hewson]

. Everyone says ATM machine, .

Maybe after drinking a 6 pack of Foster's, Australia's national beverage (bevvy I presume you say), but otherwise no.
I have never said "I'm going to the ATM machine", nor does anyone I know.
Its "I'm going to the ATM".

 

[Hewson]

I

But as I said, he has a lot of odd phrasing over his career, and that's on the lyrics we can actually understand; god knows what he was doing on Murmur.

Bono tends to be more direct and "normal", which makes his misuse more egregious imo.

Stipe gets a pass from me for basically anything because I'm usually just pleased to have figured out what on earth the dude's trying to sing. There are a number of pronunciations in REM songs that absolutely baffle me, but it wouldn't be Stipe otherwise.

" .

Agree...Stipe's lyrics have been odd for lack of a better term from day one, its part of the fabric of REM.

 

[Jerry Dunk]

My Spotify Daily Mix generator fucking loves Dr. Dog's cover of "Heart It Races."

 

[bono_212]

I assumed your issue was with him pronouncing "meter" as "metter", not him using it in general instead of "speedometer".

But as I said, he has a lot of odd phrasing over his career, and that's on the lyrics we can actually understand; god knows what he was doing on Murmur.

Bono tends to be more direct and "normal", which makes his misuse more egregious imo.

My issue was with both. Metter and leaving out o. I see what you mean though, about Bono. It feels way more blatantly jarring.

Of all the stupid debates that have recurred on this forum over the years, "ATM machine" is perhaps the most dumb. Everyone says ATM machine, just like they say PIN number. Who. fucking. cares.

I am willing to die on this hill with you, cobbler. People, mark down this momentous occasion.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Do you think bono used an ATM since the 1980s?

Genuine question.

 

[Jerry Dunk]

An ATM.

 

[Hewson]

Do you think bono used an ATM since the 1980s?

Genuine question.

Probably doesn't even remember his PIN.

 

[Mack_Again]

Probably doesn't even remember his PIN.

its Leo's birthday, im calling it

 

[Hewson]

its Leo's birthday, im calling it

Certainly something Bongo would prefer to forget.

 

[iron yuppie]

Nice to see this get the Sunday retro review this week. Such a great album, and one of my Desert Island playlists featured a track from it:

Everything But the Girl - Walking Wounded

I just listened to a few tracks on Youtube based on this review and now know I have to check this band out more fully.

 

[lazarus]

Amplified Heart is widely regarded as their best, but it's very folky/acoustic and will sound adult contemporary to most people. But the melodies and Tracey Thorn's voice are gorgeous, and it's so well produced.

Walking Wounded is one of the biggest 180 turns I've ever seen, with the influx of drum and bass rhythms, but Thorn carries over her talents from the previous album.

Both are stellar. And the third of this renaissance trilogy, Temperamental (also their final album), is almost as good.