Random Music CXXVI: The Woy Eet Eez

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LemonMelon said:
Much better is Apple Venus Vol. 1, which shares many themes with Skylarking but approaches them from a lush chamber music angle. An astonishingly composed and joyous record that illustrated their maturity and mastery over their influence going into the 21st century. It's perhaps my second favorite XTC album, sandwiched between Skylarking and Drums and Wires.
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You wrote this giant post and somehow failed to mention their final album (for now) Apple Venus Vol. 1 aka Wasp Star and as I’m listening to it again right now I can only conclude it’s because YOU’RE DUMB.

Love the energy and hooks on this thing, it’s a refreshing punctuation, almost as if R.E.M. had ended their discography with Monster or Accelerate.
 
lazarus said:
You wrote this giant post and somehow failed to mention their final album (for now) Apple Venus Vol. 1 aka Wasp Star and as I’m listening to it again right now I can only conclude it’s because YOU’RE DUMB.

Love the energy and hooks on this thing, it’s a refreshing punctuation, almost as if R.E.M. had ended their discography with Monster or Accelerate.
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I didn't mention anything from Big Express or Mummer either. I like those albums (and Wasp Star) quite a bit, but I wanted to end that post with a glowing recommendation for an album I view as brilliant. Wasp Star was one of the last XTC albums I heard and from my impressions of it, I think the Accelerate comparison is a good one. Not my favorite batch of songs, but it's a fun no-nonsense return to their earlier sound with a heavy dose of the mature melodicism of their late 80s/early 90s period.
 
Just got back from seeing Carly Rae Jepsen. If you ever have the opportunity to do so, do not miss her show. Great visuals, choreography and band. Everything is down like clockwork and smacks of professionalism.

None of that would matter, of course, if she didn't have the songs, but she's built up a treasure trove of excellent songs that rivals any of the best pop acts of the last 20 years. Emotion really came off as a classic album tonight; every track was treated by that crowd like a hit. Dedicated is on its way too; No Drug Like Me, Now That I Found You and Julien are easy SOTY candidates. The opening run of No Drug Like Me/Emotion/Run Away With Me/Julien was actually pretty overwhelming. Just about wiped me out.

I think she's also among the most charming and likable personalities in music. Her growth as a stage presence is so impressive. She's still got that sweet girlish sincerity from the Emotion era going, but now she comes across more sophisticated and in command of her craft. It's pretty damn sexy.

It's also cool that her crowds are so diehard and diverse. Huge LGBTQ presence at the show, perhaps more so than the Erasure show I went to at the same venue. She's developed this great cult fanbase that knows every word of her songs and connects with them personally, while also having a few massive hits for the casuals. Run Away With Me, Call Me Maybe, I Really Really Like You, Party For One and Cut to the Feeling went fucking off tonight.

Anyway, she's the best. Go see her.
 
She's doing a music festival at Coolangatta at the end of the year and I'm F5ing daily for a sideshow announcement in a more reasonable location
 
So after owning it for several years, I can't even remember when I first bought it or from where (though I assume Amoeba) I finally spun (span? spinned?) All Things Must Pass. It's fucking great hey! Would love to hear some thoughts from people on it. It reconfirmed for me why I think George Harrison is the best Beatle.

I already knew My Sweet Lord and What is Life, and both tracks remain awesome (the latter especially, what a tune). What I was not quite prepared for was the sheer number of other great songs. Isn't It a Pity, Let it Down, Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp, All Things Must Pass, Hear Me Lord and Out of the Blue, what a fucking song that is, reminded me a lot of pre-Dark Side Floyd.
 
It’s overrated. And as far as triple albums go I’d put it well below Sandinista.

There’s my thoughts on All Things Must Pass.

And George didn’t deserve more than 2-3 tracks per Beatles album. He was considerably inferior and limited as a songwriter compared to John and Paul.
 
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I used to agree with Laz, but over the years, All Things Must Pass has passed(!) up the rest of the pack to be my favorite solo Beatles record. If you asked me to pick my favorite 10 post-Beatles songs, a good 6-7 of them would be from that album.

This would be a perfect 10/10 and probably in my top 20-30 all-time:

1. I'd Have You Anytime
2. My Sweet Lord
3. Wah-Wah
4. Isn't It a Pity
5. What Is Life
6. If Not For You
7. Behind That Locked Door
8. Beware of Darkness
9. Apple Scuffs
10. Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)
11. Awaiting on You All
12. All Things Must Pass
13. Hear Me Lord
 
cobl04 said:
He wrote the best songs on both White Album and Abbey Road. :shrug:
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While My Guitar and Long Long Long are gems but Piggies and Savoy Truffle are miles and miles below the likes of Dear Prudence, Happiness Is a Warm Gun, I'm So Tired, Julia, Revolution 1. John was the MVP of that album.

George killed it twice on Abbey Road but that album wouldn't be the masterpiece it is without Paul coming through and stitching together the medley with George Martin.
 
cobl04 said:
He wrote the best songs on both White Album and Abbey Road. :shrug:
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Re: Abbey Road, if you thinking writing popular standards is the measure of quality, they're the most successful from that album. For me personally, I find more artistic merit in I Want You (She's So Heavy) and Because.

As for The White Album, strongly disagree. While My Guitar is great, but most of that is thanks to Clapton's participation. As a piece of writing, Dear Prudence and Julia top it, just to name two from the same first half of the album.

cobl04 said:
Also odd you’d not like it much given the presence of your boy Dylan.
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Because he co-wrote two songs? I'd rather listen to Music From Big Pink or The Basement Tapes. And Robbie Robertson is 3x the songwriter that Harrison was if we're talking Dylan-influenced.
 
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Where's DaveC?!

LemonMelon said:
I used to agree with Laz, but over the years, All Things Must Pass has passed(!) up the rest of the pack to be my favorite solo Beatles record. If you asked me to pick my favorite 10 post-Beatles songs, a good 6-7 of them would be from that album.

This would be a perfect 10/10 and probably in my top 20-30 all-time:

1. I'd Have You Anytime
2. My Sweet Lord
3. Wah-Wah
4. Isn't It a Pity
5. What Is Life
6. If Not For You
7. Behind That Locked Door
8. Beware of Darkness
9. Apple Scuffs
10. Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)
11. Awaiting on You All
12. All Things Must Pass
13. Hear Me Lord
Click to expand...

No love for Out of the Blue? :sad:

LemonMelon said:
While My Guitar and Long Long Long are gems but Piggies and Savoy Truffle are miles and miles below the likes of Dear Prudence, Happiness Is a Warm Gun, I'm So Tired, Julia, Revolution 1. John was the MVP of that album.

George killed it twice on Abbey Road but that album wouldn't be the masterpiece it is without Paul coming through and stitching together the medley with George Martin.
Click to expand...

Piggies is fucking atrocious, for sure, but I have always loved Savoy Truffle. Of all the silly songs on that album I think it comes across among the best.

Also, how the fuck you can name John and then not include Everybody's Got Something to Hide is beyond me.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps is the best song on it, followed by Dear Prudence and then Rocky Raccoon. So George has the best song, even if he doesn't win overall (although he was never given a chance by John and Paul to actually flourish).

And yes, you're right overall about Abbey Road, but I'm talking about the best individual songs.

He's my favourite Beatle.

lazarus said:
As for The White Album, strongly disagree. While My Guitar is great, but most of that is thanks to Clapton's participation.
Click to expand...

What does Clapton do vs George on that song? I don't think I know.
 
The other thing I need to post about is Los Campesinos!

The other night I was having a shit night, I cut my damn finger on one of those mandolin slicers lol, and just everything was not going to plan, and Em was out, and so I needed some music to just take my mind off that and other stuff that was going on in my head.

So I played Romance is Boring for the first time in a long time and... holy shit, what a fucking trip. I realised just how fucking dear to my heart I hold that album. I'm a lot happier these days than I was when I first heard it but I was just so instantly transported back to 2010 listening to it. I felt the emotion. It's so, so important to me, and when I do make my decade list maybe it'll be #1... there's literally only one song (Plan A) that I don't love.

There are so many lyrics on that record that feel like they were written about my life, at that point in time, being a straight man in his very early 20s who was desperate for female connection but always seemed to be the friend (don't worry, I'm no incel, I could write a very long story about myself and what it was all about).

And how
The frequent public displays
Of sisterly affection
Left her feeling safe
Left him with an erection

I can't believe I chose the mountains
Every time you chose the sea

I've been playing straight chicken with gay girls, it's never enough
She keeps on pulling the peace sign, and I think it's a taunt

I'd quote I Just Sighed, but I don't think there's a single song in history that speaks to me more. Not any more. But when people talk about great songs about unrequited love, which is obviously a huge trope in music, none of them ever know I Just Sighed, which is devastating, because it so perfectly captures what it's like to feel unrequited love. Even nearly a decade on, and four years into an amazing relationship, the lyrics still cut me. Very little music does that to me these days.

And then this, which I genuinely think might be my all-time favourite lyric, by anyone:

If you were given the option
Of dying painlessly in peace at forty-five
But with a lover at your side
After a full and happy life
Is this something that would interest you
Would this interest you at all?

I need to write a longer piece about this album. Los Campesinos! have always been so under-loved and under-appreciated. And I wish they knew how important they've been, even if it's not a large amount of people. And I fear that someday soon they will call it quits because they just don't make enough money from LC! to make a real go of it. I might try to shop it around to Stereogum, Av Club, Buzzfeed... and then if no one takes it just publish it on my blog. If anyone knows of any websites that might publish an article like this, please let me know.

And sound off if you love this album, I know there were heaps of us back in the day. Shout outs to Shouter and Laz for being so passionate about them, I shudder to think about my life without this album and Los Campesinos!
 
cobl04 said:
(although he was never given a chance by John and Paul to actually flourish)

He's my favourite Beatle.
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This isn't accurate or fair. He wasn't a born songwriter like the other two, and if you look at the b-sides from the Past Masters set, it's not like there's a bunch of brilliant tracks that were passed over for album inclusion. Are you really mourning that The Inner Light wasn't on The White Album?

I do believe that Not Guilty would have been one of the best on The White Album, but instead they went with his awful Savoy Truffle. And on Let It Be, they strangely left off the rocking Old Brown Shoe in favor of the subpar For You Blue.

The real story is that he learned a lot from working with John and Paul; they were helping him, not hindering him. That they gave him a couple slots per LP despite his comparative shortcomings as a writer WAS giving him a chance. I simply don't think he had more material, or good enough material, to earn more of a share of the album territories. And while he got better and better as the years passed, and despite having a handful of all-timer songs, I still don't think he came anywhere close to the other two.

And it's fine to call George your favorite Beatle. They all have distinct personalities that appeal to different people. But to call him the "best", as you did in your previous post, that's ridiculous.

cobl04 said:
The other thing I need to post about is Los Campesinos!

The other night I was having a shit night, I cut my damn finger on one of those mandolin slicers lol, and just everything was not going to plan, and Em was out, and so I needed some music to just take my mind off that and other stuff that was going on in my head.

So I played Romance is Boring for the first time in a long time and... holy shit, what a fucking trip. I realised just how fucking dear to my heart I hold that album. I'm a lot happier these days than I was when I first heard it but I was just so instantly transported back to 2010 listening to it. I felt the emotion. It's so, so important to me, and when I do make my decade list maybe it'll be #1... there's literally only one song (Plan A) that I don't love.

There are so many lyrics on that record that feel like they were written about my life, at that point in time, being a straight man in his very early 20s who was desperate for female connection but always seemed to be the friend (don't worry, I'm no incel, I could write a very long story about myself and what it was all about).

And how
The frequent public displays
Of sisterly affection
Left her feeling safe
Left him with an erection

I can't believe I chose the mountains
Every time you chose the sea

I've been playing straight chicken with gay girls, it's never enough
She keeps on pulling the peace sign, and I think it's a taunt

I'd quote I Just Sighed, but I don't think there's a single song in history that speaks to me more. Not any more. But when people talk about great songs about unrequited love, which is obviously a huge trope in music, none of them ever know I Just Sighed, which is devastating, because it so perfectly captures what it's like to feel unrequited love. Even nearly a decade on, and four years into an amazing relationship, the lyrics still cut me. Very little music does that to me these days.

And then this, which I genuinely think might be my all-time favourite lyric, by anyone:

If you were given the option
Of dying painlessly in peace at forty-five
But with a lover at your side
After a full and happy life
Is this something that would interest you
Would this interest you at all?

I need to write a longer piece about this album. Los Campesinos! have always been so under-loved and under-appreciated. And I wish they knew how important they've been, even if it's not a large amount of people. And I fear that someday soon they will call it quits because they just don't make enough money from LC! to make a real go of it. I might try to shop it around to Stereogum, Av Club, Buzzfeed... and then if no one takes it just publish it on my blog. If anyone knows of any websites that might publish an article like this, please let me know.

And sound off if you love this album, I know there were heaps of us back in the day. Shout outs to Shouter and Laz for being so passionate about them, I shudder to think about my life without this album and Los Campesinos!
Click to expand...

Now this I can get on board with. I hope you get this done and manage to find a prominent place to get it published.
 
I always look at All Things Must Pass as a double album with a bonus disc of jams. It really is fantastic.

On a related note, can you imagine the songs available if they had stuck together in 1970? I mean, it’s quite ridiculous the level they were at.
 
cobl04 said:
The other thing I need to post about is Los Campesinos!

The other night I was having a shit night, I cut my damn finger on one of those mandolin slicers lol, and just everything was not going to plan, and Em was out, and so I needed some music to just take my mind off that and other stuff that was going on in my head.

So I played Romance is Boring for the first time in a long time and... holy shit, what a fucking trip. I realised just how fucking dear to my heart I hold that album. I'm a lot happier these days than I was when I first heard it but I was just so instantly transported back to 2010 listening to it. I felt the emotion. It's so, so important to me, and when I do make my decade list maybe it'll be #1... there's literally only one song (Plan A) that I don't love.

There are so many lyrics on that record that feel like they were written about my life, at that point in time, being a straight man in his very early 20s who was desperate for female connection but always seemed to be the friend (don't worry, I'm no incel, I could write a very long story about myself and what it was all about).

And how
The frequent public displays
Of sisterly affection
Left her feeling safe
Left him with an erection

I can't believe I chose the mountains
Every time you chose the sea

I've been playing straight chicken with gay girls, it's never enough
She keeps on pulling the peace sign, and I think it's a taunt

I'd quote I Just Sighed, but I don't think there's a single song in history that speaks to me more. Not any more. But when people talk about great songs about unrequited love, which is obviously a huge trope in music, none of them ever know I Just Sighed, which is devastating, because it so perfectly captures what it's like to feel unrequited love. Even nearly a decade on, and four years into an amazing relationship, the lyrics still cut me. Very little music does that to me these days.

And then this, which I genuinely think might be my all-time favourite lyric, by anyone:

If you were given the option
Of dying painlessly in peace at forty-five
But with a lover at your side
After a full and happy life
Is this something that would interest you
Would this interest you at all?

I need to write a longer piece about this album. Los Campesinos! have always been so under-loved and under-appreciated. And I wish they knew how important they've been, even if it's not a large amount of people. And I fear that someday soon they will call it quits because they just don't make enough money from LC! to make a real go of it. I might try to shop it around to Stereogum, Av Club, Buzzfeed... and then if no one takes it just publish it on my blog. If anyone knows of any websites that might publish an article like this, please let me know.

And sound off if you love this album, I know there were heaps of us back in the day. Shout outs to Shouter and Laz for being so passionate about them, I shudder to think about my life without this album and Los Campesinos!
Click to expand...

I fully agree with you cobbler. It's the best album by Los Campesinos! I was wrapping up college and had ended a long relationship when Romance is Boring came out. It's definitely still a powerful, emotional listen for me when I revisit it.

I hope you manage to get a piece on it published somewhere. Websites may be looking for content on it too since it's the 10-year anniversary coming up next January. Either way, please make sure to post the link here once it's published!

In other news, Big Thief is releasing another album this year and the first single is fantastic.

 
Holy shit that new Angel Olsen song is good isn't it. Probably her best. I'm addicted.

I am possibly even more addicted to this song, which I discovered this month. I can only rue the fact that I might have had it in my life years ago but never quite made the step from Pure Bathing Culture's self-titled EP of 2012 to their debut album in 2013. Lucky, then, that I bumped into their new album Night Pass on RYM, gave it a go (it's enjoyable!), and Spotify then dropped this track on me. I queued it to repeat before I had even finished the first listen.

 
Axver said:
I can only rue the fact that I might have had it in my life years ago but never quite made the step from Pure Bathing Culture's self-titled EP of 2012 to their debut album in 2013.
Click to expand...


This is a band I would never have thought would be your thing. But yeah they're a pretty solid group. Pendulum is a great track.
 
iron yuppie said:
This is a band I would never have thought would be your thing. But yeah they're a pretty solid group. Pendulum is a great track.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I listened to their EP back when I was checking out basically anything tagged chillwave on RYM and it mustn't have piqued my curiosity enough to see if Moon Tides was any better. Boy am I regretting that now.
 
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