Random Music Talk CXXI: Not this time, Crappy

[the tourist]

Non music interlude:

November is the month to be thankful, right? Last November mrs. tourist and I lost a baby boy halfway through the second trimester. As of today, mrs. tourist is 32 weeks along and everything looks fantastic. If the baby we lost had lived, this baby would never have existed. So I’m thankful for this baby and how he seems healthy. But I still haven’t stopped saying “if” instead of “when”... and I probably won’t until he’s born.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

So glad everything's going well for your wife, tourist . I totally understand your concerns, though. But I'm sending good wishes and thoughts to both of you, and hope all continues to go well .

 

[nielsgov]

Non music interlude:

November is the month to be thankful, right? Last November mrs. tourist and I lost a baby boy halfway through the second trimester. As of today, mrs. tourist is 32 weeks along and everything looks fantastic. If the baby we lost had lived, this baby would never have existed. So I’m thankful for this baby and how he seems healthy. But I still haven’t stopped saying “if” instead of “when”... and I probably won’t until he’s born.

You and your wife have my best wishes!

 

[HeartlandGirl]

Sending happy thoughts and best wishes to y'all!

 

[Hewson]

Non music interlude:

November is the month to be thankful, right? Last November mrs. tourist and I lost a baby boy halfway through the second trimester. As of today, mrs. tourist is 32 weeks along and everything looks fantastic. If the baby we lost had lived, this baby would never have existed. So I’m thankful for this baby and how he seems healthy. But I still haven’t stopped saying “if” instead of “when”... and I probably won’t until he’s born.

My wife miscarried before my son was born (though not as far along as your wife), so I know what you're dealing with. Very difficult, but in a short time you'll have a healthy son and it will be much easier to put the miscarriage completely in the past. (And then 13 years from now the little bastard will be driving you crazy, trust me ).



Best of luck to you and the Mrs. over the next 8 weeks, maybe you'll have a Christmas baby.

 

[cobl04]

Best of luck, tourist I'm sure you'll make a great dad

 

[cobl04]

Who has heard Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile's Lotta Sea Lice? I've been spinning it a lot of the weekend, I dig it. Over Everything is a terrific collab, then I think the next few tracks wobble a bit, but from Continental Breakfast (which has my favourite Kurt Vile vibe) onwards I love it. And CB's cover of Peepin Tom is fantastic.

 

[the tourist]

Best of luck, tourist I'm sure you'll make a great dad

Hey now, I’ve already been a dad for over two years! Ha ha!

 

[nielsgov]

Who has heard Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile's Lotta Sea Lice? I've been spinning it a lot of the weekend, I dig it. Over Everything is a terrific collab, then I think the next few tracks wobble a bit, but from Continental Breakfast (which has my favourite Kurt Vile vibe) onwards I love it. And CB's cover of Peepin Tom is fantastic.

I like it. It's a nice laid-back album. The only song I love is Over Everything though. The rest ranges from pretty good to a bit boring. There's also some jarringly out of tune singing going on in certain tracks.

 

[cobl04]

And how's the War on Drugs album shaping up for everyone? Finally listening now. Certainly impressive, if more of the same, but if that's what you were after then you'd be stoked.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I've bounced hard off that War On Drugs album. As in, we're done. It's unutterably bland. It's like more of the worst parts of Lost In The Dream, and somebody forgot to turn the tape recorder off.

And I actually think it's not remotely impressive. There is nothing here with the urgency or fascination of Under the Pressure or Red Eyes or even An Ocean In Between The Waves.

Maybe I'd roll with what he's doing here if he were a great singer or lyricist, but he is neither.

 

[LemonMelon]

It hits the spot when that's the exact sound I'm looking for, it's top shelf background music, but I find it less appealing to listen to closely than their past couple of albums. Too much of a pretty good thing.

 

[Axver]

It's wonderfully consistent. Lost in the Dream has better highs, and few songs stick out individually, but I find it very enjoyable as a whole.

I can't get into the pre-Lost in the Dream stuff though.

 

[u2popmofo]

Who has heard Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile's Lotta Sea Lice? I've been spinning it a lot of the weekend, I dig it. Over Everything is a terrific collab, then I think the next few tracks wobble a bit, but from Continental Breakfast (which has my favourite Kurt Vile vibe) onwards I love it. And CB's cover of Peepin Tom is fantastic.

You will likely not be surprised to hear that I love it.

 

[u2popmofo]

And how's the War on Drugs album shaping up for everyone? Finally listening now. Certainly impressive, if more of the same, but if that's what you were after then you'd be stoked.

You will likely not be surprised to hear that I love it.

 

[martha]

And how's the War on Drugs album shaping up for everyone? Finally listening now. Certainly impressive, if more of the same, but if that's what you were after then you'd be stoked.

The songs sounded great live, but the vocal blandness is too much for me on the album.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[intedomine]

I think I can comfortably confirm that A Deeper Understanding does not really come close to matching Lost In The Dream for me.

Like one of you mentioned earlier, the peaks and highlights of Lost in the Dream aren't really matched here, but it is very consistent across the board. There are no songs that I dislike or regret.

There is nothing as exhilarating as Under the Pressure (which I have the absolute highest regard for - it is one of finest songs I've ever heard).

Clean Living, Nothing To Find and Up All Night are all really cool.

Pain is probably my favourite, beautifully assembled, Granduciel's delivery is stunning and is up with the best of their songs.

 

[cobl04]

Yeah I was quite impressed by Clean Living (SUCH beautiful piano). Strangest Thing, Nothing to Find, Pain, probably my other favs.

 

[cobl04]

I didn't have it in my end of year top 10, because it was released quite late and it wasn't really until this year that I really started listening to it, but Tribe's album is fucking incredible. Would be my AOTY right now.

 

[Mack_Again]

did you guys like new Angel Olsen's compilation album?

 

[PhilsFan]

The War on Drugs has a clear ceiling because of Granduciel's vocals. Lost in the Dream is probably their peak, a terrific album that I return to often. The new one really is not bad, but as others have said, I haven't returned to it that much. I saw them play the songs live, and that was about as much as I wanted to hear.

 

[corianderstem]

Same.

 

[iron yuppie]

It’s not at the level of Slave Ambient or Lost in the Dream, but I could listen to that guy play guitar all damn day.

 

[david]

So is the band Brand New done now after pedophile allegations against the lead singer surfaced?

 

[LemonMelon]

They were already done, they just can't wrap things up gracefully now. What a mess.

 

[Axver]

Wait, what have I missed about Brand New?

 

[cobl04]

Sexual harassment of several minors.

It’s inevitable that a day will come when a story will come to light when a band I like is involved and that is going to be a shit day.

 

[Axver]

Goddamn.

I've been a casual listener of Brand New and particularly enjoy some of The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me - "Millstone" is a classic - but I've never been a more of a fan than that. I recall skipping out on a tour because I couldn't be bothered going to the southside to see them play the Palais or Prince or somewhere else in Shithole Kilda.

I've been fortunate so far, most of my favourites are still alive and haven't done anything too distasteful. There's the recent Crystal Castles situation; I love that Alice Glass now feels confident enough to denounce Ethan Kath in public. And obviously some of the black metal musicians are pretty undesirable, but even then it's not as if Burzum is my favourite black metal artist or anything. Definitely in the extreme metal community you sometimes take the music and reject the musicians.

But oh god if something comes out about, I don't know, Neil Finn or Martin Phillipps or Neige or something, I'm going to be pretty upset.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I think sometimes that it's helpful to try to separate the work from the people who make it. Yes, that applies to Woody Allen and Roman Polanski too (not that I'm legitimately very interested in eithers' films). That does not mean saying they shouldn't face justice or that they are somehow above punishment, but let the work be.

And yes, I'd say that if Bono were outed as some kind of sex predator tomorrow. Let him face reckoning, in that hypothetical, but U2's legacy of work is still what it is; tarnished no doubt by association, but that's a choice any listener can make for themselves. If it's a question of financially supporting wrongdoers, download what you want illegally or something.

 

[Axver]

Yep, my that's my attitude towards people I find personally distasteful but whose music is great: I download it. I've spent very, very little money on my affection for black metal. Concerts are a bigger problem, but then the more problematic black metal bands either haven't toured Australia or I don't like their music much.

I did pass on seeing Crystal Castles in May because I got such a weird vibe off Ethan Kath, and Alice Glass was no longer in the band. At that point she had only made vague statements in public, but reading between the lines it wasn't hard to figure out what she meant and Ethan had gone ahead and replaced her with a total clone, making the whole thing even dodgier somehow.

And let's be honest, U2's legacy of work has already been tarnished for many by the tax thing.