Random Music Talk CXX - Cobbler Returns to Amoeba

[LemonMelon]

If you end up falling in love with Sail Away and Court and Spark, I've really got to get you into Laura Nyro's music. It exists in this weird-cross section between soul, brill building and 70s singer songwriter stuff:



One of these days I'll bump the long-winded, sentimental posts thread and do a writeup for her. Some of the most soulful, heartfelt and lyrical music I've heard in my life. Discovering her album New York Tendaberry was like meeting a lifelong friend for the first time. I can thank the RYM charts for pulling that one up.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

you would say that commie

I would indeed.

 

[Axver]

Oh wow! I had no idea you were a Dire Straits fan. Like, at all. Awesome

Yeah, my mum had a bunch of old cassettes and our car couldn't play anything else. So my drives to school in year 10-12, after our radio gave up the ghost, were just her Dire Straits, Talking Heads, and Queen tapes. I became obsessed with On the Night, so I downloaded all of their studio albums one day. On most of them only a song or two grabbed me, but I fell in love with the entirety of Love Over Gold.

Also what is On the Night? Surely Alchemy is the definitive Dire Straits live record?

I actually don't have Alchemy. On the Night is from the early nineties, and fuck I thrashed Money for Nothing, Calling Elvis, Private Investigations, and On Every Street to death. Had to buy mum the CD one Christmas because I'd wrecked her tape.

You'll enjoy it my guy ...

I actually thought you'd say he should've got The Holy Bible!

 

[Axver]

Now I'm listening to Telegraph Road.

What a fucking masterful, engrossing song.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

I actually thought you'd say he should've got The Holy Bible!

I would not at all recommend THB to be the first Manics album for Cobbler to listen to! (it's their best but preferably a new listener would build up to it as opposed to diving headfirst) I'd even recommend at least 4 albums before it (Generation Terrorists, This Is My Truth, Everything Must Go of course and one of Send Away The Tigers or Futurology).

 

[Axver]

I would not at all recommend THB to be the first Manics album for Cobbler to listen to! (it's their best but preferably a new listener would build up to it as opposed to diving headfirst) I'd even recommend at least 4 albums before it (Generation Terrorists, This Is My Truth, Everything Must Go of course and one of Send Away The Tigers or Futurology).

Yeah, I definitely think Everything Must Go is more suited to Cobbler. But I thought THB was usually the go-to album? Pretty sure it's the first one I heard.

 

[cobl04]

Now I'm listening to Telegraph Road.

What a fucking masterful, engrossing song.

I don't think I've ever heard you talk about them before, wow.

I bet phanan is a big fan, too.

Alchemy is amazing. It has live versions of Telegraph Road and Private Investos. As well as my fav Dire Straits song (Romeo & Juliet) and an unbelievable rendition of Sultans of Swing. The cover is also a Brett Whiteley painting, which is pretty cool.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Yeah, I definitely think Everything Must Go is more suited to Cobbler. But I thought THB was usually the go-to album? Pretty sure it's the first one I heard.

It is an essential album, but in recommending new listeners, I'd prefer a 'build up' of sorts.

 

[martha]

awesome!

I was gonna go for A Night at the Opera / A Day at the Races but they were both a bit more expensive.

You can't really go wrong from the debut to Night at the Opera.

 

[IWasBored]

brill building.

This is that point where I learn that these are actual words that go together (and an actual building as well as a sub genre of music) and not just me mishearing some sounds in "Epitaph for my Heart" incorrectly for years.

 

[IWasBored]

You can't really go wrong from the debut to Night at the Opera.

truth

 

[iron yuppie]

Got a sweet sweet haul at Amoeba. Aside from the Sufjan vinyls, Mac DeMarco and Aquemini, (and the picture disc I guess,) these are all second-hand. Awesome.

Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People
Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
Jackson Browne - Running on Empty
Randy Newman - Sail Away (picked this up when I was hunting with LM, he described it as what Father John Misty is aiming for, which should mean I'll love it)
Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother (I actually only own five PF albums, this is the sixth, long overdue)
Queen - Sheer Heart Attack (only heard the Queen hits, never actually heard a Queen album)
The Cure - Disintegration (never heard a Cure album)
Dire Straits - Love Over Gold (very familiar with a Dire Straits best of and Alchemy, which fucking rules, but never heard an album)
The National - Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers (not heard the first two albums)
Sufjan Stevens - The BQE
Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go (never heard anything of theirs)
Sade - Love Deluxe (saw this got a 9.something on Pitchfork recently)
Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
Brian Eno & David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
Paul Kelly & The Messengers - Comedy (Paul Kelly is arguably Australia's best-ever singer-songwriter, but I've only heard his two bestofs)
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde (from Laz)
Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog
Joe Goddard - Electric Lines (found a promo copy of this in the rack, a 'not for sale' media copy, saved me like 10 bucks)
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks (only heard the hits/bestof, not an actual album)
Red House Painters - Songs for a Blue Guitar
Pavement - Brighten the Corners (from Laz)
Beck - Odelay
Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
Outkast - Aquemini (a mate of mine "borrowed" my copy)
TV on the Radio - Dear Science (long overdue, been meaning to get this since DLZ was in Breaking Bad)
Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark (a very specific LM recommendation)
The Kinks - Village Green Preservation Society

[tweet]869517328744038400[/tweet]

Very excited about quite a few of these. Been meaning to get the Kinks, Dylan, Cure, Van Morrison records for quite a while.

Always great to hear about these types of music stores that can be almost a euphoric experience. If you're ever in Chicago, you should check out Reckless Records, which is still the best record store I've ever been to (Amoeba San Francisco is a close second). The vintage bins at Reckless are insane.

 

[nielsgov]

The National - Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers (not heard the first two albums)

You've never listened to this one before?

It's essential for every The National fan. It has a few duds but I don't think it's less good than their later output. Hell, I would rank it above High Violet and maybe even Boxer.

 

[lazarus]

I wouldn't recommend Disintegration as a first Cure album, but oh well.

 

[iron yuppie]

You've never listened to this one before?

It's essential for every The National fan. It has a few duds but I don't think it's less good than their later output. Hell, I would rank it above High Violet and maybe even Boxer.

Available might crack my top 5 National songs. Lucky You is fantastic as well.

 

[gump]

Available might crack my top 5 National songs. Lucky You is fantastic as well.

Yes and yes. 90-Mile Water Wall is a personal favorite.

 

[Axver]

I wouldn't recommend Disintegration as a first Cure album, but oh well.

If Cobbler were a big post-punk fan then Faith would be the way to go, but otherwise I'm not sure what else to suggest. The other two albums on a similar level to Disintegration are Pornography and Wish, both of which are patcher and, in the case of the latter, over-long.

 

[BVS]

If Cobbler were a big post-punk fan then Faith would be the way to go, but otherwise I'm not sure what else to suggest. The other two albums on a similar level to Disintegration are Pornography and Wish, both of which are patcher and, in the case of the latter, over-long.

Disintegration was my intro album, I knew a lot of their singles, but it was my first full album experience. I bought it in college, though it had already been out for years. It's honestly the only album to this day of theirs I can listen to all the way through. Maybe that's what he was inferring? Other albums are great, don't get me wrong, but they have one or two I'll usually skip.

 

[lazarus]

I think Kiss Me x3 covers a lot more musical territory and shows off the range of what the band can do.

Head on the Door also seems like a good entry point. Or even Boys Don't Cry if you want to lean more chronological.

Pornography is even more of a slog than Disintegration for a newbie no way would I put someone through that.

 

[LemonMelon]

The Head on the Door would be my pick. Perfect length, great variety, mostly very high in quality.

 

[namkcuR]

Since Cobbler shared his haul, I thought I'd share my recent record store haul(not from Amoeba though). Not as large or varied at all, but still some goodies:

(All cheap CDs - I like vinyl but it's too expensive)

Radiohead - My Iron Lung EP(some absolutely essential early non-album stuff here).

Radiohead - I Might Be Wrong Live Recordings(probably a mixed bag but it's still a snapshot of the band at the moment in time, and worth it for Like Spinning Plates and True Love Waits).

Radiohead - In Rainbows(Believe it or not, I didn't own a copy until now, despite loving it).

Temple Of The Dog - Temple Of The Dog(inspired by Cornell's death to check this out).

Alice In Chains - Facelift

Alice In Chains - Jar Of Flies(legit argument for being the best thing they ever did).

Atoms For Peace - AMOK

Shuttlecock - Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses single(It was $1.99, and now I can say I own a physical copy of the Temple Bar mix of Horses).

Shuttlecock - Million Dollar Hotel Soundtrack(Also $1.99, figured I may as well own a copy of it for TGBFH, Stateless, Falling At Your Feet, and Never Let You Go, if nothing else).

Metallica - Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets(two of the greatest metal albums ever recorded, glad to finally own them).

Goo Goo Dolls - Dizzy Up The Girl(Shut up. A number of those late 90s pop-rock bands that everybody hates hold great nostalgic value for me and I used to listen to the singles from this all the time. Worth the $2 for me. I'm sure you think it's garbage.)

 

[lazarus]

Kind of shocked you didn't already own M$H.

Those Metallica albums are their 2 best, for sure.

My haul today was at the thrift store Out Of The Closet, I got Nelly Furtado's Loose and M83's Saturdays = Youth on CD for $1 each.

 

[phanan]

I bet phanan is a big fan, too.

Sure am. The trio of Making Movies, Love Over Gold, and Brothers In Arms is as good of a 3 album run as you'll find.

 

[cobl04]

I've actually never heard the Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack!!!

 

[iron yuppie]

If Cobbler were a big post-punk fan then Faith would be the way to go, but otherwise I'm not sure what else to suggest. The other two albums on a similar level to Disintegration are Pornography and Wish, both of which are patcher and, in the case of the latter, over-long.

If he were a post-pink fan he would start with Seventeen Seconds, their best album.

 

[cobl04]

They're a pretty accessible band, right. I could have started with any of them.

 

[LemonMelon]

Honestly, Boys Don't Cry is a great place to start, especially for someone that loves early U2. It's relatively bright and accessible post-punk and has many of their early hits.

 

[martha]

Radiohead - I Might Be Wrong Live Recordings(probably a mixed bag but it's still a snapshot of the band at the moment in time, and worth it for Like Spinning Plates and True Love Waits).

Love this CD.

 

[Axver]

I think Kiss Me x3 covers a lot more musical territory and shows off the range of what the band can do.

Good lord no. Mediocre album.

The Head on the Door would be my pick. Perfect length, great variety, mostly very high in quality.

There's a great EP lurking in Head on the Door. Shame about it being an album.

If he were a post-pink fan he would start with Seventeen Seconds, their best album.

Seventeen Seconds has some great songs. Faith is perfect. I rank it one of my five favourite albums of all time.

 

[lazarus]

KMKMKM
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4/5 stars[1]
Blender 5/5 stars[2]
Chicago Sun-Times 3/4 stars[3]
Los Angeles Times 3/4 stars[4]
Pitchfork Media 9.4/10[5]
Q 4/5 stars[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 4/5 stars[7]
Sounds 4.5/5 stars[8]
Uncut 4/5 stars[9]
The Village Voice B[10]

HOTD
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4.5/5 stars[8]
The Austin Chronicle 4/5 stars[9]
Blender 4/5 stars[10]
Christgau's Record Guide B[11]
Mojo 4/5 stars[12]
Pitchfork 8.7/10[13]
Q 4/5 stars[14]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 4/5 stars[15]
Sounds 4/5 stars[7]
Spin 4/5 stars[16]


I guess it's easier to know that you have shit taste across the board, and not just with U2. Your contrarian opinion isn't helping here.