Interference Random Music Talk Part XI: Buttmeat Rides Again
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The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
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onebloodonelife
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I think it might be the most "random" this random thread has ever been...
Wholeheartedly agree on that one. And his Live in Europe disc, which is fucking incredible and mind-blowingly awesome.
lazarus
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And I feel the exact opposite, though I do enjoy Big Boi's side too.
I'm a huge Prince fan, and I love how Andre just went for it on that album. It's schizophrenic but very creative and diverse.
phanan
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I prefer Stankonia myself.
Me 2
GirlsAloudFan
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lazarus
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Check out their second album In It For The Money, a fucking masterpiece.
Jive Turkey
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The Canadian new wave band?
I'm sure you'll get along with the fellows from Girls swimmingly.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Yeah. I enjoy the cold, quirky production on Stankonia, but 90s Outkast had such a warm, heavy sound. Their debut is extremely underrated, and I would place it among their very best work (and Aquemini among the best hip-hop albums ever made), but again, I may be biased because I enjoy the sound they were shooting for.
I haven't been a huge fan of their albums post-Stankonia, but they've still had a few great singles. I never even heard the Idlewild soundtrack, didn't care for the single I heard from it. Everything before and up to Stankonia was pretty awesome though. 
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
OK, so, this will be one of my least popular posts ever, and it's surely in the wrong thread, but what the hell. Let's talk R.E.M.
I've always held the opinion that New Adventures In Hi-Fi was a platter of demos, ranging from brilliant to embarrassing. It's over an hour of musical wanderlust that amounts to one of their more interesting efforts, but it has never quite lived up to the hype, for me anyway. So, after hearing it again last night and deciding I really enjoy about half of the album, I decided to trim it down, and here's what I decided on, highly arrogant hypothetical edits included:
1. How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us (cut those fucking irritating, off-key "ahhhhhs" that Stipe spews out after each chorus)
2. New Test Leper
3. Undertow
4. Binky The Doormat
5. So Fast, So Numb
6. Bittersweet Me (completely restructure this; it currently sounds like three different songs crammed together)
7. Leave (shorten the acoustic intro by half, connect it to the rest of the song more smoothly)
8. E-Bow The Letter
9. Be Mine (get the song moving within the first minute, cut a verse)
10. Electrolite
My hatred for The Wake-Up Bomb is fairly well-known on this forum, so it's probably not a big surprise I cut it entirely. The riffs are perfunctory, the lyrics are an embarrassment, and it goes on FAR too long. Had it stopped when Stipe sings "I'm done," that would have been somewhat clever. Plus, we wouldn't have to be subjected to that chorus for the umpteenth time. Departure is fine, but clearly b-side material. It actually should have been performed live exclusively, as it was basically written for that setting. Low Desert is kind of kickass, but it simply does not fit on this record. Zither is a waste of time, so fuck it.
With those edits, the album winds up being about 45 minutes. What R.E.M. album isn't improved by economy? Accelerate would have been excruciating at New Adventures' length. Plus, every song up there is pretty strong...I skip Binky and So Fast, So Numb occasionally, but they suit the album's sound, and they flow well with the rest of the material. Still not sure the album would be worth the 9.6 Pitchfork gave it, but I consider this version a huge improvement.
I've always held the opinion that New Adventures In Hi-Fi was a platter of demos, ranging from brilliant to embarrassing. It's over an hour of musical wanderlust that amounts to one of their more interesting efforts, but it has never quite lived up to the hype, for me anyway. So, after hearing it again last night and deciding I really enjoy about half of the album, I decided to trim it down, and here's what I decided on, highly arrogant hypothetical edits included:
1. How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us (cut those fucking irritating, off-key "ahhhhhs" that Stipe spews out after each chorus)
2. New Test Leper
3. Undertow
4. Binky The Doormat
5. So Fast, So Numb
6. Bittersweet Me (completely restructure this; it currently sounds like three different songs crammed together)
7. Leave (shorten the acoustic intro by half, connect it to the rest of the song more smoothly)
8. E-Bow The Letter
9. Be Mine (get the song moving within the first minute, cut a verse)
10. Electrolite
My hatred for The Wake-Up Bomb is fairly well-known on this forum, so it's probably not a big surprise I cut it entirely. The riffs are perfunctory, the lyrics are an embarrassment, and it goes on FAR too long. Had it stopped when Stipe sings "I'm done," that would have been somewhat clever. Plus, we wouldn't have to be subjected to that chorus for the umpteenth time. Departure is fine, but clearly b-side material. It actually should have been performed live exclusively, as it was basically written for that setting. Low Desert is kind of kickass, but it simply does not fit on this record. Zither is a waste of time, so fuck it.
With those edits, the album winds up being about 45 minutes. What R.E.M. album isn't improved by economy? Accelerate would have been excruciating at New Adventures' length. Plus, every song up there is pretty strong...I skip Binky and So Fast, So Numb occasionally, but they suit the album's sound, and they flow well with the rest of the material. Still not sure the album would be worth the 9.6 Pitchfork gave it, but I consider this version a huge improvement.
corianderstem
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I disagree with pretty much everything in that post, other than Zither (I've never had any use for REM instrumentals). And ... okay, you're kind of right about Departure. (Although it's not nearly as bad as Revolution, which was played live and relegated to one of the Batman soundtracks, mercifully left off the album.)
I didn't realize Pitchfork gave it a 9.6. Yowza.
I didn't realize Pitchfork gave it a 9.6. Yowza.
Jive Turkey
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LemonMelon, nice avatar. William Eggleston
GirlsAloudFan
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I know you're chopping off something like 30% of the record, but it doesn't seem that drastic a re-imagining. Still retaining 10 great tracks, and the heart of the album. So I'm cool with it. I enjoy Departure and Low Desert, but they were never two of my absolute favorites or anything.
The one thing I will disagree on is Wake-Up Bomb. And I'm sure we discussed this back when we did the Survivor. But I've always loved the song. Get drunk and sing along to Queen!
The one thing I will disagree on is Wake-Up Bomb. And I'm sure we discussed this back when we did the Survivor. But I've always loved the song. Get drunk and sing along to Queen!
corianderstem
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Yeah, me too. Wake-Up Bomb is hella hecka fun.
The REM record that could stand the most editing for me is Up. I always forget how many songs come on after Daysleeper, and it's always about two songs too many.
The REM record that could stand the most editing for me is Up. I always forget how many songs come on after Daysleeper, and it's always about two songs too many.
lolz
I didn't like New Adventures when it first came out. Went to Japan for a couple years, came back and suddenly I loved the album. There's definitely some filler in there, but it's been long enough since I've listened to it that I can't even think of what a number of the songs that have been mentioned sound like.
GirlsAloudFan
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What a fucking insanely awesome band they are.
corianderstem
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New Adventures is still one of my favorite REM albums.
Did anyone else pick up that double-live CD of their extended rehearsals at the Olympia in Dublin? They dig way deep into their catalogue, there's some funny little tidbits from Stipe as he introduces the songs. It's really good.
Did anyone else pick up that double-live CD of their extended rehearsals at the Olympia in Dublin? They dig way deep into their catalogue, there's some funny little tidbits from Stipe as he introduces the songs. It's really good.
Lancemc
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I always felt like Monster would be a killer 6-song EP. There are some of my least favorite REM tracks on that album though, as much as I still love it.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Of course. Nothing in music quite like those first few albums. 90s R.E.M. is great too, Automatic being one of my favorite albums ever, but I dunno, they never really hit any sort of stride during that decade. However, I really do love individual songs on Monster, New Adventures, and especially Up, which I consider pretty underrated.
martha
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lazarus
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Low Desert may not "fit" (though considering this album is meant to be a travelogue, I don't even know what the hell that means), but at least it doesn't suck like Bittersweet Me. If you're going to drop a "stupid" rocker like The Wake Up Bomb, you should ditch the generic one as well. The melody/pacing on those verses followed by the punchy chorus is something that's way too reminiscent of the equally turgid Bang and Blame, not to mention Man on the Moon. I don't know how you'd "restructure" it anyway, just get rid of it.
I strangely agree with the rest of what you suggest, even though I love this album. Be Mine is one of my favs, but it really shouldn't take that long to kick in. And you're dead-on about Leave's intro.
VintagePunk
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As a Canadian, I have to acknowledge this. Nice one.
Besides, who hasn't been caught in Romantic Traffic?
martha
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My niece loaned me some Brendan Benson. I was listening to it at the gym this morning. He's not all that.
No spoken words
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ElMel, I mostly agree with your post.
And, yes, what a fucking band REM was/is. I consider myself insanely fortunate to have been a fan back in the day. Buying new albums of theirs was always a great moment.
And, yes, what a fucking band REM was/is. I consider myself insanely fortunate to have been a fan back in the day. Buying new albums of theirs was always a great moment.
lazarus
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Come on, taking gelt out of that wallet is at best a bittersweet experience for you.
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