Random Music Talk XLVII: 'tis (almost) the season to be jolly. But not "joyful".

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Just reading about Doolittle now, a lot of people seem to be making a great deal about its originality, with one article gong so far as to call The Pixies "the last truly original band." I definitely see their influence, but I also heard a lot of Sonic Youth influence in Doolittle, mainly in the off-kilter approach and unconventional guitar textures. Doolittle, like the Sonic Youth records that I have heard, is a raw-sounding album.
 
Yeah, fairly different type of song writing and style. That whole period had an amazing amount of creativity happening though. Doolittle, Daydream Nation, Loveless, etc, etc, etc. Very cool period.

Anyways, I'm on a mixed martial arts high, you guys just missed one of he most amazing fights evar.
 
lazarus said:
I just laugh when some contrarian fuck posits Surfer Rosa as being a superior album. Doolittle just has it all; as iYup said, so much variety for a band that is associated with a specific sound and era.

And out of 15 songs, there are maybe only 2 or 3 that I wouldn't classify as great.

The album is in my all-time Top 10 for sure.
Click to expand...

I could see someone preferring to Surfer Rosa to Doolittle. It's the Bossanova love I don't get. Having heard everything up to Trompe le Monde, that's the only one I don't care for.

Also, Sonic Youth kicks ass. No one of their albums is among my very favorites, but they have a massive catalog full of great songs.
 
Bossanova has some really great tracks. It just has a handful of boring moments that the other albums don't share.

Preferring Surfer Rosa to Doolittle is even worse than liking The Clash more than London Calling. It's like, do you even appreciate the actual talent of the band?
 
I bought Doolittle and Surfer Rosa at the suggestion of somebody here ages ago, but I'll be damned if I can remember who. Someone I only know by their screen name (like that narrows it down). Crap. That's going to bug me now. But I agree about them being amazing. Love the Pixies.
 
LemonMelon said:
Or preferring Slanted and Enchanted to Crooked Rain.

What is it with you and debuts anyway?
Click to expand...


Well number one, I hate that indie cliche of thinking a band's earliest work is somehow their purest and best. I've even heard assholes suggesting Bleach is Nirvana's best album.

Bands that are worth their salt tend to grow into their talents and reach a peak, not come out of the gate with the best their capable of. Which is kind of how you separate the true greats from a band like The Strokes, who blew their load the first time out.

For me, I like to see a little sophistication mixed with the energy and ambition. So while great bands don't just keep getting better and better ad infinitum, there's a sweet spot. London Calling is that. So is Doolittle.

With a band like Pavement, they sidestepped the success they were heading towards; Wowee Zowee actually sounds less polished (on most songs) than its predecessor, and while it has variety like London Calling or Doolittle, it's also not taking itself very seriously. If someone who knew nothing about the band were guessing their chronology, they would surely place it between S&E and Crooked Rain.
 
Well I absolutely loved From the Sky Down. A great doco about a thrilling/hard time.

My favourite part was when they were listening to early Mysterious Ways, and then the hint of the melody from One was hidden in one of the bridges. Bono was really moved by it, loved it when he interrupted the interviewer who was saying "didn't this turn into.." to say "One". And then the clips in the tape of One very quickly taking shape. So fucking cool to finally get a look at how the band was saved from brink.

Some of the parts I loved/found interesting:

- Larry smiling maniacally when Lanois gives him the thumbs up on the drum part in Zoo Station
- Flood saying Eno was the only one who didn't like One
- Edge's acoustic Love is Blindness
- The footage from which the pics on the album cover were taken
- Is it common practice for a band to film everything? Like when the producers were in Dublin before the band arrived working on One?
- They really took a giant shit on the late 80s.
- Bono bossing Edge around at the start when practising Wild Horses.
 
lazarus said:
I'm about halfway through Martin Scorsese's George Harrison documentary, and I'm not sure why there's so much material about the Beatles history. Like, I can't imagine someone would watch a doc about Harrison without already having seen something on the band itself. Many of these stories I've heard time and time again, and they often have nothing to do with George specifically. Do we really need to hear Paul explain how he thought they should record under a fake band name called "Sgt. Peppers..."? This is like Beatles 101 shit.

No wonder this thing is over 3 hours.
Click to expand...

The non-Beatles stuff is definitely the more interesting part though I always enjoy a Beatles rehash myself. The last hour or so was amazing.
 
490-stop-that-this-thread-is-getting-very-silly.jpg
 
martha said:
One more thing before I finally go to bed: Have you read U2 at the End of the World? You should.
Click to expand...

Yeah I have. I posted about it in here a few weeks ago. I loved parts of it, but I think it would have been a lot better with a savage edit. There are some horrendously boring passages (like when he quotes McGuine$$ verbatim/ad nauseum about business). I loved it most when he was talking about all the cool shit they got up to when they weren't playing shows... my favourite part was when they were in Aus/NZ and then Tokyo as it wound to an end. Bill's line about Bono inhabiting the character from Tryin' to Throw... "he can't give up on the night until the night has more than given up on him".

Man I'm so jealous of some of you, how fucking cool/exciting/thrilling it must have been to be a fan of the band at the time.
 
cobl04 said:
Well I absolutely loved From the Sky Down. A great doco about a thrilling/hard time.

My favourite part was when they were listening to early Mysterious Ways, and then the hint of the melody from One was hidden in one of the bridges. Bono was really moved by it, loved it when he interrupted the interviewer who was saying "didn't this turn into.." to say "One". And then the clips in the tape of One very quickly taking shape. So fucking cool to finally get a look at how the band was saved from brink.

Some of the parts I loved/found interesting:

- Larry smiling maniacally when Lanois gives him the thumbs up on the drum part in Zoo Station
- Flood saying Eno was the only one who didn't like One
- Edge's acoustic Love is Blindness
- The footage from which the pics on the album cover were taken
- Is it common practice for a band to film everything? Like when the producers were in Dublin before the band arrived working on One?
- They really took a giant shit on the late 80s.
- Bono bossing Edge around at the start when practising Wild Horses.
Click to expand...

Now hurry up and watch the bonus DVD stuff.
 
Reggo said:
I bought Doolittle and Surfer Rosa at the suggestion of somebody here ages ago, but I'll be damned if I can remember who. Someone I only know by their screen name (like that narrows it down). Crap. That's going to bug me now. But I agree about them being amazing. Love the Pixies.
Click to expand...

YLB! It was YLB! Where the hell is that kid? I posted something in the Funny Internet Things thread that is relevant to his interests.
 
Not sure why everyone's fapping over Oh Berlin. I reckon Heaven and Hell and Everybody Loves a Winner (love the completely non-U2 vibe of the latter) are way better.
 
cobl04 said:
Not sure why everyone's fapping over Oh Berlin. I reckon Heaven and Hell and Everybody Loves a Winner (love the completely non-U2 vibe of the latter) are way better.
Click to expand...

I challenge you to a duel.
 
I still don't like Heaven and Hell, but after a few more listens to Oh Berlin, I don't like it as much. I still love the music, the chorus, and the off-kilter time signatures, but the lyrics are ridiculous.

I heard Blow Your House Down on the radio a few times this week, and while I still don't love it, it sure sounds right at home on the radio.
 
So Morrissey was dreamy last night. I was very close, and it was kind of exciting to see him standing more or less right in front of me. I had to contain the squealing girl in me. He looked amazing, he sounded amazing, and he was in fine form - laughing, smiling, making jokes. I could have listened to him sing for many more hours.

He had a bit of trouble with the altitude as everyone who performs here does (we're at 7,000+ ft.), and after You Have Killed Me he said, "Your clean ... mountain air ... is ... killing me." Indeed, he was sweating and puffing, and it was only the 2nd song. But he transcended it.

Can't say that he sang a lot of my favorites, but he has so many awesome songs everything was great.

He gave a lecture about not killing things for "Thankskiling," and at the end took his shirt off and tossed it in the audience. It landed dangerously close to me and a fight broke out over it and was still going on as my friend and I made our way out of the building. The anti-hero was a rock star last night.

Oh, and one cute guy made it up onstage and kissed him, much to Moz' delight.
 
cobl04 said:
Not sure why everyone's fapping over Oh Berlin. I reckon Heaven and Hell and Everybody Loves a Winner (love the completely non-U2 vibe of the latter) are way better.
Click to expand...

corianderstem said:
I still don't like Heaven and Hell, but after a few more listens to Oh Berlin, I don't like it as much. I still love the music, the chorus, and the off-kilter time signatures, but the lyrics are ridiculous.

I heard Blow Your House Down on the radio a few times this week, and while I still don't love it, it sure sounds right at home on the radio.
Click to expand...


There's only one true standout of these songs, and it's Down All The Days. It's also the only one that was legitimately album-worthy, and -surprise- it's the only one that wasn't tinkered with in 2011 (aside from the cover).

The others are all decent, but DATD just transports me back to that time when every new track they were releasing was gold.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

cobl04
Kiss the Future documentary
Replies
11
Views
3K
MrsSpringsteen
MrsSpringsteen
A
The Little stranger chapter 17
Replies
0
Views
530
annj
A
A
The little stranger chapter 9
Replies
0
Views
680
annj
A
A
the little stranger chapter 7
Replies
0
Views
581
annj
A
LemonMelon
Desert Island XI - QUARANTINE ISLAND - Group 3 Listening Thread
3 4 5
Replies
133
Views
5K
iron yuppie
iron yuppie

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom