maycocksean
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
Okay, so I have this friend Greg, who is a music evangelist. Ever since we've been in high school, he's been plying me with music he thinks I need to hear. Back then it was mix tapes. . .now he burns me CDs.
He has fairly ecletic tastes and at least in the past would often hit on musical trends a year or two before mainstream culture "caught on." To be honest, much of what he'd give to me I would hate (and while he had an extensive collection of his own, he was always a bit close-minded about accepting any music I, or anyone else, introduced to him. If he didn't discover it himself, he generally wasn't interested. You could endrun this attitude sometimes to be passing him a CD but feigning lack of interest in it because the more enthusiastic you were about a musical discovery the less interested he would be.) For example, he has been trying for YEARS to convert me to PJ Harvey, to no avail. I CANNOT bear her.
But he is also responsible for introducing me to a lot of new music I probablly would never have heard otherwise including Tori Amos, Midnight Oil, and Live among others.
Well, I've got a stack of probably two dozen CDs that have been piling up over the past two years, and I've decided as a sort of New Years resolution to listen to them and see what gems I might find. I thought I'd post my reviews here as I go along so that others can comment, and perhaps enage in some music evangelism of their own. Feel free to applaud my reviews or exhort me to change the error of my ways.
I should add this important disclaimer before I begin. I have an unapologetically pop sensibility. I like melody, people. I like hooks. I like a good beat. I'll choose music that is catchy over music that "interesting" any day of the week. Sometimes I can't fathom the music that people insist is "great." I feel like some people choose to listen to unlistenable music because it makes them feel more advanced than all the philistines around them. So if you see me savaging some anti-melodic, obscure sacred cow of the music snobs, you'll know why. Of course, I will admitt that my somewhat "shallow" taste in music means that I often miss some truly great music at first when the melody isn't right out in front.
Just so you know where I'm coming from.
With that little rant out of the way, I hereby present the first album from Greg the Music Evangelist:
This is a mix CD entitled "Summer Music 2006 (Good!)" which despite it's title includes songs from several years ago as well. The track list:
We Call Them Pirates Out Here.....Mark Mothersbaugh/Life Aquatic
Neighborhood # 1 (Tunnels)............The Arcade Fire
Someone Only We Know..............Keane
Army. .........................................Ben Folds Five
Your Spirits Alive......................Dropkick Murphys
Okay I Believe You
But My Tommy Gun Don't..........Brand New
C'Mon, C'Mon............................The Von Bondies
Renegades of Funk...................Rage Against the Machine
I'm Shipping Up to Boston.........Dropkick Murphys
Broken Homes...........................Tricky w/ PJ Harvey
There There (The Boney King of Nowhere)....Radiohead
Run............................................Snow Patrol
In the Waiting Line.....................Zero 7
Let Go.........................................Frou Frou
Irish Blood, English Heart...........Morissey
Roseablity...................................Idlewild
Catch My Disease.......................Ben Lee
Hell Yes.......................................Beck
W.M.D.........................................Faithless
Ping Island/Lightning Strikes Rescue Op..........Mark Mothersbaugh/Life Aquatic
INITIAL IMPRESSION: Not bad.
HATED:
Both Mark Mothersbaugh instrumentals. I assume this is from the film "A Life Aquatic" a film which I found so boring, I actually fell asleep during it. The music is no more enjoyable.
DON'T CARE ABOUT:
Somewhere Only We Know, Army, Irish Blood, English Hearts, Hell Yes, WMD, and Broken Homes (that damn PJ Harvey again. There some interesting "gospel" flavored stuff going on in that song, but not that interesting).
MOST REPEAT LISTENS: Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) by The Arcade Fire. Someone else on another thread was raving about how beautifulthis song was so I'm trying to like it and it seems to be working. It's beginning to grow on me. AF is getting a lot leeway with me because their song "Wake Up" opened the Vertigo tour. Ordinarily I would have tossed them out long ago. I hate the lead vocalists singing style and anyone that sounds like that. The gloomy guy standing hunched, stockstill over the mike moaning into the mike, and maybe bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet if things get really exciting during the song. No thanks.
THE ONLY SONG I'D HEARD BEFORE: Let Go. It sounds better when it's the soundtrack to some sort of video.
BEST FIRST IMPRESSION: Catch My Disease. Very catchy, and you know me and my affinity for the catchy song. After a couple of listens, it's no longer my favorite though.
MY FAVORITES:
"Your Spirits Alive"--after a lackluster start this is where the album takes off for me. I like both Topkick Murphy tunes. I've always been a sucker for anything Irish, the ulliean pipes and all that. They're the sort of hard-drinking songs you'd expect to hear in some tough-nails-bar populated by south Boston Irish guys. I love it.
"Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don't"--Like the lyrics, and especially the chorus. The verses always make me chuckle, especially these lines: "I hope this song starts a craze/the kind of song that ignites the airwaves/ the kind of song that makes people glad to be where they are/with whomever their there with"
"Renegades of Funk"
"I'm Shipping Up to Boston"
"Run"
"In the Waiting Line"
FINAL VERDICT: I like enough of it. But perhaps not enough that I'll pick it up and listen to it much after this. I'll probably just import the best tunes into my ipod and the disc will gather dust after that.
He has fairly ecletic tastes and at least in the past would often hit on musical trends a year or two before mainstream culture "caught on." To be honest, much of what he'd give to me I would hate (and while he had an extensive collection of his own, he was always a bit close-minded about accepting any music I, or anyone else, introduced to him. If he didn't discover it himself, he generally wasn't interested. You could endrun this attitude sometimes to be passing him a CD but feigning lack of interest in it because the more enthusiastic you were about a musical discovery the less interested he would be.) For example, he has been trying for YEARS to convert me to PJ Harvey, to no avail. I CANNOT bear her.
But he is also responsible for introducing me to a lot of new music I probablly would never have heard otherwise including Tori Amos, Midnight Oil, and Live among others.
Well, I've got a stack of probably two dozen CDs that have been piling up over the past two years, and I've decided as a sort of New Years resolution to listen to them and see what gems I might find. I thought I'd post my reviews here as I go along so that others can comment, and perhaps enage in some music evangelism of their own. Feel free to applaud my reviews or exhort me to change the error of my ways.
I should add this important disclaimer before I begin. I have an unapologetically pop sensibility. I like melody, people. I like hooks. I like a good beat. I'll choose music that is catchy over music that "interesting" any day of the week. Sometimes I can't fathom the music that people insist is "great." I feel like some people choose to listen to unlistenable music because it makes them feel more advanced than all the philistines around them. So if you see me savaging some anti-melodic, obscure sacred cow of the music snobs, you'll know why. Of course, I will admitt that my somewhat "shallow" taste in music means that I often miss some truly great music at first when the melody isn't right out in front.
Just so you know where I'm coming from.
With that little rant out of the way, I hereby present the first album from Greg the Music Evangelist:
This is a mix CD entitled "Summer Music 2006 (Good!)" which despite it's title includes songs from several years ago as well. The track list:
We Call Them Pirates Out Here.....Mark Mothersbaugh/Life Aquatic
Neighborhood # 1 (Tunnels)............The Arcade Fire
Someone Only We Know..............Keane
Army. .........................................Ben Folds Five
Your Spirits Alive......................Dropkick Murphys
Okay I Believe You
But My Tommy Gun Don't..........Brand New
C'Mon, C'Mon............................The Von Bondies
Renegades of Funk...................Rage Against the Machine
I'm Shipping Up to Boston.........Dropkick Murphys
Broken Homes...........................Tricky w/ PJ Harvey
There There (The Boney King of Nowhere)....Radiohead
Run............................................Snow Patrol
In the Waiting Line.....................Zero 7
Let Go.........................................Frou Frou
Irish Blood, English Heart...........Morissey
Roseablity...................................Idlewild
Catch My Disease.......................Ben Lee
Hell Yes.......................................Beck
W.M.D.........................................Faithless
Ping Island/Lightning Strikes Rescue Op..........Mark Mothersbaugh/Life Aquatic
INITIAL IMPRESSION: Not bad.
HATED:
Both Mark Mothersbaugh instrumentals. I assume this is from the film "A Life Aquatic" a film which I found so boring, I actually fell asleep during it. The music is no more enjoyable.
DON'T CARE ABOUT:
Somewhere Only We Know, Army, Irish Blood, English Hearts, Hell Yes, WMD, and Broken Homes (that damn PJ Harvey again. There some interesting "gospel" flavored stuff going on in that song, but not that interesting).
MOST REPEAT LISTENS: Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) by The Arcade Fire. Someone else on another thread was raving about how beautifulthis song was so I'm trying to like it and it seems to be working. It's beginning to grow on me. AF is getting a lot leeway with me because their song "Wake Up" opened the Vertigo tour. Ordinarily I would have tossed them out long ago. I hate the lead vocalists singing style and anyone that sounds like that. The gloomy guy standing hunched, stockstill over the mike moaning into the mike, and maybe bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet if things get really exciting during the song. No thanks.
THE ONLY SONG I'D HEARD BEFORE: Let Go. It sounds better when it's the soundtrack to some sort of video.
BEST FIRST IMPRESSION: Catch My Disease. Very catchy, and you know me and my affinity for the catchy song. After a couple of listens, it's no longer my favorite though.
MY FAVORITES:
"Your Spirits Alive"--after a lackluster start this is where the album takes off for me. I like both Topkick Murphy tunes. I've always been a sucker for anything Irish, the ulliean pipes and all that. They're the sort of hard-drinking songs you'd expect to hear in some tough-nails-bar populated by south Boston Irish guys. I love it.
"Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don't"--Like the lyrics, and especially the chorus. The verses always make me chuckle, especially these lines: "I hope this song starts a craze/the kind of song that ignites the airwaves/ the kind of song that makes people glad to be where they are/with whomever their there with"
"Renegades of Funk"
"I'm Shipping Up to Boston"
"Run"
"In the Waiting Line"
FINAL VERDICT: I like enough of it. But perhaps not enough that I'll pick it up and listen to it much after this. I'll probably just import the best tunes into my ipod and the disc will gather dust after that.