tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70922021805930275262024-03-19T04:56:04.884-04:00the untitled album clubThis here's an album club - not unlike a book club, but with music albums instead of books. Each period will be two weeks, but feel free to post as often as you like about the music that's been chosen!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06565834894811646834noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092202180593027526.post-32568245902174862292013-05-20T10:44:00.002-04:002013-05-20T10:45:31.524-04:00pleasantly surprisedSo, I really didn't like Vampire Weekend before this album, and I'm sure there are a lot of other people who feel that way. It's unfair, as I never gave their other two albums full distraction-free listens as I did this one (multiple times). Something about their "overly intelligent" lyrics and overall preppy sound kind of made me hate them, but it's probably just jealousy because they are a good band, as this album proves. There are a couple of songs on this album that I don't love - <i>Diane Young</i> exemplifies what I don't really love about the band, namely the way Ezra sings the opening of the song just rubs me the wrong way. <i>Finger Back</i> sounds a little more like their older stuff to me and it just doesn't do much for me. But for the songs I don't love, there are some really really good ones. <i>Step</i>, <i>Worship You</i>, <i>Ya Hey</i> - they are well written songs that seem a little more real than previous VW. I also think that <i>Young Lion</i> is a really weird, cool way to end the album.<br />
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This is a good record. It's not my favorite album and it never will be, nor is this band - I don't love Ezra's voice at times, the drum parts aren't that awesome, and there are some other reasons why VW is not my perfect band. But they made a pretty damn good album and I'll give them that.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">8.7/10</span></b>Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02933056471210614338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092202180593027526.post-1919937377552855522013-05-17T18:48:00.003-04:002013-05-17T18:48:36.451-04:00Vampire Weekend - "Modern Vampire in the City"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So, I've decided that I've been affected enough by their new album to write my own review for <i>Modern Vampire in the City. </i>Say what you will about Vampire Weekend. I personally think that they're great for a few reasons. Let me preface with something.</div>
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Generally speaking, I feel like the connection that I made with music when I was younger was one that most people had when they were younger - it's pleasant noise that your parents listen to created by god-knows-who in whatever decade it was that you weren't even fucking alive. I liken the effect to something Ken Levine <i>(creative director of Irrational Games coincidentally enough, as I can't get enough of the company and am basically focusing all of my creative energy at getting their company's attention, but that's another story altogether ha anyway...)</i> said about the way he perceived early video games <i>(bear with me) </i>he simply consumed when he was a kid, that they were just kind of <i>there</i>. He didn't give much thought to someone actually making them, that there was some kind of creative production behind them much in the same way that neither he nor any of us ever really truly considered the person making Oreos when we would eat them as kids. True? Maybe. Huh?<br />
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Anyway, the point that I was getting at is that there was certainly an age at which I started making a larger, substantial connection to the musicians creating the music that I enjoyed, simply by realizing that there were, in fact, <i>actually</i> people making the music. Am I describing that right? Long gone became the days that I would listen to music as a spontaneous, mysterious thing. It became much more about actually relating to what the musicians creating the music had to say, write, infer, sing, whatever, and I feel like this is an important point to make starting out, because those really cool kinds of connections, for me, at least, arrived <i>probably</i> around the time that I was old enough to be the same age as the people creating the music. The connection became so much more real when thinking about musicians as peers, contemporaries.<br />
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It's this, basically: with this album, it's been fun for me to think that there is a group of dudes in New York roughly my age making music about things like life and death and writing soupy, gobbledeegook lyrics that really kind of affect me somehow. Also, I think of the music that my parents <i>really </i>love, and it all seems to be the music they were listening to in their late twenties. So, there's that. Go figure.<br />
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Specifically, the listening was fun. The release date for the album happened to coincide with my and my roommate Sean's time frame for looking for the music we want to carry with us into our summer adventures. This is very important: around this time, we sit out on our back porch, theorize about ways to quit smoking cigarettes before we're 30, have the occasional beer, and trade iPod listens for stuff that we can agree will just be great in the summer months. It's kind of the thing to do in Brighton in April and May...<br />
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<i>Obvious Bicycle -</i> this song really kind of set the tone for the album for me - obviously, as it's the first track, but, still, I went into the album like many others did, expecting some kind of quick, young, summery sounding thing or some quirky weirdo song about a bike, and it was something different. It had this sound to it, as if it was actually <i>meant </i>to be an introductory song. And I feel like that's different than the songs that ended up on their self-titled and Contra. Plus, Rostam is all over the place in this one, which is different.<br />
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<i>Unbelievers - </i>this song also helped set the tone. Here I was, again, thinking that the album would be light and not really committed to any kind of clear agenda, and then ideas about faith and modern religion bubble up in the mix. The beginning is also striking in that it sounds more like Van Morrison's <i>Moondance</i> than any other comparison that could be made, I think.<br />
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<i>Step & Diane Young - </i>I'll group these two, as I had first heard them before the album dropped. I may have even heard <i>Step</i> months before as a demo. These songs are just crazy and kind of point to some of the pacing that happens later in the album - slow songs endings into abrupt song beginnings, exaggerated song styles (<i>Diane Young</i>, for example, reminds me of Eddie Cochran or Carl Perkins mixed, absurdly, with Huey Lewis and a dash of Springsteen thrown in. Christ.) that jump around weirdly. One thing I should also mention is that the pacing of this album is such that it's hard to consider any one song independent of others. For example, it's hard for me to even consider <i>Diane Young </i>without thinking about how <i>Step </i>leads into it.<br />
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<i>Don't Lie - </i>For some inexplicable reason, I always forget how <i>Don't Lie</i> sounds. The only thing I ever really remember about it is the fact that it's one of the least listened to songs on Last.fm, which is bizarre, because I think it's great. Whenever I remind myself of the song by listening to it, I'm kind of overjoyed. The stupid stompy drums and bizarro organ are fun as hell and work really well with the way that Ezra becomes pretty intense with the hook. Pretty cool. Should be more memorable, but isn't. Whatever.<br />
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<i>Hannah Hunt - </i>My history with this song: appreciated it for how subdued it remained for a few minutes, really appreciated it for showcasing whatever-the-fuck it is that Ezra did at 2:58, cringed briefly when I realized that it was unabashedly written about a girl, decided to embrace it for what it was, totally love it now. A great implementation of Rostam's piano work, too, and it leads in to the next song extremely well. Lovely.<br />
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<i>Everlasting Arms -</i> A refreshing return to some of the sounds that made these guys big in the first place, but, as some reviewer who I have since forgotten the name said, this song (and, by extension, the entire album) is Paul Simon-y, but derived from a Paul Simon album that doesn't really exist yet. Take that as you will, I guess. This one - as well as pretty much all of the songs on the album - has a sneaky hook that will burrow pretty deep in your head. <i>ALSO,</i> one more thing about it as I'm listening to it at the moment, this is the first song that this really weird voice modulation that either Rostam or that Ariel whateverhisname is throws in the mix to make Rostam's voice sound like an oboe - too cool and really kind of hard to pick out in the first listen...<br />
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<i>Finger Back</i> - Like <i>Diane Young</i>, this song just really reminds me of a lot of the '50's Rock 'n' Roll dudes that weren't Elvis. It also reminds me of The Shins. By the end, it starts sounding like a mashup of all of that with something that Brian Wilson would throw together, which is fuckin' great. There's also the first of two examples of, like, spoken word interludes on the album, which I loved immediately. What a stupid/great thing to do. Draw your own conclusions there.<br />
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<i>Worship You - </i>I've become used to the song at this point, but when I heard this song for the first time, it sounded like it was from fucking Mars. It's impressive that Ezra was able to train his voice up to be able to do that. At least, it's impressive to me. It's a relentless, energetic song that capitalizes on this admirably cheesy, big sound that the album kind of wraps up with - a sound, I should mention, that I love.<br />
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<i>Ya Hey - ??????? </i>At this point, I should mention that I still have yet to really decide if I can choose a favorite song from this album. Again, it's hard for me to think of any one song standing on its own. If I had to guess, though, I'd say that <i>Ya Hey </i>affects me in a deeper way than the rest of the music. The lyrics are the kind of vague bullshit that I loved on Contra. The piano is fantastic. The way Ezra jumps around with the notes is playful and great. The fucking <i>HOOK </i>is out of control, fed dutifully by this kind stomping drum and bass work. In our conversations about it, too, my roommate and I decided that this song fits the bill as one of those songs that has a really catchy hook, feeds it to you around four times gladly, and then gives you the summit of everything with a mega-hook at the end. This song also has a chorus section and chip tune, yet sounds like the catchiest number from a World Music collection. I could probably go on about this one forever. I don't even really want to end the paragraph, but I guess I have to.<br />
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<i>Hudson - </i>Though I have a hard time considering which of the songs is my favorite, I have no hard time understanding that <i>Hudson</i> is probably my least favorite. Better to say would be that I just don't really know what I make of it. It's very different from the rest of the album, tonally. It's a little bit too obscured for my tastes. Most of the time, I just find myself working through it to get to the last song on the album. All of that said, it still creeps its way into my head. So, your guess with this one is really as good - if not, better than mine. Oh, and this song has that zany Rostam-oboe. Rostamboe...<br />
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<i>Young Lion</i> - This song affected me much in the same way MGMT's <i>Congratulations </i>did when I first heard it - a curious little outro song that left me feeling really satisfied with the weird roller coaster I had just listened to. The song ends quicker than I'd like and promotes another listen of the full album. Plus, lyrically speaking, I really like how hopeful the song's message is. It appeals to my personal naivete, perhaps dangerously.<br />
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Give this album a listen, even if you feel like you've already come to a final decision about VW. For me, I've obviously given it a leg up with my predisposition of liking Vampire Weekend - not to mention, I think I was just waiting for a no-horseshit album like this for a long time. And that is to say that I feel like a lot of music nowadays <i>is</i> horseshit, even some of the stuff I really end up enjoying. This is the first album in a long time where I've done my part of listening and am rewarded for it by listening to lyrics that are pretty relevant to where I'm at in life, the kinds of things I think about when I go to think about them, and, basically, the hopes and doubts that are important to being nearly 30ish. Woof.<br />
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It's remarkably different than their self-titled, somewhat similar to Contra, but totally more realized than the both of them. More than that, it's caused me, personally, to go back to revisit the other two albums to enjoy things that I may have otherwise missed. Sure enough, I missed a lot.<br />
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Check it out.<br />
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<b>Personal Rating</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>9.6/10</i></span>Andrew Marathashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10231542052101887611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092202180593027526.post-78721797824259624852013-05-08T21:30:00.003-04:002013-05-08T21:31:05.275-04:00Andrew Marathas, you're up. No pressure, it's not like it's been 2+ years since the last post or anything.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06565834894811646834noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092202180593027526.post-88438964449013906952013-05-08T21:10:00.001-04:002013-05-08T21:10:55.395-04:00Resurrection?Scottpops and Andrew Marathas, whaddya say?Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02933056471210614338noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092202180593027526.post-11811301129998968332011-08-26T16:40:00.003-04:002011-08-26T16:49:01.955-04:00Lets start this shit back up. Who's with me?
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<br /><iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/39BIdOP0D6E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06565834894811646834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092202180593027526.post-43739295954753814282009-11-20T12:26:00.004-05:002009-11-20T14:39:04.149-05:00a study in space-rock depressionLast week I had a couple difficult sessions with kids. There’s something so affective about depression that just pulls at me, sometimes feeling like a separate entity all together that feeds of the energy I pour into the sessions with the people I work with. Efforts to assuage the terrible thoughts and feelings that a kid may be feeling do more harm than good, and sometimes I feel at a loss. Driving home one night, listening to “Dirty Blue Balloons,” Failure really got to me. “Nothing helps and no one else/can make it feel alright float me through the night/I cannot let them go.” “Solaris” didn’t help much, and haunted me so much that I couldn’t listen to it anymore that night.<br /><br />But that’s what’s so good about music, its malleable ability to adapt to fit individual moods and passing feelings. The album seemed to me about depression, and I got the feeling throughout that Andrews was taking on the persona of someone going through some unknown but debilitating ordeal. The long fade-out on “Pitiful” kind of freaked me out; it was taking so long to end and kept drawing out and felt like an editing mistake, but clearly, to me, was a deliberate attempt to strain the listener along with the fading instruments. The transition from “Leo” to the subsequent segue felt cavernous and heartfelt yet somehow empty, dripping with the sadness and hopelessness that permeated the aforementioned lyrics.<br /><br />The two highlights for me on the album were “The Nurse Who Loved Me” and “Daylight.” The former I had only heard in Maynard James Keenan’s cover version with A Perfect Circle, and I reveled in the smooth and eerie progression of this version, which I obviously prefer. “Daylight” just scared the hell out of me. I really don’t know how else to put it. It affected me in an “Exit Music” kind of way. The songs leading up to it seemed even spacier and losing control, but Daylight is a whole other beast entirely.<br /><br />I love the segues. The way in which Failure explodes into the first one from Sergeant Politeness reminds of one of the things I love the most about hard rock: the sheer power of the music. To me the guitars could have been turned up a little bit in parts, but their tone (I looove tone) is superb. After my first listen through I spent about 40 minutes with “Smoking Umbrellas” on a loop, trying to recreate the guitar’s sound with an EQ and my glorious Metal Zone pedal. I never quite got it, but that’s something I rarely do, since the majority of my tonal-tinkering usually focuses on getting one distinct (and much heavier) sound. I also love the mixing of the acoustic guitars, when they’re used. They seem to fall on the physical extremes of the presentation, and the strum strum stummm of the guitars cuts right across the whole spectrum from the extremes of each channel. Stuck on You is a great example of this: during the acoustic bits, it feels like the guitars are coming at you from the periphery. I kept moving the speakers further away from center to enhance the effect. <br /><br />Some of the entries sound more derivative than others ("Pillowhead," for example, sounds like 12 bands from my youth, including (but not limited to) Nirvana, My Bloody Valentine, and STP), and for much of the album I felt right at home with their 90s grungy rock sound that I loved so much in my adolescence. Perhaps that’s why I felt so comfortable and familiar with the music despite never having heard them before, their sound just put me at ease. I’ve been listening to so much indie rock lately that its sometimes a shock to go back to stuff like this, a sound so familiar and replicated yet unique to a specific period of my life. So, I really liked <span style="font-style:italic;">Fantastic Planet</span>. A lot. Even though it kind of freaked me out.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06565834894811646834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092202180593027526.post-14621978672639524182009-11-18T01:54:00.003-05:002009-11-18T02:27:46.254-05:00The Potwashers PerspectiveWell first I'll put some thangs I jotted down while listening...<br /><br />-Lots of cool weird sounds, which is totally awesome<br />-For some reason I was reminded of Alice in Chains + Pavement + Auolux (obv)<br />-Saturday Saviour = Supernova (KC QUILTY)<br />-Pillowhead = my favorite song, verse is a Nirvana rip-off<br /><br />Right, so anyway, Sarah (sadie?) had played me this album before, but I hadn't really paid too much attention since we were at Bucks Rock and all I could think about was those motherfucking pots. She was real adamant about it's good-ness so I was glad that this album club gave me an excuse to download it off a random blog and listen.<br /><br />Since I feel it necessary to quickly compare Failure to Autolux, I must say I like Ken Andrew's awesome 90's voice better than Eugene Goreshter's 'light moan.' (/expects to be murdered by Sadie)<br /><br />I really loved the songs on the album with the "epic" drum beats and awesome sounding guitar solos. Sounds like the new Muse album on paper but they found a way to make them just be fucking awesome and not extremely extremely annoying.<br /><br />The lyrics are kinda depressing (and maybe a little cheesy), I think...<br /><blockquote>I'm never gonna make you feel<br /> That you're satisfied<br /> I'm never gonna feel your pain<br /> Like you wish I would<br /><br />-Saturday Savior<br /><br />I'm so ashamed to love no one<br />My ego's bent and my prides undone<br /><br />-Pillowhead<br /><br />Stuck on you 'til the end of time<br />I'm too tired to fight your rhyme<br />Stuck on you 'til the end of time<br />You've got me paralyzed<br /><br />-Stuck On You<br /><br />etc...<br /></blockquote>So to sum it up, I liked pretty much everything about it. If I had to come up with two complaints, the first would be that some of the songs don't feel too different from each other. But that's okay because it's a long album, so if some of the songs mesh, it's probably a good thing. Also, the lyrics are fairly emo and (I think) lame at some parts. But other than that, it's really good. Good pick, Sarah.Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02933056471210614338noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092202180593027526.post-34247341079060663802009-11-17T21:44:00.003-05:002009-11-17T22:13:30.677-05:00ANDERS SAYS: "Hey, pretty great!"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfYzHNograskd0ZOhmsLxpqIJa-Tk9jTj5ZggU3mDxEz4jAZ9VbB3z95w6SzZLsBW_eBmyc7gMWBG7_nL5oKKSvX84gYl3awWRpPtijZa8GDAYtKAF8hC__jDCvezzhOVxMWJXXHDdxX4/s1600/Plant&Painting.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfYzHNograskd0ZOhmsLxpqIJa-Tk9jTj5ZggU3mDxEz4jAZ9VbB3z95w6SzZLsBW_eBmyc7gMWBG7_nL5oKKSvX84gYl3awWRpPtijZa8GDAYtKAF8hC__jDCvezzhOVxMWJXXHDdxX4/s400/Plant&Painting.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405269413909794002" border="0" /></a><br />In school, I had this teacher, Thorpe Feidt (incredible name), who was adamant about students leaving their music devices at home when coming to the studio to work. He was this wild-eyed, capricious bastard who was, by no means, taciturn; and he was convinced that the constant stream of digital music being plugged into your ears was harmful for the artistic process. It was heinous! He was genius in his own way, but I hated being forced from listening to music while working.<br /><br />I love painting, but I love painting and listening to music more. Most of the opinions that I form for new music come about in such a way that involves multiple listens to the same album while slapping color around for a few hours. As such, I love the idea of this club. LOVE. IT.<br /><br />As for the album, my input is this: it's fun! I can't say that I fell in love with it, but it's a fun listen. It's an awesome dip into the 90s - not to mention, it's a band that I had no previous knowledge for or experience with. Fun!<br /><br />For the first listen, I was in a drunken, charcoal, drawing frenzy. I was hooked to my laptop with a pair of obnoxiously large headphones, getting tangled in the wires and drawing a few nondescript portraits messily. I was having a blast, and my initial impression was that the album had some pleasantly surprising lifts away from the typical sounds inherent to 90s alt. My enjoyment of music, in general, being nothing but cursory, I'll spare you any specifics. Nonetheless, I found it engaging and listened to it a couple of times all the way through before falling asleep like a dog in my bed.<br /><br />I picked the album up again a few days later, while doing some menial comp stuff in photoshop - an experience, I should say, that - while not entirely unlike the fun of painting - left something to be desired. I became bored with the first half of the album, but found it interesting again after that, restoring my initial opinion of the whole thing being fun.<br /><br />The final listen was spent walking around the oceanside park down a few blocks from my apartment. I was able to pretty much zone out and let the music come, unadulterated by outside distractions. By the time I was done with it, my official opinion had formed that it was fun, but nothing I would explicitly go out of my way to listen to for any specific reason.<br /><br />That's one of the leaves from my new plant, by the way. I still need to think of a name, but I'm thinking of going with "Frank". That's neither here nor there, though...Andrew Marathashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10231542052101887611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092202180593027526.post-9453003667352461072009-11-03T16:26:00.007-05:002009-11-21T12:17:48.356-05:00Failure - Fantastic Planet<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkIEPRZDr2qbWTv0ddaYteoWK8nA3ZzXE0P0FWexoklifYO3EIwvqyCGqB8kW_T6vzamvqMWb00ECZmFXusvMjOZc6Y4qS9zXiNYzTPEXcoVWSjM7m8t8fj3gH2lZ7HOS9uPLBARCTv4/s1600-h/failure.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 301px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkIEPRZDr2qbWTv0ddaYteoWK8nA3ZzXE0P0FWexoklifYO3EIwvqyCGqB8kW_T6vzamvqMWb00ECZmFXusvMjOZc6Y4qS9zXiNYzTPEXcoVWSjM7m8t8fj3gH2lZ7HOS9uPLBARCTv4/s400/failure.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399995814831950514" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Okay, this one here's my first pick. Straight outta '96, this is Failure's third album (and last release as an active band). Failure was never really famous in their heyday; they released two albums before <i>Fantastic Planet </i>(including one with Steve Albini) but neither yielded a charting single (the band's first was this album's "Stuck On You," which peaked at 23 on Billboard's Modern Rock charts).<div><br /></div><div>But I think this album's extra cool for a few reasons. The space rock-y guitars hint at bassist Greg Edwards' future in Autolux, and Troy van Leeuwen, who joined the band for this recording, went on to play in A Perfect Circle (who covered this album's "The Nurse Who Loved Me"). It's like a time capsule that traveled on a space ship into the future and then crashed back to earth for you to enjoy. Frontman Ken Andrews did some other stuff too, but it all sucks. Sucks! Unlike this album. Listen away!</div>sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633488694701911834noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092202180593027526.post-28827247427496276602009-11-02T23:19:00.006-05:002009-11-18T03:33:12.543-05:00one day moreAs of this time tomorrow night, the first session of <span style="font-style: italic;">the</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">untitled album club</span> will have begun. Thanks to everyone that's responded! It looks like there's going to be a lot of activity, so let's have some fun with this.<br /><br />For now, I opened the commenting up to everyone. I'll moderate the comments posted to make sure that things don't get too obscene or irrelevant, but those without Blogger accounts should now be able to contribute.<br /><br />Sadie, tomorrow, will kick off the club with the first album selection. From that point, you will have until next<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Wednesday, November 18</span> to listen to the album and get a real feel for it as a distinct musical work. The time period is still tentative; we can adjust the listening period to match our activity and needs. There will also be a list of who's going to be making upcoming selections. The comments and reactions to the music should be as loose or as serious as you want it to be - there will be no judging of others here! If you love it, say so, and tell us why. If you hate it, we want to know that too! As long as it somehow relates to the music at hand, it's on-topic.<br /><br />Here we go.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06565834894811646834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092202180593027526.post-30389566858281027442009-11-02T10:29:00.002-05:002009-11-03T01:43:48.201-05:00we're growingSo interest has been very warm and it seems like we can get this up and running this week. I picked a two week listening period in the interest of time, but if this thing gets going we can certainly shorten it to one week. It's also totally okay to want to join but not really be held to any posting requirements; this isn't meant to be work, after all. If all you want to do is participate by listening and reading the other posts, that's fine too. The only thing you'd have to do is pick an album when it's your turn.<br /><br />When the club's member base starts to take shape I'll post a list of randomly chosen names that represents who chooses the next album. That list will be updated with people's choices and will act as a quick reference as to who's chosen what and the progression of the club.<br /><br />Sadie - you're going to be first. So get ready. To rock.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06565834894811646834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092202180593027526.post-63062872253225670062009-11-02T00:26:00.002-05:002009-11-03T01:44:17.566-05:00what's in a nameSo people don't seem to like the name - they think it sounds like Michael Jackson. Ha! I was thinking more along the lines of Peter Pan, but point taken.<br /><br />For now it'll just be the "untitled album club" until I can think of a suitable alternative. Any suggestions?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06565834894811646834noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092202180593027526.post-89221773204642016282009-11-01T22:57:00.001-05:002009-11-03T01:44:48.478-05:00and it beginsI have this idea.<br /><br />It's called the <strike>Neverland</strike> Untitled Album Club. It started with me thinking about joining a book club to do more free reading, but since I like music more than books, this idea just developed organically from that. <strike>"Neverland" because shit like this makes me think I'm a little kid with no real responsibility.</strike> I like "Untitled Album Club" more...but we'll see. Here's the idea:<br /><br />Every two weeks, we switch off choosing one full music album for the rest of the group to listen to. Everyone must (try to) listen to the album three full times from start to finish. The first two times can be during other things or activites: watching a World Series game, doing laundry, painting, whatever. However, the third listen must be alone, doing nothing else. If you have specific comments that you'd like to write down during the first two listens, go right ahead, but the idea would be to really try and comment about the album's progression the third and final time. These entries or comments could be about the nature of how the music sounds to you, what you like or don't like, how you feel about the experience, or what it makes you think of. Everything is fair game, as long as it somehow relates back to the music listening experience itself.<br /><br />The music that you pick is up to you - it could be the most familiar thing in the world or the most obscure. It just has to <span style="font-style: italic;">move</span> you, in some way. That's the only requirement.<br /><br />If you'd like to be involved, let me know. I'll make everyone interested an admin and then make this blog private.<br /><br />I know that you probably have a lot to do and might not be able to participate every time, and that's fine. But think about how often you think about discovering new music and how great you feel when you first realize this new and different band you've just been introduced to is <span style="font-style: italic;">really </span>good. Even with everything available to me at anytime, I still often struggle with this. And I'm always looking for the next band to adore. So, who wants in?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06565834894811646834noreply@blogger.com7