It's a Roundup!

Yes indeed folks -- we call these the Barry R. Memorial posts, as they are bunch of a bunch of his favorite type of music reviews:  historical ones.  These are all grouped into one handy bundle, looking back across the last 50 years of music, minus the most recent two to three years.  This is what you get for free, Barry!

So, while listening to 2013, 2014, and 2015 music (for these end of year reviews), I still managed to find time to sneak in these albums (as well as the reviews that will be appearing in the coming days).

In alphabetical order:

• Abraham, Inc. - Tweet Tweet (2009).  As mentioned here, I had a bunch of reviews lost in one terrible blogging accident.  This was one of the casualties -- I think this is the third time I've tried to review the album (sorry for the wait, Ryan).  Despite the blog PTSD, I will bravely forge ahead.  A "collective" album with eclectic mix of lead vocalists, this jazz-rock-electronic-hiphop amalgamation is (on paper) something that is destined for either absolute greatness or total failure.  In this case, it's brilliant.  They even throw in a little organ fill ala The Roots on "Trombonik."  (As an aside, fans of The Roots will LOVE this.) As such a fusion would suggest, it's not just a single note:  it's challenging yet still accessible, edgy while remaining poppy.  They do not spare their uncompromising lyrical attitude, and yet they still seem mostly based in pop.  CD Placement Rating:  Car iPod.

• Aldo Nova - A Portrait of Aldo Nova (1991).  It was so cheap, I had to give this a shot, even though my snarky first thought on seeing this greatest hits compilation was that it should be a one-song single.  Sometimes I hate being right.  CD Placement Rating:  I already owned "Fantasy," so Pile of Death.

• Arcwelder - Entropy (1996).  This Minneapolis grunge or post-grunge band is very decent but not spectacular.  It may be more your cup of tea as opposed to mine.  But the highlights ("Snake Oil," "I Promise Not to be an Asshole") are great, groove-filled jams.  CD Placement Rating:  CD Rack.

• The Automatic - This is a Fix (2008).  This took me years to track down as an import.  It's more solid overall that their debut, but lacks the top-end punch (and the over-the top voice of Alex Pennie) from that album.  Nice across the board without any real standout songs.  CD Placement Rating:  CD Rack.

• Bad Religion - Stranger than Fiction (1994).  Bubba convinced me to give this album a shot after previous failed attempts to get into this band.  Initially, I thought this album fell into the usual complaint I have with Bad Religion albums:  a few great song, but an uneven album.  A listen in the headphones revealed something different; this is finally a BR album I can get behind.  Very solid from front to back, with many individual song highlights to boot.  CD Placement Rating:  Portable CD Case.

• Golden Earring - Bloody Buccaneers (1994).  Long-time readers will recall my fondness for this band, and for some odd reason I decided to take one more bite of the apple.  Bottom line, like all the other Golden Earring offerings, it's just not as good as The Hole.  I'm beginning to think that The Hole was a brilliant one-off, and while the other albums have bits and pieces of greatness, none are whole-cloth strong offerings.  This one is okay.  It's my last foray into this band, unless I find Cut (the one with "Twilight Zone"), which has remained surprisingly elusive. CD Placement Rating:  I'll keep "Temporary Madness," "Planet Blue," "Pourin' My Heart Out Again," and "In a Bad Mood." Sell-back Pile 1.

• The Delusions - I Hope It Dies on a Sunny Day (1998).  My obsessive interest in this band remains a mystery even to me.  They were a solid opener for Built to Spill over a few years of live shows, with occasional moments of perfection; they were always on the verge of something sublime, but eventually fell just slightly short.  This is very decent, but has a low ceiling, which probably is "Disabled at the Beach."  Like, not love.  I think we can only be friends, but I think you'll make someone very happy.  Someone else, that is.  CD Placement Rating:  CD Rack.

• Failure - Tree of Stars EP (2014).  While not the biggest or the most influential release of the year, this was (for me at least) the most important release of 2014.  Why?  Because after the four live tracks, one of my all-time favorite bands created its first new song together in 15+ years... which also means they will be recording a new album!  The live tracks are decent, the new song is okay, but that doesn't matter:  I'll always associate this EP with that joy of Failure's return, so it will always put me back to that moment of happiness.  I'll keep it forever.  CD Placement Rating:  CD Rack.

• Ladyfinger (ne) - Dusk (2009).  This is actually one of the toughest albums I've ever had to review.  I've picked it up and put it down a number of times over the last six years.  I've found that when I listen to this album for the first time in a while, I really like it.  But after a second or third listen I get "listening fatigue" -- it's like the music wears off.  Very odd.  The elements were all there, but something was killing long-term enjoyment here for me.  A final review (loud, with some really good headphones) revealed the very good, possibly great album I'd heard hints of before.  No fatigue this time; they even remind me of a heavier Les Savy Fav (particularly vocally and lyrically) at points.  So I'll move it back up from Sell-back 1.  CD Placement Rating:  I guess it has to be Portable CD Case.  No matter what, "A.D.D." and "Little Things" hold up over time.

• Social Distortion - Live at the Roxy (1998).  Captured in 1996 from the White Light, White Heat, White Trash tour, this is a great snapshot of a live band on top of their game.  Oddly, it holds together better as an album:  it's a total blur in its entirety, but the individual tracks don't really stand out on their own.  It's punk rockabilly at its best, an onslaught that just keeps coming.  Best listened to prior to fighting local toughs, or when caffeine is needed but not readily available.  The only downsides are the odd beginning and end, and the occasional misogynistic comments from frontman Mike Ness.  The liner notes are fantastic.  CD Placement Rating:  Car iPod.

• Tears for Fears - Shout:  The Very Best of Tears for Fears (2001).  Reputed to be the "best" of the TFF compilations, Moira got this one for me and it has not let me down.  Even better in the headphones; all the hits are here.  Getting the US Remix of "Mother's Talk" is the key, although any excuse I have to listen to "Shout" is worth the time.  They were/are soooo good!  Only complaint with this is there is too much non-Curt Smith TFF, but even those songs are decent at worst.  CD Placement Rating:  Portable CD Case.

• Tesla - Into the Now (2003).  That Metal Show strikes again.  TC got me into these guys back in the day (I still can't listen to Mechanical Resonance and not think of Die Hard, the No-girlfriendo, and Walpole, MA) and I've always found them to be a cut above most of the hair bands of the era.  I saw Frank Hannon on TMS -- and he gave an amazing performance.  They mentioned a comeback album, and I was suckered in.  From the first track ("Into the Now"), it's classic Tesla; if you told me "What a Shame" or "Recognize" was a b-side from 1988, I'd buy it.  It's bluesy classic rock meets indie garage rock.  (With some record scratching thrown in, which is odd but somehow not out of place.)  Sure, it tails off a bit after the first four songs, but, In general, this album is simply ridiculously infectious.  CD Placement Rating:  Car iPod.

• Van Halen - The Best of Both Worlds (2004).  If you're going to own a Best of Van Halen album, I'd recommend this with one caveat to the producers of this album:  you cannot include "(Oh) Pretty Woman" without "Intruder."  No exceptions.  (Having a Sammy Hagar-fronted live versions of "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love," "Panama," and "Jump" are lesser offenses, but mistakes nonetheless.)  Otherwise, this is a fun 2-CD set, only needed for those who own Van Halen I and nothing else.  (Like yours truly.  Okay, maybe I own Diver Down as well.)  CD Placement Rating:  CD Rack.  But a great, entertaining couple of discs for a drive.

- Snilch

Downloads Review (a.k.a. "My Bewildering Love of Golden Earring")

I don't want to brag, but I get lots of downloads here.  And some are even free!  Here's a rundown of some of the digital-only items I've recently had the pleasure of listening to:  

No, wait, looks like it will be preceded by a rant. (Yes, I've already ranted about this twice; think of this as the "trilogy that would not finish" ending from Lord of the Rings.)

I've recently been dragged kicking and screaming into the mp3 world.  To my vocabulary this equates to "settling for crappy music that sounds about the same as AM radio."  I will not settle for this -- but I need to recognize that convenience can be a good thing too.

My philosophy is quality over quantity; I'd rather have one great sounding track as opposed to ten that sound like they're coming from the inside of a closet.  When you make a sound file so tiny in order to fit 10,000 of them on your 8GB iPod, you have to keep in mind that you are taking information out of the sound file to make the convenience factor work.  In other words, it's smaller because it's compressed.  Smaller size = greater convenience but (generally) significantly impaired quality.

With that, I've taken the following steps in preparing my digital library for iPod use:

1. Everything on CD is imported via the Apple Lossless codec.  This is a setting on iTunes (Edit > Preferences > General (Tab) > Import Settings (button halfway down the page) > Import Using: [Select Apple Lossless Encoder]) for  importing CD's.  There are consequences to this you should be aware of:
   Pros:  This gives you near CD quality sound (I can't hear the difference) at half the size of .wav files.
   Cons:  Even at half the size, my music collection is almost 300GB.  So it ain't all going on one iPod.  Also, the .mp4a files that your tracks are compressed to are proprietary to Apple, and thus not editable by programs like Soundforge or Easy CD Creator. 
2. I download everything at the highest possible quality.  This is a no-brainer, but you can improve quality significantly at 256 kbps as opposed to the two previous download standards (64 and 128 kbps).  Keep in mind that taking a track from CD and encoding it via Apple Lossless is five times higher quality than if you paid to download the same track at 256 kbps.  That being said, you do the best you can with what you can.  When you can.  Sam I am.  I will not eat green eggs and ham.

Thus endeth the rant.  In alphabetical order:

• Able and Baker - Forever is Fleeting (2008).  I cannot remember where I saw this or who told me to pick this up, but they deserve a thank you.  It's indie rock crossed with either My Bloody Valentine or Longwave.  (Always dangerous to throw out MBV as a reference; those who might still be looking to avoid the genre of "college radio rock" might mistakenly give this a try.  Even though that genre no longer really exists.  But those people should avoid this.  That's quite a long aside, which does not bode well, gentle reader.)  This is excellent stuff from a band that does not appear to exist outside of this great EP; I hope they make more music.  Very smart spacey guitar rock.
  CD Placement rating:  I'm not feeling particularly creative at the moment, so I'm not going to add yet another ratings system to this blog.  So -- Virtual Portable CD Case.  See, I added "Virtual"!  HA HA HA!  Sigh.  Yes, I know that's lame.
  
  
• Devo - Oh No!  It's Devo (1982).  After losing "King Nerd" status by admitting I just picked up my first Devo album last year, Ben suggested I pick this one up, as it's his favorite Devo album.  (I look forward to the endless Devo suggestions that this is bound to produce.)  I can't say that I like this more than Freedom of Choice, but I recognize that I really need to spend some quality time with this band.  The more I listen to them, the more I recognize their wacky genius.  Excelsior!
  CD Placement rating:  Portable CD Case. 
  
  
• Golden Earring - N.E.W.S. (1984).  Sandwiched in the Golden Earring catalog between 1982's Cut (which features "Twilight Zone" but little else) and 1986's The Hole (which I bought for $1.99 on cassette in 1988, thinking it was Cut, and found it to be one of my all-time favorites), it's clear I have a softer spot for this band's 80's output than most Americans.  "Clear Night Moonlight" is a great opening track, and I love the rest of the album.  Should you buy it?  Absolutely not.  It's really not going to do anything for you except lower your opinion of me.  Even I can't defend the the album's title track.  But it doesn't matter.  I  c a n ' t  h e l p  i t.  I have a problem.
  CD Placement rating:  For me, CD Rack (or its equivalent).  For you, buying this would officially ruin any indie cred you ever gave me.  If you did in the first place.
  
  
• The Information - Natural Language EP (2007).  One of my favorite local Boston bands (who I think have broken up).  I own their first EP and album (each of which are great), but I never picked up their last release as it was available in three formats:  flash drive, 8-track (seriously!), and digital download.  This release has a different approach in stretching more towards the synth side of the band, but lead singer and primary songwriter Max Fresen's mix of pathos and vitrol is still there in spades.  I'd call this less poppy than their previous two offerings, but it doesn't matter.  It's great stuff.
  CD Placement rating:  Portable CD Case.  Lame.
  
  
• Golden Earring - Keeper of the Flame (1989).  Following 1986's The Hole (which I bought for $1.99 on cassette in 1988, thinking it was Cut, and found it to be one of my all-time favorites)... wait, have I written this already?  Wow, this is embarrassing.  I actually got more than one Golden Earring album?  (In my defense:  they are out of print, you know.)
  CD Placement rating:  For me, CD Rack (or its equivalent).  Once again, not for you.
  
  
• Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke Special Edition (2009).  This I got for free by following Amazon's Twitter postings.  At some point I threw all the albums in this post onto my 8GB iPod and threw it on shuffle.  After a few hours of listening, four songs made me stop what I was doing and take notice -- one by Able and Baker, and three by Ladyhawke.  That's a good sign.  They sound like a mashup of New Young Pony Club, VHS or Beta, Berlin, and Suzanne Vega.  Songs like "My Delirium" are mid-to-up tempo guitar and synth dance perfection; others like "Love Don't Live Here" are smoother and poppier.  There are seriously another 7 tunes which are excellent from this album.  This album has an 80's feel to it, for sure, but doesn't drown itself in it.
  CD Placement rating:  Car CD Changer. Guess I'd better burn it to CD.  
   
• Golden Earring - Prisoner of the Night (1980).  Wait, I actually downloaded THREE Golden Earring albums?  And no "Twilight Zone" or "Radar Love" amongst the lot?  I believe that Mrs. Snilch Report now has irrefutable grounds to become ex-Mrs. Snilch Report.  If that were a legal name, of course.
  CD Placement rating:  Sigh.
  
  
• Mojo Nixon - Bo-Day-Shus!!! (1987).  "If you don't know Mojo Nixon/Your store could use some fixin'."  That lyric by The Dead Milkmen was my only exposure to Mr. Nixon prior to Amazon (once again) supplying this album for free.  Here's what I've learned:  1) he's a novelty act; 2) he's definitely an acquired taste; and 3) it's not one I'll be acquiring anytime soon.  I'll take "Elvis is Everywhere" and dump the rest.
  CD Placement rating:  Sell-back Pile 1.  Although I didn't pay for it, so technically I couldn't sell it back, and I'm just deleting the files, so I couldn't even sell it.  This ratings system is so 2002.
  
  
• Revere - The Great City (2010).  This is another free Amazon download (in fact, an "Amzon mp3 Exclusive"), and is full of toothless venom.  They have effort, but it has no edge to it.  Think a poppier, more sugary John Faye Power Trip.  (I'm guessing only Denis will fully understand that reference.)
  CD Placement rating:  Pile of Digital Death.
  
  
• The Upper Crust - Let Them Eat Rock (1995).  Thanks to Sean for introducing me to this one.  Where Mojo Nixon fails for me, Upper Crust does quite nicely.  Sure, it seems silly that four guys should dress up as 17th (or 18th?) Century nobles, singing songs like "Let Them Eat Rock," which (as it suggests) is a play on "Let Them Eat Cake," but that's my kind of humor.  They cross the lines in just great ways, but their music is actually great as well.  I'd love to know if anyone else has picked up any of their other four (!) albums.  These guys rule.
  CD Placement rating:  Portable CD Case.  I am so inadequate.

- Snilch