10 Songs I'm Constantly Listening to These Days

In alphabetical order:

 

1. Arcwelder - Truth

 

         

2. Beach Slang - AAA

 

 

3. Handsome - Dim the Lights

4. IDLES - Mr. Motivator*

 

 

5. Iron Chic - Cutesy Monster Man*

 

 

6. Knapsack - Katherine the Grateful

 

 

7. My Chemical Romance - I'm Not Okay (I Promise)

8. Screaming Females - Ripe

 

 

9. Superchunk - Precision Auto

 

 

10. Tender Defender - F.E.F.E.**

 

 

 

*NSFW

**Really really NSFW

Superchunk - I Hate Music (2013)

Admittedly, Superchunk is not a band I typically listen to.  But I was assigned 2010's Majesty Shredding, which was great.  So this one I picked up without hesitation.

Now I do have to say that calling your album I Hate Music means either that you've got a great sense of humor, or you're the kind of miserable person who opens a bar called "I Hate Alcohol and Sports on TV."

It all starts well enough; "Overflows" is a very nice opening track.  It's storytelling indie-rock, and this offering is politely loud.  Maybe "Me and You and Jackie Mittoo" would be great if I were a musician, but it sounds a little like inside baseball to me.

What's most surprising, though, is that this album isn't that adventurous.  The elements are all here for great songs or even a great album; but (at least to me) it never becomes cohesively interesting as a group of songs.  Now when they do pull it all together (e.g., "Low F," "Breaking Down," or "Your Theme"), you get a reminder of what made them alt rock legends:  they bend the music to their will in a way that was (and is) "good."  (This is a technical term that I won't explain, but please feel free to look up.)

In the end, I'm not enough of a Superchunk fan to appreciate this in context, and the album isn't good enough to work as a standalone.

CD Placement rating: Sell-back 1.

- Snilch

Putting The Whiskey Dregs Reviews into Perspective

I've been doing some reviews for The Whiskey Dregs... however, they don't use my super-special ratings systems that have become the industry standard.  Well, my standard, at least.

Here are links to my reviews and their corresponding CD Placement scores:

The Vaselines - Sex with an X:  Portable CD Case.

The Thermals - Personal Life:  Car CD Changer.

Superchunk - Majesty Shredding:  Portable CD Case.

- Snilch

Compilation Roundup

I have been listening to a ton of music lately, but all towards the end of my newest editions of the $15 Song CD's, which I will explain further someday. If you weren't convinced of my total insanity before that... well, suffice it to say that this will be the tiebreaker.

Instead, today we'll discuss compilations. As mentioned here, I've come up with a rating system just for compilations/greatest hits fare, which I have intended as transparent and merciless. As a reminder, the idea is that you want to be high on the casual fan rating scale and low on the hardcore fan ripoff factor. In lazy, non-alphabetical order:

• Asia - The Very Best of Asia: Heat of the Moment (1982-1990) (2000 - 1 CD). Yes, this is how I've decided to start this mess. Asia sounds better in retrospective than it did back in the day, which will not save it from Sell-Back Pile 1. I am struck at how much Steve Howe's guitar sound from early Asia (1982) mimics the sound he was using for the Yes album Drama (1980), or how much their later songs tonally echo Trevor Rabin's sound (his replacement in Yes). Can't argue with "Heat of the Moment" or "The Heat Goes On"; the rest is best left to the radio.
  Verdict: Sell-back Pile 1.
  Compilation rating: Moderate. For the casual fan, this is great. For the hardcore fan, allmusic.com says "For diehards, it's essential for the three rare B-sides 'Daylight,' 'Lying to Yourself,' and 'Ride Easy' and the detailed liner notes," but that seems like a stretch. And those songs are not that good. I'd say this is a moderate ripoff for those fans.
  
  
• Superchunk - Tossing Seeds: Singles 1989-91 (1991 - 1 CD). This is absolutely great. For the casual fan or the hardcore collector, this collection is not only full of great material, but collects all of their early 7" singles into one package. If you're not into Superchunk (like I wasn't), this is the perfect place to start.
  Verdict: Portable CD Case.
  Compilation rating: Very high. High marks for the casual fan, low marks as a ripoff since it's a great album on its own. Everyone wins.
  
• Failure - Essentials (2006 - 2 CDs). This is great because you do get most of the highlights from Failure's brief but significant three album career; for the hardcore fan, you get a lot of unreleased demos and outtakes. This is not so great because they released a whole bunch of other demos and outtakes in 2004 in the DVD/CD compilation Golden. Methinks this is the end of the line for any material they have in the closet... or maybe we'll see yet another compilation in the next two years. Please stop now.
  Verdict: CD Rack.
  Compilation rating: Moderate to high. Great for the casual fan, and nice for the completist. But a lot to buy for the latter.
  
• Idlewild - Scottish Fiction: The Best of 1997-2007 (2007 - 1 CD). Oddity #1: They released an original album (which is still in Car CD Changer, Make Another World) as well as this compilation in 2007. Oddity #2: Some of the tracks on the compilation are from that album (which seems to be a bit recent to include, no?). Oddity #3: They are still together and touring. Oddity #4: They are currently working on a new album. I bought this so I could get familiar with their back catalog, but this really is a total ripoff for loyal fans. It's a decent album, but totally a cash cow at this point in their career.
  Verdict: Portable CD Case.
  Compilation rating: Low. Okay for casual fans but a definite gouge for hardcore fans.
  
• Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth (2007 - 3 CDs). If you have never heard this album, you are not alone, but you are missing out on the finest piece of minimalist post-punk you will likely ever hear. Much like My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, this album is something you listen to and wonder how it ever came together -- and yes, I am comfortable in comparing this album to MBV's absolute classic, which says it all. This set is basically everything they ever recorded -- their 1979 album (Colossal Youth), their 1982 EP (Testcard), the entire demos album that was released a few years ago (Salad Days), and even their John Peel Session from 1980. Plus, the remastering for this album really brings out the full sound of the albums, which I find to be exception rather than the rule. Finally, the extensive liner notes tell the whole band story. I'd put this in the "must-have" category, and you might as well get this compilation and own it all. It is worth it and a real slice of history.
  Verdict: A Car Changer CD comp that goes into the Portable CD Case only because of its style.
  Compilation rating: It's got to be high; even if you own their other stuff (like I do), it's great to have it all in one place and remastered, and the casual fan gets everything they ever recorded. High casual fan rating, low hardcore fan ripoff factor.
  
• James - The Best of (1998 - 1 CD). Long considered a poor-man's version of The Smiths, James has some great songs and features the distinctive voice of Tim Booth. Known primarily for the songs "Sit Down" and "Born of Frustration," this compilation is exactly what I want out of this group -- all the hits and some quirky surprises. It's a nice summary and all I really need.Verdict: Portable CD Case.
  Compilation rating: Probably high.
  
• Even as We Speak - A Three Minute Song Is One Minute Too Long/The Singles 1986 to 1990 (2005 - 1 CD). Category: best compilation title. Winner: Even as We Speak. This obscure Australian pop band really reflects the 60's, and what I'd consider "Australian pop," even though I'm not quite sure what that is. (And that's not INXS, which is more British or American in its sensibilities.) But like pornography, I can't define it but I know it when I see (er, hear) it; now that I think about it, I've always associated the quaint sound of The Moles/Richard Davies as "Australian pop," and this is definitely in that vein. This is a nice piece of history that shouldn't just go away.Verdict: Portable CD Case.
  Compilation rating: High. This combines a bunch of long out-of print vinyl singles onto CD for the first time. As a first-time listener, this is a great summation of the band as well.
• Snuff - Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other (2005 - 2 CD's). Thanks to the late, great, Lance Hahn, I checked these guys out. Much like the Failure compilation, it's got "greatest hits" on disc 1 and rarities, demos, etc., on disc 2. They've got a great sound from that grunge era and their original tunes are solid but not spectacular, but still definitely worth listening to. It's actually disc 2 that makes this so much fun -- I am a sucker for covers, and these guys have it in spades. "I Think We're Alone Now," "Don't Fear the Reaper," "I Can See Clearly Now," "I Will Survive," and "Hokey Cokey" (oh yes -- the Hokey Pokey meets punk!) highlight the surprisingly solid 2nd piece of the puzzle. A lot of fun, ala The Nomads.
  Verdict: Portable CD Case.
  Compilation rating: High. High on the casual fan index, low on the ripoff factor.
  
• Swervedriver - Juggernaut Rides '89-'98 (2005 - 2 CD's). This is one of those rare compilations where I really don't distinguish between the individual songs, but the blur is a really pleasant ride. The one song that really jumped out at me was "Planes Over the Skyline," which is a nice song. But when I mis-heard the lyrics as "Flames Over the Skyline" -- now that was epic. Too bad. "Never Lose That Feeling" and "Son of a Mustang Ford" highlight Disc One; Disc Two contains four unrerleased tracks, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason (and certainly no chronological order) to what went where. But someone had some sense of how to put this all together in a sensible musical order, because in the end it does work as a unified piece. Overall, I'm extremely happy with it, but would probably be pissed if I owned all of their albums and had to buy a two-disc set to get four songs. Think melodic grunge that's very cleanly produced. To be honest, I probably need more time with this one - my opinion nmght be different in two years, for better or worse. I'm guessing better.Verdict: Portable CD Case.
  Compilation rating: Low to moderate. For casual fans or the ultra-completist.

- Snilch

Quick Hits - The Winners List

In retrospect, I really should have posted the winners list first. Oh well.

In case you've missed all the "drama," here are the previous posts in this chain:

The Undecided List, Part 1
The Undecided List, Part 2
The Losers List

All in fun, of course! Your opinions may be different than mine -- which, I might add, you are all quick to point out. (Thanks for that.)

Without further ado:

• Against Me! - New Wave (2007). This goes against the grain for me in several ways. First it grabbed me lyrically and not musically first, which never happens -- that's just not the way I normally process music. Secondly, these guys are from what I like to refer to as "Generation Why Me," which I generally can't stand -- songs about clipping their nails and not getting their BMW, blah blah blah. But these guys don't have that attitude at all. From the first song ("New Wave"), they clearly establish their manifesto and ambition: "I am looking for the crest of a new wave/We can be the bands we want to hear/We can define our own generation/Is there anybody on the receiving end?" Wow.
  Example 2: "Up the Cuts" challenges everyone: the a.d.d. generation, the music and video industry, the government's crackdown on digital piracy, and even "all the punks still singing the same song."
  Example 3: "Thrash Unreal" is a story about a drug user: "No mother ever dreams that her daughter's going to grow up to be a junkie/No mother ever dreams her daughter's going to sleep alone."
  Example 4: "White People for Peace" points out how impractical musicians' contributions really are to an armed conflict: "Protest songs in response to military aggression/Protest songs to stop the soldier's gun."
  Example 5: "Americans Abroad" is an honest self-reflection of potential hypocrisy: ""While I think I'm not like them, I'm not so sure/...Wherever we go, Coca Cola's already been/...I just can't help but think that there's a comparison."
  I just cited lyrics from half the songs on the album. They're plain-spoken but eloquent. They are loud, questioning, and smart. These guys are the new punks. Musically, they are not unbelievable but very solid, and overall it's a great package. I was shocked to see this was their 5th album -- time to check the back catalog.
  Verdict: Car CD Changer. Be prepared, it's loud.

• The Automatic - Not Accepted Anywhere (2006). Another entrant from the "Why Me?"/"Whiney" generation. Better musically than Against Me!, but a little less deep on the lyrics. These guys have something going on that I can't put my finger on; but it makes me think they could create greatness. Lots of promise here, especially musically (both in arrangement and vocal tonality/harmonizing). It's nice poppy punk with odd lyrics... big song in Europe from this album was "Monster."
  Verdict: Portable CD Case. I really like this album too.

• Johnny Cash - Live at Folsom Prison (1968, re-released in 1999). After watching Walk the Line, I remembered that I always kind of liked Johnny Cash. And that I was probably ready to give him a try once again. I can’t complain about this one – this is about as good as you’ll get from a live album. I had never heard "25 Minutes to Go," which is incredibly tense and powerful.
  Verdict: Highly recommended. Portable CD Case.
  

• Enon - Grass Geysers...Carbon Clouds (2007). To be honest, after 2002's brilliant High Society, Enon was followed up with both an underwhelming collection of originals and an underwhelming collection of b-sides, at which point they definitely had graduated from the "must buy the next album" merch rating to "let's wait for a review, shall we?" Fortunately, this was reviewed well, and wow, it's really the proper follow-up to High Society. This group is so quirky that they are much better when they rein themselves in slightly. Plus I love their bass sound. Check out "Mr. Ratatatatat," my favorite song on the album, or "Dr. Freeze," or "Pigeneration." I think it's great.
  Verdict: Highly recommended. Car CD Changer.
  

• Charlotte Gainsbourg - 5:55 (2007). This is really superior -- even with this being a little more mellow than I prefer, it still worked in the car. Charlotte Gainsbourg tells stories. They're great, they're impactful, and every note sounds like it's precisely placed. I'll compare this to Cat Power's You Are Free -- yes, it's that good. This album is for everyone.
  Verdict: Totally fantastic. Car CD Changer album that I'll put into the Portable CD Case because it's a little laid back.

• Motörhead - Ace of Spades (1980, re-mastered version released in 2001).Yes, this is the second post to feature Motörhead. What has happened to me? Truth be told, these guys were so heavy they scared me as a kid. Now that I'm older... well, they still scare me. But you have to hand it to Lemmy and the boys -- this is a classic album. The songs? Legendary ("Ace of Spades"), down to earth ("[We Are] The Road Crew"), incomprehensible ("Love Me Like a Reptile"), creepy ("Jailbait"), and surprisingly introspective ("The Chase Is Better Than the Catch") all rolled up into one. It's all I'll ever need from these guys.
  Verdict: Hell yes recommended. Portable CD Case.

• N.WA. - Straight Outta Compton 20th Anniversary Edition (2007; original released in 1987). I had a pithy little post about this album, but then thought it was a good idea to edit the html for formatting. Bad idea -- I managed to lose everything. So I'm giving this review over to fate. Thus: this album is good, not worth getting if you have the original.
  Verdict: Recommended. Portable CD Case.

• Pylon - Gyrate Plus (2007, original version released in 1980). This is a re-issue that had to happen, but much like during their actual career, it's questionable whether anyone will notice. Notoriously the victims of bad timing, they folded in 1983 after two albums (Gyrate and Chomp), right before the Athens, GA, scene that they helped create blew up into the American rock Mecca it became. Then they got back together in 1990 for the phenomenally underrated Chain, breaking up again right before Grunge/Alternative broke. When Rolling Stone named R.E.M. "America's Best Band" in 1987, R.E.M. said the award actually belonged to Pylon -- four years after their breakup! Their stuff has been out of print for years, otherwise I'd recommend the desert island must-have Hits as your first intro. But this album is very good -- they even threw in their best song, "Cool" (previously available only as a single or on Hits), which is an all-time great song. Throw in an unreleased demo and two other single-only songs and you'll see why this band was way ahead of their time. One of my all-time favorite bands; you should check this out if you like R.E.M., the B-52's, or really any non-crappy music in general.
  Verdict: Recommended. Car CD Changer.
  

• Peter Searcy - Spark (2007). I know you've been waiting with bated breath since this post... and here is the exciting conclusion! Well, somewhat exciting. Since the great song "Losing Light Fast" in 2000, I've held in with Peter -- that album (Could You Please and Thank You) was okay, but you could hear that he had the potential to pull it all together into a great, confident album someday. And Spark is that album. The promise of CYPATY, the guitar chops and emotive lyrics of 2004's Couch Songs, and finally slightly too sweet poppiness of Trust Falls... this album takes the best of all of those efforts and rolls them into a great culmination of Peter at his best. This is pop gold, Jerry, gold!
  Verdict: Highly recommended. Portable CD Case.
  

• Superchunk - Here's Where the Strings Come In (1995). I'm playing Pandora Radio at work. Hey, I recognize that song! It's "Hyper Enough" by Superchunk. Yes, Denis tried to convince me this band was worth listening to, but I could never get into them. Then Pandora moves on to another song by a different group, then another... background noise for a half hour... hey! Another cool song! This is odd... it's also by Superchunk. "Silver Leaf and Snowy Tears". And also on Here's Where the String Come In. Huh. Back to background noise for an hour... Wow, this voice sounds familiar. There's no way... yup, the 3rd great song I've heard in two hours, and, yup, from Superchunk, and yup, from that same album -- this one is "Detroit Has a Skyline." I'm sold. Guess I needed a blind taste-test to hear what I was missing. The rest of the album doesn't disappoint either. Time to visit the back catalog!
  Verdict: Highly recommended. Car CD Changer.
  

• The Thermals - Insound Tour Support 2.0 (2007). I really got this b/c of the old Insound Tour Support series, which (although I ultimately got screwed on $ on it) had some great, unheard music. I actually like this better than More Parts Per Million, which Dan will likely have a cow over, but this collection of live tracks is just my speed, and captures these guys at their best -- live.
  Verdict: Recommended. Portable CD Case.

• Tool - Aenima (1996). I loved Tool's debut album, and really never found a reason that I had to go out and get any of their other albums. Through trial and error (and their declining radio airtime re-peaking my interest), this is my other favorite album by the band. It's got some great songs but overall is not as satisfying as their debut. Great to listen to in the car.
  Verdict: Portable CD Case.

- Snilch