Episode 16

I had a late day at work and ended up sleeping through the time that I was supposed to help out a friend move. On the other hand I had the day all to my self and listened to what ever I felt like.

Radiohead - Hail To The Thief

This is not one of my favorite albums from this band. But, there are some really good songs on this album. I think that it is not one of my favorite albums because there are so many tracks on it. Just like Blur – 13, I thought to myself a couple of times, “Isn’t this over yet?” There are not many real loud parts on this album so it is still a joy to listen to. It just gets long after a while. 2 + 2 = 5 is my favorite track on the album. The funny thing is that it is the first track on the album. My second favorite track on the album is There There. This is the 9th track so it gives me something to look forward to after the first track. This is not an album that you should only get the 2 songs for. Like all Radiohead albums it is an album. It is fantastic in its own right. I just think that they have put out other albums that gel a little better than this one does.

Since the band did not renew their contract with Capitol they, Capitol, have re-released the first 6 albums in special edition packaging. For me all of these Capitol SE packages are pointless. I already have all the extras that are included except for the live tracks from Jools Holland. I don’t feel that interested in them as it is just paying Capitol for their possessions. The other bonus tracks are B-sides from some of the singles. Capitol also re-released a cross selection of EPs and singles in a vinyl 12” format. To me, if I were to start going after the singles and EPs in vinyl format it would be a chase for the original releases. That, my friends, is expensive. The last I checked the initial EP release of Drill (their first EP) was near $800 on the second market. And my friends think I was insane for getting that EP for $300 on CD. Look at how much more insane I could get people.

Sly and The Family Stone - Best Of

I got this album on vinyl last year. It was in nice packaging but it arrived a little beat up. There was also a scratch on the record that was plainly visible. I played and recorded the record anyway. I did not get any bad noises where the scratch was so I did not return it. After processing the album I realized that there was a lot of noise on the album. I would still not return the album because it plays great. It is just that the record noise translates to digital noise when playing back the digital recording that I did. Not that big of a deal I guess. They are still great songs. Everybody knows the songs that they did and it is just a greatest hits collection so I am not really going to talk on this one much. This collection was released in the beginning of 2009. It features their most popular tracks from Dance To The Music to Hot Fun In The Summertime. It is really a great collection of music from the band.

Sunny Day Real Estate – Diary

This was one of the first albums to be dubed Emo. It is a heavy emotional rock album. The group is not of that whiney sound that became the heart of Emo later in the genre. I remember hearing the singles from this album and wanting to get the album because of them but I never got around to getting it when it was new. It wasn’t until last year when I heard that they would be repressing the album on vinyl that I finally decided to buy a copy of the album. Then, after listening to it and a podcast of the band during a live show that I got from NPR, I really got that nostalgic feeling. These songs are a part of my past, days from my graduating high school. Most people would say this was from their hay days of high school. Well, I never had a hay day in school. I was a very emotional kid growing up hence the reason that I like Emo music.

I have also got some other music from that Emo scene and I may get to it later.

signing off