Vol. 2, Episode 7

Here is my 1973 play list:

Artist Alice Cooper Bachman - Turner Overdrive Billy Joel Creedence Clearwater Revival David Bowie Grand Funk Iggy & The Stooges Janis Joplin Led Zeppelin Little Feat Paul McCartney & Wings Steely Dan

Album Billion Dollar Babies II Piano Man More Creedence Gold Aladin Sane We're An American Band Raw Power Janis Joplin's Greatest Gits Houses of The Holy Dixie Chicken Band On The Run Countdown To Ecstasy

Song Billion Dollar Babies Takin' Care of Business Piano Man Hey Tonight Let's Spend The Night Together We're An American Band Search and Destroy Me & Bobby McGee Dancing Days Walkin' All Night Band On The Run Bodhisattva

I recently went crazy with all the stuff that I could get my hands on form the group The Pains of Being Pure At Heart. I am going to list and review everything that I could get my hands on right here right now. I know that I have already talked about their first self titled album but I may still go over it a little bit more lightly. I will also be talking about some of the singles from that album so I will try not to be redundant.

The first single released from the band that I was able to find information about was The Pains of Being Pure At Heart EP. I did talk about this one already. I only have a demo copy of this album at the moment at a low bit rate. This EP was released in limited quantity in 2007. I will be very lucky if I can find a physical copy, let alone a vinyl copy, but I can buy a download from what ever online company I wish. This is a good EP but it does show that they were just starting out, especially with the non LP tracks on this EP.

They also did a split 7” with a group called The Parallelograms. This is another one that I will probably never find. I am also not sure that I would be willing to spend more than 20 bucks for a single track on vinyl from the group. I did spend a dollar and 7 cents on the track from iTunes. The name of the track is Kurt Cobain's Cardigan. It is a little tongue in cheek, I know, but it has bee long enough that this should be OK to make a joke about now. This track was put out in 2008. This is also a simple track and shows how they wrote in the beginning. It still shows off their love of noise pop/shoegaze sounds.

After these two releases they started putting out singles in support of the first LP that was to be released. The first single is for the song Everything With You. I had said in a previous post that I really wanted this single. I still would love to have it but there is no need to get it because the A side is from the album and the B side is from their first EP. The only reason that I want it is that the vinyl is colored blue. I love colored vinyl.

The next single is Young Adult Friction, put out in 2009. This is the first single that I ordered. Unfortunately it was not directly from Slumberland Records (SLR). I ended up getting it from a small record company through Gemm.com. It came in a plastic 7” sleeve. I was very happy with that. I haven’t cleaned any of these records yet either by the way. I started the first side and was taken aback. I assumed that all of these records would be at 33. I was completely wrong. Every one of the records that I purchased from this group except for the LP is pressed at 45 RPMs. I was excited to say the least. Also this record was pressed in a beautiful opaque red with a splash of white. I am sure that the white was unintentional, just mixed in to get the right color red. Any way, I started to play the first side and was blown away with the opening drums and the rest of the song was just as good. Having these songs pressed at 45 RPMs really makes a difference. The B side of the record is a down tempo track called Ramona. It is a good track and not a sad track. I see it more as a mellow track. I like it.

The next single is Come Saturday, put out in 2009. This one has a green cover so you could have guessed that the vinyl was green too. It is a pretty clear mint green too. As I said earlier this is also a 7” 45 RPM recording. The A side is from the full length LP as well. It is a poppy happy song about getting together and having fun on a Saturday, no worries. When I opened the box with all the stuff from SLR I was excited to see that the rest of the 7” records were shipped with plastic outer 7” sleeves as well. I had a lot of respect for SLR from that day alone. They were a good company that loved what they did even if they were a week late in shipping the product. It was not that big of a deal. The B side on this 7” is called Side Ponytail. It is a cute song about the 80s trend of putting a ponytail on the side of a girls head. It is fun nostalgic indie rock. I like it a lot.

The next release I have already talked about. It is the Higher Than The Stars EP, released in 2009. The Higher Than The Stars EP does not have an LP track on it. Let me be clear. It does not support the LP. It is a stand alone project. There are some really great gems on this EP though and it does stand up on its own, even if it is only four tracks long. There is a fifth track on the CD EP version. I bought the vinyl EP because I could get that fifth remix track on the additional 12” remix LP. The third track I really like the best. My assumption is that they are saying, don’t touch me, because, the person that they are singing about can’t control themselves because they love the person they are singing about so much. I am naturally a romantic and this is how I view things typically.

Now on to that remix LP. It was put out in 2009 at the same time as the Higher Than The Stars EP to support this EP. There are only 3 songs on the record. The first is the last song on the CDEP for Higher Than The Stars EP. This is why I did not buy the CDEP. I wanted all of the remixes that were put out. Since I got the four track vinyl I had to get the remix LP anyway. The first track is really smooth, spacey and ambient remix of Higher Than The Stars. It takes up the whole first side of the record. The next track is a remix of Falling Over, The other track that I really liked from the EP. It is really jittery. It is a good song but it doesn’t seem to flow as well as the first remix. The third remix is another remix of Higher Than The Stars. It is not as good as the first track but it doesn’t make me disappointed that I got the remix LP. It is also a 45, so, the sound is super clear and detailed. Yet another reason to like this LP.

Then is the first full length album from the group. I bought 2 copies of this LP accidentally. The first copy that I purchased was from Amazon. It came with no shrink wrap on it. I was surprised by this at first but just chalked it up to an independent record company flaw. The second one that I ordered came shrink wrapped with a download card. It made me wonder if I shouldn’t just keep the both of them since they may be 2 different versions of the same album. I still need to take a closer look. I talked about this album a while back as well. I still love this album as much as I did back when I talked about it before. But let’s move on.

The next single that I got is called Say No To Love, put out in 2010. The cover on this one is very colorful. This led me to believe that it is the first single from the second upcoming LP. I was wrong though. The single is not on the track list for the next album. But the cover artwork does flow the pretty pastels that that are being used on the new album. I actually got this single as a CD single because there is a bonus demo track on the CD that is not on the 7”. The demo is from the upcoming LP. As much as I would rather have the 7” I am more after the music than the collectability of the different formats. This is a more mellow set of songs than I like to hear from the group but I still enjoy the music either way. The demo track, I Wanna Go All The Way (Demo), is very simple. It does have the fast pop sound but it seems a bit stripped down for the group.

The Next one is Heart In Your Heart Break 7”, released in 2010. The vinyl is a pretty clear plumb color. This one has the nice finished sound but is also a bit striped down that what I am use to from the group. This is actually very enjoyable compared to the demo track on the previous single. There is also a nice little guitar solo on this track that is unexpected. This single is from the follow up to the self titled album. I think that you could tell listening to the song. It seems different, not so much echo in the music, not so much noise in the noise pop. It seems cleaner to me. I like the slightly different/cleaner sound that they have put out with this single. I think that I will like the new album based on this new single.

I did order the next single and the next album but they have not been released yet. The next single is called Belong and will be released on March 15th and the LP of the same name will be released on March 29th. I will talk about them probably near those dates. I am very excited about getting the both of them.

You can get all of this product from SlumberlandRecords.com except for the few that I mentioned were out of print at the beginning of this post. You can also Pre-order the new single from your favorite online record store. I ordered mine from Insound.com.

That is all for now.

Sorry about the table at the top, I am working on it.

Vol. 2, Episode 6

The next mix tape is for 1972. Here is my list.
1972:
Band, Album, Song
Alice Cooper, School’s Out, School’s Out (For Summer)
David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy, Suffragette City
The Kinks, Everybody’s In Show-Biz, Here Comes Yet Another Day
Lou Reed, Transformer, Walk On The Wild Side
Simon & Garfunkel, Greatest Hits, The Sound of Silence
Steely Dan, Can’t Buy A Thrill, Reelin’ In The Years
Stevie Wonder, Talking Book, You Are The Sunshine If My Life

Radiohead – The King of Limbs
Last week the world was informed that there would be a new record from Radiohead. As with the last album, In Rainbows, there are a few different purchase options. Not only could you purchase the download in MP3 for mat but you could also download in WAV format too. There is also the option to buy a limited box set. This album is supposedly about the news paper.

The information about the box set is as follows:
Newspaper Album - PRESALE
Radiohead's new record, The King Of Limbs, is presented here as the world's first* Newspaper Album, comprising:
• Two clear 10" vinyl records in a purpose-built record sleeve.
• A compact disc.
• Many large sheets of artwork, 625 tiny pieces of artwork and a full-colour piece of oxo-degradeable plastic to hold it all together.
• The Newspaper Album comes with a digital download that is compatible with all good digital media players.
• The Newspaper Album will be shipped from Monday 9th May 2011 you can, however, enjoy the download now.
• Orders placed on or after 21st February 2011 (UK time) will ship from 1st June 2011
• Shipping is included in the prices shown.
• One lucky owner of the digital version of The King Of Limbs, purchased from this website, will receive a signed 2 track 12" vinyl.
*perhaps
(Directly from the web site: http://www.thekingoflimbs.com/DIUSD.htm)
I could only hope that I would get the 12” single. Here is to hopping. You also got your choice of download with the purchase of the box set. There will be a regular release of the album on CD and 12” vinyl later.

Since the release of the album less than half of a week ago there are already rumors floating around that this is not all that the band will be releasing this year. There have been subtle hints that may or may not be true. If you are interested in hearing what the fans are coming up with then head over to this web site: http://www.ateaseweb.com/2011/02/21/the-king-of-limbs-conspiracy-theories/
They are trying to keep them all together in one spot. I know there are other sites also trying to do the same thing but At Ease is a major fan source for all things Radiohead.

So the album is eight tracks long. The first half is faster than the other half. There are guitars used through out the album but used more like with Amnesiac or Kid A. you need to listen to hear them. They are not out in front like with OK Computer. There are so many levels and textures on this album that it took me all weekend to finally feel like I understand it. I defiantly liked it from the start but it also took some getting use to. It is a great album that I think I will like even more with time. This is the way that it is will all Radiohead albums. I think that none of them are an instant love. I know that I will like it but I need time to fit where I am emotionally and what the album sounds like together. It always seems to be that way for me. I can’t speak for everyone about how they feel about the band but that is how it is for me.

The tracks that stand out to me the most are Morning Mr. Magpie mainly for its muted guitar riff, Feral because there is a synth sound that I happened to use in a song that I wrote in 2007 with the same kind of style, Codex because it just kind of flows over you in a blissful wave and Separator because of the drum track really. It is the same drum loop it seems but it was recorded live for sure.

This is a really short album and I always want more where the band is concerned. It is way below what the average length album is for the groups’ releases though. I also haven’t heard anything about singles or EPs as of yet. I would say lets hold our breath but I don’t want anybody to die so don’t do that. I will keep everyone informed who chooses to read this

That is all for now.

Vol. 2, Episode 5

The next mix tape is for 1971. Here is my list.
1971:
Band, Album, Song
Bob Dylan, Greatest Hits II, Lay Lady Lay
Carpenters, Carpenters, Rainy Days and Mondays
Creedence Clearwater Revival, Creedence Gold, Proud Mary
Don McLean, American Pie, American Pie
Funkadelic, Maggot Brain, Hit It and Quit It
Johnny Cash, The Legend Of, Man In Black
Joni Mitchell, Blue, All I Want
Led Zeppelin, IV, Black Dog
T. Rex, Electric Warrior, Bang A Gong (Get It On)
The Who, Who’s Next, Baba O’Riley

Sigur Rós - Ágætis Byrjun
This album came out in 1999. This was the album that I started out with from the band. I found out about the group through Radiohead. They opened for Radiohead on the Kid A tour. I instantly fell in love with the album with its opening submarine ping noise that runs through the intro and second track on the album. I loved the album so much that I bought it for my sister. I also took my sister to see them play live when they came here as a headlining act. I was actually very disappointed with my sister because she did not expect to be out as late as the concert went and we ended up leaving half way through the concert so she could be up in time for work. We ended up seeing the opening act, I can’t remember off hand what they guys name was but it was just one guy and an acoustic guitar, and half of the Sigur Rós concert. I think that the string quartet Amiina was supporting them as well. So, I got to see not only Sigur Rós but I also got a preview of Amiina with Sigur Rós. I wish that I had that concert on video or an audio copy some ware. It is now lost in my head somewhere never to be recreated and never to be completed. I don’t think that my sister really liked the album as much as I did either, or the band for that matter. I never have had someone that was on the same page as I was about music. The closest that I have is my best friend and second my wife. Neither of them get where my music tastes come from completely. Part of that may be that I can’t explain exactly what they are myself. The artwork on this album was very plane and simple. The cover is colored in a dark navy blue and silver with a hand drawn alien with wings. He is actually quite cute and thoughtful looking. That is it, nothing more. The 2 singles that came out to support this album were much the same but with out the drawing. There is just the title of the 2 singles on the tag board slip case. This album also won the Shortlist Music Prize. This was something that was started to support good independent music in the early 2000s. I followed it simply because most of the music that I liked at the time was being represented here. I have always been into the music that not many people knew about or cared about. At the time Sigur Rós fell into that category.

This album was a part of the start of my downfall into depression. I can’t blame the music for the depression but I can use it as a landmark for when the depression started easing into my life. I could probably mark this with some other albums as well but I will leave that for later on.

Blur – Blur (S/T)
This is the fifth release from the group. The first single, Beatlebum, is what originally drew me in. I was not sure about the group even though they made some great singles. This song lead in with a UK styled alternative grunge sound that really slid under the radar. Then the second single, Song 2, came out and it just blew my mind away along with the rest of the world. It is such a hard rocking song from a wishy washy UK wanna be alternative rock group. Don’t get me wrong, I have liked the group since their first album but this song is just not expected from them at all. I am sure that everyone has heard the song since it has been played at every sporting event known to man at this point, probably. I really liked both of these songs and meant to get the singles but never got to it or they were out of print when I did. I did get the single, both the CD and the 7” for the song M.O.R. The 7” is on orange swirl vinyl. It is so pretty and goes with the cover. The cover is a picture of a jet above the clouds on an orange sunset. It is one of the most beautiful covers on a piece of music that I have ever seen at the time. I think that the rest of the album is quite herky jerky and the use of home made samples in some of the songs really doesn’t help much. The album is good but it could have been so much better.
I did like the last track though. It is called Essex Dogs but it is not just one song. In the 90s groups got in the habbit of adding un labeled songs to the end of an album. Sometimes they would do this by adding a bunch of blank tracks to the end of the album and then putting the hidden track at say #99 or what ever. Sometimes they would leave some dead time at the end of the last track. This is what Blur did. There are actually 2 bonus tracks on the last track. This makes the last track actually contain 3 songs, Essex Dogs, Dancehall and a track that is just labeled Interlude. The first part of the last track, Essex Dogs, I really can’t stand. The next part, Dancehall, is kind of a droning slow track that I can get into but I need to be in the right mood but it is not difficult to get there if I just listen to it. The last part, Interlude, is very enjoyable to me. It is very repetitive. It uses a echo on a synth keyboard and a slight distortion on a chimey guitar. So, to me, this album has some great singles but the rest of the album is just average almost filler music.

Elvis Costello – My Aim Is Ture
This is the first album from Elvis Costello, released in 1977. The original release in the UK did not have the song Watching The Detectives. It was added to the US release as the last track of the first side. This is actually why I was on the lookout for this album. This was a single that I remember from my youth, hearing it I am sure over the radio. My mother listened to pop radio and underground songs like this would sometimes come up. It was a great single that made an impression on my young heart. All that I really remembered from the song was the chorus but that was enough. I actually found a used copy of this album recently and a near by Half Priced Books. I think that there are a few vinyl collectors out there that dump old copies of records when a new version has or will be repressed. I think that this is silly but their loss is my gain I guess. Seeing as a new repressing of such albums will run anywhere from 20 to 50 bucks and I am picking up these used records for a couple bucks each. I am actually after the first three Elvis Costello albums and found the second one used not a few weeks after this one. This album is really a sleeper. It almost slid under the radar when it was released. There was a special promotion that happened when it was released. When you bought a copy of the record there was a card that you could fill out to send a free copy of the album to a friend. This free copy was sent out with a unique sticker on the sleeve. This was really a brilliant idea and got his name out there really quickly. As Elvis said, “I was a hit over night after seven years.” What he was trying to say was that it took a lot of hard work to get to a point where he could support his family on his music career. As much as I love to write and record music I don’t want to wait another seven years to get to a point where I can support my family. I am on the verge of success as a manager. I don’t want to start over again.

Pizzicato Five – The Quickie EP
This featured the radio edit for the song Magic Carpet Ride. I am not sure what needed to be edited for this song except to shorten the song a little bit. Pizzicato Five (P5) is a retro sounding Japanese pop group. They are a duo that puts together some great sounds and songs that I adore. I bought this EP when I was just getting into the group and wanted more than just the first album. I picked the EP up at Cheapo when it was still on Central Ave. It is a 12” EP that has 4 songs. On the A side are the radio edit for Magic Carpet Ride, a remix of the same song called Childs Loop Bonus Edit. On the B side are the tracks I Wanna Be Like You (Remix By Greg Cohen / Rap By The Aboriginals) and Go Go Dancer from the first full length. I Wanna Be Like You uses a slowed down sample from the song The Hustle. It was completely unrecognizable to me until someone pointed it out. It is the part when they say Do It but it is super slowed down so that it just sounds like a musical part of the song. It is a good EP, I think everyone could find something to like on this short collection of songs.

Vol. 2, Episode 4

I have created mix tape folders in my iTunes based on the year. I have started with the year 1970. I started with 70 because I think that everything that I have before that is just The Beatles or a bit of jazz and country. I don’t think that this would make very good mix tapes. Maybe I will revisit this if I come across some really great stuff from before the 70s or maybe I will make a mix tape for the decade of the 60 at a later date. I have started listening to these mix tapes starting with the year 1970. I am going to start listing the tracks in the mix tapes and maybe you folks out there can recommend me some more songs to add to these mix tapes. Maybe I can recommend some songs based on these mix tapes to you all as well. The first couple of mix tapes are pretty light but here is the first one.

1970:
Band, Album, Song,
The Beatles, Let It Be, Get Back
Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Iron Man
CSN & Y, Déjà Vu, Carry On
Derek & The Dominos, Layla & O A L S, Layla
Johnny Cash, Forever Comp, You’re My Baby
Stevie Wonder, Definitive Collection, Signed Sealed Delivered
The Stooges, Fun House, 1970
The Velvet Underground, Loaded, Rock & Roll

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart EP
I recently found out that this band has released a string of EPs and singles to go with their first album. I just about fell over when I found out how much extra music that they had released. Then I was ecstatic to find that I could still purchase most of this music from their record company for a song (45 bucks with shipping 6 items total) . There is a couple of singles that are not available from the group any more. Those couple of singles is the first 2 7” records that they released. The first of those two was released on blue vinyl. I will keep my eye out for the both of them at local record shops and shows of course. It is OK though because I can still download those songs that I can’t get my hands on through either Amazon or iTunes.

The self titled EP was released prior to the release of the full length album and as such features a couple of songs from the full length album. This is a 5 track EP so there are 3 non-LP tracks and this is what I am really after. I like the group so much that I don’t mind hearing the songs from the LP. They are good songs so it doesn’t matter as much. The first song is titled This Love Is F**king Right! and is from the LP. I never really listened to the lyrics on any of their songs. For me it was about the music. It was only when I got a preview of this EP that I listened to the lyrics or at least the chorus. Previous to this EP I never heard a swear word. After hearing the EP I realized that they did in this particular song. The way that it is used is casual and could have been left out completely in my opinion. They are just stating in the song that the person “singing” the song has a sister and that they love said sister. It is sweet but an unnecessary use of a swear word. Obviously, easily over looked though.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Higher Than The Stars EP
The other EP, Higher Than The Stars, leads off with a great 80s sounding synth. The funny thing about the lead track, Higher Than The Stars, on this one is that they are singing about sex this time. It is about a young couple that had sex in the car but now they have broken up and the fact that they did this needs to remain a secret. The lyrics are very vague but that is what I could get out of them. This EP is all new music from the group. There is nothing from this EP that is on the LP. The EP has four new songs. There is also a remix EP that has 3 remixes of Higher Than The Stars. One of which was added to the end of my preview copy of this EP. I almost like it more than the original song. I think this remix flows a little nicer than THOBPAH version.

Any way, both of these EPs are really good if you are into the NuGazer sound that I have previously mentioned in recent episodes. The group writes pop music but the music that they create is not fast danceable music. It is more of the sit in front of your stereo and enjoy the sound scapes that they have created kind of music. I like it but if you don’t like droning sounds and lots of distortion this may not be for you.

Faith No More – King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime
This is an album from when I just got out of high school. I remember going to see the group on tour for this album. It was at a festival concert that was then called Edge Fest. This festival always happened on Memorial Day weekend. It also has always rained on that weekend. Why they planned it on a weekend that always rained is beyond me. I was also dumb enough to go to an outdoor concert on a weekend that was always guaranteed to rain. I was also not the only one at the concert either. I don’t think that it ever sold out but the concert promoters were not hearting for money either, Clear Channel. I remember going this particular year because I planned on going not just with my girlfriend at the time but meeting with some friends from school. This was very abnormal for me because I was and still am very antisocial. What I mean is that I may have a lot of acquaintances but I don’t feel the need to have a lot of friends. Acquaintances will come and go in my life but friends I keep very close. Some acquaintances I keep on a trial basis to see if they will be good friends. Most fail and I may never see them again. Any way, I remember waiting for the group to play and when they did it was amazing but the wait was horrible. I think that the only reason that I went to this festival was to see Faith No More play.

I also remember when I bought the CD for this album the CD came with a sticker. I instantly put the sticker on my first bass guitar. The sticker had the graphic of the cover of the CD on it. It was red, black and white. It totally clashed with the color of the bass which was kind of a metallic sky blue. I ended up putting some other stickers on it as well and after time decided to take them all off. Not that great of a loss but it looked cool at the time. I think that I probably went overboard with the stickers and just decided to start with a clean slate. It was years later that I had an acquaintance at church that wanted to learn how to play the bass guitar. I had gotten a few more basses since I had purchased that one in 1994 for 300 bucks. It was a great starting bass so I gave him that bass and an amp to go with it for free. I have since lost touch with that acquaintance but hope that he had gotten what he wanted from it as I had too.

Back to the music. Mike Patten, the lead singer, has an infectious vocal approach. That is if you can handle screaming coupled with crystal clear male tenor vocals. I think that is what drew me to the band. Well, that and the fact that the bass guitar has this awesome pounding sound that doesn’t give me headaches. There is something that draws me in between those two sounds, the lead singer’s vocals and the bass guitar.

Nine Inch Nails – And All That Could Have Been/Still
This is a live CD, released in 2002, that was pulled from the Fragility tour recordings in 2000. As I looked back on this one I think that I went to this concert when it came to my city. It was a great concert and I really liked the double album called The Fragile. I liked the concert so much that not only did I buy the deluxe edition of And All That Could Have Been which had the bonus disc called still included but I also bought the DVD of the concert too. I am actually surprised that I did get both of these since they were released near the time that I was laid off from work. I was probably still living in a house and could still pay the bills on my severance package though. It wasn’t soon after that I had to sell the house at a loss and my first marriage dissolved. So, although this is a great album, some memories associated not all that great. I did listen to the live album recently and found it to be that great album it always has been but I did not have those feelings loss that I use to. Time heals all wounds I guess.

That is all for now.

Vol. 2, Episode 3

Just trying to catch up so I am on track for the 50 episodes per year. On to the music.

Nirvana – Bleach
I just found out about this album only a few years ago. I had no idea that there was a preceding album from Nirvana - Nevermind. When I first listened to this album it was easily marked for me as a 90s alternative rock album. The sounds are perfectly marked for it. I purchased this album last year on vinyl. I was disappointed to learn that there was a limited white vinyl version of this. Since I already purchased it I chalked it up to my lack of knowledge about the band. The limited version was colored white because of the name of the album. This is the album where the song About A Girl originally comes from. Most people who know the song only know the acoustic version that was recorded for the MTV Unplugged session. The song is just as good in the studio from my opinion. The first single from the album is called Love Buzz. It has a cool Indian music style riff in the guitar and bass. It is similar to The Offspring song called Come Out And Play but this song was done in 89 as opposed to The Offspring doing it better in 94. Obviously The Offspring took a page from Nirvana and put a fresh spin on it. It worked for them but not so much for Nirvana at the time. The third single off this album is the first track from the album. It features Cobains’ vocals matching his guitar tones for the most part. There is also a deep bass sound that I really enjoy. This album is a classic foreshadowing of what was to come in the 90s for the grunge sound. I am glad that I own a copy of the album but in no way will it ever be in heavy rotation in my current listening habits. I have had so much 90s grung/alternative that there isn’t much that I will go back to. At times I will go back to Pearl Jam but it will usually be Radiohead before anything else.

Catherine Wheel – Ferment
This is an important album in the shoegazer scene. This album was released in the early 90s. I remember hearing the last single, Black Metallic, that was released from this album on the radio. I don’t remember ever seeing a video for the song. This could be just due to my family not having cable at the time. We did always have radio time as a family though on the way up to the camp grounds every weekend for an hour and back. My father let us listen to pop radio, KDWB 101.3 at the time. It was especially cool on the trip home on Sundays. This was when the station would play the top 100. We would usually catch the last 25 and would then be able to hear the number one track for the week. I always thought this was exciting. It never occurred to me that the songs did not change as much but I did get to hear new music regularly. This is apart of where my love for music comes from I guess. I was always exposed to new and different music. This song Black Metallic was a new kind of music to me. it did not really fit in with the other pop music that I was hearing at the time. Nirvana had just burst on the scene and the grunge sound was new and hot. Grunge sort of washed over the whole idea of shoegazer. Grunge was a more forceful sound. It is really too bad because shoegazer sounds are much more rich and intense than grunge will ever be. Luckily, the shoegazer sound is coming back. I really hope that it will be better received this time.

Arcade Fire – Funeral
Aparently all the critics love this album. Although it is an important album in the mid 00s indie music scene, I don’t think that it is that great of an album. I much prefer their second album Neon Bible than this album. The only song that really saves this album is Neighborhood #3 (Power Out). This song is preclusive to what the group would show on their second album. This song has a great beat that drives through the whole song. The rest of the album is just OK for me. I am glad that I own a copy of it, on vinyl no less, but this is also an album that will never see heavy rotation in my listening to music. There were quite a few songs off this album that were released as singles. Neighborkood #1 (Tunnels), Neightorhood #2 (Laika), I already mentioned Neightorhood #3 (Power Out), Rebellion (Lies) and Wake Up. The last of which was used in the commercials for the movie Where The Wild Things Are. This is also a great emotional song but is easily forgotten.



LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
I know I did a short blurb review of the first listen from NPR but I now own the album. I have listened to the album quite a bit since I got it on CD. Actually I liked the album so much that I also bought it on vinyl. I never thought about getting it on vinyl until I listened to most of the album at Jerry Raskin’s Needle Doctor. The store had just moved from its original location in Dinky Town, part of the UofM, to the new location off 100 and Excelsior. It is still a small store but it is bigger than where they were. I talked with Jerry about the old store and the new store, what he liked and disliked about each one. He even gave me a tour of the new store. He showed me every nook and cranny of the new site. I felt very special that he was willing to show me all of this. After this I saw that one of the employees’ had brought in this album. I asked if I could listen to some of it. He said sure and proceeded to set it up on the demo stereo that they had set up. As I said before I knew this album pretty well by now. I sat down in the metal folding chair to have a listen on this stereo that I had never heard before. The speakers were new and not fully broken in but had a nice warm sound. The turntable that was being used is a lot nicer than mine and in general the stereo is probably a lot more expensive than mine too. As soon as the music started playing I fell in love with vinyl all over again. I don’t want any of this equipment mind you. I have zero interest in any of the equipment being used, even though it is partially the equipment that colors the sound. This record sounded amazing. I had to have it. The reason that I originally bought this album on CD was because the original release of this album on vinyl was going to cost me $45 for a single vinyl. I thought that was a very steep price for an album that I could have gotten for 10 bucks on CD. This is why I got it on CD. So, after I listened to the album on vinyl I did some research. I found out that the album had already been repressed to a double vinyl version and now was priced at 15 bucks. I couldn’t turn that down. It was wrapped and put in the Christmas pile. Since Christmas I have listened to it a few times on the turntable. I can’t not love this album. There are only a couple stinkers on this album. The first single, Drunk Girls, is one of them. The artist was even quoted as saying the song is dumb. That should say a lot about the song. The other song that I did not enjoy was Somebody’s Calling Me. The song would have been a pretty good song if he had left out the annoying tone that flows through out the song. There are also some really great songs on this album too. My absolute favorite song on this album is called All I Want. This is mainly because of the soaring guitar riff that flows through this song. It reminds me of something that would have come out of the mid 80s pop rock scene. The rest of the album is really on par with itself. It all kind of floats on a happy and excitement building cloud that really makes you feel good while listening to it. I would recommend this on any format to everyone. I think that there is something for everybody on this album for sure.

Nine Inch Nails – Pretty Hate Machine
This is a great album. The sounds that are used are very sharp electronic sounds though. So if you are not into harsh sounds even if they are musical in nature this album may not be for you. My first introduction to Nine Inch Nails was with the following full length called The Downward Spiral (TDS). As with many bands that I find and like, I did some research and found that this was the first release from the “group”. I can’t remember when I purchased it but it was defiantly after 1994. This was the year TDS was released. When I did finally get Pretty Hate Machine (PHM) I found that I liked the simple yet complex sounds that he, Trent Rezner, used in the music. There was something new and different about the hard edged sounds that he chose to use. As a matter of fact I listened to the music so much that I found I was memorizing the lyrics to half of the tracks on the album. It is not very often that this happens as I pick up music so often and don’t listen to much of it so often that I start learning the lyrics. It really needs to speak to me in order to do this. I listened to this album recently and found that I still have those songs lyrics memorized and it was fun to sing along with those songs too. This album was recently re-mastered. I have an interest in listening to the re-master but am not yet willing to shell out 10 bucks for an album that I already own.

That is all for now...