Well something that I missed in my POBPAH roundup. I looked further at the information on the Slumberland web site and saw that there was an additional remix of Higher Than The Stars. It was only found on the 7” for the single. I just about lost my mind when I found this out. My first thought was that the guy that sent mehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif the email should have recommended me this single since I was obviously buying every thing that they had in stock from the band. My second thought was that was selfish of me to think that someone else should do my research for me. My third thought was that I should have done the research more completely so that I would have known all that there was to know about the releases from the band. Either way I spent another six bucks to get it with shipping. Holy cows am I happy that I got that single. The remix is awesome. The record came on clear vinyl in a paper sleeve with the clear 7” bag. When I first played the record I thought that there was something wrong with the pressing. The song starts out with a distortion sound that underlies the opening of the song. I thought that it was on accident but the whole remix has this sound under it just floating under the surface of the song. I think that you get use to it after the song kicks in. The sound is too controlled to not be on purpose as well. The drums are programmed and it is easy to tell but as far as remixes go the rest of the song seems to be untouched. I know it seems to be a little ridiculous to spend six bucks to get a remix of a song that I already have but it is a collection of music from a group that I have fell in love with. I have not fell in love with the group as much as the sound that they have created. It is a mix to me of the late 80s/early 90s shoegazer sound with the early/mid 90s alternative movement. If I were to get more specific it would be maybe a mix of My Bloody Valentine and The Smashing Pumpkins, both groups that I loved during different times of my life and would have never thought of combining the two groups sounds.
The The – Live In New York (Yeah, It’s A Bootleg)
*I can't find a file to set a link for this CD*
I don’t know any thing about this band except for this album. I got this album as a freebee from what was in the early 90s a store/movie rental place called Tidal Wave. They seemed to get in the coolest and rarest music. I would haunt the place after school. I found out from a friend that they had gotten a box of promotional material for some band. I went down to the store and talked to the guys to see what the deal was. I found out that the group named The The was coming out with a new album and they had done a live gig at some Sony studio for some lucky fans. To support the upcoming album they put out this live CD. I listened to it quite a bit after getting it. I really liked the sound that the group put out on this disc. I never seemed to be interested in the group itself though. I recently heard a studio copy of one of the songs and thought that I recognized the song but it didn’t sound right. I later realized that I recognized the song from this album. I also realized that the bands studio work I had no interest in. The sound of this live album kicked the studio album to the curb. I thought that this was interesting since I usually preferred the studio sound to a live album. I guess that it goes to show that if you get use to a live sound that this is what you end up liking to hear. This is also similar to the LP VS. CD debate that everyone seems to have issue with. If you grew up listening to LPs and switched to CD then the sound of the CD will be jarring until you get use thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifo the sound of the CD. Then when you go back to an LP the LP will sound incredibly warm and natural to your ear.
OK Go – Oh No
I bought this album near the night of the huge storm that went through the city in the summer of 2005. I remember that the power went out where I was living. I also remember listening to this album. I can’t remember how I listened to it if there was no power though. I may have had a portable player at the time. If I did it would have been the Sony portable player because I did not have a portable CD player at the time. I remember feeling the apartment sway with the winds that were blowing. I was living on the third floor at the time. I found out the next day that there were 80+ mile an hour straight line winds and that there were trees uprooted all over the area that I was living. I was amazed that the apartment complex that I was living in did not just get uprooted and me swept up along with it. I am still here and still writing anyway.
The CD was interestingly packaged. The cellophane wrapper was black with a clear ok go (in lower case like I typed here) on the cover. I had to keep this wrapper as it was unique for any CD of its time. I carefully unsealed the wrapper from two sides to keep it in fair condition. I still have it on the CD to this day. The album comes off with a dark tone to my ears. If you take the album apart and listen to the tracks by them selves you could probably better understand which ones are the darker tracks. It was really the videos that made this album so popular. The group became known for their videos after the video for Here It Goes Again became viral on youtube and the MTV Video Music Awards where they performed the “treadmill” video live on the show. I am a proud music snob when I say that I have been into the group since their first album. There is a “deluxe” edition of the album that includes a DVD of the various videos that the group has released for this album but I have not yet picked it up. I have not gotten it for two reasons. One, I already have all of the music on the album and cant justify buying it again at this point. Two, I can watch most of the content on the DVD for free on youtube.
Pizzicato 5 - combinasion SPACIALE ep
This is a remix EP that came out after the release of The Sound Of Music. The songs on this EP are not found on The Sound Of Music though. The group has a large back catalog of releases that are only found in Japan. These remixes must be from those releases. There are some great tunes on this EP of six songs. The group is or at least was considered J-pop at the time. This may have changed since that time I am not really sure.
I remember still living with my parents when I was listening to this album in heavy rotation. I was working for a printing company and had recently graduated from a two year college with an associates degree. My parents were living about an hour outside of the city. I had also just purchased my first vehicle. It was a Jeep Cherokee. One night I was on my way back from work home to my parents place. I was listening to this CD and eating from a bag of Skittles. I happened to get a bloody nose on the drive. I had a mouth full of the sugary treats and a bloody nose with the stereo blasting driving a little above the speed limit on the freeway. I see two cops put their lights on behind me. I got so nervous. After pulling over and informing the guy of my situation he gave me a minute to calm down. He then informed me that who ever owned the car before me had a record and that I should contact the bank that had the loan information that they should put my name on the vehicle if I did not want this to happen again. I quickly called the next day and had a talk with my bank on the reasons to the paper work through as soon as possible.
Weezer – Pinkerton
One of the greatest albums to come out of the 90s music scene in my opinion. Because of legal problems the album was a sleeper. I loved the first album. I bought this album after hearing the first single. I loved the sound off that single and based on the credit of the first album purchased this one too. It was brilliant. I complete different direction for the band. Unfortunately, most people did not like it, including Rolling Stone mag. They said that it was one of the worst albums of 1996. I did not know any of this since I did not read any of the music magazines at the time and still don’t. They have never helped me pick out music and never will. The album took a darker turn than their first album did and that suited me well. I was never a happy person in that clumsy time of young adult thinking to adult thinking abilities. Rivers has a clear singing voice and this album I was able to memorize most of the lyrics and could sing along with the songs. This allowed me to identify more with what the lyrics were trying to say. I am not sure that this was a good idea since the lyrics are so dark and dealing with mental anguish and pain. The music was still very good though.
The only solid memory that I have of any of this music is hearing the single, El Scorcho, on the radio for the first time. I was not really a big fan of the song but it was different from everything that was out there on the radio at the time. It seemed to me that the band took the time to make the music interesting and different from everything else that was out there. This may have been something that was perceived from my point of hearing but the album still stands out to me as a brilliant piece of work. It may not stand out above all of the things that I am currently listening to but it is still unique enough to smack me in the face and make me want to bang my head to songs like El Scorcho and The Good Life that is for sure.
All right, that is all I have for now.
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