So when the store opened we were handed numbers. I got 26 and the boy got 27. We went through the line. When it was our turn I asked about the few items that I was interested in and ended up getting two of the possible five things that I was interested in. I did not get any of the singles that I wanted. They were not all that important anyway. I wanted the Death Cab For Cutie single but it was sold out. I later found out that it was not a single but a sampler for the upcoming album. I was not so disappointed for not getting the 7” after finding this out. What I did get was the Gorillaz – The Fall and Pearl Jam – Vs. The Gorillaz LP was a RSD release only, limited and numbered. The album was only to be released on CD for the regular release. I listened to both albums and they both are spotless, the best sound that I could hope for from a record. I will be going over both of these albums along with a few others next.
Gorillaz – The Fall
So the album is based on apps available on the iPad. There are some really great sounds that are made on this album. What I really like is that some of the songs do not have any lyrics. It is my kind of music. There are some guest appearances but not as many as on their previous albums and some of the appearances are musicians not vocalists. The music is composed of live artists and electronic beats. Both Mick Jones and Paul Simonon from The Clash make appearances on separate tracks. I have a high respect for the clash so to have them on tracks from this album makes it that much better to me.
Apparently the album has been released to the fanclub in a download format last December. If I were a part of the fanclub I would have downloaded the album but I would rather have an album in a physical format anyway.
I found these quotes from the fictional band members. I thought that they were funny so I will share them here.
Fictional frontman 2D stated the following about The Fall:
"Uhmmm....The first Gorillaz album, our debut record, was more Russel's...like.... Lots of hip-hop, funk, and Cuban dub stars. Demon Days, right, came more from Noodle and her dark doomy demos that she made, and all of her contemplations on the world in a place of night. Plastic Beach came out mainly from Murdoc's head: all of his mucky exploits and global collaborations and legendary mash-ups recorded on the Plastic Beach island in the middle of the ocean. Very rum and piratey.... And this one, The Fall, is mostly just me...something more gentle and just...well...it's just me and an iPad really mucking about...trying out some stuff. Just looking at America and then tapping on the screen...I'm not really concentrating too hard on it.... So, right, each album got all of us on it somewhere, but each time it's...more of one of us than the others.... Well, that's how I see it anyway."
—2D
Fictional bassist Murdoc Niccals also said about The Fall:
"Well, this is curious.... I don't remember recording this one at all. A whole album...and nothing. But it's got the Gorillaz name on it so I must have done it! Did I? Really? Yeah...I probably did. Did it on an iPad using all the music apps...Fatbooth, FaceAche, iBeer, InstantAlbum...all the great apps. Great appz.... Anyway...to all of you technology lovers out there...the CD and digital release will be out soon. "April-ish!" Parlophone said to me...."
—Murdoc
Then via the official Gorillaz Twitter, 2D said, “If Plastic Beach was an island, The Fall is it's jetty...just a nice bit of...er...wood sticking out the side.”
Pearl Jam – Vs.
Originaly released in 1993 this album is seven times platinum. It was released on CD, Cassette and vinyl. You could even download it now. I first purchased this album on CD. The case was a special design called an eco pack. It has very little plastic in the case mostly paper. I remember that my girlfriend in 93 bought the cassette. The title of the cassette read “five against one”. I did some research and found that some of the cassettes were sent out early and some of them had the title “five against one” and some of them did not have a title at all. The vinyl release did not have a title ever. I remember thinking that it was so cool that she had a limited edition version of the cassette. I am sure that she has since completely lost the cassette. What I thought was cools is now lost for ever. I do still have the eco-pack CD so what ever.
I was excited to get a vinyl copy of this album. I did not get the great memory recall that I usually get with this album. This could be that I have so many memories attached to this album. I will try to go over as much as I can though.
When this album first came out I had gotten my first CD Walkman. I remember listening to this album after school while I was having fun with the other music students that stayed after school. The Walkman fit in the pocket of my letter jacket just right.
My girlfriend and I had a group of friends that would get together to play D&D. We would listen to music during and afterword. I did not introduce them to this album but it was an album that we listened to while we played the game in the basement of the girlfriends house. It was an album that we were all excited about so it got played frequently once it was finally released.
I remember listening to the album one particular fall day. I was driving, taking the back way over to North Town. I remember the sunlight that only shines a specific way on a fall day. I remember the breeze that blew the colored fallen leaves across the road. I also remember the red brick buildings of the school that I passed on the drive. It was a great day for that drive with that music on. I also remember singing along with the music with all my might. Singing the first track, Go and then on to Animal. It is a great memory. I must have recorded the album to a recordable cassette. I never had a CD player in my car during those years.
U2 – October
Although this album is not one of their best albums it is part of the trilogy that makes up the first three albums that the group put out. This is the second album from the group. This is the one piece of said trilogy that I was missing. I still need the third part of the second trilogy. But that is a story for another day. This album, October, is usually ranked least liked by fans of the group. There are a couple good tracks on the album though. Gloria, the first single released for this album, I a good track. The track reminds me of The Police. Something in the way that Bono sings on this track reminds me of The Police any way. The other two songs that were released as singles, Fire and October, were not that great. They are good songs but could have been so much better. All in all it is a good album that could have been so much more. I think that the group realized this and made a better effort on the next album, War. I was only six when this album came out and my parents did not listen to the under ground sounds. As a result I only remember Gloria from this album. I don’t remember it very well either as it probably got very little airplay on the radio. I like the stuff from U2, especially the 80s stuff. I like the music from the 90s too but it seems to be harder to find. I am not a big fan of the 00s music though.
Elvis Costello – Armed Forces
I knew that I wanted the first three albums from Elvis Costello. Last year the three of them were repressed on vinyl. I found the first two a few months ago. I was happy with that. I just couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t find the third one. I knew what the cover photo was supposed to be, a bunch of elephants on a rampage. Recently I looked the album up on Wikipedia. I found that the US cover is a paint splatter and not the elephants. The elephants were on the cover for the UK edition of the album. They are also on the cover of the repressing. I felt like an idiot because I had seen the paint splatter cover many times at the various used records stores that I go to frequently. Well, I knew what I was looking for now at least. Lo and behold, the first record store that I went to after finding this new information out had two copies. I bought the better of the two. Then, after that, every record store that I went to had copies of this album. What a world that we live in.
Of the two singles released from this album I remember the first one better. The two singles from the album are Oliver’s Army and Accidents Will Happen. I remember Oliver’s Army because the music on this song is very catchy. I never listened to the lyrics for this song; they seemed to blend in with the music when I listened to it. The other single is kind of watered down but the chorus seems to stick out to me a little bit. I have probably heard both of these tracks on the radio as a kid. I heard these songs mainly because my mother listened to the top 40 station of the day. It is all good music but his voice is not always the best to listen to.
John Lennon – Imagine
I have wanted this album for a long time. The title track is so meaningful in so many ways. The music that accompanies the lyrics is just perfect. The piano is recorded to perfection. It is truly a sad but positive and powerful song. This is the only single released off the album that I am aware of. I could honestly care less about the rest of the album but the rest of the album is pretty darn good to my surprise too.
I picked up a repressing of this album, from the Capitol vaults as the sticker on the plastic said. It is a faithful repressing featuring the poster and the postcard that came with the original release. The pressing of the album is not that great. Side one has a bad scratchy sound that comes in and out through the whole side. This is disappointing since the title track is why I bought the album. The second side is perfect. I think it was not able to cool enough at the pressing plant so when it was released from the press it was a bit warm still or stuck to the press when it was released causing the scratch sound. It is not that big of a deal for me though since I have records that sound worse than this in my collection. It is just that it is a new record and you always want the new records to sound better than the used ones.
Phil Spector was given producer credit next to Lennon and Ono on this record. This is probably why there are so many soaring background instruments on this one. I think that this album would have been fantastic if it were just Lennon and what ever instruments he used along with just a sparse backup band where needed. It is still a great album and I am glad that I have a copy of it finaly.
R.E.M. - Reckoning
This is the second album from the group released in 1984. I bought this album repressing because I couldn’t find a used copy. I have found quite a few of the early albums from the group but not this one for some reason. I am still looking for a couple other albums, Lifes Rich Pageant and Green, from the group and would probably buy repressings of them too if they came out and I still had not found used copies yet.
There were two singles off this album. The first was So. Central Rain. I remember the chorus from this song. There is not really much to say about it except that it is something that I recognize from hearing on the radio. The second single from the album is (Don’t Go Back To) Rockville. The song has a great country feel to it. the chorus is basically the title of the song. It is apparently a song to one of the members girlfriends pleading that she stay with him instead of going back to her parents place in Rockville MA. It is a good song and anybody and everybody would probably recognize the song instantly when played. The album is good especially if you are into the jangle pop that was popular in the underground (college rock) 80s sound.
At The Drive-in – Relationship of Command
This is the third and last album from the group. It is also the one album with any commercial success for the group. They are a post-hardcore group or at least that is what they have been dubbed. If you can handle the heavy sound and loud voices there are some great melodies that happen in the music. That is the real reason that I like this album. The group has a great sound and shows that heavy music can have great melodies too. It is really too bad that they disband after this album.
There are a few singles from this album. The first single released was One Armed Scissor. Apparently a one armed scissor is a mix of vodka and Red Bull. Not that this is what the song is about but this is a neat little tidbit about the song title. “The song is about their tours told from the omniscient character named the one armed scissor who sees their hardships they deal with while on tour.” This is pulled from Wikipedia according to a Channel V interview. The next single is Rolodex Propaganda. This song features Iggy Pop doing backup vocals. The third single from the album is Invalid Letter Dept. This song is a bit more slowed down. It is still a heavy sound but there is more space between the notes that are played. The song's lyrics and music video deal with the Juárez murders, a series of rapes and murders in Cd. Juárez of young women who worked in factories called maquiladoras. Cd. Juárez is located just across the U.S.-Mexican border from El Paso, Texas, ATDI's home town. The song explicitly criticizes the federales, or Mexican police, for their lack of response to these cases.
Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
Bon Iver is Justin Vernon. Vernon independently released Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago in July 2007, the majority of which was recorded while spending three months in a remote cabin in Northwestern Wisconsin. The name, Bon Iver, is a play on the French phrase "bon hiver", meaning good winter. The album was given a full commercial release in February 2008. When this album was commercially released I thought about getting it. I decided not to. I did not know it but my wife and I went to The Electric Fetus in November 2008 to look through some music. She bought this album for her sister to give to me for that Christmas. I was happy to receive it and had no idea that they had corresponded together to accomplish this task. I really thought that my sister-in-law knew what I liked.
There were many songs off this album that were released as singles. It is really a great quiet album. Skinny Love was the first single released from the album. This is the first time that we hear Vernon sing in his falsetto that is used throughout the album. It really draws you in to his pain and the seclusion that he was in while living in the cabin. The cabin becomes an instrument of its own on the album and it is especially heard on this first single from this album. The next single from the album is For Emma. This is a slower song with some echo/reverb applied to an electric guitar sound that uses a slide ring. It is a good song but not as good as the first single. The third single is called Re-Stacks. This is another good song but still not as good as the first single. I thought that Flume should have been a single. This is just as good as Skinny Love in my opinion. This is the first track off the album.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet – Time Out
I like jazz music. I played jazz growing up in school. When I find albums with songs that I have played or recognize I will buy them. I picked up the album Time Changes from a used record store. I liked it and did some research on Dave Brubeck. I found that he has put out a lot of music in his life time; he is still alive I think. I then found that the song Take Five is on the album Time Out. I looked on line and found that the album had been repressed on 200 gram vinyl. I got it as soon as I could. There is something great about this song, the smooth jazz feel and the solo that fits the song perfectly. The album is very short, only 7 songs but it is still a full album. It is not that I am thinking that it is good that the album is over but that it has a good ending and feels complete when it is finished. I don’t own much jazz music but I really like jazz music. I guess it is more that I don’t know where to start with jazz because there are so many recordings of the same song. It is not like today where the studio recording is the standard recording and the live recordings are extra. With jazz music it is more that the live recording is so different every time depending on the soloist. One could drive themselves nuts going after every recording of the same track with jazz music.
Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream
This album was originally released in 1993. This was also an album that my friends and I would listen to during our D&D gaming sessions. I take credit for introducing them to the group and this album in particular. I had originally seen the music video for the first single on MTVs 120 Minutes. This was a great show that aired late at night and featured new and upcoming artists that were making videos. I saw the first single, Cherub Rock, on this show. I liked the song so much that I went out and bought the cassette. The second single, Today, caught everyone else’s attention. I am sure that none of the kids that I played D&D with would ever give me credit for introducing them to the group but I know what the facts are on this one. I liked the album so much that I went back in their history and found that they had also released a previous album and an EP. I picked up both of those too.
This album was well liked by the public and many singles were released from the album. The first was Cherub Rock, which I mentioned earlier. The second was Today. The video for this featured the group driving around in an ice-cream truck over to a gas station. It appeared that the gas station was not being used anymore; it was out in the country. The group found various paint cans that may have been in the gas station. They proceeded to paint the ice-cream truck and themselves in the process. They painted the truck in all different colors. At the end they drive off and drop off each member as the song fades out. The next single is Disarm. I thought this song was great at first. The problem came when I couldn’t turn on MTV or the radio with out hearing this song. It started making me sick only hearing this song. It is not that it got stuck in my head after hearing it. It was just the hearing the song over and over. I got sick of hearing it. The instant I heard the opening with the bells and timpani I would instantly turn it off or change the channel. The last single from the album is Rocket. This song leads off with a cool distorted guitar sound and just before the vocals start the guitar gains a second layer of the same sound. It is so cool. This is an important album in the history of rock especially if someone is after the grunge/post-grunge sound of the 90s.
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart – Daytrotter studio live recording
This is a live four track studio recording from Daytrotter studios. I have never heard of this company/studio but I got a message from TPOBPAH that they had done this little recording and that it was free. I downloaded the recording and listened to it. It was perfect, almost to perfect to be honest. It sounded almost just like the studio recordings. But, the difference was that the recording space was different. Just like I said earlier about the cabin that Bon Iver used gave it’s own personality to the recording. The same holds true for this recording too. It is different in the recording space and that all of the members of the group were playing at the same time. That gives some added dimension too.
That is all I have for now...
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