July's Mediocre Opinions

Of Montreal - Sounds like a tamer, updated version of the Pop Group or the Slits (or both – I always get those bands mixed up). Although the vocal cuteness reaches some ridiculous levels (cuts 5 and 9) and – let’s be honest - nobody needs an 11 minute pop song no matter how catchy the melody is, overall this is pretty good batch of melodies. Oh, sure the name is annoying, but maybe it’s all part of what I have to assume is intentional humor in the name of the album and the names of the songs. This is actually something I might listen to again, although I anticipate that nobody but Jenn will like it.. 3

The whatever, the whatever, the whatever – Second installment of D’Arcy’s three name band collection. Better than the first one, although I think I was the only one who tolerated the first 3 name band CD. Great start to this record. Cakewalk is a great album opener and while this bogs down at times, I’m a sucker for this kind of plaintive singing. Understated in the same way Okkervil River is, this CD grew on me. I don’t totally love it yet the way I thought I would when I heard the first song for the first time, but it’s one of the better CDs of the year. 4

US3 – Word from people I work with is that the first song was a hit. It certainly is the best of the lot. I guess this is supposed to be jazz infused hip hop, but I don’t really get it. Hip hop is hip hop and with my suburban white boy sensibilities, I just can’t get around to embracing it. 1.5

Walt Mink – I think I'm supposed to like this. Got great reviews and usually I at least get what Mike M sees in something, but this didn't do it to me from the very start. Maybe I gave up too early on it, but I usually know if I like a guitar rock record right away and it just didn't do it for me. Maybe I'll re-visit it later, but for now... 2.5

Randy Newman is interesting, but I can only take so much irony in one sitting.

I’d want to produce the next Neil record becaue I don’t think there would be a more interesting person in the rock world to work with.

Best CD of 2007 - Off the top of my head – Two Cow Garage

Best book - Johnny U: The Life and Times of John Unitas

Fo Da Mumf uv September

New- Buffalo Tom- Three Easy Pieces (Ken)
New- John Doe- A Year in the Wilderness (Monstsa)
Old- Faith No More-Angel Dust (Greg)
Old- Wire Train- No soul, No Strain (D'Arcy)
Ghits- Brendan Benson (Jay)

Topic
What are the most overrated albums of all time? List as many as five and explain. These should be albums that are considered classics on some level.

Sees you on da 4th.

Buff Daddy Ken

C.gnaw.pis

Another glorious evening with a full boat..... well except for Byron, but everyone else was there....but Jay who not there... but the rest of us..... um until Greg had to leave 5 minutes in.... anyway it was another vile spewing abuse session where everyone got bitch slapped at least once.

It was an educating night. We all learned a little about each other. It was determined that our resident Scorcese (Mike M for those scoring at home) has no rhyme or reason to what he likes or dislikes. While he was in the bathroom we decided never to try and figure him out again. Another little jewel of knowledge was that Jen truly enjoys placing her heart on her sleeve just to have us tear it apart and chew it a new one. She never left to use the ladies room, so with secretive hand gestures we voted to be nicer to her picks no matter how horrid they may be. D'Arcy proved that if its from an American master is sucks cud in his book. Only English pop-rock for this dude. For those tallying at home so far its a big raspberry from D'Arcy for Dylan, Neil Young and now Randy Newman. As for Mike H (aka Monsta) all decided he was just to mean to yours truly. I sit here sad and dejected. Lastly, I was shown to have worn the cutest outfit of the evening. I believe D'Arcy called me "a button"... I blush.

The Snake The Cross The Crown were the night's winner. Not a bad review in the bunch. Walt Mink and US3 were close but the nose goes to Walt. And no one but Jen wanted to be Of Montreal. C'est La Vie.

D'Arcy was not overly keen on this month collection of discs giving a 0 to US3, a 1 to Of Monreal and, shown at right, a blistering interpretive review of what he thinks of Randy Newman. (needless to say he cleared the room)

No complaints from anyone in regards to the production projects we would like to organize. Everything from Alt-country to Green Day to Hendrix via Prince to guitar rockin' brit rock. The books led to a long literary discussion which of course led an animated talk on horror movies with visual aids provided by Jen. yum.

I usually write down things to look into for personal enjoyment. I wrote the word MAGNET and circled it. If anyone has a legitimate reason why I wrote that please let me know. I'm stumped.

This has gotten a tad long so I will post later the homework for next meeting which will be

September 4 with a special appearance by Da' Monsta. Please wear your sunglasses that night.

If I had a time machine...

“The Mong” – Music Group Commentary: July, 2007

OF MONTREAL – HISSING FAUNA, ARE YOU THE DESTROYER? = 0 STARS
If I had a time machine, I’d go back and prevent the members of Neutral Milk Hotel from ever forming the most overrated of all bands. This would save humanity from all the shitty bands and artists that they’ve influenced, Of Montreal among them. I’d do even more noble stuff with my time machine, though, like stop Hitler and Pol Pot. But the third thing on my list would definitely be to stop Neutral Milk Hotel from forming.

THE SNAKE THE CROSS THE CROWN – COTTON TEETH = 4.5 STARS
Despite them not breaking any new ground, this is phenomenal and inspired songwriting. The only other release from this year that I’ve listened to this much in the first month of owning it is Wilco’s new one. Definitely the same alt country / classic rock territory and only slightly less amazing.

Us3 – HAND ON THE TORCH = 2 STARS
I am not a fan of Jazz. I could go so far as to say that I hate Jazz. Yes, I appreciate it culturally, the skill and ability, etc., but to reduce it to my fundamental gripe I’ll paraphrase the manager from the movie, “The Commitments:” it’s all just musical wankin’. There are, of course, exceptions that prove the rule, and my hatred of Jazz is not as passionate as, say, Gospel or radio friendly Country, but at least I’m man enough to refuse to fall in line on this one so don’t even try to convince me otherwise. All that being “said,” the structuring of all these Blue Note samples into actual songs is listenable enough: background music listenable: enjoyable in a passive and inoffensive way that is instantly forgettable.

WALT MINK – COLOSSUS = 5 STARS
Another of way too many great bands that was hyped, used, abused, and then discarded by a major label, doomed to fade into obscurity to all but their most devoted fans lucky enough to find them on the indie labels that released their follow-ups. “Colossus” was, unfortunately, Walt Mink’s swansong. Unfortunate because it is arguably their very best CD in a long line of other great releases. Everyone in the band has monster chops that actually elevate the songs and songwriting, something that so few bands with monster chops ever achieve with this degree of skill or consistency.

RANDY NEWMAN – G’HITS
In a fight between Randy Newman and Paul Williams, my money is on me shooting them both. And seriously, trying to put my prejudices aside, I actually did listen to this whole CD and now I am that much lamer for it.

TOPICS

If I were chosen to produce the band/artist of my choice, only inclusive of those amongst the living, I would produce Green Day’s next album. They are and always have been equal parts punk and rock, but “American Idiot,” their latest and now one of my all time favorite CDs, definitely leans more towards straight-ahead rock. I would take Green Day much further down this road, but not in the vein of The Who like “American Idiot;” I would shape them – songs, sound, equipment, recording methods, production, engineering, etc. – into something more like classic Rolling Stones, a’la “Let it Bleed” and “Sticky Fingers.” Now that’s an album I’d love to hear!

The best CD of 2007 so far is a tie: Wilco’s “Sky Blue Sky” and Trans Am’s “Sex Change.”

Last good book I read: “Apocalypse 2012” by Lawrence E. Joseph. It’s a critical, scientific, somewhat philosophical and often humerous analysis of the 2012 end-of-the-world hoopla. It’s also freighting as hell.

Mg 7-31-07

Oh Montreal

I have visions of a fashionably dressed (or at least in the musician sense of the word) front man, supported by a geeky guy who is good on the computer and keyboards. As this was the formula for questionably talented bands in the 80’s like Sparks and OMD. Oh Montreal seems to want to bring back this type of music. Music that is without much depth, and that relies on repetition rather than imagination. In doing so the use tinny drums machines without any nod to the bass. They create songs that are shallow in sound that rely far two much on easily programmed keyboards. And the lyrics inspire little to nothing, as they are quickly forgotton even though they are repeated ad nauseu. 1

The Snake The Cross The Crown

A completely blind pick. And boy was I excited to hear that banjo intro. Because nothing screams this is going to be great than a banjo. Funny thing happened on the way. The song kept building adding guitar, keyboards, backing vocals. Wait a minute this is a very good song. Followed by 9 more. Each song taking the listener on a little journey where the listener ends up somewhere quite different than where the intro led you to believe. Creative guitar solos and big music sound, followed by quite acoustic fills and sing along choruses. And you get some interesting keyboard runs accompanying some good ole guitar noise. Songs put together so they are allowed to build along the way with some really good lyrics to take you along the way. A truly nice find. 4

US3

So let me get this straight, you are allowed to mine one of the best jazz catalogs and I am supposed to give you credit for being creative. You then put rather average beats and rhymes into the mix and that makes it special. Truthfully I believe if given a choice most listeners would rather listen to the jazz with the annoying foreground. Makes you appreciate bands like Public Enemy, De La Soul and pre Aerosmith Run DMC for rap artists that were able to create an original sound. Not use someone else’s. 0

Walt Mink

I lost this cd somewhere along the way. I remember really liking the guitar parts and some of the songs were really good. But now I can’t remember why. Not sure the cause of this or if it says anything about the disc. Will listen to it when I find it. 2.5

Randy Newman

I do not like Randy Newman. I am told he is a talented writer who does great soundtrack work. Funny thing whenever I hear one of his songs in a movie it tends to bring the flow of the movie to a screeching and yes I said screeching halt. And boy he is so sarcastic, big deal. (Although I did like the ELO song)

I would like to produce the Replacements comeback cd. Lets see if maybe there is another Let it Be in them, or at least a better Abby Road in them than Don’t Tell a Soul or All Shook Down were. These guys deserve a chance to show just what a great rock band these guys were.

Or maybe REM if Bill Berry played drums on it and no one else was allowed to guest on it in anyway (I think they have one good cd in them if they actually do go back to Rockville).

But my choice to produce would be a truly great double lead guitar band. Bringing back the sounds of Thin Lizzy, Aerosmith and see where it would lead. No band has really tried this since Guns and Roses. So Slash would be my guitarist. Along side him would be Rick Neilson, Paul Gilbert, or Billy Duffy. Three who no the value of the power chord and a great fn riff. Singing would be Ian Astbury. A prick yes but I need an asshole out front with egos like this. Stephen Perkins would handle drums. My bassist would be Doug Pinnock. Of course some how these egos would actually have to write music, but I am only there but produce.

Manic Street Preachers Send Away the Tigers (the band and the cd that I would have chosen for previous question but they did it themselves)

The Woods Harlen Coben

Lets drop the big one now....

The Snake, the Cross, the Crown – A challenging disc, it does not reveal its strengths via casual listening. I found it to be thoroughly engaging. The high-points (“Cakewalk”, “Behold the River”) are exceptionally well constructed, musically and lyrically. Some of the tracks become almost hypnotic, particularly “Electronic Dream Plant”. Not easy to find something to compare this to, but I enjoyed it. 3.5 stars

Of Montreal – Unlike my hero, Ken the open-minded, I am self-aware enough to say there are some genres of music I just don’t like. Gay synthesizer, falsetto singing, pseudo-intellectual disco music is one of them. Apparently, I ain’t got no soul power. 1 star

US3 – The opener, “Flip Fantasia” is phenomenal, the highlight of the month. Success of each remaining track is inversely proportional to the amount of rapping being done. While it is an interesting blend of hip hop and jazz, the novelty wears off about halfway through the disc. Might have been a 4 star disc if the vocals had been wiped off. 2.5 stars

Walt Mink – One of those discs that always seemed to fade into the background after a few songs. A couple of strong tracks, but a fair amount of fluff on this as well. Mink is better when playing his power pop Elvis Costello imitations, like “Goodnight”. More experimental material like the raga “Act of Quiet Desperation” does not work as well. 3 stars

Randy Newman – Put this together because there are too many people who only know Newman for his Disney soundtracks and his fluke hit “Short People”. Newman’s greatest strength is his lyrical craftiness; he is the ultimate untrustworthy narrator. Is Newman the racist protagonist of “Rednecks” and “Short People” or is he pointing out the futility of bigotry? Is “I Love LA” the chamber of commerce sing-along it appears to be on the surface? If so, why point out the “bum on his knees”? And who else but Newman writes a beautiful song that lyrically is sung from the viewpoint of a dishonest slave ship captain (“Sail Away”)? He also has the ability to play it straight, like on the ballad “I Miss You” (perversely written to his ex-wife). Extremely versatile musically as evidenced by his ability to play straight rock (“I’m Dead”), his numerous orchestral work, and even a note perfect ELO tribute/mockery. One of America’s greatest songwriters.

Discussion Question #1

I would chose to produce the CD by a newly reunited Uncle Tupelo. With the last Wilco disc returning to a more conventional sound, and the last Son Volt disc being somewhat experimental, I think the time is right. My job as a producer would be to watch Tweedy and Farrar try to out-do each other’s songwriting and guide them towards a sound that is focused on the alt-country sound the band founded, but has some of the flourishes and risk-taking of Wilco’s best music.

Discussion Question #2

A) Two Cow Garage – III
B) The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini