Top Ten, etc...

Mendoza Line – An interesting mix. Part Cowboy Junkies (“Since I Came”), part Velvet Underground (“I Lost My Taste”), and part what the latest Rilo Kiley disc should have sounded like (“31 Candles”). The male and female vocals really blend well on the few times they sing together. The tracks that work the best for me are the final two, which are straightforward Americana, with a touch of Tom Petty. 3.5 stars

Probot – This sucked. And when I say it sucked, I don’t mean your run of the mill suck. I mean the kind of suck that could get a basketball to go through a straw. The disc gave me a headache and a sore throat. Drummer was good. ½ star

Discussion Question

I thought the year in general was good. A plethora of discs could have filled the 8-10 slots, hence the honorable mentions, with advanced apologies to D’Arcy.

Honorable Mention

The Weakerthans – Reunion Tour
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Josh Ritter – The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter


Ye Olde Top 10

10. Bright Eyes – Cassadega – Frustrating. Oberst buries 5 great tracks as “B-sides” on the single, and puts 4 crappy tracks on Cassadega that screwed the flow of the disc. Brilliant at times, maddening at others.

9. Bettye LaVette – The Scene of the Crime – Pairing Bettye with the Drive by Truckers was a great idea and resulted in a soulful, gritty disc.

8. Amy Winehouse – Back to Black – She’s a mess, almost certainly a 1 hit wonder, but this CD was a blast.

7. White Stripes – Icky Thump – Jack White continues to deliver. Even Meg’s song wasn’t bad for a change.

6. Fountains of Wayne – Traffic and Weather – The perfect summertime, roll down your windows and check your brain power pop disc.

5. Lucinda Williams – West – A slow grower. Lu ruminating eloquently on loss and pain as only she can.

4. Ian Hunter – Shrunken Heads – Wow, did this come out of nowhere. 68 years old, and he puts out a great disc that rocks hard, was clever and cohesive.

3. Bruce Springsteen – Magic – The old guy fooled me. I dismissed this one as lightweight with the first few listens, but these songs just kept coming back to me. Disguised his most political lyrics ever by wrapping them in upbeat, “Born to Run” type arrangements.

2. Two Cow Garage – III – More like a #1A. They just continue to get better. Incredible growth as a band over the course of two years. They deserve large-scale success.

1. Wilco – Sky Blue Sky- Far and away the CD I listened to the most this year, and it took a few months for it to really click. Tweedy dialed back the noise, and delivered as straightforward a disc as Wilco has ever done, lyrically and musically. Nels Cline officially enters the guitar hero pantheon. Ken, please insert nasty Tweedy comment here. Thanks.

The Mong's Best and "Worst" of 2007

THE MONG’S TOP TEN OF 2007

1) Wilco – Sky Blue Sky
Possibly a new top-ten of all time.

2) Trans Am – Sex Change
Self-aware and ironic: maybe. Rockin’, poppin’ ’n‘ lockin’: definitely. Kicks ass.

3) The Snake, The Cross, The Crown – Cotton Teeth
Sublime. Perfect. Amazing.

4) White Stripes – Icky Thump
A release that finally lives up to their critical regard.

5) Sleeping in the Aviary – Oh, This Old Thing?
As Jay S. said, either you get it or you don’t.

6) The Hives – The Black and White Album
Fuck yeah! The fucking Hives, man!

7) Okkervil River – The Stage Names
Favoring beauty and grace over power and innovation, this one’s almost as good as “Black Sheep Boy” and that’s saying a lot.

8) Wheat – Every Day I Said a Prayer for Kathy and Made a One Inch Square
A return to their one-time greatness with a promise of more to come.

9) Sounds Like Violence – With Blood on My Hands
Lives up to the band’s name and the CD’s title. So why is it only number nine?

10) Blonde Redhead – 23
Listen to their first CD and listen to 23. Proof that musical growth towards mass appeal does not require selling out or mellowing out (well, maybe a little "mellowing," but in a good way).


THE MONG’S LETDOWNS OF 2007

Some stuff that didn’t meet MY expectations so maybe it’s just me. But it seemed that, this year, the disappointments were as notable as the best, hence...

SPOON – GA GA GA GA GA / GET NICE
This one seemed to be for the folks who thought “Sister Jack” was the best track from “Gimme Fiction.” Hey, you can't argue with an iTunes ad, right? And the release was a chart-topper so I’m happy for Spoon’s long overdue "success" and acceptance into the mainstream. Still, “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga / Get Nice” is an okay listen by one of my all-time favorite bands but it just doesn’t seem to be as inspired or genuine as all of their other releases and so it seems a bit lazy and soulless, hence, a big letdown.

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – ERA VULGARIS
Now this is, no doubt, a hard rock meets experimental rock meets progressive rock masterpiece. And I do like it. I don’t know, it just seems...uhmmmm...forced. Yes, forced. What makes their first full-length from 1998 a masterpiece is that it’s not trying to be a masterpiece. So by comparison, I guess I can sum it up with this: I don’t want to be impressed, I WANT TO ROCK!

THE BEASTIE BOYS – THE MIX-UP
I wanted to like an album of instrumentals but it’s just too passive a listen to be anything more than interesting. But they are the Beastie Boys … "And if you don’t like the Beastie Boys, then there’s the fucking door!" Guess I'm showing myself out my own door. Odd.

INTERPOL – OUR LOVE TO ADMIRE
RADIOHEAD – IN RAINBOWS
Please stop remaking the same records over and over again. Seriously, though...

BLOC PARTY – A WEEKEND IN THE CITY
MODEST MOUSE – WE WERE DEAD BEFORE THE SHIP EVEN SANK
These two albums just plain sucked, period. And I refuse to qualify that statement.


OLD STUFF

PROBOT – PROBOT = 3.5 STARS
Damn good metal. Really damn good.

THE MENDOZA LINE – 30 YEAR LOW = 3 STARS
The standout songs are almost eclipsed by a few too many filler tracks and the jarring inconsistency between the vocalists. Overall, a keeper, though.

ADJUSTMENT
John Doe’s 2007 release: Please upgrade my rating to a “4.”

The Mong in LA-la land...

REMINDER:

Hi, folks. I'll be in LA for two months or so. Please mail any CDs or whatever to my Meriden, CT place and it'll be forwarded to me. It'll be at least a week turnaround for me to receive anything in addition to normal shipping time so adjust as needed. Thanks!

December's Reviews

I added on the Probot and Mendoza Line reviews since I finally had time to post today.

Probot – S/T:
I have to start this off by saying that I think the idea behind this album was brilliant. Grohl wrote the music and sent it off to his favorite metal vocalists to sing. While some songs were a bit too heavy for me, as some of the singers’ bands were never my cup of tea to begin with; other songs rocked! The Motorhead track was killer as were several others. 75% of this album is i-Pod worthy for me. Score: 3.5

Mendoza Line – 30 Year Low:
I couldn’t get into it. A little too Dylan-sounding…not so much in the vocals, but in the song structure…and at time the female vocals reminded me of Fleetwood Mac and that made me cringe a little. I gave it a couple listens and a few songs were good, but as a whole…not really something I would listen to much. Score: 2

Weakerthans – Reunion Tour:
Interesting lyrics and decent music. They had always been recommended to me by Amazon from other purchases I had made but I never dug enough of a few downloads to invest in them. Not terrible by any means, but I can’t really consider myself listening to it a lot. Score: 2

Richard Thompson:
He’s always been one of the musicians that I’ve always wanted to explore more of. I never really had much exposure to him and had always heard amazing things about his songwriting. I can’t find anything negative to say about it…loved every track.


Definitive Albums:
I had trouble with a few so I just picked albums I had heard of and in some cases I flat-out cannot listen to certain artists on this list - so again, I just picked albums I heard of since I don’t want bombs to detonate. Some albums I wouldn’t consider my personal favorite but would be the most definitive of their careers.

Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed
The Who – Quadrophenia
Beatles – Revolver
Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde
Prince – Purple Rain
U2 - Joshua Tree
REM – Automatic For the People
Lou Reed – Transformer
Kinks – Lola vs the Powerman
Cure – The Head on the Door
Neil Young – Harvest
Frank Zappa – Joe’s Garage
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II
Queen – Sheer Heart Attack
Tom Petty – Damn the Torpedoes
Metallica – Ride the Lightning
Warren Zevon – Excitable Boy
David Bowie – Hunky Dory
Pearl Jam – Ten
Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run

Better Late Than Never

November's Reviews

Depeche Mode – Violator:
I picked this album since it was once of my favorite albums growing up and I still love it to this day. To me, it still holds up with a lot of the new music coming out that combines synth and great guitar riffs. Depeche Mode is one of the few 80’s synth-based bands that continue to make quality albums and haven’t strayed much from their signature sound. If “Waiting for the Night” were about 3 minutes shorter this album, to me, would be perfect from beginning to end. Score: 4.5

Frank Zappa – Chunga’s Revenge:
This isn’t my favorite Zappa record, by far, but you have to give props to a musical genius. I prefer his albums where he doesn’t jam out as much and delivers short, quirky songs. Though, since it is Zappa, I cannot in good faith give him anything below a 3. Score: 3

Dirty Sweet – Of Monarchs and Beggars:
This album was fantastic! I’m not a big 70’s rock fan, but maybe there’s something about the modern interpretation of the 70’s rock sound that makes me love this album. Completely hooked on this disc and it hasn’t left my car yet. Score: 4.5

Sleeping in the Aviary:
Great indie/garage record. I came to the realization though that had the songs and album been longer I might not have liked it as much. I think it would have worn a little thin after awhile. They know when to end a good thing. Score: 3.5

December Facts

Weakerthans - Really good record that sort of got lost in the holiday crunch around here. Weird subjects and som good singing means it gets a 3.5

Mendoza Line - Chose this before I listened to it, but it is a real find. It made me go back and fill up the catalog and I'm glad I did. HE claims it's not a breakup record, but to my ears, boy does SHE seem pissed. I mean....really pissed. Great writing, great playing - one of the year's best records. 4.5

Definitive Records

Can't remember the criteria for choosing these since I made it up on the spot at the meeting, but it looks like I've chosen each bands best or my favorite (oh wait, that's one in the same). In some instances (Queen and Prince), I simply chose one I've heard of and in one case (Cure) I couldn't name one. Look, they are not very important. Get over it. Anway, here goes:

Stones - Sticky Fingers
Who - Who's Next
Beatles - Revolver
Dylan - Highway 61 Revisted
Price - Purple Rain
U2 - Boy
REM - Murmer
Lou Reed - Rock and Roll Animal
Kinks - Lola
Neil - Ragged Glory
Zappa - We're only in it For The Money
Zep - Zep 2
Queen - Sheet Heart Attack
Petty - 1st record
Metallica - Black album
Zevon - Excitable Boy
Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
Pearl Jam - 10
Springsteen - Born to Run

November Reviews

You remember November, don't you. Well here goes.

Zappa - The problem with Zappa is that you really need to know the context of the recording - when did he record it? what was popular then?, etc. The other issue is trying to decide whether he is paying tribute to an artist or genre when he copies it/them or is he mocking it/them. And when is he simply trying to play good music? There seems to be a bit of all of that here and some of it is really enjoyable, but the rest is simply really good satire or complete shit. I report, you decide. 3

Depeche Mode - Ok, I'll admit it. I really hate the IDEA of Depeche Mode more than I truly dislike the music. Oh, there's plenty to dislike here, but some of it might even be considered hummable pop. But the probelm with them is that they, after a period of unprecedented vitality in music, were the standard bearers for the return to faceless, humorless, sterile music. They were anti punk, so in their own way they were the Journey or Kansas of their era. Punk was a reaction to corporate shit as represented by those bands and Depeche Mode was a return to sterility in music. And for that they get a 1.5

Sleeping in the Aviary - Great record. One of the year's best. Either you get it or you don't 4.5

Dirty Sweet - From the cover to the name of the album to the music, this screams 1972. And that's exactly what I thought it was. I just couldn't figure out how I could have missed this band back in those days until I checked it out on All Music. Imagine my surprise. I'm not sure if the fact that they are a contemporary band makes this record all that more amazing or not, but it truly sounds retro. This is more than a tribute to a sound or era though, it's a well written understatedly played minor classic. 4