It's beginning to look a lot like Festivus. Not that you'd know it from this week's list, as there is very little Christmas cheer in amongst this lot.
I suppose the brand new Cardinals set is kind of Christmassy, as I've bought it for myself to go with the turntable I bought for Christmas. But Chuck D and Will Oldham and Josh Ritter, even Ben Folds, they don't care for your 'holiday spirit'.
I suppose the brand new Cardinals set is kind of Christmassy, as I've bought it for myself to go with the turntable I bought for Christmas. But Chuck D and Will Oldham and Josh Ritter, even Ben Folds, they don't care for your 'holiday spirit'.
Check it out.
- Josh Ritter - The Animal Years : This 2006 release from Josh Ritter is a set of folk-infused melancholy tunes with some stunning lyrics. The standout for me is Girl In The War which seems to be about St Peter and St Paul complaining about God's infinite wisdom with one of them in love with a human at war.
- Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds Five : I haven't dusted off this classic debut in a while, and with Ben Folds announcing a tour to our fair city, it seemed appropriate. Undergorund was a great song of it's time when everyone was too cool for the mainstream - how quickly we were co-opted and exploited as an advertising market.
- Public Enemy - How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul : Speaking of Advertising - who stole the soul? With Mistachuck on rotation this week, I thought a bit of Public Enemy would go along nicely. This LP is far from the pinnacle of PE's best art, but it does have some halfway decent tunes to offer.
- Pearl Jam - Riot Act : I don't give a lot of playlist love to Pearl Jam; not a lot of love period these days. Not because I don't like any of their music, but I suppose they lost me after Vitalogy and I'm working my way back. This is a start.
- Mistachuck - Don't Rhyme for the Sake of Riddlin' : Only last week I discovered that Chuck D had finally followed up 1996's (to my mind) outstanding solo effort The Autobiography of Mistachuck.I haven't had more than a cursory listen to this so far, but from what I can gather, it is more of Chuck's hard rhyming, polemical, insightful, politically-aware word bombs. ...Excellent *rubs hands in Mr Burnsesque manner*
- VA - Q - Sounds of the New West : When I bought this compilation CD, secondhand from a hock shop, it was only because I'd recently gotten into Alt Country. Since then, it's introduced me to a whole bunch of my favourite acts like Silver Jews, Neal Casal and Josh Rouse. On top of that, Kate Campbell's superb slice of history on the civil rights march to Washington, Crazy in Alabama, has given my oldest daughter her favourite song and an abridged history lesson from me. It's one of the best things about music that a disc originally free with a magazine can do all that.
- Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Unfinal Call : I hadn't heard of Will Oldham or his sometimes band Palace Music, when I saw Old Joy (2006) which screened at Perth Revelation Film Festival. That film had a soundtrack all by Oldham and it suited the chilly, sparsely populated landscapes of the film. Since then I've checked a few albums out and found them uniquely maudlin and forlorn. This is Oldham's very latest offering.
- R.E.M. – Murmur : An old favourite R.E.M. album and their debut LP. Legend has it the album took it's name from Micheal 'Mumbly Joe' Stipe's delivery and the way Peter Buck's strings were high in the mix, obscuring the lyrics of each song deliberately. Stand outs are the well-known Radio Free Europe, the jaunty Laughing and Talk About the Passion.
- Ryan Adams & the Cardinals – III/IV : It's no secret that I'm a Radams fan. That's why I have the brand new III/IV vinyl set on pre-order. That will ship on December 14th, but in the meantime, there's this. These albums were cut around the time of Easy Tiger, but they sound a lot more like Cardinology on preview. There's quite a bit of rock and/or roll going on, where as Easy Tiger had a little more jangle.
- VA – The Beavis and Butthead Experience : The MTV cartoon with the sniveling teenage metal-heads hasn't aged particularly well. Though, the far superior full length feature Beavis & Butthead Do America is still brilliant. What this is, when you get past the audio clips of the annoying duo, is a bunch of great bands (and Cher) and some hard rock. This compilation is well worth a listen if only for the obscure Nirvana track I Hate Myself and I Want to Die,
That's it for this week. Next week I'll be listening to my 10 Best Albums of 2010 list. There were a few that picked themselves, but it was difficult to cull the list down to just ten. Come back and see what I chose and leave me outraged comments if you like.
Until then, kick back with your own special brand of bliss and have a great weekend.
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