Monday, July 12, 2010

Your Latest Phish Update

The latest cover from Phish and it's, well, it's annoyed some folks. As a caveat, this came in the midst of "Harpua", which is traditionally a spot reserved for super goofy covers. Anyway, here you go...



What most surprises me here is how straightforward and faithful this is. And that they play the whole dang song.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

No Conclusion

A rare example of a 10 minute song that pays off like gangbusters. This guy knows how to build a song, and once you've heard the final release, the way he teases you with it the first time, ducking back into the verse after we initially hear the words "I never ever wanted to write this song" is agonizingly delicious.



Though not on the CD, this is the final track on the vinyl version of 'Hissing Fauna...', and I can't imagine the album without those extra songs on side four of the LP. I've made my own iPod version of the album including the whole 'Icons, Abstract Thee!' EP as the final tracks of the album and it works for me very well.

Kevin Barnes' lyrics on this album, so paranoid and embarrassingly personal, really speak to me. As melodramatic as they are, I love the crap out of them. This guy really got under my skin on Hissing Fauna, but sadly, Skeletal Lamping was a huge disappointment. Meh.

Friday, July 09, 2010

The Latest From Bonnie "Prince" Billy


Glad to see Q and VC leading the migration back to the blog, and I'd like to chime in with my take on an old favorite of this collective. Bonnie "Prince" Billy's latest, The Wonder Show of the World, has been out for a good 3 months now, and it's aged quite well during that time span.

Musically, I'd place it between the open pop embrace of Lie Down in the Light and the spare open spaces of Master and Everyone. To me, this hits on two of Will Oldham's greatest qualities. I've gone off in the past about how minimalism as an "artistic choice" is kind of a cop-out for me, but there are some people who do minimalism damn well, and I think Will Oldham is one of them.

On the other hand, this new album isn't purely "minimalist" in terms of production values. It sounds professionally recorded to a degree I don't think I've heard since Bonnie "Prince" Billy Sings Greatest Palace Music, and that was a record that I think a lot of people found "produced" beyond an indie rocker's acceptable taste.


Take those comparisons as you will; this is a great record. The ensemble is great-- and gets equal billing for the first time-- and it features some of the most unabashed pop hooks of Oldham's career. If you're already a fan (and I think most of us are), I see no reason why you wouldn't be completely into this album.

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Get This Album!



The best compliment I can give Big Boi's Sir Lucious Left Foot is that it totally holds it's own even in the long shadow of the Outkast discography, and even in the complete absence of Andre 3000. (Although a couple of songs featuring Andre have leaked separately from the album, and are also very awesome.

As an added bonus, listen through to the end of this great new song, and be treated to a description of the most avant garde sex move since Soulja Boy introduced us to the superman.