Kyle,
It was more an attempt at humour..... my vote is rock, leave it at that....
s

Wow. This is really fucking complicated. I have no idea what we're doing but... I'm in. Just give me my instructions and what music to prepare and I'll be there. (Apologize for the vulgarity, but I take all my verbal cues now from the mayor of Toronto, bitches.)

In the meantime, a hilarious review of possibly the least essential album of the millienium, though we be only a dozen years into it.

sounds good to me......better if its the friday as the 21st is an opening night at canstage and Brian and or I may be at it....

I would like to add British folk rock to this......,

but I do not want a face full of scottish fist so I will bid my time...

(I was seriously thinking of hosting a night next year wherein I would supply all the music of that genre from obscure to ....welllll you know ..... semi obscure..... but I take it that would not be popular. After finishing a book on this era I have become obsessively buried back in it, recently picking up far far too much of this stuff, )

Officially my vote would be rock , but that would be like every cdclub night.....

Brian, i like the idea but i might suggest that rather than talking meta genre vs. meta genre, that we pit the sub genre vs sub genre. i.e. one night we do "classical" and set the moderns against the classical vs baroque vs opera (although not a period) vs medieval etc. (or whatever)

A jazz night might include various sub classifications that might be geographical or by era or stylistic distinctions ...or maybe a showdown of the best jazz instrument.

I found that the last battle we did was fun but too polarizing and i think that pitting classical vs disco is just not fair because they are such different beasts. (although i am sure the disco would emerge triumphant)

With rock you could mix it up and send the "trio" into the ring against the "ballad" or the "glam icon" or whatever. I like to think it might be a little more interesting and there might even be some disagreement as to whether a particular cut should be allowed to fall into it's category.

Like Stuart, i always like the shades of grey that fall between the black and the white.

OK gents, the night of beer-drinkin' has occurred, and Derek and I have a proposal for the next (bi-annual) Music-Club-focused-listening-and-friendly-competition-in-which-Derek-gets-annoyed-night. I'm going to suggest the third week in January as the tentative date - say Friday or Saturday of the 20th-21st weekend. And Mike, you should plan to come down for it.

And here it is. Rather than considering (and comparing) our favourite music from the Time dimension, we are proposing that we look at it from the aspect of GENRE. Yes, that's right. GENRE. As we did in 2010, we suggest that each Music Guru is randomly assigned a genre, and can play 15 minutes (max) of music when his turn is called, up to 4 tracks, and, for some of the genres, MAY play partials. We can sort out some of the other rules later (I have a few in mind). Same double elimination format.

The genres for your consideration:

Rock (hard)
Rock (soft and pop)
Jazz
Classical
Folk
Electronic

Of course there are others, but we felt that these would have the most play within the group. If we need fewer for fewer attendees, arguably Folk would be the first cut. I know Derek had a case of the willies when he thought of programming a night within that genre. We could put that to a vote.

What say you to the idea?

I would deffer to Stuart on the official definition of the word Goooge as they invariably come from Scarborough, and, might also seek the correct spelling of the word from him although i realise that's like asking a blind man what he thinks of the colour of a wall. (if i may be so politically incorrect)

I'm still trying to figure out what a goooge is. Apparently something to do with Alice Cooper.

What immediately came to mind when you mentioned little known classics, Bri, were the Wheedle's Groove reissues, a collection of rare and dismissed 45s compiled and reissued a few years ago, as well as similar efforts from the Numero Group, my knowledge of which is directly credited to Derek, who bought me a series of these for my birthday a few years back.

But a direct reissue example, again courtesy Deeman's patronage, would be Opa's Back Home, some jazz fusion from the mid 70s. Surely there are others as well. All are very different from the 'take an album from 20 years ago and sell it again with a few lesser versions tacked onto the end' reissue.

Mike your comments echo my reaction to the Nevermind reissue, some of which I listened to on Rdio recently, and contains similarly underwhelming 'additions'. Tried playing the alt-take of Lithium and stopped it halfway through to return to the original. Which is probably what God, and certainly Kurt, intended.

Yes I totally agree re re-issues. So many superfluous and silly re-purchases I've made! What CAN be exciting is when some clever A&R guy finds a little-known classic and brings it back to life via re-issue. Trying to think of a good example.....Kyle, care to assist?

And I might say I'm shocked, SHOCKED I say, that two of the blog confess to never having listened to Starfish in its entirety. I'm a pretty big Church fan. Particularly given the ass-kicking use I made of it in the Decades competition last year.

On a tangential note, but a good one, given how that Decades evening has gone down in Blog-lore, we should consider devising a new competition to focus our listening for the early new year. Derek, perhaps you and I need to go to Betty's.

I'd go as far as saying that many reissues actually diminish the album instead of enhancing it. The originally selected music, which is generally well-loved by the time the reissue emerges, is watered down by the addition of demo tracks, alternate versions and other "extras". Peeking behind the scenes and hearing a stripped down, unpolished acoustic demo that was never meant for public consumption doesn't help me appreciate the song. If anything, it makes the song sound more ordinary and less compelling. When I was downloading albums to replace the casettes that I was throwing away, I ended up with reissued versions of several of them. I can't think of one of them that was improved by the additional material - having heard it once, I generally choose to only listen to the original tracks thereafter.

Co-incidentally i just listed to Starfish just last week, excellent album. I have never owned it but was reputed to throw it own just about every time I went over to Stuart's for about a decade.

Talking about re-issues, i was listening to Alice Cooper on the mighty Q (ya i can be a goooge) the other night as he has a late night program and he was playing a Floyd re-issue as they have done just about the whole catalogue ...after the cut finishes, Alice comes on and says "can you hear the difference? ...I can't" ...i had to laugh!

Starfish = 1988. I must confess, though I've always loved the track off this album, I've never listened to the entire thing, an oversight I am currently rectifying through the magic of Rdio. So, definitely eligible for the best of the last 23 years, no less an arbitrary number that that selected by NME (I know, I know, they were consciously trying to come up with a post-grunge list...)

While I'm being cranky, is there anyone out there who's really into these reissues? I don't mean the Smashing Pumpkins specifically, though these are the two to own, but any type of reissue. I haven't really come across any that have added much value to my collection. Paler, unfinished versions of songs that didn't make the initial cut plus some warbling live performances thrown in don't compel me to fork over again for the same disc.

Again, we may have covered this territory already--after 7 years posting here, overlap is likely--but I'm wondering if any of you feel passionately about reissues either way. Am I completely misguided and ignorant. With regards to this issue, specifically, I mean.

I haven't heard anything new that really inspired me in a while, but the other day I listened to Starfish by The Church for the first time in a long while. It's a little too old to fit into the "last 15 years" category that Kyle just posted about, and I don't know how many people would list it on their "best of the decade" selections, but I was reminded of just how much I love that album. Revisiting old favorites after not hearing them for a long time is one of the benefits of having a collection that is too large to manage!

While we've noted that all such attempts at definitive 'best of' lists are doomed, the misguided, nature of NME's top 20 songs of the past 15 years elevates the word, 'arbitrary' to a whole new level.

Can anybody who crafted that list say with a straight face that they ever listen to "Hey Ya"? Or Missy Elliot? Anybody who isn't currently living in early 2004? Is "Rebellion (Lies)" really The Arcade Fire song that you'd pick?

At any rate, if you have the time (and I don't really so I don't know why I'm urging you to do so), you can check out the entire 150 song list, which is a little bit better but still laughably, myopically British, in that it includes anything post-1995 by Oasis and is heavily stocked with the likes of the Manic Street Preachers and the Arctic Monkeys.

And now for something completely different....not exactly Wednesday morning listening at the office but thought I'd throw some love towards my cousin Michael's band's latest release, now streaming at exclaim.

damn...thanks Derek, I missed that entirely.....Will be dearly missed, and some coincidence as I am now buried once again in more obscure brit folk and folk rock of that era due to a book I am currently reading, which I think kyle put me on to in a previous blog

I don't know his stuff very well (still getting up to speed) but I know Stuart reveres him. Another great one leaves us behind.

Indeed, must search that one out. Althugh let's face it the mix of gloss and hard core was one of the beauitful things about that record. In a way it's like George Martin writing string quartet arrangements for the Beatles....just because the singer doesn't understand (or in this case, like) it, or didn't do it himself, doesn't make it bad.

Nice new visuals KP.

More on Nirvana, would be interested in hearing the Butch Vig version discussed here.

Also, Hallelujah.

All a function of age and relativity, Bri. Those first two decades always seem to pass slowly. The next twenty whiz by. The key is to make sure that your children listen to cool music, thus alienating them from their friends.

"It was twenty years ago today?" Ha....listened to that other twenty years ago album in the car today. Is it my imagination or did the Nirvana twenty years seem to have passed more quickly than the twenty between Pepper and the first Pixies record. Jesus Murphy......

Shod be posting something about Nirvanna, since their little known album called Nevermind was released 20 years ago today. However, I have this link to 20 cover songs performed by Radiohead. Yours for the always happy price of free.

I think we're all assuming, Bri, that REM will be back in 5-years, to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Life's Rich Pageant, an event that will likely require a reissue and reunion tour. Start saving your cash now!

That's just odd. I assumed they were a corporation that would carry on forever at this point. Do 31-year running bands really break up?

Earth-shattering news about a band breaking up. If this were 1988. Which it's not. So.....

Least essential music-related story of 2011.

I'm glad I'm not on Derek's island. I'd surely tire of Blancmange and Lemon Jelly and I'm not sure who this Duff person/people are either. The dessert part sounds intriguing...tiramisu and creme brulee to be had, I would hope.

As for your streaming theory, Stu (and Dirk), not sure that I agree. That I haven't listened to anything that would go on my desert island is less a reflection of how often I may or may not have listened to recent stuff than the fact that anything new will have a hard time competing with music I've enjoyed for decades. It usually takes a couple of years for something to make it to my 'best of all time' list, because I think distance provides the best perspective. Great example: Moby's 'Play'. Still think it would make the list, though I must confess that I don't listen to it as often as I once did and probably don't regard it with the same degree of enthusiasm that I once did.

Also, with streaming in general, I think it's a little too early to tell. We've only been subscribing to the service for a few months now and I don't believe you subscribe to the option that allows you to save the music to your device (iphone, ipod touch, etc), which is critical for someone like me, who listens to at least half of all music these days on my headphones. I don't actually own the new Little Dragon album, one which I played at the CD club and enjoy more with each listen--easily numbering now at around 10-12--but it's certainly one I'd put on my top list of the year and it feels as though I own it. Were Rdio to go away, I'd certainly buy a copy.

Where I think you have a point is again one of sheer volume, numbers, and opportunity cost. That I have access to so many new releases every week means that I often keep exploring new stuff, at the expense of revisiting and relistening to the new stuff from the previous week and the week before that and the week before that, or stuff from previous years, decades...I do think I'm listening to slightly 'more' music (if that's possible) but at some point, something has to give. And that inevitably means not spending the same amount of time with each new release as I once did.

But I don't find that a lack of actual ownership has led, at this point anyway, to me not embracing or taking ownership of music that I'm starting to like. Not yet anyway. Perhaps this is a long term consequence.

As a side note and perhaps further concession to your overall point of what's lacking in Rdio, they have to adopt better playlisting, genre, and organizational options. An alphabetical scroll or 'what's Bri/Derek/Marc/Drawing Room up to' is nice occassionally but getting to a violin concerto in one or two clicks, for example, not so easy or efficient. Hoping they improve on this in the future. Their ipad/phone app has improved quite a bit but the overall organization needs a bit of an upgrade.

Most of my favourite dessert island discs are by Lemon Jelly, Blancmange and Figgy Duff.

Dirk and I were talkin just the other day.. we have a suspicion that the rdio streming services tend to make one not repeat listen very much...in short no one spends and signifivasnt amount of time with any new purchase because frankly there are no more purchases..only streaming....with that in mind can any of you prove us wrong by posting a single dessert island disc that you would chose, but it has to be something you bought / streamed in the last 6 weeks (approx) at least 4 times (approx) and love ...the suspicion is that none of you have listened to any 1 new disc more then a couple of times and will be unable to name one...let alone a favorite amongst lessers....

Brian ,

the pogues and the stars classics thank you for the reminder,

Kyle .................................

back to you Brian, the Nancy w Lee video hilareous on 3 points for me..

Nancys face when lee starts singing in th e background, and lees face when he emotes those first few lines, I think I get what the point was of the stooges now....

also damn if she doesnt look like frank sinatra in drag ....... take another look

Mea culpa. Allow me to make up for it with a lovely little bit of Rollins/Coleman. Apparently both are still alive? Who knew? Besides Brian and maybe Derek. And possibly Marc and Stuart? Okay, so it's just me and Mike then? Fine.

Also, thought this Willie Nelson covering Coldplay was kind of nice, both the rendition and the sentiment/politics:

Kyle you sick bastard. You're too young to understand what torture those songs and images evoke.

Re Lee and Nan, that record is actually good tip to tail, in a more-relevant-then-they-could-ever-have-known kind of way. I remember hearing Jackson on the radio when I was seven or eight, and noticing it as different (read: stupid and funny) immediately.

Another great Lee and Nancy collaboration. Though when I think of duets, this one pops into my head first:



or this:

Duets. Yes there are literally thousands, though I think the genre (if that's the right word for it) tends to produce more dross than diamonds.

This one is the first to come to mind, for some reason. Probably the pop duet I've heard the most in my life, and yet still enjoy.

Mind you, this one occupies a hallowed spot in the BD pantheon. Amazing song. And nice video too, which I only came acorss now.

Next, any duet discussion would be imcomplete without this archetypal duet from the sixties. Not as laughably crap as their rep, imo. Not their most fanous song, but the one I like the best.

And finally, speaking of archetypal sixties duets, how about this one.

just listening to "girl from the north country" off nashville skyline....for me , the perfect duet...2 very different voices yet complimenting ea other ...the pace almost stopped, like 2 old friends resigned to a repeating storyline....and for the life of me I cant think of another duet that works as well.... I realise it is a common vehicle for quick cash for a label and there are many famous crap duets out there, but I must be having a seniors moment.. Im sure therre are other quality duets out there...anyone?
s

Don't call it a comeback. Actually, do. Yay vinyl. (Said the guy who only buys digitally).

While live dj sets of anything are usually awful, this is pretty great. That is, if you're Marc, Derek, or possibly Stu.

The grand taxonomy of rap names.

Thanks for the CEG link, Bri. Have been listening to Music Go Music after reading many a recommendation online and am less than thrilled. Watered down Abba as daring indie rock? I'll pass.

Hey boys. Nice 90's-homage ear candy from Cymbals Eats Guitars on their new release. The last one was a real guilty pleasure and sounds like this will be no different.

Those of your irritated by yesterday's link can only be grateful that dear Babs decided not to go with this type of album cover.

If your Monday isn't annoying enough already, then.

Hey Kyle, I agree, first and very brief listen sounds pretty exciting.

Listening to the new Malkmus. A welcome return to form, imo.

Apparently, CKLN is selling off its vinyl cohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifllection this Saturday.

Recording tonight's music as we go:

1. Hello Echo - Hello. Brian
2. Bon iver - 2nd record Stu
3. Washed Out - Within and Without. Kyle
4. She and Him - Volume II. Marc

1. Radio Department - passive aggressive:singles 2002-2010. Stu
2. Erik Friedlander : Alchemy. Brian
3. UNKLE - where did the night fall. Kyle
4. Telekinesis - 12 desperate straight lines. Marc

1. Josh T.Pearson - Last of the Country Gentlemen. Stu
2, The Donkeys - Born With Stripes. Brian
3. Music Go Music - Expressions. Marc
4. Little dragon - Ritual Union. Kyle

1. Matt Pond - Spring Fair (ep) Brian
2. Dinosaur Jr. - Green Mind and Where You Been (all of us)
3. The Panics - Cruel Guards. Stu
4. Galaxie - Le Tigre Kyle

1. The Disappears - Guider. Brian
2. Calvin Jackson - Live at the plaza. Marc
3. Low Spark of High-heeled Boys - traffic. Marc

But I've already bought the family pack of cheesies......

i dunno Kyle, personally i would have preferred Derek's place....hes a little more accomodating and generally a better host...wouldnt you say?

Stunning, colossally stupid question(s). My place.

Hey Stu,
I don't think it's a stupid question. But that's because I'm not clear on the location either.

Kyle, I picked up G. Welchs first record many years back and have loved her since... the best of the bunch is Time the revelator to my ears (of the 3 I have) , but the new one is pretty great too, im with you there... ( avoid her partners solo record ...David Rawlings....of last year)
I have a stupid question, but since i am stupid perhaps its not unsurprizing..... Where is this cd club at... Dereks or Brians?
tks

The 18th is a go gents. Anytime after 7:30. Trying and failing to cut and paste some fave album covers, will look at it later today. Kyle, thanks for the G. Welch recommendation. Not to pigeonhole you, but I wouldn't have thought this was your kind of thing, as I don't think of you as a roots fan. Even in our forties we can surprise each other. Oh yes.

random notes, in advance of next week's apparent cd club meeting on the 18th, sans Mr. Gaines, of course, who apparently values his marriage and family above sitting around a room and talking crap about music with a bunch of men in their 40s (priorities, dude?):

-the new Gillian Welch album is gorgeous, andhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif perfectly suited to hazy August mornings. Will likely be one of my last buys from emusic, where I'm enjoying a free last month but am still struggling to spend my last $12 or so.

-an update on the london fires' impact on the indie labels, referenced yesterday

Here ye go laddie.

On those fires, it seems that a bunch of smaller independent labels may go under as a consequence.

Famine in Somalia, brutal oppression in Syria, London burning, and the markets in free fall. But since this is a music blog, your end of the world harbinger is the fact that the average price of a Jimmy Buffett concert ticket is over $216.

Also tried to find a good YouTube clip for Panic, which has been going through my head, but alas, only shitty covers, inaudible live bootlegs to be found.

18th looks good! will post again soon. kisses.

Hey Kylie P are you playing hard to get? How does the 18th look for a music night?

I'm afraid Aug 18 won't work for me - that happens to be my anniversary, and Caroline takes that sort of thing rather seriously! I'm going to be in Toronto on the weekend of Aug 12, but that weekend is a complete mess, with a softball tournament, furniture shopping for my daughter and my visiting parents in tow, so I wouldn't be able to participate in an evening of music regardless. I'll also be back in the Big Smoke sometime in late August or early September to drop Jenn off for another year of school - if music night slips until then, I could potentially join you. But I think you should go ahead with the 18th and drink a toast to my 21st anniversary while you're enjoying some suitably uptempo and celebratory tune.

I've given some thought to the question of musical predecessors, and I've drawn a blank. I can think of lots of artists whose original bands were better than their solo careers or subsequent bands, but I can't think of any that I discovered after the fact. And I also flipped through my album covers (although I've fully digitized my collection, I've taken great pains to ensure that every song is tagged with the correct album art), and I was surprised to find that it was difficult to identify many real favorites. I have lots of fond memories of gazing at album covers while listening to music, but when it comes right down to it, not that many of them really strike me as interesting artistically. Here are the few that I came up with:

Some of my favourite record covers as promised. You may not recognize the first or last. The last is Echo & the Bunnymen's 1982 12" release of "Back of Love".

Nice post Kyle. Have been to Chicago several times but sadly have never seen the Marina City buildings or at least wasn't sober enough to recognize them as such. Found it quite astonishing the number of potential album covers they run through before they decide on the right fit. Technology obviously makes that a much easier process.

I'm sure in the grand old days of full blown LP covers there wasn't as much deliberation over album artwork. Anyone care to throw out their fave 3, 5, 10 album covers in their collection. I'll post a few of my faves shortly. Kyle your participation is not required seeing as how you no longer own any music that comes with a cover.

I've spent a fair bit of time Brian pondering your question re predecessor bands coming to my attention after the fact and outshining their musical spin-offs and I can't think of a single example. Maybe it's because I'm just so plugged in.

August 18th works for me.

Chicago: The Wilco towers

OK so we have a leading candidate for a music night. Kyle and curmudgeonly Derek, you available on the 18th? M. Gaines, feel like a trip to the big smoke for a grande music weekend? Adam (I know you're out there) is this the right time for you to come out of the woodwork and join us?

Stu, I keep meaning to check out Carissa's Wierd, and will do now for sure given your rec. Leads me to this blog question, can you name artists or bands whose predecessor bands you'veheard of / listened to only after the fact, and liked as much, nearly as much, or hell, even more then the artist through whom you discovered it / them? My mind goes immediately to Heatmiser, whose last record in particular (Mic City Sons) is better than the first couple of Elliott Smith records. There are doubtless many others.....

I only have to type in a new password 8 keystrokes long .....at any rate thursday the 18th is good for me too.......

''''A record I downloaded from emusic a year ago has really been a steady find on my ipod recent plays...the band carissa's wierd is the predecessor of band of horses....which is my top band in the top ten list of great concerts that derek walked out on... ( would love to hear your choices for that list)...the album is a compilation of cariss'a wierd discs.... the band is not similar in sound to horses, and is a ernest band, but not syruppy at all...very interesting groove based songs that stay in your head..well worth emusic fees and then some...

Derek, not sure why you are getting the authentication request ...are you signing in on a g-mail account? ...when i sign in with a yahoo account i don't get it. Brian, the weekend of the 6th is no good for me but i am open the other dates you suggest and the limitless volume of the 18th sounds particularly enticing ...after all, you can always make it though a Friday!

Very funny in a non ha-ha sort of way. Looks like google has gone and made the decision for us as to whether continue on here or not. I'll be damned if I'm gonna type in some slanty half-assed 12 letter word every time I come on here. Maybe the time has come to part ways.

OK I'll take up the challenge. Let's have everyone lay out their good and bad weekends for the month of August. In a possible show of desperation, let's chuck in Thursday nights. I'll start. The weekend of the 6th is good, the 13th is bad though I could do the Thursday the 11th. The next weekend is complicated but possible, and the Thursday the 18th is very good with the family away, so I could host and we could let 'er rock. I could also do the Saturday 27th but nothing before in the following week. Last week of Aug/first of Sept looks clear.

August 6th weekly is no good for me. Last two weeks in August much better. Plan as you will, though, as I don't expect accomodation of my often crazy schedule.

As for lists, yes, always down with the themes and a good suggestion by stu. breezy summer playlists are a personal fave, though i find they always tend to lean heavily towards gauzy, hushed female vocals. Don't think I'll be able to host but I can provide the next playlist.

Hey lads. I'm lining up for tickets to the SF street car - long line, seemed like a chance to catch up on blogging. I suggest we plan do two things in short order - a might of rock music in the glorious city of downtown Toronto - there were a number of shows in the mix a few weeks ago, n'est ce pas? - and a CD club which I (or other volunteer(s) will be happy to host. Let's shoot for the weekend of August 6th for either - perhaps CD club first?

Stu I like the idea of making themed playlists - something I've always enjoyed. Two themes that spring to mind are Night Music, Joyful Music, and Sunday Music. OK that's three. I'd be happy to take the lead if those with younger children, or withoput children at all, are otherwise too busy. Other theme ideas?

Enjoy the smoking hot Big Smoke. It's 24 and perfect here.

oh, and that turntable.fm site is invite-only, even if you are stateside, so another barrier.

stu, good ideas for playlists, getting together, and a night out. no worries about lack of posts. the goal of this space is sharing, not to create another to-do or trigger guilt, additional stress, which it's clearly doing, to some degree. for now, we'll coast until another viable option presents itself.

apologies Kyle....I seem to be unable to get my shit together to make a posting or even a response...pathetic really... I do check out the dialogue from time to time, but have not been pulling close to my share and Im not sure why....maybe you are right that the format is a little time consuming, and the fact that you are the only one who regularly responds makes the effort less rewarding.. Dont get me wrong, I love your effort and insite its just that it feels like as a group we are not responding much at all so whats the point... you really need regular input from a number of people to generate the debate and its not happening......

I have to think the time honoured excuse of life (read lots of little kids to look after) is a major factor and I agree maybe we need to coast through this era without getting down on ourselves too much about this lull.......As far as the cd club , I still love those nights, I think the last effort at a date stalled prematurely for some reason,,, it usually takes 4 or 5 dates to get one lined up and thats typical with anything these days I find,,, So whoever let the ball drop toss another date out and lets make it happen.......

...one final thought... I have been really enjoying Brians summer theme playlists that he made last summer and burned for me..... Having someone else make a playlist and not knowing what songs will come in what order and not knowinf a third of the songs.. ( 1/4??) hAS BEEN good fun over a year now and I wonder if any of you would be interested in having the host of the next cd club prepare a playlist with a theme of their choice for distribution.....?

...perhaps we need a night out too..........

....

Nice when you type in a question in the blog at night and an answer (one possible, anyway) appears in column form in the newspaper delivered to my door the very next morning.

Digital backwater, thy name is Canada. Also tried spotify earlier today when I saw the announcement about their US launch. Who do I blame for this? The CRTC? The federal government for not passing digital rights legislation? Or Stuart?

I thought this looked good as an answer to our cd club woes but alas they are very sorry and don't like our type round here.

While the rest of the planet moves forward our beloved backwater status remains intact.

Call me a cynic but I'm beginning to think that axing the CD club might be a more prudent move than nixing the blog. Perhaps Kyle you can follow-up on a method for us to get together virtually and share our music. I know some of us have done this through Rdio but without the beer and cheetos it's just not the same.

Win Wilco Tickets.

Something shimmering and white/

(the link in the last post may have been too subtle)

And it's something quite peculiar.

I think about/the loveless fascination/...

Got it. Will leave as is. Am also on the path to quitting emusic. Hit cancel and accepted the free month. Enough fence sitting. Am also going to buy a bike and slowly drive it down Jarvis for the next 4 years. But that's another topic for another day.

As Brian has already stated it would be unfortunate if we were to let Metabeats die off. I don't post as often as I should but I still check in on a regular basis and find the discussions, recommendations etc useful and enlightening. I figure that the slowdown of late has as much to do with the arrival of summer than any lack of interest in the blog.

On another note I signed off on e-music 3 months ago and haven't found that I've really missed it. I always seemed to be downloading 50 or 60 tracks in the last 24 hours before my downloads expired. Not really the best way to purchase music.

Less concerned about the one-hand-clapping aspect, though that is a small factor in the considerations. Am thinking that there may be other ways to recommend some music, link to something interesting, or ask a question without requiring someone to string together a few paragraphs or devote a half hour or longer to putting together. I can well understand not being able to find the time or mental energy to do this, while also needing to devote same to actual paid profession. At any rate, exploring options and no need to blow things up or shut things down at this point. Just thinking about more effective ways to collaborate.

One such possible way is through the new social media site,google+ , which allows one to define certain groups of friends by interest and then feed info and posts into a stream that all can see. If you wanna try it, I can invite you to join, test.

Hey Kyle, I can see it's been a lonely ride for you on the blog recently, but I for one am in no hurry to see it wind down. My contributions or lack thereof to Metabeats are a microcosm of sorts for my life as a whole - having trouble getting untracked and doing anything of interest on all fronts (damn it). Included in this would be finding music that I'm excited about.....frankly, doing anything I'm excited about. I'm attributing it for now to the hangover of having finished my studying, and not knowing what to do with myself (plus giving too much attention to work). SO, psycho-therapy session notwithstanding, I'd be bloody disappointed if Metabeats went down in flames. Having said that, if I start contributing more regularly - which I would like to do - not sure that "saves" the blog anyway. It's your baby.

Had wondered why R.E.M.'s Life's Rich Pageant was a new release on Rdio. Apparently this month is the 25th anniversary of it's release. If I didn't already feel pretty damn old, this fact certainly does the trick.

Bri, thanks for the Hello Echo recommendation. Not sure if it's any good but it's $4.90 price tag on emusic aligned nicely with that very same amount I had on my monthly balance, which refreshes in a few days. Think this may be the end of the road for me and emusic, though. It's been a nice ride but really, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find enough interesting music to download.

Also thinking it may be time to start folding up this here blog, at least in its current incarnation. There are some other ways that we can collaborate in an online space that may make more sense and be less time consuming, which I suspect may be a problem for some.

Anyhow, appreciate thoughts, suggestions on either!

Here's your challenge for the week:

Come up with a band or artist who haven't recorded an album in years and whose pending new release you could actually care less about than this?

Shorthand reference: Denmark = bicycles, Kierkegaard. Iceland = bankrupty, Bjork. You're welcome.

Ah right, Denmark.

re: Braids The first track, "Lemonade" introduces a very specific vocal range/style that seems to endlessly repeat throughout every subsequent song on the record, with quick, soft yippy little shouts leading to slow, slightly drawn out words quickly rising to sharp yelps. lather, rinse, repeat. musical arrangements lead me back somewhat but not to the point where i'm actually liking it all that much. I dunno. Mike? Marc? Stu? Guy Stu met in England?

Sorry to be persnickety but Iceage are actually from Denmark and would probably be pissed if you called them an Icelandic band. I've listened to it a few times on Rdio and as much as some of the sounds excite me it could rather use a bit more meat on them their bones. Not bad for a first album though.

Sorry Kyle but until you posted that Polaris list I'd never even heard of Galaxie. Must be good if it knocked off two of my faves from last year (PS I Love You and Women) off the shortlist. I keep trying with Destroyer's "Kaputt" and as much as I've grown to appreciate it's more meandering style I can't ever see myself loving it. As for Braids I think I'm liking them a bit more than the two of you.

Kyle, great news abut record sales, made even more exciting by the news that it's on the backs of Lady Gaga's $0.99 special!

Hey thanks for the prompt posting of recent favourites and disappointments. That will help. I have a couple of those - Antlers, Yuck, and Low - but will check out the others - particularly the Papercuts and UNKLE, which you mentioned the other night and I tried to find unsuccessfully.

I'm also enjoying a few others which you may well know, but just to share the love: the cave singers which is a mix of pleasant chanted folk music and slightly rawer electric stuff, the mellow indy pop sounds of Iceland's Sin Fang, the hard punk sounds of the latest under-20 phenom band, Iceland's (yet again) Iceage, some atmospheric guitar-forward pop from Hello Echo, soft Cali-rock-meets-Pavement from The Donkeys, and finally, though it's early on in the listening cycle, liking the recent follow up records from Army Navy and Pete and the Pirates. Three other records that I've spun a fair bit are the 20-years-in-the-making Feelies release, the J Mascis record, and Yellow Ostrich's exercise in stimulating pop weirdness.

Somewhere in that amalgam lie my faves of the first half of 2011. (Fleet Foxes is nice too....damn, so is Matt Pond's EP, and oh yeah, the Sloan record is pretty dang good). Anyone else care to sound in?

Re disappointments, the Braids are unduly lauded to my ear as well. And I'm quite unhappy with the Bon Iver album - he's suddenly sounding like Grizzly Bear, which I thought was a great band until Veckatemist's excesses (I know many differ with my opinion). I'll give it another few listens but it lacks the immediacy and the huge angsty soulfulness of For Emma, replacing with busy, grandiose, and annoying arrangements.

After 7 Yr Decline Music Sales Up In 1st Half Of 2011 - hypebot

After 7 Yr Decline Music Sales Up In 1st Half Of 2011 - hypebot

Anyone else listen much to the Galaxie album that was shortlisted for the Polaris prize? Catchy, energetic, dance rock, on first full listen at least, but I'm wondering if this is one that actually stands a chance of winning or if it's serving the same purpose that most British actresses serve in the best actress category at the Oscars--that is, they're there to add variety, credibility to the rest of the list. In other words, is Galaxie the Keira Knightley of the Polaris shortlist?

Polaris Shortlist with convenient Rdionlists on the page. Braids disc has not grown on me, despite at least a dozen listens.

Good call, Bri. As you may have noticed, I have tried, but ultimately aborted, attempts to put together a list here over the past few weeks. Here are some recent emusic downloads from 2011 that I'd recommend:

Battles - Gloss Drop - less visceral in some way but probably more accomplished than their previous release, with some more direct vocals and arrangements, varied, interesting

Thievery Corporation - Culture of Fear - though only a few listens in, and more of the same, it's a perfect accompaniment to languid summer evenings and probably their best (only interesting) release in a decade

The Antlers - Burst Apart - rich combination of folk, guitar, electronics, vocals, kind of sweetly morose, soaring and reflective all at the same time

Yuck - Yuck - comparisons to Dino Jr. on a few tracks aside, this disc is far more varied

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong - their last release had a few great songs but the whole was less than the sum; think this is a more cohesive album, with bigger songs that make use of the more up front production without sounding like they're simply going for a bigger sound

Papercuts - Fading Parade - reminiscent of the Pains first disc described above

Would also add Wye Oak, the new UNKLE disc, and the Danger Mouse Rome disc but alas, they are not available on emusic. There's another one I'm forgetting...sound like Wye Oak at times...for the life of me I cannot recall just now.

....UPDATE: Got it! (Thank you, unconscious mind): Low - C'mon - another example where previous releases were hit and miss for me but this one resonates. Easily one of the best of the year.

......UPDATE 2: Also want to add that there have been a number of underwhelming releases from previously heralded bands. Perhaps too early to tell with Bon Iver, which I've only listened to twice, but the latest Elbow, Miracle Fortress, Jolie Holland, Panda Bear (parts better than the sum, imo), and yes, Radiohead, fall squarely into this category.

Hey boys, I'm faced with a fresh bunch of downloads and only a few ideas against which to apply them. Seems like a good time to inquire into your musical 2011's......been a good year in terms of new music? What would you put forward as your highlights thus far? What are the best new bands or artists that you've come across?

What Your Favourite 80s Band Says About You.