A favourable review of the new Arcade Fire in The Guardian raises a good point, much discussed here, about the effect of time on the perceived importance or greatness of any rock album. Looking back to say, the year 2000, are there any albums that you once pronounced as 'genius' or 'the greatest' but would in retrospect, you'd like to take back, or at least maybe withdraw some of the hyperbole? And yes, I'm looking first at you, Mr. Watson.

A decade on, I'm probably a lot less bullish now about Lauryn Hill's debut solo disc or Moby's Play or Fatboy Slim or Buena Vista Social Club or even the second Oasis album, Morning Glory, which I listened to a lot in 95 and 96 and now don't really have any interest in hearing. In 2000, they probably would have been on my top 100 list, if not of all time, then at least of the previous twenty years.

Though a fan of music, I've been there.

Cool bands covering cool bands.


Superchunk covers The Cure

Ah, for anything that could be described as 'languid'. Alas, my lack of posting is not due to any long and peaceful sojourns at a cottage but for the fact that my work schedule has not slowed down one lick. I'm eyeing the second week of August for a few days of needed downtime but until then, the pace should continue. And while internet access is available wherever I roam, often the last thing I want to do at the end of the day is type more words into the laptop. Okay, enough with the pity party....

One of the actual perks of business travel is having the time to actually listen to music that I've purchased or, like yesterday, listen to some interesting stuff on satellite radio's Sirius XMU while driving between Austin and Dallas. Back in the office today and with those tunes and the tunes I listened to on the three hour plane ride home, some good finds for me of late, most emusicable:

Tame Impala - Inner Speaker - seems a little too derivative at first--Beatles-esque is an understatement at times--but repeated listens reward with interesting forays into summery psychelia; tracks to check out: It is Not Meant to Be, Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind

Zeus - Say Us - Beatles, Strokes, others but quite good; tracks to check out: Fever of the Time, Kindergarten

Wild Nothing - Gemini - sweet summery pop; tracks to check out: Summer Holiday, Chinatown

The Whitefield Brothers - Earthology - ostensibly a Hip-Hop album, there's very little hip hop and lots of afro-jazz flourishes; tracks to check out: Safari Strut, Sad Nile

Also finally sucumbed to the new LCD Soundsystem, which worked its way into my wheelhouse with repeated listens and cranked up volume, its mix synth pop and distortion creating a kind of nice summery happy groove. Previous releases featured some hit and misses for me but this album pretty much works in its entirety.

Some others but that's a good start for now. Back to the grind....

The blog has a distinctly languid summery feel to it.

By which I mean, nobody is contributing anything. Have we all stopped listening to music? Have we begun cheating on the blogsters - joining other blogs with way cooler, younger guys (I'll rule out girls for this crowd)? Or is it deeper....is music no longer providing you with the outlet for angst, euphoria, and melancholy that it did when you wre younger? Are you depressed? Do you find yourself drinking alone, in the afternoon a lot?

So what has everyone been purchasing of late? Some potentially good new releases out there - new Stars, new Teenage Fanclub, Band of Horses, New Pornographers, LCD Soundsystem, Pernice Bros, countless more.

Had a great time in NYC, managed to find a day to go record shopping, and found my favourite shop yet, up on the 8th floor of an old building on 26th street in Chelsea. Ended up buying about 15 releases, a mix of vinyl and CD, 50-70's jazz, all for $140. Awesome.

Noticed this new mag reviewed in the Globe on the weekend and thought the concept was intriguing: Music We Hate, wherein writers wax angry on cherished indie and not so indie-bands. Also figured that someone harshing on Pavement (Brian, me) Belle and Seb (Derek, Stuart) would prompt some cries of outrage. After you all get back from vacay, that is.

Update: Having read the first few, I'm not necessarily compelled to go and grab the magazine, though I would like to check Carl Wilson's take on Radiohead.

disturbing video by david lynch ...song from Mobys last album, sounds pretty great to me... anyone pick up that disc?

Stuart, I confess I left the party w/out the disc but very much wanted to listen to it. I'm probably the least familiar with, and possibly most averse to (though Derek's post may contest this), country music as a genre so I'm really interested in listening to your hand-picked songs to see if it sways me. I suspect it will, at least with some of them so whenever one of you can loan me a copy I can rip that would be great.

I believe the high school boys to whom Derek and Brian were reading poetry were fulfilling a court-ordered community service order.

Jazz > Country each and every time. Nothing to do with pretentious coffee shops or the white man's attitude to music they don't understand.

Over the last few days I've listened to Bill Evans' "You Must Believe in Spring", Pharoah Sanders' "The Impulse Story" and the Marcin Wasilewski Trio's "January". All great stuff and much more in touch with the modern world we live in than the best that country music has to offer.

England plays Germany in the round of 16 on Sunday morning if anyone cares.

Oh that's right 4 billion people care except Woody and Arlo. My neglect has been far from intentional and I certainly haven't been hanging out at urinal sized coffee shops. For 99.9% of my life music trumps all. For the next few weeks bollocks to that. If it brings tears to your eyes then suck it up.

actually I saw Brian and Derek reading poetry in a park to a group of rapt high school boys as I was driving home so yes I think you have them summed up quit well...

The intent was to give a huge range from honky tonk to teardrop but I may have erred a little on the teardrop as you say...

Joanne mackell is interesting as a storyline... she was revered as equal to Bonnioe rait in the early sventies and they both got there first big record deals synultaneously.... Joanne drank her way through the huge advance in a matter of weeks and diddnt get around to recording her record...the label dropped her and now she is a regular at queen west bars , often free cover... terrific live show for a truly hidden talent...

Useless desires is patty griffin, her last 3 albums all consistently great...

Lawrence County is a relatively new nand the felice brothers who also have consisemntly put ourt great records...

They just released Guy Clark's - Old .No 1 his first record w LA freeway on it... if you like Towns van zant and Jerry jeff (and that Texas scene which basically set the template for alt country in the mid 70's)...as you do, this is a 5 star record, also a bit of a cult classic so to speak...
s

Forget the rest of these guys, Stuart. They're too busy listening to obscure jazz songs in pretentious little cafes to get immersed in some good old country blues. I was only too happy to give this a good listen. I was able to build a playlist on grooveshark with all of your songs except for the Joanne Mackell cut. Also, I used the Jerry Jeff Walker version of LA Freeway because they didn't have the Guy Clark version - but you really can't go wrong with Jerry Jeff Walker.

Lots of this music is already in my collection, but there were some nice ones that I didn't know, such as the Boy from Lawrence County, Wheels and Useless Desires. All very good. I have an album by the "Notting Hillbillies" (which is a side project of Mark Knopfler's) that includes "I Feel Like Going Home" with a slightly bluesier arrangement. That album is certainly worth picking up if you like this sort of thing.

Some of the tunes were a little too weepy for me - always a danger with country - but overall I really enjoyed the playlist. Thanks!

Well I can tell from the deafening silence that the country cd I mixed went over about as well as skunky Jack Daniels on a dusty cotton field but as Derek (and earlier Mike) had requested a tracklist ,here it is:

1 Relief is just a swallow away- george jones
2 Move it on over; hank williams
3 the bottle let me down - Merle haggard
4 Just one more - George jones
5 Last nights Waltz - joanne Mackell
6 The Virgin- Gene Clark
7 Carmelita-Fred Eaglesmith
8 Useless Desires - patty griffin
9 More Than I can do- Steve Earle
10 The L & N dont stop here anymore- michelle Schocked
11 leavin On your Mind- patsy Cline
12 Boy from lawrence County- The felice Brothers
13 Wheels - Flying Burrito Brothers
14 Sunday Morning Comin Down - Johnny
15 Stand By your man- tammy wynette
16 L.A. Freeway- Guy Clark
17 Hurt - johnny cash
18 Ventura- Lucinda Williams
19 Feel Like Goin Home - Charlie Rich

below is a link to a video from you tube...damned if I can download it to here though...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdcvTgJqK2U

Some good sounding releases coming up in the next couple of months, for those among us into white-boy indy guitar rock.

Agree w/ many of the song and albums listed but why mention the Billy Ray and Tom Cochrane tracks without noting them as exceptions which prove the rule? Are we to infer that the author believes these particular pieces (no, not of music) serve as examples of 1992's sonic bounty? If so, then I scream, "Bullshit" and declare the thesis to have failed. Realize this is a harsh baby out with the bathwater approach but....in fact, you may have to serve some sort of penalty for not reading through the fine print. Really unfortunate, because the other examples were really dead on.

Good article (well, list of albums and songs from 1992) on Allmusic, very appropos of our recent CD night.

I think of the flawed early 70's Michelangelo Antonioni film (which I love, for the record) Zabriskie Point as a film that was greatly improved by its soundtrack - including Pink Floyd, Jerry Garcia, and numerous others. Interesting film, considered a bit of an embarrassment when released for the golden boy of Italian cinema (Blow Up is another touchstone sixties film of his with a great soundtrack), but I've always thought it worked very well, and I can't help but think its reputation will revive over coming generations.

Recently watched 'The Darjeeling Limited', an (often too) cute if somewhat underwhelming film by Wes Anderson (Rushmore). One of its more laudable aspects--and this always seems to be the case with his films--was its choice and use of music, from 60s Stones classics like 'Play with Fire' to Debussy, in background and foreground, as part of scenes or as still frame captures. Of course, this made me want to try to recall other fair-to-mediocre films with either kickass soundtracks or just incredible uses of music throughout. Tarantino is an obvious contemporary touchstone, even when his choices are jarringly anachronistic (i.e. David Bowie's song from Cat People in 'Inglourious Basterds'), though I'd say his films more succeed than fail for the most part so perhaps he doesn't count.

Gents, with apologies for a problematic technology evening last Friday, attached is the list of songs that were played. I suspect I'm missing some, especially from Derek, so feel free to add on. Definitely some good music here, but lots of it was untapped due to no (effin') iPod cord, and rather amazingly, wireless router and turntable problems! Turntable played perfectly all weekend, incidentally. Ah well. We'll get it right next time. I've listed albums (rather than songs) where I know them, feel free to improve upon that as well.

Brian (1) Squirrel - Niagara (2) Tinker - Soft Shell Friend (3) Big Dipper - Heavens (4) Cracker - Kerosene Hat (5) Haden - Trees Lounge (song) (6) Camper Van Beethoven - Key Lime Pie (7)Siouxsie and the Banshees - Peep Show (8) Superchunk - from Foolish (1993), and Heres Where the Strings Come in (1995) (9) Rain Parade - Explosions in the Glass Palace

Derek (1) Sebadoh - Bakesale (2) Orange Juice - The Glasgow School (compilation) (3) Pooh Sticks - The Great White Wonder (4) Guided by Voices - Mah Earwig!

Kyle - where no albums, please add (1) Prefab Sprout (2) Robert Palmer - Clues (3) Aztec Camera (4) The The - Soul Mining (5) Northside (6) The Real People - Window Pane (7) Electronic - self-titled (8) Grandaddy - Under the Wester Freeway

Marc - (1) Catherine Wheel - Happy Days (2) Lou Reed - New York (3) Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (4) Leonard Cohen - The Future (5) Buffalo Tom - Sleepy Eyed

Stuart (1) Spirit of the West - Labour Day (2) Neil Young - Harvet Moon

My head's still spinning from reading your description of the fix, Mike, but I 'm glad you got it sorted out...eventually...as is always the case with these types of issues. Luckily you didn't have to reformat the entire drive. As for the pied piper across the street, I sympathize. The only thing worse than bad flautists are serial whistlers, who I have come close to pushing off subway platforms on many occassions.

But onto something more fun, in honour of the world cup, starting friday: