Bands You Just Can't Get Into ............

[Rit]

There's one reviewer at AMG who's particularly bad: Stephen thomas erlewine.

[JesusLooksLikeMe]

AMG's latest "crime" (i.e. I don't agree with them, proving they must be cunts of the very worst sort - forget Pol Pot and his ilk) was to dismiss the last track on the new FF album, "The Outsiders", as a waste of space. Better, say AMG, for the album to have finished a song earlier. Well, that puts them in a category all of their own marked 'tone deaf'... the consensus amongst people not dishing out bland ticks based on a 3-minute-song, first-listen-it-proves-itself-catchy set of rules is that this is the song promising diversity and development in future.

Off topic again...

[Rit]

i don't understand criticism like that... of the "exclude this song and its a masterpiece" variety. well, sometimes it might be justified, but in Franz Ferdinand's case? i don't think so. "Outsiders" is ace.

and they are Franz and you are not, AMG. *bitchslap*

[luke]

AMG has awful reviews. I think that part of their problem is that they are so huge, the only way they can review all of those bands is to find people who actually like those bands. Which is why damn near EVERY SINGLE BAND EVER has a four or five star album, according to AMG.

A lot of the Moon & Antarctica criticism comes from that middle half, but I don't really think so. People fail to realize that the middle portion of the album is a bridge to the last part. The album absolutely couldn't work without that bridge, as "Wild Pack of Family Dogs" is like a new awakening for the subject matter, a link into a different emotional world. The last part of the album seems to contain a sort conclusion, a deeper grasp of what is and what isn't. The songs don't feel as if there's that much hidden meaning, but rather, a sense of understanding.

By contrast, the first part of the album is confused, and the songs are hiding something. Some dark truth, the reality of the whole situation, the love that's going to be lost and the life that's going to be fucked. The first part is the beginning of a spiral into depression, naivety, confusion. Isaac seems to be losing sanity as the songs progress, falling apart on "Perfect Disguise", snapping completely on "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" and "A Different City."

Then the real chaos begins. The "Cold Part" is the desolation, the loneliness, the emptiness, the Joy Division cliches of it all. The Mouse goes numb, finally fed up with all the bullshit. This progresses into a rejection of this numb world that seems to be everywhere, the angry and unfocussed "Alone Down There".

The the real beauty of it all starts to sink in, on the album's ultimate gem, and perhaps the best Modest Mouse song ever fucking recorded. "The Stars Are Projectors" brilliantly begins phasing out the anger, understanding the hurt, the beauty, and the variety of it all.

Was there a need for creation?
That was hiden in a math equation
And that's this:
WHERE DO CIRCLES BEGIN?

And the circle loops on. The album wakes up from its sleepy, relevatory bliss, and we see, smell, feel, and hear the morning dew of "Wild Pack of Family Dogs."

I used to run to this album a lot. In fact, when I got a Discman, before I had an MP3 player to makes mixes to, this was the first album I ran to. On a very regular basis. This was when I'd run 12, 15 miles a day, not the measely six to nine I make today. I knew, by heart, every tiny nuance of this album. From the playful denial of "Gravity Rides Everything" to the reawakening of "The Stars are Projectors" to the aged, shared wisdom of "Life Like Weeds." I would loop this thing at least twice before I'd stop, and it wouldn't matter where I started or ended, because this album is a cycle and circles don't begin.

That said, I haven't listened to it all the way through in at least a year, maybe a year and a half or even two. I knew it so inside and out that I didn't need to. After writing this, though, I'm really craving me some Moon and Antarctica.

And on a side note, the critics really pissed me off with Good News for People Who Love Bad News, as well. It was a pretty weak album, but the one highlight, the one song that stuck out as a staple of that real deal Modest Mouse sound- "Dance Hall"- was pointed out as "useless" in every review of the album I ever read. Of course, those are probably the same ignorant bastards who didn't realize that without the middle part of Moon and Antarctica, all you had was a collection of singles with no fluidity or relevant connection. "The Stars Are Projectors" fucking made that album.

[luke]

Ooh, I caught that criticism of "Outsiders" and thought, "What a fucking moron." That was the first song I'd play to people when I was the only guy on the block with a burned advance.

[Rit]

awesome write up.

[Rit]

Moon and Antarctica was my intro to Modest Mouse, and from there, i linked back to the first two albums, on recommendation from a chick i knew and liked. i became an instant Modest Mouse convert on hearing the first two albums, whch i prefered, and i converted everyone i knew into at least passing aquaintance with the band. No one was safe, muahahahahha

[Rit]

i goddamn want that Mark Kozelek covers album of all those Modest Mouse songs. where is it on SLSK?!?!?!

where?

Kozelek is awesome in his own right, too. the meeting of the two minds is like mixing carnivals and candy and chocolate into one big thing of awesomeness.

[luke]

I discovered Modest Mouse on Napster, when looking for a different song called "Trailer Trash" for somebody else. Lonesome Crowded West was my first taste of them, and it's still my favorite.

I'm super curious about that Kozelek album, too. I have no idea what that's going to sound like.

[Rit]

Lonesome Crowded West is great, it really is the true Modest Mouse fan's album, whereas the debut album is just a great collection of songs, if that makes sense....

Kozelek says he completely rearranged the songs, so it will be fascinating to hear. i presume he's turned them all into his usual sad-eyed single guitar strumfests.. whch is alright, if it's done well.

[Rit]

i have the urge to listen to Lonesome Crowded West now.
done and done.

[riley]

Is the new Sun Kil Moon and Kozolek's MM covers album one in the same?

[riley]

In getting back to the thread's main topic, I cannot get into Neutral Milk Hotel, no matter how hard I try.

Not surprisingly, I've also had some trouble finding complete enjoyment with The Decemberists as well.

[JACkory]

rileydog said:

Is the new Sun Kil Moon and Kozolek's MM covers album one in the same?

Yes.
Tiny Cities is the album's title and it hits stores on the first of next month.
I am not a fan of Modest Mouse, but I'm trying not to let that even be an issue, since there's every reason to believe that the songs will be re-arranged and reconstructed to the point where they will hardly resemble the originals. I was no fan of Bon Scott-era AC/DC either, but his all AC/DC covers album, What's Next To The Moon is one of my favorites.
So we'll see.
I am a little disappointed that he's releasing it under the Sun Kil Moon moniker. From what I've read it is much more of a Kozelek solo project than a band effort (even IF Kozelek is the guiding light of the band). There's a good chance that he's doing this to capitalize on the excellent press that SKM's album received, seeing as how an album under his own name might be a bit harder to promote to any but his legion of diehard fans.
Plus, there's something that's less-than-kosher, to my way of thinking at least, about a BAND releasing an album of covers of another band. For some reason the notion is not quite as hard to fathom when it's just a solo artist...
But whatever. I hope it's very good and that it does well enough to finance a REAL Sun Kil Moon album, with ORIGINAL songs on it.
I also don't want Kozelek's "claim to fame" being his radical tinkering with other people's music, but I may be too late to hope for that.
Still, Tiny Cities replaces the most recent Autechre album (which I STILL don't have) for the number one slot on my WISHLIST.

[JACkory]

Oh, by the way, here's the official website for SKM's Tiny Cities album:
www.caldoverderecords.com/
...and here's a nice big photo of Regan after Beelzebub took over:


Have a nice day, music fans.