Michelle's CD Reviews

[Betty]

First off, I don't write reviews because I'm terrible at describing music. But still I want to try my hand at it. I intend to write up something every week or two that might hopefully be enlightening to at least a few people, and hopefully include a few songs as well.

Here are the rules. You can review the same CD or another one by the same band, or simply comment on what I said. But don't review any other random things in this thread.

This week:

The Dandy Warhols - Thirteen tales from urban bohemia

This band confuses me as I cannot decide whether they are supposed to be mainstream or independent as I have never heard anyone discuss them in either context. I have really never heard anyone discuss them period. When I first got this CD about two years ago, I didn't listen to it very much. But I've been listening to it a lot recently and it gets better every single time.

This is a totally unique and intriguing album. The first song, Godless, is a fantastic combo of smooth and mellow and super catchy horns which makes for a strong start. The second song, Mohammed as well as a later one, Sleep, are simply awe-inspiring songs. They have what I would describe as very beautiful guitar and pretty vocals, I hesitate to use the word "haunting" here, but it is quite possibly applicable. In addition to these much more deep and involved songs, they have some entirely silly ones such as Country Leaver, Solid or Horse Pills, with silly sounds and silly lyrics. The vocal style transforms from pretty singing to talking-style, and some have a fun country twinge. For the most part, these songs are silly in a good way and are still enjoyable as they are catchy. Finally, to top things off are the totally polished, ultra-catchy, pop-rock tunes such as Get Off and Bohemian Like You, the latter being the song that introduced me to the band and got me hooked. I can't even attempt to describe some of the other songs on the album, but they probably fall in between those extremes. Overall, the CD is composed of entirely different styles so it could be one of those things where one would only like a few songs, however I find it works really well together, especially after a few listens. I'd like to ascribe a genre or even give a few comparisons, but I cannot bring myself to do it.

Some samples (get 'em while they last):
Godless (http://s52.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0CGUO80AL1PIV03P7MD1VLJF8D)
Sleep (http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=04OI47BQ8RIOT1DD1JM634VHQS)
Bohemian Like You ( http://s37.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0YOIKVSF0IUNG21LVD0U6XBJFG)
Horse Pills (http://s37.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=10924C5HGL0JZ0LLH10FWQIUD0)

[wheelchairman]

I got this album, I love it. You have to listen to it, and really listen to it, a few times, before it can enter my circulation of background music. But it's very good.

And I agree with your review.

[Tizzalicious]

I think the only song I know is Bohemian Like You, I love that, so I'm downloading the others now.

Love this idea =)

The first two links are both the song "sleep" though. Something went wrong I think?

[Betty]

Thanks Tizz... I don't know how I could screw that up, but apparently something happened.

But since it's a great song, I'll try again!

godless - for real I hope (http://s55.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0LQP1WB7AT4UJ3B461BWDSD75G)

[Tizzalicious]

Thanks! I'll download that once I'm back on my PC.

[Betty]

Since this thread got such an overwhelming response, I think it's about time for the follow up.

This week:

The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema

Possibly the most talked about recent indie release on the Canadian music front, besides of course the Arcade Fire's Funeral, this album lived up to all of my expectations and many many more. The Pornographers: rock, power pop, catchy as hell, that's about all I can say. With two excellent male and female vocalists sharing the lead role, and a whole slew of instruments to back them up, the band produces quite the unique sound. This is their third release, and in my opinion their best, following up first Mass Romantic and then Electric Version. I find it hard to pinpoint exactly the reason why, but I just feel as if this album is much more listenable. It seems to be a little more toned down than the first two, but this certainly does not imply that it is very toned down at all. As much as I loved the first two albums, I just found that they were poppy almost to the verge of being listenable in small doses only. But I don't find this with this CD at all. I just can't get enough of it; listening to the songs just makes me want to listen to them again. Admittedly, I don't think there are any songs with quite the oomph of "Mass Romantic (http://s37.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3GDLBQ9K3MVRX1B95YPPLSJ3ZQ)" or "The Body Says No (http://s37.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2TJBYFNTCX6JV3QCV0I36RWRB2)", but there are a lot of very solid tracks. The instruments and vocals are as good as ever, and the songwriting has only gotten better. I still can't understand the obsession most fans have with Neko Case as a vocalist, but I'm not complaining, she's pleasant to listen to.

I find it very difficult to choose favourite songs or discuss standout tracks, as they are all so good. The one standout I have found is "The Bleeding Heart Show". It starts out mellow but by the end of the song I found myself thinking "whoa, where did this come from?" in the midst of feel-good layered harmonies. Otherwise there is the mix of pop-driven danceable songs and mellower ballad type songs. I tend to like the happy ones. I chose a few of my favourites for interested readers to sample, and just maybe you will fall in love:


The Bleeding Heart Show (http://s37.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3QTSDZG3QXHHN2XOG5F7GJHYXD)

Sing Me Spanish Techno (http://s64.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=12TYL2A7R0ZDK2HBOHTCOTX272)

Use It (http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2YYAN9038RMWW3PNR6SCOIRVK4)

[wheelchairman]

Downloading now.

[wheelchairman]

I really like them. I'm going to download their discography or something on torrent.

It has a poppy-retro feeling to it. Very American 50's 60's esque to it. I loved it. Neither of them are particularly good singers. But together it makes a very...happy sound?

It's just upbeat stuff that's very good to listen to. As soon as I get an mp3 player, I'll be putting a few of their songs to put on, so I can sing along.

And even when they sing sad, like the Bleeding Heart Show, it's still good. Albeit depressing.

[Apathy]

There's a site I frequent called Sputnikmusic.com is has reviews of almost everything you can imagine, and if it doesn't, you can submit your own. I'll post one of my reviews from there:

Sublime - Robbin' The Hood
Nine Years Since this came out. Bradley Nowell, The Lead Singer Of Sublime, Died In 1996, but every day you can still here their music on the radio. Sublime Played their first gig in the summer of 1988, and since then, They've had Five great albums, and a lot of marijuana. Breeding Reggae and Punk Rock, Sublime was one of the only bands to blend these two genres together, and make it work.

This album was released just before their self titled release that put them into the mainstream. While I would still reccommend any other Sublime album over this one, This is still a solid album. Just not up to snuff compared to the others.

Sublime was a three, ahem, four piece band that Consisted Of:

Bradley Nowell - Vocals, Guitar
Eric Wilson - Bass
Bud Gaugh - Drums
Louie- Dalmation

The Cd Kicks off with the lyricless Wating For Bud. With a nice Acoustic Lead and Steady bassline, It shows you just some of what sublime has to offer. Up Next Is Stead B Loop Dub It's got turntables that remind me of most Beastie boys songs, and features some nice lyrics about halfway through. It's Not Much of a Song, and would definitely never be on the radio, but it's fun to listen to. The next track isn't a song, but a Soliloquy, (which, is a literary form in which a character talks to oneself without addressing the listener. - dictionary.com) Basically, Raleigh Soliloquy pt I is about sucking ****, and it features a lot of nasty language. Don't leave this album running with little kids around.
The next song, Pool Shark Delves into a different style of music than the previous tracks, featuring an electric guitar, and louder lyrics. It's short, but one of the better tracks on the album. After that song, we hear some percussion, followed by an undistorted electric guitar. This song, Steppin' Razor, has Sublime's Signature sound in it, Sounding similar to such hits like What I Got and Santeria in ways. It's One of the albums best, and Unlike how many of the songs on this album go wrong, It's not too short. Clocking in at a reasonable 2:24. Another song that sounds a little more professional, and deserving is Greatest-Hits It also is a nice not too short, not too long song, With a fast, fun bassline and great work on vocals by Bradley. On To another Loop Dub song, This One being named Free Loop Dub It Changes Sounds A lot, and Isn't as fun to listen to as the others, but still has some nice aspects. Gets quite repetitive though. About 2/3 through the song, you hear gunfire, and Awww, **** Chuck's On A Killing Spree, which is pretty funny the first time you hear it. So Enjoy it once or twice, then skip away to....

Q-Ball. It's The Shortest song on the album, and basically just the signer rapping. only 0:43. After The Short Rap Interlude, My favorite song on the album starts - Saw Red. It Features Gwen Stefani, Before her solo work mind you, back in the days of No Doubt. It's A Cheesy Kind of Love song, and Somewhat lacking in Length as it's under two minutes, but Something about just makes me love it. It could be the Ska Type Guitar, The Switching between singers, or the fast bassline, but I love it. I hope you do too, because I reccoommend it as the coolest song on this album. Next Is the Song Work That We Do.It's one of the only songs on here that I don't Like very much. It's just kind of boring, the instruments are extremely mediocre, and the singing is just averege. There's lots of cutting out, and Instruments coming in and out at different times. Lincoln Highway Dub is next, and if I'm not mistaken, the instruments in this, are playing pretty much the same song as Santeria, with some very minor changes, any Sublime Fan would Recognize it as Lyricless-Santeria. After Foreshadowing to a newer song, next we Switch back to an older song. After The Lincoln Highway Dub, We Hear an Acoustic Version Of Pool Shark. It's the same song, but I personally prefer the non-acoustic version better. All A Matter of Preference.

I love the intro to this next song, Cisco Kid. The Song Itself is quite averege, but I love the first 45 seconds beyond belief. Listening to it now, The Song isn't that bad, it's only fault is an annoying horn instrument coming in randomly. At times the singer sounds like Chris Rock. It's fun listening to short clips of Cisco Kid Though.

After this song, is the next installment of the Raleigh Soliloquy, this time it's Raleigh Soliloquy Pt II. This Time Around, he basically, just insults you. I love listening halfway through, and having some security guard arguing with him, to "Cool It Down" Obviously, he needs it, as the song has the F Word Twenty Three times by my count, among other obscenities. After His 911 Call, We Hear the song STP. It's a fine song, but Sounds much like all the others, so doesn't stand out much until about two minutes into the song where it speeds up, and sounds much better at that time. Boss DJ is an all acoustic song, that features nothing other than Bradley and his guitar. It's got some nice vocals, but I personally would have preferred to have some sort of percussion and bass. Still nice to listen to. The Next Track Is A Joke. And I find It Hilarious. Entitled I Don't Care Too Much For Reggae Dub As Far as I can tell, It's just the band in a conversation with some random passerby. Correct me on this if i'm wrong. EIther way, Hearing "Can One Of Ya'll Spare 20 Cents" and "I Chose this profession So Therefore I Earn Beer" Cracked Me Up. It was also funny that they didn't know how to classify what genre they played. This is definitely worth a listen. After That, comes a very, very, very, Cool Instrumental called Falling Idols. I Initally skipped it because I wasn't sure I would like an instrumental. Listening to it later though, I loved it. AMAZINGLY fun guitar work in this song. It's more of A Punk song than most of the others on the album. It also has great bass throughout the song.. and the drumming too. Hell, I love all of em. Something about the guitar work, reminds me of the Offspring.

Next Is The Song All You Need It sounds like a ska song, which I usually love, but this one isn't my favorite. The Lyrics are Pretty weak, and the song blends in with the others on the album, making it easy to forget.
I think you'll recognize this next guitar part in the next song, Freeway Time In LA county Jail This song is also all acoustic, and only features Bradley with no Percussion or Bass. My Feelings about it are basically the same as Boss DJ. It's a good song as is, but it could have been great with something more than what it offers.
The Third Trilogy in the all acoustic songs, Mary offers exactly what the other two offers. If you like Acoustic Ballads, you'll have fun with this album, that's for sure.
Another trilogy ending, The Closer to the album is the longest track, Raleigh Soliloquy Pt III This song includes Raleigh Lecturing about Love then breifly singing, or trying to.

After some blank space, we hear a hidden reggae track, which is actually a very good track, i reccomend taking a listen.


Most Excellent: The album is a fine representation of Subilme as a band, If you want to start listening to Sublime, Buy the S/T release first, then get the others.

Not as Excellent : Lots Of Weird tracks On here. All Of these were recorded in random living rooms, so you can't really blame em for some poor quality. Besides, the song quality is surprisingly good.


Individual Tracks Reccommendations:

For the Punk/Rock Lover: Saw Red, Falling Idols
For the Acoustic Lover: Boss DJ
For the Sublime Lover: Everything!


Anyway, I realize this Review isn't the best, but if you look at my first review, you'll see that this is a HUGE improvement. I wasn't sure how to do bold letters, so I'm not sure what it'll do at this point.

Also, If you like Sublime, check out The Bassists' and drummer's new band, The Long Beach Dub All Stars. Not Quite as good, but some fans might like them.

[Betty]

Here are the rules. You can review the same CD or another one by the same band, or simply comment on what I said. But don't review any other random things in this thread.

[/URL]

For Apathy, although I don't mean to be bitchy about it... I just think that having people post about some good/many crappy albums will very much detract from the point of this thread... which is stuff that I think is good and that if you have some sorta interest in my taste then you might check it out. Even if that only person is WCM.

And I'm glad you like it Per, I thought you would. And like I said, a lot of fans think the female vocalist is just the greatest thing on the face of this earth... I don't entirely get it. I guess I never really love female vocalists in general.

[Apathy]

Sorry, I was just trying to give an example of the reviews you find there.

I wasn't really aware that it was against the rules to post a review of whatever you wanted, i guess my brain kinda skipped over that part in reading.

So far I've not heard of any of the bands you've reviewed. To tell you the truth, I rarely ever read reviews of bands I've never heard of. I don't like finding new music, because I can't afford new cd's.
I usually read reviews of cd's I have, to see if people agree with me.

Sorry If I screwed up your thread.