You know what I forgot to do? Write up what I think of all the records I've been buying over the past few months. At least I keep up with the shows.
Stereogum Presents Enjoyed: A Tribute to Bjork's Post. As much as I love their OK Computer tribute [I skipped the Automatic for the People tribute], this does nothing for me. Most of it's entirely too no wave for my current frame of mind. The only stand out tracks are Liars' "Army of Me" for being so bland and expected, and Xiu Xiu's "Isobel", for being the best track even though it's still pretty mediocre.
I was passed this a few months ago, and it was in pretty heavy rotation then. Better than "Plans", more of a "Transatlanticism" vibe. They're playing in Boston tomorrow, but I'm not going.
Tom Waits on crack. Brilliant. I didn't think their energy would translate onto record, but it did.
Eh, certainly not bad, but not really compelling either. A nice document, I enjoyed it more after seeing his live show.
Not nearly as weak as initial reviews made it seem. Not really compelling either. Do you like music from the 1980's? The standout track is definitely "Graveyard Girl" but not in a good way - the spoken-word breakdown is absolutely cringe worthy.
I'm off to see El Perro del Mar tonight actually. The new record is just as good as her first record, so tonight's sad Swedish girl-group extravaganza should not disappoint.
I love the first two Elbow records, but haven't had the time to consciously sit and listen to their fourth in it's entirety yet. What I've heard is great - I never really bonded with their previous record "Leaders of the Free World", and I'm kind of afraid that's going to happen again. What they need to do is play a goddamned gig in Boston and beat the songs into my head live.
Nine Inch Nails - The Slip is free, and kind of worth it? I love that he rationalizes "This one's on me", which is EXACTLY how I rationalized taking In Rainbows for free - like a frequent buyer punch card. But is it good? The hyper-aggro-industrial-"March of the Pigs" first half does nothing for me, the lush-dreamy-ambient-balladry-pop-trance-"A Warm Place" second half is absolute godhead. The halves are starting to fit together - would the second half be as amazing without the assault of the first half? I think not.
I've Hype Machined the bottom half of the Lollapalooza poster, and not much at all has jumped out at me. I keep liking the Tally Hall songs, I will definitely checkout Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves [holy crap - they're local? And on tomorrow's DCFC bill? Allston rock city represent!] as long as there's no major conflicts, and I just heard Foals today and might have to search them out. Mostly, there's going to be a lot of bottom tier acts to avoid.
So last week, before I got sick, was the big noise pop show at the Orpheum. Modest Mouse, Man Man and Love as Laughter. I didn't bother to take pictures because I was in row N of the orchestra and knew that they wouldn't come out from back there.
A few weeks ago I was starting to try and figure out what makes some indie rock bands better than others. Love as Laughter were fine musicians, but were missing that something that would make them above average. I just kind of sat there.
Man Man, however. My God. If you are a band of six men dressed in white, banging on anything available for 40 minutes, chant-singing, running around - well, you only are one of the best bands ever. It was actually slightly reminiscent of another "man group", only without the theatrics. I'm not sure about running out and buying their records [I can't imagine it's the same at home alone], but would I go see them again? THE ANSWER IS YES. AND I WOULD ALSO HIRE THEM TO PLAY MY WEDDING!
Modest Mouse. This is how I define what makes some indie rock bands better than others: Would I suck the DNA out of the lead singer?
So I wasn't a total fangurl, mostly because at row N, it's a little tough to get worked up about a boy. There was dancing and singing along a plenty through the first 2/3 of the set. Johnny Marr was there too, and looked like he was having fun. Also, he looked really old. He got to take some of the between-song banter while Isaac smoked. I think that was my only complaint: it was song - everybody move around, change instruments, tune things, towel off, drink, smoke, say hi to the audience - then play another song.
Once they hit "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" all of that changed. That shit was scorching. That must have been 15 minutes of awesomeness - after the song proper, including top-of-lungs sing-a-long we then got the jamming, the incoherent ranting, only to have it start right up again with "Doin' the Cockroach". This was the moment I had been waiting for, this was the bliss.
Half the encore ["Bury Me With It"] was amazing, but it didn't really matter by then as I was pretty spent. I was hoping for "Out of Gas" or "Cowboy Dan", but they're not playing them this tour. Still, it was most of what I hoped it would be, once things got moving. Will I go see Modest Mouse at Lollapalooza this year? THE ANSWER IS THEIR SET SHOULD JUST BE A 45 MINUTE TINY CITIES.
