jakobnicholas

These discs sound potentially great. Tweedy, Stirrat and Sansone each writing a brand new song? Wow.

Selfishly, I hoped Lisa Germano would have a new song, but nice to see her song "Reptile" included.

She was on KCRW a few years ago and sang a nice set on Nic Harcourt's show. After a brief opening interview, she starts her set with "Reptile":

http://www.kcrw.com/music/programs/mb/mb980721lisa_germano

Some great ones have been mentioned.

I'll add:

"It's Oh So Quiet" - Bjork

"Buddy Holly" - Weezer

"Imitation of Life" - R.E.M.

"There There" - Radiohead

"Hardest Button to Button" - White Stripes

But what about it?

Besides that Sarah Palin bathes in the nude to that song.

I like the simple percussion and wood block (?) beat. There's an eerie sound (Mellotron?) throughout that's almost ghostly. I like the piano and Jeff's bare, whispery voice. It's just a beautiful-sounding song. The lyrics can be interpreted however one wants, but I think of it as a guy in a rut. And not really bothered by that. His girlfriend is as well. She leaves (?). But the end of the song is hopeful...people out in the streets. I assume the guy is gonna get out of his mess.

If that's not a good enough reason, tough!

All digital retailers now have the new 3-song Flaming Lips EP, appropriately titled, "SONGS FROM THE FUTURE ALBUM EMBRYONIC".

The songs will be on their album in the Fall. The 30-second itunes teaser for each song sounds promising. I may have to buy these. Here's the song titles:

“Convinced of The Hex”

“The Impulse”

“Silver Trembling Hands”

Can someone please explain to me why you would voluntarily listen to this?

Because I like it.

1. Either Way

2. You Are My Face

3. One True Vine

4. Impossible Germany

5. Country Disappeared

6. Leave Me (Like You Found Me)

7. Bull Black Nova

8. One Wing

9. Solitaire

10. Side With The Seeds

11. Sky Blue Sky

12. On and On and On

Bonus song. Wilco (The Song)

So long as she's alive and breathing and giving speeches at $20k a pop, there's a chance enough people might still think she's electable. That scares the fuck out of me, thank you.

Good point. Al Franken scared the fuck out of me, and he got elected.

Shouldn't we be discussing truely humorous issues? Like the "cash for clunkers"? Now that's a joke.

Amen.

I know MANY people, including myself, who have old cars that could qualify for Cash for Clunkers, EXCEPT the mpg don't make the government qualification. The government needs your old car to get 18mpg or less. If you look at the chart, NO regular-sized car qualifies. It's only trucks or vans or SUV's.

So, poor people with old vans are gonna benefit from this? Are they better off getting a brand new $17000 car with a $4500 discount? Wouldn't it be cheaper for those people to trade in for a good used car?

I can see many wealthy SUV owners trading in to get $3500 off a spanking new, better-mileaged SUV.

jakobnicholas, if you don't understand why "it bothers so many people," I am not sure you get the Big Picture either. This woman with no understanding of anything was nominated by the Republican Party to be a heart attack away from being the country's President. The fact that she lost is almost irrelevant.

See, it's happening on this board.

I slightly defend Palin, and 2 quick responses suggest that had Palin been elected, our country would have spiraled into a black hole. Drop it people! She didn't make it.

We saw our freakin' democracy in action. Palin was announced by McCain. People got excited. She gave a fantastic speech at the GOP convention. But then the media did their job and exposed her. And the U.S. people felt uneasy about her. People were uneasy about McCain's age.

So guess what? Barack Obama got elected by a HUGE margin.

You all don't seem to realize that many Conservatives were equally terrified that a young, smooth-talking Senator from Chicago, with basically 1 year experience, actually DID get elected. Why is OK to be freaked out by a retired Alaskan Governor who can now make zero decisions, but yet it's never OK to wonder if Obama is in over his head?

I think you all must work the ass-kissers at MSNBC.

That Joke was very funny. I'm sorry to disagree, but it is almost always what she says that does not make sense. She frequently does not know the details, but more often than not she is also unaware of the big picture.

I'm not gonna disagree with you. She DOESN'T seem to get the big picture many times. That's why McCain and her went down in flames. That's why she has ZERO chance of being on the 2012 ticket.

I don't understand why it bothers so many people that a retired Alaskan Governor may or may not understand world politics and may or may not be stupid. What power does she have? What power did she ever have?

Yeah, millions of Americans love her and like her. That may turn your stomach. But she's not making any decisions. Maybe she'll be another Limbaugh or O'Reilly or Coulter....big deal! The whole lot of Conservative talk-show hosts couldn't stop Obama and Biden and a slew of Democrats get elected.

I just don't get the mean and nasty way people talk about her. Chill out folks! She's not deciding anything that will effect your life.

Yeah, this song DOES seem a little unappreciated by fans and the band alike.

I'd put this in the same league as NothingsEverGonnaStantInMyWay or Heavy Metal Drummer....good, simple, straight-forward rockers that are fun live.

Thinking of this makes me remember how great Wilco's Mermaid Ave contributions were. Bragg offered A LOT on MA1, but Wilco's songs are about the only reason to get MA2.

Airline to Heaven, Secrets of the Sea, Feed of Man, Remember the Mountain Bed, Joe Dimaggio, Blood of the Lamb, Someday Some Morning.....that's solid!

I don't think Joe Biden is dumb. And he no doubt is much more knowledgable than Palin on most things in the political world (shouldn't he be, considering his age and experience?).

But his gaffes and blunders shouldn't be thought of as worse than Palin's blunders. Afterall, he IS the VICE PRESIDENT. Palin most likely will be a writer and/or TV personality. I'm OK with her being more stupid.

Biden's had some doozies. The quote about people watching FDR on TV during the 1929 stock market crash (wrong President, and no TV's at the time) is pretty dumb, don't ya think? I'd argue it's worse, because I think he knew he didn't have the details right, but said them anyway, knowing most listening (including Couric) would eat that shit up.

Palin DOES sound out of her league many times. But not so much in what she says, but what she DOESN'T say. It's too obvious many times that she doesn't know the details, and ends up simplifying her words and stammering a little bit. But I think she'll get better at that. Biden, to me, seems almost manipulative in how he talks...mixing facts with made-up details....whatever it takes to make people think what he's saying is wonderful.

This a GREAT Conan joke from last week:

Yesterday, Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game and afterwards, he had a five-minute phone conversation with President Obama. Meanwhile, the losing pitcher got a two-hour phone call from Joe Biden.

Summerteeth ain't perfect, but it's very close. My thoughts in bold:

While I consider ST to be an excellent album, here are some things that keep ST out of my "perfect album" category...

 

- We're Just Friends (boring song) Agree. For me, it's the Radio Cure of Summerteeth.

- Alt version of Shot in the arm, alt versions on albums drive me nuts! It's a bonus song. Doesn't bother me at all.

- In a Future Age (Tweedy's solo version I enjoy, but the album version not so much) Tweedy's solo IS great. But the album version is kinda haunting, which I like.

- When You Wake Up Feeling Old not being a pure honky tonk country tune That'd be interesting. But I like the Sgt. Pepper-ish sound of it.

- Lack of a rocking, grab you by the neck rock song Always In Love works for me. ELT also.

It's been a decent list so far, when taking the writer's explanation into account.

But I think his choice of "Heavy Metal Drummer" as #7 is his first major dud. "Drummer" is a good song, no doubt. And it's a nice song to hear in a live setting. But I'm not sure it'd be in my Top 5 songs on YHF.

Much of my CD listening is in a car, popping in a disc while working, or working on something at home, usually on a desk or table. And I usually keep the cd case nearby.

It's a huge pet peeve of mine when the song titles, with #'s beside them, are not listed on the back of the cd case. Neko Case's "Middle Cyclone" is a good example. It took me awhile to soak in that cd, and I like being able to hear a song, and then easily see the song title. With "Cyclone", I have to open the case, get the booklet out of the cardboard pouch, flip throuth the book and try to see which song it is. And even in the booklet the songs aren't numbered. So I have to count each page to make sure I'm identifying the right song. If I'm in my car, that's a lot to ask.

Wilco, for the most part, get it. The back of their albums have, however small, a top-to-bottom listing of the songs with the number next to it. Wilco (The Album) doesn't have the # by the title, but with 11 songs, it's still easy to read.

Other discs have cool graphics, incorporating the song titles. Sometimes it looks cool, but takes forever to read or to figure out which order they go in and I've nearly crashed the car trying to figure out the song titles on Jim O'Rourke's "Insignificance".

I think I'll always say Being There is my favorite Wilco record, but every time I listen to Summerteeth I'm not always sure about that.

We elected a Bush three times, so I most certainly do not under-estimate the stupidity of the American electorate, no matter who they are.

Typical elitist, liberal thought process.

The Onion's awesome. Absolutely hilarious stuff.

Curious if anyone's been watching Conan's Tonight Show.

It's decent, but something just seems not right. Conan doesn't seem as funny and/or loose all the time. The monologue isn't good. The bits are getting better. I like when Andy's involved. Some of the bits have been lamer than what I remember on Late Night. I don't know. Conan will probably find his groove. But it doesn't seem he's found it yet.

This has been a fun list to follow. I like reading his key lines and the reason he likes the song.

I'm OK with Wilco (The Song) making the list.

I'm very curious what's #1. These 10 are still left and I'd not have a problem with any of them ranking high on the list:

- Hell is Chrome

- All the Same To Me

- Ashes of American Flags

- Fatal Wound

- Dash 7

- Poor Places

- At Least That's What You Said

- Magazine Called Sunset

- Pieholden Suite

- Lonely One

It's all subjective but fun to debate anyways:

 

The original debate is comparing Wilco and REM. I never stopped liking REM, there are songs I like on every record. I just think as a rule anything after LRP does not compete with Wilco's albums. I don't even kind of get excited when REM puts out a new album, but I still do for Wilco.

 

I think Wilco's post YHF work is as good (better in the case of AGIB) as the pre YHF work, I know that is contrary to many (most?) people on this board.

 

No way Green, Out of Time and Automatic are in the same league as the early records.

I guess I have hard time understanding why Life's Rich Pageant specifically is the cutoff for when R.E.M. starting going bad. I like LFR better than the next album, Document, but not by much. Document is very solid and doesn't seem quite the jump that I can understand some thinking R.E.M. took with Green (though I disagree....Green is lyrically more direct and straight-forward, but has similar pop sounds existent on previous records. If Green only had 'World Leader Pretend', 'Wrong Child', 'Orange Crush' and the 'Untitled 11th song' I'd still like the album.)

Your comment about Wilco's post-YHF stuff being as good as the pre-YHF stuff I just disagree with in a huge way. But yes, it's fun to talk about.

I think that REM also continually sought out commercial success (top 40 airplay)... more than Wilco ever has (not to say that they won't in the future). I think that you saw REM make a concerted effort in the late 80's to try and make a top 40 hit song.... Both with most of the music on the "green album" and then obviously succeeding with Losing my Religion. So I think it is a hard comparison at this point, because Wilco has yet to give up their scruples for a hit record... I think that REM did... I think that REM finally said "ok, we need to make some money at this..." and they released "Out of Time" (you think that album title was a coincidence?? Ha

 

my 2 pennies!

I don't think it's ever been R.E.M.'s intent to "try and make a top 40 hit song". They had a goal, like all bands, for as many people as possible hearing their music. If that happened to mean a song of theirs cracked the Top 40, then that's only a good thing because that means more people will hear it. The guys in R.E.M. definitely liked a good poppy sound. But making pop records shouldn't mean that a band is selling out. Had Big Star's first album had 3 top-40 hits, would that lessen the greatness of that record? I say definitely no.

Some on this board mention how they stopped liking R.E.M. after Life's Rich Pageant. Well it was that album that had "Fall On Me", a pretty big hit. Musically, most of that album is very pop sounding, but Stipe's lyrics were still pretty vague and mysterirous.

Did R.E.M. start getting bad with Document because of "The One I Love" and "It's The End of The World..."? Was R.E.M. in decline because their music wasn't any good, or because they had 2 big hits and made the cover of Rolling Stone?

Personally, I'd put Green, Out of Time and Automatic in the same league as early R.E.M. records.

As for Wilco not seeking out commercial success....PLEASE! The VW ads, the various appearances on all sorts of radio and tv shows, songs in movie soundtracks and tv programs, etc. I think actually that Wilco has used R.E.M.'s model of how to build a fan base and how to get their music heard. I don't think either band is guilty of "giving up their scruples". To me, they both seem to have always made the music they wanted to make, with the goal of as many people hearing it as possible.

R.E.M. has the better guitarist, Buck. Wilco has the better drummer, though Berry contributed a lot to the songwriting.

 

--Mike

It could be debated on how good of a guitarist Buck is when compared to Cline, Bennett and Tweedy.

But Peter Buck's overall talents as a musician....writer, producer AND player, might top all of them. First, his jangly guitar IS the sound of R.E.M...his guitar sound is very distinct. Buck's been part of SO MANY great artist's records. He played on a song on the Replacement's 'Let it Be'. He produced and helped arrange Uncle Tupelo's "March '92" album. He was a big part of the Hindu Love Gods. He's a big part of the Minus 5, Baseball Project, Hitchcock and the Venus 3, and Tuatara. He's co-written MANY great songs outside of R.E.M., including songs for the Minus 5, Marc Eitzel (co-wrote 'West'...a very good record), and a few beautiful Eels songs. He's played on hundredes (thousands?) of others. If a discography of songs associated with Peter Buck was put out, I'd shell out whatever dough to have it.

As for Bill Berry, I won't be good at articulating why he was so important to R.E.M., but it's very clear that something major has been amiss since his departure. Stipe, Mills and Buck have said as much. Kotche may be a better technical drummer...I have no idea. But I've read many times over the years how Berry was instrumental in fleshing out the songs in studio with Mills and Buck. It seems Berry had a good feel for what would make a song great and unique.

Sort of like they did and continue to do with Bush? Find me one media outlet that has actually used the word “torture” in relation to his Admin giving the ok to do just that. And then, when you’re done doing that – please find me examples of the MSM asking tough questions in relation to the lead up to the war in Iraq and the myriad other scandals he, along with his Administration, was involved with.

 

Please?

 

There are two ways in which to defend someone, 1.) actively defend their flaws/lies/etc, or 2.) simply decline to point them out.

I just thought it was a funny photo and it's funny watching a video of an ABC reporter breaking down the footage in slow-mo, like Howie Long on NFL Sunday, to explain why Obama WAS ABSOLUTELY NOT looking at a smoking hot behind. None of us will EVER know if Obama was looking at her butt or not. And none of us care. But still some defend it. That's funny to me.

I know...you think Bush was a torturist and should be hanged by his balls. But that's not the point of this topic.

Holy shit, we're collectively starved for things to talk about.

Yeah, that's evident in the thread about an Alaskan Governor resigning. 150+ responses so far!