bigideas

If his buzz is diminished, it is by his own doing imo.

He was high around Illinoise and then was part of the soundtrack for the hugely popular film, Little Miss Sunshine.

I believe when he finally came back around circa Age of Adz, he said he was sick or something though.

I was just not that crazy about the Age of Adz. I was glad he was back, but his choice of more 'cheesy' electronic sounds as opposed to analog

electronic sounds was not really my cup of tea.

I will definitely get the album when it comes out.

The albums that have found a serious spot in my psyche: Lydia Loveless, the Eels, Jack White.  I'm surprised by the lack of enthusiasm for Jack White in this thread.  I think Lazaretto improves upon Blunderbuss, which was strong but perhaps a tad monotonous.  Each track on the new one has a distinct, catchy personality, and plenty of unusual stuff going on without ever losing sight of the distinct melody.  To these ears, it's the best thing Jack's done since Get Behind Me Satan, the Stripes album that this new record most resembles.

Hmm, I think Lazaretto is alright, but there are too many 'simple' songs like the opener and Just One Drink. Then the last song says 'who' too much. Hehe.

Good to see that so many like Real Estate - Atlas

It seems to be barely making a mark in the Year End lists overall that MetaCritic has compiled.

I think Atlas is much better than Days. It was hard for me to make it through that album.

I really like Atlas, but I have made an alternate tracklisting that I like better.

The instrumental is a song too early for me.

I'm not seeing Swans on anybody's list. I've had it for months, but still haven't listened to it. It's a double album with some tracks 20 mins +, so it seems too daunting to tackle. Ha.

If anyone comes across a good deal on the Complete Basement Tapes set, please, let me know!

To me, I think it would be more reasonable in the $50-$60 range - that is sight unseen.

I don't think were any super great deals on it during Black Friday.

Yeah - a really cool guy opened a vinyl shop a few years ago. He buys big lots and storage, collections, etc.

You take him a huge stack of records and he may ask $25.

When it first opened, I would see just about any Neil Young or Dylan album.

As more and more people found out about it, stuff thinned out.

People bought the Young/Dylan so much that he had to increase the price on them.

He also started selling the ones that are probably worth more on eBay and Discogs.

Just went for the first time the other week and I think the only Young I saw was the one I have seen the most in my crate digging - Re-ac-tor.

The last 5 years with the vinyl 'boom' has made it much harder.

That is what I liked about the format 10 years ago - I could get albums by artists I liked in the most popular format of the time and for cheap.

Now vinyl for a 2014 album is ridiculously priced at $25-$35.

I will keep buying mostly CD's. I would rather get a few albums on CD than 1 album on vinyl.

The way to really get me to go for vinyl of new things is to have exclusives.

To really, really get me, would be to have an additional CD copy included for little to no extra cost.

I guess it is ok to younger kids because they are so used to the free/download culture. They just buy a few albums they really like on vinyl and have the rest digitally.

Trying to think what Young albums I have on vinyl:

On the Beach - I think $1 or so. It was in a cheap bin. I'm guessing because the jacket had water damage and the sleeve was for another album. The record is in great shape though.

Re-ac-tor - These are usually pretty cheap since I guess no one wanted them.

Everyone Knows This is Nowhere - don't remember what I paid for this or the quality. Been a while. I imagine $5 or less.

After the Gold Rush - same as Everyone

My other problem with the vinyl format is the players themselves - or at least the ones I have. Now that it is popular again I don't think it's very easy to go and by a decent used one anymore.

So if you order both that would be another $8.50?

That is a rip imo.

The ad leads you to believe it is all in the quoted price, just like every other bonus any Best Buy-esque store has ever done.

I hope this is not a new trend. Instead of shipping store bonuses to store, making the customer shell out more just to get it.

Has anyone bought the new McCartney/Wings at Best Buy this week?

Their ad talks about 'vinyl singles.'

Called up the local store and they had no idea. Tried to tell me it was a download. Nope.

E-mailed BB through their website. The response leads me to believe that it was outsourced to a foreign country - response didn't really make sense.

Briefly saw on Hoffman forum that you might have to pay to have the singles shipped to you?

I've never heard of that - paying more somewhere just to get the opportunity to pay to get something shipped to you. Anyone know?

I just started listening to it the other day. There are some great songs on there.

There are about 3 songs in the first half where the bass falls in that familiar eighth note playing the root of the chord thing.

This probably contributes to people saying some of it is 'same-y.'

Coldplay's first 3 or 4 albums had that same thing in the bass. It just bugs me.

The second half has more active basslines, and with a quick look at the Wikipedia credits, those were solely produced by Danger Mouse.

He may have played bass on those.

Track 10 is a lot like what I associate with Danger Mouse. To me, if you took Bono's vocals off and had put Dan Auerbach's on there, it would fit right in on Turn Blue.

Love the synths on Track 9.

I'm sure I will easily like this album more than Atom Bomb. I have never gotten into that one.

Raised By Wolves - are all these vocals done by Bono? I have yet to read much about the sessions. I really hate that they sampled his voice and put Auto Tune on it. The 'raised by wolves' part took me off guard the first time. It almost sounds like Anthony Kiedis to me.

I'm really surprised that Volcano is not a single. Surely it will be a future one if they keep promoting the record.

There could be a really good record within these sessions. It may be a little better just by changing the track order.

But for people to have this overwhelming negative reaction to it is silly.

I doubt many of those complaining gave any time to actually listening to it.

The big question is - why does the Apple deal seem to only scathe U2?

Hello - Apple made and offered the deal.

What makes Apple so untouchable?

I have wanted The PIxies discography for a long time, but I put it off thinking they would re-release their albums with bonus tracks, etc.

Finally the time has come.

Pearl Jam played all of No Code last night in Moline, IL. Pretty cool. Only the second time they've ever played any of their albums all the way through (They played Ten straight through in 1992). Lucky crowd out there. Anybody seen their show this year? Nostalgia rock?

That is my favorite album of theirs. So they didn't announce that they would do it, just showed up and did it?

I wonder how they pull off those weird/experimental tracks live. They used to have at least one on about 3 or 4 albums in a row.

Which original cover are you talking about?  The LP/CD version of them with the carnival and circus folks on the cover?  Or a bootleg or what?

 

LouieB

The one with the group of people/characters in a basement.

Didn't Jay Z's last album come with phones or something?

Did it have the same reaction?

I haven't heard the U2 album. I haven't bought anything from iTunes in over 5 years and never downloaded it to my latest laptop. I was able to sign in on my phone and the U2 album was there along with the few songs I downloaded all those years ago.

My main listen is via CD, so I will probably just wait until the physical release comes out and see the options then. I wonder if the plain CD without bonus tracks will be sold super cheap since most people got it free anyway.

On the other hand, I guess that can be said for most music anyway since people illegally download so much.

Is this that much different from pre-album streaming that is done a lot now? Instead of just streaming, they let you download and keep it if you want.

I never bothered downloading the single from earlier this year since I figured it would be on the album anyway, but they left it off.

I'm not reading much about Danger Mouse, so he must not have done much to change their sound.

I really like the new album. The flow works better for me by switching tracks 3 & 8. Shadows sounds like 80's U2 to me. His vocals sound like Bono.

The Jacksonville 7" has 3 songs unrelated to the self-titled. 2 are basically what most people would categorize his music to be. The 3rd sounds like a joke studio improv. It makes me laugh though.

I finally bought The Basement Tapes earlier this year, so it's fitting.

Wow, so $20 per CD and lets say the book is $30. Seems too much, but the little cover picture doesn't show any detail.

Very boring cover in contrast to the 1975 album cover.

Weird how they don't capitalize the 'do' in "All You Have to do is Dream".

I would think it was a cover of The Everly Bros, but it must have been bootlegged since there seem to be lyrics online and it is an original song.

So how does that even work?

Before you can leave with your camera, they get to make copies of the photo files?

If shooting film, you have to mail them prints?

After my last post I came across a recent Steve Hoffman board track by track discussion on Self Portrait that was a good read imo.

In all that reading I still don't think I ever found out why All the Tired Horses only features a group of women singers and one repeated phrase. I guess I will have to read through my Another SP booklet.

Most Dylan albums have thorough track by track entries on Wikipedia, but I guess no one cares enough about Self Portrait to do that there.

If I have Biograph, all 60's/most 70's studio albums, Witmark and ASP, is Bootleg 1-3 still worth getting?

I finally decided to bite on Self Portrait when I saw it for $3.99 at Hasting's. It rung up for $2.99.

I can't believe people call this one of the worst albums of all time. It is kinda weird how it shuffles around with his various

vocals of the period, but it basically sounds like a mix of Skyline/Harding/Morning/Pat G soundtrack.

The first song that is weird for me is the Sadie where he keeps modulating keys. That is just strange.

He has the super annoying vocals (to me) going on the live Quinn.

I've never heard the original artist's version of Days of 49, but Dylan's is great.

The Boxer cover could've been really good. I take it is himself doubling his vocals and harmonizing. I'm not aware of him

doing that in any other case. It sounds like he did about a 1 take through for the doubling, because he frequently doesn't match up.

If he had taken his time and really synced it up, it would have been very good.

I knew Wigwam from the Royal T soundtrack. I love that arrangement.

I don't understand why the single's streams are being taken down.

I don't see any official YouTube videos.

Oddly enough, I did see 2 videos for the b-side.

I think Ryan Adams Archive bit the dust. There was also a really detailed gigography site, and I think it's gone, too.

Did the site like that for Wilco also disappear?

I don't think I was ever able to listen to The Terror all the way through, and I am very patient about listening to full albums in one sitting. I think it was the track order, something about the way the album starts makes it hard for me to keep going. It may need one of the 'peppier' tracks up front. I liked the long song though.

Anywho, I saw the 7 Skies H3 50 min CD version in the store and I was curious about it. There are hardly any reviews of it online. The local Hasting's had probably 7 copies. I don't see how they would ever sell even that many.

Has anyone heard it?

How much vocals are on it?

I have no interest in listening to the 24 hour version. =)

Unfortunately it's a limited RSD 7", so either I won't be able to get it, or it will be overpriced.

A 7" shouldn't cost over $5 imo.

I wanted the Iron & Wine one last year, and St Vincent Krokodil, but by the time I would get these shipped to me, it's probably $10 or more and that's if someone has jacked up the price.

$5 per track is a cruddy deal.

I don't know if they release these digitally as well or not.

First listen, I hated it. The first song-y song (trk 2) starts with the same chord as The Golden Age. Sounds like it was recorded in exactly the same way. The song is even arranged almost exactly like that song. If he didn't call Nigel Godrich up to ask what equipment was used, he paid a lot of attention and remembered. The 4th trk even reminds me a lot of Already Dead - others have similar strumming patterns, etc.

But then, after listening through it more, I am really liking it. The craft of a great album from beginning to end, is something to behold.

It's still early, but I am longing to listen to it again.

Sometimes I think the rhythm section is a little too reserved.

You could probably take the rhythm section out of some songs, and after syncing the tempo, you could align them with SC tracks.

Is Blackbird Chain the only song with a moving bassline?

I don't seem to dislike any tracks. Not sure I can say the same about Sea Change - it's been a while.

Maybe Sea Change has some greater highs, but MP is more solid throughout?

Too early to say.

I did thing I would quickly dismiss it, but that has not been the case.

I got this and St Vincent on the same day and I have yet to unwrap SV yet.

Trying to give albums more time this year instead of moving on quickly.

He's actually done quite a bit of music - it just shows how valuable the LP is opposed to one off singles, soundtracks, etc.

Like with the Lips - they put out a ton after Embryonic, but I have only gotten The Terror. If it's not easy to get, I usually don't.

Beck put out 3 12" last year. I actually think the tracks sounded pretty good, I just don't want to buy all the songs separate.

He also had some released with a video game, too, pretty recently.

He contributed tracks to the Scott Pilgrim soundtrack.

He did some orchestral stuff, remixes, and more.

If they made a compilation and put it all together I would probably get it, but it's just too all over the place.

When they announced this new album, they said there could be another out before the year is over.

I'm not too crazy about the album cover though.

If I didn't enjoy the recent Fallon performance, does that mean I probably wouldn't dig the rest of the album?

Finally picked up The Basement Tapes.

It would be fun to make a single album from just the Dylan fronted tunes.

Interesting to hear Bob use voices from different eras/albums over the different tracks.

It got me to thinking - the slurred voice that will have trouble singing in time, think "Million Dollar Bash," and is what he uses pretty much

on all of Blonde on Blonde and kept me at arm's length on that one for a while.

I wonder if that is the influence of drink or drug while recording.

R.E.M. Accelerate.  It gave me a headache the first time through.  There was no second time through.  The songs sounded okay live, but the CD was just awful.

Adventures in Hi-Fi - I know it was recorded part in studio / part in sound checks, etc., but I can barely listen to half of the songs.

Any rather recent recordings that put minor (supposed to be hidden) Auto-Tune all over vocals. I'm not talking about T-Pain sound, but when people try to use it in a way closer to the original intent - unnoticeable and to correct minor pitch problems - but use it on the entire vocal.

Being There dates itself some with the odd vocal effects choices that are most associated with the 90's. Other than that, I don't remember it sounding bad, and especially not ST or YHF.

Donald Fagen - The Nightfly / I came to it because it was listed in one of the best recorded albums of all time in a recording magazine. I bought a CD that was probably made in the 80's and there is ZERO bass. Even in my vehicle which pushes bass too much, I barely hear any bass. I think this album is what some engineers use to test sound systems, so this is something I have wondered about:

Are a lot of CD's pressed in the 80's mastered poorly with little bass presence?