Killer Whales

I actually think Pedal Steel is my favorite instrument, so here's some choice picks

Ryan Adams - Magnolia Mountain

My Morning Jacket - Golden

Flying Burrito Brothers - Sin City (everything by them is pretty great)

CSNY - Helpless (Simple, but I've always loved it)

Loretta Lynn - Trouble On the Line (And all of Van Lear Rose)

Also, although it just came out last week, the pedal steel solo in Hazards of Love Pt. 4 by the Decemberists is amazing

My friends little sister is in love with Walken ("Mom, play walkensong!") and Theologians, which is hilarious to hear a 3 year old say.

She also LOVES Spiders, which is weird

I got into this band way late, only at the Crane Wife album, then I backtracked and got the others and I totally fell for their literate, shiny pop. I have not heard the new one yet but if, like Solace said, it is a continuation of the style of the last album I know it will get a lot of airplay around mi casa.

Oh, and I've been describing this album as a 60 minute version of The Tain as opposed to a continuation of The Crane Wife. The heavier moments seem more inspired by Black Sabbath as opposed to Yes in the same way as The Tain, and The Crane Wife contains too many pop moments for me to see as much in common. Even the Crane Wife Pts 1, 2 & 3 are just simple (but beautiful) pop songs with an overlying story. It's quite a step away from the sludge of The Queen's Rebuke.

Wow, I mean...wtf. I lost interest like two sentences in but kept on reading anyway...Still don't have a clue what's happening though.

It's a pretty ridiculous story that strives to be of Lord of the Rings caliber. It does come up a little short, but its really interesting and well done. I do have a couple questions that maybe someone could help me out with. First of all, I'm sort of unsure about the beginning of the story. It's clear that William pretends to be a fawn in the forest to lure Margaret, whom he fell in love with, and when she finds him, he becomes a human. Then I'm a little unsure.. does he rape her or does she fall in love immediately when he becomes a man. He clearly impregnates her, and by Hazard's of Love 2, they're clearly in love, but the beginning of their relationship is a little unclear.

Also, does the Queen order the Rake to steal Margaret? I thought he was just an evil man and stole her, and when the Queen finds out as he tries to cross the river, she decides to help him steal her to break her son's heart. The line of best fit article says otherwise, but I was never under the impression that The Rake and the Queen had any relationship prior to the crossing of the river.

All that pretentious plot stuff aside, I think the story has more humor that people see. Rake's Song is bittingly funny, Isn't It a Lovely Night is a classic take on love duets in musicals, and a lot of metal songs seem to be a little tongue in cheek in reference to classic metal, albeit, very convincingly done. Either way, great album

On first couple listens I hated it, but now I think it's great and ranks among their best albums (although I've never been able to pick a favorite). I picked up the albums today after listening to the leak for a while and followed it along with the lyric booklet. Needless to say, the story within is very cool and makes the last track all the more heartbreaking.

Had tickets to see The Decemberists for a "long of it" show that eventually got cancelled. I was seriously bummed out about that one because the first show of the tour the setlist was something like:

The Crane Wife >

The Island

The Bagman's Gambit

The Tain

California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade

Mariner's Revenge Song

E:Echoes (Pink Floyd)

I Was Meant for the Stage

Also, just this weekend I missed seeing Zach Gailifinakis.

Weezer - ...Ipreferably the Tremont Music Hall (general admission capacity around 1,000). Wow, now that was an awesome show.. It was their first tour after Pinkerton...

God I would've loved to see them on that tour. It's really too bad that dvd they released however many years ago contains next to zero actual live footage from that period

Bruce Springsteen

Wilco

Radiohead (Hail to the Thief tour)

My Morning Jacket

Okkervil River

Honorable mentions to The Hold Steady and Pearl Jam

Really? I've heard his stuff with Bela Fleck and I would imagine that even solo he'd still be awesome. Granted, this is in the "I like to see bass solos the whole time" sort of way, so I can see it, but if you listen to his solo on the "Live at the Quick" album his Improv/Amazing Grace bit is solid gold.

Yeah, I would've liked the show if it was bass solos I think, but I'm not even that wild about his playing in general. The worst part was that it was in support of his album Soul Circus which is basically really bad R&B with lots of lame vocals and lamer lyrics. Check out the song "Victa" if you don't believe me.

That's too bad, because they can be great live. I haven't seen them with Neko yet, but I have really enjoyed the two shows I saw them play (both pre-Challengers).

Yeah, I saw them open for Belle and Sebastian after Twin Cinemas came out and it was very solid, although still missing something since Neko wasn't there. However, the show at Berklee was pretty atrocious in that it was organized poorly and the setlist was lacking (I like Challengers a lot, but come on...). Neko and Dan not being there was just the icing.

The New Pornographers - No Neko or Dan, and they only played for 45 minutes because Berklee College of Music, who organized the show, decided to have Berklee students play for an hour to open the show. The also only played 2 non-Challengers songs (Use It and Spanish Techno)

The Police - Saw them at Bonnaroo, and while it was fun to hear the hits, it was wildly unimpressive, and I can't believe how much some people paid to see them.

Victor Wooten - I went for free, but it still sucked pretty hard.

I'm halfway through my first listen, and it's definitely not leaping out as much as Lie Down in the Light did at first, but we'll see what happens. The songs are definitely really solid, but there are some questionable choices as far as production goes. The first track is just too big, the sax on My Life's Work, and some of the flanger effects on the electric guitar are unnecessary.

Halfway through though, and You Are Lost is the definite highlight for me, along with You Can't Hurt Me Now

If anyone knows where to find this a PM would be much appreciated!

edit: Thanks! Really looking forward to listening to this!

I kind of took this thread as choosing the song that best describes the overall sound of each album, and what the band was trying to go for at that time.

AM: Pick Up the Change - It best exemplifies the laid-back country rock they were going for and showed Jeff Tweedy's lower register of vocals that he rarely used with UT as well as a fantastic melody. I could've easily picked I Must Be High for this one too, but I just happen to like Pick Up the Change more.

Being There: Sunken Treasure - It has those dark puzzling lyrics that were never very evident in Tweedy's work before, but for which he's become known for. It's also one of their first ventures into noisier music.

Summerteeth: Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway (again) - It matches the dark lyrics and upbeat melodies this album is known for and also has an unbelievable amount of layers on it.

YHF: IATTBYH - This one's pretty self-explanatory. One of their greatest songs that sums up the sound they were going for in what was probably the greatest period of their career.

A Ghost is Born: Hell is Chrome - This one was kind of tough, but with it's whispered lyrics, feedback-laced guitar solo, and simple, but perfect arrangement, it has to be this.

Sky Blue Sky: What Light - This one was also kind of tough, but when I watch both Sunken Treasure and the SBS bonus dvd, it seems like this song encapsulates a lot of the ideas Jeff had at the time about his music. He said he "just wants to write some fucking songs" and that's what this is. There's no pretension about it, and at the end of the day, it's just a pretty little song, which is undoubtedly what they were going for with this record.

Margaret Vs. Pauline is amazing... as are John Saw That Number, Maybe Sparrow and Hold On, Hold On.

 

edit: Teenage Feeling too

edit: The Needle Has Landed and the title track too

i tried to listen to it at work and realized my problem with it at this point... it's kind of a sleepy album... maybe i need to listen more late at night

Makes sense. People Got a Lotta Nerve, I'm An Animal and Red Tide are the only songs I could even consider upbeat, and even some of those are barely. I listened to the album while walking in a snow-storm in Boston last night and it really fit

Part of me hopes I'm in it, but the other part of me is afraid I'll look like the backstage guy in IATTBYH: "Is your new album more like A.M. or more like Summer TEETH?"

The way he says that and his ridiculous smile after saying "teeth" makes me crack up every time

I've listened to it a good 5 or 6 times now, and I've gotta say, I love it. I can't decide how it stack up against Fox Confessor, but I can safely say it's on par with Blacklisted and Furnace Room Lullaby. The only track that doesn't do much for me is Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth, but that's a cover so I'll cut it some slack. The songs that I'm really loving right now are The Pharaohs and Middle Cyclone. This is definitely an early contender for my favorite album of the year.

Me too - and that is really the album to get.

Not to say I don't love Blacklisted, because I do, but a lot of it is a little same-y sounding. Fox Confessor has always been my favorit

i *DO* like it, it's just not blowing me away like the last 2 did on first listen right out of the gate... i really do hope i come around on it and wind up loving it to death, cuz Neko is my fave female singer/songwriter post '00, much like M. Ward is the male (or overall) counterpart.

Ah well that's good to hear.

It's also good to hear Mr. Ward show up on a couple songs. I think he's singing on I'm an Animal and I'm also pretty sure that's his electric guitar on Magpie

Alright, despite what a lot of you are saying, I love this album. The only track I'm not sure about yet is the longest song on the record, Prison Girls. I'll need a lot more listens to fully get into the whole thing, but my first impressions are really strong. Magpie to the Morning, This Tornado Loves You, the title track, Red Tide, and Vengance is Sleeping are all outstanding

Are you planning on covering any of these on your next album?

Ya know, this morning I got a message from the administrators saying I couldn't use this user name anymore because you can't have a username that is the name of a living person... very sad that Michael Bolton will no longer be roaming these boards. But to answer your question, yes.

Oh, and Magpie to the Morning is one of the most beautiful songs I've every heard

I'm just starting my first listen. This is definitely one my most anticipated releases of the year, and 3 tracks in and I'm in love. This Tornado Loves You is super eeiry and has a beautiful build, the 2nd track is great, and I love it's short length (very reminiscient of Outro With Bees), and I actually really love the single. Her phrasing is great and the dynamics moving in and out of the 2nd verse are great.

yeah, those are just the most up to date full listing i could find

I kind of stumbled upon the Boston date anyway.. he should really make a formal announcement because there's no way he's selling out the 1000-seat Wilbur Theater in Boston without any kind of press release

03-12 Bloomington, IN - Buskirk-Chumley Theatre

03-13 Urbana, IL - Independent Media Center

03-14 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre

03-16 Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews

03-17 Iowa City, IA - The Picador

03-18 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall

03-19 Minneapolis, MN - The McGuire Theater (Walker)

03-21 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Pyramid Cabaret

03-22 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Broadway Theatre

03-23 Edmonton, Alberta - McDougall United Church

03-24 Calgary, Alberta - MacEwan Hall

03-25 Vancouver, British Columbia - The Vogue Theatre

03-26 Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre

03-27 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom

03-30 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore

04-02 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre

04-07 Lawrence, KS - The Granada

04-10 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant

I know there's more than those too, because I just bought a ticket for his show in Boston on May 17th