Scalzunfield

Sounds like fun! I was sorry to miss them in WI.

 

Oh, and Nels wrote liner notes for "Apple O." I think it's safe to say he's a big fan.

I do own Apple O and I probably checked the liner notes out before Nels joined Wilco and I heard of him. Good to know.

I'll keep this quite simple.

Number one, Deerhoof is simply awesome live. They're super-talented and really, a complete package live. And with a drummer like that, there's always something impressive going on.

Most of the songs off the new release, "Offend Maggie", made an appearance (not the title track sadly). The rest of the set was an even mix of "Friend Opportunity" back through "Apple O." I was kind of disappointed we didn't get anything off "Reveille," but the set was still very strong. At times I almost thought a mosh pit was going to break out up front the way the younger members of the audience starting jumping.

Also, my friend and I arrived at the venue during the first band's set. The place was maybe 1/3 full at the time and we kind of took up station back by the soundboard. And who should walk in a few minutes prior to the start of Deerhoof's set and park himself right in front of me? Nels Cline. And judging from the way he was bouncing up and down through the whole show (and playing a bit of air guitar at times), it was obvious he's a big fan and enjoyed the hour-long set as much as I did.

And did I mention I just happened to be wearing a Wilco shirt?

In any case, great show, great crowd. I can't wait until they come around again.

I'm really torn about this release. This may be a "download first, maybe buy later" type of thing. I just can't trust her anymore. It's been a steady downhill slide that has left me cringing. I"m not even sure I listened to West more than once because it was so bad.

That said, in relation to the talk of this year vs. last year, I would take 2007 by a mile. And unless a new release comes up and slaps me across the face relatively soon, it'll stay that way. A lot of the albums I initially loved this year have been put on the shelf and haven't comes out in awhile. Because of that, I find myself "discovering" bands I've never really paid a ton of attention to. The Kinks, Faces, and even Rush are examples of that.

The only thing I'd ever heard from the Kinks was one of the thousand greatest hits compilations. My favorite "discovery" of the year has been the Lola & Powerman album.

Yay, another religion discussion. Excuse me a sec:

I get a kick out of just reading this stuff actually. As a fellow atheist, it cracks me up when an atheist makes a great point and the rebuttal is along the lines of your above response. Goooooood times...

Yeah, the fiance cannot miss Grey's Anatomy and, unless there's a Cubs/Blackhawks game on in HD, I'm pretty much stuck with watching it too. They've had some really good music for such a lame-ass drama. I think last week featured Bon Iver at one point and then ruined it all by using Coldplay.

I totally dislike the new album. Now, I've never been a huge fan but this album is really, really hard to stomach. It seems like he's trying waaaay to hard to be "cool" and lyrics come off as trite for it.

Agreed. Intolerance goes both ways, its not just a hardcore Christian thing. Hardcore atheists are just as ignorant and intolerant.

I agree with what you're saying, but maybe with a bit of a twist.

The difference being that in a Christian-dominated society, the mindset is that the word "atheist" conjures up the same emotions towards someone as the words "pedophile" or "prostitute." This is all a product of the hardcore Christian mindest and it is sadly still very prevalent in today's society. Therefore, anyone who stands up as an atheist and speaks their minds comes across in the same manner as a homosexual couple getting married in the eyes of those religious.

In actuality, atheism is a belief system in the same vein as Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Mormonism, Scientology, etc. It's what one chooses to believe and the only reason it has been skewered the way it has is by the Christian right that seeks to eradicate any non-believer. The major difference between atheism and the other religions listed above is that atheism is science-based, the rest are faith-based.

I don't have a problem with those believing in God even though I have chosen not to. I believe that people need that to get by in everyday life. Somehow, the thought that there's nothing at the end of all this seems to leave people hollow. And understandably so. I do not hate the personal guidance of religion, personal belief, etc. but what I do hate is organized religion and what it sparks in people. Organized religion teaches hate towards those of other belief systems while personal faith guides one in their everyday life.

If I thought this country and this world had the ability to "agree to disagree" I would speak out against this movie. But the way things stand you have religion shoved down your throat from every angle. Even the presidential candidates have to align themselves with a particular faith to win their voters over.

All that said, I'm going to see this movie ASAP. I enjoy Bill Maher's wit and I'm fairly certain my belief system is right in line with his.

No dimeadozen account over here and looking for other ways to get my grubby fingers on this if you can help. Thanks!

Hey, when the music just isn't there, go with the gimmick.

except for neil young and the band, pretty much everything raved about here is over-rated and complete crap. as far as criminally overlooked, anything by Thin Lizzy, except maybe the first album.

So what's your favorite tune by Maroon 5? You seem like the perfect fan!

Here Comes The Zoo - Local H

Not sure I agree there. I haven't had an urge to listen to that album since it came out. Really, really, weak album in an otherwise pretty sweet catalog.

Pretty much every album raved about by VC folks is criminally underlooked when you consider that bands like Nickelback and Maroon 5 are on multi-million dollar tours.

The Devil You Know is a downright fantastic album. I actually considered it for my Top 20 on VC. Just spectacular from start to finish. Such a humorous and down-to-earth individual. That said, I heard one of the new tunes on his MySpace and I was not impressed. I'm still looking forward to it.

Did I miss the Grateful Dead's "Europe 72" on that list or am I blind? Same goes for Frampton Comes Alive.

Also, I've never really dug Kicking Television enough that I would think it'd be on a list like this.

And my #1 will probably always be "And The Name Of This Band Is..." Especially the recently expanded Rhino edition. It's really a perfect live release.

It's not a great album, it's not a bad album. It took about 3 listens to grow on me but I haven't gone back to it in a month or two. If the stage had been running smoothly at Pitchfork and I didn't think Bon Iver was just fucking around for 20 minutes before they started playing, I would have stayed to watch. But the girl and I wanted to see Spoon (and be close ... can you blame us?) so we didn't even get to see Bon Iver play one song. 'Twas quite disappointing considering they were one of the bands I really wanted to see. Oh well. Not my fault.

How many bands these days are debuting their brand new tunes in Alaska? Awesome.

I mentioned this in the p4k thread; the entire thing translated badly even at the small stage. It was crowded, noisy, the other stage was bleeding over to the small one and it was totally unimpressive. Time for a club date.

 

LouieB

They took so damn long setting up at p4k and the girl and I wanted to be semi-close for Spoon so we left the B stage at 7:40 in order to get closer for Spoon. Bon Iver still hadn't started and I was really looking forward to getting my first live taste of them.

I was just exhausted yesterday, but enjoyed the Apples In Stereo, Dodos, M Ward, and Spoon.

Overall, I was totally underwhelmed by this festival. Recent money issues made this the first live music I'd been to since the Wilco Residency and it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. It was okay, but that was it: just okay. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but I felt the lineup maybe could have been better at points.

Spoon was excellent. It was my first time seeing them and I'd gladly shell out the cash to see them again. The girl and I had fun.

On a side note: Louis, I got to the Merch tents around 3 and was totally blanking on where you said you'd be. I'm about 99% certain I know what you look like just from having seen you and a host of others at nearly every Chicago show I've attended over the past 7 or 8 years. I tried looking around a little bit, but didn't see you. Hope you had a great day.

It was a pretty good day yesterday. My friend and I actually saw actress Julia Styles. She was having a conversation with some friends about 5 feet from where we were sitting and I turned to my buddy and said "is that who I think it is?" Kind of weird. I'd always expected I'd eventually run into someone at least somewhat famous at a rock show/festival, but that's not the name that popped into my head.

On to the music: I got in free because my buddy got a VIP pass since he does promotional stuff for Matador so we had to be in 3 specific places to hand out crap. What we saw:

Titus Andronicus: No thanks. Was bored by them after a couple minutes and this guy just flat out could not sing. No voice whatsoever.

Jay Reatard: This is one of those guys we had to see and hand stuff out at. And I'm glad I saw him because now I know I shouldn't listen to him again. He played for maybe 25 minutes and I'm pretty sure I heard about 15 songs in that span (although it could have been 5 songs, they all sounded pretty similar).

Fleet Foxes: I liked 'em going in but their harmonies blew me away. I think they're getting a little overhyped: I don't think the songs are as great as my buddy and PFork make them out to be, but they're pretty decent folk tunes and they played some of them. They could REALLY work on stage presence. The lengthy pauses between songs were Grateful Dead-esque.

Dizee Rascal: Another one we had to be at. I don't liike rap and I'll be the first to admit it, but this guy was awful. I knew it would be bad when he comes out and says "yeah yeah yeah what's with all the f*cking wussy sh*t. man, enough of that folk sh*t." Did he realize he was the only rap act on the menu yesterday? And that his rap sh*t represents maybe 5% of the acts playing this weekend? What a joke.

Vampire Weekend: The tightest band I heard all day. They still need to work on their stage presence, but I think the songs are there and they definitely sound great playing music together.

!!!: What the hell is the hype about with these guys? Sure, they had more stage presence than just about anyone I'd seen to this point, but the songs were...lacking. Seriously lacking.

Caribou: Decent songs, kind of neat 2 drummer set up. I wasn't really impressed, but I definitely didn't feel the need to run screaming.

The Hold Steady: I've heard great things, I've heard the new album (once) and I thought they were pretty good...for the first half hour or so. Then it all started to sound the same. They were definitely lively and it made for a little excitement, but their songs need some variety.

Jarvis Cocker: So much more than I was expecting. Having limited exposure to pulp and absolutely loving his solo album, I didn't know what I was gonna get. But he had a great stage presence and played a bunch of brand new material. The only drawback is the mix wasn't that great. His vocals seemed drowned out and it seemed like everything was turned up to 11. Still, I think this was my favorite performance of the evening and it felt like a good one to leave on. The new album sounds like it'll be great: I can't wait.

Heading out in a little while for today's festivities. Hope you all have fun too.

Anyway someone could help me check my messages too? I've been waiting for this one.

I'm in Sat and Sun . . . Fleet Foxes, Jarvis, Vampire Weekend, M Ward, Bon Iver, Apples In Stereo, and most of all . . . SPOON!

No love for "Sandusky?" Daaaaaaaamn....

Well Sandusky tops my list followed by whatever that last song (too lazy to look it up) on Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is.

Boy, after one listen, I'm declaring this the snoozer of the year. It's putting me to sleep. This is not the Beck I love (and I LOVED Sea Change). There doesn't seem to be much redeeming in the way of lyrics OR music on this one. It seems like it could have been more maybe, but the songs just aren't there.

Beck's kinda lost me over the years. This is the third straight miss IMO. There were some really good moments on the last two albums but overall they lacked consistent quality. This album has more in the way of consistency: I just don't enjoy it.

I'd like to say my love for the Jayhawks has grown over the years, but that would be a lie. Like Lucinda, their old stuff is some pretty awesome stuff but everything in the last ten years is pretty average. Now, I can't speak for Mark's solo stuff as I've never heard it (never been particularly interested) but Gary's new solo stuff (and Golden Smong stuff) is pretty yawn-inducing and I can't think of anything better than maybe re-kindling some old magic. I'd love to see that show in Spain but I somehow doubt I'll make it.

Heartening, but a long way from actually demonstrating that complete tolerance. I wonder how each of those groups feels about atheism...and how tolerant towards atheists are they?

Kanye's a real piece. The reason I could never like him even if I wanted to is because I've seen how he carries himself and heard how he talks to people. He's a complete asshole. No two ways about it. Yeah, I realize PJ was being kinda asshole-ish, but they were scheduled to headline, not Kanye "nobody loves the black people" West. Suck it up, take your 8:15 slot, quit blaming everyone but yourself and your crew, and do the fucking show.