solace

You saved me the trouble of typing this because I was wondering the exact same thing. I can understand not liking Fleet Foxes. But to like their previous work and not like the new one is beyond my comprehension.

ditto...

the new one is much more impressive musically. sure it might not be as catchy melodically, or rely as much on the 4 part harmonies as the first, but still some very gorgeous songs & melodies imo.

wasn't disappointed in the least by it and I can't wait for their show here in 2 weeks

honestly the poor production on the first 2 albums was a big part of why i could never get into them... cuz their live show was SO much better at that time.

I love Gangstabilly. And, for me, there isn't a song on Go-Go Boots I like better than the first four on Pizza Deliverance.

honestly i could never get into them until SRO

Go Go Boots is def better than Pizza Deliverance or Gangstabilly imo, but i've lost a lot of my interest in them over the last 2-3 albums (Creation's Dark is still quite good tho)

Not necessarily... plenty of hardcore fans there criticize any direction the band takes, wanting them to sound like It still Moves and Z... just like the hardcore Wilco fans on this site.

i don't want them to sound like anything really, i just want good songs

i had never heard of these guys. i saw this thread had reached four pages, so i decided to check out their new one, and it's damn good! very solid, very jackson brown-esque (not a bad thing). very good summertime music as well.

 

thanks for sharing.

funny you mention him, he sings backup vocals on 'Fire Away'

gotcha. as much as i do adore the new Bon Iver, it's not exactly new territory for me musically/sonically, so the chances it had of truly "blowing me away" were already limited somewhat.

there's a ton of great artists releasing albums in September, so i think it'll be a strong 2nd half

right, i just think it's a bit silly/premature to bother declaring that until the year is over is all. *shrug*

honestly there's probably only 1 album every 2-3 years that truly BLOWS ME AWAY and is head and shoulders above everything in that given year.

of course I totally disagree. Last one was marvelous and really welcome after three albums of the same sounding singer/songwriter things. I certainly loved catalpa etc all but she needed to change things up and what's not to like about M Ward's backup?

 

This one keeps up the same semi-electric direction.

i found The Living and the Dead just tedious as hell to get through

It's really just people on this forum giving it stick.. take a look at the MMj forum, very well received.

of course the MMJ forum is going to love it, they're mostly all fanboys...

it's a decent album, but it's their 4th or 5th best album at best for me, and i say this as a fan going back to '01

i'll admit it does amuse me when people try and claim it's been a TERRIBLE YEAR FOR MUSIC. it happens with some people every year, no matter what.

as if to write off the year completely for everyone who listens to music because you haven't clicked with many albums you love in a given year.

not saying you're implying that bleedorange, but it does come off that way often when people try and make that declaration.

whereas, i've got 15-20 albums so far this year i've considered good enough to purchase, and there's probably a half dozen that i absolutely love. so if the rest of the year pans out similarly, that's not unlike most years for me personally. i usually buy 25-35 albums a year on average i'd say.

I also didn't dig the Panda Bear record or Lucinda Williams.

never been a HUGE Panda Bear fan so i wasn't let down, but i def am not a big fan of this new one vs. the last one

Low's C'Mon is solid and "Witches" might be one of the best songs this year so far.

THIS

Disappointments:

 

Death Cab For Cutie - ouch...

TV On The Radio

Bright Eyes

oh yeah... add these to my list too!

i dig the TVOTR quite a bit, and it's still in my top 30 (along w/ Radiohead) so far, but it's my least favorite of their last 3 by far.

as for Death Cab... i didn't expect much after the last 2, but it might be my least favorite of theirs

correct me if i'm wrong... but is that 2nd O a pepperoni pizza?

seems that way to me...

True. It's funny to me how people with similar tastes (which is how I view this board as compared to the rest of the world) can still differ so strongly. I'm really looking forward to hearing the Handsome Furs album. Loved Face Control.

 

The Strokes wasn't a disappointment for me mainly because I had zero expectations. It's not bad. And I love Blood Pressures.

the new Handsome Furs might not be QUITE as great as Face Control (was my fave album of '08), but still awesome. Pfork gave it an 8.1 today, the highest they've rated a HF album.

i'd agree both The Strokes & Kills were disappointments for me too, good call Dude. i do like BP, but it might be my least fave Kills album.

Well that's an even bigger shame.

 

I think it's easily #4 for me, after PB, CYH and IC. Far exceeded my expectations.

what can i say... Mpls hip hop scene is so great that i honestly mostly listen to the likes of P.O.S., Sims, Cecil Otter, Brother Ali, etc. when it comes to hip hop these days.

 

liking this better than the Gillian Welch, but I don't revel in any of the GW discs. Live, it is different and I love seeing her. Interesting that Holland is generally a train wreck live.

it has to be better than her last one...

I agree with all your disappointments except for Radiohead. Also interesting that 3 of your top 4 are albums I disliked.

you love that EMA record of which i love 3 songs and hate the rest

as for Kurt Vile, i can see him not everyones thing, esp. if that is your first exposure to him. much like Dawes he's way way better live.

Hot Sauce Committee rules, whatever.

honestly i think i'm just tired of the Beasties at this point...

right, i don't mind when he gets super into it, i just felt like he sounded stuffed up

impossible for me to keep it to 5

1. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
2. Kurt Vile - Smoke Rings For My Halo
3. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - S/T
4. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
5. Bill Callahan - Apocalpyse
6. Handsome Furs - Sound Kapital
7. Dawes - Nothing Is Wrong
8. James Blake - James Blake
9. Destroyer - Kaputt
10. The Decemberists - The King is Dead
11. J. Mascis - Several Shades of Why
12. Gillian Welch - The Harrow & The Harvest (only heard it twice so far, but it's that good and will likely move up)
13. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
14. Middle Brother - S/T
15. Cults - S/T
16. Low - C'mon
17. Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts
18. The Antlers - Burst Apart
19. The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
20. Fucked Up - David Comes To Life
21. Akron/Family - S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT
22. Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
23. Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones
24. The Rosebuds - Loud Planes Fly Low
25. Peter Wolf Crier - Garden of Arms

Dissapointments:

MMJ (it's still decent and better than Evil Urges, but wish i loved it more)

Jason Isbell (my least favorite of his 3 by a wide margin)

Radiohead (again, not awful, but i would really have liked to love more than 3 songs)

Beastie Boys (also way better than To The Five Boroughs, but i still had zero interest in continuing to listen further after a half dozen spins)

Black Joe Lewis (loved his EP and first LP, but this one falls flat minus a few tracks)

Elbow (gorgeous, but a let down after their last stunner)

Killer performance on Letterman tonight

it was pretty good, but Taylor's voice sounded off...

not bad, just a bit rough for him

The AMG made the Enya comparison, and that's exactly what I thought of when I heard Calgary.

 

I picked the CD up for $5.99 at Best Buy. It was on sale at $7.99, and they had a coupon on Twitter that said $6.99, but when it rang up it took $2 off!

 

I've seen his two performances on Fallon and the one on Colbert. Do you think his voice holds up when he's not able to double-track it like he does on his records? It sounds kinda weak at times in those instances that I've seen.

i've seen him play with no PA in front of 35 people before, yes, his voice sounds just as amazing without any effects/double tracking

def is called 'Bon Iver, Bon Iver', direct from Justin's mouth

fantastic album indeed.

seeing them w/ the Rosebuds in 3 weeks as well