TheMaker

I haven't heard Decoration Day since it came out, but I've listened to The Dirty South plenty. I don't know if I'd rate anything other Danko/Manuel, Sands of Iwo Jima and Goddamn Lonely Love as high as my least favourite tracks on the new one. It's impossible to tell what the future holds, but I'm confident in saying that this could end up being my favourite record of next year. Every last song has a "holy shit"-out-loud moment in both the music and lyrics. That's super rare in my experience.

I've always been a casual fan of this band - so much so that I've never bothered to figure out who was who until now - but I keep coming back and back and back to this record. I think it blows everything they've done to date out of the water. I'm not a casual fan anymore. This one's a winner.

I haven't heard/of Everybodyfields, but I'll third it: Jill Andrews is stunning.

Really, really solid record. I like Bob as much as anything else on the record, too. It's a bit silly in places, granted but it's still as heartfelt as the best story-songs this band has delivered over the years. I even love Self-Destructive Zones, in spite of the fact that we really didn't need Gravity's Gone to show up on two back-to-back records (ba-dum-ching).

Was the crying baby really necessary? Seriously, I'm not from St. L, but I've got friends there who still haven't seen Wilco live yet. I don't think it'd fucking kill the band to put the kibosh on one of the 40 or 60 Chicago shows they play every year to pencil in one lousy fucking St. Louis gig.

Five years? Jesus H., time does fly. And I'll agree that this is a tough one. Too soon gone just doesn't seem to say enough.

I don't post much outside the music forums, but best vibes to you and yours, Edie. All things must pass, but that doesn't mean it's always easy, either for the passer or those they knew and loved. I lost a grandmother to a very protracted illness a few Christmases ago (she died on the 23rd), and it sure wasn't any fun.

Anybody else see Sweeney Todd today? WOW. So much fun, and such a gorgeous production. The photography and production design were truly spectacular, and the music was integrated almost seamlessly with the onscreen action. The first half hour was a bit tough for me to sit through at times - I am NOT a Sondheim/Broadway/whatever fan, and I admit it freely - but the film completely charmed me by about the midpoint. Probably Tim Burton's strongest movie since Ed Wood, no kidding. It's been a good year for directorial comebacks, between this and No Country for Old Men. Anybody have a chance to see

Biggest disappointments for sure are Lucinda Williams and The New Pornographers. Decent records by many other artists' standards, but absolute fuckin' garbage compared to everything these cats have done in the past. I'll probably never listen to either of these ever again, and that's really sad. Lots of surprises, though. LCD Soundsystem is at the top of the list - I don't even like this '80s dancepop stuff at ALL as a rule, but this album is just unbelievably brilliant in every way. Every time I spin it I find something new to love, and I find I love the stuff I paid attention to previously

I felt so bad for doing it, but I had to be honest. They're both really fucking lousy.

This looks unbelievably good, and I was mixed re: Magnolia and cool towards Punch Drunk Love. Maybe the most chilling trailer I've ever seen. Great editing, really nice photography and that score just feels like a razor skimming gooseflesh or something. Didn't Johnny Greenwood write the music for this flick? Anybody? Bueller...?

No Country for Old Men is the best English language film I've seen in a decade or more. Technically perfect, emotionally gripping, suspenseful, and proof that - MY GOD, YES - Cormac McCarthy's work is not unfilmable after all. Knocked Up and Hot Fuzz are two of the funniest movies I've seen in recent years, and they both had as much heart as they did belly laughs. That's really rare. Persepolis and Ratatouille knocked me out for very different reasons. I should note that I live in a cultureless fuckhole where no good movies play, and therefore haven't yet seen I'm Not There, The Darjeeli

Cheers!

Ahhh, mother-! I haven't used Dime in almost a year and it looks like a) my account has dried up, and b ) the site is too full for me to sign up and get a new one. Has this turned up elsewhere yet?

Ike was a nasty guy, but he WAS a genius. That's how I'm remembering him today, at least.

Holy SHIT, Jimmy is the picture of aged cool. It had to be said. That hair!

And solace, I didn't call anybody an idiot, nor did I imply that anybody was one for liking this record. I just find it really odd that it has its own appreciation society here on these forums when I haven't really seen it praised en masse elsewhere. See also The Wrens and the Pernice Brothers, another couple of bands I find to be completely run-of-the-mill/drop-dead boring in every way, shape and form, but which are beloved by a surprising number of VCers. There are other bands talked about here that I don't like either - Animal Collective, Prince, etc. - but for the most part I refrain from

You know they're gonna be hitting songs they haven't played in years. Just check out that blurb. Tapers, get ready! P.S., Nobody in Chicago can ever bitch about needing more Wilco shows ever again, officially. I mean, don't they ordinarily play there something like 60 times a fucking year anyway...?

I hope so. I have an almost chemical need to listen to Vagabonds and I started crying when I saw that it'd been taken down. But not really.

The record should show that I am confused by the loving embrace VC has given this record. It's okay, I guess, but cripes, people here really like it.

WOW. He really does say Jebus, huh? How the shit did I never notice that?! I just listened to this song like three times in a row and still can't believe my ears.

Full disclosure, I don't think this band is anything special - they're too derivative, and they still sound The Shins bending MMJ over the edge of a be dto me - but I do like them a bit. I think the sophomore disc is leagues ahead of the first one. The songcraft is just so much more confident and airtight. The first side is just packed with songs that, for what they are, couldn't possibly be any better. The General Specific is actually captital-G great in my book.

http://www.fallsview.com/Stream/StarDotTechCamStill.shtml I guess this is close enough to where I live. We don't often get enough snow to cover the ground before late January anymore. Goes well with the 105-degree summer days. Global warming hurray!!!!

That second take is really beautiful. Geez. Hope he finds some use for that tune someday.

Call me a jerk, but I'd love for Fogerty to take this. Revival is such an unprecedented return to form that I'm still surprised by it.