TheMaker

I have no idea what's going on. Help?

Agreed. Maybe I'm being harsh, but the author of this article strikes me as a blithering fuckwit. It's been a tremendous year for music, and you're right, if he's looking to the bands he namechecked and considering them paragons of indie rock, no wonder he's disappointed...

My honest answer is MMJ, and I got to see it. Yay!

What was sad for me was hearing Levon five or six years ago, when he could barely croak out a whisper. Every time I hear him talk, or especially, sing, these days, I think it's nothing short of miraculous. Check out Dirt Farmer if you haven't yet. I'm a big Band fanboy, but hearing that voice singing such rootsy songs damned near brought me to tears multiple times. All things considered, he sounds absolutely fantastic. http://levonhelm.com/dfm/Single_Girl_Edit_31sec.mp3

I almost didn't bother with this record, but you're right, it's friggin' amazing. John sounds like he's singing and playing for his supper. "Gunslinger" is so close to my definition of a perfect melodic rock song that it's scary.

I'm of the opinion that everything from Astral Weeks to Veedon Fleece comprises the single greatest run of albums the world has ever seen. It's just a staggeringly perfect body of work. Van is also my favourite rock/white singer of all time. He kinda lost the plot after his little break in the middle 1970s, but goldamn, everything before that is aces.

UMM. Wow. The title track? Have you given that one more than a cursory listen? Levon Helm's cover of it is the only song of '07 that's come close to moving me to tears.

Smells about right to me. The lead track isn't lazy at all, contrary to an earlier opinion in this thread. It sports the most indelible melody of any of Earle's recent(ish) folk songs, and I catch myself singing along with it every time I spin the disc. That has to count for something. I like that he's moved away from the political songs with a limited shelf life, too.

I've been quite obsessed with Arthur lately. The riff on that last track is fucking unreal. Catchiest thing ever? I think so. I think the Kinks were better than the Beatles, by the way. Hope that helps them seem a bit less underrated!

This has been my most anticipated leak for a while now, and I'm starting to think it ain't gonna.

My dog starts barking incessantly whenever Reckoner comes on, no matter what volume I play it at. She's never done this in response to any other music. Unfortunately, it's my favourite song on the record, so it's going from cute to annoying fast.

House of Cards is gorgeous. Y'all's nuts.

I'm right there with ya. I'm honestly surprised by how much I dig this rekkid. I didn't even listen to it all the way through right away, but the only song that didn't do it for me was Weird Fishes/Arpeggi. And Videotape also puts me in mind of SBS, only it's pretty much the reverse of On and On and On - it's a repetitive, emotive piano song, but it's actually lost something from the live versions, rather than the reverse...

I keep sticking on Nude. Haunting song. I can't believe that this is a record of straightforward songs, more or less. It's like listening to Sky Blue Sky in a way. Revelatory in that the band is going back to a time and a style I never really expected them to revisit. Awesome.

If you're into that sort of ambient music, sure. If not, you can take it or leave it. And by you, I of course mean me.

It's unequivocally, unmistakably, undeniably the actual studio album. 160 kps and everything! About halfway through, I'm already willing to concede that it's their best since OKC. I'm a fair weather Radiohead fan who has avoided all of the new material save for a few live versions of Videotape, but I'm really liking this harvest.

No idea how the fuck it happened, but I got this rekkid off Soulseek about three hours before I came across the first rumblings of the official download being made available. Self = rock and roll SO HARD.

What's up with Britt's singing for the first minute or so of Cherry Bomb? His pitch is just completely fucked/horrible. Aside from that, I'll dissent and say that I really enjoyed both of these performances. Not as good as the Letterman one, but fun as heck all the same.

Free, eh? Sweet. I'm so sick of pay-as-you-go blogs.

Yeah, but there's a jerkoff in every crowd. Never forget it.

I think 6.8 smells just about right, personally. The highs are really impressive (Girls in their Summer Clothes, Livin' in the Future), but the lows are kinda dire, alas. On par with the most uninspired stuff from the two '92 releases.

There's nothing weird about this. This could be revolutionary or catastrophic. One thing's for sure, it's very exciting! I'm a casual Radiohead fan, but suddenly I really want to get at this record!

Done and done! Willie's guitar work has seldom sounded so ethereal. I chuckled at your mention of Lanois producing Wilco, but then my imagination kicked in and I stopped chuckling. Presently, I'm stroking my chin. Hmmmmmm.

So cool! Glad to see Dan getting his due around these parts. I just listened to Acadie and Winona yesterday for the first time in ages, and he absolutely slays me as a songwriter. (Fun fact: in an uncharacteristic burst of egotism, I took my screen name from his song "The Maker" on Acadie.) The way he incorporates everything from zydeco to traditional folk to New Orleanean sounds into his soupy production style is fantastic, and I love that he keeps his Frenglish simple enough for a thick-headed Anglo Canuck like myself to understand most all of it. "Where Will I Be" from Emmylou's Wrecking

I'm really perturbed by AGIB's second place standing. What's wrong, guys? We can talk. Seriously. (Wow. AGIB. Really? Are you guys SURE?)