TheMaker

Maybe now people will finally - finally! - stop calling it "Walken." Which is stupid. And not the name of the song. Anyway...

Some of the best new songs seem to be ready for release, but so do some of the worst ("Let's Sleep"-er, I mean, "Let's Fight," for one). Hopefully the turkeys'll get worked over a bit before the album comes out.

Here's the soundtrack version, which I understand is NOT commercially available. If this is incorrect, let me know and I'll remove the track.

http://download.yousendit.com/2758C21D60988557

Stunning record. $1000 Wedding and Stella Blue are close to perfect, and the six originals are gorgeous. The band does tend to drown out Willie's frail voice at times, but the mix is generally spot-on. Nice production, intuitive playing, lovely songs.

(And this does sound like Cold Roses. Those big guitars are on loan from Magnolia Mountain.)

Escondida's my fave, but Catalpa is a very close second. (The new one just doesn't tickle me, unfortunately; in fact, I can't even remember what it's called.) Her music is informed by a lot of influences that aren't exactly contemporary or mainstream, and as a result I find it seems almost timeless. My favourite song of Holland's is Amen, because it has a gorgeous melody and it sounds like she's singing it with her entire heart.

I picked up The Golden Age used a few years ago, having nothing but fond high school memories of its handful of singles, and I was really astonished by how great it was. I've picked up most of the other records (as well as two Camper van B. discs) since then, and I like everything I've heard (although the recent stuff isn't nearly as impressive as the old). Favourite albums are The Golden Age and Cracker, with Kerosene Hat trailing closely behind.

Just that 1 or 2 listens seems a little iffy on coming to a final conclusion.

All elbow-nudging aside, who said anything about final conclusions? Should we abstain from discussing new records at all until a certain grace period has passed by? All we can do when offering an opinion of a newly released record is talk about how it makes us feel right now. Historical context will arrive years later, whether we want it to or not.

Without reading what else has been written, I'm pretty sure the consensus will be that this is the best of the three Shins records. They've been evolving steadily since before Inverted was released, and they sound, at least to me, like a band close to reaching their full potential. Kinda like a less spoiled, even more melodic version of the Smiths. "Australia" is the best song I've heard this year. It's essentially flawless.

It's hard to believe three years have passed so quickly. Smith was probably the greatest songwriter of his generation, and he'll always be missed.

Which parts of the singing? The ones where he tears the shit out of his throat, or the ones where he wheezes?

The press is an amazing thing, really. What's most impressive about it is the way it seems to constantly devour its own tail. Just because a hundred uninspired hacks write that Dylan's singing is "much improved" on his new record, that doesn't make it so. Likewise, if an established artist, i.e. Dylan, turns in a set of songs that's mostly an assemblage of blues cliches, homages and swipes, and the press happens to turn a blind eye to his multitudinous sources, that doesn't mean we have to blithely follow suit. "Oh, if there's an original thought out there, I could use it right now!" You said it, Bobby.

If you can listen to MT and TOOM back to back and tell me with a straight face that the latter isn't twenty times more impressive than the former in every respect, then I'm sorry, but you're either deaf or retarded.

Objectively, MT is probably one of the ten or fifteen least impressive records Dylan has ever cut. It's not as terrible as the '80s dross, but it certainly doesn't even come close to scaling the heights of his '90s greatness.

They're both disappointments. Some straightforward rockers on the songier of the two discs (including one that's a dead ringer for ITMWLY), but nothing you'll remember a week after you buy the album and forget to listen to it again.

I like Planet Waves better than BoB, too. The difference between it and Modern Times is that Planet Waves is good.

yeah, i too am a "real" fan, and i do think it's better than the last two. is that ok?

Sure, if you like your records fat with filler and uninspired lyrics. I'm not in charge of these things...

wow...my first impression is that these are some of the strongest songs i've ever heard from Tom. i already know it's gonna be a close call betweeen this and Modern Times for my favorite this year.

This blows the fuck out of MT.

Sidebar: has anybody spoken to a real Dylan fan who actually thinks the new record is even in the same stratosphere as L&T and TOOM? I'm just curious, because it's shite compared to those two.

Oh, enough. Anybody who'd compare this cunt to Van Morrison or Patti Smith in their prime shouldn't be writing for a living. Christ.

It sounds to me like maybe John has doubts about the new material, too.

Good to know!

They've never been a great band, unless you like acoustic whining. The most obvious answer to this question is "With a side of Conor Oberst."

Cheers!

I'll give it to you straight:

Oink ain't worth it. You can wait the extra hour or two for your leaked torrent to find its way to a less insane site.

That's all you need to know.

Misunderstood.

Yeah, MMJ handily out-perform everybody else here. My advice to curious parties is to swipe their studio version when it leaks to Soulseek and ignore the rest of this slop.

I have 10,491 songs on my hard drive, give or take.

worst wilco song ever?

Yep. Holy fuck, this is a terrible song. This album is probably going to suck, which is disappointing, but does much to prove my theory that every great band only has approximately ten good years in 'em. Wilco, welcome to your It's Only Rock and Roll era (i.e., the jumping-off point for those of us who don't follow favourite musicians blindly out of loyalty).

Aeroplane is unquestionably the most overrated album of all time, bar none, so I tend to give the nod to Avery Island. It's got teeth, that one.

N.B., They're so close together in ranking that it fucking hurts. But here're my thoughts:

The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground and Nico

White Light/White Heat

Loaded

VU

Hasn't anybody checked out the Killer's latest? It's a spec-fricking-tacular duets record featuring... I think everybody, ever. Jagger/Wood/Richards, the Hag, Kris Kristofferson, Springsteen, Jimmy Page, BB King, Robbie Robertson, John Fogerty, Ringo, Clapton, Kid Rock (because wherever there is a duets record, there will be Kid Rock), Little Richard, Buddy Guy, etc.

Lewis and Young tackle "You Don't Have to Go," which I suppose they'll be performing on the show tonight.

Jesus, this needs to leak soon. Wowz0rz.