Monsters of Folk (James, Oberst & Ward)

[Kalle]

I agree that Man Named Truth is pretty bad but no one's lyrics on the album come close to touching Temazcal, and lyrically Map Of The World and Ahead Of The Curve are pretty good.

 

I still maintain that Dear God is easily the worst, I can't stand Jim's ridiculous falsetto, but that's me.

 

I just find Jim's contributions really lazy. His Master's Voice is pretty good but The Right Place basically sounds like, "hey let's have a country tune", lyrically Losin Yo Head is pretty bad as well.. but at least it's a catchy tune.

[explodo]

Maybe the fact that I don't like Jim James and had no expectations for his contributions is helping me to overlook their relative weakness.

[lamradio]

This whole Monsters of Folk thing is taking away valuable MMJ time.. They still need to redeem themselves after Evil Urges, so it's time for MMJ to get a move on.

[RainDogToo]

M. Ward's 9:30 club show from July is available for download over at NPR.

 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112685377

[Wild Frank]

M. Ward's 9:30 club show from July is available for download over at NPR.

 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112685377

Thanks for that Link. I'll check that out.

[RainDogToo]

Thanks for that Link. I'll check that out.

 

AH! I Love your signature!!

[sonicshoulder]

I just ordered this album yesterday off Amazon for $9.99. I got a promotional email but I think its open to everybody, although I do order quite a bit of music there. Ten bucks is a pretty good deal for those of us who still buy music in a 3-D format.

[Maggie]

For those on the fence about this release (like myself), amazon.com has the mp3 album as their deal of the day today. $3.99 to get the album two days early. Not too bad if you don't mind mp3's.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Monsters-Of-Folk/dp/B002ORT4L8/ref=amb_link_85190051_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=browse&pf_rd_r=11N49SF1W4EFV1F28AZ4&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=488806171&pf_rd_i=163856011

 

While I love M. Ward, I've never been much of a Conor Oberst fan, and I find Jim James to be pretty hit or miss. I can handle $3.99.

[Three dollars and 63 cents]

I bought the album from Amazon and am giving it a first listen. I'm not crazy about the first track, but I'm a third of the way in and the others are all terrific, to my ears at least.

[brianjeremy]

This is $7.99 at Best Buy this week.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

This is $7.99 at Best Buy this week.

Thank you!

 

I dl'd this a week or so ago, but haven't actually listened to it yet. I'm thinking having the physical copy will make me finally play it.

[bobbob1313]

I think Conor's voice works so well as a contrast to someone else.

 

I adore "Baby Boomer".

[mjpuczko]

i agree bob. i hate his voice usually but in this context i can tolerate it.

[bobbob1313]

I usually love Conor, so it's not like I'm only liking his voice in this context, but I just think he's much more confident when he has other people to lean on. The Mystic River stuff has by far his best vocals, and he also sounds really good on this as well. I also thought he was great on Jenny Lewis' version of "Handle With Care."

[RainDogToo]

Just a reminder for tonight:

[LouieB]

How were they? Meanwhile Greg Kot gave them three out of four stars in the Trib this AM.

 

LouieB

[solace]

'Say Please' was 10x better on Conan than on the record:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zphKAjooKY&feature=player_embedded

 

cool that it was Mogis playing that solo all the time and not Matt or Jim as suspected

[mjpuczko]

that sounds really really good. loving it.

[okp greg]

cool that it was Mogis playing that solo all the time and not Matt or Jim as suspected

 

I was definitely surprised to see that! Who was drumming? Was it the drummer from mystic valley band?

 

Also, I catch my legs dancing on their own every time Whole Lotta Losin comes on. That song is catttttcchyyyyy.

[marino13]

I was definitely surprised to see that! Who was drumming? Was it the drummer from mystic valley band?

 

Also, I catch my legs dancing on their own every time Whole Lotta Losin comes on. That song is catttttcchyyyyy.

 

Drummer is Will Johnson from Centro-matic. He will be the drummer for the tour as well.

[explodo]

I commended Pitchfork only yesterday for their Pearl Jam review, but they're back to their old shenanigans with this one - writing almost exactly the opposite of what I would have written. The only part they got right was saying that Mike Mogis is a highlight. I get the angle - Jim James is the only one stretching here, but who expected this record to be about each of these artists really stretching? Can't it just be good?

 

And that Mogis solo on Conan was awesome.

[Smokestack Joe]

m ward is amazing as always

[Good Old Neon]

As a fan of the individual artists, I really wanted to like this album, but so far, it elicited little more than a shrug.

 

My review:

 

I listened, I shrugged, I gave it away.

[Maggie]

I'm really enjoying this album. It's no masterpiece, but it is pleasant and fun to listen to. Almost makes me consider going back and buying some of Conor's stuff.

[okp greg]

I commended Pitchfork only yesterday for their Pearl Jam review, but they're back to their old shenanigans with this one - writing almost exactly the opposite of what I would have written. The only part they got right was saying that Mike Mogis is a highlight. I get the angle - Jim James is the only one stretching here, but who expected this record to be about each of these artists really stretching? Can't it just be good?

 

And that Mogis solo on Conan was awesome.

 

Honestly, they basically said they wanted an album of "Dear God..." which, in my opinion, was one of the less appealing, albeit interesting, songs on the album. This album wasn't about them getting together and doing something different, it was about them sitting back and enjoying making music together like any teenager with his friends.