CMJ Issue 141: CD
Metal group Mastodon has landed on the cover of issue 141 of CMJ New Music Monthly, making good on a promise they made when they first formed back in 1999: that, should they make the cover of CMJ New Music New Music Monthly, they would all pose for the cover wearing freaky "I might kill you at any moment" expressions."
Read the interview, and you'll learn they're regular 30something musicians interested in making good music, making a decent "maybe a thousandaire" living, and spending time with their families. Striking scary poses might be better for their image than appearing ready to care and share, though.
CMJ Issue 141 CD Track Listing:
1. Mastodon - Crystal Skull
2. Mew - Special (available on And The Glass Handed Kites). Mew is an interesting band. They have something of a theatrical aspect to them, a distinct yearning/emotion in their songs, similar to the Dears. I like both bands.
3. Ani DiFranco - 78% H2O (nice and surprisingly mellow)
4. Silversun Pickups - Well Thought Out Twinkles
5. Elevator Action - Nuvo
6. The Zutons - Why Won't You Give Me Your Love (40 seconds in, annoying backup vocals start. They are almost continuous for the remainder of the song. Repetition sometimes works in songs, but there should be something to back it up, and even my beloved handclaps can't save this mess)
7. Voicst - Whatever You Want From Life
8. Aberdeen City - God Is Going To Get Sick Of Me
9. Umbrellas - Crooked (available on Illuminaire) "You're as crooked as the California coastline so I'm building you a tornado to get back east." Burn. A little extreme; why not buy a plane ticket? If he's powerful and unethical enough to build tornados, surely he can hack into a computer and steal one, WarGames-style. "With friends like you I think I'm better off alone." That's not entirely original. Based on this song, the group sounds bound for the OC, and sufficiently similar to enough other bands that it's hard to listen to the song on its own merits. On a second listen, the bells and "ba ba"s sound calculated.
10. Regina Spektor - Fidelity (available on Begin To Hope). Twinkly, adorable love song. I looked up her website. Conclusions:
1) I dislike the term "antifolk songwriter" for her, as
a) she apparently sings as well, rather than "just" writing songs and:
b) I'm not down with the term "antifolk"
2) I like some of her songs very much (eg, "The Flowers" and "Carbon Monoxide", from Soviet Kitsch). I also dislike at least a few of them. She's quite creative, and I think she's taking enough risks that perhaps it inevitably will lead to making some songs some people will find annoying (eg, "Pavlov's Daughter" on Eleven Eleven).
11. Shane Bartell - Crashlanding - I like this one, which is available at songs:illionois, along with other Shane Bartell tunes.
12. Primal Scream - Country Girl
13. Unearth - Giles (Ow. I didn't listen to this whole song, or check whether the lyrics are online. I'm just going to guess the first screams translate to "I have a puppydog named Giles. I wuv him very much. We like to go on walks and he is so gentle to everyone, even kittycats!"
14. The Sammies - For John
15. Pete Yorn - For Us (available on Nightcrawler). Very catchy, excellent.
16. Smart Brown Handbag - Harry Larry (available on Harry Larry). Wistful but not wimpy though admittedly there are strings in the house.
17. Sandi Thom - I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)
18. Vorpal - Latenight Drunken Email (available on Digressions). Chunky-but-not-heavy electronica that twists and turns nicely.
Read the interview, and you'll learn they're regular 30something musicians interested in making good music, making a decent "maybe a thousandaire" living, and spending time with their families. Striking scary poses might be better for their image than appearing ready to care and share, though.
CMJ Issue 141 CD Track Listing:
1. Mastodon - Crystal Skull
2. Mew - Special (available on And The Glass Handed Kites). Mew is an interesting band. They have something of a theatrical aspect to them, a distinct yearning/emotion in their songs, similar to the Dears. I like both bands.
3. Ani DiFranco - 78% H2O (nice and surprisingly mellow)
4. Silversun Pickups - Well Thought Out Twinkles
5. Elevator Action - Nuvo
6. The Zutons - Why Won't You Give Me Your Love (40 seconds in, annoying backup vocals start. They are almost continuous for the remainder of the song. Repetition sometimes works in songs, but there should be something to back it up, and even my beloved handclaps can't save this mess)
7. Voicst - Whatever You Want From Life
8. Aberdeen City - God Is Going To Get Sick Of Me
9. Umbrellas - Crooked (available on Illuminaire) "You're as crooked as the California coastline so I'm building you a tornado to get back east." Burn. A little extreme; why not buy a plane ticket? If he's powerful and unethical enough to build tornados, surely he can hack into a computer and steal one, WarGames-style. "With friends like you I think I'm better off alone." That's not entirely original. Based on this song, the group sounds bound for the OC, and sufficiently similar to enough other bands that it's hard to listen to the song on its own merits. On a second listen, the bells and "ba ba"s sound calculated.
10. Regina Spektor - Fidelity (available on Begin To Hope). Twinkly, adorable love song. I looked up her website. Conclusions:
1) I dislike the term "antifolk songwriter" for her, as
a) she apparently sings as well, rather than "just" writing songs and:
b) I'm not down with the term "antifolk"
2) I like some of her songs very much (eg, "The Flowers" and "Carbon Monoxide", from Soviet Kitsch). I also dislike at least a few of them. She's quite creative, and I think she's taking enough risks that perhaps it inevitably will lead to making some songs some people will find annoying (eg, "Pavlov's Daughter" on Eleven Eleven).
11. Shane Bartell - Crashlanding - I like this one, which is available at songs:illionois, along with other Shane Bartell tunes.
12. Primal Scream - Country Girl
13. Unearth - Giles (Ow. I didn't listen to this whole song, or check whether the lyrics are online. I'm just going to guess the first screams translate to "I have a puppydog named Giles. I wuv him very much. We like to go on walks and he is so gentle to everyone, even kittycats!"
14. The Sammies - For John
15. Pete Yorn - For Us (available on Nightcrawler). Very catchy, excellent.
16. Smart Brown Handbag - Harry Larry (available on Harry Larry). Wistful but not wimpy though admittedly there are strings in the house.
17. Sandi Thom - I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)
18. Vorpal - Latenight Drunken Email (available on Digressions). Chunky-but-not-heavy electronica that twists and turns nicely.
posted by trill42 | 8:06 PM
1 Comments:
hey, i tried to download "for us" by pete yorn but it would not allow me to because the file had expired. is there any way you can send it to me? you can contact me via email and it would be much appreciated. thanks.
summer
summerxxxh0lic@aol.com (there is a zero in the ''h0lic")
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