Album Of The Week

[Cbats]

Jun 30, 2011 18:48:54 GMT -5 RUST NEVER SLEEPS said:

Jun 30, 2011 18:43:41 GMT -5 know ID yuh said:

I don't get the Girl Talk vibe at all. Girl Talk talk mashes up existing material by 10+ acts/bands per song. To the best of my knowledge, all the sounds on the NASA album are original, and they are collaborations rather than mashes. Girl Talk also uses a lot of ghetto rap, while NASA is geared more towards pop rap.

By the way, apparently the Game sounds a lot like Kool Keith. No one pointed out my gaff earlier in this thread.

Yeah This. When I first heard this album a while back, I thought it was a mash up thing like Girl Talk, but then I realized I didn't recognize any of the songs, and I remember the Pitchfork review mentioning these guys' celebrity Rolodex's being big. I do believe that this is all original content, which is part of what makes the album so cool; like, how the fuck did you talk all these people into this?

rust kind of elaborated on what I was thinking about when I posted that. I realize the obvious differences (original material being the primary one) but the way it jumps between so many artists so quickly made me think it's pretty similar to the way a girl talk song works. If nothing else the idea of having chuck d, david byrne, and seu jorge on one track is the exact kind of absurdity girl talk dabbles in.

Besides the tracks that everyone has already mentioned as being great, the del track near the end is a lot of fun.

I'm pretty sure I've decided on next weeks album and it couldn't be more different than this one. I should probably change it to something more sunny but there's a good chance I'd just pick a pavement album and no one wants that

[emptyfox]

I guess I better get on listening to this album if I want to pick one in October.

[know ID yuh]

Jun 30, 2011 22:57:45 GMT -5 Cbats said:

I'm pretty sure I've decided on next weeks album and it couldn't be more different than this one. I should probably change it to something more sunny but there's a good chance I'd just pick a pavement album and no one wants that

I don't think a Pavement album is a bad choice. Look at all the people who are signed up now. It's more about which album you want them to listen to. I picked N.A.S.A just because I knew it would be a conversation starter. That is why I think picking a classic album we all have heard would also be a conversation starter. If this thread gets to 100 albums, they should be 100 of the greatest albums of all-time, even though my suggestion wouldn't be close to top 100.

[know ID yuh]

Jul 1, 2011 0:25:28 GMT -5 emptyfox said:

I guess I better get on listening to this album if I want to pick one in October.

Does this mean you want to be added?

[emptyfox]

Haha yes sir!

[DREW OF THE RUSHES]

Okay, I've listened to the NASA album a few times. I'm in the middle of move so I don't have time for full remarks, but I agree with most of what's been said. I think a better producer could have taken this concept to another level, but I also think most people would have mangled it even worse than it already is. The Tom waits track is a missed opportunity. Fun listen though.

[Souly]

Or don't add me.. That's cool too.

[know ID yuh]

Jul 1, 2011 16:27:29 GMT -5 Souly said:

Or don't add me.. That's cool too.

I subconsciously ignored your request because of Muse. Please forgive me, it wasn't intentional. You've been added.

[Souly]

Haha I promise it won't be a Muse album. Thanks yo

[Horned Gramma]

I'm going to pick a Muse album.

[Souly]

Bahaha that would make my life.

[LumpSquatch]

Jun 30, 2011 22:57:45 GMT -5 Cbats said:

I'd just pick a pavement album and no one wants that

um...

[Cbats]

Alright here is my pick for album of the week:



Slint-Spiderland
grooveshark.com/#/album/Spiderland/132619

Before I write anything I want to suggest that if you've never listened to the album before, try and listen to it at night, preferably in the dark. It's rumored (most likely a lie) that Brian McMahan recorded most of the vocals in the dark and listening to it that way helps to put you in the right mood for the album.


In high school post rock was one of my favorite genres. I still like bands like Godspeed and Explosions quite a bit but back in high school I was devouring anything I could of the genre. Inevitably this means that at some point I discovered that the two albums usually referred to as the begining of the genre are Talk Talk's Laughing Stock and Slint's Spiderland. Laughing Stock is a great record and I enjoyed it when I listened to it (I haven't listened to it recently but it probably fits incredibly well next to the new bon iver and destroyer records) but Spiderland hit me like a ton of bricks. At first I was really confused because it doesn't sound like any of the post rock I was listening to at the time. Godspeed and Explosions songs gradually build to a crescendo in a graceful way, Slint tracks just explode. You listen to every track with a sense of unease because you never know when the track will go nuts.

I'll probably write more later but Steve Albini's review of the album says everything I want to much better than I ever could:

Since about 1980, America has been host to an ever-increasing parasitic infestation of rock bands of ever-dwindling originality. It seems there is no one left on the continent with an aspiration to play guitar that hasn't formed a band and released a record. And that record sounds a little bit like Dinosaur Jr.

Trust me on this; all but maybe three of those records are pure bullshit.

My primary association with rock music is that I am a fan of it, though listening to the aforementioned nearly killed that. In its best state, rock music invigorates me, changes my mood, triggers introspection or envelopes me with sheer sound. Spiderland does all those things, simultaneously and in turns, more than any records I can think of in five years.

Spiderland is, unfortunately, Slint's swansong, the band having succumbed to the internal pressures which eventually punctuate all bands' biographies. It's an amazing record though, and no one still capable of being moved by rock music should miss it. In 10 years it will be a landmark and you'll have to scramble to buy a copy then. Beat the rush.

Slint formed in 1986 as an outlet and pastime for four friends from Louisville, Kentucky. Their music was strange, wholly their own, sparse and tight. What immediately set them apart was their economy and precision. Slint was that rare band willing to play just one or two notes at a time and sometimes nothing at all. Their only other recording, 1989's Tweez hints at their genius, but only a couple of the tracks have anything like the staying power of Spiderland.

Spiderland is a majestic album, sublime and strange, made more brilliant by its simplicity and quiet grace. Songs evolve and expand from simple statements that are inverted and truncated in a manner that seems spontaneous, but is so precise and emphatic that it must be intuitive or orchestrated or both.

Straining to find a band to compare them with, I can only think of two, and Slint doesn't sound anything like either of them. Structurally and in tone, they recall Television circa Marquee Moon and Crazy Horse, whose simplicity they echo and whose style they most certainly do not.

To whom would Pere Ubu or Chrome have been compared in 1972? Forgive me, I am equally clueless.

Slint's music has always been primarily instrumental, and Spiderland isn't a radical departure, but the few vocals are among the most pungent of any album around. When I first heard Brian McMahan whisper the pathetic words to "Washer", I was embarrased for him. When I listened to the song again, the content eluded me and I was staggered by the sophistication and subtle beauty of the phrasing. The third time, the story made me sad nearly to tears. Genius.

Spiderland is flawless. The dry, unembellished recording is so revealing it sometimes feels like eavesdropping. The crystalline guitar of Brian McMahan and the glassy, fluid guitar of David Pajo seem to hover in space directly past the listener's nose. The incredibly precise-yet-instinctive drumming has the same range and wallop it would in your living room.

Only two other bands have meant as much to me as Slint in the past few years and only one of them, The Jesus Lizard, have made a record this good. We are in a time of midgets: dance music, three varieties of simple-minded hard rock genre crap, soulless-crooning, infantile slogan-studded rap and ball-less balladeering. My instincts tell me the dry spell will continue for a while - possibly until the bands Slint will inspire reach maturity. Until then, play this record and kick yourself if you never got to see them live. In ten years, you'll lie like the cocksucker you are and say you did anyway.

Ten fucking stars.

Steve Albini.

[blacksmile]

I WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED!! I already do a song of the week thing with some people at work and I might as well add this to my music plate as well!

I will listen to the last couple of albums and fire off a review later this week.

[DREW OF THE RUSHES]

Excellent choice cbats. I'm going to have to spin this one today for sure.