Recent listens

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 1:58 am

I was gonna just give a short comment for each album, but I ended up writing full-scale rants. Anyway, here are some of the stuff I've been listening to recently:

The Forgotten Arm - Aimee Mann
OMG OMG OMG OMG I love this woman. I loooove this woman. I loooooooooove this woman. This is probably her best record since her solo debut back in 93 (incidentally, I would count Whatever as one of the best pop albums released in the 90s), and this return to form is especially sweet after the let-down of "Lost In Space" a few years back. She looks incredibly young for her age (early 40s?) too. Maybe she eats babies to maintain her youth? Please, please come to Japan, Aimee. And make sure that the Tokyo show falls on a weekend, so that I'll actually be able to see it. Low birthrate is a serious problem in this country right now, but we'll try our darndest to supply you with some babies to eat while you're here. Anyway, I snagged this at Tower Records in Shinjuku (like any good music fan, I try to support my corporate behemoth megastores), and the blurb they had was something like: "don't let the cover art turn you off from buying this, folks". Dude, I like the cover art.

Mangekyou - Aiko Okumura
I honestly am not sure if I should declare that she's good, or sheepishly admit that she's a guilty pleasure. I mean, Jesus, some of the songs seriously sound like cheesy anime theme songs from the 80s, and there's one particular song where I can't help but conjure up images of Yoko Nanno (not that I'd expect anyone other than Neuro to recognize the name, but she's probably the archetypal "idol singer from the 80s who recklessly put out records even though she couldn't sing on key if her life depended on it" type of person). Which is not to say that Okumura can't sing (she's quite competent, actually); the song just sounds like a Yoko Nanno tune. I guess the one thing that endears Aiko Okumura to me is the fact that she displays absolutely no sense of irony when she does all this, even though there has to be a good degree of self-awareness on her part. And yeah, I have a weakness for big band arrangements. Some of the instrumentations are really good, I tell you (Seiichi Yamamoto on guitar, anyone?). Interestingly, I made a friend listen to this the other day. He's a huge fan of Japanese 80s idol music, so I thought he'd dig the record. But alas, he had one major complaint: "This woman can actually sing. I like my idol singers to sing out of tune, thank you very much". I should note that in addition to musically-challenged idol singers, he also listens to stuff like the Velvet Underground, Jimi Hendrix and Quicksilver Messenger Service.

Hiraku Yume Nado Arujanashi - Kan Mikami
I'll be seeing this guy in a few weeks, and I thought I should revisit this 1972 classic. Fans of Hiroki Endo might recognize that he was mentioned in passing in "For Those Of Us Who Don't Believe In God". Also, in his autobiographical one-shot that another group scanlated, there's a scene where he sings about sticking his fingers into a woman's vagina (hopefully, the translator didn't screw that up) - that's a Kan Mikami song. Well anyway, my first copy of this CD disappeared when I lost contact with the person whom I lent it to years ago (he was a drummer who adored people like Neil Peart and Mike Portnoy - needless to say his reaction to the album was "wtf did you lend me?!"), so I ended up buying a new copy last year. One can only live for so long in a Kan Mikami-less world, ya know? Of course, Avex now owns all of the URC catalogue, so I think it became my first-ever purchase of an Avex product. It's pretty surreal if you think about it - Kan Mikami, Happy End, Kenji Endo et al being labelmates with Ayumi Hamasaki, Do As Infinity, Namie Amuro and the like. Not that I'm complaining mind you, especially when they're reissuing these kind of records. Go Avex go!

Push Bar Man To Open Old Wounds - Belle And Sebastian
I've only listened to the first disc of this double-CD compilation album that I purchased last week. I'd probably listen to it more if I didn't buy like 15 CDs per month. This compilation. Is. Really good. I'm kind of weird in that I first became a fan of this group after "Dear Catastrophe Waitress", a record that generally got lukewarm reactions from more devoted B&S fans (thank God there's an ampersand between the B and the S). Previous to that, I was more like: "Belle And Sebastian? Yeah, what a bunch of wankers".

Cake - The Trash Can Sinatras
Is there a Scottish theme going on here? No, not really. I just happened to excavate this wonderfully ear-pleasing Aztec Camera-influenced Scottish guitar pop disc while organizing some pile of junk in my room. Incidentally, this "wow, I totally forgot that I even own this CD" situation that crops up from time to time is one of the numerous positives of inhabiting a messy room. So take that, ex-girlfriend.

Demon Days - The Gorillaz
How many of you are old enough to remember Brit-pop? You know, Blur v Oasis, the Blur and Suede singers fighting over the rights to have sex with that Elastica chick, Jarvis Cocker kicking Michael Jackson's ass (well not quite but close enough), genuinely crappy bands like Sleeper and Menswear and all that shit. Well I am, and I used to really follow Blur's releases like any other Japanese high school student who was interested in "yougaku" (foreign music). After graduating high school though I stopped listening to it (helped much by the fact that Brit-pop had fallen far out of vogue by that time, no doubt) except during occasional fits of nostalgia , and moved on to stuff like, well, the aforementioned Kan Mikami for instance. I mean come on, which is cooler, a guy singing about a would-be rapist who's about to do some naughty things to a girl young enough to be her daughter ("how would you feel if someone did that to your daughter?" he sings accusingly), or girls who are boys who like boys to be girls who do boys like they’re girls who do girls like they’re boys? So yeah, I kind of ignored the Gorillaz' first album when it came out in 2001, and now that I've heard their latest record in all its insanely catchy appeal, I can honestly say that I'm sorry. By way of repenting, I'll keep an eye out for the first album whenever I browse through the used bins.

Trace - Spangle Call Lilli Line
Ooh yeah.

What We Must - Jaga Jazzist
Apparently, this record from the Norwegian 10-piece outfit is receiving rave reviews from such respected (ha ha) publications like NME and Pitchfork. Not really sure if you can call this jazz (though I guess it employs jazz instruments) - I would think that they have more in common with bands like Sigur Ros. No? What's up with these Scandinavians anyway? The amount of good music they produce is slightly disproportionate to their population. Now, please excuse me while I go listen to Roxette.

...Okay, that was a joke, I don't actually own anything by Roxette. But fuck it, if I could find a secondhand Roxette best-of compilation sold at a decent price, I'd buy it an instant (note: I'm serious). By the way, the reason I mentioned Roxette instead of Abba is because over the last few years (or more like a decade, maybe), at least in Japan, their music has seen such a drastic reassessment to the point that listening to Abba these days is not only acceptable, but could possibly border on cool (as in, dude I listen to both Melt Banana and Abba, I'm so cool aren't I?). I think I even saw an interview on TV a few years back where Bono compared them to the Sex Pistols (huh?). I can only hope that the wonderful Roxette will never suffer this dreadful fate.

...I'm getting the sinking feeling that most people are gonna look at the crap I wrote above and go "fuck me, I'm not gonna read all that shit". However I'm not gonna let that weaken my resolve to click on the "submit" button. So um, what is everyone else listening to these days? Don't just list them please. Some comments for each album/EP/song would be nice. You can even rant like I did if you want to - I'm pretty sure that people won't read it.

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 2:49 am

Lately I got two pretty good things.

The Moon Is a Dead World by Gospel
Kind of sounds like the Mars Volta if they took out all the blank space in Frances the Mute and just sold a 35-minute album packed with music. Was pretty much the most astounding band I ever saw live. Ferocious.

Dead in the Woods by Grey Daturas
This was some band from Australia that I happened to catch live. Mostly improv stuff involving many pedals, tons of noise and feedback, and no melody. Also, their guitarist was a woman.

Also, because I just saw them live and had to reacquaint myself with the catalog once again,

Melt Banana

I've been meaning to check out that Jaga Jazzist album.

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 3:08 am

Yeah, all kidding aside, the Jaga Jazzist will definitely be on my top ten list at the end of the year (though I'm saving the number one slot for Mercury Rev at this point). It'll knock you out cold.

Correction: It's Yoko Minamino, not Yoko Nanno. Nanno was the nickname she was sometimes called, but her real surname is Minamino. Just had to make that correction, since I don't want to give you folks inaccurate information on Japanese idol girls. There were lots of idol singers in the 80s who couldn't sing, but Yoko Minamino, god bless her, would definitely vie with Iyo Matsumoto for the top spot.

Amateur Musician Joined: 08 Feb 2004 Posts: 197

I've been listening to Demon Days by The Gorillaz, or rather I've listened once, thought, 'Yeah, that was pretty good... but I want to listen to the first album again'. For some reason I'd never put the album on my computer so I spent ages trying to find the disc, I think my brother might've taken it with him to Uni.
But on the plus side I did find my copy of their DVD - Phase One: Celebrity Take Down. Very Happy

(according to the reciept that I left in the box I only paid 5 quid for it!)
Keeping things on (tenuious) link to manga. The guy who did the art for the Gorillaz is Jamie Hewlett, who also did the comic Tank Girl. Something I read as an English Secondary School student. Not being particuarly interested in the whole 'Brit-pop' thing going on at the time.
I suppose I should listen to Demon Days some more, I get the feeling that it's a grower. 'Feel Good Inc' has been getting loads of radio airplay at the moment and all the shops that sell CDs in town appear to be seriously promoting the album.

So what am I actually listening to at the moment. Well mainly mix/bootlegs of various stuff, and a couple of Radio 4 shows/book adaptations that I copy to my mp3 player, but they aren't music. The last couple of albums that I gave a serious listen to would be:

Kaiser Chiefs - Employment
The first half of the album is really really great, the second half is alright I suppose.

Roots Manuva - Awfully Deep
A bit disapointing really.

Chemical Brothers - Push The Button
They could do anything and I'd love it. That sounds a little bit sad, but there's pretty much nothing they've done that sucks, it's all great in slightly varying degrees.

Jem - Finally Woken
I stole this one from my brother, it's good to start with but gets old real quick. She sounds a little like Dido, but with more heavy bass.

Kesabian - Kesabian
Good, but I don't think that they're the saviours of music that some people make them out to be. They sound a little too similar to Lo-Fi Allstars (who I liked).

Amateur Musician Joined: 08 Feb 2004 Posts: 197

Summer Soldier wrote:

(though I'm saving the number one slot for Mercury Rev at this point). It'll knock you out cold.

Mecury Rev - The Secret Migration? Or is there another one coming? If it's 'The Secret Migration' it's another album that I found that compares weakly to previous stuff they've done. Sad

Posted: Fri May 27, 2005 11:21 am

Wow, you guys listen to a lot more music than I do, apparently. The only bands listed that I've heard of are Melt Banana (have a little bit of their stuff on mp3, never listened to extensively) and Belle and Sabastian (I think my little sister listens to them).

The only "new" stuff I've been listening to lately are some early Butthole Surfers albums I picked up a couple months ago. "A Brown Reason to Live", "Psychic, Powerless... Another Man's Sac", "Rembrandt Pussyhorse", "Creamed Corn From the Socket of Davis" and "Locust Abortion Technician."

I'm kind of surprised I didn't get into this stuff earlier, it's all incredibly obnoxious, sleazy, disgusting, and I can't think of anything else that really sounds like it.

Brown Reason to Live is excellent. It's got a couple of the catchiest songs I've heard (Hey, Bar-b-q Pope) as well as some truly excruciating noise. The Noise stuff sounds great at both 33 and 45 rpm.

Psychic, Powerless... is like a more fleshed out Brown Reason, and the cd I bought as the Creamed Corn from the Socket of Davis EP tracks as bonus material. On my favorite track, Negro Observer, they sound sort of like a more talented King Uszniewicz.

Rembrandt Pussyhorse is the a mild disappointment compared with the other albums. The first half (which includes a really weird cover of "American Woman") is up to snuff but it goes downhill on the second half.

Locust Abortion Technician is my second favorite (after Psychic, Powerless...) and has one of their best-sounding and most nihilistic songs, 22 going on 23.

I also recently found some cds that I thought I'd lost. "Bad Mood Guy" by Severed Heads, "Selected Ambient Works 1 & 2" by Aphex Twin, and "Drugs, Sex, and Discotheques" by the Prima Donnas.

Bad Mood Guy is one of the better mid 80s electropop Severed Heads albums (along with "Come Visit the Big Biggot", but I prefer their earlier tape loop + keyboard + noise stuff like "Since the Accident" and "City Slab Horror"

Prima Donnas are pretty good. Their cheesy sense of humor kind of reminds me of the Sparks, but more snotty and primitive-electronics sounding.

Posted: Fri May 27, 2005 2:25 pm

Disclaimer: I sure hope the "recent" in the thread title doesn't refer to recently released music, because then I'd be disqualified straight off.

Four Tet - Rounds
Good Stuff(tm). About the only complaint I have is that I didn't know about it sooner. I'm not sure what to rant about this, though, it's not all that easily described. Allmusic has him as "*Post-Rock/Experimental *IDM *Experimental Techno *Trip-Hop *Indie Electronic", which perhaps makes the music seem more eclectic than it is...
Normally, when I say something grows on you, it implies that I thought it was somewhat of a hard listen at first. But this was good right away and gets better. Damn, I say.
Oh, and Everything Ecstatic (the newest album) isn't bad either. Not quite as good, but still.

Fantastic Plastic Machine - Fantastic Plastic Machine
Yeah, it's old. And yeah it disturbs me that I should like japanese pop. But screw that. Kitschy sixties style pop, yay!

The Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives
Okay, so I got in a bit late on the hype. But that was just because of the hype. Now that I've overcome my fear of anything that music journalists here like, it's not bad at all. Short and very catchy punky pop songs, with a sort of rockabilly touch. Just don't try to make too much sense of the lyrics.

As for summer's comments about ABBA; they're damned good. I don't mean that in the sense that I particularly like them or anything, I just think they knew their shit, so to speak. It's very easy to overlook, especially when you, like me, can't forget how stupid they looked. (Paillette, and not to mention camel toe, galore...)
And I'm not sure if I am to honestly believe this, but apparently Sweden is the third largest music exporter in the world after the US and UK. With a population of a whopping 9 million people. I'm pretty sure the situation is the same in the other countries around here (but they have slightly smaller populations, after all).

Posted: Sat May 28, 2005 1:15 am

Rex - Yeah, The Secret Migration is the Mercur Rev record I was talking about. It's pop perfection, as far as I'm concerned. Pet Sounds of the 21st century (hooray for hyperboles).

As for Kasabian, someone needs to tell them that this isn't 1990 anymore and Madchester is far fom over.

Ion - You've never heard of Aimee Mann or Chemical Brothers? I think Aimee Mann had a pretty big hit over there a few years back when she did the soundtrack for the Magnolia move, didn't she?

pnyxtr - It's weird that you should mention Four Tet, because I just bought Everything Ecstatic yesterday. I guess it's a good album to offset the sugar pop of the other two discs I bought - Swan Dive and Mocca. It's my first exposure to Four Tet, and I'm loving it immensely (it's surprisingly accesible for music of this nature). If you say it's not as good as that other one, I might have to check that one out too.

And what's wrong with Japanese pop music? Sad

Posted: Sat May 28, 2005 3:16 am

Nothing particularly wrong with it, actually. It just feels too fanboyish to like the pop, at least.
I should find something more alternative to enjoy.

Scoundrel Joined: 17 Feb 2003 Posts: 403

Listening a fuckton to the stuff by the band Jude which you may or may
not know includes the guitarist/vocalist Kenichi Asai from Blankey
Jet City which you may or may not have heard of.

I've listened or sampled bits from 4 of their albums so far in the course
of the last couple of weeks... and this is kinda what I figure:

Highway Child - Awesome
Charming Bloody Tuesday - Awesome
Zhivago - Not as awesome
Dirty Animal - Not as awesome (Didn't get through this all though)

Also I scored the Fujifabric's self titled album which was a lot of
fun as well.

The Minus the Bear album flyingrobots hooked me up was quite a bit
of fun too.

Would urge you to check out Jude if you dig Blankey Jet City.. its
less rockabilly if that's what turned you off BJC. I dig Kenichi Asai's
vocals and guitar work and Jude's bassist as well.

Would go more into depth about stuff but I really don't listen to
enough music to go indepth about why something kicks ass.

Would really suggest that Fujifabric album though... they get compared
to Quruli a lot on various sites I've surfed and they vaguely remind me
of the Sparta Locals vocally and for other reasons I frankly can't
explain.

Okay bye.

Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 4:52 am

Summer Soldier wrote:

As for Kasabian, someone needs to tell them that this isn't 1990 anymore and Madchester is far fom over.

I of course meant to say that Madchester was far over. Hooray for malapropisms. And for misspelled words too (fom?)

Now please excuse me while I go pull out a Happy Mondays CD. My God those shitheads were untalented, weren't they?

Street Musician Joined: 16 Feb 2003 Posts: 530

pnyxtr wrote:

Four Tet - Rounds
Good Stuff(tm). About the only complaint I have is that I didn't know about it sooner. I'm not sure what to rant about this, though, it's not all that easily described. Allmusic has him as "*Post-Rock/Experimental *IDM *Experimental Techno *Trip-Hop *Indie Electronic", which perhaps makes the music seem more eclectic than it is...
Normally, when I say something grows on you, it implies that I thought it was somewhat of a hard listen at first. But this was good right away and gets better. Damn, I say.

I was browsing this thread last night, and today I happened to be working near a good record store, so I went in and bought said-CD.
I didn't really like it at first, but now it's growing on me.

I also found Maximo Park's "A Certain Trigger" which was pretty good.
And yes I know I'm reviving an old thread.

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2005 7:40 pm

I actually heard one of the songs off that album on the radio and even went so far as to google it up based on what lyrics I could remember. I was amazed that I actually liked something on the radio but apparently it was the DJ playing a trick and they're not all that popular after all or some garbage. But yeah, I like the CD.

Street Musician Joined: 16 Feb 2003 Posts: 530

Quickly now: I need someone to reccomend a few Jaga Jazzist albums (other than Living Room Hush, which I'm already getting).

On a similar topic, if anybody could point me to a Canadian online retailer (I refuse to pay the assfucks at Canada Customs customs fees to crack my cd cases, wrinkle up my posters and beng the spines on my books) that sells Japanese cd's for decent price (i.e. under 40 bucks) that would be greatly appreciated.

Scoundrel Joined: 17 Feb 2003 Posts: 403

I liked their newest one, What We Must a lot. The Kokoichi in Jimboucho
was playing it which I thought was awesome.