Emotional Listening #1

Okay, a couple things. It has been forever since I've posted a Weekly Listening Update blog. This whole "actually being busy at work" and "job searching" thing is really cutting into my blog time, unfortunately. So, I am editing the title to this segment as simply, "Emotional Listening," and am starting the count all over. Same premise though: going through newly (or semi-newly) aquired or barely listened to CDs and blogging about a batch of them at the time. How frequent or infrequent will this be? I'm not sure. Also, this one is like from a month-and-a-half ago.


Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant - Belle & Sebastian (Matador, 2000)
I've debated with my dear friend Matt about which era of Belle & Sebastian is better: the softer, twee, more somber sounding version, or the more straight-forward (not in a bad way) pop/rock direction they've taken since 2003's Dear Catastrophe Waitress. I prefer the older sound, though that's probably only because of their 1996 masterpiece, If You're Feeling Sinister. The Boy With the Arab Strap (1998) and Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant are fine and all, but they are very second-half heavy; the first halves of each record are a little too sleepy. And, that's not to say that DCW and 2006's The Life Pursuit aren't good, because they totally are. Anyway, I picked up Fold Your Hands Child... maybe a month ago at Encore and was pleasantly surprised. It is sleepy and sad, but their are a few beautiful If You're Feeling Sinister-esque moments. It's way more consistant than The Boy With the Arab Strap, and just all around a better album.
Top jams: "The Model," "Nice Day for a Sulk," "Women's Realm," "Family Tree"


Milk Man - Deerhoof (Kill Rock Stars/5RC, 2004)
I was rooting for 2004's Milk Man to end up as my favorite Deerhoof record. Why, I'm not really sure. When I heard the title track probably over a year ago, it gave me tremendous hope for the entire album (the song had been the best thing I had heard from the band at that point). Unfortunately, this may even be my least favorite of theirs. It is obvioiusly a Deerhoof record (weird, jagged rhythms, insane drumming, classic rock guitars, obnoxiously cute vocals), but it is nowhere near as consistent as The Runners Four (2005) or my favorite, 2008's Offend Maggie. I even like Friend Opportunity (2007) better, which has an even more distracting flow, and of the Deerhoof that I am familiar with, is the most bizarre and least accessible album (even if the first 90% of it could loosely be considered pop music). But, don't get me wrong. Milk Man is still really cool. The title track might be the be all/end all Deerhoof jam, and there are several other greats. I guess my issue is just that there are more throw-away tracks than I've come to expect from this, one of the great modern indie rock bands.
Top jams: "Milk Man," "Desaparecere," "C," "Dream Wanderer's Tune," "That Big Orange Sun Run Over Speed Light"


Transmissions From the Satellite Heart - The Flaming Lips (Warner Bros., 1993)
This, the album that launched The Flaming Lips into the indie rock (and mainstream, for a second) spotlight, happens to be my least favorite of theirs (as seems to be the trend of this blog entry so far). Yes, I even like it less than 2006's dreamy and severely underrated At War With the Mystics. Still, this leap from The Who-inspired experimental punk to drugged out psychadelic pop rock is a great one. Here is an educational, entertaining and satisfactory peek at what exactly the Lips would amount to, and I think that's exactly why I don't have more appreciation for it. I already knew that Clouds Taste Metallic is totally badass, that Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is simply brilliant, and that The Soft Bulletin is one of the greatest albums of 1990s (if not of all time). But, I'll take Transmissions... for what it is: a solid, experimental 90s alternative rock record. And, I can't argue that "She Don't Use Jelly" is one of the best songs from that decade.
Top jams: "Pilot Can at the Queer of God," "She Don't Use Jelly," "When Yer Twenty Two," "Slow Nerve Action"


So This is Goodbye - Junior Boys (Domino, 2006)
After spending a little more time with this 2006 synth pop opus and the recently released Begone Dull Care, Junior Boys have become one of my favorite electronic acts (probably following only Daft Punk). While I appreciate Begone Dull Care more as an album, some of the songs from So This is Goodbye are untouchable, namely "In the Morning" and "FM." This record is smooth, sexy, and actually, really pretty. Bonus that there are some smart and sublte beats (and blips, bleeps and bloops) that are hard not to bounce to.
Top jams: "The Equalizer," "In the Morning," "So This is Goodbye," "Like a Child," "FM"


Electric Version - The New Pornographers (Matador, 2003)
Ah yes, The New Pornographers. What an album, by what a band, right? From what I know, New Pornos can't do wrong (I haven't listened to Mass Romantic, though). This, their sophomore effort, is a DOOZEY. Leaps and bounds better than 2007's more boring but still somehow satisfactory Challengers, but not even close to 2005's slam dunk, Twin Cinema. The all-star band flourishes here with their characteristic upbeat, sweet and sugary, catchy and tight as all hell power pop. The melodies, oh, THE MELODIES. A.C. Newman is a MASTER of them. They are easily the best part about Electric Version, but there is plenty more to love, like Neko Case's background vox, the album's pacing, and that tight and awesome drumming. Like your typical New Pornos album, Destroyer's Dan Bejar penned three tracks. But, unlike the next two records, his are not my favorites here (though, he completely owned Twin Cinema with "Jackie Dressed in Cobras"). Newman, you take the cake. Now, just go back to recording albums more like this, okay?
Top jams: "The Electric Version," "The Laws Have Changed," "The End of Medicine," "Loose Translation," "Chump Change," "July Jones"