Emotional Listening #17

The Boy With the Arab Strap - Belle & Sebastian (Matador, 1998)
For quite a while now, my good friend and old housemate, Kevin Trepus, has championed The Boy With the Arab Strap as the superior album to Belle & Sebastian's seminal If You're Feeling Sinister. I would always call him crazy, but now I'm not sure. It seems like he's on to something. The two albums are pretty good companion pieces, as they share a common feeling, even if The Boy With the Arab Strap is a little more energetic in places. If a gun was pointed at my head, forcing me to make an argument in support of Arab Strap being better than If You're Feeling Sinister, I would state the following: more variety in sound, more consistent songwriting that is not short on brilliant yet very subtle tricks, and "Dirty Dream Number Two," the title track, and "The Rollercoaster Ride" are better than any song on IYFS, and may even be my favorite B&S songs of all time. In reality, I don't feel strongly either way. They are both incredible pop records that will continue to be standbys for many moons to come.
Top jams: "It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career," "Sleep the Clock Around," "Is It Wicked Not to Care?," "Ease Your Feet in the Sea," "Seymour Stein," "Dirty Dream Number Two," "The Boy With the Arab Strap," "Simple Things," "The Rollercoaster Ride"


Power, Corruption & Lies - New Order (Factory, 1983)
I'm finally digging deeper than New Order's singles, and it is a beautiful thing. There are moments on Power, Corruption & Lies, their sophomore LP, that I'm not entirely sold on, but those are so few and far between, I barely even notice. This record is SO close to being perfect. It's interesting that the song that hinders it the most, "Blue Monday," is the album's biggest hit (and I'll tell ya, I like that song now way more than I ever have before). Obviously, "Age of Consent" is one of the greatest album openers, let alone songs in general, of all time. Everyone knows that. I'm surprised that there are songs here that I like even more, at the time being, at least. "The Village" is an amazing synth pop jam with that awesome chorusy bass guitar that doesn't sound like bass guitar whatsoever. "Your Silent Face" and "Leave Me Alone" are excellent guitar driven ballads (sort of). On Power, Corruption & Lies, it doesn't matter if New Order are doing their emotive guitar pop or their dark synth pop stuff. It's all done so incredibly well here. I am stoked to further investigate the greatness of this band throughout the 80s (and into the early 90s).
Top jams: "Age of Consent," "The Village," "5 8 6," "Your Silent Face," "Ultraviolence," "Leave Me Alone"


Song Cycle - Van Dyke Parks (Warner Bros., 1967)
What a mindfuck of a record this is. Apparently Van Dyke Parks, who was previously and exclusively known to me as the lyricist of Brian Wilson's and The Beach Boys' Smile, is a remarkably talented composer of formless symphonic chamber pop music that would probably be perfect to listen to while dropping acid or smoking weed or something. These songs are INSANE and hard to follow, but boy are the gorgeous as well. Song Cycle is a fascinating marriage of psychedelic, classical, and pop music, and it is most definitely a rewarding listen. There is at least one really awesome part in each song, but "Palm Desert," "All Golden" and "Donovan's Colours" (which, according to Wikipedia, is a cover of Donovan's "Colours") feature the strongest ones. I'm not sure where to go next in Parks' discography, but maybe I don't need to go anywhere else. This is just fine.
Top jams: "Vine Street," "Palm Desert," "Laurel Canyon Blvd.," "All Golden," "Public Domain," "Donovan's Colours," "The Attic"


A Hundred Miles Off - The Walkmen (Record Collection, 2006)
When A Hundred Miles Off was released in 2006, I was not a fan at all. What kind of fool was I, though? It's on par with everything else great that The Walkmen have released, which means just about everything. This is just a tardy reminder that they are one of the greatest bands going today. From beginning to end A Hundred Miles Off is consistent and excellent. As good of a song as opener "Louisiana" is, it's not even close to the best. "Good for You's Good for Me," "Lost in Boston," "Tenley Town," and "This Job is Killing Me" all rival Walkmen greats like "We've Been Had," "That's the Punch Line," "Little House of Savages," "My Old Man," "In the New Year," and "Woe is Me." There's definitely an obvious Dylan element added to all the reverb and noise The Walkmen are known for, but it's certainly charming. Also, there are some real punk songs here. "Tenley Town" takes the cake as The Walkmen's loudest, fastest, and most bad ass song. In spite of this awesomeness, "Lost in Boston" and "This Job is Killing" are probably my favorites on A Hundred Miles Off, namely due to the quirky percussive elements and that subtle but outstanding melodies. I'll stop while I'm ahead. I am officially convinced that this band will never do something that doesn't rule.
Top jams: "Louisiana," "Good for You's Good for Me," "All Hands & the Cook," "Lost in Boston," "Tenley Town," "This Job is Killing Me," "Brandy Alexander," "Always After You ('Til You Started After Me)"