Discuss the Musics Thread

[Henry Gale]

While staying up late for finals last night I decided to watch VH1 as they were showing videos. I finally got to see the video for Shadowplay, which is off that disc you mentioned to me back in the "What Are You Listening To?" thread. I love the song and the video is really haunting and has stunning black and white cinemotography. I can't help but wonder if its really about someone, either the band themselves or perhaps a reference to another musician they might have known. Anyways I hope to purchase it when I head back home over break.

Yeah, their version is definately a lot more of a modern pop sort of take on it with the melody reworked quite a bit and way more going on than in the original. The intention with the production between the two seem to be the complete opposite of one another (Flowers & co.'s obviously being the more high-tech and cleaner sounding of the two). I really like it though, especially the last minute or so of the song.

The clips in the video from Control that are cut in seemed more like just a tie-in to Corbijn's film to me more than anything of too much meaning. I'm not sure though if Corbijn did the "Shadowplay" video as well, I know he did the "All These Things..." one and all of the Sam's Town artwork.

[Justin]

So this "freewheelin' Yo La Tengo" tour is coming to a small venue in my town, I guess I should buy a ticket.

[MadMan]

Yeah, their version is definately a lot more of a modern pop sort of take on it with the melody reworked quite a bit and way more going on than in the original. The intention with the production between the two seem to be the complete opposite of one another (Flowers & co.'s obviously being the more high-tech and cleaner sounding of the two). I really like it though, especially the last minute or so of the song.

The clips in the video from Control that are cut in seemed more like just a tie-in to Corbijn's film to me more than anything of too much meaning. I'm not sure though if Corbijn did the "Shadowplay" video as well, I know he did the "All These Things..." one and all of the Sam's Town artwork.

Wait Shadowplay is a cover? Who did the original? And yeah I love how easily The Killers can combine techno with slick guitar work and expert vocals from Flowers.

See I sensed that the video was maybe about Joy Division's lead singer because in one of the video's scenes what appears to be a rough draft of a CD cover has "Joy Division" on the cover. I really now want to see Control despite the fact that I've never listened to any of Joy Division's work and its gotten mixed reviews here on Match-Cut. Even if the tie ins don't have any meaning they sure make for a super awesome video. Also I didn't knwo that Corbijn made the video for All These Things That I've Done. That video rocks and to me it appears to be a homage to the cult classic Faster Pussycat....Kill, Kill! and an extension of the band's Vegas obsession.

In the end the Killers seem to be progressing towards some sort of greatness. Which excites me to a degree considering how much I love both of their albums. It was actually my sister who got me into the band and gave me a copy of Hot Fuss (the extended version with the extra tracks not featured in the original release of the album).

[Ezee E]

some good leaks today:

Magnetic Fields - Distortion
Beach House - Devotion
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
Hot Chip - Made In the Dark
Rivers Cuomo - Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo
Andre 3000 - Whole Foods
Lupe Fiasco - The Cool
RJD2 Vs. Jay-Z - The Silver Album

Why do people feel the need to take Jay-Z all the time? I like these mixes, but too many use Jay-Z's Black ALbum.

[transmogrifier]

It's scary that there are actually people out there who dislike PJ Harvey.

Check out the comments section of this interview.

http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/pj_harvey

[Duncan]

It's scary that there are actually people out there who dislike PJ Harvey.

Check out the comments section of this interview.

http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/pj_harvey

I was actually just listening to White Chalk for the first time today. Beautiful stuff. I always like her best with less production supporting her.

[transmogrifier]

I was actually just listening to White Chalk for the first time today. Beautiful stuff. I always like her best with less production supporting her.

I like her whichever way she comes. White Chalk was a grower, for me. The first time I heard it, I suffered a bit of the guitar/rawk withdrawal, but once you let that slide away, it becomes readily apparent that the album is darkly delicate and still contains her standard excellent songwriting capabilities.

[Henry Gale]

Wait Shadowplay is a cover? Who did the original? And yeah I love how easily The Killers can combine techno with slick guitar work and expert vocals from Flowers.

See I sensed that the video was maybe about Joy Division's lead singer because in one of the video's scenes what appears to be a rough draft of a CD cover has "Joy Division" on the cover. I really now want to see Control despite the fact that I've never listened to any of Joy Division's work and its gotten mixed reviews here on Match-Cut. Even if the tie ins don't have any meaning they sure make for a super awesome video. Also I didn't knwo that Corbijn made the video for All These Things That I've Done. That video rocks and to me it appears to be a homage to the cult classic Faster Pussycat....Kill, Kill! and an extension of the band's Vegas obsession.

In the end the Killers seem to be progressing towards some sort of greatness. Which excites me to a degree considering how much I love both of their albums. It was actually my sister who got me into the band and gave me a copy of Hot Fuss (the extended version with the extra tracks not featured in the original release of the album).

It was Joy Division who did the original. From what I understand it also plays during Control's end credits. Hopefully I'll see it soon.

But I agree about them progressing. Most seemed to find Sam's Town to be a huge disappointment but I thought it was a much more focused and consistent album overall than Hot Fuss. Plus I've definately found improvement in their songwriting and live peformances. But the "new" tracks on Sawdust are kind of where they leave the question of where they are going to go ahead as a bit of a mystery. They re-record stuff like "Under The Gun" which I thought were done perfectly well with the first version they released (found on a bunch of singles and that Limited Edition of Hot Fuss you mentioned) much more in their Sam's Town-style because Flowers found some of it (especially the vocals) to be "cringe-worthy", but then they also get Jacques Lu Cont (who's done a bunch of techno-ish remixes of their stuff) to help co-produce some previously unused tracks in a much more synthy and polished (in other words, Hot Fuss) way.

So really I think that they could go either way on their next album. Hopefully though, it's a nice mixture of the two, because all I know is that "Read My Mind" is my favourite thing ever by them as it pretty much covers all of their different musical tendencies and styles, and in the end just their strengths overall as a band perfectly for me. They've also said it's their favourite song of theirs, so I hope they go more in that direction on the next one.

[Duncan]

Just out of curiosity, is the band Vampire Weekend on your guys' radar? And if so, what do you think of them?

[D_Davis]

It's scary that there are actually people out there who dislike PJ Harvey.

Check out the comments section of this interview.

http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/pj_harvey

I don't like her music, and I'm not scary, at all. She just does absolutely nothing for me on any level.

[origami_mustache]

Why do people feel the need to take Jay-Z all the time? I like these mixes, but too many use Jay-Z's Black ALbum.

I agree, It's redundant, and seems as though it should be out of fashion by now.
Girl Talk's mash ups are much more interesting to me.

[Henry Gale]

Everyone makes Jay-Z mash-up albums because Jay himself releases the full albums as just acappellas on CD separately (The Black Album and American Gangster anyway). So really they're easy to do considering the way they are and just fun for people to add their own instrumentals and mixes to all of the songs. I've even messed around with some of them myself.

If only other artists would do the same (aside from the odd instrumental and acappella on single releases) we would get some variety.

[Rowland]

Japancakes' Loveless cover album is a good listen, especially for MBV fans. Some of their reinterpretations are really lovely.

[Boner M]

The AV Club's worst band names of 2007.

Some faves:

Harmonica Lewinsky
Baboon Torture Division
Any Swing Goes
Ringo Deathstarr
Ima Fucking Gymnist
Slut Barf
The Giggle Club
Strangers Die Every Day
Car Full Of Midgets
Jewsus

[EvilShoe]

The AV Club's worst band names of 2007.

Some faves:

Harmonica Lewinsky
Baboon Torture Division
Any Swing Goes
Ringo Deathstarr
Ima Fucking Gymnist
Slut Barf
The Giggle Club
Strangers Die Every Day
Car Full Of Midgets
Jewsus

Car Full of Midgets doesn't belong on that list.

[Boner M]

Car Full of Midgets doesn't belong on that list.

Most of them are just awesomely retarded. I think "Strangers Die Every Day" is the worst because it's clearly meant to be deep.

[krazed]

No Age's Weirdo Rippers is rocking my face off right now. God, this really lives up to the hype.

[D_Davis]

Has anyone here ever listened to The Sinking of the Titanic, by the Gavin Bryers Ensemble?

Wow - totally beautiful.

[D_Davis]

Has anyone here ever listened to The Sinking of the Titanic, by the Gavin Bryers Ensemble?

Wow - totally beautiful.

I'll take the silence as a "no," and thus encourage everyone into classical, ambient, and experimental music to give this fine work a listen. It is extraordinary. A captivating and haunting neo-classical piece with great emotional weight.

[Acapelli]

Japancakes' Loveless cover album is a good listen, especially for MBV fans. Some of their reinterpretations are really lovely.

It just makes me want to listen to Loveless instead.

[D_Davis]

Anyone listen to Long Fin Killie or Lorelei?

Man, whenever I go back and listen to these two bands, I am struck by how ahead of their time they were. Had they come out now, rather than the late '90s, I'm pretty sure they would be huge with the indie crowd. These guys really did set the stage for a lot of todays hipper music.

Man, Slumberland and Too Pure were awesome labels.

[Derek]

No Age's Weirdo Rippers is rocking my face off right now. God, this really lives up to the hype.

I've only heard it once, but I agree it's pretty great. I'm seeing them open for Liars next month and I'm fully expecting one of the greatest concerts ever.

I'll take the silence as a "no," and thus encourage everyone into classical, ambient, and experimental music to give this fine work a listen. It is extraordinary. A captivating and haunting neo-classical piece with great emotional weight.

Sounds great - I'll definitely be seeking this one out.

[Horbgorbler]

Wonderfalls just (fairly prominently) featured an Incredible String Band t-shirt. Score one for awesome music! ritch:

Oh, wait, the episode never even aired. :|

[Justin]

http://www.nickcaveandthebadseeds.co...dig/index.html

Video for the new Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song. This album, Portishead, Breeders, and The Roots are all my most anticipated albums of this year.

[Sycophant]

Is there such a thing as great music criticism? Where--like with film criticism--individual tracks get analyzed fully in the context of their lyrics, albums, band's bodies of work, chord progressions and whatnot? Generally, the best it seems I can hope for is to see a passing mention of a song in an album review saying "it's better than their last album, its songwriters' indulgences working to fantastic effect, though the synthesized reggae-inspired beats on [track 12] speak to the band's weakness for cheeky reductionism."

Not that I need, need, need to read them, but I'd like it if it were out there.

*is incapable of really appreciating music and prone to dismissive generalizations*